Sweet Dreams 1
Sonya smiled and waved goodbye to her friends, the two kitten sisters waving back as they made their way out of the schoolyard towards their house. The little Pomeranian puppy watched them until they disappeared from the schoolyard, their words of excitement and encouragement still fresh in her mind. The weekend was here, and a holiday weekend at that, but that wasn't the cause of the excitement that had the girl's tail swishing and wagging like mad. No, it was because he was coming.
Her best friend in the whole world, Marcus was going to be staying at her house all weekend.
Sonya had known Marcus for as long as she could remember; their two families were extremely close and as a result the two children were together constantly. Marcus was like the older brother she never had, and with her father having passed before she was born, he was by far the most important male in her life. The two were inseparable before and, truth be told, as she grew older Sonya began to develop a little crush on the black panther cub.
There was five years between the two of them; this age difference had proven to be a blessing and a curse for Sonya. On the one hand, the older boy was so much smarter and wiser and stronger than her, and he was always willing to share all of that with his favorite girl friend. The two had had many adventures together, battling fictional evil and saving many imaginary kingdoms. Unfortunately, their age difference also meant that earlier that year Marcus had begun middle school; his being in a different school combined with the increased class load meant that the two now saw each other very rarely.
Sonya missed her adventuring companion, her surrogate brother, her irreplaceable friend... She wanted desperately to be even more than that to him... Which was why she couldn't have wiped the beaming smile she wore as she raced off to her house off her face if she tried. Finally, after months of pining and separation, the two of them would be together again with just her mother looking after them. Fairy tale fantasies of the two of them sharing "true love's first kiss" danced through her mind and a slight blush colored her creamy fur even as her smile brightened further.
There was no doubt in her mind; by the end of this weekend, she would have the best boy in the whole wide world as her boyfriend.
* * *
As soon as she got home, Sonya ran up to her room and quickly threw off her school uniform. She had always liked the way her uniform looked on her, the classic shirt and vest combo with its matching skirt were cute enough in their own right. But for this most important of all occasions it simply would not do.
Soon enough the little girl was down to just her underwear, the pink cotton decorated with dozens of tiny red hearts. For a moment she stopped outside her closet to look in the full length mirror. Short, creamy yellow fur covered her head to toe, it matched the energy and sunny disposition of its owner perfectly. Her ears barely poked out over a head of curly, auburn hair which she currently had cut just above her shoulders. Her eyes were a shade of aquamarine that seemed to jump between blue and green of their own accord. While she was shorter than most of the other cubs her age, her snout was longer and more angular than the other canines she knew, a trait that had prompted Marcus to give her the nickname "fox face".
I wonder what Marcus would think if he saw me like this, the Pom thought to herself, then immediately shook her head of the thought. Why would he want to see her naked? That's just... weird. Besides, she had the perfect outfit in mind that she was absolutely certain he would love.
Once again reminded of the task at hand, she all but dove into her closet, digging through a small pile of dirty clothes until she unearthed the box wherein she had placed her treasure. She opened the box and revealed a red sundress with white flowers. She remembered vividly the day her mom had bought it. The previous summer she and her mom had been out shopping at the mall and had run into Marcus and his parents. While their parents stopped to catch up, Sonya dragged the boy away to help her try on clothes. She was surprised when he picked the dress out himself for her, but when she tried it on he told her that it looked super cute on her and that it really flattered her fur and hair.
Just as she had at the time, Sonya blushed hard recalling the memory. As she did, memories gave way to fantasy. She imagined that he had led her back into the changing room, sitting her down in his lap on the small bench inside. She stared up at him, his piercing blue eyes against that handsome, pitch black fur filled her with anticipation and longing. His hand came to rest on the side of her face, gently ushering her forward as he too slowly closed the gap. She could feel his breath on her face, causing her excitement and anticipation to go into overdrive, but she shyly allowed his hand to control the pace as she finally let her eyes flutter closed-
The sounding of the doorbell below shook her from her reverie, but after a moment to reorient herself to the present, her excitement spiked once again. He's here! The two words repeated themselves in her head as she turned and launched herself out of her room.
"I got it!" Sonya shouted, grabbing the banister and racing down the stairs towards the front door of her house. Reaching the bottom, she set her sights on the door; she had every intention of throwing the door open and launching herself into her friend's arms. However, just before she could reach the door, a strong hand reached out and grabbed her by the scruff of her neck, dragging her back a pace before turning her to face her mother. "H-hey! Mom, what're you doing?"
Ramona, Sonya's mother, wore a bemused smile when she spoke to her daughter. "Now now, I know you're excited, sunshine, but you might want to think about actually putting the dress on before you go greet him."
There was a momentary pause while Sonya considered her mother's words before the realization finally hit her; in all her haste and excitement, she had never actually gotten dressed. She was still in just her panties! Her already flushed face burned even hotter as the thought of what she had nearly just done flashed through her mind. She unleashed a squeaky scream, turned and ran back to her room as fast as her body would allow, nearly falling up the stairs on two separate occasions before throwing the door closed behind her.
Ramona's knowing smile never faded while she watched her daughter rush back to her room and despite herself she couldn't help but chuckle at the situation before she finally went to the door herself.
* * *
"Burn in the light, monster!" As she spoke, white light began to build on the end of the gnarled staff she held between her tiny frame and the horde of shadowy demons slowly moving towards her. With no hesitation she slammed the end of her staff into the ground, causing the energy she had built up to release into the ground like a shockwave. The demons within the shockwave were momentarily bathed in the same light, screaming and flailing as though they had been set ablaze; some simply disintegrated while other larger demons were reduced to smoldering husks. Soon enough however the blast faded and several more demons rushed forward to replace the ranks of the fallen.
Behind her, an army of every race and creed clashed against the demon horde. She spared a moment to look across the battlefield to see that her forces had fought the dark forces to a standstill. Before her the eclipsed sun gave off just enough muted light to illuminate the demon army, swarming like a living shadow across the courtyard of the castle. This is hopeless, the thought came again unbidden. No! She shouted at herself. I can't give into the darkness, not while the hero of prophecy is at my side.
As if on cue, several twisted howls of pain sounded at her side as they were each cut through by a sword that glowed with an ethereal light. As they fell around him, Lance, the hero jump to her side, adopting a defensive stance between the dark forces and his sorceress friend. "Crystal, there you are. I thought I'd lost you in this madness."
"We need to move." Crystal looked up at the holy sword wielding man, her expression grim. "The princess won't be able to hold out much longer. If she breaks and the Dark Lord gets ahold of her power..."
"We won't let that happen," Lance returned, though his expression was just as grim. Just being in the presence of so much darkness seemed to drive the hope from their hearts... "The soldiers are fighting admirably, but they won't be able to break through to the castle in time. We're the only ones who have a chance!"
"Okay. Cover me for a moment." Crystal began channeling her magic through the staff once more. The spell she had in mind was a simple one and look almost no effort to channel for her, but for the power she now needed for it to be she would have to dramatically empower it. As the charge grew, so did the light emanating from the head of the staff until it was almost blinding.
Meanwhile, Lance continued to brandish the holy blade before him. The lesser demons, being mostly feral beasts, seemed hesitant to approach the light sword. The larger, smarter demons among the horde, however, recognized the threat that Crystal's spell posed and began trying to reach her to bring a stop to it. Fortunately, they were in most cases hindered by the lesser demons' cowering so Lance was able to easily keep the rest at bay. Finally he heard the sorceress give him the signal, he quickly shielded his eyes for what he knew was coming.
The spell complete, Crystal stretched her free hand out, aiming towards the front gate of the castle. In an instant, from her outstretched palm, a massive beam of pure light shot across the courtyard. Just as suddenly the light dissipated, but its effects reverberated through the teeming horde. Those unfortunate enough to be struck directly were vaporized, while still others too close were burned by the spell. The result was a hole punched straight through the lines of the demons.
"Let's go!" The two quickly entered the void left by the spell, Lance cutting through any demons that survived and tried to bar their way while Crystal continued to fire smaller blasts from her hand. Their progress was relatively unimpeded until they reached the gate, but the demons began to break ranks in order to chase them down. Once clear of the doors themselves, Crystal quickly erected a barrier over the opening even as the hordes began crashing into it in their attempt to reach them.
Once she was confident they were safe for the moment, Crystal called out to her friend. "This is as far as I can go, Lance."
"You're not coming with me?" Lance said in shock and dismay.
"I'm sorry, but only you can face this evil and not fall under its control." Crystal looked up into Lance's eyes and smiled. "Before you go though, I have one final gift for you."
Reaching into a pouch at her side, she brought out a small crystalline orb and clutched it tightly in her hand. After a moment the orb began glowing with a brilliant light, eventually encompassing her entire body before fading to a warm glow. Satisfied, she held the orb out to Lance. "I'm gifting you with my light, my friend. May its power protect you and see you through to victory."
Lance seemed hesitant to take the orb from her but eventually took it in his free hand. "Thank you Crystal, for everything."
"The princess and the Dark Lord are in the throne room. Hurry!" As she spoke, the effects of the loss of so much of her magic were beginning to set in. Without the light magic, the fatigue from having fought for hours quickly set in, forcing her to rest her weight against the staff for balance. "I'll handle things here. You have to save her, nothing else matters."
"Are you alright?"
"I'll be fine, just go!"
Lance finally nodded and without another word turned and made his way down the dark hallway towards the throne room. Alone, Crystal turned her attention back to the barrier, which had already begun to lose its strength as the demons outside continued to savagely attack it. She struggled to gather her remaining strength and set about reinforcing the crumbling spell, but she knew it wouldn't be long before her reserves ran dry and she would be helpless before the horde. Still she stood as tall as her tiring body would allow and set about her final task, to buy her hero and friend time...
Sonya dropped the broomstick she had using as her weapon once the scene was over, following Marcus across the yard towards the area they had designated for the "throne room". This is it, she thought to herself excitedly.Finally, the final scene.
The two of them had begun acting out this story almost a year before, one afternoon at a time; Marcus had always been extremely creative and the stories they would play through together became the crux of their improbable friendship at their respective ages. It had always been Marcus who directed the world they played in, but all of the wondrous things they saw, all the battles fought and won, all of the powers they gained were absolutely real to her. Finally, at long last, the story had reached its climax. Although she was a little disheartened by the position she had left her character in, she was more than ready to see everything concluded.
She entered the throne room and assumed the role of the princess.
Princess Elise hung from the wall by a pair of manacles. Across from her the Dark Lord continued casting his spell; through his outstretched hand, tendrils of pitch black lightning arced through the space between them, twisting through her body and mind. He never said a word to her; he had never said a word or moved from that spot in all the days since her capture. The flow of his dark power through her prone body had been constant in all that time. Her body writhed under the effect of the black lightning but she no longer fought the physical reaction; all of her remaining strength was focused on protecting the power sleeping inside her soul from the Dark Lord.
As the days had passed, despair began to set into her. There was no way she could stop the Dark Lord forever. Eventually her will would break, and with it the world's destruction would be assured...
Just as this thought began to settle in her heart, hope appeared, lighting the darkened halls of her father's court like a beacon.
"Your vile schemes end here, betrayer!" Lance shouted as he charged to the bottom of the steps before the throne, brandishing the holy sword towards the Dark Lord.
At the sound of the voice behind him, the Dark Lord let a grin spread across his otherwise emotionless face. He turned towards the intruder, mercifully forcing him to end the spell on Elise. "So, you figured it out then." His grin advanced to wicked laughter as he walked around and sat in the empty throne. "Well of course you did. You are the prophesied hero after all..."
Taking the hood of his cloak in black armored hands, he pulled it back to reveal his face. Lance snarled quietly and Elise gasped at the revelation; the Dark Lord was none other than the king of Granseal!
"Father!" Elise shouted. Sonya's reaction was quite genuine; she had _not_seen that coming.
King Graham Granseal/the Dark Lord laughed again at this. "Fool girl, your father has long since succumbed to my power. There is nothing left in this body but darkness!" His body began to transform, the king's warm features gave way to black fur and flesh and his eyes began to glow an eerie red. "This world is at an end..." His voice now reverberated as though dozens of malicious voices speaking in choir had said them. "You need but to accept your fate."
"Never! The light will prevail!" Lance shot back. Sonya stifled a giggle; despite the severity of the situation, it was always kind of amusing to watch Marcus have such epic confrontations with himself.
"Very well. Come at me boy, and let us end this!"
Without another word, Lance rushed forward, dashing up the stairs and taking a wide, horizontal swing. The holy cut cleanly through both the shadowy king and the throne behind him; however, Graham's body reformed over the cut as though it had never happened. Unfazed, Lance swung again, and again Graham was cut asunder only to reform over the wound. Lance decided instead to thrust forward, however this time Graham caught his arm even as the sword passed through him harmlessly. Closing his arm around Lance's captured hand, he unleashed the black lighting into his foe point blank. Lance dropped to one knee, howling in pain before a savage kick sent him sprawling across the room.
Elise cried out in horror. This couldn't be happening. The prophesied warrior can't lose... Yet before her eyes the hero writhed in agony under the same spell she had suffered for so long, his holy sword proving useless against the Dark Lord.
"You just don't get it, do you?" Graham laughed again as he casually strode towards Lance as the warrior struggled back to his feet. "Your prophesy only foretells our battle. You never even realized that I am to be the victor." Lance desperately brought the sword down in an overhead slash as the Dark Lord drew close, only to find himself clutching at cold, black steel as the shadow fiend closed his hand around his neck. "Can you see it now? Your coming is the herald of the end of all things!"
Graham drew his other hand back, and with a brutal punch launched Lance across the room where he slammed into the wall, the sword clattering to the ground while he feel in a heap. For a moment a deathly silence hung over the room, before Lance began to struggle to rise again. His good humor seemingly faded, Graham unleashed the black lightning again; Lance trembled under the attack but continued to slowly rise. Finally Graham relented. "I grow weary of your pointless resistance, boy. I am the darkness personified, you cannot hope to defeat me!"
Lance grit himself against another wave of pain as the lightning fell upon him again. But despite the pain and his own waning strength he continued to rise. He couldn't lose, everything was riding on him now. Finally he made it back to his feet, disarmed but defiant against the shadowy fiend.
"Very well..." Graham's eyes began to glow more intensely, giving the otherwise pitch blackness around them a sinister glow. The shadows in the room all seemed to pulse as he gestured towards the ceiling; then they began to pool into a massive orb above his hand. "You and your pitiful light will be extinguished here and now!"
Graham flung his hand forward towards Lance; the orb pulsed with a red energy before descending upon the warrior. Lance instinctively shielded himself with his hands, but in the back of his head he knew the gesture was pointless. The spell was considerably larger than he was, it would surely swallow him whole when it hit.
Just before the orb hit, he felt Crystal's orb pulse in his pocket. As the shadow orb struck him, tendrils of light suddenly appeared around him, protecting him from the spell even as it consumed him. He could feel Crystal's presence in the magic surrounding him, calming him and filling him with confidence. He took the orb into his hand and the light around him intensified, beginning to push the shadow around him back. A smile formed on his face, his friend was there fighting with him after all.
From outside, Princess Elise watched as the orb of darkness began to pulse once more, cracks beginning to show where tiny shafts of light began to shine through. The cracks grew until suddenly the shadow orb shattered, beneath it an intense light shined illuminating the throne room suddenly. She quickly shut her eyes against the sudden light, but her heart swelled with renewed hope.
"What?!" Graham sounded genuinely surprised. "No, impossible!"
Lance looked to Graham, the Dark Lord seething with rage at the sudden turn, and something seemed different. The oppressive feeling that seemed to radiate from him was gone, and so too was the shadowy aura around him. Then it finally clicked in his mind... "No, Dark Lord," he said as he retrieved his sword. "I can see the truth now! You have no power over me anymore!"
"Enough!" Graham bellowed, drawing the shadows around him into an attack once more. "Die!"
The attack crashed into Lance like a wave, but Crystal's orb now held in his outstretched hand continued to pour out light, cutting straight through the wave as it rushed past on either side of him. Using the orb to lead, Lance began to charge into the spell, pushing nearly unhindered through the wave until he finally reached the source. With a lunge he thrust the sword into Graham's chest, piercing armor and flesh easily. And this time the strike found purchase as the Graham howled in pain and rage, light pouring from the wound and beginning to sear his flesh.
The two stared each other in the eye for a moment, Graham's face radiating hatred while Lance's simple determination, before Lance brought the orb to the pommel of his sword. Instantly the light emanating from the sword became a beacon, consuming the Graham's body completely; an otherworldly howl was heard as his shadowy form was destroyed before suddenly abruptly falling silent. When the light finally receded, the Dark Lord was no more.
The battle won, Lance's attention turned to the princess. "Princess, I'm coming!"
Marcus ran up to the tree Sonya was being "held captive" against, pretending to cut her loose. Sonya blushed as his chest was almost directly in her face. He's... He's so close...! It was all she could do to stay in character at that moment, especially with the anticipation rising in her heart. This was it after all, the fairytale ending. Which means that the hero and the princess would live happily ever after... Which means... Which means they kiss... Oh my gosh, he's really going to kiss me!
Elise dropped the few inches to the ground once she was cut free. Her legs trembled and threatened to give out on her, but fortunately Lance was there to catch her, helping her to stand. "Are you alright, princess?" He asked her out of concern.
Sonya was finally able to tear her attention away from her crush's hands on her shoulders long enough to continue the story. She had to stay focused if she was to drive the action to where she wanted it to go...
"I will be," Elise said after a moment. She met his eyes and took one of his hands in hers. "Thank you so much Lance. You've saved not only me but the entire world today. You are truly the hero of prophecy." Sonya's voice trembled a bit as she continued but she was determined to get the words out. "Please, allow me to give you a proper reward."
For a moment neither of them moved, and Sonya briefly worried that she may have gone too far. But then Marcus began to kneel down, bringing his face level to hers. Sonya's blush intensified the closer they came to one another. This is it! It's really happening-
"Sonya! Marcus!" Ramona called from the house. "It's time for dinner, come on in you two."
The shock of hearing the voice and fear of getting caught doing something naughty (she assumed), caused both cubs to jump back from one another; Sonya was unfortunate enough to have been standing next to the roots of the tree she had been "hanging" from, and she tripped and fell over one of its roots. She landed in a small crevice in between two other roots, her legs hanging open and her dress falling off her legs.
Marcus moved to helped her up but froze when he realized the position she had fallen in left him with a perfect view of his young friend's panties. An awkward moment passed before he was finally able to gain control of his body again and scramble to help Sonya up. "A-are you okay?" He finally asked.
"Yeah, this is nothing." In truth, the Pom puppy was quite accident prone, due in no small part to her energetic nature. This had been true for as long as she and Marcus had known each other, but it never stopped him from worrying about her when these things happened.
"Okay," he finally said. "Well, we should probably get inside for dinner now." She nodded and turned to head back into the house. Marcus followed a few steps behind the girl, trying, and failing to not stare at her butt and rapidly swishing tail as she went. He was immediately glad that his fur hid the heat in his cheeks from showing, now he just had to try to will his barbed member slowly growing out of its sheath back down...