Post by Ed on Jun 15, 2017 23:31:02 GMT
Life has not been kind to Ed. Or maybe it has? He wasn’t sure anymore. It seemed like he somehow was fortunate enough to fall under the grace of Scar back in the Pride Lands. He even managed to make a couple of good friends. Good times, hanging around his peers, chewing on rotten bones and laughing his sanity away - not that he had much sanity, but the laughter was never lacking. The laughter was crucial, pivotal to his being.
He remembered the laughter, back in his infancy. All they ever did was laugh. As they hunted, as they ran, as they talked to him, teased him, spitted on him. See, Ed was never the brightest hyena in the pack. Growing up, he could only rarely pay any attention to his surroundings before getting distracted, or bored. His mind was actually pretty fast, but seemed to wander around running in all the wrong directions. Focusing was hard, following the pack was hard. But life as an hyena was hard enough without having members of the pack running aloof and going their own way, so the pack demanded obedience, sharp minds and tuned instincts. And Ed, well, he could not provide that. It didn’t take long for the remaining hyenas from his original pack to catch on his difficulties in focusing, learning and generally being a bit mentally unstable. At first, they merely laughed at him. Teased him, mocked him, made him the unwilling jester of the group. But slowly, the teasing became more cruel, physical, ruthless. Ed had become the punching bag of his pack. At some point, he was being beaten, mocked and being generally thrown around like a piece of crap daily. Little by little, he broke. His abusive peers and their constant laughter consumed him to the point of insanity. They laughed, and he laughed back. And then he kept laughing, until laughing was all he could do.
Life as an hyena was difficult, specially in the winter. Prey was scarce and the cold was often lethal. During one of such unforgiving winters, the pack was desperate. They haven’t eaten for days and were starving - Ed even more so, as being in the bottom of his group’s hierarchy, he could only get the scraps of what the others allowed him to have. During one of that winter’s nights, as the hyenas were picking on Ed, he started to feel uneasy. Ed was used to being abused, but somehow he could sense that, that time, it was no simple bullying. This time, they were going too far in their assault. It was only when some other hyena addressed Ed as an overdue rotten meal that he understood what was happening. However skinny and weak as he was, the other hyenas decided that he was the best that was available to them. He would have to be the meal for the pack that night.
He never knew what kind of supernatural force came over him, but somehow he managed to start running. To where, he didn’t know, it didn’t matter. He had to run for his life, and run he did. He had no idea about how long or how far he ran until he collapsed in the middle of the snow. The next thing he remembered was waking up inside a dark cave, surrounded by his pack. Wait, no. This wasn’t his pack. Who are they? Where was he? Several questions were demanding answers, but all Ed could do was… to laugh. And he had good reason to feel merry, right? He was alive, still in one piece, and among a different pack of hyenas. So he laughed. And, for once in his life, he noticed the others were laughing with him - not at him. As time passed by, he was integrated into this new group. They seemed to not be bothered by his particular personality - or by his constant laughter - and actually respected him. Soon, he had made a couple of good friends and had made himself at home in what they called the Elephant Graveyard. He noticed that the others thought that he was a bit slow, even crazy - and they weren’t totally wrong - but unlike his previous pack, no one ever abused him because of it. He even had this sort of Lion boss, this Scar guy. He creeped Ed out a bit, and he never really liked following orders, but as long as he was treated with respect, he complied. The Lion boss’s aim was to become the king of this Pride Rock place, and Ed and his friends were instrumental in helping accomplish that. Ed didn’t really understand the thirst for power that the Lion boss seemed to have. He just wanted to live a life free of torment and devoid of hunger. But the Lion boss was… well, the boss, so Ed helped him succeed. And, for a while, he was king. Life for Ed didn’t change all that much, except that now he had a steady supply of food and didn’t live among elephant bones (he secretly missed the bones, he liked to spend hours chewing on them, it helped him relax). That life didn’t last long, though, as the former King of that place came back, and the Lion boss had to run away, and he took the pack of hyenas, including Ed, with him. Somehow, they all ended up in this vast, dense forest. But that also didn’t last long, as the forest quickly became engulfed in a weird smoke and then…
And then nothing. No memories of his past life survived the Evil Queen’s curse, only the most basic parts of himself.
Ed was still Ed. Not an hyena anymore, not that that bothered him. Like during his old life, he wasn’t the brightest head in Storybrooke, and other people tended to look at him with a weirdly pitiful, but at the same time scared, attitude. Maybe it was the laughter; old habits die hard, even while crossing realms. Ed had a tendency to laugh at the most inappropriate moments, mainly when he was feeling threatened or anxious. He also liked to make jokes. Really bad jokes, that made no one laugh but himself. Maybe it was his speech disorder. Maybe it was because he had spent so many years without talking, or maybe it was just the way he was built , but for some reason Ed had developed a stutter, which complicated communication with other people. Or maybe it was his militant veganism. Ed refused to eat or harm in any way other life forms (with a few exceptions regarding idiots). For some reason, he sympathized with the pigs and the chickens and the cows, and every other animal that Storybrooke’s residents treated as a delicacy. He thought about how horrible it must be to know you will be killed, chopped and served as a meal for dinner. He didn’t merely think, he felt it with a passion, as if he himself was the one being cooked (it was only after the curse has been broken and having his memories back that it fell on him why he thought that way). Or maybe it was his general posture in life. Ed viewed himself as a carefree, wild spirit, owning nothing to no one, unbound by materialistic temptations like money, physical possessions, or even a home. Other people just saw him as a mentally ill homeless youth, a tragic case of a troubled upbringing, they thought (not being totally wrong). But Ed didn’t care. Even before the curse had been broken, he still had memories of being abused in the past, and of aspiring to escape the chains of his peers, and now he had just that. Squatting between abandoned buildings and improved shelters, Ed made the best of what he had, while trying to find his old true friends and surviving this new world.
He remembered the laughter, back in his infancy. All they ever did was laugh. As they hunted, as they ran, as they talked to him, teased him, spitted on him. See, Ed was never the brightest hyena in the pack. Growing up, he could only rarely pay any attention to his surroundings before getting distracted, or bored. His mind was actually pretty fast, but seemed to wander around running in all the wrong directions. Focusing was hard, following the pack was hard. But life as an hyena was hard enough without having members of the pack running aloof and going their own way, so the pack demanded obedience, sharp minds and tuned instincts. And Ed, well, he could not provide that. It didn’t take long for the remaining hyenas from his original pack to catch on his difficulties in focusing, learning and generally being a bit mentally unstable. At first, they merely laughed at him. Teased him, mocked him, made him the unwilling jester of the group. But slowly, the teasing became more cruel, physical, ruthless. Ed had become the punching bag of his pack. At some point, he was being beaten, mocked and being generally thrown around like a piece of crap daily. Little by little, he broke. His abusive peers and their constant laughter consumed him to the point of insanity. They laughed, and he laughed back. And then he kept laughing, until laughing was all he could do.
Life as an hyena was difficult, specially in the winter. Prey was scarce and the cold was often lethal. During one of such unforgiving winters, the pack was desperate. They haven’t eaten for days and were starving - Ed even more so, as being in the bottom of his group’s hierarchy, he could only get the scraps of what the others allowed him to have. During one of that winter’s nights, as the hyenas were picking on Ed, he started to feel uneasy. Ed was used to being abused, but somehow he could sense that, that time, it was no simple bullying. This time, they were going too far in their assault. It was only when some other hyena addressed Ed as an overdue rotten meal that he understood what was happening. However skinny and weak as he was, the other hyenas decided that he was the best that was available to them. He would have to be the meal for the pack that night.
He never knew what kind of supernatural force came over him, but somehow he managed to start running. To where, he didn’t know, it didn’t matter. He had to run for his life, and run he did. He had no idea about how long or how far he ran until he collapsed in the middle of the snow. The next thing he remembered was waking up inside a dark cave, surrounded by his pack. Wait, no. This wasn’t his pack. Who are they? Where was he? Several questions were demanding answers, but all Ed could do was… to laugh. And he had good reason to feel merry, right? He was alive, still in one piece, and among a different pack of hyenas. So he laughed. And, for once in his life, he noticed the others were laughing with him - not at him. As time passed by, he was integrated into this new group. They seemed to not be bothered by his particular personality - or by his constant laughter - and actually respected him. Soon, he had made a couple of good friends and had made himself at home in what they called the Elephant Graveyard. He noticed that the others thought that he was a bit slow, even crazy - and they weren’t totally wrong - but unlike his previous pack, no one ever abused him because of it. He even had this sort of Lion boss, this Scar guy. He creeped Ed out a bit, and he never really liked following orders, but as long as he was treated with respect, he complied. The Lion boss’s aim was to become the king of this Pride Rock place, and Ed and his friends were instrumental in helping accomplish that. Ed didn’t really understand the thirst for power that the Lion boss seemed to have. He just wanted to live a life free of torment and devoid of hunger. But the Lion boss was… well, the boss, so Ed helped him succeed. And, for a while, he was king. Life for Ed didn’t change all that much, except that now he had a steady supply of food and didn’t live among elephant bones (he secretly missed the bones, he liked to spend hours chewing on them, it helped him relax). That life didn’t last long, though, as the former King of that place came back, and the Lion boss had to run away, and he took the pack of hyenas, including Ed, with him. Somehow, they all ended up in this vast, dense forest. But that also didn’t last long, as the forest quickly became engulfed in a weird smoke and then…
And then nothing. No memories of his past life survived the Evil Queen’s curse, only the most basic parts of himself.
Ed was still Ed. Not an hyena anymore, not that that bothered him. Like during his old life, he wasn’t the brightest head in Storybrooke, and other people tended to look at him with a weirdly pitiful, but at the same time scared, attitude. Maybe it was the laughter; old habits die hard, even while crossing realms. Ed had a tendency to laugh at the most inappropriate moments, mainly when he was feeling threatened or anxious. He also liked to make jokes. Really bad jokes, that made no one laugh but himself. Maybe it was his speech disorder. Maybe it was because he had spent so many years without talking, or maybe it was just the way he was built , but for some reason Ed had developed a stutter, which complicated communication with other people. Or maybe it was his militant veganism. Ed refused to eat or harm in any way other life forms (with a few exceptions regarding idiots). For some reason, he sympathized with the pigs and the chickens and the cows, and every other animal that Storybrooke’s residents treated as a delicacy. He thought about how horrible it must be to know you will be killed, chopped and served as a meal for dinner. He didn’t merely think, he felt it with a passion, as if he himself was the one being cooked (it was only after the curse has been broken and having his memories back that it fell on him why he thought that way). Or maybe it was his general posture in life. Ed viewed himself as a carefree, wild spirit, owning nothing to no one, unbound by materialistic temptations like money, physical possessions, or even a home. Other people just saw him as a mentally ill homeless youth, a tragic case of a troubled upbringing, they thought (not being totally wrong). But Ed didn’t care. Even before the curse had been broken, he still had memories of being abused in the past, and of aspiring to escape the chains of his peers, and now he had just that. Squatting between abandoned buildings and improved shelters, Ed made the best of what he had, while trying to find his old true friends and surviving this new world.
