{"submission_id":"2162507","keywords":[{"keyword_id":"2113","keyword_name":"dinosaur","contributed":"f","submissions_count":"8677"},{"keyword_id":"21","keyword_name":"dragon","contributed":"f","submissions_count":"97838"},{"keyword_id":"2193","keyword_name":"fantasy","contributed":"f","submissions_count":"14699"},{"keyword_id":"1413","keyword_name":"fiction","contributed":"f","submissions_count":"765"},{"keyword_id":"45873","keyword_name":"heroic","contributed":"f","submissions_count":"101"},{"keyword_id":"4196","keyword_name":"medieval","contributed":"f","submissions_count":"1035"},{"keyword_id":"268","keyword_name":"tiger","contributed":"f","submissions_count":"27953"}],"hidden":"f","scraps":"f","favorite":"f","favorites_count":"0","create_datetime":"2020-05-19 20:30:54.129394+02","create_datetime_usertime":"19 May 2020 20:30 CEST","last_file_update_datetime":"2020-05-19 20:28:16.962633+02","last_file_update_datetime_usertime":"19 May 2020 20:28 CEST","username":"AldenTapasya","user_id":"707885","user_icon_file_name":"186892_AldenTapasya_phoenix_v2017.png","user_icon_url_large":"https://nl.ib.metapix.net/usericons/large/186/186892_AldenTapasya_phoenix_v2017.png","user_icon_url_medium":"https://nl.ib.metapix.net/usericons/medium/186/186892_AldenTapasya_phoenix_v2017.png","user_icon_url_small":"https://nl.ib.metapix.net/usericons/small/186/186892_AldenTapasya_phoenix_v2017.png","file_name":"3136296_AldenTapasya_courage_takes_flight.doc","file_url_full":"https://nl.ib.metapix.net/files/full/3136/3136296_AldenTapasya_courage_takes_flight.doc","file_url_screen":"https://nl.ib.metapix.net/files/screen/3136/3136296_AldenTapasya_courage_takes_flight.doc","file_url_preview":"https://nl.ib.metapix.net/files/preview/3136/3136296_AldenTapasya_courage_takes_flight.doc","files":[{"file_id":"3136296","file_name":"3136296_AldenTapasya_courage_takes_flight.doc","file_url_full":"https://nl.ib.metapix.net/files/full/3136/3136296_AldenTapasya_courage_takes_flight.doc","file_url_screen":"https://nl.ib.metapix.net/files/screen/3136/3136296_AldenTapasya_courage_takes_flight.doc","file_url_preview":"https://nl.ib.metapix.net/files/preview/3136/3136296_AldenTapasya_courage_takes_flight.doc","mimetype":"application/msword","submission_id":"2162507","user_id":"707885","submission_file_order":"0","full_size_x":null,"full_size_y":null,"screen_size_x":null,"screen_size_y":null,"preview_size_x":null,"preview_size_y":null,"initial_file_md5":"600e8072db596da89598ce7834386fe3","full_file_md5":"600e8072db596da89598ce7834386fe3","large_file_md5":"","small_file_md5":"","thumbnail_md5":"","deleted":"f","create_datetime":"2020-05-19 20:28:16.962633+02","create_datetime_usertime":"19 May 2020 20:28 CEST"}],"pools":[{"pool_id":"65123","name":"Auriga Stories","description":"Stories that take place within Auriga, a world of my design.","count":"1"}],"description":"Here is a short story about Ralf and some of his friends. As a short story, this isn't meant to be something heavily rooted in canon and only meant to have light touches. The first priority is a stand-alone story, one that I hope will be entertaining on its own.\n\nRalf, Dahlia and Minerva © AldenTapasya, 2019","description_bbcode_parsed":"Here is a short story about Ralf and some of his friends. As a short story, this isn't meant to be something heavily rooted in canon and only meant to have light touches. The first priority is a stand-alone story, one that I hope will be entertaining on its own.

Ralf, Dahlia and Minerva © AldenTapasya, 2019","writing":"COURAGE TAKES FLIGHT\n\n``The town?s in danger! Rush out there and help however you can!'' A man in red answers the call.\n\nVillagers flee from burning houses as a giant dinosaur tackles through one of them, followed by a group of rebellious reptiles with weapons. \n\nThe man in red finds himself running against the villagers, as they recklessly steer clear from him.\n\nRalf: ``They?re abandoning their survivors? Oh no... can?t let that happen!''\n\n\tGO!\n\nRalf wanders the village, watching out for embers as he sees smaller reptilian creatures pillaging the houses. One person, a fellow lizard, was trapped inside with them.\n\nLizard Man: ``Back off! You?re not getting this...'' But he was too scared of the group to run for it.\n\nThey had no problem with the heat, but soon notice Ralf as he raises his voice. ``Hey! Hands off the goods!'' So they pick up rocks and other blunt objects, then rush at him.\n\nRalf punches one in the chest and knocks it into others, pushing them away. Another one jumps over the group and swings a burning plank of wood, so Ralf raises an arm to block it. ``Guess not, huh?'' He pushes away, swings his arm and slashes the reptile, shoving it away and carving the plank in one move.\n\nLizard Man: ``T-Thank you!'' With the group out of the way, the lizard quickly packs up and runs away. However, that house wouldn?t last long in its condition...\n\nRalf: ``No problem.'' He slams a claw into the dirt in front of him and scoops up some of it, then swings it around the flames. Dirt sprinkled around the house as he swung, then scooped more up. It was too late to save that house, but perhaps the dirt would help to stop the flames from spreading.\n\nSome of the reptiles from earlier ambush Ralf as he?s doing this and hit him in the back, so he turns to face them again. ``Agh, should have known you weren?t done...!'' Ralf charges into another group and tackles the reptile that hit him. He quickly punches it after that and turns his attention to another reptile coming in with a club. ``Not this time!'' He slaps the weapon aside as it swings and kicks the reptile down, then hops away before more reptiles can swarm him.\n\nRalf: ``There?s too many of them... I can?t let those houses burn. What to do...?'' He nearly gets hit a thrown rock as he looks for more houses. The rock hits a window and breaks it, which catches his attention. He runs inside the house, even though it was starting to burn up.\n\nThere was someone else inside the house. Another lizard, a reptile girl. Ralf looked at her for a bit, as her appearance took him by surprise. ``W-What the...?'' She hears his voice and raises her head. She was scared too.\n\nReptile Girl: ``A-Are they gone? I was just visiting...! Why did they have to capture me like this?'' Her ankles and wrists were tied together and she didn?t seem to be wearing much.\n\nRalf: ``They did this to you? Hold on... I?ll get you out of that-'' But as he approached, she backed away.\n\nReptile: ``N-No! You?re one of them, aren?t you?! Stay back!'' She tried to move, but in her condition she wouldn?t get far.\n\nRalf: ``No, calm down! I?m...'' He sighed. ``I?m Ralf. What?s your name?''\n\nShe didn?t want to answer right away, but she looked at him and steadily relaxed. Just as she was about to answer that, another rock breaks through the window. \n\nRalf checks the rock then looks outside. ``They caught up already...?'' He faces the girl for a moment. Since he couldn?t approach her and wasn?t sure he could stop the growing flames, he decides to step out of the house. ``Wait here, I?ll stop them.''\n\nReptile Girl: ``Huh? B-But...'' The flames were small and nowhere near the corner she was in, but she didn?t feel safe until he stepped out.\n\nReptiles: ``There he is! Kill that one!'' The reptiles were joined by a larger one, a bulky dinosaur closer to Ralf?s size. He was carrying a bag on one hand and holding a large axe with the other.\n\nRalf wondered what was in that bag as he faced the group. ``So you?re the ones responsible! You?ll pay for this!'' He stepped closer as he saw some reptiles going around him. His main target was the large dinosaur, who quickly swung his axe at Ralf. He saw this coming and slammed his fist against the handle of the weapon to try and stop it, but the swing was stronger than he thought. The colliding hits cause them both to reel as the dinosaur loses his grip on the bag.\n\nDinosaur: ``You! You?re strong!'' He drops the bag and holds the axe with his other hand. The first one was somewhat injured from the impact it just sustained.\n\nRalf: ``You?re not bad yourself...'' He recovered first and tried to rush at the dinosaur, but some reptiles hit him with rocks from behind before he could. ``Ow! Not this again...!'' He ignores the bag and tries to rush at the reptiles, but gets surprised by more rocks. As he blocked them, he noticed they were thrown from slings. ``Hey, they didn?t have those before...!'' But that gives him an idea.\n\nDinosaur: ``You die!!'' While Ralf was distracted by the rocks, the dinosaur swung at his vulnerable back... but stops as he gets pelted by rocks. ``What?! Watch it!!'' He roars, signaling the reptiles to stop their attack.\n\nReptiles: ``He?s getting away! After him!'' Ralf had moved away to let the dinosaur take the rock hits meant for him. But then he gets hit by more from another side.\n\nDinosaur: ``Stop it!!'' He roared again. He was too angry over possible betrayal to notice who was throwing what.\n\nReptile 1: ``But we didn?t do that!'' One of the reptiles spotted Ralf.\n\nReptile 2: ``There he is!'' Another rock was thrown... and the dinosaur gets hit again.\n\nDinosaur: ``Traitors!! That does it!!'' He roars loudly and charges after them. \n\nReptiles: ``You big idiot! It wasn?t-'' One of the reptiles gets chopped apart before it can finish, causing the rest to run away from the dinosaur chasing them.\n\nRalf: ``Low blow, but that will buy me some time...'' He sighed as he approached the bag. He lifted it and wandered behind one of the houses. ``T-This is kinda heavy... what were they...?'' As he opens the bag, he sees something in it... someone.\n\nThere was a girl with purple fur. A vibrant color with an exotic pattern. She was tied up and unconscious, but her ears perked up and she yawned as Ralf got her out of the bag. \n\nRalf: ``Uh... are you okay?''\n\nCat Girl: ``... h...hey there. What... year is it?''\n\nRalf: ``... year?'' He didn?t know if she was-\n\nCat Girl: ``Hah, relax... just messing with ya?.'' She tried to get up but her restraints caused her to fall over instead. ``Whoa! What did you do?!'' \n\nRalf: ``It wasn?t me, calm down.'' He quickly unties the girl, glancing at her figure as he does so. Like the reptile he saw earlier, she wasn?t wearing much. Now he realized what was going on. ``Those reptiles must have kidnapped you...''\n\nCat Girl: ``You don?t say, genius...'' She huffed. She knew he was a reptile just like the ones who kidnapped her... and that he was looking at her. ``Name?s Minerva. You?''\n\nRalf: ``...Ralf. I?ll deal with them, you?re free to go.''\n\nMinerva: ``No thanks. I?m here for somebody... uh, wherever this is.'' She got up and stretched. ``Had no idea where to look for my girl, but these jerks must have taken her, so-''\n\nRalf saw her stretching and readied himself as well. ``Huh... are you saying you let them capture you? On purpose?!'' He found it hard to believe.\n\nMinerva: ``So you get it? Not bad!'' She smirked and heard the dinosaur chasing more reptiles around. ``She?s green and has orange hair. Help me find her and I won?t wreck your face. Deal?''\n\nRalf: ``I just saved you... why are you-?'' He thought about that description... and remembered the reptile girl he had seen earlier. He smiled as he put the pieces together. ``Wait, I?ve seen her. I know where she is!''\n\nMinerva: ``Really? Good one, but that?s way too convenient. I?m outta? here.'' She ran out from behind the house in that moment, catching the attention of the reptile mob and the dinosaur.\n\nRalf: ``I said wait!'' For a moment, she felt a genuine sense of concern towards her. It was enough to stop her in her tracks.\n\nDinosaur: ``Hey! The prisoner is escaping!! Get her!''\n\nAs Ralf noticed that their cover was blown, he stepped up next to Minerva. He tried not to get mad at her for her reckless approach.\n\nDinosaur: ``None of you will escape me this time!!''\n\nMinerva: ``Oh yeah? Let?s see what you got!'' She quickly runs over to the dinosaur, who tries to swing his axe again. She surprises him as she jumps, vaults over him and kicks him in the back, hitting him hard enough to knock him onto his knees. She then turns and rakes his back with her claws, then swings down to try and toss him.\n\nRalf saw this opportunity and rushed at the dinosaur, slamming into him with both hands. This double punch was enough to topple the dinosaur over, just as Minerva was preparing to swing. With their combined forces, they were strong enough to toss the dinosaur... towards another house, demolishing it and crushing whatever was inside. The earth rumbled as this happened. \n\nRalf: ``Oh no!''\n\nMinerva: ``Hah! Score!''\n\nRalf: ``Watch those houses! She might be in one of them!''\n\nMinerva: ``Might? Didn?t you say you knew where she was?'' She realized something... and got mad at Ralf. ``That better not have been the one!!''\n\nRalf looked away and turned his attention to the reptile group. ``It wasn?t!''\n\nMinerva hissed, but then she saw the reptiles herself and decided to pounce at one of them instead of Ralf. ``You better be right!'' As she pounces the reptile, she tumbles with him and kicks upward to shove him into the air. She rolls back onto her feet and catches the reptile as he comes down, slamming him with both hands.\n\nRalf swings at one of the reptiles and slashes another, before a third hits him with a rock. More slings, some of which were aiming at Minerva. But he?d had enough of that. ``Two can play that game!'' He focuses power into one of his hands and punches at one of the sling wielders. His fist releases the power as a fireball that collides against the reptile?s weapon, burning it and his hands in the process.\n\nMinerva had pinned her target down and was about to slash it over and over, but rocks hit her in the back and stop her. She hisses and gets up. ``Do you mind?!'' Another rock hits her, causing her to turn and crouch for a moment. Before another rock can be thrown, she pounces and rolls in the air, jumping a great distance as she kicks one of the slingers. She rolls as she lands and kicks out with both legs to hit more reptiles.\n\nRalf shoots more fireballs and barely misses Minerva when she suddenly jumps into the group. ``Watch it! I almost hit you!'' She didn?t seem to listen, so he rushed at the last few reptiles. They had clubs and were already scattering from Minerva?s attack, so Ralf had no problem punching one out. The last reptile of that bunch decides to run away instead of fighting the two of them.\n\nMinerva: ``Alright!'' She gets up after taking care of the reptiles around her. ``So, where was she?'' She didn?t seem to care that they were getting away.\n\nRalf: ``Well-'' He hears the dinosaur getting up and shaking off the wreckage of the house he was thrown into. ``Let?s take care of that first!''\n\nMinerva: ``What? Why? I?m not here for this-'' Her ears perk up as she hears yelping from a nearby house. She recognized a female voice. ``...Dahlia!'' She immediately ran over in the direction of the voice.\n\nRalf: ``Hey, wait!!'' The dinosaur roars loudly, stopping Minerva in her tracks and allowing him to slam her with his tail. Ralf moves over to catch Minerva, but gets slammed into another house with her for his trouble.\n\nDinosaur: ``Enough!! You die, reptile man! And you...!'' He chomped his teeth and gripped his axe for a moment. ``You are lucky to live.''\n\nMinerva pushes some wreckage off of her as she gets up. ``What was that?!''\n\nRalf does the same and stares the dinosaur down. ``You?ve caused enough trouble today! Surrender, or else!''\n\nThe dinosaur laughs. ``You don?t understand, strong man. I live for this battle! That bait standing next to you is but a prize.''\n\nMinerva shivered as she heard him. ``Oh you did not just call me a prize...!!'' She could hear her friend?s voice from the house behind the dinosaur, but even if she could run past him, she didn?t want to let that remark slide.\n\nRalf glances at Minerva and smiles for a moment. ``There?s your reason why.'' He faces the dinosaur again. ``Last warning. Surrender or-''\n\nThe dinosaur roars at him. ``DIE!'' He charges at them and swings his axe from a side with both hands. There was no other option now.\n\n\tFIGHT!\n\nMinerva jumps over the axe swing and Ralf ducks under it while raising his forearms against the handle. This time the swing was too strong to stop, but the impact managed to divert it somewhat, throwing the dinosaur off as Minerva kicked him twice in the face. Ralf quickly gets up and hits the dinosaur in the jaw with a rising uppercut, right as Minerva lands next to him. She takes this cue and slashes the dinosaur?s chest, drawing some blood as she tears into it.\n\nBefore any of them could get out of the way, the dinosaur tackles them away with a shoulder and turns around for a tail swing. Ralf stood his ground after the tackle but struggled to block the tail swing, while Minerva rolled away and managed to get away from the tail. She saw Ralf catching the tail and nearly getting swatted away by it, so she rushes at the dinosaur.\n\nRalf: ``No, don?t!'' The dinosaur casually swings to the other side to hit Minerva... but she hops and vaults over the tail before it can hit her. ``... oh, never mind.'' His arms were shaking from the impact he just took, but he focused power into them anyway as he ran after Minerva.\n\nMinerva: ``Is that axe of yours for show, big guy? Don?t make me laugh!'' She saw the dinosaur preparing another swing and ran in its direction. Right before the swing, she ducks and rolls under it then kicks out at his legs to try and trip him. Unfortunately for her, this didn?t seem to push him much. ``...uh-'' She suddenly gets stomped a few times, then rolls aside to avoid another one.\n\nAs the dinosaur turns to stomp Minerva, Ralf jumps and slams the dinosaur?s back with both hands. He releases his power at that moment for an explosive impact that shoves the dinosaur right into the floor, creating a small crater. Thankfully, Minerva had rolled out from under the dinosaur just before this, but the force of the impact?s shockwave nearly knocks her away from them.\n\nMinerva: ``O-Ow!! Stop that!!'' She glared at Ralf as she got on her feet, shaking off the stomps and taking a moment to recover, before pouncing at the dinosaur. \n\nRalf: ``Sorry, but we need to end this!'' He focuses power into his chest and punches the dinosaur?s back over and over, until he gets up and shakes Ralf off him. \n\nDinosaur: ``You won?t defeat me!!'' He roars and smashes the axe into the ground, then starts swinging it wildly. This reckless assault forces Ralf and Minerva to back away from him, as even the dirt kicked up by the wild swings as enough to knock them over.\n\nMinerva: ``E-Easy, big guy! You?re just losing a little! Chill!!''\n\nRalf: ``He can?t hear us like this! Better try something else!'' The power within his body swells and he directs it into both arms at the same time. He raises them and combines their power, then swings down and releases a large explosive wave of fire at the dinosaur. Though the explosions couldn?t stop the swinging or the dirt, they tear through and hit the dinosaur anyway. \n\nMinerva backed away as she witnessed just how powerful Ralf could be. ``Wow! How did he get that strong...?'' The dinosaur finally stops swinging. The axe?s blade had dulled and broken, so now only a few crude shards of iron and stone remained on the weapon. But without its weight, another quick swing happens much faster. ``... uh, got another bright idea?''\n\nRalf: ``None! Just need more time now.'' He starts focusing power again.\n\nDinosaur: ``I?ll kill you all!!'' He charged at Ralf, also moving much faster than before. Too quickly for him to simply get out of the way, so Ralf braced himself for impact. The dinosaur slammed him against a house, then picked him up and opened his jaws. ``You?re mine!!''\n\nMinerva saw this and ran over towards the dinosaur. She wasn?t fast enough to stop him from hitting Ralf but, before the dinosaur could bite him, she grabbed the broken axe while it was still in the dinosaur?s grip. She yells and swings it at the side of his neck as hard as she could. ``Let him go!!'' To her surprise, the broken weapon was still sharp, as it jammed into the dinosaur?s neck and he roared in pain.\n\nDinosaur: ``N-NOOO!! H-How... dare you...?!''\n\nRalf: ``Now!'' With his power gathered, he shoves his arms into the dinosaur?s open jaws and unleashes another explosive wave. With all that focused power hitting inside the dinosaur?s body, his senses were overwhelmed. The dinosaur himself had almost exploded from the sudden surge of energy... he releases Ralf as his body slumps to the floor with a loud rumble. \n\nRalf lands on his feet and his arms sizzle as he watches the dinosaur fall over. ``You had your chance! Lie there and think of what you?ve done...''\n\nMinerva quickly bumps him from a side. She seemed happy. ``No, seriously. How did you get that strong? You gotta tell me!'' \n\nRalf: ``H-Hey, careful.'' His arms were still sizzling a bit. ``Uh... well, it?s a long story. But wait, what about your friend?''\n\nMinerva?s ears perked up. ``Oh! Sorry, I?ll be right back!'' She quickly runs into the house that the dinosaur was guarding. Ralf casually walks over to it, then takes one last look at the dinosaur.\n\nMinerva: ``Dahlia! Glad you?re safe!!'' The fire had been put out somehow and the reptile girl was... somewhat burned.\n\nDahlia: ``Minerva?! How did you find me? I-I thought I?d never see you again...!'' She teared up a bit, but quickly wiped her tears. ``They didn?t hurt you, did they?''\n\nMinerva: ``Oh, that? It was nothing...'' She was a bit wounded and bruised, but still kicking. ``I had some help.''\n\nDahlia: ``Huh? Who?'' She thought about someone she had seen earlier. ``...there was this guy who tried to help me-''\n\nMinerva smiled as she realized Ralf was telling the truth. ``You don?t say...'' She hugs Dahlia. ``Look, it?s been a long day. Why don?t we go home?''\n\nDahlia gets hugged and looks at Minerva. ``But you?re hurt... I gotta patch you up first.''\n\nRalf wanders into the house at that moment, but sees the two girls having a moment and leaves right away.\n\nMinerva?s ears shake at that moment and she glances over to the entrance... but nobody was there. ``...eh, you?re probably right. That?s good right about now.'' She smiled and kept her friend close.\n\nDahlia smiled as well. She looked out the now-broken window to see that the smoke from the burning houses was starting to clear up. Perhaps the fires were finally dying out.\n\nThe reptiles were defeated but most of the houses had burned down and there were still quite a few embers, so Ralf took a moment to put them out with dirt. The village was silent... only bodies and ashes remained, but he remembered those two girls he had saved. ``Hmm... I?ve done what I could. The rest is up to them now.''\n\n","writing_bbcode_parsed":"COURAGE TAKES FLIGHT

``The town?s in danger! Rush out there and help however you can!'' A man in red answers the call.

Villagers flee from burning houses as a giant dinosaur tackles through one of them, followed by a group of rebellious reptiles with weapons.

The man in red finds himself running against the villagers, as they recklessly steer clear from him.

Ralf: ``They?re abandoning their survivors? Oh no... can?t let that happen!''

\tGO!

Ralf wanders the village, watching out for embers as he sees smaller reptilian creatures pillaging the houses. One person, a fellow lizard, was trapped inside with them.

Lizard Man: ``Back off! You?re not getting this...'' But he was too scared of the group to run for it.

They had no problem with the heat, but soon notice Ralf as he raises his voice. ``Hey! Hands off the goods!'' So they pick up rocks and other blunt objects, then rush at him.

Ralf punches one in the chest and knocks it into others, pushing them away. Another one jumps over the group and swings a burning plank of wood, so Ralf raises an arm to block it. ``Guess not, huh?'' He pushes away, swings his arm and slashes the reptile, shoving it away and carving the plank in one move.

Lizard Man: ``T-Thank you!'' With the group out of the way, the lizard quickly packs up and runs away. However, that house wouldn?t last long in its condition...

Ralf: ``No problem.'' He slams a claw into the dirt in front of him and scoops up some of it, then swings it around the flames. Dirt sprinkled around the house as he swung, then scooped more up. It was too late to save that house, but perhaps the dirt would help to stop the flames from spreading.

Some of the reptiles from earlier ambush Ralf as he?s doing this and hit him in the back, so he turns to face them again. ``Agh, should have known you weren?t done...!'' Ralf charges into another group and tackles the reptile that hit him. He quickly punches it after that and turns his attention to another reptile coming in with a club. ``Not this time!'' He slaps the weapon aside as it swings and kicks the reptile down, then hops away before more reptiles can swarm him.

Ralf: ``There?s too many of them... I can?t let those houses burn. What to do...?'' He nearly gets hit a thrown rock as he looks for more houses. The rock hits a window and breaks it, which catches his attention. He runs inside the house, even though it was starting to burn up.

There was someone else inside the house. Another lizard, a reptile girl. Ralf looked at her for a bit, as her appearance took him by surprise. ``W-What the...?'' She hears his voice and raises her head. She was scared too.

Reptile Girl: ``A-Are they gone? I was just visiting...! Why did they have to capture me like this?'' Her ankles and wrists were tied together and she didn?t seem to be wearing much.

Ralf: ``They did this to you? Hold on... I?ll get you out of that-'' But as he approached, she backed away.

Reptile: ``N-No! You?re one of them, aren?t you?! Stay back!'' She tried to move, but in her condition she wouldn?t get far.

Ralf: ``No, calm down! I?m...'' He sighed. ``I?m Ralf. What?s your name?''

She didn?t want to answer right away, but she looked at him and steadily relaxed. Just as she was about to answer that, another rock breaks through the window.

Ralf checks the rock then looks outside. ``They caught up already...?'' He faces the girl for a moment. Since he couldn?t approach her and wasn?t sure he could stop the growing flames, he decides to step out of the house. ``Wait here, I?ll stop them.''

Reptile Girl: ``Huh? B-But...'' The flames were small and nowhere near the corner she was in, but she didn?t feel safe until he stepped out.

Reptiles: ``There he is! Kill that one!'' The reptiles were joined by a larger one, a bulky dinosaur closer to Ralf?s size. He was carrying a bag on one hand and holding a large axe with the other.

Ralf wondered what was in that bag as he faced the group. ``So you?re the ones responsible! You?ll pay for this!'' He stepped closer as he saw some reptiles going around him. His main target was the large dinosaur, who quickly swung his axe at Ralf. He saw this coming and slammed his fist against the handle of the weapon to try and stop it, but the swing was stronger than he thought. The colliding hits cause them both to reel as the dinosaur loses his grip on the bag.

Dinosaur: ``You! You?re strong!'' He drops the bag and holds the axe with his other hand. The first one was somewhat injured from the impact it just sustained.

Ralf: ``You?re not bad yourself...'' He recovered first and tried to rush at the dinosaur, but some reptiles hit him with rocks from behind before he could. ``Ow! Not this again...!'' He ignores the bag and tries to rush at the reptiles, but gets surprised by more rocks. As he blocked them, he noticed they were thrown from slings. ``Hey, they didn?t have those before...!'' But that gives him an idea.

Dinosaur: ``You die!!'' While Ralf was distracted by the rocks, the dinosaur swung at his vulnerable back... but stops as he gets pelted by rocks. ``What?! Watch it!!'' He roars, signaling the reptiles to stop their attack.

Reptiles: ``He?s getting away! After him!'' Ralf had moved away to let the dinosaur take the rock hits meant for him. But then he gets hit by more from another side.

Dinosaur: ``Stop it!!'' He roared again. He was too angry over possible betrayal to notice who was throwing what.

Reptile 1: ``But we didn?t do that!'' One of the reptiles spotted Ralf.

Reptile 2: ``There he is!'' Another rock was thrown... and the dinosaur gets hit again.

Dinosaur: ``Traitors!! That does it!!'' He roars loudly and charges after them.

Reptiles: ``You big idiot! It wasn?t-'' One of the reptiles gets chopped apart before it can finish, causing the rest to run away from the dinosaur chasing them.

Ralf: ``Low blow, but that will buy me some time...'' He sighed as he approached the bag. He lifted it and wandered behind one of the houses. ``T-This is kinda heavy... what were they...?'' As he opens the bag, he sees something in it... someone.

There was a girl with purple fur. A vibrant color with an exotic pattern. She was tied up and unconscious, but her ears perked up and she yawned as Ralf got her out of the bag.

Ralf: ``Uh... are you okay?''

Cat Girl: ``... h...hey there. What... year is it?''

Ralf: ``... year?'' He didn?t know if she was-

Cat Girl: ``Hah, relax... just messing with ya?.'' She tried to get up but her restraints caused her to fall over instead. ``Whoa! What did you do?!''

Ralf: ``It wasn?t me, calm down.'' He quickly unties the girl, glancing at her figure as he does so. Like the reptile he saw earlier, she wasn?t wearing much. Now he realized what was going on. ``Those reptiles must have kidnapped you...''

Cat Girl: ``You don?t say, genius...'' She huffed. She knew he was a reptile just like the ones who kidnapped her... and that he was looking at her. ``Name?s Minerva. You?''

Ralf: ``...Ralf. I?ll deal with them, you?re free to go.''

Minerva: ``No thanks. I?m here for somebody... uh, wherever this is.'' She got up and stretched. ``Had no idea where to look for my girl, but these jerks must have taken her, so-''

Ralf saw her stretching and readied himself as well. ``Huh... are you saying you let them capture you? On purpose?!'' He found it hard to believe.

Minerva: ``So you get it? Not bad!'' She smirked and heard the dinosaur chasing more reptiles around. ``She?s green and has orange hair. Help me find her and I won?t wreck your face. Deal?''

Ralf: ``I just saved you... why are you-?'' He thought about that description... and remembered the reptile girl he had seen earlier. He smiled as he put the pieces together. ``Wait, I?ve seen her. I know where she is!''

Minerva: ``Really? Good one, but that?s way too convenient. I?m outta? here.'' She ran out from behind the house in that moment, catching the attention of the reptile mob and the dinosaur.

Ralf: ``I said wait!'' For a moment, she felt a genuine sense of concern towards her. It was enough to stop her in her tracks.

Dinosaur: ``Hey! The prisoner is escaping!! Get her!''

As Ralf noticed that their cover was blown, he stepped up next to Minerva. He tried not to get mad at her for her reckless approach.

Dinosaur: ``None of you will escape me this time!!''

Minerva: ``Oh yeah? Let?s see what you got!'' She quickly runs over to the dinosaur, who tries to swing his axe again. She surprises him as she jumps, vaults over him and kicks him in the back, hitting him hard enough to knock him onto his knees. She then turns and rakes his back with her claws, then swings down to try and toss him.

Ralf saw this opportunity and rushed at the dinosaur, slamming into him with both hands. This double punch was enough to topple the dinosaur over, just as Minerva was preparing to swing. With their combined forces, they were strong enough to toss the dinosaur... towards another house, demolishing it and crushing whatever was inside. The earth rumbled as this happened.

Ralf: ``Oh no!''

Minerva: ``Hah! Score!''

Ralf: ``Watch those houses! She might be in one of them!''

Minerva: ``Might? Didn?t you say you knew where she was?'' She realized something... and got mad at Ralf. ``That better not have been the one!!''

Ralf looked away and turned his attention to the reptile group. ``It wasn?t!''

Minerva hissed, but then she saw the reptiles herself and decided to pounce at one of them instead of Ralf. ``You better be right!'' As she pounces the reptile, she tumbles with him and kicks upward to shove him into the air. She rolls back onto her feet and catches the reptile as he comes down, slamming him with both hands.

Ralf swings at one of the reptiles and slashes another, before a third hits him with a rock. More slings, some of which were aiming at Minerva. But he?d had enough of that. ``Two can play that game!'' He focuses power into one of his hands and punches at one of the sling wielders. His fist releases the power as a fireball that collides against the reptile?s weapon, burning it and his hands in the process.

Minerva had pinned her target down and was about to slash it over and over, but rocks hit her in the back and stop her. She hisses and gets up. ``Do you mind?!'' Another rock hits her, causing her to turn and crouch for a moment. Before another rock can be thrown, she pounces and rolls in the air, jumping a great distance as she kicks one of the slingers. She rolls as she lands and kicks out with both legs to hit more reptiles.

Ralf shoots more fireballs and barely misses Minerva when she suddenly jumps into the group. ``Watch it! I almost hit you!'' She didn?t seem to listen, so he rushed at the last few reptiles. They had clubs and were already scattering from Minerva?s attack, so Ralf had no problem punching one out. The last reptile of that bunch decides to run away instead of fighting the two of them.

Minerva: ``Alright!'' She gets up after taking care of the reptiles around her. ``So, where was she?'' She didn?t seem to care that they were getting away.

Ralf: ``Well-'' He hears the dinosaur getting up and shaking off the wreckage of the house he was thrown into. ``Let?s take care of that first!''

Minerva: ``What? Why? I?m not here for this-'' Her ears perk up as she hears yelping from a nearby house. She recognized a female voice. ``...Dahlia!'' She immediately ran over in the direction of the voice.

Ralf: ``Hey, wait!!'' The dinosaur roars loudly, stopping Minerva in her tracks and allowing him to slam her with his tail. Ralf moves over to catch Minerva, but gets slammed into another house with her for his trouble.

Dinosaur: ``Enough!! You die, reptile man! And you...!'' He chomped his teeth and gripped his axe for a moment. ``You are lucky to live.''

Minerva pushes some wreckage off of her as she gets up. ``What was that?!''

Ralf does the same and stares the dinosaur down. ``You?ve caused enough trouble today! Surrender, or else!''

The dinosaur laughs. ``You don?t understand, strong man. I live for this battle! That bait standing next to you is but a prize.''

Minerva shivered as she heard him. ``Oh you did not just call me a prize...!!'' She could hear her friend?s voice from the house behind the dinosaur, but even if she could run past him, she didn?t want to let that remark slide.

Ralf glances at Minerva and smiles for a moment. ``There?s your reason why.'' He faces the dinosaur again. ``Last warning. Surrender or-''

The dinosaur roars at him. ``DIE!'' He charges at them and swings his axe from a side with both hands. There was no other option now.

\tFIGHT!

Minerva jumps over the axe swing and Ralf ducks under it while raising his forearms against the handle. This time the swing was too strong to stop, but the impact managed to divert it somewhat, throwing the dinosaur off as Minerva kicked him twice in the face. Ralf quickly gets up and hits the dinosaur in the jaw with a rising uppercut, right as Minerva lands next to him. She takes this cue and slashes the dinosaur?s chest, drawing some blood as she tears into it.

Before any of them could get out of the way, the dinosaur tackles them away with a shoulder and turns around for a tail swing. Ralf stood his ground after the tackle but struggled to block the tail swing, while Minerva rolled away and managed to get away from the tail. She saw Ralf catching the tail and nearly getting swatted away by it, so she rushes at the dinosaur.

Ralf: ``No, don?t!'' The dinosaur casually swings to the other side to hit Minerva... but she hops and vaults over the tail before it can hit her. ``... oh, never mind.'' His arms were shaking from the impact he just took, but he focused power into them anyway as he ran after Minerva.

Minerva: ``Is that axe of yours for show, big guy? Don?t make me laugh!'' She saw the dinosaur preparing another swing and ran in its direction. Right before the swing, she ducks and rolls under it then kicks out at his legs to try and trip him. Unfortunately for her, this didn?t seem to push him much. ``...uh-'' She suddenly gets stomped a few times, then rolls aside to avoid another one.

As the dinosaur turns to stomp Minerva, Ralf jumps and slams the dinosaur?s back with both hands. He releases his power at that moment for an explosive impact that shoves the dinosaur right into the floor, creating a small crater. Thankfully, Minerva had rolled out from under the dinosaur just before this, but the force of the impact?s shockwave nearly knocks her away from them.

Minerva: ``O-Ow!! Stop that!!'' She glared at Ralf as she got on her feet, shaking off the stomps and taking a moment to recover, before pouncing at the dinosaur.

Ralf: ``Sorry, but we need to end this!'' He focuses power into his chest and punches the dinosaur?s back over and over, until he gets up and shakes Ralf off him.

Dinosaur: ``You won?t defeat me!!'' He roars and smashes the axe into the ground, then starts swinging it wildly. This reckless assault forces Ralf and Minerva to back away from him, as even the dirt kicked up by the wild swings as enough to knock them over.

Minerva: ``E-Easy, big guy! You?re just losing a little! Chill!!''

Ralf: ``He can?t hear us like this! Better try something else!'' The power within his body swells and he directs it into both arms at the same time. He raises them and combines their power, then swings down and releases a large explosive wave of fire at the dinosaur. Though the explosions couldn?t stop the swinging or the dirt, they tear through and hit the dinosaur anyway.

Minerva backed away as she witnessed just how powerful Ralf could be. ``Wow! How did he get that strong...?'' The dinosaur finally stops swinging. The axe?s blade had dulled and broken, so now only a few crude shards of iron and stone remained on the weapon. But without its weight, another quick swing happens much faster. ``... uh, got another bright idea?''

Ralf: ``None! Just need more time now.'' He starts focusing power again.

Dinosaur: ``I?ll kill you all!!'' He charged at Ralf, also moving much faster than before. Too quickly for him to simply get out of the way, so Ralf braced himself for impact. The dinosaur slammed him against a house, then picked him up and opened his jaws. ``You?re mine!!''

Minerva saw this and ran over towards the dinosaur. She wasn?t fast enough to stop him from hitting Ralf but, before the dinosaur could bite him, she grabbed the broken axe while it was still in the dinosaur?s grip. She yells and swings it at the side of his neck as hard as she could. ``Let him go!!'' To her surprise, the broken weapon was still sharp, as it jammed into the dinosaur?s neck and he roared in pain.

Dinosaur: ``N-NOOO!! H-How... dare you...?!''

Ralf: ``Now!'' With his power gathered, he shoves his arms into the dinosaur?s open jaws and unleashes another explosive wave. With all that focused power hitting inside the dinosaur?s body, his senses were overwhelmed. The dinosaur himself had almost exploded from the sudden surge of energy... he releases Ralf as his body slumps to the floor with a loud rumble.

Ralf lands on his feet and his arms sizzle as he watches the dinosaur fall over. ``You had your chance! Lie there and think of what you?ve done...''

Minerva quickly bumps him from a side. She seemed happy. ``No, seriously. How did you get that strong? You gotta tell me!''

Ralf: ``H-Hey, careful.'' His arms were still sizzling a bit. ``Uh... well, it?s a long story. But wait, what about your friend?''

Minerva?s ears perked up. ``Oh! Sorry, I?ll be right back!'' She quickly runs into the house that the dinosaur was guarding. Ralf casually walks over to it, then takes one last look at the dinosaur.

Minerva: ``Dahlia! Glad you?re safe!!'' The fire had been put out somehow and the reptile girl was... somewhat burned.

Dahlia: ``Minerva?! How did you find me? I-I thought I?d never see you again...!'' She teared up a bit, but quickly wiped her tears. ``They didn?t hurt you, did they?''

Minerva: ``Oh, that? It was nothing...'' She was a bit wounded and bruised, but still kicking. ``I had some help.''

Dahlia: ``Huh? Who?'' She thought about someone she had seen earlier. ``...there was this guy who tried to help me-''

Minerva smiled as she realized Ralf was telling the truth. ``You don?t say...'' She hugs Dahlia. ``Look, it?s been a long day. Why don?t we go home?''

Dahlia gets hugged and looks at Minerva. ``But you?re hurt... I gotta patch you up first.''

Ralf wanders into the house at that moment, but sees the two girls having a moment and leaves right away.

Minerva?s ears shake at that moment and she glances over to the entrance... but nobody was there. ``...eh, you?re probably right. That?s good right about now.'' She smiled and kept her friend close.

Dahlia smiled as well. She looked out the now-broken window to see that the smoke from the burning houses was starting to clear up. Perhaps the fires were finally dying out.

The reptiles were defeated but most of the houses had burned down and there were still quite a few embers, so Ralf took a moment to put them out with dirt. The village was silent... only bodies and ashes remained, but he remembered those two girls he had saved. ``Hmm... I?ve done what I could. The rest is up to them now.''

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