The Legend of 500 Years

The Legend of 500 Years

By: Louie Nigh

Chapter 1

Lots of stories have a long, sad tale of endless heroics. Others have the pointless comedy of the characters. Why I brought this up? Because I want you to know that all stories don't have happy endings. Not in my case, anyway.

I am Tsubasa. My real name is currently unknown; I seek to find it one day.

Well, what happened? How do all stories start? Most start along the lines of, "A long, long time ago". However, I am probably unique. Well, I got up.

Knowing this, you may read on...

My eyes opened.

Sunshine poured into the room. I was blinded, and staggered out of bed. Adjusting my eyes, I made out the outlines of my room. Small, damp, dirty. Like one of those places you wouldn't want to wake up in.

Anyway, I managed to get up and stand upright. There my day began. Not a good start.

Let me introduce myself. Tsubasa Hirano, or so I'm called. I'm 15. I live in the Villa of the Canyon.

The Villa of the Canyon is, of course, a village. The last of humanity live here. Why? You'll find out. This is earth, 4019. Got a problem?

I got dressed and lumbered down stairs.

I've a house all to myself. Cool, aye? My parents died, and so I've got my own place, money, and all those assortments a normal guy has. Normal here.

You see, the Villa is protected by a militia. Against what? Rixor Zarr. Again, you'll find out who-- or what--he is.

All I know is he has an army of dead people. Undead, we call them.

I've seen several. Once, when I was younger, a neighbor got it. He was killed. Another time, a friend of mine was Undead, because of an attack. He died in pain.

So, almost the rest of the world is basically out to get us. No humans left, but us.

I reached the door...

And walked straight into a group of people. Hurrying people, by the looks of it. And then it struck me. I should be hurrying too. Today was the village meeting. Rou (the Elder) would be talking to all those that are 15 by the year. If I miss it... well... let's say I would be feeling bad for a while. They use a tactic of corporal punishment to enforce their rules (I get beat. Sheesh).

So I ran. I ran, and ran, until I could see the place. And, looking back, I smashed into something. Or tripped over it.

"YEEAAARGH!!?"

Not a graceful way to land, but I thought I cracked a rib. I added the question mark 'cause I couldn't understand what happened. Until I asked.

"What'd I do? I wasn't late, was I?"

"Nothing, but getting in my way."

Oh. Just Manatsu. What a laugh.

He tripped me.

Grimacing, I got up and pretended to choke him to death (I considered trying it). Of course, he's a few times bigger than me, so I quit right away. However, despite our physical appearances, we do get along. I employ verbal abuse as a weapon, and it works well. Until someone yells to shut up.

"Break a leg, will you?" he said.

"You just have no sense of humor".

"Yeah. Not an annoying one, anyway"

I started to walk away from the idiot, and broke into a run. And, before I knew it, I crashed again. This time, into a girl about the same size as me. I didn't know her name at that time.

"YEEAAARGH!!?"

Ooof. Not again. Well, it's not pleasant to hit your ribs IN THE SAME PLACE TWICE. I seriously considered about déjà vu.

Anyway, I got angry at my luck and had a short outburst. I won't include what followed except "Oh of all the rotten..."

Manatsu looked away. Others hurried on their ways. Miki looked me in the eye and said one word.

"Whatever..."

I retorted with a snort and shuffled away. I noted that her black hair wasn't combed at all. Uh-huh. That was like, weird. Hmm.

I trudged into the hall.

What I heard would change my life forever.

Posted by: Feliscita Ann Elameto