Okay, I got a few complaints (for lack of a better word) about the length of this post. So, I'm shortening it. There will now be about three parts of this chapter. Thank you, and have a nice day.
Ch. 1: Winds of Change, Wings of Time
“Aw, yeah!!” Matt yelled triumphantly. He had just scored with a royal flush and now had a hundred bucks spending money for the week. Not that it mattered. A hundred bucks was a sneeze in New York City, his hometown.
“Man, you must be cheatin’ or sumthin’.” His best friend, Mike, drawled lazily. “That’s the fifth time you’ve won the pot. What’re you using?”
Matt grinned, his clear blue eyes twinkling. “Nothing. Just lucky, tonight, I guess.”
“Lucky enough to buy us another round?” a voice came from his left. It was a girl named Krista with long legs, a well-filled top, and a look that suggested he might get lucky later if he did what she wanted.
He shook his head, running a hand through his longish dirty-blond hair. “Sorry. The bartender will get suspicious if I get any more.” He winked. “A fake I.D. can only get you so far.” Krista pouted, but didn’t say anything else. She had caught the drift that he wasn’t interested in anything she had to offer. At all. It wasn’t a feeling she was used to, and she didn’t like it.
“Are you sure?” she asked coyly, making sure her legs brushed his.
He got up. “Positive.” He turned to his poker buddies. “Next week?”
“Yup, same time, same place.” Mike replied.
“Cool.” Matt walked out of the bar, a warm feeling in his stomach and a full feeling in his wallet. “See ya!”
“Later, dude!” the group called after him. The door shut behind him as they started laughing and catcalling at something one of the girls was doing. It was probably Krista. But Matt didn’t really care.
He slouched through the streets of New York, muscles tense. I know I should’ve called a cab, but… he thought warily, then sighed. He was only seventeen. If he called a cab, he could get into serious trouble for being out so late. Or, he would, if his dad cared. He sighed again and put his hands in his pockets, feeling the cold metallic surface of his pocketknife. His hand clenched, gripping it as he entered Central Park. Now I really wish I had called a cab… he thought, then shook his head roughly as if to chase the thought away. No. this is better. I won’t get caught. He paused in the middle of the park and looked up. A full moon shone in the sky, surrounded by stars. “Wow…” he breathed, mostly because you never see stars in the middle of NYC, even if you are in Central Park. As he watched, eleven stars circled the moon and formed a glowing ring. “Huh?” he said, confused. The stars shone even brighter and began to spin, creating a silvery-white blurry ring around the moon. They sparked even brighter, leaving him momentarily blinded. Matt blinked, clearing the spots from his eyes. There was a rustle and a thump nearby. He whirled around, pulling his knife from his pocket and flicking it open in one smooth motion.
A girl fell out of the bushes. Matt gasped, dropped his knife, and caught her before she hit the ground. She appeared to be unconscious, but her eyelids flickered, then opened. “Where… am I?” she asked weakly.
“Central Park.” Matt replied warily He didn’t trust her. Mostly because it was Central Park, in New York City. At night.
The girl smiled a small smile. “I see… but… what world are we on?” she rasped throatily.
“Earth.” He answered, this time confused.
The girl sighed with relief. “Good… I made it…” she said, then fainted. Matt panicked and frantically checked for a pulse. His fingers scrambled over her pale neck, finding her jugular. Her pulse beat, slow and strong. He sighed with relief, then sat back, studying her.
She’s probably just a druggie. he thought. Or she’s drunk. But she didn’t look like it. Her skin was tan and smooth, quite unlike the pale, gaunt addicts he had seen around town. She was young, around his age, and seemed to be loaded down with weapons. Two swords hung at her hips, and a bow and quiver loaded with arrows were slung off her back. He noticed a pouch of some kind on her thigh. He opened it, only to immediately get his finger pricked by something sharp inside. “Ouch!” He hastily withdrew his hand, then tentatively flicked the pouch open. Four pointed metal stars glinted dully inside. “Huh. Odd.” he closed it again, and noticed that her boots were slightly off on the outside edges. What? he thought. He carefully laid her head on the ground and felt around her boots. He felt something hard and pulled. A dagger came out of her left boot. It was glowing a dark, evil purple and casting and evil light around. He shuddered. For some reason, the dagger made him uneasy. He sheathed it again, and felt around her other boot. He felt another hilt and pulled on it. Another dagger came out, though this one was white and glowed with an almost angelic light. As he passed it over her body to look at it, she twitched and opened her eyes.
“What are you doing with that?!” She exclaimed, sitting up and grabbing the blade.
“Wah!” Matt fell back, surprised at her sudden revival. Then, he noticed something strange. Though she gripped the blade of the dagger tightly, there was no blood. She spun it and thrust it back into the sheath in her boot, then stood up and brushed off her turquoise leggings.
“So, who are you?” The girl asked, reaching out a hand to help him up.
He grabbed the hand and pulled himself up. “Um, Matt. Matt Greene.”
Her eyes gave a flicker of recognition, but Matt didn’t catch it. “Takiko Ten’nyo. Nice to meet you.” She replied, shaking his hand, then letting go. She folded her arms and looked up. “This is Earth, right?”
“Uh… yeah. Where else would it be?” Matt answered, confused again.
Takiko laughed. “You’d be surprised.” She looked around. “So, where are we?”
“Earth?” he replied, still confused.
Takiko laughed again, a light, lilting sound. “No, what city are we in? I think you mentioned it, but I guess I passed out, because I can't really remember.”
“Oh. That’s what you meant.” he felt a bit sheepish. “New York City. In Central Park.” he answered, starting to understand this weird girl a bit. Takiko stared at him quizzically. “What? Is my hair screwed up, or something?” he asked, putting a hand on his sun-streaked, brown locks.
“No, I was just wondering…” she looked up and saw the full moon. “Oh. Never mind.”
“Huh…?” Matt was more confused than ever.
“Long story.” Takiko stretched like a cat. “Anyway, since you found me, I guess I’d better tell you what’s going on. Is there a safe place where we can talk? Like a house?”
“Uh, yeah. I’ll call a cab.” he pulled a cell phone out of his jeans pocket and dialed the cab company. As he was trying to convince one of them to come out, Takiko wandered around the paved square, listening intently to the sounds of the park at night. Finally, he snapped his cell phone shut. “A cab is coming to 97th and 5th avenue.” he started to turn, then stopped. “Wait, you know what a taxi is, right?” he asked, unsure because she was so strange.
“Of course!” she replied indignantly. Matt relaxed a bit, thankful that she wasn’t a complete weirdo. He started to walk towards 5th Avenue when Takiko asked, “Are we going by carriage, horse, or dragon?”
Matt tripped and fell on his face, so he wasn’t able to see the mischievous glint in her eye. He got up, and shook his head, then went over to her. He put his shaking hands on her shoulders.
“What?” she asked, tilting her head.
“WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU!?!” He cried, looking her straight in the eye. “This is the 20th century! Not the Ninth!”
“What’s a century?” she asked again, the glint still in her eye, but he didn’t notice it.
He threw his hands up in the air. “Augh! You. Are. Hopeless! Absolutely hopeless! Have you been living under a rock all your life?!”
“Nope. Just in a tree.” a young man dressed in purple stepped out of the shadows as his amused voice echoed around them. He had long, slightly poofy black hair pulled back in a ponytail, and, curiously enough, bright purple eyes. The strangest thing, though, was definitely the headband he wore across his forehead, a strip of metal backed by cloth with a star and a circle carved into the middle. It was quite a curious sight.
“Kenji!” Takiko cried, delighted. “I was afraid you didn’t make it!”
“Well, I did.” He replied, clapping her on the shoulder. He looked over at Matt. “Who’re you?”
Matt could only stare, dumbstruck. Weirdo girl has FRIENDS! And they’re popping up all over! he thought.
“Umm…hello?” Kenji waved a hand in front of his face. When he got no response, he looked over at Takiko. “Does he usually do this?”
She shrugged. “Don’t ask me. I’ve only known him for ten minutes.”
“Well, you’re a load of help.” he muttered back.
She rolled her eyes and snapped her fingers in front of Matt’s face. “Hey! Wake up!”
“Huh?” His eyes snapped back into focus.
“Don’t we have a taxi to catch?” she asked.
“Wha-? Oh, right!” He straightened. “Let’s go!” He grabbed her hand and started to run towards the edge of the park. However, fate would not let them catch that taxi. As their hands met, a spark passed between them and the sky lit up again.
“Oh no.” Takiko moaned.
The two of them stopped dead in their tracks and Matt stared at the moon. Stars surrounded the moon, though this time there were only nine. They spun yet again, thought this time in the opposite direction. Just before the light flashed, Matt pulled Takiko in to clasp her tightly and squeezed his eyes shut. There was a huge flash and then…nothing. Absolutely nothing. He felt like he was floating in space with no ties to the ground. He was about to pass out when his feet landed on solid ground.
