Re: Pitched Combat [Round 1: Forêt Noire]
01-14-2010, 10:46 PM
Originally posted on MSPA by MalkyTop.
The giant bees were long gone. More beasties flew overhead, but didn't bother disturbing them, preoccupied with fleeing. Once more, it seemed a good time as any to take a break. With fire all around, they could only wait. At least they had a brighter light source than Right.
If he could, Right would have stroked his flaming pearl like a beard, or maybe tugged on his whiskers, but he could only look around hopefully for any exit or ponder this war they had somehow gotten into, though really, it hadn't gotten warlike yet.
That strangely-named man, Hatman or whatever, was still passed out. He wasn't entirely sure what happened besides something about pulling things from nowhere and bats flying out of swords. As Rong decided that just leaving the dead bees around was a waste and devoured them, Right went over the introductory speech for probably the fifth time. The being that had brought them together (still nameless for he had never introduced himself) had called Hatman a 'super-hero.' What was a superhero? Above a hero? But how could you be more heroic than a hero? This really didn't make sense. Was that why Hatman pulled out a bat-spewing weapon from nowhere? But he was basically a hero. Only...super, somehow. So he probably went around doing hero stuff. Saving maidens. Killing evil men. Searching for adventure in his free time.
Vasily seemed to be staring at not-Lainey, stroking his chin for a bit before approaching, saying something that Right couldn't hear, though he could guess it was words of comfort to get close. Or something. Another man that Right knew little about, though this one he actually had spent some time with. From the introduction, it seemed he had quite a few skills. So far, he had seen little. But sometimes Right thought he had a cunning glint in his eyes, looking back at him. Both scrutinizing each other.
As Rong complained about a sting she had carelessly gotten while gulping down a bee, Right thought about the words said at the very beginning. A series of locales. So at some point they would leave the forest. An idea that Right would have welcomed openly right about now. But when? What triggered the change in scenery? Some kind of hidden switch? That seemed unlikely. A time limit? Hm. This was supposed to be a fight to the death...were you supposed to kill someone to move to the next stage?
Right mulled over this thought some more. For a person that would pluck those from their own worlds and force them to fight to the death, that last possibility sounded more like a certainty. If it turned out that whatever-it-is came and they couldn't escape, it would be nice if someone died and they would move on, away from the danger. It seemed that the scrawny kid, the Jordan guy would be the easiest to kill in such a situation. But that would antagonize him.
God, this was so frustrating. Why did he overthink these things? Why didn't he just adopt Rong's simple mindset and just kill everybody?
Eemp suddenly swiveled around, pointing its false eyes at something beyond the fire. As it looked, the fire seemed to dim and the trees seemed to wither. One even crumbled. An unearthly dark cloud was travelling swiftly close to the ground, swallowing everything in its path, sucking the life of whatever it touched.
Rong, startled by this seemingly living darkness, instinctively shot her fire at the thing. It died, not even slowing it down. It started condensing, as if concentrating on the small group before it.
Fire behind them and darkness ahead.
"Now would be a good time to have one of those smart plan things." Rong stared wide-eyed at the approaching darkness as Eemp backed away over the ruins of the cottage.
"Well, er, I, um," Right replied.
The giant bees were long gone. More beasties flew overhead, but didn't bother disturbing them, preoccupied with fleeing. Once more, it seemed a good time as any to take a break. With fire all around, they could only wait. At least they had a brighter light source than Right.
If he could, Right would have stroked his flaming pearl like a beard, or maybe tugged on his whiskers, but he could only look around hopefully for any exit or ponder this war they had somehow gotten into, though really, it hadn't gotten warlike yet.
That strangely-named man, Hatman or whatever, was still passed out. He wasn't entirely sure what happened besides something about pulling things from nowhere and bats flying out of swords. As Rong decided that just leaving the dead bees around was a waste and devoured them, Right went over the introductory speech for probably the fifth time. The being that had brought them together (still nameless for he had never introduced himself) had called Hatman a 'super-hero.' What was a superhero? Above a hero? But how could you be more heroic than a hero? This really didn't make sense. Was that why Hatman pulled out a bat-spewing weapon from nowhere? But he was basically a hero. Only...super, somehow. So he probably went around doing hero stuff. Saving maidens. Killing evil men. Searching for adventure in his free time.
Vasily seemed to be staring at not-Lainey, stroking his chin for a bit before approaching, saying something that Right couldn't hear, though he could guess it was words of comfort to get close. Or something. Another man that Right knew little about, though this one he actually had spent some time with. From the introduction, it seemed he had quite a few skills. So far, he had seen little. But sometimes Right thought he had a cunning glint in his eyes, looking back at him. Both scrutinizing each other.
As Rong complained about a sting she had carelessly gotten while gulping down a bee, Right thought about the words said at the very beginning. A series of locales. So at some point they would leave the forest. An idea that Right would have welcomed openly right about now. But when? What triggered the change in scenery? Some kind of hidden switch? That seemed unlikely. A time limit? Hm. This was supposed to be a fight to the death...were you supposed to kill someone to move to the next stage?
Right mulled over this thought some more. For a person that would pluck those from their own worlds and force them to fight to the death, that last possibility sounded more like a certainty. If it turned out that whatever-it-is came and they couldn't escape, it would be nice if someone died and they would move on, away from the danger. It seemed that the scrawny kid, the Jordan guy would be the easiest to kill in such a situation. But that would antagonize him.
God, this was so frustrating. Why did he overthink these things? Why didn't he just adopt Rong's simple mindset and just kill everybody?
Eemp suddenly swiveled around, pointing its false eyes at something beyond the fire. As it looked, the fire seemed to dim and the trees seemed to wither. One even crumbled. An unearthly dark cloud was travelling swiftly close to the ground, swallowing everything in its path, sucking the life of whatever it touched.
Rong, startled by this seemingly living darkness, instinctively shot her fire at the thing. It died, not even slowing it down. It started condensing, as if concentrating on the small group before it.
Fire behind them and darkness ahead.
"Now would be a good time to have one of those smart plan things." Rong stared wide-eyed at the approaching darkness as Eemp backed away over the ruins of the cottage.
"Well, er, I, um," Right replied.