The Flash Battle [Signups and also Round One: Before The Flood]

Imagine, if you will, a flat rocky area atop a tall mountain. It is snowing, raining, hailing, and sleeting all at the same time, the worst possible weather. The mountain juts into the sky, surrounded by nothing but clouds and coldness. You should be dead, you think. You don't remember anything that happened before. By your naked feet, grass grows. Dandylions form, daffodils come after. Sunlight comes out of a tiny crack in the sky and hits a spot at your feet. It grows, and covers the whole area. You can see a bird's skeleton on the ground. Ants pour out of it and cover the ground. The bird's skeleton gets up, and starts walking around. With a muted peep, flesh covers it, then feathers, and it flies once more. The grass is growing quicker, spreading out. But the bird is faster than the grass, for it darts outside of its influence. It crumbles into dust and returns to the earth. The grass has stopped growing. Only... no. You look behind you, and the grass is still growing in that direction. The bird went the wrong way, you think. Unbidden, you walk along the grass, and it forms a path for you.

More life forms exist now. You can make out a rabbit, some squirrels, even a silent snake lying in wait for the rabbit to come near. You move past them, just as the snake strikes. The rabbit is slain, and the grass around it wilts out of respect. The dirt around it freezes over, and a single shard of hail falls from the sky, splitting the rabbit's head open. The sudden cold causes the snake to shrink away, but it is too late. Death has overtook it. Feeling a profound sadness, you move on, the squirrels following you. You follow the grass around a sheer cliff, and finally you can see a cave ahead of you. There are braziers lining the walls, and they burst in flames as soon as you lay your eyes upon them. Some bees lazily float out of their former occupation around the flowers, and fly directly in front of you. All the ants and worms come out of the earth, only to be squished back in by your feet. But you don't care. You want to know what is ahead. The animals and plants all follow you into the cave.

It is a simple affair, really. A stone slab serving as a bed, and a table set in the middle of the room, also carved from stone. There is a human skeleton sitting in front of it, legs crossed. When the grass reaches it, or more specifically its toes, flesh starts growing on the skeleton. The grass grows around it, and it is reformed, made whole. The form is that of a human male, old, feeble, nude. Hair covers his whole face, wild, bushy, and grey. Only his eyes are visible, and they are closed. They remain closed as wildlife surrounds him. Ivy creeps around his body, covering him up, rooting him to the ground. The grass creeps into the cave, and finally the outside world is cold and lifeless once more. But here, in this cave, only life reigns. The walls become blue sky, the ground lush green. Finally, his eyes open. They are a moss green.

"Come closer, child. What brings you here?"

You were supposed to be dead, you recall. Back on that snowy mountain. That night, you died. Why were you on that mountain? Closing your eyes, you try to recall. You grab your head, and try to remember. Only five words remain, however. But... you mustn't. This isn't the time. You speak different words, instead.

"I... I don't know. Who are you?"

The old man looks at you kindly, perhaps with a bit of sorrow. His gaze makes you feel warm, loved.

"I am Urur. Some may know me as the Oracle of Life. Child, it is unfortunate that your life has led you here."

You look behind you, at what was once a grassy path.

"People often look to me for an answer, a solution, where there was only death. But I am only a small sphere of life. Where I go, life begins. When I leave, life ends. Such is the circle of life. Come closer. Tell me about your life. Perhaps I can bring about a more peaceful resolution."

Obediently, you sit down next to the old man, facing outside. You can only see harsh dark clouds and pouring rain. As you hold his hand, however, you can see what he sees. Life everywhere. All manners of animals cavorting. Deer leap to and fro. Foxes tussle, tumbling over each other. Bees happily transport pollen for the beautiful flowers, who in turn take in sunlight and supports everyone else. Yet there is death. A rodent corpse lies behind the foxes, saved as food for later. A wolf chases the deer with a hungry look in its eyes. Beneath the roots of great trees, great bones lie in wait. You see it all, from beginning to end, and from end to beginning. Suddenly, your life, whatever it was, feels insignificant. You sigh, looking away.

"I can only remember these five words."

"Yes, child? Anything is good. Don't be afraid, you are safe here."

Suddenly, you feel a fiendish energy filling your body. You look back at him, with an overwhelming hatred.

"I have come for you."

His hand releases your grip, and he jerks it away. In his eyes are sheer terror. He scrambles back against the wall of the cave. He looks around, and already, everything is wilting away. Wolves fall to the ground, maggots eating them from inside out. Bees explode in a slime that kills any plants it touches. Screaming rabbits are devoured by their own children, who in turn devour themselves. When Urur left, it was cold and lifeless in that cave.

~~~

So this was to be his fate, a battle to the death. How... petty of the Devil. But, perhaps more petty was the revelation that God would bring down a flood upon the Earth. He had always considered himself a friend of the Holy Father, as blasphemous as that was to say. To know that God had grand extinction plans, and did not inform him ahead of time, or even to make him responsible for the preservation of life, instead of this nobody Noah, it was... well, rude. Sighing, he opened his eyes.

He was on a deserted rock in the middle of an open sea. In his presence, the rock had already grown over with corals and barnacles, and fishes of all shapes and colors were swimming merrily among the coral reefs surrounding the rock. Yawning, he stood up and stretched. He leapt in the water then, and remained there, floating in shallow water. Seaweed grew up and covered his modesty. He then exerted his will, and in his sphere of influence, two dolphins leapt out of the water towards him and chittered incessantly. He grabbed the two dolphins by the fins and they swam off, leaving death in their wake. Flying fishes followed him, and skimmed the water.

It was an overcast day in Mermaid's Tail. Nobody noticed, as overcast was the norm in this tiny fishing village. There wasn't anybody out today, except for two fishermen standing on the dock, hauling in today's load. One of their crewmen came up from inland, and hollered. He was saying something about a mermaid. They exhanged skeptical glances. Old Raph was known for his wild sea tales. Still, they were bored, and so they followed him back around their boat to take a closer look. At first, they saw nothing. Then they saw a shadow in the water, one that perhaps resembled a human. Old Raph gibbered, and their jaws dropped open. The tales were real after all! They ran closer to take a look. ...Needless to say, when Urur rose out of the sea, his hair and beard sopping wet with salt water and his body barely covered in seaweed, it was not what they expected. One of them, Barley, closed his eyes shut and inwardly cursed God. This old man stood up, and stretched his arms wide. Finally, he turned and waved goodbye to the dolphins, who excitedly squeaked then swam off before quickly dissipating into a bloody mist.

"My children," he said. "It is a fine day today isn't it? The birds are singing." Indeed, there were several bluebirds flying around him and tweeting their happy songs. The sky split up, and revealed the sun, which shone onto him. It was majestic, and the men started to have doubts. Barley even opened his eyes. Urur reached down and touched the earth, and a sapling sprouted out of the spot. It quickly grew into an apple tree, which should have looked quite out of place on a beach, but it somehow fit in here. Urur reached up, and plucked an apple out of it. He reached out to the men.

"Want a bite?"

The men nodded, and they passed the apple around, each taking a bite at a time. With each bite, they felt full of energy. Old Raph leapt in the air and whooped, even with his bad knee. Where their hair was gray, the color grew back. Their skin rippled, and any wrinkles and blemishes had gone. They were young and handsome again. They gaped at each other, then they went to the water to gape at themselves. Suddenly, today was looking like a good day. Still, Barley could feel a niggling doubt. Ordinarily, people did not swim out of the water and bestow people with the gift of life.

"Are you a merman?" Barley asked. "Or are you, perhaps, a messenger from God?"

"Hmm," Urur thought on that a little. "I suppose you could say I'm both. I have come to deliver good and bad news. Which would you like to hear first?"

They took a brief recess to discuss, and the consensus was decided. They would hear the bad news first.

"Ah. Well... it pains me to have to tell you dear folks this, but... you will all die. That is God's will. It will rain for forty days and forty nights, then the flood will consume everything."

The men moaned in despair just then. Perhaps it was not a good day after all. Old Raph piped then, "So... what's the good news?"

"You should already have noticed this, but the fruit I have given you will bestow upon you eternal life. You, as well as the rest of this hamlet, shall survive the flood. As long as you stay near me, that is. Sadly, there are more bad news. If any of you should leave my side, you will almost certainly crumble into dust. Such is the price of the Fruit of Life."

As they spoke, Urur's circle was gradually expanding, as made clear by the grass growing outwards. Where once there was only dirt, there were now grass growing out from between the rocks. Worms poked their heads out of the dirt, and burrowed back underground. Although Urur remained by the tree, his influence grew, no doubt fueled by his new servants' life energy. Over time, his influence would grow to cover Mermaid's Tail. Frowning, Urur thought. He would have to get the word out. Nobody leaves his circle, or they would return to death. He didn't want them to panic and attempt to run away. He would need more servants. The more people he had in his influence, the bigger the circle could grow. Hopefully, he could save enough people before the flood came. Then Earth would be reborn. With him as its ruler, there would be no more death. He would not have to suffer another death of a loved one ever again. Nor would anybody else on his Earth.

"Come with me, boys. I think it's time we established a new world order."