//-------------------------------------------------------// Star Ocean: Eternal Voyage -by Kyo Wright- //-------------------------------------------------------// //-------------------------------------------------------// The Venerable Forest //-------------------------------------------------------// The Venerable Forest "Another day, another boring and uneventful day." Is what Leon normally says each morning, in his opinion, he was correct, he finishes his toast and orange juice, leaving the house to pursue more knowledge in school, he didn't mind going, but he knew everything to do about Earth's culture and history that could last up to 3 millennia! An impossible feat for a regular person, but Leon was not regular, he was a child genius, a prodigy of Lacour since birth, his home on Planet Expel, given the nickname Professor Leon by many people, he was a tall and scrawny young man with shoulder length-straight spiky blue hair, brown cat ears, Navy Blue coloured eyes, handsome pale complexion and somewhat refined despite his scrawny and slender build, a magic user, and with no need of any spell books, he became a master symbologist, memorizing every spell in his books, and recently delved into swordsmanship thanks to the help of a good friend, Claude C. Kenny. Leon learns quick, and training session after training session Leon soon became an expert in martial arts and swordplay, handy if he were ever in a bind, and boy, today was NOT going to go easy on said bind, he was walking into his school with an edge of both dull determination and repetitiveness drawn on his face, covering his eyes from the unforgiving sun and the snow laying on the ground, it's a harsh winter, but it's the boy's favourite time of year, to see snow falling on such ground that has seen many wars. "Ahh, cold white, a symbol of purity." Leon said as he knew of a few ice spells that he was really proud of, his other magic could do some work, but it's not like he minded it much, it was a time of peace, a time of serenity, surely nothing can go wrong, right? Leon makes his way into an empty science class room and began his note taking and mixing, of course, he wasn't gonna go easy on today's task, while it is safe, it's still a hard task to do, but thankfully Leon will get through this with ease. As Leon starts to take in some notes, he failed to notice something was going on, the project was sparking a weird glow, it was incredibly faint, but with the right level of examination, he would of realized it, this however wasn't the problem, there was a strange and unknown reaction while Leon mixed in two separate chemicals, and with in a flash of lightning and a dark explosion, the classroom was engulfed in blue flames with no Leon in sight, this spooked the entire building, calling to do an emergency evacuation. A few hours later, with no sign of the aforementioned fellpool, there was no sign of him, no blood, no body, nothing. A strange occurrence that requires a thorough investigation. Leon however was in a totally different location, somewhere that isn't pinpointed in any radar or any map, a completely underdeveloped area that no one has discovered as of late. Leon was on his butt, rubbing the sore area of the back of his head. "Ughh, what happened?" he said as he got up, feeling himself getting dizzy, he tried to regain his balance and hold onto his head with both hands, he was in pain. "Ough..." he moans in mild irritation, this was certainly a very annoying pain, after getting his bearings, he looked around the forest, noticing how desolate it is and how alone he is."Where in the world am I?" he said to himself as he blinks, hearing nothing but his breathing that he was slowly calming down, oddly enough, this place reminded him of Arlia's 'Shingo Forest', though it's much more wider and longer, it's like it goes on forever. "Jeez, how dark is this place?" he said as he holds his hand out and his hand gets surrounded in blue fluorescent glow. "Alright, that's... Mildly better, now, first thing's first, let's get outta here.." he says to himself, taking the first step. The minute he took the first step however, he was greeted with a twig snap, and all of a sudden he heard growling. "ah!" was all he could exclaim before looking around to see multiple glowing eyes staring right at him, this made him nervous, but he recognized the sounds of each of the animal, they all sounded canine, like... Wolves? "If that's the case, I'm gonna have to deal with them now..." he said softly as he reached for his sw--. "Where's my sword...?" he looks down as he realized that he left his blade at home. "Oh right, well, this is bothersome..." was all he said before getting pounced by one of them, Leon was whacked onto the ground with the... "Wooden Wolf?" was what he said in slight confusion with wincing pain in his voice, he was pushing the Wolf back, and just like that, he was surrounded by many of them. Leon grunts as he was fighting a losing battle. "Not good!" was all he said before smirking. "Let's even the odds, shall we, ladies and gentlemen?" he said as he used his feet to keep the wolf back and used his hands in multiple elegant signs. "Deep Freeze!" he exclaims as he slams his hands on the ground, icing the grass underneath him, causing the wolves to slip from the ice, and using the remainder of the spell on the wolf on top of him, freezing it into place, then afterwards, he kicks it off and jumps to the grass, with a grin he bolts it, making his escape. "Heh, how dreadfully boring." was all Leon said about the matter, ignoring the fact he almost became a meal for their pack. Just behind him was the pack in question running straight for him in extremely fast speeds, Leon looks back while he continues to run, he smirked and made a few more elegant hand signs. "GREAT HASTE!" he shouts as he felt himself get lighter, he ran really fast, leaving the wolves in the dust, thank Tria for keeping this spell with him. After a while, he felt the Haste wearing off, but he lost his pursuers, he could slow down and take a break now, stopping, he caught his breath, being a bookworm sucked for the duration of the martial arts training, your health isn't guaranteed to keep up with you, if it weren't for Claude's stamina advice, he'd of been fresh meat for those wooden pups back then. "Heh... Timber Wolves..." he said in a complete joking manner, not even realizing that was what their real species were. After a few short breathing sessions, Leon start walking to find an exit to the this maze of a forest, while he was annoyed that he couldn't find civilization, he was still enticed on how beautiful this forest look regardless of almost being lost to it. "I'd love to live here... Minus the wolves, those can go." he said to literally no one in particular, knowing he was alone. Leon kept wandering, he could feel his stomach growling, which then begs the question. "How long was I even out?" he said as he remembered waking up from what seemed to be hours of unconsciousness. "I'm really craving fruit for some reason." he says to again, no one in particular, Leon noticed a clearing that was shied away by multiple branches, he could see ruins of a sort. "hmm?" Leon's interest was indeed piqued, he wanted to see more of these ruins, he began pushing away the branches and leaves, seeing a castle of ruins in such great splendor. "...Whoa..." was all Leon could say in such wonder, the castle was beautiful, withering decor and decrepit buildings shown how old this place was, at least a millennium amount of years old, he didn't want to go inside however as he wanted to find food and possibly someone, anyone to talk to. That was one of Leon's greatest fears, loneliness. For years he's been aiming for a girlfriend to settle down with, that would of been easy, if it wasn't for these confounded things. Leon's cat ears twitched as he was emphasizing a point that no one in particular could hear. "Okay, this is getting creepy.." he said as he looks back at the ruins, he could feel some sort of dark presence there, this gave Leon a bigger reason to get the hell out of there, to which he did, he didn't want to piss off whatever it was in there. Eventually, Leon finally makes his way to an entrance of the forest, nearby seemed to hold a cottage. "Oh, good! There's people here!" he said as he noticed a young yellow horse with a pink mane and... WINGS?! "A... A Pegasus! Unbelievable!" he then shook his head and went forward, being an animal lover, he was hoping to tame the adorable Pegasus, he walks ever so gently to her, from what Leon could see, it was definitely female in mannerisms and how short the horse is, could it be a pony? But for some reason, he had a sense to hide, and so he did, the yellow mare looked to hear the sound, but she couldn't see anything it seemed, Leon didn't scare it off. 'Good, maybe it can sense my gentle presence?' "Ohh, Angel, I wonder what that sound was." The yellow and pink mare spoke. Leon was completely wide-eyed, this went against everything he knew about animals. "Wh-Wha?..." he almost shouts out but covers his mouth so that not much sound came out. 'Did... That equine just talk?!' Leon thought as his mind shifted to overdrive, this was a discovery of the century! A talking Pegasus! All of a sudden, his celebrations were cut short when he heard something he didn't like. "Over there, Angel?" she said to the bunny who was pointing directly at Leon. Leon cursed the rodent under his breath for giving his position away, guess it's no choice but to come clean, Leon sighs and starts causing a shuffle, making the mare scared. "o-oohh my.." she said in a timid voice. "Wh-Who's there?" she said in another timid voice that made Leon's heart melt like butter. "Don't worry, I'm coming out..." said Leon as he walks out, showing his full figure to the now confused and terrified mare. "Don't be afraid, girl... I won't hurt you..." Leon said with a genuine smile, going up to pet her, but all he could hear and see was an 'eep' and the yellow and pink mare cowering, once again, Leon's heart melted like butter. "Well, since you can speak girl, what's your name err.. If you have a name, that is?" The Little Mare just whispered something that Leon could barely hear. "...erm, it's Fluttershy..." Leon puts a finger and thumb on his chin as he thinks. "Hmm, Fluttershy?" he said, making the little mare nod, she seemed to be easing up a tad. "Is this your pet bunny?" he said as he looks at Angel, who did NOT look pleased by being called a pet, but Fluttershy nodded, easing up more. "Oh my yes... Is there something wrong?" Leon shook his head. "Not at all, he's pretty cute." Angel eased up himself from the compliment. "Oh, y-you think so?" she said with a smile, to which Leon nodded with another genuine smile. Leon's last vision was that of a smiling Fluttershy and a blue and rainbow-like blur, the next thing he knew he blacked out with a world of pain etched onto his face. 'Wh-Wha? Am I dead?! Great, so this is death, huh? All black, and all subconscious? Wow... Whatever, I hope I get to haunt whoever killed me!.. Wait, I've been like this before... I just blacked out, I'm not really dead.' An internal sigh of relief was heard, and then multiple voices, while muffled, I can recognize one of them. 'That's Fluttershy's voice' Another sigh was heard. 'Good, she's okay...' Leon could feel his muscles move. 'Oh, I'm coming to! Good, I want to know who hooked me one.' Leon opened his eyes slowly seeing a blurry vision, and once doing this, pain came, causing a grunt to the fellpool, he sat up, feeling even more pain than before, his mild irritation turned into a severe irritation, regardless, he looked around to see a room, and underneath him was a soft bed, in the room opposite him was the muffled voices, he decided to eavesdrop, putting his ear onto the wall, listening in... "Fluttershy! That... THING could be a spy! And you're housing it?!" shouted an obnoxiously competitive voice, no doubt that could of been the blue and rainbow blur from before, another Pegasus, maybe? Next came the angelic voice that was Fluttershy's. "R-Rainbow Dash... It was kind, and besides, you hurt it." the voice 'Rainbow Dash' scoffed. "Yeah, whatever, I don't trust... Whatever the heck that thing is!" A skeptical and everyday voice was heard. "Oh come on, Rainbow Dash! It's another species we NEVER saw before, aren't you at least thrilled?!" Rainbow scoffed again. "'Thrilled' isn't the word for it, Twilight, any move it makes, I'm gonna watch it, I don't like that thing one bit!" Fluttershy chimed in, only gently. "He..." Rainbow Dash had an audible. "Huh?" Then Fluttershy spoke once more. "That 'thing' is a he, Rainbow... A male.. He.. Also looked cute.." An elegant and upstanding voice was heard. "I simply agree with Fluttershy, he looked so adorable! And those clothes are definitely interesting, I really have to ask him where he gets this style...! Ideaaa!" she exclaims. Another voice was heard, a bubbly and energetic voice. "I wonder if he likes parties! I gotta ask him, you guys!" she shouts, but Twilight and Fluttershy said. "No." together with Fluttershy chiming in afterwards. "He needs his rest, besides, Twilight needs to analyze this new creature, from what I saw, he seemed to be bipedal." A southern accent was heard. "Whoa nelly, are you saying TWO legs?" Fluttershy must of nodded, since there was no sound coming from her. "I'll go check up on him." She said as she softly opens the door and notices. "Oh! You're awake!" Leon blinked and looked at Fluttershy. "Oh, hey Fluttershy..." he said with a smile on his face, certainly not happy with the one called 'Rainbow Dash'. Fluttershy looked from out of the door. "He's awake, everypony, come in." she said with a gentle smile, and 4 other figures came walking in, but one of them bounced inside. "...! Unbelievable..." said Leon as he gazed his sights on the 5 other figures standing right in front of him. ~To Be Continued~