by Andrew Jones
Blaze blinked and watching him, then she looked down and sighed.
"Then one more couldn't hurt!" Shalya shouted as she approached the crowd from behind Nova.
Xanadu gasped silently as he heard her voice and saw her approaching. Blaze looked up at him and stared, noticing his reaction to seeing Shalya approaching them.
"Xan, you know her?" Blaze asked.
Xanadu shook his head, "I'm afraid not. I might have seen her within the Land of Ruin, maybe."
"Sure, the more the merrier..." Kryptonite muttered as he put on some glasses, and pulled out a little notebook and pen from his pocket. "So much new people, can you all introduce yourselves?"
Nova nodded her head, "I'm Nova, and this is Atreyu."
"And I am Shalya."
Blaze watched as Kryptonite wrote down everyone's names. She leaned back against the side wall of the market space, standing next to Xanadu.
Kryptonite nodded his head and put away all of his materials, "All right. There is no reason why we should stay here any longer, we should head out of here."
Atreyu looked up and noticed that the sun had begun its sleep, as dusk was just around the corner. The shadows that had produced within the village began to materialize on sight, and the imagery of night had started.
"Maybe we should build a campfire?" Atreyu suggested.
Blaze shook her head, "No. You don't know if more of those machines will come. It's still rather dangerous around here. Besides, we should be focusing on finding Amaya and the others."
"Hmm, this looks like a good time to choose our leader," Kryptonite muttered.
Nova chuckled, "A leader of our little group? That's some idea... But not a bad one."
Shalya nodded her head, "It is. And looking into the old world, usually, the leader would be the strongest male person of the group, so I nominate Xanadu."
Xanadu gasped, "M-Me?"
"I... I was hoping I could be the leader, but if that's the case than Xanadu should be a unanimous choice..." Kryptonite spoke, sounding a bit jealous, but he quickly got over it.
"All right, Xanadu. You are our choice as our leader. Shall we go into the Land of Ruin now?"
Xanadu shook his head, "We should wait until dawn. We don't know what could be out there. If anything, we could be ambushed by those said machines."
Blaze chuckled and patted Xanadu's shoulder before walking out of the market spot, "Good choice, leader."
Atreyu clapped his hands and began getting excited, "All right! Come on, Kryptonite. Let's go find some things to make a campfire!"
Kryptonite laughed sarcastically, "I can pull the necessary materials out of my pockets."
"That takes out the fun of making a proper campfire!"
Atreyu grabbed Kryptonite by the paw and dragged him deeper into the village to find some material to make their campfire. As that was occurring, Nova sighed as Blaze suggested that they go into the Land of Ruin to find some food. They could do all of this within mere seconds, but they insisted that they do this separately. Xanadu was amused as he watched the four of them part ways. He really believed at that moment that they wished they could experience Humanity in the old world. Things were done so differently in this time, but the people still admired history enough to cherish it with their lives- even without noticing it themselves.
Xanadu set up their resting spot- he cleared the area of any rocks or dirt, he even disposed of the body parts and machine parts so he could lay some blankets down on the ground. He formed a circle with the six blankets, of which will be assigned at random. The circle was big enough to have the campfire in the middle, and for anyone who wanted to sit in the middle.
"I see you're making yourself at home," Shalya spoke, as she leaned against a wall and glanced over at Xanadu as he prepared the area.
"At least I'm doing something..." Xanadu responded, grumbling. "Why are you even here? I think I have all of this under control."
Shalya chuckled, "You think? We'll see about that. Anyways, I'm not here for that specific reason anymore."
"... Then why are you here?"
"Because Ace admitted to me that there is a traitor in our midst."
Xanadu frowned, "So, you think it's me?"
Shalya shrugged her shoulders, "I'm only here to observe. I'm an observer of the Divergence. I have the right to interfere, on these terms."
Xanadu grunted at her, just as he heard Nova and Blaze walking in their direction. Blaze tossed a deer whose legs were tied up pretty tight, on the ground near the rest area. Nova pulled out her sword and began chopping the deer into pieces of which could be cooked by the campfire. Shalya watched the two work, chuckling and whispering to Xanadu.
"You see how they're preparing meat? Simply because Humans eat meat? It's amazing because as machines, they cannot enjoy meat, but they would eat it anyway- even if it isn't a necessity. It's quite pathetic." Shalya whispered.
Xanadu frowned, "It's not pathetic..."
Atreyu and Kryptonite came back with the necessary materials for the campfire. They found a lot of tree branches, and matches. But they also found a rare find- lighter fluid which had been stored away for special use by Amaya. Atreyu tossed the branches in the center of the blankets and formed them in a precise way. He then allowed Kryptonite to spray lighter fluid on the branches, which would ignite a nice, average fire as Atreyu tossed a match in it.
"This is a nice rest spot you made, Xanadu." Kryptonite complimented, as he would plop down on one of the blankets and watch the flames wave along the slow breeze that would speed past them every so often.
Xanadu rubbed the back of his head, enjoying the appreciation, "It was nothing... Now, let's get this meat prepared!"
After the meat was prepared, only Atreyu and Kryptonite were the ones who were chewing them down. They would eat so fast that one would assume that they were racing to see who would finish first. Xanadu took one bite and chewed at a normal speed, looking beside him as he watched Blaze try to take a bite. She chewed very slowly, and her face showed no satisfaction. But Xanadu could still sense that she was enjoying this moment, even though she never admitted it. Nova didn't eat it, she gave the excuse that she wasn't hungry, so Atreyu was nice enough to eat it for her. Shalya didn't join them for the feast, she was still leaning against the wall, hiding in the shadow and observing everything.
"Welp- that was delicious everyone!" Kryptonite shouted as he stretched his paws and yawned.
Atreyu grumbled, "Yeah, but you still beat me. I lost to a damn Teddy Bear."
Nova was laying on the blanket, but it was pretty obvious she was only pretending to sleep because you could hear her laughing silently as she had her eyes shut.
"Yeah, it was fun and all. But we should rest and prepare for tomorrow..." Blaze muttered, tossing her leftover meat into the fire to ensure it would stay lit for a little longer.
"Great idea." Xanadu nodded his head.
Kryptonite and Atreyu both laid down on their blankets, rubbing their stomachs like they were full from eating. They were acting like they had stomach aches. Xanadu shook his head as he laid down and looked up into the sky. He stared off into the darkness and saw all the little lights above, the stars that formed mysterious shapes. This world had the same stars as other worlds, other Timelines. So- this Timeline couldn't be as bad as Ace and Shalya mentioned, or even what he had thought in the beginning. It gave him more motivation to save this Timeline. Like, he had grown a bond with everyone in the group and wanted to save them from an unknown tragedy.
But he couldn't think about that as of now. He turned his body to help him relax, turning toward Blaze. He could have sworn she was looking at him. He thought he saw her eyes open, but shut immediately as he looked at her. She was turned toward him as well and began sleeping. He took a deep breath and shut his eyes, anticipating what would come tomorrow.
"Could he really be the traitor?" Shalya asked as she was still by the wall.
Shalya was sitting now, she had her knees up
in front of her face, and she hugged and leant her head against them. As she noticed that the group finally went to sleep, she shut her eyes slowly, like she was sort of paranoid enough to not trust any of them and didn't want to sleep until they went to sleep first. Unlike Xanadu, she didn't anticipate what tomorrow would bring.
Verse IV
The Land of Ruin
The Land of Ruin was a valley of death disguised as a beautiful oasis. It was the only place in this world where it had shined the beauty of the old world. The skies were always blue, the grass fields were always healthy green, and the hills of with the tall grasses looked as though they have never been disturbed. There were occasional trees, but none of them looked old, or dead. They produced healthy leaves and were tall. One particular tree stood on top of a high hill. The hill was famous as a hangout spot for people who wanted to grow strong bonds. It was rumored that if two people who were to become soul mates met there, the moon would become full and gain a similar shape of a heart if one to look hard enough at it.
The hill was beautiful up close, and since anyone has come to visit the hill, it's grown dozens of turquoise-colored flowers that glimpsed within the light of the sunshine. They spread out throughout the top of the hill, surrounding the lone tree. The tree itself was amazing to look at. Someone used one of the tree's branches to build a swing bench, suitable for three people to sit on and swing majestically. Nova bent down to pick up one of the flowers, giving it a nice scent.
"These smell amazing," Nova muttered.
"They're called Moonshine. They grow from the moon's rays at night only. Their color though is still shrouded in mystery." Atreyu responded to her.
Blaze scoffed, "Well, some things just need to be left alone and left a mystery."
"The Humans purpose is to solve every mystery known in this world. As Humanity slowly dies down, the number of incoming mysteries increases more. And with fewer Humans out there that are willing to discover the mystery's secrets, the mysteries increase."
Kryptonite looked quite impressed with Atreyu's explaining, "Whoa. You must be some kind of scientist, then?"
Atreyu shook his head, "Just a boy with a curious mind."
"That curious mind of yours will find a way to get you killed." Blaze interrupted him, as she took a seat on the swing.
Atreyu frowned and stepped toward her, beginning to hold an argument with her. Blaze didn't say anything to him, she just crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow at him, seemingly ignoring him. Xanadu sat down on the grass, a spot the Moonshine flowers hadn't spread to yet. But Shalya stayed standing up as she observed the actions of the other four members of the group.
"Xan, do you think it's normal for the four of them to be together like this?" Shalya asked.
Xanadu shrugged his shoulders, "Why wouldn't it be?"
"Do not ignore the consequences, Xan. I've already been sensing something strange since the four of them met."
"And that's why you decided to join up with us, am I wrong?"
Before she could answer, she heard a few footsteps nearby. The footsteps drew closer and closer, as they alarmed the rest of the group. Blaze stood up and glared at the group coming forth. It was Drakkar, Densetsu and the rest of their own village of Humans. They all pumped like they were ready for a fight. But it was obvious that Drakkar was keeping them back.
"Well, well. Looks like you've helped us capture the insignificant traitor and the robotic bitch. Care to hand them over, Blaze?"
Blaze kept the glare on her face, "And why should I?"
"I'll allow you to make your necessary repairs within our village."
Densetsu gasped and grabbed Drakkar's shoulder, turning him over to face him, "What are you doing? Negotiating with a machine!? Why don't we just kill all of them, here and now!?"
Drakkar frowned and turned back to Blaze, "This is why I'm the leader of the Resurrection of Humanity, Densetsu."
Atreyu frowned and stepped in front of Blaze, shielding her from Drakkar, "Like hell, she'll give us to you!"
Blaze shrugged her shoulders, "Sure, take them."
"Handcuff them," Drakkar ordered his men as he gave them a nasty grin.
Nova stood up and pulled out her sword, but before she could make a swing at the Humans surrounding her, she felt Blaze draw her spear and aim it back into her neck. Blaze narrowed her eyes at her and gave her an intimidating look, which forced Nova to put away her sword and submit. The men grabbed both Nova and Atreyu and through them into the cage that was on their carriage, immediately locking it up.
"B-Blaze! What the hell!" Nova screamed as she held onto the bars of the cage.
"You backstabbing bitch!" Atreyu shouted.
Blaze crossed her arms and turned away from the carriage, looking toward Drakkar as he approached her.
"Don't look so down because of their useless wording. You made the right choice." Drakkar spoke.
Blaze shrugged her shoulders, "I don't care what they have to say. But I must ask if you can allow me to bring Kryptonite and those two over there."
Drakkar raised his eyebrows as he glanced and just noticed Xanadu and Shalya. He walked toward them and observed them.
"I haven't seen you two around here before," Drakkar spoke harshly.
"We're from the deserts. We were hiding away during the whole machine attack." Xanadu spoke as if he had that excuse lined up for this perfect opportunity.
"Huh. So you two aren't machines?"
Shalya shook her head, "No."
Drakkar's face grew more confident like he had let down his guard just a little bit by her answer. He didn't give an answer to them, he only turned back and announced to his men that they were heading back to their village. The men nodded their heads with no hesitation and prepared to move the carriage. Nova and Atreyu sat in the cage, right next to each other- Drakkar walked next to the carriage, right next to Blaze as she followed. Xanadu and Shalya stayed to the back, watching as these events unfolded.
No words were spoken, they just focused on making it to the village. Blaze could feel the glares of Atreyu and Nova, but they didn't affect her. She had a reason for going to Drakkar's village, without getting captured herself. But she knew of Drakkar's dirty tricks, so she prepared for anything that would come her way, she was always prepared for incidences like this, she was built for it.
Atreyu, however, has known Drakkar for a shorter amount of time. He didn't realize his betrayal would become his undoing. Drakkar gave him a place in this world, after all.
Surviving was harder than Atreyu would've thought. He crawled from the deep depths of the Ancient Desert and made the impossible trip to The Land of Ruin. But he wasn't completely satisfied. He was in great pain, and he felt weak. So, so weak. He couldn't move his legs any longer, so he was forced to use the rest of his strength on dragging his lifeless body with his arms. He didn't have much strength, so it was a miracle alone just making it to the destination. The sun blazed down at him as if it was attempting to bring the end of him closer. He could only see light- it went from a bright yellow to a bright white. He couldn't see anything, and this was around the time he started having difficulty breathing. As he pressed on, only getting slower and slower as his strength quickly drained, he prayed that he would not die. But, if he was to go through this suffering, he would wish to die. To take away this immense suffering.
This was until he heard a man's voice- it was Densetsu's voice. He sounded tough but harsher than that. He was about to stomp on Atreyu's head, seeing how he has killed people before, why would killing Atreyu be any different. But Drakkar stopped him. They begun their arguing but soon stopped. Atreyu suffered the most out of this whole time as he waited for someone to say something, as everything grew silent. He felt like he died right there.
But he didn't. He was being carried to safety, something he did not remember happening. He could only see darkness, such a different sense of light. He was truly knocked out. Until he awoke on a hospital bed in a room that looked like a hospital
. It had many hospital beds, with many other Humans laying in them and groaning from their own pain. Maybe Atreyu wasn't alone, but he was in fact alone.
Drakkar paid Atreyu a visit, asking him why he had made such a reckless trip to The Land of Ruin, but Atreyu refused to answer that question. He seemed to understand, maybe Atreyu went through something tragic. But as Atreyu sat on the edge of the bed, Drakkar laid down a sword next to him and walked out. This was the time Atreyu truly gained access to the village and became a part of the Resurrection of Humanity.
He had such a strong hate toward the machines, he was a perfect fit for the organization, despite Densetsu's opinion. But there were some things that were odd with Atreyu. He got mad too easily, and he did not ever show any sign of becoming sad. It was like he didn't know how to be sad. Each time he'd kill a machine with Drakkar and Densetsu, he would crush them. Crush the weakling of a machine into little bits that couldn't take the machine's form once again. His physical strength increased dramatically when he faced a machine like he was enraged.
And Drakkar used that to his advantage.
Drakkar looked at Blaze, he watched as her hair would frail along with her movements, and brush along the winds. He was truly disappointed that she was a machine, but he couldn't cooperate with her, until now. He rushed up to her again and took a deep breath.
"Huh, ain't it grand being back home?" Drakkar asked.
Blaze frowned, she didn't respond to him.
"Aw, come on. You know if you weren't a machine, I would've let you stay with us longer."
Blaze scoffed, "I've had better days outside of your village."
Drakkar's face grew red with anger, as he grabbed Blaze by her neck and lifted her up. Blaze gasped and tried to pull his hands away from her. But his hands were pressed too hard into her. His eyes were staring up into her eyes, he could see that her eyes were becoming bloodshot. And Blaze had seen that Drakkar's eyes were growing red with his rage. He didn't say anything to her until one of his men announced that their village was nearing. So he dropped her on the ground and watched as she got on her fours and gasped for breath.