Prologue: Open Seats and Open Hearts
#1 of Redemption
Author's Note: Hello there, reader. You're about to read what wandered into my mind one day a few weeks ago, spawning from the idea simple idea of two people recounting what happened to them and why they were heading towards the city of Korol. What started off as a simple writing excercise to get myself over writer's block is slowly evolving into a story all its own, and it's been a blast to write and tweak and add on to.
The series has no set number of chapters, but will run for quite a while, exploring both the present day lives and past events of each of the main characters. There is no yiff in this chapter, but subsequent chapters will have more than enough, so don't worry. ;) This prologue will mostly set up the story and characters and get you familiar with them.
So, without further adieu, I give you, Redemption.
Redemption
Prologue: Open Seats and Open Hearts
"This seat taken?" The voice cut through a myriad of thoughts swimming through my head as I stared out the window of the train, greenery rushing by as we sped towards our destination. I turned to see a male cheetah poking his head through the compartment door, giving me a questioning stare, a small suitcase with a tuft of red fabric sticking out one end in his paw. I gave a sad smile and shook my head.
"No... no, it's not. Please, sit down." I motioned towards the seat opposite me and he smiled, opening the door and walking in. He shifted his small suitcase to his other paw and extended his right.
"My name's Louis," he said, giving me a warm smile. I shook his extended paw politely, giving him a weak smile of my own.
"Victor," I said. "Is that everything?" I pointed to his suitcase, and he nodded.
"Yeah, I'm just heading out of town on... business." He reached over me, apologizing and setting his suitcase on the luggage rack above me. Satisfied it was wedged in securely, he sat down on the seat opposite me, sighing.
"And you?" he asked. "What're you doing on the train?" I turned back towards the window, giving a small sigh. The lake we were momentarily passing over looked peaceful from up here as the waves lapped at the shore below, a feeling of tranquility emanating from it.
"I'm going to see if I can correct a mistake I made." I turned back towards him. "Do you have a pen I could borrow?"
"Oh!" The question caught him off guard, but he reached into his pocket and withdrew one, handing it to me. "Yeah, here."
I took it from his paw and opened my notebook, scribbling down a note to myself. After I was satisfied it would jog my memory later, I capped the pen, giving it a quick glance and smiling as I handed it back to him. He extended his paw to get it, and as I placed it in his, I spoke.
"You're running away."
With a small clatter, the pen fell to the floor of the train and rolled out of sight. His body froze, eyes growing wide, jaw clenching. He was panicking, his breathing becoming irregular.
"Mind telling me why?" I asked.
"I... you... wait. You... you're not going to tell anyone?" His breath caught in his chest, his entire body frigid with fear.
"No," I said simply. "It's not my business if you don't like something back home."
With a large sigh of relief, he sunk back into his chair, wiping his forehead of sweat. With a loud exhale to calm himself, he looked back at me, arching an eyebrow.
"How did you know, anyways?"
"I didn't know for sure until you reacted like that. I had a hunch."
"A hunch?"
I nodded. "Yes. First of all, you had a small piece of clothing sticking out from your suitcase, and no serious business person takes clothes in a suitcase; it'd be too full of papers." He smiled with embarrassment, nervously rubbing the back of his neck, cheeks flush with pink. "Secondly, the pen had the logo of the GYFA. I put two and two together and realized you were running away because of the oldest reason in the book. You were afraid your parents wouldn't approve of your being gay."
His body froze once more. "I-I have no idea what you're talking about!" he snapped, bending down to pick up his pen. After a few seconds of looking under his seat for it, he grasped it and stood up, turning back towards me.
"Hey!"
"You're not, huh?" I held within my paw a small photo of a male fox, nude, blowing a kiss towards the viewer. On the back it said, "Love you forever. Your mate, Kyle." He snatched the photo out of my hands and thrust it into his pocket before snapping his briefcase shut again.
"You can't just rummage through people's stuff! Yeah, ok, I'm a fag. Just go ahead and say it."
"Did I ever call you that?" I said calmly, sitting back down. "Don't be quick to judge people."
"Oh, you're not against homos, huh?" He pointed at the small crucifix I was wearing, and I chuckled.
"Isn't assuming someone's a bigot because of their faith as bad as assuming someone's a slut because of their sexuality?" His face flushed with embarrassment as he slowly sunk back onto his seat.
"I'm sorry..." he muttered, avoiding my gaze. I smiled at him, rolling up my sleeve.
"Appearences can be deceiving," I said. He looked up and his face brightened considerably.
"Oh!"
I nodded. "Yep."
"A rainbow bracelet? So you're...?" I nodded again. He whistled, smiling with delight. "Well, this is good! I was afraid you were going to start preaching at me. I'm trying to leave all that behind," he said.
"It's ok, hon. I understand. Yeah, males are fucking hot to me too," I said, winking. "But you never answered my original question."
"I didn't? Which was it, sir?"
I chuckled, shaking my head. "Don't call me sir. I'm only a few years older than you. You'll make me feel old! Just call me Victor." He nodded, smiling. "I asked you why you were running away."
He turned to gaze out the window, not saying anything. For several moments, a tense silence hung in the air as he crossed his arms, looking out the window thoughtfully.
"They'd hurt me if they knew."
"You'd be surprised how far someone's love will go. Love is the most powerful force of all the ones we can experience." He turned towards me, intrigued. "Love has the power to bind people together forever. It can soften the most hardened of hearts. It can reverse beliefs or traditions. It can stretch across time and distance with ease. Love is the ultimate binder between souls."
"If love is so powerful, why are you going so far to meet with someone you once loved to correct a mistake?"
Now it was my turn to look out the window, saying nothing. For a few minutes, I sat there, arms crossed as I sorted out my thoughts. As the sun began to set behind the mountains, I turned back towards him. He'd pulled out the picture of his mate and was lost within it, staring into it with an expression of love and happiness plastered across his face.
"You feel him with you, don't you?" He wasn't startled by my question, and instead, moved to lie down on the seat, stretching out on his stomach as he set the picture in front of him.
"Yes. Whenever I'm sad, or hurt, or lonely... It's like I can feel him next to me, within me. Somehow... I can feel him. I can't even begin to explain why."
"Love, my boy, love." He turned to look at me, resting his head on his arm. "Love can overcome distance. When you're in love, you feel as though part of that person is inside of you... and they are. Part of them will remain with you forever."
"And in your case?"
"My love for him goes unmatched. And I'm sure within his heart, he has at least a small amount of love for me still. But in my case, love wasn't what broke us apart. It was jealousy."
"Jealousy?"
"It's a long story," I said as I turned and laid down on my back, staring up at the ceiling.
"It's a long train ride."
I grinned, closing my eyes. "I like you, kid. You're nice." I paused. "You're going to see him, aren't you?"
"I'll tell you if you promise to tell me the story."
"Sure, kid."
"Yes," he said, not a single note of hesitation within his voice. "He's promised to let me live with him."
"And you don't think your family will grieve over their loss of you? You don't think that instead of grieving over never seeing their son again, they wouldn't rather have him still and have him bring home someone he loves? Boy, you need to get your facts straight."
"Then why don't you set 'em straight?"
"I'll cook two pies with one oven, kid. My story'll set your facts straight, and hopefully give you some insights into the world of love."
"I'm game," he said with a grin. "Just don't fall asleep on me, Victor."
With a grin, I started talking. "It all started two years ago."