Rage of the Rathalos (Saga)

[Proto Man]

Listen to this for maximum effect: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2oLykyWuiB4">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2oLykyWuiB4</a><!-- m -->

While he had grown to call the crowded, dirty streets of Tier Six ‘home’ as of late, the boy in Proto Man couldn’t help but unabashedly love the countryside of Camelot. Coruscant was gritty and real, but here in Camelot, the robot was certain that anything was possible. Hadn’t King Aragorn’s representative talked of magic and wizards? It felt as if the preteen had literally walked through a doorway into a fantasy world.

Only instead of snow and pine trees, this Narnia was somewhat monotonous rolling fields dotted with the occasional copse or jagged set of hills. On the horizon to the south, Proto Man could spot something that looked closer to a highway, albeit probably one of brick or cobblestone rather than tarmacadam or asphalt. Rather than travel the established road, the robot and his chocobo, who he had decided to dub ‘Salsa,’ had opted to blaze their own path.

At the first crossroads they hit, Proto Man dismounted long enough to summon a layer of red plate armor over his body suit. While his ceramic titanium endoskeleton was certainly durable enough to absorb countless injuries, the preteen figured it best that he try and blend into this verse. Discarding his usual helmet, he replaced it with a sallet, although he kept his sunglasses and scarf. There were some things he wasn’t willing to part with for any reason.

Once he’d also summoned some matching barding for Salsa, the two had been off again in the direction of the most recent dragon sightings. Compared to the congested streets of Tier 6 or even the hyper-illuminated sky highways of Tier 1, the fields were something entirely different. Never since his trip across the Badlands Wilderness had Proto Man encountered such vast openness in every direction. Yet South Dakota was a sea of gorgeous rock formations that splintered the terrain. In this part of Camelot, the plains just rolled up and down, with only intermittent interruptions in the green monotony.

Even still, Proto Man held up hope that his companion and he would find something of note. With that cheery thought in his head, the two pranced onward--Salsa’s lithe form allowing the bird to casually leap up and down hills and across tiny rivulets or seasonal ponds. Every now and again, the robot spotted some sort of bird flying overhead, but he hadn’t noticed any terrestrial critters.

After another hour or two of leisurely strolling across the plains, they came across a river that wove through the field. A glance in both directions revealed that the river cut sharp to the north and vanished amidst a forest. Beyond those tall, surprisingly exotic trees, Proto Man could spot the beginnings of mountains peeking up on the horizon.

“You think our dragon’s hiding there?” A further look revealed what seemed to be tiny pillars of smoke, like those that would rise from a chimney.

“Kweh!”

“Then it’s settled.” Without waiting for a command, Salsa let out another squawk and dashed forward, and with a startlingly impressive leap, it managed to clear the river. Up ahead, the plains quickly met their end as they turned first into a full-fledged prairie before the trees took over the entire biome.