[b][size=150]I[/size]N THE DEPTHS OF SOLITUDE THEY PLUMBED, SEARCHING FOR ANSWERS THEY WOULD NOT FIND AMONGST THE CREEPING, CRAWLING MONSTERS OF THE DEEP. FACELESS, THE VOID STARED UNBLINKING WITH ITS DARKENED GAZE INTO THEIRS AS THEY TRAVERSED NARROW RAVINES THAT FEW UPON THE SURFACE EVEN KNOW EXIST.
[size=150]D[/size]ENIZENS OF THE DEPTHS HISSED THEIR WARNINGS AS THEY TREKKED ON; SLITHERS HEARD BUT NEVER SEEN; CHAOTIC HOWLING AND SCREECHING AND NIGHTMARISH THINGS THAT MEN HAVE QUIETLY FORGOTTEN IN THEIR DEPARTURE FROM GRACE. IN THAT PLACE, THEY FOUND THEIR FRIENDSHIP TESTED BY FIRE AND ICE; CAUSING THEM TO FIGHT WITH EACH OTHER LIKE WILD ANIMALS ONE MINUTE ONLY TO BE CRUELLY INDIFFERENT TO EACH OTHER THE NEXT.
[size=150]T[/size]HEY STAYED LONG IN THAT PLACE DEPARTED FROM SANITY AND DESCENDED DEEP INTO THAT MADNESS WITH ONLY DIM MEMORIES OF HOPE AND PROMISES MADE TO EACH OTHER; STARED LONG INTO THAT GAZE THAT FEW MEN DARE TO MEET EVEN FOR THE BRIEFEST OF SECONDS. THE WING THE EAGLE FLAPPED TO THE WOLF BECAME BROKEN BY THE WOLF; THE FLOWERS TRAMPLED BY THE EAGLE IN HIS PAIN WHILE THE CHIPMUNK BIT VICIOUSLY AND CLAWED FEROCIOUSLY ANY BIT OF FUR/FEATHER AND MEAT WITHIN RANGE.
[size=150]B[/size]UT IN THAT PLACE, SUCH THINGS ARE KNOWN TO HAPPEN AND THEY WERE WARNED OF THE NATURE OF SOLITUDE AND THE DEPTHS TO WHICH THEY SCALED DOWN INTO AND THERE WERE STILL THEIR DIM MEMORIES TO KEEP THEM FROM UTTERLY KILLING EACH OTHER. EACH TIME, THEY WOULD FIGHT CLOSE TO THE POINT OF DEATH ONLY TO REMEMBER AND BY THE TIME THEY MADE IT EVEN HALFWAY TO THE BOTTOM, EXHAUSTION AND FEAR HAD NEARLY OVERWHELMED THEM ALL.
[size=150]D[/size]ARING WHAT FEW MEN WOULD DARE TO DO BY MERELY STEPPING INTO THAT VOID AND STARING SO LONG INTO IT, THEY DECIDED TO REST AS BEST THEY COULD AND BECAME LEGENDS IN DOING SO. THEY RISKED NO FLAME BEING LIT IN THAT PLACE, THE SOUNDS AND SMELLS REMOVING ALL DESIRE TO SEE WHAT TRULY LAY IN THAT DARKENED PLACE. FOR 4 HOURS THEY RESTED BEFORE CONTINUING THEIR DESCENT; SOMEHOW MORE TIRED THAN BEFORE.
[size=150]W[/size]ITH EACH STEP FURTHER INTO THAT ABYSS THAT THEY TOOK, THEY FOUND THE OPPRESSIVE AIR CLOSING IN AROUND THEM, SMOTHERING THEM AND DEPRIVING THEM OF ALL JOY AND LOVE AND HONOR AND SO THEY CONTINUED TO FIGHT, BUT STILL THOSE DIM MEMORIES CONTINUED TO PLAGUE THEM AND THEY CAME TO HATE THOSE MEMORIES FOR WHAT THEY WERE, BEING BOUND TO THE EMOTIONS OF THAT PLACE, AS THOSE MEMORIES BROUGHT THEM PAIN THAT THE DARKNESS SOUGHT TO EASE FROM THEIR MINDS; PAIN THAT WAS ONLY PAIN BY WHAT THE DARKNESS BROUGHT.
[size=150]H[/size]ELL WOULD BE A LUXURY COMPARED TO THIS; DANTE AND VIRGIL’S JOURNEY THROUGH IT AS NOTHING MORE THAN A CHILD’S ROMP THROUGH PLEASANT WOODS WITH NO HARM AROUND FOR LEAGUES. HERCULES KNEW NOT THESE DARKENED THINGS WHEN HE RESCUED HIS LOVE FROM HADES. MADNESS HARRIED THEM AND WORE AT THEM THE ENTIRE WAY INTO THOSE DEPTHS AND TWISTED THEIR MINDS.
[size=150]T[/size]HE EAGLE, WHOSE SIGHT WAS BEST SUDDENLY BROKE OFF FIGHTING WITH A LOUD SQUAWK AS IN THE DISTANCE HE SAW WHAT SEEMED TO BE A PINPRICK OF SOMETHING TOO FAR OFF TO BE MADE OUT. HE HAD SEEN IT FOR A WHILE BUT HAD PAID IT NO MIND UNTIL HE SAW HOW IT ALWAYS STAYED AT A FIXED POINT REGARDLESS OF HOW HE MOVED HIS HEAD. THE CHIPMUNK AND WOLF TOOK SOME EFFORT TO CALM DOWN ENOUGH TO EXPLAIN THIS NEW DEVELOPMENT AND WHAT IT MIGHT MEAN. AT THAT POINT, THERE WERE MORE NIPS OF FUR AND GROWLING AND SCREECHING THAN THERE WAS ANY REAL REASON, BUT EVENTUALLY THEY BROKE OFF AND BEGAN TO TRAVEL AGAIN TOWARD WHAT THE EAGLE HAD SEEN.
[size=150]T[/size]HEY TRAVELED AS FAR AS THEY HAD ALREADY TRAVELED BEFORE IT FINALLY BEGAN TO BE CLEAR THAT IT WAS LIGHT OFF IN THE DISTANCE AND NOT JUST ANY LIGHT, BUT THE LIGHT OF DAY. THEY MOVED TOWARD IT SLOWER THAN THEY HAD EVER MOVED AT THIS POINT, HAVING BECOME COMFORTABLE WITHIN THE DARK AND NOT WISHING TO LEAVE IT FOR FEAR OF WHAT LAY IN THE LIGHT. FINALLY, THEY DECIDED TO SEND CHIPMUNK IN, FOR HE WAS SMALL AND WEAK AND WAS EASILY EXPENDABLE. HAD THEY NOT BEEN SO LONG IN THAT PLACE, THEY MIGHT HAVE CHOSEN TO BRAVE IT TOGETHER, BUT THEY NO LONGER TRUSTED EACH OTHER NOR CARED ENOUGH ABOUT EACH OTHER TO DO SUCH A THING, NOR DID THEY HAVE COURAGE AT THAT POINT, FOR IT HAD BEEN WASTED UPON FACING THE DARK ABYSS.
[size=150]C[/size]HIPMUNK COMPLAINED OF HIS ROLE AND DESPISED THE FACT THAT HE WAS NOTHING MORE THAN FODDER FOR WHATEVER MIGHT BE IN THERE, BUT HE CONSENTED BECAUSE THERE WAS NO WAY HE COULD OVERPOWER BOTH THE EAGLE AND THE WOLF. INTO THE LIGHT HE WENT AND HE DID NOT RETURN. AFTER AN HOUR, IT WAS DECIDED THAT THE WOLF SHOULD GO, AS CERTAINLY WHATEVER WAS IN THAT PLACE THAT GOT THE CHIPMUNK COULD NOT BE A MATCH FOR WOLF, AND EAGLE WAS CUNNING IN TELLING HIM SO, ADMIRING HIS STRENGTH AND PRAISING HOW MUCH OF A BETTER FIGHTER WOLF WAS. WOLF SAUNTERED INTO THAT LIGHT ALL SURE OF HIMSELF AND DID NOT RETURN.
[size=150]E[/size]AGLE WAITED FOR AN HOUR AND BEGAN TO GET NERVOUS; HE FELT ALONE AND AFRAID, BUT WAS MORE AFRAID OF THE LIGHT TO VANQUISH THOSE SO EASILY HE HAD TRAVERSED THE DEPTHS OF MADNESS WITH AND SO HE WAITED ANOTHER HOUR AND THEN ANOTHER WITHOUT SIGN OF CHIPMUNK OR WOLF. FINALLY, HE DECIDED THAT HE WOULD NOT GO BACK ALONE AND IF DEATH WAS AHEAD OF HIM, AT LEAST IT WOULD NOT HAVE CLAIMED HIM FIRST.
[size=150]I[/size]NTO THE LIGHT HE WENT AND AS HE WENT, HE FOUND THE PRESSURE OF THE DEPTHS ABATED AND HIS FEARS DISSIPATED LIKE SO MUCH FOG ON A SUNNY DAY. HIS HEART GREW LIGHTER AND HE BEGAN REMEMBERING THE JOY AND THE HAPPINESS HE HAD ONCE KNOWN BEFORE COMING INTO THAT PLACE AND BECAME ASHAMED OF HIMSELF FOR HOW HE HAD ACTED TOWARD HIS FRIENDS, WOLF AND CHIPMUNK. HE BEGAN TO CRY SOFTLY AND HID HIS BEAK IN HIS CHEST FEATHERS.
[size=150]A[/size] VOICE CAME FROM ALL AROUND HIM, ‘WHY ARE YOU CRYING, CHILD?’ STARTLED, THE EAGLE LIFTED HIS HEAD AND LOOKED AROUND HIM, BUT SAW NOTHING. CAUTIOUSLY, HE RESPONDED, ‘I CAME INTO THIS PLACE WITH MY FRIENDS AND WE ALL TURNED ON EACH OTHER AND WERE FIGHTING AND WERE NOT OUR SELVES AND I WANT TO FIND THEM SO I CAN TELL THEM HOW SORRY I AM FOR WHAT I DID WHEN I WAS NOT MYSELF, BUT I DON’T KNOW WHERE THEY HAVE GONE.’
[size=150]T[/size]HE VOICE REPLIED CALMLY, ‘YOU SAY THAT YOU WERE NOT YOURSELF AND YET YOU WERE. EVERY PART OF YOURSELF THAT YOU HAD DENIED UPON THE SURFACE HAS BEEN DOWN IN THESE PLACES GROWING BEYOND CONTROL AND CHOKING OUT THE LIFE THAT WAS HERE. YOU SEEK TO APOLOGIZE TO YOUR FRIENDS, BUT THE ONLY APOLOGY YOU NEED TO GIVE IS TO YOUR SELF. THIS PLACE WAS ONCE MUCH MORE THAN THIS LITTLE BIT OF LIGHT. ALL OF THE DARKNESS YOU FOUND ON YOUR WAY HERE HAS BEEN BUILT UP OVER TIME BY ALL OF THE CREATURES UPON THE SURFACE; THEIR FEARS, THEIR INSECURITIES, THEIR DEMONS, THEIR EVILS.’
[size=150]T[/size]HE VOICE CONTINUED ON CALMLY, ‘YOU SIT IN SHAME OF WHAT YOU HAVE DONE, BUT I TELL YOU TO NOT BE ASHAMED, FOR YOU ALONE ALONG WITH YOUR FRIENDS; OUT OF ALL OF THE OTHER CREATURES; WERE STRONG ENOUGH OF CHARACTER TO BRAVE THESE DEPTHS AND MAKE IT TO THIS POINT. YOU HAVE NOT DONE ANYTHING THAT COUNTLESS OTHERS HAVE NOT ALREADY DONE AND YOU HAVE PAID THE PENANCE FOR IT BY MAKING THIS JOURNEY. HAD YOUR HEARTS NOT BEEN FILLED WITH SUCH LOVE BEFORE ENTERING, THERE IS NO WAY YOU WOULD HAVE MADE IT.’
[size=150]E[/size]AGLE WAS SILENT FOR A MOMENT CHEWING ON THAT INFORMATION, SO TO SPEAK AND THEN HE HAD A QUESTION, ‘WHERE ARE MY FRIENDS AT NOW?’ THE VOICE SPOKE TO HIM SOFTLY AND SAID, ‘THEY ARE HERE, BUT YOU WILL NOT SEE THEM. LIKE YOU, I AM TALKING TO THEM AND EXPLAINING THIS TO THEM AND WHEN WE ARE DONE HERE, YOU WILL ALL BE TRANSPORTED BACK TO THE SURFACE TO SPREAD A VERY IMPORTANT MESSAGE. YOU THREE, YOU CAME DOWN HERE AND YOU FOUGHT EACH OTHER AND FELL VICTIM TO EVERY SIN YOU AVOIDED BUT YOU NEVER LOST SIGHT OF WHAT WAS IMPORTANT EVEN DURING THAT. I CAN NOT TELL YOU THE FULL OF THE MESSAGE YOU ARE TO BRING, IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO DO SO, BUT YOU WILL KNOW IT DEEPLY UPON YOUR RETURN. I AM AFRAID THAT YOUR HEARTS WILL NO LONGER BE AS LIGHT AS THEY ONCE WERE, FOR YOU NOW CARRY A BURDEN WITH YOU; THE BURDEN OF YOUR OWN SINS; AND WITH THE PASSING OF THOSE BACK TO YOU, THIS PLACE WILL BECOME A LITTLE LIGHTER IN TIME.’
[size=150]T[/size]HE LIGHT FADED AS EAGLE’S VISION GREW DIM AND HE FELL ASLEEP, OR SO IT FELT ONLY TO AWAKEN ASIDE HIS FRIENDS UPON THE SURFACE WITH NO TRACE OF THE ABYSS THEY HAD DELVED DOWN INTO. AT THEIR SIDE WERE THE FLOWERS THAT HAD BEEN TRAMPLED, TRANSFORMED INTO A BEAUTIFUL MEADOW AND EAGLE’S WING WAS WHOLE AGAIN; THEIR PHYSICAL WOUNDS GONE WITHOUT A TRACE LEAVING NOTHING MORE THAN A QUICKLY-FADING MEMORY OF A CONVERSATION THEY WILL NEVER FULLY REMEMBER IN A PLACE THEY CAN’T RECALL BEING IN, YET THEY KNOW ALL THE SAME THAT SOMETHING IS DIFFERENT AND CAN SEE IT IN EACH OTHERS EYES AS WELL AS HOW THEIR ATTITUDES HAD CHANGED.
[size=150]A[/size]ND WAKING WAS LIKE BREAKING THROUGH A THIN SHEET OF ICE THAT SENT A MOMENTARY SHIVER DOWN EACH OF THEIR SPINES BEFORE THE SUN FIRMLY TOOK HOLD WITH ITS HEAT AND WARMED THEIR BONES BACK UP. THEY FELT WISER, STRONGER; MORE COMPLETE AND FULL AND WHOLESOME THAN THEY HAD EVER FELT BEFORE. EACH OF THEM NOW HAD A PURPOSE AND A MESSAGE TO SHARE WITH THE REST OF THEIR WORLD, AND A SHADOW CONSTANTLY HANGING OVER THEM TO REMIND THEM OF WHY IT WAS SO IMPORTANT TO SPREAD IT. THEIR FRIENDSHIP ONLY STRENGTHENED WELL BEYOND WHAT THEY THOUGHT IT COULD BE BEFORE. TRULY UNBREAKABLE; EVEN BY DEATH’S COLD TOUCH.[/b]