With a sleepy groan, I reached out to pull up the blanket, trying to block out the light that burned through my eyelids. Failing to find even the pillow, I sat up, shielding my eyes as I looked around. My eyes flew open as I took in the vast horizon of sand dunes that greeted me. Surging to my feet, I slowly turned, gazing in amazement at the endless desert vista. The wind blew my cloak to the left, causing me to look at my clothes. Gone were my cargos and tank top pjs, replaced by my blue dragon print wrap around pants, black platform boots, black shirt with a red dragon stretching from one arm to the other, and my red cloak firmly clasped at the base of my throat. Definitely *not* clothing for the desert during the day. Still trying to sort out what was going on, I started towards what I figured was north.
Suddenly, a loud snort from behind me was heard. Spinning around, I saw a large black horse plodding his way up the dune that I was on, heading my way. At first, I thought it was a mirage, at least until the stallion came up and nudged me, snuffling as he sniffed me. I noticed the supplies tied to his back, behind an old style saddle with over sized stirrups, the reins hanging to the ground from the bit-less bridle. When I approached, I saw a bloody hand print dried on his shoulder, as though someone had tried to hang on, but were too wounded to do so. Looking back the way he'd come, all I saw was his tracks, disappearing into the haze.
"I don't know where you came from, but I get the distinct feeling that it would be a fool's errand to go back."
The black ears twitched as I turned back to face him. Cocking my head to the side, I studied him quizzically.
"So, what does one call you? Somehow 'hey you' just doesn't seem right."
The horse just shook his head, jangling the reins. As I idly took the reins up, I noticed some runic writing on the side. Running the reins through my hands, I slowly translated the writing.
"Balin the swift, steed of Liam the fierce, son of Rolf the smith. You're named after a dwarf?"
I giggled, a goofy grin on my face as my warped sense of humor kicked in. Balin snorted and shook his head. Grinning, I patted him on the nose.
"Sorry boy. Guess we're going to be traveling together for awhile, eh?"
Balin whipped his head around to look at me. Blinking, I shrugged off his odd behavior, gathered the reins, and mounted up.
"Now, how does one get you to move?" I mused as I turned his head to the north. "Well, might as well go with what I know. HIKE!"
I then found myself grabbing for Balin's mane as he started forward, plodding over the sand towards the north. Curious, I tried out 'GEE' and 'HAW', and sat stunned as he obeyed perfectly. Glancing at the sun, I decided against trying out 'MUSH' until after dark. After a few hours, it became apparent that the sun still had a ways to go before it reached its zenith. Twisting around to see if there was water in the packs behind me, I accidentally knocked open my purse, dropping one of my Yu-Gi-Oh cards onto the ground. Cursing, I moved to get the reins to stop Balin, so I could retrieve the card. Before I could move, however, a bright light burst from the card, momentarily blinding me. When I could see again, I grabbed the reins, bringing Balin up short. Covering the dunes, muting the harsh sun, was a gorgeous panorama of lush grass, swaying gently in the breeze. Dropping down, I searched for the card I had dropped, while Balin gleefully started filling up on the grass.
I found the card resting by Balin's hind hooves, half buried in the grass. Pulling it out, I stared at it in wonder. It was the field card 'Sogen', but with the picture blanked out. Spinning around, I held the card up and looked at the field that we were in: it was exactly the same as the picture on the card was supposed to look. Peering at the blank spot on the card, I watched as a light flared again, and the field disappeared, leaving the dunes, and a disappointed Balin, a clump of grass roots trailing from his mouth. Looking up from the card, I turned to Balin.
"I suppose it's pointless to ask if I should, huh? Well, here goes nothing. SOGEN, ACTIVATE!"
I flung the card out, and watched as it disappeared, reappearing a moment later, resting on the grass. Picking up the card, I tucked it into a pocket, mounted up, and headed off, Balin's pace much improved, now that he was on familiar turf, with a little fresh food in him.
Soon, the sun began to set in a brilliant display to the left. Bringing Balin to a halt, I swung down, pulled off all the gear, and started setting up camp. In short order, camp was set up, the tent waving gently in the evening breeze, Balin brushed down and grazing a few yards away.
"Now for a fire" I said, glaring at the cold and dark pile of wood in front of me. "Let's see, what've we got... monsters are too dangerous... traps won't work... Burning Land? Nah, too big... Ookazi... same... Hinotama? Still too powerful... BINGO! SPARKS, ACTIVATE!"
Holding out the Sparks spell card, I grinned as the fire started up. This proved to be our routine for over two months, the only hitch coming after the first week, when I realized that I was running low on food. With no skills to catch the animals or fish of the meadow, I was forced to try out the monster cards. I searched through my cards, until I found one of my weakest monsters, a level 2, 600/700 Petit Dragon. Carefully, I held the card out, facing away from me.
"GO, PETIT DRAGON!"
A beam of light shot out, then faded, leaving a tiny little dragon. Turning, the Petit Dragon saw me, flew over, and, perching himself on my shoulder, proceeded to curl up and go to sleep.
"Sometimes, I hate being a woman, you know that?" I said to no one in particular. "Fine then. I shall name you Pete, and you shall be our mini-mascot. Now, for the food... GO SILVER FANG!"
A great white snow wolf appeared.
"You hungry?"
Silver nodded and looked at me.
"Alright, here's the deal. You go catch the food, we split it, half and half, and you don't have to go back into the card. Agreed?"
Silver cocked his head to the side for a moment, then nodded and bounded off, returning a few minutes later with several good sized rabbits. True to my word, I took half, pocketed the blank card, and left the happy Silver Fang to his dinner, while I cooked mine. And so, it was in this fashion that we came upon a village. It wasn't a village as I was used to; this was a large group of tents neatly clustered around an oasis. Quickly deactivating Sogen, the four of us rode forward, in hopes of finding out just where we were.
Suddenly, a loud snort from behind me was heard. Spinning around, I saw a large black horse plodding his way up the dune that I was on, heading my way. At first, I thought it was a mirage, at least until the stallion came up and nudged me, snuffling as he sniffed me. I noticed the supplies tied to his back, behind an old style saddle with over sized stirrups, the reins hanging to the ground from the bit-less bridle. When I approached, I saw a bloody hand print dried on his shoulder, as though someone had tried to hang on, but were too wounded to do so. Looking back the way he'd come, all I saw was his tracks, disappearing into the haze.
"I don't know where you came from, but I get the distinct feeling that it would be a fool's errand to go back."
The black ears twitched as I turned back to face him. Cocking my head to the side, I studied him quizzically.
"So, what does one call you? Somehow 'hey you' just doesn't seem right."
The horse just shook his head, jangling the reins. As I idly took the reins up, I noticed some runic writing on the side. Running the reins through my hands, I slowly translated the writing.
"Balin the swift, steed of Liam the fierce, son of Rolf the smith. You're named after a dwarf?"
I giggled, a goofy grin on my face as my warped sense of humor kicked in. Balin snorted and shook his head. Grinning, I patted him on the nose.
"Sorry boy. Guess we're going to be traveling together for awhile, eh?"
Balin whipped his head around to look at me. Blinking, I shrugged off his odd behavior, gathered the reins, and mounted up.
"Now, how does one get you to move?" I mused as I turned his head to the north. "Well, might as well go with what I know. HIKE!"
I then found myself grabbing for Balin's mane as he started forward, plodding over the sand towards the north. Curious, I tried out 'GEE' and 'HAW', and sat stunned as he obeyed perfectly. Glancing at the sun, I decided against trying out 'MUSH' until after dark. After a few hours, it became apparent that the sun still had a ways to go before it reached its zenith. Twisting around to see if there was water in the packs behind me, I accidentally knocked open my purse, dropping one of my Yu-Gi-Oh cards onto the ground. Cursing, I moved to get the reins to stop Balin, so I could retrieve the card. Before I could move, however, a bright light burst from the card, momentarily blinding me. When I could see again, I grabbed the reins, bringing Balin up short. Covering the dunes, muting the harsh sun, was a gorgeous panorama of lush grass, swaying gently in the breeze. Dropping down, I searched for the card I had dropped, while Balin gleefully started filling up on the grass.
I found the card resting by Balin's hind hooves, half buried in the grass. Pulling it out, I stared at it in wonder. It was the field card 'Sogen', but with the picture blanked out. Spinning around, I held the card up and looked at the field that we were in: it was exactly the same as the picture on the card was supposed to look. Peering at the blank spot on the card, I watched as a light flared again, and the field disappeared, leaving the dunes, and a disappointed Balin, a clump of grass roots trailing from his mouth. Looking up from the card, I turned to Balin.
"I suppose it's pointless to ask if I should, huh? Well, here goes nothing. SOGEN, ACTIVATE!"
I flung the card out, and watched as it disappeared, reappearing a moment later, resting on the grass. Picking up the card, I tucked it into a pocket, mounted up, and headed off, Balin's pace much improved, now that he was on familiar turf, with a little fresh food in him.
Soon, the sun began to set in a brilliant display to the left. Bringing Balin to a halt, I swung down, pulled off all the gear, and started setting up camp. In short order, camp was set up, the tent waving gently in the evening breeze, Balin brushed down and grazing a few yards away.
"Now for a fire" I said, glaring at the cold and dark pile of wood in front of me. "Let's see, what've we got... monsters are too dangerous... traps won't work... Burning Land? Nah, too big... Ookazi... same... Hinotama? Still too powerful... BINGO! SPARKS, ACTIVATE!"
Holding out the Sparks spell card, I grinned as the fire started up. This proved to be our routine for over two months, the only hitch coming after the first week, when I realized that I was running low on food. With no skills to catch the animals or fish of the meadow, I was forced to try out the monster cards. I searched through my cards, until I found one of my weakest monsters, a level 2, 600/700 Petit Dragon. Carefully, I held the card out, facing away from me.
"GO, PETIT DRAGON!"
A beam of light shot out, then faded, leaving a tiny little dragon. Turning, the Petit Dragon saw me, flew over, and, perching himself on my shoulder, proceeded to curl up and go to sleep.
"Sometimes, I hate being a woman, you know that?" I said to no one in particular. "Fine then. I shall name you Pete, and you shall be our mini-mascot. Now, for the food... GO SILVER FANG!"
A great white snow wolf appeared.
"You hungry?"
Silver nodded and looked at me.
"Alright, here's the deal. You go catch the food, we split it, half and half, and you don't have to go back into the card. Agreed?"
Silver cocked his head to the side for a moment, then nodded and bounded off, returning a few minutes later with several good sized rabbits. True to my word, I took half, pocketed the blank card, and left the happy Silver Fang to his dinner, while I cooked mine. And so, it was in this fashion that we came upon a village. It wasn't a village as I was used to; this was a large group of tents neatly clustered around an oasis. Quickly deactivating Sogen, the four of us rode forward, in hopes of finding out just where we were.