Disclaimer: Nope don't own Tin Man…though I do so enjoy spending time with its characters.
Authors Note: Still looking for a beta for this so please excuse any errors. All those I have messaged have not replied. If you are a beta and take interest and would like to assist me please private message me Thanks!
Prologue:
Darkness and light there is no in between here. I am confused at first as the light of consciousness begins to pour into the nothingness that is my slumbering. What has woken me? As my addled mind began to stir again I notice the cold for the first time in…I frown. I don't know how long it been since the last time I was aware. Annuals? Centennials? Possibly Millennial? I throw the thought from my mind because time I remember means nothing to me anymore. The numbness in my joints and muscles begin to fade. I feel myself take a breath. My eyes flicker open and I find myself kneeling before my rose colored charge. A twinge of pain threatens to cloud my mind but I push it away. None of that now. I think groaning as I force my muscles into action. They do not scream out in pain as they should. I feel nothing. I remind myself taking in my surrounds. Everything as it was the last time I beheld them. I set my jaw and move forward from my place. Something important woke me, and I must find out what.
The looking glass hangs across the room covered in grime and dust. I reach forward and brush it away, revealing the unscathed surface beneath. I stare at my reflection, and know I should feel something for the way time has lacked to touch my features. I look the same as I had at the beginning, though my eyes are perhaps darker. I know there is no sense in dwelling on it and press my finger on the center of my only window to the world outside. A swirl of images rush by and I catalog the events quickly; storing them away. I have a lot to catch up on it seems. Finally the images slow and I find myself beholding a small cabin. The cry of life is heard, and a tired sigh follows after. I smile knowingly. This is what woke me, I am sure of it. The mirror fades reflecting my image again and I move away.
Kneeling once more before my charge, my body slowly returns to its former state; hard, numb and solid as any metal. Despite this I cannot ignore the feeling growing in my chest. Here within my place of existence change means nothing, but out there; things are changing. The Outer Zone is changing, its people changing; and forgetting the toils and hardships of war. I know this, and I know what this will bring. Darkness will be set free. Darkness will rise just as it had before.
"It has begun." I mutter. "Light will once again be tested."
"Fear not brave guardian. You have not failed your post in a 1000 annuals, I shall not see you fall. Fear not, for you are not as forgotten as you believe. Fear not for the Light shall endure. It may dim, it may flicker, but the Light shall endure. Have faith." The soft wisp like words fill my deafening ears, as I watch the future unfold. And despite my inability to feel, despite my inability to care for what is happening outside this existence; a small smile graces my lips.
"Fear is for cowards and faith for fools with no purpose. I am neither." I reply, as my features grow stoic once more and I drift back into my slumbering.