I know it's been a while since I last updated, but I haven't had that much time to write chapters down. I might have to just type the chapters since I'm on the computer more than I have time to write in my notebook. For those of you that didn't see my announcement, I will try to update at least once a month.
I came up with the idea for this chapter after reading Seeker Heart's review. I hope this explains a bit.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything, but my characters and the plot.
November 10, 1688
In the Massachusetts Bay colony, there was a small town that no one but the people that lived there cared about. It really didn't have anything other than every day crops that the other towns sold, too. It did have one important factor that the others didn't. A few of the men were pirate hunters that received extra money for the capture of famous pirates from the governor.
These men helped the town stay alive by employing adolescent men to work for them and young girls to take care of their properties while they were away. Eight of the men in the town were pirate hunters who hated the thought of their town being called useless and unimportant. They made sure to disguise themselves as men wishing to join a pirate crew so they had an upper hand that other hunters didn't. They became well-liked within the crews of their victims. Hardly any pirates were spared.
But let's get back to our small little town, shall we? The mayor of this town was a strong built, well-mannered man by the name of Richard Atlas. He has two children and a wife who is six feet under. She died in the child birth of their third child who died alongside their mother. Unlike the governors that the king sends to the colony, Richard has short blonde hair as if he'd been working in the fields all his life, venetian red eyes, and a pale complexion. He wore brown knee length britches and long white stockings, a white linen shirt with a faded blue jacket, and the shoes he wore were black and had a strange buckle.
His two children were complete opposites of each other. The oldest, Jack, was a male with spiky blonde hair, his mother's violet eyes, and a pale complexion like his father. He was very temperamental and acted as if he ruled the town, but had a gentle side that most saw underneath the harsh attitude. He was considered what we would call a ladies man today. The youngest and second child, Scarlet, was a female with long brown hair that she never wore up, violet, red eyes, and a skin that was easily burned by Ra's violent rays. She was considered the sweetest and most charming young lady until someone threatened her friends because then she became vicious in her retribution.
For two children so different, they got along just fine although there were times when Scarlet would play with fire, Jack's temper. It helped that they had the same group friends who settled their arguments. They decided when they were younger that they would be friends with each other's friends. It worked out just fine until now since they were teenagers. Jack was fifteen and Scarlet thirteen.
Their friends weren't bothered by the fact at all, but then again only the twins were siblings like Jack and Scarlet, and it's hard when you figure out your brother likes one of your best friends. Which is exactly what Scarlet found out today, it angered and confused the thirteen year old.
"Jack," she whined, "why did you have to fall for Carol? She is my only friend who can tell me about life on the farm. Aki is a wealthy business man's only daughter, and Mist is an apprentice to the innkeeper's wife."
"I can't help myself. Besides Scar, father would never approve of me courting someone below my rank," He tried to explain to his young sister.
They were about to leave the mayor's house which was one of the nicer buildings in Hopeston. Their friends were waiting for them in the clearing of the forest where no one ever went. Right now, the two were late because of their father calling them to a meeting and their small battle. Another thing Scarlet didn't like was being late for a meeting with their friends.
They arrived ten minutes late and their friends were nowhere in sight. Scarlet thought they were hiding while Jack thought they hadn't arrived yet. Another argument ensued since the two almost never agreed on any subject. They stopped when the bushes started to giggle. Scarlet crept slowly towards the bushes and pulled out the twins, Rua and Ruka.
"Got you!" the brown haired girl yelled. "Now where are the others, and by others I mean Aki, Mist, Carol, Kalin, and Crow?"
"I don't know," Rua laughed before getting really hyper. "How did you find us? You won't find the others. Have you ever met a pirate?"
"Bushes don't laugh. We will, and no we have never met a pirate, and we never will," Jack answered confidently.
Scarlet managed to convince the twins to help them find the rest so they set off further in the forest in search of the rest of their gang. They split up into three groups: the twins went north, Jack set off east, and Scarlet took off towards setting sun. The twins met up with Aki just as they had planned when Crow figured that the two would be late. Jack and Scarlet would meet up with them later very confused.
Jack's rage was growing the further he trudged with no sign what so ever of Aki, Mist, Carol, Kalin, or Crow. When he found the birdbrain or so called mastermind, he were murder them by either strangulation or bashing their heads into a tree with his bare hands, but he didn't want to stain his white shirt with their blood so more likely strangulation. Even though the three had been friends since they could walk, Jack didn't get along well with either as well anymore. Maybe it had something to do with his little sister; he didn't know.
Suddenly he was slammed to the ground by a tremendous force he couldn't register. He did feel his hands being tied behind his back with rope, but the hands that were tying him felt feminine. He lost all consciousness with five minutes.
Scarlet on the other hand was having the time of her life. Although she chose not to tell her brother what their friends had been planning this past month, she knew what was going on, and all she had to do was find Kalin and Crow to surprise him. She ran through the woods trying to remember the exact directions they had given her.
She arrived at a clearing that she had never been to before and began to wander towards a strange monument in the clearing when a net covered her. Two men she recognized grabbed the net and carried her off.
Roughly twenty minutes later, Jack and Scarlet along with their captors met up with the masterminds of this plot and their caretaker for the time being. The two eight year olds had so much fun planning the kidnapping and meeting. The fourteen year old girl who was taking care of them for the time being was in her own world thinking about an older man who was trying to court her to no avail at the moment.
"Rua! Ruka! What were you two thinking?" Scarlet screeched from inside the net causing her brother to wake up. "You don't kidnap someone in broad daylight. You wait until it's night."
"Scarlet, why are you even telling them to kidnap people," Jack moaned from the pain in his head.
"Sorry Jack, but it was the only way to keep you from running off in the middle of our meetings," Aki explained. "By the way it was Rua and Ruka's plan."
"Alright, it's time to get this meeting started," Rua yelled ready for the daily report. "Kalin, you start."
"Nothing new, kid. Although there were some people sneaking around our clearing a few days ago, it would probably be best if we don't return there for a while," Kalin warned before Crow began his report.
"The blacksmith's getting a lot more orders in for weapons. I guess more people wanted to be protected in case one of the other towns tries to attack again since we get along great with the natives. Also there's no news from Tenzen, Himuro, or Saiga."
"Everything is fine in the country side," Carol reported before turning sour. "Mr. Jones seems to be trying to stir up trouble again."
"I haven't noticed anything at the shop other Divine spending more time around," Aki sighed not even wanting to go into details.
"I have been having strange visions," Mist began which gained everyone's full attention. "There's this ship that seems so familiar. Once I'm on this ship, I see a whip crashing down on one section of the ship. It eventually stops only to be replaced by a knife. The knife tears that section to pieces. I think it means that someone on that ship is being harmed in some way."
"Mist, it's probably a nightmare that means nothing. You only have visions about people you meet or know so this probably isn't one," Kalin assured her since Mist had begun to cry for the stress of the vision.
"I don't think so. I think it's about someone I will meet that will play an important role in our futures," she explained.
"Father's is being pressured into making new laws that benefit the governor," Scarlet said trying to give her friend some time.
"I want to meet the man Saiga writes about in his letters. He seems so nice from the way Saiga speaks of him," Rua changed the subject because that was all the reports. "I wonder what he's doing right now."
Saiga was in his quarter on the ship once again. After a week of relaxation the captain decided to set sail again this time towards the Spanish colonies in the New World. Luckily, their hideout wasn't too far from the for mentioned colonies, but still Saiga had to study the maps. His mind was somewhere else entirely. He was worried because the captain had called Yusei to his quarters most likely for punishment of challenging orders yesterday. Saiga knew one thing about the boy that he liked: he sure didn't like following orders to kill an innocent, had determination, and wasn't afraid of the punishment he would receive for disobeying. He guessed by that the fifteen year old would be gone for five hour when the boy returned two hours later; his breathing was ragged.
"What happened this time?" Saiga asked worried about his condition.
"Fudo! How many times have I had to do this?" The captain yelled at the mentioned youth.
'You'll have to as many as I disobey,' was the correct answer but the youth instead choice to speak words that would doom him, "You'll do it as many times as you order me to kill someone who has done me no harm, or as many as you please."
The captain grabbed a handful of the boy's hair to make him yell out it pain, but he didn't angering the captain even more. He pushed the young man towards the wall of his quarters and while the boy was disorientated, he turned him and locked his wrists into the chains on the wall. He tore the shirt's back to where the fifteen year old's back was exposed. He then proceeded to whip the poor boy even after he started to bleed. The boy didn't cry out or scream knowing that was what the captain wanted to hear. After about thirty lashes, the whipping stopped. The boy felt the chains on his wrist unlock and himself being turned to face the captain but did not respond because the pain was too much to bear.
When the captain spoke again it was if the devil himself was speaking, "Fudo, I don't think ye understand how to follow orders so maybe this will teach ye."
He then pulled out his dagger and ran it across the boy's throat making sure to allow his disobedient crew member to know he could slit his throat if he wanted to. He grabbed Fudo's right arm and began to cut it to where nearly every inch of his arm was covered in blood.
The captain's next words were the worst part, "Now ye and I are goin' to play a little game here. I'm sure ye will be in extreme pain."
The young man shuddered at the memory of two hours ago. His punishment today was worse than any he had ever received. The beatings he could handle but the other part he couldn't. When his breathing returned to normal, Saiga gave him something to drink.
"He's never done anything that bad," Saiga commented after hearing the tale of what Captain Takasu had done to his young friend.
"I guess I angered him with my answer," Yusei sighed. "I really wish I didn't now though."
"Maybe if you obeyed orders you wouldn't have suffered," the navigator replied before shaking his head.
"I still wouldn't even if he tied me down and tried to kill me," The defiant fifteen year old.
"He's probably trying to find a way to bring those filthy, murderous pirates to our town," Jack suggested having gotten over his minor concussion.
"Do you really think Saiga, Tenzen, and Himuro are fine? I am just worried that they might have been found out," Ruka explained.
"Don't worry, Ruka. I know them and they will pull through without a scratch," Scarlet assured the young girl. "I found something I think you guys should take a look at in another clearing. Come on."
They all followed the brown haired girl to through the forest to the clearing where she had been kidnapped by Kalin and Crow. When they arrived and saw the strange monument, they were confused about what it was. Aki walked towards the monument and touched it before anyone could protest. They were blinded by a white light that seemed to surround Aki and the monument that looked a dragon like serpent. When the light receded, Aki stood staring at the monument with understanding eyes. She started to sway, and Crow caught her.
Kalin could see that Crow cared about Aki by looking in his eyes. He knew the burgundy haired girl would never know because Crow wouldn't tell her. He decided to let love flow its own course instead of get involved.
Aki woke up a few minutes later with full remembrance of what she had accepted. She accepted the fact that she was a white witch that wouldn't use her new powers for evil and would try to stop the use of black magic. She also figured out what Mist's vision meant but chose to keep that to herself since she thought he was charming.
"Aki, are you alright? You fainted, and we didn't see what happened to you in that light," Ruka asked worried about her friend.
"I am fine, Ruka. I don't know what happened either," she lied since she knew people were afraid of witches and that they sold their souls to the devil. 'I don't want to concern them or get myself killed for witchcraft. When I meet him, I will tell him what I am since he will not be afraid of me.'
"So what are we going to do now?" Rua asked wondering out loud.
"We could mess with the town folk," Crow suggested.
"No, they would suspect us," Jack explained. "Besides we still haven't explained how that wolf ended up in town."
"We could explore the forest," Carol suggested. "There might be a lake somewhere if we look hard enough."
"Let's get going then," Rua shouted before anyone could object or agree.
They set off past the monument following a stream with the twins in the lead since they knew the forest better than anyone, and believed that the stream would lead to a lake. The twins were in the front as always followed by Mist, Kalin, Crow, Scarlet, and Aki. Jack was in the rear sulking with Carol right beside him.
The twins were the first to see the body of water. The lake wasn't very large, but it was a fairly good sized lake. In their joy, the others realized that they had found the lake. Rua ran to the lake and jumped right in. Ruka, Mist, Kalin, Carol, Aki, and Crow soon followed the energetic young boy. The girls were still in their dresses and boys in their shirts and pants since they weren't that comfortable undressing in front of members of the opposite sex. Jack, of course, didn't join in the fun, but with the way Carol looked at the moment he was thinking about it.
Scarlet was not in the water for an entirely different reason. Whenever she entered the water, her skin would become ghostly pale. So far only Jack knew about her 'condition' as they called it. The siblings believed it was their mother trying to reach out to them through Scarlet. She looked up and noticed that Kalin was swimming towards the middle of the lake where it was deeper. She didn't know why, but she felt compelled to dive in and swim towards him for some odd reason. It was as if something bad would happen if she didn't. 'Please Lord, don't let my skin color change and let me help my friend,' she silently prayed.
The brown haired girl dived in the water and swam under the water towards her friend. As she got closer, she came to realize Kalin's skin was deathly pale, and he started to sink down. She dove underwater, grabbed her icy haired friend's waist, and dragged him to the shore. She called for her brother's help after she laid him on the grassy fields. This gained the attention of the rest of their friends bringing them towards their three friends on shore. Jack searched to see if their friend was breathing. The twins, Mist, Carol, Scarlet, and Crow watched worriedly as Jack tried to see if Kalin was alive. Aki knew how to save him but couldn't say anything since Jack wouldn't let anyone talk.
After Jack had given up, Aki finally spoke up. "I can save him if you let me try."
"Why didn't you say something before, Aki?!" Jack screamed at the burgundy haired witch.
"You didn't let anyone speak until now, Jack," the girl replied.
Aki knelt down beside their dying friend; for a moment she seemed to be praying. She placed her hands, palms down hands clinched, on his chest before applying pressure as Negro Rosa instructed. The spirit had been with her ever since she accepted the offer to become a witch. The spirit explained that she was here to guide her on her path. She had also mentioned that there were others like her by the names of Hada Antiguo, Estrella, Demonios Rojos, Pluma Negro, and La Vida Corriente. After a few minutes, Kalin coughed and began to breathe again. Congratulations went out to Aki for bringing Kalin back to life.
Aki was glad that Kalin was alive because she didn't know what they would do if she didn't and was worried that they would find out what she had become. If they told the townsfolk, she would be burned at the stake or hanged by the neck until pronounced dead. She knew the punishment for witchcraft since she read the books in her father's shop when she helped out and had nothing to do. They couldn't find out now at least not until he arrived. His choices would help determine her fate. If he was like the others, then she would clearly be as good as dead. She knew he was different though because she could since that he was and will always be different from everyone else. Why did she choose this fate of all the ones she could have? Why choose to be a witch knowing that death would be the most likely fate if someone found her out? There was a simple answer that she could barely explain herself. Maybe he could explain it to her later on.
The light was blinding to Aki, but a voice kept telling her that everything would be alright. She could tell it was feminine, soft, and gentle but had an underlying tone she couldn't place. She didn't understand why it was speaking to her of all people since she was the daughter of an unknown small business man, but it made her believe that she would become someone important.
"Open your eyes, child. There is nothing to be afraid of," it whispered to the burgundy haired girl who had laid her hand upon the dragon statue.
Aki opened her eyes and saw a black haired women standing in front of her. The women looked to be in her early twenties and wore a long, flowing rose colored dress, her eyes were hidden from the nearly fourteen year old, and she wore black lace up boots that came above her ankles. She was stunningly beautiful with her fair skin and would make any man want her with just a glance.
"Who are you, and where are we?" the confused girl probed the older woman.
The two were standing the middle of a rose garden with several different types of roses. Aki felt at home in this beautiful garden for some odd reason almost as if she had lived or been here before. Even though she loved the colors of the flowers, the amber eyed girl noticed that there were a few black roses and she felt drawn to the dark flower.
"I have several different names that people have called me as do my brothers and sister. The most common is Negro Rosa. You are in my domain of roses, pain, and surprisingly young love. I can't explain that last one without going into detail about my lover," she explained to the young teenager in front of her.
"Who are your brothers and sister if you don't mind me asking?" the cat like girl asked her confusion changing to curiosity.
"My you do ask many questions, but I will answer that as long as I can ask you one," Nergo Rosa replied, and after receiving a nod in answer she continued. "My sister is Hada Antiguo while my brothers are Demonios Rojos, Pluma Negro, and La Vida Corriente. My brother and lover is Estrella. Now my question is would you like the power to save people's lives and changes events in your life?"
"What do you mean 'power to save people's lives and change events in your life'?" she replied. "What would happen to me?"
The woman sighed, "I mean would you like to become a witch, use your magic for the forces of good, and defeat witches and creatures that use their powers for the forces of evil?"
Aki thought about the offer for a minute or two before giving the powerful woman an answer that she didn't expect. "I will become one if you are my guardian and guide me in the right direction."
The women smiled and replied simply this, "I will, my child. I will always be with you as long as you live and after your life until your soul finally rests in peace."
Aki felt some pain enter her body after accepting the offer she had been given and had a vision showing her a man a year and a half older than her being beaten and tortured. It was the first time she had seen a man without a shirt on so she blushed, but the blush faded when she realized he was in pain and needed help from someone. The pain subsided as the vision began to disappear.
"Hush, child. He will be alright," Negro Rosa comforted the young girl while holding her as if a mother would hold and comfort their child. "Hada Antiguo and Estrella are watching over him to make sure that he will live. I can't guarantee his safety since they see it fit to allow him to be hurt to teach him things that will serve him later in life."
"You are sure they are watching over him? I don't know why, but I don't want him to die," the girl looked up at Rosa as she had dubbed.
"Yes, I am sure they are," Rosa replied.
Once Kalin felt like all the water was out of his lungs, he asked his friends what happened, and they readily explained. Kalin was shocked to find out that two girls had saved his life while Jack couldn't do a single thing, and Crow stood by and did nothing to improve his condition. He did thank Scarlet and Aki for saving his life before motioning for Jack and Crow to follow him a little ways away. He made sure that they were out of range so that the girls couldn't hear what they were saying.
"I have only one question," he stated barely able to control his voice. "Why didn't either of you do anything to help me?"
"I tried," Jack mumbled barely audible.
"I didn't know what was going on, Kal. Sorry about that though," Crow answered his head bowed.
"I guess I can forgive you two then," Kalin sighed. "Jack when are you going to tell Carol you are falling for her? Crow the same goes for you."
"Kalin!" the two boys yelled at their friend who had nearly died a few moments ago.
"I just was asking a question," the golden eyed boy laughed knowing his friends all too well. He continued to laugh until Jack finally threatened to pummel him to a pulp in very different language and words. "Let's get to back to the girls and twins before they send someone out to search for us."
The rest of the day went on very uneventful unless you count the twins getting everyone chased by a huge grey wolf. Wait that is so let me explain what occurred to make it happen.
The group of friends were still at the lake although this time Jack and Scarlet had decided to join everyone in the water. Jack was near Carol talking to her as if it was a normal day, and he didn't have feelings for her at all. Aki was floating on the water trying to think of what to say to the boy she saw in that vision when he arrived at their town; Crow was right beside her trying to get her attention, but she continued to ignore his presence and think about the boy. Kalin wasn't going to try to go out as far after his near death experience and the others agreed that he shouldn't even try. Scarlet and Mist were talking in the shallow water about Mist's vision and Scarlet's love problem. None of them were watching the twins who had by this point gotten tired of being in the lake and snuck off.
At the moment, the two identical teal haired kids were further in the woods in the opposite direction in which they had came to get to the lake that they had been in. They were searching for anything that could entertain them long enough so they wouldn't have to return to the lake and their friends. The two had been walking for at least ten minutes when they came upon a small cave; that was in reality a wolves den where their pups were being hidden. The twins thought it would be a good place to hide from their friends who by this time had noticed their disappearance. The twin teal haired trouble makers ran into the dark, damp cave not expecting the events to follow, but then again no one ever expects the unexpected. The further the two explored the caves the less they could hear the outside world and their friends' frantic calls. They finally stumbled upon the wolves' den and the pups. Of course the twins didn't know these pups were wild wolf pups that would become the townsfolk's enemy. The pups were so adorable to the twins that they wanted to take them home and care for them as pets if their parents allowed them that is. Rua and Ruka each grabbed a pup and proceeded to carry it out of the cave only to run into the mother. The mother took one look at her pups in the arms of the twins before she started growling at the frightened eight year olds. The twins put the pups down and ran out of the cave with the mother wolf at their heels.
"HELP!" they screamed scared of what would happen if the mother wolf caught up with them.
Their cry for help brought their friends to their rescue for a bit before the wolf howled and other wolves came to help her in her chase. Crow picked up Ruka, and Kalin picked up Rua before they took off running for their lives. Every time they thought they had lost the wolf pack another jumped in the way of their escape route. This went on for at least thirty minutes before the girls had enough sense to climb the trees to where the wolves couldn't reach them. Unfortunately, the boys didn't exactly think about that until they heard the girls shout at them to climb as if they were idiots. Kalin and Crow let the twins climb up before they scurried up the tree as well. Jack on the other hand just climbed up not caring if he would fall or be wolf bait.
The wolves stalked the trees waiting for their victims to come down so they could attack. They would bark at the tree every once and a while to see what reaction that they got from the thieves and their rescuers. After about an hour, the wolves decided they had had enough fun tormenting the poor souls trapped in the trees and left to hunt again.
Once the group was sure that the wolf pack was gone, they climbed down the trees slowly and decided to return to the town for a day's worth. They knew they would need the rest with all the stress that was put on them this day although it was one of the more mild days that they had had in a very long time. Who knew what would happen the next day, week, month, and year? Although the biggest surprise would happen in two years, it would shock and excite the friends, and it would answer some of the questions that they had today. That day would be the best day of their lives, and they didn't even know what would happen. Since they didn't expect the unexpected today, they might not then or ever, but please expect the unexpected and have no expectations.
Well there's this chapter. First I want to make something clear: I didn't mean to offend anyone by using the word Negro, but it happened to be the Spanish word that went with two of the names I used. I am really sorry if I offended anyone at all. Also I'm putting up a poll and I want to know what you guys think it will be on my profile.
Now since I had no guesses on who Hada Antiguo was I will extend the period of time for guesses, but now I am adding the names of Estrella, Demonios Rojos, Pluma Negro, Nergo Rosa and La Vida Corriente. I hope to get some guesses since they play a bigger role later on. I'll offer a small spoiler for the first person that guessing correctly or close enough to correct.
Please review.