A Dreamer's Knight

Chapter 1 - A Sign from Above

The tree definitely didn't belong there. It's not that it was a strange tree or anything; it wasn't particularly tall, didn't have oddly colored leaves or bark, and looked just like millions of other oak trees across the Earth. Of course, that was the problem; this wasn't Earth, it was Vinta, a planet so far from the blue ball of the sol system that it wasn't even a spark in the night sky.

While normal in appearance to its kin, the oak tree was tiny compared to the chronoan trees towering over it on all sides with their glistening silver bark and rounded leaves that folded in time with the rise of the moon ... that is to say, the moon of Everblue, which was only one of five orbiting the planet. That said, it looked normal as oak trees go, save for the young man sleeping against its trunk.

He looked human or Galden, depending on whether the one doing the looking hailed from Earth or Vinta: freckly skin, messy brown hair bound in a ponytail, old baggy clothes that hung loose on his body. He looked like a college student skiving off from class, and despite the oddness of the tiny oak among the chronoan trees, most likely wouldn't have given him a second glance.

That was just the way he liked it. Truth be told, he was skiving off, and the last thing he wanted was more attention. That's why he went there in the first place: The Chronaan woods were the largest on Vinta, which was itself pretty massive as planets go. Someone trying to find him in all that mess would need a lot of luck of luck or a good idea where to start.

That's the problem with trouble though; it doesn't have to be looking to find someone.

The air above the tree twisted and turned like a floating whirlpool. A mishmash of shifting colors made up the rapidly growing center, yet despite the chaotic appearance of the thing, it didn't make a sound. What did make a sound however was the form that abruptly fell through it, crashing through the upper branches of the trees toward the sleeping figure below.

Opening his eyes just in time to see something plummeting toward him from above, the fellow let out a strangled yelp before hurling himself aside mere moments before the other figure landed in a heap before him.

"The hell?" the man whispered, glancing up at the sky mere moments after the last vestiges of the strange phenomenon vanished. Pursing his lips, he glanced down at the figure that fell through the trees.

Metal plate armor covered much of this new stranger, much of it still bearing letters of the street signs from which it'd been fashioned. Most of the new stranger's gear bore signs of having been scavenged, save for his shirt and the two weapons sheathed at his side: a sword hilt with a small button in the grip and a two-foot blade with no grip held in a special sheath. His skin was tan and his fair faded to white at the very tips, but other than that he appeared as human (or Galden) as the fellow.

"Selanium," whispered the first figure as he brushed a finger against the newcomer's sleeve. "That and the armor ... this guy's a Knight of the Star ..."

Glancing skyward, he asked, "But what's he doing here?"

Receiving neither response or epiphany, the fellow shook his head and knelt beside the fallen knight. He reached forward, two fingers extended as his hand moved toward the side of the knight's neck.

Whether or not he was a knight, the man's eye's opened. The next few seconds were a blur of action, ending with the fellow now on his back while the knight stood above him with the hilt in his hand. There was a whisper of metal as a four-foot blade extended from the hilt, the business end less than an inch from the fellow's throat.

"Who-"

That was all the knight got out before he was suddenly thrown back as though some giant unseen hand flicked him away. The fellow rose to his feet, a disgruntled look on his face as he brushed the leaves and grass from his shirt. He barely finished before the tip of the sword was once again in close proximity to his face.