Kyngdom Survival Guide
Chatterbox: KYNGDOM™ RP Board
It’s cold here.
The dead don’t have to worry about heat. They can’t feel it. And yet, I can. It’s odd, when you think about it. Technically, I’m dead as well. Maybe it’s Death’s punishment for me. Endless darkness, endless cold. This is what happens to those who escape Death’s grasp the first time. She still doesn’t allow me to visit Alexandria. Nor Lily pur Lamour, nor anyone else. She doesn’t even allow me books in this endless black. To read books, I must send a part of myself into the world of the living, and have my ghost-like figure hover over someone as they turn the pages. As you may have guessed, this freaks most folks out. I only do this when the people who’re reading are least likely to notice me. When they’ve fallen asleep reading, or when they’re really, really sucked into whatever novel they have open. Though even this has it’s problems, because when the former happens I find myself rereading the same page over and over and over again, and that becomes rather boring. Jabberwock poetry is fun the first time, but after reading about slithy toves a hundred times over, I begin to fall asleep myself.
It’s dark here, too.
My eyes, despite being nearly 20/20 vision, cannot easily see in the darkness. I can only truly see here when Death brings her lantern over, or when a new soul arrives to be escorted away to the afterlife by one of the two of us. I always wish to go back. Always. Death doesn’t let me see my sister. She doesn’t let me see my friends. She just puts me to work. I wish I could die, every day, but the problem is, I’m already dead. So instead I wish for life, the one thing I know she won’t let me have.
Suddenly, she appears. I know she likes to do this. To speak with me. It seems like her favorite pastime. Sometimes I wonder if she keeps me around just to speak with me, because she is as bored as I.
“Hello Death.” My words echo strongly through the darkness. I realize I haven’t heard my own voice in ages. My mouth feels odd, strangely dry, and every syllable is forced. Like I’ve forgotten how to speak.
“Hello Maria. Nice to see you.”
“You know I don’t feel the same. You also never seem to be able to remember that it’s shadow. shadow of everywhere.” Despite my cold tone, Death smiles. Her lantern glow is ever so menacing. I wonder how I ever felt it to be warm.
“A silly name you created when you were eight,” she says with a wave of her hand. “Anyways, the real point of our meeting. The mortals are readying themselves for war. The Final Battle, they call it. It is coming. And you want me to let you go fight in it.” Her hand plays with the sword strapped to her thigh. She still looks like Mina. She has always looked like Mina to me. Death looks from the sword she’s fiddling with back to me. “This is the part where you attempt to bargain for your life back.”
I take a step forward, but then realize it’s useless. Even after living here for who knows how long, I’ve only ever been able to move when Death allows me. At the moment, my legs and wings are frozen in time and space. I can only move specific parts of my upper body.
“Death, please let me go,” I say. I know this is exactly what she wants. Her pretty little servant, once a powerful general, to beg for a second- er, third- chance at living. “I know we’ve discussed this before, but it’s different this time. I have a better bargaining chip.”
“And that is?”
“Well, I’ve thought about it. When I leave to the Mortal Realm, I can give you my wings. That way, you know I’ll be coming back. And I don’t even need to go for a long time. Just until the war is done.” I twist a lock of my dark hair with my finger. “That’s all I ask.”
“Wars have stretched the length of years. Why, there was even one that was so devastating it lasted fifteen. Tell me, why should I let you leave if you could be gone for fifteen years?”
“You could go that long without me. Fifteen years in the life of an immortal like you is equal to a fraction of a fraction of a heartbeat.”
She smiles.
“Fair enough. I suppose I will let you go after all.”
I can’t believe my ears. This is amazing. Even a few years out of this hole is worth everything I have. I want to dance around the room and sing hallelujah. I want to laugh and cry and smile, all at the same time. But this is Death. There must be a catch of some sort.
But there doesn’t seem to be. She takes the sword holstered at her thigh from its sheath. She walks around me, her- no, Mina’s- tail swishes back and forth as she passes. I feel her paw as it touches the down feathers of my wings, but her blade catches me off guard. It strikes me quickly, chopping off both of my wings in an instant. I hear myself scream. The sound is terrifying and ugly. My hand immediately goes for the place where the stubs of my wings should be, but there aren’t any. They seem to have disappeared. Death holds each of my wings by the tips, smiling. I can tell she’s used her magic to make me appear human. No, I’m not a mutant anymore. I’m a human. How odd it is.
“shadow of everywhere, my former Angel of Death. Are you ready to return to the Mortal Realm?”
I barely have time to respond before I feel myself begin to… fade. Lapse, in and out of this reality into another. It’s an odd sensation, but I’ve felt it before. Only twice in my life.
I feel it every time I die.
I’m nearly back in the Mortal Realm when I hear Death say something more.
“One last thing. You’ve been trapped in the place between my realm and yours for a very long time. And if this time is counted, you’ve escaped me twice, living three lives. That’s two more than any mortal is ever allowed. That’s why I’ve kept you where you are. However, if you took five lives in place of your own, then you’d be allowed to travel to my realm. Be with your family again.”
“That seems too easy.” I say. My voice is hard to hear. It’s lapsing with my body.
“You didn’t let me finish. I want five very specific lives, Maria.”
“Whose?”
“One, the life of the first true friend you ever made. Two, the life of the first boy you ever loved. Three, the life of your most faithful servant. Four, the life of the reluctant wolf, and five, the life of a dark angel’s child.”
The darkness is fading now. I’m beginning to see the other world, the Mortal Realm. I’m barely registering what Death is saying. Yet it’s there, toying with my mind and my memory. Another riddle she’s going to make me decipher. I’m so close to the Mortal Realm that her final words are no more than a whisper.
“Get their lives for me, little shadow, and when you return to me, you finally go to the afterlife. But fail to kill even one of them, and, well, you will be stuck in the infinite black forever.”
And then I feel my feet touch solid ground. I can’t shake off the fact of what Death has just told me, but I take a deep breath and immerse myself in the present. I’m surrounded by trees, the dirt warm beneath my feet, the sky a pale blue above me. A temperate forest. I can see the tip of bleak peak in the distance, and I think I can hear voices and music on the breeze.
I am back in Kyngdom.
I wonder if the price will be worth it.
submitted by shadow of everywhere, age 13? 14? , A Place In-Between Death
(September 4, 2017 - 9:40 am)
(September 4, 2017 - 9:40 am)
I noticed....
so sad:(
(September 7, 2017 - 2:34 pm)
I noticed! HOW COULD THIS HAPPEN? Sadness.
(September 7, 2017 - 10:00 pm)
*hugs*
(September 8, 2017 - 3:30 pm)
...Who's Brynn?
*dramatic gasps*
(September 10, 2017 - 12:51 pm)
Brynn is this little girl (I believe around seven) with cardinal wings, a SOCS experiment, who shadow gave her powers as the Angel of Death to. She's with shadow in the top left of this picture.
(September 20, 2017 - 3:21 pm)
*hugs back*
(September 10, 2017 - 5:49 pm)
I take the small locket from Alexandria's hands and put it around my own neck, tucking it under the purple t-shirt.
"We should probably get going." Alexandria says. She's taken on a bit of a stoic look now, her expression slightly harder, the light in her eyes fierce.
"Where to?" I ask
"The battle. The war front. There's been some intense fighting going down for quite some time now."
"Okay," I respond, getting ready to leave when an intense pain hits me. I refrain from shouting. "Alexandri- I mean, Marie, I'm going to go use the latrine. Get your horse ready, and some provisions too."
She nods, a confused look about her, and then I walk over to a door with a sign that reads 'Restrooms.' After making sure it's the ladies' room I go in and set mysef in front of a mirror. For about the one hundredth time today, I have to keep myself from screaming.
Instead of seeing my own reflection in the mirror, I see death.
"What are you-?!" I start, but she cuts me off.
"You think you could get out of this that easy shadow?" She glances to the chain around my neck. "It's much harder than that. But before I say anything else, I want you to go over and bar the door."
I do as she says.
"Wonderful." Death nods, "Now, the locket around your neck. You aren't allowed to use that. And even if you were, it wouldn't work."
"I don't care. How do I know you aren't lying? You've done that before, and I've evaded you before. Not that hard. Just like how it wasn't hard for you to tell me that my sister was dead, when she was here and alive the entire time!"
"I never told you she was dead," Death says, shrugging. "You led yourself to believe she was. You were too busy mourning her to realize the girl you mourning had never really died at all. Instead, you let me take you, and got yourself into this mess. A bit like Romeo and Juliet, actually."
"What?"
"Oh, nothing. I forget that you Kyngdomers know almost nothing of Earth. Think of it like- oh, what's your version of the tale?- 'The Cat and the Fox' by Terra Lupa."
I think about it for a moment. Terra Lupa was a great wolf poet, whose most famous works include 'The Temptest', 'Steaklet' and, of course, 'The Cat and the Fox' which was a tale of two lovers whose families had a long fued that no one knew who'd started and no on knew when they'd started it. The Cat in the story is supposed to be wed to another of her clan, but instead falls in love with a Fox from the warring family. Spoiler alert, they both die in the end. Happy story.
"What do I have to do with 'The Cat and the Fox'?" I ask
"That's besides the point." Death sounds irritated now, and that is almost never a good thing. Especially in the Mortal Realm where there are concequences for everything. "The point is, if you take back the powers of the Angel of Death, I will still have power over you. You can't win."
I hear Alexandria calling me. I turn to Death.
"We'll finish this later."
Then I leave the Taft Tavern
(September 8, 2017 - 5:05 am)
I'm going to jump in to when you guys arrive at the battle, if you don't mind.
~~~~
My ears prick. I hear the sound of a war horse coming back into the battle front, but I also hear the sound, the uneven gallops of a...messenger horse? No, a common horse. But what would a common horse be doing here?
I turn and see two horses with two figures on them coming into the distance, a misty light outlining them.
I run up to them with my sword drawn, and realise that one of them has a Resistance badge, the one in the front. I put my sword away.
"General Mina," she says. "We need to talk."
I give her a questioning look, and the horse behind her shoulders her horse.
I see the figure on the horse and nearly have a brain aneurysm.
"What the ****?!" I yell, and turn around quickly to regain my thoughts before turning back around. "IS THIS A JOKE, SOLDIER?!"
Both of their eyes widen when the second figure leaps off.
"Hi Mina," Shadow says shyly.
"No," I say, my voice breaking. "You're-you're dead."
"Mina," she says, lightly touching my arm. Then she pulls me into a hug.
How is this possible? I didn't think she could make anymore bargains down in the underworld or whatnot. What is she doing here?
She pulls back. "It's been a while."
"A while," I shrug shakily. "We need to talk. Tactics tent, now. You too, soldier."
The girl on the horse looks uneasily at me before nodding and leaping off the horse.
We take a darker path behind the trees so we won't be seen, before appearing back on the battlefield where the tent is right there.
I shift the flap and peer inside. No one.
I push open the rest of the flap and gesture them in, before I quickly follow.
Shadow's about to speak, but I hold my hand out. "Wait. First of all, tell me how you got here."
"Alexandria," she says, gesturing at the soldier.
"What?!" I exclaim.
Alexandria sighs. "Mina, listen-"
"No, you listen! The both of you!" I exclaim again. "Is this the day when everyone just decides to rise from the dead, like, 'oh, let's have a little party, this'll be fun! It'll only cause Mina's guts to implode, oh and by the way, when we say everyone's gonna be alive, be ready, cause ev-'"
"Mina!" Shadow interrupts. "Look, I know it's a bit crazy."
"A bit," I snort.
"Yes, well-"
"I never died to begin with," Alexandria interrupts. "But you can't call me Alexandria anymore. It has to be Marie. People are still coming after me."
"Okay, Marie," I say. I turn to Shadow. "Explain."
"I made another bargain with Death," she sighs.
Then she explains everything to me. Everything. The darkness, the riddle, the fact that Death still looks like me-
"I want to have a conversation with her about changing her appearance," I say.
She nods. "Good idea."
"So now what?" Marie asks.
"Well," I turn to the both of them. "Depends. How are you going to tell people that both of you are alive?"
(September 8, 2017 - 10:57 am)
Ah the multiverse, such wonders!
Rping now!
I walk though the base camp, wondering why the mighty Queen of Dolor Felis could be swearing at the top of her lungs, especially when that is my thing.
when passing the Tactics Tent, I heard a conversation.
"Well," pause "Depends. How are you gonna tell people that both of you are alive?"
"Tell People who is alive?" I poke my head in with a smile of an idoit.
"MY GOSH ALEX! HAVE YOU EVER HEARD OF KNOCKING?"
"Well I did not know you can knock on cloth-"
"Cut the sarcasm" Mina growls at me as I see two girls I thought were dead.
"Explain please?" I ask the Sisters.
after shadow gave me the story, I have concluded myself that Death is the same anywhere
"I mean, If she referenced Shakespeare..."
"Terra Lupa,"
"Who is Your world's Shekespeare, than, I wonder..."
(September 8, 2017 - 8:02 pm)
As soon as I see the figure on the horse, I gasp in shock.
It can't be.
But it is.
Even though I never met her, she's unmistakable, even without the wings.
It's shadow.
Shadow is back.
My mind is rushing, spinning around in circles. But one question keeps coming up- how? How did she come back? How is she alive?
(September 20, 2017 - 6:02 am)
I hope Brynn wasn't the dark angel's child, or else shadow will be doomed to eternal life in limbo.
(September 8, 2017 - 3:29 pm)
"I still have no idea who Shaky Pear is-"
"Shakespeare." Says Alex R.
"The point is," I turn back to Mina and Alexandria, "That I have made a deal with Death. I have to kill five people, or else succumb to endless darkness. I'm not sure there's a way around that."
"But what about Brynn's locket?" Asks Mina. While I've told them nearly everything, I've left out the part about talking to Death in the bathroom. I'm not sure if I want to think abut it. Besides, I'm not ready to share that kind of info with the others.
"I can try that, but I'm not sure if it would work." I shrug.
"So what do we do now?" Asks Alexandria. We all look at Mina.
(September 10, 2017 - 4:48 pm)
(September 11, 2017 - 4:23 pm)
"We fight," I reply. "They're not going to take this well, the fact that the both of you are alive. Obviously our friends will be happy, but you two were valuable soldiers. The enemy side is going to be infuriated." I can't help but smirk. We have the upper hand. "Obviously, Al-er, Marie, you can't say anything yet, but we can at least tell the rest of the Council who you are. The next meeting is coming up soon, hopefully if the war subsides. Speaking of which, Shadow, it's up to you. Do you want your Council position back? We had a replacement, but I guess Connie's temporary for now."
Shadow nods thoughtfully. "I'll think about it. Anticipate the answer at any random moment when my mind makes itself up."
I scoff in amusement and she smiles.
Marie looks back at me. "Is there anything else we've missed?"
"Well," I reply. "Heather, who was infused with that SOUL for the longest time finally came back. Icy's gone, and I have the Crown. There's been a whole lot of other stuff, which I can't remember right now."
Oh, and it's your birthday, Mina, don't forget about that. But no one can be bothered with that now. A war is going on, and your age just increased one interval. Big deal. I sigh and shrug it off. Just another anniversary that reminds me my entire family is dead.
"I'll try to tell you more later," I say. Right. Leave the summing up to someone who actually cares, Mina. "Ready to get back out there?"
Marie nods and steadies her gun, pushing back the flap.
"We'll catch you in a second," Shadow says.
Marie nods, and heads out with a final glance at the calmer environment, with Alex trailing behind her.
Shadow looks back at me, her warm brown eyes clouded with sadness. "You okay?"
"Me?" I ask. "Yeah, I'm fine."
Silence.
"You sure?" she asks.
"Yep," I respond. "Well, actually, everything couldn't be better. The cat kingdoms are stabilised, we're working on stabilising the entirety of Kyngdom, and we have an upper hand in the battle. We except it to be over soon."
She nods hesitantly. "Mina, there's something you aren't telling me."
I shrug and shake my head.
She laughs lightly. "Through what we've been together, I think I know you well enough to say that. The way you're acting, you'd of thought we missed your birthday or something."
A pang hits me. Nah, it's only coincidence. She doesn't know. Unless I've mentioned it before. I can't remember.
I snicker and desperately change the subject. "So Marie looks different now, huh?"
Shadow nods again, hesitantly. "Oh yeah. Couldn't even tell it was her at one point. She's twelve and she's been through all of that. I just want to be with her more, because I don't want her to repeat what I went through at that age."
"Well, you pulled through," I reply. "She probably will too. Aside from the original, cold assassin side of her, she reminds me a lot of you."
"We Browns don't know when to give up," she laughs.
I laugh with her. "I know a thing or two about that."
A cloud hangs over us, raining nostalgia.
"Hey," Shadow says with a twinkle in her eyes. "Sometime we should go out and explore Kyngdom again, when all of this is over."
I smile. "Yeah. Yeah, that would be nice."
(September 12, 2017 - 3:04 pm)
"We fight," I reply. "They're not going to take this well, the fact that the both of you are alive. Obviously our friends will be happy, but you two were valuable soldiers. The enemy side is going to be infuriated." I can't help but smirk. We have the upper hand. "Obviously, Al-er, Marie, you can't say anything yet, but we can at least tell the rest of the Council who you are. The next meeting is coming up soon, hopefully if the war subsides. Speaking of which, Shadow, it's up to you. Do you want your Council position back? We had a replacement, but I guess Connie's temporary for now."
Shadow nods thoughtfully. "I'll think about it. Anticipate the answer at any random moment when my mind makes itself up."
I scoff in amusement and she smiles.
Marie looks back at me. "Is there anything else we've missed?"
"Well," I reply. "Heather, who was infused with that SOUL for the longest time finally came back. Icy's gone, and I have the Crown. There's been a whole lot of other stuff, which I can't remember right now."
Oh, and it's your birthday, Mina, don't forget about that. But no one can be bothered with that now. A war is going on, and your age just increased one interval. Big deal. I sigh and shrug it off. Just another anniversary that reminds me my entire family is dead.
"I'll try to tell you more later," I say. Right. Leave the summing up to someone who actually cares, Mina. "Ready to get back out there?"
Marie nods and steadies her gun, pushing back the flap.
"We'll catch you in a second," Shadow says.
Marie nods, and heads out with a final glance at the calmer environment, with Alex trailing behind her.
Shadow looks back at me, her warm brown eyes clouded with sadness. "You okay?"
"Me?" I ask. "Yeah, I'm fine."
Silence.
"You sure?" she asks.
"Yep," I respond. "Well, actually, everything couldn't be better. The cat kingdoms are stabilised, we're working on stabilising the entirety of Kyngdom, and we have an upper hand in the battle. We except it to be over soon."
She nods hesitantly. "Mina, there's something you aren't telling me."
I shrug and shake my head.
She laughs lightly. "Through what we've been together, I think I know you well enough to say that. The way you're acting, you'd of thought we missed your birthday or something."
A pang hits me. Nah, it's only coincidence. She doesn't know. Unless I've mentioned it before. I can't remember.
I snicker and desperately change the subject. "So Marie looks different now, huh?"
Shadow nods again, hesitantly. "Oh yeah. Couldn't even tell it was her at one point. She's twelve and she's been through all of that. I just want to be with her more, because I don't want her to repeat what I went through at that age."
"Well, you pulled through," I reply. "She probably will too. Aside from the original, cold assassin side of her, she reminds me a lot of you."
"We Browns don't know when to give up," she laughs.
I laugh with her. "I know a thing or two about that."
A cloud hangs over us, raining nostalgia.
"Hey," Shadow says with a twinkle in her eyes. "Sometime we should go out and explore Kyngdom again, when all of this is over."
I smile. "Yeah. Yeah, that would be nice."
(September 12, 2017 - 3:10 pm)