//------------------------------// // The Arrival // Story: The Slayer 6 // by MrAquino //------------------------------// The sounds of trees' leaves swayed in the wind as a lone figure steadily jogged through the area. It was easy to tell that he was a male; he had a fairly large and broad build, but he wore what looked like robes, with exposed arms, but wore boots, and on his back was a pair of blades, each no bigger than his arms. He stopped as he looked over a cliff, looking over the vast land. All around him, other islands floated in the air, each with their own landscapes. Though the sight was breathtaking, he's too used to the sight, only turning as he had heard an all too familiar roar. In the corner of his eye, he spotted a large, pale, wolf-like monster with some quills sticking out from it's darker patches, and a large horn protruding from it's snout.  There was no hesitation as he pulled the blades from his back, wielding in both of his hands, and jumped down, charging at the beast. The beast turned to see a lone human charging at it, promoting it to turn back and charge as well, running rapidly towards him. It swung it's horn at the robe wearing man, knocking him to the floor, dazed, but unphased, as it ran back, letting out another roar, and getting ready for another charge. However, as soon as he got up, getting ready, his sight was caught off guard as he saw what looked like a portal opening from the sky, and dropping six more creatures, all… screaming, right by the side of the human and the beast. 'More behemoths?' He thought to himself. 'I've never heard any behemoth scream before.' "Ocellus, what did you do!?" One of the creatures yelled, a blue, bird-looking creature. "Me!?" Another replied, a very pale blue, insectoid looking equine. "I didn't do anything! Yona did something!" "Yona did nothing wrong." The largest, and probably heaviest, of the bunch, spoke back. "Yona was as still as Yaks can be." "Uh, guys," the green-yellow Equine with a much darker mane spoke up. "Just, where are we?" '... Talking behemoths?' The human only thought. 'Dr. Priyani’s gonna have a field day with this.' The behemoth he was battling turned to the six new creatures. "What is that!?" The other, pink, bird looking creature asked in a panicked tone,  "And who is that!?" The orange dragon of the group asked, pointing at the hunter. With their sights away, the Behemoth charged at them. The hunter quickly threw his blades at the behemoth, latching it to the behemoth's side, pulling himself forward. "Get out of the way!" He yelled. There was a sense of panic as all the other Creatures panicked. The two bird-looking creatures quickly grabbed the large 'yak', flying upwards, as the dragon grabbed the equine, following them. The insect, though looking like it had wings, stood in terror, and in a burst of green fire, was gone, and in it's place, was a huge boulder. The behemoth didn't have time to stop as it, and the human, crashed into the boulder, causing the human to fly off and his blades to swing wildly in the air, slicing off the beast's horn.  "Ocellus!? You ok!?" The equine asked. The boulder bursted into flames, turning back into the insect-like creature, who had a dizzy look. "I'm good." She answered. "Though, I wish the world stopped spinning so much." The human got up, taking a red potion out from his belt and drank it before getting back up as the beast did.  'Wait, did that… thing, turn into a boulder?' He thought to himself. The best jumped backwards, releasing a loud roar, and fired multiple fireballs at the two. Adrenaline took over as he tackled the insect to the floor. "Should we help?" The blue bird asked. "Strange creature saved Yona's friend!" the large one spoke. "Yona ready to fight!" "But we don't even know what to do!" The dragon spoke. "Maybe not," the pink bird added "but shouldn't we try?" There was a brief pause before the creatures nodded. Both birds dropped their huge friend onto the monster below, though she screamed loudly and flailed her legs in the air. "YONA NOT LIKE THIIIIS!!!" She screamed. There was a quick yelp from the behemoth as the human only saw the large yak land on the back of the behemoth, knocking it to the floor, pinning it down. The other creatures landed around it, and using a mix of claws (and hooves) began to hit the monster… with no success. "What the-!?" The dragon yelled. "Why isn't this working!?" The human got up, pulling his twin blades out. "Stand back!" He yelled as he charged ahead. The creatures all backed away, the large one jumping off, and watched as he began to spin his blades around rapidly, cutting off the monster's tail, then giving it lots of cuts across it's body. In a few moments, the beast fell, succumbing to it's wounds. He pulled out a pole from his back and proceeded to slam it on the ground, where a banner rolled out at the top, which looked like a mix between mountains, and a face. The Creatures quickly ran to their insect friend, who stood up, shaking itself off. "What happened?" She asked. "That dude just saved your life, Ocellus!" The dragon replied.  "He was so cool!" The pink bird added. "He was like 'woosh-woosh-woosh!' and that monster was like 'Rargh!' and-" "That’s an Embermane." The human interrupted. "... A what?" The blue bird asked. "An Embermane. More specifically, a Lesser Embermane. But more importantly, who, and, what are you all, and how did you get here?" There was a brief silence. "Uh… well…" the insect began speaking. "I'm Ocellus. I'm a Changeling. That's Sandbar, our pony."  "Hi." The equine waved "Gallus, the Griffin." "Hey." The blue bird added, trying to look cool. "Smolder, our dragon." "Hmph." The dragon crossed her arms and looked away. "Silverstream, our Hippogriff." "And Seapony!" The pink bird added, transforming into an equine mermaid. "And Yona, the yak."  "Yona could've taken on that monster!" The yak replied. The human looked at them all, a bit confused. "Well… I can't say you're lying." He said. "But how did you get here?" "As much as we'd like to explain," Gallus replied, his wings flapping and lifting himself up a bit. "It's rather long, and we better find the portal we came in before-"  "It's gone!" Silverstream yelled, pointing into the sky. The portal that dropped them onto the floating island shrunk and vanished as if nothing was there. "... That… happens." "Wait, we're stuck here!?" Smolder asked before turning to the Changeling. "Ocellus! Make a new one!" "Me!?" She asked. "I don't know how to! And we don't have the ingredients!!!" "So we're trapped here forever!?" Yona asked. "Should Yona panic?" "... Yes." Sandbar answered. All the Creatures screamed and ran around wildly. Only the human stood in place, letting out a deep sigh. 'Why me?' He only thought. "Ahem, kids?" They ignored him, still screaming. "Kids." Still ignoring him. He took a bullhorn and blasted it into the sky, making a loud wail, causing them to stop and turn to him. With a deep breath, he began to talk. "Ok, look, I have no idea how you got here, nor do I know how to get you back, but… I can take you all back to Ramsgate. There, we might help you get the stuff needed to get back home." "... We?" Gallus asked. As if on cue, a large Zeppelin flew overhead and hovered over them all. The bottom opened, dropping a ladder down to them. "Slayer, good to see you’re still in one piece-” The human heard the voice of the ship’s Bosun, Markus Boehr, speak before noticing the other creatures, "Um… what are those?" "...Recruits." The human replied, grabbing the ladder and climbing upwards. "If they don't leave immediately, of course." "Should we follow him?" Sandbar asked. "I know we're not supposed to follow strangers," Smolder added. "But I highly doubt Headmare Twilight and the other professors will save us like last time." Without another word, the creatures boarded the zeppelin, unprepared for their journey.