Chapter 6: Evil Forest: Rescue & Escape
We walked through the forest until we reached the clearing were we fought the two Prison Cages. Zidane stopped the group here. "Let's look around for any clues as to where that creature may have taken her." There was no objection, and we began to search.
Steiner searched over in the bushes, Zidane went up into the trees, Vivi explored the clearing, and I went to explore the cave. I hadn't gotten very far when a Fang jumped out at me from the other side of the cave. I drew my normal sword and prepared myself for battle.The Fang charged at me and tried to attack me with its teeth. I easily dodged the attack by sidestepping to my right, and as I turned to face the Fang it left itself wide open for a counter attack. I shouted "Ryu Kan Sen" and brought my sword down on the back of the Fangs neck, severing its head completely. I noticed something gold glowing above the Fangs body. I grabbed the glowing orb and received 90 gil. 'So that's what gil looks like when you get it from monsters' I thought, as I pocketed it for later use. I cleaned and sheathed my sword and continued my search.
I continued to search the cave when I noticed something on the ground. I knelt down to get a better look and saw that it was a dried liquid. I could tell that it was blood and it had dried up only a few hours ago. 'This is probably from the Princess. I better get the others, fast.' I ran back to the others and had just entered the clearing when I noticed they where surrounded by a gang of Goblins.
Steiner was taking on two Goblins at once with his sword and seemed to be doing a good job. I noticed Zidane was in a similar fix, but was handling the Goblins attacking him with ease, in fact, I think he was making a game out of it. I looked to Vivi and noticed that he had dispatched two Goblins with a fireball that split in half and attacked both of them. Then I noticed two more Goblins coming out of the bushes heading straight for Vivi. They were coming from behind, and Vivi didn't notice them.
I quickly unsheathed my normal sword, again, and charged to Vivi's aid. As I was running I jumped into the air and aimed for more distance rather then height in my jump this time. I curled up into a ball, sword extended, and begun to spin. I became a living buzz saw. "Ryu Kan Sen Arashi" I said as I continued my flight path towards the two Goblins.
The Goblins stopped and looked in my direction. Immediately, they tried to run, but it was too late. I hit the first one with my attack and he was completely destroyed as my sword tore through him.
I landed on the ground, covered in Goblin blood, and saw the other Goblin trying to retreat, but then he was suddenly incinerated by a fire ball. I turned to look at Vivi, who had been warned due to my attack. He looked at me and nodded his head in gratitude. I nodded my head at him as well; a smile on my face. Zidane and Steiner had quickly finished off the Goblins they were fighting and moved to join us.
"Well that was a good workout." Zidane said, with a smile.
Steiner was red in the face again. "A workout? I hardly call getting ambushed by Goblins and nearly killed a workout!"
Zidane looked at him, thinking about what he had said. "You know Rusty, you're right." Steiner was now more shocked than angry that Zidane actually agreed with him. That is, until Zidane continued, "If a few Fangs were thrown into the mix it would have been a real workout." he concluded, happily.
Steiner was now red in the face again. "You idiot! I-" I cut him off
"I think I found something in the cave." They all turned to me.
"What did you say?" Zidane asked.
"I said I think I found something in the cave."
Zidane turned to address the others. "You heard him, let's get to that cave."
We entered the cave and I showed them the blood spots. They all shared my concerns, believing the blood was Garnet's. Steiner nearly fainted with worry when he saw the blood, but I managed to steady him, which was no easy task.
We reached the end of the cave and came upon a spring. Zidane stopped the group "it doesn't look like there are any monsters here. Let's rest here for a bit before continuing." No one argued we were all tired from that battle. I knelt down next to the spring and took a drink.
It was refreshing I had never tasted such clear, cold water before. 'No wonder this stuff revitalizes you completely' I thought, satisfied that my thirst was quenched. The others also drank from the spring, and then each one did their own thing.
Steiner was pacing around making sure the perimeter was secure, Zidane was lying on the grass with his eyes closed, resting, and Vivi was sitting off by himself near the forest edge. I decided to go talk with Vivi, he seemed like he had something on his mind.He looked up at me as I approached him. "Hey, Michael."
I smiled at him. "Hey, Vivi." I sat down next to him and looked back at the spring.
I turned to see Vivi starring at the ground lost in thought. "Mind telling me what's on your mind, Vivi?" I asked.
Vivi looked up "I was thinking about what you did back there."
I looked at him a little more closely "you mean how I saved your life, again?"
Vivi shook his head. "No, not just that but what you did to that Goblin. I mean you killed and you said you don't kill"
I thought about this a moment and then addressed him. "I said I don't kill humans, but I did say that I killed monsters. That Goblin was a monster Vivi so I could kill it."
Vivi then looked at me slightly afraid. "W-would you k-kill me if you had to?" he said, frightened.
I was stunned, and it clearly showed on my face. I was wide-eyed shocked at his question. I had not expected a question like that. Vivi seemed frightened at my reaction; he had never seen me look like this before.
I regained my composure, thinking of what I had probably looked like to Vivi and responded to his question. "You are no monster Vivi I cannot and will not kill you."
Vivi looked confused "but I'm not human so-" I grabbed Vivi's shoulder, gently, and looked him straight in the eyes.
"You may not be human, Vivi, but your more human than some of the people I've met in my life. Don't you ever think for a second that I would ever consider killing you."
Vivi was shocked. "Michael…I'm sorry I should never have…"
I smiled. "Vivi it's okay. You were just concerned about my actions, but the next time you feel this way, please tell me, okay?"
Vivi nodded "a-alright, I will."
I nodded to Vivi, glad that things were settled, but I still had this nagging thought in the back of my mind. 'Why did Vivi think that I would kill him?' I thought.
That's when Zidane got up off the ground "okay guys, breaks over let's get moving." We all marched out of the spring area and saw a cave covered in vines in the distance.
Each of us entered the cave…and saw the monster; Plant Brain. A giant flower like creature with huge tentacles and was connected to the ground by the roots. Then we saw Garnet behind the Plant Brain. She was held to the wall by vines and wasn't moving.
"There she is" Vivi said.
Zidane looked at the creature in awe. "So, this is the Master."
Steiner noticed the Princess held to the wall. "Princess!" He turned to Zidane "You stay out of this! Alexandria would be disgraced if a mere bandit should rescue the princess!"
Zidane looked at him. "You think you can handle him on your own?" Steiner looked back at the plant and seemed to lose some of his resolve. Zidane turned to Vivi and myself "Vivi, Michael, let's get him!" then the battle began.
I unsheathed my normal sword and prepared to attack. Zidane ran at the plant and successfully dodged its tentacles as he delivered the first hit. The cuts healed though, just like with the Prison Cage, but I already knew an effective strategy for this. "Vivi, enchant my sword, I'm going in." Vivi nodded and cast a fire spell on my sword. My sword erupted in flames again, and I began to charge towards the plant.
I shouted "Ryu Sou Sen" and began repeatedly striking the plant in different areas of its body with my flaming sword. The creature was screeching in pain as I continued my assault. Then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw one of the creature's tentacles coming at me from the right.
I stopped my attack and jumped back, but it wasn't far enough. The tentacle connected with my side and flung me into the cave wall. I hit the wall a little less hard then I thought I would, but it still hurt never the less. My sword lost its fire enchantment.
I got back up to my feet and saw that Vivi had enchanted Steiner's sword. Steiner charged at the creature and unleashed his fiery attack. The creature screamed out in pain and brought its tentacle down to swat Steiner away.
I quickly ran and threw myself in front of the tentacle as it was about to come crashing down on Steiner. I shouted "Ryu Sho Sen" and held the back of my sword. I jumped up at the creature's tentacle and severed it. The creature screamed in agony yet again.
Steiner looked at me and smiled. "Thank you, Master Michael."
I turned to him. "No problem."
That's when I noticed the other tentacle coming right behind Steiner, but before the tentacle hit, however, it was incinerated by a fire spell. I looked over at Vivi, who had a confident look in his eyes.
"Just watching your guy's backs" he said, with the confidence I knew he had. I nodded to him and smiled.
Steiner and I retreated back as Zidane moved in to stab at the plants burns. He was successful and the plant screamed out in pain again. He came back to regroup with us. "Okay, I don't think it can take much more. Let's finish this." We all nodded in agreement.
That was when the plant started spraying a yellow dust at us. I saw this and knew what it was. 'Pollen!' I thought. The others saw it too, but it was too late to react. The pollen got in our eyes and we were all blinded.
I couldn't see a thing. The Pollen had blinded me. I was rubbing my eyes trying to get the pollen out. I could only guess that the others were in similar predicaments. Then I felt something grab me. I moved to strike it when I heard it speak "easy, it's me."
I knew that voice "Blank?" I asked.
Blank responded "looks like I made it just in time. Michael, hold still. I'm gonna put eye drops in your eyes."
I complied and he inserted the eye drops. The liquid began to dissolve the pollen and I could see again. I could now see Blank clearly. "Thanks, Blank."
He smiled. "Don't mention it. I gotta help the others now." He went around and administered the eye drops to everyone.
While he was doing that I looked back at the plant, and cursed. It had regenerated both of its tentacles and had nearly healed the burns that we'd given it. If we didn't do something fast we weren't going to win anytime soon. When I turned around Blank had already given everyone the eye drops.
We huddled together to form a new attack strategy. Zidane started us off. "Okay, we need to hit him fast and hard before he can regenerate himself." He looked at Steiner, Vivi, Blank, and myself. "Vivi, I need you to enchant Michael, Steiner, and Blank's swords, then I need you guys to attack its vital areas."
I volunteered first. "I'll go for the head."
"I'll go for its heart…if it has one." Blank said.
"I will attack its gut." Steiner said.
Zidane looked pleased with this "alright, and Vivi, Once they do all that I want you to attack its roots with your fire magic, alright."
Vivi nodded. "Okay."
Zidane was satisfied. "Good, then let's get started."
We all moved into position Vivi enchanted our weapons and the three of us moved into position each attacking the key targets; head, heart, and gut. I ran and jumped at my target and performed a "Ryu Tsui Sen Zan." I jumped into the air and thrust my flaming sword into the plants head. It screeched in pain as sap and green liquid poured out of its wound.
I looked down and saw that the others had also stuck their targets as well. Then, before the plant could attack I heard Zidane. "Finish it, Vivi!" then I felt intense heat below me as Vivi targeted the plants roots. The plant was screeching with renewed pain as it began to wither. Slowly but surely the plant finally died. I took my sword out of the creatures head, cleaned it off, and sheathed it.
I hopped down from the plants head, and saw Steiner free Garnet from the wall. "Princess! Please get a hold of yourself."
I turned to Zidane. "Zidane give her the medicine, quick!"
Zidane walked over to Garnet, bottle in hand, uncorked it, held it to Garnet's mouth, and tilted the bottle so the liquid would enter her mouth. Garnet began to choke on the foul medicine. 'well at least she's still alive' I thought, relieved. Vivi looked up at me.
"Is she going to be okay?" Vivi asked. Before I could answer the whole cave started to shake
"W-what's going on?"
I looked to were the Plant Brain's body had been and saw that there was now a huge hole in the ground, and a few giant Plant Spiders came out. These creatures stood on four legs and used its forelegs as hands. They were green with red topped heads, and looked insect-like. We moved to get out of the cave the same way we came in, but it was blocked by more of those Spiders. We decided to go out the only other way; a branch off cave that I knew would lead us out.
Steiner was first, carrying the unconscious Garnet in his arms, followed by Vivi, then me, then Blank, then Zidane. We ran until we reached a cliff. I grabbed Vivi and jumped down with him, then set him back on the ground when we landed. The others soon followed and we began to run again, but our path was blocked by five Plant Spiders. We had no choice but to fight them.
I unsheathed my normal sword and charged at the nearest Spider. It tried to grab me with its pointed forelegs, but I managed to duck under the grab. I then executed a "Ryu Sho Sen" and decapitated the creature. Its limp, headless body fell as I touched down on the ground.
I looked around myself and noticed the others were fairing just as well. Blank had plunged his sword into the creature's heart, and it fell to the ground, dead. Steiner had cut his creature in half horizontally with a horizontal slash. Vivi had managed to incinerate his Spider as it feel to the ground, burning and dead. Then, lastly, I saw Zidane had killed his Spider by repeatedly stabbing it in the head. 'That was a quick battle' I thought, but my thoughts were cut short as I noticed more of the Spiders were coming out of the cave above us. We all turned and ran.
We continued to run, and then I felt the floor shaking. I looked behind me and saw an army of Plant Spiders coming after us, and I also saw that the forest was starting to petrify. I was right behind Vivi so I picked him up and ran as fast as my godlike speed would go.
We made it out of the forest first. I set Vivi down and we turned around to wait for the others. I could see Steiner coming with Garnet in his arms. "Come on, Steiner, hurry!" I yelled as he got closer. He finally made it and waited along side us for Blank and Zidane.
We didn't have long to wait as Zidane was coming now, and fast. I could see the forest petrifying behind him. Then I saw the vines attack him to keep him from leaving. Then I saw the vines trying to close up the exit. Zidane almost didn't make it, but he managed to jump through a gap in the vines at the last second. He rolled onto the ground and all four of us watched as the vines, now covering the exit, became completely petrified.
Zidane ran up to the petrified vines and began pounding on them "Damnit! That idiot!" He ceased his pounding and looked down at the ground sadly "Blank…"
I felt sorry for Zidane and I regretted that I didn't save Blank, but to save him would be to mess up the story, and I didn't want to do that. Saddened by the loss of Blank, we trudged on to a safe place to set up camp. 'Well, at least were out of that damn forest' I thought, relieved.
Ryu Kan Sen
When the opponent is left open, the user swings his sword back, if positioned on the side, hitting the back of his opponent's neck. Ryu Kan Sen is not much of an attack; it is more of a counter.
Ryu Kan Sen Arashi
The user curls up into a ball and rolls forward, attacking with his sword extended.
Ryu Sou Sen
The user attacks his opponent's vital parts at a high speed, not simultaneously.
Ryu Sho Sen
The user holds his sword with both hands, positioning it upwards. From there, he jumps up and hits his opponent below the chin or directly on the neck.
Ryu Tsui Sen Zan
Same thing as the Ryu Tsui Sen, except, the user pierces his opponent, rather than slamming him.
