One
‘I hate my life.’ Jade thought as she ran through the abandoned factory. As she ran she stumbled, cutting her leg on a broken window, cursing under her breath as she continued to run through the night and ignoring the pain in her leg as it was telling her to stop. She couldn’t, she was running for her life and she couldn’t look back. Not even when the howling started. She weaved between buildings and gates as quickly as she could with her injury but she knew that she was slowing down. She knew these back alleys like the back of her hand and she wasn’t going to let them catch her, not without a fight. Jade saw piercing red eyes emerge from the darkness in front of her as she stumbled to a halt ignoring the sudden jolt of pain, She was cornered. ‘I guess luck isn’t on my side today.’ They caught up and surrounded her.
Backing into a wall, she tried to hide the growing panic inside. “We... can smell your blood, child. There is no point in… hiding from us...” It said with a raspy voice. She looked up to face the ugly Thing in front of her. He stood at around nine feet tall and slightly hunched over. Wolfish in appearance, His red eyes looked as though he could see into her soul, he had matted fur that looked like it was caked with something- ‘Is that blood?!’ She thought, hoping she was wrong. He had large fangs protruding from his snout, They were what some would call- “Valnari.” She gasped, They had been hunting her for days, never stopping. She was exhausted but full of adrenaline and in all honesty? She was surprised she wasn’t dead yet. She hadn’t retreated to the desert like most would and she hadn’t been completely caught yet.
“You are... Fast. We’ve been searching for days to find you...” He spoke again as they stepped closer, She began to grow impatient. She needed to buy some time but there were too many to fight alone. “Well, I’m flattered! I didn’t know that I was so important.” She said as she let out a humorless laugh. She looked at each monster as she was trying to formulate a plan. There were ten of them, too many, She wasn’t fast enough to kill them all without getting seriously injured or losing control and that wasn’t an option. ‘At least I can go out with a Bang!’ She thought dryly as she tried to focus despite the situation. Mist swirled around her arm as a long scythe appeared in her hand. Suddenly, the monsters were covered in darkness, ‘Did they back out of the light?! I didn’t see them move!’ She thought to herself as a man jumped down from the roof startling her, landing in front of her with a ‘Thud’. She raised her scythe to face him and backed up further, accidentally backing into the wall. ‘Great more enemies!’ “Who are you?!” She asked, not letting her guard down. “I’m Help.”
Suddenly the ‘Valnari’ started howling in pain and disintegrated into dirt and bones. ‘H-He killed them all at once?!’ She thought as he turned towards her, she pressed herself against the wall and spoke. “Who are you? Are you an abnormal?!” She asked again hoping for a real answer this time though her voice was slightly raised out of fear. “Don’t be scared. I won’t hurt you. My name is Trey, What’s yours?” As he spoke he raised his hands to show that he wouldn’t hurt her. Unlike before she realized that he had an interesting accent and strange tattoos on his arms. ‘Were those there before?’ She was intrigued, “M-My name is Jade...” She said, still unsure of whether or not she could trust him. He smiled faintly at her cooperation, “I just want to talk to you. Can I do that without your scythe pointed at me?” She nodded and lowered her scythe but didn’t send it away. He let out a sigh of relief, still keeping his hands where she could see them. It was dark but She could still see what he looked like. He had curly dark green hair that covered his eyes, they were a lime green that almost looked like they were glowing in the dark. He wore a black T-shirt and denim jeans with combat boots, he looked about her age, nineteen that is. He wore a lazy expression that said he could care less but his eyes said something different. He was... worried?
She shifted, favoring the uninjured leg. “First I want to make sure that you’re okay, Are you?” He said, his accent slightly messing up his english. She smiled at his concern, it had been a long time since anyone asked her that. She moved to show him her right leg, “I cut my leg on something while I was running about thirty minutes ago, but I’ll be fine.” He looked down at the cut, it was pretty bad, ‘She might need stitches.’ He knelt down to help her but she stumbled backwards. He sighed, “May I tend to your wound?” He asked, looking up at her. As she let him get closer he realized how bad it really was. She was tougher than she looked, the wound was bleeding too much and needed to be stopped and cleaned, it was on the outside of her right calf. He looked up at her, “You’re going to want to sit down. I’m going to have to clean this and it’s going to hurt.” She sat down quietly and he handed her a cloth from his first-aid kit. “I need you to apply pressure to stop the bleeding, Can you do that while I get everything I need?” She nodded as he started digging through his bag and taking things out, She watched him. When he finished he started to clean her wound. “T-Thank you for saving me.” She winced as he cleaned her wound.
He smiled slightly. “You’re welcome. Those Valnari were in a surprisingly large pack.” She frowned, “They’ve been hunting me for days, I don’t know what I did to tick them off so badly.” He looked at her, shocked, “Days?! Of all the Tribes, you managed to tick off the Wolf Valnari and survive.” In the past Jade had been taught about them but never bothered to listen, she’d forgotten how vicious they could be. He resumed bandaging her leg, “I won’t be able to stitch up your leg but once we get back to camp Al can heal you.”
“Who’s Al?” He helped her up letting her lean on him. “Al is our healer. Are you okay with me taking you to him instead of a hospital?” He asked knowingly. “H-How far is your camp?” She asked. “It’s pretty far from here, somewhere in the forest at the edge of the city?” He said as he shrugged carelessly as though his statement didn’t cause problems. “It’s going to be impossible for you to get me there before sunrise without being noticed!” She exclaimed, she was beginning to feel hopeless. “Well, your yelling isn’t helping much either.” He looked at her smirking, seeing that she wasn't finding merit in his sense of humour, He sighed, “It won’t take too long.” She glared at him through her confusion. “What do you mean?” “It’ll cut our time in half but you’ll have to hold onto me and stay calm.” He said and she rolled her eyes, “Okay, Stop being vague and just tell me! What are you talking about?” He sighed, again. “You see these tattoos on my arms?” She nodded as she was beginning to wonder if she was wasting her time. “They aren’t tattoos, I'm just like you. They’re part of my Abnormality called Abyss, I can use them to do certain things. Kill, like you saw with The Valnari. Transportation, as in I can move way quicker than normal and go unnoticed. I can also do some other things but you don’t need to know about that yet.” He stated, packing up the First-Aid kit and standing. “Okay... Anything else I need to know?”
He looks at the black tattoo-like marks on his arm, “Not really. It’ll be really cold when you’re traveling and when we’re done you might feel a bit nauseous. Other than that there’s nothing left to say.” She looked at her scythe as she turned it into a dagger. “Cool!” Trey exclaimed. “Care to share about your ability?” He asked, excitedly. “No thanks, We’re wasting time and my leg is starting to feel numb.” She said grumpily. “Fine. Hold on tight and stay calm.” He said as they started to travel through darkness.
The now empty alleyway was only to be left with dust and bones barely visible under the streetlamp. Footsteps could be heard echoing down the hall as a figure approached the dust and crouched down. “I’ll see you soon, M’lady.” They said as they raked their fingers through the dust.
Backing into a wall, she tried to hide the growing panic inside. “We... can smell your blood, child. There is no point in… hiding from us...” It said with a raspy voice. She looked up to face the ugly Thing in front of her. He stood at around nine feet tall and slightly hunched over. Wolfish in appearance, His red eyes looked as though he could see into her soul, he had matted fur that looked like it was caked with something- ‘Is that blood?!’ She thought, hoping she was wrong. He had large fangs protruding from his snout, They were what some would call- “Valnari.” She gasped, They had been hunting her for days, never stopping. She was exhausted but full of adrenaline and in all honesty? She was surprised she wasn’t dead yet. She hadn’t retreated to the desert like most would and she hadn’t been completely caught yet.
“You are... Fast. We’ve been searching for days to find you...” He spoke again as they stepped closer, She began to grow impatient. She needed to buy some time but there were too many to fight alone. “Well, I’m flattered! I didn’t know that I was so important.” She said as she let out a humorless laugh. She looked at each monster as she was trying to formulate a plan. There were ten of them, too many, She wasn’t fast enough to kill them all without getting seriously injured or losing control and that wasn’t an option. ‘At least I can go out with a Bang!’ She thought dryly as she tried to focus despite the situation. Mist swirled around her arm as a long scythe appeared in her hand. Suddenly, the monsters were covered in darkness, ‘Did they back out of the light?! I didn’t see them move!’ She thought to herself as a man jumped down from the roof startling her, landing in front of her with a ‘Thud’. She raised her scythe to face him and backed up further, accidentally backing into the wall. ‘Great more enemies!’ “Who are you?!” She asked, not letting her guard down. “I’m Help.”
Suddenly the ‘Valnari’ started howling in pain and disintegrated into dirt and bones. ‘H-He killed them all at once?!’ She thought as he turned towards her, she pressed herself against the wall and spoke. “Who are you? Are you an abnormal?!” She asked again hoping for a real answer this time though her voice was slightly raised out of fear. “Don’t be scared. I won’t hurt you. My name is Trey, What’s yours?” As he spoke he raised his hands to show that he wouldn’t hurt her. Unlike before she realized that he had an interesting accent and strange tattoos on his arms. ‘Were those there before?’ She was intrigued, “M-My name is Jade...” She said, still unsure of whether or not she could trust him. He smiled faintly at her cooperation, “I just want to talk to you. Can I do that without your scythe pointed at me?” She nodded and lowered her scythe but didn’t send it away. He let out a sigh of relief, still keeping his hands where she could see them. It was dark but She could still see what he looked like. He had curly dark green hair that covered his eyes, they were a lime green that almost looked like they were glowing in the dark. He wore a black T-shirt and denim jeans with combat boots, he looked about her age, nineteen that is. He wore a lazy expression that said he could care less but his eyes said something different. He was... worried?
She shifted, favoring the uninjured leg. “First I want to make sure that you’re okay, Are you?” He said, his accent slightly messing up his english. She smiled at his concern, it had been a long time since anyone asked her that. She moved to show him her right leg, “I cut my leg on something while I was running about thirty minutes ago, but I’ll be fine.” He looked down at the cut, it was pretty bad, ‘She might need stitches.’ He knelt down to help her but she stumbled backwards. He sighed, “May I tend to your wound?” He asked, looking up at her. As she let him get closer he realized how bad it really was. She was tougher than she looked, the wound was bleeding too much and needed to be stopped and cleaned, it was on the outside of her right calf. He looked up at her, “You’re going to want to sit down. I’m going to have to clean this and it’s going to hurt.” She sat down quietly and he handed her a cloth from his first-aid kit. “I need you to apply pressure to stop the bleeding, Can you do that while I get everything I need?” She nodded as he started digging through his bag and taking things out, She watched him. When he finished he started to clean her wound. “T-Thank you for saving me.” She winced as he cleaned her wound.
He smiled slightly. “You’re welcome. Those Valnari were in a surprisingly large pack.” She frowned, “They’ve been hunting me for days, I don’t know what I did to tick them off so badly.” He looked at her, shocked, “Days?! Of all the Tribes, you managed to tick off the Wolf Valnari and survive.” In the past Jade had been taught about them but never bothered to listen, she’d forgotten how vicious they could be. He resumed bandaging her leg, “I won’t be able to stitch up your leg but once we get back to camp Al can heal you.”
“Who’s Al?” He helped her up letting her lean on him. “Al is our healer. Are you okay with me taking you to him instead of a hospital?” He asked knowingly. “H-How far is your camp?” She asked. “It’s pretty far from here, somewhere in the forest at the edge of the city?” He said as he shrugged carelessly as though his statement didn’t cause problems. “It’s going to be impossible for you to get me there before sunrise without being noticed!” She exclaimed, she was beginning to feel hopeless. “Well, your yelling isn’t helping much either.” He looked at her smirking, seeing that she wasn't finding merit in his sense of humour, He sighed, “It won’t take too long.” She glared at him through her confusion. “What do you mean?” “It’ll cut our time in half but you’ll have to hold onto me and stay calm.” He said and she rolled her eyes, “Okay, Stop being vague and just tell me! What are you talking about?” He sighed, again. “You see these tattoos on my arms?” She nodded as she was beginning to wonder if she was wasting her time. “They aren’t tattoos, I'm just like you. They’re part of my Abnormality called Abyss, I can use them to do certain things. Kill, like you saw with The Valnari. Transportation, as in I can move way quicker than normal and go unnoticed. I can also do some other things but you don’t need to know about that yet.” He stated, packing up the First-Aid kit and standing. “Okay... Anything else I need to know?”
He looks at the black tattoo-like marks on his arm, “Not really. It’ll be really cold when you’re traveling and when we’re done you might feel a bit nauseous. Other than that there’s nothing left to say.” She looked at her scythe as she turned it into a dagger. “Cool!” Trey exclaimed. “Care to share about your ability?” He asked, excitedly. “No thanks, We’re wasting time and my leg is starting to feel numb.” She said grumpily. “Fine. Hold on tight and stay calm.” He said as they started to travel through darkness.
The now empty alleyway was only to be left with dust and bones barely visible under the streetlamp. Footsteps could be heard echoing down the hall as a figure approached the dust and crouched down. “I’ll see you soon, M’lady.” They said as they raked their fingers through the dust.
