Chapter 2: Awakening in the Field

Ralph woke up on a rough green and brown patch of grass. "What happened?" He thought to himself. Then, like a freight train his memory slammed into him. "That flash of light, what was that?" He wondered as the sky became grey and rain started to fall from the dark silver clouds above. Ralph stood up and started to regain his composure. He realized his nunchuks were on the ground next to where he was lying. He picked them up and looked around him. He realized he was no longer in the park, in fact he was no longer in Tenno County. Tenno County was a small town and had no fields this size anywhere near. "Something is definitely not right here." Ralph thought to himself. He could see what he thought was smoke in the distance but with the rain and the silvering sky he wasn't sure, so he decide to make his way into the distance towards the smoke. Ralph walked about a mile and a half before he got bored of walking. All he had seen his whole walk was field and every now and then small tress. Since he wasn't sitting around being lazy, he got bored of seeing the same sights pretty quickly. He decided to squeeze in some quick nunchaku practice, but when he tried to catch his nunchuks under his arm his hit himself in the face. "Ouch!" He cried. He went for the same technique again, this time more slowly. Once again he hit himself in the face. "Man what is wrong with me?" he thought as he tucked his nunchuks in the back of his pants and continued towards the direction he had set out on.

Night had started to fall by the time he had made it to a building. There was a sign up but it was in a language he couldn't understand. "Man I hope somebody speaks English in this place." He said to himself with a sigh. Ralph walked into the place that he recognized as a ranch. Then suddenly he felt a sharp pain in his stomach and was sent flying backwards. He stood up with adrenaline rushing through him. Circling above him was what looked like a large crow. The crow swooped down and rammed into Ralph a second time, he felt a shallow gash on his stomach. Ralph stood up and regained his composure. The crow tried to tackle him again but Ralph whipped out his nunchuks and bashed to aggressive bird in one quick swipe. Just when he thought he could rest easy more crows surrounded him, He ran towards the closest ranch house and banged on the door. "Help me!" He cried pitch noticeably higher than normal. The door opened and a strong arm grabbed him and pulled him inside closing the door behind him. Ralph laid on the rough wooden floor for a few minutes catching his breath. "You're bleeding." A soft sweet voice said to him. Ralph looked up to see a young red haired girl with big blue eyes and chubby cheeks. A strong arm lifted Ralph's sprawled body and placed him back on his feet. Standing in front of him was a fat man with muscular hairy arms, a big nose, and a ponytail. "That's some pretty long hair for a boy. You are a boy right." The man asked. "Yes I am." Ralph said casually while holding his wound. "What be your name son?" The man asked in a friendly tone. "Ralph." he answered. "Ralph? Well that ain't no name I'm too familiar with. Well Ralph I'm Talon, That there be my daughter Malon and the grumpy fellow you might've seen walking around is Ingo." "I'll go get you a bandage for that cut." Malon said as she ran upstairs. "Well Ralph its late and we were about to head to bed. I don't usually do this but why don't you sleep here for the night. I can tell you aren't from here and a little kid like you who couldn't even handle a few guay has no business traveling at night." Talon said. "Thank you, I'm no little kid though." Ralph replied. Talon laughed "You're no bigger than Malon!" He laughed heartily as his daughter came down the stairs and started to help Ralph bandage the wound on his belly. As she did this Ralph noticed she was height of a child, and so was he.

Malon led Ralph to her room. "You can borrow the bed." She said with a smile. "It's okay I don't mind the floor." Ralph said. "Could I use your phone?" He asked. "Our what?" Malon said as she looked at him puzzled. "Your phone. As in telephone." Ralph tried to explain. "Sorry I don't think we have whatever that is. Welp, Goodnight." Malon said as she climbed in her bed. "Blankets are over there." Ralph grabbed a blanket, spread it sloppily, placed his nunchuks on the floor, and laid down on his floor-space. "Something is wrong." Ralph began thinking. He was in a place without phones or phone lines, he seemed to be the same size as a child, he had been attacked by a bird he never heard of, and was staying with a ranch family with abnormally long ears. He let his mind settle, he wasn't tired but he decided to go to sleep anyway. Being lazy was one of his favorite things after all.

"Thump!" A loud sound awoke Ralph. It was dark in the room except for some dim candle light. "I'm sorry for dropping it. I shouldn't have touched it without asking you." Malon said feeling guilty. "It's alright." Ralph said picking his nunchuks off the floor. "What is that thing?" Malon asked politely. "They're called nunchuks, they're weapons used to bash opponents" Ralph said as he stood up and gave a demonstration. He kept it slow in simple as to not bash himself in the face now that he was of smaller stature for some reason. "I could normally swing these a lot faster but it seems like I've gotten shorter." He tried to explain. Malon giggled as Ralph sat back down. She sat down on her knees and crawled towards him. "You have the cutest ears I've ever seen." She said as she brushed away his shaggy blonde hair to get a better look. Ralph was slightly confused at the compliment. "Thanks?" He said puzzled. "They're just so small, it's adorable." The girl played with his ears some more until she could tell he was starting to get annoyed. "I'm gonna go outside and start my chores while it's still early." she said. "You can come too if you want." Ralph wasn't into doing chores but he went outside with Malon anyway.