Hello , i'm really sorry it's been taking so long to finish Shadow Ages , but since i'm the only person working on this project , I'm constantly hindered by school work , chores , and just today we got a new computer desk so we had to unplug everything and then put it back together. It's all done now , but I may get a little...sidetracked , occasionally
, but here Shadow Ages is!Warning : the subject matter is more subtle than previous chapters , however this is only among death toll. Sexual Innuendos , dirty jokes , or misuse of the word "fanny" may still occur. Please be ready , and if ur reading this at school , don't let your teacher read this.
Shadow Ages Chapter 3
We had been walking for what seemed to be a whole day , when it had really been only a few hours. I guess Michitoshi and I hadn't gone so far out of town in a while.
"Where are we even going?" asked Sara , impatiently.
"Idon't know," I replied , "Michitoshi , where are we on the map?"
"Let's see...the next town is about...2 miles that way." said Michitoshi , beaming at his work. It almost hurt to tell him the truth.
"Michitoshi , that leads straight across a chasm in the earth. This map is old...by God who knows what."
And so we continued walking. By the time we arrived in the small town of Jordan , it was already midday. We got to stay in a real house , this time , not in a hotel. Unpacking is such a boring and strenuous process , so I decided to ask some questions to Sara.
"How old are you , again?"
"17. How about you?"
"19. Turning 20 in about 2 months."
"That's good to hear," she said , cheerily , "as hard as it is , i'd much rather be here than going to school."
"You haven't finished your education , yet?" I asked , perplexed.
"I'm only 17 , after all. I don't see why I should've finished by now."
Now , the Shounin Education System is a little different than that which is outside our rulings. In our education system , students can be skipped a grade up earliar in the year , unlike the systems of Felron or Warano. Not bragging or anything , but I finished secondary education by the time I was 15...even if it was from Misura.
"Then...by law , do you have to enroll me at a local school?" asked Sara.
"I guess so."
"I was afraid you'd say that..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>--Insert Snappy Quote Here--<
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
______________________________________________
from the point of view of Sara
______________________________________________
Finally I get to tell part of this story. ME! The kind of girl 50 year old men dream of talking to on an internet chatroom (which hasn't been invented yet...thank the lord). If this were an anime I would probably say something like "ogyou" , or "osuwari" every 5 seconds , but thankfully this isn't an anime yet! Even if it was , our producer wouldn't allow such a thing! And if you're wondering why I'm so hyper , blame Michitoshi cuz he put too much sugar in my tea (
I don't think he even knows how to make the stuff!).As the day goes by at Lakeside Secondary Education Center (which , for the record is nowhere near a lake!), I think to myself : what are schools going to be like in the future. Then it makes me glad we have the uniforms we do. I never felt comfortable wearing a short skirt so I'm glad that the uniforms at these schools have long skirts!...at least for the girls. I'm not really an honour roll student , never have been , never will. The teachers are nice , but I think the students here have a hormone problem. You can barely go through a single hallway without seeing some saliva swapping or hearing some indescribable noise from the janitors closet (I always assume he's having a knife fight with a mop or something).
I have made friends with some other students rather quickly , and they are nice in comparison to the rest of the students. On a similar note , I may have to put a furnace on the back of my locker because for the 6 hours I have been at this school , I have recieved far too many love letters for me to feel like I am actually alone in a room. I didn't even dare to go to the bathroom for fear that someone will be watching me. I'm feeling tired , and I also have to walk home from school , so I'll put up this:
School Day: 1 of 142
Times sent to office: 0
times caught asleep: 2
number of weird sounds heard: 16
estimated number of students at school: 206 (seeing almost 2 at once each time makes it really easy to count!)
number of letters recieved: 23...and counting
Walking home was so tiring after such a long day. Even as I was walking with my new friends , I felt like my legs would shatter before I even saw our street. It's only now that I wish I had a cup of Michitoshi's tea...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
from the POV of Miekyuu
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
What can be more stressful than doing mercenary work? Doing chores at our residence whenever we're undercover! I cook , clean , so much to the point that I feel I would make a good housewife! I hate it! I make lunch for Sara , I make breakfast for the 3 of us , then at midday I make lunch for Michitoshi and myself , hen I clean the house before Sara get's back while Michitoshi "goes out for a few hours" , to do God knows what! Now I'm even starting to SOUND like a house wife!
Anyway , I was just starting on dinner when Sara lumbered through the door and collapsed on the couch face first. It was then I noticed the other 2 people who had followed her. They wore the same uniforms as her , so I assumed they were classmates of hers...I only hoped they weren't spending the night. I've had enough trouble sleeping as it is.They forced Sara up and immediately they began doing something that involved talking...I can only guess they were asking her questions because among the string of sentences I could only pluck out "where are you from" , "who's that guy over there" , "how long has he been here", and several other questions that I seemed both aroused and offended by. On and on they went , talking and talking , which made me think they must have a part in an opera or something , because normal people can't talk that long between breaths. I got tired of listening and decided to continue on dinner.
I was relieved half an hour later when the 2 girls left the house. I was then left tense when I was alone in the house with Sara , with nothing to talk about. I desperately searched the corners of my mind , thinking of something to talk about.
"So who's this , "Misura" , Michitoshi keeps talking about?"
"Well , uh..." this was a question I was hoping she wouldn't ask. There isn't much of a way to explain who she is without brining up her background , and in turn , my work for the Satanriks. So , I tried to look calm and just said "she was a girl I knew at school."
Suddenly , Sara became wide eyed , and there was an awkward silence , but she soon asked me to continue.
"Was she your classmate?"
"No , she was home schooled. She would always stand by the fence of her house to see me walk home from school , though."
Suspisciously , she began to look aggitated. I felt like stopping but she told me to go on.
"What did she look like?"
"Um...she was tall , looked a lot older than she was. She was 16 but she looked well over 23. Red hair , blue eyes , pale skin , she was almost scary."
Now Sara looked like she was calming down. I thought she was just going to keep talking but she just smiled at me and said "I'm going to bed , I've got school tomorrow."
I went to go get the newspaper. The headlines read "Unknown Arsonists Set Fire to Satanrik Moseleum". This was an old paper. That fire was started by Michitoshi and I three weeks ago. I felt like seeing what was actually going on in the world , so I stepped out of the house to go get the recent paper.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
from the POV of Sara
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As I was getting dressed for bed , the thought of what Miekyuu had told me about Misura was racing through my mind. I suppose it could be true , but I decided I would feel more comfortable if I had more insight. I stepped out wearing a baggy t-shirt and shorts (hey , it's warm out) , to see that Miekyuu wasn't in the house. I was getting tired , fast , so I decided to go to bed right away. As usual , I make sure the blinds are closed , for my own privacy.
I had trouble getting to sleep , what with the heat and all. I wasn't so much the heat that bothered me but the noise of the town. There must have been a festival or something going on. Thoughts of everything up till now flashed through my head , until it stopped on one particular thought. I put my hand up to my cheek , to find my face was warm , probably flushed red. I don't know if it was the heat...or my thoughts...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
from the POV of Miekyuu
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I had gotten the newspaper I needed , and I had ran into Michitoshi on the way. The truth is , he had gone out to take care of something.
"So , Michitoshi...are the plans for tomorrow all set?"
"Yep. It's all done. They won't know what's goin' on."
~~~~~~~
FIN
~~~~~~~
I'm gonna ask again , if anyone would like to contribute to Shadow Ages (you have no idea how hard it is to do this , and I don't even have time to do illustrations yet!) , please drop me a line! Check my previous blog posts for my e-mail addresses.
Hope you like this chapter! The next one is supposed to be kinda funny , so if anyone has any joke ideas , please e-mail me , tell me , call me , anything!
Ciao. ~
Hello everyone (all 4 or so of you , lol) , I'm very sorry it's taken so long (school has cut into this thing bigtime) , but Chapter 2 is here!
Shadow Ages Chapter 2
The door swung open to reveal a Satanrik. He was dressed in standard issue plate mail , and a spear swung across his shoulder. I could see he was about to pull it out and skewer me , but I managed to pull out the knife I keep hidden under my left sleeve. I wonder if he survived. I had been dazed from the..."preceding situation" that I forgot that his heart is on the left side of his body.
"Brother , they're here." I told Michitoshi , who sprang from his bed and grabbed his bags from the closet.
"Um...who is here?" asked Sara.
"...It's better that you don't know."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Meanwhile... >from Misura's point of view<
-------------------------------------------------------------
"I'm sorry , Rikmastel , but I can't sign the permit's to have your daughter--"
"That's Leiutenant Misura Lucifer Rikmastel! S***head!" I always had to remind others of my rank. It didn't matter anymore that I was the 2nd born child of the founder of our empire , I was always looked down upon for being one of the youngest COs in the army.
"I'm sorry but until we get word from our Special Operative , we won't have an udate for the status of the case." even worse was Ufas , who always acted like he was a lawyer , not a head of security.
"Thats good , he should be coming back any minute now." I replied , with a smirk. I knew he would return with a mission failure status. If I knew Miekyuu like I did 2 years ago , he might even send his back in pieces in envelopes...
___________________________________________
Meanwhile <from Miekyuu's point of view>
___________________________________________
It took only 5 minutes to pack our belongings. It was faster because Sara...didn't have very many belongings. So few that we had to give her some of our own.
When everything was set we raced down the hallway towards the emergency exit. Another soldier popped out of nowhere , but Michitoshi decapitated him quickly. The rest of the trip out of town was uneventful.
As Michitoshi went further up the road to scout ahead , I had some time to talk alone with Sara.
"What were you doing up here?" I asked.
"I was...looking for an old friend." she replied.
"Who?"
"Just...an old friend." she seemed aggitated so I decided to change the subject. She , however , started before I did.
"Didn't you spend some time at a Stanrik prison?"
"No , not really. It was a training camp."
"Is that why you hate the Satanriks?"
"...no...no , that's not why."
"But you do hate them?"
"Yes."
"I do , too." I was shocked when I heard those words. A 17 year old girl who knows next to nothing about our worlds history , including "Red Friday" which everyone else knows about , somehow has a reason to despise those fascist pigs?!
"When I was 6 , my mom died in an accident. My dad became really mean , and got mad easily. One day , a Satanrik spy came and took control over our city's government. My dad killed him and took back control , but for some reason he thought it was my fault that everything had happened and struck me across the head."
I could see the blood red tips of her golden hair.
"The bleeding stopped eventually , but I could never really get the red out of my hair."
"So you let it grow out and then cut it?"
"Yah. It's almost done ," she seemed a lot cheerier than she was earliar , "by the way , what was your name?"
"Miekyuu. Miekyuu Takahashi."
"Oh my god!" she seemed surprised.
"Is it a big deal or something?"
"You're famous!"
"I am?" I don't even remember accomplishing anything news worthy in my life.
"You were one of the survivors from Red Friday , AND you escaped from a Satanrik Institution! Everyone in the free lands looks up to you!" I had no idea I had grown such an extravagant reputation , or that she actually knew something about history.
"I never thought I'd actually meet you in person , or that you were that Shounin I knew back in the Southern Grassland!" Now I even had a fan. What a day this was turning out to be.
"Um...thanks , I guess."
"Oh , I never properly introduced myself when I met you back South. My name is Saranhis Daodanskei. You however can just call me Sara."
"Hey , you two! Stop flirting , the coast is clear! Lets get moving." yelled Michitoshi.
And off we went , with the sunrise just minutes away , we set of into the unknown land that is Szolonia.
~Fin~
````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Wow , writing this in the middle of a windstorm was really annoying! I couldn't even post this until this morning becuase the internet conncetion wass down. Anyway , I hope you enjoyed reading that more than my hands did typing it (omg they're in friggin magma!). Anyway , I'm still seeking possible help for this (the additions I want to make to this are a lot of work for one person) , so if you would like to help with Shadow Ages , drop me a line at one of my 2 email adresses , or add me to your MSN. My adress is on this profile , a bit down , on the right hand side. Thank you , and have a wonderful week!
------}-[erb
Sorry about the delay , but it's finally here!
I have some bad news , though. For some reason , the site I usually use to get images into my profile (imageshack.us) isn't working at the moment , so I won't be able to put in any illustrations. I hope Microsoft can solve this security flaw soon.
Well , enough with the negativity , on with the show!
Shadow Ages
Chapter 1
It was a pretty normal day. The sun beat down on everything as usual , the sound of hawks in the distance , it made we wonder why my brother had to tag along for this heist. Oh , in case I didn't mention , money is tight around the world since the end of the war , so we became mercenaries (in other words , "hired-goons") to make a profit.
"Hey , Miekyuu," he would continually ask me , "whatever happened to that Misura , or whatever her name was?" He would always tease me about her , even though he knows she was my squad mate back at the "Satanrik Institution for the Criminally Insane." I always had the feeling she didn't really like my method of "cut to the chase" during an assassination (not so much an assassination as a siege). Now that I think about it , my life has been going to s*** ever since then. I can barely remember Yashino's face , nor anything about Sara , or that person who knocked me out. I can hardly remember what I ate this morning! Oh well , now was not the time to worry about such miniscule reminiscence , our target was approaching.
"Alright! Stand back , I got this one!" Michitoshi yelled as his blade screeched through the air. I was just as amusing when we both realised he had misjudged his reach by about 2 feet. This was more unfortunate for me , however as the horsedrawn carriage had changed direction and was about to run me over! I had about gotten out of the way when a torrential pain ripped through my right arm , and I could feel blood on my face. After a minute or so to catch my breath , I saw Michitoshi had thrown his sword straight through both horses pulling our target. He had come very close to cutting off my head , he tells me.
"So , what do we do with the carriage?" He asked me.
"I don't know," I replied , "the employer was anonymous and didn't leave any details about what was going to be inside." It wasn't until those words left my mouth I saw the symbol of the Warano flag emblazoned on the carriage door. Michitoshi obviously didn't realise this as he had just proceeded to kick open the very door , pulling out what was not only the our target , but someone who would stay with us longer than we could have bargained for.
From our of the carriage came tumbling a girl. At first glance I thought I had mistaken her for Sara Daodanskei , the girl I had met back when I was a Shounin Keibi , but as fate would have it , this girl , was infact the heir to the throne of Warano , Sara. It had been 6 years so it wasn't surprising she looked different from when she was 11. In all my thinking I had realised I had been awkawardly staring at her for a few minutes.
"Miekyuu..." Michitoshi started.
"Yes , I know her , " I replied quickly , "Sara , this is my brother , Michitoshi." She looked bewildered at first , probably because I was speaking to her so casually after we hadn't seen eachother for 6 years , but she managed to speak a few words.
"Nice to meet you both...again."
"So , what do we do with her?" Michitoshi asked.
"I don't know," I replied , "but it's safest to take her back to town. I hear the Satanriks have patrols up here."
"Are you implying that we take a 17 year old girl back with us?! What will other people think?!?!"
"Michitoshi , what sick things go on in your head is a mystery to me , but not everyone back home is like that. I'm sure they won't even notice."
"Oh , by the way," Sara began , "my guardian told me to give this to you." She held out a ripped peice of parchment. I had no idea anyone still wrote on those.
"I"ll read this later , but for now we should get you to town and get you some clean clothes." I told her.
"Why would I need..." she stopped in mid-sentence , realising her blouse was near drenched in horse blood.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
2 Hours Later...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After a long walk back to "the town with no name" , we past by a wandering trade stand which was selling clothes. Sara picked out a white t-shirt and a long black skirt , of which the end price came out to most of my day's earnings. After we came to our apartment , I left to go to the pub.
Despite what my brother thinks , I do not go to the pub to get wasted , but instead to get information on the outside world. Today , however , nothing new was happening , so I left early. I returned to our apartment to find Michitoshi reading in his room , and Sara eating ice cream while listening to the radio. I couldn't quite place why , but I felt somewhat aroused watching her. It may have been a natural attraction , but there was a knock on the door before I could think the matter through.
I opened the door and to my upmost horror , I saw...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
End Chapter
Check back again for Chapter 2 , and the end to this cliffhanger.
PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING
:
If you would like to contribute to Shadow Ages (anything will help) , e-mail me at either dokuganryu_sama@hotmail.com or uxd_942@walla.com .
Also , if you would like to write a review or comment , give me a PM or comment on here , or e-mail me at 1 of the above adresses.
Have a great morning/day/evening/night!
