Brand New World / Same Old Shtako

AN; "Speech" - (Thoughts)

Disclaimer: I do not own the following characters and world as they belong to someone else. In other words;

Don't want them. Don't need them. Couldn't afford them if I did.

Prologue

A man is walking leisurely down a winding stretch of dirt road, in a long brown duster with the hood drawn up and carrying a long pole of dark wood across his shoulders. He slowed to a stop as a loud rumbling could be heard off in the distance. He glance around and then looked up as a large burning mass entered the atmosphere.

The man dropped the pole, end first onto the ground and leaned it against his shoulder. He then reached up and pulled the hood back, revealing the the features of a young man in his late twenties to early thirties. His messy brown hair, vibrant green eyes and an almost faded lightning shaped scar on his forehead marked him The Wizarding World's Chosen One, Harry Potter.

Harry shaded his eyes with his hands as he watched the flaming debris move across the sky above him, leaving a trail of fire and smoke behind it. This type of event isn't as unusual to him as it was when he first woke up. It seemed to him that more and more debris of all shapes and sizes were falling out of orbit all the time lately, though this one was by far the largest he had witnessed in a long time.

(Arkfall, they call it), Harry thought to himself. Then there came another loud roaring sound. This time from behind, causing him to turn around just as a vehicle barreled past, headed in the direction of the falling object. For some strange reason, he felt an odd pull coming from the car and was intrigued.

Harry cocked his head, briefly in thought. Then he reached into his duster and pulled out a rolled up piece of material that was bigger than the coat itself. Harry unrolled it onto the ground, revealing a small piece of carpet about two feet wide and three feet long. Then he place his right hand in the center for a moment and then the carpet seemed to ripple for a second before settling back down onto the ground.

Moving his hand forward slightly while keeping in contact with the carpet, Harry quickly knelt down with his quarterstaff gripped in his left hand. With a brief look of concentration, the carpet rose close a hundred feet into the air before turning to follow in the direction of the roller.

It was nighttime when Harry came across a large group of Irathients gathered around the burning carcass of a fallen Ark. Movement at one of the many openings caught his attention as a human and five more Irathients exited the bulk. The larger Irathient was holding a smaller female Irathi captive as the man argued over the others raiding his ride.

His eyes widened in surprise as he watched the Irathi girl stab her captor before taking off with the man in a running gunfight with the other Irathients.

(Those two work well together.)

Harry followed the two silently as they raced through the wooded area in an effort to escape their pursuers. He watched as the Irathient girl fell to the ground in pain. The man doubled back and picked her up and continued on. Eventually both fell to the ground in a heap.

The wizard dropped down from the high branch he was perched on, landing next to the two and quickly placed a hand on each of them. (Healing was never my strong suit, even before the Voltans came and changed everything, but I still got to try.)

A soft glow appeared around his hands and spread across their bodies for several seconds before disappearing suddenly as a noise alerted him that they were not alone. Looking up, he came face to face with a Saberwolf. Instincts kicked in and he felt his eyes burn for a second. The creature slowed to a stop and became eerily still. Harry wasted no time and stepped up to the Saberwolf and, holding his quarterstaff by the end, swung it like a club on top of the large creature's head, driving the large body into the ground. More sounds erupted around them and he saw several more of the same creatures.

"Oh, bugger!" he swore softly and tensed for a fight. That was when heard shots fired from his right. He turned, finding that the man was up and shooting at the Saberwolf closest to him. Of course the man didn't notice the rest of the pack until it was too late.

Harry was about to intervene when more shots erupted from off to the side, driving off the remaining Saberwolves. Several people arrived on the scene to help the two that he had been following. The older man in the lead, who looked familiar to Harry, let the others pick up the Irathient girl while he helped her partner.

Deciding to let things play out, and see where they would go, Harry quietly backed away before anyone noticed him and silently climbed back up the tree next to where he landed. He quietly moved to the branch he jumped from and picked up the carpet that he had left hanging there. After putting away the carpet, Harry dropped back down to the ground and followed the group. From the direction that the group was headed, he had an idea as to their destination. Than suited Harry just fine as that was his next stop.

After walking a short distance, a familiar energy barrier came into view, verifying to Harry as to their destination. He had to chuckle a little as he listened to the two men in the lead.

"That Arch.. Is this Saint Louis?"

"Once. Now we call it Defiance."

tbc