Fursekai: Volume 1

1

"Don't worry Mom, I'll be fine." The sixteen year old boy says as his mother hugs him.

"I know. But a monther can't help but worry. It'll be two weeks before I can hold you again so I'm not letting go until the last minute." His mother replies.

"I'll miss you too Mom." The boy says, hugging her back.

"Hey, Hunter! It's time to go!" Someone calls from outside.

"I think that's the last minute." Hunter says.

"I know." His Mom replies as she slowly lets go of him.

"I'll see you in two weeks Mom." Hunter greets his mother as he leaves the house.

Outside is minibus with a camping trailer attached.

"You ready to hit the road?" A boy around the same age as Hunter asks.

"All ready." Hunter replies.

The boy then helps Hunter put his bags into the trailer before they get into the van.

The boy's name is William.

"Hunter. Come sit next to me." A young girl says, patting the seat next to her.

"Hey there Elaine." Hunter replies, taking the seat next to her.

"You really should stop spoiling her like that." A young woman says, pinching Hunter's cheak.

"I'm sorry Jen. Can you please let go of me?" He apologizes.

With a satisfied smirk Jen let's go of him.

In the van are a total of eight people.

They are: Hunter, age sixteen. Maria, age sixteen. Elaine, age fifteen. Johnny, age fifteen. Jennifer, age twenty. William, age sixteen. Esmeralda, age thirty nine. And Robert, age forty.

In case you haven't noticed, they're all family. With the exception of Hunter that is. Although he's like an honorary member.

"Let's get this roadtrip started!" Robert says, his hearty voice booming throughout the entirety of the van.

And so they start their trip. With laughter and cheerful singing.

But, around dusk of that same day everything would change.

As the sun was setting with a bright orange glow, they were driving around the bend of a small hill.

Suddenly Robert hits the break hard, bringing the van to a jarring halt.

"Everyone okay?" Jen asks, checking to see if Elaine and Johnny got hurt.

"Dad why did you...?" She asks but is cut off when her father leaves the van.

Out of curiosity everyone looks out the van at Robert, who's approaching a cloaked figure.

Hunter strains his eyes to get a better look at the figure.

He's tall, but the ragged brown cloak he's wearing makes it difficult to determine anything else about his appearance. Hunter does however notice the glint of metal whenever he moves, almost like he's covered in armour.

As Robert angrily approaches the stranger, Hunter get's a nauseating feeling in his gut.

Suddenly the stranger pulls out a strange purple orb that seems to be pulsing with energy.

It's like he's not even aware of their presence.

As the stranger starts fiddling with the orb, Robert grabs his wrist.

This causes the stranger to drop the orb, which cracks as soon as it hits the pavement.

Still ignoring Robert, the stranger tilts his head as he looks at the orb.

The few silent seconds that go by feel like excruciating minutes.

Then, the orb shatters, releasing the energy that was stored inside it.

Suddenly the ground around them starts to shake violently.

The next thing Hunter sees is an infinite expanse of purple, with white dots that look like stars.

Then, he's falling from the sky for a few seconds before hitting a body of water flat on his back.

The pain and shock from this causes him to accidentally open his mouth, letting water in.

Doing his best not to drown he swims to the surface where he gasps for air as soon as his head breaks out of the water.

After looking around he swims straight for the closest dry land.

It only takes him a short while to get there.

Once he does reach safety his body is begging him to rest, but he ignores it. Instead, he stands up and starts looking for the others, while calling their names.

As far as he can tell he's in the area of a large lake. He considers himself lucky that he didn't land too far in otherwise he'd have been too tired to reach the shore. In that situation he'd have drowned.

For a moment the thought that the others could have met that fate enters into his mind. But he quickly shakes it out, preferring to believe they somehow survived.

He loses track of how long he walks around looking for them. But from the fire in his muscles he guesses that it's probably been a while.

Suddenly he hears the sound of horses trotting along a road.

Filled with relief and hope he forces his tired body to run in the direction of the horses.

But, as he approaches them, he trips over something and tumbles onto a cobblestone road.

This startles the horses for a moment, but their rider manages to calm them down rather quickly.

"I need your help." Hunter whispers, trying to get to his feet.

But then, everything suddenly turns black as he passes out.