Yes, I know, the last chapter was a short one. This one should be longer. I think. Anyway, I'm gonna be updating at least once a week, because if I don't Hilroy (Luxray13579) has permission to punch me, and I can't punch back. So yeah.
Well, I won't ramble on any longer. You came here to read, so read you shall!
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Brown. Just brown, surrounding me from all sides like a foul-smelling fog. There were no sounds save for my own breathing and the erratic beating of my heart. Wherever my skin made contact with the mysterious smog, tiny pinpricks of pain burned me. A small yellow patch floated in front of me, wrenching on my heartstrings for an unknown reason. Almost as though it was pleading with me to do the impossible.
An overwhelming feeling of dread slammed through my body when the silver eyes of my Dragon shined through the brown mist. Just the eyes, and eventually even those began to fade and I found myself truly alone.
It was then that I truly began to panic, stumbling blindly through the smog and crying out for help. My legs seized up and I fell to my knees, gasping into lungs that no longer seemed to want the air I was inhaling.
A figure appeared in the mist, a tall, muscular male that I would recognize from anywhere. I opened my mouth to call to him, a mouth that made no sounds but for the wheeze of expelled air. No matter how hard I tried I remained silent.
The figure came into view, so familiar that I almost began crying with the thought of a bit of normal in the confusing situation. I'd let myself feel unalarmed too soon, because the man in front of me wasn't as I remembered him. His normally ice-blue eyes were a milky white, a dark stain on his robes barely distinguishable from the red fabric.
I tried to scream, tried to make any sort of noise as the man in front of me collapsed, but my throat closed up. It wasn't true, this was an illusion, because it wasn't true, it couldn't be, but here he was right in front of me and there was nothing I could do to help him.
Suddenly, his dead body jolted up. I scrambled back in fear, trying to look everywhere but the mark burned into his forehead. It was no use. All I could do was stare in horror and revulsion as his already decomposing lips formed the words, "he is coming."
* * * * *
My eyes flew open, taking in the sight of the plain wooden ceiling. A breeze floated in from the screen window and chilled my sweat-soaked skin. I bolted up, glancing around wildly for any indication that what I had just seen was more than a dream.
Hayden- oh Gods, he was alright- was still in his spot next to the mattress. No blood coated his chest. His forehead was still as smooth as usual, his full lips perfectly healthy and turned up in a small smile.
I reached out a tentative hand, fearful that the moment I touched him he would disappear and I would be brought back to that horrible brown fog. He stirred a bit when I grabbed his shoulder, but continued to sleep.
Are you alright, little one? That was quite the nightmare. Yín sè! You're here! Of course, young one. How are you? You were so scared and I just couldn't wake you up. Watching you panic like that was horrible. I'm fine now, thanks.
I spun frantically at the sound of Hayden groaning, my mind still focused on the horrid dream and panicking at the slightest noise. My best friend was lifting himself off of the floor, rolling his shoulders and yawning.
"Mornin', Reiara," he mumbled, scrunching his eyes up as he yawned yet again. "How was your sleep?" I blinked twice, considering whether or not to tell him about my frightening dream. On one hand, he was my best friend and probably deserved to know. Then again, he might get too worried about me and have trouble focusing.
Once, when I was thirteen, I began having horrific nightmares that plagued my dreams each and every night. I'd made the mistake of informing Hayden of the night terrors, and he snuck over to my sleeping quarters and stayed outside, listening for the sound of a scream.
"It was fine," I responded, ignoring the quizzical vibes I was receiving from Yín sè. It was best if he didn't worry about me and we could go on with our quest. "Let's head out, shall we?"
Hayden reread the map, tracing the best route with his finger and his tongue sticking out the side of his mouth. "First, we eat a small breakfast, then we can go down this street, see, it's got the bookstore, then we go up towards North through this park, then we go..." I shouldered my backpack and tugged on the strap of his, pulling him out the door with his eyes still on the map.
On the way out I caught a glimpse of us in a mirror. My visible green eye was a little red and the heavy bags beneath it indicated that I hadn't slept well. Hayden towered over me by almost a foot, pale skin contrasting nicely with my dark hair. Then I saw the bruising on my throat. I swallowed hard, rubbing my neck tenderly.
"Are you okay, Rei?" Hayden asked. He stopped us, spinning me so he could get a better look at me. My neck tingled as he brushed his fingers along the dark injury, and I breathed in a sharp gasp of pain when he pressed against a tender area just under my ear. "Sorry," he whispered, pulling back and looping his arm through mine. I shrugged it off, ready to find somewhere to eat and move on from last night.
It was still early; the streets were quite empty but for a small quantity of citizens. It didn't take long to find a small cafe that served cheap cinnamon tea. We ate in silence, and I noticed the thin scratch above Hayden's left eyebrow.
"What happened?" I asked, indicating the mark with my dry bagel. Hayden's blue eyes widened in confusion before he realized what I was motioning to.
"When you punched Clave- by this time I'd already knocked out Hardy with his own bat- he kind of rolled away from you. I think Clave was really surprised that you got in that strong of a punch while you were..." Darkness flashed across his eyes. "Anyway, I tried to take him down, but before I could he scratched me, and... yeah."
I nodded, abandoning the conversation to take another bite of my bagel. It was stale and coated my tongue like sandpaper, so I eventually ended up having only half of it. Hayden, of course, ate the rest.
The cinnamon tea was delicious, one of my favourite treats come Winter. We ended up getting a bamboo to-go thermos and filled it with the stuff. Once our treat was secure in my pack, we set out to find the Records Hall. Hayden turned out to be much better with directions than I, so I let him handle it and didn't try to make a suggestion. It was hard not being able to tell him what to do. My confident manner made me hate it when someone other than myself was right, even if said someone was my best friend.
Everywhere we went there were people out enjoying the city. The park was full of citizens, mostly families with young children that laughed whenever a butterfly flew by. Their cheeky grins, large teeth and rosy faces were enchanting, and their laughter was like its own special sort of music.
Hayden and I stuck together the entire time, exploring the city around us and discovering new things. The large, long-faced animals we learned were called horses, the tall buildings condominiums that housed several families at once. Everything was new and exciting.
Finally we came upon an ornate building that had to be the Records Hall. A massive golden Dragon twisted up a pillar on each side of a tall wooden door. And right there, right above the door, was a golden plaque: The Records Hall and The Dragon Hall; and right below it an inscription that looked like a motto: Zàilái yīgè, suǒyǒu lái, lái lóng hé nóngmín de yīzhì hǎopíng. Come one, Come all, Come Dragons and peasants alike.
"This is the place," Hayden announced, stuffing the map into his bag. I followed him through the heavy oak doors and down a hallway decorated with paintings of Dragons and animals. Many were of Yín sè and a silver-clad Master on her back; in all paintings she looked formidable and impressive.
We finally entered what looked like the lobby of the hotel we'd stayed at, only much more decorated and expensive. A young, blonde woman, who didn't look any older than seventeen, was seated behind a dark circular desk. From the look of her rich purple dress-robe, I could tell that she wasn't just a normal citizen but most likely some sort of nobility.
"Can I help you?" she sneered, not looking up from her nails. Her painted lips turned down in contempt when I stepped forward and addressed her.
"We would like to see records on documented symbols, as well as olde Dragon Myths. Can you take us to them?" She rolled her blue eyes and removed herself from the luxurious chair.
"Yeah, sure." She first led us over to a large shelf labelled, "olde Dragon Myths". I grabbed a scroll and skimmed through it, turning back to the blonde receptionist.
"Can you bring my friend over to see scrolls on documented symbols?" I asked, waving to Hayden as the snide woman beckoned impatiently for him to follow. Once the two were out of sight, I turned back to the scrolls. There were many, many of them, each one at least as long as my hair.
After two hours of searching, I still hadn't found anything. All of them were about ways to make your Dragon stronger in battle, or how to strengthen the bond with the Other World. Most were complete nonsense. I was growing impatient and exasperated, and soon the black print seemed to blur into mere ink splotches.
Finally something caught my eye. A rather old and dusty scroll, the black print smudge in several places and faded to a brown throughout.
Legend tells of an ancient sandstone that gives a Dragon Master ways to become all-powerful. Nobody has seen the stone slab for several hundred years, which most believe is for the best. Every set of instructions on the sandstone is rumoured to be dark magic, and ancient reports of the uses of the instructions have been recounts of terrible and terrifying events.
That looks promising, young one. I silently agreed, discreetly slipping the scroll into my knapsack. I continued searching for any clues of why someone would want to kill a child, but nothing was even close to being what I needed.
Having found what I was looking for (well, close enough), I headed in the general direction that Hayden had disappeared into. The Hall was a maze of shelves, all filled to the brim with scrolls and paintings and even some trinkets that must've had significance to the scrolls they were attached to.
I passed by a locked wooden door with a sign above it that read: "Restricted Sections; Royalty and Nobility only." A guard was standing statue-still in front of it, one hand on his gleaming sword. I almost passed by, but suddenly an idea came to me that diverted my course. Hayden's voice came back to me; "the restricted sections have records on every person ever registered."
The soldier eyed me as I sauntered up, watching the sway of my hips with a menacing glare that clearly meant for me to stay away. I reached out with my mind, Diànyuán flowing from the Other World into his Běnzhí and softening his black eyes.
The scroll I was looking for was easy to find; almost at the very entrance of the Restricted Sections. It was long and practically too thick to fit into my backpack, but with a fair amount of shoving and squishing I made room for it. The guard fell asleep at my command, allowing me to remove the Diànyuán and get away from the scene of the crime.
I bumped into Hayden on my way back to the lobby. It spooked me so much that I drew my sword on him and held him against the nearest shelf before realizing he wasn't a threat.
"Sorry," I laughed. "You freaked me out there for a second. Did you find anything?" He shook his head, frustrated.
"Nothing. There wasn't even anything close to what was bur- to that mark. How 'bout you?"
"I found something. It's not much, but it might just lead us in the right direction." We left quickly, bumping hips with the receptionist eyeing us in disgust the entire time. By the time we'd finally gotten out of there, after taking a few minutes to look at all of the paintings, it was getting dark.
"I guess we're finding another hotel," Hayden mused, counting the few coins in his palm. "Although it may be a bit seedier than the last one."
We found a place to stay in record time, one that promised clean(-ish) rooms and no interruptions unless demanded. The room was much smaller than the other hotel, and grunge was visible in the corners and under the bed, but my eyes were tired and I just needed somewhere to sleep.
Hayden insisted I take the mattress again, opting for a bed of blankets on the wooden floor. He fell asleep right away. My body was begging to just be allowed to rest, but I waited until Hayden was sound asleep before lighting a candle and taking my stolen scroll from the knapsack next to me. A title was written in cursive across the top, flowery and obviously professional.
Reiara Minn and family...
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I think this is quite long, it shows it being five and a bit pages on words, so...
How is it going so far? Tell me what you think in the comment box below vv but don't be rude and please don't make a request for me to read your story. If I want to read something, I'll tell you. Just sayin'.
Well, peace out, suckas!!