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 Posted: Wed Apr 14, 2010 1:48 am
I guess I'll join in on this too then...
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Vincent was busy scribbling some notes as he stared at his antique typewriter trying to remember the character he had thought of just yesterday evening.
"Vincent Draemir" Evidently an old man had broken into his house, and walked up behind him
Leaning back in his chair he noticed that the old man was dressed in old world finery and seemed to lack the iconic smell of the elderly. "What? And who are you?"
"You are a storyteller Vincent, with potential to be one of the best." The old man grinned widely, he seemed innocent enough
"And what would that mean exactly? Oh, and again, who are you?" Vincent turned on his seat so he was looking the man straight in the face
"No one of any importance, and it means that you have the power to change things simply by telling a story. I should warn you that there are others like you and that there are also groups that hunt your kind down." The old man seemed genuinely concerned for Vincents well being
"Okay then..." Vincent turned again and typed out a paragraph of a story and turned back to the old man, who was now floating upside down, "Interesting."
The old man laughed and then vanished into thin air leaving not a trace that he had ever been there behind.
Turning back to his typewriter Vincent typed out a couple pages and walked over to a map of the world, examining it closely he found that the Island of Madagascar was now titled the Island of Vincent. Going over to his closet he found that new trench coat he had written about, along a tube of nanomachines in a syringe. Injecting them he tested out by cutting himself to find that he healed only moments later without a scar. "Good, good, now to really test out this power." Vincent spent the next week typing and adjusting to the nanomachines, resting from the strain this gift exerted upon him.
Departing from his old flat Vincent crossed the street and ordered virtually the entire menu from the restaurant and finished within the hour. "I guess I'll travel to the vet now and see if my pet snake has appeared yet." Departing once more Vincent hopped on his ramshackle vespa, having forgotten to create a new one, and drove off to the vet.
Outside the vet were some oddball characters, Vincent felt the pull of the nanomachines sensors and realized that they too shared this powerful gift. Walking past them Vincent picked up his pet albino Burmese python and letting it slither over his shoulders he whispered under his breath a simple story, "But the rogue had already looted the dukes chambers." A slight tug on his soul, and a credit card appeared in his pocket. Handing the man the card he waited a moment and the transaction went through, taking his receipt Vincent left through the door.
"I dub you Jenga." Vincent said to the snake and whispered another short story just yards from others, "And those assembled, even if unaware, could hear the voice of the serpent and understand its masters meaning." Another pull, this one was different though, stronger and weird. Stepping towards the nearest person he was bothered that they left in such a hurry, not one to lose an oppurtunity Vincent hopped on his vespa once more and whipered another story, "But as well as it ran the snake already knew where its prey would hide." Another tug, Vincent knew that he couldn't keep using the power on the move like this. "They are traveling to the airport, to meet their friendsssss." Jenga whispered in his ear. "Good I won't lose the chance to learn more of this power from others like me."
Almost running two read lights Vincent made it to the airport just in time to see a raven haired girl leave a cab and meet with the others. Striding towards them Vincent whispered to Jenga, "tell them that I know all about the gift and I would like to discuss it with them in private." Vincent stood only a few feet away from the others and the snake, at least appeared to, hissed loudly the message, "My masssster Vincssent would like to inform you that he knowssss about the gift and would like to disssscusss it in private with your group." Jenga retreated to Vincents soldiers and waited.
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Posted: Wed Apr 14, 2010 4:15 am
Sapphira had finally extracted Ura from the back of the cab when a snake slithered over. She yelped and jumped back, being uncomfortable around snakes. The odd thing, though, was that it...talked, or at least, she could understand it... Sapphira watched it as it slithered back to its master, a man dressed in a trenchcoat was waiting just a few feet away. She glanced over at Niteshade and Maddie and shrugged. She accidentally dropped her father's book after that incident. Frantically, she scrambled for it and finally clutched it in her grasp once again. She sighed and held it close to her, nervously glancing around.
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ScarletFrost Vice Captain
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Posted: Wed Apr 14, 2010 8:09 pm
Maybe it was having a Catholic grandfather or maybe it was too much Harry Potter, but talking snakes were 100% bad news in Maddie's book. Worse, this thing stank of some unknown's storytelling power. First Sapphira and then Ura. Now a snake! The difference was that Maddie drew the line at snakes.
She pulled Ura and Sapphira away from the cab and backed away from the snake.
"I don't know who you work for, Sir Creepsalot," Maddie growled. "But you're not welcome. We are SO not doing snakes-on-a-plane. You will not follow us" She dared a little storytelling to keep the creature away from them. Hopefully, her minute use of power would go unnoticed with this snake practically oozing power. She knew that her little quip wouldn't stop other stories from manipulating the circumstances and coincidences, but it might buy them enough time to get on the airplane before those circumstances and coincidences caught up with them. "Let's go, everyone. We have places to go, things to see, people to...well, you know."
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Posted: Thu Apr 15, 2010 12:12 am
Ura looked at the snake, and stayed looking at the snake for a few moments, not realizing that he was whimpering. He hated snakes, subconsciously he rubbed a the scar of a snake bit that had put him in a fever for a week...it was a long week because he did not have any food and was not in town.
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Posted: Thu Apr 15, 2010 1:21 am
Jenga went to sleep on Vincents shoulders, loosely coiled around his midsection Vincent whispered an story again feeling the pull, "And the serpent was hidden from eyes of the world, for it had revealed too much in too short a time. And now its master stared upon it and only those he deemed worthy could marvel at its beauty." The passing travelers seemed to not even see the five foot albino Burmese python coiled around the lanky youth. "Jenga will not be seen by those whom I do not deem worthy. I did not mean to impose, I am merely here to acquire information and nothing more. In fact up until you said anything I had not been aware that you had planned on boarding a flight, I thought you had come here to meet up with another gifted individual."
The nanobots seemed to be picking up something from the others, they seemed to find Jenga, unnerving. The bold one however seemed to be concerned about the snake but in some other way, perhaps the amount of power he had poured into it. She seems hesitant to use her power against me, I doubt it is fear of me as I am an unknown yet I am fairly non-hostile in appearance. Perhaps the old mans words of a threat actually meant something...
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Posted: Thu Apr 15, 2010 9:59 am
Now the man who controlled the snake had appeared, and somehow the snake had disappeared. Maddie narrowed her eyes in suspicion. "I never said anything about a flight," she said. "And quite frankly, this gifted party has reached the maximum limit. "
Maddie wrinkled her nose. That was it. That was why he was so powerful. He had met the Old Man, and somehow he was using his power with his own. This stranger was infected the same way Ishmael was. Not to the same extent, but the histories were whispering in her ears. Ishmael had been under the Old Man's thumb for a century at least. She could even hear the distant echos of tortured screams from Ishmael's first encounter with the Old Man, but she didn't want to listen too closely to those. This man was, for lack of a better word, a nerd, a recluse who had no idea of how the story telling worked, much less what power he genuinely had. For a second she debated trying to take him with, perhaps finding a way to cleanse the taint of the Old Man from his system. But it would be dangerous. The Old Man could track every person he touched. But then again, Maddie and Niteshade had both met him. Who's to say they weren't equally risk factors in their adventure.
But the bottom line was this man smacked of bait for a trap. Maddie needed to put her foot down. "We especially don't need someone who stinks of Ishmael and the Old Man," she said grimly. "Please do not follow us."
____________________________________________________
Ishmael woke to ripples of storytelling power. Strong and oddly familiar. He got up and got dressed, and called for his driver. Fortunately, his driver was very attentive, and pulled the luxurious car around in under 5 minutes. They raced in the early morning traffic to the source of power.
An empty house. But the air had the flavor of the Captain. Ishmael cursed. That the Captain felt he needed to get involved with a "lesser" story teller, who Ishmael knew the Captain held only distain for, was a bad sign. That old man would have his guts for garters if he didn't apprehend Maddie and Niteshade soon. As much as Ishmael hated working for the Captain, he had little choice in the matter. Soon, Maddie and Niteshade would share his torment, and perhaps that blue eyed vixen as well. Although, oddly, the idea of the Captain getting his claws on that particular storyteller made Ishmael's stomach clench. Strange, he'd never been...protective of anything before.
Then another ripple of power interrupted his musings. It was huge, involving a lot of people, and relatively close. He jumped back in the car and pursued the power to...
The bus station. Of course. Maddie and Niteshade had been here and probably left on the first bus of the morning. And with the cloud of storytelling power buzzing around the entire station, Ishmael had very little chance of uncovering their direction. Clever, and cleverer, he thought, curse them.
And then, there it was again, MORE storytelling power. So much this time. Ishmael looked in the direction the echos of power came from and saw airplanes descending directly over their location. They were at the airport. Ishmael chuckled coldly to himself. Those silly novices. If they had escaped on a bus under their deception, he would never have found them. Now, they had given everything away.
They drove to the airport, and Ishmael saw HIM. The man the Captain had contacted earlier that morning. The Captain must have been impatient to imbue the man with so much extra power. Looking closer, Ishmael's lips curled into a sneer of contempt when he saw the man had wasted that power on fantasy nanobots and a snake coiled around his body. For one instant, the things Ishmael would do with that same power flashed through his head. But that was probably why the Old Man didn't give him the same power. It wouldn't be safe with Ishmael, but it would be safe with a novice.
...Or would it?
He pulled up beside the young man just as he glimpsed Maddie and Niteshade slipping into the terminal.
"You seem to be having a bit o' trouble, friend," he said. "I might be able to 'elp you find what you're looking for. Offer a bit o' friendly advice perhaps?"
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ScarletFrost Vice Captain
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Posted: Thu Apr 15, 2010 1:07 pm
Sapphira had followed Maddie, holding Ura's arm gently, but firmly, pulling the young one along. She clutched her book and felt fear pervading her senses. The same thing that had awoken her the other night was nagging at her again. Not just the fear of this...power, but the presence of the one who possessed it. A name struck home in her mind. Ishmael. The idiot storyteller with the snake had lead the vile British scum to the airport with his careless use of power. Talking snakes. Bah! she scoffed. If he knew what danger those flippant uses of storytelling brought to us... Once the little group had moved further into the masses of people, Sapphira opened her father's book. The random page revealed a young man, dressed in a trenchcoat with a snake curled around his feet.
Startled, she snapped the book shut. Maybe my dad was more than an artist and writer... Or maybe it's me. She pondered speaking to Maddie or Niteshade, but refrained. Wait 'till Ireland, she told herself, or even the flight there, where there's no creepy British dude to stalk you or snake-man sending out waves of power, leading Ishmael to us. She glanced around and found a digital clock, large and glowing brightly, told the time. 10:00 AM. The next flight arrived at 10:15, by the looks of the schedule. They needed to hurry.
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Posted: Thu Apr 15, 2010 11:56 pm
Ura was very freaked out, first the snake that talked, then the freaky man and now..the plane. He was hyperventilating and sweating like crazy and he did not know what to do. He spoke soft words, not really knowing about his power because no one had enplaned it to him in a way he understood "oh Kami Sama, Hide me" he whispered.. Suddenly power seemed to surge from in him and all the shadows in the room...dispersed, making the room very bright. But Ura was gone.
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Posted: Mon Apr 19, 2010 2:04 am
"I assumed a flight due to your film reference would include Jenga and myself obviously being on a plane rather than on the ground." Pausing a moment the girl seemed to be deep in thought, taking this opportunity Vincent used the nanobots wireless signal to delay all outgoing flights for another ten minutes due to weather conditions. The girl resumed, this time with a name Vincent didn't know and one that he did. "I don't recognize this Ishmael that you are talking about but I have met the Old Man, he was... interesting to say the least. Wait, did he give me this gift?"
An odd man pulled up in a grand car and rolled down the backseat window. The nanobots in his body gave off odd signals and rapidly fluctuated in his blood. This new man stunk of power but in a different way from the others, something darker far more... sinister. Something is definitely not right here "You might be able to, by the way what was your name sir?"
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Posted: Mon Apr 19, 2010 8:44 pm
Ishmael smiled charismatically. So easy to draw in this novice. "Please, let us not discuss such delicate matters in the loading zone. Step into my office." He swung open the door of the long black car even as he issued his small command.
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ScarletFrost Vice Captain
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Posted: Tue Apr 20, 2010 2:37 am
Vincent felt the power and allowed the compulsion to move him into the car. Turning to his host, "I assume you are Ishmael and that the others fear you for some odd reason. That the old man is much more than he seems and that you probably would like to kill and or siphon my power from me." In a blur Vincent sent the nanobots into overdrive and held Ishmael by the throat the flesh on his hand split and the nanobots and his blood crawled through Ishmael skin tightening his vocal cords so the man could not speak another word, "You will find that while I do not have all the facts of the matter I have used my power for more than just lavish gifts."
More nanobots crawled around inside Ishmael monitoring his vital signs. They are all off, he has a normal appearance but his organs are rapidly aged and yet still function, some sort of vampiric effect from the power I assume.
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Posted: Tue Apr 20, 2010 9:22 pm
This new storyteller moved faster that Ishmael had expected. Suddenly his lungs were burning for air even as his windpipe was crushed. He couldn't speak, could tell another word. And then those things invaded his body. In all his years, nothing made him crawl like those tiny nanobots made from pure storytelling. But he refused to show his discomfort.
Just then the driver of the car turned around, a hand gun with a silencer pointed at Ishmael's attacker's head.
"Back off, bub," grunted the driver.
Vincin's hand relaxed slightly, and Ishmael grunted, "Just making sure...you stayed safe...from those renegades..."
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ScarletFrost Vice Captain
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Posted: Tue Apr 20, 2010 9:42 pm
Ura was freaked out. He had no idea where he was. "Take. Me. BACK!!!" He shouted. It took a second, but it happened, he came flying through the air, and landed in the air port.
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Posted: Wed Apr 21, 2010 12:00 am
Vincent loosened his grip ever so slightly sure that the driver would make the attempt to kill him; yet also aware that a simple headshot at close range could not end him but would spell disaster to anyone who got his blood on them. "Renegades you say? I am listening." Vincent released his hold but kept the nanomachines working inside Ishmael ready to kill him should he try to use the power.
Vincent reclined within the seat and let the wound on his hand seal into a scar. "So, what role do you play in this tale if I might ask?" Vincent pulled a scrap of paper from his trench coat and jotted down a name, "That was it now I remember!" Stuffing the paper back in his coat he turned his gaze to Ishmael who managed to hide his feelings of probable horror rather well; being that the nanomachines had already begun the process of creating replicants of themselves from Ishmaels dead cells affording Vincent a greater understanding as well as a greater hold off the odd man.
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ScarletFrost Vice Captain
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Posted: Wed Apr 21, 2010 9:22 am
"I work for a gentleman who seeks to consolidate storytelling abilities. You understand the trouble it could cause if every gifted storyteller told conflicting stories to get what they want. This gentleman I represent offered both Madalyn and Nigel positions in his prestigious organization. There are always restrictions and procedures to adhere to, and these two do not want to be so confined. They would not even listen to the physical laws that govern storytelling. They are undisciplined and dangerous. Which is why I am pursuing them--to prevent any harm they might cause and clean up the messes they leave behind. I hope to eventually sway them, but my first priory is the safety of everyone around them." Ishmael made his speech as calmly as possible, but the nanobots were becoming a distraction. "Now, kindly remove your...vermin, or I will."
___________________________
Inside the airport terminal, Maddie felt a rush of power. She looked around for the cause and discovered that Ura was gone. For one horrifying moment, her heart and lungs stopped. The world seemed to slow down, sound stopped, lights dimmed. Then she grabbed Niteshade's arm and reality came rushing back to her. Her heart pounded painfully as she looked around frantically for the boy.
Suddenly, Ura was back, unsteady and pale, but in one peace. Maddie threw her arms around him and hugged him close.
"Don't ever scare me like that again!" she whispered harshly. "I thought Ishmael had gotten you--or worse, the old man." She squeezed him harder, immensely relieved that he was safe. Relatively speaking. Finally, she let him go. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. You just--I'm--" she took a deep breath and composed herself. "Ura, sweetie, I'm going to ask you to be very brave and not use any more storytelling. I know it's hard, but I'm right here if you need me. I won't let anything happen to you. We just need to get on a plane and get out of here before something worse happens."
Yeah, she thought, worse than talking snakes and Ishmael. What could that possibly be?
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