The Wind Awoken

(Written from an unsecured wi-fi network, in a restaurant by the name of "Restaurant". Thanks, unsecured wi-fi people! You're a boon to all mankind.)

Ethan trudged along the snowy road, his shoulders slumped, his eyes downcast. Sorrow was his lot; he had no respite from his troubles.

Then came a trumpeting cry! Ethan turned, but too slowly; before he saw the cause of the noise, he was snatched away, grabbed by a green-clad youth hurtling just feet above the earth. They spiraled into the distance; in their wake, snow swirled upwards, and then slowly settled again. Silence prevailed.

Ethan was rather alarmed at his unexpected abduction. He attempted to query his abductor on the subject, but the deafening winds whirling about them precluded any response. In less than a minute, the flight ended, a vast distance traveled; their destination was a small raft, bobbing in a vast sea. The sun shone, the waters gleamed; and ominous, swirling clouds approached from the east.

Again Ethan asked, "Why have you done this?" But again he gained no response; the youth, hurriedly, retrieved sword and shield from under his garments (somewhat bizarrely - wherever could space be found?) and handed them to Ethan. Ethan took them, confused, and watched as the green-clad youth took another pair of sword and shield out, wielding them himself. (These two were notably superior in make, the sword glowing faintly. Ethan felt a momentary stab of jealously.)

For the third time, Ethan attempted to gain an explanation from his abductor. "Who are you? What the heck is going on?" His only response was an outstretched finger and wordless shout: "Yaaah!" Then the youth produced a conductor's baton from beneath his clothes, with it conjured another wind, and whirled himself away as swiftly as he came, towards the darkness in the east; leaving Ethan standing alone on a small raft in the middle of endless water.

Ethan, both confused and bemused, looked to the direction indicated; and there saw a shape, moving beneath the water. It came closer and closer, and Ethan readied his sword and shield nervously; then it erupted into the air in a column of sea-spray, bellowing hideously, and Ethan realized that it was a

LOBSTER!

Taller than Ethan himself, many times his weight, its fierce claws shone with a terrible sharpness. It fell onto the raft, squirming towards Ethan; that noble individual backed away, rather more than a little concerned. "Am I really intended to kill such a fierce creature?" he wondered. "And if I do not - will it kill me?"

(As with previous dialogue, he may have been less eloquent at the time. This author reserves the right to embellish as necessary, or even just when it seems funny. This is probably not a big surprise to anyone.)

Ethan tried to take another step backwards, watching the lobster click its claws together fiercely, and nearly fell into the water; he had retreated as far as he could. Sword and shield ready, he watched the lobster as it closed what little distance remained, considering whether to attempt flight (but if I do, surely the lobster will catch me, better suited to the water than I!) - and then he had a sudden revelation.

"It's an inflatable lobster!" he shouted. "I needn't worry at all!"

In a single moment, he stepped and lunged; the sword pierced the lobster, and with a terrible wail of escaping air it whirled into the air, deflating. In a poof of violet-black smoke, it exploded into nothingness; a green gem dropped into the space it left, whirling slowly as it balanced perfectly on its end.

Ethan picked it up, examining it; and was startled by another trumpeting noise. The green-clad youth returned to the raft, dropping to his feet from the wind he had summoned; behind him, the dark clouds had somehow vanished, and a sheen of ichor shone upon the sword he bore. Smiling broadly, he took the gem from Ethan's hands, examining it, then making it vanish; he produced instead a violet gem, of the same shape and size. This he gave to Ethan, who took it with a look of confusion. The youth gestured, seeming to request something in return; Ethan gave him the shield, hesitantly, then (on seeing its acceptance) the sword. The green-clad youth smiled, bowed, said something unintelligible, then once again called forth the wind. Ethan was whirled away, transported, and dropped onto the snow which he had so recently left.

Slowly, he rolled to a stop and came to his feet. The violet gem he held a while longer, staring at it; then he put it away within his snow-jacket. The skies were as bleary and the weather as dreadfully cold as when he had left; yet still Ethan could not restrain a smile from appearing upon his face. For he had defeated the lobster; and with this achievement, he could no longer feel sadness.