Holorutha and the SnackQueen
Created | Updated Jan 28, 2002
Last updated 6-6-2001
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It was a long time ago, on a holodeck far far away...
CHAPTER ONE : The SnackQueen
From her tower in the castle the lonely SnackQueen stared out at the fields. She sighed, and a single tear ran down her cheek, for it had been months since she heard anything from her true love, her dear Holorutha. She had just had a terrible argument with her maid, for the sheets were just not quite right. Nothing was since her love had been gone, not the day, nor the night, nor the long lonely hours in between. What could she do? Should she remain in her tower or risk emerging like a butterfly into the cold, rainy outside world?
But the decision was not to be hers, for there was always that itchy feeling that mentioned the presence of her old father, sitting in a dark corner of the castle, screaming for some semblance of order in the disorder, that is to say : more of his favourite ale. 'Come here my daughter!', he shouted, drunk as ever. She knew what he wanted. The same as each time that he got drunk. She would go down and then he would go on. The subject of her refusal of betrothal to all the suiters he presented. If only she could let him know of her feelings for Holorutha. But her father thought him merely a peasant who would never be able to take over the kingdom.
So there she was, crying, thinking of her loved one, until suddenly something outside caught her eye. A shadow upon the ground. Vast and dark, blocking out the light where it fell. Looking skyward she saw a bird. But it wasn't just any bird. She had never seen anything that beautiful. While she looked, the white albatross descended gracefully and settled on the ground at her feet. To her surprise it addressed her thus : "I have travelled along the widest reaches of this land." "Fear not, for your Holorutha shall return. I have seen him in all his greatness and, believe me he is great, and he feels that he is on a mission from God, but he will return!" "Oh" she replied, "But what shall I do while I wait for him? For it is not in my nature to sit around idly." And it was not. She would far rather...
Suddenly she heard a dark and mysterious voice : 'Listen very carefully SnackQueen, I shall say this only once..."
*fade out, camera on SnackQueen's face...*
CHAPTER TWO : HOLORUTHA.
Far away in a distant land, Holorutha sat and stared miserably into his beer. This was nothing new, as it had happened many times before.
Suddenly circles started to form in his beer. Slowly the head of a bird appeared. It spoke to Holorutha about his girlfriend and how miserable she felt.
It said : "you have been looking into this mug far too much recently! Why don't you down it to the last drop, pack your rucksack and go and find your SnackQueen? She is pining away in her dark Castle and misses you!" Holorutha sighed, if it were only that easy. There wasn't a single night that he wouldn't lie awake, thinking about his SnackQueen.
Unfortunately, Holorutha had a mission to complete. For although his love did not know(noone actually knew about this in the old kingdom), he had set out to defeat the Relics of The Olde Empire, those remnants of a distant past who threatened the very existence of the castle.
So on this day, Holorutha decided to first visit their most prominent member before confronting the Relics of the Olde Empire themselves. This was Count Farmwell. The Count was the only one who had some control over the Relics, as they were also known. And some control would be vital to overcome the many other dangers that still lay ahead.
He knew that the trip would be dangerous. The Relics, or so it was told in the Kingdom by those few who knew about them, lived in a small village in the shadow of Mount Antrens. The only thing Holorutha knew about this Mount was, that people who went there seldom returned. But that wasn't the only thing. He did know one thing about the road to the village. It road would lead him to the Guardians Lair, home of the Evil Twins...
Holorutha wished that the Albatross would come back so he could ask it to tell his love that he would return but alas, the bird was nowhere to be seen. Or was it ? This being a strange bird(of even stranger feathers) it might be anywhere, even around the corner of Holorutha's subconcious mind. It might be a magical beast. He pondered this profound insight and decided to indeed regard the bird as a magical beast until proven otherwise.
His thoughts went out to the SnackQueen. He just hoped that the Albatross would hear him and tell the SnackQueen what it heard, so it would not be too late once he returned. Holorutha was keenly aware of the SnackQueens's father and his machinations to get his daughter to marry into the ruling aristocracy. He would do everything in his power to prevent that from happening, but he wasn't yet sure how he could manage that.
Holorutha decided that he couldn't stay here for too long, for he had a quest to complete. His beloved SnackQueen, who had been in his thoughts and dreams ever since he left the Castle to find Count Farmwell, was all alone but for now it could not be helped.
Holorutha thought about his mission and for a moment he hesitated. Duty and Danger on one side, Failure and possibly even more Danger on the other. He knew he would have to make his mind up soon, cause it was getting dark, and he needed a place to spend the night. The woods were not a good place to be in the middle of the night.
He decided to travel on and try to reach Count Farmwell's safe haven before nightfall. After several hours in which darkness descended on the land, he reached his destination.
"Hello the Castle" he shouted.
Nothing moved...Arutha made himself as comfortable as possible and prepared to wait. 'Let's see who rusts first, he whispered...'
CHAPTER THREE : THE DEVIL IN THE DARK.
While Holorutha was seeking shelter from the oncoming night, miles away an evil entity woke from it's sleep. It had no fear of the night, for all creatures of the night feared Him (and his mates, ofcourse). He was everthing Holorutha wasn't. He was handsome, for instance.
However, anyone who could have gotten close enough to take a close look at his face would know his good looks to be false. For in his demonically symmetric face two red fires burned where his eyes should have been, faint puffs of smoke could be seen coming out of his nose and his mouth. His mouth...his thin bloodless lips parted to reveal blood-stained fangs. Oh, he was human allright. He just happened to choose not to look very much like it. He was dressed in golden-rimmed black armour, blacker than night itself. It was the blackness of true darkness.
This man-being was known as Piggen-Jester, mightiest of the Ancient relics and therefore also their leader. Next to him stood a black dragon, known as Ahgrowl. Which meant "run for your life!" in the language of the Relics. Piggen-Jester mounted Ahgrowl and they rose skyward, carried by the dragons' mighty wings.
The Ancient one spoke softly, with a voice like a hissing snake, to his steed: "come on, my dear friend, let us see how the Twins fare against Holorutha.
The dragon only growled, but exchanged a knowing glance with his master. He knew that there was much at stake here. His master had been very restless all day, and that feeling reflected on the winged beast. The maniacal laugh that came from the man sitting on his back sent a shiver through the dragons body. No matter how long they had crossed the skies together, Ahgrowl could never really get used to that sound...
The dragon took to the sky...
CHAPTER FOUR : THE THREAT OF MARRIAGE.
"Somebody get me a drink", the King shouted from his throne. This was nothing new, so none of the servants were showing any real signs of obeying the order. They all knew that the bottle of wine was next to the throne, where it always was. The King was hardly able to sit straight anymore. This was also nothing new. It happened almost every day. The Snack Queen stood next to her father, and despite the fact that she couldn't stand him at times like this, she reached for the bottle and presented it to her father. He grabbed it greedily and downed the entire contents in one huge gulp!
'Now then girl' he growled, 'You are nearly at the age when a girl is expected to marry in this fair land! I have spent many hours thinking about a suitable candidate for the position of Prince of the Realm and have decided that the best man for the job is....' This touching speech was suddenly interrupted by an extremely loud noise outside the castle. 'What the devil is going on?' roared the King!
This was indeed something new. The servants had no idea that the King was capable of noticing his surroundings at times like this. All of a sudden they straightened their backs, and three of them rushed to the door to see what the fuzz was about.
The Snack Queen, grateful that she was off the hook a little while longer backed away from the throne, searching for a way to get back to her own quarters unnoticed. Fortunately she remembered the secret door hidden behind the elaborate wall hanging 'The Rape of the Fitness Queens'. She cursed quietly as she realised that the lighting flint was no longer where she had hidden it before. She would have to feel her way down the steep spiral staircase and hope that she could recall the correct route when she reached the 5-way branch at the bottom. Her heart was pounding as she thought about the commotion going on behind her. She went down into the black abyss.
As she was stumbling through the darkness, occasionally bumping into crates and unidentifyable objects, her thoughts went out to where they always went at times like these. To her dear Holorutha, and his quest. She was one of the very few people who knew the truth behind the story, and yet she had never been able to express the horror of it to her loved one. She knew what Holorutha was up to, and hoped sincerely that he would find out before it was too late.
However, she had other problems at hand. She vaguely remembered the way back to her quarters, but it had been a long time ago that she last used this route. She concentrated and tried to remember the blueprints of the secret hallways. After a great deal of hesitation she tried the second corridor on the left. It seemed to go on for ever! 'This doesn't seem right' she said to herself. 'The Castle isn't this big surely!'
Finally she reached a very dusty door. Hesitantly she tried turning the huge ring handle. *Creeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaakkkkkkkkkk!*
A draught of musty air blew out from the other side and she stared in amazement as she saw the remains of what had once probably been a bridge. Slowly she walked a bit further, until she noticed the ground slowly began to lead her down. Now that she had control of her senses again, she also heard the very faint sound of water. "Water? Down here...?" she thought, and walked on to see where the sound came from.
The route descended down further and further, and the path changed from worn-out paving slabs to earth. Gnarled old trees were scattered either side of her and wet, slimey moss clung in great clumps to the tenuous track. Still she kept on walking, the sound of the water increased as she progressed. The path twisted and turned, forcing her to tread very carefully as one wrong step could see her plunge down into the darkness which swirled below her.
One more corner turned finally brought her to a hall the size of a cathedral. Although there was no obvious source of light, the hall bathed in an eerie light that seemed to originate from within the walls themselves. In the center of the hall a shape could be vaguely seen. She started to walk towards it. As she approached the object it started to take form, the form of an antique magicians wand. Although the SnackQueen knew better she took the magic wand in her hand and waved it above her head. A soft sound could be heard and the room started to transform. She could now see 32 doors lined up 8 on each wall. Without hesitation she went and stood in front of the first door. She opened it and was astonished to see a landscape she had never seen before...
After a while the SnackQueen had tried all but one. She had found a different scene behind each door. From beautiful and idyllic landscapes to the darkness of night.
She opened the last remaining door...
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CHAPTER FIVE : SLOW GLASS.
To Be Continued...
Last updated 7-6-2001
