Chapter 1: A Shadow of the Past
“Finding each other once again,
Unwanted memories rise to the surface,
Meeting new people
And starting again.”
Darkness was the only thing between Equilibrium Date and that shimmering longsword, but darkness was his strongest advantage. The self-imposed keeper of “order” who had chased him this deep into the forest threw his blackened, now useless torch to the ground.
All Equilibrium had to do now was avoid the moonlight glancing off that metal, and his mock invisibility shield would hold. He took a few steps further into the thick shadows of the trees, making sure to hold his metal-tipped staff at a steady angle.
His pursuer cursed under his breath, still squinting around from his current vantage point. “I’m beginning to think all magic freaks are ninnies like you. Come out and face me!”
Equilibrium clenched his fists. Why did everyone think magic was so horrible? Although this man fully intended to kill him, Equal didn’t have the heart to end his hunter’s life. After all, there had been enough slaughter for one night: all his fellow mob members and rabble-rousers had killed each other in the complete blackness. But Equilibrium knew that dawn was fast approaching, so he had no option but retreat. He plowed a wide ditch with a wave of his staff as a discouragement for the man to keep chasing Equilibrium.
“I’m over here!” Equil called. He listened for the rustling path of leaves following his voice, then simply ran away. He tried to stay within sight of the man, but this city-bred was too slow in the thick undergrowth.
“Still ru-” Sumthin sounded like it had crashed...hard. Equilibrium grinned. The ditch had worked. He sped untracked toward the expanding territory of the sunrise.
~
After a full day of travel, Equilibrium stumbled upon the one person he had never even considered finding here. It was a one in a million chance, but somehow it had happened. For once, it seemed destiny had defeated probability.
~
The trees released orange and red leaves to the wind and the colors met underneath Mori’s feet, as he crunched through the woods. A gentle breeze whispered of the coming season, still far off but yet seemed so close: winter.
Mori sighed and as he set his bag next to an ancient oak. He rolled his backward and stretched, loosening the stiffness in his lean muscles from a day’s traveling.
Mori’s senses became alert as the feeling of being watched came over him. As soon as he saw he was staring at him he gaped back himself. His old friend stepped out of the shaded shadows, the sunset cast dark blotches on his strong figure.
"Mori! How’ve you been?" Equil queried, finally grinning.
"Fine and yourself?" Mori responded, worn out, but amazed to see his friend after all this time.
"Same as ever." came the quick response. "So, what have you been up to since the last time I saw you?"
"Not a lot, the usual trading. When was the last time I saw you, was it two, three years ago?”
"Yeah, something like that. You’ll never guess what happened to me yesterday."
"What?" asked Mori, a bit concerned since he knew Equil’s knack for mischief.
"I was chased by an angry mob out of town." Equilibrium said, with a serious note in his voice but a grin casting little shadows on his face.
Mori was hardly surprised by Equilibrium’s response. “why...”
“Well, you know that magic that we used to think didn’t exist? I’ve learned it.”
Mori hopped to his feet and pulled out his sword. Then muttering a few words, he turned, leaped, and swung his sword at a tree fifty meters away. A gust of wind followed his blade and sliced a branch from the tree, while an apple fell perfectly on its side. Mori walked over, picked it up, tossed it in the air and sliced it in half with his blade, tossing a half to Equilibrium.
"Throughout my travels, I met a wise priest who showed me that trick. He compared it to using nature to aid you. That trick has served me well."
Equal could do nothing but laugh. “Still carrying around that old chunk of metal?” he asked, nodding toward his sword.
“Yes.” The sword didn’t gleam or reflect a fair knight’s face. It was a true battered weapon of war.
Suddenly, Mori sensed something in the woods, he looked up in time to see a wolf transform into a young woman, armed with two swords. Equal followed his gaze, but only saw the girl, not the transformation.
“What the-” Mori grabbed for his sword and carefully watched the young woman.
“What’s wrong?” Equilibrium murmured to Mori, gripping his staff a little tighter as he showed his own concern and curiosity. Slowly Mori stood up, Equal following his cue. The woman watched them intently, seeming to search for any tricks or deceit. No movement came from her, she stood as still as a statue, the only thing showing she wasn’t wrought of stone was her brown hair that waved behind her in the wind with a life of its own.
She mentally cursed herself for walking right into their camp, let alone shape shifting right in front of them, but she had been so tired that she had hardly been looking ahead.
Silence lingered in the air as tension began to form, like a bubble about to pop. Finally Mori cut the silence. “Who are you?” He paused. “What are you?” He forced his face to reflect the woman’s: no expression.
She seemed to think about the question, but in the end she stayed silent, still squeezing the life out of her sword grips. She trusted no one, not even these two which she knew from so long ago. Childhood memories resurfaced in her mind like waves after a storm. Bitter memories hovered there too, spreading hate and anger towards her father.
“Answer me,” Mori commanded firmly. Those words made her want to disobey, want to stay silent. Those words were the ones she most hated and most feared.
“Why should I?” she said at last. Her eyes scanned her two childhood playmates. “You have no control over me.” Her words held bitterness that she knew they didn’t deserve, but released it anyways.
“We don’t know you or you us.” Equal pointed out, shifting his weight to his other leg.
“He’s right,” Mori put out, trying to pin her for an answer. His eyes glittered in stubbornness as he stuck his sword in the ground and leaned against it, waiting for a response.
Equal sighed in boredom. “Give it up Mori; you won’t get the answer from her unless she wants to tell you.”
Mori glanced back at his friend who was now sitting on the log they had rested on not long ago. The woman turned to leave but stopped as Mori murmured something in his thoughts.
She reached for the words he was thinking and found them. She looks a lot like Brix. But Brix is dead, it couldn’t be her. She turned back and looked Mori straight in his eyes.
So... they do remember, she thought to herself, sheathing her two swords on her back. She sighed in exhaustion, finally giving in to Mori’s stubbornness.
“The name’s…” she stopped, reconsidering her choice to tell them. They deserved it; they deserved to know she was still alive. But on the other hand, it could be fun to see how long she could keep them fooled. Brix grinned. “The name’s Akara.”
Equal looked up at her as her words reached his ears, disappointed. He tried to tell himself that he hadn’t seen Brix in that face, that she didn’t talk with the same friendly mischief.
“Okay then, Akara, second question. What are you?” Mori studied her for any flaws, any sign to show a hidden trait.
“I’m just like you, only I know how to shape shift.” A smile crossed her lips as her eyes glittered mischievously.
Equal and Mori glanced at each other and then introduced themselves.
“I’m Mori, and this is my good friend Equal. Well, would you like to stay for dinner? You might as well, unless you have to be somewhere important.” Mori gestured to a log opposite of where Equal was sitting as he sat down beside his friend.
Akara paused for a second. Should she stay and eat with them? It had been so long since she had last eaten with someone. She usually ate alone, satisfied with her own presence, relying on only herself and not anyone else.
“Come on, it won’t hurt. It’s good to have a chat with a stranger everyone in a while,” Equal reasoned good-naturedly.
She finally gave in. It would be nice to see how her friends were, but she already knew a little. Over the last few years, she had checked in on them from a distance to see what they were up to. She let her shoulders fall in submission.
“Okay, fine, I’ll stay. You need me to hunt anything down?” she asked, hoping for one last chance in solitude before they figured out who she really was.
“If you would like," Mori offered, "you can follow this deer run and look for game; it will give me and Equilibrium time to catch up on our past." Mori turned to Equilibrium expectantly.
Akara walked into the darkness of the forest, hiding from Equal’s and Mori’s view, so she could shape shift in peace. She then disappeared, silver hairs from her wolf form glimmering in the moonlight.
Out of the corner of his eye, Mori thought he could see a faint sparkle of something silver, but it disappeared before he could turn his head and look closer.
"Well, I don’t mean to brag but..." Equilibrium took out his staff, and began to spin it. As he spun it everywhere in graceful sweeps, a blue ribbon-like matter came out the end, he spun it faster and faster until the ribbon-like substance was in electric form, then the electric shock was sent everywhere, standing hair on end, and blowing out the camp fire, he quickly lit it with a wave of his staff, and said in a low, firm voice, "That was a small dose, I can do much more than that."
Mori was looking into the darkness were Akara had disappeared.
"She seems nice, doesn’t she…?” Equilibrium ventured.
"Yes, she does," Mori replied.
“She seems-”
“Familiar?” Mori finished for him.
“Yeah.” Equilibrium looked up at the stars over head. They twinkled and shimmered in the blackness of the night sky, like thoughts sparkling into existence. He looked back down at Mori who was now staring into the ever changing flames of the fire.
He knew they were both thinking the same thing: what would it be like to have Brix around now? Was she really dead? Was there a slim chance their friend could still be alive?
