I am very excited to finally be able to post this! This is a story that I've been working on for a long time, and up until now, it's only lived in my imagination, and in the few chapters that I've posted to my DeviantART. Please leave a comment if you enjoyed it or even on how I can improve the story in the future. Any that I receive are much appreciated!
And so, without further ado, I present the first chapter of The World We No Longer Know!
January 1st, 12:01am
A slight breeze carried the smell of a nearby apple orchard to the nose of a 10-year-old girl. She breathed in and the fragrance of the apples caressed her senses. The trees shouldn't have had any apples this time of year, and many found it strange. The girl did not however. She did not see anything wrong with it, commenting once that the trees had wanted to have their apples during this time, when the moon shined it's brightest.
The moon hung in the night sky overhead, smiling down on her, along with a million stars. They were the perfect backdrop for the colorful lights that exploded overhead into dozens of shapes: a flower, a star, even butterflies. She loved nights like these. The sky was like a velvet blanket, covered in stars and a large shining disk, while the one thing that had color burst in front of her, dazzling her eyes and filling her with happiness.
The sweet breeze curled around her, pulling gently at her nightgown and her long hair, before laying them down against the slowly-rotting porch beneath her once more. It hovered around her, keeping her cool on this strangely warm winter night.
The girl's features were still child-like, but could be seen maturing slowly each day. Her pale pink cheeks just barely hid the little dimples that caved slightly inward at the corners of her pastel lips. She had the long eyelashes that every girl wanted, the kind you would normally have to use fakes lashes to get. They framed the large aquamarine eyes that pulled attention to her heart-shaped face. In the light of the moon, they sparkled just like the gem they shared the color with, and, if you looked close enough, dark flecks of sapphire could be seen, floating just beyond reach. The scarlet wave of her hair cascaded down over her small shoulders, the bangs across her forehead slightly covering her eyes.
The house behind her was dark, but warm and inviting. It had been her home for the past eight years. Of the time before that, she remembered nothing at all. She'd lived at this house since before she could even sit up on her own, trained to defend herself before she could even walk. She had no idea why she had to train, but she did not question it. The masters that taught her were kind, even if strict at times.
The sliding door behind her opened and closed quietly. The old wooden floorboards of the porch creaked as her visitor walked closer to her. However, she did not turn, instead choosing to keep her gaze locked onto the explosions of color that appeared in the sky over the distant city.
The newcomer placed a thick wool blanket over her shoulders and sat down next to her. She glanced at him from the corner of her eye.
The boy was a few years older than her. He shared a similar facial structure with her, but that was it. He had deep, emerald eyes that grew brighter under the light from the night sky. His ash blond hair was cut in layers, the longest just barely falling below the base of his neck, with bangs that cut across his forehead, mimicking hers.
"The fireworks are especially bright this year," he commented, the colors blooming and disappearing across his eyes.
The girl turned back to look up at them just as a heart soared up and out among the distant, twinkling lights. "Mhm."
He turned to look at her as she pet the small creature in her lap. It was a fennec fox pup, no more than a few weeks old. The girl had always been great with animals. Not that he wasn't as well. Animals liked him well enough, but they just adored her.
They were siblings, but before she'd even been born, something strange had happened. She'd been born nearly 2 months late, shocking as it was.
The doctors had given up on her coming out alive and were ready to surgically remove her body, when their mother went into labor and there she was. The doctors had said it was a miracle, but all he could remember was his mother screaming at them, words that were permanently seared into his brain, never letting him forget that he was the only one who cared for his little sister.
He couldn't understand why. His sister was perfectly normal...Other than the flaw only he knew about: she was colorblind. The only times she could see color were the rare nights when fireworks lit up the night sky. Everything else, nothing but black, white, and gray.
The boy sighed. He pointed at the firework that exploded in a rose overhead. "See that pretty color there?" She nodded. "That's red. It's the same color as your hair."
She pulled a section of it over her shoulder and she began to braid the strands. She stared at the braid, pursing her lips and willing herself to see the pigment, but all she managed to do was exhaust herself.
"Don't worry," he laughed. "It'll come to you eventually."
She nodded again and turned back to look at her lovely colors in the sky. "I wish I could see more. Richard, do you think I'll ever be able to see colors outside of fireworks?"
"Someday," Richard said. "Hopefully soon." He looked up at the constellations and prayed for that day to come very soon.
Suddenly, they both stiffened. The gentle breeze that had been dancing between them disappeared, only to be replaced by a roaring windstorm hurtling past them and towards the city a couple miles away. All the lights in the distant buildings blazed brighter than they ever had before, like a switch had been flipped. And, just as quickly, they all went out, like somebody blowing out a candle.
As Richard sat staring in shock, images flashed through his head: London, completely dark; Paris, gone; Moscow, wiped of electricity; Tokyo, eerily quiet; San Francisco, black bridges; all of them, just like the city in front of him: completely empty of electricity.
"Something isn't right," he murmured, placing his arm around his sister's shoulders.
"I hear screaming," she whispered.
Richard strained his ears, listening. Sure enough, he heard screaming from the city. Not screaming caused by the blackout either. Blackouts were usually just annoyances that nobody screamed over. No, these were terrified screams, tortured screams, all completely and utterly dripping with fear and despair. It continued for several seconds before abruptly cutting off. Both siblings were shaken to their cores. The fennec pup bristled and growled in her lap. The door to the house slid open quickly with a bang.
"Richard! Luna!" Standing in the doorway was Suoh, one of the great masters that had taken in the siblings eight years prior. "You must come inside at once and prepare your things! It is no longer safe here!"
"Suoh, what's going on?" Richard asked.
"We heard people screaming in the city," Luna whimpered, her eyes filling with tears. "What's going on? Are they ok?"
"I'm afraid not," Suoh said, grimacing. "Anybody who did not escape, has either become a slave or food."
"For what?" Richard asked nervously.
"Creatures hidden among humans for generations. Demons that were thought to be nothing but myths."
Richard immediately took Luna's hand and pulled her to her feet, while she clutched the fox pup tightly to her chest. He pulled her through the door and down the hall to their room while Suoh threw the door closed and jammed all the locks home.
When the two of them walked into the room the other three animals that Luna had recently "adopted" were all alert and dragging stuff together: Leo, a slow leopard cub, had grabbed up blankets in his mouth and piled them up in the middle of the room and was now in the process of getting his teeth around flashlights and a lantern; Mai, a white tiger cub, was pulling clothes onto the blanket pile and was holding tight to Luna's favorite bunny stuffed animal; Moon, a wolf pup, had managed to gather up the small valuables the siblings held dear and he was now pushing everything into two large backpacks.
Richard knelt down and shut the backpack Moon had finished packing. "Good job you guys." They grunted in response.
He slid the bag over his shoulders and helped Luna into hers. She walked to the door with the fennec pup in her arms, now next to her bunny toy, and stood waiting for him, the other three animals sitting at her feet.
Richard looked around the room one more time, making sure they weren't forgetting anything. He felt a lump rise in his throat, remembering the good times they'd had here, and he knew in his heart that they would never be returning here.
Before the nostalgia could overwhelm him, Mai growled from the doorway. Richard collected himself and hurried to his sister.
They shuffled out into the main hall and down to the main room that made up most of the house: the training dojo. Six of the seven masters were there waiting for them: Suoh, master of the katana and kung fu; Liam, master of fencing and swordplay; Mal, the heavy hit master of clubs and over-sized blades; Tom, firearms and trap specialist; Shin, the resident sneak; and Angelique, the only female master, master of the whip and best with a bow and arrow. Richard and Luna had yet to meet the seventh and final master however. They knew nothing about him, only being told that they would meet in time.
"Have everything?" Liam asked, surveying them to make sure they were ready. He placed his hand on the hilt of one of the many swords belted to his waist. "Good. We need to hurry then."
Tom looked towards Luna. "Those animals have to stay behind. They could slow us down."
Luna clutched the fox tighter while the other three huddled around her ankles and growled in defiance.
"Good luck with that, Tom." Shin said. Richard could just make out the faint outline of a smile under the cloth that covered the bottom half of his face. "You might lose a finger. Or a hand."
"Guess I'd better back off then." The corner of Tom's mouth twitched upward.
"We need to get going now," Suoh said, hand inching towards a silver katana on his back. "It's only a matter of time before they sense us here, and I want to be long gone before they come sniffing."
"Right," the other masters agreed together.
They lead the siblings through to the kitchen, Mai, Leo, and Moon forming an escort around Luna and Richard. They walked straight to the stone fireplace on the back wall. Angelique pushed a series of stones on the fireplace, all in random places and Richard's eyes couldn't track them all. There was a sharp click and Luna gasped in surprise as the stone that held the logs for the fireplace slid upward, into the chimney of the fireplace. The wall behind it slid upward as well revealing a hidden doorway. Stairs led down into the dark abyss.
"Whoa," Richard breathed. "I didn't know this was here."
Angelique turned to him and smiled. "That is because you would've gone snooping. And if any of the stones had been pressed in the wrong order...I shudder to think what would have happened to your pretty little heads."
Richard gaped at her while his sister covered the pup's head protectively.
"Let's go, kiddies." Mal ushered them toward the stairs. Liam, Tom, and Suoh headed down first; Richard, Luna, and the animals in the middle; Angelique, Shin, and Mal taking up the rear.
As they progressed deeper, the opening behind them sealed itself, cutting them off from the outside world. The twelve of them, six adults, two kids, and four animals, walked deeper and deeper down into the passage, not knowing what the future would have in store for them.
And so, without further ado, I present the first chapter of The World We No Longer Know!
January 1st, 12:01am
A slight breeze carried the smell of a nearby apple orchard to the nose of a 10-year-old girl. She breathed in and the fragrance of the apples caressed her senses. The trees shouldn't have had any apples this time of year, and many found it strange. The girl did not however. She did not see anything wrong with it, commenting once that the trees had wanted to have their apples during this time, when the moon shined it's brightest.
The moon hung in the night sky overhead, smiling down on her, along with a million stars. They were the perfect backdrop for the colorful lights that exploded overhead into dozens of shapes: a flower, a star, even butterflies. She loved nights like these. The sky was like a velvet blanket, covered in stars and a large shining disk, while the one thing that had color burst in front of her, dazzling her eyes and filling her with happiness.
The sweet breeze curled around her, pulling gently at her nightgown and her long hair, before laying them down against the slowly-rotting porch beneath her once more. It hovered around her, keeping her cool on this strangely warm winter night.
The girl's features were still child-like, but could be seen maturing slowly each day. Her pale pink cheeks just barely hid the little dimples that caved slightly inward at the corners of her pastel lips. She had the long eyelashes that every girl wanted, the kind you would normally have to use fakes lashes to get. They framed the large aquamarine eyes that pulled attention to her heart-shaped face. In the light of the moon, they sparkled just like the gem they shared the color with, and, if you looked close enough, dark flecks of sapphire could be seen, floating just beyond reach. The scarlet wave of her hair cascaded down over her small shoulders, the bangs across her forehead slightly covering her eyes.
The house behind her was dark, but warm and inviting. It had been her home for the past eight years. Of the time before that, she remembered nothing at all. She'd lived at this house since before she could even sit up on her own, trained to defend herself before she could even walk. She had no idea why she had to train, but she did not question it. The masters that taught her were kind, even if strict at times.
The sliding door behind her opened and closed quietly. The old wooden floorboards of the porch creaked as her visitor walked closer to her. However, she did not turn, instead choosing to keep her gaze locked onto the explosions of color that appeared in the sky over the distant city.
The newcomer placed a thick wool blanket over her shoulders and sat down next to her. She glanced at him from the corner of her eye.
The boy was a few years older than her. He shared a similar facial structure with her, but that was it. He had deep, emerald eyes that grew brighter under the light from the night sky. His ash blond hair was cut in layers, the longest just barely falling below the base of his neck, with bangs that cut across his forehead, mimicking hers.
"The fireworks are especially bright this year," he commented, the colors blooming and disappearing across his eyes.
The girl turned back to look up at them just as a heart soared up and out among the distant, twinkling lights. "Mhm."
He turned to look at her as she pet the small creature in her lap. It was a fennec fox pup, no more than a few weeks old. The girl had always been great with animals. Not that he wasn't as well. Animals liked him well enough, but they just adored her.
They were siblings, but before she'd even been born, something strange had happened. She'd been born nearly 2 months late, shocking as it was.
The doctors had given up on her coming out alive and were ready to surgically remove her body, when their mother went into labor and there she was. The doctors had said it was a miracle, but all he could remember was his mother screaming at them, words that were permanently seared into his brain, never letting him forget that he was the only one who cared for his little sister.
He couldn't understand why. His sister was perfectly normal...Other than the flaw only he knew about: she was colorblind. The only times she could see color were the rare nights when fireworks lit up the night sky. Everything else, nothing but black, white, and gray.
The boy sighed. He pointed at the firework that exploded in a rose overhead. "See that pretty color there?" She nodded. "That's red. It's the same color as your hair."
She pulled a section of it over her shoulder and she began to braid the strands. She stared at the braid, pursing her lips and willing herself to see the pigment, but all she managed to do was exhaust herself.
"Don't worry," he laughed. "It'll come to you eventually."
She nodded again and turned back to look at her lovely colors in the sky. "I wish I could see more. Richard, do you think I'll ever be able to see colors outside of fireworks?"
"Someday," Richard said. "Hopefully soon." He looked up at the constellations and prayed for that day to come very soon.
Suddenly, they both stiffened. The gentle breeze that had been dancing between them disappeared, only to be replaced by a roaring windstorm hurtling past them and towards the city a couple miles away. All the lights in the distant buildings blazed brighter than they ever had before, like a switch had been flipped. And, just as quickly, they all went out, like somebody blowing out a candle.
As Richard sat staring in shock, images flashed through his head: London, completely dark; Paris, gone; Moscow, wiped of electricity; Tokyo, eerily quiet; San Francisco, black bridges; all of them, just like the city in front of him: completely empty of electricity.
"Something isn't right," he murmured, placing his arm around his sister's shoulders.
"I hear screaming," she whispered.
Richard strained his ears, listening. Sure enough, he heard screaming from the city. Not screaming caused by the blackout either. Blackouts were usually just annoyances that nobody screamed over. No, these were terrified screams, tortured screams, all completely and utterly dripping with fear and despair. It continued for several seconds before abruptly cutting off. Both siblings were shaken to their cores. The fennec pup bristled and growled in her lap. The door to the house slid open quickly with a bang.
"Richard! Luna!" Standing in the doorway was Suoh, one of the great masters that had taken in the siblings eight years prior. "You must come inside at once and prepare your things! It is no longer safe here!"
"Suoh, what's going on?" Richard asked.
"We heard people screaming in the city," Luna whimpered, her eyes filling with tears. "What's going on? Are they ok?"
"I'm afraid not," Suoh said, grimacing. "Anybody who did not escape, has either become a slave or food."
"For what?" Richard asked nervously.
"Creatures hidden among humans for generations. Demons that were thought to be nothing but myths."
Richard immediately took Luna's hand and pulled her to her feet, while she clutched the fox pup tightly to her chest. He pulled her through the door and down the hall to their room while Suoh threw the door closed and jammed all the locks home.
When the two of them walked into the room the other three animals that Luna had recently "adopted" were all alert and dragging stuff together: Leo, a slow leopard cub, had grabbed up blankets in his mouth and piled them up in the middle of the room and was now in the process of getting his teeth around flashlights and a lantern; Mai, a white tiger cub, was pulling clothes onto the blanket pile and was holding tight to Luna's favorite bunny stuffed animal; Moon, a wolf pup, had managed to gather up the small valuables the siblings held dear and he was now pushing everything into two large backpacks.
Richard knelt down and shut the backpack Moon had finished packing. "Good job you guys." They grunted in response.
He slid the bag over his shoulders and helped Luna into hers. She walked to the door with the fennec pup in her arms, now next to her bunny toy, and stood waiting for him, the other three animals sitting at her feet.
Richard looked around the room one more time, making sure they weren't forgetting anything. He felt a lump rise in his throat, remembering the good times they'd had here, and he knew in his heart that they would never be returning here.
Before the nostalgia could overwhelm him, Mai growled from the doorway. Richard collected himself and hurried to his sister.
They shuffled out into the main hall and down to the main room that made up most of the house: the training dojo. Six of the seven masters were there waiting for them: Suoh, master of the katana and kung fu; Liam, master of fencing and swordplay; Mal, the heavy hit master of clubs and over-sized blades; Tom, firearms and trap specialist; Shin, the resident sneak; and Angelique, the only female master, master of the whip and best with a bow and arrow. Richard and Luna had yet to meet the seventh and final master however. They knew nothing about him, only being told that they would meet in time.
"Have everything?" Liam asked, surveying them to make sure they were ready. He placed his hand on the hilt of one of the many swords belted to his waist. "Good. We need to hurry then."
Tom looked towards Luna. "Those animals have to stay behind. They could slow us down."
Luna clutched the fox tighter while the other three huddled around her ankles and growled in defiance.
"Good luck with that, Tom." Shin said. Richard could just make out the faint outline of a smile under the cloth that covered the bottom half of his face. "You might lose a finger. Or a hand."
"Guess I'd better back off then." The corner of Tom's mouth twitched upward.
"We need to get going now," Suoh said, hand inching towards a silver katana on his back. "It's only a matter of time before they sense us here, and I want to be long gone before they come sniffing."
"Right," the other masters agreed together.
They lead the siblings through to the kitchen, Mai, Leo, and Moon forming an escort around Luna and Richard. They walked straight to the stone fireplace on the back wall. Angelique pushed a series of stones on the fireplace, all in random places and Richard's eyes couldn't track them all. There was a sharp click and Luna gasped in surprise as the stone that held the logs for the fireplace slid upward, into the chimney of the fireplace. The wall behind it slid upward as well revealing a hidden doorway. Stairs led down into the dark abyss.
"Whoa," Richard breathed. "I didn't know this was here."
Angelique turned to him and smiled. "That is because you would've gone snooping. And if any of the stones had been pressed in the wrong order...I shudder to think what would have happened to your pretty little heads."
Richard gaped at her while his sister covered the pup's head protectively.
"Let's go, kiddies." Mal ushered them toward the stairs. Liam, Tom, and Suoh headed down first; Richard, Luna, and the animals in the middle; Angelique, Shin, and Mal taking up the rear.
As they progressed deeper, the opening behind them sealed itself, cutting them off from the outside world. The twelve of them, six adults, two kids, and four animals, walked deeper and deeper down into the passage, not knowing what the future would have in store for them.
Thank you so much for your comment! Nobody has been commenting, so I wasn't sure how well I was doing ^^; I encourage any help I can get with making the story better. I really appreciate your opinion :D
ReplyDeleteYeah that's kind of the reason I started posting it too see if I could get some help on polishing it up. I'm sorry the introduction of the masters was hard to follow. I kinda just wanted to get them out there and talk about each of them more a little later, but I suppose I could have introduced them a little better than just hurling them forward like that.
Any other help you can provide me on the later chapters would be much appreciated. When I get the time, I wanna go back and be able to do some editing and revising of the first few chapters.