Raven $age & the Other Dimension:
Trouble in the City...
(a steampunk tale)
by svb
Raven runs into a little trouble trying to get out of the city...
(by the way, i changed the part of the story about Raven having a lot of money. she actually has no money, so she has to steal to survive)
Raven glanced around at the view of the city before her. It was definitely crazy. Maybe it was better to escape at night, she thought. But the problem was, her guardian would be home at night by the time the city cleared up. Besides, it was better to escape through a large crowd so that she wouldn't be noticed too much, and not suspected of escaping the polluted, enclosed city by the floating cameras that spied for her master, Zoell.
As Raven thought about things, she walked down the stairs of her front porch. When she got to the bottom, young men and women pushed past her saying, "move it!" Raven ignored their calls and pushed through the crowd in a harsh manner. As she passed through, people didn't notice her. She was right. Walking through a large crowd during the day assured that she wouldn't be noticed by people who were always sidetracked by something or other. But she knew that there were many different kinds of people in the crowds that she couldn't see. Some were clever stalkers, or foes. They always walked through the large crowds to prevent themselves from being seen by the person they were stalking. So it was also dangerous to walk in a crowd at mid-sun. The stalkers were clever as well as Raven in thinking about the idea of "large crowds." When Raven finally came out of the crowd, she gasped with breath.
"Wow," she said to herself.
She glanced around. She found herself on a long, narrow street where all the small, portable marketplaces were usually held during festivals. She had gone to one of these festivals before, but found them quite boring and expensive.
Raven slowly walked down the empty street, aware of stalkers. She was also aware of scared people who would think she was a stalker herself. It made sense. People would think that she was a stalker, especially when they saw her in a black bird mask. As soon as Raven got to the end of the street, someone suddenly stopped her.
"Hello mistress, lady with that fine bird mask," she said in a witch-like tone of voice.
Raven spun around in shock. When she saw that an old lady was all that stood before her, she sighed. "What is it?" she said with a little roll of her eyes.
The lady was silent for a few heartbeats.
"I want to warn you..." she finally spoke. "I sense that you are up to something. You mustn't go! Youuuu..." she pointed her finger at Raven's chest and began to laugh evilly.
Raven slowly backed away.
"Never mind then," she said.
She turned around and began to to speed away, hoping that the creepy old lady would leave her alone. But under all the fast walking she did, she felt a bony hand on her shoulder. She abruptly stopped and her pupils grew rounder. She turned to the lady.
"What do you want from me!? All my money? I'll give it to you."
Raven took her bag from around her neck and and emptied it out into the lady's hand.
"There. Now be happy and stay happy," Raven said calmly.
The old lady chuckled.
"Why, thank you." she said in a seething tone. "But I need one more thing..."
Raven sighed. "Oh, what now?"
She looked down at one of the old lady's trembling hands. It was holding a dagger of its own. Raven gave a silent gasp as she spotted the dagger. The old lady chuckled again as she held the dagger up to her face. "I need blood! Blood!!! Blood I say! I need it to complete my mana potion!"
Raven stumbled back and drew out her own dagger.
"I say NAY!"
But the woman jumped out at her with an unpitying scream.
"I want your blood!!!" she screamed.
She struck Raven across the face causing some blood to spit. Raven did the same, but missed. She suddenly remembered the little golden box she had stuck in her pocket earlier. She took it out, but when she did, the old lady's dagger sliced her hand causing her to drop it. Raven staggered back and watched the lady pick up the box. She whispered, "no!"
The lady laughed.
"Aye, these boxes can only be opened by magic. That just proves you have magic since you have one! That is why I want your blood."
She slowly approached Raven with an evil grin on her face. She took her hand and squeezed it at her hardest. Raven screamed of pain. She didn't know what to do, but when her eyes caught sight of a fast moving hover car, her hopes rose and she knew just what to do. She studied the car with pain throbbing at her hand. But besides that, she noticed the car swerving in a common pattern that Raven knew, from her life experiences, was the drunk drivers' drive. As she studied it, she began to get an idea of which side it was going to pass Raven and the lady. It was going to pass about six feet to her right, she thought. She waited, listening to the oblivious woman chuckling to herself, collecting her share of blood. When the car was close enough to Raven, she suddenly threw the lady harshly to her right. The lady was shocked, and screamed for one short second until the speeding car hit her full force.
Raven grinned and looked around. She spotted the box which the lady took from her and said a few words. She threw the little box down on the floor and it suddenly folded out a couple hundred times until it formed into a tiny aircraft. It had two wings and a hole for legs to fit in at the top. Also at the top were handles to hold. Not to mention, there were a pair of goggles for Raven to wear on the windy ride she took on the tiny airplane. She hopped onto the plane, lifted off and flew away.
Raven $age & the Other Dimension:
Part 1: Trouble in the City
Part 2: The Adventure Takes Flight
Part 3: Flying
*a raw e-fiction post - not yet edited or reviewed
