Hello once again loyal readers! It's me again, Blue, here to give you a once in a lifetime ride through my imagination, brought to you proudly by . This time, I'm bringing out a story I've had in my brain for at the last month or so, and it wants out. One can only hope that you guys like it. I give you my first Pendragon story, with some help from MacHale's books themselves. Gods in heaven I love that man's writing. But enough about that for now. It's time to be on with the show! Disclaimer: I don't own 'Pendragon' in any shape or form. Though Spader would be a cool guy to hang out with. This story is meant to take place preferably somewhere after book six, 'The Rivers of Zadaa'.
"Iii" = speech
Iii = thought
Chapter 1: A Whole New World
Journal # Unknown
I know I'm supposed to in the new territory of Quillan but… now I don't really know where I am anymore. I'm just glad the ring still works here. Mark, Courtney, I'd probably have a heck of a time figuring out how to send my journals to you. But since I tested it out with my last journal, it's safe to say it won't be a problem here. Everything's been crazy since I first got here, and I don't think it's ever going to calm down anytime soon either. And from what I've learned, there doesn't seem to be a Traveler here since I've looked for the past two days, and found no one. Don't worry though! There are plenty of people here. They just… aren't very normal. But that's for later. First I need to tell you how I got to this place. Even if I don't really quite understand it myself to begin with.
When I sent my last journal, long before this one, I was on Zadaa with Loor, trying to figure out how to keep the Batu and the Rokador from killing each other in mass genocide. Now, I'm in a world that definitely doesn't appear to be anywhere close to being Quillan, where Saint Dane wanted me to follow him too. At this point, I just don't know anymore. For the first few moments, I could swear I was home again. Or so I thought. That was shattered after just five minutes of trying to find my way around. I guess I should start from the beginning right?
When I last wrote you, I had left Zadaa in the hopes of finding Saint Dane on Quillan in case he wanted to try and pull something nasty. Finding out what that was going to be was key. At least that's what I thought I'd be doing once I passed through the flume. Somehow, in some odd way, I've been sidetracked. I was enjoying my peaceful ride through the flume, when just a few minutes into my journey, something started to happen. I'm not sure what it was, but it was really freaky to me. At first, I started to slow down before speeding up again. Naturally, I found this to be highly unusual. The flume's never acted up like this before. The images I usually saw beyond the flume's thin walls were more jumbled and oddly colored. It wasn't I came to a stop and the inner walls of the flume suddenly faded did I know I was in trouble. And there wasn't a thing I could do. I was falling into an unknown abyss and all I could do was flail my arms and legs uselessly in a useless bid to swim.
The images and their colors were jumbled, mixing themselves with the countless stars that shined on, all that they were hard to ascertain as I spun through the space, wondering if I could even breathe. Could I? Was I breathing properly anymore? I didn't know, even as I suddenly felt jolted, something pulling me into a tunnel of light and color. All I could hear was the wind, the feel of it pulling at my Rokador clothes and whipping my hair into the corners of my vision. When I dared to breath, I found that I could, my eyes not believing what they were seeing. I was in a tunnel of what looked like pure light, colored in hues of white, blue and grey. I didn't know whether to think the sight to be beautiful… or frightening. When I tried to move, it was almost like the wind wouldn't let me. Even turning around seemed impossible the wind was so strong. All I could do was stare and feel like I was falling out of airplane at over sixty miles per hour. And it felt that once I hit the bottom, there was no way I would survive.
The only thing I felt I really could do was take in what was happening to me: the colors seemed to exist in blotches, curving with the walls of the endless tunnel. In some places they were like random flecks while in others they were like endless plains. I'd never seen anything like it before. But just as I was starting to enjoy the display, something about the tunnel changed. The turns were more violent, seeming to occur and random times and angles. I didn't know what to do other than let it happen. Only when I myself started to spin around did I know I was probably in trouble. Then the wind seemed to turn me around so that it was now blowing in my face like a hair dryer gone haywire. The force of it made my eyes water. But that didn't matter when I saw what was coming: a field of blue-grey, seeming the glimmer with hints of white. Almost like the surface of a lake or an ocean. At this point, I hoped it was the former of the two.
I'm telling you know guys, when I saw that makeshift horizon, I thought I was a goner for sure. My only thoughts were: this is it. This is the end of Bobby Pendragon, leader of the Travelers and unknown savior of millions. Goodbye sweet world, I shall miss thee.
But what I thought would happen, didn't happen. I didn't hit water, and I didn't hit land either. I hit… air. Just before I came within a foot of the grey blue mass, I'd shut my eyes. But now I knew I had to open them to see what had happened. At first, I couldn't really believe it. I was floating in midair, a good two feet off the ground, with one of my legs dangling beneath me. I looked left and right, taking notice that my arms were still stretched out next to me, like I was still falling. Confused still, I looked behind me, and saw something totally strange: my right foot was stuck in the blue grey mass just behind me, somehow keeping me suspended in the air. As I tried to comprehend this impossibility, I heard something come from somewhere in front of me. Reacting purely by instinct, I jumped, pulling my right foot free of its prison. But not before gravity finally kicked in and I fell to the ground with an undeniable thwump.
For the first few seconds, it hurt when I hit the dirt, the feel of small rocks and twigs poking me through my clothes. This sort of information confused me. Twigs and rocks? I thought, lifting my head to finally focus on the rest of my surroundings. What I saw shocked me to the core: I was in a forest, quiet and still with trees reaching higher than a five-story building. A few were no thicker than my waist. Just after a glance or two, I could see that some were probably a few feet in diameter. From what I could see of the sky, it was probably a little after noon. Grunting from the feel of the forest's undergrowth, I picked myself off the ground to get a better catch on my bearings.
But the sound I'd heard before came again, just as loud and sudden as the first time I heard it. Looking up, I saw a few birds (or what I hoped were birds) fly over, making the same loud cawing as before. Crows. I'd been freaked out of my skin by a bunch of stupid crows. Mentally kicking myself for jumping at such a thing, I turned around to see if the blue grey mass was still behind me. Much to my surprise, it still was, and there seemed to be more to it than I thought. It stretched out, like a circle, its surface still shifting and glimmering like water. Its edge was just as weird, thin and misty, swirling like fog in a way that suggested it was meant to keep it in the shape of a huge circle. Just by staring at it, I couldn't help but think that whatever it was, it was alive somehow. When I reached out to touch it, it felt like my skin was coming in contact with something really supercharged. It felt so weird to where I had to pull my hand back almost like it was on fire.
Stepping back, I saw it was about as tall as a phone booth and as wide as a set of double doors. But when I looked down, I saw it wasn't even touching the ground! This thing was floating in midair like I had, but there didn't seem anything it could do to fall back to earth again. Instead, it just floated there, giving off an eerie light that made little shadows on the rock and stuff around it. Like it had all the time in the world, just floating there and looking almost innocent. But I knew better. This thing was trouble. Just by standing next to it made me feel uneasy. I knew I had to get away from it. But to where? And why did it send me to the middle of nowhere?
This question seemed to be answered almost immediately when I finally turned around to find something was moving through the brush. At first I thought it was a quig of some sort, coming out of the shadows to try and kill me. But then I thought, no way it's a quig! I'm not in some warehouse or abandoned place like before. This wasn't any normal stopping point between flume rides. There were no clothes set out for me to change into, and there definitely wasn't a door with the telltale star drawn onto it. This place was totally different from Halla. And I highly doubted that if I yelled 'Second Earth' at the blue grey thing behind me, it wouldn't just start glowing along with the usual odd music and send me home. Or anywhere else familiar either. As far as I knew, I was stuck.
--Second Earth—
Mark and Courtney stared down at the loose-leaf notebook pages that they held between the two of them. They knew it was from Bobby the second it came through the ring, even if what was written looked a bit rushed. Almost as if he was short on time somehow. Such a thing shouldn't really bother them by this point, but it still felt a little disturbing at the sight of their friend's hasty writing. If anything, it was very out of character when it came to Bobby. Usually when he sent his journals, they were neat and well thought out. But now it looked like he only had a small amount of time to write everything down.
As usual, they'd holed themselves in the basement of the Chetwynde residence, leaving Mark to tell the teenage girl's parents a little white lie about why he was there. Not something he was really accustomed to, but just as long as they knew Bobby was safe, telling a lie or two was nothing compared to what Saint Dane could unleash.
Courtney Chetwynde, naturally pretty and athletic, turned to her fellow acolyte with inquiry filling her normally confident eyes. "Where do you suppose he is?"
Mark Dimond, said fellow acolyte and as nervous as always, could only shrug in his own case of confusion. All he could do was stare at the pages in awe at what it said of his best friend's journey. "No idea. And why did the flume act like that?"
"I don't know either," the girl muttered, shaking her head, her face clouded with thought and emotion. "Maybe there's something more going on than anyone originally thought. Should we message someone?"
"I'm not sure. I want to read a bit more before we do. In case he got the answers before he sent this to us." it was a good idea, but as usual, Courtney wanted to take action rather than sit and do nothing.
"Are you sure Mark? It could be he never finds out. He might need us to tell him ourselves."
"We don't know that! We won't know until we finish the journal. It could be staring it right in the face by now." The boy could only smirk at her, his expression showing he knew her enough to know how to calm her. It wasn't smart to go running without knowing what the game plan was. "Let's not jump ahead okay?"
Eyes of dark brown met his, accompanied by a thankful smile. "Alright. We'll finish the journal. But then we figure out what might've gone wrong. Deal?"
"Deal." He said, also smiling.
Having resolved the issue for the moment, both teens turned back to the pages in front of them. It wasn't long before they were fully snared in what it said, their minds recreating what it was their lifelong friend had seen who knew how long ago.
--Journal # Unknown Continued—
I was still mulling over whether or not and try the odd circle again in a bid to head back into the flumes again when I noticed something weird. For a forest, it was awfully quiet. I hadn't heard a thing since the crows sang their icky song and flew off. No siree, this place was as quiet as a graveyard at nighttime. Only difference was that it was daytime, but just as creepy. From the way the sun was through the trees, I could tell it would be several hours before the sun went down for the night. Which meant I had some walking to do if I wanted to know where I was and why.
Knowing that hanging around in a forest all night wasn't exactly a smart move, I made sure I knew which direction I was heading. No need to get lost right off right? It felt good to be moving again, of my own free will and with purpose. Almost like all the stuff I was doing as a Traveler was doing more than making a difference. But just when I'd only gone maybe ten feet or more, I was quickly brought back to reality. By the sound of an angry grunt, loud and very distinct, from somewhere over to my left. And saw something come flying my way.
I didn't even try to think. All I did was duck and hope I wasn't going to get hit by… whatever it was. My instincts kicked in. all that Loor taught me was still pretty fresh in my head as I quickly rolled away and jumped up again, posed and ready for anything. Only what I saw was really weird. The thing that'd gone over me had hit a tree a few yards away and had fallen to the ground, and wasn't getting up. Confused, I tried looking around for what had tossed it so far… when something up and sent me flying like a rag doll too. I'd sensed it, but it'd come too quick for me to defend against, much less get out of the way of whatever was on a rampage.
No sooner had I tried to turn around, I was flying through the air and slammed right into the thick trunk of hemlock. The force of it made me grunt, pain exploding all the way up and down my spine and my left side. The pain was so immense, I was temporarily blinded as I fell to the ground. From somewhere far off, I thought I heard someone get up, grunting from pain and letting out low pants of fatigue. The person making the noises sounded low and feminine. Next I heard the noises getting closer, and fast, as the sound of running footsteps filled my ears. Whoever she was, she was really moving it. More sounds rang through the air as I tried to get back up and clear my vision, the sound of metal on metal. Almost like blade meeting blade. That was all I needed to know since I knew more than anything that I didn't have a weapon.
The crunch of twigs and rustle of fallen leaves were the only sounds I could hear other than my own bones popping themselves back into place. Man did it hurt! Just as it seemed like I could walk away, someone came up behind me and practically yelled into my ear.
"GET DOWN!!" it was the girl, and she sounded serious even though I still couldn't see straight. So I was on the ground, yet again, but this time I had more of a warning about it. This time I was ready. All it did was make me twice as dizzy. Colors and shapes spun around in my line of sight as my body struggled to follow, a firm hand grabbing hold of my tunic collar. A hand was all that was needed to pull me back down again before vanishing again. Rustling leaves and twigs told me that whoever it was, she'd quickly rolled away in the hopes of facing the attacker. All I heard was more metal on metal, somewhere away from me as I tried to see what was in front of me. I couldn't help but wonder why the ground wasn't just brown and green.
As if on cue, my vision cleared up enough for me to tell why: there were leaves everywhere. Some were still a little green, but they were mostly yellow and orange, each their own shape and size as they lay scattered on the ground. Now confident in my regained sense of perception, I dared to try and get up, ignoring the pain I felt in my back and my side. Once I was up, I turned towards the sounds of clashing metal… and regretted it immediately. There was a girl all right. But she looked about five years older than me, and she was fast moving.
But it wasn't her that made me regretful. No, it was the thing she was fighting. If one could actually call it a 'thing' per se. It looked human enough, but something about it told me otherwise as the girl swung what looked like a sword at it, making it leap away in a blur of cloth and fast moving limbs. Only when it stopped did I get a real good look at it, and what I saw made me want to barf: if zombie movies ever came to life, this was the most real it could ever get. The thing, or man from what I could tell, was dressed in the remains of a Second Earth business suit, its skin dark and probably peeling in places. Its eyes were not only oddly sized, but mismatched in color. Like he'd found a new one when the old one fell out. Talk about gross. Its teeth weren't any better: jagged and brownish yellow, I could tell they were meant more for a shark rather than a person. I definitely couldn't believe my eyes.
I'd seen a lot of things in my journeys as a Traveler, but this was most definitely a first in my book. I'd seen giant bears, killer dogs and two headed cats. But zombies were undeniably beyond the normal Halla wildlife spectrum. Something tells me I'm probably not in Halla anymore. Well, whatever it was, I could tell it was having a bad day since the girl kept on fending it off with her sword. While it tried to clobber her with its ungainly arms, staggering to keep up with her rather up beat pace. Apparently she couldn't get a good hit in without being struck upside the head. Probably why she appeared intent on closing the gap, but couldn't when its arms forced her to keep her distance.
Something finally clicked in my brain about the whole situation: what if there was more than one of them? Adrenaline dulling all my pain and dizziness to just a mere ache and slight loss of balance, I quickly scanned the surrounding area. Thankfully all I saw were trees, more trees …oh yeah and trees. It was just the three of us: a strange girl, a zombie that looked like a 3-D drive-in movie gone wrong… and me. If anything, I really felt out of place by now.
Noticing that I was up on my own two feet again, the girl suddenly let out a curse or two as she swiftly kicked the zombie aside and turned towards me in order to yell just one thing: "dammit to hell kid, RUN!!!"
I was about to do as I was told… until I saw her eyes. Guys, I'll tell you now that at that very moment, the world had never felt so still. Her eyes were icy blue, almost to where they were colorless. Almost like Saint Dane's. I couldn't help but freeze, as my blood became ice in my veins I was wigging out so bad. Unlike me, she didn't stop moving. She just feinted a few deadly swipes of her blade before turning back towards me in an all-out run, nearly clothes lining me to get me to run with her. And from how fast she was going, I knew that more likely than not, the zombie thing wouldn't be very far behind. As demonstrated by the loud howling noise that resounded from the clearing we'd just been in. it was a haunting noise, so much so I nearly stopped in shock from just hearing it. But the girl wouldn't let me.
"Don't stop you idiot! Stick with me if you want out of here in one piece!" she snapped, her voice already a welcome sound to my ears. Even if she was kinda bossy and sounded really angry.
The whole ordeal hadn't really given me a chance to actually notice it, but it wasn't until now that I saw she was dressed like someone from Second Earth. From what I could tell, she was dressed mostly in denim. She probably even had a t-shirt on, while her shoes were (hopefully) a good pair of sneakers. If that was true, then I'd just struck the motherload of good clothing. No more weird get ups and odd pieces of underwear for me. Or at least I hoped so. But I couldn't really think about since we were both running from something that was likely to eat our brains if we stopped long enough. Me, being the new guy, had no idea which way we were going. The girl, somehow, seemed to have a better sense of direction than me.
"Left, LEFT!" she'd hiss a time or two, making us zigzag between trees and bushes as the thing behind us seemed to jog fast enough to keep up. Finally, after a few dozen more trees, the girl suddenly pulled at my tunic… and effectively pulled me with her into the nearby wall of brush. As soon as we were surrounded by green, and before I could protest, she almost literally slapped her free hand over my mouth and waited.
As if on cue, the zombie thing stumbled into view. The frickin' thing wasn't even gasping for air! It came to a halt, and turned in place, looking around in search of us. The next few minutes seemed to go by forever as we watched it tried to find us with its eyes alone. What seemed like hours later, the zombie thing finally let out a few grunts of frustration as it turned and jogged away. The girl let go of me when we couldn't hear it struggle through the bushes anymore.
Immediately after exiting the large bushes, I was able to get a better look at her: she wore jeans of a dark blue with a jean jacket that almost matched their color. The jacket's design was a bit confusing though, since it only came down to her ninth rib. There didn't seem to be any pockets, while the sleeves had a baggy appearance that seemed to make up for the lack of material. I'd been half right about everything else though. She was wearing a navy blue tank top, but the bull's-eye had been the sneakers. Her smooth face and mud brown, shoulder length hair completed her look, making her seem more like a predator rather than a person.
Figuring it was now or never, I decided to make my thoughts very well known to the one person who actually knew I existed. "What the heck was that all about? What was that thing?"
Ice blue eyes turned on me, their ferocity something I was very familiar with as she just scowled at me. "You sure you wanna know? Cuz I can tell you now… you won't like what I might tell you."
"That doesn't matter to me right now! I just want to know who you are, how I got here and what the heck that thing was!"
"Wait… what do you mean 'how'?" she demanded appearing honestly confused by my questions. "Did you…?"
I held my arms wide, my face voicing my questions even as I verbalized them. "Did I what? What?"
Her frustration had apparently cooled down to being simple curiosity as she stared me down, instantly cautious of what I might say. "You… don't know where you are right now?"
"No! I don't, honest! And… where'd your sword go?" that being a good question since what she held in her hand wasn't a sword, but a cane. Not a hooked one, but the kind that's usually got a special top on it.
The girl just looked at me a little sideways, glancing between the cane in her hand and me, randomly twirling it in her hand. From what I could tell, she was thinking pretty hard about something. It wasn't until a few minutes later that she spoke again.
"You said you don't know how you got here right?"
Well duh. "Um… yeah. So?"
Curiosity now had a bit of suspicion mixed into it, her eyes never losing their eerie intensity. "And you had no idea what that thing was? None at all?"
Tired of being questioned and forced to run everywhere, I finally scoffed at this question, my stress just then kicking in. "That's why I'm asking you! Are you going to answer me or not?"
Her face cleared almost instantly. "No."
"What? Why not!?" I couldn't help but practically yell at her. How could she be so calm at a time like this?
"We need to get out of here, before it comes back with friends."
My jaw nearly dropped in disbelief. "There's more than one?!?"
Unaffected by my words, the girl just shrugged. "Probably. But we won't know that until they come back now won't we?" she paused only to look up, from one side to the other before turning and waving at me to follow her. "C'mon. You look worse than I feel."
"And why should I listen to you?" I exclaimed, truly angry now over how she was literally pulling me. Almost as if she was baiting me.
Blinking just once at my outburst, the girl turned back towards me, crossed her arms and openly feigned deep thought. "Hmm. Let's think: I just saved your life, twice mind you, I have the information you need and probably the only means you have of getting home." coming out of her pose, her eyes burned into my skin once again as she spoke once more. "You want to stay out here and die a horrible death? Be my guest. Otherwise, just fall in before it starts to get cold. It's bad enough I had to fight that thing."
I could only stare at her in disbelief as she turned and walked away, expertly using the cane when a part of the ground became too steep for her. Not only was she rude, but she was also, quite obviously, quick-tempered and snappy with her words. Even if it wasn't possible, I thought I felt the sting of her words. This girl knew how to tell the truth as it was. At this point, I couldn't tell if that was a bad thing… or a good thing. But she did have a point about being alone and vulnerable. I didn't see any other choice than following her to civilization… and real clothing. I don't know what I'll find when we get there, but I seriously hope you guys got this journal.
Thanks for reading everyone! It's high time to end the chapter here, as I do with all the first chapters, but I can assure you all that the rest will be a lot longer. Way longer. But that's for later. For those of you who're deathly curious, I've decided to try and make this fic a Bobby/Spader pairing. I've already seen a really good example or two to work from but I'll definitely keep mine purely original. I humbly respect the Bobby/Loor pairings out there, but we gotta add some variety to the pack right? Now that chapter one of 'The Missing Journals' is done, let's see what's to come:
Next:
Chapter 2: New World, New Perspective
Bobby's lost, confused, and stuck in a strange world with an ill-tempered girl as his guide in the hopes of survival. Can he really trust her? Or is she a lot more trouble than she's letting on? Plus, Mark and Courtney now have a mystery to solve about Bobby's flume ride gone wrong. But as they dig deeper, the questions just keep piling up: why Bobby? Why is no one else affected? What caused it in the first place? Is there a way for him to get back before Saint Dane has a field day in Halla? Find out in the next all new chapter of 'The Missing Journals' with:
Chapter 2: New World, New Perspective!!
