kh_drabble | Challenge post

Challenge: [144] Pursuit
Title: Running From and For
Word Count: 354
Notes:: Thanks

syvia for the beta'ing. :D

The first pursued the Darkness, the other five accompanying. They knew the risks, couldn't accept the consequences, and chased after a new dream once the old one had dried up their husks of hearts.

The seventh was hunter and hunted, the game twisting against him. Teeth that had once ripped at throats now snapped at the open air. A wordless scream caught in his throat that in turn was devoured.

The eighth didn't run when the opportunity presented itself. A lesson learned too late, pain lancing through his body as black claws punched through his chest, was that next time he would run. If there was a life after this…

The ninth danced and sung through it all; life was a party and he had to chase it to the last. The last dance, the last song, the last note, his last breath as people screamed and trampled the others to escape the stadium. It had to be enjoyed. No regrets for the final call when the curtain crashed down.

The tenth never lost. At first. One venture became another, ending with an adrenaline rush which hedged him to place another bet. And another, and another and another… until he could place nothing else on the table but himself and lost the very last game.

The eleventh took risks, never wept for the losses, and continually pursued what could never be his. Others gave their lives to bring his to an end, the tyrant’s defeat turning into theirs as Darkness eclipsed the sun. The evil prince laughed as his empire fell.

The twelfth was drawn to power. Scrabbling over others, clawing at their faces, dashing the heads of opponents in until she possessed what was rightfully hers. That achievement, paved on a road lined with bodies and slick with blood, was cruelly taken from her in turn by someone that wanted her heart.

The thirteenth, what does he pursue? He jumps at shadows, recalls things he should not, feels what they say is impossible. His story was still unfinished, the need to know the conclusion driving him forwards into the dark rain and night…