Chapter 1, Episode 2: Lance POV
Lance made by @jusasillyfishie
Lance was quite hungry, if he was honest with himself. He didn’t want to have Ty go get food for him again, as last time he did that Ty almost got mauled by a bear. Lance would prefer his boyfriend not get killed while getting food for him. He was already back at level one, he needed to eat before he starved. So, he told Ty he was headed to the nearby forest in search for fresh meat.
As Lance walked on, he felt a strange feeling in his chest, as if stirring. He colder his eyes, continuing to walk. When he opened his eyes, the feeling was gone. A cow mooed behind him, and when Lance went to try and go after it, an invisible force stopped him.
…what? Why couldn’t he get through? Lance banged at the invisible wall to no avail. He was stuck. He was stuck here now.
He couldn’t breathe for a second. How was he meant to get back to Ty? He couldn’t protect the other while stuck behind some silly wall!
“Hey, what’s wrong?” A voice suddenly spoke, catching Lance off guard. When he turned around, someone with a paint stained coat stood there. She looked confused at the other. “Why are you banging at the air?”
Lance was still catching his breath, before speaking. “I can’t leave here. There’s something in the way.” She looked even more confused.
“What do you mean? Can you not just-“ She walks towards the invisible wall and pushes her hand against it. It was solid. “…what? How does that-“ She tried again, and the same thing happened. Lance was still tensed. She turned to look at Lance. “Okay, so we can’t go back right now. We might as well find a place to stay?” She looked unsure herself.
She put out a hand. “By the way, I’m Ardere. You?”
He took the hand after a moment. “I’m Lance. Lance Goodsire.” He took back the hand after a moment, letting out a breath. He needed to calm down if her wanted a way back to Ty.
“How about we go check out that thing?” Before Lance had to ask, his attention was pointed to a large stone structure. It looked like a well. Ardere started walking towards in, a small bounce in her step. How could she be excited at this moment, when they were stuck in this forest?
When the two got to the monument, Ardere walked close enough to the center piece to touch it… and immediately fell. Lance looked down into the pit Ardere fell in, and saw that she seemed fine. Lance followed her down, only to notice Ardere already up and looking around the strange crypt. A few skulls decorated the shelving areas of the crypt, and somehow burning torches lit up the hall.
Ardere was at the end, holding a book. The title read ‘Holy Word.’ Ardere opened the book and tore out a page. “What is that?” Lance asked the other. Was the book glowing? No, Lance can’t deal with more of those enchanted books!
“It’s a book. It says to tear out a page and…” She didn’t finish her sentence. Instead, she tore out a page and bit it. Was this woman crazy?!
“What are you doing?!” She turned back to Lance, still chewing the paper.
“It said to eat the page. So I did. Just to see what happened.” …did this person just eat a page ‘to see what would happen?’
“It tastes good.” Lance just looked shocked. This was how all those people got their abilities? The glowing of the book stopped, and the rest of the page shriveled up in her hands. “Hm. That’s strange.”
“You know what? Let’s just go.” Lance walked back to the water area, checking around the middle when he saw a bubble stream flowing upwards. He stepped in and immediately got flung upwards and out.
“Hey, what-!” Ardere follows, also being flung out. The two were flopped onto the grass, Lance face down while Ardere was in starfish form. That’s when they heard some rustling. When Lance went to see who it was, he saw a confused man. The man had a single earring on, and upon seeing the two flopped down people, walked off.
“Wait, come back!” When Lance called out to the man, the man just quickened his pace until he was out of sight. Darn it.
“Well, Lance, I’m pretty sure there is a town not too far away.” This was brought up out of nowhere, but it wasn’t unwelcome information. They did need a place to rest for now.
She got up quickly and started walking, Lance getting up and walking behind. The two walked for what Lance assumed was ten minutes before they spotted a town. Most of the houses were burnt. Ah. So they were at Oakhurst. Last time Lance heard about this place was from Ty when they first met. He remembered Ty asking if he was like the vampire who caused the massacres. He had to explain hurriedly that he rarely fed off humans or killed them.
Lance would kill to be back with Ty right now, though.
When the two got to the entrance, a pair sat there. One had a braid, the other a flower in her hair. The woman with the braid spoke up. “Who are you two? Why are you here?”
Ardere simply tilted her head at the two woman. “I am Ardere Murphy, and this is Lance. We are looking for a place to rest for now.”
The woman with the flower in her hair spoke up. “Well then, make yourself a spot to rest. There are a few others but they are busy getting materials and stuff.” She smiled at the two newcomers.
Ardere smiled back. “Thank you!” She walked in after that, Lance nodding to the two and walking in. The houses looked even worse up close. The center tower had open doors, an orange beacon inside. It made Lance feel uneasy. “Well, how about we get started?” Lance nodded at the other.
“We can later. How about we rest for a bit?” The other paused, then nodded, sitting down on a spare log nearby. Lance sat on some of the burnt house remains and the two sat in silence.
He was going to get back to Ty. He just had to wait.
