Strength and Power

Chapter 25 - Morgan's Pain

Isa was huddled in the stone arms of a statue he'd found, his legs brought up to his chin while he rested his head on top of them as he continued to sulk. He was watching the city go on as if nothing were even wrong, as if Morgan hadn't just yelled at him the way she had. She'd told him to get lost, and that's exactly what he did. He didn't know where he was within the city, and he was so close to breaking down that he couldn't stand it. 

All his life Isa had been run off or treated badly because of the way he was born, and it hurt to have people treat him like that. But at least back then he knew exactly why they were being so mean to him. But Morgan, he didn't know what he did to make her so upset. It was horrible to see that familiar look of anger on her face. The familiar look of someone running him off, but unlike all those other times, Isa didn't know what he did. He didn't understand why the one person that he thought would always be with him had yelled at him and told him to get lost.

Did he make her angry? If he did that what was it that he did to make her get that way? He let out a sniffle before rubbing the back of his hand across his nose and continued to watch everyone walk about. He saw dozens of kids running around with smiles on their face with their parents looking on from a safe distance.  Pulling his legs back up to his knees Isa continued to look on at them just as he'd done when he was their age, high atop his own branch looking down on the rest of the monkey tribe's little village. When his mother was alive he'd been allowed to play with the other children, but he always had to be careful not to hurt anyone.

When she died that all changed. His adopted father took a new mate in Kae, and she made it very clear that Isa wasn't wanted among the village. As the new alpha female, no one challenged her rule and Isa was driven away from the main village  with sticks and stones by all the people that he'd thought were his friends. He wasn't sure exactly how old he was when it happened anymore, he just knew that he was very young. Far too young to be on his own so he'd tried to return to the tribe over and over often with the shiny rocks that the people of Guresta called diamonds as presents. But those were only met with hostility and more violence leaving Isa alone atop the higher branch that would come to be his home.

He let out a sigh as he remembered that time. He wasn't a child any longer, but that didn't mean thinking of it didn't hurt, and seeing all the kids having fun down below only served to remind him of how alone he really was in the world. His ears twitched at the nearly silent whooshing to his left and Isa turned his head to find Ruin standing just above him atop the statues shoulders. Ruin gave Isa a once over with his pink eyes before walking closer to him and sitting so that his legs were dangling over the side. He didn't say anything, he just sat there while Isa's eyes slowly moved down from Ruin to the people running around once again. 

"Nice view up here." Ruin finally said after several more awkward moments of silence. "The wind cooling up here, and you can see a lot of the city from here."

"I guess." Isa said still hugging his knees.

"You like being in high places don't you?" Ruin asked plainly. When Isa didn't answer he went on talking. "I can understand why. It's so peaceful up here. Nothing to bother you, and you can see everything." Another pause. "I bet that once the sun starts to set the sky would look beautiful from up here."

"Maybe." Isa said as he himself also began to wonder what the sky would look like from up here. All the yellows, oranges, pinks, reds, even purples and blues  if there were clouds, all mixed together as the suns slowly sank down below the horizon. He blinked at the thought and suddenly found that his tail was beginning to curl at the thought of seeing something so pretty. "Do you think we can come back and see?"

"I don't see why not." Ruin said calmly as he leaned back on his hands and began to kick his feet about. "But i bet the view would be even better from the top of that mountain."