Uncharted

II

From the perspective of
Remi Vango

Year 678
The Badlands
126 timed years later than Alpha

The Shining Forest grew around the Man, though he did not grow with it. He sat with his eyes closed, in a very, very deep lucid sleep. He would sit there for weeks on end, and afterwards collected papyrus from the Lake. He was adored by every living creature occupying the the Forest. It was a golden place, with so many creatures and beasts that one could not list them all alone. It was never cold, or wet, and not the tiniest dead leaf could be seen. The trees would bear fruit each day by the dozen; there were so many types of fruit that some had no names.
The animals were not mortal - their were the Man's own creation. He created, in itself, a small haven to live his life. A haven separated from the laws of physics. He defied physics.

He became used to the isolation. One shining region blocking out everything else. You might think that what I tell you does not cease to make sense. There must have been a reason that the Man never left the Forest after first stumbling upon it, therefore isolated himself from the world. There was. Because the Forest was not like it's surroundings. And the Man wasn't like others. What is written in this book is impossible to understand, or to describe with your mouth.

For beyond the Forest was a wasteland; a rocky expanse that covered the Earth. My culture does not name it. The lands beyond the forest do not deserve a name. As far as I'm concerned, our culture is the only one that believes these myths.

Anyway, it was the darkest color visible to the human eye. Looking at the wastelands is like trying to see with your eyes closed. You simply can't. A lot of people say that, with closed eyes you can see black. But this isn't true. You don't see color. You don't see anything.
If a human of our age and era stepped foot into the wastelands they would become immediately part of it. They would quite  likely cut themselves on a rock face or lose their orientation before running into another trap lurking overhead, imminent to strike.

The wasteland I tell you about is completely lifeless. Not a single organism or plant occupies the area. Mostly because it is uninhabitable. Or it could be because of the Darkness that consumes the wasteland. The Darkness destroys life and color - a black hole on the face of Earth. Further on, you shall learn more about it, but only such secrets should be kept until everyone is ready.

I say that whoever thought up these names - the River, The Shining Forest, the Wastelands, the Man, the Darkness - is either a complete idiot or a fan of stating the obvious. He at least had the commonsense not to go into further detail in describing the Darkness. By telling you about the Darkness, I endanger my existence. The first person to present authority over the situation said,"Anyone who mentions the Darkness is to be eliminated from society." He was the founder of my tribe. He is my grandfather, and he still lives. He was law. That was law. I surely have already told you too much of this Man, and the Darkness. Now I shall tell you about what actually happened.

He sat in the sand accompanied by his favourite horse. It was a beautiful white colour, and it's mane ran freely down it's neck. Never had it been trimmed for as long as the beast lived.
"They're coming." Said the Man. He directed this speech at his horse, who nudged him silently as if he understood. Then the Man went into a deeper recess.

"Trees are dying, leaves are being trampled under the enemies feet. They clear their path through the Forest. They destroy the beauty. Every living creature and thing cannot stay the same; one day it shall perish. The time will come for everyone. Beasts are dying!"
As he speaks on, his voice becomes more stressed and impatient.
"Oh when will you come. I hear the crunch of lively branches under you feet. I see your spades dig into the ground to unleash me from my final resort!" Now you could hear that something was digging away at the ground. How far down was the Man? Five meters.

"Oh, surely my time has come! How long will it take? Is this your power! Come and get me! Now I hear even with my earthly ears, that you are near. I feel the presence of the Dark One. If this is what you, want, then come and get me. Obliterate me! I see you, Dark One!" He was right. And they were his last words. A figure of a human, made from dark matter walked towards the Man and crouched down. Now they were face to face. The Man was very confident, and had a very defiant look to him. The other man didn't have a face. In response to the Man's question the Dark One spoke,"Yes, you do see me. I expected more of a display, maybe a battle to some extent. But you..." He paused and tightened his grip on the Man's neck. There was an awkward silence as the two faced each other. "You. What will you do, King of the Shining Forest? Your haven is gone, creatures and plants among it.

Everything shall come to an end, didn't you say? Of course you did - you being the ethical and moral guy who makes a nice rhyming poem and thinks he should live by it because it sounds good! Then let me quote something from one of your little poems - 'your time has come'"
The Dark One's finger's tightened around the Man's neck. He gave a short burst, attempting to gasp for air, then shrunk back amongst his horse, lifeless. Then the Dark One continued the poem,"some shall die surrounded by a community of people, surrounded by hope, and shall rest in peace. But some shall die alone, in the dark, isolated from reality.'" Then the Dark O!ne laid the dead Man's head down, because once they were friends, and he de-materialized right on the spot until no one could see him from where he was in the cave.

So I guess that just explains how looney our tribe leaders are, to think this is possible. I don't personally believe it.

Our tribe is located in the North Western sections of the Himalayas and consists of about 50 people. I know about the outside world but I have never been there.

Here I can only learn about things such as phones, computer and real paper-bound books.
I've spent my whole life with the same people, in the same place.
But out there, in the real world, is an entirely new place, ready to be discovered.
Beyond, there are schools.
There are libraries.
There are boys. Real boys.