Disclaimer: I do not own anything coming from video games, T.V. shows, etc. I do claim the OC's and plot.
A/N: Still no reviews...I'm getting depressed. Anyway, enough of that. Read and review. By the way, I don't advocate you try any stunts that are in this story. You'll see why when you read on. So what are you waiting for? Stop reading this stupid note and read.
Chapter 4"What a morning," said Noel with fatigue, as the mysterious force placed him on his feet. "At least I got two prizes for defeating that thing: a sword and the next virtue in the scrolls…the Pendent of Power." After Noel finished gaining his composure and pulled his disguise on he headed for the ravine he had seen before his escapade, and as he went he silently wondered why it looked so familiar. When he arrived he found out why. "This ravine is right by the Smithers' house!" exclaimed Noel.
The Smithers were fairly close friends of his. Their family consisted of three boys: Tom Smithers, eleven; Matt Smithers, eight; and Stefan Smithers, six; one girl, Alice Smithers, thirteen; and the parents, Dr. Tom Smithers and Mrs. Jennifer Smithers. Noel had met Alice the summer before and had instantly fallen in love with her. Her personality; the way she conveyed herself; her beauty; everything about her held him captivated. Unfortunately, she didn't feel the same way about him. Or, at least, she didn't show it, though he did pick up on hints here and there. A couple weeks after he had met her he had made friends with the rest of her family. "I'd better move," said Noel, snapping back to reality and looking around. "I'm too vulnerable out here."
He slowly and cautiously descended to the bottom of the ravine and started to set up his stuff. 'I'd better scout out the terrain to make sure this is the place I want,' Noel thought. As he walked around, Noel decided to scout uphill, too, just in case. As he was scouting, he looked for all possible escape routes, such as ditches, climbable trees, and straight-aways. By the time he was finished night had already fallen. "Alrighty then, now that I've set up camp, the next area of business is finding the last pendent. Where could it be?" wondered Noel aloud.
While thinking, Noel decided to take a walk around the neighborhood, being the nice night it was. It was in the high sixties and a full moon was out and the stars were shining brightly. 'You know, if everything was actually normal around here, this might seem more relaxing,' he mused, as he pulled the hood of his cloak up over his head, hiding his face. Since the sun was no longer out, he had put away his sunglasses, but his cap still hung low over his brow.
"Hey, you!" yelled a voice from behind him, snapping him out of his thoughts. "Stop!" Noel turned to the side saw a police officer calling out to him through the passenger side window of his car. Noel's first thought was to turn and run, but he decided to stay and see what the officer wanted. "I got a call about a suspicious person walking around here. Where do you live?" asked the police officer.
"In the neighborhood," he replied coolly and in his deepest voice.
"What's your name?"
'My name?' he thought. 'Crap, I need a name!' He racked his brain for a quick solution and, suddenly, he saw it. "Ravine. Nova Ravine."
"Nova Ravine, eh? How about you hop in the back and let's take a ride to the station? I have a few questions to ask you."
"Fire away," Noel replied, wishing that he hadn't said those exact words.
"Just hop in the cruiser," he commanded with a more authoritative tone.
"Sorry, officer, no can do. Now if you don't have anything to ask me then I'll be on my way," he replied, turning to walk away. When he heard the driver side door pop open he started into a slight jog.
"Freeze!" the officer shouted. "You're under arrest!"
'Over my dead, rotting corpse,' Noel thought, bursting out into a full-blown run. The officer was hot on his trail, but after a few weeks in the wild, his instincts had immediately taken over. 'If I go back to my hiding place, I'll definitely lose that advantage. However, how am I going to get this guy off my tail long enough to lose him?' He dashed into the woods and began zigzagging through the trees, hoping that everything the officer was wearing would slow him down. Fortunately, his maneuver had bought him some time, but his energy was draining quickly and he knew that he wouldn't be able to hold out much longer. After the last couple of days, his energy was completely spent. 'I've got one shot at this; better make it count!' He headed for a ridge that he had seen earlier and jumped off and hid next to the wall of dirt with his dark cloak covering him. With any luck, he would blend in with the shadows.
A couple of tense minutes later, the officer arrived and shined his flashlight around the dark area. "I know I saw him jump off here. Argh, I lost him!" He turned and headed back to his cruiser, Noel slightly behind him. "This is car ten reporting back to HQ. Suspect escaped, but I believe he lives in the area. Request backup to continue search tomorrow, over."
"Affirmative, car ten, return to HQ," came the crackly reply.
"Ten-four, over. Car ten out."
'That was way too close for comfort,' Noel thought, leaning up against the tree. 'I can't stay here any longer. Too many people are looking for me. I'm gonna have to move on to a different city,' he mused sadly. He slowly and tiredly walked back to camp and immediately fell asleep in the hidden make-shift bed underneath a bush.
The next morning he woke up sore and hardly rested. 'Hopefully the Pendent of Wisdom is somewhere around here and that I can find within the next twenty-four hours,' he thought, pulling his things together and placing his disguise fully on again. He hiked up the slope cautiously to fully stretch out his sore muscles, when he heard he heard talking and laughter along with the sound of metal accidentally hitting rock.
He stood at the end of the Smithers' gravel driveway and looked around to see where the noise was coming from, just to find Alice and her mother working on their flowerbed. He stood there for some time, wishing that everything could be like it once was. "Mom, who is that?" Alice asked. Alice was about Noel's height. She was very beautiful, with flowing brunette hair that reached just slightly past her shoulders and greenish blue eyes. She had fair skin and an aura of curiosity that showed through her ever-present smile. He was wearing a pretty pink T-shirt and blue-jean culottes. It was no surprise where Alice got her beauty. Her mother looked very much the same way she did. She had long brunette hair that stretched to her shoulders, and was about half a foot taller than Alice did.
"I don't know," her mother answered curiously, but cautiously. She didn't seem particularly comfortable with a hooded stranger staring at her and her daughter. "Let's…see if he's lost and needs directions. He might be too shy to ask." Noel was still deep in thought when they started toward him. In fact, he was so deep in thought that he didn't notice that they were headed right for him. When at last his senses came back to him, he realized he couldn't move!
"I'm…I'm paralyzed!" he whispered. He tried to run, but found that he still couldn't. He decided just to relax and go along for what was coming.
"Hi," said Mrs. Smithers when she got to him.
"Hello," Noel replied, slightly bowing his head in respect.
"Where do you live? I haven't seen you around lately," she asked.
"Around," Noel answered deeply.
"Please excuse us, we haven't properly introduced ourselves. My name is Jennifer Smithers, and this is my daughter Alice," said Mrs. Smithers, still a little unnerved by the mysterious stranger.
"What's your name?" Alice asked.
"My name? Sorry, but I don't really ever use my name. I'm just a lonely traveler. A wanderer, if you will," he answered, and quickly changed the subject. "Anyway, what were you doing?"
"We were planting flowers," replied Mrs. Smithers, agreeing to the change.
"Yeah, it relieves some stress," said Alice. Just then, Noel saw her drop her head down.
"Your daughter seems troubled, how come?" Noel asked Mrs. Smithers.
"Well," she said as she started to explain, "a friend of hers ran away from his home, and has been missing ever since. She's a little worried about him," she said and then added, "…we all are."
"Do you mind if I ask the friend's name?" he asked.
"Noel Rivers," Mrs. Smithers answered.
"I'm sorry for prying, but why did he run away?" Noel asked again.
"That's the thing, we don't know," she replied.
They could see a slight smile forming underneath his hood. "Don't worry," Noel said comfortingly, as he turned to Alice and put his hand on her shoulder, "I'm sure he'll show up." He wished he could tell her, but he knew it might put them in danger.
Suddenly, a loud roar came from the lake and the earth shuddered. "What's in the world was that?" asked Noel in terror, as he ran to the edge of the hill to see what the disturbance was.
"That's the lake beast. It appeared a couple of weeks ago. It shows up a couple of days and then disappears again. The occurrences are more random than anything. People want to sail, but everybody's afraid that it'll show up while they're out there." Alice replied.
"Can't anybody stop it?" he asked.
"There have been people who've tried, but everybody has failed," Mrs. Smithers told him. "It's invincible."
"We'll see about that," Noel said with determination in his voice.
A/N: By now you know the drill...read and review.
