Post by Cascadia on Oct 2, 2007 15:35:35 GMT -5
Chapter Two
A numbing, unnatural calmness overtook us, and he lowered me to the ground, still holding me in his arms. He ignored my protests, and pulled away from me, his eyes sad as they swept over my face. I tried to smile at him and failed miserably, hot tears leaking from the corners of my eyes. He looked me over, his gaze fixing on my side. I'd almost forgotten about the wound. Blood caked around the torn cut, a line of deep red was noticeable against my tanned skin. The remnants of a skirt was still present, but something in the air had begun to affect clothing as well. Once people had begun showing breathing problems, people finally stopped ignoring the fact something was wrong. Just in time for...I looked past him, watching the public shriek and be cut down by the crystals that continued pouring from the sky.
We'd noticed first. Before the minor signs, before the stars came out in daytime, before the sky turned silver...we'd felt something was wrong. But no one, not even the Others could foresee this. We'd known the world was dying, but we hadn't expected it's death to be so dramatic. And we certainly did not expect it to happen in our lifetime. It was something sudden that started this, something catastrophic that finally sent the world into full-scale self-destruct. But I couldn't remember what...
I looked back at him, he was examining my cut. I opened my mouth to ask him, Why is this happening ? What started it ? Where did we go wrong ? But an explosive crash hit my ears painfully, shock waves rolling over us, knocking us backwards. I pushed myself upwards, feeling him do the same beside me. We were atop a hill, fake grass whispering against our skin. The medow before us rippled in the wind of the crash, and our eyes widened at the cause.
The moon had fallen out of orbit hours ago, spinning wildly around the planet, hitting stars and dipping in and out of the magma sky, but it chose now to finally give way into gravity. The surface of the moon was rippling, as if it's surface was liquid, but shards of the rock were jutting outwards and pieces bigger than the ancient skyscrapers broke off and flew through the tainted air. The moon lost it's shape, no longer a sphere but a mass of jagged points, the rock splitting with mind-numbing screeching as the surface ground against itself making up for the sudden impact. Crystals rained down onto the surface of the moon, rainbows dancing seductively over it's pale, ivory surface.
My hand slid into his, and his fingers curled around mine. We sat in silence as the world shrieked and shuddered beneath us, and watched the stars begin to explode. Louder then fireworks, and holding infinite more colours, they popped and fizzled out of existence, burning the sky around them. Sending sparks outwards that glittered over the crystals and destroyed moon, finally falling to the surface of our once-planet in raindrop-shaped fire balls, ten times the size of the crystals themselves.
We picked a good hill to stop on, I thought as we watched the fire rain around us. It scorched the fake grass, the field a mockery of nature. Our world hadn't had real grass since the Oldies had covered everything with concrete, and metal I noted, watching the metallic sky continue to rain and kill more people. How ironic. I felt a soft, sadistic smile stretch on my lips and turned to my partner, just as he was doing the same. Our silence stretched, not uncomfortably, but just companionable silence. Something we were very used to.
A shout caught my attention, and my head snapped around, a little farther up the hill, there was a man. No, two men, I thought lazily, and I wondered if the chemicals in the air were getting to me as well. But the men didn't go away, instead came slightly closer, and my partner pulled me up, hurrying us to them. They were calling my name, almost in annoyance. We reached them in moments, one looking me over hastily. I almost laughed out loud when a slight blush rose to his cheeks.
"I'm well aware I'm half-naked," I told him wryly, thanking the Gods for my ability to-sort of-stay calm in any situation. [/i]Even the end of the world.[/i][/b] I nodded at my partner, grateful once again for the mindlink we shared. The second man in front of me glared at him, before turning his attention back to me. He ignored my informal appearance, and hesitated as he stared into my eyes. I wondered if I was still crying. Probably, I thought as his gaze softened.
"You need to come with us," he spoke low, a normal volume. Normal for before the chaos anyway. And yet I heard him. His simple sentence confused me and I gripped my partner's hand tighter.
"There's nowhere to go," I blurted, jumping as I heard a crystal whiz past my ear, close enough for me to feel the air rip and blow against my face. I refocused on the man, and he smiled, a genuine smile, as if nothing around us fazed him the slightest.
"They did a good job with your mind," he nodded, confusing me farther. He nodded backwards, indicating to follow him before he spun on his heel and started away, falling into step with the first man. My partner stepped forward, and I hesitated a moment before following warily. I didn't like when people played mindgames with me. No, you just don't like when you lose, he reminded me and I growled. We danced through the flaming crystal rain, hurrying behind the men. I was used to my partner's voice sliding over my thoughts, tantalizingly soft, smoother then the finest silk. It calmed me. The next voice penetrating my mind was not his.
We can take you to a different world, it said and I faltered, recognizing it as the man's, and wondered briefly if my partner had heard as well. All the other worlds are dying as well, I thought back, hesitating, now fully questioning my sanity. The voice laughed, and I heard muffled words. They're talking to each other, I realized, glancing back and forth at the two men in front of us. I glanced at my partner, and knew he hadn't heard. His face was determined, having purpose, somewhere to go, even if it were following two complete strangers through a field of chaos and death.
[n]Another realm, then. Somewhere you'll be safe.[/b] I blinked, keeping pace with my partner, trying to comprehend his words. Safe ? Weeks, nay, a day or two ago that would have been laughable. I was safe here, then. Safe was common, living was safe. But now...I doubted I'd ever feel safe again. Another crystal streamed close enough to whisk the air at me again and I shuddered. Have you got a shuttle of your own ? I asked quickly, trying to keep my thoughts together, else I lose my mind altogether, which was what had happened, I guessed.
The sky was melting, me and my partner were running through a field of fake grass while fire and sparks of the late stars rained beside the melted, frozen crystallized sky and pelted the cracking ground ? People everywhere leaving the planet in whatever make-shift shuttle they could find only to burn to death in the expanding sun, or be cut down by the razor crystals of death ? Rainbows and beautiful multi-coloured lights reflecting and dancing around the scene, the world groaning as the moon finally settled, it's surface now completely fused with the planet's ? Oh yeah. I'd lost it.
A numbing, unnatural calmness overtook us, and he lowered me to the ground, still holding me in his arms. He ignored my protests, and pulled away from me, his eyes sad as they swept over my face. I tried to smile at him and failed miserably, hot tears leaking from the corners of my eyes. He looked me over, his gaze fixing on my side. I'd almost forgotten about the wound. Blood caked around the torn cut, a line of deep red was noticeable against my tanned skin. The remnants of a skirt was still present, but something in the air had begun to affect clothing as well. Once people had begun showing breathing problems, people finally stopped ignoring the fact something was wrong. Just in time for...I looked past him, watching the public shriek and be cut down by the crystals that continued pouring from the sky.
We'd noticed first. Before the minor signs, before the stars came out in daytime, before the sky turned silver...we'd felt something was wrong. But no one, not even the Others could foresee this. We'd known the world was dying, but we hadn't expected it's death to be so dramatic. And we certainly did not expect it to happen in our lifetime. It was something sudden that started this, something catastrophic that finally sent the world into full-scale self-destruct. But I couldn't remember what...
I looked back at him, he was examining my cut. I opened my mouth to ask him, Why is this happening ? What started it ? Where did we go wrong ? But an explosive crash hit my ears painfully, shock waves rolling over us, knocking us backwards. I pushed myself upwards, feeling him do the same beside me. We were atop a hill, fake grass whispering against our skin. The medow before us rippled in the wind of the crash, and our eyes widened at the cause.
The moon had fallen out of orbit hours ago, spinning wildly around the planet, hitting stars and dipping in and out of the magma sky, but it chose now to finally give way into gravity. The surface of the moon was rippling, as if it's surface was liquid, but shards of the rock were jutting outwards and pieces bigger than the ancient skyscrapers broke off and flew through the tainted air. The moon lost it's shape, no longer a sphere but a mass of jagged points, the rock splitting with mind-numbing screeching as the surface ground against itself making up for the sudden impact. Crystals rained down onto the surface of the moon, rainbows dancing seductively over it's pale, ivory surface.
My hand slid into his, and his fingers curled around mine. We sat in silence as the world shrieked and shuddered beneath us, and watched the stars begin to explode. Louder then fireworks, and holding infinite more colours, they popped and fizzled out of existence, burning the sky around them. Sending sparks outwards that glittered over the crystals and destroyed moon, finally falling to the surface of our once-planet in raindrop-shaped fire balls, ten times the size of the crystals themselves.
We picked a good hill to stop on, I thought as we watched the fire rain around us. It scorched the fake grass, the field a mockery of nature. Our world hadn't had real grass since the Oldies had covered everything with concrete, and metal I noted, watching the metallic sky continue to rain and kill more people. How ironic. I felt a soft, sadistic smile stretch on my lips and turned to my partner, just as he was doing the same. Our silence stretched, not uncomfortably, but just companionable silence. Something we were very used to.
A shout caught my attention, and my head snapped around, a little farther up the hill, there was a man. No, two men, I thought lazily, and I wondered if the chemicals in the air were getting to me as well. But the men didn't go away, instead came slightly closer, and my partner pulled me up, hurrying us to them. They were calling my name, almost in annoyance. We reached them in moments, one looking me over hastily. I almost laughed out loud when a slight blush rose to his cheeks.
"I'm well aware I'm half-naked," I told him wryly, thanking the Gods for my ability to-sort of-stay calm in any situation. [/i]Even the end of the world.[/i][/b] I nodded at my partner, grateful once again for the mindlink we shared. The second man in front of me glared at him, before turning his attention back to me. He ignored my informal appearance, and hesitated as he stared into my eyes. I wondered if I was still crying. Probably, I thought as his gaze softened.
"You need to come with us," he spoke low, a normal volume. Normal for before the chaos anyway. And yet I heard him. His simple sentence confused me and I gripped my partner's hand tighter.
"There's nowhere to go," I blurted, jumping as I heard a crystal whiz past my ear, close enough for me to feel the air rip and blow against my face. I refocused on the man, and he smiled, a genuine smile, as if nothing around us fazed him the slightest.
"They did a good job with your mind," he nodded, confusing me farther. He nodded backwards, indicating to follow him before he spun on his heel and started away, falling into step with the first man. My partner stepped forward, and I hesitated a moment before following warily. I didn't like when people played mindgames with me. No, you just don't like when you lose, he reminded me and I growled. We danced through the flaming crystal rain, hurrying behind the men. I was used to my partner's voice sliding over my thoughts, tantalizingly soft, smoother then the finest silk. It calmed me. The next voice penetrating my mind was not his.
We can take you to a different world, it said and I faltered, recognizing it as the man's, and wondered briefly if my partner had heard as well. All the other worlds are dying as well, I thought back, hesitating, now fully questioning my sanity. The voice laughed, and I heard muffled words. They're talking to each other, I realized, glancing back and forth at the two men in front of us. I glanced at my partner, and knew he hadn't heard. His face was determined, having purpose, somewhere to go, even if it were following two complete strangers through a field of chaos and death.
[n]Another realm, then. Somewhere you'll be safe.[/b] I blinked, keeping pace with my partner, trying to comprehend his words. Safe ? Weeks, nay, a day or two ago that would have been laughable. I was safe here, then. Safe was common, living was safe. But now...I doubted I'd ever feel safe again. Another crystal streamed close enough to whisk the air at me again and I shuddered. Have you got a shuttle of your own ? I asked quickly, trying to keep my thoughts together, else I lose my mind altogether, which was what had happened, I guessed.
The sky was melting, me and my partner were running through a field of fake grass while fire and sparks of the late stars rained beside the melted, frozen crystallized sky and pelted the cracking ground ? People everywhere leaving the planet in whatever make-shift shuttle they could find only to burn to death in the expanding sun, or be cut down by the razor crystals of death ? Rainbows and beautiful multi-coloured lights reflecting and dancing around the scene, the world groaning as the moon finally settled, it's surface now completely fused with the planet's ? Oh yeah. I'd lost it.