(Author's note: I wish to thank my friend Fopfox for helping me edit this please go check out his stories here on Sofurry)

A Biography of a Human

Chapter One:

"Alexander"

I do not possess much that has survived from my childhood before I was taken except for a small Sketch of me that I've always kept with me in my pocket. It was done by my father when I was six years old and it is the only thing I have from back then, the only proof that I actually had a childhood on Safehaven in the first place. When I look at it I often wonder What has become of that innocent boy in the Sketch?

“Alexander!" A feminine voice pierced the foggy mist of my sleep; pulling me from the murky depths of my subconscious. A series of knocks on my bedroom door further shook me from the nocturnal abyss of slumber.

“Alexander, it's time to wake up honey!"

I felt a light shove on my back. My eyes opened at first they're blinded by the new day's light and it's a few seconds before they cleared up enough to see the face of my mother standing over my bed. I pulled my small body up and rubbed my still sleepy eyes.

Now, My Mother Sofia was considered by everyone in town including myself to be the real master of our home; her plain brown hair and eyes hid such a fiery, strong and dominate will that it surprised everyone. She handled everything from cooking and raising me to managing the finances of my Father's timber business. She was the one who disciplined me but she was never the one be physical with it though, whenever I did something wrong she pulled me aside and told me firmly why what I did was wrong and made me always make it up to her some way.

“Good morning mommy! Is breakfast ready?" I replied getting up out of bed, excited for this new day

“Yes it is sweetheart, you'd better get to it before it gets cold young man. But not before you wash up first!"

I quickly jumped up and scampered down the hall of our modest timber home, entered the washroom and proceeded to a basin of water sitting on a low table where we usually washed our hands and faces. A reflection of a round, chubby-faced boy with earthy brown eyes and medium-length black hair stared back at me in the water; I sometimes wondered, why couldn't I have gotten daddy's blue eyes instead of these plain old brown ones. I quickly splashed my face with water and ran downstairs and entered the kitchen with my mom following closely behind. I was surprised to see my Dad sitting at the table waiting for us as he Usually worked in the timber yard in the early mornings.

My father Vernier was a tall man, well built with jet black hair and piercing blue eyes; ironically despite his large appearance he has a weak will, blows like a reed in the wind when he had to make a decision on something, as well as being complete putty in my mother's hands. My father worked as a lumber jack and as the local timber merchant providing all the wood for building on all of Safehaven that is where his height and strength came in handy.

“Daddy daddy daddy you're still here! Why are you still here daddy!?" I ran towards him and he picked me up in his strong arms and sets me on his knee; I look up at him grinning from ear to ear.

“You've forgotten haven't you, little buddy? I don't need to work today it's the midsummer festival. I've got all day to spend with you and mommy".

“YES YES! Today will be the greatest day ever; will we go to the festival party daddy will we will we will we. Will grandpapa be there too will he will he will he. Mommy Mommy please say its okay for me to go please please pretty please I'm six years old I'm practically a grown up already Oh say yes please!" I pleaded winningly begging to go this years celebration It will be my first time if they let me go, all my other friends got to go last year and they were younger than me; oh come on say yes please. I look at both my parents as they exchange looks Between themselves. winning over dad was a piece of cake I could get him to do anything when mom was not around but getting mom to let me would be difficult. Finally the tension was silenced by my mom's firm voice.

“Fine fine fine you can go but you better behave yourself or else wont go again in-till your ten years old okay? do I make myself clear Alexander?"

“yes thank you thank you thank you your the best mommy in the whole world I promise I promise I'll be good"

“Alexander now will you eat your breakfast it's practically almost cold by now" I nodded my head and took a seat at the table with mom and dad, beginning to eat my room temperature breakfast. As I ate I turned to my dad.

“daddy how is grandpapa doing? Is he feeling better" my dad opened his mouth to respond but is cut short by mom.

“If by better you mean his cankerous suborn old self then yes he is better"

“honey not now please not in front of Xander please" dad nervously pleaded.

“excuses excuses you always defend that muley old man despite all he as done to you! Haven't you forgotten that time when you worked months on that cane for him after he trip and sprained his ankle or what about all the time he insults you Vernier you need to stand up to him!"

How could anybody forget the “cane incident" when grandpapa went all “sun-bomb" on daddy. One day grandpapa tripped and my father thought it would be a great idea to make him a nice cane for him. When he opened the box and saw it, it was like a volcano blew up. “How dare you; you in-grateful weak willed son, how dare you humiliate me with this and say I'm old!" with that he took the cane my father had spent months on and snapped in half on his knee and tossed it into the fireplace and said “Made a nice fire, at least!" and left; I too had to leave the room so I could laugh without making father feel bad. As I returned from my memories and to my breakfast and watching this metal jousting between my parents; mommy usually always won these arguments except when it involved doing something about grandpapa; poor daddy trapped between two volcanos.

I finished my breakfast and they were still arguing, so I got up and walked out of the room completely unnoticed by them and went upstairs to my room to get dressed for this new exciting day. I changed out of my simple cotton sleeping robe into a pair of brown pants and shirt with a scarlet poncho with a hood over the top decorated with symbols of good luck like eyes and mythical beasts to protect children from evil spirits.

I ran down stairs and peak into the kitchen, they were still arguing. I made my way towards our simple wooden front door and proceeded to open it. I was greeted by the newly born sun rising high in the sky giving forward it's life giving rays upon the lush green hills and reflecting on the sapphire waves that surrounds us and protected us from the harsh reality of the rest of the world.

Down below us was the main town on Safehaven. My family and I lived on a hill a bit outside of town near the forest and my father's timber yard. From here we had a whole view of our village: in the center was the church with its wooden edifice and two stone bell towers on each side of the front of it, my father had helped rebuild it after it had burned down in the years before my birth; in-front the church was the main market square where everything was bought and sold on Safehaven.

This day, I had hoped, would be full of fun and excitement or at the least it should've been normal day like any other but it wasn't, for the wheel Fortuna was just about to spin and the world as I knew it on Safehaven would come to an end.

Midsummers wasn't as exciting as I thought It would be. After my parents had finally finished arguing we went to the church. I was sitting on an extremely hard wooden Pew, my back was aching and I was nearly dead of boredom listening to the preacher droning on on about the 'Messiah who will free us'.

“Hear ye hear ye oh people. We come together here and now to rejoice and celebrate this years Midsummers. Though the world beyond us is infected with those spawns of evil with fur and claws. We are safe here spared by God and his wisdom so that we may celebrate this years Midsummer. But hear that one day he will come our Messiah, our leader, our Savior; he will come and rid the world of those children of evil! Sitting upon his white steed with his flaming lance in hand and he will usher in a new dawn for humanity and no longer will we have to hide away from the world and cower in fear from them!" His firm voice echoes off the stone walls and friezes depicting our Messiah's victory over the Anthros. I was so bored I found myself yawning, if I wanted to sleep I would've stayed home in bed.

Now I really did believe in the Messiah and that he will come and free us from those Anthros, its just I had heard this all before and it was getting old. I personally found grandpapa to be a better story tell than the priest, I just hoped the rest of Midsummer won't be as this boring.

As I leaned back on the hard wooden back of the Pew bench, trying vainly to get comfortable which was easier said than done. My God, dad helped rebuild this place why couldn't he have made the damn pews more comfortable, I really shouldn't think so bad of my father, he already suffered Enough between those forces of nature known as my Mother and Grandpapa. In the pew behind me I heard two whispered voices I couldn't help but eavesdrop them.

“Did you hear about the Anthro raid on Hopehaven?"

“Yes of course I did, do you know what exactly happened?"

“Well, I have a friend who's a trader who was the first person there after the raid and he heard the accounts of some of the survivors, they said it started like any typical day but there had been odd happenings the previous days, a few fishermen reported seeing a group of ships with black sails with claw emblems on them but everybody thought that the fishermen had been drinking a little too much and no one really believed them.

“Then what happened next!?"

“I was getting there, calm down! As I was saying, it was like any normal day till sometime in the evening a chorus of howls rang out. I was told it was absolute chaos; they came from out of nowhere grabbing those people who happened to be out at night left and right and killing those who fought too much. They then proceeded to torch the roofs of the houses and when those within who had been sleeping ran out to escape to the fire drowsy and half asleep fell right into the nets they had placed in front of the doors"

“Oh my god, that sounds horrifying! Then what"

“Well they took the villagers in Chains to the main town Square, where they began sorting the villagers like like they were cattle, they separated out the children and Adolescences and divided them equally in half and dragged one group of them crying and shouting for their loved ones aboard their ship leaving the other group of of them behind most likely as a breeding stock. So many parents lost their children and couples separated from one another it must have been terrible.

“What did they look like? Tell me, did they speak at all?"

“Not many got to see them very closely because it was dark and nearly everybody had been just awoken but they did say it was the wolves, tall and Fierce looking wearing plated armor and speaking in a Language that somewhat sounded like barks and growls, but their leaders did speak a mangled sounding English to the villagers when they were sorting them out."

Flashes of my old nightmares came into my mind and I found myself worriedly biting my nail and pulling at them. Hopehaven was nearby wasn't it? Would they come here next?. I needed to stop scaring myself so I began to think of happier thing and finally pushed my worries aside. They wont' come here, they can't, it's impossible. This was Safehaven it would always be safe forever.

Finally, after an hour and a half of preaching, the priest finished his sermon, mom and dad then got up and began to talk to their friends almost amongst other churchgoers leaving me to stretch out my aching back; They really needed to replace those Pews but then again if were Comfortable everybody would fall asleep during the sermon. Right then I felt someone poking me on my shoulder

“Hey there kiddo lets beat this boring place and have some real fun". I turned around and looked up and saw my grandpa Johannes, the patriarch of my family and of my life, with a face full of wrinkled, completely white hair and dark powerful eyes, he had a will that no one would mess with; he was fiercely independent and was as tough as an old leather boot. I jumped up and he pulled me up into his arms in a big hug.

“Grandpapa Grandpapa it you!"

“Of course it's me who else could it be but me". Grandpa Johan was more like my best friend than a grandfather to be honest. He never treated me like a child or talk down to me in patronizing tone like my parents sometime did.

“Grandpapa I have a question: is Midsummer's always this boring?"

“Well bud, we used to have a bonfire during Midsummers in-till some drunk fool got too cocky with the fire and burned the church down; That was before you were born. Now let's get out of here and have an adventure, okay?". I nodded my head joyously, grandpa then turned to another churchgoer and told him that him to tell my dad I going with grandpa and with that me and grandpa left the church passed through the massive oak doors of the building and stepped onto the main street of our village

We began walking through the market square, it was full of people from all around Safehaven and also traders from nearby islands here to sell their goods and also to buy our goods sell back on their islands too. There was just rows, rows and rows of stalls of multicolored fabric as to attract customers the same way a beautiful flower attracts bees to it's pollen, these shops were full of all sorts of things to buy. I have to admit I was getting a little scared all that noise the shoutings of “come come buy buy you will only get it here" of the traders, the yelling of bargaining Customers arguing about how they are being ripped off by the prices of so and so and also the fact there were so many people here so I grabbed grandpa's hand fearing that I would get lost in the swarming mass of people.

Grandpapa and I made our way down the rows of stalls looking at all the different things being sold grandpa would occasionally point out thing of interest like what a certain object was used for or where a fruit came from and such; we came to one fruit stall where I saw an interesting looking fruit or what I thought was a fruit. It was a yellowish, orange color, round and covered with a light fuzz, when I brought to my nose it smelt heavenly in a way I couldn't describe in proper words. I then felt my grandpa put his hands on my shoulder.

“They're called a peaches, Xander"

“Peaches? What do they taste like? Are they good?"

“Oh boy, they sure are! So sweet and juicy, would you like to get one, Xander?" I nodded my head and grandpa asked the shopkeeper how much they are the response grandpa got did not make him very happy and he began to bargain feverishly with him till the shopkeeper finally relented and let grandpa purchase it at his own price. Grandpapa then turned to me handing me the peach he had practically fought for and begin walking again.

“These damn traders are lying thefts. Thinking that because I'm old he can pull the wool over my eyes. I'll have them know Though I'm old I'm still as sharp as I was when a young Man!" Grandpapa said as his eyes were flaring up like a raging inferno.

“Maybe I shouldn't have ask for this peach. It wasn't worth fighting for Grandpapa" Right then my grandfather grabbed me by the shoulders, turning me towards him as he got on his knees to be level with him and looked at me seriously.

“Xander don't you say such things and Don't be so regretful. I was proud to fight for you my precious grandson. Don't be like your father in this way you must sometimes stand up for yourself and you mustn't regret in doing so Either or you with be trampled underfoot by others like your father is. Do you understand Xander"

“Yes grandfather I understand" I replied quietly to which he responded by getting up and releasing me from his iron grasp as we returned to walking through the market square taking in at all the sights, sound and smells of our small world here on Safehaven.

In one corner of market square was a temporary stage setup and a play midway through going on sounded by an eager audience. Grandpapa and I waded thru the crowd and found a place quite close to the stage to see the final act of the play. The play was an old classic about the coming of our Messiah who was played a blond haired good looking man wearing fake gold armor and the current scene was his final battle with the anthros who were played by three actors wearing crude wooden masks of a wolf, a fox and a bear sounded by extras playing human slaves wearing rags and chains. Then the actor playing our Messiah spoke in very deep broad voice

“Oh thou cruel beasts I give to ye But one chance to redeem thyselves in the eyes of God and the spirits. To free humanity from those cruel shackles ye put upon them." Then the actors portraying the three Anthros spoke back in erie unison while pulling on the leashes some of the extras playing human slaves were wearing.

“Hark hark Howls and growls Man shall be forever in chains" The Messiah pulled out his fire lance and threw it at Anthros were upon a great cloud of white smoke and sparks rose form underneath the stage enveloping the Anthros who begin howling in pain and clawing at the air before dramatically collapsing on stage.

A great cheering applause of the spectators all around us signaled the plays end, the actors and extras got up, removed their masks and moved to the front of the stage bowing to their crowed and thanking them for coming to see the play before exiting off stage and disappearing into a large tent setup behind the stage. With that the crowd around us dispersed. I begin feeling depressed about the state of the world. then upon feeling my grandfather hand rest on my shoulder I asked him.

“Grandpapa, the Messiah, will he come in my lifetime?" Grandfather then turned to me there was a little sadness in his eyes

“Oh little Xander you shouldn't think of such thing your still a kid. You mustn't worry your childhood away."

“But grandfather your not answering me. Do you think the Messiah will come and free humanity in my lifetime?" With that grandpapa got on his knees placing both of his hands on my shoulders.

“I don't know Xander I truly don't know. I have spent my entire life waiting for the Messiah and he never came. But I truly hope and wish he comes in your lifetime Xander" Grandpapa then pulled me into a tight embrace and continued on.

“Xander the world is tough for us humans it has been that way for thousands of year and the threat of the Anthros is always looming on the horizon just beyond the deep blue waters of our Safehaven" He then pulled back and looked at me with a face full defiance, his eye afire with power of determination.

“Alexander listen to me and listen well. I will always protect you always and when I'm dead and gone just look down at your veins and know that my strength flows through you. Please Xander always remember this always!" I replied back my voice cracking in sadness and my eyes blurring with tears.

“I will grandfather, I will never forget your words for as long as I live" He then pulled me into a final embrace that I will never forget even to old age I'm in now and I can still feel its warmth to this very day.

After hugging for what seemed to me like an eternity we parted and got up. It was late afternoon now and people were getting ready for dinner time, Grandfather was the one who first broke the silence

“Look at where the day has gone little Xander Its almost dinner time you better get going home soon or else I will hear no end of it from your mother" with that I gave grandpa a big hug and began to leave when then my grandfather called out my name.

“Wait little Xander I forgot to tell you something I'm going to go stargazing tonight would like to join me?"

“Sure! That would be fun I love going stargazing with you"

“I'll come and pick you up after you have eaten and go to the hill with the best view". I nodded my head excitedly and my grandfather smiled back. I ran up and gave him one last hug before sprinting back home for dinner I couldn't wait for nightfall.

When I returned home my mother was cooking dinner and father was tinkering with some wood out in the shed and as soon as I opened the front door my mother immediately dragged me to the kitchen and proceeded to interrogate me about what the “cankerous old man" did to me. Oh my Mother she never trusts grandfather with anything let alone me and the fights those to would get into of over such small thing like what plates look better with the food being served all the way to big thing such as how I was being raised and my poor father stuck between the two of them. Feeling that if I told mother about going stargazing with grandpapa she would say no and father would of course cave in so I decided not to tell her or my father and sneak out with grandpa instead. I knew we would both get in big trouble though when we returned home after they realized I was gone but I didn't care

After answering all my mothers questions and mother seemed satisfied with my answers I took a set ant the dinner table and waited for dinner to be ready. Looking out the window adjacent to the table and waited for the sun finish setting so the stars could come out and we could begin stargaze

I always loved stargazing with grandpa he once told me that the stars were the souls of the humans killed by the Anthros during the anarchy and that the brighter the star the more important the human soul, he said the brightest star Sirius was the leader of humanity who died gallantly fighting against the Anthro horde. He would also like to point out the constellations and tell me the ancient stories associated with them.

My train of thoughts were broken when my mother placed a plate of dinner in-front of me and called for my father to come in, he came in covered in wood shavings which got him quite the scolding from my mother who ordered him to go and change which he did without so much as a word of being upset. Finally after a few moments we all sat down and to eat our dinner but before we could begin we all said a prayer to god and his coming Messiah to bless our food and our home.

I was so excited to go stargazing the had a hard time resisting the urge to eat as fast as possible but knowing if did my parents would get suspicious so I ate as normally as possible all the while glancing out the window to see the time, it was just now getting dark so I ate a little faster and finished my food just as the stars were coming out.

“I'm so tired. Can I have permission to go to bed now mother" I said all while faking yawns for effect. My mother looked up at me and stared at me for a long moment. For a split second I thought I was caught and was going to admit everything while begging for forgiveness

“Yes, Alexander you may go to bed but first put your dish away okay"

“Y-yes mommy" I was in the clear. After Putting the dish in the sink with it's hand pump. I ran upstairs to my room to make ready to go out. Entering my room I first went to my bed threw of the cowers and begin place pillows and extra blankets into the shape of my form just in case my parents decided to check in on my.

After that I removed my shoes before leaving my room so as not to make any noise on the wooden floor. While making my way down the stairs quietly I decided to take the back door since the front door was too close to where my parents were still eating in the kitchen.

Finally I made it to the back door without any problems and putting my shoes back on since it was safe now and left into the night. I moved to around to the front of the house and walked ways down the grave path that lead to our house and began to wait for grandpapa. I really hope he comes soon I don't want to wait forever out here.

Finally the light of a lantern started make its way towards me. "It's him its him." I thought while running towards the light.

“Grandpapa grandpapa! Its you"

“Little Xander is that you!"

“Yes! Yes! Yes! It's me. I'm so excited Grandpapa" I said jumping into his arms which caught him off guard so much so that he dropped the lantern and the flame within being immediately snuffed-out upon hitting the ground.

“Little Xander you shouldn't do that! Now look at what you made me do the lantern! also your getting a little to heavy for me to keep holding you like this"

“Grandpapa are you admitting you're getting too old to carry me" The look on my grandpapa face after saying that was hilarious it was like he ate a lemon.

“No! No! I'm not old I just said your getting heavy not that I couldn't carry you that's all. Now lets go the to hill now okay" he said while putting me down and began leading the way up the path towards the rocky hill at the center of the island which was the best spot for seeing the stars in all of Safehaven, My grandfather and I knew the trail by heart so we did not fear getting lost in the dark without a light.

After a few minutes walk we found our self at the natural rocky terrace that we always go to stargaze and grandpapa taking a seat on a small bolder while gesturing to me to sit next to him on the ground after which me begin to point out constellations

“Look over there Xander thats Aquila the Eagle" He said pointing to a rhombus shaped grouping of stars in the north east that was enshrouded by the ethereal band milky-way; grandpapa then asked me if I heard the myth associated with it to I shook my head to which prompted him to begin to tell it.the myth was called “The Gladdening Prince"

“Once a long, long, long time ago long before the Anthros came in to being, before the great anarchy and before the cities of glass and metal in a faraway land which was called Phrygia near a great city called Troy there once was a young man who was a shepherd named Ganymede who was the most handsome, beautiful and graceful youth the world has ever Produced. It was Fantasized by those so enamored by him that his attractiveness was so great that his face caused fish to forget to swim, his voice enticed birds to fall from the sky, his skin so lovely luminous the moon would ellipse itself and a body so perfectly proportioned and Voluptuous it made the flowers wither up in shame.

So when the great god of the sky Jupiter's eyes befell this young man he was bewitched and love-smitten with this lovely Human mortal youth and thus desired to snatch him up for himself and so Jupiter darkened the sun so that all of Phrygia was shadowed and the Jupiter in the guise of an Eagle descended upon Ganymede with the sound of rolling thunder and lightning bolts perching in every which way pounced upon the terrified Ganymede taking him aloft in his talons and with great clouds of dust the youths parents crying out with outstretched arms around him Jupiter launched himself upwards soaring up higher and higher towards the stars themselves and placed Ganymede and himself among the heavens"

As I sat there laying back on a small bolder gazing up at the magnificence that is the stars and milky-way high above me like a dome of celestial splendor bearing witness to world below and its triumphs and tragedies and as my grandfather finished up the story I Thought of the lullaby my Mother always sings to me when I can't sleep as I look out my bedroom window.

Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
How I wonder what you are!
Up above the world so high,
Like a diamond in the sky.

When the blazing sun is gone,
When he nothing shines upon,
Then you show your little light,
Twinkle, twinkle, through the night.

Then the traveller in the dark
Thanks you for your tiny spark;
He could not see where to go,
If you did not twinkle so.

In the dark blue sky you keep,
And often through my curtains peep,
For you never shut your eye
Till the sun is in the sky.

As your bright and tiny spark
Lights the traveller in the dark,
Though I know not what you are,
Twinkle, twinkle, little star.

And as I lay there my young mind came to a realization

“My life is truly perfect here on SafeHaven it truly is, why wound anyone what an exciting adventurous life. This safe and humdrum life, were you live ones whole life in same village that one is born in this is the only life I truly ever want"

But then abruptly at that moment a sound preceded this perfect night, an awful sound which I still hear in my nightmares to this day and a sound that forever shattered my dreams of an unexceptional mundane life forever like a fragile piece of glass thrown against the hard rocks of fate

Howls