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I'm entering for the Blue Twin

Username: elfstar89
Soq name: Ramiro
Entry:
Ramiro drifted by the edge of the continental shelf. There was little risk of Arrats running out of rope before someone noticed what they were doing. There were rumors that the trench was about to be declared off-limits. Which would be a sensible idea. But he still didn't want the two of them to get into trouble for this, whether legal, social, or, far worse, corporeal.

Suddenly, Ramiro felt it. One tug. Two tugs. It hadn't taken long. Fear seized Ramiro as he turned and charged away from the edge, hauling on the rope. It took him a few moments to realize that he couldn't feel Arrats' weight on the rope. The blue Seathi slammed to a stop, and spun around.

The end of the rope fell to the soft sands behind him. He froze for a moment. Maybe Arrats had decided he didn't need the rope. Anger replaced fear as he drifted over. As terrified as he had every right to be for his fiery twin, if Arrats had decided to blow Ramiro off, Ramiro was going to kill him when he got home.

The trailing end of the rope was too long. Arrats couldn't have done it. If Arrats had done it, he'd've had to tighten up the slack first. Most of the rope was still with Ramiro, instead of Arrats. Snapped by something else. Terror rose in his throat, paralyzing Ramiro.

It was true.

The old God was awake. The old God had snapped the rope.

There was no time left to fear social and legal repercussions. Everyone in Osinea needed to know about this.

Ramiro charged off toward the great undersea city to look for help.

Maybe, just maybe, they could save Arrats. And if they couldn't, then they wouldn't let anyone else die the way Arrats surely would, if they couldn't find him in time.

Behind Ramiro, unbeknownst to him, the completely undamaged rope unspooled between the twins, hidden under the malignant illusion of the ancient god.

At the city gates, Ramiro felt a sharp tug. Terrified, he glanced back.

He did not see the rope, finally truly snapped, most of it sinking slowly on the currents toward the abyss.

Where Arrats had felt the rope jump a few more times before falling still.

I'm entering for the Blue Twin

Username: DarkenWoodWolf
Soq name: Technasma
Entry: Tech knew this was a bad idea. It left a dark pit of worry in his mind, seeming to darken with each length of rope that vanished in front of him. His brother was down there, somewhere, faced with who knew what, and he was left on the edge of their city to worry. He let out another length as he waited, wondering how long it would take his brother to finish this bizarre little quest of his.

It wasn't as though Technasma wasn't curious as to why there was an increase in the disturbing stories that the others were circulating about things happening by the trench, liking on the very spot he tread water. Tech was simply more cautious then his spirited brother. Rather than diving deep into the darkness, he would have rather waited by the statues, watching for anything worth noting. There was only so much faith he could put in what other's said. It would be different if he could see it with his own eyes.

Another length of rope disappeared into the dark and Tech frowned after it. How deep was his brother going to go? Feeling uneasy, he shifted to let more of the rope flow out, not wanting to cut his brother off from his way home. They said it got so dark down there that you couldn't see anything, not know which way was up or down. He wouldn't let his brother get lost in the dark.

Staring intently at where the darkness swallowed up his vision of the rope. Tech waited. Time ticked by slowly, with every beat of his worried heart. He stared so long, his eyes were starting to play tricks on him. It almost looked like small black things were creeping up the rope.

After blinking a few times, and shaking his head to try and clear his vision, Tech swallowed thickly, fear making him choke as more and more of the rope vanished under this creeping black things. They had the look of slugs that slunk along the rope, leaving decay it's wake. The rope was fraying, damaged almost to the breaking point. Panic seized him then, thinking of his brother being lost below, and with a powerful flick of his tail, he whipped himself forward, getting tangled in the rope as he tried to reach the point where it was going to break. He'd almost reached it, long neck stretched out to catch it in his teeth, not paying attention to the black slugs surrounding him now, so close to the point where the light would vanish. They spun around him, knocked from the rope, coming together behind him like liquid, forming a shape full of jagged edges.

It wrapped itself around the trailing ends of the rope, jerking it tight. Tech's head snapped back, one of the loops wrapped around his neck, keeping him from reaching his goal and making him... look.

Keening, he tried to get away from the mishmash of some sort seathi and the slug that it had been when they were all seperate. Except that it had jagged edges, spreading and attempting to cut through the rope that bound him to his brother. Tech thrashed, freeing his head enough that he could drop his eyes to where the rope was breaking, thread by thread. He wanted to scream, wanted to do something other than watch in horror as the rope snapped and left his brother stranded in the darkness below. With a cry, he swam after it, only to hit the point where the light vanished like a wall. Reeling back, he tried to get his barrings and rushed the darkness again, hitting hard against some unseen force.

An eerie laughter sounded behind him and he spun to see the nightmare rush him, breaking into a million pieces and rushing around him and then...

Nothing, it was gone. Back down into the darkness below. Tech couldn't catch his breath, though, terrified eyes fixed on the point where his rope, his only link to his brother had vanished. He threw himself forward again, only to bounce back with a harsh cry of pain. Whatever was in that trench was not letting him past where the light reached. It wouldn't let him go after his brother.

With a snarl, he slammed into the invisible barrier again. He would not let that... thing have his brother!

I'm entering for the Blue Twin

Username: Teh Cheryl
Soq name: Aldara
Entry:
Aldara could feel his heart drop as he watched his brother sink lower and lower into the depth. He loved his brother, but his ideas always unsettled Aldara, the edge of worry always on his mind. He couldn't deny that he got a certain thrill out of their harebrained schemes, but his enjoyment was always dimmed by his natural caution. He had no doubt that he was the sole reason his brother hadn't ever been seriously injured on their many, many adventures.

Aldara swam nervously back and forth at the edge of the statues as he waited for his brother to swim back up, the heavy tension on the rope giving him comfort. The rope was long and he let his unfurl foot by foot as his brother dipped deeper and further away. He should have brought a shorter rope, he thought, as the minutes passed in silence. A shorter rope would have limited his brother's curiosity perhaps, but it was equally as likely that too short of a rope would have made the twin simply cast it off in frustration.

Aldara shivered, feeling a cold current sweep past him. He hadn't noticed it before but it was eerily silent, no schools of fish muttering in the distance of sound of seaweed swaying in the waves. It felt like the minutes were going on forever.

Then he heard it: a whisper of words, quiet enough to be indistinct but loud enough to be heard. He tightened his grip on the rope as he darted his head back and forth, trying to find the source. "Who's there?" he called out, trying to hide the tremble in his voice. "Is that you, brother? It's not funny!" His brother loved to play prank on him, and Aldara hoped that this as just another one of his jokes.

This wasn't his style though, and Aldara could feel his hooves shake, the heavy rope twined around his legs the only thing that was keeping his grip. The whispering only got louder, and Aldara knew it wasn't his brother. It sounded like thousands of voices, crying out and layering over and over each other. It was dark and seductive as it was warm, aching out for help. Another cold current brushed against Aldara, soft at first but then forceful, pushing him toward the edge of the shelf, sucking him inward.

Aldara fought against it, swimming hard and fast against the heavy current that threatened to sweep out and in over the edge. The whispering had another gotten louder and louder as the water pushed and pushed, and Aldara thought he could see the edges of his vision darken, trying to swallow him up. No, Aldara thought, tucking his ears in and the rope still tightly gripped between his two hooves. He was terrified, could feel his heart beating loudly in his chest and could feel the movement of blood between his ears. What was happening?

The current pushed, stronger and stronger and the feeling of ice was spreading from his tail up into the rest of his body, numbing him. He was swimming with all his might and was barely able to keep his position steady. He could feel himself tiring, feel the burning ache in his throat from his exertion and the strain of his muscles. Worst, however, he could feel the rope slipping, the heavy tide pulling the rope further and further into the deep until it was only the last edge gripped between his two hooves.

He tried with all his might, tried to regain his grip, tried to re-twine the length between his legs or loop it around his own neck, but he was tiring quickly. No, he thought. No.

The whispers were now screams, loud and terrifying and pulling him in. He could feel it getting darker and colder, and he used the last of his strength to try and pull himself out and forward.

It wasn't enough. He felt the course rope loosen and fall away as a final, heavy push of water forced him over the edge. He went tail over fin, and he saw the rope, the only lifeline to his brother, drop rapidly away into the darkness before he followed.

He tumbled, down and down and away. The world was spinning, and the light was rapidly lost as he was forced further and further down.

And then he stopped. It was silent for the first time; the whispering screams had faded as he had tumbled, and he would only hear his only heavy breathing and pounding heart. The cold still gripped him, but it lacked the icy edge that he had felt previously. Despite that, it was still pitched dark and Aldara could not know which way was up or down. He had spun into the darkness and lost his only connection to his brother.

The adrenaline was still pounding in his veins, and he was more scared than he ever had been in his life. He had to find his brother. It was his only thought. He had to find his brother and find their way back home. There was no up or down, not lighting stone to guide his way.

Aldara swallowed, hard and heavy, trying to hide the tremors that ran through him. There was no up or down, not left or right. He closed his eyes and tried to breath, counting downward from ten with slow measured breathes. When he opened his eyes, he still saw nothing but the darkness but he picked a direction and started swimming.

I'm entering for the Orange Twin

Username: StrawberryRoseTea
Soq name: Jack de la Muerte
Entry:

Realizing that he was only getting more lost Jack stopped swimming and spat a curse at the darkness that ran grasping fingers along the edges of his pool of light. Terrified as he was, he was also irritated. Today was supposed to have ended in the glory of everyone knowing that he, a son of the normally quiet and refined de le Muerte family, had been the one brave enough to go into the abyss and return unscathed. Well, he supposed that if he could still make it out, this might not be a total loss. As a matter of fact, this whole situation might even spice up the story.

Using that thought to comfort himself he stamped down on his useless fear and turned it into determination to find his way back. He shook his head to clear it, his ringlets bouncing in the otherwise still water, and took stock of his situation. He was dark and cold and obviously had lost his sense of direction. His only companions the light stone and the rope still around his waist. He eyed the rope suspiciously. Despite the fact that the water down this deep was as still as the death his family was named for, the rope was floating and drifting. Moving as if caught in a swirl of current.

As the loose end drifted near enough to him to get a good look at it, Jack noticed that it seemed a little ragged. It looked like . . . It had been severed. Cut through. This thought was compounded as he looked over the length of rope drifting around him and realized that it was much shorter than it should have been if his brother had just let it go. While it was entirely possible that the rope had gotten caught on something on his way down and broken he highly doubted it. The cut was too clean for it to have been rubbed through like that. A new wave of terror thrilled through Jack but this time for his brother. He needed to get back to check on his twin. Now. If something had happened to his brother because he had dragged him along for this adventure he would never forgive himself.

He had hoped that the fall of the loose rope would have given him an indication of which direction was what but, as it seemed to have a mind of its own, the rope was of no help. Jack let loose another string of not nice words into the dark. Between his inability to get his bearings on direction and the severed rope that was senselessly floating about he knew that someone (or something) was messing with him. The stories of the god of the deep started coming back to him. Much to his dismay his mind began recounting the old tales used to frighten foals into good behavior. No. He wouldn't let the stories affect him. He couldn't. While he was fighting with his own mind Jack didn't notice that the end of the rope had drifted outside the circle cast by his light stone.

The light stone flickered. Jack's eyes widened in horror. He didn't realize that he had been gone that long. He shook the thing hoping it was just a fluke. But as he looked at it the stone began to dim ever so slightly. He lost part of the grip on his panic as the light flickered very low, almost going out before lighting back up. He didn't have much time left with it. He needed to make a decision. Quickly.

As distracted as he was with his dying light source he failed to notice that the rope was snaking into the darkness at a quicker and quicker pace. The rope suddenly became taught and jerked violently at his waist. Jack squealed in fear and pain, dropping his nearly dead light stone in the process. He swam hard against the pressure pulling at him, all lucid thoughts leaving his mind as pure terror and panic seized him. He thrashed about and, by some stroke of pure dumb luck, the rope slipped from his waist. He shot forward as the rope was slurped into the endless black.

Looking around with wide eyes he just happened to catch a final glimpse of his light stone falling in the direction he had thought was . . . Up. Jack was struggling to think past the panic hat had finally taken firm hold of him. So he didn't. Acting on instinct alone he surged in the opposite direction that he had last seen his stone dropping. Praying to every ocean deity he could think of that that hadn't been yet another trick.

As the adrenaline from his fight and flight began to ebb and with the darkness pressing in on him and dragging at his mind Jack soon had to slow. He was so tired. And still afraid. And worried for his brother. He blinked his eyes hard, trying in vain to penetrate the darkness. He thought he could see shapes and patterns undulating before him. His mind trying to make sense of the utter lack of visual input. Deciding that he couldn't deal with it much more he closed his eyes and swam on. At least the water seemed to not be increasing in pressure or decreasing in temperature any longer. It still pressed around him like a cold blanket but he tried to at least be grateful for the small boon that he didn't seem to be going deeper.

When Jack ran face first into something hard he mustered enough energy to colorfully express his feelings about how it had felt. He opened his eyes on reflex to try to get a look at whatever barrier he had run into. Much to his surprise he ended up having to squint and look away. It was a rock wall of some sort but it was covered in a blue glowing underwater fungus. The light it gave off was faint but after his time in total darkness it took a moment for his eyes to adjust. Feeling a surge of hope at this discovery he backed up a bit to try to get a better view of the situation.

It was just a very thin stripe that ran off along the rock into the distance of what appeared to be above and below him. Without having any other option his tired mind could conjure, Jack decided to follow it in the upward direction. As he went he thought he noticed a growing light that had nothing to do with the blue glowing pathway he was following. He couldn't allow himself to even consider that it might be another trick. Encouraged, he found himself swimming faster with a second wind.

Soon the wall he was following ended in a shelf. He was, however, not discouraged as there was definitely light overhead. While the water may not have been getting any warmer, it was definitely lessening in pressure. With the last of his energy he put on a burst of speed until he was in a fully illuminated space. Looking around nothing seemed familiar. There were also some sort of large shapes floating overhead. His curiosity won out over his exhaustion and he swam further up to get a look at them. As he drew near to the odd shapes his stomach sank into his tail fin.

He had heard stories of ice and if the descriptions were even slightly accurate, that was what he was looking at. Combined with the cold there really wasn't anything else it could be. But that was impossible! His home was so far removed from any region that had ice that there was no way he could have swam that far in the time he had been lost. But the truth lay before his eyes and there was nothing he could do about it.

With a sudden flash of rage he turned and swam back down toward the dark. He stopped at the top of the shelf, unwilling to get any closer to the lurking blackness below despite his anger.
"How dare you!" he shouted into the dark. "I don't know why you wanted to separate me from my family, but this I promise you: I will find my way home!"
This outburst took the last of his strength and with nothing else left to do he drifted down to rest on the sea floor some distance from the edge where he fell into an uneasy sleep. His dreams plagued with images of a great maw rising from the darkness to devour the world.

After deliberation between our judges, we have selecting the following winners:

Teh Cheryl

Naked

StrawberryRoseTea

Naked

Thank you everyone for your entries! We loved reading over them! Please feel free to hold onto your concepts for future customs, and so on. What a fun batch of posts to read through! Winners, please let us know if you are choosing to use your single pass on these boys. Otherwise, head on down to the certing thread. They were colored by the lovely Kara Asumie.

I’ll definitely be keeping my boy as well!