exclaim This story and its character are Copyright Robin Cramer 2006 exclaim
Chapter Two: The Divide
Gradually, the sun began to set and the sky burned orange and fuchsia. The patches of sun amongst the branches stopped dancing and slowly faded from sight. Night was soon to follow and wrap the forest in its veil. As the sun melted into the horizon, the breeze that had gently caressed her before became more playful and every now and then a sudden gust of icy night air would catch Asawa nearly tumbling her to the ground. The pale blue sky became navy and millions of twinkling stars appeared- guarding the forest.
Asawa stopped and looked up at the sky, truly captivating, much like the rest of this land was. She hadn’t realised though, that she had been walking for so long and yet wasn’t tired at all. With the night’s darkness closing in around her, the forest appeared less welcoming, though she had no way of returning to the clearing. So she continued on forward, in hopes of finding another clearing soon up ahead. Though the woods were warm during the day, at night they were icy cold and Asawa found herself holding her arms and shivering as she walked, pausing only now and then to look around her. She smiled as she noticed that Hades was still following her silently, his eyes staring not ahead, but up at her as if waiting for what she might do next.
“Sorry, am I boring you?” Asawa turned to face the small animal and stroked his back again. “I bet you know where I’m going better than I do…”
After what felt like another couple of hours, the forest became nearly pitch black, and only the flame on Hades tail along with the moonlight guided Asawa further. But the more she walked, the more it felt like she was travelling in circles, and that excited, comfortable feeling she first had, had bled into confusion and worry. It didn’t seem to matter at all which way she went, the forest appeared to be infinite. With the darkness an even more haunting silence was born, a silence that could strike anxious thoughts in to the hearts of the worlds bravest.
From nowhere, the ground began to quake, and the silence was shattered. The sound of trees and other still life being forced into a divide, as the forest floor tore split at the seams. Asawa stumbled and fell towards the grass. Her heart once again pounding against her chest, and cold drop tears of sweat trickled down her brow. Standing as best she could, her eyes hastily scanned the forest around searching for source of the thunderous quakes of sound. Hades had always vanished somehow, like magic.
“What’s happening-” Asawa screamed and tried to grab hold of the edges of jagged cliff and grass speed away passed her head, but it was a fruitless effort. Liquid beads of glass danced in the sky before colliding with the rough walls of stone as she fell, endlessly into the ebony abyss that awaited her. As she frantically watched the last streak of trees disappear overhead, from the corner of her eyes, Asawa could have sworn that she saw Hades silvery stare.
With one last futile attempt, Asawa outstretched her hand towards where his cols stare was coming from, “Hades…” She yelled to him, but alas when she looked to see him again, the creature had gone- left her for whatever fate would meet her at the end of her plummet.
Asawa closed her eyes, more tears came and let the darkness envelope her as she felt herself draw closer and closer to the bottom of the quake’s divide.
This is it…I-I’m going to die…
“…You won’t…” Icy hands wrapped around her own…
…
Jumping up from her bed, Asawa awoke with a gasp. Hands clasped on her chest as her eyes darted nervously around her. She blinked, her mouth agape with an implausible sight before her. Her bedroom spanned out before her, just as she left it with nothing extraordinary about it. Asawa’s head hung low and more tears followed, tear as frantic as those back…wherever she had just been; and her hands clenched her quilt as the tears formed drops and fell. Unsure of how she actually felt, why she actually was crying, Asawa wiped her eyes and leaned back against her pillow.
“It was just a dream…”
Right…
exclaim This story and its character are Copyright Robin Cramer 2006 exclaim
Asawa Community Member 
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