Direct Timing
Junior Member
We had finally made it through to the end of the stone tunnel where a jade archway shimmered in green light before us.
All our hopes lay just on the other side.
"Walk with me," he said holding out his dirt encrusted hand. There was a faint, tired smile at the corner of his mouth.
The dark muddy grooves on his hand were a stark contrast to his normally smooth tan skin. The path that led us here had been filled with great suffering and torment,
but at long last we had escaped the Gweilo in Hong Kong.
I had come this far with him, and finally, we were here, at the mouth of serenity. My hand slowly reached for his, a bloody, scraped fleshy mass that I could not bare
to look at, so I looked at his instead and then closed my eyes. There was a gentle gripping followed by a tender kiss in my palm.
He had loved me from the moment we had met back at school in Hong Kong, before the rending, before the Gweilo had appeared.I had been hesitant, and two years later, I
was still trying to cope with my feelings for him. But now, now things had changed, there was no longer a society to judge us, to judge me. I could allow myself to love
him back, to hold him, like he had held me, to caress his soft skin and run my hand through his long black bangs.
"We go now," his soft voice said in English.
I opened my eyes only to meet his. His dark brown eyes swallowed me. Now was the time to say it, to say 'I love you Chang!'
I moved my lips but there was only a whisper of the words I wanted to shout.
Chang's eyes lit up like the milkyway sky on a moonless night but then suddenly shifted to the darkness behind me. He yanked me forward with such force that I fell
forward landing behind him. I pulled myself up and then the faint hairs on my arms stood as I heard the moaning cry of a Gweilo.
"Run Jon!" Chang yelled and I screamed in terror at the thought of losing him after we had come through hell to get here.
I glanced up at the portal. The jade stone archway shimmered with green light, beyond the portal, pink and orange clouds floated lazily across the sky. A brilliant
golden sun was lowering into the clouds, the promise of peace and security on the other side.
The sound of Chang drawing his Dao rang in my ears and I turned to look. The ghostly form of the Gweilo swung its massive deformed arm at Chang, who ducked and recoiled
by striking across the Gweilo's chest. The Cantonese writing engraved into the shaft of the sword glowed a deep blue and the Gweilo roared in anguish.
I got up and yelled, "Chang, c'mon!"
Chang took a few steps backwards as the Gweilo took a few steps forward. Chang held his sword up next to his head and waited.
"Chang, let's go!" I reached for his shoulder but the Gweilo swung its arms down at Chang and my finger tips barely brushed the shoulder of his school uniform jacket as
he charged at the thing. Sword held high, he landed the sharp blade into the head of the creature. The Gweilo's arms flayed into Chang's side throwing him against the
wall.
I heard a 'snap' on impact and when Chang fell to the stone floor he did not move.
"Chang?" I found myself walking towards him. I can't go without you Chang.
The Gweilo's ghostly form slowly faded and I ran to Chang kneeling by his side. I turned his slender form over, his long silky black bangs covered his bruised face. I
brushed the bangs aside and shook him.
"Chang, please, wake up..." I begged.
"I need you Chang, please!" The wetness of streams fell from my cheeks as I buried my face into his chest.
"Please-"
Suddenly I felt a hand on the back of my head. I looked and saw that Chang was staring at me.
"I...live..." He struggled to say with a brief smile.
I hugged him tightly and he groaned in pain.
"My arm...I think...it broken..." He said looking at his left arm.
There was something white and red jutting out of the elbow of his jacket.
I helped him to sit up and then we heard the cry of the Gweilo's coming from down the tunnel.
I looked at him desperately.
"Help me up." He said and so I did. He put his right arm around my shoulder and I wrapped my arm around his waist. I helped him limp closer to the portal.
The cries got louder and I pissed myself. We weren't moving fast enough.
"My father's sword." Chang grunted coming to a stop.
"There's no time!" I yelled back.
"I must not leave it!" He said turning.
I turned around with him only to see that the Gweilo were standing there watching us.
The sword, only a few feet away.
The portal, only a few feet away.
The Gweilo were here.
"Chang we have to leave!"
I swung us around to make a run for it, but somehow, one of the ghosts had slipped in behind us, and now was blocking our way to the portal.
The Gweilo. Each one a horrific visage of its former self, and no two looked alike. They were the souls of those lost during the rendering. Somehow, the rendering had
twisted them into horrid creatures who thrived and ate the flesh and fear of mortals.
I knew this was the end for us. Our weak bodies would be torn apart by these things and they would all feed.
"This, is not the end." Words Chang had spoken to me just a day after the rendering and had given me hope.
But now, he was speaking them again, and I shut my eyes once more, for I knew that it was the end.
I felt myself being shoved into the wall and I looked to see Chang turning and falling down. He grabbed the sword as three Gweilo tried to jump him. Chang swung at them
with the Dao in one hand and the three he struck groaned in pain. He then turned to the one that was near me and ran straight for it.
I watched in silence as Chang lept up and thrust his sword with a scream. The Gweilo grabbed Chang in mid air and tossed him onto the floor next to my feet.
The sword clanked as it landed just an arms reach away in front of me. The Gweilo floated towards Chang so I grabbed the Dao with my good hand and impaled the side of
the damnable thing. It wailed loudly before dissipating into a white mist. I dropped the olden sword and wrapped my good hand around Chang's waist and hoisted him up.
His bloody head bobbed up and down.
With every bit of strength I had left I bolted for the portal with Chang in tow.
A brilliant white warm glow engulfed us both and we fell, as light as two feathers, to the green ground below the pink clouds and then all went black.
When I awoke it was daylight. The sky was a bright ocean blue and I took a deep breath of the freshest air I had ever inhaled and then let it out.
A small moan came from behind me and I looked over to see Chang lying on the ground cupping his broken arm.
"Where are we?" He asked weakly.
"We made it." I leaned over and kissed his forehead.
(That was my way of roleplaying my entrance into the forum and saying Hello, I am new here, and I can't wait to get into a roleplay!)
All our hopes lay just on the other side.
"Walk with me," he said holding out his dirt encrusted hand. There was a faint, tired smile at the corner of his mouth.
The dark muddy grooves on his hand were a stark contrast to his normally smooth tan skin. The path that led us here had been filled with great suffering and torment,
but at long last we had escaped the Gweilo in Hong Kong.
I had come this far with him, and finally, we were here, at the mouth of serenity. My hand slowly reached for his, a bloody, scraped fleshy mass that I could not bare
to look at, so I looked at his instead and then closed my eyes. There was a gentle gripping followed by a tender kiss in my palm.
He had loved me from the moment we had met back at school in Hong Kong, before the rending, before the Gweilo had appeared.I had been hesitant, and two years later, I
was still trying to cope with my feelings for him. But now, now things had changed, there was no longer a society to judge us, to judge me. I could allow myself to love
him back, to hold him, like he had held me, to caress his soft skin and run my hand through his long black bangs.
"We go now," his soft voice said in English.
I opened my eyes only to meet his. His dark brown eyes swallowed me. Now was the time to say it, to say 'I love you Chang!'
I moved my lips but there was only a whisper of the words I wanted to shout.
Chang's eyes lit up like the milkyway sky on a moonless night but then suddenly shifted to the darkness behind me. He yanked me forward with such force that I fell
forward landing behind him. I pulled myself up and then the faint hairs on my arms stood as I heard the moaning cry of a Gweilo.
"Run Jon!" Chang yelled and I screamed in terror at the thought of losing him after we had come through hell to get here.
I glanced up at the portal. The jade stone archway shimmered with green light, beyond the portal, pink and orange clouds floated lazily across the sky. A brilliant
golden sun was lowering into the clouds, the promise of peace and security on the other side.
The sound of Chang drawing his Dao rang in my ears and I turned to look. The ghostly form of the Gweilo swung its massive deformed arm at Chang, who ducked and recoiled
by striking across the Gweilo's chest. The Cantonese writing engraved into the shaft of the sword glowed a deep blue and the Gweilo roared in anguish.
I got up and yelled, "Chang, c'mon!"
Chang took a few steps backwards as the Gweilo took a few steps forward. Chang held his sword up next to his head and waited.
"Chang, let's go!" I reached for his shoulder but the Gweilo swung its arms down at Chang and my finger tips barely brushed the shoulder of his school uniform jacket as
he charged at the thing. Sword held high, he landed the sharp blade into the head of the creature. The Gweilo's arms flayed into Chang's side throwing him against the
wall.
I heard a 'snap' on impact and when Chang fell to the stone floor he did not move.
"Chang?" I found myself walking towards him. I can't go without you Chang.
The Gweilo's ghostly form slowly faded and I ran to Chang kneeling by his side. I turned his slender form over, his long silky black bangs covered his bruised face. I
brushed the bangs aside and shook him.
"Chang, please, wake up..." I begged.
"I need you Chang, please!" The wetness of streams fell from my cheeks as I buried my face into his chest.
"Please-"
Suddenly I felt a hand on the back of my head. I looked and saw that Chang was staring at me.
"I...live..." He struggled to say with a brief smile.
I hugged him tightly and he groaned in pain.
"My arm...I think...it broken..." He said looking at his left arm.
There was something white and red jutting out of the elbow of his jacket.
I helped him to sit up and then we heard the cry of the Gweilo's coming from down the tunnel.
I looked at him desperately.
"Help me up." He said and so I did. He put his right arm around my shoulder and I wrapped my arm around his waist. I helped him limp closer to the portal.
The cries got louder and I pissed myself. We weren't moving fast enough.
"My father's sword." Chang grunted coming to a stop.
"There's no time!" I yelled back.
"I must not leave it!" He said turning.
I turned around with him only to see that the Gweilo were standing there watching us.
The sword, only a few feet away.
The portal, only a few feet away.
The Gweilo were here.
"Chang we have to leave!"
I swung us around to make a run for it, but somehow, one of the ghosts had slipped in behind us, and now was blocking our way to the portal.
The Gweilo. Each one a horrific visage of its former self, and no two looked alike. They were the souls of those lost during the rendering. Somehow, the rendering had
twisted them into horrid creatures who thrived and ate the flesh and fear of mortals.
I knew this was the end for us. Our weak bodies would be torn apart by these things and they would all feed.
"This, is not the end." Words Chang had spoken to me just a day after the rendering and had given me hope.
But now, he was speaking them again, and I shut my eyes once more, for I knew that it was the end.
I felt myself being shoved into the wall and I looked to see Chang turning and falling down. He grabbed the sword as three Gweilo tried to jump him. Chang swung at them
with the Dao in one hand and the three he struck groaned in pain. He then turned to the one that was near me and ran straight for it.
I watched in silence as Chang lept up and thrust his sword with a scream. The Gweilo grabbed Chang in mid air and tossed him onto the floor next to my feet.
The sword clanked as it landed just an arms reach away in front of me. The Gweilo floated towards Chang so I grabbed the Dao with my good hand and impaled the side of
the damnable thing. It wailed loudly before dissipating into a white mist. I dropped the olden sword and wrapped my good hand around Chang's waist and hoisted him up.
His bloody head bobbed up and down.
With every bit of strength I had left I bolted for the portal with Chang in tow.
A brilliant white warm glow engulfed us both and we fell, as light as two feathers, to the green ground below the pink clouds and then all went black.
When I awoke it was daylight. The sky was a bright ocean blue and I took a deep breath of the freshest air I had ever inhaled and then let it out.
A small moan came from behind me and I looked over to see Chang lying on the ground cupping his broken arm.
"Where are we?" He asked weakly.
"We made it." I leaned over and kissed his forehead.
(That was my way of roleplaying my entrance into the forum and saying Hello, I am new here, and I can't wait to get into a roleplay!)
