Post by Chile on Apr 20, 2011 13:18:48 GMT -6
Eduardo peeked from behind the trees, his dark skin offering him concealment. Only his dark green eyes could be seen if one looks hard enough, bright emerald-like orbs glinting in the morning sunlight peeking through the heavy forest.[/i]
The strange big vessel of something drew nearer to the shore, alarming his people by the minute. As a child, he could do nothing but watch as this strange… something landed on the shore, and out came strange white men, their skin as pale as the clouds up high in the sky. They looked unusual, too white to be even considered human. They walked on two legs too, so maybe they were…?
His natural childlike curiosity wanted him to come nearer and inspect the strange men and their strange contraptions. But his shy, apprehensive, and careful side prevented that from happening. He continued to let Mother Nature hide him, her protective arms wrapping around him like an impenetrable shield. He would have to wait, to see if these white men were hostile, or helpful.
Just as he was about to head back to where his people resided, his stepped on a branch, snapping it in half. He gave out a small, suppressed yelp as he stared at the branch as if it was a monster. He quickly looked back, panicking now, not knowing what to do, as one of those men drew nearer.
His first instinct was to run. Run, and run, and run, as fast as he could, as far away as he could, before the strange being even reached him. But part of him wanted to stay, to see whether or not this man was someone who would hurt them. His green eyes turned up to look at the strange man, examining his face, taking in what he looked like.
"Hello there, little one." The man droned in Spanish, a language he didn't know. But he liked the sound of it, the way they pronounced every letter. He stared up at him, watching his lips move, almost wanting to touch them, but his fear of being burnt or struck down persuaded him to keep his hands to himself. "You probably don't understand me, don't you? Here, why don't you have some?" He stared at what the man offered him. A weird… thing. He didn't know what it was. He took it with both hands, smelled it all over, and decided it was edible, so he took a bite. It tasted weird, so he threw it on the ground, and ran. Run as far away from the strange man and his strange-tasting… thing.
For a while, he had hoped that the strange white men wouldn't find his people, and they never did, for they were very much farther into the forests. As he saw their strange white vessel leave, he breathed out a sigh of relief. He won't be seeing them again.
That's where he was wrong. He saw them again, some years later. He didn't know how much time has passed by then, but… he could never forget that strange vessel, and those strange faces. At twelve years old, Eduardo has grown up to be 5'2", a bit tall for his age, with a toned body from spending his lifetime living in the forests. He climbed up a tree stealthily, choosing to observe from high above this time, so that none of those strange men could see him or get to him.
This time, though, he sensed something different in the air. It was as if… the wind was telling him something bad was going to happen. And sure enough, as he saw those men alight from the strange vessel they had come in, they had a contraption on them that he hadn't seen from the first batch of strange men that landed years ago. Some long black stick, only it wasn't really a stick. He sensed hostility, impure intentions, the kind of air he senses when an enemy tribe comes to invade.
Invade… Invasion! He was planning to invade his people! He must go warn them! In his hurry, though, he had fallen off the tree, the first time he has in many years. He had a bad habit of panicking in bad situations, and this was one of them. But, from the distance he had fallen… he found that he couldn't run fast enough, for he had a limp. He didn't know what he broke, but it hurt as hell to put his foot down. But still he strived to get up, and limp as fast as he can back to the camp.
When he got there, the strange white men were closing in on them. He gathered everyone and shouted in a panicked voice, "The strange white men are coming, armed with strange black sticks! Assemble, everyone! Let the women and children flee! Men, stay as warriors and fight to the death!"
And sure enough, when the strange men came, they pointed their strange black sticks at them. Wondering what good that would do, Eduardo shouted for the men to surge forward (and why they followed him, a twelve-year-old? He was well-toned and built, and acted mature. And he was their spy, their caretaker, and their leader, even from when he was a kid). All was going good, until a loud explosion of some sort startled all of them. One of his men fell! From those strange black sticks! What witchcraft is this?!
The battle continued on for some hours, after he found half of his men dead and none of the strange men harmed. There were only a couple hundred of them. This was ridiculous. Eduardo growled, and with frustration and agony and anger, he threw his spear towards one of those strange men. It pierced one of them smack dab through the heart, and for a while, he felt satisfaction. Until he realized he was completely unarmed, that is.
Shouting for a spear from one of his men, one man handed him one while he shouted in their native language, "Start throwing your spears! Aim for the heart!" This they all did, but they barely managed to hit anyone, not being trained in throwing their spears at their opponents in combat. The strange men fired and fired and fired those cursed black sticks of theirs, felling his men one by one until only a few handful are left.
And he knew that he had no choice but to surrender. But he wasn't going down without a fight. As soon as one of the strange men approached him, he took the knife attached to his waist and lounged for the man. But before he could reach him, he had the strange black stick pointed to his face, ready to be fired. He had no choice but to growl in defeat, and toss the knife to the side.
---------------------------
Still many, many years later, his whole land was already taken over by these strange men. Spanish, as they are called. He had been forced to learn their language, to learn their ways, to give up his "barbarism" and "savage ways" and become more "civilized". While in some ways he was thankful, well, none of these were helping him, really. They did better before the Spanish came. Now, his proud people are reduced to being the poorest part of a big empire. And that irked him.
Which is why, during these times, he never did talk much. Nor did he follow orders. Nor did he respect authority. He was more passive-aggressive, shy, quiet, and did not talk much. He preferred to keep to himself, to scheme how he would get out of Spanish rule one day. That was more worth his time than anything.
The streets were filled with people this morning. As usual, Eduardo had once again escaped his duties, something that happened far too often that he was just left alone. After all, he was fourteen, and there was no need for a kid like him to perform various government duties.
As he was walking down the road, trying to be as inconspicuous as possible, he bumped into a woman, a mestizo, from the looks of her. She glared down at him haughtily, and being the shy, quiet kid that he was, he slipped away without saying anything. And she was a woman- women are supposed to be respected, because he was a gentleman. He's going to show these Spanish what "civilized" really means.
There was still a revolution to plan, though-- he really wanted to be free from Spanish rule. He did not want these… these invaders to be in his own land anymore! He had to break free the chains of colonization… But he didn't know how.
Though all of his bosses knew that he is the representation of their country, being fourteen, he is still but a kid in their eyes. Even though he really stands at 5'5", tall enough to be an average-sized adult. No one would listen to him. And because he didn't really know how to talk back (he only knows how to disrespect and not follow authority through passive-aggressive tactics), he never really did defend his ideas, try to kindle a spark of revolution amongst the elites. Of course, he didn't know that many years later, the revolution would start from the elites. But right now, it was far too early to determine such things.
However, he had to try again. Trying to calm his rapid heartbeats, he wiped his sweaty palms on his pants before pushing the door open to the room where the elites always converged. Perhaps the reason they haven't listened to him… is because he always stammered whenever he got up to speak. He hated speaking in front of other people, and this weakness of his always bothered him.
"May… may I have your attention, please…?" Eduardo spoke up, barely audible, stammering here and there. He was looking down at his shoes, refusing to meet anyone's eyes, for fear that if he does, he's going to forget everything that he wanted to say. "A-about fighting for… for independence…"
"Really, Eduardo, that topic again?" Said one of the men, obviously having heard of this before, and now exasperated. "Didn't we agree to give up this talk? We aren't going to fight for independence. What's the use? The Spanish Empire is far too powerful to go up against. They're far more superior than the rebels we can gather, if we even gather any, and they'll crush us and pummel us like a kid squashing an ant between his two fingers. Don't you see? It's useless. It's better to be absorbed into the Spanish Empire, rather than fight a losing battle and lose the lives of many men for nothing."
He was right. The arguments of the elites always got into him, and afterwards, he could never talk back. He had no regard for authority, yes, but that doesn't mean he can just outright disrespect them. He sighed and went out of the room again. He really had to overcome this fear of his, fear of making himself be heard, fear of going out there and making a fool of himself. He wanted to be more outgoing, not this shy, weak creature that he had become.
He knew that was going to happen someday. He just didn't know when. But it was going to happen.[/blockquote]
