Forgotten Screamer

[Phoenix]

--x--
Ok, this is a new story for me. Still in the work-in-progress stages, so updates on this may be slower then some of my others.

However i still need feedback on it, it is going to be different then what i usually write, in later chapters you should see why.
I'll leave it to you know,
Read and reply your thoughts, i'll take all into good measure and try to improve on it.
  hope it grips you  

--x--

She hides behind her long hair, hoping that the world will change the next time she looks and breathes the tainted air she grew up in. She hates it here, she always has, yet she can’t escape. She knows if she does they’ll find her and bring her back to reality. But is it reality? Where she can’t even open her eyes without crying out in pain because she’s so scared to ring and phone for help?.

She walks alone, no ones behind her except her broken conscience and confidence that fell to pieces over 15 years ago. How is she still alive? One person knows. But she doesn’t understand, that person is me.

I'm writing her story, one she can't tell because her memories are so hard to bring up. Maybe someday she'll realise this is the right thing to do.
Maybe this way she can move on and not live in the past.

These are the words she'll never say.

--x--

Contents

Foreward - Singing in the rain
Chapter 1 - Front door moving and a blast from the past
Chapter 2 - Lost
Chapter 3 - Secret Santuary
Chapter 4 - Numb
Chapter 5 - Unchosen Words
Chapter 6 - On top of the world
Chapter 7 - Pathways
Chapter 8 - Freedom Held Bound *part 1*
Chapter 9 - Freedom Held Bound *part 2
Chapter 10 - Offensive/Defensive?



...

--x--

[Phoenix]

  Of course it hasn't died!
Now it's the holidays i will be working on this, but right now.. i have Phoenix Chronicles, Salvation's Destruction and Forgotten Screamer at the same time.

I've got just over 3 pages of chapter 7 so far, theres a slight twist in the chapter too.. which means you should end up with your jaw down to the floor but i'm saying nothing else.

Ok, want some of chapter 7?
i'm not posting all of it up remember, otherwise there wont be much of a surprise now will it?

[NicTei]

You don't have to post any of it; I was just making sure that it wasn't like one of my many* projects that have tanked.  As long as it's still being written, I think I'm fine.

And I had forgotten about Salvation's Destruction; I've got to remember to stick that in my bookmarks.



*Chiaroscuro, The Demon's Past and the Religious Trilogy, Repentant, Extinction, Faust XIII, Omega, Veil of Dreams, and the list goes on and on.

[Phoenix]

meh.. i may just post some up anyway
just for the fun of it...

Ok, mostly because the last chapter posted up was quite a while ago.
...

-looks nervously around-
no one saw me say that...

[Saint]

Of course no-one saw you say it, but I heard it

[NicTei]

Saint, I was just going to say that, but then you got to it first, and before I realized that, I clicked on a link over to the side in the 'Recent Topics' bar.  Then I frantically clicked the 'Back' button, but it simply said "CONNECTION ERROR!!" 

Grrrr...

[Phoenix]

   Kara was unsure how to react, she couldn’t see the face of the person talking so wasn’t sure if they were friend or foe, although she could tell at least the voice was masculine.
   “What makes you think I trust you?” Kara asked cautiously, making sure no-one over heard her,
   “Because not many people do, I need your help.”
   “Then show yourself,”
   “Not here, go inside and I’ll show myself.” The voice rushed, Kara looked around quickly then stood up. She could feel the pain rushing into her left leg and shifted her weight onto her right.
   “You realise how much pain I’m in don’t you?” Kara muttered as she limped to her front door and opened it with her key,
   “I know you’re in pain, trust me,” the voice sighed,
   “How can I trust someone I can’t even see?” Kara sniggered but painfully started walking upstairs,
   “I’m not sure, but surely somewhere in your heart is telling you to trust me?” Kara bit her lip and stayed silent, in truth, something was telling her to trust the person who she still couldn’t see. The problem was, she was having so much trouble figuring out where the person had come from that she didn’t even realise that she was now in her bedroom.
   Kara then sighed, she could see blood seeping through her jeans and sat on the bed. She winced slightly when she did, and she could now feel blood slowly running down her leg.
   “You want to see me?” the voice asked, Kara then remembered there was something or someone else in her bedroom as well, Kara nodded and she felt the cut on her knee being injected.
   Standing up suddenly, she inspected her leg but the fabric of her jeans hid the small hole that the needle had made.
   “What did you do?” Kara asked urgently,
   “Relax and lie down,” the voice said soothingly, Kara’s eyes pinned wide open and searched her room but she still couldn’t see where the person who was talking to her was.

   Reluctantly, she lay down and immediately felt her eyes close.
   “Concentrate on my voice,” the voice commanded, and Kara had no choice but to fall asleep and let the dream world absorb her.

[Saint]

Good start there xD

[Phoenix]

yeah, well you [apart from me] have read the whole thing. If it wasnt for
no.1. me leaving the floppy disk at your house with the file on it,
and
no.2. you losing the floppy..
I'd have more of this written

[Saint]

Errm, it wasn't me....

There was a ghost.. yeah, thats it, a ghost...

*Starts shaking nervously*

>.>

Eep!

[NicTei]

SAINT!!!!!!!!

You lost the floppy with this story on it!!!!!!!???????

[Saint]

It was only a few papragrap- wait, what are you doing with that knife?

[NicTei]

*looks at knife*

Good point.

*picks up zweihander (two handed sword)*

Now we're cooking!

[Saint]

Cooking? Good, I'll have some bacon if you have it.

[NicTei]

-_-;

[Phoenix]

.. slightly off topic ghosts huh? but hey, who said i'm not including any?

-saint? stop blaming ghosts.. i know some remember? they may not be happy -

Btw peoples, saint is hardly ever full... if you mention food or cooking.. it could be a mistake

[Saint]

What? I like bacon!

I even managed to work it into The Midnight Tower..

*drools* Mmm, bacon...

[NicTei]

O_O;

I'm...I'm...I'm just going to run away now.

[Saint]

I beat NicTei? I beat NicTei?

I BEAT NICTEI!!

And it didn'tinvolve the complete destruction of Tome City!!

*Looks down at river of saliva rushing to flood the city*

Oh... Cr*p.

[Angel]

Aw Saint ya got drool everywhere!
Dude!

Okay after rereading yer start of chapter 7.... Now I REALLY want to read the whole chapter!!!

[Phoenix]

  thanks...
*calls FS characters to clear away threatening drool*

yeah, a job they dont really like doing
but yeah, i will be working on this asap. Promise , FS is one of my favourite stories so far.. and no.. Saint.. it isnt just down to the fantasy thing

[Angel]

Woopage!!
Can't wait for more!!
Twill be pretty awesome!!
:D

[Phoenix]

  Warning! Chapter 7 is the longest so far!
[so far reaching over 13 pages and possibly going on 15!]

[Phoenix]

   Kara was unsure how to react, she couldn’t see the face of the person talking so wasn’t sure if they were friend or foe, although she could tell at least the voice was masculine.
   “What makes you think I trust you?” Kara asked cautiously, making sure no-one over heard her,
   “Because not many people do, I need your help.”
   “Then show yourself,”
   “Not here, go inside and I’ll show myself.” The voice rushed, Kara looked around quickly then stood up. She could feel the pain rushing into her left leg and shifted her weight onto her right.
   “You realise how much pain I’m in don’t you?” Kara muttered as she limped to her front door and opened it with her key,
   “I know you’re in pain, trust me,” the voice sighed,
   “How can I trust someone I can’t even see?” Kara sniggered but painfully started walking upstairs,
   “I’m not sure, but surely somewhere in your heart is telling you to trust me?” Kara bit her lip and stayed silent, in truth, something was telling her to trust the person who she still couldn’t see. The problem was, she was having so much trouble figuring out where the person had come from that she didn’t even realise that she was now in her bedroom.
   Kara then sighed, she could see blood seeping through her jeans and sat on the bed. She winced slightly when she did, and she could now feel blood slowly running down her leg.
   “You want to see me?” the voice asked, Kara then remembered there was something or someone else in her bedroom as well, Kara nodded and she felt the cut on her knee being injected.
   Standing up suddenly, she inspected her leg but the fabric of her jeans hid the small hole that the needle had made.
   “What did you do?” Kara asked urgently,
   “Relax and lie down,” the voice said soothingly, Kara’s eyes pinned wide open and searched her room but she still couldn’t see where the person who was talking to her was.

   Reluctantly, she lay down and immediately felt her eyes close.
   “Concentrate on my voice,” the voice commanded, and Kara had no choice but to fall asleep and let the dream world absorb her.

*Torrent*

   Kara walked out of the darkness and found a pathway with hundreds of lights guiding the way forwards. She looked back as if searching for something but found herself looking into pure blackness,
   “Follow the path until you reach the gates, you’ll meet Eagle there.”
   “Who’s Eagle?” Kara asked blindly as she looked all around her to pin point where the masculine voice was coming from,
   “Eagle is one of the guards who works in Torrent, Eagle isn’t his real name but we don’t use them here.”
   “What’s your name?”
   “My real name and safe name I’ll say when we reach the gates, for now you need to walk. Many people come past here on their way into Torrent, and quite a few block the roads when you need to get to the gates urgently.” The voice advised.
   Sighing, Kara nodded and started limping,
   “I thought in dream world you couldn’t feel pain,” she muttered,
   “You need to be registered with Torrent first, after that your pain dies away slowly,”
   “Course,” Kara rolled her eyes but said no more, instead she concentrated on taking large steps with her right leg and smaller ones with her left. Limping only took the journey longer, but because Kara was practically exhausted from it, the gates of Torrent eventually got closer and closer.

   Eagle was still working, standing to attention between the two closed doors. Kara walked up to him and waited for the strange voice to speak again,
   “State your name, rank and business.” Eagle smiled,
   “Kara’s come to be registered,” the voice spoke quietly, Eagle nodded and walked to the side of the gate to a small door. Still smiling, he motioned for Kara to follow, which she did.
   She found herself in an elongated room between the two doors of the gate. The room carried a theme of gold and cream, the walls were cream coloured but had gold leaf printed on top of it. Each wall represented a different season, the door Kara had walked through was Winter and she immediately spotted the tree against the almost bare-like paint.
   Looking around the room silently, she realised there was only a desk, a set of scales and a rack to place coats and hats in the room. Seeing the interest in Kara’s eyes, Eagle smiled,
   “This is where we register people into Torrent, first we need some information about you,” he said moving towards the scales, “think you can hop on?” he added, Kara nodded and walked over. She took off her shoes quietly and stood up again, her knee was stinging slightly but she braced herself for the next few steps and stood on the scales deliberately with her back to the digits.
   She knew she was underweight and didn’t need scales to say how much. It took most of her effort to keep her balance with both legs and not to lean on just one of them,
   “Ok, now to your height,” Eagle smiled and took out a tape measure from one of the drawers in the desk. Waiting patiently, she waited for the tape measure to reach her height before she found the need to sit down. “what’s your age?” Eagle asked her,
   “15, I’ll be 16 the end of September.” Kara replied,
   “Rank?”
   “Rank? How do I know what rank I am?” Kara asked,
   “Scar, help me out here,” Eagle asked sighing, Scar sighed too and stepped out from no where,
   “She’s 7th degree Green belt,”
   “Green? Woah, that’s all three!” Eagle’s eyes pinned wide open in shock and took out a book from the now opened draw in the desk. After finding a pen he noted down Kara’s weight, Height and grade.
   “All three what?” Kara asked Eagle or Scar, neither replied so she asked again, “All three what?” Scar took a step forwards then stopped,
   “I’ll explain that after this, there’s only one other thing Eagle need’s to know.” Scar looked to Eagle who held the book out for Kara to take,
   “Code name or Safe name as some people call them,”
   “And they’re what?” Kara asked, clearly getting more and more confused with every second,
   “Nicknames, ones to keep enemies from reaching the real you and killing you when you’re sleeping.” Eagle replied, motioning for Kara to take the book once more. Kara took it and ran through all the possible nicknames she could think of, most were ones Elaine had given her, which were, understandably inappropriate. The only other nickname was ‘Cookie’, her screen name from the online forum she visited.
   Smiling slightly, she scribbled it down under name and felt the back of her hand itch. She had written ‘Cookie’, but it took her a few seconds to realize that what she had written it in had been her own blood.

   Only a second passed before ‘Cookie’ disappeared into a glimmer of yellow light and the crimson liquid had transformed into black ink.
   “Hello Cookie, welcome to Torrent.” Eagle smiled warmly, Kara diverted her eyes from the book to him and smiled shyly,
   “Ok, now all you need to do is state your business,” Eagle said thoughtfully,
   “Business?” Kara looked to Scar with another confused expression plastered on her face and he rolled his eyes,
   “Training I guess, or research,”
   “I’ll stick with research,” Eagle nodded once and he opened his right hand to show a white piece of plastic the size of a credit card. On the back was white except a black strip that lay across the middle. Eagle flipped it over to show Kara’s name, age and rank written down and a small space for her photograph. However, he was careful not to touch the black strip running down the center on the back
   “Do I have to have my photo taken?” Kara asked curiously,
   “Strangely, yes. It is the last thing though,” Eagle replied taking a camera from his pocket and taking a photo of Kara then smiling at the photo that appeared on the pass. “take it and press your fingerprint into the black strip, it will then recognise you as Cookie,” Eagle said as he passed the pass over to her.

   Kara inspected it carefully before she put her left thumb onto the strip accidentally, the strip lit up red,
   “Once more,” Eagle said encouragingly, Kara shrugged and did the same with her right thumb. Surprisingly, the strip then turned gold. “Perfect,” Eagle smiled, “now, I have to be off, can you handle yourselves from here?” Eagle asked the two of them, Scar nodded and Kara shrugged. She was unsure how to respond because she had it in her mind that Scar would explain himself.
   Eagle left the room shortly after, leaving Scar to turn straight to Cookie,
   “Is there a hologram on your pass?” he asked, Kara shrugged and inspected her pass again this time in closer detail.
   “Where am I supposed to be looking?”
   “The front,” Scar replied, “It should run from the top right by your photo,”
   “But the photo-” Kara began but stopped when she noticed two things she didn’t realise a few seconds before.
  The first being the photograph that Eagle had taken was now on her pass, showing Kara’s face without the padding on her nose. She was stunned in silence for a few more seconds after that when she realised the hologram that Scar had mentioned was the same one that had been engraved into Kara’s sitting room door.
   This time, she could see the four colours of the dots. The top corner was green, the bottom left was red and the bottom right was dark blue. The center dot was coloured a lighter blue, although in some of the light it almost looked white. Strangely, Kara found herself almost attached to the symbol and ran her hands over it a few times to see if she could remember just where the sudden attachment had started.


   “Now that I’m ‘registered’ with Torrent, why can I still feel pain?” Cookie asked slightly annoyed, she stared at her leg and her face became solemn,
   “The pain will subside over time,” Scar assured her, “but now there are some things I need to show you,”
   “Like?” Cookie asked, feeling her curiosity slowly rise as Scar turned away from her and walked out of the door they had walked through before. She rolled her eyes but followed, by now Cookie was hoping by now that he would explain himself but she’d almost given up hope. Instead of answers, she was getting more and more questions that never seemed to be resolved. She only hoped that Scar would answer them before her head could bare it no longer.

   Outside the room, Eagle opened the gates and Scar led the way through it,
   “I thought you may change,” Scar smiled as he looked at Cookie, confused she looked to her outfit where her blood stained jeans and t-shirt were replaced with a light blue long sleeved t-shirt and trousers. Like Twilight’s left arm, there were seven strips running up to Cookie’s shoulder. Instead of being red though, they were green, fading to the light blue. On Cookie’s leg, the same material and shade of green ran the length of the leg and touched her now green shoe.
   Stunned, she ran to a nearby window and froze. The scratches and padding on her nose had disappeared, leaving no trace whatsoever of the injuries that had been there before.
   She had almost got used to the two scratches on her right cheek, they were opened by Elaine just a few days before and still stung when Cookie tried to talk.
   She also had a scar hidden in her hair, it was a ‘V’ shaped scar. Received when she ran into a corner of a table when she was 12-years-old. Curious, Cookie tried moving her hair away to see if that scar was there, but found that a green ribbon had been tied into her hair amongst a hair band.
  She swung her ponytail over her right shoulder and looked to Scar beside her,
   “How did I change?” She asked,
   “People do,” he shrugged,
   “You didn’t,” Cookie pointed out,
   “I’m different,” Scar turned away slightly then started walking away, “Come, there are things I need to show you.”
   Cookie obeyed him and caught up, checking her appearance in every few windows she passed just incase she managed to change back into the blood stained jeans that she had worn before.

   Scar led Cookie through streets upon streets, deciding to avoid the town altogether and instead leading her through alleys that made both their noses twitch with the stench of rubbish.
   Cookie felt the wind tickle her face, almost like it wanted to play. Confused by the feeling, she concentrated on trying out her new found power and closed bin lids with her mind after they’d passed them.
   It made the stench after almost bearable but still not enough for both of them not to turn away and cover their noses.
   They passed a few people out in the streets, and every single one turned to Cookie wearing interested expressions that seemed never to disappear.
   Feeling out of place, she tried hiding her face but found it got an even worse reaction because the people they passed walked right up to them. Although they never touched her, one did manage to control Cookie long enough for Scar to notice.
   This was when Cookie ended up walking into the middle of the street raising her head so that everyone could see the fear rising in her eyes. Concentrating mentally, her mind reached out to the contact the person held on her. The contact was a golden line, shimmering white and yellow in her mind.
   She quickly pictured a pair of scissors, but she wasn’t sure if her idea would work. The line connected with a middle aged man standing on the other end of the street, but the people in between him and Cookie couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary.
   They only saw what was going on, but still the line that connected him and Cookie overpowered her brain so strongly she felt tears running down her face.
   Her idea grew when more tears of pain streamed down her face, lining more and more quickly making her eyes quickly bloodshot.
   Without warning, blood seeped through Cookie’s eyes, and people surrounding Cookie stared in shock. The only one that hadn’t changed his expression was the one controlling her.

   The tears mixed with the blood, but fell to the floor instead of Cookie’s outfit. Growing more and more frantic inside her brain, Cookie tried prying her mind away from the line but only found it hurt more.
   The line was connected to a hand that reached around her brain and squeezed tighter when she tried to move it. It was suffocating, and she could found she could hardly breathe any longer.
   Scar hadn’t noticed anything was wrong but as soon as Cookie pictured the scissors cutting the golden connection, he turned around. The man had screamed out in agony and buckled to the floor, trying to hide his face as peoples eyes focused on him instead of Cookie.
   Scar ran to Cookie and picked her up just before she collapsed to the floor, barely feeling a thing because she weighed so little.
   Someone came forwards and made Cookie’s arms wrap around Scar’s neck, but then Scar walked to the man that had controlled her. Tears were freely rolling down his face,
   “You know the punishment for controlling someone else without giving them warning,” he snarled, the man whimpered and nodded. “then maybe you can tell me why you did.”
   “I can’t,”
   “I’m sorry, that wasn’t a question.” Scar snapped,
   “I-I-” He began,
   “That is not a valid answer, if you did it for greed the only sentence you can face is torture.”
   “How could I do it for greed” the man whimpered again,
   “She was trying to get away from the stares, if you made her face everyone like you did I’d say it was greed.” Scar growled,
   “I’m s-so-sorry!”
   “And you think an apology will cover what you’ve done?”
   “A weak seven rank citizen shouldn’t be allowed though,” the man muttered,
   “What did you say?” Scar snapped,
   “Nothing,”
   “What did you say?” Scar mentally sent lightening bolts shoot through the mans brain and he screamed out in agony again,
   “I just said a weak seven rank citizen-” the man began,
   “Shouldn’t be allowed, yeah.” Scar finished, sending more lightening bolts mentally at the man cowering in front of him, “You obviously underestimate our new chosen one. In just a few days time you will see how far she can take and send out, if you have someone in mind that she can battle you can send them around to the training arena on Thursday.”
   “Y-yes I will,” the man said wiping the tears away with his sleeve,
   “But they have to be her age, there is no point having an unfair contest.” The man nodded and Scar left him, punishment could wait when there was a more pressing issue at hand.

   Scar carried Cookie to a house on the border of Torrent and the nearest town; Reast. The house was a cottage, over looking the hills that separated the two towns. It was a typical cottage with a thatched roof and wood that supported it inside and out.
   The gate was shut, but both Scar’s hands were occupied with keeping Cookie from falling to the floor onto the hard ground. He sighed and rolled his eyes, he was hoping the gate was open,
   “Paddington!” Scar called out. A window in the cottage flickered then the front door was swung wide open revealing a friendly 34-year-old female with a concerned look on her face.
   “Scar, you’d better have an explanation,” she said looking from Scar to Cookie,
   “I do, but can you open your gate?” Paddington nodded and walked to the gate, moving the gravel along as she went.
   She opened the gate slowly, also checking Cookie’s pulse in her wrist at the same time. Seemingly satisfied, she walked back into her cottage leaving the door ajar for Scar to walk through.

   Scar could smell the flowers as he passed them, carefully avoiding one that yelped and spat fire breathing dogs in all directions. This was the one that he’d tried to persuade Paddington to remove, but received a lecture on safety as a reward.
   “So, what brings you here?” Paddington asked as Scar walked through the front door straight into the sitting room. Scar searched around for a sofa to put Cookie on and sighed slightly, she was hoping that she would have come around again by now but she was still unconscious. Turning back to Paddington, he began his tale,
   “She fell unconscious when someone made a surprise attack on her when we were walking here, he gave no warning.”
   “And this chosen one stood no chance against him?” Paddington asked as she watched Cookie being laid on her sofa. She then noticed the blood on Cookie’s face and nodded, only powerful people could conjure the blood to escape and roll down the persons face.
   “There’s something I know that can awaken people from this state, but it requires power that’s equal to the level she has.” Paddington said thoughtfully,
   “Then we need either Meteora or Twilight,” Scar bit his lip and sighed,
   “It’s lucky I know where to find Meteora, he should be coming around any minute now to pick up a parcel for his father.” Paddington smiled and walked into the adjoining kitchen,
   “Is there anything else that we can do whilst we wait?” Scar asked,
   “Not really, but you can finish your story,” Paddington then walked back into the sitting room and stood beside the fireplace,
   “What do you mean?” Scar asked,
   “You can’t have just come here to clear the unconscious state she’s in, why were you coming here to start with?” Paddington asked, moving her light brown hair away from her green eyes,
   “I was wondering if you still held the jewels,” Scar asked quietly, Paddington smiled and nodded,
   “They’ve been trusted with me for many years, this year is no different,”
   “Are they still where they were before?” Scar asked,
   “They are safe, that’s all you need to know. As for-” Paddington gave Scar a quizzical look as she searched for Cookie’s name.
   “Cookie,” Scar smiled,
   “Nice name,” Paddington smiled, “As for Cookie, that is a different story. Her jewels are to be chosen by her when she regains consciousness,”
   “Paddington?” a male voice entered the doorway and blocked the sunlight coming through, Scar and Paddington turned to face him then sighed with relief. Meteora had arrived,
   “Meteora, we need you to help someone,” Paddington bit her lip and beckoned him to enter the sitting room,
   “Ok,” Meteora raised his eyebrow and took a few steps forward, Scar took an empty seat next to Cookie and Meteora stared at her now that the line of vision to her was clear. His blue/green eyes sparkled both with fear and joy, he was then mentally screaming Cookie’s real name for a few seconds before Paddington put her hand on his shoulder and he looked to her.
   “We need to do the unconscious spell, think you can handle it?” Paddington asked,
   “Yes,” he replied, biting his lip he walked into the kitchen who was then followed by Paddington.

   A few minutes passed before Meteora cried out in pain for a few seconds but then quiet quickly replaced it. Scar looked worriedly to the kitchen but didn’t move, Paddington didn’t like being disturbed when she was working. He’d learned the hard way once before and hadn’t done it since.
   When Scar was about to stand up, Meteora entered the sitting room again and collapsed onto a nearby sofa. He sunk into the cushions and impatiently waited for Paddington to walk in with the potion, only glancing a few times to Cookie who still lay practically motionless on the sofa opposite him.

   Scar then had the common sense to close the front door, shutting out the sunlight that had been streaming into the room. Meteora turned his head slightly towards Scar but sighed instead of talking,
   “Twilight asked me something,” he said after a while, filling up the silence with his voice instead,
   “What?” Scar asked,
   “He asked ‘Why did he let me win?’” Meteora said turning back to Cookie,
   “Ahh, that,” Scar smiled and laughed slightly,
   “I thought you were stronger then him,” Meteora turned to look at Scar and caught him smiling,
   “I am stronger then him, but there were two reasons why I let him win.” Scar’s smile faded and was then replaced with a frown, “the main one, I couldn’t help. It just had a stupidly awkward timing that’s all,”
   “And the other?”
   “The other was simple, it was really just training. The Ring told me to train with him, and I did.”
   “But-” Meteora began,
   “Sit her up, she wont like this potion so I suggest you sit back when she starts to cough.” Paddington cut in as she walked carefully towards Cookie. Scar looked to her
right hand and gulped, it held a potion in a clear vial. Its colour didn’t do much for its appearance, being a murky brown with floating leaves inside it, but Scar knew that it would work.

   Standing up, he moved Cookie into a sitting position and sat with her leaning against his chest. Meteora shifted his long black hair slightly and sighed, the spell had taken it out of him although he wanted to help he knew he couldn’t.
   Paddington knelt beside Scar and Cookie, measuring out an equal amount of the potion on a spoon she held her breath slightly at the smell as it was poured out.
   “This had better work, she’s been unconscious for a while now,” Scar sighed slightly,
   “How do you know her?” Meteora asked Scar,
   “What do you mean?”
   “Well it seems as though you know her,” Meteora shrugged and looked to Cookie, Paddington was giving her a second spoonful of the potion but there was still no response from Cookie about waking up.
   “Maybe I don’t, maybe I do, does that really matter right now?” Scar asked quizzically,
    “Guys, concentrate will you?” Paddington sighed, as Cookie moved her head slightly to the left. Scar noticed and used his hands to keep her head in the same place, but after the third spoonful he didn’t need to any longer.
   Cookie sat up violently, coughing and trying to retch up the taste of the potion from her throat. Paddington was quick to react, and motioned for Meteora to go into the kitchen,
   “Honey and blackcurrant cordial,” she shouted after him, Meteora understood and smiled. The bottle was on the kitchen counter, right beside a bottle with the same coloured liquid inside it. Instead of being labeled cordial though, it was labeled ‘poisonous tree sap’. Quickly grabbing the cordial, he checked its label and walked out. Cookie was still coughing, but was no longer trying to rid the taste that was threatening to chill her stomach.
   Checking the label once more, Meteora passed the cordial over to Paddington where she gave it to Cookie to drink. She took it willingly and even from the first swigs could feel it cooling her throat.

   Once she’d swallowed almost half the bottle, she coughed lightly a few more times then blinked.
   “Where am I?” she asked quietly, Scar put his hand on her shoulder and she relaxed from the familiar face. Meteora then walked into her line of vision, gasping, she went into a state of shock and blinked a few more times.
   Meteora suddenly went shy and started twiddling his thumbs,
   “Do you know each other?” Scar asked cautiously,
   “You know, it’s rare to see him shy,” Paddington winked at Cookie, they both smiled and took the opportunity to make him even more nervous. “Meteora is 7th rank blue belt, he controls Water-”
   “Yeah, I think she knows,” Meteora said quietly,
   “Actually, I don’t,” Cookie said biting her lip slightly,
   “See? Not everything is as it seems to you,” Paddington smiled and Cookie moved up so she could sit next to her. “the 7 strips on your arm represent your grade, the lower the number, the higher the rank. Each time you move up a rank a strip gets taken off and you become closer and closer at achieving the ultimate goal,”
   “What’s that?” Cookie asked,
  “The ultimate goal is to control Air, that is why you two both have the same coloured uniforms. As you move higher up, you Twilight and Meteora will become rivals. For now you are acquaintances, and you work together as a team of three when challenges arise.”
   “Easy for you to say,” Meteora grumbled,
   “What does that mean?” Paddington asked raising her eyebrow,
   “I mean Twilight is difficult, he’s stubborn,”
   “And you aren’t I suppose?” Meteora growled slightly and looked away, not enjoying the conversation anymore he instead turned his attention to the photo on the mantelpiece.
   “What do I control?” Cookie asked,
   “Ahh, do you mean what is your element?” Paddington asked, Cookie nodded,
   “Earth. You; Cookie are Earth, Meteora controls Water, Twilight controls Fire.”
   “But how did you know I was 7th rank?” Cookie asked Scar,
   “Because I’ve been studying you, I know you’ve figured out one of your new powers now but there are more to come.”
   “That still doesn’t answer the question,” Cookie rolled her eyes and folded her arms sulkily,
   “It is because there is a list, your name was written on it as well as Meteora’s and Twilight’s. I was told to bring you here and explain everything,”
   “Well, he’s doing a great job so far,” Paddington winked at Cookie and smiled, “leaving all the work to someone else,”
   “You know how it gets,” Scar laughed,
   “Yes, I do unfortunately. But am I right in thinking it’s time for the jewels? There isn’t much else that we can explain until Cookie chooses her jewels.”
   “Jewels?” Cookie asked,
   “Come with me and I’ll show you,” Paddington smiled and stood up, Cookie was unsure, she barely new Paddington or Scar but found that they showed more interest in getting to know her then any of her ‘friends’ put together.
   “Can I tag along?” Meteora asked, Paddington warmly smiled and nodded,
   “You know the way already, maybe you can hand down some information to Cookie,” Meteora stood up shakily and walked across the room to Cookie, he held his hands out in front of himself to pull her up which Cookie was unsure of doing,
    “If I fall over, I can pick myself back up quickly.” He smiled. Nodding, Cookie took his hands and Meteora pulled her up. She was unsteady for a few seconds but Meteora put her left arm around his waist to support her. “Stay still for a minute,” he said biting his lip in concentration, he then brought his left sleeve towards her face he magically dampened the cuff then quickly wiped the blood that had managed to fall from Cookie’s eyes just before she’d fallen unconscious.

   Cookie stayed still whilst Meteora dampened her cheeks, and let the cold water run down them instead. She shivered slightly at the lack of temperature, but found it almost relaxing.
   It cleared her head, giving Cookie a new found patience and she smiled,
   “So you can conjure water up anytime?” she asked Meteora,
   “Pretty much, but we’re not supposed to just yet.”
   “So that means I can conjure up what? Soil?”
   “You’re lucky, I always fancied myself as the Earth chosen one, can’t complain really though. Water’s useful when you’re dehydrated,” Meteora winked at Cookie then nodded at his work, “come on, you’ll love the bracelets.” He then smiled and walked out pulling Cookie along with him.

   Cookie was still a little uneasy, but as Meteora walked up the stairs she had the banister to lean against. As soon as Meteora noticed that she was leaning against it, he walked a little slower and once again put Cookie’s arm around his waist to steady her.
   At the top of the stairs, Meteora turned left and started carefully walking down the hallway. At the end, Paddington was waiting for them as she leaned against the wall pretending to be bored.
   “You took your time,” she rolled her eyes and smiled,
   “You know how it gets,” Meteora laughed, playing along with the joke,
   “Yes, I unfortunately do.” Paddington reached out with her right hand and pulled a piece of rope that was hanging from the ceiling.
    Stairs appeared from an attic in the ceiling, fixing an equal distance apart as they slowly dropped to the floor. Paddington walked up when they touched the ground, she had to steady herself a few times as she was walking up, but as soon as she was out of sight Meteora stopped walking and turned to Cookie.
   “I never thought the third chosen one would be you,” he said quietly,
   “Trust me, neither did I,” Cookie muttered, “ I never even knew about Torrent before today when I got home,”
   “Believe me, I didn’t want you to go with her, I could tell you didn’t want to.” Meteora rushed,
   “And you were right,” Cookie sighed, “like that matters now,”
   “Can I ask you something?” Meteora bit his lip and waited for a reply, instead of a spoken word though, Cookie nodded. “Where did you get Cookie from?”
   “The forum,” Cookie shrugged, “I could ask where you got Meteora from but I’d probably get the same reply,” she smiled,
   “Yeah, you would actually,” Meteora laughed,
   “So people never use their real names here?” Cookie asked,
   “No,” Meteora shook his head and sighed, “It’s a security thing,”
   “But I know your real name,”
   “I know, same as I know yours,” Meteora smiled, then whispered “Kara.” Cookie smiled back and whispered,
   “Mito.”
   “Well, Cookie, it’s time for you to see what all the fuss is about up in the attic.” Meteora made a fancy gesture with his hands towards the stairs and Cookie laughed, “Ladies first,” he grinned as Cookie walked forwards unaccompanied by him.

   Meteora then waited for Cookie to climb up the stairs before he too walked towards them and climbed up.
   They found themselves in an airy room, at least 50ft tall and 30ft wide. Boxes upon boxes floated in mid air, each one filled with weapons; jewels, jewelry, uniforms, battle armour, wands, magic ingredients and other important necessities.
   “Go on, pick some out,” Paddington smiled warmly and motioned towards some of the boxes.
   “I’ll show you where the jewelry is,” Meteora said as he grabbed Cookie’s hand and ran through a maze of chests, tables, cupboards and chairs which also had boxes stacked on top of them.
   Once Meteora stopped, Cookie managed to get a chance to catch her breath and look around more closely.
   The room was light, showing the many boxes that wouldn’t have usually been seen in the distance. Clouds were floating past, white, fluffy and almost invisible against the sunlight that it hid behind.
   As the sky was bright blue, Cookie had to look away and instead focused her eyes on the boxes high above her. Ordinarily she’d jump up and get them but she felt forces keeping them in place so instead looked to some not so far away on the level she was standing at.

   Cookie then registered being brought back to reality as Meteora put a jewelry box into her hand. She let her ponytail once again swing over her shoulder and smiled, taking the box at the same time.
   “That is the bracelet of Dalacore,” Meteora waited for Cookie to open the bracelet for her response.
   Curiously, Cookie opened the box and found herself staring at a white gold bracelet. Five trees were planted eight links away from each other with several charms in between.
   Cookie bit her lip and held her breath,
   “Five generations of females get to wear this when they control Earth. Each test they gain a new charm just as they lose a strip from their left arm, the eighth charm symbol no one has managed to get so far though.” Meteora explained as Cookie inspected the charms between the five trees. Each one was the symbol that was on her pass and on Cookie’s sitting room door.
   The circle, three dots spaced evenly around the edge and one in the center.
   “What does this symbol mean?” Cookie asked carefully,
   “I’m not exactly sure,” Meteora replied honestly, “try it on though, there are other pieces you can have too.”
   “For free?” Cookie looked stunned until Meteora replied,
   “They get passed down from the previous chosen three, some of this stuff is new though.”
   “So I can chose whatever I want?” Cookie asked as she picked up a box beside her,
   “Basically, yeah. I’d chose the things with your element on them though,”
   “That makes sense,” Cookie smiled.

   Opening the box in her hand, she took out a silver ring with green crystals embedded. They were mixed in with clear crystals that shimmered and almost seemed to change colour in the light. Cookie carefully took the ring out and inspected it more closely, she noticed on the back it had been engraved with delicate hands,
   ‘One’s true power will shine’ it said as Cookie circled it in the light.
   Cookie bit her lip and tried it on, knowing that most of the times the rings she tried on were either way too big or too small. She sighed with relief and smiled when it fit her index finger on her right hand,
   “It looks lovely on you,” Meteora smiled and took the bracelet of Dalacore out of it’s box with it’s navy blue velvet padding. He then motioned for Cookie to hold out her hand, which she did holding out her right hand and leaving the left to pick up another box that was a little larger then the one she’d opened before.
   Meteora then did the clasp on the bracelet and nodded, it was a perfect fit leaving a few centimeters around the middle to move freely about.
   “I’ll show you where the armour is,” he said raising his arms and flying in lose circles towards where the ceiling should be.
   “You can fly?” Cookie shouted after him,
   “You can’t?” Meteora shouted back, stopping by a box of roses that managed to tickle his nose till he sneezed.
   “Apparently not,” Cookie rolled her eyes and sighed,
   “No worries, you trust me don’t you?”
   “Yes,” Cookie replied, but before she could say anything else Meteora dived and maneuvered his body so he lifted Cookie and flew back up again. She was in Meteora’s arms, but she could feel a feeling of security being there, almost like Meteora wouldn’t let her fall.

   Cookie held on tightly, not even looking at all the things they were passing until wind stopped tickling her face and Meteora spoke softly,
   “You need armour, there will be battles to face.”
   “Things are never simple when you want them to be,” Cookie sighed, she then slowly brought her head away from Meteora’s chest and turned her attention to a cupboard floating in mid air.
   “Careful opening it otherwise you’ll fall,” Meteora said as Cookie opened the cupboard door and peered inside.

   Loosely thrown in, were nine suits of armour, most were built for men though and Cookie knew they would be uncomfortable to wear. She tried moving the ones on top aside and found one that she liked.
   The first thing she spotted were the curved lines, then when she brought it out she noticed the colour was slightly green. The symbol was engraved into the metal in the middle of the stomach and showed small dents where it had been used and attacked in the past.
   “You realise this could be heavy?” Meteora grinned and smiled when Cookie tried and failed to pick it up.
   “Now he tells me?” she rolled her eyes and let go of the metal,
   “Ok, you need weapons.”
   “But what about the armour?” Cookie asked,
   “It can wait till we get the lighter stuff I think,” Meteora then flew in the opposite direction and stood Cookie on a table. She stood up straight and watched as he flew around various places trying to find things that she would like and use.

   Getting bored, Cookie sat down on the table and saw Paddington reading a book far below her. She heard her laugh and smiled, but shortly after felt dizzy and had to focus her eyes on something closer.
   She ended up inspecting the ring on her finger,
   “Don’t mind me,” Meteora said as he sat down beside her, Cookie smiled and hugged him.
   “Free hugs? Not bad I guess,” he smiled, “Ohh, that lot’s for you.” He said indicating with his head a pile of things he’d picked out, Cookie stood up and walked over to it all. She could feel Meteora’s gaze as she shifted through; bows and arrows, daggers, swords, shields, jumpers, robes, shoes, more green ribbons and a couple of necklaces.
   “And you carried all of this?” Cookie asked him,
   “No, of course not,” Meteora winked, “well, not all at once anyway.”
   “And I have to sort through all of this?” Cookie groaned,
   “It’s fun,” Meteora smiled picking up a pair of bright green shoes that Cookie immediately shook her head to.
   “Oh no, not those ones,” Cookie picked up another pair and shrugged, she then realised she was still holding onto a small box in her hand from when they were looking at the armour and carefully opened it.
   Inside was a ring too small for any of her fingers and what seemed like an electronic tag,
   “What’s this?” She asked Meteora,
   “Ahh, you’ve found the phoenix tag,”
   “Phoenix tag?”
   “Yes, all the animal tags are useful, but you’ll find out just how much later. I’d keep that if I were you,” Meteora smiled and held out a pair of light blue trainers with seven green strips running around the outside. “These better?” he asked,
   “Yeah,” Cookie nodded, closing the box and putting it on the floor ready to pick up later. She then walked over to Meteora and took the trainers he’d been holding out to her, she placed them with the box and stood up slowly, this pile could get just as large as the one Meteora had made.

   After a few minutes Cookie had picked out two bows with an unlimited supply of arrows attached to them, three daggers, two swords, two shields, a number of jumpers, robes, shoes, ribbons, one necklace, and the slightly green battle suit that Cookie had found too heavy to carry.
   “Nearly done,” Meteora said throwing some light green gloves, a scarf and a hat at Cookie.
   “Oh thanks,” she rolled her eyes and laughed, catching everyone in mid air before moving them with her mind to the pile with all the things she wanted.
   “We’ll pick up your wand in the town, Jupiter has a range of wands in his store that people buy.” Cookie nodded then looked to the smaller pile,
   “What next?” she asked,
   “Nothing, I’ll just put all this stuff back then we can fly down to the ground level again. Paddington will call the table down and magic it to the castle where your rooms been waiting for you,”
   “There’s a castle?”
   “Yes, with a moat, a fire breathing dragon and a cat that spits out fur balls the size of Italy.”
   “You aren’t kidding are you?” Cookie laughed,
   “No, I’m seriously not, Muffin’s has a problem I tell you.” Meteora laughed,
   “Does this mean you have to carry me again?” Cookie sighed, Meteora nodded and walked slowly over,
   “I’m afraid so,” he smiled weakly, “but flying is a lot more fun when you have someone with you that makes good conversation.”
   “You saying I’m good company?” Cookie smiled,
   “Yeah,” Meteora  looked away shyly, “I’ll be back in a minute,” he muttered biting his lip after as he picked up various shoes and robes that were discarded.

   Cookie sighed and picked up a cloak that she’d put on the pile minutes before Meteora flew off, she looked closely at the stitching then sighed as she realised that she couldn’t concentrate for to long.
   Looking around, she spotted a necklace she hadn’t seen before laying on the floor and carefully picked it up. It was a small green crystal set in silver, the pendant was light and could hang around Cookie’s neck without the feeling of it weighing it down.
   She then unclasped it at the back and slid it around her neck, feeling the silver’s coldness as it slowly warmed around it. Meteora then landed softly behind her, taking the two ends at the back of Cookie’s neck. Cookie relaxed slightly and let go of the ends and then felt the chain fully attached.
   “Come on, time to fly,” he smiled and flew in the air once more. This time, Cookie was ready for him to pick her up and wrapped her arms around him as he dived slowly to the floor.

   Meteora slowly let go of Cookie and she dropped lightly to the floor, they smiled briefly at each other but then turned away when Paddinton slowly brought the table they had been standing on down to the floor.
   “You haven’t chosen that much,” she said inspecting Cookie’s choices,
   “That, is little?”
   “Compared to what Meteora here took, it is,” Paddington smiled and flicked her wrist. They all closed their eyes for a second as a white flash erupted in the room then opened it again.
   “Let me guess, castle?” Cookie asked as Meteora nodded,
   “Now, Meteora, I hear you need to pick up a package for your father?” Paddington said as she walked away,
   “Yes, honeysuckle and tree sap yoghurt I think,”
   “Right,” Paddington smiled, “It’s in the sitting room, where I wouldn’t be surprised if Scar has left us.”
   “But why would he leave? I don’t know how to…” Cookie trailed off,
   “Let me guess, the charming Scar injected you and told you to head for the gates?” Paddington asked, Cookie nodded slightly and she continued, “He injected you with imagination, you can’t get much of it around because it’s rare. All you need to do to wake up is-”
   “You can click your fingers, or just wait till you hear or feel someone trying to wake you. I usually opt for the second one though,”
   “Only because he’s lazy though,” Paddington rolled her eyes and smiled,
   “I’m not lazy,” Meteora growled,
   “Ohh no, you’re just ‘pacing yourself.” Paddington smiled at Cookie then walked down the stairs to the ground floor,
   “What’s that buzzing?” Cookie asked,
   “Buzzing?” Meteora asked, Cookie shook her head but the buzzing in her ears only got louder, “Cookie?” Meteora lay a hand on Cookie’s shoulder and she sat bolt upright in bed.

   Kara searched around her for the source of the buzzing and found her alarm on her phone saying it was time to get up for school. She sighed and pressed the button indicating for the alarm to ‘stop’ then looked to her hands, she paused slightly as her eyes grazed over her right hand where the ring was still there. Curious, she pulled her sleeve further up and found the bracelet was still there too.
   “Kara!” her dad called up,
   “Yeah,” She rolled her eyes and called back down, swinging her legs carelessly off the side of her bed, but wincing when she remembered the cut on her leg.
   “Perfect,” She muttered rolling her eyes, “Today’s going to be just as interesting as yesterday. I hope there’s no cupboards today though,” she sighed.

[NicTei]

Awesome chapter.  Torrent is larger than I thought it would be.  I can't wait for the next one!

[Saint]

That. Was. Long!

A brilliant chapter, but if I had the choice, I'd pick aromour and weapons that were different from my element, just to get a variety.

EDIT: Oh, and NicTei has a point, I first envisioned a gate and a few battle feilds, that was about it.

[Angel]

Very awesome!!
I like all your jewels!!

[Phoenix]

Theres more Jewels and that to come... along with some other things...

like more characters =]

chapter 8's coming after Chapter 1 - Salvation's Destruction.
hang in there fans

[Angel]

-hangs-

[Phoenix]

Off-Topic:

when i get home from college today i'm unwinding...then SD calls.

Not sure if i'll be able to get chapter 1 finished by today but i'm denting my amount of sleep till i get it finished.

If it's crappy, tell me.

Forgotten Screamer should be worth the wait though.. good to see people are anxiously waiting

[Angel]

-Keeps on hanging on for chapter! ;P-