Episode 5 - Bow Wow Soldier

Recap
After arriving back in Pokarok, Zippy went of to learn about lockpicking, Dariun got his hair back and Norman visited the Totara forge in Pokarok. The team got on their new airship they named The Sparrow and travelled back to Gilbert's mansion and found it was on fire. Dariun and Norman stormed the house as Zippy remained on the airship. When they entered the mansion, they found Blackjack dead and watched Gilbert be murdered by Norman's sister, May. As they fought, Zippy was able to save Yogurt, James and the kids in the airship and Dariun engaged in combat Cornelius, Norman's brother. Norman faced May alone in the mansion and was killed. However, Norman's body came back to life after changing colours, and grabbed Cornelius' arm before he could rip Norman's body apart.

Episode Summary
Norman is in his fishing boat with Royce and Master Matsumora on the silver sea. Norman goes to Matsumora, embraces him and asks if he is feeling any better. Matsumora tells Norman he is more worried about him as Norman is not in a good spot. Norman believes it'll be okay and is glad to see his master as the last time he saw him was when he was unwell and passed away. Norman stands and steadies himself and looks to Royce. Royce breaks the news that he is not Norman's father which Norman is shocked by. Royce explains that he and Norman are the same, that Royce is Norman. Despite his disbelief, Norman gets a gut feeling that what Royce is telling him is the truth. Norman asks for Royce to explain and they all feel a rumble in the water. Royce and Matsumora explain Norman has died and is now in the River Altoom, a waiting area to go to the Deep. They explain that they are both are using their powers to control Norman's body and get it to safety but they feel they have limited time to do so.

Dariun is inside the mansion and has just seen Norman's lifeless body change to white skin and black tattoos as it grabs Cornelius' hand. Cornelius and May look in shock as Norman's emotionless face stares blankly at Cornelius. Norman throws Cornelius causing him to go flying through the walls of the mansion. Norman slowly begins to stand up and Dariun can feel power resonating from his body. Inside of Norman's mouth is fire starting to light. Norman walks towards to May and Dariun can see her calm composure has broken. Norman's fist begins to envelope in air, just like May and Cornelius, and Norman punches a shockwave of air, slaming into May. May breaks through some walls and she looks wounded. Norman continues to slowly walk to May through the holes in the walls.

Zippy commands the dog he summoned to go into the house to help Dariun as he gets the magic carpet to check on Yogurt and flies the Sparrow to the front of the house. Zippy yells out to Yogurt and asks if he is okay as the magic carpet brings Yogurt back onto the airship. Dariun watches Norman walk to May as the dog comes over and licks his face. Dariun, a little shell shocked by what is happening, snaps back into it and stands up. He slowly approaches Norman and asks if it's really him. Norman turns and looks at Dariun with fully black eyes and no emotion. Dariun can sense over whelming power. Norman walks up to Dariun and stares deep into his eyes. Norman quickly grabs Dariun's throat before he can move and Norman raises Dariun above the ground. Dariun can feel heat from Normans palm as Norman punches Dariun in the chest with a fiery fist, launching him backwards. Dariun uses absorb element on the blow which brings the damage down but it still hits him hard. Dariun is shot out the front of the house and lands on his back. Four cupcakes appear around the now smoking Dariun from the ghost hamster. May falls to her knees and coughs blood onto the floor. She can see the arm that just hit Dariun is now mangled and torn up. Norman continues to walk to May and her calm composure is completely broken as she punches an air attack hitting Norman's body but a kick attack she arcs up misses.

Royce explains the only way he could possibly get back to life is if Norman joins Royce. Before he explains further, Royce instructs Norman to look into his past to learn about Royce. Norman looks out from the boat and can see his memories. The water fades away as he can literally see his life flash before his eyes. He sees his childhood in the monk monastery and his days as a slave but beyond that, he can see his memories as Royce. Royce explains he ruled the Deep with the dukes of the Deep, his left, right and middle handed men. They together guided the souls of evil and tyrannical men down into the bellies of the afterlife. This is where they would be tortured and in pain for the rest of their souls existence. Royce himself was a tethered to Lennex, the God of Death. Lennex forged the land of the Deep and Royce was the ruler. One day, Royce sat in his chambers alone. Norman sees Royce sitting down at an organ, playing music passionately. He begins to talk to himself, speaking to Lennex about a key that he has. When Royce raises it, Norman can see it’s a black C sharp note key which has a symbol of Salem on it, same as the one the team had gotten from Gilbert. Royce's memory continues to speak explaining they need three keys to open the grand treasure, he asks Lennex if it may be his inside. Norman cannot hear what Lennex is saying to Norman but hears Royce say that the grand treasure may be the only lead they have and is the only way they can challenge the gods in any meaningful way. Royce says they are all looking for theirs and Caseron's has already been found and Turi is on the hunt for some. He agitated to search as it is a race to find the grand treasure.

The doors to Royce's chambers open as Crasis, an extremely grotesque looking demon slumps his way into the room. Crasis scolds Royce's rude greeting stating that it was no way to say hello to his right hand man, the duke of devouring. Royce asks what Crasis is holding as the demon holds up a whip and Royce backs away seemingly in fear. Crasis attacks Royce and the whip slashes across his chest, lava pours out of the wound. Royce falls to his knees and asks what Crasis wants to which he explains he is taking back the peoples Deep, his home. Crasis explains there will be changed as he puts his large foot on Royce's back and he wraps the whip around his neck. In the boat, Royce explains to Norman that he died a fool who trusted the ones beneath him and lead to his demise. He tells Norman that Lennex acted quickly and made a deal with Genala, the God of Beasts, to make a husk to house Royce's soul. They gathered sand and dirt to create Norman. When Royce dies, they were able to save one part of Royce's soul that was encapsulated into the medallion given to Norman. Norman was forged in an oasis in the middle of Stoomshair Desert. Norman sees the earliest memory he has when he woke up in this oasis, wearing a medallion around in neck.

Zippy has just seen Dariun fly out of the house and Cornelius, who is lying in the dirt after also being smashed out of the back of the house. He parks the ship and ushers the horses into the ship. Bradley comes out to Zippy and helps with the horses and yells out to Dariun, asking if he is okay. Dariun, still lying on his back, rolls over onto his hands and knees and coughs up blood. After eating a cupcake, he uses cure wounds on himself. Dariun runs to the wall he just came bursting through and peers into the mansion. He sees Norman standing in front of May, as they continue to fight. Norman charges a blast of air in his fist and as he aims it to May, she jumps and dodges, landing back on her feet. May starts tearing a way the loose bits of clothing she has on and Dariun can see a blue rose flower tattoo on he left shoulder. From her bag, May pulls out a jar with an eye and it remains staring at Norman, confirming it is really him or at least a husk of him. May digs deep and she wraps a red cloth around her fist and starts running out of the house towards Cornelius. Norman slowly starts to follow May outside the house.

Norman sees a young version of himself in Stroomshair, equipped with the clothes on his back and his medallion. As he walks through, he finds a caravan drawn by camels and carrying cages full of kids. Norman sings out to them for help, and is taken by the kidnappers. They get to a bandit hideout that have flags of a closed black fist. The kidnapper named Layton, examines Norman and questions the price he would get. As Layton discusses with another bandit, an elderly man Norman sees is Master Matsumora, comes up to Layton and asks where he found Norman. Matsumora bends down young Norman and asks his name. Matsumora pays for Norman and takes him through this slavers area to see other kids working and crying. He is led to a hut with two other kids, Cornelius and May. The memory fades away and in the boat, Matsumora tells Norman it was one of his happiest days finding Norman in the desert.

Zippy overlooking from the skies, sees Dariun move back towards the house, May runing towards the injured Cornelius outside and Norman's body walking towards his siblings. Zippy yells out some words of encouragement to Norman and instructs the dog to walk beside Norman to support him. The dog reluctantly trots off next to Norman and Zippy hovers the ship a bit higher. He uses his rockie walkie to talk to Dariun and he explains that Norman doesn't seem himself at the moment and attacked Dariun without a second though. Dariun asks if James could come down to the mansion to pick up their passed away friends. James is not so keen to go to the mansion but Zippy uses some harsh words to convince him to help below. Looking off in the distance, Zippy sees a single rider coming in fast towards them.

Dariun sees James come down and helps him hoist Blackjack's body onto one of the horses. Dariun goes over to Gilbert and sees his blank eyes and a gaping hole in his chest. Dariun closes his eyes and covers his chest with some fabric. He picks him up and carries him to the horses, saying goodbye to his friend. James also gets Joey from the second floor before Dariun sends him back onto the ship. Dariun continues to watch Norman, feeling helpless in this moment. Dariun sees the dog finally catch up to Norman. Norman stops walking and looks at the dog. His black tattoos start to flare red and a giant pillar of fire erupts around him. When the fire extinguished, the dog seemed to disappear and is nowhere to be seen. Zippy believes the dog is in the sky and is now a bright star among many.

Norman continues to walk towards May and Cornelius. May runs over to her brother who is unconscious. She screams in anger and pulls out a green gauntlet from his bag and wields it on her right hand. May pulls out some healing potions and gives them to Cornelius, bringing him back to consciousness. Cornelius tells her she shouldn't use it as 'he' told them to only use this in the last resort. Dariun is watching as he hears a horse run up to him to see Gallard, Jezzy's husband. Dariun asks why he is there and advises Gallard to leave. Gallard tells Dariun he saw the fire and could sense the danger so he came. Gallard confesses he was on his way to the mansion to see Dariun and Gallard but Dariun is quite unhappy with him showing up. Gallard tells Dariun he is just like his dad but Dariun keeps his focus on Norman for now. Gallard tells Dariun to go back to his airship and he will be able to do something here. Dariun asks why he should trust Gallard to which he informs Dairun that he is his uncle and has some Fey wild stuff that can help. Gallard gets up and walks out towards May, Cornelius and Norman. After a glance at the green gauntlet, Gallard turns and runs yelling at Dariun to run to the ship. Dariun is caught off guard but follows Gallard to the ship. Zippy sees them and lowers the ship, allowing them to get on the ship.

In the boat, Norman has a feeling in his stomach that he has just done something truly evil but Mastumora guides him back to looking at his memories. Norman sees himself as a teenager at the monk monastery with May, Cornelius and Matsumora. They are finishing their breakfast and Matsumora tells them about going out to do some training. Norman sees the differences between him and his family as he wants to go back to reading and learning what he can from the books. May and Cornelius both want to learn to fight and call Norman a loser for wanting to study. Norman sees the Monastery on the mountainous islands with monk architecture and grands halls. He reflects on it being very large for just four people but recalls Matsumora telling him there were once many Calm Cloud Monks but they passed away. Norman sees many memories of him reading book after book as he becomes an adult. Master Matsumora has just returned from a trip from Sanguine to gather supplies. He stumbles in looking weak and sick and Norman plays song of rest to help him. Cornelius tells Norman to get medicine because his music won't help. Norman watches his memories of Matsumora getting sicker and weaker. May and Cornelius decide to go off to Sanguine to try and find a way to save Matsumora, leaving Norman with his master. Matsumora feels he needs to pass on all the teachings he has not been able to give yet but does not want to write it down. Norman gets a box as per Matsumora's instructions to find a needle and a jar of teal blue ink and tells Norman he will tattoo these secrets on him. Norman sees a montage of Matsumora tattooing him and two weeks pass as Matsumora sleep and gives Norman more advise as he is awake. Noman plays music for him when he is awake to soothe him. One morning, Matsumora wakes up, yelling in pain. He gives Norman a dagger and asks him to help him. In the boat, Norman looks away from the memory and it fades away.

Norman looks to Matsumora and asks him if that is still what he wanted, to which Matsumora says it was. Norman feels he was never sure if it was the right thing to do. Matsumora explains he did want to die and is lucky Norman was the one who got the tattoos as they contained more than just information. Royce speaks up saying the truth will now come out. Matsumora says he put a magical symbol on Norman's back causing his soul to get entangled with Normans as he was hoping to live on through Norman's body. Norman is confused and asks if Matsumora is joking. Royce explains that Matsumora was trying to kick out Norman's soul and put his own in. Norman stands up in-between the two of them and Matsumora explains that he needed to have the Calm Cloud Monks live on. He pleads that they are an ancient people connected to Wesnia and that he should live on. Norman becomes stern asks what put his life above his own. Matsumora tries to lie to Norman saying he was his favourite student but Norman can see through his deception. He tells Norman that if May and Cornelius was there then he would have chosen one of them but Norman turned out to be more suitable as he was a reborn Royce husk. Norman stops his master from talking as Matsumora admits to knowing Norman had some sort of emptiness. He admits that May and Cornelius also had some emptiness about them too and that’s why he brought the three of them home. Norman looks down at the tattoo of the Calm Cloud Monastery and without looking at Matsumora, tells him that he spent his life trying to impress him by learning the Calm Cloud but he now sees the truth. Norman tells his master that some of the Calm Cloud teachings would be better forgotten which breaks Matsumora's calm demeanour.

Royce tells Norman he can throw Matsumora over the edge of the boat and Chartabis will do the rest, sending him to the Deep. Norman declines but he tells Matsumora he needs time to think and there will be a reckoning. Matsumora says he expected Norman to more agreeing, just as the last vessel was for him. Matsumora leaps to grab Norman, holding him over the edge of the boat, trying to throw him into the water. Royce is trying to stop Matsumora as the water begins to bubble and hooks start to envelop the boat. Royce tells Norman that the claws are Chartabis, the guide to the Deep, and they need to throw Matsumora in. The three of them wrestle to the ground. Norman is able to get up and starts to sing as he and Royce throw Matsumora over board. The water begins to create a worm hole as a gaping mouth with sharp teeth opens and Matsumora is sucked in.

Dariun and Gallard hop on board the air ship as Gallard yells to Zippy to go up. Zippy doesn't want to leave behind Norman but Dariun tells him they have to leave now. Zippy has a moment of sorrow then sends the ship upwards. Dariun tries his best to watch what is happening. May is holding the gauntlet to the skies and it seems the winds are being controlled. Norman continues to walk to her as she is in pain from the power of the gauntlet. Norman raises a fist with an air bubble in front of it but the air bubble seems to disappear. The clouds form a giant fist which comes down from the sky onto Norman. The Air ship seems to be pulled into the vortex of clouds form May's attack. Gallard guides Dariun to the side of the boat and pulls out a crystal ball with swirling energy in it. He replaces an arrow head with the ball and advices Dariun he has two shots to hit May. Dariun draws his bow as Zippy is trying to control the ship. Dariun lets the arrow fly as May's arm is breaking from the immense power of the gauntlet. Cornelius is trying to get the gauntlet off as the arrow hits May in the shoulder creating a burst of blue energy that implodes and May and Cornelius are gone.

When the dust settles, Dariun can see Norman, back to normal, lying down in the crater made by the fist in the sky. Dariun gets Zippy to bring the ship down to Norman as Gallard explains May and Cornelius have been teleported to another plane and he isn’t even sure which one. When they reach the ground, Dariun and Zippy run over to Norman's body. Dariun uses cure wounds on Norman as Zippy drapes his cloak of growth around his body while he quietly says the Bramble Patch seal of friendship. Small balls of yellow energy float off the body as he feels some life in Norman's body.

Quotations

 * Royce "Of course you were feeling my power Norman. It's cause you and I are the same. I am you!"
 * Zippy "Go Norman! Beat their asses! Hurt them!"
 * Adam "Wow. Mean Norman is such a douche."
 * Jacob "Bow wow soldier."
 * Jacob "Wait wait wait… Norman wanted to date Dariun's aunt?!"
 * Norman "Wow, have like this awful feeling in my stomach like I just did an unspeakably evil thing…"
 * Norman "You have chosen the path you've sown, now travel to the depth alone."
 * Zippy "Bramble, Bramble, it's the patch. Here we go, friends forever. Zippy that's me, Norman that's me. Together we make a team. Yay, team 8."

Main Cast

 * Norman D
 * Dariun Branch
 * Zippy Westborrough

Returning Characters

 * Master Matsumora
 * Royce
 * May
 * Cornelius
 * Yogurt
 * Longface Cloppyhooves
 * Tealeaf
 * Denmark
 * James
 * Bradley
 * Paige
 * Marley
 * Zippy's St Bernard dog
 * Gallard

New Characters

 * Lennex (The God of Death - mentioned)
 * Crasis (Duke of Devouring)
 * Layton (Norman's kidnapper)
 * Chartabis (gatekeeper/guide to the Deep)

Locations

 * River Altoom
 * The Sparrow
 * Gilbert's Mansion
 * Aurum