Staggering Steeds - Booky By Coopy

Hey Everyone! This isn't a travel blog, instead it's a story I've been writing while traveling! I still don't understand why Mum wanted me to put it up my blog but whatever... Hope you enjoy!

Staggering Steeds

Chapter 1

Jason

Jason’s peaceful silence was suddenly shattered by an enormous boom of thunder, shaking the modern home like a rag doll. Forked arrows sliced the once still night sky. Reactions had to be immediate! Spooked by fear, his corralled brumbies would surely bolt. Jason must act swiftly. Donning his coat, whip in hand, he headed out into the vicious storm.

Hand on hat, he ran to his “Stable” if you could even call it that; it had a little room on the side built of rusted metal, which consisted of a shovel, a small bucket, and nothing more. But he didn’t use the door, he rushed past the shed to examine whether his wild mounts were to even be seen. When he came to a halt, he found that two of his brumbies were in his presence. “Phew-” he exclaimed, “Two of them are here…” He sighed with relief, then his eyes widened as he realised the truth. “Two of FIVE!”

Panic struck his mind, thoughts raced over his eyes, which flicked around the pen. “You’re here, you’re here… rats! SHE’S not here!” Jason was fully horrified now, his beloved horse was gone! There was nothing special about her, she wasn’t any faster, nor was she any more beautiful than the others, but he called her “Beauty” like the typical country guy does.

She had colours spread all over in blotches, name a colour and it was there. Grey, brown, a slightly darker grey, there's even stains of green from wet dew that the klutzy thing had fallen into. Unlike the other horses, Jason had no intention of selling her, but he loved her to the shack and back, which wasn’t very far, but his point still stands. After rambling back and forth for what seemed like days, Jason noticed something, a clue if you will, something was scratched into his shed’s walls, it read; “You told me to take opportunities whenever I can, Jason, I took this one to ‘borrow’ your horses,” Jason was grasped by a wave of wrath. Some kid who he once knew had come and stolen his horses!

Chapter 2

Slizwyck

Jason had to get them back. He pondered for a moment, but only for a moment, as a sneaky idea crawled into his mind, “He must have gone to Slizwyck, he had to,” Jason was thinking aloud, “If he stole my horses, he probably took them to Slizwyck to exchange them! What else would a kid of his age want those horses for?” His plan was clear, and excessively simple, he would go down into town, and just take them back, how much easier could it be?

Although Jason was still frustrated that some immature youngster had taken his mighty mounts, he was rather confident in his abilities to argue the horses are rightfully his, but he still made his stride quick so the kid wouldn’t give away the horses yet. There was three horses missing, but Jason only really wanted Beauty back, and of course this was days after the crime, so the child could very well have exchanged the mare, but Jason was clever, and he knew better than to believe that a twelve-year-old could trade a horse so swiftly. The town, however, suggested otherwise when Jason found the child to be absent from his vision, “Excuse me, kind maiden,” he muddled to a shopkeeper in his best ‘fine man’ voice. “My name is Sayori! Everyone calls me Grumble for some reason, though, now I’d suggest you call me by my name before I give you a slap attack!” yelled the woman.

  “Oh, uh… sorry Grumble, I would just like to know if you’ve seen a kid with three horses walking through here?”

  “What’s the name?”

  “Well his name is Tink, but I doubt he goes by that anymore-”

  “YOU’RE looking at the wrong woman, then,” she bashed the windows of her homemade stall closed so he couldn't interrupt her any further.

Jason made his way up and down the sprawling streets, searching every nook and cranny for the youngling. Jason’s spirits decreased after a while of not finding what they’re after, so he decided to take a break and purchase a cool beverage from a little pub which definitely didn’t live up to its adverts. Signs were scattered across the street, showering compliments over the bar, “Succulent refreshments!”

  “Quench your thirst!”

  “Dry throat? Fear no more!” Yet the second you walk in the door, you collide almost instantly with the bar itself, as the “Pub” is mainly outside. Jason sat down and sighed a deep, doubtful, sigh. His mind spun back into action though when his ears began locking on to an interesting conversation from a couple metres away, “The Queen was way too young to die of natural cause, I think she was killed,”

“But how? Unless someone can just magically teleport into her room and magically blind the king, there’s no way they could get past the guards! Last time I checked, there ain’t such a thing as magic!”

But magic is magical, and can hide out of sight.

                                         And someone killed the Queen.

Chapter 3

Flies In A Web

The crowds were building over themselves in anger, and Jason was curious why. He soon discovered that thousands of people were impatiently waiting to be escorted into the King’s Court. “Killer of the Queen must be killed!” the townsfolk were chanting. Fortunately, Jason passed as a citizen and was pushed down a river of protest, someone could really hurt themselves here, there’s so many bodies! Jason thought to himself as he was filtered in a flurry to a barren amphitheater. Standing on a pillar was the King, to his right the General soldier, and his left a princess with eyes blurred by tears and cheeks smudged with black, wet makeup. She was still crying, though trying to hide it, and unmistakably failing. “SILENCE!” boomed the King at the top of his lungs, “As you are all obviously aware, we have a traitor among us, and that traitor has…” he paused, cleary hesitant to continue, partially because he was heartbroken, and also because he wished he didn’t have to say what he must now, “Well, uh, vanquished our Queen Amenite,” the King had used the word vanquished specifically to avoid upsetting his daughter to an even more dramatic extent, “By simply looking around,” he resumed, “I can tell the majority of you want this murderer killed. But in order to do such things, we must first find this criminal, and this is why you are all here today,” Jason was listening intensely, slowly putting the pieces together. So someone killed the Queen, and now people want the killer killed for killing the Queen killer style? 

“Now here we have some of our main suspects, they were in the vicinity at the time of the crime scene-,” BOOM! An ear piercing sound sliced through the air, causing the townsfolk to shudder.

Jason, as well as many others, dashed out of the court, and was unpleasantly shocked to be nearly hit in the face by a… flying tree? He flinched as a whole pine flew right above his head, which was being pummelled by an extreme gale. In the distance was a river, a slim one at that, no sane ship would ever sail through it, except this one. A large vessel was traveling upstream. How? Well it seemed the wind was working with the wild watercraft, brushing the ship forwards whenever it barely slowed down. Gasps were drawn from perplexed faces, “H-h-h-how?” one soldier said with a mouth wide open.

In the whole situation, most didn’t notice a figure running towards town, most DID however, when he shouted so loud the mighty winds sounded like squeaks from a rat, “LISTEN! PLEASE! LISTEN!”. 

Faces turned towards the boy as if a huge ship didn’t just sail up a river, “People, listen. That ship…” the 12 year old looking boy was catching his breath after sprinting so hard, “I’m not sure if any of you noticed, but that wind was clearly formed by the means of magic. There’s this other kid, like me, but he’s… he’s… a wizard. I used to know him. But something’s changed. I don’t know what, but he’s doing things very uncharacteristicly recently, like how he commanded the wind just now to create such speed for that boat, and look what that did!” everyone was so stunned by the river-boat that no one noticed the fact that more than half of the village houses had been completely destroyed. Thatched roofs ripped. Crops plucked from the ground. All of this was the doing of the wind.

“My name is Zadeni, by the way, but you all can me Zi for short,”

“Who is this magic kid person?” a random citizen called out, “His name is Tink,”

“Tink…” Jason uttered under his breath, “The mare thief,”.

Chapter 4

Lea

Jason knew exactly who he was looking for now, he was a kid, about 12, his name is Tink, which he already knew, and he’s a sorcerer. Great. Then an idea slipped into his mind, follow the boat, silly, he’s probably on there! Jason almost face palmed because he hadn't thought of this earlier. He began pushing his way through the crowd, swerving when he needed to, in the direction of his property.

When he arrived home, he randomly picked one of the remaining horses he had left and jumped on, bareback. For a horse that hadn't yet been ridden, the brumby did pretty well following Jason's instructions. On the way, Jason decided that until he received his beloved horse, Beauty, he would most likely be riding this one for a while, so he brewed up a name, "Spudwig," he said to himself, the name rolling off his tongue, to test how it sounded spoken out loud. The name had no particular meaning, but he liked it.

Spudwig galloped quickly, and Jason was once again surprised at how well he handled for an untamed horse. The duo reached the river side, and began running beside it. Jason's logic was that if they followed the river, then eventually they'll reach the ship's location, right? About a half a kilometer from Slizwyck, the pair was starting to form a steady pace, until... Spudwig's hooves dug into the soil in an attempt to come to a halt, "Careful! You could really get hurt standing right there, a horse could hit you!" Jason exclaimed to a woman standing on the sandy bend settled by the river, "You know-" she began a reply, "You don't usually see horses right here, 

especially not going that fast, either, you must be in a 

rush," Exactly, thought Jason, That's why you need to get out of my way! "Are you..." the woman started again, "Looking for something, or someone? A... magic boy, perhaps?" Jason was startled by how specific this stranger was, yet how accurate her statements were, "Look, my name is Lea, I have no doubt in mind that you are after that boy creating that huge gust of wind earlier. Are you a hero? A knight?"

"No -" Jason answered immediately, "I don't really care about the boy, just getting my mare back," Lea seemed shocked by such a direct and honest answer being thrown at her like that, and Jason instantly regretted being so truthful, "Actually -" he thought for a second, "I was just kidding, though my joke may have not gone down the right way, I see. I'm not really a knight or a hero, but I have the dream of being one, to serve justice, starting with catching this selfish boy!" everything Jason had just said was a lie. He wasn't intending on telling that tall of a tale, but for some reason he just kept spewing out more and more, he didn't know why.

"Well, we're in the same boat, I have no fancy badge, but I would like to receive one, perhaps we should work together? I am quite skilled when it comes to medicine and healing, and if you let me borrow a horse, we could be a dynamic duo, or dynamic foursome, if you include the horses," she said, laughing at her own joke. Jason would have spat out anything that could have been in his mouth, luckily there was nothing. He hated all that he just heard. He couldn't work with her, he just lied about his whole, selfish goal! Also, he wasn't sure whether he should trust this random person with one of his brumbies. But then again, he could save the horses and pretend that was just part of his heroic act, and having a companion who's good with a medkit can't hurt, right? "Okay," Jason spoke as 

optimisticly as possible to sound kind, "I'll bring you to my property, I have one other horse you can have,".

After Lea accepted the offer, and named her horse, "Drumbone," for his chunky calves, Jason set off again, though this time with one extra horse and a companion.

Jason, Lea, Spudwig & Drumbone. The dynamic foursome!

Chapter 5

The Dynamic Foursome

Three days had passed, and the foursome were still in the Kingdom of Slinzster, but in the wilderness fraction of it, far from society. As they were always together, and they only had each other, Jason and Lea were able to speak more freely to each other, rather than communicating formally around the clock.

The four, (Yes, we're including the horses,) became better acquainted as each hour passed, swapping yarns with each other as they rode, laughs and smiles blooming. Lea had come prepared, with a large rucksack containing generous rations, and, as promised, plenty of medical equipment. Of course Jason didn't want to get harmed, but he was also, at the same time, hoping this temporary partnership was worth it. Once the sun had sunk, and dusk was upon them on the fourth day, the four made camp, which wasn't really camp. They scavenged a small area beside the river, where the grass was soft and lucious, a natural mattress, inviting them to rest. 

Because the brumbies were, well, brumbies, Jason didn't have the trust that they would stay with them, so far, they have been pretty good, but that could all change in a second. Lea took advantage of the loose, dangling straps on her rucksack and fashioned them into a leather leash for both Spudwig and Drumbone, which was tied firmly around a sappy pine tree, "I noticed you wrapped that strap perfectly around that tree to avoid the sap," Jason said in his 'You're so weird' voice, "I'll just say that if the rucksack gets sticky, I know who'll be carrying it," Lea replied with a smirk, as well as trusting that Jason understood her bantor. The two lay down on the patch of green hairs, staring deeply into the softly illuminated stars, gliding gently over the sky, "What do you think we'll do when we actually reach that kid?" Lea asked in a tone with an honest uncertainty, "I reckon we'll... disable him, put him into a state where he can't wriggle free, and then we'll take him to court,"

"But what if his magic doesn't need words or movement? What if, no matter how tied up we get him, or how much tape we put over his mouth, he can just... kapoof his way out?" she uttered with, once again, a tone that spoke for itself, "I'm not sure about this," Jason took a moment to ponder, "Well, if he doesn't cooperate, we'll have to take desperate measures,"

"But he's a kid!"

"But you saw what he did earlier! At least double'o'dozen houses were ruined back at Slizwyck, and looking at the description that Zi kid gave us, he'll most likely continue to do more damage!"

The two of them stayed quiet after that, presumably processing what was just said, listening to the subtle, yet furious sounds of Spudwig and Drumbone fighting over a carrot. Drumbone was given a carrot, while Spudwig an apple, to peacefully snack on before they rested, but it seems neither of them wanted the apple, so they snatched the carrot back and forth. One second in it's in Drumbone's mouth, the next Spudwig's.

Lea had summoned slumber now, but Jason was still thinking, about their first night, when he had different feelings about their mission;

When Lea was asleep just as she is now, Jason had tip-toed to her rucksack, pinched the journal he had snuck in there prior to leaving his shed, and wrote in it;

Dear diary, this is the first entry in this diary, as I haven't used it once since I was gifted it, but here goes. This magical kid stole my horses, I tricked a woman into helping me, and she thinks I'm going to help her, but I don't care about justice and all that rubbish, I just want my horses back and that's that.

Um, entry complete?

Back in the present day, Jason had changed excessively in those last 72 hours. He felt different about his goal now, he felt different about Lea. Very different. Just in the last day especially, he had really opened himself to her, and she had done the same. They were a duo. Partners. Jason crept over to the rucksack, and propelled the diary into the woods as far as he could manage. Done.

Chapter 6

Lack of Love

Another morning was upon them, and Jason was awoken by a loud thud of horseshoes pounding the dirt. Lea rose up with a quiet yawn but didn’t need a “Wake up!” to get moving, “Okay Jason, I’m going to quickly do my thing over there in the bushes, but I’ll be right back,”

“Do your thing? What does thing imply?”

“You know, business…”

“Oh, hehe, right,” Jason said, with a hint of sorry that he made her answer his question. Lea walked off into the trees, not too far, but not too close either. She took in a deep observation of her surroundings. The morning light filtered through the pine trees, creating a cozy komorebi. Birds hovered into hollows, bugs bounced and glided, but there was something unnatural still. Last time Lea checked, it’s not normal to find leather on the side of a river, so the small leather slab stood out to her. She stooped over, picked up the book, and, still crouching on her knees, snuck a peek inside.

To Jason,

Happy Birthday!

Hope you find some great adventures to file into this diary, From Your childhood friend, Cindie *

At first this seemed like some forgotten journal she shouldn’t care about, but the first page, the dedication by the looks of it, stated the name, “Jason,” either this was a rare fluke or Lea had just found something special. Of course she knew she shouldn’t resume any further, a diary should never be read unless the reader is its owner, she was raised that way. But it was so tempting, the case was simply cheering her on to continue, so she did.

Dear diary, this is the first entry in this diary, as I…

… rubbish, I just want my horses back and that’s that…

Lea’s eyes grew more ajar every second as she read this, WHAT THE HECK IS THIS?!?!, she thought, her lips ready to release a scream. Her business would have to wait, because she was already on her way back to Drumbone, her feet obviously stomping with fury. She had grown to really like Jason, she had feelings for him, even. But like the trust for the horses, her love for him all changed in a second. She made an entrance into Jason’s eyes, her movement almost mechanical seeming because of the angry, jerky motion, “Uhhh, you alright?” Jason asked with worry, “WHAT IS THIS?” Lea said with force as she held up the diary. Uh oh, play dumb, Jason thought, and said, “Looks like a left behind journal to me,”

“Don’t lie. I know it’s rude to read a diary but… it’s also quite rude to let a kingdom die when you are more than capable to prevent that fate, but no, you decide to be selfish and just help yourself like life is a buffet!”

“Hold on…” Jason may as well admit the diary was his now, she already found his secret,” Who said I’m more than capable? I might only be able to save the horses for all I know,”

“Don’t be stupid. You’ve told me a lot of stories in the past few days, ones about you sneaking around places to avoid alerting animals, taking things without being seen, chasing after people on horses, all of that. Looks to me that you’re pretty… CAPABLE!” she exclaimed, specifically emphasising the last word.

Lea was fed up with this argument already and untied the two horses, hopped on Drumbone and said, “Bye Spudwig, you’re a nice horse, Jason here doesn’t deserve you, though then again all he wants is horses, so maybe he’ll take good care of you. Just maybe though. YOU on the other hand,” Lea was talking loud enough so Jason could hear, which was clearly on purpose, “You don’t get a goodbye,” she faced Drumbone around, but before she exited the area, Jason wanted to tell her about his recent change of tune, “Lea, wait, I’m different now-”

“No.” she cut him off, “I’m leaving. I don’t care if I’m stealing your horse,” and just like that, she galloped away.

It was like the dynamic foursome never existed after that. Jason rode Spudwig next to the river, Dumb, dumb, dumb. Why am I so stupid? But there was one difference to before, his goal was something else now. He was going to save the kingdom from a magical menace.

Chapter 7

Flame

Jason reached a riverside town soon afterwards, “Finally!” he thought out loud, “It’s time to save the day, Spudwig!”.

But the town wasn’t in the best condition, at all. Cloaked in fire, it could be described as a challenge to even breathe. The locals were collapsing over the black, dry, grass. Jason found the culprit with no effort required, as he was shouting loudly, “Everyone in this world sucks! No one has ever said a nice thing since earth’s creation! Especially that stupid, stupid, Gertrude! I’m done with this!” Stop shouting that! Jason said to himself. The kid was standing on the thatched roof of a village house, which was burning to ashes beneath him, he didn’t seem to mind, though. A protection spell had been cast over himself prior to all this chaos. Jason noticed a sword left supine, he was curious why someone would leave it there, but that would have to wait, he snatched it nevertheless.

Jason was expecting this combat to be tricky, he lept off Spudwig, and shooed him away for his own safety, he ran towards the child, there was no point in hiding, when the whole joint was tumbling down anyway. He was ready to fight the kid, he had never fought with a sword before, but swinging a plank of steel back and forth can’t be that hard, right? “Surrender, you monster! Look what you’ve done!” Jason shouted at the top of his lungs. The child looked down at him, perplexed. “I’m the monster, am I? If he was here, Father would have said otherwise!........ Jason.” he said, and he flung another burst of fire from his fingertips. Tink wasn’t done, however, “I know you’re just doing this for the fame, for even MORE riches! Like you don’t have enough! Those brumbies were mine before you took ‘em,”

Suddenly, a silhouette shoved the child from behind, resulting in him plummeting towards the ground, 

“Disable!” the silhouette said. A loud thud croaked in the smoky air, and golden sparks flew from the boy’s palms. Jason knew nothing about magic, but right now on the spot his mind made something up, the protection spell’s gone, this was merely a guess, but without thinking any further, without thinking about the fact he’s but a child, Jason thrusted steel through flesh.

Or so he thought.

Tink had clutched the sword barely a centimetre from his chest, his hands invulnerable to the slicing edge,

“How do you do this?” Tink cried, “First you push me to outcast, then you attempt to kill me? I wasn’t lying when I said none of you people are nice!” Jason pulled a confused face, “ What are you talking about? You’re committing arson right now and I’m the bad guy?” Jason’s acting was perfect.

   “You don’t know? Well I guess you must be quite the actor. I had a life, you know! Father and I were wealthy, and we were living our best life. But then your IDIOT mother, Gerturde, came along, got married to Father, then when Father died, your Mother took all the riches - which were rightfully mine - and kicked me onto the streets. So, you can drop the innocent act now. I’ve already said it. Now, my apologies if me being furious and trying to use up my anger upsets you. I’m TERRIBLY sorry… like you should be,” 

Jason had been exposed, “Alright, sure, we did steal your future, we stole your chances of life, so I’m certain you’ll be happy for me to put you out of your misery.”

Jason forced all his weight onto the sword, attempting to drive the weapon into Tink’s chest. But Tink pushed the sword back, his palms began to glow, suddenly, Jason lost his grip, his hands were burned, and the tip of the sword was sizzling, Tink had used magic to fry the edge of the sword Jason was holding, “You magic freak! Just die and admit death! No one wants you!” he howled, and his tone was no longer the kind, gentle voice that people knew. The nearby residents, though they should be fleeing, stood in silence, watching,

“You’re a money-less weirdo! A fatherless weirdo!” Jason said as he grabbed the still burning handle of the sword, embracing the pain, “Just look at the state of your clothes! My Mother and I may have stolen much, but we succeeded easily, so we’re the winners. Now die!”

Jason was aware of the people watching, and he called loudly, “Who should win here, people? This dump of a human, or me?”

 There was a long silence. It was a hard question after all, one of these people took away the other’s chance of life, but that other one had burned a village. But all of that was a tantrum, caused by Jason and Gertrude. “Oh, come on!” Jason bellowed, “This kid has killed your Queen for goodness sakes!” This caught the attention of someone in the crowd, “Hey! That kid didn’t kill Queen Amenite! The murderer has already been caught!” What? Jason wondered. This whole time he thought Tink had killed the Queen out of anger, it would’ve been the perfect argument! Now Tink had less crimes to his name, and Jason seemed more villainous as each second passed.  

 Someone finally answered his question, “The child should live!” soon, others began to follow,

“The kid!”

“The boy!”

“Tink!”

“That dump of a human!”

“Not you!”

“Bless the child, curse the man!”

Jason looked around angrily at the protest. In the shock, he barely noticed the figure jump down off the building right towards him.

Chapter 8

New Perspectives

Lea landed on Jason’s back, and pulled him onto the ground. Tink crawled to his feet and stepped away immediately, and Jason grouled, “I may have stolen, but Tink has still stolen my horses and burned a village!”

Lea looked at him, he was partially right, but he didn’t deserve respect, “Tink should have a fighting chance.”

Epilogue

Lies Unfold… 

Jason had been caught out, and while he never admitted defeat,

he didn’t have to.

He was thrown into jail, for he and his Mother, Gertrude, had done something horrible. They stole riches, but they also stole a family, a home, and a future.

Spudwig and Drumbone became Lea’s and she took in Tink.

She believed that maybe just maybe, she could drain out all the fury and put Tink’s magical abilities to good use.

Tink was glad to have a parent, but he still couldn’t help but think about his Father, think about JASON. But when he met up with a long lost friend, Tink decided to let go of the past. Let go of the fury. 

Zadeni knew him well.