Short Story

Schönen guten Tag auch ^^

Eigentlich ist das Ding hier schon länger in Planung, aber irgendwie bin ich nie dazu gekommen es mal auszuformulieren und aufzuschreiben. Im Grunde sinds nur ein paar Gedanken über Leben, Tod und Jenseits, die ich mir mal spaßeshalber (und natürlich mal wieder inspiriert durch Slightly damned) gemacht habe, aber aus denen ist schließlich ne kleine Geschichte geworden, und vorhin hab ich dank Saddun endlich mal den Antrieb gefunden das ganze niederzuschreiben ^^
Wer mag kann gerne für jedes "She" ein "He" einsetzen, die Story ist so konzipiert, dass sie unabhängig vom Geschlecht der namenlosen Protagonisten immer gleich funktioniert. Ich musste mich nur beim Schreiben auf ein Geschlecht festlegen, weils sonst von den Formulierungen her nicht funktioniert hätte.

Wie auch immer, enjoy!

It has once been that life brought upon me duties that put myself into the need of taking a journey of several days. Since these circumstances had me leaving my home for a quite longish period of time, we decided that my love would accompany me on this trip.
It had been a few days after our departure, when we saw ourselves in the need of passing through a mountanous region with steep cliffs and ravines all along our path, a dangerous area indeed, which required us to pay a lot more attention to our step than usual. Unfortunately, since neither of us was used to traveling such long distances, the trip so far had been difficult and frustrating for us, and we both found ourselves in a rather peevish mood, thus starting arguments and fights among each other for the slightest reason and on any given occasion.
Whilst normaly I would've known not to take those kind of arguments too serious, since these were born from our exhaustion and frustration and not to be taken as a personal offence, in our current states they led us to being overly distracted and careless, and very soon, my love took a careless step on a rock. She slipped and slided down the near ravine, but managed to get a hold on the steep stone-wall after just a few meters of sliding down.
Seeing her on the edge of losing grip and falling to her untimely death, my mind became flooded with panic, and all I could think about was helping her up again and saving her life. Taking a high risk, I slowly climbed down the stone-wall myself, hoping to get into her reach and being able to somehow pull her up to saver ground, but that was to become my doom.
Before I could get near her, my panic caused me to become too careless. I lost grip and fell down into the valley, on the way of falling down being smashed and shattered by several rocks, which at least made my death quick and painless.

I had lived a good life so far, and I had never feared death, so I was not sad as I entered otherworld. The entities inhabiting this world were kind-hearted and welcomed my dead self with great gentleness. They explained to me, that every soul who's body had passed away had to spend a short time of about a week in this place that I had found myself in, until higher entities were ready to speak judgement upon the newly deceased and determine what kind of afterlive we would be destined to spend.
I was welcoming this circumstance, since this gave me a week of time to search for my love, who would have to be in the same place as I was, since she, just as me, had deceased very recently. However, although the place was not very big, and only few souls besides me were having a presence here, I was unable to find my love. After days of unsuccesful searching, one of the kind-hearted entities was regretfully breaking to me what I had not dared to think of, my love must have survived the incident and was still wandering the world of the living.

After the week was over, I was to receive judgement and be assigned to a real afterlife. Even though I did not have to fear any punishment, as the entities ensured me, I left the place filled with fear, sorrow and regret. My love would not be able to find me ever again after I left here, and so we would never be able to be together again, or even to speak any last words of parting to each other.
I had had nothing else in mind but to give us two more time to spend united when I tried to save her, but as it now turned out, that same action had led us to never being able to see each other again. She had managed to pull herself up on her own strength, and if I had not attempted to save her, we would now both still be alive and united in one world. But now, she was the only one still being up and alive, probably sick and tormented with sorrow, mourning for my death, just as I now was mourning for her survival...

Lasst mich wissen was ihr denkt ^^ Verbesserungsvorschläge (besonders sprachlicher Natur) sind gerne gesehen ^^

Jetzt beim Lesen hab ich mich sogar wieder dran erinnert, dass du mir mal von dieser Idee erzählt hattest ^^ Ich find's noch immer richtig cool, vor allem diesen Gegensatz am Ende: "But now, she was the only one still being up and alive, probably sick and tormented with sorrow, mourning for my death, just as I now was mourning for her survival..."

Sprachlich find ich's richtig gut umgesetzt, solches Englisch bekomm ich nicht auf die Reihe, also kann ich an Satzbau und co schwer rummeckern... Nur eine Sache:

BEEING?!?!

Joa, ich hab nochmal ein wenig geschrieben, diesmal basiert das ganze auf meinem Comic, the Silver-Mirror, den ja die meisten hier im Ansatz kennen ^^ Es handelt sich quasi um eine Szene aus der Vorgeschichte. Ich hab nicht nochmal drübergelesen, also keine Haftung für Fehlerfreiheit ^^"
Enjoy!

It was hard to tell what time of day it was when you were living in a cave, like Ceron did, the darkness was always the same, no matter how bright the sun might or might not be shininge outside. Of course, the darkness did not bother him, he was a Sylskite, and his kind was able to see through even the most dense darkness, which is why his pack had chosen this cave-system as their home.
It had been a hard day for Ceron and he was grateful that he had found the time to relax for the rest of it... or not?
„Enter.“ he said to the other Sylskite approaching his place, whom he had just heard. The pack-mate moved around the corner and greeted Ceron with a small bow. It was Dargon, a Sylskite with dark green fur, who was one of their most experienced hunters. „Yes? What is it?“ Ceron asked his mate freindly, yet he already had a notion what Dargon wanted to talk about... he desperatly hoped he would be wronged just this one time.. „It is... about your son, Ceron...“ Dargon explained hesitantly. It was obvious that he wasn't comfortable with the subject either. Ceron took a deep sigh, he saw his worries confirmed. He didn't even try to hide his frustration anymore. He himself was one of the most distinguished members of their pack, respected for his strength, his sharp mind, and his fair and gentle character. His son however, he was a complete disappointment, and the whole pack by this time had come to that conclussion. „So... what did Servil do this time?“ he asked resigning.
„Well, we've been out hunting with Servil, and he again treid to pull some funny tricks with his magic instead of just doing as he was told. That was giving our prey a warning and chased it away. If he had not decided to go on an egotrip once again, we would have easily hunted it down...“
„Have you tried talking to him already, Dargon?“
„Yes, of course, I tried to explain to him, but...“
„...the usual, right?“
„Yes, he just started yelling at us and blaming everyone else. He just does not listen to anything his elders tell him, and he's convinced he's the only one doing everything right. There's no way to get him to pay any attention to our well-meant suggestions.“
Ceron turned away and began to walk up and down in the narrow cave. „Dargon... what have I done wrong with this kid?“ He asked discouraged. The unconstructive and hostile behaviour of his son had driven him near desperation for the past months. Servil had finaly reached the age in which he would be taken out by other packmembers to learn the basics of hunting and survival, and to pick up all the skills a Were needed in his live. He had been so proud that his son would finaly be ready to take these important steps, his first steps to one day become an honorable grown-up Sylskite who would make him and his comrades proud. He had been a bit worried about Servil, since he was so small and a lot slimmer than the other Sylskites of his age, but still, if he just worked hard enough, he would've been able to still become a decent hunter or fighter. But this had proven to be nothing but a naive dream of him. Servil had taken up his training several months ago, and thus far, he had caused his teachers nothing but trouble and headaches. He never had shown any understanding for what they tried to teach him, he always wanted to pull through his own methods, and didn't pay the slightest bit of attention to anyone triing to reason with him. Whatever he did, it ended up putting him and his mates into trouble.
Ceron could have lived with a son who did not have any talent, he would not have minded if Servil had not been fit for the tasks they demanded from him, but the problem was, that Servil did not even try. He did not want to learn anything from anyone, and he yelled at everybody who tried to talk reason into him. He was arrogant to no end and always had to push through his own head. If he just would show any willingness to be a bit cooperative... but even that hope had been disapointed so far.
„I know, I've asked that a lot of you lately, Ceron, but can't you try to talk with him again? There's no way to teach him anything if he won't listen.“ Dargon asked, and he seemed honestly worried. Ceron was grateful that Dargon was concerned about his son and just wanted the best for him. He had all the right to be mad at Servil and rant about him, but he didn't. He wanted Servil to become a good and honorable Sylskite just as much as Ceron did. Ceron just shook his head in discouragement. „If there would be any chance of that putting some reason into the lad, I would do so immediatly, but I've lost all hope for that, Dargon. I've tried talking to him so often, but there's no way to get through to him...“
„Yeah, I know that you did Ceron, and I appreciate your efforts, but there's no way things can go on like this. All of his teachers are complaining about your son, something HAS to be done about that...“
„I know, I know...“ Ceron sighed „...but it's driving me desperate. There's nothing one can do to get through to him. He won't listen to encouragement, he won't listen to threatening with punishments, he doesn't care about anything but himself and whatever he's up to...“
Dargon looked surprised „What he's up to?“ He asked „I don't know, do you really think there might be something he's not telling you?“
„Well, I'm certain, since there isn't really anything he does tell me at all!“Ceron explained with bitterness in his voice „That kid keeps everything he does a secret, he doesn't talk to anybody about anything and always keeps to himself, I don't even think he has any real friends... I just wonder what he's doing all that time he spends alone...“
„Well, he sure is kind of a loner...“ Dargon admitted hesitantly. It was rather unusual for Sylskites to behave so soloistic. It was common for members of one Sylskite-pack to maintain close relationships, but Servil rather avoided any kind of relationship with anyone, even with his own family. „... but that doesn't necesserily mean he's up to something bad, right? I mean, what should he be doing?“
„Well... if you ask me, I think he might be experimenting around with that Magic of him...“
„His Magic? What kind of Magic was that again?“
„'Silver Wind'“ Ceron answered „...poor boy. That kind of Magic is practically useless, especialy for a Sylskite. It must be hard to be one of the few Weres with Magic skills and than getting something you'll never be able to control.“
„Yeah, that's tough... but what exactly does 'Silver Wind' do?“
„As far as I've heard, it allows you to manipulate space itself. The potential of that is said to be immense, but on the other hand, it's so hard to control, that only very few can ever master it. Even humen and Vyran rarely manage to gain high enough control over that Magic to be able to put it to any use, so, for a Sylskite, it naturaly is even worse. It's said that only a handful of Silver-Wind-Mages have ever been able to completely master it, and those were the best of the best.“
Dargon looked away, and his face seemed to be expressing pity. Sylskite-Weres were known for their poor skills with any kind of magic. Usualy, those of them born with magic skills would just completely ignore them and continue live like their Magic did not exist. Few of them managed to learn some very simple magic tricks, but even those did never really put a lot of attention to their magic, since it was so poor.
„Indeed, poor boy. He'd be doing best if he just ignored his Magic and moved on...“ Dargon stated, and Ceron could not disagree. „Now that you mention it, he often tries to do that!“ Dargon suddenly said. „Whenever I'm out to training with him, he tries to pull some weird tricks with his Magic, but he never suceeds. Damn... he must be very eager to master those skills... what a curse for him...“ Ceron noded weakly. It really made him sad to see his son like that, cursed with such small growth, such small physical strength, and then that cruel temptation of fantastic powers he would never be able to utilize, that was more than enough to drive a small pup desperate. He would've given anything if there would be just a way to support his son, give him a chance to be something special, but if he looked closely, all he saw for his son was a future of eternily being outclassed by his fellow pack-mates. If only he could make it clear to him that he was respected anyways, that he loved him as his son regardles of how skilled he was, and that if he just put his effort into it, he could still be a useful and respected pack-member, on which his comrades would rely just as he would rely on them.
But Servil did not put his effort into it. He was probably so jealous of all the others who easily learned any of the skills they wanted, and were always applauded by their teachers...
„Ceron?“ Ceron was interupted in his thoughts by Dargon. „You don't look very good, mate...“ the Were with the green fur stated. Ceron looked away uncomfortable.
„The truth is... Dargon... I'm afraid of my own son...“ Ceron admitted, and suddenly felt nervousness rising up in his body.
„Afraid? What by Verestas seven moons do you mean by that?“ Dargon asked and seemed completely perplexe. Ceron looked around the room hastily. He was very uncomfortable with admitting these feelings, but now he had started talking, and he knew, that he could completely trust Dargon.
„Yes, I'm afraid of him. He's a very smart boy, you've got to see that, he's got very sharp wits, but if I look at him, I see how much he's filled with hate and anger. He does understand that we're just worried about him and only want his best, for him, we're just those people who keep criticizing him. I think he hates us, and I'm afraid of what he might do to any of us. He's smart enough to figure something out, somethingperfidous, and he's cruel enough to do so, he...“ „Stop it, Ceron!“ Dargon interrupted him, and Ceron imediatly stopped talking. „Just listen to yourself for a moment, Ceron, you're becoming hysterical and paranoid. You're still talking about your son! He's just a kid, how can you accuse him of being so cruel?“ Dargon did not sound angry or accusing, he was completely calm, but his words hit Ceron like a spear anyways.
„I-I'm sorry, you're right, I overreacted there...“ he admitted. „I'm just completely stressed out by this whole affair. I'm so concerned about my son, and...“ he broke up. He did not feel like having the strength of going on any further. Dargon just stood there, he seemed very understanding.
„Don't worry, Ceron, we'll overcome this sooner or later. I'm sure your son will one day become a great Sylskite just as you are. I'll try to talk to him once more, and if he won't listen today, he will one other day. He's still so very young...“ With those words, he left Ceron, who just noded, and hoped, that the words of his friend would hold true...