True Heroes - Chapter 2

Rose had never contemplated death before. It had always seemed such a distant thought as she walked through life. “She would be fine.” She had always thought as she did new things, tried something dangerous, or explored the unknown. She had never known the danger she was in, up until that moment. It had all seemed a dream, just some silly bear in some woods. Nothing she couldn’t protect herself from.

But as she ran through the forest, nothing seemed a whole lot like something, and she had never felt so scared. The plan had been simple. Just spend the day drawing some sweet animals, and if she did find this bear, she could take a few pictures, hightail it out of there, and get some great sketches! But life had other plans for her.

Now, she was sprinting through the trees, fleeing from a monster of unimaginable horror with a guy she had just met. It all felt like a some sick nightmare. She didn’t know if she would live to tell the tale, but if she did, she would be sure to tell NOBODY EVER. For the second time that day, she felt panic sneak into her as she ran, filling her with the urge to just stop everything. This might be it. But then, as they were running, she noticed something strange.

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“That owl is still with us!”

“What!” Why did that matter! It was doing the same thing they were! As Zach dodged around a tree, he started feeling the tremors again. The monster was after them. He risked a look up and realized that Rose was right. What was up with this owl?

He couldn’t stop to think about it. How were they going to get out of this! They couldn’t run forever, and the tremor’s seemed to be getting worse. They would have to do something.

The tree’s around them were thickening at a noticeably quick rate. While it wasn’t natural, it would probably slow down to monster, so he wasn’t about to complain.

He could see Rose starting to slow. They really couldn’t keep this up. They had been at full sprint just to keep distance between them and the beast, but they were still losing ground. At this rate, they would die of exhaustion before the monster even had a crack at them.

But there was a light. Literally. The tree’s seemed to part ways as the pair ran headlong onto a small cliffside. In front of them lay an expanse of water, with a waterfall flowing into a lake below. But slowly, Zach realized their situation. They had fallen right into a trap.

The beast had cornered them in what seemed like the only spot it could. There's no way it could do this intentionally, could it?! No monster could have done that. It was sheer luck. Had to be. But that didn’t matter now.

“We can’t stay here, we have to go back.” He panted. They had to get out before-

It was upon them. It had hardly seemed fazed by its time chasing them, standing proudly at the forest’s edge, the crevice that was its mouth curving into a horrific grin. It stepped slowly, almost cautiously towards them. With every step, the ground beneath them shook, and the pair were forced closer and closer to the cliffs edge.

Zach could see the terror flash in Rose’s eyes. At this point, there were two options. Try to get around the beast and flee back into the forest, risking getting hurt, and weakening them further in the chase. Or alternatively, take the dive 10 stories into the lakebed, risking their lives entirely, but finally getting some time from the monster, who wouldn’t be able to follow. Neither seemed like great plans, but neither did staying. Rose was in no shape to keep running, so they were left a single option.

In a voice barely audible among the noise, Zach shouted, “Do you trust me?” Rose turned and gave him a look of pure anguish as she viewed the edge. Welp, it was worth a shot. But they had to go.

The beast took yet another step forward. It was was within swiping distance now. But just as Zach turned to face his fate, a shriek erupted from the heavens. It was a sound unlike anything he had heard before. It was like a giant firecracker had just exploded in his eardrum. They both looked up just in time to see a pillar of light surging down from the sky.

Time itself seemed to slow to a crawl, as if the world had decided to let him savor the moment. Everything was out of control. He watched as the bolt of energy slammed into the beast. He felt shove of the blast that followed. He watched as they were thrust off the edge, into the waters below. He even saw Rose faint as they fell.

But yet, as they escaped an impossible monster thanks to an impossible force and more impossibilities, he could only grasp one thing. They wouldn’t be dying that day. Though all seemed to be in peril, he felt that relief. It all seemed so insane, but somehow, someway, he knew he would live to see tomorrow. The feeling seemed to envelope him as he hit the water’s edge, his vision turned to black, and he fainted.

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“Hey…….”


“Hey..”


“Hey! Alright, please listen closely, as I can’t seem to hold this for very long. You need to know, you cannot let what comes ahead lead you astray, no matter what. You may not like what comes to pass, and it may not be what you had in mind, but please stay the course. You are a knight in the battle of your world, and I cannot let you fall. Hopefully i’ll be able to explain more in time, but just know this. When the time comes, embrace yourself and what you need to do, and don’t hesitate. Just feel, and hold onto what you’ve been given. That is all….


“All…”


All……”

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Zach awoke to the sounds of the forest. Just some birds, some squirrels, and thankfully, no giant monsters. He, for just a second, hoped to find himself waking up from a nightmare, but as he opened his eyes, he knew it couldn’t be true.

He was still slightly soaked from his dip in the lake, and his clothes still stuck, but not as much as he’d expect. So his hope had been true. He would live on yet today.

He found himself in a small room with a dusty wooden interior and nothing but a small table and a chair. Beside him he found Rose, passed out, and looking a bit roughed up, but not otherwise hurt. Slowly but surely, he stood up, testing his joints and finding he wasn’t noticeably harmed.

But as he became fully aware, he starting thinking more. Where were they! How did they escape the monster unharmed! What was that voice he had heard in his dream! It was a lot to handle, so pushing it off seemed like an okay thing to do. It’s not like he wouldn’t have time to think later. So, just where was he?

On the table sat some empty jars labeled with letters unfamiliar to him. Beside them sat a small book and quill, and a pot filled with grain. He didn’t want to guess how old the grain was.

He heard a small ding coming from his pocket. He somehow still had his phone on him. After all he had been through, it just seemed so ridiculous. Almost cracking a smile, he jumbled around in his pocket, and fished out his phone. It was John.

Dangit! Through all the chaos, he still had a roommate waiting for him in town! How long had he been out? He punched in his password and the screen lit up, in full working order despite being waterlogged. “You still planning on moving in today? I can’t wait to much longer before talking with the landlord D:” The message was from 5 hours ago. Great.

He quickly typed a response, “Had trouble with the car. Will try to get there by tonight.” He didn’t think explaining his situation to his new roommate would do him any favors, so he left out the part about giant monsters.

Zach jumped as the door swung open and an owl flew in from the shadows, perching himself on the door frame. “Ah, you're up. Good to see you didn’t harm yourself running from the Shadow.”

He just stared blankly. There was no way. He just couldn’t take this right now. Despite everything he had just been through, this was just too much to handle. Perched right above him a talking owl. And not just any talking owl.

“You're an owl…..”

“Yes sir. My name is Gabora. It is good to make your acquaintance.”

“You were spying on us…..”

“Well, technically speaking, yes. But I had the best of intentions.”

“You're talking……”

“Ah, I could see how that could be distracting. All to be explained in due time.”

That was the last straw. He had endured to much to be denied answers from a flying textbook. He needed closure, and this bird seemed to have the info he needed. He slowly sat down in the room’s only chair, and stared the bird dead in the eye.

“No. You tell me right now. I’m not about to just let you sneak past the fact that I have been kidnaped by a talking owl, not to mention the nightmare that’s roaming around outside! If you plan on telling me anything, now is the time.”

The owl gave a concerned look, but conceded. “Alright. I’ll share my tale with you, but i’d advise waking your friend first. She’ll need to hear this as much as you. I’ll be in the main room when you’re ready.”

After he had left, his attention turned to Rose. Though scared as all get-out, she had managed escape with him. She must be made of tougher stuff than he had realized to have lived through all they had thus far.

He approached her softly and sat down against the wall next to her. She looked content, just lying there, but reality awaits.

He wasn’t quite sure how to wake her, so he just gave her a little nudge and said, “Hey. You still sleeping?”

With a groan she opened one eye. She gave him a glance, her eye widened, and she shot up. “Oh my god!” She said, her eyes lighting up with a mixture of fear and apprehension. She clearly wasn’t in the best state of mind right now.

“I.. You… Um, wow.” She seemed very startled to see him. Her face was wash of different emotions as she looked around, doing almost the same thing he had done. When she seemed satisfied they was safe, she relaxed a bit, leaning against the wall with a small frown on her face. “So we're not dead? Good. Where are we?”

“Don’t worry about it right now. I know just as much as you. We can deal with it later.”

“I don’t really know what to say. That whole situation was so….”

“Bizarre?”

“Yeah. It just showed up, and it was so big, and I…” She paused, glancing down at her feet. Tears started welling up in her eyes. “I almost died right then and there. My whole life, gone in a puff of smoke! Remembered by few and accomplished less still. If you hadn’t stepped in when you did, I wouldn’t have gotten out of there. No chance. I just stood there! Doing nothing!” She was clearly furious with herself. But getting mad wasn’t going to help.

“You can’t say that. You did what any normal person would do when faced with a thing like that.”

“But you did something. You saved me. I was about as useful as a ton of bricks, and you came for me. You didn’t even know me!” He thought for sure she would start sobbing right then and there on the floor, but to his surprise, she didn’t.

“Why did you do that? Save me, I mean.”

The question was a tough one. Why had he done what he did? It had all happened so fast, he had hardly had time to think at all, much less about what his actions meant. He thought for a moment, trying to think of the least heroic way to say it, to try and spare her some pride.

“It just felt like the right thing to do.” Great. That was not the way to sound unheroic at all!

For a long while, Rose just sat there, her head leaning against her knees.

“You know that I draw, right?”

This seemed to come out of nowhere. “Yeah. You showed me that monster drawing.”

She sat up and gave him a glance. “I draw so that I can think of the unthinkable. To try and make the world more fun. But since art is hard, I go out. I do new things so that I can find new stuff and explore new ways of looking at things. Then I record my adventures in my sketchbook. It’s a fun hobby.” She almost pushed a smile, but thought better of it.

“I’m trying to become brave, so that I can see what the world has to offer. But when I got pushed into a place with a monster like that…. All I could do was stand there!”

Zach tried to say something, but he just couldn’t. What could a person say to that. This girl, still unfamiliar to him, was just opening up to him like this. It was a bit unnerving, but he wanted to cheer her up.

Finally, he found the words. “Well, think of it this way. You just escaped a giant monster! You just did what most people couldn’t! Put that in your journal. And look, I just got done with a talking owl who’s gonna explain all this stuff to us. If I were to wager a guess, I’d say you're in exactly the right place to find adventure and explore the unknown! And if you find some courage along the way, your all the better for it.”

By the time he was finished, he had a small grin on his face. How had he done that! The words just seemed to come to him. That had never happened before. He was proud of it, if only just a little. He looked up, and found the same grin on Rose’s he found on his own.

“I guess you’re right. I’m not sure about talking owl’s, but if I wanted adventure, i've found it.”
She stood up, and headed for the door. She now had a grin similar to the one she had under the tree, if a little bit less innocent than before. “You coming?”

“You bet.”

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Author’s notes: I like this chapter a lot. It was a lot easier to write, and had quite a bit more going on in it than the first. In this chapter, I just wanted to form a small friendship between Rose and Zach, as well as introduce Gabora. I also added in some hint’s for upcoming plot stuff, and that was especially fun to write. I hope I did a good job expressing Rose’s character. I really like her so far, being a bit to naive, but really pure and good at heart. It was also fun jumping into Rose’s head for a bit at the beginning, giving us a little look into how she thinks. Gabora is based off of Kaebora Gaebora for The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, as well as Blathers from Animal Crossing. I swear I didn’t mean to make 2 Zelda inspired plot devices in 2 chapters. It just kinda happened.

Hope You Enjoyed :D