Slightly revised version of something I wrote a while ago. Kind of a silly thing actually although I enjoyed writing it.
Too good to be true
Amidst the tall black trees, endlessly spreading in all directions, his pathetically small fire seemed incapable of offering the safety and warmth he craved for. Its light played upon the trees causing an eerie effect to an already eerie, not to mention scary, place.
The tent he had raised for the night lay in shackles behind him, unfortunately crushed during a surprise attack from some of the forest inhabitants. In the auburn light provided by the fire, he was now tending to an angry little wound on his shoulder.
Why this sudden outburst of bad luck? He asked himself. All he had left now was his small, not very reassuring fire, the bodies of several deceased monsters (that's not even good) and some hours left till dawn.
Burning pain in his left shoulder kept him awake just as much as the dark, unfriendly surroundings made him, not at all for the first time, wish himself to a warm bed at a cozy inn somewhere.
Not at all pleased with his situation the unlucky traveler began to plan for his survival. With endless woods in all directions, it seemed quite hopeless. He reached for his tall, heavy sword as if to seek comfort in the power it wielded. At least he still had that, he reminded himself, though he could only swing it one-armed right now.
I guess you're pretty screwed-up when you seek comfort in a weapon, he thought while feeling the cold steel of the blade with his fingertips, but screwed-up or not it still made him regain some reassurance. He could make it. After all he'd been through worse.
"Oh, and just when I thought it couldn't get any better!" Cloud exclaimed as rain started pouring down. Morning had just arrived and he was ready for departure. He had just discovered a forgotten potion in a back pocket and been very happy when suddenly dark clouds had filled the sky and decided to drench him. At least he was in a forest but rain still reached down to make him wet and even colder than before.
He cursed some before leaving the remains of his camp behind, walking with firm steps in the direction he hoped would lead him out of the forest.
Why, oh why didn't I just catch a chocobo? He asked himself, Then I wouldn't be in this damn mess.
By using his last potion he had been able to treat the wound on his left shoulder to some extent, and besides, most monsters seemed to stay away in the rain. Cloud imagined how the monsters and beasts would stay at home and watch TV instead of going out to play, since it was so cold and wet outside. Needless to say he envied them.
He looked up and caught a drop of rain in one of his eyes.
"Damn it! Just leave me the hell alone!" Cloud yelled at the forest with all his might. After the sudden outburst of anger he remained still on the spot for a moment trying to regain his composure.
Great, now my throat's sore as well…
He continued walking again, coughing with ever few steps while the quantity of water in his shoes ever increased.
After a while Cloud encountered a strange little man, who startled him by suddenly bursting out from the bushes before him.
"Who might you be?" The round shaped, short and seemingly middle aged man asked him, but before he could answer the man said "It doesn't matter, but say, did you just hear someone screaming?"
"Eh… that would have been me" Cloud answered. He hoped the man was the owner of a big, warm house in which he would invite Cloud to rest and dry up.
And maybe if he had a chocobo ranch…
"Why'd you do that?"
"Huh?" Cloud was brought back into reality.
"Why did you start yelling like that?"
"Oh…er… I caught a raindrop in my eye."
The short man suspiciously eyed the boy with strange hair for a moment. It was clearly an unstable and short-tempered person he was dealing with.
"Come to think of it, you look like you've been through a lot."
"Don't even get me started on that. My camp got trashed by some monsters, I've got no food left and I have no idea which way I'm supposed to be walking anymore." Cloud complained. "You don't happen to live around here do you?" he then asked.
The little man seemed oddly pleased by the question.
"Oh yes! I have a big house just nearby. You're more than welcome to stay for awhile if you want."
"……" Cloud said, confounded by the man's hospitality.
The cold rain increased and his boots were no longer boots but small lakes.
"Eh…Thank you…it would only be over the night then. Tomorrow I'll be on my way." Cloud told the enthusiastic little man. The man only nodded and Cloud got the feeling he wasn't really listening.
He motioned Cloud to follow and dove back into the thick shrubbery from which he had emerged. Cloud pursued and soon he had entered a part of the forest completely different from what he had so far seen. The place seemed to have been extracted straight from a fairy-tale. He was now standing in a green meadow filled with wild flowers and berry bushes. A small but lively stream with clear sparkling water split the meadow in two. Even though the sky was filled with clouds and pouring rain the place still looked enchanting. A sound from the bushes next to him made him reach for his sword. Suddenly a small deer jumped out into the open meadow, it jumped across the small stream and disappeared into the bushes on the opposite side.
Cloud scratched his head. What weird place had he now stumbled upon? Some kind of fairytale world? By experience he was a pessimist and this place was clearly too good to be true. Something bad would have to happen soon or he would fear it was all a dream.
The little man had been waiting for Cloud on the other side of the enchanted meadow and as he regained his concentration the man motioned him to follow again. Cloud began walking, some water spilling over the top of his boots.
At least I don't have to worry about getting wet crossing the stream, Cloud thought.
The little mans house was oddly placed in the middle of what to Cloud was the endless forest he had already spent far too much time in. Though the forest he had been disoriented and monster attacked in seemed like a complete different forest than the one this little man lived in. So far he had seen no signs of hostile creature whatsoever and no darkness, only green, green and green. As the bird sang their jolly tunes and a bunny rabbit stopped in its tracks to watch the two men pass, Clouds only thoughts were:
This is too much. This place isn't for real.
The house, as they reached it, was indeed big, especially since its owner was hardly more than half Clouds size.
Perhaps he's got a big family, thought Cloud.
They reached the front door and for the first time in a while the little man spoke.
"Well then, we're finally here!" He exclaimed happily, opening the door.
After entering the house Cloud froze in his tracks. The place was huge! Much bigger than it had looked from outside. It looked more like a mansion now, with a huge hall and a big crystal chandelier hanging down from the ceiling two floors above. Two wide, curved, red carpeted stairs on each side of the gigantic hall led to the second floor where Cloud could see several doors and huge paintings.
To the left of him was another room: a library filled with books and a huge fireplace where a sparkling fire already burned. Cloud just had to go out and have another look from outside. It couldn't be this big, but when he turned around the owner of the house, the strange little man, had already closed the door.
"Big isn't it?" The man asked, evidently pleased by his guest's wonder. He led Cloud further into the hall.
"Let us first go to the dining room. I'm terribly hungry, aren't you?" The little man asked. Cloud could only nod, staring at the walls filled with large paintings and other things such as animal hides and hunting trophies. The man asked him to leave his sword in the hall, and Cloud did so resting it up against the wall near the front door before joining his host in the dining room.
The dining room was even bigger then the hall.
After eating a great deal out of the man's very well filled fridge and food storage Cloud felt better than in a long time. He was no longer hungry and he had almost dried up.
The little man told Cloud that he was used to meeting lost travelers wandering around outside his house and had no problem whatsoever to lend them a room for a night or two. After all, his house was so big and held several bedrooms. What surprised Cloud the most was that he lived all alone, no family or friends or anything. His explanation for the big house was that he'd inherited it from his deceased father.
Cloud told the man, since he seemed interested, that he was on his way to see a friend living not that far west of the forest. He would usually take another route but this time he had stupidly chosen to wander through the forest he had thought to be much smaller than he had now learned.
A while later the big grandfather clock told Cloud it was already getting late and the sound of rain that there was no change in the weather. The little man must have read his thoughts, or perhaps just seen him glance at the clock, for he said:
"You must be terribly tired, let me show you a room where you can rest the night."
Cloud thanked him politely and they left the dining room, into the hall and up the stairs. On the second floor they entered a long hallway with several doors on each side. It kind of looked like a hotel.
Knock knock
Cloud stopped at the sound.
So did the little man.
"Oh you know how it is with old buildings. Makes all kinds of sounds." He told Cloud. There were no more sounds and they continued up to a door and behind it was a nice, quite normal sized bedroom. Everything about it was quite standard, no crystal chandelier and no over sized, over decorated bed, but still nice indeed. Cloud could not wait to fall asleep.
"There's a bathroom further down the hall. You'll find it." The man informed him and then left the room. Listening to the fading footsteps he couldn't help but think there was something strange about the place. He couldn't quite put his finger on it though. Perhaps it was only his pessimistic habits that forbade him to relax. Perhaps.
The bed squealed as Cloud lay down, then the room was silent.
No windows… that must be it… he thought just as he dozed off.
Get up!
Cloud nearly jumped out of bed. Confused he stood still for a moment. He must have had a dream or something. Nothing he could remember, however.
Did I even fall asleep? He wondered, scratching the back of his head.
Tap, tap
Cloud walked over to the window from where the sound had come from.
Window? What window? Had he missed it before? He didn't remember any window.
(No windows…that must be it…)
He reached to open it, and as he did a cold gust of air met his face. He must have missed it earlier, being so tired and all.
Outside grew an old, tall and very gray oak. Its branches seemed to reach for him. They must have been scratching against the window, he concluded. It looked kind of spooky with its twisted gray branches and deformed trunk. Only a few leaves still clung to the pointing branches, and these were just as gray as the rest of the tree.
Cloud shivered. Something felt wrong and the feeling would not leave him. Outside a wolf howled. The full moon shone.
He jumped high as someone suddenly began violently banging on the door to his room.
Bang bang bang bang
Cloud hurried over.
Bang bang ba-
Just as he reached for the doorknob the banging stopped. He pulled open the door and took peek in each direction of the corridor outside but no one was there.
What the hell? Just my luck to come across a haunted mansion, thought Cloud, It's gonna keep me up all night unless I…
He stepped out into the corridor and since he felt no need to visit the bathroom he decided to walk back down to floor one. As he reached the stairs, and began transcending, loud crashes were heard from the roof above. Cloud doubted those were the typical sounds of an old building. An old building at war perhaps, but not this peaceful mansion in the middle of the forest. It sounded more as if someone was trying to get in from above. Trying rather hard.
At any rate, he boldly made his way down not letting the sounds from above worry him. The little man was nowhere to be seen. Perhaps he was out fixing the roof?
Yeah right, that's what he always does in the middle of the night.
As he finished the thought he found the man in the huge library, his nose deep down into some old book. But not as deeply as to let Clouds presence to pass unnoticed.
"You can't sleep?" the man asked looking up.
"Well…" Cloud began "I heard some strange noises…Say doesn't this crashing sound come from the roof?" he wondered why the man wasn't reacting.
"Oh that's nothing to worry about. Just a couple of loose boards smashing against each other." The man explained. "Always does when the winds are strong"
Cloud didn't quite believe the man. "Are you sure? I mean, I saw a lot of monsters on my way here…"
"Oh no, this place is so peaceful!" the little man left his book by the chair and walked over to one of the many windows in the library, "I hardly ever see any monsters… Well……no… not today"
"What?" Cloud asked just before two hairy, paw-like hands broke the window, stretched inside and grasped hold of the little man before he had time to react. Cloud hurried over but the man had already been pulled out. Another window broke behind him, and as he turned he faced a very strange creature half standing in the shards of broken glass. The creature looked like some strange mix of a wolf and some kind of very large insect, like someone had melded these animals together, creating a very bizarre being. It stood on its hind legs but didn't seem to be able to stand completely straight. But hunched or not the creature was moving toward Cloud with surprising quickness.
He backed away and as he couldn't feel the familiar presence of his sword he felt no urge to fight this creature right now. Two other creatures of the same kind joined their friend, throwing themselves in through their own selected windows. The trio of wolf-insects joined each other in an earsplitting howl and as a reaction to that the crashing increased above them, on the roof. Other howls were heard from many different directions.
No monsters here, huh? Cloud thought as he backed to the front door. He searched the walls with his hands, not letting the creatures out of sight. His sword was gone. The little man couldn't possibly have moved it, he was far too small. But then who had?
The creature trio moved closer, sending each other a glance with every two steps, and Cloud began to worry slightly. He had the door behind him, but he doubted he would be better off outside. Judging from the scattered howls he'd heard, he would most probably meet some friends of these creatures before him out there as well. They were close now and they had him cornered. Cloud raised his fists as they were his last resort. Though he was no fist fighter or martial artist like his friend Tifa, he was still pretty strong and quick, but he didn't seriously believe he could take on three monsters at the same time, all of them bigger than himself.
Suddenly a crash louder than any before was heard and a big piece of the roof came falling down. Along with it, a few monsters that had successfully found another way into the house. The falling debris and monsters confused everyone except Cloud who always expected the worst of everything. He used the confusion to his advantage and escaped up the stairs. The monsters screamed in rage below him. One lay crushed underneath the huge, expensive crystal chandelier that had fallen down with the roof.
The hunting trophies! he thought, you must kill something to get hunting trophies. And you kill with weapons. Apparently he was on to something. The little man must have owned a gun of some sort, but in this huge house the chance of finding it was next to nothing.
Opening one door after another, Cloud made his way through the hallway without finding anything to use against his enemies. And they were closing in.
His escape came to an abrupt stop as the hallway ended with a wall. He searched the surroundings but found no way out. He was cornered again. Standing with his back up against the wall he waited for the creatures to show up. They were indeed closing in on him.
Knock knock
What the…
Two big claws smashed through the wall, grasped a hold of his neck, and pulled him straight through, from the hallway to the room next to it. It took Cloud a couple of seconds before he realized what happened. He saw the big monster towering over him just in time to dodge its razor-sharp claws and got up from the floor. There on the wall, he noticed, was his savior: a double-barreled shotgun just hanging there waiting to be used.
The creature must have read his mind, but before it had time to stop him, Cloud had leapt forward, jerked the shotgun of the wall and hit the ground again.
"Heads up!" Cloud said, prayed the gun was loaded and shot the creature in the face.
He had no time to be impressed by his clean shot as the wolf creatures were already crowding the hole he'd made in the wall. They seemed a bit confused by the sudden explosion from the shotgun. While exiting trough the closest door he thought:
What the hell was that? The creature I just killed… it wasn't like the others, he borrowed some ammo from a shelf before he left. Looked more like a reptile…? Or maybe a bat… He hurried out only to find himself in another confusing, even longer hallway. Just another bizarre mix, I guess.
From everywhere he could now hear tapping, knocking, crashing and other noises the creatures could make, such as shrill screams and fierce howls.
Man, this is enough to make you go crazy… Cloud thought and suddenly recognized where he was. He had emerged through a door near the bathroom, in the corridor his borrowed room lay. Since he still felt no need to use the toilet or anything else the bathroom offered he moved away from it, towards his room. He wasn't planning to sleep or anything but he clearly remembered the window there and wanted to take a look outside.
He found and entered the room, closed the door behind him and started walking towards the window. A cracking sound was heard, and suddenly the window came crashing in. Cloud jumped back ready to fight but no wolf-insect or bat-reptile monster was seen. Instead a thick gray branch belonging to the oak tree outside now poked through the broken glass. He sighed in relief and made his way to the window, still a bit cautious though. He looked out and noticed the rain had almost stopped. Something shiny down by the tree roots caught his attention. He leant further out and recognized his sword leaning against the oak. Then the tree grabbed him.
"What the hell?!" Cloud exclaimed as the branches spun around his arms. Another, thicker branch reached inside the room and grabbed hold of his legs. He tried desperately to get loose, but to no avail. The twisted, gray branches had a tight grip around him and pulled him out through the window. The shotgun was placed, out of reach, on his back momentarily replacing his sword. No matter how he tried he could not reach it.
Then suddenly as the branches shook him the shotgun fell. He managed to free one hand and caught it before it fell out of reach. He fired a shot at the thick branch holding his feet, not wanting to hit his own legs he aimed higher up on the branch. It was torn into pieces. The other branches could now no longer support his weight and he fell rapidly toward the ground below.
The muddy earth came fast and he hurt his left elbow hitting it. Right now the sword was all on Clouds mind, since he knew it was so close. Though as he looked in its direction he noticed it wouldn't be for very long.
The tree was swallowing it, the tree was swallowing his sword. The trunk of the old oak, that he just minutes ago had assumed being dead as a rock, it had the same color as one anyway, had opened hole resembling an open wound and was right in the process of absorbing the big steel sword. A waving branch poked Cloud in his left eye as he hurried to free his legs from the torn off branch around them. He then rushed over to stop the bizarre, somewhat revolting, process of absorbing his beloved sword. This was one of the strangest things he'd ever seen.
The sword was already halfway inside the tree, and he had to pull with all his might to get it out of there. It was all covered in some sticky, orange-brown fluid and he got some on his hands. Filled with disgust he tried to get rid of it, but the slime held on for dear life and wouldn't let go. As he picked up a pointy branch he would use to bend the slime of his hand, it moved.
"Ahhh!" Cloud yelled when the slime moved up into his shirt trough his sleeve. Then the disgusting slime moved from there up his throat and onto his face. It covered his left chin and he was desperately trying to get it of. After yelling and pulling at the slime for awhile, he finally remembered the branch he held in his right hand. He used it to pull and bend the persistent slime of his face.
When the slime finally lay defeated on the ground, Cloud stepped on it in order to finish the job. He then realized it might not have been the smartest thing to do, as the slime could now grab on to his shoe. He quickly stepped off it and impaled it with the pointy branch instead.
As he struggled to calm down, he remembered the pesky tree and its roots and branches. He quickly moved out of reach, but the tree was all still now, not a single branch stretched for him. Cloud observed the tree for awhile and started doubting his own eyes. Had it really happened? Maybe he was just going crazy? Well, it didn't really matter he figured, as long as he survived the night.
Now… what would be the wisest thing to do…? he asked himself. If I start wandering off into the forest, I'll probably be lost… He looked the old oak and shivered, adding: Or maybe eaten by some trees,
Instead he decided to wait for dawn inside the mansion. Now he had both his trusted sword and a loaded shotgun, he figured that would be enough to keep the monsters at bay for some time. Hopefully all the way until dawn.
Cloud had been right the first time he saw it. The house didn't look half as big from the outside as it had proven to be from the inside. He fought the urge to take more exact measures and entered the house for the second time.
The door squealed as he opened it and entered the hall, other than that it was silent. If he would have been into sewing and carried a pin he would undoubtedly have heard it drop onto the floor. He didn't sew, though, and carried no pin, but silent it sure was. Only the muffled sound of his boots against the carpet was heard as he slowly moved toward the fallen chandelier in the middle of the room. Underneath it was, to Cloud, a new kind of creature. Though crushed underneath the heavy chandelier, its bizarre features were still relatively unharmed. Enough so for him to get a closes look of the beast, and this was indeed a strange one. It had long horns…
What? A rhino…?
…a thick shell on its back…
A rhino… tortoise?
…and long, sharp fangs inside its mouth.
"Oh, come on! A rhino-tortoise with the teeth of an alligator? Now that's just going too far!" Cloud realized he was talking to himself and shut up.
He poked the strange creature with his sword and hoped its friends already left. He chose a good spot against the wall where he could not be surprised from behind, brought a chair there, and sat down. With a big yawn he realized he would have to fight not to fall asleep, and thus easily fall victim for the evil rhino-tortoises, bat-reptiles… and whatever creatures……Oh yeah… there were… wolf-insects… too… he fell asleep.Cloud woke up when the first sunrays fell upon his eyes. At first he thought the events of the night had all been part of a nightmare, then he noticed the sun was shining upon him through a big hole in the roof. Apparently it had been no dream, and he was very lucky to have survived, falling asleep like that.
Not the wisest of moves, he mentally scolded himself.
He reached for his sword and with it he stood up, walked around the room for awhile then realized he could still be in danger. Just because it was morning again didn't have to mean the strange monsters that'd abducted the little man and tried to kill (and eat?) Cloud, a couple of times, had disappeared. He'd better get out of there.
He left the house and noticed that outside was a beautiful day. He looked around the place and noticed the old twisted oak was gone. For some reason that didn't surprise even him. If it could attack people and eat stuff, why shouldn't it be able to walk?
Let's just hope it left with the monsters. Cloud thought and decided it was time to walk away from the house.
He smiled at the sun and was happy to notice that the trees had started to decrease in amount, this was probably the way out. Suddenly he heard a familiar noise from behind some trees.
"Wark! Wark!" It said.
He moved forth and found a chocobo lazily eating grass off the ground. He carefully moved towards the big yellow bird, not wanting to scare it. By picking up some grass and offering it to the bird he gained its trust. It all went strangely easily, actually. The chocobo must have been a tame one that had been released again, being so unafraid of him.
Soon he was on his way again, riding on his newfound chocobo-friend.
How big a chance is it to find a chocobo out here? And a tame one at that? Cloud reached a small path he followed until it widened to a road that slowly but surely led him out of the forest.
Damn, I must be really lucky today, he figured pushing some hair from his face…You know, it's almost too good to be true…
The End
This, I believe, is the only completely non-romantic fic I've ever written.