Post by KC11 on May 17, 2009 23:21:58 GMT
Well, I decided to completely rewrite the Arkinda Chronicles, making KC less of a Mary Sue (which has turned out to be more difficult than I though. Man, I was a bad writer. 
) and giving the other characters a little thing called personality. Now, KC is a slightly naive, awkward, and overly trusting dragon attempting to learn human ways, Mitch is a persecuted nerd who wants to bring Arkinda into the 21st century, Sek is a bit less pissed off (although that's not saying much), and Dymio is... well, he's still Dymio, but over time he actually matures. Same with all of them, really.
Also, I'm actually going to make Frofang sh*t scary eventually, instead of just "LOL I R CRAZ-E GHOST LOL." I've been getting a lot of tips on the TwilightSucks forums (which are great. Even if you are a fan of Twilight, we're very welcoming, so come on in! ;D)
Anyho, I'm actually planning on publishing it two chapters at a time in my school newspaper next semester! You know, like those stories you see after the comics section, or what Charles Dickens did with several of his own stories.
So, here's the original story, for the lulz:
Mitch woke to the sound of baying. He looked up to see he had forgotten to lock the window last night. There, standing in the window frame, was a miniature phoenix.
“Coo! Time to get up all of you! Coo!”
“GET OUT AND STAY OUT!” yelled Mitch, and he slammed the window shut. That stupid phoenix annoyed him to no end. Everyone else in the village thought it was cute how he woke every single person up with a song. Mitch just thought the bird wanted to torment everyone.
Mitch walked out of his room and into the kitchen. He opened the fridge and groaned. Rats in the middle of the night had eaten all the food. There was no hope for it. He had to go to the market.
He absolutely hated going outside in this town.
He walked down the hall and tripped over something. He looked down to see one of his failed inventions beeping slowly. He kicked it, sending it spinning off into the hall. He flung open the door.
He walked down the street of dirt. The sun glared down at him, and he could barely see. It had been a while since he had gone outside. Houses with thatched roofs loomed over him, their stick straight windows looking at him with disapproval.
Suddenly, he heard a voice behind him.
“HEY FREAK BOY!”
Mitch turned around to see a group of kids looking at him. They look menacing and huge, and they meant business.
This was exactly why he hated going outdoors.
***
“I SAID I WANTED A CABBAGE!”
It was morning in the food shop. Customers were lined up, ready to pay for their meat and vegetables. But right now, at the front of the line, a customer had gotten the wrong food item.
This customer was a normal human, except for the fact that his hair hit his knees. But right now, the cashier could only see the fact that his face was slowly turning a maroonish color as he screamed his lungs out at her.
This cashier had gotten up early, walked to work, made sure all the food items were stocked, and had dealt with many obscene orders. She had done this for so many years she had almost lost count. She couldn’t believe she had made the mistake to come and hide here, in this stupid town, of all places.
Her name was KC11.
She had blonde hair and bright blue eyes. She wore a purple shirt and torn blue jeans. She looked like she was once a happy little girl. But she never was.
In fact, she never was even a girl. In the human sense, at least.
“I SAID I WANTED CABBAGE!” yelled the customer. “YOU GAVE ME LETTACE!”
“Right sir. I shall correct the order immediately, sir.” said KC.
“I WANT MY MONEY BACK!” yelled the customer. “YOU ARE JUST A STUPID LITTLE COLLEGE DROPOUT WHO CAN’T TELL RIGHT FROM LEFT! YOU DON’T EVEN DESERVE TO BE WORKING HERE!”
KC had had enough. She could take yelling, but she couldn’t take insults. She grabbed the man’s collar and looked at him eye to eye.
“Listen up, you jerk.” she said. “For over 100 years I have sat at this counter and listened to the whining of customers. I have gotten up at 4:00 in the morning and made sure that not even a kumquat was out of place. I have obediently given everyone their orders and corrected the ones that I got wrong. And you have the nerve to call me a stupid little college dropout?”
“I…. I….” the man was starting to get very frightened.
“Take your cabbage and get out of my face.” said KC. She thrust the cabbage at the man. The man gave her one look, then took off like his life depended upon it. And it probably did.
KC turned to the next customer and smiled sweetly. “Welcome to the Food Market. How may I take your order?”
***
Mitch continued to walk. Maybe if he just ignored it….
“HEY TOXIC WASTE! I’M TALKING TO YOU!”
“Just ignore it.” he said to himself. “They’ll eventually get bored and go away.”
He suddenly heard a whizzing noise, and he felt a sharp pain in the back of his head. He turned around.
They were throwing stones at him.
“HAHA!” they yelled, picking up more stones off the ground and tossing them at Mitch. Damn it. He knew he couldn’t attack them. If he did, the townspeople would eat his roasted head on a stick. He hated to admit it, but he could only do one thing.
Run.
He ran down the street. He could hear jeering, and looked around to find the kids were following him. He dug into his pocket, searching for his newest invention. The Equibilizer Wall. He pressed a button, and a small, translucent barrier appeared over him. But it did no good.
“Damn.” he thought as he felt another sharp pain in his head. Of course. This town was so old that it was full of ghost stones. And, as he had figured out, ghost stones could even affect the Equibilizer Wall.
From Populice and Plants, page 1112
Ghost Stones
Ghost stones, or phantom rocks, are rocks that have reached the age of 100,000 years without wearing away into nothingness. Ghost stones are the only stones that can actually affect a ghost, as they have developed the same properties as ghosts. Ghost stones are often used to imprison Ghosts.
There were more people around him now. Occasionally, they stared at him as he ran. Then they turned away. He knew they would never help him. Some of them actually threw a few stones in the kids’ pathway so that they would have more to throw at him.
He dashed until he got to one building. A hanging sign said “Food Mart”. At least he got to where he was supposed to go.
But the line went right out the door. He stopped and looked behind him. Those kids were catching up fast. He didn’t want to go past the Food Mart, as it lay right at the boarder of the town, and who knows what might be beyond this side of Jurnarn?
Sometimes, the Balance is bad to you. Sometimes, it lets heros die in flames and villains take up arms. Sometimes the Balance will kill innocent babies and give rise to hideous species that wipe out planets.
Yet sometimes, the Balance is good to you.
And that day, the Balance was good to Mitch. And that goodness changed the course of his life forever.
***
KC11 was tired of all the commotion. She needed the air. She needed the space. And most of all, she needed some light.
“Cover for me, Arnold.” she said. Arnold was a rather loud red haired man with glasses. He acted much younger than his actual age, and talked about almost everything in his life. Yet whenever someone wanted to talk about his family, he would quickly change the subject. Arnold took KC’s place at the cash register. KC rolled her eyes. It wasn’t professional to wear army pants and a tee shirt to work, but she never argued with him.
She walked past the huge line of people and out the door. She was about to lean against the wall when she saw Mitch.
She recognized him. She had seen him about town on occasion. Such occasions were rare. He seemed to come out only twice a year.
And for good reason. Gai, she hated this prejudice town.
KC looked down the dirt street to see the gang of boys throwing the rocks, only just missing Mitch. She acted quickly.
“Quick! In here!” she said. She opened the door to the storage room and shoved Mitch in, closing it behind him.
The boys came up to her. She was now leaning against the door, nonchalant, occasionally staring at her fingernails.
“Open the door.” said the biggest of the gang. He was huge, fat, and muscular at the same time. He looked like the type of person who would snap you in half and toss you to his pet crocodile if you failed to give him his birthday present.
KC looked at her nails a little bit again. Then, without looking up, she said “No.”
“Open the door you idiot.” said the boy again. The gang looked at her threateningly. One put his hand to his pocket. KC knew there would be a knife there.
She changed.
Her face became scaly and black. Her nose became two slits in her face. Her hair became snakes. Fangs came out of her mouth.
She stared at the gang.
“No.” she said, this time with as much venom as she could muster.
The whole gang started screaming. They ran from KC. They almost flew. They ran out of the boarders of Jurnarn, where it is said they settled down in an abandoned area and remained monks for the rest of their lives.
KC slowly went back into her usual human form before letting Mitch out of the storage room. She didn’t want to scare him, especially after he had been chased down the street by a couple of hooligans with stones.
“You alright?” she asked.
“I’ve been better.” said Mitch. He wasn’t exactly jolly at the moment. His head hurt and the smell of filter fish wouldn’t leave him for a week.
“KC11 Laquir.” said KC, holding out her hand. Mitch looked at it instinctively to see if there was a stone in it.
“Uh, Mitch.” said Mitch, taking it.
“Yeah. The Expermientalist, right?” asked KC.
“Right.” said Mitch, narrowing his eyes.
From Populice and Plants, Page 2311
Expermientalists
Experimentalists are people who have devoted their entire lives to a certain type of experimentation, to the point where their own DNA is altered because of it, in order to better suit their job. Experimentalists range from those in the scientific field to those in the (yes) sexual field, and over time their DNA changes accordingly, partly because of the fact they are Experimentalists, but sometimes also because the experiments they work on often come with radiation side effects.
“Uh, I was just stating a fact.” said KC quickly.
“Yeah, well, it’s not a fact I’m that happy with at the moment.” said Mitch.
“I guess not.” said KC, looking at him. He was covered in dirt. Blood poured from the back of his head.
And here's the updated story:
Morning light spread about the town of Jun-Yar. Slowly, people within their small houses awoke, as they have been trained to do each morning.
In one house, however, a boy still snored away, lying sprawled and tangled in the various blankets. The sunlight streamed in through his open window, yet it somehow managed to just miss him, leaving him in the blissful slumber of darkness.
Suddenly, there was a flurry of red and gold wings. At the open window stood a bird. At first, one would say it was a phoenix. However, as it stood there, one of its feathers fell off, revealing the real black feathers beneath.
"Drat." said the crow, attempting to cover up the mistake. He then looking into the room, cocking his head. The boy was still fast asleep.
The bird opened his beak and started to sing, or at least squawk to some sort of melody.
"MORNING, MORNING
TIME TO GATHER SEED OF NIGHT
MORNING, MORNING
FEEL THE WARM DAY LI...."
"SHUT UP!" yelled the boy tangled in the sheets. He rushed out of bed, tripped over the blankets, and stumbled towards the window. He then pushed the "phoenix" out as the bird squawked in protest. The human slammed the window down while yelling "AND STAY OUT."
The boy brushed back his slightly ginger hair. That ugly crow annoyed him to no end. Everyone else in the village thought it was cute how he woke every single person up with a song. He just thought the bird wanted to torment everyone.
He blinked. He realized everything was blurry. When he had stumbled towards the window, sight hadn't really been too important, since the bird's loud cawing had told him exactly where he was. Now the boy started to edge around the room, looking for his assistance.
He found them. A pair of glasses sat on the end table next to his bed. He hurriedly put them on, blinking again in the sudden clarity of everything. He then walked out of the room, shutting the door behind him.
From his room, he went right to his kitchen, stepping over various contraptions he had left scattered on the ground the previous night. Wires and gears were splayed across the floor, nuts and bolts littered the ground. In the distance, something whirred.
Soon, the boy was at the icebox. On the counter by the icebox sat an open book, stuck on the page "Outer World Technologies and what it means to YOU!" There was also a picture of a refrigerator. Sitting by the book were several screwdrivers and hammers.
The boy peered at the icebox. Installed at the front was a small keypad, out of which stuck a few untamed wires. He typed in a few numbers on the keypad. A display at the top read thus:
"Temperature: 277.59 Kelvin
Water Dispenser: INACTIVE
Ice Dispenser: INACTIVE
Food Quantity: 0"
"What?" he thought groggily. Just yesterday there had been plenty of food. He wrenched open the door, then hung his head. Rats had eaten all the food in the middle of the night. Little droppings were everywhere, and there was a small hole in the side of the wooden icebox. There was no hope for it. He had to go to the market.
He absolutely hated going outside in this town.
He walked down the hall and tripped over something. He looked down to see one of his failed inventions, moving and beeping slowly. He kicked it, sending it spinning off into the hall, and he flung open the door.
He walked down the street of dirt. The sun glared down at him, and he could barely see. It had been a while since he had gone outside. Houses with thatched roofs loomed over him, their stick straight windows glaring at him with disapproval.
Suddenly, he heard a voice behind him.
“HEY FREAK BOY!”
The boy turned around to see a group of kids following him. They looked menacing and huge, and he knew they meant business.
This was exactly why he hated going outdoors.
***
“I SAID I WANTED A CABBAGE!”
It was morning in the food market. Customers were lined up, ready to pay for their meat and vegetables and various commodities. But right now, at the front of the line, a customer had gotten the wrong food item.
This customer was a normal looking human, rather attractive to much of the female populace. But right now, the cashier could only see the fact that his face was slowly turning a maroonish color as he screamed his lungs out at her.
This cashier had gotten up early, walked to work, made sure all the food items were stocked, and had dealt with many obscene orders. She had done this for so many years she had almost lost count. She couldn’t believe she had made the mistake to come here, in this stupid town, of all places.
“I SAID I WANTED CABBAGE!” screamed the customer. “YOU GAVE ME LETTACE!”
“Right sir. I shall correct the order immediately, sir.” said the girl blankly.
“I don’t WANT to hear your little EXPLAINATIONS!” yelled the customer, obviously deaf to the girl's corrections. “I mean, LISTEN TO HER." he said, laughing and turning around to look at the other customers, as if waiting for them to agree with him. He turned back around and said "Well, get me my damn order, you CLEN..."
The entire crowd began laughing and stomping their feet. The clerk gulped. This full out mutainy had not been expected. She simply stood and waited at the man stared her down.
"Well, where is it?" he asked.
"I... I can't just generate food from thin air!" exclaimed the girl.
The man leaned in, his eyes narrowing.
"Well, learn how to." he said.
***
Mitch continued to walk. Maybe if he just ignored it….
“HEY TOXIC WASTE! I’M TALKING TO YOU!”
“Just ignore it.” he said to himself. “They’ll eventually get bored and go away.”
Just as he finished his thought, he heard a whizzing noise, and he felt a sharp pain in the back of his head. He turned around to see them reaching for several stones on the ground.
The gang began to laugh, picking up more stones off the ground and tossing them at the boy. Shoot. He knew he couldn’t attack them. If he did, the townspeople would eat his roasted head on a stick. He hated to admit it, but he could only do one thing.
Run.
He ran down the street. He could hear jeering, and looked around to find the kids were following him. He dug into his pocket, searching... searching... yes! He pulled out a small device pasted with a label that read "The Equibilizer Wall". He pressed a button, and a small, translucent barrier appeared over him. But it did no good.
“No....” he thought as he felt another sharp pain in his head. Of course. This town was so old that it was full of ghost stones. And, as he had figured out, ghost stones could even affect the Equibilizer Wall.
From Populice and Plants, page 1112
Ghost Stones
Ghost stones, or phantom rocks, are rocks that have reached the age of 100,000 years without wearing away into nothingness or moving far from their initial spot. Ghost stones are the only stones that can actually affect a ghost, as they have developed the same properties as ghosts. Prisons made of Ghost stones are often used to imprison Ghosts. (see "Phantoms" for a definition of Ghosts)
There were more people around him now. Occasionally, they stared at him as he ran. Then they turned away. He knew they would never help him. Why would they? He was pretty much a freak, a "voo doo doer" as he had heard many say before.
There were people traveling across the street, pushing carts and carriages with various wares. He jumped over a cart full of orange beans, and the lady pushing it screamed as the gang behind him simply plowed right over said cart. The boy attempted to lose the gang by running in and out of various alleys, a trick he had learned before, but the gang was smarter. The boy continued pushing through crowds of shocked and confused people, and yet he could almost feel the gang breathing on the back of his neck.
He saw that the crowd was getting much thinner, until only a few people were hanging here and there around various shops. He looked up. A hanging sign said “Food Mart”. At least he got to where he was supposed to go.
But the line went right out the door. He stopped and looked behind him. Those kids were catching up fast. He didn’t want to go past the Food Mart, as it lay right at the boarder of the town, and who knows what might be beyond this side of Jun-Yar?
Well, of course there was only one thing to do. Mitch took a deep breath, stood upright, and dove into the crowd, running until he had finally squeezed his way into the shop.
Sometimes, the Balance is bad to you. Sometimes, it lets heroes die in flames and villains take up arms. Sometimes the Balance will kill the innocent and give rise to hideous species that wipe out planets.
Yet sometimes, the Balance is good to you.
And that day, the Balance was good to Mitch. And that goodness changed the course of his life forever.
***
The store was chock full of customers. It was soon to be the winter season, and it was only natural that the entire town would want to stock up on food that would soon not be on the shelves. The girl was exhausted, continually trying to fill orders. The run in with the angry customer did nothing to help her. Same with the fact that it was dark inside the store, and it had been some time before she had had some light.
Imagine her surprise when there was a scream in the crowd, as well as a shout of "QUIT CUTTIN' THE DAMN LINE". She looked up to see that something was moving in the crowd and disturbing several of the customers. She couldn't quite see what it was from where she stood, however.
“Cover for me, Arnold.” she said. A sandy haired man reading a paper looked up from his study. He grinned, nodded, and sprang up. She looked him over before sighing with exasperation and walked out the door. It wasn’t professional to wear army pants and a tee shirt to work, but she never argued with him.
She walked away from her post and rushed into the crowd, towards the source of the commotion. After pushing back a fat Elt and a small group of Warlocks out for their Sunday dinner, she finally came upon the boy, who was attempting to squeeze between two more customers.
She quickly grabbed him on the shoulder and wrenched him back.
"What are you doing?" she asked. "Get back in line."
The boy shook his head. By her gage, the clerk figured he looked only a little older than herself by human standards. He also was wearing a small belt, on which were a number of strange metal things. The boy did not speak, but only pointed towards the door.
There was more commotion, and the girl could now plainly see a gang coming through the store. Each was holding onto a rock.
She looked at the gang. Then she looked at the boy and his belt. Then she understood.
"Come with me." she said, grabbing him by the arm and pulling him through the crowd. There were more shouts behind her, letting her know that the gang was starting to catch up. She opened a door in the back and walked the boy through.
In the room the two were now in were a number of giant, wooden storage areas. The girl opened one of them up and shoved the boy inside.
“Just stay in here and no matter what happens, don't run out until I say." She said.
"But..." began the boy.
"I can handle it." she said before slamming the door and turning around.
It wasn't long before the gang of boys finally made their way to the storage area. The girl noticed that she had started breathing a bit more erratically. Fear was welling up in her.
"I can do this." she thought as the gang approached her. "Easy peasy, they'll never expect it."
They were all confident, and she didn't like that. Confidence meant that they might have a Plan B. And Plan Bs were the most dangerous plans of all, especially when the other party had no Plan B of their own.
“Open the door.” said the biggest of the gang. He was huge, fat, and muscular all at the same time. He looked like the type of person who would snap you in half and toss you to his pet crocodile if you failed to give him his birthday present. Of course, this is only a general statement. He might have a pet alligator instead.
"I have to do this." she thought. "That boy has been through enough in his life. I've seen him running through the streets every time he's even dared to walk outside. I have to go through with this."
She straightened up to her full 5'10" height, gave the gang a glare, and spoke.
"No."
“Open the door clen.” said the boy again, his voice deeper this time.
Clen. The same name the angry customer had called her earlier. This was just too much. She knew exactly what she had to do. Her eyes narrowed, and her mouth suddenly opened in a shout, revealing jagged teeth that hadn't been jagged before.
"I. AM. NOT. A. CLEN."
As she shouted, the rest of her began to change. Her face became scaly and black. Her nose became two slits in her face. Her hair became snakes. The jagged teeth became long fangs, slowly growing out of her mouth.
She stared at the gang.
“No.” she said, her voice coming out in a deep rasp.
Like a stampede, the boys rushed the other way screaming. The girl grinned as she watched them fall over each other and crawl on the ground in their desperation to get away. The leader was shoving the others behind him while attempting to stay in the lead. Finally, they managed to push their way out of the door. Screams could be heard from the customers outside the room, and soon those too faded.
The girl paused, and the snakes and fangs jutted back into her head, becoming her normal teeth and dirty blonde hair. The scales were replaced with skin, and the slits jutted out into a normal, round nose.
She took a look at her reflection in a nearby window to make sure she was completely normal before opening the storage room to let the boy out.
“You alright?” she asked.
“I’ve been better.” said the boy. He rubbed the back of his head, then looked at his hand to see blood. He groaned and stepped forward, only to slip on a small fish on the floor.
"Oh, uh, let me help you out with that." said the girl, holding out her hand. He could have at least said "Thank you."
The boy took it and steadily climbed out of the storage area, jumping onto the solid ground. The girl let go of the boy's hand and both stared at each other, an awkward silence between them.
“KC11 Laquir.” said the girl, holding out her hand. The boy instinctively looked to see if there was a stone in it.
“Uh, Mitch.” said the boy, taking it.
“Yeah. The Experimentalist, right?” asked KC.
“Right.” said Mitch, narrowing his eyes.
From Populice and Plants, Page 2311
Experimentalists
Experimentalists are people who have devoted their entire lives to a certain type of experimentation, to the point where their own DNA is altered because of it, in order to better suit their job. Experimentalists range from those in the scientific field to those in the literature field. Over time their DNA can change accordingly, partly because of the fact they are Experimentalists, but sometimes also because the experiments they work on often come with radiation side effects.
“Uh, I was just stating a fact.” said KC quickly, looking down.
“Yeah, well, it’s not a fact I’m that happy with at the moment.” said Mitch.
“I guess not.” said KC, looking at him. He was covered in dirt. Spots of blood were on his shirt.
So, what do you think? Improved?
) and giving the other characters a little thing called personality. Now, KC is a slightly naive, awkward, and overly trusting dragon attempting to learn human ways, Mitch is a persecuted nerd who wants to bring Arkinda into the 21st century, Sek is a bit less pissed off (although that's not saying much), and Dymio is... well, he's still Dymio, but over time he actually matures. Same with all of them, really.Also, I'm actually going to make Frofang sh*t scary eventually, instead of just "LOL I R CRAZ-E GHOST LOL." I've been getting a lot of tips on the TwilightSucks forums (which are great. Even if you are a fan of Twilight, we're very welcoming, so come on in! ;D)
Anyho, I'm actually planning on publishing it two chapters at a time in my school newspaper next semester! You know, like those stories you see after the comics section, or what Charles Dickens did with several of his own stories.
So, here's the original story, for the lulz:
Mitch woke to the sound of baying. He looked up to see he had forgotten to lock the window last night. There, standing in the window frame, was a miniature phoenix.
“Coo! Time to get up all of you! Coo!”
“GET OUT AND STAY OUT!” yelled Mitch, and he slammed the window shut. That stupid phoenix annoyed him to no end. Everyone else in the village thought it was cute how he woke every single person up with a song. Mitch just thought the bird wanted to torment everyone.
Mitch walked out of his room and into the kitchen. He opened the fridge and groaned. Rats in the middle of the night had eaten all the food. There was no hope for it. He had to go to the market.
He absolutely hated going outside in this town.
He walked down the hall and tripped over something. He looked down to see one of his failed inventions beeping slowly. He kicked it, sending it spinning off into the hall. He flung open the door.
He walked down the street of dirt. The sun glared down at him, and he could barely see. It had been a while since he had gone outside. Houses with thatched roofs loomed over him, their stick straight windows looking at him with disapproval.
Suddenly, he heard a voice behind him.
“HEY FREAK BOY!”
Mitch turned around to see a group of kids looking at him. They look menacing and huge, and they meant business.
This was exactly why he hated going outdoors.
***
“I SAID I WANTED A CABBAGE!”
It was morning in the food shop. Customers were lined up, ready to pay for their meat and vegetables. But right now, at the front of the line, a customer had gotten the wrong food item.
This customer was a normal human, except for the fact that his hair hit his knees. But right now, the cashier could only see the fact that his face was slowly turning a maroonish color as he screamed his lungs out at her.
This cashier had gotten up early, walked to work, made sure all the food items were stocked, and had dealt with many obscene orders. She had done this for so many years she had almost lost count. She couldn’t believe she had made the mistake to come and hide here, in this stupid town, of all places.
Her name was KC11.
She had blonde hair and bright blue eyes. She wore a purple shirt and torn blue jeans. She looked like she was once a happy little girl. But she never was.
In fact, she never was even a girl. In the human sense, at least.
“I SAID I WANTED CABBAGE!” yelled the customer. “YOU GAVE ME LETTACE!”
“Right sir. I shall correct the order immediately, sir.” said KC.
“I WANT MY MONEY BACK!” yelled the customer. “YOU ARE JUST A STUPID LITTLE COLLEGE DROPOUT WHO CAN’T TELL RIGHT FROM LEFT! YOU DON’T EVEN DESERVE TO BE WORKING HERE!”
KC had had enough. She could take yelling, but she couldn’t take insults. She grabbed the man’s collar and looked at him eye to eye.
“Listen up, you jerk.” she said. “For over 100 years I have sat at this counter and listened to the whining of customers. I have gotten up at 4:00 in the morning and made sure that not even a kumquat was out of place. I have obediently given everyone their orders and corrected the ones that I got wrong. And you have the nerve to call me a stupid little college dropout?”
“I…. I….” the man was starting to get very frightened.
“Take your cabbage and get out of my face.” said KC. She thrust the cabbage at the man. The man gave her one look, then took off like his life depended upon it. And it probably did.
KC turned to the next customer and smiled sweetly. “Welcome to the Food Market. How may I take your order?”
***
Mitch continued to walk. Maybe if he just ignored it….
“HEY TOXIC WASTE! I’M TALKING TO YOU!”
“Just ignore it.” he said to himself. “They’ll eventually get bored and go away.”
He suddenly heard a whizzing noise, and he felt a sharp pain in the back of his head. He turned around.
They were throwing stones at him.
“HAHA!” they yelled, picking up more stones off the ground and tossing them at Mitch. Damn it. He knew he couldn’t attack them. If he did, the townspeople would eat his roasted head on a stick. He hated to admit it, but he could only do one thing.
Run.
He ran down the street. He could hear jeering, and looked around to find the kids were following him. He dug into his pocket, searching for his newest invention. The Equibilizer Wall. He pressed a button, and a small, translucent barrier appeared over him. But it did no good.
“Damn.” he thought as he felt another sharp pain in his head. Of course. This town was so old that it was full of ghost stones. And, as he had figured out, ghost stones could even affect the Equibilizer Wall.
From Populice and Plants, page 1112
Ghost Stones
Ghost stones, or phantom rocks, are rocks that have reached the age of 100,000 years without wearing away into nothingness. Ghost stones are the only stones that can actually affect a ghost, as they have developed the same properties as ghosts. Ghost stones are often used to imprison Ghosts.
There were more people around him now. Occasionally, they stared at him as he ran. Then they turned away. He knew they would never help him. Some of them actually threw a few stones in the kids’ pathway so that they would have more to throw at him.
He dashed until he got to one building. A hanging sign said “Food Mart”. At least he got to where he was supposed to go.
But the line went right out the door. He stopped and looked behind him. Those kids were catching up fast. He didn’t want to go past the Food Mart, as it lay right at the boarder of the town, and who knows what might be beyond this side of Jurnarn?
Sometimes, the Balance is bad to you. Sometimes, it lets heros die in flames and villains take up arms. Sometimes the Balance will kill innocent babies and give rise to hideous species that wipe out planets.
Yet sometimes, the Balance is good to you.
And that day, the Balance was good to Mitch. And that goodness changed the course of his life forever.
***
KC11 was tired of all the commotion. She needed the air. She needed the space. And most of all, she needed some light.
“Cover for me, Arnold.” she said. Arnold was a rather loud red haired man with glasses. He acted much younger than his actual age, and talked about almost everything in his life. Yet whenever someone wanted to talk about his family, he would quickly change the subject. Arnold took KC’s place at the cash register. KC rolled her eyes. It wasn’t professional to wear army pants and a tee shirt to work, but she never argued with him.
She walked past the huge line of people and out the door. She was about to lean against the wall when she saw Mitch.
She recognized him. She had seen him about town on occasion. Such occasions were rare. He seemed to come out only twice a year.
And for good reason. Gai, she hated this prejudice town.
KC looked down the dirt street to see the gang of boys throwing the rocks, only just missing Mitch. She acted quickly.
“Quick! In here!” she said. She opened the door to the storage room and shoved Mitch in, closing it behind him.
The boys came up to her. She was now leaning against the door, nonchalant, occasionally staring at her fingernails.
“Open the door.” said the biggest of the gang. He was huge, fat, and muscular at the same time. He looked like the type of person who would snap you in half and toss you to his pet crocodile if you failed to give him his birthday present.
KC looked at her nails a little bit again. Then, without looking up, she said “No.”
“Open the door you idiot.” said the boy again. The gang looked at her threateningly. One put his hand to his pocket. KC knew there would be a knife there.
She changed.
Her face became scaly and black. Her nose became two slits in her face. Her hair became snakes. Fangs came out of her mouth.
She stared at the gang.
“No.” she said, this time with as much venom as she could muster.
The whole gang started screaming. They ran from KC. They almost flew. They ran out of the boarders of Jurnarn, where it is said they settled down in an abandoned area and remained monks for the rest of their lives.
KC slowly went back into her usual human form before letting Mitch out of the storage room. She didn’t want to scare him, especially after he had been chased down the street by a couple of hooligans with stones.
“You alright?” she asked.
“I’ve been better.” said Mitch. He wasn’t exactly jolly at the moment. His head hurt and the smell of filter fish wouldn’t leave him for a week.
“KC11 Laquir.” said KC, holding out her hand. Mitch looked at it instinctively to see if there was a stone in it.
“Uh, Mitch.” said Mitch, taking it.
“Yeah. The Expermientalist, right?” asked KC.
“Right.” said Mitch, narrowing his eyes.
From Populice and Plants, Page 2311
Expermientalists
Experimentalists are people who have devoted their entire lives to a certain type of experimentation, to the point where their own DNA is altered because of it, in order to better suit their job. Experimentalists range from those in the scientific field to those in the (yes) sexual field, and over time their DNA changes accordingly, partly because of the fact they are Experimentalists, but sometimes also because the experiments they work on often come with radiation side effects.
“Uh, I was just stating a fact.” said KC quickly.
“Yeah, well, it’s not a fact I’m that happy with at the moment.” said Mitch.
“I guess not.” said KC, looking at him. He was covered in dirt. Blood poured from the back of his head.
And here's the updated story:
Morning light spread about the town of Jun-Yar. Slowly, people within their small houses awoke, as they have been trained to do each morning.
In one house, however, a boy still snored away, lying sprawled and tangled in the various blankets. The sunlight streamed in through his open window, yet it somehow managed to just miss him, leaving him in the blissful slumber of darkness.
Suddenly, there was a flurry of red and gold wings. At the open window stood a bird. At first, one would say it was a phoenix. However, as it stood there, one of its feathers fell off, revealing the real black feathers beneath.
"Drat." said the crow, attempting to cover up the mistake. He then looking into the room, cocking his head. The boy was still fast asleep.
The bird opened his beak and started to sing, or at least squawk to some sort of melody.
"MORNING, MORNING
TIME TO GATHER SEED OF NIGHT
MORNING, MORNING
FEEL THE WARM DAY LI...."
"SHUT UP!" yelled the boy tangled in the sheets. He rushed out of bed, tripped over the blankets, and stumbled towards the window. He then pushed the "phoenix" out as the bird squawked in protest. The human slammed the window down while yelling "AND STAY OUT."
The boy brushed back his slightly ginger hair. That ugly crow annoyed him to no end. Everyone else in the village thought it was cute how he woke every single person up with a song. He just thought the bird wanted to torment everyone.
He blinked. He realized everything was blurry. When he had stumbled towards the window, sight hadn't really been too important, since the bird's loud cawing had told him exactly where he was. Now the boy started to edge around the room, looking for his assistance.
He found them. A pair of glasses sat on the end table next to his bed. He hurriedly put them on, blinking again in the sudden clarity of everything. He then walked out of the room, shutting the door behind him.
From his room, he went right to his kitchen, stepping over various contraptions he had left scattered on the ground the previous night. Wires and gears were splayed across the floor, nuts and bolts littered the ground. In the distance, something whirred.
Soon, the boy was at the icebox. On the counter by the icebox sat an open book, stuck on the page "Outer World Technologies and what it means to YOU!" There was also a picture of a refrigerator. Sitting by the book were several screwdrivers and hammers.
The boy peered at the icebox. Installed at the front was a small keypad, out of which stuck a few untamed wires. He typed in a few numbers on the keypad. A display at the top read thus:
"Temperature: 277.59 Kelvin
Water Dispenser: INACTIVE
Ice Dispenser: INACTIVE
Food Quantity: 0"
"What?" he thought groggily. Just yesterday there had been plenty of food. He wrenched open the door, then hung his head. Rats had eaten all the food in the middle of the night. Little droppings were everywhere, and there was a small hole in the side of the wooden icebox. There was no hope for it. He had to go to the market.
He absolutely hated going outside in this town.
He walked down the hall and tripped over something. He looked down to see one of his failed inventions, moving and beeping slowly. He kicked it, sending it spinning off into the hall, and he flung open the door.
He walked down the street of dirt. The sun glared down at him, and he could barely see. It had been a while since he had gone outside. Houses with thatched roofs loomed over him, their stick straight windows glaring at him with disapproval.
Suddenly, he heard a voice behind him.
“HEY FREAK BOY!”
The boy turned around to see a group of kids following him. They looked menacing and huge, and he knew they meant business.
This was exactly why he hated going outdoors.
***
“I SAID I WANTED A CABBAGE!”
It was morning in the food market. Customers were lined up, ready to pay for their meat and vegetables and various commodities. But right now, at the front of the line, a customer had gotten the wrong food item.
This customer was a normal looking human, rather attractive to much of the female populace. But right now, the cashier could only see the fact that his face was slowly turning a maroonish color as he screamed his lungs out at her.
This cashier had gotten up early, walked to work, made sure all the food items were stocked, and had dealt with many obscene orders. She had done this for so many years she had almost lost count. She couldn’t believe she had made the mistake to come here, in this stupid town, of all places.
“I SAID I WANTED CABBAGE!” screamed the customer. “YOU GAVE ME LETTACE!”
“Right sir. I shall correct the order immediately, sir.” said the girl blankly.
“I don’t WANT to hear your little EXPLAINATIONS!” yelled the customer, obviously deaf to the girl's corrections. “I mean, LISTEN TO HER." he said, laughing and turning around to look at the other customers, as if waiting for them to agree with him. He turned back around and said "Well, get me my damn order, you CLEN..."
The entire crowd began laughing and stomping their feet. The clerk gulped. This full out mutainy had not been expected. She simply stood and waited at the man stared her down.
"Well, where is it?" he asked.
"I... I can't just generate food from thin air!" exclaimed the girl.
The man leaned in, his eyes narrowing.
"Well, learn how to." he said.
***
Mitch continued to walk. Maybe if he just ignored it….
“HEY TOXIC WASTE! I’M TALKING TO YOU!”
“Just ignore it.” he said to himself. “They’ll eventually get bored and go away.”
Just as he finished his thought, he heard a whizzing noise, and he felt a sharp pain in the back of his head. He turned around to see them reaching for several stones on the ground.
The gang began to laugh, picking up more stones off the ground and tossing them at the boy. Shoot. He knew he couldn’t attack them. If he did, the townspeople would eat his roasted head on a stick. He hated to admit it, but he could only do one thing.
Run.
He ran down the street. He could hear jeering, and looked around to find the kids were following him. He dug into his pocket, searching... searching... yes! He pulled out a small device pasted with a label that read "The Equibilizer Wall". He pressed a button, and a small, translucent barrier appeared over him. But it did no good.
“No....” he thought as he felt another sharp pain in his head. Of course. This town was so old that it was full of ghost stones. And, as he had figured out, ghost stones could even affect the Equibilizer Wall.
From Populice and Plants, page 1112
Ghost Stones
Ghost stones, or phantom rocks, are rocks that have reached the age of 100,000 years without wearing away into nothingness or moving far from their initial spot. Ghost stones are the only stones that can actually affect a ghost, as they have developed the same properties as ghosts. Prisons made of Ghost stones are often used to imprison Ghosts. (see "Phantoms" for a definition of Ghosts)
There were more people around him now. Occasionally, they stared at him as he ran. Then they turned away. He knew they would never help him. Why would they? He was pretty much a freak, a "voo doo doer" as he had heard many say before.
There were people traveling across the street, pushing carts and carriages with various wares. He jumped over a cart full of orange beans, and the lady pushing it screamed as the gang behind him simply plowed right over said cart. The boy attempted to lose the gang by running in and out of various alleys, a trick he had learned before, but the gang was smarter. The boy continued pushing through crowds of shocked and confused people, and yet he could almost feel the gang breathing on the back of his neck.
He saw that the crowd was getting much thinner, until only a few people were hanging here and there around various shops. He looked up. A hanging sign said “Food Mart”. At least he got to where he was supposed to go.
But the line went right out the door. He stopped and looked behind him. Those kids were catching up fast. He didn’t want to go past the Food Mart, as it lay right at the boarder of the town, and who knows what might be beyond this side of Jun-Yar?
Well, of course there was only one thing to do. Mitch took a deep breath, stood upright, and dove into the crowd, running until he had finally squeezed his way into the shop.
Sometimes, the Balance is bad to you. Sometimes, it lets heroes die in flames and villains take up arms. Sometimes the Balance will kill the innocent and give rise to hideous species that wipe out planets.
Yet sometimes, the Balance is good to you.
And that day, the Balance was good to Mitch. And that goodness changed the course of his life forever.
***
The store was chock full of customers. It was soon to be the winter season, and it was only natural that the entire town would want to stock up on food that would soon not be on the shelves. The girl was exhausted, continually trying to fill orders. The run in with the angry customer did nothing to help her. Same with the fact that it was dark inside the store, and it had been some time before she had had some light.
Imagine her surprise when there was a scream in the crowd, as well as a shout of "QUIT CUTTIN' THE DAMN LINE". She looked up to see that something was moving in the crowd and disturbing several of the customers. She couldn't quite see what it was from where she stood, however.
“Cover for me, Arnold.” she said. A sandy haired man reading a paper looked up from his study. He grinned, nodded, and sprang up. She looked him over before sighing with exasperation and walked out the door. It wasn’t professional to wear army pants and a tee shirt to work, but she never argued with him.
She walked away from her post and rushed into the crowd, towards the source of the commotion. After pushing back a fat Elt and a small group of Warlocks out for their Sunday dinner, she finally came upon the boy, who was attempting to squeeze between two more customers.
She quickly grabbed him on the shoulder and wrenched him back.
"What are you doing?" she asked. "Get back in line."
The boy shook his head. By her gage, the clerk figured he looked only a little older than herself by human standards. He also was wearing a small belt, on which were a number of strange metal things. The boy did not speak, but only pointed towards the door.
There was more commotion, and the girl could now plainly see a gang coming through the store. Each was holding onto a rock.
She looked at the gang. Then she looked at the boy and his belt. Then she understood.
"Come with me." she said, grabbing him by the arm and pulling him through the crowd. There were more shouts behind her, letting her know that the gang was starting to catch up. She opened a door in the back and walked the boy through.
In the room the two were now in were a number of giant, wooden storage areas. The girl opened one of them up and shoved the boy inside.
“Just stay in here and no matter what happens, don't run out until I say." She said.
"But..." began the boy.
"I can handle it." she said before slamming the door and turning around.
It wasn't long before the gang of boys finally made their way to the storage area. The girl noticed that she had started breathing a bit more erratically. Fear was welling up in her.
"I can do this." she thought as the gang approached her. "Easy peasy, they'll never expect it."
They were all confident, and she didn't like that. Confidence meant that they might have a Plan B. And Plan Bs were the most dangerous plans of all, especially when the other party had no Plan B of their own.
“Open the door.” said the biggest of the gang. He was huge, fat, and muscular all at the same time. He looked like the type of person who would snap you in half and toss you to his pet crocodile if you failed to give him his birthday present. Of course, this is only a general statement. He might have a pet alligator instead.
"I have to do this." she thought. "That boy has been through enough in his life. I've seen him running through the streets every time he's even dared to walk outside. I have to go through with this."
She straightened up to her full 5'10" height, gave the gang a glare, and spoke.
"No."
“Open the door clen.” said the boy again, his voice deeper this time.
Clen. The same name the angry customer had called her earlier. This was just too much. She knew exactly what she had to do. Her eyes narrowed, and her mouth suddenly opened in a shout, revealing jagged teeth that hadn't been jagged before.
"I. AM. NOT. A. CLEN."
As she shouted, the rest of her began to change. Her face became scaly and black. Her nose became two slits in her face. Her hair became snakes. The jagged teeth became long fangs, slowly growing out of her mouth.
She stared at the gang.
“No.” she said, her voice coming out in a deep rasp.
Like a stampede, the boys rushed the other way screaming. The girl grinned as she watched them fall over each other and crawl on the ground in their desperation to get away. The leader was shoving the others behind him while attempting to stay in the lead. Finally, they managed to push their way out of the door. Screams could be heard from the customers outside the room, and soon those too faded.
The girl paused, and the snakes and fangs jutted back into her head, becoming her normal teeth and dirty blonde hair. The scales were replaced with skin, and the slits jutted out into a normal, round nose.
She took a look at her reflection in a nearby window to make sure she was completely normal before opening the storage room to let the boy out.
“You alright?” she asked.
“I’ve been better.” said the boy. He rubbed the back of his head, then looked at his hand to see blood. He groaned and stepped forward, only to slip on a small fish on the floor.
"Oh, uh, let me help you out with that." said the girl, holding out her hand. He could have at least said "Thank you."
The boy took it and steadily climbed out of the storage area, jumping onto the solid ground. The girl let go of the boy's hand and both stared at each other, an awkward silence between them.
“KC11 Laquir.” said the girl, holding out her hand. The boy instinctively looked to see if there was a stone in it.
“Uh, Mitch.” said the boy, taking it.
“Yeah. The Experimentalist, right?” asked KC.
“Right.” said Mitch, narrowing his eyes.
From Populice and Plants, Page 2311
Experimentalists
Experimentalists are people who have devoted their entire lives to a certain type of experimentation, to the point where their own DNA is altered because of it, in order to better suit their job. Experimentalists range from those in the scientific field to those in the literature field. Over time their DNA can change accordingly, partly because of the fact they are Experimentalists, but sometimes also because the experiments they work on often come with radiation side effects.
“Uh, I was just stating a fact.” said KC quickly, looking down.
“Yeah, well, it’s not a fact I’m that happy with at the moment.” said Mitch.
“I guess not.” said KC, looking at him. He was covered in dirt. Spots of blood were on his shirt.
So, what do you think? Improved?
