p class="MsoNormal"a name="_Hlk61896217"/aLemonhope now stood at the edge of the Ice Kingdom. He knew he was now totally free, no longer shackled to anyone who could prevent him from reaching his freedom. However, he was perplexed at what to do now that he had reached that point. He looked across the orange horizon, struggling to avoid the glare of the low hanging sun. /p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk61896217;"He looked towards the path which led him and Frasier to the Ice Kingdom but decided against it. He was to avoid all that could lead him on a path that Frasier would have desired. He searched for a path that didn't lead from where he and Frasier came, but could find none. The sun's light shone into Lemonhope's eyes, making him shield them. As the glare dissipated around his hand, a forest beneath the sharp sun became clear to him. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk61896217;"The forest didn't seem too thick from what Lemonhope could observe, and who knows what adventures could await him in there. He speculated what wonders he would see, like a fairy that granted wishes, or a fierce beast with a heart of gold. He started walking at a strong pace towards the forest, motivated not only by the lowering sun but his ambition as well. He felt a swelling inside his heart as he felt a joy which left him long ago; a joy that he last felt when he first set out to Casino City. He took out his harp and strummed a few notes. He formed lyrics in his head and discarded them as soon as they came. He then coincided with his gut which told him that there was no point in planning. Planning restricted the flow of your freedom. He thought of playing a tune, but let his fingers work for him. His lips parted and he let his heart sing./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk61896217;"emOn the road a lone adventurer trodbr /to many a sight that was oddbr /with no party in sightbr /yet still receptive to any plight/em/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk61896217;"emMany questioned his solitudebr /and to what dark fate it could alludebr /with no companion at his sidebr /he had to have something to hide/em/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk61896217;"emBut he had no dark goalbr /as being alone made him wholebr /with the freedom of choicebr /he forged his own voice/em/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk61896217;"emAnd that was his lonesome goal/em/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk61896217;"As his song finished, Lemonhope found himself deep in the forest. Thin streaks of light filtered through the trunks of the trees and gave the forest a low orange glow. Lemonhope started gathering sticks for a fire and looked for a clearing where he could build it. When found one, he dropped the sticks in a pile and took out his harp. He was hungry and needed to hunt some food. Luckily, he learned a thing or two when it comes to hunting on his travels and used his harp to lure a small plump squirrel to him. He found that he was very fond of the taste of squirrels./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk61896217;"As he enjoyed the juicy squirrel and stared into the flames, his thoughts began to drift to the moment that he left Frasier. He made the decision to leave, and that decision was based on the horror that Frasier could commit. What worried him was whether that decision was inevitable. The anger hidden within Frasier was with the little grass person their whole life, so it was bound to show itself to Lemonhope eventually. It led Lemonhope to wonder whether he would have reacted differently to Frasier if Frasier revealed his anger later. They had not known each other for a long time and their relationship had not developed too much, yet such a revelation could have destroyed his trust in an even greater fashion if he knew Frasier for longer. Was he bound to reject Frasier the moment he met him?span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk61896217;"Lemonhope hated the concept of destiny, yet this idea frightened him that it might be a reality. It would mean the death of his freedom. The freedom which he fought for would be a mere illusion to disguise the complex machine of the world and his place therein, where every action was planned for and would occur without fail. He faced himself with the decision whether he was stuck to follow destiny or that he had freedom in his choices./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk61896217;"He decided that he needed to sleep. The night brought horrible thoughts, but there was an escape from it in dreams. Lemonhope put away the half-finished squirrel in his pocket, saving it for later. He then let his head rest on his lumpy bag still staring into the dying flame. The light faded from his vision as his mind receded inwards. At first, he thought the rustling in the distance was an approaching dream, but when it grew louder with no accompanying visions, he realised that it was reality. Lemonhope opened a single eye and looked around into the black abyss surrounding the light of his fire. A rustling could be heard directly behind Lemonhope which sent him up to his feet and wide awake. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk61896217;""Is anybody there?" asked Lemonhope the darkness. He received no reply. His campfire's dying light made the ring of darkness slowly approach him, threatening to consume him in the abyss. Lemonhope felt that his senses were heightened by fear and made him hear every small sound. A mourning moan pierced the silence of the night and consumed all that Lemonhope could hear. He looked around trying to find the source, yet only to find the sound to come from all sides. As he looked, he caught a flash of purple in the corner of his eye. "H-hello?" he stuttered. "Show yourself!" He listened for a reply and heard one which he feared. A roar emanated from where he thought he saw the beast, and the roar was one of hunger./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk61896217;"It was a roar that no sane creature could muster, and it was a roar that would mean the end of any who met it. Lemonhope dashed to hide behind what fire remained. "Begone, Demon!" he shouted. But the beast did not leave him. Lemonhope could hear it moving around him, moaning occasionally. Lemonhope shouted again but was met with more moans and roars. Lemonhope lay next to the near-dead fire in a curled-up ball, not daring to try and look at the darkness near his feet. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk61896217;"The moment Lemonhope thought he would be attacked, the sounds stopped. He looked up into the darkness and listened carefully. He heard nothing except for the dripping of some water in the distance. But he did not recall seeing any water near him in the forest. It was as he recalled this that the beast spoke, "Oh, my lumps! That smells good!" Lemonhope swerved to face the beast and was faced by their terrible visage. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk61896217;"The beast had purple fur and seemed to have lumps protruding across its body. It floated a foot above the ground and a cluster of lumps gathered at its bottom. It was foaming at the mouth and had a wild look in its eyes, comparable only to a starved wolf. Lemonhope screamed for his life as the beast reached out towards him. He felt his consciousness slip and fade away, just before the monster took the unfinished squirrel out of his pocket. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk61896217;"Lemonhope's rest was a dreamless one. When he awoke, he found himself confused at the previous night's events. He was not dead, yet he recalled being attacked by a monster. He reached for his breakfast and found the squirrel was missing from his pocket. Instead of hunting another delicious beast, he decided to pack up as soon as he could and get away from the forest. To stay any longer in the forest would be tempting death. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk61896217;"It wasn't long before Lemonhope could see the edge of the forest and the morning light shining in. He stopped for a moment, feeling a chill creep up his spine. His field of vision seemed to be becoming smaller. After considering it for a moment, he chalked it up to his disturbing encounter the previous night. He continued his stroll but stopped again when he felt his vision narrow even further. He looked around, only noticing then that an ethereal darkness had been creeping up on him. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk61896217;"The darkness seemed to know he noticed it and began surrounding him at an accelerated pace. Lemonhope broke into a sprint to reach the end of the forest but found the darkness to be faster than him. He tried to go as fast as he could but could see the darkness begin to snuff the light at the end of the forest. He closed his eyes and tried his best to go faster than he ever has before and then felt the warmth of the sun hit his face. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk61896217;"With a sigh of relief, Lemonhope opened his eyes only to find himself engulfed in total darkness. Lemonhope stumbled through it trying to find some sense of reality but felt none. Fear began to strike at him again as he waited for some horrifying fate. In its darkest moment, a light pierced the ever-reaching darkness. It was followed by another, which was also followed by another. Soon the entire darkness gave way to a starry scape around Lemonhope, a dazzling spectacle of darkness giving way to light. But the beauty of Lemonhope's ethereal prison did not take away his fear./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk61896217;"He looked around for some answer to where he was but did not dare to make a sound. A voice then seemed to emanate throughout the starry landscape and Lemonhope's mind. "Greetings, Lemonhope," it said. "I have been watching you for a while now, and I think it is time that we meet."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk61896217;"He looked towards the path which led him and Frasier to the Ice Kingdom but decided against it. He was to avoid all that could lead him on a path that Frasier would have desired. He searched for a path that didn't lead from where he and Frasier came, but could find none. The sun's light shone into Lemonhope's eyes, making him shield them. As the glare dissipated around his hand, a forest beneath the sharp sun became clear to him. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk61896217;"The forest didn't seem too thick from what Lemonhope could observe, and who knows what adventures could await him in there. He speculated what wonders he would see, like a fairy that granted wishes, or a fierce beast with a heart of gold. He started walking at a strong pace towards the forest, motivated not only by the lowering sun but his ambition as well. He felt a swelling inside his heart as he felt a joy which left him long ago; a joy that he last felt when he first set out to Casino City. He took out his harp and strummed a few notes. He formed lyrics in his head and discarded them as soon as they came. He then coincided with his gut which told him that there was no point in planning. Planning restricted the flow of your freedom. He thought of playing a tune, but let his fingers work for him. His lips parted and he let his heart sing./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk61896217;"emOn the road a lone adventurer trodbr /to many a sight that was oddbr /with no party in sightbr /yet still receptive to any plight/em/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk61896217;"emMany questioned his solitudebr /and to what dark fate it could alludebr /with no companion at his sidebr /he had to have something to hide/em/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk61896217;"emBut he had no dark goalbr /as being alone made him wholebr /with the freedom of choicebr /he forged his own voice/em/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk61896217;"emAnd that was his lonesome goal/em/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk61896217;"As his song finished, Lemonhope found himself deep in the forest. Thin streaks of light filtered through the trunks of the trees and gave the forest a low orange glow. Lemonhope started gathering sticks for a fire and looked for a clearing where he could build it. When found one, he dropped the sticks in a pile and took out his harp. He was hungry and needed to hunt some food. Luckily, he learned a thing or two when it comes to hunting on his travels and used his harp to lure a small plump squirrel to him. He found that he was very fond of the taste of squirrels./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk61896217;"As he enjoyed the juicy squirrel and stared into the flames, his thoughts began to drift to the moment that he left Frasier. He made the decision to leave, and that decision was based on the horror that Frasier could commit. What worried him was whether that decision was inevitable. The anger hidden within Frasier was with the little grass person their whole life, so it was bound to show itself to Lemonhope eventually. It led Lemonhope to wonder whether he would have reacted differently to Frasier if Frasier revealed his anger later. They had not known each other for a long time and their relationship had not developed too much, yet such a revelation could have destroyed his trust in an even greater fashion if he knew Frasier for longer. Was he bound to reject Frasier the moment he met him?span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk61896217;"Lemonhope hated the concept of destiny, yet this idea frightened him that it might be a reality. It would mean the death of his freedom. The freedom which he fought for would be a mere illusion to disguise the complex machine of the world and his place therein, where every action was planned for and would occur without fail. He faced himself with the decision whether he was stuck to follow destiny or that he had freedom in his choices./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk61896217;"He decided that he needed to sleep. The night brought horrible thoughts, but there was an escape from it in dreams. Lemonhope put away the half-finished squirrel in his pocket, saving it for later. He then let his head rest on his lumpy bag still staring into the dying flame. The light faded from his vision as his mind receded inwards. At first, he thought the rustling in the distance was an approaching dream, but when it grew louder with no accompanying visions, he realised that it was reality. Lemonhope opened a single eye and looked around into the black abyss surrounding the light of his fire. A rustling could be heard directly behind Lemonhope which sent him up to his feet and wide awake. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk61896217;""Is anybody there?" asked Lemonhope the darkness. He received no reply. His campfire's dying light made the ring of darkness slowly approach him, threatening to consume him in the abyss. Lemonhope felt that his senses were heightened by fear and made him hear every small sound. A mourning moan pierced the silence of the night and consumed all that Lemonhope could hear. He looked around trying to find the source, yet only to find the sound to come from all sides. As he looked, he caught a flash of purple in the corner of his eye. "H-hello?" he stuttered. "Show yourself!" He listened for a reply and heard one which he feared. A roar emanated from where he thought he saw the beast, and the roar was one of hunger./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk61896217;"It was a roar that no sane creature could muster, and it was a roar that would mean the end of any who met it. Lemonhope dashed to hide behind what fire remained. "Begone, Demon!" he shouted. But the beast did not leave him. Lemonhope could hear it moving around him, moaning occasionally. Lemonhope shouted again but was met with more moans and roars. Lemonhope lay next to the near-dead fire in a curled-up ball, not daring to try and look at the darkness near his feet. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk61896217;"The moment Lemonhope thought he would be attacked, the sounds stopped. He looked up into the darkness and listened carefully. He heard nothing except for the dripping of some water in the distance. But he did not recall seeing any water near him in the forest. It was as he recalled this that the beast spoke, "Oh, my lumps! That smells good!" Lemonhope swerved to face the beast and was faced by their terrible visage. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk61896217;"The beast had purple fur and seemed to have lumps protruding across its body. It floated a foot above the ground and a cluster of lumps gathered at its bottom. It was foaming at the mouth and had a wild look in its eyes, comparable only to a starved wolf. Lemonhope screamed for his life as the beast reached out towards him. He felt his consciousness slip and fade away, just before the monster took the unfinished squirrel out of his pocket. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk61896217;"Lemonhope's rest was a dreamless one. When he awoke, he found himself confused at the previous night's events. He was not dead, yet he recalled being attacked by a monster. He reached for his breakfast and found the squirrel was missing from his pocket. Instead of hunting another delicious beast, he decided to pack up as soon as he could and get away from the forest. To stay any longer in the forest would be tempting death. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk61896217;"It wasn't long before Lemonhope could see the edge of the forest and the morning light shining in. He stopped for a moment, feeling a chill creep up his spine. His field of vision seemed to be becoming smaller. After considering it for a moment, he chalked it up to his disturbing encounter the previous night. He continued his stroll but stopped again when he felt his vision narrow even further. He looked around, only noticing then that an ethereal darkness had been creeping up on him. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk61896217;"The darkness seemed to know he noticed it and began surrounding him at an accelerated pace. Lemonhope broke into a sprint to reach the end of the forest but found the darkness to be faster than him. He tried to go as fast as he could but could see the darkness begin to snuff the light at the end of the forest. He closed his eyes and tried his best to go faster than he ever has before and then felt the warmth of the sun hit his face. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk61896217;"With a sigh of relief, Lemonhope opened his eyes only to find himself engulfed in total darkness. Lemonhope stumbled through it trying to find some sense of reality but felt none. Fear began to strike at him again as he waited for some horrifying fate. In its darkest moment, a light pierced the ever-reaching darkness. It was followed by another, which was also followed by another. Soon the entire darkness gave way to a starry scape around Lemonhope, a dazzling spectacle of darkness giving way to light. But the beauty of Lemonhope's ethereal prison did not take away his fear./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk61896217;"He looked around for some answer to where he was but did not dare to make a sound. A voice then seemed to emanate throughout the starry landscape and Lemonhope's mind. "Greetings, Lemonhope," it said. "I have been watching you for a while now, and I think it is time that we meet."/span/p