A few kiloters from the capital, in a small village surrounded by green forests. Splashes from the nearby waterfall faintly vibrated in the air. It was bright but a bit cold in the area.
"Die," a man stomped Sush right in the gut. "You lower-caste scum. How dare you touch the food?"
So other n also joined in to beat Sush up, while the others stared from afar. Not lending a hand to help him from this plight.
Sush protected his head with his frail arms, curling up like a ball to take the incoming attacks. Mud was caked on his face, cuts and bruises on his body. The blood trickled down from his head to his chin.
He wanted to scream for help but Sush knew it was useless and there was no one to help him in this world. He just wanted to eat sothing to satiate himself. His stomach had been growling since the last two days.
For him, this was frequent. He had no parents. They passed away a few years prior. He barely managed to survive with blatant discrimination in the village. Sush thought the discrimination would be less since the New Emperor was supposedly doing "so things" for the lower castes.
Nothing changed for him. His life was filled with pain and suffering to just exist daily.
After a whole lot of beating, the hungry sush dragged himself away from the village. He could barely walk without wincing from the injuries. He went to the place that cald his mind during these situations. A place that only he knew, all alone.
It was a small cave near the waterfall, a 5-minute walk from the village. He dragged himself to the cave. His frail, skeletal body was burning from pain. He could feel each sting in his arms and legs. His mouth had an aftertaste of the mud and iron.
The splashes of water cald him down. He washed his face in the cool water and his bruises and wound stung badly as he washed it off. He gripped his tattered rags and entered the cave.
It was the afternoon and his stomach growled badly. He wanted to eat more than ever. Sush had no strength to move.
Thoughts racing in his mind.
'What was he even living for?'
'Is there any worth in living?'
'Do I have to endure this badly just to live?'
'I should just… die.'
He just couldn't take it anymore. Everyone looked at him like he was a worm just to be stomped upon. Sush was always in pain and hunger, trying his best to survive. His little efforts to get better would be imdiately squashed by the upper-caste people.
The ti, he tried to farm so food for himself. The small plants he grew were destroyed by them. Sush's house was set on fire and he was forced to live without shelter for a long ti before making this cave his abode.
He walked up to the waterfall. He looked down from the top. It was quite a huge fall. Sush was sure he would die from the impact. His legs trembled at the sight below, pointy rocks awaiting to snap his frail body into two.
Sush closed his eyes,
Before he could jump, a voice rang.
"You want to die, eh?"
Sush opened his eyes, stopping in his tracks. He turned his head towards the source of the voice. A cloaked man sitting a few feet away, admiring the waterfall. He didn't see the man when he arrived at the waterfall. He just couldn't sense him.
"Are you sure about this?" The man asked, sipping so drink from his leather pouch.
"What do you know?" Sush asked angrily. "My life has been nothing but suffering."
"You are right! I don't know anything."
"Then?"
"But will this change anything?" The man asked, looking down.
"It will end my suffering!"
"At this height, you might survive!"
"Then you have to squirm in excruciating pain before succumbing to your death in the most painful way." He continued with a shrug.
Sush had no answer. He also didn't want to know the answer. He didn't know why this man was talking to him.
"What's your story?"
Was it because he was on the verge of death? Sush felt much more confident to speak his thoughts.
He began to vent his feelings and story to the random stranger. He told him about the discrimination he faced in the village. His daily life with no parents, no one to lean on as support.
It was pretty bad. This was his third village. He ran away from the previous two to save himself from the discrimination. He settled in this village, on the outskirts of the village and made his own little house, which was eventually burned down by them.
For Sush, it was the sa everywhere he went. It was almost natural that he would be discriminated against for his birth.
"NOW DO YOU UNDERSTAND!" He yelled at the man.
Despite his screaming and anger, the man remained calm and listened to him.
"I just want to die." Tears stread down his cheek, uncontrollably. "What did I even do wrong?"
The man looked at him nonchalantly. He took a sip from his leather pouch once again.
"Are you sure you want to die? "
"You want to suffer? Yes, you might. You might be like those upper castes." He lashed out, cursing at the cloaked man.
"If you want to die, just die." The man appeared close to him in an instant.
He was startled.
The man pushed him.
Sush saw the world blur before him. "No!!" he scread. His eyes were closed, bracing for impact.
It didn't co. He slowly opened his eyes to see himself dangling off the water. The cloaked man caught him just in ti. He didn't fall to death.
"See! You didn't want to die." The man said as he pulled him back up.
Sush's heart was still pounding uncontrollably, his mind racing. He looked down at his trembling hands and feet. He couldn't even muster a single ounce of strength.
"Dying is never the solution." He said. "Deep down, you want to lead a life of dignity and happiness."
"That's never gonna happen." Sush said, glancing up at him.
"Why not try? Living life to the fullest is truly beautiful."
"I can't do it... No one in my place can."
"They can. In fact, there is a big example in the Empire." He said, sipping from his leather pouch again.
"Who?"
"The butler of the Emperor is a lower caste just like you." He said. "He was beaten like you. Yet he managed to reach that position."
"Isn't that just luck?" Sush asked. "Everyone was saying that he got the position because of the Emperor's whim."
The man shrugged. "Even a whim helped him."
"And think about it. Could he have retained his position without any rit?"
"No…" Sush muttered.
"Precisely. You should look up to him."
The man who was trying to shatter the shackles of the lower caste and show the world they were equal and shall be equal to everyone.
"Why don't you try? What if you get a "whim" of your own?"
Sush had no words. The man he just t just gave him so life-changing advice. He didn't know how to answer. He just stayed quiet and thought for a while.
"You know what the best revenge in your state is?"
Sush glanced at him awkwardly.
"You standing higher than the "very" people that looked down upon you."
"Can I do it?"
"There is never a concrete answer to your question."
"Life is unpredictable. Just like you never expected to be here." He got up. "The chance you might be looking for might arrive at the most unexpected of tis."
"You have to be ready to grab it."
"Wha-"
He was interrupted. "What ifs are for people who have sothing to lose."
"You don't have anything to lose." The man said. "Just grit your teeth and crawl with all your might."
"That is the nature of this cruel world."
Sush didn't utter a single word and looked at him. His thoughts of killing himself faded. It was replaced with sudden hope by this stranger's words. He didn't know the man, nor his na. Yet he changed his life.
"What's your na?" He asked.
"It's better off not knowing." The man shrugged and rummaged in his coat.
"Your worth might be higher than you think."
Patting Sush's shoulder. "Try your best."
He put a small, wrapped banana leaf containing so food in his hands and a leather pouch.
"You can have this; you are hungry, right?"
Sush grabbed it with both hands. He was grateful.
"Well, I have to depart."
"Thanks." He muttered.
Sush could see the faint smile from the man. "Do your best; you will eventually find your way."
The man quickly disappeared into the woods. He took off his cloak and headed towards the capital.
"It was a great ti." Harsha said.
"I should visit so more places like these during my days off."
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