Teaser: a look at book 2

[Orchids_Mantis]

Well....my gf was sick so we couldn't get married this morning. The graphic in Fiesta when I play are all kinds of messed up right now (so we probably wouldn't have gotten married anyways), I'm bored since no one is playing Chromehounds on the 360 and decided to write a bit more of my story -which Aspen_Flower finally sent to me.

I know I said I would not post my story in the same manner as the first book, but I figured I'd put in the first 2 chapters of book 2 as a bit of a teaser -to remind you that it is coming, to show you that I am working on it, and to get an idea of what you think of the way it's heading at the moment.


keep in mind...it's a teaser...so I'm probably not going to post much more than these 2 chapters of this book here (I may post the first 2 chapters of each book as I get into them, though...I have not made up my mind on that). Also keep in mind that I may change some of the story between now (with the teasers) and when I post all 4 books later on. So just because you read it now, doens't mean it's what you'll read later.

[Orchids_Mantis]

Book 2: He Liu’s Story
Chapter I: Parting of Ways

An Ning and He Liu waved goodbye to their brothers as they began their journey to Rumen. Their brothers cheered and hollered while jumping as they made their way down the path, An Ning smiled but kept quiet as he saw He Liu trying not to cry –after all, he’d cried himself on his first day as an adventurer. The two soon lost sight of the house and their brothers’ cheers grew distant, replaced by sounds of the forest. Liu looked over at his brother, dressed in his copper-colored armor, and felt a little embarrassed to be walking next to him as he had no armor of his own other than the white mage’s adventurer gear.

“Still don’t like to cry in front of people, eh, brother?” An asked after a few minutes of silence. He Liu looked over, “What do you mean, An?” he asked. An chuckled a bit, “Oh come on now. I saw you choking back your tears back there.” He Liu remained silent as they walked; he let the silence sit for a few minutes before answering, “For sixteen years I have not left home. I have journeyed away from it, true, but I have never actually LEFT it. Same with my brothers.” “I left,” An replied. “That is true, An…but as you said, it was YOU that left, not me. I have never left my brothers in one place while I go to another place, perhaps not to return for a long time. It is kind of odd for me…it makes me feel like I am abandoning them.” An nodded, “I felt the same when I left.” He Liu looked over, “Really?” “Really,” he replied, “Sometimes I still do. But no one is meant to live with their family forever; eventually everyone needs to find their own path.” He Liu nodded and they walked on for a bit more.

“What is it about you and not crying anyways? Some macho thing of yours?” An asked after a few minutes of walking. They walked a bit further before He Liu came to a sudden stop. He turned around to face An, “Look, An. I’ve always been the weakest in our family. At eight years old I could not do what the twins could at five.” An looked at his brother, “The twins were always remarkably strong, He Liu…they were even stronger than me at that age.” He Liu shook his head, “No, An, you don’t get it. It’s true that they were stronger than you at that age, but year for year I am by far the weakest in body, and my ability to concentrate and memorize things was never of much help to us beyond cooking and medicine making. I was always the weakest.”

It was An’s turn to be quiet now, as He Liu continued talking, “To me it was annoying and aggravating, having my brothers do all the real work while I stay home to cook because I was thought unable to protect myself.” He sighed and shook his head, “I dunno, An….I guess not crying….trying to be emotionally strong was my way of trying to compensate for my lack of physical strength.” They remained silent for a bit, each unsure of what to say, then An smiled, “Well now you are an adventurer, and a mage to boot –the most powerful adventurer class there is. What you thought a lack of strength is really a boon for you, huh?” He Liu smiled and nodded. “So maybe,” An said as they started walking again, “You don’t have to compensate so much anymore.” He Liu looked over at An, “I’m not making any promises,” he said with a smile.

“So An,” Liu said looking over at his brother, “Where are we going first?” “Rumen,” An replied with a smile. He Liu groaned, “Well of COURSE we were going THERE,” he said with slight aggravation at his brother’s play, “I meant where do we go after that? You said you were probably gonna go visit the new adventurer’s hunting grounds today.”
An looked at his brother and said, “I will go to the Elderine market first. I still need to find a level 50 shield –I doubt La Celestina will actually SELL me her shield, she’ll probably try to talk me into simply taking it.” “Yessss,” Liu started, “Cool…I get to go see Elderine.” An shook his head and chuckled, “YOU will go talk to the merchants in Rumen and see if there are any problems you can help with. I’m not taking you with me, brother. Sorry.” He Liu looked over in shock, “WHAT!? What do you mean, I’m not going with you? I’m your BROTHER!” An held up his hand to calm He Liu, “Liu, listen to me. Right now the difference in strength between us is too great. You will die fighting the enemies I face, and I won’t help anyone by fighting the weaker monsters you will have to start out against. For now you have to go out on your own.” He Liu looked at the ground. “Hey,” An said, Liu looked up, “I mean, after all; you didn’t become an adventurer to follow me around all day, did you?” Liu thought for a second, then smiled and shook his head, his green hair waving in front of his eyes. “You’re right, An,” he said, “I need to get stronger on my own.” He looked over at his brother and smiled, “As someone I know once said: Everyone needs to find their own path.” They laughed as they continued walking through the forest path.

[Orchids_Mantis]

Book 2: He Liu’s Story
Chapter I: Parting of Ways


They reached Rumen and entered the coastal city. He Liu looked at An, “Well I guess I’ll be going now.” “Why don’t you look around at the vendors for a bit and see if there are any items for sale that could help you?” An answered. He Liu looked at him in confusion, “But I don’t have any money.” An shook his head, “Well not yet…If you find something, come and get me. I’ll pay for you.” “But I thought you weren’t supposed to help me,” He Liu replied. “Not with making you stronger,” an answered, “But buying my brother a piece of gear that may help him fight better is something I think I am not only allowed to do…but entitled to do.” He Liu smiled at his brother, and ran off to check the merchants in the area.

He Liu ran up the stairs to check the vendors by Smith James –An said they always had good stuff around there. As he wandered amongst the mushroom house vendors, a man called out to him. “Hey you! Mage, with green hair! Come here” He Liu looked around; there were no other green haired mages nearby. He looked over for the person calling, and found a woman with long brown hair and bright armor standing on the side of the street. He tried to remember who she was. “Oh! She’s Skillmaster Ruby,” he thought to himself. “Yeah, you!” she called impatiently, “Well, what are you waiting for, get over here!” “She certainly is touchy,” he thought as he made his way over through the jungle of vendor mushrooms. He made it over to her, and she stood there, towering over him, seeming to judge his ability based on his appearance somehow. “I haven’t seen you around before,” she started, “You new here?” “Yes,” he answered, “I’m just starting. My name is He Liu.” “Ah, good,” she replied without smiling, “I have a job for an adventurer, but someone who has been here a while would probably not take it. You want it?” “Sure thing!” he answered with a big grin. “Calm down. I have a problem with my boyfriend,” she paused for a second, He Liu chimed in, “Did he cheat on you or something?” She glared at him. “If he did THAT,” she started, her face darkening, “I would not require any assistance; I would simply slice his head off…or perhaps something more important.” He Liu shrunk back a bit, “This lady is scary,” he thought, “I’d better not make her mad.”

“Anyways,” she continued, “he got drunk last night and the only thing that can help him is my spe..” “I want to buy my next tier of heal spell now!” an excited cleric ran up and shouted, interrupting Ruby. She spun on her heel and drew her sword, pointing it at the cleric’s chest before the cleric had any idea of what was going on. “I WAS TALKING!” she yelled at the suddenly pale cleric, “Do NOT interrupt me again!” The cleric nodded, looking as though he were about to feint. Ruby began to put away her sword and turned towards He Liu. “Well then, where were we?” She finished sheathing her sword, the hilt making a soft click as it stopped against the edge inside the sheath to lock it in place, “Ah yes, I remember. My boyfriend got drunk last night and he’s hung over today. I need to make a soup to help him. For the soup I need some clam meat and starfish. Do you think you could go gather some for me?” He Liu nodded, his eyes wide. “Good,” she replied, “Clams and starfish are commonly found along the beach in the Forest of Tides. I’ll reward you when you get back.” He Liu looked over at the cleric, who seemed as though he was unable to move. “Well what are you waiting for? GO!” Ruby shouted from beside him, “My boyfriend is in pain and he needs my soup as soon as possible! Now HURRY!” He Liu jumped backwards into the street at her bellow and quickly lost himself in the tangle of mushroom vendors, then made his way back to An.
An looked over as he saw his brother approach, “Hey good news.” “What’s that?” He Liu asked. “I talked to Raina, the storage keeper. She says that since we are brothers she’ll let us share the same storage space.” He Liu looked at An, not understanding. “That means that whatever I give to a storage keeper you have access to as well. This includes money I put in, and any armors or weapons I have that I think you may find useful.” “That IS cool,” He Liu said in response. “So,” An said looking at his brother, “Any good items you want to buy?” “I didn’t find any,” he said, “But I did get a quest from Ruby. I have to get clam meat and starfish for a soup.” “Ruby eh?” An started, “You’d best be getting a move on, then. She’s kind of impatient.” “I noticed,” He Liu answered, “She’s pretty scary too.” An laughed, “She is, at that.”

He Liu waved goodbye and started back up toward the gate to the Forest of Tides. “Before you go,” An’s voice came from behind, He Liu turned, An was reaching into his bag. “Take this,” he said pulling out an item. He Liu’s eyes widened. It was the green staff. “An…I can’t take that,” He Liu said, “It’s the first green item you ever found.” “Being that it is mine, I should get to say who I give it to,” An answered with a smile, “If it is helping you to kill faster and stay alive in your fights, then it should go with you –it does me no good to keep it.” He Liu grabbed the staff, but still seemed unconvinced. “Besides,” An said still smiling, “Even though you have it, it is still the first green I found, isn’t it?” He Liu smiled as well as An laughed. An reached into his bag for a teleportation scroll, Pep jumped and squeaked from An’s shoulder. An withdrew his hand, looking over at the little slime pet, “Oh…so you wanna go to?” He Liu tilted his head in curiosity as the slime squeaked and An smiled again, “Well it’s okay with me, but you’ll have to ask him.” An looked over at He Liu, “Seems Pep here wants to go with you. He’s feeling kinda bored since I’m not training much.” An lifted out his arm, his palm facing up. The little slime hopped from his shoulder down into his hand and sat there looking at He Liu. He Liu wasn’t sure what to say, he reached down and set his hand next to An’s, an the tiny slime pet hopped onto his hand, up his arm and onto his shoulder. The mage looked back at his older brother, who continued to grin. “Take care of that little guy, he’ll need all the help he can get,” An said smiling. He Liu nodded, “I will, An.” “I was talking to Pep,” An said with a large grin. He Liu gave him a dirty look with a smile to let him know that the look was only for show. An chuckled a bit and waved, “Good luck, my brother.” “You too, An,” He Liu replied. “I look forward to hearing about the new mage, He Liu when I relax in Elderine,” An said as he pulled out a green scroll. He Liu smiled and waved while holding his new staff as An broke the seal and vanished.

He Liu looked around the bottom section of Rumen, at the pier and the large blue ship docked at its small port. He talked to the Templer at the lighthouse and looked through a few vendors nearby. Deciding he had best get to work on Ruby’s quest –lest she become angry at him- he made his way toward the stairs and the path toward the forest. As he moved along the road, a cry came from the forest, and a bell rang loudly from Rumen’s clock tower. Other adventurers began running past him, dropping whatever they were doing and running toward the forest. He Liu, not knowing what was happening, continued walking in that direction.

[Orchids_Mantis]

Book 2: He Liu’s Story
Chapter II: Assault on Rumen

A nearby battle raged. Fighters and clerics yelled as they charged forward into the line of advancing Mushrooms and Slimes. A line of archers and mages stood behind them, launching whatever attacks they were capable of as fast as was possible. One fighter charged forward with her wooden shield, slamming into a Slime and knocking it back. She slashed across with her sword, the sword’s impact absorbed in the slime’s gelatinous body. The fighter pulled her sword back while spinning, freeing the sword and slicing the Slime in half. A Mushroom charged in from the side. Launching a furious assault of punches and driving the fighter to the ground. The mushroom loomed over the fighter, readying for another attack, and flew to the side, collapsing as an arrow sailed into its eye and embedding itself in the Mushroom’s head. The fighter got to her feet and continued to attack as Slimes and Mushrooms approached, some attacking her, others the other fighters around her.

A young archer pulled arrow after arrow from his quiver and shot them into the wave of enemies before him. The assault continued, casualties coming on both sides. A hole appeared in the front line as several fighters got mobbed on all sides by enemies and fell, their adventurer gear sending them back into town before they could be killed. Slimes and Mushroom surged through the gap to attack the mages and archers in the back. The archer launched bolt after bolt at the enemies that ran toward or past him, most enemies falling after the first shot, a few stronger enemies –or enemies that he’d gotten sloppy against- required a second shot to ensure that they stayed down. The Mushroom and Slime were too numerous to be stopped quickly, and were beginning to attack the vulnerable mages and archers while the clerics and fighters continued trying to seal the hole in the front line to prevent more enemies from getting through. The enemies stood no chance in one on one combat against these adventurers, despite Rumen being home to most of the weaker and less experienced people, but they were able to defeat adventurers through force of sheer numbers. Many would fall in an attempt to bring down one adventurer, but once he or she fell, those that remained would flood towards the next adventurer and overwhelm that one. A nearby mage fell, his adventurer gear teleporting him back to the relative safety of the village square. The mob that had attacked him, five Slime and four Mushroom, now surged toward the archer. He reached back and withdrew an arrow from his quiver. Quickly placing it in his bow, he drew back and aimed at the nearest enemy. He let the arrow fly, and it knocked the targeted Mushroom into the ground unmoving.

He drew another arrow, turning and firing, dropping a Slime this time. Two. He fired again and again, the mob drawing nearer. Three. Four. Five. He fired again, dropping the last Slime as the final three Mushroom charged forward, only meters away. He drew again, dropping the nearest one. The remaining two hopped over the body of the fallen Mushroom, and launched their attack. Their barrage of punches drove the archer to the ground, his bow clattering against a rock in front of him. He rolled onto his back and looked up as the two Mushroom prepared to finish the archer. His hand touched something…something sharp –an arrow that had spilled from his quiver when he fell. He grabbed the arrow in his hand and readied his last attack –if he was going down here, he was taking one of these two with him. An ethereal bolt flashed through the air and slammed into one mushroom, half of its head evaporating as the Mushroom –dead before it knew it was even attacked- fell to the ground. The final Mushroom spun as the mage charged forward, yelling. The archer launched up to his feet when the Mushroom took its eyes off of him. Holding the arrow in his fist, he stabbed the Mushroom’s head, slaying the beast.

The archer nodded thanks and grabbed his bow, launching arrows at any remaining enemies that had managed to get behind the fighters. He Liu, the mage that had saved the archer, stood nearby and began sending blast after blast of energy sailing into the enemy hoard. Up ahead, the fighters had fallen back a bit to regroup and seal the front line attempting to regain control; the enemies stopped getting past them, but the line began to fall back under the assault from the unending waves of Slime and Mushroom. He Liu backed away with the archers –uncertain of what was happening, but understanding that these enemies had to be stopped. The mages and archers around him walked backwards as they launched their attacks, He Liu followed suite. His eyes widened as he felt something under him, a stark contrast from the rock and soil of the forest paths, his heel had just hit the beginning of the stone roadways in Rumen. They were on the edge of allowing the town to be attacked.

A shout went up from behind, a rallying cry made by other archers and mages who realized the same thing that he just had. The cry carried forward and seemed to breathe new life into the fighters up front. They redoubled their efforts, their shouts joining those of the other adventurers behind them. Despite the new vigor in the attack of these young adventurers, the enemy army continued to press forwards. The mages and archers lined up at the road’s edge, a wordless agreement between them that they would not fall back from there, the fighters and clerics in the front pushing as hard as they could with sword, club and shield, still unable to halt the enemy advance. This last stand made by Rumen’s adventurers seemed doomed to failure, when a new shout came from behind the line of mages and archers.

He Liu turned around at the new sound, and saw dozens more fighters, archers, clerics and mages charging forward. These may have been adventurers, but they were not from Rumen, they were reinforcements sent from Elderine. The fighters surged forward, charging into battle, the dozen or so that appeared easily took charge, overpowering the enemy’s front line, which the dozens of fighters from Rumen had lacked the power to do. He Liu watched as an archer from Elderine, clad in green armor, grabbed two arrows at once and placed them in her long bow. She pointed the bow skyward and said a chant as she launched her arrows. The arrows soared skyward, then ran out of energy and began to fall. As the fell the arrows glowed brightly, each arrow becoming six as they plowed into the ground, and the enemies which stood on it.

The mages from Elderine ran past the fighters, stunning most of the mages from Rumen –as staying behind the fighter was the most basic of mage principles. The mages ran into the midst of the Slime and Mushroom, which were not strong enough to knock them to the ground –the only place where slimes can do enough damage to kill someone. He Liu watched as one mage lifted his arms above his head in a partial circle, then brought his arms down and bent at the knees. Energy shot out around the mage and swirled, surging in all directions creating a magical torrent around them, and slaying an entire swarm of enemies in one attack. The attack did not last much longer once these adventurers appeared. In a mere matter of minutes, they had turned the tides and the last of the enemy armada was fleeing back into the woods, scattering. Another cheer went up from the adventurers, both those of Rumen and of Elderine as the town was again made safe.

The adventurers from Elderine began walking back into town or scrolling back to Elderine as the remainder of Rumen’s forces ran forward into the woods to hunt down whatever stragglers they could find. He Liu looked back into the town, seeing Julia, Zack, James and Ruby taking care of the adventurers that had been wounded in the fighting –Zack, Ruby and James carrying them to one spot, Julia using stones to restore their health. A few clerics from Elderine stopped by and offered their assistance in healing, which they accepted without hesitation. Ruby looked up and spotted He Liu, she frowned and pointed at him, waving her hand, signing for him to be moving along. His eyes widened and he turned and ran down the path toward the gate to the Forest of Tides.

[Orchids_Mantis]

That's the end of the teaser for now. I hope it piqued your interest again.

For those of you who did not read my previous story, but have become interested from reading the teaser, the prologue and all 10 chapters of book 1 are in the Bijou forums, search for "The Tale of The 4 Brothers".