Strings

Poor Misguided Fool

Chapter 1: Poor Misguided Fool

(based on the Starsailor song of the same name, I don't own SHIT)

(TwoKinds is the property of Thomas Fishbach, I'm just butchering his setting and characters because I liked them.)

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It was easy to pretend that things were alright.

Always had been for him. Even when they were not, Cedric figured he could always be worse-off than whatever he happened to go through at the time. And no matter how bad it got, that mindset never left him. It is what got him through the toughest parts of his life, after all. "No use in crying over spilled milk, it is what it is." He had it so much easier than so many people out there, so really, could he even complain? Sure, he wanted to, but those who would listen were in the same boat as him, some likely worse as well. Preaching to the choir. The thought of it made him feel like a hypocrite, and the man hated that.

Momentum was the name of the game, and he had become an expert in the field. Nearly as much of one as he was on the guitar, anyway. Just keep moving forward, don't let things catch up to you. Don't let past mistakes weigh you down. God knows he's made his fair share of those already...

It was unhealthy, but Cedric had long acknowledged that fact, and embraced it.

He likened it to cigarettes, at one point. Maybe his smoking habits made it an easier pill to swallow. Didn't make it any less wrong, but at least, it was something he could live with. For the longest time, it's been just him on the road, guitar pick in hand, running away from things only he could perceive. That still hadn't changed, more or less, even when he managed to get a stable enough income and settle down. These past few years were both a spiritual journey just as much as they were a physical one, and while his body had since found a way to anchor itself, his mind had not. Always in motion, always on the run from something.

In a way, one could say this current predicament was a blessing in disguise. A fresh start. A place where all of his old woes could no longer reach him, where he could say with full sincerity that he managed to escape them. Through no work of his own, mind you, but there he was nonetheless.

For Cedric awoke not to the smell of plaster and mold, but to that of grass and soil.

It was different. Strangely pleasant, in spite of the worrying implications that his mere presence outside of his home brought up. The man lived in an apartment block, there weren't any greener pastures even remotely near his vicinity. The blades of grass tickling at his bare arms, damp with dew, did nothing to ease his growing worries. Neither did the darkness, nor the cold chill of the wind as it brushed past him and made his body shiver.

His eyes opened to be greeted by the most vibrant, expansive and beautiful night sky he ever beheld. Cedric had never seen that many stars all at once before, and in spite of his situation, the sheer sight of it still took his breath away. A man of art, he was, and what his eyes were feasting upon was nothing short of nature's masterpiece. It was almost enough to make him forget the cold. Almost.

Drawing in a breath through his teeth, the man pushed himself up by the elbows, into a sitting position. Arms crossed over his chest, releasing a stuttering sigh, Cedric rubbed at his upper arms, trying to warm up and conserve body heat. Weather this chilly, especially when damp, was never pleasant. As he got up onto his feet, the man took a good look around him.

Well, it was pretty goddamn dark alright.

Still, he was able to make out an approximation of his surroundings. A small meadow, with a nearby river whose stream he could clearly hear flowing past, colored black by the night and dotted with the reflection of the moon and stars. To his right rose tall trees, of a type of wood he didn't recognize, making up a dense forest he had no desire to engage with. A path of dirt or gravel marred the scenery like an ugly scar, leading up towards a nearby hill. Or was it a plateau? Cedric could barely discern faint specs of light on the horizon, and it was with no small amount of relief that he realized civilization was nearby. Relatively.