Hi guys. Here's the next chapter. It's fairly big so I'm splitting it into two or three sections. Thank you everyone for your continued support.
My gut was screaming at me, begging me to turn back and have nothing more to do with this, but how could I? I was involved no matter what I tried to make myself believe.
How could this be happening? He was never supposed to leave me. Never.
I sniffled back a sob, a cry of despair lodging in my throat, threatening to expose my inner weakness, causing my breathing to falter as I gasped.
I was scared, terrified of facing this life alone. I'd already been faced with that prospect once. I wished Hex had been allowed to come with me, so I wouldn't have to do this by myself.
The path through the trees became a blur as i struggled to keep the tears to myself. I kept on walking, my feet knew the way. I'd traveled it countless times as a child. This was the pathway to my childhood home, the place where my master found and raised me.
It was an ancient path that wound effortlessly through towering trees far older than any living elf. They were of varying species, too numerous to count. It really was a life element's paradise. The path itself was nothing but fallen leaves and bark worn into the soil by multitudes of feet over the years.
I used to entertain myself when I was younger with thoughts of my ancestors. I can't be sure if I'm actually from this area or even this island by birth but I've never let that hold me back. I used to try and picture as many different elves as I could walking this very path. Some great, others humble. Some with impressive swords or spears and others with crafts to trade and heavy bundles bound for their villages. I used to try and picture my parents as well, walking this pathway with a baby wrapped in a bundle of warm material but it's near impossible. Sometimes I was able to get glimpses of faces, but they were always gone within the second. A woman with shoulder length frizzy hair tied back as best she could manage with loose strands falling over her face and the brightest smile I have ever seen. Leaning over her shoulder there is always a man, not much taller than she and with a smile just as charming. His face is always scarred, imperfections cutting through his lips, over his cheeks and across his nose. His hair is cut short, but just long enough to run fingers through and just a touch darker than hers. This is all I've ever been able to glimpse before they're once again gone from my life.
I've never allowed myself to dwell on them, to waste my time trying to remember people from my past when I've had so much going on in my present. Sometimes it really does get to me though.
I allowed myself the faintest of smiles before my mouth contorted back to a frown beneath my mask. Every bit of happiness this track once brought me was now replaced with distress and dread.
"Welcome home sister," he bowed before me, his light blue hair tied loosely into a bun. He wore traveling robes, very plain in appearance, an off white colour and of a rough texture. They extended all the way down to his feet, coming to a stop mere millimeters from the ground.
Leif extended his arm for me to take, smiling softly when I accepted his gesture. I knew I would need the support for what was to come.
I had met him a fair few times while I was living with my master. Leif had been the student before me. I didn't really know what he had been trained in, but I always felt safe and calm whenever he came to visit us. He seemed to carry the grace of the forest with him.
Looking around the clearing we found ourselves in, I realized we were completely alone. Not even bird song could be heard. The whole place was already in mourning. The sun's light wasn't as warm as usual, the colours of the leaves were harsher than I remembered and the ground seemed crisper under foot.
In silence we made our way along the path with only the snapping of our boots on fallen bark and sticks to keep us company, dense vegetation eventually giving way to open forest and then opening up to another clearing.
This was my home.
This was were I used to train, sleep, laugh, play, cry, eat. This was were my master had found me and where he said I would always be welcome.
It felt different now. Cold and forbidding. I no longer felt welcome here. Without him, there was no home here. Not for me anyway, not anymore.
I looked to the hollow tree he had found me in and my heart gave a painful shutter. I knew it was wrong of me but I couldn't help but feel he was abandoning me as well, just like my birth parents.
Cynder's words were coming back to sting me once again.
"You alright?" Leif asked, gently placing a comforting hand over my own, the one that was clutching to his arm for dear life.
"I think so," I replied, refusing to meet his gaze. I just couldn't.
Our pace slowed as we reached the other side of the clearing. My heart was hammering against my ribs and my throat was clogged with an emotional lump making it impossible to swallow.
Behind the trees on the edge sat the well hidden cave where my Master spent his sleeping hours. I myself had spent my first few years sleeping in a well sheltered corner of the cave until he deemed me mature enough to live seperately from him in a small shelter built high up in the trees.
I knew it was still there, waiting for me to return and once again train beside my mentor. It would never come to be though. I knew this. I accepted this.
Entering his cave had been one of the most difficult things I had ever done. Leif had said very little since asking if I was alright, all colour drained from his face and his expression stony.
Before us lay our master. He kept his eyes closed for the most part, opening them briefly to greet us and take in how we appeared now. Shadows from torches mounted onto the stone walls danced before us, over his body before melting back into the darkness only to begin again with the next flicker of fire.
"My dear you're grown," he remarked, holding out a weathered old hand to me. I placed mine against it, struggling against the urge to turn and run, to block this whole thing out and drive it from my mind forever more.
His hands were still massive compared to my body. I'd still be able to sit on his palm if need be, just like the old days when he would take me on long walks through the trees and my legs would tire easily.
"I've been gone too long," I gasped. "I'm sorry."
"No child. You followed the path you made for yourself and I couldn't be prouder. Like a path diverging into two, we went our separate ways, but we are still one and the same when traced back to our source. It is what I wanted for you."
I didn't bother trying to hide my tears as I clutched his hand as tightly as I could. Sobs wracked my body and I was making horrible sounds but I didn't care. Leif kneeled beside me and pulled me into his arms, severing my contact with out master. I twisted in his grip and hid my face against his chest.
He smelled of leaves and grasses, rain and bark. He smelled like the forest itself and in that I found my comfort.
Never in my life have I felt so alone. I cared not for the occasional bird song or the chirp of the crickets as night drew closer, my thoughts were elsewhere, in happier moments I would have gladly stayed in.
As night wore on, Leif and I sat by his side. The hours passed and not one of us spoke a word. Everything that had needed to be said had already been spoken, anything else would have shattered the last of my reserve of strength and I think it was the same for Leif.
The master had already accepted his fate and he was at peace with it. He had lived a very long life and had many things to be proud of. Occasionally he would grunt in pain or gasp, sometimes his eyes would open and he would stare at us, a loving smile present. He didn't want us to mourn his passing, he wanted us to celebrate his life.
It was in the early hours of the morning, when all was still dark, that he passed away. Leif and I were both by his side when his eyes closed for the last time, Leif turned away not long after, his tears staining his pale green cheeks causing them to glint in the fire light. The stoney mask he had been wearing since I had arrived finally crumbled in a matter of mere seconds, mine following soon after.
Our sobs filled the once homey cave, quite possibly alerting everyone else of what had occurred.
Time dragged on slowly from that point. Minutes passed like hours everything simply seemed pointless. I felt a terrible void wrench open deep within my chest, a void that nothing would ever fill.
As we left the cave, we were consoled by the many various tribal leaders of the surrounding Elven villages, the mage of each clan entering the cave to confirm the Master's passing. Such is the tradition, or so I was told.
More gathered as the sun climbed higher into the sky, patiently waiting outside the cave to pay their respects. Among those gathered, I was able to recognize several tribes of Drow, elves influenced by the darker side of things, although they still had a great love of nature and a respect for the natural world as all elves do. Any other time they may have tried to attack me, I mean it was no secret for what I was in training for, but for now we found ourselves in an uneasy truce.
The looks they sent my way confirmed my suspicions, they definitely knew I was in training to become a Skylander.
Even so, when the time came, most of them placed a hand on my shoulder and whispered their condolences in a traditional elvish prayer for the dead. At least in a time of great mourning, my kind could change their colours, even just for a little while. My faith in the Elvish race was somewhat restored.
Much like when Cynder's bullying had gotten to me, time seemed to drift by as one ugly, obnoxious blur. The day of his passing was spent mostly in silent prayer for him and for the forest. No body ate anything and nothing much was said (with the exception of the young children who understood nothing of the importance of the occasion ) as hundreds of us, plus many other races gathered in what used to be 'our clearing' to mourn.
Darkness clawed it's way through the light, red and purple bleeding over the sky as the sun set, but still we sat. We would sit in silence until the last rays of sunlight had left the sky, taking with them the last of my Master's soul and washing him from the land of the living. Next came the bonfire, a massive pit of fire for us all to cook and sit around, occasionally dance and celebrate his life.
It didn't feel right to celebrate, not in the slightest. I had Leif by my side for most of the night with neither of us saying much. It was a little awkward. I told him a few times that I was fine, and every now and then he would wander off and get stuck in conversation with someone I didn't know. I took these moments to escape to a new spot, hoping to be just left alone. I would have run off into the trees if I could have, but I didn't want to show any disrespect. By the end of the night I had simply given up on trying to ditch Leif. He was more determined than Rider could be and I hoped it was just a brotherly instinct he was channeling.
Sunlight brought relief with it's brilliance. The large fire was extinguished and everyone retreated back to tents or where ever they were staying to sleep for a while. Leif went back to the cave and I stole myself away to my old tree house. It was exactly as I had left it, save for all the dust and the few vines that had worked their way inside. I really didn't care as I fell onto the bed and curled up. I was exhausted. I ignored the spider that came to rest on my arm as I lay there. The bed was too far gone to be of any comfort and the blankets were moth eaten, holes appearing here and there. There was a certain decaying wood smell to the air but in a way that lulled me to sleep. The last thing I remember was Mr Spider waving his hairy little legs in the air, possibly annoyed by my breathing.
That afternoon, a massive pit was dug out on his favourite hill top, where the afternoon sun caressed the land in the warmest shades of gold. This would be his final resting place, where he could forever watch over the land he loved so much. It was also one of his final wishes to be buried instead of cremated. Being as he was, I suppose he had a natural fear of fire, plus he was always going on about giving back the energy he took during his life.
I dragged myself away from my tree when Leif summoned me for our final goodbyes. By now things had started to sink in. He was gone, I had to accept it and everything had changed.
Leif kept throwing me odd looks when he thought I wasn't looking, never lasting for more that a second each time. He remainded mostly silent, muttering to himself every now and then under his breath. I was tempted to ask if he was alright, but that could end up in an ugly conversation I'd rather avoid.
I'm not good at comforting others, don't judge me.
When his glances become too much I excused myself from his company to prepare for the funeral. I switched my usual attire for a pair of pain brown leggings tucked into a pair of leather boots our Master once made for me and a simply black singlet. I also decide on a robe to wear over my clothing, with a hood to pull over my head for when every thing got to be too much. It was a very dark green colour, almost back except for when the sun hit it, another gift from my master.
I strapped a few blades around my thighs and the tops of my boots just in case. Trust can be a ninja's downfall.
The sounding of a horn calls us all to the clearing once again, where we move as a single mass to the grave site. The body is already there, having been carried on a large stretcher by several strong young men.
I pull the hood over my head when I feel their eyes on me. So what if you had an important job and now everyone knows how strong you are? I'm not so easily impressed and I let them know with my lack of interest and avoidance of eye contact.
I almost smiled at their disappointed, down cast faces.
The ceremony itself didn't last for all that long. Prayers were chanted, several small speeches were given by those closest to him, myself and Leif excluded. We had already said our goodbyes so we both declined when asked if we wanted to say a few words.
After that, he was carefully lowered into the pit and everyone present took a handful of soil and tossed it over his body. I left after that, not being able to handle the sight any longer. I don't know how long I ran or where I thought I was going. I just needed to be anywhere but there.
This chapter was exceptionally hard for me to go back through and edit which is part of the reason why I've decided to break it up. I started writing it a fair while ago while sitting in a waiting room waiting on an appointment. Between then and now I've lost three significant family members. The first at the start of June, the second at the start of August the day after my birthday and the third on the 17th just a couple of days ago. I'm dedicating this chapter to Ash, Nipper and Stanley.
I miss you guys so much.