Maplestory: The Dawn of Another Adventure Chapter 1: The beginning of the end
A/N: First re-write of my very first fanfic. I've extended things abit and pulled some things out. I hope I haven't altered the beginning too much...
Disclaimer I don't own maplestory or any of the names: they belong to Nexon and some names are real players from GMS. I only own the storyline, non-players and the choose your weapon thingy.
It all started on a cool, sunny day. The sky was a brilliant blue, the fluffy white clouds floating somewhat gracefully across the sky. The bright yellow rays of sunlight bounced off the smooth pavements of Lith Harbour. Noisy chattering filled the crisp air as numerous beginners poured out of the boat, kicking up the dust. But that was just an ordinary day, you see. A perfectly ordinary day for James, the person who had steered the ship for many years, and every day he had endured people's shouting. Every single freaking day.
Yeesh. He thought yet again as he stood up, dusting himself off after the crowd of beginners had trampled him. Today he had a noisy lot. Hell, he could still see, and hear the freaks shouting about what they wanted to be.
"Ahhh! Sir, are you alright!" A feminine voice squealed behind him, causing him to jump before spinning around. A young beginner, who had probably just gotten off the ship, stood there, somewhat staring at him with a fascinated gaze. When she met his piercing blue gaze, she diverted her attention and picked up his blue hat before giving it to him, muttering words of apology.
"Eh, thanks kiddo." he replied, giving her a smile. She reddened, immediately staring at the dusty floor. He patted her back, and she jumped in surprise. "Don't you have to get your first job advancement?" he asked suddenly. Her head snapped up before slapping her forehead.
"Ohmigosh!" she exclaimed as she shot off, her jet black hair flying wildly behind her. He grinned slightly as he could still hear faint echoes of 'Cruuuuuud!' in the background. Eh, she was a nice lassie. He thought before diverting his attention to the ship. Only that it wasn't there. Now, if you had been in Henesys, above all the hustle and bustle of the small mushroom town you could still hear the faint scream of "SHIIIIIIIIIIIIT, WHERE IS MY BOAT!" in the distance.
...
A boy stood before the door, his hand hovering above the 'open' button on the side of the sliding door. His face wasn't visible amongst the jet black bangs that fell messily over his face as he bent over, puffing after he had sprinted here from a barrage of psycho mushroom things.
He still wasn't sure that he was making the right decision, despite the numerous coin flips that he had completed only to be determined to be a thief. Time's ticking. He quickly reminded himself. That pushed him to press the button. A chilly breeze rushed through the streets of Kerning City, and despite the never-ending sunset that constantly brought warmth to the city the tall buildings had either absorbed or reflected the light beams back where it came from, leaving dark alleys barely lit by constantly flickering orange lights. The neon sign above him was also failing, the words 'Jazz Bar' hardly noticable. The door slid open, and he walked inside only to have a very strong stench of alcohol reach his nose. Abruptly he staggered back, using part of his gray t-shirt to cover his mouth and nose before cautiously walking back inside, only to find it...
Empty. Soft jazz music played in the background, but despite the boy's very strong dislike of the genre overall, that wasn't the most unsettling thing to see. Bits and pieces of furniture were scattered randomly across the room, and parts of the floor were splattered with blood. It had looked like a balrog had rampaged through the place, and the faint smell of sick and dis-infectant mixed with the ever-so-strong scent of alcohol that was already making him nauseous.
"Hello?" He called out. "I want to become a thief!" he shouted, and to his surprise, a deep voice answered. He leapt back, almost smashing into the wall.
"So, you want to become a thief, huh...?"
...
"Status?" A mysterious voice murmured softly, yet the voice was dripping with malice and doom. The young nightlord that was bowing at his feet looked up, avoiding contact with the crimson eyes that could easily spell doom for her.
"Stable, possibly ten or twenty men over," she replied, still avoiding her leader's death gaze. Out of the corner of her eye, she detected a slight twitch on the corners of her master's mouth. He nodded, and she clenched her eyes and winced softly as the a blacked out symbol of angel wings glowed bright red, and the red mass was snaking down her arm, making some sort of grotesque tattoo. A tear, not of pain, but of happiness rolled down her cheek and dripped onto the floor. "Thank you, master." she stood up and bowed agian before flash jumping into the darkness.
...
The twelve-year old boy's face was priceless. It was a face of fear mingled with shock. He shook his head, causing all the hair in his face to fling off, revealing a set of brilliant green eyes with somewhat pale skin. "W-who's there...?" His face trailed off as his hair started to flap around wildly, and dark particles swirled and gathered, eventually becoming a great black cloud of darkness. A few moments later the swirling mass of darkness dispersed to reveal a rather tall man completely covered in black, save for his hands and sharp brown eyes. He was hovering in the air, which was totally normal, considering the fully retarded things that had happened to the boy in the past half hour. [A/N: I feel sorry for him. He must've been scared out of his mind.]
"Josh, am I correct?" he murmured, closing his eyes and relieving the boy from his paralyzing gaze. Josh nodded. How on earth did he know tha- His thought was cut short by the man. "You have a name tag." From behind the mask, he seemed to have sighed. Josh mentally slapped himself. Idiot. He scolded himself. "Now, do you want to take the beginning test or what?" he muttered, his eyes still closed.
Josh nodded eagerly, and the man nodded back. He disappeared, and in his place was a very pissed off green mushroom. The neon light bounced off the green cap of the creature, and Josh swore. Immediately he drew his weapon, which was a yellow handled razor he had recieved from a friend that he had encountered before leaving Maple Island, he sped forward, and with a yell he slashed at
the monster, and he smiled as he felt the sharp metal tip of the blade dig itself into the creature's soft flesh. It gave a sharp cry, but it wasn't done yet. It skidded back from Josh's attack but it still wasn't dead. Even worse, he had lost his weapon somewhere during his attack, and as he looked hysterically for a shiny yellow handle the green mushroom was preparing to charge at Josh. When he locked his gaze onto the mushroom, he had caught a small glimpse of something yellow jutting out of the side of the mad creature. Without haste he rummaged into his brown pack and took out a handful of randomly-colored shells, mostly blue. One by one he tossed them, the shells flying through the air with such precision that even the legendary Salleem would have been jealous over and exploded into tiny colourful fragments once it had come into contact with the monster. After he had tossed pretty much every shell he had on him he glanced up. The green mushroom had been long dead, and the man was back where the monster once was, holding a bag full of shells that he had presumedly thrown. Oops.
"Nicely done, but with a mouth like that it'll be a miracle to be even able to sneak up on a damn monster," he muttered somewhat coldly. "Give me your hand." Josh held out his hand and the man took it, murmuring a few lines of ancient text that would be undecipherable if one did not know the language. Afterwards a pale yellow light enveloped him, the rush of adrenaline somewhat similar to leveling up but he felt extremely more powerful than he had been before. A wristguard and a dagger appeared shortly afterwards from thin air. "Choose the weapon you will use in training." he instructed. Josh nodded breifly, then he reached his hand to the wristguard. As soon as his hand touched it, three brown leather pouches with pictures of a throwing star marked by the word 'beginner' appeared by his hip. He placed one pouch in his pack, and found that he had more space than usual. He also found a skillbook containing all his skills as a beginner theif. There was also a medal beside his brown skullcap. He pinned the medal on, then murmured a quick thank you before dashing outside, eager to test out his new skills. He ran through the countless crowds, eager to test out his skills.
A/N: So, how did you like it? Good? Bad? Review please! I'll be slowly re-writing this story, so stay tuned!
Moon out!
