Wow! I didn't actually expect that much positive feedback for a first chapter, but a big thanks to the following for giving me my first five reviews for this: Silvermoon and Revenge Seeker (also big thank you's for continuing to suffer (without much complaint) as my betas), Crazy Girl Person, DemonSurfer, and WaitingForTheStars. So here's the next chapter, ready for you to read and review! Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I own some plots, some characters, and some character interpretations. Anything else...not mine.
Chapter One- Reunion.
"I'm here to protect him, not lead him to his-"Tyke Shamira jolted awake with a gasp.
A pair of green eyes swam before his gaze before pulling back to allow him to see the face of a grinning brunette girl.
"About time!" she said half-jokingly, putting her hands on her hips. "And we've been looking everywhere for you!"
Still trying to catch his breath, Tyke glanced around to find himself seated on a worn spiral staircase, leaning back against the stone wall. The late afternoon sunlight was pouring through the arched window to the left of him, and all around him was the rhythmetic ticking of the cogs and wheels of the structure.
The Clock Tower.
"Hey!" He looked back sharply to see the girl bending to be on an eyelevel with him. "Don't be so rude! You forgot to meet us earlier on, remember?"
Tyke blinked, suddenly recalling the arrangement made yesterday. He met her gaze and offered her a sheepish grin. "Sorry Jess- ow!"
Eyes narrowing slightly, he brought his hand up to his right cheek, wincing at the pain that had inflicted when he'd spoken and now returned at his touch. He looked at her, mind filling in the details, seeing her frown slightly as she straightened up.
"Hey, I know I'm a deep sleeper, but there was no need to hit me!" he said exasperatedly.
"What?" She glared at him in a mixture of confusion and indignance. "What the hell are you on about? I never hit you!"
"Then w-" Tyke was cut off by the sound of a door being wrenched open somewhere below them. Another voice, a boy's, called up.
"Oi, Jessie! Did ya find him?"
Jessie turned to lean slightly over the railing. "Yeah, up here! Watch yourself though-" She glared back at Tyke. "He might accuse you of something as well." With that, she turned and pushed past the seated boy, continuing up the few remaining stairs and out of the open door at the top.
With a sigh, Tyke stood up and stretched out aching limbs as footsteps clattered up towards him. He hadn't meant to annoy Jessie, but she had a short temper, and anyway- if she hadn't hit him, who had? The red-haired guy from his dream?
That dream...
He frowned again and shook his head slightly, trying to clear out his thoughts. It was just...weird. If he'd just dreamt it...why was this part of it real?
Maybe I'm just imagining things. He told himself firmly as he ran a hand through spikey blondish hair. I'm probably still half asleep.
"Alright, Tyke?" A boy with dark hair held back by a bandana had appeared, grinning widely. "Jessie caught ya sleepin', huh?"
Tyke grinned back at him. "Yeah, she wasn't too happy 'bout it."
"I'll say." Another boy, this one blond and slightly smaller, emerged next to the first. "Your cheek's as red as anything, man!"
The dark-haired boy smiled wider. "Yeah, Wedge's right. She must've got real mad at ya."
Tyke shot them a confused look.
...so, it wasn't just...
Seeing this, the first of his friends rolled his eyes and began speaking in a slow monotone. "Tyke. Your. Face. Is. Swelling. Up. Get it?"
"I know that, Biggs." Tyke snapped, then sighed. "Man, it's just...ugh, anyways, it wasn't Jess, but I, uh, kinda accused her of it. That's why she's mad."
"I'd recommend grovelling for all yer worth. Or at least get life insurance." Wedge chipped in helpfully, then added, "Can we get a move on? 'Cause, y'know, I juss love standing around talking with you guys on a narrow staircase, but my arms are goin' kinda numb."
Biggs laughed and went on up past Tyke, whilst the latter grinned at Wedge as he carried on ascending the stairs.
"You got it then?" he asked. The other blond nodded happily.
"Yep, right here. Hey, shift yerself, or you'll get trampled."
With a slight chuckle, Tyke did as his friend asked and went up and out of the door just above them. After the door was a fairly wide stone walkway, spanning the entire side of the Clock Tower before pillars formed an interval where it bent around to the other sides of the structure. The actual clock face loomed above them, enormous black hands directing across a white background. It was the central point of the town, visible almost everywhere.
Jessie already sat at the edge, legs dangling over the side, and he made his way over to sit down on her left. From here, he could see all of Cole's Junction spread out before him- people bustling in the maze of interlinking streets, trams and trains weaving through the mismatched buildings, and all the other occurrences of everyday life.
The girl still hadn't said a word and didn't look round even when Tyke glanced at her. He sighed again and decided to break the silence.
"Sorry I acted like that, Jess. I didn't mean it." Her green eyes flickered sideways towards him and he continued, "It's the weirdest thing though...I dreamt that someone hit me and then I wake up like this."
That was too surreal to be a dream, a little voice argued from the back of his mind.
"Still," he carried on firmly, trying to ignore his subconscious. "I shouldn't have done it." He cocked his head at her. "Forgive me?"
Jessie pursed her lips briefly before breaking out with a smile and a giggle, punching him lightly on the arm as she faced him.
"Sure. But just 'cause you plead so nicely." She looked over at Biggs, who had moved to sit as well, and at Wedge, who was currently doing the same. "Well, are we ready then?"
"Yeah, just a second." Wedge was twisting back from where he sat, digging down the bag he'd brought up with them.
Whilst Biggs and Jessie watched him, Tyke went back to surveying the busy town in front of him, bathed in the late fiery glow of the sun. Even when faced with the hectic reality of his now homeworld, he couldn't quite shake off the lingering bewilderment of his dream.
It was just a dream, nothing more. He was starting to get impatient with himself, but this was cut off by a sudden twinge in his cheek. But...if it wasn't a dream, if it was something else...what was it?
A flash of bright silver in the corner of his eye caught his attention, and he flicked his gaze in the direction of it in a slightly irritable manner, only to squint at the apparent sight of something silverish-white moving fluidly between the rooftops-
"Got it!"
Tyke snapped his head around to see Wedge grinning in triumph as he held up the thing he'd been searching for. It was a small, rigid branch of a blueish colour, curling and adorned with coloured orbs.
Biggs caught his eye and explained, "We went to the Vita Tree earlier and got it. Remember, you were supposed to meet us there." He grinned afterwards to show he wasn't really angry.
Tyke returned the expression vaguely and glanced briefly back at the rooftops he'd been watching before, only to blink in surprise- there was nothing there.
Shaking himself mentally, he turned his attention back to his friends. Wedge had held the branch over for Biggs to remove one of the large bead-like things from it and was in the process of doing so himself.
"So," Jessie said. "Once we take these..."
"We make a wish, right?" Wedge asked, handing her the branch, having selected a red sphere for himself. Jessie nodded as she inspected the remaining ones.
"That's right. We make a wish, and then we keep the Crystals with us."
"And as long as we do, we'll all meet again, right?" Tyke put in. Jessie paused in removing her chosen Crystal, a large yellow one, from a stem and looked at him curiously.
"That's right, or so the story says. People who take Livella Crystals together from the same branch of the Vita Tree will meet again as long as they keep them." She smirked and finished taking hers, passing the bough onto him. "I didn't know you actually believed in it, Tyke."
He shrugged, not entirely sure what he believed in. "Never said I didn't. Might as well try it though. And besides, the Vita Tree is where we all met, right?"
The Vita Tree was located right on the very edges of Cole's Junction, an enormous old plant that grew these strange Livella Crystals instead of leaves. It was a way apart from the rest of the town, accessible by a bridge, which crossed a smallish river. He could still remember his first meeting with his friends- four years old and only having lived in Cole's Junction for a matter of months at the most, he'd run from his house for a reason he couldn't remember and had wound up by the Tree. Biggs, Wedge and Jessie had been there, trying to figure out the grooves in the trunk, thinking that there might be some way to get inside the Tree- maybe to another place.
Well, even if there is, we haven't found it. Tyke mused, plucking the one leftover Crystal from the branch- a smooth, flawless ball, just the right size to fit in his fist and a deep blue colour that seemed to be sort of translucent. And that was ten years ago. So it looks like we never will. Setting aside the branch, he looked over at his friends and copied their motions of holding up the orb in front of them.
"OK, everyone!" Jessie exclaimed happily. "Wish!"
Tyke watched as his Crystal glimmered in the sunlight, unsure of what to think of. Biggs was probably asking for the attention of whatever girl he liked this week. Wedge might be wishing for fame or adventure. He could hear Jessie muttering something incoherent, but figured that the word 'explosives' probably occurred at some point. If only he could be so decisive...
I wish I knew what my dream meant.
He blinked in shock at the sudden, silent voice in his mind. He hadn't meant to use his wish like that- it seemed to just be the work of a random instinct. He could hear his friends now laughing and chattering amongst themselves, but, for some reason, he felt oddly disconnected. Wondering if wishes came true...
"Hey!" A hand waved in front of his face- he glanced to his right to see three pairs of eyes fixed on him. He shifted slightly.
"Yeah?" he asked, trying to make it seem as casual as possible.
"You OK, man?" Wedge's face was creased in concern. "You seem kinda... out of it?"
Tyke rubbed absently at the back of his neck. "Sorry. I was just thinking, maybe I should get my cheek sorted out. Maybe Lucia can cast magic on it for me."
"Yeah, it does look kinda swollen." Jessie agreed, peering at it. "You going now then?"
"Yeah...probably should. She'll be wondering where I am by now anyways." He stood, pocketing the Crystal. "See you all tomorrow then?"
"Guess so..." Biggs replied, stretching his arms out and giving a lazy yawn. "We're meeting at ten, right? Here. OK?"
Tyke grinned. "Got it. See ya then."
With a wave and a rally of goodbyes, Tyke set off, quickly descending the spiral staircase and making his way out of the clock tower door and across the Main Square where it stood. He chose to go off down one of the less populated roads, hoping for some time to think. Glancing back at the Tower, he could see his friends still there, and gave a final parting wave before strolling away.
He carried on down the streets and lanes at a leisurely pace, hands in his pockets and eyes down as he replayed the dream over and over in his mind. Despite his hopes, each time he thought about it only increased his confusion, and every decision that it was nothing more than imagination only built up the resistance of that irritating little subconscious voice against such an idea-
Silver shot in front of him.
His eyes caught the sudden movement, his head jerking up to follow it as it sped towards the wall of a house and off down the road. His eyes widened and squinted in order to make out a thin, silverish-grey being fleeing in an almost impossibly agile way. He hesitated for only a fraction of a second before running after it.
He tore down the streets, finding it increasingly difficult to keep up as the thing leapt and twisted between roofs, walls and the ground. It seemed to realised his presence, escalating its pace and redirecting sharply down side alleys and smaller roads in an obvious attempt to loose him. Still he charged after it, not even sure why he was but somehow knowing- or, more likely, blindly hoping- that it held some strange link to his dream.
The creature bounded between buildings and back again, launching itself in an elongated shape towards a solid brick wall. Tyke skidded to a halt, catching sight of an almost reptilian face decorated by a strange white cross before the thing was swallowed into a large dark portal that sealed behind it.
For several long moments, the fair-haired boy remained frozen exactly where he stood, heart thudding wildly in his chest. Then, instincts suddenly kicking in, he turned and fled for home.
He was panting for breath by the time he burst in through the door of his small house several streets away. He was greeted by a surprised cry as the young woman at the stove spun around, almost knocking over the pan she had been stirring.
"Tyke!" She let out a relived sigh. "Don't scare me like that! And it's about time too- where've you been all day?"
"Sis, you won't believe this!" Tyke gasped out. "There was this thing, some monster, and it-"
"Whoa, slow down there!" his sister told him, holding her hands up. "Take a deep breath and s- oh Gods, Tyke, what happened to you?"
Blinking in puzzlement, it took Tyke a moment to remember his injury, by which time she had ushered him into one of the chairs at the table of the room and was tilting his head to the light to see it.
"What did you do?" she muttered, half to herself. "Have you been fighting again?"
"No!" he protested impatiently. "I swear, Lucia! There was this creature- and I dreamt that- it was just really-"
"Hold still." She interrupted, placing a hand over the slight swelling of the right side of his face to mutter, "Cura."
Tyke fidgeted slightly as the cool feel of the white magic seeped from Lucia's fingers and onto his bruise. Immediately it felt better, and he began to talk again as she inspected him.
"Seriously, though, Lucia, I chased some weird creature from the Clock Tower, and it disappeared through some portal over some streets away, and there was some kinda cross marked on its face-"
He stopped as Lucia withdrew her hands from his face, uncertain- he could have sworn he'd felt her fingers tremble.
"Hey, can it wait a bit, Tyke?" she asked, tucking some golden hair behind her ear. She always wore it long and loose to cover a scar on the right side of her face, running from her temple to her cheekbone. "Go clean yourself up- you should be OK now- dinner's nearly ready and I'll get it out in a sec- alright?"
Tyke frowned slightly at the smile she gave him- it seemed a little too forced. "Sure." He replied, standing and going over to and up the narrow staircase that ran up the opposite wall. Apart from the main room downstairs, this was the rest of his house- two tiny bedrooms and an even tinier bathroom, to which he was currently headed- but even if it was cramped, it was home. He'd been living here since he first came to Cole's Junction with Lucia, straight after their home had been destroyed. She'd brought him up, looked after him after their parents had died in the same event. He didn't remember them- he'd been too little to recall anything, and Lucia found it painful to discuss them, so he didn't ask. All that was left of them now was an old, battered photograph, snatched up by Lucia amongst a few other belongings as they'd escaped, which now hung over the fireplace in a frame.
Tyke sighed, stretching out as he stepped into the bathroom and pulling a face at his reflection in the mirror, noticing his right cheek was slightly flushed compared to the other, but nothing more than that. Just as he reached out to twist he tap of the sink on, there came a knock downstairs, and he carried on as he listened to Lucia moving to answer to the door. Water gushed out into the sink and he made to get some in his cupped hands.
"You!"
He paused, eyes wide at the sound of Lucia's raised voice. Eternity, which in reality could only have been seconds, seemed to drag on before the reply.
"Hello Lucia."
It was a male voice- low, calm and only just audible. Tyke quickly turned off the tap and dried his hands down his black trousers, focusing carefully.
"What do you want?" Lucia's voice dripped with a venom Tyke had never heard before.
"What, no warm welcome back?" the man's voice was slightly amused. "I think you already know."
"You expect to resurface after all these years and just ruin our lives?" his sister hissed. "I already told you, I won't let it happen! I'm here to protect him, not lead him to his-" He thought he heard her choke slightly. "Get out. I don't care. Just crawl back to wherever the hell you came from."
"I'm afraid I can't do that." Tyke could almost make out a slight sigh. "I'm here and I've got a job to do. Where is he?"
He? Tyke's blue eyes narrowed. Does he mean...me?
"He's not here." Lucia spat. "I don't know where he is."
There was a pause, then a laugh- something that made Tyke shiver, even though he didn't know why. Intrigued, he tiptoed out of the bathroom and back to the top of the stairs.
"I think you're lying, Luci." the man said. Tyke flinched at a creeping sense of familiarity.
"Don't you dare call me that!" she snapped. "You don't care- you never did- get out before...before I kill you!"
"Kill me?" Another laugh, a booted footstep on the wooden floor and another flinch for Tyke. "Oh Lucia, you don't even realise..."
Something in Tyke snapped at those words, something in the mocking tone enraging him to rush down to the bottom step of the staircase, yelling, "Get the hell away from her!"
His sister looked up at him with horrified eyes from where she stood, gripping the kitchen counter behind her tightly. A tall figure dressed in a long dark coat with the hood up stood with its back to him, head cocked slightly- he figured this was the man.
"No!" Lucia cried frantically. "Tyke- go upstairs- quick!"
The figure was turning to face him, hands emerging from long sleeves to push back the concealing hood. Tyke was furious.
"You heard me! Get lost!"
The hood fell back and Tyke's eyes widened.
Facing him was a pale young man somewhere about his early or mid twenties, with longish spikes of dark blonde hair falling into a calm, mismatched gaze of blue and brown.
That guy...from my dream...
Then he spoke.
"Really, Tyke. Is that any way to greet your big brother?"
Another cliffhanger, huh? Well, you know the drill: review and tell me what ya thought! It seemed a bit long to me, but I couldn't really break it up, otherwise it wouldn't work. I hope to have the next chapter up as soon as possible, but what with overloads of coursework (damn ICT) and pending exams, I might not be able to stick to that. But anyways, I'll try. Hope you enjoyed this chapter and see ya soon.