Quest Without Rest

INTRO

"Hey Azuran! You ready?" I asked.

"Yeah. I got my sword and supplies to last till' the first town." Azuran replied holding up his broad sword. Azuran is  a male in his later teens. He is lightly built, with the exeption of a few muscles.

"Ha! You’re taking that small sword? I know how to pack! See?" I took a very large sword off my back and gripped it in both hands. "THIS is a sword!" My name is Ponoichi. I’ve has been Azuran’s best friend since childhood, I am much taller than him. I’m very skinny, and lack physique. But despite my lacking body, I can proves to be quite strong.

"Yes, it’s powerful but can you beat a fast opponent with it?"

"Well..."

"Exactly. It may be able to kill a simple ogre with one hit, but against a speed elf you have no chance."

"Meh! How many monsters do you really think we will come across that are THAT fast?"

"Plenty, I assure you."

"Oh well. I don’t want to change it out, so let’s just go."

Azuran and I have been planning this for a long time. Ever since the seal to the underworld was broken, the world has been infested with monsters and demons alike. Our goal is to travel to the location of the portal and seal it again, but with much research we have only found out that the seal requires rare minerals found at the farthest reaches of the earth, each one guarded by beasts far greater than any have ever seen. We took this into consideration as we planned this and prepared well, though one major problem still remains... we have no clue where the minerals are located.

CHAPTER 1
The First Mineral

We began our journey and ventured into the forest. We were mostly familiar with this forest as it is close to our home. Though, until now, we had never gone farther than a small village about two miles away. We came to this village and went into the library where we found the previous information in high hopes of finding the location of at least one of the minerals. I went to a small section for geography and looked for anything pertaining to minerals. As I picked up a book named Minteralis Emcyclopediandra, an old man in a robe stood and said to me "I guess by that getup you've got on and the book you’re looking at, I'd say you’re trying to seal that portal, huh?"

"Exactly. Do you know anything about that?" I replied.

"I may, or I may not..." he said, holding his hand out.

"Well if that’s the game you’re going to play then I want no information from you."

I began to walk away when the man stopped me by grabbing my shoulder. "Good." he said. "You’re a smart man, and that’s what I like to see. I will tell you what I know..."

He started by saying "In the far north there is a large tower, that has nothing to do with this. But NEAR that tower is a well. People use this well for water. That also has no importance."

"WILL YOU JUST TELL ME ALREADY!!!!!!!" I said.

"Fine. Near this very village, in the forest, there is a perfect spider web untouched after centuries. This web has upon it a spider that never moves. If you kill that spider, than the web will transform into a portal that will bring you to the realm of the guardian. Pass him, and the mineral is yours. Though I must warn you... touching the web before it is transformed will kill you. You must be very careful and remove the spider without touching the web, then kill it to gain access."

"Oh wow... really?"

"Yes."

I thanked the man then went to look for Azuran. I soon found him nearby reading a book on ogresht.

"Dude! What are you reading that for? You were supposed to look for the locations of the minerals!"

"Well, I was interested in this though. Anyways... What did you find out?"

I repeated to him what the old man told me, then he said "Geez! That sounds complicated!"

"Ha. You’re telling me! I want to see this web, then I will see if I can come up with a plan." I replied.

We began to search for the web and after a short amount of time Azuran called me over. "I found it I think..."

I studied the web closely and noticed a tiny spider perfectly still in the middle. "Yup. This has to be it." I picked up a nearby stick and threw it at the web. The moment it touched the web it exploded in a ball of flame. "WOAH!" we said in unison. I thought about it for a second and said "Are there tweezers in your pack?"

"Of course! Do you think I would put up with you whining about a splinter?"

"Shut UP!!!!"

"Hahaha."

Azuran brought a small pair of tweezers from his pack and carefully headed for the spider.

"GEEZ man!" I said. "Be careful!"

"I'm not even close yet..."

"Oh..." I said.

He slowly continued to get the spider and as he was neared, his hand began to shake. We were both nervous as possible and finally, he managed to get the spider, then brought it up to show me.

"YES!!!!" I exclaimed. He brought it to me and gave me the honors. I laid it on the ground and stomped with all my might. Then, the web turned into a green spiraling portal that sucked us in with a strong wind. We landed on the ground in another, unfamiliar part of the forest. I looked around and Azuran said "Did you hear a girl scream when we were sucked in?"

"Yeah. I think so."

Just then a familiar voice came from behind us and we turned to see the old man from the library. "Welcome." he said. "I am the guardian of this mineral. To acquire it, you must defeat me."

"I can’t fight an old man!" I said

"Then allow me to assume my true form!" Just as he finished that sentence he transformed into a very large beast with huge hands and arms. This monster looked like a super buff ogre, and it was three times the size. In its right hand it held a huge wooden club. Azuran yelled at me and said "THATS AN OGRESHT!"

I heard this and charged it knowing the ways I beat the ogres near my house. I drew my sword and took a huge swing at its arm in an attempt to disarm it. The ogresht simply stepped to the side and caused me to fall over and loose my sword a few feet away. I looked up to see Azuran run to its left side and the ogresht swung its club at him. He jumped up and over the club, landing on its right side, then slashed its arm, causing it to drop its club. He ran back to where he was before as I charged to hit its face, but it snatched me out of midair and gripped me tight.

"Azuran! I can’t get loose!" I said.

Azuran theme: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-Pxa8CQMW0

"I'll save you!" Azuran said, charging the ogresht. He jumped in the air and slashed the monster in the face. As he started to fall to the ground, the monster snatched him up. "Oh no!" he said. The monster started smashing us together and we couldn’t hold on for very long. However, before I fainted, I saw an arrow pierce the monsters head and it fell down to release us, but I was already unconscious.

We woke up in the forest by the web, with bandages on our heads and arms. Above us was a young archer girl. "Hi! I'm Okuri!"

CHAPTER 2
A New Member

Okuri Theme: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1TT_UlG1j0

We sat up and Okuri gave us some herbal tea. I took a sip and said "Ohh! This is good! And I feel much better!"

"Yes." she replied. "It is made from the root of the rudrotch bush. I found one near by."

"You know medical?" Azuran asked.

"Yes. I learned from my father. He died fighting a minotaur about a year ago."

"Oh. I'm sorry." Azuran said empathetically.

"No. It’s common for us nomads. He lived a good long life."

"You’re a nomad?" I asked.

"Pretty much. Oh, might I ask your names?"

"Yeah, sure." Azuran said. "I am Azuran, and this is my friend Ponoichi."

"Nice to meet you both."

"Hey! We went into a portal and heard a girl scream. Was that you?" I asked.

"Yes it was. I was keeping an eye on you to make sure you didn't harm this forest. I got sucked in when you did."

"How did we get back? Did you bring us back through the portal?"

"No. We were returned when I killed the monster. See?" She pointed at the spider web to our right, where a spider lay still right in the middle.

"Hmm. AHH! The mineral! Did you get it?"

"Oh, you mean that rock in your hand?"

Azuran looked in the palm of his hand and saw a small green crystalline rock. He examined it closely and placed it in his pack.

"Say," Okuri said. "Are you hungry?"

"Yeah, a little." I replied.

"Wait here." she said as she got up and ran off into the forest.

"The town is in the other direction. I wonder where she is going." Azuran asked.

"I don’t know but she is cute isn’t she?" I replied.

"Yeah."

As Azuran finished that word he turned to see Okuri emerge from the bushes holding three large fish.

"Woah! How did you do that so fast?!" Azuran asked.

"There's a river close by. Cant you hear it?"

Azuran and I listened closely and didn't hear anything. "No." I said.

"Heh. I should expect no less. Anyways, let’s eat."

We sat in a circle and realized there was no fire to cook on. "Uhh..."

"Got it." Okuri said as she used a rock from her pocket to light a pile of leafs.

"That won’t work." I said a little too soon. She got up and ran up the closest tree to break off a few branches. She jumped about 15 feet to the ground then put them on the fire. Azuran and I could do nothing but stare as the branches burst into flames.

We sat there and ate the fish, the whole time Azuran and I were staring at Okuri, and the three, the fire she had made and were truly amazed. When we where done, Okuri said "So, why were you guys after this mineral anyways?"

"Actually were after several. We need them to seal the portal to the underworld, which is where all these monsters are coming from." Azuran replied.

"Oh really? Sounds like fun! Can I come?"

"Sure. Looks like you could be helpful." I said.

"Good!" she said, smiling.

CHAPTER 3
A Big One

The three of us started north, as Okuri said there was a town in that direction. We traveled about a mile and suddenly Okuri noched an arrow and pointed it at the bushes to our right. "Move!" she said.

Azuran and I jumped back as a tigronex pounced the ground where we were standing. This Tigronex was of average size. It was similar ti a normal tiger, except twice the size and with bat-like wings. Okuri shot the arrow at the tigronex and it swiped at it to knock it away, but it got stuck in its paw. It got angry and suddenly grabbed her bow out of her han to crush it in its jaws. Azuran saw the shock on Okuri’s face and charged the tigronex. He managed to wound its neck but the tigronex swiped him away. It turned to me and raised its paw but no sooner was my sword in its face. I knocked it hard enough to send it toward a nearby tree. It almost recovered and got back up but Azuran stabbed its head just hard enough to finish it off. Azuran and I stared at it feeling the adrenaline slowly leaving our bodies and heard a cry com from Okuri's direction.

"That was my fathers bow..." she said, down on her knees. ”That was the only thing I had left of him."

Both Azuran and I went to comfort her, but Azuran was closer and therefore got there first, so I just sat next to her. After a short time she stopped crying and said "Well... No sense in crying at a time like this, lets go on." She started to walk away toward the town, and Azuran and I shared a glance before fllowing.

We all continued north to the town and the first building we saw was a smithery. We went there first to look for Okuri a new bow.

We walked in and saw a wide variety of bows. There were bows for every person and creature alike. Though when Okuri saw a certain bow, up in a case, on its own, with a plaque to display its price, she could not do anything but yell "THIS ONE!"

The shop owner walked up to us and said "That is, quite obviously, an awesome bow. But its looks are not its only advantage. It has the ability to charge arrows with elements! Given the right essence, of course."

Okuri's eyes widened at this and she read the plaque. "This bow is sacred among all species. It can control the elements when charged with the appropriate essence. Once charged, the element is available forever."

"Yes!" The shop owner said. "And not only do you get the bow, you get the fire essence!"

"Oh awesome!" She said. She then turned to Azuran and me saying "Please! You have to get this one!"

""Well. Let me see." Azuran said, walking up to the plaque. He looked at the plaque and read out the price. "Ten thousand gold. WHAT! Were will we come up with that?!"

"Oh please Mr. Shop guy!" Okuri said. "My fathers bow was destroyed by a tigronex! I really need a new one!"

"I'll tell you what," said the owner. "I'll sell it to you for 10% of,not off, mind you, the regular price. That means its only 1000 gold!"

"Woah! Really?!" Okuri said. "How much do you have?" she asked us.

"We only brought 500g." I said. "But I suppose we could get a job."

"Not in this town." the owner said. "Only job here is this, and being a bounty hunter."

"Sounds cool!" I said. "Where is the job board at?"

"Wait." Azuran said. "Are you sure about this? I don’t like the sound of it."

"Neither do I, really, but let's check out the board first. Where is it now?"

"Here." the owner replied, pointing at a nearby wall covered in papers.

"Well then..." I said.

We walked over to the wall and looked around. I saw a post with a prize of 100,000g but the picture was covered by another paper. "How about this one?" I asked. Azuran and Okuri looked over to it as I lifted the other sheet. The picture was of an extremely large built man with tattoos covering his whole body. The description read: Evil man that lives in the well. This demonic being has skin that the sharpest weapon cannot pierce and strength enough to destroy a boulder of diamond. This man has never been beaten or even wounded by any means. Take this man in, and not only will 100,000g be awarded, but also a shiny red stone appraised to be a sacred mineral.

"Woah!" we yelled in unison. Okuri continued with "Maybe regular weapons can’t wound him, but what about FIRE!!!!!!!!" She turned to the shop owner and said "Can you give me the bow now and I will pay you later?!"

"Only if I get something in return!" he said. "Something like... Oh! That stone in your bag there! It looks valuable enough! That is what I want!"

"What do you guys think?" Okuri asked us.

"Well... I don’t know..." Azuran said.

"OH!" Okuri yelled as she snatched Azuran's pack. "Here!" she said, giving him the mineral. The owner stuffed it in his pocket and opened the case. He then rubbed red oil on its string. Okuri grabbed the bow and said "Let’s go to the well now!"

We started to look for a well and before long, I spotted a Tower. "Oh, really?" I said sarcastically. I turned to Okuri and Azuran and said "Found it!"

"Where?" they asked. I pointed at the tower.

"That’s a tower." Okuri said.

"I know! Just trust me!" I said, walking in the direction of the tower. Azuran and Okuri looked at each other then followed. Soon a well came into view, right next to the tower.

"How did you know that?" Azuran asked.

"Old people are weird." I said.

"Ok..."

I walked up to the well and threw a rock inside. I didn't hear anything until a huge man sprung out of the well. His body was covered completely in tattoos, just like in the picture. His arms were so buff that it seemed he shouldn't be able to move them, yet he does with ease.

"GRAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!" He yelled in the most demoniacally deep voice. "I WAS SLEEPING! WHO THREW THAT ROCK?"

"I DID!" I replied, making my voice a little deeper. The man charged me and I swung my sword full force at his face. It simply bounced off, leaving me open to his full on headbutt. "GAH!" I flew backwards and skid on the ground for a few yards. When I stopped, I couldn't breathe at all. Azuran yelled "NOW OKURI!" and she shot a fire arrow right at his chest. It bounced off too. "CRAP!" The man charged Okuri and knocked her back also. Azuran picked up her bow and tried another arrow but missed and shot the ground next to him, which caught on fire. The fire spread to the man's foot and he yanked it back in pain. "AH HA!" Azuran said, then shot the ground all around the man. The man started running in circles and soon caught on fire. He fell to the ground, defeated, and Azuran gave Okuri, now mostly able to breathe again, her bow back.

The shop owner came around the corner, clapping. "Nicely done!" He said. "But looks like your friend here might be out for a while." He pointed at me, lying on the ground completely unconscious.

(ALTERNATIVE: Big dude-Big dude / guy-Ponoichi / girl-Okuri / http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kk91uPJO3kI&feature=related)

CHAPTER 4
How Long Was I Out?

I woke up in a small room. I had a very hot pad on my chest, but it didn't burn for some reason. I opened my eyes to see a young girl, with what appeared to be cat ears and a cat tail, hovering her hands over the pad. She has a soft face, with gentle features. She was about as tall as Azuran and was wearing a long white robe.

Ira's Theme: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ARHduykRR74

"Good to see you’re awake. My name is Ira. I was just passing by this town when this man from a shop was screaming for a doctor. I mean really? What town doesn't have its own doctor?"

"Uhh, hi." I said. "I'm Ponoichi."

"Yes, your friend Azuran told me."

"OH! Where are they? Azuran and Okuri?"

"They are off in the forest somewhere. They seem to like each other a lot, since they married."

"WHAT!!!!!!!!!" I yelled. "How long was I out?"

"A few weeks."

"Wow... Hey, may I ask what you are doing with your hands?"

"I'm keeping the pad warm. I'm a mage, you see?"

"Oh cool! Man. We could really use someone like you in our party."

"To save the world?"

"How'd you know?"

"Your friend."

"Oh yeah..."

"You know, actually, it’s funny that you brought that up. I have been talking, as you know, with your friends, and they also suggested I come with you."

"So you will?"

"Probably."

"Cool! I never realized how much can happen in a few weeks."  Just then Azuran and Okuri walked in and saw I was awake.

"Oh good! He's up!" Azuran said. "Ira, is he well enough to come into the forest with us?"

"Yes. He seems to have made a full recovery in his coma."

"Good! Come on Ponoichi!" Azuran waved me over to the door.” I have something cool to show you!"

I got up and started to walk toward the door and saw Ira in the corner of my eye, smiling. Azuran brought me to this large building and took me inside. It was pitch black but he seemed to know where he was going. He reached it his pack and brought out the green mineral, which I now noticed to be glowing a little. He set it on the ground in front of him and brought out the red stone that we got for killing the large man and it glowed a little too. He set it also on the ground a few inches away from the other one. Ira then walked up and touched both of them and they started to glow brighter. She pushed them together and when they touched, the whole room lit up in color. Red and green light was moving across the walls.

"Woah! This is awesome!" I said. "How did you do it?"

"I cast a spell on the minerals and that’s why they glowed. The reaction from their touch made this light."

"Oh wow!" I said, then I noticed a large red sword, with a peculiar pattern along the flat of its blade, leaning against the wall and continued. "Hey, that sword over there reminded me: Where is my sword?"

"We thought you noticed." Azuran said. "It snapped in half when you hit that man."

"Geez! He really was hard-headed."

Azuran continued, saying "That sword over there is yours by the way."

"OH WOW!!!! This is too much! I was only out for three weeks! How did you even afford this?"

"Remember the reward? We had plenty left over after Okuri's Bow and got you this."

"Oh, thank you!"

CHAPTER 5
A Real Monster

We stayed a few more days in the village and finally decided it was time to continue on the journey. We went around the village and couldn't find any library or other informative places.

"This isn't a good town to live in." Ira said.

"No, it’s not." Okuri agreed. 

"Well, you know," Ira said. "Where I was going, the village reported trouble with a large, well, dinosaur. I was actually on my way to see the monster and prove them wrong."

"Heh. Sounds like fun!" I said. "What do you guys think?"

"Sure."  agreed Azuran and Okuri.

Ira led us in the direction she was going and said "It’s actually not that far but there is something quite weird along the way."

We waited for her to continue but she didn’t. "And that would be?" Okuri finally asked.

"Oh ya, this." Ira said as we came out of the forest directly into a desert.
"Woah, what?" I said. "How is there a desert by the forest? That's impossible!"

"I told you it was weird."

"Look!" Okuri pointed to a figure with a long tail in the distance, entering a cave on the side of a high hill of dirt.

"And a cave too? What is up with that?"

"Not just the cave, what went into it also! It kind of look like a dinosaur."

"Yes, let’s follow it." Ira said, walking in the direction of the cave. We followed her to the mouth and it was 50 feet high and wide but as it got deeper, it also got wider.

We wearily entered the cave, observing our surroundings. There were stalactites and stalagmites everywhere. Even strait out from the walls. As we ventured deeper into the cave we heard a low growl. We turned a sharp corner into a large area. There waited a very large monster that resembled a T-Rex. Its skin looked rotted and worn, and along its back it seemed were fallen spikes, that had gotten stuck. It turned around and spotted us. It roared loud enough to shake the whole cave and send us to our knees. It immediately charged us and tried to step on us. We all managed to get away quick enough just for Ira to get under its other foot. She was a split second from being squished but brought up a rock spike from the ground around her. The dinosaur stomped right on the spike and fell backward on the ground. Azuran and I took our chance to attack it. I got one good slice on the injured foot and Azuran ran for the head. The dinosaur got up pretty quickly and I noticed Azuran on its back, climbing up its neck to its head.

I ran away as to not get stepped on. Okuri shot arrows at its head while Ira broke off stalactites and stalagmites with earth and threw them at the monster. I watched Azuran as he neared the head of the monster. The monster finally realized he was there and shook him off. He started falling to the ground but Ira quickly caught him with air and helped him land safely. At that moment the monster roared and we realized that Okuri had managed to shoot one of its eyes.

It shook its head in pain and stomped around randomly. Ira brought up a spike from the ground under its foot again. As it fell to the ground I was already up to its head and took a wide downward swing at its neck. I cut it pretty deep and it fell motionless. The others walked up and Azuran asked "... Why is there no blood?"

Ira answered "That's because the Portal to the underworld is growing. It's now powerful enough to release undead."

"Oh man!  We need to hurry and get those minerals then!"

CHAPTER 6
A LITTLE CHALENGE

We started to go back out of the cave and felt the ground shake again. We turned around to see the monster running towards us. All the damage we had previously done was gone. We started to run out of the cave and barely made it. We ran across the desert and heard a loud thud behind us. I looked back and noticed the monster on the ground. The monster had hit its head on the opening. We continued running just in case it got back up and soon came upon a large desert village.

As we walked into the village, a gang of bandits attacked us. There were about 10 of them. We prepared to fight and the bandits made the first strike. We prepared to fight as the bandits made the first strike. One of them charged ahead of the others and went directly for Ira, who was in front. She used fire to stop his charge and kill him, but no sooner had another one knocked her down. "Ira!" I yelled. I saw another coming from my side and smashed him away. Azuran fought of a few pretty quickly and Okuri shot one in his head. Soon the bandits were all defeated, and we began to calm down, but almost immediately twenty more appeared.

Ira recovered and we grouped together to get ready for another round. I went to slice one that was directly in front of me but Ira stopped me. “Wait.” She said, and then she turned to the bandits. “We mean no harm! We only come to gather information!"

“What about?” asked one of the bandits.

“The monster that lives in the cave. We fought it and won, however it has revived itself.”

“It cannot be defeated by mere metal and pressure. The monster you fought was a sacred one; it has been prophesized. The scriptures state that it can be defeated only with the power of ice and gold.”

“Ice and gold?” Ira asked. “I can conjure ice, but gold? What a weird combination.”

“We have a vase of oil in the Kuno Hashiria there.” The bandit points to a large building to our right that is constructed of stone. “Inside is a maze that few have conquered. At the end of it, is a clay jar that contains a thick, always cold, liquid. We believe that it has something to do with the ice part of the scripture.” A gleam appears in Okuri’s eye and I know she thinks the same thing I do. “Then, to the east, is a deep cave, unlike the one the monster dwells in. In the deepest part of that cave is a gold deposit that will take care of the other part of the scripture.”

“Well that’s not complicated at all…” I said.

“Well,” Ira said. “If you will allow us, we will attempt to get the materials and kill the monster.”

“Sure, do it. But just know, thousands have tried and failed, and I don’t expect you to be any different.”

“Well we are willing to take that chance, right guys?” Ira said, turning to us for conformation.

“Ehh…” we said.

“Oh well. I guess I’ll go alone.”

“No!” I said. “Let’s go guys! I’m with Ira!”

“Fine.” They agreed.

Chapter 7
Amazing Maze

We started to walk toward the building and along the way all the villagers were shaking their heads as if very disappointed. I even heard a woman say “Not more. I hate all this death.” I started to get nervous, and wondered what kind of maze could possibly be so complicated, but before I could say something we were already inside. The first turn we took lead us strait into a wall.

“Man!” I said. “Every maze I do, the very first turn is always a wall!”

“It’s OK.” Okuri said.

We turned around and started in the other direction. We took a few turns, none leading to a wall, until we came upon a long dark path. I squinted but still couldn’t see the end. “Hold on.” Ira said, lifting her hand. She shot a ball of light and as it flew it allowed us to see everything. It fell to the ground not long after and began to go out. Though right before it did, we saw a tigronex running in our direction. “RUN!” Azuran said.

Ponoichi's Theme: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0B4RP8x8ys&feature=related

We turned around and started to run but I stopped and turned to face it. “I’ve taken one of these before! Let’s fight it!” And just as I finished my sentence, the tigronex jumped around the corner and I realized that this one was ten times bigger than the last.

The tigronex clawed at me and I raised my sword to block. It slammed its paw on the flat of my sword and pushed down hard. “HELP!” I yelled. Azuran ran up and jumped in the air to slice its paw. It jerked back and roared. Ira used air to flip it while it was off balance. I ran up and slashed its stomach. Okuri shot it in its side and it roared again. It got up and swiped me and Azuran away. Ira shot a fireball at its face and it pulled back against the wall. Okuri shot an arrow strait in its forehead and it fell to the ground, dead.

“Details people.” I said.

“What?” Azuran asked.

“That bandit didn’t tell us there were monsters in here.”

We continued wearily, ready for another attack. A few corridors later, we came upon a large room with about eight different path choices. We walked to the middle of the room to look around and make a decision. When we were about to talk it over the ground started shaking and walls came up from the ground to block all the paths.

“We’re trapped!” I said.

The ground started to shake again and then a gang of skeletal monsters appeared. They were rather small and shaped like a deformed monkey skeleton, with massive claws.

“Those are knoshin! They are very fast and hard to defeat undead!”

The knoshin started running around in circles. It appeared as if a white wall surrounded us, slowly closing in. “Geez! Those are fast!” I said. Ira began to charge a lightning bolt as Okuri wildly shot her bow at the wall. “I got one!” she said as a knoshin fell to the ground behind the wall and sunk underground. Azuran stabbed repeatedly at the wall and I just watched, unable to find an opening to attack.

Ira finished charging and shot a barrage of lightning at the wall and took out about ten knoshin. I noticed a large gap in the wall and stuck my sword in, stopping the knoshin. Ira used earth to encase the pile of knoshin in rock.

“Whew. That was crazy. I almo-“

The ground suddenly started shaking again and the rock case exploded to reveal a knoshin twenty five times bigger than the others.

“A Knoshiro.” Said Ira.

The knoshiro jumped at us and landed right on top of Azuran. He raised his sword to block its repeated strikes.
Okuri shot an arrow at its head but it just went right through, leaving a perfect hole. “Zoh my gosh!” I said.

The knoshiro backed off of Azuran and almost warped behind Okuri. “FAST!” I yelled. “OKURI!” Azuran ran toward Okuri and tried to grab her but the knoshiro swiped her away before he could. He stopped and turned to it and sliced its leg. It buckled over and fell on one of the doors that formed earlier, destroying it.

“I’ll go through there! I’m no help now anyways!” I said, running at the pathway.

Okuri and Azuran got back up and faced the knoshiro. Ira had encased its feet in rock and was holding it in place. Okuri began shooting fire arrows at it while Azuran was attacking its legs. It screeched really high pitched and sunk into the sand.

“That was tough… I wonder how Ponoichi is doing.”

***************************************************************************************************

I ran passed the knoshiro and into the hallway. I ran as fast as I could and soon came upon a room with a rock formation that resembled a large oak tree. At the top of this tree I saw a platform, seemingly balancing between some branches. “Wonder what’s up there…” I said as I began to climb the tree. I climbed up a few branches and heard a voice from the ground.

“What are you doing?” I recognized Ira’s voice.

“Trying to get to that platform.” I said.

“Here!” Ira used earth to create branches that acted as a ladder leading up to the platform.

“Thanks! I actually had no idea how I was going to get there…” I said as I climbed up the branches. When I reached the top I saw a small clay pot. I picked it up and it felt really cold. “I think this is the essence of ice for Okuri’s bow!” I said as I began climbing back down. “Here you go.”

“Awesome!” Okuri said as she rubbed the oil on her bow. “Heh. Let’s try it out!” She said, noching an arrow on her bow and charging it with ice. She shot it at a nearby wall and we watched as a portion of it became covered in ice. “Yeah!”

We began to travel back to the entrance and soon came upon the same eight path room.

"Aw man! I just realized that we don’t know the exact way back."  I said.

"It's ok." Ira said. "I left a magic trail on the way. Its such a small amount that only I, or a skilled hunter, can detect it clearly."

"Nice." Azuran said.

We followed Ira out of the maze and soon found the entrance. When we came through, the whole of the village was eagerly awaiting our arrival. An old looking man walked up. He had markings on his face resembling that of an Indian chief. "I knew it." he said, his voice dry. "These are the ones." He turned to us individually, then focused on Okuri. "You have the elemental bow, correct?" Okuri nodded. "Then our troubles are over..." He looked up at the sky, then turned back to us. "As soon as I was informed of your arrival I felt it. The certainty of your abilities. Your return from the Kuno Hashiria is all the conformation I need. Please, follow me. I will allow you to rest for the night, then you can go to the Kimu Kōzan, or the 'deep gold mine'." He began walking away and we followed close behind.

We soon entered a large building. Once inside I noticed a few beds lined up against the wall. "Here is where you can sleep. If anything is wrong, guards will be stationed right outside. Until night falls, though, feel free to explore our village."

He turned around and left, leaving us to our selfs. "Well, I think we should see if there is a shop around." I said. The others nodded and I walked out. I went up to the first villager I saw, a young lady, and asked "Excuse me, is there a shop, or bazaar anywhere nearby?"

"Yes." she said, pointing at a signpost.

"Ok... Thank you." I replied and walked over to the sign. It read: ← Tavern → Bazaar ↑ Elder's Keep.

I turned to the others and pointed in the direction shown. "This way." We walked a good distance before coming upon a hut with a sign reading:

                                BAZAAR
          For all your
              EQUIPMENT inquiries.

"This looks interesting." Ira said, walking inside. We followed her inside and immediately Azuran saw a light blue sword that gleamed with a crystaline glow.

"Ahhh! This is so cool!!!!!" he said. He turned to the clerk and asked "How much is it?"

"That sword is 26k gold." he replied.

"Don’t we have that much still?" he said as he reached in his bag. "Here we go!" he brought out a big bag full of coins and poured them on the table. The owner counted out the coins then took most of them, leaving about 1,000 gold.

"The sword is yours sir." He said. Azuran went to pick up the sword and exclaimed when he touched it. "Ah! It's cold!"

"You didn’t know?" The owner said. "It's an ice sword. Good enough to freeze what ever it cuts, or touches for that matter."

"Oh cool!" Azuran said as he picked it up. "Hmm... Is there a dojo or other place to train around here?" he asked.

"Yes, actually. Right behind the Bazaar. It costs very little, only 50 gold per entrant, per day." "Cool! Guys, lets go train!"

We left the shop and went behind it to see a man in a black robe near a stone ring.

"Come to train?" he asked. Azuran replied and handed him 200 gold. "All of you then? Here you go." He chanted in a weird language and the ring filled with a portal like the one in the forest except blue. We walked through the portal and found ourselves on a beach. Soon after we arrived, the waves started to calm to a perfectly flat surface, and we saw some miniature tigronexes standing on the water. Okuri noched an arrow and aimed in their direction, while Ira tried to drown them, Okuri hit one and it fell back on top of the water. Ira suddenly said "I can't move the water! I don’t think it is water!"

I replied "Let me try this..." I ran out and stood firmly on top of the water. "It isn't!" I said. "It's solid as rock!" By this time Okuri had shot all the mini tigronexes and two regular sized ones had appeared.