AUTHOR'S NOTE: Okay, so my first version of this chapter wasn't as good as
I thought it was. I was kind of having an idea clog that day. I ended up
not being able to think up the next part of my fic with the original
storyline. But, hey, even great writers have slow days (mine just happened
to be on my first day). So those who read the first version, I apologize
(claps hands together and bows). And once again, I do not own any of the
Orphen characters.
So here it is; the new version of "New Beginning":
ORPHEN: THE NEW BEGINNING
CHAPTER 01:
FROM THE TOP
We join Orphen and the others a week from where the series left off. They are traveling to Alenhatan via a wagon, where Stephanie has written a letter that says they need to get back as soon as possible.
"So Stephanie didn't specifically say way she wrote the letter?" asked Cleao. "No, she just said that she had something to tell us and that was all" replied Orphen. Majic, trying to find someplace to sit comfortably in the back with Cleao's entire luggage, said," That sounds a little unlike her though doesn't it? She usually gives us more information than that". "Nah, we can trust her, she probably just wants to surprise us" Orphen answered. 'The fact that she's a man was all the surprise I needed from her', thought Cleao with disgust.
"Tell me why we are doing this again, Volkan?" asked Dortin from a bush nearby Orphen's wagon. "Because, they are no doubt heading toward some kind of treasure and when they get there we'll be there to claim it for ourselves." answered Volkan simply. "And just what makes you think we're going to be able to do when Orphen finds out we're trying to take this so called 'treasure' they're supposedly after?" said Dortin. "Easy, all we have to do is sneak up on them and beat Orphen down while he's surprised" said Volkan as-a-matter-of-factly. Dortin got a sweat drop on his head.
Just then, Orphen heard a noise on the side of the path. 'All right, it's been long enough now' he thought. "You two can come out now!" Orphen yelled. "Who are you talking to, Master?" Majic asked. "Oh, you'll see." replied Orphen. Majic had a puzzled look on his face, until he heard a nearby bush speaking and shaking. "Ah, no one?" said a high-pitched voice from inside the leaves. "You idiot! Now they definitely know we're in here!" yelled a rougher sounding voice. This continued until Majic noticed that Orphen was no longer in the cart. He looked around and saw that his Master had already circled around the bush.
Volkan and Dortin continued their ranting until they noticed a big shadow on the ground, dwarfing both of them (which don't take much doing). "Uh, hi Orphen." the troll brothers said nervously.
***
Lai sat deep in concentration in his meditation chamber located well into the very belly of the Tower of Fang until he sensed a disturbance of great magnitude.
'There is an evil force on the move' Lai thought. He rushed as quickly as he could to tell the Elders of the latest results of his divining. After many apologies to students and masters alike, he finally reached the chamber of the Elders of Fang. When he walked into the dark and dreary room that was the chamber he saw the Elders in their black robes, with the only way to actually see them coming from the light shining through the stain glass windows behind them.
But there was another there, one that Lai did not recognize. An aged man, no doubt clear in his 60s, body bent over with age, only supported by a large oaken staff. He wore a gray cloak and hood, shadowing most of his face. The only thing that Lai could make out was a large scar on the left side of his face, running up and down the length of his whole head.
"What is it Lai?" asked one of the elders. "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't realize you were busy, I come back later" replied Lai. 'It feels like that dark force is coming from that man, but how can that be? Surely I would have felt his presence in the Tower before he made it this far inside?' Lai thought. He walked outside the chamber and laid himself flat against the wall to listen into the Elder's conversation.
"Why are you here Zain?" asked an Elder. "You must have not forgotten that you have been banished from the Tower forever, have you?" 'Sorcerer Zain!!?? But he left the Tower 10 years ago, when he was only 18 years old! How could he have aged so much in so little time?' Lai thought to himself. "I figured it had been so long since I had seen my 'beloved' Elders that I thought I would stop by for a visit," said Zain with sarcasm. "Do not bore us with your pleasantries Zain, what is the real reason you have come?" an Elder said with a sneer. Zain smiled, and the last thing the Elder's saw was a sphere of dark magic.
***
The two troll brothers were thrown from the bush into the hard, sandy path. "Okay, so what are you two doing following us around for a week?" asked Orphen. Volkan brushed sand off his tattered cloak. "Huh, like we would tell you miscreants why", said Volkan with spite in his voice. "We were following you because Volkan thought you guys were after some sort of trea." Dortin was cut short by a punch from his hateful brother. "Don't tell them that you idiot, you'll give away my beautiful plan and then we won't be able to take their treasure" Volkan quickly covered his mouth with his hands, realizing he had just given away his 'masterful' plan away himself.
"What are you talking about Volkan?" Majic asked the troll. Volkan uncovered his mouth and yelled at the group like they knew exactly what he was talking about. "Oh, don't act like you don't know, I know your after some kind of treasure and I'm going to claim it for myself, so there!" he stated. "You idiot, we're going to Alanhatan to meet up with Stephanie if you just have to know" said Orphen, now becoming impatient with the pint- sized annoyance.
Volkan felt a kind of sinking feeling inside him, until he noticed a small glimmer coming from the back of Orphen's Tower of Fang necklace, the chain now repaired after the incident with Azalie. "Oh yeah! Well if you're not after any treasure, what's that on the back of your necklace!?" Volkan said pointing to the dragon necklace. "What? You mean this?" Orphen turned over his necklace to show the Jewel of Gigabrious, now embedded into the back of the pendant. "It's the Jewel of Gigabrious, I had it placed in here so that I could personally make sure no one could complete the Sword of Baltenders again and use it for the wrong purposes." Orphen replied. "Oh, really, I thought the Tower of Fang was supposed to have authority over all three of the talismans" said Volkan. "Yeah, but I don't really trust those guys with all the talismans, so I figured I'd hide it with me so it couldn't be found" Orphen said like it was nothing. "And your calling Volkan a thief?" said Cleao.
"Well, anyways, just stop following us and leave us alone, before I lose my good mood" Orphen said with an antagonized face. Leki, who had been resting peacefully on Cleo's backpack, finally woke up and jumped up onto Cleo's shoulder, barking at the two trolls, remembering who they were. "Will you SHUT UP, you mangy mutt," yelled Volkan. "Hey! You can't tell him to shut up you creep!" Cleao said. "Well then why don't you shut up then" said Volcan. "Why you creep!" Cleo quickly picked up a rock and threw it as hard as she could at Volkan, knocking him down flat. Volkan quickly recovered himself and got up, VERY angry, and threw the same rock back at Cleao. Unfortunately for Volkan, the rock missed Cleao and hit Leki right in the head. Leki immediately shook his head, let out a loud growl and countered with a green blast from his eyes, leaving a smoking crater with the troll brothers right in the middle of it. "Oh, but what did I do?" muttered Dortin before he passed out. "I guess it wasn't really Orphen's temper they had to watch out for," said Majic with a smile. Orphen shook his head, "Come on, let's get going" he said. And they were off, leaving Volkan and Dortin behind, where they would hopefully stay.
***
Zain stood before the fallen bodies of the Elder's of Fang, cackling at their defeat. "Stubborn fools, they never even knew what they were up against, oh well, no matter" said Zain. 'No way, he defeated all of the Elders with one blast, but how is that possible? Not even Orphen has that kind of strength!' Lai thought with shock. "Sands of Time, I give to you thy lives" Zain chanted. The bodies of the Elders instantly turned to dust and circled around Zain like a tornado, enveloping him in the dust's veil. As the dust cleared, it was almost as if Lai saw a completely different person. A young man, wearing the same clothes as the old sorcerer had been wearing, now replaced the old, decrepit form of a man. Long, dull, silver hair draped his head, pulled back so the widow's peak was visible. His eyes, so cold and deep, seemed able to see through a person's soul. His skin was so pale it looked as if he might have died a week ago. The scar that had been on the old sorcerer's wrinkled face now ran along this young ones face, but looked more recent.
Lai couldn't believe what he was seeing, 'How could this be possible?' he thought, 'Just seconds before he had been struggling on an old oak staff, now he stands up tall and straight as if he had just drunk from the Fountain of Youth.' Zain threw away the wooden staff and let out an evil, menacing laugh, and left, in a flash. With Lai left to puzzle over what had happened.
END CHAPTER 01
FOOT NOTE: I think anyone who read my first work will agree this version is much better. I'll try to get the next chapters up as soon as possible. I want to also thank Lady Ivy Castillo for her nice review. D-chan, thank you for the ideas and comments, I also thought my last one needed serious work, but I was having some problems that really messed up the look of the text, and I was a little rushed to try and finish it. As for Zain's hair and eyes, I couldn't think of anything that could really fit the character's, well, character. Also, don't worry; Lai will still be used in the next chapters, too. But any more flames like that will be contributed for roasting marshmallows. ^^
So here it is; the new version of "New Beginning":
ORPHEN: THE NEW BEGINNING
CHAPTER 01:
FROM THE TOP
We join Orphen and the others a week from where the series left off. They are traveling to Alenhatan via a wagon, where Stephanie has written a letter that says they need to get back as soon as possible.
"So Stephanie didn't specifically say way she wrote the letter?" asked Cleao. "No, she just said that she had something to tell us and that was all" replied Orphen. Majic, trying to find someplace to sit comfortably in the back with Cleao's entire luggage, said," That sounds a little unlike her though doesn't it? She usually gives us more information than that". "Nah, we can trust her, she probably just wants to surprise us" Orphen answered. 'The fact that she's a man was all the surprise I needed from her', thought Cleao with disgust.
"Tell me why we are doing this again, Volkan?" asked Dortin from a bush nearby Orphen's wagon. "Because, they are no doubt heading toward some kind of treasure and when they get there we'll be there to claim it for ourselves." answered Volkan simply. "And just what makes you think we're going to be able to do when Orphen finds out we're trying to take this so called 'treasure' they're supposedly after?" said Dortin. "Easy, all we have to do is sneak up on them and beat Orphen down while he's surprised" said Volkan as-a-matter-of-factly. Dortin got a sweat drop on his head.
Just then, Orphen heard a noise on the side of the path. 'All right, it's been long enough now' he thought. "You two can come out now!" Orphen yelled. "Who are you talking to, Master?" Majic asked. "Oh, you'll see." replied Orphen. Majic had a puzzled look on his face, until he heard a nearby bush speaking and shaking. "Ah, no one?" said a high-pitched voice from inside the leaves. "You idiot! Now they definitely know we're in here!" yelled a rougher sounding voice. This continued until Majic noticed that Orphen was no longer in the cart. He looked around and saw that his Master had already circled around the bush.
Volkan and Dortin continued their ranting until they noticed a big shadow on the ground, dwarfing both of them (which don't take much doing). "Uh, hi Orphen." the troll brothers said nervously.
***
Lai sat deep in concentration in his meditation chamber located well into the very belly of the Tower of Fang until he sensed a disturbance of great magnitude.
'There is an evil force on the move' Lai thought. He rushed as quickly as he could to tell the Elders of the latest results of his divining. After many apologies to students and masters alike, he finally reached the chamber of the Elders of Fang. When he walked into the dark and dreary room that was the chamber he saw the Elders in their black robes, with the only way to actually see them coming from the light shining through the stain glass windows behind them.
But there was another there, one that Lai did not recognize. An aged man, no doubt clear in his 60s, body bent over with age, only supported by a large oaken staff. He wore a gray cloak and hood, shadowing most of his face. The only thing that Lai could make out was a large scar on the left side of his face, running up and down the length of his whole head.
"What is it Lai?" asked one of the elders. "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't realize you were busy, I come back later" replied Lai. 'It feels like that dark force is coming from that man, but how can that be? Surely I would have felt his presence in the Tower before he made it this far inside?' Lai thought. He walked outside the chamber and laid himself flat against the wall to listen into the Elder's conversation.
"Why are you here Zain?" asked an Elder. "You must have not forgotten that you have been banished from the Tower forever, have you?" 'Sorcerer Zain!!?? But he left the Tower 10 years ago, when he was only 18 years old! How could he have aged so much in so little time?' Lai thought to himself. "I figured it had been so long since I had seen my 'beloved' Elders that I thought I would stop by for a visit," said Zain with sarcasm. "Do not bore us with your pleasantries Zain, what is the real reason you have come?" an Elder said with a sneer. Zain smiled, and the last thing the Elder's saw was a sphere of dark magic.
***
The two troll brothers were thrown from the bush into the hard, sandy path. "Okay, so what are you two doing following us around for a week?" asked Orphen. Volkan brushed sand off his tattered cloak. "Huh, like we would tell you miscreants why", said Volkan with spite in his voice. "We were following you because Volkan thought you guys were after some sort of trea." Dortin was cut short by a punch from his hateful brother. "Don't tell them that you idiot, you'll give away my beautiful plan and then we won't be able to take their treasure" Volkan quickly covered his mouth with his hands, realizing he had just given away his 'masterful' plan away himself.
"What are you talking about Volkan?" Majic asked the troll. Volkan uncovered his mouth and yelled at the group like they knew exactly what he was talking about. "Oh, don't act like you don't know, I know your after some kind of treasure and I'm going to claim it for myself, so there!" he stated. "You idiot, we're going to Alanhatan to meet up with Stephanie if you just have to know" said Orphen, now becoming impatient with the pint- sized annoyance.
Volkan felt a kind of sinking feeling inside him, until he noticed a small glimmer coming from the back of Orphen's Tower of Fang necklace, the chain now repaired after the incident with Azalie. "Oh yeah! Well if you're not after any treasure, what's that on the back of your necklace!?" Volkan said pointing to the dragon necklace. "What? You mean this?" Orphen turned over his necklace to show the Jewel of Gigabrious, now embedded into the back of the pendant. "It's the Jewel of Gigabrious, I had it placed in here so that I could personally make sure no one could complete the Sword of Baltenders again and use it for the wrong purposes." Orphen replied. "Oh, really, I thought the Tower of Fang was supposed to have authority over all three of the talismans" said Volkan. "Yeah, but I don't really trust those guys with all the talismans, so I figured I'd hide it with me so it couldn't be found" Orphen said like it was nothing. "And your calling Volkan a thief?" said Cleao.
"Well, anyways, just stop following us and leave us alone, before I lose my good mood" Orphen said with an antagonized face. Leki, who had been resting peacefully on Cleo's backpack, finally woke up and jumped up onto Cleo's shoulder, barking at the two trolls, remembering who they were. "Will you SHUT UP, you mangy mutt," yelled Volkan. "Hey! You can't tell him to shut up you creep!" Cleao said. "Well then why don't you shut up then" said Volcan. "Why you creep!" Cleo quickly picked up a rock and threw it as hard as she could at Volkan, knocking him down flat. Volkan quickly recovered himself and got up, VERY angry, and threw the same rock back at Cleao. Unfortunately for Volkan, the rock missed Cleao and hit Leki right in the head. Leki immediately shook his head, let out a loud growl and countered with a green blast from his eyes, leaving a smoking crater with the troll brothers right in the middle of it. "Oh, but what did I do?" muttered Dortin before he passed out. "I guess it wasn't really Orphen's temper they had to watch out for," said Majic with a smile. Orphen shook his head, "Come on, let's get going" he said. And they were off, leaving Volkan and Dortin behind, where they would hopefully stay.
***
Zain stood before the fallen bodies of the Elder's of Fang, cackling at their defeat. "Stubborn fools, they never even knew what they were up against, oh well, no matter" said Zain. 'No way, he defeated all of the Elders with one blast, but how is that possible? Not even Orphen has that kind of strength!' Lai thought with shock. "Sands of Time, I give to you thy lives" Zain chanted. The bodies of the Elders instantly turned to dust and circled around Zain like a tornado, enveloping him in the dust's veil. As the dust cleared, it was almost as if Lai saw a completely different person. A young man, wearing the same clothes as the old sorcerer had been wearing, now replaced the old, decrepit form of a man. Long, dull, silver hair draped his head, pulled back so the widow's peak was visible. His eyes, so cold and deep, seemed able to see through a person's soul. His skin was so pale it looked as if he might have died a week ago. The scar that had been on the old sorcerer's wrinkled face now ran along this young ones face, but looked more recent.
Lai couldn't believe what he was seeing, 'How could this be possible?' he thought, 'Just seconds before he had been struggling on an old oak staff, now he stands up tall and straight as if he had just drunk from the Fountain of Youth.' Zain threw away the wooden staff and let out an evil, menacing laugh, and left, in a flash. With Lai left to puzzle over what had happened.
END CHAPTER 01
FOOT NOTE: I think anyone who read my first work will agree this version is much better. I'll try to get the next chapters up as soon as possible. I want to also thank Lady Ivy Castillo for her nice review. D-chan, thank you for the ideas and comments, I also thought my last one needed serious work, but I was having some problems that really messed up the look of the text, and I was a little rushed to try and finish it. As for Zain's hair and eyes, I couldn't think of anything that could really fit the character's, well, character. Also, don't worry; Lai will still be used in the next chapters, too. But any more flames like that will be contributed for roasting marshmallows. ^^