"That was so amazing!"
"Nothing I've ever seen before!"
"I never even knew dragons could do something like that!"
"Well, all in a day's work," Mark said in an pleased, appreciative manner. It seemed to be the time of afternoon at that point in time; nearly being on the other side of the world does change everything.
Students around his age range- and himself- had gone out of the sliding doors of a building, which looked to be an area where classes were being held. Once he parted away from his classmates, though, he stopped, having to have come across something (erm, somebody) strange.
"Emily!" He exclaimed in surprise, after spotting his girlfriend... on the ground? Well that was a bit peculiar; especially since it seems that she either came out of nowhere. He had only been here for an hour or less, but never have he come across her. Mark immediately ran to her side and tried to shake her awake.
"Huh?" She muttered slowly afterwards, her eyes fluttering open, "Mark?"
Mark stared down at her oddly, "Emily, what are you doing here?" He helped her up to her feet before she could reply.
Emily looked down at her appearance, which had been completely drenched and nearly covered in dust in some parts, "I... don't remember."
"How can you not remember?" He wondered as they began to walk down the street full of crowded people, "I mean... you're here, right?"
She put one hand over her mouth thoughtfully, trying to recall back to what had lead to her winding up here, "That's the thing, though. I have no clue how I came here; I never even expected for myself to try and to go all the way here to see you- not that I wouldn't actually make that attempt."
"There's got to be a reason..."
"Well," Emily closed her eyes for a moment, continuing to walk along with Mark, thinking she would be safe with him being her lookout in case she would ever run into anything. "All I can think of is how I was really upset, how much I wanted to see you again, and then, I think I sent myself out here to try and find you but winded up getting into a bad storm before ending up here," She explained, thinking twice before she had said that for some reason.
"Well, there you go-"
"But," Emily hadn't mean to interrupt him, "I don't think that's how it actually occurred, though. Something in the back of mind just told me that it was how it did, that's all; I must have been acting on impulse trying to explain it!"
"How can it be?" asked Mark, confused, "If that's what popped up in your mind, then that's what most likely what had happened." He then paused after, "But what really matters right now is that you're okay. You could use some sleep and... uh, cleaning up, though..."
Emily sighed a bit hopelessly, thinking that there was not much else she can to convince him otherwise, slowly nodding, trying to push back that previous outburst from her head, "I guess so..."
Mark eyed the somewhat disappointed look on her face, but seemed to have shrugged it off just after, "Then I guess we better head back now..."
And as they did, Emily couldn't help but contemplate about that over and over again.
"I swear I was sure that never happened..."
• • •
"So, this is your secret hiding place?" asked Rick, glancing around the tight area that they both had been staying in for that moment in time.
Kayla nodded slowly, staring oddly at how uncomfortable he looked, "I'm guessing that it's gotten a bit... small throughout the years, though..."
"I've noticed," He remarked jokingly.
"Hey, at least we're safe," She reminded, running one of her fingers along the moss-covered inside of the tree bark, "I mean, who were those people anyway? They were after us!"
"I don't know. I think they said something about going to Mauna Kea to continue some sort of mission or retrieve some sort of... thing up there."
"But what would they be doing here near the Na Pali coast if that is all the way in Hawaii?"
Rick looked confused, "I beg your pardon...?"
"Well, logically speaking, the 'Big Island,' the hugest mass of land in this 'archipelago,' is where Mauna Kea is located," Kayla explained, "And Kauai happens to be the island farthest away from it- why would they be here if everybody knows it's so far away?"
"Maybe they were given the wrong directions?" He suggested.
"I doubt it," She muttered, "I'm pretty sure they were to 'pick up' some things or people along the way."
"Then you know what we should do?"
"What?"
"Go to Hawaii and see what they're up to!"
Kayla sighed, "But what happens if they spot us and take us away?- or worse, take us away then we end up there in that dormant volcano?"
"Mauna Kea is a volcano?" wondered Rick.
"Never mind," She said, "I'm pretty sure we'll be safe right now, then maybe I could consider following your lead; the only problem is... how do we get there before them if we're so far away?"
"Oh, I have an idea..." He replied.
• • •
"Wow! I forgot how wet this ride makes you afterwards," grinned Leah happily. She was then helped up out of the log-like by Maverick, who had gotten himself off already, "And thanks for getting me away from my parents again; they sure are a handful."
"It's no problem; I found them pretty nice," He replied, "And... well, that's what makes it better about your reaction; became more of a surprise in Splash Mountain, right?"
"I never thought of it that way," Leah admitted as they headed out of the exit doors in a single file line towards the exit, "So, any wise ideas on where to head over to next?"
"I have one," He replied. Before they began to press on further, he brought his right to Leah's left and it looked as if... they were holding hands?
She then began to look at him a bit oddly. Had he forgotten that I have a boyfriend? She thought to herself as they walked. She was thinking of pulling her hand away, but thought she would ask him to not do it in a more polite manner. It was then that she regretted doing the other choice earlier when she spotted a familiar face...
"Ben?!" Leah shot her free hand to her mouth, releasing her grip from Maverick as fast she could, "What are you doing here!?"
"Why do you think I'm here?" asked Ben in a slightly saddened tone, "I've been trying to call you to tell you that my parents let me out of taking the job at that tea shop! I was always making the same attempt to catch up with you.
"You haven't picked up your phone when it's me calling, you haven't even tried to ask me what's going on, nor have you even bothered to even call back and ask what I had to say! And more importantly, everytime I was about to say 'hi' to my girlfriend, she and 'Maverick' always end up running off together.
"Now I know why..." He turned away disappointedly.
"No, Ben!" She leaned forward and ran up to him, trying to catch his gaze but had turned away before she could catch a glimpse of Ben, "It's not like that; Maverick's just a really close friend!"
"And that's what explains both of you holding hands?!" He spat irritatedly, "Just because I'm not here doesn't mean I can't find out what you've been doing without me eventually!"
"Ben! No!" Leah watched him slowly walk off, sadly slumping her shoulders. She focused her gaze on him, despite the other crowds of people around trying to block him out of her vision. "Come back," She whispered softly, then turning to Maverick angrily, her face wet with tears, "This is ALL your fault! Now my boyfriend thinks I'm cheating on him with YOU!"
"Oh, but Leah," Maverick spoke casually, "I only wanted to be your friend..."
"A true friend wouldn't get involved in people's love lives!" She exclaimed, turning to the direction Ben ran off to and began storming off, "I guess I was wrong about you!"
And as she continued to draw herself away from him, she was then startled by a black dragon with blazing red eyes, who appeared to be levitating in the air, instead of using his wings. He then raised a claw in the air, and then the area around them seemed to blur and... stop moving, which meant that he had halted time.
"Well guess what? You were! You haven't believed that, all along, I was after you!" He smirked sinisterly, "And no one can save you now."
Leah began to dart off as fast as she could, but ended up tripping. She remained on the floor, putting both of her hands around her ankle, which appeared to have ended up to be sprained. She tried to heal it in a quicker manner, but seemed that she couldn't. When she looked up, she braced herself in impact, waiting for the worst, but then...
"Guess again, Maverick!" called out another dragon, Ben, making his landing on the ground shortly after.
(
A/N: Sorry for the slight lame action scene that's going to... happen right now, by the way. I swear that they'll get even better as the story goes on.)
He threw his mouth open and unleashed a ball of fire towards his opponent. Maverick easily dodged but Ben waved his hands around in a specific circular motion and it happened to have come back to him- like a boomerang.
Before the strong blaze had reached him, Ben swung one hand to the left horizontally, letting the fire spread further and it inflicted Maverick with a ring.
Maverick used his wings to spin around fast enough that the fire had blown out, before letting another bit of damage affect him. Then he raised one hand in the air, conjuring a cloud of darkness that surrounded the atmosphere.
He then dashed at Ben with incredible speed. Ben glided side to the side, in any case he mustn't had seen Maverick plunging right at him. He watched him miss 'his target' and Ben raised both hands in the air, a ball of fire forming in both.
Ben brought them both together to let it form into its doubled size. He had both of his hands on his right and he sent the devouring inferno towards him. Maverick hadn't seemed to do anything for a moment, but had his two arms back then brought them forward to create a gust of air so powerful that the attack was sent back to Ben.
"Looks like I've got you now," Maverick looked down at Ben, who had made an attempt to get up. But it was then that he turned his attention to another voice calling out to him.
"That's where your wrong! It's two against one is fair enough, buddy!" said Leah, putting both of her arms high in the air. And before Maverick knew it, there Ben was, flying above her. He then took her hands with his, and he swung her forward strong enough that she was able to form a beam of pink that was sent towards Maverick.
She leaped down to the ground again and dodged the incoming attack by nearly curling into a ball then dodge rolling, letting herself stop by putting one hand on the ground and spinning slightly so that she could get up again and make her way towards him.
Leah then stopped, though, and turned to Ben, who had flown down next to her. Giving each other a nod, they signaled each other to dash towards him and give him their best shot in each of their different ways. Leah decided to attack from above and Ben in a bit of a lower direction that was more downwards.
"Not so fast!" yelled Maverick, first shooting a giant, black blast of fire on the floor that had left Ben sliding off into the pavement towards a nearby wall. Next, he aimed towards his true target- Leah. He watched her planned tactics first. Leah started off with bringing both of her hands together, as if they were clasped, and shot a thin pink beam, which was easily dodged and nearly richocheted back to her.
Leah then took it to the next step by bringing both of feet up in the air and making an aerial thrash towards his face to possibly try and distract him until she makes the final blow. She tried to make a landing with her feet first but was stopped when Maverick held a hand in front of him and a clad of 'darkness' was quickly shot at her.
"AHH!" She was brought upwards while midair by the strong force that trapped her into a single spot, preventing her from escaping or to gain rescue from anyone. It was then that she had realized that this had not only been a trap that ensnared her, but it seemed to have glowed in a dark purple and Leah was covered entirely of a spark similar to that of electricity. It had been powerful enough that she fell to the ground motionless.
Maverick then grinned in an evil manner, scooping the unconscious girl in her arms and forming a sort of aegis that prevented Ben from getting anywhere near him, "Thanks for letting me lend her, Ben! Means a lot!"
"No, Leah!" Ben exclaimed, falling to his knees and slowly hanging his head low, while reverting to his human form sadly, watching him slowly fade away, "Not her! Not to him!"
But before he had the chance to choose the option of giving up, he noticed a sort of... 'gateway,' which had been completely shrouded with an essence of darkness. Could this lead to him to where Leah could've been taken to by Maverick?
• • •
It was extremely past her curfew, but she had taken the risk of taking the beating from her parents later by working on a specific note instead of sleeping. Across a clean, loose-leaf lined paper wrote pen-written words.
She reread the letter to herself quietly, holding up the only thing she had that provided her light- her flashlight. It was then she raised it a foot or two above her head with one hand and used the other to lift up the paper in front of her so she could read:
"
I'm sorry it's been taking a while for me to write to you or even give you a phone call, but I'm sure you've been doing fine with your vacation to remember, right? If that's so, I understand. I really miss you, too, though, and the truth is... I haven't been able to find the write words to say, so I'll just come right out and say it-"
She hadn't even gone halfway through until she stopped and crumbled the piece of paper, making it a three-pointer as she shot it at the trashcan in her room- which had been strangely, full, though she hadn't bothered to empty it; especially since it had been entirely filled with crumbled balls of lined paper.
Taking out another, she began to write again without stopping until she filled the entire page. She completely had no idea on what to compose in this letter.
"It's no use," She had slowly become convinced, "I'm sure he's forgotten about me. And I don't want to sound like I still... like him or something."
But instead of disposing of what she had written, she stood up and tucked it away somewhere on her desk. Afterwards, she sat herself down on her bed again, staring ahead at the ceiling. All was quiet in her room, except for the sound of air coming in through her bedroom window.
It seemed to feel a bit ominous to her as she shut off her flashlight and pulled up her blanket. She eyed her nearby digital clock and then continued to space out, seeming to have gained a bad case of insomnia. She groaned a little in annoyance, pushing her covers out from on top of herself then sat up on her bed and continued to 'contemplate.'
All of a sudden, though, she thought she heard a set of footsteps coming from the hallway. She jumped a little, standing directly behind the door, her back leaning against it with one hand locking it. But it seemed to have not work; there appeared to be an uninvited guest that came out of nowhere in front of her. But who? She hadn't a clue. Trying to step back, she had not realized until she couldn't any further- she was nearly squeezed against the wall.
"Who are you?" She managed to have mustered, left breathless with fear.
Receiving no response, the mysterious person held out its hand in front of her face. The girl ducked but it hadn't seem to do any use... It was not long until then that wind rushed, papers flew, things from tables dropped, and then there was no more- not a single noise resonated throughout the room- only the whispering of the breeze outside.
But as the air begun to blow in through the window once again, the paper that she had written her letter on traveled in a tumbling direction midair across the area. And later, it landed on the ground tucked perfectly underneath her bed. The only visible words read:
Dear Kevin...(
A/N: Based on that one small clue and specific others you have been given in this scene, I'm sure you might have an idea who this character is; if you read/were in AUA last time. if you don't know it, then keep trying, because I won't be telling you anytime soon. Don't spoil it to everyone if you know it, though. XD)
• • •
"It's a bit sad, actually," muttered Stephanie, as she and Ari continued sitting down on the same pier that night, only it had been at a lower spot, "I wish I could've gotten the chance to do that before..."
"Gee," Ari remarked sadly, slightly taken aback by the long story that Stephanie had just told "I hope you see him again."
"Me too... I just can't stop thinking about him, though. It's hard to be apart from the person you love- or at least, still do- especially if you know in your heart that you won't see them ever again, until you end there yourself."
"I know exactly how you feel... only... in a different situation."
Stephanie leaned down a little, running her hands through the cold, salty water of the ocean, watching the ripples slowly fade into another direction, "Coming here alone... it just makes me feel a bit better; although sometimes being isolated sometimes doesn't help."
"Yeah. Sometimes it helps take your minds off of things, and other times, you feel the memory just creeping back into your head and you just can't seem to get it out," Ari agreed, reluctantly staring at her reflection on the water, "I just wish I didn't feel so bad about it, though..."
"Sorry if I... sort of dumped this all out at you," Stephanie apologized, standing up and holding out a hand to help Ari do so as well, "It's something that's been on my mind lately."
"Oh, no, it's not like that," Ari shook her head, taking it and bringing herself upwards, "I just can't help but bear the same thought in mind, though, even before you told all about your story."
They both headed to the direction away from the beach and down along the empty street. It was a bit late at night and Ari was expected to be 'home' for a while now, but ignored her parents' orders and took off with her friend anyway. Frankly, she decided that it was better to not be where she didn't want to be.
"Hey, Ari... I have a question."
"...What is it?"
"How does it feel... to venture to a place farther than you've ever dreamed of? Do you ever get homesick, or do you tend to shrug off that thought and just enjoy it completely?"
"Actually, it's a bit of both. The thing is, going on an adventure will never be a regret to you; pretty much taking any risk will never be. Sure, there will be rough edges you run into along the way, but as you press on through, things are bound to get even better, you know? Because what you'll hate yourself for even more is the chances you don't take years from now than the mistakes you made in your past."
"So, you're saying that... even if you don't like how things go, it wouldn't affect you as much?"
"Exactly," replied Ari, "I've been in many myself. And if you decide that there is a chance out there for you that's impossible to reach, then don't doubt yourself of it; I'm sure you'll get through anything that comes your way."
"Thanks, I think I'll follow what you said," nodded Stephanie, "So... I think I'll head off now, then, I guess."
"I hope I'll see you again..."
Ari truly hadn't a clue why she had said what she told her, but felt it had been the right words to say. And with that, they both waved good-bye as they headed towards different directions down the pavement.
• • •
"
There's something about her," A voiceover of Lewis echoed in his head, "
Something that seems a bit strange, but rather unique; what could it be?"
"LEWIS!" yelled Ash, trying to get him to bring him back to reality, "Ahem, back to what I was saying..." She, him, and Liam were making their way towards a nearby playground. It seemed pretty late, so they hadn't expected anything to be occupied. Plus, where else was there go to?
"Huh?" Lewis sat down on the nearest swing, while he hadn't felt like paying much attention at the moment, but tried to see if what he mustered convinced her that he was probably listening away.
He left her voice drone out as he continued to think of the encounter just earlier over and over again; it's a bit hard to get some sort of 'illusion' out of your head. While trying to block out the 'excess noise' that he hadn't been planning to listen to anytime soon, he thought he had noticed some weird sort of figure in the corner of his eye. And for some reason, he thought this... thing, person... or whatever it could be, had been somewhat familiar, only someone else who was completely new as well.
"Lewis... Lewis? LEWIS!?" It was only now that Ash came to realize that Lewis' mind was nowhere near from this planet.
As he hopped off where he sat, he continued to walk over almost in a somewhat mindless manner; as if he were some sort of zombie that was completely possessed and wanted to do the stuff that half-dead beings actually do. Ash groaned and ran off after him, with Liam just staying behind because she specifically thought he would try to push their luck further if he came along. Besides, she figured Liam would enjoy trying to compare the size of his height and the longest slide in the playground.
"Look, it's dark! There's probably nothing here anywa-" Ash paused, stopping dead on her tracks, along with Lewis- for they have spotted somebody who hadn't exactly looked to be friendly. "Hey! No one asked you to come with us!" She exclaimed angrily.
"Well, be still my heart," an extremely strange voice came from the sound of a woman, which left the two even more mystified as it had been, "This isn't quite what I expected from some certain people who don't know that people they know whose lives are at stake."
"You what?!"
"Tha-at's right," She spoke in a somewhat sassy tone, "You both don't know, do you?"
"Spit it out!" spat Lewis, this being about one of the first three words he ever managed to say ever since the strange encounter back from earlier today, "Tell us what you've done!"
"Oh, ho, ho... I am so sorry, but I can't do that!" She said with a mix of both singsongy and sarcastic.
"WHY NOT?!" yelled Ash, one of her feet stomping on the ground immediately.
"Because, you'll have to do us all a favor and go through THERE first." With a snap with her fingers, there appeared a circular clad of darkness, which gleamed in the time of dusk with a sinister glow, "See, before we can give you what you want, you have to give us what we want!"
"But that's cheating! YOU'RE taking something we care about so our only choice would be to have us turn to you and do your little 'dirty work'!"
"Details, details... why get into them?"
"Ash is right!" said Lewis, "We don't HAVE to do what you want! Just give it- whatever it is you stole- back!"
"I'm 'fraid it's not going to be that easy, pal..." She said, "Especially if your 'girlfriend' here is going to end up here and you have to save her too."
"What?!" exclaimed Ash, "I'm NOT in that big swirling thing and nor am I this dork's boyfriend- AHH!" It was then that her yell was distant and then there was nothing to be heard beyond the vortex-like gateway any longer.
"Would you like to join her?"
"I... guess I have no other choice," sighed Lewis, but changed into his dragon form and jumped in before he could enter, "I'm coming for you Ash!"
"I knew I could convince those two to get in there-"
"Wait! I want to come too!" It was Liam, who had stayed behind but saw all of this happening, making a leap towards the same mysterious threshold both of them had gone through, "I WON'T LET YOU GUYS GET IN TROUBLE!"
Liam had not known exactly what would be beyond this place, but after he had followed after Lewis and Ash, the cloaked being had gone inside as well, but raised both hands and the shrouds of darkness slowly disappeared in thin air...
• • •