That feeling once more

As he awoke, silence greeted the boy's first sense of consciousness. Silence enveloped him and his surroundings as though it was a close friend. If silence was his friend, the shadows were his ally as they crowded around his vision. They guarded him tightly from the unknowns of his surroundings.

"Who, who am I?". 

Verbalizing his thoughts for what was likely the first time, a soft yet heartfelt smile fell upon the boy's face for reasons even he failed to grasp.

He sat up for the first time in what appeared to be a soft, cosy box hidden by the darkness. Carefully, he swung his legs over the side of the shrouded box, as he touched the very ground for the first time. His foot endured the cold embrace of the floor.

"I don't remember anything, but wasn't there..." Verbalizing his thoughts to no one in particular, the boy stood for the first time, only to find himself completely capable and knowledgeable of walking. Even the cold stone beneath his soles failed to startle him.

Like a hurricane, his thoughts spiralled to things mostly trivial, his mind liberated. He realized that, at some point, he'd had his very first thought without even realizing it. These were also the first clothes he had ever worn. Looking down, the darkness hid his attire's colour and style. All he knew was that his clothes felt both comfortable and fitting.

"Ouch."

Shortly after taking his first steps, he stubbed his toe on something inconveniently placed in the centre of the room.

"Ouch"

 A second object halted his path, "ah", and then another. The room was filled with yet visible boxes. This discovery filled the boy with curiosity as he tip-toed around and in between them curiously. 

The boy was torn between both investigating and escaping this place he was confounded to. As his eyes adjusted to the darkness, the boxes became faintly outlined and avoided. He began stumbling around where he only assumed the exit might be.

"Creak".

Startled by a noise behind him, the boy froze. Soon after, an emotion, one that felt familiar, struck him. An emotion that discarded and replaced his childlike glee. A surge of anxiety.

The claustrophobic darkness of the room and only the slightest noise had quickly evoked anxiety within him. His casual attitude was nowhere to be found as he frantically sought an exit, scampering around like a wild caged animal.

'Something! Is there something in here with me.'

This only led to him tripping and hitting his head on the sharp, cold cornerstone of one of the many stone boxes littering the room. A small wound opened on his forehead, and after falling to his knees, an unprecedented red liquid began to drip slowly onto his hands.

His mind was briefly taken away from his perilous situation. Instead, he studied the strange red liquid that now lightly coated both his hands and head. Returning to his senses, he raised his head only to squint at the outlined flat wall in front. Adorning the wall, he noticed a strange circular shape that protruded outwards. He slowly reached out to that shape, only for it to be yanked away from him.

The wall, as though stolen, was now replaced with bright, beaming light that shone on the boy, violating him and his darkness. The light stunned him as he fell back onto the cold surface, looking upwards at the revelation in front of him.

Two men dressed in shiny metal-like garments stood in what anyone else would recognize as a doorway. Their naked faces revealed terrified, panicked expressions to the boy, which they shared with one another in tandem.

After a very awkward silence, the men broke the stalemate in sync. One fell gently to his knee, whilst the other, upon seeing the state of the boy's head, raised a shaky hand to help him up. The guard who put his hand out spoke up, "Good morning... wait, uh I mean, uhhh, welcome, maybe". The kneeling guard gave a look of second-hand embarrassment at his associates' clumsiness as the boy switched between looking at each guard.

The standing guard's gaze anxiously scanned the room behind the boy until his eyes fell upon an engraving that caused him to visibly shiver. His shaky figure outstretched a hand that pointed and directed his partner's gaze to a recently opened casket with prominent engravings.

Acknowledging his partner's shock, the kneeling guard shared a brief but anxious glance with him. After gathering his thoughts concisely, he spoke to the boy for the first time, "I know you are confused right now, but if you would just come with us, I'm sure someone more appropriate will explain what or who exactly you are."

The boy, afraid of conversing with either guard, returned to his feet without taking the other's hand. There, he froze stiff as anything. After some time, he said, "Um, you know, who, who, I?"

Both guards, upon hearing the boy's response, displayed visible relief that the boy seemed at least capable of conversing. "Yeah, no wonder you want to know who you are, right? No sweat, kid, come with us. We'll deliver you to someone who can answer your questions, maybe patch up that head of yours."

The more composed kneeling guard stood, ignoring the boy's question. The other, however, remained concerned for the boy and the rejection of his still outstretched hand.

The pair began to walk away from the building slowly, providing the boy ample chance to get moving. Only for them to notice the boy's rigid posture as he looked timidly at the light from inside his darkness.

The unknown, there was so much he didn't know about what was outside. Could he so simply leave the only thing he had ever known? and trust these strangers?

The brief anxiety-ridden time inside the room now paled in comparison to what the boy feared could happen in whatever the outside world was. He was unwittingly informed, yet utterly clueless about the world. So he simply stared, aimlessly.

Needing one last push, he looked over to the concerned looks of the guards shortly ahead, who closely kept an eye on him. If he didn't leave, maybe they would retaliate. Perhaps they'd hurt him just like how he had cut his head. Spurred on by this anxiety, he turned to look back at the room he would soon leave one last time.

He finally realized.

The room, the boxes, they were not empty. They were full of people. Girls, boys, even the occasional man or woman amongst them. They likely numbered close to a hundred, three of which remained empty, including his own. The inside of the boxes looked soft and comfortable, but the outside was cold stone, causing them to appear like coffins.

Only now did he realize what it was he had woken up in. One of these eerie, cold confinements.

The guards were distressed by the boy's listless stare. They watched as the fear and confusion fought for dominance in the mind of the boy who stood as a witness for some time. The guards silently elected to hold off on invading the boy's space, kindly giving him a little time to stare at the strangeness of his origins. 

Before the stricter, more composed guard could issue an instruction, the boy swiftly turned and walked out of the stone enclosure, finally taking his first step outside. Clearly, he had decided the disorienting sight behind him couldn't possibly be worse than what awaited him outside.

Acknowledging the boy's resolve, the guards began to lead the way once more as they distanced themselves from the harrowing sight that played in the minds of all three. In the few minutes the boy had spent staring at the innards of the enclosure, a soft orange sky had fallen upon and observed the backs of the group.

They headed up a path towards an incredibly large pointed building, which the guards referred to as the 'castle'. The orange morning sun now hid behind the large structure that had cast a sharply pointed shadow across the group as they closed in on the 'castle'.

Whilst the guards nonchalantly walked towards the castle, the boy found himself mesmerized by the orange sky as he stared up at it, fascinated.

As though scripted, both the guards turned around in sync and stopped, causing the boy to walk straight into the back of the awkward guard. 

The guards didn't flinch even an inch and remained fixated on the source of the disturbance, alerted by the sound of nearby footsteps. Following their example, the boy also looked behind, huddled between them. What he saw was a man approaching them only a short distance away.

Many things stood out about the figure that approached them, the most concerning being that he was approaching them from the exact direction they had come from. This caused one of the guards to verbalize this concern.

"Wait, where in the hell, did he?".

As the man approached further, the guards, again in sync, fell to their knees. But this time was different. The purpose was not to coddle and cater to a frightened child. But instead, their act was one of subservience. Respect.

Upon closer inspection, the man had little to no exaggerated characteristics. The boy was already very capable of telling either guard apart by their animated actions and words, not to mention their distinct arduous scars, but the boy noticed little to no abnormalities in the one who approached them. If he were to choose one, however, it would have to be his jet-black hair that seemed entirely out of place in the morning's light.

A bright smile adorned the man's face. No, not man. He was young, older than the boy, but still significantly younger than the guards that accompanied him. Despite this, they remained kneeling, unflinching from their vulnerable position. The dark-haired boy, noticing this, softly addressed them. 

"Stand. So I am correct in assuming he is one of mine?"

Leaving his question open-ended, he waited for an affirmative response. 

"Yes, that's right, my lord".

"Oh... good, thanks for helping him out on my behalf. The whole experience can be quite daunting after all. Am I also correct in assuming who exactly he is?".

"Yes my lord. Its as it seems," the more serious guard, understanding what was being asked, once again spoke up for his peer in affirmation in an increasingly tense manner.

The youth's eyes widened, and ever so slightly, his lips curled. 

"Hah, ha, I knew it; I had a look myself after all; it was just a little hard to believe... well, ok, then, I guess none of us expected this today."

He let out a genuine, kind smile accompanied by a chuckle, content that his questions had been answered affirmatively. Looking at the young man, the boy felt something stir inside him. Eased by the Black-haired youth's kind demeanour, he voiced his concerns again.

"Can you, can you tell me who am I? no, tell me wha-"

The man hastily interrupted him, "What am I? Where am I? What am I doing? What should I be doing? And why should I be doing it?. That's what you're thinking, right?."

The boy fell silent as the young man in front of him proclaimed his thoughts decisively with minimal error or hesitation.

"So now you're probably thinking, how did I know that? well, it's because we are the same after all." 

The boy felt shocked, and then something more familiar, a faint but pleasant feeling, started to rise within him.

"Were the same", the boy uttered, enamoured by the idea.

The young black-haired man smiled upon seeing the boy's face light up, 

"Yes. It's true I was just like you at one point, asleep, indefinitely. So I also know how you feel. There's a name for people like us, we are, 'blessed'."

With his back to the orange sun, as it decorated him and his black attire with amber light, the boy felt a familiar sensation. Once he was no longer alone.