Title: His Dream

Author: girl1213

Fandom: Chaotic

My Challenge: AU-verse! Humans are a sixth tribe

Characters: Tom Majors

Words: 1,246

Rating: G

Summary: As he tries to do his Healer studies, Tom dreams of Perim


Tom glared at the smoking remnants of his attempted potion. Foul-smelling green fumes drafted as innocent as can be up into the air, filling the area around his lab table with a smell that reminded the young Chaotis of dirty socks and old fish before being carried away outside the nearby open window. Frustrated, Tom growled low in his throat as he fanned/batted the stray fumes away from his nose.

"Just great," Tom sighed, picking up the mixing bowl that held his ruined potion.

Earlier in the day, he had made a deal with his trainer, who had forcibly dragged him by his ear away from playing a game of Chaotic online with one of his fellow apprentices of whom he had promised a match. His trainer had scolded at him for falling behind on his Apprentice Healer studies to continuously play the game in Chaotic's lone Alpha Drone. While she understood the importance of the game was to the Tribe, especially to younger generations, she also said that the game was no excuse to not do his studies.

Tom knew and understood that. He really did want to become a Healer. His tribe needed healers, especially skilled ones, in order to continue to survive against injury and diseases, both old and new. It helped that Tom enjoyed helping people. His greatest stratification came from seeing how his efforts helped anyone in distress, be it in illness or just needing a supporting helping hand.

But Tom was also a young teenage boy. And, like many Chaotis youths be it a boy or a girl, he had sense of adventure. As much he wanted to learn healing arts, he was not a bookworm type to just be content at siting around learning and employing his professional skill at home. He needed action and excitement in his life as well as the need to see beyond the borders of his homeland.

The Chaotic game would supply him with just that.

Besides the compelling fun and entertainment the game produced for both player and viewer alike, the game was, buried behind the fun and thrills, also a test of survival skill and knowledge.

For beyond the safety of Chaotic was the world of Perim, a land filled with beauty, mystery, and danger. But it seemed most of the danger came not from Perim itself, but its four tribes: the strong and just Overworlders, the intimidating and ruthless Underworlders, the group-oriented Danians and the cunning Mipedians.

For as long as the Chaotis have been awake, the four tribes have been at war with one another. But apparently their war had been going on long before the Chaotis even awoke two centuries (or 500 solans, according to the other Tribes) before. But as to what or why they were fighting for, Tom himself did not know; but arguably, before he became serious with his healing studies, he was a rather lazy student, especially when it came to history beyond the Chaotis's short and little-known past. And Tom was more than willing to admit, with a certain level of maturity, that he had fallen asleep a lot during those lectures during his primary education.

But it was obvious to him even as a young child that, in comparison to the other Tribes, his people, including himself, were weak, especially in their physical strength and smaller statures when compared to the might and stature of Perim's creatures. A Chaotis could easily be overpowered and outrun by any creature of any Tribe.

To make matters worse for them, Chaotis could not use Mugic, a supernatural power made from the use of music and supernatural or force of nature agencies. Creatures from all four of the tribes could naturally or be trained to use Mugic, though it seemed the Danians had the least amount of creatures who had any ability to yield mugic. But no matter what tribe the creatures came from, all users of this almost paranormal power were called Mugicians, and the Chaotis were warned to be careful around them for their spells could do both serious harm and support on anyone depending on the Mugic spell used.

And to further rub salt on a wound, the Chaotis did not even have element affinities or abilities in-bred or otherwise. Their elemental "affinities" had to come from special enchantments placed upon small lightweight pieces of armor that consisted of fingerless gauntlets or gloves, boots, bracelets, greaves, rings, bracers and belts. Tom wasn't too sure how the enchanting worked, but his best friend, Kazdan "Kaz" Kalinkas, would know as he was apprenticed in enchantments.

But despite having these enchanted armor accessories, the Chaotis Tribe's obvious physical and mugical disadvantages convinced the other Tribes that they were not a major threat to the Tribes themselves, and that involving them in their four-way war would be waste in the end. And as such, most of the tribes' members did not want to be bothered or have anything to do with them. In fact, the term "meddler" was often used to describe them and that was one of the nicer words.

And yet…

The corners of Tom's lips drifted upward in an almost dreamy thought of Perim as he carefully disposed the ruined remains of his potion.

But even if his thoughts were elsewhere, he made sure a reasonably good amount of his focus was on his task. He did not want to throw the city into another city-wide panic because he unwittingly poisoned the city's water pipes with a not-properly disposed ruined potion.

Even though she knew it was an accident, his Trainer still unleashed her wrath and disappointment upon him. The memory of the punishment she had him endure still caused him to shiver in revulsion.

After that, Tom never wanted to anger or disappoint her ever again, least he see another room full of chemical messes that he had to clean up, by himself, without any aid of enchanted tools, ever again.

With his failure now properly disposed, and his mixing bowl now aptly cleaned and free of stains, the young Choatis went back to his table and set to work, trying to keep his focus on his work to avoid causing another failure.

But as always, when his wish-filling dreams invaded his mind, he could not help but focus on them.

If he won enough matches in the Alpha Drone, he could go onto playing the game "for real" in the Beta Drones and, later the Battle Drones. But the best part of it was: once he proved that he had the ability to survive the realistic battles of the Drones, he would earn the right to go outside of the sanctuary that Chaotic was.

He could see the world that was Perim, but most of all, he could finally have the chance see, and if he was lucky, even meet the one creature in all of Perim that he had the upmost admiration for.

Maxxor, the leader of the OverWorlders.

PHOM!

"… … not again…"

The dirty socks and old fish smell was back, stronger than ever.

At this rate, he was going to need to soak in a bathtub filled with his mother's overpowering flowery perfumes in order to get rid of the stink. No Chaotic Players…heck every Chaotis in Chaotic would not want to be anywhere near him with him smelling so ghastly.

Tom sighed dejectedly as he carried yet another bowl filled with more smoking remnants of a ruined potion.


City Info:

The Alpha Drome: Located in Inner Sector of Chaotic, this Drome is nicknamed the Beginner's Drome. This because starting out beginner players play the Chaotic Game in this drone, though veteran players also use the drone if they wish, but they are forbidden to play against the beginners unless given permission by the Game Trainers. The Alpha Drome does not use the transformations as used in the Beta and Battle Dromes. Instead players use a both real and an online deck, created from cards they have to buy or receive from their Trainers. When players win a certain high number of online matches in the Alpha Drome, they are considered skilled enough to play in the Beta Drones, and they are rewarded their Scanners.

Note: The Alpha Drome does not exist in the Chaotic Show. It is my own creation.