All posts by ShinJae

Champions of Battle: AD7 – Awakening #16

AD7 returned to the group after the most important of tasks.  Her body signaled a short while ago that she drank quite enough water.  Walking back to the others, she had a little trouble moving naturally.  Perhaps it was a side effect of her recent reanimation.  However, she moved far better than the average champion would after rejuvenation.

GarDNAnge1 still waited for Cyd to finish working.  His shift had less than an hour left.  Oyintsa and Royal seemed the most tired of waiting, but wait they must.  Cyd was a rare find.  He knew much more than they ever could about rejuvenation.  He had studied the particulars of all the talent sets.  He also hated his job and wanted to go somewhere else.  They had this one chance to make sure he went with them.

As AD7 reached the couch, Tirzah made a suggestion based on her team’s complaints.  “Oyintsa, Royal, why don’t you take our friend outside and show her around while we wait,” she said.

They both stood up immediately; more than happy to do something, anything other than sit around.  AD7 was anxious to see what was outside as well.  The rejuvenation center was dark but nice and very clean.  She wanted to see the city that housed such a building.

As they reached the door, Royal tucked her hair back into her cloak preparing to raise her hood.  Oyintsa lifted his hood then turned to AD7.  “Just so you know friend,” he said in a solemn tone, “the city has changed a lot for the worse.”

AD7 heard him but didn’t listen.  She had already reached the solid metal doors eager to see what was on the other side.  The doors opened quickly as she pulled with surprising strength.

She was not prepared.

She walked out, staring in disbelief at the sight that assaulted her.  Weed stalks grew through cracks in the street.  Dead leaves and other debris were scattered everywhere.  The buildings that used to be houses and shops only served as fences for random plants growing through them.

However, she saw much more than what was apparent.  She also saw the city as it once was.  The weed stricken streets, every gutted house it was all hers once, hers and beautiful.  She could hear the echoes of children playing.  This city held great beauty but it was gone, all of it gone.

The memory hit her hard.  She had planned these streets and built them.  Her machines cut each pebble in the gravel road to fit together perfectly without the use of mortar.  The road she had finished was perfectly smooth.  She used to look at it in awe every time she went into town for supplies.

She had designed each house and shop personally.  Each was designed to the specifications of the owners.  Each of them was colorful and clean, as individual as the people that lived in them.  This city was beautiful, once.

A tear forms in her eye.  How long had she spent designing all the houses, the streets?  Enough time to drive the normal person crazy.  Perhaps she would have been crazy if not for her helper.  It was all for nothing.  Everything she had built was destroyed by time and neglect.  Now crying at the remains of her lovely city, she asked “How long was I out?”

“About forty five years,” Oyintsa replied.  He remembered Tirzah telling her that.  Perhaps she was so swamped with the new information that some of the minor details slipped from her.

“How did this happen,” AD7 continued, “M.. my wall… should have protected them.”  Then she remembered.  The wall!  She looked to the right, the general direction it used to be.  When she had left it, she could barely see it over the houseline.  Now, it was a dominant piece of the distant sky line easily towering over the distant trees.  Still, it too was in disrepair.  It even had a few missile-explosion sized holes in it.  “How long did it hold?”

“It lasted for a really long time,” Royal said.

“The fortress only fell about ten years ago,” Oyinsta added

AD7 thought of thirty five years of fighting.  She had no idea her helper was capable of the inhuman battling that must have taken place.  “My helper must have fought hard,” she said finally.

“Your helper,” Royal asked.

“I built her to help me build,” AD7 answered.  “She was a like part of me…or part of me,” AD7 stammered for a bit.  “It’s hard to explain,” she said finally, “She helped me talk to the machines but, she wanted… I can’t remember,”  AD7 said, truly wishing she could.  She tried hard to bring up the memory but it refused to appear.  She knew it was important but could not remember the simple fact.

At that, the three of them walked down the stairway and headed towards the populated areas.  They passed by what passed for a market it held little that was worth buying.  There was little here to attract bandits, much less keep them away.

As they walked, AD7 realized that Bosstown’s glory was far beyond reclaiming.  It would be best to stay with GarDNAnge1 and help them as best she could.  Wait, did he call my wall a fortress?

#1 – Awakening #15 – Awakening #17

Champions of Battle: The Very Best – Opportunity #15

Brisa and Catlin talked for well over thirty minutes.  Catlin was very entertaining, nice, and clever.  She was apparently a world traveler.  She had gone everywhere, at least to every major city.  Traveling was one of Brisa’s dreams.  Catlin had apparently done it for a long time.

Brisa named city after city, Catlin told her about one after another.  With Catlin’s storytelling, Brisa was captivated learning about those exotic places.  The stories never got boring.  Catlin described the peoples, buildings, and food in such detail.  Brisa felt that she had there.  One day she would go, but that was for another day.

“Why are you going to West Drop?” Catlin asked.  She then stared at Brisa waiting for the answer.  The question broke into the flow of conversation.  If Catlin’s voice wasn’t so cheerful and high pitched, she would have seemed suddenly aggressive.  However, up to this point, they only talked about Catlin’s travels.  It was only fair they talk about Brisa for a while.

“I’m on assignment,” Brisa said.  She was honest but slightly hesitant to tell everything to someone she had just met.

“Assignment,” Catlin asked intrigued.  She paused slightly then continued as though she may have stumbled onto some secret plot, “what kind?”  Having already been told about Brisa being a reporter, she came up with the best answer before Brisa could say anything, “You’re following Jaquan aren’t you?”

“Well, not anymore exactly,” Brisa said in a defeated tone, “they’ve caught me.  It was horrible!”  Then Brisa told Catlin about the tragic event.  Afterwards she said, “They told me to get lost and I’m going to do just that.”

“I’m sorry,” Catlin said genuine sadness.

“It’s alright, there’s nothing you could do.  It took some ‘encouragement’ from my boss to get me on this shuttle.”  Brisa felt relieved being able to share her worries with someone, even a stranger.  It was nice to have someone concerned about her wellbeing.  “After the next reporter comes from headquarters I can go home.  It shouldn’t take that long.”

“Are you sure you want to stay in West Drop,” Catlin asked concerned again.  “If you’re going to hang around a place like that for any amount of time, you don’t want to stand out at all,” she said reading Brisa’s confusion, “Locals in a lawless town can get a bit restless.  They won’t want to be seen by someone that looks out of place.”

Brisa remembered what she read about West Drop.  The city would have strong warriors.  Warriors that would stay there probably have committed dishonorable acts other places.  They would commit crimes anywhere they could get away with it, even West Drop.  With her inability to fight, she would be unable to stop them in the slightest.

Catlin took a long look at Brisa.  The look of youth and inexperience was apparent on Brisa’s face.  That alone would make her a brilliant target.  “You’ll need a hood,” Catlin said.  “You’ll need some clothes too.  We can get those from the shuttle shop.”

Brisa was relieved to get the help she just realized she needed but there was another problem, “If I leave the cabin, one of Jaquan’s crew will see me.”

“Don’t worry about BigBad,” Catlin said waving off Brisa’s worries, “I’ve learned about Jaquan.  He’s the type to relax in the front to avoid unwanted attention.  Besides, this shuttle is huge.  There’s no chance you’ll be found.”

“Really?”

“Well, almost no chance.”

#1 – Opportunity #14

Sons of Sword: Tales of Glory – Lost and Found #11

Manna entered the bakery.  He welcomed the warm building as much as the warm welcome.  “Manna,” a few people shouted as he entered.  The regulars knew him by name.  The others learned his name quickly with all the shouting.  He had worked there for what seemed the longest time.

The cashier, Milad Zhe usually had a smile on his face.  It was yellowish green on the left and light brown on the right, the color splitting his face slightly left of the middle.  He wore the plain white uniform of the Apple Mint Bakery.  Their symbol a green outline of their famed cinnamon fold “growing” on a branch took a small portion of his left collar.  It took the entirety of the back.

Milad’s cheerfulness was in the perfect amount, stopping just before it became annoying.  His temperament made him quite a good cashier.  Some people may have come just as often to talk to him as to buy their bread.

A few people stood in line choosing their breads.  Others sat waiting anxiously to get the first fruits of the fresh warm batch.  It was worth waiting for.  Manna’s return was the first hint that the wait was ending.

Milad glanced at the clock, “You’re just in time.”

As Manna walked back to the kitchen, his robes adjusted themselves to a more suitable appearance.  Thin metal chains woven into the fabric of his robe granted him control of his clothing.  His flowing sleeves wrapped more tightly around his arms.  The rest of his robe adjusted around his body as well.  By the time he reached the apron rack, his robe had altered into a long shirt.  Granted, the folds remained but now he didn’t have to worry about anything dragging into the flower.

The Apple Mint Bakery team was all doing their separate tasks as the break time was ended.  The Chef Thetis Xian sat with Assistant Chef Pilar Wu talking about business.  The two ladies usually sorted out all the formal stuff.  It was all above Manna’s head.  All he knew was to mix, knead, roll, and cut.

Teal Bing, the oven master, sat across the room on his handheld playing Champions of Battle.  It seemed that his champion was following or chasing another champion.  Occasionally, a gunshot was heard or a fireball would fill the holographic image, pretty dangerous stuff.  Seeing Manna enter the kitchen he looked at the clock.  Touching his ear he said, “Gotta go, work.”  At that he set the handheld down and went outside to the wood shed to get the fires ready.

Manna walked to the center of the counter and stopped.  His work before him had become quite the attention taker.  The dough left rising on the wooden counter had reached its maximum size.  Almost filling the counter, it had become quite the monster in those forty minutes.  It was time to tame it again.

When Manna started working at the bakery, he was nervous around dough.  Now, it was second nature.  Pilar and Chef Thetis taught him all that he needed to know about kneading techniques.  Flour below, flour above, flour around, press, fold, and press; Manna felt like an expert.

Before long the mighty monster was tamed and separated into three almost equal sized balls.  Each ball had its unique purpose.  Manna knew exactly what the bosses would want made first.

#1 – Lost and Found #10 – Lost and Found #12