Three Sizes

All I could feel was water.

Cold. Being poured into my mouth.

I sputtered, choking as my eyes peeled open.

Instinct kicked in. I scrambled backwards and crashed my spine into a tree.

All before I could take in what was happening.

My eyes finally focused. I could hear chuckling.

"Aye what's he doing?"

"Don't wear yourself out mate!"

Other people? Here?

Perhaps there was hope still.

But the terrifying question surged through my mind.

Were they Gimen? Or humans.

Seeing as the soldiers claimed to have wiped out all the Gimen in the vicinity, I had already assumed the latter.

Slavery for me after all.

Then I looked up.

"Not to worry, we're not humans lad!"

The others burst into laughter.

I forced myself to look up.

Other Gimen.

How the hell is that possible?

"Couldn't you tell? Why on earth would a human help you?"

"Perhaps he thought it was poison we were feeding him!"

They uproared into laughter again.

I had a grip on myself now.

I finally looked at them properly.

Three Gimen. All dressed in blackened stained clothes that looked more like sacks.

One round and toothless. His gums flashing as he cackled

Another was lanky, with a neck so hairy it looked like a tattoo.

The third in the middle. Medium sized, tougher looking, leaner, More put together.

But all three had it.

The unmistakable green skin and pointy ears.

The mark of the Gimen.

What characters.

I finally remembered how to speak.

"Who… who are you?"

The laughter slowly died down. Now that I had spoken it was as if they had remembered something.

A flicker of solemnity. Just for a second.

"Aye, we're no one lad. Just the same as you." The lanky one spoke first.

Then the big one chimed in. "Indeed, who we are ain't important. Only what we can do for ya."

The third one now.

"Here lad, you look thirsty, perhaps we'll let you drink it yourself this time 'round."

He chucked his flask of water at me as the others chuckled lightly.

I caught it with both hands.

And then gave them each one final look. As though asking permission to guzzle the whole thing down.

The third man gave me a slight nod.

I ripped open the lid and started chugging.

The taste of heaven flooded into my mouth. Even through a dirty flask of water that for all I knew could've been poisoned or drugged.

I greedily drank every last drop.

Then I crouched down, breath heaving, my hands over my knees as I held the flask back out to them.

"Guh— Thank… thank you."

The medium one smiled at me.

"No problem lad."

A moment of silence followed.

They clearly had something they wanted to ask me. But couldn't find a way to approach the subject.

The big one spoke up.

"Aye, you've just come from that village just on the outskirts that-a-way haven't yeh?"

He was indeed pointing to where I just came from.

"Uh, yeah."

They all looked at each other in pity, but seemingly not surprise.

"But, uh, if you're planning on going back there, I wouldn—"

"Were you the only survivor lad?"

It was the medium one again. My eyes met his for the first time.

He knew. They all did.

Perhaps they had heard the lightning and pieced together all the rest.

But I had a feeling it was not quite that simple.

I looked straight into his eyes, and then put my head back down, as all the memories flooded back.

"Yeah."

He held his hands against above his head and paced around.

Not in shock.

More of a familiar frustration.

"Goddamn it all. I'm sorry lad. You were the last ones left for miles."

By now I was thinking to myself:

Are these guys from neighbouring villages?

How did they survive out here?

Why do they seem to know so much more about all this than me?

"What about you? Where have you lot all just come from?"

They all exchanged a glance.

I read it as: "How do we explain it to him?"

A moment of quiet as they all silently agreed upon what to do.

"How's about you walk and talk with us? We'll explain everything."

All three of them were staring at me.

It was as if they were trying to get a measure of me.

"Alright."

And so we slowly embarked. Walking a different direction entirely to where I had set my sights on.

For a while, nobody spoke. All that could be heard was the singsong of birds and the lanky guy in front hacking away at the vines.

The medium-sized one put his arm around my shoulder.

"So… how's about your name?"

My guard still somewhat up, I decided to respect his questioning since they all came out to help me.

Even when they didn't have to.

"Elias Sune." I replied. Portraying a smile.

"Sune. That's a nice name, ya know. A warriors name." He turned away and started peering at the trees.

Then he turned back to me.

"Tell me, Sune. Are you the last to carry that name now?"

I saw the game. He was asking if my whole family was killed.

"No. My brothers were captured. They'll still live. But only as slaves. I couldn't save them."

I paused to swallow down the shame.

"But they still carry the name Sune."

He stared at me. Some form of pity in his eyes. And then turned ahead.

"No. They won't."

What the hell does that mean?

"What does that mean?" my mouth followed straight after my mind.

I couldn't hide my frustration at that comment.

He stayed silent. His eyes still locked ahead.

"When child slaves are taken in. They're stripped of their identities. Because they're young enough to forget them. Their bodies are weak enough to break under the slightest pressure. Their minds are weak enough to mould into whatever form the humans see fit."

The thought of my brothers in that position made me physically ill.

The middle-size continued.

"Their brains are conditioned, Sune. They'll lose all sense of being a 'Sune'. All ideas of even having a family. Everything they once enjoyed, will be not even a fraction of a memory. The humans filter out their character. Everything that makes them your brothers, gone. Erased. And they stuff new ideas inside as replacement. Who their masters are. What they're meant to do in the morning. What will happen to them if they resist."

"There will come a day, Sune… where your brothers will look each other in the face, and not even recognise each other. Let alone you."

"They'll carry the names 'Slave', 'Gremlin boy', whatever else they come up with. That will be their new identity. For as long as they are captured, and even longer."

I didn't make eye contact. I didn't even move my head.

I just kept walking. Taking in these words. Letting the reality set in.

I had left my brothers to such a cruel fate.

Crueller than I could've ever imagined.

I had ran away as my younger brothers would lose all of that.

The playful loving siblings I had grown up with were going to disappear.

I should be suffering with them. In their place, especially.

Why is it just fcking me left?*

The middle-size turned back to me.

"That's why I'll call you Sune."