The sound of an engine pierced through the windy air around him, calling forth with a wicked cry that could wake the damned. A large truck would soon pull by the silent man, stopping to allow the driver to lean from the window, as though inspecting the man to see if he'd made the right choice in stopping to help. Moments of silence passed onward, both men staring at each other, before the other finally offered a kind smile and held his hand out of the window. The silent man took it, his face expressionless...though on the inside, a strong sense of relief had captured him.
"It's...been awhile." said the man in the truck, his cigarette falling from his mouth as he spoke. The man tried to catch it in time, but it fell from his grasp and landed softly on the dried grass, where the silent man quickly stamped it out.
"Yes indeed," he spoke quietly, his voice deep and, if one was to listen close enough, even sad.
"It has been a long...long time."
He would enter the truck beside the driver, who motioned for the man to buckle up before he sped off down the seemingly endless sea of deadened grass and darkened skies.
"It's been like this for months now...not sure what caused it. Whatever the case, this ol' land's deadened and gone now. We've lost some of our best townspeople, our best helpers...hell, I'm practically the only one left." laughed the driver, his hand motioning towards the dead grass all around them, "And what a hell of a job I'm doing, huh?"
"Didn't you just arrive?" the man whispered, looking out the passenger side window with an air of un-interest, though his mind was filled with curiosity.
"I...left, for awhile at least. I guess that was around the time the land went from prosperous to shit. I come back and this place's turned into a hellhole, but yeah...guess you could say I just arrived. Hell, I was the one who invited you here, right?"
"What of the others? I heard there were men from our own lands helping here..."
"Anton and Davis, yeah...they're helping with the smaller plantations.’course, not much 'round here's gonna help with all the bandits running around...they're the ones that steal our source."
With a raised eyebrow, the man with the wide-brimmed hat then turned his head to the driver, vaguely identifying the building waiting in the distance for them.
"Source?"
"The sunlight. These bandits...they steal the sunlight for themselves, don't let our lands prosper. For the longest time there was a man by the name of Senester, he held all the sunlight over his own house, where only he could prosper with his brethren. Now one of his brethren’s showing rumblings of discontent with the guy, and this Eddie fella' managed to drive Senester out of what little light is left. For now, we've been utilizing it to grow plants in that area, try and make a good harvest...."
The man couldn't help but interrupt, a strange feeling of unsurity passing through his body.
"You mean to tell me...patches of sunlight are getting through out here? And it's helping the plants?"
The driver smiled at the passenger, shaking his head as they continued their approach towards the building.
"There's a reason why we revolve around the sun, Ron...and it ain't just for fun. We need it to live, these plants have everything but the sun to survive and that's why you see the lifelessness around ya'. When the sun breaks through the clouds the plants prosper, and we have t take advantage before that patch eventually goes away."
"How is that possible? I noticed these clouds hang in the sky motionless, despite the wind down here flowing like river water..."
"It's what happens when you're stuck in purgatory, waiting for a savior." laughed the driver, pulling up to the building as the man's eyebrow arched again. He took one last look around him and realized something rather quickly, all thanks to his old friend's words...
...this was his purgatory--the road to eventual salvation.
"Glad we finally have someone like you 'round here...a guy with real faith in his abilities, y'know?" called a man from the corner, arms crossed around his chest as he looked out at the melancholy bar before him. Ronnie stared beside him, along with the driver, as they all watched the depressed looking men going about their drinking business before heading on back to a hopeless home.
"I'm just lookin' to find my way..." whispered Ronnie, tipping his wide-brimmed hat to the side lightly, to get a better sight of what was before him. Men with bleak, utterly lifeless faces...their spirits and bodies alike broken, along with their will to move on. It was a wonder they were still stuck in purgatory and hadn't just been drug back below.
"Even still, its appreciated." the black-haired man spoke, his eyes casting a glance towards Ronnie, "I didn't push Senester out for nothin'...we all need help to keep the bandits at bay. That's why we called you, one of them is gonna be workin' with him to get the land back, and'll be lookin' to attack here to weaken us soon...we need someone like you to hold'm off."
"What's his name?"
"Hans." called the driver from before, causing Ronnie to turn to him. The man now revealed as Eddie let loose a chuckle, looking to the ceiling fan and watching as the blades spun their spiral formations, following a consistent pattern until someone decided to turn them off.
Ronnie closed his eyes, recalling the name from a time before. He had done the same with Senester's name, but never could quite put his finger on where he'd recognized the names from. Perhaps a past altercation when he'd made it to purgatory for the first time? How long had he been walking through the deadlands? Days? Months? Perhaps years?
Lord knows how long he'd been going until the driver found him...
The driver's name was Talon, famous around purgatory for his fast intelligence and his defensive strategies against bandits. He knew what needed to be done, when it needed to be done, and he would do all he could to get it done, too. Ronnie was much the same, except he was more renowned simply for his determination and love for the land.
"I had to chase him off, too..." Eddie muttered under his breath, "When I beat that bandit, Senester...had to make sure none of his cronies could come back an' fight. Looks like I didn't do a good enough job...the both of'm are ready for a fight, and Hans looks ready to jump the gun on us."
"Can you blame him?" spoke Talon, rolling his eyes, "Sen's been a prick to the guy, and he’s about ready to break free. Won't be long until he's a lone bandit holding his own. Hell, maybe he'll even become one of us, try an' help..."
"Don't count on it, Ed." Talon replied, "Hans will breakaway, but it'll be a long time before he decides to join us for the greater good. We all gotta work together to find salvation, those bastards just can't see it yet."
Ronnie stood up straight, the talk was beginning to tire him and he simply wanted to continue and get his job done. They were stuck in purgatory and had to find their way to bring salvation, or damnation, upon themselves. Many had already fallen to the bleak deadlands that lay behind them...and some had finally managed to move on. To sacrifice themselves for the greater good was the only way to find prosperity in the lands, and the only way to find redemption.
And they were simply standing in a lifeless bar, chatting with one another about future days events.
"I wish to face him now," Ronnie began, his eyes glancing through the dusty glass window looking to the dull outside world, "Where is Hans?"
A hand was placed on his shoulder, and Talon stepped up beside his friend with a raised eyebrow adorning his features.
"Ron...you sure you're ready now? You just got here...maybe you should wait for Hans to come?"
"You don't wait for salvation, Talon...you hunt for it; and while Hans may not be my key to salvation...he's a step in the right direction."
Soon enough, Ronnie planned to pull himself out of purgatory. Eddie had already done so before, and merely returned to help others find the way as well. Talon, on the other hand, was well on his way after his own heroic efforts against Senester. The three of them were blessed souls waiting for their time to rise...and Ronnie could only hope his own would come soon enough.
"I'll take you to him," spoke Eddie, his voice dark with the malice he felt towards the bandits, "You just make sure...he'll think twice before trying to take the land back from me."
Ronnie tipped his hat in acceptance, following Eddie out of the bar alongside of Talon. He would have to take his cross from the back of Ed's truck before he left, but it was no longer a burden on him.
He had a cross to bear through purgatory...and its weight was finally lost on him.
"This is it." Eddie motioned towards the sweeping hills of dead grass before them. Everything remained bleak, but the one major difference in this land from the rest was the small tents which littered across the ground, a small fire in the center of them. Men and women gathered around the fire, glares set in their eyes as they looked up the hillside. They were bandits, one of the many rag-tag groups of people looking to take away from the land what it was trying so hard to maintain.
Prosperity...and a hope for the future.
Sen was their leader, and the biggest criminal to that crime out of all of them. However, it was not yet Sen's time to meet his fall...and he knew that well, for he sent Hans up the hillside as planned.
"Hans von Richtoven." Ronnie spoke firmly, watching him rise up the hill, a longsword strapped to his back. Ronnie brought his cross down off his own back, the cool metal just as dull as the razors adorning his hat. The cross acted as a double spear, the smallest end and the longest end both spiked forward. The air around them cooled further, and the clouds above shifted ever-so-slightly in the sky...a change of pace for those used to the stillness.
"It would appear destiny has brought our paths to cross in purgatory...and only one of us will pass on down the road to salvation." Ronnie said proudly, his eyes focused on Hans's.
"Perhaps." spoke Hans, drawing his longsword, "Or perhaps our destinies will continue forward even after this battle. You cannot kill me, and I cannot kill you...but we can show we are ready. How would you fancy that? An honorable duel between a bandit and a warrior of peace..."
It was this, a half-joke half-serious statement, which brought a smile to Hans's lips and a smirk to Ronnie's own. Both men stared one another down from the many paces apart they were, their eyes never faltering from the others.
"I've sought salvation for so long...and I've never tired of the hunt," chuckled Ronnie, his voice lowering from the sadness flowing through his veins. "It bears down on me, depresses me for the wait I've suffered through...but I never relent, I never let myself tire. You will not stop me; Hans...my end will come when I choose. I will not lose here, Hans...it's not apart of my destiny--and there's no denying that."
"I am glad to find someone on this morbid plane who feels the same as I."
Ronnie smiled, holding his cross outward as Hans held his own sword forward, their eyes locking once again.
"May the best man win."
The nightmares never did stop.
Not once, even to this day I still have dreams of the future failures I'll make of my dreams. Long ago I believed that I would finally be able to silence the nightmare, long before I joined the HWA...but I was denied that chance, inevitably.
On that day...it felt as though I had finally died, that the dreams inside of my heart would never come to prosper, and that I was literally going to hell, despite how long I'd suffered just to try and fulfill what I wanted so badly. When I joined the HWA...it was like stepping out of hell and into purgatory, it was one last chance at the salvation of my dreams.
I'm not going to let myself falter again.
The HWA is on top of the world, sitting high upon the throne of its own massive kingdom in wrestling...and waiting for the wrestler who will next take the crown. Hans showed the world what he could do when he took it from Eddie...and soon, everyone else shall try the same, within this lottery. However, along the way of anyone's path there are speedbumps...and it would appear that I've become Hans's just as much as he's become my own.
The formation of the nWo won't boost my career into the limelight, nor will it throw me into the abyss should I fail. It will affect me, and will inevitably alter my course down the pathway to my dreams...but it won't stop me, and it won't make the journey any faster.
I've shown time and time again that I will fight for my dreams, and put my career on the line if necessary to win. Hans needs to remember that despite the biggest achievement in his career right now...he is facing a man who's been chasing a dream all his life, and is finally seeing glimpses of it on the horizon.
I'm like a runaway train at this point...barreling onward to my final destination. One way or another, I'll escape this purgatory...I'll make it to the top of the HWA, and I will accomplish my dreams--I will find my own salvation.
It began with Senester...and it will continue with you, Hans.
When it will end...is to be decided on another day.
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