Alone in the Light

[Ebonywood Hellscythe]

Set to open. If you wanna crash the party, send me a PM first or seek me out in chat. I'd rather do a bunch of short regular posts in this case to avoid the need of others to rp Ebony.

Ebony thinks in italics.

Ebony woke up with a jolt. Am I d-d... dead? She shivered, hugging her small body tightly as she sat on the colourless ground. What happened? Why is everything white? 

Tentatively, she reached her hands up to her face and trailed them down her hair. Dry. Why is it dry?  Her memories were hazy, but she was sure it should have been wet. 

She was confused. She was scared. She was alone.

Reflexively, Ebony reached for her scythe. It was always by her side and she found its presence calming. Today, however, it was nowhere to be found.

Breathe.

Breathing was important. Breathe in. Two three four. Breathe out. Two three four. Ebony's breaths were shaky. Be brave. Remember what Captain said. He'll be there for us. We... we just have to wait for him. R-right. 

Ebony had only been separated from "Captain" once since she met him two years ago. It was horrible. She'd been left in the ship at port with a few others while the crew went out for drinks. In the darkness, a small group of opportunistic pirates had boarded the ship, hoping to commandeer it and that the precious cargo. She'd frozen up. Too scared to talk. Too scared to cast magic. What if she'd hurt someone? So she hid. She just went into her room, closed the door, and covered her ears. Captain will be back. She'd thought. And while true, he and the crew came back later than what would have been ideal. Late enough for Ebony to gain a few bruises, and late enough such that she never again saw the small part of the crew that originally stayed with her on the ship. He'd stayed with her after that. Never leaving her on the ship without him. It had also sparked the teaching of small martial training that Ebony possessed, and was reluctant to use.

Her breaths sped up as she remembered the memory. It's over now. We're... She wanted to think safe. But she couldn't. Not when she was so alone in the unknown. Don't think about it. She had to be brave, she decided. No. She was going to be brave. Courageous. Confident. She was going to at least try - that was who Ebonywood Hellscythe was meant to be. Not just a scared girl. She didn't write the books for that.

Carefully and steadily, Ebony raised pushed herself up onto her two feet. Her belts clanked and jangled together and the hard soles of boots let out a pair of loud echoing claps. Shivering in fear she pulled her cloak around her and brought her hood down. It was soft. It was warm. And it was, most importantly, safe.

Opening her mouth, she tried to speak. Air. That was all that came out. A short quiet breath. She tried again. And then again. And again and again and again. Each attempt getting closer together and letting out a much shorter spray of air. So she stopped. Breathe. For what felt like the millionth time today, she again took a long deep breath. And held it. And held it. And let it out, this time not attempting to speak. She repeated this motion, keeping her hands holding her cloak, still pulling it tightly around her.

And then, finally, she reached out her arms and spoke. "F-forces of the d-darkness," Ebony whispered under her breath as she spread her hands outwards to the sides. A brilliant beam of deep purple light and harmless, yet warm, fire formed between them, creating a long dark black ebony staff. She spun it in the air. "I-" she faltered, stuttering as her magic came to a halt.

It disintegrated. Endless purple flakes fell off the pole until nothing remained - it disappeared and burnt away in the air. A small tear fell to the ground. It was followed by another. And then another. They trickled down her face gently, forming two small streams as she quietly cried to herself. Magic needed confidence and concentration. Both were impossible when she was scared. Ebony felt hopeless and vulnerable and there was nothing she could do about it.

Her memories were fuzzy and she had no recollection of how she got here. She thought back to the best of her ability. There was a tower in a castle, and then a boat. She knew that part. That was years ago. Rubbing her eyes with the softer backs of her gloves she continued, tears still dripping from her watery eyes. A week ago, she was at sea, still in the boat. She thought it was a week, at least.

I need to focus. Ebony rubbed her eyes again as she played through the days in her head, smiling slightly upon recalling some happier moments. The expression crumpled with the harsh reminder from her white surroundings that those may not happen again. Brushing the back of her palm against her eyes for the third time she continued to play through the past events.

The was a storm. She faintly remembered high waves, rain, and lightning attacking the ship. I tried to stop it. Standing in the middle of the deck, she'd cast every relevant spell she knew to try and keep the trading ship upright. It wasn't enough. It was capsized and flung across the waves. Then why am I here? She had fallen into the water, spluttering and flailing. Trying to stay about the freezing waves. Her breaths were frantic. Did I sink? D-did I d-drown? Am... am I d-de... dead? She had no recollection after that point. Nothing. My friends. Captain...

Her knees bent inwards, and she tried to steady herself, all to no avail. Forwards she fell. Bare knees collided with the hard white floor and forearms lightly placed in the way did so also. Ebony curled up into a ball, using her soft cloak as a blanket. She hugged her skinny legs, gripping on tightly enough to leave a slight mark. The floor was cold, hard, and unforgiving. White was meant to be a good colour. A happy colour. While black was meant to be evil. It sure felt the opposite to her. This white wasn't nice. It was mean. She shivered, tugging on her cloak slightly to bring it over her hooded head. 

As she cried into the inside of her elbow, she desperately tried to remember more: surely that couldn't have been it; surely they all made it out together; surely. But she couldn't. All she could remember after that was white. And then something, or someone, else. What was it? A colourless man. His name was... Omni. She recalled him talking. "My name is Omni." Yes. Maybe he told me what happened? 

He hadn't. He was mean. He brought me here! Omni had taken Ebony away from her home just because she was "interesting". She didn't even know what that was supposed to mean. Did he cause the storm? It made sense. He could have drowned her and her friends just to bring her here. She didn't understand why. What did he want? Entertainment? He was simply just evil. That was the conclusion she made, as she lay motionless on the ground, quivering. I'll get home somehow... somehow.

Somehow. Someday. Maybe Ebony would find a way to travel home. But that wouldn't be today. And it almost definitely wouldn't be tomorrow. Or the day after. Or the day after that. Even her own thoughts, she knew as futile lies. Lies made to make herself feel better. How was she supposed to cope with this? What was Ebonywood Hellscythe supposed to do in a situation like this? How could anyone plan for a situation on this scale? She wasn't being robbed or attacked by pirates, that in itself was horrifyingly scary. No, she'd been abducted by a ridiculously powerful being. One who had no care for her, or probably anyone else. Just an evil monster she could do nothing to stop.

No allies. No friends. No one. There was nothing she could do. Any shred of optimism had been entirely wiped from Ebony's thoughts by this painful revelation. She shook under the makeshift blanket in an attempt to block out the world, but the ever-present cold, hard, white ground stabbed into her fortifications as a harsh reminder that such a thing was not possible.

Again pressing her legs and knees further into her chest, she let out a faint, desperate cry between the endless cascade of cold tears.

"Someone... save me... please."