**DISCLAIMER**
Due to my failure at counting, I do believe there are only ELEVEN chapters of What Happens Next.
I looked around. I knew it was the wrong place. There shouldn’t be massive towering buildings, smoke rising masterfully from brick chimneys, or brilliant purple flags flying from, well, basically everywhere a flag could be put. We should be in a small farming community, not a city!
And, if my hunch was correct, we should definitely not be in this place.
It was definitely the capital city.
And I, if you remember, was one of the most wanted elves currently still alive.
Well….This was going to be fun.
Of course this happened.
Now, what was going to happen? A massive random explosion? An attack of evil kitties? A puppy barking?
Surprisingly….Nothing.
I stand there in full view of about a hundred people bustling all around us, and no one shouts, “Look, it’s Avery Leaf; get him!”
Oh, no, I’m not complaining exactly….I’m just mildly surprised is all.
And…More than a bit disappointed.
I look around, curious. I hadn’t had much dealings with humans, and to see so many in one place was definitely a culture shock to me. I, however, was determined to make the best of my current situation and get us safe transport out of here as soon as possible.
While I was lost in my musings, Max takes the opportunity to disappear.
I snap out of it quickly, and start heading after him, just when I notice Anne going in the exact opposite direction. I glance over at Joey and point him in the general direction of Max and order him to take Leslie along, before going to go and locate the tough skinny human girl.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
She wasn’t at all hard to find. There was, for one, a massive crowd all around her cheering. For another, she was fighting an absolutely massive human soldier.
And she was winning.
Of course she was.
I sigh, and wonder if it was worth attempting to break up the fight and get out of here sooner. It didn’t look like it would take long, so I just stood back and waited for her to punch him down.
Anne finishes him off with a head butt to a private place, and she grins quietly to herself before working her way through the crowd towards me, looking ready to continue the journey.
Which is, of course, when things go horribly and horrifically wrong.
You just knew I was going to say that, didn’t you?
Anywho, this is how things go wrong: She never makes it through the crowd. They grab her, and drag her away. She tries to fight, but she isn’t strong enough to break free. I send magic whirling through the crowd towards her, but all it manages to accomplish is the increased annoyance of her captors. “Where are they taking her?” I demand of one of the bystanders.
“The fight club. People pay to watch people fight to the death.”
“Of course they do….” I mutter, more to myself than to the confused-looking bookish youth, before running off after her.
I shove my way through the small crowd that still remains, moving as fast as I can, knowing I don’t have long before she will disappear from the streets forever. Even with my elven speed, however, I was finding it difficult to keep close to her captors.
It seemed they’d discovered the ability to fly.
Which was just unfair.
I glanced up at the merciless sun, groaning and sighing. Up, up, up there in the bright blue sky was Anne, kicking her booted feet, screaming obscenities, and scratching with her black painted nails. I wasn’t sure what her logic was behind attempting to get them to let go of her when she was so high up in the air, but I was certain that somewhere, somehow, it actually made sense to someone.
That someone would just never be me.
And I was actually more than happy to say that. The more different I ended up being from Anne, the happier I could live with myself.
But….that wasn’t at all important right now, was it?
I needed to find a way higher.
I turn, running sideways, and spot the perfect thing: A ladder stretching high to the rooftop of one of the buildings. I scramble up it, wrench myself over the top, and sprint along the rooftops. I follow the shadow of Anne and her captors, gaining step by step, but still far too low.
I pass underneath her shadow, and keep pace with it as I gaze around, attempting to find somewhere where I can leap up, catch her, and bring her back down to the earth.
I just…didn’t see anywhere that looked like it would work.
My breath starts to turn uneven, and as a last-chance effort, I send a fierce blast of magic toward the roof a few feet behind me, propelling me forward and up.
My aim is perfect.
I end up slamming my face, hard, into Anne’s chest. She shrieks—whether more in indignant anger or in pain I do not know—and glares at me.
“Hey you ass! Get the hell off me!” she shouts, spitting in my face.
“Are you completely blind? Look where you are!”
“I know exactly where I am! I’m flying to somewhere where I can fight as many things as I can handle without guilt!”
It’s then that I make my decision: I let go and drop fifty feet—
Blast magic hard against the rooftop a few feet beneath my feet—
Fly back up again—
And ram straight into the people carrying Anne.
They let go, dropping her, and I grab her—
The wind whooshes past my ears as she glares at me, screaming—
The blast of desperate magic sends a horrendous echo throughout what seems to be the entire world—
I chance a glance downwards at the ground—
It flies up to meet us—
And then suddenly slows its approach—
Slows just a bit more—
I blast it again and again—
It’s still too fast—
Still too close—
I scream—
And the ground gently kisses my boots when we land.
I calm down swiftly, and pin Anne to the rooftop, glaring at her. “Anne, just to tell you, I didn’t save you because I wanted you to live.”
“Why didn’t you just let me go then? I would’ve been fine!”
I flick her nose with my finger, and say with the tiniest hint of affectionate humor: “I saved you because I felt sorry for the things you’d have slaughtered if I had let them take you.”
She looked at me.
And up there, a hundred feet above the streets of a capital city, a notorious elf and a too-tough-to-tumble human from another world laugh together, giving birth to a friendship that just might change the world.
Well, at least it would have, had she not kissed me.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
I slap her across the face. Shove her away. Yell at her.
She swears, and demands, “What the hell is wrong with you? You know you’re attracted to me bastard.”
“Anne, no offense, but humans repulse me. And even if you were an elf, chances are I would still have hit you for that.”
“So who is? That player Lady White?”
I have never hated someone more than I hate Anne now.
Why, you ask?
Because I enjoyed that kiss, and I really did not want to let her in on that fact.
But suddenly she smiles, and it’s as if she read my mind. “You know you want me, Avery. So kiss me. You know it’ll be worth it.”
I swallow. I did know that…I couldn’t deny that I was actually very attracted to Anne. But I was Lady White’s, wasn’t I? Hers heart and soul?
I thought for a few seconds, gazing at Anne and wondering: Could I ever truly be Lady White’s? Will she ever love me?
But I just know she won’t. I know it’s hopeless. I know I might as well be single, unloved, and perhaps just a bit used.
After all, that was all I was and ever had been.
I spend another ten seconds immersed in thought, before taking her hand and taking her with me back down to the city streets, more discombobulated than I had ever been in my life.
Due to my failure at counting, I do believe there are only ELEVEN chapters of What Happens Next.
I looked around. I knew it was the wrong place. There shouldn’t be massive towering buildings, smoke rising masterfully from brick chimneys, or brilliant purple flags flying from, well, basically everywhere a flag could be put. We should be in a small farming community, not a city!
And, if my hunch was correct, we should definitely not be in this place.
It was definitely the capital city.
And I, if you remember, was one of the most wanted elves currently still alive.
Well….This was going to be fun.
Of course this happened.
Now, what was going to happen? A massive random explosion? An attack of evil kitties? A puppy barking?
Surprisingly….Nothing.
I stand there in full view of about a hundred people bustling all around us, and no one shouts, “Look, it’s Avery Leaf; get him!”
Oh, no, I’m not complaining exactly….I’m just mildly surprised is all.
And…More than a bit disappointed.
I look around, curious. I hadn’t had much dealings with humans, and to see so many in one place was definitely a culture shock to me. I, however, was determined to make the best of my current situation and get us safe transport out of here as soon as possible.
While I was lost in my musings, Max takes the opportunity to disappear.
I snap out of it quickly, and start heading after him, just when I notice Anne going in the exact opposite direction. I glance over at Joey and point him in the general direction of Max and order him to take Leslie along, before going to go and locate the tough skinny human girl.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
She wasn’t at all hard to find. There was, for one, a massive crowd all around her cheering. For another, she was fighting an absolutely massive human soldier.
And she was winning.
Of course she was.
I sigh, and wonder if it was worth attempting to break up the fight and get out of here sooner. It didn’t look like it would take long, so I just stood back and waited for her to punch him down.
Anne finishes him off with a head butt to a private place, and she grins quietly to herself before working her way through the crowd towards me, looking ready to continue the journey.
Which is, of course, when things go horribly and horrifically wrong.
You just knew I was going to say that, didn’t you?
Anywho, this is how things go wrong: She never makes it through the crowd. They grab her, and drag her away. She tries to fight, but she isn’t strong enough to break free. I send magic whirling through the crowd towards her, but all it manages to accomplish is the increased annoyance of her captors. “Where are they taking her?” I demand of one of the bystanders.
“The fight club. People pay to watch people fight to the death.”
“Of course they do….” I mutter, more to myself than to the confused-looking bookish youth, before running off after her.
I shove my way through the small crowd that still remains, moving as fast as I can, knowing I don’t have long before she will disappear from the streets forever. Even with my elven speed, however, I was finding it difficult to keep close to her captors.
It seemed they’d discovered the ability to fly.
Which was just unfair.
I glanced up at the merciless sun, groaning and sighing. Up, up, up there in the bright blue sky was Anne, kicking her booted feet, screaming obscenities, and scratching with her black painted nails. I wasn’t sure what her logic was behind attempting to get them to let go of her when she was so high up in the air, but I was certain that somewhere, somehow, it actually made sense to someone.
That someone would just never be me.
And I was actually more than happy to say that. The more different I ended up being from Anne, the happier I could live with myself.
But….that wasn’t at all important right now, was it?
I needed to find a way higher.
I turn, running sideways, and spot the perfect thing: A ladder stretching high to the rooftop of one of the buildings. I scramble up it, wrench myself over the top, and sprint along the rooftops. I follow the shadow of Anne and her captors, gaining step by step, but still far too low.
I pass underneath her shadow, and keep pace with it as I gaze around, attempting to find somewhere where I can leap up, catch her, and bring her back down to the earth.
I just…didn’t see anywhere that looked like it would work.
My breath starts to turn uneven, and as a last-chance effort, I send a fierce blast of magic toward the roof a few feet behind me, propelling me forward and up.
My aim is perfect.
I end up slamming my face, hard, into Anne’s chest. She shrieks—whether more in indignant anger or in pain I do not know—and glares at me.
“Hey you ass! Get the hell off me!” she shouts, spitting in my face.
“Are you completely blind? Look where you are!”
“I know exactly where I am! I’m flying to somewhere where I can fight as many things as I can handle without guilt!”
It’s then that I make my decision: I let go and drop fifty feet—
Blast magic hard against the rooftop a few feet beneath my feet—
Fly back up again—
And ram straight into the people carrying Anne.
They let go, dropping her, and I grab her—
The wind whooshes past my ears as she glares at me, screaming—
The blast of desperate magic sends a horrendous echo throughout what seems to be the entire world—
I chance a glance downwards at the ground—
It flies up to meet us—
And then suddenly slows its approach—
Slows just a bit more—
I blast it again and again—
It’s still too fast—
Still too close—
I scream—
And the ground gently kisses my boots when we land.
I calm down swiftly, and pin Anne to the rooftop, glaring at her. “Anne, just to tell you, I didn’t save you because I wanted you to live.”
“Why didn’t you just let me go then? I would’ve been fine!”
I flick her nose with my finger, and say with the tiniest hint of affectionate humor: “I saved you because I felt sorry for the things you’d have slaughtered if I had let them take you.”
She looked at me.
And up there, a hundred feet above the streets of a capital city, a notorious elf and a too-tough-to-tumble human from another world laugh together, giving birth to a friendship that just might change the world.
Well, at least it would have, had she not kissed me.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
I slap her across the face. Shove her away. Yell at her.
She swears, and demands, “What the hell is wrong with you? You know you’re attracted to me bastard.”
“Anne, no offense, but humans repulse me. And even if you were an elf, chances are I would still have hit you for that.”
“So who is? That player Lady White?”
I have never hated someone more than I hate Anne now.
Why, you ask?
Because I enjoyed that kiss, and I really did not want to let her in on that fact.
But suddenly she smiles, and it’s as if she read my mind. “You know you want me, Avery. So kiss me. You know it’ll be worth it.”
I swallow. I did know that…I couldn’t deny that I was actually very attracted to Anne. But I was Lady White’s, wasn’t I? Hers heart and soul?
I thought for a few seconds, gazing at Anne and wondering: Could I ever truly be Lady White’s? Will she ever love me?
But I just know she won’t. I know it’s hopeless. I know I might as well be single, unloved, and perhaps just a bit used.
After all, that was all I was and ever had been.
I spend another ten seconds immersed in thought, before taking her hand and taking her with me back down to the city streets, more discombobulated than I had ever been in my life.
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