The Darkest of Hours (Rewrite)

EDIT:

Hello, friends! As I said, I've editing the Prologue and am nearly finished with Chapter 1. I know I've been away for a while (and probably still will be) but i plan to slowly continue this now.

While I haven't really done much to this chapter, it's better for...younger readers. Most curses have been deleted (I don't think 'crap' is a swear word, so sorry if it's offensive) and changed the weapons, because blasters are Chima's weapons, not rifles.

Well, enjoy, friends! I hope to have Chapter 1 finished by the end of the week, but no promises!

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Prologue:

Laval

Life. It's a blessing only the lucky get to have. Some lucky are unlucky in ways, being something unable to live for a year, or one that always gets killed in its shorter-than-normal life. Some are very lucky, being they are at the top of the food chain where no one dares to face you, or you're just the smartest or ruling kind. Whatever the case, life gave you this chance.

It's life that you should be grateful for to give you this blessing to live a life full of emotion and adventure.

But some don't do this. They don't care about this blessing and hate the world. They try to worsen the world and its people with negative feedback and emotions.

But for the world to work the way it does, there needs to be a good and a bad side. There can never be too much peace or too much destruction. There needs to be a middle, where everything revolves around itself in the usual circle of life.

Unfortunately for me, that meant trying to run from an army that wants to capture, torture, and possibly kill me.

So, I was running for my life with blaster fire raining everywhere around me – Well, not raining…Oh, you get the gist. Basically, I was running with a whole angry army behind me – my luck.

This is a summary of my luck, which hasn't seemed to improve over the past weeks:

Terrible. Plain old crap. The worst possible luckiness in the universe. God damn- Ok, I should stop right there. There is no need to get into these rants that are so unimportant that I get distracted, right?

But, really, it's all for nothing…because in a situation like this, you have the perfect reason, one that I was using right at this moment.

"God, holy Cavora! What do I do? What do I do?" I cursed, trying to get away from the tribe behind me.

I raced along the Gorge of Eternal Depth, ducking and weaving my way through the jagged, almost icicle-looking pieces of stone that looked just like a whole bunch of teeth, which is also known as The Fangs….What a coincidence.

Ice….that reminds me of a certain tribe….One I really don't want to think about right now.

The ice tribes are what I'm talking about. They were the worst of the lot of the tribes, and it really sucked for us. I mean, they could freeze anything in their path, save for the Phoenix and their fire chi. If the Phoenix hadn't helped when they did, Chima would be an Iceland with no Mount Cavora to feel reassured about, which before anyone asks, is a very bad thing.

Anyway, what happened after the Great Illumination was that the Ice Tribes left far beyond the Outlands, saying they had to figure out where they were in the world – whatever that meant.

Speaking of the Phoenix, Tomark had stayed behind, meaning when the Phoenix went into the sun, and was on a mission of his own deep in the Outlands caves, saying he needed to find his tribes remains and make sure they get the proper burial they deserve. Before he left though, he told me something that made me feel warm and happy…..and maybe a little scared.

"Laval….I've been watching both you and Li'ella, and have come to a conclusion. I give you my blessing to take her to be your wife. But there are three conditions: you will never hurt her, even if you're under mind control. You are to give her this ring, for it has been passed down my family for generations, even if you have a better one. And most importantly, you cannot have the wedding without me being there, so you'll have to be patient. If I find you have broken any of these three rules, I will make sure you never see the light of day again. Laval, take care of Li'ella for me and…..thank you."

That was it. It was basically a long speech/lecture thingy that left me speechless. Mainly because of the thoughts swimming through my head, like how Tormak had given me permission to marry Li'ella, and the fact he had made my day yet destroyed it by threatening me, but that's Tormak for you.

But…the night I proposed…she was…taken. Taken from me. As in kidnapped, or captured, or…or….

There're infinite possibilities, and it hurts me to find most having her end up dead.

But I haven't given up. I have been wandering all over the place searching for her nonstop for almost four days, so to say I was tired was an understatement.

I was dead on my feet.

And with a whole revenge-seeking tribe behind me, that was not a good thing, which just added another score to my unluckiness.

The score?

36 – 0. That's all in two weeks with one point for each. Yes, you heard me right, one point for each point, meaning I've had terrible luck with no indication that it's going to get any better.

Yeah, I'm screwed.

I raced behind one of the long sharp stone, out of view from the army behind me. In the next second you could see more than a dozen speedors flying past my hiding spot, the dust clouding the path behind me.

I held my breath, not wanting to make a sound. Who knew what could be out there after a whole tribe fly's past you? That's right, everything. You need to be ready for anything when something's chasing you.

I waited there for a full minute, my ears prickled for any sound possible, before breathing a deep sigh of relief.

Thank the Legend Beast's! I hope no one's there. I thought hopefully, exiting my hiding place as quietly as possible.

Unfortunately, my luck wasn't on the ball, as explained earlier.

BAM! The sound of a sniper blaster going off filled my ears, and I griped my left arm, pain spreading through me as I crouched with gritted teeth, trying to rid the pain that left my arm bleeding immensely.

Remember your training, Laval. You know what to do. I remembered what my teacher had done so long ago to an injury like this, and I followed his footsteps.

Firstly, I tried to calm down. It didn't work that well, especially when I was worrying about a whole army on my tail with no backup-

Focus! My inner voice commanded, and I immediately got back to work.

Secondly, I took my hand off my wound, observing what colour the blood was, how much was coming out, how big it was, and if it was stuck in there.

Ok, it's dark red, so it hasn't hit anything important, like a vein or something. There's a bit coming out, so I'm going to have to deal with it fast or I'll pass out from blood loss. Not too big, either. It's about average, so I'm not surprized it's spewing out with blood. Ok, let's check this. I raised my arm with a lot of effort, the pain making me grimace. It's a through and through, thank god (having a blaster not go through your arm is hell). I guess luck is kinda on my side….injury wise.

I then looked around, finding I was still out in the open for a clear shot.

Cover, I need to get to cover.

I stood from my crouch and ran over to where I was before, out of view from both the sniper and road, before going to the next step.

Materials….don't have any of that. I frowned, eyebrows going up in confusion before going back to relief. Wait, yes I do! I ripped off a rather large piece of cloth from my shirt, the blue and white designs instantly turning to red as I rapped it around the bullet wound, gritting my teeth as I fastened the knot.

I observed my handiwork, frowning as blood started to slowly gush around the sides of the fabric. Mustn't be as great as I thought. Maybe another layer will do it.

I ripped off another, larger bit before tying it around the other fabric, watching in satisfaction as it held strong, the blood being held in there.

I nodded to myself. That's good, but it's only half the job.

I ripped off another piece of fabric, this time from my pants, before tying it tightly just below my shoulder, just above the wound. That'll cut off the blood circulation, meaning less blood loss, but more work. I won't be using my arm again today….or tomorrow. He glared at the ground, annoyed. It also means it'll be twice as hard to fend these guys off, as I have to keep my arm as still as I can until I get back. My sword is somewhere, too. It's not on my back, so I've probably dropped it somewhere along the way…..something I never do. I frowned. Actually, I don't remember the last time I saw it. Want happened to it?

The sound of footsteps and speedors brought me back to the present, and I cursed. I can worry about that later. Right now I just get the hell out of here before they see me! I got to my feet quickly, about to run off, before my head started to spin. I reached out for the rock behind me with my good arm, catching it in my not-as-deadly grasp before closing my eyes, trying to get a sense of coordination. Woah! I must have lost more blood than I thought. I blinked, the world still spinning. A lot more that I thought.

I unwillingly groaned as a bad headache started to play up behind my eyes, making me want to throw up. Shit. The bullet wound, spinning coordination and exhaustion was already bad enough. Adding a migraine and sickness into the mix? Not a good thing.

I tried to get back on track; collect my bearings and get out of there, but it was useless. I felt all of the pain, exhaustion and dizziness combine into one terrible feeling, and soon I couldn't do anything as I slid to the earth below me and unconsciousness started to play with my mind.

But not before a shadow of a particular someone fell over my body.

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So! How do you like it? Better? Worse? Tell me what you think (or don't, I'm not forcing you to) and I'll see who reviews first (I have a personal bet on who will say so first, so don't fail me!).

Also, I just wanted to get this done, and all in all is nearly 1700 words. I'll do better next time, I was just really excited to get this done. So, I'll see you all next chapter (or the reviews bar, I'll be telling everyone what I think, as I'm not going to be PMing anyone anymore).

EDIT:

Hello! I've just edited the swearing for this chapter, as the actions of Scorm and the Outland Tribes aren't bad.

So, not too much. Expect a lot more for the next two chapters.

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Summary:

The land was once peaceful after the Illumination, but that has all but been destroyed. The Outland tribes have been trying to rule, a new tribe is terrorising the lands, and everyone is betraying each other for unknown reasons. Order is failing, people are clawing at each other's throats, and bonds are shattered. So how are they going to defeat them, when everything else is failing?

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Finished Date:

15/07/16

Edited Date:

30/02/17