Post by Prof. Zam on Sept 16, 2010 13:34:40 GMT -5
Chapter 8-Crystala’s Chronicles
Keenan awakens to some sounds of flapping. He turns in his bed. The flapping gets louder. Suddenly, the flapping stops, and a loud thump stirs Keenan enough to get him up.
“What’s with all the racket down there?”
Waria and Crystala look up and say good morning to Keenan. Keenan slides down his tree and walks up to Crystala. “Say, Crystala, I’ve been meaning to ask you something.”
Crystala lets Waria off her back and she walks up to Keenan. “Yeah? What is it?”
Keenan takes her over to the pool and starts to whisper. “Why do you want to help us? Is there a reason?”
Her expression turns to sadness. “Hey, if it’s too personal for you…”
“No, no it’s not. You see, my adoptive family was made of Paratroopas. They found me along the river in The Forest of Illusion one morning. I was part of a shipwreck and was the only survivor. They took me in, taught me their ways, and took me to a peaceful little village. It wasn’t that large, only about five or six families making it up, and I learned something from all of them. The neighboring Hypergoombas, the Monty Moles, the Swoopers, the Cheep Cheep’s, my own family of Paratroopas, and this one in particular family. It was made of more than one kind of species. Goomba, Koopa, and others. This one in particular Koopa there taught me about sciences and mathematics. He was my school teacher. Life was peaceful and fun.
“That is, until the siege happened. I was out gathering some fruits and vegetables for dinner, and once I got home, the village was in flames. I checked on the families of the H. Goombas, and no one was left. The Monty Moles were gone too. The Swoopers, the Cheep Cheep’s, even my own family were gone. I noticed signs of struggles in all the homes. But when I went to my home, it was in the worst condition of them all. It was flaming, inside and outside, and my parents were gone. Luckily, my brother, a Paratroopa, was still there. I asked him what happened, and he told me about the siege. These creatures that seemed to appear from the shadows and moved along the ground as shadows had attacked their village. They enslaved everyone. That’s when I noticed the severe gash in his side. When I moved him over to inspect it, I saw that it was a fatal wound. It could still be treated however, so when I told him not to move so I could treat it, he told me not to worry about him. If it was his time, then it was his time. If not, then he will survive. It was about that time when the main support beam busted to our house. I said I was going to carry him out and get him treated. But when I went to lift him up, he yelled out in pain. I knew I couldn’t move him in that condition.
“Go on without me he tells me. I had to do something. I couldn’t just leave him there! It wasn’t right! I looked around at the burning inferno of a house. There was still a sturdy toy box left useable. I decided to get that over my brother so that he wouldn’t be burned alive. He said that it was a nice idea. I had finally come to terms with the idea of him dying. I knew that what I had to do now was save my village if at all possible. That’s when I set out for finding the village. I had grabbed any and every useable provision that I could find; food, clothing, weapons, stuff like that to help me in case of something happening. When I set out the next dawn, the fires had finally died down, and my brother was still living. He wished me good luck and a farewell as I left.”
Keenan nods. “Alright. Alright. But then why were you in that Maze?”
“Well, you know how this pool leads there right?”
Keenan nods again.
“Well, that’s how I got there. As for why, it’s due to those Stalkers chasing after me. Once they found out I was part of the village, they were coming after me. This all happened once I finally found the slave camp where my village was at. The guards were sleeping, so I went over to my parents and we had a touching reunion moment. After that I tried to bust them out, but my knife couldn’t cut through the iron bars. Apparently the scratching woke up a guard and it overheard me talking to my parents. That must be how they found out I was from the village. The guard, which by the way was a Shadow Stalker, attacked me while my back was turned. I defended with my knife which cut its arm a bit open and it retreated. I turned to my parents and told them to hang on. But then my mother tells me to just go. I look at her. “But why? I’m here to save you all! I can’t just turn and leave now!” then she replies “But if you stay much longer, then that guard will return with heavy reinforcements. You can't take them by yourself! Just go and save yourself. We’ll be fine.” I look at my mother like she was crazy. She explained that they overheard the guards talking on some hologram communicator that they were going to not kill us, not harm us, but deliver us to their leader. Swoops here was able to escape shortly to see what or who their leader was. He told us that its name is Beldam and she responds to someone higher in power. So go now before they come back and kill you for being here! Go now!” I could only stare at my mother. I heard reinforcements stomping up the path to the camp so I told them to wait and I would return. When I left the guards still saw me go and they followed me. I ran as fast and as long as I could, but they were gaining in me, so I started to use these wings of mine to fly. They could keep pace with me but not by much. I saw this clearing and dove into the pool to hopefully lose them, but I saw I was in an odd maze and cave. The Shadow Stalkers followed me, but once they got into the cave, they couldn’t leave. They soon perished from hunger. This was all about a year ago. I’ve been living in that cave planning on how I can rescue my village. But then you guys came along and I realized that we share the same goal. Yours is just aimed at the source of this problem, the witch and queen themselves.”
Keenan nods and gets up. “Well, thanks for clearing that up for me.”
“Oh sure! No problem.”
Keenan returns to the tree for more rest.
END OF CHAPTER
Keenan awakens to some sounds of flapping. He turns in his bed. The flapping gets louder. Suddenly, the flapping stops, and a loud thump stirs Keenan enough to get him up.
“What’s with all the racket down there?”
Waria and Crystala look up and say good morning to Keenan. Keenan slides down his tree and walks up to Crystala. “Say, Crystala, I’ve been meaning to ask you something.”
Crystala lets Waria off her back and she walks up to Keenan. “Yeah? What is it?”
Keenan takes her over to the pool and starts to whisper. “Why do you want to help us? Is there a reason?”
Her expression turns to sadness. “Hey, if it’s too personal for you…”
“No, no it’s not. You see, my adoptive family was made of Paratroopas. They found me along the river in The Forest of Illusion one morning. I was part of a shipwreck and was the only survivor. They took me in, taught me their ways, and took me to a peaceful little village. It wasn’t that large, only about five or six families making it up, and I learned something from all of them. The neighboring Hypergoombas, the Monty Moles, the Swoopers, the Cheep Cheep’s, my own family of Paratroopas, and this one in particular family. It was made of more than one kind of species. Goomba, Koopa, and others. This one in particular Koopa there taught me about sciences and mathematics. He was my school teacher. Life was peaceful and fun.
“That is, until the siege happened. I was out gathering some fruits and vegetables for dinner, and once I got home, the village was in flames. I checked on the families of the H. Goombas, and no one was left. The Monty Moles were gone too. The Swoopers, the Cheep Cheep’s, even my own family were gone. I noticed signs of struggles in all the homes. But when I went to my home, it was in the worst condition of them all. It was flaming, inside and outside, and my parents were gone. Luckily, my brother, a Paratroopa, was still there. I asked him what happened, and he told me about the siege. These creatures that seemed to appear from the shadows and moved along the ground as shadows had attacked their village. They enslaved everyone. That’s when I noticed the severe gash in his side. When I moved him over to inspect it, I saw that it was a fatal wound. It could still be treated however, so when I told him not to move so I could treat it, he told me not to worry about him. If it was his time, then it was his time. If not, then he will survive. It was about that time when the main support beam busted to our house. I said I was going to carry him out and get him treated. But when I went to lift him up, he yelled out in pain. I knew I couldn’t move him in that condition.
“Go on without me he tells me. I had to do something. I couldn’t just leave him there! It wasn’t right! I looked around at the burning inferno of a house. There was still a sturdy toy box left useable. I decided to get that over my brother so that he wouldn’t be burned alive. He said that it was a nice idea. I had finally come to terms with the idea of him dying. I knew that what I had to do now was save my village if at all possible. That’s when I set out for finding the village. I had grabbed any and every useable provision that I could find; food, clothing, weapons, stuff like that to help me in case of something happening. When I set out the next dawn, the fires had finally died down, and my brother was still living. He wished me good luck and a farewell as I left.”
Keenan nods. “Alright. Alright. But then why were you in that Maze?”
“Well, you know how this pool leads there right?”
Keenan nods again.
“Well, that’s how I got there. As for why, it’s due to those Stalkers chasing after me. Once they found out I was part of the village, they were coming after me. This all happened once I finally found the slave camp where my village was at. The guards were sleeping, so I went over to my parents and we had a touching reunion moment. After that I tried to bust them out, but my knife couldn’t cut through the iron bars. Apparently the scratching woke up a guard and it overheard me talking to my parents. That must be how they found out I was from the village. The guard, which by the way was a Shadow Stalker, attacked me while my back was turned. I defended with my knife which cut its arm a bit open and it retreated. I turned to my parents and told them to hang on. But then my mother tells me to just go. I look at her. “But why? I’m here to save you all! I can’t just turn and leave now!” then she replies “But if you stay much longer, then that guard will return with heavy reinforcements. You can't take them by yourself! Just go and save yourself. We’ll be fine.” I look at my mother like she was crazy. She explained that they overheard the guards talking on some hologram communicator that they were going to not kill us, not harm us, but deliver us to their leader. Swoops here was able to escape shortly to see what or who their leader was. He told us that its name is Beldam and she responds to someone higher in power. So go now before they come back and kill you for being here! Go now!” I could only stare at my mother. I heard reinforcements stomping up the path to the camp so I told them to wait and I would return. When I left the guards still saw me go and they followed me. I ran as fast and as long as I could, but they were gaining in me, so I started to use these wings of mine to fly. They could keep pace with me but not by much. I saw this clearing and dove into the pool to hopefully lose them, but I saw I was in an odd maze and cave. The Shadow Stalkers followed me, but once they got into the cave, they couldn’t leave. They soon perished from hunger. This was all about a year ago. I’ve been living in that cave planning on how I can rescue my village. But then you guys came along and I realized that we share the same goal. Yours is just aimed at the source of this problem, the witch and queen themselves.”
Keenan nods and gets up. “Well, thanks for clearing that up for me.”
“Oh sure! No problem.”
Keenan returns to the tree for more rest.
END OF CHAPTER