Black and White

 The neutral zone was filled with blinding fog and wild grasses standing taller than a regular man's height. Without perfect eyesight and focus, one wouldn't be able to see him passing through the zone. He sprinted through the bushes and approached the wall to White. The grand wall of White stands tall touching the sky at the edge of the neutral zone, with its base covered among bushes.  He wasted no time, took out everything he had in the bag and start digging a hole in the wall. The wall was about 10 meters thick but it couldn't withstand the combined power of determination and advanced tools. Soon, a hole appeared in the wall and he had his foot on the land of White for the first time. And it was also the first time in centuries a Black had his foot on the land of White. He had reached out of my sight, beyond the wall of White. At this stage, I could do no help but wait for him to return from.  Centuries ago, there was a great war between the two races; Black and White. It was when the great walls of White and Black were built. Then, the war suddenly stopped, and the races stayed behind their walls. Since that time, the connection between the countries was cut. No one knew why the great war started or how it ended. However, they told that there was peace until the great war, and the people from two opposite lands lived happily. If they were true, I wanted to go back to that time, while peace exists between the two nations, not hate. I'd presented an idea of retaining peace with the White, but almost everyone at the parliament refused my request. Everyone except my brother didn't agree with my idea, and in my view, he made a positive vote for me just because he didn't want me to feel so depressed. He didn't seem to enjoy the idea of peace at all.  I took a glance at the hole he dug in the White Wall, but there's no trace of him, yet. To be honest with my feelings, I didn't like him much during conversations, especially during family gatherings. He kept gossiping I had a girlfriend. That day, I went out on a date with my friend at the King's cafe to discuss farther on the project we had been assigning. He got a photo of us laughing as we talk during the project, and then started rumours about her. I'd made a feast and requested him to stop spreading this rumour but he kept doing that. It's so embarrassing when my parents and uncles started laughing at it. It's not something to joke about at all.  I heard a noise coming from the other side. There's only one possibility; my big brother had returned from his great sneak up. Besides, I was sure he had some white visitors at his back, but we, blacks, didn't enjoy having white visitors. I took my periscope and checked where my brother had reached. "X-247, Y-136", I shouted and immediately, a big dark ball rose to the sky behind me and fell into the middle of the neutral zone. The white soldiers and he went into the big cloud of smoke, but the only who would be able to come out was him.  A few minutes later, a black muscular man in white disguising clothes came to see me at the top of the black tower. Before he could say a word, "Hey brother, was your mission fun?" I asked. He grinned, "If I tell you about my mission...", he paused to drink the glass of water I had on the table before me and continued, "you will be so jealous." I understood he was just calling for attention, but I wanted to hear the mission of stepping into the White land for the first time in centuries.  "I met the princess of White," he said, putting the empty glass down. "That's too MUCH of storytelling," I laughed. "Hey, I'm serious," he claimed. "There's no way. You just step into the margin of the White and how could you meet someone from the White royal family," I argued. "Just tell me you saw a few soldiers running for you." "Come on, she's so attractive. The most beautiful of woman-kind I've ever seen," he insisted. "My dear, please," I was laughing so bad.  "When I got to the White land, the light was so blinding that I could barely see anything. It was brighter than those lights you've trained me in the laboratory," he explained, "I can't imagine what would happen if I went there without training." "Of course, you owe me for it," I giggled. He laughed back. "I was blind walking and try to approach something that looks like a tree, then my left foot felt something, and the next thing I knew was my body being upside down floating above the ground. After that, I met the princess of White, and I asked her for mercy. Then, she let me go." I smiled, "Maybe that you stepped on a trap is true but that you were rescued by the White princess is impossible. To be honest, I don't think anyone from the White land won't rescue you anyway." He shouted at me, "Hey, it's not fair. You believed that I stepped on a trap but you don't believe a princess saved me." "Because it's impossible," I replied. When I was not concentrating, his hand grasp the coffee cup on the table. "Oh no, my coffee!" I thought. "Ok, I'll tell you the whole story from the very beginning." I let him continue his story although I didn't believe him because his stories are always my favourite. "She was sitting in the tall grass and singing a song. When she heard me, she stood up and walked towards me. When I asked her to set me free from the trap, she told me that the trap doesn't affect white people. I had to admit that I am a black guy, and then she asked me tons of questions." "So, how did you answered?" I asked. He replied, "I believed that she is innocent and that she was asking because she simply wanted to get to know about the blacks."  "Then, you told her that you're going to be the King of Black land in 10 years?" I asked surprised. He smiled at me, "Of course not. Even if I tell her she won't believe. I told her that I wanted to see what White land is like, and she set me free." I stared at him, "Wait a minute, was it that easy?" He gazed at the stars but answered nothing. "Maybe that storyteller also has secrets to keep," I thought. When it's time to return to the castle, he said he had something to take care of and stayed at the tower. The tower is at the edge of the Black kingdom; it takes about 5 hours for the fastest train to get from the tower to the castle. I knew that if he stayed, he would have to sleep there but I cared about my business, so I left him there without questions. I needed to be at the castle before dinner for two reasons. The first was to continue my research on the fallen stars and the second was to lie to my parents that he would be staying at a friend's house.   Mom and Dad were already at the dining hall, and as I had always expected, there were a few guests I had never seen before. According to the plan I did on the train, I lied to my parents and headed for my laboratory at the very back of the castle. Once I sit at my table, I was consumed by my work. I always loved my work than anyone else, which is also a reason I refused to get married. Besides, the subject that time was super interesting because it was research on things that were not born on Earth. There had always been a lot of legends about fallen stars; the most popular one says that if you wish and throw the star back into the dark sky, your wish will come true. I think I was over-focusing on my work, I didn't notice I had a visitor in my laboratory. I also saw my parents looking at me and my work.  "Hey, this is your cousin," Mom told me, "he said that he wanted to help you with my work." I was shocked; how could Mom do such a sacrifice? It's just three months since my last laboratory exploded, and my favourite assistant guy died. Since then, I worked alone, as long as I could. I said, "I'm afraid I don't want to accept him, Mom. This place is quite a dangerous place and you've known it. Just three months ago..." I paused. Both Mom and Dad looked at me with sympathy. I saw my cousin blinking innocently without knowing anything that happened.  "I don't want to sacrifice another innocent soul," I said as I looked at Dad. "It'll be alright, don't worry so much. Just put more effort and caution," he replied touching my shoulder. I had no excitement in having a new assistant. My parents left the lab room. Now, I would have to train my fresher man. The lecture was ended after a few questions with him. I felt so sorry I spent time with no farther research on my fallen stars.  My brother had returned and met Mom and Dad. I was sure he wouldn't let anyone knew anything about the sneak up as he was a great speaker like always. I left my little assistance at my laboratory with my previous letters of researches. He had a lot to learn about science and logic. Do you know my second favourite thing after science? It's walking in the abandoned forest, which is just next to the central city of the Black. I go for a walk there when I had a bad time or when I got rid of all the work or any conflicts. I liked it because it was very quiet and peaceful. It's more like an isolated place and worth to be titled abandoned. I wandered to the heart of the forest and left the other side of the forest. There laid a road connecting the central city and the second biggest city of the Black.  On the other side of the road, there was another forest, the Standing forest. It was considered the third biggest forest of Black, the Abandoned forest is the first and the second is the Ever-night forest. It was not too famous and it is just another abandoned forest. I loved it too but I hadn't wandered the whole forest like the Abandoned. My curiosity was leading me to go deeper into the forest. I wanted to leave but at the same time, I wanted to know what I would find if I got deeper into the forest. After a few hours when I decided to leave finally, I saw some white traces. There was no reason why there should be a white person wandering this part of the forest. "Mom and Dad know that I can protect myself," I thought as I followed the path which led me to mysteries.