TSOTR ch.19

       Meta Knight had been the one to volunteer to keep watch that night, and for much of the time he was awake, he was thinking about his previous conversation with JP.

       She had offered up some significant personal information to the knight, but it was obvious there was more she was not telling him. This was alright with him, of course, because he, too, had things he was not willing to share. Sure, he had told her about him being a prince and the reason behind him wearing a mask, but that was only the surface of his life and his story. There was no reason for him to tell JP these other details just as there was no reason for her to elaborate further on her own life.

       He remembered when JP first arrived, and he thought about how curious he was of her. He still was, but he had more important things to occupy himself at the moment; his biggest priority was obviously getting JP and himself back to their group alive (or if anything it would be to get out of the forest).

       He abandoned his thoughts for now and returned to the present, and he found that JP was awake and watching him from the other side of the fire. He didn’t say anything, and neither did she.

       The female warrior gave a sigh and held her hand out for the stick Meta Knight had been using to prod at the fire, and he gave it to her without objection. He would accept the silent offer for sleep, understanding that he needed to stop thinking for a while and just rest.



       In the morning, the two soldiers decided to go on their way again. After smothering and dispersing the remnants of the fire and taking up their remaining food, they continued. Being that their food supply wouldn’t last forever, Meta Knight hoped to find another area of the forest that had the resources they needed. It would be a difficult undertaking, perhaps, but it was indeed essential to their survival.

       As the soldiers continued walking, the trees surrounding them started to grow denser, and a chill swam through the air. The streams of light that would manage to get through the canopy of leaves became fewer and fewer until it was rare to see any sort of variation to the heavy shade of the forest floor.

       JP pressed onward without a single thought about their surroundings, but she wasn’t a leader like Meta Knight was; to him, the darkness and… stillness in the air began to raise alarm. It was very unusual, and he didn’t like it. Even still, he continued walking next to the female warrior without saying anything.

       It was about ten minutes later that Meta Knight noticed another concerning detail. Off in the distance to the right, there was a soft whisper of a sound. JP must have heard it, too, because he noticed her ears pivot in the direction of the noise, and she then looked that way questioningly.

       The two both stopped walking, and the female warrior glanced at the other. “What do you suppose that was?” she asked quietly.

       Meta Knight was unable to give a reply because it was at this time that the two heard the sound even closer than before.

       Only it was from behind them now.

       Both of the soldiers immediately whipped around to meet the empty eyes of the same sort of creature they had run into two nights ago.

       The strange creature let out a peculiar, high-pitched chattering, and a pack of at least twelve others of its kind leaked out of the shadows; some snuck out from the darkened distance to the side of their comrade, and others literally seeped out through the ground. When they were rallied, the shadowy creatures all gazed in the direction of the two soldiers, and simultaneously, they emitted a loud buzzing noise.

       Perhaps it was a battle cry.

       Meta Knight quickly recognized the danger, and thinking that there was no way they could defeat this pack of creatures (what with JP being the only one with a legitimate weapon and his only being a stick), he tugged the stunned female warrior by the arm to get her moving and then began to run. JP was quick to follow him.

       Their fleeing seemed to incite the pack of shadowy beasts to give chase. They were quicker than expected, which caused the two to lose their precision and separate. JP darted suddenly off to the left, probably having expected Meta Knight to follow. Meta Knight continued straight and was alarmed when the female disappeared and the horde of creatures continued at his heels. He was left to his own devices now.

       The creatures were in hot pursuit. The knight tried his best to lose the pack by turning sharply and taking unsystematic turns around trees; however, his efforts were in vain. His only options were to run or to fight, and fighting would not be wise.

       Ahead of him in the distance emerged an opening in the trees, and light shone through, inviting him toward it. Accepting this invitation, he continued running, hoping that there would be an option of escape. Unfortunately, this was not the case.

       He ran through the lighted opening and came out in the sunlight, free of the forest but all the more trapped; in each direction around him besides the way he had come was a sharp drop of around ninety feet. Below was even more forest. It was just his luck that he was stranded on a clifftop, wasn’t it?

       Meta Knight turned around to see the pack of creatures barreling toward him, and he took out the stick that was his weapon although he knew it wouldn’t do much to help.

       When the creatures came out into the opening, they formed a semicircle around him. The soldier was half-hoping that the shadowy creatures would disappear in the sunlight as if he had stumbled upon their weakness and he no longer had to face his potential demise. However, they only seemed slightly discomforted by the light and continued as they had before, now closing in on him and cornering him against the cliff’s edge.

       The knight swiped at some of them with his stick, but it didn’t seem to do much damage (because his weapon would simply pass straight through them) or deter them in any manner.

       It was at this time that he made the mistake of stepping back a little too far. The thinned edge of the cliff crumbled under his weight and he fell backwards. It was only luck (and perhaps instinct) that allowed him to keep his life; he had managed to take hold of a segment of the cliff face that jutted out not too far below the edge.

       Meta Knight clung desperately to the rock, hanging above certain death, and the group of creatures drew closer to the edge, looking down at him ominously. The distance between the clifftop and his position was obviously too great for them to be capable of reaching him. However, what the shadowy beasts did in response to this fact was astonishing.

       The nearest of the creatures to the knight assumed a pouncing position at the edge of the cliff and – without any sign of trepidation – jumped down at him.

       Gasping in alarm, Meta Knight quickly moved himself out of the way of the beast’s tackle.

       Having missed its target, the creature continued to fall down the side of the cliff, and it made no sound as it vanished into the dense forest below.

       Before he could completely recover from the attack, another of the creatures followed the example of its comrade and also jumped at him. He again dodged the pounce. However, his fortune seemed to be dwindling; several more from the group of beasts did the same as the ones prior shortly afterwards, and Meta Knight was unable to evade them all easily. Beginning to lose his grip, he looked about franticly for a way to escape or another ledge he could cling to.

       He found neither.

       If he lost his grip, then he would have no choice but to use his wings as a last resort. Revealing his wings for any reason was risky; if the enemy were to see (and it was safe to assume that they were always watching), his identity as the prince would immediately be known, and their entire world could collapse around them. He would wait until it was absolutely necessary.

       He was sure that a second barrage of attacks from the beasts was starting when another of the creatures came down at him from the clifftop, but to his surprise, it missed him so greatly that he didn’t even need to move from his location. He looked up at the clifftop, confused, and to his relief, he witnessed the remaining creatures suffer a similar fate as the other.

       Seemingly unable to even control their own bodies, the shadowy beasts floated momentarily in the air before falling over the cliff’s edge. It was then that Meta Knight himself was lifted by an unseen force back to the clifftop. JP stood before him, her eyes shimmering.

       “You’re lucky I was able to reach here before you fell. You do have wings, don’t you? You should have used them! I mean – if I had an ability like that, I’d use it all the time!” the female warrior commented lazily, dropping the other to solid ground.

       The knight was surprised that she remembered he had wings; things had been rather sudden when they were taken by the dragon demon beast, after all. A little stunned, he got to his feet. “Thank you,” he said breathlessly.

       “What – you think I would just leave you here to die? Who do you think I am, Dude?” The question obviously being rhetorical, JP continued, looking down at the bottom of the cliff. “Anyway, it looks like this is a dead end, and it would probably be dumb to go down there when those weird creatures might still be alive. Where do you suggest we go?”

       Meta Knight, with his life no longer in jeopardy, finally took a good look at his surroundings. “To avoid getting confused, perhaps we can walk along the cliff’s edge and see where it takes us.”

       The female shrugged humorously. “Alright. Let’s just hope you don’t get yourself into trouble again.”