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 Posted: Tue Aug 02, 2005 10:58 am
Sunstrike's heart fell to his feet.
"What did you say?"
~
Eyes narrowed critically at Datho Sunstrike, who hung his head, looking angrily off to the side like a child who's been told off.
"You show no restraint, you need to control people differently then that. Give them more power, and you only give them a foothold over their own god. They become gods themselves...and end up destroying every thing in vengance and anger."
"He tried his best...father..." The soft voice spoke from the shadows. Serin Deepwater waltzed out and slowly settled her arms around her brothers shoulders, smiling serenely at Henry, who softened slightly.
"You are right, Serin, come Datho, we'll try again..." And the other man disappeared. Sunstrike grinned at his sister, looking more alive then he had in days, and gave her a hug, before bounding off to catch up with the aloof being that was their father.
"Oh ******** me...." Sunstrike rubbed his eyes, the whisper barely ledgible. He'd dreaded this. Damnit Henry, why now?! And why the hell did you use HER name..."He's gotten bored again..." This was said a little louder, though still with himself. "He's started the game..."
"We have to stop this war from happening...it's all wrong..." What do you want me to do?! Henry never started off a chain of events without some cause...he's on the other side...he's...
Sunstrike was suddenly walking towards the town, talking as he was.
"This is like...a nation giving a small country a weapon just to see how much damage it can do before it fizzles out. Gods damn it Henry...wait...gods..."
He whirled on Vahn and advanced, roughly grabbing his shoulders. "Vahn, what does your brother want...more then anything...he wants to be a god, doesn't he..." It was a statement of fact, not a question. Sunstrike was looking for a confirmation.
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Posted: Tue Aug 02, 2005 11:16 am
"Eh?" Vahn blinked, his attention brought back to earth, so to speak. He stared at the growing agitation that was his companion, wondering what exactly was wrong.
"Game?" Dain asked inquistively, curiousity getting the better of him, even as Hibon and Nahara stared on.
"I've got it.." Hibon said quietly.
"What?" Nahara whispered back, looking to her brother.
"Their all...insane." He said, stamping a hand down into the palm of his hand, as Nahara promtply smacked the back of his head.
"I... I don't know what he wants. I just know what he has.. and what he's capable of." The fighter stared at the red-head, seriously wondering if he should be more concerned now. "Why...is there something you know?"
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Posted: Tue Aug 02, 2005 11:59 am
But Sun'd already turned away. Suddenly his shoulders sagged.
"I need sleep, lots of it...this is too much to worry about after everything else that's happend. Maybe then I'll be able to explain a bit more..." He looked at the four blank faces and waved his arms.
"I'm not insane..okay? Well...okay maybe a little schitzy sometimes but there's a valid reason for that! Having two to three minds in one place does that to a person..." He stopped that line of thought before it went too far.
"There's a reason all of this is happening, but if I keep panicking and not getting any sleep, I'm seriously gonna have some kind of meltdown," He gave Vahn a sharp look at this. Again was the silent statement after that.
"From the sound of it, we have to get to Hollow and sort a lot of this mess out, before it gets even more out of hand..." Sunstrike shuddered.
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Posted: Tue Aug 02, 2005 12:12 pm
"Well... we don't have any choice but to go back for now. As it is..." Vahn said, scratching the bridge of his nose as he started walking towards the Northern Gate. "...Everyone's accomplished what they set out to do. So far, so good."
"You'll be setting out most likely tomorrow, so you'll need the rest." Dain said, as he went over towards Hibon and Nahara, lifting the both of them up and to their feet, even if both siblings looked ragged and worse for wear.
Hollow...huh? Vahn's didn't press the situation any further with Sunstrike, he clearly could tell when to back off, and besides... the red-head was right. Everyone needed to rest and rationilaze this insanity.
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Posted: Wed Sep 07, 2005 3:54 pm
Shou ripped uncomfortably through the desert. Sure the 'bile was rough, tough, and ready to take on the world, but that didn't make running at 130km/h through sand dunes any easier or less bouncy. His head was already fiercly sore from whacking against the roof of the beast of a vehicle more times then one would be proud to mention. Yelling loudly he dug inside his bag for anything he could grab, and found the nunchaku. Chucking them out the window in a malicious rage he flipped through that iPod he'd gotten off the vegetable man long ago for some bloody music.
The Blood Brothers - Burn Piano Island, Burn
He had no idea what the songs were called, just let the album flow. And flow it did, flow like postcore punk being shoved into veins with a thick-needled syringe. Eyes barely following where he was going he rode a newly born violence high. His foot hammered the gas, head bobbing vigorously as he railed over a particularily high sand dune. After a most upleasant landing the Shoumobile finally decided it couldn't handle what its driver was dishing out, and the engine set aflame. Cursing grotesquely he grabbed his pack and road maps before bailing out the side of the car Grand Theft Auto-style.
The truck sailed forwards for a few seconds before exploding loudly. Grinning a little Shou took the chance to survey his surroundings. Damn was today that b*****d's lucky day. Two hooked peaks, a small cave on the left one, the winds unnaturally still.
Shouyin was right where he wanted to be.
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Posted: Wed Sep 07, 2005 6:30 pm
"Shouyin!" That mother ******** God damned voice. It rang through the back of his head; felt like he was the Liberty Bell and it was cracking time. His eyes winced, his shoulders cringed considerably. Now it wasn't like his father had an awful sounding voice, quite deep and rich actually, it was the fact that he could hear it. Shou's only vivid memories of his dad were him getting run through with a sword, and screaming for his wife and children as he bled to 'death'. Even then the voice had become but a muffled grating, fuzzy, like a radio that wasn't receiving any signals.
But here it was, loud and clear, ramming into his skull, piercing his eardrums softly and completely. He turned. The appearance wasn't as mind-shattering, he looked too different, unfamiliar, to force a second impact. His hair had paled and lost its sheen, growing in loose ragged curls to his shoulders. The eyes, still thick and chocolatety, but the whites around them and dimmed, turning into a very very thin, pale pink. He was tanned, quite tanned indeed, and much more toned then before. No shoes, just two gnarled feet and a pair of tattered pants. Sans shirt as well, a distinct scar glinted peculiarly at the top of his stomach, the only one though. Scars were forced into the minds of the old tribe's children to be one of the greatest shames. The mentality stuck.
"Kane." Shouyin spat the words, putting a biting emphasis on the name; there was no father for the young man today, and it was made painfully obvious with one word. The old man cringed much in the same manner as his son had but moments ago. If circumstances hadn't been so very dire Kane would've held off on arranging such a meeting for a much longer time. But half-golem tradition had been turned into an almost sick form of genetic necessity. Their blood was strong, and the latent magic in it caused odd quirks in birth.
Instinct forced a half-golem male to attempt to bring about two sons. Genetics helped this along a little, the female would often birth the required boys after three children, the third usually a girl, to ensure species survival. That was the biological situation, it mattered not who the mother was, as long as there were two sons. Then tradition. Fifteen male golems had impregnated fifteen female humans long ago. These women, once their first children had grown large enough to care for them during their travels, became the tribe. Despite a matriarchal origin, patriarchal leadership shined through, with an alpha male complex. Whatever the case, each of the golems had given their wives, partners, concubines, an actual part of themselves. Usually one or both of their hands, or parts of their arms or legs. One supposedly gave up his entire torso, but that's besides the point.
These pieces formed the tribe's artifacts, and the second-born son would always be given their family's relic. No matter the receiver's size, the artifact would fit, and allow the man to tap something very genuine. The golem's were all bonded with souls when created yes? And as such, these children of theirs, were granted a piece of it, that which allowed for the stone abilities; the artifacts made it possible to push that even further, unlock the soul, and become symbiotic with it during combat.
A half-golem would age like a basic human until about the age of thirty-five, from there, age would progress at a snail's pace for approximately three thousand years until death. However, this extensive lifespan was entirely relinquished when the father passed on the artifact to son when he came of age, and their genes willed them to do it, regardless of opinion. Kane would give Shouyin his ancient bracer, and die peacefully. And what of Kazuo? He could choose to try and take it from his brother, but that meant killing him, and that would be rather difficult.
Like I said, second mouse gets the cheese. Poor b*****d.
The one loophole though: the requirement was two sons, and the fathers always seemed to insist on doing this early in life, and thus unintentionally cut their lives short. Odds were Shou would figure such a thing out, and probably keep from having kids for a while. Being that sly fox that he was. Kane gestured to his son.
"Get inside boy, we've got quite a lot to talk about."
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Posted: Wed Sep 07, 2005 8:23 pm
A grim-faced man stepped out of the cave, many hours later. A small fire seemed to be burning behind him, quickly gaining intensity until flames were licking off the edges of the cave. He had no shirt on, it was likely in the backpack swung over his shoulder. No shoes either, Kane had told him they would just prove a bother, there was nothing in the sand he had to readily worried about in this area, and they''d just fill up with little bits and bother him.
The bracer fit comfortably on his left arm. It was rather plain, just a black thing of stone, half an inch thick, across his forearm, starting a little after the wrist, and ending a little before the elbow type bit. No defining marks, no extra enforcement on any given side, cylindrical and solid. Not even a defining seal or joint, very clean. It''d made his arm feel a little uncomfortably heavy, so he''d increased the density in his right to somewhat match the feeling. Although both now arms felt heavier, there was no inequality, and balance was sustained.
Before his father closed his eyes and went on to that great gig in the sky he''d told Shouyin a little about what the thing could do. With a few hand seals and some wicked effort, you could create this vacuum in front of what ended up as a palm. It was like pushing against someone pushing back at you just as hard, and then the resistance just disappearing. Except this included a giant force of air rushing in front of the strike and pushing outwards with it. One could easily break down a wall without even touching it, or send a man flying. The only problem was the time it took to make the seals and fight the vacuum.
There was another thing, took the same sort of seal jazz, but it was more like, do them once, and then start flying. Not exactly like the Wu-Tang Sword after-image bit, but close. With every strike swung with the left arm, you just got propelled forward, a quick blurred momentum ahead. Good for pressing on a hard assault and making an opening to finish with the heavy strike. That technique''s downside was you could only dash about three or four times before having to let up for a second.
Then, about tapping the soul. Dad''d said he''d done it once, before Shouyin''d been born, couldn''t get out why, only that when you really wanted, and needed to do it, it''d happen. Heard something about being able to control it too, but that was beyond him. All he knew was the soul belonged to some ancient warrior, right powerful at that ... And then Kane had died. Shouyin''d pulled a blanket over his head, said a few ancient prayers to send him on, and set the sheet on fire.
~
He''d tried to pick an appropriate song on that iPod to fit the occassion, wasn''t sure about it really.
Iron & Wine - Woman King EP: Jezebel
He wandered the desert alone.
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Posted: Sat Sep 17, 2005 6:01 pm
I've been through the desert on a horse with no name
It felt good to be out of the rain.
---
The battery on the iPod died. Most enraged, Shouyin ripped out the earbuds and tossed the thing far off into the sand, leaving it long behind as he wandered farther. He'd been lost out there for a good eight or nine days. Any food he might've had was long gone, and whatever water he had left had to be used so sparingly it didn't feel like he was drinking anything at all. Roaring out into the sky again, as he had countless times before, he continued onwards.
Not seeing a single God damned thing for miles, in what was most certianly over a week's worth of time, wore on the mind. Shouyin was too intelligent to go about conjuring up false images of oases or imaginary companions though, so he continued ahead entirely alone. Now he didn't even have something to listen to, but there were remedies for that. A familiar turn started to whistle through his skull, blowing the dust out of unused corners of his psyche and clearing a pathway through his cortex for a focus. Aim one, get out of the desert, aim two, don't go insane.
Things were looking up.
Doo doo doo ~
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Posted: Sun Sep 18, 2005 10:31 pm
Thirsty. Thirsty. Thirsty. Thirsty. Thirsty. Drink.
You don't have any water idiot.
Shut up. Tired. Tired. Tired. Tired. Tired. Sleep.
Go to sleep now and you'll die in the sand, i-di-ot.
Blow me. Thirsty. Thirsty. Thirs---
Shouyin fell over, right side of his face hitting the ground like a slap, arms sprawled out behind him. He couldn't move his legs, his eyes watered relentlessly as dirt blew into them harshly and got trapped in his hair, but he was too tired to even close his eyelids. Even the black stone bracer, which he'd gotten rather used to now, felt burning hot against his skin, his pants were like heat blankets, beating down on his thighs. He'd be sweating profusely if he had enough moisture in his body left to do so. A dry groan echoed out across the empty dunes, his mouth locking open as sand danced against his pale tongue, making him want to cough, but too weak to do so.
Idiot.
The bracer glowed intricate lines of bright green, his eyes, though faded and lost, the pupils mere specks now, joined in the shine, a fire glowing underneath wounded irises. A sharp breeze blew now, but none of it touched Shouyin, for it emanated from within him. The affected sand rippled across the associated dunes, flicking off and disappearing at the end of the airy wave. Three curved black rectangles of the bracer broke off, orbiting slowly around Shou's arm at about two or three inches distance, slicing effortlessly through the sand below. The skin underneath shone the same bright green, any flesh colour lost to the light.
Twenty four and you've already called me? Impressive.
Burning green eyes raised up slowly, a broken and worn out man got to his feet. He wore his white fighting pants now, they were easier in the environment because of their baggy nature, but they also revealed the quick erratic winds blowing across the half-golem's body, keeping him straight and cooling his exhausted form. Hair flipping wildly in sourceless breezes he stepped forward, both arms held loose at his sides, the bracer alive and shining. His eyes, although straight ahead and focused, seemed to look nowhere, the lights too intense to allow for the image of pupils to shine through and allow some evidence to the direction of his gaze.
Calmly he walked ahead, the winds of his not-so-latent second soul whistling through the sands beneath him, giving voice to the musics that paraded through his thoughts, giving some sort of guidance to his path. His mind empty of cluttered noise he began to speak with the being inside of him:
So, you're what came with the bracer, and Kane --- dad's life?
- Not what boy, who. I'm a piece of the soul that golem who started your line was bonded to. The spirit that gave it the ability to move and think. You're damn lucky to have me too. -
Psh, ye' whatever. So what are, were you?
- Well, if you're a rock elemental, then I was a wind one. Died fighting some pointless war and ended up having my being shoved inside a fancy suit of armor so I could further assist the Lord. -
What happened with that job?
- Boss died, along with everyone who wasn't well, immortal. That's when we started that village your ancestors stumbled onto. -
Okay okay, don't need a history lesson. Is it always gonna be this easy to tap those fancy breezes of yours?
- Considering your physical state is more than half-dead, sure. The dashes and initial blast are free to use whenever you want, at expenses, but unless you push yourself really roughly, like this, and figure out how to unlock me more often, it'll only happen out of necessity to keep you alive, and never when you want it. -
Mental shrug. Are you gonna be haunting my head forever now then?
- 'Fraid not, only when you tap me, excluding the free ones. -
Good, don't stop that whistling bit, it's relaxing.
- Ye', nice to meet you too Shouyin. I'm Hiso. -
Hi---so?
- Hee-so, idiot. -
Tch.
The music echoed around Shouyin as he continued walking ahead.
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Posted: Thu Sep 22, 2005 7:46 am
[ Message temporarily off-line ]
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Posted: Thu Sep 22, 2005 1:51 pm
Sun did indeed land heavily, bleeding and breathing hard.
"Hey wait! What am I-?!" And then the portal resealed itself. "Supposed to do now?" He said in a much quieter tone. He sat there, panting to himself, before lowering his head. Why did I just leave him there?
In irritation he ruffled up the bright red spines on the back of his head, much like a human trying to get some sense back into himself. Vahn was safe, he had to keep telling himself that...it's your arse that's on the line now Sunstrike, gotta figure out what to...
Leaders. Was the first thought that came into his mind about what to do. I'll have to find the leader and sort this stupid fighting...
Then there was a sound, Sunstrike's eyes narrowed and he stood, his ears twitching as he listened. He knew that sound, it was...it was the sound he himself had made when changing...a sound of pain...something was very wrong here.
He began to move towards the sound, passing strange buildings quickly as he ran.
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Posted: Thu Sep 22, 2005 4:02 pm
More and more the surroundings around sunstrike would diminish as he travelled forward, unknowingly setting along a sub-tunnel which would eventually pop him out into the "grand hall".
He would be steadily realize the eery silence of the place, save only the momentary burst of wind that travelled from unseen pockets within the rock and walls. Hollow was indeed considered to be the homeland of the Lizard clan, so why then was there no one around, Sunstrike might be wondering.
As soon as he broke free, and ascended the sub-tunnel, the reason would become very clear to Sunstrike.
The smell of fresh blood would hit like a wall, matching the grisly scene that lay before him. The stone walls were smeared with all too fresh blood, various bodies laid strewn along the corridor. It was sloppy, bloody-- the kind of blatant chaos only a gore-lusting child could make.
Or someone just plain psychotic.
Claw marks decorated the floors, and various parts of the wall, a fascimile path of death that led right up a set of double doors inlaid within the passage itself.
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Posted: Thu Sep 22, 2005 4:25 pm
Sunstrike whistled softly at the scene before him. What am I walking into? Was all that travelled hazily through his mind.
Of course, looking as he did, torn and battered from dealing with Samuel, he sort of fit in to the grisly scene, his tail scraping the floor left and right as he walked along, slower and more cautiously.
The young, the old, soldier or civilian...whoever had done this had been more then simply merciless, they'd enjoyed it...that feeling was as palpable as any smell of blood that hung in the air. It sent strange shivers of recognition down Sunstrike's back. He'd done this before...in the backwaters of a past...his own world...walking through the mire of the desceased and broken.
The doors loomed before him, scratches all along it where guards had collided with them in their death throes. One was actually open a crack.
Carefully, Sunstrike sidled up to it, shadow pointing away from the crack so as not to give himself away. An orange orb took a cautious peek into the room beyond.
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Posted: Thu Sep 22, 2005 4:51 pm
The interior didn't offer much other than the steady sound of a leak. Drip, drip, drip. the sound echoed out along.From what little viewing point Sunstrike had from the doorway, he'd be only able to make out at least a bit of the chamber straight away.
The sides, and naything further remained as blindspots to him.
From what he would be able to see, it would be aptly the same as the hallway. Except the bodies were fewer within. Whatever had happened, the struggle had led down this hall, and met it's abrupt end within the chamber itself.
From the looks of things, the Lizards had actually tried to barricade themselves in from something...
Apparently, they failed.
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Posted: Fri Sep 23, 2005 3:18 am
Sunstrike made a soft sound of sympathy at the back of his throat, a clawed hand moving to push against the door gently, letting it swing open, but not following straight away.
Bodies littered the ground again, those forms that actually had heads left were marred by panic and pain. The steady drip was that of blood, running and oozing everywhere...the whole place was a gory mess.
Again carefully he entered, even though the feeling he got...well was hoping for really, was that anything that could do this to a hoard of lizards, would probably have gotten tired and left once the body count stopped.
Ironically enough, as his footsteps and tail trailed blood over where he moved, he was reminded of the stadium before they'd escaped. It made him wonder how all his friends were doing, if they had made it out as well...or if this had been the same scene...
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