An Adventure for the Ages

What do you call a fic that's not a fic

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Blue Braixen
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Re: An Adventure for the Ages

Post by Blue Braixen »

Over as in "done"?
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Re: An Adventure for the Ages

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Tha Housedog wrote:Over as in "done"?
Over as in nothing is going my way right now, doesn't look like it will for a long, long time, and it's probably more merciful to just dash all your hopes now than to keep y'all waiting and hoping.

Besides, it was all trash anyway..
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Re: An Adventure for the Ages

Post by Blue Braixen »

naylorfan90 wrote:
Tha Housedog wrote:Over as in "done"?
Over as in nothing is going my way right now, doesn't look like it will for a long, long time, and it's probably more merciful to just dash all your hopes now than to keep y'all waiting and hoping.

Besides, it was all trash anyway..
Whoa. Hey, no, stop. Nothing. Is. Trash. Especially not your story. I'm sorry that there are personal problems that are obviously interfering with this, but never call your stories trash again.
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Re: An Adventure for the Ages

Post by valerio »

naylorfan90 wrote:
Tha Housedog wrote:Over as in "done"?
Over as in nothing is going my way right now, doesn't look like it will for a long, long time, and it's probably more merciful to just dash all your hopes now than to keep y'all waiting and hoping.

Besides, it was all trash anyway..
Believe me, blocks happen and they royally suck. But don't you DARE to address as 'trash' your production so far. You did a very good job, so far.
Take your time, sort things out, but if you need to stop this nice ficcie, be for more reasonable arguments than beating yourself :twisted:
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Re: An Adventure for the Ages

Post by The Broken Fox »

I wholeheartedly agree with Val and Tha Housedog, you're story is everything but thrash! It's great and fantastic and epic, and I'm going to miss it if you stop. :(

I wish you luck with sorting out your troubles, and I hope that one day, you'll find the inspiration to finish this! Just don't be so hard on yourself, that will definitely not help...
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Re: An Adventure for the Ages

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naylorfan90 wrote:
Over as in nothing is going my way right now, doesn't look like it will for a long, long time, and it's probably more merciful to just dash all your hopes now than to keep y'all waiting and hoping.

Besides, it was all trash anyway..
Whoa. Whoa. Think about what your saying here. I mean personal issues is one thing but calling your your fic or other fics trash is another thing. Don't beat yourself over it, just take some time and try to sort things out.
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Re: An Adventure for the Ages

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[Thanks for all the support, gang. It really means a lot. For you, an especially long update.]

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Grape kept as close to Velon as she could, as they and half a dozen others were herded through cold blue corridor after cold blue corridor by the wolf guards. She had been fitted with a device like the one on her fellow prisoner’s chest, and the moment it had been activated she felt sick, as if half her energy had suddenly just disappeared.

“It’s an inhibitor,” Velon quietly explained to her as they were led along. “I couldn’t learn all the scientific specifics, but apparently it siphons small amounts of your energy away, making you only able to put the bare amount needed for an action into the action. With a pre-programmed list of actions, they basically control what you do. No fighting unless allowed, in other words...”

No fighting perhaps, but Grape certainly put as much effort as she could into frowning at the surrounding guards. That, and asking questions. “So, where are we being taken anyway? We’ve passed a lot of workers with these things, why aren’t we joining them?”

Velon stayed silent and looked away, but a cream-furred rabbit to her right answered for him. “We’re being taken to the Arena Ship. There we’ll participate in gladiator games for the entertainment of the rest of the fleet...”

A pair of massive metal doors slid open in front of the group. They passed through, and Grape gasped at the sight that met her eyes as she finally got a good look at the world she was in. The hull door opened out onto a dark, featureless space. Storm clouds crackled with lightning, as dozens of blade-shaped ships of massive size cut through them. Thousands of feet below churned a restless ocean, here and there spires of rock jutting out hundreds of feet into the air like fingers reaching for the skies.

Grape took a panicked step back, away from the edge, and got a hard shove from a guard behind her for it. Her body swayed, her eyes widening as she began to fall forward, until Velon grabbed her by the arm and yanked her back onto solid footing. “Careful! I saw someone fall into the Sea of Simulations once, and even the guards flinched at his screams.”

Grape gulped and glanced down at the sea below them, before quickly losing her nerve and looking away. A red glint in the sky caught her eye, and she looked to see a black craft with glowing red lines flying towards them, and in the distance countless more visiting other ships in the fleet. Following their progress she saw many of them returning to a ship different from the others, larger and ball-shaped.

The black craft docked in front of them, and with the not-so-gentle urging of the guards Grape and the others boarded it. Velon stayed close, and once they were all on board and heading for the sphere ship he began to talk. “The gladiator games are all held in the Arena, that sphere ship. Expendable or unsatisfactory prisoners are made to fight, and the winners get to live.”

“And the losers?” The look Velon gave her was answer enough for Grape. Fear surged up within Grape, before she clamped down and forced it back down. Closing her eyes she took a deep breath, and then another, willing herself to keep calm.

“Grape? Grape, can you hear me?”

Grape blinked her eyes open in surprise and looked around for a second, thinking someone in the group of prisoners and guards had spoken, before recognizing the voice. “Oh Sabrina, am I happy to hear from you! I’m stuck on some ship in a fleet going somewhere, I’m about to be made a gladiator!”

“Okay, stay calm. I’m working on a way to help you, but you feel weird to me.” Grape explained about the inhibitor device on her chest, making Sabrina give the impression of frowning in the purple cat’s mind. “Okay, I think I’ll be able to get you around that. Just stay safe, I’ll get to you on it as soon as I can. Now, however...who is that with you? I’m feeling a strange presence, but I don’t recognize it.”

Grape snuck a quick glance over at Velon, who stood next to her. “That’s Velon, he’s been helping me out. Maybe he’s an important npc?”

“No...no, whoever that is, he is NOT a simple character. He’s a real person like you! Stay close to him!”

“Will do.” Grape snuck another look at Velon and found him looking at her oddly. “What?”

“I...” The black cat frowned, before shaking his head and looking away. “Nothing, I just thought I heard you say my name.” He looked out a window in the craft and sighed. “We’re almost there. Stick with me, I’ll protect you as best as I can.”

Grape huffed and batted her tail at Velon, though inside it was just a show. “Please, I don’t need protection! Just tell me what to do, and I’ll have no problem.”

The shuttle docked with the Arena Ship, making the small craft shudder. The doors slid open and the guards began pushing the group into what looked to Grape some kind of staging area. As opposed to the shuttle craft and warship they had grown used to, this area was a stark white, glowing red lines racing through the walls, floor and ceiling.

Grape took all this in as she and the others walked along, before a guard suddenly grabbed her by the scruff of the neck and began leading her away. “Hey, what gives!?” Grape struggled weakly in the iron grip, seeing each of the others being handled the same. Suddenly her guard forced a bulky armored glove that went up to her elbow onto her right arm, before shoving her towards a door.

“Prisoner Grape, enjoy the Games.”

Grape bared her teeth at the guard, before turning to the door as it slid up into the ceiling. The distant sound of cheering came from the other side, and with a hesitant heart Grape stepped forward and into the arena. The sight that met her eyes amazed her. The size and general shape of the arena was like a college football stadium, all white and neon red. Circling around it sat massive monitors, through which she guessed the ship crews watched the matches.

Looking around she saw dozens of others entering all around the arena from doors like hers and looking around as she was. Before she went more than a dozen feet out onto the arena floor a podium rose up from the center, a thin cat in white robes with red lines standing on it. “Greetings, combatants! Welcome to the Arena, where you shall fight for the pleasure of your betters! Before you begin, please give thanks for such a generous way to end things to your magnificent overseer, Leviathan!”

On the far stadium wall from Grape a booth lit up, and in it could be vaguely seen a helmeted being in black robes lazily sprawled on a couch. The announcer gestured to it for a moment, before turning back to the combatants as his podium began descending back down into the floor. “And now, combatants, we begin...Orb Wars!”

At this signal, the glove on every combatant came to life with a neon blue glow. At the same time transparent walls of energy rose into place along preset lines into aisles, dividing those in the arena into sets of two. Grape looked around at the others, watching them as they formed and threw baseball-sized balls of some kind of energy with the gloves. She looked down at her own glove, and at the simplest thought, almost instinct, a glowing ball of blue energy appeared in her gloved palm. “Okay, that’s cool.”

“Not for long.”

Grape looked up from her paw at the voice, before yelping and ducking down awkwardly as a ball flew past her head. She watched it bounce off the wall behind her and return to her first opponent, a dark-brown dog. The next throw she was prepared for. With a quick arch of the legs she jumped over the ball and threw her own, which the dog barely dodged with a roll to the side. Her ball bounced off the floor and slammed into his shoulder, sending him spinning into the path of his own returning projectile. With a cry of shock he was slammed in the chest and sent against the far wall, where he collapsed to the floor.

“Woah...” Grape warily edged her way closer to him, keeping her eyes on his still form. Before she could get closer than five feet however the walls around them shifted, and Grape found herself facing a wall as her new opponent charged in from the side. She fell back, barely edging under the thrown ball, and threw hers at the rabbit attacking her. He grabbed it with his glove and growled. “I’m not falling to no noobie!”

Grape flipped back onto her feet and caught his ball as it flew past, spinning with the force and throwing it hard at him. The rabbit threw Grape’s ball, and at once each opponent caught their own weapons. Grape huffed and glared at her opponent. “I’m real sorry for this, but I’m not going to be the one who gets taken down!” Feinting to the left she went right and threw, aiming so that her ball bounced off the wall and struck the rabbit in the side.

Before he’d even fallen to the ground the aisles shifted, and Grape once again found herself on the defensive as this time a big German Sheppard came at her. Grape hastily backed up, narrowly avoiding the much larger male’s wild swipes and jabs, simply holding the energy ball in his glove like a melee weapon. A strike brushed her shoulder, and a shock of electricity blasted through her. She fell to her knees with a cry of pain, before a kick to the face sent her down onto her back. The German Sheppard smirked down at her as he advanced towards Grape’s prone form. “You’re mine now, kitt-aaugh!”

The dog collapsed, and Velon kneeled down beside Grape as she groaned and sat up. She looked at him in confusion. “Wait, how’d you get in here? I thought it was one-on-one...”

“It was,” Velon replied, pulling Grape up onto her feet. “Until Ziz got excited and entered the fray. So I was shifted over here to make room for the extra combatant.”

“Wait, who’s Ziz?” Looking around, Grape quickly had her question answered. Two combat aisles away could be seen a strange figure, about as tall as Velon, absolutely thrashing another rabbit. He wore a white cassock-like robe, with glowing red lines going through it like the surrounding area, along with a helmet like Leviathan’s, and unlike everyone else he wore a glove on both hands, and could be seen pummeling his opponent with two energy balls at once.

“Oh come on...is that even legal?”

Velon placed a paw on her shoulder and squeezed as Ziz’s opponent went down and the walls shifted. “He’s with Leviathan, legal doesn’t apply. Just avoid him however you can, okay?”

Grape said nothing, only turning and walking a few paces apart from Velon as the walls shifted, separating them. As she faced her next opponent, one thought passed through Grape’s mind; “I will NOT fall here.”
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Re: An Adventure for the Ages

Post by NosWaster »

*Drools with excitement and anticipation*
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Re: An Adventure for the Ages

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Dude! ...I wish I could write action scenes as well as Nayl can T-T.
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Re: An Adventure for the Ages

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NosWaster wrote:*Drools with excitement and anticipation*
*smiles and wipes away the drool with a napkin* D'aww, thanks!
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Re: An Adventure for the Ages

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Tha Housedog wrote:Dude! ...I wish I could write action scenes as well as Nayl can T-T.
*hides head beneath a pillow, blushing from the praise*
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Re: An Adventure for the Ages

Post by valerio »

And you wanted to deprive us of this EPICNESS?!?!? :twisted: :twisted: :twisted:
Don't you DARE to scare us ONCE again like that, Naylor!
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Re: An Adventure for the Ages

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valerio wrote:And you wanted to deprive us of this EPICNESS?!?!? :twisted: :twisted: :twisted:
Don't you DARE to scare us ONCE again like that, Naylor!

*meeps and nods*
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Re: An Adventure for the Ages

Post by copper »

Well, I'm glad someone was around to slap some sense into you Naylorfan! Seriously dude, I could only dream of being as awesome as you are.

Never stop writing.

I love the update! I can't wait for the next one!
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Re: An Adventure for the Ages

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Max and Fox stood side by side at the back of the cave, a torch in Fox’s left paw as they looked over what they had found.

“So...what do you think it is?”

“It’s a door built into the cave wall, Cat. Some kind of secret entrance...”

Max frowned at Fox’s tone but said nothing. Instead he took a step forward and rapped his knuckles on the stone of the door. “Open...SESAME!!!”

Max’s command echoed through the cave. Fox facepalmed and groaned. “It’s not going to open for just anyone, Cat! Besides, remember what Sabrina told us? We have to think about this like a video game!”

“But I don’t even play video games that much! And you just spend all day reading books, guh!” Max threw his arms into the air. “But fine, whatever!” Turning back to the door he cleared his throat. “Open sesame please!”

“...” Fox just shook his head and returned to looking over the door. Its surface was engraved with strange symbols and glyphs, all looking vaguely familiar to the husky...perhaps he had read a book in the library that had pictures...

“It’s Ancient Sumerian...”

“Sabrina?” Max looked at him oddly, and Fox blinked. “I thought I heard Sabrina say something. Something about these glyphs being Ancient Sumerian.”

Max blinked, but then his face lit up and split into his devilish grin. “I got it!” He turned to the door and spread his arms wide. “FRIEND!”

Max’s shout once again echoed through the cave. After a few seconds the cat’s face fell, as Fox’s palm once more hit his face. “Let me guess, Lord of the Rings?”

“Uh, well...” Max scratched an ear and chuckled. “You talking ‘bout other languages...and a door hidden in a mountain...I just...well you haven’t come up with anything better!”

Fox frowned, but had to admit that Max was right. He hadn’t been able to think of anything better. But then, perhaps he didn’t need to...turning to Max, Fox smiled as friendly a smile as he could. “So hey...Max, have any more ideas we could try?”

Max stared at him flatly. “Wow, that niceness was so forced Bino could feel it. But anyways, I actually do have another idea; I know, I’m surprised too. But do you remember when that big bird thing flew over Babylon Gardens?”

“Yeah, why?”

Max’s grin grew wider. “Well, Peanut and Grape told me that it happened because Zach pressed a button like so.” Max then randomly reached out and tapped on a vaguely-buttonish symbol on the door. “Eh, probably just an old memory of the cubs from living in the woods though. I doubt-”

The cave began to shake. Cracks appeared and began to spread through the stone door, a blinding blue light shining through the cracks onto Max and Fox. Fox turned to Max and scowled. “Cat, if we don’t live through this, I’m gonna kill you.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

A/N: Sorry for the short, kinda lame chapter, folks. I don't think I can write Max and Fox very well. :oops: Don't worry though, next update will have our fave trio, Peanut, Fido, and King!
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Re: An Adventure for the Ages

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cant wait for the next update
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Re: An Adventure for the Ages

Post by copper »

This update wasn't bad! I liked it. At least you didn't try to unnecessarily stretch it out.

I can't wait for the next one. I wantr to see the end of this story, so don't you quit writing! :lol:
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Re: An Adventure for the Ages

Post by valerio »

short, but funny :lol:
And what's with this 'cat' thing coming from Fox? Doesn't sound like him :?
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Re: An Adventure for the Ages

Post by The Broken Fox »

I approve of the recent updates, especially the one with Grape! I'm gonna guess an influence of Tron... :P As for Fox and Max, Indiana Jones? :?

Keep them coming!
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Re: An Adventure for the Ages

Post by Penwrite »

valerio wrote:short, but funny :lol:
And what's with this 'cat' thing coming from Fox? Doesn't sound like him :?
*shrugs* That's probably the main example of me not being able to write him well, but I'm trying to hark back to the days when he, Bino, and Rex would chase Grape around; like that time they cut down a tree to get to her? I don't know, Fox just always seemed like an anti-cat person to me. :? Sorry if this bothers anyone..
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Re: An Adventure for the Ages

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The Broken Fox wrote:I approve of the recent updates, especially the one with Grape! I'm gonna guess an influence of Tron... :P As for Fox and Max, Indiana Jones? :?

Keep them coming!
The Uncharted game series actually, but good guess. :P
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Re: An Adventure for the Ages

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It doesn't bother me at all. It was only...kind of unexpected.
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Re: An Adventure for the Ages

Post by Cwitt »

naylorfan90 wrote:
valerio wrote:short, but funny :lol:
And what's with this 'cat' thing coming from Fox? Doesn't sound like him :?
*shrugs* That's probably the main example of me not being able to write him well, but I'm trying to hark back to the days when he, Bino, and Rex would chase Grape around; like that time they cut down a tree to get to her? I don't know, Fox just always seemed like an anti-cat person to me. :? Sorry if this bothers anyone..
I always thought of Fox that way too. Its strange that i think of him that way, because he seems nice most of the time.
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Re: An Adventure for the Ages

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----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Peanut stopped walking up the snowy slope and began to look around. King and Fido stopped as well and looked back at the brown dog bringing up the rear. Fido pulled the cloak he’d found in the cabin cellar closer to his body. “Peanut, what is it?”

“Nothing to worry about. It’s just that my ‘Max is in trouble he deserves’ senses are tingling.”

“He’s probably stuck in a tree or something,” King chimed in, wrapping his own scavenged cloak around his body. He looked around the barren, all-white snowscape, beginning to grow tired of the complete lack of color in anything besides his friends. It had been nearly three hours since they had left the cabin, and so far they had seen no other signs of, well, anything. But King just couldn’t shake a feeling... “Hey guys, can we keep moving? I’m getting the chills, and not just from this weather...”

Fido nodded and adjusted the strap to the bag of supplies he had over a shoulder. “I know what you mean, King. Come on guys, let’s keep going.”

Motioning for the others to come on, Fido turned back around to ahead of them and froze before taking a step. “What...” Three yards further up the rising slope stood a gaggle of about six creatures. They were large creatures, about the size of humans, and looking like they were made of blue ice. They stood hunched over, their icicle claws dragging shallow trenches in the snow as they shambled along slowly towards Fido, Peanut, and King.

“What are they?”

“Ice golems,” Sabrina answered to them all. “From what I can tell here, they are low-level enemies, easily beaten. You should take this time to level up some.”

The Ice Golems began moving faster as they neared the trio, low growls and hisses coming from them. Fido stepped in front of King and Peanut and readied a small ax he had found in the cabin. “Guys, stay behind me. I’ll protect you however I-”

“Nuts to that!” Peanut leaped over Fido, right arm moving to draw the Tarot Disc from its holster on his back. Spinning in midair he aimed and threw the disc at the nearest of the golems, smashing into its chest. Cracks spread from the point of impact, before with a howl the whole creature shattered into countless pieces. Peanut landed in a crouch and caught the disc as it flew back to him. He looked over his shoulder and grinned at King and Fido, who at that moment were busy picking their jaws up off the ground. “Before you two, or anyone else for that matter, says anything, yes I’m a fan of Tron.” (lol)

The remaining five ice golems shrieked and charged. Peanut yelped and ducked down under a swipe of an icy claw, rolling away as Fido lunged forward and hacked the arm off. The golem shrieked and looked at its stump, and then Fido tackled it to the ground and buried his hatchet blade into its chest. It convulsed a moment before shattering into a million ice shards. Peanut meanwhile rolled and jumped, dodging the wild slashes and stabs from two of the golems as he led them away from the group. All the while he chipped away at their ice bodies with quick swipes of his disc.

King watched Peanut do this for a moment, before a roar made the small corgi realize that one of the remaining two ice golems was charging him. He yelped and dived out of the way of the charge and turned, about to call Fido over for help before noticing that the police dog was busy with the final golem. King’s face blanched as he turned back to look at his opponent. “Oh, this isn’t good...”

The ice golem opened its mouth in a snarl, revealing three rows of steak knife-like teeth as it prowled around in a circle around King. King circled in place, keeping his eyes on the golem. Suddenly the snow beneath him shifted and he stumbled for just a moment, but that was the opening the golem was looking for. With a roar it charged forward, clawed arm thrown forward to spear King through the chest. At the last moment King closed his eyes and did the only thing he could thing to do, throwing both paws forward and opening a portal between him and the charging beast.

A sudden crunch of ice, a scream of pain, and King opened his eyes and gaped. The ice golem stared at King over the shimmering portal, lifeless, one arm up to the shoulder disappeared through the portal. Tilting his head to look around the portal and golem, King almost laughed at the sight of a second portal behind the golem with the arm appearing out of it. The ice golem had stabbed itself in the back.

King closed the portals and stepped away as the ice golem collapsed to the ground and shattered. At the sound of clapping he turned and smiled at the approaching Fido and Peanut, having dealt with their own opponents.

“King, that was awesome!” Peanut laughed and clapped a paw on King’s shoulder, making the smaller dog stumble but smile. “I mean, as long as you see an attack coming, you’re invincible!”

Fido nodded and chimed in. “Well, as long as it’s only one attack at a time. Still, I think we did pretty well for our first fight. Although...Peanut, when did you get so fast? And I feel a lot more powerful than usual...”

“Hmm...” Peanut assumed his thinking position, paw on chin and finger tapping lips, as he thought this over. “Well, taking in the fantasy plot, vaguely medieval setting, and presence of magic...I think we’re in what amounts to an RPG area. We’re each fitting into the role of a different class; Fido, you’re the warrior, I’m the quick but fragile guy, and King you’re...I don’t know, the Wizard or something. Yeah, those portals probably count as magic. Oh hey! If we’re like RPG characters, then I bet we just got a ton of experience! That’s what Sabrina meant earlier about leveling up!”

Fido and King both nodded; sounded right to them. Turning Peanut looked back up in the direction they were going up the mountainside and frowned. “Just remember guys, they were low level."
Last edited by Penwrite on Sun Feb 20, 2011 9:33 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: An Adventure for the Ages

Post by copper »

Awesome as always, Naylorfan! Peanut was epic in this! I can't wait for the next one.

Ice golems are low level, so why are they so confident?

If they level up, does that mean that they will be able to change forms or something?
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Re: An Adventure for the Ages

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copper wrote:Awesome as always, Naylorfan! Peanut was epic in this! I can't wait for the next one.

Ice golems are low level, so why are they so confident?

If they level up, does that mean that they will be able to change forms or something?
Glad to hear you like the action, Copper.

Ice golems aren't confident, they're stupid. ^_^

As for the other question... >:3
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Re: An Adventure for the Ages

Post by copper »

You misunderstood.I meant why are Peanut, Fido, and King so confident if they only defeated low level enemies?
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Re: An Adventure for the Ages

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copper wrote:You misunderstood.I meant why are Peanut, Fido, and King so confident if they only defeated low level enemies?
*facepalms* Oh. Well...now I feel stupid. Anyway, they're confident because... :(
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Re: An Adventure for the Ages

Post by Penwrite »

Wow, the latest update's been out for over a day, and so far only Copper's commented. *shrugs* Oh well, at least I got some useful criticism from that comment.
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Re: An Adventure for the Ages

Post by copper »

Never meant to criticize. A lot of times, people read but forget to comment. You probably have more readers than you realize.

Besides, you always have me! :D

I am with you to the bitter end, buddy.
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Re: An Adventure for the Ages

Post by Penwrite »

copper wrote:Never meant to criticize. A lot of times, people read but forget to comment. You probably have more readers than you realize.

Besides, you always have me! :D

I am with you to the bitter end, buddy.
*grins* Thanks bud. And yeah, I know people are reading, I've noticed the page view count going up.
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Re: An Adventure for the Ages

Post by valerio »

naylorfan90 wrote:Wow, the latest update's been out for over a day, and so far only Copper's commented. *shrugs* Oh well, at least I got some useful criticism from that comment.
I read it.
I loved it.
I love the awesomeness of King! YAY!
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Re: An Adventure for the Ages

Post by The Broken Fox »

naylorfan90 wrote:Wow, the latest update's been out for over a day, and so far only Copper's commented. *shrugs* Oh well, at least I got some useful criticism from that comment.
*waves hand in the air*

I'm here, I'm here! *pant* Don't worry, I'm reading, it's just that I can't always think up something witty or important to say, and I don't want to spam the thread with a simple 'I like it!' or something. But I do like it, and if it makes you happy, I'll be more vocal in the future just for you, Naylorfan! :P
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Re: An Adventure for the Ages

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----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Grape found the slave meal hall filled to capacity and beyond when she arrived. Participants of the just-ended fights, like her, crowded through past her, mingling with those whose work shifts had just ended. There was no pushing or shouting for space, no fighting to show top dominance; just weary shuffling to give way for the newcomers.

Beside her, Velon placed a paw on her shoulder and squeezed lightly. “Hey, come on, before all the good food’s gone.”

Grape nodded to this, and together the pair moved into line for the cafeteria-style food handout, Grape limping. On her last round before the arena fighting ended, a lucky throw from a fox had nicked her on her right knee, leaving an ugly but shallow gash. As he bandaged it up Velon had told her it would heal quickly enough, but for the moment she should take it easy if she could.

Arriving at the counter Grape grabbed a tray from the stack and began walking along the counter. As the cooks put...stuff, onto her plate, Grape turned her head to Velon walking behind her. “So uh, where’d you learn first aid?”

Velon shrugged and accepted a heaping platter of...food. “Oh, I learned it mostly from my wife Angela. I kinda have a habit of getting into all sorts of dangerous situations, so she insisted....why are you looking at me like that?”

Grape flinched, having not realized that she was staring, and quickly turned away to look for a place to eat. There were no open tables, so she and Velon just made their way to a wall to lean against as they ate. “Er, I didn’t mean to stare, but...where I come from, pets aren’t actually allowed to marry. Most humans don’t like it and...now why are you looking at me like that?”

Velon leaned against the wall and took a bite of the slop on his plate, grimacing but managing to swallow. He made no comment as Grape failed to manage the same. “Well Grape, I know that this isn’t MY world. And from how I found you I’m guessing this isn’t your original world either. So...I guess we just come from vastly different worlds.”

“Yeah, seems so.” Looking down at her plate, Grape shivered in fear of trying another bite of it and instead focused inward. “Sabrina, I really don’t want to eat this stuff. Can’t you like, feed me some of your energy or something?”

Silence at first, and then “Oh my Osiris, Grape, you’re a genius! If that inhibitor on you works as I think it does, than it’s attuned to only your energy. So all I have to do is transfer some of my energy through the link, and the device will short circuit!”

Grape’s eyes widened in excitement at this proclamation, before she shot a glance over at Velon. He leaned slumped against the wall, a tired look in his eyes as he ate the slop. “Sabrina, what about Velon? He’s a real person like me, even if from a different dimension...plus we could use his experience around here!”

Sabrina went silent in Grape’s mind. A moment later and Velon flinched, nearly dropping his plate, looked around for some unseen speaker before finally focusing on Grape. “...I’ll help you rescue those cubs. Just lead the way, and I’ll do what I can.”

Grape nodded and smirked. She looked around the area and counted the number of guards mingled in with the crowd of workers. “First off, we need to get these inhibitors off and get out of here, meet back up with my friends. Sabrina tells me that I wouldn’t have appeared here if there wasn’t a wolf cub here, but there’s no way the two of us can fight our way through ALL the soldiers.”

Velon nodded. “I’ve kept my eyes open during my time here, and my eyes catch everything they see. If we can get to a shuttle, I can pilot it. The shortest way would be through the main arena area. If we want to do this, we need to do it now; after time to eat, Arena combatants are shipped back to their original cruisers, and no shuttles are kept on the cruisers.”

“Well, I guess now’s as good a time as any.” Grape took a deep breath, let it out slowly, and concentrated. “Sabrina, if you’re ready...”

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Guard #8895 felt a tapping on his shoulder and turned around. There stood Velon in a fighting stance, legs spread out and slightly bent and arms held up near his head. Guard #8895 growled and placed a gloved paw on the baton strapped to his side. “Prisoner Velon, fighting is forbi-”

Velon jumped forward and drove a knee into the guard’s gut. As the guard bent down in pain and clutched his stomach Velon spun and delivered an elbow to the side of the wolf’s head, grabbed his arm and delivered a palm strike to the elbow, and the finished with a sweep to the ankles that sent the guard to the cafeteria floor. He stayed there.

With the guard down, all the freed workers surged through the now-open doorway, as Grape walked over to Velon with a slack jaw, a baton from the second guard in her paws. “Remind me never to get on your bad side.”

Velon shrugged and took the baton from the downed guard’s side. Holding by the handle he gave it a twirl, and then motioned to the door. “Come on, we should go. While the larger crowd creates a distraction, we’ll sneak to the nearest shuttle bay and get out of here.”

“Right.”

Together the two left the room and began down the long, featureless corridors of the Arena ship. As they navigated through them, occasionally Grape could make out the distant sound of fighting from other areas of the ship echoing down the corridors, but whether through luck or fate, they never ran into any guards themselves. After a while Grape just stopped paying attention to the noises; before long the noises themselves ended, leaving just the sounds of their breathing with Grape and Velon as they hurried along. Beside her, Velon was deep in thought on this silence. It did not bode well to him.

They reached the arena area, through which they planned to shortcut to the shuttle bay, when suddenly Velon came to a stop and held an arm out to stop Grape. Standing out at the center of the arena, alone, was Ziz. Now that they were closer, Grape could make out more details of the figure. The white cassock had been replaced by glowing red armor like what the guards wore, along with black motorcycle helmet with a stylized bird beak engraved over where the mouth would be. His gloves were also sleeker than the kind Velon and Grape had used earlier, and each already held an energy ball.

“End of the line. Come with me.”

Velon stepped in between Ziz and Grape just as she began to make a retort. “Don’t aggravate him. Give me your baton; I’ll try to hold him off while you make a run for a shuttle.”

“In case you forgot, I don’t know how to fly a shuttle.”

“Don’t worry; I’ll be right behind you. Now go. Now!”

As Grape broke away at an angle to run around the coming fight, Velon charged forward right at Ziz, twirling both batons by the handles to generate speed. Once close enough he jumped forward and brought both metal rods down at Ziz. The armored figure ducked to the side, avoiding both strikes, and then twirled to slash as Velon with the ener-balls. Velon backed up a step to avoid the blows and then drove the long ends of his batons forward.

Ziz backflipped over the stabbing attacks and swiped at Velon’s head, forcing the feline to duck. Velon then rolled away and swiped at Ziz’s legs as he came back down. Ziz fell to the floor with a growl and rolled out of the way of Velon’s downward strike, then slammed a ball into the crouching feline’s side. Velon let loose a cry of pain and went flying away, landing on the ground several feet away, towards the open doors to the shuttle bay.

“Velon!”

Ziz turned to the source of the cry and received a face full of energy ball. He skidded a few feet back as Grape caught her ball back in her energlove and ran to Velon’s side to help him up. “Velon, come on, let’s go! Get up!”

Velon staggered back to his feet and instantly started going for the shuttle bay, where he could see Grape had gotten a shuttle on and ready to go. Grape hobbled along behind him, before suddenly a black tentacle grabbed her around the stomach and pulled her away. “Velon!”

Velon turned around and saw Ziz holding a struggling Grape in his arms. His helmet was cracked on the left side, revealing a yellow eye surrounded by red feathers. “Go on...run. Save yourself, feline. Allow me time to...play with this lower order being...”

Velon growled and took a step toward the two. Before Velon could even think of doing anything though Grape managed to free her gloved arm and threw her energy ball into Velon’s chest, sending him skidding away. “Run, you idiot! Get out of hemmgph!”

Grape’s cries were cut short as another tentacle slid from Ziz’s back and covered her muzzle. The last thing she saw before blacking out from lack of air was Velon running.
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Re: An Adventure for the Ages

Post by The Broken Fox »

Hey, nice twist with the 'boss fight'! ;) You write some good fight scenes, naylorfan!

Now let's see what happens to Max and Fox... I'm hoping for some running in a tunnel from a large, rolling stone! :mrgreen:
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Re: An Adventure for the Ages

Post by Penwrite »

The Broken Fox wrote:Hey, nice twist with the 'boss fight'! ;) You write some good fight scenes, naylorfan!

Now let's see what happens to Max and Fox... I'm hoping for some running in a tunnel from a large, rolling stone! :mrgreen:
*flails* Thaaaaanks! :D
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Re: An Adventure for the Ages

Post by copper »

Awesome update, Naylorfan. Can't wait for the next one.

So Ziz is a bird of some sort? Interesting...

My mind is racing with possibilities. Grape always has to be the savior, huh?
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Re: An Adventure for the Ages

Post by Penwrite »

copper wrote:Awesome update, Naylorfan. Can't wait for the next one.

So Ziz is a bird of some sort? Interesting...

My mind is racing with possibilities. Grape always has to be the savior, huh?
Thanks, Copper. And yes, it would appear that Ziz is some sort of bird. But much more as well. Think back on his words, think carefully. Who in the comic has ever spoken similarly?
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Re: An Adventure for the Ages

Post by copper »

Ugh, please. Not Him again... :lol: I'm just kidding.

Though it would be odd for him to appear, unless Tarot's consciousness is manifesting itself in this plain.
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Re: An Adventure for the Ages

Post by Penwrite »

Sorry for the wait, gang. I've been working really hard on my comedic touch recently I hope it show. ^_^

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Ya know, there’s something I’ve always wondered.”

Fox paused in climbing up the rock ledge they had come to and looked back at Max. “Is this something I would care about?”

“What I’ve always wondered,” Max continued, ignoring Fox’s roll of the eyes. “Is who has the time to build these elaborate underground pathways and caverns. I mean, you cannot tell me that a pre-industrialized society with limited metallurgy capabilities could carve out hundreds of tons of rock in stupidly complicated patterns, just to keep explorers from discovering a tiny little gold guy or something.”

“Max...” Fox climbed up the ledge and turned, holding an arm out to help Max. “It’s like a videogame, there ARE no tons of rock to carve out, it was always like this. Besides, how would you explain pyramids then, aliens?”

Don’t be ridiculous!” Max dusted himself off and continued on down the underground passageway they had stumbled upon. “Spirits and supernatural beings created those!”

The sound of Fox’s facepalm echoed throughout the passageways. Growling hard he just barely restrained himself from turning around and making the feline’s ears match. “Max, you’re being annoying again. Stop.”

About 12 feet ahead of them the path split in two, with a lit torch stuck in a bracket attached to the wall between them. Fox took the torch and looked fist to the left-side path, and then the right-side path. They both looked identical.

“Take the left path...”

Fox’s eyes narrowed. Giving the left path another, longer look he noticed that it had a slight incline, whereas the right path had a decline. Without a word he turned and went down the left path, Max following close behind. As time passed the incline grew more and more noticeable, while the air seemed somehow to grow thicker and hotter. It was not long before they both were breathing heavily.

“Fox...Fooox...” Max picked up a pebble and threw it at Fox’s back. “Fox, I think we went the wrong way.” No answer came from the dog, making Max frown and get another pebble. “Hey Fox...Fox... Fox Fox Fox Fo-”

“SHUT UP!” Fox spun around and glared at Max, making the feline yelp and back away. Fox growled. “All you’ve done since we entered these tunnels is joke and laugh and talk! You’re like that annoying little neighbor who doesn’t understand the words ‘go home’! I finally understand why Bino hates cats so much; he has to live with you!”

Panting hard from the shouting Fox shot Max a final glare before turning to continue on down the tunnel in a rather blind rage. This became apparent a moment later when he tried to place a foot down and found no floor. Fox’s arms flailed as he teetered over the edge, the torch falling from his paws. “Aaaaaaaaaa-hgck!”

“Hold on, I got ya Fox!” Max held tightly to the back of Fox’s neckerchief, making the dog’s face go blue from choking as he struggled to pull him back from the edge. “I gotcha...I g-gotcha...I-” The ground beneath Max gave way, making him start to go over the edge with Fox. “I don’t gotchaaaaaaaaa!”

Twin screams echoed through the tunnels as Max and Fox fell down the pit, plunging into the blackness. The wind whipped through their fur, and more than once a flailing limb collided with a body, sending both flipping and colliding more. After a while however...

“How long have we been falling?”

“I don’t know, my collar doesn’t tell time!”

“Well, we’ve got to stop some-”

FWUMP FWUMP!!!

“Ow...” Fox groaned, blinking away the dizziness. He found himself sprawled on his back on a big pile of sacks, filled with something soft and giving. To his left lay Max on his belly, groaning and shaking his head. Fox grunted and reached over, weakly tapping the cat on the shoulder. “Hey...I’m sorry for yelling...thanks for trying to save me.”

Max coughed and grinned at Max, revealing a gab where one of his teeth had been knocked out by the fall. “No problem...just please, please, please, don’t fall down any more pits. This hurt...”

“Yeah...” After another moment of lying there Fox grunted and forced himself to his feet, and then helped Max up. Looking around, they found themselves in a wide open cavern. The ground was covered in a deep moss that in the darkness glowed a deathly blue. Littered around them were more piles of sacks, and way off in the distance they could barely make out a bright blue glow, brighter than that cast by the moss below, coming from a passageway.

Max pointed in that direction and looked at Fox. “Think that’s where we should go?”

“That is the way you want to go...”

Fox brushed the dust from his fur and started walking. “Yeah, we go that way.”

Max fell into step behind Fox, keeping an eye on the canine as they walked. The moss below them had a slight give beneath their steps, muffling their footsteps. Looking up Max gulped when he realized the ceiling was too high up to be seen in the ghostly blue light of the moss. “Oh man...thank whoever’s out there that those sacks were there, or else I’d have one less life and one less canine companion...”

Fox flicked an ear and glanced back at Max. “So...cats really have nine lives then?”

“Oh yeah, sure!” Max smirked and poked at Fox with his tail. “Why, ya jealous, doggy?”

Fox rolled his eyes and shooed the tail away. “Oh please, no way. I know they say that you only live twice, but I’d rather have one life to live. You know, die another day maybe, as long as I don’t get the living daylights scared out of me, or get hit by a Thunderball. Live and let die, ya know?”

“...” Max just shot a blank look at Fox, and then shook his head. “Dude...James Bond...what?”

Fox let out an embarrassed chuckle and scratched an ear. “Yeah...just trying to lighten the mood, after all my yelling...”

The next moment Max grabbed hold of Fox’s arm and gasped, pointing ahead at the tunnel they were almost at. “No need for bad jokes, things are lightening up on their own!”

The blue light from the tunnel was growing stronger. “No, not stronger,” Fox thought with a good deal of shock, taking a step back from the tunnel and the now-blinding light. “It’s growing closer!”

The pair began hastily backing away, their entire focus drawn to the approaching light from the tunnel. Suddenly a figure appeared with its features shadowed by the light, and Max eeped and hid behind Fox. This was bringing back all kinds of bad Halloween memories.

“Who’s there,” yelled a deafening voice, making Max and Fox eep and quiver from it, Max coming close to losing a life from the thing.

“We’re...we’re just a cat and a dog...lost in these caverns...” Fox took a shivering step forward, toward the light, mustering what courage he could. “If you could just-”

“Wait...that voice...” The light dimmed, revealing the diminutive form and big ears of...

"King!?"
Last edited by Penwrite on Sat Mar 12, 2011 11:19 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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