Post by Guardsman Patrick on Oct 12, 2006 23:25:21 GMT -5
Part I
In the Beginning
Chapter 1: A Glimpse of the Past
The dark, moonless night of mid-July looked down upon the glum, silent earth, spreading a chilling feeling of loneliness and despair everywhere it set its gaze.
Lightning flashed across the bleak, dark sky, turning the lonesome night to day for a fleeting instant. All is quiet, as the wind gently whistled through the dark bodies of the lush red oaks and sycamores. Tiny, quiet drops of rain fall slowly; picking up their hushed pace as the quiet storm rolls over the sleeping forest.
Silence.
The hush of rain filled the air. Nothing seemed to be alive as the quiet night was shattered by the distant sound of clashing steel. It rippled slowly through the forest, waking up all the soundly sleeping scavengers of day, and startling the stalking nocturnal scavengers of night.
Silence.
A rumble of thunder sounded the silent, dead air, crackling into silence again. Nothing moved as the ring of steel punctured the air once more.
Silence.
Two figures, facing each other, stood, staring each other down, as the night grew quiet again. The echoes of the clash fading into nothingness as the rain continued its soundless descent. They seem to not notice when the lightning flashed across the sky.
“You kill our entire family, our friends and colleagues, and all you can think about is killing off the only one left, me. You’re a disgrace,” A small figure said, holding high his blade. His voice was fearless and as he stood, staring at his larger opponent, showing no sign of fear or doubt.
“I killed them for reasons far too complex for your understanding. Do not tamper with that which is unexplained to you. It remains unexplained for a reason,” roared the larger figure, not giving any sign of regret or fear. He stared at his adversary, not moving, a smile of satisfaction playing across his shadowed face.
“You’re a cold heartless murderer and I know you’re proud. All you wanted was respect from the slimes and scum you revere as your equals.”
“Like you have any place to call me a ruthless killer, after what you did to Melinda. I should have killed you right then and there…but I held back. Oh, but you have already forgotten because it was only a slight rush for you, destroying yet another of my only joys, and I’m sure you watched, laughing it up because my pain was increased. I will damn you to hell for that, and those slimes and scum are the ones who sent me here to kill you, but I don’t need money to persuade me to do so. I would have killed you eventually anyway, but the offer couldn’t wait.”
“You will fall tonight; I will make sure of that. Drop your weapon and make this fast; I have no patience with delaying the inevitable”.
“That’s what every one of your pitiful friends and family said when I appeared on their doorstep, but we see what little they have done to stop me. This is a new kind of power I hold, and there is nothing that lives that can stop me. The earth trembles at my will, the storm ceases at my command, and even the inevitable death fears me. Don’t you realize it by now, you pathetic maggot? I am invincible… I am a virtual god, and yet you still persist. I take my hat off to you brother, you are fool-hearty, but you have no head for battle. I must say though, our sister… or should I say, your sister put up a good fight, but I taught her how it’s done in the end. She begged for me to stop all the killings and spare her. I watched her take her final breath and laughed at her as she fell for the last time, never to stand again,” evilly laughing, the larger one turned to face his adversary, turning serious as he returned the hating stare that his opponent gave him. “And I plan a much worse fate for you, dearest brother”.
“Do you see what he’s done to you brother, he has poisoned your mind. You are doing things that you would never have done before you met him. You think how he thinks, and we see what good his mind did him. Corruption isn’t power, it is only a thorn, sinking deeper in you, and the only way to get it out is to see that it is not supposed to be there. Don’t you understand,” yelled the smaller opponent, not letting the topic go away, “It will hurt you worse and worse until you get it out, but if you let it stay, it will kill you, little by little until there is nothing left.”
The larger of the two roared with cold laughter, making the air feel ten degrees colder. “My old self is already dead, I am reborn. I am more than anything you or anyone else will be, and you are only afraid to admit it. You try to make me look wrong, but nothing this good, nothing that makes me this way is wrong. You are jealous, just like all the others, you will one day know for yourself and will go down this path, and you will see just how right I am. Face it brother, I am better than you. I will always be better, at anything you try or anything you might think of trying. You are only being this way because you want to be me, but you will never amount to me, no matter how hard you try,” the speaker chuckled joyously, with an icy stab behind every word, cutting trough the thick night air.
“I would never turn into a monster, and I will never turn into you,” the smaller warrior said calmly, with a sharpness that cut through the cold air of the summer storm.
“We will see soon enough, brother.”
“Yes…we shall.”
As the larger leaned forward, lightning broke the sky and the older brother was locked, blade-to-blade with his younger. The large form smashed his blade into the opponents, but was thrown back when the other retaliated. The small fighter jumped and stabbed his blade at his adversary’s heart, stabbing into the wet ground when he missed. The larger then struck at the small, nearly stabbing him, but not enough to kill, simply wound. The smaller jumped and slashed with extreme might, ready to do anything to kill the murderer he faced. He slashed from every direction, trying to hit his opponent, but to no avail towards the larger, more experienced opponent. Fatigue didn’t matter; this was a fight for life or death. Nothing else mattered except the killing of his adversary.
Lightning flashed as the smaller of the two warriors rained blows down on his brother, not letting up to allow him to strike back. Nothing worked. Every attack was blocked seconds after delivery.
The larger smiled menacingly with delight as he saw the fury in his brother’s eyes, knowing his smaller adversary stood no chance against him. What chance could he stand, he didn’t know how to fight at the magnitude that he needed to in order to defeat him, but what kind of fun would it be to simply kill him? He wanted to savor every minute of this battle, and cutting it short would not satisfy his taste for revenge. He wanted more. He needed it. He had earned this battle, and nothing would hold him from getting what he deserved.
This was the kind of fight that he needed. All his other victims had been easily killed within the first minute of their encounter. He needed to feel the fire of his opponent and the rush of knowing that he could kill him at any second. Now all he needed was an opening. It would come soon enough.
Attack after attack was sent at the large opponent, and attack after attack was blocked so quickly that the blade seemed to barely move, almost as if they were magnetized to each other, the opposites attracting to each other before anything else could happen.
The smaller struggled to keep up when the larger went on the offensive. Each attack was followed through with all its own force. The large, broad sword of the larger built attacker ricocheted off the smaller, one-sided sword of the smaller defender, making the handle almost impossible to hang onto. The large blade glowed with a dark, hallow green light as it whistled through the air, continuing to come in contact with the smaller blade, the one of which a red flame surrounded, glowing bright in the rain that continued its steady stream.
The fight raged on, each opponent using their abilities to gain a slight advantage each time they could, but each one resulted in another quick move giving the other opponent the upper hand, only to repeat the process.
The smaller of the duelists thought to himself that his counterpart was holding back, toying with him, and this feeling proved to be more than just true. He saw how the opponent would react faster to certain attacks, and was slower on others, giving the affect that the opponent was at his highest notch, but was really only halfway up the scale. Upon realizing this, he felt hallow, and could feel a younger part of him almost want to cry out for his mom, but there was nobody there to help, there was nobody there for him to run to, he was his only support, and that support was quickly giving out.
“This ends now!” the larger, experienced fighter roared, gritting his teeth hard for the final blow. This was it, now was when he would be reunited with all his lost colleagues, now was when he would be able to see all his brothers and sister of his new family again, this was when death was the key to bringing back everyone.
Now was it, now was the end.
The small figure attacked again, jumping high into the air, bringing his red glowing blade down to a stabbing position, aiming carefully before bringing it down hard. The attack was just about to make contact with the larger body’s skull when the large adversary, lifting his large blade, cut the attack short and stabbed the small figure in his unguarded gut.
The loser was still for a moment, not quite grasping what had happened yet. He fell to the ground, and as he hit the soft mud, an icy knife stabbed into him, making the pain very clear.
The small figure gasped as the menacing laugh of the victor echoed through the quiet forest. The figure cringed in pain at the horror of his dying. He felt hollow, alone, afraid. Nothing could save him now. He was going to die.
The large figure picked up the smaller by the scruff of his shirt and stared him in the eyes. Those deep, cold, green eyes of his were dark and horrible. They looked like endless tunnels of black, staring into him and seeing everything that they pleased. Seeing the fear. Seeing death.
“You were foolish to challenge me, and now you will pay for it with your blood. I might spare you if you bow down to me and beg, like the filthy dog you are,” said the horrible figure, toying with the will to live for entertainment and joy. He thought this was a proper punishment, a deserving one and a morally correct one as well. This was also his reward, his payback.
“I would never bow down to you, I’d rather die. You would kill me anyway. You’re lower down than the ruthless dogs that command you, you sick twisted coward,” the figure then spat in the others face, smiling weakly at its final remark.
“You have chosen your path, and you will suffer for it,” calmly said the large figure, wiping the spit off his chin, “I’m sorry.”
Lightning struck as the figure dropped the small, dying figure to the ground and walks away. The figure didn’t stand, but quietly whimpered at his state. He knew he would die as he listened for the footsteps of his adversary walking away slowly, making a small splashing noise as he took each step. He had done his best…but it wasn’t enough. The quiet forest hushed once more…
All was silent again…
In the Beginning
Chapter 1: A Glimpse of the Past
The dark, moonless night of mid-July looked down upon the glum, silent earth, spreading a chilling feeling of loneliness and despair everywhere it set its gaze.
Lightning flashed across the bleak, dark sky, turning the lonesome night to day for a fleeting instant. All is quiet, as the wind gently whistled through the dark bodies of the lush red oaks and sycamores. Tiny, quiet drops of rain fall slowly; picking up their hushed pace as the quiet storm rolls over the sleeping forest.
Silence.
The hush of rain filled the air. Nothing seemed to be alive as the quiet night was shattered by the distant sound of clashing steel. It rippled slowly through the forest, waking up all the soundly sleeping scavengers of day, and startling the stalking nocturnal scavengers of night.
Silence.
A rumble of thunder sounded the silent, dead air, crackling into silence again. Nothing moved as the ring of steel punctured the air once more.
Silence.
Two figures, facing each other, stood, staring each other down, as the night grew quiet again. The echoes of the clash fading into nothingness as the rain continued its soundless descent. They seem to not notice when the lightning flashed across the sky.
“You kill our entire family, our friends and colleagues, and all you can think about is killing off the only one left, me. You’re a disgrace,” A small figure said, holding high his blade. His voice was fearless and as he stood, staring at his larger opponent, showing no sign of fear or doubt.
“I killed them for reasons far too complex for your understanding. Do not tamper with that which is unexplained to you. It remains unexplained for a reason,” roared the larger figure, not giving any sign of regret or fear. He stared at his adversary, not moving, a smile of satisfaction playing across his shadowed face.
“You’re a cold heartless murderer and I know you’re proud. All you wanted was respect from the slimes and scum you revere as your equals.”
“Like you have any place to call me a ruthless killer, after what you did to Melinda. I should have killed you right then and there…but I held back. Oh, but you have already forgotten because it was only a slight rush for you, destroying yet another of my only joys, and I’m sure you watched, laughing it up because my pain was increased. I will damn you to hell for that, and those slimes and scum are the ones who sent me here to kill you, but I don’t need money to persuade me to do so. I would have killed you eventually anyway, but the offer couldn’t wait.”
“You will fall tonight; I will make sure of that. Drop your weapon and make this fast; I have no patience with delaying the inevitable”.
“That’s what every one of your pitiful friends and family said when I appeared on their doorstep, but we see what little they have done to stop me. This is a new kind of power I hold, and there is nothing that lives that can stop me. The earth trembles at my will, the storm ceases at my command, and even the inevitable death fears me. Don’t you realize it by now, you pathetic maggot? I am invincible… I am a virtual god, and yet you still persist. I take my hat off to you brother, you are fool-hearty, but you have no head for battle. I must say though, our sister… or should I say, your sister put up a good fight, but I taught her how it’s done in the end. She begged for me to stop all the killings and spare her. I watched her take her final breath and laughed at her as she fell for the last time, never to stand again,” evilly laughing, the larger one turned to face his adversary, turning serious as he returned the hating stare that his opponent gave him. “And I plan a much worse fate for you, dearest brother”.
“Do you see what he’s done to you brother, he has poisoned your mind. You are doing things that you would never have done before you met him. You think how he thinks, and we see what good his mind did him. Corruption isn’t power, it is only a thorn, sinking deeper in you, and the only way to get it out is to see that it is not supposed to be there. Don’t you understand,” yelled the smaller opponent, not letting the topic go away, “It will hurt you worse and worse until you get it out, but if you let it stay, it will kill you, little by little until there is nothing left.”
The larger of the two roared with cold laughter, making the air feel ten degrees colder. “My old self is already dead, I am reborn. I am more than anything you or anyone else will be, and you are only afraid to admit it. You try to make me look wrong, but nothing this good, nothing that makes me this way is wrong. You are jealous, just like all the others, you will one day know for yourself and will go down this path, and you will see just how right I am. Face it brother, I am better than you. I will always be better, at anything you try or anything you might think of trying. You are only being this way because you want to be me, but you will never amount to me, no matter how hard you try,” the speaker chuckled joyously, with an icy stab behind every word, cutting trough the thick night air.
“I would never turn into a monster, and I will never turn into you,” the smaller warrior said calmly, with a sharpness that cut through the cold air of the summer storm.
“We will see soon enough, brother.”
“Yes…we shall.”
As the larger leaned forward, lightning broke the sky and the older brother was locked, blade-to-blade with his younger. The large form smashed his blade into the opponents, but was thrown back when the other retaliated. The small fighter jumped and stabbed his blade at his adversary’s heart, stabbing into the wet ground when he missed. The larger then struck at the small, nearly stabbing him, but not enough to kill, simply wound. The smaller jumped and slashed with extreme might, ready to do anything to kill the murderer he faced. He slashed from every direction, trying to hit his opponent, but to no avail towards the larger, more experienced opponent. Fatigue didn’t matter; this was a fight for life or death. Nothing else mattered except the killing of his adversary.
Lightning flashed as the smaller of the two warriors rained blows down on his brother, not letting up to allow him to strike back. Nothing worked. Every attack was blocked seconds after delivery.
The larger smiled menacingly with delight as he saw the fury in his brother’s eyes, knowing his smaller adversary stood no chance against him. What chance could he stand, he didn’t know how to fight at the magnitude that he needed to in order to defeat him, but what kind of fun would it be to simply kill him? He wanted to savor every minute of this battle, and cutting it short would not satisfy his taste for revenge. He wanted more. He needed it. He had earned this battle, and nothing would hold him from getting what he deserved.
This was the kind of fight that he needed. All his other victims had been easily killed within the first minute of their encounter. He needed to feel the fire of his opponent and the rush of knowing that he could kill him at any second. Now all he needed was an opening. It would come soon enough.
Attack after attack was sent at the large opponent, and attack after attack was blocked so quickly that the blade seemed to barely move, almost as if they were magnetized to each other, the opposites attracting to each other before anything else could happen.
The smaller struggled to keep up when the larger went on the offensive. Each attack was followed through with all its own force. The large, broad sword of the larger built attacker ricocheted off the smaller, one-sided sword of the smaller defender, making the handle almost impossible to hang onto. The large blade glowed with a dark, hallow green light as it whistled through the air, continuing to come in contact with the smaller blade, the one of which a red flame surrounded, glowing bright in the rain that continued its steady stream.
The fight raged on, each opponent using their abilities to gain a slight advantage each time they could, but each one resulted in another quick move giving the other opponent the upper hand, only to repeat the process.
The smaller of the duelists thought to himself that his counterpart was holding back, toying with him, and this feeling proved to be more than just true. He saw how the opponent would react faster to certain attacks, and was slower on others, giving the affect that the opponent was at his highest notch, but was really only halfway up the scale. Upon realizing this, he felt hallow, and could feel a younger part of him almost want to cry out for his mom, but there was nobody there to help, there was nobody there for him to run to, he was his only support, and that support was quickly giving out.
“This ends now!” the larger, experienced fighter roared, gritting his teeth hard for the final blow. This was it, now was when he would be reunited with all his lost colleagues, now was when he would be able to see all his brothers and sister of his new family again, this was when death was the key to bringing back everyone.
Now was it, now was the end.
The small figure attacked again, jumping high into the air, bringing his red glowing blade down to a stabbing position, aiming carefully before bringing it down hard. The attack was just about to make contact with the larger body’s skull when the large adversary, lifting his large blade, cut the attack short and stabbed the small figure in his unguarded gut.
The loser was still for a moment, not quite grasping what had happened yet. He fell to the ground, and as he hit the soft mud, an icy knife stabbed into him, making the pain very clear.
The small figure gasped as the menacing laugh of the victor echoed through the quiet forest. The figure cringed in pain at the horror of his dying. He felt hollow, alone, afraid. Nothing could save him now. He was going to die.
The large figure picked up the smaller by the scruff of his shirt and stared him in the eyes. Those deep, cold, green eyes of his were dark and horrible. They looked like endless tunnels of black, staring into him and seeing everything that they pleased. Seeing the fear. Seeing death.
“You were foolish to challenge me, and now you will pay for it with your blood. I might spare you if you bow down to me and beg, like the filthy dog you are,” said the horrible figure, toying with the will to live for entertainment and joy. He thought this was a proper punishment, a deserving one and a morally correct one as well. This was also his reward, his payback.
“I would never bow down to you, I’d rather die. You would kill me anyway. You’re lower down than the ruthless dogs that command you, you sick twisted coward,” the figure then spat in the others face, smiling weakly at its final remark.
“You have chosen your path, and you will suffer for it,” calmly said the large figure, wiping the spit off his chin, “I’m sorry.”
Lightning struck as the figure dropped the small, dying figure to the ground and walks away. The figure didn’t stand, but quietly whimpered at his state. He knew he would die as he listened for the footsteps of his adversary walking away slowly, making a small splashing noise as he took each step. He had done his best…but it wasn’t enough. The quiet forest hushed once more…
All was silent again…