Re: The Glorious Championship! [S3G5] [Round Two: The Kestalvian Rainforest]
08-10-2011, 04:56 PM
Originally posted on MSPA by Adenreagen.
The three hit the ground, Elli and Bethany covering their heads, Gabe diving for Etiyr and doing his best to shield Etiyr and himself at the same time when he hit the ground. When the air had cleared, Elli was the first one up.
“Arms… two arms, that’s good. Legs, yes, ears, eyes, nose.” She said, quickly checking herself for injuries. There were a few scrapes from passing debris, a long splinter that was either from a tent pole or furniture in the tent that was quickly removed, but she was otherwise alright. She looked around at the others. Bethany was taking longer to get up, and Gabe was whispering to Etiyr but there were no growing pools of blood or ink anywhere, so she figured no one was badly hurt. She felt a pang in her heart remembering Old Greg. If anyone was, I guess I wouldn’t be any good for them anyway.
“No no nonononono.” Bethany was up, she saw, running for where the tent used to be. “How could it explode? It was in an enclosed environment, it was stable, nothing should have been able to set it off! Nothing!”
“Set what off? What kind of expedition are you running? Exactly what did you find in a jungle that could explode?”
“You must be kidding. Almost nothing in the Kestalvian is as simple as it looks. Many things here are near-sentient and others have traits that make them extremely sensitive to time fluctuations. That’s why our expedition is here in the first place, looking for flora and fauna that could help us replicate time travel. It would be a tremendous accomplishment, since we would be the first to accomplish it. I’m surprised you don’t know all this already. Our expedition has been written about in a lot of newspapers and televised. You shouldn’t even be here without knowing the basics I told you about the rainforest.”
“Yea, about that,” Gabe began, looking over, “We didn’t exactly choose to come here, we just sort of…appeared.” A few blades of grass began to wilt around his feet, but not enough for anyone to notice.
“Appeared? What does that even mean? Like, airlifted in here? We would have heard an aircraft or seen a parachute as close as I was to you.”
“It means what he said. We didn’t come here, we just appeared. We were placed here by a djinni who was bored and wanted us to fight.” Grass also began wilting around Elli’s feet. “And news flash, your work is old news to someone we know, ancient history even. I don’t know if it’s you, but someone discovers time travel, seeing as how we’ve been fighting a time traveler ourselves.” At her last words, a large patch of grass around Elli instantly went dead, turning from a vibrant green to a crisped black in the blink of an eye. Elli looked at Gabe, Gabe looked from Elli to Etiyr, and then both turned to stare at Bethany, hoping for an explanation.
“Like I said, nothing here is as simple as it looks.” She gave newcomers a more interested glance and went on, “We set up camp on a field of paradox grass, the largest one we could find. It thrives on normal time, but whenever there’s a paradox the grass chokes on time that simply can’t exist and dies. You say someone else discovered time travel?” When she got nods from Elli and Gabe, she went on, “And that you were fighting a time traveler?” More nods. “This is incredible! You have to tell me everything you know about him, where he’s been, how he became one!” She glanced back at the ruined tent. “It was a pain to get all those samples, and they were the best we could gather, but if there’s a time traveler like you say we could learn so much so fast. We could even go so far as to end the expedition early! I simply must meet this man.”
The last bit sounded more like a command then an excited outburst to Elli, but she went along anyway. “If we can find him, you can meet him. But we don’t know where any of the others are and we have our own problems to take care of. I guess you can stick with us if you don’t slow us down. You’ll be like our guide, but that’s it.”
“Others? How many of you are there besides you three?”
Seeing as how Gabe had gone back to whispering with Etiyr, Elli left them to their sweet nothings and tried to explain her situation to Bethany. She also wanted her cat back, not knowing if it was in the jungle or still back at the Denny’s. She’d get it back, she just had to find the right place. “We’re in the middle of a battle here. Not armies or anything, there’s just nine of us. Eight if you count Cail and Gaurinn as one. Well... seven, seeing as how we’re in this place now.” At the puzzled look Elli was getting, she knew she was explaining poorly, but she didn't care and started kicking at the underbrush around the camp looking for a dark enough place. “Cail and Gaurinn were fused together, and we are moved somewhere else each time one of us dies. We’re supposed to kill each other.”
“So since you’re here now… you’ve killed someone”
“Right. Not me personally, and I know Etiyr didn’t since I was carrying him when we were moved, but someone killed someone else. Come to think of it, besides us three, I don't even know who's left... For all I know you might not be able to meet him after all, but them's the breaks. Ah! Here’s good.” Elli found a patch of brush thick enough to prevent any light from reaching the ground. She pulled the collar out of her pocket, jingled the bell and tossed it in, letting the brush slide back into place while she crouched down. Here kitty kitty.
Bethany watched in surprise as, a moment later, the bell started ringing again. It must be some smaller creature that likes the dark. She’s not actually calling out to anything. That thought train ended when Elli’s cat stalked out of the dark, like a shadow detaching itself from the rest except for the collar around its neck. Every step it took, more paradox grass died beneath it. It was clear to Bethany that this creature shouldn't even exist in this jungle, or even this world.
Elli took the collar off, put it back in her pocket and started petting the cat. “Oh my little baby! Who’s a good kitty? You are! Yes you are! Did you fight off the scary man and his bad doggy?” The cat started purring, which got everyone’s immediate attention, frightening Bethany and attracting a newly jacketed Restless-She as she made her way around the camp.
It was a sound she had never heard before, but somehow filled her with anger at its source. Like thunder mixed with breaking tree limbs and soft newborn fur. A confusing sound of happiness and fury that she had no waves to describe. Restless-She debated going to her clan in case whatever made the sound was dangerous, but decided to find out what it was herself.
“And here’s your treat, just like mommy promised.” Elli pulled out what looked like a ball made of shadows that immediately began struggling when it smelled the cat nearby. She put it down and it immediately bolted, the cat drifting lazily behind it. It never even made it to the edge of the clearing before the cat caught it in its paws. Everyone turned away from the sight but Elli, who sighed happily at her cat enjoying itself.
The three hit the ground, Elli and Bethany covering their heads, Gabe diving for Etiyr and doing his best to shield Etiyr and himself at the same time when he hit the ground. When the air had cleared, Elli was the first one up.
“Arms… two arms, that’s good. Legs, yes, ears, eyes, nose.” She said, quickly checking herself for injuries. There were a few scrapes from passing debris, a long splinter that was either from a tent pole or furniture in the tent that was quickly removed, but she was otherwise alright. She looked around at the others. Bethany was taking longer to get up, and Gabe was whispering to Etiyr but there were no growing pools of blood or ink anywhere, so she figured no one was badly hurt. She felt a pang in her heart remembering Old Greg. If anyone was, I guess I wouldn’t be any good for them anyway.
“No no nonononono.” Bethany was up, she saw, running for where the tent used to be. “How could it explode? It was in an enclosed environment, it was stable, nothing should have been able to set it off! Nothing!”
“Set what off? What kind of expedition are you running? Exactly what did you find in a jungle that could explode?”
“You must be kidding. Almost nothing in the Kestalvian is as simple as it looks. Many things here are near-sentient and others have traits that make them extremely sensitive to time fluctuations. That’s why our expedition is here in the first place, looking for flora and fauna that could help us replicate time travel. It would be a tremendous accomplishment, since we would be the first to accomplish it. I’m surprised you don’t know all this already. Our expedition has been written about in a lot of newspapers and televised. You shouldn’t even be here without knowing the basics I told you about the rainforest.”
“Yea, about that,” Gabe began, looking over, “We didn’t exactly choose to come here, we just sort of…appeared.” A few blades of grass began to wilt around his feet, but not enough for anyone to notice.
“Appeared? What does that even mean? Like, airlifted in here? We would have heard an aircraft or seen a parachute as close as I was to you.”
“It means what he said. We didn’t come here, we just appeared. We were placed here by a djinni who was bored and wanted us to fight.” Grass also began wilting around Elli’s feet. “And news flash, your work is old news to someone we know, ancient history even. I don’t know if it’s you, but someone discovers time travel, seeing as how we’ve been fighting a time traveler ourselves.” At her last words, a large patch of grass around Elli instantly went dead, turning from a vibrant green to a crisped black in the blink of an eye. Elli looked at Gabe, Gabe looked from Elli to Etiyr, and then both turned to stare at Bethany, hoping for an explanation.
“Like I said, nothing here is as simple as it looks.” She gave newcomers a more interested glance and went on, “We set up camp on a field of paradox grass, the largest one we could find. It thrives on normal time, but whenever there’s a paradox the grass chokes on time that simply can’t exist and dies. You say someone else discovered time travel?” When she got nods from Elli and Gabe, she went on, “And that you were fighting a time traveler?” More nods. “This is incredible! You have to tell me everything you know about him, where he’s been, how he became one!” She glanced back at the ruined tent. “It was a pain to get all those samples, and they were the best we could gather, but if there’s a time traveler like you say we could learn so much so fast. We could even go so far as to end the expedition early! I simply must meet this man.”
The last bit sounded more like a command then an excited outburst to Elli, but she went along anyway. “If we can find him, you can meet him. But we don’t know where any of the others are and we have our own problems to take care of. I guess you can stick with us if you don’t slow us down. You’ll be like our guide, but that’s it.”
“Others? How many of you are there besides you three?”
Seeing as how Gabe had gone back to whispering with Etiyr, Elli left them to their sweet nothings and tried to explain her situation to Bethany. She also wanted her cat back, not knowing if it was in the jungle or still back at the Denny’s. She’d get it back, she just had to find the right place. “We’re in the middle of a battle here. Not armies or anything, there’s just nine of us. Eight if you count Cail and Gaurinn as one. Well... seven, seeing as how we’re in this place now.” At the puzzled look Elli was getting, she knew she was explaining poorly, but she didn't care and started kicking at the underbrush around the camp looking for a dark enough place. “Cail and Gaurinn were fused together, and we are moved somewhere else each time one of us dies. We’re supposed to kill each other.”
“So since you’re here now… you’ve killed someone”
“Right. Not me personally, and I know Etiyr didn’t since I was carrying him when we were moved, but someone killed someone else. Come to think of it, besides us three, I don't even know who's left... For all I know you might not be able to meet him after all, but them's the breaks. Ah! Here’s good.” Elli found a patch of brush thick enough to prevent any light from reaching the ground. She pulled the collar out of her pocket, jingled the bell and tossed it in, letting the brush slide back into place while she crouched down. Here kitty kitty.
Bethany watched in surprise as, a moment later, the bell started ringing again. It must be some smaller creature that likes the dark. She’s not actually calling out to anything. That thought train ended when Elli’s cat stalked out of the dark, like a shadow detaching itself from the rest except for the collar around its neck. Every step it took, more paradox grass died beneath it. It was clear to Bethany that this creature shouldn't even exist in this jungle, or even this world.
Elli took the collar off, put it back in her pocket and started petting the cat. “Oh my little baby! Who’s a good kitty? You are! Yes you are! Did you fight off the scary man and his bad doggy?” The cat started purring, which got everyone’s immediate attention, frightening Bethany and attracting a newly jacketed Restless-She as she made her way around the camp.
It was a sound she had never heard before, but somehow filled her with anger at its source. Like thunder mixed with breaking tree limbs and soft newborn fur. A confusing sound of happiness and fury that she had no waves to describe. Restless-She debated going to her clan in case whatever made the sound was dangerous, but decided to find out what it was herself.
“And here’s your treat, just like mommy promised.” Elli pulled out what looked like a ball made of shadows that immediately began struggling when it smelled the cat nearby. She put it down and it immediately bolted, the cat drifting lazily behind it. It never even made it to the edge of the clearing before the cat caught it in its paws. Everyone turned away from the sight but Elli, who sighed happily at her cat enjoying itself.
Spoiler