-Silhouettes-
-Part One-
A biting wind blew through Mossflower Woods, the skeletal figures of the bare-limbed trees swaying beneath an endless gray sky, the noon sun hidden above the clouds. Snow covered the ground, rolling dunes of white desert as far as the eye could see, broken only by a few trees as white flecks of snow fell from the heavens. Plunging through the hillocks of snow, a small, heavily cloaked figure struggled, paws freezing horribly within thick boots as it searched the horizon, hopeful for the sight of its destination.
"C'mon, where are ye?" The figure muttered to itself, paws wrapped around itself as it struggled to keep warm, hopes slowly dying away as they were replaced by images of death, a frozen body. It paused for a moment, leaning against a tree for a moment, breathing hard. "It jus' 'as ta be 'round 'ere." Slowly, with paws shaking, it slid off its hood to reveal a young mouse maid, teeth chattering in the cold as she removed a small piece of parchment from her cloaks, a map.
Lessee, map says it's northeast so it should be around here somewhere. She wondered silently to herself, replacing the map before pulling here cloaks around her tighter, trying to keep out the cold. She took a few steps forward, peering through the snow for her destination in near desperation, she had been traveling for hours and ever so slowly the thoughts had been building, she though herself a fool to have come in such cold.
"Show yerself already." She muttered angrily, anger for the freezing snows that blocked her path as well as herself. Then she saw it, looming in the distance, standing up from the white desert as a monolith, Saint Ninian's Church. "Finally." She cried out in exasperation before jogging towards the church, eager to get this last leg of he journey over with. She made it about half way before her boot connected with something soft, sending her tumbling into a snow bank, but she stayed down only for a moment, jumping back to her foot paws quickly, snow covering her face as she held out her dagger. "All right, who did that?" She demanded, glancing around for anybeast, waiting a moment before she saw it, there in the snow, a small patch of fabric standing out from the snows.
What the? She wondered, stepping towards it carefully, wary of everything around here as she tapped the spot with her boot.
"Hello? Are you okay?" She wondered aloud as she slowly pushed away the snow with her boot, dagger still out and at the ready, but whatever it was it didn't move, the only sign of life being the light rising and falling of the snow as it breathed in soft, ragged gasps. Sheathing her dagger, the mouse maid fell to her knees, brushing away the snow carefully to reveal a shivering lump of reddish fur, a kind of creature she had never laid eyes upon before. "How long have you been out here?"
Doesn't look like it's in too good of shape . . . The mouse maid whispered silently in her mind, eyes taking on a look of worry as she pulled the creature into a sitting position, the only things she was able to tell was that it was alive, if only barely, and that it was a female.
"Jus' 'ang on, I'll 'ave ye someplace warm soon." She whispered to the unconscious creature as she pulled it onto her back, struggling beneath the weight before she made her way slowly forwards toward the church, the unconscious maids foot paws dragging through the snow. "It'll jus' a moment, don' worry 'bout it." Stumbling, the mouse maid soon reached the door to the church, a pair of great, oaken doors with intricate carvings covering the front. Setting her burden on the ground, the mouse maid proceeded to pound on the door, hoping that somebeast would be up and about. "C'mon, somebeast open the door!" She yelled, pounding on the door ceaselessly, pain shooting through her arms.
"Who's there?" A small panel of the door opened to reveal a pair of eyes, a curious glare plainly obvious as they stared at the mouse maid from within the church.
"Open up, I've got a beast in need of help!" She demanded, yelling through the hole at the beast on the other side. After a moment of silence the panel slammed shut and the door creaked open, a tall, sturdy otter stepping out from the darkness, holding a stave in one paw.
"Where is this beast?" The otter demanded, his eyes narrowed at the mouse maid, filled with mistrust towards her.
"She's right 'ere an' she need yer help immediately." She replied, immediately returning to the small, shivering bundle that she had brought and trying to lift her as the otter stood there, unmoving. "C'mon, ain't ye goin' ta 'elp a beats in need?"
"Aye." The otter answered, nodding his head in agreement, but his reluctance was obvious as he stared at the unconscious maid's foot paws, red fur standing out from the glistening snows. Grabbing the maid's body the two beasts carefully carried her into the church, candles lighting their way partially as they moved quickly down the aisle, bound for the back rooms where the beds were kept. "Father!" The otter called out, as they got closer to the door that led to the back rooms, a bright flickering light spilling from the doorway.
"What is it my son?" A voice called back before an old mouse appeared in the doorway, a kindly smile upon its face as it stood, wearing a flowing white robe.
"Injured beast, she found it out in the snows." The otter explained in short, quick sentences as he and the mouse maid came to the doorway.
"Come this way, quickly." He old mouse ordered, the smile disappearing from his face, displaced of look of utter seriousness as he led the way into the back rooms. Struggling with the unconscious maid, they stumbled after the mouse, finding their way to a clean empty bed near the fireplace before setting the maid down gently in the bed. Almost immediately the old mouse began to examine the unconscious maid, brow furrowed in concentration as he began to peel away the layers of wet cloth as the mouse maid looked on.
"Come, I'll show you to your bed." The otter spoke softly, pulling the mouse maid away from the bed and towards a small stairwell, hidden next a small bookshelf. "I'll show you to your room. Do not worry, Father Ninian is very skilled in these arts, your friend will be all right." The otter reassured her as the mouse maid glance over her shoulder to where the beast lay in bed, the old mouse treating her with the utmost care.
"Hopefully . . ." She muttered before following the otter and disappearing up the stairs.
---
It's just over the next hill . . .
I know it's there . . .
It has to be . . .
So tired . . . Her lungs burning, her limbs aching, the young vixen carried on through the winds that ripped through her fur, chunks of ice frozen all over her body as she struggled onwards. She muttered softly to herself, trying to convince herself to keep fighting back the wave of tiredness that slowly crept over her, she began to sink to her knees, unable to feel her foot paws as they stumbled and she pitched forwards into the snow.
So tired . . .
Just need to close my eyes . . .
Just for a minute . . .
Just a little rest . . . Eyes closing slowly, she gave into the demands of her tired body, allowing her mind to drift off into the unconscious realm, the darkness swallowing her up as she was slowly buried in the snows. Slowly her subconscious asserted itself, bringing her into the world of dreams and nightmares where she suddenly found herself standing in the middle of a dark hallway, both ends hidden in shadow.
"Where am I?" She wondered aloud as she glanced around the poorly lit hall, looking for some sign of life, some answer. Breathing softly, she wandered forwards down the hallway, following a feeling she felt deep within her heart, there was something to be found, something important. She knew it was there, lost somewhere in the darkness.
What is this? She silently wondered, glancing around the hall until finally she saw it there breaking through the darkness, an eerie red glow, the outline of a door. Moving quickly the vixen jogged to the door, hesitating for only a moment before passing through the threshold and into the room. It was a small, cramped room, perhaps only a few yards on each side. The entire thing bathed in a dark crimson glow from a single window on the opposite wall, the room was packed from floor to ceiling with white sheets covering something.
"What is this?" She wondered moments before the smell hit her, the smell of rot, the smell of death, it a strong acidic smell the forced her backwards into the wall where just moments ago a door had existed. Clasping her paws over her muzzle to keep the smell out she glanced around the room and realized where she was, the room was filled with bodies laying on shelves covered in crimson stained sheets that dripped with the blood of the dead, which pooled at the center of the room. Gathering he courage she made her way over to the wall opposite and lifted off the sheet to find a mouse laying there, body horribly mutilated, all the skin had been removed, its face frozen in what seemed to be a look of terror and pain.
What happened?
Why has this happened?
What is this?
"What are you doing here?" A voice demanded from behind her, startling the young vixen as she spun to face the beast, another mouse wearing what looked to be a healer's garb.
"Who are you?" She demanded, shaking with fear, confused by everything around her as she glanced the mouse up and down, seeing his bloodstained clothes, wondering if he had done this.
"I am the keeper of these halls, now answer the question." He demanded, stepping past the vixen to replace the sheets on the mouse, a fresh set of white sheets. Suddenly the room seemed to shift and change, the crimson replaced by a dull white light, everything was suddenly sterile.
"I don't know. I don't even know where here is." She replied, shaking as she glanced around, the door had reappeared and the smell of death had dissipated, leaving a strange emptiness in the room. "What is all this?"
"This is nothing, they are nothing." The mouse answered before stepping back towards the door as the room was suddenly enveloped in darkness. "This is transition. Your transition."
"Transition? What?" The vixen whispered to herself as the mouse and the room disappeared into the darkness.
"You shall understand soon, do not worry." A whispered response echoed back as the world twisted in darkness, swirls of color and shadow filling the vixen's vision as she stood, confused by it all.
What is this all? Is this some sort of hell? Is this the Dark Forest? She wondered silently as the world twisted around her, constantly in motion until she saw it, small pieces of a puzzle forming before her, a mirror of reality. She found herself in the church that she had heard about from her mother, her destination, she found herself in the aisle of the church, rows of candles lining the walls as she stood among chaos.
"Why?" She asked, sinking to her knees, falling into a pool of blood, the mouse lying before her, cut to pieces. Glancing around she found the church devoid of life, filled with death, the bodies of dozens of beasts, all mangled horridly, their blood staining the walls, coating the building with a fresh coat of crimson, a putrid smell hanging in the air. The shadows shifted on the wall, the forms of demons dancing through waterfalls of crimson in some sort of twisted celebration of the horrors that filled the church.
"There is no reason, there is no logic, there is only the truth. This is your truth. This is your reality, there is nothing more. Only the shadows." The mouse's voice whispered, echoing eerily in the building, as he lay before her, unmoving and obviously dead. Shuddering, the vixen glanced at her paws to find the stained with blood, their blood, her blood.
No, this isn't. It can't be . . . Slowly the world began to fall apart, bodies twisting horribly in the shadows as the world was swallowed by the darkness, she saw herself fall apart, skin melting away from paws, muscle and sinew twisting off into the darkness, bone falling away into dust and then there was nothingness, only silence as reality came back. The conscious world slowly flooding back in.
"Can you hear me?" A voice echoed in the dark as the vixen's eyes fluttered open to find a blurry face staring down at her, a stone ceiling above.
"Huh?" She wondered, confused as slowly the dream disappeared from her mind, some part of her desperately clinging to it, trying to remember it, knowing its importance. "Where am I?"
"Thank the heavens you're all right, my child. You're safe and sound." The mouse smiled warmly, relieved to hear that she was all right. "Welcome to Saint Ninian's."