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Here is the first three chapters of a story I started writing. Hope you all enjoy it!
This will be updated regularly and comments and critique is appreciated!
Warning: Strong Language and Violence
All characters, settings and story belong to me and can not be used by anyone else.
Dreams of the Heart
Stage 1: Encounter
"What do I want to do when I grow up? There is one goal I have in mind. I plan to take over the world of course!"
-Mayoko during kindergarten
The islands of Solsis and Lunastra have been called many things, but they are mostly known as the twin islands of paradise. The islands have many different climates and secrets that make it an exciting place to live. Those wishing to start a new life, those looking for treasure, those looking to make a name for themselves, and those who love adventure. They built a large resort city on Lunastra which has become a bustling place of commerce that is attracting a wide variety of people of all different sizes, races, and occupations all to discover the wonders of these islands. It is here where our tale will takes place.
The sun rose up from the sea, the waves crashing against the shore of Lunastra; a girl was still fast asleep in her bed. Some would call her a half-human while others would call her half-beast. Whatever the case she was mostly human in appearance except for the long golden fur-covered pointed ears sticking out from her long flowing blonde hair and a golden fur covered fox-tail wagging gently as he slept in her comfortable bed. She was having a nice dream but the sunlight piercing through the windows commanded her to awaken from her slumber. After getting up and doing to usual bathroom stuff she changed into her clothes. A long red shirt with a flower on it, with a pink ribbon tied over the sides of the dress along with a light blue skirt. Her feet were shoes and long socks that reached above her knees. She tied her long hair back into a pony tail gave herself a quick check in the mirror and she was ready to start her day.
This girl is named Mayoko, and she runs an item shop on the island. She supplies all travelers, adventures, and citizens of the island with medicines, maps, and other useful items. She does this all by herself and it gets pretty exhausting for one girl to handle a swarm of customers. Her shop, the "Sea Breeze" is supplied entirely by Mayoko, which saves her a lot of money that she uses for renovations and obtaining new products. She does this by making all the products herself with her knowledge of medicines and materials and she is always experimenting to make new products. She has been working on this island for about 3 months and her business has been slow to start but is gaining popularity.
Mayoko has a very determined mind and wants to accomplish her ultimate goal, to take over the world. She has wanted to do this ever since she was little but she has learned from people past mistakes. Some have gathered armies others used demonic power but they all have failed miserably. Mayoko is different she plans to use the power of business. By spreading her business across the world and using the power and influence of the business she can take over the world and help it in her own way. That is her plan, to create a giant business conglomerate and use it to make the world a better place even if it meant taking over other businesses and locations.
Our story begins one day during late spring, a day that changed everything for her. It was a beautiful spring day with a bit of clouds in the sky and the temperature was nice and warm. Mayoko had a successful day of work, despite her business being small she has made a quite a bit of money. Since it is cheaper for her to make things herself she closes the shop early everyday to scavenge for medicinal ingredients on the island of Solsis. She is quite frugal so despite the danger and the high recommendation to hire a mercenary from the Adventurer's guild to protect her she braves the dangers of the island all by her lonesome.
The city was vibrant as usual, tourists on the beach, couples near the magnificent fountain at the city's central square. She made her way to the Moonlight Bridge, the large bridge that connects the two islands, made entirely out of marble tile; it was truly a sight to behold. It was a common place for adventures to meet up to explore the dangerous island. Just beyond the bridge was the place many strive to explore and prove their worth. From the bridge the island looks like a large forested area with two large mountains in the distance but there are rumors that there is more to the island than meets the eye.
Mayoko was going to the area she usually goes right near the bridge dubbed "Pleasant Meadows" and as its name suggests it's not dangerous…for beginner fighters. Yet everyone in the world has some knowledge of fighting and/or magic so even a common person can live in the Pleasant Meadows area. There were relatively few aggressive beings named monsters and most of the field is filled with plenty of flowers and medicinal plants that it's more peaceful than not. The typical monsters that inhabit this area include slimes, gelatinous blobs with eyes, and devrow, a flying birdlike creature with a single eye and one set of talons.
There was relatively little interference from the monsters and as such Mayoko was able to collect her ingredients pretty easily. As she was about to leave she spotted something weird in the distance. Seeing as she was done earlier than expected she decided to find out what it was. To her surprise it was a wolf! A black wolf that looked wet and his clothes were all torn. He was kind of on the skinny side but had some nice muscle tone shown through his wet t-shirt. This wolf just collapsed in the middle of a field of flowers. He was male and had two swords lying next to him. Mayoko tried shaking him to wake up but the male wolf became dizzy and threw up all over the beautiful flowers. As soon as she saw the throw up Mayoko let out a scream, it didn't wake up the wolf but it woke up something else.
Through the nearby trees a sound of wobbling jelly was getting closer. A very large blue slime shaped like a gum drop appeared in front of Mayoko and the unconscious wolf. Mayoko's facial expression turned from concerned to determined in an instant as she stood up to face the large monster. "I won't let you hurt him! You'll have to go through me first!"
In the bag strapped across her waist she pulled what looked like a double sided mirror and with the press of a button located on the side. It extended a short rod from the bottom of the mirror making it a "mirror baton". The Mirror itself was beautiful with gold all around the edges and two feathered wings on the side of the mirror and a small star at the top of the mirror on its rim.
The large slime grew a giant claw from its innards and reached out to strike the girl. Mayoko quickly blocked it but putting the mirror in front of the attack. A barrier formed as the claw struck the staff preventing the mirror from breaking. Mayoko grunted and pushed the slimy claw with her barrier knocking it off balance. "Now to finish you off!" she cried happily twirling the baton like a cheerleader. "Water grant me power!" As she said this a circle of water appeared mid air twirling in the same circular motion as her baton. "I'll split you in half! MIRROR SLICE!" she said as she swung the baton like a sword at the water. The water moved at high speed towards the giant slime shaped like a crescent. The slime screamed as the water came barreling towards it but it reacted too late and it was sliced in half quite literally. Not being able to maintain its form the slime collapsed into a puddle that vaporized in less than a second. "Alright!" She happily shouted out contracting the baton and placing it in her bag.
Now that the monster was gone she turned her attention back to the wolf, who seemed to be waking up. The wolf opened his eyes as the vision of Mayoko's face came into focus. "Where…where am I?" he said in a gruff voice as he struggled to get up. Mayoko helped him up as he did and soon he was standing on his feet.
"You are on the island of Solsis silly? What were you doing collapsed in Pleasant Meadows all wet and beat up?" Mayoko asked.
"What? Huh? The only thing I remember is falling off a boat that was supposed to arrive on the island by April 29th… and then next thing I know you are here and I don't know where I am…"
"April 29th!? That was two weeks ago! That means you were on the same boat I was on when I came to these islands! I can't believe you survived all this time no wonder you look beat up and wet all over!" Mayoko said with a shocked look. "You must be starving let me take you to my shop and I'll cook you something!"
"Ugh…curse my luck…nothing in my life ever goes right I've had a history of bad luck but I never been thrown overboard and not eaten for 2 weeks." he said picking up his weapons off the ground attaching it to his belt. He searched around his pants to see if his stuff was still there. "Oh no my wallet is gone too! My application to the Adventurer's Guild is gone too! Damn it this sucks! My backpack with all my clothes are gone and everything!" he shouted angrily as tears welled up in his eyes.
Mayoko got a malicious grin on her face meaning she had an idea. This poor guy was just the person she wanted. She figured it was about time she hired someone to help her around her shop. It could be an opportunity to help expand her business on the island. "Well I have been in need of some help, I could work for me and I'll pay for your food clothes and let you stay with me at the shop? How does that sound? Not a bad deal huh? If I were you I would accept it before I change my mind…"
The wolf immediately jumped in and said, "I'll do it! I'll do anything! Please! My name is Hideo Tsuyoya! Thank you so much!" He said bowing his head towards her.
"Alright it's a done deal!" she said with an excited look on her face, her fox tail flowing through the breeze. "My name is Mayoko Ruetos…Let me be the first to welcome you to my company Starlight Incorporated, you will be working at my shop the Sea Breeze, and with your help my company is going to take over the world!" She said raising her fist in the air.
"What did I get myself into…will my bad luck ever cease…" my thought to himself as he heard the girl say something crazy as taking over the world. But he wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth so he decided to accept and join her company. Hideo had no idea what was in store for him and neither did Mayoko in the days to come.
Stage 2: Challenge
"Damn it! I will surpass him! No matter what it takes!" the little tiger shouted into the sky as it poured down like tears of concentrated sadness. His voice towards the direction of a larger more built tiger who grinned as he sheathed his rain soaked sword. The little tiger was no more than 13 by appearance while the larger figure was in his late thirties. As thunder clapped it seemed like for an instant that larger figure disappeared from view.
It's been about two months since Mayoko and Hideo started working together at the item shop. The popularity of the item shop increased thanks to the team work of Mayoko and Hideo. On the outside Mayoko seemed like a cheerful and friendly person but she was actually very ruthless and cut throat. Behind the scenes she scolded and made Hideo work extremely hard but he was paid much less than the work he put in for her business. Hideo's work consisted of being the store's clerk having to deal with the customers as well as go out to gather ingredients on the island so Mayoko can create new products. The wolf didn't really want to do it but he had no choice, she saved his life and thus she basically owned him.
On a typical summer afternoon, when it wasn't very busy, a lone man walked into the store. It was a large tiger he had some scars over his left eye and his right arm. He was quite muscular and had an expression on his face that said, "I'm better than you!" The tiger wore a plain blue tank top most likely to show off his body as well as worn out black jeans. His fur consisted of yellow with black stripes, which was very typical for the species and based on appearance looked like he was in his mid twenties.
This tiger walked up to the counter where Hideo stood with a bored look sizing up the tiger. Based on his appearance the wolf labeled his as a "stuck up prick." The tiger spoke, "5 Herbal potions and make it quick!" Hideo sighed and got what the tiger requested but he took his time as to anger him. The wolf hated this type of person who things and acted like he was better than everyone. "Hey hurry up!" the tiger shouted loudly.
The yell attracted the attention of Mayoko who was in the back of the store which was called the workshop area, in which all of Mayoko's crafting took place. Mayoko stopped what she was doing and ran to see what was going on. "Hideo! Are you displeasing the customer again!" Before he could respond she continued to shout, "I don't care what you have to say! Please try to be nice or I'm going to have to put you back on cleaning duty…" Hideo was somewhat frightened of her, cleaning duty meant cleaning everything inside and outside the store as well as the surrounding area which was worse than it sounded.
The tiger grinned, "Ha how pathetic for a man to be ordered around by a woman!" he said with an arrogant laughter following.
"What did you say?" Mayoko said flustered.
"Listen girl…I'll say this clearly, woman aren't meant for fighting or being leaders, they have to tend to the stores while men go out and make ends meat for them. For you see men are a lot stronger than woman, especially us beastkin!" he said while posing a double bicep in a way to establish dominance. "If you are the owner of this store than you should probably give it up to the wolf there he is probably far more competent than you are even if his attitude sucks." The two both stared at him with their jaw dropped in disbelief at what he just said. Suddenly two other warrior like men entered the store. One was an Ox with an axe and the other was a large fat elephant in armor holding a club. "Oh guys I'm almost ready to go just putting these losers in their place!" he said to his teammates.
Mayoko's eyes glimmered with hatred as an evil aura emanated from her. Hideo senses his and hid in the corner like a traumatized child. "Hehehehehe! How about a contest then to prove who is the best? You and your team against me and Hideo! We will take on any challenge you can dish out!"
The tiger responded with a laugh, "Ha! We will take you too on! We are one of the best teams of the Adventurer's guild! We do not lose especially to the workers of an item store. Ok then if you are up for the task then the challenge will be to race to get to the far end of the Vine Jungle and get some Klein Fruit and make it back to the connecting bridge first. If you win you have to close this store down and be my personal maid!"
Mayoko was surprised to hear this proposal but she was confident and didn't want to back down. "Fine then if I win you tiger have to work for me in my store! How does dawn tomorrow sound?"
Hideo didn't like where this was going, Mayoko was jeopardizing everything over the sexist tiger. "Wait a minute are you sure about this? And what if I don't want to do it!?"
Mayoko said, "Don't worry Hideo, We won't lose but…if you do anything to make us lose…I'll curse you forever!" Hideo sighed but he was also kinda wanted to put the tiger in his place.
The tiger said, "Ha you will regret the day you challenged the great Torade and his team!"
Stage 3: Race
The stage was set for the race to see who can pick the fruit first. Torade and his group were late to arrive at the bridge but they made it before sunset the time when the race was supposed to start. “How typical for the braggart to be late…” sighed Mayoko as she stood next to a slightly sleepy Hideo.
“Well I was just making the necessary preparations and these things take time girly!” He said with a cocky smirk on his face. Mayoko ignored him and said, “C’mon let’s start this race already!”
As the sun started to rise, Torade and Mayoko both shouted “Go!” Torade’s fast lasts put him quite ahead as he dashed to the jungle. Mayoko and Hideo rushed forward but were stopped in their tracks. Torade’s friends the Ox and the Elephant were stopped right in their path. “Keep em busy guys this won’t take long!” Torade shouted at his comrades as he headed into the nearby jungle.
The ox and elephant took out their weapons and started beating them to the ground the sheer force enough to shake the ground causing Mayoko and Hideo to stumble and fall flat on their faces. The ox laughed while the elephant just grinned as Hideo and Mayoko got up. “Damn it! We have no choice but to fight!” she shouted angrily as she brushed her long brown hair back. Hideo grunted knowing that it would have to come to fighting and unsheathed his two short swords.
The elephant made the first move and slammed his club into the ground causing a massive tremor and cracking some of the earth. The shockwave caused Mayoko to stumble again while Hideo was able to maintain his balance. The ox dashed towards her and swung his large axe attempting to cleave her in half. Mayoko struggled to get away but wasn’t able to get up fast enough. At a split second before impact Hideo threw one of his short swords at the ox’s right hand and piercing it. The sheer pain caused him to drop the axe on the ground.
Hideo pulled out the sword from Ox’s hand before slashing at his a few more times with both of his swords. The ox’s wounds weren’t severe but he would never be able to hold an axe the same way for a while. Mayoko got up a bit angry at almost getting hit and threw her baton at the elephant and hit him straight in the head. Focusing her energy above the elephant she condensed the water particles in the air and froze them into a large icicle. Snapping her fingers the icicle plunged and cracked itself on the elephant’s head. “That was a waste of time…and how dare they try to go after me first! C’mon let’s get going Hideo.”
Hideo was a little miffed that she didn’t thank him for saving her life. “Don’t you have something to say?” Mayoko knew what he meant but she didn’t want to admit that she was saved by a man, embarrassed she blushed and said, “We don’t have time for this c’mon let’s go.” Mayoko ran fast after she said that with Hideo grinning a bit after seeing her expression and running after her.
The jungle they just entered was very typical. The only thing out of the ordinary from a real jungle was the giant insects that were harmless to any non-plant but have known to be aggressive towards passerbies. Because of the insect’s ravenous appetite for the plants most plants have developed toxins or have become carnivorous to anything near it. The many toxics the plants produce have been made into very powerful medicines and have revolutionized the medical field. The Klein fruit is one such fruit that has high toxins but has high medicinal value. It was named after the one who discovered it Klein Soren and is the item that the race has been called out for.
After avoiding all the dangerous toxic plants due to the teamwork of Mayoko and Hideo they made it to the deep part of the jungle in the grove where the Klein fruit grows. Before they could grab it however…they heard a large shout that sounded familiar, “Don’t You DARE TOUCH THAT FRUIT!” Suddenly a tiger jumped out from the brush of the jungle looking pretty beat up. “Those damn plants I’m not some freakin chew toy… he said catching his breath. His face turned to anger as he got in a fighting stance towards the two who were near the fruit. “How dare you bastards get here first…I don’t know how you managed to beat up my team but I’m a hell of a lot stronger than those two combined. I’ll beat you up get the fruit and you girl will be my slave for life!”
Mayoko was very ticked off…not only did his perception of the prize change from maid to slave but he had some nerve to try to take them out before they even began the race. Hideo stepped in front of Mayoko as if to guard her and said, “What kind of arrogant bastard are you!? Not only do you try to cheat on a simple bet and insult someone very close to me but now you want to beat us up just because you are trying to prove your superiority!” Mayoko was taken aback as if the words were ripped away from her mouth.
“Oh Ho! So the scrawny pup has a backbone after all! I thought you were at this worthless woman’s beck and call but it seems you can stand up for yourself. I need to prove to everyone I’m the strongest being alive! I’ll take on any challenge and anyone who thinks that they are better than me is going to get a punch right in the fucking face!” the tiger said happily and chuckled.
“You seriously have no brains do you? You shouldn’t care what other people think you should just believe in yourself. Sure you are arrogant and so are a lot of people but your attitude towards women is something that I can not tolerate. You will learn some respect and modesty even if I have to beat you to a bloody pulp.” Mayoko said sternly readying her weapon in her right hand.
“Blah Blah Blah…I hate it when you women talk on and on. Strength is everything in this world as seeing as I’m a male beastkin I am supposed to be strong! Ha like a woman can even come close to my level on the battlefield. I can’t wait to have you make me a sandwich and have my way with you!” The tiger said with lust in his eyes.
Those were the last words she needed to hear. The berserk button has been pressed in Mayoko’s mind. “You sick bastard! That does it! Hideo we’re are going all out on this jackass!” Mayoko shouted into the air.
Torade made the first move rushing in for a punch to Hideo’s face with metal gloves on his fists. Hideo blocked the fist with both his swords and couldn’t counter due to the strength of the punch. With his other hand Torade went in to punch Hideo but before he could Mayoko was preparing to drop a couple of icicles on him. As the icicles finished forming and were about to drop Torade saw what she was doing and jumped back avoiding the three icicles that were about to fall on him. As he jumped back and after the icicle finished landing Hideo rushed in for a counter attack. Holding both swords in his hand and placed them so that his shadow covered them. The shadows enveloped the swords and as he removed it from his shadow it covered the swords like black flames. As he rushed towards Torade he shouted, “Shadow Splice!” As his swords made contact with the blocking tiger’s fist the shadows from his sword flew at the tiger and started to burn him greatly. Shouting angrily from the pain he grabbed Hideo’s blades and ripped it out of his hands. Before giving Hideo any time to react he quickly grabbed his neck and started to choke him. As Mayoko rushed to help Torade punched Hideo straight in the stomach and caused him to go flying back and smack into Mayoko.
“Get up Hideo! I said get up!” she said shaking the unconscious wolf. Torade walked up to her. “Now do you know how strong I am?” This statement was followed by a swift sidekick to her head. The kick so strong it sent her flying into a nearby tree head first. As blood was bleeding from her forehead and her consciousness fading all she could see was an angered tiger as her sight began to fade. Suddenly she heard the most heavenly voice as she wondered if the angels were coming to take her away.
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Last edited by Ryute on Thu Sep 09, 2010 1:16 am, edited 1 time in total.
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