Hello all, I know I never finish my stories, but this WILL finish. I promise you that.

It's about a teen named Orpheus, who lives in New York, and gets his life [censored] over. Sounds nice, eh?

I'll do about a new chapter every 1-2 days hopefully.

Prologue==

Orpheus wiped the blood off his visor, the screams of his victims echoing through his thick metal helmet. A man in leather armor was scrambling for his life, begging for mercy, but Orpheus took aim with his pistol, and ended the terrified man's life. He paused, his power armor ceasing to hiss and grind, and the battlefield silent. Everyone was dead, their bodies littered the courtyard, helmets shattered, limbs torn off.

For a cold blooded killer, he hadn't always been this way. The very thought of this brought Orpheus back to the day that had changed him.

Chapter 1 - Haven

Orpheus started up the stairs, his footsteps drowned by the buzz of the city. This was his second week living in Haven, the largest scrap city in all of New York. Orpheus continued along the stone path, and saw a shop with weapons for sale. Weapons were a must in Manhattan, as there were raiders, thugs, and thieves in every alleyway. Orpheus weaved through the crowd, and saw several rifles , pistols, machine guns, knives, swords, and a large assortment of various forms of weaponry. The salesman leaned towards him. "You buying, or what?"

"No, I can't afford this." Orpheus started away, but the salesman stopped him.

"Look, I'll make you a deal. I'll sell you a 9mm pistol for only a eleven ring pulls, special offer, can't find it anywhere else!" The man flashed a gun, just small enough to fit in a coatpocket, but large enough to do some damage. Orpheus took the gun and examined it.

"There are nicks on the barrel, the handle is held together with electrical tape, and the trigger is broken. I'll take it...for eight."

"Ah...if anything, nine would be a fair price." The man's face started to rot.

"Seven sounds better. Who in the right mind would buy such a [censored] weapon for that much? Five sounds like it fits."

"You take it for six, and I'll throw in some rounds."

"Deal." Orpheus tossed him the ring pulls and took his new weapon, with spare ammunition.

Orpheus began to run home, his pack full of food for the next week. As he reached the stairs to the apartment, he saw the door was open. Something wasn't right. Orpheus had never trained using a gun before, and doubted he was any good at it. He drew his 9mm and crept through the entrance, setting down his pack, he could tell the first room was empty. When Orpheus reached the bedroom, he saw the bodies of both his parents, blood spilled all over the room. He felt the blood and noticed it was fresh.

He had just missed the killers.
===

Short Chapters.

There's really no story to tell here.

Edit: Sorry I only read prologue. Oh and welcome to the fan fiction forum.

I like where this is going, and I can see it being really fun to read this guys chase to find the killers, but I want you to take more time and be descriptive when writing. AS a writer, that is your best friend. Just talk about the scenery and take more time to flesh out your character as he interacts with the world, otherwise he'll be just another template. Besides that, I'm glad your back.

Thanks Ant1iv3, by the way... you used the wrong form of your. In that sentence it would be "you're" the contraction of You Are, but the one you used would be belonging to me.

But thanks, appreciate it.

====================
Chapter 2 - Preparation

Orpheus paced back and forth in the blood-stained bedroom. What would he do? Where would he go? Should he chase the killers, or try to keep living his life? He didn't have any experience with a weapon, nor did he have any leads as to who it was. He sat in an armchair, unsettling the dust that had sat there for countless years, when Orpheus saw a glint of metal. He rushed onto the floor and pulled it from under the bed. Much to his dismay, it was a rifle. Orpheus would've named it, but he had no clue when it came to weapons. He grabbed his pack from the scrap metal floor of the apartment, and bolted through the hot metal door. Running through the streets of Haven wasn't a very bright thing to do. There was sharp metal scrap littering the walkways, there were people everywhere, and worst of all, mercenaries. But today, Orpheus didn't care, and most importantly, he was more agile than ever. He leapt over scrap, dodged people, and avoided mercs, something he hadn't thought he could pull off. Finally, he arrived at his destination, the weapon shop. Orpheus weaved through the crowd to the counter where the salesman was sitting, and threw the rifle at him. "What can you tell me about this?"

The man flashed a confused look. "Where did you get this? Didn't you just tell me you couldn't afford this stuff an hour ago?"

"Can you answer my question or not?"

"Alright, alright. It's eh, a semi-automatic R-91 assault rifle, really common on the east coast, more specifically, D.C. Most common models use 5.56mm, but this one takes 5mm. I'm still shocked at how you got this, no one here has had contact with D.C. in years, whoever you got this from has been here for a while." He handed the gun back to Orpheus.

"Well then, I'll take 75 rounds of 5mm." He tossed the merchant some ring pulls, and left.

Orpheus was walking to the entrance of Haven, something he didn't think he would do for a long time. Inspecting the rifle again, he noticed there was an insignia on it. A white circle with two blue swords crossed over each other, presumably a mercenary company. As he approached the main gate, he saw his contact. He had arranged for someone to teach him how to maintain weapons, and some training on using them.
"Over here." A man waved to him.

"You Orpheus? One of my mates tells me you need know-how about guns." His thick Australian accent seemed prominent.

"That's me." Orpheus passed him the pistol first.

"I'm Rick. You go el cheapo? This gun's falling apart." Rick started to disassemble the weapon. "Pay close attention, you're gonna have to put it back together again." So, Orpheus did what he instructed, and reassembled the pistol.

"Probably working better already. Now, next?" Orpheus holstered his pistol, and handed him the rifle.
"Whoa, whoa! You're one of them?" Rick was pointing at the insignia.

"What? No. Do you know who they are?"

"They're the Blue Swords, the deadliest mercenary group in New York. Where'd you get this?"

"I found it at the murder scene of my parents."

"I'm sorry for you, but someone must have really wanted them dead. Wait...don't tell me you're thinking of going after them?"

"Maybe."

"Alright, just watch me, then do what I do."

Orpheus shook Rick's hand. "Don't die out there. Bye the way, if you're hunting the Blue Swords, I know a guy in Torren who might be able to help you. His name's Steve, just ask around, everyone there knows him."

"Thanks Rick." Orpheus slung his rifle over his back and headed through the large metal gate of Haven.

Hey, once again Practice Sheet, I see you've returned. First question:

Why do you space out the dialogue in Chapter One, but in Chapter Two, smashed it together? Don't you know, that hurts my eyes. Spacing might make it a tad bit easier to read.

Second:

Why didn't you listen to Ant? Description is good! Filling your dialogue when it's not a screen play, is a bad idea and won't convey all the depth and meaning you may have planned for it. It would make the story for more interesting if you added detail to his surroundings, thoughts, and the like. Reading all the dialogue is can be a let down and doesn't really get me that attached to your character, sorry but I really think you need more detail.

I can give an example if you want.

Other than that, keep it up and good luck.

I fixed the spacing.

Thanks for the feedback, but also, I can't really describe stuff while I'm writing. I'll try to do it better every chapter, but I don't write a lot, so it's a bit tricky.

Also, no chapter today, I have school stuff.

Maybe tomorrow.

Its no real rush, but I know from experience that if you put this off and completely neglect it for too long, you tend to lose sight of this. Either becoming too preoccupied with the school work and the like or uninterested in it. Therefore, at least work a little bit on this every couple days. You don't have to simply spend thirty minutes writing and then post. In fact, the more time you spend on it, the better it'll turn out.

:thumbsup:

Alright! After a week of school, I am BACK to post once again.

I tried writing a bit differently, with more detail. Hope you like it!
Me? Personally, I kinda like it.
This chapter is kinda short though, and doesn't have much story. Essentially, you could even skip the chapter and understand the rest of the story.

Chapter 3 - The Ruins ==

Orpheus let out a long sigh. He had been walking for what felt like forever on the crumbled roads of the city, and still, couldn't see anything. The shadows of the ruined buildings no longer protected him from the scorching sun, and he was sweating. The last time he had traveled, it had been with a caravan, he was new to traveling alone.

Grrr...

Orpheus turned with his pistol drawn, but all he saw was a burned out convenience store, and some broken cables.

Grrrrrrr.....

He looked to his right and saw a dark alleyway. 'Don't you remember what everyone's told you? Don't go poking your head down dark alleyways!' But Orpheus couldn't push off his curiosity, step by step he moved farther into the darkness of the alley. He saw a dark figure sprint past the end. Now he could hear footsteps, light ones, not like humans'. Orpheus could see a bright light at the end of the alley, obviously the exit.

As he crept closer to the exit, something tackled him out of the alley. It was about the size of a wolf, yet it had hard skin and no fur. It furiously pulled away his sidearm and tossed it aside. Now in the light, he could see it perfectly. It was a wolf, but had no hair, just crusty, hard skin that was a brownish colour. Orpheus reached for his rifle and fired a precise 4 shots, each of them punching through its tough skin with ease. The creature began to bleed, but it wasn't dead yet. He ran towards it and bashed it on the head with the end of his stock.

Back in the alleyway, he could see dozens of the creatures, creeping out of the shadows, all growling. Orpheus braced himself, raising his gun to aim, but grenade fell into the center of the pack, confusing not just the wolves. The wolf-like creatures were blown away and killed by the impact, leaving Orpheus on edge, waiting for the stranger to appear.

A woman hung from the edge of the building, and with astonishing skill, swiftly climbed her way down. "Hey there stranger, I saw you were having some trouble with the Tectons. You alright?"

"Yeah...I guess so." Orpheus started

"Good, because I'm not standing here any longer. Stay out of trouble, you hear?" After a quick wave, the woman began to run again, even faster than before, down the nearest road.

"Wait! ...I didn't...what? What just happened?" Orpheus was once again, alone. What was worse, the sun was beginning to set.

===

I need to make the next chapter have a better story...
This one's just him going through the ruins and getting into a fight, and meeting some parkour chick.

But this chapter does introduce the main critter in the fanfic's location, the Tectons.
Basically, rock wolves.

Well in his defense, thats not all that easy to do for some people.