It's All Relative

U-hopping Adventure: Secret Son

2010-02-08T21:54:00.000-08:00

Author's Notes: Sorry for the late post. There was a mini crisis at work, but now, crisis adverted and on to some more baby snatching adventures. . At any rate, some notes about this story. This story takes place long before our current heroes were ever thought of. For this U-hopping segment, I decide to go way back to the beginning with Vincent, the ultimate evil and villain in the current It's All Relative storyline. (definitely a candidate for the Evil Baby Orphanage, even if he is fictional). I feel really guilty for not being able to write a web fiction so this idea prompted a series of short vignettes about our characters, with the first being Vincent Akukami. So I hope you enjoy this post and if you want more U-hopping action go to the Strange Little Band LJ community and join and read all the baby stealing craziness (and read SLB and all the other contributing authors work, you will not be disappointed).

Now without further adieu, I present "Secret Son" also X-posted to my personal blog.

Secret Son

The carriage ride from Idriova castle to Hirotaka's was pretty uneventful. The countryside was beautiful, but she had already seen it when she came to Idriova castle nearly a year ago to "seek refuge from the world" as her father put it. Everyone in their little town knew that she had been kicked out for being seventeen getting knocked up. It wasn't her fault, but she heard the mumblings and murmurings of the city folk. She had asked for it. She got what was coming to her.

Now Hirotaka wanted to see his son and Iracine couldn't deny him, lest she be beheaded or hung.

Vincent yanked the strands of her black hair and whined for her to continue bouncing him on her knee. She had been doing for the past hour. Before then she was rocking him, and before that she was tickling him, and before that she was singing to him. She knees were killing her, he was quite heavy for a nine month old, but every time she'd stop for just a moment, he'd start protesting. She already several scratches and bite marks from his fits.

"You're spoiling him, Ira," her lover, Oliver, said. "Don't give him the power."

Iracine chuckled at the thought of having a power struggle with a baby, but she knew Oliver was right. She couldn't bare to see her son in discomfort though. He was just a baby, but he was a cursed wolf and life was would be difficult. She could afford to indulge her son for just a little while longer.

"This is a good workout," Iracine said. "If I can keep this up, I can have this baby bulge under control in a few hours time."

Oliver sighed and stretched out his arms. "Come to me, Vincent."

The child looked confused and gave an apprehensive whine. "Come on, Vincent. Go to Rem." The child, thankfully went to Oliver and Iracine sighed with relief. She looked at the pair; Oliver with his brown hair and blue eyes and Vincent with his snow white hair and lime green eyes. Oliver certainly wasn't obligated to be in Vincent's life, but she hoped that he would be regardless. Oliver was more of a father to Vincent than Hirotaka was.

Iracine wondered why Hirotaka suddenly wanted to see Vincent. Was it a publicity move? She heard that Hirotaka's wife was unable to produce a male heir, maybe he wanted some way of showing that it wasn't his fault. His seventeen year old mistress was able to have a son, aside from the white hair, freaky green eyes, and dangerously sharp teeth, a perfectly healthy son.

"Mr. Remmington, Ms. Andwendyl, we have arrived at your destination," the driver said.

Oliver spoke up. "Thank you... er..."

"Anderson." Iracine filled in. Oliver's face was bright red. Iracine turned to face Hirotaka's castle. It appeared to jut out from the earth like a black blemish.

Iracine took a deep breath. She felt Oliver slip his hand into hers, while carrying Vincent with his other arm. Together they walked towards the castle.

* * *

Hirotaka saw Iracine from the window and narrowed his eyes. She was with another man and that man was holding a child that was clearly not his. Hirotaka knewthat was his son he could tell from the boy's white hair--maybe the only thing they shared. Hirotaka sent his wife out to be pampered for the day, she had been so depressed with the last miscarriage and all. He honestly didn't care about that, but that was the story he would tell the press if they ever asked. He needed her out of the way so he could talk to Iracine, the woman that should have been his wife, the mother of his son.

"Is that him?" a woman said from the shadows. "Do you even know the boy's name?"

"Does it matter? You'll have him soon enough," Hirotaka said to the woman.

"You can't do this on your own," she said. There was a tap on the door. "So I've enlisted in some help."

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2010-01-18T04:02:00.000-08:00

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Halloween Sillyfic "You've Got Male" starring Shane Myers from Strange Little Band, Rae from Above Ground, Shiva from Addergoole, and Takun from our own It's All Relative.

I've been interviewed. http://quillsandzebras.wordpress.com/2009/10/28/najelacobb/

About

The magical world of Atheria is unraveling at the seams as more and more creatures disrupt the essential balance. Amidst the chaos, a young exile promises change and freedom, but at what price?

Despite the midterms, finals, club meetings, parties, classes, and everything the average college student has to deal with, this group of ragtag college students is not ready for their lives to change. When the conflict starts hitting closer to home, our heroes will be tossed into a battle between good and evil where the sides are not so clearly defined.

What the heck is going on?

It's All Relative is undergoing an extensive editing process and moving sites for ease of use. There was nothing wrong with the old site, but they don't have pre-scheduled posting which meant that I spent way too long posting the story and not enough time writing. I moved the story to blogspot because of the easy HTML and CSS customization and automatic posting. However, I hit the halfway mark of twenty episodes. Ten episodes give 10 weeks of weekly updates. In December, we may even get the chance to have two or three updates a week. We'll see how it goes.

And while you're reading...

I'll be writing in NaNoWriMo. Yes, I am technically "cheating" because I'm not working on a new project. However, NaNoWriMo is just the thing I need to get even more motivated and hopefully get to a point where the story can be closer to finished. 50,000 words in a month, that's a little bit less than an episode a day, but now that the first round of midterms is nearly over, I'll have more time to write and stuff. If you're doing NaNoWriMo too, then feel free to add me and keep up with my progress!

Special Note:

Please bear with me. I just want to finish the first draft for the first time in its entirety. You can help me by pointing out errors, but those errors will probably not be fixed until the first draft is finished. Minor things like typos and grammatical errors will be fixed, but if there is some glaring mistakes like plot or something, then that will have to wait. I doubt there will be anything that bad, but all major edits will be completed after the first draft. If all goes according to plan, that draft may be completed by the end of the year.

Episode 12: Power

2009-12-21T00:00:00.000-08:00

"So are you going to join any clubs?" Sora asked. The quad area near the commons area was filled with blue and goldenrod tents and people passed out flyers.
    "I wouldn't mind joining some mizukasui clubs," Usagi said.
    "I'm not sure I want to join clubs," Asahi said. "Too involved."
    "What? Clubs are awesome. I want to join the hikasui club," Yuhi said.
    "You want to join the hikasui club?" an orange haired nymph stated, handing a flyer to Yuhi. "Meetings are Thursdays at 7:00."
    "Awesomeness," Yuhi said, looking at his schedule. "My class is over at 7:00." Asahi rolled his eyes.
    "My name's Jesameen," the girl said with a thick accent. "I look forward to seeing you around..."
    "Yuhi," he said, leaving out his last name. He smiled and pocketed the flyer. Sora knew that he was going to try to go to as many meetings as he could. She wondered how he'd react when he got burned out. If he was anything like his twin brother, the results could be disastrous.
    "I think that girl was hitting on you," Asahi said. Yuhi looked back and Jesameen waved at him. The boy turned around with a blush and started at the ground.
    "Where are our counselors?" Taiyo asked. "Aren't they supposed to be guiding us around this free-for-all." She batted a flyer filled hand away from her face.
    Sora looked around and didn't see any of the counselors. She shrugged. "I guess we're just going to be on our own."
    "That's good," Arashi said, twirling her magenta curls around her finger. "I guess the counselors can't be with us all the time."
    "This would be the perfect time to get them to join our memorial," Arashi said. "I totally forgot to hit up some of the student organizations while we were going around."
    "Let's eat something first," Asahi said. "Then we'll help you."
    Yuhi chimed in. "Yeah, that way we can see the clubs and get ready for the memorial."
    "How did you know about the memorial?" Usagi asked.
    "The guy at the buffet in Aoiya told Ryo who told his friends and us," Yuhi said.
    "News travels fast," Arashi said in surprise.
    "Ryo knows some powerful people," Asahi said.
    The group stood in line for lunch which consisted of a sandwich, chips, a fruit, and a choice of fizzes.
    "Too bad you couldn't move the memorial up to today." Yuhi took a bite of his sandwich.
    "I should, but it would be too chaotic to do so much in such a short amount of time," Arashi said. "I want it to be organized so it doesn't look like we threw it together at the last minute."
    The twins nodded.
    "So we should break up into groups of two," Arashi said. "Usagi and I will be a team."
    "Yay!" the rabbit-wolf cheered.
    "I suppose Taiyo and I could go," Sora suggested.
    "Oh no." Asahi shook his head. "I'm not going with Yuhi. Yuhi and Taiyo can go."
    "That means I'm going with you," Sora said. Asahi nodded.
    "Okay then," Arashi said. "Usagi and I will get the tables with the blue tents. Sora and Asahi can get the yellow tents. Yuhi and Taiyo can talk to the parents since you both are kind of famous."
    "It's times like these that I wish that Takun was here for that," Taiyo said. Despite Taiyo being raised in the rich environment, she didn't seem like she totally fit within the rich Atherian society. Speaking of Takun, Sora wondered where he was. It wasn't like him to miss a meal.
    "Maybe Sasuke could help you?" Sora said. "If you can find him."
    "No," Taiyo said. "That's fine. Yuhi and I are sufficient enough for the task."
    "Well, let's get started," Asahi said. Sora followed Asahi, his hands in his pockets, frowning.
    "What are you frowning about?" Sora asked.
    "I'm not frowning," Asahi replied. Sora stopped in front of him.
    "Yeah you are." She pushed the crinkles of his forehead with her finger. He went cross eyed looking at her finger on his head. He batted her hand away and sighed.
    "I'm tired of Yuhi telling me that father wouldn't approve of my major change," he said. "I know that already, he doesn't have to rub it in."
    "He's just looking out for you," Sora said, standing next to him and following him to the yellow tented tables. "You know how strict your father can be."
    Asahi nodded. "I'm not my father's puppet anymore. That can be Yuhi's job since he's so eager to please."
    Sora didn't respond. She knew the dynamics of the MacLaine household were just as strange as the dynamics of the Kuroshiro household. The twins father, Liam, was a bit like her. He had powers, just like she did, but he also lost his some how. Sora wished he wasn't so surly and mean so she could ask him how that happened-- he technically was her uncle after all.
    "Uh... Ryo told me that Takun was here," Asahi said off-offhandedly, looking at a yellow tent with a group of autumnarian earth nymphs making a salad.
    "Yes, he's here."
    "Ryo said that you went out with him last night," he said.
    "Yeah, we did go out. What does it matter to you?" How did Ryo even know that. She didn't say anything.
    "Ryo just told me to look out for you."
    "So you mean to tell me that the whole reason why you're here is because Ryo told you to look out for me?"
    "No. I already got accepted to this school and you were coming here and..." Asahi explained. Then he stopped. "You can't tell me that part of the reason why you chose this school was because Takun was here."
    "This is the best school for Goddess Studies," Sora said.
    "...That Takun happens to go to."
    Sora glared at him. It was just a coincidence. Just how Takun said that his friend Sasuke was a coincidence. Or the fact that Asahi and Yuhi go to the same school that she and Takun happen to go to as well and the fact that Ryo knows Takun entirely too well to trust him in an unsupervised environment with his younger cousin.
    "Just be careful," Asahi said. "Guys talk."
    She hadn't thought about that. Takun was in the face of the media all the time and he always talked the way the media portrayed him--the lovable jackass persona that he adopted. She could tell by the way he talked to her and the way he talked on the portalvision that he was putting on an act, but she wasn't sure which act was his real personality. She hoped it was the guy from last night, but she wasn't sure. She didn't want to give Ryo or Asahi the satisfaction that they could be right about him. She knew him better than that.
    "Hey guys!" A girl with dark brown-red skin and green hair approached her and handed her a flyer.
    "Are you interested in our group?" she asked.
    "Kinda," Sora said. "But I don't really have any powers."
    "This isn't an elemental group," another girl exclaimed. "We do community service by helping with the environment."
    Sora looked at the flyer. The Green Girls.
    "We do use our powers to help out, but you can pick up trash or something."
    "You don't need to have powers, just a love for the environment," the girl said.
    Sora looked at Asahi. "Well actually, we could use your help." Sora told them about the memorial.
    "That sounds so cool," they said.
    "Are you guys in?" Sora asked.
    "Of course."
    "Cool, we'll be meeting in the cafeteria. My name is Sora and the girl you want to contact is Arashi, she's in charge. I'm not exactly sure when the meetings are, but you can talk to Arashi and she'll let you know." The autumnarian girl gave Sora her contact information.
    "Let us know." They said their good-byes and Sora moved on to the next yellow tent. She saw Arashi and Usagi on their way to the blue tents and waved.
    "Well, that was a good first experience," Sora said.
    "I guess I'll take the next one," Asahi said, as they approached the next yellow tent.
    The next couple tables were descent and she found that most of the people were receptive. She followed Asahi's lead, since he could weed out between the rich and the poor people. (She wasn't sure how he knew). He stated the rich people could be loyalists and undermine their whole memorial.
    "I wish there was a club for people who didn't have powers," Sora said after a while.
    Asahi shrugged. "Powers aren't everything."
    "That's because you have powers. I used to have powers and now I don't and even when I did have them they weren't very strong," she sighed. "My whole future is dependent on having powers. I can't go to goddess training with no powers. At best, I could probably be a secretary."
    "Why would you choose something that was dependent on powers if you don't have them?" Asahi said. Sora glared at him. "I'm sorry, I'm just being realistic."
    "I know. It's been my dream to be a timekeeper ever since I was a little girl," Sora said.
    "My father lost his powers and he's still a great alchemist," Asahi said. "He spent most of our lives trying to get his power back. He was never satisfied."
    "How did he lose his powers?"
    They walked to were getting closer to Oak Vista.
    "A dark kikasui or something took them from him. I don't know how, but someone came and took them away," Asahi said, softly, as if recounting the day in his head. "There was a lot of yelling and a flash of light, and father's hands were scarred and he had to go to the healer. I was six or so. Then when I got my powers and when father's obsession started."
    Sora was silent. Someone took his father's powers. That didn't help her discover how she could get her powers back.
    "Can someone who is a light kikasui return his powers to him?" Sora asked.
    "There hasn't been a light kikasui for hundreds of years," Asahi said.
    "I know. Just a thought," Sora said.
    He sat on a rock and Sora sat next to him. "He had an idea to get his powers back."
    Sora perked up at this
          "It's called a power transfer. Someone with spiritual or elemental energy transfers their powers to a willing host. I know that's how he lost his powers, someone with low energy sapped them from him. He tried it with me."
    "And what happened?"
    Asahi unbuttoned his blue and black checkered over shirt, exposing his white undershirt. "I don't want to show you all of it." He pulled the collar of his shirt, stretching it down to his chest.
    His lightly tanned skin was smooth until it got to the area around his heart. The skin around his heart was pink and scrunched as if someone took his skin and wadded it up like a piece of scrap paper. Sora's mouth fell open.
    "He tried to take my powers, but I fought it and this is what I got," Asahi said, letting his shirt go and buttoning his over shirt. "It was a lot worse."
    "How did he...Asahi, I didn't know," Sora stammered. How could anything be worse than that?
    "Give me your hand," he said. Sora placed her hand in his, the contrast of her dark brown skin against his tanned white skin made her think of the wrinkled pink burn on his chest. She wanted to take her hand away, but she kept it there. Her face felt hot, as if she had a fever, and her chest constricted as if she had run a marathon. When Asahi took his hand away, the sensation ended.
    "What did you do?"
    "Did you feel something?"
    "I felt hot," Sora said.
    "That means that you can receive power," Asahi said. "I felt cold, so I know that it was working."
    Sora closed her eyes and tried to summon the power that Asahi just gave to her. Nothing. Not even a spark or a rustle of wind.
    "My chest burns when I do that," Sora said. "But no power."
    "But you can receive power."
    "I don't want to do it like that," Sora said. "Not if it burned you."
    "That only happens when you get obsessed," Asahi said softly.
    "Does Yuhi know?"
    Asahi shook his head. "Yuhi is doing all he can to earn the respect he deserves. He shouldn't know about this. Father doesn't value Yuhi, even though he's had more training than me. I know my powers only fueled by anger and that's dangerous. That's why Father's power transfer backfired. We both had too many emotions for it work properly."
    "Would you let your father have your powers if it didn't have that outcome?"
    "Why would I give him something that he didn't earn? He's a world famous alchemist. He was nowhere near as powerful as he was as a tensenshi, but he should have been happy enough to just have power. You have to promise me that you'll never get that obsessed."
    "Never," Sora said. She still couldn't imagine how much worse a burn like that could be.
    Asahi's face was red; Sora wasn't sure whether he was blushing or if that small energy transferred caused it.
    Asahi stood to his feet. "We should get going."
    Sora nodded and followed him, not noticing the burnt area on the rock where her hand had been.

Episode 11: Friends

2009-12-17T15:00:00.000-08:00

    The campus tour was uneventful. Arashi noticed that Takun and Sirod were gone and Sasuke was more relaxed than he was yesterday (granted he did have three cups of coffee and caffeine was supposed to have a relaxing effect on dragons).
    They walked back to the lecture hall and waited to meet with their advisors.
    "So how do you like the school so far?" Arashi asked her new friends.
    Taiyo shrugged.
    "It's all right," Sora said. "It's not as spectacular as they made it out to be."
    "Oh," Arashi said. She didn't bother to ask Usagi; she loved every college she went to. Arashi had to agree with Sora. The school campus was a disappointment considering that it was one of the best colleges in Atheria. Of course, the school was only a place and it's reputation was dependent on its faculty and the caliber of its students. With students like Takun the jackass, Tessa the dumb bitch, and the scores of whorish cheerleaders and their drunken frat-boy counterparts, she wondered what exactly Aoikin University was known for. Study hard and play harder was apparently the school's unofficial motto.
    A woman with golden brown hair, slanted jade green eyes, and animal ears approached the stage. She was dressed in white and sky blue garments, signifying that she was a teikasui.
    "Hello students of Aoikin University!" A bright smile graced her face, showing off her sharp teeth. "Good morning to you, I'm so excited to be here." As if her voice didn't already give away that fact. Arashi tuned out most of the logistical matters. She heard it all before. All colleges had the same little spiel about academic challenges and resources.
    Arashi looked at Usagi who was listening intently while Sora took notes and Taiyo's golden eyes followed the woman as she walked across the stage, though it didn't seem like Taiyo was taking in any information. Sasuke was reading a book, his eyes scanning the pages at a frantic pace before he methodically turned the page.
    The tigress was curious where Takun had run off to. She scanned the room for Tessa and saw the girl giggling in the back row with her friends. No lion-wolf in sight.
    "Sora, do you know what happened to Takun?" Arashi tried not to sound too concerned, but she was a bit worried. He was acting strange when they announced that the survivors had died. There was something not right about that boy. But he wasn't her main concern.
    Sora glanced up and looked around, then shrugged. "He's not here."
    I know that. Arashi wanted to say, but she dropped the subject. She didn't want to seem to concerned. But if she was going to do what she was told to do, she'd have to be concerned with Takun because Sora was concerned with Takun.
   "He's probably eating," Usagi said.
    Sora bit the tip of her nail. "I don't think so." The girl's brows furrowed as she wrestled with the idea of checking on him. According to her file, she was one of the Kuroshiro housekeepers hired with that specific task of keeping Takun company and checking up on him. Sora picked up her pen and continued to take notes.
    "Okay, we're going to break up in to groups by major and you'll walk over with your advisor to your respective buildings where all of your academic needs will be taken care of," the woman said. She broke the groups up by major, with the majority of the students concentrated in Business or Goddess Studies. Arashi stood with the other girls in line and they headed back to the Goddess Studies Building.
    Sasuke's tour didn't do the Goddess Studies Building justice. He merely read a description of the building from the school's brochure and didn't even go near the building, partly because he was having trouble reading the map. He stated that map reading was Sirod's expertise.
    The Goddess Studies Building had small orange and pink rosedragon flowers climbing up the sides and weeping willows covering a small patio area with a small fountain. Arashi could imagine studying here or talking to the professors or just hanging out and eating lunch with friends.
    "This is the 'Tranquility Garden'." The woman walked the group over to the area. Usagi was drawn to the water, putting her hands in the fountain and manipulating the water into different types of moving animals. She made a tiger and a rabbit.
    "This garden was first built by the restorers of our school, Mamoru Iyasu and Eiji Takanara," the woman explained. "In l.y. 122, the garden was dedicated to those lost in the Megami Bara attacks. The information in the underground library was split between Kiyahana and here. We have yet to come up with a suitable name for this building."
    The woman watched Usagi dry her hands on her shirt. "We should be getting inside."
    The inside of the building was painted with different colors and symbols representing the different elements. A blue wave for mizukasui. A red flame for hikasui. A white cloud for teikasui. A tree and a rock for chikasui. A star for tenkasui. A yellow heart for light kikasui (though it was still represented as a ying-yang on the ID cards to account for the possibility of dark kikasui powers). Women were standing near the walls representing their elemental manipulation.
    They were going in alphabetical order and Arashi's last name, Teitora, was going to be called close to last. She and the other girls found a nice seat on the floor in the corner of the room.
    "Hey girls," she heard the strange accent of the MacLaine boys. Arashi didn't even notice that there quite a few boys in the building as well. Atherian society thought tensenshi to be weaklings who were submissive to women, which didn't attract a lot of males to the field. It wasn't until recently that the World Goddess Federation considered having a tensenshi major at colleges, maybe within the last twenty years or so.
    "Yuhi? Asahi? What are you doing here?"
    "We're Tensenshi majors," they said in unison.
    "This is where our academic advisor is," Yuhi, the one with the green streaks, said.
    "What are you majoring in?" Arashi asked.
    "Hikasui," they said in unison once again, a "stop copying me" look writ into their faces.
    "I want to change my major to something different though," Asahi, the one with blue streaks, said as he took a seat on the floor.
    "Your father wouldn't like that," Sora said. Asahi shrugged.
    "No he wouldn't, but he'd just have to deal with it."
    "Oh brother," Yuhi said, giving his brother a skeptical look as he sat next to him. "Do tell them what you want to major in instead of hikasui."
    "Art. More specifically photography," Asahi said.
    "How impratical." Yuhi scoffed.
    "I already work for Ryo. He said I had a guaranteed job under one condition."
    "What's that?" Usagi asked.
    "Nothing that important," he murmured, looking as if he had said too much.
     Someone had called out the H's and Taiyo stood to her feet.
    "This should be interesting," she said. "See you in a few." She left and went behind the red-orange door with the flame.
    "So you are Ryo's adopted brothers?" Arashi asked. The twins nodded.
    "How did he get adopted?"
    "His mother married our dad when Ryo was one year old," Yuhi said.
    "And when his mother died, our father married our mother," Asahi finished up. "Then our mother adopted Ryo as well."
    "And what about Ryo's wife?" Arashi asked. She hadn't gotten to ask Ryo exactly how that happened. Asahi, Yuhi, and Sora looked at one another, giving each other some type of code.
    "Well, Giselle wanted to have a baby with her girlfriend, choose Ryo as her baby daddy, got pregnant, her girlfriend cheated on her, they broke up, Ryo proposed they get married, and they've been together for three years," Sora said.
    Arashi nodded. That wasn't the oddest arrangement she had ever heard. Atheria cherished children just as long as they were taken care of. Parents who couldn't take care of children either gave them to the Taigun, sold them on the street to underground world, or simply abandoned them. She supposed Giselle could have just given her child up if Ryo hadn't step in.
    "That's really admirable of Ryo," Usagi said.
    "Not really," Asahi said. "Giselle is rich."
    "Let's talk about something other than Ryo," Sora said.
    "Any idea of what classes you'll take?"
    "Well, I think we all have to take Intro to Goddess Studies, physical science and/or math. I think I might want to take a creative writing class or ethnic studies," Sora said.
    "I might take tensenshi history."
    "Art design," Asahi said. Yuhi rolled his eyes at the statement.
    The red door creaked open and Taiyo stepped out.
    "So how was it?"
    Taiyo shrugged. "Uneventful. Just talked to the advisor and got classes." She handed her friends her class schedule. Arashi looked it over. Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays: Intro to Goddess Studies, 9:40-10:30. Political Science 009, 2:10-3:00. Tuesdays and Thursdays: Math 005, 11:10-12:30. Freshman Seminar Wednesdays 6:00-9:00. She had discussions thrown in randomly giving her large breaks between classes.
    "Looks cool," Sora said.
    "It was a pretty simple process. If you have an element, you have to take the seminar. They base your classes on that."
    "Oh, what's all your elements?"
    "Fire," the twins said again.
    "Air," Arashi said.
    "Water," Usagi said. Everyone turned to Sora. She twidled her thumbs.
    "Well, I don't really have any power but I really like either air or earth," Sora said. "I know they really don't complement each other, but those are my favorites."
    "Why earth?" Asahi asked. Sora shrugged. "They say Earth is the hardest and fire and water are the easiest."
    "Yeah. If you are really emotional, it would be really hard to be a hikasui," Usagi said.
    "Fire's kind of dangerous, if you don't know how to control it," Yuhi said. Asahi nodded.
    "Earth has two forms," Sora said. "It would be cool to learn both the rock and plants. If you can learn the plants, you can control the other elements indirectly. But it wouldn't matter because I can't even do the basics of either one."
    "You could just be a late bloomer," Yuhi said. "We've talked about this. I didn't get my powers until I was at least fourteen."
    "Someone I knew didn't have powers until he was fourteen as well," Taiyo said.
    "But that's different," Sora said. "I had powers. My dad was a hikasui and my mom was a teikasui. They were really good. I had powers, but they were never that strong."
    "What kinda powers did you have?"
    "I had limited teikasui powers."
    "Hmm, that's interesting," Arashi said. "Why don't you focus on teikasui then?"
    "I don't know. I really don't want to be reminded of that time."
    "Do you still feel the energy?"
    "Yeah, but I just can't get to work. No matter how hard I try I can't bring it to the surface," Sora said.
    Asahi held out his hand. "Grab my hand and tell me if you can feel it."
    Sora went to grab his hand, but they called out K. "I've gotta go. See you on the outside." She walked into the green door with the rock and the tree.
    It was a little strange after Sora left, since she knew the boys better than they did.
    "So what are you're majoring in?" Yuhi just threw the question out there.
    "I'm majoring in Goddess Studies with an emphasis on History," Arashi said. This time. She wanted to add.
    "What aspect?" Yuhi asked.
    "I want to focus on the Red Rebellion up until the Cursing of the Crown," she said. The boys nodded and it was quiet again.
    "What about you..."
    "Taiyo," the bird animari said. "Taiyo Hiyama."
    "Yes Taiyo Hiyama." Yuhi and Asahi looked at each other before she spoke.
    "I am majoring in Political Science."
    "That's a hot field to go into," Usagi said. "With all these things about war going on. They're going to need to know a lot of people who deal with public policy."
    "They are going to need it after Akukami leaves the throne," Taiyo said.
    "Do you think it's going to happen soon?" Arashi asked.
    "Without a doubt," Taiyo replied. The twins nodded.
    "It's going to be messy," Asahi said. "He's not going down with a fight."
    Sora came back out of the room, a grim look on her face.
    "What's wrong?" Asahi and Usagi asked.
    Sora let out a big sigh. "They said I can't declare an element until I show proficiency in it. I can't choose teikasui either."
    Arashi wasn't surprised. She wasn't going to tell her friend that she couldn't be a timekeeper without powers. If she was a complete gehin she would be relegated to secretarial duties. The only problem was that Sora did have powers at some point and losing powers was more problematic than being born without them.
    "M?"
    The two MacLaine boys went behind the red-orange door, leaving the girls by themselves.
    "Your cousin's brother's are kind of cute," Arashi said. Arashi could hardly remember what her own family looked like.
    "They're all right, but they're always arguing," Sora said.
    "You'd think they'd get along being twins and all," Usagi said.
    "Asahi got his powers when he was like seven and his brother didn't get his until he was around fourteen. Their dad would take Asahi out on these little trips and leave Yuhi behind. Then when Yuhi got his powers, he just left him at home and took Asahi. They used to be really close before that, but after that trip Asahi changed."
    Sora glanced behind the girl and got quiet as the twins came back to the lobby and sat down. The air was filled with that strange silence that came when one was talking about someone who just came into the room.
    "What classes did you get?"
    "I'm taking Intro to Hikasui Theory, Intro to Ethnic Studies, Religion and the Elements, Comparative Literature of the Timeless Age, and the Evolution of Hikasui," Yuhi said. Everyone stared at him with awe.
    "That's a lot of classes," Asahi said. "I'm only taking Intro to Photographic Theory, Studio Art-Photography, and just to please father, Intro to Hikasui Theory."
    They sat in the silence that accompanies people who don't know each other well. It wasn't awkward, but people were formulating questions to ask one another. Arashi wanted to know how Asahi had changed, but she couldn't explicitly ask him since it was probably information that she wasn't supposed to know.
    "I'm taking all the same classes Taiyo is taking," Sora said. "Except I'm taking ethnic studies instead of political science."
    "Same here," Usagi said. "I'm taking Intro to the Timeless Age instead of political science or ethnic studies."
    It went silent again as Arashi waited for her letter to be called. She didn't even realize that Usagi had left for when her letter was called (she didn't even hear it called). That was probably why it had been so quiet.
    A woman with brown hair streaked with sky blue wearing a traditional teikasui mourning dress stepped through the white cloud door. The dress was black and navy blue, the fabric as light and shimmery like dragonfly wings. Arashi recognized the woman and looked at Usagi,who nodded. Neko Koneko was the woman's given name--the name on her name tag--just as Arashi Teitora had been her own. But it wasn't her real name.
    "T," the woman said. Arashi had to pretend that she didn't know the woman as she stepped through the door.
    "Hello Catherine," Arashi said once the door closed.
    "Arashi," the woman addressed her. "We have a lot to discuss."
    Arashi nodded and sat down in Catherine's office. "We do. Can you look up some student profiles for me?"
Catherine had her fingers poised on the keyboard ready to type the names into the portalcomp. "Which students?"
       "Takun Kuroshiro, Sora Kainomori, and Taiyo Hiyama."

Episode 10: Family

2009-12-15T00:00:00.000-08:00

    "Oh Princess Takun!" Ryo's voice echoed through the cafeteria. Sora felt Takun wake up with a start, almost falling out of his chair. The designer wrapped his arms around Takun's neck and buried his face into the lion/wolf white and black hair. "Your hair smells nice."
        "Oh hi Sora," Ryo added as an afterthought..
       "Nice to see you too," Sora said. "Where's Giselle?"
       "She's at home with the kids," Ryo said. "She's a little scared to leave the apartment with all the attacks."
    "Ryo, you're choking me," Takun exclaimed. Ryo let go of his neck and sat in his lap.
    "So who are your friends?" he asked Sora.
    "Um... this is Arashi, Usagi, and Taiyo," she said, pointing to each one respectively.
    "I'm Ryo Kuroda," he said. "Diva Designer Extraordinaire."
    "Where's Yuhi and Asahi?"
    "Who?"
    "Your adopted brothers? You know the two guys that look alike."
    "Oh them," Ryo said flippantly. "They went to find a table for us to eat breakfast. When are they having breakfast anyway? Giselle made breakfast this morning, but the kids ate it before I got downstairs."
    "So you're the one who gave Takun that Princess nickname," Usagi said.
    "Yes, it's the perfect name after all," Ryo said, running his fingers through Takun's hair. Takun's face was red with embarrassment and anger.
    "I'm curious to know the story," Arashi purred with curiosity. Sora rolled her eyes. Once people realized Ryo and Takun's connection with each other, Ryo always told the same exact story to anyone who was willing to listen.
    "Well... it all started a few years ago, when Takun was just a scrawny little kid on the streets," Ryo said. "And I took him in for a price of course. To make a long story short, I named him Princess because he was spoiled and bratty, acting like he owned the world. He also looked like a little girl, still kinda does. A girl with a beer belly." He patted Takun's stomach with a smile while everyone laughed. There was a vein throbbing in Takun's forehead.
    "Where are those boys with our seats?" Ryo asked. Sora looked around and saw two brothers waving at them. He waved back. "There they are! Takun, will you carry me there?"
    Takun stood up, carrying Ryo on in his arms, took a step into the aisle and promptly dropped him on the floor before stalking off to the buffet area.
    "Takun, how dare you do that!" Ryo whined. He turned to the girls. "Can you believe that?"
    "You just called him fat," Sora said.
    "You can't deny that he put on a little weight," Ryo said, getting up and dusting himself off. "Bastard. Anyway, did you have sex with him yet?"
    "What? No way!" Sora exclaimed, her face going bright red.
    "Don't lie, it's written all over your face," Ryo smirked. "I'm going to get some breakfast. You bitches better sit at my table." He walked away to the buffet area.
    "Your cousin is quite the character," Taiyo said. Sora nodded, her face still red.
    "How are you guys related?" Arashi said.
    "He's my dad's little sister's son," Sora said. She remembered seeing picture of his mom and her dad. They had the same bright red hair, blue eyes, and freckles. Ryo and Sora had inherited the eyes, but Ryo had the trademark freckles.
    "What kind of animari is he?"
    "I know he's part wolf and something else, but I'm not sure. He never talks about that side of his family," Sora replied. His black and white cowprint ears were an unusual pattern in the animari world. She wasn't going to mention that he used to have horns when he was younger, before his adopted father had them sawed off. Ryo liked to joke around and say he was part goat.
    "I guess we better join him at his table," Taiyo said. She was clearly amused by Ryo's eccentric behavior.
    "Good morning," two boys said in unison when they reached Ryo's table.
    Ryo walked back to their table, dragging Takun behind them.
    "These are the twins, Thing 1," he pointed to a boy with black hair side streaked with blue. His eyes were purple with flecks of gold around the rim of his pupil.
    "And Thing 2," Ryo pointed to a boy with black hair side streaked with green. His eyes were gold with flecks of purple around the rim of his pupil.
    "And these are the four of my dwarves," Ryo said with a smile. He pointed to the Arashi. "Pinky."
    "Pink? My hair is magenta thank you very much," Arashi said.
    He pointed to Usagi and Taiyo. "Shorty and Moody, respectively of course."
    "And Chunky," he pointed to Takun, who shot him a look and growled. Ryo took his seat.
    "And who would you be?" Arashi asked scathingly, annoyed to be dubbed 'Pinky' when her hair was clearly magenta.
    "My dear, I would be The Evil Queen," Ryo said. He took a bite of chocolate cake. "Oh goddess above, this chocolate cake is to die for."
    "Who would be Snow White?"
    "That would be my wife," Ryo said with a smile.
    "Wife?" Arashi, Taiyo, and Usagi exclaimed in unison.
    "Yeah, my wife," Ryo said. "Giselle."
    "You mean that hot Fire!Works model is your wife?" Arashi asked.
    "Yes and Fire!Works is my fashion line," Ryo said.
    "No way."
    "Oh yes way," Ryo said.
    "Sora, why didn't you say that your cousin was a celebrity?" Arashi asked. "Ryo Kuroda. Why didn't I realize that earlier?"
    "He's not a celebrity," Sora said. "He's an idiot."
    "Oh come on, Foxy," Ryo said. Sora sighed at the nickname. "Don't be like Moody. Anyway, I'm getting more of this chocolate cake."
    "I thought you were on a diet," one of twins said. Sora couldn't tell which one.
    "I am. The see food diet, when I see food I eat it," Ryo said. " The same one you're on, Princess."
    Takun shrugged. He couldn't really deny that fact.
    "Get some chocolate cake with me."
    "I'm eating," Takun replied flatly, his mouth full with hashbrowns. Ryo pulled Takun out of his seat and dragged him over to the dessert bar.
    "So what are your real names?" one of the twins asked.
    "I'm Usagi Ohkami."
    "Arashi Teitora."
    "Taiyo Hiyama."
    "Pleased to meet you, I'm Asahi MacLaine," the twin with the blue streaks said.
    "And I'm Yuhi MacLaine," the twin with the green streaks said.
    "No way! You mean you're the sons of Liam MacLaine, the greatest alchemist of all time!" Usagi exclaimed.
    "I wouldn't say the greatest of all time," Asahi said scathingly. "But yes, we are."
    "And your mom is Xia Liang MacLaine, the greatest timekeeper of all time!"
    Asahi and Yuhi nodded.
    "Wow," Arashi and Usagi said. Sora could tell they were tempted to ask her why she didn't say anything about her celebrity "family."
    It was awkwardly silent.
    "Hey, guys," Sasuke said with a smile and a cup of coffee in hand. "How are things going?"
    "Awkward," Sora said. Sasuke sat down to them.
    "Oh, I'm sorry," he said. "That's really unfortnuate. Are your families here?"
    "They're out of the country," Arashi and Usagi said in unison.
    "You know where my family is," Taiyo said. Sasuke nodded.
    "What about you, Sora?"
    "Oooh, who is this fine hunk of man who has taken my seat?" someone exclaimed, causing Sasuke to jump. Before Sasuke could open his mouth, a maroon haired animari sat in his lap.
    "You're gorgeous," Ryo sighed. Sasuke was dumbfounded. "Have you ever thought about a career in modeling? You'd be perfect for it."
    "Uh," Sasuke didn't have a chance to respond.
    "You can be my sixth dwarf, Sexy."
    "What?"
    "These are my dwarves: Chunky, Foxy, Shorty, Moody, Pinky, and now you, Sexy. Then there's Thing 1 and Thing 2."
    Sasuke had a smug grin on his face. "So you must be the infamous Ryo."
    "The one and only," Ryo said. "Honey, I can sit in your lap for the rest of my breakfast or you can give me my chair back. Your choice."
    "Why don't I keep this chair and you can sit in Takun's lap?"
    "Brains and beauty," Ryo said patting Sasuke's head and scooting over to sit in Takun's lap. "They just don't make boys like you anymore."
    "May I have your attention please?" said a chipper voice over the speakers.
    "Damn, who gave that bitch extra caffeine in her coffee," Ryo scoffed.
    "Thank you friends and family for coming to this wonderful day at Aoikin University," she said. "I'm Enna, the head counselor and MC for this morning. We have a special performance from the Aoikin University cheerleaders."
    A bunch of screaming girls in cheerleader jackets and cute blue sweatpants with "Ravens" written on the rump jumped up and down on the stages.
     One of the cheerleaders nodded at the sound crew and they all got into formation.
    Fergie's "London Bridge" started with "Oh shit" until the beat started. They strutted around, shaking their butts and touching their bodies provacatively. Sora noticed a few of the mothers in the crowd following the moves perfectly. The boys at their table looked like a bunch of slack jawed idiots, except Ryo who was shaking his head with disgust.
    "Hold up! Wait a minute."
    "These Aoikin girls know how to get it!"
    The song changed to "Buttons" by the Pussycat Dolls.
    "Loosen up my buttons, babe," the song went. The girls pulled open their jackets revealing tight belly-showing yellow halter tops and they yanked off their snap-away sweatpants showing off their shiny blue hot pants.
    "Go on honey," a mother shouted. The fathers shifted in their chairs uncomfortably while the mothers continued to dance along.
    "This is an embarrassment to the whole female gender," Arashi scoffed as the girls (and their mothers) continued to prance around the stage and give each other lap dances in their chairs.
    The song ended and the crowd went wild out of polite embarrassment. The girls picked up their clothes and cheered as they ran off stage.
    "Thank you girls," Enna said, her eyes wide with shock.
    "Goddess, what a bunch of whores," Ryo said. "I bet you've slept with half of those girls, huh, Takun?"
    "I don't kiss and tell," Takun said. Ryo stared at him, then at the girls.
    "It was the brunette with the rabbit ears," Ryo said, Takun's face went red as he attempted to put on his best innocent face. "And the girl with the orange hair, and the blonde one, twice."
    "I'm not saying anything," Takun said, taking a drink of Pepsi fizz. There was a smug look on his face that he told all his friends about it already.
    "Okay now guys, we're going to be splitting into groups of parents for a question and answer session. You'll be staying here in the cafeteria. Students, please follow your counselors outside, you'll be talking to your advisors.
    "Afterwards, we will be meeting at the Aoikin Student Commons and we will have a campus tour, club fair, and enjoy lunch at the Aoikin Gardens Cafe. Thank you."
    "Well, see you later, kids," Ryo said.

Episode 9: Aftermath

2009-12-03T15:00:00.001-08:00

      Sora collapsed in the chair in the common area of the dorm. Takun grumbled as he hit the sofa. It was 4:49 in the morning. It took them an hour and a half to get back off the cliff. The airtrams didn't run as often in the early morning hours, so they waited for an hour until it ran again. The walk back to the dorms took twenty minutes.

       "We should probably shower," Sora said.

    "Together?" Sora threw a pillow at him.

    "Thanks for stopping me back there," he said, sitting up and putting his feet on the coffee table.

    "It's okay," Sora said. "What would happen if I didn't stop you?"

    Takun shrugged. "Probably would have gotten sick."

    "That's what happens when you devour a soul?"

    "How did you...? I thought only cursed wolves can see souls."

    Sora shrugged. "I thought it was something that everyone could see."

    "How did you know it was a soul?"

    Sora shrugged. "I just assumed by the way you were acting."

    She remembered what he was like when he went hunting and instinct kicked in. She remembered how his sister Miyako had to go after him if he didn't come back at a certain time.

    "How was I acting?"

    "Like an animal."

    Takun rolled over on his back and stared at the ceiling. "You were right about me making things complicated. Being a cursed wolf is complicated."

    "I didn't really mean that," Sora said. Takun was staring at his hands. Sora could see the fresh cuts from his claws.

    "Yeah, you did. Being with me would be complicated."

    "Did you mean what you said when you would fight for me?"

    Takun looked surprised. He patted the seat next to him and she came over. She wasn't sure why. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and nuzzled into her neck.

    "You two are up early," Sasuke grumbled.

    "I'm sorry if we kept you waiting at the airtram station," Sora said. Sasuke rolled his eyes. Sora could tell he wasn't a morning person. She wasn't sure why he was awake at 5:17 in the morning. She wasn't exactly sure why she was either.

    "I didn't wait for you guys," Sasuke said.

    "Thanks," Takun replied. "You're a good friend."

    Sasuke scoffed. He was definitely not a morning person.

    "We should try to get some sleep. A few hours couldn't hurt," Sora suggested. Takun yawned.

    "Yeah, I suppose." He stood up and stretched. "See you back in my room?"

    "I don't think so," she said. "I'll see you at breakfast."

    "Yeah," he yawned. "See you at breakfast."

    "Hurry up," Sasuke said to Takun. "We've got set up at 6:00."

    "What? Really? Who the hell sets up that early?"

    "The program starts at 8:00."

    Sora let the two boys argue while she slipped out and went back to her room. She entered quietly and rummaged through her clothes and bath items. She went to the female side of the bathrooms and took a quick, but thorough shower. She washed her hair, seeing all the grit and twigs swirling down the drain. She dried her hair and combed out the tangles and braided it, since she forgot her straightener at home (she hoped that Ryo remembered to bring it with the rest of her stuff).

    She looked at her watch. It was 6:30.

    On her way back to the room she saw Takun and Sasuke watching portalvision in the common area. Takun glanced at her, then turned his attention back to the program. She collapsed in her bed and struggled to fall asleep until Taiyo's alarm went off at 7:00.

    "Sorry for the loudness," Taiyo said. Her voice was so bland, Sora couldn't tell if the girl was being sarcastic or ironic, considering that Sora had probably stomped around like an elephant getting her own bath stuff. Sora didn't respond, hoping that she could feign sleep. Taiyo left and Sora fell back asleep immediately. Taiyo came back a while later and gently woke her up.

    "It's 7:30."

    Sora opened her eyes and swung her legs over the bed. An hour of sleep. She wasn't going to make it during the day.

    She and Taiyo went to the common area to wait for instructions from their counselors. Everyone in the hall was gathered around the portalvision.

    "What's going on?"

    "...The last remaining survivors were found dead this morning...," the news announced.

    "When the attacks happened, all I heard was all this screaming from the buildin' and we just looked over. We could see it in the window, they were slicin' people and blood was splatterin' everywhere," a dog animari exclaimed.

    A cat animari in healers garments looked straight into the camera. "We can confirm that none of the people that we found after the attacks have not survived through the night. There are still people missing, but there's going to be a point in time where we just accept the possibility that nobody survived."

    The portalvision broadcast continued, but Sora heard all she needed to hear. The portalvision cut to a commercial some type of cleaning product or an alcoholic beverage, Sora wasn't sure. Sasuke turned the portalvision off, but no one made an effort to leave. Takun stared at the blank television like he was going to faint.

    "We can set aside some time to discuss this if you'd like," Sasuke said, snapping out of his shock and addressing the students.

    "What is there to discuss?" Tessa said.

    "What the hell are you talking about? Over two hundred people were just murdered," Arashi exclaimed.

    "People die all the time," Tessa said, her group of girls looking at her strangely, but nodding anyway.

    "Yeah," the red-headed Coriander stated. "But not like this, Tessa."

    "Turn the portalvision back on," Usagi said. She pushed the power button after no one made an effort to move. "Maybe they have some more information about who did it."

    A woman with big hair, non descript animal ears, and a turquoise business suit stood in front of the Mizukasui Embassy.

    "Deeli, what is the word from the police?"

    "Good morning, Rue," she said in a thick accent. "I'm standing outside the Mizukasui Embassy where I spoke with John Lansing, Chief of the Rashian Public Safety Commission just a few moments ago. Here are a few clips from our conversation."

    The screen cut haphazardly to the woman, Deeli, talking to Chief Lansing.

    "We've been investigating the matter more closely," Lansing said.

    "Any suspects?"

    "Not any specific people, but evidence has led us to believe that it may be a group of cursed individuals either dark wizards, dark kikasui, or cursed wolves. From our evidence we've come to several conclusions, but we are working on our theories and will release the information to the public when we can verify our accuracy."

    Sasuke turned off the portalvision and glanced around. "Like I said, if anyone needs to talk, we're here. I think it's time that we start heading down to the cafeteria. Your families will be here shortly."

    "Can you believe that Tessa girl?" Arashi said. "What a bitch."

    "I know," Sora said as she, Taiyo, Arashi, and Usagi headed to the cafeteria.

    "I'm glad Coriander said something," Usagi said. "She was in my group for that smashing stereotypes thing. She's really nice."

    "Tessa is probably scared," Taiyo said. "Rich people tend to go to their happy "Everyone dies" places when things like this happen. She must realize that nymphs were killed in those attacks as well."

    "That doesn't give her a right to say something so rude," Arashi said. Taiyo shrugged. Sora glanced behind her and saw Takun rooted in the same spot, as pale as his white hair.

    "I'll be back," Sora said. Arashi gave her a weird look before seeing Takun, then smiling with understanding.

    "We'll save you guys a seat," she said. Usagi nodded. Sora gave them all a gracious smile before going back to the common room.

    "It's happening all over again," Takun murmured. "This is how it started."

    He sat down and put his head between his knees.

    "Relax, it's okay."

    "It's not okay." He gasped between breaths. "I know it's a cursed wolf. Only souls taken from a cursed wolf travel like that." He took a deep breath and held it for a while before letting it out.

    "Let's go. Ryo should be here," Sora said, extending her hand. He took it and together they walked down to the cafeteria.

    Sora found her group of friends sitting together in the middle of the aisle. Takun forced a smile and sat next to her, looking bored and apathetic.

    "Are your familiesk here?" Sora asked.

    "Oh, um... they are out of the country," Arashi and Usagi said in unison.

    "They are sitting with the rich families," Taiyo said, pointing to a family of black haired people with green eyes. Usagi cocked her head to the side.

    "You look nothing like your fam--oww!" Usagi exclaimed, receiving an elbow to the side. She shot Arashi an indignant look. "Why did you elbow me?"

    "It's okay," Taiyo said. "They are my adoptive family."

    "What about you, Takun?" Usagi asked.

    He scoffed. "I'm too old for that."

    "Did your family come when you were a freshman?" the wolf-rabbit asked.

    "Unfortunately," he grumbled. He shot Usagi a look saying "Don't you dare ask anymore questions". She shut her mouth and stared straight ahead.

    Takun slunk down in his chair and closed his eyes, his arms folded across his chest.

    "What about you, Sora?" Usagi asked.

    "My cousin is supposed to be here," Sora said, looking for Ryo's maroon hair and listening for his flamboyant sing-song voice. "His adoptive brothers are supposed to be here too."

    "Oh."

    "He's always late though." Sora said this to comfort herself. She hoped that he didn't forget. And if he didn't forget, she hoped that he wasn't drunk or hungover. He was obnoxious when he was drunk.

    Takun was snoring loudly. She elbowed him in the side.

    "Whaaat?" He groaned-growled-whined.

    "Stop snoring," she whispered. He grumbled, and turned on his side, still snoring, but not as heavily as before.

    "What exactly did you guys do last night?" Arashi asked, though there was no tone of judgment in her voice.

    "Yeah, you guys were supposed to be back at 8:30," Usagi reminded her as if that fact were still relevant.

    "We went for a walk and jumped off a waterfall," Sora said.

    "Really?"

    "No lie." Sora smiled, leaving out the fact that they had made out, illegally changed into their true forms, and went hunting.

    "Sounds like fun," Arashi said.

    "I wish I could have went," Usagi said. "I like water."

    Taiyo hmphed.

    An older man with graying brown hair at his temples stood at the podium.

     "Thank you students, staff, and faculty for coming to this wonderful event," the chancellor said. "In light of the recent events, I'd like to take a moment of silence."

   The cafeteria was silent, except for some uncomfortable shifting of people's chairs and nervous coughs.

     "Thank you," he said, nodding his head. He gathered his notes and smiled. "The sun is rising on a new year. The sky is painted with colors of your former selves. There’s a road that leads to your future, the one that leads to who you will become," the chancellor's shining dark eyes scanned the room as he paused. His eyes locked with some unfamiliar students. He continued.

    "The path you traveled down to get here is filled with holes and winding roads. This path you are at now is what you have learned from your experience. As we've realized in these past couple days, life is not fair. You must learn that the best people are often caught in the worst situations. Despite hardship, you must come out on top, you must prevail and prove the world wrong. What legacy will you leave as an individual for those who follow behind you? Hopefully, it is a lesson in living life and growing up."

    "This year we all look forward to the dawn. Uncertainty, confusion, and doubt loom in the darkness before you, but if you allow Fate to paint your path the color of your future, all you can do is follow this path.

    "As we all embark on this grand adventure called life, we must only look forward to the future and never look back. Thank you and enjoy your years at Aoikin University."

Previous Next

Episode 8: The Inbetween

2009-12-01T15:00:00.000-08:00

    Sasuke felt cold when he left the restaurant. There was an overwhelming sense of dread that caused his heart to race. He couldn't catch his breath. He hoped that he didn't look like he was going insane. Sirod was off deep in thought and smoking a cigarette .

    "Vincent's already here," Taiyo whispered, her eyes staring at countryside. He glanced to see what she was looking at.

    "How can you tell?"

    Taiyo didn't respond.

    "Sirod, are you going to be fine without me?" Sasuke asked. The dog animari gave him a strange look, then turned and took a long drag on her cigarette.

   "I'll be fine," she said. "Go have fun. Don't do anything you wouldn't tell your mother."

   Sasuke frowned, but didn't respond.

   "I probably won't be back, so don't wait up," Sirod said. "I'll see you when I see you"

   "All right. Take care," Sasuke said. Sirod nodded and put her cigarette in the ashtray. The dog animari walked towards the airtram station.

    "Look at those balls of light in the distance," Taiyo said. Sasuke turned and squinted. He looked and saw twinkling stars floating towards the doors carved into the mountain. "Those are souls that Vincent has just devoured. He is here."

    "Shall we go?"

     Sasuke nodded and followed her lead. He wasn't familiar with Aoiya. Every time he came here he went to the same restaurant and same drugstore. Taiyo roamed the place as if she knew exactly where she was going.

     "Have ever been to Aoiya before?" Sasuke asked.

      Taiyo nodded. "The family is very rich. They have a vacation home up on the Summit. We used to go every year."

     "Do you like the family that you were reassigned to?" Sasuke asked.

     "They were adequate. They provided the basics," Taiyo said. "If you are about to ask whether I miss my old family, I cannot miss something that I don't remember. This family was the only family I've known outside of the Taigun. I know they aren't my family, but they are all I have."

     "I see." Sasuke followed behind her. He wasn't going to ask that particular question, but she must have been used to getting that question alot.

     "I'm sorry," Sasuke said.

     "For what?"

     "Everything that's happened to us, the world, everything."

    "You don't have to feel personally responsible for the things that happen to other people," she said. "You do that too much and people take advantage of it."

     "I know." Sasuke looked at the ground and kicked a stone across the street, watching it clunk into a lightpost with a loud clang. "I feel like I owe people things."

    "Doing good things does not negate the bad things," Taiyo said.

    "I wish they did," Sasuke said.

    "But they don't." Taiyo said. She turned back on her heel and continued to walk. "You don't owe anybody anything."

     The silence between them was strange, but not awkward. A welcomed and familiar strangeness that defined their interactions with each other. Sasuke followed the bird animari through the city, back towards the tram station. The city was bright with lights and the nightlife just started to buzz a bit. The crowds were of a more higher quality, dressed in expensive cocktail dresses and wrapped in faux furs.

     Taiyo led him to a set of stairs underneath the airtram station and set out into the countryside. Small balls of light varied in brightness as they walked through the tall grass. The light flowed from the carved windows of the abandoned houses, lighting up the interior as if people had still lived there. Taiyo opened the door and crouched inside. Sasuke followed.

        The light had disappeared and left the house pitch black. Sasuke felt around for the wall. Taiyo snapped her fingers and blue fire appeared from her hand, casting a blue hue on the interior of the house. Sasuke let his eyes adjust.

       "This is pretty cool," Sasuke murmured. Water was dripping from the ceiling and as they traveled deeper into the house, the sound of water overwhelmed them.

        "It gets better," Taiyo stated, the blue fire exposing the slight smile on her face. She came to a small door. "Open this."

       Sasuke nodded and fell the mist of running water.

       "You're going to have to find a way down," she said, taking off her necklace and placing it in his hand. "Don't lose this necklace." She turned into a falcon-sized bird. Her brillant blue wings gave off a neon blue glow.

       I'll light the way, she said over the roar of water. She was yelling something else, but Sasuke couldn't hear. She took off through the small door and he saw her blue light traveling lower. Sasuke looked at the necklace, a red-orange amulet with a flying bird inside set in silver.

      "Hurry." Taiyo called from the other side. Sasuke tied the necklace to his wrist holding the amulet in hand, took a deep breath, and went through the door. The rushing water carried him away before he had a chance to orient himself. He tumbled with the water, before finally relaxing and letting the current take him.

       "Sasuke!"

       He felt the water rush beneath him and he saw Taiyo's blue light at a lower part of the cavern. A waterfall. He held his breath and braced himself. His body went straight down like lead and broke through the water with a shattering sound. He couldn't reach the surface. Things were grabbing at him and pulling him under. He tried to fight them, but they were too strong. Finally he stopped struggling and then he felt like he could breath.

       Something sucked him from under the water and pulled him on the shore. He opened his eyes and saw a woman with black hair and forest green eyes standing over him, her cleavage in his face.

      "Sasuke," she said. "Are you all right?"

       He sat up and vomited what he thought was water. Instead it was a strange black goo that was slithering its way back to the pool. He shuddered.

      "Oh he's fine," she said, whacking his back. "That's everyone's response."

      Taiyo picked the amulet from his hands and the woman help put it around her neck.

      "What the hell was that?" Sasuke asked, coughing and wiping the black ooze from his chin.

      "The Inbetween," the woman said. Sasuke looked around dazed. "The place where all four worlds meet."

      "Lili?" Sasuke asked. The woman nodded.

      "In the flesh," she said. "Glad that I came. You would have been dead if you were in that pool any longer."

      "Where's Vincent?"

       The pool was still. Sasuke looked over the edge and saw his true form staring back him, a dragon with a cat-like face and red eyes. Taiyo stood, the glowing blue bird reflected in the pool. He saw darkness that stretched out into infinity.

       The water of the pool swirled from blue to black to purple and back to black, while Sasuke's image remained constant. The balls of light had returned and were dancing and hovering over the surface of the pool.

   Chilling screams echoed through the cavern as a black tendril broke through the pool surface and swallowed the balls of light. The pool turned completely black and thousands of lights flowed out, howling as they left. A giant hole opened up in the center of the pool and engulfed the light, swallowing them all in one pass.

       Sasuke jumped backwards. The end of the tentacle morphed between fingers and a blob, never forming completely into a hand. More sludge oozed from the broken surface until it resembled a man, but it certainly couldn't be considered as such. Half of its face was oozing with black sludge. Its distorted body could hardly hold itself together. Claws tore through its abdomen. An ethereal howl chilled the air; the sound of souls crying for escape.

        The creature lurched forward, its legs indistinguishable from the shadows that surrounded it. Even though it had no eyes, Sasuke could feel it glance at him briefly before turning to Taiyo.

       Taiyo pulled back the sleeves of her shirt. Sasuke didn't even notice she was wearing long sleeves in such hot weather like this. Spring in Aoiya was almost as hot as the summers. Her wrists were further wrapped in ribbons. She peeled the ribbons away delicately and revealed her scar ridden forearms. Sasuke could see the rows of bite marks and scratches that Vincent had left in her arm.

        The creature extended its razor sharp teeth and sunk them into Taiyo's arm. She gasped as the blood flowed over the edge, the small droplets bursting into bright blue flames as they hit the ground.

       The surface of the pool was smooth as glass again.

       Vincent look like it took all his restraint to keep from devouring Taiyo whole, soul and all. After what felt like forever, Vincent pulled his teeth out of Taiyo's arm. Instead of the gruesome shadow creature, a young man with long white hair and lime green eyes stood before them. He didn't have any spirit bells like most animari, nor did he have any animal ears. He was dressed in a black shirt, black pants, and no shoes.

        Sasuke stared at the gaping wound in Taiyo's forearm, the muscles and flesh bright red with gushing blood.

       "Thank you," Vincent said, licking the blood from his mouth, Taiyo's wrist, and licking the drops of blood from the ground. He let Taiyo go and she wavered to the ground, clutching her arm. Sasuke crawled over to her.

       "You okay?"

       "I have a giant hole in my arm that is gushing blood," she said. Sasuke nodded and tried not to look at her arm.

      "I'll bandage it up," he murmured, fighting the nausea.

      "Don't throw up on me, please," she said.

      "Then let me keep my eyes on you," he said, looking her in the eye. Sasuke ripped his yellow school staff shirt and wrapped it around her wrist.

      "Is there a reason why you're here, Sasuke?" Vincent asked, his voice echoing through the cavern.

      "I have a few questions," Sasuke stated.

      "Humans are the only mammals that do not follow their instincts. Whereas any 'lesser' creature would turn and run, a human goes forward into the unknown. Logic and knowledge, it is our blessing as much as it is our curse."

      "Is that a warning?"

      "It depends on what you ask me," Vincent replied. He looked at Lili, who left for the surface. Sasuke glanced at his watch. 7:15. He made note of how Lili was leaving. She climbed deftly up the sides of the rocks and out through the small door.

      "I wanted to know about the attacks this morning on the Mizukasui Embassy and the Western Regional place in Koudo," Sasuke said.

      "There are more dangerous powers out there than our standards," Vincent said. Sasuke shook his head, annoyed that Vincent hadn't answered his question directly. Everyone knew there were seven elements in the energy stream that held their world together; Air, water, earth, fire, celestial, life, and death. People had the ability to tap into the different streams. Vincent stared at him, his lime green eyes wide as if he was watching the gears in Sasuke's head to turn.

       "Our world is like a series of strings that all connect together," Vincent explained, pacing back and forth like a wolf in a cage. "Each string represents a different element. When the string is tied to another string, a new individual line containing both strings is left. This would give rise to new and different abilities."

        "That's true," Sasuke said. He was an outcome of that logic. His parents were both hikasui, manipulators of fire. His powers were a mutation on that, he could turn things into ash by bypassing the fire stage.

        "Sometimes," said the wolf animari with a growl. "There are frays in the string that disrupt the construction of the world."

        Vincent scanned the wall and Sasuke turned to see what he was looking at. There were people carved into the walls, their faces carved to look fierce and beautiful. These were tombs, the graves of the mizukasui who died on this old battlefield.

         "The Inbetween creates itself where the world has been thrown off balance," Vincent said. "It's like fissures in our world, splitting wider and wider until the world falls apart. They all connect and they all throw the world out of balance."

      "So, who would have the most to gain by throwing the world off balance?" Sasuke asked. Vincent nodded. Sasuke studied Vincent's face while he thought.

        Vincent looked young, maybe even younger than Sasuke himself. It just occurred to the dragon animari that his birthday was a few days ago. He had just turned twenty and Vincent didn't look a day older than twenty himself. He had a slightly childish face, as if he were stuck in transition between an awkward teenager and a young man.

       It was hard to think a ghoulish beast with the decaying face and body could turn into a normal looking young man. If Taiyo's blood could do something like that for Vincent, Sasuke wondered what it might do for him. Maybe it might cure him.

        "You think about that," Vincent said, his eyes darting towards the opening where Lili crawled back through. She carefully climbed down the rocks and leapt across to the shore.

         Who would have the most to gain by throwing the world off balance?

        "It's Akukami. He's the only cursed wolf who could probably pull something like that off without any of the trail leading back to him," Sasuke said abruptly.

   "News has just been released about the surviving victims of the attacks," Lili said. She looked at the pool, then back at Vincent.

"You killed them," Sasuke said. He didn't have to ask why. Vincent nodded and he didn't have to explain. As the old adage goes, The only way to be cured of the wolf curse is to be killed. Sasuke's stomach twisted in knots.

"Are you going to go hunting for more tonight?" Lili asked Vincent.

     "I think not," Vincent said.

     "So it was cursed wolves then," Taiyo said, looking at Sasuke to confirm that he was right all along.

"The matter is not about what Akukami's motives are," Vincent said. "But what people are going to do in retaliation."

      "The memorial," Taiyo and Sasuke whispered.

     "What are we going to do?" Taiyo asked. Vincent approached her and looked her in the eye.

     "We do nothing," he said. "We let the empire crumble for the bottom up. We are what holds the structure together. If we can incite the passion of our people, the rest will follow."

     Sasuke watched Vincent as he began pacing again."And how do we incite passion?"

    "Didn't you just say that there was a memorial?"

     "Yes," Taiyo said. "This Saturday."

    "Do nothing but honor the people lost," Vincent said, a smile appearing on his face.

    "And what about you?"

    "I'm doing nothing. The empire must crumble from the bottom up," he repeated. "Atheria works in equivalent exchange."

     Vincent stepped into the pool and suck beneath the surface.

    "Do you know what his plans are?" Sasuke asked Lili. She was his most devout follower.

   "I don't know," Lili said, a bit saddened by this fact. "I wish I knew."

   "None of us can be trusted," Taiyo said. "For this to work, we simply must trust that he has our best interests in mind."

    "And follow his every order," Sasuke scoffed.

     "People in Aoiya are already talking and getting ready for the memorial," Lili said. "You two be on your guard."

      They nodded and Lili climbed back up the rocks and out of the cave.

      Sasuke looked and felt disgusting. He was covered in a thin layer of ooze, blood, and vomit was spotted all over his ripped yellow shirt. He looked like he just been wading through a swamp. The Inbetween was a bizarre place, but it was strangely beautiful at the same time. He couldn't stop looking at the swirling pools of color, the little balls of light skimming the surface.

        "Are you okay?" he and Taiyo asked each other in unison.

   "I'm a little light headed," Taiyo said. "I'm used to it. But you look like you just went swimming in the sewer."

       "That bad, huh?" Sasuke smirked.

"Worse actually," Taiyo said. "I should have told you not to swim down there. My mistake."

   "No worries," Sasuke said, though he was miffed that she didn't say anything. Then again, she probably wasn't used to bringing visitors with her. She wasn't exactly going to invite an audience to Vincent's feedings.

     "So what was it like inside The Inbetween?"

     "It felt like things were pulling me under. I wasn't fighting and I still felt really tired. It was weird, kind of like when you change into true form only slower."

   "And that black stuff?"

   "Don't remind me." Sasuke shuddered. "I rather enjoyed my dinner and would like to keep what's left of it." She nodded.

   Taiyo looked into the darkness. "How far do you think it goes out?"

    "Probably forever," Sasuke said.

    They watched the light, flying like fireflies towards the top of the cavern, the sound of children's laughter echoing as they flew.

Previous Next

Episode 7: Hunting

2009-11-24T15:00:00.000-08:00

         Takun started towards the countryside as soon as he and Sora left the restaurant. He was surprised that she stayed and didn't question where they were going, especially since she seemed to have a question for everything.

    "You aren't curious to know where we're going?"

    "I don't even think you know where you're going," Sora said. He smirked.

          "See if you can keep up." He took off into a sprint.

    He heard her footsteps trailing behind him. He saw the flash of her purple hair go past him as he started to slow down, panting for breath. She stopped suddenly and her jaw dropped.

          “This is beautiful,” she said. Takun caught up to her, bending over with his hands on his knees. He spit a ball of mucous that lodged itself in his chest. He duly noted not to run immediately after eating a large meal.

    He heard the rush of water and looked over the edge of the cliff. Small little houses were carved into the plateau. A gushing waterfall split the rocks in half with even more houses carved on both sides. The water flowed into a river that led to the ocean between Rashia and Crescendo.

    "Wow." Sora stood close to the edge. The mist sprayed against her face. She looked over and saw that the water stretched out forever. "I want to see what's at the bottom."

   Takun looked over the edge, the white foam of the waterfall dissipating into the black below. He turned to her with a smirk. "Wanna find out?"

    Sora smiled. "How?"

    Takun grabbed her hand and took a leap. Sora followed him and together they fell.

    Sora let out a scream. "Don’t let go of my hand. Don’t let go."

    "I won’t, I promise."

    "Close your eyes," Sora said, her eyes tightly shut. "It’s like flying."

     Takun closed his eyes and laughed nervously. He couldn’t stand the darkness. He opened his eyes and saw the skyline sinking quickly. Sora was laughing and screaming, tears falling from her eyes being so tightly shut. Takun held his breath and braced himself for impact. This was by far the stupidest idea he had ever had.

     They hit the water with a loud splash and Takun sunk like a rock. Sora never let go of his hand and was struggling to pull them both up to the surface. Takun propelled himself forward and attempted to dog paddle until they both got their heads above the water.

          Sora was up first and she sucked in air like a newborn. "Oh my gosh, Takun, you’re insane."

          Takun broke through the surface, spitting out water and sediment. "That was quite a rush," he said. He tread water as the current carried them both downstream. Takun pushed himself toward the shore with a lazy dog paddle, Sora casually floating on her back towards him.

        "We should do that again," Sora said.

        "Nah, that’s the kind of thing you do once," Takun said. "Or at least plan to do it when you have a change of clothes. We're soaking wet."

          “That’s what happens when you decide to jump off a cliff into a waterfall,” she teased, sticking her tongue at him. Takun pulled himself on the shore and Sora did as well.

          Sora unwittingly took her shirt off and squeezed the water out of it. She seemed to have forgotten that Takun was there watching her or she simply didn’t care. Takun took his shirt off and rung it out, then shook the water from his hair and tilted his head to the side to get rid of the water in his ears.

          Sora twisted her hair and the water dripped off, leaving her hair in a puffy mass of small curls. She went to put her shirt back on.

          “Leave it off,” Takun murmured, approaching her. He ran his fingers through her hair, occasionally getting them stuck in a small mass of tangles. She blushed and turned her back towards him, exposing the clasps of her blue bra. She braided her hair into one ponytail and turned around.

Takun tipped Sora's chin up and bringing his face lower. He kissed her nose and her cheek, brushing his lips against the curve of her jaw.

           Sora turned her head away from him. "You always make things so complicated."

          "Complicated? I didn't make things complicated!" Takun growled. Sora backed away. He took a deep breath and sighed.

          "You don’t fight for anything anymore, you just gave up. You aren't entitled to anything just because you're a cursed wolf and your parents were killed," Sora scoffed, putting her shirt back on. Takun looked at the ground, thinking of the 90% of people who raised their hands when asked if someone they had loved was killed in the war. "I wish you didn't just settle for the things people give you," Sora said.

          Takun tried to think of a comeback, something to explain that he didn't lose his fight. He couldn't think of anything. He did lose his fight, the way an animal could be broken into submission. He wasn't aware that he lost that tenacity and it was replaced with this submissive complacence, just bending to everyone's expectations of him. He was expected to take over the family business, something that he vowed he would never do, but what happened? He was in college, getting a degree he didn't want to take over a company he could care less about.

          "I'm going to fight for you then," he said. "Not in the way you think. You deserve to be happy and whatever it takes, I want to be the one to do that."

          Takun smiled at the look of surprise on her face. He looked into her blue eyes and kissed her.

          His hand crept up her wet shirt, feeling the coolness of her skin and the goose bumps that his touch induced. He pushed her back into the grass and caught her mouth again, his other hand skillfully unhooking her bra clasps through her shirt.

          "You're shaking," Takun said.

          "I'm kind of nervous."

          "Don't be." He silenced her with a kiss, but she pulled away.

          "Where do we go from here?" she whispered.

          "If we're going to try to make this work, you have to see all of me," Takun said. "We have honest with each other."

           She smirked. "What are you implying?"

          "I meant a friendship," he said. "We have to see who we truly are."

          "Are you going to show me your truest form?"

          Takun didn't answer. He bit his lip and as she flicked the golden bell on his neck. "You wouldn't like what you see."

          "I've seen a lot of things that I haven't liked," she said. "But I had to accept them."

          He took off his golden bell and placed it in her hand. He rolled off of her and transformed into his interim form, the black and white wolf like creature.

          Takun felt sharp stabbing pain in his feet. He looked at his huge deformed paws. He never really noticed the way his digits twisted themselves to accommodate his retractable claws. Maybe that's why he was having trouble running and putting all that extra weight on it wasn't making things better. He wondered how long it would be before he couldn't run anymore.

          Sora's face was full of concern, twisting her bra around so she could hook the clasps together. "Are you okay?"

           I'm fine, he said in the canine language, hoping that she understood. He watched as Sora removed the purple collar around her neck and quickly hung it on a stout shrub branch. She transformed into a wolf-like creature, with white fur and purple tipped ears, paws, and tail.

          This was the first time that he had ever seen Sora in her true form. It was discouraged by the government; for fear that someone would just revert to animal instincts and attack someone.

          "Wow," Takun said.

          "I'll probably be sore in the morning," Sora said, stretching and popping her joints. She did understand the canine language. Of course, in true form, one could only speak in their true language or not at all. (unless they were hybrids) "If we're going to be honest and all, I might as well take advantage of it. They don't let us transform into our true forms that often. Only on True Day, but they are thinking about stopping that because the animari population always goes up after that."

       "Well, it is mating season after all," Takun said.

      If animals could blush, Sora would have definitely been bright red.

      "I'm not implying anything between us," Takun replied quickly. "I'm just saying, if they just picked a time when animals aren't prone to mating. Well, that's dumb, because I guess in human form they could mate anytime they wanted."

          "Maybe you should just stop talking," Sora said.

          "That's probably a good idea," Takun said.

          "So what are we going to do?"

          "Each other." Sora jumped away from him.

          "No, I didn't mean that. Well, I did, but I didn't mean it literally. Well actually I did, but I didn't mean to say it out loud." Takun found himself rambling.

           "I don't want you humping me by surprise," Sora said.

           "I wouldn't do that," Takun said. "Unless you wanted me too. I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I've never been around a female that was in true form before, at least someone who wasn't family."

          "Isn't most of your family inbred?"

          "Touché."

           Crickets chirped and the hum of various bugs filled the silence.

          "Now what?" Sora asked.

           Takun's ears perked up and his eyes darted around. He caught the scent of an animal, though he couldn't tell what it was.

          "What are you doing?"

         Takun sniffed the ground, his tail wagging as he caught the scent and followed it. He followed it around for a while before for finally tracking it down. He inhaled deeply when he reached a purple tipped paw connected to a furry white leg.

          "You smell."

          "I smell?"

          "Not bad," Takun said. "It's kinda of hard to describe. It's like something about the way you smell makes me wanna..."

          Sora's blue eyes scanning him over. "Like this primal urge to just go at it."

           "You feel it too?"

           "A little," Sora said, but the look in her eye said otherwise.

        "I guess we are animals after all."

        "We're only animals if we give in," Sora replied.

        "Do you want to give in?" Takun said.

          "I do," she said breathlessly. "But it's risky."

          "Yeah I guess," Takun said. Having sex in true form almost always led to offspring and was incredibly risky. Not only would a girl have to stay in true form, but she ran the risk of having a litter of offspring, instead of the one or two that occurred in human form. He didn't really want to put a girl in that situation. "Maybe we can burn off this energy."

          "How?"

        Takun's ears twitched at the sound of small feet scurrying through the grass. He filtered the scent, trying to ignore the natural pheromones that wafted through the air, he caught the scent of a rat.

           "Hunting."

                             *                           *                           *

          "Next on Wild Safari," Takun narrated, as he watched Sora crouch down in a low position. "The huntress spots her prey."

          "Where?" Sora whispered.

          "Pretend it's in the distance," Takun whispered back. "In the distance, a creature stirs unaware of the huntress' presence. The huntress takes off in a sprint towards her prey."

          Sora focused her eyes ahead and didn't move.

          "I said, the huntress takes off in a sprint towards her prey."

          "Oh right." Sora took off in a sprint before stopping short and screaming.

          "What is it?"

          "Eeeeekk," she shouted, skipping and hopping in a frantic dance. "There's a mouse!"

          Takun sighed and took his time walking over to Sora. He forgot that sometimes animari had the same fears in true form as they did in human form. It was weird to see a fox-wolf mix afraid of a mouse, but if she hadn't been in true form for a while, then instinct would take a while to kick in.

         "That's not a mouse," Takun said, watching the gray rodent dart through Sora's legs as if it were teasing her. "That's a rat."

          Takun's gray blue eyes followed the rat before pinning it to the ground.

          "You're not going to eat that thing are you?"

          "I suppose I could let it go."

          She watched the raggedy gray rat struggling to get away from Takun's grasp.

          "You do what you have to," Sora said, her ears flattened against her head and the fur on her neck and back bristled with disgust. "I just don't want to watch." She turned around and sat, her ears still down.

          Takun looked at the creature, then back at Sora, then back at the creature who had stopped struggling, a "If you're going to eat me, do it quickly and painlessly" look in its beady black eyes. For a while, Takun tried to force the guilt out of his system, hoping that instinct would take over.

          "Would you be mad at me if I let instinct take over and killed this thing?" Takun asked.

          "If you have to do it, do it," Sora said, her voice still teeming with disgust.

          "You won't be mad though?" he said. He didn't wait for an answer. He grabbed the rat by the neck and trotted away, crushing it in between his teeth. He tried to be gentle, but he tore into it voraciously. He finished the rat off, bones and all. He caught the scent of other vermin, and followed their trails. He found their den and dug.

            He could feel all logic leaving his mind. He didn’t care whether Sora was watching or what she thought or how she would feel after this. His only focus was more food. The primal cursed wolf inside of him was begging for souls; it couldn’t be satisfied with blood of lesser animals. He continued anyway, ripping at throats and tearing at entrails.

    Blood and dirt covered his muzzle as he pulled out of the hole, panting heavily. He fought to gain control of his senses. The air was filled with the scent of the wild, the ground slick with blood. There was a piercing hum, like the sound of a small bell being rung continuously. He saw lights flashing and whizzing towards him.

    The lights spun around him, nicking his fur and screaming while they did so. He swat them away with a bat of his paw and a growl, but they continued. He knew exactly what these balls of light were. They were souls torn away from their bodies by a cursed wolf. He caught one in his mouth and bit down.

        Lightning jolted through him.

        He took off after the light.

        "Where are you going?" Sora yelled.

          He didn't know. He really couldn't explain. Sora ran after him.

"Don't follow me," he said.

         She ran into him, causing him to trip over his feet and fall. He slid across the forest floor in a daze, wondering how Sora was able to do that. He was so much bigger and bulkier than she was.

          "What the hell did you do that for?" he yelled. She didn't respond. He laid there on the floor seething. He saw bloody paw prints, then looked at his own paws. His claws had torn through the pads of his paw.

           "Shit," he grumbled. He whimpered as he got up.

   "We should call it a night," Sora said, running back to where she had left her collar. She came back as a woman, her hair wild and filled with leaves and twigs. She took the golden bell out of her pocket and attempted to hook it on. He moved away when she got close.

           "Will you stop?"

              No, he barked. She grabbed his muzzle shut and tried to put the bell on again. He moved away, bucking and swatting at her hand. She didn't let go and quickly snapped the bell on.

             "Why did you do that?" Takun growled, looking at his hands. They were scared and bloody, but they would probably heal as long as he didn't go back into true form.

              "We have to go," Sora said. Takun looked at the time on his portalphone. 2:24 in the morning. He looked at the cliff and realized how hard it was going to be trying to get back up.

Previous Next

Episode 6: The Way We Were

2009-11-19T00:00:00.000-08:00

Sora looked around the airtram station. She had never seen anything so overblown and elaborate. The first thing that came to her mind when she saw the marble flooring, gold accents, and portraits was how much money it cost to make this place. Many of the other students were looking around at the portraits, reading the little captions at the bottom.

    The airtram station in Hirukaze was a concrete building that was covered in graffiti and smelled of piss. It was hard to believe that two completely different places were only an airtram ride away from each other.

    "Look at these portraits," Usagi said, pointing to a bunch of stuffy old animari and mahonin with stern faces. "These are apparently the people who funded the project. Aoiya was established as a city in Solar Year 27 as Lord Hirotaka Akukami took over the world of Atheria after the Red Rebellion."

    Though more written, Usagi stopped reading, her nose scrunched up in disgust. She ignored the rest of the stuffy old men portraits and came to a division in the airtram station path. There was a sign that pointed to the left for arrivals, to the right for departures, and straight ahead for the exit. Usagi waited for them to catch up.

    As Sora passed the pictures of the old men, she felt like their eyes were following her as if to say "You're too poor for a place like this." She followed Taiyo, Arashi, and Usagi towards the exit.

    "Hey, this is where the famous goddesses and kasui are," Usagi said, pointing to a portrait of a woman with long red hair and grayish-green eyes like jade. Everyone recognized this woman, Laura Falon-Remmington, a manipulator of water and the presiding Deva goddess for Moraa for a number of years until she was killed in a brutal pirate hijacking.

    Next to her was Laura's daughter, Celesta, who took over the role as Deva goddess. The young woman had curly red hair, gray eyes, and very light freckles on her face. The portrait looked fairly new, as if whoever was in charge grudgingly put it up there. Celesta caused quite the scandal because she wasn't fully trained and was married and pregnant before the designated time slot determined by the World Goddess Federation.

    There were other goddess and noteable kasui that Sora more or less recognized, but didn't care to know more about. Once they had made it to the surface, Sasuke had told the group to meet at the tram station by 8:30. He wasn't going to wait for anybody who was late. The group split up in different directions.

    "I'm hungry," Takun bellowed out, his deep baritone echoing down the hallway. "We should eat."

    "Wait a minute," Sasuke said. "None of us can afford to eat in Aoiya."

    Takun took several metallic plastic squares from his pocket and fanned them out like a deck of cards. "Pick a card, any card."

    Sasuke picked one out and the other students gathered around to look at it.

    "It's so shiny, " Usagi said.

    "What is this?" Sasuke asked.

    "It's a credit card imported from Koudo." There was a smug look on Takun's face.

    "Hey, look at that little world on it," Sirod said pointing to a little globe in the corner. "It moves when you turn it." The group "ooohed" more enthusiatically than they had when Sasuke was giving them the tour of the countryside. Sasuke moved it back and forth with a child like fascination before handing it back to Takun.

    "Are you sure we can pay with these?"

    "Yeah, you just swipe it and get stuff," Takun said.

    "I guess we'll go eat then," Sasuke said.

    The restaurant they found was definitely better than the ones in Hirukaze, but Sora could tell it was low class in a place like Aoiya. Despite that, the people gave them all weird looks when they walked in, just like the portraits in the airtram hallway. The greeter seemed to recognize Takun, but looked at rest of the group with disdain. Sora decided that she didn't like Aoiya.

    Even though it seemed at the lower end of the Aoiya restaurant hierarchy, it was still packed with people.

    "Hey there, Chief," a very rotund man with white cat ears waved them in. "Long time, no see."

    Sora noticed that Takun had relaxed a little, she didn't even realize that he was tense until he slouched a bit and stopped hunching his shoulders.

    "Same here."

    "You got a big group," the man said, his accent was thick and gruff, like he had grown up in the streets of Crescendo.

    "Yeah, I got a credit card too," Takun said, whipping out the one with the holographic globe and handing it to the cat man. They talked for a bit while the man swiped his card. Sora couldn't figure out why Takun had chosen this place. Sasuke and Sirod looked pleased though, so she supposed she could trust their judgment.

    "Sit anywhere you'd like."

    Takun, Sirod, and Sasuke didn't sit anywhere, but grabbed a few plates and went to another area around the corner. Sora and her friends followed and realized that they were at an all-you-can-eat-buffet. She was a little disappointed that they didn't get to eat at a more upscale place since they were in Aoiya after all, but she felt comfortable with a setting that she was already familiar with.

    She grabbed a plate and tried to decide what to get.

    "Hey," Takun whispered in her ear, causing it to twitch involuntarily. Sora felt a chill run up her spine. "Sit next to me, okay? We need to talk."

    "What if I don't want to talk?" Sora said, moving down the row and getting a serving of macaroni and cheese, roasted pheasant leg, and fried shrimp.

    "It wasn't an option," he said coolly before piling his plate with fried food.

    "What did he say to you?" Arashi asked, standing on the other side of the buffet line.

    "He wants to talk," Sora stated. Arashi's eyes narrowed, but she said nothing.

    "It seems that everybody wants to talk, but nobody wants to listen," Taiyo said, giving a dark look at Sasuke, who was at the salad bar with a plate overflowing with pineapples. He glanced up at her, then feeling everyone's eyes on him, turned on his heel and walked away towards the teriyaki chicken.

    Sora decided that her plate was full after getting a small salad and a bowl of wonton soup. She glanced around to see how much everyone had their own plates. It's not that she could put it back or anything, but she didn't want to seem like a pig. Sasuke and Sirod had more than the other girls, who seemed to be holding back as well.

    Takun was sitting in a dimly lit booth. He waved her over.

    "Well, I'll go see what he wants," Sora said to her friends. "If I don't come back..."

    "I'm taking your dorm room," Taiyo stated.

    "And I'll be taking that shirt you have on," Arashi said. "If Takun hasn't taken it off already." She winked.

    "We'll be sitting over there if you need us," She added. "If we had portalphones, I'd give you a ring and saw that there was some type of emergency or something just in case it started getting awkward."

    Sora smiled at the fact that these people that she had only met today were willing to save
her in times of trouble.

    "I should be all right," Sora said. "I'll see you guys later."

    Sora walked down the aisles to where Takun was exuberantly wolfing down his meal. She sat down and he stopped in mid chew, while both of them pondered over what to say.

    "What did you want to talk to me about?" Sora asked, daintily eating her macaroni and cheese noodle by noodle.

    "I think you know," he said, looking at his half empty plate.

     The silence was unnerving.

    "Why did you leave?" Sora asked, deciding not to skirt around the issue. If they both had done it, it would have been an endless tango of half answered questions and half told answers. She wasn't in the mood for it.

    "I left because I had to," he said. She gave him a look urging him to elaborate. "I couldn't stay in that house. Mayura hated me for getting the company and I don't blame her---not for that."

    "What do you mean by that?"

    "I mean, if my husband's bastard son got the company I thought I was supposed to get, I'd be mad too," Takun said. "She probably would have killed me if she thought she could get away with it."

    "Why didn't you say good-bye?"

    "I'm sorry about that," he said sincerely. "So many things were going on at once, I just had to get out."

    "I understand," she said. She truly did know what it felt like to lose everything. "You know you could have talked to me. I thought that we understood that part about each other."

    "I know, I just...," he was searching for words.

    "Didn't want me to hold you back?" Sora filled in.

    "It wasn't like that," Takun said. "I mean, Kuroshiro mansion was a safer environment than where I was living. Something could have happened to you out there and I'd have to blame myself. I can't live with anymore blame."

    "Ryo's my cousin," Sora said. "I went to go live with him anyway."

    "That was after he got his act together," Takun stated. "I mean, I was fifteen, you were only thirteen. Do you know what could have happened to you out there?"

    Sora knew. She ran the risk of getting kidnapped and sold on the street. She knew that some people were sick enough to pay extra money for a child under the age of consent. Justice never came for those children, their spirits crushed into a life of learned helplessness.

    The sad part of her situation was that she didn't think Ryo would have done anything to protect her at that point. He was too drunk, too drugged up, and too desperate to have done anything. He might have even sold her out just to get money for another fix. He was better now though. She was glad for that.

    "So you know why I had to leave?"

    "You should have said good-bye," Sora said. "You could have been dead and I wouldn't have known it. I was scared for you."

    "You were?"

    "Why wouldn't I be? You were my best friend," Sora said.

    "Were." There was such a finality in his voice. Sora nodded.

    "I couldn't wait around forever," she added. "You didn't wait for me."

    His lips turned up into a sardonic smile. "I couldn't wait for you, no matter how much I wanted to. After I got kicked out of the house, I had to take care of myself. That made me a different person, not really a better one, but different all the same."

    "That doesn't mean we can't be friends," Sora suggested.

    "We could never get things back to the way they were, could we?"

    They were buddies, they used to play together and spy on people. They used to share ice cream right out of the tub and share the same bed. Sora blushed at what that implied, even though they didn't do anything.

    "I don't think so," she said. "But we're different people now and I guess our friendship would have evolved on a different level."

    "Like you being my girlfriend?" There was a twinge of hope in his voice.

    "No, not like that," Sora said. "Not now at least. Let's just start as friends and try to catch up."

    He smiled. "Well, you look nice...good. Filled out in all the right places," he said, the last part muttered under his breath. She blushed anyway. He looked more exotic than she remembered him with that light bronze complexion and those stormy grey blue eyes.

    "You look...well-fed," she said. His physical build was more like those born in Azpa; hearty, thick magical creatures who were labored the land for centuries. In Rashia, where nearly everyone was moderately skinny and svelte, he stood out. Especially in Aoiya, where superficiality was taken to the extreme.

    "Yeah, thanks," he said. "How's the family?"

    "Ryo's good, he's working on his fashion line." That statement meant nothing as Ryo's fashion line seemed to be at a standstill. "Giselle's fine. The kids are okay. Jake's ten now and Vivi's four or something. Everyone's okay."

    "That's good," he looked at his empty plate. "I'll be back."

    "All right," Sora said. Sora saw Arashi, Usagi, and Taiyo approaching her table.

    "So how's it going? Do we need to call security?" Arashi asked.

    Sora glanced at Takun, who was mulling over desserts.

    "It's going okay," Sora said. "He's really nice at the moment. So, have you asked for any donations?"

    "Yeah, I got three hundred royale so far from the owner. He said it was a good idea and if I needed a place to work or anything, I can use the back room," Arashi said.

    "Are you sure that I don't need to call security for you?" Sora asked. Arashi smiled.

    "His wife is a mizukasui, so the attacks hit close to home," Usagi filled in. "We haven't actually asked anyone in the restaurant yet, but we might go around door to door."

    "I'd ask you if you want to come," Arashi trailed off. "But it looks like you two have a lot of catching up to do."

    "Sasuke wants to speak to me," Taiyo said. "I don't think I'll be joining you tonight."

    "That's okay. I think the better thing to do is hit up people on Friends and Family Day tomorrow. They might be more willing to give if their families were watching," Arashi said.

    "Good strategy," Sora stated.

    "Well, have a good evening," Usagi said. "We'll see you at the airtram station at 8:30."

    "Tell Takun thanks for paying," Arashi added in. Sora nodded and waved good-bye as they headed over to the buffet area.

    "You're not getting another plate?" Takun asked, sitting down with three full plates of dessert as if he hadn't eaten anything before.

    "I'm full," Sora said. "But I did save room for dessert. I'll be back."

    Sora went up to the dessert area and looked over the array of cookies and macaroons. Sasuke was there as well, grabbing a pineapple and coconut macaroon and a iridela-flavored frozen yogurt that he topped with generous amounts of hot fudge and caramel topping.

    "If Takun is bothering you, let me know," Sasuke whispered, giving a sharp look to the guy in question. Takun's ears had flicked in their direction and Sora could tell that he was trying his best not to turn around.

    "It's nothing I can't handle," Sora said, glancing to see if Takun had a reaction. She was glad he was sitting with his back to them.

       "Good," Sasuke said. "You're a smart girl, but if he does ever go too far, talk to me, I'll straighten him out."

    "Thanks," she replied, not sure what else to say. Sasuke glanced at Takun again.

    "No problem." Sasuke grabbed a few more macaroons of various flavors and joined Sirod at their table.

    Sora grabbed a white chocolate and coconut cookie and mango frozen yogurt topped with condensed milk and iridela jelly cubes.

    "What did he say to you?" Takun asked, as if he didn't already hear. He had amazingly acute hearing, though it wasn't a surprise with his large ears.

    "He said if you ever bother me, he'll straighten you out," Sora replied. She found Sasuke's statement humorous. Sasuke was tall and wiry while Takun was husky. The idea of Sasuke "straightening out" Takun was absurd, but Sasuke looked like he had seen a couple fights in his days on behalf of people who couldn't stand up for themselves.

    "How do you even know Sasuke?" Sora asked. It was hard to think that the scrawny little hyperactive boy she knew was now this tall and husky young man.

    "Our fathers were friends in school," Takun said. "They went to Cadenza for alchemist
training, before they only started teaching mahonin and gehin. We lost contact for a while, but then I heard that he got a scholarship here."

    "Is that why you went to Aoikin?"

    "No," he said. "This was the only place that really would accept me. I mean, I never went to school."

    "Not even as a kid?"

    A tragic smile graced his face. "I went to school for a while, until my mom got sick."

    "When did you stop going to school?"

    "When I was seven," he said. "Then when she died, my father and I were on the road a lot so I never went to school then."

    Sora felt like she should have known this stuff, but when he was living in Kuroshiro mansion he only mentioned that his mother had died and nothing else. Sora knew when she was being taken from the orphanage that her job was to entertain the "young master" to make his transition to Kuroshiro mansion as smooth as possible. Delia, the head servant, had told her this when they drove home that day. She thought she was being pimped out to an old man, but she was relieved to find a shy little boy with white and black hair.

    "So when Mayura put the stipulation that I needed a college degree to get my inheritance, I couldn't get in by merit or celebrity. I had to pay a hell of a lot of money to get to this school. Sasuke coming here was just a coincidence though."

   He took a huge bite of food. "So, how was life after I left?"

    "They had me look after Mimi," Sora stated. "And when she died, they sent me back."

    "Sent you back where?"

    "To the orphanage," Sora snapped as if he hadn't known. She didn't mean to snap, but she also didn't want to be reminded that she was just a commodity, something to be bought, traded, and returned. "I stayed there and worked, went to school for three years until Ryo got me. I basically lived with his wife and watched his kids while he was out getting wasted and getting high."

    "I see," Takun said awkwardly. "Is he coming to the Friends and Family Day tomorrow?"

    "Most likely," Sora said. Takun nodded, the expression on his face was a mix between embarrassment, satisfaction, and nervousness.

     "Do you still have feelings for him?"

     "I can't have feelings for someone who mistreats people," Takun said. "Ryo's not a nice guy nor will he ever be."

     "He's changed, still mean, but he's trying," Sora said.

     "We should go," Takun said, shoving his remaining food in his mouth and gulping down his drink. "I have something I want to show you."

Previous Next

Episode 5: The Hills

2009-11-17T15:00:00.000-08:00

Arashi was trying to appear as chipper as the other students as the day continued to lag on. And by other students, she really only meant Usagi, who was taking this college thing seriously. As if she didn't already have several degrees. Arashi supposed that it couldn't hurt to get another degree either. They say one never stops learning.

The group was slowly making its way through yet another activity. The tigress was half listening when Sasuke explained the rules to this "Smashing Stereotypes" workshop. From what she could understand, they were basically going to make fun of each other based on stereotypes for a few minutes, talk about a time when someone had done that to them, and speak about a time when they had done that to others.

They were all in groups of four. Arashi was grouped with Usagi, a girl named Coriander, and Takun. Takun laid on the ground while Coriander was preoccupied with asking him questions. Usagi wanted to stick to the task at hand, which was "Smashing Stereotypes" because it was important for the overall campus wellbeing, she had said. And Arashi? Arashi wanted to take a steak knife and stab herself in the eye. Repeatedly.

"So, is Tessa your girlfriend now?" Coriander asked.

"What is this 'Interrogate Takun Hour'?" Takun grumbled.

"Who should go first? I think Coriander should go first. What do you say, Coriander?" Usagi tried to facilitate a meaningful discussion.

"I saw you and Tessa kiss and Tessa said...," Coriander said.

"Or what about Takun? Takun, do you want to go first?"

Takun belched loudly in response.

"That was about an eight," Arashi heard Sirod yell from across the walkway. They were on

the back patio of the Oak Vista Dormitory, some sitting under the fading orange gazebo others sprawled out under the giant oak trees that lined the pathway.

"If you heard it all the way from over there, it should be at least a 9.5," Takun yelled back.

"You're disgusting," Arashi muttered.

"Can we do the exercise?" Usagi asked. Takun sat up and shrugged, then burped again, just because he knew that it bugged her.

"Have at it."

"Okay, I guess I'll start," Usagi said. She read the worksheet. "When you think of a hybrid, what stereotypes do you think of?"

"Um... confused?" Coriander suggested, though she wasn't entirely sure what she should say.

"Confused!? I'll have you know that I am most certainly not confused, I graduated top of my class," Usagi said.

"I don't know. I was just guessing. I don't hear a lot about hybrids," Coriander said. "I'm from Koudo."

"Oh... I'm sorry. What about you, Arashi?"

"You know how I feel about most hybrids, Usagi, though at this particular point in time I find one particular hybrid to be rude, disgusting, and intolerable," Arashi said, pretending that Takun wasn't staring at her with this strange look.

"What about you, Takun?"

"You know," He looked at her name tag. "Arashi, you'd be really hot if it weren't for that attitude of yours," he said. Arashi really didn't know what to say. The tigress wasn't sure she wanted him to find her attractive. She just scoffed and tried to ignore him.

"Well that was fun," Coriander said with an annoyed sigh.

"This is stupid," Takun said. "Why don't you guys join Sasuke's group? I'm going to take a nap."

"Fine, any group is better than this one," Arashi said.

"I agree," Coriander replied, annoyed that Takun wasn't answering any of her questions.

"Look," Sasuke's voice boomed over the shouting match between a few girls of different species in a different group. Arashi was surprised that he could even project his voice that loud. It was actually scary in a way. "This was just a simple exercise about stereotypes. If you guys are just going to sit here and make fun of each other, then get out of my group."

The girls shut their mouths immediately and looked at the ground.

"Good! Now, the program says that we're supposed to go inside and watch a movie. If you want to do that, line up over here and head to the cafeteria."

"What are we doing instead of the movie?"

"We're going to Aoiya City. You guys can pick up some last minute things if you need to or just wait for 'Friends and Family Day' tomorrow. There's a lot to do there and we've got three hours," Sasuke said glancing at his watch. He sounded truly agitated, and from the little bit she had gathered from observing Sasuke and his interactions with other people, it would take a lot to push him to this state. "So if you're down, stay where you are."

"Are you going to go?" Usagi asked.

"Yeah, why not? I have some last minute things to pick up," Arashi said. "Plus I need to start spreading awareness for our memorial next weekend. Aoiya's the perfect place to do it." A bunch of rich people feeling guilty for something they had no control of, but somehow feel responsible for. "Why don't you get out and have a little fun?"

"I'm having fun here," Usagi said. "I want to see what the movie's about."

Arashi shrugged. "All right. Don't you get tired of watching the same types of movies over

again?"

"I think they're interesting," Usagi replied in a matter-of-fact tone. Arashi shrugged again.

"Especially the one about Megami Bara. That one is really good."

Arashi had to admit "The Last Goddess" was one of the better movies based on Megami Bara, though it wasn't entirely accurate. It did mention the woman who predicted the attacks years before they actually happened. The Koudonese version made her into a crazy voodoo priestess, who shared an uncanny resemblance to another woman in a movie about pirates and rum (or the lack thereof).

"What movie will we be watching?" Arashi decided to ask. Depending on the movie, she could either: A) force herself to watch it and have a peaceful night in the dorms without the irritated (and irritating) counselors hovering over her. B) go to the city and pick up some last minute items that she mistakenly forgot to pack.

"A movie about diversity, what else?" Sasuke said. He was starting to lose his happy outlook and was slowly turning more into the jaded student counselors that college was known for producing. He looked at his paper. "It's called 'A Moment to Cry'."

"I love that movie!" Usagi exclaimed. "It's about the woman whose children got killed and set off the Blood Wars. She then becomes a key speaker in the war and it's really really sad."

"Doesn't she die at the end?" Sirod asked.

"Didn't she get killed along with her children?" Arashi asked. Koudo had to stop taking artistic licenses with the stories it decided to tell.

"She technically got beheaded in front of her children," Usagi said. "But I guess they decided to put a new spin on it. It's a really really good movie."

"Yeah, I'll bet it's a triumph in the human spirit and all that bullshit," Takun said, slinking up behind them and stretching. "I'm down for going to the city though. There's a couple of spots throwin' some kick ass parties."

"No partying!" Sasuke said. "We can't afford to get fired. We're just going into the city and making a trip to the convenience store to pick up some necessities. If you have money, I guess we can get something to eat out there too."

"Well, if anyone's down to party, you can come with me." Takun smirked. His fangirls flocked to his side.

"Didn't you just hear me? I know you must've with your big ass ears," Sasuke said. "No parties. No sex. No alcohol. No nothing."

"What's the point of going if we can't do any of that stuff?" Tessa asked, lacing fingers with Takun. The hybrid looked uncomfortable.

"Do that stuff on your own time," Sasuke said. Takun conceded.

"Fine. Party at my place tomorrow," he said. Sasuke didn't put up a fight.

"So if you want to watch 'A Moment To Cry', you've got fifteen seconds to get your ass to the cafeteria," Sirod exclaimed. It was obvious she was ready to go. A few mahonin and half breeds reluctantly headed to the cafeteria, probably because their parents told them not hangout with people like Takun, Sasuke, and Sirod (or animari and nymphs in general).

She was surprised that a group like them were even considered to be counselors. They weren't the type of students she would have chosen for this job, interfacing with the students and whatnot. Through her various stints at college, there was one thing she didn't forget and that was the freshman orientation.

"You're not going, Usagi?" Arashi asked.

"I've seen that movie sixteen times already," Usagi said. "It's the same thing over and over again, so I think that I'll go with you guys."

"Plus I want to keep an eye on some of these students," the rabbit-wolf added. Arashi nodded.

"That's settled," Sasuke said. "I guess we head over to the airtrams."

"Yay! I love the airtrams, they are so fun. It was such a good idea that they got that installed. Back in my day, we had to walk up hills like that," Usagi said.

"Back in my day?" Sirod asked. "You mean, like two years ago."

"Precisely," Usagi said with a cheerful and oblivious smile. Arashi nudged her in the side.

"Be careful what you say," she whispered. Usagi nodded.

"Back in my day two years ago," Usagi reiterated.

The airtram was an old blue carriage instead of the chubby bug-like pods that Arashi was used to seeing. She could tell that they had modeled the airtram to look like a carriage, because inside it had bright blue and goldenrod chairs and blue painted hand rails. She took her seat next to the window, Usagi sat next to her.

Arashi smiled, looking out the side of the airtram as it made it's slow climb to Aoiya. She could see the whole city of Hirukaze to the south, lit up like a Dejingras water fountain during the holidays. The sun was just setting, casting a pink-orange tint over the area.

To the north, she could see the lush mansions in Aoiya, hidden between beautiful iridela plants that were in full bloom, their tiny neon pink petals falling down to the ground. To the east and the west, was sprawling country side.

The grass was fluorescent green and the wild tinkerberry shrubs with their large white flowers gave off the scent of something vaguely reminiscent of lavender with a touch of vanilla, cinnamon, and jasmine. There was a small river coursing beneath them that disappeared into a series of tunnels.

"Wow, this view is spectacular."

Sasuke had a smile on his face as he looked out of the window.

"It is nice."

She saw him glance at Taiyo and give a small smile. In Arashi's heart of hearts, she knew Taiyo returned it, even if she did turn her head too quickly to see. She overheard some of the girls talking about who was going to hook-up first. If Arashi had to put her money in the pot, she'd put on Takun or anyone, but Sasuke and Taiyo would be a close second.

Arashi felt bad for thinking this, but she could tell that the groups she was with were scholarship students. They looked as if they had never seen so much greenery before.

"I guess I can give you guys a little guided tour," Sasuke said. "Well obviously you can tell which cities are which." There was a thin layer of smog to the south where Hirukaze stood.

"The river flowing underneath us makes this land very beautiful. The pathway that it flows is

actually the remnants of an ancient elven village."

The students in the airtram humored him with an "oooh." He beamed.

"You can see small doors and windows in this crack over here," he pointed to stone where there were indeed little windows with yellow stained glass windows and little doors that were covered in overgrown vines.

"Are you sure these weren't hobbits?" Usagi asked. Only Takun appeared to have gotten the joke. He was rich enough to import Koudonese movies or pay the exorbitant price for theater tickets. She and Usagi actually saw the movie in the "Fact from Fiction" class they had to take at the Goddess Studies Lab in Kiyahana.

"So if this used to be a village, how did the water start flowing through it?" Usagi asked.

"Well, the water was already here," Sasuke explained, sounding like a teacher. "It used to be a minor waterfall before the elves used it for their power source. With help from mizukasui, they were able to use the water to carve out homes and things. Though after the First Blood Wars, the area was abandoned by the elves as they moved under ground. Mizukasui used this area as a battlefield in the Second Blood Wars."

"Fascinating," Usagi said. She was always intrigued by little facts like this, for whatever reason. Arashi had to admit it was a interesting little tidbit, though it wasn't entirely useful.

The only information that isn't useful is no information at all, Arashi repeated the Goddess aphorism in her head.

Sasuke continued on his tour, spending most of his time talking about the native plants in the area and how most of the trees were planted by the Aoikin University founders. Only Usagi appeared to be listening, though he didn't seem to mind. Most of the students mingled amongst themselves.

"So, are you going to use this time to ask for participants in the memorial?" Sora asked. She was sitting in the seat behind her next to Taiyo.

"Yeah, I'm thinking about asking some business owners if they're willing to donate," Arashi said. "I mean we do have celebrities on campus who are on board with the whole thing, maybe they can convince them to donate. I'm just a nobody." She smiled.

"It's a really nice thing that you're doing this," Sora said. "A lot people here don't seem to care about anything."

"I noticed that. I guess you really don't have to care if you're rich, as long as you have your money."

There was silence between them, but it wasn't awkward. Arashi looked around the airtram cabin and noticed that most of the students were scholarship students. It was obvious that they all stuck together, even if they weren't doing it intentionally. There was strength in numbers. The whole world of Atheria ran on this principle.

"So, what's your major?" They both asked in unison.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Go ahead," Arashi said.

"I'm majoring in Goddess Studies," Sora said. "I'm hoping to go to St. Talea's after graduation."

"Cool, that's a really good school," Arashi said, knowing this for a fact. She had attended a while ago and it was a life-changing experience. It was the determining factor of why she was at this specific place with a specific mission to accomplish.

"I'm majoring in Goddess Studies too, with an emphasis in history," Arashi replied.

"That's cool," Sora said. They chatted a little bit, though Arashi could tell that Sora was trying to avoid talking about the attacks. It was understandable, who wanted to talk about something so depressing anyway?

The tigress suspected that may be the reason why rich people didn't seem to care about anything other than money because the current state of Atheria required that one take action. It was bad form to talk about something you weren't prepared to fix. Rich people only seemed to talk about the weather and/or gossip.

They talked about weather because it was something that could never be controlled (unless you were an expert teikasui like she was) and they gossiped because it was something you could control depending on which words one chose. She spent many a time in a tight corset, listening to potential suitors, biddy old ladies, and spoiled rich brats ramble on endlessly about these things. Arashi was glad those days were over.

The airtram came to smooth halt.

"Thank you for visiting Aoiya," the pleasant voice greeted them as the door to the airtram

slid open. "Please watch your step and have a wonderful day."

Arashi stepped out and looked around. Despite all the places she traveled, she had never been to Aoiya. It was a rich town, so she never had a reason to be sent there. She marveled at the white marble floors and pillars and portraits of famous magical creatures. It looked more like a museum than an airtram station.

"Wow, this place is..." Arashi said, looking for a word to fill in the blank.

Sora looked around, unimpressed. "A waste of money."

Arashi nodded, hoping that if the citizens in Aoiya wasted all this money on an airtram station, that they would surely donate to her worthy cause.

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Episode 4: Discussion

2009-11-12T00:00:00.000-08:00

     Sasuke rubbed his temples as he headed back with his massive group of freshman back to Oak Vista dorms for lunch. The culture walk hadn't been a total disaster, but some of the questions (mainly the sex ones) got the students off track. He figured that's where they'd get hung up, when he was a freshman, that's where they got hung up with all the girls asking Takun questions.

    A red headed girl kept mentioning that she really was a virgin and that people assume that because she's half fire nymph that she was automatically a slut. Another nymph took offense and said that nymphs were created to be highly sexual beings and whatnot. Another nymph, Tessa, broke in and stated that she lied about dating her own species.

    "Have you ever had sex with someone outside of your species?" Takun asked her.

    "Yeah, I have," she replied.

    "We'll talk later," Sasuke heard Takun whisper. He wasn't in the mood to tell Takun that he could possibly get fired if he was caught sleeping with one of the students. Not that it mattered, Takun was rich and he could buy his way out of trouble. Like always. He was pretty sure Takun knew this fact as well, which was probably why he blatantly propositioned her.

    Sasuke thought he had gotten somewhere with these kids, but now they were back at square one. He found it ironic that the school known for being structured based on blood purity would force students to engage in a culture exercise. He thought that it was even more ironic that the honors student from one of the most uncultured places in Atheria would be left in charge to explain culture to them.

    He reluctantly looked at his schedule and saw "Tough Topics #1: Smashing Stereotypes" was after lunch. Sasuke read over the "Smashing Stereotypes #1" manual. Basically they had to form small groups and discuss certain stereotypes that people associated with people of that group. Didn't sound that exciting or enlightening.

    The next step was to have people from that group talk about the stereotypes they encountered. The next step was to have people talk about how they treated someone differently because they were of a certain species. Then they'd debrief about feelings again and hopefully be done at 3:00.

    "You look pissed," Sirod said, taking out a pack of cigarettes.

    "Is it that obvious?" She offered him a cigarette in response.

    "Who am I to teach a bunch of stuck up little rich kids about culture?"
Sasuke sighed, taking the cigarette in his hand.

    "It's just a way to make the rich and the pure feel like they accomplished their 'talk to a minority quota' for the day."

    "Tell me about it," Sasuke said.

    "Hey, I'm just going to change out of these clothes," Takun stated, giving a look at Tessa. The kind of look that said "Meet me in my room and make sure that these guys don't catch you going up there."

    "All right," Sasuke said, ushering Tessa over to the rest of the group.

    They walked into the cafeteria which was lively and busier than normal. Apparently they weren't the only groups to go to lunch early.

He had to find Taiyo.

    But first he had to eat. A dragon could not survive on granola bars alone.

     The La Catrina Cantina (or La Mierda as some called it) looked alive and thriving judging from the line. They looked like they were having taquitos. But they didn't call it "The Shit" for nothing.

    He decided to skip the All-You-Can-Eat Sushi at "Pho King's Wok and Roll Café", remembering the spoiled sushi fiasco from freshman year. Sasuke glanced at the potato bar at "Ms. Peaches' Southern Hospitality." The place was a heart attack waiting to happen. Yellow liquid gushed from the foil of the potatoes into a hardening pool of fat inside the serving tray.

    Sasuke decided to forgo the rest of the residential restaurants and go to the salad bar that had no special name. He made a salad and got heaping spoonful of pineapples. He grabbed an imported pineapple fizz drink and scanned the room for a place to sit.

    In a secluded corner of the cafeteria, Sasuke spotted Taiyo's specific shade of royal blue hair. She was sitting with three other girls, Sora, Arashi, Usagi. If only she were sitting alone, things would be a lot easier. Sasuke glanced at Sirod who was piling her plate with luscious imported desserts.

    He walked briskly to the back corner.

    "Uh... do you mind if I sit here?" Sasuke asked. All the girls agreed except for one bland "yes" that was louder than all the rest. Majority rules, he supposed, as he sat down. He had to thank the mahonin for their concept of democracy.

     Sasuke sat near Taiyo.

    "We still need to talk," Sasuke murmured between his teeth while the inane chatter continued in the background.

    Taiyo rolled her eyes. "What is it?"

    "Sasuke," the dragon animari heard before he had a chance to speak. He glanced down the table and saw Arashi, the magenta haired tigress, looking at him intently. "How would you feel if we organized a memorial service or something this weekend?"

    "This weekend during orientation?" Sasuke asked.

    "Well, maybe after we get settled in with classes, so this upcoming weekend," she explained.

    "What time?"

    "It'll only work during curfew hours," she said. "We're going to start at ten and plan on going until about two o' clock in the morning. We'll each be playing an hour long set. A lot of the songs will be dedicated to those in the attacks."

    "We hope people will donate money so we can give it to the victims," Usagi said. "Or at least those affected."

    Since there won't be any survivors after this week, Sasuke filled in what Usagi had really wanted to say. If what she said about the cursed wolves was true, then there would most likely be no survivors. Sasuke thought about Takun's stepsister and how she hung herself from the third story window using her restraints. The only cure for the curse was death, after all. And if someone didn't kill them, they were going to kill themselves. Sasuke shuddered.

    "I think it's a good idea," Sasuke said. "But during curfew hours. Do you think people are willing to risk it?"

    "It's for a good cause," Arashi said.

    Not for a thousand royale, it's not, Sasuke thought. "After this weekend, I won't be in charge of you guys anymore."

    "So it's not your problem then?" Sirod said, giving him a dark look.

    Sasuke looked at the ground. "No it's not."

    "But you'll come, right?" Usagi asked. Sasuke shrugged. Getting caught wasn't worth a thousand royale, but if he was one of many, they couldn't single him out.

    "I'll give it some thought," he replied. Would he really give it some thought? He usually said the things that people wanted to hear, without any intention of going along with what they said. It was a nice way of saying "I don't give a damn." But he did. He had to.

      Takun looked like he had just gotten out of the shower. He was wearing a red t-shirt and baggy navy blue jeans (that actually fit). His hair was freshly gelled and spiked in perfect rows. Tessa met him at the door and clung to his arm like an accessory.

      "Hey babe," she said. Sasuke could already tell they weren't going to last long. Takun hated terms of endearment. They whispered something and Tessa went to kiss the lion-wolf hybrid on the lips, but he turned his head to the side so that she got his cheek instead. Sasuke was sure they weren't going to last long and Tessa was going to go to him because he was Takun's best friend, and she was going to ask 'Why he cheated on her?' and 'What did she do wrong?' just like all the other girls that Sasuke found himself consoling.

      Takun came back to their table sans Tessa. In her place, he had two trays of food that probably weighed more than she did.

   "Hey, do you want to be a part of our memorial service for the people in the attacks?" Usagi asked. Sasuke saw the look of horror on Arashi's face. The tigress seemed immune to Takun's charm, which was good. One less freshman to worry about.

    "Why should I care?" Takun asked with his mouth full.

    "Because it's for a good cause. You saw how many hands were raised when they asked about people who lost loved ones in the war," Arashi said. "If we only had the resources we have now..."

    Takun left the table and everyone glanced at each other. He returned to the table with a tray of desserts. "Fine, I'm in. I'll advertise. Might as well put this 'star power' to good use." He smirked at her. She gave him a thankful smile.

    Sasuke grabbed another helping of pineapples, knowing that this would probably be their last meal before dinner. They did get a mid-afternoon snack at 3:00, but he doubted it would be as filling as a full meal.

    "Taiyo, can we talk?" Sasuke asked. She shrugged and excused herself from the table. Takun called out something, probably obscene and uncalled for, but Sasuke ignored him and followed Taiyo out into the lobby.

    "Okay, talk," she said. He relayed to her everything that he overheard Usagi say to Takun. "So what's your point?"

    "Vincent didn't call this attack," Sasuke said. He was only stating the obvious at this point. "He wouldn't do something like this to get sympathy for his cause. It has to be something else. Someone else."

    "You're being paranoid," Taiyo said.

    "Not paranoid," he explained, though he did feel a wave of mania wash over him. "Cautious. If we can have some idea of who could have done this, it might be easier to figure out a way to fight back. Or something."

    "It's probably the Taigun," Taiyo replied darkly. "Someone must have hired them out and blamed it on the cursed wolves. Perhaps your hybrid friend was fed a false tip."

    The Taigun was something that all children were afraid of. The Taigun kidnapped children off the streets, trained them, and hired them out to do dangerous jobs that adults wouldn't do. They were child mercenaries that various people used so they wouldn't get their hands dirty. Who cared about orphans anyway? Clearly not their parents. They would either end up as prostitutes, drug addicts, or drug dealers. Why not take them off the streets and make them useful by making them do the dirty work of adults?

    He knew that Taiyo had a love/hate relationship with the organization. On the one hand, they trained her and pushed her way too hard as a child, but it also made her an amazing fighter with agility and stamina. She had to do much of their dirty work as a kid, until Vincent found her. Now she was just doing his dirty work. Sasuke failed to see a difference, but he didn't mention anything. There was a lot of worse things she could be doing if the Taigun hadn't taken her in.

    "Akukami is getting scared," Taiyo said. "His days are numbered, he can see that. If he doesn't whip the citizens into submission, they are going to revolt."

    "Vincent told you that, didn't he?" Sasuke said.

    She pointed to her wrist. "He'll be here tonight, you can ask him yourself."

    She turned on her heel back into the cafeteria, leaving Sasuke to think of questions to ask Vincent when he came. He could only think of two, the same questions that were probably on everyone's mind. Who caused those attacks and why?

Previous Next

Parodies

2009-11-11T20:16:00.000-08:00

Web Fiction Crossovers
You've Got Male

Book Parodies

Twilight Mania

Breaking Asahi

Movie Parodies

Raiders of the Lost Story Arc

Dr. Asahi's Sing Along Blog

Bonus Stories

2009-11-11T20:13:00.001-08:00

Coming Soon

Episode 3: Culture Shock

2009-11-08T00:00:00.000-08:00

       Sasuke didn't intentionally eavesdrop on Takun and the rabbit girl's conversation. It wasn't like she was whispering. It started off innocent enough, but then suddenly got dark in tone. He wondered if there was any truth to what she had said. What if cursed wolves were behind the attacks? How did they even manage to get into the building and curse everyone?

     "That was strange," Sasuke murmured to Takun as they continued signing in their students.

    "What was?" Takun asked, feigning ignorance.

    "What that girl said to you." Sasuke twirled his pen in his fingers while there was a gap in his line. "Do you really think what she said is true?"

    Takun shrugged, a cue to drop the subject.

    Takun's ears perked up and his eyes widened. Sasuke turned his head and saw a tall dark skinned girl with long purple hair tied in two braids. She was staring at Takun with large slanted blue eyes.

    "Hi, can I sign-in?" she asked.

    "Sora, is that you?" Takun asked, practically jumping out of his chair to see her. She gave a look of disdain, and looked at Sasuke. "Hey, don't you hear me talking to you? Don't you remember me?"

    "Yeah, I can sign you in," Sasuke said, raising his voice over Takun. "Here... Sora Kainomori, right?"

    "That's me," she said.

    "Sora! Sora!?" Takun exclaimed. "Look at me when I'm talking to you."

    "Thank you," Sora looked over Sasuke's name tag. "Sasuke. See you later." She turned away and strutted down the walkway like a model on the catwalk. Sasuke leaned back in his chair and turned to his friend, his expression full of indignation.

    "Did you see her?" Takun asked.

    "See who?"

    "She just ignored me. No girl has ever ignored Takun Kuroshiro."

    "There's a first time for everything," Sasuke replied.

    "Hey, dude, I'll trade you that angry blue haired chick for her," Takun exclaimed.

    Sasuke blushed slightly. "I can't do that. Women aren't commodities that can be traded."

    "Look at you, trying to be all gentlemanly," Takun scoffed. "You know you want her in your group."

    "Not really," Sasuke said trying to be nonchalant about the situation. He did want Taiyo in his group, but he didn't want her for the reason that Takun had thought. Or at least not that much.

    "So where do you know her from?" Takun asked with a sly grin.

    "None of your business," Sasuke asked. "Where do you know Sora from?"

    "She used to work for my family as a servant." Takun gave a flippant wave of his wrist. Sasuke was surprised that she wasn't one of his numerous ex-girlfriends or something. "She and I had quite the torrid love affair back in the day."

    "Oh really. That might explain why she was giving you the cold shoulder," Sasuke said. "What happened? Did you cheat on her?"

    "No," Takun replied, offended (as if he wasn't a notorious cheater). "Things... just didn't work out."

    "Uh-huh, I'm sure," Sasuke said.

    "And what about your little angry girl? Is she one of your numerous one night stands?"

    "It's ironic how you accuse me of being a whore," Sasuke said. It was a known fact that Sasuke was pretty much celibate during his whole entire college career. Not by choice, but because being a biological engineering major (with a specialization in botany) sapped all his time.

     "She's not one of my ex-girlfriends either." He only had one ex-girlfriend in his lifetime. He found that being an honors student pretty much drained him of a social life in high school as well.

    "So... you wouldn't mind if I got to know her a little better?" Takun asked, his voice dripping with perversion of all sorts. In response, Sasuke slammed a folder into his friend's face.

    "Will you two stop goofing around?" Sirod yelled from across the walkway, throwing a pen that lodged itself into Sasuke's table.

    "He started it," Sasuke said, removing the folder from Takun's face. Sasuke felt the force of Takun's arm wrap around his neck and put him in a headlock.

    "I don't care who started it," Sirod said. "But you best believe that I'll put my foot up your ass if you don't finish it."

    "Don't do that," Sasuke strained, flailing his arms around. "He'd probably enjoy it."

    "I would enjoy it," Takun said, seductively. "If it were you, Sasuke."

    "Oh Takun," Sasuke replied. "Not in front of the children."

    "Then let's go some place private," Takun said.

    "As soon as you stop cutting off the circulation to my brain."

    "There's only one place you have to worry about your circulation going to."

    "You guys are idiots," Sirod said.

    "You're just jealous," Takun said. "But don't worry, I've got enough love for you too, baby." He winked and blew her a kiss, which she pretended to shoot. Sasuke chuckled to himself at the antics of his friends. It had been the three of them for the past three years. They were like the Three Musketeers, as cliched as it was. He couldn't really think of a trio that would sum up who they were. The Three Stooges maybe?

    His friends managed to always show up when he was heavily stressed with school. They always took his mind off of things. But today, things felt different. Strange. Forced almost.

    What that rabbit girl had said bothered him. He didn't mean to eavesdrop, but he had a feeling that the media wasn't saying much about the attacks. How did she know that crucial piece of information?

    "We should get ready for that culture thing," Sirod said, pushing Takun away.

    "Who'd thunk we'd be the ones saying 'If you are an idiot, raise your hand. Look around you. These are your classmates.' Good Goddess, do you remember how lame that was?" Takun asked.

    "Oh goddess, look at the itinerary. It gets worse," Sasuke said.

    "Hey, do you just want to combine groups?" Takun asked.

    "No way," Sasuke exclaimed. "I don't to get stuck doing all the work."

    "I think it's a great idea," Sirod said.

    "But I--" Sasuke said with a groan.

    "So it's settled, we're combining groups," Takun cut Sasuke off.

     Sasuke sighed. "Whatever.

    The students gathered around and together they walked to the grassy knoll between Oak and Pine Dormitories. Sirod lit a cigarette while Takun tried to talk to Sora. They made it to the grassy area shadowed by the giant weeping willows and oak trees. Oddly enough, there were no pine trees.

    "It's ten o' clock," Sasuke said blandly. "It's time for introductions. So we're going to start with your name, your major, and... uh, I guess something interesting about yourself." He looked at Sirod and Takun who looked just as uninterested as he did. Sirod was smoking a cigarette and reading a magazine while Takun just stared off into space. The freshman started at him with their eyes bright and alert like chipper little squirrels. He rolled his eyes.

    "I guess I'll go first," he said. "I'm Sasuke Kohakume, I'm third year biological engineering major, and an interesting thing about me is...pfft... I don't know," Sasuke said.

    Takun scoffed and Sirod blew smoke from her nose. "How fascinating," the dog animari stated.

    "Anyway, you two, it's your turn."

    "I'm Takun Kuroshiro," he paused as the girls swooned. "I'm a second year business major. An interesting thing about me..."

    "It's not as easy as it sounds," Sasuke murmured.

    "You didn't even give an answer," Takun scoffed. "The most interesting about me is that I'm the heir to a vast sake future."

    "That's not interesting," Sasuke said. "Everyone knows that."

    "I want to make sure they know," he said with a wink at one of the girls. Sasuke rolled his eyes and turned to Sirod.

    "I'm Sirod Aoi'inu," she said, her cigarette bobbing in her mouth as she spoke. "I'm a third year studio art major and I think this is stupid. How about we do favorite foods instead?"

    "Sounds feasible," Sasuke said. "My favorite food in the world is pineapples. In fact, I'm a bioengineering major so I can manipulate the world's sweetest pineapple that doesn't sting your throat."

    "See, that's something interesting," Sirod said. She looked at Takun.

    "My favorite food is pretty much everything," he said.

    "That's obvious," someone in the crowd murmured. It sounded a bit like Sora or Taiyo, Sasuke wasn't sure. There were a few chuckles.

    "And my favorite food is tamales," Sirod said.

    The group went around in a circle sharing names and favorite foods. They had a lot of business and goddess studies majors. Names were getting lost in a mix of faces and foods. He figured he'd get to know them over the course of the weekend.

    "All right, time for the culture thing," Sasuke said. "Go ahead and sit down in the same spot." Takun and Sirod sat reluctantly on the ground and stared at him. He explained the rules and gave them a couple trial runs like "Raise your hand if you wear socks" or "Raise your hand if you like to eat food" to get used to the idea. He looked at the list of questions and frowned.

    "These are some heavy questions," Sasuke said. "If you don't want to raise your hand, you don't have to. There are a lot of diverse cultures here and chances are you aren't the only one to go through the same event. So, let's get started. I'll read the first question and then we'll go around the circle."

    "Raise your hand if you can relate to this statement. 'I am a full blooded magical creature.'," he stated, raising his hand. He looked around the circle to see who had their hand raised. Sirod had her hand raised, as well as a few nymphs, animari, Goddesses, and Tensenshi. He passed the paper to Sirod.

    "I am a mixed breed magical creature, meaning two parents within the same family," Sirod said. Sasuke looked around again. A small percentage of hands were raised, many of which were Goddesses and animari. She passed the paper to Takun.

    "I am a hybrid magical creature, meaning two parents that are not in the same species," Takun read. Only he and Usagi had their hands raised. He passed the paper to the girl sitting next to him, a blond haired water nymph with pearly white skin. Sasuke couldn't remember her name, but waited for her to read.

    "I am a half breed, meaning one parent is a magical creature the other is a mahonin" she stated, raising her hand. A few other girls who looked like full nymphs had raised their hands. The blond passed the paper to a boy with red hair and freckles.

    "Okay, now everyone take a deep breath," Sasuke said, letting out a sigh of relief. That round had went okay, but judging from what he saw on the paper, he knew things were going to get a lot more intimate.

    "I am a mahonin, meaning a magical human" he read, raising his hand.

    The paper was passed to Sora, who looked at it with a frown.

    "I have lost one or more family members due to the recent war," she read. Ninety percent of the people had their hands raised. She looked at the ground and passed the paper on.

    "I am part a member of the LGBT community." Sasuke looked around and saw some unexpected hands go up. He glanced at Takun, who looked hesitant to raise his hand. Everyone knew he wasn't exactly gay, but he wasn't exactly straight either. He also wasn't going to admit to being bisexual.

    "I have lived in Koudo for at least half of my life." Takun raised his hand as did many mahonin and several half-breeds. Sasuke never been to Koudo in his life and he wasn't planning to go anytime soon. Not that he could anyway, he didn't have a portal pass.

    "I am still a virgin." Sasuke looked around the group. A lot students had their hands raised, mainly goddesses, tensenshi, and mahonin. Many nymphs didn't have their hands raised. Sasuke kept his hand down. He was sure Takun was going to ask him about it during the debriefing. He was relieved to see Taiyo's hand raised. He wasn't exactly sure why this question was relevant to culture.

    I'm a single parent. I am married. I am single. I am taken and loving it. I am taken, but I want to move on.

    I'm rich. I'm poor.

    I've been addicted to drugs and/or alcohol.

    I believe in the Goddesses. I believe in whatever religion they had in Koudo that has been made popular in Atheria. I don't have a religion.

    I have dated outside of my species/race.

    I am the first person in my family to go to college.

    I've been homeless.

    I've been treated differently because of my heritage.

    I didn't raise my hand when I should have.

    The list went on and Sasuke hoped that he could finish early, but he didn't think that it would take that long. 11:00. They were right on schedule. They had to debrief for the next forty five minutes, then head to lunch.

Previous Next

Episode 2: The Press Conference

2009-11-05T00:00:00.000-08:00

    "Hi, I'm Rue Remalade with the Portal News Network and I am reporting live from the Rashian Public Safety Commission Building in Orphias, Rashia," the portalvision blared at the front of the room. Takun, Sasuke, and Sirod took their seats in the back row. "We now bring to you Chief John Lansing of the Rashian Public Safety Commission."

    A mahonin stood at the stage. He was tall with a dignified stance, sandy colored hair, and a round stomach. His uniform was cleaned, starched, and pressed. Lansing's icy blue eyes were locked on the camera, as if he were scoping out the attacker from the millions of magical creatures and mahonin watching the broadcast.

    "At 6:34 this morning, two large attacks took place. The larger of the two took place at the Mizukasui Embassy just north of Nemura, Elizfa. The second took place in the United States at the Western Magical Commission in Los Angeles, California.

    "At Mizukasui Embassy, approximately two hundred and thirty one people were killed. Approximately forty eight survivors were found and they remain in critical condition. Approximately fifty six mahonin and magical creatures are missing. At the Western Magical Commission, one hundred and ten people have been killed, twenty five people are missing, and thirty eight people have survived.

    "May we have a moment of silence," the commissioner said.

    Takun closed his eyes and tried to black out all the memories of the last major attacks in Atheria. The attack on Megami Bara eleven years ago was what started the war between magical creatures. He remembered his mother packing her bags as the news of the Megami Bara attacks spread through their small village.

    "Are we leaving because of me?" he remembered asking his mother. She was packing more of his stuff than she was of her own.

    "Please hide here," she had said, pushing him into a crawlspace in the pantry. "Don't come out until I tell you."

    She closed the pantry door and he was surrounded by darkness.

    "Hey," someone whispered and took his hand. Takun glanced down at his trembling hand and saw Sirod's fingers laced with his own. He wanted to take his hand away lest he give people another rumor to start. Instead he squeezed it and didn't let it go.

    Chief Lansing's voice echoed through the cafeteria as the broadcast continued.

    "As a safety precaution, the Rashian Government has implemented a curfew effective tonight at 10:00. The Government is asking that all magical creatures be indoors by 10:00 p.m. or be issued a fine of a thousand royale. The curfew ends at 7:00 a.m. and will be instated as long as the government feels necessary.

    "Mahonin and magical creatures with portal passes may only leave during the hours of 7:00 a.m to 3:00 p.m. on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays. If you wish to return, you will be permitted to return on Fridays and Saturdays during the hours of 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

    "We hope you understand the reason for our curfew and portal access restrictions. This will help us in our investigation of the situation. We need cooperation from the public to help us gain justice for those killed in the attacks."

    "I'll now open the floor up for questions," Lansing said coolly.

    "Do you know who might behind the attacks?" a voice off screen called out.

    "The investigative team is looking into the matter. We've only narrowed it down to groups of creatures. Our evidence isn't very specific at the moment and we are getting details. We can only take this minute by minute."

    "What is the government doing to stop more of these attacks from happening?"

    "We are heightening security to government buildings and other places around Atheria and around Koudo. We are working hard with the American Government, the Koudonese Alchemist Commission and the World Goddess Federation-Koudo Headquarters. We are doing the best we can to provide safety and security to the citizens of Atheria and Koudo."

    The man hesitated. "We have designated areas for animari and other magical creatures who have obtained portal permits. We will have a separate voluntary evacuation for them."

    "How can animari get portal permits?"

    "A temporary suspension has been called on any applications turned in after the first of the year. We will not be allowing anymore portal permit applications at this time."

    "The designated locations are expected to be filled to maximum capacity. Females and their offspring are allowed to leave first and the males will leave shortly afterward. All magical creatures without portal permits will be required to stay here until we are able to find more locations available."

    The broadcast continued, but Takun stopped listening. He was sure they weren't saying anything important anyway. Students were discussing their theories amongst themselves. Takun looked at Sasuke, who staring blankly at the floor. Takun took his hand away from Sirod's a little more quickly than he had wanted to.

    Finally, Enna had shut off the television, her eyes red and puffy.

    "So, what we're planning to do, after the culture walk, is have a discussion about this situation so we can see how the students are coping. We do have counseling available all-day and tonight as well, so if any students need someone to talk to you can refer them to the counseling center... or if you feel comfortable, you can find a location and talk to them yourself," she said, trying to put on a smile. She failed miserably. Enna walked off the stage and was instantly on her portal phone.

    "This is so illogical," Sasuke murmured to himself, biting the tip of his thumb nail.

    Takun nodded. "What do we say to them about it?"

    "Just say there was an attack this morning and that we're going to discuss it after our activities," Sasuke said. Takun nodded and jumped at the sound of girls giggling and screaming his name.

    "Oh... it's him!" voices yelled. Takun perked up his ears and saw several girls running from the airtram station. The girls stood in his line, looking at him and blushing. He was used to this. There's been little groups following him around since birth trying to snap pictures of the bastard heir to the SakElements Sake Empire. He wasn't in the mood for this right now.

    The giggling girls were at the front of the line. He looked at Sirod and Sasuke, who went to their tents, trying to look as happy and welcoming as they could. They too failed miserably.

    The students probably didn't hear about the attacks since he imagined that they'd be on the airtrams to the university at the time of the press conference.

     His feet carried him outside and his mouth forced a smile. His mind was somewhere else.

    "Can we have your autograph?" the girl with one with the bigger breasts said. She held up a magazine with his picture on it. Takun recognized his ex-girlfriend clinging to his arm in the picture. They were both wearing huge human-made sunglasses and the girl had one of those big trendy human-made tote bags.

    Ah, Eva. He remembered her long red hair and green eyes. Or were they blue? Maybe they were brown. It wasn't like it mattered now.

    "Yeah, sure," he said in the false polite tone that many people in his circle had developed over the years. He glanced over the page, looking for a place to sign and ignoring the "Pregnant?!" headline and the large pink circle drawn over Eva's flat stomach.

    "Did you guys hear about the attacks this morning?" he asked.

    "What attacks?" the twins asked in unison.

    "There was an attack on the Mizukasui Embassy and some place in Koudo," he told them. They looked at each other, then shrugged.

    "Well, we're not mizukasui," one twin replied.

    "Nor do we have family in Koudo," the other added in.

    "That's right," he smiled. "It doesn't concern people like us."

    "Exactly," they said. He signed the picture.

    "Can you make that out to Lira Savarani?" the girl asked. He noticed the gray Pomeranian ears that they had hidden under voluminous piles of golden brown hair. He scoffed. 'People like us'. The Savaranis were considered new money. Their parents struggled as bakers in Primarian City up north in Moraa. They got their money in an insurance claim from a mysterious fire caused by a burning bagel and negligent children.

    "Sure," he said with a smirk and a wink. Yet, despite their status and rank, they were distributors of SakElements Sake Coolers and Drinks, so it behooved him to be nice to the girls. "Well, I'll be seeing you around."

    The girls giggled again, as Lira snatched her autograph away. The two girls traveled down the hallway to their dorms. Takun rolled his eyes and sighed.

    Another girl with blue hair and golden eyes took her place.

    Takun greeted her. "Hi."

    "Whatever," the girl replied. Takun glanced at her. She was tapping her foot impatiently, her eyes fixed in a hawk-like stare. Her blue hair was bone straight and her body was lean, like she spent her time working out. He liked girls that worked out. And that whole 'angry at the world' thing was a nice touch.

     "So fat-ass, are you going to finally let me sign in or what?" the blue haired girl asked.

    "Name?"

    "Taiyo Hiyama," the girl replied.

    "Aren't you just a ball of sunshine?" He smirked. She narrowed her eyes at him as she signed her name. She snatched the folder out of his hands and stalked off.

    "Taiyo!" Takun heard Sasuke exclaim. "Did you hear about the attacks?"

    "What attacks?" she asked, her slightly monotoned voice carrying the smallest hint of .

    "The Mizukasui Embassy and a place in Koudo was attacked this morning," Takun filled in. Taiyo looked from him to Sasuke, then back to him again. "We're going to talk about it after this morning's activities." Takun said filling the silence.

    She looked at Sasuke.

    "We'll talk later," Sasuke said, abruptly. "See you around."

   The girl stalked off down the hall. Who was that girl? Takun saw the way they looked at each other, like two people who shared a secret. Takun was pretty sure that Sasuke didn't have any girlfriends or one night stands or any baby mama drama or whatever. The two seemed to know each other pretty well though.

    "Hey!" someone yelled, jumping up and down trying to get his attention. The girl had bright turquoise hair and bright dark blue eyes. Her ears were a strange hue of purple tips and were reminiscent of a Corgi with large ears, one of which started to fold over.

    "I'm Usagi Chidori Shigure Momiji..."

    "Okay, just find your name on the paper and sign," he said. "Your name tag should be in your folder with the rest of your stuff."

    "Hey, I know you. You're that guy, from that place. What's your name?" Usagi said, reading his name tag and pointed to his ears. "Ta-kun. What type of name is that for a cat?"

    "It's Takun, just one word. And I'm not a cat, I'm half lion and half wolf."

    "That's weird," Usagi said.

    "What type of name is Usagi for a dog?" He was starting to get agitated.

    Usagi smiled. "It's Rashian and I'm part rabbit and part wolf too."

    "Okay."

    "All right then."

    "All right," Takun said. Rabbit-wolf? That was an odd mix. Takun didn't think there was a more stranger mix than a wolf and a lion, but he was just proven wrong.

    Usagi was still standing at the table staring at him as if she were waiting for him to complete his thoughts.

    "I still don't know why they call you a princess," she said. "You look a little girly, but not really..."

    "What?!"

    "Those giggling girls called you 'Princess Takun'," Usagi said. She pointed to the group of girls swooning over his autograph. Takun cocked his head to the side.

    "Anyway, have you heard about the attacks?" Usagi asked, her tone going from exuberant shouting to serious whispering instantly. The change in tone caught Takun off guard.

    "Y..yeah, I have," Takun said.

    "The media isn't saying anything, but they said that cursed wolves are to blame."

    "What makes them say that?"

    "The survivors are the ones that were put under the curse," Usagi explained. "They were the ones that were carrying out the attacks."

    "And they think we're... I mean cursed wolves are the ones to blame?" Takun rose an eyebrow. He didn't want to be lumped in with the stereotypes of cursed wolves; that they killed people for sport, ate dead bodies, and were insane and deformed. He clinched his jaw. He knew what her answer would be. The same answer everyone gave.

    "Not many curses are curable only by death," the rabbit-wolf explained. He was right.

    "It could be different, you don't know that," Takun said. "There are other people who can inflict curses and stuff."

     "I'm just telling you," Usagi said. "They aren't sure, but at some point, they're going to have to blame someone."

     "And you think it's cursed wolves?" Usagi didn't even need to answer.

     "I don't think it's cursed wolves, but the Loyalist do and if they can get the general public into a frenzy about it... well..." Usagi trailed off. "Just be on your guard."

Previous Next

Episode 1: Instinct

2009-11-01T00:00:00.000-07:00

    Takun took off the Spirit Bell around his neck and transformed. His limbs formed into four stocky legs covered in black fur. His hands became large paws with retractable claws that scratched against the dewy grass. His blue-gray eyes scanned the area for any movement. Brown triangle-shaped ears rotated themselves in the direction of the rustling underbrush.

    Takun made his way to the green hillsides behind Oak Vista Dormitories. He knew this place, the creature inside him brought him here whenever its hunger arose. He saw his previous tracks, going from the footprints of tennis shoes to the paw prints of a strange wolf-like creature.

    There! His eyes caught a quick motion a few yards ahead. Footsteps darted past him. He followed the sound, the soft "skrit skrit" as his prey hopped away. With the white of his belly touching the ground, Takun trudged through the grass. He stuck his nose close to the soil, tracking the musky scent of dew-touched fur. What was that smell?

    Rabbit. Takun's pulse thundered through his veins in anticipation. He could hardly wait to tear into the creature. He imagined its veins gushing blood. The rabbit nibbled on the grass, unaware of Takun's presence. Now was his chance.

    Takun took off in a sprint, trailing the panicked zigzagging of his prey. His legs pushed through the underbrush, the gap between them growing wider and wider. Takun slowed down, panting heavily. He only lasted about thirty seconds. He wasn't that out of shape was he? His feet were sore, as if he had been stepping on rose thorns.

    Takun saw the glint of metal hurling towards him. Flattening his ears against his head and curling his tail between his legs, he yelped in surprise as the rabbit fell flat on the ground. He saw Sirod standing behind him, her arm stretched forward as if she had thrown a football.

    Takun exclaimed in the canine language, his barking roughly translating to "What the hell are you doing?" Sirod picked up the rabbit by the scruff of the neck, its legs still twitching and blood dripping from the knife lodged in its chest.

    "You obviously weren't going to catch this on your own," she barked back, yanking her knife free and setting it aside. She dropped the rabbit to the ground. As soon as it hit the ground, Takun attacked it with a fierceness that surprised him. He hated doing this, but he couldn't help it. He'd rather go after non-verbal game than lose control and go after someone important. He had no attachment to this creature and that made it easier.

    His stomach lurched as he began to taste the blood and its metallic aftertaste. The rabbit was still twitching while he held it in his jaws. Takun sunk his teeth further into the creature's throat, hearing it's bones crack from the pressure. He tore into its side, the blood and entrails gushing onto the grass.

    He stopped himself and glanced at Sirod, who was sitting on a tree stump smoking a cigarette. Her black and golden brown hair was pulled back into a ponytail.

    "You probably think I'm disgusting," he grumbled.

    "Yeah," she said, blowing smoke through her nose and flicking away the ash at the end of her cigarette. "But not for that. It's your personality that's annoying."

    "You can't help being what you are," she added with sincerity. Her black and white border collie ears twitched to the sounds of the field.

    "I could if I tried," he murmured. "What do you want?"

    "Besides having a good laugh at your expense," she said. "I brought you a change of clothes." Sirod handed Takun his Spirit Bell.

    "Thanks," Takun murmured. He took the golden bell in his mouth. He sat on his haunches and put the bell in his paws. The bell fell to the ground.

    "I have no opposable thumbs."

    Sirod sighed. "You're an idiot."

    Sirod snapped the bell on his red spirit collar and stood back. Takun transformed into his humanoid form. Takun's humanoid form had tanned skin and gray-blue eyes. He stood at 6'2", nearly towering over most animari in the area. His snow white hair was streaked with black and his brown lion-like ears were pierced, a stud in each ear. The spirit bell allowed him and most other animari to shift between humanoid and animal form. Except for the animal ears, they were nearly human.

    He shook the remaining grit from his hair, then cracked his back. His post-nuclear yellow "Counselor" shirt and baggy blue jeans were covered in grass and blood stains. He wiped his mouth on his dirty shirt, surprised that something so small could gush so much blood.

    Takun smirked as he took the replacement clothes. "You know you want to watch me."

    "You wish." Sirod swiveled on the stump and looked away. He pulled his shirt over his head. He looked like a sumo in a toddler shirt.

    Takun scoffed and tried to pull his shirt over his slight beer belly, regretting the extra servings at meals. "You couldn't find a shirt that fits?"

    Sirod opened her mouth to say an insult, but instead stuck the cigarette into her mouth. "That's too easy." The cigarette bobbed up and down as she spoke.

    "What do you really want?"

    "Enna wanted me to get you," Sirod said. "They're about to have a press conference on the portalvision."

    "Oh whatever," he said. "They always have press conferences. What's so special about this one?"

    "There was another attack," she said to him. "Sounds like something big."

    Sirod poked him in the side. He and Sirod walked in silence back to Oak Vista Dormitories.

    The six story dormitory stood in the distance, the entrance lined with several blue tents. Despite the vines and magenta flowers that covered the dorm, Oak Vista, like most of the other buildings, looked out of place on the grassy countryside.

    Takun took his station at the blue tent. His supplies were neatly arranged and a large sign with "Takun Kuroshiro" taped onto the flap that hung over his table. Sirod's station was across the walkway, arranged in the same meticulous manner.

    "Hey, did you hear what happened?" Sasuke asked as soon as Takun walked up.

    Sasuke's amber eyes were glancing at him up and down.

    "Don't ask," Takun said.

    "I wasn't going to," Sasuke replied, shooting a strange glance at Sirod, then back at him.

    The other students discussed the news of the attacks amongst their friends. The whole quad area was filled with hushed conversation.

    "There's a pattern, you know," Takun said, his voice sounding as if he were in a trance. "Once a month with an average rate of six small villages a month made up of around fifty people per a village."

    Sasuke opened his mouth, but Takun held up his hand and continued. "...That's three hundred people. Considering that these attacks have been occurring off and on for the past two years that is roughly around seventy two hundred people."

    "Thank you," Sirod said. She and Sasuke stared at him.

    He shrugged. "It's just simple math."

    Sasuke shook his head and poked his friend in the head. "I know, but the fact that you did it in your head. Why don't you use your brain all the time?"

    "This is the third time this month," Takun replied.

    "--That you've used your brain?" Sirod said with a smirk.

    "--That there's been an attack."

    There was a slight pause as Sasuke took a granola bar out of his pocket.

    "It's just so strange," Sasuke said. "It just doesn't make any sense. There may be a pattern in the frequency of the attacks, but not in what is being attacked."

    "That's true," Takun said, watching as Sasuke took a bite of his snack bar and chewed thoughtfully. Takun caught Sasuke's eye. The dragon animari looked at him and took small slow bites, his face screwed up in mock ecstasy. The tease.

    Sirod watched them curiously. "All we need to know is who and why."

    "Um, excuse me guys," Enna, the head counselor, said. "Can I have you guys go to the cafeteria? We're going to watch the press conference and discuss the situation."

    The trio followed her into the cafeteria.

    "Hey guys, um, guys, you guys have to go to the cafeteria guys," Takun said, copying Enna's genial voice and hand gestures. Sirod chuckled, Sasuke finished his granola bar.

   "How serious do you think this is?" Takun asked.

Episodes

2009-07-08T04:09:00.000-07:00

Coming Soon

Recipes

2001-07-09T01:23:00.000-07:00

Fanart

2001-07-09T00:37:00.000-07:00

FAQ

2001-07-08T22:42:00.001-07:00

About the Story:

What genre would you classify this story as?
It's All Relative(IAR) is a contemporary fantasy. I used to say that it was inspired by manga and anime and in its conception, IAR heavily relied on the tropes used in these mediums. Now that I've grown up a bit, I think IAR has strayed a bit from that. The only thing that it has retained is the character designs, which is probably just a homage or shout-out to the medium that inspired me to write the story.

Didn't you get that idea from "XYZ" anime/cartoon show/book...etc...etc...?
Yes, I'm aware of this. Some of these influences are obvious and others are not. I'm not going to lie and say that everything is original, because I'm aware that it's not. My main priority is just getting this novel written because it's never been fully realized in it's entirety. I think the story, however unoriginal people may think it is, deserves to be told. I've resigned to the fact that no matter how original I think something is, someone is always going to find something in the story that reminds them of something else.

Where are you going with this story?
Where ever it decides to takes me. I have a loosely written plot written on my computer, but I'm not following it religiously. I'm not following it because I don't want to stress out over not having the plot going where I want it to go. I know it'll get there eventually. If I stick strictly to the plot, the story and my writing will suffer because I didn't realize the characters to their full potentials. IAR is an ever changing entity with new plot twists and developments occurring everyday. Just sit back and enjoy the ride.

About the Characters:

Why are the characters Japanese?
No one in this fantasy world is of any one specific ethnicity. The concept of race and ethnicity isn't the same in Atheria as it is the Western world. For the record, most of the characters aren't specifically any type of race, even though they may have attributes of one specific race or many races.

So, why do they have Japanese names?
Most of these names just sound Japanese. Some of the names have meaning, others were just filler names that just stuck. If an editor or someone wants me to change the names, I will (not without a fight though), but as it stands I'm not inclined to change them at the moment. Sorry if it bothers you.

But some of these names don't even make sense in any language?
Some names are merely anagrams of other names, some of them with vowels tagged on at the end. I wasn't very creative with names back in 10th grade, but the names just kind of stuck.

About Web Fiction:

What advice do you have for anyone starting up their own web serial?
Don't take anything said about your story personal. When someone does say something negative about you or your story, (or a thinly veiled attack on your through your story), just ignore it and keep writing. I've spent countless hours going back and forth about everything that wasn't about the story. I don't know what it is about the internet, but some people turn into vicious crazy people. Recognize these people and stay away from them or at the very least (if you can't stay away), don't get sucked up into the drama.

Everything I learned about posting stories online, I learned through trial and error. I still have a lot to learn, but I think I've come a long way since 2007, when the older version of IAR was posted online. Don't burn bridges with any betas you have and make sure to find a critique group that suits your needs. Try to have a buffer of at least 6 updates (depending on how often you update). Also, if you feel the need to edit, don't do a major overhaul (unless your willing to put aside a few months for this), just go back and fix the minor things such as grammar, spelling, continuity and consistency, and the like. If you are doing a web serial, try to keep the story moving forward and try no to go back and fix anything in the past. If you read more, your writing will get better and if you keep moving forward people will notice the gradual shift. (Although if your beginning is lacking a hook, I would suggest fixing the beginning at some point, but not stalling your forward progress which is why it's important to have a buffer).

One thing I hold true in my writing: Write like you're the greatest writer in the world and edit like you're the worst.

About the Author:

I am a 4th year Psychology major in Southern California. I work as a teacher for autistic children. Some of my former jobs include Mad Scientist, Teacher's Aide, Telemarketer, Hospital Intern/Volunteer. You can contact me at sorakainomori at gmail dot com.

Cast

2001-07-08T22:42:00.000-07:00

Free website - Wix.com

Breaking Asahi

2001-07-08T03:32:00.000-07:00

Author: Oh gosh, I hope this last part isn't a story of epic failure. I hope my fans are happy with this outcome. *types away on laptop*

Sora was getting married tomorrow to the ultra super love of her life, Asahi. She was so happy she could finally marry the person that she loved the most in her life.
Asahi had bought her the most expensive car he could find because her old geo storm finally broke down. He bought her everything she ever desired. Now she had to tell Ryo and Asahi's parents. She was kso scared that they would overreacted, but she loved Asahi so much that she didn't care.
"Mom, Dad, Sora and I are getting married," Asahi told his parents.
"Oh we know. We've known for quite some time," Asahi's mother said.
"How did you know?"
"It's only natural for the two main characters to get married at the end," his mother said.
"And maybe Sora here will pop out a few freakishly unnatural babies that will be extra special. I'd love to have some grandchildren," Asahi's dad said. "Unless you're already pregnant... that's why you're having this shotgun wedding."
"Oh no," Sora said with a blush. She always blushed, even though people couldn't probably tell. "I'm not pregnant, but I bet in a couple months time I will be."
"Yeah, it's only natural that we'd have a honeymoon baby," Asahi said, his skin glistening and sparkling in the intense heat of the brightest sun.
"Alright, I approve," Asahi's father said.
"Yay! Let us get married without haste!" Asahi said.

The wedding was beautiful and the decorations were expensive and probably put everyone involved into debt. Then again they were rich and had everything at their disposal, as such the main character should have since they are the best people in the world and deserve a life that can't possiblyk go wrong.
"Do you Asahi MacLaine take Sora Kainomori to be your lawfully wedded wife, through sickness and health, for richer and poorer, for happy and sad, for life and death and everything inbetween. From peas and carrots, from ashes to dust, for as long as you both shall live?"
Asahi hesitated and looked at Sora. "I do." Sora did the same.
"I do."
"With the power invested in me by the state of California and my parole officer, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may now get jiggy with it."
The reception was equally as white as the wedding. The planner thought to emphasis white, though white was only reserved for respectable women.
Everyone congratulated Sora and Asahi on their big day.
"May I cut in?" said a voice. Sora gasped.
"Takun."
They danced.
"So when's your honeymoon?"
"Soon, why?"
"I don't want you having sex with Asahi, it's bad for your health."
"And having sex with you wouldn't be? It's none of your business."
"It is my business cuz I'm making it my business."
"That doesn't even make sense. You're an idiot. Shut up!"
"Someone get this fool out of our wedding!" Asahi yelled. A bunch of people pulled Takun away.
"I'll kill you!" Takun yelled as if Sora's sex life was his main priority.

Sora forgot everything that happened at her wedding since most bad things are always forgotten by the main character anyway. She and Asahi went to some special secret island off the coast of some special secret place.
"I don't want to have sex with you," Asahi said. "I might hurt you really bad."
"It's alright, I can take it. I won't remember anything anyway and it won't hurt. I'll just be really bruised."
"Are you sure?"
"Asahi, I'm your wife, it's your duty to please my booty."
And then they made love.

Sora woke up in the morning and was covered in bruises. She also was covered in broken pillows and feathers.
"Look at what happened. You're hurt now and I'm going to be all emo and nearly ruin our honeymoon with my emo-ness."
"It's alright. Practice makes perfect."
"Wow, I never thought of it that way."
And then they made love again and everything faded away into the blackest darkest night while the moon hung overhead in a milky white cream sphere that hung in the darkest black night.

Two hours later, Sora was really hungry. Then she realized that she was pregnant. There was no explanation for it. She just was, even though it was impossible to have a griffin/phoenix mate with a fox/wolf. It didn't make sense, but the author said that her words were "misconstrued" and all was well.
Asahi was freaked out and said to get rid of the monster demon child, but Sora refused because the story would be incredibly short if they took the easy way out.
So five minutes later, Sora gave birth to a baby girl that they named Takaqui Kiyoli after their parents because it was tradition that all main characters name their children after other people.
Takun called the girl "Canoli" because it was easier to say than the abomination of a name that was ~~Renee~~... uh... Takaqui. Sora got really mad and attacked Takun because he named their daughter after an italian pastry!!!!!!!!!! Takun imprinted on Canoli, but was taken away by the police because he was now a pedophile and had to register as a sex offender. But he didn't care because Canoli would be full grown in three days.

Sora and Asahi lived forever as ~~vamp~~...uh... animari.
"I love you so much, Asahi," Sora said. "Despite everything that's happened between us. The fact that my ex-boyfriend is in love with our two month old freak daughter is irrelevant when it comes to being with you."
"I love you too."
It was quiet. Sora thought of all the memories that they shared.
"Wanna have sex now?" Asahi asked.
"Always and forever."
They shared their little bit of happiness forever and forever.

Por Fin

Author: I think I may have written the greatest story ever!

Twilight Mania

2001-07-08T03:31:00.000-07:00

*A little deer is wandering through the forest. Something is chasing it.*

Sora: I never gave any thought as to how I was going to die.

*Someone is still chasing the deer. They are getting closer.*

Sora: If had to die, I would die for someone I loved.

*The deer is almost caught, but the chaser runs into a tree and tumbles down a hill*

Chaser: Shit! Who put that tree there?

*End Scene*

Sora: I moved from sunny Hirukaze city to gloomy Aoikin City. They were only minutes apart but the weather was from a different world. I hate the wet. It makes my hair frizz. (shows Sora's once straight hair has gone into a puffy soaked afro)

Sora: I hated all my friends.

Arashi & Usagi: Hi Sora! You're the best person ever.

*Walks by them* Sora: (blandly) Whatever.

Sora: I hated being with my cousin Ryo.

Ryo: You know you didn't have to move here. You could have stayed at the mansion.

Sora: But I had to make the ultimate sacrifice, so that they could be happy.

Ryo: (falsely) You know that's really noble and unselfish of you.

Sora: I know.

(Narration)Sora: One day, I was sitting in the cafeteria...

*Sora is sitting in the cafeteria with Arashi and Usagi who are chatting and Taiyo is reading an unnamed book with two hands and an apple on the cover. She laughs randomly.*

Taiyo: Sparkles? Oh shit, how lame can it get....

*Suddenly, Takun walks by.*

Sora: Wow... who is that?

Arashi: That's Takun Kuroshiro. He's like the hottest guy on campus and he doesn't talk to anybody at all and most certainly doesn't date any of the girls here.

Sora: Is he gay?

Usagi: No, he's mysterious.

*Takun sits at the table and stares at Sora*

Sora: (tries to look away) What is he looking at?

Arashi: (points down)

Sora: (covers up cleavage) Eww, what a perv!

Usagi: Not that! (points to a piece of cake on Sora's plate) Chocolate cake.

Arashi: I think Takun's wants a piece of your chocolate cake too... if you get what I mean.

*Takun looks away*

(Narration) Sora: After lunch, we had a class together.

Sora: Why do you keep looking at me?

Takun: You didn't share any of your cake.

Sora: Why should I share cake with you? I don't even know you.

Takun: You don't want to know me. In fact, I shouldn't even be talking to you right now. We shouldn't even be seen together.

Sora: Okay. Then you can leave.

Takun: But I can't.

Sora: Why not?

Takun: Class isn't over yet.

(Narration) Sora: I knew there was something wrong... with him.

*Sora slips and falls on some ice.*

Car Driver: Move, bitch, get out the way, get out the way!

*Car comes towards her*

Sora: Oh no!

*gets hit by car*

Sora: Shit!? What the fuck, man? (looks at Takun) You were supposed to save me.

Takun: (eating chocolate cake) OMG, this is the best cake in the world.

Sora: What is the matter with you?

Takun: What? I'm eating cake.

Sora: You were supposed to save me.

Takun: What? Where does that say that at?

Sora: (takes out script) Right here. On page 39, Takun saves Sora with god-like speed.

Usagi: You're breaking the fourth wall!!!

*Sora slips and falls on the ground again*

Car Driver: Move, bitch! Get out the way, get out the way!

Sora: Oh no!

*gets hit by car*

Takun: (runs half way across the parking lot before running out of breath) Oh shit... sweet mother of Jesus... (collapses on hands and knees) Phew! That was a fast car... like the fastest car in the world.

Sora: (from under the car) Oh please, it was going like 2 miles per hour.

Takun: (ignores Sora) Sweet mother... can I get some oxygen or something. (passes out)

(narration) Sora: It didn't take me long before I figured out what he was.

*Sora goes on google and looks at itsallrelative.weebly.com*

*Sora and Takun are in the forest somewhere*

Sora: (to Takun) I know what you are. You're impossibly slow. And stupid. Your hair is pale white and these ice cubes you got me are ice cold.

Takun: Say it! Out loud.

Sora: (dramatically) You're an idiot.

Takun: Are you afraid?

Sora: No.

*Takun tries to pull a tree from the ground*

Takun: Damn, what's wrong with this tree? Stupid piece of crap. *gives up and pulls a few weeds from the ground instead* You should be afraid of me. I'm a monster. I'm the world's greatest predator.

Sora: I'm not afraid. You won't kill me.

Takun: I will. (jumps into the light; nothing happens) What the... I'm suppose to sparkle.

Author: Uh... sorry, we didn't have enough money in the budget for that scene, but go ahead and shoot it anyway.

Takun: Uh... okay. (jumps into the light)

Authors 1-4 (anyone remember these guys): Sparkle! Sparkle! Sparkle! Sparkle!

Takun: (over the authors singing sparkle) This is the skin of a killer.

Sora: It's beautiful.

Takun: (flamboyantly) I know isn't it? This shade of foundation is called vampire mcsparkly pants from bare minerals. Normally, I'm more of a almond bisque or a downtown tropical brown, but I feel that this new shade brings out my inner creepiness.

*they stare at each other for an insanely long time*

Takun: And so the lion/wolf fell in love with the fox/wolf.

Sora: What a stupid fox/wolf.

Takun: What a sick masochistic lion/wolf.

Usagi: What freakish looking babies!

(narration) Sora: There were three things that I knew about Takun Kuroshiro. The first was that he was an idiot. The second... he was after my chocolate cake... which he already ate, so I guess this isn't number two anymore. Okay... the new second thing was that he was an idiot. The third thing was that I was irrevelantly and inexplicably in love with him... I think...

*Sora wakes up and see Takun sitting on her dresser*

Sora: What are you doing here?

Takun: I'm watching you sleep. It's kind of fascinating.

TV reporter: Have you ever seen "Dateline: To catch a predator"

Takun: I've seen it a couple times...oh ho ho, I'm on that show right now, huh?

*police swarm in and hand cuff him*

Takun: Look, I'm on TV. *gets carried away*

*the next day, Sora and Takun get out of his car*

Arashi: OH MY GAWD!!!!

Usagi and Taiyo: What?

Arashi: It's David Cook. *runs away past Sora and Takun and towards Da Void*

Takun: I should take you to meet my family.

*they go to his house. Takun takes Sora to his bedroom*

Sora: A bed?

Takun: Were you expecting anything less?

Sora: Why do you need a bed? You don't sleep.

Takun: You don't need to sleep to have a bed... if you catch my drift.

Sora: *shakes head* I'm not afraid of you.

Takun: You shouldn't have said that. *carefully opens window, (after learning from that youtube parody), pulls Sora onto his back and promptly runs into another tree*

(from the bottom of forest floor) Sora: You're a regular old Tarzan, aren't you?

Takun: Shut up!

*they go inside*

Sirod: Oh... Takun brought home a snack.

*Author whispers something in Sirod's ear*

Sirod: What? Really? You mean we don't eat her? *more whispering* Vegetarian? What does that even mean? *more whispering* We only drink animal blood... aren't we technically animals?

*Everyones eyes turn to Sora, then to each other*

Sasuke: (chuckles nervously) Anyone for a game of dodgeball?

*Everyone is on the dodgeball circle. Lightning strikes and cheesy music plays*

Vincent: *gets hit in the head with the ball* Hmmm... that hurt.

Sasuke: Oh Sorry. We could use more players.

Lili: I'm the one with a mean curveball. *throws ball and hits Sora in the face*

*Sora's nose starts bleeding*

Vincent: Oh you brought a snack.

*Sasuke throws the ball at Vincent's face and they make a run for it.*

Takun: You have to get away from here. The hunt is his obsession.

*Everyone stops*

Sirod: Obsession.

Lili: By Calvin Klein.

Sora: Wear it.

*Continues*

Sora: Fine, I'll betray everyone who ever loved me and run away with you. (to Ryo) I hate you I'm leaving.

Ryo: Fine, bitch leave!

Sora: (to Takun) I told him the same thing his ex-wife told him before she left.

*Somehow they end up in Hirukaze in a weird place with a bunch of mirrors*

Vincent: Oh, you found me. Wonderful. Your prize... getting eaten by me.

Sora: That sounds weird.

Vincent: You're right. It didn't sound that weird when I was thinking about it. I mean, that's literally what I'm going to do to you, but I couldn't think of any euphemisms for eating someone.

Sora: Your prize... an all I can eat buffet... of you.

Vincent: LOL. That's kinda good. I'm going to go with that one. *evil voice* Your prize an all I can eat buffet of you. That stills sounds weird.

Takun: Not if I can help it.

Sora: Takun!

*Takun and Vincent start fighting. Vincent bites Sora's arm.*

Vincent: Mmm, tastes like chicken.

Sora: I did have some KFC the other day.

Vincent: That makes sense! *bites more*

*Somehow Takun overpowers Vincent through the power of teenage love and angst.*

Sirod: I'm going to enjoy this. *breaks Vincent's neck and everyone burns him alive*

Sora: (strained) Oh no. I'm dying.

Sasuke: (to Takun) You have to do something! Suck out the venom or something.

Takun: *bites Sora's wrist*

Sasuke: Okay... you can stop now! Stop! Hell-o, stop sucking her blood.

*Fade to black*

Sora: Where am I?

Ryo: In the hospital, bitch. They said you fell down four flights of stairs, flew out an eight story window and landed in a dumpster filled with stale Chinese food.

Sora: Oh... *sees Takun 'sleeping' in the corner*

Takun: You're finally awake.

Sora: What happened?

Takun: Well... I sucked your blood and then...

Sora: But...I? You? We? The..? W...what? W... why? H..how?

Takun: Form a coherent sentences, please.

Sora: But I...? Oh I give up.

Takun: A "thank you" would be nice.

Sora: A "fuck you" is even better. Fuck you, and get out of my room.

*at the prom*

Asahi: (to Sora) I know I'm about a school year too late, but you shouldn't date Takun. We'll be watching you.

Takun: *comes back from where ever he was* Dang, I leave you alone for one moment and the birds descend.

FORESHADOWING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1111!!!!

Sora: Oh... that's not a problem I guess.

Takun: Let's dance.

Sora: I want to be like you. I want to live forever and do superhuman things.

Takun: You don't want to be like me. In fact, you should be afraid of me.

Sora: But I'm not...

Takun: Well, then... let's dance and not worry about anything.

Sora: Whatever...

(narration) Sora: And so indeed the fox/wolf fell in love with the lion/wolf... and I couldn't have asked for more.

*end credits*

Lili is watching from the balcony and turns dramatically and walks off screen.

A Girl Worth Studying For

2001-07-08T03:23:00.000-07:00

All: For the past four years it's been like marching off to battle

Takun: In a lecture hall we feel a lot like cattle

All: Like a dog in heat, our hormones aren't easy to ignore

Sasuke: That's why we think of a girl worth studying for

Asahi: Huh?

Sasuke:That's what I said
A girl worth studying for
I want her paler than the moon with gold eyes that shine like stars

Yuhi: My girl will marvel at my brain, adore my Scottish charm

Takun: I couldn't care less what she'll wear or what she looks like
It all depends on what she cooks like: Beef, pork, chicken ...

All: Mmmh ...

Takun: (to Asahi) Bet, Sora thinks that you are quite boring

Asahi: (to Takun) And I'll bet she thinks that you are quite annoying

All:You can guess what we have missed the most since we went off to school

Sasuke: What do we want?

All: A girl worth studying for! (Yuhi: Hey, that whole part didn't rhyme)

Takun: My girl should know I have no faults

Sasuke: And your a major lie

Asahi: Uh... how 'bout a girl who's got a brain
Who always speaks her mind?

All: Nah!

Takun and Sasuke: Our manly ways and handsome face are sure to thrill her

Nosaju: They think they are such lady-killers

Yuhi: I've a girl back home who's unlike any other

Asahi: Yeah, the only girl who'd love him is our mother

All: But when we come home with a diploma, they'll line up at the door

Sasuke: What do we want?

All: A girl worth studying for

Sasuke: Wish that I had

All: A girl worth studying for
A girl worth studying -

Yuhi: Why did it just stop suddenly? *sees a bunch of students passed out after midterms* Oh... *places a coffee at the base of someone's pencil and desk*

Dr. Asahi's Sing-Along Blog

2001-07-08T03:21:00.000-07:00

Act One

Asahi: (In the lab) Muahah...*cough cough* ha ha. (clears throat) Gosh, (sputters slightly) I'm working on that laugh, kinda. I've got someone helping me with that at the moment. If I want to be a part of Vincent's ring of assassins, I gotta have an evil laugh. Like "Muahaha hahaha" or something like that.

Asahi: I'm waiting for him to accept my application, it's been like a few weeks. Anyway, Portal mail time!

Asahi: ih8u says: "Hey you. Why are you tryin' to be evil?" Oh nice, try to spell without dropping the "g's" foo'. Well, the sweet and simple answer is "I'm tired of being good like my goodie two shoes twin brother." Mirror fraternal twins, not identical.

Asahi: Ahhh, Dr. Asahi, I've waited for you at the PinkBerry! We were supposed to do battle. Love, Your Nemesis...your wasted childhood. My nemesis is Captain Takun, the royal pain in the ass. (throws a dart at a Captain Takun picture in which he is smiling and has a drawn on moustache and goatee and devil horns and every other tooth is blackened in; the dart stabs a glass jar containing some type of liquid)

Asahi: Next letter. "I've been watching for a while..." yadda yadda yadda. "In your vlog you say that you will steal her away and you'll show her the way. Show her that you are a true villian. Who is "she" and does she even know..."

(Asahi's at the lecture hall; he sees a girl with purple hair, Sora, sitting in the middle of the lecture hall taking a test. Asahi is walking down the aisle singing, but no one seems to notice him.)

Freeze Ray - Dr Horrible

Asahi:
Finals day
See you then
Students are
Panicking
Wanna say
“I like your ass”
Here I go
Mumbling

With my Freeze-Ray I will STOP the world
With my Freeze-Ray I will find the time to find the words

Tell you how
How you make
Make me feel
What’s the phrase?
Like a fool
Kinda sick
Special needs
Any ways

With my Freeze-Ray I will STOP the pain
It’s not a death-ray or an Ice-beam that's not what I know

I just think you need time to know
That I’m the guy to make it real
The feelings you don’t dare to feel
I’ll bend the world to our will
And we’ll make time stand still

That’s the plan
Rule the world
You and me
Anyday

Asahi: Love your ass

Sora: (stops taking the test) What?

Asahi: No… I…I… I need a pen…

Anyway

With my Freeze-ray I will stop…

Yuhi: What are you doing?

Asahi: Oh it's you. What do you want?

Yuhi: Can't I talk to my one and only twin brother?

Asahi: (blandly) No.

Yuhi: So did you talk to her?

Asahi: (blush) Her who? Whoever do you mean?

Yuhi: Don't play dumb with me.

Asahi: I was so close, but it was an epic fail. Can you believe I asked her for a pen? I wanted to tell her that I loved her and that she was beautiful...

Yuhi: And that she had a great ass?

Asahi: Yeah... but not so blunt. But she does have a nice ass.

Yuhi: You got a letter from Lord Vincent.

Asahi: (excited) Really? (snatches letter)

Yuhi: That's so hardcore. Lord Vincent rules his assassins with an iron paw... hand... black tentacle from the depth of Hell... whatever. He rules his assassins with an iron appendage.

Asahi: Look he calls himself Bad Wolf. He's incognito. Nice.

Bad Horse - Dr Horrible

Bad Wolf Singers:
Bad Wolf
Bad Wolf
Bad Wolf
Bad Wolf
He runs into the forest
The half wolf of sin
He got the application that you just sent in
It needs evaluation, so let the games begin
A heinous crime, a show of force,
(A murder would be nice of course)

Bad Wolf
Bad Wolf
Bad Wolf
He’s bad
The Evil League of Evil
is a secret, so don't snitch.
We hope you pass this test,
that is our sincerest wish
So make the Bad Wolf happy
Or he’ll make you his bitch
You’re saddled up
There’s no recourse
It’s ‘High-ho silver’
Signed: Bad uh... Wolf (Yuhi: That doesn't rhyme!)

Yuhi: Well, it's a not a no.

Asahi: This totally awesome.

Yuhi: So what are you gonna do?

Asahi: Well my freeze ray... it just needs a couple adjustments.

Yuhi: Why do you need a freeze ray? Why don't you just blow them up with your hikasui fire powers?

Asahi: Silence! I have to do this my way. They are sending in a vehicle. An armored vehicle. An armored vehicle that is filled with the stuff that my freeze ray needs. I will hijack this vehicle for my own evil devices. Muaha ha HA haha

Yuhi: (Aside) This won't end well. (to Asahi) You really need to work on your laugh.

Asahi: Shush! It's only a matter of time when my evil laugh will be an epically evil laugh.

Caring Hand - Dr Horrible

(outside in the courtyard at school)

Sora (passing out fliers for senate elections):
Will you lend a caring hand
To elect senators who need it?
Only have to sign your name
Don’t even have to read it
Would you help?
No? How bout you?

Will you lend a caring hand?

*SONG*

Asahi: ARGHHH!

Sora: Oh. Oh. (rushes to Asahi)

Asahi: (fiddling around with his remote control)

Sora: Hi, I was wondering if... hey, I know you.

Asahi: Hello. You know me? Cool. I mean. Yeah, you do. Do you?

Sora: Yes, from class. You asked me for a pen.

Asahi: Oh that's right. We had discussion together. You missed last week and so did I but I saw you made up that discussion in another discussion section and I saw you. Yes. I did borrow a pen from you. A purple one, just like your hair that smells faintly of vanilla mint shampoo and strawberry conditioner. (stops rambling) I'm Asahi.

Sora: I'm Sora. What are you doing?

Asahi: (playing with his remote control) I'm texting an important text to an important person who is waiting for this important text. I'd stop but it's very...

Sora: Important?

Asahi: Yeah. What are you doing?

Sora: Well, I'm getting signatures so that I can run for the Associated Students Board.

Asahi: (looking over Sora's shoulder for an armored vehicle) ASB? *pfft*

Sora: It's for a good cause. If I were an ASB senator, I could help students who aren't doing good in classes and they don't know what they can do. I want to have a 24 hour student studying center. We get people off of Academic Probation so they can major in cool stuff like... Flying to the Moon and then they can become balloon animal makers. You really don't care about students, do you?

Asahi: Oh I do. It's just that they are a symptom. You're treating a symptom, but the disease rages on. Consumes the whole student body. They say the fish rots from the head, why not just cut of the head?

Sora: Off the students bodies? And how are the students a symptom?

Asahi: Well, not cut off the students' heads. The students are a symptom of consumer capitalism. We don't go to school to better ourselves, we go to school to get jobs to make more money and (stops rambling) We need a revolution.

Sora: I'm all for it, but we've gotta take baby steps. (holds up flyer) If I was just a ASB senator...

Asahi: You'd overhaul the system. You'd destroy the status-quo because the “status” is NOT “quo”.

Sora: So will you sign?

Asahi: (puts remote controls under his arm to sign) Sure. I'm sorry if I came on to...

Sora: Strong? (smiles) It's okay. You still signed.

Asahi: I couldn't turn my back on a fellow... Pen Lender Outer.

Sora: I'll probably see you in class.

Asahi: Yeah, I'll return the other pen.

Sora: It's okay, you can keep that one. (takes back clipboard) You can keep that one too. Us pen people got to stick together.

Asahi: Uh, um thank you. (smells pen) She changed her shampoo. Raspberry? But she talked to me. She talked to me! (pushes wrong button on remote control) Uh-oh.

(Van is going out of control; Asahi is trying to get it back on its path. it has crashed into a hot dog stand and several vending machines. People are jumping off bikes, flying off scooters, and diving into bushes)

05 - A Mans Gotta Do.mp3 - Dr. Horrible

Asahi:
A man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do
Don’t plan the plan if you can’t follow through
All that matters is taking matters into your own hands
Soon I’ll control everything
My wish is your command

Captain Takun (Takun is wearing a t-shirt with a picture of a sake bottle on it, gardening gloves, and jeans):
Stand back everyone
Nothin’ here to see
Just imminent danger
And in the middle of it me
Yes Captain Takun’s here
Hair blowing in the breeze
The day needs my saving expertise

(the van comes at Sora, who is about to move but is pushed into a biker who, crashes to dodge her, causing the biker to fall into the bushes and Sora to trip into a trash can sending flyers flying into people's faces, causing them to trip and stumble into each other)

A man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do
Seems destiny ends with me saving you
The only doom that’s looming is drinking myself death
So I’ll give you a second to catch your breath

Asahi: YOU IDIOT!

Takun: Dr. Asahi. I should have known your stupid ass was behind this.

Asahi: You almost killed her!

Takun: So, she's still alive isn't she? And looking pretty damn fine, if I do say so myself.

Asahi: Is she? (Takun struggles to pick up Asahi by his neck, or pick him up in general. Finally he gives up)

Takun: It's curtains for you Dr. Asahi. Lacy, Martha Stewart brand curtains. (socks Asahi in the stomach; Asahi collapses on the ground)

Sora (pops up out of the trash can):
Thank you Drunken Man, I don’t think I can
Explain how important it was that you moved me from the van
I would be splattered; I’d be crushed under debris
Thank you sir for saving me

Takun: Don’t worry about it.

A man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do.

Sora: *You came from above*

Asahi: *Are you kidding?*

Takun: Seems destiny ends with me saving you

Asahi: *What heist were you watching?*

Sora: *I wonder what you’re captain of*

Asahi: *Stop looking at her like that*

Takun: When you’re the best you can’t rest, what’s the use?

Asahi: *Did you notice that the van is still going?* (Van is still going insane.)

Sora: *My heart is beating like a drum*

Takun: There’s ass that needs kicking. Some ticking bomb to diffuse.

Sora: *Must… must be in shock*

Asahi: *The van is still going. If it crashes, I'm not paying for the towing. *

Takun: The only doom that’s looming is drinking myself to death

Sora: *Assuming I’m not loving you to death*

Asahi: *Whatever*

Takun and Sora together: So please give me a sec to catch my breath.

Asahi: (on the ground) Balls.

(Van explodes into a mushroom cloud in the distance)

Raiders of the Lost Story Arc

2001-07-08T03:19:00.000-07:00

Deep in the confines of the Author's coffee hyped imagination:

Muse A: *hand appears slowly on screen and picks up and pen.* By jove I think I've got it!

Muse B: Got what?

Muse A: A peanut. *eats peanut* Peanuts are good.

Author: Now come on muses, we've got to write! I don't pay you to just sit around and do nothing.

Muse C: You're not paying us at all.

Author: I know it's 5:00 in the morning, and your brain refuses to work...but no back talk, Muse. We've got to keep this ship moving. Where are the characters!?

Muse B: Asleep in their cabins, captain.

Author: Captain. I like the sound of that. Fetch me my hat.

Muse A: I'm afraid your hat has gone missing, ma'am.

Author: And the rum...?

Muse A: Is gone.

Author: All of it?

Muse A: I'm afraid so.

Author: *whines* Why's the rum always gone?

Muse A: Might I interest you in a lovely peanut?

Author: Honey roasted?

Muse A: Regular.

Author: Be gone with you, knave! We need to make port at 019000 hours, I'd say just around April 3, 2008. How far have we gone?

Muse B: About one and a half chapters ma'am.

Author: Blast. You muses have failed me. To this I say, so long *walks the plank; lands in a pile of waded up paper* Well this sucks. *tries to pull the boat*

Usagi: *sailing in the paper* Yo ho yo ho, a pirates life for me. *sees Author* Wow, it is the Author. *to the crew* Hoist the colors! *the crew raises up a brightly colored flag*. Ahoy there, m'hartey. I be the captain of this here ship. Any words ye'd like to say...

Author: Uh... parlay.

Usagi: Oh curses. Always with the parlay.

*the world goes dark*

Usagi: What be this? A work of some devil?

Author: It's worse. It is Starr Jones... *looks at script* Davy Jones and his haunted ship, the Flying Dutchman.

Usagi: That's a racist ship. Why does it have to be Dutch?

Author: No time for this useless chatter. Full speed ahead. *boat barely moves* What is wrong with this blasted ship?

Usagi: Oh, this ship is called the Freewebs Floater.

Author: We're going to die! *the Freewebs Floater crashes, comes back, crashes again, come back* Wow...

Reaper the Hacker: Muahahaha, I have come to hack your ship! *hacks ship into pieces*

Author: It doesn't matter, this ship was a piece of shit anyway. Go to hell, Reaper! *hacks into Reaper's myspace*

Reaper: What!? Not the myspace! Oh no! My identity... *shows a angled myspace picture of an emo kid crying* I'm melting! I'm melting. *dies*

Author: Muahahaha! Victory is mine! JUSTICE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! FTW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

*characters come out of their cabin*

Sora: Is she alright?

Takun: *ignores Author's manical laughter; reads title* Raiders of the Lost Story Arc? What the hell? Is this some kinda attempt to be clever?

Author: It's not meant to be clever, jackass. It's just something I thought of... it fits, don't you think?

Takun: How can something that has never existed be lost?

Author: Shhh, you don't want the readers to know that I accidentally forgot to write some chapters.

Takun: Looks like they know now. *points to people behind the computer screen*

Author: Oh shit... are you serious? *falsely* Hello people... welcome to the grand opening of the
It's All Relative. Feel free to stop and look around. Let's take a couple e-mails from our friends.
Sora, if you will hand me a letter.

Sora: *hands Author a letter*

Author: *reads aloud*

Dear Author,
Why do you write IAR?

Author: It's simple my dear non-existent friend. Because I want to. It is meant to entertain and I hope you have as much fun reading it as I do writing it.

Takun: Bootlegger! You stole that from the website.

Author: *closes internet on Laptop* Did not!

Takun: Did too, bitch.
Author: Dumbass!
Takun: Bitch!
Author: DUMBASS!!!
Takun: BITCH!!!!
Author: Dumbass Bitch! *clears throat; speaks pleasantly* On to our next letter.

Dear Author,
What happened to the old website?

Author: *darkly* I'll tell you what happened... in song!

Sasuke: Oh showtones!

Takun: Oh god.

Author: *sitting on a beach by herself; turns dramatically to the camera*
Is there anybody going to listen to my story
All about the website I used to pay
It's the kind of site you want so much
It makes you sorry;
Still, you don't regret a single day.
Ah site! WEBSITE!
*light dims dramatically; crickets chirp*

Author: The website lived a sheltered life, not seeing much of the world. But one day, the website fell in love and went to prom, but the website's date was killed in the war and the website was very sad. The website moved to New York where it fell in love with a British website and they got tripped out on LSD and sang songs and lived life. But the war continued and the website got restless and joined the cause and then the website got stuck in a riot and got sent back to Britain and then blew up when it tried to make a homemade bomb and then there was a guy with a trashcan and they fought the hyenas and the website took its throne and became a part of the circle of life.

Usagi: 0.0, four movie plots in one. How exciting!

Takun: That's not what happened.

Author: Next letter.

Takun:
Dear Author,
How many times have you rewritten the first chapters?

Author: Hey, don't get testy with me, mister. I can have you written you out of this story in a heartbeat. (but to answer your question about 6-7 times; maybe 10-12, who knows.)

Takun: You can't write me out of the story, I make this story. There wouldn't be a story if there wasn't me.

Author: That's true. I wrote you into this world, and I can backspace you out!

Takun: Whatever. People love me.

Author: Actually... I'm the only one that loves you. Reader polls list Usagi and Sasuke as their favorites.

Usagi: Wow really?

Sasuke: That's amazing.

Takun: Oh c'mon, there was no user poll.

Author: Well... if the old website hadn't crashed three times and then gotten hacked into, I'd show you the comments that people wrote. Most of them weren't about you.

Takun: Yeah, they were mostly about your grammatical and spelling mistakes.

Author: *goes to hit the delete key*

Takun: Fine... sorry.

Author: People love Usagi and Sasuke.

Sora: What about me? I'm the main character.

Author: *sweatdrop* Well since you are the main character... you are destined to be the least liked character.

Sora: What that's not fair!

Author: People don't like you because you're stupid... and obviously a Mary-Sue of someone much cooler in real life.

Sora: You're not cool, you're a dork.

Author: I prefer nerd or geek. Or to be more politically correct "Socially Challenged".

Sora: Dumbass.

Author: Take a hit for the team, you'll get cooler as you get older.

Sora: *blandly* Great something to look forward to. Will I be that stereotypical character that gets cool only after she loses her viriginity?

Author: *shocked* I'm outraged. Do you think I would stoop so low as to make you lose your virginity to make you cooler? *kicks How to Write Fanservice under chair* Hehehe... don't be so crude.

Sora: *rolls eyes* Whatever. If you want to live our your fantasy though me... by all means, go ahead. At least I've got a man...or two.

Author: Slut. *secretly jealous. XD lol. *

Usagi: Another letter...

Dear Author,
Your story sucks... really bad. Get a life and start over.

Takun: *snickers*

Author: *pushes up glasses* I can't expect everyone to like IAR. Plus there hasn't been enough written to make that judgment (granted i keep editing the beginning chapters)

Takun: *still laughing* So what are you going to do? Scrap the whole story.

Author: Now why would I do that?

Takun: Because that person basically said that your entire story is worthless.

Author: Well if I have spent four years of my life writing shit, so be it! Besides that is just one
person. I certainly can understand where that person is coming from but they are JUST one person. Not enough to make me give up four years of writing shit. Besides IAR is more than than just shit... it is the shit that kept us together through all the shit that happened in our lives.

*Patriotic Music plays in the background, American flags waves behind Author*

Author: When we were supposed to be studying for AP exams, what were we doing?

Usagi: *quietly* Writing IAR...

Author: I can't hear you.

Usagi: WRITING IAR!!!!

Author: And those classes that we ditched what were we doing.

Taiyo: Watching House.

Author: What else?

Taiyo: College applications?

Author: *rolls eyes* What else?

Taiyo: Writing IAR.

Author: Yes! And what was that thing that we discussed every morning at our bench for the past four years.

Everyone: IAR!!!!!

Author: Exactly, so what are we going to do when one person. One measly person out of a billion people in the world says that our story is shit.

Takun: Give up, change our name, and chill out in Tijuana.

Author: That's what you would do, my friend. That's because you are a quitter...well me... I am a Shitter!

*record scratches and flag falls down, but it doesn't touch the ground*

Takun: You know that's not any better than a quitter.

Author: Yeah, I know. It sounded better when I was thinking about it in my head. But now that it's out, I'm going to be a Shitter, because I don't quit! I shit!

Sora: You're going to have to explain that one.

Author: I owe it to myself to finish telling your story, no matter how crappy one person thinks it is. I put too much time and effort to give up because someone told me to. I can see what they are saying...but I can't give up. It is my duty as an American to do whatever the fuck I want and I if I want to write shit, then by God I will shit!

Sasuke: *sounds like Jennifer Hudson* And I'm telling you... I'm not going! Even though the rough times are showing there's just no way... there's no way...

Author: *runs to the stage; whispers* Wrong song... it's track seven. I'll take it from here, Sasuke...

Sasuke: Ah man.

Author: *sounds like Gloria Gaynor*
At first I was afraid
I was petrified
Kept thinking I could never live
Without comments by my side
But then I spent so many nights
Thinking how they did me wrong
And I grew strong
And I learned how to get along

And so they're back
From outer space
I just logged in to my LJ to find them
With that mean look upon their face
I should have changed that stupid username
I should have went on another community
If I'd have known for just one second
they'd be back to bother me

Go on now go
Log out the door
Just turn around now
'Cause you're not welcome anymore
Weren't you the one who tried to break me with goodbye
Did you think I'd crumble?
Did you think I'd lay down and die?
Oh no, not I

I will survive
Oh, as long as I know how to write
I know I'll stay alive
I've got all my life to live
I've got all my words to give
And I'll survive
I will survive, hey hey

Takun: *dressed like Simon Cowell* Nope nope, that was terribly dreadful. You sounded like a dying cow.

Author: At least I didn't sound like my roommate.

Takun: That is a true story. She sounds like coyotes howling to the moon, but at least the coyotes are in tune.

Usagi: *dressed as Paula Deen* That was beautiful ya'll.

Takun: Who the hell are you?

Usagi: I'm Paula.

Takun: Not Paula Deen, Paula Abdul.

Usagi: Oh... who's that?

Takun: Nobody knows...

Sora: *dressed like Randy Jackson by default since she is the only person who is the closest to being black...ethnically speaking of course* That was tight dawg. The pitch was a little shaky, but I think you nailed it in the end.

Usagi: I want to pop off your head and hang it on my rear view mirror.

Author: That's... creepy...

Sasuke: *dressed as Ryan Seacrest* So how does it feel hearing that from the judges?

Author: Well... I think it feels mighty good, Tyra.

Sasuke: Um... alright. You heard it here world, the author of IAR, Author!

Author: And let me be the first to welcome you to the new site. I hope you stick around and read for a while. I hope I didn't kill to many brain cells.

It's All Relative

U-hopping Adventure: Secret Son

Home

Episode 12: Power

Episode 11: Friends

Episode 10: Family

Episode 9: Aftermath

Episode 8: The Inbetween

Episode 7: Hunting

Episode 6: The Way We Were

Episode 5: The Hills

Episode 4: Discussion

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Episode 3: Culture Shock

Episode 2: The Press Conference

Episode 1: Instinct

Episodes

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About the Characters:

About Web Fiction:

Cast

Breaking Asahi

Twilight Mania

A Girl Worth Studying For

Dr. Asahi's Sing-Along Blog

Act One

Raiders of the Lost Story Arc