Chapter 1:
The Sunset
Darkness shrouded the forest like an ocean wave that has been polluted for millions of years. The trees were bare with no leaves. Their branches creaked and groaned, as if a thousand men were experiencing the pain of battling to open an impossibly heavy door. In the background, cries and screeches of owls and ravens were the only music that filled the air.
Through the black, unilluminated terror, two small figures made their way along the forest, trying to find a way out. Around them, beams of light shone through the trees, as if screaming to be let out from their cataclysmic prison. Those figures wandering are Furaha, a lioness cub, and Orko, her wizard friend. Orko is feeling nervous, the poor fellow, because it’s his first time basking in nature. He’s fond of tending gardens, but not on Eternia. His former master, King Randor, forced him to do it as an act of helpfulness, but with every time he refused, he was whipped without any remorse.
WHIP!
CRACK!
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!”
But those things were all forgotten about just now. The light had been turned off on this cruel event, and turned back on to reveal this very story which you are reading right now. Furaha, his partner in crime, is trying her best to comfort him. Orko feels anxious - he’d never been in a forest this dark before.
“It’s okay, Orko,” reassured Furaha, “Look! There are no beastly buggy things around there.” “There might be,” shuddered Orko, “I think there’ll be monsters everywhere I turn - with swords and bum bags and blonde hair and muscles, just waiting to punish me.” “There’s no such thing as monsters with muscles,” said Furaha, “Not even one called He Man.” “URGH!” Orko shuddered. “Don’t you dare mention He Man, his sword goes right through my heart in my mind as I mention his name.” “I mean he’s not here right now. He’s on Eternia.”
“Then what about bears, or wolves, or bats?” asked Orko. “Well,” explained Furaha, “Bears usually defend themselves against hunters when they’re protecting their young from their big, sharp wooden spears. I heard from my friend Mickey a story about a boy who got transformed into a bear as punishment for killing one. This bear was a symbol of the fact of life. He also mentioned two moose who played a vital role on his journey, and a bear cub who was adorable but looking for a fight.”
Furaha leapt up onto her hind paws and jumped up and down in little jumps, boxing the air with her bijou furry fists. “Come on, Orko. Fight! You wanna look for a fight? Get me now!” At last delighted, Orko unrolled his sleeves and both of them pretended to fight together. Furaha jumped out of the way just as Orko was about to punch her, just like that he got dizzy and fell over. He began laughing and laughing and laughing. Furaha began laughing as well.
Once the laughter had died down, Furaha helped Orko up and told him, “You’re really starting to be brave in this spooky old forest, dear heart. No need to worry about bats, they like to flutter around like butterflies looking for a nice juicy fruit to nibble instead of a nice juicy neck to suck red crimson liquid from.” Orko sighed in relief. Bats weren’t at all blood suckers after all. “And wolves,” Furaha went on, “Are really noisy. They like to howl a lot! AWWWWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!”
Orko took a deep breath and tried howling himself. “Ar-ar-AROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!” Orko and Furaha had a great time howling and making spooky noises in the dark forest. All around them, field mice scrambled into their underground homes. Foxes darted into their burrows and badgers dug the ground frantically, looking for a place to hide. Furaha and Orko howled louder than they could possibly howl, until…silence.
Afterwards, much to their horror, a loud screeching noise echoed through the dark forest. Furaha and Orko screamed in horror! Orko leapt onto Furaha’s back and held onto his hat as the young lioness cub galloped across the forest and the noise turned up its emotively ear-splitting volume. Furaha and Orko have got to find a way out of here! “Faster, Furaha, FASTER!” shouted Orko. “I’m trying! We need to find a way out of here!”
At last, Furaha saw a beam of light shining through a gap in the trees. A wide gap which lead out into the sunlight. “A light!” shouted Furaha. “Hold on, Orko!” Furaha ran headfirst into the light as Orko screamed in fear. At first, they were blinded by a 2 second flash of white!
Then, when it settled, Furaha and Orko stepped out of the light and into the most arresting part of nature ever seen by the human eye. The sky was coloured pink to mark the first sunset of the month. The ground was carpeted in soft green grass and colourfully-scented wild flowers, and the sun set just over a huge hill nearby. “We did it, Orko.” sighed Furaha, “We’ve made it to this beautiful place.” Orko at once felt calm and collected again as he looked around at his beautiful surroundings. He sniffed. The beautiful scent of a Spring breeze filled his unforeseen nose. “Mmmmmmm…” sighed Orko. He floated in the air, spinning slowly, then he fell on his back in the grass and sighed.
Furaha lay down beside him and watched the sky darken. She yawned gingerly, and Orko’s eyes were dry and cold, so he had to rub them and yawn too. “We’ve been wandering through this forest for days and days.” she said softly, “but now that we’ve found a way out, we can finally be at peace with ourselves.” There was a lengthy moment of silence, before Orko asked Furaha, “Do you know why us Trollans are into nature?”
But Furaha was already asleep. Orko felt sleepy too, and soon they were both snoring as the sky turned from a beautiful pale pink to a deep, dark black. Unbeknownst to them, a deep, groaning roar pierced the blackness….
Chapter 2:
Dinosaur Footprints
When Furaha and Orko woke up the next morning, Furaha discovered some chicken-like footprints on the ground. She gently shook Orko awake and pointed in her direction at the giant footprints. “Do you think these look like giant chicken footprints?” “I don’t see any giant chickens around here.” said a confused Orko, who scratched his ears in thought. “No, it must be something else then.” “Something else? Are you sure it’s not…a monster?” “It won’t be. I’m going to find out. Come on, Orko.”
So off they went, following the footprints across the meadow, this way and that, until they came to a line. The line crossed over to a huge desert, and in the distance were towering volcanoes the size of skyscrapers. “Oh my good gravy guts…” gasped Furaha. “Trolly Molly…” breathed Orko. They had never seen anything like it. “Well, I suppose this rift allows us to travel back in time to when dinosaurs existed, I presume.” guessed Furaha. “Mind if we go through it?” “I’m sure we can,” said Orko. “Let’s do it!”
So Furaha jumped over the line, and gestured for Orko to do the same. Once he did, the whole meadow disappeared behind them. They had travelled back in time to the prehistoric ages! At first, our two friends didn’t know there were dinosaurs in this era, until they heard a loud roar. A huge, green diplodocus stomped its way past the two friends, who scampered to safety. Just when they thought they were safe, a triceratops thundered by and charged into another of its kind. “RUN!” cried Furaha and grabbed Orko’s hand, taking him across the valley and into a large hole.
When they opened their eyes, they found themselves in darkness. The sound of dripping water echoed in the shadows as Orko pulled a wicker candle out of his sleeve and lit a match. Once he lit it, he and Furaha got the biggest surprise of their life: there, before them, was a huge black tadpole with four legs, wanting to eat them for his supper! The two friends screamed and popped out of the hole, running across this terrifying world of prehistoric giants while trying not to get separated from one another.
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