Thread: Aber     (WhiteTiger& position open)

RE Aber WhiteTiger waiting for Mr. right Cai It was all over. Cai could feel his heart hammering against his chest as he slowly opened his eyes, his breathing slowly shallow. Craning his neck, the young man glanced out over the field, the waning sun casting shadows across the grassy expanse. He could see the bodies...hundreds of corpses strewn across the field, shattered and maimed. They're soulless gazes sent a chill down the young soldier's back, and he knew that if a miracle didn't happen soon then he was going to be joining them. Trying to ignore the wounds on his broken body, the young man slowly rolled over onto his stomach, wincing as a sudden bolt of pain shot through his form. Gripping at the blood-stained grass, he began to pull, dragging himself across the eerily quiet field. Cai tried to avert his gaze each time he passed by one of the bodies, tried not to look into their eyes. They barely even looked human now...almost like those porcelain dolls his sister used to play with. And then there was the smell, a putrid mess that made his stomach squirm. Why hadn't any of the stories mentioned the smell...? There was the blood as well, oh god it was everywhere...t-this wasn't how it was supposed to happen. Was he really going to die this way? Alone, on some blasted battlefield in the middle of nowhere? He had promised his father that he would prove himself, and now here he was. As the young man pitifully dragged himself across the shattered land, distant memories began to crawl back into his head. Even though he was at death's door, Cai couldn't help but recall the traces of joy he felt as he left his home, the castle. Only his brother knew of what he had planned, of how he wanted to become a soldier. He had read the stories of them in the library. They had spoken of knights in gleaming armor, slicing through the wicked enemy. Their victory was always a sure one, and then they would come home to a hero's welcome. One part in particular had always caught his eye. The King would be there, and the books had always mentioned of how he would be wearing a warm smile. The man would treat the soldiers as equals, with both kindness and respect. He wouldn't look down on them, wouldn't treat them like a stupid annoyance. Exhaustion was slowly starting to creep into Cai's bones now and with a grimace the boy rolled over onto his back, his chest slowly rising and falling as he attempted to catch his breath. I should have seen it coming, he chided himself, I should have listened to Griffin. His brother had always been the smarter one. He had tried to warn Cai as he left the castle, had tried to warn him that he'd end up getting himself killed. The elder brother ignored him, and continued on his way. He had arrived at the recruiting office with only his clothes on his back, and it had only taken a few minutes for everything to be sorted out. Soon he had been given his own tattered uniform, navy and emerald stripes running down it. The colors of his kingdom. And alongside that, a long spear...the metal tip rusty from what had to have been months of prior use. Now, as he laid dying, Cai could only wonder who the poor soul who's corpse it was taken from. Were they going to do the same here...? Sweep in, take the weapons, and leave the bodies to rot? Ugh... ...dammit, He gingerly rolled over again, clasping at the dirt with his bloodstained hands. Trying to ignore the stabbing pains, the dying prince began to pull himself along the ground once more again... It was hard to imagine that, only hours ago, his heart had been fluttering in excitement. He had been standing amongst the other soldiers, upon the front lines. The sun had been harsh, and the thick, padded armor he had been wearing hadn't done him any favors. Within minutes, his entire body was drenched in sweat. And yet even that had failed to cripple his mood. The only thing he was actually even thinking of was the battle ahead, and the glory he would win. The events were already playing through his mind...of how he would cut down dozens of the enemy. Of how they would win gloriously. And of how they would return to a cheering crowd. He had pictured his father standing at the front, his normal scowl replaced by a warm, almost joyous smile. He would reach out, gripping Cai's shoulder. I'm proud, He would say. ...but that didn't happen. He could still remember with sickening clarity of how the battle had actually gone. Cai had watched as his fellow soldiers were cut down, dying like no man should. They screamed and cried as they were slice to bits by the enemy's blades. Cai had tried to block out the screams as he ran across the field, but it didn't work. They just got louder and louder...and he too quickly found himself joining them. As he tried to find his bearings amidst the chaos of the battle, a spear shot out from nowhere. He didn't even have time to dodge the blow, and it quickly struck him. His legs had gone numb, and he hit the ground. The battle raged on without him, and he could only wait as the world faded to black. And now here he was, struggling to eke out a few final minutes of life. Cai didn't want to die here. His father would never of what he had done. He'd just be another corpse rotting beneath the sun. There would be no glorious return, and his father would never tell him how proud he was. Slowly, the boy came to a stop, closing his eyes. Once again, the darkness was close to claiming him, and he could feel him slowly losing consciousness. The world before him was growing blurry, and the realization was slowly setting in. He was going to die, and no one was going to grieve... -- Griffin, the Prince's brother Emyr, the current king