A Portal Through Time

Hi. I'm Cheyenne, an "innocent" 8th grader.

Note the quotation marks.

One regular, normal day, I'm just walking home from my bus stop. I expected the rest of the day to be fine.

Oh NO.

Since the universe just LOVES me and gifted me with the curious trait, it decided to send some kind of hole in the middle of a nearby forest, and then I end up going to it.

And get dragged in.

By a giant troll.

"HOOOOLY CRAP, let me go!" I yelled, trying to kick it. It pulled me in. The troll was huge and grey, with yellow horns stuck out of its forehead. It had glistening red eyes, and I could tell it intended to kill me.

It scratched my cheek.

I yelped.

I was then surrounded by glistening yellow crystals, and I gasped. They weren't really crystals, it just looked like they were. It was like outer space, only yellow, and there was air.

And there was a troll.

I tried to get away, but the troll grabbed me. I yelped again.

A world materialized around us. I was about to bite the troll.

But NO.

Someone ELSE get's his moment of glory.

A boy about my age, maybe a little older, comes along and just slashes him with some super-long claws.

Of course.

Because SCIENCE.

I looked around. One thing's for sure: I'm not in Kansas any more.

Not that I ever was.

I looked at my savior. He dusted his hands off, looking at me. He had long, black hair and wore a black kimono. He had deep blue eyes, and he hadn't broken a sweat. I raised an eyebrow. He looked like some shrine maiden, only a guy.

"Who're you?" he asked.

"Well, who're you?" I asked, raising both eyebrows.

"You're obviously not worth my time. Stay outta trouble, kid," he said, walking away. I watched him go. He disappeared around a corner. He's about my age, and he called me a kid. Wow.

"Noriyuki! You can't just leave an innocent girl on her own!" someone hissed. I raised my eyebrows again. The man's voice sounded kind, but like a snake's. Since they were still around a corner, I couldn't see them.

"But she's a GIRL!" I heard the guy from earlier exclaim. "Why do I have to help her?"

"BeCAUSE she's a girl!" the other person exclaimed. I furrowed my brow. How insulting!

Soon, I saw the black-haired person dragged by his ear by the old man towards me.

"OW, ow, ow!!" he exclaimed.

I raised an eyebrow.

"He'll take you home. Where do you live, sweetie?" the old man asked.

"I-I don't live around HERE," I said, looking around. "I came out of there," I said, pointing at the hole.

"There?" he asked. He let go of Noriyuki. "Noriyuki, listen."

"Yeah, what do you want?" Noriyuki snapped,

"I think she has mental problems. Take her to Ri--"

"I DO NOT HAVE MENTAL PROBLEMS!!" I yelled.



~



They ended up taking me to a woman named "Rikka." She was really old, with long, blonde hair. Noriyuki and she didn't really get along well... Right now, I think they're arguing about berries.

"C'mon, old hag, they're perfectly fine!" Noriyuki exclaimed.

"My stepson ate one once, and he was blue for a week!"

"Sure he was! But I'm part Kobaloi, so it probably won't have any effect on me!" he replied.

"The Oren berries effect everyone, even Kobalos," Rikka replied, looking slightly annoyed. I rolled my eyes. MAN, that guy's thickheaded.

"Hey, mind telling me why I'm here?" I asked. Everyone looked at me.

"You have a cut, dearest," the old man said. I think his name was Shun, or something. I put a hand on the wound my cheek had.

"I-It's fine, really. I just want to get home," I said, crossing my arms. Noriyuki stared at me.

"You mean... You get scratched by a troll, and it doesn't hurt at all?" He shifted his weight, a suspicious glint in his eye. "Are you just lying to get out of the treatment?"

"No... It only hurts a little, nothing serious. It barely got me," I said. "Look, it's hardly even bleeding."

"True," Shun said.

"So, can you show me how to get back to the hole, or...?" I asked.

"Noriyuki, take her," Rikka and Shun said in unison.

"What? No!!" he exclaimed.



He ended up taking me anyway. He carried me on his back as he ran really fast through the forest.

That's when I first noticed his ears. They were little green spike-like things sticking out of his head. I watched them twitch constantly. I thought about what he had said earlier.

"But I'm part Kobaloi, so it probably won't have any effect on me!"

I always thought Kobalos were short and green, like a goblin. But, he's only part Kobaloi...

"We're here," he said in a voice that probably meant he was fed up with me. I looked around.

"Crap, there's a tree in the way..." he growled. There was a giant tree over the hole. It wasn't a regular-sized tree, it was a huge one that was at least twice as large as an average-sized one.

That's when I realized something.You'll probably think I'm an idiot.

"Woah, woah, woah, wait a second. Where the frick am I!? Goblin things and trolls!? And now a SUPER-HUGE TREE!!?? WHAT IS THIS PLACE!?!?" I screamed, backing away. Yeah. I JUST realized that.

"Uh... This is the Earth?" he said, raising an eyebrow at me like I was crazy. I squinted.

"There is NO way this is Earth. Earth doesn't have Kobalos and trolls, and there isn't very many trees that big," I said, getting ready to run.

"Uh... Where have you been for a thousand years?" Noriyuki asked. I growled slightly.

"SEE YA, CHUMP!!" I yelled, running away. Maybe this is all a dream, I thought.

He caught up to me and jumped in front of me, blocking my path. I tried going to the left, but he blocked.

"This game again? What are we, kindergartners?" I asked.

"What's a kindergartner?" Noriyuki asked.

"Never mind."



~



So, apparently this ISN'T a dream, I thought as Shun and Rikka appeared from the trees.

"We figured out how you came to this land, Cheyenne," Rikka said.

"That hole you came out of is magic. The trolls live in this forest, and they've been guarding it for thousands of years," Shun added.

"And how to you know?" Noriyuki retorted.

"Ever heard of a Centaur? Half human, half horse, very wise, been around for quite some time?" Shun replied. Noriyuki crossed his arms.

"How do you know it wasn't lying?" I asked.

"The Centaur we know and love vowed to never tell a lie," Rikka explained.

"Yeah, well, that was probably a lie too," Noriyuki muttered.

"You're such a moron. There's Kobalos and Centaurs here, and you don't believe in a magic hole?" I asked.

"Nope," he replied.

"Wow."



~



I groaned. "I wanna go home!" I exclaimed.

"You gonna whine?" Noriyuki asked. "I want ya gone, too."

"Is that an insult?"

"Yeah."

"Well, I'm going to ignore that, and I'm gonna find some way to get that tree off!" I exclaimed, crossing my arms and walking away.

"Good luck!" he said sarcastically. "She'll never survive," I heard him mumble.



"Psh, that Noriyuki..." I said, walking through the forest. "What a jerk."

"ROOOAAAHHH!!" someone screamed. I looked around.

"GET OUT OF MY FOREST!!" It was another troll. A bright yellow one, with glaring red eyes, like the previous grey one.

"It's not yours!" I exclaimed, dodging as it ran towards me. Then, I had an idea.

Me, being the amazingly fast runner, I ran towards the direction of where the tree was.

"Yoohoo!! Look at meeee!! I'm gettin' away!!" I taunted.

"NO YOU'RE NOT!!" the troll roared, running towards me. I smirked, running to the tree. I jumped behind it, and the troll crashed into it. These trolls are really, really big, unlike the small ones in some stories, so it broke the tree. The hole was open.

"What the-- Hey!" Noriyuki yelled, running up.

"What? I got the hole open," I said, crossing my arms.

"Not you, that! I need that!!" he exclaimed, pointing at something levitating in mid-air.

"What is it?" I asked, squinting to get a better look.

"I gotta get it!!" he said, running up. He almost caught it, but it moved. It flew towards me.

"Catch it!" he exclaimed.

I caught it, but it was apparently so, so fragile, that my grip broke it.

"COME ON!!" he yelled, running over.

"U-Uhh..." I said as it shattered into a million tiny shards and scattered around. I cringed.

"You... little... pest..." Noriyuki said through gritted teeth.

"Not my fault!" I snapped. Rikka and Shun ran up.

"What happened?" Rikka commanded snappishly.

"This fat klutz broke the glow beetle!!" Noriyuki exclaimed.

"Glow beetle?" I asked, almost laughing from the ridiculous name. He ignored me.

"The rules of the gold beetle say that whoever destroys it must restore it," Shun said. I stared.

"You mean..."

"Cheyenne, you must stay and help us gather all of the shards," Rikka said.

"Wh-What?" I asked.

"And I know that by 'us,' you mean ME," Noriyuki said.



(I will add more later...)