Three Wishes Will I Give Thee
A Prologue by Shea McIntee (Sunhawk)

Note: This is, for now, a self-contained prologue. However, consider it indeed a prologue, and so expect further chapters to which this is a set-up to appear some time in the near future. In other words, I had an idea and had to write it down, but don't know what I'm going to do with it.

Disclaimer: Many series, anime and otherwise, will be referred to in greater or lesser extent. The main character is mine (me, really, in the best self-insertion tradition), but other stuff could be at the least inspired by works and stories created by others. Much thanks goes to two other fanfic authors, Carrotglace and Skysaber, for mucho inspiration in their approaches to self-insertion (in Carrotglace's 'Insertion' and Skysaber's 'Skysaber's Choice,' particularly, most notably the Spells R Us shop scene). There will also be some usage of various fantasy/sci-fi RPG systems.

Whew... what a mouthful there.



A young man walked down the deserted beach shore. It was a warm night, with an almost-full moon above the dark ocean and a delicate breeze blowing from off-shore. The roiling waves crashed against the ever-standing shore as soft contemplative music played from an unseen source, and...

*Bam!* The camera-view that was zooming out suddenly tilted upward and slammed into a sand dune, scattering sand all over and between the keys of the cheap electric keyboard sitting right beside it. The music stopped.

"CUT! Cut, cut, cut!" A short and rather... stout man with short black hair and a distinct Brooklyn accent stormed out of the side of the camera view and seemed to glare right at it. "What the hell do you think you were doing, you clumsy oaf?" Then he whirled and glared off to the right. "And you! Stick to the script and stop being so damn melodramatic, or I'll throw you so far off this set you'll be feeling the re-entry burns!" He sighed in despair and stalked back off the camera view. "Take it again from the top!"



A young man walked down the deserted shore. It was a warm night, with an almost-full moon above the ocean. Away from the the stresses of college life (it wasn't quite a bunch of roses, as many naive high school students, enamored with the many TV soap operas and believing it to be one long party seemed to believe), he could savor the peaceful moments like this.

It wasn't that he disliked school... not as such, at least. He genuinely enjoyed learning almost anything, and always had. He also liked the moderately friendly atmosphere that pervaded most of the campus. He didn't have anything against tests (within reason), and didn't mind writing a paper or two, if he had to. He rather enjoyed lectures, provided the professor was able to present the subject matter interestingly. It was what he disparagingly referred to as "busy work" that got his goat, had always done so, really. Classes where the 'professor' seemed to either know less of the subject matter than the students, or where said teacher couldn't teach worth a d*mn he loathed with passion.

It didn't help his stress-level that he didn't know exactly where he was going, either.

'Sunhawk, age 19, college student, and a hopeless drifter. That's me...' He sighed and shook his head. He had come here to get away from all the worries and bustle, not bring it with him.

His eyes caught a glimpse of a brief reflection from the moon off to the side, and he detoured around another large hole (made by kids playing in the sand during the day) to check it out. He cautiously put his hand out in the general vicinity, and gingerly felt around for whatever it was. After the last encounter with a hole and a rather large crab that felt that it was justified self-defence, he'd learned to be careful in the dark. At least his fingers had healed up all right.

He fingers caught on a small, smooth, and rounded shape, and he dug it up. It was some kinda ring, maybe big enough for a large man's thumb, or a giant's finger. He held it up to the moon. Yep... a ring of some sort. He couldn't really see any details, and it was crusted with sand and sea salt. He brought it down and rubbed it with the edge of his shirt after dunking it quickly in the water in the hole he had detoured around. He still couldn't see any fine detail on it...

He noticed that there there was a slight hissing sound, and then a shape suddenly solidified in front of him. He jumped back in startlement.

"What is thy bidding, master? Thou hast freed me from my prison, and so I shall grant to you three of your greatest desires."

His jaw gaped in shock. "No... way..." he breathed.

****

Author's Note: You like? I've written some fanfiction, including crossovers, and taken a shot at lemon material; a self-insert was perhaps inevitable. I do draw the line at a darkfic; I firmly believe that there's enough depressing things out there without me adding to them (IMESHO). The character described is me, or so close as to be identical; views, any physical details, and so forth. Consider this scene a teaser for the rest of the prologue; I have to decide on what the wishes will be, after all... (smirks) deus_ex_mach42@hotmail.com for C&C