Connected Chapter One


Suggested Theme:

Main Theme- Song for Four/Home from Doctor Who: Day of the Doctor


The bark against Palladium's unclothed back is starting to become cold like ice. The trees in the Elfin Realm are uniquely attuned to the weather. The Woodland Elves feel the trees to know the weather, rather than look up at the sky. The cold bark is a sign that there will be snow tonight.

Palladium knows that he is ill-equipped to handle the snow. He is wearing a patchwork skirt of deerskin and tree bark. The bark in his skirt is making his thighs feel colder than they normally are. He is barefoot like most of his people are during the early autumn months.

The Voice of Nature never told him that he will have all of his limbs. He knows it is very likely that he will lose his toes or even a leg tonight. It's okay because the Voice of Nature told him that he will be saved. He will not die tonight. He will get to live another day.

He is looking up at the sky. He can feel the cold seeping into his body. The sky is a tepid gray with bits of white. He knows that the stars are out tonight like they are every night. The clouds are obscuring his stars, but they are giving him something equally unique as the stars.

The snow flows from the clouds slowly like a stream drying up in the summer months. The snowflakes tickle the tips of his ears, but the iciness cuts into his shivering skin. He does not hate the snow for making him cold. He only wishes that the light would come soon. He is very cold.

His stomach is starting to bother him. His stomach is clenching and growling like a wolf with his leg in a dragon-teeth trap. He tries to suck water from the tree, but his teeth keep clinking clumsily together. He is shivering too hard to recite the spell for water. He is very hungry.

The snow is starting to cling to his hair like the frozen soil under his small feet. The snow is coming in thick now. The snow builds atop of his head, becoming heavy like a gilded crown. His neck aches from trying to keep his head up. He believes the light will come from the sky like a falling star. But he cannot see a falling star in this weather. So how will he see the light?

He can endure this. He will be saved like the Voice of Nature said. He just has to stay awake. He has stayed awake before like during the winters when all of the Woodland Elves were sleeping by the fires in their huts, while he was huddled against the dying embers of the hunting feast. He couldn't fall asleep on those cold nights because the Voice of Nature warned him that he would never wake up if he did.

He wants to keep his eyes open, but the snowflakes are sticking to his eyelashes like a thorn in his foot. He wishes that he could use his hand to wipe the snowflakes from his eyes, but the rope is far too tight to allow such movement. A harsh, howling wind causes him to close his eyes.

He can see the darkness inside his mind. He can hear the icy wind snapping at his trembling body. He can feel the chill taking away the feeling in his arms and legs. He is cold, hungry, and alone. He is waiting to be saved. He is waiting for the light.

And then, like the shining sun of Solaria, the light has come. Palladium opens his eyes to see the light. The light is made of yellow and white rays that cut through his binding. The light has hands and pulls him into a warm embrace. Palladium can hear a heart beating in the light.

Wings stretch out from the light like they will cut the Realm in two. They are ascending, leaving behind the frosty earth. Palladium buries his head deeper into the chest. He can feel the warmth entering his body, returning the feeling to his frostbitten limbs. The light has saved him.

He has never felt this warm before. He knows that he has been warm before. He has even been hot before. However, this warmth that the light is exuding is like an emotion that Palladium is unfamiliar with. It is strange to him like the Voice of Nature's concern.

He looks up at the light and realizes the light has a face. The face is handsome with a square jaw that is uncommon amongst all Elves. Yet, the light is blinding, or hiding, the eyes and hair from him. He almost believes that the light just only has a face, a chest, arms, and wings.

Tears hit Palladium's bewitched face. The tears are not stinging him with saltiness, but giving him more of that special light in liquid form. The light has eyes, and Palladium wishes he can see the light's eyes. He wants to see the source of those wonderful tears.

He wants to thank the light for saving him. However, he is too stupefied to speak properly. Instead, he lifts his small, bony hand to the light's face. It is his way of conveying his gratefulness. He can feel the streaks of those special tears on the light's face.

Palladium buries his head deep into the light's chest. He closes his eyes and feels like he is drifting. He is warm and alive. He feels fey and so very, very happy. The light holds him tighter like he is not the sacrifice. He is being held like a strong Woodland Elf child.

"The light." Palladium sleepily murmurs like he has been sung a lullaby. Lullabies are for children who will become adults. He knows that he will never become an adult for he is the weakest Woodland Elf. Yet, in the light's embrace, he is doubting his inevitable death.

"The light." Palladium repeats once again like a spell for protection. He never wants to part from the light. He wants to be with the light forever. If he dies, then he will lose the light. He has to live, so the light will be always with him. In his final moments before his slumber, he has found a dream.


Author's Comments- Originally, this was supposed to be done two days ago. Yet, I needed to do some revisions. It was supposed to be shorter, but I added some additional paragraphs because it felt more right. Can anyone guess who the light is? I can't confirm it, but most of you have probably figured it out by now. Happy Holidays to all of you.