Post by Illusion Willow on Mar 10, 2008 16:23:12 GMT -5
Well, I dicided to write this story a while ago, and was going to scrap it. But then I re-read it and fixed it up. Because of school I haven't had much time to write it, but heres chapter one!
One saw the terrified look across her face, “What others?” Shivering, she pointed to the other end of their hiding place, a pile of white sticks. Bones, One thought.
She reached for a branch, hauling herself up, feeling the rough, splintering surface. She felt so liberated; free to do what ever she wanted. Untying her, thick, brown hair, she let it fall to below her waist. She hummed to a tune and was soon singing a soft, beautiful song.
Of course, this would never happen. One was very strange, different from her fellow Tynaclan. One wasn’t in the forest; she was in a room about the size of a two car space garage. More than one hundred other girls huddled in the small room, they all looked the same. Thin, black hair, shiny and silky, small brown eyes and pure, unblemished white skin. They all wore tight, white dresses that reached their knees. One squeezed past some of the identical girls, scanning the room. The only way to tell the girls apart was their birthmark. Along their forehead was an object, One’s was diamond and an eye. Tynaclan normally only have one. She liked to look at all the objects, but most were boring, like a fish or a knife.
Tarupa is located on the other side of the galaxy, away from Earth. They are the only planets with water and life on them, One didn’t know this, even though she had always had a curious part of her brain that seemed to think that there’s more to life than sitting around in a tiny room. All Tynaclan have numbers for names until they go to the island. The numbers were in the order that they were born, and the cycle ended at One Hundred. One was a year younger than the rest in the room, the beginning of a new cycle.
Ping! Lunch, she shivered at the thought. Their lunch was delivered to them from the ground. It was nothing but three pieces of mouldy bread and a few dead fruits. The hatch from the ground opened and a basket was slowly pushed up by shaking hands. The ruler had no intention of looking at the starving girls, so he sent some food to them once a week. The girls raced over to the basket, almost ripping it apart to reach the food. This was why One couldn’t wait until she turned 13. When you turned 13 you were shipped off to a place where you meet a boy and get taken to a magical place where you are allowed to have your own house and live in peace. Just recently Fifty had gone to the island, One kind of knew her, but they weren’t friends. Well, good friends anyway.
She crawled over to a corner where no cameras could see her. The cameras were like spies, they searched for any misbehaviour. Anyone caught doing so would be killed. One began to dig, she already had a deep hole. She had been doing this since coming to the room five years ago. It almost reached the outside of the walls, where you could see the sky and breathe in fresh air. She had never been out there before, no one but the slaves had. The ground was hard, most of it rock, but One had figured out how to edge the rock aside and get to the dirt a few centimetres below. She got a small amount of water and poured it over them, loosening the rocks by making the dry dirt mud. Shivering with excitement she dipped her dirty hands into the sand and felt around. A rock! I'm at the end! She thought as she felt something harder than the dirt. The hole was big enough for a skinny figure, like One, to slip through with ease. It was just that the cameras would set off a loud alarm that the guards would hear, and she would be killed. Luckily, they couldn’t see her in this corner.
She closed her eyes and slipped head-first into the hole, the darkness swallowing her. It was much colder down here, but she managed to creep outside. When she reached the other end she coughed, the air smelt of salt. An ocean must be close. One had heard about this mystical place, people described it as “soft, white dirt which salty water eats!”
One shivered, looking up at the sky. Grey clouds washed over it, making an afternoon look like night. Staring at her surroundings, she noticed nothing but the red dirt and other huts. She twirled at her hair, it was so dark that it looked black. She knew it was brown, though. Her hair was thicker than the others, and was much messier. It was tied in loose plats, whilst others had it done up in tight buns.
Running in the direction the smell was coming from she soon came to the beach, the sand tickled her feet, she had never felt something so soft. She saw a huge beast made from brown things, it was bigger than her room it loomed over her like a tiger ready to pounce.
*****
One was safe inside the thing, whatever it was, it would take her to the island, she smiled at her accomplishment and crawled around, noticing the thing was made from trees, she shivered at the thought of the poor wood, being eaten by the humans. The thing lurched to one side and One was sent tumbling over and hit the side of the beast. She heard a faint voice.
“The ships gotta go faster or the bloody boss ‘ell slit me throat!” the voice had some type off accent. Her curious mind sent her crawling on hands and knees, following the voice.
“Psst!” she spun around, and girl’s eyes loomed under the shadows, her expression was frisky and unsettled.
“They’ll kill you if you go up there!” she smiled.
“Going to see a friend?” the girl asked, holding out and hand.
“Ah, yeah, how did you know?” One took her hand and shook,
“I’m One, you?” One smiled back at her, but frowned, looking at her forehead, no birth mark.
“My number’s Three, but that’s not my name! It’s Sapphire!” she smiled at One’s puzzled expression.
“OH, right, no birth-mark, well where I come from, we don’t all have them on the same place, you see mine’s here.” She pulled down her left shoulder or her shirt to revile a blob of brown.
“That’s your birth mark?!” One shook her head, “It can’t be!” Sapphire shrugged, “Well, it’s real!” she smiled half heartedly.
“How did you get your name?” One asked, still a little shocked.
“Well…” Sapphire stepped out of the darkness, her hair was short, blonde, and big, green eyes like One’s.
“Oh my god! Who are you?” One struggled back.
“Relax, Tyaine!” Sapphire smiled as One’s expressions changed from surprised to freaking out.
“Who’s Tyaine?” One snapped, now almost about to faint.
“Its-” she was interrupted by a loud booming voice.
“OK! Everyone off this is your stop!” Sapphire snaked back into the darkness and tiptoed up the stairs to the deck, One followed trying to look older.
The island was not huge and covered with pretty, roomy houses like 1 had expected. It was a huge jungle. Nothing but leaves and the horrible smell of blood and rot filled her nose making it crumble up. She followed Sapphire; she seemed worried, “Ah…Sapphire?” she called, peering into the darkness,
“Where are you?” she called again, trying to stick to the shadows. The faint voice lingered into her ears,
“Over here, come on follow my voice!” One shivered with excitement, she was hardly ever scared, just adventurous. She stepped lightly to the voice, she stumbled into some prickly bushes, and they seemed thick and half dead.
“OW!” she called, until the moonlight reappeared when she tumbled onto a flat, rock formation. Sapphire sat down near the bushes.
“The ships have just left, Ty, where stuck here for a few days!” Sapphire curled up, but smiled.
“Don’t worry, I brought supplies!” she pulled from her back a backpack. One sat down next to her,
“What's that?” she peered at the material like it was prehistoric,
“And once again who’s Ty?” One asked annoyed, Sapphire just shrugged,
“Some people don’t know until its time, others find it out the cheating way…I learnt that from the best!” One shook her head,
“Please tell me! I’m getting really annoyed!”
“OK, but don’t get angry at me!” Sapphire paused for a moment.
“Tyaine is-”
“Wait! Listen!” One interrupted, she heard some strange rustle in the bushed behind her, and she leapt forward and pounced on whatever it was trying to attack them. “OW! Get off me you creep!” The voice screamed at One, she was pushed back to where Sapphire stood, mouth open. The voices owner stepped from the bushes, her long hair was still in a bun, but no longer had its normal shiny effect and her eyes loomed around. One noticed a sun on her forehead
“Fifty-two. . .” One whispered.
“Yes I’m Fifty-two!” The girl screeched. One stared at Fifty-two up and down,
“What happened to you?” she whispered. Fifty-two frowned, staring back at her angrily,
“Listen, you guys need to get out of here! It’s not what the people tell us, its just leaving us in the jungle, you need to tell everyone, or we’ll all just rot here like the…others” One saw the terrified look across her face,
“What others?” shivering she pointed to the other end of their hiding place, a pile of white sticks. Bones One thought.
“So you mean they just let you die?” Sapphire shivered, Fifty-two rolled her eyes,
“Yes! That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you!”
“Wait a minute,” One started “You don’t seem…the same?” she tilted her head to one side.
“I have to go now…” 50 started, when she heard another rustle in the bushes, and soon diapered. Sapphire shrugged, unzipping her backpack.
“OK, I brought enough for two days, then the ship should come and we can go!” One looked puzzled,
“Why did you come prepared?” Sapphire shrugged,
“I always do.” She pulled out two sleeping bags and a paper bag. Laying the two seeping bags down for her and One,
“Wow, what are they?” One asked, touching the material,
“It’s a sleeping bag; don’t you have them at your place?” Sapphire asked,
“Oh, yeah, no blankets and stuff, well that’s OK, you can have your first experience here!” she smiled at One. Pulling out a sandwich from the paper bag the split it in half and offered it to One, she took it and swallowed it whole. Sapphire did the same; they both snuggled into their sleeping bags and fell into a deep sleep.
*****
When One woke the next morning she was in the ship again, Sapphire had pulled her on the ship when she was asleep. She shivered, for it was much colder in the shadows. “OK, I need to know this!” One said loudly,
“Who the hell is Ty?”
“One - call me Sapphy. Two - You, Ty is you!” she said happily. Giving the newly christened Ty a hug,
“What?!” Ty spluttered, her heart pounding in her chest, Sapphy just laughed.
“I knew you’d be happy!” Ty’s smiled grew wider across her face.
“Happy? I am all of a sudden called something other than One?” a frown grew upon Sapphy’s face,
“I’m not happy!” Ty paused,
“I'm so damn happy I think I'm gonna cry of happiness!” They both giggled.
Suddenly, the ship lurched forward, sending Ty and Sapphy into the opposite wall of the ship.
“They must be back!” Sapphy cried, scrambling up and out of the shadows. Ty followed; her heart pounding.
“What in the world?”
The land was covered in snow, but Ty had never seen it and didn’t know what it was, the huts were a little bigger, ad things were ticker to keep the thick layer of snow out.
“This, Ty, is the boy’s world!” Sapphy laughed.
“Boys? You took us to boys land?!” Ty choked,
“Deliberately?” Sapphy smiled,
“Yes! I did, I want you to meet my brother, Jamie!”
“Bu...But…its-” Ty spluttered, “So…different?”
“Yeah, it’s much colder over here.” Sapphy chuckled. “This is also where to Emperor Lives! But anyway, we have to go now. We need to get Jamie!” Sapphy grabbed Ty’s arm and pulled her along the rows of huts, peering through the tiny windows. The huts were a little bigger than Ty’s ones, they also seemed thicker – to keep the snow out. Sapphy smiled, in one of the biggest huts on the last row, there was a boy peering out of the small windows. He had thick, caramel hair that falls down over his dark chocolate brown eyes.
“That’s him!” She called, rushing over to him. Jamie smiled widely, disappearing under the rim of the window. Re-appearing through a hole, Ty thought that that must be the only way to get out of those huts.
“Oh, hey! You must be Jamie!” Ty grinned. Jamie’s eyes grew soft, his put on a shy smile and shifted from one spot to another.
“Ah...hi, ah” Jamie spluttered,
“Ty...remember?” Sapphy whispered to Jamie, he nodded and coughed.
“I think we have to…ah, go now…to the um…” Sapphy putt her hand on Jamie’s shoulder.
“OK, now that we’re all here, we need to go some place private. I - I mean - we, need to talk to you.” Ty nodded and followed Sapphy and Jamie, who had already started darting away.
They were in an abandoned hut; it must have been for little kids, because it was very old, tiny and filled with cob-webs.
“Ty, are you ready for this?” Sapphy asked, Ty smirked,
“Yes.”
“OK, well, it all started when Jamie had - No, wait, I should go back further. We used to live in this place called Earth. And on Earth there’s a thing called school. And at school we have these things called Assignments. Well, Jamie had to do one, and it was about mixing curtain liquids together. Are You getting this?”
“Um…Yes?”
“OK, well our mother-”
“Alright, I might be new to this, but I know what a mother is, you don’t have to go all weird about it!”
“Sorry, but out mother told us were not blowing up the kitchen – a place where we make, and store food – again. So we had to make it in a mine, an abandoned one, - oh a mine is a place where people dig gold - and well, we think we made a ah…portal.”
“You made a what?”
“A portal, is a…like a door to a parallel universe…” This was the first time Jamie had talked since meeting Ty.
“Yeah, so we got caught and separated. Now we need to figure out why all the people look, sound and have the same personality!” Sapphy finished.
“So you're trying to tell me your from a place called Earth?”
“Well, yeah!” Jamie shrugged.
“We also need to take you guys back to Earth, no everyone back to Earth.”
“No Ty, the worlds overpopulated already, we can have more!” Sapphy chimed in.
“Hey! What about we go the Emperors place, sneak in and see if her has any plans, no wait, we need to get the liquids that you guys used!”
“Yeah, but this place has limited supplies. Were never gonna get them all!” There was nothing but silence, before Ty burst into tears. Jamie seized his chance and put his arm around her shoulders.
“What's wrong?”
“Oh…well, its just *sniffle* that…”
“Its OK Ty,” Sapphy whispered. The three all decided to somehow get into the Emperor’s palace and see if he has anything useful. The palace was about a days walk away, he liked to be away from the clones. At night they set off, wriggling their way through a gap in the wall they had come through before. It was dark, the moon struggling to come free through the thick, smoky clouds above them.
Tynaclan had strange weather forms, even through the boys side of the land was snowy, grey clouds loomed above them. The girls land was dry, but the same grey clouds that swallow the sun.
Here, the trees grew much thicker, which kept any snow from peeking under it. Jamie led them under one old, low-branched tree and began to climb up on it, Sapphy did the same. One reached for a branch, hauling herself up, feeling the rough, splintering surface. She felt so liberated; free to do what ever she wanted. Untying her, thick, brown hair, she let it fall to below her waist. This was what she had always wanted to do. Jumping from branch to branch, she finally reached where Jamie was.
“So we are doing this?”
“To see how far the palace is!” Jamie finished. He peered out through the leaves and gasped.
“What what?!”
“The place is…like three metres away!”
“Oh!” Sapphy swung up and landed gracefully on the branch next to Ty.
“Why couldn't we see it?”
“Come on Sapphy! We were looking down!” Jamie chuckled, Ty did the same. They all got down and headed towards the palace now in view, they were all standing stock still, mouths open wide.
The palace was a strange figure. A fresh water mote surrounded a tall brick wall, and a waterfall of white, sparkling water. Then a long and tall tower painted red became smaller and smaller as it reached to top, where the Emperor sleeps, they thought. A spiny bush snaked around the outside of the mote. Ty and Jamie searched for a door, or bridge, but nothing. When Sapphy noticed there was no way to get in, she stomped around. Then jumped down one patch of snow that was harder, she fell down as a hatch opened.
“Sapphire!” Jamie and Ty called, and they jumped after her. It turned out that this was the only way to get into the palace. The tunnel was not dark; it was lighted by a few torches. When Ty reached the bottom, she saw the room around her. It was old, covered in cob-webs, no doors or windows. Three staircases stood, two made from marble, but stained with blood, another wooden, rickety and old. She spun around; Jamie was leaning down over Sapphy.
“She hurt her ankle!” He cried. Ty rushed over to her, this was true; Sapphy was sitting down inspecting her twisted ankle, it was already twice its normal size.
“Oh crap,” Ty muttered. Sapphy giggled,
“I can’t feel it! So I can walk, just not run…” Ty and Jamie hauled Sapphy up and they stared at the three stairs.
“I think the left, marble one.” Jamie whispered.
“Nah, can you see that spike, there’s blood on that. Trap!” Ty sighed.
“Hey, Ty and Jamie, What about going up the old one!” Sapphy said sarcastically, but Ty thought they were serious.
“OK, come on!” She jogged up, Jamie following with Sappy limping behind. The minute the stairs couldn’t be seen from bellow, they turned marble. All polished and sparkly, Ty giggled at the Emperors attempt to trick them.
When they all reached the top, they gasped at the site. The room was pure white. The floor was white, stone marble and the walls were white with gold outlines. A giant diamond chandelier hug from the ceiling, there were many glass doors everywhere, there was no place to hide.
“Its so…I don’t know where to go?” Sapphy said, astonished.
“I know what you mean Sapphy its just so clean!” Ty laughed,
“Oh, you like it? I thought it was a little too dirty, but if it is just give me a hoot!” The voice was loud, and surprising it sounded like two nails on a chalk board. The three twisted around. A man stood before them, his blonde hair combed back neatly. His skin was fair with no freckles, and her wore red robes. The Emperor had arrived.
Chapter One
One saw the terrified look across her face, “What others?” Shivering, she pointed to the other end of their hiding place, a pile of white sticks. Bones, One thought.
She reached for a branch, hauling herself up, feeling the rough, splintering surface. She felt so liberated; free to do what ever she wanted. Untying her, thick, brown hair, she let it fall to below her waist. She hummed to a tune and was soon singing a soft, beautiful song.
Of course, this would never happen. One was very strange, different from her fellow Tynaclan. One wasn’t in the forest; she was in a room about the size of a two car space garage. More than one hundred other girls huddled in the small room, they all looked the same. Thin, black hair, shiny and silky, small brown eyes and pure, unblemished white skin. They all wore tight, white dresses that reached their knees. One squeezed past some of the identical girls, scanning the room. The only way to tell the girls apart was their birthmark. Along their forehead was an object, One’s was diamond and an eye. Tynaclan normally only have one. She liked to look at all the objects, but most were boring, like a fish or a knife.
Tarupa is located on the other side of the galaxy, away from Earth. They are the only planets with water and life on them, One didn’t know this, even though she had always had a curious part of her brain that seemed to think that there’s more to life than sitting around in a tiny room. All Tynaclan have numbers for names until they go to the island. The numbers were in the order that they were born, and the cycle ended at One Hundred. One was a year younger than the rest in the room, the beginning of a new cycle.
Ping! Lunch, she shivered at the thought. Their lunch was delivered to them from the ground. It was nothing but three pieces of mouldy bread and a few dead fruits. The hatch from the ground opened and a basket was slowly pushed up by shaking hands. The ruler had no intention of looking at the starving girls, so he sent some food to them once a week. The girls raced over to the basket, almost ripping it apart to reach the food. This was why One couldn’t wait until she turned 13. When you turned 13 you were shipped off to a place where you meet a boy and get taken to a magical place where you are allowed to have your own house and live in peace. Just recently Fifty had gone to the island, One kind of knew her, but they weren’t friends. Well, good friends anyway.
She crawled over to a corner where no cameras could see her. The cameras were like spies, they searched for any misbehaviour. Anyone caught doing so would be killed. One began to dig, she already had a deep hole. She had been doing this since coming to the room five years ago. It almost reached the outside of the walls, where you could see the sky and breathe in fresh air. She had never been out there before, no one but the slaves had. The ground was hard, most of it rock, but One had figured out how to edge the rock aside and get to the dirt a few centimetres below. She got a small amount of water and poured it over them, loosening the rocks by making the dry dirt mud. Shivering with excitement she dipped her dirty hands into the sand and felt around. A rock! I'm at the end! She thought as she felt something harder than the dirt. The hole was big enough for a skinny figure, like One, to slip through with ease. It was just that the cameras would set off a loud alarm that the guards would hear, and she would be killed. Luckily, they couldn’t see her in this corner.
She closed her eyes and slipped head-first into the hole, the darkness swallowing her. It was much colder down here, but she managed to creep outside. When she reached the other end she coughed, the air smelt of salt. An ocean must be close. One had heard about this mystical place, people described it as “soft, white dirt which salty water eats!”
One shivered, looking up at the sky. Grey clouds washed over it, making an afternoon look like night. Staring at her surroundings, she noticed nothing but the red dirt and other huts. She twirled at her hair, it was so dark that it looked black. She knew it was brown, though. Her hair was thicker than the others, and was much messier. It was tied in loose plats, whilst others had it done up in tight buns.
Running in the direction the smell was coming from she soon came to the beach, the sand tickled her feet, she had never felt something so soft. She saw a huge beast made from brown things, it was bigger than her room it loomed over her like a tiger ready to pounce.
*****
One was safe inside the thing, whatever it was, it would take her to the island, she smiled at her accomplishment and crawled around, noticing the thing was made from trees, she shivered at the thought of the poor wood, being eaten by the humans. The thing lurched to one side and One was sent tumbling over and hit the side of the beast. She heard a faint voice.
“The ships gotta go faster or the bloody boss ‘ell slit me throat!” the voice had some type off accent. Her curious mind sent her crawling on hands and knees, following the voice.
“Psst!” she spun around, and girl’s eyes loomed under the shadows, her expression was frisky and unsettled.
“They’ll kill you if you go up there!” she smiled.
“Going to see a friend?” the girl asked, holding out and hand.
“Ah, yeah, how did you know?” One took her hand and shook,
“I’m One, you?” One smiled back at her, but frowned, looking at her forehead, no birth mark.
“My number’s Three, but that’s not my name! It’s Sapphire!” she smiled at One’s puzzled expression.
“OH, right, no birth-mark, well where I come from, we don’t all have them on the same place, you see mine’s here.” She pulled down her left shoulder or her shirt to revile a blob of brown.
“That’s your birth mark?!” One shook her head, “It can’t be!” Sapphire shrugged, “Well, it’s real!” she smiled half heartedly.
“How did you get your name?” One asked, still a little shocked.
“Well…” Sapphire stepped out of the darkness, her hair was short, blonde, and big, green eyes like One’s.
“Oh my god! Who are you?” One struggled back.
“Relax, Tyaine!” Sapphire smiled as One’s expressions changed from surprised to freaking out.
“Who’s Tyaine?” One snapped, now almost about to faint.
“Its-” she was interrupted by a loud booming voice.
“OK! Everyone off this is your stop!” Sapphire snaked back into the darkness and tiptoed up the stairs to the deck, One followed trying to look older.
The island was not huge and covered with pretty, roomy houses like 1 had expected. It was a huge jungle. Nothing but leaves and the horrible smell of blood and rot filled her nose making it crumble up. She followed Sapphire; she seemed worried, “Ah…Sapphire?” she called, peering into the darkness,
“Where are you?” she called again, trying to stick to the shadows. The faint voice lingered into her ears,
“Over here, come on follow my voice!” One shivered with excitement, she was hardly ever scared, just adventurous. She stepped lightly to the voice, she stumbled into some prickly bushes, and they seemed thick and half dead.
“OW!” she called, until the moonlight reappeared when she tumbled onto a flat, rock formation. Sapphire sat down near the bushes.
“The ships have just left, Ty, where stuck here for a few days!” Sapphire curled up, but smiled.
“Don’t worry, I brought supplies!” she pulled from her back a backpack. One sat down next to her,
“What's that?” she peered at the material like it was prehistoric,
“And once again who’s Ty?” One asked annoyed, Sapphire just shrugged,
“Some people don’t know until its time, others find it out the cheating way…I learnt that from the best!” One shook her head,
“Please tell me! I’m getting really annoyed!”
“OK, but don’t get angry at me!” Sapphire paused for a moment.
“Tyaine is-”
“Wait! Listen!” One interrupted, she heard some strange rustle in the bushed behind her, and she leapt forward and pounced on whatever it was trying to attack them. “OW! Get off me you creep!” The voice screamed at One, she was pushed back to where Sapphire stood, mouth open. The voices owner stepped from the bushes, her long hair was still in a bun, but no longer had its normal shiny effect and her eyes loomed around. One noticed a sun on her forehead
“Fifty-two. . .” One whispered.
“Yes I’m Fifty-two!” The girl screeched. One stared at Fifty-two up and down,
“What happened to you?” she whispered. Fifty-two frowned, staring back at her angrily,
“Listen, you guys need to get out of here! It’s not what the people tell us, its just leaving us in the jungle, you need to tell everyone, or we’ll all just rot here like the…others” One saw the terrified look across her face,
“What others?” shivering she pointed to the other end of their hiding place, a pile of white sticks. Bones One thought.
“So you mean they just let you die?” Sapphire shivered, Fifty-two rolled her eyes,
“Yes! That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you!”
“Wait a minute,” One started “You don’t seem…the same?” she tilted her head to one side.
“I have to go now…” 50 started, when she heard another rustle in the bushes, and soon diapered. Sapphire shrugged, unzipping her backpack.
“OK, I brought enough for two days, then the ship should come and we can go!” One looked puzzled,
“Why did you come prepared?” Sapphire shrugged,
“I always do.” She pulled out two sleeping bags and a paper bag. Laying the two seeping bags down for her and One,
“Wow, what are they?” One asked, touching the material,
“It’s a sleeping bag; don’t you have them at your place?” Sapphire asked,
“Oh, yeah, no blankets and stuff, well that’s OK, you can have your first experience here!” she smiled at One. Pulling out a sandwich from the paper bag the split it in half and offered it to One, she took it and swallowed it whole. Sapphire did the same; they both snuggled into their sleeping bags and fell into a deep sleep.
*****
When One woke the next morning she was in the ship again, Sapphire had pulled her on the ship when she was asleep. She shivered, for it was much colder in the shadows. “OK, I need to know this!” One said loudly,
“Who the hell is Ty?”
“One - call me Sapphy. Two - You, Ty is you!” she said happily. Giving the newly christened Ty a hug,
“What?!” Ty spluttered, her heart pounding in her chest, Sapphy just laughed.
“I knew you’d be happy!” Ty’s smiled grew wider across her face.
“Happy? I am all of a sudden called something other than One?” a frown grew upon Sapphy’s face,
“I’m not happy!” Ty paused,
“I'm so damn happy I think I'm gonna cry of happiness!” They both giggled.
Suddenly, the ship lurched forward, sending Ty and Sapphy into the opposite wall of the ship.
“They must be back!” Sapphy cried, scrambling up and out of the shadows. Ty followed; her heart pounding.
“What in the world?”
The land was covered in snow, but Ty had never seen it and didn’t know what it was, the huts were a little bigger, ad things were ticker to keep the thick layer of snow out.
“This, Ty, is the boy’s world!” Sapphy laughed.
“Boys? You took us to boys land?!” Ty choked,
“Deliberately?” Sapphy smiled,
“Yes! I did, I want you to meet my brother, Jamie!”
“Bu...But…its-” Ty spluttered, “So…different?”
“Yeah, it’s much colder over here.” Sapphy chuckled. “This is also where to Emperor Lives! But anyway, we have to go now. We need to get Jamie!” Sapphy grabbed Ty’s arm and pulled her along the rows of huts, peering through the tiny windows. The huts were a little bigger than Ty’s ones, they also seemed thicker – to keep the snow out. Sapphy smiled, in one of the biggest huts on the last row, there was a boy peering out of the small windows. He had thick, caramel hair that falls down over his dark chocolate brown eyes.
“That’s him!” She called, rushing over to him. Jamie smiled widely, disappearing under the rim of the window. Re-appearing through a hole, Ty thought that that must be the only way to get out of those huts.
“Oh, hey! You must be Jamie!” Ty grinned. Jamie’s eyes grew soft, his put on a shy smile and shifted from one spot to another.
“Ah...hi, ah” Jamie spluttered,
“Ty...remember?” Sapphy whispered to Jamie, he nodded and coughed.
“I think we have to…ah, go now…to the um…” Sapphy putt her hand on Jamie’s shoulder.
“OK, now that we’re all here, we need to go some place private. I - I mean - we, need to talk to you.” Ty nodded and followed Sapphy and Jamie, who had already started darting away.
They were in an abandoned hut; it must have been for little kids, because it was very old, tiny and filled with cob-webs.
“Ty, are you ready for this?” Sapphy asked, Ty smirked,
“Yes.”
“OK, well, it all started when Jamie had - No, wait, I should go back further. We used to live in this place called Earth. And on Earth there’s a thing called school. And at school we have these things called Assignments. Well, Jamie had to do one, and it was about mixing curtain liquids together. Are You getting this?”
“Um…Yes?”
“OK, well our mother-”
“Alright, I might be new to this, but I know what a mother is, you don’t have to go all weird about it!”
“Sorry, but out mother told us were not blowing up the kitchen – a place where we make, and store food – again. So we had to make it in a mine, an abandoned one, - oh a mine is a place where people dig gold - and well, we think we made a ah…portal.”
“You made a what?”
“A portal, is a…like a door to a parallel universe…” This was the first time Jamie had talked since meeting Ty.
“Yeah, so we got caught and separated. Now we need to figure out why all the people look, sound and have the same personality!” Sapphy finished.
“So you're trying to tell me your from a place called Earth?”
“Well, yeah!” Jamie shrugged.
“We also need to take you guys back to Earth, no everyone back to Earth.”
“No Ty, the worlds overpopulated already, we can have more!” Sapphy chimed in.
“Hey! What about we go the Emperors place, sneak in and see if her has any plans, no wait, we need to get the liquids that you guys used!”
“Yeah, but this place has limited supplies. Were never gonna get them all!” There was nothing but silence, before Ty burst into tears. Jamie seized his chance and put his arm around her shoulders.
“What's wrong?”
“Oh…well, its just *sniffle* that…”
“Its OK Ty,” Sapphy whispered. The three all decided to somehow get into the Emperor’s palace and see if he has anything useful. The palace was about a days walk away, he liked to be away from the clones. At night they set off, wriggling their way through a gap in the wall they had come through before. It was dark, the moon struggling to come free through the thick, smoky clouds above them.
Tynaclan had strange weather forms, even through the boys side of the land was snowy, grey clouds loomed above them. The girls land was dry, but the same grey clouds that swallow the sun.
Here, the trees grew much thicker, which kept any snow from peeking under it. Jamie led them under one old, low-branched tree and began to climb up on it, Sapphy did the same. One reached for a branch, hauling herself up, feeling the rough, splintering surface. She felt so liberated; free to do what ever she wanted. Untying her, thick, brown hair, she let it fall to below her waist. This was what she had always wanted to do. Jumping from branch to branch, she finally reached where Jamie was.
“So we are doing this?”
“To see how far the palace is!” Jamie finished. He peered out through the leaves and gasped.
“What what?!”
“The place is…like three metres away!”
“Oh!” Sapphy swung up and landed gracefully on the branch next to Ty.
“Why couldn't we see it?”
“Come on Sapphy! We were looking down!” Jamie chuckled, Ty did the same. They all got down and headed towards the palace now in view, they were all standing stock still, mouths open wide.
The palace was a strange figure. A fresh water mote surrounded a tall brick wall, and a waterfall of white, sparkling water. Then a long and tall tower painted red became smaller and smaller as it reached to top, where the Emperor sleeps, they thought. A spiny bush snaked around the outside of the mote. Ty and Jamie searched for a door, or bridge, but nothing. When Sapphy noticed there was no way to get in, she stomped around. Then jumped down one patch of snow that was harder, she fell down as a hatch opened.
“Sapphire!” Jamie and Ty called, and they jumped after her. It turned out that this was the only way to get into the palace. The tunnel was not dark; it was lighted by a few torches. When Ty reached the bottom, she saw the room around her. It was old, covered in cob-webs, no doors or windows. Three staircases stood, two made from marble, but stained with blood, another wooden, rickety and old. She spun around; Jamie was leaning down over Sapphy.
“She hurt her ankle!” He cried. Ty rushed over to her, this was true; Sapphy was sitting down inspecting her twisted ankle, it was already twice its normal size.
“Oh crap,” Ty muttered. Sapphy giggled,
“I can’t feel it! So I can walk, just not run…” Ty and Jamie hauled Sapphy up and they stared at the three stairs.
“I think the left, marble one.” Jamie whispered.
“Nah, can you see that spike, there’s blood on that. Trap!” Ty sighed.
“Hey, Ty and Jamie, What about going up the old one!” Sapphy said sarcastically, but Ty thought they were serious.
“OK, come on!” She jogged up, Jamie following with Sappy limping behind. The minute the stairs couldn’t be seen from bellow, they turned marble. All polished and sparkly, Ty giggled at the Emperors attempt to trick them.
When they all reached the top, they gasped at the site. The room was pure white. The floor was white, stone marble and the walls were white with gold outlines. A giant diamond chandelier hug from the ceiling, there were many glass doors everywhere, there was no place to hide.
“Its so…I don’t know where to go?” Sapphy said, astonished.
“I know what you mean Sapphy its just so clean!” Ty laughed,
“Oh, you like it? I thought it was a little too dirty, but if it is just give me a hoot!” The voice was loud, and surprising it sounded like two nails on a chalk board. The three twisted around. A man stood before them, his blonde hair combed back neatly. His skin was fair with no freckles, and her wore red robes. The Emperor had arrived.