She cries out, her voice lost to the darkness that surrounds her. She shouts louder, the shadows in the dark laughing. Here within nowhere, her yells are silently deafening. She reaches out to those shadows, but finds no hands welcoming her. She flings her hands out, desperate like a sparrow, only for eagle's claws to strike her down. In the distance, light appears. She sets forth towards salvation, her feet dragging through the muck of blackness. She struggles and wades; stumbling into the blanket of night, darkness all she can breathe. Enough, she knows. With a final beat she kneels, surrendering to fate, and the darkness quivers its welcome. She closes her eyes, and slowly the dark seems to fade… And oblivion swallows her.

Made possible with the support of Patrons on Patreon. Finally! The grand day was upon him! As Ario breathed in deep the fresh morning air of Port Sabeto, his heart swelled with pride and excitement. A few more hours – just a couple more hours, and he would board the Oroi, a sea-bound ship headed for the greatest adventure of all: The other side of the world. Ario giggled to himself and hopped down the streets, unable to contain his exhilaration at the prospect of discovering a whole new land, strange new creatures and people, disturbing cultures that he, failed researcher in the science-driven society of Rao, would be first to study and document and— "Watch where yer going, Yosai!" With a gasp Ario was flattened face-first against the nearest wall, a forceful hand pressing him against stone and grime as its owner stomped past. He didn't wait to peel himself off the wall, mumbling an insult back, soon to bite his tongue as he realized what kind of

She cries out, her voice lost to the darkness that surrounds her. She shouts louder, the shadows in the dark laughing. Here within nowhere, her yells are silently deafening. She reaches out to those shadows, but finds no hands welcoming her. She flings her hands out, desperate like a sparrow, only for eagle's claws to strike her down. In the distance, light appears. She sets forth towards salvation, her feet dragging through the muck of blackness. She struggles and wades; stumbling into the blanket of night, darkness all she can breathe. Enough, she knows. With a final beat she kneels, surrendering to fate, and the darkness quivers its welcome. She closes her eyes, and slowly the dark seems to fade… And oblivion swallows her.