The D&D Chronicles: The Adventure Begins
Chapter 1: Bridging One's Destiny
Kirby House (5:50am)
It was another morning in the Kirby Residence.
The Kirby house was like any type of family home, this one being a 2466 square foot single family home, made sometime in the 60s and was 2 stories high, built with bricks for the first floor, and the 2nd made with wood panels walls and painted with light grey and white trim, and had grey roof tiles. It had four bedrooms, so each family member had a room for their own, with two bathrooms, one being upstairs and the other down in the basement. The house also included a garage, which housed the family car and kids' bikes.
The inside of the house included the main hallway with carpeted stairs leading upstairs, a living room/lounge, a lovely dining room, a kitchen with it's own dining table, and the basement.
The house remained quiet at the moment, until another new day was starting.
Another usually routine for Patrick Lee Kirby.
Patrick's bedroom was cozy and average-sized, painted light space-grey. In the center of the room is a small orange circular rug. Next to the door is a tiny wastebasket and a tall wooden bookshelf, full of books, boxes filled with comics, graphic novels, 3 or 4 small figures of TV/film/video game characters and various DVDs, VHS's and video games, while on the very top were a bit bigger figures of Darth Vader and Mr. Stay-Puft the Marshmallow Man. On the left wall of the room was Patrick's black desk, right below a window, decorated with a dark blue globe containing pictures of constellations, and a red bedside lamp on the opposite end, as well as a grey office chair in front of the desk. His bed, that he got out of, was next to the desk, covered by a Dark purple and black comforter and two white pillows. In front of the bed is a small rectangular green carpet, right below a tall wooden chest drawer, while next to it was a small indoor rabbit house, which housed the family's two rabbits named Hip and Hop (Hip being a light-grey male rabbit and Hop being a female with white fur that featured a few black spots). On the right wall was a coat hanger and another bookshelf with more graphic novels and Manga, and was decorated with figurines of Sonic, Sailor Moon and even Pikachu on top.
While over the room, the walls were covered with posters, some of them film posters for movies like The Dark Crystal, Star Wars and Gremlins.
Every morning, Patrick would wake up early, get dressed, feed Hip and Hop, head downstairs (tidy up a little incase of anything left over that needed cleaning from last night), sort out food for his family and then prepare breakfast.
Just another day for Patrick.
Patrick, known for doing some pretty good cooking sometimes, had just finished up making breakfast for him and his sisters, which was their favourite breakfast, chocolate chip pancakes with bacon and maple syrup.
"Morning, Patrick." Hilda's voice got his attention, as he saw two of his siblings having come down the stairs.
"Hey, Hilda. Taylor." Patrick greeted his sisters, "Sleep okay?"
"Slept well, despite that long game you played last night." Taylor smirked a little, earning a small bit of embarrassing blush from Patrick.
Hilda then took a good whiff with a smile as she smelt breakfast being ready, "Is that the smell of chocolate chip pancakes?"
"Sure are, sis." Patrick said, as he used his oven mitts to place two plates, one for Hilda and one for Taylor, before heading over to a meal tray that had on the plate what looked like a pepper and mushroom omelette.
"Aren't you going to join us?" Taylor asked.
"I will, my servings' in the oven," Patrick replied, as he carefully carried the tray, "I just need to give this to her majesty."
Hilda and Taylor giggled a little on that, before digging into breakfast, the fluffy taste of pancakes with the sweet chocolate chips, crispy bacon and sticky syrup bringing up a smile to their faces.
Patrick, meanwhile, went upstairs, as he carefully and quietly went up to a door, a sticky note saying 'Worked hard late' stuck on the door. Smiling, Patrick carefully opened the door, revealing in the bed a woman in her early 30s with short brown hair, sound asleep.
Her name was Johanna Pearson Kirby, mother to Patrick and his siblings, she had a bit of a two-way job, working as a graphic designer (Patrick having been known for having great art skills, something he got from her), and most times helping out at a 24-hour hardware store (as most times, it was sometimes difficult getting new assignments for graphic work).
Her bedroom was a medium-sized area with light blue walls. In front of the door is her wooden bed, covered by a dark blue comforter and two light gray pillows. On one side of her bed is a teal wood nightstand and on the other side is a tall lamp that has a white lampshade on top of it, decorated with a pastel yellow lace fringe hanging down from the edges.
Patrick placed the pepper and mushroom omelette (one of Johanna's favourite breakfasts) on the bedside table, then carefully placed a kiss on his mother's forehead.
"Love you, mum." he whispered, before leaving her bedroom.
Once exited his mum's bedroom, Patrick looked at a nearby picture, earning a small smile as he looked at it.
The picture was of him with his family, with him, Taylor and Hilda at a bit of a young age, with Johanna, who was not only a young woman, but was also shown being pregnant at the time of the picture being taken, as she was pregnant with who would become Patrick's youngest sister, Kira Kirby (whom right now was at a very young age between 2-4/5), whom Patrick was happy to take care of when his mum was out, with a bit of help of Taylor and Hilda, of course.
Also in the picture, along with his mom and sisters, was a proud and kind-hearted man, who had a arm wrapped around Johanna by the shoulder, and a hand on Patrick's shoulder, he almost looked like an older version of Patrick, only with very dark hair (almost possibly very dark blue) with a matching short, stubble beard, which showed his caring smile.
The man that was with them was Michael Kirby, Patrick and his siblings father, as well as Johanna's husband. Michael, also known as Micky, like Patrick, was a fan of various Pop Culture, as well as being a D&D fanatic, as well as being someone who had a great imagination, something he shared with Johanna when they met, dated and eventually married.
Throughout their life, they first brought up and raised Patrick, when they learned during their time that he had autism, Micky was there to help him, especially as he saw how much Patrick was both clever and creative, knowing so much about media as he did, in fact, it was revealed that Patrick's middle name, Lee, was in honour of Micky's favourite comic book creator, Stan Lee, especially as during one trip to Comic-Con, his father helped him get to sign one of his Silver Surfer comics by the man himself.
Micky would also take Patrick under his wing in teaching everything to know about Dungeons and Dragons, showing him the ropes on how to play, learning the lore of the worlds and creatures, heroes and villains that inhabited them, as well as being a Dungeon Master as well.
Micky and Johanna would later on have a daughter, Taylor, and a second one, Hilda, helping them out on their journey as Taylor became the girl who helped out with organization, and Hilda became an adventurous young spirit, as well giving Patrick siblings to bond with as a family.
The Kirby family were like any family, while there were a few struggles, they still managed to get through.
A few years later, sadly, Micky suffered a sudden illness just as Johanna was pregnant with their third daughter, Kira. Patrick and his sisters' father fought as hard as he could, but sadly the illness beat him, and sadly passed away before he could meet his third daughter.
Following Micky passing away and Kira's birth, Johanna and her children would from then on take care of each other, even if their father was no longer with them.
Over the years, both mother and siblings managed to live a happy life together, usually always sharing stories and secrets with each other. Because of her hard work, Johanna barely has any time at all to work around the house. So, Patrick and his sisters decided to give her a hand and became special caretakers of the house: waking up, cleaning, preparing breakfast, lunch and dinner, etc.
Though at times, Patrick still missed his father, just as his mother and sisters did, as a small, sad smile came up on his face, thinking about how he would see what they've been doing now.
"Love you, dad…" Patrick said with a smile, before heading back down to join Taylor and Hilda for breakfast.
After having breakfast, and saying goodbye to Kira, Patrick, Taylor and Hilda prepared to head to Bradey Oaks High School, where students of all ages go to.
Both Patrick and Taylor both had a bicycle in the garage, though neither Patrick nor Hilda were good on them, luckily, they both shared a three-wheeled bike, making it easy for both of them to travel.
To be fair though, Patrick's big dream was to earn his own vespa, something he would one day hope to get one day in future when he earned enough money.
Patrick pressed the button in the garage, the garage doors opened, revealing the nice sunny day to ride a bike, the sun shining, birds in the trees whistling, and the trash can knocked over and… wait…
"Ugh… raccoons, again…" Patrick groaned a small sigh, as he went over to the trash can that had been knocked down and picked it back up, putting away most of the rubbish, such as empty boxes and bottles (the Kirbys do recycle, it was just there were some stuff that wouldn't be able to recycle) , it seemed to have been the 3rd or 4th time this had happened.
"Hey there, Patrick." Chris's voice got his attention, as he, Taylor and Hilda looked to see Chris, Luz arrive on their bikes from their homes (they were basically neighbours, living not far from Patrick's home), along with a third member joining them.
It was a boy about 15 years old, a little short (like about approximately 5 feet 2 inches) and chubby, with orange-red brown hair and teal eyes, and braces in his teeth.
He had on a bright orange jumper, orangey-brown trousers and white shoes.
His name was Chuckie Wolowitz, one of Patrick and Chris's buddies, who lived not too far from where the twins lived.
He would usually hang out with Patrick and most of his friends, but would sometimes be busy looking out for his grandmother, Nancy Wolowitz, who was a bit of a dog lady, sort of like a cat lady with a different number of cats, but with dogs.
"Ready for another usual day of lecture or laziness?" Chris joked.
"Don't worry, I will be sure to doodle on some eyes before I snooze." Patrick joked back, before looking to Chuckie and asked, "How was your night, Chuck?"
"Oh yeah, it was a blast," Chuckie smirked, "the usual. Taking down the competition on Mario Kart could work up an appetite."
"I hope you're hungry," Hilda said, "I heard it'll be lasange for today's special at school. We know you love lasagne."
"Lasagne…" Chuckie, before getting a hold of himself as he said, "I don't think I could eat that. I'm on a diet."
"You've been on a diet for 14 years, Chuckie." Taylor pointed.
"I know." Chuckie replied.
"You're 15." Luz added, as she and the others started on their way.
"Long-term goals." Chuckie stated, following after them, "My body's still changing."
The six friends were soon peddling on their way to school, going as fast as they could to avoid getting into trouble.
"Hurry, it's 7:30!" Chris cried out.
Patrick looked down a pathway nearby, Hilda saw it too, then both smiled as the former asked, "You thinking what I'm thinking?"
"Let's do it!" Hilda smirked.
"C'mon, guys, let's take the canals!" Patrick called out, as he turned his bike in the direction, catching the others off guard.
Realizing he and Hilda took a new route, Taylor and the others followed Patrick's bike.
As Taylor, Chris and Luz rode their bikes, Chuckie was shaking like a twig, as the pathway they went down was a bit of a hill, with several tiny bumps.
"We can't take the canals, you too!" Taylor called out.
"Live a little, sis!" Hilda smiled.
"Yeah, don't you want a little adventure?" Patrick then asked.
"Nope!" Taylor replied.
Soon, Patrick and Hilda soon approached the bridge that led into town, and from there, the canals.
Patrick's bike reached the very centre of the canals, nearby the bridge, as he and Hilda cheered each other.
"And it's a touchdown!" Patrick cheered.
"Another great race from the dynamic duo of Patrick and Hilda Kirby!" Hilda added, as she and Patrick chuckled a little, before looking to wait for their sister and their friends.
"C'mon, guys!" Patrick smirked, getting off his bike as he tapped his foot, "We're waiting."
He and Hilda waited to hear one of their friends call out to them that they were on their way…
Until finally… Patrick heard a voice… but not from one of his friends…
"Patrick… Lee… Kirby…"
Patrick was surprised as he heard the ghostly voice, he then looked around until he spotted a nearby pile of rubble on the other side of the bridge.
'Did that voice… came from there…?' Patrick thought, as he looked to rubble with confusion.
He was about to look back to wait for his friends, then he heard the voice again.
"Patrick… Lee… Kirby…"
Patrick soon looked around a little, while staring at the rubble, as he then walked towards it.
This got Hilda's attention as she looked at him.
"Patrick?" she asked, "Where are you going?"
"I… I thought I heard something…" Patrick replied, just as the others soon arrived, then cycled down to where Patrick parked his bike.
"Well done, Patrick," Chris sighed, after cycling fast to catch up, "you sure know how to find good short cuts."
"Yeah, great," Taylor said, slowly clapping, before being serious, "now let's keep going before we might end up getting a tardy!"
However, Patrick didn't hear that, as he was still focused on the rubble, walking carefully towards it.
"Um, Patrick…" Luz said, raising an eyebrow, as she and the others saw what he was doing.
"Hey, bro, wait up!" Hilda said, as she hurried after Patrick.
"Hilda, come back." Taylor said, as she followed, with the others joining her.
Soon, all 6 kids approached the rock pile, as Patrick kept his eyes on it as he said, "Hey, guys. Did you hear that?"
"Hear what?" Chris asked.
His question was then answered as the ghostly voice spoke up again, this time for the group to hear, startling most of them.
"Patrick… Lee… Kirby…"
"There!" Patrick pointed, "You heard that, right?"
"Whoa… that pile of rocks knows your name?" Luz asked.
"It's a pile of K-spar." Chuckie pointed out, as he had a knack of being a geologist, "Besides, minerals don't talk."
"Maybe…" Patrick said, as he approached the rubble, "but somehow it can."
He looked to others as he said, "Help me look through this, guys."
Hilda, Chris and Luz joined him as they began taking away pieces of the pile stone by stone, looking to see what called out to Patrick.
"Guys, we need to get going!" Taylor pointed out, before muttering, "I can't believe we'll get suspended because my brother thought he heard some rocks call his name."
"There might be a walkie talkie in there somewhere." Chuckie suggested as he helped look around.
Soon, after taking away a few stones, Patrick pulled one stone away… and there it was…
There, lying within the pile of rocks, was an amulet-like object, with a rainbow-coloured gem encased in it, it's sparkling glow and mysterious humming caught Patrick's eye and ear, as he picked it up and examined the device, the others looking to see what he found.
"It looks… like an amulet…" Patrick said.
Hilda began to look around curiously, as she then called out, "Hello?"
"Did anyone drop an amulet?" she added.
No reply, except for the small echo of her voice.
"Hilda," Taylor looked to her young sister, "is that really a good idea?"
"I just wanted to know if anyone was here before us and lost it." Hilda explained.
Chris got what she meant, and looked around suspiciously, before shouting out, "Who's doing this? Come out now!"
Still no reply.
Patrick continued to look at the amulet, as the others looked to him.
"Hello?" he said, "I'm listening…"
He then brought the amulet to see if it would speak to him again, Hilda coming up to him and bringing her ear to it as well.
The others leaned in to see if the amulet would speak out Patrick's name…
They looked, waited and listened… until finally…
The school bell rang, startling everyone and getting their attention.
"Crud! It's almost the final bell!" Patrick cried, as he put the amulet in his bag, then he and the others hurried back to their bikes.
"C'mon, hurry!" Luz panicked.
"We're so late, our kids are gonna have detention!" Chris added.
"Quick, guys!" Patrick said, as he and Hilda sped off, the others following them, "Let's go! We can still make it!"
"Wait for me!" Chuckie called out, "I'm right behind!"
Soon the kids peddled away out of the canals and hurried to school.
Unaware to them, something… or someone… had been watching them…
Hiding in the wall vents of the canals, the unknown being looked as it saw Patrick and his friends disappear from the canals, and looked with wonder and surprise.
"It chose… a human!"
Author's Notes:
For those of you who are curious, the name of the town where our story takes place, Bradey Oaks, is named after the last name of my mum's late father, with the Kirby's father's first name named after my grandfather, Michael 'Micky' Steele-Bodger, who sadly passed away back in 2019 in Spring
Next time, we meet some high school friends… and foes…
Until next time, True Believers!
Excelsior!