"I know, Mother," said a young Yellow Blumaroo, narrowly avoiding a hug. He didn't want to have hugs; especially now that he had been given his Father's old sword. He felt like a real man; a hero; just like Jeran, the Legendary Meridell Knight. And most of all, just like his father, the Great Warrior.
"Oh, Rohane!" said Mother, and she lost herself in tears. She wiped her eyes with a hankercheif and coughed once or twice before looking up at her son once again. "Your father would have been proud..."
His Father. Rohane had never known his Father. Their next door neighbour, a middle-aged Lupe named Marvis, who had told him all she knew about her Father. He had given up trying to ask his Mother about Father; she always sobbed or groaned loudly at the mention of his name. Marvis had told Rohane that his father was a warrior and a soldier of some sort before meeting his Mother and settling down to have a family. She had told him that the Sword that he currently brandished had once belonged to him, and that his armour was long lost in time. This was before he set off on his adventure.
A loud sob interuppted his thoughts. "Rohane, oh how your father would be proud to see you go... now go. There are many monsters in the countryside, but you should be safe... your father had taken that Sword to many victorious battles... may his love and blessings be with you..."sobbed Mother. Rohane was very surprised; this was the most Mother had ever said about him. "Now I always want you to remember; if you ever need rest, you can come back home and stay the night, you got it?"
"Yes- yes, mother," said Rohane, fighting back tears. "I'll remember."
"That's my boy," said Mother. "Now, start your quest!"
Walking along the countryside, Rohane felt like a fighter. He had changed into new clothes, even if they were peasant-worthy ones. The chipped Sword hadn't been put to use it; no monsters had come. However, he kenw that there were monsters; somewhere along the grassy plains. To the north, he could see a ring of foothills that gradually grew into mountains. To the south, the seaside was blocked by a grove of Trees. He was just wandering around the village; not going too far yet. He didn't want to run back into town screaming like a baby! How everyone would think of him... especially Pongoras, the town alchemist. He had a number of healing and attack potions for sale, but he had refused to give any 'free samples' to the young Blumaroo. The Ixi told Rohane that some monsters drop a number of coins, and that the Potions would cost him. Depressed, Rohane had stumbled east towards the exit of Trestin when he crashed into Jimba, the Babaa Herder.
"AHHHHHHHH!" he had yelled, very startled. He whiped out a small dagger, and then he turned to face Rohane with a wild look in his eyes. "Who's th- oh, it's just you Rohane!"
"Er, hi Jimba," Rohane had said. "Are- are you feeling okay?"
"No!" said Jimba, with a hysterical tone. "Of course not! Just look at my flock!"
He directed Rohane's attention to a small pasture behind him. Four Babaas were eating grass calmly.
"Scared out of their wits, yes they are!" said Jimba, now running around in circles. "Last night, a wild Lupe from the countryside tried to eat one of my precious Babaas! It looked like one mouthful each! I managed to fight him off, but they've been scared stiff ever since! Can't even sleep!"
One of the Babaas got tired of eating grass and fell on to its side, getting ready for a noon-day nap.
"Well, Jimba, I hope your flock gets- gets better soon!" said Rohane enthuastically. But Jimba had already gone into his house and when he came back out, Rohane was already long gone.
Jimba's story, though slightly amusing, had frightened Rohane a tiny bit. If the wild Lupes were capable of eating those Babaas in one gulp, then a group of Lupes would be more than capable of eating him! A picture flashed into his mind of him boiling in a pot above a fire, with a herd of plain lupes dancing around him.
He shook his head; no, that was silly. Besides, he hadn't seen a single-
A sudden crunching sound interupted Rohane's thoughts. The Blumaroo froze to the spot in terror. Could it be a Lupe?
The rustling sound grew louder. And louder. And louder. Rohane crept back very slowly, as if sudden sounds would make it pounce. (which was more than true)
A low growling sound began. And only one growling sound. Rohane calmed down a tiny notch; that meant that there was only one.
And then it pounced.
Rohane saw a flash of olive-gray-green before he stumbled back in surprise. He spun around, and there stood a menacing, wild plains lupe. Its jaw was half open, with salivia dripping off his fangs. He leapt up to pounce, but Rohane, coming back to reality, slashed the great, shaggy beast. He fell to the ground, hurt, but not fully vanquished. He leapt up to pounce again, but Rohane had outsmarted the savage once more by slashing the Lupe again. It stumbled back dazily. Rohane took this as a sign that the brute was slowly getting weak. He shouted, "Evil will never win!" before running up to the plains lupe and giving it one last, fatal blow.
The savage beast fell to the ground in a dying sort of way. Rohane stepped catiously just to make sure that it wasn't just playing dead.
It wasn't breathing.
Rohane felt a surge of joy and depression; he had demolished an evil creature, but in the meantime, he had made his first victory. He could almost feel himself get stronger as he approached the lifeless Lupe. The Blumaroo stepped up to its heels and a flashback of speech came back to him.
"The monsters drop gold and other items."
Pongoras. He didn't know what to do; he did not want to touch the beast. Instead, he tripped over its feet and his sword slashed the beast once more.
The plains lupe disappeared in a flash of light. Stunned, Rohane fell on to the grass. He quickly got up again and saw, with astonishment, that where the Lupe was lying there was a tiny flask of glittering contents and a small pile of gold that consisted of about 5 pieces.
With a surge of joy, he scooped up the items lightly and put them in his pack.
By the time the sun was starting to fall from the sky, Rohane felt a lot stronger. He had defeated many plains lupes, each easier than the last, and had scooped up more and more prizes. By the time he had walked back to Trestin to get a good night's sleep, he felt almost like a Knight. However, once within the little village limits, he felt a surge of sleep take over him. He trudged back to his house and stumbled in.
"Rohane!" screamed Mother, who had her hair in a crazy fashion and was cutting chairs into dinner while sitting on a large pile of vegetables. Come in; come in! Have some soup!"
She grabbed the chunk of wood and forced it into the Blumaroo's mouth.
"Anyways, I was just talking to Marvis about the Moon Harvest... interesting, isn't it?"
"Right..." said Rohane, forcing down the wood. "Anyways, I'm just going to go to my room and sleep, okay? Good night..."
But his Mother had left out the door with the chunk of wood. Sighing at how crazy mothers can be, he trudged to his room and fainted on his bed.
A loud bang woke Rohane up. Even though he had to force himself to get up, he felt fully refreshed. He grabbed his sword and his pack and hurried towards the kitchen to see what was going on. Running in, he saw a rather weird and astonishing sight.
Rohane's mother was eating a fried pickle while their neighbour Shoyru, Tolain, patted her on the back.
"There there now, it's only a dream!" he said reassuringly, handing her another pickle. "It'll be all right!"
"What happened?" said Rohane, who had recovered from the shock of his Mother.
"Your Mother had a crazy dream about some miner foreman. She said something about you and then her voice got hoarse. I've been trying to calm her down with these super sour pickles, and I think they might be working!"
"Mother- mother?" said Rohane meekly, but his Mother simply ate her pickle and asked for another. "Tolain, will she be all right?"
"Don't worry, young Rohane!" said the Shoyru, looking up. "She'll be fine! She just needs some calming down, that's all."
His mother ate the last pickle and then stood up and walked away towards the direction of the hallway. While she passed Rohane, he heard a silent "Bledrom" before the footsteps faded away.
"So, Rohane!" said Tolain, slightly starting the young adventerer. "I heard you have been traveling! Is this true?"
"Well, um, yes-" began Rohane, but Tolain interuppted.
"Great! That's wonderful! Now I can usefully share his information with someone!" said Tolain cheerfully. "Now, this may help you with your quest. Sit down."
The Shoyru beckoned toward a stack of vegetables. Rohane silently sat on a Turnip while picking up a head of lettuce for breakfast.
Admist the crunching, the neighbour bellowed, "I have heard tales from many a traveler about a cave just up north from the mountains. Yes, there is a passageway through; just go around them!" he said, as if Rohane didn't know this. (which he didn't anyways) "Anyways, the cave used to be an old abondened mine. People say it's haunted by a great, undead beast, others say that some people are crazy. I for one take both sides. However, that isn't my point; I have now started hearing tales about loud moanings coming from deep within. All travelers have been conquered by the spyders and lupes that haunted the entrances, but many say that have glimpsed a chunk of mine with millions of undead miners swarming around them. One even said that he had gotten far enough to see an undead kacheek giving orders to some miners before getting knocked out."
Rohane was listening very closely. What did Tolain want him to do?
"Now Rohane, since you're starting and all, I thought it'd be nice if you could go into that Cave and see if you can see whatever's inside." began Tolain, but Rohane cut in."Go- go in there?" said Rohane very meekly.
"Yes, go in there!" said Tolain. "There's a lot more danger up ahead than roaming around haunted caves, you know! This is just practice.. well, if you want to get back by nightfall, I suggest you leave now. Don't forget to check your pack quickly! And remember, I'm rootin' for ya!"