| Alphastone | [IN PROGRESS]

Chapter 3

     "Get back here!" Nuvirisse shouted. We were dragged out of the castle. The chase was on. "You two are as slow as mules! Hurry or we'll be captured." "First of all," Saca chimed in. "...calling me as slow as a donkey is offensive--" "Just hurry up!" As we attempted to speed up, the guards were gaining on us. "T-They're getting closer," I shouted anxiously. "Just try to keep speed with me," Avillia ordered. I tried my best to keep pace, but she was just too fast. "Quick, that alley," Saca pointed out an upcoming alleyway. Listening to him, Avillia dragged us down it and pressed us against the building.

"Don't make a sound," she whispered. Holding our breath, we watched a small group of robot guards run past shouting. "Where did they go?!" Nuvirisse grumbled angrily. "Find them, and don't let them get away!" At that, they all split in different directions.

We 3 sat in the backstreet silently for a few minutes after that before Saca finally said something. "Do you think they're gone?" he asked. We peeked out and looked back and forth. "It looks like it," I replied. I took a step out onto the sidewalk before Avillia yanked me back. "Hold on," she said. "I have a few questions to ask you both." "Go ahead," I said. We all sat in the alley, listening, and answering Avillia's questions. "So, to sum it all up...

"You are Zeke Shepard, and he is Saca Hawkeye. Saca killed your matren and patrise, right?"

"Yes, but what does 'matren' and 'patrise' mean?" I asked.

"Matren and patrise is mother and father," she answered. "Now, you moved to the Land of Trees after this incident, and--"

"Land of Trees? No, I moved to the woods," I quickly refuted.

"Stop interrupting me!" Avillia snapped back. "You moved to the woods and continued your life there until recently. Saca rolled in on his transportation machine, and when he introduced himself, you made a break for the trees. The Alphastone - which you now do not have - started luminescing brightly, and caused the sky to turn black. When Saca knocked into you in that field, Zeke, you both fell into a wormhole, I believe, but you thought it was a gigasyne abyss. I don't need to explain the rest."

"That sounds about right," Saca said. I nodded in agreement. "Well, now that I know who you both are, let me properly introduce myself," Avillia said placidly. "My name is Avillia Warschiner. A pleasure to meet you both."

"A pleasure to meet you too," I replied.

While Saca and Avillia conversed, my mind was focused on anything other than them. I was focused on one thing specifically, to be exact. "Avillia, I have a question." She looked at me and nodded. "The Alphastone. What exactly is it, anyway? I thought it was a normal rock," I asked. "That I won't explain yet. Now, let's go, we need to get you both something different to wear." We all stood up and made our way through the alley's twists and turns. It felt like we had been walking forever.



"Here we are," Avillia announced, stopping us both. We were at a small marketplace on the edge of a field. People of all ages were walking around, advertising their products. One was a "hydrona," which looked like some water inside of a jar, and another was a "blenngaing beetle" that was inside a cage. There was a large variety of items, including...

"This is the clothing section. Choose wisely," Avillia said, looking at some belt pouches on a hat rack.

I looked around at all the items that were for sale and chose out a few items that I liked. The first was a pair of white, metal shoulder pads and knee pads. The second was a pair of fingerless leather gloves that were colored maroon. The gloves had white faux fur around the wristbands, but I didn't expect the clean, white color to last. I untied the maroon hoodie from around my waist and put it on, pushing up my sleeves."Zeke," Avillia called. "Yes?"

"Put this belt on and take out the items hanging from the loops." She handed me a white belt with large loops on either side. She buckled it around my waist and I grabbed the items hanging from them. They were made of metal and painted white, as long as my forearm, and had hand grips. Avillia adjusted them in my hands and pointed to a small button near my thumb. "Point that way and push that button." I did as she said, and an electric force field sort of thing shaped into a point from one edge of the metal to the other. I exclaimed. "What is this for?" "You need a weapon to fend off those guards, right? Take them," Avillia answered. I examined the weapons. I doubted that they'd work, though.

"When I throw these cans in the air, you aim and slice them with your blades," she commanded. I listened to catch her cue. "1... 2... 3." In one quick movement of my arm, the cans were sliced into two pieces. "Wow, cool! Is there anything else these can do?" "They can also work as shields," Avillia mentioned, throwing half of one of the cans at me. I blocked it and sure enough, it bounced off the force field. "Awesome," I exclaimed.

Saca came running over with three hats balanced on his head. "Look what I can do," he shouted with pride. Avillia and I looked at each other and rolled our eyes. I pulled the hats off of his head and helped him find some items, despite holding a grudge towards him. He chose something comfortable and simple, but also stylish. He also chose something for a weapon. It looked like a hula hoop with spikes on the outside, and whenever he threw it, electric currents came off of it. He seemed to like it very much, judging by the cheeky grin on his face. "So, what are these for again?" Saca asked Avillia. "These are for fending off the guards," I answered quickly, not letting Avillia answer on purpose. That got me knocked upside the head.

"Fending them off, huh? Alright. That should be fine." Saca grabbed the belt buckle that came with the spiked hoop and clipped it to his belt, wrapping the string around a part of the hoop and tying it in place. We all spent a decent amount of time afterward searching for items to camp with and headed off towards what Avillia called the Land of Trees. I assumed it was just another name for the woods in this strange place.

All this traveling and walking had already gotten me tired. I had a decent feeling that this was going to be a wild adventure in itself.