The sky is dark and grey. Light rain gently pattered down as puddles shined from the moonlight. (SFX - SPLASH!) A person steps into the puddle as a small creature quickly follows this criminal on the run. They quickly jump onto the stone wall dividing the sidewalk from the neighbouring houses. Through one of the house's windows. A black figure is seen watching the criminal. (SFX - WHOOSH) The curtains shut as the criminal glares at the house.
“April 17 2XXX 8:48 am”
SFX - BONK
“OW, DAMN BIRDS,” Zeph cries in pain, “ALWAYS SOMEHOW BOTHERING ME!”
A nearby pileated woodpecker flees from the scene. Zeph rubs his head. He’s wearing a basic loose white long-sleeve shirt. The end of the sleeves is folded neatly. He wears a black jacket on top. He wears pale navy pants with a pouch tied around his waist.
(The background is a brightly lit forest and a flowing river. Across the river, the forest thins. The river flowed quickly as fish swam against the current. The forest has many different types of trees but mainly sugar maple trees. The season is spring.)
A red apple rolls into a nearby river (the one the birds hit down). Zeph faces the river and then turns towards a tree right in front of the river. He digs around in his pouch before tossing a sharp dagger toward the apple tree, slicing a single apple's stem. It drops off the tree. Zeph turns back to the river and sticks out his hand, the apple gracefully drops into his palm. He bends down, rinsing the apple in the river.
Zeph turns around (opposite the river) eating his apple and walks into the dense forest. He walks around big healthy trees, jumps over dirty decaying logs, and ducks under the thin vines and finally he returned to his campsite, which he called “home”.
A tent, which is a dark shade of orange, leans against an old oak tree. A black cloth lies in front of the tent and a big clear storage box with a lid sat in the left-right corner (facing the tent). Items laid on the cloth ranged from books, entertainment, snacks and candy wrappers. He sits down on the black fabric and takes off the lid of the storage box, placing things in it.
Zeph tosses his eaten apple by the top left of his tent. A small raccoon carefully exits the forest and begins chewing on the apple’s corpse. (SFX - Nom nom~). Zeph turns to the raccoon.
“Oh? Chi is that you?” Zeph asked, “Back again so soon?”
Chi drops the apple's corpse, chittering happily. She spins in a full circle before climbing onto Zeph’s lap. Zeph strokes Chi’s head. Chi flops over on her back, belly showing. She chitters again hoping for belly strokes.
“Not now Chi,” Zeph said, “I have class soon… I’ll see what I have for you though.”
Zeph grabs half a hard-boiled egg from a lunchbox on the cloth and hands it to Chi. Chi chitters happily and begins eating the egg. Zeph opens his phone (the time is currently 8:40) and dashes into his tent, startling Chi. Chi drops her half-eaten egg and stares at the tent. Zeph runs out of the tent wearing normal casual clothes (A black hoodie and loose pants) (He’s pulling on his shirt)
I hope I get into the school,” Zeph says letting out a loud sigh,” it would delay me a lot if I didn’t…”
“Pack up,” Zeph says spinning his pointer finger around, “Clean up everything quickly.”
Chi stares at Zeph for a while before picking up her half-eaten egg and finishing it off. Zeph pets Chi and grabs his bag, which is laying on the black cloth. The backpack is a normal backpack with a sleeping cat head on it. His name is printed on the pouch (For more info check the ‘school arc’ planning sheet). He removes the skateboard keychain from his bag and throws it in the air. The chain spins around before turning into a skateboard.
Chi runs into the forest as Zeph skates off. Panel changes to show what’s happening behind him. His tent collapses, his black mat folds up with one quick motion and his storage box fills up with items as tiny creatures are seen dragging away these items.
He is sitting in the gym room with over 50 other students gathering around the gym. Chairs are placed so students and parents can sit as they please. There is a stage at the front of the gym with a microphone stand (with the microphone) on the ground. He sits by a family of three and looks sad before turning to the stage.
The gym's lights shut and the principal walks onto the stage. He taps the microphone twice and the crowd goes silent. He coughs before beginning his speech.
“Welcome students! I’m James Aurla, leader of the Aurla clan and principal of Saisho School but you may call me Mr. Aurla,” The principal announced in a clear loud voice, “Our summoner for today is Lady Crystal. You may speak Lady Crystal.”
“Greetings everyone I’m Crystal,” A lady wearing a beautiful white crystal-like dress spoke up, “I’ll be your gem summoner for today! If you have any questions or concerns please talk to me.”
“I would like to welcome or welcome back everyone to this school and wish them the best of luck in getting in,” Mr. Aurla smiled, “Everyone, please stay seated. Our staff will begin calling out names to see if they are fused with crystal blood. “
“If you fail the test you’ll be offered to stay or leave,” Mr. Aurla continued, “If you complete the test you’ll have to stay in the gym or ask one of our staff to monitor your child at the playground.”
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
Mr. Aurla nodded his head to one of the staff standing by the stage curtain. A lady who is wearing a plain pink shirt paired with a jacket nods back. She walks over with a slip of paper and taps the mic twice.
“Let’s start with, Mr. Aurla,” The lady began, “Arlo Aurla, calling for Arl-”
“OH, THAT’S MEEE,” A young boy screamed, “I’M ARLOOOOOO”
Zeph sighs as he leans back on his chair and takes out his phone. He opens a game called “Mighty meows”. He is sent to the loading screen which is a cat running. He loads and a tiny cat appears on the character screen. The cat is a tall white cat with purple eyes and a crown. Zeph changes the cat's height to the shortest possible. He clicks the button on the bottom right, “begin”.
His screen changes to a loading screen with a tip “Tip: never be overconfident. If an enemy is too big or strong, run away”. On the button right a long cat is spinning around. He is brought to a “choose a game mode screen” and then he swaps his screen, changing the app.
The app is called “moonlight” and it’s a texting app like discord. The background is a light grey background like discord. (I’ll add an image later). He texts someone named Lynx “Wanna 1v1?” then he switches back to the Mighty Meow app. A notification appears saying “Lynx is online”. Zeph opens chat in the bottom left corner.
~~~~~~~~ Chat ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lynx: Do 1v1 classic
Zeph: Alright if I dip it’s because I’m at the gem ceremony
Lynx: BRUH PAY ATTENTION THEN
Zeph: It’s not like anything is happening
Lynx: I’ll believe you this once
Lynx: Brb someone is at the door
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Zeph sighs and someone sits beside him. He tries to resist looking at them but curiosity takes over. He turns to the person who just sat down and strangely enough the kid was staring straight at him. He wore a thick sweater
“Hey,” The boy said, “I’m Arlo Aurla!”
“Hi…,” Zeph replied, “I’m Zeph Violette”
Oh, your last name matches your eye colour!” Arlo giggled, “I’ve never seen anyone with pure white hair.”
“I have never met anyone as annoying as you,” Zeph scowled
“Damn,” Arlo giggled weakly, “Why do you want a gem then, Zeph?”
“Why does my business have to do with you, pretty boy,” Zeph growled, “Leave me be, rat.”
“You called me a pretty boy then a rat-,” Arlo said, “You don’t need to be so secretive we are… uh might be classmates at one point~”
“And you don’t need to be so damn nosy,” Zeph said getting angrier by the minute, “I hope we aren’t classmates anyways.”
“Wahh? You're so mean!” Arlo cried, “Come onnn how do you even make friends then!!”
“I don’t need “friends” to weigh me down, nosy kid,” Zeph scoffed as he took a deep breath in. He was trying to calm himself.”
“What a negative statement…” Arlo replied, “I’ll be your friend!”
“Jeez, thanks,” Zeph rolled his eyes
“You are around the bottom of the list, right?” Arlo says awkwardly, “Uh because your name starts with a Z?”
“Ya,” Zeph replies, “But there are only like 10 people here so whatever.”
“Uh… Ya, I guess,” Arlo said, “I guess it’s almost your turn?”
“How would I know?,” Zeph scowled, “Now stop bothering me already.”
He turns around and sits on the chair cross-legged. He notices Arlo’s cheerful face quickly turning into an annoyed expression. He ignores the sudden mood swing and puts on his hood. He puts his hands behind his head and takes a breath in.
“Is Zeph Violette present? Zeph-” Mr. Aurla called
“Here sir!” Zeph says quickly standing up.
He speedily runs towards the stage and notices a setup waiting there for him. A shallow small tin bowl (kind of like a sauce dish) sits in the middle of the stage. Inside is some purple teal water which seemed to shimmer. Mr. Aurla stands behind the table (front stage view) and a lady holding a needle is sitting on a chair on the left of the table. A chair waits there on the right.
“You must be Zeph Violette?” Mr. Aurla asked.
“Yes sir…” Zeph replied staring at the empty chair, “Do I sit there?
“Wait a sec, hun.” The lady sitting at the table smiled,
“I’ll give you some instruction first so listen closely.” She continued
“You’ll enter your mind for a quick second. It might appear as a brief flash or you won’t see it at all.” Lady Crystal instructed, “If anything is wrong, immediately info us alright sweetheart?”
“Um…,” Zeph said nervously, “Alright”
It’s going to be just fine, Zeph forced himself to think, it’s just some water, right? The more he tried to calm himself the more he became stressed. Mr. Aurla seemed to notice Zeph slightly shaking.
“It’s going to be fine, Zeph,” Mr. Aurla reassured, “Go ahead and sit”
Zeph sits on the chair, and the lady holds her palm up above the water. Zeph places his hand on her hand (palm down). The lady grabs the needle and changes her hand position to support his fingers. She pokes Zeph’s finger causing blood to drip into the water bowl.
Once the blood hits the water it forms a gem shard. Zeph enters his mind. It’s a cloudy stormy place with barely any light other than the stormy purple sky. Water fills the ground ankle-high. He looks around frantically. He tries to call for help but his voice doesn’t come out.
He breathes in trying to calm himself down. He notices a strange rock platform poking out of the water. He slowly walks towards it as lightning shudders in the background. As he approaches the island he notices a peculiar shrine but as soon as he steps onto the rock he wakes up.
He slowly opens his eyes but as soon as he gains consciousness he bolts up. Zeph looks around realizing he is in a hospital. The room is quite dark as the curtains are shut. An IV bag is attached to Zeph’s left hand. No one is currently in the room.
Zeph gets off his bed pushing the IV stand with him. He stretches before opening his window curtains. The sun is slowly setting. The sky is filled with colours ranging from pink, red, orange and yellow. He closes his eyes trying to recall his nightmarish connection.
“I doubt that’s how people connect with their inner gem,” Zeph murmured to the window, “I have a feeling I have been there before…”
“That’s thinking for another day!” He continues, as he stretches from one side to another.
Zeph yawns before staring deeply outside. He’s only felt this nervous once in his life and he rather not think about it. He notices Arlo walking outside with a very happy snow-white Akita and a young girl with pink hair. He opened the window to call Arlo. After all, he witness the whole event and maybe had an idea of what was happening.
“What am I doing…” Zeph muttered as he closed the window, “I’ll just ask Lady Crystal and Mr. Aurla…”
“Um.. excuse me..?” A nurse carefully opens the door, after overhearing some noise from the patient’s room.
She peaks into the room and sees Zeph out of bed. She quickly shooed Zeph back into bed and lectured him about resting. She takes Zeph’s temperature before exiting the room. Zeph decides it is time to take a rest and shuts his eyes.
Outside, the pink hair girl smiles as she stares at the window.
“Iris,” Arlo rushed trying to tie the dog's leash to the collar, “Let's go! We’ll be late for Tuyet’s vet appointment!!”
“Coming!” Iris giggled running towards Arlo, “I saw a purple-eyed cat! It was watching the sunset”
“Now now,” Arlo sighed petting Tuyet, “Purple-eyed cats don’t exist Iris! But being late to the appointment does!”