Chapter One- And so the Clouds came Undone

Chapter One

And so the Clouds came Undone

 

            I met the clouds as I plummeted through the darkened sky. The glider strapped to my back was now useless. The cool air cut into my face and body, freezing my skin and bones as I fell. A numbness overcame my being, a cold distance to what was happening around me. This was it. I was going to meet my end when I met the earth below. I closed my watering eyes, ready to accept my fate.

            

I looked below me, the ground was fast approaching.  I clenched my jaw shut, letting my panic take a hold of me. I was going to die. No one even knew where I was, no one would find my body and my parents would be searching for me for the rest of their lives. I couldn’t let that happen.

           

I pulled the gliders’ motor string fervently, again and again. The motor just made a loud rumble then quit. No, I’m not going out like this. The wings of the glider were still intact, but I didn’t know if they would slow my fall enough to save me. The livid wind tore into me, making it hard to locate the wing switch. I fumbled with the device, until I finally found the big button on the back to extend the wings.

            

With a loud whoosh, the wings expanded, and my fall was slowed. I was still falling too fast. I pointed the top of the glider toward a thick line of trees in front of me. They were getting closer and closer. Everything in my vision was a blur, colors and shapes mixed together like paint in water.

            

Then I met my end. My eyes were shut tight. The only thing I could hope for at this point was a swift death. Pain exploded throughout my body when I met the thick vegetation of the trees. Branches dug into my skin and scraped my face and arms. I tried to protect my head with my hands, but I was still thrown mercilessly against the hard, rough branches.

            

My descent finally stopped, and I was left tangled in the thick branches. It hurt. Everything hurt. My arms and legs were covered in nasty scrapes and bruises. I could feel hot blood flowing out of my nose and down my face, but I was in too much pain to move. My glider was no longer strapped to my back, it must have gotten caught on another branch. What was I going to do? My entire body was wracked with pain, my glider was gone and I was stuck here on Fera.

           

Everyone had heard legends of Fera, the wild, overgrown land far beneath the clouds. Stories of giant beasts were a favorite of the kids around Nubis, but no one really took them seriously. I used to be one of those people. Now I felt true fear bubble in my chest. What if all those stories and legends were true?  I couldn’t fight off a bird, let alone a giant monster.

           

I groaned and sat up half way. The tree was incredibly massive; the smallest branches were still thicker than my arms, and the trunk was thicker than ten trees put together on Nubis. I touched my face, and felt a stream of hot blood. I’m lucky I didn’t lose an eye when I was crashing through the dense foliage. My body was battered, and every little movement made me wince and gasp in pain. I didn’t think anything was broken, but I examined my body just to make sure. Bright red scratches covered my arms and legs, but most of them were pretty shallow and didn’t bleed much.

            

When I was satisfied with my inspection, I sat all the way up, and peered into the darkness below. I was still pretty high up in the tree, even though I had crashed through most of it. There was at least thirty yards between me and the ground. It felt like this nightmare would never end.  

            

Staying in this tree certainly wasn’t going to help me. Looked like I was going to have to climb down. I steeled myself, and grabbed the branch I was on before planting my feet on a lower one. I climbed down slowly, stopping every once in a while to catch my breath and take a break from the pain of climbing.

           

The descent was slow and hard, and soon I came to the end of the branches. There was about thirty feet between me and the ground. I couldn’t just fall, with my luck I would probably break my legs and be stuck there, an immobile target for predators. I hoisted myself up on the branch I held and sat there. I made it this far, but I knew I couldn’t jump or climb down the rest of the way. I wouldn’t risk it. So what was I going to do? Just sit in that tree until I died of thirst?

           

I decided I would have to wait. There had to be people in Fera, maybe someone would find me in the morning. I couldn’t sleep though, because I might fall out of the tree. I would just have to sit and wait for daybreak.

       

            The sun took her time rising. She peeked over the horizon, drowning everything in her soft, dusty ginger glow. The night had crept by slowly, but now pale light covered the land. I had been sitting in the same spot all night, not daring to fall asleep. I thought about yelling for help, but I didn’t want to attract anything else that might hear my call.

           

Eventually someone would find me, right? The thought of being stranded in a tree until I died wasn’t very pleasant. Every minute that passed by made me consider just jumping to the ground and hoping for the best. I was too chicken. Daring adventures weren’t my thing.

           

Rustling below made me snap to attention. I grabbed the branch so I wouldn’t fall before looking to the ground. There were a couple of people under the tree, talking loudly. It was a guy and a girl.

“Arla’s going to flip her lid if she knows we’re gone,” the girl said. She had short hair that was dyed dark purple. Her eyes were ringed with dark makeup, she looked mean.

The boy, who was tall and blond, crossed his arms.. “why do you always have to be so scared of Arla. She’s not going to find out. She never does.” His voice was relaxed and carefree. This could be my chance to get down from here.

I crawled to the edge of the branch I sat on and cupped my hands around my mouth. “Hey! Can you help me get out of this tree?” my voice reverberated through the forest. The pair looked up quickly.

“If you can get up there, you can get down,” the boy said, a smirk playing on his face.

“I didn’t climb the tree, I fell into it and I’m stuck.”

The girl’s eyes widened, “don’t tell me youre from Nubis.” Her voice was quiet from shock.

The boy looked from me to her and back to me. “she does look pretty puny. I wouldn’t doubt she was from the sky. But what are you doing here?”

I sighed, “I was flying my glider and the motor stopped. I crashed in this tree last night.”

The girl walked closer to the tree, looking up at me in wonder, “you’ve been in that tree all night?”

“yeah, and I cant get down.” Geez, were they going to help me down or not?

The boy crossed his arms, “can’t you just climb down?”  He was mocking me. I tried to cool my head before I spoke again.

“If I could get down, don’t you think I would have already?”

The girl laughed, and the boy looked annoyed. “Not many people are brave enough to sass Akoni.”

The boy- Akoni- smirked again. “She just doesn’t know about me. If she did, she wouldn’t be so fast with her smart mouth.”

I bit back another sarcastic response. “Just please help me down.”

The girl gave Akoni a pointed look. He sighed, “well guess I have to do everything. Hold on, I’ll climb up there and get you.”

He walked slowly to the base of the trunk, and put his hands as far around it as he could. Then he was hoisting himself up the tree with pure strength. Within a couple minutes, he had made it to the branch I was sitting on. I looked at him in suprise. He had pointed ears, and bright green eyes.

“Wow,” he said, examining my face, “you must have had a Hell of a fall.”

I rolled my eyes. I’ve known this boy for two minutes and I already hated him. He turned so his back was facing me. “Grab onto my neck, and hold on tight.”

I put my arms around his neck, before he stood up and dropped down so he was grabbing the branch we were sitting on. I tightened my grip on him, trying to control the furious pounding of my heart. His body rumbled beneath me as he chuckled. “Not scared, are you?”

He didn’t give me time to answer. In a split second, he was dropping down the trunk, slowing his fall only by the hands he had planted on the bark. As soon as it had began, it ended. We were on the ground again, and I was still alive!

I jumped down from his back and dusted myself off. I tried to act calm, even though my heart felt like it was about to leap out of my chest. “thanks,” I said a little breathlessly.

The boy smirked. “I thought you were going to have a heart attack before we made it to the ground. For a girl from Nubis, you're pretty afraid of high places.”

“yeah,” I said, narrowing my eyes at him, “when I’m in a life or death situation, I tend to get a little nervous.”

Waves of laughter erupted from the girl. “wow,” she said between wiping tears off her face, “I’ve never heard anyone be so blunt with Akoni.”

Akoni’s face was red. “Shut up Mala. She just doesn’t know better.”

Now that I got a better look at Akoni, he was actually pretty handsome. He was tall, with tight lean muscles I could see under his tight black shirt. His hair was fine and light, though his skin was tan. He had three piercings in each ear, and when he talked I saw he had one on his tongue.

Mala was almost as tall as Akoni, with short deep purple hair. She had a piercing in her lip and one in her right ear. Both of her ears were pointed like Akoni’s. Her blue eyes were ringed black with eyeliner. She wore a pair of tan shorts and a tight black top. The two of them were basically wearing boy and girl versions of the same outfit. They both wore heavy looking combat boots.

Mala winced when she saw my face. “Ouch, your face is covered in blood.”

I wiped the back of my sleeve across my face, causing a lot  o“f the dried blood to flake off. “Is that better?”

Akoni surveyed me. “Not much. But it’ll have to do.”

Mala looked from Akoni to me. “So how are you going to get back up there?”  

I shrugged. “I’m not sure. Hopefully they’ll realize I’m down here and come rescue me.”

Akoni scratched the back of his head and looked thoughtful for a second. “You could probably come back with us to Animus. I’m sure Mala wouldn’t mind a roommate for a few days.”

He playfully hit Mala’s arm. She didn’t look too thrilled. “If Arla finds out, she’ll kill me. And you too.”

Akoni grinned, baring straight white teeth with long, sharp incisors. “What Arla doesn’t know, won’t hurt us.”

Mala didn’t look convinced, but she didn’t speak up. Akoni clapped his hands together. “Good. Now let’s finish what we were doing and head back before Arla sees we’re gone and comes to kick our asses.”

Mala laughed, and followed Akoni, who walked deeper into the forest. I stuck around for a second, unsure if I should follow or not. After a second of thought, and the realization that I didn’t have any other choice, I decided to tag along.

Reviews

[Heromen Selena]

This is a really cool beginning to a story! I can honestly say that I've never read a story like this. Your original idea is quite refreshing. A dangerous beginning is always an eye catcher and draws the reader in because of how stressful it is. The descriptions of the characters and environment are really good except of the main character. I think something that would make this first chapter better is if you gave your reader some idea of what she looks like or what her name is. 1st chapters are great for introductions and sets the scene for the rest of the story. Knowing more about the main character would make the reader more immersed in the story and have a clearer image of who she is. There are some minor typos here and there, but other than those things this is a great start to hopefully an amazing story! Can't wait to see if you continue writing this book :)