What's this life for? Chapter I: What's this life for?, a reign of fire fanfic

What's this life for?

Date: 6/7/03 10:46:51 (am eastern daylight time)

Updated: 9/17/06

Disclaimer: Reign of Frie bleongs to Rob Bowman. I own nothing nor am I making any money off this. No Flames please. If you don't like it, Don't read any further than you will. I proof read this as best I could, sorry if there's any more problems. Enjoy! Forgive me if the timelines seem off, I tried counting the years as best I could (it wasn't easy).

Hooray for a child
that make's it through
if there's any way
because,
the answer lies in you

The wheels of a thin framed bicycle spun at a medium speed as it wheeled freely down the Concrete hills of Edinburgh. 13-year-old Dave Creedy (mostly just Creedy to his friends) rounded the corner passed Jossy's Pub on his new blue bike with the wind flowing through his curly brunette hair. His blue eyes were set fimly on his goal to get home after coming from his school. His legs ached not one bit as peddled faster and faster, in a race to get across the street to his small apartment. The radio hanging on his pants crackled with static as he passed several metal objects.

...Reports of burning countries and rain forests, have been pieced together, to what scientists say are Dragons. Biblical creatures of medieval tales, and folk legends. "Such a creature," states the government officials, "does not exist. This is simply an act of terrorism upon the nation, the perp..."

Creedy reached down and flicked the "off" button on his radio. He looked up at the sky for a brief moment; It was darker than usual, even on a cloudy day. His eyebrows furrowed in confusion, he continued on down the street toward his home.

Province Creedy stalked around her house inside her kitchen, fumbling with the pots and pans, dropping them into soapy dishwater. Her hands went searching under the surface of suds for the dishrag. The sound of a bike being brought up to the wall next to the backdoor was brought to her attention. Her hazle-blue eyes shifted from the sink and looked up toward the window. A smile graced her features as she watched her kick around a soccer ball that had been chewed up by the next-door neighbor's Bloodhound.

Afrter a while Creedy stopped kicking the ball and headed for the backdoor. Province watched the door swing open, and Creedy step inside with a wary look on his face. Province waited until his curious mind ebbed and his blue eyes turned toward her. "Hi mum," He said in a cheery voice. Province nodded in response. Creedy bit his bottom lip, his gaze lingered on his mother for the longest time before he headed for the exit of the kitchen.

"Dave?"

Creedy turned his head toward his mother, with raised eyebrows. "Yea, Mum?" He replied. Province turned slowly away from the sink, she gave her son a gentle smile. "How was school today?" She asked. Creedy chuckled rubbing his behind. "Painful as always," He joked, walking off. Province forced herself to laugh once he was gone. With that out of her system she retuned to scrubbing her pots and pans. She wished he was happier. Things weren't great around the household, she would admit that; When his father left this world, it seemed that whatever remnant of Creedy's boisterous and upbeat personality, fled with his soul. Province regarded her murky reflection in the water with disdain, the uneasy feeling twisting in her stomach did not leave her.

They're soul's are lost

Because

they could never find

What's this life for?

What this life for?

What's this life for...

Creedy shuffled into his bedroom, dropping his book bag onto the floor. His room was dark due his curtains being closed, and he was too tired to open them. The only lively thing inside the room was a disco light hanging from the wall, reflecting its' multicolored neon light on the wall as it spun around and around.

He flopped onto his bunk for 2 playing around with his stuffed animal which happened to a plush-wolf doll, who look no more scary than Stephen King's IT. "What a bloody bad movie," He muttered to himself, rememerbing the time he watched it with his mother. She did all the jumping and grabbing of the hand while he looked on boredom, wondering when the film would end. He exhaled slowly resting his chin on the back of his hand. Soon afterwards he succumbed to sleep, too tired to even think about dinner.

Outside the winged beast thought to be nothing more than a myth, a legend in stories, circled over Scotland above the clouds, ready to bring it's fire upon the unsuspecting city. Tucking its wings against its body the beast dove donward at encredible speeds. When the city was close enough to his liking, he threw his head back. With one intake of air the beast expelled the mixture of nitro and napalm from his mouth that quickly transformed into a roaring ball of fire, ripping through the clouds, toward the streets and buildings...

Creedy awoke to the smell of something burning, burning like someone torched it. He rolled lazily about in his bed, his brow furrowed in concern as the smell of smoke grew in intensity. With a dry cough his blue eyes snapped open; There was an almost supernatural glow emitting from the end of his bed, however, this was not what alarmed him. Pushing up from his lying position his face blanched as he discovered his bedroom floor was set aflame. Another oddity was the roof of the apartment building had vanished, leaving his room unprotected against the fire and rain. "What the bloody hell?" He cried frantically. Creedy leapt from off his bed, careful not step into the flames, he dashed out of his room in a blind frenzy, refusing to give into the agony of his choking lungs. He stumbled aimlessly toward what he hoped was an exit only as the entire complex was came down around his ears. His heart pounded wickedly in his chest, the fear of the building coming down onto him was maddening. Creedy leapt over the couch in the middle of the floor heading down the corridor before him that lead him to his mother. As much as much as he wanted to leave, his mother was his first priority. He hoped he was fast enough to reach her in time.

"Mum! Mum!" Creedy yelled as loud as his lungs would allow him. He rushed through the burning hall toward the missing doorway to his mother's room. He took a daring leap from the broken wall into the room. Not a single thing was recongizable through the haze of smoke. The rooftop was also missing from this room as well. "Mum where are you?" Creedy continued through the fire, searching for his mother. His mind was blinded by panic, he attempted to take another step forward when a corpse fell through the open space above him. It wriggled for a few seconds, a strong indication the person was either still alive or dying as the fire swirled around its body. Creedy would've just mistaken it for another person living in the complex, if it had not been for the coral shell necklace laced around the corpses' fingers. The 13 year old stumbled backward in horror as he looked upon the brunt face of Province, her mouth agape, her eyes wide with fear forever frozen in her charred features. Acting upon instinict, Creedy leapt over his dead mother and headed down the burning stairs just outside the second exit of her room, dodging falling support beams and burning debris. He made his way through the smoke tumbling out of the front door of the complex. Fresh air hit his lungs, he gagged on it as his lungs forced the smoke out of them. Vomit flowed freely out of his mouth nearly choking him as it did so. Creedy could see nothing beyond his own tears and delerium.

Staggering onto his feet, Creedy found himself caught up in a mob of the fleeing denisens of Edinburgh. His legs were forced to move with the crowd as he was pushed along with running crowd. There was no time to catch a breather while being crushed and smacked about by the fear-stricken population. For the second time in his entire life Creedy felt frightened and alone.

I see your soul,

It's kinda gray

You see my heart

You look away

Don't say a last prayer

Because

you could never find..

Two Months later:

Creedy opened his eyes with a shudderning gasp. His body could not shake the trampled feeling in his bones, having just awakened from a reoccuring nightmare. He shifted slightly trying to gather his wits, the more he moved the worse his body would ache. He rolled over onto his back with a sigh. Creedy cast his gaze upward at the cloudless blue skies, falling into a daydream. He laid outside Edinburgh's borders, on the ash ground of what used to be the beautiful highlands. While others had feld completely from the borderes of the city, Creedy found himself unable to move too far from his home. He hid behind an overturned volks wagon. He was surprised to say the least that the Dragons hadn't sniffed him out in the last two months he resided there. In his mind was a picture of himself setting a flower field falling onto his back, watching the birds soaring through the sky. All of that which he imagined was gone in the inferno ofthe Dragon. The rain began to fall from the sky, Creedy's warm skin stung at the cool sensation of the rain droplets against it.

He sighed deeply rolling on his side to climb onto his feet. Teenager scanned the area around him; The ground before him was dead and black, there was not a sign of life as far as the eye could see. Clouds of smoke hung in the air as more raised from the burning buildings. He looked down beside his feet resided a scarf blowing in the wind held by a twig. Kneeling, Creedy removed the scarf from the twig and wrapped it around his neck.

With on last look upon his burning home, Creedy began trudging down the hill looking for someplace to go. If such place even existed anymore.

What's this life for?

What's this life for...

Northumberland, England
2010:

Now at the mature age of 15, Creedy had traveled all around Scotland until he found a convienent enough transportation to head to England, dodging Dragons whenever he saw them in the sky hoping they hadn't already seen him. He hualed his burnt suitcase-on-wheels behind him as he dragged his feet across the rocky road. Creedy swallowed against the dryness in his throat, his chest heaved heavily. His legs felt like overstretched rubber, from running for his life. A Dragon had flown overhead not several minutes ago, throwing Creedy into another mad dash across a practically empty landscape. Strangely enough, the beast did not pay him any mind as it flew overhead and simply went about its way. One more step will be the death of me, he thought wearily, coming up to a boulder. He leaned heavily against it, his lungs burnning from the deep intakes of air. Sighing deeply Creedy closed his eyes and drifted off to restless sleep.

Nighttime had fallen over England faster than expected, making it hard to focus on where he were going in the dark. Quinn Abercromby stared wearily into the darkness. He and twenty year old Barlow McCoy traveled throughout Ashen City, heading toward the boarders after Barlow discovered another person somewhere around the area with his telescope. Quinn climbed onto a burnt car to scan the area from a higher position. "Quinn," Barlow called. The 14-year-old turned in response to Barlow's call, with an arched eyebrow. "Shouldn't ya' be downwind of the Dragon's smell?" He whispered harshly.

Quinn's eyebrow's furrowed. "Downwind? Whada mean Barlow?"

Barlow rolled his eyes in annoyance. This bloke wasn't a bright as he thought he was. Since Quinn was still confused by Barlow's notion, the man pointed to the ground. Quinn's eyes lit up in realization and leapt from off the top of the car. A boyish grin graced his features as he approached his comrade. "Sorry 'bout that Barlow," He said sheepishly. Barlow rolled his eyes in exasperation, he brushed past Quinn and continued down the path. "C'mon, let's find a place to sleep," Barlow muttered. Quinn followed quickly behind, the notion of slumber tempting enough to allow Barlow to take temporary lead.

But they ain't here anymore,

Don't have to settle the score

'Cause we all live, under the Reign..

Creedy awoke around midnight; Still groggy from slumber it took him but a moment to realize the time of day since it was hardly darker than nightfall. A disgruntled sigh escaped his lips as he looked about the darkness. He leaned over his suitcase, opening the case he reached inside and grabbed his flashlight. It was hardly enough light to venture onward but Creedy would take his chances anywhere but there. He dragged his tired feet across ashened ground he began to drift in and out of sleep his head leaned over a few times, it was enough to tell him to find someplace to sleep and continue journeying later. Creedy was fortunate enough to come across a demolished building inside of what looked to be a village from what little he could see through his flashlight. Turning his flashlight off he dropped onto his knees and leant up against what was left of a wall of the village and fell asleep once more. The dragons never once crossed his mind.

Creedy awoke feeling refreshed and well rested. Rubbing his blue eyes, he climbed onto his feet grabbing his suitcase. He resumed his journeying once more. Luckily he studied maps in school or he'd be completely lost. He figured he was in Northumberland, County Virginia or what was left of it anyway. Creedy was hardly paying attention to where he was going when his foot hit something soft a fleshy. Creedy's eyebrows furrowed in confusion, kneeling down Creedy uncovered the lump and discovered a boy who was asleep, obviously. He was no older than him maybe. With one finger he poked the teen in the side causing him to stirr but he did not wake. Creedy huffed in frustration and decided to use more drastic tactics ... as soon as he came up with one.

"Oi!" He hissed, attempting to shake him out of his slumber. The boy's eyes opened, a groan emitted from his mouth. Creedy moved aside while the teenager turned to face his assailant. At first, sleep clouded his eyes and made it hard for Quinn to even keep his eyes open. He rubbed his eyes pushing himself up so that he was supported by his elbows, his vision cleared and he gazed upon a teenager covered in filth. "Who, are you?" He asked, wearily. Creedy scanned the area around him before considering answer to the teenager's question. "Dave, Dave Creedy," Creed answered. "But, just call me Creedy."

Quinn rose from the ground, he still felt a bit groggy from sleeping on the ground --which was less than warm--, but did his best to keep it from showing in his face. He extended a hand which Creedy grasped after a moment's hesitance. "Name's Quinn, Quinn Abercromby," The fourteen year old replied. "But you can me, Quinn."

Two boy's laughed at each other's mocking. Barlow awoke from his sleep the second he heard laughter ringing in his above him. His gray eyes rested upon Creedy. There was something about the young man that made Barlow suspicious. "Oi!" He shouted, making Creedy jump two feet away from Quinn with a horrified shout. The young man stumbled backward falling onto his bottom. Quinn laughed clearly amused by the fifteen year old's reaction to Barlow. "Cripes," Creedy muttered in backround while Quinn laughed.

"Who's this, Quinn?" Barlow grunted climbing onto his feet. Both young men watched the older man reach for his gun. Quinn rolled his eyes, he figured the 20 year old man didn't take too well with being awakened by others than himself. Quinn gestured lazily to Creedy then to Barlow. "This Barlow is Dave . . . Creedy that is," The fourteen year old introduced the fourteen year old.

Climbing onto his feet Creedy dusted himself off along the way coming up to Barlow and extended his hand. "Just call me Creedy, if you please," He said, awaiting Barlow's grip. Barlow eyed the boy's hand with obvious displeasure and grimaced in return. Embarrassed, Creedy put his hands behind his back watching Barlow move away from him. "Wanker," Creedy gumbled under his breath kicking a rock.

Quinn moved a little closer to Creedy's side with an amused grin. "Don't mind Barlow, you get used to his PMS-like moods," He whispered loud enough for Barlow to ear. Creedy grunted in response, concealing a insult with a cough, he did very little to conceal it with his hand barely over his mouth receiving a glare from Barlow.

Clearing his throat Creedy asked, "Where were you headed exactly?" Quinn shrugged, his eyes focused elsewhere. "Barlow, says we might head for Northumberland, or something," He replied. Creedy huffed at the prospect of more walking. That's about all he did half of his life. Or run, sleep, and eat when he could or what he could find. "Well, then I'd say we'd best be heading in that direction, then. Huh?" Creedy chuckled. Quinn sent the older teen a wary expression in response to the newcomer. The two followed after a muttering Barlow.

Of the one king,
One king,
One king,
But they ain't here anymore
Northumberland, England
2020 A.D.

The old door to 32 year Quinn, 19 year old Jared, and 33 year old Creedy's bedroom creaked with each wind that blew it farther open. The older man cracked open on eye peering through his plaid thin sheet. The sound was beginning to form a rhythm all on its own. Sliding out of the bed, his bare feet touched the ground sending a chill up his spine. Extending his hand Creedy pushed the door forward, hoping it would close as he laid back on his bed awaiting sleep to claim him. The door hit the wall with a loud bang. Creedy lifted himself out of the bed, startled.

Standing before him was a young man, dressed in a blue garment and brown loafers. "Willem!" He sighed loudly. "Christalmighty, don't do that again!" The 10-year-old boy Willem snickered in amusement, mostly at the look on Creedy's face. "Quinn says to get up. Remember? Your the castle enforcer?" Willem pointed, in an almost snide tone. Creedy nodded in response. Willem skipped down the dreary stone corridors humming an unfamilar tune. Biting the side of his lip, Creedy searched for his boots under the bed.

Don't have settle no Goddamn Score,

'Cause we all live under the reign,

I said of the one king

one king

Creedy stalked around on the catwalk of the castle with his hands inside his filthy coat, watching the windmill wings turn in a medium pace. His eyes then wandered the lifeless sky above him. Its gray and dark contrast made the ashen ground more to dread even to look upon. The image of his mother's corpse still hung heavy in his mind, though not as much as it used to when he was only but an adolescent. Frightened and grief-stricken without anyone to care for him. A frown graced his lips as he leaned over the wall. His gaze was drawn downward upon the sound of footsteps trotting down stairs. Creed fixed his gaze on Quinn rushing down the stairs. Curious, Creedy hurried across the catwalk to see what was so urgent.

"...What is this? We all decided Eddie, you as well. Dig in, work together out last 'em!" Creedy heard Quinn saying, finally being able to eavesdrop. He had been posponed by Jared's twenty-one questions. He stepped into room being acknowledged by Michelle.

Creedy nodded back just the same, he then turned his attention to Quinn and Eddie. "Eight years I've listened to you ... and for what? Two kids & a wife buried on the road. I'm not loosin' these Quinn," Eddie quipped. Quinn realized that he was not going to get through to Eddie, without warning he walked over to the jeep. Pushing himself upward he reached into the jeep and yanked the keys out of the ignition. He dangled the keys in front of Eddie's face in mocking manner, his face conorted with anger. Eddie's mannerism mirrored Quinn's to a 'T', his face twisted with equal rage. Creedy could pratically sense the tension between the two. If this kept up they were going to be

"Give me the key's Quinn," He ordered calmly. Quinn jingled the Key's in front of Eddie's face. "You Bloody take 'em from me," Quinn snarled, with a glare. The younger man's hand balled into a fist capturing the keys within his grasp.

Eddie's gaze narrowed at Quinn, his hands balled into a fist ready to strike the unquestionable leader. "It's a community, not a prison," Eddie hissed. Quinn had yet to back down, in other words those two were going to have a staring contest until one of them backed down, which wasn't going to happen soon. Creedy had to step in before things got any worse.

"Eddie, you can argue as much as you like it makes no difference," Creedy said with an annoyed. "If you go out those gates then jeopardize this community. Now you can stay out there, because your not coming back." With not another word from Eddie, Quinn brought the keys back up from his side, he held them up to Eddie's face once more. "All right, I'm keepin' these," He said, before storming out of the tent.

Creedy gave the group a quick glance then left to catch up with Quinn. His eyes scanned the area until he found Quinn trudging up the hill with one hand on his hip. Breathing deeply Creedy marched quickly up the hill after his friend. "Hey, Quinn," He called, jogging up the rest of the way. Quinn looked up to his best friend with weary eyes. Quin hung his head down possibly to hide the weariness. Creedy rested his hands on Quinn shoulders tilting his head down to meet his friend's eye level. "You know, I'm your best friend. And sometimes even I don't like ya," Creedy chuckled. There was hardly anytime for Quinn to refact when Creedy's hand colided with his cheek. Quinn recoiled in mild shock, he locked eyes with his friend.

Creedy trudged backward up the hill with an amused grin on his face, Quinn laughed with a grin running his hand through his messy hair, following after Creedy shaking his head. "Sorry," Creedy lied. Quinn leaped after him with punches, shouting indistinctly. Creedy hunched over to protect his stomach, with his hands up in surrender. Quinn gave him one last punch, he pulled Creedy to his side laughing.

"Oh, I hate you," Creedy sighed laughing. Quinn chuckled giving him a push. "Always a kidder, Creedy," He retorted. Creedy shrugged with an innocent look on his face which landed him another punch. What else could he say. He loved to joke around in the bleakest of times. "Hey! Mercy Mr. Magnanimous," Creedy groaned, putting his hand onto his stomach. "Sorry 'bout that," Quinn jogged up the castle stairs.

"I'll see you later then, huh?" Creedy shouted. Quinn just waved, just as he rushed up another flight of stairs. Rolling his eyes the 33-year-old headed back to his duties.

(END)