Challenge #8

Genre: Fantasy

Rating: T

Likes: Anything w/ Magic, emperors, empresses, thieves, wanna-be ninja’s, and a psycho jester

Dislikes: Destiny, All-Knowing God-being picking out the main character, a thief stealing from a palace and getting away, beautiful people all over, and references to cake and peas.

Three Quotes/Phrases:

“Life is like a cookie- you get bitten and die”

“You make my mind bleed creativity”

“The world is a depressing place because of that jester”

Dedications:

To AAC, sorry for being a disappointment to you when you held high expectations of me…

To: No Ordinary Girl, for having allowed me at times to edit her chapters…

To: Black Wings Red Tears, for sharing with me how she feels through her stories about her life…

To: Silver Edged Fantasy, for being the first friend I ever had on fictionpress and for having given me some of her expert advice to go about the site.

To: Lord Iron-Balls, for making a story that made me think of different scenarios for how the characters would plot against each other in the high school social status hierarchy.

To: Nae-Chan, for beginning that Atlantis story but didn’t finish. I hope to finish this in honor of yours- which I know would have been great if you had continued.

To: BlueCrystal &Kasashi Maru, for bringing my hope to continue writing ‘cause I thought my stories were naturally pathetic

To: ihrtbks, for creating great stories that I didn’t finish reading or reviewing- and which I hope to pick back up and do so.

And, well, I think that’s all. If I missed anyone, I’ll add them later. 

Chapter One: Xue

In the mountains of Corfane, lay a small village. It is said that for over five hundred years, great ninjas were trained. One boy, Xue, of eight springs, believed so much in the tales of his mother and father that he escaped one night from his home miles away from the mountains of Corfane. His parents never found him.

This is the story of Xue, the Wanna-Be Ninja

…

Eight years later…

“Put your backs into it, you mangy fools!” roared a bear of a man. He was 10 inches over seven feet tall, as black as a shadow in an underground cave, and as strong as a bull. His name was Balint- meaning strong and healthy, and yes he was. He labored strenuously in his forge when not giving fight lessons to the different color guards of the 12 Keeps. Peering at the “Rats” before him, he caught sight of Aenor, a brown-eyed shrimp with the remains of the grey pox that had killed off only a tenth of each Keep- all ranging in age. Aenor, once plain looking, became atrociously hideous. He had not followed indtructions from the healers, to keep from scratching and straining to work fir long periods, and was left with scars and indentations upon his skin. Sitting on a rock with crossed legs, Aenor just stared at his fellow classmates. Balint knew exactly why. Apart from the horrible feeling of being ill, not wishing to do anything but scratch and work hard to ignore it, the brain lost the ability to think properly, destroying cells for memory. Long version turned short: the disease controls the mind to ignore it until the brain is left like muck due to constant pain made from the disease. Sometimes even killing the person.

“Aenor! Aenor!”

Turning slowly, Aenor seemed to have woken from a dream. “Yes… Sir?”

“Return to the Rat Keep of Second Level!” he shouted. “Get Xue to watch over your post!”

Aenor looked at Balint as if confused, then stood and walked in the direction of the male rat dormitories.

Sitting on the stools closest to the northeast windows sat a young man staring at the oh- so-blue sky.

“Xue?”

Turning in his seat, Xue took one long look at Aenor and knew he had forgotten why he was in the dorm.

“You came from training, didn’t you? Do not worry; I will do your chores today. Just get to bed.” Standing, Xue stretched and left after assuring himself that Aenor went to bed.

Poor fellow. Stuck with side effects from the disease. Too far into the disease to be spared from the memory loss.

“Xue! Took you long enough!” barked Balint.

“Well, pardon, my lateness. Aenor lost his train of thought again!”

Any response afterwards Xue ignored and began Aenor’s unfinished chores. It was sad, really, to know that the smartest student in the Rat dorm could not even hold a single thought for longer than a minute. Xue knew, that without Aenor, he couldn never have made it past the Goat exams. The only reason why Aenor was able to remain living in the mountains after the disease, was that Balint found Aenor as a young babe. Because of that, Aenor could live here.

Balint had lost both his wife and son to child birth- and then found Aenor, stranded in the forest surrounding the mountain peaks. Aenor had been left as a sacrifice that the valley people thought was necessary and that is how many students came to be in the Vesta Ty. Aenor, only a few months old- the youngest ever sacrifice, was left to die in the mountains’ surrounding forests. And so, Aenor became Balint’s son- only if his feelings couldn’t be seen but in the inner recesses of Balint’s heart.

Balint did not know that EVERYONE knew of his feelings toward his adoptive son. And no one dared say so out of fear for his wrath.

Once Aenor’s chores were done, Xue returned to the Class Rat dorms.

Sitting alone at the table that rested in the center of the dorm was the Message Man. It was an honor to have the Message Man in one’s presence- for he told either of the greatest success to come, or of the greatest loss. The Message Man had foretold of the disease- but everyone was too afraid to believe, even after he gave the names of those who would die and those who would be left as empty shells. All out of desperation to stop the evil, he had foreseen.

Now, the moment of surprise.

“Message Man?” asked Xue uncertainly. “May I be one with the wind to hear your message, the earth to carry your words, the water to show your prediction, and the fire to shine it bright to see it by?”

The Message Man turned around with the faint trace of a smile on his wrinkled face. Looking at it you would think he was 107 years old. He was, in fact, 35. The ‘messages’ aged his body. Ever since he was a child- no, an embryo in his mother’s womb, he had been able to see ‘messages’. It was said that before he was born, he had been sent a ‘message’ that he would die being choked by his very own feeding tube. As such, he maneuvered himself to get through childbirth so that he could live with his mother.

The only reason why anyone though that at all, was because his mother had a ‘message’ through her unborn child’s eyes- before she even knew she was pregnant. After that, the Message Man had achieved greatness. No one remembered his name because they were used to “Message Man” the title given after he grew from boyhood.

So far, in the Message Man’s life, the ‘message-bearing-eye’ had been used the most. In other generations, it was rare for there to be a seeing message at all. Sometimes, it even skipped whole generations before it was seen again. Now, it was back.

The Message Man waited patiently until Xue could stop ogling. Xue had the faint feeling that the Message Man had foreseen that Xue would mentally ogle him.

With a small smile, the Message Man began, “I have seen many futures Xue. Half good, half bad. No single future can be determined because nothing but the names of our ancestors is set in stone. As such, I have come to you, Xue, to give you a say in the upcoming future. Much depends on your ability to succeed if you choose to accept what I have to say.

“I know I may be asking for more than you are capable of, so that is why I will tell you of the outcome for a future I fear beyond measure. Are you ready to hear me out?

Xue nodded, “I am ready.”

“Good. What I have forseen is endless battle. Two warring kingdoms- fueled hy outrage and fury- will fight until their lands are scattered in ashed and drowned in the blood of their people.

“Please, tell me now or tomorrow if you will accept this message so that you can change it. To ensure that this message won’t ever see the light of the fire.”

The Message Man stood up and left Xue in shock.

Am I willing to stop these two kingdoms without knowing where they may be? Who might be fighting? Am I willing to possibly die for a battle that may have nothing to do with the Vesta Ty? And if so, am I willing to leave the one place that put before me the chance to be more than life first gave me?

Am I willing?...

My first Ficathon story’s chapter!!! I hope people like it. Review it any way you, audience want. Flame it, love it, hate it, and praise it, whatever it! Criticize it in any way possible.

I know some of you may be thinking, there are some parts that I don’t get- like the Goat dorm? WTF is that?

Well, to help you lovely readers out, after every chapter, I will post up meanings for my wacky ideas here. But, if you want to know sooner, review this chapter with the question “What the hell does so and so mean?” I will send you a message telling you what it means to satisfy you.

Therefore, what do you think will happen? Will Xue accept it? Will he deny it? Remember, this story was meant to have placed in a wanna-be ninja in it. I could either leave him out entirely afterwards since I used him already. Should I still keep him? Should I drop him so that another could take is place? What do you think? Review and find out!

Love,

TopazEyes1992