Disclaimer: I do not own anything except for my own OC's. The characters belong to their creators, Homestuck belongs to Hussie, and this idea belongs to Halloween's Phantom.
Hey guys! So we arrive at our first chapter, huh? I'm sooo nervous, but I'm very glad to be able to do this! I'd like to thank everyone for submitting so many OCs! You guys have been very helpful and creative and just wonderful overall, I couldn't do this without you! ^^
Other than the music list at the top of the page, from now on all announcements will be at the end of the chapter. Keep an eye out for them, okay?
Music listened to while writing this:
Aggrieve (Violin Refrain)- Homestuck Volume 1-4
Phantasmagoric Waltz- Homestuck Volume 5
The Beginning of Something Really Excellent- Homestuck Volume 5
Candles and Clockwork- Homestuck Volume 5
People live and die. In the broad sweep of human events, it's rare that one cares for what happened in-between. History is written to show us things that will be remembered, presumably forever. Yet the records can be burned, people can forget, and time marches on. It's not eternal, and that same human concept of mortality can also apply to an idea, for it only lives as long as there is one to dream it. And so, our story begins with an idea.
[Watch Yourself]
Act 1- It Begins
Chapter 1
A young lady stands at her window, brown eyes staring pensively out at the pouring rain. Her long, thick brown hair is pulled into a bun and the freckles on her face are a sharp contrast to her pale skin. The grey-blue shirt she wears seems darker with the stormy weather and occasionally she'll shift her weight from one Doc Marten-shoed foot to the other, making the brown skirt she wears shift slightly.
It is a boring, rainy day for this young lady. What is her name?
======/ Fanatical Ro_
Before you can finish the derogatory nickname you've thought up, you are forcefully pulled to a stop and berated by the audience behind you. As much as we'd like to continue this silly gag, we've got stuff to do and not a lot of time. Get on with it and type the correct name!
======/ Kate Henson
Your name is KATE HENSON and you are FIFTEEN YEARS OLD. You are a COMPLETE ROMANTIC. Romantic novels, comedies, or fan-fics, no matter how cliché it is, you love it all. But you'd never tell your friends that. You also love SURREALISM, like the style in MIRRORMASK. You will heartfart over that shit like nobody's business. Despite the fact that you know how to work a GUN, you are a TOTAL WIMP. Seriously, you're the kid who gets pummeled with soccer balls during gym. You're a TOTAL SOFTIE and can't turn away anyone who needs help. You're kind of like everyone's mom and it's SWEET sometimes, but when you start comforting an adult, it just heads straight into PATHETIC.
What will you do?
KATE/ Retrieve arms.
You've already allocated your rifle to your strife deck. See?
======/ Be the stranger
What? No. Stop typing plot relevant commands. We haven't even introduced that person yet!
======/BE THE STRANGER
Not going to happen. Someone hurry up and get this tool away from the keyboard.
KATE/ Look around.
Finally! A command that makes sense!
You turn away from your window to look around your room.
The wall across from you has a bookshelf with all your ROMANTCE NOVELS on it, and beside it is a nice collection of ROMANTIC MOVIES. You spend a lot of time here when the rainy days come.
======/ What's with all the romance novels?
Shhh. Only room descriptions now.
Adjacent to the bookshelf/movie wall and across from the door leading to the hall is your DESK and COMPUTER. This is where you chat to your chums!
Next to the door and to the left of your window is your bed and small dresser table.
A Mirrormask poster hangs over your bed, and various surrealistic artworks hang about the walls of your room. You smile contentedly; it's pretty nice in here.
KATE/Go get something to eat
Not hung- Your stomach roars out a counter before you can even make an excuse. Damn you stomach!
Well, you suppose you would have to go down there eventually… You've just got to be sure to avoid your brother; he doesn't like being disturbed while he's playing video games. He teases you a lot, but you're pretty sure he cares about you. In a way. You think.
======/
You slink up to your door and cautiously push it open; the coast is clear. You slink out carefully before turning and dashing down the stairs as quietly as possible. You jerk to a stop just before the living room and carefully, very carefully, peer through the doorway.
It looks like Sam hasn't heard you yet. Let's try and keep it that way.
======/
You take a step forward but stop as the wood creaks. Your brother jerks around, but you dash behind the safety of the doorway just in time. That was close!
KATE/YOUTH ROLL
You take your chance as Samuel returns his gaze to the TV screen and Youth Roll your way past the living room. Mission accomplished!
KATE/ Go get your snack already
You're going, you're going! Geez, so bossy!
You dash into the kitchen and open up the fridge, it's almost empty. You facepalm soundly, your mother must have gone to the market.
FACEPALM X1 COMBO
With a heavy sigh, you decide to take what you can. Let's see… Cheese, box of chocolates, an apple, milk, pot roast… Too bad Sam would hear you if you take out the pot roast, it looks pretty good. You catchphalogue the apple and milk in your Backpack Modus and get ready to rock and roll.
KATE/ Sneak back to your room
You slink out of the kitchen, sly as a fox, or perhaps Romeo on his midnight escapades to Juliet's home. Whatever, you're getting off topic!
You YOUTH ROLL your way past the doorway to the living room, failing to notice your brother's disappearance as you do so, and zoom up the stairs back into your room.
The door slams shut behind you and you raise a fist in triumph. Success!
KATE/ Retrieve apple from Backpack Modus
You stop mid-cheer, your face stricken. Perhaps you are not as fortunate as you believed, for in your hurry you catchphalogued the apple in your fetch modus!
With a groan you reach into your backpack modus for an item. Instead of your apple, a Harry Potter book appears in your hand. You groan in irritation and shove it back into your sylladex before trying again. Mirrormask DVD this time. You resist the urge to throw your modus against the wall and carefully place it back inside. Why do you have this thing again?
KATE/ Explain sylladex
Not much to tell, really. You get a random item when you draw and if it's not what you wanted then you just have to re-catchphalogue it and try again. Your modus is kind of a dick, thus your current frustration with the horrible thing!
A ring at your computer catches your attention. It seems that someone is pestering you.
KATE/ Check Pesterchum.
Giving up your modus –and your stomach- as a lost cause for the moment, you decide to calm down by chatting to one of your chums.
You take a seat at your computer, smiling idly at the romantic screensaver on your desktop before clicking the icon and bringing up Pesterchum. Hmm, none of your friends are on, who could it-? Oh, it's them!
- delightfulDahlia [DD] began pestering phantasmagoricalRomantic [PR] at 12:24 -
DD: Hello, my dear. How do you fare on this fine day?
PR: Super iiiriiitated~! My sylladex won't let me get my food~!
DD: You have my sympathies, Kate.
PR: Thanks~! How are you~?
DD: I am quite well, thank you. I suppose I am also, as you say, "excited."
PR: Oh~?
DD: Something amazing will happen today. The birth of a new world and the destruction of the old, I am told that it will be rather eventful.
You glance away from the screen a moment, mulling over that. Once, you might have been irritated by the mystery in DD's words. However it had slowly become the norm over the years and you'd sort of learned to adjust to their strange words and, sometimes, their crazy knowledge. Besides, whenever you had questioned them they'd said that they simply knew things most didn't and that if it made you uncomfortable then they would stop. Something had intrigued you to know more, so you'd let them be and had continued talking to them.
Somehow, you had a feeling that they knew that was exactly what you would do all along. It was… slightly disturbing.
KATE/ Stop freaking out and return to the chat already!
Alright mom. So pushy.
DD: Kate? My apologies, did I upset you?
PR: Don't worry about iiit~. Sorry, iii was just diiistracted~.
DD: Perhaps you acquired an assortment of strange voices in your head and were preoccupied by their insistent chatter.
PR: What~?
DD: Oh don't mind me, dear. Ah, but before I forget, this event will also involve you.
PR: How so~?
DD: Today is a day of great importance, Kate. You will embark on an incredible journey aided by companions you know and companions you don't. Your life will be threatened, your beliefs shattered, and your world, ruined. However if all goes according to plan you will ultimately craft a new world from the ashes of the old. It is only then that we shall finally meet face to face.
DD: In this, I can only grant you one piece of advice: watch yourself.
DD: You will be receiving a package shortly and your pesterchum currently has all the necessary contacts you will require to begin this endeavor.
DD: I wish you the best of luck.
- delightfulDahlia [DD] ceased pestering phantasmagoricalRomantic [PR] at 12:28 -
You stare, puzzled, at the screen. What on earth could they have meant by that?
But before you have the time to ponder DD's obscure statements your Pesterchum goes off again. Looks like one of your chums is online.
- carefreeSynthesizer [CS] began pestering phantasmagoricalRomantic [PR] at 12:30 -
CS: hullo Kate*
PR: Hey~!
CS: so what's my chum got up to today*
PR: Nothiiing at all~. Iiit's actually raiiiniiing outsiiide~. Iii was consiiideriiing readiiing whiiile munching on my snack, but my jerk of a modus won't let me get iiit~.
CS: that sounds irritating* sorry, kate*
PR: Iiit's fiiine~. Thanks~.
CS: so what were you thinking of reading*
PR: Um…~
There's no way you can tell CS that you were going to go read a romance novel! Think brain, think!
KATE/ Hear a conveniently timed knock at your door
Someone's at the door and it sounds like your brother! Thank goodness for distractions!
PR: Oh~! Sorry, Sam's at the door~. Iii'll be back soon~.
CS: till then*
- phantasmagoricalRomantic [PR] ceased pestering carefreeSynthesizer [CS] at 12:32 -
KATE/Take a moment to sigh in relief at the close call
Well normally you would but you've got your brother knocking at your door and it's best not to keep him waiting. It must be important if he got up from playing video games to come up here.
You scurry over to the door as fast as your legs can carry you and open it to the tall monstrosity that is your brother. Well he's not that tall, only 5'10 actually. But when you stand a whole half a head shorter than your elder brother, well, yeah. He has your same brown hair, eyes, and freckles, but whereas your eyes are bright and enthusiastic, his are set in a grumpy big brother scowl. But you already know all this; you've lived with him for fifteen years after all. What draws your eye is the package he has tucked under one arm.
"This came for you, squirt," he shoved the package into your hands without further comment and turned to leave.
You blink, bemused, and call out hesitantly "But… I didn't-" You stop as a white slip of paper attached to the package catches your eye, you can just see the curling edge of the word "Dahlia."
Oh.
OH.
Your brother is still standing there staring. You give him your brightest smile and wave him off "Nothing, nothing. Never mind."
Rolling his eyes, he turns his back to you muttering about 'weird little sisters' as he heads back down. "And don't think I didn't hear you in the kitchen!"
You flinch slightly; you were hoping he hadn't heard you.
KATE/ Lock yourself in your room and investigate the mysterious package
You do as the voice in your head dictates and hurry back into your room. You're not going to lock the door though, that thing hasn't worked in years.
You set the package down on your bed and take a seat, yanking off the white slip of paper so you can get a closer look. Oh, it's a note.
Dear Kate,
I hope this finds you well. If you are reading this now, it means that you have received the package I sent to you mere moments ago from my perspective. As I will likely have informed you by now, you are about to embark on a remarkable journey. The threads of fate have inexplicably tied you, your friends, friends-to-be, and even your enemies, together in order to embark on this mission. I cannot inform you of what it is, but I can assure you that you will understand your purpose soon. My dear Maid, I know you will do your very best. Good luck.
Sincerely,
delightfulDahlia
P.S. I have enclosed instructions as to the function of each disk within.
Mission? Maid? Journey? What does it all mean? You suddenly understand jack shit.
KATE/ Open the package
Regardless, you decide that seeing what the heck DD is talking about might help you understand. You rip off the brown paper packaging to reveal… a white box.
You take a brief moment to regard how utterly pointless the wrapping is before opening the box. Or you would if it weren't for the tape currently barring you entry to the treasured secrets within. Now where did you put those scissors?
KATE/Realize that there aren't any scissors in your room
You realize there are no scissors in your room.
You glance out the window to an empty driveway. Mom isn't home, so that means the only one you can ask is Sam if you can't find them on your own. You better put your best into tracking down those scissors!
Now, is there anything else you need before you embark?
KATE/ Equip pendant
You glance over at the silver cross pendant sitting on your desk. Your grandmother gave it to you, but you only wear it occasionally. You mull it over and decide to catchphalogue it in your BACKPACK MODUS instead. You try not to think too hard about how irritating it'll be to get it back out.
KATE/ Embark on your quest
What are you, a knight? You head for the door and reach out for the handle. But quite suddenly, you are busy being the other guy.
So this is our first chapter! I hope you enjoyed it! ^^ Thanks to my Beta Reader, hieikag, for proof-reading this for me! =)
Alright so just a few announcements here:
-All female spots for humans have been filled!
-All Prospit towers for the trolls have been filled. Derse only for the trolls for here on out!
-I will be updating the list on "Chapter Two" from time to time until it's full! Check there frequently!
-The next chapter will be coming at an indefinite time. I am on Winter Break, though, so hopefully this will speed along the process! =)
-I think I had some more announcements... but I, um, er, I can't remember. Hehe. ^^;
I think that's it for now! Thanks again to everyone who submitted characters and have supported this story! You guys are great and I couldn't have done this without you! ^^