Well, ok then... I guess I should have wrote that in the beginning... The storytelling is not my cup of tea, though I'm curious as to what others have to say.

Haha you're absolutely right, it is very much like a play or a tv show. I wouldn't say that my characters are so much stereotypical... I guess they probably seem that way, there's still a lot of stuff that doesn't make sense. I'd say that the story is more sterotypical at this point. The generic badass with a shady past put in charge to save the day story, but it's really more than that. I think it's ironic because writers put bits of themselves in characters in their stories, and I have done that very much so in this one. Like Jake, I too have trouble translating my thoughts into words at times. It's quite painful actualy... to have a story in your head as clear as day but to always be just missing that key word, that key phrase that ties it all together in the readers mind. That line that makes everything go click. I guess that's the point though... to just keep on writing until you can finally figure out the correct words to use haha =P

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We can't cure the world of sorrows, but we can choose to live our lives in happiness.

 Quoting: Deadhound

Well, ok then... I guess I should have wrote that in the beginning... The storytelling is not my cup of tea, though I'm curious as to what others have to say.

The latter is the problem. This board isn't really the busiest one ... so getting views is quite tricky, and would mean you have to appeal to the people that come here occasionally. Sadly, I know, that such an environment doesn't stimulate a writer to try and vary his style though (or that anyone that is moderately talented will show up and feel inspired enough to criticise others). Indeed, ego boosting isn't all good for somebody that is trying to create something. I myself did not comment on his style though, because I like it. I think that my own writing is drier and his is just more vivid, which I find more interesting. Biased of course, but it all comes down to your own opinion anyway. Anyway, nice of you to not go AWOL on us . And Flibble, remember his advice/comment and store it for later stories. Trying different styles of writing is hard, but educative to say the least. Keep writing! I'm rooting.

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Bathing in eternal sunlight...

{Sig Made By SenileSkunk!}

 Quoting: Deadhound

I think he uses such a lavish vocabulary to make the story seem more interesting and intelligent and him more articulate.

Really? Can you understand it all? I think a lavish vocabulary is useful because of connotations. For example, while "plump" means "fat," it can be used to convay jolliness. This is a very simple example, but, if you realise that no two words in the English language are the same, but carry a core meaning and lesser meanings, it may change your opinion a bit. I would finish corrections, now, but I fear I am about to fall asleep at my keyboard, because I am very tired...

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"Effortless superiority"

[INDENT]Glossy eyes stared from behind frightened faces. Most of them just looked at the ground, too afraid to face what they were up against quite yet. None of these petrified lumps of clay were soldiers. None of them had ever been in battle before. None had ever seen a dead person, much less killed a man. They were farmers and carpenters and bartenders and normal every day people. They locked their doors and cowered under their covers, somehow convinced that they would be protected, while Jake fought entire armies of foes by himself. He had a difficult task ahead of him. Among the sea of faces there were some that stood out like blazing beacons. Weapons were strapped at their sides, back, and legs. They dresesed differently, wearing leather wristguards and other pieces of light armor. The thing that stuck out in his mind the most was the calm, collected look that they gave him, each of their eyes meeting directly with his own. They had seen battle before, he could be certain of it. Jake continued after pausing slightly to make sure that he had everyone's attention, "There was once a time when I was afraid to kill as well. Then, I learned one simple, but valuable, truth. There are certain situation which you can think your way out of, and there are some which can be talked out of. Then there are some that have only one path out, and that path is a difficult one to walk. I will not lie to you, killing a person hurts more than you can imagine. To carry the knowledge that you have brought an end to another life is a heavy burden to bear. It is a burden which you will not carry alone though. I want everyone to look around." Everyone looked around, not quite sure what they were supposed to find. Some exchanged glances as if to say, "What's this nut going on about?" or, "Do you know what we're supposed to be looking at?" but slowly they all gave up and went back to looking at the old man who didn't look to be a strong warrior at all. He spoke confidently and assuringly, "You are all a family now. I know it sounds strange, but you will all come to know one another. You will be able to depend on one another when you are in need. You will work with each other until you get better at fighting than you had ever imagined possible. I can see that some of you have already fought before." the ones who had fought slightly nodded, while everyone else looked around in wonder, "You will be my generals, I want you to keep an eye on how people are progressing and keep me up to date, do I make myself clear?" and they nodded once again. This was turning out better than he had expected. Hopefully things would continue going this smoothly. Once again he surveyed the crowd and spoke with a sudden, unmistakable, tone of authority, "How many of you don't have a weapon?" nearly every person other than the generals raised their hands. Jake added, "Household objects don't count as a weapons folks, I'm talking about swords here." and the rest of them raised their hands, "Well, we can't have an army without weapons then, can we? Everyone fall in and myself and my generals will present you with a weapon." to his dismay the majority of people just looked around with a dumbfounded look on their face. They obviously had no idea what it meant to "fall in". Maybe this wasn't going to be as easy as he had hoped, "Fall in means to line up in rows with equal spacing. The easiest way to do this is to put your left arm out holding the shoulder of the person in front of you, and your right arm out holding the shoulder of the person to your side." To his dismay, once again, nobody moved, "I said hop to it ladies! You don't get paid to sit around jabbering with each other, you get paid to fight, now fall in!" Jake couldn't believe it, but they were actually listening. His generals were helping some of the more resistant people to get motivated, and, other than the few people who commented on how they didn't get paid at all, he felt pretty good about the entire situation. He smiled and thought to himself, "I may turn these sheep into wolves yet." First the swords were handed out. They were basic wooden training swords, properly weighted but light enough to avoid doing a lot of damage. Some of the villagers played around with each other, clumsily trying to attack and block, usually hitting each others' hands more often than not. Jake, who normally would have been quick to end this kind of behavior, took advantage of their childlike play to learn a little bit about them. He saw groups of friends, smaller packs within those, how those groups crossed over into each other. It may have seemed trivial, but Jake never knew what tests he would have to pass in this life. It would be good to have some of the answers ahead of time. When he was satisfied with his understanding of the people he was to train, he raised his hand slowly to silence them. The ones who didn't see him kept on fighting and laughing, but those who did see him sheathed their weapons and fell silent. Soon the others realised that he was waiting for them, and it wasn't long before they were all silent and looking to Jake for guidance. For a short while he let them sit in silence, eagerly awaiting his command, until finally one of them spoke. It was a middle aged woman who broke the silence, and in a raspy voice she croaked, "What in the bloody hell do you have us down here for, old man? I'm tired, and I want to go to sleep. Could you at least hurry this up a little?." Jake only smiled. "You must be patient. Only in peace, will you succeed in war. A very wise man once told me that, and It has held true to this day. But, however much I wish to emphasize patience, you are right that we are running out of time. I'm sure you've all heard the noises echoing in the distance, sounds of lumberjack gods felling trees in the heavens." and to his surprise the woman cut him off, "Oh, that's easy to explain. It's the rainy season, and it's just been extra stormy this year. Give it a couple weeks and it'll slow down." Jake, perturbed but not shaken, continued his story, "These sounds are not those of nature, as you believe. These are the sounds of war! Across the great plains and even inside the walls of this very city I have fought, and killed, a great many soldiers. All the while you were sleeping soundly, thinking the noises you were hearing were simply storms, the shouts and blood curdling screams just your mind slipping into the dream world. I'm here to tell you that it is no dream. It is very real, and if you want to survive you're going to have to do everything that I say, when I say it, do I make myself clear?" less than a dozen people mumbled "Yeah, yeah..." and began to talk with one another. Jake cut them off quickly, "I asked you a question, and I expect an answer. You will do as I say or you will find yourself begging for a merciful death at the hands of our enemies, if I don't grant your wish first, do I make myself clear?" and almost every single person responded, wide eyed and petrified with fear, with a resounding, "Yes sir!" He began their training slowly, first teaching them the basics of combat. Drawing from his own lessons at the hands of Seya, he molded his wards into cunning warriors. Instead of teaching them how to block certain attacks, he explained to them the mechanics behind the action of blocking in general. He explained why certain moves deflected blows in different directions, and how the slightest error could result in injury, or even death. He went into great detail with the forces involved, and how to use those forces to one's advantage in battle. Soon he had them paired up and sparring. While he taught them a pattern of attack to follow, he told them to resist the urge to repeat strings of attacks during actual combat. He demonstrated how easy it was to recognize attacks, to see where the attack was going rather than where it was coming from, and how one could alter their own attacks to compensate for this knowledge. To him these were common thoughts that he had had for as long as he could remember, but to them they were gems of sacred enlightenment. He could see many of their faces glow with understanding. As they fought they began to learn to diffuse their focus. Instead of seeing the swords, and the people, and the tress, and the clouds, and having to focus on each of them individually, they began to see the world as a whole. Soon they found that along with the new perception also came a profound sense of oneness. They felt as if they were simply a part of this whole, made from the whole itself, as if they were a cog set in a great machine following a list of ancient rules laid down for them before time itself existed. Their movements, fluid and dreamlike, were the epitome of perfection. They had found peace, he had succeeded in the first step of his plan. Now came the difficult part. He allowed them to continue sparring for a short time, and then raised his hand for their attention. Within moments they had all stopped, and waited patiently for Jake to speak. He smiled and began, "I can't express how proud I am of all of you. There are people who train for years and never reach the skill level that you are at right now. It seems that you were all born to be warriors, and I will not let you down. I want you to break up into groups of five, quickly, and I will tell you more once that is done." and he sat on a nearby tree stump, pulled his sword free of its sheathe and a flat stone from his pack, and began to sharpen his blade to perfection. Within a minute they had formed groups of five and were eagerly awaiting for him to continue. The stone was returned to its pack, the sword to its sheathe, and him to his place, standing in front of his eager students. He drew a deep breathe and continued, "Now I want you all to choose a number, one through five, one of each per group. Do it quickly, and do it quietly. I will continue when you are done." and in no more than twenty seconds they had all decided on a number and fell silent once again, ", now this next part is going to sound a little crazy, but I need you all to trust me. You will begin with the person who chose the number one. They are the warrior, and the other four people will be the attacking army." more than one person cried out in horror. Some were yelling, "But, we'll be killed!" or, "You're insane!" but, to Jake's surprise, he also heard someone shout, "We should be in groups of ten instead of five!" his attention immediately drawn to a rather lanky looking fellow who was suddenly recieving the savage beatings of everyone surrounding him, smiling all the while. There was something about the man, something special, and Jake committed his face, and voice, to memory, "I know it sounds crazy but it is really quite safe. You can only get hit once, and then number two will become the warrior, and you will join the army. When number two gets hit he rejoins the army, and number three become the warrior... and so on and so forth, returning to number one after number five is hit. You may go at any pace you wish to, although remember that, for the purpose of this exercise, you are fighting your enemy. Your enemy will show you no mercy, and so you must show them none." "Start your training now, and do not be frightened to ask me for help if you feel that you need guidance." Jake sat down on the stump and folded his arms across his chest. He watched in joy as they began to spar, starting very slowly and then eventually quickening in pace. One by one they were dispatched with little effort, even though the groups only attacked one or two at a time. For hours they practiced, oblivious to the setting sun and the chirping of crickets. Jake had planned to tell them to attack with more of their force at the same time, but before he could they began to change their tactics at their own pace. He saw that they were learning to let go of everything that hindered them from achieving their full potential. He could see that they were beginning to use their senses more fully, and he swore that some even looked as if they felt the attacks coming towards them. They began to attack in full force, and soon the warrior was able to stand his ground for at least thirty seconds before finally being hit. They were all turning out to have far exceeded his every expectation, and he felt prouder with every moment that passed. He had just given them the spark of knowledge, and they had done the rest. He never ceased to be amazed by the strength and ingenuity of the human spirit. It was then that he realised that they had been practicing for far longer than he had intended on, and he rose to interrupt them. To his dismay, nobody even paid any attention to his attempts. He tried rasising his hand, clearing his throat, calling out for them to stop, beating his wooden sword on the tree stump, but nothing worked. He watched in awe as their teams broke up before his very eyes. The organised display that was previously present was replaced by chaos, and yet even in its chaos there was order. They began to fight each other, every man, woman, and child for themselves. It was the most beautiful things that he had ever seen in his life. They were not ready yet, but they had made huge steps during their first session. Jake was beginning to believe that they actually had a chance of winning this war, and that he may be able to retire after all. He had always wanted to buy a little farm on the outskirts of town, breed some animals, and live out the rest of his days in peace. He wasn't quite there, but his dream was finally within his view. How he longed to live a simple life once again before meeting his end, "All in due time, my friend." he thought to himself, "In due time." Jake needed to deal with his students before doing anything else. Although the display was impressive, and fighting in such situations does wonders for one's combat senses, they did not realise the effect that it was having on their bodies. They had burned all of the fuel that they had, and were now running solely on adrenaline. If he didn't stop them soon there could be dire consequences; beyond the possibility of passing out it was also just as likely that they would die from exhaustion. Jake acted in the only way he could think of, by fighting. He grabbed a wooden sword from the bundle that was laid out under a nearby tree and cleared his mind for the task at hand. He knew that he could not inflict any serious harm to these people, but he also knew that he could not be too gentle with them or they might ignore him entirely. All he needed to do was to get their attention. Without hesitation he ran straight into them, knocking people down left and right as he attempted to break their concentration. The wind blew in from the mountains, carrying a distinct odor of pitch, and picked up piles of leaves in small vortexes, swirling them among the fighting peasants. Swords clacked and crashed aganst each other, exhausted warriors panted and grunted, time itself seemed to slow down. Leaves floated almost motionlessly in mid air, his students barely moved. Suddenly he had an idea, and instantly he began to put it into action. He saw the middle aged woman who had spoken up before turn to face towards him as her sword began an arc directly towards his face. He easily parried it and grabbed her by her main hand, trying to calm her as best as he could, staring her directly in the eye as if to say, "I need everyone to calm down right now, and I need you to help me. Please, their lives are at stake." and she seemed to understand his meaning perfectly. To his surprise she looked to the young man that Jake had noted earlier and he returned her glance, nodding his head as he began to wrestle the weapons from nearby villagers' hands. As she nodded, turned so her back was against Jake's, and then began to wrestle the weapons from people who were near her, stopping them from fighting for long enough to calm them down, the other man working at about the same pace. Slowly, but surely, they calmed the chaotic group and soon everyone had collapsed on the ground, arms draped over each others' shoulders, laughing and gasping for air. When they had finally caught their breath Jake waved his hand to get their attention and began to speak, "Alright, first off I want to say how proud I am of you. You all have the best instincts that I have ever seen, and I am certain that we will be able to defeat any enemy in battle." and a defeaning roar rose up from the crowd. Wooden swords thrust into the air in triumphant gestures, faces gleaming with joy, they felt like they were ready to take on the world. Jake had some difficulty in quieting them down, and only after great effort could he finally continue, "Your only weakness is your control, or should I say your lack of control rather? I can see it in your eyes that you are feeling at peace when you are fighting, but I can also see that many of you are losing your focus entirely. While you must keep your focus on your enemy, you must also know what is going on around, as well as inside of, you. You must always be mindful of your surroundings, they may present you with a tactical advantage. Most of all you must be mindful of me. I am sorry to put it so bluntly, but I need you all to pay very close attention. I can't blame you for tonight because my thoughts were wandering and I lost track of time, but I meant for this practice to end long ago. Most of you are on the verge of exhaustion, and I need you to listen to me now. When you go home you are going to be very hungry, and very thirsty. You need to take it slow though, eating or drinking too fast could be very harmful to your body. I hope you all take this as a lesson. It is essential to be aware of one's own body at all times, because it will tell you things that you will not want to ignore. That is all for tonight, you have all done very well. Go home and sleep, dream happy dreams, and wake well rested. We will meet here again tomorrow around mid-day, until then you will reflect on what you have learned. Dismissed!" Pale faces smiled from shaking bodies as they hobbled off towards their respective homes, most of them using their neighbors for support to keep from falling over. For a minute Jake watched them as they walked away, smiled a smile that only he could see, and then began to make his way back to his own house. The streets were completely deserted; everyone was asleep at this hour, and the cool night air felt wonderful on his face. It was so peaceful that he had a hard time convincing himself that he had not already made it home, and was not already asleep in his bed. Crickets chirped all around him, owls hooted softly in the trees, as a wolf howled in the distance. It seemed to take less time to get back to his house, as returning journeys often felt, and when he reached his door Jake realised that he didn't want to go to sleep yet. He wanted to enjoy this beautiful night for as long as he could. Right as he was about to decide to stay up and appreciate nature, a sharp crash tore through the landscape, followed by a deep and steady rumbling. Only then did Jake notice the orange light flickering on the clouds in the distance. Only then did he realise that he was hearing, and had been hearing for some time now, a battle raging on. He had become so accustomed to fighting that hadn't even noticed it being there. It meant that their only remaining ally was being attacked, and if they fell in battle then there would be nothing to stop the advancing threat. They would be naked to the greatest evil that had ever existed, and then it would all be down to him and his soldiers. The walls would be of little protection when the sky itself was falling on you. Jake decided that maybe he did feel like sleeping after all and turned back to his door. When opening it he had a strange sensation of deja vu, like he had already done this before. He ignored the feeling and went inside, shutting and locking the door behind him. He removed his shoes and set them near the foot of the bed, removing his pants and shirt and throwing them in a pile on the floor. He crawled under his covers and prepared to let the boundaries of existance slip away, if only for a short while. It wasn't long before he had drifted off to sleep, but he did not find the peace in his mind that he had been hoping for. [/INDENT] To Be Continued...

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We can't cure the world of sorrows, but we can choose to live our lives in happiness.

Chapter 8 is in the works right now, but I've come to a difficult point. The next chapter is a very big piece of the puzzle that is Jake, and I need to make sure that it comes out right. This is where my difficulty finding the proper words could begin to haunt me, but I hope that I can get it all out in at least a semi-understandable form. If all goes well I should have it done relatively shortly, wish me luck...

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We can't cure the world of sorrows, but we can choose to live our lives in happiness.

Well, it took me ages but i finally read all of your chapters and i just have to say, wow. Your use of language is amazing, metaphors and similies are well placed and any other poetic device that I can't see is very good. Your story delves well into the physcological mind of your person, keeps bringing up rather interesting facts, points, history and other god knows what to keep us interested as well as having slight humour and an almost terry pratchett way of describing things as being opposite but the same. I havn't been this enveloped in a story since ammy first showed us his, I am eagerly awaiting the next chapter.

The last chapter was once again marvelous . I liked it a lot. There were only small things like 'mid air' -> midair/mid-air and 'middle aged' -> middleaged/middle-aged ... They aren't worth mentioning fully, so I'll leave you to look it over yourself. The only thing that bothered me was the fact that you turned peasants into warriors within hours ... Some more explanation is needed to pass that off as believable.

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Bathing in eternal sunlight...

{Sig Made By SenileSkunk!}

I have to agree with ammy, it is a tad corny but I guess if you can do some explaining it will be acceptable. I still love it though

Well I've been slacking lately. I'm currently reading the Dark Tower series, going to school, and writing a story for a video game that I'm (hopefully) going to make along with this story, so things have become a little hectic. However, things seems to be calming down a little bit so I may actually have time to write some stuff later today. About the villagers being such badass fighters, there is an explanation... although I'm not sure if I'll get into it in this chapter, or even the next, but it will be explained eventually. I have a bajillion different ideas floating around upstairs, so it'll be interesting to see how this chapter comes together.

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We can't cure the world of sorrows, but we can choose to live our lives in happiness.

Okay, I've been really busy with school for the past couple of months, but I finally sat down and got the next chapter all typed out. I meant to go a little further with this chapter, but after seeing the length that things were getting and realising that I was only about a third of the way through this piece of Jake's life, I decided to end it here and continue later. I do hope that you all enjoy it =) [INDENT]Life in the wilderness was turning out to be easier than Jake had expected. Perhaps easy wasn't the best word to describe it, but it was the closest one that he would be able to think of for years to come. Shortly after making peace with the other in his mind, the knowledge it had contained had been slowly integrating itself into his own. With each passing day came more and more thoughts which he had never before imagined. It wasn't just the thoughts themselves that amazed him, but rather the way in which the thoughts came to him. His entire way of thinking, of looking at the world around him, his entire perception of existance in general, had changed. There were memories linked in his mind that, only weeks before, he would have never even considered as being connected. His entire life began to take on a different tone, his entire being was evolving almost faster than his mind could handle. He was slowly, but surely, coming to grips with who he was, and with his place in the scope of things. He had become a very skilled hunter, tracking animals for miles sometimes if only to improve his own abilities. Since the night of reintegration he had not gone hungry, teaching himself how to set traps and remembering to check them regularily. If he failed to kill larger animals such as deer or elk he could always depend on having at least a small rabbit or squirrel to eat. He thought of ways to catch fish and, stripping plants to make twine, carving hooks like Seya had shown him from the strongest wood he could find, and using an ingenious counter-weighted pulley system of his own design, he could catch five fish without even being there to check the lines. He had only found it destroyed once, most likely from a bear looking for an easy meal, and shortly thereafter added another system involving a small box which would, after all five fish were caught, lower them into it and then latch itself tightly shut. While the machine was still likely to be destroyed - he would have to fix it again if it was - the box was anchored deep into a tree's roots and was thick enough to withstand any beating nature would be able to give it. He prided himself on this design, and ate his freshly cooked fish rewards in smug happiness. As time went on, and as he explored further into the wilds, he began to notice that there were tracks which formed paths through the trees and brush. He had found paths before, and had thought little of them, but this one was different. Where the former paths had had branches and other obstacles hanging over them, this one was completely clear. Anything which would have been obstructing easy passage was cleanly cut at the borders. There were footprints littering the path, bare as well as wrapped ones, along with grooves carved by the repeated passage of horse drawn carts. It was obvious that the path had been tread upon a great deal, and quite recently by the looks of it. He stared off into the woods where it faded in one direction, turned around and saw where it abruptly dissapeared in the other, and then lowered himself to the ground to ponder his new discovery. As he delved further into seldom used areas of the mind, something deep inside told him to run, to get back on his feet and flee to his camp where it was safe, to ignore this symbol of civilization and to continue living his simple life peacefully in the wilderness. For the sake of everything good, of everything that anyone has ever cared for, it said to leave now before it was too late. It nearly shouted at him. He was almost ready to give in to the voice and returned to his personal sanctuary when he heard a scream off in the distance. It was a woman's cry. Deep laughter echoed through the air, drunken jeers and wailing sobs pierced his brain. Someone was in trouble, that much was for sure. Someone was all alone, with nobody to protect them, and would certainly be killed, or worse, if he did nothing to help them. No, it wasn't any of his business. Nothing but trouble could come of this, and that was the one thing that he did not want right now. Every part of his being told him to run away, to let fate take care of itself, that it wasn't his place to interfere. Despite his better judgement he jumped to his feet and took off running towards the source of the sound. He pushed his muscles as hard as they could be pushed, his lungs burned as his brain gasped for air. Every muscle in his body creaked and groaned, crying out in protest as they pumped him along regardless. He moved through sheer will power alone. The pain didn't matter. That would take care of itself with time. The only thing that did matter was the screaming or, more importantly, its source. Racing down the path, weaving in and out along with its curves, he was little more than a blur. Several small animals searching for food on the sides of the road looked up in surprise as they felt a rush of air, only to find an empty, albeit dusty, path before them. The jungle began to be distrupted by large boulders and piles of rubble. Only then did Jake look up and realise just how fast he was really moving. The mountains that had, only minutes before, seemed so far away, now loomed high overhead. The path began to curve around natural formations and fallen boulders alike, crudely improvised attempts to overcome nature and the passage of time. The sounds were getting louder, he could hear them clearly now. There were three distinct male voices, each jeering and cursing in their own vulgar tongues. Behind it all was a small, sobbing voice. It sounded like an angel who had been banished from heaven under false pretenses, crying out against an injustice that would never be righted, that could never be righted. It would be, by the gods. He swore to himself that he would see it fixed even if it meant his own death. Although it seemed impossible at the time, he somehow managed to push a little harder, his feet barely touching the ground as he flew down the path. "I've got first dibs on 'er, I called it!" one cried out. "Like hell you do! I already claimed first before we set out!" a second replied. "Both of you shut it, I've got her first and you know it!" a third shouted, "And keep your voices down. You never know who, or what, is listening." he added at a lower, though still very audible, volume. Jake rounded a boulder and for the first time saw what was causing all of the commotion. Three men stood, backs towards him, cornering a woman like a pack of rabid dogs surrounding their kill. She was slumped agaist a large rock, holding her face in her hands and weeping. Her sobs reverberated in the canyon, mixing with their foul taunts in a horrible symphony of unpleasantness. He didn't like this one bit. There were three of them, this would be difficult, but he knew what he had to do. He cleared his mind of all thoughts and allowed himself to enter an almost meditative state. Every lesson he had ever learned was at his disposal. He was the embodiment of death, and yet he was at peace. To his surprise, he heard his own voice ring out above all others. "What in the hell do you think you're doing!?" The three men spun to face him, their shocked faces bringing a smile to his lips. They each had small blades - more than likely each felt offered ample protection - which would matter little in an actual battle. Jake thought that these men would be better off picking up stones and throwing them at him. They drew their blades all the same, ready for battle, and Jake returned the gesture. The leader of the three spoke up first. "This is none of your business, whelp. I suggest that you go back to whatever village it is that you came from before you find that you are having trouble keeping your entrails where they currently reside. This does not concern you." "Yeah, you best get out of 'ere if you know what's good for you. I'll gut ya like a fish." "Our business is with the lady here, not with you boy. Now, get lost!" Jake's own response surprised him even more than anything else that he could have imagined. "Leave the lady be, find other business, and I will not be forced to kill any of you. Refuse to follow my orders and none of you will again see the sun set. I may be young, but I warn you not to underestimate me. Many before you have done so, and none of them are alive to tell the tale." The trio laughed in unison, cackling like madmen. They weren't soldiers, they were errand boys. Three of them had been sent to recover a single helpless female. Their arrogance would be their downfall, along with their utter lack of skill. He wondered how he would kill them, how they would choose to attack him, which one would die first. Jake smiled at his own private thoughts, which quickly brought the laughter to a stop. All three men stared at this young boy facing certain death, smiling a smug little smile of certainty. They were obviously shocked and disgusted, and the leader growled an order in a voice that embodied evil itself. "Wipe that grin off your face, cully, while you still have a face to wipe it off of." His face was distorted with rage, brows gathered and lips snarled, rotting teeth revealed from beneath. Jake replied quickly, "Enough talk then. If you mean to attack me, then get on with it. I don't have all day you know." and then he shot them a full fledged smile. It was a smile that made all of their blood run cold, causing it to boil at the same time. After a long silence the leader finally acted. Pathetically so, but it was a try. Jake would have to give him that much. He simply flipped his blade, grabbed it by the tip, slowly and blatently raised his arm, and let out a little grunt before tensing his muscles and releasing. It was a sloppy throw - had it hit him, it still would have connected hilt first - which Jake easily intercepted and parried, although only causing a minor adjustment in its path forced him to lean slightly to the right to avoid the spinning blade. It made an odd modulating, whistling, humming buzz as it flew past his ear, and a distinct thud as it buried itself in the trunk of a lone spruce tree standing, slightly slanted, behind him. He straightened, spun his blade to the ready, smiled once again, crouching slightly into a defensive position, and spoke in a mocking tone, as one might speak to a child. "If that's the best that you can do, then you all better just go home right now." Enraged, and more than a little surprised, all three charged him at once, screaming at the top of their lungs as if they were part of a small army, trying to scare their enemy before their actual size was discovered. This was more to Jake's liking. He was in familiar territory now. He took a deep breath and relaxed his muscles, calming his mind and purifying his spirit. The blade became one with him, and he became one with the universe. Time no longer seemed to matter, it flowed differently to him. It seemed to be less of a line and more of a circle, although he couldn't explain why he felt that way. He just did. The three lumbered ever closer, still a goodly distance away though. They were so dedicated, so convinced of their imminent victory. He almost felt bad about what he was about to do. Almost. With a single swift movement he disarmed the leader of his one remaining weapon, blocked a blow on his left, weapon flying from the thug's hand, and then with a quick change of balance he managed to disarm the thug on his right, sending his blade twirling off into the distance as well, smiling all the while. Moving too quick for them to register, the three continued the attack, not even realising that they no longer held weapons in their hands. With a second movement, so seamlessly executed that one might have even mistaken it for a single motion, he spun and buried his sword, down to the hilt, in the leader's chest. Shocked eyes bulged from their sockets. What must have been meant to be cries of pain came out only as a gurgling moan, choking and sputtering sounds that only a dying man can make moments after discovering that his fate has been sealed, and moments before meeting his maker once again. It didn't take long for his companions to realise what had happened, and after comprehension set in it took even less time for their weapons to fall from their hands, tumbling to the dirt. The men (Or perhaps boys would be more fitting, for he saw now that that's all that these two were. Boys.) quickly following suit, collapsing to their knees, begging for their lives to be spared, as convicted murderers begged for the warden to pardon them as they were carried, blindfolded, to the gallows. There would be no pardon this time. Fate had decided, and who was he to go against fate? No. Fate hadn't decided what would become of these men, they had done that for themselves. Fate had nothing to do with it, or did it? Jake reprimanded himself for allowing his mind to wander so much. He imagined the look on his old teacher's face as he would repeat over and over again, "Now only comes once, and while you're off thinking about something else the present is flowing by you." Seya was right, enough wasting time. These men probably hoped that Jake's pause meant that he was weighing the pros and cons of letting them go, however they would not be so lucky. Not in this life. Jake pulled the blade free of the now motionless leader, using a clean part of his victim's blood soaked shirt to remove the gore from the steel, and pointed it at the pair of hooligans who knelt before him, begging for their lives. He imagined that, to a person passing by, it would look something like a brave hero being knighted for his acts of valor. Nothing could have been further from the truth. "I will not spare your lives. I can not allow for you to live knowing what it was that you were planning on doing to, or with, that young lady." He motioned over his shoulder at the damsel in distress who now looked at him with wide eyes, as a child might appear upon viewing the King for the first time. She was beautiful, the most beautiful creature that he had ever seen, and he now thanked the gods that he did not listen to the voice in his head which told him to run away. Somehow everything felt right, or as right as it could with a freshly deceased corpse staring blankly up at you from the ground. Perhaps that made it feel even more right. Jake wasn't sure, and he didn't really care. She was alive, and that was all that mattered. The world could end at this very moment and he would be happy, content with his role in the play that we like to call life. "You will both die, now, but I want you to know something before you go. Listen close now." He gestured with a finger towards them, as if to say "Come here." and they both leaned in eagerly to listen to the final words that they would hear on this plane of existance. He spoke softly and calmly, as a parent might while attempting to soothe an unruly child "You were wrong, you should never have crossed paths with this woman, and had you not you may have lived to see yet another day, but that is not important right now. What is important is that I forgive you. I cannot speak for her, gods only knows if she will ever forgive you, but I do not hold this against you. Perhaps if we had met under different circumstances we would have broken bread together. Perhaps we may have even become the best of friends, but sadly fate has brought us to this point, in this way, and there is only one path from here on out. I do not wish ill upon anyone, but justice must be served, and injustice must be righted. If you should happen to meet your friend in the clearing at the end of the path, which I'm sure that you will, pass on my message to him. And when you arrive there, may you find peace, love, and justice to greet you, and may you find it well." With a single fluid movement steel whistled through the air, followed by splashing blood, and completed with a pair of dull thuds as two disembodied heads tumbled to the ground, one landing slightly before the other, both rolling off into the foliage as their bodies slumped to the dirt. Jake's blade dropped from his hands. He fell to his knees, and burst into tears. He wept softly for a short time, the woman that he had saved temporarily forgotten, and only stopped as smooth arms wrapped themselves around his neck. Surprised by this sudden human contact, he reach for his sword, but it was not in his scabbard. He searched the ground with his eyes, but could not find it. Small hands cupped on either side of his chin, lifting his head and turning it straight. Before he realised what was happening, her mouth was against his, their breath entertwined in a blissful moment that seemed to stretch on for eternity. This must be what heaven feels like. Jake couldn't imagine anything in this world that would ever compare to what he was feeling at this very moment, and decided that it didn't matter. This is the best that it can get, it's all downhill from here. After somewhere near ten seconds (Although to them both it had felt more like ten years) their lips parted, tendrils of saliva still connecting them as their faces drifted further apart. For a time they only stared into each others' eyes, having no need for conversation. They were meant to find each other. Jake had never believed in soul mates - He thought that it was all a bunch of hooey that poets and musicians had invented to sell their wares - but he could not deny that it existed now. For the first time in his life he felt complete, and it felt good. He broke into a grin at the exact moment that she did. They both giggled and embraced again, kissing as young lovers usually do. When they had separated for the second time, she looked deep into his eyes and then off towards the path which ran through the mountains. A sudden sense of dread washed through him as he immediately understood. She wanted him to come with her, to join her in the place which she called home, but also to leave the place that he had come to know as home. He couldn't leave his home, but at the same time how could he not? He had found his true love, and in doing so he would never have to feel incomplete again. He gazed wistfully off into the distance, silently saying his farewells to the world that he had known, the life that was but is no more, and then turned back to face the angel that had been placed before him. He smiled at her in eager excitement, and she returned the sentiment. They joined hands and began walking down the path towards his new life. [/INDENT] To Be Continued...

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We can't cure the world of sorrows, but we can choose to live our lives in happiness.

 Quoting: AMAUNATOR_THE_REVEALER

He had learned -> he had learnt

That's actually a preferential thing. Both are grammatically correct.

 Quoting: Guide

That's actually a preferential thing. Both are grammatically correct.

Yeah, I only recently learned that .

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Bathing in eternal sunlight...

{Sig Made By SenileSkunk!}

Amazing story, I think you are one of the most talented writers I know, including real authors for books and such. I can't wait 'till the next chapter, but don't rush it on my account P.S. I am very interested in the videogame you said you were making, could you expand on that please?

Well I'm still in very early stages of development but mainly it's going to be a medieval-esque action adventure fighting rpg something-or-other. I like the idea of cooldown counters for powers (ala WoW and CoH/CoV) but I hate having mana to restrict you, so I want to try to have power cooldown be the only restriction. Also one other thing I want (but am probably insane for even contemplating it) is to have battles grow exponentially throughout the game, i.e. first fight is one guy, 2nd is 2, 3rd is 4, 4th is 8, etc. etc. making for 100+ baddie near-end game battles. I've just finished the first character model, along with the beginning area, and some little elements such as weapons, plates, tables, etc. etc. It's still a long ways off though; I'm still in school until December. (06) As for my story I've only two chapters left until the end of the first book, so things are gonna start getting busy soon. I'm still not 100% sure of how everything's gonna fit together, but, as usual, I have a bunch of ideas floating around.... I do hope that it doesn't dissapoint when it's finally finished. =)

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We can't cure the world of sorrows, but we can choose to live our lives in happiness.

When approximatly do you think the next chapter will be MRFLIBBLE?

Well I can never say for sure, although I don't think that the next two chapters combined will take as long as the last one did... but then again you never know. I've started on the next chapter and hope to get things in there right to lead up to the last chapter.... which will (gods willing) be followed up shortly thereafter by book II, which I'm still working on the title for. Once again I'm getting ahead of myself, but for some reason I've been thinking about this story a lot as of late. I think that I'm just as anxious as you are to see how things turn out.

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We can't cure the world of sorrows, but we can choose to live our lives in happiness.

Need chapter!! WHERE IS IT!! aaaaaaaaaggggghhhhh

Haha yeah, you can blame The Movies for the next chapter not being done yet lol. I'm making an odd western / sci-fi mixed series, and it's way more amusing than it should be, what with finally being able to add my own voice and all. Anyways, I haven't stopped thinking about Eden and just need to sit down and get all of my thoughts in order, and then get it down on paper. The next chapter is going to be a little different than the rest...

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We can't cure the world of sorrows, but we can choose to live our lives in happiness.

Hurry please i'm turning rabid!

Write Misterflibble

After much contemplation, and a couple of revisions, chapter nine is now complete. I hope that you enjoy it. [INDENT]As Jake opened his eyes an odd mixture of deja vu and forboding flushed through him. He was still in that place between worlds where dreams are remembered but after the perfect sense that they had made only moments before began to slowly fade. He stared blankly at the ceiling above him and blinked as the fog which covered his mind slowly began to clear. He knew that his dream had been sweet, he only wished that he could remember what it had been about. His life had been barren of all things sweet for so long that it pained him to think about it. Sometimes he thought about taking his own life, but Seya's words had always stayed his hands. Seya would hand him a blade, look him dead in the eyes, face void of any emotion, and encourage him to do so. He would tell Jake that if he imagined this life to be a punishment, for him to try to imagine what he would be rewarded with in his next life for such an act. Seya was the one who had first presented him with the notion that perhaps this life was the punishment for a previous life in which he had taken his own, as well as the thought of what a greater punishment might bring. In the end Jake had decided that, however bad this world was, he would rather take his chances with it than risk possible, or further, damnation in another. Twin thundering booms shuddered the frame of the house, seeming to come from the very house itself, and then as quickly as it had happened all was again silent. Shaken, scared, and yet still curious as to what the noise was - It wasn't an explosion, that was for sure, and it didn't sound like it was a boulder landing either - Jake rose to his feet with a grunt of effort, knees and spine crackling like fireworks, and cautiously shuffled to the door. Rays of sunlight peeked around the frame of the door, a suspended corona of seemingly liquid physicality emanating from behind. Before he even opened the door he knew what lay on the other side. He could feel the presence as surely as he could feel the knotted wood under his bare feet. His hand reached up and turned the knob and he was greeted by a smiling face. He returned the smile. "I hope I didn't startle you. That wasn't my intention, I can assure you. I saw that you were awake and I wanted to speak with you while I had a chance." The voice spoke soothingly, directly into his own thoughts, and he once again felt safe. Under the blanket of safety, however, was hidden a sliver of doubt. In the presence's thoughts there was a twinge of something that Jake couldn't quite put his finger on. Was it sadness? Was it fear? Perhaps it was anger? No. It wasn't any of these things, but he was close. He could feel it. And then it was gone. The presence had masked the slipped emotion and now studied Jake to see if he had caught it. Jake tried to appear as if the thought had never reached his mind, but somehow knew that he wasn't succeeding. Jake did the only thing that he could think of doing. He asked a question. "What's wrong?" The swirling face sighed, if a congealed mass of pure energy can sigh, and then bloomed into a smile of relief. The smile warmed Jake's heart, but it also chilled him to the bone. A sense of dread swam over him as the soft voice began to speak. "They're coming. I did the best that I could, but it was not enough. I tried to hold onto the outlying strongholds but I was too weak. It was too evil for me to do anything. There were..." The voice cracked and trailed off into a mumble. Jake was about to speak up when the silence was broken, "There were women... and children... and... horrors that I would not wish upon anyone, and that I do not care to recall. All of age and able body were recruited into the ranks of their army. They march against us." and then the face was solemn and silent. Jake had known this already, somehow deep inside he had known for a long time what was to come. It had been tearing at his heart, ripping his very soul. He was old. By the gods he didn't feel it, but he was old. He had lived long beyond his time, and he sometimes wondered why he hadn't died already. Once when he was young he had been bitten by rattlesnake and had lain, dying, under the gaze of his master. The housekeeper at the time, a lovely young hispanic maiden, had been screaming, sobbing bursts of blubbering nonsense followed by shrilly, nasal inhalations. Her cries slowly faded away to nothing, echoes from a world which no longer mattered. He had seen the light, seen the clearing at the end of the path, had felt the safety and warmth which awaited him there, and felt that it was so close that he need only take one step forward and then everything else would take care of itself. But something inside had told him not to go, that his time had not yet come. As he drew away from the light he saw a scene that would be etched in his memory for all of eternity. The housekeeper whimpered and drew in another shrill breath, nostril whistling slightly. Seya turned to face him, now cradling his limp body in his arms, and spoke words which penetrated to the deepest reaches of his soul like an arrow. "This one will not die. Do not worry about that, my dear. His spirit is strong. He will not give in easily." Seya was right about that much, Jake did not die. For whatever reason he lived on. Perhaps there was no reason why he survived so long, perhaps there was no rhyme or reason to his life at all. Perhaps he had lived all of this time only to die now, frail and old under the blade of his enemies. Not so much frail, but definately old. Looking old and feeling old. Looking into the face floating before him filled his heart with something else though, something a little bit more positive. It reminded him of his time in the woods after his exile, of the way he used to hunt and fish, and it reminded him of a path. A path which led... Where? Somewhere. He couldn't remember. But he knew that wherever it was, it was sweet. Bittersweet perhaps, but sweet all the same. The feeling that he was experiencing was love, unbridled and pure. His thoughts were broken as the gravity of his current situation the face had been hinting at suddenly became all too apparent to him. It loved the people of this city, as deeply and fully as he did, and it certainly didn't want to see any harm come to them. Jake didn't want to see any harm come to them either. If there was something left to be done he would do it. He spoke the only question that could come to mind. "Why do they try so hard to take our city over? Why do they want to destroy us so badly?" The face shiftly slightly, tiny balls of light undulating and spiraling as it smiled its warming smile once again. It spoke, calm as any voice that has ever been heard by human ears, "There is a simple reason why they want to control this people so badly. You know this reason, even if you do not know that you know. Do you understand?" Jake only stared blankly, "No, of course you don't understand, not yet anyways. But you will. Think of your experience while you were training the peasants of this town. Did you notice anything, say, odd about them?" Jake didn't even need to think about it, he knew exactly what connection he was supposed to make. He scolded himself for not seeing it earlier. It was their training that was wrong, it had been so easy. In fact it had been too easy. The lowliest farmer and tradesman had taken to combat like a duck takes to water. He knew what he was supposed to see but he felt that something was still missing, the last piece of the puzzle that, once put in place, would reveal which one of the poker playing dogs had the winning hand. The voice chuckled, as if hearing, or seeing, Jake's thoughts. After a brief internal struggle he managed to croak out two words, "They're fighters." "That's right. They're fighters, and damned good ones at that, but it's not by accident that they're so skilled. No sir, not at all. They were made to be fighters." Silence lingered in the air, a thick penetrating quiet, and Jake tried to come to grips with what, exactly, it all meant. They were made to be fighters? How could you make a person to be a fighter? People were born, not built as one would build a house. You couldn't design a person. It was impossible to determine who someone was going to be before they were born. Wasn't it? As if in response to his question an image flashed before his eyes. It was that of a dog, and then another, and another. Breed after breed of dog flashed through his mind in a seemingly neverending slide show. The dogs had been bred for a purpose. The owners had watched the behavior of the dogs and then had chosen mates based on a dog's intended purpose. Could that be accomplished with people? Surely it was impossible. The voice once again broke his train of thought. "Long ago it is said that there was a man who, unbeknownst to his peers, had a fascination with the social habits, and individual personality traits, of the people. He had spent his entire life watching others, always influencing the social patterns of society without the people even knowing, and they eventually grew to love him for it. They came near to worshipping him for it. Relationships that he set up were said to be the happiest marriages that had ever been known in this world. He was a great philosopher and an astronomer and he often contemplated existence deep into the night, sometimes discussing his views with others and, in turn, he expanded his own horizons from their perceptions of life. Many people came to him with questions that they could not answer and, although most of the time he couldn't answer them directly, he would almost always pose a question that, upon deeper reflection, would provide the key to the person's quandary. Gifted young artists carved statues and scenes of his greatness, always showing him with open, accepting arms and a loving glow in his eyes, as if to say "What, me worry?" He wrote many theories in his time. Many of them were published, but there was one of them which was not. It was titled "Human Belief" and was the center of much controversy amongst the scholars who discovered its existence many years after his own death." The face momentarily paused, seeming to take deep breaths in a very human gesture, and then continued on in the same calm voice as before, "It stated that human beings were nothing more than pure energy, along with the entire world that we live in, and that we each constantly eminate fields of this energy from our bodies. He hypothesised that these energies were contained around our bodies by the same forces containing the moons around a planet, a planet around a sun, a sun around whatever larger celestial body held it in place. As we interact with others, our energies, be they positive or negative, leave traces of themselves on the people we meet, and stay there until it can all return to the source of everything. He believed that if one made a big enough impression on a large enough number of people during one's life, that one could achieve immortality. And not just immortality in the hypothetical sense either, he envisioned full blown, in your face, I'm a god, bow before my might, fire and brimstone, immortality. Apparently he wasn't fully mistaken, for years after his death people still swore that they felt his presence, felt him guiding the course of their lives, helping them to find their soul mates. In reality he was assuring their survival." After another small break it continued, seeming to have become drained from the effort of the telling, "After his death he had been set free from his earthly bonds, he was no longer restricted by space and time, and as such saw the scope of free will, the magnitude of choice. He could see the path that these people were heading down, without intervention, and it led only to darkness. It led only to death, and so he continued his passion of life with new purpose in his afterlife. He watched and listened, making note of the strong of mind and body, steering procreation in a direction of his own willing. In time the population had been tended just right as to create a breeding ground for military expertise. The fruits of his labor have become the very people that you have grown to love." Jake simply stared with awe at the presence floating before him. He had understood everything that had been told to him, but he didn't want to understand. He didn't want to accept the fact that these people were a custom tailored breed of neo-human. As little as he wanted to believe it, it was true all the same. This God had known it, had seen it happen as though he were there. His vision pierced beyond anything Jake could even hope to comprehend, not in this life anyways. Jake wondered what else the being had seen, past or future, and just how much it really knew. As if reading his thoughts the face smiled, chuckling lightly, a gleam of love and happiness in his eyes. Deep in the very essence of his being Jake felt as if a stake had been driven through his heart, and the face felt it too. The bright smile was replaced with a look of depressed resignation. When it spoke again, the sound was a ghost of its former self. It was a raspy murmer, little more than a whisper, "Our time is up, as I think you know. The time ahead will be trying, but you will succeed. You have to succeed. The alternative is worse than death. I must leave now, my friend, but do not be afraid; you will know what to do when the time comes." and then the face began to slowly disintegrate, voice trailing off as it went, "Until we meet again, never lose faith..." then the God said something else, but it was too quiet for Jake to hear, and before he could question what it was the face was gone, and he was alone. After a few minutes of standing, transfixed by his inner thoughts, he banished them to the furthest reaches of his mind and turned his attention to what needed to be done. He set off towards nowhere in particular, feeling that he would know the place he was going to when he reached it, and that this direction just felt to be the right one to head in. His chosen path had led him deeper into the common quarters, away from the grind and moan of the industrial district. Statues and other monuments stood sporadically on the edges of the path, a loving tribute to the beauty of life. He stopped at a well for a drink of water and to splash a little of it on his face, hoping to clear his mind a bit, and then continued on to a nearby temple. After praying a little prayer for the well-being of the people around him he began to wander again, starting to question exactly what it was that he was doing and where he thought that he was going. As he was just about to give up and head off to a nearby tavern to get some food and perhaps a mug of ale, a voice rung out from behind him. He knew who it was before he even turned around, it was a voice that he had made a note of the night before. The young man's face looked flushed, as if he had been running for hours. Jake guessed that he was just out of shape. The man reached him, bent over with his hands on his knees for support, panting and wheezing, trying to talk but always just coming up short of breath. After a couple of minutes he was finally able to speak. "Jeez man, am I glad that I found you. I really need to talk to you about what we were doing last night. You know? With the swords and all that? Well, I don't know what you did to me but I can't stop thinking about it. I can't stop thinking about fighting, and that just isn't like me, man. There's just something in the back of my mind saying that something's coming. I don't know if I'm crazy or what, but I hope that I'm not." Jake smiled at the young man, probably in his mid twenties, and let out a soft chuckle. For some reason he was reminded so strongly of himself at a younger age that he couldn't help but laugh. So full of life, as he was himself before time had taken its toll on his mind and body. The young man was eager to fight. That was good. He felt that something was coming. That was even better. Jake knew that they were somehow connected, meant to meet one another, that their fate was intertwined. He would depend on him with his life before the day was up, that much was for sure. "You are perceptive, I'll give you that much..." Jake paused, realising that he did not know the young man's name. Seeming to read his mind, the man replied, "Duncan, my name is Duncan." Jake smiled once again and then continued, "Duncan, you may call me Jake." extending his hand for a brisk shake, and then returning it to his side. His eyes drifted from the young man and found themselves searching the mountains and the sky for any sign of war. He found none and, for the moment, was comforted by that. That comfort, however, did not last long. Before Jake was able to continue with his conversation, and before either was able to fully comprehend what was happening, a horn blasted in the distance and was answered by a deafening roar, one that Jake recognized all too well. He had expected them to attack under the cover of darkness so surely - that was how they had always attacked - that he had never even considered an attack in broad daylight as a possibility. The things that you never plan for always seem to have a way of coming to pass. Seya had known this to be true, and had tried to teach it well to his student. Apparently he had not taught it well enough, for now Jake found his home under the one threat that he had not even imagined. That was the past, his thoughts needed to be on the present now. The city would be under siege within two hours, if they were lucky, and they would need every last moment to prepare. Jake glanced at Duncan, their eyes sharing parallel emotions, and a single thought passed between them. It was one which was full of hope, and yet wrought with sadness and despair at the same time. This battle would end tonight, one way or the other, and there was no place to run and hide. They would have to fight, and kill, many people before the sun set. Many of them would be innocents, perhaps even relatives of some. Jake prayed that their spirits would find their way to the clearing at the end of the path, and that once they reached it they would be greeted by the smiling faces of their fathers. He only hoped that he would not be greeted by the face of his own father. It had begun. [/INDENT] To Be Continued...

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We can't cure the world of sorrows, but we can choose to live our lives in happiness.

Ooh, I've procrastinated long enough it seems! I'll get on it possibly tomorrow or they day after that (for both your latests chapters ). I'm sure it'll be fine though, so don't hesitate to continue with the ninth chapter!

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Bathing in eternal sunlight...

{Sig Made By SenileSkunk!}

*bump* HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!! sorry. That was a great chapter well done flibble you rule.

The next, and, final chapter in "The Land of Eden" is well under way and should be completed shortly. In the mean time I've decided that it would be a good idea to add a post with links to each chapter directly so that new-comers to this story can read it easily, and also to make sure that people don't read the original versions only to to discover that there's a reworked version a couple of posts down. Chapter I : Dreams Chapter II : Memories Chapter III : Intervention Chapter IV : The Edge Chapter V : Showdown Chapter VI : The Shadow Chapter VII : Training Chapter VIII : The Path Chapter IX : The Last Day Coming soon... Chapter X

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We can't cure the world of sorrows, but we can choose to live our lives in happiness.