Chapter 11 of Born to Burn, by Trojanpony.
Hi everyone. I'm back from my hols', with new ideas from my 10-day long stint without even looking at a computer. I still wince at the horror.
Anyways, I would start with saying sorry to KIIR (That's the correct spelling right?) for spelling her name Kirr instead of Kiir. Yea. And also ZackAttack, I do not have AIM nor want to divulge any personal stuff, and I'm from Singapore. Don't my sentences contradict each other? You see, first I say that I don't have AIM and do not want to divulge any personal stuff, but then in the same sentence I divulged personal stuff. Well actually there is not much personal stuff, as Singapore is home to millions of people, and all of them added together is not really personal and…
Random person: "SHUT THE &$)#& UP!"
Ok.
And basically everyone who reads my little FF, for not updating for so long (like a whole 2 months!). Writer's block, see.
Also congrats to Maplesea for releasing the 4th world Delphinus! (is that the spelling?)Stay in Bootes folks!
By the way, this chapter will explain some of the stuff Eien Kaosu PMed me, so when she releases Chapter 3 don't say that she copied me or whatever.
ShadowArch will feature briefly in this chapter. (He has priority as he is the ONLY bad character)
Now on to more serious stuff, such as disclaimers.
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DISCLAIMER (OBVIOUSLY)
I own Trojanpony/NAKAMARA/me, as well as this story, (though mostly a slipshod combination of various fics I have read). The rest of the characters like Heiji, and KIIR, as well as DaBig…DaGreat I do not own. Whatever info about items or weapons or monsters came from Hidden Street, who got the info from Maplestory.
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"Remember… you set off tomorrow, and I expect to hear good news!"
"Yes Sir!"
"Shut. Up."
"Yes…Oh."
"Good. Now go."
After the group left, he sat in silence for a while, brooding over the situation.
"I'm hungry."
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Chapter 11: Escape!
A large group of people who looked like teenagers/children stepped off the ship that had returned from the long trip to Ossyria. They looked rather young and inexperienced for being out of Victoria Island. Maybe that's the reason they came back. Judging by their pretty lousy equipment, they looked too weak to be running round Sleepywood, much less Ossyria. A young archer who looked fresh out from Athena's school (First Job, mind you), he bounced around with all the bubbly excitement of a kid with a new toy.
The rest of the 20-strong crowd, though wearing equipment of about that level, just milled around looking bored, embarrassed even.
The archer burst into the Sesame Street Theme song, really off-tune.
"Sunny Day, Sing along! Clap your hands! On our way, to where the air is free! Lalalalalalalalalalalalalalala…."
Another kid piqued up.
"Shut it ShadoArch…there's no one here and you don't have to really act like a total retarded n00b."
"Yeah, but Sir told us to make it convincing."
"Sigh…whatever… you lead the way then."
"Yay! Then Letsa'go!"
Now humming the Mario song, he bounced off, stopping occasionally to "Can I plz have 10k plzplz?" people. Shaking their heads and sighing, the rest of Strike Team A3 followed ShadoArch.
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A few hours ago, at Kiir's house…
(From Heiji's POV)
I looked at Tom, who was peacefully sleeping, still wrapped in bandages.
Poor Tom, I thought, though I was about his age. You have no idea what's going on. You have only a small inkling of what's to come in our quest.
When I met Tom for the first time, I already knew he was special. Not just by his looks of course, heh heh. I could feel the power he possessed, and moreover the necklace Grendel gave me was somehow pulling me towards him. I knew then, he was the child of the prophecy. When he showed me that mark on his wrist, I almost fell over, but I kept in control, luckily. I can still remember his exact words…
Leaning towards me, he had moved his glove up, revealing a silvery line of strange symbols glowing on his wrist that I recognized as the mark of the prophecy. Keeping my cool, I managed to take a deep breath.
"Huh? Whats that?"
"Nevermind… I guess you don't really know about history…"
Tom must have known about the prophecy! But whatever info he had gotten, It most probably wasn't much, as it was the 4 Wise Leaders who combined powers to produce a prophecy that would ensure that justice would prevail even after their death. And the 4 were the only people to know of the exact nature of the prophecy, other than me, having phrased it in a misleading, negative way to confuse people.
You are looking for a flying arrow with ancient sword and the missing armor of steel…
The priest, gone to an empty battle unfulfilled and lifeless
A growing year, with burnin' lines of ivory is the key
He is the prophecy that will shake the world, that will destroy.
I slowly reread the prophecy from memory. I thought about how Trojan Pony sucked at writing prophecies. That, and how poor Tom probably thought that he would grow up into the Armageddon.
But why did he agree to go against the Order? If he did know that that guild was the Order. He probably did, seeing that the giant O was a pretty large clue.
Or…
Maybe he knew of the Order's power and has a death wish, to prevent himself from "destroying" the Maple world in the future! If he really misinterpreted the prophecy like that…
I got up to hide the knives.
After safely storing them in my inventory (So Tom would not be able to get them), I started thinking on another track.
Perhaps, Tom indeed knew everything, and was willing to take up the challenge, to destroy the Order! From what I've seen of him and that Balrog, he certainly possessed the guts.
On the other hand, he did almost die.
Nah… I'll wait for a while more to tell him what the prophecy really meant. No use scaring him off before he fulfilled his destiny.
Once again, as I did just about every other day, I get flashbacks about the strange occurrences that had led to my existence here in the first place.
Update--- Due to the EXTREMELY CONFUSING issue about Heiji's past, I have decided to postpone this till later. Sorry.
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(End of flashback)
(From Kiir's POV now…)
That was an impressive attack. Shocking how a level 56… No.. level 57 (He had leveled after killing that Balrog) could kill a Crimson Balrog E.X in one hit. However, he seems to be unable to control his Mana flow properly. Either that or it was his first time casting a spell of such magnitude. It was obvious that he did not use that kind of power when training, or he would have blacked out more times than a certain character in Omoide No Kakera. (Read it everyone! It's crucial to my story!).
He must know that he's the Child. Yeah sure he's in his teens, but people grow right? Anyway, if he didn't he would not have plainly shouted out that he was the Child of the frigging Prophecy.
Suddenly I realized something.
Danger would be coming soon.
Very soon.
Over the years, many who had read the prophecy sought to destroy the child borne from it. Many of those who were suspected were killed, only to find that there are no "lines of ivory" on them or their belongings. In fact, due to the ambiguity of the prophecy, the different ways of interpreting it cast many different types of people suspect.
You are looking for a flying arrow with ancient sword and the missing armor of steel…
The priest, gone to an empty battle unfulfilled and lifeless
A growing year, with burnin' lines of ivory is the key
He is the prophecy that will shake the world, that will destroy.
For example, the "flying arrow". What did that mean? A flying arrow frequently symbolized death. But could "flying" be a term for "running away"? or just a useless word to describe the "arrow" which could mean both a bowman, a actual arrow, or a person killed by one.
Did the "burnin' lines of ivory is the key" really mean that it was a birthmark of sorts? Or could it be more literal? Could the ivory not mean a color but the tusks of monsters? Would the "Burning lines of Ivory" then symbolize a craftsman who shaped and melted ivory? Or the Key be literal as well? Could it mean that the person in the prophecy had an ivory key? In that case most people were at suspect, even Mr Pickall.
Phew…
Anyway, that meant that a whole lot of people fell in the range of the various misinterpretations that arose from the lousy prophecy that Trojan Pony made.
One thing was certain though.
The Child was a threat to Maplekind.
And this boy…this guy Tom, was definitely the Child.
Unless of course, that…ring…those "lines of ivory" are just magical tattoos. (These magic tattoos were very popular nowadays, but one would have to be crazy to tattoo any indication or mark that might indicate that he/she was the Child. Most people don't even dare to possess anything that looked like ivory.)
Nah.
So, Tom was a threat to Maplekind.
But somehow, something tells me not to think that way.
Sorry, sidetracked.
Danger was coming.
Very soon.
It was funny how the few onlookers had not blabbed about Tom being the Child yet. Either they forgot, or they felt indebted to him for saving all of Henesys.
Nah.
Anyway, it would do good to be prepared to flee in case anything happens.
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MEANWHILE.
Strike Team A3 was walking (yes, even ShadoArch was not skipping or whatever…) through the Forest West of Henesys.
Various members of the Team started talking.
"Gee, I haven't really walked without Haste or Flash Jump for the last year… I'm so sloooowwww…."
"Well, we can't risk blowing our cover by FLASH JUMPING IN FRONT OF PEOPLE right?"
"Hey, chill! There's on one here anyway…"
"Your 50-million paycheck is waiting back at El Nath. Surely you wouldn't risk losing your life and paycheck with a little Flash Jump or Haste?"
"Now that you put it that way…"
A snail walked and bumped into one of the warriors for the umpteenth time.
1
"That's it! I'm not going to let another snail humiliate me, a level 116 Dragon Knight!"
"Chill!"
"No way man!"
Another snail started making its way towards the said warrior.
He stared at it, hands gripping his Fairfrozen, shaking in anger.
Miss
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
Then a snail spawned right in front of him.
1
"Uh oh"
"YAAA!"
DRAGON BLOOD
SPEAR BOOSTER
BUSTER
DRAGON FURY
SACRIFICE
DRAGON ROAR
OVERKILL!
Needless to say, the snail died. Everyone took two steps back from the warrior and sweatdropped.
Luckily, he calmed down.
"It's okay now. I'm cool."
"Good thing no one saw that… or you'll be dead when you go back to El Nath."
No one?
The 20 members turn towards you and wave little circles with their hands.
"You didn't see anything…"
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MEANWHILE…
In the quiet town of Henesys, a few random dudes who were at the Balrog incident suddenly realized something.
"Oh -------..."
"I've got to tell Chief Stan! It might be too late!"
Within ten minutes, 5 people were running towards Chief Stan, the respected elder of the town.
Chief Stan: "Yes? Is my son willing to come back?"
"To heck with your son! That dude who killed that Balrog was the Child!"
It took a few seconds for it to sink in.
"Wha…at? My child?"
"No! The Child of that Prophecy!"
"Oh."
"Get Athena! Hurry!"
"Why didn't you just look for her instead of me?"
"Well, we needed to give Trojanpony some dialogue to write!"
Anyways, they finally went to Athena, and by that time more than half of the little town was aware that Tom was the Child of the prophecy. They gathered outside Athena's house like rioting government workers, holding their weapons of choice.
"Let's get him!" A cheer went up.
Athena: "No! you don't understand!"
"Just because he saved all of our lives doesn't mean we can't kill him!"
"Now that you put it that way…"
"No matter! Let's kill him before he fulfills the prophecy and destroys us!"
Athena: "NOOOO!!!!!!! cough The prophecy is not what it seems!"
"Oh yeah? Does the words "to destroy" mean anything to you?"
Athena: "Look… I made the prophecy, I AM the leader and founding member of this village, and I say that the prophecy is not what it seems to be!"
"Sorry, lady, but we just can't take the risk. Someone guard her while we go and ask the Child to leave."
About five archers stood in a circle around Athena, while a warrior held a long, sharp Red Kanata at her throat. She glared at them, and finally dropped her simple Asianic Bow. (She once said that true skill did not depend on a good bow).
A short distance away, in Athena's renovated tree house, a young girl watched the events unfold from the top window. She grabbed her Mountain Crossbow and a quiver of steel arrows.
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MEANWHILE AGAIN…
Heiji and Kiir were talking in the living room of the cosy house, not knowing that a group of highly trained and organized mercenaries and another (much larger) group of lesser trained and unorganized townsfolk (who were nevertheless very determined) were converging on the same spot. I guess you know where that spot was.
Anyway, they were chatting in the living room, like I said. Unknown to them, Tom had awakened, and was feeling much better. In fact, so much better that he could already stand up.
He did, and walked out of the bedroom and into the living room.
"Hi, I was feeling better after eating and sleeping, so I thought I'd take a walk. Hey Kiir, what was it you said about me having to rest for at least five more days?"
"Wha… how did you…Oh. I forgot that you were the Child…"
Heiji and Tom chorus in unison, "You know?" effectively rendering all the POVs above obsolete.
In which Kiir replies, "You know too?"
In which everyone replies, "I didn't know you knew I knew!"
And this would have continued if Heiji, with her superior bowman eyesight, spotted a glint of metal in the distance.
"Something's wrong."
"What?"
"I…I saw something over there. Looked like a whole lot of weapons."
"Cool!"
"I meant that the weapons are coming here, Tom."
"Oh…I guess that they finally figured out that I shouted out my identity kinda long ago."
"We've got to get out of here before we're turned into mincemeat! Tom is still not strong enough to take on so many people."
"Hey, Heiji…what's that coming from another direction?"
Heiji squinted at the group of about 20 noobs, and explained that "they were just kids."
They started thinking of a way out.
"How about we bust out of here?"
"Too violent, and we're not strong enough."
"Hmm…how about we pretend Tom's not the Child?"
"Like they will believe us…"
"Kiir, do you have any spells that can teleport us outta here?"
"I believe I have a few scrolls lying around somewhere…"
"Then get them! Hurry!"
She started rummaging around, looking for the scrolls. (Isn't it strange that whenever you want to find something it disappears?)
But it was rather late for that. The angry mob had come, some 50 strong, wielding everything from Hecklers to pitchforks. For some reason, a few of them were also carrying flaming torches even when it was afternoon. Old habits die hard.
They surrounded the building, and started to shout for Tom to come out.
At the same time, the Strike Team saw that the mob was in the direction of their target, so they blended in with them.
At the same time as well, DaGreat saw the mob, and also joined in because he needed a part in my story.
AND at the same time, Kiir finally found a scroll!
"Yes! Wait… that's a helmet Def scroll…"
(She continues looking for the scroll.)
Then Tom had an idea.
"Hey, you know that mystic door incident in Lith Harbor?"
Kiir: "No."
Heiji: "Yes?"
Kiir: "No!"
Heiji: "Yes!"
Kiir: "No!!..I said no, not yes!"
And this conversation would have developed into another mindless chatter if not for the brick thrown through the window. Apparently the villagers were getting tired of the lousy dialogue.
Anyway, Tom continued.
"Remember that… nevermind. I can call that fairy that Magic Guards me… By the way Kiir, that fairy can cast Mystic Door."
"Well, what are you waiting for?"
"Magic Guard!"
But instead of that original fairy, another one, this time male, appeared and proceeded to dump a batch of magic dust on Tom. Then he started fading away.
"Wait!"
"What?"
"Where is Fairyheartilikepinknevermind?"
"Huh?"
"Y'know, that fairy in originally in charge of me?"
"Don't remind me! That no-good F.H.I.L.P (fairyheartilikepink, pronounced Phillip) just took vacation just like that! And when we were already shorthanded! I have to end up taking care of her 107 people as well!"
"Oh… I'm sorry… but can you Magic door us outta here?"
"Sorry… I haven't learnt that skill yet…"
"Never mind. Go and tend to others then. Somewhere out there someone is dying already."
"You've got a point… lemme check my schedule…there are 23 people requesting for Magic Guard now! Gotta go!"
And with a poof, he disappeared, taking away all their hopes of escaping in one piece.
Trojan Pony: "Oh dang… I've written them into a corner… well, there's only one way to solve this!
Kiir: "There's only one way to do this!"
Walking to the door and flinging it open, the sudden move momentarily shut up the mob outside. After a few seconds of staring, one bold guy (the same guy who confronted Athena) yelled: "Are you going to hand the Child over to us?"
"How about… no."
"If that's the way you want it… Archers, Fire!"
The 15-odd archers of various levels looked at their "leader" in hesitation. After all, Kiir was an important figure in Henesys.
"Do it!"
They reluctantly loaded their various crossbows and bows, and fired a volley of arrows at Kiir.
"Arrow blow Arrow blow Arrow blow"
"Double shot double shot double shot double shot"
For some reason, as the twenty-something arrows streaked towards her, Kiir simply raised her hand with a skeptical expression, as though she was in slow motion. The arrows continued flying, and Tom and Heiji covered their eyes. After what seemed like forever, they slowly peeked out from under their hands, and saw a truly amazing sight.
For Kiir, with an outstretched hand, still stood at the same spot-alive. The arrows that would have turned her body into Swiss Cheese was inexplicably still hovering in front of her, a few inches from her palm. No one made a sound- how can you say anything coherent when your mouth is hanging down to the floor?
The arrows were simply floating in midair, and if you looked closely you could see that the magical light of the Arrow Blow was still "slicked back" like the arrow was still moving. With a bemused expression Kiir took plucked one of the arrows from the air, scrutinized it closely ("Bronze Arrow, eh?") and let it drop on the ground. The other 20-odd arrows also clattered on the front porch of her house with resounding finality.
Tom/Heiji/Mob/Striketeam/Dagreat remained openmouthed.
Then, with her hand still outstretched, she tilted her head sideways, while staring at the mob in front of her. Gradually, all the weapons the mob had in their hands were bent at crazy angles, be it wooden sticks or Adamantium weapons, effectively rendering them useless.
Her mouth twitched into a slight smile.
"Boo."
That proved to be the final straw for the terrified townsfolk. They screamed, ran in circles, and some of the torch bearing people started burning houses to give the entire scene a nice effect. Old habits die hard.
Anyway, the only people that didn't run were Tom/Heiji/Kiir/Striketeam/Dagreat. Tom and Heiji still remained openmouthed in the safety of Kiir's house, and Kiir was looking at her hands incredulously. Striketeam, having seen worse things happen before, were not as panicky as the mob. Dagreat, knowing Kiir, Tom, and Heiji, was not too scared too.
One of the StrikeTeam whispered to the rest: "Now's our time to strike! You guys just lob about five hundred thousand mesos at the house and then I cast meso explosion! To heck with all the other plans!
Dagreat, with his above-average hearing, smiled and started sneaking up on Striketeam, holding a small dagger which was very good for cutting cloth, like those bags that store amounts of money 1k and above (COUGHhintCOUGH)
"On the count of three…"
"One"
"Two"
"Three!"
"WAIT! MY MONEY"S GONE!"
Our resourceful bandit had slit holes in everyone's moneybags, causing a huge amount of money to spill out behind them. Our resourceful bandit had also taken most of the money, leaving about 50k behind.
The Chief Bandit brought his hands together and yelled: "Meso Explosion!"
"Dear god…"
BOOM
Dagreat, in the safety of the shadows (dark sight), smiled. "Protagonists 1, Antagonists 0. Those guys will be lying in bed for quite a long time." Then he went to help his 3 friends, two of which were already recovering from the shock.
Dagreat: "Come on! We have to go before more people find out that you guys are sheltering the Child!"
Heiji: "I agree. We should start for El Nath now. After all, we have everything we need."
Dagreat: "Wait a minute Kiir, how the heck did you do that? I mean… some of the weapons were refined steel and Adamantium!"
Kiir: "Do not try to bend the spoon… that's impossible. Instead try to realize the truth.
Dagreat: "What truth? What spoon?"
Kiir: "There is no spoon"
Dagreat: "There is no spoon? I mean, there is no spoon!"
Kiir: "Then you'll see that it is not the spoon that bends, it is only yourself…"
Tom: "But… what you just did… it cannot be real, can it? Stopping bul- I mean arrows, bending weapons…"
Kiir: "If real is what you can feel, smell, taste and see, then 'real' is simply electrical signals interpreted by your brain. Do you think that's air you're breathing now?"
Heiji: "Can you stop talking about the Matrix?"
Kiir: "Sorry… I just watched it a few weeks ago."
Heiji: "Okay, lets switch the topic back to Tom's survival okay?"
Everyone especially Tom: "Okay."
Heiji: "Here's the plan. Me and Tom are going to El Nath to fufill the prophecy. That's all."
Kiir: "What's the prophecy?"
Tom: "To destroy the Order, as well as that monster they have created based on all the elements of the earth… the Zakum."
Kiir and Dagreat: "The Order? That awesomely strong guild? I've better come along with you two… You'll need all the help you can get."
Kiir: "We have to leave. Now."
Grabbing their … stuff, our 4 heroes make their way towards the town of Ellina, to continue on the second leg of the path fraught with dangers and… stuff.
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Well, stay tuned to the next episode of Born to Burn!
Once again, I'm sorry for the really long delay in updates. Good news is, however, that me and Eien Kaosu have more or less written Heiji's past, as well as the ending to Born to Burn. Yes, we have already written the ending despite being less than half done of the story.
Yes also, I just re-watched the Matrix Trilogy on DVD.
Also, thanks to everyone who have made the current 50 reviews and 1423 hits possible!
By the way, Kiir and Heiji, what's your levels now?
And also Eien, if you haven't guessed, your review gave me the idea for Dagreat stealing the money. Thanks!
Hmm, oh. And also thanks to the Matrix trilogy!
Also, as some of my old readers might have noted, I seem to update faster in schooltime than in the hoildays, for some reason. Based on that theroy, I daresay that my updates will be faster than this pitiful 2-month delay.
Lets see… 4230 words including this sentence. My longest chapter to date!
P.S I will be thanking all of my reviewers from this chapter onwards, so review if you want a breif mention in my story! Also read the reviews and Omoide no Kakera if you can... they facilitate in understanding the story.
P.S.2 I would like to thank TheWindBreaker as well as the author of Assassin Of Peace (forgot your name, sorry). Thanks for giving me the extra push to complete this chapter!
And TY to anyone who cares two hoots (or more) about my lil' story!