Ziopon Ch. 02

Authors Note:

Zeke and Satine are aprrox 45 years old. Ziopons age diff. than humans, but they are still technically adults. Please keep this in mind for the remainder of the story.

Also this chapter has no sexual scenes. Sorry, but I'm telling a story in this series.

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I finished off the squirrel I had caught, licking my bloody fingers clean. It had been nice and plump, but was also hard to catch. I spent half an hour chasing it through trees, nearly getting myself killed in the process. In the end, the chase was worth it. I felt invigorated, like I could run twenty miles.

I never realized I had been starving. Perks of swearing to not feed on humans, I guess.

Satine had left early in the evening, once the sun was low enough, leaving me a note to explain she was going hunting herself, and would probably be gone all day. I sighed after reading it, realizing that thanks to her, I was now officially a member of the village.

I wiped my mouth, then buried the bones of the squirrel. I muttered a silent prayer to Mother Nature (the Goddess Ziopons worship), thanking her for the meal. Then I stood and headed back home.

I looked into the sky, thinking about some of the human books I had read. A long time ago, a Ziopon named Tyro attacked and slaughtered a village. He fed on a few of his victims, then he was hunted by his own kind, being killed a few years later. This incident sparked human's hatred of our kind, as they assumed we were all the same as Tyro. It didn't help that they had a tendency to hate and fight anything they feared or didn't understand. The attack was more of an excuse to hunt us down.

So now our kind hides in secluded forests far from human civilization. There were some towns that didn't mind Ziopons, as long as they refrained from feeding in said town. But even then, we weren't safe from Hunters.

I reached the town square before I realized it, sighing once more. I checked the board by Master Leroy's place for any jobs that were available. However, any that had been posted had already been taken. I growled, then turned back to my house.

Another day of training, I guess.

I quickly headed into my house and grabbed a pair of leather gloves, which I used to keep a good grip on Lightblade. Also I just liked wearing them. Once I got them on I summoned my weapon and slid it behind me, into my belt.

Lightblade was a weapon my mother had left with Master Rahool, before she up and left me alone. I received it when I turned 16. The blade was able to cut through almost anything. If I stabbed someone, I could kill them, but only if that was my intention. It could also simply inflict searing pain without physically damaging the person I stabbed. Or, it simply did nothing. No one knew why it worked that way. Nor did anyone know why only I could wield it. Anyone else would get severely burned.

I spun my weapon in my hand as I headed to the training grounds. I saw a few younger Ziopons like myself were also there, all practicing attacks specifically designed to wound an opponent so we could escape the conflict.

Master Rahool was one of several Town Masters who wanted to live with humans in harmony. He proposed that to do so we needed to show we were not violent. Everyone in the village had sworn to never harm or kill a human without proper reason, nor were we to feed on a human's flesh, bone or blood unless we were offered by a human with proper authority. We could also freely attack or kill any humans who were trying to harm or kill another human, as long as that human was the one in the wrong.

Personally, I didn't like the smell of human blood. It was always rotten smelling, like fermented fish dipped in cat urine. Very rarely did human blood smell pleasant. I preferred the smell and taste of animal blood, such as squirrels or young doe.

"Hey, kids." I said in greeting. Two of the youngsters nodded back, but the third looked at me in confusion.

"Why are you calling us kids? You look to be only a couple of years older than us, at most."

I nodded.

"Your Zekial, correct? The boy Madame Karai turned to save?"

"Yeah."

"Ok, that explains it. You see, Zipons age differently from humans. I'm fifteen, but I've been fifteen for three years. Unlike you, I was born a Ziopon, so I'm actually-"

"That's like, forty-five years!" Zekial looked surprised. "I've only been a Ziopon a few months...I'm still thirteen! But that doesn't explain why you look so young!"

"Well," I started, but one of the other boys, Roy, spoke up.

"Excuse me, master Zeke. But I'd like to explain it. I can make it more...understandable."

"Go ahead."

"We age a lot slower. When we reach twenty, or sixty in human years, we stop aging physically."

"Oh, ok. That makes sense, thank you."

"You also should know that anyone called 'Master' is always in charge of you. In each town, there is the Grandmaster, which here is Master Ludacri. Then there is the combat master, Master Rahool, the Labor master, Master Leroy, and then Madame Karai, the healer and youngling nurse."

"Then why did Roy call you master?"

Say, the youngling girl who was among us, finally spoke up.

"It's because Master Zeke is an elder. It's not his official title, it's just a sign of respect. After he beat Decken, he earned some of our respect. And according to master Satine, he has officially become a part of the village."

"Yeah, after thirty years..." I muttered.

"Why thirty?"

I grit my teeth, having forgotten Roy had good hearing. Really, really good hearing.

"It's...a long story." I sighed. "I don't want to get into it."

"Oh, come on!" Zekial gave me pleading eyes. "Please?"

"Yeah, please!" Roy chimed.

I sighed in exasperation, then gestured for the trio to sit down.

"About forty years ago my mother and father came into this village with me. My mother was a ziopon, but my father wasn't. Not even I know what he was. But he was shunned by everyone here. My mother was as well, but given a right to remain here until I spoke my first word and took my first steps. That was when I turned five. She left me here, leaving my knife with master Rahool for when I was able to use it. I haven't seen or heard from her or my father since."

"That's sad..."

The three went silent for a while, in respect to me. I stood up, gesturing for them to continue their training.

"Of course, most of your parents were killed around that time fighting that stupid Human-Elf war. Died for a race that wouldn't die for us, over a damned forest."

I shook my head.

"Drill the first forms today, guys, okay?"

The group nodded, getting to work while I did my meditation.

After several hours we broke off, the kids heading to their homes while I headed to mine. Satine was still not back, not that I expected her to be. However, there was someone there who I had not expected to see.

Someone who I recognized even though I hadn't seen them for years.

Someone who was holding a young Ziopon in her arms.

My mother, Frauline.