Earth—|| Eagle, Colorado, 81631
Ten-year-old Tomas Raines was nobody all that memorable, although he was quite fit and strong physically. He was, however, well known to those tourist hikers as well as the local National Parks Ranger Squads for several dozen miles sound as the town he lived in was barely 6,000 people.
He stood slightly over five feet tall and had wild, untamed dark auburn hair that was almost the shade of dark burgundy but was tipped by deep, bright silver tips where it hung in messy waves almost to the middle of his back.
His eyes were a startling deep golden amber that faded to a soft pale goldenrod near the edges of his irises. He wore a reflective pale gold and orange vest over his usual dark brown hiking vest and pale tan hiking cargo jeans and boots as he was assisting a group of officers in warning about a recent landslide on this particular mountain road that had a drop over the guardrail of just under three miles straight to the forests below.
He heard a curse as a sharp thumping report echoed as he spun. In that moment, he felt a dull burning sensation intensify in his chest; he knew it wasn't heartburn, as it didn't rise from his gut but started over his heart and spread over his body as he instinctively reacted as he knew his adoptive parents wouldn't like him doing what he was doing as his eyes narrowed as he saw the sparks flying from beneath the oncoming car as well as how the rear end was snapping around.
“Broken axle on the front left, from what I can tell, likely snapped right behind the brake rotor. Tire blew suddenly, though from that cute passenger's reaction, her seatbelt locked up on her,” he analyzed quickly, not even realizing he was daring towards the vehicle in what most would have called a very stupid, reckless charge. He drew his hiking knife, a short four-inch blade, as he planted his feet before pushing off, vaulting up the hood though he lost his footing and tripped over the windscreen before tumbling into the car. He heard a yelping gasp as he landed upside down in the beautiful teal haired passenger's lap, his gaze meeting her startled blue eyes for a few scant seconds, before he swiped the blade and cleanly severed the seatbelt before he saw the blonde grab his knife before he felt the young woman jerked from beneath him.
Unfortunately for him, when the blonde did so, it spun him and his left elbow slid into the gap between the seat and the passenger door.
”Kusō, gaki!! Hiku anata jishin muryō!!” he heard the blond yell, spotting her bluish gray eyes on him.
“I don't know what you said! But… I get the gist of it… unfortunately… I'm pinned!” he yelled before everything went dark for him as he heard an echoing crash of metal and the grinding of rock before he heard a feminine yell that seemed to trial after him into the void of unconsciousness.
Tomas POV
My eyes fluttered open, though the first thing that crossed my mind was how much my body ached. The second, however, was how my left elbow felt…. strange. I flexed my fingers on my right hand, finding that my arm and shoulder on that side was extremely sore, as well as noticing the intravenous line before my gaze drifted to my left arm… or more precisely…. what was left of it.
Inches of bandages wound around my upper arm around three quarters of the way down my upper arm and bicep. My eyes widened in shock before I heard the sharp inhalation of surprise. My head snapped around before I groaned as pain surged through my head, setting it to pounding painfully.
“Anata wa kōun'na. Tashika ni anata no ude totta saiaku no jidōsha jiko, gō niku… Anata no hiji to kawan hidoku tsubureta soshite…… suru koto ga. ... Setsudan sa reta... Anata o sukuu tame ni,” the young woman spoke. Her wavy deep teal hair falling to just above her shoulders caught my eye as did her deep oceanic blue eyes.
“Yeah…. Uh…. I have no idea what you said. I don’t speak Japanese very well… about the only word I recognized was ‘anata’... which I assume whatever you’re referring to has to do with me,” I croaked with a grimace.
“Oh…. I apologize. Haruka and I are rarely in America, so we don’t often speak English. Well… American English, that is,” she said with a grimace. I noticed her accent, which was somewhat strong, yet I noticed hints of a British accent blending smoothly with the Japanese accent. She stood, picking up a nearby glass of water with a straw. “Drink slowly, now. You’ve been unconscious for several days, and when you weren’t, you were rather… delirious,” she said kindly.
I carefully sipped at the water, sighing softly as the cool water soothed my dry, burning throat. From the hoarseness of my voice, I assumed that I’d had a breathing tube in my throat at some point.
“What about my…. parents? Have they… come?” I said hesitantly. I noticed she frowned almost immediately at my question as if it annoyed her.
“I would have thought that they would have come for their only child, but they haven’t shown up yet,” she said softly, her tone gentle, apparently trying to keep me calm.
“Figures… they adopted me when they found they couldn’t have a second child… yet I tend to look after myself more than they do… they have an older child… sixteen or seventeen… hell, that team of Rangers I work with sometimes is more of a family than the one who’s supposed to be taking care of me,” I muttered with a bit of anger but loneliness was more noticeable in my voice.
I felt her squeeze my remaining hand gently, obviously trying to comfort me. “The saddest part… is I can’t play a bloody guitar with one hand. Drums… I probably could… like that guy from Def Leppard that lost his arm, yet…. I prefer the guitar more,” I said softly, feeling prickling at the corners of my eyes as I saw her smiling softly.
“You’re like Haruka and I then… you have a passion for music, don’t you? Oh, I am Kaioh Michiru… I believe the English translation would be Michelle. We can pay for some of your medical bills thanks to some of our own concerts we have held, and from what I heard, the Ranger teams of the area are gathering money to pitch in as well. Also, I hear that they are working on a prosthetic arm for you… one that hopefully will be able to work as feasibly as a normal arm,” Michiru said.
I sighed, unsure about taking their charity. I grimaced as my eyes fluttered shut. “I don’t see how, though I don’t know much about prosthetics. I do, however, know they can’t work without… a power source,” I muttered.
I heard Michiru’s voice gain a teasing quality. “Perhaps you’re unique… like myself and Haruka,” she said with an amused edge to her voice. Something felt like she was hiding something with that comment, as if she knew something I didn’t. “Why do I feel so…. weak? Like something is… missing from my body? Something essential, yet… part of me,” I thought, cautious and confused.
Several Years Later --- Canterlot High School
True to Michiru’s words, the Rangers and Michiru, along with Haruka, did end up satisfactorily paying my medical bills, though they claimed I was a hero for saving Michiru and Haruka, whom are now more like older sister figures to me. Indeed, they did give me an advanced prosthetic, with an odd gemstone as the core. It looks like a Fire Opal blended with a Black Opal, yet has the odd color qualities of both and a normal ‘White’ Opal as well. Strangely, the arm, while removable, feels almost natural, as if it is part of me.
This will be the first time in a few years that I’ve been to a proper ‘public’ school as I have been ridiculed for the prosthetic arm, though it does make for a comedic prank to stumble and let the arm detach and freak people out. I have to admit that this school seems… energetic. The feel of the energy in the air seems… almost relaxed, yet there is an odd undercurrent of tension, as if there is something that doesn’t quite feel… normal. As if there is something dormant, yet merely sleeping here.
