Greyfold Plateau
The highest peak of the Greyfold Plateau is restricted and considered unachievable.
Generations ago, The Elders named the plateau after their late King, Kontello Greyfold. After his death, The Elders set out to bury him at the peak of the plateau, and then the moon unexpectedly transformed into a dark blue colour during the night, and since then, the moon remained as such. But the Elders never made a return, and they were simply erased and forgotten from the histories and were labelled as Legends." That's how the lore goes, and it remains a mystery to this day. The people who lived in the town never really liked talking about it, as they believed that the argument might stir dark consequences.
From the eyes of the people who lived in the village, below the plateau, Greyfold touches the sky and beyond. It is so vast and steep. There were three mesa floors that stood around the great plateau, and people lived on each of them. And even a few thousand people even live on the great plateau itself. The weather most days was moist, and the sandy beddings of the plateau were dry and pushed beneath the surface. Due to such circumstances, it became difficult for the people to harvest food and water.
Village Of The Goddess
Every night, the people of the village combine honey with clean water and put them on display in front of the moonlight for their Moon Goddess to feed, whom they pray for colder days and nights all throughout the year, and in the morning, every pot magically gets emptied.
Some people believe it might just be some sicko who steals the liquid in the middle of the night, and there's no such thing as a 'Moon Goddess' whereas the others believe it's actually their beloved Moon Goddess who feeds on them every night.
Every believer's kid, male and female, dressed the same way. In honour of their Goddess.
A thick woollen scarf that almost touches their ankles, an overly sized pale white hood, and thick white pants. But those who wore any other colour were the non-believers. They were considered rebellious and outcasts, whom the people of the village despised. And these outcasts were the people who resided on top of the mesas or on the plateau itself. Sometimes great battles break out between the believers and the non-believers, and so they banished and exiled the non-believers from the village, which ultimately created the division between them.
…
This Realm is one of the "Unnamed Realms". Mortals, monsters and mages coexist in this Realm.
…
The day was coming to a close as the dull sun was setting and the dark blue moon rose. It was dusk in no time.
Vegas sat among the children on the plateau and admired the bonfire. Her face was lit by the fire, with rays of it highlighting her white, pig-tailed hair. She had just come back from hunting wild dogs in the forest and reeked of it.
"Eww Vegas. You stink." The children made fun of her.
"E' yeah? Well, y'all duckies won't b'havin' this rocker O' meal tonight if it wasn't for me and Juno." Vegas silenced the kids with her temper.
Juno was her warspear, passed down to her from her forefathers, who were loyal guardians of the village until one day Vegas's father turned against them and got himself killed. Vegas was only five years old, and her mother, Liana, was banished from the village. Without food, water, or money, they left for the great plateau. People accepted them there despite their rocky history and gave them a home. But Liana would fall sick numerous times because of the weather changes on the plateau, and Vegas had to get out and work for food and water. Though her mother stopped her from taking care of the house, Vegas knew that it was her duty to do it.
The leaders of 'The Plateau Band' took notice of her young courage and drive, so they recruited her, taught her, paid her, and sharpened her as a warrior. She grew fearless of the wild, won battles that were in no favor of hers whatsoever, saved her plateau people single-handedly from the townsmen, and mostly protected her mother and herself above all. She even fed the little kids every day. But she had no one to call a friend for all her nineteen years. She was just a soldier who got paid for her work. Many days she would go as far as she could to the plateau's edge to simply sit and stare at the burning moon, all by herself. She never cried, regardless of the situation. Her heart could bear it all, and she was as sharp as her spear.
Vegas had the eyes of a cat, a pointy nose, and thin lips. She wore a heavy black scarf with white-colored paint splatters on it. On the left side of her face, she had a white stripe drawn from the forehead to the jaw, and a black under-shadow beneath her right eye. Her pig-tailed hair was a little short, and a few strands fell on both sides of her face. Her fair skin often got oily from the day's work. She wore a short dirtied white sleeveless that always revealed her fit core, and her clothes carried a black-colored triangular symbol in the center, which represented the great plateau. Both her wrists wore metal lockets and she wore a black pants. Her slim body fooled people of her incredible strength and agility.
Vegas made her way into her little hut, and laid to rest, where her mother slept undisturbed.
…
The sun set completely, and the burning blue moon rose up for another night. The Greyfold Plateau sat above them. The ridges are too steep to climb or descend, and a deep lake circled the plateau from beneath, and The Village Of The Goddess existed right below the plateau. It was a vast land with strong and old trees as high as eighty meters. The land spread along numerous routes to various forests that were not fully discovered yet. The surface of their land was always damp with no vegetation, and the huts were built with strong wood logs, and the people who lived down here, lived only through prayers and trade to other parts of the world.
Five women from the village, dunked naturally harvested honey into the tiny pots, filled with water, and let it out in the dark moonlight. They gradually bowed their heads at their Moon Goddess, praying for a colder night.
"Bless us, O' Queen Of the Moon, Goddess Of the Night, we bow to you."
The crowd chanted together.
Every night was a ceremony.
…
An army of men draped and masked in black, snuck into the village during the ceremony to plot a redemption attack against their hoard. Recently the villagers had killed a member of the Mesa Plateau for unknowingly wandering into the village, for which they apologized for it as an 'act of defense'. But everyone knew that it was far from the truth, and tonight they will pay for it.
The army of men hid very well behind one of the enormous trees, and slowly split into groups of three to encircle them. They were so quiet, and there were no sounds of footsteps or clashing of the metal weapons.
All the villagers kneeled down to their Goddess, and the ceremony came to an end.
"CHARGE!" The hidden men from all the corners rushed.
And war began.
…
"AHHHH!" The faint cry of despair immediately awakened Vegas. She surveyed around her room, gripped Juno, and stepped outside. She did not see anything for a minute, and then she ran forward to the edge of the plateau and caught a terrifying scene.
The village beneath her was burning alive, and there were thousands of men and women being killed, kids fleeing from the place, and hundreds battling with each other. It was war down there. Vegas did not hesitate. She wasted no time and went in search of her crew. But their bases were empty—no horses, no weapons, no warriors. Nothing.
"E' Fuck."
She guessed that they could be down there at war, and it was only right that she lend a hand to her crew. She wasn't afraid. Her steps were incredibly swift and precise. She made her way to the backside of the plateau, where one of the closest routes to the village was.
The front entry.
She knew what to expect. There are going to be at least twenty people at the front entry. But no, there was no one. In fact, there were only the stabbed bodies of the villagers.
The dark moonlight guided her through the bodies and the voices of the war. As she pressed her boots over a pile of leaves, they rustled.
"Shing!" A sword came raging from behind her.
"Try that fasta' chickin'." She slid away instinctively and with ease, like she was expecting it. She turned back to face the man. But there were three of them, and all of them wore white, head to toe, so she knew who she was facing.
"Oh, we feastin' tonight." She grinned like a wild animal.
Within a second, she charged at them with a single leap, and threw Juno up in the air that caused them to get distracted, then delivered a fatal kick to the guy in the middle, who got propelled far from away the scene, and without giving another second for the remaining two to process, Vegas slid under the legs of the guy towards her left, and elbowed the clueless bald head, twice, A repeated knuckle to his head in a fraction of second, and knocked the man unconscious.
"Howda that taste?"
The last guy stood in disbelief, but then rushed towards her with the hopes of killing her.
Vegas stood unshaken with arms around her waist as she watched the poor guy rage in front of her.
" AHHH! I'm killin' ya filthy b…."
Juno dropped and landed right into his head and out the jaw.
"Ehw."
She whipped it out uncomfortably and wiped the filthy blood off Juno. The two men rested completely lifeless. The other completely unknown.
Vegas began marching again towards the sounds of the battlefield. She was nearing. She could see the burning village collapsing and falling to dust. She once belonged to their family, so she didn't know how to feel about it. She was unsure of her emotions.
Finally she could see some of her men, fighting and winning the battle, having wiped out most of the villagers. It was a long fought victory.
A thin and cold air blew Vegas's hair to her side. She looked at the way to her left, and she was able to see something. Something was lying on the ground beneath a tiny tree. She wasn't afraid.
The closer she got, the closer she was able to identify what it was.
It was a man.
Naked and tall, with long, dark hair.
Vegas was speechless.