Original Submissions by Bebop of type 'Stories'
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The Shield Wall
Added on Dec 16, 2007Ah, we are all familiar of the tragedies that "befall" us due to this natural wall of stone.
“Shit!” Five of them were bellowing and waving chipped bone weapons up in the air in rage as they ran. “You can’t blame me!” Minck shouted behind herself stumbling to tug herself up with the reins of her ox, all but falling onto her back before actually managing to scuttle into the saddle. “Ya! Moo! Go!”
“You little feck! Give us our money!”
“I’ll skin you and make a belt pouch outta your tits and a necklace outta yer teeth!
Grimacing, Minck snapped the reins of her dusty ox and kicked her heels into its sides. “Ouch.”
“That ox’a urs is gonna make a fine meal when we catch you girl!”
“Moo! Go!” Minck screamed loudly, the old ox that had already been following at a gallop by her side looked more than reluctant to oblige as it pranced with a light step over the sand dunes. “Faster! Do you want to a be a steak!” A burly woman with a blood crusted whip in hand whooped loudly as the group began to encroach, snapping the whip victoriously into the wind.
Suddenly spooked, Moo bellowed out a loud long moo before embarking in a full gallop, leaving sand, dust and the little farming village in his wake. “Ha ha!” Minck was howling, bouncing in the saddle and leaning forward as though to force them forward. She yelped out another long howl of triumph, as Moo ran faster than ever, seeming to grow more in fear and speed with every step. In the horizon a pale line marred the crimson sands, causing Minck to narrow her eyes, the heat from thermals rising from the ground causing the line to waver. “The road! Whoa, Moo.”
The ox didn’t stop only letting out a wavering moo once more perhaps in defiance in addition to it’s newly found irrational trepidation. “Moo!” Minck shrieked dragging the reins back in vain with all of her might. The road curved like a slithering serpent over the sands, and basked around a large gorge that sunk deep into the earth. Her eyes wide, she shook her head in a moment that seemed to slow time to reveal itself as the beast barreled towards the gaping hole. “Nooooo!” It was to late, stone cracked against hoof and they were toppling. The ox met open air and fell, side first. Minck, eyes wide with disbelief, her stomach flopping tilted to the other side, twisting her self from the saddle, feet still caught in the stir ups. They fell into shadow beyond the reach of the light above and then with a thump she couldn’t hear, the deeper blackness of unconsciousness engulfed her.
There was a sour taste in her mouth as her eyes slid open. Minck, picked herself up recoiling in disgust and gagging as she cleansed her mouth with fresh saliva spitting crusted vomit from her mouth and smearing it from her lips. It was dark. They had fallen. For a moment, she sat there, forearms over her bent knees from where she sat against the cliff wall, trying to shake the drowsiness in the deep darkness. As she reached up to slip her fingers through her hair, her fingertips landed on a crusted patch, strands of hair dried into the scab. Her first urge was to pick her hair out of it even if it meant to open up the wound but dejectedly she dropped her hand back across her knee. Moo? Where was he? Was she alone? Closing her eyes, she reached behind her and pulled her backpack into her lap, feeling for a torch and flint kit. She had done it many times during the night, and this time there was little difference. She held the torch between her knees and struck the flint until the rag wrapped torch licked up the sparks and ignited into a warm flame. The smell of fresh smoke filled her nostrils a moment and the warm amber glow ebbed and then grew, pressing the darkness away. The soles of her boots scratched pebble and sand as she used the wall of the cliff to inch herself back to her feet. From the opposite end of the vertical tunnel that had devoured them she could see an oxen body unmoving and slumped over the ground. The wide, stocky chest of the ox moved neither up or down and immediately Minck new that the life had left him.
Sighing, Minck inched closer, every muscle was sore from the recent trauma and moving was uncomfortable. She held up the torch, narrowing her eyes wearily to see what had been Moo’s neck forced into an unnatural angle, it’s eyes peering out lifelessly and thick tongue sprawled eerily over the ground. Minck paused, contemplating a moment whether or not to skin the creature before finally deciding she didn’t have the heart or motivation to do so right now and began to feel along the side of the walls for some kind of exit. Cursing Moo’s name, she squeezed into a small corridor made of natural, craggy stone walls and soon she was emerging, into the sands. A sandstorm had picked up and night had fallen. “Ah, a delightful combination,” Minck grumbled out loud. Pulling up her hood, and tugging the sandcloth drawstrings to secure it against her brow, she pressed on, to afraid to sleep for fear that the fuzziness in her head would claim her and she would never wake. Using the face of what was known as the Shield Wall as her guide, she felt her way along, inching with effort through the storm. Luckily the winds favored her and seemed to usher her forward and instead of shoving her back. A small amount of luck for an unfortunate week. “You just had to have that whore didn’t you Minck? You just couldn’t leave it to ya self. Nope… that was to hard. Shet. How’s a lass supposed to be out in tha sands a month with out some pretty company here and there. Damn fool farmers. And so damn expensive for some critter crotch free company. How’s a lass like me to be expected to have that type of coin?” Pausing in her rant to herself, she spat out a wad of sand and coughed, narrowing her gaze to peer into the sky. The slightest traces of light were beaming through the storm and Minck collapsed against the wall, closing her eyes slowly finally succumbing to sleep as the winds howled.
“Aaaaaaaah!” THUD!
Minck leaped to her feet, swiping her dagger into her hand, eyes still half lidded. The storm was still slashing the air and it pressed Minck against the stone wall, whipping her cloak and hood back. Squinting, she could see mounts and men littering the dunes around her. With a clack and clatter stones rained above her, causing her to scream and dive out of the way as a final war beetle collapsed from the wall above, embedding itself into the sand. “What the fuck! What the fuck!” It was all she could scream, though her words were barely audible over rushing winds.
Looking incredulous a stocky man bent on a knee and then picked himself up. She couldn’t make the details of his features out as he turned his head to her but as he approached the brown of his cloak and the stripes on his sleeves made it obvious what he was. “Damn Bynner! Ya’ bug nearly squashed me, isn’t it supposed to go the other way around!” The beetles, whose head was buried kicked it’s six legs, thrashing and skittering in an effort to free itself. Minck and the Sergeant watched a long while as the others picked themselves up and the bug became still, legs still crooked but now rigged like dead tree limbs. The wind’s screaming became a hush and soon, small waves of wind lapped harmlessly at the cloth of the groups garb and abas as though Whira had been satiated by the amount of chaos it had caused.
“Shit!” Five of them were bellowing and waving chipped bone weapons up in the air in rage as they ran. “You can’t blame me!” Minck shouted behind herself stumbling to tug herself up with the reins of her ox, all but falling onto her back before actually managing to scuttle into the saddle....
Continue Reading...Honky Tonk Women of Zalanthas
Added on May 31, 2007Honky Tonk women refers to an episode of Cowboy Bebop in which the main female protagonist is down on her luck as usual. Not to mention the famous Rolling Stones song. This story is the same - about clever women (only of Zalanthas) and how they deal with heartache and betrayl.
Her back to the wall she tilted a glance briefly over her shoulder then back around the corner again, she had to be quick. From her perch at the corner of the corridor she could see, could see him laugh as she stumbled in his arms, drunk. For a moment she tilted her head aside staring off as a flash of numbing anger lulled through her mind. She smeared her lips together blinked and her mind was clear again, the woman's drunkenness would give her a clear advantage if combat came into play. They were moving into the room now and the door was closing shut unnoticed behind them. Perfect. Crouching and moving swiftly with measured steps she kneeled slipping her fingertips gently but precisely between the door and the wall. She held it open only a crack peering in past the opening to watch the couple already fumbling with their clothes head towards the bedroom. Her eyes narrowed, not to see but in another flare of rage that she forced to calm herself amid the silence, unwilling to betray her position. A single dim wall lantern illuminated the sand crusted hallway and the ancient, cracked granite tiles. Only the faintest glow of light lapped at the hem of her cloak dyed deeply to remain the color of Drov.
Rising delicately she slid the door open to give her just enough berth to roll in on a shoulder and then gently coax the door closed behind her in silence. For only a moment she was standing fully upright and her eyes darted keenly over the familiar sparse room of mud dried walls. She sneered as a delighted shriek and giggle wafted from the eastward room and her stomach roiled. "Bastard," she thought not daring to speak as her cheeks flushed red. Turning she crept one foot over the other towards the archway to the other room, closing her eyes to listen so as to estimate their position. Their rough breaths were muffled, their backs were to her, the girl was probably positioned on the edge of the bed. She reached for a thin, leather ribbon that secured the reed tube to her shoulder. With nimble fingertips she tugged a string unlacing it effortlessly and slid it into her hand, reaching then into her deep pockets to produce a single dart fletched with a pitch black feather. Briefly, her hand trembled. She never trembled, but this mark was personal. She inserted the arrow into the reed, daring only slowly to peer over the archway, she could easily see his bare back, shoulders flexing with each thrust, the woman's legs wrapped around him. A frown tightened her brow but then she forced it to her relax, guiding her body into the fluidity required to successfully end another's life undetected. With a puff of breath and the slightest hollow sound the dart, gleaming with a sheen of poison, soared through the air piercing the man in the back of the neck.
With a final single thrust, the man's heavily muscled shoulders relaxed, elbows bending as he fell collapsing over the bed, and ultimately pinning the woman between himself and the straw cushioning. Anya grinned sadistically, her heart racing as she slowly dared to ascend from the shadows. The woman underneath him frowned, seemingly confused as she struggled to free herself from the massive body. "Glenn?" She laughed writhing in vain to sit up, "Glenn! Are you oka..." Her voice trailed off, eyes widening as fingers laced over the dart still pinned in the man's neck before her eyes found Anya standing beyond him. Her body stilled, her rosy face slumped and paled, "Anya...I..."
"You what, Dai?" Anya's heart thumped heavily in her chest, a sneer of disgust on her lips as her eyes traced over the man still breathing in a deep content sleep, blanketing the woman's swarthy bare body. Dai's grey eyes dropped away, seemingly now unaware of the body draped over her own. "What are you doing with him!" Anya screamed jealousy and anguish finally erupting from her lips.
"I don't know!" cried the woman, "I've been drinking... I'm sorry!"
"You're sorry!" Anya, smeared a hand over her face, the stoic visage of an assassin gone her voice incredulous, "You're... sorry! And what about all of the other times! You think I didn’t know! What about me!" Anya shook her head, drawing a curved bone knife from the confines of her belt. Watching Dai, with disdain, her voice tucked tight in sarcasm, "You're sorry." Dia gasped, tears in her eyes as she struggled to grab at her cloak marked with the vivid crimson insignia of a slithering Borsail Wyvern. "You wanted information from me, from The Guild."
"No," Dia started shaking her head as Anya pressed the knife towards her throat pinning her once more.Anya narrowed her eyes and swallowed hard, an attempt to regain the sound place she had found before that had always allowed her to kill without remorse, "All that information you gave Lord Borsail. I didn't think you wanted the promotion that badly." Anya peered down at Dai, her sandy blond hair spilling over her diminutive bosom, "Just tell me one thing Dai, did you ever mean it when you said were mates." Her words were followed by another pained gulp.
Dai frowned, her fear turning to anger and foreboding in her voice, "I have Lord Borsail in my head right now Anya!"
Anya's blade pressed firmly against the supple skin of Dai's neck, drawing a tiny sliver of blood, "Answer the fucking question you whore."
"I'm an aide of Borsail rinth rat... they know all about you they..." Anya tilted her head to the side as though daring another ill spoken word as she reached with her free hand to firmly grab a tuft of Dai's mane. The rage inside her was growing as she drew in a long ragged breath. Her heart was sinking, drowning out any thoughts of sensibility, any desire for mercy. Dai paused, her gaze meeting Anya's squarely, her voice cool and snide, "You want to know the truth? I don't even like girls."
"Wrong answer," Anya whispered, forcefully sliding her blade with a sickening wet stroke over the woman's throat.Her back to the wall she tilted a glance briefly over her shoulder then back around the corner again, she had to be quick. From her perch at the corner of the corridor she could see, could see him laugh as she stumbled in his arms, drunk. For a moment she tilted her head aside staring off as a...
Continue Reading...Krath's Touch
Added on Dec 22, 2006A Krathi magicker is endowed with Suk-Krath's power for the first time much to her own surprise.
Loni's eye's scoured the arid, glistening horizon for a long moment as a tiny bead of sweat fell from her brow and a vein of water slid from her skin. With a crunch of her boots she crouched down, extending a hand to steady herself against the grainy mixture of salt and sand that blanketed the land here. As the sun began to peak up over the horizon, the slightest hint of it's face sent Suk-Krath's bold beams of light shooting through the sky and over everything else. Loni had been out scavenging the sand for lumps of salt large enough to sell, a tedious but worthwhile task for a lonely half breed of the commoner's quarter. As one hour turned into two the form of the burning sphere of Suk-Krath in the sky continued its daily path, floating with ease higher into the heavens. Intent on the glistening crystals and the coarsely woven salt sack slumped over the sand next to her, Loni was unaware of the tall insectiod that had spotted her over the flat horizon and was fast approaching each of it's several legs pulling over the sand in synchronized time.
Hearing the sound of sand crunching rapidly in protest under the many, moving legs of the towering insect Loni cringed flinging herself back to peer up at the scrab with quickly widening eyes. It's mandibles clacking and rubbing against one another eagerly the beast clacked one clawed pincer extending it towards the scrawny, auburn-maned young woman. Stung by the paralyzation of dread she could do nothing but fling her sun-baked, slim arms over her face expecting the inevitable. Blinking she jolted to hear what sounded like the abrupt roar of a bond fire as the musky smell of smoke wafted to her nose in all of what could not have been more than an instant. With a guttural shriek of surprise the stunned insect swept at the air with it's claws as the girl rolled over in time to see the beast turning it's knobby legs to carry it away in bewilderment. Squinting as the creature departed she noticed smoke trailing from the scrab's, what now appeared singed, chitin in-casing.
What had just happened? Shaking and still sprawled on her back, Loni's emerald eyes darted left and right trying to locate the source of the flames before she scurried to her feet. Standing a long moment as the pace of her heartbeat gradually beginning to thump back to regularity, the girl smeared a hand over her face and she took a shaky breath. She rested one hand on her hip and dropped the other to her side, pressing her lips together as she realized she should get her salt sack and leave. She should leave now! But then, there was the smell of burning again, black smoke wafted to her nose and Loni's brow furrowed upward as the sound of a crackling fire floated to her ears akin to the smell. Her eyes followed the tendrils of smoke downward. Was the flame at her feet? Had someone shot a low flying flaming arrow? But in a moment of horrifying revelation her emerald eyes dropped to her hand and caught the flashing and dancing of the flames in their depths. Her hand was burning.
Shaking, she slowly and feebly began to close her fist, mouth dropping open with a mortified squeak that barely escaped the back of her throat. Struggling mentally to grasp what had happened, and why she could not feel the flames her fingers curled. With the tightening of her hand just as a candle is snuffed the flames evaporated leaving only a trail of smoke and Loni's heart racing once more. Swooning, Loni grabbed her head beginning to stumble towards the ivory salt road that would ultimately guide her to the Black City of Allanak. The sun seared her eyes, her throat was parched. She reached out for something to stable her quivering hand but there was nothing and as she stumbled forward, her legs gave out. She groaned in pain and exhaustion as her face met the hot sand and the heat began to envelope her like boiling water. Collapsing over the sand Loni wandered if she was suffering from Krath's Touch. The scrab. The fire. Everything had been an illusion. It must have been ... what were they called? A mirage. Yes a mirage. It must have been. If not that would mean that she was....
She gasped as every drop of moisture was sucked quickly from her mouth and throat. And then everything went black.
When Loni awoke she was standing naked and deep inside what looked like a hollow mountain. A perfectly round, flat of stone was positioned under her feet and beyond that what looked like thick, bubbling liquid flame boiled and popped around her. Something had sunk in now, and she was not afraid as the magma crept up over the small area of land that was her perch and began to form around her skin. She accepted it feeling neither cold nor hot but warm and soothed. The magma bubbled and oozed over her bare, thin frame she closed her eyes feeling the serene heat of the thriving liquid. Her arms lifted, her eyes closed, her mouth opened and as the magma sunk into her mouth and ears she could feel the flame begin to pump through her veins. It was empowering her, it was speaking to her, whispering riddles in words that she had never heard before but that she would never forget. The words came in song now as each throbbing of her heart circulated the energy of the Sun but just as the melody came to the loudest most melodic point Loni's eyes opened wide.
Her face was pressed against a cool bed of coarse salt and the sky had turned from crimson to black ink, it's infinite expanse absent of the radiance of Suk-Krath. Taking a deep breath Loni rose to her feet and reached up gently smoothing her hands over her sandcloth garb and dusting crusted sand from the side of her face that had used the earth as a pillow. Looking nothing short of taken aback, Loni stared off into the sky her thoughts only mildly interrupted by the soft lull of the occasional wind, relieving the land of the intense heat that Suk-Krath spared it only at night. Running a hand through her hair her ajar mouth slowly squirmed into a smile and then laughter spilled from her lips. Joyful laughter as a rise of adrenaline flexed through her veins as she began to realize the new powers that she now enjoyed. Howling in the excitement of her ecstasy Loni rose her hands over her head shooting out gusts of flames and casting shapes around her in trails of amber light in an improvised dance of elation. No longer a helpless breed Loni, was now a Krathi.
Loni's eye's scoured the arid, glistening horizon for a long moment as a tiny bead of sweat fell from her brow and a vein of water slid from her skin. With a crunch of her boots she crouched down, extending a hand to steady herself against the grainy mixture of salt and sand that blanketed the...
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