Dust…

Dust…

Arise!

Dust opened his eyes. Last he remembered, he had defeated General Gaius, and in the end, was killed himself. He was supposed to be dead, yet here he was in the Glade once more. Dust looked up. A bluish, unusually shaped sword was floating a short distance away, giving to him a serious sense of déjà-vu.

"Ahrah…" he said, examining himself as if it was the first time he had ever seen his own body. "What's going on? Why am I alive?"

"I do not know, Dust…" the blade admitted. "But this can only mean that something is amiss."

"What do you mean?"

"You were tasked with saving this world, Dust, yet that you live means that it is in peril once more…"

"'In peril'?" Dust repeated. "Are you saying that Gaius is alive? That everybody's efforts where in vain?"

"No," Ahrah said confidently. "General Gaius is no more; you saw to that. His presence is gone from this existence, but now there is another evil at work, and you must destroy it as well."

"Do you know what this evil is then, Ahrah? Is it as powerful as Gaius was?"

"I do not know the answer to either one of those questions," the blade said plainly.

Dust frowned. "You're not holding anything from me this time, are you?"

"I have no cause to, Dust," Ahrah replied. "Even if I did, I truly would have nothing to withhold in the first place; whatever it is that brought you here is entirely unknown to me…"

Sighing, Dust looked up toward the sun, noticing it was just past noon. "How long has it been?" he asked. "Since the battle, I mean."

"Perhaps a week or so."

"Hmm..." Dust examined himself once more. He could feel his fur being gripped by friction as he rubbed his hands together. He could feel the cool breeze brush against his face. He was indeed alive, but the fact that he was bothered him. "I'm not even burned..." he murmured.

"I understand your confusion, Dust, but whatever it is that is threatening Falana now takes priority over any questions you may have, I'm afraid." Ahrah floated toward Dust, placing himself in the warrior's hand. "Maybe if we figure out just what it is we're up against we can get some answers."

"I suppose so." Dust gripped the familiar blade, knowing that he would inevitably be forced to wield it again. "Ahrah, do you know where we are?" he, asked.

"In the Glade, as you may know, but I'm not sure where we are within. Perhaps if you found a vantage point we could find Aurora Village."

"Good idea." Dust quickly located a sizable tree, and promptly began leaping from branch to branch. Once he reached the top, it only took a few seconds of scanning the landscape to find the tiny Aurora Village.

Dust smiled. "I've found the village," he said.

"That is the least of our concerns, Dust! Look up!"

"What are you-?" Dust glanced toward the sky. An absolutely massive meteor hurtling toward the earth, looking more akin to a fireball than any sort of rock. "What is that thing?!" Even with flames surrounding it from all sides, Dust could make out a bluish tinge and, bizarrely, tentacles trailing behind it. He could make out another shape, but it was much smaller, and had thick, black smoke billowing from its side. After watching it for a second or two, the smaller shape exploded and began to plummet toward the ground.

"Dust! Move out of the way!" Dust heard the large meteor make impact as he leapt from the tree, narrowly dodging the smaller object as it flew overhead, which too crashed into the ground nearby. Dirt and dust from both objects burst into the air, creating a massive cloud of black and brown that erased the sun from view.

Coughing from the smoke and dust, Dust gasped. "What… what was that?"

"I'm not sure, Dust," Ahrah said quietly. "But I believe that this is the beginning of a long and difficult journey…"

Those of you who actually have played Dust (which would be most of the people who read this, I imagine) probably see what I did with the intro there, and likely believe it to be unoriginal. You be correct in assuming such, because I, like most people on this site, enjoy stealing assets from the franchises I love. Please leave a review so that the story becomes slightly more creative.