//------------------------------// // Chapter 3; jinx vs wood // Story: Fixing the balance // by BRITICAL-HIT //------------------------------// "What about sound barrier?" Made asked Ivan. Her constant questions started to irritate him. For the past 45 minutes, made and Theo were coming up with aliases to call themselves by. While Ivan thought their original names would be much simpler, Made thought it would help them blend in. Theo didn't like the idea himself, but the responses Ivan gave back to Made kept him going. But in truth, his mind was on the dream from last night. He wondered what it meant, was something bad going to happen? Theo's thoughts were interrupted by Ivan nudging him." Dude, make her stop." He pleaded, seeming desperate." She has been taking advantage of her strength to intimidate us, we need to assume domination again." Theo sighed,Ivan was right, in a way. "Made, we ain't having new names. We're too used to having our ones." Theo said, somewhat cautious." We don't like being bossed around. Made looked at Theo, yet she seemed confused. "Whatever." She asked." This shit ain't as fun as I thought anyway." She paused for a second, but she had one question on her mind." Who is in charge then?" Theo and Ivan looked at each other. This time, Ivan sighed. "Theo hasn't steered us wrong so far." Ivan admitted, Theo was clearly a great leader, despite hating the job." What's the plan?" "We keep walking on the path," Theo said." It's what we have been doing for the last 50 minutes, so why stop now?" -0-0-0-0-0- The group continued their walking for another 20 minutes, until Made needed to answer the call of nature and insisted the boys turn away. They waited for her by talking. "How much longer until we get out the forest?" Ivan asked. He seemed to think that Theo knew everything. However, that was the to be expected as Theo kept track of the time constantly. "Well, we have been walking for roughly an hour, so.. I don't have a fucking clue." Theo had an idea as to how long. The leaves were so thick that very little light passed through them. However, there was a small amount of light coming from the distance, meaning either the end or a clearing. He would come up with a plan after that. "Wait, how are you keeping track of time?" Ivan asked." You don't even have a watch or anything." "Gut feeling, I can't explain it myself, I've always been able to keep track of time without a watch." After this statement, it fell silent for a small moment, unit the time a grim face had shown on Ivan's face. He stared at Theo. "Move." He muttered. "What?" Theo asked "Fucking Run!" Made yelled. All of a sudden, she appeared, being chased by a wooden creature made entirely of wood. Despite the creature being within two metres of the boys, Theo asked Ivan a question. "How do you do that?" He asked. "Gut feeling." After this, the two ran after Made, clearly worried about her. -0-0-0-0-0- Made had managed to outrun the beast so far, yet barely. She was exhausted, running entirely on adrenaline and narrowly dodging trees to gain an upper hand. However, she lost focus for a small moment and tripped on some exposed tree roots. This forced her to fall into a hallow tree. This would've served as a form of protection if the wolf didn't somehow absorb the wood. Made could see the tree slowly fade away as the beast grew gradually is size. In a last ditch effort, Made kicked the thing in the face with her hind legs, sending it back a few meters. Instead of warding off the creature, it seemed to enrage it. Rather than hunting Made, it attacked her viciously. She regretted her choice. "Oi, Wolfy!" Ivan yelled, made looked over at her friend on the top of a large rock. He jumped off it and at the beast, using his wings to improve his speed. He crashed into it, he was sent flying into a nearby tree, but managed to make the creature fall on its side, stunning it momentarily. Theo then entered the Frey, his main priority being Made's wellbeing. "You dead?" He asked sarcastically. This got a small laugh from her. "Yes, I'm dead." She responded. Theo looked over her for injuries, yet she was mostly fine, with a few bruises being her only injuries. Theo made a decision. "Made, go make sure Ivan is ok and be ready for my signal." He told her. She nodded, rushing off to help her childhood friend. This left Theo to handle the monster. However, Theo knew exactly what to do, despite his new body. As the beast attacked him, he moved out of its way, but only moved enough to avoid it from understanding his strategy. He was lucky that he knew such advanced strategies, but that's what happens when you become addicted to video games. He kept dodging its attacks, slowly wearing down the wooden wolf. Theo then used the spell he learned yesterday to hold Its head down to the ground. "NOW!" He yelled over to Made, who came running over to the beast. She then kicked the creature like before, this time with much more force. The sheer power of her attack shattered the creatures head, making the rest of its body implode. The creature was now limp and lifeless, yet the group still felt uncomfortable around it. Theo and Made walked over to Ivan, who was gutted that he missed most of the fight, yet in awe at its results. "Is it dead?" Theo asked, kicking one of the creatures broken body parts. As he kicked the thing however, it's body slowly started to reform itself. Made and Ivan glared at Theo with the same look given to Made when she threw the Rock through the portal back home." Well, fuck. We should run now." The three of them ran away from the beast, avoiding further conflict. -0-0-0-0-0- After a while running, Theo, Made and Ivan managed to leave the forest after what felt like an eternity. However, they strayed from the path during there encounter with whatever that wooden wolf thing was. They stood outside what appeared to be a farm of sorts. A large mixture of a barn mixed in with a house and more apple trees around than Theo had seen in his whole lifetime. A small clubhouse could be seen in the distance, and another one nearby had a carrot on top of it. After checking the surroundings, Ivan fell in exhaustion. In between body slamming into a creature composed entirely of wood and galloping for his life, he was in more pain that could be physically described. His two friends comforted him, mostly out of stress and need for conversation. "Dude, you sound like my Hoover when it swallows a penny." Theo said, getting a clear laugh from Made, but nothing more than a smile from Ivan. "Insult coming from the guy who did nothing in the fight." Made hissed back, more as a joke than an insult. "Yeah, if you call distracting that wooden thing and holding down its head nothing." Theo didn't take Made's statement as a joke however. Ivan tried to break up the argument, despite his pain. "Shut.. Up... Pain.. Confused.." He pulled together, clearly irritated, yet too tired to show that expression. Theo decided to drop the argument and focus on his friends wellbeing, in his own way. "Chill out mate, you were hit pretty hard." Theo said, worried." Then again, if I got into a fight with a wolf and made it out with just a stitch, I'd see that as a good day." "Because you made it out unscathed." Made said. "I got a headache, that spell took more out of me that I thought it would." Ivan was about to intervene again, until.. "Y'all okay?" A voice asked from the distance. Made turned to see an orange pony with blonde hair wearing a Stetson. "Just some bruises and a headache." Made replied. The mare continued towards them. "Ya sure?" The stranger asked." Ah ain't seen anyone so tired since my brother first tried to buck an apple." Ivan had recovered enough to explain. "We were walking on some yellow path until we were attacked by some wooden wolf thing, lost track of where we were and ended up here." Theo and Made nodded in agreement, while a look of shock and awe filled the face of the young pony. "You survived a run-in with a Timberwolf?" She yelled. "More than survived it, I shattered its head with one kick!" Made gloated, attracting a look of irritation from Theo. "Not alone, we helped." He argued." Timberwolf, wish I thought of that." The mare shook her head in confusion. "Who are you guys?" She asked. "I'm Theo, she's Made and he's Ivan." As Theo introduced himself as his friends, the pony continued the confused look. "Weird names." She said." I'm Applejack. You travellers of somethin?" "Kinda." Theo answered." Do ya know where the nearest town is?" This questions attracted glares from Ivan and made (mostly from confusion), yet got a clear answer from the farm pony. "If ya follow that path there, it'll take you to ponyville." Applejack answered." I hope y'all like it there." "Thanks, see you around." He said, gesturing to his friend to leave. Once the three of them were safely out of range of the farm, Ivan saw it safe to speak. "Our names are weird? Talk about a fucking hypocrite." He moaned. "Dude, priorities!" Theo yelled at him. "I don't think names are at the top of the list right now." "Wait, why tell her we are travellers?" Made asked. "Yeah, I'm totally gonna walk up to some random civilian and tell them we come from another world. We be thrown into a mental hospital for fuck sake!" This thought shocked Made, while Ivan wasn't paying attention due to Applejack's 'weird name' statement. "My plan is to get to town and lay low until we can figure out what happened, hopefully finding a way to reverse it." "If one exists." Made said. "What if we're stuck here?" The idea of this knocked Ivan out of thought and gave him a chill. "NO, NO GOD NO. NOOOOOOOO-" Ivan yelled. "Shut the fuck up and calm down" Theo called at his friend." See? You've set of the dog now." Made face-palmed/face-hooved herself, seeing his point, regardless of his humour. "So, what do we say if they ask about us?" Made asked. "Just say what actually happened, but with ponies." Theo answered, Ivan cringing in the background." While hoping Ivan doesn't have an emotional breakdown. If that happens, were boned." Ivan stared at Theo, but understood where he was coming from. As this was said, they walked off, spending the remainder of the time taking in the scenery and wondering if they were there yet.