Out of the Shadows Pt. 4 Waking Dangers

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Gelu looked on in horror as Ater was flung like a rag doll. He sailed through the air a good four or five feet, before hitting the stone face with a sickening crack. He slid to the ground, unable to stir.
Quivering with fear, Gelu turned.
There, standing in the stinging, chilled wind, was a dark figure. He seemed undisturbed by the biting wind thrashing about him, his black cloth unaffected by the cold. Gelu stood frozen as he took slow, steady steps towards her. She could do nothing, no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t move, or tear her eyes away from his. He still came closer, a mere foot away from her. He stopped and loomed over her, his four, dark blue eyes freezing her insides. She could feel the cold hands of despair gripping her heart tighter… Tighter. What was this fear? It was so strong. Almost strong enough to be a physical being… And it was this… This embodied evil that made her feel this way. Her head was screaming in agony, but she did nothing. You couldn’t even say for sure if she was alive, standing there under his gaze of hopelessness.

“…Make… I-it… Stop….” Gelu managed. Within a few moments, it felt like her sanity was unraveling; her perch on this plain of existence was ending. Gelu was all of the sudden knocked to the side, the soft snow coming up to greet her as she slid back to the whistling graves. Ater stood in her place, looking at the dark abomination that was known as Nadir.

The name itself gave Gelu chills… She had no idea Nadir had really existed… Then again, she hadn’t believed Ater was real either…
Ater’s mask was cracked from the impact of the hit from Nadir. Ater’s patterns glowed red, bathing the snow in crimson light. Nadir seemed to smile. Ater lunged, but within one frightening motion, Nadir swatted him away, and his red glow went out instantly as he was thrown back once again. He groggily stood up trying to stay conscious… He had to protect Gelu.
Nadir held out his black, clawed hand towards Gelu. He started to speak a low and ancient language, it’s meaning lost to time. The words were sounded like growls and clicks, and something started to happen to the graves.

Long, thin cracks shot up the graves like lighting, the noise startling Gelu. Gelu had NEVER been so scared in her life; the despair that came from him was almost unbearable. The snow among the graves began to blacken, and the dead did rise. They broke the surface, their black masks clacking together with their new teeth, carved out of their masks like gaping cracks. Acrid, black smoke curled from their mouths, the slight odor of dust and age hung in the air. They screamed and cried, as if they tried to voice the agony of being awakened from their slumber. Their eyes were grey and lifeless, the black cloaks torn and tattered with holes and shredded scarves. They turned their cold, lifeless eyes to Gelu, the voice of their master whispering to their undead mind.
As they slowly started to advance, they became alarmingly faster, as if they were getting used to moving again after being still for so long. Gelu backed away, shocks of fear running up her scarf. She yelped when the cold stone bumped into her back, pressing herself into the stone, wishing she could just sink into the wall and hide. They came ever closer, masks cracking, poised to rip her apart. Gelu was surrounded on all sides. She tried to fly up and out, but one snagged her cloak.

“Ater!” She chirped frantically.
Ater stirred groggily. A small chip of his mask fell away and landed in the snow.
‘Come on… Move.’
With great effort, he managed to stand. He stumbled as he looked to Gelu, trying her hardest to get away, but they were over taking her. He started towards her, but Nadir slammed Ater to the wall, his wicked hand over his throat. Ater struggled under his grip, pinned to the painfully cold stone. Ater didn’t need air, but the pain was almost too much to bear as he almost seemed to crush him to the rock single handedly. Nadir was close now, all four of his eyes cutting his insides and snuffing his defiance or shimmer of hope.

//You’ve gotten strong, Ater.//
His voice sounded deep and old, like he spoke through a metallic tube. The voice was under toned with another voice that was whispery and soft, as if two voices spoke as one.
//You’re hardly an insect at this state… But you have gotten stronger since I last saw you.//
Ater looked at him with defiance, but unable to speak.
//You are hardly worth my time in such a state… But your progress pleases me. Don’t mistake my actions for mercy. I’m hardly the forgiving type…//
He tilted his head in a dangerous way.
//Just consider this little… Meeting… a warning. I’ve been watching you for some time Ater… And I don’t just do that for anyone. And will continue to do so. The fact that you have come out here with this lovely wayfarer has caught my attention. I just had to make myself known before you got too far.//
Nadir dropped him to the snow. He kneeled down, seeing colors at the edge of his vision that didn’t have names.
//Did you honestly believe the Ancestors would let you enter their mountain? After all this time, have you not accepted what you are? You’re so naive. Purity is not in your stead… And it never will be.//

Nadir vanished.
Ater painstakingly Struggled to Gelu, the dead seaming to have vanished along with the dreaded Nadir. She lay motionless in the snow, her cloak and scarf completely gone, white light bleeding out of her body from wounds.
“…Gelu…?” He chirped softly. She didn’t stir.
“Say something. Please…”
He wanted to touch her, but he was too frightened to hurt her further. He sat over her in shame, feeling helpless and angry. He leaned in close, his mask mere inches from hers.
“I need you to be OK.” He whispered.
He sat their breathlessly, the only sound was the wind howling through the graves. He leaned back and looked up to the grey sky, the snow falling on them without pause. He looked to the side when he felt a presence nearby. Pure and warm was what it felt like.
A figure, cloaked in white, stood before him. He stood abruptly, sensing energy far more pure than his own. He stepped back in awe and shame of his corrupted self.

Her golden mask twinkled in the cold; her long, pure white cloak went unbroken by embroidery.
“There’s no need to be ashamed Ater. You are what you are, and that is the way it shall be.” Her tone was warm and strong, full of kindness and understanding.
She came up beside him and kneeled down to the wounded snow farer. Ater kneeled down as well, looking on in concern.
“Who are you?”
“I have named myself Rhythm. I tend to the places the mountain wishes me too intervene with.”
“Devine intervention?”
Rhythm’s eyes curved in a soft smile. “Something like that.”
She reached out with her hand and softly rested it on Gelu’s head.
“Her wounds… They are too severe to be healed by my power alone.”
“What does that mean?”
She looked at Ater sadly. “She must be reborn if she is to survive.”
He looked at Gelu, motionless in the cold.
“You may be separated for a time, but you must find her again. Far bigger things are at work here, and far darker than I am able to see. But I do know the mountain wants you and Gelu to stay together.”
“I don’t care about the risk. Do what needs to be done and I will find her again.”
Rhythm nodded in understanding. She closed her eyes and placed a golden hand over Gelu’s chest, her heart symbol glowing faintly at her touch. She opened her eyes and looked to Ater, taking the hand that rested on Gelu’s chest and raised it up. A thing thread of light attached to Gelu’s heart symbol rose up at her finger tips, like spider web made of light. Rhythm looked to Ater.
“This is all I can do for you. The mountain forbids me to intervene any further than this. May it serve you well.”
She reached out to Ater’s chest, but no heart symbol revealed itself. She touched the thread of light to him, his black ash corrupting her hand, but she didn’t seem to feel the pain.

“I cast you both off with a message. Find the statue at the edge of the Bleeding Sands. You have a great purpose to fulfill, and all will be revealed.”
Ater didn’t remember much else after that. He felt like he was flying or sailing a great distance, but he didn’t remember the trip. He woke up in the pink sands, his scarf flapping lazily in the breeze. He sat up, shaking the sand off his cloak, black ash flurried at his movement. He stood and looked to the night sky, the stars silent sentinels in the vast, deep blue of the night. He was thankful it was night, the air was cool and no sun beat on his cloth. Suddenly remembering what happened, he looked to his chest at where Rhythm had touched the thread of light to him. He didn’t see anything… But he felt different. He hadn’t been reborn… No, he was just transported. Ater was amazed a higher being had come to help him, though she wasn’t one of the Old Ones… At least, he didn’t think so. He looked around in the dark, his white, eerie mask glinting in the gloom.

He stood up just as a powerful wind tugged at his cloak, causing his long scarf to flap angrily in the wind. A figure, robed in white and blue, rocketed on the wind, odd, arm like appendages outstretched for steering. She landed seamlessly, sliding down a sand dune and stopping in front of him. She tiled her head to the side, tiny bells chiming at her back. Her sky blue patterns were square and moved, almost in a lava lamp like motion.

“I was told by the wind to come find you. It seems to want to allow you past the wind wall. It neglected to tell me who in the mountain you are. I don’t give that privilege to everyone.”
Ater was stunned. He paused looking for the right words.
“My… Name is Ater, Farer of the Shadows.”

“Shadows? Oh, so you’re the black cloak I’ve heard so many horror stories about.” She sighed. “I would never let you through the wind barrier, but the wind is never wrong, I’d be mad to ignore its wishes.” She waved her long “wing” he decided to call them, and the wind picked up, allowing them to sail to the far edge of the great Wind Wall. She looked at him with unblinking, unseeing eyes.
“Mind yourself while you are out there, Blood Shadow. I want the legend of the horrible Ater to stay within the Sunken City, is that clear to you?”

Ater nodded, a little confused with the nickname. He had no idea what travelers outside his place called him, he assumed he had many names, and that was one of them.
“I’m called Anima, by the way. Farer of the winds.”
She turned away, and Ater felt an odd pulling sensation. She put her “wings” together in front of her, and hummed, slow and sweet. The wind seamed to tire, and became dead still. She breathed out slowly, and the odd tugging sensation stopped.
“I may have had to use some of your energy. You had so much access energy, I couldn’t resist.”
Ater looked to the horizon beyond, knowing far greater places to explore were out there, and maybe new dangers.

“Thank you Anima.”
“Yeah yeah, just go through before it closes. The wind wants me to take care of the glitching hooligans elsewhere.”
Ater smiled inwardly, and passed through the barrier.
“Ater.”
He looked back.
“The heart string is strong. You’ll see her again.”
Before Ater could say anything else, the barrier started up again, and Anima seemed to vanish.
Ater stood there silently, gazing at the shifting sands. He was shook up from his encounter with Nadir, and wondered what his words meant. Had he been a part of Nadir’s plan all along? What was he planning? He shivered at the encounter. He could still smell the stench of the dead lingering in the air, as if he was still near them. A little scared and confused, for some reason, he felt comfort. Somehow… He knew Gelu was safe somewhere, but his protective instincts overwhelmed him and caused him to ache inside.

Ater would find her… No matter what dangers he might face. Something was tugging him along, and he knew… He just knew… How to find Gelu.
With Rhythm’s message still ringing in his head, he walked into the night.

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To clarify, the glitch worlds exist, in a sense. They are other dimensions in my world of Journey, but they are not considered beyond the wind wall, the glitches are just the "in-between" of the inside and out.

This story only effects my characters, my rules about how the land of Journey works are just my own creative interpretations. Don't try to insert your own characters into the story, I'm really not trying to control anybody. If you like how my world of Journey works, you can use it's rules, but if you disagree and don't like how my world of Journey works, you have your own little world

Rhythm's Bio-->endlessshower.deviantart.com/a…

Anima's Bio-->endlessshower.deviantart.com/a…