Disclaimer:
This is my particular blend of fan fiction. It does NOT use the original characters, but instead places my own characters in THEIR world. And more than often, in their events. This story will contain HEAVY spoilers about 'Skies of Arcadia'. Right up to the final scenes, and an assumed beyond.
This may stray into elements such as descriptive violence (PG-13), vulgarity (PG-13/R), or romantic situations (R, i'll try not to turn this into a lemon). If it does, the rating will be adjusted accordingly.
Special note: This story will take you to other assumed locales. If we add up the amount of people shown and assumed in all the villages of Skies of Arcadia, we only have, at a very generous most, 100,000. Which is a horridly small amount. Not to mention that after the rains of destruction upon Valua, that takes out half the population (It should also be pointed out that with this figure, half of the world's civilization would be working for the Valuan army/armada.). I also refuse to believe that in entire empires, only one or two villages. So, I have added several villages to Nasr, several more Pirate Isle and Sailors Island like islands, and expanded other empires.
Try doing a realistic map of Arcadia. You can't. So, I take several artistic liberties in creating this. Warping the world back to something feasible, expanding empires, making this world take longer than 30 seconds to cross.
I also tried to set up a basic distance of Arcadia. That failed horribly. So, I'm just making Arcadia a LOT bigger than it is perceived in Skies.
Note: This disclaimer will ONLY appear in the first chapter.
--------
The hail pellets smashed upon the rocks and shattered against the pieces of wood and metal scattered about. Jare awoke to the sound of metal clunking and the ice breaking. He looked around, trying to remember what happened to him. He was inside a small structure, ruins of some sort. The sailor could tell by the sounds outside that he was in the middle of a hail storm, which he remembered only happened when a rain system drifted close to an air rift. He stood up to try and look around the small building. It had degraded a lot over the years, it seemed to be very torn apart by the weather. There wasn't much to the place, most of it had collapsed in. Jare ran his hands through his long hair, trying to figure out where he was.
He heard the hail start to let up. Jare stepped outside as the the last few ice chunks fell to the ground. The first thing he noticed was the giant black line of clouds, known as the dark rift. Suddenly he remembered why he was out here.
A Valuan attack fleet had made it's way through the North Dannel Strait, and was attacking Nasrad. He was lucky enough to be departing Nasr anyways, and was able to run his ship past the armada. But there was a small group of black pirate vessels attacking evacuators, and Jare's unarmed fishing ship was a prime target. He had an idea to skim his ship along the dark rift, hoping he could survive the currents, while his attacker could not. It worked in the regard that it destroyed the black pirate's ship, but it also blew his ship way off course. Just that he was alive, and not at the bottom of deep sky was a sign of great luck.
He figured by what direction he was headed, and the feel of the ground beneath him, not to mention the mountains opposite the dark rift, that he was on the eastern side of the Pyrynn continent. He remembered hearing tales of sailors looking for an old group of ruins that was supposedly a trade center in the old world. The 'Rolana Ruins', he believed the discoverers called it. Jare thought to himself, "At least i'm not on some boulder-island. Maybe if I wait around, a discoverer like Domingo, or Vyse will show up, hoping to claim some treasure. On the other hand, a black pirate looking for his friend could just as well show up".
He decided it would be best to see if anything could be salvaged. He searched the wreckage of his old ship, and was fortunate to find his two pistols, but his rapier was nowhere to be found. There were no moonstones, no food, and no water. All of the hail that had fallen had already dissolved. He realized he would have to walk north, and up for the best. Luckily, he didn't have to worry much about which direction to head in. Jare picked up a few items of personal value, and started to walk north, along the Pyrynn mountain range.
Hours passed. The hot sun, mixed with the red moon was almost unbearable in this dessert. Jare felt like he was about to pass out. He went through inhis mind what a death in the dessert would be like. Passing out of exhaustion, dying of dehydration. What an unpleasant end for a simple fisherman.
Suddenly, he heard the sound of a moonstone-operated engine, piercing through the clouds. He looked all around to try and spot the ship. It's engine had an odd hum to it, one he had not heard in any Valuan or Nasr ship. The ship was nowhere to be found. While looking he realized he had walked a good high altitude, and was relatively high to the cloud cover above him. But he could not find the ship anywhere.
A ship unexpectedly blew through the clouds above. It was a ship that Jare had never seen before. It was small, only a few people could live on it. It's bow was shaped very differently than any Valuan or Nasr ship. It's sail seemed to not be made of cloth, but of finely cut wood, which compressed in a zig-zag manner. On the sail was a picture of a lizard of some kind, a snake or similar beast. It's fins were unlike any he had ever seen.
Jare hesitated in trying to get the ship's attention. He was unsure of what the amazing new ship's intentions were. But it was too late, the ship was already decreasing altitude towards his position. He moved his hands to on top of his pistols, even though he knew his handheld weapons would be useless if the ship decided to open fire.
As the ship approached his eye level, he could make out a lone women on the deck of the strange ship. She was unlike any he had ever seen. She had slightly tanned skin, a very smooth textured face. She wore what looked like a mix between a dress and a robe, and had long black hair which seemed to be tied back with a pair of sticks. She couldn't be older than 19 years old. She held what looked like a spear wit a hook instead of a pointed end. She walked to the end of the deck, as approaching Jare.
"Who are you?", she shouted at Jare.
"Uh..", he stuttered.
"Well?"
"I'm Jare, a fisherman who shipwrecked maybe... 10 leagues that way", he answered as he pointed back the way he came, "May I ask, whom are you? and where do you come from?".
"Very well, I am Tilara. I come from Yafutoma, on the other side of this cloud barrier.", she responded, pointing back toward the dark rift with her weapon.
"There's a land beyond the dark rift? Amazing, and everyone around here thought that was the end of the world", he said in wonder.
"You said you were shipwrecked?", the Yafutoman asked, changing the subject.
"Yes. I flied my ship a bit too close to the rift, and, the wind force tore my ship apart." Jare answered, "But, what are you doing here? and how did your ship make it past the rift?"
"Yafutoman ships have the ability to go above and below the clouds. I'm here, because, well... our rulers forbid us from visiting the western worlds, but, I just wanted to, had to, see them with my own eyes", she confessed.
"Ah, you're an explorer. I always wanted to be one, but, explorers don't make too much money", Jare also confessed.
"Still," Tilara continued, "so, sailor, do you wish to accompany me? Or, should I leave you here under the red moon, in the dessert?"
"So, I join you, and then what?", he inquired suspiciously
"You join me, and be my guide to the western worlds, and in return... well, we'll see." She answered elusively.
"Sounds better than rotting in the desert out here," he said, "Agreed". He climbed aboard her ship.
"Let's go!" Tilara shouted, as she started to raise the altitude of the ship to beyond the clouds.
This is my particular blend of fan fiction. It does NOT use the original characters, but instead places my own characters in THEIR world. And more than often, in their events. This story will contain HEAVY spoilers about 'Skies of Arcadia'. Right up to the final scenes, and an assumed beyond.
This may stray into elements such as descriptive violence (PG-13), vulgarity (PG-13/R), or romantic situations (R, i'll try not to turn this into a lemon). If it does, the rating will be adjusted accordingly.
Special note: This story will take you to other assumed locales. If we add up the amount of people shown and assumed in all the villages of Skies of Arcadia, we only have, at a very generous most, 100,000. Which is a horridly small amount. Not to mention that after the rains of destruction upon Valua, that takes out half the population (It should also be pointed out that with this figure, half of the world's civilization would be working for the Valuan army/armada.). I also refuse to believe that in entire empires, only one or two villages. So, I have added several villages to Nasr, several more Pirate Isle and Sailors Island like islands, and expanded other empires.
Try doing a realistic map of Arcadia. You can't. So, I take several artistic liberties in creating this. Warping the world back to something feasible, expanding empires, making this world take longer than 30 seconds to cross.
I also tried to set up a basic distance of Arcadia. That failed horribly. So, I'm just making Arcadia a LOT bigger than it is perceived in Skies.
Note: This disclaimer will ONLY appear in the first chapter.
--------
The hail pellets smashed upon the rocks and shattered against the pieces of wood and metal scattered about. Jare awoke to the sound of metal clunking and the ice breaking. He looked around, trying to remember what happened to him. He was inside a small structure, ruins of some sort. The sailor could tell by the sounds outside that he was in the middle of a hail storm, which he remembered only happened when a rain system drifted close to an air rift. He stood up to try and look around the small building. It had degraded a lot over the years, it seemed to be very torn apart by the weather. There wasn't much to the place, most of it had collapsed in. Jare ran his hands through his long hair, trying to figure out where he was.
He heard the hail start to let up. Jare stepped outside as the the last few ice chunks fell to the ground. The first thing he noticed was the giant black line of clouds, known as the dark rift. Suddenly he remembered why he was out here.
A Valuan attack fleet had made it's way through the North Dannel Strait, and was attacking Nasrad. He was lucky enough to be departing Nasr anyways, and was able to run his ship past the armada. But there was a small group of black pirate vessels attacking evacuators, and Jare's unarmed fishing ship was a prime target. He had an idea to skim his ship along the dark rift, hoping he could survive the currents, while his attacker could not. It worked in the regard that it destroyed the black pirate's ship, but it also blew his ship way off course. Just that he was alive, and not at the bottom of deep sky was a sign of great luck.
He figured by what direction he was headed, and the feel of the ground beneath him, not to mention the mountains opposite the dark rift, that he was on the eastern side of the Pyrynn continent. He remembered hearing tales of sailors looking for an old group of ruins that was supposedly a trade center in the old world. The 'Rolana Ruins', he believed the discoverers called it. Jare thought to himself, "At least i'm not on some boulder-island. Maybe if I wait around, a discoverer like Domingo, or Vyse will show up, hoping to claim some treasure. On the other hand, a black pirate looking for his friend could just as well show up".
He decided it would be best to see if anything could be salvaged. He searched the wreckage of his old ship, and was fortunate to find his two pistols, but his rapier was nowhere to be found. There were no moonstones, no food, and no water. All of the hail that had fallen had already dissolved. He realized he would have to walk north, and up for the best. Luckily, he didn't have to worry much about which direction to head in. Jare picked up a few items of personal value, and started to walk north, along the Pyrynn mountain range.
Hours passed. The hot sun, mixed with the red moon was almost unbearable in this dessert. Jare felt like he was about to pass out. He went through inhis mind what a death in the dessert would be like. Passing out of exhaustion, dying of dehydration. What an unpleasant end for a simple fisherman.
Suddenly, he heard the sound of a moonstone-operated engine, piercing through the clouds. He looked all around to try and spot the ship. It's engine had an odd hum to it, one he had not heard in any Valuan or Nasr ship. The ship was nowhere to be found. While looking he realized he had walked a good high altitude, and was relatively high to the cloud cover above him. But he could not find the ship anywhere.
A ship unexpectedly blew through the clouds above. It was a ship that Jare had never seen before. It was small, only a few people could live on it. It's bow was shaped very differently than any Valuan or Nasr ship. It's sail seemed to not be made of cloth, but of finely cut wood, which compressed in a zig-zag manner. On the sail was a picture of a lizard of some kind, a snake or similar beast. It's fins were unlike any he had ever seen.
Jare hesitated in trying to get the ship's attention. He was unsure of what the amazing new ship's intentions were. But it was too late, the ship was already decreasing altitude towards his position. He moved his hands to on top of his pistols, even though he knew his handheld weapons would be useless if the ship decided to open fire.
As the ship approached his eye level, he could make out a lone women on the deck of the strange ship. She was unlike any he had ever seen. She had slightly tanned skin, a very smooth textured face. She wore what looked like a mix between a dress and a robe, and had long black hair which seemed to be tied back with a pair of sticks. She couldn't be older than 19 years old. She held what looked like a spear wit a hook instead of a pointed end. She walked to the end of the deck, as approaching Jare.
"Who are you?", she shouted at Jare.
"Uh..", he stuttered.
"Well?"
"I'm Jare, a fisherman who shipwrecked maybe... 10 leagues that way", he answered as he pointed back the way he came, "May I ask, whom are you? and where do you come from?".
"Very well, I am Tilara. I come from Yafutoma, on the other side of this cloud barrier.", she responded, pointing back toward the dark rift with her weapon.
"There's a land beyond the dark rift? Amazing, and everyone around here thought that was the end of the world", he said in wonder.
"You said you were shipwrecked?", the Yafutoman asked, changing the subject.
"Yes. I flied my ship a bit too close to the rift, and, the wind force tore my ship apart." Jare answered, "But, what are you doing here? and how did your ship make it past the rift?"
"Yafutoman ships have the ability to go above and below the clouds. I'm here, because, well... our rulers forbid us from visiting the western worlds, but, I just wanted to, had to, see them with my own eyes", she confessed.
"Ah, you're an explorer. I always wanted to be one, but, explorers don't make too much money", Jare also confessed.
"Still," Tilara continued, "so, sailor, do you wish to accompany me? Or, should I leave you here under the red moon, in the dessert?"
"So, I join you, and then what?", he inquired suspiciously
"You join me, and be my guide to the western worlds, and in return... well, we'll see." She answered elusively.
"Sounds better than rotting in the desert out here," he said, "Agreed". He climbed aboard her ship.
"Let's go!" Tilara shouted, as she started to raise the altitude of the ship to beyond the clouds.