Felix walked out of the Best Buy on Broadway street. Times Square was right down the street, not two blocks off the corner. He had a smile on his face and games in his bag. All in all, so far it was a sweet 16th birthday, he was out with his friends, wandering New York and going to all sorts of places. It was Sunday, around 3 PM, about the time people got out of church. Felix wasn't much of a church person. Christian, sure, but damn if he'd get up early on a weekend to go to church.
In his bag were the games Crackdown 2 and Blazblue: Continuum Shift. He saw copies of Starcraft 2 in the store, but decided against buying it. He wasn't much of a Starcraft fan anyways.
Felix turned and looked back into the store, waiting on his friends.
"Come on guys! We still have daylight to burn!"
つ ◕_◕ ༽つ HELIX
"Ye-yeah....." Sarina responded with about a hundredth of Felix's enthusiasm. For her, Sunday was workday. Work meant money. As a poor student, she'd much rather be earning money then spending it. But alas, she had been invited by a very eager Felix to his birthday party and was talked into skipping a day of work.
Sarina played around with her hair and sighed. As she checked her wallet, a few more imaginary bills grew wings and flew out into the Autumn sky. She watched the slips of paper fly away, then began to chase after Felix again.
edited 24th Jan '11 7:30:36 PM by neobowman
The Maid
"As befitting the birthday boy, he's full of energy" Sarah said with a little smile on her face. Not that Felix was lacking in spirits any other day, but today even she had to do her best to keep up with him.
While they were mostly looking for new games for Felix she managed to grab a new pair of headphones for herself. She now wore them comfortably around her neck as she walked.
"Come on guys, hurry it up or Felix will end up wandering all the way down to Battery Park" Sarah joked, looking back at the rest of the group.
If I'm sure of something it's that I'm not sure of anything.
Kyle wasn't planning on buying anything at Best Buy, although he did quite a bit of window shopping of various things, some of which he didn't even want as he was only curious of the price.
With Felix's yell, Mike came back to the birthday boy quickly and said "Sorry...all these products put me in a bit of a daze."
edited 24th Jan '11 6:44:23 PM by JustaUsername
Some people say I'm lazy. It's hard to disagree.
SSSSSSSSS-
Jumping slightly, Chris rather hurriedly finished paying for his Mountain Dew and followed after Felix and the others. Once he joined them, he commented, "You know, I don't think I'll ever get used to how big New York is." As he made sure to stick with the group. He'd gotten lost once or twice before, and he'd really much rather not live through that experience again.
"So many people that I can't even read while I walk." Chris muttered, wishing he could pull out one of the library books he'd checked out the other day. Oh well. Hope Felix likes what I got him. Chris thought as he wished he half wished he still had his backpack. Not only did his backpack contain his gift for Felix, but it also held the aforementioned library book AND some more things meant for the party. If it wasn't for some of the items in there he'd be lugging it around on his back, instead of leaving it at Felix's where everything should be safe.
edited 24th Jan '11 6:44:19 PM by Cador
Meanwhile, somewhere in the vast concrete jungle of NYC, a shopkeeper was busy opening up his shop, the same old routine. Check the merchandise, make sure the back room is locked, check the register. The old man was plump, with a rather large beer belly and a frazzled, white beard and long white hair, wearing dirty old work slacks and a dirty old apron over a dirty old cotton shirt. If he cleaned and cheered himself up, he would be unmistakable from Santa Claus. Next to the register on the counter was a golden cage, inside of which were several canaries, chirping merrily and happily as the old man went about his business.
He closed the register and looked at his shop. A small corner store, dimly lit and shaded by the towering buildings of NYC, a nameless shop. That's always been there for those who don't know where it is. But can only be found when someone will buy something from it.
Naturally, the store doesn't receive very many customers. For indeed, to the average eye, it just looks like an abandoned store, with the windows boarded up and the door locked shut. On the inside, however, it is a quaint and crowded, two aisle store. The shelves filled with tomes of lore and legend, trinkets of wonder, and the tools of heroes. The old man looked at the glass counter he was standing over, and the item displayed inside. He honestly was about to lose hope with this particular item. It's been sitting there for decades, unsold, gathering dust, but still good as new. The price on it is probably inaccurate as well, what with inflation, but the shopkeeper never bothered to change the prices. In fact, he was almost certain that most every item in the store was cheaper than it should be. But the old man wasn't even aware of what day it was. He barely knew the year. Perhaps maybe is aide would know.
He called out, his voice hoarse and throaty, yet at the same time kind and regal.
"...Ash?"
Felix counted the heads. Yep, this was the whole crew. He then answered Chris.
"Hey, it's the world's only Big Apple. Let's get somewhere quiet before the church crowds flood the city."
Felix then abruptly started off, grabbing Sarah's hand and dragging her along with him. It was his 16th birthday, and damned if he'd spend it standing in one place for too long. He started heading off north, away from Time's Square, where the crowd's the thickest.
Sandwich Summoner
The young man passed a finger through the shelves, noticing the dust that was accumulating in the shelves, as he took a drag of his cigarette thoughtfully. He could've sworn this particular shelf had never changed ever since he had arrived at the store as a little kid, more than a decade ago. His gaze lingered for a few moments as he scanned the contents of the shelf. Newt eyes? Bah, only good as exotic snacks... Virgin Blood, you wish, with these times, you are never sure who's a virgin. The Kamasutra? What the hell is this thing doing here? Oh wait, it's just the "special" version. The Book of the Not Quite Dead... what a cheap copy...
"Is there something that itches you, old man?" He said. He scratched his red, braided hair. "You've been kind of zoned out today, more than the usual, that is."
edited 24th Jan '11 7:12:27 PM by AtomicNut
Kyle took Felix's urge to get away from Times Square as an excuse for a race. He ran past the birthday boy with the words, "I doubt you can catch up with me Felix!"
edited 24th Jan '11 7:21:29 PM by JustaUsername
Some people say I'm lazy. It's hard to disagree.
SSSSSSSSS-
Chris was just about to open his soda bottle when Felix grabbed Sarah and ran off. "Oh come on!" Chris yelled, chasing after Felix and Sarah. He grunted in notice at how quickly Kyle managed to head them off. Hopefully it would slow them enough for him to keep up, though.
The Maid
Sarah was tempted to remark that the this Apple wasn't going anywhere. But still, Felix enthusiasm was quite contagious and it was his birthday after all. They better make the most of it.
Sarah held his hand a little more tightly and hastened her steps as hurried at his side "Indeed, the last thing we need on this day is to elbow our way through a crowd"
If I'm sure of something it's that I'm not sure of anything.
"Hah! You're racing against the best striker on the team!" Felix sped up as Kyle rushed by, catching up with him even with Sarah in tow.
It was a good day. The crew so far had enjoyed a hot dog from one of the city's numerous stands, hit up every store and mall of note on Manhattan. Hanged out at the edge of the city and looked at the Statue of Liberty. And now they were racing through the streets.
"What day is it?" The shopkeeper asked. Looking off randomly into space, deep in thought.
Kyle picked up the pace. "You're not the only athlete around here" the large boy said in retortion, "There's no way you'll ever catch up!"
And than...Kyle reach a crossing intersection with the sidewalk on his side of the road blocked for construction.
Some people say I'm lazy. It's hard to disagree.
つ ◕_◕ ༽つ HELIX
"Oh sweet mother of-" Sarina noticed the others running. Despite spending much of her free time walking aroudn town, knowledge of the back alleys and secret routes didn't help her athletics at all. She began jogging after Felix and his friends, muttering the digits of Pi while doing so.
The Maid
Oh God, between the two of them we'll be running until we crash into the Central Park
Sarah put her legs to work, the last thing she wanted was to slip and fall. She remembered her days of playing soccer and so put her best into keeping up with Felix's pace.
She just hoped the other could keep up.
If I'm sure of something it's that I'm not sure of anything.
SSSSSSSSS-
"Oh come on, you guys know that I can't keep this pace!" Chris called after them, already beginning to feel a bit tired. Chris had rather uninterested in physical activity for the past couple years, which gave him a rather unfortunate effect of being out of shape. It always kind of bothered Chris, really. He was the oldest of the group, but he was one of the worst when it came to sports. In a fight... Well, that was a completely different story.
Felix put on his best Nelson voice and let out a loud "HAA HAA!" as he past Kyle. And that was it, Kyle had no hope of catching Felix now. When it comes to gaining the lead in a foot race, Felix might be hard pressed to actually do it. But when it comes to keeping the lead, there is no hope for those trying to steal it from him. And for good measure, Felix rounded several blocks and corners just to keep him off track.
Eventually, Felix slowed down as he kept ahead of Kyle and the others, he imagined Sarah would be getting tired by now. He was as well, it was a while since he did any hardcore running. It was summer vacation after all. Felix was looking forward to his junior year in high-school. Finally, to be an upperclassman! He officially had rights to mess around with the freshmen. All in good fun, of course. Felix waited for the others to catch up to him.
"Stragglers!" He called jokingly. Man, it's been a while since he's had this much fun.
Felix sighed contentedly and looked around.
...Er. Where were they? He checked the nearest street sign, it had faded away to illegibility. Hunh, you'd imagine someone would've changed the sign by now. A few old cars were parked at the sides of the road, but the streets were mostly empty. In the background, the noise of the hustle and bustle of the city could be clearly heard, but here, it was quiet. Peaceful even. The midday sun shone softly around the corners of the towering buildings, casting a dim light and shadow on the street below. It almost seemed like it was sunset, even though it was only around 3 in the afternoon.
"Um... Anyone know where we're at?"
The Maid
Sarah finally made it to where Felix was standing and once there she knew she wouldn't take another step until she caught her breath. She laid her hands on her knees and took several quick breaths as she listened to Felix's question.
"I... don't... know... Maybe Canada?" Pausing between each word to breather.
However once she let the question sink and took a look around she was surprised to find herself with just as much idea of where they were as Felix.
How the hell can I get lost on Manhattan?
"Never thought I would find a street as dead as this one..."
If I'm sure of something it's that I'm not sure of anything.
Kyle had yet to notice the emptyness of the street and was reaching for the finish line that Felix had already took. "You just got lucky...if it wasn't for the construction I would have won the race."
After the thoughts of the race left Kyle's head, he realised how strange the current location truly was. "I've never seen a street like this one before..."
Some people say I'm lazy. It's hard to disagree.
SSSSSSSSS-
Chris was utterly and completely exhausted by this point. It took pretty much all of what he had to keep at least one of his friends in sight, and was rather angry by the time he caught up. Of course, he was much too busy giving his much needed body air to yell at them. Chris sat down rather heavily next to the wall of a building, alternating between gasping and coughing. After a couple minutes of this, he had finally caught his breath enough to give voice to his anger, even if it was only in a wheeze.
"God...Damnit man, did you forget... That I don't get enough excerise to keep up... When you goo all out like that?!... And I KNOW I've told you that I never wanted to get lost in New York again!... I only got LUCKY that I managed to keep at least one of you in sight to keep up... Ugh... Feh... Man, now my Soda's been all shaken up, so I can't even take a drink of that..." Chris was still too tired to register that Felix just did what Chris had been trying to prevent in the first place by keeping up with them. Avoid being lost in the Big Apple. "Ugh... So... Where are we?"
edited 24th Jan '11 11:58:20 PM by Cador
Putting his hand at the back of his neck, Kyle said to Chris "Sorry about that. I'm a competitive person and wanted to beat Felix in a race...though he was the winner this time..."
He than turned towards Sarah "I'm also sorry for what I put you through. I pulled out Felix's will to win with you being dragged by hand."
Kyle than faced Chris again "You asked where we are right Chris? Well none of us have any idea..."
Having a second look at the street, Kyle started to worry about something. Where is Sarina?
edited 25th Jan '11 1:42:16 AM by JustaUsername
Some people say I'm lazy. It's hard to disagree.
Sandwich Summoner
Ash facepalmed. "Man... you don't even know? You're really spaced out. You need to buy a calendar." He flipped his cigarette as he walked towards him. "It's August First." He then paused, and as if by a stretch, he also added the year to his statement. He coulnd't have forgotten the year, could he?. "2010."
He then blinked, and looked at the one item he had been gazing."You still have that on display. Old man... how come something that powerful is still around? You know most people could kill for that sort of boon."
He put the cigarette in the ashtray, as he gave a second glance at that. "Let me clean it a little and put a new price... Maybe if we really show its face value, they'll buy it soon."
つ ◕_◕ ༽つ HELIX
"-two, three, seven, one, three, seven, eight, (cough) six, nine..." Sarina caught up and collapsed onto her knees, gasping for air. Her excuse for being last was partly at fault, being poor at athletics, but reciting digits of pi with every other breath she took was a bigger reason.
"I had to (gasp) start making up (gasp) digits of pi (gasp) because we were (gasp) running for so long."
"Who? We haven't had a customer in ages... Besides, most people don't even know what it truly does. " The old man gazed at Ash, his striking blue eyes emanating a calming, kind aura.
"Oh, look." He said, turning his eyes to the shop's window.
"I think we're about to have customers."
"I think we're still on Manhattan. We didn't cross a bridge, or even hit Central Park... At least I think we didn't." Felix looked around the street and noticed what looked like a corner store across the street, except there wasn't a name or anything. It looked like a store though, there were items on display in the window.
"Hey, is that a shop? Maybe the guys in there might know."
With that, he quickly crossed the street and went to the door, but stopped before he went inside, because an item came into view and caught his eye.
Behind the window, on a beautiful stand, was a wondrous sword presented in a large, ornate scabbard, with a silver hilt and a blue gem adorning the crest.
Now, Felix was into medieval stuff, like swords and castles, he had been since he was, like, eight, when his uncle took him to Medieval Times. This one sword blew all of the swords he'd ever seen out of the water. He stepped over and abruptly plastered his face on the window.
"Woooah." Was all he said.
It was only $40, with taxes included in the price.
He had $60 left on him.
He looked past the sword and into the shop itself, it didn't look like any regular store he ever saw in New York. First of all, it looked... old. Like it had been there for at least a century. Dust covered many of the items. It also didn't look like it fit into any of the store "themes" Felix knew. Suffice to say, it wasn't a bookstore, or a general store, or a hobby store, or a novelty store.
It looked sort of like a mythology store.
On the far aisle, nothing but books lined the entirety of the shelves, all of them seemed old, worn and thick. On the next aisle was statuettes and some medieval weaponry, such as hammers, staves, maces, and even bows and arrows. All of them looked like they belonged in a Dungeons and Dragons game. Gems and jeweled accessories lined the other shelf, and some folded, wierd, old looking clothes on the opposite side. The place looked like a fantasy nerd's dream.
All Felix wanted, however, was that sword.
The Maid
"What caught your attention this time, Felix?" Sarah asked, as she walked towards her boyfriend's side. She then peered through the shop's window, with both hands.
Alright, the swords were plenty cool, that one dagger was awesome... those imitation jewels looked extremely well made, she could almost believe they were the real thing from where she stood. Just what kind of store was this? It was full of stuff out of geek dreams but it didn't have any dice, board games or other stuff like that. A fantasy prop store?
Well whatever else it was it seemed quite interesting.
"Looks like that mad dash brought us to a good find, right Felix?"
If I'm sure of something it's that I'm not sure of anything.
A dream from last night...
What do you know about fantasy? You think it's the daydreams of escapists; those who are disillusioned with reality and seek something more. They dream of impossible creatures and weilding awesome power. They write stories and sing songs of glorious fiction and myth. But none of them believe it's real. You don't believe it's real. They know it's not, and you know it's not, deep down inside.
But you also know, even deeper down, that you're lying.
It exists, they exist.
They just don't want you to know they exist.
Yet, at the same time, they do.
So tell me, what do you know about fantasy? You don't know anything, the only things you know are the fairytales you were told as a kid and the stories you read growing up. The games you play that let you, if only briefly, live that life. You know what a fairy is, you know of elves, centaurs, orcs, witches, heroes, magic, all that fantasy crap...
...Dragons.
Ah, yes. That got your attention, didn't it? No other creature is quite as majestic, fearsome, or powerful, is it? They fly, breath fire, have fearsome fangs and claws, impenetrable scales, eat your cattle, steal your damsels and only very few people are capable of stopping them.
At least, the stories say that. They're actually much more that the fables give them credit for. But oh, no, I won't tell you more. You want it? You have to live it, to depart your old life and enter a new one. Stop living your dreary human life, working a shitty job for eight bucks an hour slinging fatty food at unhealthy slobs, you've been there, you've seen it, I'm sure. And you want to escape. I know what you want, you want to see a dragon, I see that spark in your eye, you don't want to leave, but you can't say no. And I know how to take you there...
Alright, tell you what, you can turn and leave now, put the book down, hit the back button, turn the TV off, wake up and get back to your life, and I won't stop you. You've got friends and family that need you, after all.
Or... you can stay. But I'm warning you, if you do, there's no turning back.
Last chance.
You sure?
...
Alright, here's what's up.
It's August First, 2010, New York City.
Today is Felix Sander's 16th birthday. Yeah, Felix, you know him, good friend of yours, real Nice Guy, soccer player, best striker on the team, popular kid in school and down with everyone from the jocks to the nerds. You have plans to go out tonight, right? Yeah, hit up Times Square, go shopping, eat tons of food, and then head back to Felix's place in suburbia and party until the sun rises. You've been looking forward to it.
Today's also going to be the day your life changes forever.
Alright, alright, calm down, I can see you shaking, geeze. Here's what you have to do.
You have to drink the blood of a Dragon.
Yeah, no big deal. No huge quest to the end of the earth, just drink the blood.
Now, I know what you're thinking. "How in the hell will I get it, then? And why the hell do I have to drink it?"
You'll get some tonight, don't worry about that.
As for drinking it, well...
When you drink a dragon's blood, you become a dragon.
Now wake up! It's gonna be an exciting day...
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edited 23rd Jan '11 10:21:56 PM by Renagade