Dominic Pericolo :: Purgatory

The blackened skies loomed overhead like a sort-of deity casting a shadowed glare on the land below, no sunlight being allowed to peirce through the ever-resistent clouds which hung in the sky. The wind was picking up on the barren land below, the dead grass lightly swaying as a single figure's boot crunched down upon them, silencing what little life was left in the small plants. He bore a cross on his back, which loomed over his own head much as the sky itself did, and would surely rest upon his head directly if it weren't for the wide-brimmed hat atop his head. The brim of the hat was circled with small razors, which glanced dully ahead...the life drawn from them much as the dead grass on the ground due to the lack of sunlight shining through.

The sound of an engine peirced 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 were 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 uninterest, though his mind was filled with curiousity.

"I...left, for awhile atleast. 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..."

"Logan and Simon, 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 Galen, he held all the sunlight over his own house, where only he could prosper with his bretheren. Now one of his bretheren's showing rumblings of discontent with the guy, and this Castle fella' managed to drive Galen 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, Dom...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...