The Dink Network

Yep, I began writing Wild ARMs book 2 a while back. It's still about the first game obviously, and continues from the last book. This one will be much longer, and I am aiming this one to be much better as well. I started another thread cause no people seemed to take interest in the other one anymore, so I needed an evil plan for you to check this out.

Here's the first chapter. It may seem long, but I think it's pretty good. It may start off a little rusty, but gets better towards the end.

Chapter 1
The Mountain Pass

One week from the date of the attack...

Rudy and Jack were preparing theirself in the bedchamber of Adlehyde Castle. On Jack's right shoulder, pushing the well-built man's long, blond hair out of it's face, was a blue Wind Mouse, with a long tail and furry ears, named Hanpan. It was facing Rudy, the fifteen year-old, blue haired boy with a band-aid on his cheek and was worried for him. Their upcoming adventure was not for such a young boy, but there was nothing the Wind Mouse could do to keep him from coming with them.
"This is our destiny!", Jack encouraged the two, "The three of us going after the monsters". Hanpan knew very well that the 'third person' was not himself, but the seventeen year-old princess, who was waiting for them in her chamber. The blue Wind Mouse's thoughts were stopped, as Jack turned around and sighed:
"I really don't want to do this, but we must fetch the princess. We're running out of time".
They left the bedroom, and walked through the hallways of the castle, occasionally nodding at the few knights who passed them by. They decided to take the shorter way, through the barracks. As the three came to the end of the stairway, they were greet with a horrible sight of a destroyed Adlehyde. The houses were mostly burned with some of them collapsed or about to. The sky was still covered in somewhat of dark clouds and ash, from the fire that they all were in, a week ago. Surprisingly, the stone walls, which surrounded the town and separated it from the plains, seemed to have survived from the demons' attack.
Rudy and Jack, along with Hanpan on his shoulder, continued through the barracks, soon arriving to the other side of the castle. They stepped into the hallways and were soon at the door of Princess Cecilia's room.

As they opened the door, and stepped into the princess' room, a familiar, young girl was waiting for the three, in a somewhat unfamiliar outside appearance.
Her golden hair, which she had placed a hairband over, didn't even reach to her shoulders, anymore, and she was wearing some sort of an old, blue coat and a green skirt.
As Jack and Cecilia walked over to Cecilia, she giggled and joked:
"Do you like my hair? It's a lot easier to manage". Her grin was soon faded away as she took a more serious attitude.
"I can't sit and cry forever", she explained, "I'm waiting for the rainbow after the rain stops. I'll be strong again. Please, take me with you".
The three exited the chamber, and headed into the Council Room, which was on the same floor. The knight, who was guarding at the Council Room's door, smiled at them and let the party enter.
The room was raelatively empty, with only a few wooden chairs here and there, a big
table in the center, layed on a blue carpet. On the wall was a map of Filgaia, and some windows where the sun dimly shined through. Behind the table, an old familiar man, with some white hairs in the middle of his bald, was examining some pergaments while waiting for Cecilia and her companions.
"Minister Johan?", Cecilia asked the old man who seemed to be lost in his own thoughts. The old man lifted his face from the table and for a while looked like he had seen a ghost. Then he remembered.
"Oh yes, I invited you here before you leave", he smiled. Cecilia and Jack walked over to the minister, while Rudy stayed in the doorway, leaning to the wall. Minister Johan sighed:
"I hate the fact that you're carrying the burden by yourselves". He paused and tried to take a more positive tone into his voice, "But, our future depens on your journey". Cecilia smiled at the old man.
"Don't worry", she said, "For the glory of Adlehyde and Filgaia, I shall reclaim the *Tear Drop*". She then paused for a few seconds, clearly to everybody in the room, thinking long and hard before saying her next words.
"The Water Guardian, *Stoldark*, has spoken to me about the danger", she explained, "If you say I am the Shaman Princess of the Guardians, then I'm proud to be the Innocent One". Rudy, Jack and Hanpan, all looked at eachother, obviously a little stunned at what they had just heard. Who was even more stunned, was Minister Johan, who just barely managed to get the words out from his mouth:
"The princess had a vision. There is no doubt now. You must follow your destiny, Princess". The minister glimpsed at the map, hanging on the other side of the room.
"Go west, through the Mountain Pass and you will find the town of Milama", he guided, "There, you'll find a large shrine. If you are the Innocent One, then you must go there". Cecilia looked at Rudy and Jack, who were just staring. She shrugged:
"I don't know anything about being a shaman. But if I can be of any help, I'll deal with whatever is expected of me". She turned to face her companions and smiled.
"Let's go!". They walked out from the Council Room, Cecilia, for one for time, looking at Minister Johan, who smiled at her, with tears in his eyes.

As they made their way to the entrance of the castle, some of the knights, guarding even more effective, than in the past, gave the three some words of encouragement. Cecilia smiled at them, while Rudy and Jack kept a more serious face.
"We should buy some better equipment before we leave", Jack said, and Rudy, along with Cecilia and Hanpan, agreed.
Cecilia and Jack went to the shop, which was also protected by a guarding Adlehyde knight now. As Jack bought a new sword, along with some antidote leeves and Cecilia bought a new staff, Rudy went to the inn and bought some bullets for his Hand Cannon.
As they met at the town's gates, no words were exhanged between the four. They walked out.
For the next 16 hours, the companions travelled north-west from where they had left. The plains were empty and the only animals they saw were birds flying in the clouds. After they had gotten through a small, thick forest, Jack informed:
"We'll take a slow start. Keep a small break here, and eat something". Rudy and Cecilia, nor Hanpan for that matter, had any complaints. They all sat down and began
searching for food inside the backpack that Rudy had been carrying all the way from Adlehyde. They found some bread, and began eating slowly. The only thing that could be heard for the next while was the four adventurers chewing on the, what tasted many months old, bread. Their all heads rised though, when Cecilia suddenly asked Jack what was the first thing up against them. Jack explained:
"Mountain Pass. It may sound like just a passage through the mountains, but there are lots of poisonous monsters in that place".
"How long will it take to get through?", Cecilia questioned. Jack sighed:
"I have been in there before. It is a dark and filthy place. The fastest time of getting through has been around ten hours", he took a deep breath and gazed upon his friends, "And if it's anything like last time I was in there, I'm aiming for two".
They finished eating and continued for another hour until they arrived at a long stone bridge. On the other side of the river under them, was a huge set of mountains, which continued until forever. On the other side of the bridge, they could just make out a small hole in the mountain wall. Once they had crossed the bridge, they entered inside the mountain.

The light was dim inside, at first, with only two big torches set burning to bring some visibility to the place. The air was filled with a smell of rotting bodies and poison.
At the entrance, two guards were standing, holding long spears. They only said:
"Dangerous winds blow through the Mountain Pass. Please be careful". The three friends nodded and entered through a small doorway to darkness.

The smell of poison got worse as the three made it deeper. The light from the torches couldn't be seen anymore, all that was around them was darkness. As they used their hands to feel around, they found some torches, but none of them were set burning.
Suddenly Cecilia screamed and they all collapsed in a big pile, except for Hanpan who was safely taking his naps inside Jack's pocket.
"Shhh, Cecilia! You'll wake the monsters up. That is, if they're even asleep", Jack complained.
"Don't hush me", was Cecilia's reply soon heard, "I think I touched something that wasn't a wall". As the three got up, Jack's hand found something metallic laying on the ground.
"Hey, I found something", he whispered. Cecilia screamed:
"I knew I wasn't making it up, even though sometimes I surprise myself with my imagination!".
"No, not anything like that. I think it's a lighter", Jack said as he stumbled up. He switched the lighter on and thy soon had some visibility around them.
But as Jack led the torch on the wall, it revealed something sitting on the ground, laying it's back against the wall. It was a human skeleton.
"I knew it, I knew it, I knew it!", Cecilia screamed and disappeared into the shadows, running for her life.
"Oh crap", Jack said out loud, "We've gotta catch her".
They ran after Cecilia, with Jack lighting the room somewhat, with the lighter, trying to desperately find their way through the maze of a place.
Soon they could see a doorway with daylight coming in through. They entered to the bright sunlight to find Cecilia laying on the ground. Over him, was flying a black creature, with giant wings like a bat’s and a body of a human. With the long claws in it’s toes, it tried to grab Cecilia, but was unable to.
“Help me, get this Harpy off of me!”, Cecilia screamed at the two. Hanpan, whom was now sitting on Jack’s shoulder, leaped towards the Harpy and managed to bite one of it’s eyes out. The Harpy screamed in pain and flew away. Cecilia stumbled onto her feet.
“Quite a help you guys were”.
“Well excuseme, but it ain’t my everyday job to save a damsel in distress”, Jack shot at the princess and helped Hanpan back up inside his coat’s collar. He then laid eyes around their surroundings. They were on a 10 feet ledge, with miles of drop under them. He glimpsed at Rudy, who was making sure Cecilia was alright. He then noticed some big birds above them, flying in a circle and smiled at their beauty. His smile soon turned into a horror as the three birds flew down towards them, and turned out to be three Harpies. The one which had attacked Cecilia earlier, had now come back with two friends.
One of them charged towards Jack, grabbing his sword and dropped it down the edge. While Jack was concentrating on his falling sword, another of the Harpies came flying into his back, knocking him down.
The third Harpy, the one with the now missing eye, had backed Rudy and Cecilia against the mountain’s wall. Rudy, using all the power within him, summoned his ARM into his hand. As the Harpy saw this, it quickly flew away to the horizont. Rudy took a step towards the other two Harpies, who were all over Jack and Hanpan, and pointed his Hand Cannon at them. They, too, flew away following the other Harpy. Rudy waited for a while, making sure the Harpies wouldn’t come back, and then summoned the Hand Cannon away.

Jack stumbled onto his feet, worrying for his two friends.
“Are you two alright?”. Rudy nodded, and helped Cecilia get up.
“It is a beautiful view up here”, Jack said, “I doubt those Harpies will be returning any time soon, thanks to Rudy”, he smiled and gave the boy a wink, “Let’s use this opportunity and take a quick break before continuing”.

They sat down on the grassy ledge, all leaning into the mountain to prevent anyone from falling off, and to savor the beautiful view.
They spent a while, just sitting there, not saying a word. After around half an hour, Rudy took the backpack off of him, and began searching it for food. He tossed two breads to Jack and Cecilia. The boy then broke the last bread in two, and put the other half in the backpack, in case of an emergency.
“Hanpan, I know you’d like some food, so come out of my dang collar”, Jack teased his little Wind Mouse.
“No way am I coming out until we’re out of this place!”, Hanpan screamed. They took another half an hour eating and resting, when Jack finally stood up, speaking:
“The winds seem to be getting worse. Believe me, we want to get back inside the mountain before the winds get too strong”. The three continued their way on the mountain ledge, with everyone occasionally searching their sights for any more Harpies. Hanpan, who was now sitting on Cecilia’s shoulder, encouraged the girl, who was still shocked of the Harpies.
”It’s okay”, she said, ”It’s not the first time I’ve ran into monsters. I was just caught unaware”.
”Yes, sometimes even average things, when unexpected, can shock you for life”, the Wind Mouse explained. Jack laughed:
”Since when did you become such a philosopher?”. Hanpan leaped on Jack’s shoulder, launching his verbal counterattack:
”Since the day I have had to aid you and your thick skull, Jack”.

Jack, Rudy, Cecilia and Hanpan followed the mountain’s ledge for the next hour, until they finally came to a small, wooden bridge that hung between a small gap in the ledge. Hanpan yawned:
”This is getting very tiresome. I wish we were out of this place. I think I’m gonna go sleep in your collar, Jack”. Jack wasn’t paying attention to his Wind Mouse, but rather at the endurance of the old bridge.
”I think it’s safe to cross”, he informed his two friends, and they began crossing the bridge.
They managed to get around halfway over the bridge, when the increasing wind knocked Rudy off the bridge.
”Rudy!”, Cecilia screamed. She realized Rudy had fallen off, and that there was no way he could have survived the fall alive. Jack grabbed Cecilia and quickly carried her over the bridge, before any more powerful winds would start blowing. He gazed to the bridge, to find a happy sight. Rudy was hanging from the bridge, desperately pulling himself up. Jack pointed at Rudy:
”Look Cecilia!”. The princess now saw Rudy too. The fifteen-year-old boy managed to pull himself on the bridge, and then carefully balanced over the rest of the bridge.

”Boy, you sure had us worried there”, Jack smiled at Rudy, ”Let’s continue. I want to get out of this place before the sun sets”.

They continued onward for a few minutes, until they came to another hole in the mountain’s wall. They stepped in.
Inside, there were long stone stairs, and in the end they saw daylight. The daylight from both ways gave them a pretty good view, and they could make out dark holes in the walls that surrounded the stairs.
They began stepping down the stairs, with Jack in the front, Rudy last and Cecilia in between them, because the stairs were too narrow for them to walk side-by-side. The poisonous smell that didn’t reach to outside was once again clear in the air, and this time it seemed even stronger.
Suddenly, a gigantic purple bear jumped out from one of the holes in the walls. It grabbed Rudy by his shoulders and crushed him against the wall with a horriying strength. Rudy tried to battle back, but the bear was just too strong.
”dang those Gallowbears!”, Jack cursed, ”I forgot about them”. He swinged his sword right into the bar’s back, but it had no effect. The bear now turned to face Jack. It swinged it’s huge paw and knocked Jack’s sword out of his hands. The treasure hunter tried to search for Hanpan in his coat’s pockets, to see if the little Wind Mouse had any bright ideas.
”Wait, that’s it. Bright”, Jack thought, ”Gallowbears live in these dark caves, so they must not be used to bright lights”. He then immediately pulled out the lighter he had found a while ago, and turned it on. The bear seemed got a little hesitated, but the fire of the lighter was not bright enough. Jack then yelled:
”Cecilia, do you know any bright spells?”
”Well, I know a fireball spell. Will that be of any good?”, the princess asked.
”Yes”, Jack responded, ”Shoot a wall of fire inbetween us and the Gallowbear”.
”But Rudy is still there”, Cecilia said, ”We can’t just leave him there”.
”Don’t worry, I’ll go get him. You just handle the spell”, Jack said.
The Gallowbear had now turned it’s attention to Rudy, whom was laying on the ground. As it was about to deliver another shot with it’s paw, Jack slid between it’s legs, and lifted Rudy on his shoulder. But before he managed to run, the bear bit Rudy on his shoulder.
”Dammit!”, Jack yelled, ”Just hang on Rudy”. He ran back to Cecilia, and the girl casted her fireball spell on the ground, which instantly created a big wall of fire between the monster and the three humans. The bear roared and backed away into the same hole it had come out from.
Jack took a firmer grip of Rudy, and the the two, with Cecilia, continued their path down the stairs with the wall of fire continuing to rage behind them.

When they had made their way down the stairs, they came to two men holding spears, positioned similarly to the guards at the other entrance of the Mountain Pass.
As the three made their way through the hole in the mountain, the two men who were guarding didn’t even seem to notice them, nor that Rudy was injured.

Outside, where the setting sun had colored the cloudy sky red, Cecilia began cursing:
”How rude those two men were! They didn’t even pay attention to Rudy”.
”It’s worse than you think”, Jack responded. He noticed Cecilia’s questioning face and explained:
”He got bit by the Gallowbear. Their teeth are poisonous”. Cecilia kneeled next to Rudy and began examining him. She found the bitemarks on his shoulder, but came to conclusion:
”I don’t have anyt spells that can cure poisoning”. Hanpan, who had come out of Jack’s coat’s collar once again, was walking in circles, nervously trying to come up with some conclusion to the situation.
”The water town of Milama is to the south”, Jack said, ”There should be a priest that can take care of this in there. But we need to move fast, Rudy might not survive until next morning. All I can do right now is give him some of these Antidote Leafs”. He opened Rudy’s mouth, put some Antidote Leags in, which Rudy almost unconsciously swallowed.
”Come on, we’ve gotta leave south. We don’t have much time to reach Milama”, Jack said. Cecilia got up and took Hanpan on her shoulder, while Jack lifted Rudy on his.
They began making their way south.

The journey was not easy. The plains the three humans were walking through, was long and deserted, and having to carry Rudy made their journey twice longer.
It was already night-time, and the sun had set under the horizont. Millions of stars were shining in the night-sky.
Hanpan had fell asleep inside Cecilia’s pocket. Rudy was in a bad condition, and had begun sweating. Jack stopped and lowered Rudy onto the ground. He began speaking:
”I know I said we don’t have much time, but we have got to rest. The way through the Mountain Passage was a difficult task on its own. But this just makes it even more difficult”.
”But what if Rudy doesn’t make it?”, Cecilia cried. Jack sighed:
”Rudy is a strong kid. I bet I can keep him in a somewhat good condition with these Antidote Leafs. Besides, resting is only gonna do good to him. It will do good to all of us”.
Jack and Cecilia placed Rudy in a good position on the ground. Jack went off to look for some wood to start a good campfire. Cecilia waited next to Rudy. However, she soon fell asleep.

She woke up to the smell of smoke. Jack was treating Rudy next to her, and Hanpan was sitting at the campfire, which was where the smell of smoke was coming from. She sat next to Hanpan.
”So, what do you think?”, she asked the Wind Mouse. Hanpan looked at her for a while.
”About what?”
”Well, do you think Rudy’s gonna make it?”
”Well, poison is usually deadly”, Hanpan sighed, ”But Rudy is a strong kid, I am sure he can make it”. Cecilia, who now sighed in response, told the Wind Mouse:
”I just wish Jack wouldn’t be so rash with his actions. He doesn’t understand that Rudy could die”.
”He understands”, the little mouse explained, ”Sure, he can be a little thick skulled at times, but he cares about the boy. But he also knows how unforgiving the wilderness can be. Trust me, this rest will do you good”, Hanpan sighed again, ”However, I’m not sure if it will do Rudy any good, like Jack presumes”.
The two looked back to Jack who was treating Rudy with the Antidote Leafs. Cecilia continued:
”It’s not only about Rudy. We don’t have time forever until the demons are able to use the *Tear Drop* for destruction”. Hanpan smiled at the girl:
”Don’t worry about that at the moment. Worry about Rudy, because without him, we may not have a chance to get the *Tear Drop* back”.
Cecilia soon fell asleep again.

She woke up with her eyes glancing at the beautiful yellow sky caused by the rising sun. She got up to see Rudy and Jack, along with Hanpan on his shoulder, sitting at the campfire which had almost burnt out.
“Rudy!”, she joyed as she saw him in a much better condition. Rudy turned his head around and smiled.
“How are you doing?”, Cecilia asked. Rudy looked at the ground, his smile turning into what almost seemed like shame.
“A little better”, he said with a dry and a very low voice, “But I still need some help with standing up and walking”. He then turned his face back towards the campfire. Jack patted Rudy on his shoulder and encouraged the boy:
“Don’t worry, we’ll help you. You are a tough guy, you know that? Many people would be dead in your position”.
“Eh, Jack”, Cecilia stopped him, “I’m not sure that’s such a nice thing to hear. Especially if you’re in his position”. Jack swallowed hard and quickly corrected himself:
“I mean…”, but Rudy cut him off:
“Don’t worry”.
They ate some Heal Berries that Jack had found during his search for wood, last night. When the sun had almost risen past the horizont, Jack stumped the campfire into pieces and said:
“That should keep any monsters unaware of our presence. Okay, let’s continue”. He picked Rudy up from under his shoulder, and told him to lean onto him.

They continued south, until they came to two signs which said:
“East to Sand River”, with an arrow to their left, and “South to the water village of Milama”, with an arrow to their forward.
“We’re heading to Milama”, Jack said and they continued forward.

Hanpan hopped on Cecilia’s shoulder and spoke:
“Well, what did I tell you? It was better to rest. If we didn’t, we would all be beat right now”. Cecilia nodded:
“Yes, I see now. I was just tired and worried last night, that’s all”. Hanpan smiled at the girl, and they continued their way.

It was past noon, when in the distance they could see a great sight of a small town. It’s houses and streets made of stone, and around the streets, was growing great amounts of well-cut grass. In the town’s canals, which were all around the place, was flowing water, making sounds of pure beauty.
It was such a relaxing sight for Jack, Rudy, Cecilia and Hanpan, that they didn’t even notice that their feet had already carried them into the town..

“Take Rudy into the church”, Jack told Cecilia and Hanpan. “I’ll go buy us some equipment from the stores.
While Cecilia and Hanpan did as they were told, Jack searched around the town and met a salesman who sold him a great sword with an incredibly small price. He also told about many of his kind, who came through the cave to the east a long time ago. Jack then went to the shop and bought some more food, Heal Berries, and other equipment. This shopkeeper, friendly also, told him that if Jack needed anything, he should just go to the pub. Many of travellers apparently visited there.
Jack went to the church, where a calming sight awaited him. The priest, with his magical abilities, had healed Rudy. And the boy was now standing next to Cecilia and Hanpan, with a big smile on his face. A big grin was now forming on Jack’s face too.
“Good to see you back in full strength, kid”.