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- Seen Jun 8, 2014
Author's Note
Okay, so this is an original fic of mine that I was originally writing for 2013's NaNoWriMo. Yeah, we all know how that worked out. I have a few more chapters, but I'm currently in the process of revamping some of the plot and dialogue. There is a prelogue to this story, but because this is one of my more serious works I don't want to post anything until a) it's a bit more polished and b) it's donelolol.
So here we are. Here is the first chapter prior to any revamping being done! Let me know how it sounds.
Okay, so this is an original fic of mine that I was originally writing for 2013's NaNoWriMo. Yeah, we all know how that worked out. I have a few more chapters, but I'm currently in the process of revamping some of the plot and dialogue. There is a prelogue to this story, but because this is one of my more serious works I don't want to post anything until a) it's a bit more polished and b) it's donelolol.
So here we are. Here is the first chapter prior to any revamping being done! Let me know how it sounds.
If it weren't for bad luck, we'd have no luck at all. It was a saying that meant to bring hope to the less fortunate. Jii-san, my caretaker and father-figure for the last ten years, would tell me that when all hope would be lost. When the trading between the big cities and the riverside villages halted, he told me that. When I would reminisce of my biological father, the man who I have repressed so much hatred for since the start of my coming of age, Jii-san reminded me. When I fondly thought of my mother and was curious about my dead sister, he patted me on the back and said it just like that.
You see, Jii-san was an elderly gentleman who went from rags to riches. He said he was a traveling merchant, but in a couple years' time I realized he was a conartist. He was a man who bargained for every pound of gold he earned, and he reckoned himself a genius. I'd say he was. He came to my small village just at the turn of the century, and just at the turn of a new era of kingship. He came at a time when my father was in a state of mourning after my mother and sister's passing. At the mark of the new kingship, support to our village and those surrounding was halted. According to King DeMarcus, "In our economic crisis, we need to save every gold we have. With the currency at an all-time low, and threats to our kingdom's sanctity underway, I am halting all further medical and economic support to the Riverside Villages, effective the first of winter months." 'the first of these winter months,' as our-lord-praise-the-bastard-DeMarcus stated was conveniently the time that my mother was due to birth my sister.
Doctors didn't live in rural towns. They lived in bigger cities, where the gold flowed. But before this new kingship, doctors would come to us and provide care. All of the medicinal care the villages had were provided by shamans. My mother got sick. My sister got sick. The two died a few days after, and my father swung into full depression. He let the crops get eaten away by parasites. He let me go without food some days. Instead, he sat in the kitchen, weeping at the empty spot at the dinner table. He became reckless, and gambled away the money we had established over the years. That's when a "traveling merchant" came into town. Jii-san was a nomad. He traveled from village to village, attempting to swindle people out of gold with some of the junk he found, and played up to be magnificent artifacts. When Jii-san stumbled upon our farm, he fell in love. He was a romantic at heart when it came to nature, so when he saw how the riverbed was nestled beyond our crops, and the dock at the foot of the bed, and how our cottage was surrounded by tall trees, he was determined to win over the land.
My gambling father gambled his prized farmland, along with me, and lost. I remember that day. I was ten years old and I cried my eyes out. Months prior I lost my mother and my baby sister. Now I lost my father, and it wasn't through death. I would have rather lost him in honor, than the dishonor of being gambled away like cattle. I never saw him after he told me to "be a good boy for the merchant." I never would see him after that day. He was shunned from our village and would never have been allowed to settle back peaceably. Although, Jii-san got more than he bargained for, it was against his moral code to allow a defenseless child to wander the streets aimlessly—he didn't want me to live the life of a beggar child, so he adopted me as his own. All the neurotic, trauma-induced basket casedness baggage was his to bear witness to. He didn't gamble and barter (as much), and he didn't travel the world. He stayed put in this boring town, with his boring foster-son.
Here we were, ten years later. The crops were back, the farm was engaging in commerce between the Riverside Villages, and Jii-san was nowhere to be found. When I woke up that morning, the everyday routine was already disrupted. By sunrise, Jii-san was usually in the kitchen either trying to get his wits together, or cooking breakfast from freshly slaughtered livestock. He wasn't. There wasn't even a trace of him. "Jii-san," I called out as soon as I entered the dining area of our cottage, "Jii-san, where are you?" There was silence, spare for blue jays resting on the windowsill. "Jii-san," I tried again, tiptoeing into his bedroom to see if he was still asleep, "Jii-san?" No luck. "Huh, guess the old man ran away." Maybe he was leaving me with the farm. I grew up on it, I knew the tricks and trades of bartering with other villagers, selling crops and meat to neighbors, and how to efficiently pick crops during harvesting season. Still, after all of our history, leaving with no goodbye? Low blow.
Before I tended to any of the crops, before I tended to any of the cattle, the pigs, or the cocks and hens, I decided to get a quick scope around the village. I wanted to make sure he didn't decide to change his ten-year-routine on me before jumping to any conclusions of being left to the work on the farm. I put on a shirt, my grey-baggy workpants, and leathery brown boots, and walked outside towards my house. She was tied up to a stake right outside the cottage in the front-yard, "I didn't leave you here, girl." Veronia was a beautifully well-tempered horse that was adorned with brown fur. She had a dainty, yet impressive build, and was brought to the farm by Jii-san. He said she was his prized horse, so I'm assuming he won her through a bet, or one of his usual antics. Normally she wasn't apprehensive, but when she saw me she backed away and snorted. Her hooves were restlessly pounding on the ground, and she eyed me wearily. "Hey, calm down, girl. Come here," I went to fiddle with the leash attached to her harness, but she lurched back. Something definitely wasn't right. As I watched her continue to shun my presence, and shoo me away by stamping at the ground, the hair stood up on the back of my neck.
I knew something wasn't right, so I quickly grabbed one of the horses in the pen on the side of the house that wasn't as apprehensive. He wasn't a prize-winning horse, and in his age he was a well-seasoned work horse that aided my father in most of his endeavors. He didn't have a name, though. You would have thought that my father would have named him, but he wasn't particularly an animal sort of guy. I mounted him, and we took off into the village. I was worried about Jii-san. I wasn't too sure of his background, where he came from, or really what his name was. Everything about his past seemed shady to me, so I wouldn't have been shocked if he was kidnapped and held for ransom for some debt he owed to someone.
I got to the center of the village, where the marketplace was. It was filled with stands with fresh produce, hand-made jewelry, fish from the docks, etc. There were merchants that traveled here from other villages to sell items, and locals who felt as though they had something to offer. I spotted a local florist, Mrs. Hana, and made the horse slowly trot towards her. "Good morning, Kaba! You're up early," She greeted me, "What can I do for you? Did you need some flowers, dear? How about for the pretty, young girl I saw you talking to the other day? Humiko was it? It's about time you settled down. You've got all of that land, it'd be perfect for a family! What about some for your mother and sister's grave? I'm sure some Gardenias would look beautiful! It'd symbol the purity of your sister for dying so young, and the natural beauty of your mother! Oh, dear! Look at me, Kaba, I'm rambling! What was it dear? Did you need some flowers, dear?" Poor Mrs. Hana, she was on the verge of losing her mind. At eighty-something years old, she was still kicking and still attempting to continue her business that she had since she first married her husband. I had to interrupt her; otherwise she would continue to ramble.
"Um, no ma'am. I'm fine. Listen, I have an important question," then I was interrupted by her.
"Oh! Was it about Humiko? Oh, dear, you don't need to ask anyone! I do think she likes you--you are very handsome-- and I think she would be a perfect bride! Did you need a proposal flower?" A proposal flower was the flower our village, and the townships surrounding our villages, used for marriage proposals. Where as the more urban, bigger cities had the resources for diamond rings, it was custom in more rural areas to use a flower to propose. Oftentimes the female would hang the flower to dry and save it as a keepsake of the proposal. Still, I shook my head. I liked this Humiko girl, I really did, but she was the last person on my mind.
"No ma'am, I'm looking for Jii-san. Have you seen him wander into the marketplace earlier?"
"Oh, Jii-san? Oh, yes! I did. He was in quite a bit of a hurry."
"Okay, well where is he?"
"He was in quite a bit of a hurry, in fact. Oh yes! He went that way, not sure where exactly, but he went that way over there."
I nodded my head, thanked her, and the horse went over yonder. We trotted quickly, until I was stopped by a familiar voice, "Kaba!" I yanked on the reigns to get the horse to stop and the horse bucked quickly and turned to look at who was approaching. It was Humiko, and my heart skipped a beat. She was this beautiful hometown girl, whose mother was the village shaman. She had beautiful, pale skin that clashed against my dark skin. She had this emerald hue to her eyes, and her dark auburn hair stretched down to barely scrape her midback-line. Her face was dainty and feminine, and it would have been a blessing to wed her oneday when the time came to be appropriate. "Hey, Humiko."
"Kaba, something is wrong," You could say that again, dear, "My mother said something is in the air and it's making her sick to her stomach. Do you feel it?" The wind blew gently, and I attempted to feel what she felt, but I couldn't. I wasn't well-equipped with nature sensors like her, her mother, or even Jii-san was. I was a typical businessman's son, that if it weren't for Jii-san I'd be in the same boat as my father was when he established the farmland for profit. "No, Humiko, but have you seen Jii-san? I've been trying to find him since I woke up. Mrs. Hana said he was in a hurry when she saw him this morning."
"I think I saw him by the South watch tower with Genpa." Our village had four large watchtowers, each located in the four cardinal directions, and four smaller towers that were in between. Because our village was one of the more populated, larger villages along the riverside it was deemed necessary to have several watchtowers for defense purposes. "Okay, thanks," The horse and I almost started off towards the south, but she stopped me again. I didn't mean for our visit to be short and sweet, but now that Humiko said something was amiss, and now that I know that Jii-san was in a hurry to the watchtower this morning, my last thought was making puppy eyes at Humiko. "Kaba, can I come? I'm worried that something bad is going to happen, and I want to see it for myself. Do you mind?"
I extended my hand out to her, and I helped her aboard the horse, "Not at all, come on."
It took no more than five minutes to get to the Southern watch tower, and atop it was Genpa and Jii-san, both of whom were staring intently out into the edge of the forest. The watchtower was rickety, and had a tendency to sway in the wind, so I asked Humiko to stay put near the horse while I climbed up along the spiraling ladder.
"Jii-san!" I shouted, "I've been looking for you all morning!" When I reached the top of the tower, I saw that Jii-san was equipped with a bow and arrow, and that arrow was already strung along the bow. He had it pointed slightly downwards, but it was still aimed at the general vicinity of the forest. Genpa wasn't a fighter. Rather, he was the head shaman prior to Humiko's mother taking reigns over the title. However, he still practiced religious ceremonies and was well-respected around the township. "Kaba," I could feel the tension in the air, and I could see Jii-san shaking ever so slightly, "Such a surprise to see you here. Have you fed our animals this morning?" He tried to diverge the subject at hand into something light-hearted, and I shook my head. Of course, his back was facing me, so it wasn't like he saw my response. "No, I was kind of taken aback that you weren't at your usual roost. What's going on? Why are you up here? Humiko's babbling about something in the air and she's worried, and everybody else in the village seems to be ignorant to what's going on. You mind telling me what's the matter?"
"They say ignorance is bliss, my dear lad. Perhaps it's better for the villagers to not know what Lady Fate bestows upon them today," I edged up to Jii-san and crouched to my haunches next to him. I looked beyond the railing on the watch tower, into the forest, and saw nothing out of the ordinary. The wind blew the leaves against each other. The only reason I felt nervous was because Jii-san and his band of nature enthusiasts seemed out of place this morning. "Kaba," Jii-san broke from his trance and looked at me, "Do you remember that folklore parents told their children? The one where if the child didn't listen, this monster would come out of the darkness and drag the child into the night, never to be seen again?"
"That old wives' tale? Yeah, Mom used to tell me that before bed when I wouldn't go to sleep. Why?" He didn't answer me. My heart fluttered. Surely, he didn't really think monsters existed, did he? We lived in a world like no other, but the idea of monsters being conjured at whim and stealing the souls of innocent individuals? Of course, Jii-san and a few of the villagers were very superstitious and believed in local legends. They just called me a skeptic. I didn't believe in demons, much less in most of the religious stories traded among travelers.
"I think we're about to be the children in this story," Jii-san stated nonchalantly. Genpa broke from his watchful gaze and turned to me and nodded. We held each other's eyes momentarily until Genpa went back to work. Humiko was the base of the tower, stroking the horse's mane and trying to remain calm. "Kaba, if you ever need to know what's going on in the world around you, let me tell you one thing—turn to the animals. Animals know where food is, they know where water is, and they know where shelter is. They know when the world is coming to an end, and they know when something catastrophic is going to happen. They migrate even before the seasons change, and they work together in teams. If there's one thing you need to learn, it's to take a look at nature. When you think the world has stopped turning, you're wrong. Just look deeper, look closer, and you'll find the answers out right before you."
Turn to the animals? I asked myself silently, and then peered over the railing of the watch tower. As moments passed, and I continued to look into the forest, a bird emerged from the foliage. It was panicked and flapped its wings violently. I had to duck quickly otherwise it would have crashed into me. That's how frightened the poor thing was. Just as it flew overhead, and caught the eye of Genpa, Jii-san pulled back his arrow. There was rumbling coming from ahead. The mere vibrations from the sound rattled the Watch Tower. I turned to Humiko, who had a tight grip on the horse's reign. I wasn't sure if it was in an attempt to comfort the horse or comfort herself by holding onto something, but before I could wish it was me she was holding onto, a dark miasma broke through the trees and shot out quickly at the Watch Tower. It broke through the roof, knocking the balance of the Watch Tower off. I heard the whizz of Jii-san's arrow flying, but I couldn't hear the distinctive sound of impact. I didn't hear a loud thud, or shrill scream in pain. Instead I heard the cracking of the Watch Tower as the same substance shot out again at us. This time the Watch Tower was knocked into a leaning position. Jii-san was loading another arrow, in hopes of obtaining some sort of luck. I saw Genpa slipping off the Watch Tower, it was leaning so much. The tower was slowly falling down. The beams that were dug into the ground to give the tower support were starting to be upheaved, and I knew it wasn't much longer until the thing completely collapsed. I screamed for Humiko to get the hell out with the horse and find cover as I lunged forward to grab Genpa by his top. Jii-san was too busy climbing the lopsided tower so he could get good aim. As I held onto Genpa, I looked towards the forest. The thing emerging wasn't human. It wasn't organic. It was this darkness that felt cold. There seemed to be no center to it and wherever it went, life died. The grass it touched turned to ash and the leaves fell off of trees. When it shot out at the watch tower, I noticed it disintegrated the pieces of roof that it completely blew off. That's when I knew Jii-san's arrows weren't going to phase the thing. He shot another one, and as soon as the spear touched it, it was practically absorbed. The attack didn't work.
"Jii-san, stop! We have to get out of here and alert the villagers! Your arrows aren't going to work!" I was still holding onto Genpa, as there was no safe way to get him down from this angle. An old man, even with the spunk he had, had no business jumping from heights. "Humiko, go!" I shouted at her, but it was like she was frozen in fear. The horse was panicked, and I could tell it was stunned by this unimaginable entity before it. Hell, I was panicked. But I had the adrenaline in me, that fight or flight instinct that allowed me to keep operating under stress. Jii-san had the same attitude as me, and wanted to hold down the fort. But with one last blast of the miasma, the watch tower was gone. A loud crack sounded, and it startled the horse enough to yank Humiko down to the ground. I leaped down, Genpa tossed over my shoulder, with Jii-san following in my wake. "There's no fighting it," Jii-san stated. "You don't say? I wouldn't have guessed. Especially with after the first five times you hit it. Way to waste your good arrows, Jii-san." I spat at him, and looked at Humiko who was hurriedly mounting atop the horse. "Humiko, take your grandfather and get out of here."
"Kaba, what about you?" She asked as I helped her grandfather on top, behind Humiko. "Don't worry, I'll be fine. Me and Jii-san will meet up with you outside of the village. Get your mother and get out of here. Tell as many people as you can along the way to leave. Just go." I
"Where outside of the village?"
"Just go! Go, Humiko!" I commanded, using my pointer finger for emphasis. I directed her towards the marketplace and that's where she, Genpa, and her horse followed her.
"That was noble of you, giving the girl your only method of escape. Not only was it noble, but it was stupid." Jii-san told me, instinctively reaching for his arrows. The two of us were easing away from the miasma. It smelled so horrible. It smelled like decay. As it moved further out of the edge of the forest, these wormlike appendages were dangling out of its side. They were still completely unreal looking. "In situations like these, think for yourself. You have no investment with the girl." He added. I would have spoken, but the crackling of the watch tower disintegrating inside the monster interrupted. I think it's safe to say we should be running, I thought to myself. Jii-san and I exchanged glances and took off running. There was no point in combatting it; we discovered nothing worked on it. At least nothing manmade worked. We learned that the hard way through lost arrows. In Jii-san's old age, he couldn't run as fast as me. He fell behind as the monster's miasma started to grow. I stopped, realizing I could only take a moment to coerce Jii-san before the window of opportunity escaped the both of us. "Jii-san, come on. Stop straggling behind, we have to go." Emphasis on the have, "Don't use age as an excuse, you're better at everything than I am, running is just another thing you're going to have to outdo also."
I tugged at his shirt and we continued. The chase seemed to last forever. One minute felt like a century in Hell, and I looked back to see destruction laying around it. As it got bigger, it got stronger. Just being near it made things die out quickly, and it was catching up to us. "♥♥♥♥, ♥♥♥♥, ♥♥♥♥." I said, pants punctuating each profanity. Jii-san was losing speed. I looked forward, and I saw people panicking as the miasma approached. Some pondered the miasma curiously until they saw the dead trees that lied in its wake. Then I saw women with their children running, and I saw shopkeepers staring longingly at their shop before taking off running. The village was in a rightful panic, and I heard screams, muffled by other screams. The only time they stopped was when a person was engulfed by the miasma. That was the only time. I saw Humiko up ahead, still mounted atop the horse. She had set loose the horses on the town ranch, and people were boarding them like crazy to get away. "Jii-san, Humiko is up ahead. Don't die on me now. Humiko!" I wasn't sure why I was shouting. Between all the screams and her working her ass off to make sure everybody had a quick way out of town, she more than likely couldn't hear me.
I saw her look towards the miasma, and start to make the horse turn to run off. "Humiko! Humiko, wait! Don't! Don't you dare leave me!" I made sure she could hear me. I screamed at the top of my lungs. Somehow, by the grace of God, she turned back around and started her horses towards me. I was ecstatic! It was proof that altruism brought forth with it reciprocated altruism. Karma was a lovely lady, and as I tugged on Jii-san, I realized something. The miasma was close. I could feel cold creeping up on me as it was only feet away. "Kaba! Kaba!" Humiko screamed. I turned back towards Jii-san, and towards the darkness. This was it. Up close I saw the last look in Jii-san's eyes. He looked at me with fear, and he opened his mouth. "Kaba, I--" But he was cut off violently. I saw the whole process. His skin looked like it melted off into ash. But it wasn't ash. It was an ash-color gunk that then made another transition from the light-grey to a midnight black, and it vanished into the miasma. The worst part was Jii-san's eyes. He screamed the whole time, and I could tell that feeling each limb slowly gnawed away was horrendous. I wanted to break down and cry—he was more of a father to me than my own disgrace of a father, but I tried to hurry. I saw the horrified look in Humiko, and she and the horse started making their way away from the miasma. Still, she looked back at me, and made sure I had a fighting chance to catch up.
The horse wasn't too far away. No, it was only about a half of a foot or so. It was an easy running distance. But when you were so tired, and the last bit of recycled adrenaline in your system was turning into fumes, the distance felt longer. I was overcome by pants, and I reached my arm out for Humiko's. But then I saw it—it was the same look I felt on myself. She looked numb. Before I could look back I felt frozen. I could feel the miasma picking apart at me and I couldn't scream. Why couldn't I ♥♥♥♥ing scream? It felt like a thousand nails picking apart my skin. It was the most painful thing I ever experienced and life on the farm brought me some pretty interesting pains. Still, I couldn't scream. I saw Humiko's face, the last thing I thought I would see. It was at that moment I suddenly knew exactly what Jii-san felt. I knew the pain he had experienced, and I knew I was making the exact face he was making. I knew I was dying.
