Whoop! Another chapter with a drawing!
Top is Jason, right is Glen, left is Ava, and bottom is Venir.
When I'm not grounded I will scan it and color it digitally, this is by far my favorite traditional drawing ever.
Also dedicated to DaliaTDM for first place in the contest. I keep forgetting to do this :P
~~~~~
Falling to Rise
Chapter 19
"Where there is no struggle there is no strength"
"We can take a break if you need it Seto." Jerome said.
Seto shook his head, "N-no, I'm fine, really. Let's just make it out of Keuta, we're almost out anyways."
"Alright..." Jerome left Seto's side and moved closer to the front of their little rag-tag gang. It was night, clouds hung over the sky blocking out the only natural light they had. They didn't dare use torches, in case someone was still looking for them.
Every part of Seto's body was sore, he would think that being asleep for several days would give him time to recover, but he only felt worse. He was slow and stumbled often, he was tired beyond belief, he couldn't quiet his thoughts. Just loud, nauseating murmurs and shouts and cries in his head about how he could do nothing to save his parents, what a poor excuse of a son he was. A disgrace. An inhuman disgrace.
Another hour. Just one more. He estimated that by then they'd be out of Keuta and into the forest ahead.
~~~~~
"Ok, I think we are far enough in. This forest is pretty thick, so chance of being found are small." Adam laid down some of the bags he was carrying and pulled out a few bottles, "Are water supply is really low, so we're going to have to divvy it up."
Seto sunk down to the ground and leaned against the rough surface of a tree. Adam and Ian seemed to be working on the water and food rations they had left. Jerome was setting up sleeping area and Mitch the fire--
"You can't do it like that!" Jerome hissed, "No one sets up a fire like that, you're going to burn the whole forest down!"
"Oh, like you're one to talk, you're putting the sheets too close together, who'd want to sleep with a smelly dog like you!" Mitch countered using a twig to point out the mess of a sleeping area Jerome was setting up.
The two stared each other down before switching roles. Little conflict for once, the argument passed and the campsite was quiet once more as the two of them silently completed the other's role.
A fire was steadily growing in a matter of minutes. Ian prepared a small dinner, Jerome refused his share and passed it to Seto, who only nodded as a thanks.
For the next 30 minutes they were quiet, no one spoke up or tried to make conversation. Seto remained quiet and isolated, he noted Jerome nabbing one of Mitch's arrows as he carefully began to carve away the bark of a fallen branch. Harsh whispers between Mitch and Jerome arise, likely because Mitch saw Jerome take his arrow.
Adam lay soundly asleep and Ian sat taking watch towards the direction they had come.
It was peaceful, but the night felt dark in this forest. Seto couldn't tell if they had wound up in Neim or Eflido, since both are west of Keuta, but only one had forests, if he remembered correctly. But which kingdom was it.
Seto could feel himself slowly dozing off.
~~~~~
"You stole my arrow!" Mitch whispered to Jerome as Jerome sat with his back to Mitch, "Give it back!"
"Calm your horses, I'll give it back when I'm done," Jerome answered, he was using the tip as a blade to carve into this fallen branch he had found. It was a small hobby he'd picked up watching humans carve things out of wood as he grew up in Duhita. He'd use a knife since it was what he was more accustomed to, but that would involve taking one from Ian, Mr. Grumps over there.
"What in the world are you doing anyways!"
"I'm making something, are you daft?"
"Of course not, but what reason do you have to carve lines into a stick." Jerome felt Mitch's presence behind him, he could tell the human was watching, to say he could feel chills run down his spine was an understatement. He was absolutely appalled, he didn't like having to travel with so many humans, but he didn't have a choice. He was far from home and his only ally being Seto.
"It's for Seto, he's having a hard time walking and such, I'd thought I'd make him this staff to help him."
"You know it's just because he's exhausted and sore, he'll be fine in another day or two, what reason will he have for the stick then?" Mitch pointed out.
"I-I know!" Jerome already knew that, he knew it was pointless now to make something that would likely be discarded when it no longer served any use. But he felt embarrassed saying it was because he was worried for a friend but didn't know how to help. At least with this, it was something he could do, something he knew he could do.
"Ok... If you--" Mitch stopped speaking, and instantly Jerome knew why. The two of them stopped conversing. It seemed they were to only ones to notice, more or so likely because of their adept abilities in battle were they able to sense another presence. Adam asleep, check, Ian guarding, check, Seto dozing, check, and the two of them right here. Mitch checked left, Jerome right, he spotted it.
"A flame!" Jerome hissed and whispered to Mitch, on instinct he leapt, dropping what he was doing and attempted to stomp out the fire.
Mitch followed suit, "What are you two doing--" Ian noticed the flame in the difference and shook Adam awake. Seto woke on his own, being he was only half asleep, plagued by nightmares no doubt.
"Hello~" The group heard a voice call out and stopped moving, all but Seto.
"Wh-what's going on?" He mumbled before peering through the trees where everyone was looking. He squinted, still bleary eyed from what little sleep he managed to get.
"Is that--" he started.
"Shh!" Jerome shushed him as the figure kept getting closer. It was obvious who ever it was, was alone. Mitch reached for his bow and arrow, ready to shoot if the person turned out to be aggressive.
"Hello? Is someone out here? If there is, you shouldn't be, this area is not protected." They waved their torch around.
"What should we do?" Adam whispered, "They're getting closer, but they don't seem dangerous."
"Seem. Key word, we can't trust just by instinct, we wait it out and stay low." Ian slowly crouched to the ground, Jerome and Mitch doing the same. Mitch still kept his bow trained in the general direction. The fire disappeared followed by shouts of alarm, then an explosion.
"Holy Notch! What was that!" Jerome whipped out his axe, still staring in the direction that the mysterious figure was in. Then a person burst through the trees and stumbled and fell forward knocking he and Jerome down. Jerome let out a strangled cry.
In an instant Adam lit a torch and everyone could see.
Jerome was sprawled on the ground, another, strange guy was rolling of of him groaning, a sword in his hand.
"O-ow..." He blinked and looked up, shielding his face from the bright light of the torch, "Ah! It's you people!"
"What?"
"No time to explain, hurry, these parts of the woods aren't safe, if you stay out here you'll get killed! Follow me!" The mysterious boy pulled the dazed Jerome up on his feet and began to run, not in the direction he'd come.
"H-hey!" Adam shouted before running off after him, taking with him their only source of light. With little time, the remaining three were left with little choice but to abandon their camp and run after them. With Seto stumbling and tripping, Mitch ran behind him, making sure he knew where Adam was, but also ensuring they didn't lose Seto.
~~~~~
Inside the safety of a small, two-story home, well lit with redstone lights, everyone collapsed to the wooden floor and breathed in heavily. They'd run for a full five minutes, not a long time, but long enough through the dense dark woods. Seto was sure he'd seen some sort of creature in the trees watching him.
"Whew!" The stranger that had practically dragged Jerome here sighed and laid back and laughed, "That was the most running I think I've ever gotten in a long time!"
Mitch sat up, taking in the full appearance of the stranger, Light blue hoodie with a mess of light brown hair poking out, huge, metallic, blue boot and gloves to match. This guy must be obsessed with the color blue, considering how much he wore.
"Who are you?" Mitch asked after everyone had a chance to rest, "And why did you bring us here?"
"Oh, right... I forgot to introduce myself."
"You think..." Mitch replied back.
The stranger stood up and took off his hood, only pausing to comb his fingers through his hair to settle the messy tangles, then he said, "Sorry for not explaining or even saying my name, but I'm Jason. I live out in these woods with my siblings. We just happened to be walking home when we noticed the light from your fire."
"What about how you kept saying that the woods aren't safe?"
"Oh! Yeah! You're in Eflido, most of Eflido is protected by Spawn Regulators, along with a few other kingdoms, like Emedo and Keuta and Duhita. You know what those are right? Or have maybe heard of them--, if not, they just limit what kind of creatures spawn within a certain radius. These woods aren't protected by that, as a natural defense against invaders and such, so all sorts of nasty creatures can spawn in these woods, unless you know your way around them."
Spawn Regulators. Yes, Seto had heard of those. His father had mentioned something about them, several years ago when Eflido began to gain recognition for their technological advancements. One of which was a Span Regulator, a small device buried under a few layers of dirt that emitted signals that prevented certain creatures from spawning and entering within its radius. He knew all of Keuta had them, and almost all of Emedo, minus certain parts of Hyrrka for training exercises. He remembered the first time he properly met Adam, he'd literally saved him while Seto was running from a bunch of horrid mobs. And he guessed Duhita had them too, though he never really noticed since the lack of hostile mobs was a normal thing he'd grown up in.
"Ah, but it's a good thing my sister has such keen eyes, I don't think I would've noticed the fire while watching over my sibling--Oh! I forgot, I was in such a rush to bring you all here that I neglected to help you pack!" First thing in the morning we can head back and then you all can stay here. I know it's not much, but it's obvious you lot aren't from around here so it wouldn't be safe to head out, unless you have someplace of importance to go to."
Adam looked to Ian, and Ian to Adam, before Adam spoke up, "Oh, no, in all honesty we've been traveling for a couple of days for our friend here. It's not safe where we are from, and we thought if we could get away it would benefit him and his recovery from some terrible tragedies that have transpired."
Mitch understanding what Adam was hinting at turned away to zip up his hoodie, praying to Notch that Jason had not caught the faint glimpse of his amulet. It would be better to keep these matters secret until they were sure they could trust him, if they at some point needed to trust him.
"Oh," His cheery face saddened as Adam gestured to Seto who only hid his face, "Of course, I know this place is small, but me and my siblings wouldn't mind at all if you took a few weeks to recover here in our home before heading out, or even longer. We have enough supplies, and you lot don't look dangerous, odd yes, but not dangerous."
"Thank you for your generosity, if there is any way we can repay you, we'd be glad to do it, even if it is the most trivial of tasks."
"Don't worry about it. For now, how about I introduce you all to the rest of my family, and then we can find a place for you all to sleep for the night."
~~~~~
It turned out, Jason lived here with 3 younger siblings, he was the oldest and the only adult in the home. He had a younger sister, Glen for short, who looked to be only several years younger than Seto, then another sister, Ava, and last a brother, the youngest, Venir. They were certainly a cheery family, and Jason appeared to have a very close bond to all his siblings, something Seto never had, since he was an only child.
However, as much as he would've liked to remain and talk, he was tired, no, exhausted. Jason had kindly lent Seto a spare bed, no frame, just a mattress but he was grateful. He turned on his side with the thin layer of blankets clutched tightly around him. The others were still downstairs in the small kitchen/living room. He could tell because it was easy to hear them since he was just a mere few steps from the door which was only a foot away from the stairs.
Seto felt dreadfully rude. Having to interrupt the pleasant setting of this family with his own personal problems and sadness, and dragging his friends into this mess. They were all far from home, and it may be a long time before any of them could return.
But he was tired.
So tired of it all.
He just wanted to ball his fist up and punch a wall. He just wanted to let down his wall. To scream, to rid himself of all the things he'd been taught.
And no matter how hard he tried he could not shove these horrid questions from his head. He could not stop them from invading every aspect of his life.
Why? He would ask.
Why? Why him? Over and over it went.
Why?
Why?
Why!
Why did it have to be him? Wasn't he a good son? A proper son. He'd never broken a law, he respected everyone, he was kind like his mother taught him, and always open to learn like his father told him. He even put up with his dreadful cousin.
But if it was so easy for the gods to turn their back on a good, upstanding citizen like him, could he not do the same. Why now of all time, what made the gods decide, now is a great time to ruin Seto's life. Did Seto not try his hardest to please everyone?
He was no prince like his mother was a princess, but he strived to be a good person to everyone. To every good person. Every human.
Was that wrong?
Seto clutched his head and pulled at his hairs as he kicked his blankets off. He was hot and sweating. He was crying, silently, but crying nonetheless. He wiped the tears from his face, his hands being coated in the wet, sticky mess of his tears and snot. He held back from wailing, from disturbing the cheer that was surely going on below. He held back his selfish desires to scream, to alert someone of the pain tearing at his heart.
Was this the pain that Ty felt when he lost those dear to him. Or even Tyler when he lost his mother so many years ago? How many of his friends had lost someone to the clutches of death. Jerome? Ian? Adam? Even Jason, who he'd only just met.
Who else shared this pain that Seto couldn't bare? This pain of a thousand swords plunged deep into him.
Or was he really just alone.
People always said sorcerers were so evil because they were alone in the world.
But how true is that?
With everything that has happened so far in Part 2, what are your theories? You think anything is going to happen? I've been giving off a few hints to things too, so maybe you guys can piece some things together.
More hints to come.
~WrittenDarkness