Distant Starlight

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Leotamer
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Re: Distant Starlight

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Distant Starlight - Cartography

After a few days, Sirius was released from the clinic. They could not find anything particularity out of place or concerning, which seemed to worry them more.

It didn't seem as though they would want to take him of the community for now, and going out on his would not be worth the bother. He was still unable to cast spells, thus making the exercise futile.

However, he had taken to looking around with his power imbued eyes and noticed other sources of magic scattered about. In particular, he noticed thin strips of power running in a pattern through the community, seemingly bound by the wall, which also radiated magic.

He had taken to mapping it out, but with his limited tools it was difficult to get a precise drawing but after some work, he was able to make an approximation. It seemed to be some runic pattern, though he didn't recognize it.

He wanted a more precise drawing to see if he could better analyses it. When he asked for a rope, the one he was handed was far to small to try to help with triangulation.

Jax seemed to still be worried. He seemed to appreciate Sirius getting out of the house and walking around, but he would often insistent on following him and did seem initially confused about what he was doing. Sirius tried to explain, though it seemed like he didn't really understand it until he simplified it to say that he was making a map. He seemed satisfied with that answer.

And being made to think about it, he did decide to jot down notes and other things that might help if he decided to make a map. It really did seem like the community could do with a proper one.
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Amazee Dayzee
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Re: Distant Starlight

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Really wonderful work as always! Hope to see more very soon!
Leotamer
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Re: Distant Starlight

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Distant Starlight - Brewing

Tyrant paced back in forth, occasionally taking glances towards a mouth of a cave. Suddenly, he felt a single tap on his shoulder and fell over. He glanced up at a black cat above him, Bella, glanced over at the cave entrance and then glanced over at her.

Without the wolf saying a word, she responded, "I was just stepping out."

He keep glancing between the cave entrance and the cat, "But"

She patted on his head, "You really don't need to worry that much about it."

Trying to stand up straight, "Well, um. The brew. You need."

She cut him off, "I need to let the cauldron sit for a couple of hours. I need to step out to attend to some things."

Trying to show his teeth and look intimidating, "Well, when will it be ready."

Bella just patted his head again, "It will be ready when it is ready."

Stamping his feet, "Have I not waited long enough?"

"Well, if I rush it. I might be able to finish it tonight. Though, it might turn you into a newt." she said.

"A newt?"

"Well, probably not. It would probably turn you into a canine, though you might end up a fox or coyote. You know, I am really not sure what would happen if would turn you into a wolf." she mused.

Tyrant walked over to a rock and sat down, pouting about it. "Fine, I will wait."

Bella grinned, "Good boy." She then walked over to him, "You do know what being a dog will mean right?"

Tyrant thought about it for a moment, "Well, why are you helping me?"

Bella just grinned again, "I am obligated to start chaos where ever I go."

When the wolf raised an eyebrow, she continued, "Chaos doesn't always have to be a bad thing."
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Amazee Dayzee
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Re: Distant Starlight

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I am in awe of how wonderful this is! Hope you can keep it up!
Leotamer
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Re: Distant Starlight

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Distant Starlight - Bound

Sirius, frustrated by his lack of progress with mapping the rune inscribed into community, decided to take a different approach. He walked back to the wall, and hesitantly reached towards. He stopped half-way through, thinking about how it might effect him in this state and how the Hawthorne's might react if he became disoriented again, that it might permanently harm his ability to do magic, or that the wall might explode.

He took a moment to breath, and to still his thoughts for a moment. And then another errant thought crossed his mind, what happened to the illusion cast over the wall. It would be a terrible over-sight to attempt to fool identification spells, but not mask its magic energies. It was unlikely that his sight has improved that much. He couldn't see through magic through any thing thicker than a wet paper towel, and then it was heavily obscured. He might be able to see that there is a masking, but he shouldn't see through it.

He then realized that it might be far worse than he expected. He needed to know. Slowly, he poked at the walls with a single claw. When it finally tapped against the wall, he waited for a second and pulled it back. He felt something, but slowly placed his paw against the wall to confirm. He felt the energies of the wall surge into him, but it was also surging out him in equal measure.

It was almost pleasant. There was something appealing to it, but it was overshadowed by the feeling of powerlessness, of his magic being made to move by an outside force. And he had a terrible realization. His magic had been supplanted by that of the entity. HIs master recounted how he was on occasion compelled to assimilate local magic energy before he had full control over his gift, but he reached towards his neck. That shouldn't happen to him. The entity must have been more powerful and insidious than he realized.

HIs paw was on the wall the entire time, and when he had realized, it withdrew. And then he realized he felt drained. He placed his paw on the wall again and he realized that he could push his magic outwards faster than he adsorbed it, but he quickly stopped after he started to get light-headed. He had found a way to remove magic from himself, but he could feel himself recharging far faster than he expected without concentrating.

However, while he had diminished magics, he attempted to cast his spells with no success. As he feared, it was that it was the entity's magic within and that it refused to answer his spells. However, now that he recognized the problem, he was closer to the solution. It is that he was never good at serving or blocking magical bounds, and breaking such a strong bond recklessly could have serious side-effects. He quietly wished he had Procyon's aid.

----

Snowbell walked over to her cat-bed, ready for a night's sleep, surprised to find a plain, red box sitting on pillow. She quickly snatched it and opened it, and in it was a red plume sitting on more poultice. She watched as the feather glowed and dissolved first into ash and then raw magic and soaked into the medicine. She wasn't expecting more this early. Ever since she had moved here, the boxes appeared regularly, and she was always skeptical towards sudden bouts of good luck. The only reason she used the poultice is because her sister tried it first. She closed the box and hide it away.
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Re: Distant Starlight

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Distant Starlight - Pacing

Zeus paced back in forth in the kitchen. His eyes eventually wandered over to Sirius' electric kettle. He remembered Sirius saying that he could have some, but also Jax's recommendation that he didn't. He poured a glass, and as he reached the glass to his muzzle, he instinctively pushed his paws away from his nose and gagged.

Jax rushed in, seeing Zeus putting a cup on the counter and pushing it towards the kettle. He didn't say anything, but he had a look that conveyed the message, "I told you so."

Zeus tried coughing the smell out, eventually regaining the breath to say, "Does he have a sense of smell?"

Jax ignored that, and said, "What are you doing in here?"

"He should that I was welcome to try it. I didn't think it was going to be that noxious." he said.

Jax walked a bit closer. "It has only been a few hours. Your uncle isn't going to back into the morning."

"It isn't my fault there is nothing to do in this town." he rebutted.

"As much as it might cause me trouble later, you can't go over to your brother's?" he said.

"Do you think that the only other dog in this town I know is my own brother." he said, looking into Jax's disapproving glare. He lasted a few seconds before his indignation melted, and he admitted, "He is busy with that cat." He then added, "I had to turn down Trevor's offer to play Smash Bros."

"Do you not like video games that much you would rather pace around the kitchen." Jax asked.

Zeus thought back to the last time he played it with Trevor, and how the little pup had completely crushed him, and hesitantly said "Yeah."

Jax sighed, "Do you really need a human to watch you run and flail around?"

Looking at his floor, Zeus said "No.. But it helps." and went outside.
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Amazee Dayzee
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Re: Distant Starlight

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I really do love how this is coming along! Great job!
Leotamer
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Re: Distant Starlight

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Distant Starlight - Names

As Zeus went to walk down the street, he felt something pelt his nose and then it felt wetter than usually. Shortly after, he was running through the rain back home.

When he walked through the front door, Jax handed him a towel. While trying to dry his fur, he saw Sirius drinking from the glass he poured earlier, "What are you psychic? How did you get out of the rain faster than I did."

Sirius sighed, "No, I am magic. Psionics is different. But that is unrelated, I used my eyes to see the rain clouds."

The sound of thunder crashed through the house and Zeus jumped and his paws reached for his head. Jax looked at him, if he was amused he managed to keep a straight face, "I didn't know you were scared of lightning. Isn't it a bit ironic."

Zeus straightened himself up, "That was thunder" he pointed out as if it changed anything, "Besides, it isn't like I choose my name."

Jax checked to make sure he dried off before taking the towel from him and guiding the two into the living room, "I don't think I heard the story of why you are named that."

Zeus sat down on the couch and started to make a nest from the blankets, "Not much to tell, me and my brother were born during a thunderstorm. What about you?"

Jax folded the towel up and sat it in a plastic laundry basket, "My previous owner liked how it sounded."

Zeus seemed disappointed, and looked over to Sirius, "You have a fancy name, that must have a story."

Sirius took a drink of tea, "My master named me it. I was called Gold before that because." He nearly eleborated before the other two dogs gave him a pointed look, "Master called me Sirius because he said it was his tradition to name dogs after this stars of Canis Major or Canis Minor."

Jax looked over and saw Zeus' confused expression, "Canis means dog. Like canine."

Zeus expression turned from confusion to realization then back to confusion. The lights flickered and another wave of thunder echoed through the sky. Zeus momentarily buried himself in blankets. Zeus popped up from them, quickly trying to think of something to say, "So what is your master's name."

Jax glared at him with dagger's for eyes, but Sirius took a sip of his tea and answered, "He is Master Alexander. If he told me his family name, it has slipped from my memory."
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Amazee Dayzee
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Re: Distant Starlight

Post by Amazee Dayzee »

Wonderful work as usual! I love the way this story is going!
Leotamer
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Re: Distant Starlight

Post by Leotamer »

I am glad that I have continued this and that at least someone is reading it and enjoying it.

As part of the main story, I intend for a new magical pet to enter Azure Creek. I don't want to get into much spoilers, especially since I am trying to tell a story with mystery aspects, but if anyone wants, you can leave a suggestion however simple or complex you want it, though the two big things I am looking for is species and their magical gimmick. The one restriction is no turtles until I have canonical proof whether they stand on two legs or four. But a bit more seriously, the only thing that this character really needs to fit the narrative role is that they are inexperienced with magic and are down on their luck in some way, either due to magic or no. I already have two more magically-adept pets formulated in my head, but they aren't going to show up until a bit later.
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Re: Distant Starlight

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Distant Starlight - Dusk

Sirius mediated in a make-shift circle composed of the few materials he had or could easily borrow. His experience and training told him that it shouldn't work; the circle he made with a protractor, his small length of rope and a salt shaker was hardly circular, he could not properly activate the runic pages of purification, protection and arcane power he placed in the circle and taped to his wall, a ring he placed in the center of the circle was likely not pure silver despite what he might have been told.

However, it was working. Mediation felt refreshing again, and with each time he did it, he felt like he was a single step away from taking control back of his arcane power.

He had started this project reluctantly, as the storm had lingered over the rest of the week. With how it was raining, Zeus was concerned that it might flood though he was also worried about the lightning. Jax ensured him that because the community was built on a flood-zone, they had good drainage. Sirius noticed that no matter how hard or long it poured, the ground water never rose above a certain height. Imbuing his eyes with power, he could tell magic was working upon it, presumably siphoning it away. While it was mildly reassuring that there would not be any flood, he was concerned with someone needed that water for. It was also annoyance and even when it became dry enough to walk around, the lingering drainage magic obscured the runic lines below it. He had tried to notice if there was something unusual about it, though he could not tell much other than there seemed to be some uniform water absorption magic from one side of the gate to the other.

This night was not unlike the nights previous. He pushed out the foreign magics through the circle and then pulled magic from his bandana. There was a rhythm. Ebb, flow.

He lost himself within the power flowing through him. The world around him shifted to a sea of brilliant stars dancing about. When he finished he placed his paw on his chest, and felt fur. He frantically patted his chest and then carpet around him, his bandana had vanished into the aether.

-----

Abe pressed the top hat into Debbie's arms, "You said you would practice today."

Debbie looked at her brother and sighed, "Maybe I don't feel like it." she said, pushing it back towards him before looking behind the couch.

Abe shook his head, "Are you still looking for that toy?" He took a wand and placed it in the hat before shoving it back towards her, "Maybe if you say the magic words, you can pull it from the hat?"

"If it will get you to leave me alone." she said, taking the hat and started to tap against the rim of the hat muttering some words below her breath, before reaching in and pulling something out of the hat. Oddly, it wasn't something in the hidden compartment but something resting on top of it. It felt like hard plastic. When she looked at it, it was her dragon figurine, now motionless. She looked at her brother with a fierce glance and was about to say something to him, but when she opened her paw, he clapped.

Looking between the hat and her brother, who seemed to be genuinely impressed. She became confused and excused herself.

-----

In the woodlands, Elder Greenhoof meet with a large bear with greyish stone-like fur with moss growing around her neck and down her back like a cape, Elder Stonehewer. He whispered, "The sun is mostly certainly lowering, however we can not allow this information to spread."
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Amazee Dayzee
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Re: Distant Starlight

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Masterful job on all of this! I really do love it a lot!
Leotamer
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Re: Distant Starlight

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Distant Starlight - Omen

Sirius didn't sleep that night. He sat on his bed, stricken with motionlessness. When the others realized he was still in his make-shift quarters well after breakfest, they dragged him into the living room. He curled himself into a cocoon of blankets. His mind was slowed and his thoughts betrayed him. His inner monologue was silent except for occassional self-accustatory questions which yield no answer. On occassion, he was tried to calm himself and yet his repeated failures to do only added to his grief. He could barely vocalize his worries, though Jax seemed to understand his muttering and pantomiming.

-----

Tyrant was once again pacing in some part of the woodlands when he felt someone tapping on his shoulder. He turned around and saw a rather odd cat. He didn't know much about cats, though Belladonna had told some of the human world, though he only half-remembered what she had told him. The cat was a tall male with primarily white fur, but he had dark black fur around his paws and his left eye. What was particularly strange was that he wasn't a collar, but instead a black silk vest. He also had a grin, almost convincing to be taken as geniune but not quite. He spoke, "I see you are tired of waiting. I so happen to have something to expediate your journey to pethood." his long tail swinging towards the wolf pup, wrapped around a veil of bluish-purple liquid.

The youngling nearly reached towards, but stopped himself, "What do you want?"

The cat stepped back and placed his paw on his chest to feign offense, "This isn't quite charity, but I don't need anything from you. Our goals just so happen to align."

Tyrant glared at him, "Is it dangerous?"

The cat chuckled a bit, pulling the veil towards himself and used a single claw to open it, "Not at all, you just need one light sip." he said, before taking a glup, "See, absolutely harmless."

With the cat moving the veil towards him, he hesistently reached out to grab it and take a sip of it.

-----

Zeus walked into the living room, holding a cup of tea as far as way from his nose as his paws would permit. He placed it down on a counter near the couch. He tried to think of something funny or insightful to say, but for once, he was lost for words and just stood around for some time, while Sirius tried to hide himself in the covers.

Jax walked into the room, though neither of the other dogs immediately noticed him. He walked over to couch and started to pull away the blankets. Sirius feebly tried to resist, though the police dog was far stronger than him. It wasn't until he nearly shoved his bandana in his face that he stopped. After a few seconds to process what had happened, he grabbed and pulled it into his chest before quickly going to put it on. He quietly stuttered out, "You have my gratitude."

He stumbled out of the remaining blankets and off the couch, having trouble even with Jax's and Zeus' help. When he was moderately stable on his feet, he looked at both of them and solemnly said, "I am going to slumber now."

Zeus stopped him for a moment and leaned towards him, before Jax grabbed his shoulder and gently nudged him away. When Sirius had cleared the room, Zeus stated, "And so you actually found it rather than giving him a knock-off. Where did you find it?"

Jax sat down, "It was strange. A stray kitten was bundled up and sleeping in it in the park."
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Amazee Dayzee
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Re: Distant Starlight

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Really lovely work as usually on the chapter! I really did enjoy reading it!
Leotamer
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Re: Distant Starlight

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Distant Starlight - Nocturnal

A small crowd of animals gathered around a flat stone where a bat was sitting on. They were flanked by a cougar and a coyote, both adorned with sunglasses, holding bushy branches over the rock to create shade. Enthusiastically motioning with its wings, it cried, "The tyranny of day is almost over. Know my children, the sun shall always set."

Most of the crowd quickly dispersed as Greenhoof walked up towards the bat, "I know these are trying times, but I must insist that you do speak against the wishes of Guardian."

"It is not the Guardian I oppose, but the negligent elders who only act within their interests. Night fall approaches because the Guardian wills it, for if they did not will it, then it would not occur." the bat replied, still waving their wings around wildly.

Greenhoof stomped the ground, "It is not wise to speak so ill of the elders in the presence of one. Have you forgotten all the hardship we have preformed for the woodlands? How powerful are magic is."

The bat retorted, "We only have magic by the grace of the Guardian. My faith in them is stronger, and thus to my magic. I have nothing to fear from you."

They were interrupted by a female wolf running over, clearly exhausted and obviously unconcerned about whose conversation she was intruding it, "Has anyone seen Tyrant."
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Amazee Dayzee
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Re: Distant Starlight

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Way to go on writing this chapter! I really like it a lot!
Leotamer
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Re: Distant Starlight

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Distant Starlight - Bandana

-- The Past --

A collarless mutt, mostly golden retriever though with bits of German shepherd, husky, and who knows what else, slipped over the fence of a country estate. A blue bandana wrapped around his neck, stolen from someone he couldn't quite remember. It was a long night, and he still had some orange flavoring matted in his fur.

He managed to climb up the building with relative ease, and slide through the window of one of the upper stories. He managed to slide into one of the pet rooms of the house. The stray thought that the only reason the rich had pets was to have another excuse to spend money. It much different than growing in a large cardboard box.

Sneaking into the room, he glanced around before he walked over to a corner of the room that was covered by a large blanket. Snatching the covering away, he revealed a startled pup next to a plugged-in nightlight and a book. He couldn't manage anything louder than a whimper, but when actually opened his eyes, he calmed down.

The mutt hugged him, "What has my little pup so worried."

He whimpered a bit more before blurting out a question, "Are the esoteric men going to abscond with me?"

It took him a minute to parse his words, and then his eye's shifted back and forth. When he asked his question, he had hoped it was going to be something simple like worrying about a monster in the closet. His mother had sheltered him badly, and he thought about long and hard for all of one second before deciding that he wouldn't be the bad guy and break the illusion.

He drew closer to the pup conspiratorially, "That is actually why I came here." he said, taking off the bandana and wrapping it around the pup. He was still small enough to use it as a blanket so he didn't bother wrapping it around his neck. "Keep this close to you, it will keep you safe. Just don't tell your mother about this little talk."

The pup questioned him, "Mother dictates I shouldn't keep secrets from her. Subterfuge isn't proper."

"Hey, subterfuge isn't all bad. And besides, umm. The bandana is blessed by the magic sky lady and erm she wants to keep that a secret.. So nobody steals. Now, I know your mom is trustworthy, you know that, but the sky lady doesn't and you don't want to make the sky lady mad at you do you?" he said.

Judging by the look on the pup's face, he at least succeeded in saying enough to confuse the poor thing. He got one last good at his son and ruffled his head, "That is my Goldie." The others took to much after their mother, but he was going miss this one.
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Re: Distant Starlight

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Distant Starlight - Guarded

Zeus desperately twisted the nob to Sirius' room. The pup had apparently locked himself in. He knocked on the door again, and half-shouted, "Sirius, come out."

After a few moments, he heard his voice behind him, "What do you require of me?", turning around he saw him nursing a cup of tea.

Zeus glanced between him and the door, "What can you teleport now?"

Sirius seemed oddly upset by the comment, "No."

"And so what happened" he said indignant.

"I awoke during the night. Not entirely unexpected for when I went to sleep. I went outside to watch the stars. When I returned to this house, I made tea during which I heard you call my name." He replied.

He paused a moment, taking a second to process that, "Wait, you went outside at night without telling anyone?"

Taking a sip of tea, "Do I need anyone's permission to stargaze?"

His mind still processing everything shifted, "Why did you lock the closet door." Looking at it and seeing it clearly lack a keyhole, "How did you lock it?"

Sirius seemed confused. "I did not?" He walked over to door, turned the handle and it opened.

Zeus looked at the door closer. He didn't see any lock, even though he was sure it was. The only thing he could think of was that it was stuck and he got it unstuck for Sirius.

Sirius stepped on the other side of the door, "If you will excuse me, I have much to contemplate." He said, closing the door.

Zeus threw his paws in the air. No one could say he didn't try.
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Re: Distant Starlight

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Nice chapter that you have put up once again! Good job!
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Re: Distant Starlight

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Distant Starlight - Cage

Ana rested in her hammock. Her enclosure was massive. Food, water and entertainment was bountiful. Most importantly, it was safe. The only problem was that she had to share it with two pet store mice.

She still wasn't sure how exactly her life ended up like this. It was rather surreal. When you are a street rat, hunger is the default and it can lead to some questionable choices.

She managed to stumble into someone's basement or something. They were boiling something in a large pot, and it had a sweet scent to it. She saw the human tend to it, pulling someone of it with a large wooden spoon and taste some of it. She scuttled over to it and climbed up the pot when the human buried themselves into some books.

Looking into the cauldron, it was fill some liquid that was an unnatural shade of blue. Again, hunger can cause questionable decisions and the human ate it. For what it is worth, it tasted alright.

After eating her fill, she left. She started to be more sluggish than usual, something dangerous for a scavenger. One day, she was raiding a mall's food court when she was running away from an employee. And then she felt her body hit the ground, while she was still running.

She turned around, saw her body on the ground and thought that was a lame way to go out. But then she noticed her chest was still raising and sinking. After briefly acknowledging she wasn't dead, she saw the mall employee catch up with her, and once again, she was dead.

Appreciating this fleeting moment between this life and the next, she stopped to notice the human's face. She usually didn't have the chance or inclination. She questioned if human's eyes were usually that glassy.

She then woke up. She originally thought the whole thing was a dream, until she realized she woke up in a pet store. It wasn't long after that she had been taken to this cage.

Since then, she learned how to do that trick at will. Projecting herself out of her body to explore. There wasn't really much to do, but she could fly. She originality didn't understand what pigeons like about it, but now she could see the appeal. That she could now snoop around. That was a lot more appealing when doing so didn't put you in mortal danger. Well, significantly less mortal danger than her previous lifestyle, which was enough.

However, even free of her body, she wasn't completely free. Passing through solid objects took some training herself, but when tried to run through the wall surrounding the town, it didn't work. She was sure if she did that with her real body, it would have hurt. Trying to fly over it didn't work.

One time she tried to sink into the ground and go under it. She ended up in some forest. It was a whole mess that took her several hours to get out.

Today, she was enjoying her flight through the various houses when she hit a wall. She was sure she had passed through every inch of this town before. She pushed against the obstruction and began to nudge around it.

She ended up in a hallway in front of a door. The door was solid to her. Even the small crack between the door and floor offered no passage. Trying to amuse herself, she knocked on the door and asked, "Is anyone home?"

To her shock, someone answered, "Yes?"

She flew off to her cage. In her experience, as both a rat and disembodied spirit, it was never a good thing when someone sees or hears you.
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Re: Distant Starlight

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Distant Starlight - Fog

The headlights of the police car pierced through the fog as they patrolled. As usual, there was not much of note happening. Jax forgot himself and started to day-dream. There was something strange about Sirius, a contradiction he couldn't quite understand. He wondered just who this Alexander was. Felix and several of the other police dogs seemed to already decided that they knew exactly what he was, and for awhile he agreed with them, but he just wasn't sure anymore.

He thought about what kind of person would just abandon their pet. Even with how independent Sirius is, there is no reason to just leave him like that. But the pup always held him in such high regard, though sadly dogs aren't always the best judges of character in that specific regard. The more he thought about it, the more his gut told him that there was something to this.

When he arrived back at the police station, he started to comb through what records he had. It was surprisingly little, most composed of his own reports. The other station said that they had more records that they were going to send over, but at this point he would be shocked if they ever did arrive. This kind of case were never a priority.

His eyes began to glaze over and he started to yawn. He had a long night, and some of the pages were especially long and dense. Felix taught to Sirius for about ten minutes and had already written a dissertation about his psyche.

He eventually found an intelligence test that Sirius had taken. He noted his rather high score, and read through it. He paused for a moment. He felt like he read something important, but he didn't know what. But after re-reading it several times, he still wasn't sure what he was looking for. He got the impression that Sirius was good at math and English but rather poor at history, but that was hardly ground-breaking.

His concentration was broken by someone putting their paw on his shoulder. It was a malamute he had saw around the station, but he could not remember her name, "I am sorry, what is your name?"

She smirked, "Don't you remember me when the captain introduced me in front of everyone, I am Misty."

Jax thought for a moment, and the memory returned to him. He thought that he really did need to get more sleep. He went back to the papers in front of him.

Misty said, "I am sure you are really busy, but the captain asked that you go back over the supply list for next month."

Jax took one last look at the test. He wasn't getting anywhere. He put everything back, it would be there later.
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Amazee Dayzee
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Re: Distant Starlight

Post by Amazee Dayzee »

Another great chapter that you posted! This is nice!
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Re: Distant Starlight

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Distant Starlight - Attention

Exhausted, he walked into the kitchen to study. He had visited his uncle with his dog Zeus, and Zeus got over-excited again. He tried to focus on the books in front of him, but his eyes grew heavy. He was working through a calculus problem when he closed his eyes for the briefest moment. The other dog in the house, Sirius, had walked up behind and started looking over the pages. He was a bit surprised when the dog started offering advice, but he was more shocked when he was right.

He had walked away like it was perfectly normal. There had been a greater push to educate pets in modern times, with it being generally expected for pets to be able to read, write and do arithmetic, but being able to casually do calculus was something. Thinking about it, it was infeasible but you think he would comment on it.

Instead, he went over to his electric kettle and pour a glass. He walked over and offered it. Gently taking it to be polite, he thought about how Zeus' described it. He cautiously brought it up to his nose, and it wrinkled a bit. It was certainly a strong scent, but it wasn't all together unpleasant. He thought Zeus must have exaggerated it heavily. He did have a tendency to do that. He took a sip of it. It had a bitter, herbal taste. After drinking more it and having the caffeine wake him, he remembered that dogs have a much stronger sense of smell than humans do.

He saw the dog drinking it up. He had to wonder why he wasn't bothered by the smell, or why he was drinking caffeinated beverages so late in the afternoon, but then he stated another more pressing question, "Where did you get that kettle?"

Sirius stated matter-of-factly, "It was compensation for Christmas."

He thought that was an odd way to phrase getting a gift, but he pushed on, "So who gave it to you? Santa Claus?"

With all sincerity in the world he answered, "No, one of his reindeer."

He chuckled, not entirely sure if that was a joke or not. Either way, the dog didn't seem to mind and left.
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Amazee Dayzee
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Re: Distant Starlight

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Terrific writing with this chapter! Keep up the good work!
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Re: Distant Starlight

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Distant Starlight - Boredom

Trevor dug through a pile of old games. He killed several minutes going through a large stack of games several times. For what ever reason, he just didn't feel like playing of them.

He was alone in the house. Something that was not at all uncommon. His parents both worked long hours. Thor was around more, but he left the house far more frequently than Trevor. Even when he was home, they didn't interact much. Thor never did like video games, and Trevor was never the most athletic pup. Trevor tried to play with Thor before, but it never quite worked out. When he tried to play basketball with him, it ended up closer to him watching Thor play basketball, and it didn't stop him from keeping score either. After awhile, he just stopped asking to play.

None of his friends were free today. Debbie was helping with a show, Ash was with Snow, and he wasn't entirely sure what Jet was doing but she made it sound like it was important.

Zeus would occasionally come over and play, but after the other day, he heard that he might not be allowed to come over for awhile.

Sirius had not been over in awhile. He didn't seem to know much about video games, but he seemed to be the only dog he knew that shared some of his interests. One day he came over, he couldn't decide what sword to equip in JRPG and Sirius had went home and did a lot of math to show the pros and cons of both. By that time, he had already got a sword that was better than both, but he appreciated the effort. They didn't talk much, but he seemed to actually listen to what was said.

He was tempted to reach out to him, but it just didn't feel right. He thought it was getting late, and that he might try to reach out tomorrow.
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Amazee Dayzee
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Re: Distant Starlight

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Awesome work with writing this chapter! I would expect nothing less from you!
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Re: Distant Starlight

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Distant Starlight - Shelter

Sirius felt a shift in the magic around him. For a brief moment, he could sense the sphere of power contained by the community's walls before it began to reach beyond it. The only further information he could gather was it moving generally northward. There was a familiarity of the type of magic being used, some type of scrying magic. It was looking for something or someone. He felt like he could dip deeper into the sensation and pull out further information, but he choose not to. He noted down the information and let it pass.

---

Snow looked at her sister with disbelief, "So you planned on taking a wolf from his family, and now that someone else did that, you need me to protect you from the consequences?"

Bella nervously tapped her claws against wood, "I didn't actually mean for him to leave his family. I just thought that would do something if they thought there was an actual chance of him leaving. I didn't think they would wait until someone else took him before they decided to care."

Snow paused, "I am tempted to let you be mauled by wolves, but I guess you can stay here while you sort this mess you made out. What even did happen to the pup?"

---

Tyrant, who allowed himself to go by Ty as a compromise, sat on a bench and fiddled with a mouse toy. They had taken him to the mythical vet. He wasn't fully aware for most of it, but he discovered it was true that they were able to heal animals without magic. They had given him some type of written test, something about general obedience, but after they explained it to him, the other cat came in and gave him even clearer instructions. It was really simple, he just had to move a pencil over particular circles.

The other cat was with him, and the transformed kitten asked, "So cats can just do whatever they want?"

He smiled, "Now you are starting to understand how things work. There are a few rules you need to follow. You are going to be staying with two rabbits, and you can't eat them."
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Amazee Dayzee
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Re: Distant Starlight

Post by Amazee Dayzee »

I am enjoying so much of this! It is always a treat to see a new chapter up!
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Re: Distant Starlight

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Distant Starlight - Puzzle

Sirius redoubled his efforts. What he needed to do was so obvious in hindsight. He had been rather anxious. It seemed like his connection to this place was growing deeper and deeper, and that was rather concerning. When digging around for something that might help him, he found an old book of sudoku puzzles. Most of them were already completed, but the hardest one were left in the back. He had only meant to do one to calm his nerves, but he got carried away. Zeus found him working away at the book, and questioned how he was able to understand it all. He started to explain the rules and how using what known qualities you are given and the rules, you are able to find the answer. While he was given the answer, he realized the same is true for runes. He didn't need to see the entire pattern. And thus he shortly set back out to trying map the runic array.

He found the points with the most intersections, and started to map their general location and their angles. He encountered Trevor and he agreed to help. He didn't seem to get most it, but having the extra pair of paws did end up helping. While he did not have large stretch of material, he didn't need precise markings. The sun was greatest tool in this endeavor, as it helped several to keep him oriented in the correct direction and it casted shadows for him to measure. It took all day and part of the next, though a significant amount of time went into waiting for a shadow to move or helping explain the math to Trevor.

Gathering his sketches, he attempted to decipher the array. However, the more he looked at it, the least sense it made. On occasion, he would fetch Trevor to remeasure a portion or to map an additional one. Over one week of looking at the pattern, he decided that it was between one of two reasons: Either it was runic or there was user error.

Jax eventually saw him desperately scribbling away at the desk. He was still trying to sort some kind of reason out of it when he stopped to talk to him. He tried to describe what he was doing, but he keep focusing on the technical details and he was tried to explain it, it seemed like Jax only got more confused. When Jax asked him to slow and try to give a brief summary, Sirius tried but couldn't find the words.

He was told to take a deep breath and he did. He glanced down and realized that his hand was still drawing. His paw made the final stroke without him. His attention immediately shifted to the drawing. It was not quite like anything he had seen before. However he noticed part of the reason why it seemed completely nonsensical. As it was drawn, it wasn't one array but two overlapping circles with traces of a third. Thinking about it, he had been growing a deeper arcane connection to this place, it is not unheard of him to have a subconscious insight into its magicks.

Jax had to nudge his shoulder to get his attention. His thoughts were still split between him and his new discovery and its ramifications, so he was only half minding him as he walked towards his closet to deposit his findings. It was something about going somewhere tomorrow. Sirius wished him well.
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Amazee Dayzee
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Re: Distant Starlight

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Really loving how this is coming along as usual! Keep up the good work!
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Re: Distant Starlight

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Distant Starlight - Dolphins

Sirius had walked over to Trevor's house not entirely sure what to expect, however he noticed something vaguely familiar on the floor. He commented, "A Sega Genesis."

Trevor seemed excited. "You could tell it wasn't an Nintendo?"

Sirius confessed, "I read the label."

Trevor glanced back over it, and did note that it clearly said Sega Genesis on it. "Well, do you want to play Echo the Dolphin?" he asked.

Sirius thought for a moment, "Is the title literal?"

"Yes? It is about a dolphin. Does that matter?" he asked, a bit confused.

He replied frankly, "I am not fond of dolphins."

"Why? Haven't dolphins protected people from shark attacks? That is cool isn't it." he asked.

Sirius answered, "While it is true that they have, I am convinced that it is to spite the sharks."
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Amazee Dayzee
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Re: Distant Starlight

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Glad that you got back to this! I do love everything about it!
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Re: Distant Starlight

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Distant Starlight - Sitcom

Jax walked into the living room, watching Sirius dutifully stare at the television. He had seen him overly focused on other things before, but not on a tv. He watched it for a few minutes. He quickly picked up the jest, and he didn't think that this would be something that Sirius would enjoy. It seemed like some cheaply made sitcom about pets living in a world by themselves. It was rather low-brow and some of the dog jokes were on the edge of being objectionable.

He cautiously asked, "So you are enjoying it?"

Sirius took some time to think, or perhaps he didn't even hear it at first. It was hard to tell. But he replied, "I am not sure. I do not believe I understand it. I was lead to believe it was suppose to be humorous, but it seems rather mundane."

Jax didn't expect that answer, and hesitantly asked, "So why are you watching it."

Sirius pointed to the screen at one of the characters of the show, a golden retriever who seemed to play some type of comic relief role, "I wished to support him."

Jax had heard some dogs supported their breed like it was a sports teams, or sometimes support it even more intensely. Though, maybe he was just a fan of the actor. He decided he was going to pry, "Are you ready for our coming up trip? We will be gone for a few days."

Sirius replied non-nonchalantly, "I will be fine by myself."

Jax asked partially annoyed, partially concerned and partially confused, "You do know you will be coming with us right?"

Sirius thought for a moment, "I was not aware I was invited. I suppose it would be rude to refuse."

Jax sighed, and as he did, he heard a laugh track coming from an ad on the tv.
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Harry Johnathan
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Re: Distant Starlight

Post by Harry Johnathan »

I utterly loathe most sitcoms honestly.
Sarah was afraid, so she lied and said, “I did not laugh.” But [The LORD] said, “Yes, you did laugh.” - Genesis 18:15 (NIV).
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Re: Distant Starlight

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Distant Starlight - Packing

Sirius was grateful that he was provided a suitcase to store his possessions in. While it could not contain more volume than its external dimensions, nor counteract gravity, he did not have much to pack and thus he could go without. Though as his was well-taught, he brought all of the essentials: spare collars, shampoo, table salt, a brush, his book of runes, a flashlight and various other odds and ends. Flashlights are quite useful, while he retrained himself to the point where he can pierce through the pitch black, it works wonders against other entities that can also see in the dark. He begrudged his lack of quartz, however he had not had the time or opportunity to find a high-quality crystal.

He felt a paw on his shoulder, and he instinctively said, "I will be ready shortly, Pro-" He turned around, and saw that it was Jax.

Jax's eye originally wondered over to container of salt that he was bringing, but he was caught off guard. "Did y'all travel a lot?"

Sirius thought, "I did not think much of it, but I suppose we did."

Jax decided to prod slightly, "Where all have you been."

Sirius paused for awhile, "It would take some time to remember everywhere we have been, but I distinctively remember a few places: London, Norpath, and Pluto."

"You have been to other planets" he replied incredulously.

Sirius replied with his same matter-of-fact tone, "I do not believe Pluto is considered a planet."

Jax smirked, choosing to interpret that as a joke. "We are going to be saying at the Eildon Hotel. Have you ever been before."

He was a bit taken aback when he replied that he had. He pushed slightly harder, and he was able to describe the interior with surprising detail. This was not the fanciest hotel in the world, but it was a nice hotel. From what he had heard about the apartment, he had presumed that Sirius' "master" wasn't exactly a man of means, but if he was really able to travel around and stay at nice hotels, perhaps he had misjudged.

This time it was Jax who had to be snapped out of his thoughts by Sirius inquiring about the purpose of their visit, "Mr. Hawthorne is attending a vet conference."

Sirius stated as an observation of fact, "It is good that the police department is allowing time off."

It took Jax off-guard again, and he was tempted for a second to correct him, but he quickly realized that this wasn't quite a vacation since part of his job was keeping an eye on him. He just half-heartedly replied, "Yah."

And after they finished packing the car, Mr. Hawthorne, Jax and Sirius drove off in one car, followed by Zeus and his owner in another. Sirius was not quite sure the details, but apparently apart of the conference involved students in the field.

As they passed through the gates, Sirius felt him passing through barrier surrounding the community. Outside the walls, he became keenly aware of the presence's absence. He could still feel it, but as they drove further away, it became more distant but still entwined with him and his magic, as if he caught within a tether leading to it.
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Amazee Dayzee
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Re: Distant Starlight

Post by Amazee Dayzee »

This was a very pleasant chapter to read! I love how it came out!
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Re: Distant Starlight

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Distant Starlight - Hotel

Sirius sat patiently in the reception area, lost in tangled thought. His focus was once again disturbed by Jax, wearing a police vest labeled with off-duty. He handed him a metallic clip, "Don't lose this. This is your hotel registration. Come, we are going to stay in the pet area."

Sirius dutifully clipped the piece of metal to his collar. "Where is Zeus?"

Jax replied, "He is staying with his uncle."

Sirius asked, "Then why are we not staying with Mr. Hawthorne?"

Jax didn't know exactly how to answer it. He wanted Sirius to socialize more, though it felt odd to just tell him that. He gave the non-reply of, "Does it matter."

Sirius nodded, "I suppose it does not."

The pair walked over the reception of the pet area. There was human sitting at a desk, though he was clearly not paying attention. A blonde male cat stood at attention in front of entrance, wearing a bell-hop uniform and carrying some type of hand-held scanner. He asked, "Tags, please."

Jax walked up and let his tag get scanned by the machine. As Sirius walked up to do the same, the attendant froze up. He asked in a nervous voice, "Hello, Sirius. What are you doing here again? Does it involve another rhino?"

Sirius nonchalantly answered, "Accepting hospitality. As far as I know, no rhinoceros are involved."

The attendant continued to nervously scan his tag. Even with Sirius having described the hotel with specific detail, this cleared up any doubt as to whether Sirius had every been here though it did raise a host of new questions.

After they checked in, Jax lead them to their room, which was closer to indent in the wall with two beds and a small box of toys, however there was a curtain and it was out of the way of the common area. When they were alone, Jax had to ask, "What is this business about a rhino?"

Sirius thought for awhile, gears turning in his head. "It technically was not a rhinoceros." was the best explanation he could muster given Jax's own advice to keep it simple.

Jax was even more dumb-founded by this answer, he decided that for this exact moments, the exact details did not matter. "Did you or your master cause this technically not rhino incident."

Sirius finally answered plainly, "On the contrary, we were here to resolve it."

Jax had already moved several steps forward in planning. He would look into, though leave it out of the official reports for now. He could always go back and ask Sirius more questions, so there was no reason to rush to interrogate him now but there was one burning question in his mind, "If you were here to stop this, why was the bell-hop so scared of you?"

Sirius thought for a moment, "I have had time to reflect upon some of the wisdom shared with me. Procyon told me that those who slay monsters are mistaken for greater monsters. Perhaps that it is."
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Amazee Dayzee
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Re: Distant Starlight

Post by Amazee Dayzee »

Good work as usual with the chapter! It is very nice!
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Re: Distant Starlight

Post by Leotamer »

Thank you. I have went ahead and written out a chapter for next Thursday and Tuesday. Thursday is a bit on the short side, but Tuesday is going be a bit longer. Trying to sprinkle few more details about Sirius' past. I am not sure how long the hotel arc is going to be, but after it I wanted to a chapter from the POV of the entity/guardian, explaining the "what is Azure Creek" question but leaving the other questions of who, why and how. (Sorry when but I am not going to try to create a coherent timeline.)

I probably could have done a much better job setting the mystery up, but I want to go ahead and provide some answers before I start raising a lot more questions. If people want to guess what the secret purpose of Azure Creek is, then that would help me figure how on-the-nose or obtuse I have been being. If you get it right, I don't have any particular reward in mind but you would probably feel smart when I do get around to posting that chapter.
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Amazee Dayzee
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Re: Distant Starlight

Post by Amazee Dayzee »

I will be sure to read them when I get back from my vacation on the 16th then.
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