by _Alex_ » Mon Mar 12, 2018 4:56 pm
the first thing that he becomes aware of is the fact he has no body. that he is nothing more than a group of thoughts floating on the wind. one in all traditional senses of the word should not and does not exist; and yet exist he does, because the universe is a strange thing and his will is always done. and so he exists, floating on the wind, reflecting on his existence, wondering when the movement nothing became something was.
he exists like that, without a body or senses or purposes, for what could be lifetimes or could be nothing at all, for time does not yet exist. it is a surprise then, when all of a sudden, a burst of what can only be color dances in front of him and what can only be sound crashes down upon him in a wave. suddenly he can see. suddenly he can hear. suddenly he can observe the world all around him.
it doesn’t take him long to start placing sounds to sights. to distinguish from what sounds are words and what sounds are not. to start to learn.
he learns that the place he seems to exist in is a city. a city that’s home to dozens of buildings: homes and stores and baths and palaces. that although the city is sprawling and huge, the residents are few in number. that most of the buildings have been left abandoned as their occupants disappear. where they dissapear to he knows not; although he hears rumors of a war brewing on the horizon. rumors of nearby cities being reduced to nothing more than rubble and blood. but the city’s inhabitants hold no fear for their safety, for their city, and so he holds none themselves. who is he to disagree with the faith they hold for their ruler, for their city’s namesake.
it is a surprise then, when red suddenly spread across the sky like blood and a roar louder than that of a thousand dragons shook the air. he watched, helpless, as everyone in the city froze, muscles locked in fear. and then the first scream pierced the air, heavy with fear and pain. then all hell broke loose.
warriors dressed in blood red and violent purple tumbled over the city’s walls. they were relentless in their destruction; tearing down buildings with unnatural strength, slicing down children with swords, ripping open elders throats with claws and teeth alike. their destruction was an unending wave, for every invader killed, five more would take their place. this was not an act of war, a battle fought fair and true, no, this was a massacre.
then, just as suddenly as they had appeared, the warriors ceased their violence. as if they were one in both body and mind, they turned their eyes skyward, as if searching for something that was missing among the blood red sky. as if trapped in the same trance as the warriors, he too looked towards the sky, searching for something that did not belong.
and that’s when he saw it. a long bodied god who danced on the wind and forced it under his command. even from such a great distance, he could see the blood that dripped from the god’s teeth and claws. there was no doubt in his mind that this was the leader of the warriors. that this was the god whose name was spoken only in hushed whispers.
then, as if he had bent the very fabric of the universe himself, the god was landing on the top of a ruined building, looking over their soldiers. for all that the god was proud and magnificent, they were terrifying, striking a feeling of what could only be fear into his thoughts. and then, as if the god could sense his very presence, the god turned his head and looked directly towards the small point in the city where his thoughts were gathered.
the world went black.
when he regains his sight, his hearing, his thoughts, again, he sees the city around him empty. utterly abandoned in it’s destruction and left by the god and their warriors for the crows to take over. it’s in that moment that he feels sadness for the first time, a mournfulness for the lives that were so brutally lost. it’s an odd feeling. one that leaves his thoughts heavy and slow and unsettled. if only there was a way, he thinks, for the outcome of the fight to be reversed, for all those lives lost to be brought back. but he knows that is not possible. that the universe would not allow such an imbalance to occur (how he knows this is something that he does not think about).
he’s brought out of his thoughts by the sound of rocks tumbling down, down, down, from a considerable height. his first thought is to dismiss it as nothing more than the rubble settling, gravity finally taking its toll on the shattered walls and stones. but then, then it happens again, and again, and again. the sound almost rhythmic in nature and frequency, familiar in a way he knows but can’t place.
it’s not until, across the very edge of his vision, darts a blur of red and brown, comes the realization that the sound of rocks tumbling down had not been the rubble settling, but rather footsteps. relief races across his thoughts, it seems at least one soul made it out of the massacre alive. instinctively, he attempts to shift his thoughts, to shift his presence in the world until he can see the survivor, but he can’t.
for the first time since he gained the ability to see, he’s unable to shift his thought, unable to view the world around him from any direction. fear races across his mind, growing stronger as he realizes that not only is he unable to view the world as he could before, but that he can feel things in a way that was impossible before.
he can feel weight pressing down on him, sharp bricks and even sharper rocks. he can feel the heat of the nearby fire, unpleasant but not harmful. he can feel the faint breeze that’s on the wind dancing over him. he can smell the smoke and blood in the air with such intensity that he can taste it. and that thought, the thought of being able to taste, is what finally allows him to have his great epiphany, his great realization.
somehow, someway, he no longer is just a collection of thoughts on the wind. no, it seems as though the universe has decided to give him a body.
before he can properly dwell on the thought, properly learn how to distinguish one limb from the other, to shift and move and familiarize himself with his new existence, something bounces off of his hide, quick and fast and leaving behind a stinging sensation that he somehow knows can only be pain.
and like all creatures, both sentient and not, he reacts to pain instinctively. before he knows what’s happening, before he’s even created the thought of such movement, some of his limbs are curling out from under him and others are reaching out and more still throwing themselves to the side as his body launches itself out and away from the source of the pain. it’s a weird sensation, moving, one that both feels and does not, he thinks once his body has settled itself on the top of what could only once have been a building, jaw dropped open and teeth bared and tail lashing out behind him and wings raised high and threatening and eyes searching for the source of the pain.
at first he sees nothing, nothing but smouldering ruins and destruction, but then he spots one thing whose pattern does not belong. diagonal stripes and cross hatches across a backdrop of irregular shapes. it doesn’t take long then, for his eyes to process the shape and work it out into what it’s supposed to be: a viscet. one with tangled red curls in their mane and a satchel of leather slung across their shoulder. one whose expression can only be described as a mix of fear and awe.
“you’re real” the striped viscet says, voice smooth and full of a reverence that seems out of place, “we had heard the universe’s whispers of course, but part of me had believed that they could not have been true.”
it takes him a moment to find his voice, to figure out how to project his thoughts out in a way that they can be heard by others. “i don’t… i know nothing of what you speak of.” his voice is halting and rough, teeth catching on his tongue and drawing out syllables that shouldn’t have been extended.
the red one croons, a soothing sound that makes him feel at ease even when he knows it shouldn’t. “of course you don’t. the universe warned us of this and still i spoke too freely. for that i apologize.” they pause in their speech then, looking around at their surroundings before carefully picking their way through the rubble towards him, each paw being placed specifically to avoid injury.
“the universe spoke to you?” his speech is heavy with confusion. in a corner of his thoughts, the part that speaks silently to him, he wants to lash out, knows he should feel anger or fear or something other than just confusion. but he can’t. something about the small viscet in front of makes him feel at ease, now that he’s recovered from the shock of their arrival. but still, one question remains. “who are you?” he manages to ask, “who are you that the universe speaks to you?”
a brief flash of confusion dances across the other’s face before it settles into a look of understanding. “my name is ruth, and i am a prophet of the universe. ” she says soothingly. “i am not blessed enough that the universe speaks to me however. the universe speaks through me, using my voice as his own.”
all at once, a wave of understanding flows over and through him, even though he should, by all rights and knowledge, know nothing of what she speaks. but he does. he understands it with the same certainty that a bird knows it can fly. he knows then that it is the universe speaking to him. calming his fears and providing him with the knowledge he needs to follow ruth.
“i am supposed to follow you.” he states then. and ruth smiles, nodding her head. “for now at least. the universe wishes for me to take you to a place of knowledge and learning that is unlike any other that has or will or does exist.”
he smiles back and shifts atop the pile of rubble that he had made his perch, scanning the ground below carefully. when he’s found what he is looking for, a piece of ground that is both large enough for him and free of danger, he moves, tail stretching out behind him and paws pushing off the rubble and wings unfurling up and out. when he lands on the ground next to ruth, he does so with grace and ease. “you lead and i will follow.”
“of course,” comes her reply, her feet already moving as she begins to pick her way across the rubble once more, traveling, this time, towards the southernmost edge of the city. “i have but one question for you if you do not mind. the universe has told us of many things concerning your arrival, and yet, there is one thing we have not been told. your name.”
for several moments, he’s silent as they walk, his steps stumbling and uneven compared to hers’, and he thinks. searches the depths of his mind for the name that defines him. the name that he never stopped to consider he had. and just as he’s about to answer her, tell her that he has no name, no identity, a wave of knowledge washes over him. and just like that, he knows. “zion.” he says, voice sure. “my name is zion.”
word count
2090 words
Last edited by
_Alex_ on Wed Mar 28, 2018 2:10 pm, edited 2 times in total.