Hey everybody!
As an experiment for my storytelling class, I decided to write a story that would help me use it in another medium, namely in music!
Read the story to see what it's about. Then, check out the song that I've created based on it.
Spade of Justice
Abstract
The story is set in an era that’s come out of a decade-long
war, where technology has been reduced to primitive technology. It tells about
a young girl living on a farm on the outskirts of Huntsville, Texas. One day,
her home is attacked by a gang of ruthless bikers called the Marauders, leaving
her home burned and her father dead. After falling off a cliff during her
escape, she washes up on the shores of downtown Huntsville, where a young woman
and war veteran Serenity nurtures back to health. Determined to do something about the misery caused by the gang, Rayna partakes on a quest to find
the Marauders and put them to an end along with her newfound friend, Serenity.
While Rayna learns that revenge can’t undo what’s been done,
she also understands that one person has the ability to influence and motivate
others to right the wrongs. If one can stand up to a bully, so can others, and
that’s what Rayna proves in this story.
Story
In the far future, the world has come out of a decade-long
war, which has annihilated technology and has forced people to rely on
primitive technology, such as motor engineering. Society is still recovering
from its war as it attempts to reestablish order, but gangs and clans have
already begun forming, imposing their own authority, corrupting and terrorizing
the areas they’ve conquered. And in
places like Texas, a former war-zone, there is only one rule that reigns
supreme: kill or be killed.
With the disappearance of advanced and digital technology,
people resort to living off with the things they’ve grown on their own, which
makes farming and agriculture an invaluable resource. which makes agriculture an invaluable
resource.
On one of those farms in Texas, specifically on the outskirts
of Huntsville, Texas, Rayna lived there with her father. Years of working on
the farm in a tough environment has made strong and perserverent; she and her
father make do with what they’ve got, and that’s all they ever needed.
But everything changed on that fateful day.
When Rayna was out on the field, helping her father dig out
the dead crops, a deep rumble resounded in the distance. Her father looked up:
dust gathered in the distance and from the cloud emerged a gang of
motorcyclists. The flags strapped on their bikes revealed a dead head wearing a
biking helmet, two daggers protruding from the back.
They were the Marauders and they had a reputation for being
ruthless and violent. Their leader, Jeffrey, was merciless and cruel. He was a
psychopath that enjoyed the pain of others, as long as it kept him entertained.
Realizing too late who they were up against, the father and
Rayna found themselves surrounded by the bikers. They drove around the farmers
in circles, maddening glee on their face, especially on Jeffrey’s. He wanted to
have a little fun on this boring day, and what better way to do that than to
watch two helpless civilians squirm?
Bikers would split from the group and rush towards Rayna and
her father, trying to beat them down with their bats. Rayna was spry, but her
father barely managed. He then saw as smoke in the distance, and there, he
witnessed in horror as one of the bikers set his farm on fire. With the father
distracted, Jeffrey seized the opportunity and drove towards the father. With
one swoop, he smacked the father right across the face with a metal bat, the
blunt force knocking him down. Rayna knelt to her father’s side, shaking him
awake, only to see from the empty eyes that he was gone.
She barely had the time to mourn when she was picked off the
ground by one of the bikers. Instincts kicked in and, realizing that she was still
clutching onto the shovel, she took a swing at her abductor. The bike steered
out of control and drove off a nearby cliff. While the young adult jumped off,
she still rolled off the edge, but managed to thrust her shovel into the
ground. As she dangled, the rest of the bikers followed to the edge. Without much
afterthought, they left. Rayna was ready to follow, so climbed her way back up,
just to see the farmhouse catching on flames. Her eyes moved from the farmhouse
to the body of her father and, overwhelmed by shock, she slipped off the cliff
and fell into the river below.
The river stretched as far as the eye could see, and
Huntsville was the closest town to the farm. Later on that day, Serenity was
heading for the river to gather some water. She was a young, read-headed woman
with long hair, her strands hiding the large scar across her face right face
and the eye patch on her left eye. As she approached the river bank, she
spotted Rayna with the shovel in her hand. Quick to react, she rushed to her
side. Rayna was weak, but alive, and Serenity knew that if she left her there,
she’d only get worse. With much of that motherly concern, she decided to bring
her home and take care of her.
Rayna woke up a day later, surprised to find herself in bed.
Serenity was sitting by Rayna’s bedside, and the young girl was at first
hostile and emotional. She had just lost everything, including the only family
she had left. Serenity listened as Rayna poured her heart out and little by
little, they engaged in a heartfelt conversation. Serenity, too, shared her
story. She was a war hero who fell from grace when she was beaten and
humiliated by the Marauders. It was Jeffrey himself who gouged her eye, and because
many other people have suffered under the Marauders’ reign of terror, no one is
courageous enough to do something about it. This revelation brings the teen to
grow angrier, and by the time Serenity was done telling her story, Rayna had
found her calling: to bring down the Marauders.
Realizing that she still had her shovel, Rayna decided to
get revenge on the man behind her misery. Therefore, she begged Serenity to
train her: with her experience, Rayna knew that it would help her. Serenity was
reluctant to the idea: Rayna, being a young girl, barely made it out alive, but
there was nothing that could stop that fierce determination of that girl. Unable
to convince her otherwise, Serenity agreed to train Rayna and to join on her
quest to find Jeffrey, picking up the tonfa stick that she uses to defend
herself.
They travelled to many towns and trained along the way,
asking people around and following leads and rumors. They both ended up in La
Grange, a small, remote town, and walked into LaSalle’s Bar. Tending it was
Adan, a middle-aged, half-drunk barman who couldn’t be bothered unless someone
was messing up his bar. As the asked Adan about the Marauders, he told them to
head home. The bartender had a soft spot for women, especially after he had
lost his wife and daughter, and the last thing he wanted was to see other women
hurting. In that instant, Rayna exploded; she lost her home and her father to
the Marauders and the fact that no one is standing up to them makes them
cowards, yet she’s not letting that explaining that she had no home ana dead
father and that people who don’t stand up to bullies are cowards. Adan barked
back, claiming that cowards live longer, but Rayna won’t back down. Life to her
wasn’t worth much if you let yourself get pushed around all the time. This statement
somehow clicked with Adan. Other than needing time on his own, he finally told
the women that the Marauders were bound to show up later on that evening. Satisfied
with the response but still upset, Rayna nodded and took a seat with Serenity
at a table.
As evening fell, the door to the bar bursts open and in came
Jeffrey and two of his lackeys. They sat down by the table, laughing it off as
they celebrated the new mayhem they’ve caused. Rayna eyed him like a hawk
whereas Serenity checked with Rayna to make sure she was ready for whatever
happened next. There was no going back, even if Rayna wanted to, and with one
last glance, they headed for the Marauders’ table. However, Jeffrey recognized
both women just in time and the Marauders stand up to fight them.
Rayna struck at the first Marauder that lunged at her while
Serenity focused on the other. As they both were kept busy, Jeffrey snuck up
behind Rayna to get the drop on her. Serenity anticipated that and intervened,
pushing him aside with her weight. Jeffrey, in all his rage, grabbed hold of
Serenity and threw her against the wall. The recoil caused her neck to snap and
Serenity dropped like a bag to the ground. The leader of the Marauders
approached Rayna, but Adan grabbed Jeffrey from behind and threw him towards
the end of the room.
Adan turns around to see Rayna holding Serenity’s lifeless
body, a mix of tears and rage in her eyes. Jeffrey stood up and ran out of the
bar, with Rayna dashing after him. He wasn’t going to get away, not this time.
The Marauder stumbled out of the bar, hobbling his way towards his bike. Rayna
tackled him down and started hammering her fists at his face, beating him
senselessly. She took her shovel, raising it over her head, ready to end him.
She brought it down, but missed his head. She got off of him
and screamed, angry at herself for being unable to kill him. Jeffrey sniggered
to himself and rose up, striking at her back with his fists. She crumbled, overpowered
and caught off guard. He was ready to finish her once and for all when
suddenly, Adan embedded Rayna’s shovel in Jeffrey’s skull. He fell to his knees
and with that last breath leaving his body, fell to the ground, marking the
beginning of the Marauders’ end.
Stretching his hand out to Rayna, Adan helped her up. No
words were exchanged between them, just looks that told already so much. The
townspeople came out of their buildings, staring momentarily before the crowd
broke into a cheer. Adan and Rayna looked at each other again, exchanging smiles
this time. He patted her on the back.
That night, a funeral was held for Serenity before the
townspeople celebrated the day. Everybody was at the bar, drinking to their
content. After several drinks, Rayna went to Adan, telling him that she was on
her way. He didn’t smile. While he was serving another round, he offered her to
stay and help out at the bar, suggesting that he could use a hand or two.
Speechless, she stares for a moment, cries and nods silently. Despite
everything she’s lost, she has found a place to belong to.
And for the days to come, she stood alongside Adan at the
bar, tending to folks that came by the town. And, from time to time, she looked
at the shovel that was hung on the wall in the bar. With a bright smile on her
face, she spent the rest of her time rebuilding her life with someone close to
a father.
Link to song: available soon!
