Re: Pitched Combat [Round 5: Garden of Shades]
08-04-2010, 12:46 AM
Originally posted on MSPA by MalkyTop.
"...So now I'm all alone against a hungry mannequin and a crazy dragon-scarecrow thing," Jordan finished, feeling a little hoarse after explaining everything. Maxwell looked off at the grey horizon as they continued walking to nowhere whatsoever. The man seemed quite contemplative and somehow the pyrokinetic instinctively knew he was dealing with some sort of genius. He was already feeling at ease, having someone smarter than him think out everything instead.
"Are you sure it is completely impossible to obtain a spot of tea here?" Maxwell asked.
Oh yeah. The tendency for geniuses to be eccentric.
"Um. There's nothing but fruit trees around, sir." Jordan adjusted his glasses a little. Amazingly enough, they had survived throughout this chaos. He actually felt a little grateful that they had held on for so long.
"Ah yes, you mentioned that..." The monochrome man absent-mindedly picked at his coat.
"Um, also," Jordan added. He had saved this last bit of information for last, partly because he wasn't sure his new friend already knew (though if he did, he was acting pretty casual about it), mostly because he wasn't sure how to phrase it. "Um." Maxwell glanced at him questionably, a sign to continue on. "Uh. You're a fruit."
That sentence hovered in the air a bit. The longer it loomed, the more awkward Jordan thought it sounded and the more self-conscious he was about saying it. It was like ruining a party with one simple comment. Maybe it had been better not to say it in the first place.
"I suppose that slightly explains why I'm meeting you despite the two of us being from completely different battles," Maxwell mused, the shock and confusion Jordan had expected nowhere in sight. "Also the gray skin. That's quite a tip-off."
Jordan stared at him.
"I'm not entirely sure if I should make a joke about vegetables here...it's a little stupid," he continued, perhaps just to fill the silence.
"B-but...you don't think--but--you--isn't it...aren't you--"
"Aren't I conflicted about my position in life, being a mere shadow of who I am modeled after, not even a real person but a simple apple granted personality and false memories?" Maxwell finished. "No, I can't say that I am." But seeing Jordan's expression, he quickly added, "If it makes you feel better, I do feel rather fruity." He paused. "That didn't sound right. I meant that I feel my fruit origins more so than an average human would. Though I suppose an average human wouldn't feel fruit origins at all. I could say 'average fruit-person,' though I suppose I don't have a right to say that seeing as the only fruit-person I know is, well, me. Maybe 'I feel a fruit origin that no ordinary human would feel.' Or is that awkward syntax...?"
Jordan stared some more as Maxwell continued babbling. It was highly disconcerting seeing him act so natural about it. He had just made the sort of reveal that B-movies relished and hammed up. Like that whole 'we must catch that killer' 'no, you are the killer' and then everybody is shocked. But still, Maxwell's ramblings were actually pretty comforting in a way. He let the rush of words wash over him, only catching a bit of what he was actually saying. He only was brought back to earth when Maxwell suddenly said, "I wonder what those people-fruit taste like."
"What?" Jordan would have squawked had his dry throat allowed it.
"No, that was a disgusting thought. Scrap it."
Jordan dutifully scrapped it.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Sir Pellinore made himself ever the more unwanted the longer he stuck around. It was as if he had the ability to constantly make his loud, boisterous personality more repulsive. Just when you thought he couldn't possibly be any more annoying, he became more annoying.
Mostly he was annoying because he just didn't leave, having apparently thought them the best of friends since they had met and not tried to kill each other. He ignored the hints, subtle or not, and laughed off threats as a joke. He repeated stories of his travels and even sung ballads of his exploits in a strong voice any choral teacher would be proud of if he was actually able to keep a tune. Or remember the lyrics. Most of the time he spoke of the Questing Beast. He spoke of it so often and so fondly that Right couldn't help but think he was married to it. Sometimes he told jokes. Each one was more horrible than the last. The worst of it was that he actually had a daft charm about him, which, Right suspected, was how he had survived as long as he did before meeting with Rong at one point. He was so irritating and yet too affable for him to even consider killing. It was annoying.
"I swear I am willing to kill myself. Right here," Rong muttered as Pellinore fondly recalled some adventure in the past for the fifth time.
"I know, I know," Right sighed. "He is as trying to you as he is to me. I'm not surprised you killed him on the spot."
Rong scrunched up her snout. "I still don't remember him."
"Don't strain yourself," Right replied.
"Ho there!" Pellinore shouted, suddenly breaking out of his reverie. "I do see a figure out there, friends!"
"Hm?" Right said, realizing that it could actually be one of the other contestants. "Where?"
"Right by the tree," the knight replied helpfully.
Despite the vague direction, Right managed to see the lurking figure. By the absence of the absence of color (if that made sense), he could tell that yes, it was indeed one of the remaining contestants. From the lack of glasses, hair, or even any sort of vague, human appearance, he could tell it was the Manikin. It seemed to have taken a form he had not seen before. Or actually...it was a little recognizable...
-------------------------
The moment it had ingested its old master, the Manikin felt confused. It wasn't the fact that, when it accidentally punctured skin, juice instead of blood flowed out. It didn't yet know enough of the world to really find that odd. What the Manikin was confused about was the taste. It was sweet. It was tangy. It flooded the senses it had recently obtained with a new sensation, one it had never felt when it had before ate trees and glass and so on. It boggled its childish mind and quite possibly put it on a sensual high, though it had no idea what that was. It was....delicious.
In this addled state, it was rather hard for the Manikin to be rational. It reeled around. It wondered how whenever it had eaten, it had felt the material but never tasted it. It wondered if everything had tasted that good. It really wanted to taste something else.
Wheeling around, it licked the juice that had trickled down its chin and noticed the dragons. It felt the urge for revenge and power. It was also eager to know how dragons tasted.
-----------------------------------------
The Manikin charged down towards them but they weren't too concerned. Right squinted at it a little more. "It actually...looks a lot like you, Rong."
"What?! I'm not that scrawny! And my wings were much larger than that!"
"Um," said Pellinore nervously as he pushed up his visor again. It clanked down.
"Although I have no idea how it would be able to turn into a..." Right trailed off as a thought hit him.
"I do believe it is about to attack us," the knight added.
"What? What? What were you about to say?" Rong demanded as the Manikin came upon them, jaws impossibly wide. Eemp dodged to one side, Pellinore to the other as sharp teeth chomped shut on empty air. "Wait. Wait. Wait a minute!" Rong shouted, realization coming to her as well, though less quietly. "I told you! You guys should've left my head alone!"
"I am rather curious whether he actually did it on purpose to spite us in the future or it was all just an accident," Right mused wryly as the Manikin continued to chase after them. Dodging another charge, Eemp actually kicked it away. It wasn't quite powerful, but it unbalanced the Manikin enough for Rong to shoot at it with a fireball that tossed it against a tree. The boughs weighed with fruit shuddered before the stems gave way. The fruit fell.
-----------------------------------
Elsewhere, another apple fell. Unlike the previous ones before it, it dissolved into many beings, though it would have been hard to consider the large insects it formed as 'beings.' The monstrous insects buzzed. It could have been in confusion, if insects were able to feel confused. It flew around in search of prey.
"...So now I'm all alone against a hungry mannequin and a crazy dragon-scarecrow thing," Jordan finished, feeling a little hoarse after explaining everything. Maxwell looked off at the grey horizon as they continued walking to nowhere whatsoever. The man seemed quite contemplative and somehow the pyrokinetic instinctively knew he was dealing with some sort of genius. He was already feeling at ease, having someone smarter than him think out everything instead.
"Are you sure it is completely impossible to obtain a spot of tea here?" Maxwell asked.
Oh yeah. The tendency for geniuses to be eccentric.
"Um. There's nothing but fruit trees around, sir." Jordan adjusted his glasses a little. Amazingly enough, they had survived throughout this chaos. He actually felt a little grateful that they had held on for so long.
"Ah yes, you mentioned that..." The monochrome man absent-mindedly picked at his coat.
"Um, also," Jordan added. He had saved this last bit of information for last, partly because he wasn't sure his new friend already knew (though if he did, he was acting pretty casual about it), mostly because he wasn't sure how to phrase it. "Um." Maxwell glanced at him questionably, a sign to continue on. "Uh. You're a fruit."
That sentence hovered in the air a bit. The longer it loomed, the more awkward Jordan thought it sounded and the more self-conscious he was about saying it. It was like ruining a party with one simple comment. Maybe it had been better not to say it in the first place.
"I suppose that slightly explains why I'm meeting you despite the two of us being from completely different battles," Maxwell mused, the shock and confusion Jordan had expected nowhere in sight. "Also the gray skin. That's quite a tip-off."
Jordan stared at him.
"I'm not entirely sure if I should make a joke about vegetables here...it's a little stupid," he continued, perhaps just to fill the silence.
"B-but...you don't think--but--you--isn't it...aren't you--"
"Aren't I conflicted about my position in life, being a mere shadow of who I am modeled after, not even a real person but a simple apple granted personality and false memories?" Maxwell finished. "No, I can't say that I am." But seeing Jordan's expression, he quickly added, "If it makes you feel better, I do feel rather fruity." He paused. "That didn't sound right. I meant that I feel my fruit origins more so than an average human would. Though I suppose an average human wouldn't feel fruit origins at all. I could say 'average fruit-person,' though I suppose I don't have a right to say that seeing as the only fruit-person I know is, well, me. Maybe 'I feel a fruit origin that no ordinary human would feel.' Or is that awkward syntax...?"
Jordan stared some more as Maxwell continued babbling. It was highly disconcerting seeing him act so natural about it. He had just made the sort of reveal that B-movies relished and hammed up. Like that whole 'we must catch that killer' 'no, you are the killer' and then everybody is shocked. But still, Maxwell's ramblings were actually pretty comforting in a way. He let the rush of words wash over him, only catching a bit of what he was actually saying. He only was brought back to earth when Maxwell suddenly said, "I wonder what those people-fruit taste like."
"What?" Jordan would have squawked had his dry throat allowed it.
"No, that was a disgusting thought. Scrap it."
Jordan dutifully scrapped it.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Sir Pellinore made himself ever the more unwanted the longer he stuck around. It was as if he had the ability to constantly make his loud, boisterous personality more repulsive. Just when you thought he couldn't possibly be any more annoying, he became more annoying.
Mostly he was annoying because he just didn't leave, having apparently thought them the best of friends since they had met and not tried to kill each other. He ignored the hints, subtle or not, and laughed off threats as a joke. He repeated stories of his travels and even sung ballads of his exploits in a strong voice any choral teacher would be proud of if he was actually able to keep a tune. Or remember the lyrics. Most of the time he spoke of the Questing Beast. He spoke of it so often and so fondly that Right couldn't help but think he was married to it. Sometimes he told jokes. Each one was more horrible than the last. The worst of it was that he actually had a daft charm about him, which, Right suspected, was how he had survived as long as he did before meeting with Rong at one point. He was so irritating and yet too affable for him to even consider killing. It was annoying.
"I swear I am willing to kill myself. Right here," Rong muttered as Pellinore fondly recalled some adventure in the past for the fifth time.
"I know, I know," Right sighed. "He is as trying to you as he is to me. I'm not surprised you killed him on the spot."
Rong scrunched up her snout. "I still don't remember him."
"Don't strain yourself," Right replied.
"Ho there!" Pellinore shouted, suddenly breaking out of his reverie. "I do see a figure out there, friends!"
"Hm?" Right said, realizing that it could actually be one of the other contestants. "Where?"
"Right by the tree," the knight replied helpfully.
Despite the vague direction, Right managed to see the lurking figure. By the absence of the absence of color (if that made sense), he could tell that yes, it was indeed one of the remaining contestants. From the lack of glasses, hair, or even any sort of vague, human appearance, he could tell it was the Manikin. It seemed to have taken a form he had not seen before. Or actually...it was a little recognizable...
-------------------------
The moment it had ingested its old master, the Manikin felt confused. It wasn't the fact that, when it accidentally punctured skin, juice instead of blood flowed out. It didn't yet know enough of the world to really find that odd. What the Manikin was confused about was the taste. It was sweet. It was tangy. It flooded the senses it had recently obtained with a new sensation, one it had never felt when it had before ate trees and glass and so on. It boggled its childish mind and quite possibly put it on a sensual high, though it had no idea what that was. It was....delicious.
In this addled state, it was rather hard for the Manikin to be rational. It reeled around. It wondered how whenever it had eaten, it had felt the material but never tasted it. It wondered if everything had tasted that good. It really wanted to taste something else.
Wheeling around, it licked the juice that had trickled down its chin and noticed the dragons. It felt the urge for revenge and power. It was also eager to know how dragons tasted.
-----------------------------------------
The Manikin charged down towards them but they weren't too concerned. Right squinted at it a little more. "It actually...looks a lot like you, Rong."
"What?! I'm not that scrawny! And my wings were much larger than that!"
"Um," said Pellinore nervously as he pushed up his visor again. It clanked down.
"Although I have no idea how it would be able to turn into a..." Right trailed off as a thought hit him.
"I do believe it is about to attack us," the knight added.
"What? What? What were you about to say?" Rong demanded as the Manikin came upon them, jaws impossibly wide. Eemp dodged to one side, Pellinore to the other as sharp teeth chomped shut on empty air. "Wait. Wait. Wait a minute!" Rong shouted, realization coming to her as well, though less quietly. "I told you! You guys should've left my head alone!"
"I am rather curious whether he actually did it on purpose to spite us in the future or it was all just an accident," Right mused wryly as the Manikin continued to chase after them. Dodging another charge, Eemp actually kicked it away. It wasn't quite powerful, but it unbalanced the Manikin enough for Rong to shoot at it with a fireball that tossed it against a tree. The boughs weighed with fruit shuddered before the stems gave way. The fruit fell.
-----------------------------------
Elsewhere, another apple fell. Unlike the previous ones before it, it dissolved into many beings, though it would have been hard to consider the large insects it formed as 'beings.' The monstrous insects buzzed. It could have been in confusion, if insects were able to feel confused. It flew around in search of prey.