Jarex gave a long sigh.

Just as they had done yesterday, Jarex, Edward, and Leffa were walking through miles and miles of forest, with no end in sight. The only difference, was now Ryu, Jetx, Shynki, and Lukas were with them. And those forest-dwelling kids were making the Jarex, Edward, and Leffa carry these heavy packs full of possessions as they walked. It was annoying. And even more annoying, it turned out that Shynki had a pet animal that she found in the forest. It was bright red, and looked kind of like a tintoto to Jarex, a native species of Fire. It had stubby little paws and perky ears. And it ran around rabidly, getting on everyone's nerves.

Jarex still wasn't quite sure how this arrangement had happened, due to not paying very much attention during dinner where they ate these disgusting fish things over a campfire like fucking barbarians. He had been mostly thinking about how he missed his guitar, and how messed up that whole thing with the fish was. It was like he was on a drug trip... only intensified and sort of made sense.

And now the fish was telling him that it was also his responsibility to help with all this chosen one business. What the hell. Leffa was the chosen one, not him. He would willingly go out with Leffa or something, but if it involved helping her go on some sort of magical quest thing then he was out. There were much hotter girls out there that weren't tied to some sort of divine fate.

That is, assuming it was all true about the chosen one. It seemed like something completely made up. Of course, there was that letter, and there were all the people in robes... that was another thing Jarex didn't get. What sort of fags wear robes? Seriously. Know what? Guys wear PANTS. Guys' outfits have a separation in between the legs. Any self-respecting guy SHOULD NOT WEAR ROBES. That also goes for those "kilt" things. Possibly the least manly thing ever.

Anyway, why Ryu, Lukas, Jetx, and Shynki and the fucking tintoto-like animal were coming along. Right. Well, last night, those four people had been looking over the picture carefully, to make sure that yes, it really was this "Chronon" guy. He did look considerably younger than the other men in the picture. But seriously. Why do they even care about some guy they were friends with forever ago? He doesn't even seem that awesome. He was pretty ugly, actually. All stuffed up in a suit.

So, Ryu and Shynki desperately wanted to see this guy again. Jetx and Lukas didn't particularly care, actually. They were trying to get the others to stay behind last night, telling them that it wasn't worth it to go after Chronon. But then, they ended up going anyway. And now, somehow, they started following Edward, Leffa, and Jarex around.

Of course, it's not like it mattered, because Jarex was going to leave these guys as soon as he got to the city.

So far, escaping from the Academy had not done him well. He had left his guitar behind, his hair was all messed up due to lack of a comb or a brush, and pretty much all he had done so far was walked. But when he got to the West kingdom, things would be different. He had no idea what it was like, but he was sure it would be the most awesome place ever. He would live in the streets and stuff, but he would have total utter freedom. He wasn't any stranger to living on the streets either, he had done it for a week or so back on planet Fire after he attempted to run away from home or something because of some reason that he had forgot.

But now, it was just walking in a forest. Which he was sick of. He desperately wished he had a flamethrower, so that he could just burn all these trees to the ground. Trees sucked. What were the point of trees?

"I'm so exhausted," complained Edward, who was noticeably lagging behind.

"Shut up," said Jarex. "Stop whining."

"You're not the boss of me," mumbled Edward, very quietly. Jarex chose to ignore it.

"When are we ever going to get out of this stupid fucking forest!?" cried Jarex.

"Hey, tone it down with the swears," advised Lukas, turning his head behind him to give the dark-haired boy a reprimanding look.

"Fucking shit-cunt, no," Jarex stubbornly replied.

Ryu roared with laughter, causing him to almost drop his heavy pack. "I like this guy, Jet. Can I keep him?"

"I hope I have made it clear that AS SOON as we get to the West kingdom I am leaving you all behind," Jarex reminded them, coldly.

"Are you sure you won't be able to stay?" pleaded Leffa. For a moment Jarex's heart skipped a beat. Then he regained his composure. Remember, Jarrex. Leffa is not the hottest woman in the universe. There are better girls out there.

Still, it was hard when faced with her. "No way," was what Jarex eventually settled for.

Jarex was not in a good mood. He was really the only one not involved in a conversation at the moment. Jetx and Ryu were leading the pack through thickets of trees, loudly arguing, and Leffa, Edward, Lukas, and Shynki were all carrying on/off discussions with each other. The little creature animal thing just ran around between the two groups of people. Jarex just sucked.

Soon, you will be rid of these people.

* * * * *

Jarex didn't carry a watch, watches were for losers . So he had no idea how long it was since they had gotten up in the morning, after SLEEPING ON THE FUCKING GRASS, if you recall, but it felt like forever. Several times he had felt like just abandoning the group. But supposedly, Shynki had a compass with her, and it was what would get him to the West kingdom the fastest.

But finally, the trees started thinning, the exotic wildlife came up less and less, and the previous forest-like place turned into a bit of a meadow, with lush green grass, deciduous trees carrying ripe fruit, and birdsong calling out from their perches. However, it was not until they came across a brick path that Jarex realized they were back into civilization at last.

"Yes!!" Leffa celebrated, upon reaching this mark of humanity. The little tintoto-esque thing yipped loudly and shrilly.

"Should we follow it?" suggested Shynki.

"Um, of course," said Jarex bluntly.

Ryu immediately began striding left on the path. "Come on everybody!" he ordered. "Let's go!"

"Ryu, knowing you, that's probably the wrong way," retorted Jetx.

"You guys are quite silly," Shynki told them. "It really doesn't matter what way we go."

They ended up following Ryu anyway. The atmosphere grew more exciting when they reached another human being (who looked at them rather strangely for their dirty clothes and unkempt hair), and then soon groups of people, and soon they could hear city noises. Jarex realized that now they were in some sort of park, with the benches lining the paths and the groups of interested tourists.

Before long, they followed the path through some more trees, with the small red mammal barking loudly all the way, to the very end. They faced a city street, lined with brick as the path was, with sleek, futuristic vehicles zooming around, hovering inches off the ground. The first thing Jarex noticed was that the kingdom was plagued with traffic problems. The colorful machines that flew on the street weaved in and out of each other, with no rhyme or reason whatsoever. Pedestrians walked across the middle of the street often, forcing the vehicles to stop in their tracks every several seconds to let the people through. It was insane.

Then, Jarex’s eyes rose to the buildings lining the street. They were all shops and stores, with decorative signs ranging from “Grandmama’s Knitting Shop” to “ApparelXXX” to “Awesome Kitchen Appliances For Ninjas”. While undoubtedly different on the inside, every building in the city within sight was made of the same tan stone, with a red wooden roof. There were tall buildings and short buildings, there were big buildings and tiny houses, but they all had the same outward appearance.

Large crowds of people were gathered on the sides of the streets (there was no sidewalks, just an area designated for people to walk), trying to get around as fast as they could, to whatever destination. It was just like the big city Jarex had lived in at home on Fire, but more… brown. And with more awesome cars.

This was the West kingdom. Where Jarex would probably spend the next couple years. At least.

He tried to recall the various things he had learn about this place in the Academy, but due to not paying any attention, he came up with nothing. Oh yeah, except for that it had a corrupt government. Nowadays, it seemed like everything had a corrupt government.

”Now what?” asked Jetx. “We’re here. Look. No Chronon. What do we do now?”

”I’m STARVING,” complained Leffa. “Can’t we have some food?”

”We don’t have any money,” Shynki pointed out. “I don’t even know what the currency here is.”

”I could steal it,” offered Ryu. “Look,” he pointed to a vendor selling varieties of fruit that Jarex had never seen before, and some that he had seen, “The dude there is hardly paying attention. I could just take some.”

”That’s sort of wrong,” Edward protested, but nobody noticed him.

”Ryu, you know you’ll get caught,” said Jetx with a grin. “I can do it instead.”

”Why don’t you both do it?” said Shynki. And so, they were off.

Minutes later, the two boys came back, pockets overflowing with ripe fruit. “I think someone might have seen us,” warned Ryu, looking around warily. “Let’s walk a little bit before we eat them.”

So they walked down the bustling brick road, until they reached an alley they could duck into. It was dirty and dark in there, but the only one who minded was Leffa. They ate their food in silence, except for Ryu and Jetx, who kept trying to steal each other's snacks. Jarex had three fruit, a juicy purple one that he recognized from his homeland, that tasted somewhat bitter, and two that he didn't recognize, an elongated green one that was somewhat tough to bite into, but very tasty, and an orange one that Lukas and Edward told him that it was, oddly enough, just called an orange. That one was really annoying to eat, and it tasted okay.

Jarex wiped the juice from his mouth with the back of his hand, and waited for the other people to finish. "Hurry up," he muttered, casually going over to Edward and stealing one of the fruits out of his hand. Edward yelled in protest, but Jarex bit down int the fleshy food, juices trickling down his chin. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Leffa hand Edward an replacement.

Soon they were out of the alley, and as far as Jarex could tell, wandering around aimlessly. He had no idea what they were even supposed to do now they were here, but that was someone else's problem.

"Guys, I'm going now," he told them. "Nice seeing you."

None of them protested, and he turned around and walked briskly in the opposite direction.

There. The end. Now he was in the West kingdom, this huge awesome city, and he could pretty much do whatever he wanted. He was totally, utterly free. He didn't look back.

It felt so good.

Then, he saw an unwelcome sight in front of him. A tall, slightly plump man with a large bald spot on his head was standing toward the side of the street, at the entrance to a building, carrying on a conversation with a young couple. The man was wearing long, white robes. Identical to those the other men were wearing.

They're HERE?

He had just escaped from a whole army of these! Why did there have to be some here, in the West kingdom! These wretched, evil things... what were they doing in the middle of a street?

Not willing to take any chances, Jarex ran up to the man and kicked him square in the stomach with his metal-toed boot. The man let out a loud, anguished scream as he toppled over to the floor. Everybody on the street turned and looked.

"You... I recognize you..." the man babbled, but Jarex tossed his hair aside and started to stride away. The mouths of nearby people were agape.

"Stop him!" yelled the woman who had previously been talking to Jarex's victim. "Someone!"

"I recognize that boy!" roared the man, struggling to get off of the ground. "He is corrupted by the Void!"

Jarex decided to run away. Nothing good could come out of this, he thought. And he was right. All of a sudden, a large, metallic version of the vehicles that roamed the streets of the city came darting around the corner of a building and screeched to a halt by where Jarex was standing. The doors slid open, much to Jarex's increased shock and panic, and three men leaped out.

They were armor-clad, and clutching huge spears.

Jarex froze in his tracks.

"Please turn yourself over to the West Kingdom Disciplinary Committee," said a muffled voice from inside one of the soldier's shiny helmets.

Okay, now what do I do? thought Jarex, his thoughts racing as he stood dumbstruck in front of the armored men. Obviously, that guy was evil, I did good to this kingdom place, but they probably won't believe me... I don't want to have to go to jail or whatever they do to criminals here. But I don't want have to fight those freaks... I'd lose.

Jarex was facing a dilemma. Even his awesome fighting skills couldn't solve the problem now.

"Please, turn yourself over and you will not be physically harmed."

Jarex had no choice. He dropped his hands and resigned himself to the fate that lay ahead of him. It wasn't his fault anyway. This was fucking unfair.

But then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw a group of people racing towards him. Oh crap. It was them. Edward and friends. And that red tintoto. Those freaks he had been trying to avoid. Why did they have to butt in?

"Jarex, what did you DO!?" shrieked Leffa, furious at him, her blond hair strewn over her face from racing through the city streets.

"Why do you care?" he shot back.

"This is your final warning. Turn yourself over to the West Kingdom Disciplinary Committee, administrators of justice, or we will resort to physical force.

Leffa was looking at him warily. As if expecting him to do something. Eager. Fine then, he would. He leaped up into the air and planted his foot straight into the left guard's stomach.

Swiftly, the armored man whirled around with his spear, ramming it into Jarex's chest. He was knocked off his balance as he tried to evade, but he then ducked under and attempted to trip the guard. It didn't work. The soldier thrust the blunt end of his spear right at Jarex's face, but the boy rolled over on the brick street, dodging the attack. Unfortunately for him, he landed right in the path of the other soldier.

Immediately, Ryu and Jetx jumped into the mass of dueling bodies. Jarex sighed. They were two random kids who had been living like some sort of jungle tribe thing in the forest. Not likely to be of much help. Still, he ducked blow of the spear after blow of the spear, trying to make a small impact on their armor with his metal-tipped boots, and failing. Jetx and Ryu were fighting even more of a losing battle than he was, neglecting to do any damage whatsoever to the soldier and enduring many, many hits.

The red tintoto-esque alien animal ran up to the guards, barking shrilly and running around their feet. Graah. Jarex could do without a distraction, as he ducked and jumped over whirling spears. When he found a break in the action, he kicked it square in the face. Shynki screamed behind him.

Lukas and Leffa tried to rush in behind the boys, eager to help, but they just got knocked back by Jarex's acrobatic movements, dodging the foe's spears and kicking in various places to try and make damage. However, two spears was almost too much for the boy, and he didn't connect once when aiming for the head. Jarex stumbled backwards, and a blow connected with his head. Everything spun. He dizzily spun over, aware of an acute pain in the side of his skull, and aware of the others shouting around him, the fight continuing. He struggled to stand up.

Then, a flash of light.

What?

One of the guards was reeling back into the craft that had brought them here, shocked, looking down at his suit of armor in awe. A patch of metal was glowing hot white, radiating blinding light. Jarex glanced around, and saw that everyone was staring at Leffa's, whose upper chest was glowing too.

Leffa buried her face in her hands. The man staggeringly got up, grabbed his spear, and moved in again. Jarex just then noticed the massive crowd of pedestrians gathered around the scene, all gaping in awe.

"That girl is of the Void!" squawked the man Jarex had assaulted. "She is a danger to us all!"

Jarex clenched his fists. And so, the fight would begin again. Jarex was significantly weaker, with his head crying out in pain to him every second. And although the brilliant light had quickly faded away, one of the soldiers was still weakened. They circled around each other, the three boys and the two soldiers of the king. A few blows were exchanged. Nothing happened for what seemed like forever.

Until, out of the blue, a sleek, black craft raced around a corner and dove like a dart through the city streets, right into the circle where the children and the soldiers were dueling, forcing pedestrians to fling themselves aside in terror. It screeched to a halt right next to the soldier's craft, and three men stepped out. Two were wearing nondescript black formal suits, while the third was wearing a long black robe, a hood obscuring his face.

More fags in robes? What is the world coming to?

Jarex lunged at these newcomers, but the two men in suits stepped forward and effortlessly knocked Jarex aside, each with the palms of their hands.

Ryu and Jetx almost lunged too, but they thought better of it evidently, as they stood in their tracks.

The two men in suits rushed forward at the two guards, still clutching their spears out in front of their chests in a battle stance. But the soldiers stood no chance. Out of nowhere, a dazzling bolt of lightning struck down from the sky. Leffa shrieked. Jarex flung back. The air sizzled with electricity. And the two soldiers were knocked down.

"Fantastic," said the man in the black robe, watching from the craft. "Now," he ordered. "Leffa. Other people. Get in the craft."

"How do you know my name?" asked Leffa, who was horrorstruck.

"Do you know who Chronon is?" demanded Ryu.

"Yeah," the man told Ryu. "Get in. Don't waste my time."

Edward's annoying voice rang out. "This man is wearing a black robe with a hood. He probably has something to hide, and these people are never good."

Jarex calmly walked away. He would let Edward deal with this people. They were probably the ones in the photo, anyway. Who cares.

"Hey!" said the man in the robe. "Person... guy whose name starts with a J! With the emo hair! Come back here, please. We need you too."

Jarex considered just running for it then. It was pretty creepy how the men knew all their names. But, considering how all these people gathered around had just witnessed this fight... staying on the streets could not be good. Jarex unwillingly stepped up into the hovering vehicle with the others, and as soon as the doors slid shut, it drove away.


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