《Feathery Delight》New Friends 6
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The night Kael had brought his smartphone had been one of the strangest nights in recent memory. Talking through text had felt strange, slow, and clunky at first, but he quickly began to enjoy the freedom of time. Composing his answers without pressure before sending them. In the end, they had set the meeting for Friday at 3 pm.
There was not much for Kael to do in the days leading up to the meeting. He had stubbornly tried to work on his magic by himself, but remained without progress. At the same time, he felt it a waste to look for work now. With magic on the horizon, there was no way he could concentrate on a normal job. So he was left with a lot of free time.
Visiting different districts of the city quickly became boring, and Kael decided to do something with his time. He had somewhat gotten used to his improved senses by now but had never really experimented with them. What exactly was improved? How far did the boost go? Then there were the questions about his body. Years of living alone on the street had seemingly been wiped away, leaving him as healthy, if not more so, as he should be. So he began to work out.
From the first hour of jogging through the empty streets in the morning, he was hooked. There was a kind of pure joy to running. In addition, the joy of feeling his healed body work again did its part, but what really got to him was the freedom of control he had. As he moved, he began to imagine people and things standing in the way. Dodging left, ducking right, and spinning past an imaginary dumpster. Kael could not stop grinning as he moved.
His training slowly evolved and he incorporated more and more activities. Running was quickly joined by amateurish shadowboxing, basic parkour, improvised weight lifting, and whatever else he could imagine. Still, he was not superman and needed to rest just like any other human being. In those times of rest, he worked on his mind.
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He picked out a random passerby and gave himself ten seconds to observe. Then he looked away and tried to remember whatever he could about the person. From simple things like clothing or hairstyle to more obtuse subjects like gait or possible emotional state. Spending his time training every day was a rush, and time passed quickly.
By the time it was Friday morning, the meeting had almost slipped his mind. Thankfully Martin texted him to confirm the time. After eating something for breakfast, the rest of the day was spent getting ready. Though possible, it was incredibly hard to find a public shower and bath he could use to get clean. In the end, most of the day was spent moving from place to place.
The clock on his smartphone showed 14:54 when Kael arrived at the meeting place. Looking around, he could not spot Martin yet. Nervousness, born from a conundrum of conflicting emotions made him feel sick to the stomach, but there was nothing to do other than wait. Scared and excited, he fiddled with his hair and clothes as he waited. Thankfully it only took a few minutes of waiting for Martin to show up and seeing the dopey smile on his face released the knot in Kaels stomach.
"Hey! Nice to see you again Kael." Martin greeted him. "Hi. Good to see you out and about again. Your parents forgive you yet?" Although he already knew that they had not, from all of Martin's complaints, he had received through text, it was still a decent place to start their conversation, Kael thought. "Man! No. Can you believe it? I only got out today because I told them that school would run longer. Remind me to check the time Ok? I need to be home by six at the latest. Man, but it's good to see you again. How have you been?"
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"Good, thank you. I have been training a lot these past few days. Somehow it seems that my senses have improved since the... events last time." - "Oh? Really? Nice, seems like we know something about your affinity, at least." - "Affinity? What are you talking about?" - "Ah! It's like, a focus, or talent I guess. But we can talk about that later. Right now, I am parched and in dire need of a sweet treat. You ready to move?"
Kael nodded, and they began their walk through the bustling streets. A quarter of an hour later, they stood before an old building. The small window showed various baked sweets, and the smell of coffee wafted out through the door when they opened it. The inside was apparently as old as the front of the building. To their right, a long counter stretched into the back of the store, while the left was full of tables and chairs in pleasant but faded colors.
Martin was already standing in front of the counter, looking at something behind the glass barrier, when Kael was finished taking all of the interior in. He joined him and saw what it was that Martin was staring at so intently. Behind the glass cover of the counter, Kael could see cakes, a lot of cakes. There were fruit cakes, chocolate torts, cream cakes, and different pies, most of them missing a few pieces. Overwhelmed by the number of choices, Kael just repeated what Martin did, trusting in his companions' taste.
A few minutes later, they sat in a corner seat on the second floor with coffee and cake ready to be consumed. It was only after he had his first taste of the cake, that Kael remembered his experience with the bread rolls a few days prior. After a minute or two of taste overload, Kael got used to it.
Looking up, he could see Martin grinning. "Hahaha. Been a long time since I saw a physical eat something new. You are in for a wild ride my friend!" Maybe his focus should be on the implications of what Martin had just said, but there was one word that demanded all of his attention. It was one he had not heard in years, representing a concept that he had thought lost.
Friend.
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Deviation
There is a place in the far off reaches of space. It is a lonely place in the barest portion at the edge of the universe. There are no stars or other planets for light-years. A region few have ever wanted to visit and fewer still actually have. If you were to visit you'd find and small rip in space-time leading to the most bizarre and out of place thing you have ever seen. A solar system consisting of five planets, all with life, all stuck in conflict, and all absolutely bursting with energy. For some it seems like a paradise. A land of sword and sorcery? Why would anyone pass that up? That was the thought process of the freshly dead boy. This boy, like many before him and many after him, was trying to find the bright side. Things had finally been going right for him, good grades, new friends, and best of all a girlfriend when the entire world ended. No huff, no puff, just poof the end. At least being reborn into this world would be fun. That definitely sounded like a bright side to most. Fracture, one of the five worlds in question, was massive and full of magic. It looked sounded and felt like it would be just another game, it even had prompts and levels. Piece of cake. Well that might be the case if Fracture was meant to be a paradise. The hottest fires forge the strongest swords. This fire has the habit of melting away oneself. A pixie clan searching for a new home, a boy who just lost his, a reality bending forest, and a bug that doesn't belong. All with an intense desire for power. Who will make it through the fire intact, and will they choose to be a hero, or will they join the long history of villains and monsters?
8 266Just A Story
A world without magic. A planet like any other, where neither monsters, demons nor gods exist. A plain, maybe even boring, earth. A world where the only advantures are either written in books, shown on TV or games. Or so it was supposed to be. Until now. Events are happening that will shacke the world. Events that have only ever happened in the fantasy of man. And at the centre of all these events stands one person. Someone who is completely overwhelmed by the events. He will have to make decisions that may not change the fate of the world, but change his and the life of everyone around him. Decisions he would regret. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I have no fixed upload scedule as of yet, I will simply upload whenever I feel like the chapter is good enough to be uploaded.
8 182The Bladed Priest: Curses and Sins
In a land plagued by traitorous politics and bereft of competent lords and kings, the dead rise. Navigating the earthly and otherworldly threats of this ancient land, a wayfaring rogue finds himself engaging the uglier sides of humanity. This is the first chapter of hopefully a longer narrative--maybe an anthology of stories. Tell me what you think!
8 124Bend
When Leera gets a visit from a strange old man, who insists that she is an Iso-bender and that her dead brother has requested her presence at the capital, she leaves her mundane small-town life behind and sets out on a dangerous but fantastic journey.
8 274"Into Your Arms" - A Thorin Oakenshield Fanfic
●Completed● Thorin Oakenshield, the surviving heir to the Lonely Mountain, has resigned himself to a life of solitude, with his sister, nephews and friends his only light.When an opportunity to take back his home arises, he jumps at the chance. But when someone from his past makes a comeback, everything he has ever known falls into disarray. In a tale of adventure, desperation, lost love and redemption, forces will collide with apocalyptic consequences. And will love conquer all in the final battle?
8 64Myths from Garsuna: The Rise of Zilliad
This story follows the mythos of Garsuna. Within Garsuna there are fourteen deities who created humans to help them battle against the Makers of Garsuna. The deities often copulated with their human creations and the result of one of these relationships is Zilliad, daughter to Haboo, deity of the winds. Zilliad makes a name for herself as a soldier in the War of the Makers and gains renown amongst the humans by following the deeds set out for her by Isaa, deity of the seas and King of the deities.
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