IP: 90.252.175.9
Posted on April 22, 2018 at 00:56:45 AM by aura
TW: Aura's posts invariably contain strong death themes.
But all that has changed, and now I'm bold.
Aura pressed her white-grey lips together, slowly scanning the wasteland with her penetrating blue eyes. Thick, grey-brown smog obscured the distant horizon, which she was grateful for; it made it harder to see the extent of the destruction, and she’d rather not know. The foreground was harrowing enough. Bodies littered the battlefield, lying in pools of blood or propped up into grotesque positions by scattered building-parts and barbed wire. Many of the uniforms were so badly muddied and battle-weary that it was impossible to tell who, or what, many of these sorry young men had given their lives for.
The thick smell of gunpowder cluttered Aura’s lungs as she inhaled. Technically Aura didn’t need to breathe anymore, but old habits died hard. Keeping a close grip on her magic staff and stepping carefully, she began to pick her way across in her bare feet. Stepping over the fallen body of a glassy-eyed young man, probably no older than about twenty, required a steeling of nerves. Aura distracted herself by focusing instead on trying to avoid mines – of which, judging by the state of some of the human remains, there were plenty about.
The staff in her hand twitched and she altered her direction a little, her eyes settling on a sad pile of corpses a yard or so to her left. Skirting the smoking remains of what might once have been a medical stretcher, Aura crouched down next to the pile and carefully pushed the top body off the stack. The man lying underneath sucked in a shallow breath, staring up at her with milky brown eyes which widened only slightly at the sight of her. His clammy, blood-soaked hands were pressed against the wound on his stomach. There was a rattle in his throat as he inhaled, and his eyes fell on Aura’s gleaming black scythe.
“They’re – com-ing – back – ” he sucked in another rattling breath “ – for – me.”
Keeping one hand on the scythe, Aura reached out with her free one and gently brushed the hair back from his face. It was impossible to tell what colour his hair was naturally, since it was soaked in muddied blood.
“If they are, they won’t be here in time,” she told him gently. “We need to go.”
“N-no.” He tried to jerk his hand away when she reached for it. “I – have – a – fam – ”
A shudder ran down his spine and a bubble of blood formed over his mouth. Before it could burst, Aura took his hand firmly and tugged on it. She stepped up and backwards, letting the murky-grey in-between world, better known as the Realm Between Realms, envelope her and the soldier. He stumbled forward and fell onto his knees, his hand slipping from hers.
Aura gave him a second to adjust, studying him carefully while he stared about him. As always when a soul passed on, he was still wearing the same ratty old khaki uniform but it – and he - had been magically cleaned up in transition. His hair, it transpired, was the same shade of dishwasher blonde as her son’s. He had a vaguely handsome – and very young – face. How old was he? Eighteen? Nineteen?
“I’m sorry,” Aura told him in a genuinely pained voice as he pushed himself slowly to his feet, “when it’s time, it’s time. I can take you to anywhere you – ”
She never got the rest of the sentence out. The young soldier moved so fast that she never saw his fist coming. He struck her on the side of the jaw, catching her by surprising and knocking her backwards off her feet. The magic scythe slipped from her hand, and her floaty ice-blue robes shifted into a greyed-out tank top and shorts before she’d hit the ground. The wind knocked out of her, Aura lay on her back for a second, trying to gasp for air and listening to the sound of swiftly retreating footsteps.
This is stupid. You don’t need air, you’re already dead.
Try telling that to her brain. Aura rolled over and clambered onto her feet more slowly than she would have liked, rubbing her jaw. She was just in time to see the soldier vanish into the grey mist. Leaving her scythe where it was, Aura grimly took up pursuit.
How long did she run? It was impossible to tell; time was a non-existent concept in the Realm Between Realms, just as it was in the Realm of the Dead. Her lungs felt like they were about to burst and she had to keep reminding herself that she didn’t need to breathe. She could run forever, if she had to. If she could convince herself that she could.
He kept sliding in and out of sight through the mist, but he’d well and truly vanished by the time she came haring into the motley village perched on the edge of Death. Spotting Brock chatting to someone who must have been newly-dead, judging by his colour, she made a beeline for him and came skidding to a halt next to them both. She couldn’t even get any words out, at first – just doubled over with her hands on her knees, gasping for breath.
“You know,” Brock observed, “it’s only because of residual memory that we even think we need to breathe.”
You and your bloody residual memory. “Brock.” Aura held up a finger, begging for a second. After a little more than a second, she managed to straighten up, narrowing her eyes as she peered about them through the grey mist. “Have you seen a fresh corpse run through here? Soldier’s uniform.”
Brock looked faintly amused. “You lost him?” When Aura ignored him, he shifted his weight from foot to foot. “I haven’t seen him, but Aura… this is Kane.”
“Hi.” Aura threw over her shoulder at Kane, not even looking at him.
They thought I was weak, but I am strong; they sold me the world but they were wrong
And now that I'm back, I still belong.
she's not touching the staff, so she's in normal clothes (shorts and a tank top)
Replies:
- Everything that's keeping me together is falling apart - By Kane May 22, 2018 at 11:36:41 PM
- what was in your heart when it stopped going - By aura July 15, 2018 at 11:26:59 PM
- Your heart felt good, it was dripping pitch and made of wood - By Kane August 14, 2018 at 08:19:27 PM
- the whole world shook - By aura August 21, 2018 at 02:01:00 AM
- Your heart felt good, it was dripping pitch and made of wood - By Kane August 14, 2018 at 08:19:27 PM
- what was in your heart when it stopped going - By aura July 15, 2018 at 11:26:59 PM
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