Xen & Teebo / Minor Edits and Additions. Getting down into the Climax.

     Birds fly out of the harsh dense treetops of a woodland area as a loud horn sounds. In the dense trees next to the river, the tribal villagers scramble to their wood and stone homes as the ground shakes. The houses are nestled deep in the ruins of what was a greater society. A roar from an unknown creature is heard. People push past a young boy. He's standing there oblivious to the rise in panic. A stone column topples over and crashes into the river nearby. The crash causes dust to blow in the wind. The wind pushes the dust past the young boy. He's standing there holding out his hand. A bright red and green leaf rustles from the breeze in his hand. The boy makes a clicking sound with his mouth. A gliding lizard lands on his hand and crawls up his arm chewing on the leaf. The boy laughs and pets the lizard with his finger. The hurried sound of footsteps are heard when next to him a hardened young man kneels down.
     "Xen! Are you OK?" He exhales heavily and asks, with his voice very strong and commanding.
     "Yeah, why?" Xen asks curiously, his voice is playful. Xen looks around and sees everyone running around. "What's going on?"
     "Didn't you hear the horn? Stay right here." He demands patting his shoulder harshly, "I will be right back." He steps away into a small gathering of old villagers.
     "OK Shu!" He says giggling trying to keep the lizard from crawling on his head.
     Shu steps up to a small gathering of the village elders.
     "Oh, there you are Shu. We were just talking about you." The shaky old voice from the village chief perks up. His eyes heavy, he looks to Shu. "We know you have some kind of plan! Are you taking Xen with you this time?"
     Shu angrily interjects. "No, he's not ready." He gets defensive with a furrowed brow.
     The village elders laugh, "You would be surprised!" One says in the huddled group. "Look how much you've grown since that age." Another remarks playfully. "We've all come a long way..."
     "This isn't some kind of game!" Shu says, touching the scar on his arm. He rubs his shoulder. "Xen is still too naive." He glances over his shoulder and sees Xen with the lizard and now a giant blue flying horned beetle. "He doesn't understand the kind of danger these creatures contain."
     The horn sounds again but closer now.
     "OK Shuuuu... What's the plan?" The village elders ask with urgency. A strange roar goes off in the distance as the ground rumbling is less intense.
     Shu nods and they discuss actions to take if the city is breached. Xen is keeping a watchful eye on Shu. Shu leans in to the conversation and in that instant Xen rolls into the bushes nearby.
     After explaining the next steps to take Shu looks up and notices Xen isn't there, but at this point he has to hope he will fend for himself in the village walls. He has everyone's lives to think about.
     With his new found freedom Xen begins to run down a path that is a little less beaten. He takes a sharp turn and continues running to a small ruined house. The house was destroyed by something massive and a very long time ago, but in the wreckage is a space where a boy Xen's size can get through. The lizard jumping and gliding keeping up with Xen as he runs to the entrance. Slowly trailing behind is the big blue horned beetle.
     Shu looks back at the elders and nods. He begins to run towards a large tower on the villages outer walls, two young warriors following him trying to keep up with him. A chubby warrior slowly trailing behind.
     Through the entrance Xen comes out on the other side. He stands looking down an old path from ages ago. He jumps through a bush and does a sloppy roll. He gets up and dusts himself off. The lizard landing on his shoulder and the horned beetle hovering over him. He stands in front of a large ruined temple with old faded paintings. The paintings show humans with large beasts and creatures.
     Shu jumps over a wooden fence and does a stylish roll hopping up to his feet and doing a running jump over a wall. He begins to enter a massive building with large spikes and large monster bones.
     Xen enters the ruins casually. He directs the lizard to the wall. It glides to the wall and disturbs a string mushrooms. The mushrooms are very large and damp. The sound of rushing water can be heard as the trickling of water can be seen dripping through the wall and onto the mushrooms. The mushrooms shake releasing a small cloud and as the spores spread a light blue hue beings to shine. This illuminates a path down a long dark hallway. The mushrooms glow with a light blue intensity allowing Xen to see the way.
     Xen cheerfully hops and skips down the hallway walking past imagery on the walls. The pictures depict a time from so long ago. Crude pictures of humans interacting with a large variety of beast ranging from small to insanely huge. The mural is some what of a scale and as Xen nears the end of the wall it shows a large beach with a large creature as if to guard the shore. The creature has a colorful set of feathers. Off in the distance in the ocean is a massive white and blue water dragon. Only a portion of it is displayed due to the massiveness of it. It's half covered in the ocean.
     Xen meanders past and gets settled into his little hideout. He walks into this large room. It's the epicenter of a large temple. The cathedral style has an open roof, but plants and earth have covered up most of it, letting only some spots of natural light in. The bright leaves of a vined plant bares an oddly shaped fruit. Xen picks the fruit and collects the bright colored leaves from it. Xen gets comfortable on a hammock made from an old flag. He eats the interestingly shaped fruit and lays the leaves on his belly. The lizard and the beetle climb to him snacking on the colorful leaves. Xen spits out the pit of the fruit onto the floor.
     Shu enters the warriors guild catching his breath as he walks past a long row of monster trophies. All types of monster parts are on display from jawbones to horns and even claws. Shu grabs a spear that is fashioned with a large colorful feather. The hunters guild opens up from that large hallway to a staging area outside the village. Shu and other warriors are gearing up to go on a scouting mission to see what the alarms were sounding for. A handful of hardened villagers are selected as Shu readies a party to move out. They follow the river up a large cliff face as a way to see over the forest of trees. The high ground has always been the starting point to every mission. It allows them to see creatures before they decide to fight. They live deep in the forest because it acts as a buffer from most creatures. They do not go near the riverbed where the village stays. The river leads to the ocean and the village is next to a beach. In the distance he can see the toppling of trees. It is heading towards the village. The path it's taking is very visible.
    Shu looks over the horizon to see if there is any sign of what the creature could be. A roar is heard. Shu's eyes widen. The image in his eyes show a younger version of himself. He flashes back in his mind. The same roar is heard again. He is breathing heavily as he's frantically looking around.
     "What do I do? What do I do?" He says to himself under his breath as he's standing there holding a spear. He looks around frantically. A piercing scowl of a large creature is heard. It filled him with fear. It sounds like a bear and a cougar. The slam of an enormous gray monster claw next to him. The thick leg crushing a wood and stone house next to him with little effort. He is brought to his knees by the tremors. He looks at his hands. They are scratched and bloody. The terror and fear in this situation is too much to take. Tears flowing from his eyes. He begins to yell.
     "XEN!? Where are you?" He gets up and starts to run. He quickly realizes that this is a fight or flight moment and he is not in a position to fight. As he runs along the stone path he looks up. Above him is the belly of a massive creature. The scales were gray and through the smoke he couldn't make out exactly what it is. All he knew is that it was huge. The sound of crashing water is heard. Screams can be heard as smoke billows to the sky. Smoke from the fires make it hard to see anything. The sound of cracking wood and toppling stone shake through Shu. He scans the area to see if there is any indication of where Xen is.
     Down an alleyway between two buildings Shu spots a swaddled child. Wrapped tightly in a flag of the tribes colors a baby lays crying. A small baby unable to fend for himself. Shu begins to run to him.
     The massive gray monster's feet clashing with the surroundings. An unknown creature lets out a growl that stops him dead in his tracks. He looks up at the rooftops and sees the bright glaring eyes of a monster through the smoke. Above that was the massive claw of the gray scaled beast. The humongous trunk of a leg was coming down. In the light as it was coming down was a glimmer of blue light. Causing him to shield his eyes. Shu knew that leg was coming down on top of him and if he didn't move now he'd be crushed.
     Shu, against his better judgement, started to run and that triggered the eyes in the smoke to slant angrily. His gestures triggered the monster to chase. Through the smoke the creature jumped. It's dark fur and bright feathers around its neck flowing. Shu knew doing that would not end well for him, but he had to do something. The massive claw of the scaled dragon comes crashing down. The dark, feathered monster swipes it's claw at Shu, connecting with his shoulder and causing him to be flung against a stone wall. The wind is knocked out of him. He can't catch his breath as the massive gray claw crushes the building between him and Xen. The dark creature is no where to be seen. The massive gray trunk legs disappear in smoke.
     Trying to slow his breath he closes his eyes. In the chaos it is now oddly silent. Shu looks up and tries to stand holding his spear defensively. Neither creature is in sight. Shu's shoulder is ripped and torn deep. His blood dripping down his arm. He is unable to move his fingers or even move his elbow. He stumbles to his feet propping himself up, his arm dangling there limp. He touches his wound and looks at his bloody hand. He looks around, dizzy. The massive gray scaled monster is gone, all that is left is the ruins of the village. He hears the crashing of the waves near by. It was unreal how quickly things had transpired.
     He looks around and grabs his spear, using it as a walking stick to look for Xen. The smoke clouds break and sunlight shines through. The light points to a small bit of rubble where a village colored flag sits. Shu looks at the earth and it is scared from a blast of energy. He climbs into the ripped earth. It's soaked as if it were a blast of high powered water. He climbs through it and hurries to the flag. Shu sees that the baby is Xen! He's safe there holding a bright colorful feather cooing happily. Shu holds him up checking him for injuries and holds him close, squeezing him tightly. Everything starts to go dark. Knowing Xen was safe was a huge relief. His vision blurs and it goes black.
     Shu blinks a few times and instantly knows what he's facing. He shakes off the memory and touches his scar. Coming back to reality he rotates his shoulder to remind himself it still works. He scans the edge of the trees looking for any sign of movement. If this monster shows up it could be another catastrophic event. Shu may have a gut feeling but he has to be sure. He begins to head into the dense woods.
     Xen hears what he discerns to be a roar but thinks nothing of it. The lizard gets frightened. It begins to cower using the beetle as cover. This caused a bit of a disturbance with the beetle. It uses it's horn aggressively as the lizard backs away. Xen watching this play out on his stomach laughs. The beetle begins to fly away. Xen, enamored with his new beetle friend tries calling him back with clicks from his mouth.
     "Tsk tsk." Xen motions towards himself.
    The beetle ignores the command and flies away. He flutters around and hits against an oddly broken wall. It's tough shell absorbing the impact. It lands on the wall, using his large horn to create a hole. As it's digging light beings to pour through. It makes a space large enough and it crawls through. Xen follows and is curious about this hole he has never seen before. He looks through it with one big eye and jerks back. It's too bright to see anything. He begins to unearth this new pathway and as the dust settles he hears the soft growl of a creature.
     The growl sounds playful and it tries to roar. Xen slowly peers around the corner. On his shoulder the lizard is also peering over the corner, scared. Xen sees in this small room an old nest woven into these massive roots and in it crawls the beetle.
     Xen looks around the room as he slowly walks to the center of it. The room is small and above the nest is an opening in the roof that leads outside. Vines come through the hole in the ceiling and down through the nest. In the room a small little flow of water travels from the river near by. He sees the bright leaves of the odd shaped fruit that grows on the vines. The threads of vines come through this area touching the water. On the floor next to the nest are pits from the fruit. The colorful leaves scattered around. Something is in here, surviving.
     He slowly walks to the nest. He cautiously places his feet, inching closer to the nest. The beetles wings can be heard fluttering. Xen's eyes slowly look over into the nest. The beetle is wrestling with a small little catlike cub. The cub is pawing at the beetle. It's hard shell defending it against the cubs pats. The paws of the creature are large and fuzzy. The catlike cub raises it's paw, revealing the claws expanding out. On display are these very intense looking razor sharp talons. The lizard instinctively jumps into the nest between the beetle and the cub, protecting the beetle. It's neck flaps extended and colorful. It hisses at the cub, it's saliva dripping from it's mouth. The cub retreats into a defensive position. The cubs ears are folded back. It's eyes show remorse. It sniffs the air and looks at Xen.
     Xen extends his hand out to touch the cub. It closes it's eyes and growls. Xen doesn't rear back. He keeps moving his hand slowly towards it. Xen's eyes focused on the cub. The cub looks at Xen's hand and takes the aggressive pose like the lizard. The cubs mane reveals a colorful set of small feathers. His hand hovers above the cubs head. For a moment that seems like an eternity Xen holds his hand there. Xen begins to feel nervous. The cub looks up at Xen, it's mouth at a partial snarl, the mane feathers raised. His arm quivers slightly from the strain. The cub moves it's head to his hand and begins to purr. Rubbing it's chin and cheeks on Xens hand, Xen smiles. He pets the cub gently with his other hand.
     Rubbing it's soft fur Xen notices around it's neck these even more beautiful small feathers. The cub is extremely friendly and enjoys the attention Xen gives to him. He begins trying to teach it how to sit, using the clicks. With Xen issuing commands the lizard begins doing the same commands. Xen using hand gestures and clicks easily tames the cub, the cub following the lizards lead. Xen and the cub become bonded. The beetle munching away on the leaves in the nest, the lizard and the cub follow Xen's hand movements and he begins to run around in the room with them chasing. Laughing and playing was his specialty.
     He mumbles under his breath, " I don't know why Shu is so scared of these guys."
     Xen, thirsty at this point goes to the little flowing water. The clear blue water coursing by, he cups the water in his hands as he takes a drink. He offers some to the lizard, and to the cub. They drink from his hand. The beetle on Xen's shoulder rotating a leaf in it's mandibles munching away.
     A bellowing roar is heard off in the distance. The cubs ears perk up and it begins to cry repeatedly. The cry is the same high pitch cry, as if it's trying to signal something. The cub frantically looking up through the hole in the ceiling and pacing around. It tries to jump on the vines and climb but it isn't strong enough. Xen cups the cub in his arms and places it in his satchel. Xen curiously climbs up the vines with the cub in tow. It's fuzzy little face poking out of the bag as he firmly stands on the ridge. He looks over the ridge into the distance. He see's the rustling in the trees. Something large is making it's way through the forest. Xen begins to get a little nervous. There hasn't been a large creature near by in, well ever!
     Down in the wooded area outside the village, a three colored snake writhes up a tree. A sharp thump as Shu's spear severs the snakes head from it's body. The body hits the ground and slithers around. The head resting on the spear. The feather lifts and swirls in a light breeze. He grabs the snakes head and opens it's mouth. He uses the liquid it secretes as a new face paint. He wipes under his eyes. He has bright green markings on his cheeks and down his neck. The liquid stings his eyes. The snake venom will help keep him sharp.
     "Disgusting creatures." He says under his breath as he tosses the head on to the woodlands floor.
     Shu has decided to get close to the beast to see what it is, and be sure. He has to be sure. As he walks casually through the dense wood he strokes the feather on his spear. It's softness going through his fingers as he has a thousand yard stare. He repeatedly strokes it between his fingers, pulling down on it. He is moving through the area as if on auto pilot. The warriors behind him slowly following, fear in their eyes. Shu confidently leads, this is nothing to him.
     Shu and his warriors near a clearing, he motions the group to stop. He moves his hands in a swirling motion. The warriors spread out staying in the trees but close to the actual clearing. The area is very beautiful, open with grass and large flowering buds. Shu positions himself against a tree. He hunkers down. Through the trees nearby a low howl rumbles.
     The trees part and into the clearing Shu sees something that makes his heart stop. The dark fur shines through as a dark blue and purple. The creature from so long ago. He feels weak looking at it. He takes a second to collect himself. The beast walks into the middle of the clearing. Sniffing around, it let's out a low howl again, this time longer. Shu realizes it's looking for something. If it keeps coming this way it will come to the village. We know what happened last time it was there.
     Shu signals and his warriors jump out from the trees, rushing towards the monster. Shu waits and counts to ten. The warriors start yelling as they throw their throwing their hand axes and spears. The beast rears up and it's fur begins to stand on end. It's mane revealing these brilliant colors. The feather on his spear rustles. Shu begins to rush towards the beast. Hatred in his eyes. The beast claws at the warriors and jumps over them with ease. This beast is quick and agile. More dangerous than anything else they have fought before. With a pounce the beast lands on one warrior, crushing him. It snarls looking at all the warriors around him. The eyes slant angrily and the beast let's out a massive roar, stunning everyone around it. Shu stopped dead in his tracks drops to his knees, covering his ears. The beast swipes, the paw connects with a warrior, and ends up throwing the warrior into the dense woods. His scream was cut short as he hit a tree. The three remaining warriors try to overwhelm the beast by yelling and clanking their weapons. The noise causes the beast to retract. It is being cornered up against the treeline. Shu uses this opportunity to make a strike. He runs full speed and does a flourishing jump from a tree. In the air he spins and the momentum helps him strike. He strikes the beast in the arm with a heavy thrust. The spearhead punctures the monsters arm so deep that Shu can't remove the spear. Shu will not let go. Shu is hanging onto the spear as the monster topples over. It violently begins to thrash around and claw at the wounded arm, trying to remove the spear and Shu. Shu is grasping at the fur trying to get a hold. The only thing stable to hang onto is the shaft of the spear. Shu cannot hang on through this and as he's being flung from the beast he grasps the feather. In that moment he is ripped from the monster with a downward swipe from the beast. The spear breaks and Shu hits the ground. The beast roars, wounded, and slowly slinks away into the dense trees.
     Shu is laying there looking up at the sky and in his clenched fist is the bent bright feather from his spear. Blood spattered on the tip of the feather, it isn't soft anymore. He lay there breathing heavily. The warriors gather around him and help him up. They pick up their weapons and together they say a prayer for their fallen brothers.
    Xen, standing on the ridge saw the scuffle. Even from that distance he witnessed the beauty of the bright feathers on that creature. He saw the beast get away into the woods. Xen had a feeling it was Shu. Xen looks at the cub and sees small little feathers that matched that beast. He quickly put two and two together. This cub is lost and that beast is looking for it's young. Xen climbs back down into ruins. He begins to walk back to the village, but on his way out he stops and looks at the wall. He looks at the massive dragon in the water. He can't quite put his finger on it but when looking at this he knows this is a beast that is untouchable. As he looks down from it he sees on the beach a village that looks similar to the ruins and guarding it was the brilliant feathered creature in the woods.
    As Xen gets back into the village it seems as though life is back to normal. The people bustling around and doing their things as if nothing ever happened. The fishmonger yelling about her fish, the blacksmith hammering away on metal, kids carrying baskets and just overall helping things move smoothly.

Here's the ending I still need to sort through and build up.
The cub escapes / at the same time Shu leads the beast back to their village on accident /
the monster roars and the cub runs, xen chases and shu chases they end up clashing in the middle of the village market / people are scared. Shu tries to appeal to the fear in people but Xen shows that the cub is tame / the beast lashes out protecting the young cub. Shu hurts the beast more on the wound he created. Xen tries to tame the big beast like the cub but fails. The villagers push them out of the city. They end up on the beach. A large storm swirling in the ocean, lightening, crazy wind. Large waves crashing on the shore. The monster and cub are on the beach the angry villagers trying to end the terror / Shu sees an opportunity to kill the monster. He has a flashback to the village before the ruin, and remembers how his parents died. A flash of lightening triggers him into the flashback. The storm and the blue and white water dragon came. The clouds weren't smoke clouds it was the dragon's fault. The use of his water/energy blasts. The dragon destroyed the house they were in. which is why his hands were bloody and scraped. the blast thrust him forward and he scraped his hands trying to stop. This was the beginning part of the trauma he forgot. He only ever remembered trying to find Xen and the beast that hurt him. Shu realizes that the beast saved him, despite his grave wound. The blue and white water dragon is the true threat. Shu forgives the beast and actually tames the large monster He removes the spear and helps tend his wound. Things settle down and the village is reminded of what time was before the fear controlled them. The village elders celebrate Xen reminding shu that they knew he was great.
the end of the story reminds us,  on the shore the storm comes closer and in the distance the white and blue dragon emerges. Xen

Xen & Teebo Update.

I am currently in the phase of getting the story completed so that way I can establish the mood as well as work out a lot of the kinks with story telling. This will help my friend do the visuals. I hope that it reads well, and then it could be translated to film well.


     Birds fly out of the harsh dense treetops of a woodland area as a loud horn sounds. In the dense trees next to the river, the tribal villagers scramble to their wood and stone homes as the ground shakes.  A roar from an unknown creature is heard. People push past a young boy. He's standing there oblivious to the up rise in panic. The young boy holds his hand out, a bright red and green leaf in his hand. A gliding lizard lands on his hand and crawls up his arm chewing on the leaf. The boy laughs and pets the lizard with his finger. The hurried sound of footsteps are heard when next to him a hardened young man kneels down. His voice very strong and commanding.
     "Xen, are you OK?" the young man asks.
     "Yeah, why?" Xen asks curiously, his voice is playful. Xen looks around and sees everyone running around. "What's going on?"
     "Didn't you hear the horn? Stay right here." He demands patting his shoulder harshly, "I will be right back."
     "OK Shu!" He says giggling trying to keep the lizard from crawling on his head.
     Shu steps up to a small gathering of the village elders.
     "Oh, there you are Shu. We were just talking about you." The shaky old voice from the village chief perks up. His eyes heavy, he looks to Shu. "We know you have some kind of plan! Are you taken Xen with you this time?"
     Shu angrily interjects. "No, he's not ready." He gets defensive with a furrowed brow.
     The village elders laugh, "You would be surprised!" One says in the huddled group. "Look how much you've grown since that age." Another remarks playfully. "We've all come a long way..."
     "This isn't some kind of game!" Shu says, touching the scar on his arm. He rubs his shoulder. "Xen is still too naive." He glances over his shoulder and sees Xen with the lizard and now a giant blue flying horned beetle. "He doesn't understand the kind of danger these creatures contain."
     The horn sounds again but closer now.
     "OK Shu, what's the plan?" The village elders ask with urgency.
     Shu nods and they discuss actions to take if the city is breached. Xen is keeping a watchful eye on Shu and in that instant he rolls into the bushes nearby.
     After explaining the next steps to take Shu looks up and notices Xen isn't there, but at this point he has to hope he will fend for himself in the village walls. He has everyone's lives to think about.
     Xen also begins to run, after seeing Shu was distracted he was able to sneak away. Xen begins running to a small ruined house. The lizard jumping and gliding keeping up with him. Slowly trailing behind is the big blue beetle.
     Shu begins to run towards a large tower on the towns outer walls, two young warriors following him trying to keep up with him. A chubby warrior slowly trailing behind.
     Xen jumps through a bush and does a sloppy roll. He gets up and dusts himself off. The lizard landing on his shoulder and the horned beetle hovering over him. He stands in front of a large ruined temple with old faded paintings. The paintings show humans with large creatures.
     Shu jumps over a wooden fence and does a stylish roll hopping up to his feet and doing a running jump over a wall. He begins to enter a massive building with large spikes and large monster bones.
     Xen enters the ruins casually. He directs the lizard to the wall. It glides to the wall and disturbs a string mushrooms. The mushrooms are very large and damp. The sound of rushing water can be heard as the trickling of water can be seen dripping through the wall and onto the mushrooms. The mushrooms shake releasing a small cloud and as the spores spread a light blue hue illuminates a path down a long dark hallway. The mushrooms glow with a light blue intensity allowing Xen to see the way.
     Xen cheerfully hops and skips down the hallway walking past imagery on the walls. The pictures depict a time from so long ago. Crude pictures of humans interacting with a large variety of beast ranging from small to insanely huge. The mural is some what of a scale and as Xen nears the end of the wall it shows a large beach with a large creature as if to guard the shore. The creature has a colorful set of feathers. Off in the distance in the ocean is a massive white and blue water dragon. Only a portion of it is displayed due to the massiveness of it. It's half covered in the ocean.
     Xen meanders past and gets settled into his little hide out. He walks into this large room. It's the epicenter of a large temple. The cathedral style has an open roof, but plants and earth have covered up most of it, letting only some spots of natural light in. The bright leaves of a vined plant bares a fruit. Xen picks the fruit and collects the bright colored leaves from it. Xen gets comfortable on a hammock made from an old flag. He eats the interestingly shaped fruit and lays the leaves on his belly. The lizard and the beetle climb to him snacking on the colorful leaves.
     Shu enters the warriors guild catching his breath as he walks past a long row of monster trophies. All types of monster bones on display from jawbones to horns and even claws. Shu grabs a spear that is fashioned with a large colorful feather. The hunters guild opens up from that large hallway to a staging area outside the village. Shu and other warriors are gearing up to go on a scouting mission to see what the alarms were sounding for. A handful of hardened villagers are selected as Shu readies a party to move out. They follow the river up a large cliff face as a way to see over the forest of trees. The high ground has always been the starting point to every mission. It allows them to see creatures before they decide to fight. They live deep in the forest because it acts as a buffer from most creatures. They do not go near the riverbed where the village stays. The river leads to the ocean and the village is next to a beach.
    Shu looks over the horizon to see if there's anything. A roar is heard. Shu's eyes widen. The image in his eyes show a younger version of himself. He flashes back in his mind. The same roar is heard again. He is breathing heavily as he's frantically looking around. "What do I do? What do I do?" He says to himself under his breath as he's standing there holding a spear. A piercing scowl of a large creature is heard. It filled him with fear. It sounds like a bear and a cougar. The slam of a giant gray monster claw next to him. The thick leg crushing a wood and stone house next to him with little effort. He is brought to his knees by the tremors. He looks at his hands. They are scratched and bloody. Tears flowing from his eyes. He begins to yell.
     "XEN!? Where are you?" He gets up and starts to run.
     Above him is the belly of a massive creature. The scales were gray and through the smoke he couldn't make out exactly what it is. All he knew is that it was huge. Screams can be heard as smoke billows to the sky. The sound of cracking wood and toppling stone shake through Shu. He scans the area to see if there is any indication of where Xen is.
     Down an alleyway between two buildings Shu spots a swaddled child. Wrapped tightly in a flag of the tribes colors he lays crying. A small baby unable to fend for himself. Shu begins to run to him.
     The massive gray monster's feet clashing with the surroundings. An unknown creature lets out a growl that stops him dead in his tracks. He looks up at the rooftops and sees the bright glaring eyes of a monster through the smoke. Above that was the massive claw of the gray scaled beast. The massive trunk of a leg was coming down.
     Shu started to run and that triggered the eyes in the smoke to slant angrily. His gestures triggered the monster to chase. Through the smoke the creature jumped. It's dark fur and bright feathers around its neck flowing. The massive claw of the scaled dragon comes crashing down. The feathered monster swipes it's claw at Shu, connecting with his shoulder and causing him to be flung against a wall. The wind is knocked out of him. He can't catch his breath as the massive gray claw crushes the building between him and Xen.
     Shu looks up and tries to stand holding his spear defensively. The beast no where to be seen. Shu's shoulder is ripped and torn deep. His blood dripping down his arm. He stumbles to his feet propping himself up. The massive gray scaled monster is gone, all that is left is the ruins of the village. He hears the crashing of the waves near by. It was unreal how quickly things had transpired.
     He looks around and grabs his spear, using it as a walking stick to look for Xen. The smoke clouds break and sunlight shines through. The light points to a small bit of rubble where a village colored flag sits. Shu hurries to the flag and sees Xen there holding a bright colorful feather cooing happily. Shu checks him for injuries and holds him close.
     Shu blinks and instantly knows what he's facing. He shakes off the memory and touches his scar. He rotates his shoulder to remind himself it still works. He scans the edge of the trees looking for any sign of movement. If this monster shows up it could be another catastrophic event.
     Xen hears the the what he discerns to be a roar but thinks nothing of it. The lizard gets frightened. Causing a bit of a disturbance with the beetle. The beetle begins to fly away. Xen, enamored with his new beetle friend tries calling him back with clicks from his mouth.
     "Tsk tsk." Xen motions towards himself.
    The beetle flies and hits against a wall. It's tough shell absorbing the impact. It lands on the wall, using his large horn to create a hole. The beetle crawls through it. Xen follows and is curious about this hole he's never seen before. He looks through it with one big eye. It's too dark to see anything. He begins to unearth this new pathway and as the dust settles he hears the soft growl of a creature.
     The growl sounds playful and it tries to roar. Xen slowly peers around the corner. On his shoulder the lizard is also peering over the corner, scared. Xen see's in this small room an old bird nest and in it crawls the beetle.
     Xen looks around the room as he slowly walks to the center of it. The room is small and above the nest is an opening in the rough that leads outside. Vines come through the hole in the ceiling and down through the nest. In the room a small little flow of water travels from the river near by. He sees the bright leaves of the fruit that grows on the vine. The threads of vines come through this area as well. On the floor next to the nest are pits from the fruit. The colorful leaves scattered around.
     He slowly walks to the nest. The beetles wings can be heard fluttering. Xen's eyes slowly look over into the nest. The beetle is wrestling with a small little catlike cub. The cub is pawing at the beetle. It's hard shell defending it against the cubs claws. The paws of the creature are large and fuzzy. When the paw is raised the claws expand out, on display are these very intense looking razor sharp talons. The lizard instinctively jumps into the nest between, protecting the beetle. The cub retreats into a defensive position. The cubs ears are folded back. It's eyes show remorse.
     Xen extends his hand out to touch the cub. It closes it's eyes and growls. Xen doesn't rear back. He keeps moving his hand slowly towards it. Xen's eyes focused on the cub. His hand hovers above the cubs head. For a moment that seems like an eternity Xen holds his hand there. Xen begins to feel nervous. The cub looks up at Xen. The cub moves it's head to his hand and begins to purr. The cub wraps it's large paws around Xens hand and begins to rub it's chin and cheeks over his hand. Xen pets the cub gently with his other hand.
     Rubbing it's soft fur Xen notices around it's neck these even more beautiful small feathers. The cub is extremely friendly and enjoys the attention Xen gives to him. Xen begins trying to teach it how to sit, using the clicks. With Xen issuing commands the lizard begins doing the same commands. Xen using hand gestures and clicks easily tames the cub, the cub following the lizards lead. Xen and the cub become bonded.
     Xen, thirsty at this point goes to the little flowing river. The clear blue water coursing by, he cups the water in his hands as he takes a drink. He offers some to the lizard, and to the cub. They drink from his hand. The beetle on Xen's shoulder rotating a leaf in it's mandibles.
A bellowing roar is heard off in the distance. The cubs ears perk up and it beings to cry repeatedly. It's frantically looking up through the hole in the ceiling. Xen curiously climbs up the vines with the cub following behind. Xen looks over the ridge into the distance.

Writing about some of my influences with a story.

When thinking about the story of Oliver and Monsterbutt I realized I was using a lot of things that I liked in other stories. These things all really stuck with me over time and I liked a lot of things about them. Link's Awakening being one of my all time favorite stories, and games. The things that happen in it are just really cool, the whole dream world, but having to come back to reality at the end. Everything just ends like a bubble popping. It's there, so magnificent and then pop. It's over.
I broke down the stories to see what I liked about them and what I want to use in mine.

Links awakening.
Link's boat gets struck by lightening and then passes out at sea only to wake up on a mysterious island.
He finds out that nightmares are causing trouble and the only way to make it better is to wake up the wind fish.
The wind fish is asleep and only can a song wake him up. The song is played by 8 instruments. They are guarded.
Fight the 8 dungeons and get the 8 instruments.
In the middle of your journey you find out that waking up the windfish means that you will undo what exists on the island.
You continue to wake up the windfish but evil blocks him from getting there because if he wakes up the windfish it's all over for everyone and everything in the dream.
The nightmare wants to stop him because everything will be undone. Every boss knows this and they try to convince Link to stop. Link pushes on, wakes the windfish after fighting the final nightmare, and found out it was all a dream. He sees a sea gull and thinks of Marin. A girl on the island he liked, who liked him back. Even though Koholint Island is gone it's not forgotten.

Never Ending Story.
Boy is bullied IRL. He's a nerd and uses books to escape. Everything he's read so far is cool. Boy finds book, it's like none other, get's sucked in as main character. Main character is the only one strong enough to go on this journey. He goes to a few different places trying to find a way to save the realm, being tracked down by an evil wolf and surrounded by the void. He meets a few people that help him on the adventure and he overcomes some very difficult trials. He has the help of a close companion Luck Dragon, Falkor. But eventually it all get's forgotten everything is lost, he's standing there with the princess and the only thing he has to do is give her a name. The kingdom is reborn. All is well.

Wizard of Oz.
Bad stuff outside, involving family and people around her. Real life is kinda shitty...  But in the dream it's mirrors the characters. Her uncle, father, etc They all have challenges they go through and then at the end we realize because of the trials they went through together they all have grown and the things they were looking for were there all the time. Then it's all a sham, the Wizard of Oz is a fake but there was some magic there in the end because Dorothy was able to wish herself home. She wakes up and all is good, she has a new found appreciation of those around her.

Where the Wild Things Are. Crazy kid, feels disconnected. doesn't fit int he world. Goes away and lives in the wild, he is able to do what he wants and be who he wants but then comes across a spirit like him, and he realizes he needs to chill the fuck out. He's gone in a fantasy world for a long while and comes back with a better sense of who he is.

Alice In Wonderland.
This story is so cool over all, she falls down the rabbit hole and goes deeper and deeper trying to find a way home until she breaks. The Cheshire Cat just harassing her and providing a lot of perspective. The interactions and morals in the story of all the different creatures and animals. The Queen of Hearts wanting to kill her for something she didn't do. Everyone so scared of her that they fall in line and just do what she says. It's just a nightmare. It's cool how it all comes crashing down and she ends up waking up with a certain appreciation for things.

Over The Garden Wall.
This show just has that deep level I'm wanting to accomplish. They have the dark story telling and the cool, in depth things that if you look at it and analyze it, the meaning is super heavy. The one boy is involved in an accident and it's about how he's come back from the experience he had. The older brother is scared of everything, but the younger brother is excited and wanting to explore it all. It's dark and twisted. The realm is scary and there's lots of lore, and fantasy involved. They have to overcome a lot of interesting challenges to make it back. The end, he wakes up in the hospital after being involved in an accident. Remembering the journey he took it was just a crazy dream that involved the areas he was in before the accident.

All of these stories have the main character take a step back and actually have to be something more then what the thought was intended for them. It's a magnificent transformation of a larva into a butterfly. That metamorphosis in the story is super important to me. I grew up with this trauma and abuse but I never let it define who I was. I could have let it take me down the same path as my parents. Drugs, abuse, everything but instead I let it be a catalyst for something more. I attempted to rise above it and be more from it all. Those things that happened are definitely a part of who I am and it's a strong reason to why I am still here living, and fighting today.
I want to tell the story of a kid who goes through some hard shit in real life but at the end of it all he's truly a great kid. Humility, kindness, companionship, caring, these are things that were not shown to him but he gives it because he knows in his heart it's the right thing.

How do these play into O&MB
The fantasy of it all is major. All the elements come together from each thing to be a part of this story.
first 3 eps. Establishing the real world. How Oliver lives, it sucks because he's poor... Show the abuse. His step-dad really just doesn't like him for some reason. Then establish him getting the game and the stuffed monster. Show Oliver is not confident in himself. Especially after all this abuse. He plays the game and gets settled in, it's a cool fantasy game but everything seems tame and actually kind of boring. His step-dad takes the new monster and rips it slightly, causing some damage to it. Oliver is pretty upset about all of this and decides to run away. His step-dad wont let him leave and Oliver is hit and put in his room. Oliver clicks in the game and the next thing he knows...
He goes into the game, like all the other stories, he leaves and it's turbulent. something strange but next thing he knows he's somewhere new.
he's gone for what feels like a long time and in this time he does a lot of self discovery. He comes out able to stand up for what's right.
In the journey he gains a new friend, the stuffed animal become real. A giant monster who defends him.
He finds out about girls, Celeste. Awkwardly flirty. Building self confidence.But it's also learning about boundaries, she's always looking for an angle to take advantage of people to get what she wants.
He learns how to make friends and find common ground, how to open up about the bad things that happened. Sohn shows him these things as they grow as pals.
The Evil King who represents all these negative things. And how that toxicity corrupts. Everything falls in line under him and it's not good. Absolute power corrupts, absolutely.
The people who fall in line under the evil king are people who want to do the right thing but are turned to evil on accident. The first wizard they come across was actually really heroic before all this, but the evil corrupted him and turned him bad. He died realizing that what he did was wrong but gives Oliver the insight he knew all along. To keep true to his heart.
There will be other generals that need to be stopped, like the one who captured, tortured and hurt Sohn. This gives Oliver a lot of perspective on his situation. Sohn suffers like Oliver does but it's different.

At the seasons end. Oliver will wake up and come to terms with his situation. He will stand up to his step-dad when he's abusing his mother. He's tired of everything he loves being hurt. He uses the new found courage from his adventure to kind of fight back. When Oliver hears the commotion he suits up with things he found in the game, but they are things he already had. He puts on shoes, and dresses up. Then he confronts him while holding the stuffed monster. The step-dad laughing at this weird attempt. He knows nothing will happen so he's not threatened. But Oliver isn't scare of him anymore. Oliver stands up to him. He will call the police. Oliver will be hurt one last time by his step-dad. That last time leaves a mark, or a scar. The series ends with Oliver moving into a halfway house with his mom. A house for battered women.
He goes back to school and makes friends with a girl that looks like Celeste and a boy that looks like Sohn. Everything is looking up for him.

2018 the blog post

I started 2018 in a tough spot.
I was in a very toxic situation the hardest thing was realizing I had to do something about it.
But I worked through it and I got a lot accomplished!

In January, I celebrated my birthday, and Garth's birthday as well. It was fun and simple but it was our one year mark and I'm glad to have rescued him. I started the new year with Brian and Darla. We got super drunk and ate pizza. I tried honey whiskey for the first time.
Also, on the 14th my sister, Vanessa died. It was due to heart failure. I have my own thoughts about how things played out for her and it does hurt knowing she's gone.
At the funeral I caught up with some relatives and one got to lighting a bit of a fire on an idea I had been kicking around since college. She told me that since Fox was bought by Disney, and that her wife worked on New Girl that if I kept in contact with them and had some ideas for shows to talk about it might be a good time to pitch something, or even just talk about it.
So I started working really hard on writing Oliver & Monsterbutt. I mean, I was already working on it but now there was a purpose.
This was a shift for me, less actual art work and more writing...

In February I went to the doctor and she ran some blood tests on me and what not. Turns out things are OK. She talked to me about my mental health and suggested I get on medication and talk to a counselor there. I refused. My overall health is OK, just need to lose some weight. I didn't want to take medications or anything because I don't want to slip down the slope my mom is currently in.
I was working at a dead end job with people who were so unhappy with themselves they couldn't even be bothered to assist me with making great changes or doing the right thing.

I think about it from time to time where I just can't believe my old store manager wouldn't consider doing something so simple as to just have a conversation with his employees about their attitudes, or find ways to build people up and support them. I was willing to make big life changes like move to another location in a whole other state. This is how desperate I was to make a change. I didn't want to leave the style of work. I enjoy retail and I really loved the business of working at Zia Records. I just couldn't believe how there was a lack of integrity there. Some of the people I met, I truly care for. It happens when you spend a lot of time together. There were some that did want to see things get better and they did try as best they could but in the grand scheme of it all, nothing was going to change unless the structure of management did something better. It was clear that nothing was going to happen..

I met a girl and we dated for a bit. She was pretty cool, for the most part. As time went on things got a little more complicated. She was a certain way with me, then different with friends, hers and mine. Our love languages didn't mesh. She thought that gifts and things of the material nature were good, which they are nice, but I needed more physical attention, and words of affirmation. It just didn't work out. I gave it the college try though, I didn't want to give up on such petty terms but sometimes thems the breaks.

I worked on my credit pretty hard when I got the job at Zia in 2017. I got a pretty decent credit score, and then started looking for a bank that would lend me money. Knowing that the only way I could get a better job was to get a vehicle, things became pretty clear to me that it was the only way to make things work better for me. So, in April I got a car. I immediately started looking for other jobs and applied like a mad man. I went to interviews before work and just moved mountains to find something better, but alas, no real luck.

During this time I was meeting up with Chris and his wife Amanda, we were doing some physical training. I wanted to get in shape and start working on my physical health. We met up 2-3 times a week and did this for some time before things got complicated with my schedule and his. He is a firefighter now.

I applied at Geico and went through a pretty intensive process, where they talked to me about my pay wage, my schedule and everything but then decided at the last moment to move forward with someone else.
At that time I was pretty bummed out but then I got wind of a new project opening up. Costco needed people to take calls for their online support. I was having a hard time talking myself into going back to a call center, but I applied and got the job. I was super stoked. The hope was that because it was a new project that as it grew I would grow with it. I'm a confident leader with awesome skills. I was eager to be put to the test and utilized properly, unlike my jobs at Bookmans, Zia, and Chatime.

I got the job offer in July. I started in September.
Getting this job did a lot of things for me with my self confidence.
I met a girl that I fell in love with. I made some new friends.
I started dressing better, went to a big and tall store and found clothing that looks awesome and fits well. I was working on myself really hard. I was faking it until things just worked out.
But I quit exercising and stuff. So I gained some weight. I'm currently at my worst. I really need to get it all together. The thing about me falling in love. It was clear in a previous blog post.
I had to walk away because this person made a promise to me and broke it. It was truly painful but I am not letting it kick me back or make my life worse. I have to pick up and move on. Knowing a woman like her is capable of liking me it gave me hope that someone that is even 2 times better than her will come along. She really hurt me though, there's no doubt there.
I currently work with an awesome structure and the management has stuff in place that makes it work working there. I'm currently a floor supervisor. So fuck yeah. Things are good for me.

During this time I tried making this special day with my mom. In the time that I moved out she and I never had the chance to hang out. But now I have a car and all that. So I planned this day with her.
I basically asked her to come over to my place so she could meet my cat and see where I've been staying. I planned a meal with her and eliminated all factors that would cause complications. But, as per the usual... Things unraveled and devolved to her calling me cussing at me telling me how horrible I am and how big of a piece of shit I am. I waited outside her apartment for an hour and a half. I called her repeatedly and asked her what the heck she was doing, only to get the reply that she was still getting ready. In reality she was passed out and messed up on her medication. She couldn't keep it together enough to go through with our plans. It really broke my heart. I cried on my friends shoulder about it...

Art club is still cool. We all get together and work on stuff. I started writing a few short stories while working on O&MB. I missed out on Tucson Comic Con this year just because of my new job. I didn't have art to sell anyways.
I ended the year on a tinder date at the wench. I was looking for a new years kiss but I left the same way it's always been.

Alone and in the rain.

I am hopeful for a great 2019.