//------------------------------// // Chapter 1: A Rocky Start // Story: The Last Man // by YoloSwagginz //------------------------------// The Last Man Chapter 1: A Rocky Start By: YoloSwagginz The air this afternoon was characterized by a particular sweet scent on the Sjoland farm. That sweet scent of spring! That smell that made mortals look across open fields with happy hearts taking in the wild beauty of nature. If you looked a thick pine forest was easily visible from afar with its gloomy cast only like ways down the field and sitting not very from there, was a young man. That young man was me. And yay do I admit to be a bit girlish here and there but it is my lust for nature that is of that sort. With that I can happily say that I am in fact the talk of the city this morning! Only if you could have seen my visage as I entered the altar in full armor during my ceremony! My Father could only hold me with honor in his eyes as I took that solemn vow to protect all innocent. That is right! I am now a man of 18! I am ready to leave what I know shall be an impressive mark upon the world! This I knew was a spectacular day, for I would say good bye to my worrisome sisters and good bye to the farm and friends of the city. This would be so exciting, to see those creatures which ventured that cursed forest! Another look at the wild flowers with wet drops balancing gracefully on their leaves only sent excitement and awe into me. My father planned it, my uncle recommended it, and I wanted it. To finally be a knight. It only helped when my family put together enough money to buy an entire suit of armor from my uncle, of course he had spent some time making it and had also discounted it. It had been the present I always wanted, my right to being a man. My uncle had been proud of the high carbon make. It was quite simple steel, and the helmet had wings along the sides. My cities' blue cloth with the crow adorned to it was also laid front and back. I was exceedingly happy with it all! My father gave me his old long sword and a parrying dagger. The neighbors had given me one of their old crossbows as well! Such generosity for my being, and now, I was ready to face the world! ---------- It was exceptionally dark on this night and if you had chanced the sky a look, there would be no moon. Ah but your eye would be caught by a large fire on the horizon. Perhaps the only source of light for miles. If then you dared a closer look at this large flame you would see that it was in fact a tree, but did trees scream when they were lit? Aye, you would see that same tree ablaze only to hear an accompaniment of guttural laughter. This was a scene straight out of some sort of slavery pit. Many of you would have thought this minotaur or some other creature, but no. This was those very same humans. Out for a spot of "fun". The screaming echoed through this normally sleepy village and continued it's rude trajectory until you heard that fate maker, the sharp crack of a blade upon neck bones. The laughing and incessant fun making was reaching the edge of the village. On the hill of this village there stood a lonely farm which had a horrifying view of the chaos. A four legged creature stammered while witnessing the horror from a second story window. Another of the presumably equine creatures stood behind the first. The tears of distress were rolling off this creature's muzzle and hitting the floor. The one who was presumably male turned to the other and made some sort gesture to usher the second from the room. They moved to the room adjacent to them to find their life's joys sleeping in bed unaffected. It was time for these poor fellows to flee. The mother quickly started to nuzzle one of the two and whisper to the next. They quickly were up with sleep still some what floating around their confused faces. The mother was of mostly black coloring and whispered in a tone that was serious but gentle. "Young ones we must leave, come with me..." It was no surprise that both of the children had perhaps sensed fear from their mother. Even so they made no argument to follow. The father stood in a manner which beckoned for flight. The three came out of the house in a quiet manner and stood in the back yard. The father had started to utter words of encouragement to the youngest who had only flown a couple of times. He was now looking at his youngest daughter with eyes of love, the small dark pony only gave a small smile of nervousness while the father took the first step into flight. In that instant a small whistling noise echoed through all of their ears. It seemed to emit from the father. The father slowly struggled to the ground and the full gravity of the situation had not fully fledged into the mothers mind until she saw the bolt feathers sticking out of the father's side. Here eyes opened wide in realization, she suddenly screamed! "Fly young ones! g-" A second bolt had been fired and it had made a smacking noise as it punctured the mothers right arm, with a glance you could see her wild abandonment as she started to flail in fear, the daughters both let out gasps of pure horror, the darker one started to cry but there was no time, the older one started to attempt a flight. And she did start to fly, until she realized her sister had not been with her. She immediately banked back to see her sister frozen. The emotions coursing though this young alicorn only made it harder to fly and think at once. A black figure crept from the wood and in its hand it held a bow of sorts and it started to snicker. It slowly approached the young one with ugly intent in its eyes. The older sister in flight simply pulled instinct from her mind and shot a beam of something towards said man. The man stopped his laughing but did not fall. In fact his face was still in a laughing manor. If he could talk now he would be panicking! For he was now stone!... ---------- In the Everfree one was never far from beauty noted the knight. Even so the thought of home wedged it's way back into his mind, and the sweet taste of honey had only made it all worse. He looked at his last biscuit and sighed loudly. "Death be me! How can I save people on my last biscuit?" The Young Knight now frowned at his last provision. With the thought of loneliness the knight continued to kindle his newly made fire. A large grey rock with some brown specks sat next to him by his temporary dwelling. "Oh fair rock! What has it come too? I am alone now and it is something I never really had thought so loathsome!" Another sigh escaped the Young Knight. If I went back to my family now I could consider myself a coward and a bloody craven. He thought. This would not do. He was not afraid, but he missed his family. The rock looked at him encouragingly. The Knight thought again. "You're right rock, what I have seen is well... Pretty amazing to say... aye but..." The rock gave him another look. To this the knight replied with a chuckle and said. "That Phoenix was amazing! I saw it and I swear it looked right at me!" At this point Jan Sjoland started to recall everything he has seen and written about and smiled. "I guess I'm content, sleep will do me fine..." The Young Knight lied next to his fire, and it had suddenly struck him how unrealistically dark it was outside. Wow no moon! he thought... The next morning was Absolutely beautiful and the Young Knight gave a smile as he arose. He quickly scarfed down his last honey biscuit and dawned his helm. He gave the rock a bow and picked up his things. He made for a blind path through the woods and perhaps in search of food. He had wandered around for some time with the intention of food to be had. He leveled his new crossbow at a couples of animals but alas, they were all too small to catch with a bolt. This did not stop his walking however and at length he had come across some wooden trestles. They hung lazily over an overgrown path and so he walked this path for about 30 minutes until he came upon a clearing, with some poor sheltered cave to boot. He walked up and unto the cave with the intention of possible shelter until he was taken aback, by whispers. He took a suspicious look towards the cave and peered in. He leaned over in a sneaky fashion to look into the gloom. He had affixed his eyes and then suddenly Ah! His voice had abandoned him! He saw what was two small creatures. Like horses? But he hadn't a clue if they were those flying buggers, Pega...pegasi? But these creatures had horns as well. All our hero Jan knew was of the war that the three species have been fighting farther in the north. They were apparently into some awful winter war. Perhaps these were refugees? He gave a soft call to them and noticed them both tense. "Hello!" he called excitedly. The lighter one said something he didn't understand, most likely their language. The Knight saw their apparent fright and slowly backed away from the entrance. The white one came boldly out at Jan with a harsh tone and fire in it's eyes. Jan simply waved his hands and in an expression of bewilderment. The light pony had tears in its eyes now and looked onto the human with pure hatred? Jan only backed away with a hand in front of him. The white pony flicked its pink hair aside and charged it's horn. Jan was not well known to magic so in fear he unsheathed his longsword and pointed it at the feral beast. Jan started to utter the words of peace and so he did... "My life is devoted to innocence, I am protec-" Jan's words caught in his mouth as he tried to continue his vow. He was horrified in the realization that his body was no longer responding to him. He tried to put his arm down but it would not budge. He started to panic and the world started to collapse around him, a tunnel of darkness enveloping him. He was scared... ---------- Let sit and watch 1000 years pass by you. See that the world has changed in this forest. And see that there once was a statue of a brave knight in this clearing. You can see it is covered in vines, greenery, and mould. This is a somewhat peaceful area, in this clearing that is. All is well in this forest until a shocking spectacle catches the attention of all... including the statue! The sky and forest have become absolutely shaken! Something of a giant ring of spectrum colour appears in the sky over the forest! There is something coming for our humble clearing...