I let loose a low growl as I saw the little pain in the ass make his escape from the forest unscathed. With a flick of my hand, I stopped the boulder and shrunk it into a pebble.
"So much for that surprise." I sighed as I leaned back from the windowsill of the tower.
I was about to cut off the magic when I spotted a few children making their way to the entrance of the forest. I raised an eyebrow at this, but did nothing as you watched.
"A-Alfred, Lovino! Wait up!" Matthew cried as he ran after his older brother and friend. They barely turned to acknowledge that they had heard him, and continued walking to the dark entrance of the forest. Breathing heavily, he finally caught up with them.
Alfred looked down at his younger brother, who was now hanging off of his elbow, "Dude, get off. I need that arm to beat up the Beast! I can't have you hanging off of it and getting it tired."
Matthew gasped quietly but released his older brother's arm. Lovino grunted and slowly looked into the path and up to the tip of the tower. He looked over at the two brothers.
"You ready for this?" he asked, jerking his head in the direction of the castle.
Alfred grinned and pumped his fist into the air, "The hero was born ready!"
Matthew frowned and fidgited, "I don't think we should be doing this..."
The elder boys glared down at him, and he whimpered. "If you're scared, go back to mom. I don't wanna have to drag a cry baby home." Without looking back to see if Matthew was coming, the two boys entered the green gloom. Matthew started to whimper as he glanced up at the tower, before he ran in after them.
I chuckled as I watched the younger blonde dart after his brother into the forest. I flicked my hand and felt the life of the thing I needed react.
"Oh my pet, I need you to go give those boys a scare when they pass by once. And do not, under any curcumstances, touch any of them." I cooed out.
It flexed its vines in response, and I saw the ripple effect across the tree tops as it started to use its further out vectors. I started to laugh loudly, and returned my attention to the intruders.
Matthew shivered when he heard a ghost like cackle drift through the branches of the forest. He quickened his pace and grabbed onto the back of Lovino's shirt, with a hand over his mouth to try and smoother any whimpers that tried to sneak past his lips. Lovino glared back at him but said nothing as they kept walking silently up the path. They passed many different little paths that branched off from where they were, but they never went down any of them.
Looking up the path, Matthew could barely see the base of the tower. He was about to relax when something brushed the back of his hair. He tensed up and looked behind him, but saw nothing. Clutching tighter to Lovino's shirt, he shuffled closer to him and looked up. A few harmless looking vines hung from the higher up branches but nothing that would be able to touch him. Something then tugged on his shirt and simultaneously whacked him upside the head. He yelped and let go of the shirt to rub the back of his head.
With teary eyes, he looked at the backsides of the older boys who were still walking, "H-Hey! That wasn't very nice you guys!"
Alfred stopped to look at him with a confused expression, "What are you talking about?"
"You just hit me!"
"Did not!"
"Did too!"
"Enough, chigi!" The brothers stopped their quarrel to gape at the angry native boy. Lovino huffed angrily, and stomped over to where they stood. He raised his hand to hit Alfred but froze as he looked behind the brothers. Alfred blinked, confused and followed Lovino's gaze. Matthew began to shiver as he looked at the older boys expressions. They looked as if they were seeing a ghost or something close to it. Slowly, he turned and looked behind him and gasped in horror. Long vines were hanging down from the tree tops and were creeping up the path towards them at an extremely fast speed. Lovino took two steps back before he turned and took off running up towards the castle with Alfred following close behind. Matthew gaped at the vines and stood frozen as he watched them get closer and closer.
"OI! MATTIE!" a shout brought him out of his stupor, and he looked around wildly.
"RUN YOU BASTARDO!" Lovino shouted back at him as they ran further up the hill. Shakily, he took a step back and looked back at the vines. They were only a few feet away now, and he turned and to run. Matthew had taken only a few steps when one of the vines managed to catch up with him and wrap its way around his ankle and yank it out from underneath him. The world tipped and soon the ground flew up to ram itself into his face with a loud thump, knocking the breath out of him with a wheeze. He could hear the blood pounding in his ears as he was drug back down the hill and the cries of horror as Lovino and Alfred watched this happen. He looked up and saw their terrified faces, frozen in their escape.
Matthew felt tears sting his eyes, as well the throbbing that was starting to emanate from his forehead. Another vine wound its way around his other ankle and he was pulled even faster down the hill. Gritting his teeth, he tried to slow his descent by digging his fingertips into the ground. His eyes widened in pain as rocks and dirt tried to rip his nails off, but he didn't lift his hands up.
"I thought I was perfectly clear with you." A voice angrily whispered from somewhere nearby Matthew. His descent slowed but the vines tightened on his ankles, and Matthew cried out in shock.
"You dare disobey me?" Matthew came to a stop, and the vines began to whip around him. He looked around wildly for the person who was speaking but could only see Lovino and Alfred running down the path towards him. The vines on his ankles tightened again and he tried to hold back a yelp of pain.
"So be it." the voice growled from above. There was high pitched screeching all around and the vines waved madly, occasionally hitting him in their fit. Matthew tried to roll over to get a look at what was happening above him but something pressing on his back prevented him from doing so. The screeching escalated to an unbearable level, and Matthew was forced to cover his ears to try and save his hearing.
The screeching died as suddenly as it started, and the sounds of something heavy hitting the ground could be heard. Carefully Matthew removed his hands from his ears and rolled over, his eyes widened in surprise. Withered, severed vines littered the ground all around him.
"Mattie! Dude! Are you ok?" Alfred called running up to him with Lovino in tow.
Mattie nodded slightly and returned to his gaping at the plant carnage surrounding him. Lovino pulled him up to his feet, and started to brush the dirt from Matthew's shoulders.
"D-Did you guys... D-Did you hear that voice?" Matthew asked in his daze.
"What voice? All I heard was Alfred screaming like a little girl," Lovino snickered.
Alfred scowled, "I was NOT screaming! Heroes never scream, they shout with style!"
"Sure they do." Lovino rolled his eyes as he started to walk up the path with Alfred huffing behind. Matthew clutched his throbbing hands to his chest and looked after the boys with teary eyes.
'They didn't even answer my question.'
With his head hanging, he carefully trudged after the elder boys up the hill once again. Within fifteen minutes, the three boys had managed to make it to the wall that surrounded the Beast's castle.
"So how are we going to get in?" Lovino asked as he stared at the wall that loomed over their heads.
Alfred put his hands on his hips and hummed in thought. Matthew looked behind himself at the forest path, and then he looked at the tower that seemed to touch the cloudless sky above. He could see the stones that formed it and he could barely make out what looked like windows at the very top. Alfred snapped and cheered, breaking Matthew's train of thought.
"We could totally stand on each other's shoulders and climb up to the top of the wall! Then the top person could pull up the others!" he smiled as he walked to the moss covered base of the wall, placing a hand on it and looking back at the other boys for their reaction.
Lovino shrugged and looked at the wall, "I'm not pulling you up all by myself, so I'm not going first."
Alfred laughed, "Of course not! I'm going to pull you guys up!"
Matthew shifted as he looked at the wall, "B-But who's going to be the base?"
Lovino and Alfred looked back at him, and Alfred laughed, "Why you'll be the base!"
Matthew paled and Lovino smacked the cowlick sporting blonde upside the head, "He can't you idiot!"
Alfred pouted, "How come?"
"He's too small! He can't support me and you!"
Alfred sighed in dismay, "Fine, he can be the second one up!" Lovino opened his mouth to object, but Alfred pushed him over to the wall and smashed his face into it, keeping him from saying anything further. He waved Matthew over, who shuffled over slowly to his elder brother.
"Now don't move!" Alfred said as he picked up his brother and helped him stand on Lovino's shoulders. Matthew had barely a moment to steady himself when he felt Alfred begin to scramble up his legs and further up. He winced as Alfred stepped up onto his shoulders and jumped up slightly to reach the top of the wall. Matthew looked up and saw Alfred squirming to get up and over the top before he turned to look at Matthew with and extended hand towards him.
Matthew stood on his tip toes and reached for Alfred's hand, which clamped onto his wrist and drug him up the side of the rest of the way with ease. Alfred flung him onto the narrow top alongside him, and leaned back over to try and reach Lovino.
"U-Uh Alfred I don't think-" Alfred sat back up and so did his hand. Matthew leaned backwards and tried to avoid it, but it clipped him on his shoulder and pushed him off the other side of the wall. His eyes opened wide as he began to fall backwards and Alfred turned to look at him with a horrified expression. Alfred reached for Matthew, but couldn't reach him. Alfred grew smaller as Matthew continued backwards.
Matthew turned his head to the side and saw the stone floor flying up to meet him. He put out his right arm and turned his body to the right, and squeezed his eyes shut and waited for the impact. His fingers brushed the cold floor before the rest of his arm slammed into it, and he felt his arm bend to try and soften the fall. He rolled off to the side with a sickening snap. Matthew lay on his back dazed when he heard screaming, only did he realize where it was coming from when the pain set in. His eyes sprang open with tears beginning to flow and he grit his teeth trying to cut off the screams that were escaping from his mouth.
"Mattie! Mattie!" Alfred scurried into his vision from the top of the wall, but he was unable to focus on him.
"C-Can you move? W-We need to get out of here!" Matthew shook his head, but stopped as another wave of pain washed over him from the movement. Another scream ripped its way past his lips.
"What's going on?" Lovino shouted looking up the wall.
"Matthie's hurt! He says he can't move!" Alfred turned to shout back down to the native boy.
"S-Shit! He can't? How are we supposed to help him?" Lovino paled.
Alfred looked back at Matthew who was still screaming, "We'll have to leave him here and get someone to help us!"
"Leave him? Here? What about the Beast?"
Alfred turned away from his brother, "I don't know, but we need to get help." He turned and started to climb back down the side of the wall.
"W-Wait!" Alfred stopped and didn't move. "D-Don't leave me! Alfred! Please!"
Alfred closed his eyes before he continued to climb down the wall.
"Alfred? Lovino? D-Don't leave me!" Matthew screamed and tried to move, which resulted in more pain.
"We'll be back! Don't move!" Lovino shout from the other side of the wall as Alfred jumped from the half-way point to the ground and took off running in the forest. Lovino hesitated for a moment before he ran after Alfred.
"NO! Don't leave me here alone!" Matthew cried out, only for silence to reply. Fresh tears began to stream down his dirtied cheeks, leaving streaks. He sobbed, and lay still as possible to try and keep himself from moving his arm. A lone seagull circled above and he watched it through bleary eyes, but froze when he heard something nearby. Echoing clacks could barely be heard over the sound of something heavy being drug over stone. Matthew's heart stuttered and he tried to keep as quiet as possible, hoping that whatever was making the noise would not see him. The sound got louder as it gradually came closer, and Matthew's heart rate sped up.
A tall shadow then entered his vision once the sound was directly in his ear and towered above him. Horns stuck out from the top of the shadow and it leaned to look down at him.
"A trespasser, huh?" it hummed out in a low growl.
Matthew stared up at the top of the shadow trying to make out the features of the shadow, until crimson eyes could be seen staring back at him. He gasped quietly and the world began to spin around him before sucking him into darkness.
Arthur stood staring at a sign in a fork of the road. He had managed to to make it back to the village without getting hurt, but when he went to ask about the Doctor from the locals he soon discovered that most of them spoke little to no English. He had managed to pull a shop owner away from his wares long enough to ask him where he could find the Doctor's house. The shop owner managed to tell him that he needed to go to the forest and follow the path that was on the outside of it and follow it to the fork in the road. A customer had come at that moment and the shop owner had waved Arthur off without finishing his directions.
So here Arthur was, stuck on a path that had signs in the foreign tongue of the island, without a person nearby to ask for directions.
"Well isn't this great?" he sighed as he put his hands on his hips and looked to the sky. 'I came all this way out here for nothing.'
"What is great, aru?" a voice asked from behind, and Arthur jumped. He turned and gaped. It was the young man from the day before that had told him about the tower. He still had the large straw hat on but this time he had a green and yellow brocade sleeveless top. He stood with a hand on his hip and looked at Arthur questioningly.
"You're the- Ah I mean. I was just saying that I was lost." He muttered with a light blush upon his cheeks.
"I see. Where are you going, aru?" the young man asked.
"Well I was going to go see the Doctor, but I got lost."
The young man nodded, "Couldn't get the directions from someone who could speak enough English, aru? Well, come on, I'll show the way."
The young man walked past Arthur to the right split of the path, and Arthur quickly followed after him. "I'm Yao Wang by the way." He said over his should as they walked.
Arthur smiled slightly, "I'm Arthur Kirkland."
The conversation died there, and they walked in silence until a large hut appeared further up the road. It was definitely old looking, but it looked sturdy at the same time. A few small stools sat outside the front of the hut, along with pots of various sizes scattered haphazardly around. A curtain of beads hung in the doorway shielding the inside of the hut from the outside world.
As they got closer, Yao looked over his shoulder again, "Why don't you sit down, and I'll go get the doctor, aru."
Arthur raised an eyebrow at this, but nodded. When they got to the hut he sat down on one of the stools. Yao slipped into the hut without a sound except for the soft clack of the beaded curtain shutting behind him. Arthur sat in silence and glanced around at the different plants and trees around him.
Time seemed to drag on as Arthur sat waiting for the Doctor or Yao to come out of the hut. With a sigh he stood up and made his way over to the door.
"Hey, Yao-" Arthur raise a hand to part the beads when they flew open and he stepped back in shock. Yao looked at him with a confused expression.
"Oh I was just coming to get you, and ask if you had found the Doctor yet." Arthur laughed out nervously.
"I did, aru."
Arthur's eyes opened wide, "Really? Where is he then?"
Yao started to smirk, "You're looking at him, aru."
Arthur looked at Yao with a questioning gaze, "You're kidding right?"
"No, I'm not, aru."
"You have to be! Michelle said you had been on the island since before she was born, and you look like you're twenty!"
Yao chuckle and sweep past Arthur to stoop over one of the pots, "I am the Doctor you seek, and Michelle is right. I've been here since before she was born."
Arthur walked over to Yao, who had begun to fix a plants stalk, "I still-"
"You've made it up to the castle, aru?" Arthur stopped at Yao's comment.
"Yes... I have. Now I wanted to ask you about the story about the Beas-"
A chorus of shouts interrupted him, and Yao stood up and turned to look for the commotion. The young boy with the cowlick from earlier that day ran into their line of vision, gasping loudly and flushed with exertion.
"Alfred? What's wrong, aru?" Yao rushed over to the boy who proceeded to sit on one of the stools.
"M-M-Mat- h-he- arm- hurt- castle-!" the boy puffed out as best he could with the little breath he had. Yao turned to Arthur, "You've met her right? Go before the rest of us do, and get the boy, aru. I don't want to think about the things she'll do to a child trespasser..." Arthur nodded solemnly and took off down the path running, passing a throng of people who were heading up the path to Yao's hut. He grit his teeth as he turned into the entrance of the forest and ran up the middle path.
'Let's hope I'm not too late.'
Sorry this took so long to update! I sorta forgot about this! Well anywho, review please!
Oh, since this is normally a reader insert, I need a exotic name for her. :I