-CHAPTER 2: A Girl Named Yura-
Not far from the villages, a tall majestic building with spiral-shaped towers stood tall. Bright blue banners started to flutter from its crystal-like structure, with the sound of cheering from beneath the scene occurring at the same time. Down below, a shadow was seen creeping up along the walls, towards a podium of sorts. It reached the stage, and placed two hands out into the light.
"My people!"
The cheering stopped, and the shadow brought the rest of his body out. His body was blue with stripes going along him, curved shoes on his feet, purple hair in a lowly-tied ponytail, deep blue eyes, a long nose, a horn on top of his head, and a bushy tail twitching from side to side."It has been an honor to see the recent Fairy Council elections in front of my own eyes, and now, it's because of that that you've managed to elect a new fairy in the group."
As he spoke, he gave out a light smile upon his face. He looked on at the audience, mainly consisting of fairies wearing large hats, small creatures with big noses looking similar to the police officers back in town, green dragonfly-like creatures with big teeth, and dog-like animals giving off light squeaks every two seconds.
"Please welcome... Ly!"
A grand applause was given off by the audience. He brought his hands towards his left, and moved towards his right, allowing another figure to come onto stage. She had orange skin with scarlet stripes around her, shoulder-length blue hair, deep green eyes, and pointed elf-like ears, with a white fluffy shawl around her shoulders.
"Thank you all so much. As promised, I will do so much for the world around us, and see if we can deal with repair on some of the land after various incidents, most notably when the Teensies unleashed their firework display earlier this month."
In the audience, the small creatures - presuming they were the Teensies - couldn't help but give out a mixture of laughs and cries from their throats. That caused her to shake her head lightly for two seconds, before looking back out towards the others.
"Not only that, but I will be able to answer your every call. If you need me, I'll be right here."
The audience then gave off another applause as she stepped away from the podium, and gave out a graceful bow from her body. From nearby, the figure came to her and took a hold of her by the shoulder, before they started leaving the stage hand in hand.
It wasn't long until both Ly and the figure made their way inside the building, with smiles on their faces. Once there, Ly took off her shawl, and hung it up on a nearby hook. She turned to her partner, with her emerald green eyes starting to glimmer with happiness and destiny.
"How was that, Sacha?" she smiled.
"Not bad! Not bad!" he smiled. "However... before you think about dealing with the Teensie firework damage, I think we got a more important first assignment for you."
"And what's that?"
"Come inside, and let me show you."
He brought his hand forward, and that left her to start coming towards his direction. They came towards a large arch, before going down a mini-corridor leading towards a room filled with darkness. Then, Sacha brought his hands into the air, and green sparks of light flew above him.
"Take a look at the primordial core."
He pointed ahead, and right ahead of him there was a large pink stove, holding a pearl-shaped object right in the middle of it. It started to swell dangerous shades of red and purple, increasing and decreasing in size as it did so. All that Ly could do was look on with shock.
"You can tell that it's starting to weaken with energy", said Sacha in a peaceful tone. "I would like you to go out there, and help me find something to restore its balance."
"But..." Ly paused. "Where do you have in mind, Governor?"
He brought his hands down, causing the sparks of light to die down and bringing them into darkness again. Then, they returned back the way they came, with only their eyes showing up in the darkness. Soon, they returned back into the room they started off from.
"Aside from here," he began again, "the closest link to the core we have is at Whale Bay. I have heard about something there that can recover this thing."
"And what do you think that'll be?"
She walked right past him, and sat down upon the floor, bringing her legs into a crossed position. In the meantime, Sacha stood at the door, leaning himself on it. And then... he opened his mouth, ready to give out his idea on the core's recovery.
---
Meanwhile, further in the forsetry, all got too peaceful from Globox's viewpoint, leaving him tugging his rickshaw behind him, and sucking on a giant plum at the same time. But then... the sound of a clank was heard nearby. That caused him to come to a stop and drop the plum into the carriage.
"What the-"
Another clank was heard. That caused him to blink, and face all directions. Then... several clanks in a row were heard. And before he knew it... what looked like a missile with legs made its way out towards him. That caused his eyes to suddenly shoot open.
"Uh-oh...!"
The missile then looked at Globox, leaving them in silence for a while. Then... it wasn't long before it gave out what sounded like a horse neigh. In the background, a small shadow was seen looking through a bush, with only its eyes being shown within it.
"That's it", it spoke with a high-pitched voice. "Bring him over here...!"
The missile jumped up into the air, and then it started running towards Globox, whom by now has his eyes enlarged to the size of tennis balls. That caused him to start running from it, but... before anything else could happen he tripped up over a tree branch.
He landed hard on his stomach, before pushing his arms upon the ground and letting him come up quickly. He saw the missile, coming faster towards him. With quick responses, he brought himself around the other side of the tree and let his opponent storm right past him, going into a rock and exploding on contact.
"Phew, that was a close one!" Globox sighed.
He smiled at the sight of the wreckage of the missile, looking pleased to return to his carriage... but all of a sudden, another clank was heard. He turned around, and saw another walking missile coming towards him. Sweat started to pour down the side of his face.
"Oh great... where do they keep coming from?!?"
He took a few steps back, with his arms starting to shake. Then, the missile charged towards him, leaving him to scream and run again. This time... he ended up running up a tree and holding onto one of the branches for support upon it. The very sight of the ground caused his vision to start blurring.
"That's it", the voice cackled. "You've almost got him now!"
In the background, the shadow in the bushes started to smirk at the sight of the action. At this stage, the missile placed one of its two legs upon the stump, giving out victory cries as it was doing so. And then... he used his leg to start shaking the tree.
"Aiee, don't shake the stump too hard!!!"
The light shakes started to develop to the equivalent of being in the center of a major earthquake. Globox tried to hold on as tight as he could, but with every passing second, he started to slip, as did the leaves upon the tree. And then... his feet slipped off, leaving him hanging on it with his arms.
"Whoa-a-a-a-a-!!! I can't take it anymore!"
He furiously tried to bring his feet back up to the branch, but... as soon as they did so, a slit was caused within the branch. The force was pulled upon it, until... it snapped 10 seconds later, causing him to fall down towards the ground, landing hard on his back.
A few stars started to show upon his head. But it wasn't long until he regained his senses and sat up, clutching the back of his neck. While that happened, the missile placed its other leg upon the ground and looked at its opponent, and back at the bush for good measure.
"Now, forward!" the voice commanded.
The missile gave out a neigh, and brought its nose high into the air as it did so. Then, it ran towards Globox, with its tip out front. That left them in a chase up a gentle slope, letting them to get closer. And then... the missile brought out one of its legs and kicked Globox to the ground.
"Ouch!"
He fell, with his face falling flat into a rock, causing him to rebound and roll down the hill. That left the missile to turn around and "snarl" towards his opponent. Then, it slid lightly down the slope, before charging at full throttle when it landed back on level ground.
"Be able to say your prayers soon, fair traveller!" the voice screeched again.
The voice caused the missile to start running much faster. At this stage, there was nothing that Globox could do to escape from the attack. All he could do was just crouch down, and let his opponent take him down, after a fair fight. The pair then came an inch apart, and that was when... the collision occurred.
A white flash occurred, before fading out a few seconds later. Silence came across the area, with only the sound of bird chirping from above being brought across the clearing. Down below, Globox looked around him, seeing the sky right in front of him. He then sat up, and started rubbing his head, showing a few scratches across his belly and back.
"I feel like I've been attacked by a six-foot antitoon..."
Weakly and carefully, he started getting up. As soon as he was brought into an upright position, he started looking around again, from left to right. And in the spot of where he parked his wagon... everything was gone. His eyes started to widen with panic, causing him to look around even more... and that was where he saw a figure walking off with it.
"Hey!" he brawled. "Gimme back my rickshaw!"
"You..." the creature paused. "You survived the blast?"
The handlebars were dropped, and from its front the creature came out towards it. It looked like a mound of leaves before it brushed them all off, showing herself as a small creature with long purple hair, an orange royal gown, a yellow dress, a red and white striped belt and a pair of red shoes. Its big nose and markings on its body made it obvious on what it was.
"You're... just a Teensie?" he blinked with shock. "But... what are you doing out here?"
"I don't belong with the others", she sighed.
It lowered its head and walked towards a nearby log. As soon as she got there, she sat down, and brought her hands onto her long nose. With caution, Globox couldn't help but approach her and sit down near her, bringing one of his fingers on the top of her head with care.
"Awww, what's the matter?"
The Teensie gave out a worried expression with her own two eyes. "I've been rejected due to discrimination. They just laughed at me when I wanted to help them out on their firework display. All because... I'm just a girl."
The firework display. The memories of a festival ran annually by the Teensies came past him, including giant bonfires, marshmallow parties, and the accidental burning of a tree or two. They soon left his mind, leaving him to look closer towards the figure, whom by now was shaking in her feet.
"You seen any others of your gender anywhere?" he asked her.
The teensie's eyes shot open, causing her to turn back towards Globox with surprise brought upon her face. Then, her nose was brought down, with her hair starting to go right over her face. It wasn't long, until Globox used one of his fingers to brush her hair back behind her.
"I never thought there would ever be such thing" she frowned. "You want to help me with this?"
Upon saying that, Globox came to a freeze. His eyes then twitched from left to right, and then... he placed the last lot of hair behind her before putting that hand under his head, with a pondering stance brought between his own two eyes and his feet starting to twitch every two seconds.
"Let me think about it", he blinked. "I've got a flower to find for my wife to set as an apology, and you want to be back with your own kind."
"I think I can see it. We got similar goals, so maybe we can do this together."
She came closer towards him, and as she did that, she reached for his hands, and they came closer together. It seemed that they were to be united with friendship brought upon them. And at that stage, hope really started to light up onto their own faces.
"It's been a pleasure to meet you", beamed the Teensie. "I'm Yura."
"Same here. My name's Globox."
The pair gave out a pair of smiles, leaving Yura to edge closer and hug Globox across the stomach, before jumping off and walking back up the hill. The toad then came by to follow her, with a face filled of curiosity starting to spring to his own mind.
"So do you have somewhere to live at?" Globox asked her.
"Up that hill!"
She pointed towards a tighter slope than the one they just climbed up. This one was filled with jagged rocks and tougher soil than what they were standing on. That left them to turn to each other, curious on how to tackle this forthcoming obstacle.
"But how are we going to get up there?" he shook with fear.
All that Yura could do was give out a smile. Then, the sound of another clank came to her. She turned around, and saw another walking missile strolling across the area. And that was when... something struck in her mind. She slid down the hill, and started going towards it.
---
Back at the Fairy Council, the crowds outside have died down to nothing more than a pair of squabs - green slugs with large pink lips. Inside one of the offices inside, Sacha made his way towards what looked like a map of the world, and placed one of his fingers onto a location to the South East.
"Here's where the exact link is - at the entrance to the caverns near Whale Bay."
He then started walking away from the map, and towards the other side of the room, where Ly stood watching his every move. He spun around twice at one instant, and then he looked on towards her, whom was looking there with an eager look brought within her eyes.
"If you do go deep within those chasms," Sasha started, "you'll be able to find the one thing that we can use to restore the primordial core back into balance."
"And what would that be?"
He gave out a light smile. Then... he brought both hands together, and through there, a bright surge of magic formed. He then brought both hands apart, and from there, a white barrier formed in front of him. And on there like a screen, the image of a flower with multicolored petals showed up in front of him.
Sacha instantly smiled at the sight of it. "Behold, the Blossom of Time."
The image continued to flash right in front of Ly's eyes. Then... Sacha brought back her hands, and it dissolved into nothing. In an instant... Ly's face started to drop from eagerness to disappointment. She then brought her focus back to Sacha, looking at her with fear in her own eyes.
"I don't think it's going to work, Sacha", she frowned. "It's too delicate to use for a job like this."
"Listen, Ly. Is there any other link around the world that you know of?"
That left her in silence for a few seconds, leaving her to ponder over Sacha's question. Finally... she responded with a light shake of the head, with her lips starting to quiver and her arms starting to limp down her sides. In an instant response, Sacha came closer to her.
"Then look carefully", he said with determination. "We have no choice but to go down there and get it."
"I still have doubts it's a good idea. A lot of the world's people have been killed going down there.
"Ah, but this is when a back up plan comes in handy."
Ly's eyes shot wide open. Within her mind, the thoughts of her getting surrounded by savage beasts suddenly started to vanish from her mind. She then edged a bit closer to Sacha, whom started twitching his tail and showing his teeth within a warm smile.
"How about these two help you?"
He pointed to his right, and that was where Ly's attention was brought to a pair of figures standing nearby. One of them was a muscular creature, with a chin mouth, brown cloth around his body, and tan colored skin. The other was a greenbottle - some toad/dragonfly creature - in royal clothing, and sported a large smile on his mouth.
"Just call me Murfy", the Greenbottle spoke in a comedic voice. "Whatever you do, don't take my statements too seriously."
"I'm Clark, the strongest man on the island!" beamed the muscular creature with a youthful tone.
The two then brought their heads together and showed peace signals with their hands, giving off warm smiles towards her. She then gave out a light giggle, and turned back towards Sacha's direction, whom was seen folding his arms while showing his dignity.
"I hope they will help you in all you can."
He gave out a light smile towards Ly, whom can just give out an anxious look back. He then took a few steps towards the door, but... just as when she was about to leave, she turned around. Murfy was right behind her, while Clark just stood there, saluting next to Sacha.
"Come on, you dufus!" growled Murfy.
He flew in his direction and started tugging onto his left arm, causing him to start staggering and almost fall towards the dark corridor. Then, the three of them left the room together, out into the open air, knowing that a dangerous hike has come right ahead of them.
---
Back at the hills, a few birds came onto a boardwalk, and started chirping away. But... their activity was soon interrupted by the sound of footsteps. They quickly flew out of the way, leaving a missile to speed right past them... with both Globox and Yura riding on top of it.
"Oh great, make this thing stop!" Globox cried out. "I don't think we can last any longer on this thing!"
"Don't panic, we're going to make a tight turn on this thing now!"
The missile came off the boardwalk, and went around a bend, leading towards an arc within the hills. The sight of it caused Globox to remove one hand from his grip and use it to cover his eyes with fright, while Yura looked on at it without a care in the world.
"Almost there...!"
They then came close to the wall, and then... they both jumped off, leaving the missile to explode upon contact. They gave out light sighs of relief, before they started making their way towards a cliff. The sea view was right ahead of them, and so was a beautiful shoreline underneath them.
"Wow, so I take that's Whale Bay is it?" Globox smiled.
"Yep. The most scenic place you'd find in this world.
As she said that, she started climbing down the rocky slopes down towards the sand dunes, with her feet causing light footprints beneath the ground. She walked far ahead, until... the sound of a thud came from behind her. She turned aroud, and saw Globox on his stomach, bringing himself to his feet in an instant.
"And..." he paused. "Where do you live?"
"Over in that cave over there."
She pointed over to a nearby opening within the cliff. The pair then approached it carefully, looking inside the darkness. All that could be seen in clear view were a few stalactites... and the highlights of various different types of skeleton scattered across the floor.
"Oh no, I'm not going in there!"
Yura gave out a light angry sigh. "Come on, what's a few skulls and bones going to do to hurt you? Get on in!"
With a sigh, she gestured for him to follow her, and walked in herself. She only got that far in to let her hair be highlighted within the darkness, but... she came to a stop. She turned around, and saw Globox still at the entrance, in a coward-like stance. With a shrug, she walked her way back to him.
"Ok, let's try it one fairy step at a time."
Smiling, she took a hold of him on the arm. He looked on at her assuring expressions, knowing that she could be determined for something. Then, his shaking started to calm down, and he remained still for a while, before he took a step forward, bringing his toes into the cavern. Another foot was raised, and before he knew it, he was totally covered by the shadows of the cave. The pair then headed closer inside, knowing that something may come out of it, but what lies ahead of them is currently a mystery for him.