Journey's End

[Larathin]

   Esslyn leaned back against the rough stone wall of the cave and closed her eyes with a deep sigh as the firelight flickered, causing dark shadows to dance across Reath's features as he lay just inside the ring of light. She'd almost listened to Vash and left him, but she couldn't. They'd been traveling together for years now, and had saved each other's lives more times then she cared to count. In the end she couldn't leave him.
   Her eye fluttered closed, she'd been awake for the past two days straight trying to keep Reath stable and the healing spells she'd cast had taken a lot of energy. Still, if he made it through the night he should be in good enough condition for them to head to town and get a real healer.
   You can do it Reath, just hang on a little longer...
   Sleep claimed her, and she fell gladly into its embrace.
   

[Larathin]

   The sun broke over the horizon, its watery light pouring over the world, pooling in the valley below, and streaming in through the cave's mouth. The fire had burnt out in the night, only a few embers remained, glowing sullenly in a bed of gray ash. Everything was silent, no chirping birds or whispering of the wind. It was like the whole world was holding its breath.
   Esslyn awoke slowly, stretching to work the kinks out of her back. She slowly pushed her herself up and walked over to Reath's still form, her paws scuffing on the cave floor.
   Please, let him have made it through the night.
   Nervously she knelt down next to him.
   "Reath?"
   He didn't respond, and her heart caught in her throat.
   No. No, no, no...
   "Reath!"
   His eyes fluttered open as coughs wracked his body. Once they'd subsided his eyes focused on her and he gave her a weak smile.
   "Hey – oof!"
   He winced as she wrapped him in a tight hug, tears leaking from her eyes.
   "Thank god you're alive."
   "You shouldn't have worried, it'd take a lot more then that to kill me. Besides, I couldn't just leave you here by yourself now could I?"
   Esslyn let go and walked over to the remains of the fire, scooping up a bundle of clothes and throwing it at him.
   "Here. I don't have anything for you to eat, Vash had most of our supplies, but we're not far away from the town. We can get you a real healer there."
   "I don't know," Reath winced, pulling on his torn and bloody tunic. "You seemed to do a pretty good job, all things considered."
   "Just for that, food's on me."
   Completely dressed Reath eased himself to his feet and helped Esslyn finish packing up. As they left the cave, she paused just inside the cave mouth.
   "Hey... Reath?"
   "Yeah?"
   "I just... thanks."
   "For what?" He asked, frowning.
   "For not leaving."
   Reath walked over and wrapped an arm around her shoulder.
"Hey now, I didn't have much choice in the matter. That was all you. If anyone should be saying thanks here, it's me."
   "Still... thanks."

[Larathin]

So, it's been four weeks now and I think Xepher said he would be back around now. So, if he's willing and I managed to make the grade, I'm ready to do the Challenge whenever he is. If he's not back, then I'll start updating again on Wednesday.

[Xepher]

Been real busy with real life stuff, but I haven't forgotten this... I do see you've been making updates, I'm going to read 'em when I get a bit more time.

[Larathin]

Alright, cool. I'll hold off on putting up more then.

[Xepher]

Okay, I sat down and read all your posts at once. It is...

Well, it's cliche, it has a lot of typos and other grammar/spelling errors. It doesn't even move a consistent pace.

But, ignoring all that... damn if it doesn't look like you're trying.

Two questions. First, with the 'Cubi and all, I'm presuming this is a spin-off of DMFA and/or furcadia? Second, do you think you can handle all the web stuff to get this online? HTML doesn't have to be fancy, but you've got to be able to manage it yourself (or with help you've procured.)

[Larathin]

Well, I've sat down and I've done some thinking.
You're right in saying that there are issues, and yeah I got the 'Cubi idea from DMFA. I've gone over what I have and, well, I'm not satisfied with it. I thank you for saying I'm trying, but looking over it, I have to say it's not very good. I think that I'm gonna take a while to work on my skill. Maybe come up with a few fresh ideas that don't draw on anything but what I can come up with. In a year or so, I'd like to try again. But right now, I think I'm going to have step back and do some serious thinking and work on my technical skills before I can get a website of my own.
Thanks for taking the time to consider me, and to read my work. I hope to see you all again sometime in the future. Until then, may the force be with you, live long and prosper, and all that stuff.
- This is Larathin, signing out.

[Xepher]

Just as a fellow writer, let me just say to keep trying. The reality is though, with only one story, and no artwork or comics or other stuff to surround it, it's nearly impossible to find any sort of audience for an independent website. Write, keep writing, get better, join writer's groups, get feedback, etc. There's a bunch of sites out there that cater to fiction writing in every genre, and you're probably better off getting some stuff up on one of those and getting feedback then trying to run your own site at this point. Heck, I run this whole place, fancy myself a writer, and have dozens of finished stories... and even I still haven't managed to get my personal/writing website up and going after nearly ten years! :-)