Ocean Story

The Story Of Our Past

This is the story of our past. The story of how the world became how it is now. It wasn't always covered with water, once it was filled with vast lands that stretched as far as the eye could see! But it's been so long that now we only have stories like this... and shadows of the past...

Before the great flood, there were these two friends that so close they were like brothers. One lived in the middle of the desert near a volcano, Vukan, and one lived near the ocean, Assan. Though they were very distant Assan's father was the town tradesmen with Vukan's town so they met quite often and felt lonely when apart. Vukan's village however was too close to the volcano causing parts of the village to periodically burn as lava flowed down, endangering the residents. Despite the danger none of the village people wanted to leave. This was their home. Vukan's father was the town mage and Vukan was well on his way to following in his footsteps. One day while Vukan was practicing his magic Assan got interested and asked him to teach him. Vukan appeased his friend and showed him magic. Assan then went back to his village and while on a midnight walk on the beach got an idea ~if the moon can command the waves why can't I?~ he began to ask Vukan to teach him more and shared his ideas with his friend. Vukan was thrilled at this concept of experimenting to discover the full extent of his magic. However while Assan made progress with his experiments, Vukan had nothing to try it with himself. Of course he had the barrels of water, but he was anxious to try it with something different but similar. He set his sights to a substance similar to water. The only liquid thing around. The lava flows that ran near the village. He began to manipulate the lava in the same way his friend manipulated the ocean. But one day he set fire to a nearby cactus and in his desperation to stop it before someone found out he made it bigger. That is when he discovered that he could not only manipulate lava but fire too. He continued to do this. Every day the other teenagers noticed the teenager leaving alone and after a while one followed, another apprentice of the town mage. The boy soon invited more people to see and one day they asked him to teach them. He considered it but refused, saying it was far too dangerous.
Every time they practiced, Assan and Vukan grew stronger with their powers. On one visit Vukan showed Assan his power and told him of the admiration he had been getting. Assan told him that the same thing happened to him, but instead of rejecting the children, he had accepted them and they had become his apprentices. The boys(girls too) kept on following Vukan, begging him to teach them. Vukan, now knowing his friend had apprentices and he didn't, accepted them. However knowing they first needed discipline, he first taught them discipline, not allowing them to even go near the lava flows or fire until they learned discipline and the required skills to be able to handle the power they desired.
When the townspeople and his father found out about this, they forbid it saying that the power they were dealing with was far too dangerous for the like of humans and that they should leave nature as it was. These teenagers would soon become his followers as he left the town with only these words on his mouth, "Then we will become more than these pathetic humans." Assan didn't see his friend for many years until one day when he was on his way to Vukan's former village and he was surprise attacked and knocked out.
When he awoke, he was in a hut made of a strange black rock and his friend at the door with a woman at his side, his wife. Vukan looked very different than how Assan had known him to be. The woman came to tend to Assan's wounds as Vukan explained what had happened with enthusiasm and excitement. He was clearly proud of his town, which had huts made of dried volcanic rock on a volcano side. After his tales, Vukan extended his arms to his old friend fearing he would reject him. Assan could not resist hugging his long lost friend. He was marveled at all the achievements his friend had made. Every time Assan went to deliver goods Vukan's men came to pick him up and every time, Vukan looked less and less like his old self. His eyes became more and more like fires, his skin more and more like volcanic rock, his hair turning from black to dark amber. His people suffering the same effects.
After much time, Assan confronted Vukan about his concerns. Vukan explained how they believed that the "fire" was becoming more and more a part of them. That the fire in their eyes showed the fire in their soul. Assan worried what that fire was causing them to become, but said nothing.
As the years passed Assan got older as his friend stayed the same. Vukan wanted to help his friend and stop him from aging like a normal human, fearing that he might lose his best friend and the only person who accepted him, so he went to Assan's village. As his people hid in fear of the frightful newcomer, Assan and his wife came out to greet his friend. As Vukan saw his friend, older and so much closer to his eminent death than him, he got an idea ~why not share this fire? He won't die with the everlasting fire!~. However, when told of this idea Assan denied the offer saying that with life-everlasting living would lose it endless value. Vukan was angered at this, but not because he was rejected by his friend but because he knew his friend would die and he'd be alone. With all his people and his family, he'd be alone... Vukan couldn't understand Assan's decision but respected it.
However one night, Vukan was near a village and he heard the cries of a child. He approached the hut from which the cries where coming from and saw a child crying over his sick, dying mother. Vukan's fiery heart ached at the sight of this, especially because he knew he could help so he decided we would. When the child was taken to sleep, Vukan entered. Putting every fiber of his being into this action, he let the passion in his heart out and blew at the still dying woman. Breathing in the small red flames in a deep breath, the woman's face regained its color. She opened her eyes and looked up at the man she knew had saved her life and hugged him. After thanking him many times, she ran to her son who was surprised to see her, but oh so grateful. Vukan realized how good it felt to save a life and got another idea. ~if Assan didn't accept it then I will do it for those how need it~ and he went around saving the sick and dying every where he could. But it came with a consequence, all those saved became like Vukan.
Vukan returned to Assan, an old man in a bed, and told him of all the people he saved and told him of his plan. He was going to save everyone. Assan looked at Vukan as if he were a stranger, not only did he barely resemble a human anymore but his plan was against everything Assan had told him. Assan pleaded to Vukan to not proceed with his plans. Vukan was enraged by this, now Assan was not just stopping him from saving him but now from saving everyone? Vukan now believed that Assan was holding him back and was no longer on his side. He set off, again saving any sick people.
When he came back he intended to save the sick in Assan's village too. Assan refused, now seeing that his friend was posing a threat to humanity, saying, "What you are is no longer human. Don't you see? You're not saving the human race. You're eradicating it!" When Vukan went to attack the old man, Assan used his superior water abilities to defend himself and his village. Vukan now had a large army of his people, an army too large for Assan or his people to fight. Assan was forced to do something he had hoped he never had to do. As his people evacuated onto boats, his wife refusing to leave and insisting on helping him, Assan and his wife used all of their energy, their life force, to create a huge flood tidal wave. Most of Assan's people only just had time to escape before the wave hit and all the land in all the world was flooded. Although there were a few mages who had ensured that everyone else made it out but sacrificing themselves, our at least their human selves. They had used their abilities to morph into half sea creatures half human beings, each pair choosing a different creature. But no one knows what happened to Vukan or his people. Some say a handful made it. Some say they all were crushed with the force and pressure of the wave.

What do you think happened?