Petoux
01-17-11, 06:09 AM
A cold wind blew through Dheathain as the midnight moon shone full through the clouds. It was the middle of the “day” in the human city of the dark land, and people were bustling about with so many different things to do. Shopkeepers called their products out to the city folk and people flocked to the bustling stalls that held everything they wanted but didn’t need. One small figure that didn’t bother going near the stalls walked down the center of the hard-packed road. She was fairly short and covered head to toe with a dull white robe that she kept pulled tightly closed. A white hood covered her face, but even with so many precautions there was still an area that opened up around her as she walked.
It may have been the dull shine in her eyes, lifeless yet still living, or it might have been the fact that those looking at her face could see the white hood behind it. She wasn’t a ghost, though that’s how she felt- lifeless and empty. Her maroon hair fell through the area between hood and cloak, reaching a small ways past her slumped shoulders. Her light frame could have used more protection than the cloak offered, but she did her best to ignore the oppressive cold. She walked with a slight limp in her right leg, her mind failing to register that there was absolutely nothing wrong with her thigh. She instinctively reached her right hand down and rubbed the area that had felt like it had recently been torn off by the jaws of a dragon, half grimacing as her fingers touched skin that was tanned slightly.
She was a good fighter, the one who came in at a disadvantage and managed to win a legendary task. Reaching a small hand over her back, she grabbed hold of the weapon that lie there and brought it in front of her.
“Pardon me, little miss, but you can’t have that out in the city.”
Turning to face the remanding voice with an empty stare, she almost didn’t recognize the uniform of the city patrol. It truly had been a long time since she had been in this city.
“Right… thank you sir.”
Dropping her short sword to the stone road, a dull scraping sounded underneath the busy traffic as she resumed her trudging aimless walk. She didn’t know where she was headed and quite frankly she didn’t care. All she knew was that she had to keep moving. The last time she stopped, even for such a short time, she had been whisked away and cheated out of her victory. If she kept moving… no. Who was she kidding? She had been whisked away by one of the guardians of the realm; whether or not she was sitting or standing, moving or stationary didn’t matter at all. Falling to her hands and knees in the center of the road, moist drops began to accumulate on the ground directly beneath the corners of her eyes. Why was she so weak? She couldn’t cry… but stopping the tears from flowing was just as impossible as trying to stop her body from heaving from her sobs.
“Why do you cry, young one?”
Wiping her eyes with the cleaner inside of her cloak, she took a small square of fabric and pressed it against her nose. After clearing her sinuses, she turned her head to look at the stranger speaking to her. The woman was kneeled down on one knee to place her head closer to the crying elf’s face. She had a warm smile and a pretty face, two things that she had not seen in many, many years.
“I’m weak.” An image of her fight against seemingly overwhelming odds flashed through her mind. Her sword was heating itself in the fire with a log stuck on the point. “Sometimes I feel I'm not strong enough to do anything. Sometimes, I feel that I don’t deserve to live. Extreme I know, but everyone feels this way sooner or later.”
“If you were so weak, why have you chosen to fight?”
The girl was about to answer, but something stopped her. She hadn’t said anything about fighting, let alone being chosen for a tournament. She thought about bringing her sword up to force the strange woman to back away from her, but that would be considered assault at best and the watchman was probably still keeping an eye on her.
“How do you know me?” She asked weakly.
“Dear Sara…” The woman’s warm face was intoxicating, almost hypnotic. “Did you truly believe that you were the only elf sent to this world?” The woman placed her soft hand on Sara’s forehead, and the younger girl’s eyes quietly slid shut as she fell into a magical sleep.
~*~
“What is this place?”
Sara was standing in the middle of an absolute white void… or at least she would have been standing if there had been any ground under her feet to support her. Two white ethereal wings at her back flapped lazily as they kept her aloft in the endless expanse. “Moving” one way or another was done by slightly changing the angle of each wing’s stroke, but the only indication of motion was the fact that she knew she was moving. There was no sensation of speed; no wind blowing across her face to give any indication that she was moving at all.
“So you’re awake, little Sara.” The same woman’s voice from before echoed throughout the empty space around her. “I was beginning to wonder if you had forgotten how to dream.”
Looking around, the younger girl tried with all her might to find where the voice was coming from.
“Who are you? What do you want from me? Why… Why am I here?”
The woman’s voice laughed a gentle, melodious sound that in any other situation would have been soothing. Under the circumstances Sara was in, however, it was a laugh that was hiding something important.
“I am Celes the angel. I want you to learn that you are neither weak nor alone in your fight. You are where you are because you are asleep. You are a very lucid dreamer it seems.”
“I’m… asleep?” Stunned would only touch the surface of the emotions that she was feeling. When had she fallen asleep? Why was she having a conversation in her mind? Why couldn’t she wake up?
Wings on her back? She was no angel, so she knew it was merely a dream. Perhaps a lesson of some sort?
~*~
“You’re finally awake, Sara.”
Opening her eyes, the young elf looked around at the scenery around her. It was obvious that she was still in Dheathain and the moon was still high in the sky, but other than that she didn’t recognize anything. They were in some sort of cave, but the stars and moon were shining through the rock as if it wasn’t even there. The only reason she knew it was rock was the fact that the amazing enchantment only covered the ceiling. A strange soft wood covered the four walls of the cavernous room, and fresh green reeds were lashed together to cover the whole of the floor and give decent traction at the same time. The fact that she was standing up didn’t register until she felt the weight of her sword slung across her back. The other woman, no, the angel was standing ten feet away from her holding a gleaming silver sword rather casually.
“What am I doing here?” Reaching to her back, she pulled her sword in front of her body, held in an awkward defensive stance. She was nervous standing before the angel, nervous and frightened. The last time she had felt either emotion was the night before her world fell apart. Taking a step backwards, she swallowed and shook her head. This couldn’t be happening, but it was. The angel leveled her longsword at Sara as she spoke.
“You say you are weak; that you don’t deserve to live. I am only here to show you the truth.” In the blink of an eye, the angel was gone. In her place was a strange shadow. It was about the same size as Sara and held the same weapon as the dumbfounded angel, but it had two piercing red eyes instead of her own normal eyes. “Can you defeat your own shadow?”
Sara did not have any time between the words echoing through her mind and her shadow’s charge. Even if she would have had time to think, she still would have been at a loss for words. As it was, no thinking was probably the best thing she could do at the moment. Her shadow came at her with a powerful thrust, aiming to end the battle before she had a chance to even attack once.
Then something amazing happened. Spreading her wings, she leapt backwards and took flight blindly.
The angel must have given me temporary angel wings. This should be interesting!
The thrust was a clean miss, but that did not deter the shadow any. Spreading its own dark wings, it quickly leapt into the air to give chase. Spinning as she flew through the air, Sara beat her wings furiously. The wall of the cavern was approaching rapidly, but she was ready for it. Starting a sharp turn, she flipped her legs out to meet the wall and sprung off the granite obstacle faster than she had approached it. Her new course took her back to back with her shadow, safely avoiding the slash that would have killed her otherwise.
Not to be deterred, the shadow pulled an identical maneuver and rapidly closed the distance that Sara had gained over it. If it had a face, it would have been smiling sadistically, but strangely enough the real Sara wasn’t afraid. Rolling onto her back as she neared the opposite wall, she once more flipped her legs to connect with the wall, but the main difference this time and the first was the fact that she was right-side-up and looking straight into her shadow’s eyes. Only one wing was necessary for what she had planned- her right wing to be specific. As her legs bent to cushion her impact, she fully extended her wings so they would not hit the wall when her motion stopped and her legs were almost completely bent. The look of realization in the shadow’s eyes came only moments too late as Sara pushed away from the wall with her right leg and simultaneously gave one downward stroke with her right wing while dissolved her left back into the ether that surrounded her body. The resulting spin offset her from the shadow’s lethal thrust, and the dark construct’s weapon glanced off the granite wall with a bright spark. As she spun, Sara brought her sword around in counter-clockwise slash aimed at her shadow’s stomach.
The lack of resistance when her weapon should have connected was so unexpected that it forced the spinning elf’s sword to go wild and fly out of her hand while she flew uncontrollably away from the wall. As she spun toward the green floor, she could see the shadow already recovering and flying toward her while she was off-guard. Hitting the ground with a dull thud, she closed her eyes and prepared for her second death. Ten seconds later, she opened her eyes to the sight of the angel that brought her to this place leaned over her with that intoxicating smile, Sara's temporary wings now gone.
“Just kill me. I failed.”
It wasn’t as hard as she thought it would be to say those words, but the angel did not respond how she was expecting. Gently lifting Sara from the floor with soft yet strong arms, Celes simply kept smiling as she walked over to the wall that Sara had last used as a springboard. On the floor was a black shape that vaguely resembled Sara with a large gash taken out of its side. Celes set her back on the ground then walked over and picked up the Sword that had flown crazy. Silver letters appeared along the swords' hilt as her fingers wrapped around Sara’s weapon, letters that she studied for a few moments before handing the weapon back to the elf.
“I would hardly call what you did a failure. You are strong enough to defeat the darkness within your heart… and that is all you need little one.”
“But… I…”
“Follow the path from the mouth of the cave until you reach the road; you’ll see gates in the distance. One day… perhaps you will be stronger than me one day. I look foreword to our next meeting, perhaps then I will teach you something myself.”
The angel vanished, Sara felt revived almost instantaneously.
"I can fight after all. Never again will I feel so alone and useless."
She smiled as she walked back to the city thinking about what just took place and how it will forever change her life.
Thread ready for judging for experience and gold. Thank you.
It may have been the dull shine in her eyes, lifeless yet still living, or it might have been the fact that those looking at her face could see the white hood behind it. She wasn’t a ghost, though that’s how she felt- lifeless and empty. Her maroon hair fell through the area between hood and cloak, reaching a small ways past her slumped shoulders. Her light frame could have used more protection than the cloak offered, but she did her best to ignore the oppressive cold. She walked with a slight limp in her right leg, her mind failing to register that there was absolutely nothing wrong with her thigh. She instinctively reached her right hand down and rubbed the area that had felt like it had recently been torn off by the jaws of a dragon, half grimacing as her fingers touched skin that was tanned slightly.
She was a good fighter, the one who came in at a disadvantage and managed to win a legendary task. Reaching a small hand over her back, she grabbed hold of the weapon that lie there and brought it in front of her.
“Pardon me, little miss, but you can’t have that out in the city.”
Turning to face the remanding voice with an empty stare, she almost didn’t recognize the uniform of the city patrol. It truly had been a long time since she had been in this city.
“Right… thank you sir.”
Dropping her short sword to the stone road, a dull scraping sounded underneath the busy traffic as she resumed her trudging aimless walk. She didn’t know where she was headed and quite frankly she didn’t care. All she knew was that she had to keep moving. The last time she stopped, even for such a short time, she had been whisked away and cheated out of her victory. If she kept moving… no. Who was she kidding? She had been whisked away by one of the guardians of the realm; whether or not she was sitting or standing, moving or stationary didn’t matter at all. Falling to her hands and knees in the center of the road, moist drops began to accumulate on the ground directly beneath the corners of her eyes. Why was she so weak? She couldn’t cry… but stopping the tears from flowing was just as impossible as trying to stop her body from heaving from her sobs.
“Why do you cry, young one?”
Wiping her eyes with the cleaner inside of her cloak, she took a small square of fabric and pressed it against her nose. After clearing her sinuses, she turned her head to look at the stranger speaking to her. The woman was kneeled down on one knee to place her head closer to the crying elf’s face. She had a warm smile and a pretty face, two things that she had not seen in many, many years.
“I’m weak.” An image of her fight against seemingly overwhelming odds flashed through her mind. Her sword was heating itself in the fire with a log stuck on the point. “Sometimes I feel I'm not strong enough to do anything. Sometimes, I feel that I don’t deserve to live. Extreme I know, but everyone feels this way sooner or later.”
“If you were so weak, why have you chosen to fight?”
The girl was about to answer, but something stopped her. She hadn’t said anything about fighting, let alone being chosen for a tournament. She thought about bringing her sword up to force the strange woman to back away from her, but that would be considered assault at best and the watchman was probably still keeping an eye on her.
“How do you know me?” She asked weakly.
“Dear Sara…” The woman’s warm face was intoxicating, almost hypnotic. “Did you truly believe that you were the only elf sent to this world?” The woman placed her soft hand on Sara’s forehead, and the younger girl’s eyes quietly slid shut as she fell into a magical sleep.
~*~
“What is this place?”
Sara was standing in the middle of an absolute white void… or at least she would have been standing if there had been any ground under her feet to support her. Two white ethereal wings at her back flapped lazily as they kept her aloft in the endless expanse. “Moving” one way or another was done by slightly changing the angle of each wing’s stroke, but the only indication of motion was the fact that she knew she was moving. There was no sensation of speed; no wind blowing across her face to give any indication that she was moving at all.
“So you’re awake, little Sara.” The same woman’s voice from before echoed throughout the empty space around her. “I was beginning to wonder if you had forgotten how to dream.”
Looking around, the younger girl tried with all her might to find where the voice was coming from.
“Who are you? What do you want from me? Why… Why am I here?”
The woman’s voice laughed a gentle, melodious sound that in any other situation would have been soothing. Under the circumstances Sara was in, however, it was a laugh that was hiding something important.
“I am Celes the angel. I want you to learn that you are neither weak nor alone in your fight. You are where you are because you are asleep. You are a very lucid dreamer it seems.”
“I’m… asleep?” Stunned would only touch the surface of the emotions that she was feeling. When had she fallen asleep? Why was she having a conversation in her mind? Why couldn’t she wake up?
Wings on her back? She was no angel, so she knew it was merely a dream. Perhaps a lesson of some sort?
~*~
“You’re finally awake, Sara.”
Opening her eyes, the young elf looked around at the scenery around her. It was obvious that she was still in Dheathain and the moon was still high in the sky, but other than that she didn’t recognize anything. They were in some sort of cave, but the stars and moon were shining through the rock as if it wasn’t even there. The only reason she knew it was rock was the fact that the amazing enchantment only covered the ceiling. A strange soft wood covered the four walls of the cavernous room, and fresh green reeds were lashed together to cover the whole of the floor and give decent traction at the same time. The fact that she was standing up didn’t register until she felt the weight of her sword slung across her back. The other woman, no, the angel was standing ten feet away from her holding a gleaming silver sword rather casually.
“What am I doing here?” Reaching to her back, she pulled her sword in front of her body, held in an awkward defensive stance. She was nervous standing before the angel, nervous and frightened. The last time she had felt either emotion was the night before her world fell apart. Taking a step backwards, she swallowed and shook her head. This couldn’t be happening, but it was. The angel leveled her longsword at Sara as she spoke.
“You say you are weak; that you don’t deserve to live. I am only here to show you the truth.” In the blink of an eye, the angel was gone. In her place was a strange shadow. It was about the same size as Sara and held the same weapon as the dumbfounded angel, but it had two piercing red eyes instead of her own normal eyes. “Can you defeat your own shadow?”
Sara did not have any time between the words echoing through her mind and her shadow’s charge. Even if she would have had time to think, she still would have been at a loss for words. As it was, no thinking was probably the best thing she could do at the moment. Her shadow came at her with a powerful thrust, aiming to end the battle before she had a chance to even attack once.
Then something amazing happened. Spreading her wings, she leapt backwards and took flight blindly.
The angel must have given me temporary angel wings. This should be interesting!
The thrust was a clean miss, but that did not deter the shadow any. Spreading its own dark wings, it quickly leapt into the air to give chase. Spinning as she flew through the air, Sara beat her wings furiously. The wall of the cavern was approaching rapidly, but she was ready for it. Starting a sharp turn, she flipped her legs out to meet the wall and sprung off the granite obstacle faster than she had approached it. Her new course took her back to back with her shadow, safely avoiding the slash that would have killed her otherwise.
Not to be deterred, the shadow pulled an identical maneuver and rapidly closed the distance that Sara had gained over it. If it had a face, it would have been smiling sadistically, but strangely enough the real Sara wasn’t afraid. Rolling onto her back as she neared the opposite wall, she once more flipped her legs to connect with the wall, but the main difference this time and the first was the fact that she was right-side-up and looking straight into her shadow’s eyes. Only one wing was necessary for what she had planned- her right wing to be specific. As her legs bent to cushion her impact, she fully extended her wings so they would not hit the wall when her motion stopped and her legs were almost completely bent. The look of realization in the shadow’s eyes came only moments too late as Sara pushed away from the wall with her right leg and simultaneously gave one downward stroke with her right wing while dissolved her left back into the ether that surrounded her body. The resulting spin offset her from the shadow’s lethal thrust, and the dark construct’s weapon glanced off the granite wall with a bright spark. As she spun, Sara brought her sword around in counter-clockwise slash aimed at her shadow’s stomach.
The lack of resistance when her weapon should have connected was so unexpected that it forced the spinning elf’s sword to go wild and fly out of her hand while she flew uncontrollably away from the wall. As she spun toward the green floor, she could see the shadow already recovering and flying toward her while she was off-guard. Hitting the ground with a dull thud, she closed her eyes and prepared for her second death. Ten seconds later, she opened her eyes to the sight of the angel that brought her to this place leaned over her with that intoxicating smile, Sara's temporary wings now gone.
“Just kill me. I failed.”
It wasn’t as hard as she thought it would be to say those words, but the angel did not respond how she was expecting. Gently lifting Sara from the floor with soft yet strong arms, Celes simply kept smiling as she walked over to the wall that Sara had last used as a springboard. On the floor was a black shape that vaguely resembled Sara with a large gash taken out of its side. Celes set her back on the ground then walked over and picked up the Sword that had flown crazy. Silver letters appeared along the swords' hilt as her fingers wrapped around Sara’s weapon, letters that she studied for a few moments before handing the weapon back to the elf.
“I would hardly call what you did a failure. You are strong enough to defeat the darkness within your heart… and that is all you need little one.”
“But… I…”
“Follow the path from the mouth of the cave until you reach the road; you’ll see gates in the distance. One day… perhaps you will be stronger than me one day. I look foreword to our next meeting, perhaps then I will teach you something myself.”
The angel vanished, Sara felt revived almost instantaneously.
"I can fight after all. Never again will I feel so alone and useless."
She smiled as she walked back to the city thinking about what just took place and how it will forever change her life.
Thread ready for judging for experience and gold. Thank you.