A boy stood out in the rain,



Conflicted.



A world without the Alpha,the Den his sanctuary.



Born with intelligence,Born to be gullible



These two attributes proved only to shape the boys troubled mind.



Conflicted,



This boy stood in the rain.







The boy grows.



Not quite a man,still just a boy.



The Den was a comforting place.



The boy had his Alpha.



A leader to follow,a leader to aspire.



The boy grew more troubled,for seemingly no reason.



The Den was silent when once it screamed for reform.



Silence is its object,Screaming is its music.



The Darkness came.



Conflicted,



The boy stood in the downpour.







The Alpha was broken.



The boy had seen it coming.



He had been bound by an unspoken oath.



He cried.



Darkness raped the Alpha.



Tearing away its dignity.



Darkness heard music,and it reveled in its delight.



The boy watched as the Broken One drove the Darkness away.



He wishes he had paid attention.



Darkness compelled him though,to come with it,it will show the way.



It lied.



The Den was gone,burning in the Broken One's hatred.



He had no shelter,where was he to go when it rained?



It rained so often in this place.



Conflicted,



The boy walked in the downpour.







Darkness had dissapated.



But still no Den.



No place to lay,no place to escape the rain.



The boys troubled mind was fragmented.



Its peices scattered to the winds.



Peices of the puzzle,forever forgotton and never to be found again.



Would existence always be so...dissapointing?



They told the boy,his fate was in his hands,but it appeared Darkness held its control.



He wasnt quite a man,or quite a boy.



Men dont give in and flush the Darkness away with tears,just to find peace in the twilight.



So he did,everynight.This Den was not his,and he hated the fools in it.



All of the time.



The seed had been planted.



Conflicted,



He walked back in the downpour.







They called Him a man.



He had forgotton what it was like to be a boy.



A distant memory?



No,just a boys dream.



But whats this?



He had found a Her.



He found Her looking back in the mirror.



If only He can see her heart.



Coated in the deepest blackness,always cold,never beating.



But He could never have seen.



Suddenly it seemed,this Her looking back in the mirror was so much more.



He was not.



She fed off him,the light may had shown itself to Her,but she gripped it in her hands and consumed to her black hearts content.



He turned his back for a moment when the dagger had sunk in.



Love is fleeting,only Darkness is eternal.

Conflicted,

He collapsed in the storm.





Darkness manifested itself once more,taking Her away from Him.



But Darkness had no intrest in making Her its next musician.



Darkness fixated its work on Him.



It took him,manevolent in all its glory.



Infecting him like a disease,permeating throughout his body.



He tried to release it,tried to understand it



And so He drew the crimson life from his body.



Instead of Darkness,wisdom,or reform...



He saw only the dark red streams caressing his body and the floor beneath him.



Would life always be so...dissapointing?



What would He have to do rip this plague from his body.



He was ready to end it.



Darkness would never come to be,with him gone,She would forget.



They would forget.



Everyone would forget.



Dont cry He whispered to himself,



They wont cry ethier.



Why should They cry? You've given nothing He thought



Your alone.



You have only Darkness,and Darkness is nothing to you.



...



This woman grasps my release,she finds it in the open.



He isnt hiding anything.He just wants to leave,doesnt He deserve that?



This woman insists on keeping him here.



Conflicted,



The rain lets up,and He runs to the light.







The Man enjoyed watching his Darkness burn in its rays.



This Den not his own,but almost the same.



Their existed an Alpha,how long had it been since one had looked back?



Too long,but not long enough for it not to matter.



Inspiration,and Hope tore open His chest and made rest.



The Man was ready to go back.



The Den needed him.



Or rather he saught to build his own.



The Man stood in the light,blinded.



So many paths,and he couldnt see which one to take.



Had life always been so...bright?



Blinded,unable to go



A hand rested upon His shoulder.



It was the boy.



The Man didnt recognize him.



"I dont recall you child"



"..."



"You present yourself to me for what reason?"



"..."



"Smile,its a beautiful day"



"..."



"Your ugly,you know that? Please leave me be,you make me feel uncomfortably"



"Your big"



"Ive had time to grow"



"I wish i was like you"



"Im not even sure what im like"



"Nice"



"Ive been told differently"



"They lied"



"I know,but what are you if not what the world perceives you to be?"



"The world is stupid"



The Man began walking down his path,The boy watched in a gleeful awe.



Resolved,



The Man walked in the sunlight.







He had returned to his Den.



In ruin,as he left it.



The marks on his body a testament to the Darkness.



Perhaps it will never truly be gone.

But He rid it for the time,for that He was glad.




They had welcomed him back to their Dens.

Not being forgotton was the only gift He needed.

How long would it be before he pursued Her again.

Not long...

His heart had grown vacant without Her,yet

He wished nothing more then to never experience Her "Love" ever again.

The Man is in the presence of They once more.

An Angel presents herself.

What had He done to deserve such a presence?

She was beautiful to the last detail.

The epitome of what The Man had desired his entire life.

Innocence.

What has his life craved more then innocence?

Craved?

No.

Darkness sprung,but from where?

His very mouth,he spit the ebon scourge.

She had offered nothing more or less then her friendship,and the Darkness had sullied her wings

Blackening them for eternity

The Angel cried.

The Man had fell from his pedestal.

He still reached his hand out to the Angel,his only motive...

Salvation.

"Ill be fine"

"Your wings...my envy..."

"Do not fret,you are forgiven.You've shown me things i would be condemned to never being shown"

"I do not feel like ive done something right"

"I am fine,my Knight in Shining Armor"

"Knights are brave,Knights are strong"

"You are nothing but strength"

"I am a Knight that failed the one i loved"

"That doesnt make you any less of a Knight"

She caressed His cheek,he felt like a boy again.

The Angel flew to the sky.

Forever from his reach.

The Sky was an unforgiving place,that not even He could cross.

The Man would find a way someday,she had shown him something about himself that he would never forget.

Dont forget me Angel,I could live in this dream forever.

At peace,

Joseph smiled and enjoyed the rain