The Sketch: The Voyage of Soal

Paper Tents

At that moment it began to rain, and within seconds it was pouring, which stiffened Soal's armor. Nevertheless, he darted around the labyrinth of tents and rock to find Porter and a few troops, who were discussing a battle plan. "Porter! Porter!" Soal was out of breath as he warned the two lifelong soldiers of the incoming enemy. He didn't know who it was, but he was sure it was someone formidable. After all, Sickle gave out a dim light in the dark of night.

"We know, General Soal. You guide the army. I'll stay behind. Tell the archers to shoot when the time comes. Go in front of the camp, to the north, with the forces." Porter sped through his words, and the rain was so loud that Porter couldn't tell him again. But Soal was lost in thought. The expected commander had just told him to lead the army against an unknown enemy in the dark, gushing night, who had no past experience. But this was a chance to show the world that the Un-Character was here. And he was going to destroy Articulus. But he had to focus on the present. Soal froze in his tracks as the lookouts' alarm horn blared two loud notes, a low and a high. Its echoes boomed across the large camp, signaling all of the kiwi soldiers to instantaneously meet their general in the front, to the north. Kiwi and Retna were both in the front. Every single soldier was surprised to see that Soal was leading them. "Let's go! To the front," he shouted, and the kiwis seemed even more confused, twiddling the swords, bows, shields, and dragon crossbows that they were holding out of their armor. Porter just smiled back on the cliff.

But before Soal could move ahead, a bright splendor was seen far to the west. In a valley miles down (and miles away) from the camp, an explosion was seen, and looking back to the camp, one of the wooden lookout towers was no longer there. It was as though something had picked it up and thrown it. Something like... Soal had no time to wonder as he ran, sword and shield in hand, to the north front of the camp, where screams were heard. There, he stopped. The army of about four thousand jogged up behind him, swords outstretched, ready for battle. The fog and rain obscured the enemy, but Soal knew who it was just by looking at it. Because it blended in with the dark of night. It was Shadow Hand.

Behind them, tents, some filled with unfortunate kiwis, were sent sailing above the heads of the army behind Soal, as though they were made of paper. Then more and more tents. A few were kept in the basin, but most were thrown off of the cliff into the empty valley. More screams.

"Show yourself, monster!" Soal taunted to the covert enemy, who still did not appear. Apparently, Retna's Verbal Battle Session was worth learning. A few kiwis grumbled in anxiety. The tension was unbearable, and silence roamed for minutes on end. Several soldiers near the back left to Porter's side, who they felt safer beside. Retna fired a dragon on her crossbow, agitating the enemy.

Abruptly, an eighty-foot-high cloud of Dark Hands swarmed the camp, traveling incredibly fast, and in a dense wave. The kiwis had absolutely no time to react and most, especially near the front, were obliterated by the sweeping of the hands. Kiwi, Retna, and a few others were safe, but Soal was directly in the line of fire. Holding out his sword straight in front of him, every Dark Hand that touched Sickle's end was abolished, so he didn't need a shield. Soon, though, he leaped into action, and with his shield in front, ran through the cloud. It was like a semi-solid dust storm, with the hands being the dust. Finally, when the hands were much more scattered, and Soal had made it through them, he found Shadow Hand. Of course, Shadow Hand had no face, so Soal couldn't tell what he was scheming, but Soal knew that this apparition had been tracking him like a bloodhound ever since he arrived. A few kiwis had made it to this area as well, and Shadow Hand twiddled his thumb in tedium. It was his number one goal to meet the annoying Un-Character and kill him, so that Articulus could continue his plans, and would stop at nothing to do that. So that's why he formed a fist and charged towards Soal, but he held up his spiked shield, which Shadow Hand easily made a large dent in. It charged again, but Retna's battle training was useful, and he darted around the hand as it continuously missed his target. Each time its fury boiled up even more. Finally, it picked up Soal in the palm of his glove, and rose up far above the cliff. His hand became a fist once more. And it looked like Shadow Hand was going to throw him. It looked like the end for Soal.

Looking down at the battle, things weren't going well for the kiwis. Dark Hands were throwing them in the valley, and choking them, and brushing them away. Soal could even see two hands playing rock-paper-scissors with a kiwi. The hands won, scissors beats paper, and formed scissors with two fingers. It chopped the kiwi into two halves and its molecules disintegrated into the air that the kiwis were breathing. Soal knew he was responsible for all of these deaths, and he was certain they had lost at least a sixth of their army... already. Oh, the guilt! As Shadow Hand threw away Soal, he drifted through the thin air like a torpedo, Sickle in his hands.

But it was only through a stroke of extreme luck that Soal landed on an unimaginably bouncy trampoline, held at an angle by several kiwis on a lookout tower. He performed a few flips as he reflected, and was sent flying upward, back through the direction from which he came; unbeknownst to Shadow Hand. His sword in hand, held straight in front of him as though it was a spear, impaled the hand and punctured a hole in its palm that Soal flew right through, and a layer of soot masked his face! He landed on a large blanket of cloth, which he landed lightly on, and resumed the battle, if he could. The injured Shadow Hand was carried away by a few Dark Hands, up into the sky, who were followed by the entire swarm.

When the hands vanished into the heavens, all was silent as the kiwis recognized all of those they had lost. Soal's estimate was correct; about 650 soldiers had died. But 3,300 were still alive. The remaining cheered in accomplishment, and especially for Soal. Anter dashed up to Soal and jumped at him, knocking him to the ground, and gave him a bone-crushing hug. Kiwi, Retna, and Beak followed. "I knew you were still alive. You're the only reason we could have won the battle!" Anter rejoiced, but the others were more skeptical of their success. And Porter reminded everyone of the grim situation that was still happening.

"Fellow warriors," he shouted with a weak yet proud tone, "We have survived a rough night. But many did not. And we will not let such attacks come with such ambush. It will be our opportunity to use this strategy when we have more time. All warfare is based on deception, after all. But we must not let the enemy commit that act against us. Now, get back to your tents, if any are left. If not, then rest on the ground. Get a good night's sleep, we'll be needing it tomorrow for a long time coming."