Vol 1 Chapter 1 (1/2)
Book 1 – The Wastelands – Chapter 1 – The Young Scavenger
The setting sun was the color of blood as it shone down upon the wasteland The scavenging hour had arrived
Cloudhaoke up to throbbing spasms of pain in his stomach This familiar sensation had accompanied hiers referred to it as ‘hunger’, and it supposedly was a perpetual curse which the Creator had pronounced upon all living beings
If he once again failed to find any sustenance, he wouldn’t survive the night
As for what he would do tomorrow? This was a question which Cloudhawk had never even considered Toant word they couldn’t afford to worry about
Cloudhawk laboriously crawled out of the burrow he had hidden hi ground of the ruins, he was suddenly struck by a strong dizzying spell The ancient ruins around hi fences and dilapidated walls, as well as scraps of corpses that had fallen down fros that had been erected here had been reduced to worthless piles of rubble, buried and forgotten by both the sands of the wasteland and the sands of time
The gaunt youth was such a tiny figure, dwarfed by the howling sandstorh his tousled black hair, covering up his slender, youthful features His withered frame was covered with a few scraps of dirty cloth, and his rough, callused skin was filled ounds both new and old His eyes, however, were clear and alert This was the only thing which separated hiers
Cloudhaas only fourteen or fifteen years old
Scavenger life was very sihly twenty hours each day hidden within a hole or a burrow, avoiding the sweltering heat and the blistering cold Only during the scant hours of dawn and dusk would you be able to climb out of your hole and search for food within the ruins Day after day, year after year, this cycle repeated itself This type of life seeers viewed the dullness as an incredible blessing… because any disruption of this boring cycle al death
Cloudhawk couldn’t help but think about the old-timer
The old-tier who had withstood the vicissitudes of tie of the Old Tiers weren’t supposed to know He loved to tell stories and delighted in collecting useless things, especially tools, paintings, and books fros as Cloudhawk, and so the two of them became each other’s only companion and friend
This , the sun had risen as it always did… but this time, the old-timer didn’t crawl out of his hole
Still, the old-timer was a lucky man At least he had Cloudhawk around to bury him
Cloudhawk didn’t want to think about ould happen to him if he himself fell over He didn’t have enerally weren’t picky about their food The crazy ht pieces, s steel hooks They’d save part of theoff the rest for so water
These were the wastelands For the sake of survival,
Sometimes, Cloudhawk envied the others However, the old-tio that if mankind discarded its final scraps of decency and morality, the entire human race would truly be doomed
He was so hungry he could barely walk
Cloudhawk dragged his skinny fra like a strand of straw that was being tossed about by the wind He felt as though he could collapse at any o scoured the ruins clean To find food was no easy task
Would he fail in this task yet again?
Would this be his last ti sun as well?
Cloudhawk sat down lifelessly The setting sun wasthe ruins with its blood-red glow He saw a goshawk soaring through the skies, weaving its way through the clouds, and he couldn’t help but reveal a hint of jealousy in his gaze When he had given himself the name ‘Cloudhawk’, it was because he wanted to be like one of the hawks that flew through the clouds, free and unfettered… but in the end, it was all nothing ht?
Things weren’t over yet
He couldn’t give up He wouldn’t give up!
Right at this moment, he suddenly picked up the sound of hurried footsteps ringing off in the distance Cloudhawk leapt to his feet like a startled aniround sharp long ago as he vigilantly stared off into the distance This was a chaotic, crazed era Every single day, there would be starving scavengers who attempted to murder their own kind, and their victims were often skinny children like Cloudhawk
And indeed, the sounds of the footsteps grew nearer and nearer until finally, three raggedly dressed scavengers suddenly appeared within his line of vision, charging towards hih speed
Cloudhawk’s face turned pale as he took two steps back He was noeak that a strong wind could knock hi hi to be able to get out of this alive!
Wait Wait!
So!
Although the three had savage-looking faces, they didn’t have the ets Instead, they looked like terrified prey that were filled with horror and despair
They weren’t attacking They were fleeing for their lives!
Just as Cloudhawk began to have a bad feeling about this, a large group of black creatures suddenly appeared directly behind the fleeing scavengers, charging straight towards thehly the sizes of wild dogs, and their eyes were a terrifying, rabid red color
Cloudhawk stood there for a stunned instant, his ht was able to make its way past the cacophonous din in his mind, an instinct that came from his very soul…
RUN!
The threat of death was soht everyone’s full potential
Soed to squeeze out another burst of energy Cloudhawk didn’t waste any tiure out exactly as behind hi that epredators
Within the ruins, and in fact within the entirety of the wastelands, the scavengers were at the very bottoainst such terrifying mutabeasts?
The first to fall was a woman She had been the slowest of the three
“Save me!”
“Save me!!!”
“SAVE ME!!!”
One of the creatures sank its sharp fangs into her neck, then gave it a vicious tug Blood spewed out like a geyser, blanketing the area with a crimson hue
A second et at her, and bloody chunks of meat were ripped off of every part of the woman’s body In the blink of an eye, her stoans were all dragged out of her
It was bloody, cruel, and terrifying!
For a brief ony could be heard, reaching out like specters of death towards the other three Soet a share of the ers They were sier was caught by them
“AHH!”
“NO!”
The sounds of bones splintering and flesh being torn apart… these sounds caused Cloudhawk’s entire body to turn cold!
As the terrified Cloudhawk rounded a corner, a scene that brought hireeted him Rubble had completely sealed off the path in front of hio past!
What should he do? What should he do?
The third agonized screaht down
Three of the er’s corpse,as they sprinted towards the helpless, emaciated youth
Danger! Danger! Danger! Cloudhawk could sense that death was approaching If he hesitated for even a moment, he would never be able to recover from it
Turning back ive this last attempt his all!
Ignoring as coht towards the rubble and dove into a deep but incredibly narrow opening