Personal Narrative: My First American Civil War

It was early in the morning when I awoke; I looked down and noticed that I had still been wearing my clothes from the previous night and remembered everything that had gone on, from the prisoner and the pillar to my moment with Maia.
I walked forwards into the dining area and found Maia, Diana and Silas seated as though they had just finished a pretty serious conversation. I walked forward and sat down, bringing some pieces of meat that had been left over from the previous night and Diana looked towards me. She looked over to Silas and motioned for him to leave, which he agreed to, leaving the three of us to sit around the table in silence.
“About last night,” Diana said, leaning onto the table with her elbows. “I hope you understand that
we will try to interrogate the prisoner about anything more, but I wish to talk to the two of you about the previous night, after we had gone to the cell.”
I moved back, stretching my body and asked her what she meant. I was certain nobody had been around when we had our conversation, so I was nervous that this was some kind of taboo in the village.
“What I mean is that, you two should not go wandering off on your own, even if it’s just with each other. It’s just because of the fact that many of our villagers had vanished during the nights and everyone thinks that it would’ve had to be from the enemy. I hope that you both at least carry some kind of weapon to protect yourselves.” She said, standing from the table and walking out of the hut after saying one last thing. “By the way, I just hope that humans and Novans may be able to live together at some point.”
She walked out of the hut and left the two of us together with nothing but our thoughts and memories. We didn’t connect our eyes and barely made any noise, the sounds of the village’s children being the only noise to prevent us from going mad in the soundless room. I finished my meal and placed the place next to me as I leaned in slightly.
“I’m sorry,” I said, “I didn’t think that anyone was going to know about that, so please I hope you’re no longer annoyed with me.”
Maia simply shook her head in a silent response, before rising from her seat and walking to my side. She sat next to me and took my hand in hers.
“I don’t think that any of that had been our fault, after all we’re both outsiders here so how are we to know what the laws are.” She said, “What happened to us, wouldn’t mean much, although I do believe that we should follow Diana’s instructions and be a little more careful since there might be more Novans like the Chameleon. You know, now that I think about it, we might be able to figure out who the Chimera’s master is if we ask him, since he most likely works alongside with them.”
I nodded and we left the room, leaving the plate on top of the solid wooden surface in order to find our way back to the prison where both we and the Chameleon assailant had been imprisoned. We walked towards the massive tent in the center of the village and found the Mikra stood guard over the hole, leading into the subterranean shelter. He turned to us and grinned before walking forward.
“I had guessed the two of you were going to attempt to speak with the prisoner, so I waited here for you to arrive. If this being was able to be captured only after taking down five Hunters and three Sentinels, then you are going to need help in case he tries anything.” Mikra helped us down the spiralling staircase and led us to the stone chamber.
I walked forward, helping Maia down the crumbling steps, before we moved towards our destination. The prisoner sat in the corner of his cell, staring calmly towards us, and grinning as we walked towards the bars.
“Ah, my friends, you have returned.” He said, mockingly bowing towards us. “After I was left here by myself I never believed I’d see anyone else down here. To what do I owe the pleasure?”
I growled lowly and grabbed him, sharply pressing his face against the wooden bars. “You know exactly what we’re doing here, your ally is chained nearby and we want you to answer us about who exactly your master is?”
“My ally? My master? What are you yammering about, boy?” This was the confused response. “I do not have any allies or masters; I am myself and simply wish for freedom. I would never bow to some lower being, especially not a human or land-walker.”
Mikra and Maia both had to pry me from the bars and unclasp my hands from the chameleon’s throat. Mikra slammed me against the wall to try and get me to calm down.
“Listen, Nathaniel, you need to relax. He’s just trying to anger you, everyone knows about the age old dispute, even the young ones so of course he’s using that as he wishes.” He said, “Relax and go to speak with the Chimera, see if they’ll say anything else. I’ll stay here and try to get him to speak, don’t worry though, I’ll keep an eye on Maia.”
I walked down the path and I could just barely hear Mikra telling Maia about what had happened ages ago, since the first of our people were born.
“Your friend is quite – enthusiastic,” the Chimera said as I walked forth from the empty corridor. She turned to meet my gaze and spread her wings as she lay on the floor in a relaxed pose. “Tell me please, what did you do to get him so worked up?”
“None of your business, beast,” I said, baring my fangs at her. “Besides, he didn’t know what we came here to discover.”
She raised her eyebrows as rose from her daze, she moved closer to the bars and scratched against the surface with one of her claws. “And what, might I ask, would you be trying to discover? It wouldn’t have anything to do with me, would it?”
I stepped closer and looked at her deep, lavender eyes. They shone with what seemed to be hunger and curiosity, with a small mix of an emotion that I couldn’t describe, but seemed most like a faint lust.
“It might, the only question is: Will you answer our questions?” I asked, to which she chuckled slightly.
“If you answer mine.” She said, taking her hand from the wooden surface, revealing a small patch of stone within the bars. “All I want to know is, why exactly do you hate being called a Land-Walker?”
My claws twitched and I was tempted to slash them across her smug look, leaving a bloodied scar over her maw, but I kept my composure.
“We didn’t just have a war with your kind. You were our second; the first however was more like a civil war more than anything.”
I moved away and took a seat atop a single, small boulder across from the cage. “I wasn’t there when it happened, but my father told me exactly what had caused the dispute. It was back in the early years of his life; in those days the terrestrial beings, avian beings and aquatic beings all lived in villages together, some still do, despite what had happened.
“Back in those days, we entered into a dispute and no one knows exactly who threw the first blow. All we know is that eventually, the Avians began fighting with the Aquatics and when the Terrestrials had tried to prevent any major bloodshed, we were drawn in and eventually we wound up breaking apart, with many Avians and Aquatics heading farther north, with some Avains remaining behind, helping to rebuild from the damage. Since then, we never communicated with the lost ones and they’ve still held a bitter resentment towards us. They called us Land-Walkers, believing that we are trying to confine others to keep them as we are, remaining on the Earth rather than soaring to the skies or heading
overseas.”
“So, what do you call them?” she asked, clearly enticed. “I mean, I don’t think that this thing is acceptable, but still.”
“The Avians are called Beaks and the aquatics are called Wet Legs. I’ve always been rather pissed that there are people who won’t just let the past remain in the past.” I placed my face in my hands and ruffled against the fur on it. “They always have to bring it forth and inflict it on us, when we have nothing to do with it. Hell, I’ve even got a couple of shark friends, and my father doesn’t even care. It’s just a stupid racist feud that should’ve died years ago.”
She turned away from the bars and sat in the dirt by the bed. “It’s the same sort of thing where I was created too.” I looked up in surprise and turned to see tears beginning to stream down her face. “Not only is it split up between Humans and Novans, but when the Novans see us walking through the streets they call us freaks and horrors. I – I can’t even see my friends without having people spout those worthless things at us.”
She clutched her face and I saw that her arms were scratched and scarred. “It’s not even my fault I look like this, I can’t stop that, why can’t they accept that.”
Despite the fact that she might be dangerous, I couldn’t help myself. I walked forward holding the keys in my hand and opened the door slightly, walking forward and hugging her close.
She looked up, eyes slightly red from the salty tears, and drew me close as I rubbed my hands against her arms and she flinched slightly. I released her and she went back towards the bed.
“I’m sorry from what I did, but I was never supposed to disobey the master, without punishment.” She turned and pointed to her back, a large scar, slightly red from crusty blood lay across her spine between her wings. “We get this the first time that we disobey, the second time; we disappear and are never seen again.” I didn’t even bother reaching for it, knowing that this one had been fresh.
“Who exactly is your master?” I asked, hoping that I could get at least a slight explanation from her this time.
“I don’t know what he looks like; the only thing that I remember about him would have to be his name. He calls himself Doctor Chimer.”
I heard a gasp behind us and saw Maia, staring at us in horror. “That can’t be who your master is,” she said, clearly distraught.
“Why not, what difference does that make?” I asked, the response left a knot in my stomach
“Doctor Chimer is my father.”