Sparkatale

-Chapter 1-
-Letters-

It takes a lot to move me,
and I move without a sound,
the way the rain falls through the sky and covers the ground,
as I run.

It takes a lot to surprise me,
but the way the clouds create the storm,
that forces me to move yet faster,
through the careless wind and the path less travelled,
as I run.

It takes a lot to scare me,
but the lightning leaves those clouds,
and strikes the ground behind my back,
and the way the rain was just your tears,
and the clouds your thoughts.
Yet I run.

It takes a lot to stun me,
but the way the rain gives way to thunder,
as it echoes through my aging soul,
and the way it courses through my aching feet,
Still I run.

It takes a lot to stop me,
but my home was crushed against the ground,
destroyed by the rain and ruined by the lightning,
caught up in those tears and stopped by your thoughts.

I can't run anymore.

 

-Chapter 2-
-Orichalcum-

My eyes were opened,
when my eyes were opened,
when all I can see,
is the wreckage beneath me.

The eye of the storm,
but the damage is done,
and there's more to come,
as I find my feet.

With nowhere to go,
I try to find others,
whose eyes were still open,
though it seems I'm all that's left.

Then I see sunlight,
a dull Orichalcum,
but it flickers and fades,
and is lost to that storm.

The plains turned to black,
or perhaps my eyes remained closed,
and it was all a dream,
a needless dream.

It is great to see that nothing has changed.

 

 

-Chapter 3-
-Pieces of Pieces-

It happened when I reached the top,
of the highest point of the highest point,
of my lowest point.

It happened when I caught my breath,
when I laid across the messy plains,
and watched what was about to unravel.

It happened when I saw the clouds,
as they departed and disappeared,
and I saw the cracks behind them.

It happened when those cracks grew larger,
as the entire sky buckled under the pressure,
of the weight of expectation.

It happened when the pieces fell,
jagged shapes which sailed through the air,
crippling the ground beneath them.

What would happen to those who were still awake?
Did they run away as fast as they could,
or did they simply stand and watch?
Was there anybody left to stand and watch?

All that time I sat and stared,
with a hint of resignation.
At least this place would be finished quickly,
and I could finally sleep.

 

 

-Chapter 4-
-Discovery-

Time had passed,
sand in my hands,
covering my body,
weighing me down.

Gaps in the sky,
completely black,
but a realm unknown,
waiting to be explored.

Confused, I stood up,
and began to move,
in the direction of something,
something better than nothing.

More and more, piece by piece,
the sky was breaking,
but in its place,
painted an unexpected picture.

Pricks of light,
twinkling softly,
like miniature suns,
my eyes confused.

What was this vision,
these sequence of planets,
that I've never seen,
that no-one had seen?

 

-Chapter 5-
-Night-

My legs grew weary,
my throat dry,
my chest heavy,
my eyes determined.

The sky was broken,
but the space was open,
and it was close,
so close.

I climbed the piece,
that struck the ground,
and I felt clouds,
as they stayed in place.

Higher and higher,
that gap grew larger,
the darkness beyond,
looked completely foreign.

With nothing else to climb,
I took one last look,
at the place I called home,
which was no longer my home.

Air in my lungs,
my eyes closed,
I took a leap,
and left my world.

A sense of vertigo,
replaced with gravity,
replaced by solid ground,
I opened my eyes.

The world was new,
but covered in darkness,
those same stars gleamed,
and I called it 'Night'.

 

-Chapter 6-
-Machine-

The world I found myself in was different,
trees made of steel,
leaves made of iron
and rain made of acid.

I ran for cover,
my skin burning,
my knees scraped from the blades of grass,
under the cover of an aluminium moon.

The rocks hummed with hidden motors,
 creating a subtle song,
mixed with the rain,
mixed with my uncertainty.

It took a while,
 for that downpour to stop,
but once it did,
I heard footsteps,

Uncertain footsteps.

They moved to the rhythm of those rocks,
to the rhythm of my quickening heartbeat.
I peered from cover,
afraid.

The owner of those footsteps,
belonged to a boy,
a mechanical boy,
with the heart of a machine.

He walked towards me,
just as surprised as I was,
moving slowly,
but moving nonetheless.

When he finally reached me,
I saw that he was damaged,
eroded from the rain,
but with something more sinister.

His arm,
its arm,
their arm was broken,
but they sat beside me,

We stayed silent for the longest time,
watching the clouds and watching the sky.

 

-Chapter 7-
-Foreigner-

This alien,
one of its kind,
passing through the debris,
of the broken sky

Organic and soft,
confused and concerned,
completely unaware,
of this world of mine.

It sat in the corner,
avoiding the rain,
avoiding my gaze,
did it think I meant harm?

There are those that would,
so I took my place,
and watched over it
as the sky crumbled.

What was the light,
that peered from the cracks,
yet another star
but incredibly close?

Its eyes just stared,
content with watching,
watching as the sky cracked further,
the pieces falling.

Alone in this place,
I was happy for its company,
but we needed to move,
so I leaned closer.

It stumbled backwards,
alert to my presence,
I tried to communicate,
but it couldn't translate.

Instead I moved,
hoping it would follow,
and eventually it did.
It didn't look happy.

 

-Chapter 8-
-Requiem-

We journeyed through the rusty plains,
the industrial forests and the toxic lakes,
walking through its world.

Everything,
every single thing,
had its own set of motors,
with their own set of frequencies,
creating a simple song.

It sang its little tune to itself,
moving to its destination,
beckoning me to follow.

The trees around us began to glow,
its leaves replaced by bulbs,
glowing softly in our presence.

Right above our heads,
the sky began to break,
gentle pieces fell slowly to the ground,
revealing the light of the place I left.

Suddenly, the song had changed,
like everything had moved out of tune,
my mechanical friend buzzed in fear,
glancing up at the stars above.

And the giant piece that had just broke free,
the size of a city,
right above us.

 

-Chapter 9-
-Shard-

Just like before, I had to run,
until the air left my lungs,
until my feet ached,
and until we reached safety.

My companion was slow,
so I grabbed its arm,
its one functioning arm,
a race between life and death.

The trees began to blink out,
its power fading,
its song changing,
as if it knew its fate.

We tore through what was left of the forest,
scaled through what was left of the mountain,
gazed at what was left of the sky,
as it crashed into what was left of the earth.

It pierced the ground where we once stood,
creating pillars of dust and metal and smoke
echoing into the air,
and blocking what little light there was.

The machine cried,
a series of beeps and noises,
lamenting the loss of its own home,
and everything it knew.

The gap in the sky began to crack,
cascading down towards the ground,
a curious color emerged from it,
softly pulsing in the distance.

There was nothing left to salvage here,
so it was my turn to beckon it to follow.
It took one last look at the world around it,
and took my hand as we walked towards it.

Towards another rift in this broken sky.

-Chapter 10-
-Amethyst-

The first thing I noticed,
when I opened my eyes,
was that my eyes were closed,
for far too long.

My friend was beside me,
unmoving and unflinching,
my back ached and my hands stung,
the ground cold and uncaring.

Nothing but mountains greeted us,
hills of amethyst and minerals,
the sun blocked out,
by the destruction that was caused.

It was already too late for this world,
the cracks in the pink sky were coated,
with the daylight from my world,
and the starlight from my companions'

It spotted something moving,
grabbing my arm,
forcing me to run,
or to follow.

It moved quicker than it had any right to,
made of the same crystal that adorned this world,
but it slowed too quickly,
realizing what was happening.

Far off in the distance laid a city,
brighter and taller than we had at home,
its buildings were chipped and damaged,
broken from the pieces of the sky.

The being stood up,
and behind its crystal shell,
laid a girl,
covered in cotton and tears in its eyes.

Its home was destroyed,
it had nowhere else to go,
just like me,
just like us.

It noticed us,
but instead of running away,
it approached us,
as if we were old friends.

We travelled together,
while the sky fell apart,
and we spoke in our languages,
knowing we couldn't understand each other.

The ground beneath us shook,
and we knew what that meant,
Another gap in the sky,
another gap between our worlds,

needed to be found.

 

-Chapter 11-
-Courage-

She dangled a crystal,
a momento of the world she left behind,
in between her fingers.

My mechanical companion,
played with a single gear,
a soviener of his own.

I realised that I had nothing,
nothing to remind me of home,
nothing to hold but memories.

She noticed that,
crouching down to meet my gaze,
and said a single word.

It meant nothing to me,
but the way that she said it,
with tears in her eyes,
and her smile on her face,
meant entire worlds to me.

The gap that we took,
lead to an empty plain,
not a single mark in sight.

We walked regardless,
the only color in the sky,
came from the skies of different worlds.

We needed to stop this madness,
because sooner rather than later,
there would be no more worlds to cross into.

But until we reached that moment,
the three of us kept moving,
into a different crack from a different sky.

-Chapter 12-
-Halo-

There was nothing of this world left,
reduced to mountains of rubble,
several different pieces of several different skies,
an unfortunate kliedoscope.

The girl took the lead,
forcing us to follow,
my feet crunching the ground beneath,
trying not to think of what layed underneath.

Our companion struggled to keep up,
their mechanical legs too slow and too cumbersome.
I wrapped my arm around their shoulder.
I thought it said thank you.

Right there in the middle,
emerging from every world,
was the storm that destroyed my home,
and the homes of my friends.

Debris made its shape,
a sphere with tentacles,
reaching into every crack and every gap,
the source of the problem.

She was moving towards it,
a sign of madness,
I reached out to stop her,
to try something else.

She was angry,
more crystal tears in her eyes,
looking to slay the beast,
but the damage might had already been done.

The gusts grew more volitile,
sending us to our feet,
like it knew we were here,
powerless to stop it.

There was no more time for running,
I knew that now,
and so did they,
only time for action.

We powered towards it,
and whenever it knocked us back,
we stood back up,
as the rest of the sky began to break.

Later than sooner,
we reached its body,
hit with debris,
stinging our eyes.

Still further we walked,
until we could look inside it,
and right in the middle...