Upon the Flying Ship: Rewritten Records of the Illiterate Author

Prologue

           ...Many Years Ago...

A young shepherd saw it first, from his vantage point atop the hills surrounding the town. His sheep willingly fled from the foreboding mass on the horizon, steadily creeping towards them. The shepherd would've hoped it wasn't coming for them, but everybody knew that the ten-year period had come to an end and they were due for a visit from the gigantic ship.

Soon every able-bodied youth, ages 15-20, were standing outside of their houses, belongings packed and ready. The DSS, like a thunder-cloud, steadily approached their small village.

Soon its mass blocked the sun, skull-and-crossbones painted in glaring red over the black hull becoming the new sky. A vine lowered from one of the eyes of the skull, with three DeSSers - DSS Elite (as they prefer to be called, and people cared about their preferences) clinging to it looking like spiders in their dark uniforms.

One stepped forwards. "Ten years have passed," he said to the Mayor. "Where is the decade-tribute?"

The Mayor pointed to the five teens standing by his side. "Pick any three. That was our agreement."

"Hmm... Bronze mage, shadow mage, flower mage, ooh, what's this? And a venom mage."

"That one? Oh, we still don't know her power. Wild card, that one."

"I'll take the venom mage, shadow mage, and..." he turned around and muttered for a minute with one of his comrades. "The wild card. Why not."

The Mayor nodded to the three chosen. "Go on, go on. You heard him." The 'tribute' dejectedly walked away, waving tearful goodbyes to their family and friends. Another vine picked them up and their luggage and whisked them away, into the bowels of the mysterious happenings on the DSS.

The DeSSer in charge stepped forward. "Any problems that we could solve? That's our job, you know."

The Mayor smiled. It didn't exactly reach his eyes. "There are a few cases we held just for you... I doubt you'll have many problems with them, but these guys are tough..."

The DeSSer grinned. "Bring it on." They walked towards the prison, where the usual howling and clanging amped up with the arrival of the Elite Police Force. These weren't people to mess around with, and the criminals knew it.