CHAPTER ONE
Revelations
The kendo sticks snapped against each other, with a flick of Jacob's arm, he sent the weapon swinging speedily towards his opponent's head. William, Jacob's opponent, in more than just competition, brought the rough bamboo to bear against Jacob's. He caught Jacob's stick with his own and pushed it away. Both opponents spun away to recover. Jacob twisted the stick in the air and rushed William, who counteracted by twirling away and bringing his weapon to crash against Jacob's legs. Jacob jumped over the other's weapon and in his return to the ground, he brought his weapon over and down in William's neck, connecting with a loud crack in the flesh. William fell forward from the impact and landed on his knees. He lowered his head in defeat. He had been beaten. Jacob stood over him, his weapon lowered to his side.
Jacob ran his hand through his short blonde hair and looked to William with his pale blue eyes that smiled victory. Jacob offered his hand out to help his rival up to his feet.
"Good fight." Jacob complimented.
William ignored Jacob's arm and lifted himself to his feet. He glared at Jacob's compliment then walked away, stroking his red neck. Jacob ignored William and raised his hand in victory. The crowd cheered. Jacob lowered his arm and watched as the referee made his way over to Jacob and handed to him the medal for winning.
Jacob accepted the medal and slid it around his neck. He bowed to the referee and his Master, then turned and walked off in the direction of the showers, the crowd still cheering.
As Jacob rounded the corner, he came face to face with William, whose neck still glowed like a cherry from the impact earlier.
"You think you're funny, don't you?" William intrigued.
"Well, I do try." Jacob retorted, He fought a grin as William fought to remain calm as anger swelled up underneath; sweat still dripping from his long red hair.
"You'll regret this." William pointed threateningly to Jacob's chest. He then turned and walked away.
"We'll see, Willie!" Jacob called to his retreating back. "Asshole." Jacob mumbled.
Jacob turned back to see a tall, dark figure and a slender female coming to him. Derek and Sarah, his two best friends. Derek was a dark skinned boy, tall with brown eyes and black hair cropped close to his head. Sarah was shorter than Jacob and had shoulder length hair; it was black with forest green highlights. Her emerald eyes smiled at Jacob.
"They're eatin' it up." Derek said.
"Oh, I know." Jacob replied, he then turned to Sarah and winked at her. Sarah rolled her eyes in a way Jacob knew meant, "Go on, you nut."
"We gonna check out that new shop on the way home?" Sarah said to Jacob.
"Um, yeah, just let me change." Jacob motioned to his dirty uniform.
"Yeah, we'll meet you in the car." Derek said. Jacob nodded and as he began to walk away, Sarah grabbed his tunic and put her lips close to his ear.
"Good job," she whispered. Sarah then turned and ran in attempt to catch up with Derek and disappeared around the corner. Jacob smiled and went to the shower.
* * *
After his shower, Jacob felt ever so much better. He dressed in a tight white tank top, a dress shirt open at the neck over it and a pair of loose cargo khakis. He grabbed his bag and walked out. He looked around, noticing how the auditorium has changed over the years of being here. He was a senior at Ikana County High School, the name was taken from some old kingdom that existing over a million years or so ago, he was not too familiar with the history of the school.
Jacob just looked at all the cracks and scratches on the walls and tried to imagine what caused each one. But as he neared the door, he gave up and walked across the threshold. He looked through the parking lot until he spotted his car, an old, run down station wagon, but as long as it got him from point a to point b without any problems, he was happy. Derek and Sarah did not seem to mind either.
As he neared the car, he noticed that his friend were lying side by side on the hood of the car, watching him.
"What took you?" Derek asked.
"Yeah, we thought you got swallowed by the dragon of the showers." Sarah joked.
"You know me, I have to take my sweet time. But if you don't like it, walk home." Jacob retorted to the pair.
Jacob unlocked the doors on the station wagon and then walked around to the driver's side and unlocked it. He threw his bag in the back and settled in. Derek and Sarah got in and sat down, Sarah sat in the middle, the gearshift between her legs.
"Um, Sarah." Jacob started.
"Don't even." She finished.
Derek smiled and looked out the window. Jacob cranked the car and reluctantly grabbed the gearshift and threw it into gear.
The car jumped a few times, and then was off.
"I don't see why you won't sit in the back." Jacob said to Sarah, who was playing with her oddly colored hair. Derek didn't give her time to answer, he did it for her.
"She doesn't want to feel left out." He said, Sarah nodded her agreement.
* * *
The station wagon pulled to a stop in front of a dark building, only a sign showed in the window that read: Legends of the Sword.
"Well, here we are. Everybody out." Jacob said.
All the passengers piled out of the car and walked to the entrance. Jacob pulled open the door and as he did so, he was greeted by a musky smell, a smell that reminded him of his grandmother's attic. Sarah crinkled her nose at the smell. "Ew. Old people smell." The two guys chuckled at her and proceeded inside.
As the entered the store, all sorts of exotic weaponry welcomed their sight. On one wall, Jacob saw an odd looking sword, it was a handle, with two scimitar blades, each protruding from a different end of the handle. Derek saw a sword hanging on the wall that had some sort of writing on it, and he could have sworn it was glowing a soft blue color.
As they neared the back, a voice called from within the dark recesses of the back room. Sarah squealed from fright.
"Welcome, my children." Spoke the old voice.
"Uh, hello." Jacob said as he watched the feeble old man waddle from the back. Derek leaned over to Jacob and whispered, "Sarah and I are gonna have a look around."
Jacob nodded and turned to the old man.
"What can I do for you?" the ancient one asked.
"Oh, I'm just looking, what kind of weapon is that?" Jacob nodded to the strange double scimitar.
"That's called a swallow." The Old Man answered. Jacob was about to ask where it was from when something strange seemed to claim his attention high above the old man's head on a shelf.
"What's that?" he asked upon seeing it.
"I haven't figured it out, I think it used to be a short sword."
"May I see it?"
"Sure." The old man climbed up a nearby ladder and retrieved the remains. "I've had this thing forever, no one ever seemed to want it." He set it before Jacob who picked it up and studied it. It was a broken sword, it had a strange symbol etched into the blade, it appeared to be three triangles, stacked in a way to form one big triangle. It had a jewel mounted in the hilt, a yellow, possibly topaz, rounded jewel. Jacob viewed it closer and thought he saw a small scene of a boy fighting some kind of. sorcerer? Whatever, he probably just imagined it.
"I'll take it. How much?" Jacob said.
"Twenty-five." The old man stated, "Considering it is broke, but, are you sure?"
"Yeah." He got out his wallet and handed the man the money.
"Oh yeah, it also had this stuff with it when I cam across it. So I'll give it to you to, you may find a use for it." The old man reached underneath the counter and came up with a medium leather bag. He handed to the boy and nodded. "You have a nice night, oh and tell your friends not to be goofing off in here."
Jacob turned, items in hand to see Derek and Sarah toying around with some katanas, trying to duel each other.
"Guys, cut it out, let's go." Jacob left the store, Derek and Sarah followed, they got back into the car and Sarah was back in her normal spot, the gearshift dangerously close to her "no fly zone" Jacob only rolled his eyes and thought nothing of it.
* * *
After taking Derek and Sarah home, Jacob went back to his house. After helping his mother put away the dishes after dinner and showing his parents the sword he got, whose response was, "why is it broken?" he went to his room and sat before his computer. He was online, until a thought drifted to his mind, the leather bag.
He snuck down stairs and outside to his car to retrieve it. After he got it, he snuck back to his room, stopping once because he heard his father mumble something incoherent. He opened the bag to peer inside, instead of finding the missing pieces to the sword blade, to his disappointment; he found a book, and an egg-shaped flute. He set the flute aside, disregarding it; maybe he can give to Sarah. She likes instruments. He lifted the book, on the cover was written in golden script: "The Memoirs of a Princess." Under the title was the same symbol as on the broken sword. He disregarded this as well, probably coincidence.
He opened the book and the first words read: "My nightmare has come true, all hope is lost. My hero is nowhere to be found and I must go into hiding." Jacob read through the first paragraph, which told about this apparent princess going into hiding from some sorcerer who was in possession of some relic called the Triforce.
"Sounds like a cheap Star Wars rip off." Jacob mused to himself. "The Triforce."
Jacob laid the book on his nightstand; he'll read some more tomorrow after school, now he needed to go to bed. He flipped his light off and laid down, sleep drifted to him as his eyes closed for the last time that night.
The kendo sticks snapped against each other, with a flick of Jacob's arm, he sent the weapon swinging speedily towards his opponent's head. William, Jacob's opponent, in more than just competition, brought the rough bamboo to bear against Jacob's. He caught Jacob's stick with his own and pushed it away. Both opponents spun away to recover. Jacob twisted the stick in the air and rushed William, who counteracted by twirling away and bringing his weapon to crash against Jacob's legs. Jacob jumped over the other's weapon and in his return to the ground, he brought his weapon over and down in William's neck, connecting with a loud crack in the flesh. William fell forward from the impact and landed on his knees. He lowered his head in defeat. He had been beaten. Jacob stood over him, his weapon lowered to his side.
Jacob ran his hand through his short blonde hair and looked to William with his pale blue eyes that smiled victory. Jacob offered his hand out to help his rival up to his feet.
"Good fight." Jacob complimented.
William ignored Jacob's arm and lifted himself to his feet. He glared at Jacob's compliment then walked away, stroking his red neck. Jacob ignored William and raised his hand in victory. The crowd cheered. Jacob lowered his arm and watched as the referee made his way over to Jacob and handed to him the medal for winning.
Jacob accepted the medal and slid it around his neck. He bowed to the referee and his Master, then turned and walked off in the direction of the showers, the crowd still cheering.
As Jacob rounded the corner, he came face to face with William, whose neck still glowed like a cherry from the impact earlier.
"You think you're funny, don't you?" William intrigued.
"Well, I do try." Jacob retorted, He fought a grin as William fought to remain calm as anger swelled up underneath; sweat still dripping from his long red hair.
"You'll regret this." William pointed threateningly to Jacob's chest. He then turned and walked away.
"We'll see, Willie!" Jacob called to his retreating back. "Asshole." Jacob mumbled.
Jacob turned back to see a tall, dark figure and a slender female coming to him. Derek and Sarah, his two best friends. Derek was a dark skinned boy, tall with brown eyes and black hair cropped close to his head. Sarah was shorter than Jacob and had shoulder length hair; it was black with forest green highlights. Her emerald eyes smiled at Jacob.
"They're eatin' it up." Derek said.
"Oh, I know." Jacob replied, he then turned to Sarah and winked at her. Sarah rolled her eyes in a way Jacob knew meant, "Go on, you nut."
"We gonna check out that new shop on the way home?" Sarah said to Jacob.
"Um, yeah, just let me change." Jacob motioned to his dirty uniform.
"Yeah, we'll meet you in the car." Derek said. Jacob nodded and as he began to walk away, Sarah grabbed his tunic and put her lips close to his ear.
"Good job," she whispered. Sarah then turned and ran in attempt to catch up with Derek and disappeared around the corner. Jacob smiled and went to the shower.
* * *
After his shower, Jacob felt ever so much better. He dressed in a tight white tank top, a dress shirt open at the neck over it and a pair of loose cargo khakis. He grabbed his bag and walked out. He looked around, noticing how the auditorium has changed over the years of being here. He was a senior at Ikana County High School, the name was taken from some old kingdom that existing over a million years or so ago, he was not too familiar with the history of the school.
Jacob just looked at all the cracks and scratches on the walls and tried to imagine what caused each one. But as he neared the door, he gave up and walked across the threshold. He looked through the parking lot until he spotted his car, an old, run down station wagon, but as long as it got him from point a to point b without any problems, he was happy. Derek and Sarah did not seem to mind either.
As he neared the car, he noticed that his friend were lying side by side on the hood of the car, watching him.
"What took you?" Derek asked.
"Yeah, we thought you got swallowed by the dragon of the showers." Sarah joked.
"You know me, I have to take my sweet time. But if you don't like it, walk home." Jacob retorted to the pair.
Jacob unlocked the doors on the station wagon and then walked around to the driver's side and unlocked it. He threw his bag in the back and settled in. Derek and Sarah got in and sat down, Sarah sat in the middle, the gearshift between her legs.
"Um, Sarah." Jacob started.
"Don't even." She finished.
Derek smiled and looked out the window. Jacob cranked the car and reluctantly grabbed the gearshift and threw it into gear.
The car jumped a few times, and then was off.
"I don't see why you won't sit in the back." Jacob said to Sarah, who was playing with her oddly colored hair. Derek didn't give her time to answer, he did it for her.
"She doesn't want to feel left out." He said, Sarah nodded her agreement.
* * *
The station wagon pulled to a stop in front of a dark building, only a sign showed in the window that read: Legends of the Sword.
"Well, here we are. Everybody out." Jacob said.
All the passengers piled out of the car and walked to the entrance. Jacob pulled open the door and as he did so, he was greeted by a musky smell, a smell that reminded him of his grandmother's attic. Sarah crinkled her nose at the smell. "Ew. Old people smell." The two guys chuckled at her and proceeded inside.
As the entered the store, all sorts of exotic weaponry welcomed their sight. On one wall, Jacob saw an odd looking sword, it was a handle, with two scimitar blades, each protruding from a different end of the handle. Derek saw a sword hanging on the wall that had some sort of writing on it, and he could have sworn it was glowing a soft blue color.
As they neared the back, a voice called from within the dark recesses of the back room. Sarah squealed from fright.
"Welcome, my children." Spoke the old voice.
"Uh, hello." Jacob said as he watched the feeble old man waddle from the back. Derek leaned over to Jacob and whispered, "Sarah and I are gonna have a look around."
Jacob nodded and turned to the old man.
"What can I do for you?" the ancient one asked.
"Oh, I'm just looking, what kind of weapon is that?" Jacob nodded to the strange double scimitar.
"That's called a swallow." The Old Man answered. Jacob was about to ask where it was from when something strange seemed to claim his attention high above the old man's head on a shelf.
"What's that?" he asked upon seeing it.
"I haven't figured it out, I think it used to be a short sword."
"May I see it?"
"Sure." The old man climbed up a nearby ladder and retrieved the remains. "I've had this thing forever, no one ever seemed to want it." He set it before Jacob who picked it up and studied it. It was a broken sword, it had a strange symbol etched into the blade, it appeared to be three triangles, stacked in a way to form one big triangle. It had a jewel mounted in the hilt, a yellow, possibly topaz, rounded jewel. Jacob viewed it closer and thought he saw a small scene of a boy fighting some kind of. sorcerer? Whatever, he probably just imagined it.
"I'll take it. How much?" Jacob said.
"Twenty-five." The old man stated, "Considering it is broke, but, are you sure?"
"Yeah." He got out his wallet and handed the man the money.
"Oh yeah, it also had this stuff with it when I cam across it. So I'll give it to you to, you may find a use for it." The old man reached underneath the counter and came up with a medium leather bag. He handed to the boy and nodded. "You have a nice night, oh and tell your friends not to be goofing off in here."
Jacob turned, items in hand to see Derek and Sarah toying around with some katanas, trying to duel each other.
"Guys, cut it out, let's go." Jacob left the store, Derek and Sarah followed, they got back into the car and Sarah was back in her normal spot, the gearshift dangerously close to her "no fly zone" Jacob only rolled his eyes and thought nothing of it.
* * *
After taking Derek and Sarah home, Jacob went back to his house. After helping his mother put away the dishes after dinner and showing his parents the sword he got, whose response was, "why is it broken?" he went to his room and sat before his computer. He was online, until a thought drifted to his mind, the leather bag.
He snuck down stairs and outside to his car to retrieve it. After he got it, he snuck back to his room, stopping once because he heard his father mumble something incoherent. He opened the bag to peer inside, instead of finding the missing pieces to the sword blade, to his disappointment; he found a book, and an egg-shaped flute. He set the flute aside, disregarding it; maybe he can give to Sarah. She likes instruments. He lifted the book, on the cover was written in golden script: "The Memoirs of a Princess." Under the title was the same symbol as on the broken sword. He disregarded this as well, probably coincidence.
He opened the book and the first words read: "My nightmare has come true, all hope is lost. My hero is nowhere to be found and I must go into hiding." Jacob read through the first paragraph, which told about this apparent princess going into hiding from some sorcerer who was in possession of some relic called the Triforce.
"Sounds like a cheap Star Wars rip off." Jacob mused to himself. "The Triforce."
Jacob laid the book on his nightstand; he'll read some more tomorrow after school, now he needed to go to bed. He flipped his light off and laid down, sleep drifted to him as his eyes closed for the last time that night.