An: Welcome back!
Luckily, my computer was fixed after a quick formatting. So...lost all my story chapters. Luckily they are still on fanfiction, or I'd be a little pissed.
Nikolai returns this chapter, but he won't be a key story character. At least, probably not.
Sorry to release it so late, i was feeling uninspired after a game of space station 13 (free game, kind of amazing) ended with me getting gutted by a cat man.
Since i don't have much to say, lets start this, yah?
Chapter 3: The Game Begins
Staring down at a chessboard, a man that some may recall seeing previously, sits at his favourite chair, watching the pieces intently. Each piece was not of the traditional standard, instead looking to be people who had importance in the upcoming battle. The king and queen of the white pieces were the energetic Finn and the fiery princess that he adored so. Standing on each side were the bishops to protect the king and queen, they stood, Jake and Ice King. The knights which would play the role of offensive, stood the Wolf and the Enchanter. The castles were the ones that would protect, and they were the ever odd couple, Marceline and Bubblegum. The pawns had little value, various people who would lose their life to protect the King. Of course, they didn't realize it.
The other line, the black pieces, stood nothing but monsters, made of dead flesh and burning bone. The king and queen were the only two of note, The Lich and the Necromancer, stood protected by the horde of decaying flesh and rotting bone. The two kings stood as the goals; The Necromancer and Finn. If either fell, the game would collapse, and the losers would not see the next day. But, who would win? Scratching his grey beard, he watched the pieces begin to move, curious to the outcome of the battle.
Panting heavily, Nikolai charged across the grasslands, heading towards the thing that he saw fall from the sky. He had become worried, fearing it to have been some form of evil bird that was laying magic eggs. He kicked up more speed, intent on closing the gap between him and the crash sight as quickly as his legs could carry him.
The Enchanter stood up, yawning slightly. "So, we need to find where the Talisman landed, little hero." he spoke gruffly, mind not entirely with him.
"Little Hero? My name is Finn." Finn spoke up, confused at the nickname.
"What? Fin? Like from a fish? That's a stupid title." he spoke, looking at the boy confused.
"No, it's my name, not a title."
"Name? The hell is a...oooooh! I heard of those. We don't have those where i'm from, little hero. Your called by a title, thus why i am called 'The Rune Smithy'. We haven't used something as stupid as names for hundreds of years!" he laughed out, finding this whole 'name' thing jovial.
"Well i don't like being called little! It's not very nice." he said, a small pout forming on the boy's lips.
"What? You are little. Tiny, in fact. Would you rather be Tiny Hero? Miniscule Hero? Pea-sized Hero?" he said, listing as many synonyms as he could think of, watching the boy become more and more flustered.
"Glob darn it, my name is Finn! F-i-n!" he cried, exhausted from the strange man's antics. "Besides, what should i call you, then? Rune? Smithy? Harry?" he said, giggling at the last one, much to the annoyance of the smithy.
"Very funny, boy. Remind me to put a rune of silence on you later." he grumbled, staring out the window.
"What are these rune things anyway? Never seem em before." he questioned, eyeing the rune carved on his palm.
"Runes? Aye, you wouldn't have. It's a gift i have. I can give power to anything or anyone, by using those runes. No one else can, it seems, as people have tried and failed." he explained, showing his carved up arms.
"Whats this one mean?" he pointed to one at random, reminding him of a fish in a trumpet.
"Hm? Water breathing."
"How about this one? This one? That one? Oh, and this one!?" he cried, pointing at more of them at random.
Growling, he listed them back. "Fire breathing, Iron Hide, Barrier and Flight."
He attempted to point to more, but found his hand pushed away. "I'm not a sodding art display!" he cried, deciding this boy was about as smart as a bowl of soup. Looking out a nearby window, he spotted something moving alone the plains, large and furry. It had a very large set of claws and fangs, from what he could see, and frowned. "Stay here, Little Hero."
Before he could yell about being called little, the man disappeared in a blink of orange light.
Nikolai sniffed, smelling someone new at the treehouse, his run slowing down. Finn must have befriended another random vagabond, he decided, and began to walk, not seeing the crater or any signs of trouble. However, when a strange man wearing a smithy's wardrobe, covered in strange runes appeared in a flash of orange light, he snarled. This wouldn't end well, he could already tell.
He watched the man carefully, and saw something glow on his arm. Suddenly, the man was right in front of him, driving his fist towards his face.
He brought his fist towards the creature, meaning to end it with a rune assisted blow, deeming it to be some sort of weakling black magic creature. However, this became obviously not the case, as it dodged his fist and dove under it, driving it's furry claw into his stomach. Exhaling roughly, he allowed his mana to flow into a rune on his back, it glowing a light pink, and the wound knit itself together.
He growled, the smithy's stomach healing itself. He backed up, deciding that he should watch before continuing the attack. However, he quickly deemed that folly, rolling to the side to avoid a flaming fist aimed for his muzzle. Growling, he kept dodging the fiery blows, waiting for his chance to strike back. Watching him attempt a sloppy uppercut, Nikolai grinned.
He knew it was a bad idea to attempt the uppercut when he saw it's face pull into a sinister snarl, gripping his arm roughly. It pulled, and he found himself flying up into the air, much higher then he expected to go. Coming back to the earth, he pulled the power from the Iron Hide rune, feeling his skin toughen and become hard like...well iron.
Driving his fist into the falling man, he howled in pain as he struck, feeling like he had punched a brick wall covered in concrete. The man laughed, and attempted to grab him with those dangerous hands, causing Nikolai to back up and nurse his hand. Stupid smithy! He will pay for that...
He felt a gasp escape his throat, watching the creature grow in size, from being about half a foot taller then the smithy to more then 4 or 5 feet taller. It snarled, and charged, and the man found himself drawing on Barrier out of fear. The blue egg-like protection arose, leaving him blind, but hearing a massive thud against the magical forcefield.
He snarled, the annoying man had hid himself! He drove his fists into it over and over, hearing it crack under the pressure. Just as he broke through, he was blinded by a powerful light, making him wince. Attempting to make out the blurry shapes, he dove at it, finding himself grabbing at nothing.
Finn, meanwhile had saw what was occurring and began to run as fast as his legs would carry him, eventually reaching the point of the battle to see Nikolai attempting to break the man's neck, while the man had drove some sort of magical sword that emanated from his left arm into Nikolai's shoulder. He shouted frantically, attempting to stop the fight. "Rune! That's not a bad guy! That's Nikolai! Nikolai! Stop choking him!" he cried, watching both men glare at each other, the hate in their eyes very obvious.. Eventually, Nikolai loosened his grip, and allowed the man to fall to the ground. Shrinking down, he gave out a huff. "Stupid smithy here attacked me. He's lucky i didn't just tear his throat out!" he barked out, still ready to fight.
"Whats with the dog boy? He your pet or something?" he asked, eyeing the dog man.
"This 'dog boy' is older then you. And speaks German." he growled, snapping at him.
"Wait, you speak my language? And can speak!?" he cried, baffled at the situation.
"I can also speak English, French and Russian, little man." he said, stroking his shoulder in pain, wishing he could bite the man a few times.
"Ya Call it German here? We call it Basic." he said, rubbing his sore neck.
He deemed the conversation pointless and turned to the boy. "This thing that fell from sky? If so, I need to go. My pack says they found signs of undead moving towards Candy Kingdom. You should go, make sure the pink one is safe." he said, turning on a dime and charging off, not even waiting to say goodbye. He had things to do, and little time to wait.
"Wait, what?!" he cried, what he said sinking in. Checking his sword was still hanging from his bag, he ran off, headed full speed towards the Kingdom, the Smithy in tow, unsure what "Candy Kingdom" was and why he should even care.