Username: Arrikanez
Cat Name: Truth in the Mouth of Lies
Gender: Male
Rank: Strongman [3rd Leader]
Clan: The Dark CarnivalAge: 3.9
Prompt:Tonight I'm so alone,
This sorrow takes ahold,
Don't leave me here so cold,
(Never wanna be so cold)Valisk was running, racing, pelting down the darkened alleyway in an attempt to escape the incoming Force. There was a price on his head, and he was utterly alone on this. Ian was somewhere with Trek, probably drinking, and Laur - well, who knew where the kid was. As if to underline how dire his situation was, the sky opened up, thunder rolling across the dimly-lit defunct buildings lining the long and narrow path he was taking to what he hoped was safety. In times like this, in the darkness not even the two moons could pierce, he wish his life had turned a different corner.
Your touch used to be so kind,
Your touch used to give me life,
I've waited all this time,
I've wasted so much time,Not for the first time, did he find himself thinking of his boyfriend, his life, his everything - Trek. They had started out as best friends, scooped up by this weird kid named Ian Drayton, and paid to do
exactly what they had been doing for the most of their lives already. Like snakes in the grass, they were to be the surprise waiting for Ian's enemies when they decided to put forward an attack. From friends to lovers... but Trek had been drifting recently, and Valisk hadn't kept up his end of the bargain either - sometimes going off for
hours to think on his own, or swim, or run. He hadn't been paying near enough attention to Trek in the past few months... that had to change at some point.
Here, he hopped over a chain-link fence and started charging down the unlit alleyway, ignoring the hiss of rain, or the rush of wind against his face as he ducked down another alleyway. His amber eyes widened as he came to the realization no ganger wants to hit. A dead end. His heart slammed staccato against his ribs as though it wanted to escape. Only one name on his lips - Trek. Where was he? Why wasn't he here?!
Don't leave me alone,
Cause I barely see at all,
Don't leave me alone, I'm-,His lips trembled Trek's name as a whisper in a desperate, lonely plea for him to emerge, to show himself. The sharp report of gunshots rang out, and he had barely time to register them as his chest exploded in white pain, urging him to move, to run, to do SOMETHING. But he was already facing down impossible odds, and the most he could do was turn his back to the wall to face the oncoming storm of officers descending on his location. His vision started to tunnel, and all he could think of was Trek, Ian, Laur, and Sendis - mind focused mainly on the one he loved beyond all else.
Falling in the black,
Slipping through the cracks,
Falling to the depths, can I ever go back?,
Dreaming of the way it used to be,
(Can you hear me?)The irony of his 'I'll be fine, don't worry about me.' rang through his head along with the vibration of the two more shots entering his torso. Four shots for a small-time crook? The Force must be slow. His back slammed against the brick wall, and he gritted his teeth in pain as he started sliding down it. He was falling, spiraling, tunneling down into a space where he didn't think Trek could follow. Where he didn't
want Trek to follow. But he still called his name with all the power he had in his lungs. "Trek, please... help me!"
By some miracle or another, Trek
did actually appear, along with Ian. The two younger boys were nowhere to be seen. But at least THEY came. He felt his rear hit the cold concrete just as Ian and Trek pulled their own weapons, and worked on dispersing the Force. They must have succeeded, but Valisk blacked out for a short while, and came to only to feel Trek holding him, jostling his shoulder.
"Val? Val! C'mon, it's me. Wake up buddy." Trek was saying in hurried, hushed tones.
"How is he? We can't keep them off our tail for long! This isn't really what I was planning on doing with my evening!" Ian sounded ticked off. Valisk could hardly blame him.
Falling in the black,
Slipping through the cracks,
Falling to the depths, can I ever go back?,
Falling inside the black,
Falling inside, falling inside the black,Valisk blacked out again, as the pain intensified, and he felt something wet and warm trickling down his midsection. He didn't want to look. Didn't want to understand what was happening to him. Ian's voice faded out, and Trek took up all his vision - everything he had was focused on the one that had been his strength, his rock, his anchor.
You were my source of strength,
I've traded everything that I love for this one thing,
(Stranded in the offering)He couldn't really articulate what he felt at that moment, but his hands clasped in the other young man's made it abundantly clear. Even feeling his life pulsing out with each thready beat of his heart, there was only one thought consuming him. The one above him. Trek turned to tell Ian something, but Valisk couldn't hear it, his pale hand tightly gripped in the other's slightly-more-tanned one. They'd been cut from the same cloth, and would likely wind up in the same place after the end came. And Valisk's end was coming sooner than he'd like it to. He'd lost everything once upon a time. And now he was losing it again - here in the cold, wet, bitter inner-city streets with the sounds of sirens and dogs, coughing and smog-filled cars cycling in the air. None of that mattered. He was floating here, drifting, far away from the side of the two who cared about him at all.
Don't leave me here like this,
Can't hear me scream from the abyss,
And now I wish for you my desire,The bodyguard didn't want to go. He knew he had to, but somewhere, somehow, he wished he could stay here. If only for Trek. If only for the reason that he wanted to make it up to him. Spend more time with him. BE with him, and take the time to make that work beyond just a passing fling. It was odd the things that one thought of when hovering at the edge of it all. Trek... would he be okay?
Don't leave me alone,
Cause I barely see at all,
Don't leave me alone, I'm-,His head was swimming now, and his vision had gone dark. Somewhere in the background, he could hear Ian demanding him to stay conscious, and Trek screaming at him to stay, stay, if only for him, for them, stay! But he wasn't able to hang on as much as he wanted to. It was almost a relief as the pain flooded away, the sounds faded - even if it left him in the empty silence, the oppressive loneliness of nothing...
Falling in the black,
Slipping through the cracks,
Falling to the depths, can I ever go back?,
Dreaming of the way it used to be,
(Can you hear me?)~Do you want to live?~A voice in the darkness, cupping his consciousness like a giant hand. He was still falling, falling, the darkness all around him, with a feeling that he was never going to land.
~Do you want to live. the voice asked again, more demanding.
"Yes." Valisk said, blinking out into the darkness of nothingness, searching for what was there. He didn't see anyone or anything. Even if he felt like crying, he could feel no tears. He couldn't even feel his eyes.
~Bide your time. Become one thing, then another. You will teach him, and then you will be rewarded.~For some reason, the voice brought with it a sense of calm. Of cooly collected thought, and foresight. Valisk wasn't afraid. In fact, he was intrigued. The hole where Trek had been in his heart was still there, but he wanted to see where this led. His wordless agreement was all that was needed.
Falling in the black,
Slipping through the cracks,
Falling to the depths, can I ever go back?,
Falling inside the black,
Falling inside, falling inside, the black,
Black, black, black,From the depths of nothingness, he swirled into world - cold and slithery, the epitome of what he had been, only not realized as such. A snake. A deadly snake, to Trek's - TREK! - cooly stoic, and yet non-poisonous one. For a time, he lived in this form. Slithery, sneaky, crawling along the fur of the one he once knew as his boss, as Ian. Now Viperstar. Valisk couldn't say his name. Not that he could say much of anything. But he remembered the voice's words - Chroma's words. Bide his time. Teach. Learn. Watch. So he did.
It had to happen, though. His reward. Trek's reward. For their short lives as the vipers to Ian's star. One evening as both snakes were asleep, Chroma returned. This time, he was less insistent, but no less enigmatic.
~It is time.~ he stated, scooping both out of their bodies, and flinging them into the inky blackness of nothing again. Valisk felt his form falling, falling again. Giving him time to contemplate everything that had happened, everything that he'd been, and everything he wanted to be. He wanted to change - to be a better person. To be a better... snake? To be better. Just better. Trek, floating beside him, hands clasped with his, wordlessly agreed. They didn't really need words in this aching void of silence and sorrow.
Falling in the black,
Slipping through the cracks,
F-f-falling in the black,
Slipping through the cracks,
Falling through the depths, can I never go back,
Dreaming of the way it used to be,
(Can you hear me?)
Slipping through the cracks,
Falling through the depths, can I never go back,
Falling inside the black,
(Can you hear me?)
Falling inside the black,
(Can you hear me?)
Falling inside the black,
(Can you hear me?)
Falling inside, falling inside, falling inside the black!Swirling, soaring, and tumbling, he fell out of the darkness as thick as molasses, and into something... soft. It felt comfortable. It felt like home. Pushing himself to his feet, he shook off the remainder of what had been - the fear of the darkness, the uncertainty, the vibrating loneliness in his heart - and adjusted his outlook, and his body. Chroma had finally given him his reward, and put him into the body of a cat - like Ian, and hopefully like Trek, eventually. His snake body slithered away - only a dumb animal now, and not his vessel. He felt like a new cat. Even though he couldn't say his name from the life before, he knew that this was where he belonged. He'd worked to get here, going through a new death - twice! - in order to be reborn. The voice - Chroma - echoed into his mind.
~Welcome into this world, into my realm, denizen of the great void. You have earned this. Your new name shall be Truth in the Mouth of Lies - as you are Viperstar's reminder of a past he would forget, and a future he would pursue. You know your task.~Truth grinned and thought of his new name, feeling its importance. But he had a job to do. He had been Ian's guard once - but now his task was to guard him in a different way. Something less violent, and more visceral. One ear flicked in excitement. It was time to introduce himself anew. That thought in mind, he strode forward through the thicket in which he'd been deposited, and crossed the sandbar with light steps. His new life was about to begin.
