The Greenthorpe Saga [Archive] - Page 2?login=1 - JazzJackrabbit Community Forums

Cobra

Jan 28, 2005, 10:49 AM

Oblivion.

It was still with her. Stars, those blazing masses of burning gas, so distant that they were like flecks, distant reflections cast by some miraculous diamond. Even through the rapidly-curling corners of her sight where the stars were being consumed by inwardly-folding explosions of purple and orange, it was beautiful. The haze of her mind was trying to blend it into the cloud of other nearly-forgotten memories, but it was if they were burned into whatever remained of her eyes.
But those stars! She had seen them before, had she not? They didn’t move, but when was she able to see them? Common sense would suggest that she had seen them, but she could not remember. Perhaps she was thinking too much, perhaps she should instead try to catch one of the fleeting memories. But they escaped her so easily.
Her brain had been slowed by the Jade Dawn, no doubt. She could think clearer than this once. It hit her that she had been sitting in the place they left her for quite some time. It just had not registered in her brain to get up.
Perhaps this mental haze was how she and her siblings were enslaved. With addled brains from the poisoned water, they were encouraged to bury all thoughts deep within the poison. Once it became habit, then they would only drift deeper and deeper into the haze until their bodies were mindless vegetables. But who wanted vegetables? Who wanted worthless bodies that consumed resources?
Of balance and long-suffering they had been taught; noble goals indeed, but also an underhand way of making slaves. How foolish had she been! Running to them to flee from herself, only to find that her comforter had been using her. She cursed herself for letting herself fall for such a ploy, and tried to rise. Her feet felt like they were smoldering with streaks of pain linking the places where her damp knees had came in contact with the green-powdered ground. Staggering against the wall, the open wounds on her paws grated against the rough surface, causing her eyes to burn with tears, literally. She shrieked and fell, trying to keep her paws from sinking into her sockets. Was there still some Jade Dawn in her eyes?
They had poured a fluid on her. That’s what she needed to find. One arm was forced away from her eyes and she started feeling around her robe in hopes of finding some hidden concentration of it. Panic was breaking through her normally deathly calm mind. She had to find it, somewhere! Somewhere somehow before it burned clear through her head, or before her self-possessed limbs killed her.
The hem of her robes! It seemed that the fluid had traveled down (as fluids often do) and had collected in the worn hem of her robes. She forced her other hand down and breathed a sigh of relief as she heard the rippling snap of fabric tearing. Before it was all completely separated she was already pressing it deep into her eyes. It hurt with a dull pain, but it the fire was gone.
Rising painfully to her feet, she tried to take a few steps but proceeded to walk into a wall. After regaining her bearings, she tied the fabric around her head. Hands were necessary for finding her way. Keeping one paw on the wall, the other stretched out in front of herself, she went straight ahead at a leery pace. It was no easy task trying to maneuver. Maybe if she crawled? No, she couldn’t let herself do that. She would be too vulnerable. She tried to concentrate on her feet, namely feeling the ground beneath her as she walked to see when pavement turned to grass or gravel. It was far from fast as she grazed her nails on the ground so less uniform than the crystal floors she once knew.
When the wall ended, she stopped and contemplated. It took quite some time for her brain to realize that she had been just standing there stupidly, just thinking about what to do next. With no other options, she just continued ahead.
Where did she want to go? While she was lying on her back as her vision faded, the clear stars had brought back a memory. They had been that clear ages ago, at the Pneum Arlik. Finally her mind registered a place! She could not remember where she grew up, but that place had been significant. Somehow. She was there once, was she not?
As time ebbed in a fashion she could not sense in the slightest, she made progress into a town of sorts, as far as she could tell. The other creatures were invisible to her, but far from silent as she heard whispers of soft, fading steps away from her. Soon the soft steps became more of a clatter, and there were people talking. It was a language that she knew, but she could not hear more than gasps and someone telling another not to stare. Not that it mattered, not like she would ever catch anyone ever staring at her again.
If she had emotions, she would have cried.
For the most part, the creatures avoided her, running away or holding still, thinking they could hide but she could still hear their breathing. Her aching fingers grazed one of the hiders once, and it inhaled sharply but stayed still. As much as she wanted to cry out about the injustice, she remained silent.
The loyal ground revealed to her that she was in a town, for the surface became more polished and there were fewer clumps of grass. The walls were sandstone though, she could tell from the roughness, especially after she ran into one, bashing her knee and chin into it. Facing defeat and with no logic to help her, she sat with her back to the wall and listlessly felt the wind caressing her lips.
“For the love of…what are you?” she heard. Who was the speaker? To her left, about a yard away, somewhat feminine yet rougher than a woman’s wont. “I...I am lost. Tell me, how can I get to the Pneum Arlik?” she didn’t know what else to say. She pulled at the wallet, debating with herself. If she offered this person money, she’d never know if she had enough, or if was robbed, and there was no way she could put her fate in the hands of a stranger.
Paws tentatively reached for her arms, trying not to touch the open sores. She recoiled, but the touch was gentle. “I am not going to hurt you. Please, I only want to help you. My name is Erditine.” She could feel retracted claws on her rescuer’s paws, and fur rougher than her own, yet not completely ragged. The jerk upwards revealed Erditine was not too strong.
“I need to get to the Pneum Arlik, please. I-I will pay you for your trouble if you do no harm to me.” She raised the wallet, but kept her fingers clenched about it incase they tried to take it from her. “There is nothing to worry about, my friend. My path takes me there, and you will be no burden. We are not far.” They linked arms, and started off with a pace so much more confident than she had been in ages.
“Thank you.” She uttered silently. “I would have been alone in the dark if you had not stopped for me.”
“Think nothing of it. Who would I be, to leave someone wandering alone? It is for this reason that our society has fallen to war and left our souls desolate and searching.” Then there was a silence that she hardly noticed. While her reality was still dawning upon her, Erditine broke the silence. “What is your name, my friend?”
She did not know what to say. Her school had given no one a name, to unify them. They had been encouraged to call the others siblings to show no favoritism. Was there a name for her before her siblings took her in? “I do not have a name.”
“Every being has a name, and every name has a meaning. Even if you do not have one to tell me, there must be one that only you know. Until you reveal it to yourself, I shall call you Neoma, for I know that you have traveled far.”
“How do you know this?”
“I am a seer. It was revealed to me the moment I saw you.” She, Neoma for now, remembered how amongst her siblings there were supposed seers who divined in the waters. Already she had distrust for Erditine.
“This is no ordinary time. There is a new era for this age, and all the beings of Magic are being drawn to this area. Each race has a different reason and a different legend that pulls them, but they are all being called. Even the ones who have forsaken the old ways are feeling the calling on their souls.” As Erditine spoke, she felt something radiate heat next to her right shoulder, and a slight ruffle of her fur. “A fire pixie! See, they are coming! Ah…I am sorry. I forgot.”
“Think nothing of it, and do not let my affliction affect your method of speech.”
Erditine shifted slightly, then regained her composure and they started walking at a faster pace. “But as I was saying, even the creatures who deny the magic inside them are arriving. Even vile creatures in which there is no hope and nothing truly alive about them are regrowing their souls. Something important is happening.”
Then silence. Erditine hummed some epic to herself as they crunched though the undergrowth, and she tripped a couple times over some hidden branches. Something pulled at her mind for a moment, asking if this was an uncomfortable silence, but it faded into the haze.

Cobra

Jan 28, 2005, 10:51 AM

This haze enveloped her as she robotically went forward. Erditine would sometimes hush and stop, then after a minute of silence whisper dramatically about the sight of a dryad or centaur-being. They crossed a stream trying to hop from stone to stone, but she ended up falling into the water after misjudging a direction from Erditine. It was instant panic as she vaulted herself blindly in almost every direction, trying to find the shore, trying to forget the image of her own flesh burning and melting amongst the waters of Chrysalis. Once she reached dry ground she rent her robes from her body, fearing that some of the horrid powder remained on her. Into her mind was projected a hope, there might be some of the healing agent upon her blindfold! Perhaps it had not gotten saturated and diluted in the fall. Aching paws searched the fabric, bringing it down and ripping some fur off as she pulled at the fabric but felt nothing but damp, heavy fibers. She cried some, causing fire to burn her injured tear ducts, which lead to uncontrolled shaking.
Erditine had almost not existed through the whole ordeal, but soon Neoma felt Erditine’s paws trying to pull her up and her waterlogged garments back onto her body. Her blindfold was tied around her head painfully tight with fur wrapped through every contour of the knot. “I will not ask what caused you to do that, but do not do it again.” It was a harsh command, but she refused to answer. She was pulled up to her feet and they went at a more grueling pace, Erditine practically dragging her through underbrush and nets of weeds. “We are so close. We should make it there by mid-day.” Neoma wondered a moment. Had they been traveling at night? Not that it mattered to the eternal night that ruled her eyelids.
Hours passed, supposedly, and the underbrush became thinner with larger patches of vines, causing Erditine to take them through a serpentine path. “We are at the beginning of the most solaced place.” Erditine said with a certain melodramatic reverence. “I’m surprised though, I would have pictured the gathering to be more obvious.”
She let go of her arm, causing Neoma to suddenly feel alone. She stretched out her arms as far as they could go, but there was nothing. Slight panic seeped in the crevices of her brain as the only sensation gripping her to reality was the ground against her feet. She had gotten too accustomed to someone else guiding her. Cynically she remembered her “family.” They had been guiding her too, in a sense. Then left her alone in darkness.
“Erditine?” she called out. Perhaps there was a muffled reply. Figures, she’d get lead this far then be abandoned. She tried to walk forward, and managed to get in about twenty paces when her fingers brushed sandstone. It had been carved once, now worn down to nearly smooth. She had known this once. She had felt these very carvings once.
It was a gateway. The touch had dredged up the memory of this place! She had loved it once; she had lived on this planet. This had been the place she considered her haven. Hardly anyone else would follow her here for fear of the magic creatures. But she had been a skeptic, and grown to accept the few creatures that revealed themselves to her.
But the fear from the others, it was unjustified. The Mills of the Giants were deserted and had been for ages. It was given the name from a giant millstone found within one of the zeniths, but all of the machinery to make it work had eroded by the time it was first discovered and documented. All of the steps were twice as high as required for most creatures, and the buildings were majestically massive.
She had climbed to the top of the zenith in the center of the Mills, and looked over all the landscape. The sun had been so intense, the shadows so deep and purple, she felt like she could be eternal in that moment. It had never been that bright to her before, even for the months after that she crawled up to the same spot vainly seeking the same glory. At last! A memory untainted! Her eyes burned again as the tear ducts strained to work as they once did. Keeping a hold of the archway, she slid to the ground and wrung her hands, trying to keep them from her eyes. “Erditine?” she called out, but there was no reply.
There was a place where the ground had sank in upon herself, and she knew it was about six yards from one of the archways. But her searching fingers could not decipher which archway she was at, so she crawled forward, sending her paws out in hopes of not falling blindly into any chasm. Her left touched a pool, a warm pool. She recoiled, and tried to veer more to the right, but the pool extended there, and was increasing at a jarring pace. She stood up and threw herself backwards, but it was faster than her and soaked through the fur on her feet. All sense of direction lost, she flailed out and went straight through the warm puddle until her arms touched something also warm and damp.
A warm, nearly metallic odor was in the air. It was something familiar, but she could not remember what it was. She had smelled it recently, had she not? But then her paws ran across a patch of fur. It was rough fur. And the fabric that covered most of it was familiar feeling.
She felt as if cold fire had been lit on her spine. The pool made sense. The smell made sense. Her arms started shaking as she pulled at the limb in front of her, trying to ignore the blood that drenched it and now her, pulling at it, trying to feel for a heartbeat or a reaction. Nothing. She stumbled back, trying to get out of the liquid at her feet. It was too much, first her eyes and now this. She fell to her knees, shaking with near epileptic proportion.
The haze of her mind made fractals out of the memories she had of touching Erditine’s body and killed the common sense that suggested she run. Her brain indeed did shut off until she felt a softly-furred paw touch her jaw with a certain tenderness. She recoiled slightly, for it had been so long ago that she had felt such a contact with another. “Please, I cannot see you. Do not hurt me.” The other did not step away, but instead put out a hand to steady her. She felt strong limbs pull her forward, and her arm was pulled up. Out of the darkness, she felt something rough and wet on her wounded paws, and tried to wrest her arm away but the other was too strong. “Stop.” She uttered, confusion being the only emotion her voice betrayed.
The creature let out a laugh. Into Neoma’s mind was projected the picture of a beautiful rabbit throwing her head back. The laugh was musical, a thousand little bells all chiming in harmony, the sweetest songbirds in harmony, but with a narcotic core reminiscent of Jade Dawn, something that made her brain feel like it was folding in upon itself. Not that her brain really minded, it was almost a relief to sink into the endless depths of the voice. It had all the beauty of spilled blood, so deep, so rich, but such a loss.
“Why did you kill Erditine?” she said softly through the thickness in her mouth. The creature laughed again. “Seers and sorcerers are the way of what is now gone. Did you really want to listen to her endlessly go on about the stars and signs in the water?” Neoma was losing herself in the voice again. Signs in the water, yes that was something she could not trust. No one could trust them; she had every right to not want to be with Erditine. “But why? Why is she dead?”
No response, but the creature pulled her closer. She tried to put up her arms to stop this, but the creature was stronger. The fabric around her eyes was ripped off, and sudden sharp pain sank into the near-numb socket. She could not move, she could not see what was being done to her. But the pain, it was an abyss she was falling all to fast into. The creature pulled away and whispered into her ear, as little flecks of blood carried on her breath and into streamed onto the sensitive skin “You will see your friend before you die. You will see what happens to petty prophets. There is a new age coming, one where we will not look to the stars for answer.” Her mouth was pulled away from her ear, and once again pain shot through her, through the other eye.
She pulled away, and the creature let her go. She writhed on the ground as her eye felt as if it was surrounded by smoke and being smothered. She rolled on to her stomach and brought her paws up to her face, determined to pull the remnants of her eye out if it came to it. The closer she brought her paws, the clearer her mind seemed to get. In fact, with her paws completely covering her eyes, the pain was nearly gone. But determined and without the neural connections to advise her otherwise, she started to sink her nails into her eyelids, but the creature kicked her so she could not. Her head cracked on the ground, and her eyes burned with tears, but not the acidic pain that she had been used to. She curled up, forearms pressed to her eyes. As she wept for herself and for Erditine, she fell forward and tried to sink her nails into the ground. Lying there, she felt warmth trickle down her face. It went in to her mouth, and although she could taste the rank of blood, it was only in small doses, the rest was salt. Aghast, she opened her eyes. Through alabaster it seemed that she was looking, all the world shapeless like the images behind her eyes. But as she brought her paw to her face, she could tell the hue difference between the blood and the fur. With reflexes she did not know she possessed, she threw her head up to behold the sky but the sun stung her eyes and she was forced to regard the ground again, only now her eyes had blank spots.
But she saw! For a moment, even through a haze, her eyes beheld something more than oblivion!

Coppertop

Jan 28, 2005, 11:36 AM

Wow. With a chapter like that, the delay is easily forgiven.

Tik

Feb 2, 2005, 03:54 AM

I believe I am up next? Expect a delay on mine, too, I need to read and reread a lot of things and I'm quite busy otherwise. I'll finish it though, hopefully before the month is done or sooner.

The SlaYeR

Feb 3, 2005, 05:02 AM

You are sir.
And Cobs, that chapter was amazing, you introduced the characters in an amazing way. Erditine was only a small part of this chapter but i couldn't help feeling sorry for her when she passed away. And i could not have introduced the 'character' better myself. Thank you.

I will start on mine now. (The beginning is a flashback, explaining more about the character you introduced in the end, so i don't have to wait for anyone.)

The SlaYeR

Feb 3, 2005, 05:53 AM

Here's an idea. I could post a little Flashback chapter while we are waiting for Chris's.
That way, we would not have to wait for too long.

:O

Monolith

Feb 3, 2005, 07:52 PM

But then he has more to read. :P

Great chapter, cobbi. :)

The SlaYeR

Feb 4, 2005, 02:07 AM

It mostly stand apart from the story, but is somewhat important, AND HE HAS A MONTH FOR CHRIST SAKE ;)

Coppertop

Feb 4, 2005, 10:37 AM

Hehe. Go for it. It'll be interesting.

Doubble Dutch

Feb 6, 2005, 05:38 PM

Ah! Nice to see it moving again!

Tik

Apr 1, 2005, 02:35 PM

Okay I suck.

The next person can go. I will give my next chapter when it's ready. I think we can all agree getting slightly out of order is better than it never continuing because I am lazy.

Alister

Apr 1, 2005, 04:12 PM

The story so far is now <a href="http://treacle.hewwo.com/jazz/story.html">here</a>, by the way.

The SlaYeR

Apr 4, 2005, 02:19 AM

Coppertop, your turn. GODSPEED.

Coppertop

Apr 4, 2005, 01:21 PM

'M working on it. Give me a few days.

Tik

Apr 6, 2005, 01:43 AM

It's short, but I was randomly inspired and it's done now.
----------------------------------------------
Chapter 22: Of Alcohol and Dying

"It's just a hassle, you know?" Icarus's drink careened through the air nearly hitting the various control panels and landing with a gentle thud back on the table. "I mean, such unfathomable distances and such an appallingly uninspiring view the whole time." He sighed loudly and leaned back into the chair without much grace. "Back and forth and to and fro and blah blah. You'd think the technology would improve somewhat and make the whole business less disconcerting."

Naomi smiled as her head nodded. "Travelling and taxiing must have some redeeming quality..", she began, "I mean, you've been doing this for years you said."

Icarus's head tilted and he looked towards the ceiling as if in deeper thought than this question would normally require answering. "Well, the money," he said, "and you meet some of the most interesting people and you see some amazing worlds.." In normal circumstances this introduction would branch into further conversation, but Icarus was having some issues moving his tongue which had otherwise neglected to feel like a part of his body since about ten minutes ago.

A brief moment of silence passed that was neither uncomfortable nor productive. Icarus carefully refilled their glasses. Naomi deemed the pause worthy of a change in subject, took a sip and stated, "It's funny really, I was going to university on Carrotus to become a doctor. I was so caught up in it, but all it took was this random happenstance for me to give it all up on a moment's notice and realize it was never important to me." Icarus wondered if the drinks had loosed her tongue a little more than would be good for them both right now. He promptly forgot he had even had this thought as he watched Naomi's lips move. It was deeply reassuring that after all these years Naomi would still drop everything for him. A sense of peace saturated his numb limbs as Verity popped onto the deck.

"Good ..day," she began, coming into the word slowly.

"Yes, day, night, evening, it's space so whatever sounds good at the moment," chuckled Icarus. "You know we really appreciate you fixing the problems we were having, the ship's on autopilot now and we should be getting to Carrotus sooner or later. I don't really enjoy travelling. These drinks we're having are good and I think I will have another. Me and Naomi here were just catching up and-"

"I'm sorry," interrupted Naomi, laughing, "he doesn't talk much, but when he starts he just goes on about nothing important." Verity smiled politely.

"Yes, I was just about to head to my quarters to get some rest," she said, "and was wondering if everything has been running smoothly."

"Yeah, you did a fantastic job fixing everything," said Icarus enthusiastically, once again sloshing his drink around. A little bit sloshed out right onto a control panel, dripped down onto the circuitry, and caused a delightful display of sparks. The panel's lights flickered off. Icarus could be heard swearing at himself. "Knock on wood," he said lamely.

Naomi sighed, "We'll take care of this one, you can go get some rest. There is a small cabin with food and drinks if you're interested, take whatever you like." They exchanged a few more words and soon Verity was walking and climbing calmly through the ship. She took a bit of food from the cabin and plopped onto a mattress that seemed shoved into the corner. Grabbing a book from her bag, she sat and ate as she read, occassionally looking out the southern window towards war-ravaged Diamondus sinking slowly into visual obscurity. Some time later she slipped into the comforting void of unconsciousness.

Something similar to a few hours later, she was jolted upright and then rolled onto the floor along with other suprise acrobatics. Most people would have taken a moment to regain composure before slowly getting up and saying things like "What?" Verity, however, immediantly jumped back onto her feet after having stopped rolling and circled the room wildly, fully alert, wondering what had just happened. A small speaker in the corner of the room flickered with static before Icarus's voice could be heard. "Holy crap," he stated. Verity paused and took these words into consideration. "It would be most gracious if you could come onto the deck, begging your pardon. Thank you!" The speaker clicked off. Verity shrugged, annoyed but curious, and soon made her way towards the deck.

Just as she entered the ship violently shook again. This time it was accompanied by a loud and startling 'BANG!' Icarus's seat swiveled around. "You're just in time," he said, "we were just getting around to dying and all.."

"Stop saying that!" yelled Naomi. Verity stood with her arms straight and hands open keeping balance. "Look, apparently there's some ship trying to kill us," she explained, motioning Verity to come forward and look at the screens. "See, right there-", she pointed at one and Verity's eyes followed before widening. "We don't know why, and everything we've tried to do to communicate has gotten no response. Just now they opened fire on us! I think they've been trying to take out engines on the left wing.."

Verity knew what was coming next, she just didn't know how to explain it without making everything seem that much worse.

The SlaYeR

Apr 6, 2005, 09:48 AM

It was short indeed but the quality was excellent and the interaction between the characters was humorous and fun to read.

White Rabbit

Apr 6, 2005, 10:54 AM

Is this heading towards an end? At all?

Tik

Apr 6, 2005, 11:56 AM

This is only the near-end of the second round. Don't ask dumb questions.

Thanks, Slayman ;) Though I think it too closely resembles HGttG-style.

White Rabbit

Apr 6, 2005, 12:05 PM

Second round? What round?

Tik

Apr 6, 2005, 12:12 PM

Second round? What round?Well,

Don't ask dumb questions.

White Rabbit

Apr 6, 2005, 12:16 PM

Second round? What round? Seriously, this time.

Risp_old

Apr 6, 2005, 12:52 PM

You see, everyone posts in order. Once the second round is over everyone is suppost to have storied twice. The only reason it is taking a massive amount of time is the vast amount of people who have to take a turn and the delays inbetween them. There. If you don't understand that, I won't try to explain again.

White Rabbit

Apr 6, 2005, 01:25 PM

No, I'm not talking about the time. I'm talking about the chapters. You're at 22 and it still looks like you're in the middle of the story, which makes me think that there must be like 35+ chapters ahead. How many are you planning to do?

The SlaYeR

Apr 6, 2005, 01:26 PM

You should read what has been posted before, before replying.

Two more turns to go before round three starts people. I'm glad to see this is slowly becoming more and more active again.

White Rabbit

Apr 6, 2005, 01:33 PM

There are a lot of stuff here and I figured it would be faster if I waited for your replies, and I was right, so there.

acid

Apr 6, 2005, 03:51 PM

Unless I've completely missed something, we don't have a plan as to how long the story will be.

Anyways, good to see the story starting to get rolling again.

Coppertop

Apr 8, 2005, 03:07 PM

Yes.
Well, inspiration struck like a lightning bolt, so here you go. A not-short chapter this time, whee!

Chapter 23: My Name Is Jesse

"Hey, wake up. You can't stay here."
Jesse blinked confusedly at the large dark shape stooping over him. The figure played a flashlight over him, making him wince and shield his eyes when the light was turned onto his face.
"Wha...?"
"You're not supposed to be here," the stranger said authoritatively. "Let's go."
Jesse looked around blearily, noting the second figure behind the first, half lost in the darkness. The dim lamp that illuminated the park bench where he had been sleeping faltered, and blinked off briefly before coming back on, even dimmer.
"Come on," the first stranger said, impatient now. Jesse rose to his feet awkwardly. Now that the flashlight wasn't blinding him, he could see that the pair wore uniforms.
Packing some heat too, he noticed the weapons they wore, prominently on their belts. Expecting trouble?
The officers escorted Jesse out of the park. He assumed they were taking him to the local police station or something.
"Where're you from, kid?" the first officer inquired, managing to make the question sound friendly. As of yet, the second guy hadn't said anything, and was looking decidedly hostile.
"I - I don't -" Jesse feigned confusion. He was not going to be sent back.
"You even sober?" the second cop asked caustically. Jesse looked away belligerently.
"I don't drink."
"Give him a chance to wake up, Demyas." Demyas shot a venomous glare at his partner, but he shut up. His partner went on sympathetically.
"Where do you live, kid? What's your name?"
Jesse hesitated, suddenly wary. "My name's ... Jesse," he said, deciding to omit his last name. If one of the cops recognized it and connected Jesse to his father, Jesse's life would likely be forfeit.
"Where're you from?" Demyas demanded, suspicion in every line of his body.
"I ... I can't remember," Jesse improvised.
"We'll see," Demyas said, and then said nothing more.
They left the grass for the road. The pavement was rough and still sun-warmed from the previous day. At the corner Jesse saw a large officious building, ill-lit by flickering street lamps. They headed for it.
There was a security guard outside. The officers herded Jesse by, through the door and past a bored-looking receptionist. Demyas led Jesse into a large room with uncomfortable chairs, while his partner paused for a word with the receptionist before following them.
They were obviously waiting for someone. Jesse studied his captors, trying to judge their characters as his father had taught him.
Demyas was tense and nervous. He was, Jesse thought, loyal but he hated his job and his partner. He was clearly waiting for betrayal.
Officer Syamin - Jesse could read his name on his jacket now - was friendly in an arrogant way, as if he were supremely confident in his popularity. He looked untrustworthy. Jesse judged him a spy, and thought that Demyas was aware of it, and unhappy about it.
The door opened and a sooty black rabbit with flat, cold eyes walked in. Demyas and Syamin straightened and saluted. Jesse tensed. He had a premonition of danger. The black rabbit glared suspiciously at Jesse before he turned his dead eyes to Demyas.
"It doesn't take two experienced officers to bring in a half-dead kid," he said contemptuously. "Return to your patrol, officer."
Demyas looked black, and Syamin smug. He smirked at the black rabbit as Demyas left the room. His superior frowned but said nothing. Syamin's smile slipped.
Jesse must have made some small movement, because the attention of both officers snapped to him. The teenager groaned mentally. Syamin he could handle. The newcomer he wasn't so sure about.
"What's your name?" the black rabbit demanded brusquely.
Jesse told him quietly. The rabbit sneered.
"Jesse what?"
"Just Jesse."
"Where do you live?"
"I don't remember."
"Why are you here?"
"I'm just passing through."
The black rabbit glared at Syamin. "Why did you bring him in?"
"Thought he'd be useful," Syamin said defensively. "Kid, all by himself, no one to come looking for him, passing from town to town. He could pick up a lot of info."
"I see. And have you asked if he was alone? Do you know that no one will come looking for him? He could be a runaway."
"Ah ..." Syamin looked shamefaced. The other rabbit turned back to Jesse, who smirked and sprawled himself in the nearest chair.
"Who are you with?"
"Nobody," Jesse drawled, having made the transition from frightened kid to insolent rebel.
"Who are your parents?"
"Don't have any," Jesse said lazily, watching the black rabbit's reactions closely.
"Everyone has parents," the other snapped.
"I don't." Jesse paused. Then, "exactly why am I here, officer ...?"
"Adrian," the black rabbit said curtly. "You're here because you were trespassing on private property."
Jesse refrained from telling Adrian that the sign posted prominently in front of the park had declared it public. Clearly the southern government was running low on spies.
"That's not a serious offense," he said carefully. "What's the penalty, just a warning?"
"Yeah," Adrian said reluctantly, cold eyes suspicious.
"Great. I'll consider myself warned," Jesse said, rising and heading for the door. Syamin put a restraining hand on the teenager's thin shoulder.
Jesse turned slowly, tensing. His father had shown him how to deal with any violence that came his way, and he was more than ready to use that training.
That's something Miss Savon didn't count on - the great retired General Aimon, passing on all of his vaunted fighting techniques to his son.
"Is there a problem, officer?" he asked coolly.
"We didn't say you could go yet, Jesse," Syamin said, his false friendliness painfully obvious. Jesse jerked away from the officer's touch.
"Did I say I cared?"
"That attitude's going to get you in trouble," Adrian observed. Jesse smirked.
"I thought I was already in trouble?"
Syamin darted a look at Adrian. His superior looked back, stone-faced.
"I told you he was dangerous," Syamin whined. "Demyas could handle him, I'm not sure I can."
"He's just a kid," Adrian snapped.
"Then why can't I leave?" Jesse interjected. Adrian scowled.
"Syamin can't keep his mouth shut, that's why. I can't risk your repeating what you've heard to anyone, Jesse. You're smart enough to figure that out." His tone was patronizing. Jesse sighed.
"I'm expected elsewhere, officer. Goodbye."
Syamin grabbed Jesse's arm. That was all the excuse Jesse needed. Grasping Syamin's wrist, he dug his fingers in, pressing the tendon into the bone. Syamin gasped and released the teenager as his hand went nerveless.
"Don't touch me again," Jesse warned the startled cop. Syamin snarled, all traces of amiability gone.
"You little brat!" He went for his gun with his other hand, ignoring Adrian's sharp command to back down. Jesse knocked it out of his hand before he even had it aimed. The weapon went off, shattering the flourescent lights overhead and sending a shower of sparks onto the carpet. Jesse used the distraction to drive his fist into Syamin's stomach, and finished by striking the winded rabbit on the temple, laying him out unconscious.
Adrian backed away cautiously as Jesse straightened and faced him. The teenager looked at the spymaster with hollow eyes.
"I know you're experienced," he told Adrian distantly. "I'd like to know what possessed you to talk so openly in front of me. Did you think you could just kill me if you couldn't buy me?"
"I miscalculated," Adrian admitted, eyes keen. "Are you planning to kill me yourself?"
"Maybe," Jesse said thoughtfully. Adrian's mask slipped enough to reveal some nervousness.
The sharp scent of smoke and burning carpet distracted the pair for a moment. Jesse realized that Syamin's shot had severed the wires in the light, showering sparks over the carpet and igniting it. The fire was growing rapidly.
I could kill him now and no one would know that it wasn't the fire.
The spymaster had come to the same conclusions apparently, because he took a step towards Jesse and struck.
Jesse was prepared for it. He met Adrian's attack, countering it and dodging back. The black rabbit stalked the white through the smoke, until Jesse tired of the cat-and-mouse game. He sidestepped Adrian's next strike, then closed in behind the spy, catching Adrian in the small of the back with a powerful punch. Adrian stiffened soundlessly, and Jesse danced out of range before his opponent could recover. Adrian straightened, and turned to face Jesse.
"Who are you?"
"My name is Jesse."
The youth darted in, but Adrian was not quite as unprepared as he appeared. He lashed out, catching Jesse in the stomach with a foot at the same time as Jesse delivered a blow to Adrian's head. Off balance and stunned, Adrian dropped to his knees, further disoriented by the smoke, fumes and flickering firelight.
Jesse staggered out of the building, coughing violently. The guard and receptionist were long gone. Demyas was off on patrol, leaving the building deserted save for Jesse and his interrogators.
By the time Jesse could breathe again, the building was consumed in flames. He watched the station burn for a moment, thinking of another fire, wondering if Adrian had survived as he had. Then he turned and walked into the night.

Note for those thinking of including Jesse in their next chapter: He is currently located on Diamondus, in southern territory.

The SlaYeR

Apr 14, 2005, 05:14 AM

Thank you for that lovely chapter Coppertop.

Unknown will be up next, i think we should set some new standards to keep the pace in this story. :cool:

White Rabbit

Apr 14, 2005, 01:39 PM

(((((Can I join? I'm ok at writing. *gives bribe*)))))

Tik

Apr 14, 2005, 06:32 PM

All authors that wanted to participate joined during round one. New people are not accepted because it would be too annoying to reset the order and work even more people into the evolving plot lines. Sorry.

Nice chapter CT :)

Violet CLM

Apr 14, 2005, 07:43 PM

I'm next...? Eh, I forgot about this a while ago. I'll try to write something when I get the chance, although I don't really like the character too much anymore. And I guess I should maybe read the story, too.

The SlaYeR

May 5, 2005, 03:27 AM

Dear Unknown, you have untill the 10th.
Then we will be continueing with round 3.

White Rabbit

May 5, 2005, 07:35 AM

But..if he doesn't write anything, what happens then? :(

The SlaYeR

May 7, 2005, 10:49 AM

What happends.. is that we will proceed with round 3.
That happends :cool:

Violet CLM

May 7, 2005, 08:34 PM

Hmmm... you know, just write me out. I've basically lost interest in this story and the characters. Good luck with it, everyone.

White Rabbit

May 8, 2005, 03:56 AM

What happends.. is that we will proceed with round 3.
That happends :cool:

But what happens if Violet doesn't write his story? Will someone do it for him? I hate it when ppl give such unhelpful answers..come on, you want to sell your story to other ppl, right? So keep up interest by answering properly.

The SlaYeR

May 8, 2005, 07:45 AM

We will kill off his character, I (or any other writer) will proceed with the story and try to finish his chapter off. We can not just proceed because he was already part of the group and that is why it is really lame that he just decided to quit at such a late phase. I hope that answered your question.

White Rabbit

May 8, 2005, 08:07 AM

Ok then. I guess the story is long enough to make deaths interesting and gory. ;)

The SlaYeR

May 8, 2005, 04:49 PM

I wanted to post something because it has been a while.

This is a little flashback scene. The rest of the chapter will follow later.

Chapter 23: Embracing death.

The Earian marketplace was filled with life during the festival of the moon.
Louie Greenthorpe and his good friend Wallace Parker were dancing ecstatically in the midst of the enormous crowd.
Wallace's father was a good friend of mister Greenthorpe and thanks to him Louie was allowed to leave Greenthorpe for several days.
Rabbits from all over the planet had gathered in Earian to celebrate the festival of the moon, which was the start of a new year.
Street artists were playing joyful music as the sun slowly sank behind the horizon, shining the last few rays of sunlight of this year over their faces.
They had met with several people in a bar a few hours before the countdown to the night began and ran down the streets trying to soak up as much of the atmosphere as possible. Every little street was filled with rabbits from different parts of the world, all of them dressed in the garments of their own culture, different kinds of music fed they’re souls building up the inner excitement.
The sun had gone down a little while later and fireworks were lighted over the docks, colouring the dark sky.
"I think you have an admirer." Wallace said with a smile as he nodded to a girl standing behind them.
Louie turned around and looked into the face of the most gorgeous, young rabbit he had ever seen.
She must have been close to his age and her eyes had the sparkle of a diamond to them. They seemed to grab him and lure him closer towards her.
He set a few steps in her direction and she walked towards him, Wallace's eyes were fixated on her beautiful face. A faint and warm glow seemed to surround her as she gracefully moved her feet over the cold, marble pavement.
Louie took her small hand in his and placed a soft kiss on the palm of it, not breaking away from her breathtaking eyes.
"My name is Louie Greenthorpe, miss." He spoke softly.
"I am Estella Bane, it is a pleasure to meet you, Louie Greenthorpe." She replied.
He asked her for a dance and but a moment later they were dancing on the shiny marble, she had her arms wrapped around his neck.
Louie was usually a very shy person that did not know his way around women, because he had never really met too many.
The only ones he had spoken to were the stiff upper lip girls that he had seen on one of his fathers parties. This girl was so much more different then them.
So much more alive, friendly, beautiful. "Would you like to go for a short walk?" She suggested when the musicians started to play a more cheerful tune.

They walked along the shoreline, the water softly rippled as they entered it with they're bare feet.
The beach was calm and almost empty, save from a few youngsters that were sleeping in the soft sand. Drunk and fulfilled.
"Look at them, hollow caskets, death could come and claim those mortal fools whenever it's ready for them. And yet they think the life they lead is so beautiful and perfect." She said with a macabre tone to her voice that made Louie's body shiver.
"Surely you must see the beauty in life my dear." He whispered into her ear.
"I have, I’ve seen you. But until you see everything in the same way that I have seen it, you do not know what true beauty is." She said as she slowly licked his cheek.
"You’re such a pretty boy." She said followed by a soft sigh. "And I’m the lucky girl that gets to keep you for all eternity."
Louie looked down in the water at his reflection and a shock went trough his body. He could only see his.
Estella had no reflection, he looked up and his eyes met hers, they were blood red.
His head filled with irrational thoughts, voices screaming at him that he should leave. A perfect pandemonium.
Her smile was wide and her canines had grown several inches. The last thing he could hear was the crackle of fireworks high up in the sky above him.
Before she sank her teeth into his neck, sucking him dry of life. He imagined the pain would be horrible. But all he felt was a unification of two souls.
A perfect bright light filled him up on the inside. And then there was nothing as his body sank into the salty water of the sea.

He woke up several months later, veiled in darkness. It seemed like he was unable to escape from his dark grave until his lust for hunger got the better of him.
His two hands smashed trough the wooden lid of his coffin and after several more punches it gave away.
Louie tried to crawl out of his coffin and fell down to the ground. He had a hard time standing up. His legs didn't want to hold the weight on top of them and he fell down to the floor a few more times, crawling towards the exit of his crypt.
He had not used his strength in months and his body was asking more from him then he could give. He stopped to take a breath, but his lungs had died along with him.
He managed to grab the door handle and the door slowly opened with a creak, the sun blinded him and he pushed his head into to sand, trying to scream, but no sound escaped from his rotting mouth.
He managed to reach the pond and slowly let himself sank into it, he couldn't breath. He didn't have to but he felt the urge to inhale.
What was happening to him? He took a few sips from the water in the pond but it hurt as it found its way trough his body and he threw up, salty and burning tears in his eyes.
His eyes slowly adjusted to the bright and fresh world around him and he saw Estella sitting on the porch with the body of a young girl near her feet.
"Hello baby. You must be starving."
His mind he had lost, but his unstill stomach ached for a drink of the young virgin. And he gave in…

Hareoic

May 10, 2005, 08:34 AM

Ok, out of desperation for something to do, I would like to join this story.

Can somebody give a recap from the very beginning since I didn't read any of the story? :p

All I know is that it's not crazy or stupid like the Tales of the Tavern stories.

White Rabbit

May 10, 2005, 12:40 PM

You could fill up Violet's character! I claim page 9.

The SlaYeR

May 10, 2005, 01:00 PM

He could, if he actually read it.

Hareoic

May 10, 2005, 01:49 PM

I would, but I'm sleepy right now and not in the mood to read several pages worth of posts.

The SlaYeR

May 10, 2005, 03:05 PM

Ok, then do it some other time. Tada.
I will be continueing on chapter 23 shortly, i sort of have a few other projects i'm working on. The fighting scene is already finished.

acid

May 10, 2005, 05:50 PM

Well, you can read the entire story itself without side-posts here (http://treacle.hewwo.com/jazz/story.html).

Hareoic

May 10, 2005, 09:15 PM

Wow, that's extremely useful.

*readifies*

Hareoic

May 10, 2005, 10:28 PM

Umm, not to sound impatient, but is there any overall plot or something that we're working towards? Because I can't really see it yet.

The SlaYeR

May 11, 2005, 04:04 AM

No, we don't have a general idea. Everyone has the freedom to take the story where he/she wants to take it. NOW READ THE DARN THING.

Hareoic

May 11, 2005, 08:15 AM

I'm trying. But it's really long. It'll take some time to read it and then come up with some means for me to add myself in without being out of context.

Risp_old

May 11, 2005, 12:11 PM

Just do what everyone has- start your characters up somewhere and then find a way to enter the main storyline (probably by meeting someone else's characters.)

Oh, and hopefully I'll still be able to write. Well, I guess time will tell once it gets back to my part.

The SlaYeR

May 23, 2005, 03:04 PM

Theodore’s fangs caught Louie completely off-guard and the monstrosity that was once an innocent man left his mark in Louie’s cold cheek. The sight of blood made Theodore lose the last bit of sanity he had left.
“You shall not leave this place alive, master.” He heard the man speak.
His sinister voice would make any normal man tremble in fear. This spectacle was not one witnessed by a normal man. This house was filled with beasts. And the beast in Louie was awakened by the mere sight of pure evil in front of him. He reached for his scythes and unleashed his fury upon the walking corpse that was standing but a few metres away from him. The scythes cut trough the air, releasing a soft gasp of air with every strike they made. Theodore let himself sink back into the chair, missing the scythes by an inch.
He kicked Louie against the forearms, making him drop the scythes. The fiend reached for a scythes but Louie grabbed him by his upper arm and slashed his neck open with one of the scythes.
Within a breath, Louie stood behind Theodore and cut open his back, gutting him like a fish. But the strong man did not give up the easily, he kicked Louie into the chair who let go of the scythe he was holding. Making it fall into his own stomach. Theodore grabbed the other scythe off of the floor and made a 180 degree spin. Barely missing Louie, who had sank down into the chair.
‘That was close’ Louie thought to himself. He wanted to strike again, but Theodore jumped back and hit the Grande piano that had collected quiet a bit of dust over the ages. .
“Stay still so I can kill you, you spineless worm.” Louie shouted. It seemed that the bloodlust had gotten the better of him, and his calm nature made place for the anger.
Theodore cackled and raised his scythe, preparing for his final strike. The two men faced each other, a moment that seemed frozen in history. Until Louie jumped forward, shoving the scythe deep into the intestines of Theodore who slowly sank down to the ground.
Louie grabbed him by the throat and placed his neck on the edge of the piano, before slamming the lid shut with all of his power. Theodore’s decapitated body fell down with a dull thud.
Louie turned around and leaned against the piano, taking a breath… so to speak.

Tom sat on the front porch of their house, whipping his glasses clean as he gazed into the streets of the slumbering village. His mind was deep in thought when Tony Waterback walked out onto the porch.
They both looked at each other for a moment and then Tony looked at the sky, trying to find his home planet. He spotted his little, bright planet to the left of the constellation Thesus.
“Have a seat.” Said Thomas. Tony sat down. “That’s my home planet, over there.”
Thomas looked, without responding. Sometimes, silence was enough to comfort a person he thought to himself. “There will be a busy time ahead for us.” Thomas finally said. Breaking the silence and trying to get Tony’s thoughts off of his home planet. It seemed to work.
“You are right, the refugees will be arriving shortly, and we have to get the mansion ready for them.”
Thomas nodded. “After we get Louie to claim the mansion.”
“Yes, exactly, after we get… What?” Tony said in surprise.
“Well, we need him to record a message on video, telling the council that he is still alive. We will need to hurry though. Remember me telling you about the death verification …”
“Oh yes, let’s not go there again.” Tony said. “We’d better hurry up and find him instead of sitting around on the porch.” Thomas nodded “We’ll get a good night sleep first. We will go look for him first thing in the morning.”

Alexander Garand pulled the trigger and as in slow motion the bullet spat out of the gun, piercing trough the body of what seemed to be a young and very hungry werewolf. It collapsed on top of the young hunter, who could hear the rest of the werewolf’s pack come closer. The stench was unbearable and the heavy wolf on top of him prevented him from moving. He shook his body, trying to get out from underneath the corpse. The werewolf’s body did move, but unfortunately landed on top of Alexander’s lungs. The hunter cursed for all it was worth and heard that the other wolves had almost reached him. They would not just devour them like they usually would do too their prey. They would want to make him suffer for killing one of them. Alexander would die a thousand deaths tonight.
The shadowy figure of what appeared to be a rabbit came moving towards him. “Help.” Alexander said silently. “Save your breath, on the count of three, you try to push this thing off. We don’t have much time. Six of these things will be here in about 30 seconds.” The shadowy figure and Alexander combined their strengths and managed to push the werewolf away. “Grab my hand, we have to make haste.”
The hunter did not resist, this person had just saved his life. This made him a trustworthy person in his book. “We are near Greenthorpe. It’s our only chance to survive, these werewolves do not leave the woods.” They ran as fast as their legs could carry them. They could almost feel the warm and moist breath of the disgusting beasts in their necks, but the wolves stopped as soon as they arrived at the edge of the woods. “Allow me to rest for a moment, sir.” The hunter said.
“The night holds many horrible secrets, it may be best for us to proceed directly to my current habitat.”
“Sir, what is your name?” The young hunter said as they walked on.
“My name is Louie Greenthorpe.” Louie turned around, the paleness of his skin could be seen trough his fur. “And you are…?” Alexander pulled out his gun and held it inches away from Louie’s face. “…Very sorry about this.”

Sorry about this taking so long. But we sort of have a crisis at another story/comic site.

acid

May 23, 2005, 03:25 PM

...He kicked Louie against the forearms, making him drop the scythes. The fiend reached for a scythes but Louie grabbed him by his upper arm and slashed his neck open with one of the scythes.

I'm sorry, but this passage just bothers me. The second scythes should be singular, and I think you should use a different word from "scythe" for at least one of the three.

Otherwise, this is an excellent addition.

Risp_old

May 23, 2005, 03:52 PM

Should I wait for Kaz or begin writing my segment right away?

The SlaYeR

May 23, 2005, 10:23 PM

Wait untill i've finished the entire chapter :P
And i'm sorry dude, but the scythes are these little small blades. Not the huge kind.
It's kind of hard to explain.

VelKa

May 24, 2005, 08:03 AM

Wait untill i've finished the entire chapter :P
And i'm sorry dude, but the scythes are these little small blades. Not the huge kind.
It's kind of hard to explain.
Something like <a href="http://rpsboxe.free.fr/art-martiaux/arme/hr/kama.GIF">this</a> (just without the holes in the blades), maybe? Those are smaller handheld scythe-like weapons; the blades are usually about 15-20cm long. I own a set of them, which was why they came to mind when I read your chapter.

The SlaYeR

May 24, 2005, 08:05 AM

Those are the ones i ment. I did not know the name for them unfortunatly and was hoping that people would understand.
I'm trying to finish it right now guys. HANG IN THERE.

acid

May 24, 2005, 02:58 PM

I understood what you meant by "scythes," what I meant was that you should swap one of the times you used "scythes" out for something like "them" so that it's less redundant.

The SlaYeR

Jun 8, 2005, 10:35 AM

In the midst of the night a young woman moved towards the office of Gary Parker.
The dark corridor made her nervous. The moonlight fell over a dark and gloomy portrait of a man that makes his success over the corpses of others.
“Please, step into my office miss.” A voice said over the creaky intercom.
The young rabbit almost fell down straight on her face. The high heels she was wearing were not at all comfortable and her shivering legs made it even harder to keep her balance.
But working in the office of the wealthy young man who was sure to become governor was the dream of every young secretary.
She opened the door slowly and walked in. The curtains were drawn shut and the room was lit by a few candles. Gary Parker leaned against his desk and smiled as she walked in.
“Miss Jones, it’s a pleasure too see you here after all. I’m sorry that this interview had too take place at such a late time. But we want our people to be prepared for everything.” He told her with a tone to his voice that made her shiver even more. His voice changed immediately when he asked her to take a seat.
“Let’s get down to business, shall we?” Gary opened a drawer in his desk and took out a small letter opener. He walked over to the young woman and stabbed the dull end of the opener trough her throat.
He pulled the blood red object out of the soft flesh and licked it off before he placed it back into his drawer.
Gary Parker’s monstrosity was only topped by his grace. He cleaned a few droplets of blood from his shirt and enjoyed this moment. His prey had been so easy to do away with.
A knock on the door brought him back to reality. “Ah, my dinner guests have arrived.”

-

Alexander Garand sat there for a moment. This man, or beast had saved his life and in return. He would be taking his. It didn’t seem like the right thing to do. No matter what this man had done to those people.
Had he changed so much in the time he had spent behind his desk?
“Can we get this over with, please?” Louie whispered.
Alexander felt the little droplets of sweat roll down his face. He moved the gun away from Louie’s face and pulled the trigger several times. Releasing a series of wooden bullets into a thick tree.
Louie got up. “I don’t have the time for this.” And he hit him across the face. Knocking him unconscious.
“Better stay out of the woods the next time, soldier.”

-

Next please.

Risp_old

Jun 8, 2005, 02:33 PM

Should I wait for Kaz or just go ahead?

The SlaYeR

Jun 8, 2005, 03:17 PM

He's on #jj2 quiet often. I'll ask him about it.

Alex

Jun 9, 2005, 11:01 AM

http://cache.solutionsmanagement.com.au/images/947-150x800historical-historicalhammersickel.jpg

hammer &... scythe?

Alister

Jun 9, 2005, 12:02 PM

Sickle* :p

Alex

Jun 10, 2005, 06:17 AM

I didn't put the name... not even my site..
my point was that im not that uber-good at English, and I wouldnt know what you mean by a small scythe. if I read all the destriptions right, the scythe mentioned is not the Grim Reapers lawn mowing device, but more of a curved blade, whick in my mind bears a close resemblance to a "sikkel*" wich would be "sickle" as TB pointed out. (*dutch word)

The SlaYeR

Jun 10, 2005, 06:20 AM

Someone could've told me that before ;)

The SlaYeR

Jun 28, 2005, 04:06 AM

Risp, you may proceed if you wish.

Risp_old

Jun 28, 2005, 05:27 AM

Alright. I have started my chapter; I will be done this evening.

Risp_old

Jun 28, 2005, 01:28 PM

"Sir, we have another refugee ship requesting landing clearance."
The Director sighs. He is not in a good mood- the Oakloma space port had been a mess all morning, with refugees from the turmoil in Diamondous landing everywhere. "Just send them to pad eight."
"Alright, sir." The aide presses a button and starts to speak into her microphone. "Shuttle, you have clearance to land in pad eight. I repeat, pad eight."
A few moments pass as they listen to the sound of the shuttle landing and opening up. The Director starts to look annoyed. 'Why did ANOTHER ship have to land? I thought the last of them had landed only half an hour ago. It was getting quiet and I was about to get out my lunch, but now I have to go through a lot of complex docking procedures and by then someone else will be wanting to land and then...' However, the Director is drawn out of his thoughts.
"Sir, the shuttle they are in appears to be stolen!"
"Yes, yes, and then someone would start bugging me about the... wait, what? A stolen shuttle? What are you waiting for, call security!"

Jargon walks out of the shuttle, totally oblivious to all of the turmoil around him. A security officer points a gun at him and starts to shout something about stopping, but Jargon ignores him. Jargon takes out his autocaster then, with a single twist, activates a spell he had coded in earlier. All the lights in the space center suddenly go out simultaneously, as the security camera logs suddenly are erased. Jargon walks out of the building, into the bright, bright day with a very worried looking John at his heels.
"Very... dramatic entrance, Jargon, but don't you think there would be a way to go anywhere without doing so much damage?"
Jargon turns back to John. "Well... they were asking for it. I mean, challenging our landing clearance? Just because we had to steal a spaceship to leave doesn't make us outlaws or anything."
John sighs and looks around a bit before replying. "Well, it looks like I will have to take up a pseudonym and re-integrate myself into normal society. You... go do your own thing. As far away from me as possible." He pauses. "Well, anyway, adios. I wish you luck... just don't visit me till things cool down."
And with that, he leaves.
Jargon walks for a few minutes, looking at a disk of the information he had gotten earlier. It talks of the various places refugees are free to stay, and all but one appears to be full. Jargon sighs, then continues on. After another half hour of walking and getting annoyed at how long this will take, Jargon passes the site of a crashed spaceship. Suddenly, he gets an idea. He takes a small disk- Robby's CPU- and puts it on the ground. After a few minutes of fiddling with his autocaster, he waves it in the air and makes a final twist. From the junk of the spaceship crash, a whirlwind of activity emerges. Junk flys through the air, forming a machine around the CPU core. Through the chaos of activity a definitive shape begins to emerge. Eight skeletal, spiky metal legs... a disconcerting spiderlike body... an array of eerie red-glowing eyes... looking more like some undead spider monster then anything, his transportation is ready.
Jargon swings onto it and begins his merry way to Greenthorp.

The SlaYeR

Jun 30, 2005, 07:43 AM

Excellent Risp. Thank you for your addition.
You have brought an interesting character in our midst.

On to Acid.

acid

Jul 14, 2005, 02:13 PM

I'm wondering if I should opt out this round... I'm just not getting any inspiration at all.

Alister

Aug 17, 2005, 05:42 AM

*COUGH*

acid

Aug 17, 2005, 07:28 PM

Yeah, sorry, nothing's coming to me. I'll skip this round, and see if the situation has improved by the next time it goes by me. So, on to... Ducky, right?

The SlaYeR

Aug 19, 2005, 05:43 AM

Thank you for coughing Alister.
And thank you Acid for informing us in time.

Ducky

Aug 26, 2005, 05:40 PM

Thank you for coughing Alister.
And thank you Acid for informing us in time.

And I thought it wouldn't ever be my turn again.
I'm trying to get in touch with Spaztic, sorry for the holdup. Ugh. I'll try and keep this moving.

Ducky

Sep 1, 2005, 02:16 PM

(-), that's frustrating, Verity thought, as the ship came into her line of vision.
"We have to turn around."
Icarus and Naomi's heads swiveled as one towards the source of the absurd notion, disregarding the sight of the ship before them readying its missles.
"We cleared Diamondus's atmosphere almost three hours ago, Verity," Icarus said, trying not to sound as though he was explaining two plus two to a small child. "Without a teleport we're still only halfway to Carrotus. Why would going back help us? Lets go to Nimbus or -- "he glanced briefly at one of the screens-- "we're even close enough to Muckamo to duck under the cloud cover."

Verity sighed, looked back and forth between Icarus's and Naomi's young, but never naive, eyes, and made up her mind.
"No," she said, "We aren't. What do you two know about the Diamondus Warzone?"
There was a brief pause in which another blast rocked the ship.
"Never mind," said Verity, "I'll tell you later. Until then, I'm going to fly for a moment, if you don't mind. " She reached for the control panels, but a gold-furred paw blocked her own. Verity looked up into Naomi's eyes.
"I beg your pardon," Naomi said calmly, "but first of all, this is my ship, and I don't think anyone flies it better than I do. And secondly I may not know anything about the war here but Icarus has been flying escape transports off of Diamondus for the past thirteen months. I think I might assume enough to say that he has some idea what's going on here. With all due respect, I'm not ready to just let you take off with my ship and some (-)-and-bull story."
Verity inclined her head, refreshed by the courage the younger woman offered.
"Understood, Naomi." She used the other rabbit's name in an acknowledgement of the new respect she had for her, and could see that Naomi appreciated it.
"I am out of line to assume that I am in any position of authority here. The situation is merely one that I believe I understand a little better than you do and it may be safer to allow me to use my knowledge. However, if you would prefer to fly the ship, I would rather you do so, although it may be advisable for you to pay attention and do exactly as I tell you." Verity spoke quickly, knowing their time was short, and hoping to disguise the note of panic she feared would creep into her voice.
Naomi slid back into her seat, her fingers light on the controls, and Verity braced her paw against the doorway of the cockpit, as another blast, stronger than the last, threatened to knock her off her feet. The local force field around the small shuttle was rapidly weakening.
"Icarus," said Verity, "they've been aiming at the left engines, have they not?" From the copilots chair Icarus nodded, his eyes focussed on the screens.
"Knocking out a side engine would put us into a spin, " Verity murmured under her breath.
The shuttle shuddered as Naomi's skillful fingers maneuvered it between blasts from the opposing ship.
"That ship is a member of the party on Diamondus that's still in control. The federation is trying to prevent import and export and recently there's been theorization about a projective screen that they wanted to put into action to prevent unauthorized ships approaching or exiting the planet. I have no idea why private shuttles are being disallowed, but basically what I'm saying is that we've been locked into a synthetic orbit around the planet for the past three hours and that the planet--" here Verity waved at a bunch of symbols on one of the screens-- "is really just a projection and we've been blocked from seeing the real planet which is still right underneath us. They're going to knock out our side engines so we'll fall directly downward, through the atmosphere, and potentially crash on the planet rather than drift off somewhere else."
Icarus gave Verity a look that clearly spelled double-ewe-tee-eff.
"That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard."
"It's government, Icarus. They don't know the meaning of a simple plan."
Naomi dodged a blast from the opposing ship.
"Naomi, engage the ship," Verity said suddenly. Naomi glanced briefly up. "Engage? They're six times our size. That's practically the size of a transport. I only have the lowest level preinstalled weaponry on my ship."
"I want you to fire one round at them and then turn around and head back towards the planet. We have to land again or they'll kill us."
"See? Imminent death," Icarus joked, but was stifled by a withering glance from Naomi before she tapped the trigger twice with her thumb. The shots ricocheted off the laser shield surrounding the larger ship in a burst of sparks and smoke and Naomi grunted, "hold on," before dragging the stick hard to the left and hurtling back towards the blue-glowing, grapefruit-sized globe on the screens that represented Diamondus.
As Verity suspected, they were not pursued, although a few parting shots glanced off the flickering force field on the tailfins of Naomi's shuttle.
"Give it five minutes..." she guessed, leaning over the window screens.
The three rabbits were silent as Naomi guided the ship, watching the screens, and then the whole display blackened for a fraction of a second before a scrolling static bar slid down the screen, flickered, and the horizon of a planet mere miles below them became visible glowing under its gentle purple atmosphere. Icarus swore softly.
"They've cloaked the whole planet."
The cool female voice of the Intergalactic Positioning System droned on the overhead, "We are now entering the United Diamondian Planetary Systems. Preparing to enter stratospheric levels on Diamondus, intrauniversal magistration code 36873912L-t. Please note that none of the Diamondian Territories nor the outlying planets in the Diamondus Union are able to support any freelance communications units at this time."
The trio ignored the voice, focussing on the planet below them. Icarus noticed Naomi's paw, shaking slightly on the controls of her ship. He reached over and covered it with his own black-furred paw.
"Hey," he said softly, "We're okay. It'll be fine."
She mustered a smile. "It just...really shakes me up that they can mess with us like that. What kind of place is this? How do we get off the planet?"
Icarus shrugged. "It's never been a problem before. I make pretty regular trips on and off and I've always made it just fine. Verity's familiar with the situation anyway. We're all in good paws." He looked over to the grey rabbit for confirmation of his statement, but Verity was gazing at the printouts on one of the screens and did not meet his eyes.
Naomi's eyes were wide, though, as the small shuttle tilted through the myriad of rainbow coloured gas layers composing Diamondus's atmosphere and they landed the shuttle on a small charred landing strip in a suburban area on Diamondus's southern curve.

Ducky

Sep 1, 2005, 02:18 PM

One of the suns had set already and the second one was lurking near the horizon as the little party disembarked from their ship, casting long shadows across the ground.
Verity knew the township vaguely; at least, she knew it was still neutral as far as the war was concerned. To her knowledge it was a good place as any to bring the two young rabbits she was with. She and Eddie had made sporadic checkpoints here while on scheduled target harvests, as they had called the routine small parties that were sent out to find potential hotspots of information that they could hack into and destroy. There was a nice tavern here if she recalled correctly.
She walked away a few strides to allow Icarus and Naomi a private conversation and climbed the crest of a hill to scope out their surroundings.
Naomi didn't want to look childish, but she was still nervous and she clung to Icarus's arm as they climbed out of the ship. "You were great flying," he told her, "the best."
Naomi clung. "I would feel better if we could talk to some kind of authorities."
Icarus sighed. "There's no authority anymore, Naom. Everyone's biased. Everyone's corrupt. Once we get away from the planet we'll be fine... and we WILL get away." He put his arms around her slender body.
"Now lets go find Verity and get something to eat." He pressed her forward towards Verity's outline perched on the hilltop beyond them.
Descending the hill into the small town, everything appeared normal, but as the three rabbits came close they could see that even this sleepy village was unable to escape the ravages of civil warfare. Near the center of the city what had once been a formidable estate lay still smoking in its own wreckage, and presently they passed a charred building that, in the quickly fading sunset, they could see had once been the local police headquarters.
Naomi slowed as they walked by this collapsed structure, observing glowing embers around the brick doorframe.
"This just happened..." she said, wavering.
"Police stations are the first to be targeted by militia or unorganizations," Verity stated briskly but softly. "It's a routine mission. It doesn't mean there's any danger here. Ravaging clans or renegade Union members will comb the land and anything they see in the form of authority that doesn't conform to their beliefs is...negated.
People-- especially civilians in a quiet town like this-- listen to authority figures," she explained, "They will go where they are told, if only in an effort to remain neutral."
She hesitated, but then pressed her paw quickly onto Naomi's shoulder in what was, however awkwardly, obviously meant to be a comforting motion. Icarus could see it was not something Verity was inclined to do naturally, but he could also tell that Naomi appreciated the protective gesture.
He knew that Naomi would become more attached to a figure like Verity's, an older, perhaps more experienced female of Naomi's own species, because of her motherless childhood.
Verity removed her paw quickly, though, and repeated, "It doesn't mean we're in danger."
Despite that, Icarus slid his arm around Naomi's shoulders as they walked on.
They entered a small tavern with a sign over the weatherbeaten door announcing it as The Marinated Pearl and quietly slunk into a corner table. Icarus and Naomi put their heads together to converse and Verity ordered a meal from a pudgy, buxom female lizard with a grubby notepad.
"-- and a Medivian Sour Ale for me," she finished. Their waitress grunted, sticking her pencil stub into a dirty pocket, and trundled back towards the kitchen.
While waiting for their food, the three bandied potential means of leaving the planet and chewed absently on the slightly wilted carrots that the waitress had plunked down on their table. Verity did not contribute often to the discussion, but, sitting across from Icarus and Naomi, only pointed out why the ship wouldn't be able to circumnavigate the planet for more than six consecutive orbits or that the cloaking device had been projected from air rather than off of the planet's surface.
"Is it even legal? Why are they doing this anyway?" Naomi wondered aloud, stretching strands of spaghetti for whole feet between her plate and fork. Verity sipped espresso and burnt her tongue and did not answer Naomi except to say, "The government doesn't want intergalactic cooperation."
Icarus frowned into his brussels sprouts.
"It was installed in the past two days," Naomi said thoughtfully, "so could we assume that they are just testing it? A synthetic orbit has to be hard to get perfect. Maybe they'll like, shut it down again."
Icarus sat up rather suddenly. "Wait," he said, "what pulls something into orbit in the first place? Isn't it some kind of magnetic force? What if we coated the ship in something that wouldn't be attractive magnetically to whatever's holding it? To keep the all the shuttles circling the planet, it has to be magnetized to a component all ships have in common."
"I think you'd have to completely negate the charge, not just block it," said Verity, but her voice was not so pessimistic. "It's a viable option...at this point probably our only option."
Naomi smiled hesitantly. "We'll be back on Carrotus before we know it!"
"Excuse me. I couldn't help overhearing... you're flying to Carrotus?"
Icarus and Naomi both started in suprise at the new voice. At the end of their table, a tall, lanky white rabbit, stood with his ears cocked anxiously. His fur was grimy and he looked as though he had not slept for days, but he nodded his head courteously to them. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to suprise you. My name's J--" he began, but the white rabbit was taken considerably more by suprise when Verity flung herself away from the table and smashed him into the floor, her blaster appearing from her leather boot and pressing its barrel into his temple.
Her knee in his throat as he wheezed for air below her, she cocked her RF and whispered at him, "I already know your name, Jonathan."
The young rabbit couldn't speak, but his eyes widened when he heard his father's name.

[Disclaimers: I can't find CT or Spaztic anywhere on this green earth, so I would like to apologize for taking too many athoritative licenses and if either of them want me to change anything with their characters I'll do so. CT expecially, I sort of just gave a background to your character that I don't know if you want him to have. I'll perform surgery on this if need be.]

(Ugh, and just for the record, I think this chapter sort of marks a pinnacle for Worst Things I've Ever Written.)

Coppertop

Sep 1, 2005, 05:15 PM

I don't mind at all, Duckah ... I like it.

Monolith

Sep 2, 2005, 07:20 PM

Yay Ducky!

*notes Doubble Dutch is next*

<a href="http://treacle.hewwo.com/jazz/story.html">*also notes the full story URL since he was looking for it just now*</a>

Doubble Dutch

Sep 9, 2005, 03:02 AM

Zzzzz, wha? Oh, right the story. Right.

Chapter 27: Remittance

It was probably just before sunrise when they found the werewolf.

Michele looked at the deformed corpse. She'd been taught enough by her father to know what one would look like of course, but she'd never seen one up close. She knelt down and examined the prone figure. There were no signs of any attack, no blood... but looking closer, under the fur, there was some sort of bruise-

*Thomp* It was as if she'd been hit from behind with a pillow shot from a cannon, a fuzzy feeling enveloped her and she collapsed. There was another thomp and a yell. Looking up she saw Tier standing over a robed figure. His arm was limp and he was holding something that looked like a small rod. A crunching sound made her look at her stomach. A small circle had been neatly cut out of her shirt and her lower half was twisted at an unnatural angle. As she looked on in horror it slowly twisted around to its proper position, accompanied by sickening sensations she was sure were her internal organs shifting. Tier walked over, his arm was bruised, like the werewolves and was making small clicking noises like someone cracking their knuckles. He didn't bother checking if she was okay, or even what had happened, he just knelt down beside the werewolf and examined under the fur for- "Yeah he's bruised. I take it that rod did it to all three of us?" she said still slightly dazed. Tier looked up. "Yeah. Didn't think I'd see one of these again. Cookie cutter, the wizards used to use 'em."

The wizards? Micelle tried to remember, "Weren't they that crazy group who claim to control all magic?" Tier got up and showed her the rod. It was a perfectly smooth grey metal cylinder. "No, that was the sourcerers, but they're long gone. The wizards are a bunch of crazy wannabe's" Micelle laughed. "The sourcerers? From those old fairytales? ...you're not kidding are you?" Everyone, well, a lot of kids at least, had heard about the sourcerers, powerful people who could stop the sun setting if they wanted to. They had ruled the universe until- "The part about the prince is kind of true" interjected Tier. "But he had a few dozen planets of help, there was a lot of luck and a lot more bloodshed then the books say too." Michelle paused. He made it sound as if he'd been there, but those stories must have be centuries old "Just how old are you exactly?" she asked. Tier looked wistful "I kind've lost count, but I'm pretty sure I'll be a thousand and twenty four in a few weeks." he replied.

Michelle was stunned. An entire millennium like this? She looked at her cold dead hands and a moment of doubt passed through her mind, she crushed it. There were more important things to think about. "Well, the sooner you get introduced to this the better. Time to feed." This shocked Michelle "Feed? I though you said you needed to feed of living...?" Tier smirked "Yep, and these bodies are fresh. Not conscious, no pulse, but most of the cells are still living. It'll take a few hours for them to become inedible." Michelle waited for the shock to set in, but it didn't. Being dead seemed to dull all her emotional responses, Tier had mentioned something to do with having no adrenal glands anymore. She looked around and found what she was looking for. "If you don't mind, I'll just snack on these" she said taking a handful of Dubai berries off a small bush and popping them into her mouth. She instantly regretted it. The instant she bit down she felt sick. There was no taste, but she fell on the ground vomiting heavily bringing up the remains of an undigested breakfast two days old. A minute later she looked up a Tier's grinning face. "Like I said, living tissue, even zombies in a pinch, but say goodbye to vegetables or cooked food. If you don't think you can stomach it, here I'll take the werewolf; you can have the weirdo, just kneel down and tell me what he smells like."

Somewhat cautiously Michelle tried to discretely sniff the body. She would have been embarrassed if she'd ever bothered to be embarrassed about anything in her life. The stranger smelt like paraffin wax and mothballs. She took a deeper sniff, and then he no longer smelt of dusty attics, it smelt like life.

She awoke later. How much later was hard to tell, the sun was coming up but not yet risen. And she hadn't quite been sleeping either, images flashed across her mind, hazy and indistinct. She realized she was fervently licking something off her hand. Blood. There was no sign of the two bodies save a few small scraps of bloodied cloth. Tier was watching her reaction from a few feet away. She did a quick mental check. "Well, that was feeding was it? Okay then c'mon we've got to get to Greenthorpe ASAP." In the early morning light she could already see that the trees were thinning out and it wasn't long before the found a disused track leading to the town. Feeling somehow refreshed Michelle sprinted down the track at a speed she'd never have been able to sustain when alive. Despite the stiffness and cold she felt stronger and more in control than ever before in her life. And more determined.

She removed the 'wand' she'd picked up off the wizard and showed Tier. "You said this was a 'cookie cutter' how does it work?" It felt odd to be talking normally while running at top speed; lack of breathing was certainly an advantage. "Tier grabbed the rod and pointed it at her. This end is the one you hold; it shoots real small particles of silver that spin around real fast, near light speed. It instantly kills werewolves and most other things. Anything else, the silver bits hit the body and almost go through, when the slow down enough they explode, sending out a sonic and magical shockwave that liquidizes a portion of a body, makes it look like a bruise. When it hits skin it makes a thin red line that looks like someone took a cookie cutter to your skin. That’s what took a bite out of the back of your shirt. Michelle looked over her shoulder; sure enough there was a large circular hole in it, just below her shoulders, directly opposite the smaller hole in the front. She snatched the wand of Tier and pocketed it. The vampire would get acquainted with it soon enough.

They encountered the traveler just outside the town, on a road the track had joined half an hour earlier. He was a young red rabbit who by the looks of things was walking to the next town, or maybe to see family. Wasting no time Michelle simply ran up to him, picked him up by the shirt and asked him where Greenthorpe Mansion was. Terrified and confused he nevertheless managed to stutter a reply. "The vampire house? Wh-why do you want to go there? Its easy to find, just off Old Main street, real old run down big building!" Walking calmly over Tier put a hand on the young rabbits shoulder. "So sorry about my friend here, family troubles you see. Do put him down won't you? Good. Now sir, I suggest you continue what you were doing, as I have no doubt you will, its just that less logical people might do something unproductive like sneak back to town and say two zombies or something were heading in. That could cause a lot of unnecessary panic, and in such situations it wouldn't be surprising if that person or their friends and family found themselves at a disadvantage. Proceed."

Tier smirked as the figure ran into the distance, almost he realized, as fast as Michelle was speeding in the opposite direction. Nevertheless it was midmorning by the time the approached the mansion, which was every bit as decrepit as Tier had expected. After you'd hidden out in a few abandoned building they all started to look the same. Michelle didn't seem to want to take in the view; she simply vaulted the fence and ran inside. There were several people outside, one of whom yelled something at Tier. From inside the mansion there was the sound of breaking glass and more yelling. For a second Tier considered just walking away and leaving, it wouldn't be that hard, lord knows he'd screwed things up enough already. But then, what had he got lose? Attempting to sigh melodramatically Tier walked slowly up the footpath and into the mansions front door.

Alister

Sep 14, 2005, 01:49 PM

There was a knocking at the back door. Tom opened it to reveal a rain-sodden Louie with a body hoisted over his shoulder.
"What on Carrotus... who is that?"
"Some kind of undead hunter, judging by the equipment he was carrying."
"But..." Tom was lost for words.
"Look, can I come in? It's pouring out here."
"Come on. You'd better take him up to my room." Tom stood back as Louie entered. He barely avoided hitting his burden's head off the top of the door frame. He carried Alexander Garand upstairs and laid him out on Tom and Susan's bed.
"Why did you bring him here?"
"I couldn't leave him out there. The werewolves that were after him never leave the woods, but other things do."
"Werewolves?"
"Yes, there were a pack of them after him."
That's not what Tom had meant. It was only a few days ago that he'd been forced to accept the existence of vampires. Now he had werewolves to deal with.

Tom stuck his head through the hatchway in the attic floor. "That's the video done. I even got Louie to hold up today's newspaper to prove it was made today."
Susan had just finished putting a bed sheet over an old, worn mattress. With Garand in their room, Majo in the spare room, and Tony on the sofa, they had no choice but to sleep in the attic. Louie slept on the bare floor. They'd offered him the mattress, but he'd insisted their need was greater than his.
"Thomas," said Susan.
"What's wrong, dear?" he replied. She hardly ever called him Thomas.
"What's about to happen." She paused. Tom gave her an inquisitive look. "It's exactly why we left Earian."
"That was different."
"Different?" Her voice raised slightly as she continued, "of course it was different. There were no refugees, after all."
"There must have been some refugees. Remember that business with the Autonomous Lizard's Republic?"
"That doesn't count," replied Susan, again a little louder. "That didn't make any real refugees."
"As I recall, the hotel manager got his arm broken," said Tom, a little apprehensively.
"Can we forget about the hotel for a second?" snapped Susan.
"Sorry. Tell you what, as soon as we get the mansion sorted out, we'll take a holiday. We could go to Thernon to see your brother perform. He's wanted you to visit him ever since he got into the Royal Opera's orchestra."
"That's just it. I can't leave. You think with hundreds of refugees arriving, they're going to let a surgeon take a holiday? And even if they did, you think I'd leave?"

"Thank you, dear," said Hilda, stiffly. Hilda took a sip of the tea she had just been handed.
"My pleasure, grandmother," replied Gary. He closed his briefcase. "I can't thank you enough."
"Nonsense. Anything to see the family name back in charge of Peddleburg. Every penny of that must go to your campaign, mind. I expect to see receipts. Now zip up the mattress, there's a good boy." Parker obeyed, making sure none of the banknotes fell out onto the floor. He would never understand why his grandmother flatly refused to open a bank account. Just as well, though. He'd be back for the rest some other time. Hilda looked over her visitor. A self-centred, devious little brat. But he'd make a good governor. And who knows, maybe he'd stop asking her for money. He had no excuse for it, not with his inheritance. She took another large sip. This was very invigorating tea. Her heart hadn't been this active in years.
"There we go. Now I'm afraid I'll have to leave you, grandmother dear."
"Oh, what a pity," she lied. "Goodbye. Don't forget to call again soon."
"I won't. I'm sure I'll see you again very soon. Goodbye."
"Goodbye," said Hilda as he closed the door behind him. Her heart was positively racing now. Out in the hall, Gary met Hilda's maid.
"Poor girl," he thought, "she'll be out of a job soon. I simply must offer her an interview."
He wished her a good day and left.

"He's waking up!" called Majo. She was sitting by Alexander's bedside. Alexander cursed inwardly. He would have liked to have assessed his surroundings before anyone realised he was awake. Not only that, but his face felt like it had been hit by a train. He opened his eyes. It was immediately obvious that he hadn't been taken back to the Greenthorpe mansion.
"Where am I?"
"The Bradhurst residence, Greenthorpe," replied Majo. Tom and Susan entered the room.
"Who are you?" he asked. As they introduced themselves, Louie arrived.
"What do you want with me?" asked Alexander.
"We want to know why you were hunting Mr. Greenthorpe, here," said Susan. He considered this. He didn't know why they had no problem with the vampire. They were clearly in on the Masquerade, and they must have realised he was with Schism or a similar organisation.
"An incident a few days ago. A squad of marines and a TV crew were slaughtered by the present occupier of Mr. Greenthorpe's home. Which I am assuming is Mr. Greenthorpe."
"I moved out several days ago," said Louie. "The guy who killed those people is someone else. But you needn't worry about him."
"Oh?"
"He had a nasty accident involving a piano. Lost his head, you see."
"Ah. Would this 'accident' have involved you in any way?"
"Might have."
"Luckily for you, you can take the Masquerade Law into your own hands. After all, Schism can't police the entire planet."
"Schism? Never heard of it."
"But it's heard of you, and that's what's important."
"Schism. A very unofficial Carrotus government department that preserves the Masquerade," said Tom, recalling his studies.
"Yes," said Alexander.
"So good at what it does, I didn't even believe it existed until now."
"What is this 'Masquerade'?" asked Majo. Alexander swore under his breath. They weren't all in on the Masquerade after all. Well, they were now.
"It's what keeps the world ignorant to the presence of things like vampires and werewolves," replied Tom.
"And whatever moral quibbles you may have about it, it's vital that people stay ignorant," said Alexander. "You're all going to have to take the Oath of Secrecy. And then I'd like to confirm the elimination of the guy who brought me out here."

Alister

Sep 14, 2005, 01:50 PM

A few hours later, Alexander, Louie, Majo, Tony and Susan were in the morning room of Louie's mansion. They'd just finished burying Theodore Thatcher and were attempting to clean up the remaining evidence of the fight. Tom had gone to deliver the video of Louie to Councillor Dalton. It had taken some time to convince Alexander that Greenthorpe had a masquerade of its own, and that Dalton could be trusted to be discreet.
"It's no good, there's nothing we can do about the bloodstains," exclaimed Susan.
"Don't worry about it," said Alexander. "As long as the body's gone, we can claim anything else has been there for years." There was a noise from the hallway, and a few moments later Tom entered, followed by Dalton.
"Ah. Hello," said the latter.
"You must be Dalton," said Alexander.
"And you must be Mr. Garand."
"Have you called off the demolition order on this place?"
"Yes."
"Can't say I approve. A demolition would be the best way to clean up what's happened here. But hey, demolishing a building this size when hundreds of refugees are about to stream into the area would probably look suspicious."
"I'm not the most house-proud person, but it's going to need a hell of a clean," said Louie.
"A few trusted councillors are on their way to help out," said Dalton. "They'll be here any minute, so if any of you want to make yourselves scarce, now would be the time."
"I'd better make a move," said Louie. "I'm not the most popular guy in Greenthorpe."
"That's not necessary. They'd like to make amends for assuming the worst about you all these years."
That moment, they heard some yelling outside. A second later, a zombie crashed through the morning room doors, tearing them off their hinges and smashing most of their glass.
"Alright. Where's the vampire?" it snarled. There was a stunned silence. Michelle grew impatient. "Answer me, or you all die!" She was in an impatient mood, and she could feel the Hunger rising.
"Which vampire?" asked Louie.
"The one who killed my brother!"
"Was your brother part of a TV crew?"
"No! Wait. He was with a TV crew."
"A marine then?"
"Yes. Now where's the vampire?" she shouted.
"He's dead."
"What?"
"Dead. The grave's just out there, if you want to take a look."
Michelle walked over to one of the tall, mucky windows, and wiped away enough of the grime to see a freshly dug grave just outside.
"That proves nothing."
"What other proof can we possibly offer you?"
She pondered this, then hurled herself through the window. She dug into the grave, throwing up mud and stones until at last she reached the coffin. She couldn't open it as she hadn't shifted enough earth, so instead she rammed her arm through the lid and pulled out Theodore's severed head. She looked up. Alexander was leaning out of the window, looking down at her.
"Satisfied?" he asked.
"Yes. That's him." She dropped the head back into the coffin and climbed out of the grave. Her brother's death had been avenged, and she hadn't even been there to see it, let alone take part in it. She knelt down and cried.
"Just a few days ago my life was perfectly normal. Then this *er killed my brother." She sobbed in silence for a minute or two. Alexander climbed out into the garden and put his arm round her. It had been a long time since he'd had to comfort anybody.
"There, shh. It's all over now."
"All over? I'm a *ing zombie. A zombie! All because I didn't trust anyone else to sort out my problems. All because I'm too impulsive."
"Don't start blaming yourself. We all do strange things when we're upset or angry."
"Nice words. But they're not going to cure me, are they? I'm dead now. Last time I checked, there was no cure for death. Well, none that would improve my situation."
Back in the mansion, Tom sighed. Vampires, werewolves, zombies. He'd have to dig out his old textbooks to find out what else was out there. And what about Diamondus? What kind of creatures were on their way from Diamondus?

(Short, but uni has just restarted and I'm pressed for time. If I've taken unwelcome liberties with anyone's characters, do say so.)

Risp_old

Sep 14, 2005, 02:27 PM

You don't have a right to call that short. Just look at my chapter D=

And my tenth page!

Alister

Sep 14, 2005, 04:36 PM

Shorter*

And page claim!

Risp_old

Sep 14, 2005, 04:37 PM

Hey, we can't both own this page.

Alister

Sep 14, 2005, 04:44 PM

Oops. Didn't realise that was a claim. I disclaim (?).

<a href="http://treacle.hewwo.com/jazz/story.html">The compilation</a>'s listings have a nifty new format. Yay!

Risp_old

Sep 14, 2005, 04:47 PM

Cool =D.
Now who's turn is it? Cobra?

acid

Sep 15, 2005, 09:14 PM

Awesome chapter, also, nice new compilation format.

On the subject of the compilation, could you please change what Tony says in chapter 4 from "turtle snot" to an expletive or censorship of your choice? I think that would make it fit better with the rest of the story. I already made that change in this thread.

Monolith

Sep 21, 2005, 05:40 PM

Strato is next. Followed by KRSplat, then Cobra. I mentioned this to strato, and it sounded like he'd get to work on it.. I guess.

Doubble Dutch

Sep 22, 2005, 01:46 AM

On the subject of the compilation, could you please change what Tony says in chapter 4 from "turtle snot" to an expletive or censorship of your choice? I think that would make it fit better with the rest of the story.

Something like Harespit perhaps?

The SlaYeR

Oct 13, 2005, 11:36 PM

It has been a month since the last reply.
I suggest that we give Strato 2 days too reply and then move on too the next person.

Doubble Dutch

Oct 14, 2005, 06:26 AM

Seconded.

Coppertop

Oct 16, 2005, 12:30 PM

Thirded. ;)

Monolith

Oct 16, 2005, 08:25 PM

KRSplat then?

The SlaYeR

Oct 24, 2005, 02:34 AM

Yes, it's his turn. Otherwise we're going to have to skip someone again.
It's a shame that people seem to be giving up on this story.
We all started this togheter guys.

Alex

Oct 24, 2005, 06:54 AM

well then... I think you are right...

Doubble Dutch

Oct 29, 2005, 06:13 AM

Do the people who contribute these chapters actually read this thread?

Will someone post a chapter already?

Coppertop

Oct 29, 2005, 09:01 AM

Please?

The SlaYeR

Oct 29, 2005, 10:18 AM

Risp_old

Oct 29, 2005, 10:31 AM

I guess.

Cobra

Oct 29, 2005, 10:44 AM

Sounds good enough. Maybe we should have made rules like this up at the beginning. Perhaps people should be less concerned with posting monster-sized stories (which obviously take more time).

Coppertop

Oct 29, 2005, 02:30 PM

I agree. It's harder to write during the school year than it is during the summer, but I think we all knew this would be a long-term project.

A week? I could do that. It may take me a little longer, but I'll let you know when the time comes.

Doubble Dutch

Oct 31, 2005, 02:32 AM

Oooh, please post something! I view this topic in vain every day for new content!

The SlaYeR

Oct 31, 2005, 05:48 AM

Only five people have shown interest so far. Come on guys!

Alex

Oct 31, 2005, 07:20 AM

six...
should i join? its just taht i have nto much inspiration, and cant write (or do anything original or artistic for that matter :(:()

The SlaYeR

Oct 31, 2005, 09:58 AM

Well, sounds like you are a perfect addition to the team.

Doubble Dutch

Nov 1, 2005, 02:01 AM

Yeah, that never stopped me.

You can't do worse than the nothings that are being posted regularly, perhaps you could take over someones chapter?

Alex

Nov 1, 2005, 11:36 AM

I would be okay with that, but still note that my homework goes first (and sometimes I spend so much time on my computer it piles up a lot :lol: :lol: :lol: )
but I will find time to write, if needed in the middle of the night (when sometimes I do get inspired.. (I did my levelmaking midnight too, but I didnt ever release much of it, because most of them were in fact hotels, which everybody thinks suck. (a lot do thoug, mine didn't *brag*;) )

oh well, wo wants to stop and donate their character(s)?

The SlaYeR

Nov 2, 2005, 05:04 AM

Several people have already quit, maybe you can adopt their characters, if you want to or create a new one. It's up to you really, do the others agree with Alex joining in?
I personally don't mind.

Coppertop

Nov 2, 2005, 06:05 AM

I don't mind, I say welcome to the club. If he decides to make his own character it's definitely not too late to add new faces into the story. Or kill old ones instead of just letting them vanish off the map.

Doubble Dutch

Nov 3, 2005, 02:27 AM

Yeah! Lets create a mass murderer to cull the abandonded characters in exceedingly gruesome ways!

The SlaYeR

Nov 3, 2005, 04:16 AM

Sounds like a plan. Oh and by the way.
November the third has come.

Alex

Nov 3, 2005, 10:07 AM

small list of 'unwanted' characters appreciated, i will kill em all ;D:D:D
(or not really, just put em out of the storyline, on a dead end plot or something..)

Coppertop

Nov 3, 2005, 11:34 AM

Looks like just the hardcore WT'ers, Slay.

Doubble Dutch

Nov 3, 2005, 03:54 PM

Oh well, the reduced numbers will make the story go faster at least.

Risp_old

Nov 3, 2005, 03:55 PM

Hopefully.

Coppertop

Nov 4, 2005, 05:35 AM

Hm. Just when it was getting interesting, too.

Alister

Nov 5, 2005, 08:12 AM

Sounds like a plan. Oh and by the way.
November the third has come.
Noooooooooooooooo

Ducky

Nov 6, 2005, 03:46 PM

Uh, well, seeing as I moderate about once a week, and I generally like to catch up on things in this thread just before it's my turn so I don't forget everything, and I didn't read this thread in the five days since I've been back in the States, am I out?

If I am, please kill my character violently. If I'm not, I'm still up for working on this with you all. :)

Doubble Dutch

Nov 6, 2005, 06:33 PM

You'll have to throw yourself apon the mercy of Coppertop; I find either abject begging or large boxes of assorted chocolates work best in this situation.

The SlaYeR

Nov 7, 2005, 01:31 AM

Ofcourse you and Alister are still free to join if you want to.

Coppertop

Nov 7, 2005, 05:32 AM

Err, my mercy? I'm not the one running this thread, Slay is ;) And doing a fine job of it too.

I have no problem if you want to continue writing, Duckeh. And Alister.

The SlaYeR

Nov 8, 2005, 06:22 AM

Thank you for the compliment Coppertop :)

In my opinion, i'm not doing to much of a good job. I should be more strict and then everyone might finish they're chapters in time. But we'll make the best of it.

acid

Nov 8, 2005, 05:10 PM

I went idle for a while since nothing seemed to be happening around here. Looks like I chose a bad time to do that. I was planning to check back in once in a while to see if it was getting close to my chapter.

I hope I can still be a part of this, but I understand if you don't want me, especially since I opted out of my last chapter.

The SlaYeR

Nov 8, 2005, 05:23 PM

Everyone who is willing to follow the new guidelines is welcome to join. So I don't see a problem in your return.

The SlaYeR

Nov 9, 2005, 02:00 PM

I made a list to show who still participates in this little thing we have going.

Cobra, you will be up next. I hope you can find the time to write.
Coppertop.
Alex.
SlaYo.
Risp.
Acid.
Ducky.
Doubble Dutch.
ToxicBunny.

I hope we will continue without to many difficulties.

Coppertop

Nov 9, 2005, 02:19 PM

It's a smaller list for sure. It should take less time to complete a round. I hope the reduced stress allows for larger chapters (especially from me ;))

EDIT: is that also the order we will be going in Slay?

The SlaYeR

Nov 9, 2005, 02:23 PM

Yes it is, I left all of the people who did not reply out and maintained the original order. Including Alex.

Doubble Dutch

Nov 9, 2005, 04:31 PM

So next up is...?

Coppertop

Nov 9, 2005, 04:36 PM

Cobra.

Cobra

Nov 12, 2005, 10:27 PM

crapcrapcrap. I must discuss some things with you, Slay, before I continue. You know of what I speak.

The SlaYeR

Nov 13, 2005, 12:19 PM

I know, I hope you'll be on tonight so we can do that right away and keep things going.

Cobra

Nov 19, 2005, 06:12 PM

Such life! Such beauty! It seemed that the hopelessness of the world had suddenly disappeared and no matter what happened, everything would be alright. Such emotions stirred that she had not felt in years. Clarity seemed to spring forth in her mind, even though the sting in her eyes. She opened them again, and once again blasted her optic nerves with the glorious sky.

As she repeatedly burned her eyes, addicted to the loss of desperation, her tattered ears started picking up on a sound that had previously been static. The laugh. Still beautiful, still from a voice more skilled than hers would ever be. But as reality stabilized she could tell there was something different about the laugh. Instead of returning her eyes to her beautiful sky, she angled her head towards the laugh.

Amidst the ruins she had loved so much was a golden figure with black framing her. The features were all a blur until she saw a flash of white gleam out from the middle of the face. Trying too hard to focus, she did not react when the figure leapt at her and slammed her head into the ground. Over and over again, flashes of lightning and fire in her eyes erupting in almost the same pattern as the last stars she saw. She shrieked, shrill and stuttered each time her skull hit the ground, ears flying around her occasionally getting twisted in a painful angle and once one was caught between her and the ground, crunching with a bruising certainty.

As she pleaded without words for an end to the torture, she felt a seemingly familiar feeling. There was a face against hers, lips pressed against her open, screaming mouth. Her nonexistent reflexes tried to shut her mouth, but she was too late. Something clamped into her tongue – no, it clamped through. Her torturer pulled away and laughed again as her mouth was filled with spurts of blood, her tongue hurting so much she wanted to remove it. She tried to scream, but instead of the normal sound of her voice, it was now mottled with varying tones.
“My sacrificial lamb, it is now time for you to serve your purpose, for your purpose is to die for my wants.” The sensual voice was there again, deep with life and ebbing with death as each word twisted to the next. If not for the pain, she could have fallen into it again.

The pain! Her ears had been wrenched upon, and as one arm was raised in hopes of saving it, it was caught. Whether teeth, claws or a knife was tearing through skin and muscle, she did not know. First on her outer arm it was torn from wrist to elbow, then her arm was pulled and rolled away from her body, nearly causing the joint to lock, and the same was done to her inner arm, from elbow to wrist. She sobbed, tear ducts overflowing with salt and blood, but her mouth even more full. Trying to breath, she choked on it and hacked, blood spewing down her face.

“Look.” The voice commanded, no longer beautiful but forceful, like the voice of death, like the voice of Jade Dawn fating her to nothingness. “Look” Fearfully, she opened her eyes slightly, expectantly towards the voice. “LOOK. The last you will see is the name of who you die for.” She could not turn her eyes away from the blur of a face, but her own forearm was forced into her view. Beneath the streams of blood were dark, deep gashes:

ESTELLA

She shrieked her hollow cry, and her arm was shoved into her face and the other taken and treated the same. Estella. This must be the cursed name of this creature.

As Estella moved her way down her body, etching her name upon her sternum, on her legs, on her back, shredding the robes as she went, Neoma lay there, motionless aside from the shudders and twitches as Estella flayed nerves.

At least she was given the opportunity to die at one of the only places she remembered. She had loved this place. It was precious to her.
Precious. That was the meaning of the name someone had called her once -- Yakira. She had loved this person.

Yakira. She would not die a traveler, as the name Erditine had suggested.

It was if she was not really there, as if she was not in control of anything. Through ringing ears, she heard Estella say what seemed like static to her. She opened her eyes to gaze up at her tormentor, her killer. A paw descended upon her neck, and she felt each individual claw sink into her throat. Harder the pressed, making her gasp and inhale blood, but unable to fully cough. It was not the lack of air that was making her existence seem to disappear or the serpents of pain and dizziness wrap around her head. Blood was soaking through everything. All of her fur was damp and pinked by it, the ground was warm. Her lifeforce was drowning the ground.
Through one slanted eye, she saw blood begin to spurt up at Estella. Something pink obscured the glow of her teeth – was she licking the blood off her face? Her own arm was forced in front of her face, the name obscured through the clots and streams.
“This is the name that will carry you to death.”
She forced her eyes closed and choked more as the grasp on her neck sharpened, but let go. Uncontrollably her eyes filled and she flung herself forward to drain the blood from her mouth. Raising her blurred eyes, she was wordless and frozen.

Estella had raised her arms and let forth a deafening screech, baring her fangs, claws out. Two identical creatures, shining as if with an inner light, one blindingly white, one brazen. Each was longer than either rabbit, and from them billowed what seemed to be massive wings, if she could focus long enough. Between the rabbit and the ethereal creatures there seemed to be a battle of sharp movements she could not discern. The light was blinding her.
Pain ripped through her back, but it was unlike the torture of Estella. It seemed to be coming from her skeleton and radiating out. She writhed, feeling as if the earth was crumbling under her. All sounds seemed to echo with a metallic feel, and she felt her eyes roll into her head just before she saw a sea of some unknown, slithering force stream out from the forests around the Mills and engulf Estella.

But next Yakira knew, she was running. Her limbs moved with an involuntary force like a machine. Clotted blood was globbing off her every wound, and it seemed the more conscious she was, the harder it was to run, the more her vision faded, and the more every open wound on her body cried out. The Mills were nowhere in sight, the forest had completely changed and the sun was gone from the sky. But a mansion was slowly growing out of the haze, and she continued, mutilated arms raised, crying out with her mottled voice begging for wordless mercy.

Doubble Dutch

Nov 19, 2005, 10:58 PM

Ouch.

Alex

Nov 20, 2005, 01:40 AM

*hypno*
very bloody, very well written.

Coppertop

Nov 20, 2005, 12:33 PM

... wow.

Coppertop

Dec 1, 2005, 06:23 AM

I should have mine up by Saturday (I hope). Sorry for the delay guys.

The SlaYeR

Dec 7, 2005, 08:46 AM

We are getting used to delays Coppertop.
Please have it done by Saturday. Enough people have stopped writing so far.
It would be a shame to see a creative little person like you drop out of our story.

Cobra, thank you for your wonderful addition.
It's a shame most of the comments are about the level of bloodyness instead of the wonderful dialogue. The way you are able to make the reader feel what the character feels is also very impressive.

The SlaYeR

Dec 7, 2005, 08:48 AM

I have an idea. We could easily figure out who still cares for this story by asking everyone. Everyone who is still interested in story should make a reply to this thread before November the 3th.
Everyone who does not reply shall be TERMINATED.
Reply only if you think you are able to post another chapter in no less then a week after the chapter before yours was posted.

Does everyone think this is a good idea?

I hope you'll be finished by Saturday.
Do you have a good reason for not being able to finish a chapter.
It does not have to be huge, you can just write a short chapter.
But it would be nice if people followed the rules for a change.

Coppertop

Dec 7, 2005, 11:55 AM

I will have it done before Saturday. I apologize again Slay, it took me a few weeks to realize I was next. I won't forget again. *hugs*

Doubble Dutch

Dec 7, 2005, 10:23 PM

*Gasp!* Things are getting posted!

*faints*

Coppertop

Dec 10, 2005, 03:26 PM

Not sure what chapter we're on, I'm guessing 30. Thus.

Chapter 30 - Lies and Betrayal

It is strange what one remembers when under extreme stress. Images, sounds, even scents come back with extraordinary clarity.
Jesse, flat on his back, was having one of these moments. The image of his father, recalled from memory by Verity's words, was so real to him that for a moment he thought the fire and everything following it was, perhaps, a dream. Jonathan Aimon's face was lit by a sardonic half-smile, the kind that Jesse had both loved and feared because of how swiftly it could change into either approval or scorn. Jesse had always avoided his father's wrath; the elder Aimon was neither gentle nor sparing in his discipline, but he was extremely fair, and Jesse never resented his punishments.
Jonathan's image reached towards Jesse, as though to help him up.
The pressure on his throat increased painfully. Jesse cound himself gasping for air that wouldn't come. Black spots flickered at the edge of his vision.
Dad?
Pick yourself up, Jesse. His father's voice, ghosting from memory. What happens when I'm not there for you? Learn to stand alone, without my help, and you will be even stronger with my help.
"Verity!"
Dazed, Jesse realized that this crazed female was going to kill him. His father abruptly forgotten, he found himself clawing at her knee, twisting frantically to get free, heedless of the RF launcher she was covering him with. He hadn't let Miss Savon kill him, nor Syamin and Adrian. There was no way he would let this stranger do him in without a fight.
"Verity!"
"I haven't forgotten you, Jonathan," she hissed at him, ignoring her companions, "or what you did to us."
Dad, what did you do?
Jesse was on the verge of blacking out. He could picture his father's sideways smile becoming scornful at his failure.
The pressure eased up suddenly, and his breath was very loud in his ears. Over the grey rabbit's shoulder he saw her black-furred companion bodily lifting her off him.
He closed his eyes and concentrated on breathing.
It was a moment before he realized that the black rabbit was speaking to him.
"Your name is Jonathan?"
Jesse shook his head no. If the grey rabbit - Verity? - if Verity had such a grudge against the late general, he would be better off not admitting any blood relationship at all.
"Who are you then?"
"My name .. is Jesse." The last time he had spoken those words, it had been to another black rabbit. Jesse thought this one was more trustworthy though, which was why he had approached to begin with.
"Jesse what?" the black rabbit's eyes sharpened suspiciously.
"Just .. Jesse." Why did people insist so much on knowing last names? It didn't change who he was.
"I see." The dark violet-blue eyes warned him that the topic was not forgotten. "Do you know Verity?"
"No." He shut his eyes. Logic would say if he had known Verity, why would he have approached them?
"Who is Jonathan?
Jesse's eyes flew open. "What makes you think I know?"
"You recognized the name."
"Jonathan was ... a friend, I suppose."
"Was?"
"He's dead. Killed."
"He's lying," Verity said suddenly, voice tightly controlled. "Icarus, he's lying through his teeth."

Icarus sighed. "Give him a chance, Verity?" Verity made a disgusted noise. He turned back to the white rabbit who called himself Jesse.
"How did he die?"
"Why?"Getting answers from him was harder than pulling teeth. "Just answer the question, okay?"
Anger lit in Jesse's green eyes, but then he shrugged. "They got him in a fire."
"When?" Verity demanded. Jesse looked bewildered.
"A few weeks ago? I lost track of time.."
Icarus regarded this strange youth suspiciously. Ash and grime made his white fur dingy. He smelled of smoke. Icarus went on intuition.
"You set that fire in that station."
Jesse tensed. Clearly Icarus had hit a nerve. "Not - directly."
"How do you indirectly commit arson?"
Jesse didn't answer that. Icarus waited patiently. Finally, the white rabbit looked away. "It's a long story."
"I'm sure it is. How many people died?"
"I don't know."
"You don't know?" Verity's whole body expressed incredulity.(sp?)
"No more than two. Probably not even that. I think A.. one got out at least."
"Who?"
"A ... spymaster. And a spy. We... fought. The fire was accidental." He looked at Verity nervously, looking very young for a moment. "Can I get up?"
"Don't try anything."
"Like what?" Jesse sat up, gingerly rubbing his bruised throat. "You think I'm going to jump up and start burning everything? I'm sorry, I've had enough fire to last me a lifetime. Two lifetimes," and his head jerked up defiantly.
Verity looked clearly disbelieving. Jesse matched her stare for stare.
"How can we believe you?" Naomi said suddenly. "We don't know you. You won't even tell us your last name, for heaven's sake."
Jesse smiled bitterly. "I'm thinking I should look for passage offworld elsewhere, then?"
Icarus was surprised into a laugh. "Yes, the reception's been a little unfriendly, hasn't it. Naomi, you have to remember too, Jesse could be completely innocent. There's a good chance Verity has the wrong rabbit."
Verity found her voice. "Not bloody likely."
Jesse's face darkened. "What did Jonathan ever do to you?"
"You should know," Verity said dangerously. Jesse shook his head. He didn't look as though he wanted to know either. Icarus shrugged.
"It's an honest question," he remarked, "but makes no difference whatsoever to the question of passage."
Verity turned startled eyes to him. "You can't seriously be considering taking him?"
"It's not up to you or me," Icarus pointed out. "It's Naomi's ship."
Naomi gave Icarus a look that said thanks a lot. He shrugged it off. She sighed. "Icarus, can I talk to you for a moment?"
"Uh, sure."
She drew him away from Jesse and Verity, who were eyeing each other again.
"What are you doing," she hissed at him once they were out of earshot. "We need Verity. We don't need this Jesse guy! He as much as admitted to killing two people and setting that fire we saw!"
"He also said that he thought they might have escaped, and the fire was accidental," he reminded her. "But like I said, the coice is yours."
"What if he's lying? What if he is this Jonathan?"
Icarus shrugged. "There's no justice on Diamondus anymore," he pointed out. "If he does turn out to be some criminal, we can turn him over to the Carrotan authorities."
"You believe him," she accused. Icarus gave her a twisted smile.
"I'm just remembering another kid accused of crimes he didn't commit," he said softly. "I have a certain amount of sympathy for Jesse, yes."
"Oh, Icarus," Naomi said, penitent, "I'm so sorry. I didn't think - I mean - that you saw him like that."
"Aside from the last name issue, he seems to be telling the truth," he told her.
"Then what do we tell Verity?"
"I'd say it's probably better to keep an eye on him than to kill him out of hand or let him go," he mused. "That way she can be sure of getting justice on Carrotus. And the truth might come to the surface."
"The truth?"
"About what Jesse says. And Verity."
"Oh."
"Make the call, captain."
"... Can you talk to Verity for me?" Naoimi's eyes were pleading. Icarus grinned.

Jesse watched Icarus and Naoimi walk away before turning his eyes to Verity.
"What did Jonathan do? he asked again, weary of this whole thing. "Try to kill you?" His quick eyes noted the scar on her face. Verity scowled.
"Oh, you tried. I'm not so easy to kill though."
Jesse stayed quiet.
"Raphael trusted you," she said bitterly. "You made him betray Eddie, and then you betrayed him."
He blinked. Verity's words disturbed him more than he admitted. Those names were familiar, and he couldn't place them.
"Look," he said finally. "I don't know how to convince you. I'm not Jonathan. I'm Jesse."
Verity laughed. "For not being him, you sure do look like him."
The words were a cold weight in Jesse's stomach. He told himself firmly that she was not speaking of his father. His father wanted nothing to do with the war. He was honorable. He didn't betray people.

But how often had he been told that he was his father's spitting image?

Couldn't find Ducky, so I was a little limited in what I could do, but I'm not displeased with how it turned out.

Doubble Dutch

Dec 10, 2005, 03:46 PM

Yays!

Ducky

Dec 13, 2005, 08:51 PM

Nice one, CT. (:

Alex

Dec 14, 2005, 02:59 AM

:) nice!

Doubble Dutch

Dec 15, 2005, 03:47 PM

Next!

Coppertop

Dec 15, 2005, 05:00 PM

I believe Alex is next.

Alex

Dec 16, 2005, 07:19 AM

well, I shall start writing then..

Alex

Dec 21, 2005, 08:38 AM

I have kind of a sad anouncement,
due to the situation in my private life, I am not really able to write anything.

please skip my turn.

Coppertop

Dec 21, 2005, 04:03 PM

That would make it your turn, Slay. Look forward to seeing your chapter. ;)

Tik

Dec 27, 2005, 08:15 PM

I thought I was between Cobs and CT.. why didn't I get to write a chapter? Did I say somewhere that I couldn't? I probably could still, it just may take a bit. of time. I liked your chapter lots, by the way, CT.

Doubble Dutch

Dec 27, 2005, 08:24 PM

It wasn't what you said, so much as what you didn't say in time. I'm sure if you write one it can be slipped in somewhere. Get typing.

Coppertop

Dec 28, 2005, 04:18 PM

Thanks, Tick. Like DD said, get writing. :p

Doubble Dutch

Jan 6, 2006, 06:49 PM

I do believe I told someone to start writing.

Do you want me to get the thwacky stick?

The SlaYeR

Jan 11, 2006, 12:32 PM

Spaztic, you alive man?

Alister

Jan 20, 2006, 11:18 AM

*pokes thread*

Doubble Dutch

Jan 20, 2006, 04:23 PM

*sniffs hread*

Yeaps, its dead alright!

The SlaYeR

Jan 21, 2006, 05:32 AM

Spaztic didn't write.
My turn then I guess, i'll start writing on Monday.

Coppertop

Jan 21, 2006, 12:58 PM

He did say he thought his turn was between Cobra and I. He may be waiting till then, I don't know.

*cheers Slay on*

The SlaYeR

Jan 21, 2006, 05:14 PM

Ah, a misunderstanding then.
Everyone told him to start writing, so I guess that is why I assumed it was his turn.
Oh well, Monday.

Tik

Jan 23, 2006, 05:04 AM

Sorry for the confusion, Slay. The story should continue and if I finish a chapter I'll just post it whenever and continue again at my old slot, or just wait until then.

The SlaYeR

Jan 23, 2006, 07:35 AM

This is a continuous story though.
I think that might give certain difficulties.
What does everyone think?

Alister

Jan 23, 2006, 09:06 AM

If Spaztic and SlaYo's chapters have no impact on each other, they might as well be wirtten at the same time. If SlaYo's chapter is ready before Spaztic's, we can discuss then whether he should wait or not before posting it.

Ducky

Jan 23, 2006, 07:34 PM

*bounces*

Page claim in the name of not-dying.

The SlaYeR

Jan 30, 2006, 09:34 AM

I'm getting there and the new chapter will be posted very, very soon.
I can already reveal that I have written a flashback that is a continuation from the one in my previous chapter. It will give a bit more detail and insight relating to the relation between Louie Greenthorpe and Estella Bane.
I think it looks great so far. I hope you will all enjoy it.

Look back very soon for the chapter. (Possibly even tonight.)

Doubble Dutch

Feb 2, 2006, 05:52 AM

*blinks*

The SlaYeR

Feb 4, 2006, 06:45 PM

Chapter 31: Atrocity makes the heart grow yonder.

Through darkness he wandered across the fields outside of town.
Everything was new and fresh. Feelings of self-hatred were mixed with pleasure.
Innocence was hanging from the corners of his mouth.
He was responsible for the death of a young woman and liable to make the same mistake again. Over and over… until it drove him crazy.
Estella followed him. The dry grass tickled the bottom of her feet, but this was not the source of the grin that had been resting on her face since the moment of Louie’s rising from the grave. She brought eternal life to him. Her favourite creature of all.
He often broke down and cried. ‘Tears of joy because he sees everything much clearer now.’
She would place his head in her lap and gently stroke the tips of his ears.
Confusion clouded his mind. Had she blessed him with the purest gift of all or had she made him stand near the edge of hell and given him the last push.
He hated her, but he couldn’t think of anyone he would rather be with than her.
She was his mother, his murderess and his lover all in one.
‘Sleep, my baby. And wake up tomorrow to find me at your side.’
She wouldn’t leave him for the world.
He woke up the next morning and there she was. Bathing in the lake outside of Greenthorpe mansion. The sun was reflected in the tiny drops of water that hang from her fur.
Her fur was of the purest white he had ever seen and it gave her an angelic look.
He knew that she was no angel though, she was far supreme to any supernatural being.
Because she was his, and his alone.
Louie entered the body of water and could feel more then he had ever felt.
He could feel every single drop of water and he slowly moved over to Estella.
And they unified.

They spend every moment of the following months together.
Dancing, talking, hunting, feeding, unifying. Until they came…

The voices of Louie’s victims came back to haunt him.
Many a rabbit had lost their lives to him. He could hear they’re cries in the night.
When Estella’s body brushed against his and she was fast asleep.
She kept him going for a while. But the number of voices grew and it was not long before they consumed him. He could not take this life and they would never again give him peace of mind.
Until he had lost everything that he had taken from them.
Estella was everything he had and he was everything she had.
But when he was away from her, he found peace.
He would often hide in the forest surrounding Greenthorpe and he would stay away for hours.
Leaving Estella alone in the mansion. Everything changed from that time on.
He would often ignore her. Hurting himself more then she would ever know.
Louie tried to hate her, but he knew he could never do that. And so did she.
But she loved him and therefore she knew she had no choice.
When he woke up one morning, she was gone. Estella had left a little note on her pillow.

‘Dear lover,

Nothing in the world can describe the pain I will be in for the rest of my life, but to stay here with you would be intolerable cruelty. I should never have done this to you.
It is to late to regret my actions but I must face the consequences for them alone.
By the time you read this, I will be reduced to dust. And the wind will carry me across the lands. Know that in spirit I will always be with you. And know that you are the only man I have ever loved. Never forget me, for I will never forget you.
I love you dearest,

Estella.’

The note fell from Louie’s hand and found its final resting place by the foot of the grand piano. The house gave him no comfort.
Estella had left him all alone in this new world and it swallowed him whole.
He knew not what to do and with the image of Estella in mind he sank into a comfortable chair. Feeding off of rats an thinking of nothing but her for years and years to come…

* * *

“Many of you have found jobs thanks to me. Others made promises that I’ve fulfilled.
Where others talk about a better life for all of our furred friends. I delivered.
And I will continue to do so if you have faith in me. Vote not for those who will give you five more years of promises. Vote for the person that already fulfilled dozens.”

Thomas shook his head and took another sip of his ale.
He looked around the room. Strange characters had filled his house lately and the place was a mess. His lovely wife was preparing dinner in the kitchen.
Lately he felt more and more estranged from her. She turned out to be such a strong and confident woman, who was not surprised by anything and had an answer to everything.
He had been up to his nose in books about these strange creatures.
They were in front of him and he could still hardly believe his eyes.
The vampire and the zombie were involved in a deep conversation. Vampire… Zombie?
Alexander Garand sat in front of him. Recently attacked by a werewolf. A werewolf?
He still couldn’t believe this. But he had more to worry about.
Parker was running for governor. And he was sure to win the elections.
‘That man can’t be trusted. The more power he gets, the darker things will get.’
Alexander did not speak much, but when he did, people listened.
‘He has connections with the underworld. They worship him, even the werewolves are afraid of him.’ He shuddered. And so did Louie.
Werewolves were the biggest thread to his kind. A war had been going on between they’re kinds for ages. No one knew exactly how it started, but most people believe that it was because Ronahin, the first werewolf had bitten the head off of Kaijn, the first vampire.
Them being afraid of Parker was troublesome. To say the least.
Tony and Louie got up. ‘We’re going to walk over to the mansion. See how things are progressing. Does anyone care to join?”
Thomas was the only one who nodded, the rest rather stayed home for dinner.
‘Let me get my coat.’

* * *

Parker sat down on his office chair and told his secretary that she could go home today.
She was a good girl, he almost felt sorry for her. He turned the television on and was pleased to hear the news. He immediately picked up the phone and dialled the number to the Cholmondely & Smith office.
‘Cholmondely here.’ The old rabbit on the other end spoke.
‘Hey there old man, it’s Parker. Turn on your TV and watch the latest news.’
The old rabbit did as he was told. He wouldn’t dare to ignore Parker’s order.

‘…Hilda Parkers body was found this morning.
Her death came unexpected. She recovered not to long ago from an illness and had no health problems we know of…’

He did it, he killed the old bat. He’s going to make a fortune now.
‘Congratulations Gary.’ Cholmondely said coldly. ‘That makes you a multi-millionaire.’
Gary smirked. He hadn’t been this pleased in a long time.
‘It’s only the first step in the big plan.’ Gary said.
‘Contact them. Tell them to come to Carrotus.’
Cholmondely scratched his chin nervously. ‘Sure thing Gary, anything to help you.’
Parker put down the phone. They would crawl through the dust for him. Soon, they all will.

* * *

Tony looked around the dining room, it was unrecognisable.
The curtains had been torn down and the antiquities had been removed.
They must be storing them somewhere else. Many cloths lay on the floor.
Uncomfortable but welcome beds for the many refugees that would arrive the next morning.
‘Satisfied?’ Thomas asked Louie.
He nodded. ‘I hope they didn’t break anything while moving it though.’
The three of them walked around the house, the place was sure a lot more colourful and fresh then it had been before. Several men and women were still cleaning the place up.
Removing old tapestry, cleaning the walls and hard wooden floors.
‘They’re doing a great job.’ Thomas said.
‘You’ve been here for ages, you could’ve cleaned.’ Tony said jokingly.
At first he wasn’t sure Louie got the joke or not, but then he remembered he had never seen a smile on his face. ‘I think we’d best head back, dinner is probably ready and Susan has put some great effort into it.’ He said to break the silence that followed.

The SlaYeR

Feb 4, 2006, 06:46 PM

The three men left the mansion but stopped cold in their tracks.
The mutilated body of a young female lay only several meters away.
Dry lumps of blood stuck to her fur and it looked as if she had a difficult time breathing.
Without saying a word to each other, the three men approached her.
‘Are you alright?’ Thomas asked, trying to make his voice sound calm and nurturing.
Whether it was his voice or the girls fear they didn’t know. But she cowered at the mere sight of them. ‘Do not touch me, please leave. Please do not hurt me.’ Blood streamed down from her lips as she spoke, her voice was so soft. As if she spoke with the voice of a little child.
Whoever had done this to her had broken her spirit.
‘Poor girl, she’s lost it.’ Tony whispered. He could be so subtle.
She didn’t reply, she tried to crawl away from them burying her bloody fingers in the soft grass. Thomas noticed that an exceptional amount of blood seemed to drip down from underneath her body. ‘We have to get her to Susan before she bleeds to death.’ He said determined. ‘Whether she wants to or not is not important right now. We need to get her to my place if we want to save her life.’ Tony and Louie both looked at each other.
‘What did you have in mind?’ The first one said.
Yakira’s spirit realized that she had struggled enough for one day.
Her body wanted to continue escaping from the potential evildoers.
But she could not go on any longer. She rested on one of her arms and collapsed.
‘I guess that makes it a lot easier.’ Louie said with an indifferent tone to his voice.
Thomas squatted down next to her and rolled her over onto her back.
‘Alright Tony, you grab her legs and…’ He stopped right in the middle of his sentence.
Several letters had been spelled out across the cloth on her chest.
He looked over at Louie, as if he would somehow magically have an answer.
It looks like he did. ‘Estella Bane… This can’t be.’
‘You know who did this to her?’ Tony asked. Louie had never seen him this angry before.
He was impressed with Tony, who hadn’t thought highly off before.
But here he was standing, face to face with a vampire at least 15 times his age. And with an attitude. ‘She turned me into this… thing.’ After all of this time, he stilled found it difficult to call himself a vampire. They weren’t exactly known for they’re calm and friendly nature.
‘Let’s get this girl to the house first, he can tell us later.’ Thomas said to Tony, trying to calm him down and bring his attention back to the more important matters at hand.

‘What happened?’ Alexander said as he opened the door. ‘Who is this?’
‘We do not know, we found her at the mansion. Poor girl has been pretty roughed up.’
Tony said as he and Thomas placed her down on the couch.
Susan looked after her and healed her wounds. ‘It looks like something has attacked her eyes as well. What kind of monster could do this to her?’
‘A friend of Louie’s apparently.’ Tony said.
Yakira opened her eyes quickly, she could hardly see anything.
Several figures were surrounding her, she looked into the face of one of them.
She grabbed his hand. ‘Tell them not to hurt me.’ She said, before she drifted of again.
Her hand slid out of Louie’s who seemed dumbstruck for a moment.
He felt something soar through his body. Something he had not felt in a long time and then leaned over to her and whispered in her ear to make sure that no one else would hear him.
‘No one will as long as I’m around.’

Alister

Feb 5, 2006, 04:01 PM

Awesome, Slay :)

So who's up next? Let's not leave it a week or two before someone prods the next author.

Risp_old

Feb 5, 2006, 04:03 PM

If it's me, then I'm afraid to say I have totally forgotten what I wanted to do next and how I wanted to take my character by now, sorry D=

The SlaYeR

Feb 5, 2006, 04:07 PM

So you'll stop writing after you told us you still wanted to participated?
That's really awesome Risp :)

Risp_old

Feb 5, 2006, 04:27 PM

That was FOUR MONTHS ago. They say that a week is a long time in politics. Well, imagine how long four months are in real life? A whole four months!
A lot can happen in four months. Like, for example, MMORPGs and major school projects.
Anyway, would you have preferred it if I hadn't told you that and cost this story another month or two by not posting anything?

The SlaYeR

Feb 5, 2006, 11:17 PM

You are right Risp. I'm sorry about what I said, it's a shame though, I liked your writing and I'm sure we all did. You will be missed.

I believe Acid is up next, he's going to have to write an extra long chapter, because he missed out the last time.
Go for it mister Waterback!

Doubble Dutch

Feb 6, 2006, 01:02 AM

Yays! The story lives!

acid

Feb 8, 2006, 03:10 PM

Really, me next? I thought there was somebody between me and Slay. I'm currently bogged down between schoolwork and a coding project right now, but I'll get crackin' as soon as possible, which will be within a week I assure you.

The SlaYeR

Feb 16, 2006, 09:29 PM

So, making any progress Acid? ;)

acid

Feb 17, 2006, 06:21 PM

I've made a little progress, but it's taking a while. I figure I can do one of two things: spend a long time writing my next chapter and give you guys the good, long chapter that you deserve, or speed through it and upload a piece of crud that won't do justice to the story.

The SlaYeR

Feb 17, 2006, 07:08 PM

I think we all prefer quality, and we know you can provide it for us.
But please don't take to long ;)

Doubble Dutch

Feb 18, 2006, 01:32 AM

Well; we could get the next person to post a chapter, which will give him time to make it.

[Otherwise this story may take longer to write than the community can exist]

The SlaYeR

Feb 18, 2006, 02:53 AM

That won't work since this is a continuous story.

Doubble Dutch

Feb 19, 2006, 05:57 PM

So? I can't see why a chapter from another's viewpoint posted early would affect the story that much.

The SlaYeR

Feb 20, 2006, 04:06 AM

Yes, but Ducky's character is close to Diamondus.
What if she decides that there will be a big fight on Carrotus, or that the refugees are coming. And Acid has already written his chapter in such a way that this contradicts with hers.
I think we should just wait for him to be finished. I know that this is annoying, but I think that it would be more annoying if there would be conflict in the timeline of our story.

Doubble Dutch

Feb 21, 2006, 12:45 AM

Well I suppose thats true, although I think a short private discourse between the two contibutors would be able to solve any issues of clashing between chapters.

But hey, its not my story, whatever.

The SlaYeR

Feb 21, 2006, 01:27 AM

It's all of ours, so you have just as much to say as everyone else.

Raven aka StL

Feb 21, 2006, 05:11 AM

this threads been out for over 1,5 years longer, but still gets outnumbered (in posts) by the RR thread! :O

UNBELIEABLE!

The SlaYeR

Feb 21, 2006, 08:11 AM

You must be so happy.

Raven aka StL

Feb 23, 2006, 04:20 AM

not a crap, carry on ;]

The SlaYeR

Feb 25, 2006, 05:17 PM

We'll move on to the next in line in three days.

No excuses this time.

Doubble Dutch

Mar 4, 2006, 01:31 AM

Gosh; wasn't it three days three days ago? My how time flies!

Alister

Mar 5, 2006, 05:32 AM

*despondent sigh*

The SlaYeR

Mar 5, 2006, 08:59 AM

I know, but I'm sick and tired of being the nanny for some of these people.
I asked the people who wanted to continue with this story to reply.
They knew the rules and I was hoping they'd follow them.
Come on guys, stick to your word.

(Only directed at the people who don't do anything.)

Perhaps it's time for a zero tolerance policy.

Monolith

Mar 5, 2006, 07:25 PM

You may end up with nobody left with a zero tolerance policy :P

Doubble Dutch

Mar 7, 2006, 09:04 PM

Not even Nobody would post under that.

But yeahs, c'mon peoples!

acid

Mar 9, 2006, 05:01 PM

I always pick the worst times to go idle, don't I.

All right, I'm going to make a confession. I haven't been busy, or at least too busy to write my chapter. I simply forgot about it half the time, and didn't feel like writing for the other half.

I do have a little bit written, though, and can probably get a chapter finished soon if I put my mind to it. So, I ask this: if I were to finish my chapter before the next one is posted, would you accept it?

Doubble Dutch

Mar 9, 2006, 09:10 PM

Hell, *I* haen't got any problem with that, just so long as someone posts something before our characters get bored and decide to finnish things themselves.

The SlaYeR

Mar 10, 2006, 02:30 AM

Ok, but hurry.

Doubble Dutch

Mar 16, 2006, 07:36 PM

I don't see any hurrying.

Gaddarnit people! This si a professsional outfit!

(Filter bypass. Please refrain from doing this.. - CT)

Alister

Mar 29, 2006, 08:36 AM

Oh, come ON!

Coppertop

Mar 29, 2006, 08:00 PM

Perhaps we should skip Acid's chapter then?

Ducky

Mar 30, 2006, 02:34 PM

Sooo... I be writing my chapter. *shrugshrug*

acid

Mar 30, 2006, 06:07 PM

Yeah, you guys should skip me. I'm sorry if I wasn't clear. I meant that you should just go ahead and write your chapter, and I may try to slip one in if inspiration strikes. So far, it hasn't.

Doubble Dutch

Mar 31, 2006, 05:12 AM

*sigh* another chapter bites the dust. Maybe we should just adopt a ranom post when inspiration strikes mrthod?

Alex

Mar 31, 2006, 09:16 AM

we could, I wouldnt mind..

(ps, DD read your 'PM yet?)

Coppertop

Apr 3, 2006, 05:52 PM

That will make it difficult to synchronize events and work together though.

Doubble Dutch

Apr 3, 2006, 10:44 PM

Better difficult to work together than working together on alternate months.

Ducky

Apr 9, 2006, 05:15 PM

guys, sorry, i didn't see acid's post from last weekend. i'll finish my chapter as soon as i can and get it up so we can keep things moving.

Doubble Dutch

Apr 9, 2006, 11:34 PM

*Gasp!*

Potential activity?

*Has heart attack*

Alex

Apr 10, 2006, 04:21 AM

*reanimates*

good, I'll have something to read :)

Ducky

Apr 15, 2006, 07:53 AM

Okay, I wrote three pages at work, brought it home to type it up, plus the one already on my machine, and I think my mom threw it away. I will find it...but hence the delay. Sorry.

Alex

Apr 15, 2006, 11:08 AM

good good, err, good luck typing, well see it soon :D

Doubble Dutch

Apr 15, 2006, 05:12 PM

Mothers are always like that. Do you know mothers are recorded to have thrown away three novel manuscripts?

Alex

Apr 16, 2006, 12:12 AM

only 3 for all of the world? or on average?

Doubble Dutch

Apr 16, 2006, 09:32 PM

3 reported. probbably more unreported and ones that were never publish [on accont of being thrown out]

Ducky

Apr 23, 2006, 11:53 AM

This is the first half of my chapter. It's a little slipshod and I apologize for that; I just didn't want to hold the thread up any longer.
I am planning on completing it if not this weekend, over the course of the next week (I just want to have some action in the plot that's involving the four characters I'm writing about and get this moving towards the rest of the story), so I will post it up as soon as I am done. If the next person after me is one writing a different group of characters, I would suggest posting that, and I will put my second half in as soon as I can!

Thanks all ;P

Chapter 31(?)
Lucky Numbers

Icarus and Verity worked at the glowing blue screens together all night, taking their alternate shifts sleeping. Verity squinted at the papers laid out before her. In the dark of the early morning, the bare light bulb hurt her eyes, but she kept working. There had to be a way to make this happen. Getting off Diamondus was their only hope.
Getting to Carrotus was her only hope.

Icarus, hunched over a cup of coffee, slid a stack of papers onto the floor and shoved his paws into his eyes, rubbing tiredly.
"It's going to work," he said. "I've got it."
Verity looked up from her computer screen.
"Tetracolyhydroxide," Icarus garbled.
"Gesundheit," Verity offered, "That's a mouthful."
"It's the stuff we need. It's a composite, completely blocks magnetic pull to and from any magnetically attractive material. It was apparently first used- and made 'famous', if you will- in the craft that broke the land speed record on Medivo in 3761." Icarus muttered this from the dark, shuffling printed pages.
"Of course," Verity concurred. "Medivo has an iron core. It's molten, but the magnetics are much stronger than on, say, Carrotus, with a molten rock core. If the craft was demagnetized, it would practically float on the surface of the planet."

A sleepy Naomi entered the hull of the shuttle. "So where do we get enough of this to coat the shuttle?" Icarus shook his head. "I have no idea. It says on this site that it's a ...controlled substance... wait, that can't be right." He clicked, frowning at the screen.
"Tetracolyhydroxide is also used as a--"
"-- hallucinagen," Jesse said, coming into the room as well.
"Um, what he said," Icarus finished.
"The form used as a drug is the purest form of the composite," Jesse said sitting down beside the screens on the opposing side of the room. "Plus, because it's illegal, probably the only form you are going to be able to get. Govermental consent and all that crap- they require permissions signed by sixteen heads of state and four federal vouchers and what have you, to use for strictly monitored experiments and designs. The ship that broke the last land speed record on Medivo was confiscated."
"I remember it, " Verity said, suddenly distant. "I was only a little girl. Six maybe."
"I didn't know you lived on Medivo," Naomi said gently, but Verity shook her head, "I left twenty, twenty-one years ago, when my parents died." she changed the subject abruptly, turning to the white rabbit. "You seem to know enough about it," she said, her forehead creased.
"A hit is a liquid gram," Jesse continued, uncomfortable under Verity's vicious green stare, "and a hit costs about as much as Queen Eva's diamond. Rest her soul, " he added in reverence. Looking around the cockpit, he concluded- "I'd say you'll need about two gallons to paint this ship."
There was a small silence.
"So um... can you get it for us?" ventured Naomi.
"Yeah, sure, no problem." Jesse smiled, the first time they had seen his face without sadness shrouding it.

Later that afternoon, Verity stayed alone to watch the ship while Icarus and Naomi went to buy supplies. Jesse was still gone, having galloped off as soon as the sun came up to find what they needed. Verity was still disgruntled at Icarus's choice to bring that white rabbit with them. She would never be off her guard. But he was right in that ...Jesse, as he insisted upon calling himself, was well acquainted with the illegal side of this area. He'd found them what they needed, all right, and it was thanks to Naomi not exactly being the worst off in monetary terms that they were almost ready to try again.
Carrotus or bust. There was only one problem.

Sitting in the small cockpit of the shuttle, she gazed out the tinted windshield and shoved her hands into the pockets of her scuffed leather jacket. In one pocket, she touched the vial that she carried with her to this day, still the same six drops of poison. Give me sign, she would say at night, when she was young, That I can end this now.
In the other, she delicately fingered a soft, worn page. There was a name scribbled on the blue-lined notebook sheet, faded with the year that it had traveled with her, but still clear, her mentor's handwriting familiar forming the unfamiliar name.
"it's your choice, Verity," Eddie had told her that night in the back room of the bar.
She missed the bar, missed bartending. What had happened to that? She remembered smiling at the familiar faces and asking carefully selected questions of the unrecognizable ones.
She remembered Raphael entering the bar and the thrill she always felt when she saw the tabby cat's face looking back at her.
There was a thrill of anger and hate coupling with the love now when she saw Raphael's face in her head, just as she couldn't look at the face of the white rabbit insisting that he was not Jonathan.
Verity admitted deep down inside her that he was too young, that the rabbit who blasted the cavern into Eddie's chest had been at least ten years older than her.
But that changed nothing, and she clenched her paw around the paper in her pocket.
"He'll make you into a machine," Eddie had told her.
"You'll never have your own life back."
She withdrew her paw from the pocket and looked at the crumpled paper.
"Are you willing to give up your soul for what you believe in? Don't think lightly on this, Verity."
But Verity's decision was no longer based on choice and it was clear as the war waged what she had to do. She unfurled that paper and read the name, though she had long since memorized it.
"He's a vampire," said Eddie's voice in your head, "If you let him bite you, you'll have it all. You will be able to do what you want. You will have the power to change this world. But you will also spend the rest of your days with the devil himself living inside you, and even if you end the war, you will fight him for eternity. I'm giving you his name because you are the only rabbit I have ever known who I know has the strength to face off against hell itself."
Louie Greenthorpe.
Verity stalked to the back of the ship to clean her RF for the sixth time that day.

Naomi and Icarus walked through the village, paws clasped, but without speaking. As the days passed there seemed less to say than when the black rabbit had first seen the love of his childhood laughing in the bar that night.
She spoke eventually- "Are we doing the right thing?"
Icarus nodded without hesitation.
"I'm sad when I think about my father," Naomi said, "Even though I know this is better, I wish it didn't always have to be one way or the other. I wish we could be happy all together. When I go back, how do I know he'll even look at me? I just don't..." she stopped as Icarus pressed his cold paw to her lips.
"I knew your father well, " he said, caressing the soft fur on her worried face, "and you are his daughter, Naomi. He loves you."
He held her paws with his and leaned down to her. "But so do I." He looked into her eyes.
"We're so young, Icarus," Naomi said into his ear.
"The war will make us old soon enough," said Icarus, and wrapped his arms around her thin, muscular body. "We are ageless now." On tiptoe, Naomi placed her lips on his, warm and deep. He closed his eyes as he kissed her, but even so a tear escaped them to slide down his cheek.
When he kissed her he relived every moment of their past and every dream of their future, and there was more pain than possible to take, but when he kissed her, at the same time he knew he could bear it and with it whatever the future might bring.

Ducky

Apr 23, 2006, 11:54 AM

"Be careful with that, little man, " said the burly, tattooed lizard, slouching over the filthy counter housing a glass cased selection of plastic exposives. "I don't know what you're planning with all that tetra, but I hope to hell you're not using it all by your lonesome." He raised a hairless eyebrow.
"It's metal, Reg, " Jesse tossed back, "there's more to do with this than funnel it into my brain through my eyes." He gingerly hefted the canvas sack onto his shoulder, feeling the mercurial liquid fluid heavily inside the temperature controlled canisters.
"I guess I probably won't be seeing you back for a while, then."
"I hope not." Jesse flashed a grin. "This should cover our debts." He tossed a small, rattling tupperware container onto the wooden counter. Reg's scaly forehead crinkled as he pried off the top. "The hell..."
"Take care of those," Jesse said, turning and opening the door, leaving the lizard, tail twitching, gazing at the handful of white, pastel-tinted Carrotian gems.
As the door closed behind the teenager's slim white back, the lizard narrowed his yellow eyes.
"Hmmph," he grunted, and heaved his beer belly off the counter to reach for the grubby telephone on the wall behind him.

It was late that night when the four creatures assembled in the now-familiar corner of the pub they'd frequented for the past week. A rain was beginning to fall over the swaying sign -Marinated Pearl- as Jesse, the last to arrive, slithered inside. The grainy jukebox drowned their voices from outsiders.
"It's all there," Jesse confirmed, nodding at the canvas satchel he'd dropped at their feet.
"It's going to work, " Icarus announced tiredly. "The anti-magnetic coating painted on the shuttle's hull, antennae and controls will prevent the artificial gravitational pull that's holding us in orbit, allowing a supercession of the 80-kilometer force field that's placed to spray the false imagery into our monitors-
"At least, we think it's 80 kilometers. that's all the airspace outside of a given land mass that a government can hold," Naomi uttered a little bitterly into her cider.
"When we hit the estimated 80 kay barrier, we'll see the planet behind us, and we'll be out of mesospheric control of the Diamondian government.
There's just one problem."
"Security?" Naomi queried. 'They're not going to just let us fly off the planet when they see we're not in the Orbit, right?"
"But even so you're flying an f-wing ST-9063, "Jesse said, "even the built in weaponry is adequate, with shields and all. My father flew an f-wing when I was young and if we've got a good pilot-"
Verity narrowed her eyes at Jesse, but said nothing.
"Naomi's as good as they come when we're talking about flying," Icarus said idly, and Naomi smiled at him.
"I believe it," Jesse said, "But I'm just saying that we shouldn't have a problem, with a gunner and a pilot, getting out of their- legal - range in enough time."
"Well, that is sort of the issue," said Verity, stirring a vodka and lime.
"Using the tetra to demagnetize the ship prevents all outside impulsion to affect the ship. Unfortunately, it also prevents any similar impulses to escape. In essence it will de-locate the ship, make it near to impossible to pinpoint, and thus when painted, the ship will be like a dead thing, no pull, no weight, no heat.
It'll disable the shields, " she said. "I've tried to figure out a way to technologically delete that side effect, but where computers and guns don't figure, I'm afraid I don't do much good, and if there is an answer out there- I know Icarus has looked too- we can't find it. Even if we place an externally located force field generator on the outer surface of the ship, the shielding will just bounce around because the anti-magnetism makes the ship undetectable. The force will just slide off and deflect into space. "

"Anything else?" said Naomi.
"Nope, everything else is cool." Icarus rolled his eyes.
"Lets do it then. " Jesse leaned forward over the table. "We've only got one shot at this and I don't know about you all but I'd rather die trying."

"No one's going to die, " Verity said forcefully, exhaustedly, "We're all going to Carrotus."

To be continued.