There exist many great beings in the past, when they walked this very lands we stand, when they walked besides us, when they used to aid our bleeding hands, and bless us with countless miracles, they enriched our soils so we can plant our crops, and brought rain for it to grow, they made clean rivers for us to drink, and made roads in places impossible to cross, what was once a great wasteland riddled with beasts and rot was revived by their mere presence alone...Wherever they walked, life, follows.
And when they fell one by one, like birds falling from the sky, confusion and grief followed, and soon, chaos slowly bared its fangs at the world, the sky falls, the seas darkened, the lands turns barren, and Nation walls crumbled like dust from the neverending onslaughts of Monsters and Beasts, the people, they fled and they begged, hoping for their grace once more, hoping, that they gaze at them with their loving eyes once more, but the only thing that was heard, was the sounds of howls and wails and the realization that they no longer hold the hands that cared.
As the sands of time slowly falls...What was once a beautiful world, full of life and joy, was now filled with tragedy and crys, and the laughter of beasts.
However, the people that never gave up hope rose up, they took up arms to fight, in order to reclaim which was lost, even if its a portion, and restore it to its former glory, one by one—.
"Why are you telling me this story again now?"
A young boy wearing a ragged clothing, kneeling at the side of a wooden bed, commented on why he told him this story he had heard hundreds of times.
"So that-Cough!".
The old man coughs, looking as if he used all of his strength just to tell this single story.
"Please drink this..."
After telling and aiding the old man to drink, the old man took a small sip, not even finishing the clean water, the boy wiped the tinge of blood underneath his lip with a cleaned cloth, and the old man tried to continue, but seeing as he struggles to speak, the boy held his wrinkled hand, still faintly warm with life.
"Im not going anywhere"
Looking at the dying old man that was lying on a bed made of hides, a moment pass, and he continued to answer the boys question, the old man looked weakly at the boy, slowly opened his mouth, his gray eyes slowly dimming.
"So that...you are always reminded, and know..."
He slowly raised his hands that was being held by the boy, trembling as it goes, and caressed the boy's ashen hair that resembles his late daughter.
"That even if this world is in ruins, their are still people who never gave up hoping..."
The old man's hand slowly falls from the boy's head.
"hoping, to fix this broken world..."
He looked up, eyes unclear.
"Kiyan...My dear grandson...I hope one day...you see it with your own eyes...That this world...can be beautiful..."
As he drew his last breath, leaving behind words that he hopes, can stick and act as an anchor for the boy, using his last remaining strength to look at his grandson's face one last time, he slowly and peacefully, closed his eyes to rest.
"Grandpa..."
The boy, Kiyan, looked down and held his grandfather's wrinkled hand once more, now lifeless and slowly turning cold, moisture build up in his eyes and tears fall on his grandfather's now cold hands.
"May the God's Welcome You With Open Arms...In the Heaven Above, Where Our Loved Ones Rest"
Now, with nobody else, the boy at the age of ten, kiyan, not even reaching his teens, is now alone in this house, besides his grandfather's cold, lifeless body that is soon to be buried besides the rest of his kin.
A small cry was heard faintly at a small and worn down house, located at the far Western Region of the Capital, is a ruined village on the verge of crumbling, as the sky turned crimson and the night draws near, welcoming the night as the Moon adorned with a Hallow, can now be seen in the sky surrounded with countless stars....By the forest of dead trees, passed the River of Flowing Carcass, with a population numbering of seventeen people, now sixteen.
The World which was once familiar, now turned Alien to the natives, outside the places of refuge, are dangers that could easily take a life.
The Northen Region, passed the Canyon of Wails and the Mountains of Cold, home of the Bone Eating Beast, and at the other side of the mountains, is the dark sea with an undying storm...With waves reaching a height larger than any of the existing towers in this land.
The Eastern Region, passed the fields which was once rich with the colors of golden wheat, now a field with dried blood and bones...Is what used to be a prosperous and lively kingdom, and at the center of it, an almost destroyed and lonely castle, with a Bowing King in an empty hall without subjects, he hungs his head low while sitting on his ruined thrown.
The Southern Region, with low mountains and a once lush forest and pristine lake, home of many different species of fish, now corrupted and red, and a town once bustling with trades and deals, now turned into a Nest for Beasts that feasts on flesh, and across it, a temple that was made of beautiful white marble, walls now smeared in blood and bones of its clerics, as if to mock its God.
In this world that was then full of life and prosperity, is now teeming of abominations and the smell of death and rot in many places of the world, but, despite all this, small embers of hope still flicker in the hearts of many, hoping for better days, and in that small village in the west, numbering only a handful population of sixteen, a new ember was lit.
Splash!
Thunk!
Located at the Northwest Region, is a dark green field with few trees, following the fading road that leads further Northwest, is a town with a thousand maple colored trees with the town at the center, inside the town, filled with still intact buildings, the streets is now nothing but lifeless, with little to no people seen, it gave the feeling of being in a ghost town...Inside of a bar near the center of the town, a man with decent build and an axe hung on his back, punched a wooden cup with the back of his hand which was filled with alcohol, flying of the table, in front of him, a man bowing on all fours, dressed as a bartender of the bar, as well as being the owner.
"Hey, you bastard, when will you pay off your damn debt?!".
The man yelled at the man before him, ignoring the sharp gazes of the few people in the bar, and thats all they could do, with the current state of the town, they couldn't afford to pick a fight with a person who can fight against the Monsters that lurks from in the outskirts of the forest, whats more, they understood that crossing with him can lead to their death if not handled properly, looking at their skinny and malnourished bodys underneath those ragged clothes, one swing is all it takes for him to split them in half, what they are feeling is nothing more than annoyance as well as fear at the man, and of pity at the groveling man, an event not worth participating at the cost of being injured and possibly killed.
"P-please wait a little longer, Mr. Thomas, w-we're still currently making the coins that we owe you! I-If you wait u-until the first day of the Sixth Moon, we promise to pay you in full!".
The owner of the bar said with trembling voice and hands as he continues bowing.
The Sixth Moon, Using the Suns Calendar, where every forty days, a Moon with a bright hollow is shown on the night sky, the maximum being the Twenty-Fourth Moon, once passed, a year goes by, and today being the Fifth of the Twentieth day...Twenty more days before the Sixth Moon.
"You bastard...you also said that at the Fourth, i gave you a chance last time because I owed your late father a debt i now cant pay".
The man, Thomas, glared at the groveling man, he leaned forward from his chair and rested both his elbow on his knee's, waiting for what he has to say.
"P-Please understand!, a-an emergency happened!, and i had to spend some of-".
He scratched his bald head, implying that his getting tired of hearing the same, similar excuse from his mouth and smashed the table that was beside him.
Smash!!
"!!!".
"I'm getting tired of this, Arnold".
As Thomas smashes the table with his big hand, he stood up, he walked closer and grabbed the collar of his whitish brown shirt and lifted him up while looking at his eyes.
"Remember, Arnold, this is the last chance im giving you, the First Day of the Sixth Moon, I'll be back".
"!!?, T-Thank-!".
He let go of Arnold's collar, failing to support himself, he fell on his bottom, he looked at Thomas's retreating back, heading to the exit door of the bar, before he opened the door he looked at Arnold one last time and Arnold flinched, thinking he changed his mind.
"You know what will happen if you fail to pay the coins, right?".
"!! Yes, Mr. Thomas! I promise, I'll repay my debt in full the next time you visit!".
He bowed again, head and hands on the floor.
Creak~.
"Thank you.....".
He whispered in the air, thanking him for giving him another chance to repay of the debt he made.
Thomas finally opened the door and left the bar, leaving the owner, Arnold, still on the floor, seeing as the door finally closed and confirming he wont be coming back until the First Day of the Sixth Moon, he Finally stood up, picked up his round glasses with a small crack that fell on the floor, and fixed his attire.
The customers, seeing as the debt collector is gone, slowly relaxed and continued in doing their business, pretending nothing ever happened, because in this town, pretending to see nothing, and saying nothing, is one of the ways to keep yourself safe, it isn't uncommon or rare to find a dead body on the side of the streets when meddling in someone else's business, some can either be rewarding, or just a false sense of justice and ignorance of the situation.
The owner then walked at the counter in order to continue working, thinking of other ways to earn extra coins other than managing a bar, and then...
Creaaak~ .
"?!"
The sound of a creaking door was heard, similar to the sound the exit door made when the debt collector, Thomas, left the bar, and Arnold, having not yet mentally recovered from the event that just passed, heard it, paled and clenched his hands unknowingly from anxiety.
Arnold, fearing that Thomas might have returned, looked at the exit door, seeing as it didn't move an inch and stayed closed, he calmed down, he looked up at the second floor of the bar where a closed door should be, now opened slightly, and smiled at the small red head peaking out the small gap in the door.
"Dad?".
She made a weak sound, looking at her half closed eyes says that she just woke up from her sleep, she rubbed her half closed eyes and peaked at the doors gap.
A child, not much older than nine years old looked down at the bar, looking for her father, when she finally found who she was looking for at the bar counter, she smiled brightly and waved her small hands happily at her fathers direction, hoping for a response.
Arnold, in response to his precious daughters waving hand, waved back his hand silently and smiled with a tender gaze, as if whatever happened with the debt collector never happened, he was just happy, treasuring this small moment of interaction with his daughter.