Rise Of Pandora

Rise Of Pandora: XXII. Fell From The Sky

"In hectic times, honor always seems to die first."

-Maddard Bessarion

VII. Foreigner

Prometheus tittered.

What is it? Gaijin thought to Prometheus.

Those are not their names. But, play along, Prometheus relayed with a natural laugh following after. They can be so clever.

Never forget what our goal is. Never. Prometheus's voice began fading.

I know. Gaijin thought. But, how did you know they were lying?

There was no response.

Prometheus?

"Prometheus," Gaijin called out worriedly. There was only the vacuous silence of his mind.

He looked at Gaijin with an expression that was rather uneasy to discern.

Noticing the worry on Gaijin's face, he inquired "What's wrong?" By the tone of his voice, he seemed suspicious. He gawked at him, growing more curious the longer Gaijin remained silent.

"Nothing," Gaijin replied nervously.

"Why do you look worried?" He asked.

Growing annoyed, Gaijin quickly changed the subject to the topic of the strange beasts roaming about the forest. "These Deathknights, right? What are they?"

He scoffed. Bringing him along felt like an unnecessary risk. But, there was still something inside of him that wanted to keep him around. It was the words that Maddard so convincingly spoke. He still thought about it. But then he started to think too much.

A sudden spark of revelation flared upon the soldier's expression, he raised his arm and blocked Gaijin from walking with his swords still gripped in his hands.

"You said you fell from the sky?"

Gaijin nodded. "From a cloud. I had been sleeping on. When I woke up, it burst and then I fell in this forest. I have been lost ever since."

"How do you mean?" His voice grew cold and coarse.

"Exactly as I said."

He scoffed again and quickly looked up again at the dreary sky.

Maddard, too, looked stunned as it had not dawned on him until now. "Gods...you survived a fall like this?"

"I died, but I came back to life."

Maddard walked closer to Gaijin, breaking the separation the soldier had created between the two. "There had always been that one cloud in the sky that lingered over Sindirin. It never moved and it never produced rain," Maddard said while looking at the black-haired soldier. "I believe it is called the Cloud of Forever."

Utterly dismayed, the soldier dropped his arms to his sides. "I'm sorry if I startled you. It's been a long day. But if you don't mind me asking, why were you looking for humans and what was this danger you spoke of earlier?" The soldier tried to appear calm, but suspicion still plagued his thinking.

Gaijin took a very deep breath.

"Let me tell you everything I know," he said, motioning for them to come closer to him. The soldier stared into Gaijin's eyes, not wishing to gaze upon his exposed privates. Maddard came closer and did just as the soldier had done, his eyes not glancing high. The soldier looked around the forest before gathering with the others around a bush.

Gaijin attempted to tell his story as aptly and honestly as he knew how. Without Prometheus's guidance, he worried, however. But he muscled through and began to tell them his story while.