Current Events > A child is here, brought low by disease.

(+) Yeah! (+)

He is far too young to have suffered so.
Thin beyond words, the boy's skin is a shade paler than the bleached hospital sheets upon which he lies. His parents no longer visit him, for they cannot bear to watch him suffer. The doctors have long since surrendered his fate to the gods. The boy, too, has abandoned hope. Strange emotions-weariness, hatred-swell within the dark recesses of his young heart. He tries to reject the black terror that germinates in his body, but no amount of effort or tears can drive the invader away. He has long ceased to resent his parents and doctors. Once he did, but now his pain is so great that there is little room in his heart to think of others.

Only one person brings the boy comfort: a healthy young girl with tan skin and deep brown eyes. She is a beacon of brightness and light in the boy's world; her very presence is a comfort to him. But he is unable to look upon her face. Whenever they meet, the boy is filled with loathing for his own state. Soon, this loathing eats away at what joy he receives from the girl's visits. The girl will stop coming. He knows this. His every waking moment is spent in fear of this day. He thinks that if he could take to her, if he could tell her of his feelings, that this might not be so. But this conversation never happens.

The girl disappears.
The boy dies alone.
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For the love of all that is holy stop pounding me!
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giantblimpN7 posted...

For the love of all that is holy stop pounding me!

Then move!
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Whether we wanted it or not, we've stepped into a war with the Cabal on Mars. So let's get to taking out their command, one by one. Valus Ta'aurc. From what I can gather he commands the Siege Dancers from an Imperial Land Tank outside of Rubicon. He's well protected, but with the right team, we can punch through those defenses, take this beast out, and break their grip on Freehold.
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In the ghetto..
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There is a female warrior.
Her greatest enemy is a beast with red eyes that she cannot fully comprehend. When she strikes it with her sword, it turns into a pillar of salt and dies. But when the white smoke clears, a new enemy rises.
And another.
...And another.

The warrior knows that her struggle is folly, but fighting the unending stream of enemies fills her with a sense of joy and purpose. Somewhere deep in the warrior's drug-addled mind lies a vague memory of a daughter. Perhaps the child exists only in her head; the dying remnants of a powerful dream. She does not know. Her friends and fellow warriors come and go. Some flee in terror. Some are eaten. She began the fight with 23 companions, but most are gone now.

The warrior's body shudders. She does not understand why at first. By the time she hears the fierce, low sound, the arena is already enclosed in darkness. Looking up, the warrior sees a beast so large that it blots out the sky. She is laughing. She has been doing so for as long as she can remember. Covered in blood and dirt, the warrior laughs. She laughs and laughs until the town that contains her daughter collapses into a pile of dust.

This memory has been stored for a long time. It is etched with a single word: Loss.
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