The Dreamkeepers
Prologue
The forest is silent, almost too quiet. All he can hear is the babbling from the nearby brook and a few birds here and there. It pains him more than the blisters covering his body to know nature is also suffering from this disease. The animals seem immune to the sickness, but they've mostly all moved on, sensing the danger here. Not just the threat from the sickness, but the threat from the ruthless one they call Emile in The Badlands. That's what the city had become, what it had always been, The Badlands. But at least once there had been a dream kept alive there.
He stops walking, stopping at the tree in the middle of a clearing, it's vibrant, golden leaves evidence the Winter Solstice would be upon them soon. He needs the trunk for support as he reaches up to untie something from a branch. It's taken a lot of energy to even walk from his dwelling, even if it is just three minutes, and as he finally grabs his prize he nearly collapses to the ground.
He could've just had someone get it for him, but he's only just come to this decision. Besides he's already sent most of his tribe, the healthy ones away, to increase their chances at survival, only a few stubborn souls remain. One of them reminds him a bit of Pride. The child must have really been impacted by the man. Though, she wasn't a child any longer, he reminded himself. She was a young lady now, almost thirteen. How many solstices had passed since she'd joined? His mind could no longer do the math.
"You should be lying down."
The voice startled him. He hadn't heard her coming. That made him proud, she'd learned well how to live here. But it was time for her to move on from nature, to find the Mall Rats. If there was any chance of surviving the second coming of this sickness, they'd have found the cure because they were the dreamers. They stopped at nothing to fight for their survival. It hasn't always ended well, he clutched the talisman in his hand closer to his heart, but there were always sacrifices to be had in life. He turns to face the young girl, having to look down to make eye contact. She had grown taller, yes, but he'd be surprised if she ever surpassed five feet.
"I came out here to retrieve this," he releases his fist his, letting the pendant drop and dangle by its tie for her to see. She gasps in recognition, already shaking her head no.
"You're giving up, aren't you?" tears pool in her big, brown eyes. "You have to fight!" She cries.
He smiles sadly at her, "It's the wheel of the world, the circle of time. If it is my time to give back to Gaia what she's given me then I won't fight it.
She wraps her arms around him, hugging him tightly. "I don't want you to die!"
"Remember what we taught you?" he hugs her back tightly, "You cannot hold back nature. You can only learn to flow with it. Sometimes it's the same with life." Everybody knew that everybody died.
"I do not fear death." He welcomed it. He'd seen enough in this life. But while it was the end for him, it was the beginning for her.
He lets her go, placing a light kiss atop her head. Pressing the talisman into her hand he peers into her eyes, his voice gentle, but firm.
"It's time little Mouse, you must find the Storm Crow."
