'Who on earth had the genius idea to invent rocks?'

Luhan was running as fast as he could, his arms stretched out, stumbling every few steps. The sound of his own, racing heartbeat nearly drowned out the screams and fighting noises behind him.

'Run, as fast as you can!' his father had told him. He should have known Luhan would not be able to get far.

A muffled cry on his lips, the boy fell again.

Of what use was it, anyway? They would beat his father, they would find Luhan and it would not take them long to be able to use the stupid Tree for whatever kind of sick experiments it was necessary.

It was not until he heard a blood-curling scream that he turned around towards the direction he had just come from. He knew who the voice belonged to. He knew it, and he knew he was too weak to even attempt to help him.

Cursing, Luhan made his way back to the fighting scene. He would get himself killed before being able to do as much as shout his father's name. He doubted he would be worth being taken away as an experiment. He was useless.

"No! Leave him alone!" His father's voice again. They must have noticed him. It took them one single shot to take him down.

Luhan was ready for the burning pain of the bullet, however, the pain in his leg subsided after a few seconds. Feeling his face reddening with rage, he realized they must have thrown a pebble at him instead of shooting. Luhan didn't even bother to stand up again, burning with humiliation and hate.

"Let him go!" he shouted desperately.

All he got as a response was laughter. He had always imagined the soldiers of the Red Force to be brainwashed, soulless creatures. As it turned out, they were cruel, sadistic men who enjoyed nothing more than mocking a boy for his helplessness while making him listen to his own father's pained screams.

More stones. Insults. Nothing he wasn't used to already. However, until now, he had always been able to escape and never before had his life been endangered like this.

"Are you sure it's a boy?" asked one of them while stepping on Luhan's injured leg, making the boy scream in a higher tone. More laughter.

"I don't know, are you?" another one asked Luhan, one of the men at his father's side.

"He asked you something, brat!" the first soldier said. Luhan didn't answer.

"You're not deaf as well, are you?" Another round of laughter erupted.

"I'm curious," another one said and his shadow fell over Luhan when he knelt down to look at his face, "was it an accident or have you been a freak since birth?"

Feeling cold rage overwhelming him, Luhan let his head crash forward into the shadow that had covered his face. Proudly, he noticed he had hit the other's nose, probably broken it, according to his wailing.

"You bastard!" A fist came in contact with Luhan's cheek, knocking him from his sitting position to the ground. Someone stepped on his hand, and he screamed in agony.

The following minutes were a blur. The blow to his head seemed to have been stronger than what he had expected. They were hurting him, but he wasn't able to distinguish their voices anymore and his father's shouting, although he knew it had become louder, started fading as well.

Luhan's breathing quickened even more, he was in sheer panic. Was being blind not enough, did he have to lose his hearing now as well? The desperation and the rage, his fear and frustration that had been building up inside him had reached their peak, driving him to the point where he thought he might explode every moment.

In the exact same second, he suddenly noticed an even more strange feeling overcoming him. He had never felt like this before, he didn't even know whether it was a good or a bad feeling. He just felt as if all of his anger, all the hate had been let loose at once.

Only a split second afterwards, his head was clear again, and it was as if the soldiers had vanished. His hopes were shattered when he heard them shout, even though it seemed like they were panicking.

"Was it the boy? Did he do that?" a frightened man asked.

"Let's get away from here!" Luhan couldn't distinguish their voices, however, he noticed there was one missing.

"Father?" Luhan's own voice sounded far less manly than he had intended, but for the first time, he didn't care.

"What do we do with the guy? And the boy?"

"This guy is unconscious, let's take him with us!"

"And the brat?" He felt steps coming towards him, then stopping immediately.

"Wh- What is it doing?" Luhan didn't understand what they were talking about. Why were they so frightened?

"This is the boy's doing! We've got his father, let's go back!" No!

"Father!" Luhan screamed at the top of his lungs, but it was already too late. Their steps became faint very fast and soon, Luhan was left alone.

Not quite able to grasp the situation, he tried to collect himself. He needed to find out where he was. He had lost his stick long ago, but he wasn’t able to walk anyways. Slowly, and in pain, he crawled towards the location he suspected the Tree to be at. The Tree was the only "It" in proximity that could have frightened the soldiers to this extent.

He was right. As soon as he had reached the plant that had caused all of this chaos, he laid a hand on its stem, startling at the heat the Tree was radiating. His father had always told him that the Tree was special, and that was why they had to guard it, but he had never told Luhan why. Luhan hadn't been able to understand why a plain tree would be special. It had always occurred to him as, well, as a tree like any other. Until today.

Shivering, Luhan laid down between the roots, curling up his body, the warmth somehow soothing him in his pain. Soon, with no one around who might be able to hear him, he started crying.