Please, Don't Leave Me! (Flashback)

[Jaden White]

Timestamp: Summer 67, 503AV
Location: White Household, Mid Syliras.

Today was the day, the day that Jaden had been waiting for, for five whole years. It was the day that his mother was coming home. The past week had been a wave of anticipation, and now that it was finally here, Jaden could hardly sit down.

Jaden was ten years old, and his mother had been sent to the mines for five years to do forced labor for the growing and selling illegal substances. He couldn't help feel at fault though, the only reason his parents had gotten into the habit of selling these drugs was because of his birth. Even though deep inside Jaden knew that he wasn't at fault, he still felt slightly guilty.

"When will she be home daddy!" Jaden shouted more then questioned. His father just looked at him and shook his head.

"Soon". Jaden father, Lane, had replied. Jaden's father was the reason that he felt guilty. His father blamed him completely for the loss of his wife. It hadn't been that way at first, but over the last two years, Jaden and Lane had grown very seperated. It didn't bother Jaden much, he could mind his own buissness as long as his father minded his.

Jaden didn't let his fathers bad mood affect his. He ran outside in to the back yard, and picked up his play 'sword' that he made out of a stick and knife, and began playing knight. This consisted of him hitting the stick against a single tree in their backyard multiple times, pretending it was an enemy of differing nations.

After an hour outside, Jaden heard the back door open.

"Jaden, mommy is home!" His father said, not able to hide his enthusiasm. Jaden immediately dropped his sword, and rushed inside. He burst through the door, his heart pounding in his chest. He looked left, right, straight.

"Where?" Jaden asked, dieing to see his mother. He turned with a face full of emotion to his father, who just nodded up the stairs.

"Did I hear my little Jaden?" A sing-songy voice, shined down the stairs. Jaden turned and ran, taking two steps at a time and turning the corner at the top of the stairs, rushing into the arms of his waiting mother. Tears now flowing down his eyes.

He took a moment to enjoy the sweet embrace, and then stepped back, to take a look at the face of his angelic mother, that he remembered as so beautiful. But prison had changed her.

Jaden's mothers face was now gaunt, her cheekbones shrank in, and her eyes had dark circles around them. What was once beautiful, was now a stain on the elegant mirror that was once her face. And she was skinny, oh so skinny.

It didn't matter though, because they were together now. The rest of the night was great, he spent the night curled into his mothers arms.

When he awoke, he was in his bed. He could hear his parents talking about him in the kitchen below, and he ran down to see them. It concerned Jaden that his mother and father both had anguished looks on their faces. But their voices seemed fine, so he didn't question it.

"Jaden sweetie, could you do mommy a favor?" His mother asked, with a smile that didn't quite seem to reach her eyes. Jaden nodded, slightly confused by the situation. He looked at his father, whose expression was blank.

"Sure, what would you like"? Jaden asked, willing to do anything at this point.

"Just run down to the market and pick us up a bag of apples?" His mother asked, again with the failing smile. The question seemed trivial, to Jaden, she seemed to believe that he wouldn't do it for some reason, like he would dought her. Of course he wouldn't Jaden loved his parents.

"Of course! I'll go right away!" Jaden replied, eager to impress them. And so out the door he went.

Jaden went to the local fruit and vegetable store, and grabbed a bag of apples like his mother had requested, and payed at the front counter. The man asked for three silver mizas. This seemed a little over priced to Jaden. It shouldn't cost that much for a bag of apples should it? He decided it shouldn't.

Jaden placed twenty five copper miza on the counter, and began to leave. The man, not bothering to count the change took it all without question, allowing Jaden to leave feeling accomplished with himself.

The walk home seemed to take forever, and the clouds overhead started to turn darker, so Jaden ran the rest of the way home. However, when he got home, to his suprise the door was locked.

"Thats weird, why would they go anywhere? They knew I was coming back," Jaden questioned, thinking back to the odd expressions his parents were making. Jaden knew his father didn't like him, but not enough to lock him out of the house. Plus his mother was home, and surely she wouldn't allow that to happen.

Jaden knocked, expecting them to open the door, and apologize for not realizing that they had locked it, but there was no answer. Jaden scratched his head and started to question the possibilities. He knocked again. And again, four times until finally.

"Leave Jaden. We don't want you here." Lane's voice powered through the door.

A moment of panic drove through Jaden like a sword. Surely he was kidding, there was no way they could just leave him like that. He knocked one more time, hoping his mother would open up, and ask for him to forgive his fathers cruel humor. But instead.

"I'm sorry Jaden, we can't make it work with you here." A voice came through the door that made Jaden sit down, and put his hands over his eyes. He couldn't comprehend what was happening. He was only ten years old, how could they do this?

A lightning bolt flashed, and rain started to pour, as Jaden came to the realization that he should have figured out long ago. The voice was his mothers, and he had no part in this family.

[Jaden White]

The first night was the hardest, trying to find a place to sleep, staying away from strangers that looked dangerous, and trying to ignore the sounds of the night. Indeed, the first night was the hardest. Food wasn't an issue at first, the bag of apples lasted Jaden a good three days, and it was easy to salvage water from somewhere in the giant city. Shelter though, that was key.

Jaden knew what happened to kids who were thrown out of their houses, or whose parents had given them up. Jaden knew they were given to other families, who adopted tons of kids and didn't care for them one bit. He couldn't deal with that though. No, not anymore.

After the initial shock of being abandoned by the only people who he ever thought loved him, Jaden was overcome by anger and the need to prove himself. Jaden took advantage of people, and learned to use his age and looks to his advantage. See, Jaden was a cute little boy, with chubby cheeks and long hair, a peoples favorite.

Jaden had taken shelter on the outskirts of Sylira underneath a house that had a few torn boards. It was easy enough to crawl in, and for the week that he had been there noone had looked for him. He often feared that some sort of animal would be there when he got back, but those thoughts were easily put out of mind by the thoughts of survival.

There had been a poster put out for him, which had curved his process of obtaining food, since everyone that saw him wanted to turn him in for the reward. Now he had to lie more often, and be more stealthy. This was hard for a ten year old boy, to seldom go out during the day, and stay cooped up underneath someones house.

He had decided long ago though that he would much rather live this way though, then anywhere else.

As night fell on the tenth day of Jaden's self-survival, he poked his head out of the broken board that he crawled in and out of. Flipped on his back and looked at the window above him, and surely enough, the lights were out. Left, nothing, right, nothing. And so he climbed out.

Jaden moved along backstreets, keeping his head down. Today Jaden needed food. He had run out of the pear and carrot reserves that he had stolen a few days ago, and needed something saltier. He had found a plastic bag floating around on the ground, and picked it up, heading towards the far side of the district he was in.

Some nice, juicy steak would be great right now..

Shaking his head, the young boy put it out of his mind, he wouldn't be having any of that, not for awhile. He turned his head to the left, and made eye contact with a middle aged woman. He didn't see her reaction, but he took the next left, and then then right after that, just to make sure she wouldn't follow him.

After a few seconds hiding out in an alcove on the street, Jaden stepped back out, the cool breeze of the night making him shiver. He stopped, looking at the bright lights to his right. It was an outdoor buffet, with all the kinds of food he wanted. Jaden couldn't help but be greedy, how would they be able to tell? And there was only a few people there, he wouldn't be recognized.

Jaden took a plate from the offering, and filled it to the brim with chicken, hasbrowns, lettuce, berries, pineapple. Everything he wanted, then, he threw it in the plastic bag he had picked up. At this point, Jaden didn't care if the foods got mixed, he just wanted to get back 'home' so he could relish in his findings.

On his way out, Jaden heard yelling behind him. When he turned to see what was going on, his heart nearly stopped. There was a man in a uniform that matched the buffet running straight at him.

"You! Stop! What do you think your doing?" The man yelled.

Should I run? Jaden questioned, looking down at the bag, then back up at the man. No he's to fast, and I have to much.. He didn't have many other options, so he stood there, petrified.

When the man caught up, Jaden smiled at him politely. The man didn't seem to amused.

"What do you think your doing with all that food, boy?" He asked, in a stern voice that reminded Jaden of how his father used to talk to him. Not anymore..

"I was just taking this food back to my mommy and daddy" Jaden lied, looking down at the food and shrugging his shoulders. "I'm sorry I didn't mean to cause trouble". Jaden sighed, looking back up at the man with an upset look on his face.

The buffet worker stopped, and his eyes widened. "Your that kid! From the posters! I'm going to turn you in right this instance." He reached his hand out to grab Jaden and he quickly pulled away, backing up defensively.

"Mister, someone already did that, I was taking this food back to my new mommy and daddy!" Jaden whined, proud of himself for coming up with that solution on the whim. It didn't seem to work though, the man still wore the same expression.

"I don't believe you, what are their names?" The man asked, hands on his hips. Jaden breathed a sigh of relief, he was no longer going after him, which was good.

"Mr. and Mrs. Knight" Jaden started, before adding a half second later, "..ly". He instantly cursed himself. The man might take the pause to be a sign of a liar, which, it was. Jaden prayed that he hadn't picked up on it, but he had.

The tall muscular man grabbed Jaden by the arm again, and started to drag him back towards the buffet. Jaden needed to think of something immediately, or else he would have to deal with a new family again, which he did not want.

"Mom! Dad! Help! The scary man is taking me!" Jaden screamed at the top of his lungs, causing the man to drop his arms once more, and a few people to look in his direction. "Mom! Dad!" He continued to scream, in a boyish voice that made him seem more weak then he actually was.

One couple made their way over towards Jaden, and at that instant, Jaden had known he had won. Once they got to him, they looked at the worker disapprovingly.

"Excuse me sir, but what is going on right now?" The woman who Jaden would always remember as his saviour asked. She was slightly overweight, and wearing a dress and heals that made her try to look way skinnier then she was.

"I'll be waiting at home". Jaden said quietly, and very slowly walked away, rounding the corner on to the next street parralel to the buffet. As he took off and ran, he just barely heard the familiar voice of the buffet worker saying..

"You mean, he wasn't your kid afterall?"

[Jaden White]

The walk home was a nice one, knowing that Jaden had accomplished stealing a great amount of food, and had disceived the person that had caught him. A ten year old! Jaden found it humourous. He tried to hurry along though, because the sun was rising, and that ment the rush to get to the mornings work. That was a dangerous time of day.

It took him another twenty minutes to get home, being careful not to get to close to any individual pedestrian. However when he got home, Jaden's mind went blank. The family that he lived under was outside. They were patching the hole he crawled in to. He no longer had a home.

Jadens mind went blank. He had no clue what to do. The likelihood of finding another home like that was slim to none, and surely without a hideout he would be turned in sooner rather then later. He slowly made his way away from the house, eating more chicken nuggets then he should have due to the stress.

He walked through sidestreets, trying to avoid the stares of the few people that thought they recognized him as the missing boy, but weren't sure enough to act on it. He made his way across town, unable to find some place, anywhere. Jaden had no concerns over how gross, or dangerous the place was, as long as it was away from town. Somewhere isolated.

Soon enough, he was at the edge of Sylira, the gate just ahead of him led to the Wildlands. He was told to never even venture close to the gate, because the Wildlands was a dangerous place, even skilled combatants were killed in there. But surely just outside the gate would be okay, right? Monsters would be scared of the civilization, and noone came out there. It was a risk Jaden White was about to take.

The guards stood right next to the gate, unwilling to let anyone other then messangers or people will verifiable reasons outside the gate, however Jaden knew they had to have a rotation, some kind of schedule, so he waited. He positioned himself near a plant store, hiding in a far corner that noone seemed to visit.

After an hours wait, Jaden had his oppurtunity. The guards were talking to a man who seemed to want out of the gate, but was not allowed. It took both guards to stop him from running through, which ironically, is just what Jaden did. He sprinted as fast as he could past the guards, and as soon as he was out, he turned right, and followed the Sylirian gate for a quarter mile.

Once he had settled down, Jaden realized what a terrible idea it had been. It was still light out, and the noises already scared him. He had noone to protect him out here, and he couldn't even go back for help. Jaden was in a panic. He made his way closer to the gate he had sprinted from, constantly checking over his shoulder, and spinning around at every single rustle of the leaves.

He finally got back to the path, which luckily, was winding. It was far enough from the gate that noone would see him, but still on a path, where monsters seldom came. At this point, Jaden looked around. Only two trees deep, was a climbable one. He ran over to it, checking on every side of the tree to make sure there was nothing there, before jumping and grabbing a branch, and swinging his feet on the lowest limb.

Once he was on the first branch, he climbed sideways to another one that allowed him to just barely get his fingertips around a leverage stick to pull himself a couple inches higher. The next leap was easy, but after that, Jaden didn't know where to go. He wasn't nearly far enough up, and there was only one branch to grab, and it was on the edge of his reach.

Jaden reached as hard as he could, and failed to grab the branch. He pulled back, and decided he would have to make a leap of faith. He took a deep breath, sighed, and relaxed his mind. He stretch as far as he could go, getting within a few inches, and leaped.

His fingers wrapped around the branch, and he held on, however he had absoloutely no control over his lower body. His legs swung and smashed into the tree's trunk, scraping up his knees until they bled. Jaden winced, and sat down on the branch he currently occupied. He let out a yelp, but quickly silenced it, knowing he couldn't be heard.

After ten minutes of letting the fire in his knee calm, he stepped, ever so carefully up the next few branches until he thought he was up high enough to be out of eyesight.

Jaden sighed, cursing his parents for forcing this lifestyle on him. All he wanted was to go back home and be happy again. The thought of being happy was to much to bear, so he reached for his bag of food. His bag of food! Jaden put his head in his hands. He had forgotten it when he left the plant shop.

The only thing Jaden could think of to do at this point, was to sleep, and let the pain drift into dreams. Slowly, after an hour of pain, his world faded from him.

The dreams were nice, memories of the good times he had what seemed like so long ago, even the memory of playing by himself seemed happy compared to the dark world of running and hiding Jaden took place in now. He wondered if his parents still thought about him at all, if they wondered where he was, if he was doing okay? He didn't care anymore. They didn't deserve his dream space.

"Hey Kid"

Jaden was having a dream about being in a tropical paradise, all by himself, and the voice seemed out of place. He let it go.

"Hey Kid!"

Jaden heard it again, and slowly the dream started to fade, he didn't want it to though, and he fought to keep himself unconcious. He was starting to lose himself again when an apple hit him in the left arm, threatening to knock him off the branch into a surely fatal fall.

"Kid!" The voice again, Jaden looked down panicked, he thought he was safe, but now, everything he had worked for, was surely gone.

"I'm Hunter."

[Templar]

Storyteller Intervention.

There are too many mistakes in your thread for me to grade it. The major ones are: First: There are very few free standing buildings in Syliras and those free standing buildings are well kept. They would not have dark alleys where someone can live unnoticed. Second: ”I’ll be waiting in the car” – There is no such thing as a car in this universe. This is a fantasy setting with technology compareable to the 13th century. (Can’t let that slide) Third: His mother would not have been in prison for 5 years. She would have been working in Lykalow Mines for 5 years. There’s a huge difference, as she would have been confined to do forced labor. – Minor mistake and not really important. - Unrelated: Please put the link to your Character Sheet below your Avatar. Makes it a lot easier. - Templar.