Entwined - Prologue
#1 of Entwined
So I decided to finally get a little work going on my story. I wrote this up a lil quickly, but I had basically the entire opening scene set up in my head already.
Let me know what you guys think.
Day Zero: Ento
Crunch...
Ash. Ash was everywhere. It coated the grass, the plants, and even what was left of the homes. It had been a few days, and yet, the ash continued to fall. It wasn't heavy, almost snow like, but there was enough of it to matter. The sun had been blotched out for days, and the ground grew cold in it's absence.
...Crunch
The ground cracked and broke apart as a cloaked canine padded along the deserted town's main road. There was a thin layer of the dark, dusty ash coating the soil beneath his paws. It was cold to the touch, and it sent chills up his spine. He clung to his cloak as he trudged through the town, his breath short and visible in the chill, dark air. His eyes wandered along the dark landscape, eyeing the collapsed buildings with a pang of guilt.
"I couldn't stop this..."
His mind ached. The memory of the explosion struck his mind and he fell to his knees, grabbing at his head. The screams, the pain, all the loss. He wasn't sure how much longer he'd able to recall it and not lose his mind, but he was willing to bet it wasn't much longer. Every painful moment from that exact point in time, echoed through his head. He had just joined the battle outside the castle when the explosion went off. It was like nothing anyone had ever seen in their time. It engulfed the entire structure, and much of the surrounding area. It was a miracle he had survived. He would never admit that though, not with the pain he had to bear.
He threw one paw to the ground, digging his claws through the ash and into the frozen dirt. His quick movement slipped his hood away, revealing his dark eye. His right paw clung to his other eye, and a small trickle of blood dripped down his arm. This was becoming more frequent; every time these memories flashed through his mind, his eye ached, and even worse, bled. Slowly though, it began to subside, and he was slowly able to recollect himself. He stood up shakily, pulling his hood back up as he continued down his path. He wasn't sure why or what he was going to find, but he knew where he was going to start. He was going back, back to where this all started.
He gave one last glance to the destroyed town as he padded away, down into what used to be a forest. What it was now, looked like a decaying mesh of rotting wood, and drifts of ash. His free paw dragged along the hollowed remains of trees as he pushed deeper into the dead forest. Slowly, the ground turned to rocks, smooth and rounded to the touch, but just as frozen as the dirt. He was getting close.
He paused as he came to a seemingly out of place waterfall. It wasn't strong, but it was still there. He smiled to himself, probably the first time in a long while as he carefully walked into the small pool of water. He let off a sigh as he felt the cold water lazily drift along his feet. He crouched slowly and slipped his bloodied paw into the water. He pulled it back, slowly rubbing it across his face, wiping the blood away. It stung, it always did, but it needed to be done. With a sigh he looked down into the pool and slowly opened his injured eye. A dulled, white eye slowly came into view, and he whispered to himself.
_ "This is my punishment. This is the burden I'll carry..." _