Anew

Author's Note: Another one of my "1AM Braindumps," as I've begun calling them. I usually write short stories when I can't sleep due to having too many ideas in my head. Anyway, this one was written quickly, but I liked how it read and decided to show it off.

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"If you could go to a new world... If you could leap without looking and make you a new self... If I gave you the chance to begin your life anew...

...would you take it?"

-- The question many reported hearing before the "November Vanishings"

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The two walked up the cold slope of the mountainside, chilly wind rushing past them. The sun was setting, bathing the massive edifice in a myriad of brilliant oranges and reds. Shadows danced as the glowing orb descended below the horizon.

They had been hiking up the rocky slope for two days, hoping to slay the dragon at the peak for rare materials they could sell in a nearby village.

One was a boy, wearing a dark green cloak and hood. Sheathed at his side was a black, steel shortsword, forged for him by a friend in the village far below. His young face was lined by the shadow of a beard. He hadn’t shaved in a while.

The other was a girl. She wore a light blue coat and waistcloth, studded on the elbows and rims with glowing, teardrop-shaped orange jewels. Her weapon of choice was a thin rapier made of silver metal. Under her hood, her braided, dirty blonde hair fell not far below her shoulders.

Both carried large packs laden with the gear they would need for the long trip and subsequent battle. Neither was used to this life, but they needed to do this. After all, selling the materials would finally get them enough money to buy a house, a dream they had shared for some time. In this new world, a permanent residence would definitely be preferable to always buying rooms at local inns.

The boy paused for a moment on a flat outcropping, watching the red sun fall below the horizon. “Want to camp here for the night, Lynn?” he asked.

She nodded. “Looks good enough, I guess,” she mumbled in an uninterested tone.

“Something wrong?” the boy asked, laying down his sleeping roll.

“No, Wes, I’m fine,” she said. “Just…thinking.”

“About what?” He pulled some small, red crystals from his pack and set them in a small pile.

Lynn shrugged, unrolling her own sleeping mat.

“Come on, you can tell me,” Wes urged as he lined the pile of crystals with stones. When he finished, he pulled a match from his pocket, lit it, and threw it on the glowing stones. They burst into a deep red flame, bathing the area in warmth.

“It’s about this whole...everything!” she shouted frantically, dropping down onto her sleeping roll. “We’ve been trapped here for months! There are hundreds of people just like us stuck in this place, and so far no one’s found a way out!”

It was Wes’ turn to shrug. “I don’t mind it too much,” he replied rather casually.

“How can you say ‘you don’t mind it’?” Lynn snapped. “Don’t you care about your family back home? They’re probably worried sick about you! Mine are probably worried about me!”

She buried her face in her hands and sobbed. Wes sat down next to her and placed an arm over her shoulders. He had known Lynn for three months, and he knew that she had not fully overcome the incident. At least, not emotionally. In fact, no one he’d encountered had, but some coped better than others.

“We weren’t meant to live like this,” Lynn sniffed. “Not as warriors or merchants or whatever we figure we should be. I was normal before. I had a life. I had a job. I had friends...”

Wes nodded. “Same here,” he stated, rubbing her back. “My friends are probably worried half to death. And my boss…he’s probably gone ballistic with me at least four months late from the job.”

Lynn looked up at Wes. “Thinking about it, you never told me what you were back home.”

He let out a short laugh. “You’re right. I was an accountant, fresh out of college. I worked for a big company crunching numbers for decent pay. What’d you do?”

“I was a desk clerk at a hotel, hoping to pay off my last year at a university” she said. “That’s why I was working at that inn when we met. I guess I thought it’d be familiar…”

“You still remember that day?” Wes asked. They had been travelling together for six weeks, and he had nearly forgotten that she was an innkeeper. She had proven to be such a good fighter it was hard to imagine her selling rooms and bringing drinks to tables.

Lynn cracked a faint grin through her tears. “Yeah. This crazy guy walked in, drenched from rain, and asked if I would rent a room for a few copper pieces.” She giggled. “And then he tried to sell me a sword when he found out he didn’t have the money.”

“Guess it’s done pretty well.” He gestured to her rapier.

She nodded.

They sat in silence, listening to the fiery crystals crackle as darkness slowly enveloped the mountain. Now the stars began illuminating the land with a cool, blue light. The two removed their heavier gear and moved to their sleeping rolls, parallel to one another.

Lynn turned over to look at her companion. “So you really don’t mind being stuck here?” she asked.

“No,” he said after a short pause. “Not that much, at least. I mean, there’s people I miss. Heck, things I miss. Can’t watch TV anymore. But at the same time, it’s a whole new world. Look.” He motioned to the stars, which hung in the night sky like a thousand blue diamonds. “When could you see something like this back home?

“Back home, I was just an accountant. I couldn’t do anything. I couldn’t go anywhere. I was never anyone interesting… But here... There’re so many possibilities. I used to be a thief when I first got here. I was a coward. Then a weapons seller, and now I’m a full-time adventurer. I’ve seen mountains, valleys, and oceans when I couldn’t have even taken vacation before. And look at you, from inn worker to honest-to-God warrior.”

Lynn smiled at the last comment.

“Besides, if I hadn’t gotten stuck here, I wouldn’t have met you.” He reached out with his hand, a ring on his finger. She reached out with hers, a gold band wrapped around one her fingers too.

“It is amazing…” Lynn whispered, looking into the sky. After a moment, she asked, “Do you think we’ll ever make it back home?”

“I don’t know,” Wes replied. “But if we do, I can think of a lot of things I’d miss.”

He gripped her hand tighter.

Perhaps I should make the most of this while it lasts, Lynn thought as her husband fell asleep. She looked back to the stars. After all, this new life... It hasn't been that bad…