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A Hero Tale: Oswald

~ Chapter 3 ~

_South...

Streams of sun hit Bobby's face, waking him in an instant. The pain in his chest was worse, but his breathing seemed to improve slightly. He turned his head to the side and smiled. "Good morn-" He paused, shocked that Oswald was already gone. He shouldn't have been. That stubborn asshole wasn't a liar. For some reason Bobby felt relief wash over him, though. Finally, one of Joshua's old farmhands was going to leave this one horse village and see the world. Course that was probably the last thing on Ozzy's mind. Angelica came first, after all.

The southern edge of the village was where all of the townsfolk lived, all in their individual little houses, built from the ground up using wood and dirt. The log-mesh walls of Oswald's own home, smaller than most others, were clearly visible from atop the hill he stood on, but nobody would see him past the tall grass that divided the hillside from his home. It was just early enough to see farmhands waking to head over towards Joshua's farm. The blacksmith's chimney bellowed smoke and his windows lit up fiercely. All the while, Oswald could only watch as he left the only thing he knew behind him, possibly never to see his friends again.

The road beyond was marked, thankfully, by the men who went into the forest and cut trees down for the village. But Ozzy knew this path only went on as far as they'd gone to forage and gather supplies. It could've gone on longer, but it wouldn't be marked. Than again, it'd been months since he'd been into the woods, and things can change from day to day. Still, without guidance, aside from 'south', how far could he even get? Where did Angelica go? And would Zelriane still be close by? The world was a frightful place, and Oz was about to step into unknown territory that would certainly bring dangers beyond his understanding.

A Hero Tale: Oswald

Bobby didn't say anything, only heaving a couple times out of reflex. Moonlight barely lit up the barn's interior, but Bobby could see the determination in Oz's disheveled face, . That was always the scariest thing to see. Bobby knew it well, and so did Joshua. That was the face of a man who wouldn't turn away from his own death. Bobby shuddered at the thought of it all. What if there were more people like that green guy out there? What if some of them were even stronger? What would happen to Oswald? Bobby fidgeted in place and sunk into the hay like a stone. He'd had enough thinking for one day.

Nothing was going to topple Oz, anyways. In his mind, if 'Big Bobby' couldn't do it, who the hell could?

---

~ End Of Chapter 2 ~

Wings Askew

For the record, I'm waiting for somebody to acknowledge Gaius before I post again.

Rings of Fate

I think I'm cancelling rings of Fate. For those interested in the format, consult me by pms for a hero tale.

A Hero Tale: Oswald

Bobby narrowed his eyes and began coughing. One of the other men made his way to Bobby's side to calm him, but the massive man pushed him away. "There aint no 'we' Oz, if you seriously think going after Angelica with people like that psycho out there, I'm afraid you're goin' in alone. Rest of the town's pretty shaken up over Joshua, and we aint got anyone left to lead us. Me an' the boys were kinda hoping, not that Angie's gone, that uh.. You would take up Joshua's responsibilities," He admitted. Truth be told, nobody was right for Joshua's 'job' at all. The guy managed the entire town in his name, and planned to hand over duties to Angelica when the time came. He hadn't even shared most of the village secrets with anyone, and without Angelica, nobody would know what the origins of this town really held.

A series of agreeing murmurs echoed throughout the room. Nobody had any plans to help Oz out if he decided to go after Angelica. Nobody even bothered to comment on Oz's abilities. Maybe they just didn't believe him? "Sorry, Oz."

One after another, the men left the barn, leaving only Bobby, Oz, and somebody to watch them behind in the dark hollow overhang.

"Yer all cowards!" Bobby wheezed, nearly coughing up a lung. The man at his side offered him some water, but he refused. He looked over at Oswald, half expecting him to dart after his fellow farmhands. But they were right about something, tonight wasn't the time to be doing anything. The man at Bobby's side made his way through the doorway at the side of the barn and into the house a few second afterwards.

"I'm gunna catch some Z's, fellas. Hollar if ya need anything," He whispered, closing what remained of the door, albeit nothing more than a small strip of splintered wood.

"They don't believe ya, Ozzy," Bobby said, scratching at where Zelriane had punched him. "I do, and Ah think the old man would've too."

A Hero Tale: Oswald

The group collectively stared at Oswald in disbelief. "Yer in no shape to be going anywhere... Or at least, I thought you weren't. We're surprised you can move!" One man urged, placing a hand on Oz's shoulder and motioning back towards the hay. "Besides, aint anyone got an idea where little Angie headed off too."

"What was that blue light Oz!?" A barotone voice wheezed from a hay bail near the entrance. It was big bobby, and he wasn't looking too good either. Guy damn near looked catatonic. If he hadn't spoken, you'd think he couldn't move his limbs. Truth was, it hurt him to breath, let alone walk around. "I aint got hit by no magic, and that psycho only touched the old man with some'o'that green stuff."

"Bobby shut up!" The man near Oz shouted, patting Oz's shoulder. "Let's not hear anymore of this crazy travel stuff... You should be happy and uh... Feel thoroughly damn blessed that you can still walk."

"He aint even broken," Bobby interjected, "You said it yer'self. My ribs are like rotten corn stalks, and he aint even got a fracture."

"I aint sure about any of that!!"

A Hero Tale: Ren

Something akin to a 'yup' left Ralph's mouth as he disappeared into the crowd. Ren made his way towards the last location of the light, pushed from side to side by the others nearby until he was finally allowed to the front of the group, where he could see the line-up completely toppled by a large man with short, light blue hair, and a set of oddly designed armor, tinted with darker shades of blue around the layered shoulder pads, and smooth breastplate. His armor revealed small portions of his body, looking more mobile than defensive, but that wasn't the weird thing about it, it was that fact that he was wearing armor. Nobody in the village ever needed to wear something so gaudy, or ready for combat. It was a peaceful place, without any ruffians to attack its people. Hell, Thievery was practically extinct, save for the few troublemakers running about and taking the occasional bun or sweet treat!

The blue-clad man's face was also covered with a black mask that revealed only a small strip of skin underneath his left eye, like it's been cut by a knife. There was a scar, but it didn't look like a cut at all, it looked like he was burned, or his skin had rotted in a strange, swirly pattern in the small section below his neon blue eyes. The man made his way to the front of the line, shoving people aside until he was face to face with Laura on the small pedestal. She looked up at the 6 foot man in shock, and reeled back, clutching her book tightly. The strange man whispered something to the frightened author, prompting her to shake her head in protest. Something was definitely not right here, and the crowd knew it almost immediately.

"Hey!" Somebody shouted, "What are you doing to Laura?"

A Hero Tale {Complete}

The archer was quick to react, firing yet another grey arrow at the chunk of rock heading for Jenso, which exploded on impact and sent even smaller, but far sharper and fast shards of rocks at Jenso, aided by the propulsion of the explosion.

Scattered Shades: Arcadia Chronicles

@Necrophage At the moment I'm hoping that Whimsley will return, but if he doesn't by the send of August, I'll be cutting off his story and rushing this arc to its end so that I can start a new arc and re-open signups.

A Hero Tale {Complete}

Jenso dodged, but as he moved away from the impact zone, the arrow exploded behind him with tremendous force and sent huge chunks of rocks flying in every direction. The Archer backed away from Jenso effortlessly and fired another white ki arrow at his body, honed to a razor's edge.