Hey, readers that come from far and wide to read this. (Actually, you probably came for someone else's fic and just happened to see mine.) This is another prologue- much like my "Ordinary" fic. It's a prologue to yet another fic I'll be doing soon. I hope you all like. This is "Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out Of". (What is my obsession with naming my fics after song titles- first Josh Groban, then Train, and now U2! Maybe I'm just cool like that...)
Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out Of
YFWE
"Commander! They're here!", I yelled that fine day in the Spring of 1955. Boston had always been nice in that time of the year. And today was no exception. But coming events lead to the demise of the 'relaxing' part of the day. They were here.
The Ambers. A race that was one like us, the Sharfs. In fact, many a Sharf still considers them to be. The collegiates, as they were called, believed that unification between the Sharfs and Ambers were the only way toward peace in our sector of the magical world. My father is one. My mother is one. My whole family are a part of it. But I, Jalobin Scheck, am not one.
I have gone against my family's wishes. And in return, they have all but turned their backs on me. For now, they consider me to be the enemy. Even though we are alike... we are now so much different. And it's because of this damn war.
My family and I are Sharfs. Much like humans... much like Ambers. We all were once humans... that is, our ancestors were. But when they were corrupted with magic, we became apart... a separate race.
It's not easy. We have to hide our existence to the world- starting with the entire city of Boston, Massachusetts. The majority of us- we live among the humans. But in secrecy. For there is so much about us they cannot know.
For instance- we have... identifications. Ways of knowing that we are Sharfs. We have... names that are much different than that of a normal human- Americans, especially. My name is Jalobin Scheck. I have yet to find a human with at least my first name. Last name- there is a man that works at the Dairy Mart on Fifth Avenue. But he is a human. I am not.
Another way- at birth, all Sharfs are required to be given a marking- a tattoo, as the humans call it- to identify us as one. This way, we know each other. But it is on our arms. Invisible under our clothes. But when it could possibly be visible, there is a lotion that turns the marking invisible... like a while ago, when I was much younger. My human friends... around this time, we would be off to the pool. If they saw my identification- who knows what they'd think. Somehow, throughout my whole school years, it was never revealed. And that is a good thing. For the humans could never know.
Sharfs also, at the age of eighteen, do not continue to grow. In fact, most are lucky to stay the same. For we begin to lose our height at this age. Our skin also begins to turn blue and develops a rougher texture. Some may sprout a tail, but not as often. Sharf culture claims, however, that tails are a sign of ultimate wisdom and happen only to a select few. My grandfather was one of these. I wonder, too, if I will one day be like this. This time is around when we lose most of the humanity that we once had.
In my opinion, I really do not care for the matter. We are not humans! So we should not look like them. But there are some that do- the Greens. (I feel their name is absolutely absurd, considering that they are blue and not green) They have been compared to the Americans' political parties that are not Republican nor Democratic. The reason? They are quite scarce.
The Ambers- they are on the other side of the spectrum. They are red. But they look the same as us otherwise. They also have a different marking on their limbs than us. No one is quite sure how our differences came about. All we know is that they do not like us and we do not like them. It is that simple.
They wanted a war. But most of us didn't want one. Especially myself, for when you turn eighteen, all Sharf males are required to enlist in our military. The military had never had to have been used. Until now.
A few weeks ago, respected Sharf and Amber leaders met to discuss the future. The Ambers had always believed that they were the more superior race, and that we should be a part of them. But we thought of it as the other way around. But it didn't matter. For an attack upon their meeting place was made. All of the leaders were killed.
The Ambers blamed us. We blamed the Ambers. And to this day, we are still unsure who committed the attacks. But this was it. A war was on.
No one had made a move. Until now, as the commander and I looked at the mobs of Ambers streaming down our road. The road led to Sharf City, a large wall-protected castle that was built on government property. For we had... connections to the US government. We used a hologram to shield it from view of any curious humans that wondered what was going on. Mostly, those who lived inside Sharf City's walls were usually without a mate or children. Children were rarely let into the castle, and that is why I was raised in Boston, which was less than three miles away. Once the children grew up, we were all admitted into the city. Which was where I was now.
I, as required, had been enlisted in the military. We were all 19-23 years of age. Although I was one of the youngest, they were so impressed with my fighting skills that I was given a rank directly beneath Commander Asailan Yursik. I was, in effect, his right hand man. And now we were staring at the Amber attack. They were coming to eliminate us. To finish the job.
I was confused. The Sharf leaders... they were not here. They hadn't been for a long while. But before they had left, they had ordered all Sharfs- even children- to come inside the city walls. It was a shelter, as they had called it. But where were they? Had they left us all for dead?
"What shall we do, commander?", I asked, continuing to closely monitor the Amber advances.
Asailan Yursik was said to be one of the wisest and most intelligent men in the Sharf community. He, of course, had already been gifted with a tail. And he was known for being very strategic. That was why he made such a great commander. But his real test was now.
"Damn the torpedoes!", he ordered.
"But sir... we don't have any torpedoes.", I replied.
"What? What is this nonsense? What kind of defenses are we equipped with then?"
The torpedoes he referred to were similar to American-made torpedoes. The catch? They could operate above water. It was one of the greatest technological advances the Sharfs have ever been able to make. At least in military warfare. But we have had so much more.
We had lost the torpedoes we had possessed a few days earlier- in a test of the weapons. Not fearing that anything was going to happen to us, we had slowly began the rebuilding of new ones. But it was not in time. We needed them now! But they were not here now.
"We are... currently unequipped with anything", I told him in shame. It had been my job to restock our cannons with something we could use to fire upon an enemy. But I had nothing. I had failed.
"Tell the troops to get anything they can! They are getting closer...", the commander looked back towards the road. The Ambers were nearing...
"Right!", I moved back to the troops' quarters. They weren't there. I moved to Admana Square, the central counterpart of the city. That was where all the civilians were.
Everyone was there. Even the soldiers. But they were deafly quiet. They were staring at something. I, too, looked. It was the large television screen that was directly beneath our enormous clock. There was Danian Ghilitto. Our new leader. But he had left... hadn't he?
"People of Sharf City. I'd like to congratulate you", the old Sharf told them, "For making it this far." His mouth twisted into a scowl, "But it will all be over soon. For the Ambers are nearing this place as we speak. And there's nothing you all can do about it! Ha!", he laughed.
The whole crowd gasped. Our leader- he HAD left us for dead. We had been sabotaged... Ghilitto had been part of the Ambers! Or possibly the Collegiates! Was this their plan? To wipe out all Sharfs? But that could not be right! What about those Sharfs that were loyal to the Ambers and Collegiates? I looked around. The crowd was unusually small. Wait... had all of them evacuated? Were they now with the Ambers? That must've been it.
I went back to Commander Yursik, "Commander! It's an ambush! Ghilitto has left us to die! And that's what we're going to do- die!", and of course, I had to be right. There were so many of the advancing Ambers... and so few of us. In a matter of time, all Sharfs were going to be extinct.
"Hm. I haven't a clue as to what we should do", Asailan told me, "If we have no torpedoes... then there is no way we can fend them off."
"Then what should we do?", I asked.
Commander Yursik picked up his gun off a table near him, turned toward me and smiled, "We go out fighting."
(End)
"Yo, Jakey, I swear- you're gonna rot your life away in your Grandpa's shop!", Trixie exclaimed that fine day in the Spring of 2005. Just recently, Spring Break had ended. They were back to school. (BTW, this fic has NO affiliation whatsoever with "Dragon in Paradise". That is all."
"I'm sorry, guys! There's nothin' I can do!", Jake Long replied. "It'll be kinda short today, though. I'll catch up with you guys afterwards!"
(End)
"Commander!", I yelled after him, "We still have another chance!"
"A chance to do what, Jalobin?", he stared back at me, "There's nothing more we can do! So are you going to wait here for them to get you, or are you going to go get them?"
"No! I mean, a way that we won't die!", I said, "A way... that we could save the Sharfs from extinction!"
"I don't know why I'm listening to you, but... I'm listening."
I smiled lightly, "Follow me!"
(End)
"Yo, G! Whassup?", Jake greeted when he entered Grandpa's shop after school, "...You wanted to see me?"
"Yes. Sit down, Jake.", Grandpa told him. He, of course, obeyed. "Today, I have a history lesson. A magical one, that is. It is about the Sharfs..."
(End)
I led him down to a dark corridor on the outskirts of the castle. Behind us, we could hear people screaming. Had it begun?
"Here we are", we reached a door. The sign on it read 'Laboratory'.
I went inside and over to a part of the room that was marked 'Do not enter'. Looking around, we could see all of our technological advances we had made in the past. For the Sharfs and Ambers, given their superior intelligence and magical ability to that of the humans, were very advanced in this field. We had created things many could only dream of. One, the newest invention, had been portrayed in quite a few films by the humans.
"Look", I said to the commander. I pointed to a large contraption that was covered with a sheet of some sort. I took off the sheet, and there it was.
"You... they finished it?", Asailan was amazed, "The... time machine?"
"Yes, just two days ago. Commander, don't you see? This is it! This is how we can save the Sharf people!"
"What're you thinkin', Jalobin?"
"I'm thinking...", the grin of hope on my face got larger and larger, "That we can take this into the future, and get help! I'm sure that they are so advanced in the future that we can get some people to help us! Maybe humans, maybe not! But... then, we can go back to, say... a few weeks before today. Around the time all the leaders were assassinated. Then, we can rewrite history and save the Sharf people!"
"I like it!", the commander was wide-eyed, "But who's going?"
"Us!", I cried, "We can do it!"
"Well...", Asailan looked torn, "I guess we could... do you know how to work the thing?"
"Do I?", I asked sarcastically (the Sharfs invented sarcasm, after all), and pressed a button on the machine. As quick as you can say 'Red Sox! '55's the year', it opened up and we were looking at a shimmering path that led to another door. Another time machine? "I'll set the coordinates to 2005! That should be enough!"
"So.. Are you with me?", I asked.
We heard an explosion. The Ambers were here. Asailan looked back, a little sadly, but turned toward me with no fear in his eyes. "Let's do it!"
END PROLOGUE
Ok, there's another prologue! Where will they end up? You'll find out. Who's help will they enlist? Well, this IS an ADJL fic, so I'll give you three guesses and the first two don't count! Hope this sounds good to everyone! Please tell me what you thought! And if you want to see the preview, go to my profile. It's there, as well as another fic I'll be doing soon- one that should be just as crazy as my "Dragon in Paradise" fic. (Which will be very hard to come by) And yes, I will finish Dragon in Paradise soon. Ch. 7 is up, though! Any questions and comments, put em in your reviews! Thanks!
YFWE