The Cosplayers of Ratatosk
Well, welcome to another chapter! I'm so sorry this took so long ' i was... busy... yeah, thats it. ;) but in all seriousness, i am so sorry! Thanks to Dr. Bob and the one who writes the ones for reveiwing!
Other than that, not much to say here, so enjoy!
Chapter 4: Into the adventure
"Oh man, my head hurts! How did she deal with this?" Lauren sat up, her head pounding. She had only seen one person since last night, and he had left as suddenly as he had appeared. It didn't help that she hadn't eaten since lunch.
Why me? Why is it always me? Lauren thought. Whenever Aaron gets one of his crazy schemes, whenever one of my friends gets in trouble, I always take the fall! I just wish that this one didn't have to be so painful...
Slowly, she started to sit up. Come to think of it, why am I all wet? It must have rained when I was unconsious. Once she finally got her bearings, she began to walk towards the city's entrance, but it was difficult for more than one reason.
The city was absolutely devastated. Everywhere she looked, there were signs of destruction. Smoldering planks of wood lay scattered across the ground, interspersed with the bodies of the wounded and dead. The smell alone threatened to overwhelm her, but she continued on.
"How terrible... how could they do this?" Lauren wondered aloud. It was nowhere near as bad in the game. How... how could this happen?
"I agree."
"What?!" Lauren gave a little jump, and looked around to see if there was anyone she had missed. "Who's there?"
"I am," The same voice as before said. "And you are absolutely right. It's terrible that they would do this. I can't believe that it's partially my fault."
"Who are you? And more importantly, where are you?" Lauren looked side to side. There was no sign of any people that would be fit to talk so easily that she could see, so she was rather confused.
"I'm right here," The voice said, "and my name is Marta, although i would've thought you could tell. You are in my body, after all."
Now, Lauren is normally a rather sensible person. She would even say that she is quite calm, although certain others might like to disagree. So, what is any sensible person to do when they discover a voice in their head, who is the owner of the body they are now possesing? Why, freak out, of course.
"What?! Oh no. Oh no, oh no, oh no. This cannot be happening. Now, not only am I stuck in some game, I've got a voice in my head. Perfect. Just fan-tucking-fastic."
"You are not crazy. And this is not just 'some game' . I don't know where you are from, but this is my life you're messing with now! I need to get back to where I was."
"What do you mean 'where you were'?"
"My time. I need to find my way back to help everyone."
"Do you mean, like, Emil and everyone?"
"Yes, how did you know? You are obviously not from Sylvarant, and even a Tethe'allan wouldn't be so in denial."
"Well, belive it or not, were I'm from, alot of people know your story. There is a game series called 'Tales of Symphonia', and it tells all of your stories. So, when were you? Do you know... about Emil?"
"yes, I do know, and no, I don't care. I love him, no matter who he is. We were about to enter the ginnungagap when i felt like i was pulled backwards. Next thing I know, I'm trapped in my own body, just waiting for you to wake up."
"Oh, okay then." Lauren sighed. This was all a more than a bit over her head. "Well, do you have any idea what we're supposed to do next? After all, we should follow the plot."
"After the attack, I headed to the nearest house of salvation. It's about two days south-east of here. I met Tenebrae-you know him too, I guess- on the way. And don't call my life a plot! It's a little rude, you know."
"Geez, sorry. And yes, I do know Tenebrae, but how am I supposed to get to there? I don't even know how to fight!
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They had found him alone, clutching the hand of a dead woman. Tears ran down his face, and his pale hair had ash, soot, and blood mixed into it. He wouldn't talk, and they could barely get him to eat.
Days later, the boy moved slowly, limping slightly. He had been told that there were carriges outside of the city, and that he would be safe. He wasn't too sure what they meant by that. He hadn't wanted to leave the city, to leave his mother. But if they told him what to do, he would do it. It was a simple plan, just his basic self preservation. He wasn't always this way, and maybe he could move past it, but he was too weak and hopless to really care. Onwards, to Luin. He would be safe there, with his aunt and uncle.
Safe.
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"Well," Marta started, "like I said, the house of salvation is southeast from here. My spinner is in my bag, and you can strap it around your wrist. Try using it a bit before you leave town."
"Okay." Lauren replied, after finding the spinner. It was rather light, and there was no real difficulty getting it on. Once she found the switch to unlock the blades, she was able to spin it around a few times. It was easy to control, and she felt like she already knew what she was doing.
"Muscle memory," Marta said in answer to her unasked question. "Even though you've never done this before, it's still my body. Try using an arte. Cresent dance was the first one I learned, and you should be able to do it with ease."
Lauren walked past the town boundry, and found a small tree that she could practice on. She yelled out the words, and her body fell fluidly into the motion. It really was just as easy as Marta said it was. She practiced for a few minutes, before her she felt exausted.
"Watch it!" Marta yelled in her head, making Lauren cringe. "You can't just go and use artes as you feel like it, or you'll use up all your mana stores!"
"So, it's like TP? You have a meter, and you run out"
"I guess so. Raine once mentioned that mana to the body is like a lifeline. And that bad thngs can happen if you run out."
"Okay, I get it. So don't overuse artes, right? Anything else I should know before i acidentally get us killed?"
" yes, actually. Stop talking out loud. If we run into people, they're going to think that you're crazy!"
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"Leaving so soon?"
A short blonde girl walked up to the dark haired man, her childish demeanor sheilding her true intentions. She was no fool, despite her actions. She would have her time.
"Things have already been set in motion. I need to find that girl if our plan is to ever work. It's already been long enough for her to have made it at least ten kilometers out of the city. There is no time to wait."
"Hmph. Fine, have it your way. I'll see you around~" the girl said, with a giggle. She couldn't waste time on his problem, after all, she had her own veangence to plan.
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A few days later, Lauren felt like she just had to give up. Marta kept talking in her head, the monsters seemed to come out of nowhere, and even though she was getting near the house of salvation, she still couldn't find Tenebrae!
"Don't worry! I'm sure you'll find him somewhere around here! He might just be having an afternoon nap."
"For the third day in a row? I'm not so sure anymore."
She had been slowly progressing through the plains for almost a week now, and apart from her run in with the caravaner's, she had seen no other people. Hope was becoming a foreign concept to her.
"Lets face it, Marta. There's no way we're going to run into him now. Let's just move on, and maybe he'll find Emil without us." The conversation was over.
Lauren sat down in the middle of the feild, utterly defeated. Only six days in this world, and she just couldn't take it. She wasn't made for this, not born for adventure. And it had never been clearer for her until now. While wallowing in her worries, she failed to notice the shadow looming over her, growing bigger and bigger, until the monster moved to strike.
"Watch out!"
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A/n. Please don't hate me for the ending, but it was the best way to end the chapter. ^^ who is the mysterious person that called out to Lauren? How will she get out of this mess? Find out next time, on dragonball ZEEEEE!
(Okay, enough with the cheesy ending)sorry Aaron didn't find Lauren, but it just didn't work here and now. vv'
in all seriousness though, I hope you enjoyed!
Please come back next time!
(And once agian, feel free to piont out my atroushious spellnig)