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Author Topic: Underworlders  (Read 4507 times)

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Offline NishimuraTaira

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Underworlders
« on: July 29, 2017, 12:54:41 PM »
Synopsis: Ayumu was just an average kid when all of a sudden, his life would change in an instant. Now he's a dream warrior who's job is to fight off Underworlders from feasting on the dreams of men and women everywhere... but why was he given this power, and why must he bear the burden of being a dream warrior?



Chapter 1

A Normal Life

“Ok, everyone. The exam is in three days. You have all the resources you need to study,” said Hattori-sensei.

The class bell went off and the students got up to leave the class. Ayumu got up and starts to walk out the door when he was grabbed from behind.

“Hey Ayumu!” exclaimed Motoki, “Are you ready for tonight?”

Ayumu, surprised, relaxed a bit when seeing his friend and gave off a slight smirk, “Sorry Motoki, I can’t. I’m way behind on my studies and I have to catch up. Maybe tomorrow”

Motoki sulked as they reached their lockers. “Awe, come on man. The Jump Magazine is supposed to have the best story this edition! You’re gonna miss out!”

Ayumu closed the locker door. “Listen, give me two days. Then we can study together and after that, we’ll read some manga, ok?”

Motoki leaned against his locker with his books clasped to his side. “Fine. I’ll see you later, then!” he exclaimed.

Ayumu watched as Motoki ran off. He then looked off to his right and noticed a girl by her locker… but not just any girl, it was Izumi, the most popular girl in the school, and Ayumu’s crush. Ayumu clamped his books tightly, a bit of sweat coating the surface of his hand. Izumi looked over his way and Ayumu quickly ducked his head to act like he wasn’t looking her way. After a few seconds, he looked up only to notice that Izumi was talking to a friend that just walked up to her. With that, Ayumu decided to walk off and begin his trip back home.

When Ayumu got home, his family had had dinner already set up on the table.

“I’m home.” said Ayumu.

“Welcome home” his mother pulled out a chair “Dinner is ready! I made Tempura for everyone.”

Ayumu placed his stuff down by the stairs and took a seat at the table. “Thanks!” Ayumu grabbed his chopsticks and dug in. The food was great and he ended up finishing before everyone else. “The food was delicious! Thanks again!” Ayumu stood up from the table and the family looked at him, curious as to why he was not finishing with the family. “Sorry, I’ve got a lot of studying to do for the exam,” he said, noticing all the concerned faces. He took off towards the stairs, picking up his books, and then made his way up to his room.

“He’s going to make a great scholar,” Said his mother to his father. His father simply nodded

Up in his room, Ayumu could feel his stomach rattling. He didn’t really get to fill up. He just wanted to hurry up and catch up on his studies. Thankfully, he had some different treats and candy bars to help him through. He opened his books, opened up a bag of chips, and started.

An hour or two had passed he could feel his eyes starting to get heavier. He knew if he stayed there much longer, he’d fall asleep on his desk. Deciding to play it smart, Ayumu closed his books and made his way over to his bed. He pulled out his phone and plugged it into the charger next to him and turned on some music to sleep to. Then after a short few minutes, he was asleep.


Chapter 2

Nightmare

The night was pitch black and the rain was freezing cold. Ayumu was walking alone in the downpour, each raindrop stinging him like needles upon impact of his skin. The alleyway he was walking down was empty, but a faint howling could be heard from all around. Suddenly a shriek filled his ears and quickly he turned to see where it was coming from. He looked up only to see his mother on the top of a roof. Suddenly she was picked up by the wind and fed to a tornado.

“MOTHER!” he screamed, so loudly that the echo hurt his own eardrums, almost feeling as though blood was dripping out. Suddenly his older brother stood in front of him, his face painted in red. “Big  Bro, what happened to you?”

“He’s coming for us,” he said in such a bland tone of voice before being pulled into the blacktop below him.

“BIG BROTHER… NO!!!” tears fell out of his eyes like waterfalls. The rain grew heavier for a few seconds before everything went quiet.

The rain stopped and the howling winds grew quiet. All that surrounded him was blackness. A whimper could be heard as Ayumu sat in the middle of a dark void. “I’m all alone… I feel so cold… Please help…”

All of a sudden, Ayumu heard an echo of a soft and gentle voice. “You’re not alone. Take my hand.”

Ayumu looked up, tears still streaming down his face. “I don’t see you!” He yelled, frantically looking around. “Where are you? Please help me!”

Ayumu turned around and a middle aged man stood there before him, smiling. The man stood a good 5 inches taller than him and was well dressed like an English professor. He even wore round reading glasses.

“Come with me, child,” he said calmly, his hand extended towards Ayumu.

Ayumu looked at the hand for a moment, pondering. He then used his arm to wipe the tears away from his face and then grabbed the hand extended towards him. In almost an instant, the two were pulled up to the sky with force. The man looked back, still smiling. “Just keep hold. We’ll be out of this soon.”

Ayumu nodded slightly to the man, the rest of the tears on his face being blown away from the wind. They moved so fast that the tears almost felt like the rain, stinking his face as they pulled away.

Almost as soon as it all started, he was once again surrounded by blackness. “Where’d you go!” he yelled out.

“Open your eyes,” the man said.

Ayumu was confused for a moment but then realized that his eyes were indeed closed. He opened his eyes to find himself in his room. “Oh thank god. It was just a dream.” he stretched out across the bed, waking up.

He then sat up in his bed, wiping the crust from his eyes. When he turned around and dropped his feet to the side of his bed, he looked up to see a man in a black trench coat that had a thin gold lining, with a pin of two swords crossed over one another on his collar. He held a sword in his hand and one sheathed on his back. The swords were both black as well, including the metal. From what he could see, they were engraved with some kind of markings all over the hilt. The man was cleaning a someone brownish liquid from the metal.

“Hey, what are you doing in my room!?”, he yells “And also, who the hell are you?”

The man, currently wiping the blade off with a cloth, stops and slowly closes his eyes. After a second, he resumes cleaning the blade. “The more important question is where exactly are you?”

Ayumu, confused by that question, stands up. “What the hell do you mean, ‘where am I’? I’m in my room, of course”

The man places the cloth in his pocket and puts his sword in the sheath on his back. He turns to Ayumu, his arms crossed. “Really? Care to explain who that is lying in your bed then?”

Ayumu, again confused, slowly turns his head to his bed. What he saw nearly put him in shock. It was him. His body was still in his bed. Quickly, Ayumu starts to pat himself down, “Wait! I’m not-... No, it can’t be..” he looked at the man. “Am I dead?”

The man let out a laugh, “Of course you’re not dead.” Ayume let’s out a sigh. The man placed his hand upon his shoulder “You’re in the dream world. It’s pretty much the halfway place between your dream and your reality. You just had a nightmare, correct?”

Ayumu nodded his head. “Yea.. and then this guy pretty much saved me” he stopped, now getting a closer look at the man’s face.

He looked just like the guy in his dream, except without glasses and the professor look. In fact, the guy in front of him had scars all over his face, including quite a large one that spanned from his right eye down to the lower left part of his chin. The man took out a cigarette and lights it up using a fairly big silver flip up lighter, taking a big puff and letting out a cloud of smoke.

“Come to think of it, that man looked much like you,” said Ayumu.

The man nodded, placing his lighter back in his pocket. “Yep, that was me”


Ayumu took a step back, tripping on the bed behind him and falling back down on the mattress. “I’m… so confused…” Ayumu started to tremble.

“It’s ok kid. I’ll explain,” the man placed his hands into the pockets of his coat. “-but first, I’m getting kinda hungry.” He walks to the bedroom door and placed his hand on the knob “Let’s head to the cafe, shall we?”

Ayumu, still a little confused, stood up from the bed. “Alright.”

Ayumu walked over to the door and the man placed his hand on his back. The two moved through the door as if it weren’t even there.

Chapter 3

The Explanation

The two reach the cafe and walk through the door Ayumu first, and then the man. Ayumu looked around the cafe, noticing that the place was quite empty and dark.

“Hey, where is everyone?” he asked, looking back at the man.

“They’re all at home sleeping, of course.”

“So who’s going to prepare the meals.” Ayumu turned around to face the man. He wasn’t understanding anything that was going on around him. “Why are we even here? What’s the real reason you brought me here?”

The man smiled, snapping his fingers. As Ayumu looked at the man confused, the man looked over to one of the tables which had been filled with a full meal setting for the two of them.

“Wait, where’d that come from?” Ayumu asked excitedly. He ran off to the table and took a seat. The man following behind and placed his swords at the side of the booth before sliding in to take a seat.

“With a lot of concentration,” the man said with a grin. He then started to dig in, however, Ayumu was still hesitant to eat. “Well, are you going to eat?”

Ayumu looked over the food. It all looked very tasteful. The rice looked perfect and the sushi smelled exquisite, but he still was in a sort of shock. “So when are you going to explain what the hell is going on here?” he asked.

The man, still filling his mouth with food, stopped suddenly. He closed his eyes and picked up a napkin to clean his face. “Ok, I’ll do my best to explain, but promise to keep an open mind. A lot of this may not make sense at first.”

Ayumu nodded, leaning forward just a tad to listen in.

“So as I told you before, we are currently in the dream world. We enter this world every time we fall asleep. Now usually, our minds enter a dream state while here to allow their minds to recuperate from the past day's activities. Now just as you had experienced, every once in awhile, we have nightmares. Most people just say it’s the mind being super active in the night, but they’re only half right.” the man readjusts in his seat. “Quick question, what did you eat before going to bed?”

Ayumu looks up, thinking on what he had eaten. “We had tempura for dinner…” he said, still thinking. “Oh, and I had chips while I studying before bed.”

The man nods slowly, “Yep, just as I thought. Have you ever heard the theory that if you eat junk food before bed that you get nightmares?” he asked.

Ayumu nodded, “Yea I’ve heard that before. I never really thought it to be true though. I’ve eaten junk food in the past before bed and slept just fight, no nightmares…”

The man nodded, “Well here’s what really happens. In the dream world, you are connected to both the Upperworld and the Underworld. The Upperworld is the word that you and I live in on our day to day routines. The Underworld, however, is not so fun. It’s filled with hungry creatures, looking for their next big feast.”

Ayumu takes his chopsticks and picks up a chunk of the rice. “Ok…” He takes a bite of his food. “I take it you’re about to tell me what exactly they are feasting on.” He thinks to himself, They are probably trying to feast on our bodies or something.

The man smirks, “They feast on our dreams.”

Ayumu almost choked on his food, bursting into laughter.

The man looks to Ayumu, confused. “Why are you laughing?

“At first, I thought I was crazy, but I just remembered. I’m still dreaming.” he then got up from the table, “Thank you for the meal and all, but I’m going to try and enjoy the rest of my dream while I still can”

The man got up and opened his mouth, but then he cocked his head quickly as if something else caught his attention. He smirked, “I think your time is up my friend.”

Ayumu turned around and tried to speak, but as soon as he opened his mouth, the man slapped him in the face. “HEY! What was that for!”

The man wound up his hand. “I’ll see you tomorrow night.”

Almost without hesitation, the man swung, but before reaching the contact, Ayumu woke up to an alarm going off beside him.


Chapter 4

Reality

The world around him was a blur, and the alarm going off sent shock all over. In an instant, Ayumu realized that he was awake and quickly got up out of bed, taking in a huge breath of air. He looked around, and patted himself down, making sure that he was, in fact, awake this time.

“Whew, it was just a dream,” he said, swinging his feet over to the side of the bed.

He reached out his hand to the alarm clock that was going off beside him, switching it off. He then looked over to the wall, just in the same spot that the man had been standing in his dream. No one was there. He closed his eyes, shaking his head and laughing to himself.

“Why would I think he was there? It was just a dream…” he tried to convince himself, but he still felt that something in that dream was real. Everything felt too vivid for it to be just a dream. He shook his head, trying to dismiss the idea. He then stood up from his bed and made his way to the closet to grab his clothes before getting ready for school.

In the kitchen, his mother had already prepared food for the family. Ayumu was pretty much ready to leave, but he still had his favorite part of the day. Breakfast. His mother had prepared his favorite dish, eggs on rice. When he said down, he immediately dug into the food. “Thank you for the meal!” he said before taking his first bite. The rest of the family was taking their time to eat, but Ayumu was almost finished before the rest of them reached half way. His family eyed over, just like last night, as he finished his food.

“Slow down, Ayumu. You’re gonna choke on your food!” his mother exclaimed.

It was too late, however. Ayumu had completely devoured his breakfast and was on his way out the door. “I’m off!”

On the walk to school, he passed the cafe that he had seen in his dreams. He stopped to look. “The Monster’s Crave”. He said to himself, reading the name of the restaurant. He felt it was quite ironic, seeing as to what his dream was about. He passes this place every day on his way to school, yet he never looked at the name of this cafe. He shook his head again, dismissing the idea. “There’s no way that this all means something… It was just a dream.”

Before he knew it, he was at the bus station. It almost seemed like seconds with how much he was thinking about everything. “Why is this getting to me so much?” he asked himself, stepping into the bus. He found a seat that was free and moved as close to the window as possible. While looking out, he decided that this would be the last time he would think about the dream. He brought out his school books and started to study again.
When he reached the school, Motoki was waiting for him by the flag.

“Yo, Ayumu!” He shouted.

Ayumu looked over to Motoki. “Hey!” he shouted back, walking over to him.

“This edition on Jump is amazing!” he said as Ayumu walked over to him. “I ended up reading the first couple pages but I decided that I would hold off until you were free again. Speaking of, how are the studies going?”

Ayumu scratched the back of his head, “Well last night was pretty good, but I had a hard time focusing on the bus this morning.” He decided not to say anymore. The last thing Ayumu wanted was to talk about how his dream bothered him and to have Motoki think he was taking it too seriously. What am I thinking, I am taking it too seriously, he thought to himself.

“Well, who can ever get anything done in the morning,” Motoki said, reassuring him. “Come on, let’s get inside.”

The school was pretty difficult for Ayumu due to the dream the last night. Every time he tried to study, he’d slowly start drifting to flashbacks of the man in black robes. It was almost as if the image was frozen in his mind. Ayumu shuffled his hands into his hair, stressed that he couldn’t focus on his studies. Motoki took notice to this. As the class came to a close, Motoki walked over to Ayumu.


“Hey man, you ok? You’ve been seeming a little stressed out recently?” he asked.

Ayumu massaged his hair. “Yeah, I just had a really weird dream last night.” He paused for a moment, debating if he should tell him the rest. “Almost like it was a nightmare...I don’t know, it was pretty vivid. “

Motoki, now excited, widens his eyes. “Well, tell me about it!” He said.

Ayumu wasn’t too sure. “I don’t know man. It was just a nightmare. Nothing to really ponder on.”

“Well you’re obviously still pondering it, so maybe you should tell me. Get it off your chest, ya’ know?”

Ayumu sighed, slouching in his chair a bit. “Alright fine, but promise that you won’t think I’m childish or anything like that…”

Motoki let out a huge laugh, “Come on Ayumu, I’ve known you since secondary school. I’ll always think you’re childish!”

The two laughed and Ayumu positioned himself to face Motoki. Motoki took the seat that was behind him, ready for the story. For the next 30 minutes, Ayumu described every detail of the dream, from the nightmare to his alarm going off.

“Wow, That’s one hell of a dream, Ayumu!” Motoki said, excitedly. “That is quite the cliffhanger too…” He sulked down just a bit. “Man, why do dreams always end in cliffhangers. I always want to know what would happen next, but as soon as you go back to sleep, it’s just a different dream.”

Ayumu chuckled a bit, leaning back in his chair. “Yeah, I know what you mean… It just felt so real to me… but I guess it was just a dream”

Motoki nodded to him, “Yea I know, but imagine if it were in fact real! That would be Awesome! The world between our world and the dream world!”

Ayumu was taken back slightly. He didn’t expect this kind of response from Motoki. Motoki was a pretty down to earth guy. He may be energetic at times, but Ayumu was certain that he would have simply dismissed the idea.

“Well anyway, Motoki, I’m going to go home and study for this exam.” He got up to leave, grabbing his stuff on the way.”

“Alright, Ayumu! Hey, let me know if you have that dream tonight too, ok!” he said with a grin.

Ayumu rolled his eyes at him, “Yeah yeah, sure thing. Hey, don’t forget. Tomorrow we’ll study at your house! Then we can read the new Jump!”

Motoki gave him a thumbs up, “Can’t wait!”

Ayumu watched as he ran out the door. What if…? he thought to himself. Ayumu looked out the window, watching everyone leaving the school. Ayumu thought back on the last night's dream. What haunted him was what the man said before he woke up. I’ll see you tomorrow night. Ayumu grabbed his books and made his way over to his locker. I guess I’ll just wait until tonight to find out.

As Ayumu opened his locker, he felt a faint tug on the edge of his uniform. When he turned around, he was frozen. It was Izumi. Wha-Why are you trying to talk to me! he thought, frantically trying to find a reason she would notice him in any way.

“I heard you knew a lot about Japanese history,” she said to him, her hands behind her back, smiling. “I was wondering if you’d be able to help me with some of my studies on the subject later?”
Ayumu stood there, speechless. All he could do is look at Izumi in awe. The smell of her perfume was like laying in a meadow full of flowers. It almost smelt like a China Rose. She moved her hand through her bright red hair, laying it over her shoulder, running her hands through it as she awaited a reply.

“Hey, anybody in there?” she said, waving her hand in front of his face.

“O-oh, uh-Yea, of course!” he said, stuttering to get the words out. “When did you want to study?”

“Well, I have some things I have to do today. How about tomorrow after school?

Well, that’s no good, he thought. I am studying with Motoki tomorrow after school. “Ok!” Did I just say that out loud? Ayumu’s eyes widened.

“Ok, see you then” she replied and then walked off with her friends.

Ayumu stood there, still speechless. The air following Izumi rushed past him, and he took in a huge breath through his nose, getting the last smell at her perfume. What did I just do? He took his books and placed them in his backpack, and then walked out towards the exit of the school, closing his locker behind him.

During the walk home, Ayumu couldn’t stop thinking about Izumi. What was he going to tell Motoki, or better yet, what should he tell Izumi? He made plans long before with Motoki. It would be wrong for him to cancel those plans just so he could study with the person he’s had a crush on for the longest time. Then again, this could be the only time that Ayumu could spend any time with Izumi. What am I going to do? he thought.

In almost no time, Ayumu was walking up to the door of his house. When he opened the door, his family was gathered in a circle in the living room.

“Oh hey, Ayumu.” Said his older brother. “We’re ordering pizza. Any thoughts on what you would like?”

Ayumu placed his bag next to the stairs, walking over to the family who was all circled around a pizza menu. “Sure thing, Jun” he replied back.

Jun was like Ayumu’s best friend, besides Motoki. The two had gone through a lot together, including nearly 5 moves from different places in Tokyo due to their mother’s job.

“I’m kind of in the mood for some wings if you ask me,” said Ayumu.

“Yeah, I was thinking the same thing!” replied Jun, “but Mom said it’s too messy and too expensive”

“Well if you both want it that badly, I’ll get it, ” their mother said.

The two high fived each other with joy.

Almost half an hour later, the delivery man had arrived and the family had all gathered around the table, feasting on the pizza and wings.

When the family had finished, Ayumu placed his hands together. “This food was great! Thanks to the cook!”

The rest of the family did the same. “Thanks to the cook!”

Ayumu washed his hands and headed over to the stairs, grabbing his bag. “Wel, I better go study!”

His mother smiled, “Ok, dear!”

The sound of thuds rumbled through the house as Ayumu raced up the stairs and ran into his room, closing the door behind him. He looked at the time. He had about an hour left before he had to get ready for bed. He pulled out his books and placed them on his table.

“I guess I’ll try and study myself for now.” He looked at his bed, “or should I try and go to sleep…” he sat there, pondering for a moment. He looked back to his books. The book in front of him labeled History of Japan. “Well, I guess I’ll be studying this tomorrow anyway with Izumi.” He got up and walked over to his bed which had his pajamas folded up from earlier in the morning.


Quickly, he changed into them, throwing his clothes into the hamper. He then moved into the sheets of the bed and laid flat like a plank. It was if he was learning to sleep. He stared at the ceiling, wondering how long it would take until he fell asleep. He grabbed his phone out from his pockets and connected it to the charger, putting on some music. He laid there for what seemed like forever, tossing and turning, trying to keep his eyes closed. However, every now and again he’d pop open his eyes to see if he had made it into the dream world. He then laid flat on his back again, letting out a long sigh.

“What am I thinking. It was just a dream…” he said to himself, again staring at the ceiling.

“Having a hard time sleeping?” said a very familiar voice.


Chapter5

Underworlders
   Ayumu looked to his right, looking at a figured in the shape of a human silhouetted into the background of his closet. A light amber glow shined near the mouth of the shadow as smoke rose up from the corners of the lips.

   “Is that you?”

   “Do you believe me now?” As the silhouette moved forward, the light from the moon illuminated his face. He turned around some and leaned on to the nightstand to the side of Ayumu’s bed.

   “Yeah…,” said Ayumu with hesitation, “but I’m still not totally convinced that this isn’t just a dream.” Ayumu sat up in his bed, however, his body stayed planted on the pillow.

   The man rose his eyebrow. “Well, you are in the dream world, my friend.”

   “So I am dreaming?” Ayumu leaned forward, energetically.

   “You said it, not me.” the man chuckled slightly, moving towards the door. “You up for some food?”

   Ayumu got out of his bed, walking slowly over to the man. “I mean, what’s there to harm. It’s just a dream…”

   The two moved through the door, not even needing to open it. The man looked to Ayumu. “You’re only partially right there.”

   “What do you mean by that?”

   “Yes, you’re in the dream world, but you’re not dreaming in the sense that you’re experiencing something you have no control over…” The two of them walk down the stairs with swiftness, not making a sound. “But rather in another, separate, world. One that your mind goes to for rest.”

   “I’m not sure I understand…”

   “I’ll explain when we get to the cafe.”

   Ayumu and the man walked out of the house and into the night. A cool fall breeze fell moved through them, their hair waving in the wind. Ayumu looked at the man. “In my dreams, sometimes I can go from one place to another in an instant. Can we do that here too?”

   The man looked back to Ayumu, taking a long puff of air from the cigarette that lay in his mouth. “Well, of course, we can.” The man stopped and looked to Ayumu and placed his hand on his shoulder. In almost an instant, the two were standing in front of a cafe, a light shining down on them from the street lamp. Ayumu almost felt like throwing up. It was almost surreal. He started to lean back and forth some before placing out his hand to lean on the stone wall in front of him.

“I think I’m going to be sick,”

   The man placed his hand on Ayumu’s back, “It definitely takes some getting used to.”

   Ayumu tightly clenched his stomach with his arms, doing his best from throwing up, however after a few dry heaves, he realized he couldn’t keep it down. Quickly he ran up to a trash can to throw up.

   “Oh I should have told you, you probably don’t want to do that.”

   “Why?”

   “There’s a couple of reasons. The only one that’s important to you right now is that you’ll wake up in a mess of whatever food you ate this evening.

   “You’re kidding,” Ayumu replied. He took in a breath and coughed a few times, now stepping up and using the wall beside him to guide him.

   “Well let’s hope that you don’t wake up to that. Anyway, shall we?” He helped Ayumu up and walked through the two glass doors at the entrance of the building.

   When the two of them took their seats, two glasses, filled to the brim with a clear liquid, appeared in front of them.

   “What’s this?” asked Ayumu.

   “That is a Lemon Lime soda,” said the man. “I figured the carbonation of the drink should help with your little episode there,” Ayumu looked at him for a few seconds. “... and plus, it tastes good.”

   Ayumu chuckled a bit, picking up the glass in front of him and taking a sip from the glass. The drink was actually pretty cold and fizzed in his mouth for a bit before he swallowed it down. He put the glass back down on the table.

   “That is very refreshing, as you stated.”

   “I know, right? I love this drink.” the man took the glass and brought it up to his mouth. He lifted the bottom of his glass up high, and the liquid was practically swallowed into his mouth as if funneling into a drain. “Ahhhh!” he slouched back in his chair.
   Ayumu got up from the table and bowed down to the man. “I’m sorry, by the way.”

   The man eyed up Ayumu, curiously. “Why?”

   “Last time we were here, I laughed at you and didn’t take this seriously. That’s why.”

   “Please,” he said, taking his hand and placing it on Ayumu’s forehead, pushing him back to his seat. “I did the same thing when I was told for the first time.”

   “Still, I feel bad.” he sat back into the cushion of the booth seat. “Well, I’m ready to listen this time.”

   The man nodded, leaning forward into the table. “Ok, so where did we leave off,” he asked to himself. It took him a few moments to remember. “Ah, that’s right. The creatures feast off of our dreams. It sounds weird, I know, but it all has to do with energy.” he looked at the table, trying to think of the best way to explain it to Ayumu. “When you dream, your mind is reacting off of the energy in your body. It’s because of this energy that you have dreams.”

   Ayumu picked up his glass of soda and took in a large gulp. “Mhmm..”

   “That energy radiates off of you, like waves in a pool. The creatures, or Underworlders, see these waves and follow it to its source. That’s when the feast begins. They suck your mind dry of the energy, but…” he paused for a moment. “It’s not as easy as you think. Your mind will fight back with its willpower. You actually get to experience this fight, like the experience you had just last night.”

   “So, a nightmare?”

   “Precisely. A nightmare is essentially the fight between your mind and the Underworlder. Of course, you don’t get nightmares every night. Underworders usually tend to go to the most radiant energy source. With most people, their energy radiates at variable rates, depending on many different factors.”

   “... And so my energy radiant was pretty high yesterday”

   “Very high, indeed.” the man placed his hand up and out to his side. Within an instant, a bag of chips appeared in his hand. “You increased it by eating junk food before you went to bed. Your body reacted on that and your mind used that energy.”

   Ayumu laid back in his chair. “I see...” he crossed his arms. “But there’s one thing I don’t understand.” He looked forward towards the man in his eyes. “Why did you show up in my dream?”

   The man leans back in his seat, taking a large gulp out of his drink. “You were stuck in the dream sequence. The Underworlder you were fighting was just slightly stronger than you. So I assisted your mind in fighting it off. However, when your mind wins the fight,” he lifted his hand into the air between the two of them. “Your mind will wake you up abruptly as a defense to keep you from another attack.”

   Ayumu placed his finger and his thumb to the base his chin. “But I didn’t wake up that night. ”

   The man nodded. “Correct. Your mind froze itself in the dream world. It’s a very rare phenomenon. Honestly, I haven’t seen it before besides when it happened to me...”

   “Why would my mind freeze me in the dream world?”

   “Your will was strong enough that it did not see a need to leave the dream world. This is slightly dangerous however because your mind will stay there and you will be forced into a comostaces state. This is why you saw me. I needed to guide you out of that state.”

   Ayumu pondered for a moment. “Ok, I see.” He took a sip from his drink. “You also looked much different in my dream too.”

   “Well, I made myself look like someone who would be comforting to you. A teacher is only there to help you, and never to hurt you. Honestly, it was the best that I could come up with at the moment.”

   Ayumu nodded in understanding. He went to grab his drink however when he took a sip, he heard what sounded like air pushing its way through liquid. It was empty. “Damn,” he said, placing the cup back down and looked back to the man. “Ok, so next question. What do you have to do with all this? Who are you?”

   The man froze for a moment, pondering.”Call me Heilen”



Chapter 6

Underworlders

Phoenix is still writing



« Last Edit: March 05, 2019, 04:17:33 PM by NishimuraTaira »

Offline NishimuraTaira

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Re: Underworlders [Writers Novel Marathon Workshop]
« Reply #1 on: August 02, 2017, 01:05:49 PM »
Current Word count: 3479

Day 2 and Day 3
     
Day 1 Modified

A Normal Life
“Ok, everyone. The exam is in three days. You have all the resources you need to study,” said Hattori-sensei.

The class bell went off and the students got up to leave the class. Ayumu got up and starts to walk out the door when he was grabbed from behind.

“Hey Ayumu!” exclaimed Motoki, “Are you ready for tonight?”

Ayumu, surprised, relaxed a bit when seeing his friend and gave off a slight smirk, “Sorry Motoki, I can’t. I’m way behind on my studies and I have to catch up. Maybe tomorrow”

Motoki sulked as they reached their lockers. “Awe, come on man. The Jump Magazine is supposed to have the best story this edition! You’re gonna miss out!”

Ayumu closed the locker door. “Listen, give me two days. Then we can study together and after that, we’ll read some manga, ok?”

Motoki leaned against his locker with his books clasped to his side. “Fine. I’ll see you later, then!” he exclaimed.

Ayumu watched as Motoki ran off. He then looked off to his right and noticed a girl by her locker… but not just any girl, it was Izumi, the most popular girl in the school, and Ayumu’s crush. Ayumu clamped his books tightly, a bit of sweat coating the surface of his hand. Izumi looked over his way and Ayumu quickly ducked his head to act like he wasn’t looking her way. After a few seconds, he looked up only to notice that Izumi was talking to a friend that just walked up to her. With that, Ayumu decided to walk off and begin his trip back home.

When Ayumu got home, his family had had dinner already set up on the table.
“I’m home.” said Ayumu.
“Welcome home” his mother pulled out a chair “Dinner is ready! I made Tempura for everyone.”
Ayumu placed his stuff down by the stairs and took a seat at the table. “Thanks!” Ayumu grabbed his chopsticks and dug in. The food was great and he ended up finishing before everyone else. “The food was delicious! Thanks again!” Ayumu stood up from the table and the family looked at him, curious as to why he was not finishing with the family. “Sorry, I’ve got a lot of studying to do for the exam,” he said, noticing all the concerned faces. He took off towards the stairs, picking up his books, and then made his way up to his room.

“He’s going to make a great scholar,” Said his mother to his father. His father simply nodded

Up in his room, Ayumu could feel his stomach rattling. He didn’t really get to fill up. He just wanted to hurry up and catch up on his studies. Thankfully, he had some different treats and candy bars to help him through. He opened his books, opened up a bag of chips, and started.

An hour or two had passed he could feel his eyes starting to get heavier. He knew if he stayed there much longer, he’d fall asleep on his desk. Deciding to play it smart, Ayumu closed his books and made his way over to his bed. He pulled out his phone and plugged it into the charger next to him and turn on some music to sleep to. Then after a short few minutes, he was asleep.



The Nightmare

The night was pitch black and the rain was freezing cold. Ayumu was walking alone in the downpour, each raindrop stinging him like needles upon impact of his skin. The alleyway he was walking down was empty, but a faint howling could be heard from all around. Suddenly a shriek filled his ears and quickly he turned to see where it was coming from. He looked up only to see his mother on the top of a roof. Suddenly she was picked up by the wind and fed to a tornado.

“MOTHER!” he screamed, so loudly that the echo hurt his own eardrums, almost feeling as though blood was dripping out. Suddenly his older brother stood in front of him, his face painted in red. “Big  Bro, what happened to you?”

“He’s coming for us,” he said in such a bland tone of voice before being pulled into the blacktop below him.

“BIG BROTHER… NO!!!” tears fell out of his eyes like waterfalls. The rain grew heavier for a few seconds before everything went quiet.

The rain stopped and the howling winds grew quiet. All that surrounded him was blackness. A whimper could be heard as Ayumu sat in the middle of a dark void. “I’m all alone… I feel so cold… Please help…”

All of a sudden, Ayumu heard an echo of a soft and gentle voice. “You’re not alone. Take my hand.”

Ayumu looked up, tears still streaming down his face. “I don’t see you!” He yelled, frantically looking around. “Where are you? Please help me!”

Ayumu turns around and a middle aged man stood in front of him, smiling. The man stood a good 5 inches taller than him and was well dressed like an English professor. He even wore round reading glasses.

“Come with me, child,” he said calmly, his hand extended towards Ayumu.

Ayumu looked at the hand for a moment, pondering. He then used his arm to wipe the tears away from his face and then grabbed the hand extended towards him. In almost an instant, the two were pulled up to the sky with force. The man looked back, still smiling. “Just keep hold. We’ll be out of this soon.”

Ayumu nodded slightly to the man, the rest of the tears on his face being blown away from the wind. They moved so fast that the tears almost felt like the rain, stinking his face as they pulled away.

Almost as soon as it all started, he was once again surrounded by blackness. “Where’d you go!” he yelled out.

“Open your eyes,” the man said.

Ayumu was confused for a moment but then realized that his eyes were indeed closed. He opened his eyes to find himself in his room. “Oh thank god. It was just a dream.” he stretched out across the bed, waking up.

He then sat up in his bed, wiping the crust from his eyes. When he turned around and dropped his feet to the side of his bed, he looked up to see a man in a black trench coat that had a thin gold lining, with a pin of two swords crossed over one another on his collar. He held a sword in his hand and one sheathed on his back. The swords were both black as well, including the metal. From what he could see, they were engraved with some kind of markings all over the hilt. The man was cleaning a someone brownish liquid from the metal.

“Hey, what are you doing in my room!?”, he yells “And also, who the hell are you?”

The man, currently wiping the blade off with a cloth, stops and slowly closes his eyes. After a second, he resumes cleaning the blade. “The more important question is where exactly are you?”

Ayumu, confused by that question, stands up. “What the hell do you mean, ‘where am I’? I’m in my room, of course”

The man places the cloth in his pocket and puts his sword in the sheath on his back. He turns to Ayumu, his arms crossed. “Really? Care to explain who that is lying in your bed then?”

Ayumu, again confused, slowly turns his head to his bed. What he saw nearly put him in shock. It was him. His body was still in his bed. Quickly, Ayumu starts to pat himself down, “Wait! I’m not-... No, it can’t be..” he looked at the man. “Am I dead?”




     

The Nightmare (Cont.)
The man let out a laugh, “Of course you’re not dead.” Ayumu let out a sigh of relief. The man placed his hand upon his shoulder “You’re in the dream world. It’s pretty much the halfway place between your dream and your reality. You just had a nightmare, correct?”

Ayumu nodded his head. “Yea.. and then this guy pretty much saved me” he stopped, now getting a closer look at the man’s face.

He looked just like the guy in his dream, except without glasses and the professor look. In fact, the guy in front of him had scars all over his face, including quite a large one that spanned from his right eye down to the lower left part of his chin. The man took out a cigarette and lights it up using a fairly big silver flip up lighter, taking a big puff and letting out a cloud of smoke.

“Come to think of it, that man looked much like you,” said Ayumu.

The man nodded, placing his lighter back in his pocket. “Yep, that was me”


 Ayumu took a step back, tripping on the bed behind him and falling back down on the mattress. “I’m… so confused…” Ayumu started to tremble.

 “It’s ok kid. I’ll explain,” the man placed his hands into the pockets of his coat. “-but first, I’m getting kinda hungry.” He walks to the bedroom door and placed his hand on the knob “Let’s head to the cafe, shall we?”

Ayumu, still a little confused, stood up from the bed. “Alright.”

Ayumu walked over to the door and the man placed his hand on his back. The two moved through the door as if it weren’t even there.


The Explanation
The two reach the cafe and walk through the door Ayumu first, and then the man. Ayumu looked around the cafe, noticing that the place was quite empty and dark.

“Hey, where is everyone?” he asked, looking back at the man.

“They’re all at home sleeping, of course.”

“So who’s going to prepare the meals.” Ayumu turned around to face the man. He wasn’t understanding anything that was going on around him. “Why are we even here? What’s the real reason you brought me here?”

The man smiled, snapping his fingers. As Ayumu looked at the man confused, the man looked over to one of the tables which had been filled with a full meal setting for the two of them.

“Wait, where’d that come from?” Ayumu asked excitedly. He ran off to the table and took a seat. The man following behind and placed his swords at the side of the booth before sliding in to take a seat.

“With a lot of concentration,” the man said with a grin. He then started to dig in, however, Ayumu was still hesitant to eat. “Well, are you going to eat?”

Ayumu looked over the food. It all looked very tasteful. The rice looked perfect and the sushi smelled exquisite, but he still was in a sort of shock. “So when are you going to explain what the hell is going on here?” he asked.

The man, still filling his mouth with food, stopped suddenly. He closed his eyes and picked up a napkin to clean his face. “Ok, I’ll do my best to explain, but promise to keep an open mind. A lot of this may not make sense at first.”

Ayumu nodded, leaning forward just a tad to listen in.

“So as I told you before, we are currently in the dream world. We enter this world every time we fall asleep. Now usually, our minds enter a dream state while here to allow their minds to recuperate from the past day's activities. Now just as you had experienced, every once in awhile, we have nightmares. Most people just say it’s the mind being super active in the night, but they’re only half right.” the man readjusts in his seat. “Quick question, what did you eat before going to bed?”

Ayumu looks up, thinking on what he had eaten. “We had tempura for dinner…” he said, still thinking. “Oh, and I had chips while I studying before bed.”

The man nods slowly, “Yep, just as I thought. Have you ever heard the theory that if you eat junk food before bed that you get nightmares?” he asked.

Ayumu nodded, “Yea I’ve heard that before. I never really thought it to be true though. I’ve eaten junk food in the past before bed and slept just fight, no nightmares…”

The man nodded, “Well here’s what really happens. In the dream world, you are connected to both the Upperworld and the Underworld. The Upperworld is the word that you and I live in on our day to day routines. The Underworld, however, is not so fun. It’s filled with hungry creatures, looking for their next big feast.”

Ayumu takes his chopsticks and picks up a chunk of the rice. “Ok…” He takes a bite of his food. “I take it you’re about to tell me what exactly they are feasting on.” He thinks to himself, They are probably trying to feast on our bodies or something.

The man smirks, “They feast on our dreams.”

Ayumu almost choked on his food, bursting into laughter.

The man looks to Ayumu, confused. “Why are you laughing?

“At first, I thought I was crazy, but I just remembered. I’m still dreaming.” he then got up from the table, “Thank you for the meal and all, but I’m going to try and enjoy the rest of my dream while I still can”

The man got up and opened his mouth, but then he cocked his head quickly as if something else caught his attention. He smirked, “I think your time is up my friend.”

Ayumu turned around and tried to speak, but as soon as he opened his mouth, the man slapped him in the face. “HEY! What was that for!”

The man wound up his hand. “I’ll see you tomorrow night.”

Almost without hesitation, the man swung, but before reaching the contact, Ayumu woke up to an alarm going off beside him.


Reality
   
The world around him was a blur, and the alarm going off sent shock all over. In an instant, Ayumu realized that he was awake and quickly got up out of bed, taking in a huge breath of air. He looked around, and patted himself down, making sure that he was, in fact, awake this time.

“Whew, it was just a dream,” he said, swinging his feet over to the side of the bed.

He reached out his hand to the alarm clock that was going off beside him, switching it off. He then looked over to the wall, just in the same spot that the man had been standing in his dream. No one was there. He closed his eyes, shaking his head and laughing to himself.

“Why would I think he was there? It was just a dream…” he tried to convince himself, but he still felt that something in that dream was real. Everything felt too vivid for it to be just a dream. He shook his head, trying to dismiss the idea. He then stood up from his bed and made his way to the closet to grab his clothes before getting ready for school.

In the kitchen, his mother had already prepared food for the family. Ayumu was pretty much ready to leave, but he still had his favorite part of the day. Breakfast. His mother had prepared his favorite dish, eggs on rice. When he sat down, he immediately dug into the food. “Thank you for the meal!” he said before taking his first bite. The rest of the family was taking their time to eat, but Ayumu was almost finished before the rest of them reached half way. His family eyed over, just like last night, as he finished his food.

“Slow down, Ayumu. You’re gonna choke on your food!” his mother exclaimed.

It was too late, however. Ayumu had completely devoured his breakfast and was on his way out the door. “I’m off!”

On the walk to school, he passed the cafe that he had seen in his dreams. He stopped to look. “The Monster’s Crave”. He said to himself, reading the name of the restaurant. He felt it was quite ironic, seeing as to what his dream was about. He passes this place every day on his way to school, yet he never looked at the name of this cafe. He shook his head again, dismissing the idea. “There’s no way that this all means something… It was just a dream.”

Before he knew it, he was at the bus station. It almost seemed like seconds with how much he was thinking about everything. “Why is this getting to me so much?” he asked himself, stepping into the bus. He found a seat that was free and moved as close to the window as possible. While looking out, he decided that this would be the last time he would think about the dream. He brought out his school books and started to study again.
When he reached the school, Motoki was waiting for him by the flag.

“Yo, Ayumu!” He shouted.

Ayumu looked over to Motoki. “Hey!” he shouted back, walking over to him.

“This edition on Jump is amazing!” he said as Ayumu walked over to him. “I ended up reading the first couple pages but I decided that I would hold off until you were free again. Speaking of, how are the studies going?”

Ayumu scratched the back of his head, “Well last night was pretty good, but I had a hard time focusing on the bus this morning.” He decided not to say anymore. The last thing Ayumu wanted was to talk about how his dream bothered him and to have Motoki think he was taking it too seriously. What am I thinking, I am taking it too seriously, he thought to himself.

“Well, who can ever get anything done in the morning,” Motoki said, reassuring him. “Come on, let’s get inside.”

The school was pretty difficult for Ayumu due to the dream the last night. Every time he tried to study, he’d slowly start drifting to flashbacks of the man in black robes. It was almost as if the image was frozen in his mind. Ayumu shuffled his hands into his hair, stressed that he couldn’t focus on his studies. Motoki took notice to this. As the class came to a close, Motoki walked over to Ayumu.


“Hey man, you ok? You’ve been seeming a little stressed out recently?” he asked.

Ayumu massaged his hair. “Yeah, I just had a really weird dream last night.” He paused for a moment, debating if he should tell him the rest. “Almost like it was a nightmare...I don’t know, it was pretty vivid. “

Motoki, now excited, widens his eyes. “Well, tell me about it!” He said.

Ayumu wasn’t too sure. “I don’t know man. It was just a nightmare. Nothing to really ponder on.”

“Well you’re obviously still pondering it, so maybe you should tell me. Get it off your chest, ya’ know?”

Ayumu sighed, slouching in his chair a bit. “Alright fine, but promise that you won’t think I’m childish or anything like that…”

Motoki let out a huge laugh, “Come on Ayumu, I’ve known you since secondary school. I’ll always think you’re childish!”

The two laughed and Ayumu positioned himself to face Motoki. Motoki took the seat that was behind him, ready for the story. For the next 30 minutes, Ayumu described every detail of the dream, from the nightmare to his alarm going off.

“Wow, That’s one hell of a dream, Ayumu!” Motoki said, excitedly. “That is quite the cliffhanger too…” He sulked down just a bit. “Man, why do dreams always end in cliffhangers. I always want to know what would happen next, but as soon as you go back to sleep, it’s just a different dream.”

Ayumu chuckled a bit, leaning back in his chair. “Yeah, I know what you mean… It just felt so real to me… but I guess it was just a dream”

Motoki nodded to him, “Yea I know, but imagine if it were in fact real! That would be Awesome! The world between our world and the dream world!”

Ayumu was taken back slightly. He didn’t expect this kind of response from Motoki. Motoki was a pretty down to earth guy. He may be energetic at times, but Ayumu was certain that he would have simply dismissed the idea.

“Well anyway, Motoki, I’m going to go home and study for this exam.” He got up to leave, grabbing his stuff on the way.”

“Alright, Ayumu! Hey, let me know if you have that dream tonight too, ok!” he said with a grin.

Ayumu rolled his eyes at him, “Yeah yeah, sure thing. Hey, don’t forget. Tomorrow we’ll study at your house! Then we can read the new Jump!”

Motoki gave him a thumbs up, “Can’t wait!”






« Last Edit: August 04, 2017, 08:34:34 AM by PhoenixGC »

Offline NishimuraTaira

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Re: Underworlders [Writers Novel Marathon Workshop]
« Reply #2 on: August 03, 2017, 07:15:59 PM »
Ready for Review of Day 4

Current Word count: 4436

Spoiler

Reality (Cont.)

Ayumu watched as he ran out the door. What if…? he thought to himself. Ayumu looked out the window, watching everyone leaving the school. Ayumu thought back on the last night's dream. What haunted him was what the man said before he woke up. I’ll see you tomorrow night. Ayumu grabbed his books and made his way over to his locker. I guess I’ll just wait until tonight to find out.

As Ayumu opened his locker, he felt a faint tug on the edge of his uniform. When he turned around, he was frozen. It was Izumi. Wha- Why are you trying to talk to me! he thought, frantically trying to find a reason she would notice him in any way.

“I heard you knew a lot about Japanese history,” she said to him, her hands behind her back, smiling. “I was wondering if you’d be able to help me with some of my studies on the subject later?”

Ayumu stood there, speechless. All he could do is look at Izumi in awe. The smell of her perfume was like laying in a meadow full of flowers. It almost smelt like a China Rose. She moved her hand through her bright red hair, laying it over her shoulder, running her hands through it as she awaited a reply.

“Hey, anybody in there?” she said, waving her hand in front of his face.

“O-oh, uh-Yea, of course!” he said, stuttering to get the words out. “When did you want to study?”

“Well, I have some things I have to do today. How about tomorrow after school?

Well, that’s no good, he thought. I am studying with Motoki tomorrow after school. “Ok!” Did I just say that out loud? Ayumu’s eyes widened.

“Ok, see you then” she replied and then walked off with her friends.

Ayumu stood there, still speechless. The air following Izumi rushed past him, and he took in a huge breath through his nose, getting the last smell at her perfume. What did I just do? He took his books and placed them in his backpack, and then walked out towards the exit of the school, closing his locker behind him.

During the walk home, Ayumu couldn’t stop thinking about Izumi. What was he going to tell Motoki, or better yet, what should he tell Izumi? He made plans long before with Motoki. It would be wrong for him to cancel those plans just so he could study with the person he’s had a crush on for the longest time. Then again, this could be the only time that Ayumu could spend any time with Izumi. What am I going to do? he thought.

In almost no time, Ayumu was walking up to the door of his house. When he opened the door, his family was gathered in a circle in the living room.

“Oh hey, Ayumu.” Said his older brother. “We’re ordering pizza. Any thoughts on what you would like?”

Ayumu placed his bag next to the stairs, walking over to the family who was all circled around a pizza menu. “Sure thing, Jun” he replied back.

Jun was like Ayumu’s best friend, besides Motoki. The two had gone through a lot together, including nearly 5 moves from different places in Tokyo due to their mother’s job.

“I’m kind of in the mood for some wings if you ask me,” said Ayumu.

“Yeah, I was thinking the same thing!” replied Jun, “but Mom said it’s too messy and too expensive”

“Well if you both want it that badly, I’ll get it, ” their mother said.

The two high fived each other with joy.

Almost half an hour later, the delivery man had arrived and the family had all gathered around the table, feasting on the pizza and wings.

When the family had finished, Ayumu placed his hands together. “This food was great! Thanks to the cook!”

The rest of the family did the same. “Thanks to the cook!”

Ayumu washed his hands and headed over to the stairs, grabbing his bag. “Wel, I better go study!”

His mother smiled, “Ok, dear!”

The sound of thuds rumbled through the house as Ayumu raced up the stairs and ran into his room, closing the door behind him. He looked at the time. He had about an hour left before he had to get ready for bed. He pulled out his books and placed them on his table.

“I guess I’ll try and study myself for now.” He looked at his bed, “or should I try and go to sleep…” he sat there, pondering for a moment. He looked back to his books. The book in front of him labeled History of Japan. “Well, I guess I’ll be studying this tomorrow anyway with Izumi.” He got up and walked over to his bed which had his pajamas folded up from earlier in the morning.


Quickly, he changed into them, throwing his clothes into the hamper. He then moved into the sheets of the bed and laid flat like a plank. It was if he was learning to sleep. He stared at the ceiling, wondering how long it would take until he fell asleep. He grabbed his phone out from his pockets and connected it to the charger, putting on some music. He laid there for what seemed like forever, tossing and turning, trying to keep his eyes closed. However, every now and again he’d pop open his eyes to see if he had made it into the dream world. He then laid flat on his back again, letting out a long sigh.

“What am I thinking. It was just a dream…” he said to himself, again staring at the ceiling.

“Having a hard time sleeping?” said a very familiar voice.


« Last Edit: August 04, 2017, 12:17:43 AM by PhoenixGC »

Offline NishimuraTaira

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Re: Underworlders [Writers Novel Marathon Workshop]
« Reply #3 on: August 05, 2017, 04:03:54 PM »
Current Word Count: 5556

Day5

Underworlders
   Ayumu looked to his right, looking at a figured in the shape of a human silhouetted into the background of his closet. A light amber glow shined near the mouth of the shadow.

   “Is that you?” he asked.

   “Do you believe me now?” he asked, moving forward to illuminated his face and then leaning onto the nightstand to the side of Ayumu’s bed.

   “Yeah…,” he replied with hesitation, “but I’m still not totally convinced that this isn’t just a dream.” Ayumu sat up in his bed, only his body stayed planted on the pillow.

   The man raised an eyebrow. “Well, you are in the dream world, my friend.”

   “So I am dreaming?” He leaned forward, energetically.

   “You said it, not me.” the man chuckled slightly, moving towards the door. “You up for some food?”

   Ayumu got out of his bed, walking slowly over to the man. “I mean, what’s there to harm. It’s just a dream…”

   The two moved through the door. The man looked to Ayumu. “You’re only partially right there.”

   “What do you mean by that?”

   “Yes, you’re in the dream world, but you’re not dreaming in the sense that you’re experiencing something you have no control over…” The two of them walk down the stairs with swiftness, not making a sound. “But rather in another, separate, world. One that your mind goes to for rest.”

   “I don’t think I understand…”

   “I’ll explain when we get to the cafe.”

   Ayumu and the man walked out of the house and into the night. A cool fall breeze fell moved through them, their hair waving in the wind. Ayumu looked to the man. “In my dreams, sometimes I can go from one place to another in an instant. Can we do that here too?”

   The man looked back to Ayumu, taking a long puff of air from the cigarette that lay in his mouth. “Well, of course, we can.” In almost an instant, the two were standing in front of a cafe, a light shining down on them from the street lamp.

   Ayumu almost felt like throwing up. It was almost surreal. He started to lean back and forth some before placing out his hand to lean on the stone wall in front of him. “I think I’m going to be sick,” he said.

   Quickly, the man moved in, placing his hand on Ayumu’s back. “You don’t want to do that. Trust me.”

   Ayumu tried to keep his guts from ejecting. He sat there for a few moments, crouching into a fetal position, his hand still resting on the textured surface. After a couple seconds, he looked up to the man, only one of his eyes open. “Why?” he asks, the words barely making it out of his mouth.

   “There’s a couple reasons. The only one that’s important to you right now is that you’ll wake up in a mess of whatever food you ate this evening.

   “You’re kidding,” Ayumu replied. He took in a breath and coughed a few times, now stepping up and using the wall beside him to guide him.

   “Let’s take our seats, shall we?” He helped Ayumu up and walked through the two glass doors at the entrance of the building.

   When the two of them took their seats, two glasses, filled to the brim with a clear liquid, appeared in front of them.

   “What’s this?” asked Ayumu.

   “That is a Lemon Lime soda,” said the man. “I figured the carbonation of the drink should help with your little episode there,” Ayumu looked at him for a few seconds. “... and plus, it tastes good.”

   Ayumu chuckled a bit, picking up the glass in front of him and taking a sip from the glass. The drink was actually pretty cold and fizzed in his mouth for a bit before he swallowed it down. He put the glass back down on the table.

   “That is very refreshing, as you stated.”

   “I know, right? I love this drink.” the man took the glass and brought it up to his mouth. He lifted the bottom of his glass up high, and the liquid was practically swallowed into his mouth as if funneling into a drain. “Ahhhh!” he slouched back in his chair.
   Ayumu got up from the table and bowed down to the man. “I’m sorry, by the way.”

   The man eyed up Ayumu, curiously. “Why?”

   “Last time we were here, I laughed at you and didn’t take this seriously. That’s why.”

   “Please,” he said, taking his hand and placing it on Ayumu’s forehead, pushing him back to his seat. “I did the same thing when I was told for the first time.”

   “Still, I feel bad.” he sat back into the cushion of the booth seat. “Well, I’m ready to listen this time.”

   The man nodded, leaning forward into the table. “Ok, so where did we leave off,” he asked to himself. It took him a few moments to remember. “Ah, that’s right. The creatures feast off of our dreams. It sounds weird, I know, but it all has to do with energy.” he looked at the table, trying to think of the best way to explain it to Ayumu. “When you dream, your mind is reacting off of the energy in your body. It’s because of this energy that you have dreams.”

   Ayumu picked up his glass of soda and took in a large gulp. “Mhmm..”

   “That energy radiates off of you, like waves in a pool. The creatures, or Underworlders, see these waves and follow it to its source. That’s when the feast begins. They suck your mind dry of the energy, but…” he paused for a moment. “It’s not as easy as you think. Your mind will fight back with its willpower. You actually get to experience this fight, like the experience you had just last night.”

   “So, a nightmare?”

   “Exactly. A nightmare is essentially the fight between your mind and the Underworlder. Of course, you don’t get nightmares every night. Underworders usually tend to go to the most radiant energy source. With most people, their energy radiates at variable rates, depending on many different factors.”

   “... And so my energy radiant was pretty high yesterday”

   “Very high, indeed.” the man placed his hand up and out to his side. Within an instant, a bag of chips appeared in his hand. “You increased it by eating junk food before you went to bed. Your body reacted on that and your mind used that energy.”

   Ayumu laid back in his chair some. “I think I understand.” he crossed his hands. “But there’s one thing I don’t understand.” he looked at the man in his eyes. “Why did you show up in my dream?”


« Last Edit: August 05, 2017, 05:11:50 PM by PhoenixGC »

Offline NishimuraTaira

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Re: Underworlders
« Reply #4 on: August 09, 2017, 09:57:55 AM »
I have backed out of the Manga Writers Workshop with this story, however, it is still being developed. You may now feel free to comment ideas, suggestions, questions, and reviews freely.

Offline NishimuraTaira

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Re: Underworlders
« Reply #5 on: March 05, 2019, 04:13:15 PM »
IM BACK AT IT!

Chapter5

Underworlders
   Ayumu looked to his right, looking at a figured in the shape of a human silhouetted into the background of his closet. A light amber glow shined near the mouth of the shadow as smoke rose up from the corners of the lips.

   “Is that you?”

   “Do you believe me now?” As the silhouette moved forward, the light from the moon illuminated his face. He turned around some and leaned on to the nightstand to the side of Ayumu’s bed.

   “Yeah…,” said Ayumu with hesitation, “but I’m still not totally convinced that this isn’t just a dream.” Ayumu sat up in his bed, however, his body stayed planted on the pillow.

   The man rose his eyebrow. “Well, you are in the dream world, my friend.”

   “So I am dreaming?” Ayumu leaned forward, energetically.

   “You said it, not me.” the man chuckled slightly, moving towards the door. “You up for some food?”

   Ayumu got out of his bed, walking slowly over to the man. “I mean, what’s there to harm. It’s just a dream…”

   The two moved through the door, not even needing to open it. The man looked to Ayumu. “You’re only partially right there.”

   “What do you mean by that?”

   “Yes, you’re in the dream world, but you’re not dreaming in the sense that you’re experiencing something you have no control over…” The two of them walk down the stairs with swiftness, not making a sound. “But rather in another, separate, world. One that your mind goes to for rest.”

   “I’m not sure I understand…”

   “I’ll explain when we get to the cafe.”

   Ayumu and the man walked out of the house and into the night. A cool fall breeze fell moved through them, their hair waving in the wind. Ayumu looked at the man. “In my dreams, sometimes I can go from one place to another in an instant. Can we do that here too?”

   The man looked back to Ayumu, taking a long puff of air from the cigarette that lay in his mouth. “Well, of course, we can.” The man stopped and looked to Ayumu and placed his hand on his shoulder. In almost an instant, the two were standing in front of a cafe, a light shining down on them from the street lamp. Ayumu almost felt like throwing up. It was almost surreal. He started to lean back and forth some before placing out his hand to lean on the stone wall in front of him.

“I think I’m going to be sick,”

   The man placed his hand on Ayumu’s back, “It definitely takes some getting used to.”

   Ayumu tightly clenched his stomach with his arms, doing his best from throwing up, however after a few dry heaves, he realized he couldn’t keep it down. Quickly he ran up to a trash can to throw up.

   “Oh I should have told you, you probably don’t want to do that.”

   “Why?”

   “There’s a couple of reasons. The only one that’s important to you right now is that you’ll wake up in a mess of whatever food you ate this evening.

   “You’re kidding,” Ayumu replied. He took in a breath and coughed a few times, now stepping up and using the wall beside him to guide him.

   “Well let’s hope that you don’t wake up to that. Anyway, shall we?” He helped Ayumu up and walked through the two glass doors at the entrance of the building.

   When the two of them took their seats, two glasses, filled to the brim with a clear liquid, appeared in front of them.

   “What’s this?” asked Ayumu.

   “That is a Lemon Lime soda,” said the man. “I figured the carbonation of the drink should help with your little episode there,” Ayumu looked at him for a few seconds. “... and plus, it tastes good.”

   Ayumu chuckled a bit, picking up the glass in front of him and taking a sip from the glass. The drink was actually pretty cold and fizzed in his mouth for a bit before he swallowed it down. He put the glass back down on the table.

   “That is very refreshing, as you stated.”

   “I know, right? I love this drink.” the man took the glass and brought it up to his mouth. He lifted the bottom of his glass up high, and the liquid was practically swallowed into his mouth as if funneling into a drain. “Ahhhh!” he slouched back in his chair.
   Ayumu got up from the table and bowed down to the man. “I’m sorry, by the way.”

   The man eyed up Ayumu, curiously. “Why?”

   “Last time we were here, I laughed at you and didn’t take this seriously. That’s why.”

   “Please,” he said, taking his hand and placing it on Ayumu’s forehead, pushing him back to his seat. “I did the same thing when I was told for the first time.”

   “Still, I feel bad.” he sat back into the cushion of the booth seat. “Well, I’m ready to listen this time.”

   The man nodded, leaning forward into the table. “Ok, so where did we leave off,” he asked to himself. It took him a few moments to remember. “Ah, that’s right. The creatures feast off of our dreams. It sounds weird, I know, but it all has to do with energy.” he looked at the table, trying to think of the best way to explain it to Ayumu. “When you dream, your mind is reacting off of the energy in your body. It’s because of this energy that you have dreams.”

   Ayumu picked up his glass of soda and took in a large gulp. “Mhmm..”

   “That energy radiates off of you, like waves in a pool. The creatures, or Underworlders, see these waves and follow it to its source. That’s when the feast begins. They suck your mind dry of the energy, but…” he paused for a moment. “It’s not as easy as you think. Your mind will fight back with its willpower. You actually get to experience this fight, like the experience you had just last night.”

   “So, a nightmare?”

   “Precisely. A nightmare is essentially the fight between your mind and the Underworlder. Of course, you don’t get nightmares every night. Underworders usually tend to go to the most radiant energy source. With most people, their energy radiates at variable rates, depending on many different factors.”

   “... And so my energy radiant was pretty high yesterday”

   “Very high, indeed.” the man placed his hand up and out to his side. Within an instant, a bag of chips appeared in his hand. “You increased it by eating junk food before you went to bed. Your body reacted on that and your mind used that energy.”

   Ayumu laid back in his chair. “I see...” he crossed his arms. “But there’s one thing I don’t understand.” He looked forward towards the man in his eyes. “Why did you show up in my dream?”

   The man leans back in his seat, taking a large gulp out of his drink. “You were stuck in the dream sequence. The Underworlder you were fighting was just slightly stronger than you. So I assisted your mind in fighting it off. However, when your mind wins the fight,” he lifted his hand into the air between the two of them. “Your mind will wake you up abruptly as a defense to keep you from another attack.”

   Ayumu placed his finger and his thumb to the base his chin. “But I didn’t wake up that night. ”

   The man nodded. “Correct. Your mind froze itself in the dream world. It’s a very rare phenomenon. Honestly, I haven’t seen it before besides when it happened to me...”

   “Why would my mind freeze me in the dream world?”

   “Your will was strong enough that it did not see a need to leave the dream world. This is slightly dangerous however because your mind will stay there and you will be forced into a comostaces state. This is why you saw me. I needed to guide you out of that state.”

   Ayumu pondered for a moment. “Ok, I see.” He took a sip from his drink. “You also looked much different in my dream too.”

   “Well, I made myself look like someone who would be comforting to you. A teacher is only there to help you, and never to hurt you. Honestly, it was the best that I could come up with at the moment.”

   Ayumu nodded in understanding. He went to grab his drink however when he took a sip, he heard what sounded like air pushing its way through liquid. It was empty. “Damn,” he said, placing the cup back down and looked back to the man. “Ok, so next question. What do you have to do with all this? Who are you?”

   The man froze for a moment, pondering.”Call me Heilen”




Offline Rustee

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Re: Underworlders
« Reply #6 on: March 18, 2019, 11:20:57 AM »
I'm still reading, but I'm really enjoying this!!
It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop. – Confucius

Offline Action Animation

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Re: Underworlders
« Reply #7 on: March 18, 2019, 11:56:08 PM »
seems this is still a current project of yours^^

your premise does leave me a bit curious ^^

are you looking to be reviewed?

if your serious about this project then I'd be happy to make a full review of your story

if you are interested, where would you like me to post it?

i could do it here or if you have google drive i can post my review there

looking forward to your response ^^
-Action

Offline NishimuraTaira

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Re: Underworlders
« Reply #8 on: March 23, 2019, 12:42:17 PM »
hey sorry for not replying sooner. Yes, you are more than welcome to post your reviews here if you so wish. I am not looking for reviews as i'm merely just letting you all see the story as it comes about, however suggestions and reviews are amazing to see. and maybe even fan theory's if you guys wish to post them here. I'd love to see where your heads are at.