AN: Yup, firsties on an Everworld fanfic!! Oh, and don't mind my little
quirks of language. Most will be explained, some are inside jokes. So,
R&R, and enjoy!!
***
It felt like I dropped from the sky. Just, all of a sudden, fwump! onto some leaves that were softer than the ground, but not quite soft enough to cushion the blow that rattled every last one of my bones practically to the point of breaking. Amazing. One second, I'm talking to the weird chick in English, next I'm butt down on some leaves looking up at a brightly lit night sky. Damn.
Groaning, I rolled over. Ow. Major ow. I checked myself over: nothing broken, at least nothing necessary. But, damn, was it ever cold. And I don't use that term lightly. What people south of the border call 'nuclear winter', I call 'chilly fall day'. Whatever. The point was, I was wearing a sweater and jeans, and I was freezing my sorry, painful ass off.
That was when I heard the voices. Coming this way. Four people, I thought. Automatically, I looked for a place to hide, before shaking myself out of it. Duh, maybe they can help you! So I decided to stay put.
"I think it came from over here." A guy, by the sound of it. Kinda in- charge-y, a no-nonsense voice.
A girl came through the bushes in front of me. "Found it."
I bristled. I hate being called an 'it'. Especially from some red-headed chicka that looked like she wouldn't last a day in this wilderness, unless there was a McDonalds really close by. "Yo, doorknob! I have a name you know. It's Kit. And I'm a she."
A dark-haired boy joined the girl. "Mrow. It bites. Jeez, how were we supposed to know. What happened, you fall from the sky or something?"
I flushed slightly. "Um, this'll sound crazy, but."
The boy flashed a grin. "Trust me.what did you say your name was? Kit? Well, trust me Kit, nothing sounds crazy in Everworld."
I favored him with a glare. "Well, I.I think I did fall from the sky."
***
A few minutes later, I was seated at a campfire, across from the girl I'd met first. Two other boys, ones that hadn't come through the bushes, were on either side. And, lucky me, the first boy had decided that he was my special guide for the evening, and was sitting beside me.
The girl spoke first. "Just so you know, I'm April, this is Jalil,"-- she pointed to the dark-skinned boy on her left--"this is David,"--the other boy--" and your friends there is Christopher."
"But you can call me lover." he joked.
I gave him another glare. "My name's Kit." Sensing that they wanted more, I continued. "I came from Canada. Yes, the great white north," I said, before Christopher had even formed the comment. "Last thing I knew, I was in English, talking to the weird girl that just.showed up. Next thing I know, I'm flat on my back in this freaked out place, with wackos calling me it!"
David had looked interested from the moment I'd said 'weird girl'. He turned to his friends. "Do you think it could have been Senna?"
"Oy, T.O. Who's Senna? Isn't that a kind of herb or something? No, it's a tree." Wonderful. Try to ask questions, and what do I do? Start spouting stupid trivia. "Point is, fill me in, psycho boy."
David glanced at me. "Geez, rude enough? Senna's the witch that brought us here." He looked at me and sighed. "Maybe I'd better start from the beginning."
Biting back a sarcastic comment, I listened to what David had to say.
It wasn't just David who filled me in. The others added details as they saw fit, until I had the whole story: Senna, April's half-sister, dated and dumped Christopher, then hooked up with David. One morning, all five of them were at a harbor, before a giant wolf, who was Loki's son, kidnapped Senna and brought her to Everworld, dragging the rest of them along for the ride.
Everworld in itself was interesting. The ancient gods had, apparently, decided that earth sucked, and so had created a new world, bringing along various immortals, and of course some mortals too. After all, why be a god if there's no one around to kiss your immortal ass?
Everything was just plain shibby until some aliens had found their way into Everworld. Some just wanted to get home, but some decided they liked the real estate, and so had their sights set on taking over. Or at least getting their own slice of the action. Which would be fine, except the god, Ka Anor, had a nasty little habit of eating other gods. Mortals were fine, expendable. But none of the gods liked the idea of getting their own asses eaten, and so the Hetwan and Ka Anor had to go. Or at least the gods themselves.
So they had kidnapped Senna to try and get her to take them to the Old World, aka Earth, twentieth century-style. Only they had gotten more than they bargained for: David, Jalil, Christopher, and April. And now me.
"And that's not the half of it." Christopher had decided that David's order to 'get water' translated into Christopher-speak for 'flirt with the new girl.' "Anytime we sleep---or get knocked unconscious---we're back in the freakin' real world! Not a prob, normally, but all this flipping gives me a major headache. And we're still on Earth too. So nobody even knows anything. It totally sucks, big time." He sighed. "At least I have you and April to cheer me up."
I gritted my teeth and counted to five, before telling Christopher to shove his water bottle in a very uncomfortable place. Slightly startled, he was quiet for a few minutes, and the sound of the rushing stream filled the night air. Then Christopher ventured another comment. "So, are you always this bitchy? Or is it just the time or the date?"
He sounded so sincere that I almost regretted what I'd said. Almost. "No. It's not that. I just.get cranky when I'm cold." I managed to smile at him.
He looked relieved. "Good. Cause we have enough problems around here without people shooting estrogen around."
"But it's okay for you boys to shove testosterone around?" April emerged from the bushes nearby. I noticed---happily, I'll admit---that Christopher was obviously startled.
"What's wrong?" cackled April. Apparently she'd noticed too. "You look like you just saw a---"
"Ghost!" shouted Christopher, pointing behind April. That was when I saw it too. A floating, translucent shape, hovering a couple of feet off the ground.
***
It felt like I dropped from the sky. Just, all of a sudden, fwump! onto some leaves that were softer than the ground, but not quite soft enough to cushion the blow that rattled every last one of my bones practically to the point of breaking. Amazing. One second, I'm talking to the weird chick in English, next I'm butt down on some leaves looking up at a brightly lit night sky. Damn.
Groaning, I rolled over. Ow. Major ow. I checked myself over: nothing broken, at least nothing necessary. But, damn, was it ever cold. And I don't use that term lightly. What people south of the border call 'nuclear winter', I call 'chilly fall day'. Whatever. The point was, I was wearing a sweater and jeans, and I was freezing my sorry, painful ass off.
That was when I heard the voices. Coming this way. Four people, I thought. Automatically, I looked for a place to hide, before shaking myself out of it. Duh, maybe they can help you! So I decided to stay put.
"I think it came from over here." A guy, by the sound of it. Kinda in- charge-y, a no-nonsense voice.
A girl came through the bushes in front of me. "Found it."
I bristled. I hate being called an 'it'. Especially from some red-headed chicka that looked like she wouldn't last a day in this wilderness, unless there was a McDonalds really close by. "Yo, doorknob! I have a name you know. It's Kit. And I'm a she."
A dark-haired boy joined the girl. "Mrow. It bites. Jeez, how were we supposed to know. What happened, you fall from the sky or something?"
I flushed slightly. "Um, this'll sound crazy, but."
The boy flashed a grin. "Trust me.what did you say your name was? Kit? Well, trust me Kit, nothing sounds crazy in Everworld."
I favored him with a glare. "Well, I.I think I did fall from the sky."
***
A few minutes later, I was seated at a campfire, across from the girl I'd met first. Two other boys, ones that hadn't come through the bushes, were on either side. And, lucky me, the first boy had decided that he was my special guide for the evening, and was sitting beside me.
The girl spoke first. "Just so you know, I'm April, this is Jalil,"-- she pointed to the dark-skinned boy on her left--"this is David,"--the other boy--" and your friends there is Christopher."
"But you can call me lover." he joked.
I gave him another glare. "My name's Kit." Sensing that they wanted more, I continued. "I came from Canada. Yes, the great white north," I said, before Christopher had even formed the comment. "Last thing I knew, I was in English, talking to the weird girl that just.showed up. Next thing I know, I'm flat on my back in this freaked out place, with wackos calling me it!"
David had looked interested from the moment I'd said 'weird girl'. He turned to his friends. "Do you think it could have been Senna?"
"Oy, T.O. Who's Senna? Isn't that a kind of herb or something? No, it's a tree." Wonderful. Try to ask questions, and what do I do? Start spouting stupid trivia. "Point is, fill me in, psycho boy."
David glanced at me. "Geez, rude enough? Senna's the witch that brought us here." He looked at me and sighed. "Maybe I'd better start from the beginning."
Biting back a sarcastic comment, I listened to what David had to say.
It wasn't just David who filled me in. The others added details as they saw fit, until I had the whole story: Senna, April's half-sister, dated and dumped Christopher, then hooked up with David. One morning, all five of them were at a harbor, before a giant wolf, who was Loki's son, kidnapped Senna and brought her to Everworld, dragging the rest of them along for the ride.
Everworld in itself was interesting. The ancient gods had, apparently, decided that earth sucked, and so had created a new world, bringing along various immortals, and of course some mortals too. After all, why be a god if there's no one around to kiss your immortal ass?
Everything was just plain shibby until some aliens had found their way into Everworld. Some just wanted to get home, but some decided they liked the real estate, and so had their sights set on taking over. Or at least getting their own slice of the action. Which would be fine, except the god, Ka Anor, had a nasty little habit of eating other gods. Mortals were fine, expendable. But none of the gods liked the idea of getting their own asses eaten, and so the Hetwan and Ka Anor had to go. Or at least the gods themselves.
So they had kidnapped Senna to try and get her to take them to the Old World, aka Earth, twentieth century-style. Only they had gotten more than they bargained for: David, Jalil, Christopher, and April. And now me.
"And that's not the half of it." Christopher had decided that David's order to 'get water' translated into Christopher-speak for 'flirt with the new girl.' "Anytime we sleep---or get knocked unconscious---we're back in the freakin' real world! Not a prob, normally, but all this flipping gives me a major headache. And we're still on Earth too. So nobody even knows anything. It totally sucks, big time." He sighed. "At least I have you and April to cheer me up."
I gritted my teeth and counted to five, before telling Christopher to shove his water bottle in a very uncomfortable place. Slightly startled, he was quiet for a few minutes, and the sound of the rushing stream filled the night air. Then Christopher ventured another comment. "So, are you always this bitchy? Or is it just the time or the date?"
He sounded so sincere that I almost regretted what I'd said. Almost. "No. It's not that. I just.get cranky when I'm cold." I managed to smile at him.
He looked relieved. "Good. Cause we have enough problems around here without people shooting estrogen around."
"But it's okay for you boys to shove testosterone around?" April emerged from the bushes nearby. I noticed---happily, I'll admit---that Christopher was obviously startled.
"What's wrong?" cackled April. Apparently she'd noticed too. "You look like you just saw a---"
"Ghost!" shouted Christopher, pointing behind April. That was when I saw it too. A floating, translucent shape, hovering a couple of feet off the ground.