Friends and Harmony

Chapter 9

Ritchie's Trust

The group of friends soon stood in front of the infamous Outcast Woods. It seemed darker than the town at night, and there was fog streaming through the briars and branches, living up to its reputation with its eerie environment.

Ritchie gulped. "Are we really doing this?" He asked.

Henry took a deep breath. "If we don't do this, then the whole kingdom is doomed." He said.

Felix put on a daring face. "Well, let's go, then!"

Ritchie smiled. "But, let's stick together. Like caramel on a candied apple."

Everyone slightly laughed at his analogy, then one by one, entered into the Woods.

After an hour of walking, everyone stopped to rest. They sat down on some logs or rocks, and took a snack break. Henry took out a loaf of bread, and tore it in six pieces. He then passed then around, and the others each took one.

When he sat back down, Tobias turned to Cosette. "So, how much further until we get to the mountain?" He asked.

"About another half-hour." She answered before tearing a chunk of her bread. "Once we get to the other side, that's where everyone starts to get dangerous."

"Does anyone else know how to get around here?" Henry asked out of curiosity.

"Heavens, no!" Violet answered. "Not with the stories we heard when we were younger. Quite dreadful."

"How come?"

"They say that the magic that exists in these woods don't exactly work like it does back in Berk." Ritchie explained. "Sometimes, it goes out of whack and no one can control it, mostly with dark magic."

"And they say that those who enter never come out." Tobias said in a spooky voice.

"Knock it off, Toothless." Cosette said with a roll of her eyes.

Henry stifled a laugh. "Toothless?"

Tobias went red. "I told you not to call me that!" He cried to Cosette, who had a smug smile on her face.

Henry started laughing aloud with everyone else. "Okay, is there a story behind this? 'Cause I totally want to hear it."

Felix took a few breaths to calm himself. "Oh, you're in for a treat, Henry."

"Don't you dare." Tobias threatened, but Felix began the story.

"Back when we were 10, there was this rotten guy named Hector who was thought he was the best kid in the whole world. So, one day, he was trying to act cool and suave in front of Violet and Cosette and this other girl, Stella, who Tobias had a thing for at the time."

Henry looked at Tobias, who was strawberry red and his green eyes were erupting into flames as he glared at Felix. "Shut it, Felix." He hissed.

But Felix ignored him. "Anyway, out of jealousy and of protection of our girls," he gestured to Cosette and Violet, "he came right up to him and punched him hard in the face!"

Everyone started laughing loudly, while Tobias was slightly chuckling at the memory. "When he sat up, he spat out four teeth, and his nose was swollen!" Felix continued. "From that day on, Stella started calling him Toothless, and the name stuck. I think that she was impressed."

When the laughter died down, Henry looked back at Tobias. "So, you punched the daylights out of a bully just to impress a girl?" He asked.

Tobias glared at him playfully. "For your information, smart guy, Violet and Cosette were also getting annoyed by him as well."

"And we still are grateful for that." Violet said.

"Totally." Cosette agreed.

Soon, everyone finished their pieces of bread, and started their way through the rest of the wood and up the mountain.

After climbing up most of the mountain, all of them were walking in a single file line on a cliff that was crumbling.

"Are you sure this is the right way, Cosette?" Violet asked, terrified to look down.

"Positive." Cosette said. "Just don't look down and watch your step."

No sooner did she say that, there was a huge CRACK! Everyone froze as a big fracture became present in the cliffside.

"You had to say it out loud." said a sarcastic Ritchie.

The ground beneath them suddenly caved in. They all started screaming as they slid down the mountain. Tobias and Cosette managed to get on their feet and slide down. They grabbed some vines and swung towards their friends. Tobias grabbed Felix while Cosette swung over to Violet. Ritchie and Henry were still sliding down.

Ritchie finally grabbed an exposed tree root to hold on, but Henry was struggling over the edge. His hands were moving frantically, trying to keep hold.

"Help!" He shouted, not wanting to look back.

Ritchie let go of the root. "I'm coming!" He slid over to Henry and grabbed his hands. "I got you."

"Now what, Ritchie?" Henry asked, trying to pull himself up.

The cowboy looked over him, saw something, then got an idea. "Let go." He said.

"What?!"

"Just let go, and you'll be fine!" Ritchie repeated.

"How do you know that?!" Henry demanded.

Ritchie took a deep breath and said in a sincere tone, "Look, we may have only known each other today, but trust me when I tell you this. Let go, and you'll be okay. Just trust me."

Henry looked up at him with panic, then took a deep breath. He shut his eyes and released his grip on Ritchie's forearms.

He screamed as he felt himself falling, the wind violently rushing through his ears. Suddenly, he felt an arm go around him. He opened his eyes and saw Tobias swinging along, holding a vine.

"Gotcha, pal!" He assured him.

Henry breathed out a sigh of relief. And then, they were both on solid ground at the base of the mountain.

Soon, Ritchie came down with Cosette. "Everybody okay?" He asked.

"Yeah." They all answered.

Ritchie turned to Henry. "See? I told you that you can trust me."

Suddenly, there was a big burst of light in the sky. The teens looked up and saw an orange dragon flying above them. Something seemed ethereal about this dragon. Its scales were shimmering orange like a sunset, and its eyes were as blue as the sea.

It flew down and circled around and above Ritchie. After a few spins around it, it roared loudly and transformed into a sphere of orange light. The light then engulfed Ritchie, then suddenly disappeared.

Everyone was staring at Ritchie, who was holding his head. "You okay, Ritchie?" Felix asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine." He reassured him.

"What was that beautiful creature?" Violet asked.

"I think that was one of the Guardian Dragons." Henry theorized.

"That means we're on the right track." Tobias said.

"Great!" Cosette piped up. "One down, five to go!"

"Yeah." Henry agreed. "Let's keep moving."

Everyone nodded their heads, and continued their hike through the woods. But, they didn't notice a stream of midnight blue magic observing them through the briars. It then went off ahead of the group and vanished.

Author's Note

A/N: This is great! Our heroes found one Guardian Dragon. Terrific! Hope you enjoyed this chapter, especially the tidbit of background of Tobias. I'll try to put some background of everyone to make this a bit more original.

Next, we will encounter another Guardian Dragon. But, which one will it be? Until then, I'll see y'all soon! Please let me know about what you think.

Got to fly! ;)