-=The Path to Perion=-

Despite the closeness they shared in proximity, the lands of Ellinia and Perion were as different, possibly opposite, as any two lands could be. While Ellinia was a green, lush area thriving with trees, plant life, and a fairly cool temperature, Perion was a mountainous region, with little more than verying heights of rockiness gracing the entire area. Virtually no rain came down upon any inch of Perion; the land was always very warm, with a strong sun lightly baking the hardened earth. The only commonality was that Perion also had monsters roaming about, and even then the creatures were overall vastly different. Despite the slightly harsher atmosphere the canyon of a region presented, there were still numerous islanders and adventurers roaming the land for various purposes.

One group of adventurers were heading to Perion for a large purpose that was part of a great jorney for them, a journey that would most likely leave a lasting impact on the entire Maple World, whether it was completed or not.

The group of Shadow, Lance, Skye, Emma, Genya, and Amber had finally passed through the last of the towering trees of Ellinia, now facing a rock-riddled desert-like mountain in front of them. A giant wall of stone loomed upwards, ending just past a collection of floating patched of land just in front of it. Though unseeable from below, the party could hear various sounds of monsters upon the patches, giving warning to the trechary of the climb.

Upon reaching this cliffside, Lance decided to take the time to increase his authority a bit in the group. It appeared to him that he had the most knowledge of Perion, since he was the only one in the group training as a warrior. With that in mind, he would make certain that the group, especially Skye, got to Perion with little, if any, trouble. “Alright, everyone,” he began as he surveyed the area. “I’ve learned quite a bit about Perion and the surrounding areas as I’ve trained here. It’s not the most extensive knowledge, but it should be all we need to get to the town itself.” After looking around, he noticed a rather large floating landpiece with a rope dangling on it’s side. He pointed to it, and the squad moved onwards.

Atop the chunk of land, the group set their sights on their first of what would assuredly be a series of random encounters: a couple blue snails, a trio of stumps, and a slightly rarer native of the rocky wasteland: an axe stump, similar in appearance to stumps in all respects, save for an axe jutting from the top of its “head.” The group easily dispatched the lesser monsters, then turned their attention to the axed monster.

“Unbelieveable!” Amber cried out, completely unnerved by the sight. “That’s a living creature with an axe in it, and yet it seems completely unfazed! It must be a tough one.”

In response, the monster soundlessly stomped towards them, it’s four legs moving at a slow yet imtimidating pace. Lance, however, stepped forward, pointing his iron ball polearm towards the log. “He is a tough one,” he said grimly, “but I haven’t seen a single log yet that can’t be cut down!” With that, he swung his iron ball fiercely, catching the stump square in the side. The blow sent the creature reeling to the side for a moment, but it otherwise pressed onward towards the warrior. Lance didn’t let up, though, as he continued his assault on the creature, all the while backing away to distance himself from a possible attack. During the fight, Shadow, Emma, and Genya became worried and quickly moved in to help, but Skye blocked them.

“Don’t worry,” she said calmly. “I’ve watched him grow. He can do it.”

Sure enough, Lance prevailed with a final overhead smash, which sent the axed log reeling backwards before finally tumbling over and rolling off the floating, rocky platform. The others stared at him in awe. His breathing rate had shot up a bit, but was otherwise unhindered from the fight. In fact, he couldn’t help but laugh at how easily his victory came. “No sweat, right?” he chortled to the others with a thumb’s up. Everyone else nodded in agreement, impressed by the battle. It was easy for them to see that Lance was working very hard to become stronger.

The group continued up the floating platforms, now working together to get through the monsters quickly. As they moved closer and closer to Perion, their desire to find out more about the impending threat to Victoria Island slowly but surely increased. The impact of the desire was different for certain members of the group. For Lance and Skye, it was pure excitement; they were still rather early in their adventuring careers, yet were already able to take on a quest of possibly epic proportions. The very thought only got their adrenaline going as they wondered what amazing turns their adventures would take. For Emma, Genya, and Emma, however, the threat was a true omen that brought fear and anxiety to them; the chance to get information from Dances With Balrogs was a chance they wanted to take more than anything, as it was a step towards eliminating the threat from their world. For Shadow, the impending doom was more than just thrills or chills. To him, he was thrust into a situation that only fate could arrange. To him, it was clear that not only an ultimate evil that threatened both his world and Maple World, but was also a personal enemy that had brought nothing but despair and death to him and his people. There was no doubt in his mind that this form of evil had to be responsible for the attacks on and the destruction of his home village, along with the deaths of countless innocents, including his two friends Ryu Hayabusa II and Yuka Umino. This journey was his one chance at retribution; he would stop at nothing to find who or what committed the crimes against him, destroy them all, and avenge everyone and everything he’d lost. Only by completing this task, he believed, would the souls of the village’s slain populate truly find rest.

Eventually, the group finally made it to the top of the cliff. Lance pointed forward, far into the distance. “There are three more regions to pass through before we reach Perion. The walk shouldn’t be difficult at all, provided no one falls down to the ground floor.”

Genya’s face brought up a puzzled look. “Why?” her sister asked, a little nervous.

Lance answered with a grim expression. “If you’re only as strong as I am, you don’t want to know.”

With that in mind, the group continued onward, until another axed stump hobbled toward him. Lance, Skye, and the Raines assumed battle positions.

“Wait. Stay here.” The group looked over suddenly as Shadow walked by them, dagger gripped in hand. “I know they’re tough and all, but I have this feeling…” He stepped towards the monster, which now had it’s one-eyed gaze fixed on him. With all his strength, Shadow brought a fierce stab on the log. The force of the attack was powerful enough to shoot the the creature way back as it stumbled backwards a good five feet, falling on its back as it stopped. Shadow then leapt high into the air, then thrust himself downwards, his blade leading the descent. Upon impact, his dagger pierced the monster dead center in the eye. A line suddenly shot through the stump, then it split in half without making a sound. Shadow quietly brushed his hair from his forehead as he twirled his dagger for a moment before withdrawing it. He turned back to the party, every member staring at him wide-eyed in shock. They knew he was strong, but they had never seen anything like this before, not even while they fought monsters together during the prior climb.

“Monsters were sent to my home twice before I came here,” he explained. “From what I saw of them, I had a feeling they were clearly stronger than what I’ve seen on the island so far. That, and I did receive two years of training in my combat arts.”

The girls nodded, still awed by what they had seen. Lance, however, simply turned away, looking elsewhere into the distance. His heart held feelings of disbelief, as well as jealously. Clearly he was being outclassed, though he never imagined it would be by someone who wasn’t even from this world. “Im…impossible…” he muttered, feeling dejected.

Shadow saw the display Lance was showing as he returned to the group. He approached the young warrior, placing a hand on his shoulder. “I did not intend to flaunt or lord over any of you with my actions,” he explained. “I was simply giving myself an answer to my thought. Believe me when I say this: one day, you’ll be as strong as me. With time and training, you will.”

Lance slowly came out of his shell, turning towards Shadow after his statements. “I know,” he said, trying to inwardly fight his disheartenment. “It’s just…seeing those moves…it seems impossible for me to do something like that.”

In response, Shadow slightly tightened his grip on Lance’s shoulder. “Nothing is impossible,” he said. To emphasize his point, the bandit turned his armless side towards the warrior’s eyes. Lance gasped at what he saw. “Wow,” was all he could say.

The group pressed on, being mindful to stay on the rocky formations that loomed over the ground. As they walked, Skye moved closer to Lance’s side, holding his hand upon reaching him. “He’s right, you know,” she said. “You’ve gotten so strong these days, and I’m certain that will only continue.”

“Yeah,” Lance said, taking in the warmth of his girlfriend’s hand. “I just…do you believe I can become as strong as him? I mean, it took me a good deal of effort to beat one, and then he goes and takes another down like it was nothing! It’s something I’ve seen people stronger than me, but I’ve never seen anything like that before. For some reason, it’s hard to get used to. It just made me question how strong I really am.”

Skye halted the walk. She brought her arms around Lance’s waist and met him eye for eye. “You are much stronger than you think,” she said. “I always remember six months ago, when I first saw you training against the monsters in the hunting zone outside Henesys. While I was honing my bow skills, I couldn’t help but watch you take them down with that spear you used to have. I kept watching you in secret every day. For some reason, I just kept wondering what it was that had my eyes so lured to you. At the time, I thought it was either ease of you beating your enemies, or the confidence you had when facing them. Then there was the day when I was trying to fight pigs on the other side of town. I fought as hard as they could, but their sheer numbers had me overcome and at their mercy. Then, out of the blue, YOU showed up. You took those monsters down with such prowess and fierceness, all the while keeping them away from me. You fought until there was an opening, then led me back to town. You sat me on a bench, and gave me a potion. I was completely speechless at the thought. You helped me train for the rest of the day. When night fell, before you headed for home, I remember thanking you for the kindness you showed, and…”

“I said to you, I knew you were watching me,” Lance said, taking over on the reminiscing. “I could catch your glances now and then. Overall, though, I appreciated them. I was an underestimated warrior in training back then, and it was nice to have some attention for once. Then when you were attacked, I felt I could pay you back for the attention you gave me. All in all, it was, as I felt, simply the right thing to do.”

“It was after you said that that I knew what I liked about you the most: your heart. As we trained together, I always noticed you helping out anyone who had trouble.” She then rested her head agains his steel corporal-laden chest. “You are strong on the outside, but even more are you strong within. You’re a very helpful person, giving aid to those who need it, especially now on this quest we’re on. You have no idea how much I admire such strength.”

“I might have a pretty good idea,” Lance said jokingly. “You asked me out the very next time I came to town!”

They both laught for a moment, then looked out at the sun, which was slowly heading down towards the horizon. Their gazes eventually turned to eachother. Skye brought her face closer to Lance’s. “You have a strength that I’ve never seen in anyone else. Believe me, it will take you far. Don’t ever doubt yourself; just look within yourself, and always remember the man you are….the man I love so much.” She leaned in even closer, about to give him a kiss.

A loud, rough series of squeals broke the couple from their moment. A pack of ten wild boars was grouped not far from them, all of them staring ferociously at their possible prey. Skye let out a frightened scream. Her cry caught the ears of Shadow, Emma, Genya, and Amber, who had been walking towards the village without noticing that Lance and Skye had stopped. Without hesitation, the one-armed bandit dashed back towards them, all three girls close at hand.

Acting quickly, Lance aimed his mop at the boars, though he couldn’t help but shake. “They never come this high up the mountain,” he said. “How did they get here?”

“I…I don’t k-know,” Skye stammered, quivering. “Oh, Lance, these monsters are stronger than anything we’ve fought so far! What do we do? We could run, but they’d only chase us! And they’re fast!”

Lance looked back in the direction they were walking. Shadow and the others were headed towards them, but they were still a fair distance away. Apparently their private moment had lasted too long. His eyes reverted to the boars, who continued to stare at the pair hungrily. Lance felt dismay quickly seep into him. Skye was right; the boars were something they weren’t yet accustomed to fighting. Nonetheless, he steeled himself, raising his iron ball in offense.

“We fight,” he said with determination.

“Yes…”Skye whispered as she pulled out her composite bow. She took up a position behind Lance, notching an arrow to the bowstring.

Tension began to fill the air. Lance knew the boars wouldn’t wait much longer. With a raging cry, he dashed towards the boars. In turn, the boars ran towards him. When he was close enough, Lance took to the offense with a horizontal swing from his weapon. Unfortunately, the lead boar swerved by the attack and rammed head-on into Lance. The warrior was sent flying back behind Skye.

“Lance!” she cried out as he landed. She shook off her worry as she noticed the boars still charging. Swallowling heavily, she pulled her bowstring back, aiming an arrow at the lead boar. However, another boar picked up speed, catching her off guard with a tackle. The blow knocked the wind out of her as she was sent tumbling out of the battle, and over the edge of the rock they were standing on.

Lance struggled to get back up, pain clutching at his side. When he was refocused, he noticed Skye’s bow on the ground, but the bowman herself was nowhere in sight. “Skye!” he called out. He was about to call again, until the pack of boars caught his attention, still running towards him. He held himself in a defensive position, but his thoughts were still elsewhere: what happened to Skye?

Meanwhile, Lance’s girlfriend was lying on the ground far below, unconcious. Blood was trickling from her head. All around her, a number of wild boars, along with stumps that held a darker shade of bark, had noticed her fall. Slowly, the monsters headed towards her….

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TWENTY CHAPPIES!^_^ Geez, ’bout time I got off, I mean on, my butt and wrote this. Hooray for suspence! Also, my first real big dose of romance. Ah, the sap.

Leveled my chief bandit again, and now, I am done with pqing him for good.T_T Man, those fast levels! I will miss them! Eh, well, I’ll just have to work harder than before to keep him going!

Also played FlyFF for the first time in way too freaking long. My vagrant is just three levels from his job, which’ll be an acrobat, cuz sometimes it’s just so much fun to shoot arrows at things(btw I leveled up my MS xbowman too). Right now I’m on that Mount Delen quest where the girl is looking for her puppy. HOW SAD! Anyone know where that mutt is? I know where the mountain is, at least, but no puppy. Also, any readers who play that game and are on the Mia server, please tell me thy FlyFF char names(if you did before, sowwy I forgot). I’d really like to finally meet you! Take that, MS SEA.

Previous installments:
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