Project 2, Viking Style.

[nsd_user663_1655]

Ladies and gentleman, children of all ages, this is my submission for Team FM project 2. The following is a work of fiction. Any similaties to real life, both in person and place is false. I hope you enjoy, and please let me know if I should continue this. (It may end up a mini novel or something) Also, let me know now if I have somehow messed up a gender, or have offended anyone. It is fiction, but the names are from the team, and the last think i want is someone angry with me

The Becoming

Tick... Tick... Tick... Tick... Tick... TIck... TICk... TICK... I lean over and bat the clock off the dresser with anything but grace. Smash. Music to my ears. Perhaps now I will be able to get some sleep. Tick... Tick... Tick... OH NO! I refuse to fall into the trap again. Tick... Tick... Tick... I realize how dark it is in here tonight. The walls come together as blots of ink, smudging corners until I cannot differentiate left from right. I am boxed in, held prisoner inside a cube of my own creation. The overwhelming darkness causes me to panic. I clutch my chest, grabbing at skin to calm my beating heart. Tick... Thump Thump... Tick... Thump Thump... I jolt upwards with adrenaline coarsing through my veins. Now in a seated position, my heart is still trying to escape. Sweat beads on my forehead. Peaceful sleep was only a dream tonight. Walking towards the light switch, I stumble over something, almost twisting my ankle. Wonderful. I reach up and "click" the sudden flash from the old 100w bulb temporarily blinds me as my pupils squeeze into tiny specks. Note to self... Install dimmer switch. A quick scan of the floor shows me my attacker, a silver laptop computer, newer model it seems. How did that get here? It is definetly not mine. Bending over I pick up the notebook, and open it up to power it on. At first it seems like nothing, but then I hear the telltale sound of the boot up, and the light from the desktop shines blue onto my forearms. A single file exists, with the title "History of FM". Huh? FM as in the radio frequency? How boring did that sound. But alas, I open the file as I am quite the curious person. There must be a reason it is here in the first place. Two more files... "Portraits" and "History". I open the first to see a bunch of happy people drawn by hand on a computer with possibly a mouse. Strange, but i've seen stranger. Feeling the need to wet my whistle, I close the cover and start for the door, notebook under arm. "Crash" as my window spiderwebs and splinters in thousands of directions behind me. I dive through the door as dark figures swing into the room from outside. "Phwick, Phwick, Phwick" I hear, as darts fly past my ears and stick into my wall and stereo. I pull myself up and sprint down the narrow hallway, jump up the stairs and roll out the door onto the deck of my boat. The figures were still following, and must want the laptop, but why? I hear the barking of dogs and the hollering of directions. There are more of them outside on the pier. I make my way around the cabin to the side of my houseboat and toss the computer into the bush on shore. Jumping the railing, I splash into the water, and swim until I can run. Scooping up the computer, I make my way into the ravine behind the docks, making sure I stay downwind of my persuers, hopefully masking my scent. My legs tire as I splash down the creek, and after the sounds of my followers die down, I slow to a steady pace, and power down the notebook. After what seems like hours, the trees open up into a whimsical glade, much like something you would see in a fairy tale or something. Mist climbs down from the treetops, and flowers huddle to keep warm where the sun sneaks through. Since it is silent, I prop myself up against a log and reopen the cause of my troubles. "History" opens a few folders, the first being "2008". That must be a year, perhaps the year the people in the sketches came together. I catch a flicker of movement out of my left eye, and turn to come face to face with a humpbacked old man, with frail hands, sneaky eyes, and a hand carved cane. "Gooood Evensing To Ya Sirs" he speaks to me with a slur. I can tell that he must be quite tipsy from whatever was inside the flask peeking out from within his tattered robe. "Evening" I replied. "What is this place?" He points a long finger towards a gate that somehow I had not noticed prior to his appearance. "That is now, You sit in the past". I don't understand that for the life of me, and turn back to look at him, but only see the other side of the glade. Not even a wisp of smoke. The mist untouched. "What have I gotten myself into?" I think to myself as I slowly walk towards the gate. I can smell the rusted iron from a few feet away, so carefully flip the clasp so as not to catch myself. The gate swings open with a loud wretched creak that makes my eyes squint. The old man's flask lies in the middle of the path beyond the gate. Am I supposed to drink out of it to find the now, or keep walking? I choose the latter, but put the flask into my pocket just in case. The path winds around many interesting trees, flora and rock formations. Many of these I have never even imagined. Hunger is starting to take ahold of me, and a faint sound of drums steadily builds as I wander through this mystifying place. Eventually, I come across the sound of water. It is a bubbling brook, and looks clean! I bend down for a sip of the cool, clear liquid. As I get close, I spring back. The shimmering reflection was not my own, but that of the old man from the forest. This cannot be right. I hold up the flask as a mirror to check and see only myself. All is well. "Crack" A treebranch snaps behind me. I do not even have enough time to turn before large hands grab me and a bag is thrown over my head. The notebook falls out of my arm, but I do not hear it hit the ground. My wrists and ankles are bound together, and I am thrown on the back of what seems like a large animal, perhaps a horse. I hear the grunts of my captors, but cannot make out the words they use. They must be speaking in a different dialect than my own. I finally fall asleep.

[nsd_user663_1655]

Upon awakening, I find I am no longer bound. My eyes are still shut, but I tense my muscles to be ready to spring into escape mode. A large hand calmly lands on my shoulder. "My name is Meeru." The owner of the hand speaks english, "Do not be afraid, drink form the flask, and open your eyes." I take a sip, and feel the magical drink swirl down my throat. I feel the blood flow to the tips of my fingers, and lose all feeling of hunger, thirst, and soreness. I am finding myself floating towards serendipity. Then my eyes open and I see my surroundings. I am sitting on the side of a small camp, with everything scattered about around a fire pit. Two well dressed ladies are sharpening arrow quills merrily on the other side. I recognize their faces from the portraits. "Maddy and Louise" Meeru answers my unasked question. "They are hunters, dangerous ladies to get in a riff with. I take care of conflict and Security. There are seven others, but most are in hiding for the time being. We are FM, and you can read about how we came to be in the notebook." he states as the computer is handed back to me. I notice Meeru is a man of large build, with arms like oak trees. A strange mark peeks from under his shirt on his upper right arm. Meeru continues,

"Kenny is our healer, a strong willed man of infinite wisdom. Annette is our musician, storyteller, and she is also documenting our adventure. Marion is our master of locks, and is great with knives. Manolo is the one who speaks to the woods, and the animals listen. Pauline is a blacksmith, and her work is uncompared. I have never seen steel pounded so well in my life. Kimh is the ninth member, a telekinetic, who can also see into minds. she is still learning her craft. The last is Lynttrl, the keeper of the orb. She is the reason we are all here, as the orb has opened a gateway to this world. But, she has gone missing at the hands of the Nicoti. The same men who tried to attack you earlier. They want the orb for some evil purpose, perhaps to enslave all of humankind. This is why you have been summoned. You are the eleventh child of FM. Marion had the idea to leave our history with you to spark your interest. She also snuck into your house to leave it. Everything seemed to go as planned until the Nicoti found out about you also. We believe they had bugged Lynttrl's horse. Marion barely escaped with her life, and warned the rest of us. She is under care of Kenny, so should be well off soon enough. That brings us to now."

Meeru seems happy with his explanation. "But what of the old man?" I think to myself. "The old man is your subconcious. He is the controllable part of you." a lady answers as she steps over the debris into the camp. "Kimh is the name." I ask her why I am needed. She answers "You are the eleventh child." "Huh?" I stammer. "The prophecy foretells of a man with horns that will aid us in our quest for freedom." she speaks with a powerful tone. I am thrown aback. "Eleventh child? Aid you? I am but a lonely sea captain who has enough trouble cooking dinner for himself, and definetly have no horns to speak of" I inject.

"You Are The Viking" Meeru replies, "We were all chosen for a reason, to be a small part of the complete whole, the freedom fighters of FM. Fate has brought us together. You will figure out who you are in time. Do you accept your destiny?" I think about this for a moment, and decide that joining a band of random people to fight for freedom against an enemy I do not know sounds much better than going to work tomorrow. "I accept" I muster out of nervousness. Maddy and Louise nod in successon, Kim shakes my hand. Meeru hands me a bowl of what i assume to be breakfast. What have I gotten myself into? What is this orb? What are the drums? How am I going to help these people who are already so strong? Nicotis? I sit down to enoy the feast Meeru prepared. So begins my journey. I open the notebook to learn the history of FM.

Summary from the pages of FM:

Meeru: Large muscular security guard who most recently worked for Dwinal corporation. A master of military intelligence, and close combat, he figured out his boss was squandering funds. One day, he hired on a P.I. to assist him in uncovering evidence. The investigator became corrupt, and Meeru found himself caught in a web. He flet to Argentina, where he met Kimh in a museum of natural histroy. Kimh explained to him the prophecy, and with nothing to lose, they started FM.

Kimh: A telekinetic scientist, who while studying moss clusters in the arctic tundra, came across a statue with the inscription "11 children of FM will save us from the darkness". A description of all 11 children and a map was hidden behind the scripture, and she fit into one of the roles. She followed the map to an Argentinian museum, where she met Meeru, who fit the next description completely. Together, they place newspaper ads for others.

Annette: A head librarian and hobby archeologist who has first chair for violin in the London Symphony Orchestra. she answered the newspaper ad after finding Lynttrl.

Lynttrl: She is a famous actress in hollywood films who wears a necklace given to her by her great grandmother. The marble sized sphere on the necklace was spotted by Annette in a photograph one day. The markings on the sphere matched that of those in the newspaper ad posted by Meeru and Kimh.

Maddy and Louise: Two business women with fortune five hundred companies who conglomerated and united to become the owners of the largest grocery chain in the Northern Hemisphere. Spending their vacations in Africa and Australia, they learned the way of the hunt, and replied to the ad thinking it would be a fun adventure.

Pauline: A famous artist with many works all over the world in many galleries. She once had Meeru working for her as security, so joined the team happily when Meeru requested it.

Marion: A gypsy queen with many skills that spent most of her life protecting her beliefs and helping others find freedom. Recently, she has been asked to be an ambassador for peace for her country. She was a natural addition to the team, and joined by way of Pauline, as they had become fast friends after meeting at a London art fair.

Manolo: She is a plant and animal special-ist at the London Zoo, recruited by Kenny as they were close friends who attended school together.

Kenny: A dean of knowledge at a very famous ivy league school, with many published journals, specializing in medicines and pharmecutical works. He joined the team by way of newspaper ad, as he was finding he knew so much that learning was becoming boring. He needed a change, and was looking for an adventure.

Viking: A fisherman/sea captain. Last Addition to FM.

[nsd_user663_2991]

excellent

[nsd_user663_2931]

Wow...quite an epic! Hope we get another installment!

That was great

[nsd_user663_2955]

To quote Maddy, "Wow"

940

Viking soak up the applause and take a bow.