A short story taking you across 7 days before the protagonist leaves his childhood home
Starlay – Seven Days Left
The morning blurs for Chance, he grabs the only few clothes he has, put them on after washing up the best he could, in the conditions he is in.
The group headed for the temple, people standing around, some the quarter elf recognized, some he didn’t. All he knew is he wanted this day to be over. Every breath was a trial between crying and not.
Chance is sat behind Ferellus’s family, and he sees the coffin. He goes to sit, but he can’t, he just wants to get out of here and hide from everything.
Cassie comes up to his side, holds his hand, reading him and his over powering anxiety and pain. “Let’s just sit, ok?” she says softly to the devastated boy. She too was on the verge, trying to keep herself under control, but with her Psionic powers it’s near impossible.
The service starts and seemed to drag on. He could not imagine he would ever be here, looking upon a casket of his best friend, but here he is. Hearing Shanna crying softly, her mother and father holding each other, he could not hold back his tears any longer. It came so hard and fast, and as others quieted down, his sobbing was all people could hear. At that point, more crying, sobs and sniffles echoed through out the temple.
Memories flood back like a broken damn for Chance. The times on the beach, long nights on the dock sharing hopes and dreams, the adventures they had around the island. The last time he looked at him, in the compound, blood trickling out of his mouth with him muttering “I’ll miss you too, buddy…” then taking his last breath in his arms.
Cassie rubs Chances back, tears welling up in her eyes as well. She takes a few deep breaths and leans forward. With her head in her hands she starts to cry as well.
“I shouldn’t of pushed him to this, he wasn’t ready” She thought to herself with a hollow feeling of regret, “he would still be here, still a son, still a brother.” Cassie chokes a bit in her crying, “Chance would still have his best friend, and…” she paused a moment hearing Chance sob “he shouldn’t be going through this, he is so young.”
Saundra, High Priestess of Animax, can feel the pain in the room and speeds up the service a bit. She performs all the rights for Animax and lays her hands on the casket. She smiles and looks across the room. Everyone’s eyes are upon her. With High Priestesses they can sense a presence that will let her know the deceased is with the great God.
“He dines… HE DINES!” She yells, and everyone smiles even for a short moment.
Animax was the only true God known to Legon. Some people are blessed, and have the ability to perform miracles or magic of sorts bestowed by this god. They say when a person dies, and his life was worthy, Animax will invite him to a great feast in the Hall on High. There the soul will reside without pain, suffering and with great joy surrounded by their family. (read the last EP of the Vulcuran adventures to experience this).
The ceremony ends. Chance and Cassie get up and head for the exit. The rest of the crowd leaves as well. Ferellus’s parents stand outside speaking with the people who came.
There is one person left in the room, sitting in a front pew.
A faint noise of crying echoes through the chamber. Shanna, sister of Ferellus, sits there shaking, sobbing. She looks up to the casket, knowing she will never see her brother again, never give him a hug goodnight, never yell at him for using her toothbrush. Her eyes sting with tears, the pain is too much, she slowly gets up, walks to the altar and falls to her knees, putting her hand on the casket. She just sobs, shaking uncontrollable.
“I can’t… I just, can’t,” she stammers, vision blurred and her body numb.
Chance glances back through the door to see Shanna on the floor by her brother. His heart breaks. “Why is this happening? I really really wish that was me…” he thinks and his head sinks. Chance takes a deep breath, wipes his nose with a cloth, and starts to head in towards Shanna. But he stops at the entrance, Saundra is kneeling next to her consoling her. Chance stops at the doorway, over hearing them.
“He’s gone… “ Shanna spits out in between sobs “I’ll never see him again…” her head slowly shaking.
“You will, and you will be with him my dear,” Saundra says in a calming voice “He dines with Animax, and he waits for you. But for now he needs you to live your best life.”
That seemed to calm her down, and she wipes her eyes. Saundra hands her a cloth and she wipes her nose.
“So I will be with Animax too?” Shanna says looking up at Saundra.
Saundra gives her a great smile, wipes a tear from her cheek, “If you love your brother so fiercely, there is no doubt in my mind that Animax will greet you with open arms, when the time comes.”
The Priestess kisses her on the forehead and Shanna slowly stands up. The two embrace. Chance wipes away a tear as he turns around and heads out of the temple wondering if he would ever be worthy of Animax.
The banquet that ensued was awkward for Chance. “Just make it through each minute at a time” he thought. Trying to avoid everyone.
“I don’t think he has ate more than a mouthful in 3 days,” Britney says looking at Chance sitting alone at the edge of a table, then looking back at Cassie worried. “There are moments I can see the old Chance, but I am really worried this is going to change him.”
Cassie had to shut off her psionic abilities, the onslaught was just too much for her. The Baroness looks at Britney and nods her head, “no way to stop whats coming, it is going to be a true test of his character.”
The gathering after the funeral was make shift, a group of people sitting outside a half destroyed pavilion on the beach. The sun is going down, and it creates a stunning sunset of orange, red and purple.
Ferellus’s parents make their way to the shoreline, look out over the water and cry in each others arms. Chance glances over and he just can’t, he just can’t. He gets up in anger, the chair flying out and he heads down the beach towards Morties place.
A few people jump and that alerts Britney. She stands up and starts for the boy, but Cassie grabs her. “Let him be for a bit, he needs to deal with these things.”
Britney goes to disagree, but then stops, sits back down and nods her head.
Chance and Morty sit in mostly silence, just watching the sky turn colors. The day comes to a close, and it wasn’t a moment to soon for the quarter-elf.
Mondalay – Six Days Left
Chance wakes up in a room on the 2nd floor of the Inn. It is the only place he could find at the Inn that wasn’t taken yet. He takes a deep breath and looks out across the sky, watching a few puffy clouds roll by. “Looks like its going to be a warm one” he thinks to himself.
Chance makes it down to the ground floor, stretching a bit and looking around. Just outside there is a few tables with people sitting at them and a longer table with breakfast food on it. As he walks out of the Inn, looks to see the usual suspects.
“Get something to eat before it goes bad,” Britney says as she walks over to one of the tables and sits with her plate of food.
The quarter elf grabs a mug of bean water, and sits at the far end of the table. Trying to shake the sleep from him, takes a few gulps, coughs a little and his stomach turns. He sighs, puts the mug down and just stares inside it.
The day moves on and Chance finds himself helping Britney with some work, getting the Inn stripped of any spoil or debris. When the relief boats come in she wants to be ready. It was a welcome chore, took a lot of time and kept his mind off things.
Later in the afternoon, Plugr finds Chance and takes him aside. “Myself and Cassie would like to speak with you and Talia at Dinner.”
Chance nods his head, looking at Plugr blankly. Then goes back helping Britney.
Plugr, glances around and starts to worry. He remembers those kinds of looks in peoples eyes. He has see the fallout from War and battles. Losing love ones, the devastation. Chance has that look and he just hopes he can overcome this.
Dinner was at a table by the pavilion. A pretty good feast set by Ursula, the girl who took over Chances duties when he was recruited by Camerondale. Ferellus had eyes for this girl, and by all accounts she had eyes back. Ursula did not make eye contact with anyone, especially not Chance.
Talia sat on the one side as Chance pulls up a seat and sits across from her. They exchange glances and start to eat a little as they wait. The sun is sitting behind a few palm trees that survived the hurricane, and the temperature is cooling off a bit.
Plugr and Cassie show up a few minutes later chatting about the days events. Plugr dives right in and starts to eat like he hasn’t in a month. Cassie looks around, back to the semi-retired Knight, “Hungry? You know the food is not going anywhere right?”
Plugr suddenly stops, looks around and straightens up. He wipes his mouth, “Sorry, I am just hungry.”
After the foursome eat their meal, Cassie looks at the two young ambitious kids.
“So me and Plugr have been thinking,” Cassie starts, looking down at her empty plate.
Talia interrupts almost immediately, “You can’t stop me. I feel I am ready and I need to gain some experience, and…”
Plugr puts up his hand interrupting her, “Talia…”
“No, I know what this is, I feel for Ferellus and his family, but that should not dictate what I do. If I don’t start now, then when? Next year or will you think I will be ready then? Then another 2 years…” Talia exclaims with frantic arm motions. She feels her face turning flush.
“Talia!” Plugr says while slamming his hand down on the table making Chance jump.
“It’s not that easy. This is not about guessing, this is about planning and training,” Plugr says with a stern look, “For years now you have wanted to prove yourself to me, and you have honey, every step of the way.”
Plugr takes a breath, “But you know you still need training, still struggling with your healing power and it is many times erratic.”
Cassie leans forward a bit looks at Talia, “We are not saying you can’t go, this is not a yes or no, it is a when. All we are saying is you need to learn more and get experience with someone seasoned.”
Talia furries her brow. She starts fidgeting with her fork. “Do you mean Chance?” She glances over to the quarter elf.
Chance is looking at his mug in front of him, fiddling with the handle. It does not appear he is even listening.
“Well, it will help but for what Chance knows in combat he is not seasoned in the field,” Cassie replies, “We are asking Rohlia’s cousin to join you, his name is Veritaan.”
“A Babysitter?!?” Talia exclaims, “that is not proving myself, it is, just, babysitting!”
There is an awkward silence for a moment. Cassie, tapping her finger on the table looks at the quarter elf, “Chance, we have not heard from you.”
It takes a moment for it to register that she is speaking at him, he looks around the table, shrugs his shoulders.
“That’s not an answer, we need your input,” Plugr says in almost a scolding manner.
Chance sighs, “this should be decided on what we are doing and why we are doing it,” he starts in talking softly, “if we are out hunting for, I don’t know, a Lich, then yes we need help, whether Talia thinks it is babysitting or not.”
Cassies eyes widen and her eyebrows furrow a bit, “What do you know of tracking lichs?” She interrupts with a bit of aggression in her voice.
Chance takes a second to ponder the situation, wonders why Cassie is asking him this question and why she looking at him that way. He just shakes his head, starts to talk that begins with a shrug of his shoulders, “I… just picked out a creature that I felt we would need help with.”
Talia looks over to you, then back to the Baroness. “Oh Cass, he doesn’t know.”
Cassie stands up and walks away running her hand through her hair.
Chance has a perplexed look on his face, glancing at both Plugr and Talia.
The pain is still there, and Cassie usually welcomes it when she thinks of her beloved. Vulcuran died while hunting and killing the Lich King. He died within her reach, but she could not save him. It is something that still gives her nightmares, it stole a life filled with love and her daughters father. “Now is not the time” she thinks to herself.
Talia looks at her father, who is looking back at Cassie. Talia gets Chances attention, “Chance, Cassie is a widow for all intensive purposes, and her late husband, the Duke of Camerondale was killed by a Lich and his minions,” she says, then continues, “It is also Affinities father.”
A look of surprise is on his face, then he clenches his jaw and closes his eyes. “You have to be kidding me, of all the things I could of said,” he mutters as he shakes his head.
Cassie walks back over and sits slowly in her seat. “Chance, I understand what you are saying, and I agree.”
Talia looks bewildered, raises an eyebrow “You agree to what?” She blurts out.
Cassie looks at Plugr and nods. The retired Knight looks at you two and says, “We plan on you training for a month, then there is a few smaller quests you two can get in on, whet the blade so to speak. By then Veritaan will be ready and you can start in on more in depth jobs and quests.”
Talia looks less disappointed, feels it is not as bad as she first thought. Though she still does not like the idea of a babysitter. She looks towards the water, “In a month or so, we can start riding jobs and quests?”
Plugr nods and puts his hand on Talia’s. She softly smiles and puts her hand on his. They are in an understanding. Cassie stands up, “Chance, you ok with this?”
Quiet for a moment, he glances up with a fierceness that made both Cassie and Plugr pull back, eyes slits his face flushed along with his jaw clenched. “Yeah, fine with it. But one thing is for sure, I will kill that Priestess bitch if it is the last thing I do… I will only be complete again when she lays motionless on the ground in a pool of her own blood.”
It was silent for a while with the Knight and Baroness exchanging glances. Chance puts his head back down, trying to get back under control. Eventually they acknowledge it, and get up slowly.
Plugr and Cassie walk off towards the Inn. The sun is setting and the water is alive with reflection. The sky is slowly turning a reddish orange as the sun dances on the horizon.
“I knew it, I knew they were going to pull something like this,” Talia says half thinking no one is going to answer her. Much to her surprise, the boy speaks.
“Plugr loves you, and he would never want anything to happen to you,” Chance says while staring at the same mug he has been eyeing all evening long.
“I can’t be protected my whole life!” Talia says with some recklessness, “I mean…”
A moment of silence, as the sun finally dips below the waves of the island. Talia looks at Chance and finds him clenching his jaw, with a tear rolling down his cheek.
“Chance, I know I can be a bit…” Talia starts, stops, an she sighs.
“Ferellus is dead because he wasn’t ready,” Chance says through his teeth, his anger welling up “We pushed him and he is now, dead. Plugr is doing this because he cares for you. I don’t have a father to love me anymore, and I would give anything to have what you have with him.”
Talia looks down, a bit ashamed at her inconsiderate words. “Chance, I am sorry I didn’t…”
Chance interrupts, his voice low and precise, “I am just telling you, understand how much you mean to him, and what you are asking. Especially after Ferellus’s death. Plain and simple Talia. He is scared.” Chance says as he wipes his eyes.
Talia begins to nod her head in agreement as her gaze takes her over the water and to another world. “You are right, and I need to understand the situation better.”
She goes to stand up and walk over to Chance, but he is already out of his seat, walking for the beach, head in hands.
“Damn,” Talia mutters, slumping her shoulders.
Tuskalay – Five Days Left
The day once again starts out humid and warm. The sky is cloudless and the sun relentless.
A relief boat has come in early in the morning. Filled with supplies, workers and food. Four of the workers are now in and around the Inn starting in on it. Plugr, Chance, Cassie and Talia all pitch in and the morning flies by.
By midday the group stops to get food and water. The other workers eat and continue on with the repairs. They are much farther along than Britney thought they’d get, so she waves off the group for any further work today.
Cassie, Plugr and Talia all head to the beach and some umbrella’s to relax a little after a few days of hard work and stress.
But Britney, had other ideas.
Chance looks awkward, and finds a seat just outside the property line of the Inn.
Britney walks over to the young man, and eventually gets his attention, “Chance, hun, want to go for a picnic?”
All she gets is a dead eye stare back at her and a shrug of his shoulders.
“Yeah, I am not asking, I am telling you,” she says in a half playful tone, “you need to relax a little.” Britney walks over to a chest, opens it, grabs a bag and what looks like a picnic basket. She walks back over to Chance, who stands up and they grab hands. The two leisurely walk down the path towards the grotto that has waterfalls.
With the lack of guests on the island, Britney leads Chance to the shore of the Waterfall pond. It is very secluded, and not a lot of people know about this area. She walks through the brush and finds a place by the waters edge. She drops the basket and bag on the ground. Chance looks around and marvels. He has been here many times, but not this particular section because it was not allowed by the Island guards; it is more for guests than residents.
Britney stands and gazes over the water, then kicks her shoes off, takes off her top and drops her shorts. She walks slowly into the water, butt naked.
Chance glances over at her and his eyes bulge. He takes off his shirt, his pants and starts for the water. He wades in, meets Britney, and they are both about belly high in the mild, calm water. Mist surrounds them from the waterfall and the sound is almost hypnotic.
Britney touches his cheek, she sees tears forming and she can feel his pain with one look into his eyes. “Hun, for the next hour, the world has disappeared and it is just me and you, OK?”
The two embrace and kiss. The entangle with each other as the move closer to the Waterfall. Eventually they are just about under it, and the two make love in the rush of the base of the waterfall.
“That was different, that was pretty amazing,” Chance says with a tone of satisfaction.
Britney smiles, hearing his voice. She is walking to the shore, dreamy eyed and very satisfied. “Yes… yes that was.”
The two have an enjoyable picnic, and much to her surprise, Chance seduces her again. They make love on the shore line in half their clothes and ending with sand in every crevice.
After they finish they are still in an embrace, “I will miss you, I think I already do,” Chance says in a sudden response to Britney’s kiss.
A bit shocked by the comment, she looks down and caresses his chest. “I will, miss you too,” she says knowing that if she doesn’t get moving, she is going to cry. He doesn’t need to see that, this has been a wonderful afternoon.
She gets up slowly pushing Chance away and getting dressed. Chance starts to dress too, a little bewildered that she acted so cold in a moment he felt was supposed to be warm.
The two walk back to the Inn, quiet and deep in thought.
Cassie notices an improvement in Chance during dinner, he was chatting a bit and even eating. She smiles a little thinking maybe the worst is over.
“Brit, looks like Chance is starting to come out of…” Cassie says looking at Britney, “Oh, OH, OK,” the Baroness says stunned and blushing after reading the Inn Owner.
At first Britney was confused, then her eyes get big, realizing she was just read by Cassie. She starts to blush, “we just, had a long… talk.”
Wedmak – Four Days Left
Everyone notices that Chance seems to be in higher spirits, and getting back to his normal self.
“Chance seems to be bouncing back now, it is good to see,” Plugr mentions to Cassie, “I was worried for a little bit.”
Cassie blushes again thinking of the reading she got from Britney, it was pretty intense and erotic.
“Time, it helps with a lot of things,” she says covering up her knowledge.
Saundra shows up, with weapons in hand. After some jokes about being a warrior priestess, she hands them to Chance. “These were in the basement, realized they must be yours,” she says smiling seeing Chance actually smiling back.
The Inn is coming along great and late Afternoon the work stops.
Chance finds a way to corner Britney in the storage room and starts to kiss her.
“Chance, we could get…caught,” is all she could get out, the quarter elf already had her summer dress up, over her head and he is in her. “Oh, god, oh, don’t stop.”
Afterwards, the two emerge cautiously, and Britney smiles, leans over and gives Chance a deep kiss. “Glad to see you…” she glances down, then back into his eyes, “you are back.”
After a long embrace they turn to see Cassie looking at them, “umm, I was just seeing what we are doing for dinner,” she says looking the two over, “I wasn’t really curious about dessert.”
She smirks, turns and walks out.
“You don’t think,” Chance starts to say, but seeing the redness of Britney’s face he knows the answer,”Oh… oops.”
– Three Days Left
The days blurred together for Shanna. She doesn’t remember falling asleep and when she does, she wakes in a night terror. “When was the last time I had something to eat?” She thought to herself as her stomach ached.
At a glance she sees her favorite picture she drew along time ago, and she smiles. Guilt washes over her like a tidal wave and she starts to ball. She grabs the framed picture and throws it against the wall. It is unbearable. She raises her head, and a sudden realization washes over her. Shanna decides this is not how she wants to live.
Walking out of her bedroom, she tells her mom she is going in to take a bath. The blonde looks at her mom one last time, and for a moment she thinks she should stop. But the pain, coming over her like a ton of bricks, she knows, this is the only way. She walks in the room, closes the door and undresses. The water was tepid, but that won’t matter. She finds her fathers razor, steps in the bath, gets comfortable and slits her wrists.
The water slowly changes color from clear, to a muddy red mess. In no pain, Shanna leans her head back against the tub and closes her eyes. She smiles, for the first time in a week, drifts off into a blissful sleep, knowing the pain is over.
Shanna wakes, she sits up suddenly. “Whoa!” Saundra exclaims, taken back by the sudden movement by the girl. The blonde girl looks around and at her wrists, they are healed. Tears well in her eyes as she lays back down and slams her fists against the alter she lays upon.
“Why… why… why did you heal me…” She says in an angry low tone. “How did you even know?”
Saundra walks over to Shanna and moves her hair out of her face. “My dear, it is not your time to go, and you know that.”
“So living in this pain is my sentence, great, just fucking great,” Shanna says with pure frustration and pain.
Shanna’s parents walk in the room and goes to her. Saundra waits for them to finish. The conversation did not go well, her mother runs out crying. Her father just stands there, hands on his hips hanging his head.
Saundra goes after Shanna’s mother and stops her. “I usually don’t do this, but I will keep her under a light spell until we can talk with her more. She will be in no danger of hurting herself then.”
The mother smiles a bit, nods her head, “Thank you Priestess, for that at least I can get some rest tonight.”
Saundra walks back in and the father is on a bench to the far wall, head in hands and crying. Shanna lies on the alter, tears streaming down her face, slowly shaking her head. Saundra can hear her praying.
“Please take me, now, I do not want to live any more. Please, Animax, take me…” she says in between breaths and sobs.
Saundra is taken a back, tears well up in her eyes as she walks to the troubled child and waves her hand while reciting a quick prayer. Almost immediately, Shanna goes limp and falls asleep.
Word gets to the group. Shanna attempted suicide.
It shot like an arrow across every ones heart. Cassie grimaced and closed her eyes. Plugr’s face washed over with guilt and sorrow. Talia just softly exclaims, “oh no…”
Chance’s jaw clenched. It overwhelmed him, and he just looked at the mug he was holding. He stands up and slams the mug so hard against the wall it shatters sending pieces flying all over. Everyone’s eyes are huge, after the startling loud noise. The quarter elf could not be around people right now, he walked away towards the beach, and hopefully some solitude.
The beach was all but empty, the sun was on the downside and headed for the horizon. There was little breeze and the temperature was its usual heat. Chance found a spot, and sat.
“I am tired of this pain, I am tired crying, I am tired of feeling this way,” he thought as tears welled up in his eyes. He cried softly as he thought of his best friend and his beautiful sister. Time slipped by, and he just sat, arms around legs, sitting on the beach.
There was a caress across his back and he jumped a little.
“You need to eat something, you will end up getting sick,” Britney said as she sat down next to him.
Chance shook his head. “I haven’t been hungry in a week,” Chance says with a sigh, puts his head down.
Britney rubs the back of his neck and runs her hands through his hair.
“Can we just go make love somewhere?” Chance says suddenly.
Britney stops, looks out over the ocean and smiles.
“Why yes… yes we can.”
– Two Days Left
The Inn is all but rebuilt. The structure up and looking good, if not a little bare. The workers were only there for the morning and they moved on to other projects on the island. The only thing left is to paint, decorate and the final little touches.
Chance has fallen back into his solitude. He disappeared in the morning, and eventually Britney found him on the waterline of the Grotto they made love in. The quarter elf is just tossing small rocks into the water, staring at the waterfall.
“It should of been me,” Chance says suddenly, Britney startled a little not even knowing if he knew she was there.
She walks to Chance, takes his hands, “should of been who?” she asks.
“I should be dead. It should of been me, I don’t want to live like this, I don’t want anyone else to live like this, I…” he says starting to lose it, tears forming.
Chance all but collapses into Britney’s arms.
Her heart breaks, but she has to be strong, she tells herself.
“Chance, you are here for a reason, even if you don’t understand it,” she says, getting the young man to get his feet, “make the most of it, live your life… you have an opportunity to make Ferellus proud.”
Those words hit Chance, and he starts to calm down. Tears fall, but it was a realization that will be his goal.
He turns, and takes off Britneys sun dress. She has wide eyes and a smirk on her face. He rips off his shirt, pants grabs her hand and they go into the water together.
“Time to make the most of life, live it the best I can,” Chance says leaning in and giving Britney a kiss that made her toes curl.
She stops a moment and giggles. Chance gives her a look, “what?”
“So this,” Brit starts waving her hand around meaning the Grotto and the impending love making, “is going to make Ferellus proud?”
Chance is already kissing her neck and Britney is in heaven. He stops a moment only to say, “No, he was already proud of this, you are fucking gorgeous.”
Britney hugs the quarter elf fiercely, it only makes her cry a little. She knows this will probably be the last time, the last hug, the last kiss.
Afterwards, they head back to the Inn.
Chance finds his way out to the beach, another colorful sunset. He plops down in the sand, wondering if this is the last time he gets to do this. But in the back of his mind, a vision from his heart. It is like he can see Ferellus again. But this time, no words, no dancing around, no smiles. Chance just stares at him, their eyes meet. “I promise to make you proud of me, I will live my best life and I will honor you in every way.”
After a minute of them just staring, the vision starts to fade but not before Ferellus gives his best friend a soft smile and a nod.
Chance dips his head, tears falling and mumbles, “Thank you my friend, thank you. I really miss you…”