In a distant land outside of Gaia's reality, another world identical to it yet more medieval, is caught in a heated battle of kingdoms. A battle that has raged for decades. Humans, elves, gnomes, and nightfrights, all locked in a war for a lost treasure that may no longer exist. In a castle resting in eternal magical dusk, a lone nightfright in a long red dress stares into the distant battle as tears fall from her mismatched red and green eyes. She held tight to a ruby scepter as she turned away from the window. She has seen more than enough war, she knows it won't end any time soon, all she wants now is to be away from it. She had gone over to her wardrobe and took out a set of traveling clothes. She was finally leaving this war behind, today.
~ Ch.2: The Runaway Princess
It was a clear day with not a cloud in the sunny sky. The warmth of the sun was shining down on a familiar red and black ship at sea. Up in the crow's nest sat Neko, humming to himself looking through a telescope. He stopped humming and grinned when he spotted something. Cupping his paw over his mouth the feline gave a shout to his captain. "Landmass off starboard!" The cat turned his telescope to the captain and saw his grinning nod as he turned the wheel, steering the ship to the new destination.
Upon docking the Grand Crimson at the small harbor, Yoshi stood at the bow of the ship and took in the sight around him, it was a moderate sized harbor that seemed mostly filled with small ships for fishing and various markets for all the fish. It truly was the definition of a fish market. Off in the distance a town of sorts could be seen and beyond it, a forest. "Welp, what are we waiting for let's g-…" Yoshi began saying until he saw Neko was no longer on the ship. Looking at the crowd of the harbor he wasn't too hard to spot… carrying a small crate of fish. Yoshi couldn't help but chuckle, when it came to fish, the feline was like a child at Halloween anticipating that next batch of candy. "Better get him before he gets himself in trouble." Brim stated with a chuckle. With that thought, Yoshi dived down into the crowded harbor to find his feline friend.
After meeting up with Neko, and convincing him to leave the fish crate on the ship, Yoshi led the way into the town. Approaching the town, it was smaller than it looked, and it was quiet as well. Neko slunk down into his shadow and hid in Yoshi's. The pirate gave a nod to his shadow before making his way to what looked to be a tavern of sorts. It was rather quiet in there as well with only a few people silently chatting, until the squeak of the door caught their attention. It was a cliche moment where all eyes were on the newcomer as he made his way to the front of the bar. Behind the bar was a musclebound giant of a man wiping a glass clean. "So… what's the deal around this place? The harbor is busy as all hell yet the closest town is quieter then a library. Something's fishy and it isn't the harbor." Yoshi interrogated and once again all eyes were on him with mutters flying around. With a glare from the bartender the mutters silenced and all eyes averted. Yoshi smirked. "You hold quite the authority around here don't ya?" The bartender chuckled and set the glass he was cleaning down. "Not many around here have the backbone to talk about the stuff that goes on, especially in the forest." The bartender said in a gruff voice. At the mention of the forest many of the people stiffened, some got up and hurried out the door. Yoshi's interest was piqued. "And what praytell goes on in the forest."
The red clad pirate cut and walked through the dense brush of the forest by the town, the bartender's tales fresh in mind. "There was once a logging camp beyond those trees, but then there was talk of sounds and sightings deep in the forest. Some folks went to check it out and came back half crazy. Those that weren't reduced to rambling lunatics spoke of ghosts and some haunted temple." "A temple?" "What's with the grin? Ya some kind of treasure hunter?" "Of sorts. Now, what became of the logging camp? This town looks like it could sure use the business from it." After cutting through a thick batch of hanging vines, Yoshi found the remains of the logging camp. All the machines and equipment covered in growing vines. "The camp was abandoned. Business fell apart as word spread and no one else would enter the forest, heh, some even starting to call the forest cursed." "Has anyone gone missing?" "Not a single soul." Yoshi walked into the center of the camp, sheathed Brim on his back and took in his surroundings. "Alright ya lazy cat we're here, you can come out now." He told his shadow, from which Neko emerged. "So… do you think that muscle heads story is true?" The feline said as he materialized his lucky black cane and twirled it. Yoshi shrugged. "Who knows? But this place is definitely abandoned." He said. Brim gave a sudden shake catching his attention. "Huh? Brim, what's wrong?" Yoshi said looking behind him. "I sense strong power to the northeast." Brim informed. Yoshi gave a nod and started running in that direction, Neko diving into his shadow.
Within the other reality, the runaway princess was running through a dense forest. Shout from the royal guards were heard in the distance. "Princess! Come back!" She couldn't go back, not when freedom could be so close, if the legends were true. She saw a clearing up ahead. That had to be it, the Temple of Thousand Echoes had to be there.
Swiftly cutting through the vines and leaves, Yoshi followed Brims direction to whatever he was sensing. "Just up ahead, this power, it's immense!" Brim stated. Yoshi agreed, he could feel it as well, like a loud hum in the air, vibrating his vary being. With a final slashed vine he arrived at a clearing, with a small temple in the center. An upside down pyramid held by dozens of arched pillars, it showed great age but not a spot of vegetation on it. "This is incredible…" Yoshi said as he gazed upon the structure, and something caught his eye. At the point of the upside down pyramid was a crystal looking structure that made him go wide eyed. "It can't be." He ran up to the structure but stopped dead as a wall of sound assaulted his ears dropping him to the ground. Now at high alert, Brim swiftly floated backwards, dragging Yoshi with him out of the wall of sound. Neko emerged from Yoshi's shadow holding his ears. "What the actual hell just happened!" He shouted. Yoshi, not taking his eyes off the crystal structure, got back to his feet. It couldn't be what he thought it was, they popped up recently in Gaia's history yet that one seemed to have had this centuries old structure built around it. "What I want to know is how the hell a null crystal got here."