“Brother, over here! This one is still breathing.” A little girl yells to her older brother. The two of them came to this town for some reason but when they arrived it was merely ash covered in a thick layer of snow.
The brother picked up the child who was covered in a thinner layer of snow than the rest. “What’s that?” The sister asked as she pointed at a thing on the child’s face. It was a black featureless mask with a large red crack across it. There is one hole for an eye and on the other side is a light-blue eye painted onto the mask. “It’s just a mask.” Answered the brother a little bit bothered by the strange mask.
The brother placed the child on one of the seats in the carriage next to him. The sister climbed in after her brother. “What about the girl?” The brother inquired. The girl stared out one of the windows in the carriage, “I think she is in that ‘pile’.”
The carriage left and made its way to their home in silence.
“Father, the town was destroyed. It was ash when we arrived.” The brother reported to his father.
The father looked up from a book he was studying quite vigorously, “Boy, what nonsense is this you are spouting?” The father was furious for his own child to pull such a stunt.
“It is no lie, father. We have brought the only survivor back with us.” The father was shocked. He had heard of monsters passing towns near his region but he thought them mere rumours. “Take me to this survivor immediately.” The brother lowered his head as he said, “I’m sorry father but the survivor is out cold and might not wake for days.”
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The little boy felt invigorated for the first time since he ‘woke’. [Thank you Arrturias, I’ll be going now.] The boy’s quest? Simple, he wanted to return to the town and look for others such as he.
[Young Chidilu, I shall not stop you but this is still a mistake. You are different from the rest.] His friend, Arrturias, shared a thought.
It was the only way the boy could communicate. He did not know how to speak nor could he. [Don’t worry; I’m sure I’ll be fine, probably. I have not met any others, so we cannot judge them yet.] The boy was easy going as he had not once met any danger, yet.
[Then please accept my gift to you.] His friend offered and he accepted. There was a loud roar followed by the painful screams of a child, then silence.
The boy whipped the tears that formed in his eyes, [That was a bit… owwy?]
[Painful.]
[Yes, that was a bit painful.]
[Goodbye my friend, may my gift serve you well. Remember to not remove your mask until you find someone you trust.] His friend gave his final warning before he disappeared.
The boy was alone once more. It has been a week since he first ‘woke’. His plans were to return to the town that was on fire, where he woke, and find other humans.
The boy turned to face the direction of the town with teary eyes, [Bye-bye my friend. My only friend.] He set off on a grand adventure but before he even began he remembered something important. [Whoops, almost forgot to wear my mask.] The boy donned a black, featureless mask with a large red crack across it. It had one hole for an eye and on the other side was a blue painted eye.
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“Father, it woke up!” The sister yelled through the large home. Almost immediately she could hear her father stumble, fall and pick himself back up from his study. He appeared before her only moments later. He scanned the room searching for the child survivor.
The child was standing at a window and seemed to stare out of it. It was hard to see where it was actually looking as it still wore the mask.
The father and his children have not found a way to remove the mask nor found a way to determine the gender of the child.
The father took a step closer, attracting the child’s attention. “Would you tell me your name, child?” The child simply tilted his head in confusion. The father was intrigued by the sudden response from the child. Just the head movement told the father the child was human, or something close to it.
“Do you understand me?” The father asked another question which was answered by another tilt of the child’s head.
Remore walked into the room where his father was still busy trying to speak with the child. When the child noticed Remore it immediately ran up to his side and… just stood there, watching, waiting. Remore was slightly, only slightly, startled but continued with what he was doing. “Father, it is time for our weekly duel.”
The father suddenly remembered, “Oh yes, then let us go. Sapphire, please watch over the child until I return.” The sister, Sapphire, bowed to her father as he left followed by her brother. She stood upright after a few seconds and saw the child… or not. The child was gone.
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Chidilu had returned to the town where he ‘woke’. [I’m back; it feels a lot spookier than it felt at first.]
He walked through the burnt out village. The corpses on the ground were covered in a thin layer of snow that keeps increasing. [Does it never stop snowing? I have been taught a few things by Arrturias and one of them was that it usually doesn’t snow THIS long.]
Chidilu tripped over a corpse, or actually it was just a metal golem a bit shorter than he. [Cool, is it a gloom?] Chidilu poked around the golem in search of any indication to what it was. [Oh wait, that not right word. Glom? Gloem? Golm? Golem? Well, doesn’t matter now.] He was taught about types off monsters that roamed the world by his friend but he always suffered with the pronunciation because he couldn’t speak.
He proceeded into the centre of the town of ash. There a couple of children sat around a small fire. As he came into view the children panicked and picked up stones ready to pelt him. But then he slipped on some ice, falling face first into the solid snow covered dirt. [Oww! That hurt…] Chidilu rolled over and tried to rub his face but his mask was in the way.
“Wh-Who are you?” one of the children yelled a question at Chidilu but he did not answer. He plainly stood back up and stumbled his way to the children. When he was 'too' close the children pelted him with the stones and ran away when he was knocked out.