This story is going a lot quicker and smoother than my last stories; this may be because for once I actually planned out the plot more, usually I just made it up as I go -shrug-. Hey, remember my apologies at the beginning of the Prologue? I have more: I apologize for any military inaccuracies, truthfully, I don't really care.
Oh yeah, and in case you were wondering, this happened in the last chapter. When I put a --- in front of a paragraph, its Joel the story teller speaking out of context, like, talking normally and not telling the story. You know what I mean
I'm having a lot of fun with this one, and I hope you all are enjoying it, so let's continue shall we?
PS – Ug, this one didn't come out as good as I wanted it too, it's Thanksgiving and I just want my turkey and mashed potatoes, give me a break. Happy Thanksgiving!
Disclaimuh – I disclaim any and all themes/characters from "Yu-Gi-Oh!"
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Chapter 2: Disaster!
- Although the mountains kept the village in a dark shade, dawn crept across the sky turning it a pale blue with a yellow hue outlining the peak that the sun hid behind. On the far side of town, near the mountain's base, sat a house that was very characteristic of its odd angles and the way ivy liked to consume it. The burgundy door positioned in the front of the house swung open and out stepped Eria the Water Charmer, followed by her sister Aussa the Earth Charmer. Eria breathed in the brisk morning air and Aussa adjusted her glasses. They sat outside, yawning and rubbing off their morning fatigue while they waited for their younger siblings to follow them out the door. "Come sisters, let's hurry shall we?" Eria hollered into the house, rapping the doorway with her blue staff. Wynn appeared almost instantly at this call, now fully clothed, and bundled up in her autumn cloak and a scarf. Eria and Aussa were dressed likewise considering their upcoming hike up the mountain would prove a little chilly. Finally, Hiita exited the house, not dressed to match her sisters. Hiita's fiery composition was enough to keep her warm for the ascent.
- Once they were all assembled outside, bearing their staves as usual, they headed to the back of the house to start their ascension up the alp. The path they took was one that they've taken plenty of times before. It wasn't too bad of a climb; the whole trip, there and back took around four and a half hours. The incline was subtle at first, and then became rugged as they reached the half-way mark from their house to their destination. Thankfully, the final stretch was not difficult at all. They passed through a canyon that led to a cave, or rather, The Cave. It was called The Cave by the people of the village because it was the most important cave of all, at least to them it was. Inside the cave was something extraordinary. In the very depths of the cavern was something that is almost indescribable. To put it in the simplest terms, what ended the cave was a tear in the fabrics of space, a portal between different dimensions, so to speak. The characteristics of the rip were as follows: In a vortex of black and indigo, a cloudy nebula swirled constantly toward the viewer, disallowing anything to go through, yet letting imports come through. Surrounding the whirling tornado was a brightly glowing purple outline; some witnesses call it "The Lips of the Storm." Bolts of unexplainable energy were dispatched from it at random moments, striking and charring the stone around it. The constant strikes of this mystic energy caused the earth all around the unearthly portal to turn to a polished black onyx. If it weren't for the dangers of being struck by the space-lightning, the precious stone would be harvested for wealth, or at least carved into a shrine for the point of interest here.
- Sitting right before the maelstrom was a naturally created altar, consisting of the same black onyx that created the raw shrine all around. Placed upon the altar was a spherical object. This one was a light crimson, although the countless number of these spherical objects the sisters have seen before were all of variable colors. Over the roaring wind that the vortex created, the sisters chanted incantations and used elemental magics to suppress the vortex's wrath while the red orb was snatched from the altar to be escorted down the mountain. Eria placed the sphere in a cushioned bag and the sisters regressed back down to the village.
--- Alright, now I'll be less subtle about it. In case you haven't figured it out yet, the "Sphere" I was talking about was a Dragon Egg. Yes, a True Dragon Egg. After I finish this chapter I'll explain more about the Dragons like I said I would. Ok, just clearing that up so you didn't get confused. Let's see how Cedric is doing.
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- Cedric Kelly sat on a rock on the side of the hangars. He sipped black coffee from a mug and muttered negative things about Karly Banks. He tried to think of times when he was dangerous to his fellow pilots, but his bias wouldn't allow it. To relieve his frustration, he chucked the mug behind him, his coffee finished. Almost immediately when the mug shattered, one of the hangar doors opened. Cedric watched longingly as a number of Gradius fighters rolled out of the grand shed. He relished the sound of the High Performance engines as, one by one, the jets took off, until, finally, none were left.
-Cedric sat there, on the rock, staring out into the sky where the jets had departed, and fantasizing about sneaking out and going on the mission anyways, when a crazy idea came to him. What if it doesn't have to be just a fantasy? He thought. He crept around the corner and up to the hangar door and poked his head inside. Surprisingly to his advantage it was desolate aside from the many Gradius jets that lay inanimate; dormant until their respective pilots take them out for a fly. But other than that, no person lay in sight. Cedric wondered why that was, but not for too long because after jumping into suit, jamming his helmet on his head, and strapping himself into his Gradius FF-9 Fighter, he was all ready to go.
- He turned on the taxing engines and hoped and prayed no one heard him as he wheeled out of the hangar, leaving just his empty space behind him. He flipped on his radar jammer and watched as the blip in the middle of his radar, designating him, faded away. This meant that by no means would he be seen by radar. He rolled up to the start of the runway, and, once again hoping that he wasn't heard, engaged the main engines, taking off in 14 seconds flat.
- The rush of excitement flowed through Cedric as he saw the scenery around fall below him. Following the directions he overheard in the debriefing room, he headed southwest of the air base's position, toward what was supposed to be an undiscovered settlement. It had been long since Cedric last flew, somewhere around a month. There were no missions coming in from HQ and the pilots at Bravo Base were getting restless. There were times when they begged to go out and do some training, but the head officers and headquarters insisted that if they wanted some training they could use the new simulation technology that just came in. The simulations, though, were boring and were nothing at all like real flying. It was refreshing to finally get some air time. Cedric breathed in the air that was fed to him by the jets oxygen tanks. The purified artificial air that Cedric was practically addicted to made his lungs expand as if they had been suffocating on anything else.
- The something made Cedric groan in frustration. Putting on the radar jammer had not only cloaked his position, but entirely disabled radars for miles around. Suspicion surely crossed the minds of the people back at base and the pilots ahead of him. Almost frantic, he flipped the radar jammer off which resulted in the blip that represented him on the radar to flicker back on, but he was not alone. At 12'o'clock were about four other blips coming straight for him. It could be no one else besides the recon mission. They were closing in on him fast. Calculating that they must've noticed him on their radars already, Cedric flipped the jammer back on and made a desperate dive to get below the oncoming flock of Gradius. Then something frightening happened.
- Cedric had flown a little too low by mistake, dangerously skimming the treetops. Suddenly, he struck the top of a rather sturdy tree which snapped off immediately but also knocked up Cedric's Gradius. It wobbled a little bit, but then rattled out of control and started descending into the forested floor below. Cedric fought to keep stability, but with his bad flying skills, he was too weak-minded to figure out exactly how to do this. Instinctively, he cut off the throttle tried to pull up and glide out of the trees. Unexpectedly, he hit another branch which caused the plane to twist into an X-Axis spiral towards the ground. Unable to pull out of this predicament, Cedric cringed in terror as he awaited his doom. The jet struck the ground and Cedric blacked out.
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- Finally back at the village, Eria, Aussa, Wynn, and Hiita approached the Dragon's Gazebo. It was situated in the middle of the village and in it was an altar not unlike the one in The Cave. As the sisters approached the structure the young-looking villagers crowded around staring in awe. There was only one reason why the Elemental Charmers would come here, but even though they knew what the reason was they couldn't believe it. The sisters positioned themselves around the altar and Eria emptied the continents of the back onto the black table. "The deciding will begin." She announced simply, and was greeted by utter silence in reply.