NOTICE:
This is only being uploaded because I have no choice that the story has been leaked. These are the unedited chapters as of December 2019. Please, only read them if you are ready to be spoiled.
Ch 1 - Beginning
Synopsis:
In ancient history, there was a mysterious incident that froze the world over
In a cold, frozen world, a boy goes on an adventure to find a land of grass.
A long time ago, the world froze over and became engulfed in snow. Most plant life died out and humans went back to living in small tribes. In this world, there is a legend of the ‘Lost Land’, a place where it does not snow and where grass, trees and flowers spread out as far as you can see. However, nobody has ever found it and come back to tell the tale. One day, a young adventurous boy, Ashim, finds a mysterious compass that supposedly leads to the Lost Land, and immediately sets off on an adventure to find the secret and mystical land.
-------
A place where there is no snow, but grass.
1- In legend, there is a place where no snow falls.
2 A place where grass grows everywhere,
3 And water flows continuously.
It’s said to have the same greenery as the time before the Big Freeze…
1 The name of that place is… The Lost Land.
Anyway, let’s get back to the village before the adults notice we’re missing.
This is the village of .
It’s cold all year round, and never stops snowing.
Well, the same could be said about the rest of the villages.
Nobody has ever seen grass, or most of the other plants found in ancient books.
Our world is white all over.
No one knows exactly how the world ended up like this, but we think it was caused by the ancient civilisations.
We have a few plants, though. Like the huge tree in the centre of our village. Somehow, it can grow so tall and provide us with so much fruit when barely anything else can grow.
Maybe it contains some of the remnants of life left behind by the god of sustenance.
But you know, Ashim. You really need to work on your tactics! You can’t just take down monsters that size with your bare hands!
But some of the great explorers could take down beasts with their bare hands! Anyway, I wasn’t bare-handed, I had a rock!
Anyway I didn’t have access to any real weapons…
Well, you’ll just have to wait a little longer. Soon you’ll be old enough to start hunting with your dad. Then you’ll get real weapons and learn how to hunt.
I’m not waiting for that! I’m going to find the Forgotten Land now!
(The hunters arrive from their hunt)
The men and some women of the village go hunting for our food.
Hi Ashim! Hi Ashim! (dad and aunt see Ashim)
[sister watches, then frowns]
………….
[reading books]
But I wonder how I can really find it……
Ashim, dinner’s ready!
Yum, this is my favourite!
Nima, Ashim, your father and I have to attend a meeting. Clean up when you’re done, ok?
Ok!
[Nima, cheerfully] Leave everything to us!
[face turns sour when door closes, looks at Ashim]
[looks at Nima]
Uh…..
Hey, sis, you’ve been giving me strange looks all day-
You
went outside the village today.
Uh… Ahaha….
What were you doing? You know you can’t leave the village alone.
Well… That’s true, but-!
Let me guess. It had something to do with the Lost Land.
…. So… So what if it did?
Don’t play dumb! Cut it out already!
But whyyy? Do you not believe me too?? That the Lost Land really exists!!
Of course not! There’s not one bit of evidence supporting it!
Cheh! You’re always so dull.
I mean it. Stop trying to find the Lost Land. You’ll only meet the same fate as our older brother.
...
Maybe you don’t remember anything about him, but… He was a good brother. He was kind, and always in good spirits… But he didn’t know his own limits.
He went on a journey one day in search for the Lost Land… and never came back.
That’s why you should know… Learn from his mistakes, Ashim! You can’t find the Lost Land. It doesn’t exist!
Sis…
M-Maybe he’s still alive! Maybe he’s waiting for us… in the Lost Land.
…Cut it out… Don’t give up your life for it. The Lost Land is just a myth.
[Ashim to himself]
I don’t remember my brother. I was just a baby when he left. But they talk about him all the time. Like there was something special about him…
I don’t know if he ever found the Lost Land, but I’m not the same as him. Whether he failed or not… that won’t stop me from finding it.
[dawn]
[Flash in sky]
[Beasts’ cries]
[men beating drums or metal] Corneorite shower! Everyone, take shelter, it’s a corneorite shower!
[Family runs into shelter] [Nima looks up]
[Sky is empty and then corneorites appear, plummeting into village and all land around it]
[Important: one corneorite breaks piece off a cliff]
[Villagers slowly come out]
Woman: Oh my…
There’s a lot of them.
Village chief: Everyone! Let’s split up into groups and gather all the fallen corneorites.
Corneorites. Mysterious objects that fall from the sky. They may be a serious hazard, but they’re actually edible, and a really good source of food.
…..
Long ago… They say there was a god of sustenance. It brought life to the land, and allowed plants to grow. The plants in turn sustained its life energy. But when the world froze over, plant life nearly disappeared, and it started to die.
Because it no longer has a means of depositing the mass stores of energy inside it, the food stores instead come in bursts from time to time… crashing down from the sky, in the form of corneorites.
The corneorites are pure energy. One bite is enough to fill you up, and provide you with enough nutrition for a whole meal. That is why corneorites are highly treasured.
But if the rumours are true and the deity is really dying, or has died already… Some day, corneorite showers will eventually stop.
The people from long ago must have been something else… To kill a god like that.
[Walking home from collecting]
Man: Now, we’ll be busy with reconstruction work for the next few days…
Nima: … Huh…? Where’s Ashim…?
[see cliff again, where piece broke off]
[see Ashim’s feet, and fallen explorer right in front of him] [Stares from above]
Hey… Are you ok?
We… can’t die here… Not until we find… the Lost Land…..
…!
[spots compass]
What is this?
If we kept following the direction… of the arrow… on that compass… it would have led us to the Lost Land….. surely… [collapses]
…!
Look! Over there! Someone’s buried under the rocks!
Get help!
[People running around while Ashim stands in the snow- back facing us- zoomed far enough so we can see everything in one panel]
The Forgotten Land…?
[Later, Ashim is in room looking at compass]
The Forgotten Land… If what they said is really true, then…
Nima: Ashim’s been acting strange lately…
Hey Ashim!
Uh- Ahhhh! [hides compass] Yesss?????
Stop goofing about! It’s your turn to
Alright…
I’ll do it.
[Night time, packing up]
Mom… Dad… Sis… Thank you for everything. But there’s something I must do. And I’ve found my first hint.
Goodbye. I’ll see you again. After I’ve found the Lost Land.
… Ashim?!
[slams door open] [sees footprints, and snow falling] What is he doing? In this weather, at night time…!
Ashim!
[runs into snowy landscape]
Let’s see… If I just follow the arrow…
I… can’t see anything… The snow’s too thick…
Huh? It stopped… Am I in a cave? Maybe I could stop here – Agh!
[gets caught in web]
Brother… I feared this would happen some day… That Ashim… would go chasing after you.
Hey, if you really did find the Forgotten Land… What was it like? What did you discover? And what stopped you from coming back?
If you didn’t find it, and died… is there anything I can do….
Anything I can do to stop the same thing from happening to Ashim!!
I can’t move… Mom… Dad… Sis… Is this the end…? Is it over… before it even started? [make sure to space out these panels to get pacing right]
All the things I wanted to do… All the lands I wanted to explore… Were all my hopes… in vain?
[running, snow lashing down]
You know… Funny things happen when your little brother’s in danger… You’re mad… You want to despise him… But… You can’t…
[spider comes out]
…! [closes eyes] Sis!!
[arrives just on time]
[throws boomerang that she keeps in her coat pocket at all times] [catches him]
Sis!
[grabs arm] Run!
[spider starts climbing down wall]
We ran and ran and ran… until we didn’t know where we were anymore.
Ha…ha… Sis, you saved me!
Hmph. What do you think you were doing?
I…
I’m going to find the Lost Land.
…!
I know you don’t want me to… but those injured explorers were carrying a special item. With this, I’ll be able to find it!
That night, the snow was heavy…
…completely erasing any traces of our presence.
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