Re: [Zorolo]Aronin Orino's Training
Chapter two: The white city.
To be an evil demonic skull, or not to be an evil demonic skull
The hunger was irresistible. Aronin Orino’s body had withstood three days without food, but now, it couldn’t hold back anymore. He almost vomited more than once, but since his stomach didn’t contain any food, he only belched stomach acid, which only made him sicker. If only there was a food store somewhere…
He walked slowly through the streets of the city, his eyes wandering, searching for some food. And just when he thought of just giving up, he spotted the small sign, green background and with a painting of a bread, hanging over a small shop. Slowly, he went over to the shop, still carrying Murray who was not done explaining how fearsome the Chihuahua was.
The lady behind the counter was of the kind you’d expect German dairymaids to be. Plump, happy and red cheeks.
“Hello, what can I do for you?” She asked with a happy tone in her voice.
“Bread, please…” Was all Aronin managed to say, while still remaining polite.
“Sure” the fat lady replied. “That will be three dublins please, or five chnits, if you use them”
Aronin felt in his pocket, and took out a twenty dollar bill, along with some rubbish.
“I only got this, will it suffice?” he said, handing the bill towards the lady.
“Oh, I’m sorry dear, only dublins or chnits. If you got any foreign currency, you need to exchange them in the bank, which is on the other side of The Dome.”
“But...” Aronin desperately pleaded. “I have walked for three days without any food. I need food!”
“Sorry boy, but I cannot do it. It’s against the shop’s policy. I must ask you to leave.”
Aronin, desperate, almost started to cry in pain, and tried one last time.
“But I need it! I’ll do anything! Anythi-“ Aronin was interrupted by someone, which had entered the shop unnoticed.
“I’ll pay for his bread.”
Aronin turned around, and saw a lady, about his age, brown hair and blue eyes, standing in the doorway, holding some money in her hand. She went to the lady, and gave her three coins, presumably dublins, and gave the bread to Aronin.
“Here you go,” she said, beaming at him with her eyes fixed at his. “Just make sure you always carry some dublins next time. See you later then. Oh, and what a cute skull.” And then she left, leaving Aronin standing with the bread in one hand, and Murray, which had stopped talking when he heard he was being called cute, in the next hand.
“Me? Cute? The demonic force that is me? Cute?”
Aronin didn’t say anything. The girl reminded him of a friend he once had. Before the accident. But he got to his senses quick enough, and shove the thoughts away. He was standing in a bakery, possessing food. There was no time for emotions now.
He quickly sat down by a table and to eat, placing Murray, who was amazingly silent, at the table, beside the bread. It didn’t take many minutes before the bread was gone, and Aronin felt his powers returning.
As he strode out on the streets with renewed powers, he started to notice the details around him. The city was like no city Aronin had visited on Earth, and as far he knew, this was not Earth. The city could resemble an old Arabic city, if the houses were made of brown clay. Every house was white, and the roads were not as dusty as they appeared to be when he first saw them. They were actually paved with magnificent stones, with tiny patches of grass growing between the stones. Everywhere there were trees, flowers and green objects, which was a strong contrast towards the sterile white color, giving the whole city a “bloomish” feel. That was at least the first word that came to his mind. The whole city was glowing brightly in the sun, and against the strong blue sky, it looked like an exotic painting.
The Dome looked appealing, raging high over the other buildings, and still being a low profile building. The shell was formed as a stretched out and flattened sphere, with the bottom part containing huge arcs where the openings were. Apart from the dome, there were four towers, each in one corner of the dome, each carrying a banner in a specific color, apparently representing the teachers. Four teachers, thought Aronin, and wondered if anyone of them could, and would, teach him. He went to the entrance, and just stood there, admiring the magnificent architecture, before entering The Dome.
Inside, the world changed drastic. There were no more of the uniform, bright, and white, atmosphere that was in the city. Here, light and darkness were blending around each other, dancing in a dance of death; darkness quenched light, light expelled darkness, in a silent and innocent, but deadly battle. There were no walls at the floor, no rooms or other properties, except for a big fencing area encircled by a small fence, only a half meter wide, and made of wood. Instead, all the rooms were in the roof and at the sides of the shell. It looked like the inside of a turtle shield, only much more colorful. Each corner of the room was colored in a specific color, with the rightmost being a pleasant green.
Aronin stood still a second, viewing the massive structure with awe, before going towards the green area of the dome. Why he chose green, he didn’t know. But it was something appealing with the green color and he knew it was the right way to go.
The door was heavy and bulky, but surprisingly easy to move, and Aronin went through the door, stepping into the awaiting corridor.
“This is creepy, really creepy. I get shivers down my spine!” Murray exclaimed.
“Isn’t you a powerful demonic skull? You must not be afraid. Besides, you don’t have a spine.” Aronin responded.
“Wait… That’s right. It’s my spine that is cold, because it is buried in the snow in some distant area. Stupid dog!”
Just then it struck Aronin that he had seen no one since he entered the dome. The silence was so enormous, pressing against the ear drum, and amplifying every sound the duo made, from the clattering of Murrays teeth when he spoke, or just moved, to the footsteps of Aronin on the soft carpet. As they moved inwards, Aronin opened a door, walking inside. He was shocked to see that he was in a room, with windows, high up on the wall in the dome. Somehow, they had moved upwards, without noticing. He went out, to the next door, opened it, and went it. Now they were in a room with a big window, and the Dome’s floor with the fencing area facing them, from the side! Somehow, the room was at the top of the Dome, and they were standing at the wall, watching downwards at the floor. Hurrying out, Aronin noticed that there were doors at the opposite wall in the corridor. They were fewer and more spread out, but still too many for Aronin to count.
Aronin opened a door, and stared into nothing. The room was completely dark, and even when the corridor was light, no light fell on the floor in the room. Closing the door, Aronin went to the next door, opening it, and found a huge room with huge bookshelves at one side of the room, a chess board at the other side of the room and a raised stage at the end of the room.
“Hamlet,” said Aronin, and nodded. He didn’t know Shakespeare too well, but in school, he had seen Hamlet as a part of the educational plan.
“Hamlet?” said Murray, looking at Aronin, which is just as hard as it looks like for a skull. “What’s Hamlet?”
“To be or not to be, that’s the question… It’s a act. Pretty boring actually. It’s about life and death and such, I think. Don’t you know about it?”
“To be an evil demonic skull, or not to be an evil demonic skull! That’s the question!”
“Is it really a question?” Aronin asked Murray, thinking he got himself a partner with humor.
“Never! I am Murray, the invincible demonic skull!”
“Thought so,” Aronin said, and put down Murray on the chess table, walking to the bookshelf.
It was a nice bookshelf. Not the kind you would expect at the regular home in England or America, it was handcrafted in such a way, it felt alive, and living. The carvings and the paintings were good as new, but as Aronin took a book from the shelf, many year with thick layers of dust fell down upon him, causing him to be even paler than usual. Brushing away the dust, and barely noticing Murray’s demonic laughter, he noticed a pair of chairs and a table standing in front of the scene. Upon closer inspection, Aronin found on the table a teapot, with hot water, and two covers.
ooc: 1529 words.. More than double of the requested. Just say if I write too long chapters... Also, the girl is a future plot, which I won't touch now. Puck told me I had to use this characters weakness in battle, so I need to lay out some plot threads for that, for future chapters.