Story 1:
In the Beginning...
Nothing could be heard for miles around. The smoke from what used to be a town, now only a small crater in the ground, was just beginning to settle, and give way for the early morning fog, its mysterious air only accented by the sparse rays of sun that shot through the overcast sky. Sparse rays of sun that fell over lifeless forms, none moving, none breathing. Forms that only hours ago were smiling and laughing, perhaps preparing for bed, perhaps discussing the day's events over a cup of coffee, but no matter what they were doing hours ago, they were gone now, silent and motionless, all, save one small form.
Blue fur blew gently in the wind on this form, still motionless, like the others, save its gentle breath. This form was approximately 3 feet tall, and would seem more like a stuffed wolf doll with two, large (at least large in comparison with its body), curved horns protruding from its head.
Slowly two beady black eyes opened and gazed around the carnage, trying desperately to remember the past few hours' events, which only came as a blur.
"What happened…? Why did… all…" he asked the wind, his voice cracked with emotion, and eventually lost to his own tears. He buried his head in his hands and plopped down on the ground, crying softly. He could remember the attack vaguely, as if it were a dream, yet the carnage around him showed him quite clearly that it was much more than a dream.
Nip was "born" as all monsters are "born". He was released from his prison, a mystery disk, a small stone disk that, when placed on an altar in a shrine, releases a monster. Quite a simple concept, even if finding these disks wasn't exactly simple.
"Great, just great… a Bowow… I wanted something powerful, like a Zuum or somethin!"
Nip shook his head. A Bowow. Yes, that's what he was, a combination between a Mew, a monster that resembled a stuffed cat, and a Tiger, a cold dwelling blue wolf with horns. He stood slowly and shakily, looking at himself. He had the general shape of a Mew, two stubby legs, two stubby arms, a stubby tail, only instead of the shabby yellow coat of a Mew, he was covered in the soft, healthy blue fur of a Tiger. He reached his hand up, as if to confirm… yep, he had two horns on his head, and he was easily able to tell by crossing his eyes that he had a short muzzle.
"Zuums can be difficult to raise Tim, this will be a nice start for you."
"Well he is sorta cute…"
Nip blinked. This Tim character was a young man, possibly 15. Brown hair, brown tunic, brown pants, pretty plain. Was he… a monster rancher? Would Tim be raising him?
Nip smiled and walked towards Tim, "Hi!" he said in a happy, almost barking like voice.
"A pleasure to meet you! I'm Tim. I'll be your trainer!" Tim said, as he smiled a bit, "I think I'll name you... Nip."
"Nip?" Nip thought for a moment. It rolled off the tongue. He liked it! "I like that name! Thank you!"
The other man, an older, balding man, smiled, "Looks like you two are going to get along well."
Tim nodded, "I'll do my best to raise him sir, I'll make you proud of me!"
The man shook his head, "Don't do it for me, do it to realize your own dream."
Tim smiled and nodded, and with one last handshake, the elderly gentleman left the room, and Tim and Nip.
Nip blinked, "Who was that?"
Tim turned to Nip and smiled, "He was my trainer. He taught me everything I needed to know to train you."
"Really? Like what?"
"I'll tell you all about him and myself on the way back to my ranch." Tim said, holding out his hand.
Nip nodded and took it, and hand in hand, the pair walked out of the temple.
Nip sniffled and wiped a tear away. Poor Tim, he never got a chance to become a great trainer, all because of Moo, the most evil monster of all. He took perfectly happy, content, good-natured monsters, and turned them into his slaves, he turned them into baddies.
Suddenly Nip cocked head, then sniffed the air. He wasn't alone. He leapt to his feet and ran quickly to a building. He couldn't stay out in the open like this, he was too vulnerable, and there was no guarantee the baddies were all gone.
He threw a nearby door open, leapt inside, and slammed it shut. He sat, gasping for air for a few moments before rising slowly and peaking out the window to see what was outside.
"A Black Worm!" he gasped as he saw the small, black worm slither past the building, two ivory tusks glimmering in the sparse sunshine. He dropped to the ground so as not to be seen. Grey Wolf and his troops used these Black Worms as clean up after an attack.
"General!" The Worm yelled out in a nasal voice, "There's something alive here! Somewhere…" he pointed a tusk at a small footprint, faint, and almost indecipherable.
Another Black Worm approached the first and nodded, "Then find it, we mustn't let anything survive. Master Grey Wolf would be furious!"
The first Black Worm nodded and began slithering away. The General slithered in the opposite direction, leaving Nip shivering in the building.
"What if those Worms find me?" He whispered to himself. They would take him and kill him! Or even worse, they might take him to Moo and turn him into a baddy. Either way, he couldn't stay here, he needed to flee and save himself. He took one quick look outside before slipping quietly out the door and running down the street. He didn't take a single look back, he needed to escape the Worms and their terrible master, Moo.
A good mile out of town, Nip plopped down under a tree. Whether he was safe or not, he couldn't run any further. If they followed him, it was safe to assume he was out of luck. A crashing behind him proved this to be true. He curled up into a ball and began to sob gently. He was done for.
"This way!" He heard a voice yell, "Master Gray Wolf will be furious if we let anything escape!"
Nip shivered. Would they kill him, or take him to Moo to be turned into a baddie?
"YOU!" A voice yelled. Nip jumped up in surprise. It wasn't from the baddies chasing him! It was a higher pitched voice, like a little girl's, coming from… the tree? "Yeah you! Get up here or those Worms will find you!"
Nip looked up, his eyes still misty with tears, to see a small creature, about Nip's size, perhaps even smaller, covered in pink fur. She had two small, round ears on the top of her largish head, and two eyes that seemed to bug out of her face. What Nip noticed most, though was the two small wings on her back.
"Wh… what are you?"
"Not a baddie, now get up here now" She yelled urgently.
"But…"
"NOW!" She yelled again.
"Hey… I heard something sir…" a voice came from back down the path. The Worms! They could find him! Nip made a decision, and suddenly three sharp claws erected from his paws, and he dug one paw into the tree, then the other, and made his way up the tree, rather quickly, I might add.
"Now lay down and shut up," the creature whispered, laying belly down on the tree and folding her wings against her back, "the leaves will block their view of us."
Nip simply nodded and did as he was told. As silently as he tried to remain, though, he still could not control his frightened shivering.
"Sir… which way? I lost the trail…" One of the worms slithered onto the scene.
Another worm, this one with a black helmet on what appeared to be his head, slithered into the clearing after him, "What do you mean you lost the trail?!" he yelled angrily.
"Well sir… which way…?" The worm cowered away.
"Uh…" the other worm looked around, but he too could not tell which way the creature went "Uh… return to base, there's nothing here."
"But sir, the tracks…"
"I said there's nothing here! Now go back to camp!" the other worm replied angrily.
"Yes sir!" And with that, the first worm slithered back into the forest.
The second worm gave one last glance into the clearing, even a quick glance into the tree, but, as Nip's saviour had said, the leaves blocked his vision. He frowned when he saw the small holes in the tree, remnants from Nip's claws.
"Dang woodpeckers…" He sighed and followed his subordinate back to what Nip would assume would be base camp.
When the worms were well away, the creature stood and stretched her wings, "Geeze, what the heck were you doing down there?!"
"I was running away…" Nip replied timidly, standing up himself.
"Well you could have gotten yourself killed!" She said angrily, "be more careful." She started to flap her wings and lifted off the tree branch.
"Hey wait!" Nip yelled.
"What?" She replied angrily, frowning.
"What's… uh… your name?"
"Why do you care? Just go before those Worms come back."
"I... you saved me… I just wanted to know your name…" Nip replied timidly, frowning and shuffling his feet.
She sighed, "My name is Cricket, I'm a Fairy Hopper."
"Nice to meet you Cricket…" Nip said, sighing.
Cricket blinked, and sighed as well, "Ah man, you're gonna get yourself killed all by yourself… you have the common sense of a brick!"
Nip frowned, "What do you mean by that?"
"When were you unlocked, anyway?" She asked, and landed on the tree branch.
"Yesterday afternoon…" Nip replied softly.
"Geeze… and I suppose your trainer was in that town that just got trashed?"
Nip nodded a bit.
Cricket sighed, "You're gonna need someone to show you to a town so you don't get your fool head ripped off, or worse yet, get turned into a baddie! Follow me…" She sighed and glided softly to the ground. Nip shrugged and stuck out his claws. He stuck both paws into the tree and slowly began to slide down the tree.
"So, what's your name, kid?" Cricket asked as Nip landed safely on the ground.
"I'm Nip… I'm a…"
"A Bowwow, yeah, I know." Cricket finished his sentence for him, and began down the path, "There's a town a couple miles down the road. We'll get you there so some human can take care of you."
"But won't the Baddies be heading that way?" Nip asked, cocking his head to the side, confused.
"Yeah, but not for a long while, and we'll warn the town while we're there. They'll evacuate in plenty of time. Moo's forces lost a lot when they trashed your town. You guys put up a good fight."
"Why didn't you help?" Nip asked, rather bluntly.
"What?" Cricket replied, taken aback by the question.
"Well, what were you doing in that tree?" Nip asked.
Cricket blinked, "You really do have the common sense of a brick, don't you?!" she almost yelled, "Whoever fights Moo dies or gets turned into a baddie, and I don't want either happening to this fuzzy pink monster!"
Nip sighed, "I guess I understand why your were afraid."
"I was not afraid you twit!" Cricket yelled angrily, "I was smart!"
"So, it's smart to let a town get destroyed and not try and help?" Nip asked, confused.
"When it's Moo attacking it, it is!" Cricket retorted, angrily.
"But why were you in the tree? Why didn't you leave?"
Cricket threw up her arms, "I don't have to explain myself to you!"
"Well no, you don't… I'm just curious…" Nip replied, looking at the ground.
"Well curiosity killed the cat, or in your case, the dog." She replied, threateningly.
"Why are you so defensive about it?" Nip persisted.
"SHUT UP!" Cricket shot back, "Just walk, or I'll leave you to get your stuffing ripped out by Moo himself!"
Nip shrugged. He decided it was best not to press the matter any further.
"I could have sworn I heard something over here…" a Black Worm said as he slithered back into the clearing. He blinked as he saw six long tears in the bark of a tree, "What in the world…?" he wondered as he approached the tree, "Footprints! SIR! I FOUND SOMETHING!" He yelled, curling himself into a tight ball and rolling down the path at breakneck speeds.
He tore into base camp, past other Black Worms, who looked on with confusion, but otherwise did not try to figure out their comrade's actions.
"SIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIR!" He yelled, rolling through the camp, and finally running into the captain and his two escorts… literally. Worms flew everywhere.
"What is the idea?!" The captain yelled angrily, rolling onto his belly.
"Sir, tracks in the woods!" The messenger worm said, panting, gasping for breath.
"Not likely," the captain replied, looking to his escorts who were likewise righting themselves after the crash, "I checked those woods myself. There is nothing in there."
"Whatever we were tracking sir, was hiding in a tree." The worm said. The captain's eyes went wide as he remembered the holes in the tree.
"You three!" he said, pointing to his two escorts and the messenger, "With me! We'll get whatever escaped from that town!" He curled into a ball and tore down the road into the woods, followed closely behind by his three troops. "We'll get them now." He though with a sinister chuckle.
The duo of lost monsters traveled in silence, staring down the path into nothingness. The air was growing more and more still as the wind seemed to die, creating a muggy, humid atmosphere in the forest, which only served to annoy both monsters even more, each having such thick fur. Nip hid his discomfort, though, with curiosity, as he surveyed all of the new territory with interest. He had seen nothing of this world besides the small town he was brought to life in. He was amazed to see all of the new things. Huge trees, little trees, different flowers, birds, squirrels. Wow! It was all so great! Cricket was just hot and annoyed.
Finally, Nip broke the silence, "Did you ever have a trainer?"
Cricket blinked herself into awareness, "What?"
"A trainer. Did you ever have a trainer? Someone who kept you safe and taught you and…"
"I know what a trainer is you twit!" Cricket interrupted, "It's none of your business whether I had one or not!"
"But…"
"NO! Stop it! I don't want to talk. Just walk, ok?" Cricket said, angrily, and exasperated.
"I'm sorry…" Nip said, looking at the ground, ashamed, "but, I just wanted to be your friend."
Cricket stopped and looked at Nip. What was that in her eyes? Sadness?
"You don't want to have friends, Nip." She said quietly, "I will only teach you one thing about the world, and it's this: friends are bad. They will take you for everything you're worth and leave you to rot in a gutter."
Nip frowned and watched Cricket as she stood staring at him. No, through him, reliving some past memory.
"You sound like someone who had a friend once…" he said quietly.
"That's none of your business Nip." She said, the words almost not leaving her mouth, "We need to move, it's dangerous here."
Nip sighed and nodded. Suddenly he stopped, "Wait Cricket…"
"What is it?" She said, resuming her sassy, urgent tone.
Nip sniffed the air. No… it couldn't be…
"WORMS! ATTACK!"
To be continued…