//------------------------------// // Chapter 1: Robert Maine // Story: Two-World Collision // by BRony Engine //------------------------------// TWO-WORLD COLLISION By BRony Engine The darkness became a thick fog as the surface inclined. Despite the observation, he decided to keep running, to keep breathing, anything that would help him keep distance between him and what was behind him. He could feel it drawing nearer as he ran further up the slope. He was exhausted, confused, afraid, alone. And when it seemed like matters couldn't get any worse, he was tripped by a root, which resulted in a twisted ankle and a face buried in dirt. Defenseless, he could think of nothing but to keep going. He was then stopped by a large creature, which then pinned down his legs and dragged him towards itself. He screamed in excruciating pain as his injury became more severe from dragging on the ground. The figure then flipped the boy's body around to see his face. All that could be seen was the black silhouette of a large, terrifying figure with glowing yellow eyes and dark red irises looking back at him. The boy raised his right hand in fear to the figure, in hopes that he could defend himself in some way, or at least provide himself some cushion for an attack. The figure's eyes squinted at his hand as if it recognized something there. The boy then turned his hand around slowly, only to find a small metallic object that was embedded into his palm. There appeared to be a green jewel in the center, which then began to glow as the metal covers opened up and began to spin erratically, generating sparks from the blades. "The relic." It hissed. He looked back up at the figure as it growled in a satisfied tone. The creature then gave him an unsettling smile and leaped at him for an attack. BUZZ-BUZZ-BUZZ-BUZZ Robert awoke at an instant to the sound of his irritably loud alarm clock. He quickly looked for the button to shut it off and as soon as he did, everything became silent. Nothing could be heard but the sound of his heavy breathing. It was all just a dream, he thought, A dream turned into a nightmare. He looked at the clock which gave a digital display of numbers indicating the time, 6:02AM. Despite the fact that it was already dawn, Robert's bedroom remained in utter darkness. It was the result of the big thick curtains covering his window, preventing any aurora of sunlight from seeping through. As soon as he stood up, Robert quickly opened up the curtains, which then flooded the room with sunlight and painfully strained his half-closed eyes. Robert Maine was a young man of about 16 years old, moderate height, and moderately slim. He had slightly tanned skin, black scruffy hair, and dark-brown eyes. He didn't have much of an interesting childhood growing up, either. His mother left his father due to spousal abuse, there was occasional moving- he and his mother recently moved a few months before. He was an only child, and didn't have any friends. In fact, most of the friends Robert ever had in his life just came and went. The thought never bothered him very much, although he would never reject inclusion in an interesting conversation. He was more of an independent individual. His mother usually woke up early either to arrive to work early, or to hit the gym, which left Robert alone every morning. This morning, Robert was more tired than usual. A constant headache pounded through his skull, he was disoriented when walking through the hall, and his sense of pain was heightened due to early morning sickness. Nevertheless, he was still able to make it to the kitchen for breakfast. As he reached for the refrigerator handle, Robert noticed a small note from his mother taped to the door. Good morning Rob, My boss wanted me to arrive early to arrange some meetings. I left you some money for lunch. See you when I get home. -Mom “Whatever, Mom.” He groaned as he opened the refrigerator. Robert could never see the point in the notes his mother left him almost every morning. He just assumed that she found some sort of comfort in letting him know what she was doing. But this morning, the notes were not the main thing on his mind. He couldn't stop thinking about that dream he had. The unclear distance; the fear; the pain; that creature;... that object. That small metallic object that the dark figure recognized as “the relic” was the most significant part of that nightmare. He had seen it before in his most recent dreams, and even managed to make drawings a painting of it. Being the artist that he is, Robert had adopted the object as his new project. He based most of his art on the dreams he had. Most of which were of foreign worlds he imagined while sleeping. He would first sketch the draft pieces, then if they were ready, begin painting the art. However, all of his art would begin as recorded descriptions of his dreams typed into his computer. The object had been mentioned several times in the last five entries. After breakfast, Robert walked back to his room to type in the sixth entry mentioning the object. It would be the 121st entry in his overall dream notes. He selected his daily wardrobe, got dressed for school, and sat down in his computer chair to type in the entry. Art/Dream Notes, Entry #121 June 11th, 2013 6:34AM I saw the mysterious object again. But for some reason, it was different this time. And the dream I had was like no other. I seemed to be in some forest, but all the trees seemed to be charred and blown back, thick fog everywhere, and it was dark...extremely dark. I was be- He pauses for a moment to think about what to write next. -ing chased by some sort of creature. I couldn't see it very well, but, it was rather large, inhuman, and had glowing yellow eyes. The ground below my feet began to get steeper, which indicated that I was running up a hill. I didn't have a weapon or anything I could use to defend myself, so I was in no way capable of fighting the damn thing. This dream seemed to be more vivid in a way that could make catching a ball feel like catching an actual ball. The reason why I say this is because in the dream, as I was running up the slope, I tripped over a tree root and twisted my ankle. Dream or not, I've never felt so much pain in my life. I was helpless and incredibly frightened as the creature came near. Before I knew it, I was being dragged by the leg and my body was flipped around to see its face. I saw this large black shape with furious, glowing yellow eyes looking back at me. I covered my face with my hands to prepare for the worst. The creature was looking at my hand as if it recognized something, so I took a look at my hand and found the object connected to my right palm. The thing opened up and revealed a small green glowing gem in the center. The metal covers began spinning and generating sparks. The creature called it the relic, and it wanted it. That was when I woke up. I never saw the object in my hand before, nor have I seen it act that way before. I was only able to learn two things from that dream: that the object possesses some sort of function, and the new name for my art piece. End of Entry. Once Robert had saved the log entry into his computer he finished getting ready for school, grabbed the money his mother had left him, and departed for school. It was the end of his junior year of high school for Robert and he couldn't be anymore relieved. No more studying for tests; no more homework; and most importantly, no more distractions from his artwork. The grades weren't much of an issue for Robert; he was a rather bright kid and he had most of his work finished on time. He just didn't like the fact that school was constantly keeping him from working on his art. Lawrence Joycer High School- a school in which Robert currently attended -was only seven blocks away from his apartment complex. Although it wasn't a very large campus- in fact, it was rather small- Robert really enjoyed walking to and from there. The streets filled with walking pedestrians, passing cars and opening shops amused him. It was the only part of walking to school that Robert ever enjoyed, especially on a cloudy day. To Robert, there was something about a cloudy day that just made him enjoy the surrounding community, unlike a sunny day. Robert's last day of school was just like any other day, except it was shorter; there were only two classes to take; and plus, those classes had finals. Luckily, he studied for the last five days for the finals. A regular day at school would have had seven hours instead of four; six classes,not two. Robert's schedule usually consisted of Math, Foreign Language, English, Study Hall -where Robert spent most of his school time on his art,- Biology, and History. The only major events would probably have involved an intense debate with teachers about multitasking, but those would only happen to Robert anytime he got caught doodling some cartoons during a lecture. But since today was the last day of school, none of those thing were worth a worry. Although, there was one thing Robert worried about- the relic. Robert couldn't stop thinking about that mysterious object that infested his dreams. There was something about the way it behaved near the end of the previous night, like it was something real. It felt real; it sounded real; it looked real; but yet, it was still a dream. Dream or not, Robert never saw the relic on his palm before, and he's never seen it function either. It was a big wonder to him, an anomaly. The walk back from school was just as enjoyable to Robert as it was in the morning- shops thriving with business; couples on dates; the smell of freshly baked bread fro a nearby restaurant- It amused him very much. There was a bit more activity around than usual, as well. With the dawn of summer vacation just around the corner, Robert wasn't much surprised; he was mostly focused on getting home to do his artwork. As soon as he came home, Robert planned out the rest of the day. He would first clean any mess that was lying around; play some XBOX for about an hour; and finally, he would begin his artwork. Planning out the remaining day was a usual thing for Robert. Since the third grade, he would go by a simple schedule- Homework, playtime, and then hobby. Although it wasn't his main priority, Robert liked to have some anticipation towards his hobby; he looked forward to it everyday. When the time came, he would rearrange his entire room into his workspace- and by rearrange, that means moving all the furniture to the edge. The excessive amount of space wasn't necessary, but the arrangement made Robert feel a bit more comfortable. Today, he was going to make two sketch drawings: one penciled; one colored. The first piece of art Robert was planning to work on was a penciled sketch of the relic in its dynamic behavior. Aside from his notes, Robert was able to draw it from memory. The green gem focal point; the spinning metallic blades that moved in opposite directions; the engraving on the blades themselves; even the electric sparks which generated from the object were drawable. Every detail he could remember was put into that sketch with pride. The other piece of art that Robert had begun working on was a colored sketch of the dream world from the previous night. This required some rather dark colors for the texture, as well as some white in order to incorporate some of the important elements into the artwork. Although it took some time to finish, Robert was able to incorporate the foggy atmosphere, the charred plants and trees, the dark-purple night sky, the inclining land area, and the dark shadows into the nightmarish image. It took over four hours, but it was worth it. Robert now had two new, well-done works of art sitting right in front of him. He took a moment to appreciate the time and effort put into the drawings, though he was more proud of the relic sketch than the one displaying a cataclysmic aftermath of God knows what happened. The young artist looked at the clock- 6:38pm. He quickly put his finished works into the cabinet under his computer, moved his bedroom furniture back to their original placement, and cleaned up what was left.