[To Be Named] - Prologue

[To Be Named] - by Ho-Oh16
A QuizUp fantasy adventure story.

Description:
I received an invitation. It was not anonymously signed, but it was extremely unusual. Following the instruction given to me, I ventured into the forest, and happened to meet a familiar face on my way.
And so the story begins...

Prologue.


   I pulled my phone from my bag and looked at it.
   "What are you doing?"
   "Hm? Oh... I'm just checking the feed. Someone could be hosting an art contest, or the live chat could be having one of its 'once in a blue moon' parties." I replied. I glanced over at my company. He was much taller than me, but I took it in my stride. Well, my two hurried steps and his stride.
   "Is that so?"
   "Yes it is.". I gave him a look that meant it was time to change the subject. I popped my phone back into my bag. "So... Why do you think he chose this place to meet? It seems very peculiar, though perhaps...not out of character..?" I asked, holding out a piece of paper in front of me. It was an invitation.
   It was not particularly easy to read - I may or may not have spilt tea on it, causing it to stain and the ink to run. However, the address was still legible, as was the name of the person who sent it.
   "Shadow is Shadow. Don't question the location, but the reason.".
   "Uncle Ozy, please. An abandoned house in the middle of the forest, with no nearby roads or towns? It's enough to make anyone question everything. I mean, what if this isn't from Shadow? What if we are being led to our doom?". I couldn't help but be suspicious. Stranger things have happened.
   We were walking down a long and narrow dirt path through what must have been the forest hiding the house. The sun was high, and it was getting hotter. Out of the blue, an ice cream cart came into view down the path.
   Ozy whipped his shades off and flipped a convient table that was next to him.    "BLIMEY!" he exclaimed, with an over-exaggerated British accent. He gave a huge smile, and ran to the cart, leaving me behind.
   "Hey! Wait up!". I raced after him. I was a sprinter, but was no match for his ice-cream craving. By the time I caught up, he was already making his second ice-cream.
   "Hm... SPRINKLES! Sprinkles are key to this whole dish!"
   "You need to slow down," I huffed between breaths, "do you want an ice-cream hangover? If so, I'm not letting you sleep it off. We have a... thing... to get to! I mean, why is there even an ice-cream cart out here?!" I didn't get a response - Ozy just had another ice-cream.
   I had never face-palmed so hard in my life.

   Two figures were walking amongst trees like lost sheep.
   "So... why do you think he chose this place to meet?".
   "Can we just stop for a second?" the first figure requested with a tired voice. The duo halted and faced eachother. "Thanks.".
   An awkward silence clouded the area, but was short-lived. The first figure took a deep breath.
   "THIS IS SHADOW WE ARE TALKING ABOUT! I DON'T KNOW WHAT GOES ON INSIDE OF HIS HEAD! DO YOU?! DOES ANYONE?!" the first figure yelled. A couple of birds frantically flew out of the surrounding trees.
   "THERE IS NO NEED TO YELL, RASHAUN! I GET THE PICTURE! And besides, I don't even want to know what goes on inside his head..." replied the second figure.
   "Sorry, Anton, I just.. I am hungry and tired and hot. We have been walking for a couple of hours, and I just want to get to this stupid house to see what this is all about!".
   With a sigh, Anton reached into his pocket and pulled out a crumpled piece of paper. He read its contents aloud.

"You have been invited to a once-in-a-lifetime event! No need to ask questions, just come to this address on July 1st!

Twilight Manor,
The Eternal Forest,
Quiztopia

From, ShadowZ"

   "It's hardly your typical spot for some sort of social get-together... I would love to know who else is going." Rashaun said. There was something suspicious about this whole thing, but he shrugged it off as normal behaviour.
   "The only question is," started Anton as he reached into his bag, "did you bring a weapon?". He pulled out a set of nunchucks from his bag.
   "Ooh, nice. I got.. this!". Rashaun promptly pulled his rucksack from his back and placed it on the floor. He did a bit of rumaging before retrieving a small cyclindrical object.
   "What will you do with that? Throw it someone's head?" Anton chuckled.
Rashaun pointed the object at Anton and suddenly a long, sharp blade emerged from the object, and was mere millimetres from Anton's face.
   "It's a bit more advanced than that. It only works for me - no one else can get the blade to-". Rashaun was cut off by a distance scream. More birds fled the trees, marking the origin of the noise.
   "What the-" Anton began, but Rashaun had already started to run towards the bird-less area. "Wait, Rashaun.. Hang on! WAIT FOR ME!". Anton dashed after Rashaun, and they continued to run.

   I lowered my bow.
   "JESUS CHRIST, YOU ALMOST SHOT MY HEAD OFF!"
   "Well then, maybe you ought to stop eating ice-cream so we can... Oh... I don't know.. GET TO THE HOUSE?!" I yelled back.
   Ozy moved away from the tree and stared at the arrow that was only a couple of inches from his head. "There are nicer ways of asking, you know!".
   I yanked my arrow out of the tree and placed it into my quiver. "And I am sure there will be plenty of time for ice-cream once this whole ordeal is over.".
   I heard a twig snap to my left. I rapidly took the arrow back out and reloaded my bow. I prepared myself for a fight. Ozy grabbed his katana and gripped it tightly.
   The rustling of leaves grew louder.
   "Get ready..." I whispered.
   I could make out two different sounds - there were two of whatever was coming our way. Ozy began to whisper something.
   "Time for The Honjo Masamune to claim another victim...." he said to himself. I looked at him and tried to get his attention with a cough, but he was occupied with his fancy Katana.
   "Any second now...". I said, trying to focus on the oncoming threat. My breathing had become minimal.
   I could hear voices. What if they too, were armed? What if they were ready for a fight? So many what-ifs.. I had to make a rapid decision.
   "Quick, hide behind a tree or something!" I whispered harshly at Ozy. He nodded and ran behind a tree close to the bushes. I ran to a tree that was on the opposite side of the path and climbed it. I took a deep breath, closed one eye and steadied my bow.
   [Make the shot count. Don't shoot them, shoot next to them and scare them.]
   It was a simple concept. Simple but effective.
   I saw both of them run onto the path and look around, confused. I thought about who it could it have been for no more than a millisecond.
I nodded at Ozy and he jumped out from behind the tree holding his blade out. Simultaneously, I fired my arrow, narrowly missing the arm of the shorter figure. Ozy proceeded to yell at them as he ran towards them swinging his precious blade.
   "THE SPIRITS OF THE SHOGUNS WILL GIVE ME THE STRENGTH OF A WARRIOR AND.... Oh....".
   Wondering why he had suddenly stopped his spontaneous war-cry, I leapt from my branch and landed on the grass below. I reloaded again and aimed my bow at the pair.
   "Anton?"
   "Chloe?"
   "Ozy?"
   "Rashaun?"
   Everyone lowered their weapons. I walked towards the others, placing my bow over my head and across my back.
   "What on earth are you guys doing here?!" Ozy questioned. We were all as confused as each other.
   "We heard a scream, so we came to see what happened." replied Anton.
   I looked at Ozy and he looked at me. We both knew who the scream came from and why. He put his blade away and I answered.
   "Scream? What scream?". I decided to save Ozy the embarrassment so he could live the rest of his days as a respectable man.
   Rashaun and Anton looked at me, then at Ozy.
   "Uh... who wants to.. hear a joke?!" asked Ozy, trying to distract the eyes that could see right through him.
   "ME!" I replied immediately.
Good thinking, Ozy.. Change the subject..
   "What did the professional mountaineer call his son?". He waited for some sort of response, but the awkward silence was suffocating. "CLIFF!". The silence remained.   "Seriously? Nothing? Come on guys, that's one of my best ones!" he groaned.
   "I have definitely heard better from you, Ozy." I said. "Nevermind about that.. What ever you heard-"
   "The scream.". interrupted Rashaun and Anton in unison.
   "Whatever.. We didn't hear it.". They looked at me, clearly unconvinced. "Look.. why are you here? A scream would not make you guys run all this way into this forest.".
   "Ah, well that's simple." stated Rashaun as he pulled a small piece of paper out of his pocket. "Got one of these while you were out. It's some sort of invite.".
   "I have one too!" added Anton.
   "As do I..." said Ozy.
   I reached into my bag and yanked out my own invitation. Someone had given it to me while I was walking in town before running off. I stared at it, wondering why we had received them. "But why? Why would Shadow pick this house? It's weird.".
   "Random.".
   "Suspicious.".
   "Shadow. One hundred percent, Shadow. I wouldn't expect anything less." remarked Anton. I figured that brothers knew each other best, so that was the end of that. He was of course, correct. Shadow is one unpredictable person. But family is family, I suppose.
   As a group, we began to wander towards the centre of the forest - the location of the house we had been told to go to. Unsure of what to expect en route, we kept our wits about us and our weapons close. This forest walk could turn deadly anytime.. Many supernatural things live among the trees, watching passers-by. Waiti-
   "Uhhhhhhhhh... Guys...". Rashaun stopped walking and looked to the clearing on the right-hand side of the pathway.
   "I..I..is..... Oh boy....". I stuttered.
   "Th...that's a dragon..." said Anton.
   "We have to keep quiet... If we wake it up, we're so dead..." said Ozy. His advice was always well-timed.
   "Oh really?!" I whispered at him.
   "Yeah. That's a whole lotta fire and armour.".
   "Shut up! We have to keep walking. Stay quiet, and we will be fine!" muttered Anton. He turned to carry on walking, but a small twig snapped under his foot.
   "SSHHHHHH!!!" exclaimed the rest of us.
   "Sorry!". Anton looked towards where the dragon was. He froze.
   Wondering what he was looking at, I faced the same way. "Oh no.. It's gone!". I let out a small gasp of air and told everyone to stay perfectly still.
   "What now?"
   "Just... Wait here for a minute...". I clambered up a tree to try and locate our vanishing friend.
    I was about to look down and tell the others I couldn't see it, when I noticed they were getting further away from me. "Hey! What's going o-". The tree shook and I slipped off my branch. I managed to hold on for long enough to see it. The dragon was staring right at me. It had lifted the tree - plucked it from the ground - without using its hands. I struggled back onto my branch and stood up.
   "Put. The tree. Down.". I thought it was worth a shot - 'brain over brawn'. But to my uttermost surprise, the tree was placed back down onto solid ground, so I was able to jump off and move away. The tree fell next to me.
   "Um.. What just happened?" asked Ozy.
Like I have a clue. Honestly...
   "Are you ok?!".
   "Yeah, just a tad shocked, I suppose." I said, giving Rashaun a hug. "I was not expecting that to work, not gonna lie.".
   A distant roar unsettled the forest. I covered my ears and gazed at where the dragon had stood. Once again, it had gone. Or so I thought. There was a rustling in the bushes which unnerved me. What now?
   Everyone readied their weapons and faced the foliage.
   "Ow.. Oww... Owwww..... OW!" a voice cried. The group moved towards the bushes, only to be faced with a person. A girl. Her hair was purple and full of leaves and sticks. She had several scratches on her arms. I assumed that she'd had a run-in with some prickly branches.
   "Hey, are you-". Anton started to ask a question but didn't finish it.
   "Are you OK?" asked Ozy. His jaw dropped when he saw who it was.
   "Whaaaaaaa?" I squealed. "DD?!".
   "What happened?!" questioned Rashaun.
   Suddenly, we all realised what had just occurred. This was a surprising and rather shocking revelation, to say the least.
   "DD can...".
   "You can...
   "Turn in..to...".
   "A DRAGON?!".
   Everyone seemed to be struggling to put words together. My mind refused to believe what I had just seen, but my heart wanted it to be real.
   "Oh.. Um... HEY!!..." said DD with wide eyes. She was as shocked to see us as we were to see her.
   I ran up to her and gave her a huge bear hug. "What are you doing here?! How many times have I said that this place is extremely unsafe? Nevermind.. You're OK.. You're safe.. That's the important bit!".
   "Will you let me breathe now, please?" she wheezed.
   "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry!" I cried, letting her go. She took a deep breath and stood up straight. "But seriously, you can turn into a dragon? And, why are you here?" I interrogated. I needed an answer - to the latter especially - and hoped that it was not the one I dreaded it to be.
   [Do not reach into your pocket...]
   She reached into her jacket pocket.
   [Do not pull out a piece of paper...]
   She pulled out a piece of paper and unfolded it.
   [Do not say this is from Shadow, because if it is I am going to need that table from earlier on...]
    "I got this invite from Shad-". I didn't let her finish. I punched the tree that was next to me.
That hurt.... Owwww.. That hurt a LOT!
   "Um, is everything OK?"
   "Everything is absolutely... Peachy... I feel great!". I hit the tree one more time for good measure.
    "I really don't think you do-"
    "Chloe, stop hitting on that tree! It's clearly not interested!" said Rashaun, trying to lighten the mood. I glared at him.
    "Nice one." said Anton, patting him on the back.
    "I'm fine. Let's just go to this house, see what the heck Shadow wants, then go.". Today was a bad day. I didn't get angry often. It seemed a bit peculiar, but I took a deep breath and shrugged it off.
   [I just woke up on the wrong side of the bed... That's all...]
   I walked back out onto the path and faced the direction we were heading. "Hey, guys? Was that house... always that close?".
   "What did you say?"
   "House?!"
   "Wait, WHAT?!"
   "What do you mean?". An arrow narrowly missed the top of Anton's head. "Oops... Is it too late now to say sorry?" he responded. A second arrow narrowly missed his neck. "Woahhh... That was a close shave!". This time, one final arrow narrowly missed his hip.
   "Dammit, I missed! I NEVER MISS!" I yelled to the heavens.
   Treading carefully, Anton stood closely behind the others and they all stumbled out of the trees. To our amazement, no more than one hundred metres away was a large house. It looked run-down. Old. In need of a good clean. I guess it was how most creepy abandoned houses looked.
   I sighed with relief and raced to the gate that separated the manor from the rest of the world. The others followed shortly after. The thought of finally arriving was overwhelming.
   I frantically shook the gate, but it was locked shut with several bulky padlocks.
   "Seriously?! This is perfect! Now what?!" I exclaimed. The others approached the gate as I turned to face them. I was about to tell them something, when the floor beneath my feet disappeared, causing me to fall into the oblivion below.
    "CHLOE!" yelled several voices. The group dashed to where I had stood, but there was no hole or gap, or even a dent in the grass in sight.
   "Holy moly!" exclaimed Ozy, earning him several glares. "Bad timing?". He sighed and looked at the gate, then along the walls surrounding the manor. As he was about to turn back and face the others when he saw a figure approaching them. He tried to speak, but all that came out were mumbles.
   "Spit it out, man!" yelled Anton. Ozy grabbed his head and turned it to face the stranger who was still walking towards them. "Shadow?!".
   Rashaun, DD and Ozy stood up straight at the sound of his name. Everyone wanted answers, and they didn't care how they got them.
   "What are you..? Wait.. Did you all get an invite too?" Shadow asked.
   "Yeah, an invite from YOU!" yelled Rashaun. "You asked us to come here! Why?!".
   "Me? I got an invite from Chloe... she asked me to meet her here. I'm not sure why though...".
   "Chloe asked you to come here? Why would she do that?" asked a very confused DD.
   "Speaking of which, have any of you seen her? I was in the middle of blowing things up. Very important stu-". Shadow was interrupted by what felt like an earthquake. DD and Anton grabbed on the gate, and Ozy grabbed onto Anton.
   "Uh... OK then..." Anton mumbled.
   Shadow and Rashaun watched as a large crack formed in the ground. It grew in size, and extended along and around the wall. Before long, they saw one end meet the other in front of them.
   Another earthquake - this time more violent - caused them to tumble and fall to the floor. The vast trees became bushes, which then became blades of grass.
   "Are we.. flying?!".
   "It would appear so..." replied Rashaun. He peered over the edge and watched the forest disappear below the clouds. He leaned over further to try and get a better view, but hit his head. "What in the world? Is that a..." he reached his hand outwards and felt an invisible wall.
   Shadow spoke with plain certainty. "It's a dome. Unbreakable. Looks like we're going nowhere for now.".
   Ozy was desperate to make a joke, but he was disturbed by Anton who had let go of the gate and pushed him off.
   "It... it's open." stated Anton with hesitation. He pushed on the iron gates, which flew open.
   "Do you think we ought to check it out?" asked DD rhetorically. She walked through the gates and towards the manor. One-by-one, Rashaun, Anton, Shadow and Ozy followed her.
   "This doesn't seem ominous at all..." remarked Anton.
   "Let's just see what is going on here, find Chloe and leave, before things get any worse." replied Rashaun.
   The heavy iron gates slammed shut behind Ozy as he entered, and the locks that had obstructed the group earlier had been replaced.
   "Well, I can see this is going to be a joyful time... Who wants to hear a joke?" he called after the others. They were too far ahead to hear it, so he told it to himself. "What kind of currency is used in space?... Starbucks!...". It just wasn't quite as funny without an audience. "And now I want a Starbucks... Dammit!". Morosely, he went after the others, towards the towering wooden doors.