first line Prompt #168 - First Line

[comicfan]

"Now why on earth would I do that?"

[JamesSavik]

"Now why on earth would I do that?", the boy said. It was his fear talking because today he was on the run.

 

The strange man chuckled and said, "In speaking to me, you will lose nothing and stand to gain much. Your choice."

 

Gain was something the boy understood well and it was something he could not afford to pass up. He nodded reluctantly.

 

"Something happened to you today."

 

The boy said, "I couldn't help it. They cornered me. If I hadn't fought, they would have messed me up."

 

The man said, "Yes. They would have. You have been avoiding them for months. They maneuvered you into that locker room with deception."

 

"How do you know that?"

 

"Because we've been watching you", the man said. "You've got no idea of your true potential."

 

The kid smirked and tossed his hair out of his eyes and said, "Watching me huh? You're one of them. It's going to cost you."

 

The man looked serious and said, "We know about that too. Have you asked yourself, how does a skinny kid 120 pounds soaking wet beat six squires so badly two of them are in the hospital?"

 

The kid lowered his head. "I don't know. I was really scared."

 

"You knew exactly what to do. Every move was precision, every blow had just enough power. There are Aikido masters who could not have done what you did without killing at least a few of them."

 

The boy was silent.

 

"Tell me. What do you know about your parents? Your real parents. Not the ones who ignore you and spend your inheritance."

 

The boy looked up with anger in his eyes and growled, "I don't want to talk about them. They're gone. Let's just leave it at that."

 

The man said, "I knew your father well. I taught him when he was your age."

 

The boy's whole mood shifted, "There's so much that... how..."

 

The man smiled and said, "I found him just like I found you."

 

"So what is the scam old man? Are you a long lost Uncle?"

 

The man looked around the alley. He saw a tree stump and sat on it.

 

When he was settled, he said, "Something strange happened during the fight didn't it?"

 

There was something strange about his voice. It reverberated through the boy like an echo or vibration.

 

"You felt a great power surging through you."

 

The boys head was spinning. His legs were unsure. He felt something familiar but he couldn't name it. He realized that the man was speaking to him without using words. Rather than fall down, he sat on the ground. What are you doing to me?

 

Nothing that will cause you harm. Relax.

 

For some reason the boy saw his mother's face. She could speak to him in this manner. It was years ago when they came for her during the chaos of the war. She had hidden him away and said, Some day someone will come for you. You will know him because he is like us.

 

The boy looked into the mans eyes and thought, what is this?

 

The old man took him into his mind and memories. He could see people and years running past. Deep into the past.

 

He was frightened and wanted to get away but the old man's presence was there, calm and reassuring.

 

The boy saw Knights clad in plate mail kneeling before a great king and a priest was speaking over them. Although he did not know the language, he could understand the words.

 

To protect our Order and its secrets, I gift to thee the powers of the elements. When it need you may channel them and none may stand against you.

 

The priest reached out and touched each knight and a rune appeared on his hand.

 

Suddenly the vision vanished and the boy was back in the alley. He looked at the strange birth mark on his hand.

 

The old man said aloud, "The gift is handed down from father to son through the generations. Some bloodlines have been lost but yours is true. You have the ability to channel and control great power. You have only begun to feel it."

 

The boy rubbed the birth mark and said, "What is it?"

 

The old man said, "Why boy, that's the ancient rune of chaos. You are a walking, talking weapon of mass destruction and you don't even know it yet."

[Timothy M.]

Another first line prompt which was a challenge, but I finally managed to use it. https://www.gayauthors.org/story/timothy-m/timothysterriblepromptstories/34