The start of Part 2 is here! Finally, hope you are all prepared, I have some cool things planned, some comical, others sad, some cute.
Also if you don't know already, Game Over is on hold, LOST book 2 will be written instead. To the winners of the contest, if you haven't already tell me the details for your prizes, I've been a little busy, but I will get them to you.
If you need a refresher on the prizes, you'll have to go to my art book, or LOST, because I'm removing all mention of the contest from Falling to Rise, because I want to keep this purely story related things.
Above is the doodle of a little green-eyed girl described in the chapter. She's not important, but I wanted to draw her.
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Falling to Rise
Chapter 17
"You can't start the next chapter of your life if you keep re-reading the last one"
His feet treaded softly through the mounds of snow. Fluffy white and almost undisturbed except by his own feet. He couldn't remember how he got here, or even why. The snow fell lightly from the sky but the air was neither warm nor cold. He could see his breath fan out before him but he didn't feel like he was breathing.
At first terror coursed through him as he walked through the deep, coldless snow, until he saw lights flicker in the distance through the fairly dense forest. At once he trudged faster through the snow, almost falling several times, in hopes he could find someone to tell him where he was and how he'd gotten here.
As he got closer he could see a town. A small rural town. A small rural town with music playing, loud and fast paced music using the sounds of drums and clapping as the main instruments it seemed. The entire town was lit up and through the trees that littered this side he could make out the happy laughter and dancing and cheering of many folk during what he could no doubt assume was a celebration. A festival, and a lovely one at that.
He felt drawn to the town and as he walked closer, he almost didn't even realize the man that sat off to the side, far from the town, but watching nonetheless.
Seto stopped walking and looked at the figure, from a distance his face was hard to recognize, but the black, folded wings and the long, spiked tail were unmistakable.
Seto couldn't believe, there was no way, no way that Ty was here. He walked slowly at first, forgetting the town and music and the food, Seto made his way towards Ty. Steadily picking up his pace, soon breaking out into a run. He came to a stop as he stood only feet from Ty's unmistakable features.
Was this a dream? It had to be, no way could he find himself suddenly thrown into the cold reaches of a snowy biome with his friend, his dear friend he wished to save so much, sitting here.
"T-Ty?" Seto said his name hesitantly, almost afraid that this world he was in would vanish at even one little disturbance. As if sleeping Ty seemed to wake up, clutching his head at first before turning to face Seto.
There was silence as Seto stood and Ty sat, neither made a move, and neither spoke a word. Ty broke the silence.
"Seto..., is it you?"
Seto nodded vigorously, tears already at his eyes, "Ty, it's-it's me, it's really me!" As much as Seto wanted to hug Ty, and he almost did, Ty stopped him.
"What do you want?" he looked away, not even asking the question to Seto's face, "Last I checked, you saved the prince."
Seto frowned and looked away, "I-I..."
"Do you see this," Ty pointed ahead at the ongoing celebration, "This, this is my dream. A dream of a terrible memory that I do not possess, but a memory that almost feels like it is mine, because the story has been driven deep into my blood."
Seto didn't say anything as he looked to the celebration again, a dream? A memory, a terrible one? All Seto could see was happiness and cheer.
"I don't understand," Seto said at last. Ty stood up from the snow and walked towards the village. As he did Seto followed him. Almost at once it seemed the dream had come alive, the people turned to Ty and welcomed him in, neither paying attention to Ty's angry face, nor the claws or wings he possessed, like they couldn't see them. Seto could feel nothing from the people themselves, no warmth, though they seemed to be very much alive as the welcomed Seto and took him by the hands, throwing him into the dance as well.
Seto stumbled as the laughter and cheer rang around him, if this were a dream, he was probably in Vragan. Perhaps Ty's home village. Ty grabbed him by the shoulders over to the very back where there were small clumps of people not dancing but enjoying food.
"Ty..." Seto trailed off, Ty was angry, he had right to be, he did choose Adam over him, however, Seto could not watch two people he cared for kill and fight each other.
"This is the town of Alu, just on the outskirts of the Xemt forest." Ty said quietly, Vragan had a pretty small population considering more than half of the kingdom was occupied by uninhabitable mountains, but Seto had never heard of Alu, "Don't bother, you won't find it on any map... The place was wiped out over four decades ago."
Seto had no words as Ty continued, "This day marks the first day Emedo came and slaughtered the innocents of Vragan, the ones that could do nothing to fight back, almost no one survived." Seto looked as Ty pointed to a small girl, a joyous smile and high-pitched laugh, brilliant emerald eyes, short, bouncing hair, a similar shade of brown as Ty's hair, "My mother. This is her memory, her story, the horrors she saw here and experienced much later on in her life is the reason I hate Emedo."
Ty's tail whipped at the air as he clenched his fists, "Emedo took my father away, my family away, and now they're trying to take the kingdom away! And you," Ty turned to Seto, "You sided with them!" Seto took a step back, but Ty grabbed him by his cloak and pulled him closer so that Seto could see the sharpened fangs of Ty's teeth, the pure rage in his eyes, he could feel the anger and the hurt of betrayal rippling off of Ty like a heat wave during the hottest months of Keuta.
Seto felt a wind run through his clothes, the surroundings darkened as the torches that kept the town lit flickered before dying out. For the first time, Seto felt the full force of the Vragan weather. Ty let go of Seto and he fell into the deep snow. The snow biting into his skin. The lovely dream turned dark in a matter of seconds as swarms of soldiers swarmed the small village. Seto scrambled to his feet, Ty had vanished. Seto was alone as he watched swords strike down the defenseless, lightning struck the ground burning soldiers, ice impaled others, even Seto saw as the soldiers brought their own swords to their throats. But nothing could stop the massacre, there were just too many.
Seto panicked as the dream began to feel even more real than it had when he arrived. There was no point in saving people that didn't really exist, but their screams hurt Seto all the same.
"Leave."
Seto whirled around as he heard Ty's voice, but he could not see him.
"Leave."
"Ty!" Seto called back, "I just want to help you please!"
"Haven't you already done enough."
Seto flinched at Ty's words, and gasped as a soldier ran at him. Out of instinct Seto scrambled to avoid the iron sword, it grazed his arm, he felt the pain of the scratch. The soldier fell dead a moment later. Seto glanced at a little girl, a little brown haired, green eyed girl. Her arms outstretched before her, tears streaming down her face. Seto reached out to the girl, but his hand was not there.
"Leave and don't you dare come back. You've done enough Seto."
"Wai-wait Ty! Ty!" Seto felt the pain vanish as he began to fade away, the world around him growing darker. One gleaming purple eye stared back at him from the forest by the village. "I won't give up!"
No more words were passed as the screams of this horrid dream began to fade and were replaced with distant but closer sounds of familiar voices.
We...to go...Eflido......best place!
Anywhere....there.... final...morvic!
Quit...!
Seto was thrust back into the real world, his head spinning and aching, his neck sore and bruised. A dream, it was just a dream. Ty didn't hate him, he wouldn't hate him. Not Ty, because Seto was going to save Ty.
That's what Seto had resolved to do, and he would do it, no matter how long it took.
He just hoped it wasn't to late already.
Sorry it was a bit short.
How's this to the start of Part 2?
~WrittenDarkness