"I DON'T CARE!!!"
Sophia grabbed the chair and threw it at Davias. "WE ARE TURNING BACK NOW!!!"
Davias quickly dodged the chair and seized the frenzied girl. "Are you mad?? We're winning the war!!"
Sophia was sobbing uncontrollably. "But Ragnor's d-d-dead!! I'll… I-I'll kill m-myself!!! Then my f-father.. the.. the MASTER! He will take out h-his r-r-r-rage on you!!"
Davias scowled and shook her. "Take control of yourself!!" He shook her until finally she started showing signs of giving up.
"I'm.. sorry.. it's.. j..just.. Ragnor….."
Slowly, Sophia left the tent. Davias, with his heart so cold, rolled his eyes and went back to work of organizing the new troops.
Jeressa sliced, sending the dagger through the already weakened kiff, killing her second soldier that day. Jeressa was a tough vixen, so no one minded that she took the front row in fighting. Although a good fighter, her defense was somewhat poor, so she relied more on evading that guarding. She also was not a good magic caster, so that left her out. Still, she had killed three enemies and injured two-not bad for a rookie.
Suddenly, a bash from one of the enemies sent her sprawling through the ranks, crashing to the ground. Staying low, she quickly crawled out, and miraculously, survived. Getting up, and shaking her head, she got her whereabouts in order.
A fighter hopped out to join her.
Abreu laughed in a squeaky voice. "Ha ha! So you're the one who killed Johnathan!"
Jeressa blinked. "How do you know?"
Abreu said, "I saw you!!"
Jeressa rolled her eyes. Instead of replying, she raced forward, and almost got Abreu right between the eyes, but he was able to duck. He had a well-aimed strike at her stomach, but the kiff hung, of course. Jeressa dived to the right and spun on the floor, tripping Abreu to the ground. She lept up with surprising agility and again sliced, but it bounced off Abreu's head.
"What in the-"
Abreu grinned, and grabbed Jeressa by the neck.
"New forcefield, dah-lin'."
The way Abreu said "darling" made Jeressa's blood boil. But she couldn't do much as she was being choked. "It's a nice Ice attack."
Jeressa struggled, and finally, got free-but not without a small part of her neck being scratched off. Abreu lept up.
Jeressa growled. Not only did this guy have kiff on, but an Ice shield, too!
She got an idea. Instead of attacking, she ran.
"Coward!" Abreu laughed and ran after her. An arrow shot from the rooftop hit him in the back, but of course, bounced off.
Jeressa grabbed a tree and with incredible speed snapped off a branch. Through huffs and puffs she casted a Fire spell, and before Abreu could realize what happened, threw it at him.
Abreu ducked, but the branch burned a soldier in the chest. He cried for pain, and while stumbling back to get treatment, got caught in a swordfight on accident and was killed quickly. Abreu spun around. "Nice one."
Jeressa growled. The people from this place were immune to feelings or something. She casted a quick spell and her sword caught Fire.
Abreu blinked. "Uh oh."
And Abreu ran. In the end, he could run, but he couldn't hide. Jeressa, nimbly avoiding arrows and the like, chased down the healer to a corner. He screamed a sharp, high pitched shriek before Jeressa brought the sword down upon his head.
She casted a water spell to relieve it of fire and blood.
"They're elves," Q said, fascinated.
Peppy nodded. "I thought they were fictional."
Three elves, a man, a woman, and a child-probably a family-stood outside the tent, saying nothing, but smiling happily. Moses saw them in the morning, and for the past ten minutes, all of the travelers were talking an asking questions, none of which were answered. Finally, the father began to speak, and all of the travelers quieted down.
"We have been watching your progress for a month. You are very near the Cross, which is your destination, is it not?"
Moses nodded. "That it is."
"Please, come with us." Said the mother.
The Rapids people huddled up.
Q nodded. "I think we should go. We might be trespassing. I read that elves are very gentle creatures, and we can probably simply ask their queen."
Moses agreed. "They're so small, we could fight our way out even if they did turn out to be bad, which is unlikely."
Peppy frowned. "But we're so close to the cross."
Cinder nodded. "I just want to get this over with."
V said, "If we don't go, they could attack us."
That settled it. Leaving the camp (Moses kept it protected with a Grass spell so that any trying to intrude would be sharply talked to by a tree to leave or die), they followed the elves for a short 5 minutes until they reach a castle.
It was beautiful. Many different colors made it seem vibrant and almost fluorescent as the travelers walked through the path. Many elves waved at the travelers as they walked by.
Inside the castle, everything was neat and tidy. A table stood decorated in fine clothes and expensive dishes and glasses. They followed the elves to the throne room, where elf guards stood watch, and upon the throne sat the queen of elves. The humans were requested to kneel, and all but Q did. Q winked at the queen, and nodded. She grinned.
"Fair travelers, why do you intrude upon our lands?"
Peppy spoke. "We seek the Cross of Alida to protect our lands from some scum from another land."
All the elf guards laughed, and the queen chuckled. "Scum? How quant! Well, this seems barbaric. You are allowed to take the Cross, but instead of having to go and possibly be attacked, I have a better idea-allow our army to help!"
The humans jumped. Wow! With a whole elf army, the invaders would be held back easily!
The queen grinned. "I see you are interested?"
V smiled. "Yes, very much!!"
The queen said, "It shall take only three days, as we elves are quite organized. For then, stay here."
It was a lovely 3 days.
Much delicious food, fresh water, comforterable beds, and extreme kindness made the stay a lovely one. Peppy learned much about elves. They could run very fast, had supreme marksmanship, good evade, and strength matching that of humans. They were intelligent, wise, calm, and kind. Everything a human was not.
Three days passed. The queen never said anything about the army.
A week passed, and then Moses remembered the party. Peppy stayed in the room-tired from learning about wildlife from the day before-while the others went to inquiry about the elven army.
The queen said, gently, "Oh, but don't you wish to stay longer?"
Cinder said, "It's very lovely here, but our village.."
The queen said something very quietly. Suddenly, the room seemed to change to the explorers. It became very red, and suddenly, the thoughts of Moses, V, Cinder, and Patch were changed. Q seemed unaffected. The elven world was the place. Yes, who cares if the humans died or not? Humans were scum compared to the elves.
The queen grinned, and said, "But, why would you prefer humans to us?"
Patch shook her head. "They can die for all I care."
Moses agreed enthusiastically. "Queen, may we stay here.. forever?"
The queen nodded. "Yes." She winked at Q. Q nodded.
As the others went back to the room, eager to live longer with the elves, Q walked up to the queen, and said, "Yes, I guess the hypnotism worked."
The queen smiled. "Yes. We shall kill them in their sleep tonight."
Q said, "But, ma'am..one didn't come."
The queen shrieked. "WHAT?"
Q said, "Peppy. He stayed in the room."
She was outraged. "He will get suspicious!!!"
"Shall I send for him?"
"And make him MORE suspicious? No, no, we must wait it out. Maybe he won't notice."
Q nodded, and returned to his room.
"What has gotten into you, Moses??"
Peppy's voice was heard through the whole castle. Moses simply shrugged. "I don't want to leave. They're kind enough to let us stay here. They don't want to fight. Peppy, I'm tired. I was to just stay here forever…"
Peppy stayed silent, and looked into her eyes.
Patch walked in. "So, have you been convinced, Peppy?"
Peppy slowly shook his head. "No. What has gotten into you?? All of your friends, your family, they're fighting for their lives out there, and you've given up?? What is this???"
Moses looked away. "I can't believe you.. you'd rather go and kill yourself, and drag us along, too. Use your head! Can't you see we'd fail? I've heard of the monsters near the cave. Too hard for us."
Peppy simply bowed his head, and collapsed onto the bed. "Still, I-"
Moses had already left the room. Peppy sighed, and closed his eyes, rubbed his forehead, and tried to get to sleep. Q walked by the room, stared at him, sighed, and went on.
Ten minutes passed. Peppy opened his eyes-he wasn't sleeping, but pondering-and lept up, dashing to the corner for his sword. He sighed, and mumbled something, a Nature spell. The sword was invisible in the blink of an eye. He slipped this into his sheath, and went outside the room.
Making sure no one saw him-rather difficult in the midst of day-he crept down to the throne room. Regaining his posture, he requested one of the elves to allow him to see the king. The elf hesitated, but nodded to his partner on the other side of the door. They opened it, and Peppy entered.
The queen inhaled deeply, exhaled, and said, "Oh, hello Peppy. What brings you here?"
Peppy scratched his chin. Without saying a word, he grabbed the invisible sword and threw it at her with incredible speed.
It cut her arm off like a hot knife through butter.
As she was sputtering and screaming, Peppy did a clean flip forward, grabbed her hair, and slung her off the throne, and grabbed his sword from the wall.
"H..How did you…"
The queen fell to the ground, dead. The elves did the same. Peppy blinked, and made the sword visible again.
What happened next was not very pretty.
The queen began to glow. The 4 guards in the room did the same. Their skin shedded off and melted into the floor. Out emerged five creatures of pure darkness. Peppy's jaw dropped and he sagged. What in the world-
The creatures were simply black with no features of face or anything else. They were pure blackness. They somewhat resembled the shape of small gorillas, except much, much blacker.
The "queen" shadow held up a finger to Peppy. Instantly, he felt his inside being tugged by some unseen force.
"I.. did.. not…want… to.. kill.. you…" she said. Her voice was deep, but still more feminine than would another shadow of this nature. The four other shadow monsters stood watching. "But.. it… seems… I.. have… no.. choice!"
A dagger stuck into her back, and she gulped in pain, and gasped. Peppy used this opportunity, slicing her "head" off. It didn't make a difference, for she grabbed Peppy nonetheless, and squeezed him with incredible force. One of the shadows plucked the shadow out of the queen's back to use it on Peppy, but he was kicked in the "chest" by Cinder, who had at that moment bursted into the room, followed very quickly by Patch, V, and Moses. Q was nowhere to be found.
Moses rubbed her forehead, and a huge blast of water engulfed the three shadow monsters not surrounding Peppy. She screamed to Peppy, "All of the elves in the castle have turned in these things!!!"
Peppy was still being crushed and was somewhat oblivious to Moses's call. V helped him out by sticking her sword through the queen's back. Still, she refused to die, but her grip released greatly. Peppy struggled free, and pointed towards the exit. Patch, closest to the exit, made a surprisingly power kick to send off the two shadows guarding the way out. The other four followed quickly, and, since the two guards covering the entrance to the castle were gone, all five were out. Peppy quickly enchanted a spell, and a barrier-similar to the one casted upon Rapids right after the group left-surrounded the castle. Seven of the creatures came out, tried to dive on one of the 5, and smacked his head on the barrier.
Q dropped from a tree.
"Bwa!!!" Moses screamed and pull out a weapon.
"No! It's just me, Q! I..umm.. I had to run when the creatures came. I'm sorry."
Peppy blinked. It was almost as if Q made it up.
V sighed and said, "That's all right. We're okay, now."
"Peppy, how in the world did you figure out the elves weren't real?"
Peppy grinned. I'll explain it in a bit."
Back at camp, everyone huddled around a fire. Peppy said, "Well, I knew something was wrong once you all started trying to convince me to give up."
Moses frowned. "Did we do that? Sorry.."
"'sallright. It's a psychic spell. Hypnotism, really. Not very fun. Anyway, I realized the danger we were in over those 3 days. Did anyone find the elves a bit… perfect?"
Patch blinked. "Eh?"
"All creatures have drawbacks and negatives. A bear may be strong and fast, but it's lacking in intelligence. A rabbit may be small, but it's smart, and also had certain blending techniques. Understand? Humans are intelligent and somewhat strong and agile, but we're not perfect, as we bicker and fight a lot more than any other animal I've ever seen. But not the elves. They had great aim, better agility, more kindness, stronger magic, require less food-did anyone notice they didn't eat any food? It seemed to just disappear when you weren't looking. Can you name any flaw that the elves had?"
No one could think up a good excuse.
"Nature has a way of selecting as many bad traits as good. Once I realized they were perfect, I realized they were simply non-existant. They may have wanted to eat us, but I think the bad guys hired them."
Q jumped at this. "W-why do you think that??" he said hurridly.
"Well, they could've have wanted us for slaves. And they obviously don't need to eat, since they didn't devour us in our sleep. Simply enough, any other being would have eaten us in our sleep. But they kept us there for some reason. Perhaps to give the bad guys info on.. well, I don't know. I haven't gotten there yet."
Moses kissed Peppy on the cheek, and said, "Thank you, Love. You saved us all."
Q's face was dripping sweat. "L..let's go to bed now."
The next day, everyone was up early, and traveled immediately.
By the evening, they reach the cave. Q sighed loudly. Peppy's eyes widened.
"Finally! Three months of traveling!!!" he laughed aloud.
Moses grinned. "Let's leave our stuff outside. Only take some vital stuff.
Peppy nodded. After everyone put the unneccesaries in a pile, Moses followed up with a Grass spell protecting it. Q said hurridly, "I.. I'll go in first."
Before Peppy could consent, Q was in.
"WHAT? They're here?? Didn't those shadows kill them off??"
"N-no sir. I'm afraid you will."
"Yes, yes.. well, Q, you failed miserably. I'll see your punishment afterwards. Lead them in here quickly and stand back. Don't fight, you could get killed. If you don't come back…."
The rock golem grinned, and smashed the wall, leaving a 3 foot dent in it. Q squeeked, "Yes sir!" And he huffed out.
Patch said, "There you are!" she smiled. "Is it okay?"
Q nodded nervously. "All the tales of baddies must be a lie. I saw a couple harmless bats, but that's it."
Peppy nodded, and lead the way, followed by Moses, Cinder, Patch, V, and finally Q.
The cave led on for about 3 minutes, until a large room came along. It was pitch black, so Patch casted a Light spell.
Q bit his lower lip.
Peppy muttered, "A rock?"
It was a big rock. About 6 feet tall.
"Wonder how it got here," Cinder muttered.
Then it moved.
Peppy blinked. "What the-"
And the rock got up.
"Oh, good!" The rock golem said, grinning. "You arrived quickly!"
The rock golem was easily 12 feet tall, but had plenty of room in the large cavern. It's large, 3 foot long fist pounded down, but all of the explorers-save Q, who stood back-had scattered.
Peppy held the first attack. Peppy wall-jumped off the rock golem's leg and sliced him in the thigh, but it barely left a mark.
Moses summoned a Water spell, but it seemed to just repel off of the golem's tough hide.
Cinder placed a powerful mark on its leg, but nothing happened.
Patch had nothing to do but also try her luck at a slice. No good.
V was the strongest of the group (indeed!), so she thought she had the biggest chance of inflicting damage.
And so forth, the humans dodged the slow golem's attacks. A mixture of spells were used, but none worked. Different weak spots were tried, none to avail. Nobody noticed Q hiding in the background.
Q saw a wizard walk in casually and grin. Q frowned, muttering, "Not Draconus…"
Draconus grinned, and shouted across the 100-yard cavern, "Nice job, Q!"
Nobody but Q himself noticed.
A squeel was heard out of nowhere.
It got louder.
And louder.
It began to hurt the ears.
Painfully.
Very painfully.
Unbearable.
Peppy dropped to the floor, his weapon beside him, gasping in pain. The others could do no more.
As they dropped down, a spell squashed them to it. A dark spell, they realized. Peppy struggled to look up, although the noise was unbearable. A wizard. He fell to the floor, wishing so much to clutch his ears but unable to from the spell holding him to the floor.
The golem, who's ears were much less sensitive, mouthed to Draconus, Nice timing. They were getting to be pests.
Q growled, and with a sudden blast of energy, pulled out his hunting dagger and slung it at Draconus.
Draconus, expecting no trouble, had not casted a reflecting shield. It stuck between his eyes, and he collapsed. The noise halted. The golem spun around. "Wha-at?"
Moses recovered first. Her vision was unclear, but her ears weren't ringing (spells are often like that). The rest recovered in similar fashions. The rock golem blinked, shrugged, and began swiping at them again. Again, a frenzy of dodging. Q joined the fray, too. He was tired of being a decoy for the master any more!
Peppy remembered back to his books. One about a rock golem, based loosely upon what his father told him long ago. How did it go? A chant…
No, that wasn't it. It was a book. Yes, an enscription in a book. Peppy had no clue how it went.
Peppy paused his thoughts to quickly dodged the golem's fist, and resumed thinking. "The eye, maybe? No…"
He had it.
"Guys!!! We can't kill it!"
Moses dodged a kick, and said, "HUH?"
"We gotta trap it! Cinder, you-"
Peppy rolled out of a fist's way. "Cinder, you have rock and ground magic, right?"
Cinder nodded. "Yes!!"
"Use it!!!"
Cinder shook his head. "I did. He wouldn't fall into the earthquake, and rocks bounce off him."
Peppy grinned. "Use them at once!!! Make the ceiling fall!!"
Cinder blinked. "Yeah…"
Cinder closed his eyes. Vulnerability which the golem didn't see, fortunetly.
The ceiling crumbled down, and the ground opened up. The golem blocked the rocks from above, but was unable to see the ground fall out from below him. He looked down, and was hit by a rock. He sunk into the ground with a yell, and Cinder closed the floor on him.
Peppy grinned. "Not too hard, eh?"
Cinder chuckled. "When you use them strategically…"
"Q.."
Q blushed. "I.. I'm sorry. I was here to lure you all into the elven trap. I'm sorry… I understand if you wanna kill me now.."
Peppy shook his head. "You just saved us, man. I guess you're neutral, now. As long as you don't try it again.."
Q grinned. "Thanks."
The cave went on, to a room with a soft, blue aura. A beautiful amulet, not a cross as they had expected, sat upon a rock, and light shown down upon it.
"It's not a cross…" Cinder muttered. "It's an amulet with a cross."
"But it's the Cross of Alida, right?"
Q nodded. "Yes, I don't know how it ever got the name Cross of Alida. It's not real at all."
Peppy nodded. He stepped into the room, and..
Nothing happened.
He sighed relieved. He reached out and touched the amulet.
Nothing happened.
He picked it up.
Nothing happened.
It was too simple. What was the drawback?
A rumble emerged.
Uh oh.
Moses shrieked. "The cave is falling down on us!!!"
Peppy held a tight clutch on the amulet and ran down the corridor.
A huge rock already blocked it, fallen from the ceiling.
Patch sighed and quickly said, "We're trapped."
Peppy frowned. They could do nothing, as Cinder's rock magic could only destroy rock, not repair it.
Moses said, "Can't you use a shield?"
Sadly, Peppy shook his head. "Those are 100 yards by 100 yards ONLY."
Moses was going to reply, but then everything became dark.
This is it, Peppy thought. Patch's light magic burned out and I'm going to die.
All the more reason to be surprised when he emerged outside.
Van smiled at him. Peppy looked around. Everyone else was just as confused, but alive.
"Can't you do anything without me? Come, you have the Cross?"
Peppy nodded and said, "Yes."
"Good. Now.. Peppy, I believe it is your turn to fight… my brother."
Peppy sighed and nodded. The rest were very confused.
"I've been to my brother's farm before.. come. I shall warp us there."
Everything was black again, and then they were are Korts's farm. Simple.
Cinder blinked. "It's so fast… I wonder how it works."
Moses grinned. "We're home!!"
Van nodded. "We're right inside the shield. Do not attempt to move anywhere over there.."
He pointed in a direction towards Moses.
"Or.. well, just don't."
Peppy nodded. "Psychic shield, eh?"
Van nodded.
They walked into village. The two tribes were currently fighting.
"Peppy, you know what to do."
Peppy nodded, and disappeared behind a house.
Sophia locked swords with RT.
RT was a 17 year old, the youngest soldier on the field, but generally good in all fields. He rarely used magic, but was in possession of Rock and Lightning. He had been training for fighting and such under Cinder's help since he was 9. Still, Sophia was a surprisingly good swordswoman, and they had been fighting for an hour. Both of the two were completely exausted.
RT parried off Sophia's swipe and made one of his own. It bounced off her kiff. She swiped at his head, and he ducked.
And finally it was over. Sophia tripped him and got down on him. A frenzied look was in her eyes.
"You… you.. your people killed my Ragnor." She hissed. "And I will not rest until I have eliminated every single one of you."
But she never succeeded.
Peppy shouted from a tree, "Be gone!!"
Sophia felt her soul ripped from her, and she gasped. She felt pain all over her body, and sobbed loudly. She was lifted off the ground by some unseen being, and practically hurled back to her ranks. While the Rapids people were completely unaffected, the Californian invaders were suffered greatly. Many had died. And soon enough, all but a few had. Those retreated never to see Rapids again. Sophia was one of those who escaped, and since the master did no fighting, he stood at his place, far away, watching, and perhaps even smiling.
In an hour, the bodies had disappeared for some reason. Peppy landed from the tree, and bowed. Instantly, he was swarmed by bodies, screaming his name, and showing him praise. He was carried off and regarded as a hero for the rest of his life.
Two months had passed since the war. Korts was talking to the adventurers, who had had the time of their lives. In that short time, 14 books had been made about them. Q had been held as a helper and was allowed to stay in the village. Korts smiled.
"I've told you billions of times how much you saved our whole village, you guys. But now, it is time to the return the amulet to it's rightful place."
Peppy nodded. Van wouldn't be able to teleport him this time, but Peppy would be able to set a beacon at home. Simply enough, it would take him months to get there, but he could return instantly.
"Peppy, I know you are tired of adventuring, but it is all up to you. No enemies should attack you once you have this amulet, and if they do, you can kill them quite easily."
"Yes, I know. How much food should I carry?"
"Enough for 3 months of traveling, at least. If something goes wrong, you can always beacon back home and try again. It won't be easy, though."
Peppy nodded. "When do I start?"
A week later, Peppy was ready to go. Moses kissed him on the cheek, and said, "I love you. I'll be awaiting your return…"
Peppy grinned. "If I'm not back in three months, come after me." And he set out, waving.
One person traveled much faster than five. By a month and a half, Peppy was only a few miles away. His determination to go home and resume his career as an author-his fame was sure to help-and to see Moses again drove him on. No animals attacked. In fact, the only animals he saw were the ones he needed to hunt if he wanted some fresh rabbit.
One day, he was walking along when someone jumped in front of him.
He was an old man, all right. Peppy wondered how such an old man could climb up a tree and flip down.
"Umm, hello sir."
"You.. are you Peppy?"
He nodded.
"You.. are Peppy.."
Peppy nodded slowly again. Suddenly, he knew where he had recognized this person.
"You… you're the master!!"
The master grinned. "Indeed. You… you stopped me from taking over the world… why?"
Peppy blinked. "Because you were trying to kill us!" This guy was crazy. Perhaps insane from the loss of the war.
"No, I'm not crazy." Peppy's mind was being read?? "But no matter. I will live forever. And I will strike again."
Peppy growled. "My descendants will stop you."
The master shook his head. "Not if I can kill you now."
The master moved with incredible speed. Peppy had barely enough time to dodge. Peppy pulled his sword out of his sheath, and threw his supplies to the ground.
Peppy was lifted into the air before he knew what was happening and was slammed against a tree three times before dropping 15 feet to the ground. His knees and back were scraped, and he groaned.
The master struck again. Peppy dodged, but his hand was cut and hurt severly. Peppy delivered a blow quickly, but it seemed to bounce right off him.
The grass surrounded Peppy, and the master dived forward, cutting him in the leg. Peppy broke free and clutched his leg, yelping.
This guy is hard, Peppy thought through his pain.
And he was knocked to the ground.
It all happened so fast.
One second he was falling.
The next, the master was on top of him.
The third, his sword was up, ready to stab Peppy in the head.
The fourth was the longest second of Peppy's life.
Peppy thought of Moses, and her smile, her want for him to get back home.
Peppy thought of Cinder, his best friend, who was always willing to give him advise on his books.
Peppy thought of V, a good friend who strived to be the strongest she could.
Peppy thought of Patch, and her charming spirit and wit.
Peppy thought of Korts, who always knew Peppy could do it.
Peppy thought of Van, who saved his life and the life of his friends twice.
Peppy thought of Q, who followed his own opinion after realizing it was possible.
And in this fourth second, Peppy's rage built up.
The master was pushed off him, and with animal like agility, Peppy was striking.
The master was so surprised, he could do nothing. Peppy swung and swung wildly, with determination to kill this madman. This madman who had killed so many and would kill so many more were he not stopped.
A minute of slicing passed, and Peppy dropped his weapon. He was so tired. His arms ached, and that didn't help the pain. But the master was dead.
Or.. was he?
"You.." a croaking voice came out. "You are very.. s…strong. I admire you. B.. but… if… if I must die… y…you will come with me.."
Peppy lost all power when he saw the master's body open up in light, and engulf him, practically tearing him to shreds.
Peppy woke up.
He blahed.
Van blinked at him. "That's three times I've had to save you, boy!!! Can't you do anything yourself??"
Peppy groaned, and grumbled. His eyes adjusted. "Van?"
"Yup. You've been hogging my bed for so long, I forgot what it's like to sleep in one. And all that blood, too."
Peppy almost grinned. "..I'm alive, right?"
Van nodded. "Yep. The Cross of Alida was all that kept you alive, but it still knocked you out for… I think it's been 9 months."
"9 months? I gotta restore the Cross!!!!"
Van nodded. "Yes, yes, in good time. Rest at least a week. I'll escort you there… don't want you to get in more trouble."
After a week, Peppy and Van set out for the cave. It was a day's walk-although hard on Peppy, who was groggy and still in a little pain. Still, he could walk straight, and jog and sprint, too. After a few hours, they reached the cave.
"It.."
Van grinned. "Yes, it's magical. The cave repairs itself automatically."
Peppy and Van walked in. The rock golem was in the cave, and he growled at him, but didn't come close to him or Van.
Van chuckled. "He was also restored. Good thing the Cross is protecting us."
Peppy nodded, and they continued. The blue aura in the room ahead was gone, but there was still light. Peppy stepped inside, and placed the amulet upon the stone.
Van smiled. "You know, I saw your battle with the master. As you know, my powers.." Van tapped his head. "I saw the whole thing while enjoying a nice lunch. Didn't expect that last minute explosion, eh?"
Peppy shrugged. "I can only remember a little of it."
Van said, "That's okay."
Peppy grinned. "I remember, also, that I'm supposed to have been home 6 months ago!"
Van laughed. "Yes, yes… you set a beacon, right?"
Peppy nodded.
Van nodded, too. "Good, good. Well, I suppose we may meet again, Peppy…"
And Van disappeared without Peppy saying goodbye. Peppy shrugged, and beaconed back.
He was covered in a pink aura for about 5 seconds, and he felt his body-painlessly-becoming split into tiny particles. He emerged to right outside Cinder's house. He knocked on the door. Cinder opened it, and shouted, "You made it??!"
They embraced, and Peppy said, "Yeah."
Cinder said, "We expected you back months ago!!"
The village held a festival that night in honor of Peppy's return. Everyone came, except..
"Where's Moses?" Peppy asked Korts.
Korts, Cinder, Peppy, V, Patch, and Q sat in a circle, talking about the adventure.
V bit her lower lip. "She left."
"WHAT?"
"To find you."
Peppy's jaw dropped. "Why didn't you go with her?"
Cinder shrugged. "She.. wanted to go alone."
"You didn't follow her?"
Patch sighed. "We tried. She found us, screamed at us, and told us to go home. She ran off and.. well, we checked Dakota. She's not there."
"She's in the forest?? Still lost?"
Patch said, "Maybe not lost, but looking for you."
Peppy sighed, and got up.
Patch blinked. "Peppy..?"
Peppy said nothing and walked towards the forest.
"Peppy!!" V chased him, as did Korts, Cinder, Patch, and Q. Surprisingly, no one noticed them leave-they were busy eating or dancing.
Peppy stared into the forest. V rushed up and said, "Don't worry! If I know her, she'll be back."
Peppy sighed. "She hasen't been back in 5 months."
Patch bit her lip. "Peppy.."
"No. I've gotta find her…"
Korts shook his head. "It's such a big forest! You'll get lost!"
Cinder shrugged. "I've been waiting for an adventure. Let's go."
Peppy shook his head. "I'll travel faster alone."
"At least bring food?!"
Peppy grinned. "I have my sword, and I stole a little bread. About 5 days worth, if I stretch it."
V sighed. "Peppy, this is-"
"She's out there somewhere. I just know it.."
Patch sighed, "But-"
It was too late. He vanished into the forest.
Korts grinned. "It's okay. He'll be back, I just know it."
They went back to the festival to tell everyone of Peppy's departure.
Peppy stood upon a hill, watching them for 10 minutes. He loved that village so much, and was so lucky to have grown up there. But… Moses. Moses was such a big part of him… an empty part stood where she did.
He looked towards the home he would probably never arrive at again, the friends he would probably never see again. He sighed, and spun around. With one last thought, and a shiver of the cold, he ran into the darkness.
The end
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