Hah! Thought I'd flake out on you again, eh? No. I, SirGecko, am acually going to keep up with this thing, no matter how awkward it seems. . . . hey, YOU try putting the GS gand in a modern city without making it insane!
Oh, and by the way, you may have noticed that I changed the genre of the story to Suspense/Romance. Because, even though there's a lot of adventuring in it, I think of what's to come and suspense really strikes me as primary ^_-. And, I changed the secondary genre to romance because there still will be romance in it, don't think I've gone all serious from all the Babylon 5 episodes I watched . . . no. In all seriousness, there will still be romance.
And . . . I guess it's time for the review responses! I got seven of them! Not bad for three months doing nothing, eh? More than I deserved . . .
Sukasa the Third: No, I'm not dead, just in a writing coma. And Ivan seemed vulgar? Hmmm . . . it was not intended. He's still gonna be his sarcastic old self.
NintendoGamer: Yes, something's up with the Wise One, it seems. But I'm not saying anything. ^_^
QueenDragonGoddess: You know, for some reason I thought you'd not given up hope on me yet. You seemed so intrigued by New Ties Created that I had some faith in the fact that you'd be checking for this . . . ^_^ Anyway, I'm glad you've kept interest this long. And this chapter's even longer than the
last. I'm goooood . . .
moon man: Are you new to this story? If so, you might want to read the first in the series, New Ties Created. But thanks for the review. And don't, pleeease, give those geckos missile launchers. If you do, I may not be alive to update again! ^_^
Great Saiyaman: Welcome back, old friend! I'm glad you liked my start. Probably more than I did . . . and just to plese you, there will be some more Ivan/Lunora in this story. I know you like that pairing, but why? It fascinates me, and I'd like it if you explained to me why you like it so much.
Anime-Master7: I greatly apologize for my poor timing . . . but how was the first chapter? You never said. Oh, and to help insure that you'll be first to review, you can put me on your author alert list. That way, whenever I update, you'll receive a notification by e-mail, telling you that I've updated my newest chapter, and you'll get to read and review it, too. Does that help?
Ssonic: I'm glad you find it interesting. And you've got an idea going about what the Wise One's up to? Well, you're on the right train of thought . . . and I know I waited long enough, I'm such an ass . . .
Okay, I think that about wraps it up. Onto chapter 2!
Chapter 2: Modern Planning, Modern Parting
Isaac and company were speechless.
Nothing could have prepared them for this. I mean, they had all studied the scrolls that the Wise One had given them, but to see everything they described for real . . . it was unlike anything they'd ever seen before.
The Golden Sun Crew had been transported to the Suburban area of Seattle, Washington. Cars were zooming by, horns were blaring, and smokestacks belched pollutants into the air, which made Ivan wince slightly. He noticed how much more damaged his element was in this world; this Wise One had informed him of this.
The other members of the group also noticed the change. Mia seemed to already be weak; but Garet and Isaac seemed to be okay, only a little weaker. Lunora and Solaris were unaffected. But that didn't mean that they weren't affected by the new surroundings.
"Wow . . ." said Isaac, looking around at the tall buildings. He noticed a particularly odd-shaped one, but it reminded him of a very large sewing needle.
"What have they done to the water here?" said Mia. "It's all green and brown! Not at all like the waters of Weyard. It's all polluted!"
"Remember, we came here to do a job," said Solaris firmly. "Personally, I want to do it and get out. Look . . . people are already staring at us."
This was true. Passerby on the sidewalks were throwing them gazes that told Isaac and company that they were thought of as insane. They could tell why, too. When they compared their robes, sheaths, and elegant dresswear to the very casual attire of the passerby, they knew that they must look weird.
"Here, hand me the scrolls, Garet," said Lunora.
Garet fished around in his bag (the salami fell out onto the sidewalk in the search process) for the scrolls. When he found them (slightly crinkled and ripped), he passed them to Lunora, who took them and unfurled one of them.
"'Modern dresswear must be worn to avoid being too noticed,'" she read aloud. "'First, you must go to a building called a bank, and get your gold coins exchanged for the paper currency they use. Once this is done, go to a clothing store (this will be easy to find, as the clothes will be displayed in the window) and purchase some modern clothes. Particularly flashy ones, so that you won't appear to be poor. Poor people aren't afforded the same luxuries as the wealthier in this world.'"
They looked around for any of the buildings mentioned in the scrolls by the Wise One. They didn't see any of them in sight.
"Well, we should keep this building in mind," said Isaac. "This is our only ticket home, and we'll have to drop off our original clothing here once we get changed."
"Okay . . . let's look around for a few landmarks we'll remember," said Garet. "Look out there, that's a ship. We could use that."
"But we don't know how long that ship is going to stay there Garet," said Ivan. "If it leaves and that's our reference, we're screwed."
"Oh yeah, that's right," said Garet. "Well . . ."
"How about that golden statue of an eagle right there?" asked Mia. "I doubt that's going there anytime soon."
"Good idea," said Solaris. "We'll remember that."
They turned around all of a sudden, realizing that they didn't know what the building they had come out of looked like. It was a small, rundown shack, an ideal place for concealing something as important as their gateway between Weyard and where they were.
"Well . . . let's find a bank then," said Isaac. And so they started on their way.
They walked along the side of the street in silence, trying not to look at anybody who was passing them. But, that still didn't stop them from feeling the stares and the whispering of passerby. They felt very awkward.
"Hey, let's take a look at the map," said Mia. "The Wise One probably marked on it where we could find Felix, Jenna, Sheba, and Piers."
"Garet picked out the map from the number of scrolls he had clutched in his hand, and unfurled that as well.
The map consisted entirely of the western half of the United States and Canada. On one corner of the map, it compared Weyard to the size of The states Washington, Oregon, and Idaho, marked on the map. Weyard was slightly larger in area than these three states. The city they were in, Seattle, appeared to be in the state of Washington. Another dot was labeled in the city of Seattle.
Sheba.
"Well, it appears as if we won't have to go very far to get her," said Solaris.
"Piers is in Oregon, in a city called Portland," said Garet. "That's just south of the river that separates Washington and Oregon."
"Whoa, Jenna's a long ways away, in a city called Reno, Nevada," said Isaac.
"Felix is a ways off too," chimed in Lunora. "He's in Alaska. Southern Alaska. I hear it's pretty cold up there."
"Here's a bank," said Ivan, pointing at the building in front of them.
They looked up, and saw a small building with a clear glass front that said "BANK" on it, along with the name of the company who owned it. Feeling slightly happier at having been able to find one of the places on the list, they hurried over to the bank and pulled open the door to walk inside.
Attracting even more stares inside, they looked directly ahead and approached the nearest available teller. Hoping that she could do what they wanted, they went up to her. She was an elderly lady, wearing a green suit with glasses, attached to her neck by a beaded string.
"May I help you?" the teller asked.
"Uh . . . hi, we need to exchange money," said Isaac.
"Well, you've come to the right place," said the teller. "If you'll just fill this out, I-"
She stopped dead when she saw the gold coins fall out onto the counter from Isaac's money pouch. Her mouth slightly open, she reached out and took the gold coins, examining them very closely. After a few minutes or so, she spoke again.
"Well, they're definitely not fake . . ." she started. "It's just that . . . well, I've never seen this much gold in my life."
"I guess the Wise One was right when he said that gold was rare here," observed Garet.
"Pardon?" asked the teller.
"Oh nothing, just talking about a friend," said Ivan quickly, throwing a glare at Garet.
"I don't know if I can exchange these . . . I'll have to weigh them. Gold runs at about 340 dollars an ounce," she said. She paused for a minute. "Hang on while I weigh this coin."
She took one of the gold coins from the small pile on the counter and disappeared behind a door in the back. She was gone for a minute or two, and then she came back, the gold coin clutched in her hand.
"Well, on second thought, I think I can exchange them, but not more than a hundred. These weigh, coincidentally, exactly one ounce each."
Isaac carefully counted out the gold coins, and then dumped out some more. He counted until he reached one hundred, and then shoved them over to the teller, who took them. She sighed deeply and asked if they wanted the money in a check or in dollar bills. Having heard the latter from the Wise One, they asked for it in bills. She whistled, muttering, "cash. Must be important . . ."
She disappeared into the back room again, and this time she was gone for a good ten minutes or so. When she returned, she was carrying four wads of cash. She handed the money to each of them.
"There you are," she said. "Eight-thousand, five-hundred dollars each. That totals to $34000. Have a nice day."
"Thanks," said Isaac.
"Wait a minute," said Ivan, suddenly getting an idea. "Do you have any idea where we could find a clothing store?"
"Why yes, just down the street that way," said the teller, pointing to her left."
"Thank you," said Lunora. They exited the bank.
"Well, now we can get some clothes that won't draw so much attention to us," said Solaris.
"Yeah, hold on while I feel the blisters from the burning stares I got," said Ivan. "It made me feel so uneasy."
"Me too, but let's get going. The more time we waste, the more things that could happen to Felix, Jenna, Sheba and Piers," said Mia.
"Right. Let's get going," said Isaac.
They set off down the sidewalk in the direction that the lady had pointed. After walking for a few minutes, they came across a large department store. Going inside, they made their way to the clothing department.
"Wow, these people have some damn weird styles," said Garet.
"And I bet they think the exact same about us," said Isaac, looking through a shirt rack.
It took them awhile to select their attire. They paid for their items, and asked if there was a place where they could change into them. The clerk nodded, and pointed behind her at a large sign that said "Dressing Rooms". They thanked her and made their way into separate stalls.
Isaac was the first to come out of the room with his new outfit. He was dressed in a plain-white long-sleeved shirt, with bright-red streaks running down it. The t-shirt made his muscles (from all his sword-training) stick out slightly, and black pants. It was tough to get used to, but after fidgeting slightly, he found that it was rather comfortable.
Ivan emerged next. He was wearing a dark-blue t-shirt that shined slightly and had white streaks running up and down the sleeves, and a black pair of jeans.
"Weird, isn't it?" Ivan remarked.
"I'll say," said Isaac, laughing. "But you look good in your stuff. I couldn't find anything that would match me."
"Well, you look fine, and it's not like we're here to look good, anyway."
"Holy hell! This looks insane!"
Garet had just come up behind them, wearing a shirt that was bright-yellow, and had orange flames rising up the short sleeves and down the length of the front and back, and he also wore black jeans. He was looking himself up and down.
"Nice outfit," said Isaac. "I bet we look stupid, though."
"It isn't my fault, it's these weird people who put all this crap on their clothes, not to say that I don't mind the flames . . ."
"Well, don't you gentlemen look handsome."
Lunora had just come out of her stall, wearing a metallic-silver long-sleeved shirt that folded into layers just under her neck. She also bore a leather skirt and black boots.
"I've always wanted to wear an outfit somewhat like this, but I was always living in places too cold to do so," she said. "Well, what do you think?"
Isaac and Garet nodded, smiling. Ivan came over and put an arm around her waist. "It brings out your element," he said, smiling up at her.
"That was the intent," she said, kissing his forehead.
They turned around as they saw Solaris walking toward them, wearing a red shirt with a big, fat sun on it. He also wore black pants.
"Yeah Garet! Black all the way!" Solaris said, slapping him on the back.
"I wonder why Mia's taking so long," said Isaac.
"Well, it probably took her awhile to take off all those damn robes," said Garet. "I don't know how she doesn't bake to death in them . . ."
"What's the opposite of fire, Garet?" said Ivan.
"Water," said Garet.
"I'm impressed, you just answered your own question," said Ivan, mock-clapping.
"Yeah, I am a genius, aren't I?" said Garet proudly, playing along with Ivan.
"Yes, you are," he said, chuckling.
"What a well-dressed bunch we are," said Mia's voice from behind them. They turned around, and felt their eyes widen with slight shock.
Mia was wearing a tight dark-blue dress with even darker-blue bubbles all over it. The dress covered her left shoulder but exposed her right. Her shiny, sky-blue hair fell all the way down past her bare shoulder and down to her lower back. She wore a silver bracelet on her right wrist, and wore black high-heels.
"What?" she asked.
"Well . . . we just didn't . . . expect that, that's all," said Solaris. "It does look really good, though."
"I think that's why some of us were staring," said Lunora honestly.
"I don't know whether to thank you all or go buy something more casual," said Mia.
"No you look just fine the way you are," said Ivan. "Let's get going. Do we have all our stuff?"
They all went back into their changing rooms and got their original clothing from within, and then met outside again.
"All right, let's drop this stuff back at the shack, and we'll plan ahead from there," said Isaac. The rest of the group nodded, and then walked outside together.
"We look normal now," said Garet.
"Normal for here, anyway," Solaris agreed.
Isaac walked up to Mia and slid his arm under hers. "You look beautiful," he said.
"Why thank you," she smiled, kissing him on the cheek. "You look pretty handsome yourself."
*******
They reached the shack about twenty minutes later, checking the map and the statue to make sure that they were in the right place. They walked through the wooden door, which was rotting, and deposited their old clothes next to the portal, and then walked outside again.
"Okay, let's all get going, we need to get Sheba," said Garet.
"Hold on a minute . . . said Isaac. "I think we should split up. That way, we could get this done in a few days, and beat it out of here."
"Are you nuts? What if we get lost?" shouted Ivan.
"You won't go by yourself," said Isaac calmly. "We'll all split up into pairs, and each go find one of the four lost. Then, we can all meet back here in a few days and go get the last person."
They stood pondering this plan for a few minutes. Isaac was right, doing this would cut down considerably on the time they would have to spend on Earth. But on the other hand, six minds were better than two. Even so, they wouldn't be alone, and they could work together with just two . . .
"All right," said Garet. "It sounds okay to me. What about the rest of you?"
They all agreed.
"Good," said Isaac. "I'll go with Mia, and we'll get Sheba here in Seattle."
"I'll go with Ivan, and we'll go get Felix," said Lunora.
"Solaris is with me, and I'm going to get Jenna," said Garet firmly.
"We should all go together to get Jenna," said Isaac. Besides, she's pretty far away."
"So's Felix!" Garet protested.
"I want to be there, and I'm getting Sheba first," said Isaac. "Jenna will be fine. She's always been the fiery aggressive type, and I bet she learned a lot of survival skills when she traveled with the Proxians. Okay?"
Garet had his arms folded, and was looking very stubborn. Finally though, he sighed deeply in resignation. He could see Isaac's view of things, but boy oh boy, he wanted to make sure Jenna was okay!
"All right then, we'll go get Piers, but we hurry," he said.
"No, we'll all go slow just to piss you off," said Ivan sarcastically. "Of course we're going to hurry. I don't want to stay here any more than you do. I'm already feeling the elemental strain . . ."
They said nothing for a few minutes. The reality of the plan was that two would not see the rest for days. They had not been apart for more than a few hours since they all met, and it was going to feel very awkward. But it had to be done.
"Well, I guess this is where we separate," said Isaac uncomfortably. "You all be careful won't you?"
He went up and hugged each of those who wouldn't be traveling with them. Garet gave him the biggest hug of all, though. It was rather emotional.
"All right, I guess we'll be seeing you in a few days," said Isaac, while Mia said her goodbyes. Then she and Isaac started walking north along the sidewalk. Garet, Ivan, Solaris, and Lunora watched until they disappeared in the mass of people walking along the sidewalks.
The rest got out their scrolls again, and looked for any description of a fast means of transportation. They all read about the taxi service, a handy organization that used the devices called cars to take people wherever they wanted to go.
"It says here that we look for a yellow car with black checker-marks on it, and a sign with a number on top," Lunora read aloud. "And then we yell 'Taxi!' and we pay them to take us where we need to go. That sounds simple enough."
They all looked to the road, looking for a car that fitted the description of the Wise One's. They didn't have to wait long. Two taxis, one behind the other, were driving closer and closer to them, following the steady line of traffic along the road.
"Taxi!" they shouted.
The two taxis pulled up along the curb. Ivan shook the hands of Garet and Solaris in farewell. Lunora shook Garet's hand and hugged Solaris. They then got into separate taxis.
Ivan and Lunora greeted their driver, who asked them their destination.
"Fairbanks, Alaska," said Ivan, reading the city on the map.
"Fairbanks?!" shouted the driver. "Catch a plane for that, man. I'm just a cab!"
Ivan looked at the man quizzically, but Lunora came to his rescue, remembering what the Wise One had said about money being very valuable in this world.
"We pay generously," said Lunora, drawing out a bundle of money.
The driver looked at the money, obviously intrigued. Then he gave in. "Alright, I'll take you there, but I want all of that money for the trip. It's gonna be expensive, but I think there'll be enough left over, so I'll even take you back here."
"Done and done," said Lunora, handing the driver the money.
In the taxi in front, Garet told the driver to take them to Portland, Oregon. Their taxi turned around and headed the opposite way, south. They all turned around and watched the other taxi pull out and continue north. Toward Fairbanks.
"Be safe," muttered Garet.
**************************
. . . . . . . . . .
This chapter felt so wierd to type out. Now, I want an opinion in your reviews. Am I doing this right? I mean really, I don't want this to be some senseless reality fic, that's my other one (which I haven't updated in four months). I guess what I'm trying to say is: is this realistic? You tell me.
Anyway, review, or you'll find out excatly what Ice Missile feels like, courtesy of my ice Gecko . . .
REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW!!!
~SirGecko~