Sorry for taking so long updating this work, it has been a busy few months and stuffs happened. But I'm back with a new chapter so hooraay!" Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy this one as much as I enjoyed making it. UwU
Inside a blue house, up in the spare bedroom, a spirit guardian is found sleeping soundly. He was currently in the midst of a dream, a dream of adventure.
'Ye think yer won already, hah!" a man shouted, wearing a shabby 17th century coat, a feathered tricorne adorning his head, and an eye patch on his left eye. He was a pirate, but not just any pirate, he's a pirate captain. And he is pointing his cutlass towards Ao, who was himself, wearing a privateer's coat.
"Ye all ne'er learn, especially ye Capt'n Fleck!" Ao shouted, glaring at the captain all the whilst preparing his body for action, swaying his cutlass thru and fro, and moving sideways.
They were at the deck of Captain Fleck's ship, the Wide Dove, it's a privateers ship turned pirate, decked throughout its hull were cannons standing side by side, and located on the front, is a giant mortar, capable of laying waste to any far off location the captain wishes to attack, and Ao's current mission. As he was tasked by the Navy to track down Captain Fleck and his ship, and destroy the mortar held within. He managed to track down the ship by asking in a local tavern in one of the islands the Captain and his crew frequented, he even managed to overhear a plan of attacking a nearby plantation and ransacking the place clear of goods and coins, a plan that Ao was going to stop.
"Ye think ya could go away with'ot the nav'y find'ng out ye bus'ness Capt'n? Let me tell ye then! The nav'y ain't just go'ng skedaddlin around, whilst ye and yer pirates raid and pillage innocent men!"
Captain Fleck couldn't help it any longer and bursted out laughing, "Ya hear the patch of pelt boys! Ye want us to up and surrender to ye and ye's nav'y!" and the crew joined the captain on his rambunctious laughter.
Smirking, Ao let the captain and his men laugh their hearts out, unbeknownst to them, Ao was already charging up a light burst, "Ha! Ye and yer men know not of wha's comin Capt'n!" and let loose his overcharged light burst, shaking the ship by the blast and taking off anyone who was standing and reclining on the edges of the ship's hull.
Captain Fleck himself was thrown away by quite a distance, only stopping when his back hit the wood of the ship's hull. "Arrr! Ya scurvy landlubber ye!" Fleck shouted, arching his back from pain, breathing hard, he spits out some saliva mixed with blood and forces himself to stand, grabbing on the ship's deck railings. Taking his cutlass the captain then charged towards the guardian, glutural shouting accompanying his charge.
Grining, Ao summoned his own cutlass and charged towards the captain, his movements mirroring those of his enemy. They clashed at the middle of deck, their swords sparkling upon impact, Ao swerved to the left as the captain slashed his cutlass, almost cutting Ao's head of, Ao returned the favor by kicking the captain away and doing a barrel roll, catching the captain off guard and struck on his hand, taking his metal hook off and throwing it away.
"Yarrr! Hahaha! It seems me still hav'e me skills in fightin capt'n!" Ao cried in exaltation, spinning his cutlass on the air. "Ye still draw breath Capt'n?" he taunted, then he stopped spinning his cutlass and moved his body into a ready position, "Rea'dy to gi've up?"
Face colored red in anger, Captain Fleck pointed his cutlass at the cocky guardian and shouted, "Ye dare make a mockery of me! Ya scurvy landlubber!"
Eyes full of conviction, Ao smiled and simply replied, "Ay!"
Without warning, the two combatants charged yet again, all the while the remaining crew, those who weren't thrown away from Ao's light burst, watched in awe and fear as they saw their captain fight an enemy that was slowly beating him.
"Yer strong for a human!" Ao taunted, as he evaded a blow coming his way by moving to the side, letting the cutlass pass by him. He then swerved into the right away from the captain and swung his own cutlass, almost hitting the captain from the back, only for Captain Fleck to sidestep and counter the attack by blocking it and throwing a punch, which connected on Ao's guts.
Staggered by the blow, Ao fell back and took a breath, 'Ye do good on that one ey capt'n?" he asked, smiling, Ao then stood straight again and took a charge against the captain.
"Ye! I be good at this!" Captain Fleck shouted, and blocked Ao's cutlass with his own. The ensuing fight was one for the books, as neither contenders let out in the constant barrage of swings and slashes, defending themselves using their cutlasses and taunting each other like proper pirates. The captain's men were even so engrossed with the ensuing battle that they had already forgotten to help. The fight took longer than expected and brought with it an almost untold amount of broken woods and barrels, as well as ropes and ballast. They both fought within the deck, trading blows and swings, they fought upon the ships sails, slowly balancing themselves upon the wood, and they fought within the ships ropes that was holding the pole in which the sails are connected, angling themselves vertically and trading blows of words rather than swords, and the finally, after almost a stalemate, Ao managed to hit the captain on his left thigh, puncturing it and taking the captain down in pain.
"Yaaarrrgghh!" Captain Fleck cried, as he put his hands on his punctured thigh trying to stop the bleeding. "Bloody me thighs are bleeding scallywags!" the captain cried, glaring at his men who were still as statues after seeing their beloved captain lose against a pirate turned privateer.
Ao was heaving for breath, but his muzzle was covered in a smile, as he looked down upon the bleeding captain, joyful that he managed to beat one of the most feared pirates in the seas. Taking his cutlass, Ao slowly walked towards his mission, the Mortars, all the while, the captain's men finally shook out of their bewilderment and rushed to their captain's aid, while Captain Fleck was sprouting obscene words towards the victorious spirit guardian.
As Ao walked along the deck towards the bow of the ship, where the mortars are located, he felt the ship rocking more than normal, looking at the horizon, Ao saw that the blue skies was slowly turning black, the wind was picking up and turning colder, then suddenly, a massive creature came out of the sea, "Avast! Such a giant crittin!" Ao exclaimed, jumping back in surprise as the sea monster entangled its huge tentacles upon the ship, it was a kraken.
The crew was in panic as the saw the huge sea monster emerge from the ocean, some were so afraid that they chose to jump overboard, while others took arms in the hopes to fell the beast away from the ship and into their doom, as the monster simply flicked them over like a man would do to a fly. Captain Fleck was looking in awe and fear at the monster, as it fully showed its form, a grotesque combination between an octopus and a squid, two monstrously huge eyes, and one giant maw, full of sharp serrated teeth. Ao himself was in deep awe and fear, and just like the captain, he was fully taken aback when the creature finally showed its form.
"Ye be seeing this Capt'n? He asked, as he slowly stepped back away from the ever encroaching tentacles of the giant monster.
"Me be no blind ya scallywag! Me be seeing the beast as well!" Captain Fleck shouted, then he reached for his cutlass and shouted again towards the spirit guardian, "Now, ye be help this ol' capt'n and we both can escape from this monster!"
Raising his eyebrow in suspicion, Ao looked at the captain and told him, "Now what makes ye think me be helpin ya?"
"Ya fool! We both be dead if ye leave me alone!" Captain Fleck exclaimed, face turning red from anger towards the foolish guardian.
Glaring at the captain, Ao just turned his head and refocused his attention upon the monster, who has now fully revealed itself. "Damn creature." he said, then without hesitation, he turned back and ran, fetching Captain Fleck on his way.
The Captain let out an audible 'oof' as he was suddenly tackled by the spirit guardian, his cutlass flying away after he lost hold of it. "Ye fool! Me cu'lass!" he shouted, as he found himself being carried by the guardian on his back.
"Ye shou'd be than'ful capt'n! Me could have left you behind!" Ao shouted back, as he ran away from the monster and off the ship, which was slowly being destroyed by the raging beast, he even managed to evade a plank flying his way after the monster struck it with its gargantuan tentacles. "Blimey! Tha' was close!" Captain Fleck shouted.
"Let us hope that it would be the last then!" Ao screamed, then after evading another splintered plank, and running away from a nasty death by being squished by a huge tentacle, Ao finally saw the border of the ship and without hesitation ran towards it, "Lad, what are ye thinkin!" the captain asked, as he saw them both nearing the ships edges. Smiling, Ao replied, "Jumpin Capt'n!" Then he threw both himself and the captain off towards the raging water.
"Curse ye lad!" Captain Fleck shouted, as he plummeted down below to the ocean.
"Yer safe now! What else do you want?" Ao shouted, who was also plummeting down below, but before he could even touch the ocean surface, he transformed into his eagle form. "Until next them then Capt'n Fleck!" he squawked, and with a burst of wings, flew away from the ocean, the broken ship, and the kraken, leaving the Captain shouting profanity in his wake.
Ao was suddenly awakened from his nice dream, opening his eyes, he blearily looked around, seeing that he was in a room colored in pink, his memories from before suddenly returned, reminding him of the reason why he is here. "Of course, Ming invited us over in her house to rest," he mumbled, then he noticed that he wasn't wearing his armor any longer, blinking, Ao looked around and found his armor sitting near a desk which was full of documents with a flower pot planted on its left side, giving it a beautiful, yet simple decor.
"How did that get there?" He asked himself, and shook his body awake, he then threw his warm sheets away and stood up, stretching his body to further awaken himself, then he carefully tidied up the bed, folding the sheet nice and tidy, and slowly making sure that it was clean from his fur, 'Don't want to leave any of my furs behind,' he thought, as he slowly rechecked the sheets for any furs still left, 'Besides, it's a good bed.' his thoughts added, then afterward when he was finished cleaning and tidying up the bed, he went into the mirrors and checked himself. Ao smiled as he saw himself in the mirror, his coat was it's ever pristine white, his blue eyes show life and attentiveness and his form is quite dashing to look at, "Looking great there, handsome." he said to himself in the mirror, then he clicked his tongue and pointed to his image. Afterward, he went and wore his armor and went outside of the room.
When he finally managed to go outside, he saw the hallway leading towards the other rooms of the floor, empty. "I guess everyone is downstairs now," he said to himself, deciding to go downstairs as well, Ao took a leisurely pace, swiveling his head and looking around the hallway, trying to memorize the lovely house, and looking at the decors that he failed to see last night.
"Ming really does have a beautiful home," he mumbled, a smile then painted his face when he saw a picture of a family of Moki, all smiling back towards him. He stopped for a moment and looked at it, seeing the family being depicted sitting around a beautiful green park, both of the parents were sitting on picnic cloth, preparing foods, while the three children were seen running around, flying a kite. Ao was so deep into the picture that he didn't notice someone coming near his back.
Clearing their throat, the individual then said, "It's beautiful isn't it?" Ming said.
Jumping a bit, Ao swiveled around and smiled at Ming, who was looking at him with a smile on her own face, "Yeah, sorry about that!" Ao said, laughing to himself for not noticing his friend immediately and scratching his head for his mistake.
Ming smiled at Ao, and said, "Don't... You don't need to." Then she took his paws and led him down the stairs into the kitchens.
While walking, Ao couldn't help but wonder, where was her family? He was so consumed by this that he couldn't help himself but ask this question. "So, where are they?" he mumbled, a bit scared for her reaction.
Ming, who was happily walking along with him, whose paws were still intertwined with hers's hummed, "Hmm, what do you mean?" she asked, looking towards her friend's eyes.
"Your family, where are they?" Ao asked.
Ming suddenly stopped walking and she turned her head away, looking at the ground, her paws clenching Ao's a little bit stronger. Ao noticed the sudden change of behavior and berated himself, 'Dammit Ao, look at what you did!' he thought. Without further hesitation, Ao took Ming in an embrace and whispered to her ears, "It's alright, you don't need to tell me if you don't want to"
Ming, who was debating on herself, of whether she should tell Ao or not, was taken aback by the sudden embrace, she was more touched, and a bit miffed, when Ao whispered those words to her. Letting out a sigh, she gently pushed him away and smiled at him, showing her appreciation for his words. "It's okay, I'm fine." she said, then she put her paws on his face and said, "Besides, I want to tell you… But not today… okay?" she said, looking like she was slowly going to burst into tears.
Ao smiled at her and nodded, wiping some of her loose tears, he then took her paws and led her downstairs.
Milan was absorbed reading his new book, learning new stuff and studying general Magicka, "Huh, so when I use Magicka I use my soul energy?" he mumbled, his snapper, who he aptly named Snips, was peacefully sleeping alongside his chair where he was currently sat upon, "What's Magicka anyway?" he asked no one in particular, and then his question was suddenly answered by a voice he recognized immediately, "Magicka is the life force of every being in this world, it's part of our souls, the one that gives the energy and life that is needed to keep surviving." Ao answered his friend, smiling from the stairs, all the while Ming was seen giggling to herself.
Milan smiled upon seeing his friend awake and greeted him, "Morning Buddy!" he said, he then looked at the giggling Ming and shook his head, looking back at his friend, who was now approaching him, Milan asked, "What do you mean about 'Lifeforce?' "
When Ao was near enough, he put his paws on his hips and answered hi friend's inquiry, "life force, is as it says, the energy that is giving life to all that exists, every being on this world, from the smallest of ants to the largest beast, has a life force, in this life force, our consciousness, as well as our souls, are contained, some creatures, like for example, my kind, can harness this life force and use it to our will."
Milan was further intrigued after hearing this and asked his friend, "So, when you use your light, your tapping into your life force?"
Nodding his head, Ao confirmed his friend's assumption, "Yes"
Milan was now standing away from his comfortable seat, and Snips had finally been fully awake and was purring in content as Ming scratched her chin. He then took his friend's paws and kneeled so that he was the same height as his friend, then he asked Ao, "Can you teach me how to use mine?"
Blushing a bit, Ao chuckled to his friend and answered, "Sure, if you're up to it, mind you, I'm not that good at teaching, so you have to help me as well."
Smiling from ear to ear, Milan whooped and jumped around, all the while laughing and chanting, "I'm going to learn how to use Magicka!" Ming was openly laughing at his childish display, Ao was scratching his head in embarrassment, while Snips was just looking at her human thinking to herself, 'What is stickman doing? He be jumping like he's trying to find a mate.' then Snips had an epiphany, 'Stickman is jumping, maybe he wishes to mate with the small white one!'
Thankfully, her thoughts were left unnoticed by the three other creatures with her.
Suddenly, Gon peeked from the doors of the kitchen and called to them, "Yo legends! Meals are cooked!" he announced, then he turned away and returned to help his brother in preparing the dishes.
Ao raised his eyebrow and sighed, he then looked towards his friends and saw them looking at him with grins on their faces, "What?" he asked.
Giggling, Ming shook her head and replied, "Nothing," and then she took off towards the kitchen, calling both Ao and Milan to come along with her, "Come on guys!" she shouted.
Milan laughed at this and winked to his friend, who was still curious about the reason for their grin. "Really guys why were you grinning at me?" he asked, briskly walking alongside his two friends, who didn't answer him and instead just rolled their eyes and continued walking. A bit miffed, Ao just shook his head and said, "Fine, don't tell me then, I'll just find out later."
And the group continued towards the kitchen, and when they arrived they saw that Gon and Kwago overdid themselves, in front of them were variations of food, all smelling good and look appetizing. "Wow, guys! You just overdid it!" Ming exclaimed as she saw all the delicious foods lining the table, blushing, Kwago scratched his head and answered, "Well, I and bro loves to cook and we decided to show you guys how much we appreciate your help last day." Gon nodded his head, confirming what his brother said.
Grumpily, Ao looked at the two and said, "So you two decided to overdo your cooking so you could say thank you to us?" he asked, crossing his arms in suspicion, "You two aren't buttering us up for something are you?" he said, looking at the two suspiciously. He then felt an elbow on his ribs and let out a yelp from the pain, "How, the." he cried, putting his paws on his ribs, which was covered with his armor.
"Palm strike, it disregards any kind of armor or cover and directly hits the creature's flesh," Ming answered, as she saw Ao looking at her dumbfoundedly.
Then Milan suddenly said, "Wait was that Magicka?" he asked his friend all the while stars were painted over his eyes.
Smiling, Ming made a cute pose and answered, "Yup."
"That hurt you know." Ao grumpily said and ambled his way towards the nearest seat.
Giggling, Ming winked at him and made a cute bleeping face, she then followed suit when she noticed Ao was suddenly blushing all over his face, all the while Milan was still starstruck to see Ming perform Magicka in front of him.
"You guys really need to teach me how to use my Magicka!" Milan cried out. Still starstruck by his friend's abilities.
Sighing, Ming answered her excitable friend, "Later Milan, just as soon as we're finished with our meal.". Ao agreed and nodded his head, then he glared at the Owl and the Gumon looking at them and silently conveyed, 'Nod your heads or you're both dead', gulping, the two did just that and agreed upon Ming's words.
"Aww, fine, but you guys promised!" Milan said, and then he was suddenly pushed into a seat near Ao by Snips, who was getting impatient, also because she wants to make sure that her 'Stickman gets well together with the small white one.' 'Wonder what kind of offspring they will have?' she wondered to herself, as she strolled her way on her designated spot.
After an eventful breakfast, with the group having fun talking to each other, and Snips acting all suspiciously. The group decided to go out to the market and purchase goods for their upcoming trip towards Milan's home.
"We really couldn't say this more than enough, but thank you, for your help yesterday." Kwago said, as he gave a bow to the trio, all the while Gon was busy shaking each of their hands in respect, "What my bro said."
"Aww, you guys don't need to thank us, we just did what was right!" Ming answered as she shook Gon's spindly arms in a carefree manner.
"What she said," Milan answered as well, pointing his thumb towards the smiling Moki.
Ao on the other hand was just grumpily looking around, and he was not even trying to hide it. Ming noticed this and elbowed him again, using the same Magicka from before, but even before her elbow could connect, Ao suddenly vanished. "What the!" Ming exclaimed as she found herself slipping to the ground after she outbalanced herself from trying to elbow her friend, "Ming!" Milan and Gon both shouted and ran to save Ming from having a bad fall, only for Ao to suddenly reappear and catch her mid-fall. Gripping her waist, Ao smiled at his friend's flabbergasted face, "Blink, the ability to disappear from reality momentarily, it's a good defense for when you're about to get hit by a projectile and have nowhere to run," he said, his voice low and deep.
Blushing, Ming then swiftly gave Ao a punch on the gut, catching him off guard by the swift strike. "Ooff!" Ao grunted in pain and clutched his stomach, letting go of Ming who then fell towards the ground, hurting herself in the process. Milan saw this and quickly went towards her, asking if she was okay all the while Ao was down on the ground as well, but he was laughing instead of being angry.
"She's fine, bud." Ao wheezed, as he tried to even his breathing and reign on the pain of his abdomen, "Though, she hits real good." he added. And wheezed out laughing again.
Glaring at him, Milan then asked, "Why did you do that anyway? Suddenly up and vanishing and letting her fall down?"
With his breathing evening out, and the pain in his abdomen all but gone, Ao stood up and said, "I didn't let her fall." Then he snapped his paws and a portal suddenly appeared from above him, with Ming falling down from it and straight towards Ao's waiting arms. "Ooff!" Ming grunted, as she fell on Ao's arms and feeling herself stopping from the fall.
Milan was clearly in great confusion and that was reflected both on his eyes as well as his posture, "But-how-!" he then looked back toward the other Ming, and found a doll staring at him. Jumping back from fright, Milan looked back at his friends and saw that Ming was already on her feet and was glaring towards Ao, who was looking guilty for his recent actions and was profusely asking for forgiveness from the miffed Moki.
"What was that!" Milan exclaimed, pointing back towards the doll that was once his friend.
Hearing their friend's exclamation of shock, both Ao and Ming swerve their heads towards their friend. Smiling, Ao then answered, "It's called illusions bud." revealing the magic towards his awestruck friend.
"Illusions?" Milan asked.
"Mhm"
"That can be done as well?"
"Of course."
Then Ao smiled and winked towards his friend, "Want to learn it?" he asked.
Milan's eyes were filled with stars and he was smiling ear to ear after he heard Ao's offer, he swiftly took the guardian's paws surprising Ao with his speed, and said, "Yes! I want to learn how to do that!"
Rolling her eyes after seeing her friends enthusiasm and how fast his attitude change after hearing the word illusion, Ming patted her sling bag and cleaned it off of dirt, after that, she refocused back towards her two friends and said, "Alright you two, that's enough, we still need to go in the market."
"Right," Milan replied and nodded his head in agreement.
"Of course," Ao said, all the while grinning at his Moki friend, who saw it and just let out a sigh of annoyance.
But before the three could leave towards the market, they were stopped by the gumon and the owl who was silently watching the exchange, as well as the illusions, happening.
"Wait!" shouted Gon, as he and his brother Kwago waved towards the leaving trio.
Eyes painted with annoyance, Ao looked back towards the running siblings and put his paws on his hips, he then sighed and said, "What do you guys want? We're leaving."
Huffing from their run and taking in precious air, Kwago looked towards Ao and answered, "We, we want to come with you guys."
Eyebrows raised in a questioning manner, Ao started to talk, only to get stopped by Ming, who also saw the siblings run towards them and heard them ask if they could come with them.
"Of course you both could come with us!" she said, all the while glaring towards the miffed guardian to whom she elbowed in the chest to stop him from talking.
"Ouch" Ao silently muttered, rubbing his chest from the pain, 'This is the second time she did that palm strike of hers, and how did she manage to do it on her elbow?' Ao thought, wondering how Ming managed to use a palm strike with her elbow.
Milan also came back towards them and agreed to have the siblings go with them.
Beaten two to one, Ao just let out a sigh and agreed to take the two siblings, on a condition that they would help them in any way they can.
After that little event, the group then headed out towards the market, looking forward to buying things that they may need to continue their journey up north, back to Milan's home.
"Disgusting." A man quietly said to himself, after he saw a human and a Moki talking to each other happily, they were discussing simple things in life and the man overheard them talking about how their families are doing. "Simply disgusting." he reiterated to himself.
Not wanting to further listen towards the conversation between the two, the man quickly took off towards the market, all the while smoking a cigar. "When would people learn that they shouldn't mingle with those furry assholes? We're humans, we should be enslaving them not befriending those beasts." he silently muttered to himself, glaring back towards the two creatures who were now laughing together, "Really disgusting."
After a while of walking, the man finally arrived at the market, seeing more people interacting with the so-called beast, the man had no choice but to swallow his pride and ignore them, he had items to buy and a mission to finish.
'Great, more furry lovers. My day just got better and better' thought the man, as he navigated through the streets filled with consumers and sellers. 'I just need to buy myself a good weapon and I'll be off. Away from this flea-ridden town.'
Moving through the market and after making his way through an alleyway that leads to the east side of the market. The man finally saw a weaponsmith selling weapons and armor. Smiling and after checking his pocket to make sure that his money was still inside, the man walked towards the vendor, who to his chagrin, was a sentient bird.
"Come all! Come all! See my weapons and armor! They are made from the finest of materials sold at the cheapest price!" shouted the vendor. The bird vendor then noticed the approaching man and waved his wings, "You! Come and see my weapons and armor! Choose what gets your fancy!"
The man was disgusted with himself, 'Great, to see others interacting with this beast is vomit-inducing enough, and for myself to do it, argh. Divines help me.' thought the man, and he did his best-smiling face and asked for a good set of swords and an armor that fits.
The vendor bird heard the man's requirements and quickly took off towards the crates holding his wares, he then produced a nice looking scabbard with a leather handle and presented it towards the waiting man, who somehow forgot that he was talking and interacting with a beast after he saw the beautiful weapon.
The bird noticed this and silently smiled to himself, then he gave the sword towards the man and let him judge the weapon for himself.
When the man received the weapon from the bird, he was quite shocked and taken aback by the lightness of the sword, swinging it, he was even more amazed by how sturdy it felt. "Well balanced and light!" he exclaimed, he then looked towards the smiling bird and narrowed his eyes, he then pointed the swords towards the bird's slender neck and asked, "You, where did you steal this magnificent weapon?"
Eyes widening, not in fear but in amusement towards the man, the bird confidently answered, "I promise you sir I made that myself."
Glaring, even more, the man tried to stab the bird for lying but instead of hearing a flesh getting punctured, the man felt the sword make contact with metal. "Wha-"
Smiling, the bird put a wingtip on the sword by his throat and slowly forced it away, somehow overpowering the man's strength with his own, "Now, now, you don't want to fight a master of Magicka, yes?" the bird said, grinning at the man who was looking like a fool after he uttered those words.
Gulping, the man slowly backed away from the bird, then he noticed that a lot of creatures were looking at them, some were even holding the hilt of their own weapons, ready to rush in help. The bird also noticed this and put his wings up in a placating manner, "Now, now folks! We're all good here, I and this young wonderful man have already settled our differences peacefully, you all can go back to your jobs now." exclaimed the bird, the creatures took a few seconds more before they followed his instructions and accepted his words. Smiling, the bird then returned his attention towards the man, only to find the spot where he was standing empty, except for a leather pouch haphazardly thrown to the ground. "Odd man." the bird said to himself, wondering about the odd human he just had met.
'Damn it to hell!' thought the furious man, as he angrily walked the busy road leading to the market's eastern exit.
He was so furious about the recent event that he didn't notice a group coming towards him on a bend by the road and since he was walking fast, he had no opportunity to evade the coming group. There was a sound of bodies impacting each other and then a commotion suddenly broke out, "The heck! Watch where you're going!" shouted the man, as he was bounced back quite hard towards the ground after he impacted something hard. Rubbing his back, he then opened his eyes and saw to his disbelief, a group of beasts staring at him. One of the beasts, a gumon, even tried to offer his spindly arms towards the fallen man, but he quickly slapped it off and muttered to himself, "Disgusting vermin don't try and touch me."
Disregarding the jab towards him, Gon asked the man if he was alright and unhurt, only for him to receive a seething glare for his troubles. Huffing, the man took his fallen weapon and bag and continued his way without looking back towards the group, absolutely missing a certain creature that would have made his life easier.
"What a weird man," says Gon, as he watched the man furiously walk away from them towards the exit to the main road leading outside the capital. "I mean I offered assistance after I bumped him, the least he could have done is take it." he added, he then looked back towards his friends and saw them looking at the strange man as well, coughing and gathering their attention towards him and he asked, "Anyway, should we go buy us some weapons and armor now?"
The others who were also wondering about the strange man were thankful for the distraction given to them by their friend. "Right, let's go then!" Ming said and led the group towards a kind bird she knew that sells good weapons and armor, the same bird, that unbeknownst to the group, had sold the man a sword and was the reason for his ire.
The group walked the same route the man took, but they were in no hurry so they went their merry way and absorbed themselves in the architecture and the varying products being sold.
"This place is really far different than mine!" Milan exclaimed, as he then pointed out towards a building that was built in stones and metal, "That building's new. And are those metal?" he asked, curious about the new building and the metal that was supporting it.
Looking towards it, Ming nodded her head and said, "Yup and the metal is called a beam, it holds everything up in place for the stones to be put safely without the hazard of it falling down."
Blinking his eyes dumbly, Kwago swerved his head all the way to his back and asked, "But, how did they make a metal that strong and large?"
The group behind him was unnerved by Kwago's head which was seemingly twisted to his back. "Umm, I think they made it with a machine or something," Ming answered, greatly disturbed by the owl's gaze.
"I see!" Kwago happily answered and returned his head to a far more normal angle.
Blinking in disbelief and hearing his friends let out a sigh, Ao shook his head and muttered, "He didn't even ask what kind of machine it was used to make that metal."
"It's a huge machine that is operated by hundreds of people at once," Ming whispered towards Ao after she heard him mutter about it.
Ao smiled towards his friend and winked at her, "Thanks," he said.
Giggling to herself, Ming answered, "You're welcome,".
The two smiled at each other and Ao sneakily reached up towards Ming's paws in which she immediately clutched his paws when she felt them touching her's.
"Really?" she then asked the grinning guardian.
Shrugging his shoulders, Ao turned his head back into the front and whispered. "Why not?"
Turning her head towards the front as well, Ming could only smile even more as she clutched Ao's paws even harder. "Hmm, why not." she simply uttered.
Their entire conversation was lost to the other creatures of the group as they were all busy admiring the place and talking to each other.
A later while, the group finally saw themselves at the place where the bird's shop is located, looking around, Milan saw to his astonishment, a variety of shops selling wares and items to use, there was even a potion shop near a clothing store. "Wow," he said.
"Wow indeed." Ming answered, as she too looked around the place, but not in astonishment nor in curiosity, she was searching for her bird friend, 'Now where are you Mister' she thought. Then when her head came to the left, she finally spotted him, selling something to a human customer.
Smiling, Ming then gathered her friend's attention and pointed towards the bird and his store. "He's over there guys, come on," she said, and she happily marched towards the merchant, with her friends following behind.
"So, who's this friend of yours?" Ao suddenly asked as he stepped alongside her. Looking at her friend, Ming replied, "He's a good friend of mine since I was still a hatchling, been taking care of me sometimes, he's name's Austin but people here call him Ao, just like your name."
Surprised after hearing those words, more for knowing that the bird was somehow a part of her childhood than hearing they have the same name, Ao looked to his friend and said, "Wow, that's something. I'm assuming that he's a good creature then?"
"Very." was Ming's simple yet conviction filled reply.
Soon, the group found in the store, the bird, who was busy talking to a customer, took a few seconds to notice the new arrivals. When he did, he quickly greeted them but his greeting died down when he saw Ming standing among them looking a bit shy.
"Ming is that you!?" the bird, named Austin, exclaimed.
Smiling shyly, she took Ao's paws yet again and waved her free paw in a greeting, "Yes papa Ao." she replied.
Ao's eyebrows rose high after hearing those words, and Milan, Gon, Kwago, and Snips, were also taken aback.
"He's your papa!?" Milan suddenly exclaimed, pointing at the grinning secretary bird.
Snickering aloud, Austin put his wings in front and calmly said, "Now, now, I'm pretty sure we can talk about this stuff back inside the house yes?" in which the others could dumbly nod in response.
"Ming, my dear, would you love to bring your friends with you? Your papa Qaz is at home as well." Austin said, telling Ming to bring her friends towards the house, which was located at the back of the store. Ming nodded her head in agreement and was quite excited to know that papa Qaz was also back home, "Come on guys, let's get you settled down in the house, and I'll introduce you to my papa Qaz." she announced, and had the group follow her back towards the house.
While Snips was sniffing around the place profusely, quite bedazzled with all the new scent she was getting.
When the group finally arrived at the house, they saw an elegant looking house built on cement with birds and dragon sculptures lining the entrance, the blue door itself was filled with birds and dragon symbols all etched beautifully on the carved wood.
"This place looks awesome!" Milan shouted as he kept looking around the entrance and seeing all the amazing decorations that were filling it.
"Yup, my papa Ao and papa Qaz live in quite a luxury." Ming happily replied to her friend. Then she suddenly heard Gon and Kwago snickering behind her, looking back at them with a questioning gaze. "What?" she asked.
Couldn't hold it in any longer, the two burst out laughing, making Ming and others even more flabbergasted by them. Trying not to make them look like a bunch of lunatics, Gon and Kwago heaved for air and tried to stop their laughing, then Kwago looked towards the utterly confused Ming and answered, "You just called Ao papa!" and resumed laughing profusely.
Blinking in confusion, Ming shook her head and glared towards the laughing Owl, letting out a sigh she then put her paws on her hips and asked, "And what does that suppose to mean really?"
Snickering for a few moments after hearing the question, Kwago answered with a laugh, "You just called Ao, papa.!" and pointed to Ao, who was taken aback after that.
"Excuse me?" Ao said as he pointed to himself, "But, I'm not papa Ao." he replied.
Eyes widening in understanding, Ming started giggling and she covered her mouth with her paws, she then looked at Gon and Kwago who was looking at her dumbly, "Pft, I didn't mean him when I said Papa Ao!" she said, pointing towards the chaffed guardian. "Hey now!" Ao exclaimed with a comical expression adorning his face.
Rolling her eyes, Ming lolled her tongue out and hushed her friend.
Meanwhile, Milan and Snips were both looking at their friends with the same expression of dullness. "Ummm... What do you think they're talking about bud?" he asked Snips, who just huffed and lolled her tongue out. "Right." Milan simply said as he saw his Snapper's reaction.
Moments later, the door of the house opened, and the group suddenly felt silent, holding their collective breath, they waited for the creature who opened the door to come out, slowly, a creature from inside came out, and as the light showed his features, the group, except Ming, were even more taken aback. Because the creature who came out of the house was no ordinary creature at all, it was a bipedal dragon.
The dragon, with black scales, sharp intelligent brown eyes, and powerful muscles looked over the cowering group, scrutinizing them one by one, he was quite taken by surprise when he saw the spirit guardian among them but he didn't show it, although, he did show surprise when he saw someone dear to him along with the group. Eyes widening, and throat clogging in, the dragon slowly looked at the creature over and silently asked, in a strong but gentle voice, "Ming?"
Smiling a bit, and holding unto Ao, whom she got taken hold of when she heard the doors open, looked at the black dragon with fondness and answered in a soft, quiet voice, "Yes, Papa. It's me."
Done!
Ori and the Blind forest & Will of the Wisps belongs to Microsoft Studios/Xbox Game Studios and Moon Studios
This story belongs to me, and Yuna