-=Nightmares Of The Past, Dreams Of The Future=-

Lord Scorpion, the five elders, and the remaining defenders of the now desolate village stood outside the cave. All had been drawn to the sound of a terrible cry of anger, hatred, and fury that had resounded from the cave moments earlier. Every person outside the cave felt an immovable weight of guilt on their shoulders. Lord Scorpion and the other defenders did everything they could to keep the village safe, but the majority of that time was spent fighting. For the last entire day, they fought an endless amount of creatures, all of them the one-eyed, two-legged creatures, an amount that managed to overwhelm the defenders.

However, those creatures weren’t the only ones dealing out destruction.

During the fight, the evil Dark Lord made sure everyone in the Village hidden in Darkness knew the power he wielded, not only by decimating scores of defenders himself, but by summoning two tauromacis to the mix. In addition, Dark Lord found cover during the fight, buying him time to create and work through a dark summoning ritual. The ritual allowed him to summon a Crimson Balrog. Together, the balrog and tauromacis brought the greatest amount of destruction by wreaking havoc on the buildings. Then they went for the villagers. Upon seeing the trio of intensely powerful monsters, the defenders took to the rear of the village to stop them. Unfortunately, none of the defenders survived against the monsters. The balrog and tauromacis were soon unnopposed with the remaining few defenders and Lord Scorpion trapped in a force field by Dark Lord. They could only watch and listen in despair as the overpowering monsters mercilessly cleared the caves of all life within.

The five elders, who were also in the cave, used whatever fighting they had available to stop the monsters, but they were powerless against the beasts. When the elders realized they were the only ones left alive in the cave, they used their last line of defense: they used their jutsus to create an illusion that rendered them invisible. Confounded and unable to break the magic, the monsters left the cave, unaware that Yuka had hidden herself deep in a hidden crevice, unable to do nothing more than hold a towel against a wound that would eventually end her life.

Now, after the battle, the remaining village people, grieving for the village they had failed to protect, waited for the last one among them: Shadow Viper.

Eventually, the one-armed rogue came out from the caves in front of everyone, his one arm holding up Yuka’s body as best as it could. Shadow stood in front of the others, no trace of emotion shown on his face. Whatever emotion he had in him earlier was all let out in his earlier cry of total outrage and sorrow.

Shadow knelt down and gently set Yuka’s body on the ground. Then he stood back up, looked at everyone else in front of him, and said:

“This home was the only home I’ve ever known. Many of those people back there were my friends. They were friends who supported me in every way possible. They taught me, fed me, gave me everything I needed to survive in this world. As I grew among them, I came to realize the potential I held as a defender of this village. I took it upon myself to become one to pay them back for everything they gave me.

“But that isn’t the only reason I’m a defender of this village.

“I was born in a fishing hovel rather far from this village. I was an only child to kind and loving parents who taught me what I needed to live a simple, peaceful life, like that of a fisherman. As I grew with them, I thought that would indeed be the life for me.

“That all changed when I was ten years old. Pirates raided our village one day, simply doing it for what we had to ‘offer’ them. They took everything, and killed for it all, too. They killed everyone, including my parents, excluding me. When the attack came, my parents feared for my safety more than their own. They sent me away with necessary provisions to send for help. They got me out just in time, despite my protests not to go. I was a little ways outside the village when our home was hit. I quickly realized what was happening, and found myself running away, not looking back.

“I ran for a week, using up everything I had on me that they gave me. Had two helpful strangers not found me another three days later, I’d have starved or died of thirst for certain.

“They took me to this village, where I lived and shaped my destiny to this day. I learned many years ago that it was Ryu and Yuka themselves that found me and saved me. In exchange, I gave them my unquestioning friendship. I became a defender so that someday, if I had to, I could repay the favor.

“Now, here I stand, almost everyone who helped me to live my life now dead on the ground. Ryu and Yuka are gone. The only ones left are all of you in front of me, who also helped me to live here.”

Shadow walked up to the five elders and bowed before them. “Until now, I never told you the true story of my past, because it was too painful for me to express. I took every measure to make sure it wasn’t told, lest the pain remain gripped upon my mind for good. Now, the past only drives me to the future. Everyone and everything I’ve lost may be irreplaceable, but that doesn’t mean I can’t set things right. Two instances of my life, the one in my past and the one yesterday, are each filled with more hardships and loss of life than I ever expected to bear. Now I’m sick of it. For too long we’ve had to live under fear of these monsters. Well, I for one have lived this way long enough.”

Shadow then stood up in front of the elders. “I wish to go to the maple world,” he told them with utmost determination in his mind. “I wish to finish what Ryu started. And I will go alone.”

The elders looked at eachother for a moment, then nodded their heads in unison. The lead elder, Hakkera, took a step towards Shadow. He then knelt before Shadow, with the other elders, the defenders, and Scorpion following suit.

“In that case,” Hakkera said, “our fate lies in your hands. Go to the maple world with our blessings.”

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Hi everyone! Hope you had a good thanksgiving! Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get a new laptop like I wanted, so I’m stuck with my crummy lagging machine until Christmas. Oh well, at least I can write my story with little problem. I can only hope that I can squeeze enough life out of my laptop to enjoy Maple Story for the remainder of my semester. *Gives everyone a turkey and a mountain dew*