Sceldrant's Comet

by Michael Rogers

  Karol: "..." (I feel comfortable with these people..)

  Rachael: "This feels so odd.. We currently don't have a home."

  Karol: *He discreetly stared at Rachael with a dropping jaw.* (She doesn't have a home?)

  Millard: "My condolences, little monster."

  Twortz: "If joining the warriors isn't an option, where is Silver Wind Island?"

  Karol: "Isn't that citee all the way up at the other end of the continent?"

  ----------

  Lezard: "Despite what's better for our little hero, we can't force him to come."

  Twortz: "Exactly."

  Rachael: "..."

  Millard: (If he declines the offer, I'll just focus on what I was going to do-)

  Rachael: (I was hoping he'd accept my request.)

  Millard: *He looked at Karol, deep in thought.* (I'll periodically bring the child year's worth of food supplies.. I can't help but feel responsible for what my love did to his city.)

  Karol: *He looked down, ignoring the crumbs which were left on the sides of his mouth.* (I want to stay here, just in case evewyone walks back into the city-)

  Rachael: *She sighed, nodding her head in understanding.* "Okay. It's been a pleasure meeting you, Karol."

  Twortz: "You weren't that bad for a child." *She looked away, speaking in a professional-like manner.*

  Lezard: "Too bad, we could've been hide and seek buddies."

  Millard: "Keep safe, little one."

  Karol: "F-Fanks.." *He unintentionally pouted.*

  Twortz: "We must move on." *She coughed and purposely spoke to Millard, as if she knew he was the acting party leader.*

  Millard: "Of course." *He glanced at each party member and faced the city's entrance.* "Let's go."

  Karol: *He waved with a saddened smile, watching the party walk away from him.* (I want to go.. But-.) *He glanced over his shoulder, observing the city's ruins.*

  ----------

  *Nathan, Luna, Destiny, Trevour and the champion stretched in different positions, as if they were just waking up.*

  Trevour: *He gently touched a cat-like scratch on his face, before glancing at Nathan.* "How are you feeling?"

  Nathan: "A little better."

  Champion: "Oh my, that's great."

  Destiny: "Yeup." *She meowed in agreement, comfortably sitting in Luna's arms.*

  Luna: *She rubbed Destiny with her thumbs, causing her to purr.* "Are we goin' or wat?" *She grunted in an annoyed-like manner.*

  Trevour: "Of course, madam." *He started to hobble down the naturally made path between the two different forests.* "Just head up North until we reach the ocean, then move a little West until we reach the island."

  Luna: *She started to follow Trevour, guided by Destiny's black and white, sketch-like vision.* (My perception is a little off due to following her eyesight.. But, it's great to see again, aye.)

  Champion: *She hobbled to each side, focusing her attention to Nathan.* "What do you remember?"

  Nathan: *He looked to his side, staring at the champion's enormous hunchback.* "Where I'm from.. Scoldrants and their Users."

  Trevour: "Excellent, sir!"

  Nathan: "And-" *He adjusted the sword on his back and walked ahead of the party, causing Trevour to look confused.*

  Trevour: "Don't travel too fast, sir, it could get temperamental further ahead-"

  Nathan: *He smirked with confidence.* "Now I know my way around these woods."

  Trevour: "Sir?"

  Champion: "He's a Scoldrant User, their instinctive abilities allows them to have inbuilt maps in their navigational skills." *She hobbled past Trevour, as she slowly followed Nathan.*

  Luna: *She looked to her side, watching the champion hobble to each side with every step.* "Aye? They've got an automatic GPS system or somethin'?"

  Champion: "Umm..?" *She sounded confused.*

  Trevour: *He hobbled by the champion's side.* "I'm a little confused too."

  Nathan: "Haha. It differs with every Scoldrant User, some have the ability to never forget the terrain once they've stepped foot in the area, others can communicate with the environment."

  Luna: "Talkin' to plants, that could be some trippy shit, if you know what I mean."

  Trevour: "What about you, sir?"

  Nathan: "I'm just good with the terrain."

  Luna: "Pssht, lame."

  Nathan: I'm not a Scoldrant User."

  Destiny: "Yeup."

  Nathan: "You're probably classed as one now."

  Luna: "Aye?"

  Champion: "Oh, that's right! You're Soul Linked now."

  Destiny: "Yeup!" *She purred in agreement.*

  Luna: "We're just that awesome." *She spoke with confidence, pretending to be cool.*

  Nathan: "But, there's something you should know.."

  Trevour: (His tone, it doesn't sound good-)

  Luna: "Yea, wat?"

  Nathan: "Whatever happens to either one of you, will happen to the other."

  Luna: "Huh?" *She grunted with her mouth open.*

  Nathan: "Something as powerful as a Soul Link would have its drawbacks."

  Luna: "That kinda didn't answer my question, aye."

  Nathan: *He sighed.* "If one of you gets hurt, so will the other."

  Luna: "Oh, that doesn't sound bad."

  Destiny: "Yeup!"

  Trevour: *He looked up, as if he was thinking about it.* "What would happen if one of them were to receive a life threatening wound?"

  Nathan: *He smirked in a serious-like manner, as if he wanted that question to be answered.* "Then the other will die too."

  ----------

  Lezard: "So, our heroes walk outside the city and gather around father monster, watching him pull out a small grey stone with purple writing on it-"

  Twortz: "Please, do whatever you do to activate those stones." *She spoke in an annoyed-like manner, as if she was tired of Lezard's immaturity.*

  Millard: "Of course."

  Rachael: *She looked over her shoulder, staring at the distant ruins in a saddened manner.* (I'm not sure if it's because he saved me, but I felt like I had a connection with Karol.. Good luck with all your future endeavours-)

  Millard: *He closed his eyes and tightened his grip around the stone, causing it to glow purple.* "Okies-"

  *Millard dropped the stone, causing an expanding purple glyph to draw itself underneath the party's feet.*

  Rachael: *She looked down, staring at the glyph in amazement.* (I wonder how long it will take until the wow factor will go away-)

  Lezard: *He noticed Rachael's face.* "Wait until we get to Silver Wind Island, it'll be amazing." *He giggled, wiggling his bottom to each side.*

  Millard: "I personally think Surpreon is the better city."

  Lezard: "Surpreon? Eww, why, father monster?"

  Millard: "Silver Wind Island is too busy for these old bones. Maybe in my younger days, I would've enjoyed being rubbed against by many randoms and having the loud sounds of sizzle and chatter coming in from every direction."

  Twortz: "What?"

  Millard: "It's very busy for my liking."

  Twortz: *She face palmed.* (Why doesn't he just say so? His whole sentence was grammatically flawed, it was too hard to understand what he was trying to say.)

  Millard: "We will have a little walk ahead of us before reaching the actual city."

  Lezard: "Why?"

  Millard: "Just the limitation of that little bugger-" *He looked down to the stone, watching the glyphic markings on it fade away into the glyph.*

  Twortz: *She watched the glyph glow a constant brightness, causing her to smile.* "It's ready?" *She glanced at Millard, as if she was unsure.*

  Millard: "Yes!"

  Rachael: "Hehe, you're getting the hang of this, Twortz."

  Twortz: (You have no idea.) "..."

  Millard: "Shall we have a countdown?"

  Twortz: "No."

  Lezard: "Yes!-"

  ?????: "Wait!" *A young boy's yell caused the party
to turn around.*

  Rachael: "Karol?"

  Karol: "W-Wayt for me!" *He squealed and suddenly tripped on his own foot, causing him to land face-first into the ground.*

  Twortz: (Please don't tell me the child is going to join us-)

  Karol: "I-I'm coming to jhoin yooh!"

  Rachael: (Awesome!-)

  Lezard: "Yay!"

  Twortz: "Looks like you'll have someone your own age to talk to."

  Millard: "Oooo." *He spoke in suspense, glancing at Lezard.*

  Lezard: "You're just jealous of our friendship." *He looked away, pretending not to care.*

  Twortz: "In some states, that little friendship could be illegal."

  Lezard: "Lezard sighed and continued to ignore Twortz."

  Twortz: "Are you serious?" *She spoke with a stern voice, glaring at Lezard.*

  Rachael: *She ran up to Karol and bent down, helping him back onto his feet.* "You okay?"

  Karol: "Yep!"

  Rachael: "Let's go." *She spoke with a smile and started to jog back to the glyph.*

  Millard: "Quickly, little ones! It's about to transfer us-"

  Lezard: *He reached out and grabbed onto Rachael and Karol's hands, quickly pulling them onto the glyph.* "Phew-"

  Twortz: *She watched the air blur and swirl around them.* (The area swirls on the borders of this glyph? So, if I've been educated correctly, this is Astragons at work..)

  Rachael: "What changed your mind?"

  Karol: "Uhm.. Just what you said before."

  Rachael: "Oh?" *She sounded happy, but didn't care for the reason.*

  Millard: "Welcome to the party, Karol."

  Karol: "Nee hee, fanks!"

  Lezard: "Onward to Silver Wind Island." *He stamped forward and pointed into a direction, watching colours swirl around the glyph.*

  Rachael: (It's amazing..) *She watched the wall of colours continue to swirl, making it not possible to see through the glyph.* (It's like we're in a car, how the sounds are moving outside-)

  *Rachael took a step forward and reached towards the edge of the glyph, readying to touch the warping area behind her.*

  Lezard: "You shouldn't do that."

  Rachael: *She withdrew her hand and stepped to the side, glancing at Lezard.* "Why?"

  Millard: "Unless you're very skilled, the implications of prematurely stepping off a teleportation glyph while it's still active is far too dangerous."

  Lezard: "Yuppers." *He enthusiastically nodded his head.*

  Millard: "I've had captain classed warriors come back with missing arms, or worse."

  Rachael: "Worse?"

  Millard: "They prematurely teleported through or into a solid object."

  Karol: "H-Holy Neurons!" *He squealed in fear.*

  Rachael: "So, it's like stepping out of a moving vehicle.. Got it." *She whispered to herself, purposely stepping closer to the middle of the glyph.*

  ----------

  *Nathan and Trevour led the party down the enclosed grassy pathway, listening to the different sorts of leaves bristling in the wind.*

  Nathan: *He suddenly stepped on mud, causing him to look down.* "What is-?"

  Trevour: "Sir?" *He stopped, causing his armour to stop rattling.* "Oh?"

  Luna: "Wat's the holdup? Sore legs, ya big girls?"

  Champion: "Oh my, nobody is large in this party." *She spoke in a high innocent-like tone of voice.*

  Luna: "That's not wat I meant, aye."

  Champion: *She watched Nathan and Trevour bend down to inspect the mud, causing her to tilt her head in curiosity.* "What's wrong?"

  Nathan: "This mud, it shouldn't be here."

  Trevour: *He looked down and twiddled his fingers, causing the mud to slowly swirl to his command.* (It moves like baking mix-)

  Nathan: "We're far from any desert and The Swirling Marshes is quite far away."

  Trevour: "This mud has come from a creature."

  Luna: "Aye? How can ya tell?"

  Trevour: "I only need to pour my Astragons in this mud for it to move."

  Luna: "Wat does that mean?" *She frowned.*

  Trevour: "It means, it already has Neurons in there."

  Champion: "Like Scoldrant droppings?"

  Trevour: "Close." *He stood up straight and faced the way he was walking.* "We should go."

  Nathan: *He rubbed a speck of mud in between his fingers.* (There aren't any Scoldrants that live around here that produces mud like this..)

  Trevour: (Whatever left behind this trail-) *He noticed snail-like smears of mud trail further into the forest.* (It must be powerful-)

  Luna: *She listened to creaking branches in the distance, causing her to shiver.* (What is this feeling? Am I scared? Pssht! I haven't been scared like this in ages..)

  Nathan: *He nodded his head and stood up, wiping the mud off his fingers.* "No more breaks."

  Luna: "Pssht, wateva." *She grunted and rudely followed Trevour.*

  Nathan: "What did I say?" *He grunted with a frown.*

  Champion: "Oh my. It appears she doesn't like being told what to do." *She smiled in an innocent-like manner and started to hobble after Trevour and Luna.*

  Nathan: *He silently frowned at Luna's back with a confused smirk.* "Whatever."

  ----------

  *A flash of purple light caused the surrounding insects to temporarily become quiet.*

  Millard: "End of the line." *He stepped off the fading glyph and leant to the side, stretching his lower back.*

  Lezard: *He spun around, noticing he stood in a small clearing with large trees swaying in a cool breeze.* "We're near an ocean, you can smell the salt in the air."

  Karol: *He adjusted his dancer-like clothes, observing his surroundings.* (I have no idea where I am.)