Re: The Wretched Rite - Round One - The Rose Ring
08-18-2011, 05:29 PM
Originally posted on MSPA by A Killer Cuppa Tea.
M. moved towards the hill in the distance – a preserve of nature, away from all this artificial nonsense that Man had decided to create where nature should rightfully reign supreme. M. spontaneously decided that he would return here once it had gathered its thoughts and worked out the best way to return this area to nature.
As it moved however, it became aware of a large source of water in the alley he was walking past. Directing its senses in that direction, it saw a strange sight – water holding itself in a certain shape without having a container in which to support itself. Wondering if this was somehow another human construct, M. moved a little closer. At the very least, it might be able to find a way to bring this large source of water with him to help him with the preservation of nature.
As M. moved closer to this strange anomaly, however, it slowly backed away from him. Confused, M. stretched its tendrils out towards this source of water.
“Erm... Hello there!” Alluvion boomed shyly. Try as he might, he was still not entirely sure what volume his speech should be at, though he was trying to be slightly less confrontational. His previous attempt at conferring with another living being had not been a great success, and it was not entirely sure what this creature currently walking towards him was. It looked vaguely like some of the trees that grew on the bank of his river, but in a strange shape that it had not ever seen before.
The tree began to move some of its roots towards Alluvion. Alluvion stopped moving, realising that this strange tree would probably benefit from its water just as well as a normal tree. He felt a strange sensation as the tendrils touched him, as though somebody was thinking to him rather than talking to him.
Brother River, M. began, how is it that you move in such a way, separate from any containing mechanisms?
“I don’t know,” Alluvion replied simply. “One second I was in my river, tending to my fish, and the next I was suddenly somewhere else. I’ve always been able to move like this.” Alluvion was a little confused at the question: he had never felt a need to question his motor abilities: indeed, they were the norm for him.
I sense that you, too, are a nature spirit, Brother. M. continued. Come, help me restore nature to this land.
“Yes, of course!” Alluvion replied enthusiastically. Incredibly happy that he had made a new friend, Alluvion made to move to the nature spirit’s side. Poran, who had been watching the proceedings flew down and landed on M.’s shoulder, strumming a tune on his harp.
“Mind if I tag along?” he asked, playing a hopeful, upbeat tune.
-_~*~_-
“Yer s’posed to die.”
Die. The word echoed in Taelia’s consciousness. The bitter finality of the word touched her less because of the word itself, but because of the nonchalant way that Adelaide had mentioned it.
Yer s’posed to die. Die.
Try as she might, Taelia could not remove Adelaide’s voice from her mind. Die. And the words kept echoing in her mind. Beads of sweat collected on her forehead and the world suddenly began to spin - a feeling of unreality began to overtake her, and she felt as though she was a cold outside observer watching the events unfold.
There stood Alice, mouth still agape at what Adelaide had said – unsure, perhaps, as to whether she had misheard, or perhaps that it had been a joke. Behind them, M. and Alluvion had starting talking to each other, Poran hovering unseen over their heads.
Die.
In her mental absence, something else, deep within her subconscious awoke and made its way to the forefront.
With an almost mental yawn and stretch, The Omen set eyes on the world after millennia of imprisonment. Almost disbelieving his luck, The Omen realised what had happened. An incredibly specific set of circumstances had led to him possessing this little girl – Taelia – the descendant of that same bitch who had imprisoned him in the first place. Relishing the irony, The Omen decided that he would play with his little toy before destroying her psyche and taking her body for his own. With an inward chuckle, The Omen hid himself within the shadows of her mind, and began to slowly manipulate her actions.
Die. She thought once again, almost whimsically. A curious word. One that changed meaning depending on the subject to which it referred. Die...You die. You’re supposed to die.
Kill.
You die. I kill. You’re supposed to die. I’m supposed to kill.
I’m supposed to kill... you.
-_~*~_-
A pen flew across a page, writing furiously to keep up with the spring of ideas bursting forth from the writer’s mind.
That little girl with a sword looks a lot like a fairy tale character. Gretel? No, no, not that one... besides, there’s no Hansel besides her... Snow white? No, much too young to be worried about such things. Aaah! Little Red Riding Hood! A perfect match!
Now only to find a wolf...
-_~*~_-
No one noticed the strange change that seemed to be going on inside her.
Taelia raised her sword, preparing to follow through with her new thoughts and stab Alice through the heart. A single, clean swipe will be all it takes. She walked almost dreamily towards her, unnoticed by either her or Adelaide – their eyes only for each other – and raised her sword to plunge it into Alice’s heart...
...only to suddenly find herself somewhere else completely. It was not so much that she blinked and was somewhere else, nor that the scene gradually changed, but rather, one second she was in one place, and the next in completely different one altogether – like a scene change in a movie.
Blinking once or twice to ensure that she was not imagining things, Taelia looked at her surroundings carefully.
She was in a forest thick with trees. The foliage above was so dense that what little sunlight passed through the branches caused the entire dingy wood to exist in a state of almost perpetual twilight. The thick, gnarly bark of the trees seemed almost to bend towards her threateningly, and the shadows seemed to constantly move in the corner of her eyes – only to stop when she turned to look at them.
She was stood on a strange little path. The trees grew thick here, but it was as though they had shuffled to the side to create a regular gap between them. Every few feet along it there were little pebbles dropped, too uniformly spaced to be there by anything other than design.
She realised that her clothes felt heavier than normal. She seemed to be wearing a fetching deep red cape on top of her clothes, complete with a hood over her head, and carrying a wicker basket in her left hand. Her sword was gone, and she felt strangely naked without it.
The deathly silence was interrupted when she heard a rustling behind her, and saw what looked like a big, bad wolf stood on its hind legs emerge from the foliage and lumber towards her.
Taelia turned and ran.
-_~*~_-
A disorientated Fiorella emerged from the undergrowth, almost tripping over a root as she came, and wondering how on earth she had gotten to where she was- and why on earth she was wearing such an unfashionable outfit as she was. The fur was not exotic enough to be considered fashionable – indeed, it looked almost like dog fur! And what was this strange hat that she was wearing over her head? And how on earth had she gotten to where she was?
And who on earth was that girl in front of her? And why had she turned tail and ran?
And what was this strange knife in her hand?
A feeling of resentment and anger began to rise within her, and despite herself, she began to give chase through the foliage.
M. moved towards the hill in the distance – a preserve of nature, away from all this artificial nonsense that Man had decided to create where nature should rightfully reign supreme. M. spontaneously decided that he would return here once it had gathered its thoughts and worked out the best way to return this area to nature.
As it moved however, it became aware of a large source of water in the alley he was walking past. Directing its senses in that direction, it saw a strange sight – water holding itself in a certain shape without having a container in which to support itself. Wondering if this was somehow another human construct, M. moved a little closer. At the very least, it might be able to find a way to bring this large source of water with him to help him with the preservation of nature.
As M. moved closer to this strange anomaly, however, it slowly backed away from him. Confused, M. stretched its tendrils out towards this source of water.
“Erm... Hello there!” Alluvion boomed shyly. Try as he might, he was still not entirely sure what volume his speech should be at, though he was trying to be slightly less confrontational. His previous attempt at conferring with another living being had not been a great success, and it was not entirely sure what this creature currently walking towards him was. It looked vaguely like some of the trees that grew on the bank of his river, but in a strange shape that it had not ever seen before.
The tree began to move some of its roots towards Alluvion. Alluvion stopped moving, realising that this strange tree would probably benefit from its water just as well as a normal tree. He felt a strange sensation as the tendrils touched him, as though somebody was thinking to him rather than talking to him.
Brother River, M. began, how is it that you move in such a way, separate from any containing mechanisms?
“I don’t know,” Alluvion replied simply. “One second I was in my river, tending to my fish, and the next I was suddenly somewhere else. I’ve always been able to move like this.” Alluvion was a little confused at the question: he had never felt a need to question his motor abilities: indeed, they were the norm for him.
I sense that you, too, are a nature spirit, Brother. M. continued. Come, help me restore nature to this land.
“Yes, of course!” Alluvion replied enthusiastically. Incredibly happy that he had made a new friend, Alluvion made to move to the nature spirit’s side. Poran, who had been watching the proceedings flew down and landed on M.’s shoulder, strumming a tune on his harp.
“Mind if I tag along?” he asked, playing a hopeful, upbeat tune.
-_~*~_-
“Yer s’posed to die.”
Die. The word echoed in Taelia’s consciousness. The bitter finality of the word touched her less because of the word itself, but because of the nonchalant way that Adelaide had mentioned it.
Yer s’posed to die. Die.
Try as she might, Taelia could not remove Adelaide’s voice from her mind. Die. And the words kept echoing in her mind. Beads of sweat collected on her forehead and the world suddenly began to spin - a feeling of unreality began to overtake her, and she felt as though she was a cold outside observer watching the events unfold.
There stood Alice, mouth still agape at what Adelaide had said – unsure, perhaps, as to whether she had misheard, or perhaps that it had been a joke. Behind them, M. and Alluvion had starting talking to each other, Poran hovering unseen over their heads.
Die.
In her mental absence, something else, deep within her subconscious awoke and made its way to the forefront.
With an almost mental yawn and stretch, The Omen set eyes on the world after millennia of imprisonment. Almost disbelieving his luck, The Omen realised what had happened. An incredibly specific set of circumstances had led to him possessing this little girl – Taelia – the descendant of that same bitch who had imprisoned him in the first place. Relishing the irony, The Omen decided that he would play with his little toy before destroying her psyche and taking her body for his own. With an inward chuckle, The Omen hid himself within the shadows of her mind, and began to slowly manipulate her actions.
Die. She thought once again, almost whimsically. A curious word. One that changed meaning depending on the subject to which it referred. Die...You die. You’re supposed to die.
Kill.
You die. I kill. You’re supposed to die. I’m supposed to kill.
I’m supposed to kill... you.
-_~*~_-
A pen flew across a page, writing furiously to keep up with the spring of ideas bursting forth from the writer’s mind.
That little girl with a sword looks a lot like a fairy tale character. Gretel? No, no, not that one... besides, there’s no Hansel besides her... Snow white? No, much too young to be worried about such things. Aaah! Little Red Riding Hood! A perfect match!
Now only to find a wolf...
-_~*~_-
No one noticed the strange change that seemed to be going on inside her.
Taelia raised her sword, preparing to follow through with her new thoughts and stab Alice through the heart. A single, clean swipe will be all it takes. She walked almost dreamily towards her, unnoticed by either her or Adelaide – their eyes only for each other – and raised her sword to plunge it into Alice’s heart...
...only to suddenly find herself somewhere else completely. It was not so much that she blinked and was somewhere else, nor that the scene gradually changed, but rather, one second she was in one place, and the next in completely different one altogether – like a scene change in a movie.
Blinking once or twice to ensure that she was not imagining things, Taelia looked at her surroundings carefully.
She was in a forest thick with trees. The foliage above was so dense that what little sunlight passed through the branches caused the entire dingy wood to exist in a state of almost perpetual twilight. The thick, gnarly bark of the trees seemed almost to bend towards her threateningly, and the shadows seemed to constantly move in the corner of her eyes – only to stop when she turned to look at them.
She was stood on a strange little path. The trees grew thick here, but it was as though they had shuffled to the side to create a regular gap between them. Every few feet along it there were little pebbles dropped, too uniformly spaced to be there by anything other than design.
She realised that her clothes felt heavier than normal. She seemed to be wearing a fetching deep red cape on top of her clothes, complete with a hood over her head, and carrying a wicker basket in her left hand. Her sword was gone, and she felt strangely naked without it.
The deathly silence was interrupted when she heard a rustling behind her, and saw what looked like a big, bad wolf stood on its hind legs emerge from the foliage and lumber towards her.
Taelia turned and ran.
-_~*~_-
A disorientated Fiorella emerged from the undergrowth, almost tripping over a root as she came, and wondering how on earth she had gotten to where she was- and why on earth she was wearing such an unfashionable outfit as she was. The fur was not exotic enough to be considered fashionable – indeed, it looked almost like dog fur! And what was this strange hat that she was wearing over her head? And how on earth had she gotten to where she was?
And who on earth was that girl in front of her? And why had she turned tail and ran?
And what was this strange knife in her hand?
A feeling of resentment and anger began to rise within her, and despite herself, she began to give chase through the foliage.