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The Lost Age
Chapter 1: Stranger
By: Kitsoa
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The boy aimlessly followed her. He was more a teenager, than a boy, oddly dress and out-of-place. The ignorant woman he was trailing was middle-aged with bouncy, short red hair and a bright, flushed face. She went about through the Belleville airport with haste, her luggage rolling rhythmically at her feet and with no acknowledgments to her follower. Unaware, that was every beings status as the teens casual steps went unheard through the echo-sensitive rooms of the airlines.
He had to stop doing things like this. It had become a consecutive habit for centuries. Nothing ever progressed. It was a boring game of follow-the-leader. Not like he had a choice, he was bound by not only his "leader" in this game, but his destiny, and boy did he know destiny. He wasn't a complete optimist, but maybe fate would play the cards right this time.
His charge suddenly sprinted into the arms of a tall, dark-haired man. A youth around the appearance of the woman put on a fleeting face of awkwardness, stepped in the view the new arrival and greeted his mother after her embrace. He certainly resembled her. His feathery, ash-red hair was only slightly shorter than her boyish crop yet was unkept, flat and intentionally laced in his view. His identically hazel eyes stood out among his pale copper flesh.
"Koal, I missed you!" The mother said enthusiastically, she was clearly a very hyper and out-spoken woman. She was slightly shorter than her son, him being around 5'9". She had just gotten off a plane from China so she must of been gone for a few weeks. The enigma felt a pang of envy as her husband touched her on the shoulder for a gesture to sit on a near-by bench. What a foreign feeling. He wouldn't deny that all this scene was doing was making him feel guilty about his family problems of the unreachable past.
Koal's gentle voice seemed drowsy as he spoke, yet it held a ring of satisfaction directed towards his mom. "How was the trip?"
"Details are for the car ride and dinner." She was blunt, but a face of superiority was seen followed by a smile.
"Come on Jane, one little story, I'll take you out to dinner..." It was the man to speak this time assuming by sheer familiarity that Jane would demand a nice meal after an exhausting flight.
Sufficing, she broke into her tale, this one surprisingly, the stranger knew of.
"Okay, the company didn't want us to get bored of Hong Kong, so they took a few of us out for an incentive on-foot tour around these ruins. My God, it was gorgeous. The trees were so green and it just felt wonderful. The ruins were interesting as well, beautiful structure I can only say for the standing ones. Embarrassingly enough I actually passed out late that evening.--"
"Hopeless." Koal interrupted.
"--That's not the highlight! Plus, I was tired and it was getting hot and... just plain long. Anyway. I picked up a lot of things on the tour, interesting plants, pretty flowers and..." She paused for a dramatic effect, yet she used her time wisely by reaching into her carry-on. "This!"
Presenting the item to her son she said. "Pretty cool huh? I thought you might like it, Koal."
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I stared with round, curious eyes at my gift. The medallion twisted and turned, suspended by my mother's grasp around its long leather strap. Yet the eye catcher was the crimson stone with the consistency of glass, like it was glazed in the inferno of an oven. At the size and shape of a half-dollar, with a metal border circling its circumference the pendent contained a black insignia of fire. The flame stood as the centerpiece and theme of the gift as the tall, blinding lights of the airport shimmered off the surface of its being giving the illusion of a blazing fire.
"Thanks" I muttered.
My eccentric mother stared at me with eager eyes, like I left a sentence unfinished. Breaking my attention from the pendant now in my possession I retorted with a blank expression. The silence stood unbroken for two weird moments till I mysteriously understood what she meant. I slipped the thin leather strap over my head and put on a smirk of satisfaction. Anything to make her happy. Yet that was the easy part. She was usually chipper 24/7, it got annoying but it was sometimes infectious when necessary, which I appreciated. It worked, Mom diverted her eyes to my step-father as she embarked on another story. Our relationship was an outstanding compromise. Respect on both parts, don't bark orders at excessive rates, and give me some space. The law was laid early in my life four years prior, when I was a stubborn twelve-year old with the growing symptoms of teenage independents. It paid off. I don't complain too much, I do what I'm told and I hold my childish mother in high reverence when the normal teen would be embarrassed. I was still independent, quiet, and anti-social, but it never got in the way of my deal.
"Let's get out of here, it's cold." I said with an effort in exuberance, failed, my voice was a gentle drone to me. Yet there shone one of my down-sides. I'm impatient. It's not the best example, but when comes impatience comes anger, which for me, bumps to an entirely different level of rage. Yes, I had some temper issues, probably some mental problem in desperate need of medication, yet you don't see me taking them.
We took Mom to her favorite Italian restaurant, she took the opportunity to save us days of non-stop talking on her part on the exact same subject. I was happy her stories were directed towards her husband, I had no desire to listen. Robert, was a slightly lanky, yet tall man that Jane was crazy about. We were nothing close, he was a superior, nothing more than a man married into the family. It only made me awkward when Mom expressed her interest in Rob, I was so use to her and Dad side-by-side. Yet if I directed anything negative towards him it would make Mom upset and that's what kept me in check. She told me herself about the requirements of my behavior around him, right before she married him, in the same conversation about my teenage-ness four years ago. We both did share something in common, Jane was an asset to our lives.
We got home late and I was ready to crash, thankful that my sophomore-grade homework was out of the way earlier. I was exhausted oddly enough. The hour was earlier than my normal sleeping schedule if not slightly, so fatigue was different. Yet I blamed it on the eventful day. Usually it's just school, homework, sleep. I stomped up the carpeted steps to the second floor through our large tutor-style home. I walked into my domain, almost tripping over Coda, my black lab, that decided the hallway was a bed. It was a fair-sized room, the door stood across the window, giving me a beautiful view of the neighbors side-yard. The bed was in the middle of the west wall to the left of the said window accompanied by an average wooden dresser. Opposite to that, left some space and a desk with a Mac OS X resting on its platform.
Quickly flicking the mouse, I woke my mac up with ease and checked what little mail I had. I had a late message from Mom and one from my girlfriend. By the looks of it it was just chain mail. If Ashley wanted to talk to me she would IM me or something. I slumped into the wheeling chair in front of my desk with tired weight causing it to move an inch or so. I made a deep sigh, trying to force a yawn, anything to make my mind feel drowsy like my body. I didn't bother to turn on the light. It was much too bright and too much of a hassle when in bed. Personally I liked the dark. It was a very peaceful, tranquil time of day. I was rather sensitive to loud noises or insane movement. Not to a pathetic level, those things were just out of my comfort zone. Which explained my nocturnal, quiet preference.
My attention drifted to my right, out my window. The moon was making its way across the sky in a very coordinate manner, a little past midnight and it would be in direct view through the glass window. The lunar wonder was full tonight, making it illuminate the sky. The stars, through not seen to their full potential due to light pollution, were little specks, like a child poked a pencil through black construction paper. I let my gaze linger across my room next, creating mental notes out of boredom. My room was a mess. Clothes everywhere, clean and dirty. I'd have to clean it soon, maybe this weekend.
Then I found myself staring at me. I saw what I was wearing, casual wear, a dark navy T-shirt and some baggy blue jeans. I kicked off my black Nikes and rolled off my socks at my image. I didn't have a mirror, girls had mirrors. Guys, me especially, didn't care too much about image so why would we need one. Speaking of which, I was wearing a necklace. Girls wore necklaces, not boys. Though I had a fair collection of shark teeth and metal skull necklaces lying around. I poked at my trinket, still laced around my neck. It was a bit more feminine than my other accessories, but I liked it. The medallion was bouncing the lunar light around its cavity, making it shine even in the dark. What was it made of? Looked like some scarlet crystal. How in the world did Mom come across this thing? And on a walk? Lying around? It most likely had some value. More of a reason to like it.
My desired yawn came and hit my subconscious like a wrecking ball. I was now completely ready to go to bed. I checked the lock on my door, I had a growing suspicion I forgot to lock it. You could say privacy was important to me. I landed on my bed and fixed my already crumpled covers over me. I didn't even bother to change my clothes, a lazy habit. In no time I was out cold.
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The pounding in my chest was the only thing that woke me as I realized I was not alone.
I laid motionless, frozen. The room was unrecognizable with night's clutches tight, only the moon's light that illuminated through my window gave coherent shadows. My back towards the window in the once comfortable position, gave me little view to my visitor who, by my knowledge gathered from my senses, stood behind me.
I couldn't smell or hear my visitor. Only my sixth sense of knowledge came in handy at such a time. I could feel the foreigner a few feet behind me. Its presence was plain as day. I was sure of it. Because of my family's safe measured distance, they would never enter my room. For that, I forever would stay on the defensive.
The room stood still with silence. You could cut the air with a knife, as if it were butter. And that's exactly how I felt, like butter. The outdoor elements couldn't even break the silence. Not a rustle from the mid-October leaves, not the whimper of a lonely lab, not even the racing tempo of my in and exhaling lungs. Maybe it was just me, but nothing mattered at the moment, it was if my ears were listening for only one noise, the folly of my trespasser. And as of now the world and time stood quiet as if a vacuum sucked all the possible sound waves.
As my breath became more noticeably loud I bit my tongue and allowed my eyes to be reduced to slits. I was smart and collective, I wouldn't let panic and other primal instincts rule my actions. I knew from common sense that if this stranger was armed, which was always a possibility, that person would shoot whatever moved, so action was ruled out. But I had to do something. It seemed as if this enigma wouldn't move at all.
I didn't hear a thing as the figure treaded into the view of my limited eye sight. It approached my "sleeping" form with graceful and measured steps. I really couldn't hear anything. Nothing. No being on the planet could walk without the slightest tap on the hardwoods of my creaky, second level floor. My guess was, this stranger was experienced, raising the alarms once more. Now that I thought about it; How did this person get in? I would have heard the window open and I always lock my door. Plus, we have a security alarm of envious status, no one was getting in. Yet there stood a being, nobody I would know, by the side of my bed within less than an arms length to my neck.
I needed to move, but the stiff muscles that supported me through the days rough activities abandoned me with such inconvenience. What appeared to be the invaders arm slowly moved and extended, reaching toward me almost hesitant. My veins ran cold, my body went numb and my breath halted in the seconds this figure used to attack. My eyes snapped open, mentally regaining my ability to think. In an instant I jerked my body into a sitting position, gave a swing with all my weight towards my visitor and found my face smashed to the floor.
Embarrassment was the least of my worries. The moment my body crumpled to the hard ground, blood sprayed into a beautiful crimson puddle in front of me. Curse my slow pain reactors because the torture soon followed. My mouth was drenched in the liquid from my nose wound, I had clearly broken it. My bruised body shifted as I reached into the darkness and pulled to my face a dirty shirt. Now situated I stared at my unharmed victim, though on your knees really elaborates who had control of the situation. That was when I heard it.
'It' was obviously a 'he' being that his laugh too deep for a girl yet I could tell he was young because it was not to low either. Indeed it was a laugh, it seemed unexpected on both parts for he seemed to put an effort in holding it back.
"Who the hell are you!? Get out before I call the police!" I yelled blindly in the dark. Hysteria was already leaking into my voice.
"Calling the police will only draw unnecessary attention. The best way to get information is to calmly interrogate. I'll talk. If you quiet down." He had a casual yet wary tone. He really did have control of the situation.
"Get out! Before I--"
"Don't start threatening." He interrupted, his voice more stern than casual.
"What do you want?" I slowly rose to my feet, my shoulders hunched in a defensive way. I shifted the bloody shirt, finding a clean place to soak. The pain wasn't my concern at the moment.
"I just want to --HEY!" I launched my fists at him before he could finish. My eyes swelled shut as I put all my weight into my attack squared directly at his figure, presumably his torso. I ran out of arm before I realized I felt nothing. I opened my eyes.
It took me only an instant to absorb the moment. Adrenaline to blame. The next thing I know, I'm slammed against the wall by my own will, testing the limits of my voice box with a loud yell. I dropped my bloody rag and let the liquid drip down my chin and leak into my mouth. I took my hand, shaking violently, and slid in slowly up the wall, never taking my eyes off my victim. I found what I was looking for and applied force to the light switch.
I have no doubt in my mind that I saw what I just saw. My fist, suspended by my arm, going directly through him. He made no attempt to dodge and he still stood in the same spot.
The light that illuminated the room burned my eyes. Seconds later I stared at the most peculiar teenager I had ever laid eyes on. His wardrobe consisted of various shades of red layers topped with a yellow belt with grey pants and shoes that were knee high and curled. Plain and simple, this kid was weird looking. His fair skin was pale in contrast to his unruly and dark, black-brown hair. The most eye catching feature was the 2nd degree burn that consumed most of the left side of his face forming a scar around his left eye.Yet his eyes were a fiery shade of yellow, almost gold. He looked around my age, but the wound earned him years prior to my existence.
"Who--What a-are you?" I stuttered, the question was forced out. I didn't want to talk, I wanted to freak out, completely embrace this insanity and go crazy.
"Calm down," his voice dropping to a comfortable level. He shifted slightly, that's when I noticed it. Behind him stood my dresser, tall and practically empty. But that's where it got interesting.
This boy was completely translucent.
Now I couldn't be calm. I had the feasible evidence that I was in the presence of a teenaged ghost. See-through? Intangible? This had to be a dream. This wasn't real. God, I hope not. My nose was throbbing now, the rusty, bitter taste of the red fluid burned my tongue.
"My name is Zuko." he said, low and even. "I'm willing to elaborate, if you're willing to believe me." He paused waiting for my response. I nodded faintly, I'd believe anything now.
Before he could continue, foot-steps could be heard outside the door. Jane opened my door sticking her head in.
"Koal hon, What's going on? You're making a lot of noise." She sounded tired, but her glance reached my bloodied face. "Oh my God! Koal! Are you okay?" She was by my side in an instant. Zuko was right next to me, why didn't she see him?
As she ranted to me Zuko spoke in a low voice. "No one can see me, but you. I'll fill you in tomorrow, now wasn't the best time."
"What happened!?" Her voice reached an annoying pitch as she repeated the same question for the hundredth time.
"I fell off the bed. I think my nose is broken."
"Come on let's clean you up. We'll get you to the hospital tomorrow morning."
We walked a few steps down the hall to the bathroom. We reached the door and I stopped her. "I can handle this myself Mom, don't worry." I closed the door behind me and locked it. I took a rag and drenched it in cool water. I cleaned the blood off my face and messed with my nose's flexibility while looking in the mirror, studying were the pain erupted.
I hope to God this was all a dream. However, a little voice in my head was telling me if I had this injury in the morning, convincing myself otherwise would be in vain. I made a sharp moan as my nose pinged with agony. I stared at my broken nose, looking for an obvious deformity. My eyes squinted once again for more concentration. That's when something struck me as off. No, it wasn't my nose, but my eyes. I expected to see bark colored orbs, dark and silent, but instead there were two pairs of the most brilliant yellow irises, glowing deviously at my horror struck face.
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"Start talking, now" When I want explanations, I get what I want.
Next Chapter! Koal gets schooled: The Tale
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First chapter! Tell me what you think. I have an illustration on my deviant art page Here's a link
kitsoa. deviantart . com/art/Chapter-1-Cover-90005657
I'll be doing a lot of chapter cover's so check out my page.
Please review
Avatar: The Last Airbender/ The legend of Aang + Zuko) Mike and Bryan
Koal, Jane, Robert, Ashley, Coda) MINE
Avatar: The Lost Age) MINE