[After the flash of Light...]
Rylan, who had been busily working at the ops console, had passed out along
with the others after the brief, blinding flash of light. Enveloped in the
solitude of the darkness that surrounded him, Rylan had a brief moment of
panic as he perceived his eyes to be open, and yet he couldn't see. But
then the darkness melted away from him, and Rylan found himself back home.
Not to ch`Rihan of the present, exactly, but back *home*, his home...on
Corva II.
Standing at the top of the stairwell of his childhood home, looking out of
the picture window that overlooked the endless vineyards outside. The
tangled, weaving labyrinth of thorn, leaf and berry; the fence of the prison
called home. Funny how he had grown older, taller....and yet everything
around him was the same as he had remembered it. Looking down at himself,
he discovered why. Gone was the tall, wiry body of the nineteen year old
he had become; replaced, instead by the short, skinny body of the child he
had been. And just as he had in the past, Rylan jumped slightly when he
heard the gruff, drunken voice behind him.
"Whatta' Areinnye are au doin' 'ome?"
Slowly, dreading seeing the owner of that voice, Rylan turned and raised his
eyes up to the hulking figure of his father. Seeing the angered frown that
etched itself deeply on Branak's face, made Rylan keep his silence. What
could he have told him anyway? He didn't know why he was here!
"Au been fighting again in school? That it?!" Branak demanded, taking a
wavering step closer to the boy before him, growing even angrier that the
child had stepped back. The silence was only a few seconds long, but to
Branak it was longer then necessary. "Answer me!" he shouted.
"N-n-na..." Rylan finally managed to squeak out, his eyes searching for a
way past the drunken crazy-man before him.
"THEN WHY ARE AU HOME?!" Branak reached out to grab the boy by the collar,
but Rylan dodged to the side, out of harm's way. That only served to make
Branak angrier, and instead of reaching out to grab the boy again, he swung
his fist instead, solidly connecting it to the boy's jaw.
Rylan landed on floor, his head feeling as if a sledgehammer had hit him.
Feeling something hard in his mouth he spit whatever it was out to the
floor. Teeth. Three of them; the small white bones covered in a green blob
of blood. *...at least they weren't perminante....* he had time to think
before he felt his father's large hand grab a fistful of his hair and yank
him painfully to his feet once more.
Briefly, Rylan's feet left the floor, held up only by the fist ensnarled in
his hair. Then even that sensation was gone as his father threw him forward,
into the wall by the stairwell. Rylan's face hit first, his nose and cheek
taking most of the damage, then fell to a heap on the floor again. Through
the ringing of his ears, he heard the towering man shamble forward to grab
him again. Desperate to get away, to hide himself until his father had
calmed down and forgotten the incident entirely, Rylan scrambled back to his
feet; but the toe of his father's boot connected with his ribcage, cracking
three of the boy's young bones, and sending Rylan tumbling down the stairs;
Thump...
Bump...
Rattle...
Bang...
CRASH!!
From under the remnants of his mother's broken vase, Ry's eyes focused just
in time to see his father rush towards him, shouting in rage, "Au broke
it!! Ninte mother will have ninte HIDE for that!" before he felt the boot
again, this time in the stomach, knocking his wind out in a great, painful
whoosh.
Curling himself into as small a ball as he could, withdrawing into the small
dark recess of his mind, Rylan bit down on his lip and forced himself not to
cry out - doing so would've only made it worse - though he couldn't stop the
tears of pain and fear from escaping just the same as his father's boot
kicked him a few more times for good measure. Feeling the welcoming
darkness approach him once again, embracing him in it's solitary, engulfing
nothingness, Rylan closed his eyes and breathed a painful sigh of relief
that at least he wouldn't feel anything now that the darkness had come to
claim him.
But he did feel something....hands grabbing him by the shoulders, shaking
him in an eerily gentle manner. A voice...far off and distant... he
couldn't tell what they were saying. In a panic that he was coming to, only
to face another assault of fists and feet, Rylan's eyes flew open and without
seeing who had him, his own fist lashed out and connected with whoever held
him, forcing the other to let him go.
Rylan backed up into the console of the ops station; a wild, panicked look
in his eyes. Slowly his surroundings crept into his brain and registered
there. Looking at the confused, and angry face of the officer who had tried
to rouse him back from unconsciousness, Ry shrugged slightly, and offered a
confused-and-sorry-sounding, "Sorry...." as he offered a hand out to help
the officer up from the floor.
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