Categories > Original > Fantasy > Pre-destiny
Chapter One:
The city is a forest of people, the earth beyond
our civilization is desert meant to be conquered.
Return the dead to this desert,
because a forest is no place for sand.
Semita Proverb
The sin's rays peeked over the snow capped mountains, the last light of the day slowly pursuing behind the trio. Their path often bent and turned in unusual ways as they traveled: rocks, boulders and dead leaves scattered by nature were continually pushed aside by merchants traveling to and from Semita, The trio's own destination to the northern capital. It was packed away in the harsh mountain of the northern territory. Within this unsympathetic environment trained the royal army, the soldiers battled against blizzard winters and boiling summers. Once the officers training was over they would be sent to one of the other three capitals: Rasal, Romulus, and Naria. The soul duty of these Royal officers was to protect the government officials or the King Family in Romulus the western territory, the direction that the trio was traveling from. Leading down the path was a young girl with amber hair, separated into two brands that gently swayed against the silver katana striped to her back. Green eyes flared under bangs of hair. She was every ounce of intensity that her internal fire threatened to be. Behind her intentional quick pace were two young men. Each barely entering adulthood but the maturity of harsh times rolled from them in waves. The shorter one had hair the color of newly greased swords in the sun, contrasted by his earthly tones of brown in his jacket and pants appearing foreign next to the traditional clothing of his companions. The third member's movements appeared fluid like water next to the other two's stiff and exhausted stance. His dark mahogany hair tied with a ribbon gently rested on his shoulder. The light navy tint wrapped around his hair matched the nature shade of his blue eyes, the perfect shield against any sight into his mind. On the lonely path it appeared that they were the only human souls on the mountain. The unusual silence around them allowed the young girl's voice to echo off the trees and bushes to no one.
"Jackie..."
The silver hair teen voiced startling the girl, spinning on her heel to face him. He motioned for silence with his finger. She paused in the trail long enough to roll her eyes before continuing to speak about her home in Semita. She emphasized points in her training repeatedly with wild motions of her hands as she spoke. The silver hair boy, Raitan, leaned closer to his companion.
"priest."
'Priest' was Kes' occupation when he first met Raitan. He had tried to tell the teen that was not his name many times but the teen never really listened to anyone.
Kes hitched the bags up onto his shoulder a little more, not really sure how he was left carrying his pack and Jacklynn's as she strolled ahead.
"The church...their pretty rich right?"
To Kes, the young teen"s voice held a strange accent his had never heard before but he never asked Raitan about it. A person'spast wasn’t to be interrogated between them, if any of them wanted to speak about it, like Jacklynn apparently had wanted to, then they could.
"A privilege...I suppose."
Kes responded solemnly. He eyes traveling up the path following the young girl, but she had stopped. The forest had ended up ahead, leaving the path to follow along the steep slope and cliffs of jagged stones. Her stance was strange, solid, like the stone beneath her feet but with a sadden look, Kes knew something was wrong. Slowly she fell, slamming her upright body. Both men ran to her.
"Jacklynn!"
Her eyes never looked at them as they came to her side. She just stared below the sloping cliff. The mountain air that had been filling their lung until then became heavier, darker and taut in their throats. Smoke, below in the basin of the region sat the northern capital in ruins that smoke slowly drifting from the extinguished wood. Semita had been a great city, easily reflecting the harshness of oppression proudly but only now appeared to be a corpse of a dead forest. The life that had been within these lands and mountains was shaded with the loss of chaos.
"N-no..."
Kes looked down to the fragile girl retreating into a younger child by the second, her mouth stuttered around the silent words. When the notes did sound, they were cracked like she had been screaming continually within the entrapment of her body. Raitan didn't appear to be doing any better in front of the gruesome sight below.
"So much death! But... why?- Why kill them all?"
His words drifted away leaving the silence. All around them nature seemed lifeless inside the slaughter of Semita. Then movement, swaying back and forth Jacklynn tried to stand, ignoring any attempts to help her stand.
"It can’t be...it? But we were coming. WE WERE COMING!"
She screamed out, her hands roughly shoved the escaping tears away. She was a solider she reminded herself,
'I shouldn't be this weak. I haven't ever been this weak not even when...'
Her hand paused, leaving her face.
"Where is... he?"
She questioned through a whisper. Her eyes frantically searching around as if she could see him above the smoke and ruins of the city. Both teens were stunned by her tears, neither knowing how to confront her. Their past horrors had been suffered alone, how could they confront someone when they never had been. Though neither were touching her they were close, close enough to grip her arms.
Standing in front of them, Jacklynn leaned toward the slope, Raitan's hand shot out trying to save her.
"No Jackie!"
She sprinted down the hill, although the hill was steep with wariness any one could travel down between the boulders and stones, each stone threaten her every step. She avoided as many as she saw but her eyes were locked on the city below.
'He's still here, he's still here! Jay- Jay!'
Raitan and Kes followed with more vigilance down, They're burdened breath brought the stench of the city deep into their bodies. Death; smelling of bloods, and burnt flesh, all mixed together.
"Who could survive this, so much blood."
Below them, Jacklynn had reached the main street disappeared within the coal black smoke.
"Raitan, follow the main street! We need to leave here as soon as possibly."
Kes ordered, if Jacklynn's demon had truly done this damage then the royal army serving in other capitals would be on their way here. They would already have notice that the northern capital was destroyed; too much was at stake for them to be caught now.
She knew these streets, the blacken cobble stones beneath her feet was the same. Everything was the same only collapsed upon itself into rubble and smoke. Some of the frames had survived leave the home to emerge a skeletons of their names. Jacklynn turned again down another street. Before these homes were beautiful mansions, handcrafted architecture with flourishing gardens sending the scent of flowers through the streets. Except for today, the only filling the air was the scent of the reaper’s work. Her eyes burned but she never felt the smoke hitting them as she ran. Her lung knew the ash was there threatening to suffocate her. No mansions, gardens, or homes. Nothing.
Her feet sprinted, turning down another street to see it, her home. The Iron Gates were shredded only hanging by the willpower of the iron. Jacklynn knew see was too late as she sprinted harder.
Behind the gates like other houses was planted a large garden, decorated with a granite fountain in the center that accented the aging home behind it. Springing over the iron gates she stopped with in the yard. The fountain had been hit several times shattered pieces around the destroyed flowers. Then she saw him, his darkened body lying in between the water and edge of the spring. Inside the silence, she screamed, a voice in anguish but felt like it didn't belong to her. Trembling she ran to him, numb fingers tried to grip his clothing. She jerked him up with all of her strength allowing the weight to fall on her.
"Jay?"
The words were hushed as she wiped the blood and hair from his face.
"No... NO Jay! You... NO!"
The tears came freely as she held his body close to her own warmth. His once golden skin that had once complemented his featured had change lost its coloring. He was perfect in everyway, even in death. As she sat looking down at him, she longed to see his eyes once more. She wanted to remember the love they showered on her and the attention they continually gave but they were hidden from her behind his lids. He had so much still to teacher her, so much still to do. She gripped the body closer to her, the skin and clothing still frozen from death's touch but she welcomed it. She longed for any means to join him, through death's doorway. Time passed without notice as she sat with the remaining shell that had once housed the other half of her soul.
Two summers ago
The harsh sun beat against her uniform, the deep blue dress seems to hold captive the heat that touched the fabric. She sighed in relieve that it short sleeved as she hiked up the hill above the city. She knew that she would find him under the tallest pine tree, probably writing in his notebook about his studies. Jacklynn felt the beat of the sword against her legs as she hiked. It felt like an ominous warning about her life. As a soldier she was expected to rise with the dawn carry out her duties then change to be a young woman. The top of the hill came into view along with pine tree. It didn’t take many more steps before she stood in front of the pine sheltering the studying teaching under its branches.
"Good Morin’."
His voice reminded her of books, like taking an inked pen to fresh paper. He never looked up, but the smirk on his lips revealed his humor. She quickly crawled over the hovering branches curling up to his body, carefully watching his right leg wrapped in bandages.
"Good Morning to you, I didn't think you would be up this early."
Her fingers traced the bandage from one side then to the other before repeating the motion.
"I'm an early riser, you know that..."
"But- this... still has to heal..."
Jacklynn felt his leg tense. His large hand gripped hers gently bring it to his heart. With the pressure of his own hand force his internal beat to thump against her hand.
"You feel it right? The thump of my heart, Jacklynn I'm still here. You need to forgive yourself. The accident was that, an accident of my own stupid-"
"I should have gone with you-"
He gripped her hand a little harder.
"No! There was nothing you could have done."
Jacklynn looked up at his eyes. The blue shined brighter with the unshed tears. She knew then that was another thing that she loved about him. He would share his emotions to her just as she could show him.
"I could have saved your..."
Her voice trailed off weakly as her eyes retreated back to his leg. He let out a heavy sigh as he sensed this would be a debate even after the wedding.
"With what? Have you suddenly become a healer? Are you blessed and forgot to tell me?"
He laughed at his joke, while snaking his arms around Jacklynn's shoulders. There was nothing left for her to say. She wasn't a healer and wouldn't have known to bring a healer when Jay went for his run up into the hills. But she just felt guilty for not being there, and that was beyond any reasoning. The large hand that had been holding her, released its grip to cup her chin. He maneuvered her to look into to his eyes as their lips met. All her worries melt into that touch, he was alive now and that was what should have mattered. Her eyes began to drift close when laughter erupted around them.
"Kissing! Eeew!"
Jacklynn turned to see, Jay's afternoon class standing around them. A blush crept across her cheeks but as Jay's own laughter joins the children's she felt relaxed. There was another thing now, another thing that she loved about him. The sound of his quick laughter was amusing.
Present
The sun was gone from his view behind the mountains, sending rays of scarlet and amethyst into the sky. Tears came freely now at the sudden remembrance of that special time long ago. The voice of her mother entered her mind.
"Return the dust to the desert"
Her traditions demanded a burial, but Jacklynn didn't want to part with him. She couldn't let him leave her now that she had a choice. Her people demanded the body to be laid to rest, Jacklynn demanded him to be restored. She would pray to the gods but they did little for mortals without blessings. She shifted the now stiff shell off of her, laying it gently on the dirt.
"Jay... I miss you..."
Jacklynn's hand bled as she pushed away scrapes and splinters of wood. Her own hands dug the shallow grave in complete darkness. With all the destruction around her, not many flowers survived but Jacklynn gathered the loss petals scattering over the body. Her duty was to place the petal as a mark of passage; in nature it would distract the smell so others can't follow the passage into the death's realm. Once she was happy with the arrangement, she pushed the loss dirt back.
"Is now when I say goodbye?"
The city is a forest of people, the earth beyond
our civilization is desert meant to be conquered.
Return the dead to this desert,
because a forest is no place for sand.
Semita Proverb
The sin's rays peeked over the snow capped mountains, the last light of the day slowly pursuing behind the trio. Their path often bent and turned in unusual ways as they traveled: rocks, boulders and dead leaves scattered by nature were continually pushed aside by merchants traveling to and from Semita, The trio's own destination to the northern capital. It was packed away in the harsh mountain of the northern territory. Within this unsympathetic environment trained the royal army, the soldiers battled against blizzard winters and boiling summers. Once the officers training was over they would be sent to one of the other three capitals: Rasal, Romulus, and Naria. The soul duty of these Royal officers was to protect the government officials or the King Family in Romulus the western territory, the direction that the trio was traveling from. Leading down the path was a young girl with amber hair, separated into two brands that gently swayed against the silver katana striped to her back. Green eyes flared under bangs of hair. She was every ounce of intensity that her internal fire threatened to be. Behind her intentional quick pace were two young men. Each barely entering adulthood but the maturity of harsh times rolled from them in waves. The shorter one had hair the color of newly greased swords in the sun, contrasted by his earthly tones of brown in his jacket and pants appearing foreign next to the traditional clothing of his companions. The third member's movements appeared fluid like water next to the other two's stiff and exhausted stance. His dark mahogany hair tied with a ribbon gently rested on his shoulder. The light navy tint wrapped around his hair matched the nature shade of his blue eyes, the perfect shield against any sight into his mind. On the lonely path it appeared that they were the only human souls on the mountain. The unusual silence around them allowed the young girl's voice to echo off the trees and bushes to no one.
"Jackie..."
The silver hair teen voiced startling the girl, spinning on her heel to face him. He motioned for silence with his finger. She paused in the trail long enough to roll her eyes before continuing to speak about her home in Semita. She emphasized points in her training repeatedly with wild motions of her hands as she spoke. The silver hair boy, Raitan, leaned closer to his companion.
"priest."
'Priest' was Kes' occupation when he first met Raitan. He had tried to tell the teen that was not his name many times but the teen never really listened to anyone.
Kes hitched the bags up onto his shoulder a little more, not really sure how he was left carrying his pack and Jacklynn's as she strolled ahead.
"The church...their pretty rich right?"
To Kes, the young teen"s voice held a strange accent his had never heard before but he never asked Raitan about it. A person'spast wasn’t to be interrogated between them, if any of them wanted to speak about it, like Jacklynn apparently had wanted to, then they could.
"A privilege...I suppose."
Kes responded solemnly. He eyes traveling up the path following the young girl, but she had stopped. The forest had ended up ahead, leaving the path to follow along the steep slope and cliffs of jagged stones. Her stance was strange, solid, like the stone beneath her feet but with a sadden look, Kes knew something was wrong. Slowly she fell, slamming her upright body. Both men ran to her.
"Jacklynn!"
Her eyes never looked at them as they came to her side. She just stared below the sloping cliff. The mountain air that had been filling their lung until then became heavier, darker and taut in their throats. Smoke, below in the basin of the region sat the northern capital in ruins that smoke slowly drifting from the extinguished wood. Semita had been a great city, easily reflecting the harshness of oppression proudly but only now appeared to be a corpse of a dead forest. The life that had been within these lands and mountains was shaded with the loss of chaos.
"N-no..."
Kes looked down to the fragile girl retreating into a younger child by the second, her mouth stuttered around the silent words. When the notes did sound, they were cracked like she had been screaming continually within the entrapment of her body. Raitan didn't appear to be doing any better in front of the gruesome sight below.
"So much death! But... why?- Why kill them all?"
His words drifted away leaving the silence. All around them nature seemed lifeless inside the slaughter of Semita. Then movement, swaying back and forth Jacklynn tried to stand, ignoring any attempts to help her stand.
"It can’t be...it? But we were coming. WE WERE COMING!"
She screamed out, her hands roughly shoved the escaping tears away. She was a solider she reminded herself,
'I shouldn't be this weak. I haven't ever been this weak not even when...'
Her hand paused, leaving her face.
"Where is... he?"
She questioned through a whisper. Her eyes frantically searching around as if she could see him above the smoke and ruins of the city. Both teens were stunned by her tears, neither knowing how to confront her. Their past horrors had been suffered alone, how could they confront someone when they never had been. Though neither were touching her they were close, close enough to grip her arms.
Standing in front of them, Jacklynn leaned toward the slope, Raitan's hand shot out trying to save her.
"No Jackie!"
She sprinted down the hill, although the hill was steep with wariness any one could travel down between the boulders and stones, each stone threaten her every step. She avoided as many as she saw but her eyes were locked on the city below.
'He's still here, he's still here! Jay- Jay!'
Raitan and Kes followed with more vigilance down, They're burdened breath brought the stench of the city deep into their bodies. Death; smelling of bloods, and burnt flesh, all mixed together.
"Who could survive this, so much blood."
Below them, Jacklynn had reached the main street disappeared within the coal black smoke.
"Raitan, follow the main street! We need to leave here as soon as possibly."
Kes ordered, if Jacklynn's demon had truly done this damage then the royal army serving in other capitals would be on their way here. They would already have notice that the northern capital was destroyed; too much was at stake for them to be caught now.
She knew these streets, the blacken cobble stones beneath her feet was the same. Everything was the same only collapsed upon itself into rubble and smoke. Some of the frames had survived leave the home to emerge a skeletons of their names. Jacklynn turned again down another street. Before these homes were beautiful mansions, handcrafted architecture with flourishing gardens sending the scent of flowers through the streets. Except for today, the only filling the air was the scent of the reaper’s work. Her eyes burned but she never felt the smoke hitting them as she ran. Her lung knew the ash was there threatening to suffocate her. No mansions, gardens, or homes. Nothing.
Her feet sprinted, turning down another street to see it, her home. The Iron Gates were shredded only hanging by the willpower of the iron. Jacklynn knew see was too late as she sprinted harder.
Behind the gates like other houses was planted a large garden, decorated with a granite fountain in the center that accented the aging home behind it. Springing over the iron gates she stopped with in the yard. The fountain had been hit several times shattered pieces around the destroyed flowers. Then she saw him, his darkened body lying in between the water and edge of the spring. Inside the silence, she screamed, a voice in anguish but felt like it didn't belong to her. Trembling she ran to him, numb fingers tried to grip his clothing. She jerked him up with all of her strength allowing the weight to fall on her.
"Jay?"
The words were hushed as she wiped the blood and hair from his face.
"No... NO Jay! You... NO!"
The tears came freely as she held his body close to her own warmth. His once golden skin that had once complemented his featured had change lost its coloring. He was perfect in everyway, even in death. As she sat looking down at him, she longed to see his eyes once more. She wanted to remember the love they showered on her and the attention they continually gave but they were hidden from her behind his lids. He had so much still to teacher her, so much still to do. She gripped the body closer to her, the skin and clothing still frozen from death's touch but she welcomed it. She longed for any means to join him, through death's doorway. Time passed without notice as she sat with the remaining shell that had once housed the other half of her soul.
Two summers ago
The harsh sun beat against her uniform, the deep blue dress seems to hold captive the heat that touched the fabric. She sighed in relieve that it short sleeved as she hiked up the hill above the city. She knew that she would find him under the tallest pine tree, probably writing in his notebook about his studies. Jacklynn felt the beat of the sword against her legs as she hiked. It felt like an ominous warning about her life. As a soldier she was expected to rise with the dawn carry out her duties then change to be a young woman. The top of the hill came into view along with pine tree. It didn’t take many more steps before she stood in front of the pine sheltering the studying teaching under its branches.
"Good Morin’."
His voice reminded her of books, like taking an inked pen to fresh paper. He never looked up, but the smirk on his lips revealed his humor. She quickly crawled over the hovering branches curling up to his body, carefully watching his right leg wrapped in bandages.
"Good Morning to you, I didn't think you would be up this early."
Her fingers traced the bandage from one side then to the other before repeating the motion.
"I'm an early riser, you know that..."
"But- this... still has to heal..."
Jacklynn felt his leg tense. His large hand gripped hers gently bring it to his heart. With the pressure of his own hand force his internal beat to thump against her hand.
"You feel it right? The thump of my heart, Jacklynn I'm still here. You need to forgive yourself. The accident was that, an accident of my own stupid-"
"I should have gone with you-"
He gripped her hand a little harder.
"No! There was nothing you could have done."
Jacklynn looked up at his eyes. The blue shined brighter with the unshed tears. She knew then that was another thing that she loved about him. He would share his emotions to her just as she could show him.
"I could have saved your..."
Her voice trailed off weakly as her eyes retreated back to his leg. He let out a heavy sigh as he sensed this would be a debate even after the wedding.
"With what? Have you suddenly become a healer? Are you blessed and forgot to tell me?"
He laughed at his joke, while snaking his arms around Jacklynn's shoulders. There was nothing left for her to say. She wasn't a healer and wouldn't have known to bring a healer when Jay went for his run up into the hills. But she just felt guilty for not being there, and that was beyond any reasoning. The large hand that had been holding her, released its grip to cup her chin. He maneuvered her to look into to his eyes as their lips met. All her worries melt into that touch, he was alive now and that was what should have mattered. Her eyes began to drift close when laughter erupted around them.
"Kissing! Eeew!"
Jacklynn turned to see, Jay's afternoon class standing around them. A blush crept across her cheeks but as Jay's own laughter joins the children's she felt relaxed. There was another thing now, another thing that she loved about him. The sound of his quick laughter was amusing.
Present
The sun was gone from his view behind the mountains, sending rays of scarlet and amethyst into the sky. Tears came freely now at the sudden remembrance of that special time long ago. The voice of her mother entered her mind.
"Return the dust to the desert"
Her traditions demanded a burial, but Jacklynn didn't want to part with him. She couldn't let him leave her now that she had a choice. Her people demanded the body to be laid to rest, Jacklynn demanded him to be restored. She would pray to the gods but they did little for mortals without blessings. She shifted the now stiff shell off of her, laying it gently on the dirt.
"Jay... I miss you..."
Jacklynn's hand bled as she pushed away scrapes and splinters of wood. Her own hands dug the shallow grave in complete darkness. With all the destruction around her, not many flowers survived but Jacklynn gathered the loss petals scattering over the body. Her duty was to place the petal as a mark of passage; in nature it would distract the smell so others can't follow the passage into the death's realm. Once she was happy with the arrangement, she pushed the loss dirt back.
"Is now when I say goodbye?"
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