NeocroHero: August 2012

21/08/2012 - 30/08/2012

I came up with this story a while ago. I wanted to use Flyff screenshots and make a sort of comic about it. Since I don't have any female CS anymore I decided to just write it down.I really wanted to finish a story for once.

I want to thank Gabriella for helping me out with the story. She helped me out when I wasn't sure what to write anymore and she helped me expressing myself better. Thank you Gabriella!

This must be one of the few stories I ever managed to finish. I hope you enjoy it...

1. One of those summers

It was one of those summers...

It was one of those summers, summers filled with sun and heat. Summers filled with boredom and loneliness. It was one of those summers where Laila would look to the sky and wonder how the world would look like from above. She was certain that she wouldn't feel so small anymore if she could see the whole world spread under her. Because that's what she was, a small meaningless girl.

Laila spend most of her time in summer in the forest. She would leave her house at dawn and walk to the forest that covered the hills around the little village. She would follow the road that lead into the hills till it disappeared. Then she would kick her shoes off to walk through the grass, wet from dew. Songs of birds would fill the air with different melodies. Sun rays would fall down softly on the summer green plants, trees and grass. Not strong enough yet to take away the chill from the night. Laila was glad for that. Soon enough the sun would rise higher and shine stronger. It would make the insects flee from the grasslands, birds hide into the trees, flowers wither and streams evaporate. The reason why she fled out of her house to spend the whole day in the forest was because she disliked the heat. In the forest the heat was bearable.

Laila turned around and looked down on the village. The people were finally waking up. But Laila was already gone. They wouldn't miss her. No one ever seemed to notice her. She stepped into the shadows of the trees and took a deep breath. The smell dazzled her every time. The smell of the different trees, plants, moss, mushrooms, forest flowers and most of all... Clean, fresh air. The birds sounded different now. It was like only in the forest their songs came to their right. The moss under her feet felt soft. The needles and the fallen twigs didn't hurt her. She held her hand at her heart to feel the rhythm of her heartbeat. Her heart seemed to beat differently as soon as she entered the forest. It seemed to beat on the rhythm of a melody she didn't know. A smile appeared on her face. Even though she was small and meaningless, in the forest she felt better. Her day in the forest began.

It certainly was colder in the forest than outside the forest, but it was still warm. In her white linen dress the soft wind could touch her skin. It made her feel free. Laila walked through the trees. A stranger would easily get lost here. Every tree, bush, stream and open space looked the same. But not for Laila. When she looked around she saw paths everywhere. Paths that lead to certain open spaces, to the top of the highest hill, to the waterfall to the lake and many more. Today Laila took the path that lead to a place in the forest where she would find blueberries. She was going to pick some berries there to take to the lake, where she would have her lunch later. At noon she preferred to stay near the water, even though there were many insects. She didn't mind the insects as much as the heat. The water was really cold there and it cooled her down during the warmest hours of the day.
When Laila neared the place with the berries she picked some grass stalks. The tree tops became less thick. Sun rays managed to get through the leaves and lit up the small, low bushes that spread over the ground. When you took a second to look better you saw blue dots everywhere. Blueberries. Laila's eyes sparkled. So many! Such thick ones! And only she, and the animals in the forest, knew how to find them.

Carefully Laila reached her hand to a berry. With a soft 'pop' she pulled the berry off the bush. She put it in her mouth and closed her eyes. The juice filled her mouth when she put her teeth in the soft flesh of the berry. It was the sweetest taste she had ever savored, even though she ate many berries from this forest before. Laila swallowed and the berry was gone. When she looked around her she saw a hundred bushes more and a thousand more berries. She took one of the grass stalks and picked a berry. Then she stringed the berry on the stroke. A little bit of juice ran down on her finger and left dark red, purple stains. The third berry she picked disappeared in her mouth again. She tried to not eat too many yet. She wanted to save them for later. When her grass straws were stuffed with berries she got on her way to the lake.

The path to the lake meandered to the top of a hill, then it went straight down. Laila walked carefully. It was easy to fall here and she didn't want to lose her berries. A small stream ran aside her. The sound of the falling water was peacefully, when she got lower she also heard a louder sound of falling water, the waterfall that she was nearing. The trees stopped. Right in front of Laila the small lake spread, surrounded by the forest, cliffs with a waterfall and a small beach. It was still early and Laila was still tired. She found a place in the shadow and lay herself on her back. She looked to the leaves of the trees and the sky and wondered what she would do today. Her eyes closed slowly...

2. A day like the others

A breath of wind woke Laila. The leaves of the trees rustled. She felt the sun on her skin. Her nose caught an unfamiliar smell. Her eyes opened.

Laila shocked. Two green eyes floated above her. They were connected to a smooth clean face, a rather pointy nose, brown half-long hair... "WUAH!" Laila jumped up. The boy shocked too and fell on the ground. "W-who are you?" She looked down on the boy, that seemed younger than she was, on the ground. He looked really afraid. He was wearing strange clothes. A top and puffy pants of a strange material. A silk robe around his waist. More silk robes tied around his arms. Leaves in his hair, forming a crown. His hands seemed to want to grab the earth. His hands... had dark red stains... Laila looked to the grass stalks that lay aside her. Half of the berries were gone. "Y-you ate my berries?!" The boy tried to crawl away. Suddenly his hands touched the water of the lake, that seemed to afraid the boy even more. He jumped up and tried to run away, but he fell. He closed his eyes forcefully.

Laila looked curiously to the boy. Maybe he only ate the berries because he was hungry. He didn't seem the type to steal things to make one angry. He looked so frightened... She walked slowly closer to the boy, she knelt and touched his hair. Laila was surprised. His hair felt as soft as feathers of a bird. "It's okay. I'm not really angry." said Laila. "I won't hurt you, everything is okay." The boy opened his eyes. The green eyes struck Laila. She had already seen so many beautiful things in this forest. Sunrises, sunsets, rainbows, wild animals playing with each other, all kinds of flowers, green trees, small streams and so much more but the green eyes were the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. "What's your name?" asked Laila when the boy didn't seem to be planning to move. "I'm Laila." The boy looked curiously to Laila. Then he smiled. Again, Laila was dazzled. But he didn't reply. "Are you hungry?" The boy nodded. Laila took her hand away from the boy's head and picked up the stalks. She knew where to find the berries, she could always pick more later. She gave them to the boy. The boy took them and started to eat, making his hands even more stained with dark red juice.

Laila walked into the cool water and looked to the sky. It was already noon. She slept more than she had planned to. She looked behind her, the boy already finished eating. He looked curiously to her, she looked curiously to him. "Tell me your name." The boy opened his mouth, like he was going to say something, but closed it again. He looked apologising to Laila. "You can't speak?" The boy shook his head. Laila got out of the water and put herself down aside the boy. "Ok. Is there a chance that I can guess your name?" The boy looked straight in front of him and then firmly shook his head. "Then..." Laila took a moment to think. "I'm going to call you Gabriel!" The boy looked pleased with that.

They sat there for a while, in the shadows of the trees. Laila glanced at Gabriel sometimes. She caught him staring at her every time. Laila looked to his hands. They were still dark red from the berries. "You should wash that off, I wouldn't want you to make stains on your clothes with that." Gabriel took a hand of sand and rubbed his hands with it. The red didn't go off. "Not like that! With water!" The boy seemed to shrink by the word water. Laila got to her feet and reached her hand to Gabriel. "Don't be afraid, nothing bad will happen." Gabriel hesitated but grabbed her hand. Slowly they walked to the water. Laila knelt at the side of the water and put her hands in the water. "Look, it's not dangerous." He knelt aside her and looked curiously to the water. Then he looked to Laila. Laila smiled. She took his hand and reached to the water. Gabriel tried to pull away but the water touched his hand already. He seemed surprised, surprised that it didn't hurt or something. Laila let his hand go. He moved his hand under the water, then put his other hand in it. Laila also put her hands in the water and splashed a bit into his direction. He looked shocked to Laila. Again, Laila splashed some water to him. "Come on. It doesn't hurt." He splashed some water back. Laila laughed and ran into the water. She splashed more water to him. The water reached Gabriel's body. He looked frightened first but then realized that nothing bad happened. Laila walked to him and pulled him to his feet. "Come, let's cool down in the water. It's so warm!" Hesitating Gabriel walked after Laila into the water.

They didn't go deep. The water barely got to their knees. Laila laughed, the boy smiled and they splashed water to each other. Gabriel didn't seem afraid anymore. When they were tired they walked out of the water and let themselves dry in the sun. "That was fun..." Gabriel nodded, then smiled. The leaves rustled above their heads. Some birds were whistling. Not many. It was really warm at this hour of the day. Insects zoomed slowly around them. Laila lay herself down. She closed her eyes and enjoyed the moment, aware of the boy that sat aside her. Suddenly her tummy rumbled. "Sigh... I think we should go pick some more berries." The boy jumped up. He seemed pretty excited with the idea of more berries. "Alright.." Laila got to her feet and started to walk into the forest. The boy ran after her and grabbed her hand, frightened. "It's okay, just follow me. I know the way." He didn't let go of her hand and walked close to her.

They walked up the hill and took another path into the forest. Laila wanted to avoid open spaces as much as she could, it was so warm! While walking Laila started to hum. After a while Gabriel started to whistle on the the melody of the song that Laila was humming. Laila was surprised. He couldn't talk, but he could whistle. Like that they walked through the forest. Making up their own songs, songs that became one with the songs of the birds above them. Laila picked some new grass stalks when they reached the blueberries. Gabriel forgot his fear and let go of Laila's hands. His green eyes seemed to sparkle by the sight of so many berries. He ran to a bush and gazed to a berry. He looked over his shoulder to Laila. "Yes, you can eat that one. But don't take too many berries from the same bush!" Gabriel nodded and put the berry in his mouth. Then he ran to another bush and picked another berry. Laila smiled. It was funny to see Gabriel so happy. She picked some berries too. Some she ate, some she stringed on the stalks. When Laila was done she called for Gabriel. She found him a bit further, still picking berries. His hands, and even his face now, were dark red from the juice of the berries. "Oh Gabriel! Don't get stains on your clothes! Let's go find a stream to wash that off." Gabriel ran to her and took her hand.

They walked a bit further through the forest and reached a stream. The sun was shining less bright, that meant it was already getting late. Laila followed the stream till they reached a place with a lot moss on the ground and a cliff on the side. They could stay here for a while. She put the stalks down and helped Gabriel washing the juice off. Then she sat down on the moss and started to eat her berries. She didn't eat many yet and was still hungry. When she offered some to Gabriel he refused. He lay himself down and closed his eyes. They enjoyed the sounds of the forest and each other's company. Laila started to tell Gabriel a story. A story about the forest. Gabriel listened and opened his eyes sometimes, looking at Laila. She knew he was listening. When the story was done she looked down on Gabriel. He held his hand on his tummy and seemed to have pain. "Did you eat too many berries?" Gabriel nodded. She stroke his soft hair. "Don't worry, just rest. I'll stay right here."

The sun got lower. Laila took some branches and put them against the cliff. Then she took moss and leaves to cover it. She made Gabriel lay inside the improvised hut and took moss and leaves to cover him. When the sun went down she lay aside him. She couldn't go home like this. Home... What was her home actually? She felt like she was home when she was in the forest. She smiled and sang a lullaby to Gabriel while they both dozed off.

3. Orange sky

From that day on Laila didn't go back to the village anymore. She would stay in the forest with Gabriel. During the day they did all sorts of things. They picked berries (not too many anymore, Gabriel learned his lesson). They ran through the high grass of the open spaces of the forest. They caught bugs like grasshoppers. Laila taught Gabriel how to swim and they played in the water. Laila told Gabriel stories. Laila sang songs while taking walks and Gabriel whistled. At evenings they watched the sun set. Then they watched the stars till they fell asleep.

Laila and Gabriel were never bored when they were together. They had a lot of fun and they both loved the forest a lot. But Laila noticed something strange about Gabriel. Every time Laila would wake up it seemed like Gabriel grew older. His face and hands became more mature. His muscles grew, his chest got wider. And most of all... he got taller. Eventually Gabriel was at least a head taller than Laila and he looked older than her too. He wasn't the small frightened boy that found her at the lake anymore. Even though Laila enjoyed every day she spend with Gabriel she started to worry. What was Gabriel? Who was he? Where did he come from? Would he leave her? And if he didn't leave, what would happen when the days grew shorter, the night longer and... the forest colder...

It was late in the afternoon. The sun was shining through the trees into their eyes. Laila and Gabriel were walking on a path that would lead them to the top of the highest hill. They were holding hands, even though Gabriel wasn't afraid anymore to get lost. It just became a habit. For once Laila didn't hum nor sing. She was quiet. Gabriel didn't mind. She knew he didn't mind. He seemed to enjoy listening to the sounds of the forest as much as she did. Today they had made a kite out of leaves and twigs. They had ran around with it through the tall grass. Later they had made a soup with all kinds of things they found in the forest. Now they were going to watch the sunset.

They reached the top of the hill and sat down. Laila hesitated but started to talk. "Gabriel..." Gabriel looked to Laila. His green eyes, even more bright than on the day she met him. His smile, soft and smooth. Laila took a deep breath. She started to tell Gabriel the story of her life. The story of her family. The story about why she was in the forest, besides avoiding the heat. The sky turned orange. "Gabriel... I just... Don't want to feel small and meaningless anymore. I want to be someone. I know that running into the forest doesn't help me any further but in the forest I feel like I am someone. With you I even feel like I'm more than just someone. I'm so afraid that you'll go..." Gabriel reached his hand to Laila's face and caught a tear. He smiled understanding, encouraging. But then he got to his feet and walked away from Laila. "W-where are you going?!" Laila ran after him. When she saw that Gabriel stopped walking, she stopped too. Gabriel turned around and opened his mouth, trying to speak. "L-la... Laila..." He reached his hand to her. Laila started to sob and ran to Gabriel, right into his arms. Gabriel closed his arms tight around her.

What happened next is something Laila still can't explain. Gabriel seemed to fill with strength. She heard the sound of clothes that were bursting. Feathers seemed to grow out of Gabriel's back. Laila barely noticed. The feathers formed wings, and grew big. They started to flap. Gabriel and Laila got lifted off the grass. They went straight into the sky. The orange sky. But Laila didn't notice that her feet got pulled away from the ground. Laila didn't notice that the distance between the hill and her grew bigger. She didn't notice how the wings of Gabriel moved forcefully in the air. Laila didn't know that... if she would've looked around her, that she would have seen the world spread under her. All she knew was the touch of Gabriel's arms around her. His smell filling her nose. She felt the heartbeat of Gabriel together with hers, finally it made sense to her. Together with Gabriel's heartbeat it formed a song. The most beautiful song she had ever heard.

All that Laila knew... felt... Was his lips on hers. Laila didn't feel small anymore. Laila didn't feel meaningless anymore. Laila felt like she was the most important person on earth.

It was one of those summers... Where Laila would look to the sky and think back about that one summer she once had when she was young. Wondering if he'd ever come back.