ADRPG

[Mushroom_king]

A young man by the name of John Espada had a rude awakening by none other then his best friend, William Oppfinner. John rolled over, refusing to wake up.

 

"Wake up, John! Wake up wake up! You gotta come see my new invention!" He said, poking John over and over.

 

Will had found John's bedroom window, and was now standing in it. As always, he wore an all-black suit that covered most of his body, but part of it was folded down so he could talk.

Will was regarded as the weirdest person in the tiny village of Goldinya, for a handful of reasons: For one, Goldinya was a town made mostly of farmers, carpenters, and the like, yet Will had pursued something completely different: he was an inventor. It was his dream to someday leave Goldinya and go to Densetsu City to patent his inventions.

 

Will had also invented his ninja bodysuit. Wearing a normal one didn't work, because Will had the strange power of being able to sprout more arms, and every so often, he could sprout more legs and even a new head. The latter two are very difficult for him, though. No one knew how Will had gained this ability; he claimed he had evolved the power to do this because multiple hands greatly benefited him as an inventor.

 

And of course, Will was also very stealthy, hence why he wore a black bodysuit in the first place. Unfortunately, people sometimes accused him of being a thief. This always angered Will and John's parents, who always retorted with "He's no thief! Thieves come from Cirque Town, Not out town of Goldinya!"

Cirque Town was a city far away from Goldinya, that was renowned to being the home of thieves and assassins.

 

But no matter; Will was now using his extra hands to poke John, until he finally rose up out of bed. He wore a red shirt and brown pants, and his hair was short and also brown. He got out of bed, and stretched, and he turned around and sleepily looked at Will. He yawned, and began to speak, trying to keep himself up.

 

"What is it, Will? It's Saturday. I want to sleep in."

"I can't let you do that. I gotta show you this," And with that Will jumped out the window. John sighed, brushed his hair, and yelled to his mother and brother that he was going out for a little bit.

 

John leapt out of the window, albeit not very well, since after all he was not quite as agile as his friend was. He fell flat on his face, causing Will to laugh at him; but John didn't get mad, he started laughing with him. No one could get John angry; no one was capable of making him angry.

 

The two eventually got to Will's house; it was messy, per usual. John walked carefully through the things on the floor to Will's room. John let out a gasp when he saw it was spotless.

 

"I decided that I need to learn how to hide in a clean room," He explained. He walked over to his desk, which was covered with various electric objects and tools. Will opened a drawer, and took out a box, which he place on the desk. He opened it, and inside were many gloves; he took one out and place it on his left hand. He then used his other hand and lifted off part of his sleeve. On his arm were several red marks.

 

"Will...what are those?" Said John, disturbed.

"I made a taser glove," He said. And he smiled at him, the part of hid bodysuit that normally covered his mouth still folded down. "I was testing it."

"You mutilated yourself...for science?"

Will nodded, and John sighed.

"Will, you're a nerd."

"So are you, man! You're the one who plays RPGs all the time!"

"Well, I won't deny that." He stretched as he examined the glove and Will's scars. "You know, I really wish I didn't just play the RPGs, you know? I want to go on a real adventure."

John sat down on his bed, and grabbed Will's sketchpad from his desk. Flipping past all the blueprints, he started drawing himself and Will as sidekicks: John, the buff hero, and Will, the geek sidekick. He then sketched two hot women climbing over both of them, for good measure. He handed it to Will, and Will glanced at it.

 

"Nice drawing...but hey, when's the chance that would ever happen to us?" He said, sitting on his desk.

John sighed and looked at the sky through the window. "Hey, in all my RPG games, the hero always starts off by something ordinary happening...and usually, he says something similar to what you just said."

The two were silent for a long time, until John felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned around and snapped, "Will, I know that was you."

Will acted innocent.

John laughed it off. "Come on. Let's go outside...and do...stuff."

Will jumped off his desk. "Yea! I can test out my taser gloves, too," He said as he grabbed the box.

The two boys then walked outside, and wondered for a while what to do.

 

The city of Goldinya was a tiny little town that was surrounded by the Smitus mountains, so named because it was said that anyone who ventured into the enormous, black mountains was destroyed by the God Smitus, who was also Will's favorite God.

The only way out of the area was a gap in the mountains, which formed a perfect square around Goldinya; this path lead you all the way to the Southern Ocean, from what the boys had heard in school. But it was also very dangerous, especially because in order to get there, you had to go through the Road-River Forest, which was rumored to be full of thieves, and there were apparently dozens of precautions one had to take when going through the woods.

 

The two of them did nothing for a long time, simply walking through town; that is, until the two decided it would be fun to explore the outskirts of town. But their parents would never let them...unfortunately.

John knew that if they planned on exploring, he would need his sword that he had gotten recently for self-defense purposes; but his parents would be suspicious if he just went in and grabbed it.

But luck smiled upon the two of them, as John's mother came up to him and asked him a favor he was beyond willing to do:

"John, I know this is strange, but...you remember where NomNom town is?"

 

John nodded. NomNom was the first small town you stopped by after exiting the Smitus Mountains, just near Lake Amie. It was named after John's favorite God, Nomulous, and they sold all manners of food there. John had heard it was a million times better than anything you could get in Goldinya, or anywhere else-it was even better than anything you might find in the capital city of Densetsu. But why would John's mother be sending him to NomNom? His family wasn't exactly poor, but they didn't exactly have the money to buy things from there; especially after getting a sword for John's self-defense.

 

"I need you to go there, and give this package to my dear friend Miller. You know what he looks like, right?"

Of course he did. While John had never met him, he was apparently a very good friend of his Mother's.

"I will. But only if Will can come with me."

"Of course he can. Safety in numbers."

John and Will both mouthed "Yes!" And John grabbed the package.

 

"Stay safe, alright?" John's Mother told them, as they were leaving. John had strapped his sword to his hips, just in case.

"You know, I wish I had some golden armor, like I did in the drawing," He said. "Then I'd look like a Knight, huh?"

Will stretched and put his hands behind his head, as the two finally neared upon the gap in the mountains. The enormous peaks were haunting as they towered over them, but they eventually walked out of the gap, and let out a resounding "Woooooow...." As they saw the world-with no giant black mountains blocking their sight.

 

The two stopped walking for a moment, just looking at the sky. John nearly dropped the package, but latched firmly onto it, as it would be very bad if he forgot it. Finally, he turned and looked at Will.

"Will, is this really what's been out there? Because if it is, I don't want to live in Goldinya anymore, with those awful black mountains blocking my view."

Will looked at him, as well. "It makes me really want to go on that big adventure you talked about."

John gulped in awe, and they finally started walking again, looking up at the sky the whole time. Off in the distance, they could make out what might be the Road-River forest on the horizon, as well as two other mountains. They assumed those must be Mt. Gaia and Mt. Hendricks, which they also learned about in class. It was...beautiful.

 

But their awe of the beauty was interrupted when the two, not paying much attention, were attacked by two living organisms. It was not until they looked at them they realized they were two strange creatures they may have seen in a textbook once before. And they knew they would have to fight them.

 

John knew this would be the perfect chance to test out the magic skill he had practiced for so long. Will knew this was perfect to test his taser glove. John drew his sword, and Will put a glove on both hands. John went after one creature with his blade, ferociously slashing at it, while Will attacked the other one with his taser glove, covering the monster with scars similar to his own. Will poked it with both hands at the same time, and while this did produce a good effect-the monster did seem to be in pain-he knew just the thing to finish him off.

Using his stealth, Will hid from the creatures, and sprouted just enough extra arms and hands for his five other taser gloves, giving him a total of seven hands with a shock in them. He charged toward the monster, and attacked it with each hand at once; the monster gave out a screech and fell to the ground.

 

Meanwhile, John had been slashing and stabbing at the other monster, and finished it off, at the same time Will finished off the other monster, using a spell called "Mortal Damage"-his element was Life.

The two stood before the creatures, not sure if they were dead or merely knocked out. They decided it best not to find out, and continued to NomNom.

 

 

[This is inspired by a party I recently had at Beardo's house, where we imagined ourselves in an RPG. We like the idea so much, i drew pics of the characters, I wrote this, and we plan to somehow make it into a real game.]

[Mushroom_king]

The two boys continued walking as NomNom town came into sight, and got larger as they got closer, and eventually they got there. The town was full of mostly the same types of people they saw back at home in Goldinya, but it didn't matter. Being in a new place was exciting, and John drooled as he looked around and examined all the food.

 

But Will was a little more concerned with doing what they came there to do: finding this "Mr. Miller" character and giving him the package. The two knew what he looked like, but wouldn't really know where he would be; and it wasn't like they knew the guy anyway, so it wasn't like he would recognize the two of them. Unless there was a slim chance John's mother had shown them pictures of them...

 

"Oh, you must be John Espada!" Said a voice. John looked, and saw something he had never seen in his entire life (aside from the monsters they had fought earlier)-a non human. A tall man with green, fluffy dog ears, a red bandana, a long, fluffy green tail, and a plain t-shirt and work pants. He had a human face and body, aside from the tail and ears. "I'm your mother's friend. I don't believe we've ever met. My name is Chance Miller. And everyone calls me Mr. Miller."

 

He also looked over at Will. "I assume you are John's friend?"

"Yes! My name is William Skyjule Oppfinner. But most call me Will. Where did you come from that you got ears like that?"

"The Loopim woods to the Northeast is chock-full of people like me. There's even a City full of Rabbit-people."

Will nodded, interested. John reached into his bags, and got out the package. "My mom sent us to give this to you," He said, and handed Mr. Miller the brown package. He looked at it, and murmured something, and he smiled. He stuffed it into his pants pocket, but he frowned as he looked at the sky. A storm was beginning to brew.

 

"This is bad...I don't think it'd be safe if you two went back home in this weather."

"Are you sure?" Said Will, looking at the sky. "Goldinya isn't that far from NomNom. Plus our parents might be worried."

"I think your parents would be more worried if you went on by yourself in this weather."

"Well, if you insist..." Sighed John, and he stretched. "We could use a break anyhow."

"But you just said it wasn't a long walk from Goldinya to here."

"Just because it's not a long walk doesn't mean it's tiring," Stammered John, as Mr. Miller led them both into his house. It was spacious, and pretty nice-very different from the houses John and Will were used to back at home.

 

"What a nice place," Said Will, as he settled down on the couch. He set his box of taser gloves down by his feet, and John sat down next to his friend, careful to avoid the box.

Mr. Miller sat down in a chair by the fireplace. Already, Will and John were scanning the room, and Will looked to see if any books on machinery were in the bookcase; he was disappointed to not find any. John, however, was ecstatic to see books on the world's History. (This world is called Warudo, for the record.). There were also plenty of books on it's myths, it's residents, and everything else.

 

"I see you find my bookcase fascinating," Mr. Miller commented.

"Oh, I do!" Said John, excited. "I like this sort of thing. I want to travel Warudo someday."

"With me by his side!" Said Will. "I'm an inventor. I want to got to Densetsu city one day and patent all that I've made."

"Is that so? How neat! What have you made before?"

"Well, I recently made some Taser gloves. That's what's in the box. I brought it along for defense."

"Oh my!" Said Mr. Miller, putting his hand to his mouth. "That's dangerous!"

"He's done waaay worse," Muttered John. "For starters, he once built a Nunchuck gun, a pair of swordchucks, and God knows what else. And right now he's working on an Iron superhero suit."

"Oh My!" Mr. Miller repeated. "You must be very dangerous in battle."

"Yea, but I've never really trained much. Which is another reason I want to adventure, so I can train myself to fight well with my inventions."

Mr. Miller giggled in happiness and said, "Well, I hope someday you fulfill that dream."

 

The man looked out the window, and noticed that the sky had gotten incredibly dark; a thunderstorm was about to brew up. He got up and walked over, and his ears flattened back on his head.

"Oh, no..."

"What is it?" The two boys said, getting up.

Mr. Miller pointed to Mt. Hendricks, off in the distance. The storm was situating from the very top of the mountain, and a swirling black cloud circled around it.

"What's happening?"

"There's an old legend stating the entrance to Heck is at the top of Mt. Hendricks" He explained. "What if the legend is true? What if that black cloud is no storm, but is demons pouring into Warudo?"

John looked at Will, with a look mixed with fright and joy: He was frightened at the prospect of demons entering Warudo, but he was overjoyed because this was the sort of thing that happened in RPGs. What if he went out to defeat the demons?

 

No. That would never happen. The royal family living in Densetsu city would send their strongest fighters there to defeat them, and everything would be OK. No adventure. It made him sad, knowing it.

"This is bad," Said Captain Obvious Mr. Miller. "All we can hope is that if those are truly demons, then the monks of Mt. Gaia will make short work of them." He pointed towards the two mountains, which were right in front and right behind each other. When the boys looked, they saw a rope bridge between the peak of Mt. Gaia (which had an enormous temple on the peak), connecting to the tip of Mt. hendricks, where the storm was. Figures ran across the bridge in a frenzy.

"Those must be the Gaian Monks. They live atop Mt. Gaia, and built the Mile Temple for Elemental Worship, mainly the elements of Earth, Water, and Wood," He explained. "They also built that bridge so they could stop any demons trying to enter Warudo." He looked at the mountain with fear, and the went to lock the door and all the windows-just in case.

 

--------------------------------

 

Hundreds of miles away from NomNom, thousands of miles in the air, a group of Monks were sprinting across the rope bridge to try and hold down the invading demons.

 

One young monk, a Kitsune wearing a long, brown robe who held a short staff with a water-filled orb with an earthen spire as a stick, whose full name was Binh Nuoc va Trai Dat, was frightened; he had only been at the Temple for a few months now, and this awful thing was happening. Everyone was in a frenzy to go and try and seal away the demons that were coming out. Usually, only the most powerful monks went and did this; but the situation was now so desperate that even weaker monks were being forced to help. This included Binh, and he ran out, across the rope bridge, to the enormous black cloud.

 

The cloud was even more unsettling from close-up then it was from afar; The most powerful monks were using magic power (and some using Psychic power) to try and seal the cloud away. Binh raised his staff, and using his water magic, tried to keep down the cloud. He could feel the Unholy power press against him, but he struggled to keep it away-even as his magic power slowly began to drain.

 

Soon enough, every single monk was around the cloud, trying to keep the demons at bay; tons and tons of power poured into the cloud, and while it kept most of the demons away, many were already coming out; a handful of monks stopped what they were doing to try and stop them, but their resistance was futile, as their strength had dwindled away trying to keep the demons from coming out.

 

Suddenly, the monks felt as though a giant wave of evil energy sent them to the ground. A giant black figure rose out, and the monks looked at it in horror; it was KuupCay, the ruler of Heck, and the leader of the demons. If the monks couldn't keep in the small demons, how would they keep in this monster?

 

Kuupcay cackled at the monks as they slowly tried to get up and used what little power they had left to send him back to ####. But of course they could not. Kuupcay was far too strong. He rose his burnt and torn wings, and rose up out of the Mountain.

 

Mr. Miller stood in dead shock. "Kuupcay!"

"W-what?" Stammered the boys. "Did you just say...?"

"The monks have failed!! Kuupcay...K-Kuupcay...IS IN OUR WORLD NOW!!!"

 

The dog-man fainted and fell to the ground. John and Will got up to try and help him, but their bodies were in shock.

 

The most evil entity in all of Heaven, Heck, and Warudo...was in their world now!

[Mushroom_king]

[FUN FACT CORNER:

 

-Espada is Spanish for Sword

-Densetsu is Japanese for Legend

-Warudo is Japanese for World

-Skyjule Oppfinner is Norweigan for Hiding Inventor

-Kuupcay's name comes from The Great Cupcake, the Satanic deity in Great Muffinism

-Smitus and Nomulous are Great Muffin gods

-Binh's name is Vietnamese for Water and Earth

-My friend whom Will is based off of really did build a taser glove.

-Will's power is inspired by Nico Robin from One Piece

-The Iron Superhero suit is also a reference to my friend, who is building an Iron Man suit.]

[Mushroom_king]

John and Will were about to pick Mr. Miller off of the floor, when a huge quake knocked them to the floor, as well. They both tried to stand up, to get help, but knew it was unsafe to go outside; they could only watch in horror as the black cloud trickled down the side of Mt. hendricks, and then flew all around Warudo. They didn't want to know if the demons would come to NomNom or not, but they knew it would soon be dangerous to stay upstairs. They picked up Mr. Miller and ran as quickly as they could down to the basement, which took a while to find. Will looked around for anything that could seal up the door: padlocks, duct tape, nails, anything, to seal it up. Until, that is, he realized they would need to get out later. They hid in the basement, in the dark, completely silent, hoping nothing would come there. It was the single most frightening thing the boys had ever experienced.

 

Hours and hours passed, but it seemed like decades-centuries, even. The two boys were quiet as they slowly got up to see what was going on outside. They hadn't hear any noises outside, and the house was most definitely not soundproof. But that could just mean the demons had killed everyone silently. They quietly stood up, and carefully walked upstairs to look outside.

 

The sky was still dark, but now no clouds circled the peak of Mt. Hendricks. The two boys propped Mr. Miller up on an armchair, and walked outside, walking very close to each other. Will managed to pick up his box of taser gloves-just in case.

 

The town was filled with people coming out of their homes, looking around-probably for the same reason the boys had come out. There were melancholic whispers among the townsfolk, and John wondered whether they should head home yet.

"I think we should wait for Mr. Miller to wake up first," Said John. "So we can make sure he's alright and properly thank him. Then we need to rush home as soon as possible."

Will nodded in agreement.

"We need to be brave, alright Will?" He said, smiling. Will smiled along with him, and took off his glasses to clean them-possibly so he could see what was happening even better. Not like he would want to.

 

Suddenly, the two boys heard Mr. Miller yelling for them. "John! Will! I just woke up! Has anything happened?"

They both turned around and saw Mr. Miller looking at them out the window, which was now opened. They ran back inside, and told him that nothing had really happened to NomNom, but they weren't quite sure about the rest of Warudo.

Mr. Miller thought for a long time. "Well, your mothers are more than likely worried about you two, so I'd recommend you hurrying home...but hey, before you do."

 

He turned around and looked into a large chest in the room that was built into a desk. He lifted out a large, golden piece of body armor, with shoulder armor as well. Attached to it was an orange cape.

"John, you're a strong fighter. I think you ought to wear this-because your sword isn't quite enough when you fight. And take this bag, too." He reached in and took out a large, brown bag.

"You can put items in there...like those taser gloves of yours, Will. And I sneaked in one of my mythology books for you to read."

"Thanks so much, Mr. Miller," He said. "We can't thank you enough."

 

As the boys were about to go out the door, Mr. Miller said to them, "I hope you both get to travel Warudo someday...someday soon."

 

-----------------------------

 

The trip back to Goldinya was not quite as dangerous as the two were expecting it to be-that is, until they actually came to Goldinya.

 

The town was in a riot-the demons that came from Mt. Hendricks were ransacking the town and attacking everyone that the boys knew and loved. This, of course, deeply upset them, and they charge at the demons with full force. Will quickly grew his extra arms, and put his gloves on, and used his taser gloves to their full effect, all without hurting any humans. John attacked not just with his blade, but with his Life Magic as well; until every demon had been purged from Goldinya. The two boys stood back-to-back for a dramatic pose, and the citizens of Goldinya, who had once called Will a thief and John a dreamer were now thanking them. Through the crowd came John and Will's parents; they smothered the boys with hugs and tears, going on about how worried they had been.

 

"John...William...where were you boys?! When we saw the storm, we were worried to death...and then those things came, and we thought we were done for!!"

John blushed and scratched his head. "It's nothing. We just wanted to go home."

"And you came back at the perfect time."

"We sure did. Maybe it was fate?"

"Perhaps...but such a thing as fate doesn't seem to exist. Those demons poured down the Mountain and are now in our world. This is awful."

John sighed. "I wish I could do something."

His mother put her hand on his shoulder. "John...I think...perhaps..."

He looked at his mother, eyes wide.

Will's mother became worried. "Oh, you can't be saying-"

"I think it's acceptable if you two boys went out on your own."

"You're putting the fate of the entire world into the hands of these two?!"

"I was praying as the demons came down the mountain, and I prayed as the demons attacked us-Dearest God, send us a hero! And the very moment I finished my prayer, John and Will came and saved us all!"

Everyone whispered among themselves. "I have hope in them. I think The Gods have blessed them with strength they will use for good. Besides...John has always wanted to go on an adventure. Haven't you?"

 

John nodded. His mind went back to when he was a very small child and read a story about a hero who saved the entire world, and he wanted to be just like the hero. Then he picked up his first video game, an RPG, and even more, he wanted to be the hero. And now, his dream was finally coming true!

 

Tears began to flow down his mother's face, as she looked at him; and then she hugged him. "I hope this is the best thing to do," She whispered; and then cries of both agreement and uproar started. But mostly uproar.

"How can you send them both to what could possibly be their deaths?!" Shouted one villager.

"I agree! They're far too young to be out on their own!"

"Quiet down!!" Shouted John's mother. "I believe they are fine!!"

The townsfolk went quiet, as if they had just simply given up. John spoke up.

"But we just got here, so I think we should stick around a day or two, to...well, prepare."

John's mother wiped away her tears. "That's fine. I understand."

 

--------------------------

 

John and Will, for the rest of that day and for a good amount of the next day, became busy preparing for their quest. They had to buy items, and Will was busy stockpiling all of his inventions, and all of his tools, so he could still build things while traveling. John read up on the other areas of Warudo, as well as practicing sword techniques and magic skills. The bag Mr. Miller had given them filled with healing items, and John was very excited.

 

One day, just before he was to leave for his journey, John began to talk with his mother.

"Mom, where do you think we should head first?"

She thought for a moment. "I think perhaps you should head out to Densetsu city," She said. "I don't know what you can do there, but I'm sure there's something you can do to help them there."

"'Kay. I was just asking because I wasn't quite sure where we would be going."

She walked over to him, and hugged him. "Don't worry. When everything seems wrong, just pray to Nomulous and Smitus."

"Thanks, mom. I'll remember it."

 

------------------------

 

The next day, John and Will got their things, and said goodbye to everyone they knew as they left the village, and left the Smitus Mountains. The sky wasn't quite as black today, so it didn't seem as though anything bad had happened; but they knew they had to be on guard.

"Mom said it might be best to head for Densetsu city, first," Explained John as he unrolled a map of Warudo he'd been given. "All we gotta do is follow this path, all the way to Road-River forest, and follow the road in the woods. And once you make it out, you should be able to see Densetsu from the edge of the forest, and we'll head straight there."

"Hopefully, we'll explore all the places we skip later on," Said Will. John nodded in agreement, put the map away, and they started walking towards Road-River forest.

[Mushroom_king]

The two boys walked along the path towards Road-River forest, passing NomNom and Lake Amie on their way. They didn't need to stop there again, nor did they want too.

"I'm surprised," Said John, as they neared the forest. "No demons have attacked us."

"I'm sure we'll see tons of them in the woods. Or at least a lot of thieves," Answered Will.

"Either way, It'll be a good way to practice our skills!" Said John, optimistically. The two passed a small building that lived just on the edge of the woods.

 

"What's this?" Wondered John, looking at the sign. "Last Step?"

"That's right," Came a voice. A timid-looking human man popped out, looking through the window. "I got robbed yesterday. And not by the normal thieves, either. I don't know if she was a thief, a demon, or both...she wore a crimson outfit, with a cape, and a top hat and mask. In her hand was a whip."

"That's awful!" Shouted John, as he raised his fist.

"Oh, please! You don't have to..."

"We'll get your things back!"

"No, John! We have to get to the city!" Said Will.

"I agree with your friend. I think you should wait. Besides, I'm good friends with some people in NomNom. I'll get more things. I hope you stocked up for the trip through the forest."

"Don't worry. We did."

"Well, young man! Good luck! You seem brave."

"Thank you. We'll see you again!"

 

And the two boys waved goodbye to the storekeeper, and walked into the huge forest.

 

-------------------------

 

The forest had an almost magical feel to it; several shafts of light fell down to the forest floor through gaps in the trees. But even so, the two boys were wary of any thieves that might attack. Everyone knew that a town full of them was somewhere in the Road-River forest, and they frequently robbed passerby. Just to be safe, John took out his blade, and Will armed himself with his gloves.

The two were silent for a long time, until Will screamed, and John swiftly turned around and saw two black-clothed thieves fighting Will. With them was a tall woman with a crimson outfit, cape, top hat, and a mask.

"Will! That must be the person the storekeeper told us about!" And with that, he launched into a fight with them.

The woman laughed. John gritted his teeth.

"Mortal Damage!!" He shouted, and he brought his sword down on one of the black-clothed thieves, freeing Will; he then proceeded to use his extra arms to barrage his tasers on the other thief.

If you attack the minions first, John remembered from playing RPGs, The head of them will be easier.

The two black-clothed thieves collapsed. The masked thief looked at them. Her mask was white on one side with a black cross-shaped eye, and a black half-smile, and the other side was black with a white eye and white part of the smile. She reached for her waist, and took out a whip. John and Will held their weapons to her, and they swore they heard her laugh from under the mask.

 

The woman held her whip, staring at them...and before they knew it, she had run away. Luckily, nothing was stolen.

"Ugh!" Muttered John, angry. "We let her get away!"

"Don't worry, John. It'll be OK."

John nodded, and they both started walking again.

 

-----------------------------

 

As the boys travelled through the woods, two other people were conversing on the outskirts of Densetsu city.

 

A young woman with a short, blue bob, a purple-blue cloak, narrow eyes with defnded eyelashes, and a scythe in her hands sat at a desk. She wore gray gloves and was scrying into a black disc.

 

She looked into it, and saw the faint figures of two humans walking in the forest. She was unable to make out many details, and unfortunately the vision vanished before she knew it.

She sighed, and felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked up, and above her was a tall man with a red trench coat, torn around the end, that had a high collar. He, too, had gray gloves, and he had bumpy, orange hair that covered one eye and descended down to about his collar, and an orange ponytail that went to his midback. He also wore glasses, and held a white staff that looked much like a key and had a cross on top.

"Teacher," The girl said, "I saw two people in the woods. I believe the woods leading to the city, and I believe they may be headed here...for some reason, they seem important."

Her teacher thought for a moment. "Did you see much?"

"No, Teacher...I only found out where they were and where they were going..."

"Well, people traveling in those woods was already very rare due to all the thievery there. And now it is even less, if that is possible, because of the fear of demons."

"You don't think the two I saw were demons, do you, Teacher?"

He shook his head, and motioned for her to get up. She did so, and he sat down, and stared intently into the disc. In a matter of moments, a clear image of John and Will appeared.

"It's two young men, from Goldinya. They are certainly not demons, from the history I am getting."

The girl started to choke a little bit. "Teacher, you make me feel like I am bad at magic..."

He giggled. "Do not worry, Katie. You will get better."

 

The pair's name was Katie Mahou and Corbin Pyna Taikuri. Corbin had been Katie's teacher for years now, and had taught her many magic skills.

"Whatever happens, I recommend we keep an eye on these two. See what they are doing in Densetsu."

Katie nodded.

"Teacher, do you think they are...the ones?"

He shook his head. "The Ones are not two boys. The Ones are a large group. But who knows, for all we know, they are a part of The Ones."

"The Ones," She said again. "The people destined to save Warudo."

Corbin nodded. "Indeed. That is who they are. But no amount of magic can tell us who The Ones are."

"Except for one person," She said.

He nodded again. "The Princess Julia. But she has gone missing, hasn't she? Perhaps The Ones will be the ones to rescue her."

Katie nodded. "I hope everything will turn out right."

"They will, Katie. Destiny will not allow the world to fall into Evil."

She sighed, and nodded. They both then decided to wait for the two to come to the city, to see what they were really made of.

 

---------------------------

 

Back in the forest, the two boys continued to follow the road that had been dug into the forest floor by the feet of travelers. They wouldn't get lost if they just continued to follow the path. But the forest didn't seem to end, and they were getting tired; but they knew if they stopped to rest, their belongings would be easy prey for getting stolen. So they had to keep walking, quietly as not to make a spectacle of themselves.

"I wonder why no more thieves have tried, um, thieving us again?" Wondered Will, looking around.

"I don't know. Do you think that masked woman was their leader?"

"Probably. Maybe she is afraid of us?"

"That could explain why she ran away from us."

"Or maybe there's a reason we don't know."

"Yea, it's probably one of those two reasons."

It was then that the two boys were attacked by a gang of five black-clothed thieves surrounded them. John and Will stood back-to-back as they prepared for battle. The Masked Woman was nowhere to be seen.

 

John charged towards three of them with his sword, and Will began to lock the other two in a deadly taser headlock. One of them hit Will in the head, and began to attack Will with a dagger.

"Will!!!" Screamed John, and turned around to save his friend. He attacked the Thief who was about to stab Will, and slashed at him with his sword. Will was on the ground, weak.

John found the other four thieves surrounding him. There was only one thing to do.

"Life Light!" He shouted, and a blinding yellow light surrounded Will, healing him. He stood up, and the two of them went into a combination attack on the thieves.

 

After all five were down, John looked at the one that had tried to stab Will. He slowly walked toward him, and the thief's eyes went wide with fright. John rose his sword in anger.

"This is for trying to kill my best friend!" He said, and hit the man with the flat part of his sword, as not to kill him.

"Come on! Let's go!" Muttered Will, and the two boys began to run, making sure to continue following the path. Before they knew it, the sun was shining in their eyes; they were out of the woods!

 

----------------------------

 

John and Will looked around, and at each other. They high-fived each other.

"YEA!!" they shouted in Unison, and Will pointed. "There's Densetsu city!"

The two boys stared in shock. Above the town, about a thousand miles up, was a gigantic floating castle. John gulped.

"That's...Is that where the royal family lives?"

"I guess so," Said Will. The two gulped in unison, and started walking towards town.

 

---------------------------

 

The boys were speechless with awe when they walked into town. People of many different species walked about in the town-humans, animals, non-humans, elves, fairies, all types of people were there. Enormous, crowded-together buildings, the first that they had seen, caused the boys to think Wow, every so often; but they had to keep walking so no one would know they were from out of town.

 

But then they faced a problem many do: they got lost. They found themselves utterly lost, and were embarrassed to seek directions; that is, until they were confronted by a tall man with a staff strapped to his back and a young girl with a scythe in her hands. It was Katie and Corbin, who had been spying on the boys for the past several hours.

 

"Young man," Said Corbin, looking at John, "You and your friend look horribly lost. If you would like, me and my friend here could help you get where you are going."

Will's eyes went wide, and he shook his head, urging John to stay wary. But John smiled.

"Ah, thank you! We're new here, and we got lost, but we were far too embarrassed to ask for help!"

Corbin smiled, and he giggled. "Well, you've come to the right people." He motioned towards Katie. "My name is Corbin Pyna Taikuri, and this is my apprentice, Katie mahou."

Katie did a small curtsey.

"My name is John Espada. This is Will Oppfinner, my best friend."

"It's a pleasure to meet you," Said Corbin, and he turned around. "We'd be pleased to have to over at our house. Is that OK?"

John nodded, and Will clutched his shoulder in fear.

 

------------------------------

 

Corbin and Katie led the boys to a small cottage on the outskirts of the city, that was situated on a hill that allowed a view of the landscape. Corbin took out a key, and opened the door, but allowed Katie in first, and then the boys. He was the last to go in.

 

Corbin looked through some drawers until he found a folded up piece of paper. He handed it to John.

"This is something very useful: it has a map of every town in Warudo. Now you can't get lost."

"Thanks so much!" He said, and put it in his bag. Corbin sat down by a table, and pulled up two extra chairs. "Have a seat, and let's learn more about each other."

The two boys sat down, and Katie sat near Corbin.

"Where are you boys from?"

"We're from the village of Goldinya," Answered John.

"I see...I heard wind that demons attacked the town, but the attack was stopped."

"That, well you see, that was us." Stuttered Will.

"Was it really?!" exclaimed Corbin, his face doubtful for a moment; and then He smiled. "I believe you. But why did you come all the way here?"

"I want to help fight Kuupkay."

Corbin and Katie's eyes both went wide, and Corbin's eyeglasses fell down his nose in surprise. "One as young as you wants to do something as dangerous as that? That's suicide!"

John shook his head. "I don't plan to do it now. I want to train and become incredibly powerful."

Corbin thought for a moment. "Who knows?" Was all he said. "So, you plan to see the King and Queen?"

John nodded.

Corbin smiled. "I'll let you in on a secret. The King's Daughter, Julia, has vanished recently. If you find her, I promise the King would be more than happy to do anything for you."

John smiled. "That'd be nice. Do you think if I find her, I can bring her back and he'll let me join the army to fight Kuupkay?"

Corbin nodded. "But finding the princess is far easier said than done."

"I know that. But I know I can do it. I'll train as I search the land for her."

"A respectable goal for someone as young as you," He said, smiling. He then stood up.

"Me and Katie are magicians. I am her teacher."

"That's cool. My friend Will here can't use magic, but he's awesome with inventing, plus...well, show them your power, Will."

 

Will nodded, and he stood up. He then grew an extra arm out of his back, causing Katie to gasp, and Corbin to be taken aback.

"Oh My!" He said, and he smiled. "What a power! But how did you get it?"

"I evolved." Answered Will. "I evolved so I could invent things better."

Corbin smiled. "And you, John?"

"I can use magic," He said. "Life Magic. And I'm pretty good with a sword, too."

Corbin nodded. "Useful skills. A swordsman capable of magic with a multi-armed inventor is quite a pair."

John nodded.

Corbin smiled, and Katie began to speak finally. "But..."

"But what?"

"I think you'll need more then just a swordsman and an inventor on your team."

"What do you mean?" Asked John, confused.

"I think they're offering to help us," Whispered Will.

Corbin nodded. "After all, what better way for Katie to train her magic skills then to travel the land?"

"I won't get much better if I just stay here," She said quietly.

"So it's settled," John shouted triumphantly. "The two magicians, Katie and Corbin, have joined our party!" He looked at them. "What sorts of magic do you do, anyhow?"

Corbin posed with his white staff. "I'm a holy magician."

Katie stood up with her scythe. "I'm not a darkness magician, despite my weapon. I'm a spirit magician."

"Makes sense," Said John. "After all, scythes have to do with death, and when you die you're just a spirit!"

Katie smiled. "I never thought of that," She said, giggling. "How clever."

Corbin grabbed his staff and walked toward them. "But it'd be very odd if we just found Julia and brought her to the King and Queen. I believe we should consult with them first."

Katie frowned. "But Teacher, not just anyone can get into the castle."

"We'll just tell them we wish to help them search for Julia," he said. "Trust me, just say that, and anyone could get in." He frowned. "Which may or may not be a good thing."

 

--------------------------

 

The four of them walked out of the small house that overlooked Densetsu city. Corbin had packed any important magic items he might need in a bag, and locked the door.

"I don't think we'll be here for a while," He muttered, and he turned around. John and Will were staring in awe at the Castle in the Sky.

"The King and Queen really do live in the sky..." Whispered John. "That's amazing. How does it stay up like that?"

"With magic, what else?" Said Corbin, looking at it while shielding his eyes from the sun. Katie looked up at it too. "And with a little bit of PSI, too, I hear." She looked at John and Will's confused faces, and giggled. "Psychic power. It's a little like magic..."

Corbin took out a book and flipped through it. "But it comes from brainpower. Magic comes from Mindpower. It sounds the same, but it is not."

"I understand," Said John. Will scratched his head. Corbin continued to speak.

"There are magicians living somewhere in the palace that keep that piece of earth the palace was built upon in the air. It's meant to make it more difficult for attackers to reach."

"And how do you suppose we'll get up there?"

Corbin smiled. "Don't worry," He said, and he began to lead the boys (and girl) into the city.

 

--------------------------------

 

The sun was beginning to set, though it had not yet touched the horizon yet; and despite this the town was still bustling with people. Corbin walked through the city, and began to walk towards the northern part of the city. They found themselves underneath the shadow of the floating castle. Two guards stood in front of the shadow. As Corbin was about to walk into the shadow, the two guards blocked his way.

"State your name and what purpose you have in the palace?"

"My name is Corbin Pyna Taikuri. My friends here are Katie Mahou, John Espada, and Will Oppfinner. We wish to join the search for the Princess Julia Ojousama.""

One guard gasped and gulped. The other became suspicious. "How do we know you are not a demon who has come to wreak havoc?"

Corbin stepped forward. He took out his staff, and the two guards noticed the cross on top of it. He shut his eyes, and the staff began to glow. He let go of it and it floated. Then, it raised into the air, and Corbin opened his eyes, and shouted:

"HOLY PURGING!!!" And the staff crashed into the earth, causing a white shock wave. The two guards nearly fell over. They quickly got up, and the one who had been suspicious began to gasp.

"That's a Holy Spell!!" He said, and the two saluted him. "Only the purest of people can use Holy magic!"

Corbin nodded. "Now, may we get into the castle?"

 

 

 

 

 

[FUN FACT CORNER:

 

-Lake Amie is named after Sailor Mercury's civilian identity from Sailor Moon; her element was Water/Ice and as you will find out later Lake Amie frequently freezes over.

-Pyna Taikuri is Finnish for "Holy Magician".

-mahou is Japanese for Magic.

-Ojousama is also Japanese; but I have seen it translated in several ways. I have seen it translated into "Princess", but I have also seen it translated as a term for a woman of wealth and/or high respect who may or may not be royalty. Either way, it works for Julia.]

[Mushroom_king]

The group, lead by John and Corbin, walked through the enormous, lavish halls of the castle, which was covered from head to toe with plants, sculptures, paintings, and elaborate decorations. John would spin around and even walk backwards to look at everything.

Every so often someone would walk by and glance at them; John always asked where they could find the King and Queen. After getting different directions from everyone, they eventually found the throne room, and every other room in the castle paled in comparison to the Throne room, which was mostly golden with red decoration. It literally sparkled, there were so many precious metals in the room; John toyed with the thought that the walls were made of gold, or maybe that gold had been melted down and the walls were painted with it. Two enormous, golden chairs stood on a platform, both of which were decorated with gemstones and red fabric; and the King and Queen of Warudo sat in the two chairs. They looked slightly surprised when the four of them just walked in, and the four of them timidly walked toward them. John and Will both felt unworthy to be in the room, since they were but two young children from middle class families in a tiny, tiny mountain town. Corbin and Katie both bowed to the King and Queen, and John and Will followed suite.

 

Corbin stood back up and began speaking. "We are four humble citizens of your country who wish to join the search for Princess Julia Ojousama," He explained. "But the two boys who have joined me wish to go battle Kuupkay, as dangerous as it sounds."

The two of them gasped as they looked at John, who was stepping forward, and Will, who was clinging to John. "That is correct," He said, before they could speak.

"My name is John Espada, and I want to fight Kuupkay."

The two gasped again. "That'd be suicide!" Said the King, a tall, burly man dressed in colorful clothing woven from precious fabrics. "I can't allow that..."

John's eyes went wide, and he frowned; his lips then started to quiver, and he sniffled.

"But I-We-Me and my friend can't go home without fighting him! I promised everyone in my town I'd fight Kuupkay...it'd be the worst thing to go back and disappoint everyone..."

 

Katie and Corbin looked at the two boys, and looked at John. They could see he was trying to not cry. The King and Queen looked each other, and then at John.

"How about this," Said the Queen, smiling. "You can't go fight him yet. How about you travel around Warudo and you can contribute to the well-being of the country in three ways: You can destroy any demons who may be causing trouble, you can look for Julia, and you can train yourself and get stronger. Once you do, come see us again and we'll see if you're worthy of fighting him..."

John looked at her, and he smiled a big smile. The king looked over at her, concerned, but John started to jump for joy before he could say anything.

"This is great! We're going to go all around Warudo, fighting and meeting all sorts of people!!"

John turned towards the Queen. "I can't thank you enough! I...is it alright if I give you a giant hug?"

The Queen laughed. "It's fine."

John jumped up and did so, trying to not break her spine. "I really can't thank you enough."

John jumped back. "Thanks! Thanks! I'll come back, and I'll be the strongest person in Warudo!", and the group left.

 

The King looked at his wife, and muttered to her, "Was that really a wise decision?"

She looked at him and nodded. "Just trust me on this."

 

----------------------------

 

The four of them took the elevator back down to Densetsu City, and decided it was best to rest up before going anywhere; besides, they needed to plan their journey out. They went back to Corbin and Katie's house, where Corbin showed the boys a map of Warudo.

John looked at it for a while, after having found Goldinya on the map. "Could you tell me about some of these places? I haven't really studied much geography."

Corbin looked at the map. "I'm sure you're familiar with the Smitus Mountains, Goldinya, Nomnom, and Lake Amie, correct?"

"Yes."

"Alright. Well..." He studied the map for a few moments, and then looked at him again, "I think perhaps we should head up for the Loopim forest."

John looked confused. "What's the Loopim Forest? I think I heard someone on the street talk about it..."

"The Loopim Woods is a forest just to the North of here. There's three cities there-" He said, pointing the map. "There's Twy, Noir, and Usagi. The forest is known for having...an interesting population."

John thought for a moment. "What do you mean? Monsters?"

"There's been rumors for years-decades-that Vampires and Werewolves rome the forest. It's an extremely unsafe place to be at night. The town of Usagi is home to nothing but rabbits who have learned to talk and walk on two legs. They're not quite as bad as the rest of the forest's denizens, though..."

 

John thought for a moment, and smiled. "Werewolves and vampires are perfect battle practice!" He said, grinning. The others gasped.

"But John! If we go there at night, you never know what could happen to us! Some vampire could suck us dry, or a werewolf could tear us to shreds!"

"Then we'll fight them if they do," John said matter-of-factly.

Katie gulped, but smiled. "That's the spirit."

Corbin sat back in his seat. "So, do you want to head out there tomorrow? If we do, you may want to explore the city a bit first, get some new items, and gather information. The more you know about Warudo, the more you'll be prepared; trust me. You're from West Warudo, where not much happens. Most of the country is in the East, and there's lots of adventure to be had here."

John smiled. "I believe you. I've always wanted to come to East Warudo for adventure, ever since I was a kid."

Corbin stood up. "Well, we have a long day tomorrow, so you might as well rest up. John and Will, we have a guest room upstairs for you to sleep in."

John thanked him and went upstairs to sleep, followed by the others.

 

------------------------------

 

The next day, the four of them woke up early, had a hearty breakfast, and went around Densetsu City to prepare for their adventure. John talked to anyone who looked interesting for information on Loopim forest, and the majority of them told him it was best to head for the library; so before they went shopping, since most of the shops were yet to open, the group was about to go sit and read for a while...until they learned they needed a library card. Fortunately, Corbin told them that he had plenty to read back home; so while they waited for stores to open, they went back to do research.

 

Corbin and Katie's library was the biggest John had seen; it didn't have particularly high shelves, but there were shelves and shelves of books. The ceilings in the house were slightly lower than normal, so there was little space. The majority of the house, John realized, was books on magic; there were even stacks of books on the floors because of lack of room. Corbin found a few books on the Forest for John to carry and read; Katie found an atlas, a book that had not just maps of Warudo but of it's cities as well, plus information on them.

 

John started reading right away, reading while they walked around town (asking for any interesting news or stories; they decided that was better then sitting back at the house.)

"Alright, so..." He said, finally lifting his head from his book, "It looks like there are many werewolves and vampires living in Loopim; and the reason there's a city of just rabbits who walk and talk is apparently because a certain group of rabbits evolved human characteristics and bred quickly. This is the sort of stuff that makes sense to Will more than me..."

Will glanced at the book over John's shoulder. "Rabbits are known for reproducing quickly. I can see why they have their own town."

John looked in the book again, and Katie spoke up. "I hear the Rabbits that live their excel in dark magic, because it's always so dark in the forest."

"It has to be dark," Said Corbin. "Vampires can't go in the light, lest they die."

"And Werewolves like the dark too," Said John. "The book states a multitude of reasons: one is that werewolves, when in human form, grow more hair than normal, and the light can make them burn up! But it still doesn't kill them like it does to the vampires."

 

Sometime after their conversation, the shops in Densetsu Square opened up and people of many types flooded in to buy things. The group walked into a store that sold weaponry and armor, and decided to look at what was in stock.

 

Corbin looked at John and Will. "You two aren't very well armored, are you? John, you have the right idea..."

"I built that chestplate for him!" Said Will, proudly. "E'sept it's not real gold."

"Well, you'll need more than that should you want to defend yourself. Will, you might want something discreet that can go underneath your bodysuit, but will also work with your power."

"What about you two? Are you well-equiped at all?"

"I'll be keeping this staff until the day I die," Said Corbin, clutching it. Katie's scythe was in her hand, and she hugged it protectively. "I've had this forever."

"That's cool, but what about defense? That's important, too."

"Well, we will need something. But not quite as much as you, because you go more into hand-to-hand and weapons combat. We battle mostly with magic, and need less armor then you two do."

The four walked up to the counter. Corbin pointed at Will. "My friend here may need something specially made for him."

"I overheard your conversation: discreet, needs to fit a power. But what power, exactly?"

Will scratched his head. "Uh, I grow extra arms. My suit already works with it."

The shopkeep thought for a moment. "I think I've got just the thing." He went into a room behind the counter, and after a few moments, came back out.

"I can alter your bodysuit so it's discreetly armored with something lightweight."

Will nodded, and gulped. "But I've no clothes under my bodysuit!"

The shopkeep laughed. "Don't worry about that. Go into the changing room, and just set your suit outside the door. It'll be done real fast."

 

Will nodded, and after being shown there, He did get his bodysuit armored; and it was quick, as promised. After it was done and Will had changed back into it, Corbin purchased some armor for John, which he put on. They said thanks and goodbyes to the shopkeep, and moved on to an item shop, just next door.

 

This shop was covered with misc. objects-mostly for healing. John knew that in his video games, you had magic points, but he wondered if that worked that way in reality.

Corbin explained it to him: "Well, yes, it does; but you can only see how much power you have left in your mind."

John nodded in understanding. That was simple enough.

"I have a healing power, so maybe we should get less healing stuff and more things to replenish my magic powers."

Katie smiled at him. "That's not a bad idea. You're really kind of clever."

The group bought their goods, left the shop, and decided it was best to start heading out.

 

John led the other three out of Densetsu City, and when they reached the town's edge, he looked at the rolling hills and flat plains on the horizon, the mountains that towered to the skies, and he saw the Road-River Woods and the Loopim Forest in the distance. Loopim seemed awful far, but John was barely able to contain his excitement. Dramatic music played in his head as he led the group down the hill that Densetsu City sat on, and as they left, he looked up at the sky, at the floating palace, reminding himself of his goal.

 

The four of them were not that far from Densetsu when they already were attacked; it was three demons, but not the ugly monsters that had attacked John and Will back near NomNom; Corbin explained that they were demons, but in the shapes of animals. Here they had taken the forms of animals with tons of hair and none of them could tell what they were supposed to be.

Will quickly got one of them into a strangelhold with his taser gloves, while Katie lurched at it with her scythe, while yelling "SPIRIT STORM!!!"

Once she yelled it, she struck the monster with her scythe, and several spirits came from the sky to the monster, and it let out a dreadful shriek before vanishing. John and Corbin ganged up on another, combing Life and Holy magic, and Will defeated the third by himself.

 

"We need to be extremely cautious," Warned Corbin. "Demons are possessing innocent creatures...and you never know when they might move on to intelligent beings."

John nodded but said nothing. Loopim still looked far away.

 

Hours passed as they walked towards the woods, occasionally having to battle demons who would randomly appear and attack. It was nightfall when they got to the forest.

 

The Loopim woods towered above the four of them; the trees, while not gigantic, were still quite tall. John had to keep Will from attempting to climb one.

The whole group simply stood in awe of the huge trees, and after John gulped and said, "Let's Go in," they started walking in; but they were stopped by a voice coming from above.

 

"Where do you think you are going?!" Came a low voice with a tone of severe seriousness. "This place is incredibly dangerous at this time! Didn't you know that?!"

John looked around, and saw the voice came from a tree. And indeed, he could see a figure standing on a branch. He saw it leap down, landing on another branch, and then landed in front of them. The figure's face was barely visible, covered mostly by a black scarf, but it also wore a light grey flat newsboy-style cap, a long black buttoned up trench coat, and a katana by it's waist. It looked at stared up at John.

"Who are you?!" Asked John, reaching for his sword before the stranger stopped him.

The figure reached up a black gloved hand and lightly pulled at his scarf. You could barely see his face, but John could make out a pale-skinned man who wore glasses.

"My name....you'll find out later. All that matters now is that you make no attempt to travel these woods at nightfall. It is dangerous....and could cost your young lives."

[Mushroom_king]

John folded his arms and glared at the stranger. "Awwww, we're fi-"

"No! No!" He said, as a strong wind began to swirl around the group. Above them, a storm was brewing, though there was no lightning or thunder, oddly enough. There was just an increasingly strong wind swirling every which way. The stranger stood his ground, not moving or saying a word, staring at the group with his narrow eyes. And, just as suddenly as it had come, the wind died down. The stranger stepped forward to John, who gripped his broadsword even tighter.

 

"Tell me who you are, right now!" Shouted John.

The stranger gripped his sword and flung it off, revealing long, curly hair that certainly did not match his mood and way of dress.

"I cannot tell you my name, lest anyone tries to find me," He explained. "The world has become overrun with demons who wish to kill me, and my loved ones, and the ones I serve. I cannot let my identity run loose."

 

John frowned. "What are you talking about? Who do you serve?"

"I can't say right now. But I will let you know...we will meet again, Espada."

"How do you know my name?!"

"I know most everyone's name."

John growled. "Who are you?!"

"I am no enemy of yours. You can trust me on that."

And with this, the man began to leap away, before turning around again.

"And do not go into the woods! Wait until daylight!"

And he vanished into the horizon.

 

The group was silent for many moments, before John began to walk towards the woods. Will's arms grabbed his shoulders and pulled him back.

"You know, maybe we should follow his advice, I think he knows what's best-"

"I'm not gonna trust someone who won't even tell me his name!!" Said John, shoving Will off. "Let's go. We can take anything that comes at us."

 

---------------------------------

 

Night fell as they entered Loopim Woods. The forest was incredibly silent, with only the occasional branch falling to break the silence. The four of them were all relatively brave, but they stuck close together so nothing should befall any of them.

 

John pulled out his map of the woods. "I have no idea where we are," He muttered. "I wanted to get to Usagi Town so we could rest, because it certainly won't do us good to sleep in the woods themselves, since we don't have any wolfsbane or garlic handy for protection."

"It's a relatively easy town to find," Said Katie. "Or so I have heard," Mumbled Corbin, Who was staying close to Katie.

 

Suddenly, a loud howl was heard disturbingly close by, causing Katie to yelp until Corbin covered her mouth and hushed her. They foolishly stayed in that one spot, as then they heard another howl, even closer this time, and it sounded like there were multiple howls as well.

 

Suddenly, the four saw dozens of glowing eyes in the darkness, and they knew they had been cornered by werewolves. Oh, why did they not run when they had the chance?

The monsters finally emerged out of the darkness, their heads of all different fur colors-but mostly brown furred wolves. They growled and snarled, and Will hid behind John and Corbin clutched Katie's shoulders. John spread his arms in front of his friends, and whispered, "We have to fight them."

 

John whipped out his Broadsword, and the wolves leaped at him; he swung the blade at them, trying to fend them off so they wouldn't hit his friends. The wolves were constantly thrown back from John's magic attacks, but he was completely powerless after what seemed like an hour of fending them off via magic. The other three decided it was time to defend John, and took out their weapons; Katie clutched her Scythe and managed t actually slice one of them in half, which only caused the wolves to become even more angry. They leaped at her, but were shoved off by two other wolves; these wolves had brown fur, and were less shaggy then the others that were attacking them. They weren't sure how, but they were a great deal less threatening...that is, until they took Katie, who had fallen into a coma and was bleeding, and dragged her away.

 

"KATIE!!!!" screamed Corbin, trying to run after her, but she vanished into the darkness, and the rest of the wolves were going to exact their revenge for their fallen comrade. Corbin was even angrier then before, since two of the wolves had taken away his closest friend (no matter how non-threatening the two that had taken her seemed), so he fought the hardest against them, not caring about how much his hair got matted or his coat got torn. The only thing that mattered was Katie (and possibly his spectacles), and he had single-handedly, with little help from John and Will, defeated nearly all of them.

 

After the fight was over and the dead bodies of the wolves laid around the boys in a pool of blood, Corbin broke down sobbing. John and Will resorted to dragging him through the woods until they reached Usagi Town.

 

------------------------------------

 

Usagi town was eventually found, and Will heaved a sigh of relief at finally finding it. The town had a mystical feel to it, with small buildings and lamps lining the streets. They saw no one about at this hour, though they occasionally heard someone's window pop open and people whispering.

 

They hadn't walked very long when they found a building, much larger then the rest, with the words "Inn" painted on it. The words had been written long ago and were now peeling off, but they walked inside anyway.

 

Sitting at the front desk of the Inn was a Rabbit; but not a normal rabbit. It was a Rabbit whose height reached the knees of John and Will, and he wore a loose t-shirt and had his head down on the desk and was solving a crossword puzzle in the newspaper. Next to him was a cup of what might be coffee or tea.

 

Corbin and Will were nervous, but John strode right up to the desk and gently asked, "Hello?" to which the Rabbit sleepily rose his head and yawned. He looked at John with narrow, tired eyes.

 

"Humans? I haven't seen one of you since I was...well, since ever. What brings you out here?"

"We're looking for some people," He stated. "We needed a place to stay for the night."

The Rabbit stretched and made himself another cup of coffee. "Alright, then, we got plenty of rooms...any requests?"

"Is there one that can fit at least four people? One of our friends went out exploring in the woods," He said, smiling.

"On his own?" Said the rabbit, his eyes narrowing as his looked at John over his book of available rooms. "That's an awful stupid thing to do."

John frowned. "Trust me, she's very powerful."

Corbin gulped, and hoped John was right.

The Rabbit marked something down in his book. "Looks like the only room with two beds and two couches available, is Room 215. Unfortunately...."

"What?" Asked John, frowning.

"That's right next to Mr. Konijn," The Rabbit whispered. "He's been livin' here ever since Mt. Hendricks erupted. I'm a tad suspicious of him..."

"We'll be OK," Said John, taking the key from the Rabbit. He turned to his comrades, and motioned for them to follow him up to their room.

 

-----------------------------

 

After finding Room 215, the three walked in and found a shabby, dull room with two beds, two couches, a TV that turned out to broken, and horribly painted Still Life pictures plastered upon the wall. John looked around, and said optimistically,

"Well, it is a room!" And with that, he took off his armor and plunged straight into bed, The other two following suit.

Will heard Corbin mumble "Katie..." Before drifting off to sleep.

 

------------------------------

 

Katie woke up in a clearing of the woods, on her back, looking up at the trees. She heard birds chirp, so it must have been morning, but it was still dark due to the way the trees grew. She got up and looked around, and wondered how she got here; all she remembered from the night before was killing one of the wolves who had tried to hurt her comrades, and then the rest of the wolves launched at her, and she must have blacked out. She couldn't still be at the area where they fought; Corbin, John, and Will would have carried her off. Unless....she didn't want to think about the Unless.

 

She had just stood up when she found herself smacked onto the ground again, and with a boy she didn't know right on top of her. She gasped; he was about her age, wore a brown shirt with a blue jacket, brown pants, and had shaggy brown hair and a small lighter-brown mustache, despite how young he looked.

"You're OK!" He said, happily. "You're OK!"

Katie looked confused. "What? What?! Who are you?!"

The boy frowned. "Oh, forgive me for not introducing myself." He got off of her and allowed her to stand up. "My name is Cody Gelo Lobo. We found you knocked out last night, with some wolves about to try and-and-" He raised his arms, trying to be scary but failing-"EAT YOU!!!"

Katie gasped.

"So we got you from them and took you here, to this clearing. We're sure glad we were on our way to Usagi Town, or you might have died!"

"Usagi Town?!" Gasped Katie, running over to Cody. "Please, please, take me with you! My friends are there!"

Cody seemed confused, and then he looked as though he had remembered something. "Oh, OK. We'll take you there!"

Katie cocked her head. "Who is 'We'?"

Suddenly, she heard a loud yell from deep in the forest that got increasingly closer, until another boy, who looked almost exactly like Cody (except he wore a blue shirt with a brown jacket), and was violently shaking his shoulders.

"I'VE BEEN LOOKING FOR YOU EVERYWHERE WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN SERIOUSLY WHERE THE ####-" And he looked over at Katie, and let go of Cody. "Oh, I'm sorry for that," He said, glaring at Cody. "I'm Logan Agua Lobo," He said, shaking hands with Katie.

"I guess you're brothers?" She said, smiling.

"Twins, to be exact," Said Logan. "Though I was born first."

Cody's eyes narrowed and his glared at his brother, but said nothing.

 

"Well, I think it's best if we starting heading for town, so you can find your friends," Said Cody, and Logan groaned. "Seriously? I just woke up, I got no sleep whatsoever last night, and we're already leaving?"

Cody smiled. "Please, Logan? It'd be really nice, and I promise you can sleep as long as you want when we get to town."

Logan reluctantly agreed, and walked far behind the other two.

Cody gently motioned for Katie to follow him, and when she caught up, he whispered in her ear, "Don't worry, he's got a bad temper sometimes, but he's a real nice guy. He next to never insults people, and he's always willing to defend his friends."

Katie sighed. "That sounds like John, one of my traveling companions..."

 

-------------------------------

 

John, Will, and Corbin had woken up around the same time Katie had, and after showering and getting dressed, they walked downstairs for the promise of free breakfast. The lobby was full mostly of travelers-humans, anthropomorphic humans, elves, and one person who stood out-in the corner was a short rabbit-human who was more rabbit than human. He had dark grey fur, wore a black and white striped suit covering his torso, and a black cape. He was doing nothing, not even eating any breakfast. He simply did...nothing. Corbin was eying him suspiciously, and decided to take the empty table near the rabbit. As he sat down, the rabbit glanced behind him; Will shuddered when he saw the huge, red eyes that the rabbit had, and when those eyes went wide with fear for an unknown reason, Will was even more terrified of a flipping rabbit.

 

The three of them eventually found that only John was eating anything. Corbin was too worried about Katie to eat, and Will was too scared of the rabbit to eat anything. So John had a large breakfast, and decided it was a good idea to ask around town for any information about the surrounding areas; and afterwards, they could look for Katie. Corbin was reluctant to search for her, afraid he might find her-but not in the condition she had been the night before....

 

As they got up to leave, Corbin accidentally-on-purpose bumped into the Rabbit, to which the Rabbit glared at Corbin with a small, angry mouth and his red eyes narrowed. He was about to yell at him, but he eyed Corbin's staff that was strapped to his back, with its gleaming white cross-shaped top, and he settled back into his chair, mumbling something. The three boys finally left the Inn, and saw that many rabbits of different kinds were already out and about. It was still dark, because of the trees, but light poured in through shafts of the trees, giving the entire town a mystical feel.

 

John frowned as he looked at all the rabbits, which were much shorter then the boys. "I feel really bad," He announced, "'Cause we must be like giants to these rabbits."

Will looked around. "Well, we might as well ask for inf..." He stopped when he saw a few rabbits walk up to the boys. They had red eyes like the grey rabbit in the Inn, but not quite as frightening. One rabbit had white fur and wore a simple brown leather outfit, another was mixed colors and wore green, and another, a female, had cream fur and wore a white dress.

"Welcome, travelers!" Said the White furred one. "I hope you enjoy your time in Usagi Town. If you should need anything, we'll be glad to help you out." And with that the three of them bowed.

John grinned, and he kneeled down as not to make them feel bad about their height.

"Well, we'd like to know more about the surrounding areas, is there anywhere or anyone we can talk to?"

 

The rabbits all thought for a moment before the cream-colored one spoke. "We have a library. That's about it," he said, frowning as his ears drooped. John smiled widely. "That's fine! In fact, that's great! We like to read."

The rabbits smiled and bowed, and led the way to the library.

Through the window of the Inn, the odd grey rabbit was watching the boys, and decided to follow them.

 

------------------------------

 

When the boys got to the library they were enthralled to see quite the library: only one person was there, a man obscured entirely in black, except for part of the face, which was obscured by fogged-up glasses. The man flipped through small book, and didn't even so much as glance up at the boys as they walked past to find the books they were looking for: John went to find books on the Loopim Woods, while Will went to find books on how to build things, while Corbin went to find books on Magic, as well as Wolves, and sat down at a table near the stranger to read.

 

The boys were silent for a long time, with nothing but the sound of pages turning filling the air, until they decided to whisper amongst themselves about the situation at hand.

 

"From what I've read," Announced Corbin, "Katie should be completely fine, as her weapon and her magic should be completely effective against the animals of the forest."

Suddenly, they heard a chair scoot very suddenly across the floor and the slamming of hands on their table as the man who had been there unfurled his scarf and shouted, "A-HA!!", and the man revealed himself to be the same very person they had seen before they walked into the woods!

[Mushroom_king]

Corbin frowned, John's eyes grew wide, and Will gasped. The stranger's curly hair unfurled from his head as his scarf fell away.

"So, you didn't heed my warning, eh?" He said. "And you already lost a companion."

"We did not lose her!" Shouted John. "She's alive!"

The man shut his eyes and folded his arms in thought. "And how, exactly, do you know that" He asked.

John clenched his fists. "You're going to tell us the usual-I Told you so, I told you so, aren't you?"

He shook his head, and sharply turned his heel as he walked out.

"I know for a fact she is alive," He muttered as he walked away, and said no more.

 

The boys were silent, save for John, who ran after him.

"Sir! Please, wait! What do you mean, you know she's alive?"

The stranger did not stop until John clutched his shoulder. "Please, sir, tell me! How do you know that? Why did you follow us?!"

He swiftly turned around and stared John in the eye.

"These are dangerous times, young man. People are everywhere who would have me dead if they knew who I was."

"But you can tell me! I promise you can tell me!"

The man glared at John. "How can you prove it?"

John pointed at Corbin. "My friend over there is a Holy Magician."

The man thought for a few moments. "How do I know you aren't holding him hostage just for this very moment?"

John growled. "I-"

"Exactly," He said, about to leave again. But John clutched both his shoulders and tried to speak with him again, before receiving a good smack from the stranger. Will and Corbin got up, and went over to find the man had gotten upset over seemingly nothing.

"Don't be so forceful with me!! Don't you know who I am?! I am the one and only Neil Vent-" He had clasped his mouth before he could continue.

"Neil Vent? Neil Vent what?" Asked John as he stood up to him. Neil-assuming that was his actual name-said nothing, his eyes wide with shock and fear.

"No, No, No, No, No!" He muttered, looking around. "Just knowing my sole first name severely narrows the list of people in Warudo...not many Neils...Oh, No....Oh No No No No No..."

"Who?!" John demanded.

"Kuupkay!!!" Neil shouted. "Kuupkay and his demonic minions! Vicious, savage demons from the pits of #### itself! Kuupkay, the overlord of all that is Evil in the world! His minions want my head!!"

John cocked his head. "Why?"

Neil seemed incredibly shocked. "WHY?!"

"Yea, why do they want you dead?"

And before he could stop, it all came flowing out: "Because I, Neil Vento, am the sole caretaker of Princess Julia Ojousama of Warudo, and if they can't get her then I'm the next best thing! I am even more valuable then Julia's parents!!!" And again, he clasped his hand over his mouth in shock. "DAMMIT!!!! NOT AGAIN!!!"

John giggled, which completely set Neil off. "Don't laugh, dammit!!! Kuupkay could be sending troops this very instant to come and kill me!!!"

John continued to laugh, but then became very serious. "I understand. Me and my friends can protect you."

"You fool! You'd put your own life in danger to protect mine?!"

John nodded. "I would."

Neil gritted his teeth. "You're a fool!"

"I'm going to fight Kuupkay anyway," He explained.

Neil gasped, and had to reach up to keep his glasses from falling off his face in sheer shock. "You're going to what?! What kind of reason would you possibly want to do that?!"

John's face fell grim. "Too many reasons to count. And why do you want to battle him?"

"You're preposterous! You blundering idiot! Why would you do something so ridiculous as quite literally go to #### and fight that monster?! And even worse, to say I want to?! I merely want to find-" He covered his mouth before he said any more.

"Princess Julia?"

Neil gulped. "Yes. I am on a quest on my own part to find the Princess. The King and Queen have sent out hundreds-millions-billions to try and find her. But me and my two comrades have spread around Warudo to find her. But I'm afraid..." He said, sighing, "That I'm the only one who is actually trying. My comrades are but relaxing and doing nothing to find her."

John gasped. "I'm-We're looking for Julia, as well."

Neil gritted his teeth again. "What business do you have with her?"

"I'm going to bring her back to the King and Queen to prove I can fight Kuupkay. They have guards all around the top of Mt. Hendricks, and no one can pass without pardon from the King and Queen. I'm going to save her. You're going to save her."

"We can't both save her," Said Neil, glaring at John. "I'm going to find Julia. It's my duty as her caretaker."

"We can, if we work together to find her!" Suggested John.

Neil grumbled. "There's no way I will ever work with anyone," He said. "There is but one man in Warudo I will work with."

 

Neil turned around and began to leave, until John yelled "Who?"

Neil stopped, and without turning his head, he mumbled "Drewno Lucnik," And then he left. John was about to ask how he knew his comrades weren't looking for the princess, but he had already left and he didn't want to bother the man anymore.

 

-------------------------------

 

Cody, Logan, and Katie had finally arrived in Usagi Town when Cody suddenly started thinking aloud.

"Katie, where do you think your friends will be?"

Katie stopped and thought for a moment. "Oh, I don't know...Corbin would probably be at the library, but I haven't gotten to know John and Will well enough yet to know about them."

Cody thought for a moment. "OK, then; we'll check the library."

"Or we could ask around," Suggested Logan.

"Or, we could ask around at the library!" Said Cody, and without asking the other two, went along with this plan.

 

When the trio got to the Library, Neil was just walking out the door and kindly held the door for them on his way out. Katie thanked him, and they walked in to find John, Corbin, and Will sitting at a table in the library, discussing what had just happened to them.

"Corbin!!!" shouted Katie, and Corbin swiftly turned, and his eyes sparkled with unbearable happiness when he saw her.

"K-Katie!!!" He shouted, running towards her and squeezing her in his arms. "You have no idea how glad I am you're alive....but how did you..."

"I'm not entirely sure," She said, "But when I woke up these two nice boys were with me." She pointed to Cody and Logan, who introduced themselves. Corbin gave them a questioning glance, but then shook his head. "In any case, we must thank these young men for taking you here."

Cody and Logan both nodded their heads. "In any case, we need to get back to our own town."

"What? No! Wait!" Said Katie, stopping them. "Please don't go," She said, latching the two of them into a hug. "Please don't go," She repeated.

"Katie," Muttered Logan, but Katie wouldn't hear it.

Logan sighed, and his eyes grew unusually soft and his voice unusually sensitive. "Come now, Cody. We ought to stay with her just a little bit longer. After all-" He said, gulping, "We can't afford for them to get lost in the woods."

John suddenly grew very excited. "A guide! A guide for when we travel in the woods! That's just what we need!!!" He said, jumping up and down.

Cody and Logan looked at him with suspicion, and then Logan stepped forward and bowed. "Forgive us," He said, "We forgot to introduce ourselves, didn't we? I'm Logan Agua Lobo, and this is my twin brother, Cody Gelo Lobo." He reached out a hand and shook it. "Pleased to meet you."

 

John shook Logan's hand vigorously, and thanked him many times for saving his friend. "I don't know what Corbin would do without his apprentice!! I don't know what I'd do without our Spirit Mage!!" He exclaimed, his eyes wide and filled to the brim with glimmer and sparkles. "Without her, Corbin would be so upset he might just off himself, and then we'd be without any good mages! I mean, I can do magic, but I'm more of a fighter myself!"

Cody laughed. "Well it's a good thing that we found her then."

Corbin scratched his head. "But there's one thing that still confounds me. Katie was dragged away last night by two wolves. I could have thought they would have-you know, killed her by now."

Cody and Logan exchanged quick, awkward glances, and then said rather quickly and nervously, "We found her just as they were to kill her," Stammered Logan, his hand behind his head. Corbin eyed him, but after a few moments, they decided it was best if they went back to the hotel and got some rest.

 

When they got to the Hotel, Corbin once again laid eyes upon the grey, stripe-wearing rabbit he had seen that morning; it was once again sitting in the corner of the lobby, at a table-no food, book, newspaper, or anything else was at his table. He simply sat there, pondering, and Corbin could not even be sure of that. Either way, he was still very curious about the creature. But he had no idea how he would be able to learn any thing more about him.

 

John was curious about the Neil Vento character he had encountered...assuming Neil Vento was his true alias, which he assumed it was. He worked for the King and Queen? He was the Princess's caretaker? He sure didn't look the part. He looked...He looked like he could be the paperboy on the street corner of Densetsu City, much less a caretaker for the Princess. Maybe he was their gardener, and spent a lot of time with the princess.

 

Will was wondering what kind of a woman the Princess Julia was. He'd read a lot about her in class, and seen lots of pictures of her. Most of the photos and paintings in the textbooks showed her in the big, ruffled dresses people imagine on a princess, but Will remembered seeing one photo of her in the paper that showed her with short hair, shirt, and pants. In fact, in every picture she had boyishly short hair. He wondered if she had any kind of powers. Mage? Psychic? Fighter? He was preferring to not think of royal stereotypes.

 

Katie was thinking about the twins who had rescued her. She remembered being attacked by some of the wolves last night-she remembered how very savage and frightening they looked. She remembered one biting her, the trickle of fresh blood down her coat, and then darkness. There was a badly-stitched line on her coat where she had been bitten, and she wondered if Cody or Logan had sewed it up for her. She suddenly became flushed in the face when she wondered if they had taken her coat off of her.

 

Cody and Logan were wondering what the others were thinking about. Will looked thoughtful, John looked confused, Corbin looked suspicious (Of us? Hope not! Thought the twins), and Katie was blushing. Who knows?

 

Anyhow, the five of them rejoiced to find that a room just large enough for every one of them had finally opened up, and so they spent an incredibly long time sleeping-especially Logan, who was grateful for sleep.

 

-----------------------------------

 

Neil Vento walked about Usagi town, looking at the trees, and the residents-and of course, thinking of Julia.

 

I wonder what has happened to her, He thought; He remembered her as an unruly, decidedly unprincesslike young woman, who was always interested in Magic and later, PSI.

Neil hadn't been recruited by the King and Queen to be her caretaker; He'd actually been a servant, usually cleaning Julia's room or tending the garden. But he'd become very good friends with Julia, and her parents did not object to it, so he had established himself as her caretaker. After all, she trusted him even more than anyone else, and moreso then her real caretaker (a man by the name of Destral de Foc, a man Julia nor Neil liked in the least-but we shall get to him later).

 

That was one thing the King and Queen did wrong, Thought Neil. Destral de Foc, the most arrogant and hot-headed buffoon that Neil had ever had the displeasure of knowing, the pompous Destral who thought himself great because his mother had been a Mage and his Father a Psychic and as a result he had both Magic and PSI as well as a physical power, weapon ability, and knew Basic Alchemy? Destral de Foc, Known as The Axe of Fire to most everyone, the bloody executioner of the Royal Family?! Why in the world would they hire a man who wielded an axe almost as big as his body but not even half the size of his ego and used it to chop the heads off of criminals, and make him take care of such a young, innocent girl?

 

It didn't matter-Destral did a bloody awful job of taking care of Julia. Neil covered for him usually, taking care of her and saying Destral had been taking care of her. Destral had promised Neil One Favor, though he had not yet used that favor.

 

In recent years, Neil had told Destral that if he found Julia, that favor would be payed in full. But Neil knew that Destral wasn't looking for Julia. Neither was Drewno Lucznik, a fact Neil found surprising-Drewno was usually a very hardworking man who did as he was asked, even if he did not sound that way. By that I mean that Drewno tended...to taaaalk....like thiiiiis....as if he was in a dreamy, euphoric state every minute of his life.

 

Neil knew that Destral was in one of the forests (he had not been able to tell which), chopping down trees for the fun of it and/or burning them (how wasteful! Neil always said), and Drewno was off in another forest (again, not being able to tell which one-but he knew they were not in the same forest together), practicing his archery and hopefully his PSI.

 

Neil hoped Destral would be honing his skills; Destral, arrogant and rude as he was, had the potential to be the Royal Family's very strongest solider; after all, He wielded an axe, knew Magic, PSI, and Alchemy, and had the physical power of turning his body into fire (this ability honed by his learning alchemy); he had extreme potential. But Destral was not the kind of man who thought that way, sadly.

 

His mind drifted back to Espada. The boy he had met earlier, at the library. He had been serious about going to defeat Kuupkay and finding Julia, and he was perhaps even serious about finding Drewno.

 

Neil knew he would have to see John Espada once again.

[Mushroom_king]

John and friends woke up the next day feeling more well-rested then ever; John and Will both marveled that now they were on an adventure, doing what they had always wanted to do, and they didn't have to go to school anymore!

 

"We never went to school," Said Cody and Logan. "We've lived in the woods all our lives."

"No parents?" Asked Will from the bathroom-he was getting his bodysuit on.

"None at all," They said, though there was no sadness in their voice. "Never even knew 'em."

"That's too bad," Said Katie, brushing her blue hair.

Corbin was combing his bumpy, bright orange hair and putting it into a ponytail in the back, and then cleaned his glasses. "Katie went to a magic school in Densetsu; I was a teacher there. Her parents joined the Royal Army and were killed, so I decided to take care of her. I ended up homeschooling her because she didn't get along well with her peers."

"That's almost as bad as Cody and Logan not having parents," John said quietly. Then he snapped his head up.

"We need to look for Drewno Lucznik."

The other turned and gasped at him; Will walked in and asked what was happening.

 

"You don't mean to say-you're serious about finding this Lucznik fellow?" Asked Corbin.

John nodded. "And about that Neil guy traveling with us. He seems powerful-and smart. Not to say Will and Corbin aren't smart, you guys are very intelligent, but he seems very wise."

"He just seemed like a jerk to me," Said Will, sitting down, and not entirely sure what they were even talking about.

"Who is this Neil guy?" Asked Katie, and the boys gasped-they had completely forgotten that she had not been there. John described him to her.

 

"Oh, that man we saw at the edge of the woods? He held the door to the library for me, Cody, and Logan."

"He did?!" Said Corbin in surprise. John shook his head.

"I don't think he's a jerk-he was just surprised, and he's probably upset that his friends aren't helping him look for Julia, and he's probably distraught with fear about Kuupkay and Julia."

Corbin sighed. "You may be right, John...but the way he smacked you..."

"I'm still wondering how he knew Katie was alive, and that his friends aren't helping to find Julia," said John. He then got up.

 

"I'm going to go find him and talk with him."

 

----------------------------------

 

John wandered about Usagi Town, looking for Neil; he's be easy to find, seeing as the town was populated by Rabbits and they were far shorter than any other creature, and Neil, who was human (or at least John thought so) would be very easy to spot. He hoped he hadn't already left town, and he decided to start checking the places that, from what he could gather, would be places Neil would go to.

 

He already knew the library; where else? He didn't even know Neil well enough. He seemed like a respectable man, so he wouldn't be at the Tavern drinking (besides, John was too young to go inside); he wielded a Katana, so perhaps the Katana shop?

 

John decided to check the library first, as he wanted to do some more reading anyway.

 

-----------------------------------

 

John walked into the library, and when he walked into the books area, he thought he saw a figure dart behind a bookshelf; curious, he went to check.

 

Sure enough, it was Neil Vento. He wasn't cowering like John expected; he stared at John with a sheer look of calmness...if such a phrase is possible.

 

"I was expecting you to come look for me," Said Neil calmly. The two sat down, and John was the one who started with the questions.

 

"You told me that you were the princess's caretaker-"

"That I am not. I was her gardener. But I typically took over for her real caretaker, who did a lousy job of it."

"I didn't think you had been hired as her caretaker," Muttered John; "You don't look like a Princess Caretaker. You look like a paperboy."

Neil snapped his head up. "I am most certainly NOT the paperboy!! Be more respectful, young man!!" He shouted, angry.

John shushed him. "This is a library," He said, and Neil gritted his teeth but said no more.

 

"I want to know some things-" Said John. "For one, I want to know what kind of a person Julia is so I can know what to look for."

"I'm not telling you," Muttered Neil stubbornly. "I'll look for her myself."

"I want to help," Whined John. Neil shook his head.

"As her caretaker-"

"Her gardener," Corrected John.

"Shut up and don't interrupt me. As Julia Kamen Ojousama's caretaker, it is my responsibility and mine only to find her."

"Then where is Drewno Lucznik?" Asked John.

"He is in one of the forests," Proclaimed Neil, "Though I don't know which one."

"You don't remember which forest he was in when you visited him?"

Neil seemed confused. "Who said I visited him?"

 

John said nothing for a moment, for these words were mildly shocking to him. He kept asking Neil questions.

 

"How do you know these things? Like what your friends are doing. You know they aren't looking for Julia. You knew I was here, too, ad that Katie was alive, and that we'd run into trouble in the woods. How did you know all this stuff?"

 

Neil shut his eyes and folded his arms, and then looked at the ceiling. The light reflected off of his glasses, making it seem as though he had no eyes.

They were silent for a long time, with John asking "Well?" At regular intervals, but Neil did not respond.

 

After a while, John's head began to tickle-for lack of better words. But head wasn't right-more like his brain began to feel odd. He put a hand up to it, and began to moan-not out of pain, but confusion; and eventually the oddity of the matter was so strange it did indeed begin to hurt.

 

The very moment John's brain began to ache, the sensation stopped, and Neil's head snapped back to looking at him, and he opened his eyes.

 

"Well?" John asked again.

"What do you mean, 'Well'? I just told you."

"You did not!"

Neil looked at him in a mix of confusion and suspicion.

"I see," He said, as he got up to leave. John followed suite, and just like yesterday, stood blocking his way out. Neil moved John out of his way, and before leaving, simply said "So you aren't as in-tune with the other, non-magic fields, I presume."

"What do you mean?" Shouted John, but Neil was gone, and John was even more confused and now had even more questions than he had when he came in.

 

----------------------------------------

 

Neil walked out of the library, and breathed the forest air. He had seen John Espada again like he had wanted to, but he hadn't enjoyed it; he couldn't let John know his secret. After all, there had been some persecution against his kind from mages for years; and John came from a very small mining town, where a number of people may not like his kind.

 

But John had come off as a kind and open-minded person; he really had no need to be worried. And he was certainly not a demon, nor was any of his friends. But still...he wondered.

 

John had already caught on, and he probably already knew; or perhaps not. All of his friends were mages, save for that boy...the one who wore all-black. He was not a mage, but did possess a physical power. He saw that, but did not find out what power it was, since he did not get to witness the boy use the power.

 

Neil was suddenly snapped out of his thoughts, and he jumped when he felt a hand on his shoulder; Espada's.

"Sir," he said, out of breath from running from the library (as Neil had walked a rather far distance), "Please, tell me what is going on."

 

Neil turned around and looked at John straight in the eyes, not sure what to do.

 

"How do you know about your friends and what they are doing? And if you know those things, why not use whatever it is to find the princess?!"

"It's not that easy," Said Neil, taking a step back. "Psychic power-"

 

Neil clasped his hand over his mouth. John realized he obviously wasn't a good secret-keeper.

 

"You're a psychic! I knew it!"

"No I'm not!"

"Yea, you are! Of course. You used a power to know where your friends are!"

"Shut up!"

"Why-" Said John, sounding excited, "I'm even more excited to get you to join my adventure! I don't have a psychic yet."

"You don't discriminate against me?" Neil asked quietly.

 

John looked at him, incredibly confused. "Now why in the world would I do that?!"

"It's happened so many times," Neil stated quietly. "Psychics are not as well-loved as Mages, unfortunately."

"That's dumb, I think they're just as cool," John said kindly, hoping to get Neil to join him on his quest.

 

"But I'm still not traveling with you," Said Neil, brushing off John's hand, which rested on his shoulder in comfort. "Not unless you bring me Drewno Lucznik." He said, half-jokingly, and so he was surprised when John shouted "I will!!!!" In a matter-of-fact tone.

 

Neil looked at him as he ran back off to the hotel to find his friends and begin his journey, and doubted he would remember to do it.

 

-----------------------------------------

 

John ran up to the hotel room and was about to loudly announce his plan to find this Drewno character, where he may or may not be, but in the middle of his announcement, a loud knock came at the door.

 

"I'll get that," Corbin said, getting up and opening the door. Behind it was the Grey Rabbit in striped clothes! His eyes grew wide when he saw Corbin and he backed away for a moment, but then his brow furrowed and he stared at him.

 

"If you please," He shouted, his voice high-pitched, "I'm in my room next door trying to do nothing, and I can't do it if you're screaming and shouting!!!"

 

Corbin glared down at the rabbit. "And who might you be?"

"Stom Konijn! You better shut up so I can do my nothing!"

Corbin was about to say something to the rabbit, but the door slammed in his face before he could.

"Rude rabbit," He muttered, with a glare. He stood there for some time before opening the door again. The rabbit was still there.

 

"I see you're still there."

"I am." Said the rabbit. He still looked annoyed.

"And why?" Shouted Logan, from the back of their hotel room.

"Because you're annoying and I wanna punish you myself!" He said. Then the rabbit smiled. "Let's take this outside, ginger."

Corbin growled, something Katie had never hear him do. "Fine then," He said, "But let's take it outside. And we must first exchange names."

"Teacher, this is ridiculous," Katie shouted angrily, but Corbin ignored her.

 

"Corbin Pyna Taikuri," he said. "Holy Mage."

The rabbit gulped. "Stom Konijn. Uhm....Dark Mage."

Corbin pushed his glasses up his nose. "Very well. We shall have a battle of magic outside."

Stom's eyes narrowed and his little mouth curved into a sadistic grin. "Let's go, Taikuri."

 

--------------------------------------

 

Corbin and Stom gathered in the middle of the road in Usagi Town, with a crowd of Rabbits (plus John and friends) to watch. Stom looked nervous; he seemed almost scared of Corbin as he cleaned up his glasses, made sure they would stay on his face, and then cleaned his keystaff.

 

A black-furred rabbit served as an announcer for the fight, and after announcing, Stom pulled out a small, round bomb, while Corbin charged with his keystaff.

 

"Holy purging!" Shouted Corbin, with the white light moving speedily towards Stom, who screamed and moved out of the way before throwing the bomb at Corbin, who hit it with his keystaff back towards Stom, who dodged it as an explosion sent rabbit citizens scattering in every direction.

 

Stom pulled out another bomb. Corbin raised his keystaff.

"Exorcism!" He shouted, as he jammed the staff into the ground and sent a greyish light hurtling towards Stom, who yelped as he dodged it and threw the bomb, which was deflected.

 

This pattern repeated many times until Stom stood there, out of breath.

"I thought you said you were a dark mage! Use some magic!" Shouted Corbin.

Stom's eyes widened, and he regretted ever telling Corbin he was a mage. But telling the whole truth would have gave away his secret-he tried to think of a spell he could use that was vague enough so he wouldn't be suspect...

 

"Black Rite!" He shouted, as darkness rose out of the ground into his paws, and he flung it at Corbin, who nimbly tried to dodge, but failed. He was hit full-on by the blackness and screamed.

 

"Teacher!!" Shouted Katie, but Logan kept her from going to help him.

Corbin rose off the ground, bruised. His eyes were hot with rage.

"You lied to me!!!" He screamed, running towards Stom and hitting him with the white light of his staff; Stom screamed the same painful scream Corbin had emitted. "You're no Dark Mage! You're an Unholy mage!"

The crowd gasped. The owner of the hotel muttered under his breath, "Knew there was something suspicious bout the guy."

Stom's red eyes grew enormous at Corbin, and the two began exchanging spells. Katie's eyes began to well up.

 

"Holy and Unholy are weak against each other! They'll get themselves killed!!" She screamed, and began to sob. Logan pulled her close to him and comforted her, to Cody's surprise. Logan looked up at the fight scene; Stom and Corbin were about to deliver the final blow, when the group heard Cody's voice.

 

"Soul Freeze!" He shouted, and the two fighters stopped in their tracks. Logan let go of Katie, walked over, and dragged Corbin back over to them. Logan then sighed and muttered, "Purified Soaking," And water splashed over Corbin's head, waking him out of his trance.

 

Katie, John, and Will stared at the twins in disbelief. "You guys are mages?!"

"Water and Ice mages," Logan and Cody said, respectively.

John sighed as he saw Stom roaring in anger and people crowded around him. His eyes narrowed, and without thinking, ran over and plucked Stom from the crowd.

 

"Stop hurting him, dammit!" Corbin shouted, his hand clutched onto the collar of Stom's bodysuit.

"But he's a demon, and you're a Holy Mage!" Shouted a voice.

"Who says he's a demon?! I'm no angel, and I'm certainly no saint, but I'm still a Holy Mage!"

"He has a point," Muttered Cody and Logan in unison.

"So you leave him alone!" Corbin shouted, and then let go of Stom's bodysuit.

 

Stom glared up at Corbin, his red eyes round and wide.

"No one's ever defended me like that before," He said, taking a step back. He wanted to run away but found himself unable to. "That's the nicest thing anyone's ever done to me!"

 

"Glad I could help then," Said Corbin, leaning down and attempting to pet Stom's head, but the rabbit backed away.

 

"I hope I see you again soon, Mr. Konijn."

 

The group walked back into the Hotel, with Stom staring in disbelief.

"Wait!!" He shouted, running after them. They stopped, and Corbin turned around.

"This fight isn't over! I'm going to train and train and become way better than you!"

Corbin smiled his infamous small smile. "Very well then. I'll come back someday-"

"Why don't you come with us?" Suggested John. The others nearly fell to the ground. Logan started yelling at him about how that was a stupid idea, but Will was the one who tried to talk sense into him.

 

"John, are you just going to pick up anyone to join us? You need to be wary-"

"Especially in times like these," Said Katie softly.

John picked up Stom, much to his objections and struggling.

"A little animal...person is just what this group needs."

Stom started swearing at John and tried to get down, but wasn't doing so well until he forced his way out of John's grip.

 

Stom breathed heavily. In his heart he wanted to go-he'd never had any friends before...

"I'll-I'm-I'm not going! I don't need you guys!" Said Stom, turning his back and folding his small arms. John becamed upset.

"But-"

"Nothing."

 

There was a long silence, until the group heard a voice.

"The rabbit is lying," Said Neil.

[Horatio]

[ Thank you for continuing. I love reading your writing!!! ]

[Mushroom_king]

-ahem- FUN FACT CORNER:

 

-Vento is Italian for Wind

-Drewno Lucznik is Polish for Wood Archer

-Stom Konijn is Dutch for Stupid Rabbit

-Usagi is Japanese for Rabbit

-Can't translate Cody and Logan's names, it'd be a spoiler...

[Mushroom_king]

The others looked up and saw Neil, who seemed as though he had been on his way out of town just then when he saw the commotion.

 

He had his katana in his hand, and he held it over his shoulder. An odd wind came and blew his long, black coat and hair. He walked over to the group, his shoes-boots, John recognized; he'd never seen anyone wearing such boots before-pounding on the ground.

 

"The Rabbit is lying."

"About what?" Asked Corbin.

Neil pushed his glasses up his face, and after a long silence, said "Everything."

Corbin's teeth gritted. "What do you mean?"

"He's lying about wanting to go with you and he's lying about his true species."

 

Stom's eyes went larger than ever.

"You're not a rabbit, are you?"

Stom said nothing.

Neil concentrated for a moment, and then raised his katana towards the sky. The citizens of the village looked up and saw the clouds had gone dark, though they saw no lightning and heard no thunder. The wind became strong, and the group felt the wind swirl around them, and then around Neil.

 

"PK Cylcone, Alpha!!" He shouted, taking his katana down from the sky and rapidly pointing it at Stom, who attempted to dodge the tornado that appeared; but he failed, and got caught in it. John was gasping.

"Taikuri," Said Neil, looking at Corbin, "Finish him off."

Corbin clutched his keystaff but did nothing. Neil looked at him sternly.

 

"Taikuri, I said finish him off!!"

"Why?!" Shouted Corbin, his long orange hair and torn red coat blowing in the strong wind.

"He's a demon, that's why!"

"How would you know?!"

Neil shot a death glare at him. "Just do it, dammit!"

Corbin couldn't tell if Neil was older than him or not, but he didn't want to take his orders. Stom had not done anything.

"That you know of," Neil said, and Corbin gasped; then his face grew dark.

 

"Stay out of my head!!" He shouted, gritting his teeth, but Neil's expression remained unchanged. Corbin brandished his keystaff and Neil glared at him.

"Are you picking a fight with me, Taikuri?" He said, and the wind began to blow again, fluttering his long black coat and Corbin's red one once again.

"I am," Corbin said, and Neil took his katana off his shoulder. "Very well, then."

 

The residents of the town looked even more worried than before; and some of them looked sickened. Katie worried if the citizens thought they were the cause of all this trouble, and would try to drive her and the group out into the woods...She didn't want to think about it.

 

"Teacher!! Stop!!" Was all she could shout. Corbin glanced behind him; she had the most angry of expressions on her face, and she raised her scythe.

"Spirit Storm!" She shouted, and swung her scythe; strange, bloblike objects fell and struck both Corbin and Neil; the two flinched, but refused to fall to the ground after being hit by such an elementary attack.

Katie's eyes blazed with anger at this, and raised her scythe again, this time attacking with the strongest spell she knew.

"Call of the Earthbound!" She shouted, bringing her scythe into the earth.

"Stop it, Katie!!" Shouted Corbin, and she suddenly stopped; she was apt to do what Corbin told her to do.

"You don't have to do this," Katie said, whimpering.

"I'm not one to turn down a challenge," Said Neil.

"Please stop," Katie said, whimpering. "We need to focus on what we're really doing. Finding that Julia-"

"I will be the one who finds Julia!!!" Shouted Neil, The wind kicking up for a split-second and nearly picking Katie off the ground, had Cody and Logan not held her down.

Neil looked at her, eyes full of rage.

 

"Fine then," She said, "We'll look for Drewno Lucznik. Or whoever it was that John wanted to find."

Neil spun his katana and and gently set it on his shoulder again. "I see. Well, that's a very honorable mission! Why don't you do that. You can search every square of these two forests and find him. I will find the Princess, I can assure you."

And with that, Neil walked away, his black coat blowing in a manmade breeze. He left Usagi Town, and was never seen in that town again.

 

John looked in his direction, looked at Katie, looked at Corbin, looked at Will, looked at the twins, and even Stom Konijn. He smiled widely, and announced,

"Well what are we waiting for? Let's do just that! We need to find Drewno Lucznik!"

 

-----------------------------------------

 

The group packed up their things, and were about to say goodbye to the town when Stom Konijn hopped up to them, out of breath.

 

All but John looked at the rabbit with scorn, especially Corbin.

"Something wrong, Stom?" Asked John politely, kneeling down to the rabbit's level.

"Yea," Said the rabbit sarcastically. "The rabbits of this stupid town-they're exiling me because they think I'm a demon. If I see that ****ing foureyes ever again I'll-"

"Shh, shh. Language in front of the women," He said, motioning to Katie.

"I was, uh, I was wondering..." he then spoke very quickly, "IWasWondering IfICouldGoWithYouGuys."

The others were about to say No, but John shushed them.

"Sure can, Stom."

Corbin growled. "John, you can't just be inviting every poor soul along the way to join us!!"

John was about to pet the rabbit's head but his hand was swiftly met with the smack of a paw.

"I think we could use him. After all, we're all but human, and having something that is not human may help us on our journey; after all, a rabbit's senses are quite different from our own."

"But when will an Unholy mage come in handy? They're only strong against Holy Mages, and no Holy Mage we come across will be evil and attack us! Holy Mages do not work that way," Said Corbin. "I would know since I am one."

Katie sighed. "I guess it'll be OK, but we just met Cody and Logan..."

"But they're with us for navigating the forest," Corbin responded. "Are they truly a part of our party, dare I say it?"

"I consider them a part of us," Said John softly.

"Me too," Katie murmured.

 

"Well, Cody and Logan are part of us! They are helpful because they know this forest very well, like the backs of their hands!"

Cody stared at the back of his hand, wide-eyed, as if in wonder and discovery.

"Stom will be of use for his rabbit senses! Besides, does he really have elsewhere to go?"

 

The group said nothing. It was true, Stom had nowhere else to go. He'd been exiled by the town, and there were few other places that would suit his species and lifestyle.

"Fine then," breathed Corbin, annoyed.

"Good! That's one more person to help us find Drewno Lucznik!"

The rest of the group, notably Corbin, nearly fell to the ground. "You don't really mean you're serious about finding this Lucznik fellow, are you?" Katie asked, staring at John worriedly.

"I am! Of course I am! With Neil on our side, he can help us find Julia, and then be allowed to go fight Kuupkay!"

Everyone sighed, but Will smiled. "Come on, guys. Nothing will be accomplished if we stand here reminding John how insane he is."

John smiled shyly, and the group, now with the twins and Stom in tow, headed off into the woods.

 

--------------------------------------------

 

"According to this map," Said Katie, pulling out a scrap of paper she had found apparently, "There are two other cities in these woods: Twy and Noir."

Corbin sighed, remembering something. "I had a friend once, long ago, who said he was going to go live in Twy. I wonder if he ever did that."

"Guess we'll find out," Said Katie. She sighed, and patted Corbin on the back.

"You have friends?" Logan said, jokingly. Corbin said nothing.

"If we don't find him there, then we'll have to go look in the Road-River forest for him." Said John triumphantly. "We will look and look until we find him, then look and look for Neil, and together all of us will look and look and look for Julia."

 

Everyone sighed. John really wasn't giving anything up.

But the moment was briefly interrupted by another attack; two pale humans (vampires? thought Katie) and a wolf ambushed them, and they all drew their weapons.

 

"Logan! Let's combine our attacks!" Shouted Cody, and Logan nodded.

"Hydro..." He shouted,

"...Freeze!" Shouted Cody.

Logan created a large wave of water, sent it flying towards the trio of enemies, and then had the stream frozen by Cody; Katie, in a fit, struck the ice with her scythe. Cody and Logan grinned widely, but especially Cody, who controlled the ice shards and sent them flying into the enemies, who were finished off by a Holy attack from Corbin-for Vampires hate Holy Magic. Well, all the ones Corbin had seen or read about.

 

"Phew," Said John, "That was quick. Only some of us had to fight," He said, and he laughed. "Strength in numbers! Most RPGs don't know that, with their parties of only three or four." And he laughed heartily.

"Don't let your guard down," Said Stom. "Creatures in this forest are weak like that during the day, but at night, they're incredibly tough. You would know that, wouldn't you?" He said sadistically. "Though there are a few exceptions,"

John gulped and Katie glared at him.

"But Stom is right. The monsters of these woods are incredibly dangerous. That was just a set of monsters who can thrive in the day due to the darkness of the woods, but still lack their nighttime powers."

Katie looked at Corbin with awe and longing. "Teacher Corbin is very intelligent. Did you learn that at magic academy?"

Corbin nodded. "Come, let's press on."

 

The group continued through the woods, in the path they believed would lead them to Twy, which they decided to check first. Many wondered if John really knew who he was looking for, but none said it.

 

Night eventually fell, and John warned his friends to be careful and watch for any monsters-and if they did, to attack straight away. They needed to find a safe place to stop.

"Even a spooky old house?" John thought aloud.

"That'd be dangerous, but at least it would be a roof over our heads..." Corbin sighed.

John led the group farther still in search of a house to stay in, or any kind of safe spot; they eventually found, just as John had wondered about, a rickity-looking house in the middle of the woods.

 

All but John looked frightened of the place; John was about to suggest staying the night there, but the rest shouted "NO" in unison, and thus they kept walking, much to John's objections.

The group continued walking but found no sign of Twy or Noir.

"We need sleep," Said Cody and Logan wearily. Stom and John showed no signs of needing sleep; Will was needing rest but never had needed much sleep.

"If we stop and sleep now, who knows how many of us will be left in the morning?" Said John. "I'm not going to let Neil say 'I Told You So I Told You So' to me when I show up battered with no one, not even Drewno Lucznik, tow with me and he's got the Princess found and brought back to the castle."

"I can watch over all of you while you rest," Stom muttered.

"What was that?" Yawned Katie, still very tired and still bitter at Stom for no good reason.

"Stom said he can watch over us while we sleep. He's not tired," Said John happily, sitting down to rest.

"Now wait just a moment! He's not tired? What if Neil is right and he is a demon? Demons don't need sleep!"

"Shut up! Stom isn't a demon!" Shouted John. Right after he shouted, a rustle was heard in the trees around them. The group sat down, unable to walk any further.

"I guess we have to trust him, Katie." Said Corbin, laying down to sleep.

"But teacher-"

Corbin was already fast asleep, as was everyone-except Stom. Katie glared at him one more time and fell asleep.

 

-----------------------------------------------

 

The night dragged on very slowly for Stom Knoijn. He wasn't tired. He'd never really needed much sleep, and keeping watch for monsters required doing a lot of nothing, which Stom enjoyed doing.

 

It was common for Stom to see the eyes of the forest's monsters creeping about in the dark, but when Stom went to look back at those eyes, the eyes vanished and the sound of feet or paws scurrying off and branches breaking followed, trailing off into the distance. Monsters this weak wouldn't dare attack Stom. But in other parts of Warudo...Stom shook away the thought and went back to doing nothing.

 

--------------------------------------------------

 

John was the first to wake the next morning, and of course rapidly woke the rest up-much to their displeasure.

 

"John, we were up till who knows when last night-let us sleep!" Complained Katie, irritated.

"I did let you sleep! It's almost Noon already! Hurry up! How was keeping watch, Stom?"

"Fun," Stom said unenthusiastically. "No one tried to attack us."

"Good. Let's keep going," John said. "We gotta look for Drewno Lucznik."

"Are we really going to look every single inch of each forest in Warudo?" Asked a tired Cody as they began to walk.

"We may have to," Said John. "The forests aren't that large, though, remember."

The rest of the group said nothing for a very long time.

 

The group walked for a while, before Cody and Logan stopped, and motioned for the others to stay quiet. The two looked around cautiously, and then, as suddenly as they had stopped, Cody pulled out two medium-sized sticks out of his bag, and Logan taking out a pair of nunchucks from his.

 

"Be on your guard. There are monsters about," The twins warned. Corbin, Katie, and John all clutched their weapons, Will readied himself, and Stom wrapped a paw around one of the bombs in his bag.

 

The silence was then broken as Cody and Logan lurched in opposite directions, with two animalistic screams of fury as they leaped into the buses around them and came out of them with two black-furred wolves, one for each twin.

Stom stood back and blindly grabbed a red, circular bomb from his parcel and threw it, also blindly, towards the monsters; Cody yelped and got out of the way just as the thing exploded.

 

Katie turned to Stom and began to yell at him. "You stupid rabbit!!" She shouted, "You nearly killed him!!!"

She clutched her scythe, and with more hatred than any of them had seen before, she prepared to bring the weapon down on Stom before Corbin stopped her.

"Don't be calling him a fool when he actually attacked, Katie," He muttered, reaching for the keystaff and running towards both of the wolves with it.

 

"Teacher?" Katie said, sadly; she'd never heard Corbin say such a mean thing to her before. She shook her head and realized he was right. She turned, her purple robe swishing, and shouted "CALL OF THE EARTHBOUND!!", once again calling forth a wave of spirits that rode swiftly upon the forest floor towards one of the wolves, knocking it back with a loud cry. Will ran forward, though with only his two natural arms, and began to poke the bleeding creature with his taser glove. Corbin yelled for him to get back, raised his keystaff, and cast the Holy Exorcism spell, causing the monster's corpse to be eradicated. Now they had to focus on the second wolf.

 

Logan was attempting to take on the wolf by himself, and snarled at any of the others who even attempted to interfere. The wolf had him down, with Logan hitting it blindly (and typically missing) with his weapon. He needed to wriggle free if he was to use any magic-at least if he wanted to focus the power on the monster. He had no choice-he would have to attack blindly with his powers, even if it meant potentially harming his friends.

 

"Aquatic Scream," He muttered, freeing one badly-torn arm from the grip of the monster and stretching it outwards towards it. He managed to send it flying off of his body with a large splash of water and a bloodcurdling noise, and before it could retaliate Corbin had gotten rid of it.

 

Katie gasped and ran over to Logan, dropping her scythe as she did. She leaned down and picked him up-his clothes had been torn and his hair matted by the attacks of the wolf, and his face and arms were badly scarred.

 

"I did it," He said, surprisingly strongly, "I beat a monster by myself."

"You almost died!!" Katie shouted at him. She looked at him, her eyes full of anger and sadness, and finally, her eyes began to water as she tried not to cry.

"Logan, please don't do anything like that again! You're horribly hurt, and I don't want to have you killed," She said, and she warmly wrapped her arms around him. Logan and Cody both gasped, and Stom looked at him, his large, red eyes, usually twisted in annoyance, or vacant with apparent boredom, were even wider and filled with curiosity.

 

Logan finally managed to wrap one arm, his least injured one, around her. "Alright, Katie. I'll be more careful next time."

"Thank you," She said, and the group, after the long scuffle, started once again for Twy and Noir.