Memories of Loss
45th Glade 113
"Alright, you do that thing you do with the crystals and just run in there." The girl rubbed the boys shoulders as they eyed a group just on the outskirts of Hauseu.
There were four in total and each dressed in their own unique ways. A man in sectioned metal armor and leather padded pants for protection and ease of movement, a woman in a robe carrying a tome of some sort, another man in a cloak with the hood down hiding his body from sight, and some other man in blue and gold armor. The fourth gave the boy an uneasy feeling but who would look at a child as a threat?
"You can do this. I have faith in you." Her encouraging kiss on the cheek was all the push she needed to give him. These four were not as threatening as the people they encounter on a daily basis, in fact they looked quite tame in comparison to the cut throats that make this place their home.
He thought of how she would look and feel in this situation, thinking of the four as merely targets and following through with their plan with no hesitation.
Targets... prey.
He isn't sure when it started, a small flame of malice grew in his heart and the same look of determined hatred masked his face as it did the girl's. When the group looked towards him he hid it away and slowed his approach.
"P-please. Help." The boy stuttered as he changed his face to something more suited to a helpless whelp. He held out his hand and forced his eyes to water up, as the girl taught him to do. It was effective against outsiders to exploit their bleeding hearts, but today he had different plans.
"A child? A Lysanrin child? Down here?" The woman with the robe stopped the group and approached the boy with no hesitation.
"Hang on, Lisandra! We don't have time for this!" The man in sectioned armor followed behind him and the others sighed as they followed.
"What are you doing down here child? Where are your parents?" The woman named Lisandra kneeled down and took the boy's hand, he wasn't expecting her to be so open and concerned. Most outsiders would merely drop a coin towards and him move on, an unexpected turn of events but the rest are following so it should be fine.
"I... um, live here. I don't have parents. Do you have food?" He knew he couldn't lie very well and told her only what she needed to know. He wanted to run away and hide as the adults towered over him as titans. One wrong move and the well armed group might take his head.
"Oh you poor sweet thing." Lisandra pulls out some cloth from her bag and throws it around the boy. A tie here and some quick fits there and the boy found himself with a cloak of his own. Who knows what the girl is thinking right now.
"This'll keep you warm until we come back. I'll get you out of this depressing place." While her companions remained stoic and looked out for threats abroad the woman smiled warmly at him. All the boy could do was shrink from her and reach into his pockets where he kept the red crystals.
He knew what he had to do. He couldn't trust these people, he couldn't trust anyone besides the girl that kept him safe through the night. Eye contact with the woman became hard to maintain as she fixed his hair back and ruffled it with glee. Guilt was not something he was used to, but now was not the time to succumb to his baser instincts.
"Miss... I'm sorry." The boy whispered as he clutched the crystals and drained the aether from them. Her puzzled face couldn't guess what was about to happen until it was too late.
All four of the group were close enough together for the children's plan to work. The boy ran forward and tackled the woman and let the aether surge within himself. Everyone else began to draw their weapons but it was far too late for them. As their swords and daggers came out, half hilt, his aether erupted from his body and smashed them onto the ground.
Out of breath and frantic, he began to grab what he could from the adventurers bags and belts. Coin purses, vials of liquid, miscellaneous small weapons, and other such doodads and things. The girl came quickly and started grabbing alongside him, he couldn't tell when she arrived but as soon as the first one started to stand she grabbed the boy and pulled him away to run.
It was a job well done. He knew he did well but he couldn't shake the feeling that he did something bad. As they ran he looked behind them to find the four starting to stand up, the woman looking particularly dazed as she was the closest to him.
"W-wait! Don't run! Let me help you two!" She cried out as both of the children ran as fast as they could.
The boy followed the girl and saw the sour look on her face. He couldn't tell who she was more disgusted with but something out how things played out didn't seem to go to plan for her. He felt he couldn't let things stand like this, something in him told him to make amends before leaving.
"I'm sorry! Don't be mad!" The boy shouted back as he was pulled away into a sharp corner by the girl.
He never saw the group again but unknown to him the woman would look for him again, at the protest of the other members of their group. She would look for him in the midst of the vile scum of this gods forsaken place, under guard of the men that follow her. Who she is and who she would become after her encounter with the boy is up to her, but she never forgot the hopeless look in his eyes from her act of kindness towards him.
On this day however the boy had another trail to overcome, the girls wrath.
She brought him to safety to inspect their loot, rather roughly. Something that he did displeased her but he couldn't recall what it was. He saw the look in her eye and she was angry.
"I-I'm sorry." The boy softly mumbled as she silently looked over all that they took. She didn't reply to him and instead started to bring more stuff towards her instead of dividing what they stole together.
"What did I do? What could I have done differently?" The boy quietly pleaded as she refused to look at his face. His heart was breaking and he couldn't think of a way to make her happy.
"Please talk to me." The boy tried to keep his voice low as it cracked. She pursed her lips as her hands started to shake but she didn't cease her sorting of the stolen goods.
His heart ached, it was too much. He couldn't lose her as well. Something had to be done.
"I love you. Please don't leave me." Tears welled up and he fell forward, catching himself as he began to cry.
A tipping point for the girl. She couldn't keep up her façade of anger towards him. Sad sullen eyes met his but she couldn't get herself to hold him, not yet.
"I thought you were going to leave me. Don't ever do that again. Those... people... they live in a different world from us. They won't accept you like I do, they'll hurt you but I'll keep you safe. You understand?" She explained calmly but the cracking of her voice gave away the deep sadness she had been hiding.
"I'm not mad, I promise. Just don't leave me either." She reached out and held his face, wiping away the tears that fell.
Old wounds of loneliness had been reopened but with a touch she mended them close again. Over the stolen items she pressed their foreheads together, closing their eyes as their noses touched. His heart swelled as he softly cried his mistakes away.
"It's alright. No one will take you away from me, I promise you." Her soft voice made his heart leap out of his chest. Nothing could compare to moments like this, and nothing ever will again.
That night they slept clutched tighter than ever. The heat of her body helped him forget where they were as they both fell slowly asleep. No words could come close to the utter bliss he felt and swore to never let anything happen to her, whatever the cost.
[/googlefont]There were four in total and each dressed in their own unique ways. A man in sectioned metal armor and leather padded pants for protection and ease of movement, a woman in a robe carrying a tome of some sort, another man in a cloak with the hood down hiding his body from sight, and some other man in blue and gold armor. The fourth gave the boy an uneasy feeling but who would look at a child as a threat?
"You can do this. I have faith in you." Her encouraging kiss on the cheek was all the push she needed to give him. These four were not as threatening as the people they encounter on a daily basis, in fact they looked quite tame in comparison to the cut throats that make this place their home.
He thought of how she would look and feel in this situation, thinking of the four as merely targets and following through with their plan with no hesitation.
Targets... prey.
He isn't sure when it started, a small flame of malice grew in his heart and the same look of determined hatred masked his face as it did the girl's. When the group looked towards him he hid it away and slowed his approach.
"P-please. Help." The boy stuttered as he changed his face to something more suited to a helpless whelp. He held out his hand and forced his eyes to water up, as the girl taught him to do. It was effective against outsiders to exploit their bleeding hearts, but today he had different plans.
"A child? A Lysanrin child? Down here?" The woman with the robe stopped the group and approached the boy with no hesitation.
"Hang on, Lisandra! We don't have time for this!" The man in sectioned armor followed behind him and the others sighed as they followed.
"What are you doing down here child? Where are your parents?" The woman named Lisandra kneeled down and took the boy's hand, he wasn't expecting her to be so open and concerned. Most outsiders would merely drop a coin towards and him move on, an unexpected turn of events but the rest are following so it should be fine.
"I... um, live here. I don't have parents. Do you have food?" He knew he couldn't lie very well and told her only what she needed to know. He wanted to run away and hide as the adults towered over him as titans. One wrong move and the well armed group might take his head.
"Oh you poor sweet thing." Lisandra pulls out some cloth from her bag and throws it around the boy. A tie here and some quick fits there and the boy found himself with a cloak of his own. Who knows what the girl is thinking right now.
"This'll keep you warm until we come back. I'll get you out of this depressing place." While her companions remained stoic and looked out for threats abroad the woman smiled warmly at him. All the boy could do was shrink from her and reach into his pockets where he kept the red crystals.
He knew what he had to do. He couldn't trust these people, he couldn't trust anyone besides the girl that kept him safe through the night. Eye contact with the woman became hard to maintain as she fixed his hair back and ruffled it with glee. Guilt was not something he was used to, but now was not the time to succumb to his baser instincts.
"Miss... I'm sorry." The boy whispered as he clutched the crystals and drained the aether from them. Her puzzled face couldn't guess what was about to happen until it was too late.
All four of the group were close enough together for the children's plan to work. The boy ran forward and tackled the woman and let the aether surge within himself. Everyone else began to draw their weapons but it was far too late for them. As their swords and daggers came out, half hilt, his aether erupted from his body and smashed them onto the ground.
Out of breath and frantic, he began to grab what he could from the adventurers bags and belts. Coin purses, vials of liquid, miscellaneous small weapons, and other such doodads and things. The girl came quickly and started grabbing alongside him, he couldn't tell when she arrived but as soon as the first one started to stand she grabbed the boy and pulled him away to run.
It was a job well done. He knew he did well but he couldn't shake the feeling that he did something bad. As they ran he looked behind them to find the four starting to stand up, the woman looking particularly dazed as she was the closest to him.
"W-wait! Don't run! Let me help you two!" She cried out as both of the children ran as fast as they could.
The boy followed the girl and saw the sour look on her face. He couldn't tell who she was more disgusted with but something out how things played out didn't seem to go to plan for her. He felt he couldn't let things stand like this, something in him told him to make amends before leaving.
"I'm sorry! Don't be mad!" The boy shouted back as he was pulled away into a sharp corner by the girl.
He never saw the group again but unknown to him the woman would look for him again, at the protest of the other members of their group. She would look for him in the midst of the vile scum of this gods forsaken place, under guard of the men that follow her. Who she is and who she would become after her encounter with the boy is up to her, but she never forgot the hopeless look in his eyes from her act of kindness towards him.
On this day however the boy had another trail to overcome, the girls wrath.
She brought him to safety to inspect their loot, rather roughly. Something that he did displeased her but he couldn't recall what it was. He saw the look in her eye and she was angry.
"I-I'm sorry." The boy softly mumbled as she silently looked over all that they took. She didn't reply to him and instead started to bring more stuff towards her instead of dividing what they stole together.
"What did I do? What could I have done differently?" The boy quietly pleaded as she refused to look at his face. His heart was breaking and he couldn't think of a way to make her happy.
"Please talk to me." The boy tried to keep his voice low as it cracked. She pursed her lips as her hands started to shake but she didn't cease her sorting of the stolen goods.
His heart ached, it was too much. He couldn't lose her as well. Something had to be done.
"I love you. Please don't leave me." Tears welled up and he fell forward, catching himself as he began to cry.
A tipping point for the girl. She couldn't keep up her façade of anger towards him. Sad sullen eyes met his but she couldn't get herself to hold him, not yet.
"I thought you were going to leave me. Don't ever do that again. Those... people... they live in a different world from us. They won't accept you like I do, they'll hurt you but I'll keep you safe. You understand?" She explained calmly but the cracking of her voice gave away the deep sadness she had been hiding.
"I'm not mad, I promise. Just don't leave me either." She reached out and held his face, wiping away the tears that fell.
Old wounds of loneliness had been reopened but with a touch she mended them close again. Over the stolen items she pressed their foreheads together, closing their eyes as their noses touched. His heart swelled as he softly cried his mistakes away.
"It's alright. No one will take you away from me, I promise you." Her soft voice made his heart leap out of his chest. Nothing could compare to moments like this, and nothing ever will again.
That night they slept clutched tighter than ever. The heat of her body helped him forget where they were as they both fell slowly asleep. No words could come close to the utter bliss he felt and swore to never let anything happen to her, whatever the cost.
48th Glade 113
As though it couldn't have seemed possible, the two were closer than ever. In their private moments she held him close as they talked about plans for the day and her nicknames for him changed.
"What do you think about this, my little man?" She held up a throwing knife in front of him as she held him in her lap.
"I don't know, it looks sharp." He said with a tad more confidence than usual. Her affection doing wonders for the shattered self esteem he had been living with all this time.
"I guess so too, I think I found someone to buy these from us. We're gonna eat really good tonight." As she kept him in her lap, she folded up the cloth that held their goods and tied them up. "I just need you to stay here and wait for me to come back with food."
Unease filled him at her suggestion. Being separated was not something he wished at any point but he trusted her to be safe.
"Ok, be safe." The boy took the initiative and kissed her on the cheek for the first time. The girl's eyes widened with a blush and for the first time she had been flustered.
"Y-yea, I'll be back before you know it." Her hug around him got tighter before she picked him up and put him in a dark crevice in a wall. "Now don't move."
The boy nodded and shrunk into the abyss that was their home. No one would see them unless they looked closely inside, which held dangers too great for the wary.
The seconds turned into minutes, and minutes into an hour. Soon the hour became too long and his legs had begun to shake. Time is passing slowly but too much time is already lost. He knew he needed to stay put, she told him to do so, but he couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong.
Not a sound was made outside of his hole in the wall, no one was around, and for the first time he defied her orders. Slowly venturing forth from where she placed him and looking around saw that nothing had changed, no one had been around to look for him. So he left and went looking for her.
Everything about the town is the same. People ignored him as he walked through, covered in the cloak the woman named Lisandra had given him, and none gave him any room to move through. He scampered under foot as he looked through town, going from one secret hideout to another, and found nothing. It is as though she fell from the face of the world.
The boy's heart pumped with fear as the search became more frantic. None of the gangs he knew about made unusual movements and as far as he could tell there were no new outsiders prowling around town. Soon he started to think that she may have returned to where she left him, and that he made a grave mistake.
A slow walk became a slight jog and shoving the people around him brought him attention, although the dregs around him only yelled at him to watch where he was going it was more of what he didn't need at the moment. More eyes on him as he continued to move out of desperation.
In a moment a boy thought of hope, that he was wrong and everything would stay the same. The girl was ok and merely scared for his own safety as he foolishly left to find her.
In a moment a boy saw the same cloaked man that they had stolen from, carrying something covered in rags over his shoulder.
In that moment a boy stood frozen in place as he watched the cloaked man drop what he was carrying in a ditch and drink from a flask.
The man turned around but the boy had disappeared from sight. The man didn't know he was being watched from some dark place, and in that dark place a boy felt nothing. His heart skipped beats as his breath was stolen away.
For the moment the man was gone and the boy moved to investigate the rags. Hope was all he had as he unwrapped them, slowly moving each piece away hesitantly, knowing the truth behind them already.
Auburn hair is unwrapped first, drenched in blood. Then her opened eyes, frozen in fear and despair. Finally he saw her face.
She had been cut up, nothing about her beauty remained as large gashes cut into he flesh. He didn't need to see the rest of her body to know how they tortured her, punishing her for slighting whoever this man was.
This man.
The boy felt his heart slow, his tears slowed, and the world around him froze in place. He held her face, blood covering the palms of his hands, as he pulled her closer. He wanted to cry, to scream his rage into the uncaring abyss around him, but the world around him didn't care. He wished for justice to be done, for someone to bring her back and take them to sanctuary, and bring equilibrium to his life.
But no one came.
All the love he felt and shared with the girl, all the nights she whispered his name and caressed his hair to help him sleep, and every sweet moment they shared are now over. No one will help him, and he couldn't rely on the girl anymore.
All this time he couldn't breath, he could barely register what was happening, and he felt as though he was dying. The boy knew himself by a name, one that he was called by another that kept him safe, that he had discarded for he was sentenced to this life of hell with that name. Now that life was thrusted onto him yet again, and he will have to survive on his own once again. He needed to be stronger and survive, he needed revenge, he needed power.
That dead man, the one who brought this hell on him again, his life is now measured in heartbeats.
The girl taught him to hide, to run, and to steal. It got her killed. He needed more, but more what?
Holding her close, he closed her eyes, and gave her a gentle kiss on the lips. Kissing her to wake himself up from the sweet dream he had been having with her all this time, to bring back the name that he himself feared to use. No one else could replace her, no one shared the same radiance she held, and never will he go on to find another.
No more heartache, or else he may never come back.
The boy died with her in his arms. Yshvold was reborn when he left her there in that ditch.
As though it couldn't have seemed possible, the two were closer than ever. In their private moments she held him close as they talked about plans for the day and her nicknames for him changed.
"What do you think about this, my little man?" She held up a throwing knife in front of him as she held him in her lap.
"I don't know, it looks sharp." He said with a tad more confidence than usual. Her affection doing wonders for the shattered self esteem he had been living with all this time.
"I guess so too, I think I found someone to buy these from us. We're gonna eat really good tonight." As she kept him in her lap, she folded up the cloth that held their goods and tied them up. "I just need you to stay here and wait for me to come back with food."
Unease filled him at her suggestion. Being separated was not something he wished at any point but he trusted her to be safe.
"Ok, be safe." The boy took the initiative and kissed her on the cheek for the first time. The girl's eyes widened with a blush and for the first time she had been flustered.
"Y-yea, I'll be back before you know it." Her hug around him got tighter before she picked him up and put him in a dark crevice in a wall. "Now don't move."
The boy nodded and shrunk into the abyss that was their home. No one would see them unless they looked closely inside, which held dangers too great for the wary.
The seconds turned into minutes, and minutes into an hour. Soon the hour became too long and his legs had begun to shake. Time is passing slowly but too much time is already lost. He knew he needed to stay put, she told him to do so, but he couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong.
Not a sound was made outside of his hole in the wall, no one was around, and for the first time he defied her orders. Slowly venturing forth from where she placed him and looking around saw that nothing had changed, no one had been around to look for him. So he left and went looking for her.
Everything about the town is the same. People ignored him as he walked through, covered in the cloak the woman named Lisandra had given him, and none gave him any room to move through. He scampered under foot as he looked through town, going from one secret hideout to another, and found nothing. It is as though she fell from the face of the world.
The boy's heart pumped with fear as the search became more frantic. None of the gangs he knew about made unusual movements and as far as he could tell there were no new outsiders prowling around town. Soon he started to think that she may have returned to where she left him, and that he made a grave mistake.
A slow walk became a slight jog and shoving the people around him brought him attention, although the dregs around him only yelled at him to watch where he was going it was more of what he didn't need at the moment. More eyes on him as he continued to move out of desperation.
In a moment a boy thought of hope, that he was wrong and everything would stay the same. The girl was ok and merely scared for his own safety as he foolishly left to find her.
In a moment a boy saw the same cloaked man that they had stolen from, carrying something covered in rags over his shoulder.
In that moment a boy stood frozen in place as he watched the cloaked man drop what he was carrying in a ditch and drink from a flask.
The man turned around but the boy had disappeared from sight. The man didn't know he was being watched from some dark place, and in that dark place a boy felt nothing. His heart skipped beats as his breath was stolen away.
For the moment the man was gone and the boy moved to investigate the rags. Hope was all he had as he unwrapped them, slowly moving each piece away hesitantly, knowing the truth behind them already.
Auburn hair is unwrapped first, drenched in blood. Then her opened eyes, frozen in fear and despair. Finally he saw her face.
She had been cut up, nothing about her beauty remained as large gashes cut into he flesh. He didn't need to see the rest of her body to know how they tortured her, punishing her for slighting whoever this man was.
This man.
The boy felt his heart slow, his tears slowed, and the world around him froze in place. He held her face, blood covering the palms of his hands, as he pulled her closer. He wanted to cry, to scream his rage into the uncaring abyss around him, but the world around him didn't care. He wished for justice to be done, for someone to bring her back and take them to sanctuary, and bring equilibrium to his life.
But no one came.
All the love he felt and shared with the girl, all the nights she whispered his name and caressed his hair to help him sleep, and every sweet moment they shared are now over. No one will help him, and he couldn't rely on the girl anymore.
All this time he couldn't breath, he could barely register what was happening, and he felt as though he was dying. The boy knew himself by a name, one that he was called by another that kept him safe, that he had discarded for he was sentenced to this life of hell with that name. Now that life was thrusted onto him yet again, and he will have to survive on his own once again. He needed to be stronger and survive, he needed revenge, he needed power.
That dead man, the one who brought this hell on him again, his life is now measured in heartbeats.
The girl taught him to hide, to run, and to steal. It got her killed. He needed more, but more what?
Holding her close, he closed her eyes, and gave her a gentle kiss on the lips. Kissing her to wake himself up from the sweet dream he had been having with her all this time, to bring back the name that he himself feared to use. No one else could replace her, no one shared the same radiance she held, and never will he go on to find another.
No more heartache, or else he may never come back.
The boy died with her in his arms. Yshvold was reborn when he left her there in that ditch.
