Chapter One: Taking Flight

Lightning flashed in the distance as rain hammered the ground. The roll of thunder followed closely behind. Two figures are seen walking across a wide, empty plain of grass and mud. One of them is tall, skinny, and short-haired teenage. The other was a short and very long-haired teenage girl. She was yelling at him.

"You know this is insane, right?" she shouted. "This is one of your dumbest ideas yet. That's saying something."

"Why did you even come along then?" The boy asked, emotionless. "I didn't ask you to."

"Don't act like you don't know the answer to that." The girl retorted.

They walked a couple hundred yards more, the girl mumbling angrily and the boy looking straight ahead with certain resolve. Nothing could be heard except the sound of torrential downpour. The reached a river, fluctuating dangerously. It was about to flood.

"I can't believe you're actually going through with this, Dan!" The girl screamed. "After all General Vossle has told us, you're going to be stupid enough to try to take on the crown?"

The boy named Dan eyed her for a bit, though the image was blurred through the rain. "General Vossle has told us a lot of things, Uchi, and yet none of those things have gotten us anywhere. Look at where it's gotten him."

The silence that followed was a sign that Dan had crossed the line. The girl called Uchi stood where she was for a moment, then calmly muttered, "Fine. Do what you want. Get yourself killed. Leave your friends and family behind and die trying to do the impossible."

"You know I don't plan on dying." Dan said. "As of right now, I don't even plan on fighting."

"Right, because we all know how the High King loves to listen to his subordinates talk and complain about their lives." Uchi retorted. She watched as her friend took out a small bottle from his pocket and poured it into the water. Swiftly, water rose up and formed into the shape of a boat. It then turned to a solid, opaque, green substance. Dan stepped onto the boat.
"Hah, this stuff really does work." Dan said, amazed. "You're either with me or against me, Uchi, and this is the moment of truth."
Uchi eyed Dan with the utmost look of disgust and anger on her face. "Just remember one thing," she said, "if we die, I'm going to kick your ass."
Uchi got on the boat, and it sped down river, and into the ocean. They left the storm behind in their grassy homeland. The sun was beginning to shine through the clouds.