Sorry for the delay. I was drafting the rest of this fanfic. Now that the drafting part is done, expect chapters to be posted more frequently. Enjoy! :)
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Whipstaff sat on a cushioned chair in the base's living room, lost in a dream world. For a long time, he stayed in the darkness, with no way out except to go forward. The darkness lingered in the Void. Whipstaff was certain he would meet someone evil there, before he left the Void.
He reached the Void, entering it in a manner of minutes. To his surprise, there were cages and cells stationary in the Void, with horrendous creatures and beasts roaring and screaming to no end. These creatures and beasts wanted to find a way out of their cages and cells; so, they could spell doom beyond the Void. He stopped by one of the larger cells, spotting its metallic bars were strongest out of all the cells used to imprison peoples, creatures, and beasts.
Whipstaff moved towards the cell door, finding now carried an iron key, black as charcoal, in his right hand. He looked up at the cell, spotting a figure made out of volcanic ash and dust, with magma cuts and fissures sizzling off his blackish-grey skin. His clothes were black and brown, with a white tree insignia that looked like it was dying. The way this figure moved towards him made his skin crawl.
Whipstaff trembled in spite of seeing the figure. He knew the figure's name, but feared to speak it out loud. The figure glided towards the cell door, bashing and banging at the bars with all his strength. But to no avail, for the figure found he was trapped in the cell, with no way out!
"Let me out, Whipstaff," Morgoth growled, venomously. Whipstaff took a few steps back, the iron key still in his right hand. Morgoth smiled, sinisterly. "I know what you must think of me: poor little Morgoth, trapped inside this cell and in this Void. Well, the hour is coming. The Great War is at hand and it draws closer to us by the second. I will be released from this cage. I will escape this Void. And when I do, no one can stop me. Not even you!" He smirked, taunting Whipstaff to release him from his cell. "Go on. Open it. You know you want to."
"Morgoth, that's enough!" Eru Ilúvatar's cried out in fury, grabbing Whipstaff by the hand, taking the iron key from his right hand. He looked at Whipstaff, telling him, "Let's go. It's time to leave the Void."
"This isn't over. I will be let out! You wait and see!" Morgoth declared, as Whipstaff moved towards the Void's entrance/exit. By the time Whipstaff looked back at the Void, he left it with Ilúvatar, leading him to the next part of his dream.
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Whipstaff opened his eyes, finding a white light surrounding him and leaving him a moment later. He looked up at his Tree Unicorn foal perception, playing with his Tree Unicorn mother and his Tree Unicorn father.
They were happy, or so it seemed.
Whipstaff watched the scene unfold, changing to reveal his Tree Unicorn foal perception testing out his magic, alongside his parents. He gasped in shock and horror as one of his foal perception's fireballs swept out of his tan spiral horn, circulating around the hills until it crashed into his Tree Unicorn mother.
Wait. This wasn't what he wanted!
"No! Mamma! Mamma?!" his Tree Unicorn foal perception screamed at his Tree Unicorn mother, chasing after her until she was almost engulfed by the red flames. He was stopped by his Tree Unicorn father, who held him before he could even reach his Tree Unicorn mother.
"Don't forget me… don't forget… Syrena," his Tree Unicorn mother said, vanishing into the flames at last.
There was no body. There was no trace of his Tree Unicorn mother. She was gone, missing, never coming back… or so Whipstaff thought as the dream continued, this time showing himself with his Tree Unicorn father inside their tree house.
No! It was his tree house! Whipstaff recognized the painting where the Dark Unicorn and the Sea Unicorn—Syrena's parents, as it were—fought on a white sandy beach under a starry night sky. The conch shell sat on the beach in the painting, even as Whipstaff's father hung it up on the wall, close to the kitchen, which had its own room at the time.
"I'm sorry about your mother, Whipstaff," Whipstaff's father pointed out to Whipstaff's perception. "Avanna was a good Tree Unicorn. We'll miss her dearly."
"Yes, but even that cannot be helped, Winston," another Tree Unicorn with a tan spiral horn and a painted coat snickered, right as two more Tree Unicorns entered the room, carrying black spears.
Winston's eyes widened in horror. He shielded Whipstaff from the three Tree Unicorns, but only a second too late, for Winston shoved Whipstaff out of the way, right a black spear barreled into Winston, spearing him through the chest with one jab.
"NOOOO! Papa!" Whipstaff screamed, staring at his father in horror.
Winston gave him one last smiling look. He said, weakly, "Son, take care of… yourself. Trust me," he sighed, sagged and wide-eyed as he died. Whipstaff couldn't believe it. His father was gone… his mother… had to be out there somewhere. He just needed to find her, but how? Where did she go?
"Papa," Whipstaff's perception cried, shaking his father's dead body. "No! No." He looked at the three Tree Unicorns, asking them, "How could you do this? He's my father!"
The Tree Unicorns faced him in unison, their faces cold and cruel.
"We live in a utopia, meant for Unicorns. But even now, we need to take out the weak and those who fear to change things in our realm. No utopia is safe. Remember that and keep your feet. You never know when we might show up again," the leader of the Tree Unicorn gang said, as he and the other two Tree Unicorns made their way out of the tree house, leaving Whipstaff with his father's dead body.
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Whipstaff awoke in a dazed state. He was still in his human form and recovering from the long dream he just had. He rubbed his eyes, doing his best to keep awake, while he still could.
So many years lost, no thanks to those Tree Unicorn gangs. The group that killed his father had been disbanded. Whipstaff knew he wouldn't see that gang again, but ensured that seven years after his father was killed by the Tree Unicorn gang, that the Tree Unicorn gang eventually got the punishment they deserved.
Now, he was an orphan, or so he thought. If his mother, Avanna, was out there, then where did she go? How would he find her? Did he know what she looked like now? It was a guess, but he would find her eventually! Maybe if he looked hard enough, they would reunite soon. But this was a matter of long odds. He had no idea where to start looking for her, let alone know if she was alive!
Oh, what was he to do? Where could he start looking for her? These questions remained unanswered, for the time being. He looked up at Revan, the second the soldier got his attention. Oh, what did he want now?
"You alright?" Revan asked, concerned for him.
"Yeah. I just had a nightmare about my parents, and someone who is evil," Whipstaff said, tensely. He didn't know what happened in Arda, but he had this feeling the Emperor-beyond-the-Sea was behind putting Morgoth in the Void. But what exactly happened for the Emperor-beyond-the-Sea to do that to the Maia?
All Whipstaff knew was that he needed to stay away from Morgoth as much as possible. There was something slippery about that Maia. He made Whipstaff concerned about his own safety. And yet, Whipstaff put the subject to rest a moment later, deciding on changing the subject to something less alarming.
He rested his hand on his forehead, too tired to move. He looked up at Revan as the man in the green combat suit spoke to him again, "Your parents must be lucky to have you around. I know I am. You're needed, Whipstaff, more than you know."
Whipstaff chuckled. "My father's dead and my mother's out there somewhere. If I could just find her, find out what happened to her, then all would be well! I guess she'd still alive, but who knows. She would be over a thousand years old," he lowered his head, not knowing whether this quest was a fool's errand or not.
"Well, come on. The sooner we get to the McFaddens' house, the better," Revan said, following Carth to the base's front door.
"Huh? The McFaddens?" Whipstaff asked, confused.
"Yes," Revan said, facing him.
"The McFaddens are well known in Friendship, Maine," Carth explained with candor, "From what I hear, J.T. McFadden is a scientist and he's the one whose about to own the lot by the sea. We have to make sure he gets it and the lot's title. And that's where you come in! We need your name is signed on the deed, if we're to have any luck completing the task Aslan sent out for you to do."
He told Whipstaff, in haste, "Come on! We have to hurry, if we're going to have any luck completing this deed for Aslan."
Whipstaff sighed in vain. There was no stopping Carth, now was there? "All right, I'm coming with you." He stood up, approaching the two soldiers. "Just know that once we get to the McFadden house and complete this task, I'm going back to the Land of Unicorns."
"Only if Aslan tells you to, then you can go home," Carth said, walking outside, just as his clothes transformed into a Victorian style suit. Revan did the same, as did Whipstaff, finding their clothes had also transformed into Victorian style suits.
Whipstaff was impressed, but knew his journey was far from over.
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It didn't take Whipstaff and his new companions long to find the McFadden house, for it was a two-story house with beige walls and black shutters. He sighed, entering the house with Revan and Carth, not knowing what he would find in there.
To Whipstaff's surprise, the house's interior stood out, just as much as the exterior. Green plants stood out everywhere, from pots and vases, to hanging potted plants that stood outside the windows. The carpet was grey, soft, and covered in floral patterns. He turned the corner, leaving the entrance hall and following Revan and Carth out into the parlor, where the McFadden family awaited them.
Whipstaff stared at the family in amazement. There was the man of the house, J.T. McFadden, dressed in his best black and grey clothing, while his two-year-old son, a blond-haired boy, played with his toys.
"Casper, we have company," J.T. McFadden said in delight.
"Company?" Casper asked, facing Whipstaff and his companions with a curious look in his eyes.
"Hello Casper," Whipstaff said with a warm-hearted smile. He turned to J.T. McFadden, curious about him, too. "I'm sorry. I'm here about the deed to the new lot you're about to buy. I'll put my name on the lot, or at least the manor you wish to build."
"A manor, eh?" a familiar feminine voice drew Whipstaff's attention. Her voice was light and lithe. The moment she stood up, he gasped. The woman's dark chestnut-blonde hair flowed down her shoulders, angling her fair, oval-shaped face, and making her blue eyes stand out. She wore a pinkish-purple Victorian style dress and black boots, making her seem like the most interesting person in the room. The way she smiled at him made him realize how much he missed her. "Hello Whipstaff. Welcome to your new home."
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References:
Casper McFadden and J.T. McFadden come from the 1995 film, "Casper".