~The Cloaked Nightmares~ Pine sat, staring blankly at the dull cement walls of his room. Woken up in a cold sweat, the flashes of red cloaks tainted his dreams. The stiffness of his bed didn’t provide any comfort throughout the night, causing him to toss and turn all night. He stood up, standing at the edge of his bed, contemplating what to do. He could try and sleep, but it was hopeless at this point. He could also sit at his desk and doodle away as he always did. Upon his desk lay a little book, with the words *Sacred Municipality of Dema - United Vialists.* The only paper he had available to him, and paper that could be confiscated by the bishops at any time. He doodled away on the paper, little stars and flower petals sprouting with every stroke of his pencil. Pine could never tell if his love for drawing nature was influenced by his name, or if he had just miraculously been given the perfect name. Regardless of his name, his favourite things to draw were detailed leaves. Specifically ginkgo leaves. There was nothing inherently difficult or super Interesting about them, but Pine had always adored the way they looked and felt. He kept his knowledge of their feelings secret during his time in Dema, his escape attempts, his adventures to Trench were when he first felt the leaf. It wasn’t a meaningful experience either, so he wasn’t quite sure why he was so drawn to them. He was standing around with the banditos, discussing plans when Pine realized he was zoned out, staring intently at a leaf. “Yo Pine, you interested in the leaf?” Asked another bandito. Clancy. As he picked up the leaf and handed it to him. “Oh what? I mean no not really but I guess I’ll take it.” Responded Pine, as he stretched out his hand to take the lead from Clancy. Thinking about that moment had Pine drifting away in thought, just as he was while (albeit unintentionally) staring at the leaf. His paper was now covered in different sizes and shades of ginkgo leaves. He stood up from his chair, declaring that maybe it wouldn’t be a bad idea to at least try to get a few more hours of sleep, he walked the three steps from his desk to his stiff bed and laid there. Trying hard to ignore the red cloaks that echoed in his mind.
He was awoken early in the morning by the sound of his door slamming. A piece of paper was placed on his table. Your papers have been confiscated for bishop approval. You may have them returned to you by the days end. Pine has gotten this note a multitude of times. He’s gone to collect his paper two times, and decided it was no longer worth it. The process of recollecting a confiscated object is an impossible task, when and if the item has been approved to go back to the citizen, they do not get a notification. They are expected to show up and argue their reasoning for being able to have the paper back. If the papers have been denied to go back to the citizen and you show up to collect the paper, you’re taken into a room where they interrogate you about the banditos and their plans. Both situations have happened to Pine. And he despised the entire process. Each of those letters sat in a box, besides the box of Pine’s bandito outfit. A green hoodie, sweatpants and a yellow sweatband, a million times better than the outfits they were forced to wear daily in Dema. Yellow duct tape covered the hoodie and pants across the arms and legs. While at the bandito camp, rolls of the tape were passed around. Each person had a different design, a different reasoning for each tape placement. Pine had wrapped the tape around his arms, his leg, and had found a yellow sweatband to pull his hair back. Yellow is used to protect the things they want to hide from the bishops. Most notably, Pine wears his yellow sweatband showing his protection of his head. Primarily the protection of his knowledge which he highly valued. Pine was grounded when the sound of rain tapping at the windows reminded him he was no longer in the bandito camp. No longer in his comfortable outfit. No longer able to roam freely, no longer with the ones he called his friends. But it’s all his fault he’s not there anymore. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Authors Note: Hello! I hope you enjoyed the first chapter in this series following my character. Pine! But if anything happened to not make sense, there's a lot of little details within the lore that isn't stated/explained in this. I thoroughly suggest going to these projects: First! https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/1044956502/ Second! https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/1044957853/ to understand the background and context to this story. The second one isn't as important now, but will eventually become relevant within the story. I understand that this may be confusing, so if you have any questions or anything you'd like to clarify please let me know and I will be glad to answer anything :33 Characters mentioned: Pine: Main Character Clancy: A Bandito Bishops: The Leaders of Dema, specifics will be revealed later Chapters will be posted about weekly. Next Chapter: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/1109303417/ Previous Chapter: N/A First Chapter: You're here! :D
