BLACK AND WHITE

A cloaked figure ran through the darkness of the forest,stumbling occasionally along the way.The man underneath the hooded garment clutched firmly to a small wrapping in his arms,heaving and panting frantically having ran for half the night straight.Dawn was fast approaching,he feared.He would no longer be able to take advantage of the darkness. He glanced over his shoulder behind him.There was a mist trailing back into the nothingness and all around him.But he wasn't fooled.He was sure beyond all doubt.He was being pursued! He was a Yorkur tamer,brave spirited warriors who battled and harnessed the powers of monsters known as Yorkur using a electronic powered loader.His appearance under the cloak easily gave it away.He looked down in his arms at what he was holding and adjusted the piece of clothing over the most precious cargo,a baby!It writhed uncomfortably after such a restless night.Noticing it was about to cry,the man lovingly threw it over his shoulders and shook very gently."Its ok,little one.Dont cry.Its gonna be alright".Obediently, the child cooed and snuggled against the cloth and the older man, while he only smiled,joy momentarily filling his heart."You must survive...........you must!"he whispered. He raised his head once more straining his eyes in the darkness. Apparently he was at a cross road at this point. A path on his right lead down a trail while in contrast,the other path on the left led uphill.He had no defined direction so he hadn't much time to contemplate on which to follow.Trusting his instincts he headed down the trail,gravity causing to sprint as he jogged down. The wind blew coldly in his face and he doubled the layer of the blanket around the child as he went .The bruises and pain all over his body was registering faster than before. He groaned and staggered.He had narrowly escaped taking a energy blast head on from an enemy dragon.Tripping against a stick on the path he fell to his knees on the path,catching himself just in time before he fell flat.He immediately felt an overwhelming surge of nausea and he coughed painfully.Slowly,he crawled off the path to a nearby tree by the road.It was strong oak tree so tall its branches seemed to extend into the sky in the darkness. Its root rose off the ground,stretching all over.The fallen leaves made for a form of nest and the exhausted warrior found comfort on it leaning back on the mighty trunk of the tree catching his breath.As he sat there,heaving repeatedly, he contemplated giving up and accepting fate. He scoffed and chuckled at himself,shaking the thought off as soon as it had come."Yeah,right!Like I'd give up just like that.".He thought back to past predicaments he had been in and smiled to no one. "This is nothing........nothing, y'hear!Alright fate,I'm daring you right now!Ya hear me??Do your stuff once more,you ol' bastard!"he shouted into the darkness. The wind howled and the cold air hit him once again.He definitely couldn't stay there.He shook the baby once to placate it and mustering all his willpower, he strained against the pain in his battered body and rose up against the tree.He was about to head for the path again when his eyes caught sight of a dim light deep down in the darkness.Had that been there?,he asked himself.He glanced around to make sure he was alone and then made for the strange light With each step that brought him closer to the light,it seemed to get more brighter, more inviting, comforting.Soon enough, he reached a clearing where a small cottage sat peacefully among a couple of other smaller brick buildings. He approached steadily and cautiously, scanning for threats while he limped.The light that had called him over was a fire lit bulb standing on a wooden post,throwing light all over the enclosure. Stopping dead in his tracks as his eyes went to a sign hovering just above his head,he gritted his teeth,almost chuckling "You never disappoint,ol' bastard!You always know how to show off too.Yeah,you're just showing off again, old friend".Just above,the wooden sign read "JULIANNE MOORE'S INFANT SHELTER AND ORPHANAGE" A plan had dawned on him as soon as he saw the inscriptions on the sign.Looking around once again and confirming that he was alone,he moved over to the small wooden door of the cottage. It looked poor compared with the houses back in the city as it was mostly wood.For a second, he considered the possibility of what he was about to do being a bad idea but the uncertainty of his fate made him think twice.He laid the child by the step on the door,making sure it would be comfortable so it wouldn't wail out before he made his escape.The child seemed to be fast asleep and at peace and he started to tear up unable to let go of the sleeping baby. Why was he hesitating?He had anticipated something like this would happen earlier that day and thought he was mentally prepared to deal with it.He knew otherwise now. "I'm so sorry,little one!Indeed I am."He leaned down and kissed the soft forehead of the infant,his tear dropping on the child and lingering like that for a bit.He reached inside his cloak and pulled out a metallic box. A glowing fingerprint lock shone from one side of the sealed box.A small screen on the other side carried a short direct message,"16 years from today!". "I know it's too much to entrust this to you on your own and I regret these conditions. But I do not fret,little one!Fate is your friend already, and I already have confidence in you and what you'll do,I believe in your heart.I look forward to seeing the kind of man you grow up to be.I love you......my son!"Placing the box next to the child,the man raised his hands to knock on the door.And once again,he hesitated. He gritted his teeth as another tear flowed down his cheek. Was this really right?Was this really what he was supposed to do?.He had to do what his greatest philosophy in life had always taught him to do.......he had to trust fate and believe!A noise of footsteps from within brought him around and he realized he was still knocking the door.Quickly adjusting his cloak, he pull back a bit into the forest,the material blending perfectly with the dark so much that he was nearly invisible, while he watched a few meters from the house. The door pulled open and a young woman came to the doorway.The child immediately caught her eyes and instinctively she picked the child up the cold floor "Hey there, cutie!"her rich sweet voice whispered to the child.She noticed a box lying on the floor and she picked it up.A message displayed on the screen and after pausing for a bit she looked around the clearing but there was no one there. She scooped the child against her bosom and backed slowly into the house."Let's go meet someone, love". In the dark, the cloaked tamer watch painfully,the feeling of a precious treasure being stolen was overwhelming him.It was better this way,he told himself. He had to do the best he could to keep his enemies off this trail.He immediately fashioned a fake child with the helm of his garment and clutched to the ruse like he had done his child for more believability. Stealing one last glance over his shoulder, he ran back into the dark forest, up the same path he had come down from Meanwhile, inside the warmth of the cottage,the young woman carried the baby up a flight of stairs.Another woman,fat and short approached her ,sleepily. "Who was that this early in the morning?"she asked. "Isnt he just beautiful?"she replied, showing her contemporary the wrapped infant,his cheeks reddish and his brown hair curling against his forehead. The short women's eyes lit up."Another one?In less than a day!Goodness Julianne,what are we gonna do?Two children less than a month old are certainly gonna be more than a handful for us.....I mean...if we..." Julianne wasnt even listening.She walked past humming lovingly.She had fallen in love with this child."Look here,cutie!I brought a new friend for you". She lowered the infant into a small nursery bed next to another sleeping child the same age.They were quite similar in appearance,though the other child had golden blonde hair and they were both adorable to behold.He had been left on the doorstep the morning of the previous day roughly few hours from the same time this new child was left on her doorstep."My boys!"She smiled at the pair sleeping next to each other. Not too far into the forest,away from the cottage,a mechanical wheeled cage was pulling away the tamer into captivity surrounded by his enemy Yorkur tamers * * * * * * * * * * * *