[Chapter 2-No Lands End] Finding the Path of Dreams [PM to Join]

[Thrylos]

((A Continuation of the first chapter of No Lands End I may turn this thing into a fan fic, I'm so glad my idea has gone so far!))

[CrescentBlaze]

((so do we continue here now?))

[Thrylos]

Yeeup!

[tyler008bon]

((Shouldn't we make an OOC thread for more people to join first? Also, who starts it? I would assume one of you.))

[CrescentBlaze]

((I will once runner and blackhoof make final posts in the old forum))

[Dunder]

[Am I in?]

[CrescentBlaze]

((we're gonna wait for our other two participant before continuing k?))

[theshypony]

(( I posted guys, ))

[CrescentBlaze]

((cooool here we go!))

Crescent ignored the squirming protests of the colt. Now that he knew that runner had made it out alright he focused on making it to the town in the distance unnoticed. He flew low to stick close to runner. As he flew he thought he could almost make out a little smudge bobbling against the dark horizon. He squinted trying to determine whether it was friend or foe but couldnt see as he hadnt had time to lower his goggles and the wind was sting his eyes, making them water. He checked runner now and then to be sure he was still there. He was surprised by the stallions uncanny speed on his hooves. Keeping up with Crescent even weighed down as he was is no easy feat. The sounds of the crashing unicorn dragon had all but died away and Crescent began to slow his pace as they had pet plenty of distance between them and the mines. Wilden's distraction...wilden's sacrifice...had worked. Crescent's unending concentration forced the negative emotions away, it would have to wait. Crescent saw the bobbing smudge getting closer and heard the sound of hooves beating on sand. He slowed to a landing placing hunter down and landing in front of him drawing his sword and taking a fighting stance as the creature approached.

"Who are you and what is your allegiance!"

He quoted the general response to an unknown threat from the resistance.

[Thrylos]

((New post order:

1. Crescent Blaze

2. Thrylos

3. tyler008bon

4. SaucySpider

5. theshypony

6.Dunder

Thanks!))

A heavy had begun on the plain. The patter of rain on and left puddles of slushy mud underhoof. Tears hit the ground as Storm Dragon looked down at the mangled body, the work of his mother and him. All he had strived for...left to rot to bits. He had trained the dragon that had been stitched with the life force of a unicorn had been his only friend all his life, even after being turned to a beast. From filly to prince, that red dragon had been beside his side, only to be covered in its own blood. That night, Storm Dragon swore on his life to kill that wolf...he would die!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The blind zebra Nexi heard a voice, and jumped when she felt, though deeply muted by the sandy grains of the ground, a far of pony take a fighting. Quickly, the resistance zebra replied in Pro's general direction.

"I am Nexilii Zecenda of the Rebellion! Please don't hurt me, I'm no more than a mere scout." From here, Nexi couldn't feel, smell, or hear anything that could tell which side this pony was on, so she took the best looking defensive stance she could muster, just causing her badly injured young legs to collapse, and Nexi groaned, not with pain but annoyance.

[CrescentBlaze]

((wait...so wilden lost a leg...and still managed to escape storm dragon. You know what, nevermind your story not mine, if you dont want peeps to die I'm totally cool with that.))

Crescent quickly sheathed his sword when he saw the infirm zebra collapse. His ears and his instincts both told him she was not a threat. Crescent was still fatigue from the days journey he had never had to walk so far in his life and flying with the colt in his hooves had fatigued him further. Still he gave impression of being at full mast but motioned for Runner to aid her, he was a stout earth pony after all.

[tyler008bon]

The fall should have killed him.

The blood loss should have killed him.

The fight should have killed him.

Hunger should have killed him.

None of those did.

Wilden tried getting up, to no avail. He tried again, and managed to stand up for half a second before collapsing from either pain or lack of energy, he couldn't tell which.

The Forest was calling to him, he knew. His sister and the Huntress were waiting for him, but he just wouldn't die. Why was he still alive, and not dancing with them, with two good eyes and four legs, never having to worry about starvation or sleep?

Stubborn wolf. He told himself. Just die. Just bleed out and sleep forever.

Luckily he had no way to survive, he could hardly move, but stubbornly tried anyway.

Then he heard his voice.

"Don't move, you are barely alive as it is. I bandaged you up as well as I could, but supplies are hard to find in caves. You are weak, but strength will eventually return to you. First you must eat, however." He had a gruff voice, it reminded Wilden of his own voice. "There is food in front of you, all you have to do is take it." The darkness was telling him. Sure enough, the rat was there in front of him, he could barely make out the features with almost no light, but they were there, and they looked like a rat.

Rat or not, it was food, and food was what Wilden needed most. The rat gave no fight, it didn't even try to run. The pain filling his body forced him to eat slowly, but when he finished, he asked, "Who are you?" It was a short and simple question, but even that gave him pain.

Light filled the room, and a wolf was staring at him, holding a torch in his jaws. "I am the prince of the forest, and you... You are my son."

The shock was enough to break what fragile hold Wilden had on his conciousness.

[SaucySpider]

Runner quickly approached the zebra. He was slightly nervous about being so close to a creature he had never seen before, but he ignored the thought. He lifted her over his back, carrying the weight with his back.

"Hang in there, you're gonna be just fine. Let's get out of here, and to somewhere safe, then we'll take care of any injuries you might have."

He motioned for Pro to take the lead again.

"Well, looks like we've brought yet another stranded soul into our little band of misfits"

[theshypony]

BlackHoof stared at the zebra trying to count the stripes, trying to draw his mind away from what he saw only a short time before, He closed his eyes and pushed the thought aside and looked up at the zebras eyes in confusion.

" You have an odd eye color, Are you blind? "

BlackHoof had met many creatures in his day, but he'd only seen zebras in books. Now this was his first time looking at an unquestionably blind zebra, the odds of something this peculiar hadn't seemed to show itself in a long time for BlackHoof, that it, except seeing his friends hunted down by a giant beast, and wilden, probably dead by now. He wondered if the zebra before him could see them, or even knew he was there before he spoke.

[CrescentBlaze]

((Zack please reread my last post and edit yours accordingly.))

[Thrylos]

The blind zebra felt the pony from before, along with another, trying to help her, and Nexi growled, pushing them away with annoyance. Standing up, Nexi dusted her striped pelt and sniffed a little, ears twitching, so she could tell some more about these ponies. The first was a pegasus, of unknown appearance built a strong build. She also smelled sweat, so probably both were tired and hungry. Feeling the other ponies movements, he was probably just an earth pony, and with a speedy build. But another, in the back, a youngster, spoke to her, and to the battle scarred zebra his question was a surprise. Very few looked to her eyes to first think of her, though they usually did later. What most saw first was the hardships of her whole life, from the scratches covering every inch of her body, and her destroyed eye.

"I am, if you wanted to know."

[CrescentBlaze]

Crescent approached the Zebra who called herself Nexi. He wasnt all to concerned with her as a threat, she was old and blind after all, but her scars and weathered appearance alerted him that she had seen more life than most. She was clearly one to be respected.

"Hello Nexi, you can call me Pro and this is Runner and Hunter. Not our real names though, well at least not I or Hunter. I'll discuss that with you in private later."

He took a moment to look passed the zebra to what appeared to be a ramshackle ghost town.

You say you are of the resistance, so was I until Storm Dragon ran us out of Cloudsdale. If this is No Lands End then please, Storm Dragon himself is on our trail and we need to find shelter."

[Thrylos]

Nexi listened closely and nodded. "Come this way. Bring your friends, too." The blind zebra turned and trotted slowly, tracing her way back, super sensitive hooves feeling every grain of sand. "I have seen much, and I will tell you more once we have made it back..."

[tyler008bon]

((Wait, shouldn't Dunder post? Also (since, I hope, Wilden won't be rejoining the group any time soon) can Wilden's story have days pass by while your story passes by in less time? If not I can use a different idea, i'm just curious))

[Thrylos]

((...Wilden's story is passing separately, so it can go any speed. And Dunder? He will post whenever is best. I won't pressure him to fit his character into any old spot.))

[Dunder]

[i'll post when I see a good time.]

[tyler008bon]

((Alright, do you want Amy to know you or no?))

Train, eat, train, eat, learn, sleep. Train, eat, train, eat, learn, sleep. Train, eat, train, eat, learn, sleep.

That was Wilden’s schedule; Wilden’s new life. His father was a ruthless trainer who managed to reopen Wilden’s wound by the end of each day, but in the end it always proved worthwhile. In less then two weeks Wilden’s missing leg seemed to exist again, and Wilden managed to keep his body as balanced as if it had always been there.

His eye was a different story. His father was forcing Wilden to compensate for what he had once been able to ignore. “It is to prevent that,” he motioned to Wilden’s missing hind leg, “or anything like it from happening again.” He forced Wilden to strengthen his ears and sense of feeling. His father wanted Wilden to form some sort of mutation of the echolocation the bats in these very caves were using. Thanks to the aggressive training and disgusting herbs Wilden was forced to choke down, his wounds were gone in weeks. His new life had its interests, however.

At the end of each day, Wilden was taught a little more about the leaders of certain packs, about their strengths and weaknesses. He learned that the Strongclaw was huge to a fault; he was a very slow attacker, but one hit and death was likely to meet you. Quickclaw, Strongclaw’s much older but smaller brother, was deaf in his left ear and getting weak from age, but very quick to adapt. Quickclaw was the reason Wilden was being so brutally trained. Ninelives and his pack were the ones that crippled Wilden the first time. Ninelives had no notable weaknesses, but he could endure an insane amount of pain. Those three led the most organized packs; they were physically different enough to be put into three separate groups, a wolf version of Pegasai, Unicorns, and Earth Ponies. Wilden needed to defeat all three of them in combat to prove himself prince.

After what must have been two months in the cave, Wilden decided to ask why his father had left his children behind.

“I wanted a strong heir, and when your mother died I took it upon myself to harden you further.” He said it coldly, with no emotion behind the words. “I knew one of you would die eventually, so I waited. Make no mistake; I was always watching you both. I wanted one of you tough, so I kept you safe while letting Wilda grow weaker. You never left her behind until she died, however, and that made you weak,” he spat. “Because of her life you would always be weak, so when the monster killed her I rejoiced.”

Every word he spoke made Wilden hate him more and more; at the end he growled “I’ll kill you!” and pounced.

“Good,” his father said as he dodged the attack. “Kill the former prince and take his crown.” He bit into Wilden’s left side.

Wilden ignored the pain and, using his father as a temporary crutch, used his front left claw to scratch the old monster’s eye. The wolves each jumped away from the other and growled.

They charged again for a second attack.

[theshypony]

(Wilden that reminds me of starwars, Wilden, I AM YO FATHA! xD Srry just had to put this, also on a side not Thamk you for the new avatar thrylos)

[SaucySpider]

Runner willingly followed the zebra back to wherever she came from, slightly relieved to not have to carry her. However, he couldn't shake the feeling that somepony was following them.

"Hey Pro, I think we may have company, i'm just not sure who they are, or where they are for that matter. Keep your eyes peeled."

(Dunder, I think now is a good time to throw yourself into the story just a recommendation.)

[tyler008bon]

((Funny, I have only watched Star Wars: A New Hope (I do know that the quote is from Empire, I just never watched it). My next post starring Wilden will be the last for a while, as he has to go to Whitetail Wood, and that isn't a short trip. Finally, can someone draw the borders for rebels and Storm Dragon's armies on the map, I wanted to but don't have a large enough grasp on where the borders would be))