Chapter 1

Here it is, the first chapter of Journey to a Better End is finally here! I shall say no more and allow you all to read...
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       The nightmare was still fresh on his mind. His past memories just refused to fade away and had yet again woken him up way too early to his liking. It bothered him that he couldn't get a good night's rest. This nightmare had been different from the last one but nothing new to him. Images of his mother carrying him to safety and away from his own father still flashed through his mind.

       That same man that Add had grown to despise was the same one that his mother sometimes wished she could see again despite all of the things that he'd done. Add knew for a fact that it had to be love that kept his mother so attatched to his long gone father. It was something that Add thought would only lead to mischief and broken heartedness, the same things that he knew his mother faced because of the love she'd lost.

       If his father had withheld enough common sense to know that experimenting on his own son was wrong, perhaps he could have gone with them to their current time period. His mother wouldn't be experiencing so much grief then. Instead, his mother had to take him and flee, locking them both in the library. It was unintentional but Dynamo, a servant of the library, had sent them hundreds of years into the future where they found themselves safe but broken nevertheless.

       Add had only been seven at the time. They became travelers, moving from place to place for a very long time until they stumbled across the quiet village that they now resided in. They were not warriors like the others in the village but their knowledge earned them much respect. "Master Add, might I ask why you are awake at this hour? I belive you prefer to stay asleep past this time. Is something bothering you?" Dynamo asked as he floated into the room.

       Add wasn't particularly fond of the nasod servant since his father had programed it to turn him into a weapon. It had successfully transferred a majority of the library's information into his head and if his mother had not been there to stop Dynamo from carrying out his purpose, Add wouldn't exactly be where he is now. Add pushed the little floating nasod away from him, reminded once more of the scar that he was given.

       "Leave me alone, Dynamo," Add muttered. He was sitting up in his bed, staring around his room without a particular thought in mind. He suddenly felt the chilly air that had been there all along but had only bothered him until then. "Master Grace is still asleep. Should I wake her?" Dynamo said. "Leave my mother alone too. Come on, I'm heading out," Add said scratching his head. He got out of bed and got dressed. It was already getting cold and the winter season had only just begun.

       Add left his room, looking into his mother's room to make sure that she was okay, and then proceeding to leave the house. He sighed in relief as the morning breeze blew through his hair easing his agitated nerves. A faint sound suddenly caught his attention sending chills down his spike. Was that laughter? It could have just been some wild animal off in the bamboo forest surrounding the village. Add shook the thought from his mind and continued down the path that led into the village.

       If he was not mistaken, she should have also been awake too. After a bit more walking, Add found himself crossing her yard and he spotted her standing among all but one of her siblings. He stopped on the path for a moment, contemplating whether or not he should ask her if she wanted to join him on his walk to the village. He had decided not to bother her but quickly changed his mind when he saw one of her siblings push her to the ground. The rest seemed to be trowing insults at her and she just sat there and took them.

       "Master Add, it's impolite to stare," Dynamo chided. "Shut up," Add said in response. When they seemed to be leaving her alone, Add began walking to her. She sat there with her wooden spear in hand staring at it intently. "Why do you let them do that to you?" Add asked once her siblings were gone and he was within earshot of her. "They already don't like me. If I cause any more conflict with them, it will just increase their dislike and cause more problems," Ara replied without looking up to him.

       "Doesn't it bother you, the fact that your brothers and sisters hate you?" Add questioned. "I can care less about how they treat me and not all of my brothers dislike me. Aren is the only one that treats me like a real sibling should be treated. Besides, the others tend to listen to mother more often as long as they bother me instead," Ara said finally looking up at him with a slight smile.

       Ara Haan was the daughter of a woman that married into the Haan family. Her new siblings practically hated her and her natural ability to be a warrior. She and Aren were some of the Haan family's strongest fighters. It slightly bothered Add that Ara allowed her siblings to disrespect her despite having more rights to be respected than all of them combined. He understood why she did it though. Just like him, she wanted to make her mother happy which was one reason why Add was friends with her.

       "Hello Dynamo. How are you doing?" Ara said to Add's floating companion. "I am quite well Miss Ara. Thank you for asking," Dynamo said in response. Add simply rolled his eyes at their formalities. "You're up early. Why's that?" Ara noted. "Don't know. I was just heading to the village just now. Want to come?" Add asked despite telling himself earlier not to bother Ara with such a request.

       "I'd need to put my spear away but yeah, I can go," Ara said as she stood up. She did a quick maneuver with her spead before stopping in a stance. "Show off," Add muttered to which Ara only smirked. She ran off and returned with a silk scarf and a traditional jacket. "Where we headed?" Ara asked as she joined Add who had already begun to walk away. "Don't know. I'm just taking a walk," Add said.

       "Clearing your thoughts huh. I never really know what's going on in that head of yours," Ara said. She was walking ahead of him and her hair was blowing in the morning air. "Hey do you think Ryu Jin will be in the village so early in the morning?" Ara asked, suddenly stopping along the trail to let Add catch up. "Probably," Add answered. Ryu Jin Haan was another member of the Haan family although he was not one of Ara's immediate family members.

       Ara often sought him out so that she could persuade him into teaching her new techniques. Ryu Jin often found a way around Ara's requests which Add found hilarious. Ara was quite persistent but easily distracted at times. "How's your mother?" Ara suddenly asked. Add didn't answer her right away. "She could be better," Add decided to say, not really wanting to talk about his mother's state of being at the moment. Ara fell silent after that and did not say anything until they got to the village.

       It wasn't as busy in the mornings which Add appreciated although he never got up so early on purpose. "That thing you were making, well no, inventing. I thought I saw something that might be useful to you but I don't know if it's still here or not," Ara said as she sped up again. She was always so energetic to the point that it sometimes got on Add's nerves. Dynamo followed after her so Add didn't bother to speed up.

       He dragged on, looking around at the various stands and shops and even homes that were scattered throughout the village. A group of small children were already out playing with wooden weapons despite the chilly atmosphere. It was odd though. Just earlier, it wasn't so cold. Now Add could tell that it had already gone down a noticeable number of degrees. He had finally caught up with Ara who stood at the stand of a traveling merchant so he had not the time to think about the matter.

       "Are you sure there's nothing else you're willing to trade for it?" Ara asked in dismay. "It's all the way from Elder Village. I'd be a crazy man to part with such an item without getting my money's worth," the merchant said. "How about ten thousand. That's as high as I can go," Ara said. She bit her bottom lip while waiting for the merchant's answer but Add didn't think the price was fair. The item that Ara was trying to get was an old nasod chip and Add could tell that she didn't know that the chip was broken, damaged and useless.

       Perhaps if Add had the proper tools, he could put it to use, but he didn't. "Ara, I don't need it. It doesn't work anyway," Add said without caring if the merchant heard him. "Huh, are you sure?" Ara asked, looking over at him in confusion. "Nonsense. This is a high grade information chip that can hold plenty of data and it's valued at a great bargain compared to how much people usually pay for these things," the merchant said.

      Add took a moment to take a calm himself before blowing a fuse in the middle of the village. "You might be fooling her but I can see right past your dirty scam. It's obviously useless no matter how much you clean it and brag about it. No one here would truly have a use for it anyway so you were plannimg on ripping someone off. I suggest you quit your schemes or I'll expose you for the fraud that you are. And if I ever catch you trying to cheat Ara out of her money again, you better hope you aren't anywhere within my reach," Add growled.

       He took Ara's hand and led them away from the merchant. Another reason why he was friends with Ara. She needed his help whether she would ever admit it or not. He did not let her hand go until they were a good distance away from the fraud of a merchant. Ara gave a nervous laugh. "Didn't think you'd get so triggered. Sorry about that," she said. Add would have said something in response but he didn't have time. The village's emergency signal had just gone off, danger or bad news had arrived.
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And so the first official chapter is completed. I guess the prologue sort of counts but it's not even half of this chapter so...anyways, hope you guys enjoyed the first chapter. Until next time you epic readers!

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