Fan Fiction ❯ Penance ❯ Ichi/One ( Chapter 1 )

Elizabeth stood silently on the corner of the busy street watching the cars tread slowly across the road before her. Rain drenched everything before her eyes and for a moment she swore that all of the puddles in the city were going to become individual lakes very shortly. Not even she herself was spared from the torrential downpour above. The only things that offered any sort of protection from the rain was the beige colored beret and matching long overcoat. From her puse, she pulled out a small photograph. In it, it depicted herself wearing a large wooly sweater, while her companion in the photo wore a cloudy gray trench coat, a black Metallica 'Kill 'Em All' t-shirt, and a pair of faded blue jeans. His golden blond hair- contrasting with her own dark hair- was tied back into a small ponytail, leaving only his bangs free from bondage. Blue eyes filled with compassion remained forever frozen in the photo.

"I had a dream about you last night," She whispered quietly to the photo as if it were an actual person she was holding in her hand. If the photo could speak, it would be comforting her right now; but it could not. She held the photo close to her chest and closed her eyes. Tears fell down her cheek.

"Why did you disappear, Garret?" She asked, "You've been gone for three months now. Why won't you come back to me?"

"I knew I'd find you here," A female voice asked from behind. Elizabeth turned around and was greeted by the sight of a familiar friend. She wore a black tanktop, with a matching pair of jeans. A hooded leather jacket covered her arms and body as well as offered the only protection she had from the rain. Deep red locks of hair snaked its way down her head and hung outside her jacket while green eyes looked into Elizabeth's brown ones with concern.

"Vivian! You startled me!" Elizabeth breathed.

"Liz, are you still waiting for Garret to come back?" Vivian asked. Elizabeth closed her eyes.

"The police are still investigating where he may have disappeared to, Vivian. Do you just want me to give up hope on Garret or something?"

"I want to see him come back safe and sound, too, Liz. But I can't stand to see my friend torture herself day in and day out like this, either. Please understand."

"I can't give up on him, Vivian. I know he's alive out there somewhere; my heart keeps telling me so!"

"There are times when you should listen to your heart, but there are also times you should listen to your head as well, Liz. They'll find him."

"...I guess you're right." Elizabeth sighed.

"He's an Andrews. He'll pull through, where ever he is," Vivian replied, "Want to go out for some ice cream? Baskin Robins is holding a two for one sale."

"Sure..." Elizabeth sighed again before walking down the sidewalk with Vivian. She could swear that the sun was setting at that moment, and as she walked off the light of the sun continued to wane causing the cloudy skies to darken even more.

The dock was a lonely place. Only the sounds of trucks and the occasional car ever came through here. Fisherman were the only ones that occupied the docks, even during most of the night. Even as the skies began to thunder angrily, one such fisherman did what he always did at this time of year- fish. He was an aged old man, who was dressed in a gray long sleeve shirt and blue denim overalls. Gray hair flopped out of a blue Seattle Mariners baseball cap, while a small beard hung from his chin.

Whistling quaintly to himself, he walked toward the edge of the nearest pier and placed himself at the edge. With bait in hand he attahed it to his lure and cast the fishing line out into the deep blue depths beyond. He continued to whistle and hum to himself- that is, until the bubbling around the waters of the next pier over caught his attention. Lightning flashed in the sky as thunder continued to roar in the heavens giving the atmosphere an almost apocalyptic feel. Curiously, he watched as the bubbling became more and more frequent as seconds passed as the skies contiuned to rumble. Lightning flashed, and a hand unexpectedly burst forth from the surface of the water. The old man's eyes widened as another hand came up, until he could see the head of a young man appearing from up under the water. As fast as the old man's legs could carry him, he ran from the pier he was fishing from to the pier the young man, now completely out of the water, was collapsed on.

Blond hair, wet from the water, hung over his eyes, which were as clear and as deep as the Pacific Ocean itself. The gray trenchcoat he wore was soaked to the very fabric it was sewn from as was the black Metallica t-shirt and blue jeans he wore. His sneakers, which were Sketchers, weren't spared from the deep soaking of the ocean water his body received. He stood on his hands and knees, and was panting heavily.

The fisherman knelt down beside the teenager while placing a hand on the young man's right shoulder. His eyes locked onto the teenager's as he spoke.

"You alright, boy?" the fisherman asked. The young man slowly lifted his head to look at the fisherman. Everything around him was a blur; his mind wasn't any different than his vision. Thoughts merely smeared themselves together in his head which did little to help him respond to the stranger's concern. Only one question stood out in the jumbled mess that was his mind- where was he?

"Where...am I?" He asked hoarsely.

"Shh. Save yer strength, lad. Yer gonna need it. Can ye walk?" the fisherman asked. Slowly, the young man stood up onto his feet. He took two steps forward before collapsing onto the wooden planks of the pier. The old man shook his head.

"I take that as a no." He helped up the strange teen to his feet and allowed the boy to use his body for support as they walked down the pier.

"What were yeh doin' divin' around the water like that? Don't ye realize how dangerous the waters are at night?" The yound man tried to recall how he came to be in the waters of the docks in the first place. But nothing came.

"I...I don't...know," he replied. The fisherman raised an eyebrow at the helpless teenager.

"What's yer name, lad?" the teen was silent; he couldn't even remember his own name. An expression of confused and sorrow mixed together crossed his face.

"Don't tell me you've got amnesia, lad! Must have been from the water. I don't know how long you've been driftin' along the sea, lad, but frettin' about yer memory isn't gonna help yeh get it back." Not long after he finished the sentence they arrived at the door of a small and slightly run down house. "Lilly's me wife. She'll make you a nice bowl of stew in a bit, lad. It's not much, but it's home."

Elizabeth and Vivian sat quietly together at a small table outside Baskin Robins eating ice crea. Vivian busily licked her chocolate and rocky road ice cream scoops. Elizabeth merely stared at her chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream cone sadly, watching it melt on the table. Vivian stopped eating her ice cream for a moment and looked at Elizabeth oddly.

"Is something wrong, Liz? You haven't touched your ice cream cone at all since you bought it," Vivian queried. Elizabeth laughed quietly for a moment.

"You know, Vivian, I just remembered something. This was Garret's favorite flavor of ice cream," Elizabeth muttered as she turned the cone around as if examining it for imperfections. Vivian's eye twitched in frustration.

"Why do you keep tearing yourself up like this, Liz? Moping about him isn't going to bring him back."

"Who said I was moping? I was merely stating what his favorite flavor of ice cream was."

"Liz...you worry me. You say nothing's wrong, but act like your entire world has fallen apart. For Garret's sake, you have to move on." Elizabeth clenched a fist.

"How dare you!" She pounded her fist against the table and stood up from her chair.

"You think you can just pretend that your lover doesn't exist anymore? Do you think you can just forget someone like that, Vivian? Well, you can't. Unlike you, I have faith in Garret; he'll come back from where ever he disappeared to in one piece."

"Stubborn as ever, I see. I guess that what I've always liked about you over the years. I won't stop you from waiting, Liz, I just don't want you to get hurt is all."

Well forcing that fact on me isn't going to help me at all!" Elizabeth fumed, "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to get a breath of fresh air," With that Elizabeth walked off. Vivian's eyes widened with concern.

"Liz! Where are you going?! Come back!" Vivian cried out. Her cries fell on deaf ears. She could only watch as Elizabeth walked off toward the docks.

"So you really can't remember anything?" Lilly asked him. The teen shook his head in response. His face was tense while his eyes were closed. He searched his mind for any shred of a memory- from the smell of a tulip, to his favorite flavor of ice cream to memories of his past life. His mind only drew a blank. He shook his head again and sighed while turning away from Lilly. He felt angry with himself at the moment- how could anyone could forget their own name?

"I'm sorry we can't do much for you, son. All that we can offer you is a place to sleep tonight, and some breakfast in the mornin'."

"Thank you so much, ma'am," the teen finished as he snuggled under a blanket while watching TV. Lilly, with her long, pearly white nightgown and dark blonde locks, quietly walked off to bed with her husband. With remote in hand, he did what just about anyone else would did when they were bored- he channel surfed. And channel surfaced. And channel surfaced. And channel surfed, until he tuned into a local news channel.

"Police are still investigating the disappearance of seventeen year old Garret Andrews. Police speculate that an abduction to be the cause of the disappearance, and are currently searching for leads in the case He was last seen on West Avenue on August Fifteenth. If you or anyone else knows anything about Garret Andrews's disappearance, please contact Gig Harbor police with the details." As the news segment went on, a picture of a young man in his late teens appeared on screen. His hair was a golden blond while his eyes were a deep azure color. Around his shoulders was a gray trenchcoat, and underneath that was a black shirt with parto of the Metallica band logo showing in the facial shot.

The teen's eyes widened. He pushed the power button on the remote and turned the TV off. His gaze drifted toward the small circular mirror across from where he sat and gazed into his reflection. His deep azure scanned the blond hair that remained tied back into a ponytail save for his bangs, cloudy gray trenchcoat, dark Metallica t-shirt, and blue jeans, respectively. His sneakers remained seated in the corner of the house; unlike his clothes, they couldn't be safely washed and dried.

He lifted his hands in front of his face looking at them nervously.

"Garret...Andrews?" The teen asked out loud. He turned away from the mirror.

"Is that...my name?" He closed his eyes for a moment. As he did so images flooded his mind. A brunette walked alongside him on the street; a kingdom ravaged in flames; the brunette's loving smile; and finally, the elven princess's look of despair. He clutched his head in pain and fell onto his knees. A sense of deja vu gripped him. These images and places seemed...familiar to him. He wondered amidst the pain if these were just a few of his lost memories of the life he once lived.

As quickly as it began, the images as well as the pain vanished. He panted heavily like he had ran a thousand miles. His arms fell to his sides as he quickly looked around the room. The sound of a door opening and closing echoed throughout the house. Curiousity gripped Garret. Why would anyone want to leave the house at this hour, he wondered. Grabbing a pair of Nike sneakers he quickly put them on and walked outside.

Lilly's silhouette could be seen in the dim light of the street lamps outside. He watched as she disappeared around the corner.

Where is she going? He thought. He ran around the corner and through the alleyways until he finally caught a glimpse Lilly. She stood around an oil barrel, with its contents blazing wildly. Three shady figures also stood around the flaming oil barrel. They appeared to be thugs, from what Garret could tell; and they also seemed anything but friendly.

"Well, well, well, look what the cat dragged in," One of the thugs, Huey, said. He stepped forward and Garret noticed Lilly visibly tense up; she was intimidated.

"You haven't paid us a visit in a long, long while, Lilly," One of the thug's lackeys, Duey, added. Garret raised an eyebrow. He could tell that the leader of the bunch, Huey, was neither overly obese or overly skinny, but within the median of the two while the lackey that had just spoke, Duey, was largely overweight while the silent one as skinny as a pole.

"Look, we're on the verge of bankruptcy. Can't we work somethin' out?" Lilly asked. The three laughed.

"We've 'worked something out' for too long, missy. We want our money right here, right now!" The silent one, Louie, shouted. Lilly backed away from the group as Huey drew a pistol and aimed it at her chest. As Garret watched the thugs laugh malevolently at her while stepping closer and closer to her. Something snapped within Garret as a single thought crossed his mind- he could tolerate the scene in front of him no more.

"Leave her alone!" Garret shouted. He jumped in front of Lilly spread-eagle. His blue eyes remained fixed on Huey and his pistol. Huey smiled in an amused manner at the teen. The air became heavy with anticipation, yet Huey was also furious at the newcomer's arrival.

"You stupid dame! You let someone follow you here!" Huey shouted at Lilly. Lilly glanced around fearfully before returning her gaze to Garret.

"Dammit! Why'd you follow me?!" Lilly asked. Garret closed his eyes.

"You're in danger," Garret replied simply. Lilly backed away from Garret in a scared manner. Huey cackled at them maliciously.

"Lookie here, boys! The widdle boy's twyin' t'pway hero!" Huey called out sarcastically. Garret opened his eyes and narrowed them at the three thugs before him as they continued to laugh. He didn't make a move or a sound. Duey looked up at Huey for a moment, smiling mischievously.

"What should we do wid 'im, boss?" Duey asked. Huey looked back at Garret with a sinister smile on his face.

"Let's teach this brat a lesson," Huey stated. Huey aimed the pistol at Garret and fired. Garret hopped out of the way, only to have the bullet whizz past his arm while tearing a small hole through his trenchcoat. Duey and Louie drew tonfa batons and began to charge toward Garret, unarmed, punched and flailed his fists at the attackers while shielding himself from the heavy blows of the nightsticks striking his arms. He quickly found out that he could not both attack and defend- at least, with his hands...

With a cry, Garret jump kicked Duey, sending him sprawling across the pavement with a yelp. This neither stopped Duey nor weakened Louie's resolve. Cursing quietly, Louie began to strike harder and faster with his nightstick.

Dammit...they sure are persistent, Garret thought. As Louie wen to strike Garret once more, the teen grabbed a hold of the baton and threw him across the railing nearby and into the waters beyond. But as Louie landed in the water with a splash, he heard a gunshot ring out once more. Garret turned around and saw Lilly collapse onto her knees while clutching her left shoulder and screaming in pain. His eyes widened in shock.

NO!

He closed his eyes and only listened to Huey and Duey's sinister laughter echoing in his ears. He had failed to protect Lilly from the bullet wound in her arm, yet for some reason, he didn't feel like giving up on her. A sense of bravery and courage filled the very core of his being, as did an unknown strength he had not known he possessed before. When he opened his eyes, Huey and Duey gasped aloud.

Standing before them now was no longer the meddling teenager that had the gall to meddle in their affairs of the night, but instead what appeared to be an elf; the long, pointed ears of...whatever 'he' was was a testament to this. A pointed green cap hung off his head, leaving only his blond fringe to hang over his face. Blue eyes- the same icy hue as that of the teen, glared at them, and almost seemed to pierce their souls- in other words, the daggers being shot at them were intimidating. A forest green tunic covered a white body suit and leather gauntlets covered his arms while boots of the same material covered his feet and the shins of his legs. A bandolier, also leather, wrapped itself around his torso while a scabbard hung from it off of his back. A shield accompanied it, though what designs were on it couldn't be determined from Huey or Duey's viewpoint. A handle could be seen in the scabbard; it was azure, with a gold stone embedded between it and what little steel could be seen. The handle was winged in shape only. Huey and Duey backed away from the stranger before them. Huey clutched the pistol in his hand while Duey did the same with his nightstick. Huey pointed the pistol at the elf while trembling slightly.

"Stay back!" Huey shouted, "Stay away you freak!" This instantly caused the elf to turn toward Huey. He began to walk closer to him. Huey fired the pistol, only to find that the bullet hit the wall behind him. The sound of gunshots and bullets ricocheting off the walls didn't deter the elf; this observation only made Huey panic even more.

"Boss...?" Duey asked fearfully.

"Dammit! Don't just stand there, do something!" Huey snapped. In one last act of bravery, Duey charged at the advancing warrior...only to see his nightstick collide with the elf's shield. The shield was plated with metal; on it, three triangles arranged to form an even larger triangle were beveled near the top of the shield. Below this was the emblem of a red bird, which guarded another inverted and beveled triangle below. To the sides of the shield were other beveled patterns, which started with a curve, then went into a straight line and into a curve once more before curving upward to a point.

The lackey didn't have long before a whirl of metal sliced his tonfa baton in two. Duey's eyes widened at the sight of the sword now present in his left hand. At the handle the blade appeared to be thin but broadened about half a foot away from the handle, and ended in a point, making the blade itself approximately three feet in length.

A swift kick sent Duey sprawling against the pavement. He quickly crawled away from his attacker. With determined eyes the elf stared at Duey, as if asking him 'are you still going to fight me?' Cowardice flooded Duey's being, and he stumbled to his feet and ran off, leaving his boss in crime alone in the battle against their enemy. Huey screamed in rage and fear.

"Hey! Get back here you coward!" Huey shouted. Duey only looked back for a moment, but he neither ran back to assist Huey or even remotely paid attention to his words. A loud clang sounded, and he watched as pistol flew out of his hand and into the dark waters beyond. Angrily Huey tackled the elf, who merely countered by throwing him off of his body and into the wall behind him. A stinging pain shot through Huey's arm and when he tried to move it, not only did the pain intensify, but he found that he couldn't move his arm; the impact had broken it.

Growling with rage, Huey painfully got up onto his feet. The elf stared at Huey for a moment.

"You...!" Huey muttered, "I'll get you for this, you monster!" With that the thug ran off while clutching his broken arm. The elf looked over at Lilly, who backed away fearfully. He sheathed his sword and shield and closed his eyes. A moment later, Lilly gasped as she looked over at where the elf stood, only to find Garret standing before her once more. The teen looked at her with concern.

"Are you all right?" Garret asked. Lilly froze as she glanced up at Garret, not believing what had just occured.

"Get away from me, you monster!" Lilly ran away from the area, leaving the teen confused. As Lilly disappeared down the darkness of an alleyway Garret walked over to the edge of a railing and peered into his reflection on the water's surface before turning his gaze toward his left hand.

"...Monster?" He whispered quietly. His mind continued to search for answers for the events that had occured moments before, but his mind was greeted once more with hazy thoughts and whispers of faint memories. Only when he fought off the three thugs did his mind feel remotely clear. Strange still, he felt as though something had changed during that time which somehow felt...natural.

Dammit! I don't understand any of this at all! He knew one thing, however— he wouldn't find the answers he was seeking here. Without looking back, he began to walk toward the nearest alleyway and into the darkness of the night.