Chapter 1: Turning An Enemy Still As Stone
We know how the story went from the game itself, but what if the past was told differently?
In a world where humans inhabit, there was a special land with 50 states called the United States of America. where in one of the northern states South Dakota lived an unusual hermit who had a house and a forest all to herself, no neighbors for miles.
She was walking through the familiar quaking aspen trees, bringing with her her pocket bo staff and bow and arrows that were crafted from someone she knew.
She came across a stream, admiring the birds that swooped down to catch trouts for their breakfast.
She went on with her usual nature walk, making her way to the rocky hill that she christened Mt. Era.
Climbing it was something she was very used to and when she made it to the top, she stretched her arms, loving the wind through her long red hair.
When she put her arms down, she sat down to enjoy a cherry-flavored granola bar.
"This is living," she grinned as she lied down, putting her right hand behind her head as she took a bite of her snack, admiring the clouds above her as she kept thinking about how much she loved her land.
"I can come and go as I please; I don't have to worry about bothering anyone or anyone bothering me... Though I wouldn't mind having back the person who gave this all to me."
After finishing her granola bar, she felt the need for another walk but when she reached the bottom, she stopped the second she spotted something sparkling on the ground.
Curious, she knelt down to get a closer look at what seemed like...a trail of golden glitter.
"No, it can't be gold. There's never been any gold in these parts."
Wanting to see what this was about, she followed the trail that went to the other side of Mt. Era.
The trail ended in a crevice, the one she was familiar with...but something was new here when she could see something shining brightly in the large crevice.
"Hold it, I'm not going in there. Never know when it might collapse."
Deciding to forget about this discovery mission, she turned around, never tempting to look back... That is, until she felt a strong warmth touching her back which made her look over her right shoulder to see with wide eyes the light brightening almost like the sun.
She winced as she shielded her face with her arms, then she heard something like a soaring sound from the light in front of her.
"It's not the wind! What's happening?!"
The light finally let up as the soaring sound stopped.
Feeling it was safe to look, she moved her arms to see...Mt. Era gone!
"What?!"
She took a step forward, not believing that her beloved mountain had disappeared...along with the forest!
She hugged her arms as she took deep breaths because she was really getting spooked about this abnormal change of scenery.
"I'm dreaming. It's not real. I'm at home in bed. That light in the hill didn't actually happen. None of this is happening."
A thought came to mind, making her take out her black iPhone to call for help.
"I know I don't know where I am, but maybe they can find some way to pinpoint my location," she hoped, calling 911, but her phone said that there was no service.
With a look of distress and fear, she walked through the new area that was a valley, trying to once again fight what she believed was a crazy dream... Though the sunlight and the breeze here felt real enough.
Not taking not knowing what was what, she tested this reality by taking a deep breath through her mouth, tasting the air in this new environment.
Now knowing full well that this wasn't an illusory, she felt unsteady on her feet until ended up sitting on the new ground.
"That...that light. I don't know how, but that must have been some portal that brought me to wherever this land is."
Needing answers, she clapped her hands as she stood back up.
"Okay, you..." she talked to herself, taking a deep breath. "...you have to set your priorities. Find somebody and then you'll know where you are. All right, let's get moving."
The red-haired moved on for nearly ten minutes, coming to a rocky wall.
"Jeez, is there any civilization around here?"
Suddenly, she heard a clashing of metals that made her stop as she listened to the noise that came from other side of the wall.
"It sounds like...swords?"
She felt sick at the thought of a battle going on, dreading being involved in case both sides were bad.
Keeping her right hand on her pocket where her staff was, she leaned against the rock as she slowly came to the end to see what this was about.
She saw two men fighting. The one in red-and-black and wearing a mask looked absolutely menacing in his garbs as he swung his scythe.
The younger man, who was probably younger than the redhead, blocked his enemy's attack with a...rather remarkable sword with a blue hilt...
"The boy seems harmless, but how do I know if he's good? I wish those two would hold still so I could look in their souls..."
Then she spotted a glimpse of golden hair from behind a rock across from the battlefield.
She narrowed her eyes to see a girl younger than the hermit, peeking from her hiding place to watch the scene in apprehension.
"She's still yet she's too dang far away for me to look inside her soul."
Then, when a pebble touched the hermit's right shoulder, she almost jumped before she wondered how a pebble could have fallen from above...
"Wait."
She looked up to see someone climbing on top of the wall...someone who was wearing the same exact clothes as the one fighting the boy!
"It's an ambush!"
Though she still didn't know who was good yet, she knew that gambit was a coward's move. So, with speed on her side, she climbed up the wall before pulling out her staff that she used to tap the unsuspecting ambusher on right shoulder, making him look in shock at the red-haired newcomer.
But he was too late to make a move, for she wasted no time jabbing him in the shoulders and chest and hips with her staff.
When her adversary tried to attack back, he discovered to in horror that he couldn't flex at all.
"I...I can't move!" he cried, getting his partner's attention who was in dismay to see his colleague immobilized.
The redhead, knowing the height from here wasn't deadly, she pushed her foe over the edge before she pointed her staff to the other guy down below.
"Unless you want to end up like him, I suggest you take him and be on your way."
The first assassin looked at his teammate who was still as stone which terrified him as he sheathed his weapon before he hastily grabbed the defenseless ambusher and disappeared in black smoke.
The hermit was left stunned from their vanishing act...though after she herself disappeared from her land, she started to believe anything was possible.
Then she caught movement from the young blonde people who stood by each other, staring at the person who they believed did them a favor.
"Well, now's my chance to see if they're cool or not."
She safely jumped down from the wall before taking a good look at these kids.
The boy had short blonde hair that was kept in a ponytail; his attire consisting of a blue shirt with some sort of white markings on it.
The girl had much longer blonde hair; the top half of her shirt blue, but on the middle of it was some kind of golden triangle...that was made from three smaller triangles. The triangles that were on the boy's sword.
"Are these two twins or something?"
The blonde girl, smiling in gratitude, attempted to step forward but the redhead held up her left hand, asking the young lady to stay where she was as the hermit looked hard at both of them in the faces.
After a pause, she grinned warmly. "Good, neither of you are a threat."
Befuddled, they were about to ask how she could have possibly known that but not a word was spoken as a pillow-sized rock began slipping from the edge of the rocky wall and heading straight down towards their mysterious rescuer.
If you're wondering about where I had that idea about the breathing method to tell if what's a dream or reality, I read about it in the Bible.
