Hand in Hand: 3rd person limited story, with a focus on character interaction. Originally it was a branching story, but for the sake of space this has been changed:
Shaandia: :
Ashes of Memeories: 3rd person limited with a great deal of internal character development:

Hand in Hand :

“Damn, damn, damn, damn, damn.” Reym was hurtling down the stairs while still trying to pull the worn cotton t-shirt over his head. His untied shoe strings lashing about like angry snakes from under his denim pant legs. “So late, Adrina’s gonna kill me.” He whispered to himself as he pulled his hair out from under his shirt. “Damn.”

“Reym, watch your mouth.” Laslia was standing in the kitchen as he rushed towards the backdoor. “And where are you going in such a hurry?”

“Sorry Aunt Lasy, but I promised to meet Adrina and Kyne an hour ago but I fell back asleep,” He skidded to a stop to tie his shoes as he continued to talk. “We only have a few days until summer break is over.”

“All right but you should eat before you go.” She gestured to a glass of orange juice and a plate of toast on the table. Reym grabbed the glass of juice and downed it in a few swallows. “Ahh, I’ll eat the toast on the way,” He gave her a kiss on the cheek before heading for the door. “Bye, Aunt Lasy, I’ll be back later.”

“Bye sweetheart, take care.” He kept up a steady run all the way into town, only stopping once when he choked on a bite of toast. He slowed his pace now, it was hot on the island and he didn’t want to get real sweaty before meeting his friends. He was preparing to cross the street when something caught his attention from the corner of his vision. He turned to face the movement and as he locked his eyes on it a chill ran through his spine. He stood there staring at the giant in the gray cloak. The same person he had noticed twice during his trip to Italy, and once again at the airport on the northern island of Norlic. That had been nearly a month ago. It wasn’t seeing this person again that chilled him, it was that this huge being was staring directly at him.

“Hey, who are you?” Reym shouted to the stranger.

The giant lowered their head slightly before moving away so quickly it seemed blurred. Reym took off in a dead sprint to the alley the stranger had disappeared into. He had to nearly shuffle sideways to get through the narrow alley. He was wondering how the stranger had moved through so quickly given their enormous size. He came out in the next street and looked around frantically spotting the stranger. He saw the gray cloak across the street and down at the corner, ‘how the hell is he so fast,’ Reym thought to himself as sweat began running down his face. The giant slid around the corner in a motion that reminded him of a writhing serpent. Pushing the hair out of his face he took off again after the stranger. Reym chased the cloaked being up and down the streets and through dirty and stinking alleys for the better part of fifteen minutes. He had nearly abandoned the chase a few times but then the stranger would be standing only a couple yards away, and Reym had continued the pursuit. Before he knew it he was standing on the eastern beach. The stranger was standing some twenty feet away staring over the ocean.

“Who the hell are you?” Reym was surprised by how much energy he still had and how little he sweated over the course of the chase. “Are you the one the guy in Italy was talking about? Are you Meltiph?” The stranger slowly turned to look at him. Under the shadows of the hood Reym thought he saw a smile spread across the face. A strong gust of wind came up out of nowhere and Reym shielded his eyes from the sand. When he looked back the stranger was gone and was nowhere to be seen. Reym was dazed for a while just staring blankly at the ocean then at the town, and then back at the ocean. When he finally came out of his muddled thoughts he realized that he was even further away from the park where he was meeting Adrina and Kyne. He ran back into town doing everything he could to push the stranger out of his mind.

Adrina and Kyne were still waiting by the time he got to the park. Adrina was sitting on a bench, fidgeting around every now and then. Kyne was leaning up against a tree a few feet to her right. When they saw him coming Adrina stood up and waved him over.

“Where have you been? I wanted to meet at 10:00,” Adrina threw her arms in the air as she spoke. “I would have been worried if you weren’t always late.”

“Sorry, I overslept and I got slowed down on the way.” Reym decided not to tell his friends about the incident with the cloaked stranger. He didn’t understand the encounter himself and he didn’t want to worry them, especially since mental illness did run in his family.

“Well you’re here now so we should get going.” Kyne walked up slowly beside Reym and put his arm around his shoulder.

“Yeah, we’re already behind schedule we may not be able to do everything I planned,” Adrina went to Reym’s other side and grabbed his arm. “All right you two where do you want to go?”

They headed back over to Kyne’s house. He took up a job for his dad a couple summers ago and had put his earnings into a small outboard motorboat. Throughout most of the year the waters are calm enough to use the small boat to get between the different islets of the Sunrise Belt. During the Spring break of last year they had gone out for a day and had come across a small island that was uninhabited. In the middle of the island there was a pond and a rock face with a waterfall pouring into the pond. It only took Kyne a couple minutes to get the boat ready to go. Reym and Adrina sat back and watched at Kyne’s behest. The last time they tried to help, Kyne had gotten knock into the water. They climbed into the boat and set out to the little island.

It took about twenty minutes to get to the island. When they got to the shore Reym and Kyne jumped out to pull the boat onto the beach. They walked along the trail they had cut back through the trees to the pond. It was in a clearing which allowed the sunlight to fall heavily on the large rocks surrounding the clear pool. They arrived and Adrina ran out in front of the other two.

“This is great, I was hoping we would make it here today,” She turned back to them and smiled. “I haven’t spent a lot of time at the beach this Summer.” She set her purse down and began taking off her shirt.

“Adrina, what are you doing?” Reym shouted out before she had gotten her shirt much past her bellybutton.

“I’m getting ready to go for a swim.” She was still smiling.

“I can see that, I mean your clothes.” He made a gesture to his own clothes.

“We’ve been friends for so long and still you’re so shy.” She made a kiss face at him.

“It’s not just about me, don’t you think Kyne might be a little uncomfortable,” Reym turned to Kyne who was standing beside him. “Am I right?”

“Uhh…umm…eh…uh…ah.” Kyne couldn’t find the words to answer.

“Oh, you two are full of yourselves. Besides I’m wearing a bikini,” She took off her shirt and slid out of her skirt to reveal a light blue two-piece. “And I figured you guys wouldn’t think about it so I brought yours too.” She lifted her purse and pulled out the spare trunks she had had them leave at her house during spring break. “You two can go get changed, I’m going to go for a swim.” She tossed the trunks to them, turned and waded out into the water. Reym and Kyne separated into the trees to get changed. Within a couple minutes they had both made it back and were too swimming in the pond. After thoroughly soaking themselves in the pond they all crawled onto the large flat rocks and sprawled out like large reptiles. At one point all three of them had fallen asleep. Kyne was the first one to awaken, a little past midday. He woke up Reym and Adrina and then they all went off to get dressed.

“All right guys once we get back let’s head over to the pier. We should be able to catch the 5:00 ferry.”

They hurried down to the pier almost missing the ferry running up to Norlic. About five or six of the twelve islands of the Sunrise Belt were populated, but the only one that got regular traffic from the others was Norlic. Norlic is a resort island with a great variety of shops and entertainment, as well as the only airport on the Belt. The three walked around the shopping arcade for a while. Perusing the selections that retailers had placed on display, new fashions, retro styles, and some outfits that barely seemed like clothing at all. Adrina turned to Reym and Kyne and stood akimbo.

“OK guys our reservation for the restaurant isn’t for about another hour what should we do until then?”