Re: The Grand Battle S2G1! [Round Three: Water...place!]
04-01-2011, 04:00 AM
Originally posted on MSPA by Dragon Fogel.
Arkal didn't even try to puzzle out why there was now a slightly smaller piece of Ovoid in front of him, with some sort of crude claw on the end. Or why he was standing on one head of what seemed to be an enormous hydra with Cyk'nl on its back.
Nor did he question why he seemed to be in some unfamiliar city, which seemed to be underwater. That actually made the most sense, frankly; with all the thoughts that had occupied his mind, he wasn't sure if the Observer had mentioned such a city specifically, but it actually made sense. At least, more sense than everything else he had seen.
What caught his interest the most were the dragons flying around. They seemed to be flying from out of the head he was standing on. Even stranger, the head was barely moving; its main purpose seemed to be spewing out dragons from its mouth.
Arkal was curious as to how exactly that worked. Was there a dragon hatchery inside or something? He'd have to get inside to get a closer look. But how, exactly?
A few dragons exited the mouth, flew upwards, and started circling the head. And Arkal had an idea.
He took out his mace. The sword would probably work better, but he didn't want to stain his message with blood if he could help it. He raised it in the air, and pounded on the head.
As he expected, one of the dragons broke out of the circle and flew towards him. As it dove in to strike, he surprised it by tackling its neck and pinning it.
Before the startled dragon could figure out what to do next, Arkal was sitting on its back.
"Now listen here," he said, having no idea if it would understand. "I want to go and see just where you came from. Fly me into the mouth, and there won't be any trouble. Is that clear?"
The dragon seemed confused for a moment, but then it took off and flew back towards the mouth as asked. Arkal stepped off when it seemed reasonably safe, and had a look around.
The first thing Arkal noticed was that the head lacked a tongue. Instead, the "floor" beneath him seemed to be made of a thick grey mush.
It shook beneath his feet for a few seconds, and a mound of mush rose up. After a minute or so, the mush formed into three fully-grown dragons; a strange organ of some sort on the roof of the mouth sprayed them with purple mist, and then they flew off.
It was very strange to witness, and Arkal saw it happen several times without being any less surprised.
He was more surprised when all of a sudden, a batch of three dragons was formed with tails in place of their heads.
The next had three dragons with heads in place of their tails.
The one after that wasn't even uniform. There was a pair of wings with no body, a dragon formed upside-down, and about eight necks attached to a single small, round, green torso.
Arkal suspected something was wrong. After the spray went off, he decided, against his better judgement, to take a closer look.
As he approached the deformed trio, the spray suddenly activated once again. Apparently, that was a voluntary action.
A voice soon sounded in his head. It wasn't Xadrez.
YOU ARE INTELLIGENT, it said.
Arkal found himself unable to do anything more than nod in agreement.
PERFECT. YOU CAN DEAL WITH THE INTRUDERS. THEY ARE IN THIS HEAD'S BRAIN. IT WAS NOT A MISTAKE TO BRING YOU INSIDE.
Arkal couldn't bring himself to disobey the voice. He followed its guidance to a path leading higher in the head, and climbed a vein.
Very carefully. He didn't want to damage Mother, after all.
***
"Kracht, do you have any idea if this is doing anything?" Jen asked.
"Not in the slightest. I've only seen this beast once before," Kracht said, as he punched yet another possibly-important cell in what he thought might be the brain. Well, it was glowing, at least.
"Well, what do you know about it?" Jen grumbled. "I'm all for smashing up a dragon's insides, but if I'm going to kill this thing before she does, I want to know that we're smashing up the right insides."
"Er... well, we never actually managed to kill it. Xadrez suspected that this particular head was issuing telepathic orders to the dragons, though, so shutting it down is bound to be helpful..."
"Ugh. You can do that if you want. I'm looking for its heart. Or maybe its liver or something, nah who am I kidding it's always the heart." She looked around the chamber. "Oh, hey. There's a hole there, probably leads further down." She started walking towards it and turned back towards Kracht. "I'll check it out, have fun with the br-"
Her words were interrupted by Arkal climbing out and slicing her head off with his sword.
"How DARE you harm Mother!" he screamed, tossing Jen's limp body down the shaft, and kicking the head for good measure. He drew his mace and turned to Kracht. "Leave Mother alone, or you'll share the other intruder's fate!"
Kracht was stunned. What had happened? Arkal had gone mad...
Wait. If this head was telepathic, then it might be issuing commands to Arkal as though he were one of its "young". Kracht couldn't be sure of the exact process, but it was likely causing Arkal to see the dragon as his mother, and obeying her commands without question...
As Arkal put away the sword and drew his mace, Kracht tore another mass of organelles away from the walls. His best chance was to find the source of the commands and destroy it; that would hopefully free Arkal...
Arkal struck. The mace was nothing to Kracht. But it was a distraction from tearing apart the dragon's brain, and he didn't want to kill the smith; not only was Arkal his only ally in stopping Reinhardt and the Hand of Silver, it would just transport them to another round...
A few seconds passed and realization struck. Jen had been decapitated. Why hadn't they been sent to another round?
***
Jen's head and body had fallen down the shaft into the dragon's mouth, and landed on a thick pile of grey mush.
A blob slowly emerged from the mush, changing form into a new life...
Arkal didn't even try to puzzle out why there was now a slightly smaller piece of Ovoid in front of him, with some sort of crude claw on the end. Or why he was standing on one head of what seemed to be an enormous hydra with Cyk'nl on its back.
Nor did he question why he seemed to be in some unfamiliar city, which seemed to be underwater. That actually made the most sense, frankly; with all the thoughts that had occupied his mind, he wasn't sure if the Observer had mentioned such a city specifically, but it actually made sense. At least, more sense than everything else he had seen.
What caught his interest the most were the dragons flying around. They seemed to be flying from out of the head he was standing on. Even stranger, the head was barely moving; its main purpose seemed to be spewing out dragons from its mouth.
Arkal was curious as to how exactly that worked. Was there a dragon hatchery inside or something? He'd have to get inside to get a closer look. But how, exactly?
A few dragons exited the mouth, flew upwards, and started circling the head. And Arkal had an idea.
He took out his mace. The sword would probably work better, but he didn't want to stain his message with blood if he could help it. He raised it in the air, and pounded on the head.
As he expected, one of the dragons broke out of the circle and flew towards him. As it dove in to strike, he surprised it by tackling its neck and pinning it.
Before the startled dragon could figure out what to do next, Arkal was sitting on its back.
"Now listen here," he said, having no idea if it would understand. "I want to go and see just where you came from. Fly me into the mouth, and there won't be any trouble. Is that clear?"
The dragon seemed confused for a moment, but then it took off and flew back towards the mouth as asked. Arkal stepped off when it seemed reasonably safe, and had a look around.
The first thing Arkal noticed was that the head lacked a tongue. Instead, the "floor" beneath him seemed to be made of a thick grey mush.
It shook beneath his feet for a few seconds, and a mound of mush rose up. After a minute or so, the mush formed into three fully-grown dragons; a strange organ of some sort on the roof of the mouth sprayed them with purple mist, and then they flew off.
It was very strange to witness, and Arkal saw it happen several times without being any less surprised.
He was more surprised when all of a sudden, a batch of three dragons was formed with tails in place of their heads.
The next had three dragons with heads in place of their tails.
The one after that wasn't even uniform. There was a pair of wings with no body, a dragon formed upside-down, and about eight necks attached to a single small, round, green torso.
Arkal suspected something was wrong. After the spray went off, he decided, against his better judgement, to take a closer look.
As he approached the deformed trio, the spray suddenly activated once again. Apparently, that was a voluntary action.
A voice soon sounded in his head. It wasn't Xadrez.
YOU ARE INTELLIGENT, it said.
Arkal found himself unable to do anything more than nod in agreement.
PERFECT. YOU CAN DEAL WITH THE INTRUDERS. THEY ARE IN THIS HEAD'S BRAIN. IT WAS NOT A MISTAKE TO BRING YOU INSIDE.
Arkal couldn't bring himself to disobey the voice. He followed its guidance to a path leading higher in the head, and climbed a vein.
Very carefully. He didn't want to damage Mother, after all.
***
"Kracht, do you have any idea if this is doing anything?" Jen asked.
"Not in the slightest. I've only seen this beast once before," Kracht said, as he punched yet another possibly-important cell in what he thought might be the brain. Well, it was glowing, at least.
"Well, what do you know about it?" Jen grumbled. "I'm all for smashing up a dragon's insides, but if I'm going to kill this thing before she does, I want to know that we're smashing up the right insides."
"Er... well, we never actually managed to kill it. Xadrez suspected that this particular head was issuing telepathic orders to the dragons, though, so shutting it down is bound to be helpful..."
"Ugh. You can do that if you want. I'm looking for its heart. Or maybe its liver or something, nah who am I kidding it's always the heart." She looked around the chamber. "Oh, hey. There's a hole there, probably leads further down." She started walking towards it and turned back towards Kracht. "I'll check it out, have fun with the br-"
Her words were interrupted by Arkal climbing out and slicing her head off with his sword.
"How DARE you harm Mother!" he screamed, tossing Jen's limp body down the shaft, and kicking the head for good measure. He drew his mace and turned to Kracht. "Leave Mother alone, or you'll share the other intruder's fate!"
Kracht was stunned. What had happened? Arkal had gone mad...
Wait. If this head was telepathic, then it might be issuing commands to Arkal as though he were one of its "young". Kracht couldn't be sure of the exact process, but it was likely causing Arkal to see the dragon as his mother, and obeying her commands without question...
As Arkal put away the sword and drew his mace, Kracht tore another mass of organelles away from the walls. His best chance was to find the source of the commands and destroy it; that would hopefully free Arkal...
Arkal struck. The mace was nothing to Kracht. But it was a distraction from tearing apart the dragon's brain, and he didn't want to kill the smith; not only was Arkal his only ally in stopping Reinhardt and the Hand of Silver, it would just transport them to another round...
A few seconds passed and realization struck. Jen had been decapitated. Why hadn't they been sent to another round?
***
Jen's head and body had fallen down the shaft into the dragon's mouth, and landed on a thick pile of grey mush.
A blob slowly emerged from the mush, changing form into a new life...
There's no reason for this | Or this | Death is inevitable | You can't challenge fate | The smallest change | I'm overwhelmed
I'm serious | It makes perfect sense | Easy as ABC! | I can't even explain it | Cleaning up someone else's mess
I suck | I rule | I've got it made | Really, I'm serious | This bugs me | It's all lies | I want to believe | Beauty is a curse
I'm serious | It makes perfect sense | Easy as ABC! | I can't even explain it | Cleaning up someone else's mess
I suck | I rule | I've got it made | Really, I'm serious | This bugs me | It's all lies | I want to believe | Beauty is a curse