A.N: Hey (: I'm kind of new to , but I've always had an interest in writing. I thought maybe I could write something to take my mind off things, so here it is. There's a slow start to the beginning, and the first chapter hardly touches on the actual elements of the game, so I'll just add the second chapter as soon as I can. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated on this, because that's how you improve ^ ^' There will be no "fluff" (Although I am a hard medic x heavy shipper) and it'll contain a reasonable amount of swearing and violence (to match the personalities of the classes, of course.) Anyway, thanks so much for sticking around for my long intro. Enjoy!
Usually the weather around my tiny town was bland. Gray masses could stretch over the sky for weeks, with not a hint of its load reaching us. My tiny little town is ordinary. There was once a huge expanse of villages webbed together across the area, with factories and barns and railroads, but now they're gone. We're still here though. Somehow, secluded from the rest of the world in our little valley in the hills, we've not gone totally insane yet. Well, most of us. Our town has everything a town needs, including an all-smiles Mayor, a slow and corrupt police force, and of course, the town drunk.
My feet crunch over the dried, dusty grass in rhythm with the music blasting out of my earbuds. I roll over the short history of what I've happily left behind in my head while I walk. Around me is an expanse of the same dry, dirty, unhealthy grass. Everything's so gravelly around here, it's no wonder that the grass is choking. My little town.. I turn, looking back behind me. On the wide, smoothly curved topping of a hill, I can see the town now. I know this sight by heart, often coming here to gaze at the same landscape and forget my troubles. Rolling my eyes, I turn away and start back across the landscape. Why cling to that place? I'm done with that town. Done with that man.
I used to enjoy all sorts of books. The thought crossed my mind unexpectedly. Turning, I check the large bag across my back. It's stuffed with things, a thin and heavily used book stuffed into the side. The pages are yellowed, wrinkled. "Mandy has her problems," I read out loud the text across the cover in small letters, just below the title. "But can she overcome the shadow of her mother's problems?" I roll my eyes, and toss the book to the ground. The dirty pages don't look so out of place in the dusty grass. The book is one of those that you find on your fourth grade teacher's shelves, which looks like it's been written by an author who can't think of anything but pretty girls with 'problems' who need to juggle home issues with boy trouble. Starting forward again, I mutter to myself, "Why the hell couldn't I grab something good?" I've got a long journey ahead of me. I should have grabbed something of my own collection, not the library's. Oh well. I made a split second decision, and grabbing one of my own books would have slowed me down. A smile cracks across my face, and I begin to run forward, the wind blowing small bits of dead grass and dust past me as my arms fly open. The realization of what I'm doing strikes me with a blast of high spirits. "I'm free!" I whoop to myself, falling forward, looking up at the drab sky, the broad smile still stretched across my face. I'm free of that life, that town. Mentally, I sketch out my new life's plan in my head. Nothing could go wrong, this far from the shadow plaguing my life for far too long. Wiping a joyful tear away, I stand again, and begin my long trek across the dusty, wide expanse of freedom.
"Just why the hell can't you do anything right?" The words are a barrage of distraction as I attempt to keep my focus on the book I've been assigned for Enriched English II. If he wants my attention, he'd better try a lot harder to get it. This argument got old a long time ago. His taunting voice jeers again, a hint of something toxic on his breath. Maybe it's smoke, or some kind of drug. Perhaps it's alcohol. I don't really care what it is, but the vile stench is going to make me puke. He paces a bit, unsteadily rocking, before turning to take another verbal jab at me. "You know, you're the reason your mother left." His words are slurred, and I've heard him say a lot of things. Terrible things. But this was new. I turn half an ear to listen, but keep my eyes downcast. It was a mistake. He knows he has my attention now. "She ran off with that.. that guy, because you ruined her life. You ruined our lives!" His words are becoming harder to make out, though I've had much practice. "Y-you.." he stops, and I glance up to see the glare of a wild, unintelligent animal glaring back at me from behind a stubbly beard and dirty smudges. "You are nothing. Get out." His words don't really affect me anymore, but that command hit me like a bullet. Or maybe like the first blessed drops of rain after a dry spell. He always whined that I couldn't follow his commands. I watched as he slumped forward, snoring on the battered couch, draped like a ragdoll being tossed by a careless child. Shrugging, I whispered to myself "Alright, sir." Without a glance at the pathetic husk of the man on the couch, I grab my school bag and dump out the books and notes onto the table. I needed the room.
The music on my ipod died. The sun is ascending on the third morning since my escape, and still I can not find a reason to regret what I've done. The memories of countless arguments etched into my memories recount themselves as I walk, keeping me company. My legs ache and I feel grimy with dust, but the feeling of freedom will keep me going. As the sun rises on a pleasantly blue sky, nearing midday, I hault. In front of me is a rise in the hills, and just over it I can see what looks like the roof of a building. Running forward, I am met with the sight of what looks like an old mining town, surrounded by tall walls on all side. Inside, I can just about make out the form of small buildings, with two larger buildings at each end.
On the left is a large, faded sky blue building. Scanning, I spot an equally dull red one on the right. My options are rather limited, and as I check my bag to see what I have left, I realize how dangerously low I am on supplies. I have little water left, and with the sun finally scorching through the clouds overhead, I would be in a pickle without more supplies. "Those old towns were abandoned rather quickly, weren't they?" I talk to myself to keep myself sane. Nothing but wind through gravelly grass can drive you insane, trust me. "Perhaps they left some supplies I could snag." Hopping down the steep slope to the town, I walk towards the walls. It takes a while to get there, but it takes even longer to scope out an entrance. Inexplicably, there isn't one. I wander the perimeter, twice. There's no entrance that I can find. "Great.." I sink down against one of the walls, hidden within the tall grass growing by its side. As I stretch out my feet, my sneakers clang against something metal in the grass, and a sudden whirring shocks me to my feet. "What the hell?" Walking forwards, I can see a small globe of light, a vibrant blue. It's coming from some kind of metal trap of sorts, or maybe a weird metal stool. Modern art? I dunno. My curiosity wrestling with my uncertainty, tug the grass away from it, revealing a rusting blue exterior. It looks battered by the elements, but not particularly old. Finally, my curiosity wins. Stepping forward, I can feel the metal contraption begin to emit a low hum, and an unpleasant electrical shock travels up my legs, into my skull, making my teeth chatter. Before I can jump off, I feel the ground fall out from under me. No matter how hard I yell, I can't hear myself. Suddenly, I'm dropped somewhere, and fall backwards, swearing colorfully. "Little piece of.. Whoa." My eyes light up as I survey where I am. I seem to be under a bridge of some sort, in what might have once been a river, long dried and evaporated. The little metal machine continues to whurr away happily, but it can't mask the loud voice that cuts through the air with a crackle. A woman's voice, playing across speakers just above the bridge that I can see mounted on the wall, rings out severely. "Mission begins in thirty seconds."
