Turn the Page
Barrin Master | Writer; Producer
Disclaimers: Golden Sun and it's characters, world, and story belongs to Camelot and Nintendo. Turn the Page (the inspiration for this story) was reproduced by Metallica. Relic, however, belongs to my friend and me. The character introduced here belongs to me.
Author's note: text in italics means it's a flashback.
Chapter 1_____Road to Home
The sun slowly raised its glorious face over the mountainous horizon, lighting a valley with its warm, morning light. A single village sat at one end of the basin, behind it a very distinct mountain, smoking from a crater at the top.
Looking over in the distance past the town and the rocky barrier hugging the far end of the vale, a plain could be seen stretching over towards a foggy unknown.
A thunderous blast suddenly disrupts the peaceful morning. A giant flock of birds rises out of a nearby forest and floats over into the distance more or less in the same direction. At the edge of the wood bordering the steep rock of the range, there was a light like an explosion.
A person is thrown onto a slope of grass and dark gray stone. He rolled for some distance before the scenery started changing from rock to grass to forest floor. He slowed down on the softer terrain of ferns and dried pine needles, and finally stopped against a tree.
At length he slowly sat up against the trunk. He had brown hair that draped over the sides of his face. It was long enough to barely reach his shoulders, and he had a matching pair of piercing brown eyes. The young warrior studied his surroundings. A forest, mostly evergreen, with the mountain slope just starting to get steep at the last tree some forty feet in the distance. He looked up some more at the point where the grass seemed to stop and the crag just continued upward until it reached one of many snow-capped peaks. He turned his head and looked down into the forest. Hundreds of trees appeared to cage the mountain on the other side of the young man. A few fallen trees in a couple of places interrupt what would be an endless view of pillars, and greenery. Way down into the valley a fog lingered in the midst of the pines. He also felt cold, but that maybe due to the possibility of winter in progress here.
The boy stood up and adjusted his equipment. He wore a deep red tunic with black-bordered sleeves, belt, and collar. His sword matched his clothes. It was masterfully crafted with a leather-covered handle, and a sheath strapped to his back, the hilt visible over his right shoulder. Mounted at the very end of the hilt is a red stone, a ruby that reflected light into a beautiful red glimmer. He drew his hands over his face, pulling back the loose hair. As he felt the top of his head, he froze.
"Whe-...Where's my hat?"
He looked around to see if it got away from him as he was rolling down the mountain. Continuing his gaze heavenward towards the nearby peak, and spotted a little yellow object about a hundred feet up the hill. He sighed and started making his way up the mountain.
After a few minutes he reached his destination. The young warrior reached down and picked up one of his favorite possessions. It was a straw farmer's hat about eighteen inches across. He had it for quite a while, and it looked rather worn with a few small holes and rips. He dusted his cover off, brushed the hair out of his face once again, and placed the sun-hat on his head. He stood with his hands on his hips and took advantage of the view to take a look around.
A small village rested a few miles away on the edge of the valley under one of the taller mountains. A volcano, as it appears. It also sat in the midst of a forest of its own. It looked to be a couple of hours away, if he walked. He started toward the area of the village, sticking to the steepness of the range instead of going down into the basin. He would enter their woods from behind and do the same for the town. He didn't know WHAT types these people were. As a matter of fact, he felt that he couldn't, and shouldn't, invest his trust in anyone at the time.
_____
Around noon the boy finally started stepping into a more wooded terrain. He had been walking for hours over a clear
grassy slope. By now the sun glared
down upon noonlit world. Despite the
possibility that winter may be chilling these lands, it's still getting
hot. After traversing the distance
between the two small forests, the warrior was relieved to get under the
shadows.
He stopped and leaned against a tree, then sat down and let out a heavy sigh, wiping his brow. He reached over his side and rummaged through a little pouch. He pulled out a small blue gem about the size of a pocket watch. He lifted it up into the light and studied how it shined a brilliant blue over his face.
(flashback)
A giant blue dragon burst out of the sea dangerously close to a sailing
vessel. It howled and looked around,
searching for whatever had disturbed its slumber. Men on the boat started going crazy, running this way and that
desperately looking for shelter. Others
hurried to their assigned posts, arming weapons or something that would
eliminate the urgent threat.
The dragon, having spotted the ship, dove under the surface and sped towards it. It hit the underside, jarring the entire structure and also, everyone on it.
This is what got his attention. This young warrior was resting in the barracks and when he felt the shock. He wore Rhonian clothes, mostly brown with a simple shirt and loose pants, but also with a thick and distinctly decorated cloth draped over his left shoulder. It had a simple design with two large rectangles and a triangle at the end of the pattern. He also had his large farmer's hat too.
He knew exactly what was happening, and how to stop it. He grabbed his sword off the end of the bunk and hastily strapped it over his shoulder. At once he was out the door and through the halls to fight this monster.
As soon as he stepped outside the dragon immediately faced him. Unsheathing his sword, he dove to the left, and rolled behind some crates. The beast swiped at the boxes, reducing them to scrap-board. His cover blown, he jumped up, avoiding another slash, and landed on the creature's head. Before the dragon could react, the warrior leaped up again into the crow's nest on the top of the mast. The dragon was enraged. It let out another thunderous roar and swung its tail up towards the young man, now standing defiantly in the lookout tower. While the end of the dragons tail came up, the combatant came down, air resistance making his clothes and hair flap around wildly. The dragon's tail missed the man and it attempted to slice at him with its claws before he could reach the deck; miss. He landed on the floor and sprinted under the creature at break-neck speed. Without delay the man swung his sword up, and as he reached the dragon's upper body he plunged the blade deep into its undefended heart.
The dragon shrieked as it started to lose its balance, and crumpled onto the deck. The man raced out from under the creature before he could be crushed. He felt the ship shudder and heard the crash of the fall, and he turned around to face the dying thing. Already a giant pool of dark red blood was accumulating around the dragon. He walked up to its head, sheathed his sword, and knelt in front of its face. He slowly placed his hand on its head and closed his eyes. There he stayed, seeming to talk to the dragon, apologizing for its untimely death. The dragon appeared to accept his request for forgiveness, and closed its eyes.
To the onlookers' astonishment, the dragon vanished, leaving the bloody puddle behind. A glimmer caught the warrior's eye and he looked down. In the midst of the crimson liquid, a jewel sat. He reached down and picked it up. He examined it thoroughly, the blood dripping off of the stone. It was a sapphire. No doubt about it. There was something odd about it, though. It felt strangely cool in his scarlet-stained fingertips.
He also felt something vibrate slightly in his pouch. He reached inside and pulled out the object, a topaz. He found it just outside of Rhon, a small town in the west. It was very similar to the sapphire in shape and size, except that when he touched the topaz, his fingertips felt a tingling sensation, like there was electricity running through them. The sapphire still felt cold to the touch, even though it was just inside a living body and should be warm. The man pondered over his discovery.
'Perhaps the gems are connected, somehow,' he
thought. For the moment he just
shrugged it off and placed both in his pouch.
(end flashback)
The young man sat in a long silence while looking over the blue jewel. After a while he sighed and leaned his head against the tree. Rays of sunlight pierced the canopy and dotted the forest floor with bits of warm light. 'It's so peaceful here. I wonder how long it'll take before I find this town. It could be a while.'
His thoughts soon wandered back to the stones again. 'I think these gems are connected. It seems that each of the stone's properties get stronger the closer they are to each other. I wonder if there are others in this world...' he trailed off, and then was snapped out of his thoughts by an unmistakable sound.
"The river!" He jumped up. "It HAS to go through that town!" he exclaimed hopefully. Intent on following the stream to the village, he quickly walked down the steep forest in the general direction the sound was coming from. The townspeople could tell him exactly where he is, and maybe he can find a way back to his home world. At that the boy started sprinting swiftly down the forested mountainside, dodging fallen trunks and large rocks. It won't be long before he would reach the river, his 'road to home'.
_____
Author's notes:
(1) This character, if you haven't already figured it out, is not from the Golden Sun dimension. He was transported from his world in a flash of light, and found himself in another world. Apparently, he has experienced something like this before. Actually, he came into the Golden Sun world directly from another unfamiliar one.
He hopes to find a way home in this village. The river, he believes, is the path to the town. Linking the town as his way home, he refers to the river as his 'road to home'.
(2) The average reader might not have picked this up, but some might notice that the boy's discretion towards other people abnormally fluctuates. I meant to do this, and there is a reason for it. So just keep reading.
(3) I apologize for any over-usage of the words 'boy', 'young man/warrior', and especially 'he' in this narrative. I didn't want his name revealed yet. As his name is spoken, these words will be used more sparingly. Don't worry; his name is coming up pretty soon.
Well, that about does it. Hope you liked it. The next chapter should be up sometime next week.
~master