Fortuna Chapter 1
Prologue
The wind whistled through the moors as the land prepared for the arrival of its masters. It had been a long time. Too long some would say. The moon shone down brightly as the grass whispered the secrets of a story that had no end. The beginning was coming. The land could feel it. The wind could feel it. It was coming. The times of old would rise once again. Power would unite and the land would become anew with a life that would never die. They were coming. And they would be ready.
End of Prologue
Somewhere along the Moors 11:00 p.m.
The End and The Beginning
First there was nothing.
Then, they came.
The light of the flat trans sparkled in the darkness as its occupants fell from it one by one. The young ones came first. Then the rest followed after. As soon as they hit the ground, the flat trans disappeared into the night leaving the occupant's alone once again. The first thing Thomas noticed was it was quiet. Too quiet except for the ragged breathing of the Gladers and the Immunes. He couldn't see an inch in front of him even though wherever they had landed the moon was large and foreboding as if to tell them the things to come. Gasping for breath, he turned to the side and stretched out both arms as far as they could go.
The responses were garbled, but they were familiar. "Ow, buggin watch it will ya?" Newt yelped as several sets of voices chuckled through the darkness. "Tommy boy's not scared of the dark is he? I think he just might be, don't you Min?" Gally voice teased as their former leader guffawed out loud making sound echo across the land. Looking back years later, Thomas could still recall the first sound of joy that he had heard in his new life. To this day, Minho and Gally still teased him about those first few moments. All of them were scared, helpless and felt alone. But together they had arrived. It was time for The Beginning.
Somewhere In The Moors 11:30 p.m.
Thomas and the other Gladers had taken a headcount. There were 150 of them that had survived the Trials and the wrath of Wicked. That was 150 people who they were now responsible for. If you asked him, it would never be too much of a responsibility. Each life that had survived and fought for their freedom was precious and every moment that they've spent in the darkness so far, had been the best time of his life so far. It was late and every single one of them were tired, hungry and thirsty. So far they had discovered that they were in something that Newt called the Moors. No one but him and a few others knew what that meant, but Thomas called it the best place on earth. They were finally free to roam and he could tell that everyone had a new look on life now that they were finally safe.
Right up until now. Thomas and Minho both cursed in tandem as the heavens opened up and started to drench them in a cold, hard downpour. "What do we do now?" Frypan asked as they all huddled together trying to keep themselves from getting chilled. That was a good question. What did they do now? They had no shelter. It was cold. If they didn't find some place soon to stay for the night all of them would get hypothermia. That was when Thomas spotted it. It was dark and he could barely make out the shapes of the trees, but it was like a God sent miracle. Turning to the others, he met his friend's questioning gaze. "There's a forest. It's about 30 yards that way. It's not much but it'll be better than nothing." He panted as rain drops started to blur his vision.
"A forest? That's it? Where the hell are we going to go to stay out of the rain?" Minho's voice said as his eyes searched the horizon before spotting the dark line of trees. "Shut up, Min. It's the best we've got for now. Tommy's right. We need to take cover before the storm gets worse." Newt said as authority dripped into his tone. He could hear Gally mumbling something about how stupid of an idea it was but he didn't care. Gathering the rest of the Immunes and survivors, Minho and Thomas addressed them all as their voices shouted through the rain and thunder. "Everyone! There's a forest about 30 yards from where we are. Go towards the trees. We're going to take shelter there for the night!" There were murmurs of agreement and some of frustration but in the end, Thomas and Minho took charge leading the group out of the rain and into the large pine tree filled forest.
Once inside, the trees did little to shelter them from the wind and rain but it was their only option for surviving the night. There was no food and no water to keep them feed so Minho instructed the group to huddle down together and try to sleep for the night. About a half an hour later the Gladers had gotten most of the group settled for the night. All of them were exhausted but were still high strung on the energy from their fight in the last battle. Thomas and Newt huddled against a tree while Minho and Gally began to pace the length of ground in front of them. "We can't just stay here. We need to keep moving." Gally argued as Minho and the others scowled tiredly at him. "We'll move the group in the morning when the storm stops. It's too dangerous for any of us to move now. Did you see those shuckin lightning bolts?" Minho bit out making Newt roll his eyes before getting up to stand between them.
"Enough! That is enough. We just arrived to wherever the hell this paradise that we were promised is supposed to be and you two are still fighting like we're back in the bloody Glade? Get a grip on yourselves lads because come morning there's an entire group of survivors that need us to guide and lead them towards safety. First we sleep and wait out the storm. Second we search for food and explore the area. Third we figure out where the shuck we are and buggin deal with it because that's all we can do." The blonde ordered as both Gally and Minho finally stopped pacing and sat against the large pine tree that was currently their new home. "So much for paradise…" Minho mumbled as all of them gave a nod of agreement. "Just go to sleep. Everything will be better in the morning." Thomas said as his eyes began to feel heavy. There were murmurs of agreement before they all fell victim to darkness of slumber.
The Entrance 7:00 a.m.
The early morning light sparkled down through the slivers of branches as Thomas and the others blinked away the sleep from their eyes. The storm had gone away and for the first time since they arrived, they could finally take in their new home. They all talked excitedly as the trees branches swayed back and forth in a light breeze. Suddenly Newt turned and noticed something. "Guys, did you shuckheads notice that we're sitting on a bloody road?" He asked as the others looked down and saw that indeed they were sitting in the middle of a long dirt pathway that led straight through the forest. "Well all be damned." Minho exclaimed as they all looked around them trying to figure out where they were. "I say we follow it." Gally said as the others turned towards Thomas. "What do you say, Tommy? Should we follow the pathway to God's knows where?" Newt asked gently as a slow smirk spread over his lips. Thomas chuckled and shook the water out of his drenched brown hair before getting to his feet with the others following. "Anyone up for an adventure?" He called out making everyone laugh and cheer. And so they went, down the path towards wherever life would lead them.