World's End Pursuit

Chapter 1: The Yard

It was one of those windy days that would cause the stiff branches of the trees to quiver with the chill and small dust clouds would be whipped up in a frenzy with the occasional gusts. The lose earth moved in quaking ripples over his bare feet, encouraged by the breeze to shift over any obstacle it could. If he hadn't have been walking then there was no doubt he'd be stuck ankle deep in the gravelly dirt.  He stopped for a moment and scratched an irritating itch on his stomach as he looked around. His expression worked in a subdued scowl as he studied the trees around him. They were sparse, spindley things with jagged branches that twisted towards the clouded sky. At first glance you'd assume them to dead as they looked like burnt charcoal, but they were actually living. They never produced leaves, but oddly produced fruit. His citrus green eyes studied each tree in turn. If any had given fruit, it was gone now. He bit his lip as the familiar complaints of his stomach rose again.

He started walking onwards to the next cluster of blackened sticks. This time he was lucky. One of them held a single rounded bauble that would help subside his hunger. He flexed his hands a moment before grabbing onto one of the lower branches and tested its strength. Once he was satisfied he pulled himself up in a swift movement. Now confident in his balance he moved onto a higher branch, bringing the fruit into his reach. He firmly grasped the fruit and snatched it with sudden force, causing the branch to shudder. Taking the fruit in his jaws, he started to work his way back down.

With his feet securely on the ground, he released his loot from his mouth to his hand with a distgusted sound. As he tried to work the taste from his mouth he moved to a rock where he could sit out of the dust's wake. The fruit, known as Bitternut despite not being a nut, was a horrible thing to eat if you were not used to it. The slimey, waxy outer skin was a sickly purple colour with wrinkled black markings, this he peeled off. The inside was only slightly better however, as is was a ghastly green, jelly-like substance that oozed with each bite. He ate this with little complaint though, as it was the only edible thing that could be achieved here.

As he slurped and swallowed, he observed his surroundings and found himself focusing on a commotion nearby. There was a group of tan-skinned, tall people teasing and taunting another young man who was trying to fight them off.

"Bullying the prisoners again." he scoffed to himself as he finished the Bitternut.

He was aware that there was no one there to listen to him, but he'd gotten used to being alone so talking outloud wasn't unnatural to him. He licked the juice from his hands as he looked past the group to a towering gate with a wall that expanded either side of it as far as the eye could see. It was a sandy colour with gnarled vines growing around the gate and was certainly a menacing view.

His eyes moved back to the ground where the abuse had become more aggressive.

"Those Yhuns think they do whatever they want." he hissed with an angry click of his tongue, "They don't even guard the gate properly like they're meant to. I bet I could sneak right past them."

He paused a moment, realising what he'd said. He shook his shaggy auburn hair with his hand as he considered. A smirk spread across his face as he slid from the rock and proceeded to the vines that coiled themselves around the gate.

"I'm sick of this place and all its bloody Bitternuts."

Just as he'd reached the wall and was planning his climb, someone coughed behind him, "So what are you doing this time?"

He looked over his shoulder to see an old man shrouded in a brown cloak. He seen this man wandering aimlessly before but had never really conversed with him.

"Leaving." he growled.

The old man sighed, "The Yard is unforgiving to escaped convicts."

His acidic green eyes blazed, "I'm not a convict!"

With a solem shake of his head, the old man slowly walked away.

Fiercely grasping the vines, he started to scale the wall.

"I'd be dammed if I stay long enough to end up like him." he spat.

It was fine for a while, but it got increasingly more difficult as the vines became thinner and fewer and his arms started to tremble in their labour. He let out a heavy breath as he slouched on a tendril to view his progress. He gritted his teeth as he realised he hadn't made it as far as he had thought. The wasteland that was The Yard spread out before him. A flat expanse of charcoal sticks and rocks except for the lush forest that was occupied by the Yhun group, the guards of The Yard that threw around their power and made the other inhabitants' miserable lives even more miserable.

He rubbed his sore hands as he thought back to what the old man said.

"I'm not a convict." he repeated aggressively.

The Yard was a container for criminals, which he continuously assured himself he wasn't. His being here was a mistake. A joke. He shook his head and wiped his hands on his grey shirt and trousers and was ready to return to his ascent.

"What is he doing up there?" a voice sounded below him.

"He's trying to escape!" another shouted.

He cursed below his breath, the Yhans had spotted him.

"Force him down!"

There was no point looking over his shoulder, he decided, they were all just having a fit and to do so would just encourage them.

"Didn't you hear me? Force him down!"

He flinched as something cracked beside his hand and then another by his head. They were throwing rocks.

He chuckled to himself, "How stupid."

Suddenly one hit him directly in the back of his head, temporarily throwing his awareness. When he recovered his sense another hit his back which resulted in a jerked reaction. He was ready to hurl abuse at them when his hand came away from the wall. The vine had come loose! In a panicked hysteria he looked for another to support him while the attack never ceased. Just when he thought he found one he could grasped, the one under his feet gave way. His breath caught in his throat and all muscles froze as his other hand slid from its hold, leaving him to plummet.