Hey guys! I know that I have like...two other series that I haven't tended to in a while, and I'm sorry about that. I just keep getting too many ideas for stories in this world. This story is somewhat of a 1st-anniversary celebration for Onward, as it explores both brothers' connections and their own struggles to be there for each other with a new quest and the typical Pixar angst (although this story is a bit more extreme lol. Let's just say that before writing one of the chapters in this, I watched a dramatic PSA compilation). Also, the title and every chapter's name is a lyric from "Carried Me With You". And without further ado, let's get into "The Soul Who Understands"!
Barley Lightfoot wasn't scared of anything. Not of shady creatures walking in the night. Not of strange beings within the ocean. Not of weird sounds heard at the early hours of the morning. Nothing. He would always confront them without flinching, and go on with his life.
His wizard brother, Iandore, was a different story. Before his days of questing, he'd run away from anything slightly intimidating and hide. Whether it be talking to people at school, driving lessons, or trying new things, he couldn't bring himself to do any of those things without his whole body shaking uncontrollably. Those fears were alleviated after he and his brother embarked on a grand quest to resurrect their father, but deep inside he was still the same awkward and shy elf, the opposite to his boisterous, fearless older brother.
2 months ago Ian was just a regular elf just trying to do well in his advanced classes and other regular teenage things. Sitting in those classrooms, he never would've dreamed that two months later he'd be a training wizard running away from a fire blast heading down a long hallway of deadly traps with his brother in the pointiest mountain in the realm with the Unicorn Crystal in hand.
But that's what they were doing today, living like the days of yore.
"THIS IS NOT FUN!" the younger elf yells, racing down the corridor while clutching his staff he'd used to conjure up a magic shield.
"Sure it is!" the older elf yells back, chuckling as he runs in front of him using a shield he found along the way.
"Well, I wish I could've known beforehand that taking this crystal was gonna result in us outrunning an explosion!" "That's the thing about quests! You never know!"
Ian accidentally triggers a trap, sending two axes swinging horizontally towards his waist. Without thinking, he gracefully slides under the axes and keeps running. "WOAH! That was awesome, Ian! How did you time that so well?" "I dunno, fight or flight? I'm kind of trying not to end up like burnt toast right now." "Oh, we're not gonna end up like burnt toast."
The elves come upon a set of switches on the floor, creating a puzzle.
"Oh, no, not one of these again..." Ian utters, clutching at his hair. "We're taking chances!" Barley exclaims, grabbing his brother's hand.
Holding their shields at their sides, they run through the puzzle, but instead of getting pelted by arrows, fire shoots out from the holes in the wall.
The brothers shriek once they make this discovery, running even faster to get away. "Oh boy," Barley says as his wooden shield catches on fire. "Gods, did a bunch of pyromaniacs build this gauntlet?" Ian hollers as they approach the end. "I'm just wondering why they put it after where you get the crystal," Barley says. "Well, it sure beats a slower and more painful death."
Barley drops his shield once they reach the end. They had gone through all the deadly traps...but there was no exit in sight. The hallway only continued That's when the dungeon started getting darker, as there were no torches placed this far back. But it would only start to get lighter when the fire blast would catch up to the elves and consume them.
"Oh no...they really did fool us..." Barley muttered.
"Lufia!" Ian yelled. A bright light emerged from the tip of his staff and the two continue down the hall.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, they're met with a pack of feral unicorns hissing at them, probably only wanting the crystal for licking. The elves scream, with Ian casting "Boombastia!" in the air to scare them away. After that, the room starts turning orange as the blast that's upon them, and the elves continue running faster than they've run before.
Much to their relief, they come upon a bright light in the distance, letting them know they're about to be outside. Once they get closer, they stop in their tracks, realizing it's an opening at the top of the mountain with a steep drop down.
"No no no, now what are we gonna do?" Ian desperately asks. "Use the flying spell! We can get back to Gwinny in no time!" "But I haven't mastered that one at all yet!" "Just keep the focus on your target, forget about everything else, just focus on the solution!"
Ian remembers the magic decree: To soar through the sky, tell your heavy burdens goodbye.
While holding tightly onto his brother's hand, he taps his staff on the ground, points it toward the sky, and yells "Avi Dolanta!"
And then the brothers shoot off into the sky, the explosion from the side of the mountain below complimenting their escape.
Ian struggles to control the staff, flying haphazardly in random directions.
"WHERE DID WE PARK?" Ian yells as he tries to sit on his staff, Barley following suit. "As I said, focus on the solution, look towards the ground-" "WHY WOULD I DO THAT?"
"...So you don't fly too far up," Barley says after Ian cut him off.
Ian gulps and looks toward the ground, and sure enough, they go below the clouds. Scanning everywhere for signs of a parked orange van, he realizes at the near last second they're about to crash into a large stone on the side of the mountain. "AH!" Ian exclaims, quickly aiming his staff to fly above it. "Great reflexes, young mage!"
They get lower and lower and away from the mountain, still looking closely for the van. The last thing they wanted to happen at this point was for yet another feral unicorn to fly in their way...which is exactly what happened.
"AGH!" Both brothers yell as Ian aims away. But his flight becomes even more out of control and the spell eventually wears out, sending them crashing into a brook.
The water wouldn't have been deep enough to break a higher fall, but luckily they weren't that far from the ground.
Ian coughs as he looks up from the water, retrieving his staff that was perched between two rocks. At least he was lucky he didn't hit his head on those.
He hears Barley coughing behind him, wringing his beanie out and standing up while looking back at the ginormous mountain. Ian stands up with him to look at it, knowing that he just flew out of that thing while escaping an explosion.
"Woah..." he says in awe upon catching his breath.
"You did that," Barley tells his brother.
"I...did..." Ian says.
The brothers walk out of the brook and notice that Guinevere II was right behind them.
"Wait, did the crystal make it through all this?" Ian asks as the two get into the van. Barley pulls the crystal out of his vest pocket, completely intact. "Held onto it as carefully as I could," he answers. "Although I'm more concerned about you." He ruffles his brother's hair, getting a chuckle out of the both of them.
"You did so well back there," the burly elf continues. "You've managed to get so good at questing in so little time!" "Well, it seems that I work well when under pressure I guess." "But not when trying to grow a can of gas?" Barley laughs as Ian smirks and bumps him on the side. "Hey, cut me some slack, we were in a shady part of town."
"You're on your way to becoming a master wizard, Sir Iandore," the older elf says as he turns on the van. "You're going to be the greatest wizard this realm has seen."
Ian smiles at those words from his brother.
Barley changes the gear to "O" and drives away, heading back home to tell everyone about their latest quest.