It was dark. A darkness that chilled one to the bone. From any perspective it could be seen that this was not a place that could support life. Yet within such a darkness a consciousness was floating in the barren void. This wisp of thought did not remember much. Only its name, Reno and that it had just died.
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As Reno wandered around an ocean of black, he recalled his arrival.
Upon appearing here, all that could be seen was darkness, an opaque veil of pure nothingness. He did not known who he was, what he was or where he was.
Left without no other option he had tried to explore the surrounding lands. However, no matter how far he moved nothing seemed to change: no walls, no landmarks, and not even an obstacle. Yet just as he recalled this, a gradient of gray suddenly lit up in the corner of his vision, as if alluding to the appearance of something grand. Turning back in surprise, Reno witnessed the whole world around him slowly but surely lighting up. Soft at first but gradually growing, a whole spectrum of color started growing from the original monochrome hues. These colors then started to focus and slowly formed what Reno recognized as trees and fields of farmland. However, as the first humanoid was forming, a sharp spike of pain hit and he momentarily blacked out.
As he came to, Reno found that he was in a small rural village with people celebrating some sort of holiday. Banners and decor were hanging all around and though they were crudely made, they did well to spread a joyful atmosphere. 'I wonder where I am, I guess I'll ask a villager.' He thought to himself. 'Wait. I can perfectly understand the banners and signs. Could I have been from here before I died?' Reno contemplated as he approached a tall yet worn, street vendor .
"Excus-" Reno paused as his arm directly phased through the man. 'That's right. I'm already dead. It wouldn't make sense if I could still interact with the living. They can just walk though me without even noticing.' As if on cue, the street vendor stood up and walked in Reno's direction. The man then faced the street vendor across from him as their lips opened and closed as if conversing. 'Ah. That's right the village had also been strangely quiet up until now. If its a holiday then there should be plenty of children and their families having a good time. Yet I didn't hear anything.' Although he couldn't hear, by reading the two men's lips he could still approximately make out some things. Specifically, the word bell. 'Bell? Bells are usually rung in sacred celebrations but this celebration seems a bit casual. Could there be danger?' Suddenly, the men who were talking started moving while slowly picked up pace forcing Reno out of his speculation as he strained to follow them. As he chased after them, he could see the clear signs of anxiety and fear on their faces. His heart sinking he had a bad premonition of what was to come.
"Who are you?" A immature but calm voice abruptly sounded out from behind him. Startled, Reno immediately turned around to locate the source.
"Hello? Who just spoke?" He practically shouted as his eyes scanned the quickly clearing marketplace for any change. Nothing reacted out of the ordinary however and the people just continues on as if he didn't exist. Frustrated, he turned around only to find that while he had been preoccupied, the two men he had been following had also ran out of sight.
'Damn it! Which was do I go now? ' Reno thought as he paced the small plaza. Looking down at the ground in thought, he suddenly noticed that the ground appeared to be trembling. Only then did he finally notice a massive cloud of dust rising from his right. As the trembling grew and the dust cloud cleared, it was apparent that the trembling was not from an earthquake but was artificially created. First to burst out of the cloud, was a man wearing a mask with a hole where an elongated snout protruded. He was riding a black and brown steed, followed by a posse of men wielding scimitars and daggers. Upon closer scrutinizing, Reno realized that they too were not human. Although they had a similar build to a trained adult man, they had traits similar to wolves or dogs, with long snouts, and thick hair on their forearms. Reno's heart sank as he suddenly realized what this group was. 'Bandits.' No sooner did he have the thought did he realize that not all of them were carrying scimitars and daggers. He had spotted a back row with bows which had already been armed with flaming arrows.
Reno could only close his eyes and pray as he witnessed what came next. Dozens upon dozens of flaming arrows were launched and a wave of red and black blotted the sky. Everywhere the cloud touched the wood based houses and structures were quickly set ablaze. His heart pained when he thought of the number of houses that could still have contained inhabitants. He could only imagine the carnage and screams and cries of mercy in his head as the world was still silent around him. After the first wave of arrows, what the fire missed, the bandits made sure to destroy. No child or women were left behind as the bandits slaughtered everyone in sight. Reno simply closed his eyes as he tried to calm the guilt in his heart. 'I'm already dead. There's nothing I can do to help.' He was almost able to convince himself when the voice was heard once again.
"No! Father!"He looked back just in time to see a father he assumed getting cut down while the mother and son kept running. The sound had come from the child who looked no older than six. He young face was ghastly pale as it was lit up by the surrounding flames. As the son and mother pair ran down the street, the child's hand was clenched white as he held his mother's hand weaving elegantly through the flames and obstacles. Yet the bandits who had just finished off the father were clearly faster. It was only a matter of time before they caught up.
The mother must have noticed this as she bit her lip before opening her mouth to say something to her son in a hurry. In a hurry, the child could only nod his head in compliance until something was said that brought worry to his face. "Mom, wait where will I go to find you?" Although there was no fear in his tone, the child's fists were clenched a bit harder as he stared resolutely at his mother. The mother simply looked at her son for a moment before she whispered something and left. The child nodded and asked no more as he too began sprinting again.
After a moment of hesitation, Reno decided to follow the child seeing as most of the pursuers had chased after the mother. He could follow the child at a leisurely pace since he could phase through all the obstacles instead of dodging them.
As the child ran through the alleyways and overgrown fields he easily outmaneuvered his pursuers with his familiarity with the terrain. With his small size he was confident that the pursuers would not be able to follow him directly and would have to take long detours. While running, the boy heard the shouts slowly grow fainter and fainter until finally, he could no longer hear them at all. Coincidentally, he had also finally arrived at his destination: a small scantily decorated stone shrine with a small hole that perhaps only a child could fit through. Before he could climb in however, he was startled by a voice from behind.
"Finally caught up. To answer your question from before, my name is --" Reno was suddenly cut off when the child turned around abruptly and their eyes met. He was instantly overwhelmed by the staggering amount of emotions he was transmitted. In that instant, he experienced all the emotions the child had gone through that day: Happiness, sadness, anger, fear, exhaustion and finally bewilderment. By the time Reno came back to his senses, the world had already begun to crumble back to its original state. The boy and the shrine had both disappeared when and so had the very ground he had been standing on. He took one last glance up before blacking out once again.