"What the heck do they feed creatures in Fantasia?" Huck Finn asked to his new friend Bastian, who along with Tom Sawyer, were standing frozen in fear while an eight foot winged monkey towered over them.
"This thing's not from Fantasia," Bastian replied in a low whisper. "I don't know what it is, but it's got AURYN." "Is that really so bad?" Tom asked without turning his head. "He could destroy this world with it," Bastian told him. "And everyone in it." "Okay, that's slightly bad," Tom replied. "Slightly? What would you consider very bad!?" Bastian shouted. "Guys, stop arguing and let's get it-" It was at that point that monkey reached out its arm and knocked the trio away. The boys hit the ground as the monkey turned its back and started running. The boys quickly got to their feet and rushed after, jumping on to the monkey's back as it jumped. But instead of jumping further into the woods, the monkey, and the boys, all disappeared into seemingly nothing. There was nothing but darkness as the three boys held on for dear life on the monkey's back. All three youths were terrified, but knew they had to hold on or they'd surely perish. "Where is thing taking us?" Huck asked. "I don't know, but we can't let him take AURYN to whoever's waiting," Bastian replied as he tried to grab AURYN, but it was just out of reach. The winged creäture realized it had passengers and started trying to shake them off. "I have an idea!" Tom shouted. "Huck, give me your shirt!" Without hesitation, Huck pulled off his shirt and handed it Tom, who climbed further up the monkey's back. He pulled it around the creäture's eyes, blinding it. The distraction was enough so that Bastian could grab AURYN, but now the creature was twirling around through the darkness. "I can't hold on!" Huck shouted as he fell off, but Bastian grabbed his hand. Another twirl caused Bastian to lose his grip as the two boys fell through the darkness as Tom continued to hold the shirt over the creature's eyes, trying to steer it. He saw his two friends falling and knew he couldn't do anything to catch them in time. "No!" Tom shouted with tears in his eyes as his friends got further and further away, until only the faint glow of the AURYN could be seen. * Bastian sat up with AURYN in his hand. He wasn't in his bed, but he wasn't falling through the darkness, either. He looked around at the night sky, and the surrounding landscape. Bastian almost immediately knew where he was. "Fantasia," Bastian whispered as he looked around for Tom and Huck. He eventually found Huck laying facedown in the grass. "Huck, wake up, we're in Fantasia." Huck moaned as he started to pick himself up, feeling his aching head. "Where's Tom?" "I don't know, the last time I saw him was distracting that beast," Bastian replied as he started to panic. "What if that thing still has him? They could be anywhere. Come on, we can get help to find him here." "Yeah, right, it looks like there's nothin' for miles," Huck told him as he started to shiver a little. That's when a horse's neigh was heard and a green-skinned young man rode up on a white horse. "Atreyu?" Bastian asked as the green-skinned boy dismounted. "Bastian," Atreyu smiled as the two hugged. "It has been a long time. You have grown." "Yeah, it's been three years in my time," Bastian replied as he brought Atreyu over to his new friend. "This is Huck. He's kind of from a fantasy world, too. AURYN brought me to his world, but... it's kind of complicated. I need to speak to the Childlike Empress." "I shall bring you to her at once," Atreyu told him as he looked back at his horse. "But all of three of us can't fit on to Artax. We'll need another way to transport you there." Atreyu stuck his fingers in his mouth and let out a loud whistle. A few moments later, a large shape appeared in the sky as a white furry creäture almost a mile long landed in the grass. "You called, Atreyu?" Falkor the Luck Dragon asked as Bastian ran up to him. "Well, if it isn't Bastian. I've missed you old friend." "I missed you, too," Bastian said as he hugged Falkor's soft white fur. "Falkor, this is Huck." Huck took one good look at Falkor, and passed out almost immediately. "You'd think he's never seen a Luck Dragon before," Falkor told them. "Huck? Huck, wake up," Bastian said as he smacked Huck a few times as he lay on the marble floor. "Come on, we're here." "Where's 'here'?" Huck asked as he sat up and looked around at the majestic throne room of the Childlike Empress's palace. The walls and floor were made of solid white marble, and the window had a view overlooking all Fantasia. "The palace of the Childlike Empress," Atreyu told him as Huck looked out the window. "I can tell you're impressed." "I ain't never seen nothin' this fancy," Huck told him. "Tom would have given his big toe to see this." Huck didn't let them see the tear that rolled down his cheek as he remembered his lost friend. "We'll find him, I promise," Bastian told him as he put a hand on Huck's shoulder. "The Childlike Empress will have the answers we need to find him." The doors opened as a girl who looked no older than twelve walked in. She had a long flowing white robe which trailed behind her. She had long braided blonde hair and worse a jeweled tiara around her head. "Bastian," the Childlike Empress smiled as Bastian and Atreyu bowed before her. Huck saw them and immediately joined them. She beckoned them to rise as she hugged Bastian. "You are as handsome as you were the last time you came here." "And you're as beautiful as you were the last time I saw you," Bastian said as he kissed her hand. "I'm sorry that we're kind of... underdressed. We weren't expecting to drop in like this." "I understand," the Childlike Empress smiled as she clapped for her servants. "My servants will see that you get more suitable clothing, then we will talk over dinner." * Bastian had been dressed in a blue and white outfit, with white boots and gloves. Huck got a red and black outfit with black boots and gloves. "You alright, Huck? You look uncomfortable," Bastian said as they were led to the dining hall alongside Atreyu. "I ain't the fancy dinner type, and these boots are too tight," Huck replied as he pulled at the collar of his dress shirt. "I'd have been fine in my jeans and a less fancy shirt." "It's just until we find out what's going on, then we can rescue Tom and get you guys home," Bastian replied as they were seated at the table, with the Childlike Empress on the far end. "Welcome, my honored guests," the Childlike Empress told him as they were served bowls of a rainbow-colored soup. "I am pleased that you could join me." "The honor is ours," Bastian told her. "To be honest, we weren't even expecting to show up here, it just kind of... happened." "AURYN sensed you needed to come here," the Childlike Empress told him. "I thought AURYN's power was gone," Bastian said as he twirled his spoon around his soup. "It was only tonight that it started doing things, like pulling me into another book." "AURYN's power has always been there, it's just been waiting for you to need it," the Childlike Empress told him. "It pulled you into a brand new world because you needed to learn to have fun and be a child again." "I- I did have fun," Bastian replied with a sigh as he looked over at Huck, who was slurping his soup. Huck just smiled as went back to silently eating. "But something tried to steal the AURYN while I was there. A large winged monkey that was about eight feet tall. When we tried to get AURYN back, it pulled us into some kind of void, where we lost our friend Tom. Next thing I knew, we were here." "AURYN pulling you into another world opened many doors to many other worlds," the Childlike Empress said. "AURYN's power must have sensed by many forces, both good and evil. Unfortunately I can not tell you who sent someone to steal AURYN from you, or where your friend is. I can only tell you that the road ahead will be long, and filled with peril. You must face this evil, Bastian. You must face it and defeat it before it can claim AURYN's power. For if it does get the power of AURYN, every world could be in danger. From Fantasia to Tom's world, and every world in between." "Are you shittin' me?" Huck asked as his eyes went wide. "Sorry, your highness, I just mean-" "You are forgiven, Huckleberry," the Childlike Empress told him. "It is equally important that you stand with him as he faces this evil. He will need your strength as he defends AURYN, and the infinite worlds of the imagination." "What's infinite mean?" Huck whispered to Atreyu. "That means every world in existence," Atreyu whispered back. "Are you shi- puttin' me on?" Huck asked as he tried to take it all in. After a few moments he looked at Bastian and the Childlike Empress. "I'll do it. For Tom." "I will also stand by your side," Atreyu told him as he looked at Bastian. "Together we will destroy this evil." "I will need you here," the Childlike Empress told Atreyu. "As Fantasia's other greatest hero, I will need you to round up every hero in the land to defend Fantasia in the event that this evil finds its way here on its search for AURYN." "I will call for you if I need you," Bastian promised his friend. "But where do I even begin to start looking for this evil?" "AURYN will guide you to wherever you wish to go," the Childlike Empress explained. "But be warned, Bastian: AURYN will not take you where you want to go, but it will take you where you need to be." "Okay, that doesn't mean sense, but sure. Wait, the last time I used AURYN to wish, it cost me all my memories," Bastian said as he stared down into his soup. "What if I lose all my memories again?" "AURYN's power will not require your memories this time," the Childlike Empress promised him. "As you have grown, so has AURYN's powers. Trust in the AURYN, as well as yourself, Bastian." "Yeah, plus I've got your back," Huck promised him. "We'll kick this thing's ass and rescue Tom. I just hope where ever he is, he's alright." * Many worlds away, Tom Sawyer woke up and found himself tied to a chair. He struggled to free himself but found the ropes too tight. "Huck!" Tom shouted. "Bastian? Where are you?" "Your friends are dead," a woman's voice said from the shadows. "They were lost, along with AURYN. Luckily AURYN will be recovered, soon. You are alone now, child. Fortunately, I may have future use for you. So you shall live for now." "Well, ain't you a kind hearted soul?" Tom asked as he struggled to break free. "Take him to the dungeon and make sure he doesn't get away," the woman said to the large winged monkeys standing guard. "Well, I guess this is it," Bastian said as he looked at his Fantasian friends. "I'm going to face this evil head on before it's too late." "Be careful, Bastian," Atreyu told him as they shook hands. "I wish I could come along." "Once I know what I'm up against, I'll come back for you," Bastian promised him. "We'll hit this thing with everything we have before it reaches Fantasia." "Let AURYN guide your path," the Childlike Empress told him. "Let it lead you on your journey." Huck cautiously reached out and touched Falkor's fur, smiling a little as he did so. "You're not as scary when I think about it," Huck said as Falkor turned his head toward the boy. "Perhaps we can go for a flight later once you're returned," Falkor told him. "Maybe," Huck said as he walked over to Bastian. "Ready to go find Tom?" "I hope so," Bastian said as he held AURYN, which started glowing in his hand. He let go of AURYN as he took Huck's hand. "Hang on, tight, I don't know where we're going to end up." "Safe journey to both of you," their friends said as the two young men disappeared in a flash of bright light. * "AURYN is on the move," the woman said as she turned back toward her dark forces. "The boy must still be alive and is using it to travel across worlds with it. My magic grows the more the boy uses it to traverse through the worlds. Find him, bring him to me along with AURYN." The monkeys screeched and saluted as the woman stepped out of the shadows, wearing a long black dress with an emerald cape. She had red hair, green skin, and a crooked nose. "Once AURYN is in my hands, no one will be able to stop the Wicked Witch of the SouthWest!" * Bastian and Huck fell out of the sky, but thankfully only fell a few feet into a snowbank. The two stood up and dusted themselves off as Bastian looked around. "Well, we're not in Fantasia, or St. Petersberg." "Then where the hell are we?" Huck asked as he realized he should be freezing, but the clothes he'd gained in Fantasia were keeping him nice and warm. "Please don't be Narnia, please don't be Narnia," Bastian said as the two started walking, finally spying a small town through the snow. "It looks like a safe little town. Wonder why AURYN sent us here." As they got closer to the town, the two saw the place was decorated with old-time Christmas decorations all along the streets, and on the buildings. A giant decorated tree could be spotted from where the two young men stood on the edge of town. "Christmas?" Bastian asked as he looked at Huck. "We're someplace where they're celebrating Christmas?" "Don't look at me, I've never gotten a Christmas gift in my life," Huck told him. "Well, except for the pipe that Tom got for me." "Maybe the evil is here and we have to stop it before it destroys Christmas," Bastian said. "Come on, let's find out why AURYN sent us here before it's too late." As the two ran up the street, a large winged monkey landed right in them, roaring loudly. "Not again," Huck said as he rolled up his sleeves and curled his fists. "Alright, you damned dirty ape, where's Tom?" The monkey picked Huck up by the collar of his shirt and tossed him into a snow bank before he headed toward Bastian. "I wish I had a weapon!" Bastian shouted as a massive shoulder mounted bazooka appeared. "That'll work." Before Bastian could fire it, the monkey was whacked in the face by a metal object. Before the creäture could react, a quick sweep kick with the object sent the monkey on to its back, landing in the snow. "What in the world?" Bastian asked as a boy around Bastian's age stepped out, leaning on a metal crutch. He was dressed in old-fashioned Victorian London era clothes, with a cap on his head. He had medium length brown hair and green eyes. "Come on then, he's not going to stay down long," the boy said in a cockney accent. Huck stood up from the snow bank, a bit phased as Bastian grabbed his arm. "Come on, we've gotta move!" Bastian said as they followed their rescuer down the street. The boy led Bastian and Huck to a small cottage on the other side of the town. It was a bit worn down, but also looked like slight renovations had been made to it. "Care for a cup of hot cocoa?" the boy asked as the three entered the cottage, seeing the fireplace had warmed the place up for them. "I was heading into town to pick up the Christmas goose when I saw you two were in trouble." "Yeah, that'd be great," Bastian said as he looked around. "How'd you do that? How'd you do take that down that monster so easily?" "Great upper body strength," the boy told them. "Had this metal crutch for a while, I have. Really great for exercise on account of my legs don't work so well. Name's Tim, by the way. But everyone calls me Tiny Tim, although I outgrew that name about two years ago I did." "I'm Huckleberry Finn, and this is Bastian Balthazar Bux," Huck told him as he warmed himself by the fire. "Wait a minute. Tiny Tim? From a Christmas Carol?" Bastian asked as he looked at Huck. "I know where we are now. We're in an old story about a miser who learns to celebrate Christmas." "Yeah, but why are we here? Is Tom here? Is that why AURYN brought us here?" Huck asked as he sat down and pulled off his right boot, dumping some snow out of it. "That monster was here, so odds are that Tom could be here, too," Bastian replied as he looked at Tiny Tim. "Was there anything unusual happening today?" "Besides the big monkey that I gave a right good beating too?" Tiny Tim asked as he brought his new friends two cups of hot chocolate. "No, not really. Life's been good in this town since Master Scrooge learned to love Christmas. He's still an old miser, and a bit of a grouch, but he's a good man now. Even paid for my medicine so I could live a longer life. Too bad the polio already took its toll on me, though. Gonna have to walk with a crutch for the rest of my life." Bastian reached into his shirt and pulled out AURYN. "I wish Tiny Tim's polio was cured." AURYN didn't react as Bastian looked at it. "Oh, come on, you can give me a stupid bazooka but you can't fix my new friend? What kind of magical talisman are you?" "It's alright, Bastian," Tiny Tim told him with a smile. "I've gotten used to things the way they are. I'm still perfectly healthy otherwise. I don't let it keep me down, I can still do most things other boys can do." "Bastian, ask that thing to take us to Tom," Huck replied as he sipped his hot chocolate. "We have to find him before that monkey eats him or something." "AURYN, is Tom here in this world?" Bastian asked as he closed his eyes. AURYN gave off a faint glow for a few seconds as Bastian opened his eyes to look at the others. "No, he's not here. We weren't sent here for Tom, we were here for... you." Bastian pointed at Tiny Tim, who just looked at the others nervously. "Me? Why me? I'm just the son of a pauper." "Who's wicked good at fighting with that crutch," Huck told him as he stood up. "Maybe that's what AURYN is doing, sending us to collect warriors to fight this evil." "I don't know," Bastian replied. "It's bad enough I dragged you and Tom into this, I don't know if I can bring anyone else in. What if one of you guys gets hurt?" Huck put an arm around Bastian's shoulder. "I ain't afraid of getting hurt. My best buddy in the whole world is in danger, and I ain't backing down for nobody. I'll find this evil myself and strong-arm it into giving me back my friend." * The City of Oz A Munchkin ran into the Emerald City, past the guards. Panting as he ran as fast as his short legs could carry him, he ran up the long hall to the Wizard's chamber and pounded on the door. After a few seconds, the doors opened as the Munchkin ran in, nearly falling over as he approached a large throne. "Word from our spies, your Highness," the Munchkin said, still out of breath. "It's the Wicked Witch of the South West! She's planning something and is already sending out her mutated winged monkeys to fetch something powerful!" "I knew we should have taken that witch out when we had the chance," the Tin Man said as he stood near the throne. "I knew she'd be a threat someday." "She had no powers in the Land of Oz," The Scarecrow replied. "With two of the Wicked Witch's gone, the power of the other two witches would be cut in half. Not enough to pose a threat to anyone." "Then she must be looking for power in other places," the person on the throne said. "We have to find out what she's up to before she gets whatever she's looking for. If the Wicked Witch of the South West regains her powers, we could all be in real trouble." * "And that's the whole story," Bastian replied as he looked at Tiny Tim. "I can't make you go with us, but with the way you fight with that crutch, you'd be mighty useful against whatever we're going up against." "Christmas is in a few days," Tiny Tim told them. "Would we be back by then?" "No promises, but we'll do our best," Bastian replied. "Then I shall join you on your journey," Tiny Tim smiled as he stood up and grabbed his crutch. "We'll show this great evil a thing or two, we will!" It was then that a knock came at the door. Tiny Tim hobbled to the door, but before he could he put his hand on the knob, the door was pulled off of its hinges by the large winged monkey. It roared at Tiny Tim as Bastian rushed forward and pulled Tiny Tim back. "I think it's time we were leaving," Bastian said as he grabbed Huck's arm as well. "Is the next place going to be where we find Tom?" Huck asked as AURYN started glowing. "I feel like we're never going to find him." "Never say 'never'!" Bastian shouted as the trio disappeared a burst of white light, just before the monkey could grab them. The creäture roared in frustration as it started knocking chairs and tables out of the way. * "Uh, Bastian?" "Yeah, Huck?" "AURYN sure picks the weirdest places to land us, huh?" "You can say that again, Huck," Huck was hanging on to Bastian's legs, and Bastian was hanging on to Tiny Tim's legs. Tiny Tim had his hands on his metal crutch, which was stuck over a tree branch as the three boys were hanging over a cliff, overlooking a two hundred foot drop into the ocean below. Next: Bastian and his friends hang around for Knights of the Neverending Story #3, and so should you!
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By Tobias ChristopherAuthor, luckdragon trainer Archives
November 2019
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