Distant Starlight

Now with new GALLERY

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Leotamer
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Re: Distant Starlight

Post by Leotamer »

I have big plans for October. I am calling this up coming arc, "Things Fall Apart."
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Amazee Dayzee
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Re: Distant Starlight

Post by Amazee Dayzee »

Sounds like it will be a really promising arc in that case! I can't wait to see where you will be taking us!
Leotamer
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Re: Distant Starlight

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Distant Starlight - Celestial Alignment: Nightfall

Elder Greenhoof and Elder Stonehewer gathered in a sacred grove. The other elders nearby each privately discussing with each other. After years, the sun had finally set and the sky was dominated by sparkling starlight.

Greenhoof whispered, "I have heard that the nocturnals are celebrating. This is absurd. They must have plotted in their caves. We should have been stricter on them."

Stonehewer looked that the ground, "Perhaps. I have heard much the same, except I also heard that some of the younger wolves have joined them."

Greenhoof shoot an indignant gaze towards another elder, "Can you believe how ridiculous they are being. Suggesting that this could possibly be our fault."

Stonehewer thought to himself that was exactly their position, but thought better of mentioning it. "Do you believe it truly wise to perform the ritual? Perhaps if we merely gave it more time."

Greenhoof stamped down on the ground, "Enough time for the forest to burn around us, and all order to be lost?"

While dissent festered among the elders, there magics became interwoven in chaotic spirals and precarious loops. A great light formed within the sky. As they became hopeful that the sun had returned, it shoot down to the ground with startling ferocity.

Then, nothing happened.
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Amazee Dayzee
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Re: Distant Starlight

Post by Amazee Dayzee »

This was a really great start to the new arc! Can't wait to see where things go!
Leotamer
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Re: Distant Starlight

Post by Leotamer »

Distant Starlight - Celestial Alignment: Terror

Zeus was walking down the street. Thor made another comment about he was going to be taken to the pound. He knew that wasn’t going to happen, but it still made him mad every time he brought it up. He thought to himself that maybe he would be less annoying if he had to spend a night in pet jail.

His head snapped to the side as he heard something that sounded like screaming or something. It was oddly distorted and rather eerie. The house looked normal enough. He tried to reassure himself that someone was just watching a scary movie and left the volume too high.

However, he found himself oddly transfixed. His breathing became heavy, and his legs felt like they were made of lead. Zeus tried to reassure himself that it was the middle of the day in his safe gated neighborhood where nothing much ever happened. But his eyes darted around and he saw no one. It was oddly quiet. He asked himself a question he never really thought much about, where are the birds?

He tried to steel himself. He wasn’t a coward. He didn’t have any reason to be afraid of some weird house. What was it going to do? Grow legs and chase him? That would just be silly. Maybe the birds just don’t like the color of the paint used her. It was a rather ugly color.

Just as he was about to calm down, he heard a banging against the door of the house. He could just feel something inside desperately trying to escape and it was hungry. He could hear snarl and howl, its voice some unnatural blend of wolf and storm cloud.
He tried to convince himself that this was all in his head, that he was just having a bad dream or something. But his pleas felt deaf on his own ears. Every scratch and grunt felt more real than the last.

While everything told him to run, he found himself unable to take a single step. Suddenly he felt the creature smash through the door and he instinctively went to cover his eyes. He felt it circle him. Its ice cold breath falling down his back. Its claw reached out towards his neck and cut his collar to ribbons.

Suddenly, he regained motion in his body and he ran. He didn’t know where he was going. He just needs to run. His first thought was to rush home but he couldn’t remember where that was. Was it to the left or right? Every house started to look the same. And they all looked like that one odd house. He could hear a monster trying to claw its way out of every door.
Leotamer
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Re: Distant Starlight

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Distant Starlight - Celestial Alignment: Sorrow

Snow stood straight up, and carefully groomed herself with a comb. She would comb the same place over and over again to wipe out any trace of imperfection. If a single hair was out of place, she would start over from the beginning. All while minding her posture and making sure her back did make the slightest bend.

She heard her sister haphazardly walk into the room, yelling about where their medicine was. She didn’t pay that much attention to her. She couldn’t spare her that much attention. She was far too busy. She replied quietly in the most elegant manner possible, “We were not gifted medicine this week because we did not deserve it.”

Snow didn’t turn around, but she could tell her sister was as sloppy and unsophisticated as usual. She would end up getting them both in trouble. She expected her sister to yell at her, make some crude joke, or just leave in a huff. But instead she had the audacity to ask if she was ok. She didn’t dignify that with a response.

Her sister put her hand on her good shoulder and asked again. She slapped her away, “Don’t touch me you useless stray. You are nothing but trouble.” before going to comb her shoulder.

Bella said something about how she wasn’t like herself. She was acting correctly. It was her sister who needed to adjust herself. She spoke aloud, “Things would be much easier if you were left in that box.”

Bella laughed. She said, “Things would have been much easier on both of us if we were just left in the box. Maybe some nice old couple would have adopted us. Or we would have to join the cat mafia to survive.”

Snow smirked but only for a second. Her sister could always be optimistic in the strangest of ways. But then she felt lingering over her. “Quiet you fool. The owner is coming back.”

Bella looked at her sister like she was crazy. “Ok, joking has.” She paused. Something washed over her and she just muttered to herself, “no, no, no.” She vanished from sight, but she could still hear her rushing towards the other room. She could hear her frantically digging through the other room, but she refused to involve herself in her sister’s mischief.

A loud emanation roared through the house. Bella hesitated, but eventually concern for her sister overwhelmed her and she investigated. The symbol of the gate rune was etched upon the empty air of the room, flickering with arcane light. She forgot herself and ran towards it. By the time she reached it, it had already faded to nothingness.

She collapsed, “You really left. I didn’t think you ever really would.” Thoughts of her old owner left her. And everything just seemed so pointless now. It was like she just suddenly realized how hollow she really was.
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Amazee Dayzee
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Re: Distant Starlight

Post by Amazee Dayzee »

Loving the way that you are writing this! Such a great story!
Leotamer
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Re: Distant Starlight

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Distant Starlight - Celestial Alignment: Wrath

Jax had walked over to Trevor’s and Thor’s house with his owners and Zeus’. The humans were arguing. Zeus’ owner about how no one treated his dog right. Thor’s owner about how he wasn’t trained right and caused them no end of grief. And his owners try to play mediator while pleasing neither side.

Zeus’ collar laid in the middle of the table. It seemed like he just unbuckled it and ran off. Jax hadn’t known him as well as he should have, but this seemed unlike him. He looked over to Trevor, who was in a corner with a handheld game but he could see his ears occasionally perk up at the mention at certain choice words.

He was listening to the argument, but he realized that nobody at that table cared what he had to think. Some of the words exchanged also started to irritate him but he didn’t let it show. If he did, nobody cared to mention that it was showing. Or didn’t care enough to look to begin with.

He realized that wasn’t helping anything. He wasn’t helping anybody. He was a K9. He should help search for him. And so he announced his intention, and left to do that. If anyone protested, Jax didn’t notice.

As he walked down the street, his head started to feel funny. He started to see something familiar out of the corner of his eye, but every time he turned to look, something perfectly ordinary was there instead.

He started to hear distorted voices. Familiar, sinister, annoying, callous, taunting, idiotic voices. As he started to turn around, he could see buildings morph to and from a building engraved into his mind but he wanted to ever so much to forget.

He felt something pull against her collar, forcing him towards the building. He desperately tried to resist, but his legs didn’t listen to him. Meanwhile the distorted voice insulted and degraded him, calling him just a stupid, worthless dog.

He heard another voice call to him, and he suddenly snapped back to reality. He blinked and recognized the dog in front of him, another police dog, Misty. When he asked what she was doing, she just smiled and said that she was looking for Zeus too.

His mind didn’t have time to question what had just happened to him, and when it did, it was like his head would suddenly empty itself on the floor. The more he tried to think about it, the harder it was to have any thoughts at all.

Misty noted that it was getting late, and that it might be better if they searched together. That made sense, but Jax was still trying to piece everything together but it was like every thought he ever had was chopped in half and mixed together in a hurricane.All the while the voice calling him a stupid, worthless dog echoed in his head. And everything just suddenly hit him all at once. He didn’t understand what it meant, but he understood it on a deeper emotional level he couldn’t begin to describe. And with all that emotion, he shouted at the dog in front of him, “I don’t need your help, you stupid, worthless dog.”

He blinked, and like that she was gone. Something he understood just a second ago seemed completely alien to him. He kicked himself. Maybe he was just some stupid, worthless dog. He still had a job to do and he was going to do it regardless.
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Amazee Dayzee
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Re: Distant Starlight

Post by Amazee Dayzee »

This was some chapter that you managed to put up! The best chapter yet!
Leotamer
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Re: Distant Starlight

Post by Leotamer »

I am glad you enjoyed this. I wanted to do something bigger for the spooky season. I want to start unravelling some mysteries, and I thought the house was a good fit for Halloween. I plan to give some answers about what is happening by the end of the month. I wonder how much sense this story makes without knowing the answers to the mysteries. And I also hope this arc lived up to it's name of "Things Fall Apart."
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Amazee Dayzee
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Re: Distant Starlight

Post by Amazee Dayzee »

I definitely do think that it lived up to it! You do some really great work with your stories!
Leotamer
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Re: Distant Starlight

Post by Leotamer »

Distant Starlight - Celestial Alignment: Underfoot

When Jeep was a young gerbil, he was housed with 3 small human children, a puppy, an old cat with a cruel sense of humor and two inattentive adult humans.

On one occasion, he was taken from his cage and set on the floor, and he had to send the whole day scurrying about to avoid being trampled. When he hid under the couch and finally started to rest, he heard a loud noise and was nearly vacuumed up like a dust bunny. On another, he was put in a plastic ball and sent down a makeshift rollercoaster made of play blocks and cardboard. The cat would also make jokes about eating him, which he could never quite tell if they were jokes or not.

Then one day, it came. It started small. The kids would wake up with nightmares and the pup would whimper and bark at nothing. But it didn't take long for the youngest kid to be barely functional. And this caused a cascade as the parents were thrown into panic over their son, and then the cat was worried that he was going to toss out on the street.

It didn't take long for the house to become abandoned after that. All except for Jeep. The young gerbil could tell there was something in the house that was affecting them, but they wouldn't listen to him. He could always see it just out of the corner of his eye.

As the parents made a mad dash to take everything out of the house, they went to pick up Jeep's cage but he could see the entity move between him and the humans. Their eyes widened, and they left without him.

And so Jeep and the entity was left alone in the house.

Jeep finally knew peace. The entity would patrol the house and scare off any unwanted guests like stray cats and pesky realtors, while Jeep had all the food generously left stored in the pantry.

One day, a small time crook broke into the home, hoping to loot it for some quick cash.

Jeep took full advantage of this situation. By this time, he had trained the entity, which he had called Squeakers, mostly to amuse to himself. His food supply was running low and having a human to manipulate would help alleviate that problem. While his new, mostly unwillingly human had trouble getting basic necessities himself, Squeakers would prove quite useful to them both.

While watching TV, Jeep was scrolling through the channels and saw his human being arrested on the local news. It wasn't long until the house was swarming with police officers, and Squeakers was a lot effective at keeping them away. Jeep had to resort to hiding under a loose floor board and having Squeakers focus all his attention to keeping anyone from getting to close.

A hand did lift up the floorboard and pick Jeep up. He ordered Squeakers to protect him, but the officer didn't blink. It wasn't like he was simply brushing off his fears, but as if in that moment, he had none.

Jeep had resigned himself to Gerbil prison, while Squeakers followed obediently behind him. But when was taken out of the police van, he was in a nice suburban neighborhood. He was taken inside a most abandoned house, except for a large multistory mansion of a gerbil cage.

It had everything, food, water, in door plumbing, TV. Well, everything except for an unlocked exit door. But he wasn't worried. He was slightly concerned how the water and food seemed to refill without anything else entering the room. Squeakers also seemed to less than a fan. Constantly banging himself against the wall to get out, but to no avail.

Then one day, Squeakers charged against the wall more than usual. And he managed to push through whatever barrier was holding him as slide right through the door. Even after a day, he hadn't returned. And the first time since he arrived, his food and water hadn't been refilled.
Leotamer
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Re: Distant Starlight

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Distant Starlight - Celestial Alignment: Memories

Sitting a jar on the coffee table, Alex called out to Sam, "I have something for you to study." he said.

Procyon glared at the foggy, arcane entity trapped behind the glass, "It is just a blob of junk magic that causes people grief. It would best to destroy it sooner rather than later."

Alex replied, "Don't you tell me not to be so rash? How do know there isn't something or someone out there making more of these things. Besides, as a blob of junk magic, it is more sensitive to its magical environment."

Sighing, Procyon relented, "I suppose you are right. I never did like these things."

Alex glanced over to Sirius, "Did we ever tell you the story of the first time we encountered a geist?" He paused, "Sirius, are you alright?"

Sirius replied, "I am only slightly faint. I haven't been sleeping well."

-----------

Alex's head was fogged by visions. The forest around him shifted to a grey-scale, fancy neighborhood. His traveling clothes morphed into a monkey suit with a tie that seemed hellbent on choking the air out of him. Familiar voices admonishing him for being a failure and a disgrace. He forgot himself for a moment, but eventually he regained enough of his senses to pull a vial from his belt and down it.

The substance it contained was the fourth most disgusting thing he had ever tasted. His stomach felt like it was doing jumping jacks and he used all his will to not throw up immediately. Wiping his mouth out, he saw that Procyon was having a similiar experience to himself. Looking around, the geist had already left.

Regrouping at camp, Alex half-heartedly stated, "Six attempts down. Maybe seven will be our lucky number?"

Procyon continued to tend to the fire, "That was the seven attempt."

"We discussed this. The time in the inn didn't count." he said. He looked down at the charm that the villagers gave him, and the potion the apothecary provided. "If I could use tap into the anti-fear magic in these items, I could just blast it and be done with this."

Procyon smirked, "It would probably work better than trying to blast the mindless fear entity with fear magic."

Alex muttered mostly to himself, "This doesn't make sense. The villagers can't use magic. None of the ingredients for the potion seem to be particularly magic. If I could just find the source, maybe that would be potent enough for me to use."

Procyon replied, "What if they aren't magic."

There was a long pause, "Maybe you are right."

"You think that they are placebos? Do sugar pills even work against magic." Procyon replied.

"It is mind-altering magic. It would make sense that a person's state of mind influences it. It would explain why the charm doesn't seem to work for us. This is a culturally engrained symbol to them, but was just a useful trinket to use." he theorized.

"Then what about the potion. We didn't even know what it was suppose to do when it was first forced down our throats." Procyon rebutted.

Alex asked, "What were you thinking when you first tasted it."

Procyon thought about it for a moment, "I was focused about how awful it tasted and about how I was about to vomit. I hope you aren't suggesting what I think you are."

Alex shrugged, "It is an idea."

Procyon thought about it for a moment, "This makes the idea where we just keep blindly throwing ourselves at it repeatedly sound almost pleasant. Maybe after the hundredth time our deepest, darkest fears will just be old hat."

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

Icaria's leg pain flared as she felt so weak and exhausted. Everything was falling apart, and it was her responsibility, her fault. Drowsiness eventually overwhelmed her as she remembered her past. Something that felt like an entirely separate life remembered only in restless dreams.

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

Icaria waited impatiently in the stable. When she heard the barn door opened, she jerked her head in that direction only be to be disappointed when she saw it was just her mate.

He approached her and said, "Do you really have to leave so soon. It wasn't that long ago that you gave birth."

Icaria looked away from him, "It is hardly like I was asked my opinion on that matter."

He rebutted, "You don't have to pretend like you aren't excited to leave. The farm was never good enough for you was it." When she didn't reply, he suggested, "If you care for your son, you could just slow down a little during races. The humans wouldn't think anything strange of it. We could have a proper family. Not every animal has that privilege."

She snorted at him, "I have one child, and you want me to pretend like I am some old grandma?"

"I didn't say that. I know the humans push you hard, but you should start thinking less of what is important to them, and what is important to us."

Icaria stomped, "Racing is important to me."

"What so you can win some stupid trophy that they are just going to display in a house you are never going to step hoof in?" he said.

"I don't have to explain myself to you." she replied.

She followed her mates eyes to barn door and saw her handler walking in. He replied, "Well, you are going to have some time to think of how you are going to explain this to our son."

Icaria continued to pour her heart and soul into the race track, and eventually she had the opportunity to win that trophy. Her owners keep saying that this was biggest race of their career, and that they had a good chance to place. Icaria turned her nose up at this, she didn't want to place, she wanted to win. She galloped as fast she could, and while she was far from last place, first place seemed to so impossibly far away. She pushed herself harder and harder in a desperate attempt to reach towards the finish line.

Her memory was blurry after that. She suddenly felt herself in the air, and then on the ground, and then she was in a white room When she regained her senses, she could hear someone, the vet, talk to her handler some distance away. She heard that she would never be able to run on that leg again, but had the absolute nerve to call that a miracle. In hindsight, she realized that the injury could have done far worse to a horse.

She had a long while in the vet to think. To reevaluate herself, life, what is important and what is not. In truth, there was hardly anything else that she could do. She thought about her handler, and how upset she would be that she would never realize their shared dream. When her handler did visit, she was sad. But she never did mention the competition or the race, she would just brush her hair while muttering apologizes.

She thought about how she should be sad that she didn't win, but she thought about all of the races she did win and how she never felt particularly more whole afterwards. She never really lingered on a race win or lose, only ever looking forward to that next race.

And then one day, she found something. Or perhaps more accurately, it found her. A glowing red feather that was warm to the touch.
Leotamer
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Re: Distant Starlight

Post by Leotamer »

Hello, Happy Halloween. I hope y'all didn't think Squeaker the Geist's capture was to anticlimactic, but despite his tiny new living arrangement, the havoc he caused hasn't quite ended. I have a good idea for the next four chapters, which are going to form the next arc, Aftermath. And to contrast how simple it was for our interdimensional travelers, a story from a younger Alex and Procyon as they are still figuring things out. I think that Procyon's tragic backstory speaks for itself, so I decided to focus more on Alex's perspective. I am also not sure that I have explained Alex's magic as his dimensional travel is a separate thing. For a dog owner, he is a copy-cat.

I also hope that y'all enjoyed the Icaria story. It is something that I been thinking about since early on when writing this story. It might seem slapped on the end of another chapter, which to be honest it kind of is. But beyond sharing the theme of Memory, there is one other bit of connective tissue that will be important moving forward.

I wonder if I have been at the correct level of mysterious, if everything is to obvious or to obscure.
Leotamer
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Re: Distant Starlight

Post by Leotamer »

Distant Starlight - Celestial Alignment: Outsider

Alex walked through the door, noticing a sign reading "Pet Owner Association HQ" hastily plastered over another. When walked in, he glanced down at the welcome mat which read, "Wipe your Paws. Loyal Hound Club." There was more people than Alex expected, and they had already been to settle down and eat hamburgers and hotdogs. Alex made his plate from some carrots from a veggie trey, some crackers and some slices of watermelon.

After he sat down, a younger man approached him and introduced himself, "Hey, my name is Trent. Can I sit here."

Alex gestured towards the seat, "Hello, I am Alex. Do you know what this meeting is about? I understand that some incidents have occurred recently, but the note was rather vague. I take it is about a Pet Owner Association?"

Trent flinched, and quickly checked something on his phone, "Yes. We are going to hold a vote to whether we should establish one or not, and if that goes through, we will be holding elections next week. Still you visited, I take it that are pet-owner."

Alex paused. He was rather uncomfortable with the question. While he had to admit some hypocrisy considering he sought this planet out, or at least one similiar to it, it was still weird. He tried to speak to Procyon about it, but he was rather apathetic about the subject. He didn't have the most positive view of his planet before exploring others. He replied with the line that Procyon had fed him, "I take care of two dogs, Sirius and Procyon."

Trent blinked, "Oh, so our dogs have already met. My dog is named Zeus, and he was talking about Procyon recently. I met Sirius earlier in the year." He seemed to have remembered something, and he had the look of someone who knew something, but didn't want anyone to know they it, "What is that you do for a living again?"

Alex replied, "I am a freelancer. I haven't found anything local yet, but I think want to focus more on photography."

Trent glanced at his plate, and then at Alex's, "You didn't want a hamburger?"

He replied, "I don't eat most animal products."

There was a skeptical, "Most?"

Alex explained, "I don't eat any mammals, amphibians, reptiles, or birds." He paused, "Or cephalopods."

He prodded, "And your dogs?"

Alex said, "I understand dogs are carnivores and require protein."

Before the conversation could become more awkward, a woman walked towards the table, "Alex? What are you doing here?"

Alex turned to greet her, "Hello Katherine. I moved her recently actually. I saw there was a meeting and thought I should be informed about what happening."

"Oh please, just call me Kay." she said. "I am not sure if I should be here. Isn't this a dog person thing? But I am glad I did come now."

Trent looked at Kay, and then at Alex, "You know him?"

Kay continued, "Of course. He does a lot of work with my mother in regards to animal welfare and conservation. Oh, she also wanted to apologize for all of the inconvenience that she caused late last year. I know how she can make such unreasonable requests without any warning."

Trent's antagonistic faded to confusion, "You were working for her mother? Why didn't I hear about this before."

Kay looked around, "Oh was I not suppose to say that in public. My mother can be so secretive sometimes. Half of the time I don't even know what she is up to."

Alex just played along, "A lot of the work I do for Ms. Camila is confidential. A freelancer has to keep the trust of their clients."
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Amazee Dayzee
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Re: Distant Starlight

Post by Amazee Dayzee »

Managed to get all caught up with everything and I really enjoyed it all! You did such a great job with it!
Leotamer
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Re: Distant Starlight

Post by Leotamer »

Distant Starlight - Celestial Alignment: Lost

While Trevor didn't spend much time walking down the street, he could tell it was different. Humans would stare at him as he passed by. Signs were posted in people's yard encouraging people to vote someone to POA or reminding people about some animal ordinance.

He held his head low, trying not to look back at them. It felt bad to be stared at. Trevor was tempted to turn around, go home and hide in his dog-bed. He then noticed nobody was staring. When he looked around, he saw Sirius carrying a large tool box, sketch book and a rope trialing behind him.

He walked up to him, "Hey Sirius? What are you doing?"

"I am drawing a map of Azure Creek." He said, carefully laying his tool box and rope on the ground, before starting to jot something on the sketchbook.

"And the tools?" He asked. His owner had a tool box, but this was his first time seeing a pet carry one. It was rather surreal.

Sirius looked down, "It isn't much, but I had brought everything that is essential."

While he had other people call him weird and the thought might have crossed his mind, this might be the first time he was appreciating how different Sirius was. "You don't care people have been staring at you?"

Sirius looked around. He seemed to be concerned about something for a second, before shrugging, "I have been too focused on the task at hand."

Sirius continued to sketch, occasionally pulling out some tool to do some measurement. Flipping through to write something down, before turning back to the first page. Trevor thought it was weird that he was doing this, but he asked, "Do you not have someone to help you?"

He answered, "Alex and Procyon could assist me, but they have their own tasks. I can handle this by myself."

Trevor noticed how he was juggling tools around. He seemed to be better at it than he should be, but he still only had two paws. "Are you sure you don't need help?"

Sirius thought for a moment, "Do you wish to assist?"

Trevor was caught off-guard, "Me?"

"It is acceptable if you would rather not." Sirius said.

Trevor looked at the people staring at Sirius, and then at Sirius. He thought about going home for a second. "I suppose I could."

The day passed rather quickly. Sirius would explain what he was doing, but Trevor could only understand some of it. He would occasionally glance at people staring at him, but less and less people even noticed them.

Trevor eventually asked, "Do you think I play to much video games", he said fidgeting with a tool he was holding.

Sirius replied, "I don't understand why you would ask"

He replied, "My owners read this book, and they took all of my games. They said it was bad for me. Thor also said I played to much."

He thought it about it for a moment, "I don't know that I know. Has it inhibited you from doing something else that you need to?" He looked up at the sky, "It is getting late. If you are not busy tomorrow, I will be working on the northeast quadrant." He reached out to retrieve his tool, "I wish I could assist you further."

When the tool was handed over, static electricity trailed from Trevor's fur to Sirius'. He replied, "I am sorry. Um, if you don't mind, I will help you tomorrow."
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Amazee Dayzee
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Re: Distant Starlight

Post by Amazee Dayzee »

This was a nice chapter that you have posted! Lovely work!
Leotamer
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Re: Distant Starlight

Post by Leotamer »

Distant Starlight - Celestial Alignment: Employment

Snow grimaced. Her shoulder initially felt as if it were on fire, burning deep into the core of her being. She quickly applied a blackish blue sludge to it, and it felt as if it suddenly froze over. There was still a lingering aching pain, but it was far more tolerable even if it wasn't comfortable. Beyond the unnatural coldness, it had an unnerving, slimy texture. Despite wanting to wipe it off, she instead took a bandage and wrapped it around her shoulder blade to hold the foul medicine in place. When she finished, she glared at Sebastian, "How much does this cost?"

Sebastian feigned offense, "I know that you think little of me, but I am capable of charitable acts."

"I had thought there was no effective treatment for what had happened to me." she said.

"At the time, there was not. However, we were able to synthesize something based on the medicine that your sister provided us. It is not as effective, we believe that we are still missing a crucial ingredient, but it does seem far superior to our previous methods. In truth, we have fortunately not had an opportunity test it upon such a major malady." he said.

Snow eye's narrowed, "And so I was your lab rat?"

"That is a rather ugly impression" Sebastian said, "I had tested itself on myself after preliminary tests. I had also tested how effective it was against similiar, but less severe conditions."

Snow sighed, "I still don't understand why you are doing this. There must be some way that you profit out of this in the end."

"This may surprise you, but while I can enjoy the finer things of life, I do have principles. I do regret that I may have relied on the innate magic of this town to keep you safe, and did do more to help you and your sister." he said.

At mention of her sister, Snow fidgeted, "And what can you tell me of the magic of this town."

Sebastian thought for a moment, "I am not sure if I have any answer that would immediately useful for you. It is not that we know nothing about it, but what we do know is theoretical and highly technical. We don't know its origin. Our earliest records of it date back around fifty years ago, but we believe it may be over one hundred years old. There is currently some disruption, but we believe that you may have been aware of this before we were. Do you have insight about what has changed recently."

Snow thought for a moment, and she decided to answer, "I believe that Sirius moved back shortly before this happened."

"I had been informed. It is possible that there arrival agitated something, but it is unlikely something that have intentionally done." Sebastian replied.

"Them?" she said, "And how do you know that?" Snow asked.

"It is simple. I have worked with Sirius and his human before. While we don't always see eye to eye, they are seasoned magicians and consummate professionals. We make this world comfortable for them, and in exchange they lend us their expertise in magic." Sebastian explained, "If you wish to know more about them, perhaps it would better if I introduce you to them. They might be able to assist with your condition. We did attempt to contact them regarding your condition, but by time we had reached them, you were already receiving medicine in Azure Creek."

Snow glanced at their bandages, "No."

Sebastian shrugged, "Can I ask where your sister is? I believe that she would also be in need of this medicine."

Snow paused, "She left." It wasn't entirely a lie, but she wasn't ready to tell the whole truth yet.

"That is a shame. Is there anything else that you need." he asked.

Snow asked for a moment, before leaving to take the crystal tablet out of where she had hide it. It was almost dead once again, and with everything that happened, she couldn't let the opportunity slip from her grasp, "Can you get what is on this crystal."

Sebastian smiled, "I take it that this belonged to the magician that keep you. I would be interested in what is inscribed here. And while she had made a mockery of sacred rites, you would be entitled to know her secrets. But understand that magic-tech inherits the fickleness of both its namesakes, it will take some time."

Snow asked, "Is this also charity work?"

Sebastian replied, "As I said, I have as much interest in this information as you. And you have as much right to it as I do. If you do wish to pay me back for all have done, you could consider working with us. I don't need your answer now. Have sometime to think on it." He said, waving his hand and producing a pamphlet from nowhere.
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Amazee Dayzee
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Re: Distant Starlight

Post by Amazee Dayzee »

I do like what you have done with this chapter! Very nice work!
Leotamer
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Re: Distant Starlight

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Distant Starlight - Celestial Alignment: Fault

Zeus was pushed against the side of the wall by a small gang of two dogs and a cat. He listened to them at first, even tried to argue, but now he could barely muster the energy to pay attention to them. He keep getting distracted by his new collar, and the big metal box embedded in it which weighed down on his neck and the high pitch chirp it incessantly made. It made whatever point they were trying to make far more clear, his stunt what caused this whole mess.

He didn't even understand what happened. He was sure something cut his old collar off, but he saw it. It was still in one piece. The more he thought about it, the less he was able to pin down what his would-be attacker even was. Every time he thought it about, he came up with a different answer. Some people accused him of making it up for attention, while those more sympathetic attributed it to some kind of nervous breakdown. He ever heard someone mentioned mass hysteria. None of those answers felt right, but it seemed like nobody was interested in his opinion on the matter.

He barely noticed the gang disperse, and another pet walk up in front of him. He flinched at first, but then recognized him. For some reason he was carrying a red reusable shopping bag over his shoulder. Procyon asked, "Are you injured"

"I am fine." he said defensively. He felt Procyon glance at his collar, he was more subtle about it than the others but he visibly reacted to it. "You came to mock me about my fashion choices."

Procyon took a deep breath, "Was it your choice to wear that?"

Zeus didn't know how to respond to that. It didn't sound like he was insulting him. After a few seconds of process of elimination, he replied, "Are you insulting my owner?" his tone more confused than angry.

"I don't know your human." Procyon deflected. After another awkward pause, Procyon began to walk away.

Zeus called out, "Wait, I wasn't done." When he turned around, it took another few seconds to come up with something to say, "Why aren't you mocking me?"

Procyon replied, "I have better things to do with my time."

Feeling a bit insulted, and overall flustered by the situation, he responded, "Don't you want to blame me for something. Everyone else does."

Procyon looked up at the sky, "I do need to get home before dark to work on the car. I don't have any magic words to make yourself feel better about yourself. If you do need someone to talk to, you can visit me later."
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Amazee Dayzee
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Re: Distant Starlight

Post by Amazee Dayzee »

I have very much enjoyed how this chapter has come out! Great job once again Leo!
Leotamer
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Re: Distant Starlight

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Distant Starlight - Celestial Alignment: Worry

Snow paced around the living room. It had been a mess for at least a week. Her human must have seen it by now, but evidently did not care enough to even mention it. They rarely ever spoke to her. She had thought about it for a long time, but she realized what she must do. She threw the medical patch on the floor. The pain immediately begin to flair up again, but she didn't care. She took a string of yarn and wrapped it around the wound as she began chanting.

---

Sam paced around the living room. Alex and Procyon had left over the weekend to gather more supplies, when Sirius suddenly collapse. One moment he would be burning up, while the other he would be frigid cold. She could tell that it was no mundane sickness, which on one hand was good because she wasn't a doctor, much less a veterinarian. On the other hand, whatever magic affliction was occurring was beyond her. It didn't seem to be lethal she desperately hoped. It seemed to be caused by some magical imbalance, but she didn't understand what his magic in balance should look like. Which would normally be something she would be excited to learn about, but the pressure was stressing her out and seeing a dog in distress was a bummer.

She worried about Alex would do if she messed up. It was probably just send her back home. Which would be awful. Not that she never wanted to see her family again, but she didn't want to cut out in the middle of doing research. It would eat up her up instead. And even if she was told what they discovered latter, it would help but it wouldn't be the same. And if she let something really bad happen to Alex's dog companion, then she would probably not be invited to help with other matters, and she would miss out on a multiverse of opportunities. And if she couldn't do something this simple, then her family would lose faith in her and wouldn't trust her with anything important either.

Her thought was interrupted by Sirius stirring from beneath the covers on the couch. "Sam." He said, "I need water."

Sam spring to the kitchen immediately, "Right away. Do you need anything else?"
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Re: Distant Starlight

Post by Amazee Dayzee »

Glad that you are finally back to this story! It feels like it has been way too long since the last update! :lol:
Leotamer
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Re: Distant Starlight

Post by Leotamer »

Distant Starlight - Celestial Alignment: Oversight

Sirius watched himself sleep on the couch. He felt a cold flash and saw his body shiver. This would like be a surreal experience for most people, but it was rather familiar to Sirius. It was a bit concerning he didn't understand exactly what was happening, but so far there hasn't been any fire or visions of doom. He had not ruled out the possibility that this was a fever dream.

It didn't seem like he could look at anything else or move any spectral limbs, so he probably wasn't astral projecting. It was rather dull. His perspective was stuck watching himself lay on the couch. He could focus on different parts of the image, but there was only so long he could stare at the pattern on the covers.

He tried moving his real body. It was difficult at first, but he had training in controlling his body while having out of body perceptions. He succeed in lifting his paw. He felt like he could move around his body more, except that he ran into a second issue. He was rather ill, and moving around was around difficult. He adjusted himself in the couch to be more comfortable, but trying to think of another tactic.

He wondered what Sam was doing, and suddenly his perspective shifted to her. She was haphazardly eating cereal without any milk while spending most of her attention reading a book. He attempted to shift perspective to Alex and then Procyon, but he felt something and his perspective returned to himself. He tried Kris, he was on his mind considering the season. He tried Endymion next, and then Sam's parents. After a few more attempts, it seemed he was unable to see anyone in different planes of existence in this manner. He tried Camelia and his family, but he couldn't observe them either.

He thought about Trevor, and his vision shifted over to him. He was playing basketball with Thor. While Sirius didn't know about sports, he could tell that he was losing. He could hear Thor trying to encourage him, but he was really bad at it. He just keep giving vague platitudes about not giving up, and about how sports are cool. He noticed that there was a pointy emblem attached to his collar with "POA" written on it. Whoever designed it didn't seem to consider that it would poke into the bottom of a dog's muzzle if they moved their head wrong.

He tried to shift perspectives once more, but he suddenly felt his vision return to his eyes. It was followed by a splitting head-ache and a suddenly hot flash.
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Amazee Dayzee
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Re: Distant Starlight

Post by Amazee Dayzee »

I will get to reading this tomorrow and tell you what I think. Was about to go take a shower. :geek:
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