Aron Michaels's Story

Aron

".....Round up the shadow bugs, and get moving, NOW."
"Roger that.", Aron said, speaking clearly into the microphone. Aron didn't want to stop just sitting under the shade of the tree near him, but if it was Brendan Getsus, things needed to be done. Aron looked around, making sure he had everything, then pulled out the paper map from his pocket as well as his compass. Once he knew where he was going, he started to walk.

Aron was completely disgusted with the work that he had to do. Getsus had told the assistants that the shadow bugs couldn't do very much damage, but Aron had seen them kill other animals and wildlife. Aron couldn't help but feel guilty almost every day, like he was carrying the earth, the sun, the moon, and the stars all on his back. He didn't dare talk about what he felt with Getsus, for fear that he would go back to the slums of his old life.

Aron continued to walk, not completely sure where he was going, until he heard the beautiful sounds of a piano. This made Aron extremely curious, and he followed the sound until he came across two ladies located under a blue tree by a golden river. Aron tried his best to hide from the two girls's view. He hadn't heard such a beautiful song in ages, and slowly, Aron began to forget what he was doing.

Brendan

Bendan could hear his assistant, Aron's voice saying, "Roger that." on the other side of the line. Brendan then walked out of the room, and noticed his son, Jason, alone out on the front porch. Brendan sat next to him, and said,
"hey, sport. watcha doin? Wanna have some lunch soon? the cook's making some sandwichs right now."

Penelope smiles as she finishes her song.
"I'm sorry...about before." she says after a few moments of silence. She sighs, "I don't talk to people much, so I'm not used to kindness." She closes the piano and turns to Elora, pushing the blue hair from her face. Her hand is still on her beloved piano.

Shen was running through the woods when he saw 2 girls standing next to a piano. How weird... a piano out of all things. A girl with blue hair seemed to have been the player, seeing as she was sitting on the bench. A smaller one had blonde hair and cat ears and- Well wasn't that just great? Some creepo was spying on all three. Shen walked over in the middle of their circle. He just pointed at the guy behind the tree and said, "Oi. I think you guys have a visitor." He smirked, not caring if everyone else was wondering who the hell he was. "And you, Blue Hair, have a hair in your face... it's bugging me." With that, Shen tucked it behind her ear before running off into the forest.

Aron was embarassed by the random stranger's comment. Aron walked out from behind the tree, and embarassingly said,
"I'm sorry....it's just.....i couldn't help but listen to the beautiful song you were playing....just now....you did a great job....."
Aron looked around for a while, then slowly started to speak.
"Well......i guess i better be....on my way....."

Tamako watched as two more people came onto the scene, one of them saying a few words and running off. The second one came out from behind a tree, seeming embarrassed and quiet. He looked as though he were a young adult, slightly older than herself. Deciding it would be too soon to come out, Tamako decided to watch the three from a distance, curious as to what any of them were doing there, especially the man.

Nemui opened her eyes, as a figure left the cave. She could smell his scent on her and realized she felt a little warm. Did e pet me!? He tail poofed out a little as she jumped up. "That stupid!..hey." She walked to the entrance of the cave. "He left his pale here." She looked off into the distance, amazed that the boy had already made it to the tree line of the forest. "Hey!" She called out, though it was obvious that she was too far away for her little voice to be heard. She looked over at the pale again. I could just keep it, but what would I do with a pale? Plus it's not even shiny and I already have two different colored ones. The little cat let out a small sigh, she might as well try to return it to him.

A dark purple light surrounded her for a moment before she was standing on two feet and clothed in a little black dress. She picked up the pale, half full with water, and started running towards he tree-line where the figure had disappeared. "Stupid human." She muttered to herself as she reached the tree-line, thankful that it had stopped raining and was starting to get warm again. She continued walking through the forest before the sound of a piano could be heard in the distance. Nemui, now a little girl in her human form, turned her head in the direction of the sound, her ears pricking forward. It was a beautiful sound, though not even close to the sound of her bell, but still pretty.

She made her way through the trees, then spotted someone standing behind a tree a little further off from where the piano sound had been coming from before it stopped. Nemui narrowed her eyes a little. Something about this persons scent wasn't right. It made her feel uncomfortable. She dropped the pale and changed back into her cat form as she leaped up a nearby tree, then hopped from one to the next with the help of her wings before landing on a branch above the strange human. She looked over to where she watched as the person she was pursuing walked off into the trees away from two girls, one who had been playing the piano. She'd catch him later, right now she wanted to know who this person was. "Hey" she said, climbing onto a lower branch just above the boy, "You don't have the same scent as the other humans from this world. Where the heck are you from?" She said, her tail waving back and forth slowly and her ember eyes narrowed.

Penelope looks at all the people standing around her nervously. She keeps her blue hair out of her face as per the one boy's request. She notices the blonde boy appearing from behind a tree and blushes slightly because he was secretly watching.
"O-oh...thank you." she says, "d-do you want me to play another song?"

Aron nodded as the blue-haired girl said thank you. She then continued, saying,
"d-do you want me to play another song?"
Aron nodded again, and said, "Sure, if you want to. I...."
Aron then remembered what he was supposed to be doing. He couldn't help being distracted; music was one of his hobbies.
Just when he realized he was going to be in HUGE trouble with Getsus, a talking cat seemed to make matters worse.
"Hey"
she said, climbing onto a lower branch just above Aron,
"You don't have the same scent as the other humans from this world. Where the heck are you from?"

Aron tried to think of something to say, but he couldn't. He was working with the enemy.
"I'm sorry." he said to the cat above him. Then, Aron quickly fled into the forest. He knew he shouldntve been slacking off.

Noah sat quietly under a large tree with silver petals that stood on the top of a grassy hill over looking a small village; the village she was ordered to take over. She'd heard Getsus loud and clear, but didn't bother replying. The petals continued to slowly fall around her, settling silently on the grass. She stood up and the few petals that decided to rest on Noah's lap fell to the ground as she stared down at the village. It looked peaceful enough, but she knew she was about to destroy that quiet peace and it would be so simple. So far the Dream Dimension had been too easy to tear down, and it would only be a matter of time before it was completely under the rule of Getsus Enterprises.

She pulled a little jar out of a little bag strapped to the belt around her waist and popped it open before tapping it a few time with her finger. Four little purple flecks floated down onto the ground and slowly begun to transform as she shut the jar and slid it back into the little pocket on her belt. Four of the smaller shadow bugs she carried with her stood in front of her, white eyes and sharp smiles, kind of looking like little children and only as tall as her knees. "I want Lumi, Felli, and Pon to hide yourselves within the village until I give order to attack." She said, naming three of them from left to right. She'd given each of her shadow bugs a name, something she did often when she found something she liked. She shadow bugs might look terrifying to other people, but for some reason Noah found them to be a little cute. "Fonfon," she said, pointing at the smaller on on the far right, "You stay with me." she said, then leaned back against the tree. "Off you go." she said and in an instant the three of them vanished and made their way to the village, leaving the one she'd called 'Fonfon' with Noah. First she would approach the village and ask them to surrender peacefully, if not, then she would head onto plan B and take it by force. Now if only she could find out where Aron was.

She was about to sit back down in the grass before she spotted a figure a little further off near a river than ran behind the village. She narrowed her eyes a little. Perhaps she could get information out of this person. Knowing the villages layout would help, and if there were any possible soldiers withing the village, she could know it from this person. She walked down the hill towards the river, the little shadow bug known as 'Fonfon' trailing behind her like a little lost puppy. She walked up behind the man, but kept a few feet apart from him. "Would you happen to be a citizen of this village here?" She asked, her face blank and her voice calm. She held the handle of her sword for precautions, but didn't draw it so not to alarm the man. Fonfon slunk up behind Noah and positioned itself centimeters away from her right foot, its face curious, yet ready for any order Noah would give it.

Noah wasn't really all that surprised at the boys answer, since she knew word of them had already spread throughout the Dream World. What did surprise her was when he stood up and took a hold of the collar of her shirt. She took a small step back but he had a good grip on the cloth, though the fact that he was much taller than her didn't make her feel any weaker. She tightened her grip on the handle of her katana, but didn't unsheathe it and didn't call for the shadow bug to do anything either. She didn't really find a reason too.

"You won't win. You may be winning now, but you will not win. You will NOTtake our home away from us."

Noah's face showed no emotion at the man's words, but she relaxed her shoulders a little when he let go of her and jumped into the river. She released her hand from her sword handle and straightened out her clothes, then looked down at him in the water after he surfaced.

"You think you're doing something noble, when in fact all you're doing is causing other people pain and suffering for your own benefit."

Noah's blank expression stayed the same, though her blue eyes saddened a little. "Yes, I'm well aware of the consequences." She said calmly, then turned and knelt down in front of the little bug. "Fonfon, have the others positioned themselves yet?" She asked and in return Fonfon gave a small squeak and nodded its head. Noah smiled softly to it and patted its head. "Good." She said, then stood back up. "It was nice meeting you." She said blankly to Shen, then pulled out a little radio and pressed one of the buttons. "Aron, did you hear the order given earlier? I've already got bugs positioned inside, are you any where nearby?" She said, speaking into the little microphone.

Noah turned her head and watched the boy dash off into the forest near the river. She watched after him and let out a small sigh. "Fool." she murmured to herself. He didn't seem like the kind of person to run off so he wouldn't be caught in the commotion of the village being taken over. She knew he was off to warn someone, as if it would make much of a difference. She could take on just about anyone, even without the help of the shadow bugs. She'd already helped take down a few villages in this world and this one wouldn't be any different.

She didn't like having to kill to get what she wanted, but orders were orders and she never really knew anything but obedience. It was just the way she was raised. "I'm going to head into the South Entrance of the village." She said, turning her attention back to the little device in her hand. "I doubt I'll need any assistance but if you're nearby, help any way you can." At least that would make Getsus give Aron a little credit. She noticed the guy spaced out a lot, like he didn't like helping Getsus Enterprises all that much. She put the communication device away and started making her way up river with Fonfon trailing behind once again. She'd never failed to take down a village here yet, and she wasn't about to fail.

Nemui watched the strange human run off after looking a little afraid for some reason. It was clear he was up to no good, but the cat didn't pay much mind to it. She looked over at the two girls who were talking, then looked back in the direction the human ran off in. She clicked her tongue. It was none of her business and frankly she didn't care. She opened her wings and, with a couple of quiet flaps, she lifted herself from the branch and up into the air. She glided a few feet above the tree tops at a quick but calm speed for a while before a large plain came in sight and a village could be seen.

So hungry.. She thought to herself, then smiled, her little white fangs showing. The little village would be a perfect place for some food snatching. She softly let herself land on top of the roof of a shack and leaned over the edge just in time to spot a black figure disappearing inside the little structure. Nemui's eyes widened for a second and her ears flattened against her head as she quickly backed up. "A shadow bug!" She hissed to herself, that meant there was an unwanted Dream Walker near by, and a dangerous one. Nemui had once seen with her own eyes what the strange shadows could do to a single village. It always started with just a few of them, then in a matter of minutes the entire place would be covered in screams and blood. Those people who came with the bugs were turning her Dream Dimension into a nightmare. She decided she would get her food, then leave the village as quickly as possible. It was really all Nemui could do.

"Aron, did you hear the order given earlier? I've already got bugs positioned inside, are you any where nearby?"
Aron could hear Noah's voice from the walkie talkie in his pocket. He clicked the button, and spoke into the microphone,
"Yes, i got the orders. I'm coming."

Aron started to walk through the forest at a faster pace. Soon he heard Noah's voice again, saying,
"I'm going to head into the South Entrance of the village.... I doubt I'll need any assistance but if you're nearby, help any way you can."

Although Aron thought Noah always seemed to come off a little bit pushy, he had to give her some respect. There was a part of Aron that wished he could be like her; shut up, don't complain, and follow orders. Aron had a feeling Getsus trusted her much more than the other assistants.

The darkness of the forest ceased, and Aron's eyes had to adjust to the sunlight. Aron grabbed the walkie talkie again, and clicked the button.
"Noah, i'm coming into the village from the east side, just so you know."

Before Aron could start walking again, he grabbed the little jar from his pocket, opened it, and started to shake out the shadow bugs. The dust started to transform into the scary- looking creatures.

The relationship Noah and her shadow bugs had wasn't the same as the relationship Aron and his shadow bugs had. It's not that Aron didn't treat them well, it's just he never really talked to them like Noah did. He never really gave them orders, but instead, told them to follow him. The shadow bugs didn't really know what to think of Aron. Aron never really raided any villages or cities, and so he never used his shadow bugs much.

As Aron and the five shadow bugs behind him started to walk to the village, they looked around for Noah. Unfortunately, Aron didn't see Noah, but what he did see was some sort of creature flying right above him. Something about the creature looked familiar, but Aron couldn't tell why.

"Noah, i'm coming into the village from the east side, just so you know."

Noah heard Aron's reply through the speaker as she stopped a little further off from the location she had told him. She approached the entrance and stopped after taking a few steps into the village. Some of the townspeople were already giving her dirty looks and a couple of them shrunk back in fear as they spotted the little shadow bug trailing alongside Noah's feet. A man stepped in front of her and Noah stopped and looked at him, he had an annoyingly stubborn look in his eyes. "Your people are not welcome here. Leave." the man demanded firmly, though Noah showed no reaction. She looked up at him, keeping her hands at her sides. "This village will now fall under the rule of Getsus Enterprises." She said to him, her voice calm. "If you surrender peacefully, no harm will come to you."

"And if we don't?" the man scoffed, holding a short sword in one of his hands.

"Then I will have no other choice but to take your village by force. I trust you'll see my reasoning." She said, though the man didn't look like he'd changed his mind. "This is our world!" the man yelled lunging forward and holding up the sword. Noah turned slightly and took a small step back before quickly drawing her katana and clashing it with the man's blade. Sparks flew and the blade the man was wielding flew into the air as Noah spun and hit the man in the back of the neck with the blunt side of her sword. He fell to the ground and a few gasps from women sounded in the audience. "Fonfon." She said, sliding the sword back into its sheath. Only a second later a scream could be heard from one side of the village, then a few more. "I told them to surrender.." She said softly, eying the few people that stood around her. She turned her gaze away from them and walked a little further before making her way up onto the roof of one of the buildings with Fonfon next to her. If Aron had heard the screams the shadow bugs that Noah had already sent into the village, he's know that the attack was officially starting.

The little black cat sat on top of a box nibbling on a fish she'd snatched from a market stand. Since the village was so close to a large river, there were quite a few stands that had been selling fish. Nemui had gotten lucky with the salmon. She leaned down to take another bite, but stopped as she heard the scream of a woman nearby. She felt the hair on her neck tingle and her ears snapped forward. She jumped down from the box and stopped at the edge of the alley, eyes widening at the sight in front of her. The shadow bug screamed, it's smiling mouth parting as it lunged towards a little girl. Many people were running and scrambling to get away, but the little girl just stared at the creature, completely oblivious to the danger in front of her. "Celi!!!!" Nemui heard a woman scream from somewhere in the crowd, but no one stopped to help the little girl as they tried to save themselves.

As if her body moved on its own, Nemui spread her wings and dashed into the air, over the heads of the humans and straight for the shorter figure of the shadow bug. She let out a screech and stretched out her claws before slashing them through the creatures head. The thing let out a loud screech and shrunk back, black liquid dripping over its eyes. Next Nemui looked up at the little girl, who looked at Nemui like some kind of fluffy bunny. The cat knew the girl would follow her. She turned and made her way down another alley way and in between some buildings, the girl following behind her with a little smile on her face. She stopped closer to the edge of the city, then turned and looked at the girl before changing into her human form. The little girl was very surprised. "Wow, kitty! You're a little girl like me!" The young girl gasped and Nemui let out a sigh. "Look, hide in here for now." She said, nudging the girl into a small shack before closing the door. "Don't come out until it's absolutely silent." She said, before turning and running down the alley way and stopping at the edge of the village before spotting a familiar face. It was the strange human from earlier, though he had a few of those same shadow bugs around him. "No way..he's one of them.." she whispered to herself, turning back into her cat form and hiding behind the stone wall of a building. As if she cared all that much. She just wanted to get out of this village before it got any worse, though she was a little upset that she ditched her meal for the little girl.

Aron wanted to cover his ears from all the screaming. He never liked raids, and this one wasn't an exception. It hurt him to see all the people staring at him like he was evil, ignorant, rotten. Suddenly, he could see the black cat who had talked to him before. The cat's words from before ran through his mind. They kept repeating over and over, and the words became louder than the villagers' screams.

Suddenly, Aron knew what to do.

He turned to the shadow bugs, and spoke loudly, "LISTEN UP, i want each of you to find Noah. She will command you. Do not do anything until you find her."
Aron watched as the largest shadow bug nodded, and he watched as they speedily moved away, out of sight.

As soon as they were gone, Aron turned to the villagers that were behind him. He took a deep breath, and shouted, "EVERYONE!! MOVE OUT, QUICKLY!! PLEASE EVACUATE, BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE!!"

Aron looked around for the black cat, but it seemed as if she had disappeared.

Noah stood on the rooftop of one of the buildings, watching the chaos awaken below. She had already let out two larger shadow bugs and sent them off. She didn't think this little village would be much of a threat though, so she told them there was no need for them to use their twisters or black holes. Their teeth and strength would be enough to take over the place. The people were running, trying to get out of the town, but she set up a few of her larger shadow bugs around the outside of the town already on the South side, and she knew Aron would be on the East. "Go make sure they aren't killing too much." She said, looking down at Fonfon and the little bug squeaked and vanished, leaving a few specks of black behind before those also disappeared. Noah took one last look at the village below, then turned and jumped off the back of the building and landed in an ally way close to the outskirts of the town.

There was no need for her to wait around, and she didn't want to listen to the screaming. She walked a little ways towards the outside before suddenly she felt a sharp pain in the back of her ankle. She turned and noticed something had snatched onto the back of her foot. Quickly she drew her katana and sliced the snake's body from its head, which released it's grip from her ankle and fell onto the ground. What is that doing here? Isn't that a river snake? she though to herself, sliding her sword back into its as the body of the snake slowly stopped moving. She looked down at her ankle, which was only bleeding a little, then spun around and took a step forward before a strange feeling hit her. She took in a deep breath and leaned herself roughly against the stone wall of the alley way. For some reason she felt really hot and dizzy all of a sudden. Poison? She looked down at the snake, and scolded herself for not noticing it earlier. She'd been bitten before by a snake that looked rather similar to that one and had ended up passing out from the venom. Since this one's color was a little different, she hadn't paid any mind to it, but now she knew she'd made a mistake.

She let out a small sigh, trying to catch her breath before seeing a large black figure in the corner of her eye. It was some of Aron's shadow bugs. "Find Aron and tell him that I have to pull out. This village has a water creature on its side, probably a mermaid. Otherwise a river snake would never come into the village like this. Make sure he continues the raid, but tell him to be cautious." She said through clenched teeth as calm as she could. The creatures looked at each other, then nodded and left her. She took in a couple of breaths before continuing her way outside the village. She walked on in the direction of the river she was at earlier and then dropped to her knees in front of the water. The black-haired girl cupped her hands and took a couple of drinks, before leaning back and dipping her ankle into the water so that it would stop throbbing. Even with this distance between her and the village, the screaming and sound of crashing buildings could still be heard.

Fin opened his eyes to a blue sky and a grassy field. He stayed still for a moment, arms spread out and laying comfortably in the grass. He took in a deep breath, glad that he could come back to this dream world after he's been absent from it for so long. All he'd been having lately was empty dreams and constantly interrupted sleep. This time he was able to take a nice long nap while his dad left on a three-day business trip. He loved coming here. it was always so peaceful and he could do whatever he wanted without having any criticism from anyone. He almost closed his eyes again when he heard the faint sound of screams in the distance. He quickly sat up and looked around, spotting a thin line of buildings in the distance. He narrowed his eyes and pushed his glasses against his face before seeing that there was smoke coming from the village. He'd never seen anything like this before and it surprised him.

He stood up and started to run through the field of dim grass until he became a lot closer and the sounds of screaming became louder and the sound of crashing building could be heard too. He stopped at a wooden fence near on of the main entrances to the village and saw someone yelling for everyone to evacuate. Without another thought, he stepped over the little wooden fence and ran up to this person. He wasn't sure what was going on, but he wanted to help any way he could. "I'll go make sure there aren't any children who need help getting out!" He said quickly to the person before turning to run. "I'll tell everyone to come out this way too!" He said, then dashed into the village past many other people and started making his way to the center of town. What is going on here? He thought to himself as he ran, I thought this place was supposed to be free of dangers like this..so why is this happening?

"Thank you!" Aron replied to the boy who had talked to him. Aron watched as the boy ran off, then was surprised as the shadow bugs came back to him.

The shadow bugs had a deep, other-world sounding voice. They told Aron that Noah was hurt, and that she dropped out, and that Aron needed to continue the raid.
"Wait, why is Noah hurt? what hurt her?" he asked. Just then, Aron could hear a hissing sound behind him. He turned around to see a river snake, only a couple inches behind him. The snake lunged towards Aron, trying to bite his leg, but he quickly dodged the attack. Aron considered using the shadow bugs to easily kill the snake, but then Aron had a thought. What if the snake was just like the cat, and was able to talk and think? If Aron could make reason with it, then it wasn't right to kill it. Forgetting about the shadow bugs, Aron started to run through the small pathways of the village, passing many screaming people. The snake followed swiftly behind him.

The man who ran off earlier had returned in a panic. Tamako looked at him curiously as he caught his breath and spoke.

"ANOTHER VILLAGE IS ABOUT TO BE BURNED. MORE LIVES ARE GOING TO BE LOST!"

Tamako said nothing, staring at him with wide eyes. She had no clue what to do; she wanted to help somehow, but she had no experience in fighting and no weapons to protect herself with. As she struggled to think, the man grew impatient and ran off towards the village. "H-hey, wait!" Tamako called out to him, running towards him. He was too fast, and she eventually lost sight of him; however, she arrived to see the village being attacked. Looking around, she saw the strange blonde man from before run into an alley, abandoning the strange creatures around him. She rushed to follow him, wanting to know who he was and why he had attacked the village.