Strange Town

by general_bad

Chapter 5 - Friendship is Lies Part 8

Author's Note:

if you are reading this than thanks for making it this far. i never thought anyone would read to this point... although i think i said this in chapter 4.

these first 5 chapters where supposed to be so much smaller in comparison to how they turned out. the real meat of the story starts after this... or at least that's how it is planned in my head. i don't think the next two chapters will be as long as this although the thing that takes up the most words is when characters interact. something that will be happening much more frequently from this point on.... probably

either way, thanks for reading this story. i really enjoy writing it and will continue to do so for a long time... no matter how long it takes.

i don't write for views, i write for me. even if no one ever read this i had a story idea and i wanted to throw it out there.

Strange Town 005 part 8

Chapter 5 - friendship is Lies (part 8)

Scree, The large bug like creature lies on the floor, a broken charred mess barely clinging to life. I had only just managed to pull out a win as I trapped him in an inferno I had constructed around him when suddenly another of these creatures had appeared just a few feet behind me as I thought I had won.

(shit!... I thought I killed them all. Was this one hiding in a corner or something?) I frustratingly thought as he stood behind me.
(how did he get so close without me noticing? The lighter didn't even react... No wait, that's because his not using any magic. Right now he's in his natural form. It only detects them when they disguise themselves with magic.)

Usually I'm one to welcome a fight but right now I was completely worn out. My arm's and torso were still considerably bruised from the beating I received earlier. I would have thought the lighter would have healed me completely by now but it hadn't. I had also used every last trick I had to beat Scree, another fight right away just wasn't something I could handle.

Despite my tired state I stood up straight and put on as much confidence I could muster. My plan was to try and bluff my way through this. Even if he wasn't as strong as Scree I was simply exhausted.
"if you think you stand a chance against me, I strongly suggest consulting your charred friend about it first." I confidently said as I motioned to Scree's burnt dying body.

"you did it!..." the new bug said in astownment. There was an odd look of joy in his eyes, despite what's happened to his friend he seemed oddly happy.
"against commonsense... Against all the odds... You actually triumphed!"

He's odd behaviour was freaking me out. Was he trying to confuse me... Because it was working.
But before I could dwell on the new bugs appearance some more a ragged dying voice from behind caught my attention.

"Mes...Messenger... You do-... Don't stand a.... Chance" Scree struggled to say as he lay broken on the floor.
"...tell-'KOFF!'... Tell... The others.. ...Let the.. R-Royal-"
After that it just turned into a fit of dry coughs.

The sound of approaching footsteps brought my attention back to the new bug who was walking towards me.
(Shit! I don't know how much more I can take. Just gonna have to deal with it!) I thought as I raised my arms to fight.

He approached as I waited for him to strike. Except, once he made it to me he kept going. He simply walked passed me and instead went to Scree's side before crouching down and lifting his head gently.

(No! Is he gonna take Scree and run. Scree knows my identity, if he gets away it's over. ...Actually, depending on how long this new ones been around I might have to kill him to... Even if I'm out of energy) I decisively thought as I got ready to chase them.
But something was off as the new bug held an arm above Scree.

"Your ruining this moment for me" the new bug said with a frown. And with that he thrust his claws down, straight into Scree's throat.
Scree's eyes went wide as green blood sprayed from his throat, covering his body. The new bug dropped him as he combust, green flames consuming his body.

I stood there confused as to what was going on. Before I could even grasp the situation he pointed a hand towards the pod they had tried to put me in. A green glow flew from his hand and towards it, upon impact the pod burst apart. The remains quickly degenerated before dissolving.

"I didn't think I would get another chance to talk to you" The new bug said.

"...What are talking about?" I curiously asked. "We've never spoken before."

"We have, but not in this form." The bug answers. "Ever since I first saw you I've been fascinated by you. By your style, by why you do what you do, how you can do it." There was a look in his eyes I had never seen before... Well I had, but never directed at me. It was admiration.

His words sounded familiar, suddenly I recognized were I had heard them as he continued.

"You have the only thing I want, the only thing I crave... Freedom. The freedom to do as you please. No matter the consequences, No matter the odds. You do it anyway and succeed." He continued in a enthusiastic tone.

I had remembered where I heard most of this from. Part of it from him, an the other part was from me.
"Your that boy from yesterday. The one with silver hair." I stated.

"That's right. We spoke yesterday during your lunch hour at school" He replied. "The boy who's form I copied was named Silver Streak. Besides how he acts the only thing I didn't get right was his eye colour. I'm not very good at transforming, I can only get it to last about 30 minutes and my eyes always end up silver like my true forms. But that was fine, it's not like you could tell the difference."

"Maybe not, but I did know you were acting odd. You willingly spoke to me, Already that was a red flag. I even suspect you were one of those bug creatures." I replied.

"Yes, I was following the one that had been stalking you. Imagine my surprise when you not only kill him, but you turned out to be responsible for blowing the whistle on the ones hiding at Bullworks Street." He said with amazement.
"It did inconvenience me a bit though since I had to restart my search to find these guy's, but nothing I couldn't handle."

"So you were aware of me since yesterday. Does that mean you followed me around today hoping they would target me again. And why were you after this lot?" I questioned, still uncertain as to his goal.

"No, I didn't follow you during school. I overheard you in your conversation with the one following you from yesterday about how you were somehow aware of him. Maybe you were bluffing, but I wasn't gonna risk it. It also doesn't help that my disguise doesn't last longer than 30 minutes. It was just chance that I came across you as Scree lead you here. I followed from a distance and have been watching you all through a skylight." He answered as he pointed to the roof.

"Why are you telling me all this?" I curiously asked, still not sure why he seemed non-hostile. "I have killed 5 of your kind already. Why are you talking to me? What do you hope to accomplish?"

"What do I want?..." he replied with a thoughtful look. "...I already told you that. I want what you have, freedom. For now I won't go into further detail than that. But I want to know, how far you can go?"

"how far I can go?" I repeated.

"Yes, can you do it. You already managed 5, but can you kill the rest? Can you wipe out the rest of us?" he asked with a serious expression.

(what is he talking about. Is he trying to decide whether or not I'm an enemy?...No! it almost sounds like he wants me to kill the rest of his kind, but that can't be right.) I thought.

While I stood there confused, he continued. "As of this moment no one besides me is aware of you. I have no intention of informing the others of you, but I can't allow you to inform the public of our existence either. That is why I removed both the pod and Scree. If you want you can just simply walk away, It may be in your best interest to do so. I know you probably don't care about the missing people so I don't know why you wouldn't walk away."

There was a brief pause before he continued.
"But... If you do choose to stay, to hunt the rest of my kind. I will help you. I'm no good in a fight, but I can give you information."

After a moment to think I replied.
"your joking! You don't honestly think I would fall for such an obvious lie? Why would you want me to kill the rest of your kind? It's clear you think you don't stand a chance against me and are just stalling for time."

"oh? It's true I wouldn't want to take you on, but in your current condition even I could kill you. There's nothing I would want more than to kill you and take your place in life, but that wouldn't solve my problem. I want to live freely, but currently I can't do that. That's why I need your help!" he replied.

While vague he seemed to be telling the truth, but I was still unsure of what to do. I hadn't planed for this, could I just walk away... Probably. But he was a liability.

As I thought about my options he continued.

"You don't have to give me an answer right away, take some time to think about it. We can meet back here Monday morning." he said as he turned to leave.

"Monday? How do I know your not just setting a trap!" I suspiciously accused him.

"I already said I won't to into detail. But right now your my only hope at freedom!" he answered as his wings began buzzing. "It's not much but I will tell you this. Our species, were know as Changlings."
His wings spread out and soon began buzzing.

"Tell me!" I interrupted before he could leave. "What is your name?"

Slightly turning his head towards me, he answered. "one of my position was not worth the effort to be named, Instead I'm called by my title. For most my life it was Tunneller, although recently it has been Messenger."
And with that he then lifted off the ground and flew through the open skylight, leaving the warehouse.

For a moment I stood there and thought about everything he told me.
(Changling?... Messenger?... Should I just walk away?... Can I?... As long as his alive his a liability. They could come for me at any time. But I think he was being honest when he said he had no interest in telling the others about me... He also seemed way to honest when he said he wants to kill the rest of his kind... If I did come back Monday there's a high possibilities it could be a trap... Although if that were the case he could've taken me now."

I wasn't sure what he was after but he claimed it was freedom, and that somehow it involved killing the rest of his kind. Although how the two things were related was still a mystery. One thing I did gain however was a name, Changling.

Deciding I would think about this all later I gathered my things. By this I meant my jacket, or what remained of it. Luckily I had moved everything I had stored in it to my pockets... Because all that remained of my jacket was the cross emblem that had been torn off. The rest were ashes from my fiery stunt.
"And I just had it repaired to." I said to myself. "I wonder if the Carosal Boutique is still open?"

Using a cup I found next to a bag of sugar I scooped up some of the ashes. I knew my jacket couldn't actually be repaired but I had a lot on my mind.
It took a little longer to leave as I had forgotten that I chained the door shut. But with a little effort I busted the lock and left the warehouse. I was much happier than I though I would be to leaving that dusty old building. Unfortunately I forgot how long the walk to my car would take.

The sun was almost completely down by the time I made it to my car, and as much as I would like to go straight home there was something I had to do first. Well, not had to, but I would prefer to get it out of the way. I headed to the Carousel Boutique. Hopefully it's not closed.

It didn't take long to arrive at my destination and it seemed I was in luck. Rarety was just leaving but she hadn't locked up yet. She was fiddling with the keys at the front door when I ran up to here with my glass of jacket ashes.

She hadn't noticed me approach as she seemed occupied.
"Hey!" I abruptly said as I slammed my arm against the door to gain her attention"

"AHHHHHHH!" Rarety screamed hystericaly as she placed her arms over her head defensively.
"TAKE MY MONEY! JUST PLEASE DON'T TOUCH MY CLOTHES"

"...what?... No! I'm a customer..." I clarified to the startled girl. in hindsight I get that maybe my approach was a little forceful but I saw her closing up and panicked... I've had a stressful day.

"oh... A customer..." Rarety said as she gladly calmed down an began to turn towards me. "You startled me. For a moment I thought you were gonna-... AAHHHHHHH!"
The moment she saw me she screamed.

"Well I see your customer service skills haven't improved." I said sarcastically.

"Cross!... Your clothes! Your-... What happened to you!" Rarety asked, probably more concerned for my clothes.

Rolling my eyes I replied, making no attempt to be convincing in my lie. "...My shirt fell down some stairs..."
Zero effort was put into this story. But she does have a tendency to go overboard when fashion is involved.

With a confused look she hesitantly replied. "wha... But your bruised... And bleeding!"

"What? No that bloods dry, it's just from-!" I stopped mid sentence as I focused on where she was looking. To my surprise she was right. My arms were still bruised from my fight with Scree, same with my torso but she couldn't see most of that. My chest was still lightly bleeding from from the claw marks I received in my chest when he had grabbed the lighter from me as well.
This was disturbing, surely I should had healed up by now but I hadn't. I could still feel the gentle warmth of the lighter but nothing was happening.

"look..." began to reply as I thought up an excuse. But then I remembered I didn't need one.
"...I'm actually not gonna answer that. Not because I don't have a reason, I just don't wanna tell you."

She seemed a little annoyed with my response but I didn't care as I held out the glass of ashes with my jackets emblem stuffed in it out to her.

"...what's this? A glass of dirt?" she hesitantly asked as she took the glass. "oh! This is from your jacket. Did it get torn off? Let me guess, you want me to fix it back up... For free! Even after you made me walk to school and STOLE my bag. I was stressed all morning! And what exactly em I supposed to sew this to? Did you even bring the rest of the jacket?" she continued, getting aggressively louder as she did. Clearly she hadn't gotten over any of our previous encounters.

Ignoring her hysterics I replied... Well, Corrected. "firstly. Thats not a glass of dirt, it's a glass of ashes. And secondly.... You are holding my jacket!... Well, what's left of it."

Confused, Rarety looked to the glass of ashes before turning back to me with an inquisitive look. But before she could say anything I interrupted.
"yeah, look. Just like why I'm bruised and bleeding I'm not gonna answer. Not only don't I have to tell you anything, I don't wanna tell you anything." I said as I began to walk away.

"And why should I fix your jacket?" Rarety called out as I was leaving.

"Same reason you did it the first time." I reminded her. "Besides, this time there's no conditions to how you do it so it's likely you'll get paid. I don't care if you make it from scratch or Frankenstein it together from others. Just have it ready by Tommorow morning."

"Tommorow? You can't be serious" Rarety replied.

"I'm willing to pay good money. Well, that and you know how clumsy I get when I don't have my jacket." I reminded her.

She seemed annoyed by my last words as I left but didn't have anything more to say... Well, she probably did but didn't say them as to be more civil.

I had a lot on my mind when I got home, mums car was in the drive way but it seemed she had already headed off to bed. It was still fairly early but she had a tendency to run herself ragged. Dad was still at work so it was basically just me which I'm used to.
I took a shower to wash away the blood and dirt that accumulated throughout the day and threw away my ruined shirt. Two shirts in two days. I should probably be more careful.

After that I bandaged up the claw marks and made myself an easy dinner before heading to my room. I had a lot on my mind, mostly about how unhappy I was with how today went. That fact that I was forced to make friends even if it was fake pissed me off, but the real issue was what Scree had said.

He was right. At some point I reached what I thought was my peak and stopped trying. Because of that I slowly but surely lost my edge, even if I was at my best I wouldn't have been able to take him. My fights in school seem rather petty when compared to him.

Actually it was the slow realisation I had throughout this whole week that annoyed me the most. I felt like I was losing control. From getting constantly surprised from these changlings to Principles Celestia's weird ways of dealing with me. My attitude certainly didn't help me either. It was the main reason I got into a lot of messes.

(...What em i gonna do about that Silver eyed changlings offer? ...Messenger?...) I thought. (...Should I bother to go after them? At this point was there even a reason? Maybe someone else will deal with them.)
I was still undecided on what to do about them, but I did decide on one thing.

(Even if I leave the changling thing alone, Scree was right. No! This week I realised something. I'm not at the top. I'm good, but I'm not the best. I need to aim to improve myself, and not just physically but mentally. If I was doing better at school than maybe I wouldn't have to deal with annoying things. Maybe I wouldn't be making dumb choices all the time like when I let Scree take me to his hideout. Sure I managed thanks to some quick thinking, but it's more like I just got lucky. I got lucky a bunch of times.)
Before I decide if I'll continue hunting changlings I decided I would first focus on me. I wasn't to sure where to start but that was fine, there was no wrong place and luckily I had many flaws... Even if I was only starting to realise them.

(But before I go to bed there was something else I have to do!) I thought as I looked at my Grandfathers book beside me. (maybe I won't be getting involved with those changlings again, but just in case I should learn what I can.)

My Grandfathers book. 'The Weird, Wacky and Wonderful encyclopedia of Creatures, Creations, and Culture from Another World. Another Time or What Time Forgot!... Vol 1-ish'. It was much more detailed than I was expecting. It contained a lot of things I had never heard of... And we're probably imaginary. Due to how thick the book was it probably would have taken all night if I didn't know what I was looking for. It also helped that it was in alphabetical order.

And to my surprise I found what I was looking for. On the page was a sketch of a bipedal insect like creature. It's armoured skin black like the night with a twisted jagged horn and holes placed throughout its arms and legs. A Changling.

(maybe Grandpa wasn't as crazy as everyone claimed he was) I thought as I began to read. The chapter on changlings was fairly long, complete with diagrams. but I was determined to learn all I could.

It wasn't much, but that night it felt like I was starting to move forwards for once.

Comments

[Makati 46]

I like the story, it has a bunch of things going for it through you do have a habit of capitalizing some words in the middle of a sentence. Overall, keep it up!!!

[Echonic]

not bad at all.. i'm kinda still getting used to the main character but he's pretty cool.

[Donovan77]

Do you think to continue with this story? is that it has been more than a year since you update.