Destiny's Call

Prologue

 Long ago when the forest was dark and infested with monsters, there was a young bunny that lived in a small village just outside the forest. Sky was her name, she was known for her bravery, strength, and quick mind. She was the only one in her village that was brave enough to go into the dark and monster infested forest. Sky's parents often warned Sky of the dangerous creatures that lived there. But that only made Sky more and more curious about the forest. One day when her curiosity became too much for her to bear, Sky went into the forest. The forest was foggy, murky, and cold but Sky wasn't afraid, she stayed hidden as she explored the forest. Sky learned many things while she explored the forest; she learned the best places to find food and many safe places to observe the forest creatures. One day when Sky went into to forest she wandered farther then she planned. As Sky was exploring she noticed a beam of light faintly shining through two bushes. Sky cautiously walked toward the source of the light and gently pushed the bushes aside. Behind the bushes was a small valley filled with flowers. A sparkling lake was in the valleys center and an old willow tree was growing nearby. Butterfly's fluttered from flowers and birds chirped overhead. Sky slowly walked into the valley admiring everything around her, breathing in the sweet scent of the flowers. "Who knew that such a beautiful place could exist in a dark creepy forest," Sky thought to herself. As Sky continued walking a faint wind gently ruffled her fur. When Sky looked at the willow tree she noticed a hole in the trunk. Sky walked over to the willow tree and parted the leafy branches to reveal a hole just big enough for Sky to crawl into. Sky crawled into the hole it was pitch black inside the hole but Sky kept going forward. Just as Sky's eyes were beginning to adjust to the darkness the ground fell away from her paws. With no ground to support her Sky felt herself fall forward. Quickly Sky flipped in midair so she would land on her feet. With a soft thud Sky landed safely on her feet. She looked around and just ahead she saw an old dusty lantern. Sky picked up the lantern brushed the dirt off and turned a little knob on its side. Slowly the room was filled with light. With the lantern lit Sky realized she was in an underground grotto. There were four tunnels and a few scraps of wood on the floor. When Sky looked up she found the hole she used to enter the grotto, it was too high for Sky to get to. Sky walked into the first tunnel at its end was an empty room. Ignoring her disappointment Sky turned around and left the tunnel. After some exploring Sky found that three of the tunnels lead to dead ends. There was one tunnel left Sky sighed "I doubt there's anything in there, but it won't hurt to look" she thought. Sky walked in and after a while Sky saw markings on the walls. Sky's excitement grew as she studied the markings. The markings seemed to be some sort of map, but what was it leading to? Sky quickly continued down the tunnel with new-found energy. At its end was what seemed to be a dusty old study. This room was bigger than the others, books and papers littered the floor and a small desk sat in the back of the room. Sky carefully picked up one of the books and brushed the dust off the cover. On the books cover was a picture of a golden tree with odd carvings on it. Sky opened the book the words were faded but still readable. The first sentence read; When a worthy warrior presents his/her weapon to the Destiny Tree the weapon will be enhanced. Sky thought for a moment, maybe the map she saw before was leading to the Destiny Tree! Sky put the book down on the desk, Sky wanted to learn more but she needed to get home. Sky walked back the way she came, returning to where she started Sky looked for a way out. After a while of looking, Sky found the exit cleverly hidden behind a curtain that matched the cave walls. Sky gathered some food then quickly made her way back to her village. Sky often visited the secret grotto so she could learn more about the Destiny Tree. Sky started filling the grotto with furniture and after a few days the grotto became Sky's second home. Sky went to her grotto as often as she could, often telling her friends and parents she was going for a walk when they questioned her. After Sky learned all she could about the Destiny Tree from the old book she went looking for it. Sky looked all over the forest but she couldn't find the Destiny Tree. As Sky was returning from her grotto one day she discovered that her village was being attacked. There where Nightclaws everywhere destroying homes or chasing the villagers. Nightclaws were hideous creatures that were half bear half lizard with huge claws, teeth, and back spikes. They had patches of scales in their black fur but where best known for their sinister icy blue eyes. Sky rushed to her house in hopes of finding her parents only to find it was destroyed. Sky searched though the wood and rubble that used to be her home for anything she could use to defend herself. After a while of searching, Sky found a bow and a few arrows under some nearby ruble. Thinking fast Sky started helping the other villagers escape as she looked for her parents. As Sky was helping one of the other villagers she felt something wet dripping onto her head. Sky looked up and saw a Nightclaw glaring at her. Sky quickly dodged the Nightclaw massive claws and shot one of her arrows but it missed. The Nightclaw had Sky and the villager cornered when suddenly Sky's parents jumped out of a nearby bush and attacked the beast from behind. Sky's parents told her to help the other villagers escape while they and a few others handled the Nightclaws. Sky gathered as much of the villagers as she could and lead them to her hideaway. After all the other villagers where safe, Sky went back for parents and the other warriors. When Sky returned to the ruined village she signaled her parents with a bird call. At her call Sky's parents threw down two smoke bombs and quickly evacuated everyone. Save from the monsters at last Sky showed all of the villagers around the grotto. After a few weeks when everyone was settled Sky called the villagers together. When all the villagers where present, Sky explained her plan to take back the village and get rid of the monstrous Nightclaws. Sky assigned everyone to groups based on their skills. Each group trained so they would know how to use a sword, sling shot, or a bow and arrow. After everyone knew what to do they got to work gathering everything they needed to make weapons and armor. Sky trained harder than anyone else and was soon the best archer out of all the others in her village. After Sky finished her daily training Sky went to gather food. Sky quickly grabbed her bow and her quiver then went further into the forest. While Sky was gathering food in the forest she found a strange tree at the heart of the forest. The tree was taller than all of the others and had carvings of all kinds of weapons all over it. The trees branches twisted in all directions wrapping around nearby trees. When Sky took a closer look she realized that it was the Destiny tree. Sky put the food she gathered down nearby and excitedly ran up to the tree. Sky was studying the tree when she noticed a hole at the bottom of the tree between the roots. When Sky reached in she heard a low humming noise, suddenly the tree started glowing. Sky quickly jumped back shielding her eyes as the tree shone brighter and brighter until it was blinding. When Sky opened her eyes again the tree was no longer glowing but her bow was missing. Sky looked around for her bow and when she found it she didn't recognize it. Sky's bow was now a shimmering gold, pink, and blue. Suddenly a Nightclaw crashed through the trees; quickly Sky grabbed her bow and took aim at the monster. The arrow hit the beast dead on and as soon as it was hit the Nightclaw howled in pain. But strangely the Nightclaw disintegrated almost as soon as it was hit. Sky stared where the Nightclaw once stood stunned. When Sky realized what happened she was sure that on that day the villagers were meant to take back their home. Sky rallied the villagers together and they all prepared for war. It was a long trek back to the village but when they got they were shocked at what they saw. There was now a towering castle where their village used to be. The castle had a huge spiked door, three watch towers, and four cannons. Nightclaws were everywhere guarding the castle from every angle. Sky signaled two of the archers to take out the guards by the door. From their hiding place in the bushes the two archers took aim and fired. The arrows hit their mark above the guards and soon after sleeping power burst from the arrow heads. The powder rained down on the guards who fell asleep in seconds. When the tower guards saw what happened they called to the guards above the door to investigate. As soon as the castle huge door was opened Sky signaled the other villagers and they all charged forward. Sky and the other villagers fought their way to the training ground in the castles center. As the battle raged on and fighters on each side dwindled Sky fought even harder. Sky avoided one Nightclaw easily enough but soon found herself cornered when two more appeared. Sky took out tree arrows and aimed at the three Nightclaws, suddenly the arrows rocketed toward the monsters with blazing speed. The Nightclaws tried to block Sky's arrows with their shields but they fell apart as soon the arrows touched them. The same thing happened when the Nightclaws tried to destroy the arrows with their swords. When all three of the Nightclaws were hit they disintegrated instantly. With the Nightclaws destroyed the arrows returned to Sky's quiver. Sky had no time to be surprised Sky quickly jumped back into battle. As the battle wore on the monsters started to close in. But Sky and the remaining villagers managed to keep the Nightclaws at bay. Suddenly Sky threw a small bomb at the middle of the training ground. Both the Nightclaws and the villagers backed away from the center quickly. Soon after the bomb went off sending bits of the ground flying, when the dust settled Sky stepped forward and demanded that the Nightclaws leader to show himself. Slowly the Nightclaws parted to reveal their leader slowly walking up to Sky. The Nightclaws leader was a huge panther who stood on his hind legs. He had many ugly scars all over his muscular body and handfuls of his fur were missing. "I am their leader, I am called Espantoso." the Nightclaws leader said in a deep, rough voice. Espantoso towered over Sky, a scowl on his face as he looked down on an opponent three times smaller than him. Sky wasn't the least bit intimidated; she looked him dead in the eyes and challenged him to a one on one battle for all of the land. Espantoso's laugh boomed though the air before he accepted Sky challenge. Sky and Espantoso stood in the castle training grounds the fate of the villagers was in Sky's hands. Sky looked around the huge square training ground and steadied herself on the somewhat sandy floor. Sky took a deep breath holding her bow in hand she readied herself for battle. The villagers cheered encouragingly while the Nightclaws jeered, a gong was hit to start the battle. Espantoso made the first move swinging his giant mace at Sky. Quickly Sky dodged just as the mace smashed the ground Sky quickly shot three arrows. The arrows hit their mark causing Espantoso to roar angrily. The leader spun around quickly clawing at Sky with great strength. Sky was hit and the force from the blow sent her flying backward into a stone wall. Sky got up and retaliated with a rain of arrows. Espantoso dodged or so he thought, the arrows spun around and hit him with full speed. Espantoso lunged forward and snatched Sky's bow and flung it away. Sky was left with just her arrows, feeling helpless Sky wished she had her bow back. Sky's bow seemed to have heard her wish; it sped from where it was to Sky in an instant. Sky quickly dived between Espantoso's legs and attacked. Before Espantoso could turn around Sky jumped on his back. Espantoso flailed, clawed, and bucked trying to get Sky off but Sky clung to his back strongly. As Sky held on she noticed a small gem in between Espantoso's fur. Sky took one of her arrows and shoved it into the center of the gem. The gem shattered and Espantoso roared in agony before he grabbed Sky and flung her off his back. Sky hit the stone wall with a loud thud she winced when pain shoot though her arm when she hit to the ground. When Sky looked up Espantoso still trying to get to her but he was quickly fading away. Just before Espantoso completely faded he said "Mark my words you rodent, I will return and when I do I'll destroy you and that accursed bow!"
Years later the villagers where still living in peace. They had moved into the castle and kept busy with redecorating it. Sky had become the leader of the villagers and she continued to protect them with the help of her destiny bow. When Sky wasn't helping the villagers she was spending time with her son, daughter, and husband. One evening when Sky was on patrol with a few other villagers they were attacked by Nightclaws. Sky and the others fought hard but they were greatly outnumbered and were captured and brought to a small camp. Sky studied the camp carefully "There must be a way for us to escape safely." Sky thought. As the Nightclaws lead Sky and her troops through the camp Sky looked for a safe escape route. Suddenly the Nightclaws stopped in front of a huge tent. One of the Nightclaws slipped inside the tent while the others stood guard. Sky strained to hear the conversation but all she could hear was the soft murmuring of two voices inside. "The second voice sounds so familiar." Sky thought "Where have I heard that voice before?" Almost as soon as the conversation had started it was over and the Nightclaw came out along with an all too familiar figure. Sky stared in disbelief it was Espantoso! "How can this be? I was sure the Destiny bow destroyed him." Sky thought curiosity. Espantoso walked up to his troops, he was nothing but a ghostly shadow.
Espantoso laughed menacingly when he saw Sky and her companions. Espantoso whispered something to the Nightclaws that were guarding Sky and her friends before sending them off. The Nightclaws lead the way to a torch lit underground cave that served as a jail. Rats’ scurried by and cold water dripped from the ceiling. The Nightclaws shoved Sky and her friends into a small drafty, dirty jail cell then trudged away. When Sky was sure the Nightclaws were gone she started brainstorming escape plans with her troops and before long they had come up with a plan.
Sky had discovered many of the destiny bow's secret abilities, and one of them would aid in their escape. Sky stood in the center of the cell with the Destiny bow in hand and her eyes closed. Sky concentrated hard and breathed deeply to relax her muscles. Soon Sky felt the destiny bow's power flowing throughout her body and she opened her eyes now a piercing gold. Sky fired the arrow just as Espantoso and his troops appeared. The arrow exploded and a bright beam of golden light bathed the whole land. The troops were astonished; this was not what they discussed with Sky! When the light dimmed Espantoso, his troops, and Sky were gone.