I Am Here

In a right world, there is a balance of light and dark. In a just world, there is nothing to fear from the dark or light.

People avoid the dark the most. It is a scary unknown place where anything can lurk. A useful tool for those of sinister intent. In the light, nothing is secret. All is as is. All is warm and safe.

In a large bustling town, the light touched almost everything. In the day, the bright rays of the sun would shine on the town's denizens as they went on about their business. At night, the stars and the moon glow, comforting them as they slept.

The imperial palace overlooked the town; the great capital of a grand country. Paper lanterns strung the roofs of the palace day and night as the light spirits convened with the emperor, the eighth of the Xie Dynasty, working together for the sake of the people.

Because of this, the people had not a care in the world.

The town's people rushed up and down the near gold paved streets in extravagant clothing. The shops were always booming. Street vendors shouted their wares to the populace and colorful performers danced to flutes and drums as children clap and laugh with their parents.

They run in and out of the shadows of the alleyways for those were the only shadows in their world. No shadows lived in their hearts.

One child trips over something soft, cold and damp. The child stumbles and looks into the shadows, wondering what tripped him up. He sees it and shudders, covers his mouth and runs.

He had tripped over a dying and dirtied street rat, his emaciated hand reaching out for help.

This street rat, not even a decade old, was terrified of this town's light. Some days he would be brave and venture out into the sun only to be shoved back into the shadows with disgust and revolt.

The light had rejected him; he was lost.

And today, he had been rejected again.

His hand drops on his lap and he lets his aching head fall back on the damp wall. He sat in a dark alleyway, watching the town's people. The scent of the food that the street vendors sold made his belly ache and the sight of a family watching a street performer made his heart ache.

It was a different ache though.

That family was a family of five. The father stood tall with his arm around his wife, who leaned up to whisper something in his ear. Whatever it was made him blush and he forces himself to frown to keep himself from smiling. The woman gently elbowed his ribs, giggling herself and they both dissolve into a fit of laughter. Their son glances back up at them and so do his two younger sisters. He shook his head and he turned his sisters' heads back to watch the performer, telling them that the adults were being silly again.

Jealousy curled around the street rat's heart. He would give anything to replace that boy. Anything.

If he had anything that is. He didn't so he turned away from the family, knowing that watching any longer would be meaningless.

His eyes were dry; he dearly wanted to go to sleep. He should get up to find somewhere softer to sleep on but his legs wouldn't move. No matter what he did, he could not will them to move. Even if he did somehow get on his feet, his bones would most likely shatter.

There was no point in moving anyway. He had a feeling that when he closes his eyes, he would never open them again.

The faint rise and fall of his chest slows and he turns his head down, accepting that this was what life was. Maybe death was going to be fairer.

In the back of his deteriorating mind, he jokingly thanks the shadows and the dark for shielding him from the burn of the light as his eyelids began to fall.

The darkness answers back.

"Whoa there guy," An ethereal voice rouses him. "This is a sad ending. A very sad ending," The voice tsks. "It's not a very exciting one either. C'mon guy, what's a kid like you doing in the dark? I didn't think your kind liked us."

The boy croaked "Are you…death?"

"Who? Me? Pffft, no way!" the voice protests. "I'm definitely not that stick in the mud. Such a downer that guy. Then again, you're being a pretty big downer too. All this rejection, the light hurts and crap. If you don't like the light that much, why not fully immerse yourself in the dark? No sunburns that's for sure…Say, that gives me an idea."

The boy, for the first time in his life, felt an embrace. Shadowy tendrils wrapped around his waist and pull him down and down.

"Y'know, I'm new around these parts and I guess this is a good time as any to try something new too. I've never contracted with someone like you before. Heehee, we'll have so much fun together, you'll never want to step back into the polluted world of light ever again."

The voice giggles and it makes the boy quiver.

As he sinks deeper into the abyss, cold pierces his core and if he had the strength, he would've screamed. But somewhere in all that pain, he felt a kind of joy, a kind of satisfaction. He welcomes the cold and is enveloped by the darkness.

In a bustling town overlooked by the imperial palace in a great capital of a grand country, a dark and damp alley way becomes deserted.

A child runs back, a bag of dumplings in his hand. He runs back into the alley, searching for the poor boy who looked so hungry it made him want to cry. That boy was gone now.

How strange. He was only gone for ten minutes at most. He had wanted to share these dumplings with the boy.

The child's shoulders sag and he steps back out into the light of the sun.

Author notes: Hello, this is a new story. I'll keep this brief. It's related to Double Edged a teensy bit. You do not have to read this to understand Double Edged and you do not have to read Double Edged to understand this. Maybe.

How the two are related, I will not say how.

The summary is going to need to change soon.

I also hesitated to put this in the Dragonfable Archive. I am thinking of just putting this in the Misc. Archive. I'm debating this because more elements of dragonfable are coming up but it seems iffy right now.

Another thing, there won't be many author notes for this. Saying too much might spoil a whole truckfull of things that I'm planning for both stories and others that maybe related.

this will also be updated sparsely as Double Edged is my main focus though the two are connected. As DE goes on, this will also be updated more often.

So thank you for reading, reviews are helpful and more will come soon. Good night/morning/afternoon/day/holidays.