Shield Hero: A New Hero

Chapter 2

Out in a field, me and my teammate were fighting some sort of balloon creatures with eyes and sharp teeth. They were pretty easy to pop, and I was level 2 before I knew it.

Opening my skill menu, a few skills popped up. "Hm..." I began reading them off. "Dagger throw. Fire dagger. Quick throw?" I pressed it and it lit up. "Okay..." getting to my feet, I looked down at my dagger. "Quick throw!" I threw my dagger a few feet away. Once it touched the grass, I was immediately moved to where it landed, my weapon in my hand. "Whoa!" I had a bit of trouble keeping my balance from the speed.

Hearing the sound of crunching grass behind me, I glanced back to see my teammate. "Oh, hey." I said. she looked up at me and gave a smile. Reaching behind her, she showed me a handful of balloon scraps. "Whoa! Nice work." looking back to her, I noticed her hair had changed from purple to red. "Uh...wasn't your hair just purple?"

She reached back and pulled a strand of hair so she could look. Seeing her hair was now red, she suddenly stiffened up. Her hair now slowly changed from red to pink, her cheeks also turned a soft pink.

"Your hair changes color." I stated. "That's pretty cool!" Once I said that, her hair changed back to red, a smile spreading across her lips.

Looking up, I realized just how late it's actually gotten. "We should probably find somewhere to sleep, huh?" I looked to my teammate who just nodded in reply. "You hungry?"

She quickly nodded rapidly.

Minutes later

Finding a nice little Inn, I ordered some food for the two of us. The waitress took our order before heading to grab it. "So," I leaned forward. "I never got your name."

Her hair suddenly turned purple as her eyes widened. "I don't think I've heard you talk either." as I said that, she looked down. Waiting a few seconds, she still didn't speak. "Do you...not want to speak?" I asked. She shook her head. "Okay... Can you speak?" she shook her head again. "Oh." I rubbed the back of my head. "Do you...know how to write?" she nodded. "Good! I'll grab a pen and paper, and that way, we can communicate."

She looked up at me, her hair turning red again.

Standing up, I went over to the bar and got something to write on and something to write with. Heading back to the table, I handed them over to my teammate. "So, let's start with your name and age."

She nodded as she began writing something down. After a few seconds, she handed me the paper. "Makoto Lionheart, 17." I read. "Pretty name." she smiled. "Okay, I'm curious." she slowly nodded, her hair turning grey. "Your hair. Why does it change color?"

She took the paper back and began writing again. After another few seconds, she handed it back over. "It's a spell." I read. "My hair changes color to match my current mood. Red means I'm happy, green shows that I'm sick, pink is...embarrassed. It turns blue when I'm sad, white when I'm scared, black when I'm mad, purple when I'm nervous, and grey when I'm confused or thinking hard. There are probably a few more I'm not sure of, too." I lowered the paper to see her staring at me. "That's a pretty neat spell. I'm assuming whoever put it on you did so to make communication a bit easier?"

She nodded in reply.

"Speaking of which, why can't you speak?"

She again took the paper from me and began writing. After just a few seconds, she returned it. "I was born like this."

The waitress suddenly came back and put our food on the table. Thanking her, the two of us began to eat. After finishing our food, we went upstairs and into our room. There were two beds and a desk between them.

"Get some rest. Tomorrow will be pretty tough."

She nodded before taking off her weapon, knee high boots, and purple cloak, placing them on the desk and sliding into bed. Doing the same, I rolled onto my side and closed my eyes.

The following day

Hearing a loud bang on the door, I sat up and went over to open it. There, standing in the hall, was one of the castle guards. "The king requests the presence of all five heroes." he said.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"The shield hero is being put on trial."

End of chapter 2