This town is so eerie when it snows,
All the trees look like ghosts appearing from the road
The crows flew south of Heaven and found the elixir
The echo of silence whispers from the mouth of the river to say:

"Yeah this city could be great one day,
But the first step is getting out of our own way."
I've been to bigger cities; they produce bigger frowns
I'll die, right here, in this town

And I know, there's something beautiful within my grasp
And I know, I think I'm satisfied but it won't last
And I know, to lace my boots up and pick my path
I'll find another rain storm to fill my glass

-Mac Lethal, "Sun Storm"

I grew up on these cobblestone streets. It wasn't like there was anywhere else to go, but it was home. A place where everyone knew everyone, y'know? Even when I was little, just a scrapper, I felt like these were my streets, and everyone else I rolled with thought so too. Yeah, I wasn't poor, but my ma and dad struggled to get through the day. My clothes were clean though, and my meals were hot, so it was a good life.

Next door to me was this cute little brown-haired girl, Selphie. Damn, she flew all over the place, like there was enough juice in her to power half of Dollet on her own. She was always like, the community organizer. She was good at getting the other kids together to do her silly shit, and they did it with smiles on their faces.

Don't laugh, but I joined in. Hey, I was a kid back then, and it was fun.

School was… school. I mean, we learned shit we'd never use until later in life, but for a while, it was great. I mean, everything's new, and anything new is fun. Teachers knew how to switch things up back then, not like now. Now it's all about keeping everyone in line, making sure no one beats the piss out of each other.

What fun is that? I'm trained in martial arts, I love a good scrap!

But it never happened back then, because we wanted to be something someday. Something important to somebody, like our parents or whatever, and that meant no fights. Yeah, some selfish bastards thought they were better than anyone else was because they were smarter, or taller, or had more money. Arguments flew around, insults too. But no fights, because having one would let our teacher down, and we all loved Ms. Edea.

Edea Kramer. She always wore this black dress. Don't ask me why. It was like she mourned someone all the time. That smile said different though, and when she put it on display, we all had no choice but to follow suit, because it was that infectious. I can't even begin to explain that, but there it is. Some of the kids thought she was magic, that she had some kind of spell over us to make us good kids.

I can't debate that one way or the other, but we definitely respected her.

Recess was real interesting, because no one played around or anything. I mean, it happened sometimes, but most of the time we asked Selphie to dance. No one knew what to call it back then but awesome, but now that I know about it, it's pretty damn amazing. Selphie knew how to pop, lock, and do some crazy warps. I think she even did some house moves once, but I can't remember when.

I asked her to teach me how, and she was like, 'you wouldn't like it, it takes too long' at first. But I was my usual obnoxious self, and she taught me. Soon, the two of us rocked it out every time we were outside. Sure made me come over more often, just to practice. I started to have a little thing for her, but it didn't go anywhere. I mean, just imagine how awkward me going over would have been if I told her!

My thing? Well, my thing wasn't anything special, at least not if you ask me. I was into music. Still am, if you want me to be honest. I mean, I always had some kind of beat going on in my head, especially back then. I always beat boxed for Selphie when no one brought a radio. Hey, even when you're little, you can still do some serious shit with that.

But I wanted to do something more with it, not just spit. I wanted to make music, not just play around with it. Selphie made up all these new moves, went into tutting and stuff like that, but I just wanted to find a new beat. I listened to the radio every time I came back home, because there wasn't really anything on TV and nothing else to do besides homework.

She taught me her new stuff eventually, and I put down a few new beats I came up with. She just played around with it, but I took it serious.

Apparently, she took it a bit more serious than I thought, because she dragged me and a few other guys in town together for this talent show, just a little thing the school put together. This time we actually had a track to back us, so the pressure was on to do our best.

Zone was a badass. I don't know when, but he learned how to break like nobody's business. You ask him to do any trick, and he could do it blindfolded. I even dared him to do it once, and my jaw went unhinged when he actually pulled it off. He could even lock a bit like Selphie. The thing he had trouble with was popping, and we straightened him up quick on that.

Watts was the freakiest guy I ever met. He could do isolations like no one else his age. Always sported a pair of shades when he danced so no one could see his eyes. Kept his face perfectly still when he danced. The kid was a machine, and we figured we could all learn a thing or two from him, so we asked him to teach us.

I could never do it right, not like Selphie. She just seemed to take whatever she saw and work with it.

We found out later she was a genius.

No, not just in dancing. I mean in IQ. Ditzy as hell, a ball of energy that could set off fireworks on her own if she wanted, and her brain was bigger than all of ours combined. I mean, it came as a shock back then, but looking at it now it makes sense. All those smarts and all she wanted to do was dance, and play around, and have fun.

So we ignored her big brain and just had fun with her, and it was cool, because she always thought of something new. Me, I couldn't think of much besides the next new song that caught my interest. That, and whenever we practiced for the big show.

Don't ask if we won, you should know the answer.

From that day, you couldn't pry the four of us apart with a crow bar. Same middle school, same high school, same classes. I think that last one was a mistake though, because I bombed my math classes while she kicked ass in 'em. I barely passed by the skin of my teeth, but managed to get high enough to be considered for a few good scholarships.

There was no question where the four of us were going once Selphie decided.

One of the best schools anywhere on the planet was Galbadia University. It wasn't that far away, just a few hours' train ride from home, barring a transfer at Timber Grand Station. Our small town sure as hell didn't have a major university, that was for sure, so it was the only way out for me.

Hey, when you live in a place for your whole life and find out there's a bigger world out there, you get tired of the confined quarters. I wanted to make sure that I never came back to Dollet again, and I told everyone else how I felt. Sure, ma wasn't too happy about that. But Selphie, Zone, and Watts? They were in for the long haul. Felt nice to be the decision maker for once, instead of her.

So here I am, waiting for the train to Galbadia from Timber, with this funky-ass blue and red jacket with jean shorts and a pair of sneaks, Selphie next to me in a yellow dress with suspender button straps and a pair of calf-high boots. Watts is to my left, his shades on as usual, jeans and a denim jacket with a black shirt, some logo from a band I haven't even heard of on it. Zone is chatting it up next to Selphie with his beanie on, a long-sleeved shirt and a pair of dark blue jeans on. Same shoes as Watts, down to the color. What, do they do their shopping together or something?

Never mind. I'll ask on the ride, just to piss 'em off. I sit back and wait for the big engine to roll through, nervous, excited, and stoked as hell, my t-board at my feet. We're gonna go to that school and rock it to the ends. Damn place will never be the same when we're done!

I swear, before this is over, everyone's gonna remember my name – Zell Dincht!

Chapter 2: Prologue 2 – Unity

Yeah, two in one day! I love my job, really I do. It has some sense of merit to do things this fast for once. It appears my mission in getting the brain-juices flowing is a success! But don't think it's over yet, I'm not nearly done here. Like I said before, now that it's started, I will see it to its conclusion, no matter how long it takes.

I decided to do this one in first person because I like changing themes up now and then. This is the only time you'll see this style though, as most of it will be in third person limited, whenever possible, which should be most of the time. Just wanted to do something different for now.

These little shorts won't last much longer; I'll see to it that the chapters become infinitely more detailed as things progress. For now, enjoy this next little tidbit in how I'm making sweeping changes! All the while, I hope to keep the flavor of the series itself intact, if you get my meaning.

This is your Slayer.