Prelude to Promenade <- omgofficialtitle

Yes, I'm gonna write one. Christ. AP Literature has me so frazzled that I can barely function. To de-stress I shall write what i think is how we all came to be in Prom. As embarrassing as this is I'll start with myself as to not offend anyone. Oh, and I don't care if it's inaccurate dammit. Don't point it out.

Don't leave comments, please D:. If you want to flame me please do so in chatango. It sucks having to write around spam.

-Chapter 1: The Backwoods Witch-

Deep in the sprawling remains of Pandemona, in the far-back alley of Branx Street three thugs had a young woman cornered. She had no where to go in the dead-end alley and slowly the dirty gangsters surrounded her.

"End of the line, bitch, we want our money," the leader panted. The three had been chasing her for weeks; she was some-what a Houdini, using trickery to elude her enemies. she said nothing but held her breath, waiting for one to draw too close; one hand behind her back.

"God damn I'm tired of this!" The leader sprung forward.

She swiftly side-stepped him; he was much bigger and clumsier than she was. The other two tried as well; she sent them fumbling over each other with a low kick. all the while she had a spell prepared, she decided to give them a face-full of her new potion concoction: Lava Potion no.09. She heaved it at the unsuspecting gangsters, hitting the leader square in the chin. He stumbled back, cursing. The container shattered into a million pieces, and the dank street lit up like the sun. The potion worked even better than she had hoped, too well in fact. Soon she was engulfed in her own trap! The thugs had already liquefied, in a matter of minutes! The lava began seeping towards her. Fumes from the mounting pyre left her struggling for breath, trying in vain to get out of range of the spreading pyre. She was quickly losing consciousness due to the intense flames; everything became blurry. Her final attempt to break free sent her crashing into a wall, and then, blackness. The pyre began to melt and subside, a stray dog slowly trotted to the scene. Any trace of the fight had vanished; nothing was left of the thugs or the girl. The street was barely recognizable, the lamppost had melted and the stones on the street were badly scorched. The dog sat on its haunches and howled.

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Instead of the cold hand of death, the warm glow of morning sunlight greeted her. She came to in a comfortable bed; much unlike the ground she had fallen on. Groggy, she pulled herself up out of bed and tried to walk out of the room. A few feet from the floor she fell over herself. Hearing the commotion, her host walked in.

"Ah, you're awake, you sustained some burns but all in all you're still intact," The elven lady smiled. She had gentle features blond hair and gray eyes, but most notable was the pointed ears that most elves sported. She did not seem to be any different than anyone back at the academy, yet the injured lady was still suspicious. She followed her efforts to clean up with a flashing glare.

"....Who the hell are you?" the lady finally managed to sputter.

"My name is Kate, I was getting some water from the well outside and I discovered you passed out in the bushes nearby," Kate calmly explained, unphased by her guest's rude answer. "You were asleep for quite awhile there! About three days to be infact."

"Three days?!" the woman shrieked. "Shit! I've got somewhere I need to be. Where the hell is this shack? I've gotta get to St. Belle's fast!"

"...I'm sorry but where is that? You're in Arad, near Elvenguard to be infact," Kate seemed confused.

"A-arad..." The word made the young lady fall back and slump on the bed, in shock. "Is this....that mythical world?" she pondered. "How the hell do I get back?!"

"Lady!...uh, Kate! Where is the major uh...city?! I need to find out how to get back to MY world."

Kate was slightly confused by the lady's question but nonetheless she went to the bookshelf and pulled out a crusty book and dusted it lightly. She handed it to the woman. "Here..." she said. "This is a book of maps, look up the one to Hendon Myre, that's the closest major city, it'll take you about a day or so to get there. Oh, and I sensed you possess some magical qualities, you'll need to fight your way there. Be careful." Without replying, the woman got up and left down the path into the woods, the sun rising ever higher in the sky.

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Finally, she had arrived in Hendon Myre, the book depicted it with a giant picture of the capitol building, which loomed in the distance. Treading the forest was easy, she couldn't understand why Kate had ever warned her in the first place. a few lugarus was nothing compared to Florae's touch. The city itself was a caphony of people, animals, and elves. Everywhere she turned the streets were brimming and bustling with life, much unlike Pandemona, where most of the inhabitants stayed hidden, afraid of roaming gangs. Awed, she stumbled back and fell into someone in line at a nearby kiosk.

"Hey!" The man turned angrily to swing on her. He was at least 300lbs and was copper toned. If the woman had not known better, she'd say he was an ogre. Suddenly, a crowd had started to gather, cheering him on. Clearly she was supposed to lose, she even heard a few people trying to take bets. "Guess most cities are filled with assholes no matter where," she thought cynically. Narrowly missing her, he proceeded to stumble headlong in her direction. The woman smirked, clearly the bum didn't know how to fight. She sidestepped gracefully, and grasped a nearby broom, jabbing him right in the side. Winded the man fell back, gasping for breath. She waited a few minutes, it felt like ages. The crowd was silent. The man clearly was not gonna get back up, he heaved a final groan and subsequently passed out. Everyone erupted into cheers, those who bet against the lady skulked off to hide their shame.

"Heh, not bad little lady," an onlooker remarked, materializing from the sizable crowd. "I'd like you to follow me, if you would," the man proceeded towards the kiosk the hapless bum was waiting in line at before the fight broke out. The woman pushed her way through the dispersing crowd, in an attempt to catch up with the mysterious guy. She had no clue why she was following him, but she was really keen on getting away from the crowd before any police showed up. When they reached the kiosk, she noticed that the kiosk was really a sign-up desk; the sign nearby denoted that it was for some sort of "guild". She didn't have much time to think on it, the man she was following had unlocked the door to the building behind it. He beckoned for her to enter with him. Cautiously, she followed him in. He shut the door and she found herself in a cheery little hallway, branching off into a half-dozen different rooms. The conversations of numerous people could be heard from the one on the far-left.

"As I said before, Missy you got serious talent," she noticed he had a dragon tattoo across his face. "Think we could use ya in our guild..."

She cut him off. "Woah, woah, wait what? What the hell is a guild and why should I join YOURS?" Clearly she wasn't interested. The man rolled his eyes in disbelief, how could someone not know what a guild was, but explained anyway.

"A guild, is a band of mercenaries that take on missions together and share the rewards. They're usually tight groups of a few members, but some guilds can reach massive sizes, preferring quantity over quality," he paused noticing the spark of interest in her eyes, "....Obviously we prefer quality and chick, you got it. Name's Dragon, like you couldn't tell," He was referring to his tattoo, probably, "What's yours?"

She took a minute to think, slowly it dawned on her. She had forgotten her name! Not only that, it seems her nasty fall had erased her memory of anything before the fight in the alley. A paralyzing fear had begun to grip her. She'd forgotten everything! "Where WAS St. Belle's anyway?! In Pandemona...somewhere...?" She stood there dumbfounded, detached, a million light years away.

Dragon sensed this. "Okay, listen, we don't really use our first names here, but somethin' we like to call a 'screen name'. They can be really handy for concealing your past if need be." She got his drift.

She looked transfixed on the thought, working her jaw in order to determine a suitable name, after a moment her eyes flared; she had it.

"My name's...name is....Dude, it's Wonderness." She nodded with conviction.

"Alright, Wonder, wel-"

"WonderNESS"

"Okay, WonderNESS, welcome to Promenade, your new guild." A solemn man had appeared in the entryway, having overheard the conversation in a room adjacent to the hall. To any normal person he looked terrifying, he had blazing red eyes that almost made him look comical. Slightly less comical was sheath of multiple swords tied around his waist, undoubtedly sharp, ready to slice anything in his way. His fiery red-hair made him look aglow; Wonderness shuddered reminiscent of the deadly Lava Potion no.09 incident. Because of this she still wasn't sold on the deal of sharing her loot with others, or being a mercenary for that matter. However, this was a golden opportunity to do some recon an find a way back to Pandemona.

The flaring red-eyed man sighed, clearly he wasn't pleased with her joining, "Dragon, dude, ANOTHER recruit? You gotta be fucking kidding me. To top it off it's some skinny bimbo. Dammit man." He threw a cursory glance her way, gauging her reaction. Wonderness didn't meet his eye.

"Sherlock, chill, she took out some dude four times her size in one shot with a broom of all things! Give her a chance man." Dragon was really trying to push a tough sell. After a pause, Sherlock conceded.

"Fine dude, but you're responsible if she throws some sissy bitch-fit." She glared coldly at him. Sherlock turned and exited. She was still fuming. She attempted to speak, but Dragon cut her off.

"Ignore him, as well as some of the rowdier of the bunch, they just find it hard to believe they can have competition from someone like you," He tried to twist it into a compliment but he fell short. She just sighed. "Go get your insignia, 3rd door from the left, I'll catch you later Wonderness." He left her alone in the hall. She'd get her insignia later, now she needed to think. Getting back to Pandemona may be difficult, but getting these people to accept her would probably near impossible. She sighed and decided that she'd try for the hell of it. From that day on, she'd be a total badass, not taking any shit, and disclosing nothing of her past. She was truly the Essence of Wonderful if that meant she was a total bitch. No one seemed to mind though, in a pinch she was reliable and sensible. She contributed greatly during her stay, up until the time she returned to her homeland. That, however is another story, for another day.

[Fin] [TBC: Chapter 2: The Man With Dragon Eyes] EXPECTED DATE JAN. 14TH, 2011.

I meant this one to be a bit longer, sorry.

-Chapter 2: The Man With Dragon Eyes-

Dawn had arrived, the horizon was blazing red as the sun sank behind the distant mountains. Three men were traversing the woodlands near the riverbank of Grand Flores. Their mission was simple; investigate an albino goblin and the mysterious crackling of thunder that the residents near that particular part of the woods complained about. They had just recently dubbed this portion the Thunderlands. Of the three men, one was much younger than the others, he was about twelve and had skin black as midnight. He had tagged along at the request of his mentor to see how real "heroes" fight. The two mercenaries saw him as nothing more than a liability and a nuisance. He kept asking questions and bugging the crap out of the other two. Frankly they were getting tired of it. Mocking the boy, one of the mercenaries dared him to enter the Thunderlands and complete the mission himself.

"As proof, you need to bring us back the albino goblin's necklace. Maybe THEN, you'll be a REAL hero," the two mercenaries laughed, jeering the boy. "Now you CAN'T come back until you've gotten it! Wouldn't want to disappoint your teacher now would YOU?" they cackled harder, barely able to breath.

"I-I'll show you guys! I'll beat the crap out of that goblin and I'll wear the necklace proudly as my own!" and with that the boy set off into the woods, alone. The boy, upset by their cat-calling at first did not realize what he'd gotten himself into until he heard a blood curdling scream. Chills ran up and down his spine, and his right arm began to pulsate. "Oh god, what is this..." his arm was thumping harder with each step he took. It was as if his insides were on fire! As much as he tried to stifle it, he let out a horrifying yelp. Slowly, starting at his fingertips and expanding towards his forearm, a steaming red streak had begun to take him. The boy could hear voices in his head...he was losing consciousness, fast. The terrifying redness was seeping up to his shoulder blade...he let out another scream, but this time it was more of a roar. His sense dimmed and he was in Khazan's grip....

The boy came to, exhaustion rippled through his body. Standing awkwardly, he looked almost zombie like. His clothes were soaked with blood, his face and arms were covered with it. He gasped in awe as he donned the Lightning Goblin's necklace, albeit bloodied. He felt something heavy in his right arm, he glanced down and wished he hadn't. He was holding the severed head of the Lightning Goblin, whose face was twisted with the jaw left hanging. Stricken with fear, the young man opened his mouth to scream, but his voice was lost. He had no recollection of what he'd done. In shock, he staggered forward and tripped over the Goblin's body. Freaking, he began gripping at the blood-stained grass, trying desperately to pull himself from the scene. He felt a hand on his shoulder, and he was lifted effortlessly from the ground. Struggling, he tried to stop his captor from bagging him, but was unsuccessful. His captor then shackled him and threw him in a carriage of sorts. He could hear the man ell the other about some curse...but as the carriage started to move forward he could no longer hear them over the sound of the cartwheels. After a while, they had arrived at a castle on the outskirts of Aphelia Post. They dragged the boy out of the carriage and to the main hallway. There he was thrown down and the bag was lifted from his head. All the men in the room donned a dragon tattoo across their faces. The leader took one glimpse at the boy and laughed, his arm was as crimson red as his. Thus, he managed to join the Black Dragon syndicate.

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When he came to them, he had no name. That was seven years ago. Now, he was Dragon. Thanks to Crazed, the leader of the syndicate, he had learned to suppress Khazan's curse with something called a Regulator. Instead of his arm being crimson, it was now white and (supposedly) dormant. He was a skilled blade, preferring to use his trademark light-blue blade with a dragon wrapping around the hilt. He had risen through the ranks of the syndicate with ease, now he was Crazed's second-in-command. The only one above him was dcdfvr, the mysterious nen-master from Hendon Myre. Pyujin had forced dcd out of Hendon Myre because of his dealings in dark nen-ergy, said to be more destructive than even the Apostles. dcd never talked about his past, but his reputation for being a skilled combatist definitely preceded him. As for Crazed, he was the oldest out of all of them. To gain the leadership role, he had murdered the last leader and wore one of the molars around his neck as a trophy. Crazed had a very divided personality, he could be totally serious one moment and well, crazy the next. He was appropriately named. He was also famous for leaving his comrades for dead, but nevertheless no one could defeat him one-on-one to take his position, so there he stayed.

Dragon had learned much under both dcd and Crazed and had many scars from 'play-fights' as it were. A dragon tattoo covered much of a really nasty scar inflicted on him within two weeks of joining the Black Dragon Syndicate. As an initiation he had to fight in a notorious tournament in Aphelia. There a man named Khan had struck him down and help him under his foot. With a Greatsword he had carved the mark right into Dragon's left eye. In a frenzy, Dragon clawed the guy's chest and ripped his heart out. Gore splattered the stadium. Maniacally laughing, Dragon proceeded to devour the heart....

He awoke in a feverish state, the dream still vividly burning into his mind's eye. His arm no longer throbbed thanks to the Regulator, but he could still feel the sensation of losing himself... He shuddered sweat, running down his brow. It was usually cool in the castle, but for some reaosn he was unusually hot. The air, in-fact was stifling. Suddenly, he burst from his bed and ran out onto the pathway. Dragon could hear the crackling of a fire in the distance. He got out into the courtyard and what he saw terrified and nearly threw him into a rage. The main part of the castle was ablaze! Crazed appeared next to him.

"Dragon, get off your ass! We're being attacked by the Dark Elves!" Crazed ran towards the castle and Dragon followed suit. All around them their comrades were dying left and right. Titan and Goliath, two of Scoria Core's gatekeepers, were busy busting the place up. Tables, chairs, windows, and anything not bolted down were smashed and crushed up. Dragon raised his blade to fight the duo, and then rushed at Titan's side. Titan unphased, took his arm and smashed Dragon into a giant picture frame, shattering the glass. Dragon slumped to the ground, unconscious. He awoke to dcd shaking him, jerking him up from the ground. They met with Crazed a few feet from the castle, now completely in ruins. The three stood there, unsure of what to do next. The attack was a total surprise, how could they have not known? They looked at each other in wonderment, then headed off into the woods; the only three to survive and now with no home left to return to...

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All paid heed when the three vagabonds wandered into Hendon Myre. News of the Dark Elves torching their castle had circulated to even the furthest reaches of the Bantu Nomadic Tribes. War had now pressed the Belmyre Principality on all sides with the destruction of the fearsome syndicate. That castle had been the last road-block in the way of the Elves, Iris the Fortune-Teller had foresaw the fire as an omen of terrible things to come. A week later, the Devolution had begun, ravaging Grand Flores. A day after that, the Pentacle holding Sky tower hidden had weakened. The times were becoming grim and the people were losing hope. Dragon, Crazed, and dcd were staying with Sharan, the resident Dark Elf other than Kargon (He's useless). They did menial jobs for the various citizens, trying to lighten the load of suffering on their backs.

Dragon spent most of his time doing back-breaking labor for G.S.D., his old mentor. He respected the old man reverently. He had noticed how people tended to walk around in the big area just below capitol building, waving their signs in protest. As it stood, the principality was in terrible danger of collapsing in on itself. The economy was demolished as people could not walk the trade routes without being attacked by monsters, criminals in droves surfaced to pillage anything they could get their hands on, and the council at the capital turned out to be corrupt and unsympathetic for the hapless denizens of Hendon Myre. The protesters weren't making much head-way in their fight to get the principality to compensate them for their losses. The situation had Dragon thinking. He wanted to do so much more than some yard-work, he was capable of doing much more than that. Being a hired blade did not net much, especially since one was hired individually. Many people simply would not pay a whole lot for them, even though they were so necessary.

"There has to be some way to be a mercenary that actually makes money," Dragon muttered, "There's just way too many broke adventurers and no one to hire 'em..."

"Well then, Dragon," GSD overhearing Dragon talking to himself, decided to lend some advice, "I suggest you go to Bucken, he's had an idea to gather adventurers for a while, but none are quite taken with it...if you go past Loton's Apothecary you'll surely find him." GSD fell silent and slunk back into the shadows. Dragon nodded in respect to him and departed. He covered the distance to the apothecary in no time and went to search for Bucken. The man was certainly elusive; Dragon spotted him among the shrubbery where no ordinary human could spot him without some intense searching. The ninja man, seeing himself found, rose to meet Dragon.

"Good day, fighter, what is it you wish of me?" Bucken spoke softly, but with an air of assertiveness.

"Sir, I heard about your idea for a 'group' of adventurers. I'd like to help you kick this thing off..." Dragon spoke alittle unsure of himself; the ninja had a really intense aura.

"Ah, my idea for the guilds...unfortunately no one has sense enough to see that this were to benefit all. Ah, but you came to me did you not? So you want to make a guild? It is like your syndicate (Dragon was startled; not many knew him) Dragon, except it is for the good of the people and not your wallet...although you do benefit from it as well." He paused to see the man's reaction, Dragon was certainly interested so he continued, "Of course, it was not my design but the capital's," he was looking on all sides, paranoid now, "Quickly! If you want to make one head to the Capitol and sign this form," he handed Dragon a sealed scroll, "and not another word to anyone. Go now before they find you!" Dragon had no clue who, but Bucken was gone in a flash anyway, so he didn't have time to question him. Upon returning to the place where Crazed, dcd, and he were staying, he presented the scroll to the other two men. Both enjoyed the idea, but they had no clue what to call their new group, or where to recruit for that matter.

"Guys, all I know is that I don't want another Black Dragon Syndicate, it still hurts y'know..." Dragon paused, shuddering at ill-gotten memories, "I figure we could go recruiting those people up at the capitol building, hell they gather like a swarm of bees anyway."

"Yes, but, they look to be pretty shitty fighters, this is ridiculous," dcd was getting impatient with his proposal, as was Crazed.

"We'll teach em ourselves, c'mon, do you really want to hold a cleaning service for the rest of your life?" dcd cringed, he HATED cleaning up for the dirty filth in the slums. It was good money but a terrible waste of his talents. Crazed's job was no better, being a construction worker sucked, especially in the summer. All three hated how far they had sunk to get by, and Dragon's idea was suddenly exposed in a new light. Crazed rose from his seat, a revelation striking him.

"I think we should do it. Those people protesting in the Promenade should be commended, and who are we to give up and demean ourselves? We should be kicking ass and taking names! Not cleaning ass and getting chewed out! DRAGON!," he roared thunderously, "Go get that scroll signed! I plan to lead you two and whoever the hell we get into the riches we deserve! Further, I'll do it blindfolded!' And abruptly ended his little speech and sat down. Dragon stepped out of their cubby; his destination the Capitol Building.

He got through the crowd and into the building. He unsealed the scroll and began filling it out until he got down to where the name portion was. With a sudden surge of inspiration he signed neatly,

"Promenade."

Next time: Chapter 3 -The Mysterious Gunslinger: A Starving Artist-