The man had ventured for what felt like an eternity. There was no end in sight, just….nothing. He tried to keep himself entertained, by talking about his past. Initially, he remembered his family, and how loving they were. His parents had unfortunately died one evening though, and so he and his two sisters took care of each other, becoming street urchins.

This life was undesirable, they all knew that. They however wanted to pursue their own interests further, with the hope that it would bring hope and prosperity back to their lives. The man was behind this idea, and decided to study architecture. 

The road ahead for him was long and difficult, and he didn’t manage it easily. Through trials and tribulations, pain, suffering, etc, he managed to achieve his dream. One day, whilst he was out in the street with his younger sister, in the distance he saw a man on the other side of the road. The man was illuminated by a lamp he was holding, which drew attention to his facial features. 

Even from a distance, the wandering man could see a certain attractiveness in this other man, which caused him to obsess. His mind rang with an immense warmth and delight. He had never thought of being in love, much less with another man. 

After the initial feelings died down, he was about to rush towards the man to ignite a conversation between the two.

The man had unfortunately left. The street was completely absent from his presence, and since no one was with him, it was safe to say that no one knew him either. This however had no effect on the wandering man, as he searched and searched and searched endlessly for him.

Unfortunately, he had no luck. The man was a one-and-gone sight. Perhaps it was a hallucination. The epitome of beauty and attractiveness encapsulated in a single individual is perhaps a sight one can not truly ever see again.

As the man continued to wander the abyss, he had hunched himself over, placing a rock. Perhaps the memory of the encounter was too painful. Or maybe it was the rest that pained him. For as he rose again, and continued to walk the abyss, he remembered another moment of his distant past. 

He was in a tavern one night, which was fairly empty. It had been almost 2 years since he last saw the man, and during this period a lot had happened to him and his family. Both his sisters had been married to fairly wealthy men, and this had salvaged them from their poverty, yet the man seemingly had no luck.

The man had tried his luck with women across the town, yet he seemed to not be as attracted to them compared to the man he saw one day. It was something he had trouble grappling his head around. Perhaps he never could get the life he truly wanted, and so he often drank his sorrows away at the tavern.

His night had gone as normal so far, there were few people in the tavern, and he sat undisturbed for several hours. Just as he took a sip of his drink, the door opened, and a bell rang. The bartender noticed and smiled at the newcomer. The man paid no mind to this, and drank some of his beer. He slowly shut his eyelids, glaring at the reflection of himself in the metallic surface of the mug. 

After he had enough, he set the mug down on the table, but was startled to see the man from 2 years ago now sitting right in front of him. He immediately flinched upon the sight of him, but was met with a kind smile. The man noticed the wandering man was alone, and wanted to keep him company. The wandering man was trying his best to keep his composure, but being met with a sight close to seeing the face of pure light itself, he couldn’t resist.

He quickly uttered the words, “You are the most beautiful person I have ever laid my eyes upon. You are like the radiant light itself, utter pureness incarnate..” The man was stunned by this, yet warmly replied, “And you are a very kind soul.”

The two hit it off the rest of the night, and deeply enjoyed each other’s company. For the first time in ages, the wandering man finally felt that he was getting somewhere in his life.

As he continued through the abyss, the items he was using to mark his trail had become scarce. He had also become rather fatigued at this point, and was immensely struggling to push forwards. 

He still continued, slogging along the trail. And as his footsteps became heavy, and in the distant past, a heart beat fast. 

The man saw his two sisters, both dead in front of him. It had all happened too fast. He heard something, footsteps. Despite this he was too wrapped up in everything else to notice these, and cried desperately over his sister's bodies.

The footsteps drew closer, and then to a stop. There was a light, being held in a lamp. The man looked up to see the man he had fallen in love with. He was wearing his warm smile, just. Like. Before…

The man fell down, and his entire body became unmovable. He lay still for a few hours, or maybe a few minutes? Time at this point is irrelevant. The man started to get up, as he noticed something.

He looked back, and saw a faint glow in the distance. It began to pulsate. The embers from it were a mesmerizing sight, but the man then noticed the wood it was coming off from. It was torchwood, and it was illuminating a ragged and broken robe. The man was being watched.