"Charms" ch 1 and 2 imcomplete

[XxAikomixX]

"Charms" Chapter One, Part One: The Stranger and the Angel           11-25-07

 

          Shadow Webber was only eleven years old that fateful night that she lost her parents. She woke up with a start knowing that something was wrong. She had this awful feeling in the pit of her stomach. Panic pulsed through her in waves almost rooting her to the spot. She got up and ran as fast as she could to her parents' bedroom, her long blackish-purple hair flying behind her, but she was too late. She felt her parents die, she felt their pain in hot, angry flashes and knew they were gone....she screamed and pushed the feelings from her and slowly opened the door to her parents' room. A man in dark clothing stood over her parents' limp, pasty white forms, laughing mercilessly, almost with a kind of sick joy, she hated him instantly. Something was strange about this man though he appeared to have the legs of a spider and his laugh was more of a hiss but somehow Shadow understood. She understood him as if he were speaking English he was saying that his mission was complete and that now he could "get the girl" at his own leisure!!

 

          Shadow screamed, suddenly she was filled with fear and confusion, who was this man? What did he want? Why did he want to "get her". The man started and dropped something on the floor then ran to the window, looked back and snarled at her then jumped out the window into the night. Shadow ran to the window, fearfully, and all she saw of the man was a long sticky strand of what appeared to be spider web hanging from the seal. She walked back to the center of the room to pick up whatever it was the man had dropped. It was a small silver charm about the size of her fist in the shape of an angel! Shadow put it in her pocket and turned to her parents bed and let out a moan of anguish, she walked to the bed were they lay dead and crawled in to lie with them one last time. She didn't sleep well. She cried in her sleep and at times yelled out, calling, calling to them, trying to reach them, but all was lost.

 

In the morning, when Shadow woke up she started to cry when she remembered what had befallen her parents, but when she stopped crying she realized the bodies were gone!! She KNEW they were dead but the bodies were gone, she felt a tinge of fear as she realized she was alone now so she decided she had to try and find them, to find out what had happened, why it had happened, who had done it and what the heck this charm thing she found was. She was determined. She packed all her things and some food in a small backpack, including the strange charm she had found, and set out. Shadow's adventure had only just begun.

~~END OF PART 1~~

 

 

 

"Charms" Chapter 1 Part 2:                     11-26-07 

 

        Shadow had walked all day and it was beginning to grow dark, she had followed the "Spiderman's" trail of webs for at least six miles.  Now she was losing sight of the strands with the oncoming darkness.  Shadow was only eleven and should have, in and normal case, been tired, but she wasn't.  Shadow felt a tinge of anxiety as it grew steadily darker; she had always had a strange fear of the dark, unbreakable, abyss that was nighttime.

        Darkness fell.  Just as Shadow was started to get scared though a strange light appeared and it was coming form her backpack!!  Shadow quickly pulled off her backpack and opened it timidly.  The light was coming from the Angel Charm that the "Spiderman" has dropped!!  Shadow turned the charm over in her hands studying it.....there were strange words written on one side. Shadow ignored them for now for they were in some foreign language and she knew that she should find shelter for the night.  So with her newfound light she set on her path once more, following the webs but also hoping to find shelter at the same time.

        It wasn't long before she saw an old hut in the distance that showed signs of inhabitants.  Shadow walked up to it and knocked nervously.  After a few moments an eye appeared in the peek hole and an old woman's voice rang out and said:

"Who are you?"

"I am Shadow Anastasia Webber." Shadow answered. The old lady quickly opened the door of the quaint old cottage and ushered Shadow inside.  Once they were both inside the old lady locked the door once more and offered Shadow some food and tea which shadow accepted gratefully.  While Shadow ate the old woman watched her with a stare so intense that it unsettled Shadow so she ate faster.

        Later, after she had finished eating, Shadow got up enough courage to speak and asked:

"So.....what is your name? Why is it you live so far from civilization?"

"I am Kikyo Higayashi. I don't like crowded areas, most of the time I like my privacy." Kikyo answered.

"Pleased to meet you."

"Likewise young shifter."

"Shifter?" The old lady didn't answer so Shadow changed the subject.

"Can you tell me what this is? What the writing says?" Shadow asked while handing the Angel Charm to the old lady.

"It's a Charm. I don't see any writing though." replied Kikyo.

"It's there I swear it is." insisted Shadow.

"There's nothing there, child." repeats Kikyo.  Shadow looks down in disappointment. She doesn't understand why only she can see the words on the side of the Charm.  She decides to go to sleep, so she asks:

"Can I sleep here tonight?"

"Of course. You can sleep on the spare cot." replies the old lady.  As Shadow lies down the old lady tucks the Angel Charm back in Shadow's backpack.  Shadow soon falls asleep bit not without heavy thoughts and an even heavier heart.

~~End of Part Two~~

 

"Charms" Chapter 1 part 3                  11-27-07

 

         Shadow awoke with a start.  It was not yet dawn but she felt it was time to get back underway.  Shadow started to gather her things, and when she picked up her backpack, the Angel Charm fell out......something was different about it!!  Shadow looked more closely and realized that its eyes had changed!!  A shiver went down her spine as an eerie feeling swept through her; the Angel's eyes were the same crystal clear blue that Shadow's eyes were!!  Shadow quickly shoved the Angel back into her backpack and decided to examine it later.  She quietly snuck to cabin door and looked out at the road before her.

 

        Shadow closed the hut door softly behind her.  The sun was slowly rising in the eastern sky; the trail of webs once again lay clearly before her as far down the road as she could see.  Shadow had been walking for about two hours or so when all of the sudden could hear voices up ahead on the road heading in her direction!!  Shadow strangely knew what to do.  She took out the Angel Charm and spoke the incantation which was on the side, the incantation that only she could see.

"Ashi Habata Lanora Slingoro Toboshi!!"

 Slowly.......she started to change!!  Shadows eyes turned bright green, her hair went from dark purple to blue green, he skin from tan to pure white, like porcelain, and last of all she sprouted wings!! Shadow gasped in awe at her newfound beauty, her wings, as she examined them were white with gray speckles and black tips.  She didn't have much time to admire them though as she soared up into the air a little shakily since she wasn't used to flying.  She hovered there and waited to see who was coming.

 

        As she hovered the source of the noise came into view it was some of the "spidermen" she was after!!  She quickly dive bombed them and opened her mouth and sang a note so pure and clear that the evil "spidermen" could not stand to hear and their heads exploded in a slimy, sticky mess.  It was effective but far too messy for Shadows liking so she decided to practice later and she what else she could do. 

Shadow slowly descended to the ground where what was left of her enemies lay on the ground amidst the goo.  As she landed she felt something move against her neck and so she looked down and realized that the Charm had shrunk and was now on a chain around her neck!!  Shadow was wondering how to change back when all the stories she had been told as a very young girl, maybe three or four years old, popped back into her head and she had an idea, she said the incantation backwards and slowly she returned to her original self.  Shadow looked down and was happy to see that the Charm and its new chain were still around her neck. 

Shadow spent a few moments admiring the Charm necklace and then she started to search the bodies for the one thing she knew would be there, Another Charm, A spider, her ticket into the enemy's lair.

~~End of Part Three~~

 

 

 

 

Ch 2 The Spider and the Wolf

Part one   6-8-08

 

 

        Shadow walked on down the road using the woods for cover by day and taking to the skies, in Angel Form, by night.  Her life had changed dramatically in the past two months with the death of her parents and the discovery of this strange power within her.  She had tracked the "spidermen", which she now knew called themselves Driders, for miles down the road still following the thin trail of webs they left behind them that apparently only she could see.  Shadow took out the Spider Charm and turned it over in her hand its eyes too had had changed to match her own! 

        The inscription on its side gleamed in the firelight as she sat there in the woods by the edge of the road, tempting her, calling her; slowly she said the inscription aloud:

"Ata Shantsi Owanii Therahum Sitearum!"

Shadow began to change; her arms grew longer and hairy, she sprouted two extra arms too, her legs grew longer and more slender, agile, they too were covered in hair and she grew two more of these as well. Shadow also suddenly had a thorax and mandibles forcing her to speak in a series of hisses and clicking.  Shadow had become a Drider!!

 

 

 

        Now that Shadow no longer had to hide from the Driders during the day traveling was much easier and faster. She hated the ugliness of her legs and thorax but loved her silver skin and white hair as well as her strikingly amber eyes. 

"Everything in this world has its beauties and its flaws but in being thus is perfect in its own way." Thought Shadow. 

"That is what my dad would have said." She whispered softly and tears swelled in her eyes as she remembered the scene, the blood, the smell of decay, the silence of death, the loneliness and pain welled up in her chest as she struggled to breathe against the tightness in her throat.  Shadow fought hard against the tears as they began to fall from her suddenly somber amber eyes.

        Lost in her grief, Shadow didn't see it coming, a huge grey wolf leaped out at her from the wood!!!  She hit the ground hard struggling to keep the wolf from latching its teeth around her throat; she quickly spoke the incantation for her Angel Charm and flew up into the air throwing her power down at the wolf.  As the dust cleared Shadow could clearly see that the wolf had disappeared and was replaced by a human body, she flew down and checked for a pulse, she found one and carried the human gently into the woods.  A couple of yards into the woods she found a stream and built a fire nearby, setting the human down, she said the incantation backwards and returned to normal so she could inspect the human without startling him. 

         The boy was about her age maybe a little older; he had soft red hair and fair skin.  His eyes fluttered open as she watched him intently.

"Hello." She said softly.  The boy scrambled backwards away from her, startled.

"It's ok, I won't hurt you." She cooed.

"W-wh-who are you?" The boy stammered.

"My name is Shadow."

"I am....Rath." The boy said reluctantly.  Shadow noted his eyes were strangely blue just like hers and that he had a necklace around his neck with a single Charm on it, a wolf.

"Nice to meet you Rath." Shadow smiled, she was no longer alone.

~~End of Part One~~

 

Part Two

 

        The next morning Shadow awoke before Rath so she sat and watched him until he opened his eyes; she thought he was rather handsome.

"Morning, Sleepy." She teased.

"Morning." He said groggily, noticing for the first time as she handed him breakfast that she too had a Charm necklace. 

"About those Charms around your neck.....do you know what they are??" He asked.

"Yes or well....I know what they do."

"So you can change too?" He questioned.

"Yes I can."

"I'm so glad I'm not the only one, I thought maybe I was dreaming or something."

"Me too, that is, until I killed a couple of Driders." She said warmly.

"What's a Drider?" He asked tilting his head in confusion.

"This," She said while muttering the incantation for the Spider Charm "Is a Drider."  When Shadow had finished the change all Rath could do was stare, Shadow changed back and said softly,

"One of them killed my parents." Rath's mouth fell open in shock.

"I'm sorry". He said quietly while looking down at his feel to avoid seeing the tears falling from Shadow's beautiful eyes.  A while later Shadow looked up and said in a determined tone,

"I am hunting them so that I can get to the bottom of all this and find some answers."

"Can I join you? I want to help." He asked while silently adding, "Also I would like some answers of my own and what better way to get them then to get close to the source of my father's unrest?"

"I'd like that." Shadow answers with a small smile.  So together they smothered the fire and found the road again following the Drider's silk as the sun began to descend in the sky.

        Rath knew they had been walking for hours and all he could see ahead of them was more and more road, like it never ended and on either side of the road nothing but thick wooded forests, it all felt quite isolated and made him slightly claustrophobic.  He decided to chance a glance at Shadow and caught her watching him with a puzzled gleam in her strikingly blue eyes,

"W-what?" He asked slightly unnerved.

"I was, first of all, wondering your full name?"

"Rath Ringo Tanner, what about yours?"

"Shadow Anastasia Webber."

"Pleasure to have met you Shadow."

"Likewise, I was also wondering....how you discovered the Charms and your gifts?"  A flicker of fear swept across Rath's face as he realized he would have to lie to keep Shadow's trust but this went unnoticed,

"Well," Rath began slowly, "I'm twelve now so I must've been eleven when I found my Wolf Charm.  My parents were nowhere to be found, they had disappeared, when I walked into their bedroom the Charm was on the bed.  I read the incantation not knowing what it would do and have been running ever since, which is how I met you." He finished desperately hoping she would believe him.

"Wow.  Maybe if we find the Driders we'll find your parents?" Shadow wondered aloud unaware of how true that statement was.

"P-perhaps." He stammered nervously as they sat down on a log by the road so that they could rest and eat dinner. They only had a small amount of bread and cheese which they split between them, when they brushed hands they both blushed but neither pulled away.  Rath laced his fingers in hers and pulled her close,

"Can you feel how rapidly my heart beats Princess Shadow?" He murmured into her hair.

"P-princess??" Shadow stammered, startled.

"Here in this realm of Starrnex, the world is in chaos the people need someone to lead them, as we are a superior race should it not be us??"

"Aye, Rath," She sighed as she buried her face in his neck, "That we shall."

~~End of Part 2~~