Hero

by FightorFlyT

1-2: Development

Hero

Written by FightorFlyT

. . . . . . . . . .

Chapter 2: Development

Neiku jolted from his sleep at the sudden crashing sound that suddenly assaulted his ears. He turned sleepily towards the direction. Standing in his doorway was his father, the shaman Neitu. The grizzled zebra gave a long, sad look at his son before turning and walking away, using his magic to close the door behind him. Neiku stared at the closed door, tears starting to form in the corners of his eyes.

“Dad...” Neiku whimpered. He slowly threw the covers from his body and carefully edged his way to the door to his small bedroom. Cracking it ajar only slightly, he looked into the open central room of his family's hut.

A giant boulder was sitting in the middle of the room, glass twinkling in a shiny trail behind it, leading back to a huge, jagged hole in the large window of the room. The pane had spider-webbed impressively, but thanks to the magic Neitu had imbued into the glass the pane had not completely shattered.

“... we've made up our minds, Neitu. While we understand your reasoning, the village has spoken. We can't let that, that- thing- live here any more! Not with our children and wives having to fear what might happen-” The wiry sounding village chief was cut short by Neitu's booming voice.

“What is this I hear you say?! You call my son a thing today? This taken lightly, it shall not. In the pits of Hell, I hope you rot. You say he must leave, he is a threat; but ask yourself, then what comes next? If he really is as bad as you fear, then he must never lose the ones he holds dear. Think, good sir, think long and hard; would you like to be sent away, afar?”

The chief thought for a moment, but responded with what could only be recognized as malice.

“You have just signed that spawn's death-wish,” he said with a snarl before storming out the door. As soon as he was out of the hut, Neitu wheeled around and faced his son. Neiku jumped lightly, only realizing his father had known of his presence the entire time. The sorrow that gleaned in his father's eye was enough to send Neiku into tears.

“Daddy, what are-”

“Neiku, you have to go.” Neiku's mother, Fair Hope, appeared by her husband. “We're sorry dear. I wish we could- I wish there was another-”

Suddenly, an explosion rocked the hut. The harsh orange glow of flames flooded the inside of the hut, and the temperature inside rose dramatically. Neitu instantly sent a locking spell on the front door, and the pulsing magic on his horn revealed worse was being hindered.

“Neiku, come with mommy. We need to pack some things for you. Come on.” Fair Hope held back her tears valiantly as she drug Neiku back into his room. Producing a small, worn leather saddle bag, she began placing a few items into it. In went Neiku's cherished ocarina, a family sign of nobility given to him by his father; Hope also tossed in his ratty cloth scarf, as well as a framed picture of Neiku, Neitu, Fair Hope and Neiku's baby sister, Dream. Finally, Fair Hope deposited a sealed envelope labeled My sister, Stratus Patch.

The crying pegasus ushered Neiku over, and gently kissed his unmarked forehead.

“I love you, baby. We'll see each other again really soon, okay?” Fair Hope looked into her son's eyes, his pupils pinpricks against the brilliant blue of his irises. She wanted to look into his eyes just a little bit longer, she never wanted to have to say good bye-

An ear-shattering KRACKA-BOOM! Shook the hut again, and the structure began to fall in on itself. For Neiku, everything went by in slow motion. He saw his mother, tears streaming freely now, drag him over to his father, who then kissed Neiku on the head as well. By now, the hut was being engulfed in flames. The angry cries of a mob could barely be heard outside from the crackling flames.

Neiku felt his body being engulfed in the brilliant energy of his father's magic, and he started crying.

“Momma! Momma! I don't want to go! MOMMA!”

Fair Hope just smiled sadly at her son, her eyes red and puffy as the tears poured down her face. Already, her body was being scorched by the heat of the flames.

“Good bye son. I love you.”

“Neiku felt his body fizzle away, the tell-tale sign he was being transported. Another rock, this time burning with cursed oils and blends, was lobbed through a wall, crushing half of the two-story hut and blocking Neiku's view of his parents. The heat was becoming unbearable, the air was thick and choking of the acrid smoke. Neiku was almost gone.

And with a final POP, Neiku disappeared right as the hut exploded into a brilliant fireball.

“MOMMA!” Neiku swung up bolt right, breathing heavily. Sweat was pouring off of him, his heartbeat was racing, and he felt a something wrapped around his mouth. Something wasn't right.

He swung around, jumping back as he did so. In front of him, a snow white unicorn mare with a softly stylized pink and soft purple mane was looking at him with a confused face, her hoof extended in mid-air. They appeared to be in a small closet, and the distance Neiku had covered in his short hop was the length of the entire room. Neiku recovered his breathing, and noticed that his two friends were crammed into the closet as well, along with a yellow earth pony mare with a large red mane and an orange pegasus mare with a wild pink mane.

He took their shocked stares in, then huffed in relief as he realized he had simply been dreaming earlier. Reliving the nightmare...

“What in tarnation was THAT?!” The yellow mare whispered harshly, not letting her voice get to loud as she looked out through the cracked doorway. Nopony seemed to have noticed the scream.

“What was... what?” Neiku asked, his hazy purple eyes gleaned over as they had been for a while.

“Well, you kinda just screamed for your mom,” Nimbus stated, his voice too in a whisper.

Neiku rubbed the back of his mane awkwardly. “Just a bad dream, I guess...” he said quietly.

“Yeah, I'll say,” the yellow mare huffed. “Is the coast clear, Sweetie?”

The white unicorn- Sweetie, as her friend had called her- sent out a short spell, her horn glowing a faint hue before dimming out. “Yeah, I guess so...”

Wow, Neiku thought to himself, he voice is so... wow.

Slowly and carefully, the six of them slid from the closet and into the center of a large room. From what Neiku could ascertain, he seemed to be standing in the middle of a giant hollowed-out tree... that also functioned as a library, judging from the large quantity of books decorating the walls.

As soon as the six exited the closet- our in reality, stumbled and fell out of the closet, sprawled all over the floor, the three mares gathered up in front of the three bucks.

“So... you guys are blank flanks too, I guess?” the orange mare asked, doing everything she possibly could to avoid even making eye contact with Neiku, a blush ready to flare up on her face if she did. I don't even really like him all that much, she kept on angrily thinking, though not-so-deep down she knew it to be a lie.

“Yeah,” Nimbus said, pulling himself up. He was a short bit taller than Neiku, who was in turn a bit taller than the mares, making the yellow unicorn the tallest one in the room at the moment. Snap Drop was still the shortest one by a few hooves.

Nimbus trotted over to the orange mare, sticking out his hoof rather politely.

“It's Scootaloo, right?” he asked warily, ready for one of her usual sarcastic quips. Instead, she grinned proudly, returning his hoof.

“Yeah... Nimbus, isn't it?” Nimbus nodded with a quick, short smile. Neiku and Snap Drop sat back, watching Nimbus introduce himself to the three females.

“Hey, Snap,” Apple Bloom said gently to Snap Drop, eliciting a shy smile from him and a quick mutter that might have been a similar greeting.

When Nimbus turned to Sweetie Belle, sticking out his hoof with a goofy smile splayed across his face, Sweetie turned a visibly bright shade of red, and she did the one thing she knew how to do relatively well: panic. After all, her older sister was a master at it.

She darted past Nimbus and found herself face-to-face with Neiku. Neiku felt himself going a little red, but thankfully he didn't show his own blush too well. Still, Sweetie found relief in having narrowly dodged a very uncomfortable situation-

“uh...” both Nimbus Aura and Neiku said at the same time.

-... or not. Sweetie Belle laughed nervously.

“Oh, I am so sorry! Where are my manners?” with slightly shaking hooves, she quickly shook both Neiku's and Nimbus's hooves at the same time. She then retreated back a little bit, to where Apple Bloom and Snap Drop were standing.

“Well... okay...” Scootaloo said casually, obviously noticing what had just occurred.

Who'd have thought Sweetie would be the one to act so jittery in front of a little crush, she thought to herself.

“Anyways...” Scootaloo took a deep breath, prepared herself for what she was about to do, then turned and faced Neiku. “You're the new kid, Neiku, right?” While she had managed to keep from bursting into a maddening blush, she couldn't refrain from having some very girlish thoughts racing around in her mind. Most of them were all focusing on how cute he was.

“Yep,” Neiku said. Scootaloo waited for him to elaborate on... well, something. He didn't.

“A-huh....” she thought aloud. “Well... the three of us-” she waved a hoof towards Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom and herself- “couldn't help but notice that the three of you didn't have your cutie marks.” Neiku and Nimbus's ears perked up at this; while they weren't inherently as upset about not having recognized their special talent, they were still all to self conscious of the fact.

“Yes... so, what are you proposing?” Nimbus questioned. He was honestly interested in what the orange mare had to say.

“Well,” she began, “I'm Scootaloo. This here is Apple Bloom, and the unicorn who is currently acting a liiitle too much like Fluttershy is Sweetie Belle.”

Neiku leaned over slightly towards Nimbus, whispering under his breath, “who's Fluttershy?”

Nimbus didn't respond, and Scootaloo carried on.

“The three of us make up the most dedicated group of ponies in Ponyville, for we are the Cutie Mark Crusaders!” she said this with a triumphant stomp, expecting an 'ooh' or snort of approval. All she got was silence.

“... The who-now?” Neiku asked her, head cocked to the side.

“The Cutie Mark Crusaders! We have a single goal: to discover our special talent and finally earn our cutie marks. You're new here, so you probably don't know how hard it is to be a blank flank.”

Oh, I'm quite aware thank you,Neiku thought rather angrily in his head.

“But, the point is, we're gonna find our special talents! Together!” At this, the three mares suddenly bunched up, grinning ear-to-ear.

“That's rather... moving,” Neiku said flatly.

… What? Scootaloo thought to herself. He's supposed to be impressed at our dedication! At our commitment! Why isn't he begging to join- oh, wait... Maybe he doesn't realize-

“Look,” Scootaloo said to him. “We figured that if the three of us worked together to try and find our special talent, we'd have more success... So... We were thinking, maybe, I don't know...”

“You'd want to join?” Sweetie Belle spoke directly to Neiku. While Scootaloo had been stumbling over her words, Sweetie Belle had come up with a plan. A marvelous plan. A wonderful plan. A perfect plan. A plan that involved befriending Neiku to get closer to Nimbus.

While it seemed a little mean to be using him like that, she figured she could hep out Scootaloo as well and maybe get him interested in her pegasus friend. Plus, it's not like she was just going to manipulate him to get what she wanted, then throw him away. She was honestly interested in making new friends, and Neiku seemed nice enough. And Scootaloo was right; if they wanted to earn their cutie marks before they graduated, they'd need some serious help. Maybe recruiting more Crusaders would give them the boost they needed.

“Really?” This time it was Nimbus that spoke. Scootaloo nodded vigorously, while Apple Bloom smiled in agreement. Sweetie Belle had seemed to have settled a little bit next to Neiku.

“Well... I'm all for it!” Nimbus said. “I mean, I might not be as crazy as you mares- no offense,”

“None taken,” Scootaloo laughed.

“-but if it means I might actually learn what I'm good at, then hey! I'm all for it!”

Scootaloo whooped in glee as she patted Nimbus on the back. One down, two to go.

“Sure, I'm in.” Scootaloo wheeled around. Did he seriously just agree? Just like that? She looked directly at Neiku, who just grinned professionally. “I'll join your group. Who knows, maybe I'll learn something good from this,” he laughed.

What does he think this is, a school project? Scootaloo winced at the thought.

Apple Bloom glanced at Snap Drop, who hadn't said a word. As usual.

If only he would say something... Apple Bloom hoped.

“So Snap...” Snap Drop brought his attention to Apple Bloom. “Do you... want to join?” She asked this as softly as possible, and with the most honest smile she'd ever given. She knew just how delicate she had to be around Snap.

“...sure...” Snap whispered. Apple Bloom grinned happily.

“Then it's settled! You three are now part of the Cutie Mark Crusaders!” Sweetie Belle announced. “Now, you need to come with me, Neiku!” Sweetie Belle used her magic to grab Neiku by the scruff of his neck and drag him behind her as she trotted out of the library.

“Wait, what?” Neiku cried, flinging his arms around desperately for something to hold purchase to. His eyes were wide in pure fear. What does she want?!

“Yep, that's right! Let's- oof!” Sweetie felt her magic suddenly pull against her, and she looked back to see Neiku had grasped Nimbus's hooves.

“Don't let go, Nimbus!”

Sweetie Belle groaned lightly, and slowly doubled her magic, slowly pulling Neiku back towards her.

“I'll never let go!” Nimbus assured. The two of them made eye contact. A moment was shared. Somewhere far away, a snail sighed.

“I... said... let's... GO!” Sweetie Belle cried out, and shoved all of her magic into pulling Neiku after her. Neiku's grip slipped, and he was flung into Sweetie causing them to fly out the door to the library. “NOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooo.......” Neiku's voice trailed away, leaving Apple Bloom and Snap Drop staring in shock at what happened while Nimbus and Scootaloo gave the incident a single thought. Then they moved on.

“Rather dramatic, I see... I like it!” Scootaloo said, laughing with Nimbus as she lightly tapped his shoulder.

Nimbus pretended to wear a hurt expression. “It's just... I told him I'd never let go! He was so young!” He cried in absolute seriousness... Then silence. Silence... Silence...

The two burst out cackling at their own cruel inside joke.

“You should have tried harder! He was your own cousin!” Scootaloo choked out between laughs.

“Why?” Nimbus said in a curious tone, concern drawn across his face.

“Well...” Scootaloo pushed herself up onto her front hooves. “She's been acting kind of... weird, since her showed up. I know I'm not exactly, y'know-”

“-Actually, I don't-” Nimbus added.

“- an expert when it comes to these things, but... I think Sweetie Belle might like him!” Scootaloo finished. Then an evil look crossed her face as the realization hit her.

“Wait... I like him! Why,, that little...”

“Uh, Scootaloo?” Nimbus said warily. Scootaloo looked up from her quick lapse.

“Huh? What?”

“You just said you... like Neiku?” Nimbus said in wonder.

Scootaloo's face lit up redder than than ever before. “W-what?! When did I- but that-” she stumbled over her words. Did I just say that out loud! Oh no, this is totally NOT cool!

“W-well I- it's just- I mean, not- YOU HAD BETTER NOT TELL ANYPONY!” Scootaloo screamed at Nimbus, pointing a hoof directly into his face. Nimbus laughed aloud as he gently nudged the hoof away.

“Now why would I do that? It'd ruin the fun of holding it over your head, threatening to use it against you unless you fulfill all of my deepest desires and fantasies in the most bizarre and potentially uncouth of ways-”

A dull thud echoed throughout the library. Nimbus's eyes widened at Scootaloo. A minute went by... Then another minute... And another...

Finally, Scootaloo pulled her jaw off of the floor, screaming at him with her hoof back in his face. “You- YOU PERV!”

Nimbus laughed. “You honestly thought I'd do that? I'm shocked! Flabbergasted! Astounded, to say the least!” Nimbus repeated his soft swipe, and looked straight into Scootaloo's eyes.

“I'd never really do something so shallow and cruel, Scootaloo. Promise.”

Wow, her eyes are... kinda pretty-

Nimbus shook away the thought. Nope, not gonna focus, not gonna fall-

“Really?” Scootaloo asked in surprise. Her bright purple eyes were pleading. She was honestly a little thrown off to hear him say he was joking. He did seem like the kind of colt to do something like that...

“Yeah, promise,” Nimbus assured.

“Pinkie Pie promise?” Scootaloo demanded, her face suddenly mere inches from Nimbus's muzzle.

“Uhh... what?”

“You know-” Scootaloo sighed before she recited the Pinkie Pie promise.

“Cross my heart and hope to fly-” she crossed her heart and flittered her wings quickly, hovering a half pace above the floor-

“Stick a cupcake in my-” she jabbed herself right in her eye.

“OW!” she yelled, falling to the floor. Nimbus laughed at her performance, but stopped immediately when he saw her face fall into an embarrassed tone.

“Eye, I assume?” Nimbus said as he gently trotted over to Scootaloo, who was doubled over. She was clearly upset that she'd just made a fool of herself, but for her to fall this far into self-disappointment was a little extreme.

Nimbus gently laid a hoof on her shoulder, causing her head to jolt to face him, surprise clearly drawn on her face.

“Well then, ay ay!” Nimbus smirked. “Pinkie Promise-” His words fell short as a hoof connected with the side of his face, throwing him a good four or five paces to the side.

“WHAT THE HAY WAS THAT FOR?!” he yelled at a now triumphant Scootaloo who was standing with a suddenly renewed pride and dignity.

“We're even now, duh,” she retorted. Nimbus just stared obliviously at her.

“... What?”

“We're even now,” she repeated. “I got hit in the face, you got hit in the face. E-VEN!”

Nimbus just continued staring at the obviously competitive mare, then burst out laughing hysterically. Scootaloo joined in, though more so because of the light bruise that was forming on Nimbus's weak hide.

Jeez, I didn't deck him THAT hard... Did I?

“Hey,” Nimbus said after a while, breaking the laughter rather abruptly. “Where's Snap Drop?”

“And where's Apple Bloom, too?” Scootaloo added.

. . . . . . . . . .

Apple Bloom and Snap Drop trotted slowly down the street through Ponyville. Neither of them dared to speak a word. Apple Bloom was scared that if she started talking to Snap, she'd scare him. Snap was just... well, Snap. He simply didn't talk.

The two of them followed the road as it headed towards Sweet Apple Acres. Still, both of them remained silent. As they passed by the High School, they could hear the rumbling of desperate mares trying to find Neiku. Apple Bloom giggled lightly to herself at the recent memory of how they'd caught Neiku. Scootaloo had clocked him with a board as he rounded a corner, and they five of them had drug him into a closet in the library.

Snap Drop realized Apple Bloom was giggling, and smiled. Her laugh is really sweet... He thought.

Apple Bloom saw Snap Drop begin to smile, and decided it was time to break the silence.

“Y'know, Snap, we don't really talk much for havin' known each other for such a lng time 'nd all.”

Snap blushed a little, but remained silent. Shestalkingtomeshestalkingtomeshestalkingtome...

“Snap?” Apple Bloom raised an eyebrow at Snap. The light gray-green of the colt in question's face was now completely red.

“Snap...” Apple Bloom repeated, and Snap suddenly jerked his head around to face her, seeming to snap out of a day dream or something similar.

“Hey,” Apple Bloom said suddenly, having an idea. “Why don't you come over 'ta my place! We could definitely use 'yer help on the farm n'all.”

Snap Drop seemed to ponder it over for a second. After a while, Apple Bloom barely caught a muttered I don't know...

“C'mon, Snap...” Apple Bloom gave him her most pleading look. “Pleeeaaase?”

Snap Drop took one look at her then sighed. He mustered up all of his courage just to squeak out on tiny word.

“...okay...”

Apple Bloom grinned ear-to-ear.

“Yay! Okay, then when we get there we can see if Big Mac needs some help first. You're strong enough to pull the plow, so...” And with that Apple Bloom was off, having quite a long-winded one-sided conversation with the colt she'd known for years.

Snap Drop smiled again. Maybe he could get to know Apple Bloom a little better. Maybe he could finally gather enough strength to talk with her. Maybe... Maybe...

Maybe.

. . . . .

Neiku sighed in defeat.

Sweetie Belle continued dragging him along behind her, pretending to be completely oblivious to his many, many, MANY desperate bids for freedom he'd been attempting recently. Other ponies had noticed though. Neiku was still receiving looks of pure pity from several adult ponies as Sweetie Belle drug him through town. Where she was taking him, he hadn't the slightest clue.

“So...” Neiku voiced, trying to at least start a conversation with his abductor. “Is there... anywhere in particular that we may be going?” Neiku waited for a response.

“It's my sister and I's place,” she responded after a time. “We need to discuss something,” she added, “and I couldn't think of anywhere else that would be private enough.

“A-huh...” Neiku grunted, being skipped over a rock in the path. His rump would have a decent welt on it soon.

Hmm, maybe it'll welt up where my cutie mark goes... Heh, I'll have a bruise for a cutie mark! What would that make my special talent, having a bruise cutie mark? And only having it on one side, too... Neiku chuckled to himself at his completely random thought.

“Something funny?” Sweetie Belle asked back to him.

What the- this mare be crazy! First she abducts me, then she wants to know about some little inside joke?! What next, she going to split my loins apart and bask in the- okay, a little gruesome, and anyways I am getting just a bit too worried about this. She probably just needs help with something a little embarrassing to talk about in front of other-

“Hey! I asked you a question!” Sweetie had stopped trotting along and was suddenly muzzle-to-muzzle with Neiku. His eyes shrunk in fear.

...She might be crazy yet...

“U-um, it was just a little joke in my head, miss...” Neiku gulped hard, trying to give an honest smile but it didn't really come out right.

“Okay...” Sweetie Belle said, raising an eyebrow at what he was doing with his lips. It looked like he just drank something really bitter and his mouth was doing everything in it's power to act as though it HADN”T drank manure. Odd comparison... Oh well, she added.

“And it's not miss, it's Sweetie Belle.”

“Neiku nodded slightly. “O-okay...” Oh sweet goddess of the stars, please please PLEASE don't let her do anything to me!

“SO, what were you laughing about?” Sweetie asked.

Crabapples... Neiku grimaced.

“It was nothing, really... just some stupid idea I came up with, honest!”

Sweetie Belle was having none of it.

“Tell me! Tell me!” She stamped her hoof on the ground hard for emphasis of her impatience. If Neiku had known her older sister, he probably would have thought she looked just like her right now.

“Well...” Neiku began, but halted when a new idea came to his mind.

“Well, if I'm going to tell you, then you have to release me from your magic first. It's a- um-”

C'mon, excuse... excuse... exc- brilliant!

“-it's a demonstration! I need to be able to move a bit to show you, ahehe...”

Sweetie Belle looked at him oddly, not fully convinced he wouldn't try and run away as soon as she released her grasp on him.

“How do I know you won't try and escape as soon as I let go?”

Eh, a direct approach works most of the time.

“I won't! I won't!” Neiku assured.

“Well... okay-”

Sweetie Belle let go of Neiku with her magic.

“But you better not... run off...” she said to empty space.

… I knew he would run off...

Neiku groaned loudly. Not only had Sweetie Belle caught him seconds after he'd bolted, but now she'd wrapped her tail around his neck and chest to ensure he couldn't run again. He was back to being stuck looking at the ground they'd already covered, sky they'd already passed by.

Her tail is soft... Neiku thought absentmindedly, having given up struggling. It kind of feels like cotton candy... It smells sweet, too. I wonder what shampoo she uses.

Sweetie Belle spoke up, kicking him from his thoughts.

“You never answered me!” she growled. “What was the joke?” She had quite the venom in her voice now.

“Oh, that... I was just thinking about what it'd be like if the ground pounded a cutie mark into my rump. A bruise for a cutie mark, funny stuff for me.” Neiku added a dry chuckle at the end, ready for some sour comment from his captor about what a stupid thought that was. He was almost a full-grown buck, and he still hadn't found his special talent. Yeah, he'd definitely heard THAT one before...

But instead of the heartless lecture he'd expected to hear from the mare, he was greeted by the sound of... was that laughter?

Neiku craned his head to the side just enough to hear a soft, honest laugh emanating from Sweetie Belle. Had she actually found his little daydream humorous?

“Yeah, and if it only came in on one side, that'd be good!” she added, still laughing.

“Yeah...” Neiku said. “I'm sorry, but did you actually think that was funny?”

“What? Of course I did, cuz it WAS!” Sweetie Belle laughed a bit more, and Neiku joined in. It felt good laughing, after the terrifying past five minutes.

After a short while, Sweetie Belle stopped walking. They'd stopped in front of a huge building with a sign out front identifying it as a fashion boutique. Sweetie Belle shuffled on her hooves.

“This is where I live... Now, if I let you go do you promise not to try and run away again? I don't want to have to explain this to Rarity if she sees you like this, but I will if I have to!”

Neiku shrugged (in his head, of course. Sweetie Belle wouldn't have been able to see it if he'd actually shrugged). Might as well let her trust him, and plus: she'd laughed at his joke. It might be simple, but if this high-class pony thought his little thought was funny, he should give her a chance.

“Sure. Promise.”

“I don't believe you...” Sweetie Belle thought aloud.

“Then don't release me,” Neiku stated blankly. “I don't think I have any other word in the matter.” With that, he stopped talking, letting Sweetie Belle make up her mind.

Sweetie Belle sighed, giving in to him. She unwrapped her tail from around him and, with a slight hesitation, released her magic. She expected him to immediately taker off into the sky, but much to her surprise Neiku stood up and flexed his wings, shaking some dirt and dust from his lower backside.

After he was relatively clean, Neiku looked up at Sweetie Belle.

“Alright, let's go.”

With that, Sweetie Belle led him inside of the Carousel Boutique.

Sweetie Belle probably should have prepared Neiku one teeny tiny factor.

Her older sister.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

A/N: I waaas planning on having this chapter be a long one, but what-with starting my job this week and having an all-day JROTC competition, I couldn't really get much more than this written... But never fear! I shall have another chapter ready next weekend! Hopefully a little longer than this one... Anyways, you like the plot set-up at the beginning of the chapter? Hmm, Passion has a dark past... We just might see more of that in chapters to come! FightorFlyT out!
xD

Comments

[FightorFlyT]

1416481

as one of the few people who read my story, let me give you a special alert! Chapter 2 is live!
haha but I must warn you, it's not as big as I initially planned...

[shadowxlocket]

1436788
really good and thanks for the special alert really good so far
Keep up the good work

[arcake07]

this is good