Aspire Arcadia: Introduction
"Almost there," Patch whispered to himself as he stepped
over a fallen log. The dense forest around him was alive with insects and
birds, but not much else. He crossed out of the shade of the forest and into an
opening, where the rays from the sun were able to reach.
"Are you sure we should be out this far?" his sister, who
lagged behind, called out to him, "dad said it's dangerous out here..."
"We're old enough now, Puzzle," Patch replied without
glancing back at her, "besides, if anyone tries anything..."
He glanced confidently at the short sword his father had
given him for his litter's sixteenth birthday. It was lightweight and very
durable, exactly what he had been wishing for ever since he could remember. No
one would be able to stop him now.
"I don't like this..." Puzzle complained, looking around
nervously, "we should go back..."
"You can if you want to," Patch replied, glancing back at
her, "you're the one that wanted to
come along."
"I'm afraid to go alone..." Puzzle replied weakly.
Patch sighed and smiled. As annoying as Puzzle was
sometimes, he couldn't help but feel sorry for her. He couldn't count the
amount of times he had to protect her the occasional insects or rodents that
would chase her around the den, or the amount of times he had to stand up for
her when she screwed up. In a sense, he was her guardian.
"Don't worry," Patch reassured her with a confident grin,
"I'll protect you from whatever we might run into. So stop worrying about
everything... okay?"
Puzzle glanced up at him slowly and then quietly nodded,
still uncertain.
"Great, let's go then," Patch said, turning around and
continuing deeper into the forest with Puzzle following close behind.
A few more steps into the woods and a sharp yelp echoed from
nearby, causing Patch and Puzzle to freeze in place.
"Wh-what... w-was th-that...?" Puzzle whispered, her ears
dropping and her tail curving up between her legs.
"Don't know..." Patch replied, glancing up towards the
direction of the yelp, "let's check it out."
"What?!" Puzzled hissed, as Patch took a couple of steps in
that direction, "are you serious?!"
He stopped and glanced back at her.
"Someone might be in trouble," he said seriously.
That's what Puzzle loved and hated about her brother. His
sense of justice and his need to help others was always getting him in trouble...
and occasionally saved others from it. Whenever there was someone in need,
Patch was usually there to help... whether he was actually capable of helping or
not. He once tried to help a young bear cub, who was stranded in a tree, get
back down to the forest floor. In a turn of events, both he and the young cub
ended up stranded in the same tree for hours. It was events like those (and
there certainly were several more) that made Puzzle worried about this current
situation.
"We should go get dad," Puzzle said, "we don't even know
what that was!"
"That's why we have to check it out," Patch replied calmly,
"if we don't check, we'll never know."
Against his sister's wishes, Patch continued towards the
sound of the voice.
"Wait!" Puzzle hissed, reluctantly following him, "Don't
leave me here!"
The two crept through the forest towards the origin of the
sound, stepping carefully through the grass and fallen leaves, until several
voices came within earshot.
"Wait, I hear something," Patch said, stopping his movement
and sinking to the ground. Among other things, he had the genetic ability to
tune his senses higher than normal, including his hearing.
"What is it?" Puzzle asked, nervously hiding behind him, "I
can't hear anything..."
Patch listened carefully to the sound. There were a couple
of voices coming from that direction... probably two males and a female. From the
sound of it, they stopped to harass the female in some way, teasing, insulting,
and blocking her path.
"Some guys are bullying a girl," Patch muttered, "I'm going
to go stop them."
Puzzle glared at him. So many angry responses to his
statement came to her at once, she could barely speak.
Patch stood up and headed towards the voices, Puzzle
frantically (but quietly) trying to stop him.
"I-I'm going to go get dad!" She finally cried, running back
from which they came.
Patch continued on through the forest, this time not worried
keeping quiet. He especially hated bullies that tried to make themselves seem
tougher by picking on weaker animals. It was something he personally went
through, but fought his way out of. As a result, he was destined to stop others
from suffering the same fate.
Patch crossed out of the forest, on to an opening with a
narrow path cut through it. Down the path were two wolves standing in front of
a female wolf. They circled her intimidatingly, scoffing at her while the
female wolf didn't move at all. She stared intently at the ground as though she
were tired.
"Bastards..." Patch growled as he picked up the pace towards
the wolves. Once he got close enough, he stood up on his hind legs and began
walking towards them.
"Enough!" He cried out confidently, stopping a short
distance away from them, "leave that girl alone you filthy bastards!"
The wolves turned towards him, surprised at his outburst.
The female wolf glanced up at him, her eyes widened in surprise.
Patch immediately noticed that he had misjudged the size of
the wolves he had just insulted. He had turned sixteen just today, while those
wolves had to have been adults. Not only that, but they were covered in scars and
were full of muscle. The female wolf appeared the same age as him, if not a bit
younger. She discretely shook her head, as though she were warning him to stay
away.
"What the fuck did you say you mutt?" One of the wolves
growled, turning towards him. A huge sword, probably taller than Patch was,
hung on the wolf's side. The other wolf wrapped his massive paws around the
hilt of his sword and drew it with a loud scrape. An eyepatch covered his right
eye, and a massive scar tore across the other.
"You got a problem?" The wolf growled, "Mind your own
business, pup."
The female wolf in the background shook her head frantically
and motioned for him to run away.
She didn't know that it just wasn't in him to just run away
from a fight.
Patch put his paw on the rawhide handle of his short sword
and pulled it out too. The black, steel blade reflected the rays of the sun
majestically as he pointed it towards the wolves.
"I won't tell you again," he said calmly, causing the other
wolves to glance at each other confused.
On the inside, even Patch confused himself. Those two wolves
could easily crush him. His sword was only about as long as his arm was, while
theirs was probably two times his height. Sure he had gotten a ton of training
from trainers, but this was a different story. The female wolf covered her
mouth nervously.
"Ah hell..." Patch thought to himself, "what the heck did I
just do..."