I was awakened by the glaring sun, which had already risen over the
mountains. I rubbed my eyes. I had been expecting Tuff to wake me up
earlier, but here it was, already mid morning. "Tuff?" I called. At first,
I wasn't worried. Tuff was strong. He could take care of himself. couldn't
he? I got up, and was surprised by what I saw. The fire had burned low, but
a spit had been set up. A pot that I surmised had been hanging from the
spit laid on its side in the rocky dirt, spilling its contents every where.
Now I was worried.
"Tuff!" I called. "Where did you get to?" I noticed strange tracks on the ground. They were of canine origin, some sort of giant wolves, but they were so impossibly light that what ever made them couldn't have weighed more than a small dog.
But that wasn't what I was looking for. I started towards some tall grass. I was rewarded with a small, weak groan. "Tuff!" I cried. I dived into the bushes. I was lost for words. Tuff laid in the grass, covered in blood, dirt, and bruises. His arm tilted up at an unnatural angle. It was undeniably broken. He sucked in a ragged breath, then coughed up a small amount of blood. "I think my lungs have been punctured." He gasped. I silenced him.
"Save your breath." I whispered. I ran back to our small encampment. There I grabbed the canvas cloth Tuff had used for our picnic the day before, and some small sturdy twigs. I then dashed back.
"Hold still. This isn't going to be pleasant." Tuff's arm was badly twisted about. By the looks of it, the bone was splintered in several places. Who ever had done this was strong, strong enough to crush solid bone. I lightly grasped his arm, and carefully began rearranging it. I heard his teeth grind as he tried to ignore the pain.
While trying to be gentle with his injuries, I was looking Tuff over. He was practically mangled. Most of the blood was already crusted over. He had been attacked long before I awoke. "Who did this?" I wondered aloud, both in anger and disgust.
Tuff again attempted to speak. "The wolves. eyes of light." I tried unsuccessfully tried to hush him. He struggled to sit up, but I held him down. "Stop moving!" I finally shouted. He continued to push against me. "Stop!" I yelled. I lunged forward, but over threw my weight and crushed his broken arm. He cried out in pain.
"Now calm down!" I yelled. "I need to bind this before I can let you up." He held still long enough for me to tear some of the cloth, and make a sloppy cast. I bound up his forearm, where he was more seriously hurt, leaned back to admire my work.
Tuff sat up and winced. "Well, what was all that about wolves with eyes of light?" I asked curiously. Tuff groaned and rubbed his head.
"The things that attacked me. I went get more wood for the fire, and was getting some stew ready for an early breakfast. When I came back, I was ambushed. Some how, you failed to hear it all." He smiled weakly. "I remember, you slept through NME's first attack on Dreamland. Tiff had to wake you up."
I smiled half heartedly at him. "Do you still need to rest, or can we start the climb?" Tuff coughed again. "The best thing you could cough do, is look for Samarra, the local doctor. She'll help us. She lives cough, hack not too far from here. You should find her at the edge of the woods."
"SAMARRA!" I called. I cupped my hands around my mouth, and called louder. "SAMARRA!" I heard a slight ruffle in the thick brush of the woods. "Samarra?!" I cried. "Who calls me?" demanded a gruff feminine voice. "Kirby calls you! Help me save my friend!" A tall, strange looking woman emerged from the trees.
She had large almond eyes, in both shape and color. Her hair was short and clipped back neatly, tied with a thick white ribbon that matched her clean dress.
"Who are you?" She inquired. "I told you! I need assistance. My friend Tuff is dying, his lungs are punctured. Hurry!" "Tuff?" "Yes, Tuff! Now come on! We have to hurry!"
I grabbed her hand, and started to tug. She was stronger than she looked. Swinging me up onto her thick shoulders, she shouted, "WHERE IS HE?"
"He's at the base of the mountain!" In a flash, we were off. Samarra, it seemed, could run much faster than Tuff and me combined. A half-hour trip for me was cut down to 10 minutes.
"Tuff!" shouted Samarra, yet again. Tuff was lying back against the thick grass I had left him in. Samarra dropped me suddenly: I rolled to the ground and hit the dirt. Samarra dashed to Tuff's side.
"Who made this sling?" She asked me, gently touching the messy cast I made. "I did." I said quietly, suddenly embarrassed. She scowled.
"You reset the bone okay," she said with a scolding look, "but you could have ripped a blood vessel, or done more serious damage with the rough job you did." I looked down, realizing she was right.
"Tch, tch, tch." She muttered. "Some one did a number on him." I sighed and walked over. "And it's too bad too." "What?" I cried. "This is serious. After a while, he might become infected, he'll suffocate, or worse. I'm saying that's too bad because he has a son on the way, and I want him to be around to see him. I never want any of my friends to die, which I'm sure you can understand." I nodded.
Later on, Samarra was crushing herbs along with many modern medicines, when I asked, "How do you know Tuff?" Samarra sighed and continued with her job while Tuff slept peacefully.
"It was a long time ago. " She said. "I met him a few years back in the wispy woods while I was gathering medicinal plants, and we've been some what of friends ever since." I sighed and lay back on my folded cloak, and enjoyed the heat of the fire. Samarra had built it back up. I soon drifted off to sleep.
CLANG! Kirby's whirling blade was quickly countered. "FASTER!" bellowed Meta Knight. "YOU HAVE TO BE FASTER!" Kirby swung furiously, whistling lethally as it cut through the mist, shining as it moved in the faint movement until its path left streaks of light behind, tracing every movement. The light from the sword he handled cut shapes in the very air, graceful arcs, circles, and stars. "MORE!" Shouted Meta Knight. Every vein on Kirby's body stood out, and sweat poured over his skin as he pushed himself past his limit. Meta Knight came out of the fog and jabbed, and was sent back by Kirby's amazing assault. Kirby gritted his teeth as he struggled to keep his strength.
Meta Knight flew back at Kirby, and caught him with the flat of his blade. Meta Knight cried out to Kirby, "Ignore your hits! Keep going!" CLASH!
Meta Knight and Kirby stood face to face, leaning in, swords entwined. "Try to force me back!" Whispered Meta Knight. Kirby pushed harder then cried out in pain. His arms were giving out, along with his strength. Meta Knight slowly pulled back.
"You have done well," He proclaimed. "Your strength has well tripled, along with your endurance. Your technique, along with your speed and your passion have amazed me."
Kirby was fast losing consciousness. He had over worked himself, but only needed to rest. He dropped his sword and sat down, filled with pride not only from his own knowledge of his improvements, but the sound of wonder and strange gratitude in Meta Knight's voice.
"Rest," Meta Knight said. "And remember to protect your self. You use too much offense: Try to add defense to your technique too." Kirby would remember. "Good night." Murmured Kirby. Half awake, he began stumbling home. He turned around to say something, but Meta Knight had already disappeared, yet again.
"WAKE UP, LAZY LEGS!" Screeched Samarra, but inches from my ear. "AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" I yelled, and shot awake. "What time is it?" I asked somewhat angrily, digging into my ear, trying to stop the ringing. I looked about, and saw that it was still a few hours before midnight. "What are we doing?" Samarra scowled again. Was she always angry or worried?
" We have to get Tuff up the mountain. If we wait for him to fully heal, he'll miss his son's birthing. We have to pack up now and start moving." I got to my feet and started putting away some of the things Tuff had put out before he had been attacked, even though there wasn't much.
"Tuff!" I whispered. "Wake up!" Tuff groaned and opened an eye.
"Hmm?" "We're moving you up the mountain. Samarra said that if we wait for you to heal up completely, you'd miss your son's birth. And she would have to leave you alone to help deliver the baby when the time came if we stayed down here, so we're packing up." Tuff began sitting up. "No, don't move." I whispered. "I don't want Samarra to know I woke you up. She might get mad." Tuff chuckled.
"Now your scared of her? Trust me Kirby, she may seem gruff, but she only wants to help." I noticed that Tuff's voice was clearer. I asked him about it. "Samarra gave me some medicine. It made my chest feel better too. But I'm still so tired." "Your tired?" I laughed. "She woke me up hours ago!" Tuff laughed with me.
"Well," He said, "I'm ready to move." His eyes suddenly got wide. "Oh no." I said and closed my eyes. "She's right behind me, isn't she?" "I SURELY AM!" She cried. "What's this, you're disturbing my patient, when he needs rest!?" I backed off slowly. "I just wanted to tell him we were moving!" I said nervously. Samarra seemed ready to scold me again but let her shoulders drop.
"It's just as well." She murmured. "I probably would have awaken him while moving him." I sighed in relief. Samarra began unpacking some sort of hard square from her pack. When she unfolded it, it became stiff, like a giant cot. She care fully laid Tuff upon it, and tied the straps from it to her shoulders. She set herself on a nearby path up the mountain.
"I want you to go ahead of me, and make sure the path is clear. I don't want Tuff to bounce his head on every twig and rock ahead of us." I obliged gladly. Our trip of the mountain was finally beginning. (Hi! What do you think? Tell me! And I just want to inform everyone that I might be moving soon. sob. So in a few weeks, my story may be quite prolonged. And don't worry! The Meta Journey Saga will be updated soon! Keep reading!)
"Tuff!" I called. "Where did you get to?" I noticed strange tracks on the ground. They were of canine origin, some sort of giant wolves, but they were so impossibly light that what ever made them couldn't have weighed more than a small dog.
But that wasn't what I was looking for. I started towards some tall grass. I was rewarded with a small, weak groan. "Tuff!" I cried. I dived into the bushes. I was lost for words. Tuff laid in the grass, covered in blood, dirt, and bruises. His arm tilted up at an unnatural angle. It was undeniably broken. He sucked in a ragged breath, then coughed up a small amount of blood. "I think my lungs have been punctured." He gasped. I silenced him.
"Save your breath." I whispered. I ran back to our small encampment. There I grabbed the canvas cloth Tuff had used for our picnic the day before, and some small sturdy twigs. I then dashed back.
"Hold still. This isn't going to be pleasant." Tuff's arm was badly twisted about. By the looks of it, the bone was splintered in several places. Who ever had done this was strong, strong enough to crush solid bone. I lightly grasped his arm, and carefully began rearranging it. I heard his teeth grind as he tried to ignore the pain.
While trying to be gentle with his injuries, I was looking Tuff over. He was practically mangled. Most of the blood was already crusted over. He had been attacked long before I awoke. "Who did this?" I wondered aloud, both in anger and disgust.
Tuff again attempted to speak. "The wolves. eyes of light." I tried unsuccessfully tried to hush him. He struggled to sit up, but I held him down. "Stop moving!" I finally shouted. He continued to push against me. "Stop!" I yelled. I lunged forward, but over threw my weight and crushed his broken arm. He cried out in pain.
"Now calm down!" I yelled. "I need to bind this before I can let you up." He held still long enough for me to tear some of the cloth, and make a sloppy cast. I bound up his forearm, where he was more seriously hurt, leaned back to admire my work.
Tuff sat up and winced. "Well, what was all that about wolves with eyes of light?" I asked curiously. Tuff groaned and rubbed his head.
"The things that attacked me. I went get more wood for the fire, and was getting some stew ready for an early breakfast. When I came back, I was ambushed. Some how, you failed to hear it all." He smiled weakly. "I remember, you slept through NME's first attack on Dreamland. Tiff had to wake you up."
I smiled half heartedly at him. "Do you still need to rest, or can we start the climb?" Tuff coughed again. "The best thing you could cough do, is look for Samarra, the local doctor. She'll help us. She lives cough, hack not too far from here. You should find her at the edge of the woods."
"SAMARRA!" I called. I cupped my hands around my mouth, and called louder. "SAMARRA!" I heard a slight ruffle in the thick brush of the woods. "Samarra?!" I cried. "Who calls me?" demanded a gruff feminine voice. "Kirby calls you! Help me save my friend!" A tall, strange looking woman emerged from the trees.
She had large almond eyes, in both shape and color. Her hair was short and clipped back neatly, tied with a thick white ribbon that matched her clean dress.
"Who are you?" She inquired. "I told you! I need assistance. My friend Tuff is dying, his lungs are punctured. Hurry!" "Tuff?" "Yes, Tuff! Now come on! We have to hurry!"
I grabbed her hand, and started to tug. She was stronger than she looked. Swinging me up onto her thick shoulders, she shouted, "WHERE IS HE?"
"He's at the base of the mountain!" In a flash, we were off. Samarra, it seemed, could run much faster than Tuff and me combined. A half-hour trip for me was cut down to 10 minutes.
"Tuff!" shouted Samarra, yet again. Tuff was lying back against the thick grass I had left him in. Samarra dropped me suddenly: I rolled to the ground and hit the dirt. Samarra dashed to Tuff's side.
"Who made this sling?" She asked me, gently touching the messy cast I made. "I did." I said quietly, suddenly embarrassed. She scowled.
"You reset the bone okay," she said with a scolding look, "but you could have ripped a blood vessel, or done more serious damage with the rough job you did." I looked down, realizing she was right.
"Tch, tch, tch." She muttered. "Some one did a number on him." I sighed and walked over. "And it's too bad too." "What?" I cried. "This is serious. After a while, he might become infected, he'll suffocate, or worse. I'm saying that's too bad because he has a son on the way, and I want him to be around to see him. I never want any of my friends to die, which I'm sure you can understand." I nodded.
Later on, Samarra was crushing herbs along with many modern medicines, when I asked, "How do you know Tuff?" Samarra sighed and continued with her job while Tuff slept peacefully.
"It was a long time ago. " She said. "I met him a few years back in the wispy woods while I was gathering medicinal plants, and we've been some what of friends ever since." I sighed and lay back on my folded cloak, and enjoyed the heat of the fire. Samarra had built it back up. I soon drifted off to sleep.
CLANG! Kirby's whirling blade was quickly countered. "FASTER!" bellowed Meta Knight. "YOU HAVE TO BE FASTER!" Kirby swung furiously, whistling lethally as it cut through the mist, shining as it moved in the faint movement until its path left streaks of light behind, tracing every movement. The light from the sword he handled cut shapes in the very air, graceful arcs, circles, and stars. "MORE!" Shouted Meta Knight. Every vein on Kirby's body stood out, and sweat poured over his skin as he pushed himself past his limit. Meta Knight came out of the fog and jabbed, and was sent back by Kirby's amazing assault. Kirby gritted his teeth as he struggled to keep his strength.
Meta Knight flew back at Kirby, and caught him with the flat of his blade. Meta Knight cried out to Kirby, "Ignore your hits! Keep going!" CLASH!
Meta Knight and Kirby stood face to face, leaning in, swords entwined. "Try to force me back!" Whispered Meta Knight. Kirby pushed harder then cried out in pain. His arms were giving out, along with his strength. Meta Knight slowly pulled back.
"You have done well," He proclaimed. "Your strength has well tripled, along with your endurance. Your technique, along with your speed and your passion have amazed me."
Kirby was fast losing consciousness. He had over worked himself, but only needed to rest. He dropped his sword and sat down, filled with pride not only from his own knowledge of his improvements, but the sound of wonder and strange gratitude in Meta Knight's voice.
"Rest," Meta Knight said. "And remember to protect your self. You use too much offense: Try to add defense to your technique too." Kirby would remember. "Good night." Murmured Kirby. Half awake, he began stumbling home. He turned around to say something, but Meta Knight had already disappeared, yet again.
"WAKE UP, LAZY LEGS!" Screeched Samarra, but inches from my ear. "AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" I yelled, and shot awake. "What time is it?" I asked somewhat angrily, digging into my ear, trying to stop the ringing. I looked about, and saw that it was still a few hours before midnight. "What are we doing?" Samarra scowled again. Was she always angry or worried?
" We have to get Tuff up the mountain. If we wait for him to fully heal, he'll miss his son's birthing. We have to pack up now and start moving." I got to my feet and started putting away some of the things Tuff had put out before he had been attacked, even though there wasn't much.
"Tuff!" I whispered. "Wake up!" Tuff groaned and opened an eye.
"Hmm?" "We're moving you up the mountain. Samarra said that if we wait for you to heal up completely, you'd miss your son's birth. And she would have to leave you alone to help deliver the baby when the time came if we stayed down here, so we're packing up." Tuff began sitting up. "No, don't move." I whispered. "I don't want Samarra to know I woke you up. She might get mad." Tuff chuckled.
"Now your scared of her? Trust me Kirby, she may seem gruff, but she only wants to help." I noticed that Tuff's voice was clearer. I asked him about it. "Samarra gave me some medicine. It made my chest feel better too. But I'm still so tired." "Your tired?" I laughed. "She woke me up hours ago!" Tuff laughed with me.
"Well," He said, "I'm ready to move." His eyes suddenly got wide. "Oh no." I said and closed my eyes. "She's right behind me, isn't she?" "I SURELY AM!" She cried. "What's this, you're disturbing my patient, when he needs rest!?" I backed off slowly. "I just wanted to tell him we were moving!" I said nervously. Samarra seemed ready to scold me again but let her shoulders drop.
"It's just as well." She murmured. "I probably would have awaken him while moving him." I sighed in relief. Samarra began unpacking some sort of hard square from her pack. When she unfolded it, it became stiff, like a giant cot. She care fully laid Tuff upon it, and tied the straps from it to her shoulders. She set herself on a nearby path up the mountain.
"I want you to go ahead of me, and make sure the path is clear. I don't want Tuff to bounce his head on every twig and rock ahead of us." I obliged gladly. Our trip of the mountain was finally beginning. (Hi! What do you think? Tell me! And I just want to inform everyone that I might be moving soon. sob. So in a few weeks, my story may be quite prolonged. And don't worry! The Meta Journey Saga will be updated soon! Keep reading!)