Playt

By Ryan Wellman

Spanning thousands of years, Playt's story puts the reader in the eyes of a red alien who uncontrollably flashes through time and space. Playt's only motivation is to find answers to his own existence, but the answers are not easy to find. Traveling to all reaches of space and time, Playt meets strange and interesting characters, many of which want him dead. Within him, a monster taunts his soul. Another voice within soothes him and gives him the strength to keep searching for answers. Who was he before he became Playt?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ryan Wellman
• Release date: Oct 4, 2012
• ISBN: 9781301974979

Ryan Wellman

I have been writing about this dimension for about fifteen years, and finally my first trilogy is complete. While the name of my town changes often, I have lived in Ohio my entire life. These stories are all I think about sometimes, but I always have time for video games and music. Martial arts used to be a big part of my life, and I hope to one day get back to it. I love people, and I gladly accept any feedback or criticism. I am a new writer when it comes to the big names in the industry, but I have been writing almost half of my life, and it's because I love it.

Book preview

Playt

Copyright Information

The Book of Playt

Published by Ryan Wellman at Smashwords

Edited by Lora Sonora and Ryan Wellman

Cover Photography by Jamie Abbott

Cover Edited by Ryan Wellman

Copyright 2012 Ryan Wellman

Second Edition ePrint 2016 by Ryan Wellman (Regarding update: I have edited some of this book and would like to announce that Ynk and Rhun are now available, as well as two compilations of the Lys Trilogy, Chaos and Chrono)

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review or scholarly journal. The author realizes how ridiculous either of those cases would be.

Studio 34 Publishing

9151 S. River Road

Miamisburg, Ohio 45342

lys.wikia.com

Dedication

To my wonderful family and friends, especially both of my sisters, my mom and dad.

Thank you. Without your love, support and patience, I would have never made it this far.

I could not exist without any of you.

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank John (Loki) McClenny, without whose help I may have never published online. I would also like to thank James (Dragon) Williams who wrote the forward to Playt, and was always there to read what I wrote. You both will be missed. I would also like to thank the numerous amounts of people who have given me advice, critique, and support throughout my writing process. I couldn't possibly name all of the people who have helped me. Thank you for your patience and guidance. Thank you, the reader, who I acknowledge has taken up my book without knowing what to expect. I hope you enjoy this as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Preface

Playt is part of a trilogy which has taken me over a decade to write, and I continue to try to perfect it in any way I can. It can be quite confusing (especially the Chaos Edition), but it all should makes sense to you in the end. It was originally spawned from a character I created who was the strangest thing my mind could come up with. It was difficult to write, but also a lot of fun. Quite a challenge for my first story, and I couldn't be more proud of it. This first book is Playt, the second book is Ynk, and the third is Rhun. I plan to continue to revise this trilogy, and I hope that in the future I can dedicate a lot more time to these projects, as they are just the backbone of a larger universe. With the stories I have in my head, I could write for the rest of my life. Thanks to your purchase, I hope that we will see a day when this book is what I always dreamed it could be.

Lastly, I would like to point out, that because of these characters' natures, everything in the trilogy is mostly just a summary of their adventures. It would have been impossible for me to explain everything they go through, because of their incredibly long lifespans. The story has a tendency to jump around, and that is part of the point I'm making. I wanted this story to symbolize life in many ways, and I hope that becomes evident as you read through. Playt takes place in present tense, while Ynk took place in past tense, and Rhun will take place in future tense. I don't know of many stories that take place in future tense, but it is certainly fun to write. Overall, I tried to have fun writing this. Thank you, and enjoy.

Table of Contents

Playt

Playt One: Baby

First Days are Hard

Catacombs of Time

Punishment

Playt Two: Kid

Scidryl

Revenge

Answers

Playt Three: Teen

The Role Model

Intentions

Disconnection

Playt Four: Fat

Guilt

Love

Destruction

Digestion

Playt Five: Red

A Clean Playt

Quantum Playt

Attack of the Playts

Red Con Fusion

A Full Playt

Red Solitaire

Playt’s Planet

Tortured

Altered

Time Twins

Playt’s Plates

Red Devastation

Nexus

Linking the Puzzles

Ryan’s Mission

Playt Six: Warrior

Led

The Pearl

Us Playt

Life of Hat

Death of Hayt

Six in the Morning

Five at Night

Time’s Royal Family

Time Generals

The Wand

Playt Seven: Old

The Mask

The Gems

The Spirit Symbol

The Orb

SHATTERING

Forward

From nothingness, life

A life that springs forth chaos

This world is normal

A life that goes against time

Bound to clash and suffer pain

Yet remains unchanged

A rock not shaped by the flow

Time shall be reshaped

This world undone and reborn

For Playt is just rambunctious

Playt has a big heart

It beats with such vibrancy

It feels all my pain

It gladly accepts it all

To save both our souls

It lives for the now

The past is only the past

Sins are forgiven

Grudges are truly useless

Life is a flashing instant

All time is precious

Too short but somehow enough

The world shall be changed

The end has come soon

It is time for me to go

I was never here

My words carry my spirit

A message that I must share

Randomness is good

Normalcy is overrated

Look with open eyes

Embrace that which is different

Grow and learn to care again

-Dragon Darkness (James Williams) 3/21/1986 – 10/31/2008 RIP

BabyFirst Days are Hard

From nothingness, life.

White.

As the blinding effects of opening his eyes for the first time subsides, the being blinks and looks around. He looks at his hands to see that they are red. His skin seems odd to him as he touches his three tiny string bean fingers and small thumb. He looks down to the rest of his body and sees that he is red from head to toe.

The newborn baby boy is naked and alone, lying on the cold, soft ground. Above him there is a crude ceiling carved out of dirt and stone. He can hear a soft hum of some type of machinery in the distance. The vision of the baby flips as he rolls over to his stomach.

He lifts his head and looks forward only to see more of the same. Dirt and stone, just like the ceiling. Flickering candles make the tiny fragments of ceramic or bone which litter the floor sparkle. The baby observes his surroundings, unlike a normal baby. His mind seems to have already developed neural pathways and an impressive awareness of his environment and bodily functions. He puts his hands and knees to the floor and pushes, lifting his tiny red body into the air momentarily. The brand new muscles of the baby's arms rip and cause the baby to come crashing to the dirt floor once again.

It is at this moment the baby has his first notion that he was very recently somebody entirely different. Now born a new being, he ponders his existence. I am no normal baby. Normal babies don't know words like candles or dirt. What am I? Who am I?

Moments later the muscles have already healed and the baby is ready to try again. He lifts himself up and stabilizes. Then he takes the first step. Shaky yet sturdy, the young baby crawls over to what appears to be a wooden door. The dirt clings to his small red knees as he drags them across the cool ground. He inches closer to the door and then tries to reach out for it. Before he is able to touch it he experiences his very first...

FLICKER

Everything around the baby changes in a flash of light. The dirty stone floors and the room filled with candles are all gone, and in their place is a very dense blue jungle. The giant leaves and huge dark tree trunks fill his vision. The leaves are wet with life and seem to dance with the wind. There are squawks and grunts of animals and the sounds of insects talking to each other. The planet is full of life and it all seems to spiritually reach out to the boy. The grass runs through the baby's fingers as he slowly crawls over to a tree. In the distance, the baby can hear a piercing screech.

He sits down and looks in the direction of the noise. At first all he sees are more dancing plants, but then the leaves part and four creatures on two legs walk out from the blue foliage and toward the red baby. The baby looks up to them in wonder and curiosity. As they near him they become more cautious and take defensive stances. One of them is holding a light blue stick. It reaches down and picks the baby up in its arms. As it touches him, there is a rush of information that travels through the baby. He understands that he is on a planet called Blue Leaves. These creatures protect the jungle from intruders that travel here from a sister planet. The creature peers into the baby's eyes and screams, PLAYT! The baby can understand its words and knows that this is his name. Playt looks into the eyes of the jungle person and blinks. The face of the creature is covered in dark brown fur and its eyes are hidden behind, sunken into the face. The eyes resemble a horizon at sunset, a black circle in the middle with extensions on the sides that curve out to sharp points. The skin on its neck and arms is dark green, scaly and chipped. The creature doesn't seem to have muscles, his body structure resembling that of an insect. On the creature's head there is a hat of some sort. It is crude in design and appears to be made from animal hide.

The mouth of the creature opens horizontally and Playt can see a black frog-like tongue sheathed within a black maw, a slithering weapon. There are sharp yellow teeth that jut out from the sides at awkward and irregular angles. The creature breathes in deep and commences another high pitched screech. Playt reaches for his ears as the screech penetrates into his skull, causing a vibrating sensation deep in his brain. Then the creature with the stick grips the baby in one arm and, pulling back, launches Playt eight feet into the trunk of a large tree. The baby slams into the tree head first and ricochets off to the side. He makes a quiet wet bounce into the blue grass below and slides to a stop.

The baby feels no pain. He tries to maneuver into a sitting position, but before he can, the jungle creature is viciously slamming the stick into his forehead repeatedly and screeching. Playt remains unharmed but is not happy. The stick breaks and the creature kneels down and begins to punch Playt in the face with the knuckles of its two balled up black, scaly fingers.

FLICKER

In another flash of light, everything changes again. The jungle creature is still there, but the jungle is gone. The stick lies broken on Playt's stomach. At first, the creature doesn't seem to notice he is no longer where he was and continues to attack the baby with abandon. Then, as the baby looks around, the jungle creature is compelled to allow his surroundings to seep into his awareness. What he sees makes his blood cold and his heart stop.

They are in the center of a very dark room. The only thing that is illuminated is the circular table that surrounds them. Its top is a shiny red, but the sides glow a light blue and appear to depict a panorama of sand hills on some distant planet. The two beings seem to float on an invisible floor with nothing but pitch black below and above. There are several flashes of light and Playt realizes that they are no longer alone. A huge black shadow leaps into the center where the jungle creature and Playt are, and then it disappears. The baby looks around to find that the jungle creature is gone, but the light blue broken stick remains. A slimmer shadow jumps towards Playt and he stares up at it fearlessly. It crouches down and scoops him into its arms.

The baby Playt stares into the eyes of an ancient being that appears to be on the verge of death. Its skin is as red as the baby's, but it is wrinkled and aged. Its beard is gray and white and is more than a foot in length. Its eyes are red and as Playt peers into them he sees that this man's mind has been corrupted and rotted. The being stares back at Playt and sighs, I guess I’m going to have to raise myself, it would figure. Playt realizes in a mix of horror and relief that this man is also Playt.

As Old Playt begins to rock him in his arms, Baby Playt uncontrollably drifts off to sleep for the first time in his life. It seems to comfort him to know that he lives long enough to be an old man, but his dreams are an ocean of confusion and shattered memories.

In the dream he can smell a dry desert floor, and as the wind blows towards him he is happy to have his friends with him. Their faces lost in the dream, he turns to them and smiles. In the distance there is a sadistic laugh that seems to grow with intensity and malice. The three turn to look and then SNAP! The dream flashes to a cave where an animal similar to a horse resides. The horse breathes deeply as it sleeps on the floor of the cave. The boy stands in the darkness of the cave, hiding from the beast. Another horse-like creature approaches the entrance and beams of light spew from its eyes, piercing the darkness of the cave and centering on the boy. The other horse wakes up and... SNAP!

On Fahlls, the first planet to inhabit intelligent life, it was said that the sleeping mind listens to the planet itself. The mind interprets the language of the planet as best it can, but much of the translation is lost. The result is the dream.

In the real world, Old Playt is trying to flicker the baby to a planet where he can grow and learn, but Baby Playt's sleeping mind is grasping for answers and uncontrollably flickering elsewhere. The dream changes as their location changes.

One moment Playt is dreaming about a sunny, peaceful day and he gets a glimpse of what happiness and serenity might be. Then his mind is whisked away to some far off world of darkness that seems to claw at his being in repeated attempts to rid him of his existence. The baby's heart begins to race as his mind loses control of what would be considered a normal dream. The planet he's on begins switching so fast that his dreams become filled with series upon series of snapping images. Then everything stops. His dream ends where it started, in the desert with his two friends.

The baby wakes up with a pounding headache. First pain, the baby thinks to himself.

A voice within his mind interjects, ...in this life. The voice seems to be a part of him, yet separate, as if there is another conscious mind within him.

Slowly, the baby opens his eyes and stares into the face of Old Playt. Awake, I see. Thank the powers that be. You really need to find some peace of mind or you're going to destroy yourself the next time you take a nap. You kept clawing at me and crying, and you shit on me twice.

Baby's first smile.

SMACK!

Unlike the jungle creature's attacks, Baby Playt actually feels the pain from Old Playt's swing. The baby begins to cry and Old Playt frowns down at him, Oh, grow up. Thousands of years lie before you. You need to find your center and stop being such a little bitch. I've clothed you and fed you, and I need to continue my quest for the Orb. Be innovative.

The old bastard, (as the baby dubs the man) drops him to the sands of Aspimiria and flickers away. The baby has been clothed in a white jacket made of a denim-like material. The sleeves of the jacket are wrapped around the baby, possibly to restrain it, with a knot in the back. He lies there for several silent moments, looking up to the red desert sky from his dreams. It is somehow calming and beautiful yet violent. A blaring hot blue sun burns his eyes as he looks into it, and the purple horizon diminishes slowly as the sun disappears into the darkness. Playt can hear only the wind and the sound of his own arguing thoughts.

Memories from the day run through his mind like clockwork as he tries to piece the puzzle together. He summarizes that he is just having a bad dream and this will all go away soon. The longer he waits and wishes to be woken up, the more frustrated he becomes. As the bright blue sun retreats further into the ground, his frustration breaks and his eyes begin to swell up with water. He screams into the Aspimirian night but nobody seems to hear him. Unlike the planet of Blue Leaves, Aspimiria has become a desolate land with sparse wildlife. The creatures listen to the screams of the babe in curiosity and fear. Some bravely scurry closer to the sound and others retreat.

In the midst of Playt's agony he does not notice the approach of a woman and a small girl. They walk to the baby and look down at its scrunched red face. The woman kneels close, trying to calm him. Then she picks the baby up and cradles him in her arms.

The baby's mind goes blank as he drifts into a deep dark sleep.

Catacombs of Time

A life that springs forth chaos.

Black.

As Playt is flung out of the deep well of sleep he is again forced to deal with his reality.

He feels an emotion that is very dark and heavy on his soul. As the emotion fills his blood something within him grows stronger. It breathes as it slowly begins to awaken within his subconscious. He can feel it grunt within him as the emotion completely takes over.

Meanwhile, the woman who had grabbed the baby out of the sand runs for dear life as another type of beast grunts behind her. She holds on to Playt as she runs and as he begins to struggle out of her arms she grips him tight. Beside her runs the little girl, both of them drenched in fear.

Playt has never experienced fear, and that isn't what he's feeling now either. He had experienced puzzlement, sadness, pain, and pure wonder, but for the first time he is experiencing anger. The beast within him opens its eyes and smiles. Playt flings himself out of Caprina's arms and into the face of the shadow beast behind her. The beast swallows Playt without chewing and continues running. The young princess Alessandra trips on a rock and falls to the ground as Caprina screams. Her voice is heard throughout the planes of Kriddle. Other beasts in the distance take notice of the kill and begin running in that direction.

Caprina falls over top of Alessandra to shield her from the beast.

I must sacrifice my body and soul your highness, Caprina screams as the giant beast bites a chunk of