Disclaimer: I don't own Shining Force. All I own is a Popsicle that my
daddy gave me. (It's a yummy cherry Popsicle!)
A/N- this is a lot more fun than writing "Revenge of the Murder" I like writing stuff that's remotely happy, and not so depressing. Don't worry, all you people who like that story (yeah, right, I bet you're just waiting for me to take that one off), I'm still gonna keep up with it, (just to annoy you peoples), I just like writing this one. You know, I don't care much about you people who don't like either stories. If you don't like this one, why are you reading? Anyway, I think this one is pretty damn good so far, and I thought "Revenge of the Murder" was equally /superior/. So, ha, my self-esteem (as if I have any) is high enough not to let you peoples tell me I suck. (I get enough of that from my friends as school, thank-you.)
Ch 2- The First Battle
Bowie stepped cautiously through the grass; tense that somebody would ask what they were doing and why on God's green Earth they would be going to the castle. For what reason would a bunch of kids be hiking up the Granseal castle?
"Mornin', kids. Shouldn't you be at school?" Bowie could have sworn he felt himself jump ten feet in the air. With his pulse pounding, he turned his head to see an old man, one of the townsfolk waving to them.
"Uh, no.." Chester answered uneasily.
"What do you mean, 'no'?" The aged man looked at them closely.
"He means that Sir Astral had to go up to the castle and left something at the schoolhouse. We're just being good students and returning it to him." Sarah called back, glancing sharply at the centaur.
"Oh, well, carry on, then. Have a good day." The townsman smiled."
"Have a nice day as well!" Bowie yelled back, trying to sound more confident and at ease than he really felt.
Sarah rolled her eyes. "Could you two be worse at lying?"
"I'm surprised that teacher's pet would even consider lying. I didn't know perfect people needed to." Chester retorted.
"I only /need/ to lie so we can see what's up with Sir Astral." Sarah replied hotly.
"Just be quiet till we get there." Bowie cut in, still fatigued from his lack of sleep the previous night.
Before long they arrived at the steps of the Grandseal castle. Its breadth intimidated Bowie, making him feel radically diminutive.
"You're not allowed in." The guard said a little less than politely.
"Oh, but, Sir Astral forgot something at the schoolhouse. We need to deliver it to him." Sarah had been muttering the lie to herself throughout the journey, so it rolled smoothly off her tongue.
"Forgot something at the schoolhouse, eh? Need to deliver it to him? Well, I guess that would be okay." The guard scratched his chin thoughtfully. "Sure, go right ahead."
Sarah nodded quickly, "Thank-you sir. Thank-you very mu-"
"Oh, come /on/!" Chester urged, grabbing her by the arm and dragging her through the doorway. At the guards' sharp glance, he added, "We really need to get back to school."
The guards' facial muscles relaxed as they broke apart, letting the trio through.
Waling through, they were stopped by another guard, but this time he was just looking to talk. "This town is too quiet. I've almost forgotten how to fight in such a peaceful country."
'I can sure relate,' Bowie thought, "we need more people like him, people who are sick of quiet and ready for some action.'
"Yeah" the second lookout added, "Maybe I'll go somewhere else and kill a few rats."
Bowie cracked a smile as he led his friends deeper into the castle, noticing how when they were finally inside Sarah cowered behind him.
'Ha,' he mused, 'I knew she couldn't handle it. After all, she's only a girl!'
It wasn't too hard for them to find Sir Astral, as there were few people in the castle to catch them, and because he was staring at something in King Granseal's bedroom.
"What's wrong with the king?" Chester whispered.
"Shhh, quiet!" Sarah hushed him.
Bowie studied what he was looking at harder. He saw that indeed it was the king, he and looked quite the fashion of illness. He was just lying in bed- shaking violently!
Princess Elis sat at his bedside, trepidation creasing her delicate face. Her usually rosy skin had turned a deathly pale, as if enlightenment of her father's malady had taken years off her life.
Astral probed the force, anger glinting in his eyes. How dare they leave the schoolhouse, and then, sneak into the castle! Of all the rotten things to do! Go and deliberately disobey him like that!
The old advisor opened his mouth to lecture the /children/, but it turned out to be of no use. The minister seemed to have other ideas.
"Ah, Astral, how productive! (I don't remember the damn words; I know this is pretty close.) You brought them along to help out with the investigation, have you?"
"Uh, er, yes, I have. I thought their young minds might help us investigate." Sir Astral played along.
The minister nodded his approval. "Well, er, kids, uh, yeah, er, we'd better have a look around the tower, excuse us, minister." Sir Astral said quickly.
Astral didn't even do as much as to look at the kids as they hurried to their destination.
A petite grey rock caught Bowie's eye along the trail. Picking it up, he could have sworn he saw it glimmer in the light. Pocketing the curious stone, he briskly forgot about it as he rushed to catch up with the group.
Once inside the tower, the old advisor dropped to his knees in front of a mysterious looking symbol.
"I've seen it before." He muttered. "I can't remember quite-" Before he could finish his sentence, a ghastly cloud figure erupted from the symbol. It's gruesome pinkish appearance received a scream of horror from Sarah, and a jump of shock from Chester, causing his hooves to slip and clatter on the brick flooring.
The evil gizmo split into several different ones. Now fear gripped Bowie.
"Do something!" Sarah shrieked in fear. Her eyes were wide with panic, her body visibly shaking.
'Maybe this is the chance to fight!' Bowie thought excitedly, though his mind was nearly completely paralyzed in fear. 'Humph, some force. Some scared /little girl/ who wouldn't last a second if she was on Max's force and a centaur. Damn, we really have a chance.'
But he knew something had to be done. Gripping his wooden sword, he swung blindly. He could feel a little bit of resistance in the middle, and looked up to see that his unseeing blow had cut down straight through the middle of a greenish, bluish, whatever the hell color it was gizmo.
This act seemed to have instilled some bravery inside of Chester. Grasping his long, wooden stick, he lunged at another Gizmo, injuring it but not causing death. The cloud snaked away, but Chester chased after it, his hoof beats ringing on the stone floor.
Bowie's head snapped around when a sharp pain concurred on his right shoulder. He could see where the material had been torn, and the blood quickly stained the white cloth to a sharp crimson.
Wincing with pain, he used his good arm to attack. This made a small difference, but because his left hand was not dominant, he had trouble controlling the sword.
Sarah rushed forward, and stretched her arms outward, in the way Bowie knew she was performing a spell. He saw his right upper arm encased in a whiteish goldish light, and them the blood was gently wiped away.
Twenty minutes later, when Sarah was out of medical herbs and magic, Chester's stick had snapped in half, Bowie's sword was permanently stained with a greenish color, and the last Gizmo had been defeated, they knew it was over. There would be no more fighting. How could anyone expect a bunch of kids to save the world?
A/N- this is a lot more fun than writing "Revenge of the Murder" I like writing stuff that's remotely happy, and not so depressing. Don't worry, all you people who like that story (yeah, right, I bet you're just waiting for me to take that one off), I'm still gonna keep up with it, (just to annoy you peoples), I just like writing this one. You know, I don't care much about you people who don't like either stories. If you don't like this one, why are you reading? Anyway, I think this one is pretty damn good so far, and I thought "Revenge of the Murder" was equally /superior/. So, ha, my self-esteem (as if I have any) is high enough not to let you peoples tell me I suck. (I get enough of that from my friends as school, thank-you.)
Ch 2- The First Battle
Bowie stepped cautiously through the grass; tense that somebody would ask what they were doing and why on God's green Earth they would be going to the castle. For what reason would a bunch of kids be hiking up the Granseal castle?
"Mornin', kids. Shouldn't you be at school?" Bowie could have sworn he felt himself jump ten feet in the air. With his pulse pounding, he turned his head to see an old man, one of the townsfolk waving to them.
"Uh, no.." Chester answered uneasily.
"What do you mean, 'no'?" The aged man looked at them closely.
"He means that Sir Astral had to go up to the castle and left something at the schoolhouse. We're just being good students and returning it to him." Sarah called back, glancing sharply at the centaur.
"Oh, well, carry on, then. Have a good day." The townsman smiled."
"Have a nice day as well!" Bowie yelled back, trying to sound more confident and at ease than he really felt.
Sarah rolled her eyes. "Could you two be worse at lying?"
"I'm surprised that teacher's pet would even consider lying. I didn't know perfect people needed to." Chester retorted.
"I only /need/ to lie so we can see what's up with Sir Astral." Sarah replied hotly.
"Just be quiet till we get there." Bowie cut in, still fatigued from his lack of sleep the previous night.
Before long they arrived at the steps of the Grandseal castle. Its breadth intimidated Bowie, making him feel radically diminutive.
"You're not allowed in." The guard said a little less than politely.
"Oh, but, Sir Astral forgot something at the schoolhouse. We need to deliver it to him." Sarah had been muttering the lie to herself throughout the journey, so it rolled smoothly off her tongue.
"Forgot something at the schoolhouse, eh? Need to deliver it to him? Well, I guess that would be okay." The guard scratched his chin thoughtfully. "Sure, go right ahead."
Sarah nodded quickly, "Thank-you sir. Thank-you very mu-"
"Oh, come /on/!" Chester urged, grabbing her by the arm and dragging her through the doorway. At the guards' sharp glance, he added, "We really need to get back to school."
The guards' facial muscles relaxed as they broke apart, letting the trio through.
Waling through, they were stopped by another guard, but this time he was just looking to talk. "This town is too quiet. I've almost forgotten how to fight in such a peaceful country."
'I can sure relate,' Bowie thought, "we need more people like him, people who are sick of quiet and ready for some action.'
"Yeah" the second lookout added, "Maybe I'll go somewhere else and kill a few rats."
Bowie cracked a smile as he led his friends deeper into the castle, noticing how when they were finally inside Sarah cowered behind him.
'Ha,' he mused, 'I knew she couldn't handle it. After all, she's only a girl!'
It wasn't too hard for them to find Sir Astral, as there were few people in the castle to catch them, and because he was staring at something in King Granseal's bedroom.
"What's wrong with the king?" Chester whispered.
"Shhh, quiet!" Sarah hushed him.
Bowie studied what he was looking at harder. He saw that indeed it was the king, he and looked quite the fashion of illness. He was just lying in bed- shaking violently!
Princess Elis sat at his bedside, trepidation creasing her delicate face. Her usually rosy skin had turned a deathly pale, as if enlightenment of her father's malady had taken years off her life.
Astral probed the force, anger glinting in his eyes. How dare they leave the schoolhouse, and then, sneak into the castle! Of all the rotten things to do! Go and deliberately disobey him like that!
The old advisor opened his mouth to lecture the /children/, but it turned out to be of no use. The minister seemed to have other ideas.
"Ah, Astral, how productive! (I don't remember the damn words; I know this is pretty close.) You brought them along to help out with the investigation, have you?"
"Uh, er, yes, I have. I thought their young minds might help us investigate." Sir Astral played along.
The minister nodded his approval. "Well, er, kids, uh, yeah, er, we'd better have a look around the tower, excuse us, minister." Sir Astral said quickly.
Astral didn't even do as much as to look at the kids as they hurried to their destination.
A petite grey rock caught Bowie's eye along the trail. Picking it up, he could have sworn he saw it glimmer in the light. Pocketing the curious stone, he briskly forgot about it as he rushed to catch up with the group.
Once inside the tower, the old advisor dropped to his knees in front of a mysterious looking symbol.
"I've seen it before." He muttered. "I can't remember quite-" Before he could finish his sentence, a ghastly cloud figure erupted from the symbol. It's gruesome pinkish appearance received a scream of horror from Sarah, and a jump of shock from Chester, causing his hooves to slip and clatter on the brick flooring.
The evil gizmo split into several different ones. Now fear gripped Bowie.
"Do something!" Sarah shrieked in fear. Her eyes were wide with panic, her body visibly shaking.
'Maybe this is the chance to fight!' Bowie thought excitedly, though his mind was nearly completely paralyzed in fear. 'Humph, some force. Some scared /little girl/ who wouldn't last a second if she was on Max's force and a centaur. Damn, we really have a chance.'
But he knew something had to be done. Gripping his wooden sword, he swung blindly. He could feel a little bit of resistance in the middle, and looked up to see that his unseeing blow had cut down straight through the middle of a greenish, bluish, whatever the hell color it was gizmo.
This act seemed to have instilled some bravery inside of Chester. Grasping his long, wooden stick, he lunged at another Gizmo, injuring it but not causing death. The cloud snaked away, but Chester chased after it, his hoof beats ringing on the stone floor.
Bowie's head snapped around when a sharp pain concurred on his right shoulder. He could see where the material had been torn, and the blood quickly stained the white cloth to a sharp crimson.
Wincing with pain, he used his good arm to attack. This made a small difference, but because his left hand was not dominant, he had trouble controlling the sword.
Sarah rushed forward, and stretched her arms outward, in the way Bowie knew she was performing a spell. He saw his right upper arm encased in a whiteish goldish light, and them the blood was gently wiped away.
Twenty minutes later, when Sarah was out of medical herbs and magic, Chester's stick had snapped in half, Bowie's sword was permanently stained with a greenish color, and the last Gizmo had been defeated, they knew it was over. There would be no more fighting. How could anyone expect a bunch of kids to save the world?