We’d been best friends since freshman year. I’d always liked her. It just felt like the more I spent time with her, the more and more my feelings grew. I knew if things were going to go the way I wanted them to go, I needed to up and confess. I was so nervous. I was by no means attractive. I was 5.5’ tall with a slim build, brown hair, a round face and green eyes. She, however, was beautiful, with her long autumn hair and her brown eyes. I was so nervous, in fact, I spit it out at the most inopportune time.
“I like you,” I blurted out as we were walking home together one day. Libby turned to me, her mouth agape, a shocked look on her face.
“Luke, I-” she stopped and I opened my eyes (I hadn’t even realised I closed them) to see what was up. I saw her, but nothing else. Just a black abyss. She appeared to see the same. I was dumbfounded. Then, I felt a slight pull on my back. I looked behind to find nothing. I looked back at Libby to see her get slightly smaller. Then, I realized we were being pulled from each other.
“Lib!” I cried and reached out for her. She did the same, but our hands never touched.
In a flash, I was sitting upright. I looked around frantically. No Libby. It seemed to be a small wooden room with two cots up against the walls to either side. In between, there was a small dresser. Above that, a window. A window! I peered out to see a medieval cityscape before me.
I was on the second floor from what I could tell. Shops and taverns lined the cobble streets. People moved about freely. I saw a horse-drawn carriage roll by as well. It was beautiful. Then my attention turned to the alleyways, the dark corners of society. The poor, the weak, the hungry. The thought sparked something in my head. Then, it was if I was hit by a train.
I stumbled backwards and landed on the floor. A wave of memories and feelings rushed through me. They weren’t from my life, but I felt a sense of belonging to them. A boy, Andy, a girl, Lana, and a place… it was underground, but it had wooden walls and a stone floor… a gathering place… the Renegades. That’s who we were. Resisting the iron fist of the King.
As I was sifting through my thoughts, I was interrupted by the door swinging open. “Yo Luke, what’re you doing on the floor? Come on, we don’t wanna be late!” I turned and stood up to see Andy, a good friend of mine. He was about my height, maybe a little shorter with a slim, but still muscular build. He had short, spikey blonde hair with blue light blue eyes.
“Sorry, just rolled out of bed and hit my head. I’m kinda dizzy,” I replied casually. Strangely, I was kind of melting into this new life. I recalled that there was an important Renegades gathering today. Only an exclusive few were going. Exclusive being about a hundred. A lot of people belonged to Renegades. I grabbed my cloak off the hook and we set off.
-------------------------------
As we entered the room, I couldn’t help but think of how my memory failed me. The room was huge. The hundred people in there were easily spread out a couple feet away from each other leaving much room near the walls. The room was buzzing with anticipation. We spotted Lana and went over to her.
“What kept you two?” she asked, one eyebrow raised. Lana was a little shorter than both of us with short silver hair and grey eyes. She was slender, but nimble, which made her a good fighter.
“Sleeping beauty over here took his sweet time getting up,” Andy said, jabbing a thumb at me. Lana laughed and was cut off by a resounding voice. The owner of the voice being the over-idolized Tom Desmond. He was the leader of Renegades. He stood upon a balcony overhanging the mass of people below.
“People of Renegades, hear me! Up until this point, all we have been is a sign, a symbol of change. But nothing has actually changed! It is time to take action! Tonight, we will ride to the royal palace! There, we will capture one of the cruel monarchs that have been sucking all the money from the common people to suit their own lavish desires!” A roar came up from the crowd below. “This operation will be divided into teams. Team Yellow will clear the path, Team Red will retrieve the objective and Team Green will oversee from a distance.” He began listing names for the corresponding teams.
Andy ended up on Team Yellow for his more supportive characteristics. Lana was chosen for Team Red due to the fact that she was one of the best fighters in all of Renegades. I was put on Team Green because I was the best archer in Renegades. Some of my talent came from this world, but a lot was translated from my past life. I was always good at archery.
We went outside and mounted our horses. “See you guys on the other side,” I said as we split into our teams.
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