#all the tools in this house are rusty and older than dirt thank the damn lord I brought my stupid swiss army knife

[cattailtales]

had to do a couple minor plumbing fixes 12 dead 47 injured

[anonwrite]

Into the Stratosphere (Part 1)

The author wants to be anon.

The author wants to know:

What readers would find interesting or boring in the story, as well as what feels out of place or unnecessary. English is not a native language, please point out what doesn’t sound natural.

“I write for myself and my imagination, but I know the pace or wording may not fit what most people expect from good writing. I want to know how to polish this up.”

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Readers can give comments in reply or reblog to this post

Readers can send me anon comments with the title of the post

Readers can use THIS google doc - to do a deeper commenting

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Part 1

“Hey, check this out!”, a young voice resonated in the hut made of metal scraps and ship parts. One of the two girls sitting at the tables filled with broken mechanical devices and trash twirled around in an old leather chair bursting with its stuffing in several places.

“I’ve never seen a cloud this big before”, the girl in the chair pointed at a screen behind her, showing a bunch of glowing dots.

The other girl, not looking up from the scraps she was carefully taking apart answered in a soft voice, “So you’re getting excited at the *size* of clouds now”, laughing a little, “are you really that bored?”

Still trying to get the other’s full attention the girl beamed and got up. “It hasn’t rained in like half a year, maybe we’ll finally get some wetness up in this wasteland of a desert”

Pushing her messy chin length hair behind her ears the other looked up to watch the screen herself. Still filled with excitement the girl that had been looking at the signals from the sky was already stuffing a few things in a rugged bag. “I’m off to check if I can see it on the horizon, the wind should bring it further our way. Maybe I can already tell the others about it too”

And just like that, throwing it over her shoulder and wrapping her head in a light fabric she stormed out. “Be safe out there, Maya!”, the other called after her.

The hut was their home, and had been that for years. Once an abandoned and broken down building, only a few of the original walls had survived and gave the hut the base structure. Walls from shipwrecks and metal sheets held up and supported by metal streams filled out the rest and made it habitable. Years ago, when this place hadn’t been the girls home for long, they found old weather equipment in the ground that had been hidden by sand and dirt. Kora had spent months on trying to get it to work, only to spend several months more studying how it even worked.

Maya, as the older of the bunch, despite being sceptical, let her do this and gradually the hut turned into a weather station for the desert people who appreciate the forecast in the rough climate of the desolate planet from time to time. Though the desert people weren’t typically aggressive or dangerous, they were still not always to be trusted and Maya had found that out on several occasions on trips to the next big city.

Largely getting their food from old family friends and jobs fixing up broken things the two girls who once chose their home as a place of isolation had actually become an important piece of the community and were respected by the people that knew them.

As of now, Kora was working on a fusion cell worth enough to get them through the next few months, given she actually figured out how to fix the thing. “Damn it.”, she mumbled and placed her tools down. It was bent out of shape and she didn’t know if it would ever work again. Frustrated she got up to walk back to their kitchen, she started rearranging the containers of condiments, trying to take her mind of her apparent failure.

She thought about what they were actually working towards. Was there a goal for them to reach, something for them to discover? Kora thought her life had lead to a dead end where what lies ahead won’t ever be new or exciting to her. She started heating up a food packet they bought in town while her mind went different places. They were getting by, had enough food, essentially did what being adult was. Or was it?

She could try getting a job in town, stop hiding away in this desolate place and actually face the world. Was she trained enough to be able to prevail out there? The idea scared her and she retreated back to her sleeping mat, steaming food packet in one hand and a bent out of shape spoon in the other.

Maya had ran over to visit their nearest neighbors in her excitement, a family with six children, ages ranging from a baby to a boy about the same age as her. The run was rather long, in the scorching sun Maya felt thankful she had water and fairly good health to get her through. The mother was feeding camels outside when she saw Maya walking towards them and waved at her.

Inside the house she was greeted warmly. Offered cold refreshments they sat down at the livingroom table with the kids running around, mother holding the youngest in her arm. “Are you dear girls alright by yourself? Have there been raiders? I’ve heard from town people are getting desperate in this dry heat-” “Don’t worry about us, we’ve been good and we’ll be good, actually - I’m here because of this heat”, Maya interrupted the mother’s words in a calming manner, “Our monitors show a big cloud, way in the east, coming towards us”

“I heard Mayas voice, is she here?“, the eldest son walked in, wiping motor oil off his hands with a rug. When he saw her, he threw her a big smile and sat down with them at the table with a huff. "She was just talking about possible rain, promise me you’ll go into town to buy us some new food and supplies, alright sugar?”, the mother turned to him and requested.

“Will do”, he smiled again and looked at Maya, “only if Maya comes with me though, of course.”, he said jokingly. Maya couldn’t help but laugh at that and the mother smiled and excused herself back outside to look after the animals and leave the two alone. “How much food do you still have?”, he asked after carefully waiting until his mother was out of hearing range, “I know we usually don’t have to worry about running out of stuff at all, with Dad working at the town suppliance office and our animals, but even he took me by the side and hinted things are looking bleak.” He laughed awkwardly to mask his concern.

“We’re all good, we stock for long and don’t exactly need thaaaat much. We’re only two people after all, unlike…”, she motioned around to three of the other siblings chasing each others through the house. “If I can help around here, you have to message me. Do you still have the radio phone Kora fixed up for you?” The boy lowered his voice and scooted closer to Maya. “Keep it in my bed. My mom still thinks it’s dark magic or something”, he shook his head and smirked. “I’ll use it for emergencies. I promise.”

He turned to one of his brothers and held his arm, “Why don’t you all play outside for a bit? It’s nice and bright out. Take your brothers and sisters.” When he realeased the boy’s arm he was already running out of the door with his siblings. “Don’t go too far from the house!”, he tried warning them before they completely disappeared out of the house.

It had gotten way more quiet now, besides the few animals from outside and the wind blowing against the desert structure, it had gotten peaceful. “I don’t know how you do it”, Maya said. The boy just picked up a glass from the table and turned it in his hands, looking at how the light coming in through the windows would pass through it at different angles.

“Once the ground is wet, supply and merchant ships can land and we’ll all be fine. It’s been worse before.”, he sat the glass back down on the big weathered table. His voice was determined and Maya questioned if he was trying to convince himself of what he said or if he truly believed it.

Maya nodded and looked around. After a while of sitting in silence he spoke again. “Do you know for sure it’s a cloud? And it’s not moving away?”, he asked hopeful. “Looked like any other cloud I’ve seen on our monitor before. But big. And the wind, the wind usually comes from the east. So it should carry it right towards us”, she said. The boy exhaled loudly and stood from his chair. “Come out with me to the back, I’ve been working on something.”, he called out already walking through the back door into the sun.

Outside stood a bike, with misshapen panels that looked like it could be solar powered. The boy walked over to the thing, standing next to it proudly and a motioned for Maya to come closer. “My dad brought this home the other day. Broken messenger bike from town, the motor wasn’t powerful enough to make it run smoothly to operate,” he crouched down and pulled at the side to open the bike, revealing the rusty and dirty insides. “It still needs normal fuel, but I hooked up some old sun panels so it should run way more smooth with the extra power.”

Maya walked around the misshapen thing, the colors scraped off the sides of bike, making her question if it was really let go because it didn’t run anymore or if there was an accident involving the bike. “Sit on it, it’s easy to control”, the boy told her. Reluctantly but intrigued Maya got onto the bike, putting her hands on the handles and feeling the bike react to her weight by creaking. Despite that, it felt sturdy and she thought about this being way better than having to walk. “I want you to take it.”, he said.

Maya turned to him in disbelief. “If there’s anyone deserves it or needs it, it’d be  you. It’ll be easier to get around. And it’s made to travel over this rough terrain.”

“You’re kidding”, Maya said quietly.

“Well, you got a message to deliver, don’t you? Go to town to tell them about the possibe rain. They can prepare for the landings.”, he smiled seeing her excitement grow.

She jumped off and gave him a big hug, throwing her hands around him. “Thank you so so much. This means a lot.”, she whispered.

He hugged back slightly and patiently waited for her to let go, overwhelmed by her closeness. “See, turn this for it to jump on.”, he taught her by showing. The bike stuttered and growled to life. “The petal down there will make it drive, the left handle lets you break. I tried it out, don’t put too much trust in the break.”

Maya was listening and could barely contain her excitement. Once she sat back on the bike, the boy held it and pulled away the safety break. Her start was wobbly, but she soon sped off into the desert, saying goodbye with only an energetic wave and driving off to the distance.

In the meantime, Kora had dug up an old book about trade from under her bed. Her empty food packed laid next to her, her nose was buried in the book. She didn’t know if it was fiction or not, sometimes it seemed like storytelling to her, but she did not care. The distant sound of a bike tore her out of her reading and made her jump, confused as to what someone with a motorbike was doing out here. Taking precaution she took a metal rod from the table when making her way to the door, only to soon realise the person on the bike was too familiar. Maya looked happy as she came closer and Kora knew already who had blessed her with the gift.

“Is that what he paid you for your hand in marriage?”, she taunted Maya when she came to a rough stop by the creaky old gate. Maya got off the bike and skipped over to Kora.

“Shush! We just have each others back, you know. If you went he would’ve given you this thing too”, she muttered smiling while hugging Kora. “If you say so. It looks like one of those city bikes, only-”, she made a face, “a little bit broken.”

“Well you saw that it works, so we shouldn’t complain”, Maya laughed and went inside, Kora following her.

“I’m going to town tomorrow, it’s too late now to make the trip. Even though this thing is substantially faster, I better not test my luck” Maya said while already shuffling steaming hot food in her mouth, huffing to cool it faster. She was now sitting at their cluttered table. She hadn’t eaten the entire day, but it was normal to ration out the food sparingly over long dry periods. Kora nodded without looking up, again occupied with her book, sitting across the room in her bed in the corner.

After cleaning up a little and making one last trip around the house to check if everything was in order, the sun had gone down and  they soon traded in the flickering light bulbs they had to illuminate their house for some well deserved sleep.

The heat of the morning woke the girls and Maya almost immediately fixed herself a bag for the trip to town. Kora took one last look at the monitor to confirm the cloud was still there, and it was, showing up closer and bigger than the day before. Before Maya left, Kora scraped together the last of her savings to stock them up on some food and water. Putting on her best clothes, Maya saw Kora slipping the money into her bag.

“We’re low on food and water?”, she guessed. Kora answered with a shrug and a mumbled “You know how it is, in case you find someone to trade with”

Bag strapped to the bike carefully, Maya was ready for the journey that’d easily take morning. Especially if she chatted with the people along the way, as she usually does. Kora trusted Maya’s social skills and knew she could look out for herself. Despite that, she watched her drive off with a little bit of worry in her stomach. When the bike became a small spot on the horizon and eventually disappeared in the glimmering heat over the desert hills, she went back inside to work on the fusion cell for now, hoping she’d fix it before the merchants would depart.

She needed a new approach to fixing it, this much she knew. She didn’t want to give up on this thing, if there was a way to fix this she swore to herself she’d find it. So she decided to wire it together with a generator and test the different circuits, checking which ones worked and which didn’t. She knew which ones didn’t work through sparks that’d be emitting from the thing, making her jump back every time they’d fly at her. She had to put away all the other electronics and devices to make sure nothing would get even more broken than it already was.

After the sun stood much higher than when Maya departed, she had tried every single one and could safely say what parts exactly needed fixing. Much to her dismay, the core seemed to not be connected correctly, throwing the entire thing off. She sunk back into her chair when she realized she had to open the entire thing to rewire it. She’d never done this and knew it wasn’t easy to do.

Frustrated she wondered if this was even worth trying. She looked around the home and her eyes stuck on the almost empty box with their food packets. She remembered their water tank outside being filled the lowest it’s probably ever been. She had spent a considerable amount of time creating a system that’d collect and purify rain, but that didn’t help when there was none.

Knowing she had to, she picked herself up and got to work.

Sweating and using most of the tools she had at hand, finally Kora had a break through. Carefully closing the cell that now glowed by itself, she knew she had done it.

Smiling at her achievement she wrapped it in cloth carefully and put it in a box. Maya would take it to sell it. They would be able to charge more for this than for anything else Kora had fixed up before. Satisfied with herself, she noted down some of her findings and what she did to fix the cell in her journal, for her to remember later if she ever got the opportunity to do this again.

A sudden continuous beeping tore Kora out of the situation. The monitor that was showing the distant big cloud before, carrying the hope of the desert people, was now blinking red and making jarring noises.

The girl walked to the monitor and inspected the old device. To Kora’s relief nothing seemed to be wrong, she figured it just picked up on the signals of starships that would land when the rain would dampen and thicken the ground terrain, allowing trade and an interchange of information that they had been starved of for months now.

Skillfully pressing a few buttons the beeping stopped and she tried to look further into how many ships were there to make a rough estimate. Any information like this would help prepare and make sure everything would go smoothly.

Bent over the device, focused on the screen, Kora was interrupted yet again. A static coming from the communication box next to the makeshift weather station caught her attention. Then, a distorted voice came from the ancient speakers Kora had presumed broken.

“Is anyone picking up this signal.”, the voice spoke barely distinguishable words.

Stunned and surprised Kora stood for a second. Usually ships would not try and make contact and if they did, they’d try to connect to town and not to here.  Maya and Kora used to have radio equipment to be able to make contact with ships and people from far away, but decided they wanted to avoid trouble and now had portable close range radio phones instead, to ensure communication between the people they knew and trusted, not outsiders.

“Is someone picking this signal up?”, the voice repeated and Kora started frantically digging through boxes to find an old microphone. When she found it, she hooked it up to to the dusty communication box. She took a deep breath and spoke.

“Yes. Not very clear, but I can hear you”, she said, somewhere between excited and scared.

The static responded after a few seconds. “Who am I speaking with?”, it asked.

Kora’s heart sunk as she realised this might be important business. They probably wanted to speak to the one in charge, the mayor or the few town officials that they had.

“My name is Kora, I live in the outskirts of Yilandir, the town”

The static took longer to respond this time and Kora bit her lip in nervousness. How deeply she wished for Maya to be there. Maya would know what to say, she thought.

“How big is the population?”, it said.

Kora responded explaining how there were about 11.000 people as far as she knew, many living right by the town but also quite a few living scattered around it. Yilandir wasn’t big and usually didn’t get much attention, she knew there were bigger cities at the opposite end of the planet, but there were a few skillful workers here that’d get jobs fixing merchant ships, or some ships that’d pass by needed to fuel up coincidentally when landing was possible. The people also liked buying food and other goods from merchants, making this a safe place to go to earn money for travellers.

Having said all that she could, Kora went quiet and waited for a response. Instead of a response, the static went away completely and left her confused in silence.

Kora had almost pushed all her thoughts about the weird static incident away when she noticed swirled up dust way off on the horizon. She was sitting outside in the shade of the home, sun going down behind her, already turning the sky all sorts of colors. She had been looking at the stars that were shining and becoming more in numbers by the minute. She knew it was Maya returning from her day in the city and remembered wanting to ask her what she would’ve done about the incident.

With Maya slowly coming closer, Kora went inside to fix her some hot food to welcome her, and decided to make some tea aswell. The crumbled packet of leaf she used for the tea was from a foreign planet, she was told, making it the most contact she’d had with the world outside of Yilandir.

Kora was stirring the tea when she heard Maya’s bike finally closing in. She closed the lid to let it sit and went to meet her at the gate.

Maya looked sweaty, understandable in this heat, but happy. When she got off the bike Kora could already see her bag was full of food and other stuff, more than the money she put in the bag could’ve possibly bought. What could you say, Maya was just that charming. She went in for a hug and Kora felt a bit more at ease now that she was back.

“Need help carrying that?”, Kora asked as they pulled away from the welcome hug.

“No, it’s not as much as it looks. Still quite a lot though-”, she struggled visibly to lift the bag, “everyone was super thankful for the info. Took my word for it, I told them maybe one or two more days max and the rain should come.” Kora couldn’t help but wonder what she did to get such a good deal. She was charming, sure- but not charming enough you’d gift her your scarce food. She hoped the old townfolk weren’t convinced the girls were the ones to credit for the rain, as she didn’t want to feed old superstitions.

The two went inside and Maya happily took what Kora had prepared for her. They both sat on the floor for a while, in silence, only Maya was eating. The tea had sat long enough and it looked almost like an oil spill glitter in the now dusty golden water, smelling refreshing and sweet at the same time.

“Think we should try and get away from here?”, Kora asked.

Maya took her time answering. “Why go somewhere new when we know for sure we’re just fine here”, she said after having a few more bites of the food.

Kora looked down and stirred the tea, making multicoloured swirls dance in the cup.

“This time when the ships land, I want to see if I can maybe find someone willing to let teach me. Mechanics and stuff. Like, fixing actual useful things and not just trash that’s thrown away or so old it’s from before we were even born.”, Kora spoke, still looking down.

“Don’t feel like you’re not doing anything useful, you’re fine the way it is. I can’t be sure you’re safe when you go off somewhere just to see a bit of the world”, Maya told Kora, “and you can’t look over me, either. It just seems so unnecessaryily risky”

Kora nodded, still avoiding looking at Maya.

“If you really want to do it though, you have to do it. If you think it makes you happy.”, Maya added.

Now Kora looked up at Maya and smiled. “Thank you”, she simply said, then went back to sipping her tea by Maya’s side.

The light slowly faded away until only starlight lit up the home. Light pollution wasn’t a thing here, countless stars could be seen in the night sky. Kora decided to finally get up and put away their now empty cups. “I’m going to check the monitor and then see if I can see the cloud from here already before heading to bed, want to come too?”, she asked the girl that was still cuddled up on the floor.

Maya yawned and stretched. “You can tell me if you see something”, she said in a sleepy voice.

The monitor showed the same as before, but the cloud had gotten closer now. Even though it wasn’t cold, Kora still threw on a jacket and went outside. Walking around the hut to the back she could already make up a dark outline in the sky where the starlight was blocked by the cluster of clouds. It stretched far and towered like a black wall over the desert dunes. When Kora concentrated on the outline, she could swear she saw it slowly but steadily moving towards her.

She stood and watched for a little, trying to see if she could make out darker shadows thrown by merchant ships everyone was desperately expecting. A few minutes went by before she noticed diffused blinking in the clouds. This meant there had to be at least one ship, flying in the cloud. A bit weird, she thought, the electromagnetic tension in clouds must mess with their equipment on board. Why were they not flying above it or below it? Or maybe she was way off and they had a perfectly good reason for flying in the clouds. One last look before going back inside and she noticed a few more lights up there. She turned her back on it and went inside, closing the door quietly, just to see Maya had went to bed already. It didn’t take long before Kora laid in bed too, mentally preparing for the rain.

The girls woke to the sounds of a caravan of camels and other indigenous animals on their way to the city. They must have noticed the clouds and wanted to use their chance to trade with the outside world. Maya immediately got excited and wanted to check out the strangers right away, but before storming out the hut Kora got a hold of her.

In a groggy voice Kora explained her concern. “We’re all running on our last reserves. At least most people by now are. We don’t know these people so-" "They’re not here for trouble, it’s a caravan for goodness sake.”, Maya interrupted Kora.

Kora shrugged, still in her bed, and pointed out of the tinted window next to their beds.

“At least check them out from inside first before you go and see what they’re up about”, she said before turning over and trying to get a few more minutes of sleep.

Upon further inspection, the fully covered people walking the caravan seemed to be fully armed as well, so Maya gave in. Maybe it wasn’t the best idea to go out  to meet armed people when we can’t make sure if friendly or not, she admitted. She still insisted on watching the entire thing pass their home and stood by the window until the very last camel was out of sight.

Kora got herself up and had prepared breakfast for them, the same food packets from town she steamed and heated up every day. In the back of some shelves she found some spices she decided to throw in the sticky mess. The same food every day made even the best food taste bland, and the generic tasting food packets basically everyone was eating definitely already didn’t taste all too well in itself. They filled you up and did what they were supposed to, but not more.

They ate together before getting ready for the day. It looked like this was going to be the big day, the cloud had creeped far enough to block out the sun and was on its way towards town. The girls threw together a few essentials to take with them for the event.

It was certain they were going together, an event like this was celebrated and treated like a get together for everyone, plus it was an event to do business and find new contacts. Kora didn’t want to bring it up again, but she was set on learning more about mechanics. Even though she knew the road she was choosing may be uncertain, she felt sure of her decision and was ready to start a new chapter. Given she would find someone willing to teach her, of course.

Maya on the other hand was simply excited to see everyone together again. In her happy ramblings she talked about how the governor would deliver a speech, people would play board games the way it was last time, she could be meeting old and new friends and all the things Maya found cool.

Kora listened and smirked, knowing how gambling was running wild when everyone was feeling confident and steady with their finances right before the trade event. She doubted the people would take risks now, after the experience of how life could dry them out just by chance.

“They even let me play, were you with me when that happened?”, Maya was putting their radio phones into their seperate bags.

Kora carefully took her wrapped up fusion cell to sell once the market was up and going and placed it in her bag. And just like that, they were ready to take the trip, even ready to spend the night in town if needed.

The bike stuttered and moaned under the weight of them both and their bags, the way to town dragged on forever in hot anticipation.

When they arrived it was as if the anticipation had jumped over like a spark to everyone and snowballed into something that could almost be felt on the skin when walking through the dusty streets. The small capital, home to the people of the desert, was the only place to do business without having to already know your business partner for years, those few who could afford would gamble for rare fortunes from other worlds you could only find here. Sometimes even those who couldn’t afford it would gamble. And although you could not compare the small yellow city to a metropolis with its own heartbeat, it had its way of dealing with strays.

No matter who you were, sooner or later you would have to come here, the main water tanks and farmers selling produce were the base for survival. Now was the time where everyone wanted to come and see what travelers from other planets might have to offer, too. People like Kora would see if they could get a job on deck, working on one of the ships that would land. Very few of those had ever come back from their journey, which is exactly why Kora had felt guilty of her dream for so long.

Driving through streets which were of course way busier than usual, the girls saw preparations were happening fast, the sky had darkened already. The open field behind town hall was being kept open and barren as a landing spot, but people were already setting up market signs around it. There were a few women in dainty scarfs who had painted their faces, trying to appeal to the travellers. Maya averted her eyes, she thought even though her people were dependent on those travellers, they should take pride in their home and not sell themselves to those passing through.

By a crumbling fountain, drained of any water, the two came to a halt. Kora looked towards the sky while unpacking her stuff from the bike while Maya was thrilled by the lively atmosphere. The first drops of rain soon fell and so did the tension as everyone’s hopes came true.

“Town hall, with our stuff?”, Kora asked Maya fidgeting with her hands.

“I want to go say hi to everyone, people are still setting up their market stuff, outside a bit-”, Maya cut herself off by turning her face up and feeling the waterdrops hit her skin.

Kora laughed and her heart warmed up seeing Maya so excited, but she was for sure not going to miss the announcements in town hall.

Every time the travelers would come, just when the rain had started falling and the ground wasn’t fit for landing just yet, the people would gather and inform others of all important things, such as newly formed marriages or losses or big plans.

Kora saw the governor, an old soul named Hank Hill, already up front preparing to talk when she slipped by the townfolk into the massive sandstone hall. Kora trusted him. Though she also knew she was responsible for herself, it felt as if she wasn’t completely alone in times she needed help. This feeling was shared by many and was what had kept Hill in office for years.

“Hello my friends and - neighbours. Let us celebrate. Our land has given us the gift of water once again and we will savour it.”, the man coughed and continued, “-more efficiently, ever since last rainfall we have expanded our collectors and added an extra water tank-”, some people were cheering already, “so that we don’t come close to running dry like *this* again.”

The ‘like this again’ felt like a collective gut punch and concerned murmuring spread through the crowd. The governor sighed and continued. “It is true that we would have run out of water very soon if the rain hadn’t come now, but let us thank God for giving us this gift and not think about negative what-ifs.

We can be sure to welcome outsiders today, who will give us many opportunities and I encourage everyone to make friendly business with the travellers.”

“friendly business”, Kora thought. Normally there would be half a dozen small merchant ships, but when she thought about the lights in the sky the other night it looked like there was a bigger ship this time. More space for products, she shrugged and made her way out of the crowd as they were starting to announce all the new couples.

The air felt fresher and besides trying to not get the bags full of their goodies soaking wet, the water was something no one found irritating. Taking hurried steps towards the landing field Kora identified Maya waving at her from across, at a tent from the scavenger men who were something like police for the town, only way less official. Kora told herself the low humming she she heard was just her head anticipating the ships, as she thought it’d still be a bit until anyone would try landing. The field was big, when Kora arrived at the tent her drapings were wet and clinging to her skin, a funny feeling but not uncomfortable as it was not at all cold even though the sun was behind clouds now.

Chairs were set and you could almost think there was a festival going on from the look of some of the guys.

“Beer? It’s warm but it’s still good”, the guy next to Maya offered Kora a drink. She politely declined as she set down her stuff. “Made new friends? “, Kora asked Maya who seemed to be enjoying her drink and playing against the other guys in some foreign board game.

"Old ones, actually. Remember when I was sentenced to townwork because my behaviour needed 'disciplining?’ ”, Maya made weird faces when saying the words *behaviour* and *disciplining*. And no wonder she still wasn’t convinced her behaviour was too much sometimes. Kora thought that with these guys rules were bendable, you’d just have to prove yourself as a cool person.

Just as Kora was starting to get basics of the game, a faint metal surring yanked everyone’s attention back to the sky. People were hurrying around and making room, the rain had soaked everything and even though the water brought optimism, it clung and seeped everywhere even if it wasn’t as welcomed as it was for the desert people.

The mayor had made his way to the large field quickly after the announcements, the formal wear of dark cloth already wet from being outside a few minutes.

And that is when a large metal object burst through the dense rainclouds, the surring getting ever louder. The citizens were gathered and watching, many were overjoyed at the sight of what was expected to be a merchant spaceship. Only that it definitely didn’t look like just a merchant spaceship. It was big and looked sleek, landing in just a few seconds and blowing air and water everywhere, towering over the desert people shielding themselves from the impact of the vessel by just their arms and hands.

The governor wiped his hands on his clothes nervously and stepped to the front of the foreign ship. He was waiting to welcome the visitors, the people had quieted down and watched the ship.

A good thirty seconds went by before the ramp of the ship was finally lowered. The governor held his position and the people fell silent.

Suddenly a door slid open and figures stormed out, their faces obscured by helmets, seeming to know just what they were there for. Kora looked at Maya frozen still by watching what was unfolding in front of them.

“Just run. Now.”, she whispered at Maya.

[blaxicanjester-blog]

Mages reacquainted ( a Saint chapter)

Due to Pope’s rebellion against the church of any and all religions, all churches were equipped with weapons and tools to capture the Pope and his entourage. Angels were on the search for them as well. With every Monastery or church the trio took out, a swarm of angels would come in as reinforcements. If the group didn’t leave fast enough they ended up having even more to deal with, barely managing to get out of the angel fights. But sure enough the trio were able to fight them all off and with their own monastery warded no one was bout to locate them.

   “Damn that was a close one, I swear those demon traps are hard to get out of, they need to stop doing it.” Jester complained in a groan as he stretched one of his arms. His purple eyes glancing around the totaled room from the fight that just occurred. Few bodies littered the floor, though most members of the area ran off. It was better that way so the trio didn’t have to kill as much. Jester levitated off the ground, a slight jingle from his appropriate attire as he drifted to the bodies to collect their souls. The golf ball sized orbs gave off a blue aura as they floated up and down above their physical form. Jester stopped at one, grabbing it with his index and thumb, and carefully dropping it into his throat. A smile grew from ear to ear on his ash colored skin, revealing a row of well treated, pointed teeth.

   Brock shuddered as he watched, looking through the books that laid about the area, seeing if there was one he could benefit from. He sighed finding none so he adjusted  his glasses and walked across the rubble towards Pope who was just looking at the statue of Jesus, Brock’s robe avoiding any ways of getting snagged. He waited for Pope to finish whatever he was doing. Although Brock knew Frederick since they were little, He never knew exactly what the man was thinking of. Brock lifted the hood of his robe over his curly mess of golden hair. “ Ey Pope, I think it’s time we started heading out. Wouldn’t want another angel fight this week.” he said in a serious, almost demanding tone. Frederick was leader, but sometimes even he needed some discipline.

“ Yeah I guess you’re right. Jester come on we’re leaving’’ Frederick said in response, rounding up his demon ally as the three started walking out of the destroyed church. Frederick carrying his gigantic, pink, rusty spoon and Jester his mallet made from black matter the demon can make. Brock followed close behind. His boots thudding on the ground behind them. Jester was annoying Frederick with questions about humans and all, Frederick just gave short, vague answers in hopes of pleasing the demon. Brock watched and slightly chuckled, watching Frederick get tortured by the childish creature for once. Brock looked around as the entered a town they passed through on their way to the church. Frederick was off to get something to eat, Brock already knew that and although Jester didn’t really need to eat he followed and did so as well so he could “blend in”. Brock saw a newspaper and shrugged, deciding to give it a read. It wasn’t knowledgeable but it was something.

He followed the others inside a tavern, the place reeking of sweat, liquor and dirt. Jester must’ve picked the place. There were loud obnoxious brutes everywhere. The three stuck out like a sore thumb, for they didn’t share the same bulk or roughness as anyone else in the tavern. But they didn’t care. Brock sat with the two just as it seemed Frederick had had enough with Jester.

“ ENOUGH QUESTIONS JESTER GOD DAMN!!!!” Pope barked in almost agony. Jester immediately halted his sentence, although it seemed as though he had more to say, and instead watched the brutes fight.

“Stupid humans” Jester muttered through a frowned face, even though he secretly wanted to partake.

Brock didn’t pay them any mind and opened the paper. As he skimmed around the print he noticed the name of his hometown. He stopped and read the article that it was in and found it was a story of a spell knight by the name Sir Wiggens. Brock’s eyes widened as he saw the name.”Wiggens?” brock said in disbelief. Frederick was able to catch the name despite the noise

“ Brock did you say Wiggens? Like that one kid in our group that wanted to be a knight but we all knew he was too scrawny to make it? That guy.” Fred said in curiosity, the three of them were great friends in their youth, decades ago. Although Brock was able to halt their aging, Fred could only imagine how different the old friend looked, where he was or what he was doing. As Brock was too. Fred looked over at Brock and saw him nose deep in the article about their dear friend.

“ It says he had just returned home from a mission, given to him by the king. He and his allies just got done stopping a feud with a neighboring country.” Brock read out in a monotone voice, focusing on the words on the paper.  He skimmed through the rest, Fred and Jester just watching him and waiting for more with eager ears. “ he still in our old town though. Fred we HAVE to go see him! Just for like a day.” usually Brock didn’t care about anyone from his past besides Fred but Wiggens was part of their old group. It use to just be the three of them. Fred knew how important this was too.

“ Yeah I guess one of us should stop by. The other has to watch base, who knows what Jester and Popetart might do without one of us there.” Fred said, crossing his arms and ignoring an insulted Jester that barked back at him. He couldn’t begin to imagine the chaos Jester would cause, and with the unknown magical properties of Popetart there were even more endless possibilities. Fred shuddered at the thought. “ So I’ll let you go. Tell him I said hi though alright.” Fred’s voice a little more soft, sincere.

Brock got up, adjusting his glasses and nodded “ yeah…sure thing. Thanks Pope.” he said blankly before turning and walking out. His robe catching air as he spun, his boots thudding as he walked through the door. Avoiding the enormous rough housers that littered the tavern. Brock didn’t even get down the bricked road before hearing commotion from the tavern, followed by a stern “ JESTER NO!” and even louder commotion. Brock sighed, not wanting to think of what exactly could’ve happened. He grabbed the spell book that rested on the inside of his robe and searched for a spell to travel faster. Only finding a conjuring spell for a Griffin. Brock shrugged, seeing as that would do and kept walking till he got out of town and towards an open plain.

It didn’t take long to get to His hometown on a Griffin. He smiled looking down from the dense clouds, at the small town. Realizing he missed it just a bit, but not without also realizing how small and rundown it was. How him and Fred got out, he didn’t know. He landed the Griffin outside the town, and with a chant it vanished. The world was much more dreary from the ground. This small town in the forest would easily go unnoticed if one wasn’t paying attention. Brock flipped on his hood, slightly displeased on who he would end up bumping into. He only came back to this place for one person, Wiggens.

   Brock entered the town, seeing the common folk that inhabited the area dressed in rags and old fabrics. The buildings were old, dusty, and rundown but still were enough to stay in. Brock threw on his hood and made sure not to look into the eyes of anyone, since he looked only a few years older than when he left, while the rest of his peers were decades older. He knew the Wiggens family owned a house on the other side of town. But to walk all the way there without being figured out. Brock didn’t know if he could do it. He already stood out with his robe and attire. He didn’t have to look around to know there were eyes on him already. Brock walked through the town faster, almost at a slow jog. He didn’t care that they were looking, but he didn’t want them finding out who he was. “Fuck off, god damn” he muttered to himself, wishing he could scream it to the whole town. He didn’t WANT to come back here. He groaned and started jogging across town, fingertips on his glasses and one hand clenching his hood, hoping it would never leave his head. He knew this just made more eyes stare at him, he didn’t hear any bustling from the town folk. As if everyone was watching the stranger. He winced at the thought and kicked off into a sprint, his boots booming as he took long strides, the tail of his robe flapping behind him, his light figure making him even faster. Wind gusted behind him and the ground quaked with every step. He didn’t dare look up to see where he was, he knew where he was going and he was arriving at rapid speed. He didn’t want anyone knowing who he was, wanted to be in and out as soon as possible and slightly blamed Wiggens for making him feel how he felt. For making him remember his past. There was a crowd at the door of the Wiggen’s residence but Brock just ran on through. His speed causing him to crash through everyone out front and inside until he collided with a tall, toned suit of armor, hugging it with great force and taking the armored person aback. Brocks hood finally fell, revealing his golden, curly fro. “What the fuck Wiggens…” Brock said behind gritted teeth, his voice small and shaky as he held back the tears, a few escaping his will and slid down his cheek.

   Wiggen’s eyes widened when he heard the voice, clamping his arms around Brock immediately, Not saying a word. The crowd of townspeople were confused, wondering who was the hooded man that just bursted in. they murmured with one another, speculations forming, till one husky man stepped forward to speak for the crowd “Hey Bud!! I don’t know who you think you are but we were here first an-” The man said before getting interrupted by a raise of Brock’s hand, a crackle of magic flicked between his fingers. Brock didn’t even turn back when he coldly replied “ if you say another word I will gladly blow this piece of shit town into a crater. Destroying IT and EVERYONE here.” The man didn’t say another word, and instead backed away, the rest of the folk that crowded the dwelling following close behind. After a few seconds it was just the two friends, finally releasing from their embrace to look up at each other. Brock noticed Wiggens was much taller, his face wrinkled with age, eyes smaller, his hair was in sweaty locks that fell a few inches above his shoulders, it looked as though he hadn’t shaved in a few weeks. Yet Brock still kept his young, perfect skin, his eyes big with youth, his frame toned from his daily routines, but still fairly small. Wiggens looked at Brock with a gasp, tears collecting at the edge of his eyes.

   “ Wow Brock, don’t look like you’ve changed much do ya.” Wiggens said in a joking matter, chuckling as he went and grabbed two chairs for them to sit. Brock couldn’t stop staring at this older person who was once one of his only friends, he wondered how he’d look at that age. Wiggens must be in his late twenties, early thirties.

   “ Yeah, kinda can’t.” Brock replied with an awkward chuckle, rubbing the back of his head in a nervous reaction. “ But how have you been? Just saw you in the papers and thought to stop by. Sorry it took so long, been busy with Fred doing some stu-” Brock rambled, getting carried away before getting interrupted

   “ Hold up you’ve been with Fred too!!! Didn’t he join the church or something? And weren’t you apprenticing under some big wizard?” Wiggens blankly stated in recollection.

   “ Eh sorta…things kinda changed for us.” Brock said, not knowing how to bring up the group and their motives. Brock looked down at his book with the mention of his mentor. That was his book before brock took it, yet another bad memory. He shook his head in order to erase it and looked at Wiggens smiling. “ What about you? A SPELL KNIGHT!!! And working for the king no less. That’s amazing!!” Brock said, trying to be happy for his friend, who knew they’d get this far in life, but down two different roads. What Wiggens might say if he knew what they were doing, their mission at hand. To them it was a goal, a life work. But to the world it sounded like a childish want, and to any normal being it would be just that. But the ones who followed Fred weren’t normal. And Wiggens wasn’t either.

   “ Yeah, I must admit it’s quite glamourous. But it’s tiring. The missions and all. I tackle the kingdom’s most bizarre cases, ones not meant for the normal soldiers. For months I’ve been tracking these pillagers who’ve only been attacking religious places. We don’t know why, but we gotta find them and put an end to it all, we can never catch them though. It is indeed very strenuous and I almost want to give up, but the kingdom won’t be at peace till they are caught and punished.” Wiggens said with emotions of stress, sorrow, worry and ambition. Although Wiggens didn’t know, Brock knew he was on the search for them and for a moment, that killed him inside. His best friend was hunting him down and neither knew.

   “ Oh…that…sounds tough. I’m sorry to hear. But maybe they are only perceived as bad by the people. Maybe their cause is good.” Brock said, unsure of what to say. He felt bad for unknowingly putting his dear friend through that stress. He gazed up at Wiggens who stared back, a confuse look on his face. The candlelit room barely making either of their faces visible in the absence of sunlight. They sat there, in a silence that seemed to last an eternity.

   “ what do you mean?” WIggens responded, confused and upset at Brock’s difference for these hooligans. “ How could you defend these acts. They are completely disrespecting YOUR homeland. Treating it like some kind of playground. It’s anarchy. Not to mention WHAT their specific target is, The CHURCH!! Why would anyone do that, their legal punishment is nowhere near the wrath of god.” Wiggens went off in an angered rant, his words fumbling as he tried to think of what to say. His vexation taking the best of him. He suddenly stopped and looked at Brock “ Wait, you said you and Fred, the holy boy, have been together this whole time, what EXACTLY have you guys been up to? His eyes narrowed in question, afraid of what the answer might be.

Brock knew that Wiggens was going to catch on. His only bet was to persuade the spellknight to join them. “Wigs, calm down, it really isn’t what it looks like. We-”

“ WHAT THE FUCK BROCK!!!! How could you?!?!? Honestly, what are you guys trying to accomplish with this!? BESIDES an infamous reputation. It can’t be just you two, what band of misfits have you two gathered!? I oughta bring you in myself.” Wiggens was rambling again and raised an armored hand for difference

Brock didn’t what question to answer first. He pondered, trying to find which question to answer first, “ Well…First of we only have a demon with us…” he replied, his tone seemingly sarcastic but he held a serious face. “ And what we are trying to do is get rid of god himself, free ourselves from his grasp and his fate for us and even be gods OURSELVES. We are just trying to find more people to join us. We need more people to put an end to God.” He looked over at his old friend who was taking in what he was saying, Brock could tell he was really giving it some thought.

“ Brock I don’t…. I don’t know if I can. I work for the king now. I gave my life to this kingdom. To go back on all of it. I don’t think I could do that. Not so soon.” Wiggens looked down, his voice low and sorrowed. He was flattered and wanted to but he didn’t know how he felt about it all, and he wasn’t about to tell brock that. “ It was nice seeing you old friend, but i think you need to go. Besides, it’s getting late.” Wiggens looked up to his friend, a long look smeared onto his face.

Brock sighed and nodded, seeing how much he displeased the man, “ Yeah you’re right, guess I’ll just be seeing you around.” his voice croaked with pain, disappointment and a hint of anger, mostly at himself, as he started walking towards the front door, not even looking at his friend as he passed by him. “Just uh… don’t get in our way. Alright.” Brock warned with a chuckle before stepping out, leaving the door wide open and allowing the moonlight to mix with the candlelight.

Wiggens looked out towards his friend, not saying a word. As Brock walked along the road, passing the town church, he rose a hand to the sky and in an instant the whole church was ablaze. Wiggens was taken back, looking at his own hands and wondered where Brock had gotten that kind of power, but when he looked up, Brock wasn’t anywhere to be found. Wiggens gazed out to the burning church, curious about his old friends and how they planned to do what they wanted to do. To go against God was worse than a death wish. Wiggens chuckled, knowing he’d see Brock again. And when he did, there wouldn’t be any talking. Wiggens ran out to go help the townsfolk put out the fire

Brock appeared at the front doors of their base, the wind from elevation blowing his hood back. Still upset he couldn’t help their old friend to join them, Brock took a deep breath from the open mountain air and shrugged it off “they wont all join” he thought before stepping through.

He was welcomed by Fred who sat upon his throne half sleep, his pink spoon leaned up beside him. “ Oh, you’re back so soon, how did it go?”  Fred asked in a groan, sitting upright to pay attention to Brock.

“ Eh, it was alright. ain’t joining, but I’m pretty sure we will see him again. now if you’ll excuse me I gotta get to my room and do some stuff.” Brock’s reply was simple and emotionless, like he didn’t care, although inside he slightly hurt, and would rather just forget the whole ordeal. Fred just shooed him off in which brock left to his room, not having to mention anything else from that day.