"Lionel! It's time for school!"
Deep amber eyes blinked open, then narrowed to slits as blinding sunlight filtered in through the window above his bed. The world seemed to blur for a moment before coming to a still, the light now warm on his skin. For a long moment he was still, staring through half-lidded eyes up at the white ceiling, at the fan that spun leisurely in the center. He could hear footsteps downstairs, probably his mother bustling about, getting his things ready for the day. The thought made him smile. She always insisted on helping him with everything, then forgot about it until the last second. His father would have left for work earlier in the day, and would probably be back sometime after school.
School! He sat up quickly, making his head spin. He ignored it and leapt out of his bed, stretching his lithe, muscular limbs in the golden sunlight. His first day of highschool, and at the very school his mother had went to and his father had taught at. Normally, Lionel wasn't one to be excited for school. But something about the prospect made his heart quicken in anticipation this year. He walked over to his dresser, slid open the drawer, and pulled out some clothes. For most kids, a new year ment a new opportunity to build a reputation that hadn't quite stuck the year before. Though for Lionel, it was the same, year after year. Tattered jeans and leather jacket, white fingerless gloves stained with the blood from more fights then he cared to remember.
"Lionel, are you up?" Scarlett called up, followed by a crash and a sharp exclamation of "ouch!" There was a moment of silence before his mother spoke up again with a nervous laugh. "I'm alright! Just... erm... knocked over some paint cans... do you think your father would mind? It doesn't look bad, pretty stylish actually..." Lionel grinned, opening his door and looking over the balcony to where his mother was crouching over splatters of yellow, red, and blue paint. She seemed to take up a new profession every month, claiming she enjoyed them all but always wanted to try something new. Her current obsession was interior decorating, as one could see from the numerous abstract paintings now covering the walls. Brian, Lionel's father, put up with her antics without so much as a complaint. She'd always been that way, according to him. "Yeah, mom, I'm up. I'll be down in the minute."
He entered the upstairs bathroom, blinking as the bright florescent lights flickered into being. Looking into the mirror for a long moment, he studied his image. There was no doubt that he appeared intimidating, with his tall, lean stature and tan complexion. A thick mop of spiky golden hair topped his head, highlighted by the light above. His eyes weren't the golden amber of his fathers', but rather were dark reddish orange. Over the years, he'd developed a permanent scowl, his eyebrows drawn together in an expression of perpetual annoyance. Despite this, he'd heard on many occasions how girls would moon over him, as though his impulsive and aggressive nature did nothing to dampen their opinion of his looks. He couldn't care less, honestly. He didn't even believe it. Lionel Thundera wasn't supposed to be someone that attracted such unnesecary attention.
Satisfied that he looked threatening, he exited the bathroom and made his way down the stairs. Scarlett seemed to be attempting to pick up the spilled paint, but wasn't having much luck. She grumbled under her breath about her own clumsiness for a moment before she noticed Lionel standing there and cut him off before he asked to help. "No, no! You'll be late! Your backpack is on the couch, and you can grab breakfast at school." She stood up and kissed his forehead before pulling him into a hug. "Have fun, Leo." She murmured, letting him go and smiling at him warmly. "You'll do fine."
The golden-haired boy nodded in reply before walking to the couch, picking up his backpack, and slinging it over his shoulder. Normally, he'd never allow anyone to show so much affection towards him. But Scarlett was his mother, and it was impossible to be mad at her when she was such a klutz. He pulled on his shoes and looked back once more, seeing Scarlett had given up on trying to clean up the spill and was now hefting a chair over top of it to hide it. Shaking his head in amusement, Lionel opened the door and stepped out into the warm August sunlight. The scent of leaves in their prime assaulted him from all angles, summer slowly drawing to a close and giving way to the amber shades of autumn. He squinted his eyes, shading them with one hand, when he spotted the boy who had just passed by the house. "Jason!" He called, leaping from the doorstep and running to join his friend.
The boy raised his bowed head but didn't turn as Lionel fell into step behind him. "Hey, man!" The golden-haired boy grinned, throwing his arm over the other's shoulder. "Whassup?"
"The sky." The smaller of the two answered, earning an annoyed snort from his companion. "That joke is so old." He muttered, removing his arm from around Jason. "You really need some new material, Jay."
Still his gray-haired companion stared ahead blankly, which on any other occasion would have been normal. He preferred not to face people when speaking to them, as they ended up asking why he wasn't looking at them. Better they assume then ask to his face. "You okay?" Lionel asked, his tone dropping to a more serious note.
"Nah." The paler boy answered, his shoes scuffing the concrete of the sidewalk. "Something just... feels wierd today." He turned to face Lionel, and both of them stopped. "Will you be careful today?" He asked, his indifferent voice betraying the slightest hint of worry. Lionel knew better than to question Jason's judgement; the blind boy tended to see much more than an average person. "And keep a close eye on Holly, in case it involves her."
"Yeah, alright." He nodded, watching silently as Jason turned and began to walk again. "Hey, wait, Jay..." Falling into step beside his best friend once again, Lionel's voice dropped. "How come you've been having all these wierd feelings lately? They don't usually come this often, do they? Are you sure you're alright? Have you ever thought, you know, maybe being able to feel when something bad is going to happen isn't too great for your health? Maybe you're going insane. Like having voices in your head." He knocked on his friend's head with one fist, and Jason waved him away with a smirk.
"Hey guys!" A voice suddenly called from behind them. Both boys turn to see the last member of their trio, Holly, running towards them across the sidewalk. She was a bit taller than Jay, quite a bit shorter than Leo, and about a mile smarter than either. Lionel grinned and clapped one hand on her shoulder as she joined them. "About time you got here." He joked. "Jay's been getting his wierd feelings again. You know how he relies on you to decipher them." He laughed, and Jason blushed furiously.
Holly, however, solemned immediately. "Again?" Her brows furrowed in concern, and she looked at Lionel. "Why didn't you tell me earlier? Couldn't you have called me or something? Nevermind, whatever. Jason, do you feel alright?" She pressed one hand to his forehead, checking for a fever no doubt. "Nothing's happened lately. I don't understand why you're so on edge all the time lately."
Lionel smiled warmly, watching Jay push Holly's hand away impatiently. He, Jay, and Holly had known eachother since before they could remember. They'd always been best friends, and people made fun of them for being so different. His friends especially didn't understand why he'd hang out with an 'emo kid' like Jay. What bothered him though was when they called Holly 'hot', among other words, with her curvaceous figure, shoulder-length raven-black hair, round, freckled face, and deep green eyes. She most certainly wasn't 'hot'. She was beautiful. A woman like her, who held herself with such poise, who was proud and powerful enough to stand up for herself, didn't fall under a teenage boy's categories. Holly was something completely different.
"Alright, alright!" Jason hissed, pushing Holly away impatiently. "I'm fine! Just be careful, alright? I don't know what's going to happen, or if something going to happen at all, but just... just stay safe, got that?" He glared at her venomously through blind blue eyes, and it almost seemed as though he could actually see her. "I don't want you letting your guard down and getting hurt just because something might not happen."
"Calm down." Lionel's voice solemned, and he clapped Jason on the back with one hand. "You know we wouldn't doubt you for a minute, Jay. You just worry about us too much." He rolled his eyes. "Honestly, it's like you forget you're tiny and blind."
The smaller boy bristled, but relaxed quickly. Lionel was the only person who could calm him down by being completely blunt. He wasn't afraid to state the truth, and that's what his companions admired about him. The leader of their trio, he kept them together and would never do anything against either of them. And best of all, he didn't worry constantly about Jay's blindness, like everyone else seemed to. He was accepted with his two best friends, and he was believed in. "How could I forget?" The gray-haired boy muttered, rolling his pale eyes.
"Lionel's right." Holly piped up, smiling warmly. "Worry about yourself for once, Jason. We'll be fine."
"In fact, I'll bet twenty dollars all of us will make it back home today without so much as a scratch." Lionel proclaimed, grinning cockily.
I wonder if it's too late to take back that bet.
It'd been a pretty normal day. As normal as your first day of highschool can get, anyway. Plenty of new faces, plenty he hadn't seen in a while, and more than enough teachers. Strict ones, funny ones, nice ones, pretty ones, old ones. And of course, there were the upperclassmen. Lionel could tell from the moment he walked through the doors and heard the mutterings around him about a Thundera attending their highschool, it would be a rough year. For as long as he could remember he'd been ridiculed for lineage, picked on by jealous kids that didn't have the status or the money. Not that Lionel cared about that kind of thing. As he always told them, he cared not about the money or the priveledges, he cared about his own abilities. Every fight he'd win, it would be with his own strength. Nobody elses.
Trouble had started when Lionel was talking with one of his friends, a boy with gray-and-white hair named Michael. He, his twin sister Hazel and older brother Bert had moved to the town only a year ago. Bert and Lionel already had somewhat of a antagonistic history, Bert seeing the younger boy as a threat to his status over the other students with his status and physical strength. Normally, they kept as far apart as possible. But Lionel made the mistake of going home alone that day, when Bert and his group just happened to be taking the same route.
From the beginning, it hadn't been like any normal fight he'd ever been in. It wasn't a fight fueled by jealousy or the fear of a ruthless leader, though that was certainly part of it. He could feel it, every single time his fist connected with them, sparks of energy flew from the touch. In the moment of impact, he had always been able to feel his opponent's feelings, their deepest desires to protect or defend or attack, if only for the slightest second. But today, with every kid he downed, not a flicker of emotion could be felt underneath their skin. Instead, his normal abilities was backfiring on him. Wounds meant little to him in the heat of battle, but now he could feel every single punch they through like a firecracker going off inside his flesh. He almost never got tired during a battle. Exhaustion weighed on his limbs heavier than lead. A fire would flicker in his veins, and he would feel alive. He felt as though every ounce of life he had him was draining out.
What the hell is wrong with them? He though as his bruised fist met with the nose of a pudgy boy, who lurched back with blood spraying onto the concrete. They won't stop coming at me. An arm wrapped around his neck from behind, cutting off his air supply, and he just managed to dig his elbow into his attacker's stomach to propel them away. There aren't even that many of them. Why do they keep coming? He spun around to face yet another of the gangsters, and his eyes widened. I already knocked you out! Before he could state his amazement, the boy grabbed him by the arm and yanked downward violently. Lionel cried out in pain as his shoulder popped from its socket. As he lurched forward, the boy's knee lifted and connected with Lionel's chin. A sharp crack could be heard as the golden-haired boy hit the alley wall behind him and slid silently down to the damp ground beneath. His vision was flickering, beginning to fade, as the pain from the back of his head dulled from a roar to a gentle hum.
As the crazed faces of the gangsters began to shutter and disapear into blackness, a single voice echoed insistently in the back of his mind, willing him to move, to stand, to fight. But weakness suddenly didn't seem too bad, if it meant he could rest, if only for a moment. The last thing he was concious of was the boy in front of him holding up a dagger, its edge glinting silver. He could never recall anyone actually trying to kill him. Fights had never gone that far before. As the dagger came down, it seemed suspended in slow motion. He was aware of the serated metal pricking his chest, then felt the smooth motion of it puncturing his flesh and sliding in slowly. There was no pain as the blade pierced his lung. His limbs slowly went numb. Breath left his body, and everything melted away with a gentle sigh of defeat.
Blood dripped steadily beside his ear.
No, it wasn't blood.
The heavy, cloying scent was gone. It had been replaced with something crisp and clean.
Water.
"Did you want to win?" A soft voice asked him from the shadows that crawled on the edges of his returning vision. Lights blurred and sharpened in front of him, blobs became shapes before melding back into the blackness. "Did you want to win?" The voice repeated, closer this time.
Lionel's brows furrowed in confusion. What kind of question was that? Why wouldn't he want to win? He nodded slowly, his tongue feeling too thick and dry to speak.
"Then why didn't you?" The voice pressed, followed by the sound of shoes scraping on the rough ground. "Why didn't you win? You said you wanted to. Or were you just fighting to survive? Is that all fighting means to you? Defending yourself against kids that think you're not good enough? You hunger power. Otherwise you wouldn't be going along with inheriting the Thunder fortune. So why does fighting mean so little to you?"
He opened his mouth to speak, but all that came out was a strangled groan as his wounded chest protested. "I only fight when I need to!" He choked out finally, angry with this man for questioning him, for insulting his motives. "There's no point in it any other time. I'm going to be someone one day... someone important. Why... why should I fight now? There's nothing for me to fight for yet!"
"What about your family?" The voice retorted coldly. "Your friends? Your honor? Those aren't enough for you to fight for?" There was silence as the voice waited silently for the boy to digest this before he continued. "A new world is coming, kid. A world right beyond your door, beyond all you've ever known and loved. Do you know what it's going to take to create a new world? A war. Do you know what it's going to take to win that war?" When there was no reply, the voice cackled rustily.
"A new world...?" Lionel whispered, not quite grasping what the stranger was saying. "What does... what does that have to do with me winning?"
"There are evil people in this world." The voice answered. "Evil, evil people. This world won't be yours unless you can fight. Fight with all your strength. If you can do that, this war will be ours, and you will have the power you want. You just need to prove yourself. Against everyone who's ever doubted you. I will help you, if you wish."
His vision was beginning to fade, slowly, disapearing again into oblivion. "Wait!" He murmured, unable to will away the blackness. "What's your name?"
"My name is Ashton Woode. Welcome to the Power of Three."
Characters mentioned/introduced:
Lionel Thundera- Lionblaze
Scarlett Thundera- Squirrelflight
Brian Thundera- Brambleclaw
Jason Feather- Jayfeather
Holly Winderland- Hollyleaf
Michael- Mousewhisker
Hazel- Hazeltail
Bert- Berrynose
Ashton Woode- Ashfur
Welcome to my new fanfic, sequel to Two Points for Honesty. This story will have about three times as much action as the last one, by the way. Cause our hero is the ever manly Lionblaze~~!
Love him. XD
Please review? Let's start this new story off with a bang!
