Planetfurry BBS

[James StarRunner]

Here's the back-story of my character. I'm still in the process of writing it, but I figured a sneak peek wouldn't hurt.
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CHAPTER 1:

Thin rays of light peered out from over the horizon. The chill October air has not yet dissipated from the sleepy town of Lath’s Stand.

Two figures carrying a third ran through the near freezing mist knowing their lives were in jeopardy. There were no regrets for what they did, but now there was nowhere to turn, nobody to rely on. The mother cried as she held her son, knowing that their time together may soon be at an end. They had been running for hours already and their strength was giving out. No yells were heard behind them, but they knew that those who were chasing them weren’t far behind. If even at least one of them survived this day, they would be satisfied.

As if on cue, a sign of hope appeared. A large building with the sign, “House of Hope - An orphanage for precious children” stood in front of them. Knowing what each other had in mind, the father pounded on the door as the mother bundled the babe up in her cloak, revealing her identity. Her now uncovered wings glistened from the morning dew. She was an angel.

The husband turned suddenly and drew one of his sabres. Their pursuers were close, very close. Without further time to say goodbye to their only child, the husband grabbed his wife’s hand and silently urged her to come. They spared only a second to look upon their son and hoped that whatever happened to them, that he would be ok. Against their will, they turned and ran away from the rising sun.

****

Grace HopeBringer woke up with a start as thunderous booms echoed throughout the entire building. Arming herself with her staff, the trim polar bear bolted to the front door. Her long hair swished behind her as she weaved through the halls. The children started to wake, their peaceful slumber now interrupted.

“Stay in your rooms!” Grace instructed. She entered the main lobby where the front door was. There didn’t appear to be any intrusion, but being cautious anyway, she crept to the door. She dared a peek through the window. Nobody seemed to be outside.

“Prankster kids…” she muttered as she cracked open the door. She almost missed seeing the bundled cloak on the step until something within the garment moved. “What the…?” She bent down and parted the cloak to uncover the blue squirrel babe who slept on despite the recent excitement. Grace gasped and turned her head to look down the surrounding streets. All empty. She looked for a note, identification, or anything else that would solve the mystery of who this young stranger was. Nothing. As she picked up the lone babe, she was shocked yet again. The baby had wings. The shock soon left, replaced by a gentle smile. “Well then, I guess I’m just going to have to take care of you… My little angel.”


CHAPTER 2:

“No! I won’t allow it!” yelled the brown rat from across the desk, flecks of spit flying out of his mouth as he spoke. Grace HopeBringer stood unshaken. The two were in a wide spacious office alone with the rat sitting on a chair with a ridiculously high back to it.

“Shamus, he’s just a baby!” said Grace. “Babies never killed…” Shamus the rat stood up on his chair trying to look as intimidating as his short pudgy build would allow. Even after standing on his finely patterned chair, he still wasn’t up to Grace’s height, only reaching up to her chin.

“You forget!” snapped Shamus, interrupting the much taller polar bear in front of him. “He’s an angel!” He said the last word as if it were a filthy object. “You have to be a fool to not know what’s going on around us! You do realize that the angels by their craftiness have just decimated three major cities last week, don’t you? And don’t call me by my first name!”

“Of course Mr. O’Riley…” said Grace firmly, her anger starting to build. “I do know what’s going on and it’s terrifying really, but you can’t punish a baby for actions he didn’t commit!”

“Grace… you run an orphanage only because of the generous amount of money I put into it. It would be unwise to argue further with me! Keep that murderer-to-be out of your orphanage or I will take this to the courts!”

Grace inhaled and held her breath for a moment. As Shamus sat back down, wearing a sinister grin, as if he had won something great, she spoke again. “You’ll never win, I’m keeping the angel child!”

Penholders, inkbottles, and papers of all sorts flew in every direction as Shamus leaped onto his desk and pointed his stubby fat finger in Grace’s face. “Your adventuring days won’t help you here, missy! I’ll see you in court!”

****

A month later, Grace found herself sitting in front of a high judge who was now reviewing the case that just took place. The aged wolf judge adjusted her glasses again and made small audible sounds denoting that she was thinking. Shamus looked across the room at Grace with a look of disgust. Grace simply looked towards the judge, ignoring the rat’s glare. After what seemed like an eternity, the judge cleared her throat.

“After careful consideration, I have determined that the angel squirrel in question stay in the care of Grace HopeBringer of the House of Hope Orphanage.” Said the judge. There were protests of disagreement throughout the court, but none were louder than Shamus O'Riley's. After about a minute of hammering to silence the crowd, the judge continued. “There are no laws that Grace HopeBringer is in violation of. However… I will set certain conditions. A doctor from city service will make regular visits, twice weekly to check on the behavior of the angel and Grace will receive interviews monthly until either the angel leaves her custody or until further notice. There is also the question of the lack of records for the angel. Before we close, we need a name that the angel will be known as. Have you chosen one yet Mrs. HopeBringer?”

“James StarRunner.” said Grace simply. There were a few audible gasps from the crowd. Even the judge hesitated a moment before writing it down.

“The name of a hero… Interesting.”


CHAPTER 3:

As Grace started her walk back to the orphanage, she reflected back on the recent events that took place. It had been about a month ago since the angels attacked. The three cities still lay in ruins and many survivors had been found. Most had been children and many had been sent to Grace’s orphanage, easily stuffing it to its max capacity. A curfew was set up and a massive hunt had been organized to find all the angels involved, often arresting angels not even involved with the great act of terror and destruction that took place. There were some incidents of self-protection from the angels’ side that caused even more distrust from the beings. Law enforcement, militia, adventurers, and bounty hunters were being called in from the surrounding towns to aid in the hunt. This left more casualties and more orphans. Now stuffed to over what it should handle, Grace found her orphanage a difficult challenge to manage. Grace sighed. At least there was the anonymous tip just before the attack, otherwise there easily could have been much more destruction. The general hate against the angels bothered Grace. She knew there were many more good and decent angels than bad, but the fact that most angels work alone and having a group of them attack left the beings in a state of frenzied panic.

Grace thought back on when she found the squirrel babe while the initial attack took place. The hardships that James would have to face would be incredible if the attitude toward angels wouldn’t change. The resistance she was getting for just taking care of him was already a nuisance.

Grace stopped and turned around suddenly and looked down the street behind her. The street looked totally void of life.

“I swear I heard something…” mumbled Grace to herself. She sighed and buried her head in her hand. “Great, now I’m getting paranoid…”

“I wouldn’t say that...” said an airy voice.

Grace turned sharply once more. Now in front of her stood a black stallion in simple dark garb. Grace instinctively pulled up her staff and held a defensive stance. “Back off!”

“Don’t be alarmed my fair lady. You do know that the streets can be quite treacherous to beautiful lasses like yourself this close to curfew...” said the stallion with a gentleman’s air. “Allow me to escort you home.” He said as he bowed.

“You mean you and your goon behind me with the freakishly large knife?” Grace snapped. “How about you and your friend kiss the end of my quarterstaff?” The stallion looked up.

“I guess our introduction is over.” he said with a sneer.



CHAPTER 4:

“Quite a shame really.” Said the stallion. “You have nice big br…”

BRAK!

Blood instantly blew out of the horse’s nose as Grace’s staff connected with it, making him stagger back. Using the same momentum from the swing, she thrust the butt end of her staff just under the ribs of the tawny feline who was just about to lunge with his dagger behind her. The feline bent inward, eyes wide, stunned and winded from the blow. Grace took advantage of the opportunity by whipping her body around and driving her knee into the feline’s face with a sickening crunch, sending him flat on his back. The crooked dagger the feline held clattered against the pavement and spun away.

The stallion bent down to draw a hidden knife from his boot and wiped the blood from his nose with his sleeve of his free arm. “You witch!” He lunged but found himself foiled as Grace twirled around, her staff sweeping his legs out from underneath him, making him land painfully on his back. Grace stomped down hard on his stomach and clubbed the dagger out of his clenched fist. “H-How…?” the stallion gasped, wheezing for breath.

“If I can keep track of over 80 children, I can certainly manage a couple of amateur thugs!” said Grace firmly with an angry glare. “I’m cranky, irritated, and late. Just be glad this is all I did to you.” Without looking back, the polar bear walked away, leaving the two thugs on the cold pavement, gasping for breath.

***

Xylina had just ushered the kids to their rooms when she heard the door open. The aged lynx with silver hair held the squirrel babe gently against her and walked to the main entrance.

“You’re late.” commented Xylina as Grace hung her traveling cloak

“Sorry, I couldn’t help it. Thanks for covering for me though. Are the kids in bed?” asked Grace.

“Well, I agreed that they could stay up 15 minutes longer as long as they were quiet and stayed in their roo… is that blood?” Xylina pointed at the cloak that Grace hung. Grace looked at the spot of blood on the hem and groaned in disgust.

“It isn’t mine.” said Grace as Xylina raised an eyebrow..

“You didn’t use magic, did you?” asked Xylina.

“Just to discern who was behind me.” said Grace. “If I did use offensive magic though, I probably would’ve killed ‘em.”

“So many petty thieves out now…” Xylina sighed. “This angel hunt is only complicating things.”

“Speaking of angels, how is the little guy?” asked Grace.

“Just fine. Fell asleep five minutes ago.” Xylina placed the squirrel babe into Grace’s arms as his eyes blinked open. “Well, he was asleep…”

Grace cradled the babe and ran a finger across his little tummy. He giggled and grabbed her finger. “Little Jamesey…”

[Luther]

Looken good to me, keep it up.

-L

[Virmir]

Ah, the irony. "Angels" with a bad rep. Nice work, I like it so far!