This is a sort of new story that I only just came up with. It's got plans for a while, and I've already started/finished the next chapter. We'll see where it goes. I have a plan for the general area where this will go. Do not expect this story to be updated very often unless I have a writing fit like I did today where I wrote this and the next chapter in about five hours (with my dad trying to get me to be sociable every half-hour) So, yeah. I like this. No one knows yet what I'm referencing yet, but you'll see in a while, if I keep updating this.
"Does anyone know the answer? Lynn?" The teacher asked, bored eyes looking around the room.
I sighed, "A beacon is crafted with three obsidian on the bottom, a Nether star in the middle, and glass over the top and sides. But it's a rare item to get because in order to craft it you have to have either killed the Wither or managed to convince someone to trade you a Nether star, neither of which are easy. You also have to have a minimum of a diamond pickaxe or once again good trading partners in order to get obsidian" I said.
"Very good, Lynn. Now class, were you listening to what your classmate said? Why is it so hard to obtain a Nether star?"
I zoned out, since the teacher had already called on me, until my one of my two best friends passed me a note. It read, "Hey, Lynn! I can't wait until this class is over. Today's the last day before the class tournaments of Survival Games! Excited?"
I was. Our small town was known for having a love of PVP and good skills in that area. In our high school, every year there was a Survival Games tournament. We had twenty-four eligible classes with twenty-four students in each. The other classes consisted of students who were ineligible due to some factor or did not want to play because they either had little chance of winning or did not want to kill anyone, even if they would respawn.
First, each class would have their own game, and the winner of that game would move on to represent their class that year.
And this was my first eligible year, as I was only a freshman and this was my first year at the high school.
I scrawled a note back, "You bet I am! I'm winning this!"
I handed it back to my friend, Daniel. Danny had been my friend since forever, same with my other friend, Shari. They were the only ones who never got on my bad side, other than my family.
You see, I was fairly well-known among the teenagers of our small town because of my temper. Most of the time, I was either quiet, kind, or intense. But I had a bad habit of not liking someone's attitude or the way they acted, and getting extremely mad at them for (in their eyes) no reason.
I could silently hate someone for years and they'd never know, but my temper had a tendency to overrun my tolerance and I'd snap at them.
When class finally ended, Danny and I left the school and met Shari outside. Since the school day was finally all over, we had today to prepare for the bloodfest starting tomorrow that would last anywhere between a day and a few weeks.
I was excited. Everyone in town except the most essential people stopped working for nearly two months of the year to watch us students fight. To watch both rounds of Survival Games, which had a single week in between for the Champions to relax and recover a bit before they were thrown back into the fray.
"I'm going home. Dad told me he had something for me and that I should come home right after school. I'll meet you guys in the park at about five" I said.
"Gotcha. We can come up with our plans then!" Shari said.
Unfortunately, my blonde friend wasn't in my homeroom class, so she wouldn't be in my game. But Danny was, and we'd already agreed to team. Teaming was only allowed in the first game, and was banned for the championship round, since it was likely to be overpowered.
Freshmen like us were highly encouraged to team, since we had less experience and were less likely to win on our own.
"See you!" I called as I dashed away, running down the cobblestone road to where my house lay, several blocks down from the school.
Honestly, the town was so small you could get anywhere pretty quickly by just walking. Only those who traveled outside to the big city about twenty miles away had horses, and several of those were even just on lend by the few farmers, who were pretty much the only ones in town not interested in fighting.
I burst through the wooden door, "Hey, Dad! You home?" I yelled into the house.
Mom was out at her work, I knew that, but I was pretty sure Dad had taken today off.
"Hey, scamp! What are you doing home so soon?"
That was my older brother.
"Joey...!" I groaned, "I'm not a kid anymore! Stop calling me that!"
"You're still my kid sister!" He teased, coming down from where he'd been leaning against the staircase and ruffling my hair, "You'll always be my little scamp"
"How'd you like it if I did it to you?" I challenged, reaching up and patting his curly, sandy hair. Notch damn it, why did my brother have to be so tall?
"Cute" He said, with a laugh.
"Where's Dad?" I asked, before I lost my dignity entirely.
"Upstairs, in his office. Hey, I heard you're participating tomorrow. You got a good teammate?"
I nodded, "Danny. He and I have been spending our gym time training together"
"That's good" Although Joey was still in school, a senior actually, he'd chosen not to participate in the Games, even though his friends were. He'd come third in the championship last year and had been satisfied with that.
"Thanks. Talk to you later. Maybe you can give me some more hints"
"Sure. Whenever you want"
I ascended to stairs, knocking on the door to my dad's office.
"Lynn, is that you? Come in" He called through the closed wooden door.
"Hi, Dad" I said as I opened and slid through the door, taking a seat on Mom's empty office chair.
Papers covered literally every non-floor flat surface in the office, with motivational posters on the walls and ceiling.
My parents worked as the town's only two lawyers, which usually meant they worked solving small disputes between people, seeing as there had never been a murder or case of domestic abuse ever since before I was born.
Joey had the same hair as Dad, short and curly sandy blonde hair. They were both tall and slender, with blue eyes and pale skin.
Meanwhile, I looked nothing like them. I had shiny, dark brown hair and dark eyes. My skin was a light olive shade. I was more on the tall side than short, and I was slender, that was about the only thing I shared with my family.
Truth be told, there weren't many dark-haired people in the town. Most people were either blonde or had light brown hair.
"Good to see you, Lynn. I did promise I had something for you" He said, giving me a quick hug before sitting down himself, having been standing and looking out the window before.
"You did"
He laughed, "That's right. I've been saving this for you, Lynn. Just for this day"
He held out something for me that he'd pulled from his pocket.
I took in a sharp breath. Staring down at the jewel he was holding out to me.
It was a necklace. Gold chain with a teardrop-shaped gem the color of rich amber.
I'd been expecting him to give me a token for the Survival Games, parents usually did, but this seemed... to be of separate significance...
I bowed my head as he set it around my neck, "Thanks, Dad..."
He looked at me thoughtfully, "By Notch, it suits you" Then he looked away and added his own explanation, "That's the only thing you had with you when we found you... I've been meaning to give it to you for years, but there hadn't really been an appropriate time until now"
It was no secret to me that I was adopted, I'd known it for years. Even then, it would have been impossible for my parents to act like I'd been born to them, since I looked so different.
"Thank you, Dad... I love it" I said quietly, looking down at it. I was slightly worried about whether a delicate-looking thing like this would stand up to the rigors of the Survival Games.
As though he could read my mind, my dad said, "It's warded. I had it checked out by a priest and a mage when you were still a baby, to make sure it wasn't harmful. But it's impossible to break, or even scratch. The ward was on it when we found you"
My parents had been coming home one day from the courthouse after a particularly stressful case when they had found me. They'd told me about it many times.
It had been a clear night, crisp and chilly. They'd taken a back road to avoid any media from pestering them on their thoughts on the case, when they'd heard a baby crying.
They had found me in the forest off the side of the road, in a basket beside a tree, wrapped in a white cloth. There hadn't been a note or anything, except apparently this necklace.
Already being parents to a then three-year-old Joey, they couldn't just leave me. They'd taken me in and named me Lynn. They'd guessed I was less than a month old when they'd found me.
And so here I was. No one really knew who had abandoned me, or why, but I was accepted as part of the family.
"Good luck tomorrow, Lynn. I know you've been training hard for this, but also remember your limits. Your mother and I love you, always remember that" He returned to his work, dismissing me.
"Thanks again, Dad. And I will" I promised, leaving.
I passed Joey on the way out, and he gave me some more hints for the Games before I had to leave again, grabbing a few sodas for me and my friends.
I met them in the park right on time, found them sitting on a bench beside a fountain.
"Hey, guys!" I called to them, "You ready?"
"Hey, Lynn!" Shari yelled back as I came up to them, "I've got a killer outfit for tomorrow!"
Honestly, I had no idea how Shari was my friend. Preppy, fashionista girls usually got on my bad side in about .08 seconds. But not Shari for some reason. Sure she was preppy and all that, but she was also really funny and kind.
She was shorter than me, and had bright blonde hair with blue eyes. She was always wearing either a dress or a miniskirt, showing off her perfectly tanned skin. She also had a piercing in her right nostril, a pale pink stud. It fit her. Preppy, but also a bit rebellious.
Daniel, on the other hand, was a total geek. He loved redstone, which I was horrific at, and knew every answer to the teachers' questions.
Daniel was about my height, but slightly taller and with more muscles, he also had ashen blonde hair and darker blue eyes than Shari's. They could pretend to be siblings and it would be believable. Practically anyone in town could pretend to be family and it would work, anyone except for those of us who had darker features like me, who were usually outsiders. It was a medium-small community, and very rarely were outsiders welcomed.
"Shari, a good outfit won't do you anything for the Survival Games. We all get the same outfit, remember?" I logically pointed out.
She made a pouty face, "It's for the cameras beforehand, Lynn! Not like you'd care what you look like to the world!"
She was right. I didn't care one bit what the media who recorded the event every year thought of me. They'd probably announce me as the sister of last year's third place winner. All I cared about was the actual event, and even then, I didn't care if I won or lost. I just wanted to see how well it would fit me.
Some people, after all, could become rich and famous just by being very good at the Survival Games, and built their entire career up on it.
Because in the Survival Games, your life outside didn't matter. All that mattered was two things: training and not dying. Nothing else.
I just laughed at her indignancy.
"Alright, girls, you're both pretty" Danny said, stifling a chuckle.
"Shut up" I grunted, but good-naturedly, sitting down between him and Shari.
"Hey, look who it is. The freaks" A voice came from behind us.
I whirled around, rising to my feet in less than a heartbeat.
It was Damien and Ashley, the two most preppy, super popular, super annoying people at our school. Also, they were a couple. Jock and cheerleader style.
They'd gone after and teased Shari and Danny before, but never when I was around. And there was a good reason for that.
I wasn't known to tolerate much from people I disliked, especially people who didn't like my friends. I'd sent Ashley's best friend away crying after she tried to put Shari down, and had given Damien's best friend a black eye because he was about to beat up Danny.
I didn't stand for much.
"What are you doing here?" I asked bluntly, facing them.
They seemed to shrink back, apparently having not seen me, before Ashley commented in a rush, "Just coming to wish you luck. From the look of things, you're going to need it!"
I then remembered that both of them were in our homeroom. Damien would be a challenge to defeat, most likely, and he'd be protecting Ashley...
But I just smiled coldly and said, "Oh really, Ashley? I think that if anyone needed luck, it would be you. Aren't you the one who always makes up lies and stories to get out of gym class? Which is probably the most essential of our classes and the most relevant?"
"Ashley's gonna be with me. And she's gonna win" Damien said defensively.
Danny spoke for me, "Yeah? Well, Lynn's my parter, and I don't think she's just gonna roll over and die just to satisfy you"
"And besides that, you shouldn't have to depend on someone like that to win. If you do, you have absolutely zero chance of winning the championships" I said smugly. I'd spent a long time making sure that both my partner and I were well-prepared, just in case one of us lost the other early on.
"Go, run" I encouraged, giving the two populars the evil eye, "You're gonna need the training. And never try to hurt my friends. You should know that by now"
Damien looked at Ashley, growing concerned, then the two in consensus, turned and fled.
But Shari, who hadn't spoken since those two had shown up, wasn't looking at their retreating forms. She'd been silently sitting there with tears leaking out of her eyes while we spoke.
Instead, she was now looking up and staring at me, "Lynn... When did you get that necklace...?"
I looked over at her, dropping one hand to gently touch the neck ornament, "Huh? Oh, this. My dad just gave it to me, that's why I had to go home first. Why?"
She stood, reaching out and grabbing the amber-colored stone, "It was glowing when you were angry"
"What?"
She shrugged, "It was glowing. Did you see it, Danny?"
"No. I wasn't paying attention to Lynn's new jewelry" My other friend said.
"My dad said it was warded against damage... Maybe something involving that?" I asked.
"I don't know anything about magic..." Shari admitted.
"I know a bit. A simple warding spell probably wouldn't have done that. Maybe the ward is covering another spell that makes it glow when the wearer is feeling strong emotion?" Danny offered.
"I don't know" I said, "My dad said it was only a ward spell, but you never know"
"Did your dad get this made for your first Games?"
"No. He said it was on me when they found me"
Both of my friends went silent. Adoption was a rare thing in our town, since there was rarely an abandoned or orphaned child, it was an uncomfortable subject for everyone except my family, for some odd reason.
"It's okay" I said, "You guys both know I fully accept that I'm adopted"
"Yeah. And no matter how long we've known you, it's still hard to wrap my head around" Shari said, not looking at me.
"Is anything about me easy to understand?"
"Yeah, you get angry easily" Danny joked a bit.
"Thanks a lot, Danny" I rolled my eyes.
"Oh, be quiet. So what advice did you get Joey to tell you?" Shari asked, returning to the subject we'd been meaning to focus on for tomorrow.
