The Grounds Keeper

Chapter 1 The Girl In The Green Robe And The Ship From Nowhere

Eathon Ran as fast as he could his overloaded backpack thumping painfully into is back, only to see the light of the last bus pulling out of the bus stop. He dropped the large bag and kicked it in frustration. That was the last bus for tonight, had he not gotten caught up in the lecture hall begging for a revision of his marks from that pompous prick of a professor he wouldn't be in this predicament. Being an international student was rough. He left Italy only 1 year ago and if he didn't keep up his grade average at a minimum of 75% he would be hit with exorbitant international student fees that he simply couldn't afford. He slumped down onto the cold metal bench and tossed back his head closing his eyes. What could he do now? He was broke, was basically living off of processed dried noodles and eggs in an apartment that stank of wet carpet.

It's not that he didn't enjoy working with his hands; it was just that from the moment he was born he was expected to work in the lumber yard. It wasn't hard to see why, Eathon stood nearly a full head and shoulders above most men, he was broad and powerful and was capable of lifting weights as a child that a man in his prime couldn't, but he refused to believe his sole purpose on this earth was to be some mule to move things about. His father was a sweet old man, short and fit and the man had no children of his own, it was a great injustice as Giuseppe was without a doubt one of the sweetest people god had ever put on earth, it only made sense that Eathon as his adopted son would do the heavy work in the man's old age.

But he was forced to change his life for his own safety, so he saved every dollar he could and travelled to Vienna to study there. Some great plan that was. It was only after this moment of self-pity he noticed the strange phenomenon, for the first time in his entire stay in this bustling city...it was dead silent. No cars or passer-by filled the world with their noise, it was simply eerie silence. A feeling of unease crept into his gut. The atmosphere didn't seem natural. A thick unwavering fog had set in seemingly of nowhere. He could barely make out the large backpack that lay only by his feet. The sound of footsteps in the distance seemed to reverberate with a sound like a clap as a figure approached. He lifted his bag in one hand, he wasn't expecting trouble but if there was a chance of some danger the thickness of the thing could certainly be used as a shield or to simply smash the poor lout that attacked him. However as the figure shaped from the misty haze he realized it was a woman. She appeared not much younger than him most probably in her 20thyear. She walked bobbing her head with a swagger that seemed comical for such a petite woman. Her long brown hair tied into a tight braid bobbed up and down to the rhythm of the loud hip-hop that seemed to blast from hear earphones,

She beamed happily stopping the music and taking off the headphones. Her voice was pleasant and full of cheer

"Hi, are you waiting for the ship too, Well of course you are or else why else would you be here of all places. I'm Tatzurie"

She offered her hand to Eathon, who shook hesitantly. He noticed her clothing now, it was strange. Almost like a military uniform of sorts, it consisted of a green button up blouse with gold and ivory white buttons, long green formal pants that tightened around her calves, green laced high heeled tracking boots decorated with a plant like pattern with a large golden buckle and lastly a large sage green hooded trench coat that was form tailored but flared out at the waist, there appeared to be armored plates in the shoulder pads and at the knees and elbows. Eathon hadn't really kept up with fashion trends but this was Vienna after all, one of the fashion capitals of the world.

"I'm Eathon it's a pleasure. But I think you might be mistaken, this is a bus stop. The last bus left only 5 minutes ago, there's no way a ship will show..."

As he spoke the floor shook. His eyes widened in shock as the closest building seemed to warp and liquefy. The impossibility of what was happening before his eyes made his jaw drop in disbelief. From the edge of a skyscraper a monstrous ocean liner began to emerge. His legs seemed paralyzed as the large streamliner was heading for a direct collision with them, His face drained of color as the bow of the boat opened into a human like mouth and bit down swallowing them both. Eathon curled into a ball grabbing the girl named Tatzurie. What felt like an age passed in silence till a tiny voice sounded out from under his chest?