The past was a haunting tale.
As the young wanderer ventured through the barren lands of what was once the glittering city of Sirbosia, she pulled her torn, raven black cloak closer to her body, as if she could still feel the touch of her old friends on it.
Civilization was in ruins, the world bent down on its knees; and it was all because of her and her foolish friends' insistence on what was right. On what was unfair to thousands of other people.
That determination was what got them all killed.
She took one more step one the rocky step when she came upon a stranger sitting on a large boulder. His head immediately snapped up at the sound of her footsteps. His face contorted into one of shock and wonder as he took in the face of the girl under the hood's shadow.
"You're... Lorian." He whispered, as if saying that name could call upon a hundred beasts to their current location.
The look in his said it. Survivor. Savior. Lorian Ignis will save me. There is hope.
Lorian pulled down her hood and stared at the young man with a blank look on her face.
She remembered when she had wavy, sandy blond locks, which was now cut off short and dirty, for she did not pay much attention to hygiene in her current situation. Her baby blue eyes, once blazing with the defiance and fierceness a Beast Hunter should have, now turned into that of...nothing. Her skin was bit more tanned than before, now that she spent so much time travelling under the sun.
"Indeed, it is me." She only said.
"This... This is great!" The man said, a smile on his face and his eyes lighting up. "You can help me, my friends and family! You can help what's left of my camp!"
It came a bit of a shock to Lorian that people still saw her as a hero after seven whole years. Yet now that the world had turned into a fight-to-survive warzone, she can't be that girl anymore.
The four kingdoms were too far into hell for one person like herself to save.
"I can't." Lorian replied, putting up her hood and walking past him a bit. "I am not a walking savior, kid. I don't save every person I see. I'm not that person anymore."
The hope in his eyes vanished in a flash. "Do you think I can magically make all the beasts die, to give you and your loved ones the food and water they need?" She said, turning her gaze to him. "Stop hoping. You'll get killed that way." She turned away and walked.
The old Lorian would've tried to help that boy in an instant. Even if she couldn't do anything to help.
Now, though? Everyone is looking after themselves, like they should.
Lorian pulled out the old, torn photo of her team, smiling; of that old face that was carefree of everything.
She stared at the face of a young, green eyed brunette, who was nine-years old at the time. She had tiny bits of chocolate cake on her face, and her face pulled the happiest smile a child could give.
Raiden's goddaughter, Araviel, who Lorian had to give up to a small community of survivors because she could not take of her herself.
"Lori, if I die, promise to take care of Araviel." Her old friend, Raiden, said on one of their last days together.
"Rai, you're not gonna die." Lorian said with a joking grin, taking a sip of coffee.
"I'm dead serious. The Rebellion has us by the balls, Lori." He said, his golden yellow eyes looking off at the distance. "I can smell the disaster coming.
"So, if I die, you'll protect her until your very last breath. Make sure she grows up strong, make her a talkative and arrogant asshat like you, whatever. I just want her to live long." He turned to her. "Because if you don't, I'll make sure to come back from the dead and haunt your ass for the rest of your life."
Lorian stayed quiet for a moment, but scooted closer to the black haired man and tangled her left arm in his right. "I promise." She said. "Oh, and by the way, you're doing yourself a favor by haunting my ass for eternity. I have a very good ass."
"Please, I'll believe that when pigs fly." Raiden said, rolling his eyes.
Lorian realized she would've been sixteen right now. Araviel would've been old enough to drink, and she would be in her third year of her Beast Hunter studies, if she wished to joined. She would probably rant to her all about her crush, or something.
That was the life she could have had; but she didn't.
She missed her a lot.
Lorian took a shuddering breath, and moved on forward.
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Heyo don't mind me just tryna get in a writing mood after like several months of not writing
