Chapter Five: The Valley
Han, Sullivan, Rad and the new recruit, Carle, set out to find the Guru. Carle had heard the full story and was able to take it. She was in disbelief and couldn't imagine that this was happening, but she also realized that her assistance was need, even if it meant putting her life on the line.
All four teens approached the entrance of the valley. The sun was still out and shinning, but it was cold. Winds blew hard in the valley, and the shadows overlapped the walkway, making it an eerie setting.
"Ok," Carle said with a sigh "this is the valley. Let's be careful here, there are many monsters out."
Han took out his lance and tightened his blade knuckles. They all began to walk forward as the wind stopped blowing. They stopped… listened… and heard nothing. The clouds came in and the whole area became darker by the second. Han wrapped his bandana around his head like a ninja and Rad readied his axe. There was dead silence for a few moments as all of them stood looking around the area.
"It's quiet…" said Han with a fierce expression "to quiet."
"This doesn't seem good, is there another way?" Sullivan said to Carle.
Carle shook her head with her eyes still looking around the valley.
"No," she said "this is the safest way."
"SAFEST?!" Rad yelled "You call this SAFE?! This is like from some weird ass horror story!"
"SHUT UP!" Sullivan said with an attitude.
The whole Valley grew silent. No wind was blowing, no crows were crowing, silence stained the air. Then…Han started to her that voice again. "Han… Han… Han…" it was Schala alright. But why was she calling Han at a time like this?
"I HEAR YOU." Han screamed moving side to side screaming at the sky. "SCHALA! I hear you!"
"… Han, run… away! Run… please… run!" Schala's voice said coming from nowhere. Han turned to his friends as a fierce thunderstorm came in.
"Let's get the hell out of here, NOW!" Han screamed. His friends looked frightfully behind him and they didn't blink. They looked scared at something but could not scream. Han turned to run but was surprisingly thrown by a big figure. He lay on the ground shaking his head when his eyes focused on a blue skinned, bald headed, elf eared, dark eyed, tall man with an arched sword in his hand and the blade up against Han's lower chin.
Han froze and didn't say a word. His friends stood there with their weapons in hand. Carle had her hand on her dagger while it was still in the holster, but didn't move. She just stood there with a worried expression on her face.
"Are you Han?" The blue man said looking Han strait in the eyes.
"So what if I am?" Han said, but quickly shut up as the blue man pushed the blade a little bit harder on Han's skin.
"Is it yes, or no?" The blue man said. Han just stared fiercely back him without saying a word.
"Fine. If you're not going to answer me, then you shall die." The blue man raised his sword when he was stopped by Carle's voice.
"YES!" She said with her eyes wide open "He is, please don't kill him!" she said jumping in front of the blue man. The man just simply kicked her to the ground and turned back to Han.
"So you are the one Vern wants. Ha, promotion here I come." The blue man said with a small, evil smirk. "I am Slash, and I am one of the three greatest fighters that Vern has hired to bring you to him. You can either come with me, or die. I get paid either way."
Han kicked Slash's blade out of the way, while Slash stared at the other three, and did a back flip at landed where his friends were standing and got his lance out.
"Never." Han said "I will never give in to you or anyone else not on my side. And no one kicks one of my friends on the ground and walks away without going through me." Carle smiled at Han and began to blush, but Han still had his eyes fixed on the enemy.
Slash laughed "Fine then," he said "I will have pleasure killing you."
Slash raised his sword in the air with both hands and shut his eyes. All four of the teens stood in a circle surrounding Slash. They were ready to fight, all four of them, standing there in place with their half broken weapons willing to fight. Their brave eyes were fixed on the enemy.
Slash charged forward at Rad first. Rad put his axe in a vertical view level with his eyes. His legs began to shake and he began to think Aw shit. I better not die young; otherwise my mom is going to kill me. Wait a minute… is that possible? I mean, if I'm already dead, how can my mom kill me? Aw screw it, I'm gunna nock this blue skinned bastard on his ass. Slash swung the sword at Rad's side, but Rad quickly dodged it by an inch. He then raised his axe, but swung it to block a swing from Slash. Rad then threw a punch and got Slash right on the right jaw bone. Slash shook it off while Rad raised his axe and swung it. Slash dodged it and the axe got stuck in the ground. Rad was then kicked on the ground and left helpless.
"Next." Slash said showing no emotion. Sullivan was up. He showed bravery and wisdom as his teeth grinded and his knuckles cracked. Sullivan fired a few arrows at once, but Slash blocked everyone with his sword. Aw shit… were the only things that came to mind when he was kicked in the face and thrown to the ground next to Rad. Sullivan was out on this one.
"NEXT." Slash barked. He seemed to be annoyed with the way his opponents were fighting. He just kept the same expression the whole time. Why didn't he kill anyone? Well, Vern told him that he'd rather have them brought back to the headquarters alive, so that's what Slash intended to do.
"NEXT!" Slash barked even louder. He was pissed, he wanted a fight.
Finally, the brave Carle stepped forward. She seemed scared and brave at the same time. Han just stared at her, worried. God damnnit he thought she's gunna get killed! That stupid bitch doesn't know what she's doing! If one thing goes wrong, I'm jumping in. Carle was the first one to charge forward, and yelled her heart out in the process. Slash stood perfectly still with his blade shielding his front. Carle ran and ran until she came close with Slash, and did a spinning jump over Slash's head and landed right in back of him. Slash stood stunned for a second looking around to find Carle, but he new she was right behind him when he felt a dagger blade pierce right into his right back side. Carle did it all right, and it left Slash bleeding all over the place. Blood trickled down his back and Carle's dagger dripped with blood. She smiled and glanced at the others. Sullivan, still lying on the ground, smiled at Carle in surprise. Rad just had his mouth wide open in shock. Sullivan looked at Rad and wondered if Rad's face was glowing in disbelieve do to the fact that she stabbed Slash or the fact that her ass was showing through her short red skirt. Han had a smirk on his face and looked satisfied, but was still keeping an eye out for Carle's sake. Slash… on the other hand… didn't move. Not in pain or shock. He showed no emotion and just stood there with his blade still in his hand, looking at nothing. Carle, still happy, went to attack when Slash jumped high up into the air, did a back flip, and landed right behind Carle. It was almost a mimic of what Carle pulled off, but it worked for his sake. He then smiled and put his arm out. Carle was looking around for Slash. Then black beams started to surround Slash's fist, then a blackish purple ray went flying strait at Carle's back. Han ran forward screaming "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" but the ray went right through Carle, leaving her with a scared expression. Her head and back arched back. The ray went away and Carle fell to the ground with her eyes closed. Slash then put his arm at his side, and put his sword over his shoulder and stood still. Rad and Sullivan raced forward. Han ran over to Carle's lifeless looking body with a tear coming down his face. Sullivan dropped to his knees and checked her pulse.
"Is she breathing!?" Rad screamed.
"Barley" Sullivan replied.
Han turned his head and his eyes grew red. He stared at Slash right in the eyes. Han's teeth were showing and his eyes grew the color of blood every second. He was pissed beyond belief.
"What's wrong?" Slash said looking at Han. "Do you actually think that bitch would kill me?" Slash's back began to stop gushing blood. It was strange, he showed no pain whatsoever.
Slash raised his sword once again and pointed it at Han.
"I finished that red headed bitch, now its time to finish you off. You, the one Vern wants." Slash said with a forceful expression. "Come and get me!"
Han pulled out his lance and tightened his head band. His thoughts were drowned in the fact that Carle COULD die, and he didn't want that to happen in vain. "You arrogant bastard, I'm going to make sure this girl lives even if it means I die trying." He ran forward not screaming or yelling. Slash jumped into the air and Han copied. The two of them collided with each other and fell to the ground. Han was picked up and thrown at a rock. Han slid down, and quickly got back up showing no pain. He and Slash dueled for a bit. It was lance versus sword, good versus evil. Best of all, it was Han's first battle. The two grew out of breath after three whole minutes of weapon to weapon dueling. Han's shirt was ripped from the blade and his left arm left bleeding with a gash. Slash's face was a bit torn up, and his clothing too was ripped and torn. The fight seemed pretty damn even.
"Give up yet?" Slash said with a huge frown. Han continued panting for air and put up a fist. "Never…!" he screamed in a deep voice.
"I grow weary of this, I'll kill you now and at least get some pay from Vern." Slash said. "Now… DIE!"
He raised his arm to cast another magic attack like what he did to Carle. Han just closed his eyes and prepared for the beam to knock him out like Carle. He was being held down by something so his legs couldn't budge. It seemed to be a force coming from Slash himself. Slash just laughed and frowned, imaging the amount of money he was going to receive and the promotion he would get. Then suddenly, out of no where, a figure jumped down from the upper part of the valley and kicked and slammed Slash. Han opened his eyes and looked around, and saw Slash on the ground with a squinted face. He seemed to be beaten up by someone or something, so he quickly got up and pulled out a device of some sort.
"I'll get you all next time. Until then, I hope you all choke and die. Good riddance." Slash said. The device he held made a portal that he walked into. The portal closed up and Slash was gone.
"Are you hurt?" A friendly calm voice said to Han. Han eyed the gash in his arm. "Yeah, I think I'll be ok once I get this fixed." He said without looking up. He began to raise his head and jerked back when he saw the figure standing in front of him. It was a six foot, grey human fox. It had a sword on its back and seemed to be dressed a bit like Robinhood. It surprised Han because the voice of this creature sounded so… human and it stood on two legs. The creature wore no boots and no hat of any sort and had a friendly face. It was a bit ironic to see such a fierce creature have such a friendly face.
"Do not be afraid, brave one. I'm not going to hurt you." it said to Han in a soothing way. You could tell this fox was female. Han looked at the human-like fox and wondered. Then he asked "Are you a…" "Demi-human?" the fox interrupted.
"Yeah" Han replied.
"No," the fox said "no, hehheh. I'm not. It's a long story of why I'm like this. Maybe if you live long enough I could tell ya." The fox giggled and played along with Han. You could tell this was a very caring one.
"My name" the fox continued "… is… well… you can call me Jade."
Han put his hand out and quickly shook hands with Jade fox. "I'm Han and a friend of mine was seriously injured and I don't know if she's going to make it. Can you help us?"
"Sure," she said "there is a big town called Termina just up ahead. I'll guide you there."
"Good," Han said, "let's go."
Then Sullivan came running toward Han screaming "CARLE'S BLOOD PRESSURE IS STOPPING!" Han ran over to Carle's body, picked her up with Rad's help and ran fallowing Jade's swift footsteps.
Han, Sullivan, Rad and the new recruit, Carle, set out to find the Guru. Carle had heard the full story and was able to take it. She was in disbelief and couldn't imagine that this was happening, but she also realized that her assistance was need, even if it meant putting her life on the line.
All four teens approached the entrance of the valley. The sun was still out and shinning, but it was cold. Winds blew hard in the valley, and the shadows overlapped the walkway, making it an eerie setting.
"Ok," Carle said with a sigh "this is the valley. Let's be careful here, there are many monsters out."
Han took out his lance and tightened his blade knuckles. They all began to walk forward as the wind stopped blowing. They stopped… listened… and heard nothing. The clouds came in and the whole area became darker by the second. Han wrapped his bandana around his head like a ninja and Rad readied his axe. There was dead silence for a few moments as all of them stood looking around the area.
"It's quiet…" said Han with a fierce expression "to quiet."
"This doesn't seem good, is there another way?" Sullivan said to Carle.
Carle shook her head with her eyes still looking around the valley.
"No," she said "this is the safest way."
"SAFEST?!" Rad yelled "You call this SAFE?! This is like from some weird ass horror story!"
"SHUT UP!" Sullivan said with an attitude.
The whole Valley grew silent. No wind was blowing, no crows were crowing, silence stained the air. Then…Han started to her that voice again. "Han… Han… Han…" it was Schala alright. But why was she calling Han at a time like this?
"I HEAR YOU." Han screamed moving side to side screaming at the sky. "SCHALA! I hear you!"
"… Han, run… away! Run… please… run!" Schala's voice said coming from nowhere. Han turned to his friends as a fierce thunderstorm came in.
"Let's get the hell out of here, NOW!" Han screamed. His friends looked frightfully behind him and they didn't blink. They looked scared at something but could not scream. Han turned to run but was surprisingly thrown by a big figure. He lay on the ground shaking his head when his eyes focused on a blue skinned, bald headed, elf eared, dark eyed, tall man with an arched sword in his hand and the blade up against Han's lower chin.
Han froze and didn't say a word. His friends stood there with their weapons in hand. Carle had her hand on her dagger while it was still in the holster, but didn't move. She just stood there with a worried expression on her face.
"Are you Han?" The blue man said looking Han strait in the eyes.
"So what if I am?" Han said, but quickly shut up as the blue man pushed the blade a little bit harder on Han's skin.
"Is it yes, or no?" The blue man said. Han just stared fiercely back him without saying a word.
"Fine. If you're not going to answer me, then you shall die." The blue man raised his sword when he was stopped by Carle's voice.
"YES!" She said with her eyes wide open "He is, please don't kill him!" she said jumping in front of the blue man. The man just simply kicked her to the ground and turned back to Han.
"So you are the one Vern wants. Ha, promotion here I come." The blue man said with a small, evil smirk. "I am Slash, and I am one of the three greatest fighters that Vern has hired to bring you to him. You can either come with me, or die. I get paid either way."
Han kicked Slash's blade out of the way, while Slash stared at the other three, and did a back flip at landed where his friends were standing and got his lance out.
"Never." Han said "I will never give in to you or anyone else not on my side. And no one kicks one of my friends on the ground and walks away without going through me." Carle smiled at Han and began to blush, but Han still had his eyes fixed on the enemy.
Slash laughed "Fine then," he said "I will have pleasure killing you."
Slash raised his sword in the air with both hands and shut his eyes. All four of the teens stood in a circle surrounding Slash. They were ready to fight, all four of them, standing there in place with their half broken weapons willing to fight. Their brave eyes were fixed on the enemy.
Slash charged forward at Rad first. Rad put his axe in a vertical view level with his eyes. His legs began to shake and he began to think Aw shit. I better not die young; otherwise my mom is going to kill me. Wait a minute… is that possible? I mean, if I'm already dead, how can my mom kill me? Aw screw it, I'm gunna nock this blue skinned bastard on his ass. Slash swung the sword at Rad's side, but Rad quickly dodged it by an inch. He then raised his axe, but swung it to block a swing from Slash. Rad then threw a punch and got Slash right on the right jaw bone. Slash shook it off while Rad raised his axe and swung it. Slash dodged it and the axe got stuck in the ground. Rad was then kicked on the ground and left helpless.
"Next." Slash said showing no emotion. Sullivan was up. He showed bravery and wisdom as his teeth grinded and his knuckles cracked. Sullivan fired a few arrows at once, but Slash blocked everyone with his sword. Aw shit… were the only things that came to mind when he was kicked in the face and thrown to the ground next to Rad. Sullivan was out on this one.
"NEXT." Slash barked. He seemed to be annoyed with the way his opponents were fighting. He just kept the same expression the whole time. Why didn't he kill anyone? Well, Vern told him that he'd rather have them brought back to the headquarters alive, so that's what Slash intended to do.
"NEXT!" Slash barked even louder. He was pissed, he wanted a fight.
Finally, the brave Carle stepped forward. She seemed scared and brave at the same time. Han just stared at her, worried. God damnnit he thought she's gunna get killed! That stupid bitch doesn't know what she's doing! If one thing goes wrong, I'm jumping in. Carle was the first one to charge forward, and yelled her heart out in the process. Slash stood perfectly still with his blade shielding his front. Carle ran and ran until she came close with Slash, and did a spinning jump over Slash's head and landed right in back of him. Slash stood stunned for a second looking around to find Carle, but he new she was right behind him when he felt a dagger blade pierce right into his right back side. Carle did it all right, and it left Slash bleeding all over the place. Blood trickled down his back and Carle's dagger dripped with blood. She smiled and glanced at the others. Sullivan, still lying on the ground, smiled at Carle in surprise. Rad just had his mouth wide open in shock. Sullivan looked at Rad and wondered if Rad's face was glowing in disbelieve do to the fact that she stabbed Slash or the fact that her ass was showing through her short red skirt. Han had a smirk on his face and looked satisfied, but was still keeping an eye out for Carle's sake. Slash… on the other hand… didn't move. Not in pain or shock. He showed no emotion and just stood there with his blade still in his hand, looking at nothing. Carle, still happy, went to attack when Slash jumped high up into the air, did a back flip, and landed right behind Carle. It was almost a mimic of what Carle pulled off, but it worked for his sake. He then smiled and put his arm out. Carle was looking around for Slash. Then black beams started to surround Slash's fist, then a blackish purple ray went flying strait at Carle's back. Han ran forward screaming "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" but the ray went right through Carle, leaving her with a scared expression. Her head and back arched back. The ray went away and Carle fell to the ground with her eyes closed. Slash then put his arm at his side, and put his sword over his shoulder and stood still. Rad and Sullivan raced forward. Han ran over to Carle's lifeless looking body with a tear coming down his face. Sullivan dropped to his knees and checked her pulse.
"Is she breathing!?" Rad screamed.
"Barley" Sullivan replied.
Han turned his head and his eyes grew red. He stared at Slash right in the eyes. Han's teeth were showing and his eyes grew the color of blood every second. He was pissed beyond belief.
"What's wrong?" Slash said looking at Han. "Do you actually think that bitch would kill me?" Slash's back began to stop gushing blood. It was strange, he showed no pain whatsoever.
Slash raised his sword once again and pointed it at Han.
"I finished that red headed bitch, now its time to finish you off. You, the one Vern wants." Slash said with a forceful expression. "Come and get me!"
Han pulled out his lance and tightened his head band. His thoughts were drowned in the fact that Carle COULD die, and he didn't want that to happen in vain. "You arrogant bastard, I'm going to make sure this girl lives even if it means I die trying." He ran forward not screaming or yelling. Slash jumped into the air and Han copied. The two of them collided with each other and fell to the ground. Han was picked up and thrown at a rock. Han slid down, and quickly got back up showing no pain. He and Slash dueled for a bit. It was lance versus sword, good versus evil. Best of all, it was Han's first battle. The two grew out of breath after three whole minutes of weapon to weapon dueling. Han's shirt was ripped from the blade and his left arm left bleeding with a gash. Slash's face was a bit torn up, and his clothing too was ripped and torn. The fight seemed pretty damn even.
"Give up yet?" Slash said with a huge frown. Han continued panting for air and put up a fist. "Never…!" he screamed in a deep voice.
"I grow weary of this, I'll kill you now and at least get some pay from Vern." Slash said. "Now… DIE!"
He raised his arm to cast another magic attack like what he did to Carle. Han just closed his eyes and prepared for the beam to knock him out like Carle. He was being held down by something so his legs couldn't budge. It seemed to be a force coming from Slash himself. Slash just laughed and frowned, imaging the amount of money he was going to receive and the promotion he would get. Then suddenly, out of no where, a figure jumped down from the upper part of the valley and kicked and slammed Slash. Han opened his eyes and looked around, and saw Slash on the ground with a squinted face. He seemed to be beaten up by someone or something, so he quickly got up and pulled out a device of some sort.
"I'll get you all next time. Until then, I hope you all choke and die. Good riddance." Slash said. The device he held made a portal that he walked into. The portal closed up and Slash was gone.
"Are you hurt?" A friendly calm voice said to Han. Han eyed the gash in his arm. "Yeah, I think I'll be ok once I get this fixed." He said without looking up. He began to raise his head and jerked back when he saw the figure standing in front of him. It was a six foot, grey human fox. It had a sword on its back and seemed to be dressed a bit like Robinhood. It surprised Han because the voice of this creature sounded so… human and it stood on two legs. The creature wore no boots and no hat of any sort and had a friendly face. It was a bit ironic to see such a fierce creature have such a friendly face.
"Do not be afraid, brave one. I'm not going to hurt you." it said to Han in a soothing way. You could tell this fox was female. Han looked at the human-like fox and wondered. Then he asked "Are you a…" "Demi-human?" the fox interrupted.
"Yeah" Han replied.
"No," the fox said "no, hehheh. I'm not. It's a long story of why I'm like this. Maybe if you live long enough I could tell ya." The fox giggled and played along with Han. You could tell this was a very caring one.
"My name" the fox continued "… is… well… you can call me Jade."
Han put his hand out and quickly shook hands with Jade fox. "I'm Han and a friend of mine was seriously injured and I don't know if she's going to make it. Can you help us?"
"Sure," she said "there is a big town called Termina just up ahead. I'll guide you there."
"Good," Han said, "let's go."
Then Sullivan came running toward Han screaming "CARLE'S BLOOD PRESSURE IS STOPPING!" Han ran over to Carle's body, picked her up with Rad's help and ran fallowing Jade's swift footsteps.