MidWorld

[AN: YES! Another story... I know, I know... Curse my laziness. I haven't even finished TAM and now I'm working on another. Oh well, I will be only posting the Prologue and the Epilogue]

‘He’ was wondering round and about the Forgotten Forest since sundown, searching for place called Moonlight Lake. As the legends dictates, in this said lake is where you can find the rarest and most valuable jewel in the world. ‘Moonlight Stone’, it was called. Yet, it was also said that this lake will only appear on a night with a full moon like tonight and this was what he was waiting for. He will miss his chance if he didn’t find it by sunrise.
   It was almost midnight but he still hasn’t found what he was looking for. He grew frustrated, impatient and tired of searching for it. He didn’t know it was so hard to find. He thought it would only take a couple of minutes and… TADA! He was done!
   He sighed thinking how childish that thought was and decided to take a rest under a huge tree nearby. He slowly closed his eyes, saying:
   “Just for a few seconds…”
   Despite what he told himself, he dozed off. What woke him up was the earsplitting scream that echoed throughout the forest. Then, silence followed. For almost a minute, only the rustling on the leaves and the soft howl of the wind was heard. After that short span of time that seemed like forever, he heard footsteps just a little bit farther away from him.
   “Bah!” a deep, rough voice exclaimed. “…get out… won’t be alive…”
   He didn’t quite catch what they were talking about and it seemed that they were hurriedly trying to get out of the forest. He was curious from whom that scream belonged to because it was certainly not from those person he overheard. He tried searching around forest. As he roamed, he noticed that there was a path. He decided to follow it as if he had a choice.
   As he moved onward, he remembered that he didn’t have time for such a thing that doesn’t even concern him. He was supposed to be looking for the legendary lake but, here he was imitating Dorothy and following some kind of path. But he knows that his curious mind won’t just leave him alone if he won’t go and see what it really was with his own two eyes. He was confused in which one to do first but still he went on and followed the path.
   The next moment he knew, he was, for a second, enfolded by a white light and his body started to feel like a feather, so light. But then, he suddenly woke up to reality and there he was, facing what he was looking for – Moonlight Lake.
   The water was glistening and crystal clear. The soft ripples on it made him want to dip his hands in to it. The moon was reflected on its surface. He was just about to be captivated by its beauty when he heard a soft, pained moan from across. Then and there, he noticed that there was something or someone lying down. He hurriedly ran towards its direction.
   He was surprised to see a girl, around his age perhaps, dirty and dressed in filthy tattered clothes with dark brown spot patterns which seemed like dried blood. She was so thin and pale, as if she hadn’t eaten properly at all. There were both scars and cuts on her skin. He held her in his arms and surprised to know that it was almost as if he was carrying nothing. Her eyes were closed but he could still hear her very slow breathing.
   “Hey… Are you okay?”
   She moaned and winced in pain then she slowly opened her eyes. He let out a small gasp when he saw it. Her eyes were lifeless and empty as if she was just like a soulless shell and nothing more.
   “Help…” she barely spoke. Her voice was so soft now that it can’t almost be heard. “..Me…”
   These were the last words she muttered as she slowly closed her eyes. Her body suddenly grew limp and lifeless in his hands.

[AN: And... done, the Prologue I meant. The Epilogue will shortly follow]