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                   A Shadow In The Light                   
                      -by gamer4COD-                       
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           Two orphans and a girl. Chapter "%1%"           
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Two orphans and a girl. Chapter "%1%"
Purgatory, The Abysmal Plains, The Neither, all names to describe the most boring subject of human history, of course it's the only thing every human must know, oh yes you can have bad grammar and be a clerk easier then just not knowing this basic part of human history. Perhaps I should tell this boring tale first I thought, what better way to tell a story of deception and betrayal then with a history lesson.
  Humans do not belong in Equestia, there I said it, shocking, maybe not. Humans belong in Purgatory, a vast empty universe where no one ever dies, no one is ever born, and worst of all, no one LIVES. Imagine standing all day, doing nothing, saying nothing, feeling nothing. Yeah thats pretty much sums it up, yet when the teachers come to a village the first thing they teach them is going to remind them that school will be boring.
As I know, all humans lived there once, then someone got antsy and went for a walk, eventually walking turned to playing, playing turned to laughing, laughing turned to speaking, speaking led to stories and jokes and tales of... well can't say, I guess of walking around the flat expanses of Purgatory.
Well some didn't like that, probably thought, "Hey we got a good thing going on, these upstarts are going to ruin it." despite that at the same they were using words and walking to find others who shared their beliefs.
Apparently, their worrying was for nothing, because as the loremaster tells us that the upstarts were met by this deity or something, who offered them freedom, if they take part in a test. Okay so the human upstarts were probably thinking, "what's the worst that can happen, we fail, and if we fail, we go back to doing nothing again. So they agreed and was shocked to find they were no longer in Purgatory, there were trees, and two rivers branching off from a main source a little ways upstream. The deity spoke a few words and pointed the her left and suddenly where there was nothing, there were these strange things on four legs, with a crop of hair on their heads as well as a tail with wings and a single horn coming out of their forehead, before the humans had a chance to adjust, the deity spoke again and pointed to her right and suddenly where there was just empty space, there was now a huge variety of hideous and revolting creatures, no two were alike, yet all were menacing and vile to behold.
"I have chosen your three races to be the first to partake in these test, chose your wisest and smartest."
The deity gestured behind itself. Ahead of them the trees and rivers waited, as if anxious to be tasted, to be savored and enjoyed. The humans picked their champion before the other two had the time to think, it was unanimous, the human champion was to be the first to walk, the first to speak... the first to laugh.
The other two chose their champions soon after that and the test started.
The Deity pointed behind her and spoke, " Ahead of you is a orchard, some air, and some rivers. Partake one of each and chose your species path, go with caution, for what you chose, you chose for all."
As the three champions approach the plains, the deity appeared ahead of them and lifted her right hand towards the sky and the air on her right grew noxious and poisonous, then she lifted her left hand, and the air on her left became pure and fresh, and with both of her hands lifted to the sky, the air in the middle became a mixture of poison and purity. "Pick one and pick with care, for what you pick, you pick for their." Puting her hands down, the three looked behind and saw their people behind them, watching with hope plainly written on all of their faces.
As the other two went to sample the air on both sides of the divide, the human looked at the deity and asked her what will become of them if they were to breathe the air in the middle. The deity laughed, a sound that has never been heard before, and never after. After such a beautiful sound, I can understand if he didn't really want her to answer, but all things die, so must mirth. "Their mistake is not committing to one immediately, even the pure can't help but suffer from the impurity of the whole race. The corrupted will always have a glimmer of good to shine in the darkest of days. If you commit to a single choice, you'll be in balance, harmony, and be the fulcrum of morality, able to sway, but also able to uphold the centre of all."
Supposedly, as our lore goes, our hero sticks to his first choice in all the tests. The air gave humans the ability to live with peace and with war, the fruit of Magic was eaten before he could could get to the trees, the fruit of Life also, the only one remaining was the fruit of Knowledge. Where the one who partook the fruit of Magic became powerful, and the one that ate the fruit of Life became perfect lifeforms, we, who ate the fruit of Knowledge became intelligent and wise, never to make the same mistakes twice in any lifetime. But, life, and magic have a way to change the odds.
Soon after our hero started towards the rivers where both of the branches had someone there already. Leaving him to drink where the rivers met. There is a poem that I always enjoyed but never really understood till recently, it sounds strange because it sounds like it was ment to be spoken to someone, or something to convince them, or it that we can be friends, or maybe just allies that don't point too many spears. But i should hurry up and write it down.
They, You, And We.
Drink, Ate, And Breath.
Hate, Love, And Indifferent.
Life, Magic, And Knowledge.
War, Peace, And Neutrality.
It's kinda tricky huh? Okay let me explain it, This is how it should be read.
They who drank the waters of hate.
You who drank the waters of love.
We who drank where the waters met,
And became indifferent.
They who ate the fruit of life.
You who ate the fruit of magic.
We who ate the fruit most tragic,
And learned of pain and strife.
They who breathe the fumes of war.
You who breathe the perfumes of peace.
We who breathed of both,
And never, our breathe released.
Personally, I would've given you the poem and told you how to read it, but Sarah is threatening me if I don't do history justice. Eh, could be worse, She could've made me write the old story, which tells the exact same thing, but with more words. Mother of all, she even had Tobess backing her up. But its not important, what is important is whether I should start my tale with when I got the contract that resulted in this mess, or start at how I made a family who I dragged into this mess. Sarah is yelling at me again, shouting about how I already started at the beginning so I guess I understand at least starting with how I made my family. I look around and smile, for it was me who brought us all together, from distinct and different backgrounds, we all lost things, people, even the noncorporeal things like innocence and joy. It all started a year ago, when I signed the contract. With that
My name is Dai Bai Mai Bnoloodlust, Bloodlust being my family name and in the Va Lah tradition of two middle names, I took my uncles and fathers first middle name as my middle names. I lived my childhod in the unforgiving streets of Va Lah City with my mother and father, at the tender age of 14 my father left home and never returned, 2 weeks later, my mother went too, I was alone. My father and mother we're Assassins of the Order, so I accepted that one day they might not come back, and had to start dipping into the family fortune to stay afloat, I say fortune because at the time, to a young kid it was a fortune. We had a small two story house in the less then desirable part of the city, it served my family's propose and not much more, two bedrooms, a decent kitchen, a living room, and a small, (but very well stocked) library. Now I didn't sit around all day feeling sorry for myself, I had more important things to do, like hit on the bartenders daughter, she seemed to have no interest in me, but I was determined. Then, I did something that changed my whole life, I looked behind me.
Right now Sarah is laughing her head off and joking about all the times she rejected me. Admittedly, so am I. So like I was saying, (writing?) I noticed one day while plying my charm, (another round of laughter all around) I noticed she kept glancing behind me, turning around I saw a Latinian just outright staring at her, this guy was easily twice my size, and judging from how he stood and his farmers tan, I guessed he was a refugee, I recall something about another raid into the Latinian farmlands by the dwarfs from a few days prior, I looked back at the very pretty girl infront of me and saw a look of longing in her eyes before her father came outside to shoo me off, walking away a thought ran though my brain as fast as lighting striking a dwarf in armour. I changed direction and approached the farm boy, before I was ten feet away, the oversized moran took off.
  (at this moment, I am at the receiving end of a look thats so sharp, I could swear if I checked, there would be a cut on my nose.)
I sighed before giving chase, you wouldn't think it, but the big boy can move like a rabbit. Especially when there's someone chasing him, eventually I lost him, but not for long, he was laying on a flattened cardboard box that I assumed was his only thing he could call a bed. I slowly approached as silently as possible, thankfully, his sobbing covered my footsteps, I was five feet away from the crying mass of self pity,( I think Samuel is honestly thinking about killing me.) before I could speak, he did.
"Just Take my coins and leave me alone." The voice was raw from crying but still had the unmistakable accent of a Latinian farmer. I considered the offer before shaking my head. I honestly didn't need his last coins, but maybe I could get something more valuable, Latinians are well known for being loyal and honest, going double for their farmers. I considered how to proceed when a brilliant idea hit me.
"And how is rolling over going to win the girl of your dreams?" After I said that, the massive guy infront of me slowly stopped shaking before rolling over and looking at me with crimson eyes. "Because I know she doesn't have any interest in a relationship with me, just as I have no interest with any relationship. But the way she looked at you, I swear if you let that slip by, your never going to be happy." Slowly his eyes took on a different state, no more was I staring into the eyes of someone who lost so much, I was now looking into the eyes of someone who had a opportunity, and more importantly, hope.
Okay I swear if I get one more look from those two again I'm going to skip straight to the wedding bells. I look over the crowded room once more, Skia laying by the fireplace, Tobess sharping the axe on his axe-maul, Val reading a book about some part of Equestia history, Carthena pouring plant extracts into a beaker, and Sarah talking into Samuels ear making the huge mountain of a man blush. And me, writing my memoirs. Occasionally asking questions about certain events that I don't recall completely.
I Helped him up off the cardboard bed and held out my hand, "The names Dai Bai Mai BloodLust, but you can call me Dai, and you are." At first he didn't reply, seconds passed as he evaluated the odds of this being a trick to lower his guard, before reaching past my wirst and grabing about halfway up my forearm, in the traditional Latinian manner.
"Samuel TartKart." As soon as he said it, I realized something.
"TartKart, as in the family owned TartKart pomegranate plantation. Daaamn, I always found I liked yours more then any other. So why is the heir to a large pomegranate plantation sleeping on a cardboard box?"
His eyes quickly found out how interesting the wall behind me was, so I simply assumed the worse, dwarves and elves were raiding each other and any human settlement nearby their lands, i thought about how lucky-and equal parts unlucky-this kid infront of me was. Before I realized it, my mouth was moving, "how about you come stay with me, I have a spare room and you need a roof over your head." His mouth flew open,
I'm going to start skipping the small stuff, like a long slow walk home with this farmboy crying, explaining to him about my family, dead, and how I'm going to the order house in a few weeks to continue my training. soon we make it home, and better yet, no one has tried to rob us. If I had to guess, I'd say that their not used to a 6 feet tall teenager. Eh, after about a week, I figured now's as good a time as ever to introduce him and Sarah.
As I walk towards the Drunken Drummer, Samuel keeps asking if he looks okay. At first it was rather funny, after the fifth time I start getting annoyed.
"Sam, you look fine. Stop freaking out, I'm sure she'll like you. She sure as rain never cared for me." I tell him, trying to untangle his nerves. As the tavern comes into view, he starts having second thoughts, then third thoughts.
"What if she takes one look at me and just walks away? What if she doesn't like my clothes? What if..." as he ponders every little thing she might not like about him, I take a second to look at him, 6 feet tall, broad shoulders and a total lack of confidence. Brown hair cut short, golden yellow eyes wide in fear, and a plain grey tunic with blue leggings. Simple, like him. I decide that if all else, I'm going to at least make him try.
"Samuel, what would your parents say if you leave this world without a bloodline?" The fear fades as he contemplate that before he nods his and takes a deep breath. "Good, now come on. I'm sure it'll be fine, your just going into the most dangerous tavern in Va Lah City, asking the daughter of the owner out on a date. If anything is going to happen, it'll happen to..." Before I finish someone comes flying out of the door followed by two more.  As they pick themselves up, a huge mountain of a man walks out.
"If you aren't going to play, then you aren't going to drink, Eh, Damn Right." I swear, you can hear the uppercase letters. As he turns back inside, he spots us and comes over. "Well, I thought you found yourself a new lady friend Dai, but it looks like your barn door swings both ways, Eh!" I shake my head before answering his unasked question.
"No no, Jim, straight ladies man, you know me. but I found if one can't have it, then the only path left is to give it, speaking of giving, do you mind if you give me and Sam here a few minutes with Sarah?" The man looks over us before walking up to Sam and starring into his eyes. I remain silent while it happens. after a few uncomfortable seconds he turns around and takes me by the shoulder and walks a few feet away. and whispers in my ear. I nod to his request before returning the favor, informing him of my intentions, or lack of.  The man grins as he hears what I'm asking of him before shaking my hand and before Sam can ask, we head inside.