Chapter Three
References:
*I fetched more The Wizard of Oz references, some bigger than others. I'm not just talking about the twister either. That will be explained in the general area of this post. But Dorothy and Toto were the Easter eggs of them all, given the fairy tale theme going on in this story. And before you ask, no, they will not play a bigger part in this story.
*The nod to the Air Nomads from Avatar: The Last Airbender? Seemed fitting to throw this in after there was an official nod to the series made in the THSC game, Fleeing the Complex. Henry displayed earthbending skills during the "International Rescue Operative" pathway, so going off on that, airbending would logically be his opposing bending art.
*A visit to Thunder Mesa and the Great River Expedition sounds intriguing but we don't have to pack our bags because we'll be traveling in our imaginations, thanks to the imagination of Mr. Marc Davis. He was not only responsible for designing various Disney characters, like Snow White, Bambi and Alice, he was also one of the original Imagineers for Disney theme parks, having helped design rides such as Pirates of the Caribbean and Haunted Mansion. If anyone's interested, I'll post links to some of his notable works when this story is done.
*The first musical score for this chapter was picked to express Henry's mood - thoughtful, determined, worried, watchful, and beaten but not broken. Although he took a big hit when he was kicked out of the clan, he's not going to go down without a fight. Like the cowboys of the past, he'll get back up somehow and try to win against his opponents. As he gazes into the campfire, it, like his resolve, will grow stronger when properly fed. The second musical score? It was chosen for obvious reasons - besides tying back in with The Wizard of Oz, the powerful twister has come to take Henry and his companions away to a new and different world filled with new and different things.
General:
*You may have noticed by now that I write Henry's vernacular through telling what he said rather than writing it unless it's for significant moments when he actually does verbally speak up. I feel writing him this way is a good balance and makes writing some of the more would-be word-heavy moments easier to describe, and the moments when he does talk more potent. He's a mostly silent character like Tom and Jerry, and taking that silence away from him, like I see in other fanfics (not that there's anything wrong with that; this is my general preference so if you want to write him as a chatterbox, more power to you) takes away what makes him stand out from the other characters in the games.
Silent stars like Wile E. Coyote or Gromit from Wallace and Gromit wouldn't be who they are if not for their penchant for silence. Actions can speak louder than words and the characters I brought up perform their actions beautifully and powerfully. It's the same principle applied to Henry here. I know it can be tough writing a silent character, as I sometimes find it hard even though I love writing for quiet players, but it's a good way to stretch your writing into new territories and can encourage you to think outside the box on how to write without using any words to express what a person wants to say.
Silent stars like Wile E. Coyote or Gromit from Wallace and Gromit wouldn't be who they are if not for their penchant for silence. Actions can speak louder than words and the characters I brought up perform their actions beautifully and powerfully. It's the same principle applied to Henry here. I know it can be tough writing a silent character, as I sometimes find it hard even though I love writing for quiet players, but it's a good way to stretch your writing into new territories and can encourage you to think outside the box on how to write without using any words to express what a person wants to say.
*Henry's memory of Dave arresting him at the prison was something I made up, but I needed to use it to give Henry a motive for why he would be nicer to Dave than other Toppats. It's due to both selfish and selfless reasons: Henry does owe Dave for not giving him a hard time back at West Mesa like Rupert did and he also needs Dave to get into places that he himself would not be able to due to his thieving reputation. Having an officer on his side could come in handy.
I also wanted to use this memory to hint how Dave and Henry met, and it's partly based on something that was confirmed by the THSC creator; in the original ending of Breaking the Bank, during the ending credits, an image pops up that shows Henry being arrested. The officer who's arresting him has been speculated by others to be Dave, and the creator - in his commentary about the game - has stated that it is indeed Dave. Why not build on that and give Henry more of a reason to include Dave in?
*I feel that Dave sometimes gets a lot of the short stick (no pun was intentionally made here). He is a darling, yes, and he certainly could use the love with what he's been through, but sometimes it seems he's not always given chances to shine or show more of his personality beyond a scared guard who was trapped in a cell and fired for making a mistake. I understand that the games could only show so much of who he is, but in fan content, the skies are the limits, and I would like to think that he's not just what we're seen; he can be brave and insightful. The Dave in this story knows that Henry got his leadership position for a reason, and going by what he knows about the guy, he can guess that Henry is a man of both plan and action; he has to be able to think and move fast in order to stay ahead of everyone who attempted to get in his way or to get his own way.
*The tornado is totally out of left field, yes. But I needed something to get the characters to get to where I wanted them to go without taking another chapter of them just walking in a large land of sand. In addition, a twister is used to signify (back to The Wizard of Oz) that a new change or world is coming, and in this case, it was from the desert - a place filled with no life, to a forest which is filled with life. Plus a twister in the world of HS isn't that farfetched when we take into account that a lot of things in HS do come out of nowhere, like Ellie dropping out of nowhere to call Henry out for his betrayal, the sometimes goofy tools Henry uses as his options, or the random stuff the CCC does.
The twister would probably be the least bit random by comparison. And twisters can occur at night, so that adds a bit of realism to this scene. I once witnessed a tiny desert twister myself, but tornadoes in the desert don't happen all that much; instead, it was a dust devil which, while it's not normally dangerous compared to tornadoes, it's a natural phenomenon that should not be taken lightly if it builds up to something big.
The twister would probably be the least bit random by comparison. And twisters can occur at night, so that adds a bit of realism to this scene. I once witnessed a tiny desert twister myself, but tornadoes in the desert don't happen all that much; instead, it was a dust devil which, while it's not normally dangerous compared to tornadoes, it's a natural phenomenon that should not be taken lightly if it builds up to something big.
*Speaking of something big, we have a new player observing the twister in the distance. But who is he?
Random Facts:
*N/A.
Wanderer out!
