//------------------------------// // 2,000 Years, 329 Days Ago // Story: Tales From Blackwood Forest // by Robobrony //------------------------------// 2,000 Years, 329 Days Ago It’s been a month now since I buried my clan and parents, after doing so, I erected markers for each one of them, I did the best I could for them. As usual, I just lived my life alone, surviving however I could, it was pretty easy since all I had to do was make sure I got food and water when needed, but it was starting to get boring. I stayed in the village after I buried every pony and didn’t leave, but now, I was starting to consider venturing beyond the village just to find something to do so I wouldn’t be bored. It was still morning when I walked to the edge of the village and pondered on weather this was a good idea or not. I figured since I had nothing else to do, I might as well explore Blackwood forest and see what lies beyond my home. My shadow, however, decided to try and talk me out of it. “Are you sure about this, there’s no telling what might be out there, no shadow walker has ever gone beyond the village, other than to gather fruit and water, and even then, they didn’t venture all that far since the stream is so close.” I turned to my shadow and responded with a frown. “You got any other better ideas, it’s boring here just eating, drinking, and sleeping with nothing to do.” “But it could be dangerous, who knows what’s out there.” I faced forward and steeled myself. “I’m not afraid, I can handle myself just fine now.” I have been practicing my magic in the month, but it still wasn’t very strong. I took my first step and never stopped. My shadow had disappeared after my first step and started on what I hoped would be a new and exciting adventure for myself. I walked for what seemed like hours. It wasn’t until I caught sight of some strange tracks, the likes of which I had never seen that I finally stopped to take a look at them. The tracks were big to say the least, they were in sets of two, as if made by some bi-pedal creature, the sides of each print curved in at the middle and had five protrusions at the front of them. I wasn’t sure what to make of them, but they were fresh. I decided to follow the tracks and see what sort of creature made them. “This is a bad idea.” My shadow had reappeared beside me and warned me in a sing song voice. “I already told you, I’m not afraid. Besides, I can always fly away from it if it’s dangerous.” I said to my shadow. “Ok, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.” He said before fading out again. I just rolled my eyes at his warning, I then began to follow the new tracks. After a few minutes, I managed to catch up to what made the tracks, it appeared to be looking for something as it looked behind bushes and trees, I kept myself hidden behind a bush as the creature had its back turned. I was right in my assumption that the thing was bi-pedal, it was standing on two legs, it had two other appendages that were similar to a monkeys hand that I had seen. This new being was large, had a big gut, and sickly green skin with warts on different parts of its body. It was wearing a loin cloth around its waist and was carrying a large wooden club in one of its hands. “Whoa.” I whispered to myself. “What is that thing?” My shadow then appeared next to me to try and get me to leave. “Ok, you saw what made those tracks, now let’s get out of here before it sees you.” “Are you kidding, I’ve got to get a closer look and see what it’s face looks like.” I said as I looked to my shadow. “Are you CRAZY, what if it tries to eat you, you can’t go over there, there’s no telling what it might do to you.” I was so foolish in my young age then. “I’m not afraid.” I then quietly came out of the bushes and snuck around to try and get in front of it without being spotted, taking cover behind other bushes and trees. As I was coming around to its side, I heard something. “Well, well, well, what do we have here?” I turned around and there was another of the creatures standing before me and looking down at me. I gave out a yelp and tried to fly away, but the thing had a club too, it swung it at me and hit me on my side, sending me flying to the side and I slammed into a tree, hitting my other side. I grunted in pain. “GAH!” The two creatures, along with a third that emerged closed in on me and cornered me against the tree, I managed to stand up, and took a kind of defensive stance. I tried to jump up and use my wings, but was only met with pain. “AH!” I flopped back to the ground, I looked over my right wing and found it was broken, rendered useless until it could heal. The three creatures stood over me. The one that was looking in the bushes earlier spoke. “Well now, what do we have here, looks kinda scrawny don’t ya think?” It asked in a deep voice with a bit of a snarl. They had two sharp looking teeth sticking up out of their mouths. One of the things on the first’s left spoke. “It sure does, might make a good snack though, heh heh.” It was then I decided to show I wasn’t afraid. “I….I’m not afraid of you, you best let me go or else.” This seemed to surprise them as they gained shocked expressions on their faces. The middle one spoke again, I assumed that one must be the leader. “What do ya know, it can talk, first creature I saw that could talk back.” The one on the leader’s right then spoke. “Maybe we should take it to the chief, not only can it talk, but we aint never seen nothin like this thing, Don’t ya think Oog.” The leader gave a sinister smile to his friend. “Not a bad idea Bulk, hog tie him and let’s take him back to our village.” The one identified as Bulk then took the rope that was hanging from a strap of some kind around his waist and moved towards me. “You better back off, I’m warning you.” Bulk was not intimidated. “Save it runt, you aint goin nowhere.” I then decided to try and use my shadow magic against them, I formed the shadow circle around me and formed the tentacle, I was straining though, but I had to try something to see if I could scare them off. “Hey, what’s it doin?” Asked the left one. I then launched the tentacle at Bulk, but only succeeded in just causing a light tap, the tentacle just scrunched up on impact against Bulks belly. That bit of shadow magic exhausted me. “HAH, is that all you got, that didn’t even tickle.” Bulk stated, I was now too weak to try anything else. He reached down with one of his hands and picked me up, my whole body fit in his hand and just my head was poking out. Bulk then gave me a little toss and grabbed me by my hind legs so I was now hanging upside down. “HEY, let me go you brute, I’m warning you.” “Save it kid, you got nothin.” Bulk said as he began to wrap the rope around my forelegs, then proceeded to tie all four of my legs together. “There we go, you aint gettin away from us pipsqueak.” Oog then spoke. “Come on, let’s get back, the chief will want to see this thing.” Bulk then just slung me over his back and just let me hang there by my legs upside down. I was very annoyed and frustrated that I was being handled as such, but I was also feeling a little afraid at the fact that I was just captured by some large creatures I had never seen before, but I didn’t show it, I kept my annoyed expression. It was then that my shadow appeared and was flyin in front of me. “I told you this was a bad idea.” I glared at my shadow. “shut up.” I said in a low tone so the creatures could not hear me. After a few minutes of being carried, I decided to see if I could at least see if they could tell me what they were. “Hey tubbo, can you at least tell me what sort of creatures you are?” “We’re trolls, haven’t you ever heard of trolls kid?” Bulk answered. “No, I haven’t.” Oog then spoke up. “And just what are you kid, I ain’t never seen nothin like you before.” I figured there was no harm in answering. “I’m a shadow walker, so you better let me go, or I’ll unleash my shadow walker powers on you.” This got all three of them laughing at me. “HA HA HA HA, what, you mean that black thing that tapped my gut, HAH, oh yeah kid, I’m real scared. HA HA HA.” Bulk stated. It was then I figured I wasn’t going to intimidate my way out of this, so I had to come up with another plan, they didn’t seem all that bright, so maybe I could outsmart them. I began to think of another way to escape. A few more minutes went by and I had formed a plan that I hoped would work. I smiled at my brilliance. “Hey ugly, I need to go.” Bulk responded. “Like I said shrimp, you aint goin nowhere, we’re taking you to our village to see the chief and that’s final.” “No, I mean I need to GO, as go to the bathroom.” I emphasized go. “Yeah right, nice try kid.” Bulk thought I was bluffing. “Ok, then I guess you’d rather I go on your back like this?” That got him, he stopped in his tracks, I heard him very clearly. “EEEEWWWW, NO WAY are you doing that on my back.” “Well then, let me down and untie me so I can go, I promise I won’t run away.” Bulk then brought me around and had me still hanging upside down in front of his face. “Look here runt, I’m not about to risk you running off and getting away, you’re the best catch we’ve had today, you are NOT getting away.” It was then the third troll who had yet to be identified spoke up. “Just use the rope like a leash.” Bulk lowered me a bit to look at the one that spoke. “Good idea Guts.” Bulk then lowered me to the ground and lay me on my side, he then proceeded to tie the other end of the rope around my neck before undoing the ropes around my legs. I then stood up and looked up at Bulk. “Go there.” He pointed to some nearby bushes. I walked to the bushes and heard Bulk walking behind me. I stopped before going behind the bushes and looked back at him. “What, you gonna watch me? I can’t go with someone watching me.” Bulk glared at me, I glared back. “Turn around.” Bulk let out a grumble as he turned his head around and let me take care of business. I walked behind the bushes out of sight of the trolls and began to try and chew off the leash I had around my neck. It took a minute before progress finally started to show. I then heard Bulk’s voice call out to me. “You almost done in there kid?” I stopped chewing to answer. “Just about, just give me a minute. It’s not exactly easy for me to go when I know someone could walk in on me.” “Just hurry up already.” He grumbled out. I went back to my chewing. After another minute, I finally chewed off the rope around my neck and was free. “HAH, finally, those trolls sure are dumb.” I said to myself, but then noticed a large shadow looming over me. I looked behind me and saw the three looking down at me with sinister smiles. Oog spoke. “Dumb huh, nice try runt, let’s go.” Once again, I found myself with my legs tied together and hanging upside down against a green back. I gave out a sigh as I hung there, sad my plan almost worked. As the trolls continued on, I realized I was being taken further away from my village, I was starting to worry, but I had to keep hope that I would find a way to escape and get back. After at least another hour, of walking, Oog spoke up. “Finally made it back.” Bulk then brought be to his front, flipped me right side up in his hand and faced me forward so I could see the front of the village, there wasn’t much to see though, there was a wooden fence made of logs that were sharpened to a point at the top, they were being held together by rope, there was a large wooden gate to enter the place. “Take a good look runt, since the chief has a thing for unusual things, he may want to keep you as a pet, so this is going to be your new home.” I glanced back at Bulk. “I am not a pet, and stop calling me runt, my name is Nightshade.” “Whatever you say kid, whatever you say.” Bulk then hoisted me on his shoulder so I was now looking in the same direction he was and wasn’t upside down. He kept me on his right shoulder with his right hand. I had a good view of the place after passing through the wooden gates, there were huts that looked like they were made from animal skins and bone, while others were more like houses made of wood. Trolls were everywhere as we passed through the place. Some of them had sharp metal looking objects hanging from the same strap Bulk had. They were also wearing cloth on their upper and lower bodies. Some of them stopped what they were doing to stare at me as we passed by. I also noticed a few smaller looking trolls around the place as well, they must be young troll kids. Soon we came to a large wooden structure with a chair made of the same material as the tents sitting in front of an open door and up a couple steps. On both sides of the steps, were two more trolls holding sticks with sharp metal points at the ends in their hands. There was a troll sitting on it wearing a hard brown object with white horns coming out of it. He was eating a big slab of cooked meat off a bone as he watched us approach. The sight of it made me cringe, I was beginning to fear for myself. The three trolls stopped just before the stairs, Oog spoke first. "Chief, we we’re unsuccessful in our hunt, but we did find something interesting you may like.” Bulk then stepped forward and picked me up by the rope again, letting me hang upside down. “We found this thing in the forest, we never seen nothin like it and thought you might be interested.” The chief stopped chewing on the meat and looked down at the trolls, then to me. He then spoke. “You IDIOTS, I sent you out to find food and you bring back a thing that won’t even make a mouthful? I should have your heads for this.” Oog then tried to defend himself. “But chief, this thing isn’t like anything we saw before, just look at it.” He said as he pointed both hands at me while keeping eye contact with the chief. The chief got up off his throne and came down the steps, he stopped just in front of us and moved his head right up to me to get a good look. I decided to try and be brave. “What are you looking at ugly.” I said with narrowed eyebrows. The chief recoiled back with a cocked eyebrow. “Well what do you know, talking food, HA, and it has a mouth on it.” “You better let me go, or you’ll be sorry, there’s a whole tribe of my kind that will tear you apart if you don’t let me go.” Guts then spoke up. “Yeah right, we found you alone kid, if there is more of you, I doubt you would have been left alone in a forest full of creatures that could turn you into a meal.” He then turned to the chief. “We found this thing on its own during our hunt, it says it’s a shadow walker.” Bulk then spoke up. “Yeah, he has some weird power where he can summon a shadow and make some kinda tentacle thingy, but it wasn’t very impressive, he tried to hurt me with it and I didn’t feel a thing.” The chief the used his free hand to rub at his chin in thought. “Hmm, interesting, all right, put him in a cage, he’ll make a fine pet.” This got me riled up. “HEY, I am NOT a pet, let me go, I gotta get home!” “And where is this home, huh little one, if there was more of you, then where are they, they would make fine meals for me as well, if there are more of you.” The chief asked. I couldn’t answer, I wasn’t really paying attention to where the Trolls were taking me, I was now lost and trapped being a pet to a monster I never heard of until today. The chief took me from Bulk, keeping me upside down. He carried me to a cage carved out of a large nearby rock and wooden bars off to the right side of the house. He carried me over to it, opened it up, undid my bonds and threw me in the cage and slammed it shut. “Welcome to your new home my new pet. HA HA HA HA HA!” He cackled as he walked away back to his throne. The cell was rather roomy for me but it was still a cage. I lost my confident look as it shifted to one of despair, I had no idea what to do, my magic or shadow magic wouldn’t be strong enough to get me out of this, not to mention my wing was still broken. It wasn’t too bad but I wouldn’t be able to fly with it. I laid myself on the ground, crossed my forelegs and rested my head on them as I began to sob with my eyes turned to the back of my new home. “Um, hello?” My head shot up at the new voice. I looked to the cell door and there, looking in at me, was a young troll, his voice certainly sounded young. I quickly wiped away my tears as I looked at him. “What do you want?” I asked bitterly. “Hi there, I’m Og, what’s your name?” He asked almost cheerfully. “Why should I tell you, I’m a pet now in case you didn’t hear all that.” He seemed to look away sadly, then back to me with a straight face. “I know, I was behind my dad’s chair when he was talking with those three.” I cocked an eyebrow at his statement. “Your dad……your dads the chief? Great, so I guess that means I’m your pet too doesn’t it?” “Well, it doesn’t have to be. I mean, I’ve never seen something like you before, what are you, and what’s your name, you do have a name don’t you?” I glared at Og. “Of course I have a name, it’s Nightshade, so you better remember it, and I’m called a shadow walker.” Og cocked an eyebrow at my statement. “Nightshade, that’s a weird name.” “I could say the same about yours.” Og didn’t seem to like my statement as he seemed to glare at me. “Hey, my name is not weird, it is a perfectly respectable troll name, my dad gave it to me.” “Whatever.” I said as I waved a dismissive hoof. “Look OG, I’m not exactly in the mood to talk right now, so why don’t you just leave me alone.” Og then smirked. “Why don’t you tell me what kind of a name Nightshade is, it seems like a rather odd name to me.” I glared back now. “THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH MY NAME, I took this name in honor of my mother and father!” I shouted. This caused Og to recoil. Then he seemed to adopt a hint of wonder in his eye. “So there ARE more of you, where are they, what are they like, can I meet them, I promise I won’t eat them.” I looked curiously at Og and his slew of questions. “Why would you want to meet my tribe?” “Because I’ve never seen another species with the ability to talk, please say I might be able to meet them.” “Well I’m sorry to disappoint you, but you won’t be able to meet them.” I said as I looked away. This disappointed Og. “Awwe, why not?” “Because, they…….they’re……..not around anymore.” “But, you said there was a bunch of you that would come looking for you.” Og said with another cocked eyebrow. “I was bluffing okay, my family is gone, is that what you want to hear? That I’m the last of my kind now and I’m all alone and on my own, is that it?!” I just released some pent up emotion and exploded at Og. He recoiled a bit at my outburst. “I…..I’m sorry……I….didn’t know. I can’t imagine what that must be like, to be all alone like that. What happened to your tribe?” I looked away again. “What does it matter, they’re gone and I’m alone, that’s all there is to it, so just go away and leave me alone.” I lay back down and retook the position I had before my visitor came along. “Well, maybe you don’t have to be alone, my dad may care about me, but I don’t like when he’s mean to the others, he’s only nice to me because I’m his son. Maybe you and I could be friends, just think about it, ok, I gotta go anyway, I’ll come back later and see you, okay?” I didn’t answer. “All right then, take care Nightshade.” With that, Og left me to my misery, little did I know, he would be my first real friend since the tragedy that destroyed my world.