Welcome Guest. Please Login or Register. Nov 30, 2009, 9:55am
- - Welcome
/ Autumn
Basilisk Isle is in the season of Autumn. Farmers and Orchards owners are in the height of business and the animals are starting to wind down for Winter.
/ The Story
The Age of Shining has long passed since the Mage has hid and given up the land to Kings and Queens. Now the High King rules over Basilisk Isle and is ignoring the old ways. The land is dying as are his people and the High King cares not. Now we are entering into the 1st Year of the Fatal Century.
Now everyone is waiting for the legend to come true. Will the rightful High King sit on his throne and will the Age of Renewed Shining come?
Joined: Aug 2008 Gender: Female Posts: 132 Karma: 2
Problem. « Thread Started on Mar 12, 2009, 9:39pm »
Gods, I'm dead.
Despite Kari's usual demeanor of 'look on the bright side', 'there's always a way', this was the girl's presiding thought as she was dragged up the rough mountain path, tugged along by her bound hands in front of her and kept blindly helpless from the rough sack pulled down over her head. She frequently stumbled but never once made a peep of protest; though she tried not to let on, the Coral Royalty had never been more scared in her life.
It occurred to her now that perhaps traveling alone through the mountains wasn't the brightest of ideas; separated from any powerful source of water, the girl had found herself helpless at the hands of the five ambushers. In a wild, vain attempt to defend herself Kari had drained the meager contents of her water skin and had tried running- both of which had, predictably, failed.
"I don't think she'd do too well as a slave; she's far too thin," commented one of the men. Kari's saving grace had been that they didn't realize her prestige; the fools had mistaken her for some commoner that had wandered too far from home.
"Yes, but she's clearly a spellcaster, that would fetch a price," came the reply; one of her captors yanked cruelly on the rope.
"Aye, but any buyer would know as well as I that mages are dangerous."
A dark chuckle, and Kari bumped into her captor as the party stopped. "Not for any ambitious fool."
The sack was ripped from her eyes and Kari blinked, doing her best not to shrink away from the cruel faces that leered down at her. She was at a mouth of a mountainside cavern, cleverly hidden beneath an outcropping of rock. Down along through the caves she could see pinpricks of flickering light where torches stood on posts along the walls, and crates of what she assumed to be stolen goods stacked up against one another.
Kari tried to back up, slipping her heels out of the back of her shoes as she did so. She meant to say something brave, or witty, or even the least bit helpful to her current predicament; as it were, her brain was so wrapped around the concept of fear and the possibilities of what now lay in store for her that she found it hard to do much of anything. The girl's concentration was thusly bent upon one small and most likely meaningless task; when her captors tugged her back inside and down the corridors, her right shoe tumbled a few yards down the slope and stood as a marker to the bandit's lair.
- - - -
Hours later the girl lay in a secluded portion of the caverns, wrists rubbing raw due to the rope that bound them and trembling from the cold that swept through the base. Even in the dark she could nearly feel how pale she was and was conscious of how every sound made her twitch and the very voice of any of the men made her ill. It was her unbelievable fortune that none of them had touched her; yet.
They had asked her her name- to them, she was Alexandra Ryddle, the daughter of a merchant who had gone to meet a friend along the mountain path. She told them her family was a rich one, for that was what it would take to keep her alive; she did not try to, however, make herself look too valuable. At that time she had still carried the vain hope that someone would find her.
As she lay alone now, however, refusing the tears that burned in her frightened sapphire eyes and huddling down under the ragged blanket, she came to realize that rescue was not coming. She hadn't anyone to look for her, after all- no Alvaro to save her, now.
(Not to make my poor character the damsel in distress here, but I wanted some immediate action. :] any takers?)
What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail?
Joined: Aug 2008 Gender: Female Posts: 84 Karma: 1
Re: Problem. « Reply #4 on Mar 13, 2009, 11:30pm »
It had been asleep for a long, long time. But now things were beings different.
All living creatures had avoided its place, for even though it was weakened, it was still stronger than anything in the valley. A warning was embedded in the very rock of its home.
But now five-and-one had come into its place. It stirred, and smelled fresh and less-fresh prey.
Beyond the bandits' fire, deep in the cool, close shadows, a pair of sharp yellow eyes opened. It remembered hunger, after so long a sleep.
It knew its cave. Silently, it got up and padded towards the light. A shape that was not rock was hunched close to it. It was hunched over, too far from the fire to feel its warmth, even with its thin skin. It was small and different from the others. It also radiated despair and misery.
Also, it did not smell like prey. It smelled like wet and magic.
It watched the small thing for a while. Memories drifted into its mind, like the backwards motion of a downfeather through air.
It remembered that once it had a promise, and a name. It didn't have either any more, which was why it was here and not home.
It's own fault.
It shivered suddenly. It knew that the small thing with dark on top of its pale skin was not supposed to be here, and the five that brought it were wrong. It did not know why. It just knew.
It wanted to fight. Now. But it hesitated. Maybe it was wrong, and it would make a terrible mistake again. That couldn't happen. What would be taken away if it failed again?
So it crept up, only a little less quiet than death, and stopped by the edge of the fire's light. There were four others in the cave besides itself and the small sad one. The fifth had left, but it didn't know why.
In a small voice that was inaudible to the four, in its creaky, rasping voice that had long lain unused, it spoke to the small. "Do you want to go away? It can help you."
Only slightly visible in the darkness was the lean shape of a maltreated griffin. Its pale feathers and fur were scuffed, ruffled, and rumpled with dirt, sleep, and despair. Its claws were sharp, but stained. Its ribs showed through a dull coat. But a fierce light shone in the yellow eyes. These details, however, were hardly observable. To a normal humanlike eye, the griffin was just a pale smear in the dark.
« Last Edit: Mar 13, 2009, 11:31pm by damekarina »
Joined: Aug 2008 Gender: Female Posts: 132 Karma: 2
Re: Problem. « Reply #5 on Mar 14, 2009, 4:20pm »
With a small, surprised gasp Kari suddenly jerked on her side, wide eyes staring wildly into the darkness. In the soft glow of the small fire behind her she could make out a hazy, unrecognizable shape and two small pinpricks of light; the creature's eyes, was her guess.
Reasonably, the girl was intimidated by this new presence. But it wasn't with the same sort of fear her captors had grown in her but rather a set-in sort of respect- the creature that loomed in front of her held around it a muted presence of something far greater, far more dangerous than any corrupted man.
And it had spoken to her. For a few moments Kari lay quiet and motionless, seeing what the reaction of the bandits would be. As the seconds ticked by, however, not one paid her nor the newcomer any mind- they seemed not to have heard it. It, for that's how the creature acknowledged itself; not I, it.
And the young princess felt herself nod once, twice. Yes, she wanted to get away from them and, frankly, there was little she had yet to lose.
What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail?
Joined: Aug 2008 Gender: Female Posts: 84 Karma: 1
Re: Problem. « Reply #6 on Mar 15, 2009, 9:34am »
As if her motion had snapped a taut chain, the griffin leaped into the light, downing one man before the others reacted. It moved with frightening speed, taking down the next closest before facing the other two, who stood across the fire from it.
They thought themselves at least a little protected; the creature would surely go around the fire. After all, it was only a wild beast, and wild beasts feared fire. They unsheathed their weapons; one had a long, only slightly rusted sword. The other had a newer, sharper long knife, about the length of his forearm.
At least, they started to unsheathe their weapons. The griffin went over the fire, which was, by necessity of a small cave mouth and limited firewood, not very big. It dodged around the long blade of the sword-wielder and took him down as it had the other two.
The one with the long knife turned and began to run away. He was only a few feet away from the cave mouth, just out of reach of the fire's light, when the griffin caught him. There was a shriek of terror and a wet-sounding tear, which cut the first sound short.
A moment later, the pale griffin sauntered back into the cave, delicately stepping around the still figures and laid itself, like an enormous domestic cat, at the small's feet.
It gave a satisfied chirp. The ones that smelled like lies were dead.
"It did as you wished," it said. "Is the small-wet pleased with its service? Does the-" a memory rushed back to the forefront of its mind-" Does the girl wish to stay here?" It preened once, proud that it had remembered what a girl was. It did not add that it no longer wanted to be where the dead liars were, partly because it knew that scavengers would come and disturb its and her sleep, and partly because it was hungry and the dead ones were an awful temptation. But it also remembered that eating newly-slain in front of most two-leggers was not often polite.
Seleane Gray Administrator Lunar Queen[M:85] member is offline
The Moon Goddess
Joined: Jun 2008 Gender: Female Posts: 155 Location: The Dark Side of the Moon Karma: 2
Re: Problem. « Reply #7 on Mar 15, 2009, 4:34pm »
Red hair flashed through the forest, an elegant silver bow glimmered in the moon light. Then screams erupted into the night. Nimbly the figure moved through the forest, her hunt lost. Her feet slipped over loose rocks as she leaped up toward the screams.
Then the screams stopped.
Anthea moved quicker, her movements becoming smoother the faster she moved. Her quicksilver eyes gleamed in the night as she spied a cave opening. As she moved closer she saw blood darken the earth which made her heart clench. No plants would grow here for awhile now. The pirate pulled the long claymore from her back after putting the bow into the quiver, as she shifted through the shadows, her feet barely making any noise at all.
The fire was bright as she slipped up toward the cave. The distinct chirp of a griffin made Anthea freeze, she stood there frozen as she listened. There was still a few things alive in there, she could feel she earth hold them and try to keep them warm.
After a few minutes of being still, Anthea moved toward the mouth of the cave. “Hello?”
Anthea moved around the fire, the claymore hanging toward the ground before her. The smell of fresh dead made her nose wrinkle. Somebody had meant business.
Joined: Aug 2008 Gender: Female Posts: 132 Karma: 2
Re: Problem. « Reply #8 on Mar 19, 2009, 9:26pm »
Kari had pulled herself up against the back wall of the cave, unconsciously holding her breath as the huge creature came and curled itself at her feet, looking up at her with those curious sparks of eyes. It addressed her, but for a good few moments the young woman couldn't find her voice; she blinked, once, twice, and swallowed.
"No, I'd like to leave, please," she said, her tone unnervingly faint. She rubbed at her face, feeling a cool sweat glossed on the surface of her forehead. Having lived a mostly sheltered existence, Lady Kari was feeling just a little disconcerted with this display of brutal power and violence. And she was not fool enough not to realize this creature wasn't a force to be messed with.
Lifting her cobalt eyes, she cautiously held out her wrists to her savior. "Would you be abl-"
"Hello?" the sudden voice made her flinch; jerking back her hands, she looked up toward where the silhouette of a figure was stretched on the cave floor. Uncertain of how to proceed, she remained rooted against the wall.
What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail?
Joined: Aug 2008 Gender: Female Posts: 84 Karma: 1
Re: Problem. « Reply #9 on Mar 21, 2009, 5:34pm »
It could tell that its girl was afraid, but the enemies were gone. Nothing remained for her to be afraid of but- it skittered away from that possibility. It did not- did not- want to be alone any more.
"Hello?"
It whipped its head toward the cave entrance. Someone had entered without it noticing and held a long sword in front of it. It almost attacked- this must be the one that left earlier!- but stopped. This new creature's smell was definitely female, and infinitely cleaner and -fresher? It was like fresh-crushed tdal underfoot.
This new she was not the one that left the other four. But she did represent a threat.
A part of its mind told it to go away, to hide back in its cave, in the dark where no one could find it. But it shook those thoughts away. It was not Traitor. It would stay by its friend.
It looked back to its girl. Remembering the plea that had been cut short, it bit the binding rope in two, being very careful to avoid any soft flesh.
"What should it do?" it asked its girl. "It will fight, but the She who comes is curious and not necessarily coming to harm. The new She also smells good," it added helpfully. Despite its reassuring words, however, it rose to its feet, moving with natural grace and strength that somehow emphasized the poor state it was in.
Seleane Gray Administrator Lunar Queen[M:85] member is offline
The Moon Goddess
Joined: Jun 2008 Gender: Female Posts: 155 Location: The Dark Side of the Moon Karma: 2
Re: Problem. « Reply #10 on Mar 21, 2009, 7:59pm »
Anthea stopped as her sight zeroed onto the poor girl that looked far too out of place. Her body was thin and well groomed, Even her eyes looked too bright to be out here in the wilderness. The animal before the young woman looked about as bad as the girl. It moved with too much feline grace, like herself, but it was in poor repair.
"Are you okay?"
She put the claymore up but her fingers still itched toward the daggers at her side just in case of any threats. Slowly she took a few steps forward, the light of the fire behind her helping her see.
Joined: Aug 2008 Gender: Female Posts: 132 Karma: 2
Re: Problem. « Reply #11 on Mar 22, 2009, 10:14am »
Numbly rubbing at her wrists, miss Kari moved swiftly to her feet, keeping her eyes fixed upon the newcomer. The creature who had helped her was correct in that the stranger was a she- in her shaken state of mind, however, the young Undine was hesitant to so easily take her savior's word that she was not a threat.
"No," she murmured, however, as it rose, "don't fight her." Keeping her eyes tipped upward and stepping over the bodies, Kari moved ever so slowly toward the mouth of the cave.
Stopping safely out of reach of the woman, Kari's eyes hardened and she asked who the stranger was. True, it wasn't her place to demand such information, and the toughened mask she put on wasn't at all like her, but the young woman had decided her typical, forgiven demeanor was not at all appropriate for the situation.
(Ack. My writing is sucking lately -_- it's been far too long.)
What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail?
Joined: Aug 2008 Gender: Female Posts: 84 Karma: 1
Re: Problem. « Reply #12 on Mar 22, 2009, 9:42pm »
The urge to fight was dampened by its girl's words, but it remained wary and alert as it followed its girl to the mouth of the cave, keeping itself between its girl and the she.
Its girl's words bound its not to fight the she, but if the she attacked, it would still protect its girl.
It crouched at its girl's feet, lending the authority of strength to its girl's demands.
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