Monday, June 25, 2012

Autumn forest


            It was another crisp cool day in the autumn forest. This forest had autumn trees of bright red, orange and yellow. The wind would blow the leaves off the trees and through the air, but the trees never looked any different. It was as if early autumn was captured and contained in a large sprawling forest. This forest was located near the haunted forest where the town of Hallows End is located.

            In the Autumn Forest was a small town called Maple town. Just outside of the borders of Maple town was a tavern. The tavern was shaped like a large pumpkin and was a nice place to get away from your troubles and relax for a few hours. Pints of pumpkin ale, coffee and fresh apple ciders were served all day. Mellow music played in the background as everyone talked and drank.

            Sitting at the bar was a young man with an old fashioned brown coat that hung down to his feet. It looked like something a sailor or pirate would wear, but brown and with a hood he could put up if it rained. He also had on black boots that were sturdy and came up to his shins, a red shirt also similar to that of an old fashioned sailor and a pair of black pants. He drank his pumpkin ale and seemed as joyful as the rest. Things were peaceful for the time and everyone was pretty content. When the man finished his drink he paid the bartender. “Thanks for the drink” he said. “No problem, Red” Replied the bartender. People who didn’t know the young man called him red, because of his shirt and also his hair was reddish brown.

            As Red stepped outside he was met with a cool breeze. He let out a relaxed sigh and was once again reminded why he came to this land. His peace was short lived though as he soon saw three mean looking men walking closer to the bar. He immediately recognized them as assassins from the desert town of Sandstone. Each of the men were wearing white and tan clothes, each with a white hood to keep the sun off their necks and goggles to protect their eyes from the bright sun that they had become so accustomed to. “You guys are wasting your time. I’m not going back to your scorching little hell of a desert nor am I going back to harbor town to do your smuggling for you” Red shouted to the approaching assassins before they got too close. “I’m warning you!” Red shouted again as he put his hand into an inside pocket of his brown coat.

            The Autumn forest was such a peaceful place, but in an instant the peace was shattered. Red drew two black, long barreled revolvers and began firing at the three men before they had a chance to say a word. Red’s guns had runes engraved into the side of each gun. The engravings were bright white and read “Death touch” in an old forgotten language. Five years ago Red entered the Hallows End haunted forest and went deeper than anyone has ever gone, when he came out, he had two new guns in his possession, but that is a different story for a different time.

            The assassins moved so fast it looked like they just disappeared altogether. Red tried to keep a beat on them as he fired wildly into the forest at the attackers. One of the Assassins had jumped off a tree and landed next to Red. The Assassin slashed upward with his sword, Red brought up his guns in defense and the mystic energy of the guns blocked the sword attack, but Red was still knocked back by the power of the strike. Not only was Red sent backward into the forest, but the sword strike caused a gust of wind that blew all of the bright red and orange leaves into the air, making it hard for everyone to see each other.

            Red landed on his back but continued firing even as he fell. Bullets ricocheted off trees and rocks and ripped holes in the surrounding area. Red purposely fired away from the Tavern and town, but still regretted having to fight in the forest at all. The Assassins moved quickly but the hail of bullets managed to wound one of the them as they charged forward. One fell to the ground and the other two dashed off in opposite directions.

            Red held his guns up, ready to start shooting again. He looked around and stayed alert, watching for the slightest movement in the trees. Then like lighting an assassin was right in front of Red and thrust his sword forward to impale the gunslinger, but Red deflected the attack with one of his guns then kicked the Assassin in the stomach. Red was about to shoot when he felt a searing pain in his arm and back. In the few seconds he used dealing with one assassin another came up behind him and slashed his right arm and sliced his blade across Red’s back. Red fell to the ground but was able to fire off a coupe rounds before he did. This wounded the Assassin in front of him, before the swordsman darted away.

            Red looked up and saw the last Assassin bringing his sword down to stab Red in the chest. Seconds before impact the Assassin was swept up into the air and tossed into a tree. Red scrambled to his feet and then looked very surprised when he saw the bartender of the tavern, but for some reason the bartender had claws and fur. He was half transformed into a reddish brown werewolf and seemed totally in control of his power. The Wolf’s fur was natural looking but also looked like it might blend in with the autumn trees. “You runts better run for it. That little slap was just a warning” Said the Wolfman. Soon his head and the rest of his body transformed into a seven foot tall wolf that could stand straight up on two legs. With arms and hands with vicious looking claws. One of the Assassins tried for a sneak attack, having his pride hurt from being thrown into a tree. The assassin blade never even got close as the Wolf man spun around, grabbed a hold of the assassins arm and broke it off mid air. The assassin fell to the ground and clutched his bloody stump. “I’m keeping this” Growled the wolf, holding onto an arm with a sword still clutched in the hand.

            The one armed assassin decided to run away, then one by one they all ended up retreating back to their homeland. Red brushed off his coat and smiled “Thanks man, I couldn’t have done it…” He began to say, but was cut off by a very angry wolf. The angry bartender looked at Red with a murderous glare. “This forest is open to visitors, but I don’t want to see you bringing any more trouble to this forest again. You can’t hide out here and hope everything will be alright. I got my tavern customers to protect and the mayor has his village to think of. So next time your under attack, run off to the haunted forest or something” Growled the Bartender as his face slowly transformed back into a human face. His body slowly returned to normal again as he walked away back to his tavern.

            Red didn’t mean to cause any harm and felt terrible for what happened, but was still glad the bartender saved his life. He began to walk away too. He would travel a bit more and hopefully by the time he returned to Harbor town to see his family, the assassins would no longer be looking for him. As he was leaving the rich gold and red forest, a thought went through his mind. “Wait…the mayor?” Red said out loud. The Autumn forest certainly had more secrets left to discover and maybe one day Red would see them all for himself, but for now, it was time to leave.

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