Creative Writing XIX - The Sun

A little story I'm working on.. not much substance in this part so far, but I'll post to see what people think of the style, etc. In-story explanations to come.

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XIX - The Sun

"With the birds I'll share this lonely view."
- Red Hot Chili Peppers, Scar Tissue​

Dark eyes silently watched as people passed by him without a care; or at least if they had a care, he wasn't it. It was to be expected, he thought to himself. Everyone here has their own agenda. No one knows what's really going on over their heads, under their feet, and inside themselves and everything they know or dont, love or hate. Though, if they did know, would they really do something about it? Would they really care? Long, slender fingers idly did buttons up along a dark olive green corduroy coat that the young man wore, large and loose fitting, looking as if it would swallow the thin and pallid man. His heavy black boots clunked against the pavement of the sidewalk, kicking up slush just like everyone else, white flecks of snow landing on his shoulders and tangling themselves into his long black hair.

The toes of his boots stopped, aligned with the edge of the corner of the sidewalk, stopping next to a stoplight pole, soon swarmed by a crowd of people that waited with him for their chance to sneak by, hoping someone decides to actually stop for a red light, or for them. All going to the same place, but all with different destinations. He let his eyes wander as he waited patiently, glancing towards the many different people that surrounded him, everyone caught up in their own thoughts to even return the glances or smiles he offered. Though he didn't really blame them; he looked generally eerie. Fairly young, in his mid to late twenties, and dark circles surrounded his eyes, showing he hadn't slept in days, maybe longer and combined with his pale complexion and thin body, it made him look generally sick, the kind of person you'd expect to be sitting on the corner, begging for hand-outs. If it weren't for the silver jewelry that was everywhere; all ten fingers half-covered in silver rings, silver chains hanging from his neck and wrists, not to mention various earrings.

People started to push past him, knocking him forward and he gave way to the flood of people, trailing along across the street hurriedly, as he had seen - first hand - what it's like if you stay behind and some idiot who doesn't know how to drive decides to ignore the speed limits and the red lights; though he couldn't remember the last time he'd really seen a speed limit sign in New York.

Thankfully, his stop was before the next crossing, so like others had done while people were assimilated into the crowd, the young man broke off from the people and headed into the large building that lay to his side, a building not too large as to stand out to everyone; in fact, it looked just like every other building. There was no name or label upon it, but the people that went there knew what they were after, as did he. Pushing through the turnstyle-esque door, he kicked off snow and slush on the carpet just at the entrance before heading through the large, tiled lobby. There were a few people there, mostly talking in low voices, and it would have been quiet enough to cause an echo if it weren't for the loud talking and frantic conversing coming from the offices behind the lobby and off to the side.

Behind a beautiful silvered desk was a young woman, her bleached-blonde hair tied up into a bun and dressed well enough for a receptionist; a pink dress top and black knee-length skirt. She looked up to the man as he walked up to the desk but unlike those on the streets, she greeted him with a smile.

"Remington," she said his name in greeting. "G'morning. You're around awfully early, but then again I guess it's not like ya' missing much, hm? When was the last time y'slept anyways? Wow, you look like crap. Y'really need to get yourself some better clothes, you look like you're a bum running around and you know Gaia and Helios can't have that, mmkay? So anyways, how're things going? Hear you became a guardian, that right? Boy, I don't know if I could deal with that kinda responsibility, that's some pretty big stuff."

Remington just sort of chuckled as the young woman went on, holding up his hands, palms out, to try and get her to slow down or be quiet for a moment. He wasn't really interested in a long conversation today. He just wanted to get out and get his first job done. "Well, yeah, but that's all a story for another day, okay? What'm I supposed to do today?" he asked her.

She blinked as if her rambling had made her lose track of what she was supposed to do. "Oh!" she said, coming to realization and ducked under the desk for a moment, sitting back up with a small, white envelope, package and a folder. "Right, this is yours, you're looking for one of them Strider folks. Name of Yafeu Rides-The-Wind or something like that. He's supposed to be popping up a few miles from here, there's a map in the folder showing where he's supposed to be. The envelope is his payment for the delivery. Yeah, he's one of those kinds of people. Anyways, just show up at the address, give him the money, get the package and bring it back here ASAP, 'kay? We chose you for this one 'cause the address is close to your girl, so incase something happens... Esmerelda said she's supposed to be hatching soon, yeah?"

Remington took the envelope and the folder, not bothering to look through them yet, and nodded his head lightly. "Yeah. She's been calling out of school the past few days. So either she's gonna hatch soon, or she got knocked up, and I'm pretty sure I woulda' known about the latter. I'll check up on her when I'm done, see how she's doing. She'll probably be out today, too, but who knows?"

"Well you should know," she told him as he started to walk away.

"Well, I will know, so it's all good. See you later, April," he said, waving back over his shoulder as he slipped out of the door again and into the crowd.

Instead, though, he fought upstream, heading back the way that he had come from. He would need to stop back at his apartment to get a few things. Then it was off to his destination. As he pushed his way past people heading off to work or to catch cabs, he shoved the envelope into his large coat pocket and flipped open the folder. There was only a single page inside; it listed his own name - Remington 'Remy' Never-Sleeps - and the name of his contact - Yafeu Runs-On-The-Wind. It listed the address where he was supposed to meet him - not an actual building, Remington noted, just somewhere on the sidewalk.

"A Silent Strider," Remington murmured to himself. He'd love to follow that guy around, he'd be guaranteed to get a nice tour of the world. It's a shame that he had a more important agenda than following around a jackal-like wolf as he drove desperately through the Umbra. The Umbra... a place Remington was quite familiar with, but there were parts he would be glad to never see again. Though he'd have to delve back into the Umbra soon, he predicted.

Remy's apartment was a top floor, two room apartment in a building that housed many people that worked at the same place as he did, the Helios Overnight Services, an agency that served mostly as messengers and couriers. In exchange for your time, HOS gave you a decent place to sleep, food to eat and, Remington's favorite, tons of interesting people to meet. Although the sun shone down outside, there was still a great chill which eased itself off of the young man as he stepped inside of the apartment building. Almost mechanically, he walked towards the elevator and hit the button for the top floor. There was no one in the lobby, no one else in the elevator, and when he finally got off on the top floor, no one in the hall. Most were still asleep. Unlike the rest of the world, they operated a bit later than usual.

Fumbling around in his pockets for his keys, he traveled down the hall to the last door on the right. Unlocking the deadbolt and the lock on the knob, he pushed the door open and slipped inside. The entire floor was hardwood; the large room served Remington as a bedroom, a living room - which were ironically one in the same - and a kitchen. The second room that was a small bathroom, the door long broken off and instead of replacing it, Remington just put a curtain up. He never got visitors anyway. The walls and floor were decorated in rainbow colored lights as the sunlight shone in through the floor-to-ceiling windows and hit a myriad of crystals of all shapes and sizes that hung in front of the windows.

The place would have been fairly nice, if it werent for clothes - clean and dirty - laying everywhere along with empty coffee cans, soda bottles, pizza boxes and Subway wrappers. His bed was nothing more than a futon mattress on the floor in front of a small color television with a clock radio next to it, the numbers flashing 12:00. Though the condition of his apartment wasn't why Remington returned; he started to kick through clothes and trash and miscellaneous items that lay strewn about - tinfoil, spare change, can tabs, paper clips, safety pins and other various shiny or shimmering objects. It didn't take him too long to find the one thing he returned for; a black haversack. Slinging it over his shoulder, he was off, locking the door to his apartment behind him and dropping the keys into his pocket, the folder he held finding a home inside of the bag.

 

Yay for updates. Feel free to comment. More to come. (Still proofreading ;p)

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It was rather difficult for Remington to find a place that was at least remotely out of the way near the rendevouz point. He at least had to find a place where no one would notice a strange man suddenly appearing out of nowhere. Even one wrong person seeing it could have been devistating. Remington had no idea what time it was or what time he was supposed to meet his contact, so he simply waited patiently; it's not like he had much else to do to begin with. As he waited his mind began to drift among many different importances and subjects, but mostly it rested upon 'his girl', as April had called her, which Remington found admittedly amusing. The young girl, Erica, had no true connection to Remington. She wasn't family, and she certainly wasn't a lover or love interest. They weren't even friends. There was no link whatsoever, only a responsibility that Remington was entrusted worth; a responsibility that he couldn't afford to screw up again.

With a soft sigh, Remington rubbed at his tired eyes, shaking his head slowly. His mind drifted too far - too far into the past - and as he shook his head, he dismissed his thoughts. It wasn't as easy to dismiss the things he saw, heard and had to endure - not that they weren't deserved - but at least he could push it away for a little while. Anything to help distract him was quite welcome.

Thankfully, his prayers were answered. As Remington stood deep in the alley off the specific street he was supposed to be on, a tall, tan-skinned man appeared out of nowhere next to him. If it weren't for the fact that Remington was lost in his mind, he wouldn't have jumped as he did which made him look quite clumsy to his contact; though instead of acting outright condescending, he just gave a small chuckle. The man was older than he, mid-thirties Remington guessed, with silky black hair that was tied back neatly into a braid that fell between his shoulder blades, his dark eyes glistening. His dress wasn't quite odd, but it wasn't the most common public attire; black leather vest combined with blue jeans held up with a brown leather belt served as all the man wore, quite odd considering the weather. He also came armed; several short spears against his back, held in place with a belt across his chest.

"Good morning," the man said in perfect English in an undistinguishable accent. "I am Yafeu Rides-The-Wind. You were expecting me, yes, Remington?"

Remington wasn't quite comfortable with someone he didn't entirely know knowing his name, but it happened. Especially lately, everyone seemed to know who he was, and it was his own fault. It was his punishment. He nodded and reached into his corduroy coat pocket. "Yeah. Hope you didn't have trouble finding the place," he said, laughing in his mind. If there's anybody that knows their way around better than us, it's guys like him, he thought.

Yafeu seemed to find this humorous as well, letting out another deep chuckle. "Not at all, not at all, dear friend. Yes, yes, I know the exchange. Your information first. Here you are," he said, remove a neatly folded envelope from his breast pocket on his vest. He handed it to Remington, a myriad of bronze bracelets jingling upon his wrist. "Is this satisfactory?"

Taking the new envelope with his other hand, he flicked it open - as it wasn't sealed - and found several sheets of paper inside as well as negatives of photographs, thankfully shielded from the sun by the walls of the buildings they were between. That was all Remington was responsible for - to make sure there was something there. He nodded and closed the envelope, stuffing it into his pocket while giving Yafeu the other one, containing the payment. "Yeah, seems fair enough. Here you go. Keep in touch, yeah? Always nice doing business with you. All that jazz. Say, I don't suppose you'd like to stick around for a drink or anything, eh? Or you gotta be on the run again? Some Dancers nipping at your heels or something?"

With another character chuckle, Yafeu shook his head, holding a hand up, palm facing outwards. "No thank you, my friend. I will have to pass, I must be on my way. I thank you for your offer, however. If I am ever in need of generous hospitality in these parts, I shall come to you."

He couldn't really blame the man. After all, those folk were always on the run it seemed. With a nod of his head, he bid Yafeu farewell and just as randomly he had appeared, the tan-skinned man was gone. Remington waited around for a moment, moistening his lips slowly as he glanced about. No on-lookers, he thought. I might as well do this now. He glanced about and his eyes found a fragment of a broken mirror that he focused upon. And with that, all it took was a step and he felt like he was being thrust into freezing cold water, pushing his way through a gel-like membrane. His body shivered but moved on, and in an instant, he was standing again in the alley, but not... the alley. Even between the buildings, the sun shone brightly and the sky was like a painting, vibrant and neon blues streaking everywhere. The busy noise of cars and people were gone, no disturbances. It was... peaceful.

As Remington moved on, out of the alley, he didn't actually move it seemed. It was like the world revolved around him. Like he was walking on an Etch-a-Sketch; the plate was erased and redrawn to show his new position for every second. Cars that were even parked no longer represented themselves and most buildings were covered in webbing as if some horrific, giant spider had come out of the Sci-Fi movies and turned the city into its playground. Though there were a few buildings that looked decayed. They were falling apart, shedding and generally fading away. It was simultaneously the most depressing and most beautiful thing that Remington had ever seen. It's always like that, he thought to himself. The taint of the Wyrm, the evil and the decay and all the wrong in the world, made his heart sink but the brighter, stronger sun made him smile, as if he had been placed closer to the sun, Helios, himself.

Moving through the new world, he took several deep breaths. His bones cracked and his skin shriveled as his body generally shrunk. As his skin began to melt off of his body, they turned into quills which sprung black feathers. His nose and mouth stretched out, hardening and molding into a black beak and his dark eyes were surrounded by rings of bright, shimmering copper. And just as quickly as he had entered this strange environment, his human form was left behind, but still inside him, now in the guise of a strangely large raven that immediately took towards the sky.

His pleasure was cut short though as no more than several minutes into the air, a blood-curdling shriek was let out, sounding as if it went on for miles. If he had still had hair, it would have stood on end and it didn't take long for Remington to know exactly what it was. It was time, he thought. It's time, it's time! I've got to make it! I've got to go, now, now, now! He was already hearing the thirsty howls in the back of his mind and the clacking of vicious, mutilated claws upon pavement and soil alike.

Even though there was no breeze, he felt the air catch his wings as he was fueled on through the endless sky to his ultimate destination. The world revolved around him rapidly, faster than he could keep up with, as his mind focused. Everything blurred past him as his speed seemed to fold over, moving twice as fast as he normally would, and in a blink of an eye, he was literally flying across moonlight, flying through it. Though he had not the time to relish in the wonderful feeling it filled him with. He had something more important, too important, something that could mean his life on the line. And as the moon ended, he found as if he was hovering through space. Various worlds flew around him rapidly as if he were flying through the very atmosphere for the galaxy, closing in on one specific 'planet', one that was covered with vast, countless forests and rainforests alike.

Going into a heavy dive, the world zoomed towards him, his body swirling and spinning as he drove downwards faster and faster towards the trees. Hyena-like laughter and claws dragging through soil and against tree bark invaded his sense of hearing. Although his sense of smell was eye-watering, he could still smell and taste the taint around and the closer and closer he could see the giant, hulking forms of varying horrors. Horrors that were known commonly as 'Black Spiral Dancers'. But their name was not a concern to him. To Remington right now, they were only one thing: dead. Even if it meant his own death, he wouldn't let this happen again...

 

Different but in a good way. I like the story thus far. Keep it up. I didn't see any spelling errors. Maybe a few questionable grammar errors but I am picky.