First off, if you haven't read it yet, please read the prologue to this story! Even if it's set in a different place, at least you get some background on what's going on. Otherwise, if you've been waiting a full month for this, HAPPY BIRTHDAY MERRY CHRISTMAS ETC. ETC.! HERE'S THE FIRST CHAPTER OF PIECES OF HEART.
Also, just a note, this chapter is prone to editting. I'm using a friend's character, but stuff happened so I dunno if I can use that character anymore, so I replaced her for the time being. If I can't use that character, then MY CHARACTER STAYS. AND SHE'S FREAKY. AWESOME ALREADY.
I hope you enjoy the chapter! Any comments and criticism are welcome! [and you get cookies for criticism. must improveeee!]
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001 + A T L A N T I C
what's it feel like to fall?
I was falling. Deeper and deeper into this black abyss. The ice cold water coiled around my skin, its freezing arms carrying me closer and closer to the black bottom. Water was all around me, yet it was like air; I could breath. Yet, I was... asleep.
Then.
It hit.
The lightning flashed. The rain poured all over me. It was a dream.
Why was it so real?
A skyscraper pointed upwards towards the sky. Buildings gathered around it. That one lone building reached up for only a single thing:
There was a giant heart-shaped moon in the clouded night sky.
TWO DAYS.
"Hm?"
I turned around, hearing a voice booming inside of my head, and let out a gasp.
My eyes were shut. I gasped for air. My heart pounded. I was suffocating! A black gloved hand threw itself over my face. The darkness was trying to swallow me!
And, I could just hear you whisper in my ear.
That voice slid into my thoughts like you were a poison.
"I guess I'll give you a head start then..."
The hand disappeared.
Yet.
Everything was black.
Was this a nightmare?
If darkness had teeth, would it swallow you whole?
The darkness wasn't just trying to swallow me.
It was trying to eat me alive.
As those teeth curled, I couldn't help but...
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!"
"Shizuka."
The streetlight gave its final flicker. It had been buzzing continuously and flashing on and off for hours now. Yet, that wasn't the end. It still had another job to do when the sun set. But, at that moment, the gigantic ball of fire in the sky was lifting from the horizon.
Hair was lifted from its perpetual hang over the air. A pair of amber eyes gazed forwards with interest, only after cringing at the light. She never spoke a word, but the 'voice' knew it was heard.
The other figure knew what she was thinking about. No question was needed for that moment. Yet, that didn't mean questions were non-existent.
"It's here, isn't it?"
The black haired girl gave a small, barely noticeable nod, a frown curled on her pale-peachy toned face.
The figure also gave a frown.
"We better hurry, then..."
Though they were dormant, you could see their anxiety. The heavy breathing, the beads of sweat, and their expression; they looked lost and terrified, even if they were fast asleep.
But, a quick jolt can lead to so many things.
"AH!" a high-pitched scream hung over the dark, dusty alley, before quickly dissipating cautiously. A bare hand covered their mouth as a pair of deep blue eyes swept back and forth across the horizon. They were still terrified.
Still alert and stiff, they lowered their hand from their mouth and gave a sigh of relief, even though that sigh wouldn't calm their wildly beating heart.
"...I hate it," a child-like voice escaped from the lips of a young girl as she sat on her knees, giving a sniffle.
If you had walked past the alley and saw the small girl, you would have mistaken her for five-year-old at first, after not realizing that she was sitting on her knees and not standing up straight. Yet, when she would climb to her feet in the darkness, you would declare that she must've been ten years old!
If you said that, though, you would've received a curled up fist to your cheek, or your arm. She was thirteen years old, not ten! Yet, that was an easy mistake: she didn't really look like she had gotten any taller in the past three years of being on this gigantic world. No one noticed, though.
Long bangs covered over the young girl's face, especially the bunch pointing outwards but still managing to keep her left eye out of sight. Only one deep blue eye shimmered through the darkness, making the girl seem rather eerie if you were just walking past.
Her clothes were simple, however: a black, sleeveless shirt with a turtleneck, a black wristband, a pair of khaki cargo shorts, and a pair of black skater shoes. The only strange thing was the pair of goggles around her neck and the two twin yo-yos safely tucked away in her pocket.
The sound of the nearby ocean crept into the girl's ears, and almost seemed like an alarm clock. Before she was rather drowsy and out of it. But now? The tomboy was wide awake and up to her feet. Especially when a strange growling sound echoed throughout the corner of the alley.
"...I'm kinda hungry..." the girl said with a groan.
Quickly, she exited the alley and made a march down the sidewalk. The smell only made the growl grow louder.
This was the marketplace and bay side of the city. It was like the suburbs, only there was an ocean standing right next to it. People lived and worked in these shops, using the money from the sales to live and thrive. The thought of what was coming next, though, made her feel very guilty... But, other people had to do this, too, right?
As footsteps came closer to her standing point, she quickly let out a yelp and twirled into a nearby alley, this one with a gruesome, musty, and mildew-y smell enclosed in it. The girl stood by one of the many shops, her nose and mouth tightly covered by her hand as she looked rather green, and pondered what to do next.
The shop next door, though, was a bread shop...
A sweet, dough-like smell eclipsed over the sour, musty odor of garbage, and reeled the tomboy in with a fishing rod. She carelessly stepped through the opening and into a shower of the hypnotizing scent. Her stomach only seemed to growl louder and louder with each step.
Finally, a voice snapped her out of the trance.
"Hi! What can I get you this morning?"
"...Um..."
She immediately put her rather grimy hands against the crystal glass cage before her, eyeing everything within the cabinet. There were so many different things, even weird ones that no one could even imagine! Yet, one sparked her interest.
"Erm... one melon pan... please..." she spoke timidly as she jumped to her feet.
One moment later, and the baker placed a tightly wrapped, round ball of baked dough on the counter. The girl immediately snatched it into her grasp.
"That'll be 20 munny, please!"
She froze. Her eyes grew wide.
That was the point of this, right? But, this guy had to be at least 16 or 17, and they had such a sweet smile on their face. They looked so happy. She didn't want to shatter it! Just put it back on the counter and...
"...I'm sorry," she whispered under her breath.
"HEY!!"
He just couldn't catch the girl. She was way too fast for him.
She slid out of the bakery with careless haste, whilst being chased by the young, but now furious, baker. She felt horrible as she ran. She wouldn't stop. She couldn't stop. As much as she wanted to scream 'I'm sorry!' right in his face, she didn't.
Until she accidently slammed into somebody.
"Ow!" the young girl exclaimed, falling backwards onto the ground as she rubbed her nose.
"Caught ya, you stupid little brat!!" the annoyed male's voice chimed in, as a hand curled into the girl's turtleneck collar. The victim merely gave a gulp.
She looked up at the figure desperately, her deep blue eyes wide with panic. She whispered.
"Help..."
"...What the heck? I come to do some stupid errands, and I find an idiot choking a kid..."
"Mind your own business! This kid stole from me!"
The figure raised a brow, their female voice querying, "Really. What they steal? Munny, gol--"
"Food! What else?"
The teenaged girl gave a pause. Then a good laugh, "Are you serious!? Food... of all things! You're going to lock up a kid because they snitched food?"
"Well..." the boy growled, his face rather red now, "I worked hard on those!"
The girl frowned, placed her hands in her pockets as she glanced down at the child trying to wiggle herself out of the baker's grasp.
"It's not art, blonde... You can make more, right?"
He let out a growl, "So what? They're for customers, not punks!"
"I am NOT a punk!!" the young girl randomly chimed in, before her face turned red as she tried to shrink down out of sight.
Yet, what no one really seemed to notice that the currently timid kid was now hiding behind a certain teenaged girl.
"I didn't steal anything. I swear!" the tomboy exclaimed in a whisper, hiding behind the taller girl.
"...Look. You want me to pay you back?" she queried once more, "Or would like like to consider yourself delusional?"
"Shut up!!" the boy snarled.
"The kid didn't steal anything. Screw off, idiot."
Finally, with some coaxing, the stupid teenaged boy stomped off in a huff, slamming the bakery's door with a huge bang.
"...Thank you," the younger girl's face was still red.
"Did you really steal that?" Her purple eyes were half open as she glanced down at the tomboy behind her back; she really looked like one of those 'popular' kids with sort of attitude and expression.
"...No..."
Footsteps clicked already. The teenaged girl gave a sigh, turning her gaze around to spy the tomboy sprinting off into some nearby alley.
"...Hey!"
Her feet followed with that same sort of click, though these were much slower in beat. Though these footsteps weren't nearly as fast, it still caught up. And curled a fist around the young girl's shirt.
Immediately, she let out a surprised yelp as she was drawn backwards towards the other brown haired girl. Yet, the yelp was rather muffled. This was due to the round, baked ball of bread that was now in mid-bite. You could hear a bit of growling seem to grow louder as the young tomboy stared, wide-eyed, at the catcher.
The teenager merely raised a brow, a rather sour frown perched on her face. The tomboy gave a gulp and once again tried to pull herself away from being captured.
"So, you did steal it..."
The bit of food merely fell to the grimy ground when the child tried to open her mouth to speak. Her rushed tone merely turned into a small whimper as she stared hopelessly at the ground.
"Not that he's going to care now..." the grip was now relinquished, cueing a chuckle from the teenaged girl. Shoving her hands into her wrinkled, tan capri pockets, she quickly turned her tail in the opposite direction.
"...You're cruel," the tomboy scowled, before attempting to spit at the girl's feet. She never did, though.
"That's why I'm going to get something else for you. Am I cruel now?"
She blinked for a moment, watching as the teen came to a stop on the sidewalk. Was she joking? Did she plan that or something...?
"Well?" she repeated, the brown-haired girl turning to glance over at the thirteen-year-old, "You coming?"
It seemed rather strange, didn't it? Pointless protecting someone, accidentally tricking that same person, then being nice? That was way too easy... but...
"Yeah..." the tomboy lowered her head, walking behind the older girl, "But, who're you?"
"I'm Figgie," the teen gave a small smile, "And you are...?"
"Rena."
"...Ice cream?"
"Sea-salt."
"Oh..."
The concoction of a molded, hard liquid on a stick became even stranger with the colour: blue. Who would want blue ice cream? Rena narrowed her eyes, twisting her head side to side curiously, and merely watched as one little drop was pulled to the ground by gravity.
"Hurry up," Figgie snapped, though her voice wasn't harsh as it was played, "It's going to melt if you just stare at the damn thing all day."
Those dulled but strangely sharp words stung Rena immediately and caused the girl to begin licking the strange 'ice cream' substance without a second thought. She almost wished she hadn't, yet was very glad she did.
A strange mix. Sweet and salty? Of course that was bizarre! But how would believe that it was rather addictive? Her tongue swept across the rarely grainy surface, slowing just barely to swallow down that bit.
They merely sat on the sidewalk, their feet flat at the very edge of the concrete road that stood before the vast sea. And she took a glance with those round sky blue eyes at the brown and white haired girl.
'Why is she being so nice?' It was a perfect question. One that no one could answer but the teenaged girl herself. Why ask? That was pointless! There might not have even been an answer; just a snarl or something for giving an inquire.
Perhaps they met somewhere before. That had to have been it! Why else would a random stranger be generous to some kid who couldn't run fast enough from a novice baker?
"I don't know you, if that's what you're thinking," the teen spoke.
Rena's eyes grew wide. How...
"...Why you say that?" the tomboy frowned, taking another lick of the strange ice cream. However, this was only a cover-up of a sentence she wanted to scream out: 'are you psychic or something?'
"I just want to be nice, mmkay? Is that a bad thing?"
"No..." Though, the slight tilt of Rena's head said otherwise, "But, why me? Out of everybody else?"
"'Cause."
It still didn't really make sense. You could see the young tomboy simply gave a shrug.
"Whatever..." she mumbled.
Figgie's purple-coloured eyes seemed to lighten after a moment or two of silence. She smiled; yet, it had a mysterious bite to it.
"Hey," she begun as if barking a command, "I have to go see a friend of mine..."
Rena barely took her eyes off of the ground, looking at the teen out of the corner of her eye.
"You wanna come with?"
"Why should I?" the tomboy snarled defensively, in the midst sucking on a corner of the frozen sweet. She was more than apprehensive...
Figgie seemed to stick her nose up in the air just a bit, "Or you could stay in the stupid slums. I bet it's boring. Not like the city one bit..."
Rena choked and jerked her gaze, "...City?"
She could see that visible blue eye glimmering. The teen gave a tiny little grin.
"I could show you around if you wanted... But you'd just have to tag along with me for one little thing."
Rena was still a little uneasy. Her eyes shifted back to the ground, "I... guess..."
"Good!" Figgie jumped to her feet energetically and grabbed onto Rena's hand tightly, "But you better keep up!"
Two little puddles formed around the wooden sticks as they pointed up halfway to the sky. One fell idly to the ground as the milky puddle grew. Rena hadn't turned her head yet. They could've at least threw those away... or have taken them along!
This seemed like a strange place to meet a 'friend'.
As they walked forwards, their footsteps slowly every little intimidating second, and as the darkness grew stronger...
The light seemed to disappear in only moments. Blowing out like a candle. However, the sun still shone overhead. Strange, isn't it?
Rena's footsteps came to a halt, her eyes wearily gazing around the long back alley. If Figgie's attitude wasn't intimidating, then this was. She had never seen an alley so dark and long. No amount of sunlight could break through it! Her heart pounded. Thumping wildly. Her lungs gasped. Reaching for breath. All alone...
A hand sweetly ushered the frightened girl forwards, those fingers curling around the young girl's palm. Rena jumped at first, but gave a sigh. After that, she stayed close behind Figgie, nearly stepping on the back of her shoes every time she paced.
They finally came to a final halt, at the very end. Rena's eyes seemed to flicker as she glanced up at the end of the back alley. Was that really the wall? It was so dark, you could barely tell...
Figgie gave a grin.
"Shizuka."
The sound of clothes moving. Nearly silent, but you could just make out the noise of wrinkling and motion. Motion of a figure...
A head lifted itself up, one eye sparkling with malice and pure discontent. The young girl took a quick step backwards at the sight. Figgie continued to grin widely.
"...Nan da yo..." a voice spat hoarsely as a question.
"What? I thought you wanted to see me..."
Shizuka gave a growl. Her long hair was perfectly straight over her eyes, yet perfectly messy and untidy on the other hand. You couldn't really tell what colour it was, however. The alley was still way too dark. However, you could tell that their posture made them look rather drunk; or at least half asleep.
The strange figure's shoulders seemed to lower as that eye shifted slowly over to the side.
"Kore wa dare da ka?" the female's voice was grainy once again. Her visible eye was staring right at Rena, who was peering over Figgie's shoulder.
Figgie gave a chuckle, "Rena-chan."
Rena's eyes grew wide and she retaliated backwards, only to quickly tap Figgie on the shoulder.
"Hey!" she whispered in the brown and white haired girl's ear, "Why're you telling her my name?"
"It's fine, I promise." Figgie assured, giving one mere glance at Rena.
"Sore wa ano kodomo desu. Ano kodomo wa watashi tachi o sagasu..."
Shizuka's sitting position seemed to get just a bit more straight.
"Honto ni..."
Figgie's eyes had grown wide. Yet, she never threw herself forwards.
Now standing before the teen was Rena, who wore a rather curious expression on her pale-yet-peach toned face. The tomboy's eyes gleamed all agog.
"...Hi," she stared down at the figure fallen on the ground and gave a child-like smile. A simple little curve.
Their long hair was all astray before their slender face. You could see their slender, nearly bony arms as they sat on their knees. A pair of untidy baggy pants, torn in random places, were there. A simple sleeveless vest, too.
"...Konnichi wa?" the voice didn't seem interested in a stupid kid. It sounded rather spiteful to her appearance. Distasteful. On the other hand, Rena was opposite: she was really interested in this strange girl. After all, she looked like she was from the slums, too...
Yet, her hand was pulled back robustly. No wonder she went sliding backwards after she felt that tug!
"You wanted to go?" Figgie spat, her voice sounding like it belonged to a vicious cat, "Then, hurry up!"
Isn't it strange how someone can change from one thing to another? Figgie seemed so genial moments ago, though it was a strange sort of tone to that, but now she was a bit surly and even bitter. Rena merely blinked as she glanced up at the teen. She barely realized she was being dragged by the girl.
They quickly left the long alley, moods seeming to reverse for both of them from when they entered. The sunlight would probably make a person happier. Neither was the case.
Rena still glanced up at the teen curiously as she wandered behind briskly, a sidewalk now beneath their feet.
What's up with you?
To the people of the slums, it's always been a mystery why they've never been allowed to enter the city. To the people of the city, they knew exactly why.
There were boundaries between the filthy streets and the massive buildings. Yet, these streets could be seen only with another citizen of the massive metropolis. Someone was about to find out why the people of the slums weren't allowed here...
But, they were too busy gazing at how tall the hundreds of buildings were.
"Wow..." Rena said, awestruck as her jaw seemed to drop to the perfectly paved sidewalk.
Unlike the bay-side and the slums, this place was nowhere near deserted. Cars streaming everywhere, people streaming besides those cars, and millions of lights that could be seen quite well in the daylight.
The tomboy knew exactly why she was upbraided by simply giving a quick gaze at this place: it was perfect. Spotless, flawless, and sparkling. If some filthy person stepped foot into the city alone, they would've been thrown elsewhere before their spot became scrubbed with some sort of powerful, bleaching cleaner. But, that's probably just an exaggeration.
While Rena looked in awe at this place, Figgie look at it with resentment. Sure, the place was flawless, but so were the people. You had to be perfect to live in this place. But, of course, there were the underground sort of people...
The teen was exactly one of them. A teenager who looked like they were a rebel against all of the adults. One who didn't want to grow up to be a lawyer, but some strange person like an artist or a writer for anything but textbooks. No wonder she glared at her surroundings with malice.
"C'mon," she snapped as she dropped a bit of change into a nearby glass box. Rena quickly followed behind as a pair of doors abruptly slammed behind her; she gave a nervous giggle as the ghastly, relatively annoyed bus driver gave her a terribly sickening look. Luckily, Figgie dragged the rather ditzy child behind. They quickly found a seat on the decently filled bus and kept quiet, Figgie growling at scornful glances to her acquaintance.
There was no idle chatter amongst the two for a good few minutes; the noise of the bus was enough of a reason to stay quiet.
The large wheels of the vehicle hastily dragged the loaded, steel carriage to each destination, only halting that 60 mph speed at strange red lights and at metal signs that read 'bus stop'. Rena glanced curiously out of the smudgy, grimy windows in awe, staring up at the magnificently tall towers outside. However, Figgie would have to drag the girl back to her seat whenever she laid across a seat to look out the glass on the other side.
After a few moments of idling sitting there, one person finally spoke.
"So... why'd you do that?" Rena queried, sounding interested at the thought.
Figgie only slightly lifted her head from staring at the floor, "What?"
"You know..." she gave a quick glance over to the teen, "Being nice to me. Of all people, you have to pick a worthless kid like me..."
"You're not worthless!" the brown and white-haired girl glowered, "Don't say that... Nobody is worthless."
The tomboy's voice quickly became a whisper, "But, I'm just a stupid slums kid! Nobody cares about us, everyone obviously thinks we're trash. Everyone was glaring at me before..."
As did the teenager's, "They're just pompous jerks with way too much money. They think half of this place is dirt, because it's not up to their standard."
"Wouldn't you be one of those pompous jerks?"
Figgie froze for only a mere moment, opening her mouth to speak soon after, "My parents have tons of money. They're stuck-up just like everyone else on this bus. I, on the other hand, am so sick of treating everyone like trash and being so uniform... So, I'm pretty underground... or at least some sort of rebel... And, unlike everyone else, we actually don't mind anybody in the slums. We'd actually rather be nice to them than be 'nice' to pompous asses."
"So that's why you're being nice to me!" Rena quickly exclaimed, just loud enough to get a glower from someone in the seat before them, "You could've just said that in the first place!"
Her expression was priceless: she looked so incredibly dumbfounded by the tomboy's words, and even started to give a low growl.
"...I'm seriously going to punch you."
Rena merely grinned widely. Rather childishly, in fact.
Yet, her grin dropped momentarily, "So, why were you so mad when I was trying to talk to that weirdo girl...?"
"No more questions."
"Huh? Why not!?"
"Because..."
The metal trolley came to a sudden, yet smooth, stop on the street and Figgie took the chance to raise to her feet once the vehicle came to a halt. Rena merely blinked. Kind of like she had it all planned out...
"...This is our stop!"
"What's a stop?"
"No more questions!"
"Aw c'monnnnnn! You're no funnnnn!"
Even though Rena was sulking and trying to find some way to persuade Figgie to answer her pestering questions, nothing, not one single thing, would be able to describe the young girl's excitement after they stepped out of the bus. Even if it was just walking around some city! It was still better than that stupid alleyway...
It was just... well...
Figgie didn't get it. And she didn't know why she agreed to it. Rena didn't really care how simple it was. They merely walked around the city. For hours. It was already the afternoon by the time they got on the bus, and Figgie finally let out a grumble when it was beginning to get dark. Why would a kid be interested in looking at a city for several hours? Not going into any shops, buildings, or anything else. Just staring up at those huge buildings and letting your jaw drop to the ground.
"C'mon..." Figgie finally growled, trying to drag the young girl away from 'sightseeing' and towards one of the many buildings, "I gotta get home!"
"But I'm not done yet!" Rena eagerly protested, "There's this one cool, really tall building that looks all old and freaky and I could've sworn I saw freaky green flashies and--"
The teen's hand covered over the blabbering tomboy's mouth, forcing her to shut up so someone else could speak, "You know you can see it later, right?"
Yet, it quickly moved away, as did the elusive speaker. Rena's expression definitely said that she was way too perplexed at that moment.
"...Huh?"
Figgie had briskly walked off in the other direction, and the tomboy hurried to catch up.
"Hey!!" she exclaimed, sliding to a stop behind her, "What'd you mean see it later? I gotta get back..."
"Who said you had to go back?"
"...Um..." she merely twiddled her index fingers childishly, "I dunno..."
"Then what would happen if you didn't have to go back?"
"I... dunno..."
Figgie jerked herself around after coming to a halt, "...Do you get it yet?"
"Get what?" Rena tilted her head to the side.
Figgie's hand immediately tempted to meet her forehead, "...Wow. You're clueless..."
The teen took a step closer, "What if... someone wanted to let you stay with them? Instead of going back to the slums..."
If this were normal, Rena would perked up instantly. Yet, she actually lowered down just a bit. Was she just trying to tease her?
"I would... umm... be pretty happy, I guess..."
"Then, would you want to stay with me?"
Rena nearly fell over, "Huuuuuh?"
"My parents won't care! They can just deal with it!"
"But... uhh--"
Figgie seemed to tower over Rena now and the tomboy only tensed up more when she grasped the young girl's shoulders, looking her straight in the eye, "Look, I don't care if my home is your's, too. My parents shouldn't care, because they're stuck up snobs and they'll just have to deal with it."
"So, if someone offered to give you a home... would you take it?"
Rena froze for a moment. She remembered earlier when she didn't trust Figgie one bit. Sure, she helped her, but...
That small little smile decided to say otherwise. Just looking at that innocent smile that Figgie carried was enough to make Rena forget that she was ever hesitant to consider Figgie a 'friend'.
The tomboy gave a smile. Excitement rushed into the thirteen-year-old.
"...Really?"
Figgie nodded.
"Really!?" So much happiness and excitement was etched onto that one word.
Then, it shattered. Into a thousand, tiny, irreparable pieces. Onto that same tan, cracked sidewalk.
No! How did this happen? How did all of this happen?
Rena stared wide-eyed at the world around her. No longer was she standing in the midst of a vast city. No longer was she standing under orange and crimson clouds. And, no longer was a friend nearby.
The tomboy dug her shoes into the strange ground beneath her feet as the wind rushed through her messy hair.
"Figgie!!" she cried helplessly, "Where are you!?"
Her deep blue eyes glimmered with a powerless gleam. This place was no longer familiar. There was no way to jump out of it back into that city where she once stood. After all...
Also, just a note, this chapter is prone to editting. I'm using a friend's character, but stuff happened so I dunno if I can use that character anymore, so I replaced her for the time being. If I can't use that character, then MY CHARACTER STAYS. AND SHE'S FREAKY. AWESOME ALREADY.
I hope you enjoy the chapter! Any comments and criticism are welcome! [and you get cookies for criticism. must improveeee!]
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001 + A T L A N T I C
what's it feel like to fall?
why will you fall into forever?
[i hope all the years - will hold tight our promises]
[i hope all the years - will hold tight our promises]
to be a hero.
I was falling. Deeper and deeper into this black abyss. The ice cold water coiled around my skin, its freezing arms carrying me closer and closer to the black bottom. Water was all around me, yet it was like air; I could breath. Yet, I was... asleep.
Then.
It hit.
The lightning flashed. The rain poured all over me. It was a dream.
Why was it so real?
A skyscraper pointed upwards towards the sky. Buildings gathered around it. That one lone building reached up for only a single thing:
There was a giant heart-shaped moon in the clouded night sky.
TWO DAYS.
"Hm?"
I turned around, hearing a voice booming inside of my head, and let out a gasp.
My eyes were shut. I gasped for air. My heart pounded. I was suffocating! A black gloved hand threw itself over my face. The darkness was trying to swallow me!
And, I could just hear you whisper in my ear.
That voice slid into my thoughts like you were a poison.
"I guess I'll give you a head start then..."
The hand disappeared.
Yet.
Everything was black.
Was this a nightmare?
If darkness had teeth, would it swallow you whole?
The darkness wasn't just trying to swallow me.
It was trying to eat me alive.
As those teeth curled, I couldn't help but...
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!"
[i hope all my days - will be lit by your face]
"Shizuka."
The streetlight gave its final flicker. It had been buzzing continuously and flashing on and off for hours now. Yet, that wasn't the end. It still had another job to do when the sun set. But, at that moment, the gigantic ball of fire in the sky was lifting from the horizon.
Hair was lifted from its perpetual hang over the air. A pair of amber eyes gazed forwards with interest, only after cringing at the light. She never spoke a word, but the 'voice' knew it was heard.
The other figure knew what she was thinking about. No question was needed for that moment. Yet, that didn't mean questions were non-existent.
"It's here, isn't it?"
The black haired girl gave a small, barely noticeable nod, a frown curled on her pale-peachy toned face.
The figure also gave a frown.
"We better hurry, then..."
[i don't want to be old and sleep alone]
Though they were dormant, you could see their anxiety. The heavy breathing, the beads of sweat, and their expression; they looked lost and terrified, even if they were fast asleep.
But, a quick jolt can lead to so many things.
"AH!" a high-pitched scream hung over the dark, dusty alley, before quickly dissipating cautiously. A bare hand covered their mouth as a pair of deep blue eyes swept back and forth across the horizon. They were still terrified.
Still alert and stiff, they lowered their hand from their mouth and gave a sigh of relief, even though that sigh wouldn't calm their wildly beating heart.
"...I hate it," a child-like voice escaped from the lips of a young girl as she sat on her knees, giving a sniffle.
If you had walked past the alley and saw the small girl, you would have mistaken her for five-year-old at first, after not realizing that she was sitting on her knees and not standing up straight. Yet, when she would climb to her feet in the darkness, you would declare that she must've been ten years old!
If you said that, though, you would've received a curled up fist to your cheek, or your arm. She was thirteen years old, not ten! Yet, that was an easy mistake: she didn't really look like she had gotten any taller in the past three years of being on this gigantic world. No one noticed, though.
Long bangs covered over the young girl's face, especially the bunch pointing outwards but still managing to keep her left eye out of sight. Only one deep blue eye shimmered through the darkness, making the girl seem rather eerie if you were just walking past.
Her clothes were simple, however: a black, sleeveless shirt with a turtleneck, a black wristband, a pair of khaki cargo shorts, and a pair of black skater shoes. The only strange thing was the pair of goggles around her neck and the two twin yo-yos safely tucked away in her pocket.
The sound of the nearby ocean crept into the girl's ears, and almost seemed like an alarm clock. Before she was rather drowsy and out of it. But now? The tomboy was wide awake and up to her feet. Especially when a strange growling sound echoed throughout the corner of the alley.
"...I'm kinda hungry..." the girl said with a groan.
Quickly, she exited the alley and made a march down the sidewalk. The smell only made the growl grow louder.
This was the marketplace and bay side of the city. It was like the suburbs, only there was an ocean standing right next to it. People lived and worked in these shops, using the money from the sales to live and thrive. The thought of what was coming next, though, made her feel very guilty... But, other people had to do this, too, right?
As footsteps came closer to her standing point, she quickly let out a yelp and twirled into a nearby alley, this one with a gruesome, musty, and mildew-y smell enclosed in it. The girl stood by one of the many shops, her nose and mouth tightly covered by her hand as she looked rather green, and pondered what to do next.
The shop next door, though, was a bread shop...
A sweet, dough-like smell eclipsed over the sour, musty odor of garbage, and reeled the tomboy in with a fishing rod. She carelessly stepped through the opening and into a shower of the hypnotizing scent. Her stomach only seemed to growl louder and louder with each step.
Finally, a voice snapped her out of the trance.
"Hi! What can I get you this morning?"
"...Um..."
She immediately put her rather grimy hands against the crystal glass cage before her, eyeing everything within the cabinet. There were so many different things, even weird ones that no one could even imagine! Yet, one sparked her interest.
"Erm... one melon pan... please..." she spoke timidly as she jumped to her feet.
One moment later, and the baker placed a tightly wrapped, round ball of baked dough on the counter. The girl immediately snatched it into her grasp.
"That'll be 20 munny, please!"
She froze. Her eyes grew wide.
That was the point of this, right? But, this guy had to be at least 16 or 17, and they had such a sweet smile on their face. They looked so happy. She didn't want to shatter it! Just put it back on the counter and...
"...I'm sorry," she whispered under her breath.
"HEY!!"
He just couldn't catch the girl. She was way too fast for him.
She slid out of the bakery with careless haste, whilst being chased by the young, but now furious, baker. She felt horrible as she ran. She wouldn't stop. She couldn't stop. As much as she wanted to scream 'I'm sorry!' right in his face, she didn't.
Until she accidently slammed into somebody.
"Ow!" the young girl exclaimed, falling backwards onto the ground as she rubbed her nose.
"Caught ya, you stupid little brat!!" the annoyed male's voice chimed in, as a hand curled into the girl's turtleneck collar. The victim merely gave a gulp.
She looked up at the figure desperately, her deep blue eyes wide with panic. She whispered.
"Help..."
"...What the heck? I come to do some stupid errands, and I find an idiot choking a kid..."
"Mind your own business! This kid stole from me!"
The figure raised a brow, their female voice querying, "Really. What they steal? Munny, gol--"
"Food! What else?"
The teenaged girl gave a pause. Then a good laugh, "Are you serious!? Food... of all things! You're going to lock up a kid because they snitched food?"
"Well..." the boy growled, his face rather red now, "I worked hard on those!"
The girl frowned, placed her hands in her pockets as she glanced down at the child trying to wiggle herself out of the baker's grasp.
"It's not art, blonde... You can make more, right?"
He let out a growl, "So what? They're for customers, not punks!"
"I am NOT a punk!!" the young girl randomly chimed in, before her face turned red as she tried to shrink down out of sight.
Yet, what no one really seemed to notice that the currently timid kid was now hiding behind a certain teenaged girl.
"I didn't steal anything. I swear!" the tomboy exclaimed in a whisper, hiding behind the taller girl.
"...Look. You want me to pay you back?" she queried once more, "Or would like like to consider yourself delusional?"
"Shut up!!" the boy snarled.
"The kid didn't steal anything. Screw off, idiot."
Finally, with some coaxing, the stupid teenaged boy stomped off in a huff, slamming the bakery's door with a huge bang.
"...Thank you," the younger girl's face was still red.
"Did you really steal that?" Her purple eyes were half open as she glanced down at the tomboy behind her back; she really looked like one of those 'popular' kids with sort of attitude and expression.
"...No..."
Footsteps clicked already. The teenaged girl gave a sigh, turning her gaze around to spy the tomboy sprinting off into some nearby alley.
"...Hey!"
Her feet followed with that same sort of click, though these were much slower in beat. Though these footsteps weren't nearly as fast, it still caught up. And curled a fist around the young girl's shirt.
Immediately, she let out a surprised yelp as she was drawn backwards towards the other brown haired girl. Yet, the yelp was rather muffled. This was due to the round, baked ball of bread that was now in mid-bite. You could hear a bit of growling seem to grow louder as the young tomboy stared, wide-eyed, at the catcher.
The teenager merely raised a brow, a rather sour frown perched on her face. The tomboy gave a gulp and once again tried to pull herself away from being captured.
"So, you did steal it..."
The bit of food merely fell to the grimy ground when the child tried to open her mouth to speak. Her rushed tone merely turned into a small whimper as she stared hopelessly at the ground.
"Not that he's going to care now..." the grip was now relinquished, cueing a chuckle from the teenaged girl. Shoving her hands into her wrinkled, tan capri pockets, she quickly turned her tail in the opposite direction.
"...You're cruel," the tomboy scowled, before attempting to spit at the girl's feet. She never did, though.
"That's why I'm going to get something else for you. Am I cruel now?"
She blinked for a moment, watching as the teen came to a stop on the sidewalk. Was she joking? Did she plan that or something...?
"Well?" she repeated, the brown-haired girl turning to glance over at the thirteen-year-old, "You coming?"
It seemed rather strange, didn't it? Pointless protecting someone, accidentally tricking that same person, then being nice? That was way too easy... but...
"Yeah..." the tomboy lowered her head, walking behind the older girl, "But, who're you?"
"I'm Figgie," the teen gave a small smile, "And you are...?"
"Rena."
[an empty house is not a home]
"...Ice cream?"
"Sea-salt."
"Oh..."
The concoction of a molded, hard liquid on a stick became even stranger with the colour: blue. Who would want blue ice cream? Rena narrowed her eyes, twisting her head side to side curiously, and merely watched as one little drop was pulled to the ground by gravity.
"Hurry up," Figgie snapped, though her voice wasn't harsh as it was played, "It's going to melt if you just stare at the damn thing all day."
Those dulled but strangely sharp words stung Rena immediately and caused the girl to begin licking the strange 'ice cream' substance without a second thought. She almost wished she hadn't, yet was very glad she did.
A strange mix. Sweet and salty? Of course that was bizarre! But how would believe that it was rather addictive? Her tongue swept across the rarely grainy surface, slowing just barely to swallow down that bit.
They merely sat on the sidewalk, their feet flat at the very edge of the concrete road that stood before the vast sea. And she took a glance with those round sky blue eyes at the brown and white haired girl.
'Why is she being so nice?' It was a perfect question. One that no one could answer but the teenaged girl herself. Why ask? That was pointless! There might not have even been an answer; just a snarl or something for giving an inquire.
Perhaps they met somewhere before. That had to have been it! Why else would a random stranger be generous to some kid who couldn't run fast enough from a novice baker?
"I don't know you, if that's what you're thinking," the teen spoke.
Rena's eyes grew wide. How...
"...Why you say that?" the tomboy frowned, taking another lick of the strange ice cream. However, this was only a cover-up of a sentence she wanted to scream out: 'are you psychic or something?'
"I just want to be nice, mmkay? Is that a bad thing?"
"No..." Though, the slight tilt of Rena's head said otherwise, "But, why me? Out of everybody else?"
"'Cause."
It still didn't really make sense. You could see the young tomboy simply gave a shrug.
"Whatever..." she mumbled.
Figgie's purple-coloured eyes seemed to lighten after a moment or two of silence. She smiled; yet, it had a mysterious bite to it.
"Hey," she begun as if barking a command, "I have to go see a friend of mine..."
Rena barely took her eyes off of the ground, looking at the teen out of the corner of her eye.
"You wanna come with?"
"Why should I?" the tomboy snarled defensively, in the midst sucking on a corner of the frozen sweet. She was more than apprehensive...
Figgie seemed to stick her nose up in the air just a bit, "Or you could stay in the stupid slums. I bet it's boring. Not like the city one bit..."
Rena choked and jerked her gaze, "...City?"
She could see that visible blue eye glimmering. The teen gave a tiny little grin.
"I could show you around if you wanted... But you'd just have to tag along with me for one little thing."
Rena was still a little uneasy. Her eyes shifted back to the ground, "I... guess..."
"Good!" Figgie jumped to her feet energetically and grabbed onto Rena's hand tightly, "But you better keep up!"
Two little puddles formed around the wooden sticks as they pointed up halfway to the sky. One fell idly to the ground as the milky puddle grew. Rena hadn't turned her head yet. They could've at least threw those away... or have taken them along!
[i don't want to be old and feel afraid]
This seemed like a strange place to meet a 'friend'.
As they walked forwards, their footsteps slowly every little intimidating second, and as the darkness grew stronger...
The light seemed to disappear in only moments. Blowing out like a candle. However, the sun still shone overhead. Strange, isn't it?
Rena's footsteps came to a halt, her eyes wearily gazing around the long back alley. If Figgie's attitude wasn't intimidating, then this was. She had never seen an alley so dark and long. No amount of sunlight could break through it! Her heart pounded. Thumping wildly. Her lungs gasped. Reaching for breath. All alone...
A hand sweetly ushered the frightened girl forwards, those fingers curling around the young girl's palm. Rena jumped at first, but gave a sigh. After that, she stayed close behind Figgie, nearly stepping on the back of her shoes every time she paced.
They finally came to a final halt, at the very end. Rena's eyes seemed to flicker as she glanced up at the end of the back alley. Was that really the wall? It was so dark, you could barely tell...
Figgie gave a grin.
"Shizuka."
The sound of clothes moving. Nearly silent, but you could just make out the noise of wrinkling and motion. Motion of a figure...
A head lifted itself up, one eye sparkling with malice and pure discontent. The young girl took a quick step backwards at the sight. Figgie continued to grin widely.
"...Nan da yo..." a voice spat hoarsely as a question.
"What? I thought you wanted to see me..."
Shizuka gave a growl. Her long hair was perfectly straight over her eyes, yet perfectly messy and untidy on the other hand. You couldn't really tell what colour it was, however. The alley was still way too dark. However, you could tell that their posture made them look rather drunk; or at least half asleep.
The strange figure's shoulders seemed to lower as that eye shifted slowly over to the side.
"Kore wa dare da ka?" the female's voice was grainy once again. Her visible eye was staring right at Rena, who was peering over Figgie's shoulder.
Figgie gave a chuckle, "Rena-chan."
Rena's eyes grew wide and she retaliated backwards, only to quickly tap Figgie on the shoulder.
"Hey!" she whispered in the brown and white haired girl's ear, "Why're you telling her my name?"
"It's fine, I promise." Figgie assured, giving one mere glance at Rena.
"Sore wa ano kodomo desu. Ano kodomo wa watashi tachi o sagasu..."
Shizuka's sitting position seemed to get just a bit more straight.
"Honto ni..."
Figgie's eyes had grown wide. Yet, she never threw herself forwards.
Now standing before the teen was Rena, who wore a rather curious expression on her pale-yet-peach toned face. The tomboy's eyes gleamed all agog.
"...Hi," she stared down at the figure fallen on the ground and gave a child-like smile. A simple little curve.
Their long hair was all astray before their slender face. You could see their slender, nearly bony arms as they sat on their knees. A pair of untidy baggy pants, torn in random places, were there. A simple sleeveless vest, too.
"...Konnichi wa?" the voice didn't seem interested in a stupid kid. It sounded rather spiteful to her appearance. Distasteful. On the other hand, Rena was opposite: she was really interested in this strange girl. After all, she looked like she was from the slums, too...
Yet, her hand was pulled back robustly. No wonder she went sliding backwards after she felt that tug!
"You wanted to go?" Figgie spat, her voice sounding like it belonged to a vicious cat, "Then, hurry up!"
Isn't it strange how someone can change from one thing to another? Figgie seemed so genial moments ago, though it was a strange sort of tone to that, but now she was a bit surly and even bitter. Rena merely blinked as she glanced up at the teen. She barely realized she was being dragged by the girl.
They quickly left the long alley, moods seeming to reverse for both of them from when they entered. The sunlight would probably make a person happier. Neither was the case.
Rena still glanced up at the teen curiously as she wandered behind briskly, a sidewalk now beneath their feet.
What's up with you?
[and if I need anything at all]
To the people of the slums, it's always been a mystery why they've never been allowed to enter the city. To the people of the city, they knew exactly why.
There were boundaries between the filthy streets and the massive buildings. Yet, these streets could be seen only with another citizen of the massive metropolis. Someone was about to find out why the people of the slums weren't allowed here...
But, they were too busy gazing at how tall the hundreds of buildings were.
"Wow..." Rena said, awestruck as her jaw seemed to drop to the perfectly paved sidewalk.
Unlike the bay-side and the slums, this place was nowhere near deserted. Cars streaming everywhere, people streaming besides those cars, and millions of lights that could be seen quite well in the daylight.
The tomboy knew exactly why she was upbraided by simply giving a quick gaze at this place: it was perfect. Spotless, flawless, and sparkling. If some filthy person stepped foot into the city alone, they would've been thrown elsewhere before their spot became scrubbed with some sort of powerful, bleaching cleaner. But, that's probably just an exaggeration.
While Rena looked in awe at this place, Figgie look at it with resentment. Sure, the place was flawless, but so were the people. You had to be perfect to live in this place. But, of course, there were the underground sort of people...
The teen was exactly one of them. A teenager who looked like they were a rebel against all of the adults. One who didn't want to grow up to be a lawyer, but some strange person like an artist or a writer for anything but textbooks. No wonder she glared at her surroundings with malice.
"C'mon," she snapped as she dropped a bit of change into a nearby glass box. Rena quickly followed behind as a pair of doors abruptly slammed behind her; she gave a nervous giggle as the ghastly, relatively annoyed bus driver gave her a terribly sickening look. Luckily, Figgie dragged the rather ditzy child behind. They quickly found a seat on the decently filled bus and kept quiet, Figgie growling at scornful glances to her acquaintance.
There was no idle chatter amongst the two for a good few minutes; the noise of the bus was enough of a reason to stay quiet.
The large wheels of the vehicle hastily dragged the loaded, steel carriage to each destination, only halting that 60 mph speed at strange red lights and at metal signs that read 'bus stop'. Rena glanced curiously out of the smudgy, grimy windows in awe, staring up at the magnificently tall towers outside. However, Figgie would have to drag the girl back to her seat whenever she laid across a seat to look out the glass on the other side.
After a few moments of idling sitting there, one person finally spoke.
"So... why'd you do that?" Rena queried, sounding interested at the thought.
Figgie only slightly lifted her head from staring at the floor, "What?"
"You know..." she gave a quick glance over to the teen, "Being nice to me. Of all people, you have to pick a worthless kid like me..."
"You're not worthless!" the brown and white-haired girl glowered, "Don't say that... Nobody is worthless."
The tomboy's voice quickly became a whisper, "But, I'm just a stupid slums kid! Nobody cares about us, everyone obviously thinks we're trash. Everyone was glaring at me before..."
As did the teenager's, "They're just pompous jerks with way too much money. They think half of this place is dirt, because it's not up to their standard."
"Wouldn't you be one of those pompous jerks?"
Figgie froze for only a mere moment, opening her mouth to speak soon after, "My parents have tons of money. They're stuck-up just like everyone else on this bus. I, on the other hand, am so sick of treating everyone like trash and being so uniform... So, I'm pretty underground... or at least some sort of rebel... And, unlike everyone else, we actually don't mind anybody in the slums. We'd actually rather be nice to them than be 'nice' to pompous asses."
"So that's why you're being nice to me!" Rena quickly exclaimed, just loud enough to get a glower from someone in the seat before them, "You could've just said that in the first place!"
Her expression was priceless: she looked so incredibly dumbfounded by the tomboy's words, and even started to give a low growl.
"...I'm seriously going to punch you."
Rena merely grinned widely. Rather childishly, in fact.
Yet, her grin dropped momentarily, "So, why were you so mad when I was trying to talk to that weirdo girl...?"
"No more questions."
"Huh? Why not!?"
"Because..."
The metal trolley came to a sudden, yet smooth, stop on the street and Figgie took the chance to raise to her feet once the vehicle came to a halt. Rena merely blinked. Kind of like she had it all planned out...
"...This is our stop!"
"What's a stop?"
"No more questions!"
"Aw c'monnnnnn! You're no funnnnn!"
Even though Rena was sulking and trying to find some way to persuade Figgie to answer her pestering questions, nothing, not one single thing, would be able to describe the young girl's excitement after they stepped out of the bus. Even if it was just walking around some city! It was still better than that stupid alleyway...
[i need a place that's hidden in the deep]
It was just... well...
Figgie didn't get it. And she didn't know why she agreed to it. Rena didn't really care how simple it was. They merely walked around the city. For hours. It was already the afternoon by the time they got on the bus, and Figgie finally let out a grumble when it was beginning to get dark. Why would a kid be interested in looking at a city for several hours? Not going into any shops, buildings, or anything else. Just staring up at those huge buildings and letting your jaw drop to the ground.
"C'mon..." Figgie finally growled, trying to drag the young girl away from 'sightseeing' and towards one of the many buildings, "I gotta get home!"
"But I'm not done yet!" Rena eagerly protested, "There's this one cool, really tall building that looks all old and freaky and I could've sworn I saw freaky green flashies and--"
The teen's hand covered over the blabbering tomboy's mouth, forcing her to shut up so someone else could speak, "You know you can see it later, right?"
Yet, it quickly moved away, as did the elusive speaker. Rena's expression definitely said that she was way too perplexed at that moment.
"...Huh?"
Figgie had briskly walked off in the other direction, and the tomboy hurried to catch up.
"Hey!!" she exclaimed, sliding to a stop behind her, "What'd you mean see it later? I gotta get back..."
"Who said you had to go back?"
"...Um..." she merely twiddled her index fingers childishly, "I dunno..."
"Then what would happen if you didn't have to go back?"
"I... dunno..."
Figgie jerked herself around after coming to a halt, "...Do you get it yet?"
"Get what?" Rena tilted her head to the side.
Figgie's hand immediately tempted to meet her forehead, "...Wow. You're clueless..."
The teen took a step closer, "What if... someone wanted to let you stay with them? Instead of going back to the slums..."
If this were normal, Rena would perked up instantly. Yet, she actually lowered down just a bit. Was she just trying to tease her?
"I would... umm... be pretty happy, I guess..."
"Then, would you want to stay with me?"
Rena nearly fell over, "Huuuuuh?"
"My parents won't care! They can just deal with it!"
"But... uhh--"
Figgie seemed to tower over Rena now and the tomboy only tensed up more when she grasped the young girl's shoulders, looking her straight in the eye, "Look, I don't care if my home is your's, too. My parents shouldn't care, because they're stuck up snobs and they'll just have to deal with it."
"So, if someone offered to give you a home... would you take it?"
Rena froze for a moment. She remembered earlier when she didn't trust Figgie one bit. Sure, she helped her, but...
That small little smile decided to say otherwise. Just looking at that innocent smile that Figgie carried was enough to make Rena forget that she was ever hesitant to consider Figgie a 'friend'.
The tomboy gave a smile. Excitement rushed into the thirteen-year-old.
"...Really?"
Figgie nodded.
"Really!?" So much happiness and excitement was etched onto that one word.
Then, it shattered. Into a thousand, tiny, irreparable pieces. Onto that same tan, cracked sidewalk.
No! How did this happen? How did all of this happen?
Rena stared wide-eyed at the world around her. No longer was she standing in the midst of a vast city. No longer was she standing under orange and crimson clouds. And, no longer was a friend nearby.
The tomboy dug her shoes into the strange ground beneath her feet as the wind rushed through her messy hair.
"Figgie!!" she cried helplessly, "Where are you!?"
Her deep blue eyes glimmered with a powerless gleam. This place was no longer familiar. There was no way to jump out of it back into that city where she once stood. After all...