Author's space: Whew! Those two haven't taken this secret space on top of every chapter. Looks like I'm safe here. Anyway, I seemed to have no mood to write another sad story (couldn't seem to think of a good one), but with my Phoenix Wright (I like their court and crime related games) set of sad, reminiscing, songs in my computer I can write again!


Darks and Stuff

"So it started when I was twelve…." Ann started.

At age twelve, Ann had gone for a holiday to a faraway place during her school break. She went on a cruise with her mother. The S.S. Endeavor, a magnificent ship that could hold up to a thousand people, was to set sail around Ivalice and back to the Symbian land.

While Ann was walking around and exploring the elegant ship, she lost her way. The unending rows of cabins seemed like a maze to the twelve year old. She could remember the room number but she didn't know where it was.

"How am I going to go back to my room? It's almost dinnertime, Mom will be angry," Ann hopelessly sat on the stairs in the grand hall of the ship.

While she was sitting, a dark-skinned sixteen year old boy came up to her.

"Hey little girl, you seem lost." His shadow quivered as he greeted her.

"Yea, I'm lost, I can't find my room."

"Do you know what room number you're staying at?"

"It's 684."

"O.K. then, I'll bring you there," He offered his hand to her, she reluctantly took it.

He brought Ann to her room. While holding hands with him, she felt a tingling sensation within her. She wondered, does he feel the same feeling?

"Thanks for bringing me back to my room," Ann blushed while thanking him.

"Hey, I'm Franco, what's your name?"

"I'm Ann, pleasure to meet you."

"How 'bout if I take you around tomorrow? Just in case you get lost again..." he teased.

"I'll ask my mom first, I'll tell you the answer during breakfast."

The next morning, in the dining hall, Ann tried to find him. She eventually saw him on the table at the corner of the huge hall. She called out to him.

"Hey, Franco, My mom said yes! We can hang out for the whole day!"

"That's great! How 'bout we go around exploring the ship together!"

They ate breakfast and went on to explore the interior of the grand ship. They visited the ship's multiple lounges, halls, and everywhere else. They ventured to the deck of the ship. The view of the sea was magnificent. The blue waters, seagulls hovering over the ship, and dolphins swimming nearby were captivating.

"Let's go to the bow!" Franco called out, so she followed him to the bow. There was a bird-shaped figurehead pointing out toward the direction the ship was advancing. The sea bashed against the hull.

"O.K. Ann, how about you stand on the bow and stretch out your arms there. You can feel the breeze," Ann did as instructed. She felt a strong wind slid across her arms and ruffle her long hair.

Franco slid his hands around Ann's waist. "You know, you're the first person I've ever respected to befriended," he whispered. She ignored what he said, merely cherishing the moment. Strangely, his shadow moved in a strange manner as he hugged her.


"ACK!" Dan yelped in sudden pain, clutching his chest after hearing the most recent part of what Ann said.

"What's wrong with you? Got a heart attack after hearing that? I haven't even finished yet," Ann scolded, healing his pain. Dan felt uneasy when he heard this, but didn't bother to ask himself why.


After standing at the bow for some time, Franco and Ann decided to get off and chat for a while.

"So I'm your first friend? What do you mean? You don't have any friends back in your home country?"

"Yea, I wasn't accepted by people there, they seem to hate me because I was different."

"Oh, poor thing…"

"But I got you!" he teased as she giggled happily.

"Looks like night is approaching, I have to go back and see my mom."

"O.K., I'll bring you back then," the dark-skinned boy escorted her to her room.

"Attention all passengers, the ship will arrive in the Symbian land by tomorrow. Passengers seeking to depart there should please do so at that time."

"Oh no! I forgot I'm leaving the ship tomorrow. Looks like I can't hang out with you."

"Never mind, we'll see each other again sometime. Just meet me tomorrow before you leave"

The next morning, Ann came looking for Franco. He was at his usual spot eating breakfast.

"Franco! I've been looking for you!"

"Hey Ann, it looks like it's goodbye, but here, take this," He gave her a card which had a contact number and email address written on it.

"Bye Franco…." She bid farewell while sniffling as if she was going to cry. She walked away with her mother out to the dock, noticing Franco waving at her as she arrived at the pier. All she could do was wave back.

Weeks later, she was contacting Franco every day through email and he even called once in a while. Even when school started she would continue to chat with him after school.

She was an active member of the Red Crescent Moon Society, but she wasn't a leader or anything. At home, she would draw him every now and then. She loved painting, especially when painting portraits of people. Franco appeared in her drawings often.

But unfortunately, her father found out about Franco. He disapproved of her relationship with him even though they just contacted each other through instant messaging. Her father would scold and ground her for using the computer to contact Franco, even burning all the portraits of the guy, though they were good pieces of art.

She was devastated. She put a lot of effort in them, effort now gone to waste.

Sad and weary, she no longer wanted to talk to anyone, going as far as to avoid her friends. Her friends from the Chimbian school she attended avoided her because of her negative aura.

"Don't talk to her. She doesn't have a life, always looking so down and like she has problems…" a student whispered to another in front of her.

"Yeah, I think she lost a guy because of her dad"

"What? That's all? That's her idea of the end of the world? Come on, there's lots of great guys out there!"

"Let's just get away from her."

"Yeah."

She decided to switch to a Symbian school, but the same thing happened and it was worse. The Symbian would discriminate against her for being different and not from the same race.

Getting sick of all the problems she had, she decided to run away from home since nobody wanted her to associate with her anymore. She ran into the nearby forest only bringing her stationary and sketch pad.

She survived in the forest by eating what the forest provided for her. Ann stayed in a cave, making friends with the forest animals. Whenever she got hurt, she healed herself using what she have learned from the Red Crescent Moon Society. She wandered the land, knowing that she would die permanently in battle without the protection of a school.

She would draw Franco when she was free, which was most of the time.

After a year of staying there, she decided to come back and revisit her old house. To her horror, she found out that it was abandoned. Her parents were nowhere to be seen. An old newspaper dated eleven months ago reported that her parents were searching for her and they used all their money to fund it. They had mortgaged their house. She later found out that they died from owing a large amount of money to illegal lenders, whose customary practice was to torture anyone who couldn't pay them back.

She ran back to the forest crying that she had brought about her parent's demise. She drew happy memories she had with them. Then, suddenly, a voice from out of nowhere began to speak:

"Ann, we know you have gone through so much grief. We, the spirits of the forest, feel your pain and we want to give you something to cheer you up."

A light shone on her stationary and sketch pad. She was so angry that she was reminded of her past that she tore her art work from her drawing pad. Miraculously it all came to life. For that moment all of her happy memories lived again. She embraced her family and her guy, but it disappeared after a few minutes.

With her newfound ability she continued on her misadventure. After wandering for some time, she met Dan.


"And that's how it happened…" Dan hugged her after she finished, but feeling awkward she pushed him away.

Ann thwacked him on the head. "What was that for?"

"I did that to comfort you!"

"Well you don't have to!" Deep inside though, Ann realized she appreciated the gesture.

"Oh well, it's getting dark, looks like we gonna set camp here. You staying with me or are you going to find a cave?"

"Err.. Actually I'm having trouble to find one."

"Looks like we're staying together in the same tent then."

"Can't you get another?"

"I only have one," Dan pulled a thick, rolled nylon tent out of his carrier of his motorcycle. He unrolled the tent revealing some unattached sticks to be used as poles and some pickets with ropes attached to each of them. The scout attached the stick to make it into two poles to support the tent and then put them in into the holes with one pole in each, finally tying the rope on the pickets to the poles.

Dan made sure the tent entrance was facing west so the west wind could flow into the tent to provide some breeze. He used a hammer from the tent kit to hammer a picket into the ground, firmly making sure the rope was touting. Dan told Ann to do the same on the other end. They used the other pickets to secure the tent on the ground.

"Now to start a fire. Ann, can you collect some firewood while I get the oil?"

After half an hour, Ann came back with some firewood. Dan was waiting.

"That's not going to last the whole night, we need more."

"Fine, you go then. I need to take a bath. I saw a lake nearby." She pointed vaguely in one direction.

Dan hesitantly went out to get more firewood, but he was tempted to watch her bathing. He took a side trip to the lake and hid in the bushes. Unfortunately for him, the rustling bushes caught her attention.

"I knew you were watching, you perverted scout!" she screamed. "Go and attack him!"

An eagle was summoned and swooped towards the bush Dan was hiding in.

Dang! She is smart.

"Why didn't you ask for my help? Hai…" Shadow sighed. "What's with you and naked girls…" Shadow brought Dan out of the bushes and sent him back to collecting firewood.

"Thanks for that; maybe I should just do my work."

"You should," Shadow mumbled and Dan began to collect firewood. While picking up wood, he found some mushrooms. Dinner for two, he realized. He picked some, making sure they weren't Death Angels or some other poisonous fungus.

Dan came back with enough firewood for the whole night. Ann was waiting impatiently, furious about the incident that happened awhile back.

"What were you doing in the bushes?"

"Collecting firewood…"

"Liar!"

"O.K., so I was watching…"

"Ha! Now you're admitting it!"

"O.K fine, I'm sorry."

"Sorry! That's not enough. You won't be eating tonight!" Dan quickly hid some mushrooms in his pocket after hearing this.

"Here, I found some mushrooms while I was collecting firewood."

"Then I'll take it all!" she took all of the mushrooms in his hand, unaware of his secret stash.

Dan piled up some firewood and poured some oil on the heap. He reluctantly started the fire with his lighter.

"I thought scouts used their bow and drill to start fires."

"Scouts go modern sometimes, but I have a flint and saw just in case."

"You have so many things on yourself. What else do you drag around?"

"I have a radio on my motorcycle."

"What do you need that for?"

"Communication. I need to contact the scout headquarters every once in a while when I'm away. Speaking of which, I need to do that now. Any later and none of my staff will be left." It was nearly half an hour past the time most of the students would be home. "Since I can't eat, you can cook for yourself."

"Fine!" Ann drew a wok from her sketch pad and tore it out. She withdrew some uncooked rice from her pack and started cooking.

Dan walked to his bike and opened his box HAM radio, contained in one of the carriers of his bike. He extended the antenna, also on his bike, to increase his range. He switched it on and tuned the dial to the headquarters frequency which was 146.028MHz. He then checked the signal strength; it was good enough to talk. He pressed the Push-To-Talk (PTT from now onwards) once to make his presence known to the other side and waited for a reply. The other end responded in kind. He pressed it again and began communicating.

"This is 9-Whisky-2-Delta-Alpha-November, 9-Whisky-2-Delta-Alpha-November. Dan speaking. Who am I talking to? Over," he released the PTT button.

"This is 9-Whisky-2-Tango-India-Sierra, 9-Whisky-2-Tango-India-Sierra. I'm Tisha, Dan. So how's the training? Got your precious badge? Over."

"Yeah, finished everything. I found someone in the woods, she doesn't have a school. Maybe I'll take her in. Now we're setting camp here. Over."

"So, where's your location? Over."

"Maybe about sixty kilometers from headquarters. How's the headquarters? Over."

"There's a small problem here. Be sure to come back quickly to give us a hand. Over," Dan understood the problem was too complicated for Tisha to explain over the radio.

"O.K., I'll start my journey right after dawn. This is 9-Whisky-2-Delta-Alpha-November. Over and out."

"Roger that, will tell the others about your condition. I'm going home now anyway. 9-Whisky-2-Tango-India-Sierra, over and out." Dan switched the radio off after hearing the last message. He checked the battery; it was still enough for a few more communication sessions. Dan decided to check back in on Ann.

Ann was cooking her meal, by this time nearly finished. The aroma of the mushrooms and herbs made Dan's stomach growl.

I wish I could enjoy her cooking

"All you have now are roasted mushrooms."

I'll cook them while she's eating

After Ann finished cooking, she transferred her food into a bowl, probably drawn up from her sketchpad. It was fried rice with mushrooms. She took her bowl into the tent and gorged on it all by herself.

Sneakily, Dan took out his mushrooms from his pocket and poked a stick into them. There were ten mushrooms, just enough for him to fend off hunger. He roasted the mushrooms over the fire, placing more wood to keep the flames going. The fire crackled as the wood was devoured.

It was twilight by the time the mushrooms were cooked.

"Ah, now it's my turn to eat!"

"Careful, Dan. She just finished her meal."

Ann came out of the tent with what Dan assumed was an empty bowl. She spotted Dan cooking.

"AHA! I knew it! You kept a secret stash did you?"

"Yes Ma'am," Dan cowered with his mushrooms.

"Never mind, here you go," she handed a bowl of her fried rice to Dan. "Eat it with your burnt mushrooms."

"Whew! You have a nice figure you know, Ann," Dan replied as she handed over the bowl.

Ann blushed when Dan said that but replied angrily. "You take that back or you won't be eating that rice."

Dan smirked, adding his roasted mushrooms into her bowl. He began to eat. The taste was tantalizing; Dan hadn't tasted cooking this great since his parents' death.

"You know, you make a very good cook."

"Just shush and finish your food. And clean my bowl, too!"

"But it will disappear anyway," Ann kept quiet after Dan said that. Dan waited for the bowl to disappear. It didn't.

"You're so dumb, that's a real bowl. Y'see under the bowl, there's a mark on it!" she pointed it out to him. "This mark is the proof of my mom and dad's wedding, they drank with this on their wedding day and now they're…"

"O.K., O.K. I'll wash it. Just don't go ranting about your past again. We've had enough of that today."

Dan headed off to the lake to wash the utensils.

A few minutes later he returned. "There you go, all done."

"Gee, thanks. You're the first person to bother washing my dishes since I left home."

"Nevermind, I live alone. I know how you feel."

"So where are you gonna sleep? Outside?"

"Yeah, maybe. You can sleep in my tent." Dan took out his toothbrush and metal cup. Ann followed suit.

They walked to the lake once again to brush off their teeth, returning to the campsite together.

"How 'bout sleeping in your tent?"

"Then where will you…?"

"We'll sleep together. It's your tent anyway."

So the two of the slept under the nylon tent they made together earlier that day.

"Dan, you know, you're first guy who's really spoken to me since that day…" Ann said softly.

"SNORE….."

"Hrmmm…."


Dan and Ann's space:

Dan: Yes! We captured the author's space!*Plants a flag with the words "Dan and Ann" on it*.

Ann: Yay! We did it!

Dan: Do you readers want to know where the author is?

Readers: Yeah?

Ann: Oh, you don't wanna know!

Readers: (now curiously) Oh?

Dan: He's in the back there, in a cage!

Ann: Now this is our space! Hey Dan, did you know there were tons of appearances of the word "together" in the end?

Dan: Yeah, I saw that. Did you know, together is a word made of "to-get-her"?

Ann: Eww, that's gross!

Author's last words: Yay, finished this chapter at last! Today I'm going to talk about HAM radio! HAM radio is a useful tool in scouts, but it can be used by anyone. All you need is a license and a ham radio, of course. Once you have a license you will be issued a call sign, just like Dan used 9-Whisky-2-Delta-Alpha-November as his call sign. The call sign must be spelled out using the international phonetic (you can look this up for more info) while talking via radio. Dan's call sign is 9W2DAN but it is spelled as 9-Whisky-2-Delta-Alpha-November in radio. HAM radio can be used to communicate with other radio users. Scouts have a badge for this. To operate one, you have to follow these steps

Make sure you're on a frequency with someone else actually on it. To do so, listen whether is there anyone on the same frequency and is there anyone communicating on the said frequency. If there is no conversation, you can proceed by pressing the PTT button for 2 seconds and wait for a reply. You will hear a different tone when someone is pressing the PTT button when a different tone is heard. You can also proceed the next step without doing pressing the PTT for 2 seconds.

State your call sign and name. Wait for the other to reply with their call sign and name. Remember to end your message with "over".

Now you can start talking! Just end each message with "over". Keep messages short, accurate and simple so that the other side can understand you easily.

When you are finished, just end your message with "over and out".

A good example is when Dan talked to Tisha using his HAM Radio (though the message was a bit long, not recommended for amateurs).

Dan: Did say my name, author? *Dan comes out of nowhere*

Author: I was just introducing the usage of HAM radio to the readers.

Dan: Shut up and get back in your cage!

*Author whines*