My name is Ren Takayama, and I live in New Jersey. I can't recall a normal time in my life, honestly. My mom said I had a knack for saying strange things, or that I always attracted weird incidents, like flocks of ravens. I believe they were more interested in my corn nuts, honestly, but I didn't understand at the age of four. When I was seven, I once put one of my school books in the classroom trash can, which immediately began to smoke and erupted into flames. The first time it happened, it was deemed an accident… But the other ten times it happened, I got kicked from school to school.
The only thing in my life that remained constant was my natural talent with instruments. I played in different band orchestras, striking out hardcore solos on the violin, or playing my flute so hard the buttons got jammed in mid-sonata. I originally wanted to learn how to play percussion instruments, but one day in fifth grade band class ruined my chances. I was practicing the timpani parts of our winter concert song, when a boy named Bryce Reeseworth and his goonies came to bother me.
Bryce wasn't the nicest person, but other students liked him because his mom and dad were the owners of a local convenience store. Bryce would bribe them into doing things for him, by bringing the other kids snacks and sodas from the store. He was a bit taller than most of the other kids, with dark brown hair that he always kept parted down the middle, and brown eyes that reminded me of wet dirt. His face reminded me of Mr. Bean, but with a more youthful look to it, as if he was stuck in a constant surprised sneering expression. Anyways, so Bryce and his goonies came into the bandroom while I was practicing my epic timpani solo.
"Ew!" Bryce shouted, snatching the drumstick out of my hand, "Who taught you how to play this? It sounds like a dying animal!"
Sure, I've heard this expression before, but for a drum? Maybe if the 'dying animal' was falling onto a very tightly bound trampoline?
"Give that back, Bryce!" I shouted, reaching to grab it. I was by no means as close to the size of Bryce and his friends. I was a bit on the shorter side, and very slender according to my mom. I wouldn't win a fight with Bryce, so I had to stand down.
"Look guys, he's gave up already!" Bryce sneered, before raising the drum stick over the drum. "Guys, check out my awesome drumming skills!"
One of the guys grabbed me and the other held my head against the flat of the drum. Bryce brought the stick down, banging it on the drumhead, sending a loud BOOM directly into my ears. However, Bryce and his friends seemed to stand still. While the ringing in my ears slowly died down, I heard Bryce gasp audibly. He had fallen to the ground, while the two goonies were holding their noses, which were bleeding.
And of course, at that moment, the band teacher had entered. Thankfully it was only a two week suspension, with some Saturday detention. My mom was concerned for me, but the school claimed I had gotten into a fight with some other kids. I didn't mind, though. Bryce talked about how I had fought dirty and hurt his friends all year long, leading to me being the most hated person in school.
Though, that as five years ago! Now, summer was coming up, and my only friends were a scraggly boy from Long Island, and a girl from Jersey, just like me! The boy was a kid named Lark Bristlefoot. He was about my age, maybe a year older, with curly brown hair, green eyes, and tan skin, like he's out in the sun all the time. Last year, he told me he got a part time job at a summer camp, and he came back with a tan like I've never seen before, as well as a slight scruff on his face.
The girl, however, was just an inch taller than me, with copper, dark tan skin, hazel eyes, and long, curl black hair that reached to the bottom of her back. She was also seventeen, and was one of the popular girls in school, but that wasn't a big deal to her. She had some liking towards me, for some reason, and when we met in freshman year, we ended up becoming best friends. Her name was Sephora Chambers, and she had her own fair share of troubles, inside and outside of school.
"What are your plans for the summer, Seph?" I asked, moving my black hair from my face while we walked. The wind outside was beginning to pick up, bringing in a small shower.
"Not sure, maybe I'll see if I can get a summer job. It's our senior year next year, so might as well go out with money, right?" She smiled, her tone of voice always carried a lot of wisdom and knowing. "Lark, is your camp still looking for summertime counselors?"
"Well yes, but no… I'm not sure," Lark mumbled, before shaking his head, his black beanie secure on his head despite the hot temperature. "Maybe I can ask, but that will have to be later."
"Yeah," I nodded, "I'm interested too! I'm sure my mom wouldn't mind the absence. I'm sure she's tired of hearing me practice Nocturne in E Flat Major twelve times a day."
"I mean, yeah! You both could come with me to the camp, I think. I'm sure they wouldn't mind! I mean, they shouldn't mind the extra visitors even if not," Lark mumbled, before looking dead ahead, pausing as he walked.
Let it be known, Lark has always had a slight limp to his walk, as if the ground under his feet was uneven. I followed his gaze, but all that was there was a scraggly street cat with orange and black fur, looking at Lark as if it had seen a ghost.
"Hey, Ren?" Lark asked with a tensed voice, his body frozen. "Do you still have my friendship bracelet? The one with the gold music note on it?"
Was this really what he was worried about? He looked terrified, about a bracelet?
"Yeah, I still have it. I'm wearing it," I held my wrist up, showing it to him. It was a small, beaded bracelet with yellow and orange glass beads, and a faux gold, metal music note charm.
"And I've still got mine," Sephora held hers up. Hers was red and white, with a silver lily charm on it.
"Okay, good," Lark still seemed terrified of the cat. I looked back at it, but I realized why. Where the cat stood, there was now a monster. Its body was large, a lion's body about the size of a compact car. Where the head was, there was the face of a human woman's, with cat-like eyes fixed on me. On either side of its shoulders were two hawk-like wings, spreading open and launching the beast into the air.
"Ren! Duck!" Lark shouted, finally breaking from the terror that had him paralyzed.
Duck? No, that's a Sphinx- No, he meant DUCK! Last second, I dove down, just barely avoiding the razor sharp claws of the Sphinx's front legs. Sephora stood, looking terrified but confused.
"Lark? What's happening?" She asked, watching as I stood up, the Sphinx turning back to stare at me.
"Seph? Can you not see this thing attacking me?" I asked, ducking to the side as the beast swiped, aiming for my head. "I think the Sphinx wants to turn me into dinner!"
"The Sphinx? So that's what that is?! I can't see it properly but… Lark! Do something!" She called, throwing the red and white charm bracelet to Lark, who caught it. At first I thought, 'How on earth can a bracelet defeat a Sphinx? Through the power of friendship?' But that's quite literally what happened. The bracelet turned into a bronze sword, shaped like a peacock feather and adorned with red and white crystals. Yuck. Not my style. Lark must've known, because he caught it by the hilt, but he obviously was lacking in the 'peacock feather sword lessons' because he was slashing like a madman.
How did Sephora know about the bracelet sword thing? Maybe it had accidentally transformed-
"Ren!" Sephora cried out, using her bookbag to knock the head of the Sphinx aside as it lunged, "Use your bracelet! Hurry!"
"My bracelet?" I asked, but as I spoke, a bright light quickly overtook my eyes. Where the bracelet once was, there was now a golden bow with a music charm hanging from the white leather handle. Great, I had a bow but no arrows?
No… I had arrows. My backpack felt heavier, and reaching behind me, I felt the feather-like fletching sticking out of the top. My bag had turned into a quiver of wood and bronze arrows! I did what felt best, pulling an arrow and notching it, drawing back my bow. I had seen this stuff in Hollywood movies, where a girl would draw her bow and shoot it, but it always seemed easier to aim.
The monster was distracted by Sephora and Lark, who both had now jumped into fighting this Sphinx with the most unconventional of fighting styles. The Brutal Backpack style was working well for Sephora, as she battered the beast with her bag. However, the Frantic Feather wasn't working well for Lark, who didn't even manage to hit the beast.
I saw an opening, as if the sunlight was pouring into this spot, highlighting it for me. I aimed for the opening, and fired the bow, releasing the arrow. It whistled through the air, striking right between the shoulderblades of the Sphinx. It embedded itself about two inches deep, and the Sphinx howled in pain. The beast reared back, turning to face me.
I aligned another arrow, and I saw it- the same light guiding my arrow to the weak spot. I fired as the Sphinx began to charge, the arrow lodging in the throat of the beast. It fell to the ground, clawing at the arrow as it howled in pain. Within moments, it crumbled into golden dust, carried away by the breeze. I exchanged a bewildered look with Sephora and Lark, before the two of them began to talk among themselves.
"Hey, guys? Are we not going to talk about what just happened?" I ask, walking over to them. The bow in my hand was now a bracelet, dangling on my wrist. Sephora took her bracelet back from Lark, after turning away with an upset look on her face.
"No, we don't need to. Let's just go talk to your mom, Ren. Lark's gonna get those camp applications for us. Lark, don't worry, I'll find us a way to get to camp," Sephora nodded towards him. Lark looked a bit concerned, but nodded.
"Alright! Well, if you need me, Seph knows how to contact me. And hey, Ren? Try to keep quiet about what happened. Those things make for good camp stories, right?" Lark gave me a gentle, playful punch to the shoulder, "I'll see you both soon, right? Summer jobs?"