Post by Red on Dec 7, 2009 4:15:12 GMT -5
A close friend of mine influenced me to begin writing again.
Thanks Dan.
Chapter 0
Prologue to an Era
The world as you know it has been set back many years. The world of men no longer exists; it’s now the world apart. To some they would deny this planet was ever earth as we would not have been set back so far is what they claim. There is proof however, this planet the world apart, was earth. The world has changed physically and theoretically however. The earth was once split up into many continents; the world apart however consists of one large continent surrounded by water. There may be more out there but none who brave the seas ever return.
The beings that reside in the world apart are Remnants, High born, and lastly Shadow Wretches. The Remnants are the last of the human kind, a race that once inhabited earth and who is seen as food to those who bear the cursed name of Shadow Wretch. Humanity has endured countless wars and there history dates back far however they are now little to nothing in this world. The High Born appear as humans with a few physical differences. The High Borns most obvious difference is the ears; they arch high up to a point. The highborn have colors in their eyes that to a human are abnormal such as, Purples, Yellows, Reds, And uncommonly green. The Shadow Wretches are the last for me to detail for you, however doing so is almost impossible as they bear no similarities to one another. The only commonality they share is that there eyes always glow or simply are absent of color.
The world apart has one continent; it has been simply named Heaven. Those who live there however know it is far from the Heaven depicted in books. This Heaven is fraught with war, a war that has been going on since before most can remember. The war consists of four main kingdoms fighting for power. There is The High Fathers who believe they are the purest of the highborn and believe they are the blood heirs to Heaven. The High Fathers fight without mercy against any other race they care not who they fight as long as they gain ground. Then among the Armies of Heaven there is The Ring of Glory. The ring is a savage group of murderous ravagers who combine the might of all three races inhabiting Haven. There is as well another war mongering group called the Grey Council, they are known to be the law bringers wherever they go they instate there laws and those who do not follow them to a T die. They are made up of Humans and Shadow Wretched. The last of the four is no less blood thirsty, they are known only as the Harbingers; a self proclaimed name but appropriate none the less. The Harbingers never push their advance they simply wait until the time to weaken all three other warring countries.
Though the four powers of The High Fathers, The Ring, The Grey Council, and the Harbingers are the main powers they do not control everything. Outside of the reach of the four is where our story begins, it is in the middle of the war a country side that has been chosen as a battle ground for the four to fight upon. A war torn area known only as Zone Zero, it’s simplified to ZZ to those that travel it. The inhabitants of ZZ are outcasts of all three races that have been left there to die by their own people.
Chapter 1
An Unwelcomed Arrival
Deep within Zone Zero an Illegal birth took place between two humans who were part of a dying faction of humans within Zone Zero who where desperately striving to survive. The child was not born special nor where his parents, however it is his story that makes him special. The child was born with blue eyes and a pale complexion that those around during his birth thought he was sick because of. At the age of five, time brought a deeper blue color to his eyes, and a short cut of jet black hair, his skin still unstained and left pure at this age. With further age however would bring the brutal reality of the world to this young boy. At the age of ten he was given the taint of the world, and his name, Rouge. At the age of ten the child was forced to make a decision which would either take the life of another or his own. He was on a heavy traveled path back to his home when he encountered a boy with grey eyes who when passing Rouge quickly turned around and began following. Rouge led him off from the course and into a dense field of rubble where he attempted to give the other boy the slip. Rouge however did not slide out of the other boys view and was attacked by the boy. Rouge struggled to keep himself alive and in doing so smashed the other boys head into a rock with a crimson rain of blood upon himself. When he returned to his home town he was given the name Rouge for the color which stained his cloths.
Eleven years after the boy gained his name he had decided it was time to leave home, his family was poor and he was now more of a crutch to them than an aid. Without a word on the night of his twenty first birthday he left the house with nothing but the cloths on his back and word of a town north of home. The boy had aged over these years bringing him to an average height of five foot and about seven inches. His eyes had grown colder over the years keeping a distant look in them ever since his first kill. His hair now fell just past his ears, jet black and visually smooth. A scar adorned on his right cheek from an accident when he was helping his mother made him seem more hardened than he was. The cloths he wore where remnants of the old human livelihood, a coat that stretched to just above his ankles. Under his coat he wore a simple black shirt that clung to his body so not to restrict him, his pants were also more tight than loose but he allowed them to have more freedom than his shirt. The pants were held up by a simple leather belt that once had a place on it to hold a sword, however he did not own a sword so there was none there.
It was not more than an hour after leaving home that Rouge realized his surroundings beginning to shift from a broken town to an expanse of seemingly never ending desert before him. The only comfort he could find in continuing on this path was the broken remnants of a road that once stretched across this land. A couple hours into the path he began hearing the footsteps of another however his ears where never attuned to being able to track so picking up exactly where they came from was near impossible to him. The sound was unmistakable however; the sand was being shifted by another source other than him. The naïveté of Rouge however left him to continue down the path without caution. Sliding his hands gently into the overcoats pockets his pace remained unchanged until the shadow of a figure could be seen in front of him. His pace slowed to a stop with little hesitation. Before long it was clear as day the man who was disturbing the sand was walking closer to Rouge however his figure was hard to make out in the dark, a cloak was adorned on him that slid over the front of his body and hid most of his figure form sight.
As the figure neared Rouge caught a closer look of a hood over the man’s head which to Rouge spelled out a suspicious person who was headed the same way Rouge was coming. His heart skipped a beat and his mind raced with thoughts of the village in danger to a unknown man. He seemed to become lost in the thoughts as he was frozen in his place the man stopped a few feet from Rouge on the road and simply said nothing. It was at this moment that Rouge tilted his head up to get a better view of the man. It was a disheartening blow for a moment when he saw that the man’s head had been turned toward him yet the man was still invisible to Rouges perception. The lack of light and the hood lent the man the perfect disguise, if he wanted to he could have continued on without a word however he seemed intrigued by the encounter.
“Im looking for a man by the name of Reen have you seen him?” The voice inquired from beneath the hood. Somewhat afraid to return the words Rouge simply shook his head no to the man. The man however continued to stand there without words now. The two simple stood silently watching each other for what felt like an eternity to Rouge. Breaking the silence was the cold splatter of a drop of water that came from the sky. Turning his head up Rouge immediately realized it was beginning to rain, with this realization came another. Rouge was without cover and he had no idea how long it would be to find cover in any direction he went. The man raised up a hand to test for rain it would seem before retracting it back under his cloak, within this time Rouge caught a symbol out of the corner of his eye, a golden circlet upon the man’s gauntlet signified him as an agent of The Ring.
Without word Rouge shouldered the burden of the coming moments. He knew exactly what was to happen in this chance meeting. To him he was just gifted a chance to save his village before they knew they needed saving. Rouge lowered his head a moment as the rain poured down onto his head wetting his hair before letting out a few gentle words to the man.
“What business does an Agent of the ring have here…” Without words the man turned his entire body to Rouge his stance changing slightly as well under the pressure of the rain.
“I already asked my question. However I suppose it was careless for me to allow you to know who I worked with…” With these words the man shifted his hands beneath his robes.
“I must apologize to you then, Seeing as you know who sent me I must remove you from existence. “ Rouges thoughts shifted magnificently after that as he realized what was about to take place, he was never a very good fighter and he had just gotten himself in over his head. Hearing the slithering of a blade Rouges body began to tremble under the rain. Every drop that splattered against Rouges’ coat seemed to go infinitely slower now. His heart racing he could see the blade now, what in old times was called a katana is now called a Hook. The man held the hook waiting for a moment before his feet lifted from the ground. The only thing running through Rouges’ head was to survive. His feet took off as well as he began to immediately dance with the man upon the rubble of the road. The man stood there holding the blade in one hand and preparing to strike at Rouge at any opening. Rouge moved about a foot to the right and the man lunged forward attempting to pierce Rouge with one strike and end it.
