Book Writing

Learning the Plot

We soon arrived at a tall pine tree near my house, which, now that I took a good look at it, had a ladder going up. I looked it over briefly.

The ladder had been made by hammering steps into the tree, which I didn't really agree with, since this was hurting the poor tree. (I know it's weird to feel bad for a tree, but I could hear its wails of pain. More on that later.) The steps itself were made of a different wood, cedar, judging by the smell, and I could hear THAT screaming too. I winced in pity. Poor plants...

"Something wrong, Aruke?" Konju looked down at me.

"N-Nothing," I shook my head. I had gone through my own fair share of insults due to my ability to hear plants and animals, so the last thing we needed was someone laughing at me again. Especially if it was someone who didn't look down on me like the rest of them.

"Okay then, but I DO hope you're not scared of heights, because the hideout is pretty high up," Konju warned me.

"Not really," I shook my head. "If you put me on a plane, I would probably panic, but this looks okay to me."

He shrugged, "I suppose it is." as he started to climb the handmade ladder. I hesitantly followed, mumbling my apologies to the tree before I began climbing.

Now, most people would probably try to look down to see their progress ( this only results in panic for acrophobic people), but I was different. I kept my eyes on Konju, who expertly climbed up the stairs like a professional mountain climber. He's probably been doing this for a while now.

"Did you build this thing, Konju?" I asked him, gripping the step above me tightly as I climbed slowly but surely, managing to catch up with Konju while doing that.

Konju shook his head, "I was told of this place a few days after I moved to Yukon in a dream."

I blinked, "That doesn't make sense, Konju."

"I'll explain everything later. For now, let's hurry," He quickened his pace, becoming a squirrel as he sprinted from step to step. I scrambled up as well, not looking down at all.

We soon arrived at the top, where I could see an old-fashioned alphabet keypad with 15 movable keys. Konju put in 'animemangacomic' and there was a CLICK! before he pushed it open and went in. I soon crawled up too, and looked around the 'treehouse'.

The place was kind of spacious, made using Hawaiian palm tree trunks, since the floor was kind of squishy and fluffy. There were a few active computers here and there, too, even though this place doesn't have any electricity. I could see some cushions, a set of bunk beds to sleep on, and a cabinet. I blinked.

"What is this place?..." I mumbled under my breath. It felt so homely and safe...

"I personally don't know," Konju replied. "But from what I know, it's a safe haven for Undiscovered Natures."

"Undiscovered... Natures?" I repeated in confusion. He nodded as he sat on one of the cushions. I followed suit.

"We're people who work behind the scenes, away from the eyes of society, who shape the fate of the world. I'm a Borrowed Actor, someone who is 'borrowed' from a Minor Event town and taken to a Major Event town to either replace, cover for, or assist a character in real life," Konju explained.

"Minor Event? Major Event?" I repeated.

"A Minor Event Town is a town where non-fictional characters live, and where Borrowed Actors are chosen, while a Major Event Town is a town where fictional characters live, and major events happen, as the name suggests."

"Wait, hold on, I don't get it," I mumbled.

"Oh, right, I keep on forgetting that you're not in the loop," Konju chuckled sheepishly. "In this universe, we have fictioners and non-fictioners. Us non-fictioners are the people who live in the real world, while fictioners are the characters in fictional texts, like novels, comics, plays, and so on."

"Hold on, fictional plays like Hamlet and Pied Piper also count?!" I gasped in shock.

"Yep!" Konju nodded with a smile.

"Wow!" my eyes were shining now. "Cool!"

"Well, I guess you can call it that if you don't count the dangers," Konju noted.

"Right, speaking of which, how did you know about the MP3 and who are the 'they' you mentioned?"

"That's a long story," Konju sighed. "I'll try my best to answer your question, but don't expect my answers to be good."

At that, my eyes became saucers.

"O-Of course not!" I yelped. "I-I understand your position, Konju! I won't expect much I promise!"

At that, he blinked for a few seconds before he chuckled, "You're so cute, Aruke. Thanks for that."

"I-I-It's nothing..." I went red in the face.

"But anyway, the MP3 player isn't a MP3 player. It's actually an artefact called the Fluctuation Artefact, which can control time and space. It's been roaming around for so long, dodging its pursuers, who want its power, to find a worthy user. And apparently, it had chosen you."

"H-Huh? B-But it disappeared after giving off a bright light."

He grinned, "That's a sign that you've been chosen."

"But how come you knew of it, even though I was doubting my memories?"

"It's simple. I could sense the power in the area, so I quickly went to your place."

"Okay then, but what about the they you mentioned?"

At that, he got serious, "The group I had been talking about before is a group that wants to destroy the multiverse using the Fluctuation Artefact. Not much is known about them, but they call themselves Dark Balancers."

"O-Oh..." I winced. "T-That's kind of scary..."

"I know," Konju nodded. "They've been seeking that thing for a long time, and they know that it has chosen you. Meaning that you'll have to be careful for now on."

"What can they do though?..."

"They can do a lot of bad things, Aruke. I'm not going to specify, because it's too terrifying. Even I got goosebumps when I heard it."

I gulped a bit. They were THAT bad?

"But don't worry, we'll bring them down," he grinned at me. "I can promise you that."

"H-How though?"

"With this, of course!" Konju took out something that made gasp in shock, "That's-!"

"Yup!" he smiled as he handed it to me.

I could only stare at it.

It was the MP3 player from earlier.