Ryo & Rudolph – Book

Sometimes, there are kinder worlds out there, kinder universes, where things like Killing Games and psychotic teddy bears don't exist. And in these universes, sometimes people find each other. Not necessarily in a romantic, soul mates kind of way. Not everyone who is going to be important to you is like that. Sometimes, friends find each other too. No matter what the circumstances may be.

In one of these universes, lived a prince in a castle by the woods. The prince was well loved and generally allowed to do as he pleased. He spent hours in those woods, accompanied by his two animal companions, a red alley cat and a mischievous, orange monkey. The trio had countless adventures together, and the prince was very happy.

But even in kinder universes, happiness cannot last forever. An evil warlock cast a spell on the prince's kingdom, banishing all animals from the land. The prince could not bear that, and so he went out on an epic quest to lift the evil warlock's evil curse. But the woods he knew so well and loved so dearly were empty, dark, and lonely without his dear companions.

The prince quickly got lost, and soon stumbled upon a small cabin that he had never seen before. The cabin belonged to a wizard, although this one was very different from the one who originally cast the spell. He only used good magic, magic that took nightmares and horror and turned it into something beautiful and comforting again. The wizard welcomed the prince into his home, and upon hearing of the prince's quest, agreed to help him.

"Wait a second! That's you and me!" Ryo said excitedly, practically bouncing up and down in his chair. Rudolph carefully marked his spot on the page with his finger and looked up at his friend. "Because the animals! And you do the horror thingy!"

"Is that okay? I'm not used to writing stuff like this…" Rudolph said.

Ryo quickly nodded. "I'm a prince! With animals! That's so cool!" His eyes widened. "Oops, I'm interrupting you. I'll be quiet now."

"That's okay," Rudolph told him. He cleared his throat before resuming reading.

The pair traveled the kingdom, searching for a way to lift the curse. However, the kingdom was in a very poor state with the animals missing. Farms no longer had their cows or chickens, families no longer had their dogs or rabbits. There was pain all around them, and neither boy could find it in his heart to just ignore them. And so the wizard went to work, using his magic to transform the people's fears and anxiety into confidence and hope. The prince, with his enthusiasm and glee for life, took these feelings and helped to foster them, helped them take root in people's hearts as opposed to simply passing over them like a wave.

Everywhere the prince and the wizard went, they left behind a shining trail of happiness behind them.

"Oooh, pretty…."

"Shhhh…"

One day, after many months of searching, the prince and the wizard finally discovered the location of the evil warlock's castle. They snuck inside and found all of the kingdom's animals trapped inside, including the prince's cat and monkey friend. The prince was a little nervous at first, but his old friends and his new friend quickly got along. The alley cat only hissed a little bit, and she always did that at new people.

Together, the four of them climbed to the highest point in the warlock's tower and found a swirling, purple orb, the source of his power. The monkey very neatly dropped it out the tower window, and the orb shattered on the ground, lifting the warlock's dark curse.

"Yay!"

The four of them, and the rest of the animals of the land, made the long journey back to their kingdom. The people, naturally, were overjoyed. The prince, not wanting to part his with new friend, offered the wizard a home at his castle, a place where the wizard could study his magic and help as many people as he wished. The wizard accepted.

And they all lived happily ever after.

Rudolph put down the pages and frowned. "I'm sorry if it's short and not very good. I'm not used to writing fairy tales. All my stuff is usually scary and mean, and I wanted to write something happy for you!"

"You did write something happy!" Ryo reassured him. Rudolph still looked unconvinced. "You wrote me a story. I love it."

"Really?"

"Really really!"

Rudolph smiled at that, bright and pure, and handed Ryo the collection of pages that he had written the story on. Ryo took them and hugged him to his chest. And in the moment, this little bit of happiness was enough.