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Articx-Frost Vice Captain
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 Posted: Thu Oct 20, 2011 6:07 am
The Burning Passion
Kay Her heart was pounding in her ears, a constant pulsing to remind her how much she had ran. Just ahead of her was Jayna, also panting as she was, heavy and laboured. In her left hand was a broom pole, snapped at one end to act as a makeshift spear. She was holding her own 'spear' in her right hand, ready in case any more guards turned up. Looking behind herself down the clinically and blindingly white hall, she scanned for any movement to signal any guards following them. "Kay, hold up."Turning back round to look at Jayna, Kay found that the corridor that they had been following branched into two smaller tunnels with no signs to signify which one led back to the surface. "So what now?" Kay asked, mostly knowing what the answer would be, but not wanting it to be the only option open to them. "Exactly what we didn't want to have to do. It looks like we're going to have to split up again." Jayna's reply had been said with a joyless look on her face. With a grim nod to one another, the two girls went down one of the routes each, Kay to the left, Jayna to the right. Both prepared for whatever lay in wait. More running. The seemingly endless hallways twisted several times, but always kept in one direction. The direction of freedom. A sound from ahead caused Kay to falter, slowing down to peek round the coming corner. The clear sounds of boots was matched up to the image of four guards jogging towards her direction with their rifles unslung. Moving back a step, she looked at the end of her makeshift weapon. It was cracked and splintered, with a wicked point on the end. One chance was all she got as the first of the guards came round the corner, surprise being the only thing keeping him from shooting her on sight. In the same space of time it took him to raise his rifle and aim it at her, Kay had already thrust the broken pole deep into the weakest point of his body armour. Pushing with feelings of rage and adrenaline, the pole pierced his neck with a crimson spray painting both wall and person alike. Not even bothering to take her 'spear' back out of the unfortunate man, she scrabbled for his gun, not caring that his finger still lay on the trigger. Simultaneously spinning him to face the other three, to use him as a shield, Kay squeezed her own finger over his and pulled. The devastation caused by the rifle was enough to make Kay throw up. The smell of gun smoke had mixed with the metallic scent of blood. Had this happened on any other day before this one, it would have been enough to make Kay shut down with shock. After what had already happened today though, she had motives enough to reason out her actions. xxxxxxShe had been scared. Who wouldn't be in a situation like that? Clubbed in the back of the head before being chloroformed. Waking up in a strange room with an armed guard waiting outside the locked door.When she had tried to stubbornly tried to kick down the heavy door, the metal collar round her neck had exploded into life. The resulting shock had been enough to launch her cross the room and back onto the bed. Kay had lain there stunned for a few minutes until she was sure that she wasn't going to die from it. Sitting up again once she was ready, she moved to the door and peered down the hall as far as she could.At regular intervals up and down were identical doors, thick bars across the small windows. Directly opposite her door was another one. From behind the murky window, Kay could see some movement. Movement meant another person.Now, pushing aside any feelings of guilt or regret, Kay tugged on her pole, tearing splinters into her palms on the first try and ripping it free on the second with a wet plop. Cursing quietly at the state of her hands, she pressed on round the corner the guards had came from. For once, it was a short hallway, leading to a single door. Tapping it open with the end of her bloodied broom pole, she uttered a small cry of surprise. The room was far larger that any other that she had been in so far. More surprising though, was the fact that the room was empty aside for the single figure in the center of the room. At his feet lay the bodies of Jansen, Simon and Jayna, unmoving and undoubtedly dead. The smoldering embers of rage that had been slightly quelled in her scuffle with the guards roared into life, ready to kill the man in front of her. xxxxxxJayna had been the person in the cell opposite hers. During the scant few hours each day they had managed to talk to each other unheard,they worked on an escape plan. Two days later, they got their chance as well as finding out why they had been taken. With an unexpected burst of flames, Kay had killed the guard. Just as easily, Jayna had walked through her locked door as if it had never been there. Soon after, they paired up with Simon and Jansen, another two that had managed to escape. Between the four of them, they managed to work out enough to guess why they had been taken. Whoever had taken them had managed to awaken the dormant parts of their brains, resulting in a different effect on each of them."So you made it past the guards." His voice was sickly sweet, like honey left out in the sun. His hatred was still obvious, despite the front that he was putting on. "I don't need to ask what happened. Their blood is all over you." Stepping over the bodies , Ian slithered off his tie and unbuttoned his top button. "Shall we dance." A statement, not a question. Not waiting for any more of his remarks, Kay lunged at him with her pole, hoping to catch him by surprise. Unremarkably, he countered the strike easily, disarming her and sending her sprawling. Just as quickly , Kay had scrambled back to her feet, ready for the next blow. Barely blocking the blow to her face, the fist to her gut was more than enough to suck the air from her lungs. Coughing violently, Kay looked up at the gloating face of the man above her. It was this that sent her into overdrive. Without really knowing what she was doing, she raised her hand and pointed her palm towards him. As if to react to her raging anger, a plumb of fire burst out of her hand, roaring across the short gap between them. He had just enough time to leap out of the way, barely managing to avoid being burned alive. Bounding to a safe distance, Ian scowled back at Kay. He hadn't expected her to be able to use her power at will yet. "So you have a new trick. Don't think it's going to be enough to beat me!" With a fluid motion of his own, Ian sent a bolt of electricity screaming through the air, catching Kay in the middle of her chest. That would be enough to make her go down for good. Or so he thought.As he walked over to secure her, her hand snaked out to the 'spear' that she had landed next to, driving it deep into his unarmoured chest. Coughing up a gout of blood as she twisted it deeper, Ian collapsed in shock and pain, his breathing uneven and rattly. You know, I just wanted to find a way out." Kay's laugh was bitter at how things had turned out. "This isn't the end. Everything is only just beginning." Pausing only to cough up more blood, Ian flashed a wolven grin at Kay. "I'm only a pawn in this great game. There are worse things to come and now you will be will be in the center of them. Enjoy the calm while it lasts." With his warning complete, Ian laughter once more, before finally dying. Kay was left on her own to wander down the hall to freedom, and whatever evils lay in wait.
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Posted: Thu Oct 20, 2011 6:09 am
The Calming Torrent
Sophie The sand on the beach was hot, far hotter then the water was. It was partly because of this that Sophie had yet to come back from swimming. She was easy to see from her parents spot on their towels half way up the beach. Occasionally she would dive under the water to watch the braver fish that had gotten use to her being near the local reef. The fish were one other reason. But the real reason she hadn't came out the water yet, was because she felt far calmer in the water than she did on land. At home or school, she was moody, easily annoyed and violent. In the water however, she was able to thought things over for the rest of the week or so. She just liked being in the water. Taking in a deep breath, she dove under the water to touch the sandy bottom of the sea shelf just before the reef and the deeper waters. Flashes of colours swam past as all the little fish vanished into the reef, before reappearing as they weren't followed by her. This was why she loved diving. It gave her a freedom that she couldn't get anywhere else. Flying through the water with the glittering fish, she could truly feel alive. At least until she ran out of air, then she had to grudgingly float back up to the surface and take in that one huge gulp of air, before diving back down to the edge of the reef. Today was just the same as the others next to the reef, quiet, warm and surrounded by colour. Until the shadow passed over her. All the colour seemed to drain from around her as the fish scattered into the safety of the reef. Twisting her body to try and see what had caused the fish to vanish resulted in spotting the dull grey blob simply float past the edge of the reef, only a few feet away. Dimly, she was aware that it was a mako shark, one of the smartest sharks on the planet. Out of either fear or instinct, she never moved from where she was, despite the burning that was starting in her lungs.If it had any reason to kill her, it would do it in a flash. As the shark rose up in the water above her, Sophie let out a small air bubble to stop her lungs from hurting so much. She could tell that there were still people in the water, though they were rushing away from the shark fin that had poked above the waves. The Mako twitched towards the shore. Her lungs could take it no more. With a powerful kick, she rose sharply to the surface. The shark was between her and the shore, its fin moving up and down with the waves. A piercing scream came from the shore. Someone had spotted her still in the water. A large clamour came from the shore as all the men decided whether or not to try and rescue her. Taking another deep breath, she sunk beneath the water to keep better track of the Mako. She looked at it as it looked back with its cold, blank eyes. "Sizing me up“ Was all she could think of. As it swam in a circle around her, she followed it, twisting in the water to keep it in sight at all times. Almost as though it knew she could do nothing, it swam lazily up to her and bumped her leg with its snout, rough against her skin. Letting a bubble of air out to lessen the pressure on her lungs, the shark moved back about a pace before doing it again, this time into her arm. And then it disappeared into the murk of the deeper water just past the reef. Floating back to the surface, she gasped in some fresh air and turned back to the shore. Another scream came from the shore, the only reason that Sophie had any warning of the sharks return. Diving down she dodged the ragged fangs, but was smashed by the bulk of its scaly body, forcing the air from her lungs. Inhaling water, she saw the water go dark as her lungs filled with water. And then she breathed out, completely fine. The side of her neck felt itchy, and when she put a hand to it, she could feel slits just below her jaw. "Gills? What the hell is going on here?“ Not that it mattered that much right now. She could see the shark coming back round for a second attempt. Despite the Mako looming, Sophie felt calmer than ever. Looking back on it later, she would say that was something to do with adrenalin. In reality, it was her complete immersion in water. The shark was a meter away when there was a faint flash rippled through the water from her body. It dispersed before reaching the surface, but the waves just stopped. The Mako also slowed down, halting inches away from her. Not fully thinking why she was doing it, Sophie pushed her hand forward. The shark shuddered, before firing forward through the water, away from the shore and herself in a flurry of water. Raising her hand to shield her eyes, the shark followed the motion and launched out of the water and away. People from the beach reported seeing a shark leap more than three hundred feet through the air, landing more than what looked a mile away. A lot of other bizarre stories sprung up that day, all taken as hoaxes until the remains of the shark washed up a few days later, killed by the force it had hit the water. Sophie had also washed up, more than fifteen minutes after her mother had watched her get dragged away by the shark. The lifeguard that picked her up reported a large amount of water that came out of her lungs when she started coughing, though it didn't seem to give her any problems. Despite her assurance that she was fine, Sophie was still taken to the hospital. A few days into her time in hospital, a few people arrived to ask her questions. Normal questions, but ones that proved that they knew what had happened without letting on. "What did you feel under the water?" "Could you see the shark in the water?" "What happened?"The most disturbing question was asked by a younger woman, not much older than her, that turned up on the third day. "Can you do what I do?" Sophie looked up with her blue eyes into those of Kay, her copper-brown eyes almost red in the light. Just the look she gave Kay was enough for her to tell. "This makes two of us. I wonder how many more there are?"
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Articx-Frost Vice Captain
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Articx-Frost Vice Captain
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Posted: Sun Nov 20, 2011 9:48 am
The Stubborn Monolith
Kyle In the height of summer, a trip to the mountains was not what Kyle wanted to do. It was hot, it was wet, it was hard to breath and there was barely any reception for his phone. With rock in nearly all directions, and the nearest mobile tower more than fifty miles away, his signal was only one bar out of six at best. A beeping from his pocket, the noise he had been hoping to avoid, warned him that he no longer had any signal at all. He was now completely unable to contact anyone, not even the mountain rescue if he needed to. He had had enough. “Kyle! Get your a** moving!“ The shout of his father rolled across the craggy area they were in, echoing at least twice to Kyle’s disgust. His father, Kevin, hadn’t been in the best of moods when they had left, not that he was ever in a good mood unless he had been drinking. Even then, that good mood never lasted when Kyle was around. As predictible as ever, when Kyle never sped up to follow his fathers very brisk pace, Kevin stormed back down to where he was. Bracing for the backhand that never came, Kyle peeked out of one eye to see his father standing only two paces away, tugging on the laces of his boot. Opening his eyes further, he couldn't help but smile as Kevin cursed and swore at the patch of mud that had grabbed it. Going stoney faced as his father looked at him, Kyle realised that this was going to be brought down on him as well. It was only the first spot of rain that brought his attention to the large clouds that hadn't been there minutes ago, large, angry and moving swiftly. A few more stray drops landed on his arms and face before the main deluge of water struck. Even though his father was only two steps away, Kyle could only make out a dark outline of him through the water. Where he had been burning up in the summer sun minutes ago, now his breath was short and fast under the icy water. Staggering away from his father, he slowly worked his way to where he had last seen an outcrop of rock, only finding it when he tripped over a low rock into a dry area. Sitting down, he started shivering while waiting for the rain to stop, After a few minutes, the rain slowly pittered out, leaving bright sunshine once more, though the air had a chill to it that hadn’t been there before. Picking himself up from his damp spot on the rocky floor, he wandered out of the cave to try and find his father, despite everything that he went through at his hands. “DAAAD!! Where are you!“ Whirling at a rustle from one of the low bushes not too far away, a wave of relief washed over him as Kevin crawled out of it, looking haggard and covered in mud. “We should head back. It might not be safe further up and we might catch something if we don’t get warm and dry soon.“ The angry look was muted from his shivering, but it still flashed over Kevin’s face. As much as he didn’t want to admit it, Kyle was right. With the warmth of the hotel in mind, they began their decent back down the route they had taken up. As much as possible, Kyle kept in front of his father, helping him along the path with the least mud. As much as he didn’t like Kevin, they were still father and son, and that had to warrant for something. Turning his head to look back at him, Kyle noted the blue lips and fingers, sure signs that his father was in really big trouble. Despite knowing what it would mean for himself, he shirked off his coat and threw it to Kevin. He grabbed it out of the air and replaced his own sodden coat with it, leaving his own on a bush for when he was up next. After half an hour, Kevin was back to his shouty self, going on at Kyle for not helping him to the same cave that he had hid in, not that he had been able to do much himself. Ignoring the rant and simply trudging on down the path worked for the most part, though it was starting to grate on his nerves a little. Hearing a small bleep from his pocket stole his attention from his grumbling father though. With a grin of relief, Kyle pulled his phone out of his pocket, intent on sending a message to the inn that they were staying at, to request for some warm food and hot baths all round for them. Flinching as a hand tore his phone from his hands, Kyle could only watch as Kevin slammed it off of the closest rock, his face a mask of fury. ”YOU LISTEN TO ME WHEN I'M TALKING YOU LITTLE S***! Kyle backed away quickly. He hadn't seen his dad this way since he had gave him that scar, right after his mum had disappeared. The last time he had wished that the ground would just swallow him up. Not this time. This time he would defend himself. Just as Kevin turned to take out his anger on his son, a deep rumble sounded from above them. A thin trickle of stones and dust trickled over the edge of the cliff edge above them, followed by a loud crack. Almost in slow motion, the cliff face toppled towards them. Both father and son went pale as the sun was blocked out by the collapsing rock. Kevin made a gargling noise and dropped to the muddy ground, a wet patch spreading out from beneath him. I'm going to die, I'm going to die, I'm going to die. It's going to crush me and I'm going to die. I don't want to die. I want to live. ”I DON'T WANT TO DIE!!” Even as the valley echoed with his wails and the rock face continued it's decent towards them, not a single tear came to Kyles face. He was going to die, but he would never cry. It was the vow that he had made when he had gained the scar. He would never cry in front of his father. With a steely determination, he glowered at the falling rock. A crack appeared where he gazed, spreading like a hammer had hit it. Fixing his eyes to where the crack had started, he felt his back itch, along the old long scar he had. Concentrating on the rock, it crumbled under his gaze, before exploding away from them, either side of the path, but leaving a clear route back to civilisation. As they both reached the outskirts of the small town, they were herded towards a tent that had been set up by a group of mountain rescue climbers and worried townsfolk. Kevin only gave a blank stare as they asked him questions, keeping his eyes firmly locked on Kyle. After a few minutes of silence, they left him in the care of the local paramedic and moved on to Kyle, asking the same questions that the had asked Kevin. Carefully leaving out the part about smashing the falling rocks with his mind, he explained that they had been up the slope from the rock slide, and had watched it all happen. Satisfied for now, they let him get carted off by the paramedics as well. ”Nasty gash that you've got on your back here. You get that from falling? No, looks older than that. A scar? Must've opened at some point.... Talking to herself as she worked away, Kyle felt a calm drowsiness fall over himself. He found himself looking at the girl as she worked. Her bright blue eyes drew his own towards them and he blinked, finding her looking back into his own muddy brown ones. For several seconds she seemed to look past him and see something else, then smiled. ”So. What is it that you use? What really happened on the mountain? Seeing his confusion, she flashed another of those dazzling smiles and pulled a bottle from behind her. Unscrewing the lid, she placed her hand over the top and lifted. To his amazement, a string of water stuck to her hand and followed it up. ”So as she asked, What really happened on the mountain? Turning to see the new person, Kyle saw her playing with a blob of fire and knew that he had done something. Feeling that he could trust them, he thought for a few seconds before starting when they had first went up.
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