//------------------------------// // 0- Prologue // Story: Bound by Scales // by FrostTheWolf //------------------------------// Bound by Scale- Prologue         Hello. For those who are reading this, Let me begin by properly introducing myself. My name is Ken Ahkrin. I’m twenty years old, live in San Francisco and a college student at a small town community college. Let me begin my story with what I think about life… Not exactly my life, but Life in general.         Life to me is like a good song and it’s melody and beat being like a pulsing heart. No matter the genre of that song, the instruments that are used or the lyrics that are said, different songs reflect upon different moral values. Some say for us to be brave. Others say for us to have a sense of clarity.         Right now, I need something to help me deal with airport craziness. Kids are crying, people are angry, the whole nine yards. I personally just needed some quiet and hopefully, things right now would work out just fine.         Again, I said hopefully. I’m right now in Tokyo International Airport with the rest of my foreign language class. Waiting for the plane coming from San Francisco to touch down so we could be the next ones to board. But currently, it’s already ten minutes late and as I look outside the window, mother nature is beginning to kick up some wind and rain.         That’s alway not a good sign.         I placed my headphones on my head, trying to block out the noise around me as I got up to stretch my legs. Taking out my Ipod, I hit shuffle, then skipped the first two songs. I decided to stick with the third one though. “Blossom” by Au5. Mainly because of the beat and melody of the music reminding me of japanese culture. Which is fitting since it was spring and when the cherry blossom trees in Japan were in full bloom. Seems relaxing right?         Well, almost. There was too much going on in the loading gate where our class was waiting, So I looked around and discovered a gift shop within the nearby vicinity. Back home, I don’t have many “Souvenirs” for me to keep because my father back home see’s it as an unnecessary waste of money. But as I enter the store and wandered around, I noticed something that caught my attention.         It was a silver wristband that was shaped to resemble a dragon. The colors of the piece reminded me of a scale hide and it looked very majestic based on appearance.         What a strange heirloom… Maybe the shopkeeper knows something about it.         There’s only one problem though. I can’t speak Japanese. True, I know a few certain phrases like “Hello” and “How are you”, but I’m not exactly what you would call fluent. At times, I have to ask my teacher for her help or use a english to japanese dictionary that I kept on my like it was a wallet. It was pocket size and I had post it tabs on where the most important phrases and sayings were. Now, I just had to memorize which ones to memorize before going to the register. But remembering the phrases and saying them? They’re two separate things.         I slowly walked up to the counter, pausing my music and taking off my headphones out of respect and courtesy. The person at the counter looked to be in their late thirties, wore a pair of khakis and a navy collared shirt with a face and gaze that reminded me of Hideo Kojima, the creator of Metal Gear Solid. In addition, given the muffins crumbs that I saw by his nametag, it seemed like he just came back from his lunch break.         “E-excuse me-.” I muster, trying to remember the right terminology to address him. But the cashier threw me a curveball with his response to my broken japanese.         “You must be a tourist,” He spoke to me, in perfect english no less. “Don’t worry, this happens often with visitors from America.”         I breathed out a sigh of relief, which I thought was necessary at the time. “It’s okay. Anyways, sir,” I addressed him, setting the wristband on the counter. “How much is this?” He picked it up, taking a few moments to inspect the craftsmanship. Smiling, he set the piece down and soon pressed a few keys on the register with his fingers. The numbers on the screen soon came to life as they appeared on the teller. However, I’m not a calculator and I honestly can’t tell what the exchange rate between Yen and Dollars are.         “Umm, how much is that in US currency?”         “Twenty dollars.” He replied, pressing another few keys to show the converted amount on the register. I pulled out a twenty dollar bill and exchanged it with him for my purchase. He asked if I would like a bag to carry it in, but I politely declined. I was going to wear the piece anyway, so there wasn’t a point in putting it in a bag. Placing the band on my right wrist, I slowly began to walk back towards my original seat. Only to see a bulletin appear from the Airport as soon as I sit back down.         The notice was on the plane I was suppose to catch. As the weather picked up outside, the crying of children became louder along with the anger of multiple passengers waiting to get onboard a flight. Looking up, the smile I used to have five seconds ago turned into a frown when I saw the new message.         Due to current weather conditions, all flights to the Western United States and across the pacific are cancelled.         “Well crap…” I curse mentally. Shifting a little once I sat back down, I try to ignore what’s going on around me. My classmates in my opinion are just a bunch of idiots and backstabbers. I’m not really on the best of terms with them, mainly because they either try to spread rumors about me or trick me into making me think that I’m their friend so they can use me. But I know better than that.         Besides that though, my life was once alright. Again, once alright. My parents… well, I don’t talk much about them. Mom works overseas in England, sending home money to help support the family. Dad works for the state of California throughout most days, thankful enough to where he gets the weekends off. He and I get along normally, but a good way to describe his emotions is like the only line I remember from Forrest Gump.         It’s like a box of chocolates. You don’t know what you’re gonna get.         For me, what I am getting is being stuck in a japanese airport with my class and from the looks of it, we don’t know when we'll be heading home just yet. Great…         Around now though, I begin to hear something… Something that sounded like growling or snarling. At first, I thought it was my stomach since I had not eaten anything yet. But as time progressed and the growling persisted, it was beginning to sound less… human. It almost made me think of Smaug from the Hobbit. Getting up, I rushed over to the bathroom that was across the room. Once at the sink, I took some water and splashed in my face. But it didn't do anything to deal with the noises.         However, I began to feel something… strange with my right arm. It felt really itchy, almost if the skin was peeling off or if a snake was shedding skin. That’s was when I actually looked down at my arm and saw what was happening.         It was shedding and the wristband I bought was now beginning to glow. “What the hell-!?”         My vision now started to blur and I began to feel dizzy, falling to my knees. Was I hallucinating? Is this actually happening to me? What the Hell is going on-!?!         All I remember afterwards is a few words that were placed in my head as my face hit the tiled floor. The Pact is now forged.