Legend: Episode 6

Legend

Episode 6: The First Battle

<---First Episode <---Previous Episode  Next Episode--->

              Sapphire and Shadow were ushered into a waiting room after they had signed up. The room was pretty small and only had two chairs, the wall on the far side was made of metal bars so you could see through them to the arena in the center. Though the hall leading out to the arena was poorly lit so there wasn’t much to see.

              Shadow stared anxiously through the bars, he just wanted to get out there and get it over with. Sapphire wondered why he didn’t want to participate, it wasn’t like he was weak and afraid to be defeated. So, what did he have against making a public appearance?

              “So, how did you end up with a copy of Legend in the first place?” he asked. “Oh! Well, it’s quite a story…” she looked off into the distance, remembering the events. Just by her reaction, Shadow was already regretting that he asked.

              “There was a contest in my state to write an essay about a form of media. Most people wrote about age rating system on movies or about how television came to be. But wrote about something completely different…” She paused and waited to Shadow to ask what she had written about. Shadow didn’t get the hint so he just sat there.

              “Anyway, I wrote about whether video games should be considered a form of art of not.” He sat up, becoming interested. “The main point of my paper said that video games are just a good art form as writing, painting, and so on. The reason we create art is to give and feel emotions, to inspire and get people to imagine. Do people not feel a sense of awe when viewing Van Goh’s Starry Night? Well, people can feel the same kind of awe in a video games from its scenery, story, or game play. Whether it’s rage over a failed level or sadness that the game has ended, it inspires us.

              Some people are inspired to play again and again, or to try to complete everything. Some create music, drawings, and fanfictions, others create all new games. So, video games are a form of art. In fact they have even inspired me…” She paused for a moment, “And I guess that I must have made a pretty good point because I won a copy of Legend.”

              Shadow sat silent, “So you play video games to be inspired?” She nodded. He sat for a moment, looking at the ground, ‘What a great purpose you have… I wish I was the same” She looked at him with questioning eyes.

              Before she could get an answer the metal bar wall rose up out of the ground like a castles portcullis. They stood up at the same time. Cheers from the crowd echoed down the hall way. They made their way down it and out into the sunny arena.

              The coliseum rose up around them. The stands were full of players and NPC’s alike. The stands started about 10 feet above them and their upper rim was lined with inward facing wooden spikes. The ground was just dirt but it stood out against the yellow colored walls.

              They stood there for a moment, not sure what to do. There was no opponent in sight and they didn’t think they were going to have to fight each other. Just then, a crashing sound came from one of the halls in front of them. They stared down the hall looking to see what was down there.

              Suddenly, two large bolfs came running out, these were larger than the ones they had fought before. But before they could thing about attacking, three peonies rushed out as well. They were extremely quick and could run circles around the bolfs.

              “So, we are just fighting stronger versions of older enemies?” Sapphire asked. Shadow nodded, “It’ll take me more than one hit to defeat these buggers.” She nodded in understanding, “All right, let’s get them!” She used Skyward Slash instantly on one of the peonies, it fled and scared the others, now all of them were running.  Until they calmed down a little, there was no way to catch them. She turned her attention to Shadow and the bolfs.

              He was focusing on one of the bolfs, he was hitting it with several powerful blows. Sapphire noticed one was coming up behind him and he hadn’t noticed. “Shadow! Behind you!” she cried, but she knew he wouldn’t get her warning in time. She flew down straight for the beast, her sword held out in front of her.

              She sliced horizontally across the creature as she landed and skidded to a stop. It howled in pain and jumped back. The crowd cheered with excitement. Sapphire and Shadow stood back to back. The peonies were still running in crazy circles while the bolfs eyed them cautiously.

              “So we have one almost dead bolf, one damaged bolf, a damaged peony, and two unharmed ones as well.” said Shadow.  She nodded, “What do you suggest?” He paused and looked around him for a moment, “I’ll charge and finish off the first bolf while you go and get a few hits off on the other. Then we’ll try to get the peonies. You ready?” She nodded, “All good here!” He started to count down, “3…2…1…Go!”

              They rushed out at the same time. Shadow hit his with a powerful strike and it crumpled to dust. Sapphire hit with small quick attacks, it tried to get her but she dodged and moved around it swiftly and precisely, like a dance. After a few seconds if crumpled as well. They turned and met each other’s eyes as the crowd chanted for them to finish the rest of them off.

              The peonies had retreated to the perimeter of the arena, leaving Sapphire and Shadow in the center. They were still moving very quickly and they almost seemed to blur. It they tried to hit one, they were going to be trampled for sure. Sapphire watched them run around and around her.

              “They are moving so fast… How can we get one to calm down to we can defeat it? Are they going to attack us at all? Will they…..Wait, are they moving in closer?” Sapphire was right, it wasn’t that they were fleeing, they were trapping them in! Once the circle got small enough, they would trample them!

              Suddenly, she got an idea, “Shadow! Let me grab onto your legs!” He looked at her like she had gone mad. “Look, I know I sounds weird but you have to trust me.” The look on his face remained but he nodded. She smiled, “Great, I’ll also need you to hold out your scythe above your head as far as you can.” He silently complied.

              There he stood, scythe above is head, ready to have his legs grabbed; he felt ridicules. Sapphire reached down and grabbed just above his ankles. She took off and hovered in the air just high enough for his scythe to only be a few inches off the ground as he dangled.

              “Hang on.” She said. Slowly, she began to spin in place, swinging him out on front of her. She started to gain momentum and soon she became the center of a spinning top with Shadow’s scythe being a dangerous outer rim.

              She slowly lowered him down to the peonies. They saw the spinning wheel of death but they were moving too fast to avoid it. When Shadow’s scythe struck them, they instantly crumbled. Sapphire strained to slow them down. She finally let go and they both plopped on the ground.

              The crowd was ecstatic. They jumped up and cheered, their top attack had left them impressed.  Sapphire was sprawled on the ground, breathless. Even though that took no actual physical labor it still left her heart pounding and feeling exhausted. It was an amazing feeling.

              Shadow reached out his hand to help her up. She gratefully took it. He pulled her up beside him. Their eyes locked, her blue eyes met his green ones. In their silent stare, Sapphire thought she saw something in his eyes. Some sort of fire or emotion, whatever it was, it let her know that he trusted her. And if he trusted her, she would trust him.

              He nodded and she nodded back. In unison, they turned to the crowd around them. An announcer’s voice boomed over the arena, “And the winners are, Shadow Wanderer and Sapphire Shard!” The crowd cheered began clapping to celebrate their victory.

              “I think we did well. What do you think?” she asked. He pulled his scarf up, “It’s not over yet…” She looked at him confused, “But I thought we won?”

              The announcer spoke again, “Now for round two! I wonder who they will fight!?!” She turned to Shadow, “All ready?” He folded his arms, “It appeared so.” He turned to her, “But I’m sure we’ll be fine.” She felt the trust in his voice, the same trust she had seen in his eyes. She smiled, “Yeah! Let’s do this!”

              They drew their weapons and waited for their next opponent to come. They heard one of the metal bar walls rise up behind them. They turned to see what they would be fighting. They stood ready, sword and scythe in hand. They sat there, waiting and watching for their new enemy.

              After a few seconds, nothing came. The crowd began to murmur among themselves. Some of them wondered if there even was an enemy. Shadow and Sapphire were thinking no such thoughts, they stared forward ready for any sort of attack. There was the possibility that this whole thing was their opponent trying to get them to lower their guard before attacking. They wouldn’t give them the satisfaction.

              Finally, something slowly emerged from the darkness for the hallway where they had heard the noise. Sapphire squinted to try to see just what exactly it was, but while it was in the shadows, it was impossible to tell. So they stood ready for whatever may be coming their way.

              Slowly, out of the darkness emerged their opponent, it was…. A fox? It was very large, almost wolf size. Otherwise, it looked like your average fox. The only thing that was strange about it was its little top hat with a little crown around it that it wore over one of its ears.

              “What’s that monsters name?” Sapphire asked. “That’s no monster.” said Shadow, “It’s a player.”

Legend: Episode 5

Legend

Episode 5: Exploring the Meadows of Sanctuary

<---First Episode <---Previous Episode   Next Episode--->

              Maddie laid on her bed restless, she was excited to play Legend again, but the wait till tomorrow seemed to take forever. So, to occupy her mind, she tried to come up with characters for her brother. She loved Legend so much all ready, and she wanted to share that with someone she loved. But she had as much trouble coming up with one as he did. Did you make him human or another creature? Did you make him swift or strong? Melee or ranged? Magic or technology? There was a lot to decide when your character had no limits on what it could be.

She groaned and rolled over, sleep was essential but it seemed to evade her. Questions about the mysterious Shadow Wanderer also plagued her mind. Why was he so quiet? He was mostly silent during the duration of their journey together. Did he have something to hide? No answers came to her so she tried to fall asleep.

After a restless night and a very boring day, her parents finally let her back on. She logged on right away.  The music box opened to reveal Sapphire Shard. Just seeing her put a smile on her face and temporarily forget the questions that had plagued her mind.  She pressed play and put on her head set.

She appeared in the same place as before, still holding the Story Box. Looking around she saw Keith vigorously working in his field, every seed he planted got him one step closer to his dream. She waved to him and called out.

“Hey Keith!” He looked up and waved back before returning to his work. Sapphire shifted her eyes around her and saw Shadow leaning against the same tree as before. She walked over to him, “I hope you weren’t waiting too long.” He shook his head to confirm that he hadn’t been waiting for very long. “I was a little worried that you would abandon me. So it’s great to see you here!”

He motioned to the main road out of the village, “Shall we get going?” She rocked on her feet and nodded eagerly. He began to walk away and she followed.

Sapphire turned the Story Box around in her hands, it was small but her character had no pockets to put it in. Where was she supposed to put it when she didn’t need it? Shadow noticed her messing with it and mumbled something. She looked up with questioning eyes.

“What was that?” she asked. “It looks like you don’t know what to do with that. Why don’t you just put it in your inventory?” She just stared at him with confusion. He stopped and turned to face her, “Let me guess, you don’t know how to open it. You really are a noob.” She folded her arm angrily, “Hey!’ He sighed, “All right, I’ll show you.”

“You’ve used your inventory before but you just haven’t realized it. You know when you summon your sword?” She nodded. “That’s using the quick equip option of your inventory.” He stopped to see if she followed, she nodded to inform him to continue. “How about you try to use the button to summon your sword but hold it down longer.”

              She nodded and did as he said. Oh her screen a semi-transparent tab opened up. It was white in color and in a grid like system. Around its border was a swirling ornamental. In a slot on the top right hand corner of the grid was golden in color and a picture of her sword was inside.

              “Can you see this Shadow?” He shook his head, “No, it’s only visible to you… Anyway, do you see a differently colored square?” She nodded, “Ok, that is your quick equip square, just like I told you earlier. Whatever you put in there you will be able to summon quickly.

Now. Hold out the Story Box to it.” She held it out to her inventory, it vanished in a white light similar to how Shadow did when he logged off. It appeared up right next to her sword. “To close out of your inventory, just press the button again” said Shadow. And with that, she closed out of her inventory.

“You ready to go now?” he said. “Yup! Thanks for that quick tutorial.”

They began to head out of the town on the main road. Since the town as surrounded with trees, the main road was the only visible path. It was curvy so the only thing you could really see in front of you was a wall of trees.

It was a quiet journey between them, Shadow seemed to space out and almost looked like he was walking through a dream. Sapphire occasionally glanced over worriedly but she said nothing. A gentle breeze blew through the pine trees and their needles rustled. It may have sounded like just ambient noise to someone else, but to Sapphire it almost seemed like music.

After what must have been around 5 minutes they emerged into a field. It was massive, it stretched as far as the eye could see. Tall grasses and wild flowers waved in the breeze, a river cut through the green expanse, and a few trees were sprinkled here and there. Some birds in a V pattern flew overhead in the blue sky. Other creatures also appeared to inhabit the field.

One such creature was horse like but had amazing camouflage. So great was it in fact, that Sapphire hadn’t noticed that they were there until a herd of them had crossed the river. Their main point was their mane, it was wide, thin, and ran along the length of their spine and around their heels. It was green in color as to look like blades of grass. Most of their upper body was a more yellow color and faded into light brown. They were rather small in size, only about 4 ½ feet tall.

“What are those?” asked Sapphire as she pointed to them. He took one look and them and turned back to her, “Those are Peonies, plural for Peony.” She scrunched up her nose, “Peony? Isn’t that some type of flower?” He shrugged, “Well, they are small like ponies and they have a plant theme so I guess Peony makes sense.” She mouthed a silent, “Ah” and they continued along the path.

Everything was absolutely beautiful, Sapphire just wanted to run through the field and laugh. She wanted to play in the river and lay on the grass and watch the clouds roll by. But her desire to explore what was at the end of the path was even greater. So she kept walking on and didn’t let her legs stop.

They had not been walking for more than a few minutes when a Peony jumped out in front of them on the path. Shadow turned to Sapphire, “Why don’t you defeat it.” She blinked at him, “Oh! Um, ok… Let’s do it then!” He held out is hand and shook his head, “No, I want to see if you can defeat it on your own… It’s no good to have a partner it you have to do everything.” She folded her arms, “All right, I accept your challenge. I’ll defeat that thing before you can say ham and pineapple pizza!”

She summoned her sword and charged at the Peony. It saw her coming and tried to dodge. Her sword only nicked it giving very little damage.  It fled a short distance before turning around and staring at her. They both stood ready and staring at each other like in a western standoff. Sapphire racked her brain for a strategy to quickly defeat it. It was quick and like most prey, had eyes on the side of its head for a greater range of vision. If she was going to beat it, she was going to have to either hit it from a distance, which she wasn’t the best at, or she was going to have to out-speed it.

She counted slowly in her head until the perfect moment. For a brief second the Peony’s stare faltered; she struck. Using Skyward Slash she caught the Peony completely by surprise. Its health dropped dramatically and even though it was fleeing, it moved a lot slower. Because she was airborne after Skyward Slash, she just flew down after it and finished it off with a few quick slashes.

Shadow raised an eyebrow, “Not bad, when you said that you were going to defeat it quickly, I was worried that you would keep trying to defeat it blindly. But you actually stepped back and tried to figure out how to do it. Well done, that’s a skill you will use here in Legend.” Sapphire smiled and curtsied, “Why thank you sir Shadow. Now then, shall we get a move on?” He rolled his eyes but motioned for her to follow him.

“So… are we at the capital yet?” she asked. He shook his head, “No, it’s still about 15 minutes away. That is… If we don’t run into any interruptions.” She thought for a moment, “So, with the time we’ve already took getting this far… Plus 15 more minutes… So the capital is about 35 minutes away from where we started?”

“That sounds about right.”

“Jeez, I though Keith’s dad said it wasn’t going to take long.”

“Compared to some of the distances you have to travel later on, it’s really not.”

“Wow. How does anyone get anywhere?”

Shadow fell silent.

“You know something don’t you?”

He seemed to smirk under his scarf. “You will just have to find out for yourself.” She sighed with annoyance. “Well anyway, before we get to the capital there is a city just up ahead.” She jumped up with excitement, “Oh! What is it like?” He turned and pointed up the path, “See for yourself.”

Up ahead was a city, it was a little larger than the last one but it still was relatively small. One thing that it defiantly had over the last city was its large coliseum right in the center. Its stone was a yellow shade and it had white gargoyles around its upper rim. Several people could be seen entering it at its base, many of the people looked like player characters with their extravagant designs.

“There are a lot of people there. Is there some sort of event going on?” Shadow sat for a moment, thinking about it. “I think there is a tournament today. A pair can enter and fight other players and monsters for prizes.” Her eyes lit up with excitement, “Really?!?” He nodded, “Yeah, I hear it’s a good way to get experience… Oh, and they also say it’s fun to talk to your opponents afterward or whatever.”

A smile spread across Sapphire’s face slowly, “We should enter together Shadow!” He pulled back in horror, “What? No! Absolutely not! I am not entering any tournament of any kind!” His reaction made Sapphire laugh, “Aw, why not! I’m sure we would make a great team!” He turned away from her in embarrassment, “I-I just don’t want to have to deal with so many people. Ok?”

“I understand that you like to work alone, but why are you afraid of people?”

“…”

“Look Shadow, I don’t want to push you too much but… Please? I promise that won’t ever ask you to go into a tournament again. Ok?”

“…Oh…All right, let’s enter…”

With a squee of glee she ran off to the town as fast as her legs could carry her. Shadow hurried after her.

He finally caught up to her just outside of the coliseum. She was staring up at its arches with awe. She turned to him and smiled, not saying anything. Her expression said it all.

They headed in and went to sign up for the tournament.