Subject: prepost at last! Date: Sat, 9 May 1998 23:08:15 EDT From: Kirana Ti1 [yay...here it is! sending it to myself too to make sure AOL doesn't lose it] Estela's Prologue Emily stopped to check her email before leaving. Her parents were awayfor the week, her brother was at a friend's house, and she was due at her friend's in an hour or so. She dropped her bags against the chair and started deleting junk email even before she sat down. The last message was from an address she didn't recognize, but it was marked, "message from teri-chan ^_^," so she read it-- Teri was at Kutztown U, the message said, using a friend's address to send a picure. She shoved a disk in the A-drive and waited for the download. As the picture became recognizable she smiled-- and then muttered, "what the hey?!" as the screen flared white. She whacked the monitor, to no avail. The light brightened, and she squeezed her eyes shut against the sudden glare as she fumbled for the CTRL-ALT-DEL reset sequence. Before she could hit the buttons, though, the world seemed to shift around her, or herslef to shift, the light flared blindingly, and she slid into unconciousness as she hit the ground with a jarring thud. As the light faded, the image vanished. The virus deleted itself from the hard drive, coverring its tracks, and the computer settled into a quiet hum as the screensaver appeared, leaving no trace that Emily had been there. * * * * * She came to, opened her eyes, and winced at the bright sunlight. Ignoring her spliting headache, she sat up slowly and looked around. Buildings of pale marble, even in her narrow alleyway, and on the more major street visible at one end, people in odd clothing. The language, too, was new to her, but she found herself understanding it, and she would have bet she could speak it too. She shut her eyes and leaned her head back against the wall as panic made her head throb. where am I? this isn't Earth. but that's... stop. calm down. panic won't help you. calm! She took a deep breath and climbed to her feet. Her headache faded slowly as her heart stoped racing. what have I got to work with? She glanced down at her clothing: beat-up black combat boots, army- camo cargo pants, a tight black t-shirt, and a long jacket of lightweight blue denim with big pockets. At her feet were her duffel bag and her backpack. marked with my initials. my name doesn't fit this language. Estela will do, and I'm used to it, but what about the K and the B? K: Ker-? Ky-....Kyrillian? yeah. and B...? she smiled as she remembered an appropriate name from a book she'd been reading. Bashere. Estela Kyrillian Bashere, Estela Bashere, yeah, that'll do. so I've got a name, and the stuff in my bags and my pockets. There was something hard and flat in the leg pocket of her pants. Her download disk. Teri-chan's picture! it must have to do with this...place. is Teri-chan here too then? She tucked the disk away in hebackpack, suddenly realizing a number of coins glinted on the paving stones. She bent to scoop them up, then froze midway back up. my luck is not that good. why is it now? seh put the coins in her pocket anyway. you need them. think about "why" later. Estela picked up her bags and walked out onto the main thoroughfare. she glanced at the wares in the stalls along the street, stopping to buy something that closely resembled ramen soup for a few copper coins and to ask the vendor some questions. "I'm, uh, new here-- I'm not really sure where here is, actually, though. Could you maybe tell me?" she asked hopefully. geez, you sound like an idiot! but at least you can speak the language...whatever it is. "You, miss, are in Jiran, capital of Alari, most beautiful city and nation in the world!" the vendor announced proudly. "Is there a good inn near here, sir?" The man pointed down a side street. "You might try the Seagull, down there a few blocks," he answered. "Thank you, sir!" Estela exclaimed as brightly as she could manage. She took her soup and sat down on the rim of a nearby fountain to eat and think. at least wherever Alari is, the food is good. lucky again. I never had luck like this at home...but then, I'm in another world, I think. I feel like I've walked into one of those anime magic girl series. Sarcasm twisted her lips into a grim smile. funny, I don't feel like a heroine...though if I am one that might explain this luck business. gee, wonder if I get magic too? She stood and tossed her paper bowl into what she hoped was a trash can, and set off for the Seagull. [ok...tell me what else needs doing and I'll get on it as soon as I can. sorry this took so long. also, if I have some info about Estela's little piece of the world (just like geography and currency type stuff) who do I send that to? please don't post the part of this in the brackets btw]