Thunder- Prodigy
I hear thunder but there's no rain
This type of thunder breaks walls and window pane
I hear thunder but there's no rain
This type of thun-thun-thun-thun
"I promise" Those were the words Sjin told me all those years ago and up until now, he kept it. He tried his hardest but he couldn't keep it up and because of that, some dire consequences formed. It started- or should I say ended- on just any ordinary day. I was in my bar, as usual, with the sun beating down through the windows. I was a little quieter than usual though, with only a couple of customers getting a drink. There seemed to be a weird feeling hovering around at that time, but I dusted it away. From time to time it came back though, and I found myself glancing over to the caged up creeper, to see if anything had happened there. But no, it was all just the same. Time seemed to travel rather slowly, which was not surprising since I had nothing to do.
Just before noon Sjin popped round, with a handful of meat from the many innocent animals he'd hunted down and slaughtered.
"I reckoned you were hungry." He said, spilling it out onto the counter. Giving a smile, I thanked him and placed two of the many joints into the furnace. "So, got any plans today Minty?" I focussed back to him after slipping into yet another day-dream.
"No, not really. Half the day has already been and I've not been doing anything so far." Slouching onto the bar stool opposite me, Sjin sort of gave it away that he hadn't been doing anything exciting either. "What about you then? Anything good going on?" He gave a half-hearted laugh.
"Well apart from slaving around at Sipsco, no. Well… actually I might meet up with a few of the others later." I nodded before pulling the slabs of pork out the furnace and onto plates, in front of Sjin and myself. Instantly digging in, we finished after no time and started talking instead. Customers came and went without us barely paying attention. And after all that time, I believed there was an actual purpose to the day, rather than letting it drift by whilst I sat.
After a while Sjin slowly stood up and stretched his tired arms and legs.
"Well," He said, taking a hand quickly through his hair "Looks like I better be off to the Jaffa Factory." He started to walk towards the door.
"Sjin," Turning around briefly, he looked at me with his muddy brown eyes. "It wasn't the food that really made my day, and I know this sounds dead cheesy, but all I really needed was you and your company. Thanks for coming Sjin, even if I'm not the most fun of people." He smiled; a grin that only pure happiness could form.
"Anything for you. Tell you what, I'll come again tomorrow- for longer though."
"Really?!"
"Yeah, I promise." Turning, he left and walked towards Honeydew Inc. looking back once. Quietly sitting in my empty bar, I let my thoughts drift. After all my low expectations, that day had been a good day. But only when circumstances are that good, the only path that follows is nearly always downhill.
A grumble shook the earth causing me to instantly sit up straight and look out the window. Rumbling and explosions came from the sky and the dark clouds that had formed, flashed colours they shouldn't have. My eyes stayed glued to the window. I didn't dare to move; I didn't dare to look away. I had no idea what was going on, yet I was too scared to miss it. A single ball of fire flew from the sky, straight at me. Within seconds of me seeing it and panicking too much to act, the flame hit the building- instantly destroying part of the wall and setting the pub alight.
There was no mistake. I knew my eyes weren't deceiving me. I knew I had to get away. And I did.
Jumping over the counter, I dodged the flames that so eagerly wanted to burn my skin, and headed for the door as fast as possible. Whilst debris fell from the ceiling, I ran out the door and out onto the empty field, where I looked up into the sky; searching for an answer to this mess. And my answer did come. Two dark figures emerged from behind the greyened-clouds and flew across the sky, shooting fire, arrows and laser as they did so. Not the answer I wanted.
t-t-t-thunder
t-t-t-inside
t-t-t-thunder
t-t-t-inside
Frozen, I continued to stare up into the sky; the fire spreading everywhere. My mouth opened but no sound came out. It was almost as if something had taken a hold of my lungs and squeezed them so much, that no air could enter or exit me. Glass shattered from a distance and the small pieces lay by my feet. The figures grew closer, and although I couldn't see their faces, I knew for certain who they were. Taking a step backwards, I watched as one of the figures landed on the ground. Gun in hand, they shot lasers up into the air- hoping to shoot down the other figure- but missed. I bit my lip, it now deciding to bleed slightly.
Then with one final swoop in the air, the flying figure shot a line of arrows at the other- causing them to instantly fall to the floor. With 20 maybe 30 arrows shot, there was no doubt that they were dead. The only thing I didn't know was: who had died. Either way, they were a friend who died for no good reason. I ran up to the dead man screaming as I went.
"No! Why did you kill him?! Have you no heart?" But with every step I took closer, the more I regretted the step I had taken.
My feet reached his body; Sjin's body. I fell to the floor, not believing my eyes. For a second earlier I hoped it had been Lalna on the floor, but no.
"Sjin… you promised…" I placed my hand on a space on his chest where no arrows were. His heart made its last beats. "You promised you would stay out of trouble, that you wouldn't get into another fight with either Lalna or Rythian if it came to it. You promised that war would never cross your mind again, that you had grown up. You promised that you and Lalna had turned over a new leaf. Sjin… you promised… that you would be with me again tomorrow."
A tear slipped my eye. Lalna walked towards me, his face expressionless.
"I'm sorry," he said, crouching next to me and patting my back. "but this never happened…"
A sharp pain spread throughout my body. I clasped my chest, wishing for it to cease. But it continued to get increasingly worse. Blood trickled down my back. Glaring, I turned to Lalna but he was walking away, a grin spread across his face and in his hand a blood coated knife.
Everyone leaves a note before they go. Sjin's being the promise he couldn't hold; Mine being the memories that I hold dear. Even if no one's around to record them, I know it'll stay between me and Sjin in whatever happens. I promise.