Date: Mon, 12 Feb 2007 20:25:40 +0000 From: Liam Williams Subject: Arion Chapter 1 Disclaimer: This story involves love, relationship, and "adult" subject matter between teenage boys so if you are of the legal age in your country feel free to read on, if not, then don't get caught. If homosexuality offends you, then leave, and one question, why are you reading this anyway? This Is Science Fiction...any character resembling a real life person is by coincidence, because face it, your not going to be like anyone in this story and in the event a character is based on someone in real life their name has been changed due to legal and personal protection. Do Not Reproduce this story, and if you would like to have it on your website email me and get my permission. Arion Chapter 1 The Potential The Arion are race of godlike beings. They have been around for millions of years, always trying to keep the earth in peace, but never interfering in nature. For the Arion were created by the one true goddess, Gaia, so they have no power to contradict her decisions. Gaia made them her children, so they have almost infinite power. Whatever they want, need, or dream of, can be theirs if they choose it. But despite this, they are very conservative when it comes to using their gifts. They only use their power to help the creatures they share the earth with. So for thousands of years after their creation, the Arion lived in peace with all the other creatures on earth. They watched them grow, fight and die, for the Arion can never die. They can be killed in combat or willingly die in order to ascend to heaven to become one of the Jairus, the supreme council of the Arion. Then in the year 64997994 BC, a new tribe of humans arose with a thirst for power. The Arion thought nothing of it at the time, but over the next year they had convinced an Arion, Cain, to help them become the only tribe. So Cain began his wild killing spree, never stopping, never caring, and never considering what would happen when he was stopped. The Arion were furious with Cain and the new tribe for going against Gaia's wishes, and so they banished them to the darkest places of the world. But before they left, the eldest of the Arion madea prophecy depicting their rise to power. When human kind is at its weakest, The Hunters shall come forth from their hiding place, They will increase their strength tenfold in the space of one year. When the number of Arion is at its lowest, The Hunters shall attack, And they will finish the work they started. And so it shall be, Darkness will rule for an eternity, With only one hope of salvation. A Master and an Apprentice A Jairus on earth, and an Arion, Young in his acceptance. And when the need is dire, The Jairus shall evolve An gain power to defy Gaia herself. The Hunters shall fight both forces, But while both live No amount of power shall defeat them. Cain and his newborn `Hunters' then left for their new home. And so they began their training. Every day, constant fighting, until each and every Hunter could match Cain's skill. And so, for the next 65 million years, the Arion went back to fulfilling their duty, and the Hunters lived in secret, waiting for the day to make their move. Present Day "Hey Liam, are you coming to Club Night tonight?" asked Jon I turned away from the bus window and looked towards Jon. "Umm, yeah, I might be a little late though; can you still give me a lift home?" "Yeah, it's still fine," said Jon. "I was just wondering, `cause you've been quite busy lately." "Don't remind me, if Mr Muhammad hadn't been such a rubbish teacher then we wouldn't have any IT coursework left. Still, it was worth it just to have the party when he left. "No matter," I looked up at the two boys behind me and my eyes focused on the one with the blonde hair. "And what about you Nic, are you going to Club Night, or are you going to have a sore throat again?" Nic leaned forward and stares at me. "Hey, it's not my fault if I get ill easily." "Oh please, we all know that you did it to avoid running into Simon," Jon had made his input into the conversation. "No, seriously, I was ill, ask Mum if you don't believe me Jon. She was the one who had to stay home and look after me, while you and Dad had fun." "Whatever Nic, I was with your Mum last time." The other boy behind us had decided to join in as well. I looked down and shook my head. "As usual Luke, bad timing, awful delivery, and the same joke that we heard yesterday..." "And the day before that, and the day before that," said Nic as he interrupted me. "Exactly, don't you have any new jokes to make?" I asked. "Uhh no, my jokes are funny," replied Luke I turned around to look out the window. The bus had just turned the corner and past the traffic lights. "Finally, we're moving again. Umm, where was I? Oh yes, funny the first 5 times, I'll give you that. But now their just boring.""Whatever," Luke leaned back into his seat to talk to the people behind him. "Right, ok, back to the other conversation," Jon had decided to participate again. " It's strange that Simon's been going to Club Night for just over 2 months and you haven't had a problem with it. "However, the day that Wallis tells you that he fancies you, you immediately develop a `sore throat', coincidence?" "Ok, I'll admit that not seeing Simon was an added bonus, but I really was ill, you happy now?" "Yep, perfectly happy," I rung the bell and started to get up. "Come on, it's our stop." We got off the bus and crossed the road. As we were walking up the bank, Nic lost his footing and slipped down. Jon, Luke and I just stopped walking and laughed. "Oh thanks," said Nic. "It's nice to know that you'll help me when I fall down." "Oh fine," I walked over and grabbed his hand. As I pulled him upwards, he pulled down, and I tumbled down the bank. He sat up and looked down at me and stuck out his tongue. "There, try and be a bit quicker next time" He sat there and laughed as I slowly got up. "You are so going to die for that Nic," I said He slowly began to back towards Jon and Luke. "You'll have to catch me first." With that he began to run down the road and to his house. I legged it after to him and managed to catch him before he turned the corner. "It's not nice to do that to people who try to help you out." "So what now, are you going to kill me or let me go?" "Oh no, I've got something much worse," I leant in close to his left ear. "You see, Jon let me into a little secret. He told me how ticklish you are." "JON!!" he whined. "What? Its only fair, you told him about the Prince Jonny incident!" Jon said as he walked out behind us. I slowly began to poke Nic to the sides "Yeah, but this is different. You know that my stomach is extremely ticklish." Nic said. "What? Jon didn't tell me that. Thanks for giving me that information." My fingers slowly worked their way up to his stomach and began to tickle him ferociously. He fell to the floor and curled into a ball. "Stop," *gasp* "really not funny," *gasp*. I slowly stopped tickling him and he got back up to his feet. "That wasn't fair. What you just did was five times worse than what I did." "Oh well, that was for the five times when I didn't do anything." "Look, this has been fun, watching you torture my brother and everything, but we have to go home now," said Jon. I looked over at him and nodded "Yeah, you're right. I have to get home and practice." "Practice what?" he asked. "My badminton of course," I gave him a confused look. "How am I ever going to beat you if I don't practice?" My mouth twitched as I tried to hold back the smirk. "Oh harhar, fine, if you don't want to tell me then don't." Damn, he'd seen the smirk. He turned around and began to walk home, slowing down like he was waiting for something. "Ok," I replied, knowing exactly what he was waiting for. "Fine then, don't tell me, I will find out eventually." So we said our goodbyes and he and Nic turned the corner of their road and Luke and I continued down ours. Halfway down, Luke turned off down his road, leaving me alone. Its funny, but it's nice to be alone to think sometimes. This, I realised, was not one of those times, as I felt someone walking up behind me. "Hello Cato, is this a social visit, or is it actually something important this time?" "All my visits are important; you should know that by now." I turned around and the familiar brown haired, blue eyed pest that I had known for the last five years came into view. "I would hardly say that your hour long lecture about why it was bad to make Joss Carey fall down the stairs, was important, but maybe that's just me." "We've been through this already, you're not supposed to hurt people." "You wouldn't be saying that if you knew him, but if it makes you feel better, I'll go to the hospital and sign his cast, ok?" I turned around and began to walk down the road again. Cato grabbed my shoulder and spun me around. "Look, I didn't come down here to fight about this again. I came here to warn you." "Warn me about what?" "Everyone's sensed it, why can't you?" "Get to the point, we can discuss my `bigger picture' issue later, what should I have sensed?" I was beginning to get very irritated with him at this point in time. "They're coming?" "Hellooooo, haven't got all day here, who are coming?" "The Hunters." "The Hunters were banished though; they can't step outside their own land." "That's why we're all worried. They've managed to get out, and they've been trying to track us down." "Ok, so The Hunters have escaped, the first part of the prophecy has been fulfilled. So what are all of you going to do about it?" "We'll we need to find you the Apprentice." "I'm only an Apprentice myself, how am I supposed to take on an Apprentice?" "They're a lot of things that the other Arion and I don't understand about you, but we trust that Gaia has seen to it that you can take on an Apprentice, so we need to find them for you." "And how do you plan on doing that? You've been searching for the past year, and have come no closer to finding them." "True, but the arrival of The Hunters means that you'll find them soon enough." "Right, whatever, can I go now, or is there more you want to tell me?" "Just one thing, we don't feel it's safe for you to go out alone." "Well tough, I've got my own things to do, and I'm not having some 300 year old protector wandering around with me, I'll be fine, trust me." Cato let out a sigh, "Fine then, but keep your senses alert, they might be right next to you before you realise it." And with that, he vanished to wherever it is he goes when he's not bugging me. I got home eventually, turned on my music, and got in the shower. Usually I would hurry and wash so I could get whatever homework I had out of the way, but it was half term, no need to do that until next Sunday. So I just stood there, enjoying the warmth of the shower, thinking about everything that had happened today. I must have been standing there for at least twenty minutes before I realised in only had half an hour to get ready. So I got out of the shower, dried myself, got dressed and fixed my hair. Actually, while I'm no the subject, have you ever realised that brown hair is just `Uhh'? It doesn't actually say anything at all. Blonde hair catches your eye; black hair is extremely sexy, even being ginger gets attention, not in a good way, but it's still attention. Brown hair however is common.It's what most people seem to have, and it's not very interesting at all. However, now that that's out of the way, I went online, and started talking to the friends I had said goodbye to not over an hour ago. So I talked to them until my parents came in from work, and then I logged off, and went downstairs to watch our nightly programs and eat dinner. After the programs finished, my lift turned up for Club Night. I got in the car and we started the 10 minute drive to town. It was raining, as usual, so I jumped out of the car, slammed the door, and ran to the front door of the church hall. The door was open so I rushed in and saw Jon, Nic and their dad setting up for the night. I took off my jacket, signed in, paid my pound, and went to set up the badminton net. The night went quite quickly. Badminton, 15 minute talk about God, then onto pool. Almost the same as always. But eventually it was time to go, so I said my goodbyes, and we were almost about to leave when we realised we were missing somebody. "Where's Nic?" his dad asked. I stopped in the doorway and turned the light back on. "Umm, I think he went to put the dance mat away, do you want me to go and help him?" "Ok, but be quick?" he said. So I ran to the other side of the hall, leapt on to the platform, and walked down the stairs to the other part of the hall. I turned the corner at the bottom of the stairs and saw him trying to squash the dance mat into its box. "Nic, what are you doing?" "Well, I'm trying to fit this stupid thing into the box, but it won't go in, can you come and give me a hand." I leant down to help him, but my ears started to tingle and I stood up straight. Something was walking into the church hall, but I wasn't sure what it was. All I knew was that it was in a rush. "Well are you going to help me or what?" Nic pulled me out of my thoughts. "Leave that, we need to go." "Oh fine," he sighed. He picked up the box and the mat, and ran out of the doorway and up the stairs before I could stop him. It was then I heard the footsteps overhead, and knew that whatever was making those sounds was going to run into Nic. So I waited for a moment, and heard a brief scuffle. I backed into the corner waiting for the footsteps to come downstairs. They came in single file and as they were halfway down, my hair turned black as I was preparing myself for a fight. The door swung open, and through it stepped 10 Hunters, 1 holding an unconscious Nic. "Well well, look at what we've found boys, an Arion who actually wants a fight. Too bad we don't have the time, so if you'd like to come with us we can let your friend here go." "You've got 10 seconds to tell me who you are, what you want, and whether you want your ashes in a pot or thrown out to sea." "Wow, he's got spirit as well, the last one to have that was, well me actually. I'm Cain by the way. As for what we want, well you'll only find that out if you come with us, ok." It takes a lot to get me scared, but just hearing that name, Cain, was enough to do it. I couldn't fight him; in case I exposed our race to Nic, and even if they didn't matter, there was no way that I could fight Cain, who's been training since the Prehistoric era. "Fine, I'll come with you, but let Nic go first, he's not a part of this." "Nic?" Cain looked confused. Then it dawned on him. "Oh, you mean this one here." He pointed to Nic. "He'll be perfectly fine, we'll let him go as soon as we're out of this hall." There was no way out of this, except if I went with him, which I didn't particularly want to do either. I saw Nic beginning to regain consciousness, and hoped that he wouldn't struggle too much. He raised his head, blinked a few times as he tried to focus his eyes. "Liam, what's going on?" I could see the fear in his eyes as he pleaded for an explanation. "Nic, just keep calm, there's nothing you can do at the moment. Just don't struggle and you'll be alright. These people only want me to come with them and they'll let you go." I know I avoided the question, but what could I do? Tell him that a 65 million year old demigod was holding him hostage, somehow I don't think that it would go down well. "But why do they want you to go with them, and why am I the hostage in all of this." Ok, so maybe I didn't dodge it at all. "Look, Nic, it's difficult to explain, and it wouldn't make any sense to you anyway." That was when I saw it. I had finally found our way out of this mess, and he was trying to remain calm through this. I saw the familiar white glow beginning to form around his body. Nobody else had seen it though, it wasn't bright enough. Then suddenly it began to get brighter. All of The Hunters, including Cain, turned to look at Nic. Then Cain realised what was going on, and he turned to look at me, fire burning in his eyes. "You planned this didn't you!" I was fighting so hard not to start laughing at this point. "Whether I planned it or not is irrelevant, all that matters is that you can't prevent us from leaving." "What's going on Lord? What's with the bright light?" one of The Hunters asked. "The young one, the light around him, means that he is now an Arion. It also means that their free to leave and we can't touch them for a month." "That's right, I've got a month to train him to fight against you, and you can't stop me. You see, even your so called `Lord' can't fight against his old traditions. So if you don't mind..." I walked over and put my arm around Nic's waist to support him. "...we have somewhere to be, goodbye." We walked up the stairs, with minimal effort from Nic, and made our way out of the hall. Nic's dad's car was still parked outside with the rest of his family locked inside it. They all got out of the car and rushed over to help us. "What happened, who were those people, what did they want?" I was hit with a barrage of questions from Nic's parents. "I'll answer all your questions later, just help me get Nic into the car, and take me to your house, I'll explain everything there. We all got into the car, I phoned my house just to say that I'll be a bit later, and we drove to Nic's house. We got out of the car, made our way insid e, and sat down in the living room. Nic's mum went to help put him to bed, but I stopped her. "He's been through a lot tonight, can't he get some rest?" She was angry, but she kept calm. "All of you need to be down here, it affects your entire family." So they made their way back into the living room and sat down facing me. I stood up and began the speech I had been planning in the car. "Right, ok. The most important thing at the moment is Nic's future. What happened tonight isn't as important as what we do in the free month that we have. "Free month, what month, what are you talking about?" said Nic's dad. "Ok, I'm going to have to start from basics here, and please, don't interrupt until I've finished. I'm not like you. I'm not what you would human. I'm part of a race of demigods called Arion. "Ok, that's the complicated part over with. Those people, if you can call them that, are called The Hunters. They were banished by the ancient Arion millions of years ago. They're led by an Arion called Cain, who was also banished at that time. A prophecy was made depicting they're return to the world and their defeat at the hands of an Arion, and a Jairus, Arion who watch over heaven after they die. So The Hunters have made it their task to hunt down and kill any Arion that they can find. "Now it seems Cain has decided to kill me, but now that Nic is an Arion, I have a month to train him to fight off Cain and his Hunters. Any questions" "Are you completely insane?! There is no way that I'm going to let Nic get involved in all of this." Nic's dad was staring at me with the same intensity that I had seen in Cain's eyes. "I don't care what you think you are, but you're not turning Nic into one; now get out of my house." "Fine, I'll go, but Nic is an Arion whether you want him to be or not. There's no changing the fact that in one month, if he isn't ready to fight, The Hunters will come after him, he won't be able to stop him, and they will kill him. Now, I will protect him, but I can only do so much." I walked out the house and turned around to face Nic's dad, his mum, and Jon, who had been surprisingly quiet through all of this. "I don't why you don't want him to train, but I hope you reconsider before something bad happens" At that point they slammed the door in my face and I felt a cold wind travel across the back of my neck. "Cato, I am really not in the mood to fight with you tonight." "Well good, you need to get back in their and convince them to let us train him." "There's no point, we can't make him train, and they're obviously not going to let him train no matter what we say." "But surely if he wants to train, then his family can't stop him" "No, Nic cares too much about his family to go against them on something this big, besides, I don't think he wants it any more than they want it for him." "So there is nothing we can do to convince them." "The only thing that will convince them will be if Nic gets put in danger, but I'm not willing to let that happen." "Well if that's the only way to do it, then you have to leave him alone until he needs you to save his life." "I won't let The Hunters hurt him." "You have to let this happen Liam, extreme measures must be taken when it comes to the fulfilling of the prophecy." And with that he vanished. I was really beginning to hate Cato at this point, but deep down I knew he was right. The prophecy did come first, but I knew that I'd be there to make sure that Nic wasn't hurt in anyway, even if that means fighting Cain himself. Right! Well thats the first chapter done! Well guys, what did you think? Did you like it, hate it? Were you interested by it? Can you think of any improvements? Im willing to accept all criticism, as long as their justified. So email me at aniolad666@hotmail.co.uk with you comments And hopefully *fingers crossed* i'll get enough feedback to create chapter 2-The Student Aniolad666