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Zephyros: The Precursor Legacy

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Zfire0100

Zfire0100

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Chapter 2: Sunshine, Butterflies, and Goblin Knights!

A loud clunk sounds when the offending object smacks the dead-center of her forehead and bounces off when her face jerks back. Both she and the golden object fall onto the grass and are completely still; a wisp of steam wafting from the point of impact.

“Why...?” She whines from the ground with both her left leg and right arm trying to twitch back to life. Finally, she forces herself into an upright position and rubs her forehead, straining in pain. “What the hell was that...?”

After opening her eyes, a golden light reflects the sunlight from the grass and she blinks, then leans forward and crawls over to the light. Now if only there was some random traveler out with his camera, all his fantasies would have been realized in this instant, but as stated before, the world is a very cruel place.

By moving some of the grass aside, Ariele discovers the golden projectile and examines it closely. “A key?” Indeed it is: A golden three-toothed key with a wide grip shaped like angelic wings. The curious girl picks up said key, sits back on the grass with her legs together beside her, and she further examines the key, marveling over its amazing craftsmanship.

“Wow... this is beautiful...” She giggles and pulls her pack to the front of her body, then drops the key inside. “I’m definitely holding on to this.” With a sagely nod she throws her pack on and rises to her feet, then looks out into the distance where the explosion occurred. “I wonder what happened...”

With curiosity by her side, and we all know how trustworthy curiosity is, she begins walking towards the source of the clearing smoke, setting her very first short-term goal. Her mission: explore the scene of the explosion.

18-Mar-2013 18:18:42 - Last edited on 19-Mar-2013 02:55:06 by Zfire0100

Zfire0100

Zfire0100

Posts: 5,837 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
As she walks on, something in the sky above her catches her attention and she looks up. Only a fluttering white butterfly to anyone with a mentality beyond a four-year-old, but to her, it is the most amazing thing her sapphire eyes had ever seen.

"PRETTY!” She gives a high-pitched squeal and begins bouncing, but when the insect starts off, dismay fills her face. “Don’t go!” She cries. “Wait! Come back!” And so she follows after the small bug, completely forgetting about her little mission. This is going to be one hell of a journey...

After nearly fifteen minutes of frolicking with the butterfly through a patch of dandelions, our young airhead finally flops backwards into the flowers with a happily satisfied look on her panting face; the shade from a nearby tree shields her womanly body from the sun’s deadly rays.

Her sapphire eyes slowly open and watch the puffy white clouds float across the bright blue sky like boats across the vast ocean. She gives a content sigh and closes her eyes, relaxing her body.

A sound in the distance tugs at her ear and her eyes open up. She hears the sound again and blinks curiously before sitting up. The sound rings in her ear over and over, like metal bashing against metal, and she stands up from her spot, quickly recognizing exactly what is going on.

19-Mar-2013 02:13:55

Zfire0100

Zfire0100

Posts: 5,837 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
A powerful yell sounds below a high hill and a silver gleam cuts through the blue sky, then smashes powerfully into the ground, revealing a crimson-haired man behind the weapon. Before him stands a tall and heavily armored goblin of dingy brown skin and golden eyes.

The man pulls back on his large two-handed steel sword just when the goblin charges forward and slashes down with a weapon of his own. It is a black longsword with a crescent curve at the top and a steel color outlining the blade.

The crimson-haired man pulls his five-and-a-half-foot sword in front of himself with the broad side forward and blocks the offending weapon. The raw power behind the goblin’s attack would have been enough to throw back the man had he not properly planted his feet.

Nearby, Ariele finally reaches the top of the hill and gasps when she sees the scene below. This is no ordinary goblin that man fights. It looks more like a goblin on steroids. The black and gold armor shimmers in the sunlight and its worn, yellowish teeth grind together in a malicious grin.

The front of the straining man’s hair is done in thick spikes, which look like he has just awoken from a long sleep, but the back of his hair is in long, thin, shimmering locks. His crimson eyes burn with the intensity of a flaming house and, with a powerful yell, his shaking limbs push back against the goblin’s attack.

The two opponents are forced to take a step back and the man digs his brown leather boots into the dirt to halt himself. The hard leather on the toes of the boots is as red as the blood the goblin prepares to spill.

19-Mar-2013 02:21:34

Zfire0100

Zfire0100

Posts: 5,837 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
Ariele gives a frightened gasp when the crimson-haired human rushes forward, only using one hand to control the mighty weapon. The man's white shirt with golden outlines has two brown buttons that close the front. The back, however, has a split that starts just above the waist, cutting the cloth into two rectangular tails that stretch down beneath the backs of his knees.

The goblin knight pulls its sword in front of itself and blocks the lethal thrust, but the weight of the weapon pushes it into a back-step while the man takes another wild slash.

Sparks jump from the colliding weapons and the atmosphere around the two intensifies. The man gives a loud cry while swinging the mighty blade around and the goblin knight struggles to parry the vicious attacks. It is amazing how well the man combines speed and accuracy with such a heavy weapon.

An opening presents itself to the goblin and it slices down, but the speedy swordsman zips to the side with both his hair and shirt tails trailing behind him. Quickly, the goblin slices into a turn, but the man slides his blade in front of himself while using his arm to support the weapon and blocks the attack, only to have to move his blade in the direction of another stab.

Now on the defensive, the man strains to hold back the ferocious strikes while kneeling for even more support. The knight goes in for a stab, but the man rises to his feet and leans back, then zips past it back to his original position and swings his body around for another slash.

The weapons clang, bang, clash, and bash against one another in a beautiful dance that shows both combatant’s skills with their weapons. Finally, the crimson-haired man works his sword beneath the knight’s blade and, with a savage holler, he puts everything into one upward slash, throwing the goblin’s weapon high into the air.

19-Mar-2013 02:27:21

Zfire0100

Zfire0100

Posts: 5,837 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
The sound of metal cutting through metal scrapes along the air as a flash of silver light slices down the back of the knight’s armor. The creature yelps in pain as the light fades, then after a short pause, it collapses backwards onto the ground, revealing the panting human holding his weapon out before him.

“Wow...” Ariele says in pure amazement.

The sunlight glints across the golden cross-guard of the man’s sword leading to the silver hips of the blade that dip inward before thickening out, shaping the heavy-looking weapon.

Suddenly, his crimson eyes widen when he hears a sound and he whirls around to see three more goblin knights behind him. Ariele gasps in fear as she watches the man retake his defensive stance, preparing to fight to the death.

“Not good...” She says in a shaky voice. “It took so much for him to fight just one. How in the world is he gonna beat three? This isn’t good. Somebody should help him!”

But when she scopes out the area, she realizes there is no one else around to assist in the battle and she begins to panic. “Great... nobody’s here...” She takes a deep swallow and tries to calm her shaky body, then she gasps when one of the goblins yell out as the group charges the man.

With an exhausted hack, the human forces his body to hold back an attack from the front, but there is another weapon slicing down from the left, which forces him to dash out to the right. However, a looming shadow and the feeling of impending doom overtakes the human’s heart, making him gasp.

With crimson eyes as wide as saucers, he turns to face down the knight. A dark blade is raised high and a furious bellow comes from its throat. The knight tightens its grip and slashes down onto the defenseless man.

19-Mar-2013 02:36:24

Zfire0100

Zfire0100

Posts: 5,837 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
“HIYAAH!” Is the cry that echoes through the monster’s long, pointed ears when a white sneaker smacks into the broad side of the weapon before the girl twists her body to the left, dragging her right foot through the air and digging the toe of her shoe into the side of the knight’s head.

It yelps in pain and staggers to the side when Ariele lands back-to-back with the shocked man. The other two goblin knights can only look on in surprise when Ariele takes a fighter’s stance, her focused sapphire eyes attempting to see their way into the monsters’ very souls.

"You ok?” The fighter asks while staring down her opponents.

It takes a minute for the man to figure out what has just happened, but he retakes his defensive stance and replies with a tired, “Yeah... Thanks for the help.”

Ariele gives a confident smirk when her body tenses up; however, it isn’t from determination. In the back of the orange-haired fighter’s mind, terror is rearing its ugly head. ~Omigod! Omigod! Omigod! I’m gonna die!~ She whines in her mind. ~What the hell am I doing? I can’t fight these things! They’re huge! And they have swords and armor and teeth and claws and I’m gonna die...!~

The goblins regroup and surround them. The crimson-eyed swordsman glares down the two before him and Ariele uses all the strength in her body to prevent it from shaking like a hairless mole rat in winter.

Intense seconds pass by and the weight of the man’s sword begins to get the better of his tired body. Ariele is also beginning to lose the battle against her trembling and she starts to panic... well... more than she already is.

19-Mar-2013 02:53:15

Zfire0100

Zfire0100

Posts: 5,837 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
Chapter 3: Enter Zephyros, The Crimson Knight!

One of the goblins, the biggest one luckily, lightens its stance and backs off from the two, making Ariele blink with curiosity. The goblin gives a few grunts to the others and they look at it, then back away cautiously from the two humans before retreating into a nearby thicket of greenery.

“They’re leaving...?” Ariele questions in disbelief before crumpling to the grass beneath her. The young man gives a sigh of relief and his body relaxes before he stabs his sword into the ground and slides down into a sitting position.

“Guess we got lucky, huh?” He says in a tired voice. “I wonder what happened.”

“Maybe I scared them away...” She says in a sarcastic fit of pants.

The man smirks before resting an arm on his knee, which has a bright golden loop just beneath the knee of his black, baggy slacks. “I wouldn’t be surprised.” He says humorously. “Not everyday you see someone whose profession is a fighter.”

Ariele gives a depressed sigh when she looks up and she says, “Actually... I don’t have a profession yet. I just started my journey today...”

The young man’s eyes widen in disbelief and Ariele sighs again, noticing the inside of his half-coat is a blood red color, matching the leather on the toe of his boots.

“You don’t have a profession...?” He repeats slowly. “So... you’re a Newbie?” Ariele lowers her head in shame while the man looks her over. “Amazing.”

“What’s so amazing about that?”

“You challenged those gob knights; that’s what’s amazing.”

Ariele blinks, then looks up at the man’s smiling face before she sits back on her legs and asks, “You think that was amazing?”

“Yeah. Most Newbies would be terrified of gob knights, but you weren’t scared at all.”

“Oh yeah! That! Hahahaha!” She forces out an awkward laugh while rubbing the back of her head.

21-Mar-2013 20:49:53

Zfire0100

Zfire0100

Posts: 5,837 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
The young man just smirks at her before introducing himself. “Name’s Zephyros, by the way.”

“Ariele.”

“That’s a nice name. Ariele... Heh.”

Her soft, lightly tanned skin glows a light red on her cheeks after receiving the compliment and she asks, “You think so...?”

“So, Ariele. How come you didn't draw your sword?” Zephyros questions as he stands and pulls his blade from the grass.

“M-my sword...?” The girl stutters with a thoughtful look. Soon, all the color fades from her face and it goes both pale and dark blue at the same time. “I didn't buy a sword...”

“You didn't?” The man asks. "What about armor?”

“I couldn’t buy that armor!” She whines before thinking back to being inside the armor shop. "That armor smelled like old cheese. It was dirty, cold, had dents in it, and on top of all that, it was heavy! Besides, the clothing store was right next to the shop and I saw this outfit in the window. It was sooo cute, I just had to buy it!”

Zephyros blinks owlishly at the girl, but her story is far from over. “Then I got hungry and there’s no point in starting a journey on an empty stomach so naturally I had to get something to eat. Then after that I didn't have any money left to buy anything else...”

“Umm... that’s...” He goes to reply, but is cut off by her fast-talking absent-mindedness.

"Then I went back to ask grandma to lend me some money for my journey, but she’s all like ‘You can’t go on a journey! You’re too clumsy! You’re irresponsible! And you’re horrible with money!’ And I’m like, ‘But I can't stay here my entire life! I was supposed to start my journey two years ago!’”

And she continues to go on without taking a single breath about the discussion between her and her grandmother, failing to notice the sweat-drop sliding down the back of Zephyros’ crimson hair.

“So I finally snuck out of the house when she wasn’t looking and just left.” She finally takes a deep breath, then breathes out.

21-Mar-2013 21:01:22 - Last edited on 21-Mar-2013 21:01:56 by Zfire0100

Zfire0100

Zfire0100

Posts: 5,837 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
“O...kay...” Zephyros finally says while still blinking at her.

“Oh! Sorry... I have a tendency to go on like that sometimes...” She giggles in embarrassment and rubs her head again, then sighs out a small mushroom cloud and drops her head.
Zephyros, realizing a bit too late that he’d regret his action, asks her, “So why are you so far out from your hometown? Aren’t you supposed to train a bit more before you just up and leave?”

“Well you see... I was going to do a little training, but when I went to practice on the dummies there were a lot of people around and I *id*'t want to make a fool out of myself.”

“What about small animals?”

“All there was were chickens and bunnies and I couldn’t fight defenseless chickens,” Her eyes suddenly swell up with the girliest look in the region before she continues. “And the bunnies were super cute! I couldn’t hurt them.”

“Umm... right...”

“So why are you all the way out here?”

“Well my friend and I were heading to the Cave of Ordeals to pick some herbs and when we got there, she went in ahead of me and I kinda got locked out...” He drops his crimson head and sighs out heavily before continuing. “I don’t have a Golden Angel Key so I can’t get in... She’s in there right now and I was out looking for another key when those gob knights found me...”

“Oh...” Ariele then gets a shocked look on her face that attracts Zephyros’ attention and she swings her backpack in front of her, then begins digging through it. “Come on... come on... where are you!?”

“What’re you looking for?” The man asks before being startled by a scream of ‘I got it!’

Ariele rips out a golden key with a grip in the shape of angelic wings and asks, “Is this it?”

21-Mar-2013 21:05:00

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