(Scene two, the Rescue)
The narrow hallway soon broke into the vast emptiness of a tall hollowed out cavern as the eager adventurer ran, the ceiling flying a high altitude above the humble tiled floor of the lonely dungeon, yet its entire empty air was filled with the desperate calls for help. Dodgers quickly tipped that fuzzy silver head up towards the source of the sound and both ears twisted forward as that fox tail bristled at the sight.
The mangled remains of a man clung to the side of a magically suspended island of marble, its bones and clothing barely left in tact and freshly picked clean; meanwhile a gray manticore with wounded wings stomped about frustrated, trying to charge the frightened Damsel though she held it back with the sharp heel of a silver shoe she had taken off of her royal foot. The deadman's weapon--most likely the thing that did the deed of disabling the beast's wings--lay useless on the cavern floor at Dodgers feet which would explain the Damsel resorting to using royal footwear in self defence. The terrified girl was screeching her head off in loud chirps of sound. The monster's huge talons would swipe at her slender torso, but it would only knock her down unharmed, the masses of jewels sewn into her dress protecting her flesh from the creature.
"Don't worry, Princess!" Dodgers shouted out importantly, feeling a bit bigheaded about the job of rescuing the Damsel alone this time, "I'll save you!!!"
The loud squawk the kid caused both attacker and attackee to turn their attentions towards the newcomer down below, distracting the manticore from further slashing at the fallen girl. The manticore tilted its twisted and deformed man's head a bit, squinting blood-red eyes at the new would-be-hero curiously as the stinger on the end of its tail rattled.
"Yes, M'lady, that's right!! Today is your lucky day!" Dodgers shouted out in enthusiasm keeping their attentions while racing to a corner of the tall room throwing each bulky boot sole upon one wall and then back against the other proceeding to leap repeatedly from one wall to the other slowly moving upwards, "For I am Captain Tristan Mitsukaru Taruin FARIS Dodgers! The great and fierce pirate-turned-hero! Expert beast slayer and Master Swashbuckler, at your service!" Reaching the floating island's level and completely with in view of the captive audience, the fox kid lightly leapt from where that scrawny body was scrunched in the corner of the wall and curled into a leap landing lightly upon the ledge hooking the soles of each boots skilfully upon the edge, tail boastfully swishing in behind and ears curling back into fluffy tufts of silver hair before the kid dipped forward into a graceful bow of introduction.
"I am Princess Artemis Luinfin of Metello'Tier, O Brave Captain Tristan Mitsukaru Taur--" the princess stood, her flowing locks of sapphire hair seeming to almost float around her fair face as a hand elegantly brushed at her jewel-littered skirt, but she was cut short by the mighty roar of the manticore who didn't seem as eager to accept the formal introduction as the princess was.
The beast reared back a moment, stamping its massive lion paws into the white marble before it took off at a charge towards the new threat.
"A pleasure to rescue you, M'lady Princess, but I fear we do not have much time!" the kid grinned happily to the girl who couldn't be even a year older then the rescuer appeared. And as the monster approached, Dodgers simply sidestepped at the last moment, a quick and nimble hand sliding into the basket-hilt and pulling the glittering blade from hiding the instant each foot slid aside, the sword catching the monster across its twisted man face before it skid over the edge.
The princess scrunched up her shoulders eagerly, two tiny hands balling up and pressing against her heart seeing the beast fall presuming that to be its end, "You have saved me!"
"All in a day's work!" Dodgers grinned coolly as the beast clutched hold of the ledge with its claws squeaking against the marble, sparks flying.
The manticore then, in a last moment attempt for victory, struck out at the hero with its deadly stinger.
The Princess gasped seeing it come at her hero from behind, both hands slapping her mouth while she squealed, "Look out!"
"For what, Princess?" Dodgers asked in a smug tone as both ears curled to the side of a freckle dotted face and a wrist snapped around in behind, swirling the blade in a circular motion, and slicing the stinger clean off. The other gloved hand snatched the flying stinger straight out of midair as it harmlessly flew over one shoulder. "Hmh, Souvenir." The fox kid shrugged at it and stuck the stinger inside the baggy oversized vest before motioning at the partial skeleton laying at the edge of the marble island, "Say, Princess, c'mere! Its time to go, and by the way, who was that anyway?"
Princess Artemis ran over to her hero, slipping her other silver shoe back upon her foot and extended a hand with a gracious curtsey upon reaching the fox tailed adventurer, "My previous would-be hero, though he was not as skilled nor as brave as you, Captain Dodgers, I am eternally in your debt and--" Dodgers cut her off pulling her by the hand closer and wrapping her arms around the back of the kid's own neck, "Hold on!" Dodgers shouted, looking down at the face of the manticore which snarled up at them, a large streak of broken flesh running across its warty skin and blood dripping from the wound. Princess Artemis squealed in surprise at this, but held on as her rescuer requested, her sapphire locks of hair brushed against the hero's dirt stained cheek and her sparkling golden eyes turning to those downcast yellow ones. Then her eyes fluttered closed as her arms gently tightened around her hero's shoulders, feeling one arm curl around her back to hold her close and her lips slowly approached the lips of the brave rescuer assuming this to be the time for the traditional hero's victory kiss.
"Going down!" Dodgers shouted, not having to tell her to shut her eyes, and with that a boot stomped down upon the manticore's head while the blade swiped at its talons causing them to loose grip and slip off. The fox kid held tightly onto the princess with one arm, knees lightly crouched as each thick leather sole gradually lost connection with the manticore's face while it turned during the coarse of the fall.
Dodgers remained looking down as the ground closed in upon the monster and the kid's feet, the beast's body slamming hard into the tile floor before it could so much as swat at the hero and the princess on the way down. Almost immediately, Dodgers aimed each careful foot for the beast's torso, landing hard upon it but the boots slid to either side, muffling the landing and falling to both knees while still clutching the Princess tightly to make sure her fall was softened by the beast's body.
Princess Artemis never even had time to scream before they hit the ground and she had never even quite figured out what happened, but as soon as they touched down, the rescuer leapt up pulling her by an arm and dashed across the room to the exit, "C'mon, Princess! This way!" Dodgers continued to run, practically dragging the girl across the dungeon's dirty floor as she squeaked and squealed trying to keep her feet moving fast enough but they kept getting caught in the long flowing skirt, "I got a deadline to keep! Said I'd rescue you before Faris got to the fork with the treasure!"
"What?!?" The Princess asked, taken aback, "Captain, what do you think this is, a game?"
"Of coarse!" the eager fox kid answered, pulling the sword out again as they came upon a group of dog-sized rat creatures, swinging the sword about to plow their way threw the attacking beasts as if they were weeds.
"Oh my!" she complained as her silver heels stumbled over several corpses of fallen rat-beasts, "The treasure you say? I am afraid I must tell you something!"
"Sure, Princess, but we gotta keep moving!" Dodgers said still clutching on to the Princess's wrist with one hand keeping her behind as the sword impaled a rat then used it to clobber a couple others upside their heads, never slowing a step.
Princess Artemis had to keep brushing her hero's excited tail out of her face which kept swishing back and forth and tickling her nose, "The Treasure . . . it is protected by a Guardian, quite a powerful being! You see, my previous attempted-rescuer wished to free me and recover the treasure all at once, seems he had one of those bothersome One Use keys--anyway! That was how we ended up in that cavern, the Guardian defeated him and left us to the manticore and then, well--"
"Guardian?!?" two triangular ears stood straight up on that head of silver fur-like hair then swivelled around backwards as Dodgers killed a rat with a back swing before slicing an other's head off, "Oh no, Faris!!! I told him not to make me rescue him--but there's no time, we'll have to anyway!"
"Captain Dodgers!" Princess Artemis exclaimed as a rat-creature's head bounced off of her skirt which she now had scooped partially up with her free hand, "Do you really think you and your friend can defeat this Guardian all by yourselves?"
Jabbing the last rat's eye out, Dodgers quickly jerked around the corner of the fork pulling the princess along, "Trust me!"
To Be Continued . . .
