Left foot in that hollow. Right hand up. Right foot... There! The ridge at my knee.
Find a left hand hole first.
Uhmm... ok, don’t find a left hand hole.
Oh... My left foot’s going.
Right foot to the ridge, now! Heave! Crap! My right hands cramping. Oh no. I’m going to go down. No.
I’m going down.
Wait... Rope. Where did that come from?
“Hold onto the rope! Before you fall!”
Well I’m not gonna argue with that. Right hand. Wrap the rope around. Cling with left hand and wrap legs around. Hope!
“Is this the afterlife?” I croak. A dark shape blots out the light. A person.
“Not even close, you’re still alive, thankfully. You gave me a scare, I thought I’d lost you when you blacked out on the rope, but you wrapped it around so you stayed tangled.” The figure bends and I feel a water skin on my lips. “Drink. There we go. You might want to go back to sleep. You didn’t come up whole.. This will hurt.”
Pain in my shoulder. Too much. Blackness...
Snatches of memory.
Being carried, across a field. Green jumper... so cold.
Down a street. Brick building, books. Stairs. Pain.
Voices... “Trust... No.. The one.. Can’t... Let.. See.” Shoulder, blissful chill....
“It’s true.” A soft voice.. A recognition. I know that from somewhere. I can’t fight the blackness. It’s too much...
“Wakey wakey little lady. No don’t sleep again, you need food. Open your eyes...”
Where am I? I open my eyes to a green jumper. The memories flood back with a gasp. I follow the green up to a face. Kind blue eyes smile at me from the frames of dirty blonde hair that falls around the face. The nose and lips, male features, definitely. I can’t talk... Mouth is dry.
“Water...” I manage.
The kind blue eyes offer me a water skin and I move both hands to take it... but only my left hand responds, so I fumble and my grip slips. But the kind eyes just pick it back and offer it to my lips, and a slow trickle of water slithers down my throat. I swallow and wash the water around my mouth, draining the water skin dry. I coughed and tried to regain my voice.
“Can... Can I sit up?” I asked hopefully.
“Ahh.. Ok, but go slow. Support with your left arm not your right.” He helped me sit up and lean back against a pillow.
“What’s your name little lady?” He asked, examining the bandage around my right shoulder.
“Milliner Redlaw, but most people call me the Mad Hatter, on account of I don’t have much sense. What’s yours?” I croaked.
“Jason Yolbas, But you can call me Jace.” He said, distracted by my shoulder. He called for ‘JayJay’ and a brown haired girl came jogging in from ‘round the corner of the partitions that surrounded my bed. He gestured for her to take a look at my arm and she pulled a face, but he glared and she relented, moving forward to take a look. She pulled a face and I felt a faint pressure as she traced something on my arm. I gritted my teeth as a loud crack! cht cht cht! emanated from within.
“Ow. Ow Ow Ow Ow. What was that?!” I moaned fighting another wave of blackness.
“That was the break in your arm re-aligning and fixing. It may have done your shoulder too.”
She prodded my shoulder and surprisingly no pain came.
“Well that didn’t hurt, so am I good to use this arm now? I have an itch I really need to scratch.” I asked. JayJay just rolled her eyes and walked off, but Jace nodded his head and I reached over and sighed dramatically as I scratched the itch on my left arm. I paused.
“How did JayJay do that? She just touched my arm. Is she a witch?” I enquired and I heard a snort from the next partition over.
“She’s not a witch... Though she acts like one. She’s different, like everyone here.” He said busying himself tidying the little room.
“Everyone? How many people is there here? In fact, where IS here?” I asked, sitting up and testing my right arm. It felt stiff, but it seemed alright.
“There are six of us, and a...” He paused, considering his words, “Guest. Plus you, for as long as you need. And this is the library, you’ll understand in a while.” He removed the bandage from my shoulder and disposed of it. Abruptly he stood up.
“Would you like to meet the rest of us?” He asked, staring at me intently. I thought for a moment and nodded.
“Yeah, alright,” I replied. Jace nodded absently and wandered out of the partition. I heard him talking to someone- a deep baritone voice. A few seconds later there was the shuffle of feet entering the room, and a slight sound of one leaving it. There was a silence and a couple of muttered half conversations. Jace poked his head around the partition, and I stood. He smiled and held out his hand. I grasped it, suddenly nervous at meeting these people.
What if they didn’t like me? What if JayJay used her ability for bad as well as good? What am I walking into?
The thoughts swirled around my head in the seconds as I rounded the corner into a large room. The walls were a deep brick, but they were mostly covered by maps and wall drapes. The room had a couple of woollen rugs laid down near chairs to stave of the cold of the dark wood flooring. a fireplace sat blazing merrily off to my right, and I resisted the urge to go and curl up in front of it until I’d stopped aching. To my left there was a spiral staircase and behind that, a large window, showing the dark night and stars beyond. As I was looking around, a dark shape flickered outside the window and then opened it, revealing itself to be a tall lanky lad with a mop of dark brown hair. He was dressed in a short sleeved shirt and shorts, despite the evening chill. Before he could clamber inside, another guy with jet black hair, leapt up the stairs and slammed the window shut, causing Brown-haired boy to fall back and out of view. I shrieked in panic and whirled round to look at Jace, who was glaring at Black-hair with pointed intent. Black-hair was looking amused until Jace turned to me and shrugged. Black-hair gaped at me, but I’d turned back to the window. I started to move towards it, but before I could take a step Brown-hairs head appeared over the edge of the window, his fingers clinging to the sill. He took one hand off and smacked the window, forcing it to open. His head ducked out of sight. Maybe ten seconds passed before his legs appeared, at the top of the window, and he swung inside. I gaped in shock as he somersaulted onto the railing around the stairs, and neatly jumped down onto the floor. He stood up smartly.
“You called, boss?” He replied in a calm tone. How is he not breathless? The thought flickered through my brain. Jace arched an eyebrow. I was still gaping.
“We have a guest, so show some courtesy Ben.” He gestured to me. “Meet Miss Milliner Redlaw, she will be staying for a while. While she is here she is to be considered one of us, and will participate with our,” He paused and smirked, “Unusual life style. No leaving her out.” He smiled at me and gestured for me to say something.
“Hello,” I said shyly. Great. Nice one Hatter. I chided. One of the spectators smiled. He had a shock of silvery white hair, pale skin and eyes that seemed to be molten silver. I glanced nervously away and saw his smile widen in my peripheral vision.
“I’ll start the introductions,” he smiled. His voice was warm and quietly comforting. “My name is Lucifer Yates, but you can call me Lu, everybody else does.” He lent forward and held out his hand. I went to shake it, but he simply held on and lightly kissed the back, glancing up at me as he did so.
I tried to smile but my world rocked.
The floor seemed to lurch beneath me and for a dreaded moment I felt like I was on the ship again, the rocks closing in, the rope slick and burning under my hands, the waves crashing over the rocks. No, no, no, I don’t want this. Stop, stop STOP!
Thursday, 11 October 2012
Saturday, 16 June 2012
Olansaf 4 - Draft 1
I was cold. So cold. My body was warm but my insides were petrified, my insides turned to ice. We were on top of the old battlements surrounding the town, on the most secluded side. Chris and Jace stood in front of me. Jace was assuring me it’d be alright and Chris stood there for reassurance, so I could hide in his jumper so I didn’t freak out. the rest of the clan stood around us, Billy facing out on the lookout and everyone else looking in.
Jace took hold of my arm and held it out pressing the amulet against my chosen spot, just below my right wrist, where my watch would sit. Chris took a step closer to me blocking my view as Jace prepared to change, but at the last moment his grip let go and a cooler, rougher hand took its place. An almighty shriek took to the air as the hand turned leathery and grew claws, but didn’t let go until it had turned back to a normal hand, odd, because it was meant to let go after it had shifted to heyvanlar form.. at least I swear that’s what Jace had said...
“That’s the first one,” Chris muttered in the ear which wasn’t buried firmly in his jumper, “Jace is about to do the second, hold on.” This gave me pause so I barely heard the roar of Jace changing. Jace was doing the second? But JayJay was meant to do that. Jace couldn’t do two... Who had done the first one? My head swam as my arm was relieved from the pressure and Jace changed back. Gingerly I drew my arm back and looked at the skin. The two amulets were perfectly melded into my skin, curved to the shape of my arm and sunk in so they didn’t stick out. there was a large gap between them where my clan amulet could go, though I wasn’t ready for that yet. Hell, hell no. My mind flickered back to the shriek and leathery skin and I looked up suddenly, looking for who had done the control amulet. Jace was looking over my shoulder at something so I stood and turned to see what it was. Someone I hadn’t seen for a long, long while stood there. I staggered back and chris caught me before I tripped.
“YOU’RE DEAD!” I screamed, as the figure turned. “They told me you were DEAD! I went to your funeral, I grieved at the coffin, I cried on my own, I cried for you, for Arthur Gendry.You’re dead... Why..? How!? You’re, You’re....”
“Alive.” He said in his smooth voice. That quiet, familiar, real voice. “I’m alive.” He turned to Jace. “I had to do it. I couldn’t...” He looked at me. “I’ve abandoned her once, I can’t do it twice.” He took a step forward and closed the gap between us, and put his lips close to my ear and whispered for my hearing only “I had to leave.” and with that he turned and walked off, starting his evening patrol. I watched him go, his jeans and leather jacket fading into the dark, the gleaming sword hilts the last thing to disappear.
“Oh my great goddess, you have to come see what I got you!” shrieked JayJay, leaping up and down like a toddler on christmas morning. Apparently it was tradition to buy the newly initiated gifts to start them on their way, and JayJay had gone all out on hers. We were walking back through the streets to the library, and everyone was babbling constantly to cover the awkwardness of the mood. Jace was smiling sadly at me and Chris had a troubled look on his face as he conversed with him, but everyone else was happy as could be. They kept gesturing at my amulets and their frowns were getting deeper and deeper. Finally, I’d had enough and stopped walking, pulling everyone else to a halt. I walked back to their little huddle and thrust my arm forward. “It’s an arm, they’re amulets, just like yours. What’s the problem?” I asked
“The problem is only one of them matches mine,” Jace replied, “And it’s the wrong one. You should have a control amulet and any class amulet besides leader or elder on your arm. But you don’t have either. You have been given leader as your class, straight away, and that shouldn’t happen. Your other amulet doesn’t match mine, either. It’s not a control amulet like it should be.” He gestured at JayJay who was staring at my arm. “Correct me if I’m wrong JayJay, but that is a leader and a power amulet on her arm, is it not?” He stared at her pointedly.
“You’re right, it is. She’s been given leader... and power. I bet power was Gendrys fault. He did two transformations touching it.” She paused and considered the implications. “It’s better though. She didn’t need a control, you saw her, she took to it straight away. She just needed Power to help her create quicker. It suits her needs better. I can’t say for leader though. That wasn’t your fault, that amulet would only give the right symbol. I got it from the elders myself.” She looked up at Jace. “You said it yourself, she’s different. Now worry about it tomorrow, I want to give her my present!” She finished with a huff and grabbed my arm, marching me down the road with the rest in tow, Jace last.
When we got back to the library there was a table in the main room, set high with wrapped up presents. The biggest was JayJay’s, she’d taken my armour off me that morning saying that I had to have normal clothes on at the initiation and had marched away with it and secluded herself in her workspace, not letting anyone disturb her. She had slaved away all day and no we got to see the result. The armour that I had shaped to traditional suit of armour when I had given it to her now had engraved inset banding of all maner of symbols, charms and shapes. She had gone all out on it and it looked stunning. She said that while I was wearing this I’d not need to eat or sleep, it could sustain me and protect me, but I shouldn’t use it unless I had to. She said that I could shift it to something else and as long as it was the same matter it would still work. She looked really proud when she told me that, and boasted that few charmers could do it.
Billy had gotten me a leather pouch that he had engraved with my sacred name, Olansaf, and Jace had gotten me incredible amount of high density matter to condense and carry in my new pouch. Ben had gotten me a lot of simple things, survival packs and first aid kits, multi tools and all sorts of supplies, enough to last a human adventurer months in the deepest darkest jungle for a year, all fitted in a variety of leather pouches to match Billys.
But it was Chris that made the rest pale in comparison, for he had gotten me a pet. And not just any pet, he had tamed and trained an eagle, specially for me. He had gotten JayJay to enchant protection and sustainability symbols onto the slivers she had taken from my armour when she was enchanting it, and had attached them round the ankle, so it could last as long as me in my armour, but would still hunt if it wanted. Billy had handmade a leather glove, Ben had supplied me with a messenger clip and Jace had designed a sling that could be attached to the birds legs, so it could carry objects. I was so happy when I was introduced to it I cried. But one thing still had to be done.
“You have to name it,” said Chris, “And then I can teach him to respond in a few minutes.”
“Can you give me a minute? I can’t think when I’m hungry!” I said as I dashed off to retrieve something from the kitchen.
On the way back, I paused to turn the radio on, and was greeted with Katy Perrys “I kissed a girl and I liked it” song, and in my happiness, started singing it at the top of my voice as I wandered through the main room. Half way across I noticed I was being watched, and that’s when I realised I was singing a song they couldn’t hear playing in the kitchen. Guilty and embarrassed, I smiled sheepishly and set down my bowl of food, collapsing down besides Billy and reaching over the back of the sofa to where I had stowed something earlier. With a clink I hauled up a large container filled with bottles of beer, cider and general alcohol drinks and set it down on the table, to which there was a loud cheer as even Jace grabbed a bottle.
“To our girls good health and strength!” He cried.
“TO OUR GIRL!” the chorused. I turned to Chris and tried to put on a serious as the alcohol found the weak point in my tolerance already. “I have a name,” I said. “Call my beauty Askar.”
“Askar? What does that mean?” Asked Ben, slurring his words.
“It means collected, complete, found.” I replied. “And it’s about time as well! Now, last to three bottles is a loser!” I cried as we all threw ourselves forward to grab another bottle.
After a while most of us were reduced to a stupor or passed out. Even me, but after a bit of experimentation I flushed the alcohol from my system by removing the matter, and turned it into an apple, which i chomped down as I collected everything I had been given, putting it on or condensing it down to put into a pouch on a belt that Billy had supplied. I changed the rubbish on the table to a comfy warm pair of trousers and a jacket. I slipped on the glove and whistles to Askar and he flew to my hand. I double checked I had everything and turned to the window, only to find Jace blocking my way.
“I have to go, I need time to digest. I’ll be back, eventually. Apologise to them for me. Make them understand.” I said. He nodded quietly and gave me a hug.
“Go out via the garrison gate, you’ll be spotted otherwise. Take care girl, come back to us soon.” he replied. I nodded and jumped onto the banister, flying silently to the window and opening it. I whistled and Askar took flight, and with a brief nod backwards I leapt out into the early morning sky, and glided with Askar to the Garrison gate, an old brick arch built into the wall. I dropped to the ground and walked under it, walking from tarmac to dirt.
Suddenly Askar screeched overhead and a thump behind me had me spinning into a defensive crouch, my hand going to the pouch containing my armour. When I realised it was just Arthur I straightened up and relaxed clucking so Askar knew I was safe. he was still wearing the same clothes as earlier but up close I could see the large sword on his back and the shorter one on his hip. On the other side he wore a battle axe that swung whenever he moved.
“Where are you going?” he asked, “You haven’t had all your presents. You haven’t had mine.” Quickly and deftly, he swung a bag of his shoulder and held it open to me. Cautious I walked forward and reached in, grasping the strap I found inside carefully I pulled out a double leather strap, and held it up confused. “Here,” he offered “Allow me.” He took the strap and flicked it over my head, and gestured for me to put my arms through the straps. He quickly fastened it, and nodded happily at it. It was two straps, one over each shoulder diagonally across my body. They had hooks where they rested on my hips that fastened onto my new belt and fastened by a metal buckle at the middle of my chest. While I was carefully melding the leather at my hips together Arthur turned back to the bag and withdrew a box from the bottom. He opened it sideways and took out some knives, carefully attaching their sheaths to the circles of leather on the straps. I melded the matter together as he went so the sheaths were all secure, and when he was finished he asked me to wait as he vaulted back up to the bridge. He swapped bags with a figure I recognised as Jace and nodded. Jace clapped him on the back and Arthur clasped the one strap bag over the shoulder that wasn’t taken up by a sword strap. He jumped down and walked towards me. “C’mon,” He said, “I’ve left you once and I won't fail my job again. I’m coming with you.” I nodded, grateful and turned at the figure on the bridge, a silhouette in the morning light. Slowly and distinctly the figure gestured, then saluted. I saluted back, and turned, gesturing to my life guardian to follow. As I did so some thing whistled past my ear. With a shriek Askar flew over head and circled us, dove down and caught it. He then returned to my gloved hand and dropped it into my palm.
It was a small, multi-coloured bouncy ball.
I smiled, and let Askar fly.
As I stepped from a familiar place, into a new life and story.
Jace took hold of my arm and held it out pressing the amulet against my chosen spot, just below my right wrist, where my watch would sit. Chris took a step closer to me blocking my view as Jace prepared to change, but at the last moment his grip let go and a cooler, rougher hand took its place. An almighty shriek took to the air as the hand turned leathery and grew claws, but didn’t let go until it had turned back to a normal hand, odd, because it was meant to let go after it had shifted to heyvanlar form.. at least I swear that’s what Jace had said...
“That’s the first one,” Chris muttered in the ear which wasn’t buried firmly in his jumper, “Jace is about to do the second, hold on.” This gave me pause so I barely heard the roar of Jace changing. Jace was doing the second? But JayJay was meant to do that. Jace couldn’t do two... Who had done the first one? My head swam as my arm was relieved from the pressure and Jace changed back. Gingerly I drew my arm back and looked at the skin. The two amulets were perfectly melded into my skin, curved to the shape of my arm and sunk in so they didn’t stick out. there was a large gap between them where my clan amulet could go, though I wasn’t ready for that yet. Hell, hell no. My mind flickered back to the shriek and leathery skin and I looked up suddenly, looking for who had done the control amulet. Jace was looking over my shoulder at something so I stood and turned to see what it was. Someone I hadn’t seen for a long, long while stood there. I staggered back and chris caught me before I tripped.
“YOU’RE DEAD!” I screamed, as the figure turned. “They told me you were DEAD! I went to your funeral, I grieved at the coffin, I cried on my own, I cried for you, for Arthur Gendry.You’re dead... Why..? How!? You’re, You’re....”
“Alive.” He said in his smooth voice. That quiet, familiar, real voice. “I’m alive.” He turned to Jace. “I had to do it. I couldn’t...” He looked at me. “I’ve abandoned her once, I can’t do it twice.” He took a step forward and closed the gap between us, and put his lips close to my ear and whispered for my hearing only “I had to leave.” and with that he turned and walked off, starting his evening patrol. I watched him go, his jeans and leather jacket fading into the dark, the gleaming sword hilts the last thing to disappear.
“Oh my great goddess, you have to come see what I got you!” shrieked JayJay, leaping up and down like a toddler on christmas morning. Apparently it was tradition to buy the newly initiated gifts to start them on their way, and JayJay had gone all out on hers. We were walking back through the streets to the library, and everyone was babbling constantly to cover the awkwardness of the mood. Jace was smiling sadly at me and Chris had a troubled look on his face as he conversed with him, but everyone else was happy as could be. They kept gesturing at my amulets and their frowns were getting deeper and deeper. Finally, I’d had enough and stopped walking, pulling everyone else to a halt. I walked back to their little huddle and thrust my arm forward. “It’s an arm, they’re amulets, just like yours. What’s the problem?” I asked
“The problem is only one of them matches mine,” Jace replied, “And it’s the wrong one. You should have a control amulet and any class amulet besides leader or elder on your arm. But you don’t have either. You have been given leader as your class, straight away, and that shouldn’t happen. Your other amulet doesn’t match mine, either. It’s not a control amulet like it should be.” He gestured at JayJay who was staring at my arm. “Correct me if I’m wrong JayJay, but that is a leader and a power amulet on her arm, is it not?” He stared at her pointedly.
“You’re right, it is. She’s been given leader... and power. I bet power was Gendrys fault. He did two transformations touching it.” She paused and considered the implications. “It’s better though. She didn’t need a control, you saw her, she took to it straight away. She just needed Power to help her create quicker. It suits her needs better. I can’t say for leader though. That wasn’t your fault, that amulet would only give the right symbol. I got it from the elders myself.” She looked up at Jace. “You said it yourself, she’s different. Now worry about it tomorrow, I want to give her my present!” She finished with a huff and grabbed my arm, marching me down the road with the rest in tow, Jace last.
When we got back to the library there was a table in the main room, set high with wrapped up presents. The biggest was JayJay’s, she’d taken my armour off me that morning saying that I had to have normal clothes on at the initiation and had marched away with it and secluded herself in her workspace, not letting anyone disturb her. She had slaved away all day and no we got to see the result. The armour that I had shaped to traditional suit of armour when I had given it to her now had engraved inset banding of all maner of symbols, charms and shapes. She had gone all out on it and it looked stunning. She said that while I was wearing this I’d not need to eat or sleep, it could sustain me and protect me, but I shouldn’t use it unless I had to. She said that I could shift it to something else and as long as it was the same matter it would still work. She looked really proud when she told me that, and boasted that few charmers could do it.
Billy had gotten me a leather pouch that he had engraved with my sacred name, Olansaf, and Jace had gotten me incredible amount of high density matter to condense and carry in my new pouch. Ben had gotten me a lot of simple things, survival packs and first aid kits, multi tools and all sorts of supplies, enough to last a human adventurer months in the deepest darkest jungle for a year, all fitted in a variety of leather pouches to match Billys.
But it was Chris that made the rest pale in comparison, for he had gotten me a pet. And not just any pet, he had tamed and trained an eagle, specially for me. He had gotten JayJay to enchant protection and sustainability symbols onto the slivers she had taken from my armour when she was enchanting it, and had attached them round the ankle, so it could last as long as me in my armour, but would still hunt if it wanted. Billy had handmade a leather glove, Ben had supplied me with a messenger clip and Jace had designed a sling that could be attached to the birds legs, so it could carry objects. I was so happy when I was introduced to it I cried. But one thing still had to be done.
“You have to name it,” said Chris, “And then I can teach him to respond in a few minutes.”
“Can you give me a minute? I can’t think when I’m hungry!” I said as I dashed off to retrieve something from the kitchen.
On the way back, I paused to turn the radio on, and was greeted with Katy Perrys “I kissed a girl and I liked it” song, and in my happiness, started singing it at the top of my voice as I wandered through the main room. Half way across I noticed I was being watched, and that’s when I realised I was singing a song they couldn’t hear playing in the kitchen. Guilty and embarrassed, I smiled sheepishly and set down my bowl of food, collapsing down besides Billy and reaching over the back of the sofa to where I had stowed something earlier. With a clink I hauled up a large container filled with bottles of beer, cider and general alcohol drinks and set it down on the table, to which there was a loud cheer as even Jace grabbed a bottle.
“To our girls good health and strength!” He cried.
“TO OUR GIRL!” the chorused. I turned to Chris and tried to put on a serious as the alcohol found the weak point in my tolerance already. “I have a name,” I said. “Call my beauty Askar.”
“Askar? What does that mean?” Asked Ben, slurring his words.
“It means collected, complete, found.” I replied. “And it’s about time as well! Now, last to three bottles is a loser!” I cried as we all threw ourselves forward to grab another bottle.
After a while most of us were reduced to a stupor or passed out. Even me, but after a bit of experimentation I flushed the alcohol from my system by removing the matter, and turned it into an apple, which i chomped down as I collected everything I had been given, putting it on or condensing it down to put into a pouch on a belt that Billy had supplied. I changed the rubbish on the table to a comfy warm pair of trousers and a jacket. I slipped on the glove and whistles to Askar and he flew to my hand. I double checked I had everything and turned to the window, only to find Jace blocking my way.
“I have to go, I need time to digest. I’ll be back, eventually. Apologise to them for me. Make them understand.” I said. He nodded quietly and gave me a hug.
“Go out via the garrison gate, you’ll be spotted otherwise. Take care girl, come back to us soon.” he replied. I nodded and jumped onto the banister, flying silently to the window and opening it. I whistled and Askar took flight, and with a brief nod backwards I leapt out into the early morning sky, and glided with Askar to the Garrison gate, an old brick arch built into the wall. I dropped to the ground and walked under it, walking from tarmac to dirt.
Suddenly Askar screeched overhead and a thump behind me had me spinning into a defensive crouch, my hand going to the pouch containing my armour. When I realised it was just Arthur I straightened up and relaxed clucking so Askar knew I was safe. he was still wearing the same clothes as earlier but up close I could see the large sword on his back and the shorter one on his hip. On the other side he wore a battle axe that swung whenever he moved.
“Where are you going?” he asked, “You haven’t had all your presents. You haven’t had mine.” Quickly and deftly, he swung a bag of his shoulder and held it open to me. Cautious I walked forward and reached in, grasping the strap I found inside carefully I pulled out a double leather strap, and held it up confused. “Here,” he offered “Allow me.” He took the strap and flicked it over my head, and gestured for me to put my arms through the straps. He quickly fastened it, and nodded happily at it. It was two straps, one over each shoulder diagonally across my body. They had hooks where they rested on my hips that fastened onto my new belt and fastened by a metal buckle at the middle of my chest. While I was carefully melding the leather at my hips together Arthur turned back to the bag and withdrew a box from the bottom. He opened it sideways and took out some knives, carefully attaching their sheaths to the circles of leather on the straps. I melded the matter together as he went so the sheaths were all secure, and when he was finished he asked me to wait as he vaulted back up to the bridge. He swapped bags with a figure I recognised as Jace and nodded. Jace clapped him on the back and Arthur clasped the one strap bag over the shoulder that wasn’t taken up by a sword strap. He jumped down and walked towards me. “C’mon,” He said, “I’ve left you once and I won't fail my job again. I’m coming with you.” I nodded, grateful and turned at the figure on the bridge, a silhouette in the morning light. Slowly and distinctly the figure gestured, then saluted. I saluted back, and turned, gesturing to my life guardian to follow. As I did so some thing whistled past my ear. With a shriek Askar flew over head and circled us, dove down and caught it. He then returned to my gloved hand and dropped it into my palm.
It was a small, multi-coloured bouncy ball.
I smiled, and let Askar fly.
As I stepped from a familiar place, into a new life and story.
Olansaf 3 - Draft 1
“"Don't be daft, how can black be bright? It's black for goddesses sake!" I cried for the third time.
We were sitting in the main open room at the top of the stairs in the library. Ben had gone into the kitchen to find some food, living on his motto of "If in doubt, eat!" and Jace and I were sitting on our bunks watching JayJay hop around on her newly fixed leg in disbelief.
"I don't know how to explain it, your whole body glowed, but your eyes, they were jet black. I only saw them briefly and every part of me wanted to look away. It was so strong, I nearly did. You're something new. I met another Olansaf once, but he didn't glow. He didn't have as much energy as you either, he got worn out quickly. You shouldn't have this much energy before initiation" replied Jace, bewildered.
"I just find bright black hard to believe," I replied, "It's like the phrase 'bitter-sweet' I never could understand that either."
"Hang on, I have an idea." said Jace, as he got up and dodged round an over joyed, unshackled JayJay. He walked into the bathroom and came out a few seconds later with a mirror, which he hung in place of a picture JayJay had accidentily smashed in her rage. He placed a pillow against it and smashed it, using the pillow to muffle the sound and protect his hand. Carefully, he removed the pillow and let the glass slivers drop to the floor.
"Come here and fix the mirror," he said "But do it in your head and look with your eyes." Realising this would let me see me while I fixed I walked over and stood in amongst the glass. Carefully I pictured the mirror pieces flying up and re-assembling seamlessly inside the frame, but looked with my eyes. what I saw in the swirling mirror was a interesting spectical. my body was glowing pure white, but if you could see through the glare you could see the pitch black armour I was still wearing, rippling and swirling as if it was alive. Looking past my reflection I could see how bright the room had become from the glow I radiated. But that was not what I was here to look at. I gazed straight ahead into the frame and watched the mirror until it had fixed over the part reflecting my eyes. Suddenly I could understand why Jace had used the words bright black. My eyes glowed like the rest of me, but they didn't glow white. They glowed black. Dark swirling tendrils disrupting the pure white, but they were brighter than the white. They were like twin suns on the glowing horizon of white.
Suddenly, the mirror was fixed and I was me again, my awkward eyes that could never decide if they were grey, green or brown in place of the black, and the swirling black armour in place of the white. The sudden colours assaulted my eyes so much I had to blink a couple of times before turning around.
"...Wow. You were telling the truth!" I gasped at Jace.
"Would I lie to the girl I trusted for no apparent reason?" He replied smugly. I nodded to concede his point and made a split decision. "BEN! Don't you dare eat all that pasta, I want some!" I hollered as I wandered towards the kitchen.
After battling Ben for some pasta, and gulping it down, I went to bed. There were 6 patrols the next day, and I offered to take the last two, spending eight hours from four pm until midnight scanning the town for trouble and checking the wall for other clans, groups like ours looking for a patch to claim, trouble to cause or just to pass through. Jace didn’t usually let one person take an eight hour patrol on their own, but he understood I was only doing it so I could sleep through the next day, so I didn’t get apprehensive about initiation. Jace had explained initiation to me, and it seemed simple enough.
Initiation was a simple. There was two stages to initiation, and a third for clan initiation.
The first stage was releasing the powers, to let the transformations be held for any period of time, and be controlled so they didn’t happen accidentally. To do this an amulet is placed onto the skin, and held there by the initiator while they changed forms. This effectively endowed the amulet with the power of the change and burnt it painlessly into the skin.
The second step is similar to step one, but with a blank amulet and this time by a different initiator. This would show the class of the person.
There were 8 classes, but there used to be many more. They were lost over a hundred years ago when a gathering of rare classes gathered on “The unsinkable ship” titanic, and died when it sunk. Many could not change and escape for fear of detection, the last one dying on a rescue boat.
The common classes were:
Sighter, Those who has the power of Future Glimpse, the ability to foretell how something would unfold.
Writer, Those who holds the ability to change, read and edit memories, for tellings and written word without leaving a trace
Charmer, Those who captures the power of charms, amulets and symbols to enhance other given powers and abilitys.
Armer, Those who choose to train and mentor the new and old in the physical arts, teaching them how to control, transform and fight.
Wisdom, Those who collect and impart teachings of the mind, often knowing a wide berth of things on a given subject without study.
Venom, Those who protect the secrecy of the hayvanlar, by whatever means at their disposal. Often very stealthy.
Leader, Those who lead a clan. This only comes after a second initiation on the class amulet, and exploration of two classes
Elder, Those who have explored all the classes or have been in service as a leader for over 150 years.
The class could be changed by having someone transform while touching it, and it would change to what it should be.
The third step was another amulet, carved with the clan symbol, burnt into the skin by flame and pain, and if removed left a permanent mark of disloyalty, making it hard to join another clan. I was only having an initiation into powers, not into the clan, but I was still scared.
I was so caught up in my thoughts I didn’t notice Billy until he tapped me on the shoulder. He told me he was taking over and that I should go and rest. I flew back to the library and slid in the window that they had left open for me. I changed the black armour to soft pajamas, collapsed onto my bunk and slept.
It felt like I had just fell asleep when Jace shook me.
“Girl.... Girl... GIRL! It’s time.”
We were sitting in the main open room at the top of the stairs in the library. Ben had gone into the kitchen to find some food, living on his motto of "If in doubt, eat!" and Jace and I were sitting on our bunks watching JayJay hop around on her newly fixed leg in disbelief.
"I don't know how to explain it, your whole body glowed, but your eyes, they were jet black. I only saw them briefly and every part of me wanted to look away. It was so strong, I nearly did. You're something new. I met another Olansaf once, but he didn't glow. He didn't have as much energy as you either, he got worn out quickly. You shouldn't have this much energy before initiation" replied Jace, bewildered.
"I just find bright black hard to believe," I replied, "It's like the phrase 'bitter-sweet' I never could understand that either."
"Hang on, I have an idea." said Jace, as he got up and dodged round an over joyed, unshackled JayJay. He walked into the bathroom and came out a few seconds later with a mirror, which he hung in place of a picture JayJay had accidentily smashed in her rage. He placed a pillow against it and smashed it, using the pillow to muffle the sound and protect his hand. Carefully, he removed the pillow and let the glass slivers drop to the floor.
"Come here and fix the mirror," he said "But do it in your head and look with your eyes." Realising this would let me see me while I fixed I walked over and stood in amongst the glass. Carefully I pictured the mirror pieces flying up and re-assembling seamlessly inside the frame, but looked with my eyes. what I saw in the swirling mirror was a interesting spectical. my body was glowing pure white, but if you could see through the glare you could see the pitch black armour I was still wearing, rippling and swirling as if it was alive. Looking past my reflection I could see how bright the room had become from the glow I radiated. But that was not what I was here to look at. I gazed straight ahead into the frame and watched the mirror until it had fixed over the part reflecting my eyes. Suddenly I could understand why Jace had used the words bright black. My eyes glowed like the rest of me, but they didn't glow white. They glowed black. Dark swirling tendrils disrupting the pure white, but they were brighter than the white. They were like twin suns on the glowing horizon of white.
Suddenly, the mirror was fixed and I was me again, my awkward eyes that could never decide if they were grey, green or brown in place of the black, and the swirling black armour in place of the white. The sudden colours assaulted my eyes so much I had to blink a couple of times before turning around.
"...Wow. You were telling the truth!" I gasped at Jace.
"Would I lie to the girl I trusted for no apparent reason?" He replied smugly. I nodded to concede his point and made a split decision. "BEN! Don't you dare eat all that pasta, I want some!" I hollered as I wandered towards the kitchen.
After battling Ben for some pasta, and gulping it down, I went to bed. There were 6 patrols the next day, and I offered to take the last two, spending eight hours from four pm until midnight scanning the town for trouble and checking the wall for other clans, groups like ours looking for a patch to claim, trouble to cause or just to pass through. Jace didn’t usually let one person take an eight hour patrol on their own, but he understood I was only doing it so I could sleep through the next day, so I didn’t get apprehensive about initiation. Jace had explained initiation to me, and it seemed simple enough.
Initiation was a simple. There was two stages to initiation, and a third for clan initiation.
The first stage was releasing the powers, to let the transformations be held for any period of time, and be controlled so they didn’t happen accidentally. To do this an amulet is placed onto the skin, and held there by the initiator while they changed forms. This effectively endowed the amulet with the power of the change and burnt it painlessly into the skin.
The second step is similar to step one, but with a blank amulet and this time by a different initiator. This would show the class of the person.
There were 8 classes, but there used to be many more. They were lost over a hundred years ago when a gathering of rare classes gathered on “The unsinkable ship” titanic, and died when it sunk. Many could not change and escape for fear of detection, the last one dying on a rescue boat.
The common classes were:
Sighter, Those who has the power of Future Glimpse, the ability to foretell how something would unfold.
Writer, Those who holds the ability to change, read and edit memories, for tellings and written word without leaving a trace
Charmer, Those who captures the power of charms, amulets and symbols to enhance other given powers and abilitys.
Armer, Those who choose to train and mentor the new and old in the physical arts, teaching them how to control, transform and fight.
Wisdom, Those who collect and impart teachings of the mind, often knowing a wide berth of things on a given subject without study.
Venom, Those who protect the secrecy of the hayvanlar, by whatever means at their disposal. Often very stealthy.
Leader, Those who lead a clan. This only comes after a second initiation on the class amulet, and exploration of two classes
Elder, Those who have explored all the classes or have been in service as a leader for over 150 years.
The class could be changed by having someone transform while touching it, and it would change to what it should be.
The third step was another amulet, carved with the clan symbol, burnt into the skin by flame and pain, and if removed left a permanent mark of disloyalty, making it hard to join another clan. I was only having an initiation into powers, not into the clan, but I was still scared.
I was so caught up in my thoughts I didn’t notice Billy until he tapped me on the shoulder. He told me he was taking over and that I should go and rest. I flew back to the library and slid in the window that they had left open for me. I changed the black armour to soft pajamas, collapsed onto my bunk and slept.
It felt like I had just fell asleep when Jace shook me.
“Girl.... Girl... GIRL! It’s time.”
Saturday, 9 June 2012
Olansaf 2 - Draft 1
Jace smiled at me.
We were sitting opposite each other on the old battlements that surrounded the edge of the town, and Jace was trying to explain how the building blocks of the universe work. But all I was understanding was basically, everything was my plasticine and my imagination was the mould.
“But you need the right amount of matter for the right transformation.” said Jace, tossing me a stone. “How much matter in that?” I looked at the stone for a microsecond.
“About.. 120 million?” I replied
“Not about, exactly. You didn’t just guess that, You knew it. try and squish the stone.”
So I did, and nothing happened. So I got mad and threw it down, imagining it bouncing up and turning into a rubber ball.
And it did just that. It flew out of my hand and within the time it took to blink, it had changed into one of those multi colored bouncy balls and was flying towards Jaces forehead. but I didn’t want to hurt Jace, so I imagined the matter around his head forming a perfect padded carbon steel helmet, black and shiny that perfectly mirrored his face. He made a small ‘ooft’ at the unexpected weight of it, so I made it lighter, a substance no one had ever seen before. Strong, light, and sheer black, that came apart at the will of the owner and flowed to their will.. I liked it so much I took a pile of rubbish and made myself some more. It flowed up my arm and onto my body, covering me perfectly. I held my hands out to feel the air around me and flicked my fingers down, and took off like a bird. I swooped around the town, over the glorious buildings and came to a running stop just behind Jace. He swirled into a defensive stance, then straightened as I flowed down my helmet.
“This is amazing!” I cried, “What else can I do?”
“You can take a break for a minute. Without being Initiated, it will drain your strength a lot. The next initiation is in four days, We’ll do it then. Right now, we ought to get back. C’mon.” He stretched out a hand, but I was having none of it. I had plenty of strength! So I flew up and behind him and picked him up, as easily as you would pick up a bag of sugar, then carried him back to the library where we tapped on the window until Ben leapt up over the stairs to open it. I hovered in and set Jace down in front of a shackled JayJay, back in her human form, and went through to the fridge, to find some food. While Jace forgave JayJay, I carefully examined her matter from the other room, but it didn’t help so I wandered through and looked at her, looking at what her matter was made into instead of how much matter was there. First I looked at the nerves and temporarily got rid of them, then I fixed the broken bone and muscles, and then added the nerves back. She gasped and I shook my head to clear the double vision and glanced up at Ben an Jace. Jace was looking at me curiously and Ben looked slightly freaked. I glanced back at JayJay.
“Is that better? It should be all fixed, I left no trace of the break and cleared broken bone out of the surrounding area. I’m sorry I broke it.” I murmured, examining her leg.
“It-it’s fine, thanks. I, um, I’m sorry I doubted you” JayJay stuttered back.
“Consider us even, ok?” I replied turning to Jace before she answered. “Why are you looking at me like that?” His answer was quick and simple, Yet it stumped me.
“Your eyes, they glowed bright black...”
We were sitting opposite each other on the old battlements that surrounded the edge of the town, and Jace was trying to explain how the building blocks of the universe work. But all I was understanding was basically, everything was my plasticine and my imagination was the mould.
“But you need the right amount of matter for the right transformation.” said Jace, tossing me a stone. “How much matter in that?” I looked at the stone for a microsecond.
“About.. 120 million?” I replied
“Not about, exactly. You didn’t just guess that, You knew it. try and squish the stone.”
So I did, and nothing happened. So I got mad and threw it down, imagining it bouncing up and turning into a rubber ball.
And it did just that. It flew out of my hand and within the time it took to blink, it had changed into one of those multi colored bouncy balls and was flying towards Jaces forehead. but I didn’t want to hurt Jace, so I imagined the matter around his head forming a perfect padded carbon steel helmet, black and shiny that perfectly mirrored his face. He made a small ‘ooft’ at the unexpected weight of it, so I made it lighter, a substance no one had ever seen before. Strong, light, and sheer black, that came apart at the will of the owner and flowed to their will.. I liked it so much I took a pile of rubbish and made myself some more. It flowed up my arm and onto my body, covering me perfectly. I held my hands out to feel the air around me and flicked my fingers down, and took off like a bird. I swooped around the town, over the glorious buildings and came to a running stop just behind Jace. He swirled into a defensive stance, then straightened as I flowed down my helmet.
“This is amazing!” I cried, “What else can I do?”
“You can take a break for a minute. Without being Initiated, it will drain your strength a lot. The next initiation is in four days, We’ll do it then. Right now, we ought to get back. C’mon.” He stretched out a hand, but I was having none of it. I had plenty of strength! So I flew up and behind him and picked him up, as easily as you would pick up a bag of sugar, then carried him back to the library where we tapped on the window until Ben leapt up over the stairs to open it. I hovered in and set Jace down in front of a shackled JayJay, back in her human form, and went through to the fridge, to find some food. While Jace forgave JayJay, I carefully examined her matter from the other room, but it didn’t help so I wandered through and looked at her, looking at what her matter was made into instead of how much matter was there. First I looked at the nerves and temporarily got rid of them, then I fixed the broken bone and muscles, and then added the nerves back. She gasped and I shook my head to clear the double vision and glanced up at Ben an Jace. Jace was looking at me curiously and Ben looked slightly freaked. I glanced back at JayJay.
“Is that better? It should be all fixed, I left no trace of the break and cleared broken bone out of the surrounding area. I’m sorry I broke it.” I murmured, examining her leg.
“It-it’s fine, thanks. I, um, I’m sorry I doubted you” JayJay stuttered back.
“Consider us even, ok?” I replied turning to Jace before she answered. “Why are you looking at me like that?” His answer was quick and simple, Yet it stumped me.
“Your eyes, they glowed bright black...”
Wednesday, 6 June 2012
Olansaf 1 - Draft 1
Well Ok,
I haven’t been here for a long long time.
but its time to come back, New blog, New me, completely fresh.
And what better to start with than a dream with werewolves?
Note: This is extremely long, and there is a second part I am writing in a more proffesional way.
I was riding along on a bike, one of those silly triple bikes with my mum and some fat man (No that is not what I call my lovely dad, he’s skinny compared to this guy) and we were fine, until we got on some more... Hilly... roads. There was a lot of mud and I couldn’t get the bike pedals back on my feet because they were going to fast, and on a left corner, I got flung off, face first, into the mud. I looked up back after the bike but they were speeding away, my third seat gone, I sat up and tried to get out. I couldn’t, the mud was slippery with water and it was like an ice rink. So I was just struggling for the third time when a hand appeared infront of my nose. I grabbed it and got hauled up onto a sleek and completely clean chopper, while the rider, who had just below shoulder length hair, a tight green top, baggy jeans, and some black boots that looked like they were handmade, stood up on the pedals and cycled really, REALLY, fast.
Well I was too dazed to complain and was pleased when he dropped me outside a nearby towns library, put the chopper on the stand and gestured for me to try and stand. So I did, and couldn’t. My legs wouldn’t behave and collapsed from under me and it was his quick reflexes that caught me and carried me into the library, past the reception and the books and upstairs to a cubby hole in a done up attic, where he layed me on a bed, one of many and wandered through a partition that was lit up. I heard a deep voice talking and a normal one replying. It seemed to be a heated argument but the deep voice won, and a few seconds later my helper squatted into view in front of my face. He cocked his head to one side so he could look me in the eyes and in a quiet yet deep voice, asked if I wanted to have a shower, food or sleep first. I back at him and managed to whisper shower, so he nodded and said he’d get JayJay to come through and help me as he didn’t think I’d want his help. I smiled a thanks and he strode off, and a few minutes later a kind brunette I took to be JayJay led me through another partition to reveal a shower. There was plenty of things for me to cling to and she helped me off with my muddy boots and jacket, and then left me to do the rest. she didn’t go far, I could see her shadow talking to Deep Voice on the other side of the partition, but I was too exhausted to eavesdrop, and just got in the shower.
After the shower JayJay had left some simple black slacks, top and thick hoodie for me to put on, and then guided me back to the same bed as before which had been cleaned and said I should sleep for a while, When I woke she’d get me some food. When I asked who helped me she said Jason, but he was on patrols this evening so wouldn’t be back till tomorrow. So I slept.
True to her word there was a pile of cheesy scrambled eggs and beans for me when I woke, and JayJay introduced me to the rest of the guys that were there.
There was Billy, I shortish skinny boy of about 17, Ben, A tall 24 year old that made his appearance by bounding up the stairs over the banister and landing in front of me on his hands, Chris who was just going out on patrol was white blonde with deep brown eyes that appeared black, and there was Lu who cooked and cleaned JayJay who kept them in order, a second in command, to jason, who I’d already met. I hadn’t met the quiet voice I’d heard Jace arguing with yet, but it didn’t bug me.
All the people were friendly enough, and soon Jace started taking me out on patrol. Ben trained me up so soon I could jump higher and run faster than before, JayJay got me some more clothes all black with some silver highlights Jace took me out on patrols and I became one of them, those people. The ones that live in the library, that stalk the streets. It was fun. Until one night when JayJay and Jace got into a fight. I was laying on the bed that had been allocated to me, when I heard the racket. They were disagreeing over me, and Jace’s unexplained trust in me. She’s the one, He was saying look how well she adjusted, you know it, and JayJay was just getting angrier and angrier, then she doubled over. I was about to rush forward to help when Jace backed away and ducked. I was already crouched to peer round the partition, so the flying skin didn’t hit me. Yes, you read that right, she ripped of her skin. She ripped of her skin revealing the damp fur underneath. She was a werewolf. Jace asked her not to do this, she knew what would happen, and in reply JayJay lunged forward at him. He ducked under her swipe, rolled through her legs and cracked his hands against her knees. with an almighty crack JayJay hit the floor, and Ben chucked a circle of leather with a gold and diamond brooch. Jace bent down and reached to clasp it round JayJays neck, but he didn’t see her stirring. She was about to lash out when I dived in and stomped on her calf. There was a crack and JayJay blacked out. Jace finished attaching the bound leather and turned to me.
“You saved my life,” He said, “Now I am in debt to you.”
“Consider us mostly even, after all you saved me for no reason.” I replied.
And that was that. He nodded and said no more on the matter. Billy and Chris dragged JayJay away, and I was ordered out onto patrol.
Later that evening Jace came and explained everything to me, how I wasn’t a werewolf, I was so much more. He explained how JayJay had chosen the form of a Idicanavar at the initiation, and had frozen it as her only form, with the strength and weak point attatched. He explained that he was a Carnifron a beast that looked like a lion on its hind legs. Billy was a Snarcfor a snake like beast, Chris was a Canargion, a white furry beast that shifted to walk on its six legs in any way it found possible, and Ben was a Ciltrenton a monkey, basically, but never to get in the way of the tail. I asked who the quiet voice was, that I had heard on the first day, and he said that I did know him, but I wouldn’t meet him again until after my initiation. “What am I then? What will I be?” I asked, and Jace replied that I was a creature of pure energy, extremely rare, I could take any form, and I could shape energy into anything, do whatever I wanted because I could control the very building blocks of the universe. I would be an Olansaf. Or I could walk away. I could go back to my old life of mud and bike rides and deny what’s inside.
So I replied with the only thing I was thinking.
“Where do I sign up?”
I haven’t been here for a long long time.
but its time to come back, New blog, New me, completely fresh.
And what better to start with than a dream with werewolves?
Note: This is extremely long, and there is a second part I am writing in a more proffesional way.
I was riding along on a bike, one of those silly triple bikes with my mum and some fat man (No that is not what I call my lovely dad, he’s skinny compared to this guy) and we were fine, until we got on some more... Hilly... roads. There was a lot of mud and I couldn’t get the bike pedals back on my feet because they were going to fast, and on a left corner, I got flung off, face first, into the mud. I looked up back after the bike but they were speeding away, my third seat gone, I sat up and tried to get out. I couldn’t, the mud was slippery with water and it was like an ice rink. So I was just struggling for the third time when a hand appeared infront of my nose. I grabbed it and got hauled up onto a sleek and completely clean chopper, while the rider, who had just below shoulder length hair, a tight green top, baggy jeans, and some black boots that looked like they were handmade, stood up on the pedals and cycled really, REALLY, fast.
Well I was too dazed to complain and was pleased when he dropped me outside a nearby towns library, put the chopper on the stand and gestured for me to try and stand. So I did, and couldn’t. My legs wouldn’t behave and collapsed from under me and it was his quick reflexes that caught me and carried me into the library, past the reception and the books and upstairs to a cubby hole in a done up attic, where he layed me on a bed, one of many and wandered through a partition that was lit up. I heard a deep voice talking and a normal one replying. It seemed to be a heated argument but the deep voice won, and a few seconds later my helper squatted into view in front of my face. He cocked his head to one side so he could look me in the eyes and in a quiet yet deep voice, asked if I wanted to have a shower, food or sleep first. I back at him and managed to whisper shower, so he nodded and said he’d get JayJay to come through and help me as he didn’t think I’d want his help. I smiled a thanks and he strode off, and a few minutes later a kind brunette I took to be JayJay led me through another partition to reveal a shower. There was plenty of things for me to cling to and she helped me off with my muddy boots and jacket, and then left me to do the rest. she didn’t go far, I could see her shadow talking to Deep Voice on the other side of the partition, but I was too exhausted to eavesdrop, and just got in the shower.
After the shower JayJay had left some simple black slacks, top and thick hoodie for me to put on, and then guided me back to the same bed as before which had been cleaned and said I should sleep for a while, When I woke she’d get me some food. When I asked who helped me she said Jason, but he was on patrols this evening so wouldn’t be back till tomorrow. So I slept.
True to her word there was a pile of cheesy scrambled eggs and beans for me when I woke, and JayJay introduced me to the rest of the guys that were there.
There was Billy, I shortish skinny boy of about 17, Ben, A tall 24 year old that made his appearance by bounding up the stairs over the banister and landing in front of me on his hands, Chris who was just going out on patrol was white blonde with deep brown eyes that appeared black, and there was Lu who cooked and cleaned JayJay who kept them in order, a second in command, to jason, who I’d already met. I hadn’t met the quiet voice I’d heard Jace arguing with yet, but it didn’t bug me.
All the people were friendly enough, and soon Jace started taking me out on patrol. Ben trained me up so soon I could jump higher and run faster than before, JayJay got me some more clothes all black with some silver highlights Jace took me out on patrols and I became one of them, those people. The ones that live in the library, that stalk the streets. It was fun. Until one night when JayJay and Jace got into a fight. I was laying on the bed that had been allocated to me, when I heard the racket. They were disagreeing over me, and Jace’s unexplained trust in me. She’s the one, He was saying look how well she adjusted, you know it, and JayJay was just getting angrier and angrier, then she doubled over. I was about to rush forward to help when Jace backed away and ducked. I was already crouched to peer round the partition, so the flying skin didn’t hit me. Yes, you read that right, she ripped of her skin. She ripped of her skin revealing the damp fur underneath. She was a werewolf. Jace asked her not to do this, she knew what would happen, and in reply JayJay lunged forward at him. He ducked under her swipe, rolled through her legs and cracked his hands against her knees. with an almighty crack JayJay hit the floor, and Ben chucked a circle of leather with a gold and diamond brooch. Jace bent down and reached to clasp it round JayJays neck, but he didn’t see her stirring. She was about to lash out when I dived in and stomped on her calf. There was a crack and JayJay blacked out. Jace finished attaching the bound leather and turned to me.
“You saved my life,” He said, “Now I am in debt to you.”
“Consider us mostly even, after all you saved me for no reason.” I replied.
And that was that. He nodded and said no more on the matter. Billy and Chris dragged JayJay away, and I was ordered out onto patrol.
Later that evening Jace came and explained everything to me, how I wasn’t a werewolf, I was so much more. He explained how JayJay had chosen the form of a Idicanavar at the initiation, and had frozen it as her only form, with the strength and weak point attatched. He explained that he was a Carnifron a beast that looked like a lion on its hind legs. Billy was a Snarcfor a snake like beast, Chris was a Canargion, a white furry beast that shifted to walk on its six legs in any way it found possible, and Ben was a Ciltrenton a monkey, basically, but never to get in the way of the tail. I asked who the quiet voice was, that I had heard on the first day, and he said that I did know him, but I wouldn’t meet him again until after my initiation. “What am I then? What will I be?” I asked, and Jace replied that I was a creature of pure energy, extremely rare, I could take any form, and I could shape energy into anything, do whatever I wanted because I could control the very building blocks of the universe. I would be an Olansaf. Or I could walk away. I could go back to my old life of mud and bike rides and deny what’s inside.
So I replied with the only thing I was thinking.
“Where do I sign up?”
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