The Forgotten One
Chapter 1
In the middle of a forest covered in snow, a rift appears and the stranger came out. His shoeless feet step into the snow, and feeling the cold made him shiver. The rift behind him vanishes from sight, and he is alone in the middle of a forest.
It seems to be early morning, and probably the beginning of winter. For even though all around is covered in snow, there are still snow falling from the sky.
The stranger hugs himself as he shivers, he looks left to right. The trees covered in snow looks beautiful.
The stranger continues to shiver, than he begun to walk into a random direction. He walks on his cold bare feet, and the only clothing on him left is his black pants. His upper body has no clothing, so when there was a gentle breeze, he shivers some more.
He continues walking; the only thing he hears is his chattering teeth. He failed to hear other noises, and he didn't notice that behind some bushes are a few creatures spying on him.
As the unknown creatures watch him, and when they see he is no threat, they came out of hiding. The stranger stops as he sees five creatures standing around him, each one baring a weapon.
The stranger looks at them with a confused look, for he never seen these kind of creatures. There are five of them, three rats, one weasel and one fat stout. The rats are five feet tall, the weasel is five feet and five inches tall, and the fat stout is only four feet and six inches tall. All five of them stood on two legs, each wearing garbs that seems to be stained with dry blood. This means these five vermin are thieves and murderers.
Two rats hold two swords that seem to look alike, and the third rat and weasel hold bow and arrows. The fat stout, who must be the leader of the group, it carries a whip.
Each one bares its fangs, than one of the rats said, "Ah, it seems we got ourselves a new slave."
The other rat said, "Yeah, and if he doesn't work, we could just eat it." The stranger doesn't understand what their saying, he just looks at them with a confused look.
"Hold it you two; I'm the boss of the group, I make the decision," said the fat stout. He eyed the stranger, than he said, "This is a new kind of creature, no fur. We might as well just end its life since no creature can survive in the winter." He looks at one of the two rats that hold the blades, and said, "Both of you slash him to pieces."
"Right," said both of the two rats, they both went towards the stranger. Both of them are holding their swords at the ready, than they charge right at him.
The stranger saw those blades, and as the two rats came closer. He suddenly sees something in his mind.
Another flashback happens in his mind, he sees another person covered in darkness. Then another creature went at him with a blade in its hands, and it slashes at him. But the mystery guy dodges and struck the creature's arm, causing it to let go of the blade.
In his mind, the two creatures continue battling. Then he sees the mystery person using all kinds of weapons, facing the enemies that came at him. The stranger is learning from this vision, and as soon as it ended.
The vision seems to go for like hours, but in truth, it went for a few seconds. The rats are close to the stranger, and is about to strike him with their blades. But then when one slashes forward, the stranger dodges to his left. When the other rat went to stab him with his sword...
The stranger dodges that blade by spinning to the left, and in midst spin, he used his left leg to kick the rat right into the stomach. The rat suddenly let's go of the blade and fell backwards. As the sword went to the ground, the stranger quickly grabs the blade's hilt.
The first rat attacks the stranger with his blade swinging from up to down. The stranger uses the blade he took to block the blade, and the stranger pushes back. The rat looks surprised and seemed to loose his balance when that happened. The stranger went forward with his new blade, and stabs straight, struck the rat in the chest. The rat instantly died and as it falls to the ground, it let's go of the blade. The stranger grabs the second blade, and he now holds two blades.
The other rat that was hit in the gut, it got up and went right at the stranger. The stranger has his back to it, and as the rat came towards him. The stranger suddenly spins around fast; his blades went at the rat in flash. Seconds later, the stranger is looking at the fat stout, weasel and the third rat. The second rat stood behind the stranger, the eyes look dead. Then the head falls off, than the upper torso, and all three parts fall to the ground.
The three remaining vermin stares in shock, than the fat stout said, "Kill him!" Both weasel and rat hold their bows at the ready, and are about to fire their arrows.
They shoot, and two arrows went at the stranger. The stranger quickly used his two blades to block the arrows; he chose not to slash at them. Then when the arrows struck the blades, they're reflecting and sent into another direction. The two arrows went straight at the fat stout, one arrow struck through his neck, and the other arrow struck his gut. The fat stout fell backwards, dead.
Both rat and weasel stare in shock as they see their boss fall to the ground, dead. The rat asks, "You alright boss?"
"He's dead," said the weasel.
With them both staring at their boss's dead body, the stranger took the opportunity. He went fast like lighting; he went straight at the rat, and swung one blade from left to right, and the other blade from down to up.
The rat splits into four pieces and fall to the ground, and the now the only one left is the weasel. He stares at the stranger, feeling terrified. This stranger took down his comrades in seconds as well as his boss.
The stranger turns to look at the weasel, and holds his two blades at the ready. The stranger looks at the weasel's bow, than he went right at the weasel.
"Wait!" the weasel shouted; he is very afraid that he dropped his bow. When that happens, the stranger suddenly stops one foot away from the weasel, with one blade that seems to be close the weasel's neck. The weasel fell backwards into the snow, staring at the stranger in fear.
The stranger still holds his blades at the ready, staring at the weasel. He has no idea of who this creature is, but when he saw it drop its weapon, it was no longer a threat. The stranger slowly stood straight, and holds his two blades down. He just stares at the weasel, wondering what to do with it.
The weasel stares at the stranger in surprise; he wonders why he's not going to kill him. Then a thought comes to mind, he looks back at his bow in front of him. He slowly reaches for it with his right foot.
The stranger sees it doing that, and suddenly went into battle position. The weasel stares in shock, and he pulls his foot away from the bow. When he did, the stranger just returns to his normal stance.
The weasel looks surprised, and he thought to himself. This stranger will only attack if the one he faces holds a weapon. It seems he doesn't need to fear him if he's doesn't use any weapon. The weasel slowly got up, and looks at the stranger's face. The stranger just stares back.
"Thanks for sparing my life," the weasel said, still sounded afraid. The stranger just stares at him, blink once.
When the stranger didn't say anything, the weasel looks confused. He asks, "Do you understand me?" The stranger just blinks once again.
The weasel suddenly gotten an idea, he smiled. He is thinking that if he have this stranger as his bodyguard, he could rule anything. First thing he needs to do is to get this stranger to go with him to the area where the rest of the weasel's allies are.
The stranger just stares at the weasel, anything the weasel said just made the stranger more confused. Then he shivers from the cold, and the weasel notices that.
The weasel holds out his left paw, and smiled and said, "It's nice to meet you."
The stranger just stares at the weasel's paw. He didn't let go of his blades, and he blinks once.
The weasel lowers his paw, and said, "How about I take you to somewhere that will help get you warm." He turns around and walks off, the stranger just watch him go. The weasel notices, turns around and waves his left paw. He said, "Come on."
As the stranger watches, he gets a feeling that he should follow. So he slowly walks towards the weasel, with his two blades at the ready. The weasel walks on, and the stranger follows behind.
Behind him, the four dead bodies are soon covered in snow; there are blood stains on a few spots.
The stranger and the weasel walks through the snow covered forest, and up ahead seems to be a small fort. The fort seemed to be just walls made from cut down trees, and inside is bunch of tents. There seems to be no guards, so the weasel opens the front gates. Then both he and the stranger walks through the gate, and the weasel closes it right after.
In the middle of the area is a bonfire, and there are six more vermin. Two more weasels, three ferrets, and one more rat. Each one wore garb, and one weapon beside each of them.
All six of them turned to look at the weasel and the stranger. They recognize the weasel, and one of them said, "Hisk, where's the boss and the others?"
"And who's the freak," said the rat. The stranger and the weasel walks towards the group, and it seems the stranger is much more interested with the fire. He seems to be just staring at it.
Hisk, the one that is with the stranger, he said, "We were attacked by disgusting mice. The boss was slain first, than the others. There were like twenty shrews…" He is lying to his comrades, trying to get them to believe him, which is working. Then there was a faint sound of cheering further away, the stranger seemed to be the only one to hear that. For he looks towards the direction, there seems to be a pit by one of the walls of the fort.
"Then how did you escape Hisk?" one of the two ferrets asks.
Hisk points at the stranger, and said, "He saved me and slaughtered the shrews. I never saw such skill before."
The rat got up, holding a spear. He went over to the stranger, and said, "You're saying this lone freak defeated twenty shrews, you're obviously lying." He notices the two blades that the stranger is carrying, than he said, "Let's see how good he is." He suddenly stabs the stranger in the right shoulder.
The stranger flinches as he felt that, and as the rat pulled his spear out. The stranger's blood begins to spill out, Hisk also flinched when that happen, and he begun to back away.
"Pathetic, your story is a complete lie Hisk. If this freak could handle the twenty shrews, than why did he let me struck him?" the rat asks, glaring. He points his spear at Hisk.
"Let's put him into the pit with our slaves," said one of the two ferrets. Each of the six holds their weapons, each are about to go towards Hisk.
Until the other ferrets notice something, and he said, "Look!" He pointed and everyone looks back at the stranger. The wound that the rat gave to him is suddenly healing fast, and in mere seconds, there is no wound.
The rat said in surprise, "What the?" He points his spear at the stranger as soon as he notices him glaring at him.
The stranger looks at the rat, feeling much hatred. Then as he sees the spear again, he raised his blades at the ready. The rat is about to give another stab, but in one second, the stranger struck the rat with his right blade from down to up.
The rat dropped his spear, and one second after, the body splits into two pieces. As those pieces fall to the ground, the stranger turns to look at his next target. One of the two weasels is closer, and it is holding two daggers. The weasel went at the stranger, wanting to kill the stranger after seeing his comrade split apart.
The stranger sees it coming, so he swung both of his blades right at the weasel. As fast as he went, both blades slice through the weasel's neck from both sides. The head falls off, and the body falls into the ground right after.
"Lugg!" said the other weasel. Sounded female, she holds a bow and arrows. She raised her bow and aimed her arrow. She stood on the other side of the bonfire, and then she shoots at him.
The stranger looks at her just as she fired her arrow through the flame. The arrow didn't catch on fire, for it is high above it. In a split second, the stranger blocks the arrow in the same way as before. But instead of the arrow being sent towards a different target, it went straight back at the female weasel. The arrow struck through her head, and then she fell backwards, dead.
Both ferrets are afraid of the stranger now, both of them stood side by side. Both of them are holding spears. Hisk notices this, and he sees the stranger looks at the two ferrets. Hisk quickly said, "Drop your weapons you two!"
"No way!" said one of the two ferrets, holding their weapon at the ready.
The stranger raises his weapons, and Hisk said again, "Trust me! If you're holding a weapon, he will attack you."
The stranger went right at the two ferrets, and when those two see him went towards them. Both ferrets drop their weapons, and one second later, the stranger stops, his blades aren't near the ferrets. The stranger pulled back his blades, and just stares at the two ferrets.
The ferrets are surprised; one looks at Hisk and asks, "How did you know?"
"Same thing happen to me, it seems that my friend here attacks anyone who are holding weapons," said Hisk. Both ferrets looks surprised, and Hisk walks over to the stranger. Hisk grins, and pats the stranger's left arm.
The stranger looks at Hisk, seeing that Hisk isn't holding a weapon. He lowers his blades…
One of the two ferrets said, "So he's not our enemy as long as we're not holding weaponry."
"Right," Hisk said. He grins and said, "Now you two get rid of the bodies."
One of the two ferrets asks, "Who made you boss?"
"I did the moment I bring my friend here," Hisk said he chuckles a little…
The stranger looks at the two ferrets, he has no idea what's going on now. All he did was defended himself, and still he has no idea of what these creatures are saying.
As the ferrets see the stranger stare at them, both of them quickly went to pick up the bodies of their dead comrades.
Hisk chuckles again, than he taps the stranger's left arm. The stranger looks at him, and Hisk moves away towards one of the tents. Hisk said, "Go into here and pick what clothing you might need to keep warm."
Hisk holds the tent open, and the stranger just looks confused. He moves towards it, and he looks inside. Then he walks into it, and Hisk let's go of the opening. Inside the tent are a lot of clothing, weapons, and treasures. It seems this tent is a place for storage.
The stranger looks through them all…
Outside of the tent, Hisk grins evilly. He went towards the pit while the two ferrets are disposing of the corpses. The weasel stood by the pit, the pit is large round shape. He looks down it, the pit is very deep.
Hisk sees several creatures in the pit, than one creature spoke out. "Please, just let us go," said from a female voice. Hisk looks at the one who spoke; it was a female badger child.
Hisk grins evilly down at them, and said, "You all aren't going anywhere, the ones you know doesn't know where this place is. And don't try to escape; my newest recruit will kill you before you even manage to get out." The creatures in the pit are afraid.
Hisk turns slightly, and saw the stranger come out of the tent. He said, "Ah, here my friend now." He waves at the stranger.
The stranger looks at him, he wore black boots. Red monk-like robe on with golden lining, a red shirt underneath, and he still have black pants on. The robe hood is over his head, and he seems to wearing something in front of his eyes. Because with the hood up, his face is covered in darkness, and something he wore over his eyes just shows to round red orbs.
The stranger walks over to Hisk, and Hisk sees that the stranger is still carrying his two blades. For the blades are in two sheathes on his belt, and the robe seems to hide them as well as his hands.
Hisk looks at the stranger in amazement, and also felt fear. With his new looks along with his silence, this warrior seems to be more like the deadliest warrior of all.
He grins and said, "Come over here and meet my prisoners." He is also glad that his friend doesn't understand what he is saying. Hisk thinks that the stranger is a strong warrior that would protect him incase if he's being attacked.
The stranger came beside Hisk and looks down at the pit. The red round orbs stare down at the small creatures in the pit. The small badger and the others look up at him in surprise, they can't see the face, but the stranger looks like a creature born from the darkness. With that kind of idea in their minds, they look up at him in fear.
Hisk grins, and said, "So do as I say slaves, and you'll live."
The stranger continues looking at them; he is confused of why the small creatures are in the pit. He sees some of them shivering, and some hug each other to keep warm. He doesn't know what these creatures are, but knows the idea of feeling the cold. He sees some of them wearing minor clothing, in the same way he once was.
"So my friend, what do you think?" Hisk asks.
The stranger turns around, and walks off. Hisk chuckles, and said, "He doesn't care about you slaves, which means he will kill you with ease." The little creatures are feeling afraid and shiver from the cold.
Then Hisk hears the sound of ripping, he turns around and sees the stranger ripping the same tent he used apart. Hisk looks surprised as the stranger went into it, and picks up all the remaining clothing. He then came back, and dumps it all into the pit. All the small creatures in the pit are surprised, and they each quickly took some each and kept warm.
The badger looks at the stranger, wondering why he gave them all the clothing. But she chose to just say, "Thank you." The stranger just stares down at them.
Hisk looks at the stranger, looks mad. He wonders why he did that; he would've demanded him to retrieve the clothing. But the stranger doesn't understand him, and no doubt would ignore him on that. Hisk turns around and went over to the two ferrets.
The stranger looks down at the little creatures, and they look up at him. Some of them, including the badger, don't feel afraid of him now. She asks, "Can you help us?"
The stranger just stares, and when he blinked. The round red orbs went dark, than back to normal. It seems like he is wearing some kind of red eyeglasses or something. The stranger notices the snow continues to fall from the sky. He begun to think about it, when he was inside the tent, no snowflakes landed on him, and it is quite warm. He turns slowly to look at all the tents, besides the one he torn apart, there are nine tents. And he notices there are a lot of creatures inside the pit, and it seems they would feel a lot better by being inside the tents.
The badger asks, "Please?" She is hoping he would.
The stranger doesn't understand what she is saying, but chose to do something else. He turns around, and walks over to the torn tent. As soon as he got there, he picks up one thing he saw was in there. Rope, when he was looking for the right clothing to put on, he found rope. First he wonders what it was, than a thought comes to mind and he realizes what the rope is for. He then carries it and went towards the pit.
Hisk is with the two ferrets, and when he turned around. He sees the stranger carrying rope, and suddenly he became much madder. He than looks at the two ferrets, and said, "He's going to free our slaves. While his back is turned, let's kill him."
The two ferrets, they look surprised, and one of them asks, "I thought he was your friend?"
"I thought he was, but it seems the true reason why he's here is to free them," said Hisk. He thought to himself, he never thought that this dumb stranger would trick him to get into the fort and free his slaves.
"Uh Hisk, don't you remember what happened when he was stabbed?" said one of the ferrets.
"He was struck the shoulder, try through the back," Hisk said. He then turns around and went over to where the storage tent, which is where they keep their weapons too.
The two ferrets watch him go towards it, than they look at each other. They both look at each other, and one of them said, "Maybe we should just leave?"
"I think that would be best," said the other, than both of them rushes to the gate. They open it, and ran out, leaving the small fort.
Hisk went to the tent, and picks up a sword from the weapon pile.
The stranger came back to the pit, and drops one end of the rope into it. He holds the other end, and the small creatures inside the pit are happy. The first one to climb up the rope was the badger.
When she came to the edge of the pit hole, she looks up at the stranger with a smile. She climbs out of the pit, and she said, "Thank you." Then she saw Hisk behind the stranger, raising a blade and is about to strike him in the back. She said out loud, "Look out!"
The stranger saw her looking behind him, seeing the look of fear in her eyes. He suddenly realizes that there is someone behind him holding a weapon. As he still holds the rope, he went and grabs the young badger. As he did, she looks surprised, and he suddenly leaps forward. He jumped just as Hisk struck down, and it missed. The stranger jumps and twirls over the pit.
When he landed on the other side, he let's go of the young badger. Then holds the end of rope to her, and she took it. She is still surprised of what just happened, and she holds onto the rope and watches the stranger stands up and look right at Hisk.
Hisk suddenly felt scared, he thought if he killed the stranger. He could try to gather recruits and make this fort become perfect, and the slaves will do all the work once the winter has ended. But now that idea is long gone, for now he knows that this stranger know that Hisk is a threat.
He let go of his blade as it is still stuck in the ground, he didn't bother to pull it out. He hoped the stranger would not kill him, but that hope was instantly gone, for the stranger pulled out his two blades from their sheaths.
Hisk quickly grabs the blade and pulls it out of the ground, and turns around and run. The stranger leaps over the pit, and went after Hisk. The young badger helps the ones that are still trapped in the pit, getting them out of it.
Hisk stood by the bonfire, on the other side. The stranger came to one side, holding his weaponry. When the stranger moves left, Hisk moves left. The stranger is trying to get at him, and Hisk is trying to get away from him.
The stranger eyed the bonfire then, as well as looking at Hisk. As he looks at the fire, a vision came to his mind. Another flashback…
In his vision, he sees the same mystery person. He's not holding any weaponry; instead the figure seems to be holding both hands in front of him, both palms facing each other. A second later, a ball of fire appears, the person holds it in his right hand, and then sent it right at something.
When the vision ended, he looks right at Hisk. A new plan comes to the stranger's mind, and he sheaths his two blades.
Hisk sees him do that, became glad and said, "You giving up?"
Then he notices the stranger holds his hands in front of him, both palms facing each other. Hisk is confused, than became scared as he sees a ball of fire appears in the middle of the stranger's hands.
Hisk drops his weapon, has a feeling that he's going to get burned from where he stood. He suddenly runs off, heading straight towards the open gates.
The stranger holds the fireball in his right hand, and turns to look to where Hisk is going. It's a straight view from where he is, and he hurls the fireball. It went straight towards where Hisk is.
As the badger continues to get everyone out, she looks to see how the stranger is doing. She suddenly became surprised while the others that got out try to get the others out. She sees the stranger holds a ball of fire, and Hisk is sprinting towards the gates.
Then saw Hisk gone, and the ball of fire hurled from the stranger and it flew straight through the gates. One second later, she hears screaming that slowly faded away. And beyond the fort walls, black smoke rises into the air.
The stranger then went back to the pit area, and sees that the young badger got all the other creatures out. He looks surprised and confused, of the entire group that was in the pit, the tallest one is the young badger, and she's only three feet tall. The rest are two young hares, four young otters, three young mice, and a squirrel. The hares, otters and the squirrel are taller then two feet, probably between four and eight inches. The mice are between one foot and seven inches and two feet tall. Of course he doesn't know what kind of creatures they are; he is only surprised because of their height.
All of the young creatures went around the pit, and went towards. All of them are smiling up at the stranger; all of them are saying thanks with gratitude. Then the young squirrel asks, sounded male, "Will you take us home?"
The stranger just stare at them all, he wonders what they're saying and what those expressions are. He is getting more confused as he looks at them, than he slowly turns and uses his right hand and points at the tents.
"Look, he's letting us to rest in the warm tents," said one of the mice, all three of them chatter and they ran off towards one of the tents. Then the two hares went off to one of the tents as well, and two of the four otters went to the tents too.
The other two otters stood side by side, both wearing the same garb. Both looks like brother and sister, and the sister looks to her brother. She said, "I knew it, I knew there is hope for us to get home."
The young squirrel looks up at the stranger, and asks, "Do you know where our home is?" The stranger just looks at him, confused of what he is saying.
The badger watches, than she thinks about the stranger. When the stranger gave them clothing to keep warm, he was looking at them than looking at the sky, seeing the cold snow. Then with the rope, it wasn't that the stranger was saving them, it seems he was thinking the best ways to keep them warm from the cold. She looks up at the stranger, and she asks, "Do you understand us?"
The stranger just stares at them, blinks once. The young badger realizes, and looks at her friends. She said, "It seems he doesn't understand us."
"Great, we got a warrior here that doesn't understand us," said the male otter.
Then there were sounds coming from the tents, and everyone turns to look. One of the two hares is outside of one tent is calling over to them. Sounded female, and she said, "There is food in here!"
"In here too," said one of the mice that came out of one tent.
"In here as well," said one of the other two others in another tent.
The young badger said, "It seems those vermin kept their own food to themselves."
"Well its better then eating bitter scraps," said the squirrel, he ran off towards one of the tents. Then the two otters went to a different tent too. The only ones outside and by the pit are the stranger, and the young female badger.
She looks up at him, and said, "I know you don't understand me, but thanks again." Then she too ran off towards one of the tents.
The stranger watches her go, and soon sees that all the young ones inside the warm tents. The stranger walks over to the bonfire, and then sat down in a meditation position. And now, he just stares at the flames.
A few minutes later, the young badger peeks out of the tent she chose. She sees the stranger still sitting by the bonfire, and she wonders why. She then picks up something, and then went out of the tent.
She walks over to the stranger, and the stranger heard her. He turns to look at her, and sees something her paws. She stood by him, and holds it to him. She said, "Here's a loaf of bread I found in one of tents."
The stranger slowly raises his left hand, and takes it. He holds it in front of his face, he wonders what it is. No vision is unlocked from this, since he got his visions from something like weapons and the fire. So he holds the loaf of bread to the young badger.
The young badger forgot, and she then takes the loaf of bread from him. She then sat down beside him, and the stranger continues to look at her. She tore the loaf of bread in half, and holds one half to him. The stranger takes that half, and continues watching the young badger.
She takes her half, and takes a bite out of it. She chews her piece, and swallows. She then looks at the stranger with a smile, and said, "You try it."
The stranger does the same thing she did; he takes a bite of his half, and chews on it. He then swallows it, the badger didn't notice because of the hood over his head that he smiled. He then started eating the rest of his half, and soon finishes.
"Knew you'll like it," the young badger said, smiled and she eats her half. As she soon finishes her half, she looks at the stranger, and he is looking at her. She wonders what his face look like, so she asks, "Can you remove your hood?" The stranger just looks at her, than she puts both of paws on her head, and rubbed back. She then asks, "You try that?"
The stranger wonders what it wants, and sees that it wants him to do what it did. So he does so, which also removed his hood.
The young badger sees that he has silver spiked hair, and what he wore over his eyes are eyeglasses made from a small bendy branch with two flat rubies. She raises her right paw, and reaches for the eyeglasses. The stranger didn't move, he let's her take it off. As she does, she sees that his eyes are blue.
She is surprised of how he looks, that she asks, "Joseph?"
The stranger just stares at her, he is still confused. The young badger shook her head a little, and said, "Sorry, I know you don't understand me. But you look like one of the old pictures my dad has." She handed the eyeglasses back.
He takes them back, and puts it on. He is confused of what she just said, and he puts his hood up. The young badger yawns, and slowly got up. She said, "Well, it's time for rest." The stranger looks at her.
"Even though I know, my name is Tifa," said Tifa. The stranger still doesn't understand her. Then Tifa said, "Goodnight." She then walks off towards one of the tents, and went into it.
The stranger watches her go into the tent, than he turns to look back at the fire. He continues doing so through out the night.
End of Chapter 1
Written by Josephiroth