Tiny Tales - Part I

Tiny Tale is the very beginning of an alternate take on the Pendragon tales, set in a reality in which Inferno's curse in Number One Fan did not reverse - although initially this does cause some tragedy and turmoil it ultimately leds to a variety of "weird fantasy" adventures with the "Once and Future King" of a very different Lore from our own.

Prologue
Seven years had passed since the fateful eve that Inferno Pendragon learned he would remain stuck at under 4 inches in size - during that time he had lost his former lover and unborn daughter, both of whom moved back to their own kingdom, unable (or unwilling) to continue their relationship.

He had also lost his throne and any position of power he may of once had in Avalon society, yet he had gained a little in the way of his once infinite Twilight Force power - he had also grown to become even more of a wanderer, somewhat out of necessity but also out of a growing sense of wonder for the land he had never truly experienced despite living on for centuries.

Having made himself a small "home" near the edge of the forest he made a name for himself as a trader of unusual wares - many of which he managed to snatch from the lairs of creatures far too terrible for adventurers to face alone, yet his small size and great strength allowed him to easily spirit away these items without the creatures even knowing.

Yet little would the now "Tiny Prince" realize the start of his greatest adventure was about to unfold..

Chapter 1
The sun rose on what should of been a rather ordinary day in Avalon, with vast expanses of green grass and the chirping of woodland birds - to Inferno the sights and sounds of early morning were now second nature, long gone was his old home of castle walls or Twilight Slumber.. now he was one with the forest, for better or worse, he had even fashioned himself a little suit out of leaves and began to resemble in many ways a woodland sprite.

Yet he was no sprite, as he stretched and spread out his small wings, looking around - his appearance a little like a demon, yet he was also no demon.. he was a Pegacorn, cursed but still very much the same man he had been seven years previous, at least in appearance.

As Inferno stepped outside his home that morning, he caught notice of a familiar face. Sitting cross-legged at the edge of the nearby river was a young woman, whose entire form shimmered an ethereal pink- only the pink was less bright than Inferno remembered. Her head was bowed as she plucked a couple of flowers, weaving them together into a growing wreath.

Inferno thought on this for a moment "..Nebula.." - it didn't really take a genius to spot a Wisp, especially not one that happened to be pink.. he approached her at a leisurely pace, somewhat glad she was sitting as he never did get used to having her towering over him.

"..hello Nebula.. faring well?" Inferno asks, though he knew she wasn't quite the same - time had a way of changing things, as he knew only too well.

"It's been a while," said Nebula, affording him a small smile that quickly died. She turned back to her work. "A few years, I think."

Inferno nods and stands by her side, "..been staying in the forest when not hunting down rare artifacts from the wastelands - figured you and Ruichi were busy enough without me around.. after Red left and everything.." he replies.

Nebula was silent for a moment. "Ruichi's gone," she said quietly. "He vanished a few years ago."

Inferno grows silent, then replies "..I'm sorry.. maybe he'll return soon.. you can't give up hope..".

"Hope?" asked Nebula. "Hoping for something you know won't happen only makes it hurt more and more every day." She finished her wreath, observed it for a moment, then tossed it aside. "All my friends are gone. Some died, some went into hiding, others just shut themselves away from the world...I've got no hope left to give up."

Inferno sighs a little, then thinks "..hey, at least you're not the size of a pixie - you know Red abandoned me when she found out the curse was permanent.. sure, Maya got turned to stone but her curse remains pretty strong.. I don't even have a home.. had to make one from a box.." - he pauses, then looks up - "..so, yes, you and me both have a lot of problems.. we'd be as well running away from it all but I don't think I could run very fast like this.. my wings don't even work as good as they used to..".

Nebula chuckled, without mirth. "I guess we're just a couple of losers, you and I. We could throw a pity party."

Inferno thinks again, then comments "..though I guess I can still do this.." - he flaps his wings, managing to take flight briefly and spins in a circle before spiralling back to the ground "..ugh.. that's what we call a Murk Landing.. though it is kind of liberating I guess.. you should try it.. falling isn't so bad..".

Nebula betrayed a giggle, before covering it up. She cleared her throat. "How's Murk, anyway?" she asked, quickly.

"He's taken up work as an adventurer of sorts.. can't really do much else as a dragon and all.. not these days.. he hasn't learned to shape-shift yet.. helps me trade things too" Inferno replies.

"Well, at least there's still one friend around," said Nebula. "Well, two, counting you. I didn't think I'd ever see you again. Er... we are still friends, right? You don't... well, hate me after that fiasco with Maya?" She asked the question as though she had been meaning to get it off of her chest for a long time.

"You tried your best, in the end not even Merlin could figure out what Maya did.. Alicorn magic is tough if Merlin has trouble with it.. so.. no.. I don't hate you.. Nebula, you are and always shall be my friend.." Inferno replied.

"I... thank you," said Nebula. "For the longest time, I thought you wouldn't want to ever see me again... so I just never bothered you after that..."

"We're a couple of rejects but the funny thing about rejects is when they band together they don't seem so.. rejected.. who knows, maybe there's a big club of misfits that don't belong and do wondrous things but no one ever bothers to remember it.." Inferno notes, looking to Nebula for a moment before he gets a spark in his eye and a small smirk.

"..lesson one in friendship, if you really want to keep them sometimes you have to catch them and not let go.. take the risk and all that jazz... for now however.." Inferno continues, then reaches over and lightly prods Nebula "..tag!" - without warning he spreads his wings and starts flying away, inviting her to play as if they were suddenly carefree children again.

"What- hey! Inferno! Get back here!" shouted Nebula, her voice now filled with mirth. She reached out to grab him, but he was already out of reach. She climbed to her feet and took off after him.

Inferno smirks and begins to do a few loops in the air as he strays deeper into the forest, "..you are the one who is "it", I believe.." he notes, landing in a patch of grass behind a bush, folding his wings like a tiny cape.

Meanwhile, high above, a figure flies overhead, eyes narrowing as they picked up on the scene below - unseen by either.

"I won't let you get away so easy!" shouted Nebula. "...um, where'd you go?"

Inferno chuckles a little and keeps hidden behind a bush, unaware of the figure circling in the sky - who spreads wings and flexes talons before beginning to monitor the situation, taking note of Nebula.

"Inferno? Inferno?!" called Nebula, looking around the woods yet clearly afraid of straying too far in the wrong direction. "I'll find you... somehow..."

Inferno smirks and tries to keep still but he causes a twig to snap, he's small but not so small as to avoid some common tricks of the forest - he blinks at the snapping noise and realizes he's likely caught.

At the same time the mysterious figure from above snorts an ominous smoke cloud and prepares itself for a sudden dive towards the area.

"A-HA!" shouted Nebula, rounding on Inferno's hiding spot. "I gotcha!"

Inferno jumps a little but is easy to catch - "easy" being an understatement considering the size difference, yet at the same time the figure in the sky suddenly swoops down - extending talons and letting out a roar as a small dragon aims straight for Nebula.

Nebula shouted, startled by the roar, whirling around but having no time to dodge the attacker.

The dragon crashes down, attempting to pin Nebula as he declares over to Inferno - striking a pose not unlike an infamous CD-i game :  "I just saved you from Nebula, I won!".

Inferno just slapped his palm over his head and sighed, "..Murk.. get off her..".

"Can't... breathe..." gasped Nebula, trying to crawl out from under Murk. "Ow... ow... ow..."

Murk rolls off and stands up, dusting himself off "I'm not that heavy!" he complains.

Inferno just goes over to Nebula, "..you are a dragon, Murk, she's a Wisp.. you don't have to be heavy to hurt her..".

Murk frowns a little "..well excuse me princess.. I was just having a bit of fun..".

"Fun is all well and good as long as you don't hurt others, Murk.." Inferno replies, offering Nebula a hand instinctively then retracting as he realizes how stupid it was.

"It's fine... I've missed running around," said Nebula with a sigh. "Don't get to do too much of that anymore, now that my kingdom expects me to act like a princess..." She said the word as if spitting out something of bitter taste.

Murk flicks his tail and makes a face "..why not just run around as a princess? no one can tell you not to..".

Inferno coughs a little "..err.. lots of people can tell you not to.. royalty is something you are born into but if you don't fit what they expect.. well.. look at me.." - he flops near Nebula - "..I went from prince of Avalon to forest pixie due to a curse..".

Murk thinks on this and comments "..I still don't see why it's such a big deal..".

"It's a big deal when your aunt and the royal court hover over you like vultures, and all your people are afraid of you-" said Nebula, cutting herself off before saying something she would regret. "A-anyway, running around is no fun if there's no one to do it with."

"Well -" Murk begins only to stop as a cloaked figure emerges from the forest, almost too small to be human but completely covered by the cloak - even their face is concealed.

"Er... hello?" said Nebula, warily.

The figure extends a long, withered arm complete with boney fingers as it points towards Inferno "..it is time.. the Mistress awaits.." - with that the figure turns, forming a portal of dark energy.

"That's a Twilight Force portal.." Murk blinks, looking to Inferno.

"..mother wants to speak with us, it seems.." Inferno notes, somewhat ominously.

"Mother?" asked Nebula.

"Kaosa.." Inferno replies, then thinks "..you better come along.. you still technically didn't tag me yet.. so I guess our game is still going..".

Murk just makes a face "..are you feeling alright?".

Inferno shrugs a little "..if we're going to talk to Kaosa we may as well bring along a friend.. no?".

"I'll go," said Nebula.

The cloaked figure stops briefly and turns yet again - finally revealing its face, which is akin to a disturbing and perverted cherub with purple skin and glowing yellow eyes "..just be mindful not to offend the Mistress with your Wisp stench.." - with those words it enters the portal.

"Yikes.. that's.. rude.." Murk began.

Inferno just shook his head and fluttered up to try and perch on Nebula, "..ignore him, Nebula.. Twilight Cherubs are demons after all.. pleasant folk.. I promise I'll make it up to you.. let's just get this over with, no?".

"O...okay," said Nebula.

Chapter 2
Upon entering the portal the group end up in the Twilight Dragon Realm - a place rarely seen by outsiders, the landscape is alien to say the least and rather barren with large dragons flying in the air and floating landmasses seeming to replace most of what other realms would consider clouds, sitting in the centre of a large strip of land is a gigantic dragon whom the cloaked figure heads towards.

Murk follows and looks around, "..well.. this is certainly nice.. got a kind of "dystopia now" feel to it..".

The only other thing of note is Nebula may notice her footprints glow pink in this realm, as if her magic was foreign- considering the sights around her this is likely the least of her concerns, though Nebula couldn't help but point it out- "Hey, watch this-" She proceeded to write a message in the ground with her foot: "Nebula was here."

Inferno blinks and comments "..that's both interesting and somewhat creepy..".

However he doesn't get much time to say anything else before Kaosa speaks, "..you.. both of you.. come here.." - obviously ignoring Murk, who just sticks his tongue out and crosses his arms.

"Oh, right- almost forgot the giant dragon looming over us," whispered Nebula to Inferno.

Kaosa forms a portal behind herself, which starts to resemble a magic mirror - swirling with energy as she speaks "..I have called you here because we have a serious danger.. I need you two to see this..".

"Ooh, pretty," said Nebula, peering forward into the portal. "So...what are we looking at?"