Re: The Glorious Championship! [S3G5] [Round One: The "Denny's"]
04-25-2011, 04:47 PM
Originally posted on MSPA by Adenreagen.
What. The. Hell.
Just as I’m about to embark on the adventure of a lifetime, I get pulled away to some other dimension, told I’m in a fight to the death and sent to a Denny’s of all places in the middle of heat-loving nowhere!
She hated Denny’s. No respectable place would be open at three in the morning. In her experience, the only places that were always open were some kind of front for criminals. Once attempting to prove it, she threw a manager out the window when he started talking like a mobster. That got her a lifetime ban from that particular restaurant, and the man was actually a laid off lawyer who sued her for pain and suffering. She’d had to pay for the window too. She gave a mental snort. Denny’s.
Looking around the parking lot at some of the other contestants, she had to admit that this would be a different sort of adventure, but it had been a long time since she had gone adventuring without Leader. At least she was prepared for this. She hefted her shoulder strap, readjusting the instrument more comfortably along her back, checked her pockets for her books and the collar, and felt her cat twining around her feet. If she wasn’t ready, she didn’t know what ready was.
She took another glance around her. Everyone, or at least every thing, seemed to be pairing up together. The man with the metal arm was talking to what the genie-thing said was a space colony, and the machines were by the giant bug. She then heard someone calling to what had to have been her, as she was the only “lass” here.
Looking over, she was startled by the man’s appearance. Besides his armor, his left side appeared to be covered in blood. Taking him for face value as a warrior she figured that he didn’t want to frighten her when he turned that side away from her. It was more surprise at hearing someone call her “lass” and seeing it be some warrior than the blood did. She’d seen more than that on a person. She was even once shoved into a puddle of it herself. She was surprised, however, when he told her it was paint to hide freckles.
She decided to answer his question first before addressing the issue though. “I got to be here same as you, I’d figure. Pulled away from life to be part of whatever this is. I have no idea what I’m doing here, but I figure it’ll be an adventure and that’s all I need.” She had reached where he was by then and shrugged as her cat started twining around both their legs. This seemed to bother the man, though he tried not to let it show. “As for the paint, you don’t have to lie to me. If it were to hide freckles, you could’ve just used some makeup and covered them. It’s not hard. War paint is for warriors, and if you were worried about scaring me, don’t.”
She reached up quickly to wipe a line along his face, but her finger came away clean. “It’s not even PAINT. Is it inked on? Or maybe a giant birthmark?” She saw that he was uncomfortable, blushing on the side that wasn’t red. She felt bad for talking so brazenly about what was apparently a tender subject, but she couldn’t help it. “It doesn’t matter. You seem decent enough. I’m Elli.” She put her hand out to shake his.
“Cailean.” He was surprised at the lass’s boldness. She even shook his left hand as if to say ‘look, I’m not put off by anything’. “So, you want to join me in trying to get out of this alive? I’m sure we could use each other’s help, and we’d be stronger as a team.”
“It’s a deal, for now. But you’re not my leader and I’m not your sidekick. We’re partners and we’re equal.” Nodding over his shoulder, she added “And if what happened to the bug tells me anything, we can’t leave here even if we wanted.”
She picked up her cat, which was now rubbing itself exclusively on Cailean’s feet, and turned it so its "face" was looking at her. “And you! You faceless fluff, you’re scaring him. Go on inside and let me know if you find anything interesting.” The cat evaporated in a cloud of smoke, but she could sense that he was moving past the group in front of the door and into the building.
She wanted to get in the building without passing the others, particularly the guard on the ground, but apparently Cailean had other plans. As soon as the guard began clutching his hand in agony, Cailean did the same. The look on his face that flashed through pain, anger, terror and determination scared her more than the blood did. Running over to the guard, Cailean screamed something about mercy and herons that she didn't catch, pulled out a white dagger and stabbed it into the guard's heart with the accuracy of long practice. When the guard's death throes stopped, Cailean finally relaxed and slumped down next to the guard.
She started walking towards her newfound ally, thinking about what her captor said about his "blessing". Figuring this was something to do with it, she shrugged. She didn't even know the guard, and he was dying from blood loss anyway. In a way, he didn't kill the guard, just ended his suffering.
"Well," she muttered, “adventure is out there, let’s see where it goes from here.”
What. The. Hell.
Just as I’m about to embark on the adventure of a lifetime, I get pulled away to some other dimension, told I’m in a fight to the death and sent to a Denny’s of all places in the middle of heat-loving nowhere!
She hated Denny’s. No respectable place would be open at three in the morning. In her experience, the only places that were always open were some kind of front for criminals. Once attempting to prove it, she threw a manager out the window when he started talking like a mobster. That got her a lifetime ban from that particular restaurant, and the man was actually a laid off lawyer who sued her for pain and suffering. She’d had to pay for the window too. She gave a mental snort. Denny’s.
Looking around the parking lot at some of the other contestants, she had to admit that this would be a different sort of adventure, but it had been a long time since she had gone adventuring without Leader. At least she was prepared for this. She hefted her shoulder strap, readjusting the instrument more comfortably along her back, checked her pockets for her books and the collar, and felt her cat twining around her feet. If she wasn’t ready, she didn’t know what ready was.
She took another glance around her. Everyone, or at least every thing, seemed to be pairing up together. The man with the metal arm was talking to what the genie-thing said was a space colony, and the machines were by the giant bug. She then heard someone calling to what had to have been her, as she was the only “lass” here.
Looking over, she was startled by the man’s appearance. Besides his armor, his left side appeared to be covered in blood. Taking him for face value as a warrior she figured that he didn’t want to frighten her when he turned that side away from her. It was more surprise at hearing someone call her “lass” and seeing it be some warrior than the blood did. She’d seen more than that on a person. She was even once shoved into a puddle of it herself. She was surprised, however, when he told her it was paint to hide freckles.
She decided to answer his question first before addressing the issue though. “I got to be here same as you, I’d figure. Pulled away from life to be part of whatever this is. I have no idea what I’m doing here, but I figure it’ll be an adventure and that’s all I need.” She had reached where he was by then and shrugged as her cat started twining around both their legs. This seemed to bother the man, though he tried not to let it show. “As for the paint, you don’t have to lie to me. If it were to hide freckles, you could’ve just used some makeup and covered them. It’s not hard. War paint is for warriors, and if you were worried about scaring me, don’t.”
She reached up quickly to wipe a line along his face, but her finger came away clean. “It’s not even PAINT. Is it inked on? Or maybe a giant birthmark?” She saw that he was uncomfortable, blushing on the side that wasn’t red. She felt bad for talking so brazenly about what was apparently a tender subject, but she couldn’t help it. “It doesn’t matter. You seem decent enough. I’m Elli.” She put her hand out to shake his.
“Cailean.” He was surprised at the lass’s boldness. She even shook his left hand as if to say ‘look, I’m not put off by anything’. “So, you want to join me in trying to get out of this alive? I’m sure we could use each other’s help, and we’d be stronger as a team.”
“It’s a deal, for now. But you’re not my leader and I’m not your sidekick. We’re partners and we’re equal.” Nodding over his shoulder, she added “And if what happened to the bug tells me anything, we can’t leave here even if we wanted.”
She picked up her cat, which was now rubbing itself exclusively on Cailean’s feet, and turned it so its "face" was looking at her. “And you! You faceless fluff, you’re scaring him. Go on inside and let me know if you find anything interesting.” The cat evaporated in a cloud of smoke, but she could sense that he was moving past the group in front of the door and into the building.
She wanted to get in the building without passing the others, particularly the guard on the ground, but apparently Cailean had other plans. As soon as the guard began clutching his hand in agony, Cailean did the same. The look on his face that flashed through pain, anger, terror and determination scared her more than the blood did. Running over to the guard, Cailean screamed something about mercy and herons that she didn't catch, pulled out a white dagger and stabbed it into the guard's heart with the accuracy of long practice. When the guard's death throes stopped, Cailean finally relaxed and slumped down next to the guard.
She started walking towards her newfound ally, thinking about what her captor said about his "blessing". Figuring this was something to do with it, she shrugged. She didn't even know the guard, and he was dying from blood loss anyway. In a way, he didn't kill the guard, just ended his suffering.
"Well," she muttered, “adventure is out there, let’s see where it goes from here.”