Altan Stamina Training

[XGodSlayerSpiritX | Training Application for Energy | Altan Stargazer | Year 12, Month 8]

Wee, application! Hopefully, I can keep it short, sweet and simple...
Happy reading! ^u^

Warning: It is not short, sweet and simple q.q



It was an ordinary day in Atlantis, or as normal as an underground technological marvel can be. The city was bustling with intellectuals, managing resources, carrying blue-prints, working on machines. Lab coats, lab coats, lab coats, and stern faces. Such a sterile place. Even the children went about their tasks in a fixated manner, albeit with smiles on their faces atleast. And among this crowd-- this humanesque traffic of bodies down roads and pathways-- a very small and bubbly boy leapt from rooftop to rooftop, climbing up walls, dashing through alley-ways with an unnatural hurriedness that barely alarmed the adults who were passed by. A tsujin child, wearing casual clothes, and carrying a large backpack. On that brightly lit face, beaming with life, two cyan orbs stared forth down the path he travelled. <Hurry, hurry!> The child thought to himself, lifting his left hand to glance at his childish watch adorned with the face of a cartoon figure. Nearly 6 o'clock. They'd surely be closing the entrance alot sooner on Friday; noone expects any kind of exhibition to the surface near the weekends. Which also meant it was the perfect time for a certain younger person-- currently zooming through the city-- to sneak out.

	A few minutes later and he was near the outskirts of the city-- and further down the line there was the exit. An elevator-like system... magnetic floating platform... type thing. But there was also a staircase. It was a long climb, but worth it in the child's eyes. Said child had made it to the last series of rooftops and stood staring for a moment, making sure none of the security guards were in proximity. "Well, well, well. Look who we have here." A voice called out behind him. Drat! It was one officer, smirking as he leaned on a nearby wall. The man stood straight as he tapped a device on his face-- a scouter-- and scanned the boy from a distance. "Altan Stargazer. You're the little fella that bunch of weirdos calls in for a missing person's case nearly each weekend."
The pink-haired youth frowned, balling up his fists nervously, unanswering. "What are you doing out here?" The officer asked, slowly approaching. "Come on, your family is worried. I'll get you back home safe and sound." The only response he got from the boy was a sudden gasp, and a pointing of the finger to something behind the man. The officer turned instantly, wondering what he was... Nothing?! And, as he turned round again, he found that the child had disappeared. That sneaky, mischevious... At once, he pressed a button on his scouter and began speaking into it, urgently, calling for help to lock down that sector and search. By this time, agile and swift as Altan was, he had taken quite a lead on them and climbed down.

	To his displeasure, he was spotted on street-level and, of course, a chase broke out. Well, it was less like a police chase than a... I dunno, chasing your pet around the neighborhood... if that's a thing. "We're just trying to help you! Stop running!" One of them called out-- and, as he had ordered, the pink-hair had suddenly come to a halt infront of a wall. "Alright... alright..." The man panted, walking over to him. As he reached down to try and grab him, he found himself deeked out-- that is to say, it was a faint. With surprising speed for a child barely elementary-school age, he had slid through his legs and ran towards the same man again-- this time using his back as an extra platform to leap onto a lower rooftop. And again, Altan was gone. "Typical!" His partner commented, facepalming. <Now I can go!> The boy thought as he edged the end once more. But that hope burned away as he caught sight of the door to the staircase being locked. Drat! There was nothing he could do now. At that same time, an officer had finally caught up to him. Discouraged and shoulders slumped, he followed the officer back home.

	Almost an hour later, and they had made it to the Stargazer residence. Altan got off the officer's hoverbike and walked to the entrance-- but was stopped by the sudden landing of an older, teenage girl, with those same piercing cerulean blue irises and spiky strawberry pink hair, but a more tanned complexion, framed by casual summer clothes. "Ugh.. Miss Artania, we found him." The officer winced slightly, put off by the extravagance of the teenager. The Stargazers, an infamous family with the reputation of being odd and unorthodox, by Atlantis society standards atleast. And, as their name implies, they had a tradition of famous astronomers... before the whole Saiyan conquering the planet thing. "GAH! ABOUT DAMN TIME, I COULDN'T WATCH MY FAVORITE ANIME, I WAS SO STRESSED!" the young lady shouted, clearly unnerved. Although, it was mostly just a show put on for the officer. As soon as he left, she shot a sharp glare to the young buck, and swiftly slapped him on the head with a roll of celery she apparently just happened to have on her. With a whine, Altan rubbed his head. "You little dummy! You can't keep doing that, you KNOW mom's sick, so just go to school and let me handle it!" The older sibling scolded. The boy simply pouted in response and walked back inside, fully planning on sneaking out again when he had the chance.
As the next weekend approached, so too did Altan's opportunity to make his way to the staircase. He had learned from his past experience that he couldn't just assume it would be so easy to sneak out. As soon as he came home from school, he had an extra backpack ready. He ate quickly, then was on his way. Sprinting through the city with his chibi legs, he took caution at every turn, taking the high-ground. One thing was certain, all this running and climbing, with the added stress of trying to be stealthy, proved to be excellent exercise. The best was yet to come--- or so it would have, had he not, once again, been spotted by a security guard. With a deep sigh, Altan prepared himself for another chase through the rooftops.

	Many weeks went by, and nearing each week-end, Altan tried again and again. The excursions had the same ending result as the first-- like a mission in a video game that seems so simple to accomplish, until unforeseen variables come into play. The random allocation of security guards, the obstacles, the civillians, among other things. Each time, he was chased--- though, it wasn't as if he was committing some capital offense, it was just odd for a child to be wandering on rooftops near the outskirts. Still, such pursuits proved healthy for the growing child. His physical conditioning improved as much as it can for an alien kid, the cardio and muscular stress building up his chibi limbs. Each chase seemed easier to escape, although to begin with, he hadn't had too much trouble giving the officers and guards the slip. Unfortunately, the ruckus he caused weekly seemed to only make things harder for him. Rumors spread that he was a neglected child in an abusive household and was trying to escape, they'd even begun having officers patrol his neighborhood trying to prevent his sneak-outs from occuring in the first place.
"Take me with you! I can help-" The pink-haired boy whined to his elder sister who, with an annoyed grimace, kept on walking as they made their way through the supermarket. "I said no, and that's final. Gathering resources on the surface is a dangerous job, not something for kids. Only reason they let me go is 'cuz they think I'm crazy and I have the qualifications to back me up." She replied sternly. Oh well, Altan wasn't about to just give up.

	It was another friday afternoon, and of course, ever since his shenanigans had gained more recognition, the child could no longer walk home alone. And so, he either needed to be escorted by an adult or by his 'guardian'. Today, unfortunately, Artania had picked him up and walked with him. They passed by an alley-way Altan was very familiar with, and it seemed it was now or never. A hard decision to make, but, with his childish judgement, he saw the opportunity and took it without regret. One second, Artania was laughing about something that had happened during an excursion in the morning, and the next, dashing footsteps could be heard. As the pinkette turned to see what it was that was seemingly getting farther away, her eyes widened in shock as the boy had disappeared.
Already putting his super-human agility to the test, he made his way up like a ninja and was now on the rooftops. Behind him, he could make out his sister's voice calling out for him, and much like a kid enjoying a prank, he couldn't help but snicker and giggle. Not a moment was spared as he took off in a hurry, without forgetting to keep his footsteps light and powerful at the same time as to not attract too much attention. In the distance, he noted an officer or two standing on the rooftops, on patrol. Just like last weekend, but he knew what to expect, and had prepared for the inevitable run-in on the roof. From his backpack, he took out two slimey balls. With astonishing accuracy, Altan chucked one after the other-- aimed at their faces. These balls were wet and slimey, yet sticky and difficult to get off. Even if it took 30 seconds, it would be the window he needed to get past and make a break for it.
And that, he did. As the two officers struggled with the slime orbs, the boy blurred past them and leaped off from the roof. Such... exhilaration! The feeling of freedom, of air friction rushing against him like wind... and the eventual landing, all too quick. With a few barrel rolls he managed to discard the impact from the fall and keep moving. The path to the staircase was still open, and considering how archaic said stairs were, noone bothered to be near them unless they were locking the pathway. With an almost savage-like and animalistic haste, he climbed the stairs, sometimes tripping over himself and needing to use his hands to keep himself going.

	By magnetic platform elevation, getting to the surface took roughly 5 minutes. By stair-climbing... nearly 3 times that. And after about 10 minutes, round and round the ever ascending steps, he began to see another source of light. And with it, the purified air of Atlantis seemed to be replaced, slowly by this foul air of the kind he'd never inhaled in his life. Already gasping for air, Altan was forced to cough as well and slow down a bit.
7 more minutes of walking, and he had made it to the exit and found himself in a dimly lit room. The room had fissures and small holes here and there, and dust rose at every step. Clearly unkempt in the hopes of blending in with the nearby abandoned structures in similar condition. <Woah... I... did it! I finally made it up here! So cool!> He thought, barely able to contain his enthusiasm as he rushed to peak through one of the holes. But what he saw-- the planet his eyes fell upon-- was less than ideal. It was a bit of a shock for him. Coming from the civilised, utopian-like city of Atlantis, and to see the surface of the planet in such a terrible condition. It wasn't just the air that was foul, it wasn't just the ruined, soiled earth, nor the broken down buildings in the distance-- or the dark water... the planet just oozed this sort of aura of instability. It was rough, and even the sky, coral red as it was, was reminiscent of the crimson of blood. "Sis has been working up here since last year..." The boy remembered, but instead of apprehension, there was this bubbling feeling of jealousy-- but more accurately, of excitement now. This was his playground, and his opportunity to help his sick mother aswell.
Quickly, Altan made for the door, but found that it was locked by some means-- needing proper authorization via scan identification, to open. So, instead, he settled with making a small hole in the wall a little bigger by running and stomping his foot near the hole. Just enough for him to be able to fit through. And now, as he crouched down and got one leg through, passed his torso and head through and then got his right leg through aswell-- he came to see how large and endless this land seemed. Though, in the immediate area, it seemed he was on a rather large island. But, squinting to see through the neighboring Sun's glaring light, he could just barely depict with his healthy eyes other masses of land in the distance. With a hop and a skip in him, he wandered down south via a more or less stable bridge. He had to wonder who had made this bridge-- it was quite old and primitive compared to structures built in Atlantis. It was about an hour walk on this bridge, only a few feet above the sea. While he walked, he did take the opportunity to observe some of the sea creatures they learned about in school. And at one instance, a large mutated whale-like creature had come splashing out of the water, and, just as quickly, disappeared into the abyss that is the ocean.

	"The surface is so cool!" Altan thought outloud as he made it to the next mass of land. Judging by the scale of the place, it seemed more like a main land. He could make out what seemed like an archaic castle structure... more abandoned buildings, and a large mountain near said buildings. But, the more he stared out into the horizon, pillaged with planetary pimples, the more it seemed to him like the surface... was in ruins, to put it simply. There was hardly any vegetation left on what he assumed was one of the larger continents.
For the next half hour, he ventured to the mountains, and discovered a series of caves. At first, he believed it would be the perfect place for resource gathering. That was why he'd come out this whole way with tools in his backpack. To collect tools like his sister did professionally, and pay for their mother's medical bills. He found himself entering a certain entrance of the cavern, and was immediately shocked to find that.. there were torches lit in the cave. Could it be that he'd just found one of the outting companies' main caverns for resource digging?! With a smile of newly restored thrill, Altan quick slid down the path, climbed over the cavernous obstacles and ended up at one of the larger compartments in the cave. Indeed, with the marks and all, and the torches set and still burning in every corner, it really did seem like a common digging area. Already he could see the glimmer of minerals buried in the rocks. <Is this an... exca.. excalibur... excavation site?> He thought to himself with surprising retardation. Gee, Sherlock Holmes, why don't you investigate?
And, of course, curiousity getting the better of this smoll cat, investigate he did. He, through certain acrobatic maneuvers uncommon to most human children, climbed down to inspect the areas where he could see that certain shine from valuable minerals. "I knew it! They must come here all the time! I did it, yay, yay!" The pinky thought to himself. Quickly, he took out some digging tools and a bag, and began chipping away at the rock covering those good ol' shinies. Tic! Tac! Tac! Toc! Each hit resonated in the cave, echoing in the expanse. For about a minute, the boy stayed there, digging into the crevice. And once in a while, a small piece fell out, and gleamed a little in the light of the flaming torches. But it wasn't enough: lil' Al wanted the bigger piece behind the wall. And so, hard at work, he kept the rhythm going. "One, and two, and...!" He would say, consecutively striking the rocks. Tic! Tac! Tac! Toc?
After a moment, Altan started to become aware of the ghost of a noise-- the echo behind the echoes of his metallic tools striking against rock. There was a different, more subtle sound in the air. Tic! Tap. Tac! Tap. Tac! Tap. Toc! Tap. No, clearly, he wasn't imagining it. His instincts flaring up, he started to hit the rocks with less strength, dulling down the sound of his own strikes. Yes, it was definitive now. Something else was making these tap-like sounds. It was curious-- other than the few animals he'd seen in the water while travelling the bridge, he hadn't seen any other animals or anything on land. What could that noise be...?

	A drop of sweat rolled down from his temple down his cheek, to his chin and fell to the cavern floor. Now, the boy was certainly in a state of stress. His rhythm with the tools fell abruptly to a halt as he listened. And just as he did, a final tapping sound was heard, distorted like a hesitant step. Altan could feel his hairs rising from the tension, and an awful pit in his stomach unsettling him. Slowly, not wanting to make any more noise, the tsujin child reached down to pick up the bag full of resources and--- CLANG!
"...Crapbaskets." The boy uttered as he had clumsily let go of one of his tools. In the moments that followed, the nearest torches seemed to blow out all at once. It was dark in that part of the cave he found himself in now. And in those same moments, he could hear something-- and, with his unrefined yet still present energy sense, -feel- something moving... towards him! Nope. None of that. Without a second of hesitation, the boy dipped, his eyes darting towards the only source of light in view-- however faint it was. Thank god for the well-developped photoreceptors in his eyes for adapting that quickly to low-light setting. "Ha.. ha.. ha..!" The boy panted, running at full throttle from an apparent ghost-- and towards the torches that were still lit. He couldn't hear it behind him due to the noise of his own stomping feet, but the tapping was there once more-- lighter, and in a quicker pace, but definetly there. But Altan was convinced. It might be the adrenaline flowing through his veins, it may be ANYTHING, but one thing he was certain of-- he was NOT about to be the victim of some kinda horror movie bullshit.
"KREEE!!!" A sudden, extremely unpleasant voice screamed behind him with animalistic savagery. NOPE. DIP. DIP. DIP. With an accentuated fear factor, the boy seemingly ran even faster-- zooming through the cave. Or, as he seemed to follow the path lit by torches, deeper into it. But that didn't matter. Until he could see the red sky of the planet once more, his legs would not stop. With the tunneling vision he was experiencing, he barely even noticed the alternative paths. No, there was no time to think, just act. And, thankfully, in the nearing distance, more light was visible. <An exit! An exit, an exit!> The panicked pink-haired wonder repeated in his mind. Just as he seemed to be able to see the opening, he felt something-- something blocking one of his feet, only momentary.  It was as if, for less than .5 seconds, a vine, or a rock, or maybe a limb of whatever was currently pursuing him had caught his right foot. And, at that speed, he was quickly knocked off balance.
With astonishing, and almost cartoon-ish air-time, he flipped in the air and eventually... collided with the ground.

	The Sun was setting now, nearly an hour after the cavern fiasco. In a forest full of vegetation and life, surprisingly, Altan sat infront of a small camp fire, heating up some food. He had survived the encounter with the nameless creature, though he himself wasn't sure what it was-- or even how he had actually managed to escape. After having lost his balance, he fell to the ground immediately out of the cave. At that time, the creature was still a few steps behind him. Out of the blue, as the situation overtook him, his body reacted most illogically-- providing him with sudden, vigorous strength. One second he was rolling on the ground, the next he had blasted off several feet in the air-- with enough energy and momentum to keep him airborne for quite some time, while simultaneously gaining great distance. At this point, everything was a blur, and he only remembers coming to his senses once he felt a chilling, heavy sensation all over his body. He had landed in water and drifted to this life-filled island.
Currently, he was drying off his clothes with the same fire that was warming up his food. Food he'd brought from Atlantis in his backpack, of course. Once he finished eating, he immediately hit the hay on a tall rock formation. His body was exhausted beyond measure from the series of events later this day. And when he awoke, Altan realized his new predicament... he had no idea where he was.

	At the very least, in this first chapter of the Stargazer's life, the youth had acquired a certain endurance and stamina from his innumerable high-speed chases. And now that he finds himself in completely uncharted territory, in the wild--- he will surely have to adapt and progress even further to survive!


												THE END

...FINALLY DONE. GOD DAMN IT, BRAIN. WHY DO YOU DO THIS.
First off, I apologize to the admin who ends up reading the whole thing. I really didn't expect I'd drag it out THIS much.
I'm not even expecting to pass at this point, considering it doesn't seem much like 'training' but it is building up his energy reserve in a more physical manner, I guess. Of course, this is only the first of many training apps and stuff to come since I'm basically using these as a sort of prologue to my character Altan Stargazer.
I really will try and make the next applications shorter, 'cuz I know it must be annoying to have to read this lol
Sorry again, and hope it wasn't too agonizing of a read!

Kthxbai

-The God Slayer, Meep