Danny sighed as he watched the sun rise from the wall. Four days, four long days and now he was bored. Sure Kiru city was huge, and as such there wasn't really any end of things to do around here. Lots of places to explore, lots of things to see, and that was just for Danny.
As phantom the list doubled as he could get into about anywhere his human half couldn't, he also found that most creatures (mostly guards) would challenge him to battle or outright attack him; this gave him some practice in fighting on the ground instead of up in the air like he normally would with ghosts back home. And if he didn't want to fight he'd simply disappear around a corner or through a wall. On occasion he ran into Maxxor while exploring the palace, the place had more secret passages then his parents had ecto-weapons. When they did run into each other they would either stop and talk or simply say hello and move on. Danny had learned a lot about Perim that way, mostly how things worked in the overworld, not that it did much good. He still had no idea how they were on the subject of ghosts. He did hear about one 'living' in the desert, Mipedian territory, called Oh wakey or something like that. But apparently they just left him be as he was a great asset against a long forgotten enemy.
As the light grew he thought of what he wanted to do today, he ended up waking early for some reason and now he felt restless. Like there was something going on he should know about that he hadn't noticed before. He sighed to himself, hopping up so he stood on the edge of the wall. Whatever the reason, didn't seem like the sort of thing a leisurely flight couldn't fix. After all, what could possibly be wrong on such a peaceful morning?
He glanced around to make sure nobody was watching and closed his eyes; one step was all it took to feel the familiar and terrifying pull of gravity with nothing beneath him to land on for what could seem like ages if he allowed it. As his heart felt the tingle you get when you drop he reached for his cold core, a pair of silver rings rushing over him and he curved out, swooping back into the air without opening his eyes. Instead feeling the crisp morning air, that space between the last of night and the first of dawn; when the light of day is brightening and the cool of night still lingers before bowing out to the heat of the day.
Phantom sighed in pleasure as he floated freely in the open air, controlling where he went with the slightest of efforts, perfectly at home up here in the vast sky where few ever follow. Opening his eyes he could still see a few stars in the greying heights and low clouds tinged with the first rays of the morning.
"Sam would love this view." He muttered to himself, "Too bad she's not a morning person."
He felt a twinge of homesickness hit him again, like it had several times before. He dived back downwards, continuing his care free flight. Before he had just convinced himself he was on vacation, an unusual vacation. But still, after this long with no word or message from Ren, his doubts were beginning to take root.
What if she was wrong? What if for one reason or another she couldn't send him home? What if he went home and found he had been missing for weeks instead of days? Or months even?
He shook his head, if that became the case then Clockwork could easily fix that, he was a ghost of time after all. And he always said that when everything is as it should be there was nothing to be done about it.
**8**
Payton was looking over the city from the wall top, hoping to find a new location scan for his deck.
"Ok, so with all the different places around here shouldn't be too hard to come up with a new angle for the game." He said to himself with a smile before stilling a large yawn, "Can't help but feel jealous of my earth self though. Still back in bed while I'm out here improving my game."
He cast his eyes over the nearest buildings, looking for inspiration, "So if that's the mugic academy over there then that's the library and uh…no wait that's the library over there and then there's the armory and the bazar, no wait the bazar over there and…"
A shadow of something overhead, glancing upwards he saw a creature in black and white floating towards the ground. He strained his eyes trying to get a better look, "Strange, never seen him befo…"
With a jolt, Payton dived for the nearest hiding place, searching his scans for a location closer to where the creature was.
Whoever that guy is, I gotta get in for a closer look. A large grin spread across his face at the thought of scanning a new creature.
***8***
Danny landed silently in an alley way, his heightened hearing picking up heavy footfalls of Overworld guards going out on patrol, as well as several creatures getting up and ready for the day. Peering around the corner he could see one of the stands selling food was already up and running.
His stomach gave a growl as the scent filled his nose, Perim food was strange but after being thrown out of your own world and into another without any idea of how long you'll be stuck there he knew better than to be picky. A lesson easily learned after some of the dinners his mom cooked up while working on experiments at the same time.
Still, remembering her cooking made him feel a bit homesick.
A flash of something caught his attention; instinctively he relaxed, ready to react instantly in case of attack.
That was one thing he just couldn't get used to here, the attacks. A creature saw him as a threat the first thing they did was throw fire at him. Not too different from when he had been attacked by ghosts back home, however those guys were either up to something or had a grudge with him to begin with, and he could detect when they were around so they couldn't sneak up on him, much.
Here however all the residents were very much like humans, no ectoplasm meant no ghost sense and no ghost sense meant he couldn't tell if one got too close. Normally that meant they were regular humans, harmless unless they were his parents or Valerie. But in Perim everyone and their pets seemed to have the ability to fry, freeze and dice his behind if he wasn't careful. And the short tempers of the guards didn't help much.
On seeing that white flash, small as it was, he wasn't taking any chances. If someone was trying to attack him again he wanted to be ready.
Human eyes peered around the corner, shifting this way and that under long scruffy brown hair. If Danny were visible at that moment the surprise written on his face would be all too easy to read.
Must be another Chaotic player like Tom and Kaz. He thought. The human, a large boy in cargo shorts and a tee shirt, stepped out still looking around, a yellow device in his hand confirmed Danny's thoughts.
"Who was that guy? A new scout for Maxxor I'll bet. On his way back from a top secret mission. Aw man, where'd he go?" the boy said under his breath, apparently working himself into a frenzy
Danny frowned, recalling what Tom had explained to him about Players. They could use those little machines to scan creatures, objects and locations to get digital cards for their game. And once in the game they could use those scans to literally become creatures, in locations, and use the objects as battle gear and magic like a real battle.
Cool as it sounded the idea of someone turning into him didn't sit right with him. He had enough crazy fans back home for one thing.
The player looked around more thoroughly, muttering everything on his mind like a bad habit. Danny almost wondered if this kid had ever met Technus, the self-proclaimed master of all technology and the number one rambler of all the ghost zone.
***8***
Payton groaned, he couldn't seem to see that creature anywhere, "Man I can't believe I lost him. A new creature and I had to go and loose him just like that."
Before he could lament any further his stomach growled loudly. A smell reached his nose, local food. He thought about porting back to Chaotic for some grub but then another surprise caught his attention. A human player walking right up to one of the stands in the market place, with a familiar shaggy black hair.
"Well maybe my day won't be a total loss after all." He started towards the boy, calling out with a huge grin, "Yo, Tommy, what's up bro?"
The boy didn't move, Payton didn't let that bother him. He just smiled as he ran up to him and touched his shoulder, "Dude, are those new threads? They look good on ya. Listen, I was hoping you could help me on…"
He paused as the boy turned around, Payton then realized he wasn't looking at his best friend and favorite overworld player. He had the same shaggy black hair and bright blue eyes but different, very different. Payton coughed as the boy looked at him confused.
"Er, sorry I thought you were someone else."
The boy shrugged, "It's okay, really. Tom and I tell everyone were twins."
Payton could tell the last comment was something of a joke, but that struck something with him, "so you two have met?"
The boy nodded, "He was one of the first guys I met here in Kiru city."
He stuck his hand out, "I'm Danny by the way, Danny Fenton."
Payton shook the hand firmly, smiling wide, "Nice to meet you dude. You know I haven't seen you around Chaotic before, probably because you're new and all, right?"
Danny gave a weak laugh, "Er, yeah something like that."
"So what are you doing here in Kiru city? Getting some new scans for your battle strategies?"
Again, Danny's smile was weak, almost forced, "No not really. I'm kinda….staying here for a bit is all."
Payton frowned, that didn't sound right somehow, sure he'd heard of players staying in Perim days at a time for one reason or another, heck he'd done so himself to get prime scans of things. But with Danny…somehow it didn't sound like that was his reason for being here in the city. Quietly he shoved the thought aside, if a player had his or her reasons for what they did in Perim, then that was their business and he didn't have to know. Unless of course it was something so epic not knowing could tip the advantage for one of the tribes and cause an all-out war among them. The fighting between them was bad enough.
With a small cough he decided if it was anything like that he would find out later. For now though he wanted to get to know this kid.
"So Danny, how long have you been here in the city?"
Danny looked up a minute as if thinking it over, "Hmm, about a week I think."
Payton smiled at that, "And how much of the city have you actually seen?"
"Plenty." Danny said flatly. Payton frowned, was it him or did the kid sound bored?
"Well, do you know the best places for the best scans?" he said with a smile, "I can show you some of my favorite spots if you want."
Danny looked at him as if thinking this over, finally he shrugged, "I'm game. Maybe it'll give me a new perspective on things around the city."
Payton wasn't sure if he was being serious, after all, if he had only been in Perim for a week then how much of the city could he had possibly seen?
***8***
In the shadows a figure lurked in hiding, a figure with black scaly skin patterned with dark blue swirls, flickering in and out in a ghostly haze like something you thought you saw out of the corner of your eye. It didn't touch the ground, too many eyes could look his way even for a moment, he wasn't going to risk that under any circumstances, his job here was much too important.
In the growing light the shadows began to be far and few between, not that it mattered, when his spouts of invisibility weren't needed all he had to do was sit perfectly still in the shadows and let his dark coloring doth e rest. Not one creature looked his way and realized a living thing was there, up in the dark corners or slipping in and out of windows.
As he neared the palace he stopped, just under a roof's edge, clinging to the wooden framework and stone walling, a deep red tongue flickered out, smelling the air. Yes that was it! That was where he needed to go.
Silent as was possible for a master climber, a lizard humanoid, the figure flickered out of sight, headed straight towards the large building.
***8***
Danny sighed as he dug into the warm bread, Payton's shocked face at how easily he had bartered for the stuff had been a worth a laugh for a bit. According to him players and the local creatures weren't always on such good terms with each other. Sure the creatures would make deals with players for a simple scan, and some of the creatures did seem to have soft spots for the players. But to actually trade the way Danny had just done.
"…two quarters and a mugic for three pieces of bread? And she totally agreed on it?" Payton was saying through a mouthful of Perim bread, "You could've haggled her down for just the quarters and used the mugic for something bigger, like help in getting a scan. And why would you accept that much bread in the first place? It's not like you can bring that back with you to Chaotic."
"I don't have to, it's my breakfast." Danny took a bite out of one.
Payton's step faltered a bit, "Say what now?"
Danny didn't answer, instead offering a roll to the burly boy, "It's pretty good."
Payton stared at it, his stomach growled loudly on him. Reluctantly he took it and had a large bite, a smile crossing his face at the soft texture, "hey, this is kinda like that Amish stuff we had on our last road trip."
He took another large mouthful, talking around it, "This would go great with some dipping sauce."
Danny smiled to himself as he pocketed the last piece and continued with his first. Only for an all too familiar blue mist to escape his mouth. Instinctively his eyes began to search, the street ahead of them, the air above them, every shadow and alley in sight.
Payton halted in mid-bite, having noticed Danny's step had slowed, "Hey dude what's the matter?"
Danny didn't answer right away; he should know that feeling of cold easily by now, his ghost sense kicking in, but this…something was different about this. Normally whenever his ghost sense not only had the blue mist escaped his lips, but a shiver of cold would swiftly run up his spine. This time the only cold he felt was from that mist escaping from deep in his throat, nothing else. It was like half of his ghost sense wasn't working. But why was that? Did it have something to do with Clockwork changing how his ghost form looked? Or was it something else?
A shimmer overhead caught his attention, a feeling of cold at the back of his throat seemed to alert him again.
"Something's wrong." He muttered.
Payton frowned, turning his eyes to look in the same direction, "Uh, what you looking at their D-man?"
"I just remembered I need to be somewhere. Gotta run, see you around!" he took off down the nearest alley, a pair of silver rings just forming around him with a comfortably familiar rush of going ghost.
***8***
"Hey wait a minute!" Payton yelled, hurrying right behind the Tom look alike, "What's gotten into you? Wow your fast."
He turned the corner peering into the alley, a long narrow space with just enough room for a larger creature to walk down. But nothing else. Payton looked on confused, his eyes searching for a door, window or even a hole in the wall that the kid could've slipped through.
***8***
Danny glanced back at the chubby kid still down in the alley, that kid was a bit faster than he had expected, just a second sooner and there would be one more person who knew his secret. Or worse the first player who thought he was a creature and wanted a scan.
That feeling brushed over him again, like half of his ghost sense was going off and the other half wasn't working, why was that? He glanced about searching for anything out of the ordinary. And for a half ghost in Kiru city, that was saying something.
A flash of something black, glinting in and out of sight caught his attention. With a change of direction he floated off towards the creature, turning on his invisibility. The thing was a huge lizard, dark scales glittering onyx black in what little light they caught and a strange pattern lined in a blue that looked bright compared with the rest of him. A hooded shawl of threadbare condition hung about its shoulders, and around its body was a simple tunic that looked to have been made from some rough material and lined with the lizard's own shed skin.
The creature stopped on one of the larger buildings, looking about with narrow green eyes. Danny floated in silence, watching, his half feeling now stronger as he watched. Was this guy the cause? He didn't look like a ghost, not any kind he might've seen before. But then what did he know about Perim ghosts?
The lizard's white tongue flicked in and out a few times before he was satisfied he was alone. With long dark claws he bent over to examine one of the domed skylights on the roof. The lizard then took a step back and blew some kind of purple smoke out of his mouth. It covered the glass seeming to do nothing at first. But a faint crackling filled the air, Danny's eyes widened as the smoke solidified, covering the whole skylight with a light purple substance that reminded him of a wad of gum.
With a swing of his tail, the lizard broke the thing open with a dull smack. Not waiting to inspect his work the creature slipped inside.
Danny took a note of the skylight and phased into the building after him, whatever the reason, this guy was here for something and he wanted to know exactly what that was.
Hova: so there's another chapter for you guys, it's shorter than most but I think it served a purpose. ^ ^ and I'm totally excited cause today I have a guest! (waves paw) may I present second in command and one of the most fiery people you'll ever Takinom!
Takinom: (nods head) thank you for having me here.
Hova:( stars in eyes) thank you soooo much for coming I didn't think anyone would come in after that translator fiasco.
Takinom: (nods again) of course. I hear your going to have me appear in later chapters, so I thought I would come and introduce myself.
Hova: 0_0 what? Oh 0 0, Yes I remember ^ ^. it wont be this or the next one but I'm hoping to use you for a little shove to the story. keep things interesting.
Takinom: ^ ^ sounds like fun.
Hova: so can you tell me what it's like being second in command to Lord Chaor himself.
Takinom: -_- sigh* it's not always easy, for starters most of our troops get so into the heat of battle that they forget to follow simple orders.
Hova: So you found a way to solve this?
Takinom: yes. I bash a few heads and laid down ground rules for their fights.
Hova( sweat drop) ^ ^ uhh, I see...are all Underworlders...into fighting?
Takinom: not usually, but when nearly everyone has a hot temper in so many dark places it's hard not to get worked up once in a while even for simple things.
Hova: (getting nervous and trying hard not to show it) S-so, you to huh?
Takinom: Afraid so ^ ^, (glances at table across the room) oh are these human treats?
Hova: 0 0 What? oh those! yeah, those are some cupcakes I made for...
Takinom: (evil smile) may I try one?
Hova: ((0_0)) y-yeah s-sure. hope you like peanut butter.
Takinom gets up and helps herself, Hova sighs and turns to readers: I fixed the poll on my profile page, please vote soon and I can get this story going. please review.
smoke alarm goes off loudly. suddenly cut off with a BLAM! Hova turns to see a smoldering hole in the celing. Jaw drops to the floor
Takinom: T T annoying thing, all I did was try to cook this a bit more, the inside is too soft. (takes a bite out of a now black cupcake) ^ ^ Mmm better.
Hova: 0 0 Gald you like them...(faints)