PART TWO

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Deep in the mountains a tumble-weed was lost and far far away from home, he blew unnaturally fast in the chilly North wind that blew down through the Kitschnel pass (Dun Dun Dun).  Oh no isn't the Kitschnel pass where the Hag lives??

Yes and it's where the 'Knight is travelling too as well.

Now, the young tumble-weed Whats a tumble-weed?? And why doesn't he have a name?? 

You know in those old wild west films with the cowboys and Indians? Yeeeeeah. 

Well you know that bit where they show a barren landscape, where there's no tree's or people? Yeeeeah.

And then a plant shaped like a ball blows across the screen?

Yeeeeah.

Well that's a tumble-weed. This particular tumble-weeds name was Harvey and he was fed up of being blown around the mountain so he laboured against the wind until he made it into the mouth of a cave. The cave was pitch black and a dripping sound echoed from inside, it was spooky, Harvey huddled in the corner beside a stalagmite.  Then suddenly with a whooshing sound he disappeared through a hole in the cave floor. He tumbled faster then he had every tumbled in his life (he felt a little motion sick by the end) along a winding section of tunnels that were suspiciously just the right size for a young tumble-weed. With a whump he landed on a patch of mossy ground in what he thought was a bigger cave and peered around fearfully.

As Harvey fearfully looked round the cave he heard a strange sound next to him and swivelled round to find himself face to face with another face, a strange face, a face with no eyes and no mouth. He squashed himself into the cave wall and his eyes grew wide. The head the face belonged to tilted and the nose gave a sniff and then sneezed. Harvey shook himself. The face withdrew and a shaft of light fell on the person the face belonged too. The young tumble-weed gave a shocked gasp! The person had only 3 hairs sticking out of her head, she had no arms and only one wing! Why didn't she have any arms and only one wing??

Hush-up and wait and see.

Harvey was looking at the shocking figure of the Hag! But why does she look like that??

Long ago something happened to the Hag which is only known as The Hag's Great Pain and ever since that time she has lived alone deep in the mountains at the top of the Kitschnel pass. If you listen closely when the wind is blowing from the North then you can hear her wailing. Why is she wailing??

Because of her Great Pain.

Even in Harvey's home across the plains he had heard of The Hags Great Pain. But he had heard that the Hag was a formidable creature, that was to be feared. He thought now that although she was certainly formidable she was not to be feared. He looked at her crippled form and pitied her. He felt ashamed for believing all the stories about how she terrorised traveler's who got lost along the Kitschnel pass.

Meanwhile Ninja Knight with his Greased UpTM ninja skills had reached the bottom of the Kitschnel pass, at which point exactly as the 'Wizard Men' said the Go Faster GreaseTM ran out. He stood for a moment or two being buffeted by the wind before taking a decisive step forward. This is when his ninja skills began to come into play, he jumped from rock to rock so fast you couldn't even see him move between the rocks. Like moving at lightening speed?
Yes just like that!

Like I said the knight isn't the brightest button in the barrel and he hadn't thought to bring a map or a compass and it's no surprise he has no idea where he's going! So he bounced up and down the kitschnel pass using his ninja skills to go from rock to rock.

His sense of direction was so bad you could almost hear the wizard men sigh from far off in their homeland. But just this once they decided not to help out the knight.

The Knight now so lost that he could not even find the way out of the Kitschnel pass paused for a moment. He turned his head this way and that and then tilted it as if listening. A strange sound was whistling down the Ktschnel pass, the 'Knight presuming that it was the wind whistling through the top of the pass nodded to himself and then set off up the pass in search of a way out.

A short while later the Knight emerged at the top of the pass and gazed out in what could only have been wonder at the view of the Kalahu mountains. Did his eye grow wide?
Yes his eye grew very wide at the wonder of it all.

Just as the 'Knight seemed to relax he heard a strange scuffling noise coming from a cave to his right, almost like the sound of someone dragging a large sack of flour along the floor. It was a creepy sort of noise, but as you know the Knight wasa courageous hero so he poked his head into the cave only to come face to face with The Hag! The Knight straightened up pretty sharpish, at which point the Hag shuffled out of the cave. Seeing this and knowing the stories as well as the tumble weed, the Knight drew his saber sword (the shock of her appearance had caused him to forget his mission) with a loud swishinh humming sound. As he drew his sword the hairs that tthe Damsel had given him fell from his armour, where he had so carefully placed them and drifted on the wind toward the Hag.

Having heard the sword the Hag had shuffled back a few steps. Now as the hairs fell she froze and then did a very odd thing..she sniffed the air.

She was too late to see the Knight bringing his sword up ready to strike! Just as the Knight was about to lower his sword in what can have only been a fatal blow he saw out of the corner of his eye a shape roll out from the cave behind the Hag and come to rest in front of her.

Harvey shaking slighlty sat resolutley between the Knight and the Hag. Now that he knew that the Hag's legend wasn't really true and that she was really a gentle creature who had suffered a great pain that had scarred her he wasn't willing to let her be killed by the Ninja Knight!

Ninja Knight stood frozen with his sword still raised above his head.What was this strange  creature sitting between him and the Hag?! You could almost see the cogs turning in his head again as he procsessed this thought...the Hag...the Hag...THE HAG...he was supposed to find out about her great pain! Once again the Knight's eye grew wide with surprise!

Meanwhile the Hag had leaed forward to sniff the hairs that had fallen to the ground. She began to wail. A horrible high pitched inhuman sound.

Slowy gripped by a sudden possibility the Knight slowly picked up the hairs and held them closer to the Hag.

She sniffed them again and her wailing intensified. It was louder now and impossibly sad. Harvey flattened himself to the ground and slid toward her feet.

The Knight held the hairs yet closer and the threw her head back and wailed still louder!

Harvey had reached her by now and leant against her in an attempt to comfort. Feeling him at her feet she shuffled backwards and bent her head to look at him the wail dying in her throat.

As she shuffled backwards she had revealed a tunnel she had been standing in front of, seeing an escape from the horrible sound of her wailing the Knight's ninja skills kicked in and he flew down it running until he could no longer hear her pain.

When all he could hear was the clanking of his armour and the whooshing of the wind in his helmet the ninja knight slowed down until he was striding along at a swift walking pace. It was only now that he  could finally hear his own thoughts again that he remembered his mission...find out the Hags Great Pain.

Ninja Knight stopped and scratched his head. He appeared to frown (his eye closed slightly). Thinking over the events that had led him into the tunnel - with much frowning and sweating he came to the conclusion that the Hags Great Pain had something to do with the Damsel. Nodding, now satisfied that he had completled his mission he ambled on along the tunnel. But something niggled at him and he wasn't sure what..

A short while later he saw light at the end of the tunnel. Speeding up he came to some stairs and went straight into Ninja mode leaping up them ten at a time! In no time at all he came to the top of the staircase.

...

Slowly the Damsel turned from her window, the sunlight glinting off her hair, and looked upon her rescuer and the Ninja Kinght looked back.

As their eyes met, but the Knight only has one eye! 
Oh ok as her eyes met his (eye) a spark flashed between them.

Then before more sparks could fly the Ninja Knight whisked his Damsel In Distress up into his arms and ran with her back down the stairs and into the tunnel. He ran so fast he was almost a blur and the damsels hair whipped out behind her like a long waving blue curtain. Leaving a trailing scent of roses (the choclates, not the flowers) in their wake.

The Knight forgetting where he was going zoomed out of the other end of the tunnel and smack bang into the Hag! She didn't even move a muscle. The Knight, still with the Damsel in his arms froze and stared wide eyed at the Hag. Hag wiggled her nose, the Damsels hair was tickling it, she sneezed energetically and then sniffed...and then poked her nose into the Damsels hair and sniffed again...the Damsel burried her head fearfully into the Knights shoulder, still frozen in shock he did not move.

Or was it shock...a strange orange glow had incircled the three and it seemed to grow brighter. Then a strange snapping and cracking sound rent the air and the hag jerked upright and threw her head back, the Kinght steeled himself for her wailing but none came as she leaned forward again he saw that from the hole where he missing wing should have been a new wing was growing. A bright white glorious wing! Then hairs began to sprout from her head and arms began to grow back. Slowly as the Knight watched and the Damsel cowered the Hag became whole again, last to come where her eyes. They blinked and then her mouth opened and said in a voice as sweet as if it had never stopped being used:

"My daughter you have come back to me"

Hearing the motherly tones of that voice the Damsel turned her head and gasped in surprise! Her eyes grew wide and she flung herself from the Knights arms and into her mothers.

Together hag and Damsel wept with joy and sadness at the years lost and the happiness of finally finding each other again. For ofcourse the Hags Great Pain had been the loss of her child and the Damsel (her child) had come back to her. Carried by the very Knight who had meant to attack her.

Watching them the Knight contemplated the two - now so clearly mother and daughter and watched as their hair combined and flowed together in one shimmering curtain that enveloped them.

Nodding, safe in the knowledge that he had performed his mission admirabley and not only saved the Damsel but ended the Hags Great pain, he turned and made his way slowly back down the Kitschnel pass...

(sleep well little one)