The Adventures of RJ and Jupiter

Chapter 1 - A little less conversation a little more action

Three things crossed the mind of Juniper Lee, on that blustery evening in October, as she lay dying on the ground, her blood pooling around her. The parched earth began sucking it up almost hungrily, and she chuckled despite the tears that burned down her face.

How the hell had her and Riley-Jane got themselves mixed up in all this madness. Well Riley hadn't had much of a choice in the matter, she was already pre-destined to inherit her grandmothers powers but for Juniper, for her, she had had a choice. She could have walked away from it all. She could have continued on with her life, with her overly strict parents, her poor grades and her potential at being in the army. She had gotten her wish, she was a soldier, she just didn't vouch she would fight to die at such a young age. Dying at the age of eighteen, what a pain in the ass.

"Jupiter!" A voice was yelling her name, but her hammering heart was blocking out the noise, blocking out everyone. "You better not die on me you lazy good-for-nothing maverick!"

Her face creased in a frown and she turned her head. "Sandra?"

A blue-haired girl raced up to her and skidded to her knees by her body, her face blurred by Juniper's tears. This girl was peculiar. Jupiter felt close to this girl. Like she knew her and had some kind of bond. Yet at the same time she knew nothing about her.

"That's not my name anymore Jupiter."

"My name isn't Jupiter it's-"

"-And yours isn't Juniper either. Wake the hell up, he's got you wedged into your own mind."

"Oh yeah... you're right... I am Jupiter..." she looked ahead a little confused, she had no idea why she had used her old name.

"Of course I'm right, I'm always right," she sighed and looked at her. "You're not bleeding Jupiter, you're fine."

"Will you let me die peacefully for crying out loud?" Jupiter grumbled.

There was a loud boom behind them and the blue-haired girl froze. "Jupiter... You need to run, please!"

"But I'm..." The girl shook her head ferociously and Jupiter yelled and sat up. "Hey watch it I'm...! Not... Bleeding?"

"For goodness sake will you get up and run!"

Jupiter swayed a little in her seated position, her vision was fuzzy, then clarity hit her like a smack to the face. She shook her head, blinked her eyes a couple of times and took a breath.

"Where is he?" She asked.

"You know where he is Jupiter. Now get up and run."

Jupiter got to her feet, latched her hand onto Sandra's and yanked her along with her as they sprinted for the tree-line. Suddenly there was the sound of running behind them and Jupiter glanced back and screamed as two creatures, with likeliness to something like a thick dense, fog like smoke, tendrils of it batting behind them in their wake as they sprinted for them.

"What the hell are they?!" she screamed.

"Shadow walkers! Don't be an idiot!" the blue-haired girl yelled, and yanked them to a halt, almost snapping Jupiter's wrist, she pulled out a gun and began firing bolts of white light at the creatures that depleted them slightly. Then they stopped, and it looked like they were smiling.

"The two planets, together at the end. Where's your friend?"

The girl Sandra stood in front of Jupiter protectively and glared at them. "Why the hell would we tell you that you demonic bastards?!" she spat, and started firing again, one of them burst into flecks of shadow and screamed like something Jupiter had never heard before. It made the hairs on her arms stand on end and she swallowed.

"I'm surprised you survived as long as you did. After so much death you're still so strong," it said, a new edge to it's unidentifiable voice, directly addressing Jupiter.

"Who's dead?"

"Just everyone you care about," it said, grinning and Jupiter felt a rush inside her blood-stream, and she gently pushed Sandra behind her, unable to remember what she was actually called, she pulled her gun from her and glared at the thing.

"Tell me who is dead, and I'll decide how many bullets I want to pepper into your sorry carcass," she growled.

It just smiled. "Everyone you love. Everyone you ever cared about, they are all dead. We took their lives, and there was fear in their eyes and pain in their chests as we tore the life from them. It was so sweet to watch, it excited me and my brothers and sisters great-"

"It excited you?"

The smirk vanished.

"Oh dude, that's gross, getting turned on by torture, you need to seek medical help." Jupiter said, wrinkling her nose.

"Jupiter! This is no time to be all sarcastic and sassy."

"Of course it is! About to die, what better time ey?"

"I'll kill the girl behind you, the last person you ever cared for, I'll tear every limb from her body and pull her entrails out through her mouth and heal her until I see fit for her to die, you will be destroyed, the last thing you-"

"A little less conversation a little more action, please!" she sang aloud, adding a deep Elvis Presley tone to her voice, and making noises through her mouth for the music. "All this aggravation ain't satisfactioning me. A little more bite a little less bark, a little less fight a little more spark. Close you mouth and open up... your heart... and baby... Let's drop it there..." she said.

"What the hell was that?" it demanded.

Jupiter glared and without hesitation shot the shit out of it till it was no more and she handed the gun back to Sandra who strapped it back onto her shoulder. "What the hell was that?"

"I destroyed it for being an uncultured piece of shit," she said, as if that explained it all, and Sandra shrugged as they began running again.

But then there was a sudden whooshing sound, and then a boom and crackle in front of them that set the trees ablaze, and threw the two girls back. Sandra was knocked out cold, but Jupiter had a few seconds of consciousness to spare, and that was all she needed.

She blinked her eyes, trying to clear her vision, trying to hear what the lips were saying, she could see the lips moving ahead of her but her ears were ringing leaving the words inaudible. She watched, helplessly paralysed as a figure approached through the fiery trees, her eyes bright glowing slits of purple, her pale skin clear as marble, and her black teeth exposed in a grin.

"Who the hell are you? What do you want, why are you killing, I know what you are and who you've become... but who are you... who are you really?" she demanded, her voice hoarse and out of breath.

The figure hovered a hand over her, and Jupiter could suddenly hear with such clarity, the last words she would ever hear. "A little less conversation, and a little more action... please," and Jupiter's world began to darken. The last thing she remembered thinking was how had things gone so wrong, before the figure lifted that same hand that had brought back her hearing, and as she closed it into a fist and brought her hand to meet it, she suddenly displaced both of them, and both her and the girl Sandra, were suddenly scattered through the air, and most certainly dead.

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And thus Chapter 1 was born. We really appreciate criticism and recommendations. Vote if you enjoyed it. We have a few more chapters already lined up so we can post faster if necessary - Sparky ^.^