The Reincarnation
dejers
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The Reincarnation
by dejers
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Chapter 1: Life
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She sat on the small platform glitched off the side of the chunk. Her
eyes roamed over the endless unloaded terrain. She peered down into the
void and thought about the endless drop. "Would I ever land?" She mused,
"Or would I freeze to death
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first."
She shook her head and watched as the sun began to sink below the endless
horizon. She battled her mind as her thoughts began to turn towards her past, she cursed as the thoughts broke through and concentrated on
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her old town, and her eyes began to grow damp.
Her few friends probably would not be able to recognize her now. "Just as well," she murmured, "better for them not to." Since her banishment at the age of eleven, she had lived on the very
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edge.
She lived at the last loaded portions of Minecraftia, there she was able to live in solitude and have a semblance of peace. If the creepers had not realized who she was then her peace would be complete.
Every couple of months Marcus
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would visit her, whether it was his duty as a wizard or just pity she could never understand. She wondered though, how their conversations would always turn towards her old life.
Every other time he passed through, he would bring a
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batch of supplies, along with a new 'cure.' whether it was desensitizing her in a pod or feeding her cold potions that tasted like feet.
The cure was for something she was not even sure actually existed. She could remember that as a child she had
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assumed two distinct personalities; Ashley, and StormGale. However, over time she lost the distinction and was simply became Ashley. The people in the town she lived in did not manage to make the distinction.
Over time things happened and all
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of it was blamed on Ashley, who of course did not remember doing anything. Finally, a group of wizards had come through and observed her.
After a week of observation, they called a town meeting and proclaimed their findings. They
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explained that her 'life force' was intertwined with another.
The townsfolk had been stunned into silence. "Possessed!" the word trickled through the crowd transforming into another word "Witch?" she sat in the middle of the room
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as every eye turned towards her.
She remembered clearly the children being pulled protectively into mother's embraces, and of the men approaching the wizard in charge and demanding answers about what could be done with her.
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The men quickly grouped into a throng and began demanding that she be slaughtered, whilst several protested and demanded my extraction from their peaceful society.
The head wizard seemed to be surprised and
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feebly proposed arguments. Soon however a younger man came and took her away. That had been five years before.
She had lived in numerous places and lived as numerous people, but now she spent her time in solitude. Alone,
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and constantly weary of people and creatures.
A noise resounded across the blank landscape, drawing Ashley from her blissful reverie. She glanced up to find that the sun was sinking low under the horizon.
Cursing she
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looked around and stood up, she jumped from her platform towards the ladder on the side of the wall. Halfway there her skin shifted colors and she barely managed to grasp the ladder.
She hung there staring at the white skin. The arms
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pulled her body up over the side of the blocks; she shook her head queasy at the strange feeling of no control.
She tried to reach up to feel her head, but found her control lacking. Her arms instead propped her up off the ground.
The feeling of the
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lack of control lifted, and with it came a strange sense of invulnerability. The sun drifted lower, casting long shadows across the landscape.
Her sword came willingly to her hand and she held it at her side. Bushes snapped and crackled as
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bodies moved through them.
Cocking her head she smiled, the sun cast one more glimpse of light before vanishing. The smile became a frightening leer in the dark and a guttural snarl leapt from her throat.
Light blond hair flew away from her
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body like a cape, as she smashed the skull of the zombie that had leaped from the bushes.
Another guttural sound echoed, but this one seemed to be much closer to a laugh. As another zombie approached, seeking to aid its comrade in the
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feast it too died.
As the moon reached its apex, she approached her house. As she ran her hands through her bright red hair, she wondered how she had lost track of time.
Wandering inside her gate she surveyed the wheat but
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found little grown, nodding her head she wondered how long it was supposed to grow.
She shook her head and gathered some potatoes and carrots from their meager patches. Surveying the area beyond her fence, she wondered
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again how she had lost track of time that much.
Sighing, she ducked under an arrow from one of the zombies and headed to her door. On the door was a piece of dried flesh with words written on it.
It read; "You have been warned
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twice, after this there are no warnings." She ripped the flesh from the wall and walked back to her gate. She waved the flesh around so it could be seen then held it above one of her torches.
As it caught fire, she dropped it and headed inside. She
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stopped and listened at her doorway as the leaves crackled for a second, before becoming silent once more.
Inside she shook her head throwing out the earlier thoughts and started preparing the soup. She reached into one of her chests, pulled
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out a bucket of water, and filled up her cauldron.
She then started cutting up her vegetables and sliding it into the warming cauldron. As she went through the well-known routine, she let her thoughts wander.
She glanced
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around after a minute, realizing something; "Jack isn't here," she murmured slightly surprised. "Where is he?"
She took a deep breath, and then let it out. She returned to chopping up the last of the carrots and swept them into the cauldron. After a
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couple of minutes of it boiling, she grabbed a bowl and scooped some out.
She sat down in the corner of the room and ate her meal. When she finished her thoughts began to wander and she wondered where Jack was.
She dismissed the
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thought with an angry wave, and her white hair fell over her eyes. She stood up and dropped the bowl into a chest. She turned and headed to her room.
She lied on her bed and began to drift off to sleep. In the background, she could hear the
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moans of the zombies, as they roamed purposefully around her house.
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Chapter 2
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A yawn, a smile, the sunlight streaming into her room, Utter bliss, She
brought her body up out of her bed and hit the Redstone button beside
her bed. As she got up the sunlight above winked out of existence. The
room flooded with light as silent
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pistons quickly replaced the glass with glowstone.
She flicked a switch beside her iron door and walked down a flight of stairs flashing into being right below her feet. She entered the main portion of her house, and started towards her
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storage room.
Halfway there she stopped, turned down a hallway, hit a button and dropped down into her farm. She surveyed her crops quickly but only about half of them had finished growing.
She then walked a bit beyond her crops and hit a button, a
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small stream of water poured out and several eggs fell onto a grate. The water poured through and the turbine below hissed as it was spun.
After a minute, a small puff of steam floated upwards through a glass tube to her right. She nodded
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her head as she counted the eggs, "Only six?" She murmured.
Shaking her head, she climbed up a metal ladder to the side of the grate. As she pulled herself into the dimly lit control room, she hit a button to her side. Light flooded the room,
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then seemingly flowing outwards, lit the hall one section at a time, a small gasp echoed from her mouth.
The waters had a thick coating of red blood. Feathers and pieces of meat floated through the water. Six chickens were lucky, the
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rest of the flock were dead. Wordlessly she hatched the chickens into a temporary holding chamber, and wandered back up the stairs.
She found herself in the kitchen, wondering how they had died. No, she wondered what
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had killed them. She rapped a button placed beside the table. Listening to the Redstone hiss, she felt a kind of relief. If anything else was down there. Her golems would finish it.
In a lighter mood, she rummaged through a food chest. As she sat
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there looking through all of the different things she remembered a story from one of the elders of her old village. He had told them of amazing things that had used to exist. Such as floating islands, and water that when put in a four-block area
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became infinite.
The things he had droned on about the most were the chests, Chests used to be amazing. You could access everything inside of a chest just by opening it, and they could hold much more then can now. Now unfortunately
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you had to rummage through until you found what you were looking for. Her train of thought broke as she fished out a piece of bread.
She sat back at the kitchen table and bit into the bread. She grimaced as she bit into it finding that it was
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extremely stale. Scraping her tongue with her teeth, she peered into her chest again and grabbed a bottle of water. As she drank it her mouth exploded into flames, Choking she stumbled towards the wall where a bucket of milk sat in an item frame.
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She stumbled and fell to the floor grasping at the bucket. Switching the focus of her efforts she grabbed a lever beside her and wrenched it downwards. The wall drew backwards a block before opening a doorway. The milk fell in front of
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her. With a gasp she drank deeply and sat back.
A sweet feeling came over her; she picked herself up from the floor and returned to her chair. Exhausted she collapsed into the chair. Sweat beaded on her forehead as she turned the
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half-empty bottle towards the light to determine what it was.
There was no label on it, and with her first glance she assumed that it was normal water, but a second glance revealed small gold specks floating inside the liquid. As she sat
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back wondering what the fluid was, a gush of steam flew up two small pipes on the other side of the kitchen.
"The golems finished their rounds," She thought. With a sigh, she walked over to the pipes, crouched, pulled up the trapdoor, and
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dropped down the hole. After several seconds of disorienting darkness and the feeling of motion, she fell into a block of water. She climbed out of the small area and looked around a brightly lit area.
She walked towards a wall and it opened
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revealing a path. Without hesitation, she strode through. The wall closed behind her but she hardly noticed. In front of her were the stalls for her golems, but not one had a golem in it. She looked into the holding cells and found the
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pressure plates had been changed into wooden and items were sitting on them.
She backed up, with a slight realization. Only to feel a muzzle of a gun pressed to the back of her head.
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Chapter 3
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A rough hand grabbed her shoulder, and she was shoved against the wall.
Her face rubbed harshly on the stone surface, as she tried to regain her
bearings. She twisted her head towards the shoulder that was being
grabbed, after a
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moment of pain she managed to reorient herself in that direction.
For a second she caught a glimpse of the hand, it was covered in a black glove but the hand itsself seemed to speak words. She thought a minute and in her mind's eye
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compared her hand with the hand she saw. When placed beside each other the structure of the two seemed to match.
She heard two voices behind her talking and she confirmed in her head that it was a girl. The other however seemed to be a minion; its
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words were slow and sounded like ice and gravel grating endlessly on each other. A snow golem maybe?
She leaned her head backwards trying to stretch the muscles in her neck that were screaming in righteous fury. Her head exploded in
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pain as the butt of the gun slammed into the back of her head.
Her face smashed into the stone and catching an edge of it, tore a gash into the left side of her face. She heard cursing behind her, then a makeshift cloth was brought up and tied around
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her face blinding one of her eyes.
The cloth staunched the flow of blood, but the pain grew as she was pulled back from the wall and guided down a passage that had not been there moments before. The passage was very patchy and was lit with torches,
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something she would never have done.
Her face contorted a bit as the grip on her hands tightened. A part of the gash on her face that had scabbed over ripped open again, and blood trickled down filling her eye socket. After hours of walking, they
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reached what seemed to be their hideout.
It seemed to be based in an abandoned mineshaft. It took some time before they got inside. As they moved further into the base, Ashley heard little whispers and moans. "Zombies?" She wondered. She
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didn't hear the usual noise of water that accompanied a grinder, "Tame Zombies?" She looked up jolted from her thoughts as they entered the main room.
It was small, but the walls had many crevices and skillfully hidden
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buttons. The girls' companion pushed her forward and the wall in front of her fell open. A small clasp locked over her hand as she dropped into the newly formed hole.
They walked to the other side of the room and conversed for a second
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before the girl came over and carefully peeled the rag from her face. Despite the girls tender hands as she pulled the bandage off, she cried out. The girl stared at her for a moment as the blood started to flow again, then applied a wet rag.
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As the girl cleaned her face, Ashley studied her. Her face seemed dulled as though she was not interested in life, but her eyes betrayed her. Her eyes seemed to be insatiable devouring everything in sight.
Her touch, too gave many words. As
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she cleaned the gash she did not purposefully cause pain, instead her hands were gentle and steady. As the rag traced the outlines of the gash, Ashley realized that it was going to scar.
For a second her thoughts turned to Jack, He was
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probably at the house by now. If so then he would notice the light that showed the fact that she was down with the golems. Even now, he might be examining the area, and finding the tunnel.
She dismissed these thoughts hurriedly Ghosts had little
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power. "Even if he did all these things and found her, what could he do?" The torches wavered as a slight wind came through the room. "They were attached to the surface?" She wondered surprised.
Glancing at the girl, she realized they
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probably weren't. She sat with the rag dipped partially in a bucket of water and bandages in her hands. With a glance at her partner, she jumped up and grabbed her gun.
She crouched and backed up beside Ashley. With a quick motion, she
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unclasped her hands; and whispered to her, "These people are much worse then we are! When I tell you to run. You run and don't look back!"
She then motioned towards a button on the wall. "Go through there." She muttered before stepping forward warily
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with her gun. A light purple mist wafted through the room, before disappearing.
The girl pointed towards a cloud of purple particles that began to form in the air and pulled the trigger. A loud explosion filled the air as the purple
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particles turned red like blood, and drifted to the ground.
More particles filled the air and the girl looked back at her. "Run." She mouthed before she pulled the trigger again. Ashley looked up in defiance and a white sheen broke out in her hair. A
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sneer ripped through her lips as her skin lightened. A green fog surrounded her, as the particles began to form into huge purple beings.
With a steel laugh, she smashed her fist into one of the creatures. It vanished in a flash of purple, only to
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reappear several blocks away falling down with a gaping hole in it. She pulled her sword out as the girl stared from where she stood with her gun.
With a haughty sneer, she charged the mass of purple beasts that had appeared. Her
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sword cut through their flesh and screams rent the air. The creatures flailed their long limbs but they could not force their way through the flashing blade.
After several minutes, she sheathed her blade and looked over
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at the girl. "What is your name?" StormGale asked, "Jenny." She muttered, Stormgale walked towards the button. "You aren't safe," Jenny said. "That wasn't the group!" Stormgale gave her a withering glance as she smashed the
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button and strode through the door.
Jenny picked herself up and called after her as the door slid shut. StormGale walked down the corridors. After several hours she found a section of her mines, her skin returned to a darker shade and
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exhausted Ashley walked the rest of the way home.
As she climbed up the endless ladders, Ashley contemplated installing elevators. When she finally made it to the main floors, she swore at the very least stairs. Slowly she dragged her body up the
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stairs into her room. Her hands caressed the bandage on her cheek as she faded off into sleep.
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Chapter 4: Dreams of Tomorrow
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StormGale felt ice on her skin; arching her back she opened her eyes.
She blinked as the suns rays blinded her. Looking around she saw clouds,
looking down she saw a vast desert. After a minute she realized that she
was high above the desert, grimly
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shaken she examined the ground. She couldn't see much but after a minute a small speck stood out.
After a minute she thought to herself, "Maybe if I could get closer?" Suddenly a roar of wind flooded her ears and she found herself flying towards the
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ground. The speck began to grow and take a strange shape, before she realized it the 'speck' had took a complete transformation. Now a massive city stood in its place. With high walls and many soldier milling about within it.
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Stormgale flew closer still, until she could see a marketplace full of people; Vendors calling out their wares and patrons happily making their way to them. StormGale noticed the sun seemed to have gone backwards, as it was just now treading
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towards the top of the sky... As the morning stretched into afternoon, the marketplace emptied. Soon the rest of the town had completely shut down.
Confused StormGale traversed the city looking for any signs of life, but there were none. After a while
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the sky began to grow dark. StormGale looked around in surprise. She looked towards the shadows and found the sky covered in immense clouds that were steadily making their way towards the city. StormGale flew high above the city as the storm clouds
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approached.
Humbled by the size of the clouds she watched as they advanced on the city. The sides of the enormous storm began to stretch outwards, cutting off the view of the endless desert. The storm encircled the city, the two sides
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converging on one another seamlessly. A deathly silence filled the cooling air for what seemed like hours. Then all at once the sides of the storm began to roll and shake.
Within the clouds StormGale could see pieces of something flying around. She
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flew down closer to them and found that they were scorched pieces of paper. Confused a thought broke through "Ash, the storm is made of ash!" All at once the reasoning behind her statement vanished and she was shoved backwards toward the city by the
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fierce winds.
StormGale tried to fly out of the storms reach but was batted down into the ground. Before she could pick herself up, she was ripped from the ground and flung into the air as the storms crossed the city walls and began to engulf
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the houses. Screams filled the air as people were ripped violently from their houses.
The city faded into nothing as StormGale was buffeted from side to side by the winds. Lightning flashed, showing gruesome creatures with wings that
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swooped through the storm grabbing people. Slowly the air began to clear and StormGale could see groups of kids that had managed to grab onto each other.
They spun in small circles, seeming to be unaware of the storm. StormGale drifted near a
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group and heard them singing just over the roar of the wind. As they sang the wind seemed to lessen. With their eyes closed and mouths open the children began to drift towards the ground. One by one the groups merged and grew bigger
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and bigger. Until finally the last group joined hands and they all settled down on a grassy plain.\
StormGale looked around in awe, the desert was gone! In its place stood a large meadow with flowers and grass. She looked back at the children as
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they finished their song. They opened their eyes and seemed to be surprised that they were on land. The youngest of them came to her senses first. "Flowers!" She yelled as she dived into a patch.
The rest of the younger children
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joined her in the patch. StormGale watched as they frolicked. The older children looked around in disbelief, but like the younger ones gave in and set off to explore this new world. StormGale heard them making plans to build a town at the edge of the
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meadow. She wanted to watch them, but a strong wind pulled her high into the sky as they ventured off.
With a jolt she returned to her bed, she looked up and found Jake standing in her doorway. When he saw that she was awake he glided
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over to her. "Morning." StormGale looked at him pleasantly but one thought ricocheted around her head. "The Storm is made of Ash."
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Chapter 5: Shattered Reality
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StormGale's gaze faltered for a second and her skin darkened in shade.
Jakes face seemed contorted, a deep whisper echoed from his mouth. "I
can't do this anymore!" He turned and strode to the doorway.
Ashley tried to get up and follow him so
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she could find out what was wrong, but she found herself unable to move. A tear streaked down her cheek and she reached down to pull her blanket higher over her, but her hand found nothing.
She looked down in surprise to find that the blanket was
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not there anymore. Frustrated, she leaned her head backwards on her pillow only to find rocks jabbing into her. She rolled over and found herself staring at a rock surrounded by dirt.
She jumped up and looked around. In front of her lay a
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crater right where her house had been. A tear leaked down her face stinging her scabbing scar on her face. She looked around, to the right she saw a few dead creepers, to the left she saw Jake standing, gazing stupefied at her.
He glided towards
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her and looked at her face, "What happened?" He asked, she looked over and gestured at the remnants of her house. "You first." After a moment of silence, she turned away from him. "It's my fault," she muttered,
"What?"
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"I knew they were going to attack."
"How could you have known they were going to attack?"
"They left a warning"
"A warning. Not a threat!"
"I burned the warning over a torch." Jake remained silent for a second, his face unreadable,
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slowly he said. "You burned a warning." He paused, looking up at the sky, then continued. "A warning from an irate tribe of creepers, in clear view of said creepers?" He looked down at Ashley, "What possessed you?"
Ashley looked down at the remnants
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of her house, "I was tired of running... I didn't know they could blast through obsidian."
Jake looked up, "Neither did I."
Ashley sighed and stood up, "How did I get out of the house?" She asked as she stretched. Jake did not answer so
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she looked back at him. His body had dropped in substance and she could barely make out where he was. His face retained its hard edges while everything else seemed to waft away. After what seemed like ages, he faded back into view and
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responded, "I don't know." His voice was tinged with regret
Ashley sighed, "I guess we'll never know... Right?" Jake just nodded. Ashley turned towards a large tree on the outskirts of her land, and started walking towards it. As she neared the
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large tree she examined its bark, only a couple of pieces were missing, "She survived." she said softly as she began to climb up the vines on the side.
She climbed higher and higher into the tree, face set with the effort. As she neared the top,
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Jake hovered beside her and she sped up. She pulled herself on top of the tree and fell back, exhausted. "I need to climb more!" She panted trying to regain her rhythm. "Next house. No fancy redstone." She turned towards Jake, "Okay?" He did not answer
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instead he seemed transfixed by something off the edge of the tree.
She regained her breath, then lost it again as she followed his gaze. On the opposite side of the tree was a huge crater that stretched beyond her render.
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Ashley turned and looked back at the remnants of her house. The crater now looked puny, at least compared to the enormous amount of destruction on the other side.
Ashley laid down and buried her face in the soft leaves, after a minute she sank
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low into sleep unseeing and unhearing. Slowly something brushed her ears, subtly drawing her from her slumber. She discerned voices, both familiar; she eased further awake as she struggled to hear what they were saying.
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"The crater?" The first voice asked.
"Creeper war party, they don't like her." The second voice jogged her head, Jake.
"Is she okay?"
"Other than a large gash in her face that is already scarring-" The next couple of words
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were cut off by a gasp from the first voice.
"You aren't going to tell me that crater is from the creepers too?"
"No, it's from her."
Ashley stopped listening, from Who? The voices came closer, ascending the tree. Ashley
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opened her eyes and gazed in the general direction. When Jake's head came over the edge, she snapped her eyes closed. "She is asleep?" The first voice asked.
"She was very distraught yesterday" Barely able to keep her reaction from
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showing, Ashley wondered, I have been sleeping for a whole day!
"She looks it, Could you wake her up?" She felt a nudge on her head and she looked up to see Jake. She looked behind him and saw another, more elderly, ghost
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hovering a bit behind Jake.
Jake looked down at her. "Wake up." He said softly, "Someone here to see you." Slowly Ashley sat up against the leaves she had been using as a pillow. She examined the ghost and found distinct markings on his
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robes that designated him a low wizard of the bearers. She looked up at his face and found long wrinkles that seemed completely familiar yet alien at the same time. "You aren't dead." The ghost fell back surprised, "At least you
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shouldn't be." Ashley shook her head as a migraine began to develop.
Her skin began to shift and she gazed out at the destroyed section of the area. Her skin stopped halfway across her body and she heard labored breathing behind her. "Stop
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that, Marcus." Jake said to the older ghost. Ashley whirled around shifting completely into StormGale who stared shocked at Marcus. "You can't be Marcus!" She exclaimed, jumping up so she could get a better look at his face.
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The ghost reared back as she advanced and StormGale started to crumble. "You can't be Marcus!" Her skin started to shift but stopped halfway again and Marcus's breathing started again. "The Reapers are after you!" He gasped, "That's
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why I was sent here." Fury ripped through StormGale's eyes and fire danced on her fingertips. "You." She snarled but she was unable to make out the words. She rounded on Jake, still half shifted. His eyes grew wide as he registered the state of her
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body and the fire sprouting from her fingertips.
"What happened last night?" She snarled as Jake floated in front of her.
"The creepers attacked you." He sputtered trying to move away from her.
She smiled a grim smile, "Then why
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did you tell Marcus that I made the craters?" Her eyes flashed shifting back and forth from grey to blue. After a second, her eyes took on the qualities of both. A cloudy blue. Jake stumbled backwards and tried to speak, but nothing would come from
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his lips.
With a scream, StormGale wrenched herself away from Jake and threw herself into the air. With fire dancing in fading trails behind her, she disappeared into the sky.
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Chapter 6: Fallen Angel
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She flew through the darkening sky, a trail of fire blazing from her
fingertips. With her eyes glazed and thoughts muted, she pressed
onwards. For hours she flew, not stopping for want or deprivation. Her
eyelids grew like weights, but still she fought
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her way through the sky.
As much as she tried to not think, her loss of sleep made her weary and she succumbed to the past. Her thoughts drifted to the many houses she had lived in over the past several years. Jake had always been a
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constant. With his ghostly form, he would scout out the terrain and pick the perfect spot for a house. Within a couple of days he would have guided her hand along the redstone and lead her to the caravans to get cheaper deals on the hard to obtain
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blocks.
He would plot out all the farms and housing plans, all for the maximum expectancy. How the creepers had destroyed, even the obsidian was unthinkable. Surely, they hadn't that much power! She shook her head and glanced
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down towards the ground. Thinking like this would get her nowhere. He had betrayed her, that was that.
She settled her mind by watching the terrain she flew over, she flew over jungles, forests, and even large tent cities set up by the
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Nomads. From the ground, she could hear squawks as they noticed her high above them. Unnoticed however was how quickly they packed their living areas and set after her easily following her trail. Even less noticed, were the small group of
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people that set off in the opposite direction, clothed in gold and white.
She flew onwards. Her power faded slowly from her lack of sleep and food. She flew slower and slower until she came upon a large desert. She noticed it immediately and
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shuddered upon remembering her dream. Up ahead of her loomed a large city, which seemed to mimic the walls of her dream. She started breathing faster and her skin began to shift to a darker shade.
Her mind went blank as she began to fall
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and Ashley began to emerge. Fighting valiantly she forced Ashley back inside, and flew straight up trying to regain her altitude. Suddenly the air shimmered and a girl appeared in front of her, Shocked StormGale shot a bolt of fire at her but it went
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through the girl. With a Laugh, a stream of water poured from the other girl encircling StormGale. The girl approached as StormGale fended the water with blasts of fire.
Suddenly Stormgale lost control and shifted into
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Ashley, the girl disappeared and Ashley plummeted towards the ground. Ashley looked around disoriented and quickly realized she was falling. She reached into her pockets but found them empty. She glanced down and found the ground
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approaching fast.
With a large city to one side, a vast moving sea of people to the other, she found herself plummeting towards a horse drawn carriage. She looked around wondering how she had gotten so high. Her ender pearl was gone, so it might be
#pgx138
possible that she had thrown it up. Ashley found this rather unlikely.
Her stomach rolled as she saw the ground approaching faster and faster. She closed her eyes and imagined she was at her house waking up and everything was fine. All at once,
#pgx139
the memories of the destruction of her house boiled over into her mind. She screamed as she remembered the destruction and the betrayal by Jake. She breathed faster and faster angling herself into the wind with one thought. "I want to die!"
#pgx140
Mere blocks from the surface a cloud floated under her and formed into water. She crashed into water and lost consciousness for a second. She woke with her lungs burning and the water softly pushing her to the surface. When she broke the
#pgx141
surface she heard a gasp, it sounded familiar. She angled her head as her body screamed in pain; a girl was walking into the water towards her.
No, she was being pulled towards her. The water sucked at her pants and drew the girl straight to
#pgx142
Ashley. The girl looked down at her surprised, but picked her up and started from the pool of water. The Tower of water dissipated pressing the girl back to her carriage, before disappearing altogether. The girl looked back
#pgx143
confused and befuddled before she put Ashley into the back of the carriage.
She climbed in beside Ashley and grabbed a box of what seemed to be medical supplies, and then turned back to her. Ashley breathed in sharply as the girl looked
#pgx144
at the side of her face. The girl turned white, as if she had seen a ghost. "You?" She whispered. "How?" Ashley only looked at her with the barest amount of recognition.
The girl took a wipe from her box and cleaned up the gash in her face that
#pgx145
had pulled open again. She then tied a bandage around her head and whispered softly. "I'm sorry I didn't do this last time." She then said something else that Ashley barely caught before she faded away. "My name is Jenny; you will be safe with
#pgx146
me."
Ashley laughed as she barreled through the marketplace, Adam in quick pursuit. She dove through a cart and continued running. As she heard a crash behind her, she laughed; Adam never could do that, yet he always
#pgx147
tried. The shouts from behind her assured that he was still running.
She looked ahead of her and chose the route Adam would hate the most. There up ahead she saw an alley. "Perfect." She said between her teeth. She shot into the alley and
#pgx148
heard a soft curse behind her as Adam entered. She laughed; Adam hadn't made it this close to date. Those shopkeepers must not have been happy!
Laughing to herself, she climbed up the wall on the side of the alley. Now running
#pgx149
along the rooftops, she laughed harder as she did somersaults over the gaps catching glimpses of Adam running across the roofs behind her. Slowly she slowed down and let him catch up as she approached the final edge of the
#pgx150
roofs.
Sure he had victory in his grasp he sped up and ran full hilt ready to grab her. The instant before he did she jumped backwards over him and landed behind him. He continued charging, So bewildered by the fact that she had
#pgx151
disappeared that he ran right off the roof. Below she heard boxes cracking as he landed and laughed. "See you at the marketplace!" she called to him, laughing uncontrollably.
She hopped down off the roof and walked slowly back
#pgx152
towards the marketplace. She started humming a song as she walked so she failed to notice the man standing inside one of the shops. As he caught sight of her, his face twisted and he charged out yelling. "Stupid little brat!" He yelled
#pgx153
spittle flying in large globs from his mouth.
Ashley saw him and backed away slowly. "What's wrong?" she asked softly. His eyes narrowed dangerously, behind her she heard the familiar puffing of Adam. "Ashley!" He panted as he came closer, as soon as
#pgx154
he caught sight of the man standing in front of her he dropped to his knees. "Elder Horace." He mumbled but the man ignored him.
Instead, he grabbed Ashley's wrist and dragged her away repeating aloud. "Stupid, Ungrateful brat." He dragged
#pgx155
her down through the marketplace and all conversation stopped. The shopkeepers examined their customers very thoroughly, while the customers kept their eyes on the produce.
As Horace pulled her further into the
#pgx156
city, Ashley got an idea of where they were going. It was a path she took once a day. As they got closer Ashley began to get scared, "Is something wrong with the garden?" She asked, all she got in answer was a sharp squeeze to the wrist and he pulled
#pgx157
her faster.
The garden was a large area in the middle of the city that housed an exotic collection of plants and animals. It was somewhere Ashley could go and relax without interruption. All the workers new her and would allow her to go in just
#pgx158
about whenever she wanted. However, she only came once a day, and there were always workers cleaning when she went.
Horace dragged her into the garden and past the workers on duty. Ashley looked at the workers and found the same
#pgx159
look on each of their faces; Betrayal. "What did I do?" She whispered as Horace dragged her into the garden. As they entered the main room, Ashley screamed.
The trees were all burning and lava was strewn all over the place. She saw
#pgx160
corpses of the animals all over the place. "Who did this?" She cried, wrenching herself free of Horace and cradling a wolf that was lying on the ground with its fur singed. An older man walked from further within the Garden. "You did." He said wearing
#pgx161
the same look as the others.
Tears ran down her face as she was dragged to the town square. Horace climbed up the steps and locked her into the stockade. He began to speak but Ashley could hear none of it. She had not burned the
#pgx162
garden. It was out of her imagination let alone her abilities. She cried in front of everyone as Horace faded away and stopped talking.
She heard the sound of leather being stretched and gasped. They were going to give her lashes. As the
#pgx163
leather was being stretched, the man got down next to her and whispered. "I am sorry. I will make this as quick as possible." His voice broke at the end. Then he got up and pulled the leather from the stretcher.
After what seemed like forever, the
#pgx164
stockade was unlocked and an old woman picked her up and hobbled down the stairs. She carried Ashley down into a cave and bathed her wounds under cool spring water. Ashley looked up at the woman and thanked her profusely in hoarse whispers,
#pgx165
but the woman waved at her to be silent as she bathed her. Ashley then fell into a deep sleep.
#pgx166
Chapter 7
#pgx167
She woke in midair and braced herself as she fell to the floor. She
bounced with the carriage for a minute as it settled, then reoriented
herself; she was in a small area that had a thick smell of oil and
seemed to close in on her with each passing
#pgx168
moment. Ashley grabbed the metal holds on the side of the wall and held on for dear life, as the carriage jolted her from her feet. After what seemed like an eternity, the carriage began to slow down.
Exhausted Ashley slumped to the
#pgx169
floor, the carriage groaned as weight dropped from the front. Footsteps crunched as someone rounded the side of the carriage. Then someone ripped the sheet up from the side and jumped into the small area. Ashley fell back from the doorway clutching
#pgx170
her eyes. She heard a quick apology and the burning light faded.
As her eyes adjusted to the dark, she heard soft shuffling and things being rearranged. She looked up and saw a girl standing there shuffling through what seemed to be
#pgx171
medical supplies. The girl then came over to where she was sitting and gingerly reached for the bandage on her face. Ashley twisted away, remembering how she had gotten the injury in the first place.
The girl reached forward again and took the bandage
#pgx172
off of her face. Ashley winced as the girl touched her cheek. "Sorry," she whispered, then turned and grabbed ointment from her box. "Did that last bump wake you?" She asked as she dabbed ointment onto Ashley's face. Ashley nodded, "Why were
#pgx173
we going so fast?"
The girl averted her eyes. "A group of Nomads are following us, I was attempting to lose them."
Ashley looked at her, "Did it work?" she asked.
The girl's eyes fell to the floor "We are a good hour's ride ahead of them."
#pgx174
"We should get going then."
"Let me finish cleaning your face."
The girl worked utterly focused to what she was doing. Ashley looked at her as she applied a new bandage to her face. The girl carefully kept her eyes averted and
#pgx175
stayed focused; as soon as she finished with the bandage, she was cleaning up. She pulled out of the carriage and Ashley followed, "What was your name again?" She called after the girl as the sun bore holes into her retinas.
"Jenny." Ashley
#pgx176
mulls the name over in her head, 'Jenny.' after a minute Jenny called back, "Want to sit up front? Much less cramped!" Relieved that she wouldn't be stuffed back into the dark area, Ashley jumped onto the side of the front. Ahead was a broken path in
#pgx177
ill repair.
"Guess that explains the bumps." Ashley said. "Where does it go?"
Jenny glanced over from where she was lacing up the horses, "Spawn; this was one of the great interchunk roads built before the apocalypse."
#pgx178
An involuntary shudder rocked through Ashley, images slipped through her head. A man, no a boy, standing in front of a beast that held the boy's future. Ashley rocked backwards with a slight gasp, and a strange feeling that she was that
#pgx179
beast.
Jenny hopped into the driver's side of the carriage ready to go, Ashley climbed onto the side of the carriage and Jenny pulled the reigns to start the horses. She pulled fruitlessly for a second before the horses responded and started
#pgx180
moving. At the beginning, it was slow but soon they were breezing through the biomes.
Ashley gazed out from the carriage as the horses strained on the leads. They passed huge rivers, and large mountains that reached high into the clouds.
#pgx181
Ashley felt a feeling grow inside of her, 'she had done this before...' Suddenly her skin began to shift and the sound of the carriage and the horses were gone, instead she heard heavy hoof beats behind her. As her skin faded slowly back into Ashley,
#pgx182
she jumped up and looked backwards over the carriage seeing a large group of Nomads barreling behind them on horses.
Ashley's skin began to fade again to a lighter shade, her eyes picked out a strange detail on the front of the
#pgx183
saddles of the Nomads. As Ashley looked dumbfounded at the strange things, smoke ripped from one of them. Startled Ashley fell down beside Jenny who glanced over, "Whats wrong?" She mouthed towards Ashley.
"Nomads, Saddle
#pgx184
guns, behind us!" Ashley mouthed. "Shooting!"
Jenny's eyes grew wide as Ashley mouthed the last words. She tossed the leads to Ashley and began burrowing in a chest behind her. Startled Ashley tried to keep control of the horses.
#pgx185
After a minute, Jenny pulled a gun out of the chest. She stood, aimed, and fired over the back of the carriage. Bells rang in Ashley's head as she tried to keep the horses on the road. Her eyes grew heavy and she started seeing flashes of color.
#pgx186
She felt the carriage go off the road, but she didn't care. She heard screaming behind her as Jenny continued shooting. A small object ripped through the carriage beside her she watched it mystified. "What is that?" She murmured, it flew towards the
#pgx187
horses and they screamed. It didn't hit the ones close to her, but the one in the front wasn't so lucky.
It fell, and screamed a bloodcurdling scream as the other horses trampled it. Ashley laughed as the carriage went into the air,
#pgx188
ramping off the horse's body. She laughed so hard that she barely noticed when Jenny jumped down and tore the reigns from her hands, then threw the reins to the wind. She was still laughing as Jenny flipped a switch on the side of the seats. When
#pgx189
the tremors started from the back of the carriage, she started crying.
Jenny handed her a mask and motioned for her to put it on her head, as the tears streamed down her face, she noticed that Jenny was wearing a mask too. She smiled
#pgx190
through her tears and pulled it onto her head. She took a deep breath and suddenly she snapped. Worriedly she looked around through her bleary eyes, 'They were off the road! Had she done that?'
Jenny was holding the front of the the carriage and
#pgx191
holding on tight. Ashley caught a grip and looked back; There were even more horses now! As Jenny fought to hold on, the horses started getting closer and closer. Suddenly Ashley could hear voices behind them; a loud voice rang above
#pgx192
the rumbling of the others and echoed through her head, "Cease fire! We want them both alive!"
Ashley looked back to Jenny to see what she might make of the command, but Jenny had a strange purple and black device in her hands and seemed not to
#pgx193
have heard the warning at all. After a minute of her messing with the purple gadget, it sprang to life with a red glow. A purple field suddenly enveloped the carriage, Ashley screamed as it grew bigger.
She looked behind and saw several
#pgx194
riders pushing their horses to get into the purple glow. They crossed into a desert biome and sand puffed up around them in clouds. Jenny slammed a button on the device in her hands and everything disappeared in a
#pgx195
flash of purple.
#pgx196
Chapter 8: Wrecked
#pgx197
Stormgale winced as she felt sand in her eyes. She reached up to wipe
the sand out and felt a cloud fall off her arms. Surprised she shifted
to sit up and a large amount fell off of her in clumps. She began to
dust herself off then she heard the moan.
#pgx198
She looked around trying to determine where she was then remembered the chase. She gazed upwards and determined that the carriage must have collapsed onto them after... Whatever had happened.
The moan echoed again in her ears,
#pgx199
after a minute she discerned the source. There was a large metal machine lying to the side of her. Partially under it was the girl; "Jenny!" She thought as she drug herself over. The girls' skin was white, and blood was seeping down from her chest.
#pgx200
Her eyes fluttered and she looked at Stormgale. She tried to speak but only a gurgle came out.
From outside of the collapsed carriage Stormgale suddenly heard voices. She motioned for Jenny not to talk, but when she looked at her, her eyes had
#pgx201
unfocused and her breathing had slowed. One of the voices sounded familiar... The one that had commanded not to shoot!
Stormgale moved towards the side of the carriage, wincing as her leg drug on the ground. She made it to the side and
#pgx202
pulled a knife out of her pocket. She cut a slit in it and then ripped it the rest of the way apart. Her eyes adjusted quickly to the outside and she saw four men standing in front of her. "My friend." She rasped. "She's hurt!" The men's eyes lit with
#pgx203
recognition and two of them pulled her out through the slit.
Their hands were rough, but they were strangely gentle. As they carried her from the carriage the other two climbed through the gap with torches. Stormgale heard a slight gasp from one of the
#pgx204
men and then her skin began to shift. One of the men watched as her skin flowed from right to left for a minute before he slipped a bracelet onto her arm.
The shift stopped immediately and reversed. Stormgale looked up at him confused, "He
#pgx205
wants to talk to you, right now." The man who placed the bracelet said. Stormgale tried to rearrange her thoughts, but she found herself extremely tired. After a minute the men placed her in a chair. She looked up and found a man
#pgx206
staring at her.
His eyes were the main difference; his were blue while the others were brown. His skin too seemed less wrinkled and lighter. He opened his mouth and began to speak. "My name is Samuel of the greater nomadic tribe." Stormgale tried to
#pgx207
speak but was unable to. The man saw her attempt and pulled a glass from his bag. Handing it to her he motioned for her to drink.
She did and her mouth jumped to life, it had the texture of the potions that Marcus would bring... But the taste of this
#pgx208
was phenomenal! The man laughed as she finished the bottle. "Good?" He questioned.
Saying the first thing that came to her mind she replied. "Amazing!" He laughed again, his eyes sparkling. "Are there more than one group of Nomads?" She
#pgx209
asked. His eyes retained their sparkle and watched her for a minute before responding. "Yes. One group was formed right before the apocalypse; the greater nomadic tribe." He continued, "The other was formed around a hundred years
#pgx210
ago, obviously the lesser." He smiled again.
"The main difference is why we were formed. The first group was formed by a great man that rescued a group of survivors from Herobrine's clutches; the second however was
#pgx211
formed by people that were exiled from the cities."
"Our groups don't have much contact..." He said as a scream echoed from the carriage and Stormgale looked over.
"My friend!" She said as she caught sight of the wreckage.
#pgx212
The carriage had bulldozed into a large tree and collapsed on itself. One of the men came running from the carriage. As he got closer he gasped, "She was speared by her engine!" Samuels's eyes grew big.
"Take the healing supplies. We will
#pgx213
not be accountable for her death!" He said tossing his bag to the man. The man ran back to the carriage with the bag, and Jenny's screams grew louder.
With the screams echoing in her ears Stormgale rocked backwards and
#pgx214
her skin began to shift again. Slowly it fought its way across her skin and shifted her back to Ashley. Ashley looked up at Samuel; A small noise growing in her ears. "Take care of her." Samuel looked confused. "Promise me!" She hissed as the noise
#pgx215
grew louder and the air was filled with shades of purple.
"I promise!" He said right before a group of men appeared around them. Ashley's skin shifted halfway as stayed rock steady. The men moved closer to her.
"We just want you to come with us." The
#pgx216
first one said as two men came up behind her. Ashley laughed a cruel laugh, and turned towards the two behind her. She held her hands up and their eyes grew red. "Stop" Yelled the man, as blood poured from their noses.
Ashley looked back towards Samuel
#pgx217
as their eyes exploded and the blood formed currents in the air around her. They froze into Red spikes and with a wave of her hands she sliced them into the other two of the men. The first man ran towards her with a bracelet similar to the one on her
#pgx218
arm and clasped it onto her neck.
As Ashley felt her power fading she growled. "This won't last forever!" Then focused on the man's neck, His face grew red quickly, but someone slammed Ashley's head before she could finish the job.
#pgx219
Chapter 9: The Past Catches Up
#pgx220
She floated within the void, time itself was suspended. Voices meandered
throughout her mind, none familiar, all meaningless. The words to seemed
to carry meaning, but they still jabbered endlessly. Sharp staccato
bursts of enlightenment fell
#pgx221
to her mind, a snippet here and there. "She is unconscious?" One voice seemed to ask endlessly.
"To the best of our knowledge, that is well to our benefit." Another fell into chorus.
"But surely she has drained her power reserves?"
#pgx222
"The power she used is beyond anything we have! Like nothing we have dreamt of!"
As the words continued to echo, she felt herself drawn further into the void. The words became distorted, and remained meaningless. Her eyes clouded as
#pgx223
she fell, her arms stretched out as wings, yet still she fell endlessly through the void.
-
Two girls lay on the floor of the white room. One stretched as she woke, and leaned back against the wall. She looked around and
#pgx224
sighed, a book appeared on her lap and her eyes lit up. She picked it up, brushed her white hair out of her face, and began to read.
The second girl stirred after a while, she shook at the warmth that had filtered into the room. After a
#pgx225
minute the warmth was replaced by a brisk chill. She opened her eyes and screamed at the light that etched itself into her retinas; instantly the room became much darker.
Relieved the girl stood up and examined her surroundings. As
#pgx226
she looked around the temperature began to rise, the room began to lighten, and she noticed a girl sitting on the far side of the room. She was reading a book. Surprised she stormed over to the girl. "How did you get a book?" She
#pgx227
snarled.
Calm grey eyes appeared over the rim of the book. "I dunno." "Glad the room is lighter though." The girl said before the eyes disappeared beneath the rim once more.
"I want a book!" Said Ashley, a smack resounded from
#pgx228
behind her but she ignored it. "look behind you." Stormgale said as her eyes appeared over the rim again, this time with a hint of impatience. Ashley looked behind her and found a book sitting cover down on the floor.
"How did that get
#pgx229
there?" Ashley said wonderingly, "I just walked from over there!"
"It fell!" Growled Stormgale "Now will you let me read?"
Ashley looked over at Stormgale "What book is it?" She queried.
"How the Nether should I know!" Stormgale roared
#pgx230
at Ashley, "Are you an idiot?"
Ashley smiled as she knelt down to pick the book up. "Depends on who you ask." She looked at Stormgale again "What is your name?"
In a harsh controlled voice Stormgale spoke haltingly from behind the cover,
#pgx231
her fingers straining on the sides of the book. "If. I. Tell. You. Will you let me be?"
Ashley cocked her head for a second, looked around the room. "Doubtful." she continued "There isn't anyone else here."
"At least you're honest," She
#pgx232
hissed. "My name is Stormgale. Now pick up the book and sit down and read."
Contented Ashley picked up the book and examined the cover. "It's an issue of 'thoughts from outside of the block'!" She crowed, "I wonder how this got here." Then with a
#pgx233
smile she plopped onto the floor and began to read.
The 'Thoughts from outside the block' Magazine was a monthly magazine that proposed theories of things not necessarily true, but typically believable if you looked at the
#pgx234
evidence that was provided. The first of the batch dominated the cover, With dark skin and white eyes peering out.
"Herobrine is not dead!" It proclaimed, "He set the Apocalypse in motion to gain power after his followers were destroyed."
#pgx235
Ashley laughed as she read the evidence behind it. Stormgale looked over at her and sighed, "What are you laughing about?"
Ashley turned towards her with a grin on her face trying to restrain her laughing, "I love this magazine!"
#pgx236
Stormgale rolled her eyes, "Getting kind of warm, isn't it?" instantly the temperature lessened and Stormgale continued. "Find your favorite theory out of that, then read it to me... Kay?"
Ashley's eyes lit up, "I already found my
#pgx237
favorite one." Stormgale repressed a groan.
"Okay, what is it?"
"There is an alien civilization of dark creatures that reside below the void" Ashley continued, "This accounts for strange signals found in the
#pgx238
Redstone ether, as well as the fact that no one has survived the fall through the void and returned a message."
"Okay," said Stormgale slightly defeated.
"It's freezing in here!" Ashley exclaimed.
The temperature jumped up and
#pgx239
Stormgale looked at Ashley. "Cold is better than being roasted alive!"
Ashley's eyes blazed and Stormgale fell backwards as the wall behind her disappeared. The white walls shifted and became color; people faded into being around
#pgx240
them. Cheers resounded from around the hall that they now found themselves in. A great table was laid out ahead of them; chockfull of food.
A man stepped down in front of the table and began to speak. "We are here to commemorate two
#pgx241
lives, and to bind them together in eternal love." He continued, "May Notch bless Adam and Lindsey Coven from this day on. Ashley fell backwards into a chair; "He's getting married?"
Stormgale stood beside her in equal shock "He's
#pgx242
getting married, to her?"
Ashley looked up, eyes wide in shock. "Where are we?" She asked.
Stormgale just looked at her blankly. Ashley started to get mad, "Quit staring at me!" She growled. Stormgale just pointed behind
#pgx243
her; there coming down the stairs in an elegant suit was Adam.
His brown hair was swept back and his clothes were perfectly arranged. He descended the steps slowly, his presence softly alerting the rest of the crowd. Slowly
#pgx244
the clamor of the hall died down, and all were gazing at him. He reached the bottom of the stairs and bowed extravagantly. "Thank you for coming, all of you." He spoke softly but his voice echoed across the room. "I must apologize, but
#pgx245
Lindsey will not be attending this function." He paused, "Or any other..."