Arania Fight or Flight: Different People
Just a quick side note, THIS IS NOT BLACKOUT!
Also, this is an original idea, the land is original and my main character is original, please do NOT steal any of my ideas, I have copyrighted them in my head ;) I have the original versions of this story, and others.
I first made up the idea of Arania when I was 12 ;-) this is a two year old small story. I just wanted to share with you the brilliance of Arania.
This is not following BLACKOUT! I repeat, NOT BLACKOUT!
Anyways, enjoy. (I went a bit overdescriptive in this story...)
CHAPTER ONE: TROY
The wind was strong as she walked towards the dock. Quick Silva was docked there, its sail billowing in the strong wind. It was a small ship, its planks a strange silver and its design was to be fast, and even though it looked un-seaworthy with its smallness, it had fins that balanced it in the water.
Kyra stopped, and her eyes rested on the symbol on the sail, and above that, the flag of her country.
Quick Silva was an Aranian ship, a royal one, made just for Kyra. It was also a traveller. It had been crafted to be able to cross long distances in a blink of the eye, cutting through waves easily, no matter where.
She cocked her head as there was a commotion to her right. Kyra looked over and saw that it was the shipwright. He headed towards her, his big mass making all of his steps loud. He waved at her and stood to attention in front of her.
"Ma'am! I mean, High Princess!" He started, fumbling with the words, his cheeks burning in embarrassment, "I have come here to help you adjust to the boats motion, and explain a bit about Quick Silva."
"Ok. Go on. I don't mind waiting." Kyra said, rolling her shoulders and getting comfortable in her standing position, this was going to be long.
The shipwright took the incentive and said, "I have heard you have never been on a ship before. I wish to warn you that the motion upon a ship may make you feel sick. Do not worry about this, it is called boat sickness, you may get it with any form of transport. But when upon the Quick Silva you will most defiantly feel nauseous because of the design of the ship. Quick Silva was created to cross between oceans and lands in a mere manner of days, or hours. The speed of which the ship travels that rivals a dragon. But it carries much more than one dragon could. It has been simply made by ancient wood that the Lightning Goddess and the Moon Goddess enchanted. The only downside of Quick Silva is that it must have either wind, or current, to push it forwards. If both of those things are missing though, a jar of wind should be able to push the ship to a bay for safety." He took a long deep breath, "The men on this ship are tenders to it. Your men will be the only military soldiers on the ship. If you are attacked though, there are ballistae and catapults hidden in the ship with explosive ammo that can take down a ship in one hit. Though the ship is not armed with a ram, you may still throw hooks across to the other ship. These hooks are chained to enchanted platinum and will not break. The ropes on them are also platinum, the hooks themselves are made of dragon scale, just like the bottom of the ship, and will not release unless you them a command, the word is "Uiss." Which is dragic for Loose. Quick Silva has a main cabin and minor cabins. You will be staying in the main cabin. All of your items have been moved there already." He stopped, raising an eyebrow, "Any questions?"
"How long did it take to make the ship?" Kyra asked, she was quite interested in this Dragon Ship.
"It took about a decade. To acquire the right amount of scales was extremely difficult." He answered.
"How long will it take to get to Troy?" Kyra asked, tapping her foot.
"It will take three days. If you were travelling by a normal ship this journey would take you a month." He answered proudly.
"That's amazing." She murmured, "Thank you. And that sea sickness thing shouldn't affect me. I have a great immune system."
He nodded, waving her goodbye and bidding her well.
As Kyra reached the ship she grazed her eyes to the bottom of it, he had been telling the truth. Dragon scales were littered across the surface of the ship like barnacles. But Kyra considered that this made the ship tougher and faster. The scales could act as a shield against reefs.
As the High Princess strode up the ramp on the side of the boat and touched its planks, she felt a surge of power flow through the ship. It was a familiar warm feeling and she smiled.
"High Princess!" Called a man, he walked over to her.
She regarded the man, he was tall with a plumbed helmet on his head, underneath that were locks of golden hair that were turning silver with age, his eyes were a sharp, intelligent blue, "Captain Faur."
He stood to attention in front of her and bowed, "I am very pleased that you chose the Quick Silva for this journey Princess. She will not let you down. Even if there is a storm we shall ride it!" He smiled at her.
"I am looking forward to this journey. It has been a long time since I left the shores of Arania." Kyra said, and then glancing back she looked at the Sky City.
Aran was settled on a huge mountain, where the clouds danced around the peaks of the buildings rooves. The land below it was lush with pastures and green farms. Horses raced across wide valleys and dragons swooped and twirled up in the morning sky. It painted a perfect picture.
Captain Faur nodded smiling as he watched the city with her, "It is a sight to behold. Have you ever been to Troy?"
Kyra shook her head, "No. Father has not allowed me to as he says that it is littered with Shadowlanders."
"It's not at the moment." Captain Faur stated, "It's actually the best time of the year to visit the city."
"Why do they call it the golden city?" Kyra asked.
"Because of the copper on the rooves of every house in the city. They reflect the sun and make it look like the city is gold." A shipmate answered as he walked by, he tipped his straw hat at her, "Ma'am. I do believe that you will enjoy the city quite immensely, everyone does. Especially when there is a royal ceremony going on."
Kyra nodded, smiling slightly, "I do hope so. It sounds wonderful."
The young man nodded, his light brown hair covering one of his eyes, and then he came to attention in front of Captain Faur, "Captain, we are ready to depart. The wind is blowing in an Easterly direction, perfect for our trip; the tide is also with us."
"Thank you Greh. You heard that Princess? Time to get going. It won't be long until we get to the city." Captain Faur said, nodding to Kyra, "If you want to stay out here you can climb on up to the crow's nest, the swell won't be that rough up there."
Kyra nodded her thanks, treading her way towards the tall mast and climbing up to the top, there she found a comfortable place to sit and gazed out over the bay. From this position she could also hear all of the conversation's the men were having, most of them were greeting her guards, but others were fiddling with switches on the bottom of the mast and near the oar. Captain Faur had moved to the oar and had grasped it, he shouted out, "Let 'er go!" and two men had twisted a lever, the ropes tying them to the bay released and Quick Silver surged forwards, cutting through the water like butter, the ship rose slightly out of the water, gliding on top of the waves like a dancer.
Kyra gasped in amazement as they glided towards the great gates of Ontwi and Twione, passing a barrier the gate slowly opened, it made no noise, but the sight itself was amazing. The gates were almost as high as the great city of Aran, and were powered by the forces of the twin islands. Marble statues held them closed with their palms and when they opened their hands, the gates opened with them. The statues were enchanted with life magic, and were different colours. One, on Ontwi, was a bright white, clean as a whistle even though they were exposed to the weather. The other one, which was on Twione, was ebony black.
Both of the great guardian's heads twisted to gaze at them as they passed through, their heads moving with the craft. As they finally fully passed through the guardians looked at each other, closing their hands, and with that, the gates swung closed.
Not many ships were allowed to pass through this late in the season, trades people preferred docking at the two islands, with their own bays each the island trade nation then transferred the goods to the main land; it was a much faster and efficient way because the ships wouldn't get congested in Arania's main bay.
Foreigners were not allowed to simply pass through the gates to Arania; they had to be processed on Ontwi, then catch a vessel onto the main land.
Kyra sighed, placing her hands on her chin she leaned forwards, watching the waves roll across the ocean, her eyes opened in amazement as a Dolphin leaped out of the ocean beside the ships planks, it was accompanied by several other ones, their sleek bodies covered with the sea's water shimmered in the early morning sun.
Kyra watched them until they reached open water, where Quick Silva surged forwards, catching the tide and the wind. The ship sped across the water and Kyra held on tight as they neared the first of the huge waves the sea had to offer. It didn't even make the ship falter in it speed, instead the ship danced on the top of the waves and glided across it's top, flying like a dolphin.
As Kyra steadied herself and got used to the feel of the waves crashing against the ship, she leaned back wards, enjoying the sun's rays.
She closed her eyes; her legs dangling over the nests edge, and fell into a soft sleep.
She felt a prickle of power surge over her skin and Kyra's eyes flew open. It reminded her of the feeling when Electo, her dragon guardian, flew to her. She was the goddess of lightning.
Now as Kyra opened her eyes and gazed forwards she smelt the slight hint of rain on the horizon, and then, in front of her, was a huge storm.
She leaned forwards gasping in surprise as a strike of lightning resounded off of a barrier on the ship. She clambered down the mast and landed on the slippery floor, she walked up to Captain Faur.
"Good to see you High Princess, you were having a nice nap. It's almost night time so I suggest you head to your cabin." He said, his eye brows furrowed at the storm.
"And miss this?" Kyra said smiling, "What are you going to do about the storm?"
"The barrier will protect the ship against lightning, but not rain, so you better slip into something that is waterproof. Preferably a trench coat. Come back to me once you do that and I will explain to you what we are going to do." The captain answered.
Kyra nodded, jogging down the steps she entered her cabin and searched through her gear, finding the leather oiled trench coat she put it on just as another strike of lightning hit the barrier, thunder resounded in her ears, she winced, it was extremely close.
She walked outside, shielding her eyes from the icy sharp rain that was slamming onto the ship; she gazed up at the sail which was billowing loudly. As she walked up towards Captain Faur a huge wave slammed into the bow of the ship.
Kyra stumbled forwards, losing her balance and almost tumbling over. She grasped the mast and hung onto it as they plunged over the wave's top. Once the ship settled she finally reached the captain.
"That was a big one." He murmured to himself as she walked up the stairs, he caught sight of her and gave her a huge smile, "Glad to see you un-harmed Princess. This storm is a big one. Unnaturally big."
"Do you think it is the work of Shadowlanders?" Kyra asked as another bolt of lightning hit the barrier, it shook under the immense power, but then settled.
"No," Captain Faur said, rubbing his eyes from the brightness of the lightning, "This storm is all natural, a man made one would be much, much bigger. But don't worry; Quick Silver can handle anything the weather can throw at us."
Kyra nodded her head, glancing around she found that everyone was at ease, "What was the biggest storm you have encountered?"
The captain thought on this for a few seconds, "It was one just off the coast of Ominia's side of Arania, near the Shadow Land, and I wasn't on this fine ship. We got tipped over; luckily we were swept ashore at Draconia, not the Shadow Land." He chuckled.
Kyra smiled, Draconia was a land just off of Arania's coast, it was where Arania had been founded, and where the Gods and Goddess lived. It was a sacred place, but humans were allowed there to offer prayers and food to the Gods. If a crew had been swept there then the God's would take care of them. The captain had been extremely lucky to have been swept there, "Would that storm have tipped the Quick Silva?" Kyra asked, interested in how much storm power the ship could handle.
"No way, this girl can go through anything, even a tsunami. She was made by the gods, and some have said that she can take flight in an extremely powerful storm. Don't worry princess; we will get there in once piece. Now go on up on the mast, that's the best place to experience a storm." The captain said, smiling kindly at her.
She nodded her head and walked off to the crow's nest, climbing up she rested in her spot, from there she watched the storm thunder and shoot lightning out of the sky, and the ship glided and flew with the waves.
Slowly, her eyes hurting because of the bright lightning, she fell asleep, slumped against the mast.
Kyra woke up slowly, curling into the blankets, listening to the sounds of seagulls calling out. She smiled, remembering the night before, the lightning, the adrenaline. Her eyes fluttered open and she took in the bed. Kyra guessed that one of her guards had carried her down to it.
She stretched out, and then remembered, when there were seagulls, there was land.
She leaped out of bed, jumping up the stairs nodding good morning to all of the crew. Kyra walked across the deck and to the side of the ship, she gazed out at a beautiful bay, were many ships rested.
"Blue Owl Bay." Captain Faur said, coming up behind her, "Or as some people say, Bad Luck Bay. But don't worry; it's only bad luck to those who wish it upon them. There is a whole heap of stores and merchants there and many people rest there for days, spending their money. The King keeps the place protected from pirates too."
"Are we stopping there?" Kyra asked, excited.
"Yes, for a whole day, your father thought you would enjoy it, and anyway, if we don't we will get to Troy too fast." Captain Faur said smiling and gazing up at the mast, "The winds have been extremely favourable to us."
Kyra nodded, smiling as the ship turned towards the bay, angling towards the side of the beach were only two other boats were docked.
"That's a huge ship." Kyra said, gazing at a beautiful golden ship, about four times the size of Quick Silva, it had two decks and Kyra could see about eighty oars.
"Indeed it is, a new ship as well. I recognise the other one, the Penelope, good old King Odysseus's ship. Beautiful for trade, I reckon he stopped here last night to get out of the storm." Captain Faur answered, he walked up to the main deck and took the oar, he then started calling out directions to the men, "Hard to starboard!"
The ship veered to the right, skimming across the side of the beach.
Kyra looked down and could see sand underneath the ship, only about a meter from the hull. As the ship slowed down for its landing, it glided across the sand.
People on the beach stopped and watched the lithe ship fully beach itself, its fins propping it up. They started to murmur as the claws leaped out and tethered the ship to the rock.
A big man walked out from near the Penelope, his stomach was straining against his belt and he had an ugly, yet charming face. He stood next to the Quick Silva and smiled at Captain Faur, "Always know an Aranian from when they beach their entire arses on the beach, taking up all the space!"
"Odysseus you old basted! How long has it been?" Captain Faur called out; walking over to the left side of the boat he pushed a lever which extended a ramp to the beach, striding down it he clasped his hand.
"Five years, though it feels like forever, you haven't changed a bit. Aranian magic? And what the hell is that ship made out of?" Odysseus called said.
"Dragon scale. This here is the Quick Silva fastest ship in the world." Captain Faur said.
Kyra smiled at the exchange between the two and walked over to her cabin to change into suitable clothing. She donned a loose dress which thigh sheaths which she slipped two daggers into. Weaving the laces on her gladiator boots she walked outside again and found that most of the crew had departed the vessel. She followed suit and walked carefully down the ramp, once her feet touched the sand she sighed in happiness.
"Ah, High Princess!" Captain Faur called out.
Kyra turned around and walked over to him, beside him Odysseus's eyebrows rose to his forehead.
"So this is the High Princess of Arania?" He stated.
Kyra laughed, "The one and the only."
"I haven't seen many of your royals out and about lately, why the sudden change?" He asked.
"Sudden?" Kyra asked, confused, "The last time a royal was aloud out to a foreign place was only fifty years ago."
"Only?" Odysseus scoffed, and then he paused, staring straight at her, "Is it true that the High Princess is immortal?"
"Possibly." Kyra said teasingly, she laughed at his expression of pure amazement.
Captain Faur chuckled then turned towards Kyra, "I'm guessing you want to go to the festival and the shops?"
"Incidentally, yes." Kyra said grinning, "I will take two of my guards with me, they can follow behind, I don't really need to be protected, I can guard myself."
Captain Faur nodded, his expression worried, "Are you sure High Princess, even though the Fat King guards this bay, it is still riddled with bandits and men who would take advantage of a young woman like you."
Kyra laughed at that, "Young? You do still remember how old I am?"
Captain Faur nodded, "I still remember, but your appearance is that of a young woman."
Kyra nodded in understanding, "I shall be fine, thank you for worrying."
"I will have my men keep an eye on her." Kyra heard Odysseus say to the captain as she walked off, towards the noisy part of the beach.
The sand crunched underneath her feet and the sun was strong against her hair, she shielded her eyes as she looked in front of herself. There were hundreds of stalls set up along the beach, tenders calling out to passer-by's, trying to sell their stock. Each stall was unique, with their own type of items they were trying sell. The stalls were colourful, ranging in colours from black and white, to bright pinks and yellows. Kyra stopped in front of a rainbow coloured stall, where the tender was selling bright pink grapefruit placed into cups and with ice added to it. She bought a glass and sipped it casually, walking towards a sword seller.
Once there she looked at the many different types of swords, noticing a katana she stopped beside it and asked, "Can I have a look?"
The tender nodded, barely looking up from his money counting, "Don't cut yourself."
Kyra almost laughed, but supressed it and unsheathed the blade, running her fingers down the length she noted how it shimmered in the sun, but shone brightly in the dark, "This is Shadow Forged." She stated.
The tender almost dropped his coin, "Ah yes, how did you know?" Then he stared at her, looking her up and down and sighed, "You are one of those Aranian's that came here?"
"Yes." Kyra stated, still gazing at the steel, "It's beautiful."
"For 200 gold it could be yours." The tender said, turning into selling mode.
Kyra considered this, 200 gold wasn't much for her, but did she want something that had been, and might have already, been made to kill her people? She gazed at it a moment longer, coming to the resolution that it would be handy, "I haven't ever specialised in katana before, but maybe I should start? I will take it." She handed over the gold to the tender, slipped the sword back into its sheath and slung it onto the back holder that came with it.
She left the store to try and find more solid food items, glancing back every now and again, making sure her guards were in their correct positions. She stopped, glancing as several people passed her, talking excitedly to each other, "I hope Odysseus tells the minotaur tale this time!"
Kyra followed them, curious as to what all the commotion was about.
As she reached an open area in the market place, which was milling with hundreds of people she stopped near the edge of the crowd.
There stood Odysseus, standing on top of a stall's counter, the tender smiling and laughing with him.
"Odysseus tell us a story!" Yelled out a man.
The crowd took this chant up, the noise deafening and Odysseus held up his hands, "So what would you like me to tell you about? A true tale?"
"No a lie!" Yelled a child.
"But all of my stories are real!" Odysseus said half frowning and smiling, "Ok then, there we were on my dear Penelope as a storm rolls in, we brace ourselves, for the gods were obviously locked in a fierce battle with each other. The waves rose as high as a mountain, crashing into poor Penelope, she was dashed around, our course was ruined, and we were swept far far away!" Odysseus said.
His crew came over and lifted up the stall, shaking it around like a ship.
"Then the waves settled, we counted out men, luckily we didn't lose a single one. We looked around, trying to find where we were, but we had been swept onto a huge reef, high up on a monstrous mountain! We didn't dare move, as each step we took shook the ship," The crew lifted him up high on the stall and he gazed around himself, "Then that's when we heard this terrible noise, it was a roar, and from the ship I could smell the fire in the beasts breath. We stood still, not making a noise and overhead a huge winged beast alighted near the ship, taking in our pitiful situation. I could swear it was laughing. But when another roar resounded in our ears and a leviathan leapt out of the water to attack our poor ship the winged beast leapt at it, protecting us!" He laughed, gazing away, like he couldn't believe it himself, jumping down into the crowd he glanced at Kyra, "And do you know what it did after it destroyed the leviathan? It talked to us, told us that the island was sacred and that no mere humans were allowed there. It took off over our ship, grasping it with its claws, and then lifted us up into the sky. I will tell you this," He paused smiling, "Before we touched the clouds I looked down and saw this huge land, I had never seen anything so lush and beautiful, I saw a huge Sky City, with hundreds of winged beasts flying around. But then, once we reached above the clouds, we all fell asleep. And when we woke up I was the only one who remembered what had happened."
He concluded the tale and everyone clapped and laughed, "That's a good lie!" One man called out.
"It was no lie!" Odysseus bellowed, smiling and laughing with the people.
Kyra started to walk forwards but then a commotion caught her eyes. There was a young man walking through the crowd towards Odysseus and behind him was an assassin, following him skilfully.
The young man was tall with broad shoulders and ebony black hair tied into a ponytail.
Kyra gasped as the assassin closed in with him, she leaped through the crowd, taking out her katana she struck the assassin in the back, the blade piercing through his body.
He gasped glancing down at the injury, which wasn't life threatening.
The young man turned around, hearing the gasp. Kyra released the sword, pulling it out. The assassin stumbled and fell forwards onto his face.
"Thank you. Are you ok?" The man asked his eyes caring.
Kyra shook her head, kneeling beside the assassin she put pressure near the wound; slowly he came to consciousness and screamed out, "Stop! Please!"
"Who hired you to kill," She looked at the young man.
"Helikon, Prince of Dardania." He stated.
"Ok then. Who ordered you to kill Helikon?" Kyra asked.
The assassin spat on the ground, "Who the hell do you think you are pretty girl?"
"The High Princess of Arania." A voice said from behind them.
Kestral, Kyra's main bodyguard had come up behind her after the commotion, she was a lithe talented girl with golden brown hair and grey eyes.
"The what of what?" The assassin asked, growling at the newcomer.
Kestral pierced him with her eyes, "The. High. Princess. Of. Arania. She's more important than anyone else in this entire world."
Kyra coughed, "Ok. Thank you Kestral, I can handle this from here."
Kestral gave the man one last glare, gave a suspicious look at Helikon, and then melded back into the crowd.
Helikon watched her go with a curious expression on his face, "What was her deal?"
"She's my guard. They are all like that." Kyra explained her expression pained, she sighed and stood up, kicking the assassin in the ribs, he cried out in pain, his eyes wincing as he rolled over.
"Please stop!" He cried out.
Kyra laughed mockingly, "Why would I stop, when you haven't given me the information I need?" She glanced around herself, seeing that a crowd had gathered around them. People stared at her, gesturing towards her bloodied katana and whispering in hushed voices to each other.
"We should move this, somewhere more private." Kyra stated to Helikon.
He nodded, grabbing the assassins legs as she grabbed his body. They shuffled through the stalls, the crowd moving with them. Kyra glanced at Helikon, "Let's go to my ship."
He nodded, "Why not mine?"
"You have a ship?" Kyra asked, then shook her head, "On Quick Silva nobody can get to us, and the barriers surrounding it will make him," She juggled the assassin who groaned in pain as the shaking hurt his back and therefore the wound, "Go into a world of pain."
Helikon nodded, "My ship is the Xanthos."
As they reached the beach Kyra slowed down, and turned the group towards the Quick Silva. As they walked up the ramp she stopped and said in Aranian, "Ner ekki verity." Which meant no harming my friends in Ancient Aranian.
Helikon glanced at her strangely and they walked on up through the barrier. The moment they did the assassin started to scream out in pain and horror, his hands clenched and he tried to struggle out of their grasp.
Kyra grounded her teeth in frustration and threw him against the floor, "Oh quit it."
"It hurts so much." He cried, "Please make it stop!"
"I will if you tell me who hired you." Kyra growled.
He stared at her, then at Helikon, "Kalonde's, he did."
"Thank you." Then, single handily she picked him up and threw him overboard. They heard a splash and Kyra smiled in satisfaction, "Taa daa." She said to Helikon, smiling.
SB7 Reporting Out!