Note: This note is addressed to the anonymous writer of the chapter, "The Duel Between Pegasus and Monster Begins" and the note he or she wrote to me. Since this is not a forum, I'll be brief. First and foremost, thank you for your concern. You deserve a explanation for my intentions. I also write to improve my skills as a writer. But that is not my only reason to write on this site. Whenever a writer diverges from another writer, I can't help but feel saddened by the ideas left behind. My intention is to make sure everyone's ideas count in some way, shape or form, no mater how ridiculous or incompatible they may seem. When I am writing a chapter based off of someone else's chapter, I use the original as a base. They may seem copy and pasted because I'm really just polishing out the original and adding more to it and make it more open for ideas from other writer's ideas to be included. Sometimes, I add original sections but a lot of whats already there does not need to be changed. I don't mean it as a sign of disrespect or laziness, but as a way to get everyone's ideas for Isaac's story to be in one universe. That is my mentality. Whenever I write a original chapter, it's to present my own ideas or to bridge ideas or chapters of others together into one cohesive story line. With that said, for the chapters, "Even Cloud Animals are Inocent." and "A Chalenge between Man and Horse.", I didn't put much effort into them because they were just placeholder chapters to keep the story moving in case anyone wanted to add to them while I was gone during the 2-day thanksgiving break. My plan was to write my own versions of those chapters but I ran out of time to finish them before the break. Basically, I have no access to the internet on thanksgiving break, so I posted lazy copy and pasted chapters to fill in the space while I'm gone. I apologize for that. My biggest concern is to be diverged from another writer and forced to write chapters by myself, while other writers are followed by other writers. I can keep writing chapters and stringing ideas together but I can only do things by myself for so long until I eventually lose motivation to write if it seems no one is interested. I am not trying to hog the spotlight but I also don't want to be alone. I want to take my time and "add my own flair" to chapters, but that takes time. Sometimes it takes days or weeks to write a single chapter. I don't want to be left behind so I constantly feel the need to rush myself in order to stay relevant. I'm sorry if I seem to not be putting in much effort lately. Your note really touched me and reaffirmed my beliefs whether that was your intention or not. I'll try to take my time writing chapters but life sometimes gets in the way and I worry of falling behind or losing motivation. With that said, enjoy the chapter. I hope this note was not too long. I don't want this note to be considered a comment.
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"Let's keep going to the mountains. With my weight, there is no guarantee that I'm fast enough to reach the Cloud Castle before you reach maturity. We will just have to hope that we find something that will get us to the castle faster on the mountains." Isaac responded.
Mary nodded in acceptance. "Agreed. Hopefully, absorbing some Pegasus will make you light enough to make it to the castle before the deadline."
Nat was alarmed when she heard talk about adsorbing some Pegasus. She or any of her fellow towns people may not have seen any Pegasus in their lives, but that doesn't mean that Pegasus aren't viewed as sacred creatures. Why are Mary and Isaac talking about 'absorbing' Pegasus?.
"What are you guys talking about?" Nat looked towards Mary. "What do you mean by 'absorbing' Pegasus? Do you mean killing Pegasus!? You never told me about that! Pegasus are sacred creatures. I thought you knew that! Why would you even consider hunting them!" In that moment, Nat was starting to lose some faith in Mary's intentions.
Isaac turned to Mary. "I assumed you at least told her what we were going to do while I was unconscious."
Mary bowed in apology. "My apologies. Me and Nat agreed to split up in order to evacuate the towns people. We agreed to meet up here once we were sure everyone was out, so I didn't have time to explain to anything to Nat."
Nat wondered what Mary was talking about. Adsorbing Pegasus or what happened with the air dragon? Nat was also curious as to how much this Isaac character knew. Already, she didn't like him very much. But then again, who would like a person who strips a person in public. Oh sure, he only took off her shirt, but was still rude. He could at least asked for her permission first.
Isaac turned to Nat. "I have the ability to absorb other creatures into myself. When I do, I gain their attributes and characteristics." Isaac closed his eyes. "However, unless I decide otherwise, any souls I adsorb are dissolved into nothingness and my soul stays the same..." At least that is what Isaac assume what happens. He's not really sure himself.
Nat can't believe what she was hearing. Isaac is basically talking about murder! How dare his steal the physical attributes of others! They have lives of their own!
"Y-you monster..." Nat mutters under her breath.
Mary turned to Nat. "Sorry I didn't tell you sooner. As of right now, Isaac is too heavy to maintain a quick pace. If we don't slay the Sky king within a week, the king's men will attack my village. The plan is to go to the Sky Mountain Range and have Isaac absorb some Pegasus. It's a stretch, but the added power should help us in our quest."
Nat was appalled. So they are going to kill some sacred creatures to obtain power? That's horrible! And what's this talk about killing the king?!
"Why do we need to kill the Sky King? Why can't we just dethrone him or teach him a lesson? Keeping him in line worked for years! The stakes may be higher but this situation shouldn't be any different."
"Well... I suppose there is another way... a way I hope comes true..." Mary offered reluctantly.
"And what would that be?" Isaac asked curiously. This was the first time Mary was offering alternatives on dealing with the king.
"Isaac could absorb most of the Sky King's power. Weaken him to the point were he is still king but not enough power to abuse the people."
Isaac was excited. That's better then killing him! "That's a great idea! Why didn't you mentioned that before!? Why do we need to resort to slaying him?"
"I didn't understand the limitations of your absorbing powers when we first met. I wasn't sure if you were capable of such a feat... Do you think you can do such a thing?" Mary answered shyly.
Come to think about it, Isaac hasn't really explored the limitations of his assimilation abilities. He didn't know there was any limitations until he met the air dragon. "I-I don't know. Can you describe Sky King for me? I'm foreigner to this land so I wouldn't know such things."
Mary nodded in understanding. "As I mentioned before, the Sky King is a cloud giant. He is a larger, more powerful version of a cloud person. He also lived for many generations. He had many years to shape Cloud Kingdom to his image."
Something didn't clicked right for Isaac. "If the Sky King was dictating the Cloud Kingdom for that long, then why has no one dethroned him yet? I recall someone mentioning that he had a air dragon under his control for only six months. Why has no one revolted before that time?"
"It's because the Sky King has been at least tolerable. He has been sending his men to bully the people for generations but the people has always been able to defend themselves if they get out of hand. Like it or not, taxes are necessary to keep this kingdom's economical system afloat. We pay as much as we need to but as soon as his men start demanding more money, we set them strait. The King may rule for himself but he also make decisions that benefit the people. Like building bridges and settling disputes for example. Like it or not, if we didn't have the Sky King to rule over us, then this place would have collapsed into chaos years ago. For generations, we made sure the King doesn't get out of hand... That was until the King got his hands on a weapon that can overpower anyone in the land..." Mary explained.
"You're talking about the air dragon." Isaac finished.
"Yes. Ever since it appeared six months ago, we were unable to keep the King's power in check. The King may be a greedy and selfish man, but he is also a wise and cunning man who has many years of experience. So as long as he has a method of overpowering the people, then he can use the fear factor to manipulate their actions. Thus allowing the king's army of thugs to experienced commanders to bully the people. Theoretically, so as long as we take care of the Air Dragon, then things will go back to normal."
"That still doesn't answer my question. You still haven't mentioned why you haven't mentioned these alternate ways of dealing with the king until now. I can understand the need for revenge but if you are just using us to help you kill the king to place yourself as ruler then I want no part with your assassination plot." Isaac said, awaiting her answer.
"Yeah Isa." Nat added by saying Mary's nickname, "We need to know what is going on. If you can't trust us with some 'dangerous' information then how can we trust you with your intentions?"
Guilt seems evident on Mary's face. It seems she finally caved in. If just a little. "You're right. But I meant it when I said that the information you're asking for is dangerous. If any word of my intentions, interactions or actions makes it to the king, he can easily come up with a counter measure that can undermine this entire quest. He is that cunning. I do trust you guys but the less you know the more smoother things will be."
"We will be the judges of that. Let us decide if we don't need to know or not." Isaac reaffirmed.
Mary obviously doesn't look comfortable. "I... have a connection to the King..." Isaac can figure that much out on his own. "Please... can you give me time to think about what information is safe disclose?"
Isaac let out a sigh. "Alright. We have a lot of time for you to decide to trust us or not. You seem to at least have enough trust in us for you to let us tag along for your assassination plot."
Nat couldn't stand the talk about assassination. The Marry she knows is not a killer. "Are you assassin now?" Nat wasn't angry. But she also feels as though she really doesn't know Mary very well anymore. She is surprised by how much Mary is hiding and she is willing to get to know about her again so as long as Mary is willing to open up.
Mary was relieved to no longer have pressure placed on her. "Well, I wouldn't call myself a assassin, but the village elder has taught me in the art of assassination, ninja hood, money management, and so much more. He is like a true grandfather to me."
Isaac was curious. "Why would your village elder know those things and why do you need to learn the art of assassination?"
Mary smiled. The first question was easy to answer. "The village elder has a diverse heritage. A huge wealth of knowledge was bestowed upon him through a huge tree of family relatives. I remembered him mentioning that his family dedicate themselves to marrying themselves into families with a diverse range of skill sets. As for why I want to sly the king instead of just weakening him... well that's harmful information." Mary show signs of opening up but also look so inexperienced and vulnerable in disclosing personal secrets. At least she said harmful information instead of dangerous information. At least she is opening up just a little. Isaac feels like giving Mary a break for now. He's satisfied that he at least got more information then before.
"Alright. You mentioned that the air dragon will be returning here soon. Let's make haste. The sooner we start the sooner we get to the mountains."
Isaac started leaving the town's borders and Mary followed suite. Nat remained were she was.
Isaac stopped and turned towards Nat. "Aren't you coming with us?"
On one hand, Nat really has nowhere to go. She never been to Mary's village so she wouldn't know anyone there. On the other hand, she doesn't fully trust nor know Isaac very well. It also seems that she knows her childhood friend less and less now. All that talk about killing scares her. She never killed a living thing in her life and she has no intentions to start now.
But at least Nat knows them at all.
"I'm coming!" Nat fixed her glasses from falling off as she ran to catch up with the group.
'She must be very conflicted about leaving her home town' Isaac thought sadly.
As the trio walked, Nat decided to lighten the mood by making small talk. "Did you know that the king's Air Dragon was nicknamed, 'The Storm.'?"
So the trio started they're journey through the cloud forest. It's going to take awhile before they reach the mountains.
It's still midday. A lot could happen until night falls.