Friday 23 June 2017

The Adventures of Lando Erif :: The Day I Banned Chocolate (Pt. One)

One week left until Camp NaNo kicks off. Are you ready? *cough* I'm not. But I'm sure that doesn't come as a surprise to anyone considering my renowned preparedness for everything. (particularly blog posts like today's *awkward laugh*)

But anyways. Today I have the first half of a story for you all. I've mentioned it before in all its random-first-line-ness, so the very beginning might be familiar to some. The ending, however, is as yet unfamiliar to me. BUT I'LL DEAL WITH THAT ANOTHER DAY. :P

So, on to the story!


The cocoa bean jumped onto the road.

“Er, do cocoa beans normally do that?” Titus asked with a frown.

The bean jumped again, bouncing along the black gravel surface.

Thomas straightened his tie. “I dunno,” he said, squinting after it. “But not as far as I’ve heard.”

The twins were leaning against the school fence, chewing the remains of their lunch. All the other year seveners were playing soccer but neither team wanted the twins—they had a reputation for accidentally kicking the ball in the completely wrong direction. Thus they were alone and waiting for the bell to go off, when the bean started acting oddly.

“It’s almost like it’s alive,” Thomas mused, brushing the crumbs off his uniform.

At that moment a familiar figure came dashing down the street, running as if his life depended on it. Which, in fact, it did.

“Lando?” Titus stared in astonishment.

A second later, a dark shadow swept across the school ground and a frying stream of flames scorched the road around Lando. The twins looked up, gaping as they saw the dark dragon diving toward the ground.

“Great smelly socks—” Thomas choked.

Lando emerged from the fire entirely unscorched. He dived to the side as the dragon swooped low, scraping its claws along the road.

Titus exchanged a glance with Thomas and they scrambled up and over the fence, ignoring the now-tolling bell. Titus dropped to the ground, stumbling as a swoosh of air heaved him backward into the fence again.

Flames seared across the ground and Titus jumped to his feet again. The dragon plunged down out of the sky on top of Lando “Watch out,” he yelled, but it was too late.

Lando disappeared beneath the huge dark green wings and the dragon soared upward again. With Lando clutched in its claws.

“No, help,” Thomas yelped, jumping toward the dragon too late to do anything other than land flat on his face.

“Come back here right now.” Titus dashed forward as the dragon swooped toward another street. “Or else I’ll call Sir George.”

The dragon obviously had never met Sir George, so the name didn’t baulk it at all. It just kept on flying.

Titus paused beside his twin and hauled him up from the ground. “Come on. We need to save Lando.” From whatever freakish random attack was happening now. 

Surely Zana couldn’t have gotten back from her ReLocated island that fast?

Right?

Thomas rubbed his hand across his face and shook his head, holding onto Titus’s arm. “I don’t like the ground.”

“I don’t blame you.” Titus started running, dragging Thomas with him. “Come on.”

He pounded across the road, heading for the street that the dragon had plunged down. A billow of smoke exploded out of the street and Titus staggered, slamming his shoulder into Thomas by accident.

“Whoa what—” Titus stopped, clamping his hand over his mouth.

Not good.

“Not good,” Thomas voice his thought.

“No kidding.” Titus gulped in a deep breath and sprinted forward into the grey cloud. The smoke stung his eyes, but he could see the street clear enough as the grey started to drift away.

It was empty.

No sign of a dragon. No sign of a Lando.

No sign of anything at all.

Titus gaped at the emptiness. No dragon could fly fast enough to disappear like that. It must have just gone down another of the streets. He started to step forward but a sudden blast slammed into him and he stumbled back, Thomas yelling out beside him and ending up face first on the ground again.

With a thud, a girl appeared, landing lightly in a superhero-crouch.

“I wish I could do that,” Titus mumbled to himself, watching in awe.

The girl spun around, her hands instantly raised to a defensive position. “Thomas?” She lowered her hands, straightening. “What are you doing?”

“I was going to school. Until Lando came running along the road chased by a maniac dragon.” Titus shook himself back to attention. 

“And anyway, I’m Thomas.” Thomas grumbled, rolling up to his knees from the ground.

Scarlette Broome raised her eyebrows. “Should’ve guessed you lot were involved somehow.” She tipped her head and looked down her nose at Thomas. “What are you doing on the ground?”

“Just casually chilling out, as per usual.” Thomas stood, brushing his uniform off.

“You knocked him,” Titus explained, stepping forward. “The safety force-blast to clear the area before you can Net travel cleared us both backwards.”

“Ah.” Scarlette shook her head. “Next time, try not to get in the way.”

“I didn’t try this time,” Thomas protested hotly.

“Anyway. I actually have stuff to do. Sir George sent me after a dragon and I’d better get it before anything happens to anyone because of it.” She turned away from the street, heading toward the school.

“Whoa, whoa, hold it right there.” Titus scrambled sideways to block her path. “Lando just got kidnapped by a dragon right here, so chances are it’s the exact same one as what you’re looking for.”

Scarlette’s eyes narrowed around the corners, surveying him closely. “Is this a joke?”

“No,” Titus assured her at exactly the same time as Thomas did the same.

She looked between them both. “Okay.” Propping her hands on her hips, she pursed her lips. “Give me a good reason to believe you.”

Good reason? Why did girls always need good reasons before they did anything?

“Because Lando isn’t here now. So that proves that he was taken,” Thomas tested.

“Not buying that one, Titus.” Scarlette shook her head firmly.

Titus bit his lip, desperately wracking his mind to think of something to convince her with. He could just leave and who cares if she helped or not. But where had Lando gone? By now the dragon could be anywhere.

Then he noticed Scarlette’s jacket, tied around her waist by the sleeves. And more specifically, he noticed that the pocket was moving.

It flinched and wiggled next to her leg like something alive.

He only vaguely heard his twin trying to convince the girl that she was getting their names mixed up. The corner of a piece of packaging appeared, jerking outward a little way.

“I don’t even care if you’re Thomas or Titus—Okay fine. From now on I call you both Kanter and if you don’t answer to that, then it’s your problem.” Scarlette huffed loudly and started to turn away. “You’re wasting my time with your stupid pranks.”

The chocolate bar slipped all the way out of her pocket.

But then, instead of falling on the ground like any normal chocolate would do, it flew straight toward Thomas’s face.

He yelped and slapped it away and Titus lunged forward, snatching it in his hand before it could escape. “Ha. Gotcha.”

The chocolate almost slipped from his hands again, as if it was being tugged by some invisible force. Like a magnet.

Scarlette turned around, her frown turning into a look of indignation. “That’s my chocolate bar,” she protested, starting toward Titus. “How dare you take that.”

Oh wait. Not good. Grumpy girl. How did one deal with a grumpy girl?

“No, no. It’s not what you think,” he tried to explain but her glare left him stumbling into silence.

“Give that back.”

The chocolate bar jerked from his hand and went flying right past his ear and Titus turned, throwing himself after it. He just managed to get the edge of the packaging between his fingers and grab a hold of the rest again.

“What in the world are you doing?” Scarlette demanded, standing over him.

“The chocolate. I think it’s attracted to the dragon in some way. That’s why the cocoa bean was bouncing so weirdly. It’s like the dragon has some magnetic force only it pulls cocoa toward itself,” he was thinking aloud now, feeling the pull of the chocolate in his hands.

There was a moment of silence and then Scarlette cleared her throat. “Yep. You’re definitely as crazy as I always thought.”

But…if the chocolate bar was pulling toward the dragon, then it could lead him to Lando. Titus scrambled to his feet, shooting Thomas a glance. Instantly he knew that they both had worked out the same thing.

He started running, following the pull in his hands. “Come on!” 

Thomas ran after him, keeping pace just behind.

“Hey you two. Come back here right now and don’t you dare run off with my chocolate bar,” Scarlette screamed behind them.

Titus ignored her, staggering and taking a skidding turn to the right as the chocolate jerked sideways.

“Don’t make me run, boys, or you will regret it,” Scarlette’s voice went slightly dimmer as buildings rose up between them, but still considerably earsplitting.

Titus followed the steady tugging in his hands, almost running into walls and crashing against unexpected dumpsters as they sped through streets that he hadn’t even realised existed.

Then he stopped just in time to avoid smashing straight into a door.

Thomas stumbled into him from behind and he went forward another pace, bringing his hands up to protect his face from smashing into the wood. The chocolate bar slipped from his grasp and evaded his snatching fingers, skittering up the wall as if gravity didn’t exist anymore.

Scarlette skidded to a stop at the same time as her chocolate disappeared through a cracked-open window.

Titus sucked in a deep breath, taking a step back and looking up at the building. The wall were nets of cracked and peeling paint, and at least three storeys high. Spiderwebs draped off the top corner of the door right in front of him.

“Well. No one lives here, obviously,” Thomas said, his voice startlingly loud in the eerie stillness.

Scarlette’s shoes scuffed the ground as she stepped back. “I’m not sure if you guys read very much, or even watch any movies, but this looks like the exact sort of place where the supervillains hide out and kidnap the unsuspecting heroes that are stupid enough to walk in the front door.”

Titus swallowed hard. “But if the dragon’s in there, then Lando must be in there too.”

“And we’ve got to save him,” Thomas added, his voice croaking hesitantly over the words.

Scarlette shook her head again, shoving her hair behind her ears. “I don’t like it.”

“I’m going in.” Titus stepped up and set his hand on the doorknob. “If anyone is game, feel free to follow.”

“Of course,” Thomas and Scarlette said at the same time.

Scarlette glared at Thomas. “Don’t you dare start saying the same things as I do, Kanter.”

Titus turned his back on them both and twisted the doorhandle.

And then, with a crash that could’ve been heard by a deaf old granny a hundred kilometers away, the door exploded.

- - -

And there you have it, an almost late (seriously guys, I was this close to running out of time and you almost got this posted tomorrow, but backdated to today. :P) installment ALL ABOUT FOOD AGAIN.

I wasn't even hungry this time, I promise.

Are you excited for Camp NaNo?
(who isn't??)
Do you like chocolate or nay?

24 comments:

  1. YAY! CAMP NANO SO SOON!!!
    Haha Jane! I was laughing the whole time. Maybe this is the proof that chocolate is evil, it chases dragons.
    I want to hear more about Scarlette. She's interesting.

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    1. IT'S WAY TOO CLOSE AND HELP I HAVEN'T PLANNED. *shrieks and flails*
      Yayy that's good to hear. ^-^ Oh yes yes indeed. Of course it's quite evil. XP
      Same actually. *nods* I know...not very much about her character at all, but it all comes fairly easily as I write SO THAT'S NICE. xD

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  2. The title made my jawdrop! Why would Lando ever ban chocolate?!? Yes, I LOVE chocolate! But at the end I was like, oh, that's why.. XD

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    1. *bursts out laughing* Yes, I promise there's a good reason. XD I did originally think 'how many people are going to read this just because they're horrified by the title' XP

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  3. Chocolate is not evil , it is very good.
    I enjoyed your story and the explosive ending.

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    1. Truue okay okay. I concede. It isn't evil. :P
      Thank you!! :D

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  4. This is great! :D I'm a BIG fan of chocolate! (Unless, of course, it happens to be an evil accomplice to the dragon. Then I'm not.) XD I had lots of fun reading your story; thanks for sharing!

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    1. Haha yess. I don't actually like chocolate *cue gasps of horror from all* but preeetty much everyone I know does. :P (but yes, next time your chocolate falls out of your pocket, just be careful that it's not being magnetically drawn to a dragon XD)
      Eep thank you so much!! *flails at all the niceness of this comment*

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  5. Jane you are rather in the minority regarding chocolate, not that I mind if I get to eat yours then :) But interesting story as always.

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    1. SHH that's because I'm so /special/. *nods* Of course.
      The dragon was inspired by you. XD (just kidding, but actually that is a funny idea...)

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  6. Joshua says the story is really good. Samuel agrees. Scarlette's landing made me think of cat woman. Great story. Looking forward to next week.

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    1. Yay thank you my dear brothers. Haha yess. They're all just turning into superheroes now. XD
      Thanks!! :D

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  7. I LOVED THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yes, I'm excited! XD XD Loved Scarlette's landing. XD
    Heehee, I like chocolate. :-)

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    1. THANK YOU. XD Yaass. All the superhero poses. XP
      Good for you! That just means that you don't get the hilarious looks of shock when you say the words "I don't actually like chocolate..." XD

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  8. I do like chocolate. And this certainly has a chance of becoming the wierdest Lando story. Might not quite make it though.

    I suspect you already have a cabin for CampNaNo. I'm in a cabin with only three other people and feeling rather lonely.

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    1. I honestly have no idea. XD It might, but we'll have to wait and see.

      I do actually. D: I don't have a whole lot more spaces left, but if you needed a place, my cabin shall always be open to you. (Maybe next year?)

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    2. Maybe. I do like my cabin mates though and might feel bad about abandoning them.
      You don't happen to have as many as four spots left do you? They probably wouldn't mind moving

      Delete
    3. Hmm. I'm not sure I have quite enough spaces. D: And I don't want to leave anyone out. Maybe we can organise something for next year though so you don't get left alone. (OR when I run out of room, I can just refer everyone on to your cabin... *hums thoughtfullly*)

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    4. If you have some spare people, you can always contact me through KP.

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    5. Oh yep yep. *fingerguns* I definitely shall.

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  9. I need chocolate to be attracted to me like it is to that dragon! :D

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    1. Oh man. Can you imagine how hilarious that would be?? XD Chocolate flying toward you every time you go to the grocery store. xP

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    2. Lol. When you put it like that...perhaps it doesn't sound like such a lovely idea.

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    3. In theory it'd be nice. In practice it would definitely have its downsides. :P

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