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Chapter 3:
The Ualan
Dying Normen light brightly flickers out as Kira and Troy walk through the Ualan's entrance. The dining area is a madhouse filled with lots of high school kids fighting for food. Some are asking a friend, "Are you going to eat that?" Or others are saying, "You don't want that" and just taking it.
Dragon walkers, a race of sentient creatures that can control fire, ran the Ualan. The Ualan has five rows of tables in four columns. The food is in the front of the tables and is right by the doors. The walls are clinic white, and the floor is colored light panels that change color when walked on.
Kira and Troy grab some food, pay one of the Dragon walkers, and head to a table. Dragon walkers are known for their artisanship, and their chairs are the most relaxing ever. They are made from sky-nest skin and it forms to your body.
Troy has brown hair with blonde highlights that comes down to his ears and is combed sideways in the front, down in the back. His eyes are the color of a blue jay and he has on a white t-shirt that reads, "I just do it."
The Ualan smells of Naruto and Green Guna, two tables down from them sits a group of cheerleaders whose perfume is strong enough for Troy and Kira to smell. That smell, mixing with the Naruto and Green Guna, nauseates both of them.
Troy then hit the sound/smell off button. It a little orange button that one hits block out all sound and smell around that table, it was ever useful.
"So Kira," says Troy, "what was up with the daydreaming in class? You know that's my thing." Kira looks up from his food. "It's noth..."
"Liar, I've known you long enough to know you don't daydream in class." Troy's face then starts to soften and his voice fills with some kind of nostalgic melancholy. "Kira, I know it's about that time when …" Troy stops when he sees how big Kira's eyes look. Kira's face looks like if Troy were to finish his statement, God would leave heaven to personally escort them to hell. Hating to see his friend in this state, Troy merely turns his head. Silence soon follows.
About five minutes later, a girl with a pink shirt on that reads "too smart for you" interrupts their silence. She has shoulder-length brown hair, and an unusually small and pointy nose that looks like it could poke your eye out.
"Sooooo… Is she always like that?" the girl asks.
Troy looks up from playing with his Green Guna, and Kira gives her a confused look. Troy says, "If by 'she' you're talking about 'Mad-Out-Her-Mind-Miss-Kline,' then yeah. She's always like that."
"Umm… who are you?" asks Kira. The girl looks up at him with wide eyes, as if to say, I can't believe you just asked that.
Troy looks at Kira and says, "Wow, you really were spaced out, weren't you?" "What are you talking about?" replies Kira.
"I can't believe you just asked that…Well, you really are starting to act like me."
Troy gives Kira a concerned look, "Miss Kline introduced her in class today while you were … um daydreaming, I guess."
Kira responds with a nonchalant, "Oh."
The girl looks at him, giving him her hand with a forced smile and says, "I am Tessherine Songs, but you may call me Tess." Kira just looks at her hand as if to debate whether to shake it, then decides to do it.
"I'm Kira White-night." Pointing to Troy, he says, "This is Troy Lycon." Troy just gives her a big grin. She sits at the table with her lunch bag and begins eating.
Some minutes later, Tess asks Troy, "So, how can you talk to the teacher like that and get away with it?" Troy puts his hand on his head and gives her a worried smile. Kira gives out a big sigh right before saying, "Troy and I are what people around here call Wind Brats."
She looks confused and says, "What are Wind Brats?"
Kira gives her an I-knew-that-question-was-coming look and just sighs, and turns to Troy to explain.
"Wind Brats," Troy says, "are the name of the children whose parents work for the Guild, Wind outside of town. The Guild pretty much supplies the school with the majority of its funding. In return, we can get away with almost anything we want. Also, the Wind Brats pretty much make this school what it is."
"What do you mean 'make this school what it is?'" asks Tess.
"Well… such as spelling bees, quiz bowls, and all sports events. At least one Wind Brat runs every club here. Kira and I are in charge of the mico ball team and we haven't lost once in two years."
Giggling, she gave them an 'I know something you don't know' look. They respond with a 'what' look. They both look at her, as if they were going into a web of mystery.
She points to herself, smiles and says, "Then that means I'm a Wind Brat, too, because my dad just got hired by the Wind Guild."
Kira says, "Newbie."
Just then, another boy approaches Troy from behind and hits him on the head with a tray. Troy rubs his head as a blood vessel on his forehead starts to bulge. He jumps up from his chair and hollers, "Why did you do that?"
Kira looks up towards the person who banged Troy on the head.
Troy mutters, "Zing…g…gy." Ziggy sits on the side of Tess across from Troy. Troy balls his hand into a fist and then shakes it in Ziggy's face.
"Why did you do that?"
Ziggy gives him a smirk. "That's what you get for giving us Winds Brats a bad name."
Ziggy is a dark complexion, dreadlock-wearing, techno-geek. He has large earphones on his ears, and wears a blue, black, and white flannel button-up shirt with a white t-shirt underneath. He turns towards Tess. "So, your family must be the one that moved next door to the Jeans."
She says, "Yes, how did you know?"
He puts his hand to his lips as if debating something and says, "Only us Wind Brats live in that section of town. The Guild buys up all the houses in that area and only gives them to employees. Then when I overheard you saying you were a Wind Brat, I knew it was your family that moved in."
"Oh," she said, "So it that's why they're kind of glaring at us?"
"Yeah, you get used to it. We, Wind Brats, went to a different grade school then everyone else here. it was at Wind. So when we transferred here, we were way ahead of everyone else which really pissed them off."
"Really?" she asks.
"Yeah, we are better then everyone else," responds Troy.
Kira smirks at him, "We?"
"Ha-ha very funny."
"So, Troy are you competing in the VRF tournament at Lexus Friday?" asks Ziggy.
"Yeah, you know it, someone has to put Sean Hunter in his place." Replies Troy with a smirk.
"Yeah I don't like that guy," said Ziggy.
"Hey, guys" yelled Tess all three of them look at her. "Ok now what's Lexus? What's a VRF tournament? And Who is Sean Hunter and why don't we like him? " Ziggy smiles at her.
"Lexus is a hang-out spot where people play Virtual Reality Fighter. You wear a black headpiece and black gloves. VRF stand of virtual reality fighter. Every three months or so Lexus has a VRF tournament. It is really bad ass, there is a wall with 4 larges plasma TV's where you can watch people fight and Se…"
Troy interrupts Ziggy. "Sean Hunter is little fart-face who thinks he can do everything. He used to win every time, until Kira started playing… but this time I'm going to win" , he said with emphasis.
Kari looked over to Tess. "Don't listen to these two Sean is a really cool guy. Troy doesn't like him because he loses to him all the time and Ziggy doesn't like him because Sean kicks his ass every year at the science fair."
Mad both Troy and Ziggy glare at Kira. "Just who's friend are you anyway!?" said Troy.
"Yeah?" adds Ziggy.
"I'm just saying the truth," answers Kira with a big smirk. He loves messing with them.
Tess just laughs until she remembers something.
"Oh before I forget, Dad told me I have to ride the bus after school today. Do you guys know which one is it?"
"The bus?" asks Troy. "Yeah we don't do buses." He leans in closer to her and looks both ways as if making sure no one was listening in on them with they could not because the sound/smell button was still on. "We fly."
"What? Fly?"
Troy gave a very big and very maleficent smile, Ziggy just laughs, and Kira looks to be once again in another world.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" asks Tess.
Brandon Boone
Chapter 4:
The Show – Off
"I can't believe you have a Fiery Dragon!" yells Tess as she holds on to Kira's back. After school Kira and Troy showed Tess how they got home ever day. Both of them own an air-board, Kira a Fiery Dragon and Troy a Sea Gully.
Sunlight enriches puddles, which seem to expand for miles and miles. Cloudless oceans of empty sky call them. In the far distance, a mountain covered with snow towers the land, daring them. So high up that the very tops of old oak tress and cherry blooms from the giant cherry trees could be seen by them. Down on the ground, the unnatural scene of a squirrel playing tag with an elegant baby-blue Cuckoo in a rush fields could be seen by them.
"Yeah, well since Wind makes them, we get them free and before anyone else does," answers Kira. Tess could feel the wind blowing in her face, the sun beaming on her skin warms it.
"So where is Ziggy again?" asks Tess.
"He is over at some computer fair thing?" replies Troy, "He won't be done until 5:00."
"Oh," answers Tess.
"Yo, Tess watch this!" yells Troy heading toward a body of water near a beach. The water was forming big waves. Troy lands on one and starts to ride it, and then stomps on the tail of the board causing the head of the board to fly up and head right in the middle of what looks to be a 15-foot wave.
Boom
He burst right through it, making a lot of water rain down. Also, a trail of water follows him as he flies high up displaying an arc of spectral colors: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet, that appears in the sky opposite the sun.
"This is why they call it Sea gully," he says as he stands midair, sunlight engulfing his body, water falling all around him, and a rainbow right behind him.
"Wow, a rainbow, that's pretty amazing," states Tess with a little excitement in her voice. "How long did it take you to learn that?"
"Well, about a month but it …."
"Yo, Show-off, we have to get home before your brother. Don't you remember what happened last time?" informs Kira.
An image of Troy's six-year-old brother Max, sitting alone on a swing, with big crocodile tears running down his face, in the backyard of their house appears in Troy's head. It is twilight, and soon it will be dark. A lamppost by him flickers on and off, before staying on. Grasshoppers, mosquitoes, flies, and spiders had started coming out. This only made the boy cry more. He is scared and feels abandon.
Then their Mother walks up to see this scene of neglect, runs to her son, hugs him, and begins crying. Angry and sad she tells him "It's ok , your father is going to beat Troy's ass for leaving you alone all this time outside… Ok so don't cry anymore." Later Troy has to deal with his infuriated daddy scolding him with a paddle anda belt.
"Yeah… we need to get home," Troy quickly says. His eyes now had the look of fear in it and no longer cocky.
"Hey you two you live together?" asks Tess.
"Yeah, something like that," replies Troy.
"What… something like that?" answers Tess.
Troy gave her a big smile and then they head home with Tess's question still unanswered.