A quick summary of the story so far-
So here they are; the group of seven adventurers on a hired quest to stop the legendarily ornery, massive, not to mention- extremely deadly, and territorial Sasquatch. It seems an odd group to be considered for such an important mission; saving a race of Fairies from extinction from the aforementioned beast seems a better fit for an army of Dwarves.
Just the same, here they are- A Dwarf, two Elves (you might recognize them as Leprechauns), two peace natured Woodlings, a Pixie, and a happy-go-lucky Gnome.
Sasquatch has a weakness for the rare and shiny. With the obsessive drive of a hoarder and the protective nature of a five year old girls’ father, he has taken to stealing the Soul Stones of the Fairies and upon possession, would kill to defend them. The issue, of course, is that as the stones are taken out of the Fairy realm, the fairies that are symbiotically attached by the soul to these stones fall dead.
The Fairies had until recently hidden these stones, knowing all too well that if and when the Sasquatch ever discovered even one Soul Stone, he would not stop until he acquired them all. Sadly, the Sasquatch has discovered the stones’ existence and as predicted, has begun pillaging Fairy kingdoms in search for more stones. Thousands of Fairies have since fallen dead, seemingly at random as no Fairy is certain which stone is attached to them.
When the last stone is removed from the Fairy realm, the fairies will be no more.
Having only begun their journey to the Sasquatch’s den, honestly aimless and without a real plan as to how they will successfully stop the beast, the heroes have already encountered a group of Grunts; the mortal enemy of the Woodlings. No problem, as the adventurers seized the moment to showcase their unique skillsets.
Our story continues-
In the hollow of a stump on the damp moss covered floor, Chester looked nervously up at the massive Dwarf who was expressionless as he peered down over the jagged, finger-like side walls of the stump. His large black beard and leather-like skin was gruff and damaged from a life of adventure. "He’s so big and… dangerous." Chester shivered involuntarily and returned back to the conversations of the group.
Faye inserted herself at the head of the talks with the casual obliviousness to any sort of democracy. Her slender frame and petite build were a mere diversion from her over sized attitude and muscled up confidence.
“Before we go another step further, oh fearless leader,” she said, pointing an assertive finger at Chester, “We need to know exactly what we’re going to be doing! I was under the impression- having picked up on what Soul Superior was getting at, that we were simply going to kill the Sasquatch!”
In fact, it was never directly requested that the Sasquatch be ‘killed’, but you could argue that it was hinted at. True, all had interpreted the queen Fairy as they saw convenient. Killing a Sasquatch, oddly enough, seemed more plausible than convincing it to give up its natural desires of stone collecting.
“Now, we’re supposed to just talk to it; ask it kindly to please stop!?” Faye continued. She crossed her arms but not before waving a dismissive irritated hand at Chester.
Chester appeared slightly embarrassed as it became abundantly clear that he was a leading minority. However, his nature was what it was. Woodlings don’t kill, never had, and probably never will. You couldn’t change the nature of a Woodling anymore than you could change the nature of the Sasquatch. As Chester was the decided leader of the alliance, this paradox seemed a tremendous obstacle.
“No…” Chester replied, a hint of aimlessness in his voice. “Look, I’m not saying that we simply talk- I’m pretty sure we can’t do that… Talking to a Sasquatch is pointless, I’m quite aware.” Chester widened his eyes very matter-of-factly as he gained momentum with his rebuttal.
“No, I’m not saying that. Remember, I’ve seen the Sasquatch face to face, I’ve been in his den, and I barely survived it.” There it was, the one card Chester could play that would give him the credibility he needed to lead.
The group had grumblings of coming to terms with the point. The Elves nodded superiorly and even mumbled a “That’s right…”
“What the heck are you smiling at!?” Faye spontaneously burst out. The Gnome was apparently irritating her with his eternal grin.
The Gnome, Higgins, smiled bigger and shrugged his rounded shoulders, “Aigh, that’s a good idea, that is!” Higgins said with the convincing tone of a loving mother.
“What are you talking about!?” She asked rhetorically; not expecting anything logical in response. Faye suspected that the Gnome had spent far too much time traversing dimensions and had somehow lost some amount of brain function along the way.
The thunderous voice of the Dwarf reverberated down from above, “Hey!” was all he said. The message was delivered as a warning to lay off his friend the Gnome, and the message was received respectfully.
“Sorry.” Faye reluctantly offered.
“Aigh, yes, I agree with her…” The Gnome said as he flexed his suspenders and smiled up at the Dwarf. The dwarf subtly quieted the Gnome with a shushing finger to his mouth and a gentle shake of the head as good friend would do in such situations. The Gnome continued to smile.
Chester looked up at the Dwarf concernedly aware of his massiveness and then back to the group.
“Resources!” He blurted out. “Resources! We need to pool our resources and figure this out!” Taking control now, as an infant taking its first few steps, Chester took the conversation as the leader. “We’re not going to kill the Sasquatch, I’ll have none of that! We will figure this out because we’re all smarter than killing a fellow of the forest for simply doing what’s in its nature to do!”
At the mention of “smarter” the elves perked up.
O’Malley, adjusting his top hat and smoothing his green quality hemmed jacket, spoke up- “I knew it'd becom’n to this then. Tha lot of ya com’n to us for a brilliant idea? Aigh, could spot that com’n from a distance!”
“Aigh, that’s right…”
“Okay, yes, you’re right.” Chester conceded.
“We’ll be need’n a moment then.” O’Malley said as he and O’Charles exited the hollowed stump via a warped and blackened knot hole. The Dwarf stepped aside as a deer curiously peered down at the group from over the brim of the hollowed stump. The sound of O’Malley and O’Charles entering the underbelly carriage could be heard along with the faint and arrogant bragging’s of “…Aigh, I knew they’d be rely’n on’re intellect, then.” “That’s right…”
“We’ll just wait here then.” Faye called out facetiously as she sat down on a mushroom head, crossed her legs, and leaned back impatiently.
“And what the heck are you staring at!” Faye said to Chester when she noticed him staring love-struck at her.
Momentarily unable to adjust his gaze, Chester finally snapped out of his love-trance and quickly looked away.
“Hmm? Oh, nothing.” He said with flushed cheeks and embarrassment in his movements.
Chester looked up at the Dwarf that was now looking around the forest purposelessly with his huge hands casually resting on the walls of the stump. He looked bored. Chester shivered and Talo laughed.
It seemed like several hours before the elves returned. The Gnome had taken to irritating the Pixie further by smiling and staring at her for most of the time. She tried to ignore him, but it clearly wasn't working. Occasionally she would snap and yell "STOP LOOKING AT ME!" and Chester would intervene as she attacked. The Gnome would flex his suspenders and agree with her.
Faye was ready to write off the Gnome as entirely useless until he did a very special thing for her: Upon grumbling that she was getting hungry, the Gnome, Higgins, vanished into another dimension or time or wherever he went to and a moment later, the hollowed stump had grown an impressive grape vine weighted by meaty grape clusters. Higgins appeared and continued smiling like a fool.
When the elves walked in, Vin the Dwarf announced their return "Welcome back." His voice startled Chester and Chester did his best to conceal this, though anyone looking would have seen him shiver.
Chester walked over to the Elves and excitedly asked, "Well?" He clasped his hands together in anticipation of their plan.
O'Malley rolled his eyes in a show of superior intellect. O'Charles- his ill postured stance against his cane doing its best to be taller and better than Chester, huffed "Hmmph, Aigh, that's right..."
To this typical display of arrogance and assumed superiority, Chester's face showed confused agitation. "Well!?"
"Right, there'cn be only one way to be go'n 'bout this then," O'Malley explained as he again straightened his hat and smoothed his jacket- even going so far as to check the time on his gold chained pocket watch in mid-scentence and then nodding modestly to O'Charles who returned the nod confidingly. "After care'flee consit'dren all alternatives, we've arrived at this..." Pause.
The Pixie stood and wiped her sticky-from-the-grapes hands on her magical water color dress and walked closer so as to hear the plan.
"I luv what'n yuv done withtha the place then." O'Malley said off topic as he casually looked around at the newly grown grape vines that wrapped around the interior of the hollowed stump. The Gnome smiled.
"WELL!?" Faye said, agitated.
Startled by her assertiveness, O'Malley took a deep insulted breath and said, "Right. There'cn be only this: We'll have'ta be kill'n the Sasquatch."
"Aigh, That's right, that's right..." O'Charles confirmed.
Faye nodded having just been confirmed in her original expectations of the mission.
Chester said nothing but looked down in disappointment. He sighed a deep frustrated sigh. "YOU WERE SUPPOSE TO THINK OF ANOTHER WAY!" He finally erupted.
"Right! There'nt any other way ya daft fool!" O'Malley replied, insulted by the questioning of his deduction.
Chester looked at Talo and received a sympathetic shrug. He knew and Chester knew, the very nature of the Woodlings wouldn't allow them to kill the Sasquatch.
Chester stood proud as a thought entered his mind; a solution- a possible solution. "Well" He said confidently. "If we're going to kill a creature of the forest that has done us no wrong..."
"He busted you up pretty good..." Faye interrupted.
Chester ignored this and continued- "If we're going to kill the Sasquatch, we'll need the blessing of the Nymph."
A collective fearful gasp came over the group. Even Vin, the Dwarf, gasped. "Are you crazy!"
Chester looked up at the giant Dwarf timidly and shuttered. Chester quickly regained his composure.
"If she allows it, we'll... we'll kill the Sasquatch. If not, we'll have to find another way to stop him." It could be called 'stalling' or 'procrastinating' the inevitable. Either way, Chester had bought some time to think of another way.
He breathed a deep worried breath and thought to himself- Let's just hope the Nymph doesn't kill us first!"
To Be Continued................
So here they are; the group of seven adventurers on a hired quest to stop the legendarily ornery, massive, not to mention- extremely deadly, and territorial Sasquatch. It seems an odd group to be considered for such an important mission; saving a race of Fairies from extinction from the aforementioned beast seems a better fit for an army of Dwarves.
Just the same, here they are- A Dwarf, two Elves (you might recognize them as Leprechauns), two peace natured Woodlings, a Pixie, and a happy-go-lucky Gnome.
Sasquatch has a weakness for the rare and shiny. With the obsessive drive of a hoarder and the protective nature of a five year old girls’ father, he has taken to stealing the Soul Stones of the Fairies and upon possession, would kill to defend them. The issue, of course, is that as the stones are taken out of the Fairy realm, the fairies that are symbiotically attached by the soul to these stones fall dead.
The Fairies had until recently hidden these stones, knowing all too well that if and when the Sasquatch ever discovered even one Soul Stone, he would not stop until he acquired them all. Sadly, the Sasquatch has discovered the stones’ existence and as predicted, has begun pillaging Fairy kingdoms in search for more stones. Thousands of Fairies have since fallen dead, seemingly at random as no Fairy is certain which stone is attached to them.
When the last stone is removed from the Fairy realm, the fairies will be no more.
Having only begun their journey to the Sasquatch’s den, honestly aimless and without a real plan as to how they will successfully stop the beast, the heroes have already encountered a group of Grunts; the mortal enemy of the Woodlings. No problem, as the adventurers seized the moment to showcase their unique skillsets.
Our story continues-
In the hollow of a stump on the damp moss covered floor, Chester looked nervously up at the massive Dwarf who was expressionless as he peered down over the jagged, finger-like side walls of the stump. His large black beard and leather-like skin was gruff and damaged from a life of adventure. "He’s so big and… dangerous." Chester shivered involuntarily and returned back to the conversations of the group.
Faye inserted herself at the head of the talks with the casual obliviousness to any sort of democracy. Her slender frame and petite build were a mere diversion from her over sized attitude and muscled up confidence.
“Before we go another step further, oh fearless leader,” she said, pointing an assertive finger at Chester, “We need to know exactly what we’re going to be doing! I was under the impression- having picked up on what Soul Superior was getting at, that we were simply going to kill the Sasquatch!”
In fact, it was never directly requested that the Sasquatch be ‘killed’, but you could argue that it was hinted at. True, all had interpreted the queen Fairy as they saw convenient. Killing a Sasquatch, oddly enough, seemed more plausible than convincing it to give up its natural desires of stone collecting.
“Now, we’re supposed to just talk to it; ask it kindly to please stop!?” Faye continued. She crossed her arms but not before waving a dismissive irritated hand at Chester.
Chester appeared slightly embarrassed as it became abundantly clear that he was a leading minority. However, his nature was what it was. Woodlings don’t kill, never had, and probably never will. You couldn’t change the nature of a Woodling anymore than you could change the nature of the Sasquatch. As Chester was the decided leader of the alliance, this paradox seemed a tremendous obstacle.
“No…” Chester replied, a hint of aimlessness in his voice. “Look, I’m not saying that we simply talk- I’m pretty sure we can’t do that… Talking to a Sasquatch is pointless, I’m quite aware.” Chester widened his eyes very matter-of-factly as he gained momentum with his rebuttal.
“No, I’m not saying that. Remember, I’ve seen the Sasquatch face to face, I’ve been in his den, and I barely survived it.” There it was, the one card Chester could play that would give him the credibility he needed to lead.
The group had grumblings of coming to terms with the point. The Elves nodded superiorly and even mumbled a “That’s right…”
“What the heck are you smiling at!?” Faye spontaneously burst out. The Gnome was apparently irritating her with his eternal grin.
The Gnome, Higgins, smiled bigger and shrugged his rounded shoulders, “Aigh, that’s a good idea, that is!” Higgins said with the convincing tone of a loving mother.
“What are you talking about!?” She asked rhetorically; not expecting anything logical in response. Faye suspected that the Gnome had spent far too much time traversing dimensions and had somehow lost some amount of brain function along the way.
The thunderous voice of the Dwarf reverberated down from above, “Hey!” was all he said. The message was delivered as a warning to lay off his friend the Gnome, and the message was received respectfully.
“Sorry.” Faye reluctantly offered.
“Aigh, yes, I agree with her…” The Gnome said as he flexed his suspenders and smiled up at the Dwarf. The dwarf subtly quieted the Gnome with a shushing finger to his mouth and a gentle shake of the head as good friend would do in such situations. The Gnome continued to smile.
Chester looked up at the Dwarf concernedly aware of his massiveness and then back to the group.
“Resources!” He blurted out. “Resources! We need to pool our resources and figure this out!” Taking control now, as an infant taking its first few steps, Chester took the conversation as the leader. “We’re not going to kill the Sasquatch, I’ll have none of that! We will figure this out because we’re all smarter than killing a fellow of the forest for simply doing what’s in its nature to do!”
At the mention of “smarter” the elves perked up.
O’Malley, adjusting his top hat and smoothing his green quality hemmed jacket, spoke up- “I knew it'd becom’n to this then. Tha lot of ya com’n to us for a brilliant idea? Aigh, could spot that com’n from a distance!”
“Aigh, that’s right…”
“Okay, yes, you’re right.” Chester conceded.
“We’ll be need’n a moment then.” O’Malley said as he and O’Charles exited the hollowed stump via a warped and blackened knot hole. The Dwarf stepped aside as a deer curiously peered down at the group from over the brim of the hollowed stump. The sound of O’Malley and O’Charles entering the underbelly carriage could be heard along with the faint and arrogant bragging’s of “…Aigh, I knew they’d be rely’n on’re intellect, then.” “That’s right…”
“We’ll just wait here then.” Faye called out facetiously as she sat down on a mushroom head, crossed her legs, and leaned back impatiently.
“And what the heck are you staring at!” Faye said to Chester when she noticed him staring love-struck at her.
Momentarily unable to adjust his gaze, Chester finally snapped out of his love-trance and quickly looked away.
“Hmm? Oh, nothing.” He said with flushed cheeks and embarrassment in his movements.
Chester looked up at the Dwarf that was now looking around the forest purposelessly with his huge hands casually resting on the walls of the stump. He looked bored. Chester shivered and Talo laughed.
It seemed like several hours before the elves returned. The Gnome had taken to irritating the Pixie further by smiling and staring at her for most of the time. She tried to ignore him, but it clearly wasn't working. Occasionally she would snap and yell "STOP LOOKING AT ME!" and Chester would intervene as she attacked. The Gnome would flex his suspenders and agree with her.
Faye was ready to write off the Gnome as entirely useless until he did a very special thing for her: Upon grumbling that she was getting hungry, the Gnome, Higgins, vanished into another dimension or time or wherever he went to and a moment later, the hollowed stump had grown an impressive grape vine weighted by meaty grape clusters. Higgins appeared and continued smiling like a fool.
When the elves walked in, Vin the Dwarf announced their return "Welcome back." His voice startled Chester and Chester did his best to conceal this, though anyone looking would have seen him shiver.
Chester walked over to the Elves and excitedly asked, "Well?" He clasped his hands together in anticipation of their plan.
O'Malley rolled his eyes in a show of superior intellect. O'Charles- his ill postured stance against his cane doing its best to be taller and better than Chester, huffed "Hmmph, Aigh, that's right..."
To this typical display of arrogance and assumed superiority, Chester's face showed confused agitation. "Well!?"
"Right, there'cn be only one way to be go'n 'bout this then," O'Malley explained as he again straightened his hat and smoothed his jacket- even going so far as to check the time on his gold chained pocket watch in mid-scentence and then nodding modestly to O'Charles who returned the nod confidingly. "After care'flee consit'dren all alternatives, we've arrived at this..." Pause.
The Pixie stood and wiped her sticky-from-the-grapes hands on her magical water color dress and walked closer so as to hear the plan.
"I luv what'n yuv done withtha the place then." O'Malley said off topic as he casually looked around at the newly grown grape vines that wrapped around the interior of the hollowed stump. The Gnome smiled.
"WELL!?" Faye said, agitated.
Startled by her assertiveness, O'Malley took a deep insulted breath and said, "Right. There'cn be only this: We'll have'ta be kill'n the Sasquatch."
"Aigh, That's right, that's right..." O'Charles confirmed.
Faye nodded having just been confirmed in her original expectations of the mission.
Chester said nothing but looked down in disappointment. He sighed a deep frustrated sigh. "YOU WERE SUPPOSE TO THINK OF ANOTHER WAY!" He finally erupted.
"Right! There'nt any other way ya daft fool!" O'Malley replied, insulted by the questioning of his deduction.
Chester looked at Talo and received a sympathetic shrug. He knew and Chester knew, the very nature of the Woodlings wouldn't allow them to kill the Sasquatch.
Chester stood proud as a thought entered his mind; a solution- a possible solution. "Well" He said confidently. "If we're going to kill a creature of the forest that has done us no wrong..."
"He busted you up pretty good..." Faye interrupted.
Chester ignored this and continued- "If we're going to kill the Sasquatch, we'll need the blessing of the Nymph."
A collective fearful gasp came over the group. Even Vin, the Dwarf, gasped. "Are you crazy!"
Chester looked up at the giant Dwarf timidly and shuttered. Chester quickly regained his composure.
"If she allows it, we'll... we'll kill the Sasquatch. If not, we'll have to find another way to stop him." It could be called 'stalling' or 'procrastinating' the inevitable. Either way, Chester had bought some time to think of another way.
He breathed a deep worried breath and thought to himself- Let's just hope the Nymph doesn't kill us first!"
To Be Continued................