Last Hope [VERSION I]

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Hurray! Finally finished editing all the chapters so far. Didn't make big changes besides one, that is Noah is not an Oran. He is powerless.

If you see a mention of him being Oran anywhere please notify me. I'm not the best at editing and its possible that I missed something. Thank you

Shorter than I wanted, but it's just me getting back into it after having to edit for a week or two.

"Promise me you'll always remember: You're braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think."

||Rilynn||

The fresh wound on Tristan's side bleed less and less, but blood still gushed out. A white cloth, now stained with blood, was tied around his waste and suppressed the wound.

On his back, to our dismay, was a scar in the shape of an "X": It spread across his back, slowly healing and now a purple wound. It must have been recent, because Elliot, Leona, and I had never seen it before.

Thankfully, we had made it over the side of the border in time before anyone else got hurt. We suck refuge in Teran forests, hiding away from civilization.

We stripped off our armor and put on the rags Tristan had packed for us. We hid our gold Erwyn armor in a bush, not to be found by the Terans. Hopefully not found by the Terans.

"We should have come up with a better plan." I rubbed my right eye and walked side by side with Leona and Elliot, who were carrying the sleeping Tristan by the arms. "We were almost killed."

"Thank god we aren't" Leona replied and continued to heave the giant along with her. "But besides, how did she expect us to sneak into the castle like this?"

"I don't know." Elliot interjected. "She has hope in us though, we can figure it out.

I looked around at my surroundings. Tall trees stood, hiding us from sight. We would be going into town soon though, if we could at least find our way into town. Out of the three feuding kingdoms, Tera was no doubt the largest. In the outer section, we passed slum and ash, reminders of the fate the Dyzeks who inhabited here. As we got closer we would sure start to see nice homes and nobles trotting about.

But, we didn't. It was noticeable when we came into town square for sure, but the building conditions weren't all to different. Homes were falling down brick by brick, food stood on the stands rotted, and it probably had been for days. Children ran around playing games with mud stuck to the bottom of their shoes and dirt covering their faces and hiding underneath their fingernails. I nearly gagged.

A look of disgust passed by our faces. It wasn't all that much different from Erwyn, which was falling apart at the seems, but that didn't make it any less disgusting.

"Fresh fruit! Fresh fruit!" A large man with sun burned skin cupped his hands to his face and yelled. "Only 6 jewels!!"

The fruit looked anything but fresh. The hunger in my stomach that had once been there died down.

"Lets just find the castle and get out of here." Leona whispered. Out of the three of us, Leona seemed to be the only one who was willing to proceed with the mission, as it was clear Elliot and I were already done before we started. "And of course, somewhere to let Tristan rest."

I nodded my head slowly, unsure. We were off, passing running children and poor adults begging for jewels and coins.

A tug on my long brown skirt sent me receding back words. I looked down to my right, a small dirty woman looking at me. Her eyes begged for money, or food, or something to stop the sadness.

"Please, can you spare any jewels?"

I was almost in tears. I didn't have food or Teran currency with me.

Leona and Elliot turned back and looked at me. "Rilynn. Lets go."

I looked back and forth between the poor Teran woman, who's arms now wrapped around two small children. Her practically eyes spoke the words please.

"I'm sorry." I said, looking away and lowering my head.

The woman sobbed as I stride away.

||Lotus||

"Noah, where are you taking me?" I said as he tugged my hand across the town square. His smile widened as he trotted across the area, his fantasy novel in his hand. "Somewhere secret!"

Why did I ever leave Noah to venture out on his own in the town? From the looks of this, he didn't mind traveling into odd and dangerous areas. Looks like I would have to accompany him from now on.

"Are we at least almost there?" I huffed and followed the young boy. 

Chocolate brown eyes came into direct contact with mine as we strolled out of the square. Walking passed us was a girl with dark skin and brown hair that whipped around in the wind. Her eyes came into contact with mine as she narrowed them. Next to her was another girl, one with red hair and freckles that dotted all over her face. Two guys also accompanied the girls- one with pitch black hair and the unconscious one with scruffy brown hair. They looked suspicious, no doubt, but I didn't do anything as they passed me.

Weird people.

"Yeah, almost there!" Noah cheered and tugged my hand even harder. "You're going to love it, Lotus!"

"I'm sure I will." I fake smiled, suspicious of the four mysterious people who passed us.

Soon, we took the path far out of the village, into the outskirts. Little huts dotted here and there, nothing interesting in particular. I've been here a few times, robbing the huts of their cattle and such. I wonder what Noah could have possibly found here.

He pointed a chubby finger to a long rundown house surrounded by fields of green. He dashed for the building, leaving me to chase him. "Slow down!" I yelled, though I didn't expect he would. 

And he didn't. He turned and opened the door to the building, disappearing from my sight within an instant.

"Noah!" I called, slowing down and catching my breath. I opened the door, finding him standing in the center of the room. Books lined the walls everywhere, scrolls and parchment covering the floors and the table. Must have been the library he's told me so much about. I hadn't seen one in years. "Noah?"

It was silent for the longest 30 seconds of my life. "Ruby?"

~~~

Hm. So does Noah know Ruby? ;)

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