MoonQuest.
Chapter 1
A young dwarf named Honeydew stood before the council of dwarf elders. The room was dimly lit with tall grey walls. Pictures of ancestors lined each wall, all of them drawn with what can only be described as dried blood. At a long table made of oak wood sat six members of the dwarf council dressed in long black robes that covered their bodies and faces. They were ready to come to a verdict.
"Honeydew A. Lane. You stole supplies from the fortress and ran away to build a cookie factory with two other dwarves, only to come back nearly dead and with a human girl. Both of those dwarves, as you say, were murdered by a supposed ball of light." One of the elders stated, his voice firm and scratchy.
"This is the last standing dwarven fortress in the entire world, and therefore we have no choice but to let you stay here with the human girl." This time, a different elder was speaking. "But you must work in the diner until we decide your time is up."
The diner was a small restaurant connected to the fortress owned by the dwarves. Many different people and creatures passed through, day and night. Usually they were just stopping for a meal before going back on the road. No one ever bothered to stay very long.
"Will I ever be able to leave?" Honeydew asked.
"No," the elder said.
For the next year, Honeydew worked at the diner. The walls were red, yet the place seemed colourless. He was forced to live a repetitive life behind a metal countertop and a couple stoves. He lived in an apartment style room with the lady, Granny Bacon.
Besides what the name suggests, she wasn't very old. She was short but surprisingly strong for her height. She had flowing gold hair and bright blue eyes. She and Honeydew had fallen in love, and eventually did get married.
Although how good they had it, and how easy they got off the hook, Honeydew felt slightly miserable. He wanted to go ahead and start a life with Granny, he didn't want to live in some mountain working at a dirty diner.
The only good part about his job, working at the diner was the stories the customers told. He remembered being so interested in many. They were always fun to listen to.
One man, Rythian came through. He was a wizard of sorts. He first had a nice house with some magical items. After that was destroyed by a war between two scientists, he went on to start a new life from scratch. He met a girl, Zoeya, who helped him get through with his life. When a bomb was secretly placed in their base, she ran away. Rythian has been searching for her ever since. She was his best, and only friend.
Another story was that of a pool boy named Nilesy. He was in a job interview and was almost killed by a grey skinned man and a man who wore nothing but a loincloth. After he dropped his things and escaped, he ran away. He has been on the run in fear of these men for years.
Today, he listened to three men as he made some soup for their breakfast. One was rather hairy, and wore a torn suit. The other looked rather like a frog with a suit as well. The other was a large black man who wore a lab coat. All their clothes were dirty. They were sitting on stools, talking from the dusty counter.
"So we were on the spaceship, yeah? And we were building ourselves some farms with a good man, Sips, and there he came. A very pale man with red eyes who wore a black suit and blue tie. He started shooting arrows at us with unreal speed. He was with two other guys. One was very green-looking and the other was so skinny." He paused and stared blankly in the distance. "He looked like a skeleton."
"Wow," Honeydew said in awe. "Then what happened?"
"They took him." The black man said. "We stayed for a while on our own spaceship, until we received a message from a mystery source. We still don't know who it is. But it came with coordinates, that's where we're heading now."
By this time, Honeydew had finished the soup. He served them as he wished them luck in finding this man, Sips. He recognized the name from somewhere, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.
They spoke until the men finished their soup. Honeydew talked about the other stories he heard, and the men shared some amusing stories of Sips on the spaceship. They all had a good laugh.
"Hey Honeydew," the hairy man said before walking through the door, "We're heading directly north if you find some time to catch up with us."
"I'm afraid I am being forced to stay here" Honeydew explained. "I would if I could."
The hairy man walked out without a word, and Honeydew was alone. He took a look around the diner, and thought of his dull life. The diner looked as boring as ever, and Honeydew couldn't help but shed a tear. He never wanted to stay here in the first place.
Finally, around dinner time, three men walked in. One had pale skin and wore a black suit with a blue tie. Another man who was on his right looked a bit green. The other looked like he suffered from malnutrition, he was on the pale mans left. Honeydew thought of the three men's story from breakfast, but disregarded it as a coincidence.
"Can I help you?" Honeydew asked in a plain voice that clearly showed he said it often.
"Yes," the pale man said as he wiped his suit. "May I please speak with one..." He looked down at a paper in his hand. "One Granny Bacon, yes. My name is Israphel and these are the Boss brothers. Make that part clear."
"Alright then, give me a couple minutes." Honeydew said as he opened the back door and went through.
He walked down a narrow hall with stone walls and very dim lighting until he reached a door. He went through and ended up in a slightly bigger hallway with doors on each side. These doors lead to small apartment style homes where all the dwarves in the fortress live. He walked until he got to his door number, 107. He opened up and walked in.
As soon as he walked in, his nose was filled with the scent of meatloaf. He looked around the home and walked into the kitchen where he thought Granny would most likely be. As soon as he was in the kitchen, he noticed her sitting at a table eating alone.
"Granny. Three men are here to see you," he said. "Their names are Israphel and the Boss brothers."
Granny looked up at Honeydew, and he could see the terror in her eyes. He quickly realized that his first thought on the men was correct, and that he should probably get some men to help him deal with them. But it was too late.
He heard some screaming outside and quickly looked to Granny for advice.
"Grab a sword of some kind, and protect the fortress. I have to go, Honeydew. Look for me when I'm gone. Your best bet is to find a dirt factory directly North from here. Go!" She shouted.
Honeydew opened a cabinet and grabbed his sword. He opened the door and took one last glance at Granny.
"I love you," he said. Then he ran out the door.
When he reached the hall, he could see all the chaos. Many dwarves were running around with their swords out swinging at monsters that looked like the green boss brother, except these ones had flesh that was peeling off and seemed to be mindless pawns set on killing anything but each other.
Honeydew ran to the first place he could think of. The diner. He ran as fast as he could and didn't stop until he reached its door. He opened it to see the skinny Boss brother sitting on a table near the door, waiting for him.
Honeydew ran at him without thinking, and swung his sword viciously. He yelled a fierce battle cry. He felt his sword hit something, then he felt a sharp pain in the left of his abdomen. He stopped to look down and quickly realized he had been shot with an arrow.
He fell to his knees, then fell to his right side. He couldn't see much, besides the counter. Then, he realized something there. Something left beside a stool from the last customer he had. It was a brown bag.
He lifted his head as he heard a noise of glass shattering. He did his best to turn around and saw three men walk in. He also noticed a sword sticking through the skinny Boss brother's chest. The men grabbed Honeydew's hand and pulled him up. They took their bag and pulled the sword from the skinny man's chest. They half carried, half dragged Honeydew out of the diner. He could see it shrinking in the distance as they headed north.
He was in a daze, and could barely keep focused on anything for longer than he needed, but what he saw next, he was sure it was real. Two men walked out of the diner. The green-like Boss brother carrying the skinny one, and Israphel dragging a tied up Granny Bacon. He could swear he saw her glance at him before they disappeared into an invisible vehicle. Seconds later, as if it were drawn quickly into reality, a small rocket appeared where the people disappeared. With an explosion of smoke and fire, it shot up into the night sky.
Honeydew could hear the three men chatting about healing a wound, a dirt factory, and he thought he might of heard a name. Smiffy. He let out a small weak laugh before he coughed, then passed out.
When Honeydew finally woke up, he was in a cave. It was very small and dirty, he could also hear some men talking.
He looked around. Three men sat around a fire. He realized it was still the night, but he was sure the events he witnessed did not happen very recently.
He sat up but felt a sharp pain in the left side of his abdomen. He looked at the men and realized the three men were actually the men he met at the diner for breakfast.
"Hey, mate. You've been out quite a while. Three days, that is." The one that looked like a frog explained, "oh right. Name's Smiffy. This is Ross," he pointed at the hairy man. "This is Trott," he pointed at the black man.
"I don't suppose you need to go back to that fortress," Trott said. "We've been carrying' you North for three days."