Edenspring
By Fade To Osaka
A/N: This is the first Azu fic I've written since May 17th, 2009. Wish me luck.
Chapter One: Tomo's Premonition
Despite the advancements of mankind over thousands of years, one thing has remained: dreams. How could such arbitrary, nonsensical thoughts have such an impact on those who have them? We will never know, yet we accept this as a fact.
Like all good adventures, this one started with a dream.
The dreamer's name was Tomo Takino.
An old Tomo Takino sat in her rocker, going back and forth. Sighing to herself, she reminisced about high school.
"Such lovely times." She said to herself.
And then she died.
Remember the part where I mentioned dreams being nonsensical?
Tomo awoke with a yelp, sweat drenching her face. Throughout the rest of the night, she was plagues with similar nightmares. At school the next day, she looked to be on the brink of insanity. Her hair was a mess, her eyes was twitching, and she was growing 5'o clock shadow.
Kagura approached Tomo, concerned, "Tomo, what happened? You look like you've been to hell and back."
"I was up all night studying." Tomo replies, in a deadpan.
After a few moments of silence, the two of them burst out laughing. "No, but really, I was having nightmares last night." Tomo stated.
"Nightmares?" Kagura asked, "About what?"
It was at this time the third member of their posse, Osaka, showed up. "Hey!" She smiled, "What are ya'll talking about?" She seemed to not be phased by Tomo's drastically different appearance.
"I'm trying to find out why Tomo looks so stressed today." Kagura explained. Osaka looked confused. She stared at Tomo for a rather long time. Concentrating hard, she finally noticed that Tomo looked different. "Ah! Tomo! You're a mess."
Tomo sighed, "I had a dream that I got old and died."
"Tomo, that happens to everyone..." Kagura said, puzzled. Osaka nodded. Tomo grabbed Kagura by the shoulders, "Damn it woman, I don't want to die! I'm Tomo Takino! I must spread my wisdom to the future generations!"
"Tomo..."
"No!" Tomo jumped up and slapped Kagura across the face. Not a word was said. After awkward, tense silence, Tomo sank back into her chair. "It's hopeless." Suddenly, Osaka was overcome with emotion.
"Hopeless? Wha'dya mean hopeless? You call yourself a dreamer? Tomo, what's happened to you? The Tomo I know is determined, strong, and never gives up! I won't let ya give up! Your hope of immortality may be ridiculous, but you will achieve it! You are Tomo Takino, wildcat! And ya know what? I'm gonna help ya achieve this dream! Kagura will too! Bonkuras unite!"
"What?" Kagura asked. Tomo and Kagura stared at Osaka, who stared off into space with her hands still raised in triumph. "Ah..." She sighed, "Let's find the fountain of youth!"
The other two bonkuras stared at the Osakan girl. Kagura shrugged, "I'm in." Tomo pounded the desk and cheered, "Yes! Osaka, you have given me hope! The Bonkuras... Forever young! I don't have to worry about dying anymore!"
"Calm down," Kagura sighed, "We still have to find it... How do we even know that it exists?"
"I have a map!" Osaka said, matter-of-factly. Kagura, naturally skeptical of such a claim, was tempted to speak up, but decided against it. She'd just go with the flow.
Tomo jumped up, "Yukari! Can me and my comrades be excused? Destiny is calling us!"
Yukari stared over her magazine at Tomo and shook her head, "Whatever. It's the last day before summer break anyway, you won't miss much."
Tomo grabbed her two friends and fled from the room. Chiyo, Yomi, and Sakaki were all very puzzled and curious, but they each decided to stay out of the antics.
The three Bonkuras headed towards the Kasuga household. "So Osaka..." Kagura began, "Where did you get this map of your's?"
"A treasure chest beneath my house."
"... What?" Kagura asked, in utter disbelief.
"No, really!" Osaka pulled a pendant from her pocket. It was made of pure gold, and had an inscription on the back.
"Fountain of Dreams. Immortality."
Tomo and Kagura were shocked. "Is... this real?"
Osaka nodded. Though they had their suspicions, they figured they had to take her word for it.
...
The three sat around a table in Osaka's room. "So Osaka," Tomo said, unable to contain her excitement, "Where's this map? Where's my ticket to life?"
Osaka spread a tattered looking map on the table. A rather standard view of the globe. To Tomo's surprise, there was no "X" which marked the spot. Instead, there were merely words at the bottom.
"To find the waters of life, sail to the island closest to hell."
"... I don't get it." Tomo said. Kagura continued to stare at the map.
"Difficult, huh? I have a theory. I think it's gonna be an island somewhere in the southeast part of the globe. Probably uncharted." It seemed that she had already put a lot of thought into this.
"So how do we find it?" Tomo asked. Kagura interjected, "More importantly, HOW do we get there?"
"Trial and error. Stowaway."
Both of these answers sent shivers up the spines of Tomo and Kagura.
"There's a harbor near here, isn't there?" Kagura asked. Osaka nodded, nibbling on a sweet roll.
"So what are we waiting for?" Tomo asked, "We need to find the next ship going South and find us a fountain of youth! To the harbor!" Tomo pumped her first in the air. Osaka raised her arms and gave an airy cheer. Kagura felt a sense of terror.
The Bonkuras left the Kasuga household and headed towards the harbor. This was going to be a summer vacation to remember.
...
A/N: My first Azu writing in a while. I need to watch the series again to get a better grip on the characters. Anyhow, comment, subscribe to the story, and keep reading! Chapter 2 should be up very soon.