The Sketch: The Voyage of Soal

For All Time

The sky was gray and black with clouds, a gloomy sign that it would rain a depressing storm any moment from then. Several dead, gray trees, all leaves deceased, rattled in the sinister breeze, as though they would fly out of their rootless, rocky source at any moment. And it only just so happened that two aggravated armies were clashing in the stone plain nearby.

The clatter and racket of swords and spears was awful; and the destruction of the living was terrifying to behold. As the bloody dead littered the barren plain, the Dark Soldiers were powerful, but Soal and his armies were gaining the upper hand as they were being stabbed and decapitated by the Dark Soldiers.

Okay, maybe I'm being a bit too dramatic.

The armies came closer, and closer, and every inch of the way, the intensity gathered. The komodo dragon's footsteps made the ground shudder. Soal was enthusiastic and wanted the battle as soon as possible, in a way that made even Retna (the one who took fun in destroying her foes) nervous. Finally, the swords and spears collided, and many kiwis were instantly injured. But Soal plowed through the enemy forces like wheat, but Sickle caught some of the black ooze. Briefly looking down, Soal noticed that the ooze had eaten away the part of the sword it had touched. It was broken! Apparently the Dark Soldiers had adopted a new strategy. Soal was careful not to touch them as he slashed at them with the sword, and had found a way to dispatch them without touching the murky blackness. He either stabbed in their red eyes, or he spun his sword around in a hurricane of fury, and knocked them all away around him. Retna fired her dragon crossbow at close range, exploding portions of the Dark Soldiers and putting them on fire, but their numbers were almost endless. Porter kicked around them with his hooves and slashed at them with his sword downward (similarly to how he did to Soal back in the Volcano after he had finished training). Surprisingly, this was quite effective. Many kiwis, though, relied only on their shields to survive.

Then the mountainous komodo dragon came- it was not happy, and it roared like a demented rattlesnake. It stomped the ground, crushing many kiwis, and it spun in a circle as a form of attack. Taking bites of attacks out of the kiwi military, something strange happened. All kiwis it killed were regurgitated as their Dark Soldier form, who were working against their former kin. A good many Dark Kiwis were added to the battle as well, but the living kiwis took a stand, and gained the upper hand, despite the Dark Soldiers' new tactics. When the immense lizard aimed for Soal, it was not a pretty sight.

Jumping and hanging onto its hefty tail, Soal barely managed to cling it as it attempted to shake him off. He climbed and climbed, and reached the back. Despite the Dark Dragon's efforts, it could not shake off Soal as he smiled and drew Sickle once more. Stabbing its back with substantial force, the creature moaned in pain and Soal verbally motivated himself. "That one's for my parents!" He stabbed it again with yet more effort. "For Kiwi!" And again. "For Porter!" And more, and more, and dominated the now weak Dark Dragon. "For Retna!" "For Anter!" "For the Great Sea!" "For Kiwi-kind!" and finally, "For All Time." He jabbed a devastating final blow to the monster, and it collapsed to the ground and started oozing into a puddle as Soal slid off its snout to the mainland. Kissing the ground, he continued the battle, slashing away a few idle Dark Soldiers nearby. But it wasn't just them- the entire enemy army had frozen.

Looking behind him, the rest of the army was equally perplexed. As Soal turned back, the entire army of Dark Soldiers transformed into a black, electric spark that quickly ascended into the clouds, completely disappearing. Perhaps the Dark Dragon was the cork that protected the water in the bottle. But its puddle was shrinking and forming a shape that was floating above its death point. That shape became a familiar face. It was Showl!

Before Soal could react or attack, Showl swiftly fluttered over to Soal and picked him up by his talons, and began to fly away very hastily into the skies above, where the sparks were waiting for him. Arrows were shot, but they all flew right through him. Showl carried Soal all the way above the hideous clouds, where he could hardly breath, and the dark owl stopped flying. Then it whooed its trademark haunting who. "Who. Who. Who Who. Who. Who Who."

With this, Soal had gained an opportunity to strike. Slowly drawing the damaged Sickle from its sheath, he expeditiously stabbed up Showl's throat in the middle of its whooing! Then, it became a spark, too, and fled to the heavens. It was indeed a strange sight.

But because of that, Soal lost his grip (as the dark glow was not solid) and fell through the dreary clouds, forming a hole in his shape. He kept falling, right to the spot where he had been picked up. It was a bizarre coincidence that he was saved by his Interloper powers once more, and that he stopped inches above the ground before drifting back up to his feet. Brushing off his metallic gloves, Porter and the army stared in bewildered astonishment, they soon got back to business. "Alright, let's keep moving!" Porter hollered to the troops in sudden conclusion. And they kept moving. But as they did, Soal thought about his vision, and of course, battle plans.