"Have you got everything?" Clara asked like a worried parent, as she watched Fishy and Ziu lug their small bags onto the horses that would take them into the forest.
"I think so. I can't imagine we'll be gone that long." Fishy replied, double-checking in case he was missing something. "Should be back by tomorrow."
The village stood around as Fishy and Ziu departed. They rode their horses out the village with Beauty watching next to the elder. The elder stared at Beauty whilst she didn't move or even smile.
"Why can't you get involved?" The elder asked. "I'm sure you'll easily beat whatever creature lives in your forest."
"No reason. I just need to teach him the harsh realities of the world." Beauty spoke without looking away from the ones who departed, still able to see them in the distance.
"I see." The old man scoffed, to Beauty's disgust.
"Ugh," She replied as if her elegance had been a mask all along. "How old are you now, old man?"
# # #
Despite the sun being directly above, the forest was as dark as night. The trees hung overhead whilst Fishy and Ziu carefully traversed over the hundreds of roots that poked through the ground, trying to trip up unwanted visitors. The two of them abandoned their horses before entering. They didn't know how large it was and couldn't even fit one horse in. Both of them walked down with only a small lantern and a strange orb to light the way. It was a blue orb, the colour of the sea, it created a small red line within it that pointed to the location they needed to go. Beauty claimed it would point to the beast and the others went along blindly with it.
The forest was still with only the leaves they crushed to keep them company. Ziu kept his right hand on his sword, gripping it tighter as they got closer to the location. Even without magic, they could feel the air getting tighter. Fishy led, taking them both only to what can a small light source in the middle of the forest. A tiny area that the trees circled as if trapping anyone in. Exactly like a battlefield.
The two of them snuck up into a bush and peaked over the top, looking at the small area that housed a strange creature. From behind anyone would assume it was abandoned, a brown humanoid shape bent over a red coat. As it stood up with its creaky bones, it became clearer to Fishy what he was looking at. A pale brown marionette that stood over 8ft tall looked down to the dirt as the coat slowly squirmed, with bits of blonde hair poking out. As boring as it looked, Fishy and Ziu didn't underestimate it. The two of them couldn't see the front of the creature. They didn't need to see it. Neither of them could move. They couldn't take their eyes off it as it circled around the coat.
They were reminded of what they had just experienced with Beauty. The same thought from before even continued in their head.
They've never opened their eyes so wide before, making sure they don't die. As if they were caught in a bear trap and their brains had convinced their bodies that they should give up.
"What do we do?" Ziu whispered but Fishy didn't respond. His breathing was becoming uneasy as he failed to control it. He stared at the marionette which had stopped moving and picked up two pieces of metal off the floor. Two giant claymores, one in each hand, bigger than the beast itself.
"ZIU, GET DOWN!" Fishy turned around to force Ziu down, only just able to dodge the swing that came at them from the marionette which appeared next to them.
The small glade that they stood in quickly expanded before their eyes. Each tree fell into one another with most crashing against the floor. The coat reacted to the noise and stood up, a face appeared from within that Fishy saw, a small girl with short blonde hair was occupying that hood.
"THERE'S A GIRL!" Fishy screamed before the next swing came. "I'll go get her! You keep this thing at bay!"
Fishy jumped at the next opportunity to leave Ziu to handle the marionette. He leapt to the girl who was struggling to move and check her neck for a pulse. A pulse faint enough that one would normally give up, but Fishy didn't. He took out a small potion from his pocket and quickly forced it to the girl whose eyes were quickly going blank.
She quietly coughed in reaction to what she just drank and opened her eyes to see Fishy who was amazed that it worked that quickly. By the time Fishy turned around his smile had dropped. The marionette's claymores that were silver became red from top to bottom. As both pierced through Ziu's body hanging him in the air, the blood continued to drip.