Out of Hope
Chapter 4: Green Forest
DISCLAIMER: Refer to the previous Disclaimer.
Graphor smiled. "I forgot about that one... it was my very first blade... and probably one of, if not the, best of them. The blade itself is made out of fused adamantium, crystals, rubies, and red elemental components... a perfect fit. You seem very comfortable with it, and the blade packs a punch as well. It's not going to break easily. You could hit this thing as many times as you want against a solid wall, and it won't even have a scratch on it! Since it'll be going toward saving your world, I'll allow you to keep it..."
"Thank you very much... what's its name?" Ragnus asked.
"I called it Firagus, but you can rename it, if you desire." Graphor replied.
"No. Firagus it is."
-
"Will you at least stay for the night?" Selena asked.
"No. Every moment I waste, the more the people of Hyrule will suffer... if any of Hyrule is even left, that is." Ragnus replied.
"Alright... head north, then. You'll find the Green Forest and the city of Balrua on the other side of it. That should be your next stop if you're en route to the capital... I don't know what you plan to do, but that'd be the best place to find any answers." Selena explained.
"Be careful ... and take good care of Firagus!" Graphor said.
"Don't worry. I will... and I'll never forget your hospitality." Ragnus said, turning to leave.
"Good luck!" Graphor yelled after him.
"Come back to visit us any time!" Selena shouted.
"Don't worry, I will!" Ragnus shouted back, waving as he walked away into the sunset, leaving Horeron and going off into this vast and new world...
...With a map in hand, Ragnus began travelling the great lands of Retrasio. The great rolling plains of green and the gentle winds blowing over them reminded him of the fields of Hyrule. How he missed his homeland...
...Following the set path North for only a total of an hour, Ragnus found the forest which he was directed toward by Selena... It was called the Green Forest, and served as a natural barrier between Horeron and the remainder of Retrasio. It appeared to be a lush forest filled with pine trees, and seemed like it posed no threat. On the other hand, it was no longer evening, but nighttime.
Even though this world was new to him, Ragnus did know full well that forests are much more dangerous at nighttime. He unsheathed Firagus, and cautiously entered the forest...
It was very quiet, and this annoyed Ragnus. He decided to break the silence by thinking out loud.
"...This world... it's so similar yet different to Hyrule... and I doubt I've even begun to scratch its surface..." He sighed. "I wonder if there are even monsters around..."
He stayed silent for a minute, continuing his little trek though the nearly harmless green forest... until he finally heard some whisperings going on behind a bush. Curious, and with nothing better to do, Ragnus peered into the bushes. Three Koopa-like creatures were all whispering to each other. Only difference is that these Koopas flew on broomsticks, wore small spectacles, wore large cloaks that concealed most of their body, and had fangs.
Figuring that he was fairly lost, and these three creatures bore a strong resemblance to Koopas, he decided to ask for directions. "Excuse me, but do any of you know the way to get to the city of Balrua?" Ragnus asked.
The three magikoopa stopped talking amongst themselves, and looked at Ragnus nervously. They then began to talk whisper to each other again. Ragnus could hear most of the things they were saying.
"...Think he heard about our plan to... on Horeron tonight...?"
"No... Wasn't standing... for... enough."
"Still... never... to be...-ful."
"What plan involving Horeron...?" Ragnus asked, having picked up that part of the conversation.
The three magikoopa looked nervously at each other.
"Um... our plans to... hold the celebration of... Lord Bowser XXXVIII!" One of them exclaimed.
The second of the magikoopa smacked his palm into his forehead out of embarrassment of his partner's stupidity.
"You... IDIOT!! This isn't even the mushroom Kingdom!!! ... and they don't worship Bowser!!" The third exclaimed.
"Wait... so you three know how to travel between dimensions...?" Ragnus asked.
"Yes, actually..." The first began.
The second smacked the first with his wand, shutting him up, and the third growled.
"Never mind that! You've heard too much, so it's time to die!!!" The third yelled, taking out a wand, and aiming it at Ragnus, who held his blade up in defense. The magikoopa shot out a fireball, but the flames wrapped around Firagus instead of hitting Ragnus.
The magikoopa looked on, dumbfounded at what just happened.
"Knew I picked the right one..." Ragnus chuckled to himself.
"If that doesn't do it, then this will!!!" The magikoopa shouted, as he and his two comrades suddenly held their wands out, which were glowing with magic.
Ragnus braced himself for an attack, but instead of attacking, the magic formed a vortex from which monsters came. There were three wolflos, five goombas, and two miniature peahats.
"Hm... either they're being summoned from another dimension of Retrasio has creatures that exist in both worlds." Ragnus said, readying his weapon as all ten monsters strode toward him.
"Retrasio has creatures from both worlds, and even a set of its own!!" A magikoopa cackled.
Ragnus ducked under the peahats, and rolled aside to avoid the magikoopas' fireballs. His blade still ablaze, he swung his sword, completely incinerating a Goomba. "Hm. I'll make a note that those fall quickly." He said to himself, swinging his sword in a wide arc, taking out another two Goombas. Then, he backflipped out of the way of the wolflos triad. The third one, however, nicked him a bit with his claws, but Ragnus quickly spun around, and stabbed the sword into the wolf's back. Firagus erupted in flames, and the wolf was reduced to a pile of ashes.
The peahats came after him again, but Ragnus once again ducked. The two wolflos leaped at him, but he rolled under them, and stabbed Firagus into one of their underbellies... killing it right away. He then got up, and killed the two approaching goombas in one slash. The last hellhound ran at him again, but Ragnus embedded his sword into the beast's forehead. Two peahats flew at Ragnus once more, but Ragnus had already known their weakness well.
He slashed at one's spinning blades, causing it to wobble back and forth in air. Ragnus then slashed from its underside upwards, killing it. The second one was about to slash through Ragnus' neck, but all he had to do was duck under the creature, and stab his blade upward. He then got up off the ground by back flipping to his feet, thus avoiding another volley of the magikoopas' fireballs.
"Alright... now I'm mad..." Ragnus groaned, quite irritated with these three.
"What'll we do, now!?" The third magikoopa growled.
"...Heh. We'll summon THAT." The second said suddenly.
"You can't be serious... summoning that will cost us our lives!" The first said.
"Think... there's no way we can take this guy on... but if we summon THAT, then it'll kill this guy, and continue to fulfill our mission of destroying Horeron." The second explained.
The others paused.
"YES! I'll finally be able to exact revenge on that little town..." The first said.
"...It's worth a shot." The third sighed.
Suddenly, they all began casting some sort of spell at the same time, until their very bodies and souls became magic, itself. The three large spheres of magic suddenly combined into one large void of magic, and from it, stepped a huge creature. It must have been about ten feet tall. It seemed to be made out of decayed flesh, and had three heads. It had a pretty muscular build, and claws extended from its hands and feet. Besides that, it was like one giant, three-headed Redead.
"Oh boy..." Ragnus groaned. "This won't be that easy."
"Graoogh!!!" The creature roared, sending shivers down Ragnus' spine.
Giant Soul Eating Abomination:
Omnigor
Omnigor sent one of its mighty claws down at Ragnus, who jumped out of the way. He'd seen worse. Ganon was twice this thing's size, and was wielding two gigantic divine blades.
"Graoogh!" Omnigor bellowed, trying to attack Ragnus once more. Ragnus, however, rolled under the creature, and stabbed it in the stomach, causing Omnigor to roar in pain. It then began to glow with dark energy.
Ragnus readied himself to attack again, but a giant purple shockwave unleashed by this creature had knocked him back a good ten feet... and hurt like hell.
The creature then leapt high into the air, much to Ragnus' surprise, and came down right next to Ragnus. Before Ragnus could get up, Omnigor pinned him to the ground with his mighty claw. Once again, Ragnus was down on the ground, about to die by the hands of some horrible monstrosity... staring death, itself in the face. This, time however, there was nothing that would avert his demise... or was there...?
...Meanwhile, in a nearby area...
"Chicken go cluck, cluck, Cow go moo! Piggy go oink oink, how about you? Got to be an animal, just like you..." Sang a Kokiri who appeared to be twelve years in age. His blonde hair was combed neatly on his head, above his pair of Emerald Green eyes. He was 4'2" in height, and wore the traditional kokiri clothing... only red rather than green. At his side was sheathed a katana that was about 3 feet in length.
"Graoogh!" An enormous entity suddenly yelled, causing this kokiri to momentarily pause.
The Kokiri stopped for a moment, shrugged, and went back to his cheerful singing. "Duckies go quack quack, ostrich goes 'BLEH', Wolflos go-
CRUNCH!
Suddenly, a nearby tree fell down right in front of the kokiri. "Wha! What the Hell!?" The Kokiri yelled, looking to his left. He saw an enormous creature that looked like a Redead, only larger, with three heads, and claws, pinning down a Hylian.
"Hey... what does he think he's doing??" The Kokiri exclaimed, drawing his steel Katana, and running at the beast.
Omnigor didn't have time to react. He was about to crush Ragnus in his grip when one of the heads turned just in time to notice a Kokiri jumping up high into the air, a katana drawn, about to attack. The body could not catch act in time, and the kokiri severed one of the creatures' heads clean off.
"Graoogh!!!" The creature yelled in severe pain, as purple liquid dropped out of where the head used to be. It released its grip on Ragnus, and swatted the Kokiri fifteen feet away, but gave Ragnus the opportunity to run up the creature's side, and slice off a second head.
"Graoogh!!!" Omnigor yelled, about to unleash another wave of dark energy.
"You there!! Attack! I'll hold it off!!!" The Kokiri yelled to Ragnus, as Omnigor shot out another giant wave of dark energy, bigger than before. The kokiri held out a hand... and a bunch of rocks came up from the ground, forming a giant wall that collided with the dark energy. Though the dark energy still proceeded through the wall, it slowed down significantly. The Kokiri was using all his might to keep the wall of earth stable.
"What are you waiting for...? That final head's the key to its power!!" The kokiri yelled.
Ragnus nodded, and jumped high up into the air. Omnigor never saw anything coming. Just as the dark energy was about to break the wall, the third and final head of Omnigor was chopped off. With a cry of anguish, the dismembered head fell to the ground, and exploded with dark energy. The blast that he had previously sent at the Kokiri had disappeared, and the body simply began to vanish. Both Ragnus and the Kokiri looked extremely fatigued.
"Thanks... now, if I would, may I please have your name, Kokiri of the forest?" Ragnus asked, showing his politeness as a knight.
"Eh-hem. My name is..." The Kokiri began, swinging his blade around in intricate and impressive patterns. He then tossed the blade high up into the air, as it began spinning up, and then back down. "...Bevor!" He exclaimed, catching the Katana perfectly. "...Bevor's my name, I fight for fame, women are my game!!" He shouted, laughing.
Although Ragnus did respect this Bevor's katana-wielding skills, he had to suppress a laugh. A kokiri... who thought he was a ladies' man. This was definitely a first.
"So... what about, you?" Bevor asked, yawning. "...Anything interestin'?"
"Well, actually..." Ragnus began, beginning to tell the story of how he was from Hyrule, and the arrival of Ziranithos...
End of Chapter
So, what do you guys think? Personally, I didn't like the chapter very much, and think that this point around here will be the slowest point of the book. From here on out, it'll get better and better, as I have tons in store. Stick around, and review.
-Biggoron