Re: Pitched Combat [Round 2: Cathedral of Glass]
02-10-2010, 09:04 PM
Originally posted on MSPA by SleepingOrange.
A lone glass-man in the shape of Vasily sat in the ruins of the main chapel. All around him were the broken pieces of his friends and neighbors, shattered bits of his home and faith, and splinters that could only be described as a very unsubtle allegory for his life. He stared at his hands, turning them over and over and wondering what good being unique was when there weren't other, less unique, people to be individual at. He sighed and stood up, staring around and wondering when The Shatterer would be back to finish him and the cathedral after dealing with the outsiders.
Something caught his eye among the scintillating shards; near the remains of the altar and the corpse of the purple woman was a plastic disc, apparently shielded from harm by its erstwhile owner's torso; it had collapsed back to this state after dispensing the copy of her, and had apparently been forgotten in the hubbub. Glassily cleared the debris and corpse off of it, and picked it up curiously. After examining it for a few moments, he realized that it was probably the reason the sacrifice had failed. It was this thing's fault his world was dying around him. His face twisted into a rictus of rage, and he flung it with all his new body's strength at one of the remaining walls; the disc chipped and fell to the ground, and he stumbled over the debris around him, making straight for the innocuous purple object. The glass-man brought his foot down on it as hard as he could, grinning with satisfaction as the disc shattered, satisfied even as he heard the click of his ankle cracking. He was about to die anyway; what did he care about an ankle, one way or the other?
---
Most of the group was running, loping, or stumbing across the rolling glass fields; the glass grass was sharp, but thin and fragile, so all of the shod contestants had little trouble traveling across it. An occasional glance thrown backwards revealed that their pursuer had slowed, then stopped, and was whipping its head back and forth in apparent discomfort. It bayed loudly, then curled its head downwards and retched repeatedly, eventually vomiting up... A large, deformed rabbit? Possessed by morbid curiosity, the contestants stopped and turned to watch what was happening.
The giant hound snarled and snapped at the rabbit, which dodged nimbly, sending the monster's snout crashing into the glassy ground; the impact seemed to have more force than should be possible, sending quakes and ripples outward. The contestants struggled to keep their balance; most succeeded, but Yume found herself teetering too far to catch herself. She was falling forward too quickly even to have time to protect her face, and let out a pathetic whimper as the silica plants punctured her face, neck, and torso. Blinded by the pain and wounds, she attempted to scramble to her feet, tearing her hands to shreds on the razor-sharp grass; eventually, she gave up and laid still, bleeding and sobbing, until Alex could make it to her to pull her up. He pulled a face as he did; the poor girl was torn to pieces. She'd never see again, if he was any judge, and would probably die of blood loss or infection without real medical attention soon.
Yume herself was trying desperately to shift, but her body wasn't having any of it. Her thoughts were clouding, and she was having trouble hearing the others. It was terrifying, and her last real clear thought was to wonder if this was what going into shock was like. She sagged into Alex's arms, losing consciousness.
The hellhound had apparently given up on the twisted rabbit, which seemed to be much too fast for it, and was loping across the field towards the contestants again. Alex passed the unconscious Yume towards Annabell and clumsily wielded his sword, Eemp weighing him down.
---
Annabell moved to the back of the group, holding Yume up as well as she could, and the other contestants moved forward; Vasily and Alex brandished their swords, Rong inhaled, preparing to unleash a hellstorm of fire, and even Jordan straightened up and concentrated. The beast bore down on them, each step thundering loudly, then... Vanished. Turned to smoke and faded away. The field halted its cracking and liquefaction, and the eerie silence was broken only by the gentle tinkling sound of bits of the cathedral crumbling.
Only Annabell heard the tiny sound behind her, and turned to look. There was only time for a sharp intake of breath before giant jaws closed around her, snapping her and Lainey's bodies like tinder. That little gasp drew the group's attention, and the last thing they saw before they faded out of existence was half of Annabell falling limply over. There was no sign of Yume.
A lone glass-man in the shape of Vasily sat in the ruins of the main chapel. All around him were the broken pieces of his friends and neighbors, shattered bits of his home and faith, and splinters that could only be described as a very unsubtle allegory for his life. He stared at his hands, turning them over and over and wondering what good being unique was when there weren't other, less unique, people to be individual at. He sighed and stood up, staring around and wondering when The Shatterer would be back to finish him and the cathedral after dealing with the outsiders.
Something caught his eye among the scintillating shards; near the remains of the altar and the corpse of the purple woman was a plastic disc, apparently shielded from harm by its erstwhile owner's torso; it had collapsed back to this state after dispensing the copy of her, and had apparently been forgotten in the hubbub. Glassily cleared the debris and corpse off of it, and picked it up curiously. After examining it for a few moments, he realized that it was probably the reason the sacrifice had failed. It was this thing's fault his world was dying around him. His face twisted into a rictus of rage, and he flung it with all his new body's strength at one of the remaining walls; the disc chipped and fell to the ground, and he stumbled over the debris around him, making straight for the innocuous purple object. The glass-man brought his foot down on it as hard as he could, grinning with satisfaction as the disc shattered, satisfied even as he heard the click of his ankle cracking. He was about to die anyway; what did he care about an ankle, one way or the other?
---
Most of the group was running, loping, or stumbing across the rolling glass fields; the glass grass was sharp, but thin and fragile, so all of the shod contestants had little trouble traveling across it. An occasional glance thrown backwards revealed that their pursuer had slowed, then stopped, and was whipping its head back and forth in apparent discomfort. It bayed loudly, then curled its head downwards and retched repeatedly, eventually vomiting up... A large, deformed rabbit? Possessed by morbid curiosity, the contestants stopped and turned to watch what was happening.
The giant hound snarled and snapped at the rabbit, which dodged nimbly, sending the monster's snout crashing into the glassy ground; the impact seemed to have more force than should be possible, sending quakes and ripples outward. The contestants struggled to keep their balance; most succeeded, but Yume found herself teetering too far to catch herself. She was falling forward too quickly even to have time to protect her face, and let out a pathetic whimper as the silica plants punctured her face, neck, and torso. Blinded by the pain and wounds, she attempted to scramble to her feet, tearing her hands to shreds on the razor-sharp grass; eventually, she gave up and laid still, bleeding and sobbing, until Alex could make it to her to pull her up. He pulled a face as he did; the poor girl was torn to pieces. She'd never see again, if he was any judge, and would probably die of blood loss or infection without real medical attention soon.
Yume herself was trying desperately to shift, but her body wasn't having any of it. Her thoughts were clouding, and she was having trouble hearing the others. It was terrifying, and her last real clear thought was to wonder if this was what going into shock was like. She sagged into Alex's arms, losing consciousness.
The hellhound had apparently given up on the twisted rabbit, which seemed to be much too fast for it, and was loping across the field towards the contestants again. Alex passed the unconscious Yume towards Annabell and clumsily wielded his sword, Eemp weighing him down.
---
Annabell moved to the back of the group, holding Yume up as well as she could, and the other contestants moved forward; Vasily and Alex brandished their swords, Rong inhaled, preparing to unleash a hellstorm of fire, and even Jordan straightened up and concentrated. The beast bore down on them, each step thundering loudly, then... Vanished. Turned to smoke and faded away. The field halted its cracking and liquefaction, and the eerie silence was broken only by the gentle tinkling sound of bits of the cathedral crumbling.
Only Annabell heard the tiny sound behind her, and turned to look. There was only time for a sharp intake of breath before giant jaws closed around her, snapping her and Lainey's bodies like tinder. That little gasp drew the group's attention, and the last thing they saw before they faded out of existence was half of Annabell falling limply over. There was no sign of Yume.