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Leana stifled a shudder as the frigid breeze passed over her, it was far too cold around here for the season. She didn't like it, she was here to fix it. The city was mostly abandoned, there were a few of the Forgotten Folk left but most of them had left along with all the humans. No human would survive this unfathomable cold and most of the nonhumans didn't want to be involved, she found herself wishing she had followed them. But, the government was too caught up in the politics of the mess to do anything and technically this was her territory according to ancient birthright. She let out a resigned sigh as she started thinking back to piece things together.



The true beginning of this all started far too long ago but the beginning marked in everybody's memories was just over a century ago, the Uprising. For centuries the nonhuman races of the world had hidden among humans, living their own way out of sight and adhering to their ancient laws. That lasted right up until yet another world war started, it was a bad one and eveyrbody was being drafted. Tired of it, almost all the nonhumans refused to take part. When the governments tried to enforce it they learned that they couldn't. As the truth of it all came out fear swept the world, and most of the countries ended up in a civil war. There were a couple countries that lucked out and avoided the war due to the majority of their government offices belonging to nonhumans. In the aftermath of it all old history started to brought to light. Learning that some of the myths and legends they loved so much used to be real, they came to call the various species and races of nonhumans as the Forgotten Folk. In the U.S. they unconsciously segregated, the humans mostly shifted to the eastern part of the country while Forgotten Folk mostly shifted west. The west coast of modern day was almost entirely populated by nonhumans and the opposite coast was opposite, though a few humans and nonhumans mixed in at the opposing end and the middle of the country had them all jumbled together.



That's where Leana lived, she loved the mixing of the cultures that could only be found in the Midwest and her family's ancient territory took a chunk of Nebraska, the corner of South Dakota, all of Iowa, all of Missouri, a bit of Oklahoma, and almost half of Illinois. According to the history books it had been the largest territory held by a single blood line. The modern Forgotten Folk still respected the old territory claims for the most part even though there weren't any official holdings anymore. Even though it went unknown for a long while, several fo the borders for the states were set according to the edges of old territories.

Elly stood there, head tilted to the left staring at her lifeless body. Her eyes traced the graceful curves of her body up to her neck and then down her strong but delicate arms to where the red stripes on her wrists had blended together. The blood loss didn't seem to have changed her complexion much. She looked at the puddle of blood on the floor and grimaced, that mess was going to cost somebody to clean up. Oh well, it was worth it for the sense of peace she felt at the last moment and was still reflected on her former face.



"Strange isn't it?"



"Hmm?" She had been so distracted with staring at herself that she hadn't noticed there was somebody in the room. "What's strange?"



She turned to see a young man sitting in the chair in the corner of her former living room. He wasn't bad looking, brilliantly blue eyes and reddish brown goatee. He looked like shaggy blonde hair just past his shoulders would have suited him but instead his head was clean shaven. He had fair skin with oddly full lips that just barely hinted of a smile as he sat there with a bland and curious expression.



"Staring yourself in the face without a mirror. It feels like a dream but you're completely awake. A truly foreign and strange experience, am I right?"



She looked at him for a moment, at that hidden smile and his eyes and then looked back at her own face. "I suppose it should be but I don't feel like it is. I just feel that this is how it is, no stranger than waking up and looking into the mirror each day." She turned back to him and stepped away from herself. She had to admit that much of it felt a little strange, physically walking away from herself was a new experience. Or should it metaphysically? She wasn't sure but she should ask somebody eventually. She sat down on the couch across from him. "So you must be death, right? What do I do now?"



She was a little surprised at the evil sound of his laugh, like how cartoon villains should sound if they were ever real. "No, I'm not death. Not really."



Elly stared at him for a moment hoping he'd go on but he just sat there staring back. "So, do I go to heaven or something like that or what?"



He gave her a half grin and shook his head, "You m'dear get to stay here."



"Why's that? Am I a ghost?" It might not be a bad way to be after death but she couldn't think of anybody that she'd really want to haunt.



"Oh, no, definitely not. I guess I should explain this to you." He grinned at her again when she rolled her eyes, she just knew he'd not explained just to mess with her. "You see, there are four things you might do when you die. The first and most common is reincarnation, you come back around for another turn. The second and next most common is you move on, I don't know where to. Could be heaven, hell, nirvana... Your guess is as good as mine, I've been there about as many times as you and that's never. The third option is to become a ghost, to each their own. And the last and rarest is to manifest, which is what you've done."



"What do you mean manifest? How am I different than a ghost right now?"



"Simple, ghosts are just spirits that linger. They have limited interaction with the physical world. You and I on the other hand, we're just as much a part of the physical world as that body you just vacated except that we get certain exceptions. It's a pretty big deal. It's pretty rare, like I said, and only a warrior's spirit can do it. Or so I'm told."



“Somebody messed up somewhere then, I’m no warrior. Sure I like to get in a fight here or there and have even done it for money but I’m not a warrior.” She couldn’t help but wonder who pegged her to be able to manifest. “So, I think you’ve got the wrong gal.”



His grin deepened and he shook his head, “Oh no, I don’t think so. See, the only one to decide if you manifest is you. Sure there are certain criteria you have to meet first but in the end it’s up to you. Besides, just because you weren’t a warrior in this life doesn’t mean you weren’t previously. Maybe in a past life you were one. Haven’t you ever wondered what’s driven you to get in so many fights?” She had to admit she was curious so she nodded. He nodded back. “You are a warrior, unfortunately for you this just isn’t the era for warriors. There becoming much rarer with time too.”

COMMENTS

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DarkLight1984
06:17 Jul 12 2009

Ok bro, you really need to complete one of these. I noticed how you wrote yourself into it...lol.

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Tavra stared at a nearly dried up bush, it was the only one she'd seen since they had set out that morning and it was so withered that she wondered how it was surviving. She felt a little sorry for the land that life had seemingly abandoned. "Master, what are we doing out here? There's nothing in this desolate place."



Salea chuckled and looked over her shoulder with a grin, "We're heading out to the town where I grew up. We don't have much more to go, we'll see it soon."



Kennon and Tavra shared a look, it was clear that their master must be suffering from something. "But there aren't any out here, nobody has lived out here in a long time save for a few hermits here and there." Salea only laughed and kept walking so her apprentices followed faithfully.



Salea stopped suddenly and closed her eyes, she sniffed the breeze and then opened her eyes with a satisfied smile on her face. She dropped her pack and turned to face her skeptics, "We'll camp here until nightfall, we won't be able to enter during the day. We'll set up the tents and have a bite to eat, after that you two should rest until I wake you."



The two of them shrugged out of their gear and went about following her directions. They ate a small meal and then went off to bed with Salea still sitting in front of the fire singing to herself and dancing, they fell asleep to the soft and soothing sound of their master's voice. It was the change of the air that woke Kennon some time later. He stretched and opened his eyes to see that night had come. He got up and opened his tent and what he saw froze him in shock. The barren plains of the Wasteland had been replaced by a lush and green valley, there was a small stream banked by small trees and bushes and the rest of the ground was covered by tall waving grass.. A soothing breeze drifted on the night air carrying the call of a bird he didn't recognize. His master sat in front of a fire with a large feling draped across her lap purring from her carresses. He saw a man sitting opposite from her saying something he couldn't see. He looked around a little more and caught site of Tavra standing at the entrance of her own tent in a similar state of rapture. Kennon took a breath and stepped out, Salea turned to look at him and beckoned him and Tavra to join them.



"We have some fresh stew thanks to my good friend here," she said as she patted the back of the feline sitting on her lap.



"Some food is nothing for you whom I owe my life." Kennon and Tavra both jumped back out of the seats they had just taken as they heard the animal talk. It stood and turned a look of amusement at them. Kennon's breath caught as he saw it was far larger than he first realized, he tossed a look at Tavra as he heard a squeek from her but she looked more in awe than fear. He looked back toward the large beast before him and saw the face of one of the most beautiful women with a mane of harvest wheat hair but it was perched atop the body of what looked like a giant tiger. Another squeek came form Tavra and she turned to her with a grin, "You recongnize me child?"



Tavra nodded with a look of unbelievable joy on her face, "You're a Sphinx." She spoke so softly that Kennon barely heard her. The Sphinx nodded and sat down.



"But," Kennon couldn't contain his curiosity, "I thought Sphinx had bodies of lions, not tigers."



"Hmph," she turned to Salea with a reproachful look, "just what have you taught these children. So uneducated."



Salea winked at him as she laughed, "To be honest I haven't taught them much about such things, I've been leaving that sort of thing up to Dan. You're half right, Kennon. The Sphinx has the body of a lion but that's the equivalent of royalty to their race."