Post by KatherineL on Sept 2, 2014 18:04:05 GMT -5
This is a prequel to the roleplay The Different Ones, describing what happened to No Name before he escaped the HS and joined his group of companions. It takes place in August of 4235. I've changed his name to Najden because I like it better than Nergui, and also because I can. It might have a part two; I haven't decided yet.
Anyway, enjoy~
Najden James Ejub was a ten-year-old boy from Macedonia: part of what was now called the Balkan Union. Here he lived with his loving and just slightly over protective parents, his older brother Timothy, and his younger twin sisters: Sandra and Mary.
August 6th was a day that started out like any other: work for the parents, school for the children, a short English lesson from Najden's father (the twins were best at it, while the brothers both found English a very strange language), dinner, a board game or two, and finally, bedtime.
"Majka?" Najden called, fear in his voice; but no one answered. He scrambled free of the bedsheets and padded across the room to the door, coughing as he tried to block out the smoke with his sleeve. The boy tried the door, only to gasp as the doorknob scorched his hand. He managed to shove the door open anyway. He stepped nervously into the hall. Flames licked up the walls, nearly reaching the ceiling. Wallpaper peeled away in long, curling black tendrils. Everything seemed silent other than the dull roar of the blaze. It was so distant, so surreal.
Najden snapped out of it, beginning again to cry out to his family. For a while, he thought his efforts went unnoticed; then, he heard the muffled coughing and pounding on one of the bedroom doors. It was Timothy, trying to get out, but the door seemed to have collapsed in on itself, becoming stuck somehow in the process.
Screaming for help, he tugged on the burning hot door. Just when he was beginning to believe it would never give way, the upper half of the door fell away with a large crack and a burst of sparks. Timothy's soot-stained face was revealed. The two of them managed to drag what remained of the obstacle out of the way. Najden grabbed his brother's hand in his own, scarcely feeling the fresh pain this caused. The other boy appeared unable to speak, only to cough and retch from the overwhelming smoke and heat.
The hallway leading to his sisters' and parents' rooms was eerily quiet; it seemed to contain more flames than could fit into a spae that size. Najden tried to head that way regardless. He had to try and help them. Timothy, however, pulled him back and shook his head. The look in his eyes nearly stopped Najden's heart.
Numbly, Najden allowed himself to be dragged away.
The two brothers clung to each other as they began to descend the stairs, but the ruined structure buckled beneath their weight. There was no warning: the world simply dropped out from underneath them.
Najden's world went dark.
Anyway, enjoy~
Najden James Ejub was a ten-year-old boy from Macedonia: part of what was now called the Balkan Union. Here he lived with his loving and just slightly over protective parents, his older brother Timothy, and his younger twin sisters: Sandra and Mary.
August 6th was a day that started out like any other: work for the parents, school for the children, a short English lesson from Najden's father (the twins were best at it, while the brothers both found English a very strange language), dinner, a board game or two, and finally, bedtime.
* * *
Najden coughed, opening his eyes and blinking groggily. His clock informed him that it was 2:03 in the morning. He wasn't sure what had woken him, but something felt very wrong. After a moment, it hit him: the room was filled with the acrid stench of smoke. He sat bolt upright."Majka?" Najden called, fear in his voice; but no one answered. He scrambled free of the bedsheets and padded across the room to the door, coughing as he tried to block out the smoke with his sleeve. The boy tried the door, only to gasp as the doorknob scorched his hand. He managed to shove the door open anyway. He stepped nervously into the hall. Flames licked up the walls, nearly reaching the ceiling. Wallpaper peeled away in long, curling black tendrils. Everything seemed silent other than the dull roar of the blaze. It was so distant, so surreal.
Najden snapped out of it, beginning again to cry out to his family. For a while, he thought his efforts went unnoticed; then, he heard the muffled coughing and pounding on one of the bedroom doors. It was Timothy, trying to get out, but the door seemed to have collapsed in on itself, becoming stuck somehow in the process.
Screaming for help, he tugged on the burning hot door. Just when he was beginning to believe it would never give way, the upper half of the door fell away with a large crack and a burst of sparks. Timothy's soot-stained face was revealed. The two of them managed to drag what remained of the obstacle out of the way. Najden grabbed his brother's hand in his own, scarcely feeling the fresh pain this caused. The other boy appeared unable to speak, only to cough and retch from the overwhelming smoke and heat.
The hallway leading to his sisters' and parents' rooms was eerily quiet; it seemed to contain more flames than could fit into a spae that size. Najden tried to head that way regardless. He had to try and help them. Timothy, however, pulled him back and shook his head. The look in his eyes nearly stopped Najden's heart.
Numbly, Najden allowed himself to be dragged away.
The two brothers clung to each other as they began to descend the stairs, but the ruined structure buckled beneath their weight. There was no warning: the world simply dropped out from underneath them.
Najden's world went dark.
* * *
Dust drifted around before him like falling snow, illuminated by a soft glow. Najden couldn't seem to focus on it, nor did he seem able to open his left eye. He felt strangely detached, numb, far away. Later he would realize that what he had seen hadn't been dust at all, or even snow: it was ash.* * *
Sirens, some remote part of him recognized. Someone was screaming. * * *
White-hot pain. A blinding light. Terror, although Najden couldn't remember why.* * *
And then, there was nothing, for a very long time.