Spear Dee's Adventure

     Chasing a flying warrior was not the easiest task in the world. But nothing that Spear Dee did had ever really been easy, so they didn’t mind. They were far too busy being consumed by single-minded fury and the tantalizing promise of revenge. 

     Spear Dee was not a social creature, and had never really entertained the idea of leaving the castle much. They were certainly allowed, but their guarding duties were far too important! They could simply never imagine “relaxing” or “taking a break,” as their peers often partook in. Unfortunately, this meant they were very unfamiliar with the world outside the castle. 

     Perhaps they would have been fine if it had just been the area around the castle, because they’d caught glimpses of the lay of the land from the windows often enough. But it had been two weeks of chasing and the castle was far behind them, now. 

     The intruder had been just slow enough that they could glimpse them every once in a while, and their path was relatively lazy. Spear Dee wasn’t sure if they knew where they were going or not, but laughed at their foolishness for making themself so easy to trail! In the daylight they’d managed to make out a few more details about their target’s appearance, though given they were still always at such a distance, it wasn’t much. Their robes were brown and purple and orange, and their mask was white. 

     Spear Dee was at a disadvantage, this much they could admit. The intruder was faster, more skilled in combat, and could fly. But Spear Dee had the perfect strategy to make up the distance: sleep. Or rather, the lack thereof! The intruder would normally stop to rest as soon as night fell, wasting precious hours sitting still in one place. So Spear Dee would use the dark to catch up. Who needed sleep, anyway?

     (They may have passed out from exhaustion once or twice so far.)

     Traveling at night also came with its own set of problems, namely the crowd it brought out. Of course, there were always troublemakers out and about, monsters stalking about or just people looking to pick fights. But the dark brought out more.

     Hence, Spear Dee was stabbing.

     “Why. Won’t. You. Move!” they yelled, punctuating each word with a thrust of their weapon.

     “I told you, man, you gotta pay the toll,” the current stab victim said, taking care to not get knocked over, but otherwise unharmed. It was a blue block of a creature, with two legs, wide eyes, and a smattering of white freckles. “I built this bridge fair and square, and if you want to use it you have to pay.”

     “I don’t need your bridge. It’s stupid!”

     “Well then you’ll have to go around,” it said. They both peered around the edge of the bridge to the sheer crevice below, stretched far and wide as far as the eye could see. “... Good luck with that.”

     “Let me through!” Spear Dee renewed their attacks, but the creature remained unharmed.

     “Just pay the toll,” it sighed.

     “Listen here! I have a holy quest for the honor of the king!” They proclaimed, pointing their spear at the creature. (“Which one?” it said.) “I am chasing a most vile intruder, and if I have any hope of catching them, I must travel as fast as I can this night. They are a most formidable foe, and I refuse to fail in my pursuit because of the likes of you.”

     The creature hummed, tilting its head. It remained silent, studying Spear Dee, who began suppressing the urge to squirm under the prolonged scrutiny.

     “Well?!” They snapped.

     “Sounds dangerous,” it replied.

     “Oh, it will be! Traveling alone, against the odds, to defeat a warrior of seemingly-unattainable power! It will take perseverance and pain, but that is a small price to pay for the honor of my king!” They sniffed, glaring back at the creature. “Do you understand now the elevated purpose of my quest?”

     “Sure, sure,” it said, small grin on its face. “In that case, the toll is ‘take me with you’!”

     “W-what?”

     “You heard me,” it smiled, “I want to come with. I need a good source of danger, and standing around this bridge all the time is boring.”

     “Eh? A-alright?” Spear Dee shook their head, shaking off the shock, and glared at the creature again. “Just let me through. And I’m not going to wait for you if you fall behind!”

     “Yessir,” it saluted, stepping aside. Spear Dee squinted at it, talking a few experimental steps past. When it didn’t move to stop them, they broke into a full sprint across the bridge. They heard bounding footsteps behind them, so apparently the strange creature wanted to follow, after all. Spear Dee resolutely did not get the heebie jeebies about it.

     “So, uh, why are you chasing this guy, anyway? I don’t think you mentioned beyond ‘the glory of the king,’ or whatever.” It said from behind them. Spear Dee glanced back, a little annoyed, but indulged it, anyway.

     “The terrible warrior broke into the castle and defeated all the guards! They rifled through his majesty’s belongings and left entirely unpunished! It is a crime of the gravest nature, and I shall avenge the sanctity of his majesty’s castle!”

     “Intense…” The creature muttered. Whether it meant the story or Spear Dee themself, who’s to say. “But if they beat you so easily, how do you plan to beat them in a rematch?”

     “Perseverance and pain, weren’t you listening at all, creature?”

     “Creature…? Ah, hey, I don’t think I got your name, by the way.”

     “I am the Spear Waddle Dee!”

     “Hm. Ok, bit of a mouthful, but sure. My name’s--”

     “I have no use for such information!”

     “Really intense…” it murmured.

     Now, Spear Dee was a guard, a fighter by trade, and among their peers one of the most skilled combatants. But Dreamland was peaceful, and their skills were unrefined, lacking experience. All this to say, when a beast shot out of the underbrush to ram into the little party of two, they did not see it coming in the slightest. They were sent barreling into the sturdy trunk of a tree, recent bruises flaring up once again with the crash.

     The blue creature went flying alongside them, bouncing off the same tree harmlessly.

     “Ooh, what a rush!” It said. Spear Dee growled and willed themself to their feet once more.

     Before them stood a big, squishy quadruped beast, snarling with murder in its eyes. Spear Dee didn’t waste any thought on doubts; they never did. They pointed their spear as a declaration of war, and launched.

     One practical use to being so small was that, to a big opponent such as this, Spear Dee was a difficult target to hit. The beast swung a heavy paw wide, and Spear Dee dropped down to avoid it. Still on the ground, they rolled onto their back and stabbed upward, catching the beast in the space where its shoulder and ribs met. It yelped at the poke and jumped back, landing a solid hit on them in retaliation. Spear Dee was thrown back, but rolled with it and stumbled to remain on their feet, launching forward spear-first again. 

     The beast launched, too, to meet the challenge, and in a second of horror Spear Dee realized its reach was longer than their weapon’s. They closed their eyes and hoped against all odds their strike would land true, bracing for another blow. Something got whacked, but it wasn’t them, and suddenly their spear met the body of the beast and it disappeared in a puff of smoke. Just like that, the monster was vanquished.

     Spear Dee staggered forward with their own moment, catching themself and looking around, shocked that they had not acquired another fresh bruise. 

     “Man, that thing was pretty average,” the voice of their tag-a-long complained. They turned to find it, flattened into the grass, but otherwise appearing unharmed.

     “Did you take that hit for me?” They asked.

     “I thought it would be a good source of energy. Running at a dead sprint kinda burns through that fast. But, eh, again, not the hardest hit I’ve felt.” It shrugged.

     Spear Dee stared, too many uncertain thoughts parsing to know what to say. “Why don’t you get hurt?” was what they finally settled on. 

     “Oh, that,” it said, pulling itself up into a sitting position. “I can absorb kinetic energy.”

     “Huh. That’s weird. So that wasn’t a noble sacrifice. You just wanted… to… get hit…?”

     “Yup,” it said, popping the ‘p’.

     “You’re like a living training dummy,” they observed.

     “That’s offensive,” it said. Then paused, “actually, that’s not a terrible idea.”

     “Whatever. I’ve wasted enough time, already,” Spear Dee brushed off their confusion, remembering all at once their all-important quest. Without a second thought, they began running again.

     “Hey, wait up!” The blue creature jumped to its feet and began to give chase, only to slow down after a few strides. “Whew, really needed a few more hits, there.” It sucked in a deep breath and began running again, almost instantly getting its foot caught and face-planting into the dirt. 

     “Well that’s just great,” it grumbled, muffled.

     And Spear Dee’s quest continued.