G'Day, everyone. I'm new here, and thought I'd get things started off with some writing, as that's about the only thing I'm good at. This will be quite a long story, if ever I finish it (Which hopefully I will!), and a rather dark story. I am aware of the PG rating on the forums, and will stick to it as best I can, but if ever there is a part which should be changed, do point it out to me and I will edit it.
The prologue has absolutely nothing to do with Housepets, but is important to the story. Rest assured that next chapter will remedy this.
Prologue
In a distant, more-or-less empty sector of the multiverse, quite away from, well, anything really, is a world.
And in a distant, more-or-less empty sector of this world (Making it really quite a ways from anything of importance), is a planet.
In all honesty, this is not a terribly uncommon occurrence, nor is this particular planet very much to look at. It is mottled grey and brown, craters placed sporadically across its surface to signify that any atmosphere that may once have existed here no longer did. This is a dead world.
Were one to travel closer to this world, however, close enough to see its surface, they would see something most peculiar. A lone fragment of wall, metal tower, or some other construction that has yet to befall the fate of so many of its brethren. And were they to go even closer, so close that they could walk around these structures, they would find that every two hundred miles or so, there was a door.
Not the door one would first envision upon hearing the word ‘door’, but a door all the same. These doors were very large, cast in some alloy capable of surviving for ages and ages hence, and set into the ground. Some of these doors were buried under rubble, blown open by a direct impact from above or never closed in the first place, lying open and abandoned.
Some of these doors, however, remain very functional indeed. It is behind these doors that the new world exists, buried far beneath the old, and behind these doors that a plan is being formed. A plan which extends far beyond even the farthest stars of this world.
***
In the middle of a room crowded with men and women, young and old, was an elaborate archway carved of black stone, a harsh contrast to the metal that the rest of this vault was built of, and looking very strange to be positioned where it was. This archway began to emit a light, not from its structure, but from the empty air in its middle. Sparks of various blue-ish colours erupted from a central core like flakes of snow in a blizzard.
This core gradually expanded to fill the archway as it shifted from blue to other colours, transitioning through red and green before settling on a golden yellow. A shadow began to stir inside the light, rippling and expanding to form the shape of a person before said person stepped out of the archway to be greeted by roaring applause from the gathering in the room. He held up his left hand for silence, before bringing his right up to reveal an object, red and not quite round, a single, perfect leaf attached to its stem. An apple.
The roar of the crowd this time began with its older members, the ones who could recall just what this was – and what it meant. The younger ones joined in shortly, and the din soon reached a deafening level. Again the man held up his hand.
“My people!” He proclaimed, as the last of the shouting died. “So long have we lived here, forgetting our true past in favour of drowning in our bitter memories. Memories that we will never truly banish, however hard we try. But this… This is the beginning of our new life! Follow me now through this portal, last relic of the gods that abandoned us so many years ago!”
With that, he turned and went. And slowly, the crowd began to follow – nervously at first, before speeding up as person after person entered the golden light and disappeared. On the other side, one by one they emerged, covering their eyes in responses to the harsh transition before allowing their jaws to drop.
They were standing in an orchard floating in the clouds, row upon row of perfect trees with a fence separating them from an expanse of milky white in all directions. Here and there floating in the sky were other islands, and on them, the more sharp sighted members noted, were more portals like the one they had entered not long ago. The leader turned to continue his speech.
“This, my people, shall be your new home! We will exist here while we prepare for our expanse across the stars, for nothing shall ever face death in this world! It is perfect, and eternal. Rejoice now! Spread out and eat, no longer are you bound by limited resource! Go, go!”
And so they went. Cautiously picking low hanging fruits and taking their first bites, as their leader watched, and he smiled, hands clasped behind his back.
Not even the gods themselves would stop them this time.
-----
Pretty short, but it does its job.
[PG-13] FowlJ Writes (And hasn't thought of a title!)
[PG-13] FowlJ Writes (And hasn't thought of a title!)
Last edited by FowlJ on Wed Oct 05, 2011 7:49 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Re: FowlJ Writes (And hasn't thought of a title!)
An interesting opening. I'll certainly be following this. ^_^
Also, welcome to our forums! We're all glad to have you here!
Also, welcome to our forums! We're all glad to have you here!
-
RandomGeekNamedBrent
- laughing maniacally
- Posts: 21032
- Joined: Mon Jan 24, 2011 10:42 pm
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Re: FowlJ Writes (And hasn't thought of a title!)
I like short. and about the rating, you can go up to PG-13 in violence if you say it's a PG-13 fic in the title.
Re: FowlJ Writes (And hasn't thought of a title!)
I knew about that, but forgot to add it, so thank you for reminding me. And yeah, I just wanted to put it out there because I'm not used to working with a rating limit at all, typically.RandomGeekNamedBrent wrote:I like short. and about the rating, you can go up to PG-13 in violence if you say it's a PG-13 fic in the title.
Re: [PG-13] FowlJ Writes (And hasn't thought of a title!)
An interesting opening indeed. I can't wait to see where you take this.
You are doing well with the rating. I am sure it won't be a problem for you.
You are doing well with the rating. I am sure it won't be a problem for you.
Re: [PG-13] FowlJ Writes (And hasn't thought of a title!)
Chapter taken down to be re-written. It just didn't seem right to me.
Re: [PG-13] FowlJ Writes (And hasn't thought of a title!)
Alrighty!
Here's the re-written first chapter, because I was terribly unhappy with the first draft. It is certainly weaker towards the end, but I spent a couple hours rethinking how to do this and I had other things that required my attention. Hope you enjoy.
Chapter One
Babylon Gardens
February 10th, 2011
7:00 PM
The sun was just beginning to set in the Babylon Gardens, casting a pleasant blue tinged twilight over the area. On an ordinary day, most families, pets included, would be settling down to bed at around this time, as most humans in the area worked fairly early hours.
However, there is something different about this night, triggering dogs, cats, rabbits, and every other species the gardens has to offer, to don scarves, sometimes boots, or maybe even coats for lighter haired animals, and venture out into the cold to meet at a predetermined location.
One family, however, was running a tad behind.
***
“GRAAAAAPE!!”
The call was directed at a lavender haired feline lying precariously on the top shelf of the closet in the master bedroom, trying her very best to look sound asleep. Upon hearing the call, her eyes involuntarily shot open to glare at its source – a grinning mutt whose coat was patched together with various shades of brown. Awoken, once again, by Peanut Butter Sandwich.
“You know that thing – the one that people do when they lie down with their eyes closed? Sleep, Peanut. I am not even napping right now. It is night time. I am sleeping. Pray tell what do you want?”
Condemning herself to the fact that her sleep would not be completed tonight, Grape flopped haphazardly out of the closet, righting herself in time to land gracefully on her feet. A stretch and a yawn later, she was fully awake and ready for whatever she was needed for. Peanut looked slightly sorry that he had gone and woken her up, which, having not slept the night before, she supported wholeheartedly.
“Sorry – But everybody is up tonight! The new neighbours just moved in, remember? Everyone is going to go see them!”
“Oh... them.” It wasn't everyday that a new family moved into Babylon Gardens, but it was usually an interesting occurrence. Not that the local pets were particularly interested in the family as a whole, but each family in the Gardens brought at least one pet with them. This particular family was moving into the property up on a hill on the outskirts of town – a mansion that had been abandoned for as long as any pet could remember.
Wait...
“Uh, Peanut? How could they be moving in right now? They bought the mansion, we all heard about it, but it was never renovated or rebuilt. There's a foot of snow on the ground and they're moving into a building with no heat, no windows, and half a roof?”
Peanut apparently hadn't thought of this either.
“Well, maybe they’re just visiting to introduce themselves? Or they have a trailer? Or… something?”
Grape smiled slightly at the response.
“I suppose it doesn’t matter, if they’re showing up here anyway. Well, let’s get going then, if we’re going to go see them.”
Truthfully, Grape didn’t particularly want to – She didn’t maintain close contact with many of the neighbourhood animals, and there was no reason for this to be any different. Deeper than that, Grape had been thinking a lot lately, about a lot of things, and hadn’t been sleeping or eating particularly much during that time. Gorging herself and passing out for twelve hours sounded like a wonderful idea. But she knew she wouldn’t be able to stand the look Peanut would have on his face if she said she wasn’t coming.
And so, they donned their scarves hastily and went to join the other pets waiting to welcome their new neighbours.
***
There was quite an assembly by the time they got there. The neighbourhood dogs were the primary make up of the group, but more than a few cats had shown up as well. They weren’t watching for the newcomers to arrive, preferring to gossip amongst themselves while they waited. It was astounding how much they thought they knew about them – Various names, ages, species, breeds, social classes, and other information flew back and forth, warping and twisting into something different each time it circled the crowd. Loudest among them, not to anyone's surprise, was a dog by the name of Bino.
Bino was the sort of individual who never had anything nice to say about anyone – except for himself, of course. Today was no different.
“The guy bought the property straight from those wacko ferrets. Probably offered them something shiny, rather than actual money.”
He's not condescending at all, eh?
“ -- yeah, Jeff said they've got a dog.
-- nope, he didn't talk much about them, just said that he met them after they got the house.
-- his name? Oscar, I think. Probably some kind of wiener dog or something.”
“Mmm. Wiener dog. Sounds delicious.”
Bino must have left the ground by at least two feet, demonstrating language many pets in the Gardens didn't even know while twisting awkwardly to view the source of the voice.
Perhaps the most frightening thing was that he had managed to get into the crowd without being noticed.
Towering over every last animal there, at very close to five feet tall, was a jet black Newfoundland, currently laughing at Bino in a voice that seemed to reverberate around the entire town. Almost everyone there took a step back (many took several, for that matter).
“Well, what do we have here?”
“Terrifying the poor little fellows already, mate?”
The large dog turned back to look at two nearly identical Maine Coons who seemed to appear out of thin air in the same manner that he himself seemed so adept at.
“Well it 'ent on purpose, ya know.” Her turned back to face the pets once more. “The wiener dog thing was a joke, yeah? I 'ent gonna eat ya. Promise.” He grinned, showing teeth more than an inch and a half long, before bursting into laughter again. The twin cats rolled their eyes in a symmetrical fashion (Leading Grape to think that they had rehearsed it before hand) and stepped forward to speak.
“We will ask you to excuse our dear brother...”
“... He has what one might call a wonky sense of humour.”
“Regardless, allow us to introduce ourselves, since you are going to be in our company for quite some time...”
“... Seeing as we live here, and all. Luna...”
“... And Sol, at your collective services.” They introduced in perfect coordination, pointing at their collars – a crescent moon and a five pointed star, respectively. “And if ever you wish to be greatly disturbed by twins who are able to finish one another's sentences...”
“... Look no further. Because yes, we do do this all the time.”
“Now, this great lump--”
“Is entirely capable o' speech, thank ya.” The dog responded gruffly. “An' they already know my name, the scrawny little one was right. Oscar. Nice to meet ya all.”
An awkward silence settled over the gathering, some pets still looking slightly frightened, most others unsure of how to respond, or simply stunned into silence by the presentation.
Alright, maybe it was worth coming out here. Thought Grape, smiling slightly. Peanut was smiling as well, and immediately bounded forth to break the ice.
“Hello! My name is Peanut Butter, and this over here is Grape Jelly! Very nice to meet you all.”
“Hey, an' won't ya look a' that! This'ne can even speak!” Oscar dropped down to one knee to be closer to Peanut's level, though he was still substantially taller. Before the little dog could respond he was engulfed in a bear hug that Grape was concerned would snap his ribs. While Oscar was saying hello in his own fashion, Luna and Sol came over to Grape.
“Quiet neighbourhood, eh?” Luna grinned. From her limited knowledge of the different planets, gathered mainly from Sabrina in between gossiping about Grape's boyfriend, she could safely assume this one to be female.
“Don't get too used to it. Ordinarily they can't shut up, the dogs in particular. You've made a bit more of a show than they're used to.”
“Hehe, can't wait until they meet Spooky, then.” Sol and Luna exchanged a glance.
“Spooky?”
“Our owner, father, whatever you like to call them here.”
“If we're strange, he's off his rocker.”
“Not that he isn't off his rocker to begin with --”
“Well we are as well, Sis. Anyway, he was just finishing moving stuff into the house when we left to see you guys.”
“Moving stuff... But you guys don't have a trailer or anything?”
“We'll give you a tour of the house sometime.”
“It's different inside than out, trust us. Anyway, to talk of the devil...”
“... Here he is now.”
Sol pointed down the road, Oscar turning away from his conversation with the animals that had the courage to approach him to look as well. Walking down towards them was a figure that fit his nickname quite well.
He was dressed in a sort of cloak of black, brass and red, composed of materials running from leather to polished metal to velvet. It was loose, yet still conformed to his figure enough to allow him proper movement. His waist length hair was silver, despite him not looking very old at all, and flowed smoothly down his back as he walked. His eyes were blue, but not a sort of blue Grape could ever claim to have seen before – it stood out so sharply against his pale skin, starting nearly black at the edges of the iris and fading into a cerulean blue flecked with a neon shade. It was impossibly vibrant, yet seemed natural in its unnatural-ness, if that could even make sense.
“Woah.”
The cats grinned in a Cheshire manner at Grape's reaction. 'Spooky' stopped before them, not reacting in the slightest to the eyes now fixed upon him. He began to speak, his voice older and yet stronger than his appearance suggested, carrying the air of a person who has seen everything that the world has to offer. If Grape had to describe it, she would say it flowed like music, though the actual sound was nothing similar.
“Greetings, greetings. I see that you have all met my children already. My name is Joseph--”
“Call him Spooky. He hates it.”
“Thank you, Sol. As I was saying, My name is Joseph, and I have the pleasure of coming to live in this neighbourhood. I have been hearing a lot about it in recent times, and as my profession does not require me to be in any particular location, decided that I would take my family here. The Masters Milton were so kind as to give me a very reasonable price on this property,” He gestured gracefully in the direction of the mansion, “and it renovated very well, on the inside. The outside has never been particularly important, but that is a part of my personal philosophy that I will not bore you all with. I hope that we will grow to be a valuable part of this community, and I hope that we may become what could be called 'friends' – I feel that you are all of a good sort, and I am frequently told to be good judge of character. Some of you are most certainly perturbed by our particular eccentricities, but you will find we operate in a manner not dissimilar to yourselves. Now, since my helpers abandoned me to do all the lifting by myself, I will have to steal them away from you and make them do some proper work, hmm, children?”
“Aww, but don't you love us, Spooky?”
“Your words pierce me as so many daggers, truly. Now hurry up.”
The cats laughed and ran off to join Joseph walking back towards his house, turning to wave at Grape. Oscar repeated the procedure with the dogs, and then they were gone. Peanut emerged from the crowd and came over to her.
“So, what do you think of them?” He asked, looking at them retreating.
“Well, I can safely say that the twins are spectacular, though they'll do their utmost to get on everyone's nerves. What about Oscar?”
“Oscar's really cool! I think he might have broken something with that hug, though.”
“Heh.”
Well, bodily harm aside, this was definitely worth it.
And now Peanut had absolutely no excuse to stop her from sleeping, as she reminded him rather more caustically than intended on the way home – though luckily he understood without being offended.
And so she got in the door to her house, and managed to find her way to the Sandwich's laundry basket before passing out.
----
Lame ending is lame. Huzzah!
Regardless, this version of the chapter is objectively a massive improvement over the first one, so I'll forgive it that, at least for now.
Here's the re-written first chapter, because I was terribly unhappy with the first draft. It is certainly weaker towards the end, but I spent a couple hours rethinking how to do this and I had other things that required my attention. Hope you enjoy.
Chapter One
Babylon Gardens
February 10th, 2011
7:00 PM
The sun was just beginning to set in the Babylon Gardens, casting a pleasant blue tinged twilight over the area. On an ordinary day, most families, pets included, would be settling down to bed at around this time, as most humans in the area worked fairly early hours.
However, there is something different about this night, triggering dogs, cats, rabbits, and every other species the gardens has to offer, to don scarves, sometimes boots, or maybe even coats for lighter haired animals, and venture out into the cold to meet at a predetermined location.
One family, however, was running a tad behind.
***
“GRAAAAAPE!!”
The call was directed at a lavender haired feline lying precariously on the top shelf of the closet in the master bedroom, trying her very best to look sound asleep. Upon hearing the call, her eyes involuntarily shot open to glare at its source – a grinning mutt whose coat was patched together with various shades of brown. Awoken, once again, by Peanut Butter Sandwich.
“You know that thing – the one that people do when they lie down with their eyes closed? Sleep, Peanut. I am not even napping right now. It is night time. I am sleeping. Pray tell what do you want?”
Condemning herself to the fact that her sleep would not be completed tonight, Grape flopped haphazardly out of the closet, righting herself in time to land gracefully on her feet. A stretch and a yawn later, she was fully awake and ready for whatever she was needed for. Peanut looked slightly sorry that he had gone and woken her up, which, having not slept the night before, she supported wholeheartedly.
“Sorry – But everybody is up tonight! The new neighbours just moved in, remember? Everyone is going to go see them!”
“Oh... them.” It wasn't everyday that a new family moved into Babylon Gardens, but it was usually an interesting occurrence. Not that the local pets were particularly interested in the family as a whole, but each family in the Gardens brought at least one pet with them. This particular family was moving into the property up on a hill on the outskirts of town – a mansion that had been abandoned for as long as any pet could remember.
Wait...
“Uh, Peanut? How could they be moving in right now? They bought the mansion, we all heard about it, but it was never renovated or rebuilt. There's a foot of snow on the ground and they're moving into a building with no heat, no windows, and half a roof?”
Peanut apparently hadn't thought of this either.
“Well, maybe they’re just visiting to introduce themselves? Or they have a trailer? Or… something?”
Grape smiled slightly at the response.
“I suppose it doesn’t matter, if they’re showing up here anyway. Well, let’s get going then, if we’re going to go see them.”
Truthfully, Grape didn’t particularly want to – She didn’t maintain close contact with many of the neighbourhood animals, and there was no reason for this to be any different. Deeper than that, Grape had been thinking a lot lately, about a lot of things, and hadn’t been sleeping or eating particularly much during that time. Gorging herself and passing out for twelve hours sounded like a wonderful idea. But she knew she wouldn’t be able to stand the look Peanut would have on his face if she said she wasn’t coming.
And so, they donned their scarves hastily and went to join the other pets waiting to welcome their new neighbours.
***
There was quite an assembly by the time they got there. The neighbourhood dogs were the primary make up of the group, but more than a few cats had shown up as well. They weren’t watching for the newcomers to arrive, preferring to gossip amongst themselves while they waited. It was astounding how much they thought they knew about them – Various names, ages, species, breeds, social classes, and other information flew back and forth, warping and twisting into something different each time it circled the crowd. Loudest among them, not to anyone's surprise, was a dog by the name of Bino.
Bino was the sort of individual who never had anything nice to say about anyone – except for himself, of course. Today was no different.
“The guy bought the property straight from those wacko ferrets. Probably offered them something shiny, rather than actual money.”
He's not condescending at all, eh?
“ -- yeah, Jeff said they've got a dog.
-- nope, he didn't talk much about them, just said that he met them after they got the house.
-- his name? Oscar, I think. Probably some kind of wiener dog or something.”
“Mmm. Wiener dog. Sounds delicious.”
Bino must have left the ground by at least two feet, demonstrating language many pets in the Gardens didn't even know while twisting awkwardly to view the source of the voice.
Perhaps the most frightening thing was that he had managed to get into the crowd without being noticed.
Towering over every last animal there, at very close to five feet tall, was a jet black Newfoundland, currently laughing at Bino in a voice that seemed to reverberate around the entire town. Almost everyone there took a step back (many took several, for that matter).
“Well, what do we have here?”
“Terrifying the poor little fellows already, mate?”
The large dog turned back to look at two nearly identical Maine Coons who seemed to appear out of thin air in the same manner that he himself seemed so adept at.
“Well it 'ent on purpose, ya know.” Her turned back to face the pets once more. “The wiener dog thing was a joke, yeah? I 'ent gonna eat ya. Promise.” He grinned, showing teeth more than an inch and a half long, before bursting into laughter again. The twin cats rolled their eyes in a symmetrical fashion (Leading Grape to think that they had rehearsed it before hand) and stepped forward to speak.
“We will ask you to excuse our dear brother...”
“... He has what one might call a wonky sense of humour.”
“Regardless, allow us to introduce ourselves, since you are going to be in our company for quite some time...”
“... Seeing as we live here, and all. Luna...”
“... And Sol, at your collective services.” They introduced in perfect coordination, pointing at their collars – a crescent moon and a five pointed star, respectively. “And if ever you wish to be greatly disturbed by twins who are able to finish one another's sentences...”
“... Look no further. Because yes, we do do this all the time.”
“Now, this great lump--”
“Is entirely capable o' speech, thank ya.” The dog responded gruffly. “An' they already know my name, the scrawny little one was right. Oscar. Nice to meet ya all.”
An awkward silence settled over the gathering, some pets still looking slightly frightened, most others unsure of how to respond, or simply stunned into silence by the presentation.
Alright, maybe it was worth coming out here. Thought Grape, smiling slightly. Peanut was smiling as well, and immediately bounded forth to break the ice.
“Hello! My name is Peanut Butter, and this over here is Grape Jelly! Very nice to meet you all.”
“Hey, an' won't ya look a' that! This'ne can even speak!” Oscar dropped down to one knee to be closer to Peanut's level, though he was still substantially taller. Before the little dog could respond he was engulfed in a bear hug that Grape was concerned would snap his ribs. While Oscar was saying hello in his own fashion, Luna and Sol came over to Grape.
“Quiet neighbourhood, eh?” Luna grinned. From her limited knowledge of the different planets, gathered mainly from Sabrina in between gossiping about Grape's boyfriend, she could safely assume this one to be female.
“Don't get too used to it. Ordinarily they can't shut up, the dogs in particular. You've made a bit more of a show than they're used to.”
“Hehe, can't wait until they meet Spooky, then.” Sol and Luna exchanged a glance.
“Spooky?”
“Our owner, father, whatever you like to call them here.”
“If we're strange, he's off his rocker.”
“Not that he isn't off his rocker to begin with --”
“Well we are as well, Sis. Anyway, he was just finishing moving stuff into the house when we left to see you guys.”
“Moving stuff... But you guys don't have a trailer or anything?”
“We'll give you a tour of the house sometime.”
“It's different inside than out, trust us. Anyway, to talk of the devil...”
“... Here he is now.”
Sol pointed down the road, Oscar turning away from his conversation with the animals that had the courage to approach him to look as well. Walking down towards them was a figure that fit his nickname quite well.
He was dressed in a sort of cloak of black, brass and red, composed of materials running from leather to polished metal to velvet. It was loose, yet still conformed to his figure enough to allow him proper movement. His waist length hair was silver, despite him not looking very old at all, and flowed smoothly down his back as he walked. His eyes were blue, but not a sort of blue Grape could ever claim to have seen before – it stood out so sharply against his pale skin, starting nearly black at the edges of the iris and fading into a cerulean blue flecked with a neon shade. It was impossibly vibrant, yet seemed natural in its unnatural-ness, if that could even make sense.
“Woah.”
The cats grinned in a Cheshire manner at Grape's reaction. 'Spooky' stopped before them, not reacting in the slightest to the eyes now fixed upon him. He began to speak, his voice older and yet stronger than his appearance suggested, carrying the air of a person who has seen everything that the world has to offer. If Grape had to describe it, she would say it flowed like music, though the actual sound was nothing similar.
“Greetings, greetings. I see that you have all met my children already. My name is Joseph--”
“Call him Spooky. He hates it.”
“Thank you, Sol. As I was saying, My name is Joseph, and I have the pleasure of coming to live in this neighbourhood. I have been hearing a lot about it in recent times, and as my profession does not require me to be in any particular location, decided that I would take my family here. The Masters Milton were so kind as to give me a very reasonable price on this property,” He gestured gracefully in the direction of the mansion, “and it renovated very well, on the inside. The outside has never been particularly important, but that is a part of my personal philosophy that I will not bore you all with. I hope that we will grow to be a valuable part of this community, and I hope that we may become what could be called 'friends' – I feel that you are all of a good sort, and I am frequently told to be good judge of character. Some of you are most certainly perturbed by our particular eccentricities, but you will find we operate in a manner not dissimilar to yourselves. Now, since my helpers abandoned me to do all the lifting by myself, I will have to steal them away from you and make them do some proper work, hmm, children?”
“Aww, but don't you love us, Spooky?”
“Your words pierce me as so many daggers, truly. Now hurry up.”
The cats laughed and ran off to join Joseph walking back towards his house, turning to wave at Grape. Oscar repeated the procedure with the dogs, and then they were gone. Peanut emerged from the crowd and came over to her.
“So, what do you think of them?” He asked, looking at them retreating.
“Well, I can safely say that the twins are spectacular, though they'll do their utmost to get on everyone's nerves. What about Oscar?”
“Oscar's really cool! I think he might have broken something with that hug, though.”
“Heh.”
Well, bodily harm aside, this was definitely worth it.
And now Peanut had absolutely no excuse to stop her from sleeping, as she reminded him rather more caustically than intended on the way home – though luckily he understood without being offended.
And so she got in the door to her house, and managed to find her way to the Sandwich's laundry basket before passing out.
----
Lame ending is lame. Huzzah!
Regardless, this version of the chapter is objectively a massive improvement over the first one, so I'll forgive it that, at least for now.
Re: [PG-13] FowlJ Writes (And hasn't thought of a title!)
That is a great update! The ending was just fine, especially since this is the first chapter.
Nice original characters. Perfect for Halloween adventures!
Nice original characters. Perfect for Halloween adventures!
Re: [PG-13] FowlJ Writes (And hasn't thought of a title!)
Spooky seems like a friendlier version of Pete.
Re: [PG-13] FowlJ Writes (And hasn't thought of a title!)
Here we are. This chapter was done faster than I thought. It occurs to me that I have gone three chapters doing nothing but adding questions I will eventually have to answer. Which is hilarious, since I've only actually planned out a couple things so far which serve to answer them. Additionally, I decided to name this chapter, which I may or may not continue doing depending on whether I can think of anything witty to call them.
Chapter Two – Third Eye Blind
Domain of the Spirit Dragon, Centre of the Multiverse
Earth Time February 10th, 10:00 PM
She seriously needs to hand out maps or something in here, thought a most curious looking fox as he wandered along the pathways of the giant mountains floating amid the clouds. His fur was the colour of cream, and his nine tails swished in irritation behind him.
“My dear, would you mind opening the right path, please? I’ve gotten lost about four times already!”
In response to his voice, the mountain wall cracked open, a path leading into the darkness. He followed for quite some time before emerging into the light, where he saw what to an untrained eye would be a human female in a green dress hunched over a table. He, however, saw through the illusion and looked in a puzzled manner at a large, jade green dragon.
“Might I ask why you look like that?”
“Because dragons are somewhat lacking in manual dexterity. Now get over here and help me with this.”
“Must be pretty important to you, as you ignored my repeated calls...” He walked over and looked at what she was doing, again, it looked like nothing, but there was no illusion here. He felt something however, and taking a deep breath commanded his eyes to sense it as well. A blue spider web of lines appeared before him, occasional globs of energy spaced randomly throughout the thousands of strands. “… Your web of power?”
“Yes. My powers of pre-cognition are no longer working. Tarot can’t use her own, either.” She said, gesturing at a smaller green web that stemmed from her own blue one.
“You know, I can never understand just why you would ever want to see the future. It would make everything so boring.” Regardless, he shifted his own form into human shape and stood beside her. He had pale skin and hair, dressed in ancient Japanese fashion. The only unusual feature about this form was his eyes, which remained their usual crimson red. “So, you think the web done goofed?” He finished with one of the mortal expressions he had become fond of.
She sighed. “That’s the thing. It doesn’t seem to have, and even if it did, Tarot’s power operates separately, so it shouldn’t be affecting her… It’s not even that the power doesn’t work, just that it doesn’t turn up any results.” She tested the web, plucking certain strings, which burned bright blue as power was sent through them. She sighed again.
“Doesn’t turn up any results? That doesn’t make sense… show me.”
The web faded away to nothing as she obliged, drawing the strings inside herself and arranging them in a specific way before allowing her will to flow across them like water in a stream. As the matrix she built was saturated with energy, shreds of mortal reality began to form, which she then sent to the fox in the form of thoughts – visions of the future typically felt more like recent memories than anything else. He closed his eyes and devoted his full attention to the image, only to open them again and look up at her, confused.
“Nothing.”
The thought did not construct an image of nothing as one would picture it appearing, because there was no such thing as thought or imagination in this void. It was truly nothing, and the slightest vision of it would drive a mortal mind insane. The fox’s confusion turned to mild worry.
“Little Tarot hasn’t tried this, has she?”
“She has, but she was linked with me at the time. She knows not to try it on her own until it’s fixed.”
“Excellent. Well, not excellent, but you know what I’m saying. So, no idea what the problem is?”
“If I did, there wouldn’t be a problem. This isn’t the first time it happened, but the last time was…”
She brought a hand to her face, before turning to the fox. He remembered the moment she was thinking of as well, and they spoke their next word in unison.
“Pete.”
***
A brilliant blue gryphon walked towards the table where dragon and the fox sat, a bag of books and assorted dice slung over his shoulder. He dropped it down beside an empty chair and sat down.
“So, I thought you guys didn’t want me back until I had an Avatar. I suppose this means you’re letting me use King, then?” He pulled out a sheet listing various details about a small brown and white dog that was pictured in a box at the side.
“Welllllllll… No.” Responded the fox. “Actually we called you today so we could figure out exactly what it is you’re up to this time, you little sneak.” He rested his elbows on the table, fingers intertwined and held before his face, and watched Pete expectantly.
“What?” A look of confusion spread across the gryphon’s face. “I’m not ‘up to’ anything!”
“Come on, Pete. My ability to see the future is turning up nothing, and last time that happened, it was because you were interfering directly with the world of mortals.” Dragon pointed a claw at him accusingly.
“I swear, I haven’t done anything!” He held up his hands in surrender. “Why is it that you always suspect me?”
The fox sighed and dropped his hands, leaning over the table slightly.
“Look, Pete. You are our friend, and we want to play with you, but since we started this campaign you have not done a single thing honestly, and most of your infractions have involved dealing directly with the world of mortals.”
“We play through our Avatars, yadda yadda yadda. I don’t happen to have one, so how am I supposed to get one if I can’t touch the mortal realm?”
“The rules clearly state that the free will of your Avatar must be maintained, and this is achieved through signing an honest contract with your chosen individual. With the cat, who was your first choice, you did not even attempt to arrange a contract before you broke into her mind and arranged that she release you from your temple, which, might I add, we are bending the rules as it is by not sealing you back inside and relocating it. Tarot found Dragon’s temple quite on her own. Your second choice was King, who you forced into a contract and changed him into a dog against his will, before leaving him that way despite him expressing a desire to be returned to normal. When denied the right to use him, you attempted to steal his soul so that he would be your Avatar. That is a violation of more than just the rules, Pete. That is theft. Though Cerberus certainly showed you the wrong in your ways on that one. Now, just come clean on what it is you’re doing, and hell, we’ll go against the rules and help you get an honest Avatar. Now come on, seriously.”
“I already told you that I didn’t do anything. And fine, I’ll admit you have reason to suspect me, but I’m not doing anything, and I am going to be arranging a contract soon. Whatever is wrong with Dragon, it isn’t being caused by me.”
The two other players looked at each other. He certainly seemed genuine.
“Fine. But this raises the question of what exactly is causing Dragon’s power to malfunction. Any guesses?”
“None what-so-ever. Are we the only group playing in this universe?”
“I made quite a point of reserving it for us, so not a registered one, definitely.”
“An unregistered one?”
“That would certainly be trouble, especially if they’re playing an edition that lets them interact with the world directly. I say we postpone the next session and all look into that. Any objections?”
“Seeing as I can’t play yet anyway, no.” Replied Pete.
“I’m definitely good with this.” Dragon agreed as well.
“Excellent. Call me if you find anything. Oh, and Pete? If you are behind this, I’ll make what Cerberus did look like a hug.”
Pete recoiled involuntarily at the thought. He had seen the fox when he was angry before. The fox shot him an evil grin before he faded away to nothingness, Dragon waving goodbye and following suit. He decided not to bother with teleportation and began walking home, mentally setting up a web that would let him communicate with the world of mortals.
It was about time he chose his Avatar.
----
Another short one, but there wasn't really much else to add. It turned out surprisingly well - typically when I write this much in about an hour it looks like I projectile vomited words onto a page.
Chapter Two – Third Eye Blind
Domain of the Spirit Dragon, Centre of the Multiverse
Earth Time February 10th, 10:00 PM
She seriously needs to hand out maps or something in here, thought a most curious looking fox as he wandered along the pathways of the giant mountains floating amid the clouds. His fur was the colour of cream, and his nine tails swished in irritation behind him.
“My dear, would you mind opening the right path, please? I’ve gotten lost about four times already!”
In response to his voice, the mountain wall cracked open, a path leading into the darkness. He followed for quite some time before emerging into the light, where he saw what to an untrained eye would be a human female in a green dress hunched over a table. He, however, saw through the illusion and looked in a puzzled manner at a large, jade green dragon.
“Might I ask why you look like that?”
“Because dragons are somewhat lacking in manual dexterity. Now get over here and help me with this.”
“Must be pretty important to you, as you ignored my repeated calls...” He walked over and looked at what she was doing, again, it looked like nothing, but there was no illusion here. He felt something however, and taking a deep breath commanded his eyes to sense it as well. A blue spider web of lines appeared before him, occasional globs of energy spaced randomly throughout the thousands of strands. “… Your web of power?”
“Yes. My powers of pre-cognition are no longer working. Tarot can’t use her own, either.” She said, gesturing at a smaller green web that stemmed from her own blue one.
“You know, I can never understand just why you would ever want to see the future. It would make everything so boring.” Regardless, he shifted his own form into human shape and stood beside her. He had pale skin and hair, dressed in ancient Japanese fashion. The only unusual feature about this form was his eyes, which remained their usual crimson red. “So, you think the web done goofed?” He finished with one of the mortal expressions he had become fond of.
She sighed. “That’s the thing. It doesn’t seem to have, and even if it did, Tarot’s power operates separately, so it shouldn’t be affecting her… It’s not even that the power doesn’t work, just that it doesn’t turn up any results.” She tested the web, plucking certain strings, which burned bright blue as power was sent through them. She sighed again.
“Doesn’t turn up any results? That doesn’t make sense… show me.”
The web faded away to nothing as she obliged, drawing the strings inside herself and arranging them in a specific way before allowing her will to flow across them like water in a stream. As the matrix she built was saturated with energy, shreds of mortal reality began to form, which she then sent to the fox in the form of thoughts – visions of the future typically felt more like recent memories than anything else. He closed his eyes and devoted his full attention to the image, only to open them again and look up at her, confused.
“Nothing.”
The thought did not construct an image of nothing as one would picture it appearing, because there was no such thing as thought or imagination in this void. It was truly nothing, and the slightest vision of it would drive a mortal mind insane. The fox’s confusion turned to mild worry.
“Little Tarot hasn’t tried this, has she?”
“She has, but she was linked with me at the time. She knows not to try it on her own until it’s fixed.”
“Excellent. Well, not excellent, but you know what I’m saying. So, no idea what the problem is?”
“If I did, there wouldn’t be a problem. This isn’t the first time it happened, but the last time was…”
She brought a hand to her face, before turning to the fox. He remembered the moment she was thinking of as well, and they spoke their next word in unison.
“Pete.”
***
A brilliant blue gryphon walked towards the table where dragon and the fox sat, a bag of books and assorted dice slung over his shoulder. He dropped it down beside an empty chair and sat down.
“So, I thought you guys didn’t want me back until I had an Avatar. I suppose this means you’re letting me use King, then?” He pulled out a sheet listing various details about a small brown and white dog that was pictured in a box at the side.
“Welllllllll… No.” Responded the fox. “Actually we called you today so we could figure out exactly what it is you’re up to this time, you little sneak.” He rested his elbows on the table, fingers intertwined and held before his face, and watched Pete expectantly.
“What?” A look of confusion spread across the gryphon’s face. “I’m not ‘up to’ anything!”
“Come on, Pete. My ability to see the future is turning up nothing, and last time that happened, it was because you were interfering directly with the world of mortals.” Dragon pointed a claw at him accusingly.
“I swear, I haven’t done anything!” He held up his hands in surrender. “Why is it that you always suspect me?”
The fox sighed and dropped his hands, leaning over the table slightly.
“Look, Pete. You are our friend, and we want to play with you, but since we started this campaign you have not done a single thing honestly, and most of your infractions have involved dealing directly with the world of mortals.”
“We play through our Avatars, yadda yadda yadda. I don’t happen to have one, so how am I supposed to get one if I can’t touch the mortal realm?”
“The rules clearly state that the free will of your Avatar must be maintained, and this is achieved through signing an honest contract with your chosen individual. With the cat, who was your first choice, you did not even attempt to arrange a contract before you broke into her mind and arranged that she release you from your temple, which, might I add, we are bending the rules as it is by not sealing you back inside and relocating it. Tarot found Dragon’s temple quite on her own. Your second choice was King, who you forced into a contract and changed him into a dog against his will, before leaving him that way despite him expressing a desire to be returned to normal. When denied the right to use him, you attempted to steal his soul so that he would be your Avatar. That is a violation of more than just the rules, Pete. That is theft. Though Cerberus certainly showed you the wrong in your ways on that one. Now, just come clean on what it is you’re doing, and hell, we’ll go against the rules and help you get an honest Avatar. Now come on, seriously.”
“I already told you that I didn’t do anything. And fine, I’ll admit you have reason to suspect me, but I’m not doing anything, and I am going to be arranging a contract soon. Whatever is wrong with Dragon, it isn’t being caused by me.”
The two other players looked at each other. He certainly seemed genuine.
“Fine. But this raises the question of what exactly is causing Dragon’s power to malfunction. Any guesses?”
“None what-so-ever. Are we the only group playing in this universe?”
“I made quite a point of reserving it for us, so not a registered one, definitely.”
“An unregistered one?”
“That would certainly be trouble, especially if they’re playing an edition that lets them interact with the world directly. I say we postpone the next session and all look into that. Any objections?”
“Seeing as I can’t play yet anyway, no.” Replied Pete.
“I’m definitely good with this.” Dragon agreed as well.
“Excellent. Call me if you find anything. Oh, and Pete? If you are behind this, I’ll make what Cerberus did look like a hug.”
Pete recoiled involuntarily at the thought. He had seen the fox when he was angry before. The fox shot him an evil grin before he faded away to nothingness, Dragon waving goodbye and following suit. He decided not to bother with teleportation and began walking home, mentally setting up a web that would let him communicate with the world of mortals.
It was about time he chose his Avatar.
----
Another short one, but there wasn't really much else to add. It turned out surprisingly well - typically when I write this much in about an hour it looks like I projectile vomited words onto a page.
Re: [PG-13] FowlJ Writes (And hasn't thought of a title!)
Nice imagery... projectile vomit.
Good update! Dragon is going to be mad at the newcomers. I just hope there are no apocalyptic battles in the future!!
Good update! Dragon is going to be mad at the newcomers. I just hope there are no apocalyptic battles in the future!!
Re: [PG-13] FowlJ Writes (And hasn't thought of a title!)
What's this? Another chapter down? I've got to get better at getting it right the first time - a 50% rate doesn't really cut it.
Re: [PG-13] FowlJ Writes (And hasn't thought of a title!)
Alright, so, it occurs to me that before I started this story I should maybe have thought out more than two plot events, one at the very beginning and then another more than half way through the story. I still plan on finishing it, but I think I'll move on temporarily and write some little one-offs and maybe a bit of a different story while I figure out exactly what I'm doing - because I'll be honest and say I haven't the faintest. I might even get a little short up tonight, since I already know I'm not going to succeed in sleeping.
Greatly sorry to anyone who actually liked this - I most certainly don't plan on letting it die, though.
Greatly sorry to anyone who actually liked this - I most certainly don't plan on letting it die, though.