Deep in the forest-like remains of a city, the broken spires of what was once civilization, people stirred..the sun was going down over the dusty horizon, and with it went what little hope the day brought. Man had become a predator of the night, hunting, stealing, ravaging. That wasn't to say it was all bad..not everyone had darkness in their core. But it lived there in the souls of all of them...you needed it to stay alive. You needed to hold tight to that charred lump of your conscience. Without it...you were just a lamb before grinning wolves.
In the center of this city forest, a figure bolted across the darkening landscape; pushing herself through the rubble as though it moved for her. She sprinted from shadow to shadow, clutching a time-worn satchel to her chest as she ran. She spilled across piles of debris like liquid silver, sliding down pathways long rotted with the scraggly vegetation that now graced her home. She rounded corners that weren't there until the happened upon them- her memory serving as map and compass. With a sly grin on her face she ducked into a hole half concealed by a stone slab, pressing onward into the underground cave that was once an office building. Cries rang out above her and she stifled a chuckle, rushing on down a hall dark with decay. "Idiots.." her thin lips twisted into a crooked grin as she continued on, moving like water through pipes toward her destination.
"Gets easier and easier every day." She stated triumphantly to herself, pushing into a room far below the surface; a room all her own. She fished about in the dark, searching for that little nub of candle she knew was just there- ah. She dug about in her pocket for a moment, fingers triumphantly grasping at the lighter she had stashed there. A little bit of convenience in this uncivilized time. She flicked the lighter, sparks flying from the top before it sprang to life on the second try; she was going to have to start rubbing sticks together soon, if she didn't find more. Another item for tomorrow's list, she supposed..
She lit the candle, light springing out into the darkness as it washed her pale face in dancing amber, her emerald green eyes sparkling like gemstones in the sudden spray of firelight. She smiled again, a triumphant smile as she walked with the candle in hand, it's crudely fashioned holder saving her the wax that dripped almost immediately from the melting shaft. She pushed through a hanging cloth to the other side; a room filled with this or that welcoming her back to what was now her home. She set the candle down on the worn table in the center, placing her satchel of pilfered goods down on it before spilling it's contents. Not much to speak of; a few random cans of god knew what, some shoes, a kettle, and...her treasure...The one thing that made all her searching tonight worth while. ...A book. She ran her fingertips over the cover, the upraised bumps of dragons spreading out under her hands like all of reality was re-writing itself right there. She'd never seen the book before..but it was something. And in times like these, you needed...something...anything.
Her name was Odette. 'Detta' to those she met, and anyone who didn't want a fist in the face. Twenty eight years old, and she'd spent the greater part of her life trying to just stay alive. But she still had those better memories. Memories of times when things weren't so..hard. The memories she loved most were of her mother reading to her before bed. Magical stories about princesses, dragons, knights, and fairies. The world was spilling forth with things just as those now- but there was no ending. No 'happily ever after' and she needed that. Like a fish needs water. It was food, breath, life. Something to escape to. And her library was still oh so small. "You're coming with me, fugitive." She smirked, plucking it up from the table with quick fingers, taking the candle over to her blanket pile before plopping down into it, delving into a land where princesses were subject to horrible neglect by way of servants and rules, where ordinary boys rescued them and whisked them away to normality as though it were magic. This was how life was supposed to be when you had grand powers. This was what was supposed to happen when your biggest worry was demons and mages.
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