Hi again, it's been a while.
This took extremely long. I had some difficulty story wise, but I am happy how it turned out.
Full disclosure, I do not own the Character, Riven, Stella, Bishop, Edward or Miles. (Bishop, Ed and Miles are all background characters in the show.)
Camilla and Kal are actually my own creations.
I hope you enjoy it.
Chapter 3.
Morning had made its presence known as it shined its warm light in the eyes of a grumpy, sleep deprived specialist. Annoyed as he was by this rude awakening, Riven thought getting out of bed and on his way would be the best course of action. He sat up, rubbed his eyes and took a big yawn. His usual iconic hair style was messy and disrupted his vision. Making his way to the bathroom Riven grabbed his toiletry bag and started his morning routine, after stepping out of the shower and brushing his teeth, he combed the knots out of his damp hair and reached for a bottle marked "Stellar Style" in big, bold letters and right underneath in smaller print said, "By Princess Stella." Riven's mind went back to the day before, about ten minutes after he and Musa had broken up and he announced his departure from the group.
He had just gotten back to his bike and turned it on, in the distance he could hear someone calling his name. He looked back to see who it was, of course, it was non other than Princess Stella of Solaria
"Hey Riven! wait!" She was sprinting and by the time she had caught up with him she was panting and desperately needed to sit down "Jesus, man...what? You got bionic legs or something?" While panting she continued. "I've never seen anyone walk so fast."
Riven let out a small laugh. "Uh, yeah I kinda just want to get out of here as fast as possible."
A now more composed Stella looked at him with a sad but friendly smile,
"Yeah, I get that... Look, I know you and I don't exactly get along at times, nor do we talk that much-"
Riven interrupted her. "By that you mean this very conversation
being the only one we've ever really had?"
Stella sighed in agreement "yeah... but just so you know I do consider you my friend."
Riven smiled at that "thanks Stella, that's very nice of you... and I've also always thought of you as a friend, a-all you ladies actually"
Stella smiled "Oh hey! Before I forget" she said and snapped her fingers. A ball of glittery light appeared and quickly faded to reveal a few bottles of some kind of product. Riven grabbed one of the bottles and read the label. "Stellar Style? What's this?" "It's my newest creation! Everyone knows a killer hair style needs no fabulous outfit for it to stand out." Riven rolled his eyes and scoffed. "Uh yeah...friend? I am not gonna be your guinea pig. I've seen some of the freshmen at Red Fountain that were naive enough to fall for that one." Stella laughed nervously "No, no Riven I promise it's one hundred precent tested and approved for distribution" Riven raised an eyebrow at her. "Well ok then, what does it do?" "It's a styling gel duh! But you won't have to use as much product as you normally would, and get this! it is guaranteed to cut your hair styling time by seventy percent!" "Please take them Riven, I was gonna give you some anyway, your hair style was my inspiration after all. Though, I had no idea you would be going away" She said with a tinge of sadness. Riven let out a more friendly scoff. "Alright already, I'll take the damn bottles. Just cheer up already, ok?"
As he was knocked back to the present day he had put Stella's creation to the test. In ten short minutes his hair was upright and back to its iconic look. "Damn, that stuff really works, I might have to buy some when these bottles run out" With the time he had saved Riven had more than enough time to get some breakfast at a nearby diner. Now dressed, he took a look in the mirror to approve his attire. He wore a white zipper-less hoodie that had grey sleeves and hood. Over top was a black leather jacket, along with black cargo pants and dark brown combat boots, he couldn't help but to shoot his reflection a smirk. Stella was right when she said a killer hair style doesn't need much to stand out, and his unique hair color gave him just a pop of color to his attire. With that, he packed up, checked out and went to the diner.
As he was waiting for his order, he sat at a table deep in thought. "I wonder how everyone's doing? Should I have waited till magix was safe again before leaving? No...no, they didn't need me, I was just in the way." The sound of a boy laughing pulled him out of his thoughts, he looked up and saw a little boy and his mother sitting at the table in front of him. They seemed happy, Riven looked down at his coffee cup. The dark liquid drew him into a staring contest and in a flash he saw a pare of eyes, staring back at him. Nightmare Musa's maniacal laughter started echoing in his head, he started feeling a gut wrenching feeling come over him. He felt paralyzed, wanting to look away but couldn't get his body to react.
A sudden gasp left his mouth as he felt a tap on his shoulder. "Oh sorry young man, here's your order" Riven looked at the server, a older women bordering her 40's. "Oh, uh thank you" he said as he cleared his throat. As the server left the table, the specialist sighed to himself. "And that is why you're not a coffee drinker, Riven." Even after changing his coffee for a glass of Orange juice the paranoia from his nightmare kept creeping up on him. Annoyed with himself he sighed "Come on already, it was just a dream. Pull yourself together.."
Outside of the diner a commotion could be heard, a young woman was arguing with a man that seemed to be around the same age as Riven. The woman had a rich dark skin tone, with long silver hair, set in a hight ponytail. She had bangs that were just above her hazel eyes and strands of hair that fell down the sides of her face. The man spoke with an English accent that was just a bit on the deep side. "I said no Camilla, we can't take a job like that. At the very least we would need one more person, and NOT someone who's going to run away like the last guy" said the man as he pinched the area between his eyes in frustration. The man had pail skin with blond/redish hair in a short undercut style, his eyes were a light blue that would change to grey in the right lighting. He had a long square shape jaw that featured a five o'clock shadow. "And we were great! The two of us! The woman sighed "Look, I admit that guy wasn't a good idea and I take full responsibility for that, but don't you see Kal? if anything that proves that we're fine on our own." The man chuckled. "Alright, you have a point there, but that doesn't change anything. We don't stand a chance against the Feeders, or have you forgotten that the last party never came back!? And on top of that, they are now hunting us, we can't be here for much longer." Just as he said that, the ground began to shake. The two looked at each other, both knowing that they had been found. They threw each other a knowing look and with a simple nod they leaped into action. Camilla was the first to try and distract the attacker, with her hands in a closed fist she extended her index finger and her pinky finger. In-between her extended fingers an energy ball formed and she was firing flaming balls of energy to her target. This managed to stun the pursuer. "Now Kal!" She screamed. In an instant Kal had transformed in to a beast 3 times his own size and grabbed the creature in an attempt to send him flying. The creature however realized his plan and unleashed a paralyzing screech, this caused Kal to revert back to his normal form. He fell to the ground, gripping at his ears in pain. The creature saw its window for potential pray and lunged at the stunned shapeshifter. Just as it had widened its jaws for a bite, three sizeable crystal spikes blocked its path, reminding it that its hunt involved two rewards. It growled and leaped in the air, Camilla was ready and was able to block it's long boney claws as she delivered a blow of her own.
Back in the diner, the battle outside had not gone unnoticed. Riven quickly ran outside to asses the situation. What he saw would have made him run for the hills, if he weren't in the business of dealing
with nightmarish creatures. In front of him stood a long skinny creature, about 20 feet tall. Its limbs seemed to be nothing but bones with three long, sharp claws. The creature moved around by knuckle walking, like a gorilla would. Its body was white and it had six glowing red eyes that all seemed to be randomly placed in the centre of its face, its nose consisted of two asymmetrical, elongated holes and its jaw was lopsided in an open position, exposing razor sharp teeth and a snake like tongue. Riven noted that the creature smelled fowl, a stench he has become familiar with through his years as a specialist. "Death" he muttered with a disgusted scowl. A smell that only truly evil beings seemed to harbour.
Specialists always aim to cause no harm to the creatures they encounter and relocate. However, there are exceptions to the code. If the creature threatens the safety of the public or if it belongs to deadly categories, it is the specialist's duty to honour the most important vow, to protect the ones in need. Moving his gaze from the creature, he saw a young girl battling the thing, she was hurtling balls of fire like energy at it while conjuring ice spikes not only as a weapon, but as floating stepping stones to maneuver around the creature. On the ground he noticed the pail man with deep red hair, he seemed to be out of it and trying desperately to regain his composure. Riven ran to his bike and grabbed his gear, making a mental note that Brandon might have been right the night before with his "trouble follows you" comment and that he should have is weapons on his person at all times from now on.
Before jumping into action he took a moment to observe the enemy further. He focused on the peculiar set of eyes and figured that would be his best bet for a weakness. Before he could set his attack in motion the creature roared and knocked the young woman into a nearby tree, at that very moment the man that was paralyzed earlier was back in the fight and doing his best to keep the attacker away from the young woman. They were evenly match in strength, the creature however was close enough to the shapeshifter to drain him of his Magic, making the man scream in pain. Upon seeing this Riven ran up to the monster, using the still floating ice platforms to gain leverage. He threw a flash bang to stun the creature, making him release his grip on the shapeshifter. The man reverted back to his human form and fell on one knee, trying to recollect himself. Meanwhile Riven used the time to jump off of the platforms he had been running on, right on top of the creature and jabbed his blade right in the centre of its many eyes. Though the creature screamed in agony, it was still standing and was desperately trying to take magic from any living being that possessed it. Unfortunately living in a magical dimension that meant most things around them would have the creature back on its feet in no time. The monster flailed its arms around to try and remove the Specialist from its face. Riven removed his sword while dodging the attempts being made. He decided to end it before it could get the upper hand. Again using the platforms, Riven positioned himself for another jump. With his phantom blade Riven dealt the creature another jab, but this time he ran it down, cutting a straight line into its face. With that the creature unleashed another cry and collapsed to the ground, taking Riven with it. The specialist however anticipated the fall and effortlessly jumped into the air and landed on his feet with a backflip.
While the fight did not cause Riven any injury, he could not say the same for his clothes. For what little fighting he did, he somehow still managed to get monster guts and goo all over himself. "Ugh, so much for showering this morning" as he started removing the filth from his clothes, the man had gotten up and walked to the young women, helping her up and making sure she was not to badly hurt. The woman was now up but was still leaning on the man so he could help her battered frame.
They made their way to where Riven was standing, she looked at him noticing his state and cleared her throat to get his attention. "Here, let me help you." She lifted her hand, it glowed along with her eyes as she uttered the words, "Cibum et abierunt" a blue glow surrounded Riven. He looked at he's hands and noticed the glow around his frame had a slight sparkle to it and dripped like water, only instead of downward the sparkling blue energy dripped upwards. A second later it was gone and Riven looked as clean as he did earlier that morning. He shot the pair a curious look "Thanks, are you two all_"
The man barely let him finish his question before cutting in with a harsh tone. "Fine thanks, now if you'll excuse us_" The woman cut him off with a stern tone and a face expression to match. "Kal" The man looked back at her "Don't you even think about it" matching her tone, and started walking off. The woman sighed and with an apologetic look towards Riven. "Sorry, but thanks for helping us. It was kind of you, especially since you didn't have to." And followed the irritated red head. Riven, shooting them another curious look just watched them walk off without saying a word. After all he never became a specialist for the praise that came with it and on top of that he wasn't exactly in the mind set of meeting new people. And seeing the man's reaction to him, he wasn't going to force any interaction with these strangers if he didn't have to. He simply turned around and headed back to the diner, where he payed for his meal and made a phone call. After all the creature couldn't just be left for the civilians to clean up, they didn't ask for this.
Within an hour a group of specialists had arrived to deal with the situation, they were a group that had graduated a year before him and were now assigned to the outskirts of magixs, protecting it's boarders. The leader of the squadron, a young man a few years older then Riven. He was pale and sported a bald look except for a high purple ponytail a top his head. He had six dots on his forehead, an indication that the man once lived as a monk.
His uniform was quite different from the all blue uniform Riven wore the previous semester. It was all black, the suit had a chest plate and faint white lines could be seen everywhere that made it clear the suit was high tech gear. The man wore fingerless gloves with a violet gem on the back of the palm, the same gem could be seen just above the chest plate. The man wore a black coat over his suit.
He took one look at the specialist and couldn't help but smile. "Well well well, if it isn't one of Red Fountain's finest. what? making top tear wasn't good enough? You had to come all the way out here to show us all up?" Riven knew the man well enough to know he was only kidding. With a laugh he extended his hand and the man grabbed it and pulled him into a brief half hug and pat on the back. "Bishop! So this is where you went" Bishop chuckled. "yeah, my squad and I volunteered to patrol this boarder and protect the people around here."
"Volunteered? I thought all stations were assigned to you, unless an offer comes in from your home planet or a royal court."
"Yeah, welcome to sector O. The Oblituses sector... it's boarder at least." Said Bishop while motioning his arm to their surroundings. "Probably one of the most dangerous sectors at the moment. So much so that HQ almost considered it lost. had we not volunteered to protect it, the people here would have been forced to leave their homes."
"Maybe, it's not too late for them to accept the evacuation offer" A man with pale skin and red hair walked out of their ship. His hair was short and combed in a side swipe, his brown eyes were serious as he spoke. He wore an all black uniform, similar to Bishop's. It lacked a coat, but he did sport shoulder pads and a high neck collar and in the centre of his chest laid a chrome gem.
The man made his way off the ship and walked up to the two. His serious gaze softened as soon as it met his friend's. While making his way to them, he added "I know, I know, they weren't leaving and someone had to help them". As he got to his comrades he took a look at Riven, and stuck his hand out. Riven returned the greeting and they shook hands by the wrist. "Riven! It's good to see you again" "Right back at you Edward."
Edward turned to his leader "Miles and Ronnie are getting the equipment ready to dispose of our unfortunate friend there." "Good, and our scanners?" "Still down". Bishop, took a second to think. "Alright, I guess we'll have to patrol the slightly old fashioned way. Ed, ready your bike. I want this zone scouted as fast as possible."
"Alone?!" Edward protested the idea. "That'll take forever." Bishop gave him a pointed look. "Your bike is the only one that's not out of commission at the moment, until we can get miles up and running, you'll have to go it alone. The three of us here will take care of the creature." He then turned to the magenta haired specialist. "Riven, I'm sorry to have to ask. But, what exactly are you doing out here?"
"Well, I was hoping to use teleport pad 213." Said Riven while shifting his weight.
Ed raised an eyebrow. "The Venovian pad? We haven't been able to secure that side of the sector for a few months now."
Bishop chimed in. "The magical dimensions are out of balance, it's been struggling for balance for the past few years now. And as a result, creatures like Trolls, Goblins, Ogeres-"
"Cyclops, a Basilisk and now... this thing" Said Edward while gesturing to the deceased creature.
Riven took a closer look at the creature. "And what exactly am I looking at? I mean... apart from the stench of death, and it trying to feed on magic... We don't have this in our data base."
Bishop sighed. "Unfortunately, we really don't know. So far this is the second one we've encountered ... it could be a coincidence, or…"
Riven quickly picked up what the ex-Monk had on his mind. "Second one? Are you telling me they could be scouts for something bigger?"
Edward chimed in. "It gets worse... the first one came out of a portal at the very station you're trying to get to. It also destroyed the town around it so badly, it had to be evacuated. We were able to seal off the town, but it's become a nest for every other nightmare induced creature."
Riven sighed and tilted his head back. "Fucking Brandon, you just had to be right... alright, so what are we doing about this?" Bishop chuckled. "I'm glad I don't need to convince you into this. We appreciate your help." "Eh, you can't really tell a specialist about a problem like this and expect them to go.. "good luck with that." Now, I can definitely help you with your scouting situation right now. I mean, I do have a working bike and that bike has a stealth mode."
Edward's face lid up. "Awesome! I'll be ready in a few minutes."
As Edward ran to the ship, Bishop gave the order to inform the rest of their team of the situation and of Riven's temporary stay with the group. The mission ahead of them was not going to be an easy one, but the former monk couldn't shake the feeling of something even bigger on the horizon.
I wanted to flesh out the job of a specialist a lot more, I find it sad that the show just seems to throw away tools and skills that they have.
Like I said, I had a hard time writing this chapter. I absolutely don't clam to be a story teller or great writing, just someone who though this could be fun.
Anyway, I hope it was a good read for you.
