User blog:Skipper Rorc/The Rise of Freedom

Dedications
Lemme see....Ah yes.

To Shieldmaiden, for asking me as soon as I got on whether I was goin' to write fanfics or draw art. You gave me the promting to start a story, even though I hated writing when I started. (I wouldn't put pencil to paper willingly, I had graphophobia)

Prologue
It was a dark and stormy night. Rain fell in thick sheets, blurring trees, rock, and shrub into one gray mass. The traveler’s footpaws squelched in the sticky mud as he fought his way through the storm. The wind whipped him mercilessly and tried to snatch away the cloak that covered him. He was a blur in a landscape of blurs, cloak puttled tight about him and hood up. Not a single hair was left exposed to the storm. Through the downpour, a glimmer of light showed itself from the mouth of a cave. Inside, it was warm and dry. The smell of smoke hung heavy in the air, its sweet muskiness lending the cave a homely feel.

A shape at the edge of the fire stirred, looking up at the intruder. It was a squirrel, old beyond guess. His once red fur was now a silvery gray, and his nimble limbs now creaked with rheumatism. A smile broke over his features as he waved the wanderer in.

“Come in out of the darkness and storm, my friend. It’s been far too long since I’ve had a visitor. Not many come to hear ancient history, even if I did live it. Settle yourself in, it’s quite a tale I have to tell, about slaves, injustice, and split families. Both trust and mistrust play a large part in my story. This tale centers around an unlikely friendship between a price and a slave.” The old squirrel shook his head. “Now there I go giving away part of the story. Let’s begin before I ruin the end as well.”

“It all began one day in late spring, many, many, seasons ago…”