Forward:
I've started rewriting this story from the ground up. I've removed the small inserts between chapters to help streamline the story, and plan on spending more time on character and setting development. Basically, the old story was a rushed and I'm making it better. I'll hopefully fix or remove some weird plot points from before as well. Please leave a review if your have any suggestions for improvements or questions about the characters/settings/story! Enjoy!
Chapter 1: A SandWing Named Hidden
Southern Coast of Pyrrhia
Near JSI
2020 AD
Waves crashed against the chalk white cliffs bordering the southern coast of Pyrrhia. A young SandWing, about seventeen years old, stood on the patchy grass gazing out at the torrential storm approaching the continent. He watched as it threw the ocean waves against the jagged rocks scattered about, and felt the short blades of grass flicking his scales as they tumbled in the wind.
The SandWing himself was nothing remarkable. About average size for a seventeen year old, with bright yellow scales and a pale yellow underbelly. His pale yellow frills were flung wildly in the wind, which he had to admit to himself was somewhat irritating. A pair of earbuds were shoved in his ears, tethered by a cord to a small device within a brown leather pouch tied around his left foreleg.
Why am I even out here looking at a bunch of water anyway? he thought, realizing he had been standing there for almost ten minutes. He had recently finished his shift at the Jade Science Institute, though for what felt like the first time in years, he had nothing to do.
The device in his bag vibrated for a brief moment, and the SandWing reached over to take it out. It was a small metallic tablet, about the size of his talon, with a clear plastic screen on one side, rimmed in white. He pressed a small button on its side and its screen flared to life.
The digital clock read 4:08, and beneath it sat a single text message from Xavier.
Kaizo mtch start at 5, you comn Hidden? it read.
Hidden grinned, and muttered to himself as he typed his response. On my way. Be there in 50.
:) Xavier replied.
Hidden chuckled as he put away his PDA and earbuds. Zipping up the pouch, he flapped his wings and took off into the sky.
It wasn't long before Jade Mountain's iconic twin peaks loomed over his head. Beneath them sat the above ground portion of JSI, consisting of a few levels of modern architecture. The walls slanted outward as they rose level by level, thick concrete pillars offsetting the clear glass. Hidden noticed one of the slanted windows retracting, and a pair of LeafWings flew out of the opening and down to one of the lower levels.
Out front of the building sat a wide concrete pillar, rising above the jagged rocks that surrounded the mountain. Atop it was a minimalistic courtyard, consisting of two cement pathways that formed a cross amongst a well kept field of grass. At its center was the JSI dedication plaque that Hidden had passed so many times on his way to work.
Hidden landed by the train station, opposite the main JSI building. The 5:10 bullet train was just arriving, and Hidden was barely able to buy a ticket and hop on before it shot off towards its next destination.
The only other dragon in his car was a SilkWing, who was too busy with her PDA to acknowledge Hidden's entrance with little more than a brief glance. He stood gripping one of the railings as the train rushed forward, zipping past craggy peaks and easily outpacing the oncoming storm.
The train entered a dark tunnel, and suddenly, the lights went out. The bullet train slowed to a stop, its emergency brakes creating a piercing whine as they ground against the rails. The SilkWing looked up from her PDA at the pitch black car around her, made a somewhat annoyed grunt, and went back to what she was doing.
Hidden looked at the bright beam of light shining up in the SilkWing's face. "That's bad for your eyes, you know." he said.
The SilkWing looked up at him, confused.
"Your screen, that is. Looking at your bright screen in a dark environment is…"
"I. Don't. Care." said the SilkWing, before returning once again to her PDA.
The cabin's lights flickered back to life, and the train began to accelerate once again. Power surges like this had become commonplace in the past couple of years.
Quickly emerging from the dark tunnel, the train rounded a wide bend, and Hidden could see his destination growing on the horizon.
Possibility.
The massive city skyline grew by the second, its skyscrapers gleaming in the afternoon light. Even at this distance Hidden could make out the hundreds of dragons flying between the towering buildings. He checked the time on his PDA. 4:40. A little late, but he could make it.
The train screeched to a halt in the bustling East Possibility Station, doors sliding open to let in a tidal wave of noisy passengers. Hidden was barely able to squeeze his way out of the car before they crammed themselves in. The SilkWing wasn't as lucky.
The next minute the train was off, and so too was Hidden. He hightailed it out of the glass roofed station, ducking and weaving between the many pedestrians and nearly running into a massive MudWing. Once he was out on the concrete steps leading up to the station, he took to the sky.
He glided over one of the human districts of the city, its shorter buildings a stark contrast to the titanic skyscrapers in the dragon districts, and found himself above the Sequoia Marketplace. The buildings here were mostly small businesses, frequented by both dragons and humans. Hidden caught a whiff of hot, steamy pretzels and looked down to see Joe selling them from his food truck.
I guess I have a bit of time before the match starts. Hidden thought, checking the time once again.
Joe was a dark brown MudWing, about 50 or so years old, and had been running his food truck for about as long as Hidden could remember. He made the best pretzels this side of Possibility, in Hidden's opinion.
"Hey H, how's it goin'!" Joe said as Hidden spiraled down beside his truck.
Hidden rushed up to the window. "One plain salted pretzel bites! Please." He said, with no time for formalities.
"The usual huh?" Joe remarked, "Got someplace to be?"
"Just going to watch Xavier marmalize someone at Kaizo."
"Marmalize?" Joe asked, handing Hidden a paper bag of salted pretzel bites.
"Yeah, just heard someone say it at the lab today. Fun word to say, huh? Marmalize. Anyway, thanks!" Hidden said, quickly taking off into the sky once again.
He banked left and made a beeline for the East Possibility Convention Center. The building looked like three massive glass cubes had collided with each other at various angles, and was surrounded by a luscious park. He landed on the pavement outside the front entrance and stepped into the crowded building.
There were three events going on in the center that day. In the south cube was an arts and crafts expo, with many visitors leaving with bags stuffed with a variety of talon made knick knacks. The north cube was hosting a tech showcase sponsored by JSI. Hidden noticed a booth for the next generation of PDA he'd seen some researchers messing with back at the lab. His was already two generations behind.
His real concern was with the event in the west cube. There, a massive screen had been set up on a temporary stage. It displayed two direct feeds of the popular game Kaizo, an incredibly difficult platformer that had become very popular in pro speed runner leagues, as well as two webcams of the players on stage.
Hidden worked his way around the gathered crowd to the side of the stage, where he was stopped by a burly IceWing guard.
"Where do you think you're going?" the guard asked in a menacing tone. He was probably twice as tall as Hidden, and the way he looked down at him was pretty discomforting.
"Don't worry, he's with me!" a RainWing shouted from one of the couches onstage. The guard begrudgingly stepped to the side and Hidden sauntered up the steps and onto the wooden stage floor. He flopped down on the couch next to the RainWing. A SkyWing sitting on the other side of the couch looked over at Hidden.
"I was worried you weren't gonna show Hidden, right Xavier?" he said, looking at the RainWing clutching the game controller next to him.
Hidden checked the time on his PDA. "Actually, I'd say I'm right on time." he said, popping another pretzel bite into his mouth.
"Shut up Hidden, the game's about to start." Xavier said, not once peeling his eyes from the monitor before him.
A human in a ridiculous purple tuxedo stepped up to a tiny podium at the front of the stage. He began announcing the players up onstage in a booming voice, though Hidden found it hard to take him seriously in that eyesore of a suit.
The dragon Xavier was up against was a female SandWing named Bright. She was pretty well known as one of the best Kaizo runners out there. There was only one other dragon in the pro leagues who surpassed her.
The announcer turned to the players onstage. "Players ready?" he boomed, "START!"