Illusion of Fear
Chapter Four: Common Heart, Common Enemy
Rose was starting to get chills.
She an Ori had been hiking up a mountain, when a blizzard had hit. Ori had said that it was normal for snow storms to happen in these areas, but somehow Rose felt, even knew that the frost biting at her lips was unnatural. Rose remembered what her father had told her once. He had said that when things seem like they can't get any worse, and they get considerably worse, there was a possibility that it was magic induced. Her father had said that he once traveled to the end of Kaisor and back. She didn't believe him at first, but everyday leading up to the day in the forest, he had told her stories of his adventures while she lay in her bed.
Another chill went up her spine. It wasn't from the deathly low temprature, but from the memory of the forest. She could hear his bones, hear his cry as his neck was shattered into pieces. She couldn't take it. The sight. The sounds. And the man, Ori's father. How could the father of a kind son kill for no reason? And why? Ori said that all of her questions would be answered if, ofcourse, they could find his uncle's cabin.
She closed her eyes and tried to think of something happier, something not so violent, and she remembered the rift. The day of the forest had not just been painful, it had also been a new experiance. A strange, young, and somewhat cute, boy was dragging her away from certain death. She remembered the clearing in the forest. In spite of the recent acts of torture, it had seemed to be a place of total serenity. There was a gentle breeze, it was blowing her bright red hair out of her eyes, as if nature itself wanted to make her happy. Then the boy had raised his hand to the sky. The gentle breeze turned to a frightful gust, as if the once calm Mother of Nature became the servant of Death Herself, angered at the two young troublemakers. Then the whisp of air had stopped alltogether. There was no sound of trees moving, birds calling to one another, not even her persuer running through the woods to kill her. The only sound that she heard, the only sound that she wanted to hear, was the somewhat frightened voice of the boy. "Whatever you do, don't let go of my hand." And he had grabbed her hand in his, and half jumped, half got pulled in to the swirling mass before her.
She remembered pain. Her eyes were bleeding, her ears were screaming with torment. Her skin was collapsing in on her, fingers cracking and bones breaking. She felt cold and numb. But she felt something else. Her left hand was warm. In all her pain she had forgotten him. "Don't let go!" She heard it over the screams of the demons, and she held on to it. Her pain grew. She was certainly going to die, but atleast she had met a friend before she died.
As the last thought left her mind, Rose had seen a bright light. The next thing that she knew, she was being shook by someone. Her eyes opened to the boy, his light features, scarred by the landing. "Are you alright?" He had said. She did not speak. Instead, she nodded and looked around her. She was sitting in the middle of a beautiful meadow, the high grass touching her shoulder. She was in shock. She felt as though she had escaped Death. I wasn't until later that the boy, Ori, told her that everyone goes through the same thing on their first time through the rift. He explained to her that he had the ability to detect previously opened rifts and open them. Once inside, however, he said that he didn't know how to control where he went. She snapped out of her shock upon hearing this. What if they had come out over the ocean? Or a volcanoe? She thanked him, and then told him that if he ever pulled her through one of those things again, she would kill him.
Rose's memories were getting more clear with each passing week. There seemed to be something missing in each memory. But it didn't matter now. The cold of the mountain had stopped her from returning to her memories. Ori looked back at her and smiled.
"You okay back there?" he yelled to her.
She looked up to him to reply, but her words never came. Her gaze landed upon what looked like a house. The walls were nearly covered with snow, and the roof seemed lifeless except for a friendly billow of smoke radiating from a chimney.
"Look Ori," she said while pointing at the house, "I found it!" She had. For once she had done something to pay back for all of the things Ori had given up for her. She would repay him as much as she could.
Ori reached out to her and grabbed her hand. "Follow me, I don't want to lose you now. Not after all this." He grabbed her hand, held it in his own for a while, and then once again led her to safety. Not that she didn't like it, she had become accustomed to him taking care of her. She liked it.
They approached the cabin together, hand in hand, ready to take on anything. Ori, using his unoccupied hand, knocked briskly on the door, and stood back remembering that some doors opened outward.
Rose was happy for him, he hadn't seen his uncle in over ten years. Atleast he had family left. Her family had ended with her and her father. But no matter what she felt, she had to discard it, for Ori. He needed her support now.
The door opened to a man, late fourties, grey hair with a bald spot in the center, and an even greyer beard. He stood smaller than Ori, yet he was equal with Rose so she judged him to be about 5'8''. His eyes narrowed in on her first, then, having approved of his visitor, scanned Ori. His eyes widened and his mouth opened wide.
"Ori my boy!" he gasped, hugging him. Ori's hand left Rose's, making her drift into awkwardness. "How have you been son?"
From what Ori had told her, his uncle had always treated him as his own son, him having nothing but daughters and all. The result was a father-son relationship between them. Uncle Hertzi, as he was called, had been a natural part of Ori's life. He had been able to develop his amazing power, and had also had been helping Ori discover his when Ori had dissapeared that day.
Ori and his uncle walked inside together, leaving Rose to let herself in, closing the door behind her. She made her way to a nearby mantlepiece. Pictures in frames were covering every inch of it. In some, Uncle Hertzi was standing alongside a woman with short-cropped brown hair and matching eyes tah seemed to shimmer within the frame. Other pictures were of young women much older than Rose. They must have been Hertzi's daughters. The resemblences were small, but each one seemed to have captured a part of him, as though thay were the pieces of the puzzle that made him whole.
The next picture on the mantlepiece was of a small young boy with silver hair. Ori looked cute sitting in the mud outside of the cabin. But the last picture was different. A tall man with dark red hair was standing near some trees looking greatly disturbed.
Ori appeared out of nowhere and grabbed the old frame. He took it to a window, opened it, and threw it with all of his might. He returned the window to normal and turned to face Rose. His face had started to well up with tears. Rose walked to him and thay embraced. Rose realized what had happened, and she too began to cry. And they just stood there. Neither one saying anything, just holding on to the other with all of their force.
It was true that they would have to face their demons one day. It was also true that thay shared the same one. Rose held on to him.
We will face him eventually Ori. But we will do it together, I promise. We share the same fate, andI wont leave you, ever.
And they kept on standing there for the rest of the night, not aware of the loving uncle shedding his own tears in the other room.
