A young man of medium height, age of somewhere near seventeen years, sparkling amethyst eyes, and long chestnut colored hair walked into an empty room. He was wearing tight black jeans and an equally tight white mesh top with beaten brown combat boots. The dark blue walls and bone white carpeted floor contrasted starkly with each other, and had the strange effect of making the room seem huge one moment and tiny the next.
"Well, it's smaller than I expected… I think… And the carpet has to go. But other than that…" the young man mused, looking around with a critical, though not harsh, eye. "I'll take it!" he yelled, poking his head back out the door. Footsteps sounded in rapid succession, heading towards the room.
"You will? That's great!" cheered a young woman of the boy's own age. Her short, purple-black hair was hanging in her eyes, but when she pushed it back, it only fell forward again. "I'm sure we'll get along just fine, ah… What'd you say your name was, again?"
"I didn't, but I will now. It's Duo. Duo Maxwell. Nice ta meet ya!" the longhaired boy grabbed the girl's hand and shook it enthusiastically.
"The same to you, Duo. I'm Hilde." She paused for a moment, looking thoughtful. "When will you be moving your things in?"
Duo shrugged. "I'd say sometime within the next hour, at the most. I don't have a lot to move, to tell you the truth. In fact, I'll go do that right now. Be back in a few!" He darted past Hilde with a smile and ran down the hall leading to the front door.
"He's strange," Hilde thought to herself, staring in the direction he'd gone. "But I can't help liking him. This could be the start of a great friendship, if luck's on my side for once." Closing the door to the blue and bone room, she headed off to the kitchen to make some tea.
* * *
"Man, my luck's really been great lately!" Duo observed as he jumped onto the black Harley Softail parked in front of the house he'd just ran out of. Revving the engine a few times for effect he sped away, eager to grab his belongings and get back to his new home.
"One day I'm on the streets with nothing but the raggedy clothes on my back. No friends, no family, no food, nothing to really call my own… Just hunger, pain, misery, and old headaches. The next day some old guy shows up saying he's got a job for me, hands me a wallet full of hundreds and the key to a Harley, and says he'll contact me when he's ready." Duo's laughter was swept away by the wind, but his joy was obvious to anyone that happened to look at him.
"Man, he must have been crazy," Duo thought to himself after a few seconds. "Or the bike's stolen… In which case I'll just tell them I bought it real cheap from some guy without knowing it wasn't his to begin with. No lie there—you can't get much cheaper than free!"
The purple-eyed boy slowed to a stop as he came in sight of a shady little alley. Taking a deep breath, he jumped off his motorcycle and ran as fast as he could into the back street.
Two or three minutes later he scurried back out with a battered suitcase clutched tightly in one hand. He looked relieved to see that the bike was still there and quickly hopped back on.
"Home again, home again, jiggety jig," Duo said in a singsong voice, going back in the direction he had come from. It was time to see what he could do about bedroom furniture. Maybe that Hilde girl would know someplace cheap to shop…
* * *
"The time to begin must be soon."
"Agreed."
"Do each of you have your chosen weapons?"
A chorus of "Yes." rang out and echoed several times.
"Then training will begin in one week. We shall meet again the day before its commencement."
The sound of wood scraping against cement chased away the silence. Many footsteps kept it at bay a while longer, then it was quiet again.
A dry, amused whisper slipped by unnoticed. "It's been a long while since we've worked on a project together, and this will be the most ambitious one yet. I only hope I live to see its completion..."