Legend
Episode 6: The First
Battle
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.”
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