“My patience on scale is as unclear as a spark in fire” – Ruin 2685
Year: 2329
Location: Astern Ruins, Cryn Vales, Oxking, France (Present day France)
Prologue: A young couple rushes cruelly through a layered, thick forest. Evading vines and twigs as from behind the explosive calls of men got closer. The woman – carrying a baby – was in terrible shape. Mascara ran from her eyes, down to her cheeks. Shining with rose red, with dark circles around them. Upon her forehead was a dark blue bruise, while her hands carried cuts and marks from blades. The child began crying as light faded in and out from the sunlight, blinding him each time. The man, in rougher shape than the woman, followed her from behind, constantly looking back. The couple ran a few more meters before arriving at an abandoned temple, close to the water. On the crumbled entrance, just barely readable, said Ruines à l’arrière (Astern Ruins). The couple took no time to read it though, as they rushed into the temple without a second thought. Within stood a tall cryo chamber, gleaming with blue hues and piping. The woman looked at the child, before giving him one last kiss on his forehead. Afterwards, she placed him within the chamber. The man leaves a closed envelope just next to the child as he closes the chamber door. The chamber begins to boot up as fog forms on the door. Icicles form on the top as a monitor on the outside depletes in numbers, decreasing the temperature within the chamber. The child begins crying as gears turn within the chamber. A huge burst happens inside his head. The couple take one last look at the child before running out, not looking back. The child tries to grasp towards the couple but fails. A blaze surrounds the couple, with no escape. With no other option, the couple gives into it, collapsed within and ultimately burned alive, leaving no sound. The chamber completely fills with fog and the child becomes silent…hopeless at surviving…
Chapter 1: The Awakening
Date: July 11th, 2649
Quietness filled the night in Cryn Vales, not but the sound of fire crackling from the Fire Ark. From the ruins of Astern, smoke arose. Within the ruins, the same chamber from 320 years ago, began to open. A bare leg reached out, as a hand came crawling on the door. The door is pushed open as a second foot stands down. A boy stumbles, crashing onto the floor, trying to pick himself back up, but unable to. He managed to get himself to a higher up wall, covered in dust and rubble. He grasped it and picked himself up, hardly able to balance himself. His bones, weak, and his hearing, weaker, if not completely gone. 
The boy looked at the rubble, realizing something was underneath, slowly peeling back the stone and rusted metal back. There lied a detailed sarcophagus. On the side panel, it read Ci-gît: Marcheur Vaï Vexer (Here Lies: Walker Vai Vex), with just below it reading ‘Autrefois contrôlant la pourpre du mal, voici le descendant d’un puissant porteur de l’ombre. Résoudre tout ce qu’il essayait d’être’ (Once controlling the purple of evil, here lies the descendant of once mighty shadow wielder. Resolving everything he tried to be). With all the boy’s strength, he pushed off the cover. Inside, a skeleton covered in a purple hued substance. Lying beside it was a sword, alongside a journal. Around the skeleton’s neck was a huge portal like necklace, but before the boy could grabbed it, he slipped, falling harshly against the ground. Three women quickly walked through the hollow entrance, with spider webs hanging down from the remaining ceiling. One found the boy on the ground, telling the other women about her discovery. “Ladies, over here, he’s unconscious. Grab the men,” one woman insisted. The other two women went out, coming back with a sharp dressed man. He had a ginger-colored beard, just laying below his chin in length. The man picked up the boy over his shoulders. “He’s a light one, better get him home.” The man called in a deep voice, echoing throughout the temple. The man walks out of the temple, placing the boy on the back of his horse while the women carried the sword and journal. The group ventures off into the wilderness, towards the town of Victoria.
Chapter 2: The Awareness
The town of Victoria was known as a gatekeep, keeping balance between the good and evil found in both Legion and Cryn Vales (The two main parts of Oxking). It was very lively, though, with celebrations every other day, the most cheerful of towns in Legion. The man and woman rode through the town, with the civilians looking at the unconscious boy on the horse. The man stopped in front of a house, getting off his horse and carrying the boy inside, with the woman following behind. The boy was put on a bed as he awoke. He was given some soup and clothing. The woman left the man and boy alone in the empty seeming room.
“Gabriel…” the man began to speak, “The name’s Gabriel Creek, and you are?” The boy didn’t respond, looking at Gabriel, and motioning a burst in his ears. Gabriel understood that he wasn’t able to hear, so he grabbed the boy’s journal, asking for his name. The boy studied Gabriel’s handwriting; after reading, he flipped through the pages, before pointing to a word. Gabriel starred at the word for a long time. “Your name is Rune?” The boy could mouth this out and nodded. Gabriel then wrote for the boy to rest up. Then, Gabriel left the room.
The next morning, Rune woke up to find Gabriel sitting next to him with some bread, handing pieces to Rune. Gabriel then helped to get Rune dressed, hooking the journal to Rune’s hip, and resting the sword on Rune’s back. Gabriel helped Rune gain his balance, slowly walking beside him outside.
The day, although just beginning, was filled with dancing, music, and celebrations. “Bonne journée voisin” a wise folk called to Gabriel, as the pair walked by. “et une bonne journée à toi voisin” Gabriel called back while waving. The pair continued down the path, arriving at a sheriff’s station the folk called ‘Poste de shérif”. The pair walked in, as bells rang within the wooden walls. Gabriel sat Rune down at a bench while going up to a stall.
Rune looked around, confused with his new surroundings. A man at the end with cuffs slid down to Rune after spotting him. “So? What’s a young boy like you doing in the sheriff’s hideout?” The man asked, dressed in rags with a thick, curly mustache. Rune didn’t respond, not being able to hear him.
“Alright then, not a talker I see, the name’s Beau Monet,” he man said with an open smile, as he reached out his hand to shake. Rune just looked at the man’s hand, then to his face, not regarding it. Beau slid back down as Gabriel came back to Rune, grabbing his journal and writing if Rune remembered his parents. Rune shook his head, as he couldn’t remember anything from that night of events. Gabriel then went back up to the stall as Beau slid back over, he then grabbed the journal and wrote his name in it. Rune looked at him, pointing at the name, then to Beau. Beau shook his head in a yes nodding. Rune then flipped through the pages, crinkled, pasty, burnt, and colorless. Pointing once again at the same Rune he showed Gabriel. Then pointing back to himself. Gabriel interrupted the pair, demanding “Éloignez ce criminel du garçon.” Two officers came to confiscate Beau, taking him to a cell. Beau waved goodbye to Rune as Gabriel took him out, and back to his home.
When arriving back at Gabriel’s residence, Gabriel’s wife and her friends were gathered around. “Such a thin boy, why have you been starving him?” One of the women said, walking by Gabriel and hitting his shoulder with a newspaper. “Mariam, this boy was found in the woods last night, in the Astern Ruins. No recollection of his parents or anything.” Gabriel said to his wife. Mariam studied the boy, lifting his arms and opening his mouth. “He’ll need a deep cleaning and plenty of food. Eloise, start the bath, Julia, get this boy a meal.” Mariam said as she carefully sat Rune down. Julia then brought out a bowl of soup and gave it to Rune, whose hands began to shake. Mariam took the bowl from Rune, feeding him as if he were a newborn baby. Afterwards, Mariam helped Rune to the bathroom, helping to undress him, and bathing him. Whilst in the tub, a realization came to Rune. He all of a sudden remembered everything that night, for a minute, before it faded, and he forgot it again, but he could remember one thin, his name. That being Marcel, Marcel Eloence Kutof…the same name as the previous king of France…
Chapter 3: Gideon
July 17th, 2649
In the waning days within Victoria, Rune was getting used to his new home. Mariam taught Rune how to read and write, while Gabriel was out most of the time. Though, when Gabriel was home, he taught Rune how to fish, cook, bake, and hunt. Rune was enrolled into the local school, where he was a high honor student, despite his inability to hear. Rune became close friends with the proviseur’s daughter, Céline.
Often hanging around with her brother, Gideon. The trio was rarely apart, unless one was sick, they were always together. Céline had feelings for Rune, but he never acknowledged this, however, he had a feeling that there was a deeper connection between the two. One evening, everything changed when Gideon managed to get a revolver from Gabriel’s shed. The trio practiced shooting beer bottles, and the boys had to agree that Céline was the best shooter. When Gideon was up again, aiming at the last standing empty bottle, pulling the trigger, and hearing a faulty strike…
…to be continued
