The Winds of Change Ch1

(Year 4003, Earth, Canada, Zanarkand.)

From: "Delith"

Date: Thu Jan 16, 2003 4:58 pm

Subject: First Character Post

I stood just inside of the recess leading to the door of the club. I was allowed in, but I didn't want to enter. Time seemed odd tonight, and I was wondering why. Rain poured from the sky, making the stone a shiny black, and the steel a glistening silver. Zanarkand was always bright these days, though our teachers at the schools said different. Sometimes, there were almost no lights in the cities, even at night, because power was such a weird thing. Now, we had plenty of power.

Nobody knew what the new for of power was, only that the name was MDPC. What that stood for was beyond us. There wasn't even a website on them.

I zippered up my long trench, stopping just long enough to check my nine millimeter handgun under my coat, and my small dagger at my belt, then walked into the rain, head down. I slowly made my way back to my house, where I would fill my Information quota for tommorrow, then I would roam the streets until I was tired.

On my way home, I bumped into a blonde guy, and as our shoulders touched, it seemed some past memory surfaced...

***???***

I walked down the rainy, bustling street, Excalibur across my back. This sword had been in my family since my father had moved to the planet called Sauron, and I had grown up there, but due to some odd events, I was now on a planet called Earth. My father's name was Delith Nightblade, one of the Brotherhood of Four, as it was now called. I bumped into a man I had known for a while, Yami Eien, a great fighter.

"Yami! Do you have time to spar today?"

"Oh, I could find the time to take you down." he laughed.

We went to the training gym, and drew our weapons, mine Excalibur, his the Shiroi Sword.

Our first few strkes were lightning fast, but slow for us. Having lived on Sauron gives one certain advantages. We picked up the pace, and soon, we were invisible to the human eye. Hell, even my father couldn't have tracked us. When we stopped, we were slightly cut, and breathing hard.

"Had...enough?" Yami asked.

"For...now." I panted, Excalibur buried in the ground.

***ZANARKAND, 4003***

Our shoulders parted, and we staggered. I turned, and looked at

Yami... only it wasn't. The odd memory was fading.

"Sorry, Yami."

"My name isn't Yami, Lucien."

"And mine isn't Lucien." I extended a hand, "Carl Minsa. And you are?"

He took it in a powerful grip, and answered, "Marick Waters. Good to meet you."

"Waters...hey, don't you write for that band up at Tech Star College?"

"You heard of us?"

"Yeah. Good music. I'm at every performance."

"Hey, cool. A fan." Marick smilled.

"Hey, I gotta go. Catch a later, eh Marick?"

"Yeah, you too Carl."

From: "Chys Lattes"

Rainy Night (Marick Waters)

It all seemed to start when I had been walking through the streets of Zanarkand one dark, raining night. The ominous form of the tallest building on the block, the Tech Star College, from which I had just departed, stood still behind me as I made my route down the wide, freshly painted street. I had been walking for some time when I bumped into another person. This was odd for me, I had been thinking to myself, head down, and hurrying through the rain, which I normally loved, but that night hadn't felt it of any comfort. It had been raining for some time and I was already soaked, my hair damp and clothes wet. I didn't really mind it at that moment, but I knew I would later. Ever since I had set foot outside I had been musing over which line up of songs we should use at the Live that night. There would be a Rep from a label there and we wanted to make a good impression. It was open mic night, but still, there was a chance we would get to play for an extra half hour or so, depending on if our competition chickened out and if the bar manager decided to let us on stage again. Yuri had told me we'd be paid extra for any time we spent over, which was a bit odd for the likes of us, we weren't popular yet, as her brother Ryu kept reminding us, but the guys at the Livehouse seemed entertained. It was enough for me, providing just enough incentive to write more good songs in one night than I had in a month. I was thinking of all of this when the stranger slammed into me.

The moment he touched me I felt extremely... strange... his face was so familiar, yet I had never before seen anyone like him.

I saw things in that moment that I had done a long time ago... but I had never done those things, or so I believed. The vision was fast departing my memory as I turned to face him and he said the strangest thing: "Sorry Yami." Yami? Yami means 'darkness'. Did he mean sorry, he couldn't see? No, he'd said it like a name was spoken. It was not familiar to me, I let it go. There was an odd moment too, right then, where I just KNEW his name was Lucien, perhaps I HAD known him before, but he'd denied it adamantly when I mentioned it. He claimed his name was Carl Minsa. Still, I had never encountered that name.

I was amazed to hear from his own lips that he was a fan. I had only set up a few gigs at the college events, and there were a lot of people there, too, but none of them had come screaming for an autograph or any form of recognition when I saw their faces again. Such the luck. At least there was a fan or two out there who remembered us. We'd only played not long ago, at the Tech Star's Summer Celebrations Festival. This sort of encounter made it worth the effort, in my opinion. We were making it up there, slowly but surely. Carl and I parted ways, he heading off in the general direction from which I had come and I headed on to the Live for tonight's Gig, myself walking more carefully. I still had my hand on my gun behind my jacket.

I thought I would open the act with the song titled 'Sweet Silence' tonight. Yuri and Ryu liked that one and we had yet to play it for an appreciative audience....

From: "shiningsun_820"

Date: Fri Jan 17, 2003 8:19 am

Subject: Opener of Domoen

"Late night again?" Said the bartender pouring a drink. "Always is, when you work for nothing" replied Domoen. Domoen reached into his wallet and pulled out the picture of his sister he always carried with him, Remembering the night , That oh so fateful night she was killed. He sat there in thought remembering vividly, the man with the dark trench coat with the symbol of the word meaning "Death" on his back. "you'll find him Domo, you'll find him" said the barkeep.

After a drink or 2(or 3 or 4 as he was feeling a bit tipsy) he decided it was best time to get home as it was late as it is. As Domoen was getting ready to depart he heard someone say "Gimme your money" he turned to see a young boy standing there with a knife. "Gimme your money or i'll kill ya" said the boy. And at that moment Domoen remembered how he was once like this boy, stealing from people to support his sister. "Here" said Domoen as he reached into his wallet for some money, "Take it". The boy looking puzzled took the money from Domoen and ran.

As Domoen walked through the pouring rain to his house He noticed 2 men walking down the street bump shoulders. He reckognized one of them as Marick Waters the writer for that new band up at tech star college. He remembered hearing they were giving a live performence tonight and was thinking he might go and catch it. "Maybe i'll go talk to him" thought Domoen to himself. He ran up to Marick and said "Hello my name is Domoen Kashu and i like your band".

"Heh" replied Marick, "thats 2 tonight" he said as he extended his hand.

"I heard you were giving a live performence tonight and was thinking of checking it out, and im just wondering where its at and what time?" as he shook Marick's hand.

"It's tonight at 8 at the livehouse, hope to see you there" replied Marick.

"I'll be there" said Domoen as he hurried off to his house.

Domoen's house wasn't technically a house it was more of a duplex with no wall in between. "Let's see it's 5 now so i have 3 hours before the show" thought Domoen to himself. He opened the fridge and grabbed a piece of Chicken from the night before, as he sat down to rest before the show. He again pulled out the picture of his sister and thought to himself, "I wonder what she would look like now, she'd be about 18". He placed the picture in his wallet ate his chicken and decided to rest a bit before the show as it was a hard day at the pit fights at the old skyreach centre. "Ahh good old Zanarkand, city of champions" he sarcastically mused to himself, "My ass" he chuckled as he dozed off.

From: Delith Nightblade

Date: Fri Jan 17, 2003 12:00 pm

Subject: Waiting for the fires...

I opened the door to my house, left to me by my parents when they had died. Inside, I flicked on the lights, and took off my shoes and trench, then my holster for my handgun. In the living room, I flung my knife into a dart board hung in a small alcove. There were three or four others like it.

Marick Waters. I couldn't get the memory out of my head, the memory of the man named Yami. The fight...

I had always been an awesome fighter, with almost anything. In the old city, around the Skyreach, you had to be. I remembered the music blaring out of the club, and walked into the kitchen, opened the fridge, and snagged a beer. I opened it, took a swig, and spun to the sink, spitting it out. I sniffed the beer, and it smelled fine, but when I took another sip, I couldn't swallow it. I spat that out as well.

I heard a faint creaking behind me, and spun on instinct, swirling to one knee, and reaching for a small dagger hung off the back of my belt. I saw my cat, used to these things, walking across the floor.

"Leto. You scared me." I said, standing.

Leto only meowed for food.

I laughed, and fed him, then went back to the living room, and plugged in to the network, sitting in my chair.

***NETWORK***

I appeared as I always do in the network, dressed in a long black trench, with a black body suit on underneath it. I had two handguns clipped to my legs, and a set of black, fingerless gloves on my hands. The gloves had three small openings on top of them, where hacker cables would come out when needed.

Not that I hacked often...

Really...

From: "Chys Lattes"

--De Jya Vuuh

At the Live, the neon sign blaring reading De Jya Vuuh, I headed into the back and waved on my way to the bartender.

"Marick, you're soaked!" Yuri observed as I stepped into the room.

"Yep. Been out in the rain. Where's Ryu?"

"Out. He's gonna be back when he gets a new E string. Damnit, I thought we had everything ready. Your baby's here, she's all ready for you, so you can go fix up the settings and make a practice run if ya want to." Yuri nodded toward my keyboard in the back. We'd have to move it onstage when our turn came, but no one really minded the hassle as it gave the drinkers more time to take a piss and order rounds.

I plopped down on the couch for a moment, content that the last time I checked it, it was in perfect working order. I would do a quick check right before, and if anything was out of place it could be easily remedied. I had an extra chip on me anyway, and all I would have to do is plug right into it and control it manually. I liked doing that better anyway, but Ryu always cautioned me that even the pros sometimes don't make it back from those kinds of trips. He hazards that it's too dangerous and not like regular uploading. I just wave him off and go about my business. He may be the band leader, but he can't plug himself into his guitar, so he can screw off. He doesn't comprehend the intimacy it can evolve to.

"So, what do we start with? Ryu said it's all up to you this gig." Yuri asked as she seated herself beside me.

I shrugged and said, "Sweet Silence. Then we'll go up the list from there, alphabetically. How about that?"

She thought about it then nodded her approval. She glanced over at her bass guitar and sighed. Ryu walked into the room, guitar in hand, all the strings in place. "Took you long enough." I said. He smiled and sat across from us at a table.

"I had to repair a string. I'm all tuned and everything. All ready?"

"Yep. Jes gotta wait for the call at 8, hell, unless we're bumped up by the chicken brigade. Then we'll get it from 7-9. That would be awesome but tiring for amatures like us."

"We aren't amatures. We just aren't famous yet." Ryu said sternly.

"Suure." Yuri and I said in unison. We'd heard his rant before. He narrowed his eyes and picked up his box of picks from the table.

I stood and walked into the adjoining room where I could see the stage. Ryu glared at me and added, "No getting sloshed before the act."

"Do I look like I am in the mood for alcohol?" I asked, raising my arms into the air.

"I never know with you."

"Whatever. We're starting with 'SS' tonight. Can you handle that?"

"Of course, I helped compose it."

"Good then. I hear we may have some actual fans in the audience tonight. How about that? I ran into a couple of them on the way here."

"No kidding?" Yuri gasped.

"Not fibbin."

"Awesome. Let's hope we can make a good impression tonight, that guy from the record label is going to be here, and I want to be the one to get it."

"You mean you want US to get it." Ryu stated, raising a brow at his little sister.

"Uh, yeah, but you are my BACKUPBAND." She laughed as she stood and patted him on the head.

'I hate waiting.' I thought as I glanced once more to the stage.

OOC: (Out of Character, this is Chys Talking.)

Sweet Silence (Lyrics) Marick POV:

Sweet Silence

(Lyrics) BY Chys Lattes

OOC: This is the song that I have Marick write and Yuri and the band sing. It's MY song, so if you try to steal it I will have you murdered. IRL. By rabid Airen and Yami Chibis. Or by Shinigamis with attitudes. Whichever is cheaper.(No really, I WILL KILL YOU.) This is not the whole song, and I do have a band who may perform it... if they get off their lazy bums, that is...

IC: (Back in Character, this is Marick speaking.)

I sat on the couch and pulled out my data disc, reading through it after plugging myself into the system. Yuri glanced at me and went back to reading her magazine and fidgeting with her long blue and red hair. I read the words in my mind over and over again, trying to be absolutely certain I had memorized the song I had only recently written. I would be singing part of it with Yuri, the chorus, so I had to know at least that part by heart.

Little did I know that time had escaped me, so I looked at my watch and just about jumped out of my shoes. "Damn! It's almost time!" I announced. Ryu glared at me and snarled, "You didn't know that, you moron! We've been saying it for the past ten minutes! You been ignoring us again?"

"Sorry, I was plugged in, ya know?"

"Damn that hand held of yours..." Yuri giggled at her brother's menacing look.

There was a call from behind the wall, the bar manager telling us to get ready. I unplugged and checked my keyboard-oh shit, it wasn't even on the right progam list! So there really HAD been a problem, damn it all! Oh well, time to do things MY way.

I packed the machine onto the stage and got a few cat calls from some of the audience members. (I'm not saying WHO...)

"Guys," I whispered to the others, who looked up at me as they readied their instruments. "I am going manual, my system's been messed with, I bet it was one of the chickens today."

"Damn it." Ryu blinked and Yuri looked concerned but they didn't stop me from plugging in to the board. The show must go on. When we got the signal from the manager, we began to play. 'Sweet Silence'. The name of the song popped up on the digital board over our heads as well as our band name, 'Dark Stars'.

Yuri began to sing:

"Morning on the rise
Mourning the fall of night
Would you want to feel me dying
As you fall into the maze of my despair
And see the sun for one last time

"In this silence
Can you hear me
As I'm screaming out your name
It's so quiet
Can't you feel me
As I'm touching you again"

Ryu and Yuri and I continued with the next part, Ryu hanging into the background while Yuri and I tried to harmonize.

* "Nothing's stopping me from crying
And I needed to believe
My tears were drying
As it echoes in my mind*

** This sweet silence
Can you hear it
Hearts are beating
Their last time
**Do you want it
This existance
Do you want
All that is mine"**

Yuri continued alone with:

"Wandering darkened streets
Blood pooled at my feet
Frightfully this world is ending
Darkness quickly is descending
Taking with it all that's right

"In your silence
Do you know it
That I'm bleeding out your pain
And you fear it
Though you see it
And you'll see it once again"

We continued the rest with instrumentals and a chorus repeat that we all sang with. When the song ended, we got an applause and continued on with the urging of the manager to do another act. I was really into it, feeling the sound in my blood as I beat away at the keyboard.

I scanned the audience for anyone I knew to be a fan...

SEE Character index ON to Part 2 of WOC
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