Welcome to Gaia! ::

[reserved for fail]

+ CINNAMON BUNS

PIKACHU

GMFC blah.

As long as he continued to travel west, he could still see it.

It had been so beautiful. Pale. Clouds of pink and orange, wisps of white against orange, swirls of color in green. Blue. Reds and yellows in the distance. His world was bathed in gold.

At first, he'd simply assumed the gold would give rise to pure hues, vibrant colors. He looked forward to it. The translucency of the gold only accentuated its temporary nature, like ice sculptures glittering in the bright sun. Its existence was fleeting, but were it not, would it be as valuable?

There was beauty in what lay underneath; the trees, the grass, his bare feet on the earth. And when the gold gave way to color, there would be so much more to be seen. So much around him.

But something was wrong, he realized. Instead of rising above the horizon, it seemed to drift closer to it. And the blue beyond the green became indigo.

No.

No.

It was wrong. He was wrong. Everything was wrong. Suddenly, he was running toward it as fast as he could, heartbeat ringing in his ears, desperation in every breath of air he drank into his lungs. It wasn't rising. It was setting. When the gold faded, there would not be a world around him to explore. There would not be a world around him to admire. There would not be a world around him to touch, to love, to cherish.

There would be nothing.

He was running, wind beating against his face and his robes weighing him down. He would gladly throw off as many layers as it took; his things, pieces of himself... anything he needed to throw aside, he would do so happily if it meant he could reverse its descent. He was running, unhooking fabric, untying knots, throwing scarves, jackets, outerwear to the wind. And though the evening air chilled him to the bone, he continued running.

Was he completely mad, to strip himself and run so foolishly as if it would keep the sun from setting? There was no more ballast to drop. All he could do was run like the madman he was.

This never would have happened had he been watching it more carefully; judging the direction of its movement and taking appropriate action before it was too late. But he, like an idiot, stood around watching the way it touched the leaves, the grass, the sky, and paid it no mind at all.

Never once did he focus on what truly mattered.

Selfish, selfish, dumb, idiot! He knew it was too late; though he ran as fast as he could, though he had all the will in the world, he knew it was not enough. He only succeeded in slowing its descent, and even that drained him of his energy.

He stumbled once, twice, three times. But still he continued on until it was but a sliver peeking over the horizon. And then he could run no more.

Completely spent, he slowed, stopped, and crumpled to the grass. He had to keep going. He wanted desperately to keep running, but he could no longer move. Could barely breathe.

And just like that, it vanished completely from sight.

Now, all he can do is watch as the darkness behind him swallows up the sky and everything around him fades to nothing.

And then, he fears, he will do the same.

((Presents for Shuuken))

((Something solo?))

((TSU~BA~ME~))

((The mist sorcerer's twig and berries))