Chapter Four

Hello!! 

ONE MORE WEEK OF SCHOOL!!! HOoRaY!! *Smiles awkwardly* 

Today I am going to post chapter four of core 3000!! (And I probably dont have to say anything about it not being edited because you already know that it has not been edited) Here ya go!

Breeze wanted to cry. What was she doing? Thrist said it was okay but she felt bad about it. Had he liked it? Or did he just say that because he didn’t want her to feel bad? Breeze didn’t know. She also was worried about what he was going to do when he found out his family was dead. She had to tell him soon, he was almost fully recovered and she knew he was longing to see his family. His broken bones had healed fast because of her aunt's medical knowledge and his head was fine other than a slight concussion that wouldn’t stop him from doing anything normal. She decided that it was best to get it over with and walked out to the shack where Thrist was milking the cow. 

“Thrist, I need to tell you something important.” Thrist looked up and smiled. He stood up and walked over to her. 

“Ok, what is it? And, about the kiss…it was...well, you don’t need to apologize.” Breeze nodded and then opened her mouth to tell him about his family. But she couldn’t bring herself to do it. 

“Maybe we should go somewhere else.” Breeze fumbled with her hands nervously. She turned and walked out of the shack. What is he going to do when I tell him? I don’t want this to go wrong. She took a deep breath and started talking. “Thrist, please don’t...don’t don’t react wrong when I tell you this.” She didn’t know how to tell him what she had to. Breeze closed her eyes and held  back tears. “Thrist, your family is dead.”

~*~

“What? How-when-what?” Thrists mind reeled. Breeze tried to say something. “No.  No don’t.  Just leave me alone.” He sucked in a trembling breath and leaned on the fence. Breeze nodded and walked away. Thrist knew he shouldn’t have talked to her like that. It wasn’t her fault, she hadn’t done anything wrong. A single tear escaped from Thrist’s eye and fell down his cheek, he brushed it away quickly. I’m too old to cry. He had cried when his father had died, but that was when he was just a boy, now he was seventeen, practically an adult. Thrist started walking, he didn’t know where he was going but he just walked. He let the feelings of grief and wrath succumb him, he wandered around for hours numbly. Finally he ended up in the peaceful valley and sat down by a huge tree, his eyes grew heavy and he fell into a deep sleep. 

The black void of the night sky was dark and starless. Thrist struggled to stay awake. A figure in a black cloak tries to grab him, he runs, his family is calling out to him. He needs to get to them before the cloaked figure. Now it’s a race for his family. Suddenly, it’s not just his family, it’s his town, and then Breezes family with his town and then people he doesn’t know. The crowd keeps growing and growing, they all call out to him. If he doesn’t get to them before the cloaked person or thing they will all become consumed in its darkness. The calling fades and now Thrist is falling. He is falling into the dark void of the night sky. Falling up. A hand grabs his, pulling him. Trying to help. He looks up. It’s Breeze. 

“Let go!” He calls. “Save yourself! If I die then our people need someone to save them. This is what you have to do! Let go!” He is falling again.  Thrist hits something solid and stands up. The cloaked figure is running. Running from him. 

“Come and get me.” He laughs. Anger fills Thrist and he lunges for the cloaked figure. Only to find himself falling again. 

“What? Is that the end?” Thrist cracked his eyes open. His back was aching from sleeping against the hard trunk of the tree. 

“Yes Thrist, it is.” Thrist opened his eyes all the way to see a figure standing in front of him. “It ends like that because you have to determine what happens. Will you go after him? Or will you continue falling? That’s for you to find out by doing it. The cloaked figure is the Man-In-Black. He killed your family. He is going to kill our planet, unless you do something.” 

“Who are you?” Thrist squinted to see the figure's face. It was too bright. 

“That’s for me to know and you to find out.” Then it was gone, as fast as it had come. Thrist was left sitting on the ground wondering what it was all about. He stood up quickly, too quickly, and his head started  pounding. Thrist closed his eyes and  when he reopened them the world was spinning around him. Everything started to fade and he stumbled back, trying to grab hold of something to keep him upright. Suddenly, something emerged from the bushes. It caught him and the last thing Thrist saw before passing out was the grim face of a man, dressed in black.

~*~

Breeze burst into the cottage sobbing.  Her aunt looked up from where she was cooking and gasped. 

“Oh! Dear me Breeze, what is the matter?” She rushed over and embraced the sobbing mess. 

“ Aunt Fay, I’m afraid I have ruined everything. And, and Thrist must hate me, and now he has disappeared!” Breeze sniffled, tears streaming down her face. 

“Now don't be silly Breeze dear. There must be an explanation for this. Was it because you told him about his family?” Breeze nodded and wiped her face with her sleeve. “Is there anything else that might explain why he left so abruptly?” Breeze hesitated. She didn't want to tell her aunt about kissing him. So she just shook her head and blushed. “Well then, he must just be out on a walk, trying to get his poor mind wrapped around the fact that his family is dead. Now, how would you like a bowl of soup?”

 Breeze's aunt smiled at her cheerfully and set a bowl of soup without waiting for a response. Then she rushed outside to do the laundry.  Just then a gust of bitter cold wind blew open the window. Breeze knew at once that it was the wind that had come from the ice lands. She frowned and started to say something but didn't get to it. 

The icy wind grabbed a knife off the chopping block and took shape. To Breeze's surprise, it wasn't a girl like most winds are, instead he was a dashing young man, probably in his early twenties, with ice cold sharp blue eyes and hair that looked like snow. He lunged at Breeze, the knife in his icy grip. His eyes flashed with annoyance when she dodged him and shifted into a squirrel. She scampered out of the cottage and, to her dismay, she found that everything was ablaze. Dozens of odd creatures swarmed the small piece of land on which they lived and Breeze scanned the property for her aunt. A muffled shriek came from behind the cottage and she raced over, turning back into her normal self as she went. 

“There! That one. Over there. Hurry! She's getting away.” Breeze looked over her shoulder and found that some of the ugly creatures, the evil wind, and some of the trees were racing after her. She rounded the corner of the cottage and stopped short when she saw an ugly blue man, dressed in a black suit of armor holding her aunt with a nasty black dagger to her throat. Her aunt squealed her fear, not able to speak because of a gag that was probably put on her because she talked too much. 

“Hand over the boy or she's dead.” The blue man growled. Breeze’s aunt squealed again.

“I-I don't know where Thrist is, if that's who you're looking for.” Breeze struggled to keep her voice steady.  Another soldier came up behind the blue one and said something to him in his ear. The blue soldier nodded and smirked an evil smirk. 

“Very well then. I guess I'll just have to get rid of her.” Breeze screamed and lunged at the soldier. 

“Dont touch her!” 

The soldiers laughed, amused by her. 

“Well then rat, is there anything of value you would like to trade for this fat peasant?” Breeze cringed at the soldiers crudness. She sucked in a trembling breath. The soldier lowered the dagger.

“I will die in place of her.” She held her ground. Her aunt shook her head and squealed. 

“Fine move miss. Tie her up and take care of the old lady.” Soldiers surrounded her and tied her up.  

“Commander. She's a shifter. You may want to...you know.” The voice came from behind and  Breeze turned to see who it was. The Ice wind stood and when he caught her looking at him he nodded and smiled slyly. Breeze opened her mouth to insult him but didn't get to say it. A sickening empact hit her head and she crumpled into a heap. Then her world turned black.