Next To You

Ch.1~ A New Era

*The aftermath of the invasion left every thing in ruins. The palace gates burned and broken down, homes destroyed leaving only pieces of wood and ston to be eroded into the soil. Many pieces of Saeroyi, and the lives of villagers had to picked up off the ground. While simultaneously finding a will to live after the death of their one true king. There was so much to be done, new warriors to be found, new walls to be built, and new power to be discovered. But all Saeroyi could think of in the kingdom's time of need, was vengeance.*

*5 years later: The palace and villages were almost whole again. After a lot of struggle and hardship, they began to thrive again. Within the palace, Saeroyi found new warriors to serve her, she trained her best fighters the way her mother and father trained her. She wanted to be stern, but she still gave them the luxury of living their lives as she never knew how to. Those fighters passed down those skills and training methods to other fighters, and the pattern continued from there. The fearful boy Zeno, now a fearless 24 year old, became the head knight and guardian of the crown. Zeno felt he owed his life to her and her father, after they spared his. He couldn't understand why anyone would allow him to live after such treason... but he was grateful. He vowed to spend his life serving and protecting her till she chooses to step away from the throne.*

*A village populated with humans and 'lycans' is located close by. Mikael frequently visited to give food and supplies to. When he first visited this village it had no name, but it looked like fall every season. Brown, red and green leaves surrounded the place with trees as tall as any palace. The colors of the village matched the color of the villagers fur if they were to transform into their wolf forms. So he decided to give them the name Autumn Village, simple indeed as Mikael was a simplistic man. They thrived and the population became almost the size of the Cryo village. But since Mikael's defeat, and as Saeroyi became Queen, they didn't get much visits from her. They still received supplies from the Kingdom, as she didn't want to break any of her father's ties and bonds that he made. As it was what he would've wanted.* 

*During the 4 year rebuild, their home became darker, as the loss of a lot of resources made it harder to manage the land's happiness. Through risk and kin-ship, they made it through the four years. Once the Kingdom had resources again, they flourished back into the beautiful village they once were. Yet this time, their bonds became stronger.*

*A special boy lived amongst the villagers, which Mikael gave the majority of his attention to. He would often visit him, as if he were his own son. His mother never felt so honored, and the villagers questioned what was so special about this boy. Yes, he is a lycanthrope. But was there something else that made King Mikael feel so obligated to give extra resources to his family? Was it his smile? His personality? Or perhaps, Mikael knew something about this boy that no one could have guessed in a million years.*

*Once Mikael was pronounced deceased to all kingdoms, the world became gray and dull. The villages felt the pain of his passing, and saw the light that he brought to the world disappear. The special boy felt this deeply through his eyes. The trees weren't as bright as they use to be, the villagers weren't smiling like they had always been. The world... wasn't happy anymore. At 18, this shaped him more than ever. He never experienced so much hardship. Days where his family would go hungry to make a meals last for the week. Days where he did nothing but hard labor to support the rest of the men in the village. At first he cried often about the loss of the one man to notice him as a son. But as the years moved on, he made a vow to himself to become stronger in order to seek vengeance against the man that took his one and only true father figure away.*

*One day at the age of 21, his mother came to him. This day had been particularly harder than other days for him, he hadn't cried in 3 years. But this day... was different. Due to the conditions of their lives, he lost his grandfather to disease. He experienced loss before, but this one made him realize how difficult it had all been. The cold nights, the lack of food... it all hit him at once as he broke down into tears in his favorite hidden spot away from the village.*