Chapter Text
The sun was a deep red on the horizon. The colour reflected itself in Aaron’s eyes as he watched it set. The bounce of the wagon almost lulled him to sleep, stopped only by the splitting pain in his head. The painkillers he had taken before they left had begun to wear off. He reached for the bag that lay by his feet, pulling it towards him. The action caused Snow, his dog who lay beside him, to stir in her sleep.
“Shhh, it’s okay,” he whispered to her, “Keep sleeping.”
From his bag he pulled out a small pouch. Inside were small balls of herbs, small enough to swallow. He picked two out and popped them into his mouth, grimacing at the taste. He would never get used to the overwhelming bitter taste that would flood his mouth. The pain in head began to dissipate and he breathed a sigh of relief.
“Is that dose still working?” A voice asked from behind him. Aaron turned to see his father, face gruff as ever, looking at him from the driver’s seat. He had a frown and looked worried. Or perhaps his face always looked like that. Even now, Aaron could never truly tell.
“It’s fine. It still lasts about 6 hours.”
His father nodded curtly, turning back to watch the dirt road they were driving down.
Beside Aaron and his father, there were two others in the wagon, friends of Aaron, Asnada and Zach. They were currently sitting in a corner poured over a book together, writing something in a shared notebook off to the side. Asnada had brown shoulder length hair tied up into a ponytail with bangs sweeping across her tan forehead. Zach’s black hair seemed to catch the light, glittering in the sun. It curled around his ears, drawing attention to his similarly dark eyes. His skin was darker than Aaron’s, a quality he much envied. Aaron’s own pale skin and white hair caused him to be rather sensitive to the sun, meaning he had to wear lawyers for protection. Not to mention his pale eyes.
Aaron crawled his way over to them, trying to not lose balance.
“Which book is that?” he asked as he got closer. They both turned at his voice, unsurprised by his presence.
“It’s a book about old trade routes. Zach was showing me how different it was from nowadays. This is from all the way back when the Founder was still king,” Asnada explained, “It’s honestly really interesting.” Beside her, Zach nodded as he wrote down something on the notepad.
I found it at the back of the library.
Aaron’s father was the owner of the only library in their part of the forest and he would let them borrow the books out of it as long as they made sure they recorded it in his book. Aaron himself had a few books stashed away in his bag that he had pulled from their shelves before they left. He wasn’t going to be back for the next four years.
“Does it show anything about paths towards the Academy?” he asked.
“I’m not sure…” Asnada tailed off, flipping through the pages.
The Academy of Outsiders. An elite school designed to train those of the newest generation in the forest to be the next Outsiders. The next protectors of the world. It had been Aaron’s dream to attend just like his father had, and now here he was, on his way to become a student.
“It will be dark soon,” his father called from the front of the wagon, “I will find a place where we can set up camp to rest for the night. There’s still a bit of travel left. Have the gear ready so we can set up quickly. There’s something off about the air tonight.” He looked up into the sky, seeming to stare at something, but whatever it was, Aaron could not see.
Beside him, Zach began to open up a crate, pulling out three tents from inside. Aaron himself tried to look into one of the other bins, but it was too dark and the lanterns were too far away for him to make out much of anything that was in there. He felt around, hoping the sleeping bags were in the right box. Lucklity, he was right and he pulled out one of the soft bundles, setting it down beside the tents. As he did so, the wagon came to a stop and Aaron heard his father hop down from the front. He heard a clang as he grabbed the lantern from where it had been hanging on its post, bringing it around to the back.
Finally able to see better, Aaron hopped down to stand with his father, followed by Zach and Asnada. Snow remained asleep, unbothered by the sudden activity.
“The ground here is clear and flat. There’s a stream over that way,” Aaron’s father began to explain their site, giving instructions on how to set it up, “The food will be stored up that tree. Zach, you remember how to throw it right?”
Zach nodded, grabbing a spool of rope off the back of the wagon along with their small box of food. They had already eaten that day's dinner and so they would not need it until morning. Making sure he had everything he needed, Zach made his way over to where Aaron’s father had just pointed.
“Asnada, you and I will start with setting up these tents. As for you Aaron,” his father turned to him, “You unload the personal gear off the wagon. Just the night packs. Then tie it all down.”
Aaron nodded, turning back to face the wagon. It had been a while since he had last camped, but he was ready to go.
After all the equipment for that night had been pulled off the wagon, Aaron, now armed with a lantern, made his way over to where Snow was still sleeping, her tail curled around her nose. It was an odd position for her. She was usually sprawled out, her limbs lying anywhere and everywhere. It was almost unnatural to see her like this.
“Hey girl,” he whispered, crouching down to look at her, “You gotta get up. I need to tie everything down.”
She lifted her head groggily at his voice, her eyes blinking slowly, trying to get themselves open. Aaron smiled as he watched, reaching forward a hand to pet her. He gave her a few nice pats but the sky was getting darker and he was getting tired. He needed to finish this soon.
Setting the lantern down, Aaron steadied his stance and scooped Snow into his arms. She was a large dog, weighing almost half of Aaron’s own weight. “Easy does it,” he said as he stumbled back a bit, “Let’s get you off.”
He walked back to the edge of the wagon and set Snow down, watching as she ran into the darkness that he could not see. He could hear her excited barks and the subsequent yelps of surprise as she tackled who he could only assume was Asnada. Aaron smiled before turning back to his lantern and the task at hand.
At the front of the wagon was a large tarp, folded up nicely with ropes lining its edge. Setting his lantern back onto one of the walls of the wagon, he began to unfold the tarp, careful not to knock over whatever was beside him. The sound of the rustles of the tarp filled his ears as he moved it this way and that. Once it was all opened, he pulled each rope to a different part of the wagon, tying them off with a good clove hitch knot. It took longer than one might expect and he was there for a good 20 minutes making sure everything was as tight as it should be. When he was finally done, he sat back, admiring his handiwork.
From behind him, he could hear what sounded like a hammer as he assumed they were finishing off with pegging their tents. Taking his lantern, he made his way over to where he could see snow sitting down beside the lantern his father had set up by their work area.
“I tied everything down Father.” he said as he sat down on a dry log nearby. He heard a faint grunt of acknowledgment from somewhere just outside his view range.
“The tents are set up. Grab your things and bring them inside. Yours is on the left.”
“Got it.”
Grabbing his lantern again, Aaron made his way back to the wagon and grabbed both his and Zach’s bags. Holding them in one hand, he waddled his way towards the tents, spotting their blue tent with the flap already open. Setting the lantern down outside—you never took a flame lantern into a closed tent like this—he threw their bags in. They thumped against the ground.
Taking his shoes off, Aaron brought out a magic stone from an outer pocket on his bag. It was duller than the flame, but it still provided enough light for him to set up his sleeping bag for the night.
While he was setting up, Snow nosed her way into the tent. Making herself at home in the center space between where Aaron and Zach would sleep before curling herself back up. Once again, her nose was tucked beneath her tail. It was odd. But she had never been this far from their settlement before. She was likely just nervous. It would go away when she was settled down at the Academy.
Settling into his sleeping bag, Aaron tucked his glasses away, and closed his eyes. Tomorrow would be the day.
— — — —
It was the metallic scent that woke Aaron up. His head pounded as if a hundred stones had hit it all at once. He reached around for his bag, pulling his glasses out of it and onto his face. He could vaguely hear sounds coming from outside. He crawled towards the flap pulling it aside and—
It was dark.
This was no normal darkness. Aaron had grown up in this forest. He was used to the darkness in the night. This was different. This darkness was alive. It seemed to move, to twist in the air. And it was staring right at him.
Aaron couldn’t breathe.
“AARON!” someone shouted his name. It was his father. Aaron could not see where the voice had come from. “AARON GET BACK! NOW!”
Aaron leaned back just in time for a bright light to flash past him, colliding into the darkness and seeming to burn it away. It let out a piercing cry and Aaron winced down at the noise. He could feel his body begin to shake, his shallow breaths trembling. To the left he saw his father, illuminated with a bright light. It floated around him, and seemed to come from him. His hands were red from—oh god, was that blood?
The odd darkness surrounded him, kept at bay by the light. Aaron saw some bare what looked like shining bright teeth. They swallowed up everything in their path, leaving nothing to be seen.
“Aaron,” his father’s voice was calm and steady, “Wake the others up. Take only the emergency kit with you. Run along the river. The forest will guide you. You must reach the Academy.”
Aaron seized up. He couldn’t move. His entire body trembled. His head hurt. He could feel the cold sweat dripping down his forehead. He couldn’t respond. He wanted to move, he wanted to run but—
Something moved beside him. He turned his head to see Zach peeking out. He wanted to yell out to stop him. He opened his mouth.
All that came out was a small croak.
He could feel the water begin to well up in his eyes. He could barely breathe. He felt his hands give way beneath him and he tumbled backwards, Zach barely catching him.
“Zach.” Aaron could barely understand what was being said. “The emergency kit is on the side of the wagon. Take them. You must make it there safe.”
Aaron felt as Zach moved, standing up and pulling Aaron with him. He could barely stand. Zach was the only thing keeping him up, the only thing supporting him. He could feel the tears falling. He needed to breathe. But there was no time. They needed to run.
“What's going on?” a soft voice asked, the tone filled with urgency. It must have been Asnada.
Aaron could feel as Zach shifted him, likely in an attempt to sign something. Whatever it was, Aaron could not see. But Asnada said nothing more and Aaron let himself be pulled toward, dragged along the banks of the river. He breathed in. He breathed out. Again and again, repeating it like a mantra in his mind. In. Out. In. Out. In. Out.
His tears had finally stopped. He was able to look around. He saw Zach in front of him, brandishing a knife, cutting into the air. It cut through both wood and darkness and seemed to glow with a light similar to that which Aaron’s father had previously used. The darkness still followed them, grabbing towards them, trying to swallow them into its abyss.
Even the trees seemed hostile, its branches and roots reaching forward, trying to trip them, trying to force them down, to slow them so the darkness could win. It was only the glowing knife in Zach’s hands that sliced through the air that seemed to save them.
Aaron didn’t know how long they ran for. Despite the water at the feet, he could not drink a single drop. They ran for what seemed like hours, the darkness chasing them every step. The pain in his head roared. He couldn’t stop, couldn’t take his medication. There was no time. Aaron could hear it as his friend's breaths began to grow rough like his own. It was impossible to tell if the sun had risen as the darkness blocked out any possible light. They had to keep running.
When they finally stopped, Aaron fell to the ground. His legs were shaking from overexertion. He lay on the ground, staring up at the sky.
The sky.
He could actually see this sky. He didn’t know how he couldn’t have noticed it before. It was dull and grey, sunlight barely passing through the clouds, but it was there. The darkness was gone. He closed his eyes, overcome with exhaustion. He wanted to sleep. He wanted the pain to go away.
Something tapped his shoulder. He opened his eyes to see Zach holding up a flask for him to drink. Aaron tried to sit up but his muscles wouldn’t listen. He tumbled back to the ground. He tried again and this time, Zach pulled him up. Aaron grunted in appreciation and accepted the water, unable to form words. Zach simply smiled in return.
The crisp coolness of the water washed into his mouth. It made him forget the pain in his head, forget the ache of his legs. It was cold and fresh and he sipped it down like he had never had water before.
After drinking his fill, Aaron finally had enough strength to sit on his own. He looked around the area they had stopped. A few feet away from where he and Zach were sitting, Asnada was looking over their survival kit, examining its contents carefully. Aaron couldn’t quite make out what was inside, but he had helped pack it and his father had always made sure he reviewed its contents. He began to list the items off in his head.
‘Food rations, 10 days. 50 metres of rope. Bandages. Blanket. Birch bark. A handful of dog—’
Aaron’s thoughts froze mid sentence. There were dog treats in the kit. For a dog. For his dog.
“Where’s Snow?” he asked, looking around frantically. Had she woken up when they did? Had she seen the commotion? Had she followed them when they ran? Had she been swallowed? Did the darkness—did it get her? It couldn’t have. She had to be safe, she had to—
Aaron was tackled from behind, cutting off his train of thought. The culprit was a pure white fluff ball. Her tongue hanging out of her mouth, her tail wagging violently. She seemed to smile at Aaron, as if to ask him why he was even worried. Of course she would run after them.
Aaron let out a sigh of relief. She was here. She was safe. That’s what mattered. He and his friends sat in silence. The pain in Aaron’s head made itself known once more and he felt at his waist for his bag. It wasn’t there. He didn’t have the medicine. He looked over at Asnada. Had they packed the medicine in the kit? He wasn’t sure if they ever had. He always had his own stash. His father only just taught him how to identify the plant. He wasn’t sure he could do it alone.
“There’s a map in here.”
It was Asnada who spoke, crawling over to show Zach and Aaron the map she had found. Aaron would have to deal with his headache later.
The map showed the entire expanse of the forest, and even a little past that, stretching barely into both the Kingdom of Light and the Wastelands. However, the trio were only interested in one specific point on the map, a large building, or rather a group of buildings. Its name was written in bold. The Academy of Outsiders. Alongside it was a river, the very river they were currently sitting beside. Only they were much further down stream.
“I’ve narrowed down our location to around here,” Asnada pointed to an area on the map south of the Academy. “Based on the scale and our average travel time, I can predict we can reach the Academy in a few hours. Sooner if the forest guides us. Though, I’m not sure I trust the trees right now,” Asnada looked sceptical at a nearby grove. “If I could I would check the time of day but…” She looked up into the sky. Aaron and Zach followed.
“There isn’t much sun to go off of.” Aaron finished for her.
Asnada nodded. “It’s hard to tell exactly how much sunlight we have left. My best guess is that it’s before noon, but who knows how long we were actually in that darkness.”
Aaron looked north, up to the river. Towards the Academy. He briefly thought back to that night. To his father. The majestic glow that seemed to emanate from him. It had been magic. Magic like Aaron had never seen before. It wasn’t powered by magic stones. That was his father’s magic. Maybe Aaron could be like that one day. But he had to get to the Academy first.
“Let’s go.” Aaron said, standing up. Or at least, he tried to. No sooner had he been standing did he fall right back down, his legs unable to support his weight. He tried again, but this time, Zach pulled him down.
'We need to rest.' He signed. 'We can’t go anywhere if we can’t walk. Let’s eat something. Then we can go.'
Aaron sighed, but he knew Zach was right. He could barely stand, there was no way he would be able to make it to the Academy. He grabbed one of the ration bars from the emergency kit and bit into it, hoping they could get moving soon.