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tamingthemuse2009-08-06 07:26 pm
tekia.livejournal.com) wrote in tamingthemuse2009-08-06 07:26 pm
Entry tags:
Prompt# 159 - Babylon - Hunted - Tekia - original
Title: Hunted
Fandom: Original
Prompt: Babylon
Warnings: none.
Rating: PG 13
Summary: Jacky doesn’t remember remembering.
It was a beautiful city, all brightly painted, and blooming with lush green plants. The air was dry and hot, but there was water everywhere, irrigated in by aqueducts and underground piping. He couldn’t see any from where he was, but he knew they were there. Could map out most of them in his mind’s eye.
He tripped on the uneven cobble stones and reached out to catch himself on a wall, but paused with his dust covered hand only millimeters away from the brightly painted motif. He eyed the pattern a moment before straightening himself and idly kicking at the embedded stone.
This city was far larger than he had thought possible, being in the heart of a desert, surrounded by leagues and leagues of emptiness. Only, there was nobody here. The city was empty and it sent chills down his spine.
As he made his way down the lifeless alley, he bit his lip and wondered why he was all alone. If not a city bustling with people, there should at least have been his crew of seventeen students and nine instructors there with him. But the city was huge, a veritable labyrinth.
Jacky knew this city like the back of his hand. He’d never seen it before. Or if he had, it had been nothing like how it was now. A flash of truth passed before his eyes, hot winds, dry heat, ruins.
He made to move forward and, as he moved, the sun dimmed behind a cloud. He narrowed his eyes as he looked up at the clear sky, seeing neither cloud, nor sun. Then it seemed as if some dam broke somewhere and a wave of emotions washed over him, nearly bringing him to his knees with the force. His skin turned cold and clammy, and the hairs on the back of his neck and arms all stood on end.
He dropped to his knees, knife suddenly in comfortably in hand, held so unfamiliarly. His body was tense, ready for action and his mind rebelled, he wasn’t like this. He didn’t know about knives. He didn’t know about fighting danger.
He knew. There was something after him, hungry for his flesh.
He ran.
Blindly, he ran for his life.
He passed buildings at such speeds that they all turned into a blur of violent colors, but he paid none of it any heed as he fled. He felt hot breath on the back of his neck, claws ripping at the plain homespun shirt that had replaced the thin cotton of his tee. Chocking on a cry, he turned a corner and ran some more.
He ran until his feet ached, until his lungs protested, until his heart threatened to beat out of his chest.
He couldn’t stop.
There was a corner and he knew where he was suddenly. He turned so quickly that he lost his precious balance and scrapped the palm of his hand and knee on the stones under him before sprinting off once again. In that split second of misbalance, he shot a glance behind him and was awed by what he saw.
Darkness. Darkness that threatened to overwhelm him and claim him and devour him. He shivered as he ran, looking for somewhere to hide from this terror.
Sweat poured into his eyes and he panted, his throat raw with cries he didn’t know he was sobbing.
Then he was suddenly on a straight road with no exits, no hiding spots, no escape save for the other end, a gate arching high over the road and opening into a grand palace.
If the city was lush, then this palace was bountiful. If the city was green, then this paradise was verdant. This was the heart of Babylon, its mysterious gardens.
Pleasure, hope, fulfillment engulfed him as his eyes landed on the sight and his breath caught at the wonder. He smiled and paused in his escape.
Then the hot breath was back, the claws sharper than ever and Jacky panicked, spinning on his heel and raising his arms for feeble protection. He screamed as the Darkness came over him, pelting him with fear, with hopelessness, with that feeling of lost that one only felt when the lost something they didn’t know they needed until it was gone.
Jacky sat up, gasping for breath, sweat beading on his brow as his eyes opened and found only darkness. He brought a hand to his chest to calm his racing heart and realized it had been only a dream.
Only a dream.
A nightmare.
He stood from the old cot and pushed aside the curtain of the tent, exposing the vast expanse of desert beyond, the full moon making the ancient city of ruins glow eerily. The night’s breeze cooled the sweat on his skin and Jacky wondered if he were becoming ill.
Or perhaps it had been something he ate.
He let the curtain drop as he stepped out of the tent and turned the direction of that palace in his dream. His eyes narrowed and he scoffed at himself. He wasn’t a fanciful person, not at all. There was no way he was going to listen to some dream tell him where the beautiful gardens had once been.
Idly, as he stared at the ruins, he brought a finger up to his lip, to the still tender scar and wondered if a little bit of fancifulness wasn’t allowed after all.
Fandom: Original
Prompt: Babylon
Warnings: none.
Rating: PG 13
Summary: Jacky doesn’t remember remembering.
It was a beautiful city, all brightly painted, and blooming with lush green plants. The air was dry and hot, but there was water everywhere, irrigated in by aqueducts and underground piping. He couldn’t see any from where he was, but he knew they were there. Could map out most of them in his mind’s eye.
He tripped on the uneven cobble stones and reached out to catch himself on a wall, but paused with his dust covered hand only millimeters away from the brightly painted motif. He eyed the pattern a moment before straightening himself and idly kicking at the embedded stone.
This city was far larger than he had thought possible, being in the heart of a desert, surrounded by leagues and leagues of emptiness. Only, there was nobody here. The city was empty and it sent chills down his spine.
As he made his way down the lifeless alley, he bit his lip and wondered why he was all alone. If not a city bustling with people, there should at least have been his crew of seventeen students and nine instructors there with him. But the city was huge, a veritable labyrinth.
Jacky knew this city like the back of his hand. He’d never seen it before. Or if he had, it had been nothing like how it was now. A flash of truth passed before his eyes, hot winds, dry heat, ruins.
He made to move forward and, as he moved, the sun dimmed behind a cloud. He narrowed his eyes as he looked up at the clear sky, seeing neither cloud, nor sun. Then it seemed as if some dam broke somewhere and a wave of emotions washed over him, nearly bringing him to his knees with the force. His skin turned cold and clammy, and the hairs on the back of his neck and arms all stood on end.
He dropped to his knees, knife suddenly in comfortably in hand, held so unfamiliarly. His body was tense, ready for action and his mind rebelled, he wasn’t like this. He didn’t know about knives. He didn’t know about fighting danger.
He knew. There was something after him, hungry for his flesh.
He ran.
Blindly, he ran for his life.
He passed buildings at such speeds that they all turned into a blur of violent colors, but he paid none of it any heed as he fled. He felt hot breath on the back of his neck, claws ripping at the plain homespun shirt that had replaced the thin cotton of his tee. Chocking on a cry, he turned a corner and ran some more.
He ran until his feet ached, until his lungs protested, until his heart threatened to beat out of his chest.
He couldn’t stop.
There was a corner and he knew where he was suddenly. He turned so quickly that he lost his precious balance and scrapped the palm of his hand and knee on the stones under him before sprinting off once again. In that split second of misbalance, he shot a glance behind him and was awed by what he saw.
Darkness. Darkness that threatened to overwhelm him and claim him and devour him. He shivered as he ran, looking for somewhere to hide from this terror.
Sweat poured into his eyes and he panted, his throat raw with cries he didn’t know he was sobbing.
Then he was suddenly on a straight road with no exits, no hiding spots, no escape save for the other end, a gate arching high over the road and opening into a grand palace.
If the city was lush, then this palace was bountiful. If the city was green, then this paradise was verdant. This was the heart of Babylon, its mysterious gardens.
Pleasure, hope, fulfillment engulfed him as his eyes landed on the sight and his breath caught at the wonder. He smiled and paused in his escape.
Then the hot breath was back, the claws sharper than ever and Jacky panicked, spinning on his heel and raising his arms for feeble protection. He screamed as the Darkness came over him, pelting him with fear, with hopelessness, with that feeling of lost that one only felt when the lost something they didn’t know they needed until it was gone.
Jacky sat up, gasping for breath, sweat beading on his brow as his eyes opened and found only darkness. He brought a hand to his chest to calm his racing heart and realized it had been only a dream.
Only a dream.
A nightmare.
He stood from the old cot and pushed aside the curtain of the tent, exposing the vast expanse of desert beyond, the full moon making the ancient city of ruins glow eerily. The night’s breeze cooled the sweat on his skin and Jacky wondered if he were becoming ill.
Or perhaps it had been something he ate.
He let the curtain drop as he stepped out of the tent and turned the direction of that palace in his dream. His eyes narrowed and he scoffed at himself. He wasn’t a fanciful person, not at all. There was no way he was going to listen to some dream tell him where the beautiful gardens had once been.
Idly, as he stared at the ruins, he brought a finger up to his lip, to the still tender scar and wondered if a little bit of fancifulness wasn’t allowed after all.