Who's the greatest warrior ever?
A hero of renown?
Who slayed an evil ocean?
Who cast The Lich King down?
Billy!
And that time the evil Fire Count,
Captured a damsel fair.
Who saved her with such bravery
That she offered him her hair?
Billy!
Also… he fought a bear!
BILLY!
Dear Reader,
If you are reading this, then maybe there is hope for this world after all. You could be the rising sun in this land of perpetual night, Ooo's last hero. Before I continue, I should warn you. If you are not righteous, willing to hold the many responsibilities of a hero, willing to give your life for the safety of others, then I suggest you pass this on to someone else…
So, you have decided to continue? Well then, brave soul, you have chosen a righteous path, but be warned. The evil that you may face in the future could very well be even more unimaginable that that of which I have faced, so you must be strong. Hear my tale and continue my legacy.
I will start from the beginning, the very beginning. I will start with death. My story begins on one fateful morning, the morning Joshua died. I had awaken that morning expecting nothing more than the usual day filled with spontaneous adventure with my sometimes lazy, but always loyal chubby pug Joshua. I hopped out of bed to be greeted by the cold surprise of the damp chilly cave floor under my feet. It's usually warm by now, I thought to myself. I made my way through the darkness to the back of the cave where the makeshift fireplace that me and Josh set up was, which was usually lit by Joshua before I would wake up, or should I say before I would be awaken by Joshua's loud viola playing. He would refuse to stop until I had fully awaken. I loved that about Joshua, he would never take things too seriously. Why isn't he up by now?
"Josh, wake up." I mumbled across the room, still groggy from my extended sleep. After failing to light the fireplace, which was expected, I crawled over to Joshua's doggy bed, which was just a bundle of blankets on top of each other. "Hey, I can't get the fire going, you know I'm bad at that. What, you think I'm a flambid or something?" I chuckled to myself, proud of my Fire Kingdom reference. "Come on, you missed out on a good joke." I whined, playfully poking him in the gut, the way he likes. I paused. Something was wrong. I rubbed his gut, with my full hand this time. It was cold. "Hey!" I shouted aggressively. "Joshua!" Fear stricken, I got to my feet and ran over to my supply chest that was at the bottom of my bed. I ramble through it until I found the emergency matches, which I used promptly to light the fire place. Why didn't i think of this sooner?, i thought to myself. A comforting and familiar luminescence filled the cave at the orange glow of the warm flames brought Joshua into full view. He looked lifeless, peacefully curled up on his blankets. My body filled with dread. Every inch of my body went numb. "Joshua?" I called. He gave no answer, no reaction. "J-" I tried to call his name again, but the lump in my throat wouldn't let me get the word out, knowing I would never hear his mellow, playful voice again, my eyes welled with tears.
I slowly gained feeling in my legs as I trudged over to Joshua's motion less body. I hugged Joshua and began kissing his face, sobbing, tears profusely flowing from my eyes, not knowing what else to do. I had lost my best friend, my brother. Then I clasped his corpse and wept onto it for hours just the way he promised to do to me in the event of my death. I cannot tell you how many days I mourned over Joshua's death. I had stopped eating, sleeping and well… living. I hadn't left the cave at all during that period of time until one fateful night.
I was sprawled pathetically, sleeping, on the dark, damp cave floor next to Joshua who was still lie in his bed, peacefully, when an unsettling, shrill scream woke me up from my depression induced slumber, reverberating throughout the cave followed by the distinct ferocious roar of a bear.
"What?" I exclaimed upon waking. I scrambled to my feet and out of the cave. The night sky made it impossible to see anything, but through the trees a tall looming creature could be seen standing over a young woman lying helpless on the ground. I rubbed my eyes, and began to turn back into the cave. I can't do this without you, Joshua. It was true. I was nothing without Joshua. I would just go out there and get killed. I didn't even know the woman. I turned to see the bear raise its paw, preparing to claw the young woman. Then something rang out to me. It was a burning in my heart telling me to save her, to be her hero. I sprinted towards the bear, weaving through the trees. "Nothung!" I shouted, calling upon my magical sword, which I previously found in an adventure with Joshua. I quickly jumped in front of the woman, blocking her, intercepting the swipe of the claw with my left shoulder. One of the claws hooked deep into my flesh "Go!" I warned angrily. The woman gasped and scurried for cover behind a nearby tree, terrified. The bear hoisted me in the air, attempting to pull his claw out of my shoulder. The bear shook me around, whipping me around like a rag doll. I flew off of his claw through the air, an open hole, torn through my shoulder. After smashing into a tree, I hit the ground with a thud. The bear then began searching for the woman, to finish his started work.
My sword finally shot out of the cave and into my hand. The sharp steel blade gave me confidence. The oval-shape, golden cross-guard of the sword glistened in the moonlight as I rose from the ground. Get up! I commanded myself. I tightened my hand over the leather strips that cover the grip, slowly rising to my feet, fighting the pain. "Hey!" I weakly shouted, trying to getting the bear's attention. Blood poured out of the wound on my shoulder like a fountain, soaking the ground. The pain was staggering, but I couldn't let the bear kill this woman. No, it wasn't about the woman. It was about me, about Joshua. I had to prove to myself that i could be a hero without him. That I could make him proud. "Hey, you!" I shouted more confidently. The bear turned toward me. I firmly planted my bare feet in the dirt and held the sword with both hands, ready for combat. The bear shifted his weight to his back legs, making himself stand upright. I gripped my sword even tighter. This is gonna get messy, I thought to myself. The bear reached both of his arms out to his sides grabbing the trees to his sides. What is he doing? The bear pounded on the trunks with is paws, causing them to snap like twigs, falling down towards me. I jumped forwards towards the falling tree's slicing to pieces, cutting through them with great ease. I landed roughly on my feet and fell to my knees directly in front of the bear that stood there doing nothing as a mix of wood chips and leaves rained down on us. I began to feel slightly woozy, perhaps from blood loss.
The sun began to peek over the horizon filling the sky with a pink and orange mix of color, giving me reassurance, calming me. The bear stepped back a few feet and I did the same. "Is that all you got?" I asked cockily. I bear charged toward me, now irritated. Now was my chance to strike. Hastily, I leaped high into the air. I flew just above the bear's head. As I began to fall back down to earth, as gravity would have it, I pointed my sword down, dealing the final blow. The sword lodged deep into the top of the bear's head. The bear wailed in pain, flailing his arms, stumbling all over the place. Blood oozed out of the fresh wound as I ripped the sword out of its head, standing on its shoulders. The bear toppled over sending me also to the ground. I hit the dirt with a thud, a cloud of dirt filling the air, clouding my vision. I lay flat on my back, unable to move my 's when i realized that i had won. I felt a sense of rewarding accomplishment. I think I'm gonna be alright without you, Josh.
"Are you okay?" asked a feminine voice. The dust cleared revealing a beautiful young woman with soft pink skin, her hot pink hair pulled back in a big swirled bun that looked of cotton candy, and long beautiful bangs that cover her right eye. Her body was on top of mine. "Thanks for that." she said. She smelled of sweet cotton candy. It was absolutely intoxicating. I began to blush.
"It was nothin'," I shrugged, triggering a sharp pain in my shoulder. I looked over at my blood soaked shoulder.
'Oh my glob!" the young woman exclaimed, noticing my shoulder. I gave her a reassuring smile, and then blacked out.