Hope isn't a word I really believe in. [ON HOLD]

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

'Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.'

Theodore Roosevelt

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In a world where the sun never shone, the moon never sparkled and the sweet song of birds was never heard, Ackiar laid there. Unconscious.

Sinny's eyes opened wide. She could sense something was wrong. It was a gift. It rushed through her like a bloodhound on its prey.

She was off. Darting, weaving through trees was her talent. She jumped over a log and ducked under a branch. She didn't no where she was going or what she would do but she let her instinct guide her.

Then she saw him.

Sinny gasped. There was a cut to his head and it was bleeding severely. She knelt down next to him and delicately touched his forehead. "Stitches." She muttered.

She was in a puddle but she didn't care. What did it matter that her jeans were wet compared to losing one of their last survivors? Their last glimmer of hope?

It began to rain.

Sinny wiped her now-wet, messy blonde hair out of her face and reached for the horn that hung around her neck. She blew it, loud and low.

The dead trees rustled and she put her hand on his chest. There was a pulse, very faint though. "That's good, you're still breathing." Sinny murmured. Talking like this always made Sinny calm down - even if it was only for a couple of seconds...

Suddenly, Ackiar awoke.

"Ackiar!" Sinny cried with relief. "You're okay!"

But he wasn't. He was gasping for breath and the colour of his eyes were a cold purple.

"Ackiar?..."

He clutched Sinny's shirt, like he was holding on for his life - to save him from the abyss that is death.

"Sinny Partridge..." he hissed.

She gulped and held his face, looking into those deep, innocent eyes but this time their seemed to be a hidden evil. She stuttered, "W-w-what has happened to your voice? What's wrong?"

"The war's been going for too long." Ackiar rasped. "What has become of us? And how will we end?"

Sinny's lip trembled. She shook her head in disbelief of what was happening.

"Sinny Partridge, the end is near. And I'm afraid it won't be a happy one!"

He spluttered up blood and went limp in her arms. He had slipped back into unconsciousness...

Her heart was racing and a bead of sweat rolled down her temple. But she felt cold, so cold. Sinny was in shock and Ackiar was going to bleed to death. She started shaking, uncontrollably. All she could think was, "Save us! Save us! I think I'm going under..."

The last thing she remembered before she fell into a deep, dark sleep was a strong pair of hands sliding beneath her and carrying her away.

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Sinny was dropping, twirling, tumbling, through darkness. She wasn't scared; she was quite humble and content to watch the pitch-black fly past as she went down. She landed in a tree. "Woah." She whispered. "It's so... beautiful..." She was in a meadow; a picturesque field with fresh green grass, the yellow sun and a gorgeous blue sky (with the occasional fluffy white cloud, of course). The gently sloping hills were a perfect backdrop. She took in a deep breath of clean air and closed her eyes.