Decided to post the first chapter here for all to read. Didn't get any offers for a reader, but I have chapters 1 and 2 finished and so far, I'm very pleased with my work. No, I don't have the complete plot synopsis done, but I do have enough done for one or two more chapters. I also want to work more on my CKD project. I think I'm doing Red Butler next for that.

This story is also not posted on fanfiction.net yet, as I want to create enough of a backlog of chapters before I attempt that. I'm quite content writing and posting here for feedback. Let me know what you think!

Chapter 1 - Snatched Away

She stood upon the auction block, looking out over the massive crowd that had formed. She was only six years old, a mere child that had been snatched up by slave traders. She had strayed from her mother’s side during market day and been grabbed by strange hands near the toy stall. She didn’t remember much of anything beyond that; one of her capturers had put a smelly rag over her mouth. Everything had gone black after that. Fearfully she looked out over the crowd that had gathered; dozens of men and women stood on the ground below, shouting at each other, calling out prices. She covered her ears with her hands, trying not to listen to it all. She tried to think back to that fateful day, remember the smile upon her mother’s face.

~ Flashback ~

“Don’t go too far ahead of me, Stormy. You know that today is crowded,” warned her mother, a tall, lavender haired woman. She wore a bright peppermint green dress that came to her knees, but was slit up the sides. A pair of black leather boots that came up to her knees completed the outfit. Her hair was pulled back in a long braid that fell below her waist. Around her neck was a silver pendant, one of a lightning bolt. It had been passed down in her family for generations, symbolizing the control the wearer had over the weather, as did the namesake bestowed upon the wearer at birth. Stormy’s mother was known as Skye, and was a well respected, well known woman.

“I won’t, mama!” called Stormy from in front of her. Stormy had rarely been taken to market days, as her mother wanted to keep her safe from the child slave traders that roamed the marketplace, searching for a child that had strayed from its mother. She wore an outfit similar to her mother’s- bright peppermint green dress with the slits up the side, black boots, and a silver pendant around her neck, a smaller version of the lightning bolt that her mother wore. Her hair had been pulled into a ponytail and held in place by a yellow lightning bolt clip. Part of her hair had been braided into a small braid and hung near the right side of her face. Her bright green eyes searched the stalls, looking at all the interesting trinkets and foods being sold.

Stormy forgot all about her mother’s warning as she skipped from booth to booth, finally stopping at one where there were tiny handmade dolls being sold. Stormy looked over the multi-colored dolls in bright shiny outfits. She picked one up and fingered the fabric. Before she could call to her mother to look at the toy, a pair of rough hands covered her mouth and picked her up.

“Now, now, little Belle, that’s not for you to buy today. Daddy will get you something else,” said a rough voice. Stormy didn’t know that this was directed at the shopkeeper.

Daddy? That’s not my daddy thought Stormy frantically, trying to squirm away. However, the grip the stranger had on her was strong, and she couldn’t break free. Where’s mama? Mama will take care of this.

The next thing she knew, Stormy was being rushed past the many stalls. She lost track of the twists and turns the stranger took. Her eyes frantically kept searching the crowd for the tall lavender haired woman that she called her mama, but she couldn’t see her. She couldn’t see much of anything; the man was moving too fast for her to recognize anything. Eventually, they ended up in a dark alley on the outskirts of the marketplace. Stormy was placed on the ground and she frantically searched for a way past the man, running as fast as her little legs could carry her. She looked back, and didn’t watch where she was running. She ran into something hard and fell back onto the ground. Stormy looked up, into the face of another stranger, this one holding a piece of cloth in hand. “C’mere girly… this won’t hurt a bit…” he cackled as he put the rag over her nose and mouth.

Suddenly, Stormy felt woozy and her body began to sway back and forth. She slumped forward, unconscious. The larger of the two men picked up the lavender haired girl and shoved her into a brown sack. “Looks like an easy catch, Rad,” he commented. He wore a simple trader’s outfit – a tan tunic with black pants and dark brown boots.

Rad nodded his head in agreement. He was a lanky fellow, and wore the same trader’s outfit as his companion. A commotion was starting up in the marketplace. Rad looked out of the alley, only to see a lavender haired woman frantically calling for her lost child. “And that looks like the mother. Let’s move it, Volkov!” They both took off down the alley, the opposite of the direction of the marketplace. They made their way to their ship, just as distant peels of thunder could be heard. They tossed the sack to the back of the ship and took off without another thought. They’d accomplished their goal for that day.

~ End Flashback ~

Stormy had no idea how long it’d been since she’d been taken. They taken her necklace from her though. Everyone knew that the necklace identified her family. The traders had been quite happy when they’d discovered this gem on her and had danced about. Stormy had no idea that this meant they would be able to sell her for a higher price in the marketplace than the average child slave. Word would be passed along the black market grapevine, a hush-hush invitation that wouldn’t draw attention.

For days, the strange men had provoked her anger. They’d tugged at her hair, smacked her arms, anything that would elicit a response from her and make her angry enough to call upon her powers. Unlike her mother, Stormy’s powers were uncontrollable and once she became angry, she would call upon the weather to emote her anger, creating a large storm that couldn’t be controlled for hours. Once it was started, Stormy did not know how to stop it, and the storm would have to simply die out on its own.

She knew that she was being sold today. This was the day the men were excited for. She hoped that her mama would show up and fix everything. She missed her mama very much and wished she’d listened. If she’d have listened, she might not be in this mess. A lone tear slipped down her cheek and she sniffled. She wasn’t paying attention to the auction that was going on in front of her. She didn’t hear the excited cries of money amounts, didn’t hear the auctioneer talking about her as if she were some sort of animal being sold in a marketplace. She stood there, watching the crowd, looking for the familiar face that would take her home. She felt herself being poked and prodded, her hair being pulled in all directions. Her anger built, and a storm began to brew. As soon as the storm began to form, the poking and prodding stopped. The storm began to die down, but the demonstration had been successful. More money amounts were called out, hands greedily shot into the air to take a chance at bidding on this girl, the one being billed as a secret weapon to topple a nation by manipulating the weather to her will. No one cared that she had been taken from her home. No one cared that she cried during the auction. Each man and woman wanted a chance at the girl who could help them further their cause.

Stormy knew this wasn’t how she wanted to use her powers. Before she’d been taken, her mother had been giving her basic lessons on learning to control her powers and her temper. She’d never seen such a temper in a child when provoked. It was all the more reason to teach her daughter proper control at an early age before things got out of hand.

~ Flashback ~

Stormy sat beneath the large green tree outside her family home. Her mother stood not too far off, meditating. Stormy paid no attention to her mother and was instead crushing the tiny bugs that crawled upon the tree trunk with a stick. She was bored. Her mother had said she would teach her how to use her powers, but all she’d done so far was stand like a statue and make strange sounds.

“Stormy! Don’t do that to the ants!”

“Why not? There’s plenty of them,” retorted Stormy as she pushed her stick against yet another ant, creating another black speck on the tree bark.

“They’re living creatures too, Stormy. We don’t take away anyone’s life on purpose, even if they are tiny bugs,” explained her mother.

“They aren’t useful. They’re annoying. And they get in the food. You said you didn’t like them yesterday anyway,” replied Stormy, arms crossed. She gave her mother a look, the sort of look any child would give a parent in defiance because they feel they are right and the parent is wrong.

“All living things have their place, Stormy. Just as you and I do. You and I are given a gift that’s special and has been in our family for generations. The women can either use the gift wisely, or foolishly. We can bring the rains that can help fight droughts or we can bring the rains that would flood the land.” She picked up her only daughter, and kissed her forehead. Stormy squirmed to escape the kiss, but couldn’t slip away. Skye set her daughter down.

“I wanna make it rain, mama, really hard too,” stated Stormy, pointing to the sky.

“We don’t use our powers for evil, Stormy. However, before you can do anything, you have to learn to control your powers. If you can’t control your powers, you won’t be able to control the storms you create.”

“Why’s that bad?” asked Stormy.

“If you can’t control your powers, you can’t control what you make. You won’t be able to stop them or slow them down. You’ll have to let them stop on their own, and that could take awhile, especially if you make a really big storm.”

“It’d be really neat though!” answered Stormy, not paying attention to her mother’s words in the least.

Skye sighed. She knew Stormy would not listen to her logic, not at her age. “All right, Stormy. Let’s start with an easy exercise.”

Stormy’s ears perked up. Finally. She’d get to do something fun instead of standing around doing nothing. “What?” she asked eagerly.

“We’ll work on pulling the clouds toward you. Watch me first.” Skye demonstrated, holding out her hand, palm facing to the sky. She began making a “come hither” motion, and Stormy watched as the nearby puffy white clouds came closer to her mother, stopping just above her head. Stormy glanced wide-eyed above her. “Now, here’s what you need to do Stormy.” Skye took Stormy’s right hand in her own, and turned her palm upward. “Hold your palm up to the sky. Then you make a “come here” motion with your fingers.” Skye demonstrated the motion with Stormy’s fingers by bending them inward.

“I wanna try by myself now,” Stormy replied stubbornly. She pulled her hand away from her mother’s and tried to recreate the same motions. She held her palm up toward the sky. With pursed lips, she began to move her fingers in the same come hither motion that her mother had used, but the clouds wouldn’t budge. “What gives?!” she exclaimed.

Skye tried to hide the chuckle that wanted to cross her lips. “You have to want the clouds to come to you. Use your heart and mind, Stormy.”

Stormy tried again, but with no success. “I want them to come to me and they aren’t coming, mama!”

“You’re trying too hard, Stormy. You have to want it in both heart and mind. It’s up to you to figure out what that means.”

“It’s too hard. I can’t do it,” shouted Stormy after another unsuccessful try. She crossed her arms across her chest and began to pout.

Her mother merely smiled at her. “It takes time, Stormy. It took me weeks to learn how to do this when I was your age. I thought it was too hard too, but one day it just came to me and I knew what to do.”

“I wanna do it now!” replied Stormy in a loud voice.

“You will in time. Don’t be in such a rush. We have all the time in the world to work on your training. You’ll grow up to follow in your mama’s footsteps, you wait and see.” Skye smiled gently at her fuming daughter. Stormy had her father’s personality. Her father wasn’t often around, but to Skye it was as if he never left. Stormy always took his place, the same stubbornness and quick temper. Stormy could grow up to be a very dangerous weapon if she didn’t learn to control her powers and only let them be fueled by her anger. Skye was willing to train Stormy properly, with the hopes of calming her temper as she grew older.

Stormy plopped onto the ground, arms still crossed. “I wanna do it now,” she stated crossly.

Skye tapped her chin. “You know, I think there are still some of your favorite cookies in the kitchen. Why don’t we go see?” This was always a foolproof way to instantly calm Stormy’s nerves.

Quickly, Stormy leapt to her feet. “Really? I thought they were all gone?”

“Nope. I found two more left this morning. One for you and one for me. Let’s go enjoy a little snack for all your hard work today,” She took Stormy’s hand and together the two of them walked hand in hand back into their home.

~ End Flashback ~

Stormy wished that she were back at home now. She closed her eyes, wishing she were back outside with her mama. She wouldn’t even squash the ants this time. She’d sit beneath the tree and watch her mama stand like a statue. She’d practice harder with her powers. She knew she still couldn’t even pull the clouds like she was supposed to. She hadn’t really practiced as she should have. I promise that if I can just go back home, I’ll never squash the ants again. I’ll be good and do what mama says.

While Stormy was busy wishing for a miracle, the auctioneer was busily calling off prices, and the bidding war continued on, still going higher and higher. Finally, the auctioneer called a final price, the highest to be offered yet. No one called out to match the price, and the auctioneer began the count down before making the bid final. “Sold! To bidder 697!” cried the auctioneer. He continued speaking, but Stormy didn’t hear any words he said after “697”. She looked out at the crowd, wondering who would take her next. She didn’t have too long to wait. Bidder 697 was making his way toward the stage. In this case, it was two somebodies.

Stormy looked away as the short, pale green man in grey looked her over. He smelled funny and only grinned evilly at her. Beside him stood a tall fluffy monster, who wore red Converse shoes and had a long floppy nose. These were the people she was to go live with. Her mama had not come to save her. She kept hoping that her mama would come find her. There was still a tiny bit of hope in her heart that she’d still be rescued.

“Yes, she’ll be perfect,” called the man as he paid the auctioneer and looked at her once again. “Yes, brat, you’ll be the perfect weapon to destroy Rainbow Brite. With you, I’ll be able to take over Rainbow Land once again!”

Stormy had no idea what a “Rainbow Brite” was or where “Rainbow Land” was. She only wanted to go home. “My mama will find me. She’ll take me back home.

The strange man cackled in delight. “No, no I don’t think so. She won’t be able to find you in Rainbow Land.”

“Murky, how will we get Rainbow with her. She’s so little,” commented the big furry monster.

“Don’t worry about that now, Lurky,” replied the man now identified as Murky. “You’ll see, you’ll see.”

Let me know your feedback!

Awesome beginning of Stormy!

This story caught my interest like your other one, I can't wait to see what happens next.

Aquarious wrote:Awesome beginning of Stormy!

This story caught my interest like your other one, I can't wait to see what happens next.

Aww thank you I've got chapter 2 done and I'll post it soon... I haven't started chapter 3 yet because I need to write more of the synopsis so I have pieces to play over and over in my head. I have to be able to see it in my head to write it.

If you have any other ideas, do hit up the other thread and make your suggestions.

All right, so I got the bright idea to do a prologue for the story. I've never really done one for a story before, but this one just seemed like it'd be a good fit. So I wrote one out. It's kinda short, but there's only so much I can write as a lead up to the actual story.

Prologue

Most people know me as the one who makes storms, the girl who loves the rain and snow and everything in between. Weather’s my specialty, and I can whip up a thunderstorm like you’ve never seen before. I make my home in the clouds, and prefer thunderclouds most of all. My second home is in the Color Castle, down in the lower levels. I keep my room dark there, as it reminds me of the storms I create. It reminds me of other things too, things that happened so long ago that they’ve been forgotten by almost everyone. My story is a special story, one that I don’t tell to just anyone. If you were to ask a sprite, or a Color Kid, they wouldn’t be able to tell you how I came to Rainbow Land anymore. They used to remember, but they forgot. I could never forget something so terrible.

My story’s not meant to be better than anyone else’s. Everyone knows how Rainbow came to Rainbow Land. They all know how she found Twink and together they found Starlite. Everyone knows that Rainbow found that baby along the No Return River and sought shelter in a cave, where she found the Color Belt. Each Color Kid remembers fondly how Rainbow rescued them. They don’t remember much of the story after that. I do. I remember how Rainbow fought the Evil One and eventually triumphed over evil, restoring Rainbow Land to its former glory and beauty. I wasn’t here on that day. Neither was Tickled Pink or Moonglo. We all came to Rainbow Land in different ways.

I guess you could say that if I had listened to my mama on that day so long ago, I wouldn’t even be here. You don’t really know what’s going to happen until it does. After that day, I never saw her again. I can’t even remember what she looks like. All I can see is a shadow of her anymore. I don’t know how she felt about my disappearance or if she ever looked for me. I guess she did, but it’s only a guess. My dad wasn’t around very much, but I would say that he helped too. I don’t remember much of it. I wasn’t very old, about six I think. Who listens to their parents all the time when they’re six? I didn’t. If I had, I would never have seen Rainbow Land and never came to be the one to make the storms and watch over the winter season. I would have grown up instead and probably did something that meant I could work with storms.

After everything happened, and I got taken away, storms were the one thing that comforted me. I couldn’t control my storms at first, but I could make them when I was angry or upset. They were comforting to me and they reminded me of home. I grew up, but the storms were always there, and they still are. There are times I can’t sleep at nights, and I’ll create a storm, my own little storm, just so that I can hear the thunder and lightning, hear the pounding rain and feel them as though each were a part of me.

When I first came here, I never knew who Rainbow Brite was. I only knew her by name. I began to hate the girl that was called Rainbow Brite. I was supposed to live up to everything she was, but in a different light. I didn’t know what was happening at the time, but I do now. For years I was raised to be someone I could not be and never would be. I was even given Skydancer because of this. I mean, now it seems so far away and sometimes it’s like a bad dream. I eventually broke free. I even asked Rainbow to come here. It was better than where I was.

To this day, Rainbow still remembers my past. She remembers lots of pleasant things, but very few bad memories. She remembers the way Rainbow Land was. She even remembers that her name used to be Wisp. She remembers the first time the Monstromurk attacked and then his attack during his second coming. And she remembers how I came to live here. I wish she wouldn’t. Sometimes I’m afraid she’ll use it against me. It does seem silly, but I have my reasons. I don’t trust very easily. After being around Rainbow for all these years, I can trust her…mostly. If she ever used my past against me, I’d fight back.

You see, this is all very difficult for me to do, but I want to tell my story. So while it may not be as good as the time when Rainbow restored Rainbow Land and got rid of the Evil One, it’s still a good story about me – Stormy. Once and for all I plan to tell exactly how I came to live in this place called Rainbow Land.

Chapter 2 Sad Storms

Stormy found herself being led through the crowd, but she looked down at the ground, to avoid eye contact. The big, furry monster kept a firm grip on her to keep others from snatching her away. She had no idea where they were going or how long it would take. Then she remembered what Murky had said. They were going to Rainbow Land, whatever that place was. Stormy had never heard of it, and wasn’t sure. She pictured a place that was all the colors of the rainbow, and wondered how that went with him. It didn’t make much sense. Stormy let herself be carried onto a small, patched up space ship. She was placed in the back with Lurky the monster, while Murky drove up front.

Curling her knees to her chest, Stormy hid her face. She wanted to go home. She didn’t want to do whatever Murky wanted her to. She didn’t want to go to someplace called Rainbow Land or see whoever this “Rainbow Brite” was. She wanted to cry, but didn’t have the energy to shed many tears. She’d cried so much over the past few days that she felt dried out and exhausted. Instead, she just sat quietly in the back of the ship, as far away from Lurky and Murky as she could get. She drifted into an uneasy sleep, tired from standing so many hours at the auction, and from the sleepless nights she’d had prior.

Lurky peered at the young child, blinking his eyes. “Duh, I think she’s sleeping, Murky.”

“I don’t care what she’s doing. We’ve got to get back to Rainbow Land before the sun comes up! Rainbow mustn’t see us come back. I can’t have her thinking we’re up to no good!” retorted Murky, his eyes roaming over the console. “But of course, we are!” he cackled to himself. He wasn’t quite sure where he should be heading next. He looked at the map in his hand, but all it did was confuse him more. He turned it to the right, trying to figure out which way was the right way to read it. He turned it yet again, but that didn’t appear to be working well either. Murky slammed his hands on the console. “Work you darn thing!” he cried.

A series of beeps sounded and a red light began flashing above Murky’s head. “Oh no…what was that light for?” he wondered to himself.

“Auto-pilot initiated,” confirmed a computer voice from above. “Coordinates point to sector three, destination Rainbow Land.”

Murky grinned smugly. “Ah, right. That’s what that light was for.” He settled back into his seat for an easy trip back home. He glanced back at the young child he’d bought at the auction, remembering the tip-off he’d received from some communication meant for the Evil One. He’d decided to see what this child was good for. After all, he did need a good weapon against Rainbow. At first, the trip had seemed like a bust after he’d seen her crying on stage. He didn’t need some sniveling crybaby. He needed a weapon. Then of course, he saw the storm generated just by a few annoying pokes and prods. If that was the sort of storm she could create with very little effort, then the storms she could create with training would be unstoppable. He’d use her storms to destroy Rainbow Land, flooding the land and Color Mines. It would be an ideal plan, but one that would take many years to execute. A proper training for her would be key.

Stormy was awoken by a series of bumps and thuds that jolted her around on the floor. At first, she couldn’t remember where she was, but one look at her surroundings and at Lurky the monster told her she wasn’t dreaming and that she wasn’t safe at home. She was afraid, afraid the ship would crash and afraid of what was to come. The ship shuddered to a halt and Stormy rose to gain her bearings. Before she could go one step, she was lifted off the ground by Lurky. “Take her to her new room,” sneered Murky.

“Gotcha,” replied Lurky as he bumbled off of the ship, Stormy in tow under his arm.

Her first glance at her new surroundings and home left a lump in her throat. Smelly gases rose from large holes and pits. The sky was dark and grey, filled with lightning. The storm that seemed to go on forever comforted Stormy, as her body identified such a storm as home, but one look at the cave that Lurky was heading toward washed away any good feelings. It looked like a miserable, uncomfortable place to be. She missed home and she knew she’d never see it again. Instead, she’d be stuck here the rest of her life. Stormy had no idea that her thoughts were triggered by the nasty gloom of the Pits, and not something she truly felt. As a young child, it was harder for her to resist the emotion inducing atmosphere. She closed her eyes tightly, trying to avoid seeing everything that lay before her.

Lurky plopped her down onto the hard stone floor of the room she would be in. Stormy shuddered involuntarily as the cold stone touched her backside. She opened her eyes, and tried to adjust to the darkened light. She looked around the room, noticing only a bed and a small table. There was nothing else, just those very basic items. Stormy stood and walked the length of the room, wondering what was going to happen to her. The door creaked open and Lurky peeked inside. “Murky said you were to wear these,” he informed her, “and to give me your other clothes.” In his large hands were a small grey plain dress and a pair of slip-on black shoes. Tears welled up in Stormy’s eyes as he placed the clothes on the floor and closed the door once more.

She didn’t want to wear those things. They looked ugly. She’d rather wear her pretty green dress, the same that her mother wore. Stormy kicked at the pile of clothes, sending the dress shuffling across the floor.

“Are ya finished?” called Lurky’s voice from behind the door. “Murky wants your stuff.”

Stormy’s temper was brewing and she was angry. How dare they try to take her stuff from her? She’d already lost her pendant her mother had given her when she was a baby. Now they wanted her dress and boots too. She stomped her foot onto the ground. It felt so good that she did it again. “I don’t want to!” she yelled at the top of her lungs. There was no answer from behind the door. She yelled it again. “I don’t want to!” Still, there was no answer. Satisfied, she kicked at the ugly dress one last time. She grinned as she heard a loud thunder crack. A storm was starting up, and from what she could hear, it was going to be a big one.

What Stormy didn’t know was that she had created that storm with her angry outburst. This time there was no one to tell her that she needed to calm down, that she risked making the storm worse. There was no one to comfort or console her nerves. So she had no idea that she had created this home away from home reminder. Stormy clambered onto the bed and sat cross-legged, listen to the storm and its steady rhythm. Her eyes closed, she focused and dreamed of home and her mama.

Lurky burst into Murky’s lair unannounced, a common thing for him to do. “Murky, she won’t wear them!” he exclaimed.

“Quiet!” hissed Murky. His hands tinkered with various potion bottles that held different amounts of black liquid in them. He reached for one across the table and poured it into a large beaker, mixing it with whatever had been in there before. He gently shook it before adding yet a third bottle to the mix. Finally he poured a tiny amount of the mixture into a small glass. “Add this to her drink tonight.”

“What’ll it do?” asked Lurky.

“It’ll put her under my control so she won’t be so defiant, bird brain,” retorted Murky.

Lurky took the glass from him. “What if she won’t drink it?”

“She’ll drink it or else!” he yelled. “Now take that plate over there and give her it to eat.” He pointed to a plate on another table that held some short of fish and bread. Lurky picked it up and began to carry it to Stormy’s room.

Lurky found the young girl sitting on the bed, eyes closed. “I brought ya some dinner,” he called cheerfully.

Stormy took one look at the meal and turned her head away. “I don’t want it. I’m not hungry,” she stated coldly.

“Aww, but you wanna eat. It’s good! Murky made it for ya,” he said happily, a big grin on his face.

“What about a glass of…uh…juice?” he lied, rather lamely. Stormy didn’t catch his falter though.

“No,” she stated.

“Pleeease? It’s really good!” he continued, sure that anything Murky had made would be tasty. He held the glass out to her.

Just to get rid of him, Stormy took the glass and gulped it down, making a face. It wasn’t very good at all and tasted terrible. She felt sick to her stomach after drinking it, but it stayed down. Lurky grinned, pleased. He didn’t really notice the sick look on Stormy’s face as he walked from the room, taking the dinner plate with him. “See you later!”

The gloom potion worked its way into Stormy’s system and soon the effects started to take over, little by little. Peering over the edge of the bed, Stormy noticed the dull grey dress she’d kicked aside early. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad…what’s the point? she thought to herself as she placed her feet on the floor and retrieved the dress and slip-on shoes. She slipped out of her green dress and the leather boots, trading them in for the shabby clothing. Leaving her clothes in a pile on the floor, she climbed back onto the bed. She could still hear the storm she’d created raging outside and as she laid her head down on the pillow, she wept softly, hopelessness enveloping her body and mind.

Lurky had returned to Murky’s main laboratory and was quite pleased with himself. “I got her to drink it, Murky!” he called.

“Good! We’ll see how that affects her. I don’t know how much I’ll need to use on her. I have to figure out the right amo-.”

“She didn’t eat though,” interjected Lurky. “She said she wasn’t hungry.”

“You bozo brain! I don’t care if she ate or not! She’ll eat whenever she’s ready. I do care that she drank the gloom potion! It’s the key to my control over her.”

“What do we do with her?”

“I’m going to train her. She’ll be my secret weapon against Rainbow. Those storms of hers will work wonders for me and for Rainbow Land.” Murky fooled with some other containers he kept stored on his shelves, checking what was in each bottle.

Lurky scratched his head. “All right then!” he called.

“Go find something to do with yourself,” instructed Murky, “and don’t bother me again tonight!”

Lurky ambled out of the room and headed to his own room. Murky watched him leave and then turned back to his work. He knew that it would take years and years to accomplish what he wanted. He wanted this brat to be perfectly trained and to listen to his every command. She would never hesitate to act on an attack or care about that Rainbow Brite. Rainbow Brite may have taken away his gloomy world, but she would not last after he was finished with her. Or, in this case, that brat… Stormy was finished with her.

Visions of large storms danced in his head. He could just imagine her creating a flood of rain and destructive lightning with the mere flick of her hand. The glorious Color Castle would be flooded, and that would mean the Color Kids couldn’t spread color to the rest of the world. Rainbow Brite would have to rely on her own powers to do so. It’d wear her down and then she’d be easy to take the Color Belt from. It’d be a grand day once he’d trained this new weapon to follow all his orders and to hate Rainbow as much as he did. He’d give Rainbow her chance at thinking that she would rule the land forever… then he’d spoil her parade with a little rain. Or rather, a large storm of epic proportions… the thought made him smile and cackle with glee.

He could have cared less that within his castle, a young girl was crying the tears she’d thought were no more or of how the young girl wept for her mama and her home, wishing she had followed her mama’s rules that day in the market. Tears stained the pillow as she wished she could have another chance, or that all of this was some bad dream. The gloom potion affected her enough to make her do as Murky wanted, but she cried heavily still, a lost child in a brand new world that seemed uncertain and unfriendly. She had no idea of the expectations that were put onto her immediately, or that she was labeled as nothing more than a weapon. No one was going to care how she felt, or even know of her existence for a time to come, save for Murky and Lurky.

Perhaps if someone knew what had happened to her, things might be different. She might have been able to return home to her mama in the end, and live her life as she had always meant to be. If some other person knew what Murky and Lurky were up to, then maybe she would have a chance. No one knew though, and so Stormy cried and cried, until she cried herself into an uneasy sleep yet again. Her tears dried upon her face, but they did not stop the storm from raging outside. What had begun as a rough thunderstorm had lightened, but it still seemed quite strange to those who saw it.

As evening became nighttime, a young girl was watching the storm brew from her window ledge. She had sat there for a few hours, just thinking on things that had occurred and everything she’d accomplished since taking over Rainbow Land as its rightful protector. She glanced thoughtfully up at the sky as the rain fell. Something about this storm intrigued her, and then she realized suddenly why. “Twink, do you know why this storm is different?” she asked inquisitively.

Her faithful sprite looked up at her, confused by the question. He had been sitting beside her, lost in thoughts of his own. Her question seemed rather strange to him. “No, Rainbow. Why?” he asked.

“Well, we’ve had all kinds of rain storms in Rainbow Land over the years, but we’ve never had a thunderstorm. The only thunder and lightning occurs over the Pits, but never here.”

“You think Murky’s up to no good?” asked Twink, wide-eyed.

Rainbow tapped her chin thoughtfully. “I don’t know, Twink. I can’t put my finger on it, but something’s different about this storm.”

“What do you mean?” he asked, more confused than ever. “It’s just a rainstorm with thunder and lightning this time.”

Rainbow looked back out the window, up at the clouds and the rain that poured from them. She frowned and then spoke. “I just…I can feel it…” she whispered softly. “It seems… like a sad storm. Like if someone was to cry and the rain was their tears.”

“Are you sure?” asked Twink. He wasn’t going to question the one he looked up to and followed, but it did seem strange. “A storm with feelings sounds funny.”

“I know, Twink. I don’t know why, but it just seems that way.” Rainbow continued to watch the storm, a thoughtful look plastered on her face. She had no idea why she had this strange feeling about a storm or why a thunderstorm was falling over Rainbow Land for the first time that she could ever remember. Years later, Rainbow would look remember back to this night and know all the answers to her questions, but for now, she was unsure and uncertain, hoping that Murky wasn’t up to no good yet again.

I finished chapter 4 today at school so I figured I'd post chapter 3 here. At first I thought I'd not be able to work on this story due to being so busy, but I figured out that if I kept the file minimized at school, I could steal a few paragraphs here and there when I didn't have my students. It was enough to keep me interested until I could get home in the evenings to work on it for a bit. I really enjoy what I've written so far and I hope you do too.



Chapter 3 First Lesson

Days slowly passed and turned into weeks. Stormy had no idea what was going on from day to day and she couldn’t keep track of how many days had passed. She barely knew how to count, let alone know how to mark the days out. She knew she would wake up and go to bed when she felt tired. The sky in the Pits never changed so she never knew when it was daytime and when it was nighttime. The only thing that clued her in was the activity by Murky and Lurky. She knew that when they were awake, it was day and when they disappeared it was nighttime. What she didn’t know was that some nights after she’d fallen asleep, they snuck off to Rainbow Land to act out one of their plots, only to return by morning, foiled in their tracks.

Murky had no uses for Stormy for awhile. He wanted to get the right type of gloom cloud variant perfected. The first one he’d used controlled her, but its side effect was that it knocked her out for hours. He’d tried a few variants after that first one, but they never seemed to work right. They either exerted too much control, not enough control, or they had bad side effects, such as putting her to sleep or creating anxiety to the point where she was always crying. So many variants, but never the right one!

Today marked a month since he’d bought the child and still he’d not been able to find the right variant to use. He was working in his laboratory, frustrated at such slow progress. This was not helping him to get any closer to his goal of taking over Rainbow Land and destroying Rainbow Brite for good. He began to mix various bottles of greys and blacks, trying yet another variant. He looked at the combined result, another inky black mixture. He made the final notes in a notebook about the current concoction and then closed it. He could only hope this was the last time he’d make such an entry in the notebook.

“Lurky!” he called, already impatient.

His large furry assistant bumbled into the room. “Yes, Murky?”

Murky added a final small bottle, which contained a dark purple juice from a berry that grew widely in Rainbow Land. “Give this to the brat and make sure she drinks it, all of it.”

Lurky took the glass off the table and took a whiff of it. “It smells funny, Murky.”

“Of course it does! Just take it to her and don’t tell her that.” Murky pointed toward the door and Lurky quickly left the room.

Stormy looked up from her corner spot on the cold, stone floor. She felt tired and exhausted and didn’t want to do much of anything. She couldn’t remember why she had chosen to sit here instead of on her bed. She couldn’t seem to remember the day before either. Everything seemed so fuzzy when she tried to recall what had happened. There was… something. As the big furry monster walked toward her with something in hand, she tried to remember his name, but couldn’t. Her body didn’t react in fear, so she guessed he was friendly. He offered her the glass he held in his hand.

“Murky wants you to drink this up,” he called cheerfully.

Stormy hesitantly took the glass and looked at it. She could smell the drink, a mix of something fruity with something bad. It didn’t smell good. She lifted it to her mouth and tilted it upward, a tiny bit of the liquid slipping in. At first, it tasted sweet, like something she remembered drinking before, but then a taste that she couldn’t describe crept onto her taste buds. It was horrible, too horrible to even think about. She was about to pull the glass away, but a hand reached out and tilted it upward, forcing the rest of the liquid into her mouth and to spill from the sides. She could do nothing but swallow and then quickly pull away, the dark liquid still dribbling down her chin.

“Look at my clothes!” she yelled, angry that her dress was now wet with the liquid that she didn’t swallow. It felt itchy and uncomfortable.

Lurky looked at her, puzzled. “But you were to drink the juice, and I made sure of that. Murky wanted you too,” he nodded in agreement with himself.

Stormy turned away from him and wouldn’t look at him. Her tiny fingers smoothed her dress; you really couldn’t tell by looking at it that something had soiled it. It was too grey and dirty to show any new dirt. She tried to recall something she’d worn that wasn’t dirty, but the memory was slippery; she couldn’t quite get ahold of it. She faced the wall, staring blankly at it. Why couldn’t she remember anything?

It was a few days later when Murky was satisfied enough to finally begin training Stormy. His most recent concoction a few days ago had worked perfectly. The brat kept her wits about her with no side effects, but did as she was told. He could make her do as he pleased. She had fetched various items for him and followed commands to relocate to various rooms without question. Now it was time to see what she could do.

The first thing Murky needed to do was get her used to the darkness, the pitch blackness of a colorless world. To return to the days of a dark gloominess from back when the King of Shadows ruled over everything would be truly glorious indeed. The girl needed to believe in his ideals and ways to follow through on destroying Rainbow Brite. The best way to do that was to stick her in the Colorless Caves and set her wandering about. It would work well for a beginning lesson. Perhaps he’d learn more about the girl while he was at it.

He made his way to her room at a leisurely pace, humming to himself. He pushed open the door, and found the brat sitting on her bed, doing nothing but staring into space. “Listen up!” he called, quickly getting her attention. He watched as she quickly focused and followed his simple command, seemingly ready to follow through on whatever it was that he wanted. “Now, what’s your name?” It seemed strange, but he’d never held a proper conversation with the child since she’d arrived, and the only way he knew how to start one was by asking her name.

“Stormy,” she replied automatically, eyes continually watching Murky.

“I’m Murky Dismal, the soon to be ruler over everything in this area. To do that, you’re going to be my new weapon. I’m going to train you to destroy Rainbow Brite. When I take over Rainbow Land, you’ll be my servant, keeping away color and light for good.”

Stormy didn’t understand much of what Murky said. She hated being told what to do, but her body would not refuse the words. She wanted to do as Murky said, if only in body and not in mind. “Okay,” she replied.

“Now, your first lesson begins today. I want you to love a world without color as much as I do. You’re going to spend the rest of the day in the Colorless Caves, right among the dark and gloom. I’ll come get you when it’s time to come out.

Now, Stormy hated the dark. She was really quite afraid of it, even though she loved storms. She had always had her mother keep a light in her room on, afraid to be all alone in the inky blackness. She thought it might swallow her up whole. There could be monsters that would come out too. Only keeping a light on kept her from running out of her room and to the comfort of her mother. Now she was being told that she’d have to spend a long time in the darkness. Her little body trembled with fear, but her head nodded. She didn’t want to go into the caves, but she couldn’t make her body agree with her.

“Good,” replied Murky. “Come with me then.”

Stormy tried to fight it, but her legs wouldn’t let her. She slid from her spot on the bed and followed Murky out of her room and down the stairs. He lead her through a few passageways, and she knew she’d never remember her way back to her room if she tried to escape. Her legs weren’t listening to her. They continued to follow Murky until they stopped in front of an entrance to a very dark section, which Stormy knew could only be the Colorless Caves Murky had talked about. She looked at the entrance, wide-eyed. She didn’t want to go in there. What if she never came back out? What if a monster got ahold of her?

“In you go then. Don’t go escaping on me. I’ll come find you in a bit.”

To Stormy’s horror, her legs began walking forward and she entered the Colorless Caves, at once being engulfed in the darkness. She turned her head to look back at Murky and the safety of where he stood. She tried to tell the rest of her body to turn around, but it would not listen. It continued walking forward into the cave and she was left to look on at a bright ending to the tunnel. Tears began to form in her eyes and fall lightly on her face. She wiped at them, letting her body do what it wanted. She stopped, and looked around. She couldn’t see anything, but she heard noises. She could hear the shuffling of something and dripping coming from somewhere else. It occurred to her that she could walk off a cliff and never been seen again. This new fear gripped at her, and she fell to her knees.

Sobs wracked her tiny body. Fear was all she could feel as tears streamed down her face. “I wanna go home!” she yelled. “I want my mommy and my daddy! I don’t want to be here!” Anger engulfed her. “I wish I’d never come here!” She slammed her palms on the stone floor and winced as pain shot through them. She continued to sob, her tears wetting the dusty floor. She didn’t know that Murky had been listening to her, that her privacy was interrupted.

Murky was rather smart about the spot he’d chosen to send her into the Colorless Caves. There were many entrances, but none like the one from his laboratory. He’d chosen it merely because there was no water or cliff drop offs for a mile or more. There were some steep slopes, but nothing that would hurt the girl he was training. He couldn’t afford for her to be killed after spending so much to buy her. It had been a rather foolish move to spend so much on a child who’s powers may or may not be able to be controlled, but there was no point pondering the what-ifs. He merely had to train the girl and the rest would fall into place.

Stormy’s sobbing and breakdown had no effect on Murky. He didn’t care that she wanted to go home or that she didn’t want to be here. She had no choice, brat that she was. He could deal with her sobs later. What mattered was that she followed his commands, even if her mind did not want to do so. She didn’t even know why her body would not obey her actions and he intended for her to never find out. The gloom variant was his only key to controlling her and would always be. He turned away from the entrance, and went to work planning that night’s excursion to Rainbow Land.

Elsewhere, in Rainbow Land, a lively game of tag was taking place between each of the Color Kids and Rainbow. Twink was sitting on the sides with Starlite, watching the action. He knew that he could never outrun any of the Color Kids, but he was more than happy to watch. Currently, Patty O’Green was it and she was chasing after Buddy Blue. The rest of the Color Kids dodged her lazily, keeping out of her way. They knew they weren’t her current target.

“Come back here, Buddy!” called Patty O’Green, continuing to run after him.

“You can’t catch me!” he cried back, jogging along. Out of any of the Color Kids, he was the one that was most fit and could easily outrun them. His only problem was that he’d not watch what he was doing and end up tagged. He continued to run, eyes on a nearby tree that he could hide behind. He never caught Patty running at him from a different angle, and jumped in surprise when she tapped him on the shoulder.

“Gotcha!” she called gleefully, a big grin on her face.

“Aww gee...” Buddy Blue trailed as a splash of water fell onto his face. He looked up. The white, puffy clouds were suddenly growing darker.

“I didn’t think it started raining this quickly,” commented Canary Yellow.

“What gives?” asked Red Butler. He was answered with a roll of distant thunder.

“To the Color Castle! Quickly!” shouted Rainbow. Starlite was soon at her side and she climbed aboard, pulling Twink up after her. She and the Color Kids raced for cover.

“Rain is not good for my outfit!” yelled Lala Orange, trying to keep up.

By the time they all reached the Color Castle, the rain had started to pour heavily and the thunder rolls could be heard getting closer. Lightning streaked the sky every so often, lighting up the now dark day. Buddy Blue and Red Butler pushed the entrance door closed while everyone else tried to shake off the water. Squelching could be heard echoing throughout.

“Go and change into dry clothes, then meet me in my room,” instructed Rainbow. No one argued or replied. Seven Color Kids rushed for the stairs and then to their rooms.

Rainbow looked around at the puddles on the floor and then to Twink and Starlite. “I don’t like this one bit. Something’s not right,” she stated, a chattering in her voice.

“Go get warm,” insisted Starlite. “You’ll get sick if you stay wet like that.”

“Starlite and I will clean things up down here,” added Twink, his wet fur plastered to his sides. His knees shook from the cold.

“Goodness. Twink and I will dry off and then take care of things,” corrected Starlite.

Rainbow nodded. “All right. We’ll be back soon.” She then took the stairs up to her room, her boots squishing on each stair. She could feel water oozing from them with every step and did not like the feeling.

After a quick toweling off and change, Rainbow felt more ready to meet the Color Kids. She had changed into a new dress and towel dried her body and hair. She’d taken her hair out of its pony tail; it hung at below her shoulders limply, damp from the rain still. She pursed her lips as she paced the room barefoot. She wanted to have some idea of what to say to the Color Kids, but was coming up blank. A knock on her door made her look up. “Come in!” she called, knowing that every Color Kid was on the other side, waiting.

The door opened, and in came Red Butler, followed by the rest of the Color Kids. Each of them had changed into drier clothes, but none of them had opted to go barefoot. Patty had left her hair in its braids, though they did not stand out as they normally would. Each Kid looked to Rainbow and saw the worried look on her face.

“Rainbow, what’s going on?” asked Indigo.

“Rainbow Land shouldn’t be getting these types of storms. It’s not good for the environment,” added Shy Violet.

“I’m not sure what’s going on,” began Rainbow. “These storms just started happening all of a sudden.”

“Is it Murky?” asked Lala Orange.

“Yeah, maybe Murky’s up to something,” agreed Red Butler.

“I’m not sure it is. Murky’s not been doing anything about it. He’s just been up to his usual tricks. He’s never mentioned anything about storms.”

“I don’t think we should trust him. He’s never been worth trusting before,” argued Buddy Blue.

“I didn’t say we should trust him,” corrected Rainbow, “but I don’t think that we should blame him for this just yet. We don’t know if it really is him.”

“These storms are coming from somewhere,” spoke up Shy Violet. “The atmosphere of Rainbow Land was never meant for large scale storms, and thunder and lightning have never occurred before in Rainbow Land’s history as far as I know. I’d hypothesize that it’s an outside anomaly.”

“What do we do then?” asked Canary Yellow.

“We keep an eye on it, and we definitely keep an eye on Murky,” stated Rainbow confidently.

It's kinda funny. I get a good bit of writing done at school if I have a free moment. Today I was able to put the last touches on Chapter 5 and then do a page of Chapter 6. Whatever the case, it was time to post another chapter here and elsewhere. Enjoy and feedback is always welcomed If you've got ideas, you know where to post 'em!



Chapter 4 Demonstration

Day in and day out, Stormy was sent to the Colorless Caves. Each day, she tried to refuse the commands that Murky placed upon her, but her body would not listen. Each day, she entered the cave and ended up in tears. She always thought something was out to get her, that she’d end up disappearing forever in the darkness. Every day, she unknowingly created some sort of storm, whether big or little depended on the anger and hurt she felt inside. Neither she nor Murky knew about this. Storms were such a common part of living in the Pits that he wouldn’t know which storms were Stormy’s and which were the natural ones.

Instead, Murky focused on ways to train Stormy. His gloom variant that he’d finally chosen worked perfectly still as the days had passed, and he couldn’t have been more pleased with himself. As soon as he got her used to the darkness and his ideas, he’d move on to bigger things. As long as he didn’t get impatient and screw things up, he’d be fine. Such genius took patience after all. He could keep his patience, as long as he was guaranteed to destroy Rainbow Brite in the end. The end would justify the means. He just didn’t know yet when that end would be.

At that same moment, Stormy sat in the Colorless Caves, on top of a rock that she’d claimed as her spot for the day. She had adjusted to the darkness and making her way about. She focused on listening for everything around her instead of trying to make out objects in front of her. Her hands would deftly guide her along the walls, and her slow, tiny steps would lead her to her spot each day. There she would sit, bored out of her mind, but she didn’t know how to get rid of the boredom. She could do whatever she liked, as long as she stayed in the Colorless Caves and didn’t try to leave. There was nothing to do, and so she sat upon the same rock each day, elbows resting on knees. It seemed like nothing was ever going to change. She sighed deeply, and wondered if she should do what Murky wanted. It would be for the best.

She still hated the darkness. It wasn’t pleasant to be able to see nothing around you for hours and hours at a time. She wasn’t so afraid anymore, but knew that it wouldn’t do any good to be afraid. Stormy was very stubborn when she wanted to be. She couldn’t make herself leave the Colorless Caves, but she could do something Murky didn’t want. She wouldn’t move, no matter what. Instead, she sat and listened to the sounds and noises around her. The shuffling, the scratching, the dripping… each noise was different and she tried to guess what it was that was making it. The dripping was the easiest. She knew that must be water somewhere. She wasn’t sure of the other noises…. Images of monsters that would gobble her up danced in her head.

It wasn’t until weeks later that Murky changed her task. By this point, Stormy was bored of the Colorless Caves. Darkness was okay to her, but it wasn’t the greatest thing, not the way Murky talked about it. She didn’t think the world should be completely dark and void of color. Color did make things pretty, like watching lightning light up a dark night sky. Or even the rainbow that occurred at the end of a large storm. Much as she hated to see any storm end, there was always that rainbow…Stormy scowled. This only reminded her of Murky’s rants about this person called Rainbow Brite.

From what Stormy knew, Murky had been beaten by this Rainbow person many times. She had some belt that would shoot out a rainbow and ruin his plans. It seemed rather funny. What good was a rainbow in destroying something? Rainbows didn’t do that. Weapons did, guns and stuff that she’d seen the grown-ups around her have. Who got beaten by a rainbow? Unless they were weak to begin with, no one could was Stormy’s thought. If he wanted her to beat this Rainbow Brite, it’d be easy. Rainbows were just some silly thing to look at, not to attack people with. Storms, on the other hand, were good for destruction. From what Stormy had learned, storms could be both helpful and hurtful. They could make things grow or they could destroy land, houses, and people with massive floods and winds. Stormy would choose her powers over the stormy weather over rainbows any day. And what good was some stupid belt?

It was mid-afternoon when Murky visited Stormy in her room. She knew something was up, as she’d not been sent to the Colorless Caves for the day. Instead, she’d been left to her own devices in her room. She sat cross legged on the stone floor, rolling about a stone she’d picked up in the Caves. This stone was near round, but rough around the edges. Stormy had picked it up blindly, and then slid it into the top of her boot. She kept it with her, and ran it through her fingers when she was worried. She concentrated on the stone now, and rolling it about. She jumped when Murky spoke behind her.

“Get up! I have a new training just for you,” he instructed.

Stormy instantly rose to her feet at his command, wishing she could have risen more slowly. She felt stiff and achy from sitting in the same position for so long. She quickly palmed the stone so that Murky would not see it and take it from her. Her green orbs gazed up at him, ready and waiting for his next command.

“I bought you so that you’d be my new weapon. Now, I’d like to see what you can do with your powers. And no funny business either, got it? I saw what they did to you at the auction.”

Stormy nodded at him, wondering what he was going to have her do this time. It couldn’t be as bad as the Colorless Caves.”

“We’re going outside. Follow me. I’m going to test you.” He turned and strode for the door, not waiting for Stormy to catch up. He knew she’d follow him, regardless. She had no choice but to do so.

Stormy followed Murky, wondering what he wanted her to do. She knew he wanted her to use her powers, but how she didn’t know. She dared to get a little excited, hoping that he’d give her the freedom to work where her mama had not. Then she realized that she couldn’t always do as her mama had asked either. Her mind suddenly flickered back to a fleeting memory of trying to pull the clouds toward her before blinking out again. She lowered her head, wondering what Murky would do if she could not pass his test.

Murky stepped out into the calm, dark, area of the Pits. It was a quiet day, as far as storms go. Typically there would be nonstop lightning and thunder, but today was one of the more peaceful days. His feet crunched on the loose gravel as he led Stormy away from his lair and up onto a high cliff that overlooked the Pits. He turned suddenly, grinning when he saw that the brat had followed him as commanded. He pointed a finger to the sky. “I want you to make it storm. I know what you can do. Don’t try any tricks or nonsense!”

Stormy gulped, but raised her hand to the sky as her mama had taught her. Her little body trembled with nervousness, and she couldn’t focus. She couldn’t remember what she’d been taught to do. Something about her palm and motions and focus… Stormy squeezed her eyes shut. She couldn’t remember it! She heard the impatient tapping of Murky’s foot and knew she had to try. She didn’t know what failing Murky’s test would ensue. It couldn’t be very good though. She looked at her outstretched hand, her green eyes focusing intently on it. If only she could remember what came next…what came after holding out her palm…

“Come on! I’m tired of waiting for you to do something. Let’s get moving!” yelled Murky, waving a fist threateningly in the air.

Moving…motion… that’s it! Stormy began making the come-hither motion that she knew had been told to her. She focused and tried, but still nothing. She forced her tiny brain to remember, to pull out more of the memory of her training. She then realized that she needed to want it with her mind and heart. She tried again, but nothing happened. The clouds all stayed exactly where they were, great big grey looming puffs that they were. She stomped her foot in frustration.

“Oh that does a lot of good,” sneered Murky. Then his expression turned serious. “Stop fooling around! I know what you can do.”

Hot tears began to well up in Stormy’s eyes. She tried to blink them away. She wouldn’t cry in front of Murky. She wouldn’t. Her emotions wouldn’t listen as her tears spilled over, running down her cheeks. At first, she tried to ignore them, tried to keep working on bringing the clouds closer to her. Her tears turned to sobs that made her body shake and she couldn’t focus on anything in front of her, let alone the group of clouds she was supposed to be bringing closer to her.

Murky hopped from foot to foot, angry. “I did not ask for a crybaby! I asked for you to show me your powers. Now do it! Now!”

Stormy heard his comments and quickly spun around to look at him. Anger flashed in her teary eyes and she glared at him. She hated for anyone to call her a crybaby, and would not tolerate it from him either. “I’m not a crybaby,” she stated firmly. “Don’t ever call me a crybaby!” She stamped her foot, and a peel of thunder was heard. There was no mistake that it had been caused by her stamping. Without a command to keep her in place, she walked toward him.

At first, Murky stood his ground. He had no need to run from a child, especially one that couldn’t even use the powers she had. However, as Stormy stomped her foot and the first peel of thunder was heard, he began to get a little nervous. As Stormy began walking toward him, menacing look in her eyes, he began to back away slowly. More thunder rolled and he stuttered as he spoke. “N-now, let’s n-not g-get hasty…” he said as he held up his hands. Lightning flashed overhead. “I said stop!” he commanded, remembering the gloom variant.

As Stormy tried to continue moving forward, she found that she was stuck. She couldn’t take another step forward. She was frozen in place, unless she wanted to back away. She hesitantly tried to ease her foot backward, but was unable to. Stop apparently meant she was stuck in one spot until he said otherwise. She continued to glare at him, as the storm only continued to grow in size and power. “Don’t ever call me a crybaby again,” she declared as a large bolt of lightning struck Murky from the sky. He yelped and howled, dashing for the safety of a small nearby cave, least he get struck again. Stormy continue to gaze upon the entrance to the cave for a few minutes more before she once again broke down sobbing, shaking where she stood. She crouched down, hugging her knees to her chest.

The storm continued to worsen, rain beginning to pour down. It started as a drizzle and then increased to a downpour. Lightning and thunder flashed and rumbled, echoing across the Pits. Stormy stayed crouched, her anger and sadness affecting the storm. The rain soaked through her clothes, giving her body a chill. She shivered and shook, but could not move from her spot.

Murky watched the scene, wide-eyed, from safely inside his shelter, amazed at what he saw. It was more than he had ever imagined could come from a child so small. The power she had was enormous, but she couldn’t control it yet. It was more than they had been able to show him at the auction. He needed a new plan, and quickly. He would have to train her to use that power. “If I could somehow get her to harness that energy, I’d win this fight, no problem. Just how can I do it though?” he muttered to himself. He watched the storm continue to rage outside, not affected by the emotions portrayed by Stormy. Even he could see that Stormy held great potential, if only her power could be controlled.

Later that evening, Stormy sat huddled in her room, covered by a few blankets that Lurky had kindly given to her. Murky had no idea that Lurky had given away the blankets, and Stormy had no idea that she wasn’t supposed to have the blankets in the first place. She’d been herded back to her room after the storm had cleared away and left there until further notice. Stormy didn’t know if she was in trouble or if Murky had other plans for her. He had seemed…too happy earlier. She had thought she’d be yelled at or punished for not doing what he had wanted. She still couldn’t do as her mother had tried to teach…and then that storm came up. Stormy felt lucky that a bolt of lightning had struck Murky and scared him off, even if she couldn’t do anything. At least the weather seemed to be on her side.

The door creaked open, and Stormy quickly turned her head. Lurky stood there with a dinner tray and placed it in front of her. “Here ya go! Murky says you need to eat up really well for tomorrow!” he called out gleefully to her. He sat the tray on a table that had been added to her room by Lurky. He bumbled away, not staying around to make sure she ate.

As soon as Lurky had left her be, Stormy slipped from the pile of blankets, keeping one ratty brown one wrapped about her shoulders. She climbed into the oversized chair and sat up on her knees, surveying her meal. It looked better than the usual fare that Lurky brought her. It didn’t seem speckled with dirt or dust or strange looking pieces of animal or whatever was in the food. It looked to be standard meat and potatoes with some bread. Of course, there was that glass of nasty fruit juice she had to drink every meal. It was the only thing Murky would give her to drink. By now, she’d been able to trick herself into thinking it was fruit juice and that it actually tasted good. It was enough to trick her brain, which was all she wanted. She still couldn’t get rid of the terrible aftertaste of it… it would linger in her mouth for hours, and nearly make her sick.

Stormy picked at her food, eating it slowly, making it seem to last longer. The food she’d been given had never tasted so good. She had no idea when she’d get such good food again that she decided it was best to make it last as long as possible. She chewed on the meat, trying to figure out what it tasted like. It was good, but nothing she’d ever tasted before. She gulped down a large portion of the juice before working to finish off the rest of her dinner.

Meanwhile, Murky was busily plotting to himself in his bedroom. He’d not let Stormy know of anything. His mind was on the storm that had occurred that afternoon, and he knew it had to be that brat doing it. The sky had been calm prior and when she looked at him angrily, that lightning bolt had struck. Anything else just made it seem like too much of a coincidence. It had been her to do it. Her anger had fueled the storm and she had unknowingly focused her anger onto him, which commanded the power of the storm. He knew that she had no idea of what she’d even done. He was quite sure she was still very clueless about it all.

Murky paced the length of the room, trying to figure out what he could do. The child obviously had great potential, more than could have been seen at the auction, but he had to bring it forth. If she had never been kidnapped, she would have had someone to train her to master her powers. That couldn’t be done here in this case. He’d have to work around that issue. Perhaps if he made her practice for hours at a time, he could get her to slowly master her powers. She could probably work alone, if given the chance to test her abilities. And, he wouldn’t be in the way if she got angry again!

Tomorrow seemed like a perfect day to begin a new training regimen for her. As long as she had the gloom variant, there wasn’t any place she could run to if he gave the right commands. She could stay outside and practice, and he would be able to keep an eye on her from his laboratory. He’d be able to observe her from there and then decide the best course of action. If things went well, she still might eventually be stronger than Rainbow Brite. After all, if he could lure Rainbow to the Pits, then he could spring Stormy on her as a surprise attack. He could imagine her trying to use her Color Belt to get rid of the rain and Stormy, but it’d be no use. Stormy would win. The only problem was getting her trained properly to use all of her potential. He didn’t want her going out and half way doing something. She didn’t even know she was the one responsible for that storm! He could use that to his advantage.

“Tomorrow I’ll give her a talk… perhaps it will convince her to stick with me and I can get her on my side for good… if she thinks I can help her with her powers then maybe she’ll think I’m the good guy and Rainbow is the bad guy.” Murky spoke softly to himself, rubbing his chin. It would take work to convince a child, but it would be easier than trying to do so with an adult.

Murky pulled a book off a nearby bookshelf and flipped open to a dog-earred page that he’d thought might be useful one day to use with Rainbow. Murky ran his finger down the page, stopping when he found exactly what he was looking for. He set the book down and ran to find his notebook, eager to study and take notes. He quickly returned, pencil in hand. “The art of manipulating a child,” he began to read, “is a simple, but delicate art. It is not as difficult as manipulating an adult, as their minds have developed reason and morals. A child has none of these until it is taught…” He cackled gleefully, scribbling notes as he read with his finger. This was going to be the beginning of the end for Rainbow Brite!

I can't wait till Rainbow Brite gets her out of there. I feel so bad for Stormy in this story & got a kick outta her getting Murky, lol. I wonder, is she eventually going to find her mother? Or is it a surprise?

I had never planned on her finding her mother again, but slowly over time she forgets where she came from. She's got awhile to go with Murky yet. I'm still working on the 6th chapter and that one is rather amusing You'll see why when it eventually gets posted. Thanks for reading!

Finished chapter 6 tonight after quite a bit of work... I still wrote most of it in school though. I did most of it the week before last...it's just been crazy busy at school. Sometimes it drives me crazy. Anyway, here's the next chapter!



Chapter 5 A Gift

Three points of lightning struck down, smashing three different stones. One stone had been low in a crevice, one up high on a cliff, and one wedged between two large stones. They crumbled easily under the force of the lightning bolt, shattered stone flying in all directions. Another low roll of thunder was heard as a lightning bolt cracked in the distance, highlighting the outline of a child clad in shades of grey, her lavender colored hair and piercing green eyes the only colors to be seen. A smirk was plastered upon her face, and she was clearly pleased with her actions. She turned her palm to the sky again, fingers deftly searching for the nearby bolts she so desired. Crack. Crack. Crack. Three more stones, broken into smithereens.

The child turned away, entering the stone lair behind her. She ignored everything in her path, and headed for her room, the place where she’d been kept for the past six years. Of course, she had no concept of time in this place, and no way to keep track of it even if she did. To her, it had merely been a long time, a time where she’d learnt quite a good bit from her keeper. She hadn’t changed much in that time span, barely growing an inch before she grew no more. It had seemed odd to her at first that she just stopped growing. Even her hair had grown a little more, but it too had stopped. It was as though time had stopped her from aging any further, keeping her in her current physical state.

At first, she’d found this odd. She knew she wasn’t getting any taller, and knew that she should be. She remembered her parents and how big they were. If she tried really hard, she could see their faces for a glimmering second before they faded away in her mind. After awhile, it was just a fact that she was never going to grow and so she forgot about it. Why worry about something that wasn’t happening? She’d continued on as usual, and it became just another normal thing.

Her wet boots squelched on the stone floor, echoing off the stone walls. Her wardrobe had been upgraded as soon as her keeper had seen her true potential. Now she wore pale grey boots, each with a darker grey lightning bolt insignia. She was robed in a dress of various shades of grey, one that had both an under dress and then a skirt that was split up the front. The skirt was held up by a pair of suspenders that were hidden underneath the lining of the skirt. On the waist of the skirt was a white cloud, with another lightning bolt insignia on it. After all, her keeper wanted her to use symbols similar to his own, and ones that reflected her own power. She had a new lightning bolt hairclip, also grey in color to hold back her thick, lavender hair.

As she climbed the stone stairs, she heard the unmistakable sound of Lurky, her keeper’s clumsy assistant. He seemed to be doing something in a nearby room, and she hoped that she could sneak by without him noticing. Unfortunately, her squeaky boots gave her away.

“Stormy!” he called gleefully, waving his arms at her. “Stormy, wanna play with my new game? All you have to do is—“ he stopped talking as soon as he realized that she was no longer in the doorway. He scratched at his head. “Maybe she wants to play later!” he said to himself, always the optimistic one.

Slamming the door behind her, she entered her room and collapsed on her bed, tired, yet satisfied with her training for the day. It hadn’t been easy to take care of, but it was done and she had enjoyed every moment of it. The satisfying feeling of hearing the stones burst into pieces, the adrenaline rush of directing a lightning bolt to its desired target, even the feel of manipulating the weather had all become a rush to her. It was all to accomplish one goal: destroy Rainbow Brite.

Over the few years she’d been there, she’d heard, learned, and been drilled about the ways of Rainbow Land and color. At first, it’d seemed like silly things, but now…it was something more. She was going to get rid of that girl, no matter what. She been working to develop her powers, ones that made her keeper very pleased. Of course, he did seem crazy at times, the way he’d speak of plunging Rainbow Land into darkness. For destroying Rainbow Brite, she’d receive the power to do as she pleased with the weather system of the planet. The things she could do! The storms and floods she could create! And all she had to do was get rid of the one who protected the land.

Of course, she’d never seen Rainbow Brite, but she’d heard enough of what she did. She spread color over the land, making it bright and cheerful. Year in and year out, she did this, and never tired, or failed. She always managed to beat Stormy’s keeper on top of all that. Secretly, Stormy knew he could not wield the power that she could, and she’d prove that once and for all…

Her thoughts were interrupted with her door being flung open, its hinges banging against the stone behind it. There stood her keeper, grinning at her. She remembered that he’d mentioned being gone for a few days, and that she hadn’t seen him. He had apparently returned, and by the look on his face, she knew that he had been triumphant in whatever it was he’d set out to do. “Come with me and see what I’ve brought for you,” he called, grinning from ear to ear. Stormy looked at him from her spot on the bed, apparently bored with the idea.

“Don’t look at me that way. It’s something you can use to help you beat Rainbow Brite,” he continued, knowing that would get her moving.

Stormy rose from her bed more quickly than she wanted to, knowing that her body was willing to obey his command, whether or not she wanted to. She silently followed him, listening to the small bits of laughter that came from his mouth. It was something good, apparently. Stormy couldn’t recollect the last time she’d seen him so happy. Murky led her into a section of the lair she’d never seen before. She’d never really been in the basement areas of his lair. She had to admit to herself that her curiosity was piqued, and she did want to know what he’d brought her, especially if it was for her to use against Rainbow Brite.

The room they entered was lit dimly with lanterns. In one corner, Lurky was moving bundles of hay into a large pile. A water trough was nearby, and bags of feed stood in another corner. Stormy had no idea what all of this was for.

“Stormy! Murky got you a horsey!” called Lurky as he rushed over to the two of them.

“Get back to work, Lurky!” instructed Murky.

Stormy’s eyes roamed the room as Murky and Lurky shared a small battle of wits, which Murky always won. She almost missed him the first time, but a second glance to the far dark corner revealed the surprise that Lurky had indeed spoiled. A beautiful, midnight violet horse stood before her, its mane, tail, and marking on its forehead a lighter lavender. The marking was a lightning bolt, similar to the ones that marked Stormy as a storm maker.

“I see you’ve found him. I got him pretty cheaply. He’s wild and not very tame when let loose. The seller gave me special medicine to keep him calm.”

“Why does he have a lightning bolt marking?” asked Stormy.

“That’s the best part,” answered Murky with a short laugh. “He loves storms, and can blow fog and ice from his nostrils… the seller didn’t know if he had any other powers, but he was certain there were more.”

Stormy moved closer to the large creature, staring up in awe at him. She looked him in the eye, and though the horse looked back at her, she felt as though he was looking right inside her. He snorted, and wispy tendrils of fog drifted over Stormy, blinding her sight for a few seconds before disappearing. She fanned the air around her, clearing away the leftover remains. She was drawn into those dark eyes, which seemed to relay that there was so much more hidden beneath the surface. “And he’s mine?” she asked.

“All yours. You’ll train him and he’ll help you fight Rainbow.”

Stormy didn’t care about the second part of his reply, forcibly hiding the scowl that threatened to emerge at being compared to Rainbow yet again. Instead she reached out to touch Skydancer, knowing from the warmth of his velvet coat that he was truly alive and not just a dream of hers. She’d never had an animal of her own… she couldn’t remember why. It was yet another memory that seemed so close, yet she couldn’t bring it any closer. She only knew she had never had something to care for and own, as Murky wanted her to do with Skydancer.

~ Flashback ~

“Mama, can I have a frog?” asked an impatient Stormy, hopping from foot to foot.

“No, Stormy. You cannot have a frog,” replied her mama as she prepared the evening meal, carefully chopping the vegetables.

Stormy scrunched up her face. “Well, what about a bird?”

“No,” was the simple reply given yet again.

“Why not?” asked Stormy in a whiny voice.

“Stormy, you can barely take care of the plant in your room. Even then, I have to water it every few days to make sure it won’t die.”

“But it’s so stupid. And it doesn’t even have pretty flowers. Just these tiny things.” Stormy scrunched two fingers together to illustrate her point.

“How could I trust you with a pet if you can’t take care of a plant. A pet needs taken care of every day with food and water. A pet also needs lots of attention.”

“I can do that! I do it with the ants in the garden!” replied Stormy proudly.

Stormy’s mama turned to look at her. “Stormy, you kill the ants in the garden every chance you get with the magnifying glass.”

Stormy crossed her arms. “But I feed them and give them attention!” she protested.

Her mama turned her head to look at her. “You feed them food so they’ll come out of their colonies to it. When you feed them, it just so happens that your magnifying glass is hovering near the food. And sure, you give them attention. You make sure that they move directly under your magnifying glass. Neither of those are the same when you have a pet.”

“But I won’t try to kill a frog or a bird with a magnifying glass!”

“Stormy, you have to show me you can take care of what you have first before I even think about you having a pet to take care of. Right now I’d end up doing all the work for you.”

Stormy stomped her foot on the floor. “But that’s not fair!”

“Show me you can take care of your plant and stop tormenting the ants and I’ll think about it.”

~ End Flashback ~

Stormy patted Skydancer’s muzzle, hesitantly at first, but soon becoming more comfortable with it. She wasn’t used to being near such a large creature. Skydancer pulled away after a few seconds, not wanting to be touched. Stormy watched as Skydancer backed away to the farthest corner of the room. “What’s wrong with him?” she asked.

“He’s wild. You have to train him. Can’t do much with a wild horse, can you?” he asked, chuckling to himself.

Later that evening, Stormy lay in her bed, staring up at the ceiling. She wasn’t sure what to think about this new thing. Murky had given her Skydancer for his own purposes, and expected her to train him. Stormy had no idea how she was to go about training a wild horse, not even a clue about where to start.

If only she didn’t get these gifts because Murky had bigger plans for her. She was only getting them because he was training her in Rainbow’s image. He’d said so enough times that it was burned into Stormy’s mind. He expected her to win and to conquer Rainbow, taking Rainbow Land just for him. Part of her wondered what would happen if she failed and Rainbow won in the end. What would he do to her? What would he even begin to say? The thought didn’t even cross her mind that he might destroy her for her incompetence. Her physical age may have been more than her body showed, but she was still a child in heart and mind. Rolling over, she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.

She awoke to find herself in a grassy field. Blinking, she looked up to see a pale blue sky and puffy white clouds. She sat up, and sat that her bed was green grass. She felt the blades between her fingers and on her legs, yet could not feel them at the same time. This puzzled her. She knew she could feel them, but she didn’t know what it felt like; it’d been too long since she’d seen or felt green grass. She was used to the stone floors and caverns. The sky seemed strange as well; she was used to a black, stormy sky that streaked with lightning and rolled with thunder constantly. Off in the distance a tune could be heard… it was just one single voice and didn’t sound like an animal’s. Then again, she realized she wouldn’t know the difference.

Rising to her feet, Stormy followed the sound of the tune, and then spotted its source, or rather, the shadow of the source. She lowered herself to the grass, laying on her belly. Here the blades of grass were taller so they afforded her an okay spot to hide in. Stormy watched the shadow in front of her. She quickly noticed a few things. She first realized that the shadow belonged to a little girl. From the distance, Stormy judged that she was about her height or a little bigger. This girl was happy and cheerful, content to sing and hum her tune. Stormy could tell nothing else about her; the girl was engulfed in shadow. Her facial and physical features could not be discerned. Stormy couldn’t even tell what she wore.

She continued to watch as this shadow girl danced about in front of her, humming and singing a wordless tune, but one that was calming and peaceful. It then struck Stormy as rather odd that this girl was a shadow when she danced in broad sunlight. Yet, she squinted to get a better view and could not see anything beyond the inky black shadow in front of her. She felt her head nodding, entranced by this girl’s merry attitude. The grass tickled against her skin, but she did not move from her hiding spot, least the girl discover her.

Suddenly, the girl stopped twirling and whirled suddenly. She stopped and seemed to stare at a distance beyond. Stormy watched with baited breath. Somehow, she just knew that this girl was staring directly at her. She had spied on something personal and now she was in trouble for it. Realizing that staying crouched in her hiding spot was quite futile, she rose up and ran. She ran as fast as she could, but she still kept hearing the singing voice behind her. It never seemed to get any closer or further away; it simply followed her.

Stormy stopped and turned around to face the shadow girl, who had stopped and was looking right back at her. “What do you want?” she asked the girl.

The shadow girl did not answer though. She continued to sing her tune, not acknowledging Stormy in the least. She merely watched and reached a hand out for Stormy. She waited, wanting Stormy to reach out and clasp her hand around hers. Stormy slowly backpedaled, not wanting to take hold. “Stay away from me!” she called, and was relieved to see that the girl did not come any closer.

“Stay away from me…. Stay away from me…” muttered a sleeping Stormy as she tossed and turned in her bed.

I dunno about you, but I do love how this chapter ended