Heroes of Dreamland, Book 5: Nintendo World: The Fate of All Worlds (OLD)

The Legend of Sir Arthur, Part 1

Arthur's POV:

Standing in front of an open window in one of the castle's halls, I look down below at where three of my four protégés are speaking with a few of the Elvin guards. They are probably trying to enlist the guards' help for the coming battle. The battle that we are doomed to lose, if the Warrior of the Stars does not return soon.

Nervous, I begin to pace back and forth. I worry about all four of my protégés often. Guinevere has never been able to have children, so these four are like my sons. I am very proud of what each of them has grown into, and look forward to seeing what the years to come shall bring for them all.

They all seem wise and mature far beyond their years in many ways. The one who is oldest among them, Nonsurat, is only two-hundred and twenty-eight years old, and Meta Knight, the youngest, is only two-hundred and twenty-one. They seem old in some ways because of what they have all had to go through, but in truth, their journeys of life have just begun. They all have almost three-quarters of their lives left, they are still quite young by Star Warrior standards.

And I...? I am around five-hundred and eighty years young. Like many Star Warriors who make it this long, I no longer keep track of my exact age. When you have been around as long as I have, a single year makes little difference. A whole decade doesn't even feel like all that much time, either.

I was born in the early 250's, during the heat of war, in Courage Province. Courage Province is a prairie-filled area, where much of Star World's food is grown in the rich, moist, dark soil. But always, much of the prairie is left alone to grow as it wishes with lush grasses, wildflowers, and the occasional tree.

My father, Orion, was seldom at home, usually off fighting for freedom somewhere in the Galaxy, or so we were told. My mother Twill and I lived alone together in a small house in our small town, Prairieflower Village. She was a weaver, both of cloth and of stories. I learned many things from the tales she told me, but my favorites were the legends of King Arthur and the Knights of The Round Table. Whenever I had free time, I could be found in our spacious backyard, dueling imaginary monsters with my twig-sword Excalibur. I recruited several neighborhood boys to be my playmates, they were Galahad, Lancelot, and the other Knights. I was always King Arthur, ruler of the land and leader of the Knights. I was never bossy, and so the others were always willing to play along.

My childhood name, though, was actually Alistair, a name from an Ancient language known as Gaelic. It meant 'one who defends.' It was a name that I hoped to live up to one day, a name that I planned to keep my whole life, even after I had earned my name.

As time went on, I grew. There was a young girl that I spent much of my time with, her childhood name was Sunflower. She was a very light pink, with eyes the color of the stars. The two of us were the best of friends, I spent more time with her than with any of my 'Knights.' Occasionally, I would get her to play with us, and she would always be Guinevere. (Never was there anything 'mushy,' of course. She was just my right-hand knight. My younger self would have shuddered at the thought of her playing as my queen. She was a girl, a mostly-disgusting species, after all, to a little boy anyway, even if she was my favorite companion. I chuckle at the memory.)

About the time I turned eight, I started to learn how to actually use a weapon in school. The teachers let us try several different things, but most of us already knew what we were good at from playing with the Copy Abilities. In those times, everyone knew that they were going to grow up to join the army, so were encouraged to train ourselves in our play. Never was I or my friends discouraged from our adventurous escapades of 'knighthood' and 'honor,' for they were helping to prepare us for the time to come.

Whereas that situation was better in those times, no sheltering children from everything that had to do with war, there were other problems. For example, the war was glorified to some extent. Oh, everyone knew that some of the soldiers died, but when they did, they earned their families glory and honor. Every young child looked forward to the day when they could become a victor in their own right, go kill a few monsters and become a hero. That was what we were all destined to become, was heroes and victors. Sure, some of us would not make it. But most of us would, or so we were told. And each and every one of us thought we would be one of the ones that stayed safe and unharmed. I always fondly hoped that I could one day earn the title of sergeant or something, become one of the lower-ranking leaders, for I enjoyed leading. I enjoyed defending. I was the 'one who defends,' after all. I was Alistair, and I was going to defend my home, my planet, my companions, my Galaxy. That was my plan for my life.