The Sketch: The Voyage of Soal

In the Face of the Mountain

The blue-gray brick walls were covered in ivy; the tiled floor echoed every time one stepped on it; the windows gathered dust like a penny to a magnet; and mushrooms grew in the rocky soil that was emerging from between the flooring.

"There's something unsettling about this place. It's as though something is going to leap at us any moment," Kiwi shivered in suspicion, and they both kept walking. The halls were dead silent aside from the duo's footsteps, and the occasional insect colony in the corners of rooms. Every chamber looked just the same; the bricks, the armor stand with some armor that had been unused for centuries, and the filthy windows. In some rooms, immense cobwebs filled the whole space, which made chills go down Soal's spine. He hated bugs, but he hated spiderwebs more, especially when they got all over him. So they avoided that room. But that was easy; because the entire fortress was a maze of dungeons and armories, lobbies and outdoor bridges; and so neither could find their way. Finally when they made it to the central Archer's Overpass, they saw the true scale of the fortress. That bridge went all the way from the left wall to the right, and a staircase (a shortcut to the top and bottom) ran through the middle. It was almost as though this fortress was designed to be symmetrical. If it was, then that meant the treasure Porter spoke of lied in the heart of the center. But how could they make it there? Surely they hadn't been there before. So that's when Kiwi made the decision.

"How about," he suggested, "You and I split up. I'll look for a way in the left side, and you'll find a way in the right. The one who makes it first will meet the other there. Alright?"

"Alright," Soal agreed, and they both parted ways. So it was that Kiwi went to the left and Soal left to the right. But neither had gone up the stairway, where there was probably a ladder down to the central room. No one had thought of that except Retna, who had went down that ladder. Porter looked to find another entrance, because he couldn't climb through such narrow places, or ladders such as those. So he had trotted off into Soal's right side earlier than they had, and found his own directions.

"Hello?" Retna called out through the central hall, wondering if any of her friends were nearby. None were. Looking around, she saw a grand hall, similar to a throne room with a high ceiling and broad walls. At the end of the hall laid a sword with a standard black hilt, but its blade was made of a Pure Light crystals, like the one the Most Knowledgeable One had treated to Retna. And its surface was largely craggy and irregular, like a serrated bar of diamond one might find in a mine. Even more abnormal was the fact that empty husks of knights' armor were standing at the edges of the walls near the middle. They were clasping peculiarly lengthy swords, stretching all the across half the room to meet the sword of its opposite side. Retna tried to pass them to reach the weird sword, but when she moved herself up, the swords moved to block her, and when she knelt to crawl beneath them, the swords fell down to the floor with her. These were speedy (yet creepily lifeless) suits of Middle-aged armor, and would not let the Lubreighan queen pass. If only Kiwi were here, she thought, then he could just fly over these suits and get the sword. But things just didn't work that way as of now. "Poop," she moaned, and wandered about the foyer in search of a way through.

Meanwhile, in a passage deep within Flameberg, Soal made out a sinister noise, like a Who. It could be Showl coming back to haunt him! Drawing the broken Sickle, he walked more carefully, and followed the source of the noises that he perceived as ha-ha-Ha's and hisses. It sounded like a monster was hungry and searching for a meal somewhere in this very fortress. Kiwi on the other side did the same thing, in his clanking armor as well. After, say, twenty minutes of following the cacophony, the two bumped into each other in a heart-shaped lobby two rooms prior to the grand sword hall. Soal jumped out in a surprise attack, and Kiwi just hid in the shadows, until they knew it was the other. Oh, how grateful they must have felt to have been traced to the heart of the building, in the same place! Now there was only one place to go- to the monster's dwelling! Creepily sneaking towards the central hall, their steps resonated throughout the building, and more malicious sounds were heard from the monster; finally Soal and Kiwi charged into the foyer with full force and swords outstretched, ready to avenge the hideous beast!

But they stopped in their tracks with a dumbfounded look on their faces as they saw that it was really just Retna, strutting about in the main room waiting for them. However, she was the first one to speak. "Well, have you come to play a game? Been brainwashed? Well, I'm not interested; so come back some other time if you want to kill me." Porter stepped out from behind a wall as well, as though to show his pride and concern.

"Well, I'd be wrong!" Soal laughed with his small friend, "We thought you were a monster because we heard your monologue distorted through these halls. What idiots we've become. Ha!"

"There's that glowing sword!" Kiwi exclaimed in a sudden switch of attitude, and began to fly over the heads of the knights in sight of the sword. "Kiwi at your service, Soal. Here to get you your sword," Soal chuckled, but Porter frowned, but had no time to warn Kiwi of his injury. As he landed and laid his soft, triangular wing on the sword's hilt, attempting to pull it from the dirt it was situated in, he reached for the handle.

But when he did, the sting was so horrible, and the pain was so burning yet so freezing, Kiwi was knocked to the floor and writhed in agony. Retna and porter tried to get past the armors' swords to help Kiwi, but they could not pass. But Soal just pranced the whole way, as the knights lifted their swords and stepped back as a sign of respect towards the Un-Character. They didn't let anyone follow him. Soal smiled as he walked across, but then frowned at the sight of Kiwi and his injury. Holding him in his arms, Soal patted his stomach, which caused something miraculous. He coughed and suddenly felt better again. Soal was surprised, but he was certain it was his Interloper powers acting up again. This would be helpful in battle! But it only seemed to happen sometimes, because there were certain times of day when it worked. The Un-Character laid Kiwi to his feet again, and walked to the cursed blade. Kiwi warned him that the same would happen, but Soal just pulled the majestic sword from its foundation and stared at its beauty. Kiwi, Porter and Retna were also astonished. A faint glow emanated from its pointed, irregular blade. Walking back through the squadron of armor suits with Kiwi under his arm, he held the sheath-less sword, and held it above his head, inspecting every corner of it. How could this sword possibly be light enough to wield in battle? Why was it so strangely shaped? But as these questions ran through his mind, Porter told him all of it.

"This sword," he explained, "is made up of Pure Light crystals, the kind Retna possesses. That's why it's so hunky, and it glows. You, General Soal, as the Un-Character, are the only one worthy of using this sword. That's why Kiwi was injured trying to grab it, and it is impossible for evil forces to even go near that sword."

"Wait... you mean I don't deserve that sword?!" Retna joked in a whisper.

"But how did the Dark Soldiers steal another copy of this sword," Soal questioned, "back in Kiwi City, they were holding it and trying to keep it away from me."

"That is another version of the sword, the one they are using... the Blade of Dark Light. They are scheming of using it to kill you in the same you are going to use it to kill one of our enemies. They want nothing more than to wipe you off the face of the Great Sea. But the reason we came here to take this sword is because it is the only weapon capable of piercing Shadow Hand's built-in armor."

"But I impaled way back when, when he came to our tent in the first battle," Soal defended his opinion, "and I was using Sickle!"

"That just went through him," Porter said, "It didn't kill him. We need this blade to destroy the nuisance that is Shadow Hand, and all of the Dark Hands, too. If we can, we must use it in our next battle when he will likely appear. But that will really stir up Articulus, and cause him to rally against the entire universe. Shadow Hand was his general he sent out to stop you, so if it fails, he'll come to us in person... er... ah.... creature.

"Now we best be returning to the camp, as it's getting dark out already. Time flies, hmm? Well, hurry after me. We don't want to be caught by Articulus's spies." So they left, with the new sword in their... well, Soal's... hands.