HOME | DD

Description
The Grey Lady

It was night above Lance’s eyes. He lay back and stare at the stars in his makeshift bed of cloth atop the leafy ground. The fire was warm on his side. For the first time Lance could ever remember, he felt a warm feeling inside. It wasn’t just the fire or the red warmth of the this world. It was a feeling that one can only have when they realize they aren’t really alone anymore. That satisfaction that comes when a lone traveler looks up to the stars and sees all the heavenly lights smiling down on them in gentle peace. This was the first time in a long time the pain in his chest settled for a moment.
Lance had always lived in solitude even when he had his family and home. He would read tales of good friends and happy loved ones, but he thought he would never be able to understand that. He thought that was something only found in the foreign worlds. Lance smirked.
Maybe it is, he thought. After all, he was in a foreign world.
Lance began to think of all the worlds he had traveled to, black, green, grey, blue, and now red. I never want to go through the Grey World again... he shivered thinking about it.
As gentle thoughts ran through his mind he shut his eyes. Slowly he feel into a deep sleep.

Lance awoke yet he was not awake. He lay on his back yet there was no sky above him or ground below him. He wanted to stand up but instead of standing up the world around seemed to flip upward. There was no earth, yet it seemed as though he floated above some crystalline surface. Trees grew forth from this groundless world and there sparkling leaves fell all around him and filled the misty air. The rest of this strange place seemed to be filled with mist and he couldn’t not look far in any direction. He began to hear his thoughts as if they were echoing throughout this place.
“There are six worlds...Black, Grey, Blue, Red...One world remains unfound...find her for me Lance. I can’t leave this world but you can.....” Lance began to shiver for he knew that this thought was really a memory. The memory of all the things his mother taught him and of the promise Lance made to her. “Find her for me Lance...Find the Lady of Light. She lives in the world of White. Find the unfound world...She my son, has the power...to make the worlds one..” Lance felt cold and alone. His promise must be fulfilled. He can’t stay here with Bran. He can’t have happiness. He must find the unfound world. He must find the White World and he cannot stop. Not until he has found the world of white. There he will find the Lady of Light. She is the most powerful being of all the worlds and she will know how to stop this monstrous power that is destroying the worlds slowly.
Lance began to run, or rather fly away. He did want this anymore. He wanted to leave this strange world he awoke in. He wanted to find the lady of light but he didn’t want to leave the world of warmth. The world of friendship.
“Find her for me Lance...” He shook his head in protest. He wanted to leave. He didn’t like this place. Fear rose in his heart and as he fled the words only became louder and louder. “FIND HER FOR ME LANCE...FIND THE LADY OF LIGHT!!!” He tried to escape but he couldn’t he wanted to run into the trees but they only seemed further away the more he fled for them. “FIND HER FOR ME!! FIND HER!!!!”
“NOOOOOOOOOO!!” he screamed as he blindly fled away from his promise. That was his promise. He had run away from it by seeking to stay in the red world with Bran. He knew he fled. He knew that he had broken his promise to his mother. Lance put his hands over his face in shame.
He stopped fleeing but he could still feel the air rushing past him. He felt his weightlessness slowly give way to the earth beneath him. Once again he felt the leaves cushion his feet and blindly he fell to his knees.
His mother is the only person who ever cared for Lance. Now she was dead. She asked the impossible of her son, to find the unfound world. But despite all Lance had traveled for years on end to accomplish this task. Alone, as a shadow in forest he past through worlds gathering information. Seeking the next world and the next, coming only to his dead end, the Red World.
He breathed hard into his hands and refused to shed tears in his shame. Suddenly he felt the presence of someone. Not a warmth but more like a cool breeze. Quickly he looked up. There he saw what he thought was the impossible.
She stood before him wrapped in a silvery light. Her figure was not of a human but more of a spirt of light and mist. He could see the shape of woman and mystical eyes of blue light. Simply looking upon her was like looking upon a cluster of stars. Lance was awed by her beauty.
Suddenly he realized that he was still in the dream-like world. In fear he back away from her and backed into the trunk of one the mystical trees.
Could this be the Lady of Light? he thought. Perhaps he was IN the unfound world right now.
“This is not the unfound world,”she said as she looked away from him and faced the crystalline river. They both were at it’s grand shore.
Lance sat frozen for a minute. Staring at her wondering how she could’ve read his thoughts. She seemed sad as she gazed out. Slowly she turned and faced him.
“Your thoughts are as loud as words, Dark One,” she said.
“Are you the Lady of Light?” he asked impatiently. He couldn’t stand to wait any longer to find and fulfill his promise even though in his heart he felt he had already broken it and deserved no answer or escape from this world.
The Lady sighed, “No...I’m sorry. I am the Grey Lady. I don’t know who or what you’re talking about.” She then slowly walked up to him and knelt until her eyes were level with his. “For even if she was real she would surely not be here.” She then stood up and raised her hand as if presenting the sky. “Here are the worlds that you know.”
Lance could see that the trees seemed to cut in two having a gigantic river between them. Above this glassy surface was a sky of mist now clearing as the dawn slowly gave light to world at the command of the Grey Lady. In the sky he could now see a spot where there seemed to be a red circle of mist and flame. Far down the river from that he could see a distant blue circle of water and mist floating far above the sparkling river. Even further down from that he could see the faint image of a grey circle. His jaw dropped at the sight of these things.
“The worlds,”he gasped. He rose to his feet in astonishment and walked slowly to the Lady’s side.
“Yes,”She replied. “All the worlds you know are here.” She turned to him and though Lance could not make out any features of a face he could almost feel as though she smiled at him. He felt something stir in his heart but couldn’t quite figure it out. “This place is the world between worlds.”
“How did I get here?” he asked.
“All travelers may pass into this world. In the days of old all travelers passed this way.” She took his hands in hers. Lance looked down and realized that his hands were no more hands than hers were. They were as black as shadow and seemed to have smoke rising from them. He froze in fear for a minute.
“No...” he gasped. He ran to the river’s edge and peered into the flat clear surface. He saw a dark form of shadow and smoke. All human features were lost accept the appearance of glowing golden eyes. This was the hideous shape of his monstrous other half, his cursed half. All along I’ve been walking around this world in this form?! he thought as he backed away dumbfounded. And she... Lance turned to her as if expecting her to flee from him as all others must do.
“...Doesn’t care a bloody bit,”she said finishing his thought.
“You aren’t afraid?”
She laughed in a musical voice, “Why would I be afraid of you? All travelers that come here can only pass in their spirit form.”
“Are you a Traveler?”
She paused for a minute. “Just think of me as the guardian of this land.”
Suddenly Lance realized what this meant. He could travel to the White World! He would be able to finish his task! He rose up off the ground using his own will and turned away from the Blue World, to the Red World, and then upstream from that could only be...
Lance turned and saw a thick darkness right in front of his face. While everything else was clear with the rising sun it could not penetrate this wall of darkness that went from the ground and infinitely rose into the sky. Lance could see some kind of particles floating about in this darkness and so he began to submerge himself in it.
“No!” the Grey Lady cried out.
Lance felt his entire body go cold and numb. Almost instantly he felt a pain like he had never felt before. And he could not escape it. For half of his entire body was already within this gaseous substance and it paralyzed him. He could not move and no longer could keep himself afloat upon the air. He fell. And as he fell he fell constantly with half of his body emerged in this killing air.
He felt the pain in his chest would surely cause his body to explode. He cried out in murder as the substance seemed to keep killing him over and over. Throbbing, wrenching, horrible pain filled every part of his miserable existence. It began to fill his body was as if he was drowning in acid.
Then it all stopped. He opened his eyes but couldn’t see. He faintly had felt the Grey Lady pull him out of the darkness. The front of his body burned and throbbed but very quickly it subsided. He felt the ground beneath him again. He felt the coolness of the leaves on his back and an even more pleasant cooling upon his chest.
As time passed his felt heavy again and he knew that the world was wanting him to open his eyes. He could hear snoring. Snoring? He rose from his resting place and could see quite fine. He looked around him and saw Bran asleep, snoring.

Description
The Grey Lady

It was night above Lance’s eyes. He lay back and stare at the stars in his makeshift bed of cloth atop the leafy ground. The fire was warm on his side. For the first time Lance could ever remember, he felt a warm feeling inside. It wasn’t just the fire or the red warmth of the this world. It was a feeling that one can only have when they realize they aren’t really alone anymore. That satisfaction that comes when a lone traveler looks up to the stars and sees all the heavenly lights smiling down on them in gentle peace. This was the first time in a long time the pain in his chest settled for a moment.
Lance had always lived in solitude even when he had his family and home. He would read tales of good friends and happy loved ones, but he thought he would never be able to understand that. He thought that was something only found in the foreign worlds. Lance smirked.
Maybe it is, he thought. After all, he was in a foreign world.
Lance began to think of all the worlds he had traveled to, black, green, grey, blue, and now red. I never want to go through the Grey World again... he shivered thinking about it.
As gentle thoughts ran through his mind he shut his eyes. Slowly he feel into a deep sleep.

Lance awoke yet he was not awake. He lay on his back yet there was no sky above him or ground below him. He wanted to stand up but instead of standing up the world around seemed to flip upward. There was no earth, yet it seemed as though he floated above some crystalline surface. Trees grew forth from this groundless world and there sparkling leaves fell all around him and filled the misty air. The rest of this strange place seemed to be filled with mist and he couldn’t not look far in any direction. He began to hear his thoughts as if they were echoing throughout this place.
“There are six worlds...Black, Grey, Blue, Red...One world remains unfound...find her for me Lance. I can’t leave this world but you can.....” Lance began to shiver for he knew that this thought was really a memory. The memory of all the things his mother taught him and of the promise Lance made to her. “Find her for me Lance...Find the Lady of Light. She lives in the world of White. Find the unfound world...She my son, has the power...to make the worlds one..” Lance felt cold and alone. His promise must be fulfilled. He can’t stay here with Bran. He can’t have happiness. He must find the unfound world. He must find the White World and he cannot stop. Not until he has found the world of white. There he will find the Lady of Light. She is the most powerful being of all the worlds and she will know how to stop this monstrous power that is destroying the worlds slowly.
Lance began to run, or rather fly away. He did want this anymore. He wanted to leave this strange world he awoke in. He wanted to find the lady of light but he didn’t want to leave the world of warmth. The world of friendship.
“Find her for me Lance...” He shook his head in protest. He wanted to leave. He didn’t like this place. Fear rose in his heart and as he fled the words only became louder and louder. “FIND HER FOR ME LANCE...FIND THE LADY OF LIGHT!!!” He tried to escape but he couldn’t he wanted to run into the trees but they only seemed further away the more he fled for them. “FIND HER FOR ME!! FIND HER!!!!”
“NOOOOOOOOOO!!” he screamed as he blindly fled away from his promise. That was his promise. He had run away from it by seeking to stay in the red world with Bran. He knew he fled. He knew that he had broken his promise to his mother. Lance put his hands over his face in shame.
He stopped fleeing but he could still feel the air rushing past him. He felt his weightlessness slowly give way to the earth beneath him. Once again he felt the leaves cushion his feet and blindly he fell to his knees.
His mother is the only person who ever cared for Lance. Now she was dead. She asked the impossible of her son, to find the unfound world. But despite all Lance had traveled for years on end to accomplish this task. Alone, as a shadow in forest he past through worlds gathering information. Seeking the next world and the next, coming only to his dead end, the Red World.
He breathed hard into his hands and refused to shed tears in his shame. Suddenly he felt the presence of someone. Not a warmth but more like a cool breeze. Quickly he looked up. There he saw what he thought was the impossible.
She stood before him wrapped in a silvery light. Her figure was not of a human but more of a spirt of light and mist. He could see the shape of woman and mystical eyes of blue light. Simply looking upon her was like looking upon a cluster of stars. Lance was awed by her beauty.
Suddenly he realized that he was still in the dream-like world. In fear he back away from her and backed into the trunk of one the mystical trees.
Could this be the Lady of Light? he thought. Perhaps he was IN the unfound world right now.
“This is not the unfound world,”she said as she looked away from him and faced the crystalline river. They both were at it’s grand shore.
Lance sat frozen for a minute. Staring at her wondering how she could’ve read his thoughts. She seemed sad as she gazed out. Slowly she turned and faced him.
“Your thoughts are as loud as words, Dark One,” she said.
“Are you the Lady of Light?” he asked impatiently. He couldn’t stand to wait any longer to find and fulfill his promise even though in his heart he felt he had already broken it and deserved no answer or escape from this world.
The Lady sighed, “No...I’m sorry. I am the Grey Lady. I don’t know who or what you’re talking about.” She then slowly walked up to him and knelt until her eyes were level with his. “For even if she was real she would surely not be here.” She then stood up and raised her hand as if presenting the sky. “Here are the worlds that you know.”
Lance could see that the trees seemed to cut in two having a gigantic river between them. Above this glassy surface was a sky of mist now clearing as the dawn slowly gave light to world at the command of the Grey Lady. In the sky he could now see a spot where there seemed to be a red circle of mist and flame. Far down the river from that he could see a distant blue circle of water and mist floating far above the sparkling river. Even further down from that he could see the faint image of a grey circle. His jaw dropped at the sight of these things.
“The worlds,”he gasped. He rose to his feet in astonishment and walked slowly to the Lady’s side.
“Yes,”She replied. “All the worlds you know are here.” She turned to him and though Lance could not make out any features of a face he could almost feel as though she smiled at him. He felt something stir in his heart but couldn’t quite figure it out. “This place is the world between worlds.”
“How did I get here?” he asked.
“All travelers may pass into this world. In the days of old all travelers passed this way.” She took his hands in hers. Lance looked down and realized that his hands were no more hands than hers were. They were as black as shadow and seemed to have smoke rising from them. He froze in fear for a minute.
“No...” he gasped. He ran to the river’s edge and peered into the flat clear surface. He saw a dark form of shadow and smoke. All human features were lost accept the appearance of glowing golden eyes. This was the hideous shape of his monstrous other half, his cursed half. All along I’ve been walking around this world in this form?! he thought as he backed away dumbfounded. And she... Lance turned to her as if expecting her to flee from him as all others must do.
“...Doesn’t care a bloody bit,”she said finishing his thought.
“You aren’t afraid?”
She laughed in a musical voice, “Why would I be afraid of you? All travelers that come here can only pass in their spirit form.”
“Are you a Traveler?”
She paused for a minute. “Just think of me as the guardian of this land.”
Suddenly Lance realized what this meant. He could travel to the White World! He would be able to finish his task! He rose up off the ground using his own will and turned away from the Blue World, to the Red World, and then upstream from that could only be...
Lance turned and saw a thick darkness right in front of his face. While everything else was clear with the rising sun it could not penetrate this wall of darkness that went from the ground and infinitely rose into the sky. Lance could see some kind of particles floating about in this darkness and so he began to submerge himself in it.
“No!” the Grey Lady cried out.
Lance felt his entire body go cold and numb. Almost instantly he felt a pain like he had never felt before. And he could not escape it. For half of his entire body was already within this gaseous substance and it paralyzed him. He could not move and no longer could keep himself afloat upon the air. He fell. And as he fell he fell constantly with half of his body emerged in this killing air.
He felt the pain in his chest would surely cause his body to explode. He cried out in murder as the substance seemed to keep killing him over and over. Throbbing, wrenching, horrible pain filled every part of his miserable existence. It began to fill his body was as if he was drowning in acid.
Then it all stopped. He opened his eyes but couldn’t see. He faintly had felt the Grey Lady pull him out of the darkness. The front of his body burned and throbbed but very quickly it subsided. He felt the ground beneath him again. He felt the coolness of the leaves on his back and an even more pleasant cooling upon his chest.
As time passed his felt heavy again and he knew that the world was wanting him to open his eyes. He could hear snoring. Snoring? He rose from his resting place and could see quite fine. He looked around him and saw Bran asleep, snoring.