henri's august cdc tracker

[madster]

3. snow
word count : 553

Spoiler:

it had been a week since andras took his own life that fateful night. even worse, his half-sister reflet was gone, and there was nothing he could do. henri didn't exactly care about reflet, quite honestly- she was too smart for her own good, too idiotic to see that clans were corrupt and violent. so she left, presumably to join a clan. she hadn't even left her older brother a note or something. what a family, henri thought. his sister, gone, his father, dead. he was the last leonidas in the cult. he got right to leading- after all, it was what he had been trained to do his entire life. he had lived in the shadow of andras for so long, and now it was his time to shine.

"listen," henri preached to the sixteen members of the church of belial. "though andras, my father, may be dead... i feel his presence here. we must continue our recruiting." a chill passed through the air- henri couldn't see it, obviously, but a child member spoke up. "it's snowing... in the spring?" he asked, concerned. they lived in a particularly cold climate, and snow came fairly often, even in the spring, but henri ran with it. "it's a sign from belial, clearly," he spoke, not sure of what he was saying. "and... to further our recruitment process, i'm leaving tonight to go seek out a clan."

the members looked concerned. "prophet, isn't that- clans are evil!" one of them spat, and henri merely grinned. "children, children, settle down. i'm going to a clan in order to get them on our side. once they see the error of their ways... surely they'll come running to us for protection." they needed more members, desperately, and recruiting loners wasn't working so well. still, going to a clan went u against their ideology. henri presented it as a unique idea to truly capture the horror of clans by witnessing it himself, but secretly he had longed to see a world outside of this.

was he like his traitorous sister? no, he would still remain loyal to the church. that night, he set out, wading through thick snow armed with nothing but his sunglasses and his father's black scarf. it was cold, and it hurt. he began to regret going by himself, but he had to do it. he'd have more freedom that way, anyways. the members of the church were his family, of course, but they could be a bit... overbearing. too protective of him. truth be told, henri couldn't wait to die. he wondered if he'd meet his end in this chilly weather, amidst the snow. he wanted to become one with the slush and the ice. he set out for a little clan called snowbound- he had heard they were the most peaceful- perfect for his gospel, he decided. as he struggled, he lost himself in thought.

it was too cold to think, but henri persevered. he had a lot of thoughts in his head- he was full of grief for his family, no longer having a father or a sister, really, but he had to keep going. he had to keep going for the church. he'd keep going for belial. and so, the alabaster tom went on his way, beginning his long journey to snowbound.