Dreamstorm: The Awakening

Hikaru and Amber both came out on top of the building where himself and Kamari had previously been abducted. While standing idly, Hikaru wondered how everything he’d just experienced in the last five minutes could possibly be real, yet constant images resurfacing in his mind were undeniably true. He made a passage to the sidewalk and stepped inside with Amber following close behind. Arriving beside the building they’d just stood atop of, Hikaru sealed the portal shut. Near roadside, many people continued pacing, carrying on with their day to day lives without noticing anything unusual. Hikaru approached a man dressed in vibrantly colored clothes standing near a streetlight, who’d been in plain sight of their recent supernatural appearance.

“Hey mister!” he called out. “Didn’t you just see us appear out of that— Portal?”

“What are you talking about head case,” the loudly dressed street merchant replied. “You kids just get away, got it.”

Hikaru then realized there was no way he could ever guiltlessly return home, what would he tell Mrs. Washington, that Kamari got murdered in a dreamstorm while fighting a crazed man who could morph into a monstrous dragon. With no current urge to route homeward, Hikaru knew that he and Amber couldn’t stay out in the open, so he did his best to imagine an abandoned building, then created a passage.

He paced inside, followed by Amber, who continued clutching tightly onto his arm. Finally releasing her grip, she looked around at severe desolation. The room displayed overwhelming darkness with only light from the passage entering inside. Hikaru opened the portal wider and brightness flooded inward, quickly revealing pure unrenovated ugliness. Amber and Hikaru stepped into a single studio room of an abandoned apartment after exiting the hallway. Every window featured stiff covers, boarded shut, and a small old dusty chandelier hung from the ceiling’s center point in what was once a home, barely glimmering, even with bright sun rays penetrating from the widened passage. Floors showed filthy gray where carpet had long ago been removed, and all four corner walls were filled with cracks.

“Do we have to stay here?” Amber asked, staring around in discuss.

“Yes, we do,” Hikaru replied softly.

“But what about home?”

“It wouldn’t work.”

“I’m not staying here,” Amber protested loudly, tears flowing from her eyes.

Hikaru felt anger surge inside him as he listened to Amber complain while knowing all very well that they hadn’t drawn the shortest string of fates.

“Shut up!” he yelled furiously. “What do you think would happen to you if I just let you go home!” Amber stood aback, blankly staring. “I’ll tell you what’ll happen, those dreamstorm freaks would just seek you out and destroy you!”

“I don’t care,” Amber whimpered.

“So you want Kamari’s death to be in vain!” Amber paused and Hikaru looked around the old filthy room. “This place is a mess,” he admitted.“Still, we have special powers, right, if we use our imaginations, we can make it more than livable.”

Hikaru pictured a floor made of marble stone, some beautiful chandeliers with candles for light, and a fixed door. These enhanced modifications caused the room to change in appearance entirely. Amber created a refrigerator with food, a flat screen television, and renewed the walls and bathroom completely. The old apartment instantly became beautiful as they finished building it with their newly acquired skills. Hikaru put huge locks on the door to make sure that no unwanted trespassers could walk inside, and although there featured no power in the complex, all electrical appliances worked just fine, which baffled Hikaru.

“This is beautiful, but we can’t spend all our time lounging around. We have to think of special abilities for warriors we’ll encounter.”Hikaru sat on a chair and thought to himself. (Most warriors are probably going to focus their strongest ability on themselves like the hunter did. Metamorphosing into a dragon being the hunter’s strongest ability, his power came from within himself. I need a strength that can counter powers such as those. Typically, fighters will only enhance themselves with their power, so I need to do the opposite.) Hikaru remembered many books that he’d read on historical war tactics. (In a battle, the opponent who has knowledge about every inch of his surrounding has the advantage. Strategy that makes my adversary fight an uphill battle is what I need.)

Hikaru’s idea came together like pieces from a puzzle. “Complete control of the setting.” He turned and glanced at Amber as she pondered about her own ability. “Have you thought of anything yet?” he asked.

“Not really,” she admitted.

“You’re thirteen, so your imagination should be huge,” said Hikaru. “Just think of any power you want and stimulate that kid imagination of yours.”

“But I can’t think of anything good,” Amber said, feeling the pressure of being rushed.

Hikaru wanted to help her with an idea, but knew instinctively that she’d have to choose an ability best suited for herself. He approached the door, opened it, then left the room and wandered curiously outside. It began growing darker, making Hikaru suspect that eventually they could likely have unwanted company. He noticed a newspaper lying on the ground, and immediately picked it up.

“This is today’s paper,” he thought aloud, wondering if their names had been reported as missing teenagers.

He browsed through the newspaper, easily spotting his and Kamari’s identities in a back column. Hikaru quickly dashed inside, fearful that someone might recognize his face, while in total disbelief that their names had already been printed in the paper. He felt terrible looking at these pictures, sympathizing completely with his mother’s worries of his whereabouts. As Hikaru walked back to the apartment room, he heard a loud scream. Racing, he burst through the door.

Inside, stood a man in black attire with a throwing knife in his left hand, and Amber cornered. This stiffly dressed fighter threw the projectile at Amber, but Hikaru quickly raised the marble flooring up like a hill, and blocked the weapon. He marveled in shock at newly acquired powers he possessed while the businessman stroked the expanded floor with two fingers.

He turned and faced Hikaru. “My name is Yuki of Osaka, Japan,” he calmly said.

“Like I care,” Hikaru sneered snootily.

“But you should care, since I’ll be the one that murders you.”

“In that case, my name’s Hikaru Chan, and you should keep that memorized.”

Yuki snickered lightly. “You know, Mr. Chan, Japanese samurai believed that the quicker you killed your opponent without wasting energy, the better.”

“So what’s your point?”

Yuki removed a small dagger from his lengthy sleeve. “I’ll count to three, and when I finish, this match will be over.”

“Just start counting then,” Hikaru antagonized.

Yuki grinned. “One… two… and—!”

Hikaru stomped his foot and cracked the marble floor; he incased himself inside the pristine crystalline by using his energy to mold it around his entire body. He heard Yuki’s dagger strike stiffened mineralized stone from behind, then pushed the distorted flooring that shielded his back toward the vicious stranger. The floor snapped, then hit the gray surface with a loud crash. Quickly turning, Hikaru spotted Yuki as the nimble businessman dodged, appearing like a blur that streaked across the length of the room. With his opponent maneuvering behind him, Hikaru turned around once again, quickly coming to realize that he wouldn’t stand a chance in the enclosed apartment.

“That was an excellent move,” said Yuki. “You seem to have much more hakq than that girl.”

“What— hakq?” Hikaru said in confusion.

“The fact that you don’t know what hakq is only reveals that you are a novice,” Yuki gloated. “Hakq is the energy required to control your dreamstorm abilities. I bet like all amateurs you thought your power reached unlimited, but all things have their limitations. Hakq is like a muscle, the more you use it, the stronger it generates. I constantly train myself, flexing my hakq, making it stronger, and now I’ll show you why I’ll become the dreamstorm master!”

Yuki pushed out loads of hakq. Energy he emitted brightened the apartment, and its force backed Hikaru against the wall. Creating two portals on the ground, Hikaru changed his location by leaping inside. Amber jumped through the second passage, which Hikaru purposely created near her for escape. She exited five feet aboveground, and fell flat on her back in sand. Getting up to peer around, Amber found herself on an abandoned beach.

“Where are we?” she asked, peering over at Hikaru.

“Panama City Florida.” Hikaru scoped out every inch of the beach for the enemy.

Suddenly, Yuki came through a portal of his own that opened from ten feet above, then landed awkwardly in a crouched position. Hikaru ran forward in attempt to step on him before he could get up, but Yuki easily avoided this attack by swiftly getting upon both feet, and dodging to his left. Once again the businessman appeared as a blur, and before Hikaru knew it, his enemy stood behind him.

“Game over,” whispered Yuki.

Hikaru desperately tried turning around and guarding himself, but all he spotted were bright flashes before hitting the sand. Though in much pain, Hikaru managed to make a huge wave of white sand crash in Yuki’s direction. He tried his best getting up only to fall back down on both knees where the calm incoming waves from the water grazed his feet. With his entire body aching all over, Hikaru couldn’t grasp an understanding of why he felt so injured.

“You’re such an amateur,” Yuki sneered, shaking his head at Hikaru’s ignorance. “You actually thought with my great speed that I would only hit you once or twice,” he laughed. “Well, since I’m so fast, I just love informing my opponents on what happened. When I appeared behind you, I punched you six times before you were sent crashing to the ground, and those flashes of light you managed catching a quick glimpse of was my hakq that I flex constantly around my body to make my attacks stronger. You’re lucky you were able to turn halfway around and guard your face, otherwise, you’d be a dead man.”

Hikaru breathed in heavily from the pain. “You really like hearing yourself talk, don’t you,” he mumbled.

“Yes, I do love hearing myself speak,” Yuki ranted proudly. “But don’t worry, I’ll make sure you don’t have to listen to my voice any longer.”

On first thought, Hikaru strengthened an undertow from the water, pulled himself into the ocean, then made a huge wave that smashed onshore. Water came pouring inland so quickly that Amber raced away from the beach. She managed grasping a palm tree, then peered down and found herself waste deep in water while clinging desperately. Hikaru raised a mound made of sediment from the bottom ocean depths, which allowed him to stand above sea level. He looked toward the beach and spotted a huge bright light coming toward him like a rocket. Hikaru submerged himself underwater by dispersing compacted sandy grains underneath his feet, which caused the rounded mass to sink. As soon as Yuki hit the liquid surface, Hikaru built another mound, then raised himself above sea level once again, and quickly formed a huge whirlpool. Trying to keep his opponent submerged with all of his might, Hikaru kept pushing Yuki deeper and deeper under the gulf, anxiously hoping that amounting water pressure below would destroy his enemy if the torrent didn’t drown him first.

As currents beneath the surface swirled around wildly until affecting the crest, breaking it apart, and allowing a clear view of the ocean floor, Hikaru couldn’t help but take notice at the water’s strange behavior. Hikaru could hear the intensity of Yuki’s voice as his opponent yelled at the top of his lungs, while he could only stare, half stunned by fear, frantically gazing down at what he believed would be his last spectacular sight to see. Yuki flew upward like a glowing missile, radiating blue light in all directions.

Creating a portal, Hikaru leapt into it, transporting himself to Nara Japan on last thought for a wilderness area. There were numerous Japanese maple trees on the setting, and Hikaru could only hope that these various amounts of plant life would serve some purpose, as he could feel his energy straining like an outstretched rubber band. Formulating a final plan, Hikaru switch the season to late fall, and all leaves changed from green to bright reds and yellows, until eventually, they came sprinkling down onto the ground like a gentle snowfall. He used his setting control to burrow a hole under the ground beneath his feet, and sank into the opening as it formed.

While standing deep in a pocket inside the earth, Hikaru caused some of the many fallen leaves to cover him, filling the crevice all the way to the top so that the land appeared level to the naked eye. Awaiting underneath the surface in discomfort, he did his best not to move as compiled leaves began to feel heavier against his body. It started getting harder to breathe, and Hikaru couldn’t hear anything, still, he did not move an inch for fear of crushing stiffened leaves, which would give away his position. As Yuki dropped through a portal and landed, Hikaru could feel his presence on the setting like a sixth sense, which produced the strangest sensation he’d ever perceived; every step Yuki took felt like a tiny ant crawling upon his forearm, effectively enabling Hikaru to pinpoint his opponents exact location on the field. Hikaru could feel Yuki’s breath as the suited warrior exhaled breezy winds, and taste his hesitation to walk forward on the tip of his tongue.

“Come out and fight me!” Yuki yelled boldly.

Even through his courage, Hikaru could sense fear, and pick up on raw emotions as Yuki became flustered by an inability to sense the presence of a hidden enemy. Hikaru slowly made leaves on the ground levitate into midair by using currents of wind that gust them wildly in every direction.

“What is this?” bellowed Yuki, swinging his fist through leaves as they swirled. “Are you afraid! Afraid to fight me mono a mono!”

Hikaru parted the leaves to make a clear path where all mischief calmed, anticipating that Yuki would follow it. Without a moment's thought, Yuki ran recklessly through this path until reaching the end, only a few feet from where Hikaru hid. Hikaru caused many of the leaves to swarm into a spinning vortex that cycled rapidly at Yuki’s left.

“I found you!” the businessman said, swinging his fist.

At that moment Hikaru grasped the fact that he’d finally gotten his opponent off guard, and pulled himself above ground at Yuki’s blindside, then struck him with every ounce of supernatural energy he could muster. His fist landed against Yuki’s neck, which caused the businessman to violently fall. Hikaru faced his opponent with horror, regretfully watching as Yuki lay in a fetal position, shaking intensely.

“They’re…watching,” he murmured, and with those few final words, he died.

Left standing in shock after taking a human life, Hikaru stared at his own murderous hand. Lost inside his many untamed thoughts, he became cornered back to reality when Amber entered the area through a portal, and stood away from afar. Finally regaining his normal train of thought, while being astonished that his broken arm had completely healed, he could only wonder what Yuki’s dying words meant, until suddenly, he sensed everything. Showing themselves, three masked men dressed in white robes appeared on the tree tops, snickering lightly with enjoyment.

(Dreamstorm: The Awakening: Chapter 5 Apart Of The Storm: Uncut Book Pages Audiobook On Youtube: Dreamstorm Soundtrack, Elixir Of Light...)

And As Always, Have A Fantastic Day!