The (Finished) Creative Writing Story 3 - It's all done, folks.

[Big Rick Cook]

Here we have the accumulation of more than a year and a half's collaborative effort on the part of many Pavilion Members. This is a story that was started by a member of the Pavilion, and each time an addition was finished by one author, another author would pick the story up from where they left off.

This story was first started on the Temporary Gaming Grounds forum over at EzBoard, and then transferred very poorly over to the actual Pavilion Forums at EzBoard. This version is not the same version you can see over there right now. This version has been edited by myself for coherence, unity, spelling, grammar, punctuation, etc. and I would request that anyone who stumbles in here gives it a read.

Now, you may be thinking that a year and a half is a lot of reading to catch up on, and you'd be right. Truthfully, the story is just over 500 pages long right now, and it is still an ongoing project. To hopefully stifle the shock of trying to read 500 pages plus, John Mora and I have decided that I will post up only one addition by any one person at a time. Every day or every other day, I will post up the next person's addition until the entire edited version of the story is completely transferred over to this forum.

I strongly encourage everyone who takes the time to read this to hop over to the CWS Discussion thread here in the Imaginari and give us your thoughts. Please be thoughtful and don't bash anyone. If you don't have any positive comments, please try not to be rude with your negative ones.

This story was also started as a way for anyone who felt like it to join in and write the continuing adventure. Until I get the entirety of the story edited and placed under these forums, anyone who is not currently an active author of the story will not be allowed to write for the story. After the additions are up to date, if you feel you would like to contribute your writing to the cause, let us know in the CWS Discussion thread, and we'll help you out from there. For now, though, let's get to the beginning of the Creative Writing Story 3.1! :D

A quick note: all of the notations included in the beginning of the additions are for quick reference in jumping to a specific person's addition, the beginning of new chapters, or the beginning of new story arcs (known as Books). This is an experimental reference guide and I have yet to see how effective it is going to be.

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CREATIVE WRITING STORY 3.1

BOOK 01

Chapter 01

1st Post – Patryn 01

*Patryn1* – *one* *chapter1*

The wind blew softly from the east, causing the tall grasses to wave in the light of the setting sun. He stood at the edge of the Sea of Grass, that little-traveled land that had claimed so many lives. Behind him, the lights of the city of Wintan were beginning to be lit. He imagined the lamplighter running down the street, carefully lighting each one. The men were likely heading to the local pub searching for a drink to blot out the horrors of the day. More than anything, Guillermo wished he could be inside the tavern, sitting by the fire, instead of facing the nightmare that was his life. However, he knew that thoughts like that did him little good now. Looking out over the miles of green stretching before him, he resolved himself to the fact that his fate forced him to cross it, and face the great unknown.

Unlike those he grew up with, Guillermo wasn’t a dreamer. While others spoke of traveling to the edge of the known world and discovering the mysteries that the world held, he had always sought the solitude of the village. Playing among the plowed fields and hiding in the well-known knots of trees, the village seemed to hold everything he would ever need. Coming from a fairly well-to-do family, at least for a village, he had an easy future where he would inherit the family business, get rich, marry a pretty girl, have a lot of kids, and die. Of course, that plan had gotten shot to hell when the war started.

Like his entire class at school, he had been drafted. Luckily, his father’s influence had managed to get him assigned to guarding the borders of the great capital city, Jaegar. Even going to see the wondrous city was more than Guillermo had ever seen himself doing. Wandering among the numerous shops tucked into hidden alleys awoke something in him. He had discovered that he could fall in love with more than the simple village that he came from, which was something he had never in a million years imagined would happen. The possibility of the world had made itself known in those times.

It had been while he spent day after boring day watching out over the ramparts of the massive city looking for an enemy that would never arrive that he had begun to feel the tinge of wanderlust that his friends had talked about. He imagined them on the front line of the battles, their wonder at the massive forest whose trees towered higher than the highest giant. He could almost see the immense titans - images of warrior kings who lived so far in the past even their names were lost - carved into the side of the Taber canyon. He had both longed and feared to hunt the enemy in the fire caves of Joyt, lit by the sight of enough flame sapphires to fill the largest canyon.

The endless reports of his friends’ deaths in those exotic lands had managed to dim the longing, but not completely extinguish it. Little of the world was truly known, to him or anyone else. A voice inside Guillermo kept whispering the thought that while his friends had died young, they had seen and experienced more than he ever would.

The war’s end had brought only chaos; nobody could really tell which side had won. Heading back to his home village, Guillermo began to see the scope of the economic collapse the war had brought on. When his path had taken him closer to the front line, he began to see the true devastation that his simple guard post never allowed him. The bones of the dead still decorated the battlefield, bleached in the sun, an occasional vulture still picking meat. Swords and shields littered the ground. Craters marked the impact of artillery. All he could do was shake his head and pray to the Great Spirit that this would be the last he would see of devastation and war.

He had reached his village not long after his dismissal. Far from the front, it had survived more or less intact. However, it had seen the effects of the war in its own way. Of the 10 young men it had sent to fight, only two, Guillermo and Alain, who lived on the opposite side of the village, had returned. Life returned to somewhat normal around Guillermo, but he could not help but feel a sense of falseness about it all. What he had once envisioned as his future no longer felt right. More and more, he had sought out Alain to hear about his experience fighting, and more importantly, the sights he had seen. He had never been really close to Alain, but the other survivor seemed to welcome the company of someone who had seen at least a measure of the same horrors he had experienced.

So it had been for six months after he came home. Then the monsters had invaded, and life changed again, but in far greater ways than the war had ever brought about.

Guillermo was one year removed to the day since the first monster had reached his village, and now he found himself leaving the shattered remnants of his country and seeking stability in ‘his’ great unknown. He straightened his tricorn, checked his saber and his veritably rare flintlock, and waited for the ship that would take him to his future. In the distance he could see it, its great sail whipping in the wind, the sun nearly set behind it. Sweeping across the grass sea, it swung around to the makeshift air docks where Guillermo was waiting, dropped anchor, and lowered its plank to allow him to board. Guillermo hesitated, and then stepped aboard, a tired sailor greeting him.

"Welcome, mate. Wha’ ye be seeking?" the sailor asked. Guillermo thought for a moment before replying.

"An escape."

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Keep an eye out for future additions!

[Big Rick Cook]

Here we have the second addition posted by Inraged Cow. Originally posted back in 2003, this is the addition that really kickstarted the story, as it showed general interest among the Pavilion members.

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2nd Post – Inraged Cow (IRC) 01


*IRC1* – *two*

Guillermo had seen many technological wonders during his days in Jaegar, but his favorite by far had been the great airships. In Jaegar he had seen mostly the imposing war ships decked out in armor and massive cannons that drew gasps from everyone the first time they laid eyes on one. The first time Guillermo had visited the docks he was struck with such amazement that he couldn't speak. Even decked out for war, the ships were the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. He would always remember that as the day he first wanted to know what was out there. Though the current ship before him was barely a quarter of the size of the Jaegar warships, Guillermo was still filled with awe and wonder. He quickly set aside his memories and simply stood on the deck taking in all the sensations he felt. The bitter taint of grass leaving his nostrils as they ascended, the buxom first mate barking out harsh orders and the deck crew’s speedy fulfillment of her wishes; his favorite, though, was the way the wind was tossing his hair across his face. All these displays threatened to overwhelm his sense of joy and complacency as a ground dweller. Eventually, satisfied with his draught of the open air, and the last light of the sun faded from the horizon, he retired to the passenger hold to find his cabin.

His mood from the deck was so merry that that his knees almost buckled when he saw a conspicuous man in the dining hold. Upon passing this man and catching his eye, Guillermo was hit with such a weight in his stomach that he had to catch his breath. Looking back at the man, Guillermo stopped and stared, wondering what it was about the stranger that affected him so. The man looked no different from the other passengers, being dressed in the same light cloth garb that all travelers seemed to wear nowadays; just light enough to allow quick movement but hardy enough to stand up to the weather. The man had no visible weapons that Guillermo could see, and seemed to be just another passenger enjoying one last drink before bed. But Guillermo couldn't get rid of the feeling of dread that he had felt in the instant their eyes had met. Finally turning to continue to his cabin, Guillermo could swear he felt the man's eyes on him, but he could not bring himself to look back. His exhilaration from the deck was completely forgotten; the coldness he felt in the pit of his stomach was nothing short of unknown dread.

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Tomorrow morning, if you're even reading these, look for the next addition!

[Big Rick Cook]

This was the first post by Starba, one of only two female writers that graced the story. There was not a lot of significance to this particular addition, aside from the introduction of our first supporting cast member.

3rd Post – Starba 01

*Starba1* – *three*

Guillermo's quarters were enclosed on all sides, so he could only imagine the land far below. He sat softly on his worn, but neatly folded, bed sheets to once again think of the uncertain future that awaited him. His father's influence meant nothing anymore. He was dead and the country was pillaged of any value. Guillermo hung his tricorn on the bedside table and tucked his other possessions in a nook between the bed and the wall, where they wouldn’t slide with the tilt of the ship.

He considered leaving for the eastern mountains upon returning to Jaegar, but first he would need to find a caravan to travel with. The economy had never recovered since the war ended a year and a half ago, and bandits were now almost as prevalent as monsters around the few cities that still had functional banks and treasuries. Guillermo was hungry, but he dared not return to the dining hall with that foreboding presence there. He tossed and turned on the rickety bed, but could not find peace. He tucked his belongings back under his short rain cloak and intended to make his way back to the deck of the ship, but nearly ran into an unusually vibrant young man on his way out the door.

“You got the bottom bunk?” the boy observed. “That’s all right. I like the top.” Guillermo hadn’t noticed the young man’s meager brown bag in the corner. “Cassidy Raesch,” he said, holding out his hand. “On my way to Jaegar, but I don’t know where from there. Most everyone’s the same way around here. You?”

“I guess so. I’m Guillermo Avory, by the way,” he replied with a slow handshake. “Has the dining hall cleared out a bit?”

“I wouldn’t know, I ate awhile ago,” Cassidy replied. “Came from the deck just now, I did. You should go up there. We’re passing over the canyon right now. Quite a sight.”

“I might do that,” Guillermo replied, “after I eat.”

“In any case, pleased to make your acquaintance, soldier,” Cassidy said. “I guess I’ll see you in the morning, then.”

“Right, in the morning,” Guillermo said tiredly, fully expecting a long, sleepless night. With that, he headed back to the dining hall, hoping that the man he had exchanged glances with previously had retired for the night.

[Big Rick Cook]

The 4th addition, 1st by Caciss, the raccoon-obsessed resident of the Pavilion, was the first addition that I made relatively large changes to during editing. Originally, the scene had come to have absolutely nothing to do with the overall story, and became an unnecessary addition in the grand scheme of things. I didn't want to just cut out additions, as that wouldn't be fair to the writers who gave me permission to edit their original work, so you'll notice in later additions the inclusion of small factors that give this addition a little bit of purpose. Sorry to Caciss for calling his post unnecessary, I hope he understands.

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4th Post – Caciss 01

*Caciss1* – *four*

Despite his hunger, he paid little mind to the enticing aromas of fresh-baked honey bread and grilled steak as his eyes peered around the room; not a soul to be found aside from the chef standing behind a glossy wooden counter, scrubbing away at a pile of dirty dishes. The chef stood a good head taller than Guillermo, and looked a bruiser to boot. Why a guy like that wasn’t making money bouncing bars defied all Guillermo’s logic. The man was made up of large broad shoulders, long greasy blonde hair, and a tattered used-to-be-white tank top. Guillermo cringed as the chef’s skin glistened with sweat while beads of the liquid slopped frantically from his nose and chin, obviously from long hours in front of a dangerously hot stove. Guillermo quickly shuffled over towards the counter, and asked for a plate of food. The chef raised his eyebrow, and sighed before saying, “New comer are we?”

“Yes, I just made the ship’s logs this afternoon,” replied Guillermo.

“Well, then, lad. Lemme’ explain a couple of rules to ya.”

Guillermo nodded, knowing that no good would come of a chef not instantly shooing away a patron with a plate full of chow. “Food’s done, sorry if your belly be empty. You bettah’ watch the clock from now on. Serving is ended at six, and begins again at six.” explained the Chef. “Strict rule, chap, not any later.”

Guillermo’s stomach growled in aggression. His soldier’s self-control was tested as he just raised his head and nodded once more before walking out the door, and then to the main deck.

[Big Rick Cook]

The first addition by Staffmaster, known now as Infinity Dragon. There's not much to say about this addition, except that Cassidy's accent is more or less uniform throughout, whereas it used to be all over the place.

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5th Post – Staffmaster 01

*Staffmaster1* – *five*

The Canyon was a sight to behold. Its gaping crevasses and rolling gulleys played mysteriously with the twin light of Lua and Appola, the Sister Moons. The Canyon was two leagues wide in some places, and a league and a half deep, but the ship glided over it like it was not there at all. Guillermo spotted a few monsters far below, but they were no danger being ground-dwellers. He felt a weight drop onto the railing next to him: Cassidy.

"Couldn't sleep either, eh?" Guillermo sighed.

"Nah, mate," Cassidy replied, shaking his head, "these here bunks are lumpier than my Granny's mashed uber root."

They stood looking out over the vastness for what seemed like hours, but spanned only minutes. Finally, Cassidy broke the silence. "This your first time on an airship?"

"No. I rode one back during the war." Guillermo replied with little interest. "One of those big Corralthian cruisers. It took me to my post when I got out of military school."

"I'll be wagering it was a fair piece better than this one here," Cassidy ventured.

"That it was. Less charm, though." he said, staring at his feet, then stretched.

From up on the quarter deck someone rang the bell. The clapper hit the rim eleven times. "ELEVEN O' CLOCK 'AN OLLS WELL!" cried out the unseen mate. "OLL PASSENGERS TO THEIR QUARTERS! NO ROAMIN’ THE SHIP AT NIGHT!" Guillermo heeded the call with the same lack of enthusiasm he had been showing since locking eyes with the strange old man in the mess hall. Cassidy hopped up in an energetic fashion and led the way while Guillermo’s feet dragged the ground. An empty stomach did not help to calm his nerves.

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Stay tuned, as things begin moving a bit more swiftly tomorrow!

[Big Rick Cook]

The first returning author to the story, Starba, features more character development between the two new friends. This sets the stage for the actual story that develops in tomorrow's addition.

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6th Post – Starba 02

*Starba2* - *six*

“I’ve heard this here canyon’s nothin’ compared to some outside the borders,” Cassidy said as he stripped off his worn tunic. His eyes grew wide in hopeful expectation. “Did you see any of them? In the service?”

“No,” Guillermo replied, wishing Cassidy would stop asking questions, “I was stationed at the capital.”

“Ah. That’s too bad,” the kid said, crawling up to the top bunk like a monkey. With his ribs sticking out, he looked the part. “I tried to enlist, but the army said I was too young. Tough luck, eh?”

Young and ignorant, Guillermo mused. “Lots of people died, you know.”

“Yeah, but at least they could say they did something worthwhile. When those monsters started showing up, I thought for sure I was gonna get throttled without going a full ten miles away from my own home town. Not anymore, though. There’s so many things I’m gonna do; I’ve got my whole life ahead of me. Doncha agree?”

“How do you plan to get the cash to travel?”

“I’m a real good hunter,” Cassidy replied, chin lifted, obviously swelling with pride. “That’s what I used to do at home. I can see a piu in the brush 50 yards away and I take in my surroundings real quick. That’s how I noticed you had the bottom bunk before. It was all wrinkled.”

“Ok…”

“It’d be real nice if I could get my hands on a flintlock like the pretty one you got, but I’ve learned to manage with a crossbow. Besides, it’s easier to save artillery. Once I get to Jaegar tomorrow, I’m gonna head out to the countryside and shoot up as much as I can so I can afford some new shoes and a place to hang my hat, if’n the monsters don’t get me first. After that, I think I’m gonna earn me a spot on the soonest caravan east to Taeron in the mountains. A lot of people say that’s the best bet, with this country goin’ all to hell in a hand basket. In a couple of years everyplace in the valley but Jaegar’s gonna be nothing but ghost towns. It’s a sad sight, but that’s what I reckon’s gonna happen. I’ll miss home, but at the same time I’ll actually feel just as safe on the road as in my own bed nowadays with all the monsters about, doncha think? Can’t worry about safety anymore. Gotta just fly by the seat of your pants and hope you see everything you wanted to along the way.”

Guillermo stretched himself out on the bottom bunk, expecting sleep was not going to come, but before he knew it he was in a fitful dreamless state. He awoke with a crick in his neck, a bruise where he’d been sleeping on his rifle, and to the ring of a sharp wake-up call from down the hall.

“Come on, soldier,” Cassidy hollered. “Breakfast isn’t gonna come to you!”

Guillermo stumbled out of bed and crookedly laid his tricorn on a disheveled mass of straw-yellow hair before stepping into the corridor. He winced at the glare of white light gleaming from the portholes in the dining area at the end of the hall. The energizing smell of gristly meat and greasy eggs wafted towards him, and he eventually found the strength to enter the frenzy and fight for his first meal in nearly a day.

“That’s the spirit!” Cassidy said, suddenly appearing beside him. “I feel like a king on this ship. I haven’t eaten this good in a long time. Can’t wait to get out of the valley to where the game’s better and you don’t have to compete with all of creation for it. Haven’t had nothing but piu and broth for a month. At least when I’m with the caravan I can barter for spices and such. Even if I do have to go back to the ole staple diet, I can give it some kick.”

“How much farther to Jaegar?” Guillermo asked, changing the subject. He felt somewhat uncomfortable talking to the kid about meat and broth when he had as much money in his gun as the boy had probably ever earned in his life.

“I reckon we’re a couple hours away,” Cassidy replied. “We’re supposed to be there at noon, ‘round abouts. As soon as I eat I’m heading up to the deck. I hear there’s nothing like seeing Jaegar from the air, even considering the state it’s in now. I bet I’ll even catch a glimpse of one of the big airships.”

Guillermo inhaled his sausage, eggs, and coffee, but the greasy meal didn’t settle well in his stomach. As the boy ran to get his bag and head to the deck, he leaned against a stack of wooden crates and observed the ragtag group of sailors and travelers filling the dining hall. His eyes flitted across the crowd and settled on a familiar figure. The man was reclined languidly at an out-of-the way table and seemed almost to be asleep. Guillermo searched his brain again and again, but could not place what it was that bothered him so much. Suddenly uncomfortable, he handed his dirty dishes to the cook and hurried upstairs to the deck.

It was going to be a hot day; perhaps even storms by evening. Even in early morning, the sun was merciless in its intensity, which would turn to heavy heat in a few short hours. The well-oiled ship glided silently through the air and low to the ground. What few pius that were left could be heard wailing in the brush below.

“I’ve been thinking,” a voice said, from out of nowhere. Cassidy put his back to the railing and leaned back on his elbows. “Everybody’s goin’ up to the mountains, y’know? The monsters aren’t stupid; they’ll get the hint. Taeron’ll be this country all over again, and wherever the people go after that will be the same. Smart people would be more daring, y’know, take the road less taken.”

“Traveling alone is suicide,” Guillermo said flatly.

“Not necessarily alone,” the boy explained. “But you gotta agree with me. Do you really want to go to a new city to call your home just to see it get ransacked like all the others?”

“I hadn’t planned on settling down,” Guillermo replied.

“I thought you just said traveling alone was suicide? Are you trying to tell me you need a companion?” he said with a sly grin.

“You find odd meanings to simple conversation. And no.”

“Oh, come on. Why not?”

“I need someone to watch my back, not someone to babysit,” Guillermo growled.

“Seriously, you can’t be but a couple years older than me,” Cassidy sneered, shoving a thumb to his bony chest. “You probably joined the military at my age.”

“That’s the difference between us. I’ve been in the service and you haven’t. Besides, you don’t have a penny to your name. It’d be best for you to earn something for yourself before you ever even think about traveling any farther than you already have.”

“Guarding Jaegar? You call that the service? Ha!”

Once again growing annoyed as he found himself doing around this boy, he snapped out, “I don’t have time for this,” and stalked away.

“Wait! I didn’t mean it like that,” Cassidy said, running up behind him. “Listen, you have to admit, ever since these monsters have shown up, anyone who hasn’t cracked yet proves they have some salt to them. I’ve seen a lot of hell over the past year, and I’m tough. Give me a chance, you won’t regret it,” he pleaded. “I can help you out a lot, and I’ll stick by you, I promise. We’re almost at Jaegar, and you know I’m right about following everyone else’s lead. It’ll only lead to bad ends. If you take me with you, no matter where we go, I won’t let you down. Please.”

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Tomorrow, things get actiony. And yes, I know it's not a word.

[Big Rick Cook]

The first and only addition by Vanilla Ice T, you could say this one was the first really influential addition because it forced change upon the story, and took it in a direction it was badly needing to go. Originally, this was the point where things started to get really really really messed up, because people, and I mean everyone, kept forgetting facts, and making up new things that didn't fit with the characters, and as such, the next 50 or so pages were a definite challenge to edit coherently.

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7th Post – Vanilla Ice T 01

*Vanilla1* - *seven*

Guillermo smirked and replied, “Yeah, right, kid.”

Cassidy was obviously frustrated. He stared up at Guillermo with a strong scowl and began his pleading again. “Come now! At least let me accompany until ya’ find another… What the-“, Cassidy paused suddenly and turned his head sharply to look off the bow of the ship. Guillermo strained to see what he was looking at, but could identify nothing out of the ordinary.

A cry from the crow’s nest high above their heads alerted Guillermo to Cassidy’s obviously true claim of having great eyesight. “Monsters ahead! Flyin’ straight in from 12 o' clock! All hands to battle positions! Guests to their quarters! Repeat, monsters ahead!” the sailor shouted down to the crew.

The whole ship erupted in chaos. The guests were panicking, rushing about the ship as the sailors tried to get to the bow to defend. Guillermo noticed Cassidy grabbing the crossbow he’d brought up in his bag earlier. Guillermo grabbed Cassidy by the back of his tunic and dragged him, kicking, down to their quarters.

“What are you doing!?” Cassidy started to complain as Guillermo tossed him onto the bed.

“Stay here.”

Guillermo grabbed his flintlock and saber and rushed back to the deck. He could already hear the sound of gunfire as he pushed the deck door open and readied his flintlock. He noticed there were only about twenty sailors defending the ship, as opposed to the hundred monsters now only yards away. Every volley from the untrained sailors’ rifles seemed to drop only a few of the monsters. By the time they were on the ship, at least sixty were still left.

The monsters landed on the ship and began tearing it apart. Guillermo got his first good look at the creatures and decided they were nothing short of daunting. Silver-grey feathers lined their bodies with small awkward stripes of black feathers set in the huge wings. They resembled eagles, but with larger, primitive heads and smaller beaks suited to quick jabs and tears. Their clawed feet noisily splintered the deck as each one practically crash-landed on the deck. Guillermo fired a few shots and took down three of them before another rushed him from behind, knocking him over and sending his gun far out of reach. Underneath the winged monster, he unsheathed his saber and sent it into his attacker’s heart. The beast squealed and tumbled off the side of the ship.

Guillermo regained himself and stood back up. As he looked around, he noted more sailors had arrived and were now fighting the monsters with swords and spears. Cassidy was on top of a crate with his crossbow, firing into the sky at the invaders. One swooped down and knocked Cassidy off his balance, nearly throwing him over the side of the boat. Guillermo dashed over to Cassidy and grabbed him, dragging him to an open crate. Guillermo threw the boy in the crate and turned it over, trapping him.

Guillermo returned to the center of the chaos where the sailors were, and aided them in defending the ship against the few remaining monsters. It wasn’t long before the monsters were fully turned away, but the danger was hardly over. Many sailors had been slain, and the ship had been torn apart; there was no way that they would be reaching their destination.

The burly captain appeared from the quarter deck with a bloody saber and shouted, “We be makin’ a landin’ in the canyon! Everyone inside! Prepare for a rough landin’!”

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Tomorrow is the crash landing. Stick around.

[Big Rick Cook]

Staffmaster's second addition, and what was decided as the end of the first chapter of the first book during editing. This addition was particularly a nuisance while editing, because there were no discerning lines between things that happened on the deck, and in the 'centerline' room. I don't even know if I was capable of fixing this one up properly, but I hope it at least serves its purpose.

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8th Post – Staffmaster (Staff) 02

*Staffmaster2* *eight*

Guillermo kicked over the crate Cassidy was in and scowled at the boy. His saber in his left hand and his flintlock in the other, Guillermo was an imposing figure, and knew it. Surprised then was he when the look that greeted him was steadfast defiance.

"What the hell did ya go and do that for!" Cassidy screamed. "I was holdin' my own!"

"I stopped you from falling off the side of the ship. Holding your own doesn’t entail being rescued from haphazard mistakes!" Guillermo yelled back with equaled fury. “You’re an easy target up on a perch like that against flying monsters, a danger to yourself.”

"More like I was a danger to that monster I shot!" The boy quickly retorted.

Guillermo composed himself, sheathed his saber, and grabbed Cassidy's arm, helping him to his feet. "Look, we don't have time for this. The ship is going down, and if we don't get someplace secure," he motioned over to one of the sailors killed in the battle, "we're going to be sharing the deck with the likes of him."

Cassidy needed no more encouragement and they both rushed below decks. Below, the Centerline room was filling up with frightened passengers and sailors alike. As its name suggests, the centerline room was in the center of the ship and was built and installed in all passenger ships in case of crash landings. Still, the shock of impact would be felt just as severely here as would be any where else on the ship. Guillermo hurriedly sat down and grabbed the safety strap on the wall to brace himself. Cassidy, who had wrestled into a seat roughly across from him, clung voraciously to a knotted rope dangling from the ceiling.

*****

Above decks, the Captain lit the signal flame and prayed that the authorities in Jaegar would see it, or at least its smoke. The Navigator took the wheel and pulled back slightly, attempting to pull the bow up from the ever-increasing angle of descent. Suddenly, the ship let out a thunderous clap, as the hull struck an outcrop of rock on the starboard side. Everyone was jolted bow ward and to starboard in one unified movement. The ship’s angle of descent leveled slightly as it ricocheted off of the outcrop, sending it toward another. The Navigator threw the wheel forward and the ship lurched downward, but not enough to prevent the mast from getting sheered off at about twelve feet above the deck. Splinters and spikes went flying like missiles. Several burst through the deck itself and lodged there. More and more the ship angled downward, and the ship was losing speed by the second. Eventually, it was clear that gravity was winning out over the ever-weakening engines.

The Navigator waited until the outcrop was almost upon him and pulled up sharply. The wheel house swung down abruptly as the ailerons on the tail threw the ship to level flight. This was for naught though, because it was at that moment that the engines sputtered their last gasp of life and fell silent. The ship, now without levitating abilities, dropped from the air like a stone. After a few tense moments, the ship collided with the slope of the canyon wall, then spun harshly into a barrel roll with debris flying in all directions.

*****

Inside the centerline room people screamed as they were granted terrible weightlessness. Everyone slammed to the floor at the feared impact, but began a lottery tumbler with people as the tickets, tossing around anyone unlucky enough not to be harnessed. People were being thrown violently against the ceiling, floors, and walls. Guillermo was getting the beating of his life as thrashing limbs connected at every possible spot on his body. Oddly he wondered if this was the kind of punishment that the other young men faced when they were out on the front lines during the war. His thoughts did not wander long, for at that moment everyone was thrown towards the ceiling and then, just as abruptly, the left side of the room became the floor as the ship creaked and groaned before finally coming to a stop.

Guillermo sat weakly up. Looking around he saw Cassidy, half buried under someone else, but he appeared to be breathing, if nothing else. As his gaze panned the upturned room he saw something that both puzzled him and chilled his soul. Sitting in the far corner of the room was the creepy old man just sitting there as if nothing had happened. His hands were folded neatly and resting on the head of his cane. Guillermo saw the man slowly turn his head toward him, and their eyes met. Guillermo had no time to be mystified or scared, as his vision blanked and he blacked out.

____________

Things get really crazy tomorrow!

[Big Rick Cook]

This one is short, and Caciss effectively maneuvers around some disturbing imagery, keeping it sharp, but not too detailed to make sure the reader doesn't get grossed out. I don't remember too much about when the addition was posted, but I do know that it was during a time when several additions were being posted per day. We originally had such a short time limit (1 hour) that there was literally no time for research and thinking up clever or unique ideas. This rule seriously hampered our individual creativity, forcing the opening pages of the story to mount in a lackluster fashion when compared with the rest of the story. Shame, really, since this is the part that will make or break the reader. I hope you all stick around long enough to savor the meat of the story.

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Chapter 02

9th Post – Caciss 02

*Caciss2* - *nine* *chapter2*

Guillermo awoke up to the sound of his own screams. They echoed out through the canyon walls as a saw tore deep into his flesh. “Hold still!” cried out the man with the saw. “Someone hold him down!” Two men came down and held his body still, as the saw tore deeper into his arm. His screams of agony never let up and he continued to shout until his vocal cords ran thin.

The sound of cutting wood broke the screams as the saw reached the bone. Guillermo muttered incoherently as he finally got a quick glance at his arm. It was stuck between a large rock, and a heavy chunk of engine.

“Sorry, son, no way to be lifting this engine anytime soon,” the doctor said as he wrapped up the bloody stump with bandages. “And I don’t believe rescuers will be here either.”

Guillermo was still shuddering as he took a glance at his arm. He couldn’t even bring himself to believe it, and he sobbed quietly. A cane popped right into his view and came down hard into the dirt. Looking up with puffy eyes, he noticed that there stood the man he feared. “I see yur arm has been tended to,” sighed the man. Guillermo couldn’t mutter a word from his mouth. Fear, tiredness, and pain couldn’t bring him to speak. “You don’t need to talk, boy,” answered the man, ending the silence, “I noticed you aboard the ship. Maybe I should have made my introduction earlier. See, I am Sir Robert Ven Dobbel; I served in the army for many years. You seem familiar, and look like the army man. With that saber and flintlock of yurs, you fought like the devil out there, boy. What’s yur name; I never forget a name,” asked Sir Dobbel.

“Guillermo Avory,” gasped Guillermo, and a shot of pain seemed to run up his arm.

Dobbel sighed, and said, “Well, Mr. Avory, I’m sure we’ll meet again.” He shuffled off and seemed to just disappear into the vision of those splendid canyons.

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[Big Rick Cook]

Super-teeny addition, and also the only one by Garr. This is the smallest addition, but not by very far. There are 2 posts that are less than 200 words, and many more that are under 500. I thought maybe I'd post up more than one addition today, but it only seems fair to give each addition its own spotlight.

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10th Post – Garr 01

*Garr1* - *ten*

As soon as Dobbel had passed out of sight, the pain overwhelmed Guillermo, causing him to black out once more.

When Guillermo came to, he found himself on a gurney made of timber and canvas, being jostled about by the crewmen carrying him. He looked around, but could not see Cassidy and wondered why they were still near the wreckage. What he did see were a multitude of other makeshift gurneys like his, each with its own injured occupant.

Guillermo attempted to speak but his mouth and throat were parched and nothing more than a hoarse cough came out. The soldier near his feet looked down at him; Guillermo tried to motion for water, but moving the remnants of his arm caused blinding pain to tear through his body, and he blacked out again.

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[Big Rick Cook]

Here's another one from IRC. This is the addition that notably started a lot of the confusion, as IRC had originally intended Avery, the first mate, to be a guy and Avery was his last name. It got mixed up during the next few additions, and someone thought Avery was a female's first name, so I had to change things a little bit early on so that many more pages didn't have to be completely reworked. I don't think I changed much else, a sentence or two here and there, and I had to break up the scene to portray the point of view of each character, as there was no format for point of view in the early stages of this story. In fact, a good portion of what I changed early on had to do with separating characters' thoughts. That's why some scenes jump around quite a bit; the only alternative was to rework the scenes completely to make them only one point of view, which most of the time didn't work with the scene.

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11th Post – IRC 02

*IRC2* - *eleven*

Sitting by a table salvaged from the wreck, the captain watched the last of the sun's light descend beyond the canyon's wall. He sighed, replaying in his mind the disaster of his career. Never had he lost so many men to a monster attack, nor had he ever wrecked an airship. He silently resigned his luck to the growing number of monsters in the skies as of late. His first mate interrupted just as he was turning to look at the various charts and maps also saved from the wreckage.

*****

"Report, Avery." the captain barked, the exhaustion apparent in his voice.

The first mate balked at the captain’s roughness, but regained her composure quickly. "Sir. We've got all the injured together in what's left of the hold. Sixteen passengers, mostly with minor injuries; a few broken bones but mostly they're just shaken up. I doubt any of them are going to get much sleep tonight."

"Good, what about our men?"

"We lost five to those cursed beasts and six in the crash, but there are still two crewmen unaccounted for. And although there's no sign of Hawkins, there's no way he could have survived. He was the only person on deck when the ship first hit."

"Set up a watch around the ship and make sure they keep those watch fires going. Have someone assist the cook in making sure that everyone's fed and are as comfortable as they can be."

"Sir."

"And Avery, I want you to take a small group of our best men to find Hawkins's body. He's the reason we’re still alive here and when we get back to Jaegar, I want more than a flag and a medal to give to his family. Dismissed."

"Sir, I thought you might want to know, that man who helped us with the beasts is still unconscious. Doc said he's got a bad fever from the shock of his arm. He's messed up pretty bad, but they say he's stable for now. That kid he was with hasn't left his side since this morning. Oh, and some of the passengers and crew have been talking about some man with a cane. They say he disappeared after the crash, but I can’t find anyone matching that description in the passenger log. While there is a small portion of the logs that didn’t make it through the crash, I don’t think he was on them, anyways."

Still bent over the table, the captain remained silent. After a few seconds, the first mate decided the captain was done with her report. She raised her left fist to her heart in salute, and then left to issue the captain’s orders.

*****

As she left, the captain looked up at the stars and sighed. He knew he should get himself something to eat but there was too much to do before they could move out. They had to find something better than gurneys to get the wounded out of the Canyon. Climbing up was out of the question so they were going to have to travel to the end of the canyon where the climb wasn't as steep. Finding the map of the canyon, the captain silently cursed the monsters. If they tried to wait for help from the capitol, there might be nothing left to rescue.

Standing up slowly, the Captain stretched his back. I'd better go check on that soldier. At the very least I should talk to that kid, he thought. Leaving the maps where they were, he started back towards the ship's hold.

_________

[Big Rick Cook]

Next up, Caciss once again. There was a small continuity error in around these additions that I'll explain with tomorrow's addition, but it had to do with Cassidy being around Guillermo the whole time after the crash. The captain's weird thing about footsteps doesn't really fit in, but I thought it was interesting, so it got to stay. Read on to see what I mean.

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12th Post – Caciss 03

*Caciss3* - *twelve*

Staring at the ground, hands behind his back, the Captain muttered to himself. He moved straight, one foot directly in front of the other. Something about the hollow thud of footsteps soothed him, so he did this for quite awhile. Talking to this boy sounded like a good walk. So he went upon his way to the hold where the wounded slept.

*****

The only salvaged generator silently hummed, giving off an eerie green glow. That was the only source of light besides the several bonfires erected around the perimeter of the crash, and many crewmen and able-bodied passengers were working under it. Many others chose to be alone, and sat silently around barely burning fires in the midst of the crash. The captain stepped out from the darkness, and looked out upon the bodies in the gurneys. He quickly noticed the armless man with the kid by his side, and listened to his footsteps on the cold dirt as he walked over to greet the boy.

“Is he awake?” asked the captain, trying to force a smile.

He lifted his head slightly to glance at the man before saying, “He drifted off again. They tell me he’s steady though.”

The captain sort of sighed. “That’s alright. I wouldn’t want to disturb him during his rest. What’s your name, boy?”

“It’s Cassidy, and I ain’t a boy,” responded Cassidy, still looking at his armless friend.

“That’s no way to treat your Captain, Cassidy. But I suppose you’re right. Well, why don’t I treat you to the finest food we got?” questioned the captain.

“That’s fine and all, but I’d rather stay here.”

“Suit yourself. If you could, though, alert me when he comes around?”

“No sweat, Captain,” he said, sort of smirking.

The captain turned around and walked away, once again taking in the sound of his footsteps.

_________

[Big Rick Cook]

This is my first addition, and I'm quite ashamed of it. I inadvertently caused two or three inconsistencies in the story when I first posted this thing, unbeknownst to me or probably anyone else at the time. The inconsistency I mentioned yesterday had to do with everyone saying that Cassidy never left Guillermo's side, and how he was always there. I misplaced that fact, originally, leaving a small but noticeable inconsistency in the story when we find out how Cassidy got ahold of a certain herb, but never left Guillermo's side. There are a couple other inconsistencies, but I've already sprouted too much nonsense; if you want to know more about this particular addition's inconsistencies, check the CWS Discussion topic near the end.

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13th Post – Big Rick Cook (BRC) 01

*BRC1* - *thirteen*

The rest of the night had passed without consequence, except for the crow’s nest lookout of the ship's crew being slain by a monster. The captain decided it was best to move as quickly as possible through the Canyon, knowing that each night they would be in greater peril than the last, as more and more monsters would find their location.

“You fools almost ready to go?” The captain grew impatient with the crew, who was supposed to have finished prepping the wounded for the day ahead by 10:00; it was already noon and blistering hot. The captain shaded his eyes to look over to where Cassidy was still with his soldier friend, Guillermo, as he had later discovered in the logs, though Guillermo had finally awoken and was on his feet. That’s odd, the captain thought. Wasn't he bedridden and feverish just 12 hours ago? He pondered this question as he walked towards them.

“Afternoon, Cap’n. How goes preparations for today's trip? We almost ready to shove off, ya think? Look at my old buddy Guillermo here, all healed up and ready to take on the world. I'll bet your just dyin' to hear how he got better so fast, huh?” Cassidy rambled on a mile a minute, not even stopping to breathe, and Guillermo became noticeably aggravated with him quickly. He gave out a quick throat clearing to let Cassidy know he wanted to say something. To his obvious surprise, Cassidy actually shut up.

“Now then, Captain, first of all, let me explain why I'm better, and at a speed which you'll understand.” Guillermo glared at Cassidy threateningly. “Cassidy here actually came in handy last night, which I didn't think was possible, but hey, weird things do happen in this canyon, right?” The captain nodded thoughtfully, eager to hear this miracle. “Well, anyways, Cassidy cooked up some herb he found yesterday, saying it would cool my jets in no time and even relieve the pain from my arm. I reluctantly took the medicine, and when I woke up, I felt good. Not great, but better than I have in the last day or so.”

“Well, I'm relieved to know we'll have another set of hands... sorry, lad… another man to help ease the load we all have to bare.” Some sailors came running down as the captain spoke, reporting that they were ready to move out. “Well, it's about damn time; I'm surprised the monsters didn't eat us already! Dismissed!” He gathered his composure and coaxed the two drifters to come along.

*****

“Well, that was entertainin', wasn’t it?” Cassidy couldn't help but laugh at the dialogue between the captain and his crew members. “Shall we go, Guillermo? Partner?” He looked at his new friend with hopeful eyes.

Despite his best efforts, Guillermo couldn’t say no to the kid. He was, after all, obnoxious, flighty, and uncontrollable, as well as not too bright a fighter. But he was energetic, had great vision, and at least some knowledge of medicinal properties. He seemed altogether trustworthy to boot. “Alright, damnit, you can come, but if you get on my nerves, you're gone, understand?” Cassidy nodded happily as they started their journey together.

________

[Big Rick Cook]

Staffmaster again. I further enforced Cassidy's medical knowledge while editing this addition. There was another lack of grief for Guillermo in this addition. It was mentioned, briefly, but I felt it needed a little bit more emphasis to show that he was in fact impacted heavily by it. This is the second addition I changed slightly to allow Caciss's first addition with the chef a little bit of purpose. The chef is only mentioned, but it gives a little bit more familiarity to a story where, at this point, the main characters are surrounded by anonymity. Aside from that, dialogue, sentence structure and grammar were face-lifted heavily, like a 70-year old celebrity.

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14th Post – Staff 03

*Staffmaster3* - *fourteen*

The first matter at hand was to find provisions: water chiefly. To that end, it was decided that the river would be the first place to seek out. Even though the maps survived the crash, the ship’s compass did not. The captain, using this information, had orientated himself with the sun rising from the east. One thing he knew was that a river fell over the wall of the canyon north of where he was presently. He knew this because he had flown this route many times. As the troupe marched, he cursed his luck.

Guillermo was given a back pack to carry. Cassidy’s herbs helped with the pain, but not by enough. To occupy his mind and subvert the pain, he began to think of other things. One of the thoughts that crossed his mind was the wonderful feats of engineering that the scientists of Jaegar were capable of. He recalled a time in his service when he had received a day off, and a fellow guardsman had taken him out on the town. They had stopped at a pub for some drinks, and Guillermo had noticed a man with what appeared to be only one gauntlet on. Guillermo’s friend had told him that the man had a mechanical arm. Guillermo thought that if he got out of this canyon in one piece, he might spring for one of those. He had heard that they were quite lifelike, and almost as functional.

Guillermo’s daydreaming was interrupted by sudden low throbbing in his stump. The herb was wearing off.

“Cassidy?” he called out.

“Yeah?” Cassidy came trotting up from behind Guillermo “Whatcha need?”

“Give me some more of those herbs.” Guillermo winced. The pain was becoming more acute now.

“Comin’ right up!” Cassidy reached into his wrinkled leather sack, which he had miraculously been able to find amongst the wreckage. He produced a small three pronged twig covered in leaflets. “Don’t you worry,” Cassidy chortled as he picked a few off and palmed them to Guillermo, “plenty more where this comes from. Now, the effects work fastest if you grind ‘em into powder and stick that under your tongue. Goes straight to the blood. But since we don’t have time for that, chewin’ ‘em works just as well.” He beamed with pride at his knowledge.

Guillermo popped the small leaves in his mouth. They were a bit furry like fresh mint, but bitter. At first, he felt nothing, but as the minutes went by, and the pain had increased two-fold, it finally subsided in a wave of nausea that also passed quickly.

“Where did you find these?” Guillermo asked after a while.

Cassidy smirked “Doc’s secret.” Shrugging, he added, “Besides, if I told ya where I got this little miracle, someone might hear, and clean out the supply.”

Guillermo couldn’t argue with that logic. Cassidy patted him on the shoulder and smiled wide. “Someday I’ll show ya.”

Guillermo now became curious about something else. “So how does a country boy like you know the secrets of medicine?”

Cassidy thought on that a moment before replying, “Well, to sum up a short story into an even shorter story, you could say I come from a long line of dead medical men. And though I was never really interested, I couldn’t help but pick up the basics, at least enough to keep you from being dragged all over the place like the other unluckies.”

”And why didn’t you hand this out to the other seriously injured?” Guillermo asked, mad and at the same time relieved that it was all his.

”Well, none of ‘em can walk, so it’d be a waste when the real doc’s medicines can ease the pain just as good as this stuff,” Cassidy replied with a disarming honesty that belied his boyish personality. There were no more words shared until well into mid-afternoon when the captain called a halt to the march.

“Thirty minutes, everyone!” he called out. “One ration of water apiece, two for the wounded. If you have food, share.”

*****

Sitting amidst a duo of the only familiar faces he recognized, those being Cassidy and the chef, Guillermo had time to reflect on his situation. His pride refused him the grieving he so desperately needed over the loss of his arm. He had this unnerving desire to appear unfazed by his recent amputation, maybe to save face in front of the boy who so adamantly looked up to him. But why? It’s not like I have a big brother complex or anything, and I most certainly could do without him from now on, so why do I feel the need to show him my strength of spirit? He had no answer for himself as he silently screamed for release, sobbing uncontrollably behind solemn and sullen eyes. He had lost his arm! What use does a one-armed man have in a world filled with monsters? he pleaded to his mind as he chewed detachedly on a piece of dried meat.

*****

So far they had been lucky: no monsters - yet. The captain walked over to where Guillermo was sitting. He had meant to talk with him more fully but hadn’t gotten the chance. Guillermo was sitting on a low rock ledge, amongst the only surviving cook and the rambunctious Cassidy, though Guillermo seemed to be in a world all his own. “I don’t believe that I have properly introduced myself,” said the captain.

“You would believe right, then,” Guillermo muttered in-between bites of jerky and hardtack.

“I am Captain Devon Douglas Arguile III, at your service. Normally, I would have you calling me Captain, but in present circumstances, I think formalities are nary called for. You may call me Deedou, as I’m known to my peers, if you wish.”

Guillermo grunted approval. “I just may at that.”

________

[Big Rick Cook]

Third addition by Starba! Nothing really celebratory to mention, but I did make a lot of insignificant changes.

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15th Post – Starba 03

*Starba3* - *fifteen*

Lunch ended quietly, and a three-hour-long hike north ensued. The main river, the Redhorn, was located somewhere to the east, but it was opaque from leagues and leagues of dredging up iron-stained clay. The tributary that formed the waterfall to the north, however, was the main source of drinking water for villages like Hammon and Wintan, and still ran clear until merging with the Redhorn at a dangerous junction in the canyon bottom. The captain worried that such a valuable source of clean water could be both a blessing and a curse, but if he didn’t risk finding it, the state of the passengers and crew of his ship would slowly deteriorate in the hot sun without a rescue ship in sight.

“I see it, Captain!” Avery called from ahead. “It’s just around the bend; not as far as we thought,” she said, running back to her superior. “Less than an hour’s trek, I’d wager.”

“Good, keep them moving, then.”

“Aye, Captain.”

*****

Several paces behind Captain Arguile, Guillermo and Cassidy walked along in the slow but steady pace of their gurney caravan. Cassidy had grown a worried frown over the course of the last few hours. Finally, he turned to Guillermo and broke the trodden silence. “Why do you think we haven’t seen anyone from the capital yet?” he asked. “With all the monsters about, you’d think there’d be plenty of lookouts, ‘specially at night. Surely they saw the signal fires, doncha think? Seems kinda fishy, huh?”

“I dunno, it takes awhile to get an airship prepared for flight. Or maybe there weren’t any available.”

“Bah, that’s absurd. What the hell would they need airships for now? The war’s plenty over and done with.”

“Maybe they used them for firewood, I dunno. What are you asking me for?”

“Well, you’re no help,” Cassidy snorted. “He’ey, Cap’n!” he called, running up ahead.

*****

“What now?” the captain said. “The waterfall’s straight up ahead. Hold your pants on, boy.”

“Nah, that’s great and all, but that wasn’t what I wanted to ask you… Sir,” Cassidy replied. “I wanted to know about airships. Mainly why none’ve come to pick us up yet,” he complained. “They sure as hell saw those signal fires last night up in Jaegar, right? We should have boarded a rescue ship by now, shouldn’t we of? Guillermo back there says there could be none available, but to me that don’t sound right… Sir.”

Arguile sighed and looked over at the boy. “He could be right anymore,” he said in a low voice. “Ships cost a lot to operate, and with the war over, rumor is that in Jaegar higher-ups are starting to think they’re not really all that necessary. I’ve heard that the government wants to tear a bunch of ‘em apart and smelt down the metal for more practical purposes, at least until the economy recovers and trade picks up again…if it ever does.”

“You trying to tell me they may’ve already put ‘em out of commission, even for rescues?” Cassidy balked. “That’s ridiculous!”

Arguile laughed bitterly. “It’s possible,” he said. “Aye, it’ll be sad to see ‘em go. She,” he said, inclining his head to the downed ship behind them, “may not have been a Jaegar ship, but the economy's gone to hell pretty much anywhere that was involved in the war, so she probably eventually would have had the same fate as the others. I was hoping to get the rights to salvage her as a passenger vessel as soon as we docked back at home, but those hopes crashed with her.”

“What are you gonna do now, then?”

“I dunno, haven’t had much time to think about it. More pressing concerns at hand—Ah! There’s our waterfall.”

“Cassidy, use your good eye to tell us what you see,” Guillermo said from behind them, a silent eavesdropper for the past few minutes.

“What do you mean ‘What do I see?’? It’s a waterfall, ain’t it?”

“Monsters, boy,” the captain said. “He wants to know if you see monsters. This clean water’s bound to attract attention.”

“Oh…well, in that case…” he said, squinting. In the distance he could see a white jet pouring off the cliff like a rainspout into a wide pool, which the sun glinted off of like shattered glass. Like much of the canyon bottom, it was surrounded by a carpet of short, deep green grass, and a litter of red boulders was apparent on its far side, but no living figures could be discerned. “It looks deserted,” Cassidy said at length. “Want me to go ahead for a better look?”

“Shouldn’t be necessary,” Arguile said. “Just keep your eyes peeled as we get closer. A deserted watering hole in the wild doesn’t sit right.”

“Can do, Sir.”

*****

As the heat-stricken passengers and crew neared the waterfall, it appeared that Cassidy was correct in assuming that there were no other creatures present. As the sun sunk lower in the afternoon, the west wall of the Canyon cast a deep shadow over the pool. The captain didn't even need to call a halt as they reached their destination, as two of the sailors dove straight into the cool water. Guillermo took a seat on a small boulder near the rest of the wounded. He was exhausted not from the trip, but from the feel of Dobbel’s cold stare on his back throughout the entire hike. Even after exchanging friendly words with him, Dobbel gave him a distinct feeling of discomfiture that he couldn’t begin to explain. He cursed himself for thinking something so absurd, but that didn’t make the feeling go away.

_______

[Big Rick Cook]

16th overall post - 4th by Caciss. I added this one early because I won't be anywhere near a computer in the morning. I... can't recall exactly what I changed about this addition, but I do know that Caciss was able to bring to light a severe feeling of helplessness in Guillermo.

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16th Post – Caciss 04

*Caciss4* - *sixteen*

Guillermo sat down upon the edge of the rock that jutted out from the ground near the waterfall. He let his only hand sway in the crystal clear water, and he smiled for the first time since boarding the airship. It was a nice something to get his mind off of Dobbel. Cassidy, having finally finished surveying the area went off to sit by Guillermo.

“Nice for a rest now, isn’t it?” asked Cassidy as he ran a little piece of meat over his tongue, savoring the juices.

Guillermo suppressed a smile at Cassidy, “Yes… it feels… peaceful.”

A big man, with an uneasy face came up to Guillermo. His face expressions kept changing and they could tell he was nervous. “Sir Guillermo…”

“I’m not ranked that high. Just Guillermo is fine,” he said.

“But you can call me 'Sir,'” exclaimed Cassidy. Guillermo gave a quick hard shove to Cassidy, sending him crashing backwards into the water.

“What is it you need?” asked Guillermo.

“Well… since yur not to be usin’ yur flintlock, what with the loss of yur arm,” explained the nervous solider.

Guillermo winced at the mention of his arm, as he was still harboring shock, and grew angry about it. “Hell no!” he yelled back at the huge man. Before he could continue to speak, Cassidy popped up from behind, wailing at the peak of his lungs.

“Somethin’s over there! In the waterfall!” he shouted as he scrambled out of the water and to his bow. Captain Arguile quickly made his way over and looked into the cascading water.

“Prepare all arms,” shouted Arguile, “we got a Canyon Runner on our hands. This ain’t gonna be pretty.”

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[Big Rick Cook]

I know some of you may have been expecting the battle against this Canyon Runner, but sadly, it was not to be until the addition after Staffmaster's. Couple things of note: Staffmaster originally fuddled the name of the Canyon Runner, calling it a Canyon Crawler and adapting the beast to the name he adopted. Instead of changing the name altogether, I figured on letting this stand as a simple, unobtrusive example of how badly written and planned out Staffmaster's additions truly were. He also alerted the beast to the human presence by a crewman sneezing. Not at all cool. The way I changed it is much more believable, I think.

I also reread each addition right before I post it, and I keep happening upon little errors, so don't feel obligated to run back through any addition that has an 'edited' mark looking for something new, because they're only cosmetical changes.

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17th Post – Staff 04

*Staffmaster4* - *seventeen*

“Everybody who can’t fight, get under cover!” Captain Arguile shouted above the panic. He looked over at Guillermo. “Can you fight?”

“If someone can reload my flintlock for me, I suppose I can.” Guillermo replied earnestly.

“I can’t use suppositions, man! Yes or No!?” Arguile growled.

“I told you, Captain, I would need a person to reload.” Guillermo wanted to fight, but he would have to accept that he was now handicapped.

“I can’t be sparing anyone. Get under cover,” the captain snapped.

“Sir!” Guillermo said and turned, taking up residence behind Cassidy’s boulder.

“Feed me bolts,” Cassidy said, talking earnestly. It occurred to Guillermo that the kid could have done it himself, but he probably just wanted his new partner to feel useful.

All was silent except for the constant low roar of the waterfall. Behind the glassy curtain a strange form took shape. Two tusks pierced the waterfall, then a beak, and finally two large nostrils. They bobbed up and down for a moment, sniffing the air before retreating back into the curtain. Moments later, a beast at least twenty feet long and as tall as a man lunged bodily through the falls, and plunged into the deep pool of the oasis with a loud ’ker-ploosh.’ The Canyon Runner boasted the head and neck of a vulture, though it had tusks growing from the corners of its mouth. Along the back of its head and neck grew backward curving spines. The body resembled that of a large reptile, but lacked scales or a long tail. In the tail’s place were seven large, tan spines arranged horizontally growing from a fleshy nub. The Runner had five pairs of legs that became shorter as they went down the body. The first two pairs of legs grew out from underneath the beast and ended in grips like talons. The last three grew from the sides of the body and pointed backwards, ending in feet that looked much like those of a gecko. The whole monster was mottled red and tan, a deft camouflage inside the canyon walls.

The beast surfaced and looked around. The crew had prepared for battle but chose to be discreet and stay out of view from the beast. Guillermo motioned for Cassidy to be quiet. Perhaps the beast would move off and not notice them. Unfortunately, from behind a boulder not unlike their own, a crewman must have gotten too scared, for Guillermo heard the snap of a bow and watched as a single arrow arced through the air and splashed into the pool near the Runner, who was floating lazily, inspecting some moss at the water’s edge. It had seen the arrow shoot up from the boulder and looked hungrily in that direction. It froze except for its legs treading the water.

The Runner’s eyes narrowed to slits, and its mouth opened slightly, revealing a set of very sharp teeth. The carnal flash swept over the Runner as it anticipated a tasty meal. It reared up and placed its first set of feet out of the water to haul its bulk out onto land.

Captain Arguile leapt from behind his boulder, cutlass drawn. Pointing at the beast he shouted at the top of his lungs, “ATTACK!!!!!!”

[Big Rick Cook]

One of only two additions posted by Aznable. I recall that he and Ryu had initially decided that they were going to try and turn the story into a Lovecraftian homage. That doesn't happen, but I'll explain that in a later addition. Aznable was also fairly gruesome in his descriptions, a point I decided to leave intact. His writing was genuinely decent, and though his ideas for the story were different, it would have been nice if he stuck around.

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18th Post – Aznable 01

*Aznable1* - *eighteen*

The members of the crew that were able to fight had armed themselves with whatever weapons were available to them and valiantly charged the vile abomination.

A hail of bow-and-rifle fire shots erupted from behind the rocks, spearing and puncturing the hide of the Runner. At close range, several sailors fought the beast with sabers, their steel clashing with its claws. In a few swipes, the crawler's claws and tusks had already decapitated or eviscerated several of the fighters. As this wanton vortex of carnage ensued, Arguile joined the close- range fight, hacking away at the creature.

It was at this point that the first turning point in the battle occurred. Aiming precisely, Cassidy shot a bolt into the monstrosity’s eye. A fleeting shot, a piercing strike, a shattering skull - the Runner flailed in pain. It was during this blood-induced frenzy that the abomination reared its tusked avian head and speared Arguile in the chest. With a gasp of pain and unexpected suffering, the captain slid down upon the object of his demise in a spray of thick dark blood. This newly created fountain continued to spurt, painting morbid designs of death on the rocks and canyon walls that surrounded the battle. With a snap of its neck, the beast flung Arguile off of his tusk. His cutlass clanked sharply to the shallow water as he was flung violently backwards into the deep section of the pool.

As Cassidy watched in horror, a thick red mist began to rise in the water, coloring it with a painful reminder of human loss.

"Cap'n!” screamed a distressed Cassidy as he watched the horror. Risking his life, he dropped his weaponry and dove in after the injured captain.

The remaining soldiers continued to fight as, out of nowhere, a flaming arrow came from above, piercing the creature's neck. Upon impact, the arrow exploded into a brilliant shower of fire and sparks, severing the blasphemy's head. The creature recoiled in the throes of death, killing at least 2 more fighters. Finally, it collapsed on the ground, twitching.

The survivors looked up to see a figure cloaked in canyon orange standing atop the cliff face. As the figure climbed down, Cassidy surfaced with a weakened Captain Arguile, who was spitting up a mixture of blood and water. Guillermo rushed over to the wounded captain.

"Is he going to be ok, Cassidy?"

"Looks bad, he's lookin’ real bad."

Guillermo surveyed the wound. A gaping hole, around an inch and a half to 2 inches in diameter, lay just below the sternum. The flesh and organs inside and around the hole were ripped and torn to shreds. Guillermo saw no way for the captain to live.

As Guillermo examined the damage, a hand came to rest on his shoulder. Guillermo turned around and stared into the eyes of a woman, cloaked in furs from head to toe, who looked as if she had not bathed in ages. Strands of grass lay in her mottled black hair, and her worn face was covered in soot and other residue. She looked to be in her late thirties, but looked as if she had experienced more horrors than anyone in their thirties rightfully should have. In her hands was a sturdy bow, glowing with a red aura.

"Let me see him", said the woman, "he may still have a chance of living."

Upon seeing his wound, the scruffy female coldly said, "None. He's done for,” and turned away.

Then Sir Dobbel, once again appearing what seemed to be randomly, approached the victim. Guillermo and Cassidy looked at him in shock, not knowing where he came from.

"And just where the hell have you been?" asked Guillermo.

He received no response as Dobbel’s hands came to rest on Arguile’s chest, and thinking for a moment, Dobbel said, almost as if to himself, "He'll be ok... just rest..."

Within the hour, the captain had quit coughing up blood, and had passed into a deep slumber. Without saying a word about his absence, Dobbel retreated to the rocks and sat down.

At last the woman spoke again. "I suppose I should introduce myself. My birth name is Sanya; I lack a surname. I have been stalking these canyon walls for days now, knowing I would find someone in need of my help. And at last, I sighted you - but I fear I may have been too late."

"Incorrect", mumbled a seated Dobbel from the rock formations, "You are not too late. The man will survive."

"Hush, old man. I am not done speaking."

In a whisper, Cassidy poked Guillermo and said, "Well, Sanya's a she*****, ain't she?"

Guillermo half-nodded, half paid no attention to the barb-throwing huntsman, his attention focused on Sanya.

Sanya continued to speak, almost as if to herself. "The stars have been in line for some time now. The time is right, everything indicates this. The monsters have arisen, I fear the end times approach." She turned to face the party. "Warriors, sailors, survivors! I know the path of exodus from this canyon! Follow me, or die alone without a Captain to lead you! Allow me to set you free!"

The party decided to camp and discuss. Captain Arguile was cared for, as the sailors debated whether or not to follow Sanya.

In the morning, it was decided. Sanya was to lead the party, as the survivors were to carry their captain on a gurney. The eleven slain men from the initial monster attack and subsequent crash, and the six killed by the Canyon Runner, proved a heavy burden. Some of the men wanted to bury them and be done with it, but Avery assured the seventeen men were carried with as much care as the injured. This being agreed, Sanya took the lead.

"The exit from the canyon is in a separate segment of the canyon. The only path between here and there is a cave. The entrance to this cave is in front of you... for it is behind the waterfall. Let us go." And thus they marched into the cave from which the Runner had come.

[Big Rick Cook]

Another Starba post, and this one's earlier in the day than usual. First, I'd like to clarify that Ryu was not a partner in crime with Aznable's plans of Lovecraftian storytelling, he was just aware of it, and did not try to hinder its progress. Unless I'm still missing something. Anyway, I changed around a lot of the dialogue for this addition, as most of it bothered me quite a bit. Sanya's a bit player, so if you don't like her (like I don't like her), she'll be gone soon enough. The character development between Cassidy and Guillermo is rather strong here, and it tended to be the best when Starba was writing it.

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19th Post – Starba 04

*Starba4* - *nineteen*

“I’ll be damned. Flame sapphires,” Guillermo remarked, encountering a bright glow in the cave.

“Dandy,” Cassidy replied, disinterested.

Guillermo raised an eyebrow at the retort. “Dirt poor kid like you, I’m surprised you’re not trying to pick them off the walls with your teeth,” he said. “Do you have any idea how valuable they are?”

Cassidy rolled his eyes.

“What’s up with you now?” Guillermo said. “I figured this was exactly the kind of thing you were aching for…Or is it our new guide?” he hypothesized.

The boy snorted. “YOU feel comfortable about trusting a woman who knows where a wyrm-hole goes?”

“Can’t do a whole hell of a lot about it now.”

“I don’t trust her.”

“I see that.”

“Nah, it’s not just all that about what she looks like, or even how we met her and all. She gives me a bad feeling, Guillermo. This isn’t an adventure or even a rescue. This is bull****, is what it is, and we’ll be dead or worse if we just follow her blindly.”

“You think it all was just going to be airship rides and scenic tours of a canyon not even out of the country?” Guillermo said sharply. “You’re not ready for this kind of life. I knew it on the deck of that airship and I was insane to allow a kid like you to come with me any farther than we have to.”

“Hell, Guillermo, it’s not like all that. I’d come with you to the ends of the earth, ‘long as we had free reign over where we went and when, and I’d enjoy it to pieces, too. It’s all this ‘treat-you-like-a-stupid-dog magic cult I’ll-only-help-you-out-‘cuz-you’re-weak-puny-mortals better-than-thou’ she-devil business that’s got me all in a knot. Monsters I can deal with. Traveling to the four corners of creation, I can deal. Being treated like a stupid hick kid, deal. But if we get lead around on some stupid magical wild goose chase for too long…” He shook his head.

“Magical wild goose … what on EARTH are you talking about?”

“Look, I meant it when I said I’d follow you to the ends of the earth, and when I promised to be useful to you if you let me come with you. But I’ve got a bad feeling about EXACTLY how things are going right now is all. Just thought you’d like to know.”

Guillermo sighed. “I said before, there’s nothing we can do about it right now. Although, I may even…possibly…know what you’re getting at. Maybe.”

“How so?”

“Dobbel.”

“The creepy old man?”

“He’s not just an old man… I don’t think,” Guillermo said thoughtfully. “I don’t think he just discerned the Captain’s condition. I think he might have healed him.”

“Really?” Cassidy said in a low voice. “How do you figure? I know it was a bad wound, but…”

“He does things…bizarre things. Things humans shouldn’t do…” Guillermo muttered. “But that wouldn’t bother me so much, if…” He shuddered.

“If what?”

“No more speaking!” Sanya hissed, suddenly near the two. Cassidy stuck out his tongue.

“Obstinate fool,” she said. “If a Runner attacks us for your prattling, you’ll die first, by MY hand.”

[Big Rick Cook]

Aznable's second and final addition. This was his attempt at turning the story into 'monsters take over the world,' but he was the only one who really wanted that to happen, so the story doesn't pan out that way, as you'll see in tomorrow's addition. I don't think I changed much of anything story-wise for this addition, another cosmetical edit, and only a little bit at that.

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20th Post – Aznable 02

*Aznable2* - *twenty*

The pair shut their mouths in compliance to the vicious threat from their none-too-kind leader. Splitting up to opposite sides of the tunnel, they continued to follow along as the ever-lit cavern network continued on an upward incline. Cassidy was sure that up ahead, he could see Dobbel and Sanya discussing some dark plan or black majick.

Or perhaps, Cassidy thought to himself, maybe Guillermo’s right. Maybe Dobbel’s benevolent and I’m just worrying too much about Sanya. But still…

The party continued to make their way through the network of caves, trying not to pay too much attention to the foreboding skeletons of animals and other creatures they periodically found along the way. They came across at least ten intersections or forks in the road, but each time, Sanya appeared to know the correct path. Cassidy was scared just thinking about how many times she had traversed these caves.

It was at a wide-open room in the caves that the party decided to rest for the night. The room had three other tunnels leading out of it, some sloping uphill, some sloping downhill. The presence of flame sapphires was extraordinarily high here, so high that the party had to blanket their faces with clothes just to get to sleep. Cassidy alternated standing watch with two other sailors, Seek and Arc. Seek was a gangly thin man in his mid-twenties, that had shoulder long free flowing black hair and bugged out eyes, and who altogether just looked malnourished. Arc was a young boy, maybe seventeen or eighteen, with short blond hair and blue eyes – the prettyboy of the crew. Both were trained sharpshooters.

It was in the middle of the night that Cassidy began to have an idea. He thought back to the prior day, and remembered a comment of Guillermo’s. “Dirt poor kid like you, I’m surprised you’re not trying to pick them off the walls with your teeth,” Guillermo had said, “Do you have any idea how valuable they are?”

“Yes,” Cassidy thought, “Yes, I do. I just didn’t want to look meager in front of you…”

On this note, Cassidy told Seek and Arc that he would return shortly, and ventured a downhill tunnel towards an area that was obviously full of flame sapphires. However, upon arriving at the end of the twisting tunnel, Cassidy was surprised at what he saw. An entire expansive room lay before him, with walls lined with the beautiful gleaming gems. Though he had come to pick them off, something else distracted his attention. He looked around at the room, and noticed that there was an almost temple-like structure built out of stone in the center of it. Upon exploring this construction, Cassidy noted that it hadn’t been used in thousands of years. He stared at the pictographs on the wall, noticing they all depicted something eerily similar: they all looked to be drawn of gargantuan tentacled beasts… they were all depictions of the same monsters they had been fighting. Worse than that, some of them depicted humans doing work for the monsters, under the control of a slave master. Thoroughly frightened by this discovery, Cassidy gave a fleeting glance to the room before leaving. What he found was a tome lying on a table. Upon opening this grimoire, he found it to be full of characters in a language he did not understand. Aching to get out of this cavern, he stuffed the book in a pocket, and took off at full speed, mentioning none of this to Seek or Arc when he returned.

[Big Rick Cook]

Here's a portion of the story by IRC that quickly deteriorates Aznable's addition. By and large, Cassidy's dream is nothing but a way to move the story in a different direction other than Lovecraft. Not much else to mention but that this is the end of Chapter 2.

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21st Post – IRC 03

*IRC3* - *twenty-one*

Cassidy had only been back a few minutes when he heard the rumbling. After awhile it grew to a roar and the entire camp was in a panic. Sanya and Guillermo were trying to keep everyone calm, but were met with little success. Suddenly the walls burst open and dozens of Canyon Runners started pouring out. The makeshift camp was in chaos and there was no way to get some measure of a counter-attack organized. A few people realized this and took off into the tunnels but most were slaughtered. Cassidy knew that this was because he had found that temple and could only stand in one spot clutching the book he had found. Just then a huge Canyon Runner appeared in front of him and reared back its head, preparing to impale Cassidy. He began to scream.

"Cassidy! Cassidy wake up." Cassidy bolted upright off the ground, drenched in his own sweat. He tried to catch his breath before he could say anything.

"Are you okay?" asked Seek. "You were just laying there screaming your head off. We came running thinking you were being attacked or something."

Embarrassed, Cassidy began to blush, "No, I'm okay. Just had a bad dream, that's all. Y'all can get back to the camp. I'll be there in a minute. I just need to catch my breath first."

As soon as Seek and Arc rounded the corner of the tunnel, Cassidy tore into his pack looking for the tome. He searched all the pockets but came up empty.

"It couldn’t have been a dream, could it?" he asked himself. Cassidy walked back to camp and tried to think it over. He decided to go visit Captain Arguile for awhile.

Arguile was still on his makeshift gurney, but he was in much better condition than before. As Cassidy approached, the captain awoke.

"What's the matter, are we moving out?" asked a groggy Arguile.

"No sir, just returning a favor to you."

"Ah, good lad. Always remember who you owe and who owes you. So what has you so spooked? Your face is almost as white as mine," the Captain replied with a chuckle.

"Well I had this dream, but it was too real for it to be a dream. I found this room in the caves that had pictures of monsters enslaving us and I found a big book written in a strange language. And then all these monsters started attacking and killing everyone. It was too real to have just been a dream."

Captain Arguile thought about it, and looked the boy up and down.

"Let me ask you something, Cassidy. Today we fought a battle with one of the toughest monsters in this canyon. You’re what, fifteen? Sixteen? And already today you've seen too many people killed in front of you. Plus, Guillermo has told me how Sanya spooks you so much. I think you're just emotionally exhausted right now and that your brain is reflecting that in your sleep. You're worried about being attacked by monsters so in your dream they did attack. You're worried about not being free and that Sanya's up to something, so the monsters were enslaving us in your dream. Maybe you should see Doc and see if he has anything to help you get a good night’s sleep. I'm sure you'll feel much better in the morning."

Cassidy thought about it and decided that the captain was probably right. He didn’t seek out the doctor but instead just curled up next to Arguile and went to sleep. In the morning he did feel better about the whole thing, and by the time they moved out he was almost bouncing with his steps.

Sanya had said that it would be just a few more passages and they would be out. Sure enough, after a few hours of marching the party saw daylight at the end of the tunnel. A few people ran ahead, yelling as they ran outside. The sun felt so good on Cassidy's skin that he put the memory of his dream out of his mind.

Guillermo stood on a small hill outside of the tunnel with Sanya. "Just over the side of that hill you'll find a way out of the canyon. It’s a small incline along the wall and you'll be able to make it out with your injured. Jaegar is visible once you get up."

"Thank you very much for helping us, Sanya. How far are you going to go with us?"

"Just here and no more. The canyons are my home and they will remain my home. I just help the occasional traveler out and that's all."

"Well, how did you get that strange bow?" asked Guillermo, pointing at the glowing bow across Sanya's back.

"That strange man with the cane gave it to me last night," replied Sanya, shrugging it off like it happened everyday.

"Speaking of Dobbel… have you seen him around?"

"Not since the other night. I think he can take care of himself, though."

After a minute of silence, Guillermo looked around at the crew and passengers resting in the dirt. They needed to get moving and now was as good a time as any. He looked around for Avery.

"Well, Sanya, I thank you for your help. We should get going now. Hopefully we can be in Jaegar by midnight."

"You are very much welcome, Guillermo Avory."

And with that Sanya turned back into the tunnel, and Guillermo wandered off to find Avery and Arguile. He passed Seek and Arc as they were talking about what they wanted to do when they got back in the city.

"I'm gonna spend half my paycheck at Blarg's Water Hole getting wasted and hitting on the bar maids. There's this one named Esmerelda... oh man oh man,” said Arc.

"After all this hiking around my first stop is at that one cobbler downtown. He makes the best shoes in the entire city."

"Oh, oh! You mean Osiris. Yeah, he's the best."

Guillermo couldn't help smiling at their conversation. Yes, hopefully by tonight, they would all be sleeping in beds again.

Chapter 2 End

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Tomorrow, the first city of the story!

[Big Rick Cook]

The start of the third chapter, the first addition of one of the longest-running writers, and the first city of the story. Ryu had a lot to work with in this addition, and as you'll see later on, he does so quite well quite often. I don't believe I changed anything but cosmetics for this addition, a point I take gratitude in, since in the next 20 or so pages, I had to change a LOT of things to make them work. I'll point out major things along the way, but be aware that several of these additions have been altered heavily from their originals.

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Chapter 3

22nd Post – The Honorable Ryu (Ryu) 01

*Ryu1* - *twenty-two* *chapter3*

Like some sort of wondrous oasis stood Jaegar—the shining golden and greenish hues and purplish blue shadows of its numerous towering edifices managed to contrast with the pale yellow sand and the stark vermillion canyons whose blanket pallet stained the backs of Guillermo and Cassidy’s eyes. Guillermo wondered if that was something one could get used to, or if Sanya saw orange even when traveling outside the canyons. After plodding through the last straight pathway of the canyon’s blistering domain—the sand radiated with heat even far after nightfall—the sight of Jaegar and the emergence of grass before it may as well have been a cool bath. At least this last stretch was not as eventful as earlier, thought Guillermo with weariness, as he gaped in still-disbelief at his severed forearm.

To Guillermo, Cassidy’s bristling excitement had been less than clandestine and more than annoying.

“Yeah!” he cried with a gallant, energetic leap as Jaegar seemed to surface from the horizon, interrupting Arc and Seek’s prolonged conversation, “We did it--no problem--heh!” Guillermo shuddered at Cassidy’s failure to verbally acknowledge the immense danger and injury they all had been subjected to, and shivered once again to think where they’d be without Sanya’s assistance—probably in that monster’s gruesome stomach. Arguile tamely smiled while resting on the long stretch of cloth his crew-members had hoisted him on.

The whole troupe entered through a corral of checkpoints at the city gates. The official posted there gaped with amazement and curiosity at the pitiful-looking salmagundi of injured and disheveled travelers and sailors, and rushed them through to get medical attention and probably moreover to transfer the problem out of his hands as quickly as possible.

Once in the pavilion square that welcomed them, and safely inside the city gates, Captain Arguile attempted to rise from his recently applied stretcher while he and the rest of his associates were being carried to the nearest facility for aid—a clear indication that he had something of import to say.

“Listen,” he managed to say weakly, yet with enough clarity to convince Guillermo that these were far from his last words, “I think…it goes without saying that we’ve been through a lot together…recently. And seeing as I still have a crew, but now…no…ship, it would make this old captain happy to meet with you all….here…perhaps at noon….soon as all the commotion rolls on through. I have something to ask of ya, once I regain my strength.” With that he and those wounded were carried away, while Seek and Arc rushed hurriedly to experience the town’s offerings, a handful of sailors with them, and Guillermo fended off the attempts by the medical assistants to convince him that his arm needed to be treated.

“Bah!” roared Cassidy with pride, “My patented expertise should’ve done the trick, ain’t that right, Guillermo?” His eyes flittered back and forth absorbing the features of the city, looking much like a scrappy cat fascinated with a woozy firefly as the city lights illuminated his face. “What do you think of the city—isn’t it great?” Guillermo sensed a hidden meaning in those words, as if the youth seemed to think of the city as some sort of challenge.

“I’ve been here before, you know; I was stationed here,” said Guillermo with a condemning brow; not exactly angry, but preoccupied with contemplating what he would do between now and the time he intended to rendezvous with the seasoned captain.

Cassidy didn’t seem to hear the comment, or at least not to acknowledge it. “Come on—you won’t get anything done standing around like that—let’s check this place out—maybe I’ll get a beer or something,” he said with a mock-innocent grin. “Maybe we’ll run into Arc and Seek.”

Reluctantly, Guillermo lurched forth towards one of the city’s many promising alleyways, and Cassidy trotted alongside with his bag sagging over his shoulder and hands coolly in his pockets. Whether he planned to indeed find treatment for his arm or how long Cassidy would tag along were questions he had no answer to as he reveled in his almost miraculous arrival to Jaegar, the first step in a journey towards unknown ends.

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[Big Rick Cook]

5th addition for Starba. I don't know what she really had in mind here, but she successfully tied up a loose end about the herbs that honestly never occurred to me. Anyways, onto the addition.

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23rd Post – Starba 05

*Starba5* - *twenty-three*

“How many of those herbs do you have left?” Guillermo asked Cassidy at length as the two continued to wander the streets and alleyways of vast Jaegar the morning after their arrival.

“Oh, those? I had completely forgotten,” the boy said, stopping to rummage in his pack. “Why, you need some? I never did tell you where I got them, did I?”

“No, I don’t need any right now. I was just wondering,” Guillermo said. “Where did you get them, anyway? If you stole them…” he warned with a glare.

“Nah, nah, have a little faith,” Cassidy exclaimed. “I didn’t take them from anyone who needed them anymore…”

“Cassidy!”

“What?! It’s all right, he wasn’t gonna use them, was he? People were leaving the crash site before even thoroughly checking for anything useful.”

“Because that would be looting. Someone will eventually go back for those people’s belongings, you know. No doubt those herbs are rather valuable.”

“Argh, you’re one of them,” Cassidy complained.

“What?”

“You think in terms of money instead of practicality.”

“I said the herbs were no doubt valuable, not no doubt expensive. And valuable they are.”

“I know what you meant. Don’t try to hide it.”

Guillermo rolled his eyes and looked up to the sky. “It’s about noon,” he said. “We should be heading back to the square.”

“We haven’t found Arc and Seek yet.”

“They may already be there,” Guillermo said. “Come on, if we look for them it’ll be afternoon tomorrow before we ever get around to doing what we were supposed to. And after we do talk to the captain,” he said sternly, “I want you to take those herbs to the authorities who will handle the crash.”

“Wha…?! Are you crazy? We’ll need those!”

“There won’t be a we if you don’t give those back. I won’t go anywhere with a thief. It’s more trouble than I’m prepared to deal with.”

“I’m not a thief.”

“You didn’t just loot a dead man, you stole from his family if they ever get his belongings back.”

“Oh, I see how it is. You’re all hoity-toity now that your arm’s not bothering you so much anymore. Make me out to be the bad guy. I wasn’t the one using them.”

Guillermo grabbed Cassidy by the arm. “Watch yourself jumping to conclusions like that all the time. You’re lucky I’m so patient with you and that I won’t hurt you, but making accusations to the wrong sort can and probably will get you killed, especially the farther we get from Jugere.”

“Geez, sorry,” Cassidy said. “What I think comes out. I can’t help it. It’s not my fault if people can’t swallow what obviously appears to be the truth.”

“Your brand of honesty isn’t always appreciated. And what you’re thinking’s not always right. Remember that,” Guillermo said, releasing his arm.

The two continued to the pavilion in silence, and the captain was sitting on a bench by the marble statue in the center. Avery was by his side, and looked pitiful.

“My whole life crashed in that canyon, Captain,” she could be heard saying. “And you’re trying to tell me there may not be a new ship for us? What will we do, Sir?”

“For now,” he said, “we’ll just rest here until the wounded are recovered and everyone’s back in one place. We’ll all need the time off after what just happened. After that, I s’pose, we’ll get back to port somehow and see what the council has in mind for us.” Avery was obviously not comforted.

“Captain,” Guillermo said. “You’re looking well. You requested to meet us?”

“Ah, yes, yes,” he acknowledged. “You two have been absolutely invaluable to us, and ya undoubtedly saved many lives as a result of your bravery. I wanted to thank ya,” he said. “Avery…”

“Aye, Captain,” she said, laying down the sack she had been carrying on the bench.

“I heard rumors that the two of ya were talking of leaving Jugere,” the captain said. “I want ya to be prepared. At my incapacitation, the crew had graciously carried what belongings I had taken the time to carry to the waterfall all the way here to Jaegar. I fear my days of travel may be at an end, so the both of ya will probably need these things more than me.” From the sack, Avery produced a stylized hunting knife, a blue rain cloak, a roll of several maps, and a small satchel that looked to be filled with gold. “I’ve always kept these with me for emergencies, like a crash such as this, but it seems I’ve never had much need for them. The maps I’ve set aside for ya include topographical and political maps of Jugere, Matra and the mountains to the east, my country of Anteron to the west, and the lands southeast of the Redhorn delta. The gold should last ya a good two months if ya budget well.”

“I…I can’t accept this, Sir,” Guillermo said. “I just did what I had to do. You would have done the same in my place.”

“My boy, my time is passed,” he said. “You and Cassidy are young, and ya need to leave these ravaged countries while ya can. You can’t very well do it with nothing, now can ya?”

“Thank you, Sir,” Guillermo replied humbly. “We appreciate it deeply.”

“This stuff’s great!” Cassidy said, throwing the long rain cloak over his shoulders.

“No, thank you,” Arguile said. “And good luck to ya.”

“Oh,” Cassidy said, digging in his bag. “You’ll probably know what to do with these better than anyone,” he said, handing the five remaining fronds of herbs to the captain. “I got them from a sailor on the airship who’d…passed on. They pro’ly saved this soldier’s life. That’s why some are missing. You might want to tell the family that.”

“Ah, haha, I had figured as much when I saw this man back on his feet then,” the captain said. “Irvin bought a pile of them at Antaross months ago and had been using them for his back ever since. I’m surprised any survived. Keep them; he has no family,” he said. “He’d want you to have them.”

_____

[Big Rick Cook]

Another addition by IRC, and several things to point out here. I didn't change a whole lot, just some weird word formations here and there. Sadly, the meticulous description of Jaegar is largely ignored after this addition, and we get only nondescript locations. I thought to change this, but it would require a lot of work for very little benefit. A new location pops up into the story, Kolika Bay, giving us a more detailed description of the continent in which they reside. This addition was all-around solid, and we were certainly in need of it at this point. Note Cassidy and Guillermo sharing a room. That gets confused later, and I had to run interference to fix the point. More on that later.

__________

24th Post – IRC 04

*IRC4* - *twenty-four*

Leaving Arguile in Avery's care, Guillermo and Cassidy walked back to the main residential district. The Jugere capital was one of the largest cities on the continent and was still a technological wonder. Built across the Redhorn River, the city was divided into two older districts on the banks of the river and had a series of large bridges each, at least a mile wide, connecting the two older districts. The West District contained all the old factories from the war and the Jugere air field. Back in the days of the war, the sound of metal clanging and the smell of smoke could be heard all over the West District. Now, thanks to the recession not even half of the factories were still open and a few had even been taken over by squatters and outlaws. The air field had too many empty docks and seemed sad and tired. Quite the contrast from when there were regular dockings and take-offs during the war. Many times up to five airships could be seen circling above the district waiting for a spot to dock. The East district contained all the older homes and shops. Most of the homes were for the middle class and the poor on the very outskirts of the town. Like the West district, the East seemed to be an old relic from a by gone day. It still had the sounds of a bustling city and one could hear the merchants calling out their goods from the South Star Market, but it still seemed to have that same tired feeling like the West had. The bridges were another story. Built less than a century ago, the bridges were the refuge of the city's elite citizens. Each of the twenty bridges was like its own neighborhood. A series of ferries ran all throughout the Redhorn with docks at various locations on each bridge and both districts. The largest bridge spanned three miles wide and stood atop of a waterfall. Named after one of the founders of Jaegar, Cerdic's Bridge housed the Jugere government. The capitol building, the Senate, the mayor's office, all of them were on Cerdic's Bridge. It was the best view in the entire city; from the bridge you could see the entire Vesta valley.

Cassidy wanted to go wandering around by himself, and Guillermo had had enough of him for one day so he didn’t object. After grabbing a bite to eat, Guillermo decided to head towards the docks to see what kind of condition the Jugere fleet was in. The thought of that once marvelous show of military might in as much disarray as the captain had described was unthinkable for him.

Walking through the streets of the grand capital again put Guillermo in a good mood. The sounds of everyday city life were so familiar to his ears, and he enjoyed seeing all the stores and restaurants that he'd visited back in the day. He even had a few people recognize him. When he finally bumped into Seek and Arc in front of Osiris's shop, he was smiling broadly and practically skipping. Seek was looking frail as always while Arc was showing off his new shoes to a fruit cart girl.

"Hey Guillermo," said Seek upon noticing him, "did you meet with Arguile yet? Did he say when we're shipping out?"

"Yeah, apparently he's not getting another ship for awhile, so he's gonna hold up here until he's back on his feet. I'm staying with that Cassidy kid for the time being until I find someplace to go. I've already seen this town enough and I want to keep seeing what this world has to offer me. I’m sure I can find a ride with someone who's willing to lend a helping hand." Realizing his irony, Guillermo began rubbing his stump. It was a habit he was starting to develop when he was feeling uncomfortable.

"Well you could always try and get on with one of the hunter groups that are springing up all over the place. I guess that's what me and Arc are gonna do for some quick cash."

Hearing his name, Arc left the fruit girl (with an apple on the house) and walked up to Seek and Guillermo. "’Sup, Guillermo, see Avery around anywhere?" Seeing the glare Seek was giving him, Arc flashed a quick smile. "What? I can't be concerned with the welfare of our fellow crewmen? Say Guillermo, you wanna head out with me and Seek on The Inspiration? We've signed on for the trip to Kolika Bay past the Redhorn. If nothing's happening out there we're gonna stay with the ship and cruise on to the Langdon Mountains and back here. Hopefully Arguile'll get a ship in order for us by then."

"I've never been to the Redhorn deltas. I hear it’s pretty nice."

"It is an amazing sight. All the sand and clay from the desert gets washed down the Redhorn to the sea and has formed these huge deltas made of red clay," said Seek.

"Plus there are tons of pretty girls in pretty swimsuits all over the place. I'm sure they would love to hear about how I killed that Canyon Runner single-handedly," interjected Arc.

The three spent the rest of the day talking about all the places they'd been, Guillermo having far fewer to brag, until the sun began to set. Seek and Arc had two more days until The Inspiration left dock and they agreed to meet Guillermo and Cassidy at the Leaky Gasket for drinks the next night. After watching the sun set out on Cerdic's Bridge, Guillermo headed back to his hotel. Finding Cassidy already asleep in his bed, Guillermo thanked no one in particular for that bit of luck and plopped onto his bed. The Redhorn did sound nice, and after spending the day with Seek and Ark, Guillermo had begun to form a friendship with the two sailors.

[Big Rick Cook]

*sigh* Another Staffmaster addition. His additions were extremely dissatisfying for the first editions. A whole lot of pointless bickering, annoying accents, and useless scenes. One thing of note here was that the waitress had absolutely the worst accent ever, making her nearly imossible to understand through writing. I fixed it up so it's actually understandable, but it still haunts me at night. Another point of annoyance was the complete lack of fact-checking he did when it came to Cassidy and Guillermo's room situation. At least once it's stated that they're rooming together, and in the last addition, right before the end, Guillermo sees Cassidy already asleep on the bed. Well, he ignored these and made Cassidy have a separate room, which becomes a major problem later on, but that's later on. The last thing I did was shorten the breakfast scene, because it was absolutely pointless for such a useless scene to go on uselessly for any longer than it had to. I changed Guillermo's dialogue so that it actually has some merit and almost fits into the story. Almost.

_____

25th Post – Staff 05

*Staffmaster5* - *twenty-five*

A pounding on the floor awakened Guillermo.

“Hey, Guillermo! Get up!! I bet ya can’t wait to give me a tour of the city!” Cassidy beamed, stamping his feet for good measure.

Guillermo wearily looked at the clock on the bed stand. 5:06. "A.M." he assumed.

“C’mon!! You can’t stay in bed all day!” More pounding ensued.

So help me God, I’m going to shoot that kid... Guillermo thought as he rolled over and buried his head under the pillow.

At this point, and much to Cassidy’s chagrin, some of the other hotel patrons started to wake up and yell at him through the door, rather colorfully, to shut up and go back to bed. He ignored them until the innkeeper finally came up and told him if he didn’t pipe down and go back to bed, he would be evicted. This put the necessary damper on Cassidy’s overly enthusiastic demeanor, and he left the room. It was not until 7:30 that Guillermo awoke again. He found that getting undressed and dressed with only one arm was more difficult than he had expected. That mechanical arm was starting to look better and better. Even a simple hook would be better than nothing. There was a percolator in his room with some complementary coffee, so he made himself a cup. After he was finished, he made his bed the best he could, and then popping on his tricorn, went downstairs.

The lobby was already bustling: people checking in and out, others reading the morning paper, and still others munching on breakfast. Seek and Arc were sitting with Cassidy at a booth on the far wall under a painting of the innkeeper with what looked to be one of the old mayors of Jaegar.

“Morning,” Guillermo said with a smile as he sat down next to Seek.

“Morning!” the three of them replied.

“So,” Arc asked Guillermo between bites of his honey bun, “what’s the plan for today?”

“If I was you, I would go have that arm looked at.” Seek suggested. “Since you’re a veteran, you might be eligible for free prosthetics.”

Guillermo took this into consideration. He had other plans for today, though. The first thing he needed was a new wardrobe, so a trip to the tailors was definitely in order. He looked across at Cassidy and at his ratty old tunic, and thought he could probably use the same treatment. After the monsters came, the barber in Wintan had been killed. Since then, locals with no experience had been cutting hair. It would feel good to have a proper haircut again. Just then the waitress came by to check on them, and noticed Guillermo.

“Oh, hello hon! Whatta ya havin’ t’day?” she said.

“I’ll have half a yamma melon, if you have it, please.” Guillermo said.

“Will ya be havin’ sumthin’ ta’ drink, hon?” The waitress didn’t look up from her note pad.

“Just some citra juice.” he said

“Be right back, shoog!” the waitress went off to get Guillermo’s order, and returned shortly thereafter. Placing it in front of him, she said, “That’ll be one sovereign and fifty shekels.”

Guillermo reached into the money pouch and pulled out three sovereigns. He expected that she would want a tip. Cassidy, who had been quietly munching on his sausages up until now, noticed what Guillermo was doing and piped up.

“Ooo! Ooo!” he said to the waitress, but motioning to Guillermo, “He’s payin’ for this, too.” Cassidy pointed at his plate.

“In that case, shoog, it’ll be eight sovereigns and thirty shekels.” The waitress sighed.

Guillermo paid the price, plus the customary tip, and glared at Cassidy.

“What?” Cassidy declared innocently.

“Remember what Arguile said?” Guillermo asked with raised eyebrows.

“About what?”

“About the money!” Guillermo almost shouted.

“Um...” Cassidy sunk in his seat a bit, obviously uncomfortable with the situation.

“He said,” Guillermo said slowly, “that this money would last us two months, but only if we budget it correctly.”

“So?” Cassidy retorted

“’So’ that means no more seven sovereign plates of sausage,” Guillermo explained as he reached over and grabbed Cassidy’s plate. Seek and Arc looked on attentively, but stayed out of Guillermo’s lesson to Cassidy about the value of a sovereign.

“Hey!” Cassidy cried as Guillermo started to fork sausages onto his plate, “Those’re mine!”

“No, they aren’t,” Guillermo said flatly.

“Yeah they are!” Cassidy protested.

“Who paid for them?” Guillermo came back, leaning forward over the table slightly, smiling.

“Oh.” Cassidy said, defeated. But then he got an idea. “Well if you wanna be technical, it’s the captain’s money,” he said, pleased with himself.

“Don’t get wise,” Guillermo said as he ate some sausage.

Cassidy smirked. “Would you rather I be stupid?”

“What did I tell you about getting on my nerves? I said you do it and you’re gone. So how about it? Is it time we split up or are you going to shut up and listen to me?” Cassidy realized his new status of ‘thin ice,’ leaned back in his seat and slouched, obviously defeated. Guillermo sighed and rolled his eyes, while Cassidy folded his arms in a huff. Everyone finished their breakfast uneventfully after that.

[Big Rick Cook]

IRC. He had a habit of debilitating additions that needed death quite badly. So we're thankful for his additions. In this one, he destroys basically every thought that Guillermo had in Staffmaster's previous addition. I considered removing Staffmaster's post entirely, but I'm trying my hardest not to remove anything completely.

_____

26th Post – IRC 05

*IRC5* - *twenty-six*

Guillermo decided against even considering an artificial arm. It was still a new invention, and most arms were just a hook on a stick, or some piece of armor that was attached to the stump. They were purely for aesthetic purposes and usually served no practical value, at least not when it came to fighting monsters or loading a flintlock. The ones that were actually useful were way out of his price range, besides. Even with his momentary trouble getting dressed that morning, he was starting to get used to the idea of having only one arm. Fortunately, his right hand was his sword hand, so he wasn't totally useless.

Deciding that his hair was fine for the moment, he headed towards a little tailor shop he knew in the East District. But on the way he heard the sound of someone walking with a cane. Guillermo knew that there must have been hundreds of people that lived in the city with canes, but for some reason this sound stood out. Everything else seemed to drown out and the tap of the cane on the cobbled street echoed in his ears.

Turning around, Guillermo caught a glimpse of a man in black disappearing down an alley.

"There is no freaking way..." he muttered to himself. But still he hurried down the alleyway trying to catch up to the man he knew to be Sir Dobbel.

[Big Rick Cook]

Ryu's second addition, and in a lot of ways, the best addition in the story so far. The only problem a lot of people had with Ryu's stuff is that it can become hard to understand the sentences due to his complex language and sentence structures. And by complex I don't mean a dependent clause tacked onto an independent clause, just... complicated. While I find it only a small, trivial problem, others weren't so kind. I changed one sentence here, but I can't remember which one. It was mostly trivial, I think. I think. : \ But this is also the longest addition so far, weighing in at nearly double the longest post so far. Good stuff, and gets us moving in a proper direction once again.

_____

27th Post – Ryu 02

*Ryu2* - *twenty-seven*

The dull pats of the old wooden cane echoed in Guillermo’s head as if in an empty warehouse, making it difficult for him to detect from which direction the repetitious sound was coming from as he followed the resonance as best he could. The streets were eerily vacant in the morning air; it seemed thicker than usual. He pursued the noises through numerous twists and turns, and he worried if his navigational skills could get him back to the inn. Damn alleyways are like a freaking’ maze, he thought as he chased the steady hum of the cane as its taps all seemed to merge into one solid vibration. He didn’t know if he would be relieved or disappointed if the cane did not belong to whom he thought it must.

By this time Guillermo had seen no another souls strolling the alleyways; it was as if the same call of the cane, like a passionate howl of a wolf, warned the local denizens from straying into the chaotic mist beyond their doors, while it conversely beckoned him forth. Finally, as he wondered just how fast whoever this guy could possibly be, he traced the sound as coming at the end of his current path as it widened into a public park that connected several alleyways. The park seemed to be drowned in a subtle haze, as if all the smells and grime of the city had been funneled into the place by the alleyways. It smelled like old dead trees nonetheless.

Guillermo, his pace almost reaching a dash, stopped short and grasped his still aching arm as he came across a surreal sight in the corner of the park. Waving his arms slowly and meditatively with his feet apart stood Dobbel about ten feet away in the scanty shade of an isolated patch of thin, tall trees. A dilapidated wooden bench sat obtrusively a couple yards to Guillermo’s right—their only company besides the trees and walls. The same sense of dread and foreboding indigenous to previous notations of Dobbel’s presence rushed through Guillermo’s body as swiftly as blood through arteries—a fact all the more surprising to him considering Dobbel’s kindly nature following the fateful accident on the pathways to Jaegar. Their eyes locked together like a rope tethered sternly between two posts as Dobbel cracked a knowing smile signaling that he had something interesting to reveal. Guillermo walked forth.

“Sorry to come to you (Guillermo instantly found this strange considering the great effort exerted just to catch the sneaky old man) in yur moment of weakness,” Dobbel said with a pause as he closed his hand cautiously over a small red rubber ball, “but then again, you are a weak man.” He opened up his other hand and a red ball seemed to grow from his palm like a blossom. A whirlpool of decidedly important thoughts had been making their endless round within Guillermo’s head—the repeated battles, the loss of his arm, the decision to allow Cassidy to follow him, the healing of the captain, the advent of Sanya and Dobbel’s mysterious presence, the wonders and promises of Jaegar, Arc and Seek and the planned journey to Kolika Bay, his undetermined future—and this little trick had irritated, even angered, him in its triviality.

“Learned it in Hymaltus—there are a couple of folks there who can show you how you can move a ball faster in ways you’d never believe,” he said as he methodically slipped the token into a pocket in exchange for his cane that had been at his belt for that brief interlude.

“Nevermind that,” Guillermo clipped with some annoyance, “what do you want with me… and what did you mean by calling me weak?”

“Well, I’ve been watching you if you may ‘ave noticed—I can see it in yur eyes: every third young man yur age is like you….maybe every other fellow it seems nowadays. ….Either they’ve been crushed by war and its horrors and monsters’ carnage as jus’ another soldier – you were in the army, correct? – or peasant or they’re lookin’ for a way to make sense of it all due to the guilt at having done nothin’ to stop this world from going to ****. And the harder they try, the bigger hole they dig themselves into, and the worse they feel for failing.” He gestured to Guillermo’s pitiful stump of an arm, and shot another squinty-eyed, wry-lipped smile.

Guillermo frowned and looked vaguely forth—Dobbel’s words seemed too abstract to make practical sense of, wondering whether they accurately described his plight and dilemma seemed too loose a concept to consider.

“What’s more, I’ve seen how you treat that little rapscallion. You see his light – he’s always so positive, so simple, and you resent him for it. Thus you judge him based on his poverty, his youthful naivety, his stupid happiness with life despite all that this world has been through; and you think, ‘I’m better than him—just look at how foolish he is.’ The cool, indifferent façade and formidable aura that you carry so well bears witness to the compensatin’ covering of yur weakness, yur striving to cope the reality of your failures and insignificance, yur need to be worth something--not just another foolish being that cares not where the world ends up.

You see, you are not like him—remember our first conversation? I tested you then. Yur conflicted eyes, yur lack of acceptance at yur lost arm, yur determination not to lose consciousness in the face of one you don’t trust—I can tell you want the power to change the world for good for a change. That boy’s existence is a paradox: he doesn’t care enough about life to be dissatisfied with the way the world has turned out, yet he cares enough about life to be happy with everythin’ regardless of what excrement lands on him. He takes pride in the little things, like stealin’ herbs to serve the pragmatic purposes he deems best. I tell you, people like him will never muster the drive needed to revolutionize reality, although yur rubbing off on him – yur mere presence challenges him to better himself.

“For you,” (Dobbel’s eyes acquired a screwy, scrunched-up glare), “you have the ambition to modify what you see, and yur conscious of the dissatisfaction with yur powerlessness to amend this world’s sorry history, or add a new chapter. You desire power to do just that. In fact, that’s why you left yur home—to find a solution to yur own feelin’s of weakness.”

Guillermo wondered with positive bewilderment at what possible agenda could be defining why Dobbel was telling him this. Guillermo, while easily irritated, typically could absorb much insult before his threshold of offense had been reached, but he failed to handle these audacious claims of having him all figured out. He hadn’t even figured himself out yet.

“You’re a madman,” Guillermo muttered with finality as he veered left to leave, but a sudden swipe of Dobbel’s cane against a nearby tree forced him as if on cue to face Dobbel once again.

Dobbel continued as if his lecture had not been breached:

“What if I told you that you could transcend yur limitations? This is what the world is like when left to humans in their current state of existence—war divides us while we are powerless to stop the monsters that plague us. Thus mankind must evolve. It’s the only way. And it’s at our fingertips.”

Guillermo shot Dobbel a look of suspicion.

“What if I told you that you could get yur arm back, and what’s more, an arm more beautiful, more human than the one you lost—not some rusty, irony, nuts and bolts, clanking mechanical one, like all the other fools and their simple solutions? You’ve seen me heal that captain back there—there’s no doubt he would have died otherwise, right? Didn’t need a mechanical chestplate cork to fill that gaping whole. That’s only a sample of what’s in store for you.” The suggestion almost crushed Guillermo like an avalanche of a falling castle wall, so drastic the visual effect of it had been upon him. Having thought he totally dismissed the idea of a mechanical arm, the promise of some sort of flesh proved all the more instigating, but Guillermo vaguely noted the peculiar usage of “beautiful” and “human”—with an entity as mysterious as Dobbel, those adjectives could have meant anything. At that instant, twisting spires of pain surged through his handicapped appendage, as if some external force had catalyzed this cruel reminder of his condition.

Guillermo swiped his remaining arm through the air in front of him, half as a reaction to the throbbing intensity of his pain, half as an attempt to appear impressive and forceful after Dobbel’s longwinded monologue.

“That’s impossible!” he cried with passion. “You’re playing mind games with me, you old haunt. After multiple episodes of following me while playing this ridiculous game of hide-and-seek, you assault me with this nonsense. I don’t need your sympathy or your incomprehensible ramblings. And what makes you think I even want a new arm—I’m not as weak as you suppose—I’ll manage just fine without your supposed patronage,” Guillermo clenched his fist with antipathy towards the drastic measures required to exude some sense of power towards this seemingly average old man. A somber, “Let me alone,” indicated a last resort to maintain his indifferent nature. A patch of cool moisture briefly floated past his face.

Dobbel remained unfazed, preferring instead to watch intently at Guillermo’s calm, yet intense eyes. At that surprisingly not uncomfortable moment, Guillermo realized at once part of what had disturbed him earlier with Dobbel’s presence. His right eye, while light blue and unsettlingly deep in its own right failed to match with his left—a crystal blue, seemingly faultless circle with a shiny black core embedded in a harness of snow white gloss. While the lesser eye remained steady, the amazing eye seemed almost to lock on individually to Guillermo’s features with decidedly mechanical precision; in fact, it was discharging a light hum that Guillermo couldn’t believe he didn’t notice before. Entranced with the optic jewel and the unimaginable depth it intimated, Guillermo could not shake the impression that he almost felt he could journey into this eye like an endless hallway in his own mind’s eye and become lost forever.

Dobbel released Guillermo from his gaze like an executioner severing the suspended rope of the hanged.

“I lost my first eye in a battle many a year ago. For all you know, this here better eye may be watching yur little cells multiply. And now, boy, you know that I can give you what you have lost and then some—starting with yur arm you’ll obtain the power to readjust the world as you see fit; this offer is about power, not ‘bout a stinkin’ arm,” he said, this time gravely serious, reclining forward on his cane.

“I…still don’t believe you,” Guillermo replied with effort, still reeling from Dobbel’s inhuman ability to control the conversation with mere words and gesticulation.

“What’s not to believe? Truth is stranger than fiction—this you have to learn. Nobody would have thought that monsters would have been polishin’ off the dwellings of man a year ago, but here we are. Stop doubting. Either I’m the biggest liar you ever did see, or I’m a tellin’ you the truth. Truth always comes in the most unassumin’ of packages.” Dobbel grinned once again and waved his hand over what the outside world could only assume was a common old man.

Guillermo, at a loss for words, could only muster a, “Why?” while apparently assuming Dobbel already knew what he meant by this expression.

“It’s simple: because I’ve been watching you and, as a harbinger of the next stage of human evolution, selected you from a vast pool of human hosts, deciding you’ve the ambition to take the beauty of your new flesh to its highest potential. As you might suspect, since this technology is far beyond what anyone might have guessed for this age, the resources necessary are tremendously costly, and the exclusiveness of those chosen is enormously discriminatory. You should feel bless’d that I’ve chosen you, and my satisfaction comes only in the love of my work and the feelin’ of having made the correct choice. I ask only in return that, after the ‘surgery’, you accompany a troupe I’ve noticed—a particular organization that rewards proof of killing monsters with money and resources—on their expedition to try out yur new limb. I’m positive you’ll like it.”

Guillermo’s head burned with confusion, his desire to live as one not crippled clashing with the incompatible sentiments to trust or not to trust the inscrutable Dobbel.

“Come on, you don’t wanna have to fetch a partner just to load a gun—this is precisely the dependence and weakness you despise and strive to rid yourself of. You can deal with it, sure, but you don’t like it one bit.”

The environment seemed to swirl around Guillermo as he tingled with tension and dizziness—he had to press his tricorn to his head just to cure himself of the sensation that he might be tipping over. The inevitable ultimatum occurred:

“Boy, I’m only gonna ask you this once and you’ll have to stick by yur word: do you or do you not want me to give yur arm back?”

The desire to trust and wish Dobbel’s words to be true collided with a dark, subtle sense of foreboding like one airship into another. Thoughts and worries about Arc and Seek and Cassidy and the captain and the scheduled journey to Kolika Bay faded into the back of his mind like flotsam only to submerge like dregs and then resurface again. A sense of excitement overcame Guillermo, swamping his judgment.

“…Yes,” said Guillermo slowly.

“Excellent,” replied Dobbel with a grin, and with that tapped his cane on the crumb-like soil below. A whole sky full of cloud’s worth of grey gas flooded out from beneath them.

Guillermo reared back as breathing abruptly proved difficult, and only succeeded in inhaling a thick wisp of the dismal fumes as he tried to respire. The gas seemed to congest his sinuses as he keeled over onto the ground, then fell onto his back; he groggily minded the ghostly, light-blue silhouette of Dobbel standing upright as his heavy eyelids zipped themselves shut.

[Big Rick Cook]

Caciss's 5th and final addition. I don't really know what to say about this one. It completely avoids Guillermo's portion of the story, and starts a string of additions that originally led to the near demise of the story early on. I don't help in that regard, but that's for tomorrow's addition. C'est la vie. This is Walgreens.

__________

28th Post – Caciss 05

*Caciss5* - *twenty-eight*

Cassidy turned around suddenly. His sharp eyes sought Guillermo, but he was gone. Silently cursing to himself, he started walking back and tried to recall where his friend had left his side. Then he became impatient, turned around and decided to wait at the tailor’s in hopes of Guillermo’s return.

*****

Arc and Seek were resting by the docks. They sat listening to all the sounds of the mechanics flowing through them. It was still early so they were not as active as usual. Arc tilted his head back and stared up at the bright blue sky, sighing. Seek twisted his head to look at Arc, “Miss flying already?”

“Yeah. Don’t you?” Arc asked, chuckling.

Seek smiled. “Well, of course I do. Only one more day ‘til the The Inspiration sets sail. Can’t wait to get back in the air. ”

“And shoot this gun,” he said, pointing at the rifle in his lap.

Seek half frowned. “Well, let’s quit moaning. Why don’t we go back to town to find Guillermo and Cassidy and head over to the beach?”

“A little early, isn’t it?” Arc queried.

“By the time we find those two explorers, it will be the perfect time to swim!” Seek exclaimed.

“I think I’ll just sit here awhile longer,” said Arc.

Seek sighed. “Alright. I guess people can't always be happy. Just don’t let whatever it is get to yah, okay?”

“Sure,” Arc replied. “Meet you at the pavilion in town?”

“Sounds good.” Seek got up, took a breath, and went on his way back to town. The wind never felt so alive.

*****

Seek arrived in the pavilion just in time to see some of the shops come alive with light. It seemed to only be a matter of seconds before people flooded the area. The confused mixture of talking created what seemed like one sound which flooded Seek’s mind. The quiet always made his ears burn. Without the constant purring of an engine or the blasting of a gun he felt alone, a feeling he never really shared with anyone else.

After waiting a long while, he knew that Arc would not be coming anytime soon. So he wandered off in search of Guillermo and Cassidy. It didn’t take long to spot Cassidy sitting outside of the tailor’s. Seek quickly took a seat next to Cassidy and looked at his red face.

“Guillermo… Guillermo… ditched me, Seek!” he cried out.

Seek squinted and frowned. “You sure you just didn’t lose him?”

“Nah, he’s been gone awhile,” Cassidy sniffed. “He would have known I'd be waiting here.”

“Now I don’t think that Guillermo would be the kinda guy to ditch you,” his companion replied. “Something must have happened to him. Why don’t we go search for him?”

Cassidy sort of smiled and said, “Looks like you're missin’ a buddy, too.”

Seek smiled back. “See? We're in the same jam.”

[Big Rick Cook]

Second addition by yours truly. Three things to note here:
1. I changed the description of Avery a little bit; I'm still ashamed of this addition because of its bad writing and flagrant disregard for the actual story.

2. I didn't write about Guillermo because I felt really uncomfortable taking the key position after his scene with Dobbel. At this point of the story, I just had an extreme distaste for Guillermo in general, and it shows in my next few additions. I was much more enthused about the prospect of the secondary characters at this point, those being Seek, Arc, Cassidy, and Avery.

3. This was my first real attempt at writing seriously. The complete lack of female characters at this point drew me towards Avery instantly, and I felt we needed to develop her a little bit more. Thus the small bit of romantic activity displaced between the two A's. More on this later.

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29th Post – BRC 02

*BRC2* - *twenty-nine*

As Arc watched Seek stroll away, his eyes grew heavy and he turned his attention to the sky. Watching as a green and brown airship floated by overhead, he eventually nodded off to sleep.

He hadn't been sleeping for very long when the sound of a click aroused his attention. Odd, that sounded like my gun... Realizing what had just happened, his eyes sprang open to see the barrel of his rifle staring him down. His eyes were focused on the barrel, so he couldn't tell who was holding the gun above him. Sure that it was some lowlife or thief, he begged with them: “Please, don't kill me, just take it and go!” He heard the click of the gun again, and forced his eyes closed, knowing the last sound he would hear was the gunshot ringing through his forehead.

“Arc, Arc, Arc, when are you going to learn not to fall asleep with your gun in plain sight?” said a quite amused Avery, who had enjoyed every second of Arc's whimpering. When he opened his eyes again, she dropped the gun into his lap. As Arc stood up with his rifle in tow, he shook away the fear.

“You gotta stop doing that, Avery.” She laughed at him for his cowardice.

“I know, I know. But you looked too pleasant sitting there, just thought I'd make sure you weren't dreaming about me.” Her words cast a red flush over his face as he remembered that he was in fact dreaming about her.

“Whatever, Avery...” His tone trailed off, knowing he couldn't think of anything witty to best her with. She started to say something, but he wasn’t listening. His thoughts were on her, not what she was saying. Even though he considered himself quite the ladies’ man, he always took a liking to Avery over the rest. Maybe it was her fair skin despite a sailor’s life, her shining brown hair that was always shoulder-length, and those dark blue eyes. Or perhaps it was her robust figure that he always likened to, so much different than the dainty barmaids and street peddlers, yet resonating a strong feminine personality. He stood there for a good minute or two taking her in, when she finally slapped him on the back of the head.

“Hey, weren't you paying attention to me? Captain Arguile wanted me to find you and Seek and head back to meet with him. There's something he wants to discuss with you two urgently. Apparently, it involves me as well. Now, where's Seek?”

Arc rubbed his head before answering. “Uh, Seek just went off to find Guillermo and Cassidy, I'm supposed to meet them at the pavilion in a little while. You wanna walk with me over there?” Arc gestured towards the direction of the pavilion. “I'll bet he's waiting with the other two right now.”

“Hmm, alright, but we need to make this quick.” Arc knew that she didn’t like wasting time, and he figured that she was still worried about Captain Arguile. They walked off together towards the pavilion, and both of them were quickly smiling and laughing about past events, though Arc could tell Avery was troubled by the captain, and by what she would do while they waited for another ship to become available.

[Big Rick Cook]

Starba's final addition. I would have imagined her staying around for longer, but if you know anything about the original version of this story, things quickly spiraled out of control shortly after this addition, and a couple things happened that completely deterred her away from the story from that point on. More on that, tomorrow.

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30th Post – Starba 06

*Starba6* - *thirty*

Guillermo awoke in a violent fit. As soon as he opened his eyes, he could see menacing figures looming over him with arms outstretched. Startled, he leapt up, but was met with a sharp jolt to the small of his back. Wheeling around, he saw that he had run into the seat of a warped wooden bench. Above him, the images of imposing creatures disappeared and were replaced by the knotted branches of old trees.

Guillermo sighed through heavy breaths and wiped the cold sweat from his brow. He vaguely remembered where he was, but the park looked somewhat different now. The sun had long since risen and was now high in the early afternoon sky. As the numbness of sleep faded, the midday heat was becoming unbearable. Guillermo stumbled to his feet and groggily wandered out of the park and into the maze of alleyways.

*****

"This is impossible," Cassidy groaned. "It's past five and we've covered the pavilion, the airship docks, and four streets. I'm starting to think he just up and left town."

Seek scratched the stubble on his slender chin. "It's possible, but I doubt it. Besides, Jaegar's a lot bigger than what we've seen in just these few hours."

"The Leaky Gasket," Cassidy said, snapping his fingers. "We can wait for him there. We were supposed to meet up there tonight, weren't we? I could use a drink anyway."

Seek laughed softly. "I bet Arc forgot," he said. "I almost did."

"I'm surprised we didn't run into him. We've been all over this... wait a minute... whoa!" Cassidy balked.

"What? What is it?"

"I'm seeing things..." he said and proceeded to run up ahead. "Hey Guillermo!" he cried, waving. Guillermo stumbled to a halt and looked around, bewildered. "Here! Over here!"

"You..." Guillermo said. "Argh...My head is pounding..."

"Ha! They musta knocked you out good to sew it on. It looks great. I didn't know they could do that!"

"What? What are you talking about?"

"You're a real lucky guy, Guillermo," Seek said. "I've never heard of them succeeding at that kind of surgery before. Still, it must have cost you a fortune..."

"Huh?"

"He must be on some good drugs..." Cassidy smirked.

"C'mon, I'll take you back to the hotel," Seek said, steadying the man. "Go to the Leaky Gasket and tell Arc where we are once he gets there," he told Cassidy. "This fellow doesn't need a bar tonight."

[Big Rick Cook]

IRC once more, and we're back on track with this addition. Nothing of especially potent value to notate, just that Guillermo is a sadomasochist.

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31st Post – IRC 06

*IRC6* - *thirty-one*

Guillermo sat in his room, completely dark except for a single candle on the table. He had his shirt off and was examining his new arm. For all he could tell it was his arm; the same skin tone, same muscle build, he had even sniffed it for authenticity. Perhaps it was this that repulsed him so much about it. It was completely unnatural to him.

Arguile’s hunting knife lay on the table as well. He had come close to cutting it off twice already, but as soon as the blade touched the skin he felt that same feeling of dread that Dobbel gave him. If only he could remember how he had gotten it maybe he could accept it better. The last thing he remembered was chasing after the sound of the cane and then meeting Cassidy and Seek. He was so focused on the arm that he didn’t even register them leaving. At first, they were there, talking in hushed tones outside of his room, but at some point, they were no longer stationed there. So he sat – alone – in the dark clenching his new fist and shuddering each time. He could feel the muscles and tendons moving and the table underneath it, but it didn’t feel like it was his arm. It was like it was someone else’s and they were telling him what it felt. Stranger still was how much it felt: the heat from the candle’s flame, the wind it caused. He swore he could feel the air molecules being sucked into the flame as they moved over his arm. It repulsed him.

He never thought that he would wish himself with a stump. Picking up the knife again, he brought the blade against his skin. Instead of feeling metal he felt his stomach drop. His brain told him that there were small notches in the blade that he could not see. Gathering his courage he brought the blade high above his head and plunged it into his skin. He ignored the sharp rip and ensuing pain. He could sense that he had severed his tendons and even a few capillaries, but when he brought the blade out of the flesh not a drop of blood spilled on the table. He tried to pry the cut open but it was as if he had never stabbed himself; there was no wound.

The throbs in his head escalated, however, and eventually he could not stand it. Vomiting on himself, he passed out. It wouldn’t be until Seek and Arc got back that he would wake up.

[Big Rick Cook]

Third by yours truly. I felt as though I should at least bring Guillermo into the picture since I completely ignored him in my last addition. I fixed the perspectives, so that's why it jumps around at the beginning. Also, you'll notice that I skipped the meeting back up of everyone and subsequent meeting with Arguile, only alluding to it, since I felt we were getting washed away on this little camping trip and needed some forward momentum. I made the asinine mistake of at first forgetting that Arc and Seek were already signed on as gunmen, so I had to fix that accordingly. I'm really just not shining very bright in these early additions, am I?

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32nd Post – BRC 03

*BRC3* - *thirty-two*

“Seek, do you think we should wake Guillermo up and tell him what the captain told us?” asked Arc, knowing if he didn't ask, he'd be the one to wake Guillermo and he wasn't particularly interested in doing that. His thoughts were elsewhere; The Inspiration was a chance to fly again, and Avery would be accompanying them as per the captain's request. He thought back to the meeting, how excited he was that the captain allowed the three of them to join The Inspiration.

*****

Walking to Guillermo's room, Seek thought only about how real Guillermo's arm looked, and why he'd never heard of such a mechanical arm before. When he got to the room, however, he found Cassidy already in there, tending to Guillermo, and filling him in on the whole encounter with Arguile.

*****

Guillermo was having trouble focusing on the conversation. “Wait. So, basically, what you're saying is that Arguile wants us to stick with Seek, Arc, and Avery on The Inspiration, because traveling in a larger group would be safer than going off alone?”

'That's what he said, alright. Course, I told him we wasn't going nowhere until you were feeling better, and if the ship sets sail before that, well, we'd have to catch another one.” Cassidy was obviously not going to leave his side any time soon.

Sensing that, Guillermo thought of a way to get him out of the room. “Good, good, whatever. Just let me get some rest now...” Guillermo's head was reeling by this point, and he could only think one more thing before passing out again. “Oh, and make sure The Inspiration has enough room for us before we're due to leave.” At this point, Cassidy apparently decided to let him be for awhile. He walked out of the room just in time for Guillermo’s habitual pass-out routine.

*****

Seek started a conversation before Cassidy even realized he was there. “How’s he doing, in there?”

”Not so bad for a man who just had surgery, but it’ll be a day at least before he’s on his feet. Looks like we're all set for a brand new journey! When does the ship leave?” Before replying, Seek noted that Cassidy wasn't the type to pay much attention to the conversation.

“Don't worry about it. When it's time, I'm sure you'll be ready. Just make sure Guillermo is up for the takeoff before we leave. Oh, and I already checked to make sure the three of you could board the ship with us. All I have to do is add our names to the list, and it's final.”

“Ok then, pal, I'm heading off to bed. Drinkin’s not my thing night before a ship sets sail. You take care o' those names for us, 'k?”

As Seek walked out of the hotel, he saw Arc hitting on Avery again, and decided to leave those two alone. He walked to the airship office in the docks and finalized the five of them on the ship. He and Arc had already signed on as hired guns, so the three jobs left would be split up between the new recruits. “Let's see...” He wrote down Seek Pembran - Security and Gunman. He then wrote down Arc Medose for the same thing, but this was going to make Avery mad: Avery Sagemiller as waitress. Cassidy Raesch as deck scrubber, and he gave Guillermo Avory the Night Lookout position, knowing he'd need a job that didn't require both arms until he got used to his new prosthetic.

Well, that's done. I suppose I'll head to the bar and catch Arc and Avery on the way. It had been a long tradition for Seek and Arc to go out drinking the night before a set sail. Arc had been trying to get Avery in on the deal, but Seek never allowed it until tonight. He figured if they were sailing together under a new captain they might as well drink together, and off he went.

[Big Rick Cook]

Next up by Staffmaster. I hope you're all enjoying these little blurbs before each addition. It's more of a way for the current writers to reminisce on the past, and as a way to let everyone know how terrible the first major story arc was destroyed. I feel now that this is so much better than it was before.

On to the addition's many points of annoyance: 1. Staffmaster liked dream sequences and had a way of randomly naming things that just didn't need naming at the time. I shortened the dream sequence and removed some facts that were pointless. 2. There was an absolutely atrocious scene in here with Arc and Avery where they shared a kiss, and then Arc proceeds on to second base, unsuccessfully, and they engage in a completely juvenile conversation that totally ruins the story. He does this several more times later on. He also ignored basic facts and made up new ones, but I digress. We were all doing this at least in part. I did it all the time for awhile.

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33rd Post – Staff 06

*Staffmaster6* - *thirty-three*

Guillermo was in a sunny field. There was a low hill a few meters away with an old, knotty Paccafruit tree growing from the top. The world was a bit hazy around the edges. Guillermo tried to make sense of this. Somehow the hotel room and the problems within his mind seemed far, far away: almost forgotten.

“Before you go hurting yurself trying to figure out how you got here, let me tell you that yur in a dream.”

Guillermo spun around and saw Dobbel standing calmly next to one of the piles of rocks that dotted the landscape randomly.

Dobbel continued. “Well... more like a vision, if you want to call it that.” Dobbel looked around, squinting a bit. “Interesting decor, something from yur childhood perhaps? Yes?”

Guillermo looked around as well and realized that this was the spot where he had taken his first and only girlfriend on their first date. She had moved away months before Guillermo had been drafted into the army.

“How...?” Guillermo started, but Dobbel cut him off, finishing Guillermo’s sentence.

“... Did I get into yur head?” Guillermo was taken aback. “It doesn’t matter what I can do, because this isn’t about me anymore. It’s about you and what you can do after you know how.” Guillermo was confused and became agitated.

“Who… or what are you, and how did you do this!?”

“I already told you, this isn’t about me anymore. You’ll find the answers you seek in due time. This sickness you feel will pass before the night is up. It’s just yur body’s way of dealing with the insurmountable power coursing through it. That enhanced sensitivity will become second nature, and you’ll learn more than you thought possible. Just remember to keep yur end of our bargain,” he said before flickering out of the field.

Without sound or warning, the world started to melt and swirl, until all was black. Guillermo opened his eyes; he was back in his hotel room. He sat up on the bed and rubbed his face. Looking down at his new arm, he began to feel some tentative acceptance for it. While it still felt foreign, he no longer wished it severed off again.

*****

Seek was just coming back from the airship docks when he noticed that Arc and Avery were still talking outside the inn. Seek walked up to them and interrupted. “Good evening,” he said, smiling. “I signed you two up. We didn’t get the best jobs but, hey, we’ll be on an airship again.”

“Amen to that.” Avery looked up and feigned at praying, then sighed.

Arc straightened up, enthused, and said, “What did I get!?”

“You’re a lookout and gunman, same as me. Same as we signed up for.” Seek said unenthusiastically.

“All right! Nearly the same job as before," Arc mused.

“Is Guillermo coming?” Seek asked “I’m ready to get to the Leaky Gasket.”

“No,” Avery said, looking at Arc.

”Guillermo’s all icky and Cassidy won’t leave the room,” Arc said. “He seems to be awfully concerned for a kid.”

“I guess we better get drunk, then,” Seek said in mock exasperation.

[Big Rick Cook]

The first by the legendary John Mora. It was a conversation between this man and Patryn that got the ball rolling and started this story. Because of our common ground within this story, this is also the start of what I consider to be one of my best internet friendships, but that's just an aside to the point. John had serious doubts about the story at this point, and came to the rescue. Not that it initially mattered, because Staffmaster ruined everything two additions later, but that's another story for another time. For now, enjoy.

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34th Post – John Mora (Mora) 01

*Mora1* - *thirty-four*

As Guillermo sat up in his bed, he noticed that Cassidy was staring at him. For a moment, they just sat there, looking at each other in an uncomfortable silence. Cassidy broke the gaze first, turning away with red in his cheeks. “Sorry if I was creeping you out. It’s just that I was… well… staring-“

“At my arm,” Guillermo finished for him, with a slight tinge of anger in his voice.

“Yeah. I mean, it looks swell. Perfect, even! I guess I didn’t think that they could make arms like that. Is it really metal?”

“That’s none of your business,” Guillermo grumbled.

“Well, like I said, it looks great, whatever it is. You must be pretty loaded if you could afford something like that. They put it on pretty quickly, too, huh? I always thought surgeries took hours and hours and they had to keep you afterwards until you were healthy enough to leave. I mean, you were just able to go in and go out like that?”

Guillermo looked down at the floor. “I told them I was good enough to go on my own.”

“Well, not when you’re throwing up all over yourself, you’re not. Do I have to take better care of you than you do?”

“No one asked you to,” Guillermo mumbled.

“…What?” Cassidy asked, a little confused.

Guillermo looked back up at Cassidy with resentment in his eyes. “Who the hell do you think you are, huh? A friend? A younger brother?”

Cassidy’s eyes opened wide in shock. “Well… I thought that we might be-"

“Friends? Did I ever ask you to be my friend? We barely know each other and you’re acting like it’s your sworn duty to protect me, or something. You follow me around like a little lost puppy and won’t let go. I’ve honestly been waiting for you to drop it ever since the crash, but you don’t seem to get it.”

“H-h-hey,” Cassidy interrupted, his voice much more unsure than it had been moments before, “let’s slow down now. You’re obviously a l-little messed up from the operation you had. You jus’ need to rest, o-okay? I’ll get you some of the herbs…”

“What is WITH you and those things? You’re always so vague about them and trying to give them to me. I might not have had another choice when I was an invalid, but now that I’m better, just lay off.”

“Y-y-you call this better?!”

“Hell yes!” Guillermo yelled, reaching a crescendo in his rant. “I don’t know if you can imagine what it’s like not being able to do the same things other people do so easily, but let me tell you, it’s hell on earth. I was able to… to improve my situation. Why shouldn’t this be better? It’s better than being a stupid, sniveling hick weakling.”

Cassidy began to tear up. “This… this isn’t you talking!”

Guillermo turned his nose up and grunted, “Grow up.”

“I liked you…” Cassidy was violently sobbing by this point, and could barely be understood.

“No one said the feeling was mutual.”

At that point Cassidy couldn’t stand anymore and ran out of the room in tears. Guillermo got off the bed and stood up and flexed his left arm. It still felt—strange. He rubbed it with his other hand. “I… I’m not a weakling.”

[Big Rick Cook]

New one by me! I feel as though this addition could have been done without in the long run, but it's been nothing but seriousness so far in the story, while Seek and Arc have this dynamic that could easily be exploited for some fun. So I did that. Unfortunately, it was destroyed hours later by Staffmaster. You'll hear about it tomorrow.

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35th Post – BRC 04

*BRC4* - *thirty-five*

"So, Seek, just what job did you sign me up for?" Avery was getting impatient with Seek, who had whispered something to Arc, which had them both laughing pretty good. "If you don't tell me right now, there won’t be a trip to Kolika Bay for you. And not just you, Seek, because I know that you know as well, Arc.”

"Ok, ok, but you gotta promise that you won't blow a gasket on us," Seek said, looking a little nervous. He stalled for time. "HEY WAITRESS, bring us a bottle of your cheapest whiskey. We're probably gonna need it. Oh, and put it on my tab, thanks." The waitress put the bottle on the table and walked away. Arc poured three shots and spread them across the table.

Arc began slowly, sensing the need to also stall for time. "Here's the deal, Avery. Seek here thought it best to give Cassidy the grunt work, so he got deck-scrubber. Guillermo needed a job that didn't require both hands, so he got night lookout. You already know what me an' Seek got, so all that was left was you, and one position." He took a defensive position, sitting back in his chair, just in case.

"You might wanna work on your people skills, ‘cause you're gonna be serving food as the ship's waitress!" As Seek said it, he and Arc burst out laughing, while Avery's chin dropped, her face turned fiery red, and she did something radical.

"Are you ****ing kidding me?!" Arc ducked as the bottle of whiskey flew over the top of his head, smashing against the wall in a cascade of green glass and clear liquid. "I can't believe you'd sign me up as a waitress, I hate those blasted 'people service' jobs!"

Arc stopped laughing, and saw this as a golden opportunity. He slid his shot over close to Avery's seat, and sat down next to her. "Look, maybe you won't have to do the job for very long. I'm sure you can prove your worth somewhere else on The Inspiration and get bumped up immediately. We're looking at three or four days, tops. So let's do the most sensible thing we can right now, and that's get hammered beyond belief." Arc could see a smile form at the ends of her lips. "Avery, you with me? Come on!" He held up his shot glass to get her to do the same. Before Seek could join the toast, Avery snatched his shot, clanged it against Arc's, and the two of them downed the three shots.

"We're gonna need a lot more liquor." Avery had apparently accepted this new challenge. "And Seek, just for doing that to me, you're picking up the whole tab tonight. 'NOTHER BOTTLE. CHOP CHOP!!"

"Looks like she's gonna be just fine, ya think?" Arc said as the concoction was placed on the table. Cassidy came running into the bar about that time, sighted the three friends, and slumped down into Arc's old seat, whimpering incessantly about something.

*****

"Hey, kid, you alright?" Seek asked. Avery and Arc paid no attention, but Seek was generally concerned. He poured Cassidy a shot and beckoned him to tell him what was wrong.

"I-i-it's n-nothing, just Gui was really rude ta me just now." He followed this up with a quick shot of whiskey, and poured himself another. "He said he didn't need me, and that I was just a hick w-w-weaklin'!" Another shot. "Can y-ya believe that?!" One more shot. Arc grabbed the bottle from him, muttering something about hogging all the goods, and poured a round for everyone.

"Ok, kid. Look here." Arc took over the conversation. "Guillermo's just a little strung up about everything that's been happening. All you need to do right now is worry about that shot in front you, and the three of us, ‘cause we're going to show you a hell of a time tonight. ‘Drown your sorrow ‘til crow calls ‘morrow.’” He looked to Seek and nodded, who chimed in on a drinking ballad.

“DROWN YOUR SORROW ‘TIL CROW CALLS ‘MORROW. BOTTOMS UP TO BELLIES UP. WE DON’T STOP TIL THE SUN COMES UP!!!" With that, the four of them raised their glasses, clinked them together, downed them, and filled them up again.

[Big Rick Cook]

STAFFMASTER! This was the worst addition to the story at this point. It did so many things wrong that we changed the details without his consent early on just so the story made sense. Let me go through the list:

1. Cassidy was supposed to be sharing a room with Guillermo, but it didn't happen that way in the addition. To completely rewrite the addition would still have been unfair, so I had to make Guillermo get his own room so that they didn't share any more words before the night was over. I beefed up Cassidy's short section to allude a little bit more to the drinking event, since it was totally ruined by Staffmaster.

2. In the very first version of this addition, Arc and Avery were supposed to end up together, but Staffmaster had other designs. Cruel designs. Arc had gambling sessions with two drunk barmaids, and Avery committed weird things before passing out snuggled up to Captain Arguile. Weird, and weird. Cassidy and Avery shared a thought during their scenes that related to Avery dancing on tables and having money stuffed down her bra. Poor taste, and completely unnecessary.

3. The next morning, Cassidy and Guillermo shared a nice moment, completely deconstructing Mora's entire addition, and making them all buddy buddy again. I had to remove the scene and write a new scene just to compensate for this.

I believe that was it, or at least the bulk of it. While it's true that this is a collaborative effort, and everyone's ideas have an equal part in the story, your ideas have to be logical with the story, otherwise, you have this completely incongruous piece of garbage. That's why we were so harsh against Staffmaster, and another old boy later on down the road. Here it is, the almost entirely new addition, originally written by Staffmaster, and edited the hell out of by myself.

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36th Post – Staff 07

*Staffmaster7* - *thirty-six*

Guillermo’s anger at Cassidy by this point had turned to confusion. He had always tolerated the boy, but what was it that made him act so cruel? He stared blindly up at the ceiling, the room being devoid of light. His hands were folded across his chest. Or were they? He knew the right one was his. But this new one... it was so sensitive. It was more sensitive than the tip of one’s finger if the top layer of skin had been removed. It could perceive the slightest touch and make out even the minutest variations in a surface. This was what made the arm feel strange. It felt everything with unparalleled precision. Perhaps this could be an asset... perhaps it could be a curse as well. Guillermo had seen how it healed so quickly. What if someone were to stick this arm in boiling oil, for instance? It would constantly be under damage, yet it would never completely die; it would always heal so that the pain would never subside. And what pain it would be! Guillermo would be able to feel each individual cell explode under the heat. He laughed. “That is one advantage of a fake arm that Dobbel forgot to think of,” he stated to no one. “They don’t feel pain.” Sadly, this epiphany did not make him any more or less acceptant of the arm than he already was.

He found himself walking out of the room and towards the check-in desk. In a matter of minutes he had a key to a different room and confided to his conscience that it would be better for them both if he and Cassidy did not share a room from that point on.

In his new room across the hall, Guillermo almost dared not close his eyes to sleep, for fear that he may run into Dobbel again. He tested them a few times to make sure that the old creep didn’t show up; he did not, but these tests turned in to sleep in very short order, anyway. Guillermo dreamt, but not of the field with the rock piles and the Pacca tree. These dreams were of the more normal variety.

*****

Cassidy clumsily returned to his room. At least he hoped it was his room. He fumbled with the key in the lock. For a tense moment, he wasn’t sure what would happen. He heard the lock fall open and let out a relieved sigh, punctuated with a hiccup. He could barely remember the fight between himself and Guillermo, but felt angry about it. He didn’t want to be in the same room as Guillermo, but had no money to get his own.

Opening the door, he was surprised to see that Guillermo was not even in there. Must’ve gotten a room to be alone, he thought as he shrugged the bad memories away. He remembered the good times while he could. Arc and Seek had many a bar song to sing, and learning the words was more than daunting under inebriated conditions. He muttered the line ‘To high Heaven we’ll drink, and until morning comes, of liquor we’ll stink’ as he disrobed for bed. Chuckling as he lay down, he passed out as soon as his head hit the pillow.

*****

On the next street over, at Arc and Seek’s hotel, Seek was also getting ready for bed, but unlike the other three he could hold his liquor. Like Arc and Avery, however, he would probably wake up with a splitting headache. He could hear Avery in Arc’s room next to his, giggling incessantly about something before it suddenly went quiet. Seek surmised that they both passed out prematurely, and as any good drinker would, he did the same.

*****

Morning stabbed its way through everyone's windows and splitting headaches were the order of the day all around, except for Guillermo, who was up and ready to go shortly after breakfast. Before Cassidy could make his way down from his room, Guillermo had paid the room fees, gathered his belongings, including all the items Arguile had given them, and headed out the door only to see Arc and Seek waiting impatiently on a bench.

”What’s the deal, Gui? We’ve been here ten minutes already. TEN MINUTES!” Arc said while tapping his wrist, to emphasize the joke. He and Seek had the air of being hung-over, but appeared as jovial as usual despite.

”When did ‘Gui’ become my name?” asked a lighthearted Guillermo, now joining the joviality, being infectious as it was.

Seek looked confused for a moment before saying, “Well, Cassidy called you that last night at the bar, and it’s a might bit easier to say ‘Gui’ than Gui-ller-mo.” He made sure to draw out Guillermo’s full name for maximum effect.

”Just don’t expect me to answer to it. Only my family and friends back home had used such a term, and I abandoned it when I left the town. I also don’t feel the need to bring Cassidy along, but I suppose he’s got nowhere else to go, so one of you will have to go get him.” He was still against bringing Cassidy along, but something nagged in his mind that he didn’t mean everything he said to the boy.

Seek stood up and walked to the inn’s entrance. “That’s fine, I’ll grab him and his stuff and we’ll be right down.” He disappeared into the building as Arc snatched up the conversation in his usual manner.

”Okay, so I know it’s rude to ask and to stare, but damn! Your arm looks so freakin’ real, it’s uncanny. How the hell did you manage to afford that?”

”I don’t feel like talking about it, right now. I’ll tell you all, later. What I will say is that I honestly don’t know how much it is going to cost me.” Silence filled the inn’s entryway as Arc puzzled over Guillermo’s response.

Seek and a frazzled Cassidy appeared out of the inn a few moments later, but neither one spoke as they all geared up and stopped next to the bench. Arc broke the uncomfortable silence: “Avery went to check on Arguile one last time before we head off, and said she’d meet us at the docks near The Inspiration.”

They walked in sullen silence for awhile towards the docks, Arc seeming the only one still excited about the prospect of journeying together. Seek and Cassidy played along and questioned him about Avery and what had truly happened. Arc laughed as he began to tell the story.

[Big Rick Cook]

The final addition of the first major story arc, which we are now calling Books. Patryn was completely dissatisfied with the way the story had progressed so far, and showed it in the execution of this addition. I'll give you the details at the end of this post, so as not to ruin any surprises. :b

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37th Post – Patryn 02

*Patryn2* - *thirty-seven*

The group headed down to the docks to see the new ship that they would be working on. Arc and Seek led the way, Cassidy close behind, and Guillermo hanging farther behind. He couldn't help shake the feeling that something was wrong. Something had fueled his anger at Cassidy, as deserved as it may have been. It wasn't like him to lash out like that. However, something in the air was affecting him. He shook his head clear of such thoughts as they reached the magnificent docks. Sadly, only three airships were actually docked, when at the height of the war tens of ships would have been grounded for various purposes. Wistfully looking at the ships, he tried to figure out which one was The Inspiration, when the feeling of dread hit him dead in the stomach. He hadn't felt this bad since he had first met Dobbel, and before that, the destruction of his hometown.

Worry turned to fear at the sound of the first explosion. Fear turned to outright horror when he realized that sitting at his feet was a good portion of young Cassidy's head. Stumbling back, he nearly fell over. Chaos reigned around him.

"What the hell is going on?" yelled Arc.

"Get down!" screamed Guillermo in reply. The ground seemed to be shaking, and people were rushing everywhere. Explosions erupted around them. Guillermo rushed up and grabbed the two sailors, pulling them to the ground.

*****

Seek was staring at Cassidy's corpse. Something had torn through his head, ripping it apart. "I think I'm going to be sick...." he moaned, as he tried to avert his eyes from the horror. However, what he locked onto was almost as worse. It was the mass of brain and skull that had landed near Guillermo. In the middle of it was an unmistakable sight: a giant claw. Suddenly Seek knew exactly what was happening. "This can't be…" he muttered in disbelief.

He was snapped out of it by a slap from Guillermo. "At least one of you has figured something out. We need to get out here, now. We're not going to survive out here for long. Our best shot is that airship. On the count of three,” he said as he directed his attentions to Arc, “we're all going to rush to your girlfriend and get out of here, ok?" Seek nodded weakly. Arc, however, was a bundle of questions.

"What the hell is going on???" he screamed at Guillermo as the ex-soldier counted down.

"THREE! SHUT UP AND RUN!" yelled Guillermo, grabbing Arc by the collar. Seek had already started running towards Avery. In the distance, he could hear her screaming out their names. Before he could reach her, though, his worst nightmare happened.

From under the ground, a giant claw broke through right under the young girl. Instantly she was ripped in two, money fluttering in the air. Arc stopped dead in his tracks. "AVERY!!!!" he screamed. Crying, he ran to her torso. Unbelievably, she seemed to still be alive, but barely.

"Oh man, oh man, oh man..." he repeated over and over again, cradling her head in his lap. Avery looked up at him, spitting up blood.

"I can't feel anything, Arc, I can't feel.....why can't I feel? Oh Arc... I'm....... sorry........" Avery closed her eyes one last time, and with a final spit of blood, lay still.

"AVERY!!!!" Arc screamed.

Guillermo and Seek had other things than their friend to worry about. In the same hole that the claw had come out of now emerged a giant creature. They were seeing what they had only heard stories about.

It was a kronal, a twenty foot tall monster that looked like a giant scorpion, but with four claws. It was making great use of them, snatching people up from the dock and shoving them in its mouth.

Seek was so transfixed by the sight of the carnage that he almost missed the ground breaking apart next to him. However, the sight of a claw beginning to emerge finally brought him out, and he suddenly found a calmness in himself that he had never known before. He suddenly grasped the true nature of the situation. Kronals were breaking up through the ground all around them. The great city was falling. His, and Arc's, best hope for survival lay with The Inspiration. Guillermo had apparently already realized this, as he was already running full speed towards the ship, leaving the two shell-shocked sailors behind. Seek knew that Arc was too traumatized by the death of Avery to seek shelter on his own. It was up to him.

Rushing to Arc, he grabbed his arm and pulled. "Arc, we have to get out of here! It's all going to hell!"

Arc looked at his friend with an odd expression on his face. "This is a dream, right? We're just going to wake up. Where is Cassidy? I want to tell him all about this."

Seek looked at his friend and realized that he was in shock. "I'm sorry, Arc. This isn't a dream. Cassidy's dead. Avery's dead. You need to put that down. It's not Avery. Not anymore. It's just meat. We need to get out of here, or we'll both join them."

Arc looked down at the torso once more and through the haze began to understand just what he was holding. "Ok..." he said weakly. Seek grabbed his arm and pulled him on the same path that Guillermo had taken.

"What's happening?" Arc asked, with a little bit of disbelief in his voice.

"What no one thought could happen. The same thing that happened to all the border towns. They finally figured out how to get in. We watched the borders, but we couldn’t watch underground. The city is now paying for its mistake in blood. Jugere's done. Anteron couldn't finish it, but the monsters sure as hell have," Seek replied, his voice cold as ice, fueled by the new inner calm.

*****

Guillermo, meanwhile, found himself facing certain death. He had managed to avoid most of the kronals as they rampaged through the helpless city. Yet one seemed to have its eye on him, and it now blocked its path. Guillermo didn't even attempt to take his flintlock, remembering tales that only a perfect shot could fell one of the beasts, and he didn’t know where that spot was. Guillermo jumped out of the way as the kronal raised one of its claws and brought it down. He couldn't totally avoid it, though, and a good chunk of his new arm was taken out. Pain shot throughout his body, but before his eyes he saw new tissue begin to grow to replace the lost chunk. He couldn't dwell on that fact, though, given the situation.

It seems to be playing with me... I might have a chance... he thought. If I can fake it out and get around it, I just may have a chance to get to The Inspiration before...

Any thought of escape was cut off as two of the giant claws crashed down on either side of him, cutting off his escape routes. The kronal closed in, snapping its two remaining claws, ready to feast on him. Guillermo closed his eyes, waiting for the killing blow, hoping it would be quick.

Suddenly a shot rang out. The kronal let out a scream before slumping dead in front of him. Guillermo opened up his eyes and searched for the shooter. A man stood on the ramp to The Inspiration, holding a pistol, a weapon even rarer than his flintlock. The mysterious man was dark-haired and a little short, with what looked like a deep scar on the side of his face next to his left eye.

The man holstered his pistol and called out to the three men. "If you three want to live, get on board now! We're out of here! The city's gone! Unless you want to join it, RUN!"

Seek, helping Arc, rushed past Guillermo and into the ship. Guillermo couldn't help but give one last glance back. Smoke and fire raged amongst the massive buildings, decorated with the blood of its citizens. Guillermo got to his feet. He knew that some of the citizens would be able to make it out, if they were smart. He hoped that the captain would be one of them, but he couldn't help him now. Guillermo rushed to the ramp and up it as the scarred man raised it. Feeling the airship rise into the air, Guillermo allowed himself a breath of relief. They weren't totally safe yet, but they weren't in the certain death situation they were just in. It was then that he noticed the Anteron military patches the scarred man wore....

Chapter 3 End

Book 1 End

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First and foremost, Patryn killed Cassidy and Avery because they had both been trampled on by people such as Staffmaster, but also because Cassidy was annoying, and Avery was pretty much a useless hunk of tit, despite my efforts in editing, she is still that way. So they both die. Go death. Ironically, Starba - creator of Cassidy's character - was also dissatisfied with the story progression, and with Cassidy's terrible developments in speech and annoyance and sniveling-ness, she was going to kill him off in her next addition, only with a little bit more honor or some such business. So she never posts again in part because of the way Cassidy was killed. It's too bad, because Starba is a pretty good writer, and would have fit in well with the group after things settled down.

This addition was highly controversial in its methods, because Patryn did exactly what he told us we weren't originally allowed to do. Usurp the story, kill off 2/3's of the cast, and move it in a different direction. Ironically, once again, the story needed that exact kick in the nuts to do one of two things: drop the dead weight, and remove the writers who weren't planning on sticking with the story. Patryn never writes for this story again, which is also sad, since he's one-half of the conversation that got it started, and he is the one who wrote the opening addition.

The line about the money fluttering in the air was originally a critique on Staffmaster's perverse methods concerning Avery's table-dancing that does not happen anymore. I had to change it slightly to remove the reference.

There's nothing in here about what happened between Arc and Avery, because you're just supposed to be led to believe that Arc's being a playboy.

One major detail that I changed came as a result of an addition that I posted much, much, much later. Originally, in this addition, Guillermo connects the kronals as the same monsters that destroyed his hometown. I mistook this fact later on and made different monsters attack and gave it a flashback. Originally, and selfishly not wanting to rewrite my scene, I asked around and got the relative 'ok' to just change Patryn's addition so that the kronals weren't the monsters that attacked his hometown. I later discovered that Patryn's own addition, without my editing, had been contradictory to this fact, anyways. 1. If kronals had been attacking other towns, it would have been expected in Jaegar as well. 2. Guillermo notes that he was seeing what he'd only ever heard about, despite having known and seen kronals during his hometown destruction. So it had a weird way of working itself around in a circle that everything coincided with and blended coherently into a workable addition without any major plotholes. There could still be some minor plotholes, I haven't edited the entire story yet, so we'll see. :b Tune in tomorrow for super fun AIRSHIP TRAVEL. Again. :b

[Big Rick Cook]

A short addition by IRC. After Patryn's volatile addition, things almost came to a complete stop. There was a major dissension among the writing ranks, and several people dropped out at this point. Things looked rather bleak for this story after nothing more than 50 pages. It was decided shortly after this addition that we would remove Staffmaster from the people who were allowed to write, our first real mutiny. IRC kind of drove Aznable away, but it wasn't the same as flat out banning Staffmaster. I also had designs on dropping from the story, because I was initially sour about Avery being killed seeing as how she was the only female character thus far besides Sanya (BLECH). I got over it fairly fast, though, because I could see that the story was turning a corner for the best, and I immediately hopped back in, and we persevered up to the point we are currently at, despite many slowdowns and standstills. Enjoy - I don't think anything changed for this addition... it wasn't extremely impactive on the story as a whole, and that's why I probably don't remember.

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BOOK 2

Chapter 4

38th Post – IRC 07

*IRC7* - *thirty-eight* *chapter4* *book2*

Guillermo was separated from Arc and Seek in his own room, although he thought of it more as his own broom closet. A small cot and a candle were all he had. Looking out the small window, he could tell that the ship was moving west away from Jaegar. At the moment they were passing over the canyon. We must be heading to Antaross instead,” thought Guillermo. He could swear he almost felt the man through the door with his arm before he heard the keys jingle in the lock. The door swung open and the guard on the other side let the scarred man through.

The man stood there for a minute, absorbing Guillermo before speaking.

“I’ll just have you know that while Arguile asked me to take you and your friends on as a favor, I am not as accepting of ex-Jaegar military as he was. You’ll have to remain here until further notice. I wish to speak with you more extensively later, but for now there is much that I need to attend to first.”

Nodding politely, he turned and left Guillermo alone.

[Big Rick Cook]

The final addition by Staffmaster. This was the addition that we gave to him to prove himself capable of sticking with the story. In the end, he failed to meet our expectations of spelling, grammar, punctuation, and overall story content. The biggest turnoff about this addition was the over-abundance of useless information. There was absolutely no reason to go into detail about Malachai, his wife, and their son at this point in the story, but he did just that, explaining and filling out landscapes that had no reason to be filled out yet. He made up some contradictory elements to facts in the story. It was just overall a disappointment, but we let it stay as a compromise to booting him from the story. TO THE ADDITION.

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39th Post – Staff 08-

*Staffmaster8* - *thirty-nine*

The captain of The Inspiration surveyed the damage to his ship. He had lost some of his crew and that meant that he was not going to Kolika Bay, but back to Anteron for new personnel. These monsters were a pain in the ass. He had always said that if he ever found the accursed hole they crawled out of, he would plug it up personally. A crew man spoke behind him. “Captain Malachai, Sir, here is the complete list of those lost in the attack.“

Malachai pored over the list briefly. “Damn! Some of my finest officers.” Why did this have to happen now!?” he thought. “Thank you, Cadet.” He said with a hint of exasperation in his voice.

“Sir!” the cadet saluted and went off to perform his other duties. Malachai thought back before the monsters. Times were simpler then. He used to enjoy long walks in the flower forest north of his home village of Xirctze. But those days were over. The monsters destroyed that place along with his village, years ago. This was long before Jugere had known the horror of the monsters. Those people were just too complacent about the threat. They had grown fat on that complacency. Even the war was not enough of a wake up call for them. Now they knew the reason that the Anteronians wanted to settle in their colonies in such numbers. They weren’t invaders, they were refugees.

Those, like himself, that stayed behind at home learned how to deal with the monsters, and even develop innovative ways of outsmarting them. The Inspiration had all the latest innovations for anti-monster travel. Flip-up harpoon turrets were placed strategically around the deck in case of attack while in flight. And all of the Anteronian ships could have their old oak Centerline rooms replaced with ones made out of cast bronze tubes.

Malachai let his thoughts wander. He wished that his friend Devon Arguile was in a safe place, and that those beasts didn’t get him. His thoughts drifted to his wife Lieda, and his thirteen-year old son Reese. He would be seeing them earlier than he had expected, and this at least was one happy thought in all his sorrow.

*****

One deck below, Guillermo sat in his bunk napping restlessly. The attack was still fresh on his mind, and visions of Cassidy and Avery’s corpses littered his dreams. Shortly, a crewman came and unlocked Guillermo’s door. “The captain would like to see you,” he said. “Come with me.” Guillermo followed.

[Big Rick Cook]

Ryu. This addition actually starts the story down the road it needs to go. It deals with issues that needed to be dealt with, and that Staffmaster completely ignored, and it basically sets the pace for the rest of the story. Prepare for the additions to start becoming longer than one page. It's going to start happening fairly quickly, and I think, perhaps, that I may have to shorten the daily additions to 5 pages at a time to ensure that everyone keeps up. I personally liked this addition because Ryu placed a clever line about Avery's table-dancing and mocked Staffmaster at the same time. It served as an inside joke to those who knew about the writers, but didn't fit in quite so well with the story. With the reference point removed from the story, it didn't have a place, so it, too, like Patryn's line about the cash floating down from Avery, was changed.

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40th Post – Ryu 03

*Ryu4* - *forty*

Guillermo followed the crewman just to the door, and then stood still. He peered around the corner to see that the crewman hadn’t noticed he stopped just yet, and then gently closed the door. Noting a schism between a Jaegar ex-military like himself and the captain of the old Anteron military, Guillermo did not count on the message being delivered very pleasantly—probably with a vague warning that he had his eye on him. He thought of how soon the captain had asked to see him, and grimaced with indignation at the scarred captain’s demand for time that should be spent grieving. Of course, what does a hardened veteran of the Anteron military care about what just happened to Jaegar? He can wait until I feel like visiting him, thought Guillermo, as he toppled onto his bed and tossed his tricorn to one side. He sat without making a sound for a long while.

Guillermo stared transfixed with lethargic eyes facing the drab brown wall. After doing what had to be done – showing the presence of mind to get onto the airship – the adrenaline wore off, leaving him solemn and weary, desiring only the time to think. No tears fell from his eyes as he sat as grey and motionless as a gargoyle, looking much as if his soul had rotted away and the remaining residue swallowed up by maggots, leaving stranded an empty husk of a body still propped up. A myriad of thoughts assailed him as so frequently had been the case as of late. The city may as well have been relocated to within his skull, so vivid the crumbling walls, fire and screams echoed inside his mind, as if audible to others had they been in the room. Thoughts about the well-being of the captain, the city, Avery’s horrible death, Arc and Seek’s distress, tore themselves into the existence of conscious thought like a kronal’s claws, yet, as if the wrong set of keys were being tried, vanished when they lead to nothing.

Ironically, the visage of a pitiful, eviscerated corpse of Cassidy was the only one to linger in focus, and Guillermo couldn’t help but think that he might be the only one presently thinking of the fragile boy, despite his indifference towards him. He monitored with a chill apathy this corpse that refused to let his mind be, when in an instant a curious scene of a still-alive Cassidy standing before a roving claw played before his mental view. The claw peeled towards him like an enraged shark, kicking up chunky waves of stone, dirt and gravel in its wake—Cassidy did not even budge. Not even as the terrible hook pounced from its cover of earth and cleaved his skull. His face had been sullen and expecting the last moments of his death. [/i]He lost his will to live?[/i] Guillermo thought in confusion, not questioning the validity of the unwanted vision. Those beasts may as well have answered his call… could it be? Something he had not thought of struck him in an unclear stream of consciousness: perhaps deeper than anyone could see, behind that erratic front of jovialness and contentment, lurked a distilled sadness—loneliness—perhaps stemming from secret failure to protect someone or something. Maybe all the kid needed, after these suppressed feelings of worthlessness, was a friend or ideal to protect and cherish—something to be proud of. And it took something in Guillermo, the active force of his mere presence, and moreover his rejection of accepting that attempt to take pride in him, to get him to face this hidden trauma and realize what he was doing. I feel like a damn curse, was the irresistible reflection. Monsters strike and people die wherever I go. A sense seemed to say to him that Cassidy might have been thinking the same thing before he died. He concentrated on the projection of the flattened corpse that had returned to hovering before him, and said to it: “Well, you’re gone now, kid. I’m sorry you couldn’t handle it…being alone.” He paused. “… I don’t have anybody either.” With that, the little body faded away into darkness.

Alone once again, Guillermo started when he found himself wanting to grin at the suggestion that it took death to see through people, through Cassidy’s outer-coating of youthful naivety, like life itself consisted of people putting up shields to be kept from being seen. He felt sorrier for Cassidy’s death, Arc’s loss, and the destruction of a city he once thought would be kept safe from imagined threats, than what he could ever imagine himself being. And just think, something seemed to assume the voice of his mind, All of this could have been prevented if only you were strong enough! He commenced to thinking as to why he had to be the one to do protect everyone—who assigned him that duty?—when another voice opined that the power was there for anyone strong enough to pick up—why not him? Like succumbing to that thing one long thought wrong, Guillermo’s fear and foreboding—even guilt—before the prospect of seizing power melted away and a rush, an exhilaration, replaced it. Suddenly energized and brimming with life, somehow released from his feelings of fear and anxiety—his sense of shame at being a mere mortal, yet holding the power he knew dwelled in his arm—Guillermo could understand why serial rapists always seemed to prefer the most innocent looking ones: the rush, the daring, the stealing of innocence, the vampire-like transference of life required invigorated the act; the audacity of the crime made the thrill that much stronger. He thought of the kronals with disgust and swelled a righteous anger and pride that filled him with the willpower to utilize his new arm’s fist. He stared at it; no one could have guessed it had received a blow from a kronal—it looked as flawless as before. Yes, death could yield answers, buzzed through his brain, between now and the staining of a billion monsters’ blood on my fist, I will find the answer to this carnage. The walls seemed to buckle and warp before his fist; he could sense, as if the hairs on his arm were little antennas, the notches on the walls, feel the vibrations of the little insect stowaways, and the other beings on board channeling their presence with their varied wave-lengths in space—loud, shining targets just dying to be rubbed out.

No! a voice among many others seemed to shout from within, these thoughts… are not my own… Guillermo put his hands over his face as the great commotion inside died away. He did not even understand what he had been thinking; it was like noise, so many words had run their course through him. I…must be losing my mind, he thought as he reclined onto his shabby cot. Before he could decide what to make of all of his impressions, and unsure of what came over him, an insuperable weariness came over him and he fell asleep.

*****

After his trembling body had been corralled into his quarters, Arc flew into a brief and violent fit before clasping the meager pillow with his two hands. Seek, looking on with gloom, took that as more than a suggestion to retreat to his own quarters. The pillow collapsed like a strangled cat before Arc's vice-like grip as he buried his face in it. The spectacle of Avery's death - her confusion, the horror of the manner of death itself, the blood spluttering about like water rolling off a windmill in a windstorm, her last words - replayed itself over and over again with growing intensity as his heaving breathes increased in pain and intensity. His eyes were red, swollen and raw, as if they ran out of tears. Why?! his inner voice screamed, Why… why… did she have to die - like THIS?! He tremored with the thought how, as if to satisfy his beckoning, Avery's personality and character somehow had been reduced to that of just another giggling drunken barmaid. You… That was not the woman I… fell in love with, he cried, I loved you…because you were so different… different from the girls I picked up and dropped off in a day… who giggled and swooned too easily… because I didn't care… they meant nothing… He wished he could see the Avery he had known during the time they all spent sailing with Captain Arguile – the boldness, the independence he always saw in her serene face and dark blue eyes while she embraced the sky-borne airs.

*****

Seek cringed with sadness from his quarters as Arc’s loudest wails traversed the barrier of The Inspiration’s walls. He noted a suspicious silence coming from Guillermo’s room as he could only imagine what would have happened to all of them had it not been for Guillermo’s decisive action during the pandemonium. The full implications of the preceding horrific event still had not fully taken root in Seek’s mind—at a loss at how to react, the whole crisis still seemed like a dream he did not know how to awake from. Thinking of the town and the captain and Cassidy and his and Arc’s loss seemed too painful to confront. Light-headed and aloof, he felt as if he had been thrown out of a tower and still awaited the landing. Unable to curb his restlessness, plagued with the suspicion that the nightmare had just begun and a storm of beasts were pursuing them right now, he bolted out of his room with a vague intention to talk to the captain and ended up in the guest lounge where many of those who had saved themselves still waited for word of the destruction. With working lips, Seek surveyed those who had been saved: a meager cast of a few people here and there, though he found some consolation as he came across a man huddled together with and grasping tight his wife and two little children. He suddenly wanted to say something to them, but thought it better to let them be. He wondered why so few had reached the ships, but recoiled when the thought of The Inspiration’s captain and crew struggling with masses of people—some already aboard while some of their children fought to reach them, stretching their arms out to them in vain from the ground—all desperate to save themselves in the madness of the city’s final hour, weighing down the ship beyond its ability to take off, almost clogging its engines in their sheer numbers, and with no time to try to find another vessel which was probably suffering the same scenario. He could still hear eerie moans echoing down the hallways from the guest lodgings.

Convinced he would kill himself with worry if he had nobody to talk to, he raced across the room, brushing harshly someone’s shoulder in his hurry. He turned to face the offended, and found a pale woman dressed entirely in black, with a black cloak. Though Seek figured she could have been anywhere from twenty to thirty years of age, her large dark eyes, medium height, extraordinarily thin and slight figure, pale, grooveless face, and small, expressionless mouth made her look even younger, like a child. Though small, a large, white bladed scythe with a long, purple handle was strapped tightly around her torso and over her cloak (Seek was glad he had not run into that instead), and a profound, vicious look in her eye nonetheless made her seem dangerous. Not crying like the rest, she seemed just like the type who would be competent enough to reach the ship. Sleek black hair hugged her head tightly at the top of her head, then jutted out on either side as it reached her shoulders, leaving the back of her neck exposed, looking much like a helmet. Despite her girlish figure, Seek stood entranced by her mystique, for indeed in the dimly lit room she seemed to recede into the background and hang softly from the walls, etched upon them like a shadow. Her small mouth did not move, but Seek was sure the sorrow in his moist eyes would convince her of his apologies, as he was too nervous to make a sound. With Arc’s dynamic penchant for seeking out and soliciting women, Seek was not used to, and was even embarrassed of, meeting and locking eyes with them first and unannounced. He again hurried off, sorry he had said nothing, but thinking that he would probably see her again on the ship or at least after they had landed, when he ran into just the person he was looking for standing silently in the hallway.

The captain stood straight with his arms crossed and eyes closed as both he and Seek listened noiselessly to the ghostly cries from afar, as if the ship was a graveyard in which all came simultaneously to mourn. Seek knew the captain was taking a short rest probably after the final valiant effort to secure the ship, survey damage, and otherwise give orders to what crew members he still had left to work with, giving him some reassurance of their current safety. The captain’s scar by his left eye lined up with itself with his eye closed; Seek could only imagine the captain wincing as some person or thing gave him that deep mark. An awkward pause came between them.

After a minute, the captain was the first to speak: “You know, this is not the first time I have captained a ship full of devastated people. You may make your friend well aware of that, if you wish, if he’ll ever let me speak to him.” The phrases were said with a dignified distrustfulness, but also with a noted lack of sympathy towards the current situation. Seek understood that the captain surely cared far more about the people on those preceding ships, and probably could name them all. He had seen this all before, only this time his ship was decorated with civilians of an old, hated enemy. Seek still opined that this scarred captain couldn’t possibly be too bad if he knew Captain Arguile; he tried to recall if the old captain had ever spoke of the man that now stood before him. The man still remained very stately and proper despite the temptation of treating the denizens of Jaegar with inhospitality.

“So, where are we headed?” Seek asked softly. Seek had not peeked out of the window to get a good glimpse of their surroundings yet.

“Far from here, for now,” the captain said enigmatically. “We’ll have to make a stop somewhere nearby because we did not finish loading supplies before the kronals struck, and maybe some will want to be let off there. At any rate, my cadets have to examine the passengers and see if they have any family or associates in other regions. Once we have some intel, we ought to be able to develop a surer depiction of those on board. From there we can finalize our decision.”

Seek had nothing more to say, and feared another uncomfortable silence would strike. Taking his leave, he returned from the direction he came, fearing he would come into contact the dark woman’s glance again so soon, but managed to return to the passenger quarters unscathed. He sat in his room for some time, until he acquired the mind to see if Guillermo or Arc had any desire to talk.

[Big Rick Cook]

Second by Mora. This addition does one thing that altogether tied me back into the story, basically for good. In the last addition, Seek sees a woman clad in black with a scythe, which is a good indicator that she'll be more important later on. Mora wastes no time bringing her into the light as we have our real introduction of the character Sasha. With this addition, Mora made use of clever dialogue that instantly attracted me to the story again. Probably, it was that the story was a sausage factory up to this point, and a girl in the ranks made me happy. Sasha is an important character and as most everyone knows, she is my absolute favorite in the story. But enough about that.

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41st Post – Mora 02

*Mora2* - *forty-one*

Guillermo woke up to a groggy view of the ceiling above his cot. He sighed. Even sleep was beginning to tire him out. He rubbed his eyes and smiled. He wondered how long he’d kept the captain of the vessel waiting with his little snooze. He almost felt bad about it. Almost. Well, he thought, I had better get it over and done with.

As he left his quarters, he noticed a woman dressed all in black standing on the other side of the narrow hall, looking straight at him. He also noticed the scythe she was carrying. “Well,” the woman began, “good evening.”

“Good evening, madam,” Guillermo properly, but curtly, greeted her.

“I’d like to have a talk with you.”

“I’ve got an appointment I have to meet,” Guillermo said, eyeing her weapon. “Besides, no offense, but you look a little suspicious, standing there with… that.”

The woman’s demure mouth turned into a coy smile. “Maybe I want to look suspicious.”

Guillermo rolled his eyes. “I really don’t have time to be flirting with you right now.”

“We’re not flirting. I’d have to be attracted to you for us to be flirting.”

“And with that brutal shot to my ego, I bid you good day.” He turned in the direction of where he thought the captain would be and began walking.

“You lose some friends in the attack?” the woman called out as he walked away. He turned around and looked at her. She stood defiantly with her serious, yet distinctly feminine face sternly looking at him with eyes that seemed infinitely more wise and cunning than they had a second ago.

“I lost more than you can imagine,” he said with more than a hint of pain in his voice.

“You may not believe me, but I know what you’re going through,” she said somberly. Guillermo could have sworn she had glanced quickly at his left arm when she said that.

“What the HELL do you mean?!” he exclaimed in an outburst that was becoming more and more common for him.

“I mean that you’re not the only one that has ever lost something, or someone. We all have,” she seemed to be carefully choosing her phrasing, “questions about our existence. You’re confused right now. That’s okay. But if you feel you need a friend, maybe I can help.”

“What are you, a quack? Or one of… those women?”

The woman laughed abruptly at this. “Yeah, I’m here to seduce you with my incredible fashion sense and DEADLY WEAPON. I’m Sasha. My room is the second from the last down this hall, see?” she said, pointing. “Like I said, if you want a friend, maybe I can be one.”

Guillermo stood silent, thoughtfully for a minute. “It was… strange meeting you, Sasha.”

Sasha smiled again. “Same to you.”

Guillermo began to walk again, but stopped and turned around to call out, “My name’s Guillermo!”

“See you later, Guillermo,” Sasha said knowingly to herself as she walked back to her quarters.

*****

Sasha closed the door to her quarters tightly behind her. She hadn’t lit the lamp in her room, and it was close to pitch dark. A masculine voice asked from the direction of her bed, “Were you able to engage him?”

“I think I got his interest.”

“I hope that’s all you got.”

“You worry too much,” she said playfully. “I know when to stop. I’m a professional at this, you know.”

“So you’re going to talk to him again.”

“Most definitely.”

“Will it be here?”

“Yes, I told him this was where I was staying.”

“You don’t think he knows, do you? He could smell Dobbel from a mile away. We don’t want a repeat of that.”

“Don’t worry, we’re more up to the task, don’t you agree?”

“…I worry that I’ll scare him away.”

Sasha felt her way to her desk and lit the lamp sitting there. She put down her scythe and gazed at the man in the gentle light. “You didn’t scare me away.”

[Big Rick Cook]

IRC again. We finally have the confrontation between Malachai and Guillermo, and *gasp* a person who may be able to answer questions for our dear Gui. Some more locales are made known, but nothing major.

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42nd Post – IRC 08

*IRC8* - *forty-two*

Guillermo finally found Malachai on the deck of the ship. The captain was standing near the railing looking off into the setting sun. Guillermo walked up and waited for him to break the silence. The Inspiration was nearing the border between Jugere and Anteron - the Sea of Grass already behind them - and the Blood Fields ahead. The Blood Fields were originally a part of the Sea of Grass but had been so stained with blood from the war that they were separated from the Sea of Grass in name. By now, though, most of the grass was burned away and nothing new had sprouted. The landscape was dotted with iron-rich red soil showing through small patches of grassland, so the ugly name stuck. Abandoned military equipment and even wrecked airships littered the fields, never having been salvaged by either side. Since the war, the Blood Fields had been home only to groups of outlaws and corpses.

Malachai simply stared beyond all that and into the horizon. Guillermo guessed he was looking at where his mind knew Anteron’s capital, Antaross, to be. After a moment Malachai turned away and spoke.

“There was a time when my country was one of the most beautiful, now it lies in decay. But I choose to see it with my memories, for what it once was.”

Guillermo remained silent, willing the captain to get to the point on his own.

“You have made quite the impression on Captain Arguile. When he asked me to accept you on my crew despite your history, he mentioned your incident after The Swallow crashed, and I see that you clearly have two arms. In times of war, there are always stories of the unexplained that originate on the battlefield. There was one that comes to mind about the battle of Anterock. In a war long ago, there was a battle at the fortress of Anterock. The survivors of the battle were deranged and spoke of a pale giant with startling blue eyes who appeared and slaughtered men from both sides. It is nothing but a rumor, of course, but a personal favorite of mine.”

“And?” asked Guillermo, clearly annoyed that the captain was wasting his time with children’s stories.

“And, this past war was no different. I’ve heard stories about soldiers who have suffered serious injuries, such as your arm, only to have them healed later. Even more curious, weeks later the injury would return and the soldier would not speak of how it happened.”

Clearly unnerved by what he was hearing, Guillermo pondered how much Malachai knew about the story behind his arm. He had trusted Arguile, but this man was completely different. He had no reason to trust him and even less to believe his story.

“Why are you telling me this?” he asked.

“Because unlike the story of the giant, these rumors have been substantiated as being fact. Tomorrow we will be stopping in Danu for supplies and to let refugees off before we reach Anteron. Also in Danu, is a man who was blinded in the war. He was said to have had his eyes healed and been stricken blind once more. I do not know him personally, but I’m sure his story will be of interest to you.”

Leaving him to ponder what he had said, Malachai walked past Guillermo.

“I also tell you this because Arguile had much respect for you. He said that given time I would find that you wear worthy of his respect, and mine.”

Guillermo didn’t know what to think about this latest bit of information. He was very interested in meeting this man tomorrow, and hopefully finding some answers for a change instead of only more questions. But everything moved too quickly for him. Two weeks ago his only plan was to find work on an airship until something better presented itself. Now he had fled from a capital city overrun with monsters, heading towards the capital of a country that was the enemy only two years ago, and was wearing an arm that some strange man had somehow given him. Part of him wished he was back on his father’s plantation where he had very few cares, but when his arm told him that Malachai had gone below decks because it could no longer feel his presence, he knew that would never happen. Sighing heavily, he followed the captain’s lead and went below.

*****

The next morning was a blur; Arc and Seek had met Guillermo in the breakfast hall, and discussed what they were going to do next. Not paying very much attention, Guillermo made some excuse about a need for some maintenance on his flintlock. He wasn’t even sure if Danu had someone with the knowledge to work on them, but the two sailors seemed not to care. And so Guillermo found himself at the doorstep of a man he didn’t know, hoping to find answers to questions he wasn’t sure he wanted answered. He knocked on the door, and was surprised when a middle-aged man answered. The first thing Guillermo noticed was the blindfold the man wore covering his eyes.

“Hello? Can I help you?” the man asked, ****ing his head to the side as if to try and hear who Guillermo was.

“Maybe,” he replied, “my name is Guillermo and… this may sound strange, but I was wondering if you’ve ever met someone named Dobbel?”

The man’s face broke into a strange smile, as if he found Guillermo humorous.

“Yes. I know Dobbel, he was the one who gave me a gift and was kind enough to take it back.”

The man reached back and pulled loose the blindfold wrapped around his head. Where the man’s eyes should have been now had only empty sockets. Both eyes had been perfectly removed and there was no trace that the man even had been born with eyes at all. Guillermo couldn’t help but shudder when he realized that it was just how his arm had been perfectly attached without a trace that it was ever gone.

“So what did he give you?” the man asked as he opened the door farther to allow Guillermo entrance.

[Big Rick Cook]

My first attempt at real writing within this story. Before, I was just having fun with it, and I felt as though the story was now going in a direction I could deal with. I also didn't hate Guillermo nearly as much anymore by this point, so I felt comfortable writing the scene between him and the blind man. I really like this addition because it's my personal turning point in the infrastructure of this colossus, and I always laugh when reading Arc's explosive dialogue.

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43rd Post - BRC 05

*BRC5* - *forty-three*

"Well then, what do you think we need to do while we're docked?" Seek asked a weary Arc, who had done nothing but slump around since the events in Jaegar. "Can you focus for just a second, please?"

"Why don't you focus!? I think with the way things are going, we need to get out of this city as soon as possible, and back into the air. Is this city safe from the kronals tunneling underneath the roads and EXPLODING INTO THE STREETS AND KILLING EVERYONE?! I DON'T THINK SO!!" Arc collapsed into a chair, exasperated from his little tirade. Seek sat down next to him at a cafe in the center of town. He sighed, looked up into the sky, and panned down to the buildings and streets to take a look at the civilians trotting around living their lives. Since the end of the war, they had not much to worry about except for the slight economic depression. They were completely unaware of the horror that came from seeing your friends die in front of you.

"You know as well as I do that the kronals have free reign on Jaegar. Danu is taking every measure they can to prevent the same from happening here," said Seek, trying to reassure Arc, who had obviously gone off the deep end for a minute.

"You wanna know what I know?" Arc recovered for a minute, and his face hardened into such a serious manner that Seek was taken aback. "I know that I'm going to kill every last ****ing one of those monsters! For Avery, Cassidy, Arguile, Hawkins, and for everyone else who's needlessly lost their lives." Arc was getting upset again, and laid his head down on the table.

Seek tried again to comfort him. He felt the same feelings, and he wanted revenge just as bad as Arc. He placed his hand on Arc's shoulder and said, "You and me both, buddy. You and me both."

*****

"Excuse me, gentlemen. May I take a seat with you?" Malachai had overheard part of the conversation on his way to the supply station, and thought he'd give them their official crew assignments to get their minds off of Jaegar. "I know how hard this is for you two, but if you want to stay on The Inspiration, then you need to compose yourselves before we set off tomorrow morning. As soon as we're off the ground, you (pointing at Arc) are going to be trained on the harpoon gun. One of my lost men was a new harpooner, so I think instead of putting in for a new one, we'll just put you there. And you, Pembran, are joining the other gunmen on the decks, for the same reason. If you don't like it, then don't get on my ship again, understood?" Arc was hardly paying attention, but Seek nodded in agreement for the two of them.

"Thank you, Captain. We will fulfill our duties as requested." This made Malachai at least content for the time being, so he bid them farewell for now and went on his way.

*****

Guillermo looked around this curious character's home: not much at all on the walls, and the floor practically vacant, save for a small oval black and red rug that looked as if it had never been cleaned. A single window next to the door held a lone Lufra flower in a clay pot, fully bloomed and shining with red, blue, and orange petals and stems. A brown wooden table with three intricately-designed chairs around it sat next to the kitchen area, and he saw two doors that he guessed led to a bedroom and a bathroom. This place is a dump, thought Guillermo. I guess a blind man doesn't need a lot of valuables lying around...

The man began his story slowly. "I can tell from your scent that you have met Dobbel, and his magic as well. So, bearing that in mind, let me begin from what I think is my beginning. You no doubt have questions about my eyes, why I no longer have them, and where I met Dobbel, but rest assured, I will answer them. My name is Private Shon Yuperius, former soldier of the Anteron Ground Assault, which you probably know as the AGA. You've probably never heard of me, but around here, I used to be renowned for my amazing vision, in town and on the field." Shon settled down into a chair, laughed at what Guillermo could only guess was the irony of his situation, and invited Guillermo to sit with him. It unnerved Guillermo to be in the same room with a person sharing Cassidy’s personal gift of great vision, but he pushed the thought aside to listen longer.

"While stationed in the Sea of Grass close to the border of Jaegar, a surprise attack from the enemy took out most of our unit, and scattered or imprisoned the rest. I at first thought I was a lucky one, having made it out of the frontlines. I, along with another man from my unit, made my way back to the headquarters three clicks from our positions. A flash mine left from a previous battle took the life of my partner with its blast, and took my vision in an instant. I was way too close to Lars when the mine went off, resulting in what is medically referred to as a 'white-out'. I saw only white for a month, living with my handicap in this dump, until a man approached me offering gifts of power and sight, much like he probably approached you. Said I was special, or unique, or had potential or some crap like that."

Guillermo knew all too well of what Shon spoke. He interrupted the blind man to further along the story, and to get himself out of this depressing room. "So you took the vision just like I took my arm, right? Well, just skip ahead to the part about what these eyes did for you, and how they affected you mentally, physically, and emotionally. I'm in a hurry here."

"Eh, you Jaegarians are all the same, moving so fast you miss the meat of the story. But very well." Shon stood up, got a drink of water for himself and Guillermo, and sat back down. "As you probably already know, the gift offered more than just the previous use the body part had. It gave me an ‘enhanced vision sense,’ if you will. I could see everything there was to see if I concentrated, even so much as looking through walls and clothing. I kept that part to myself as a way to keep the military off my back, of course. I rejoined the AGA, but I felt different all around.

The eyes turned out to be serving their own purpose, and forced me to have mood swings and fits of rage rather frequently. My friends started dropping me and I did not like who I was becoming. Dobbel popped up frequently to remind me of the bargain I made with him, and eventually, I got sick of his mind games. Told that bastard to take his devilry back: I'd rather be blind than a servant of some puppet master." Shon held his nose, as if a great pressure had just befallen him.

"As punishment for 'failing' him, he removed the eyes I had previously as well. Hurt like a *****, too."

"So what was Dobbel's plan, exactly? Did he ever tell you, or what?" By now, Guillermo was really disinterested, having heard exactly what he already knew.

"All I ever really gathered from our cryptic dialogues was that he was preparing a soldier. I see at this point that he's still trying. Don't listen to him, and if you've got any sense, you'll give back that arm in a hurry. Understand? Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some shopping I need to do, and I don't think I'll be of much more use to you, anyways."

"You've helped me more than you'll know, Shon." Guillermo shook the hand of this strange blind man he came in contact with, and went on his way. He now knew that Dobbel had been trying to find someone for a long time, and that he was not the only one, not by a long shot.

[Big Rick Cook]

Special! A new writer, and another girl! Karim surprised most of us by joining the story late in the game, and I can't think of any issues she had starting out that the rest of us didn't have, so her additions were pretty solid. I changed some minor dialogue issues, and fixed some punctuation errors, but all in all, this addition remains true to its original.

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44th Post – Karim 01

*Karim1 - *forty-four*

Arc and Seek left the café, and sat down on the corner of the road. The sun was setting, and a cool breeze blew through the city. It was relaxing; tranquil even. For a few minutes it was almost like nothing was wrong at all, and life had gone back to being good. But seconds later, a high pitched screech was heard from a few blocks away.

“Arc, you don’t think…”

“…They followed us!” he screamed, “...We’re all ****ing dead!”

“Get a hold of yourself! I really doubt they could have followed the airship this far.”

“Then what was that!”

Almost instantly a crash was heard around the corner of the street. They looked and found a midsized wyrm around twelve feet tall and several meters long staring back at them. It crawled forward, screeching at them, and then it paused again.

“****, ****… we’re dead!” Arc screamed.

“Arc! Shut up, just stay calm, we aren’t dead yet!”

“What exactly do you have planned? ANYTHING!?”

“Well…”

“Just what I thought! I’m not letting this bastard take me down!” he shouted, stepping closer to the monster. He took out his rifle, and fired several rounds randomly at the creature with minimal effect; nearly all the bullets missed as he didn’t even try to aim. Anger was clouding his mind and keeping him from thinking straight. “Damnit! Why won’t you just… die!?”

“Arc, get the hell back here!” Seek screamed.

As the monster began to lunge forward, a man ran at it from its left. The creature swung its head at him, but the man evaded it instantly, and countered it by throwing several Kunai at its side. Enraged, the creature lunged at him, but the man jumped to the side, evading it as well. The creature rolled over and regained its balance only to have several of the daggers thrown into its mouth and face. It screamed in pain, and fell to the ground dead. Arc stared at this and began to laugh uncontrollably.

“W-wha…. how did he… no way!” Seek exclaimed.

The man walked up to them and took a bow. Up close, he did not look like he was very formidable; he was not the type one would think could kill such a massive creature with ease. In fact, he was a bit effeminate. His long black hair was tied back into a ponytail, and he was rather lanky, with little muscle mass. He wore simple clothes as well, which left the two to believe he was not a professional at this sort of thing.

“The name is Aleksi, and yours would be?” the man said.

“… I’m Seek. And this here is Arc,” Seek replied.

“It is a pleasure to meet you.”

“… Where did you learn to… to do that?” Seek was still in shock.

“Oh, just something I picked up.”

“Killing a freakin’ monster in seconds, and just with some simple knives. It’s like something out of an old legend… just unbelievable,” said an equally surprised Arc.

“No, it’s not that unbelievable. You just have to read your enemy’s muscles. If you do so, it is easy to predict how they will attack. And since a Wyrm is merely a giant muscle, it is not so difficult.

Seek looked unconvinced. “… Sure.”

“I don’t suppose either of you realize the danger we are in!?! This guy may be able to kill one of them, but hundreds!?” Arc shouted at them.

“Relax. That must have been the only one. I saw it sneak out of the docks and I chased after it; I assume it hitched a ride on one of the airships.”

“… Probably ours…” Arc said.

“Oh, what a pity. But this raises a question, which airship did you come in on?”

“The Inspiration,” said Seek.

“… Coincidence is fond of me today. I am riding that airship as well. This raises yet another question: are you companions with Guillermo Avory?”

“I don’t think we should be telling anything to a freak that can kill monsters with simple weapons,” Arc snapped back.

“… Freak? I merely wished to know if you knew him. If it is too much, I will leave. But I figured you might be willing to tell me as I saved your life and all.”

Seek conceded. “Alright... We know him… but why are you asking?

“Just curious, and I heard he was going to be part of the crew now.” He said, smiling. “But I must go. Perhaps we shall meet again.”

The man walked away, back into the direction of the docks. Arc sat down, looking at the ground.

“Why… why do I have to be so weak? I can’t help anyone! … I can’t even defend myself…!” He shouted, seeming to hold back tears.

“Arc, no one expects you to be a ‘god of war’ or anything. …But you’ve gotta knock this off. You’re not helpless. We couldn’t defend them; we were nowhere near her when she was killed. Don’t you get it? It’s not our fault; …it isn’t anyone’s. I want to get revenge as bad as you do, but you can’t blame yourself…”

“You just don’t know, Seek, just leave me the hell alone!”

Arc got up and ran off into the city. Seek sighed, Arc wasn’t going to recover from this loss for quite some time, it seemed. But this was life; people were killed every day by the monsters; why Arc felt it was so different, he didn’t know. Maybe he was just mentally unstable from seeing her die before his eyes. … Or maybe he just didn’t know how to move on with life because he had never dealt with such a loss before.

*****

Aleksi returned to his room. Sasha was waiting for him

“So, you showed off and all in front of them, right?” Sasha asked.

“Yes.”

“And you didn’t brag?”

“Not at all. Well… maybe a little.”

“I just hope they were impressed. Just getting that monster here was a pain.”

“It was your idea.”

“I’m aware of that! But if they realize that we brought that thing here on the airship purposely, we are going to get caught.”

“Relax. I put on a good show. I doubt they could even tell the thing was drugged. The one was so scared he was firing randomly in the air.”

“Well, as long as they don’t realize. We need everyone on this ship to trust our skills at fighting those things, or our reasons for being on this ship are compromised. And make sure those two spread the story around with the crew tonight.”

“Of course.”

“But as for the monster being drugged… I thought you really had skill at this?” she asked in a playful mock.

“I do. But fighting one of those in a populated area was just asking for casualties. I had to drug it, or else some old lady would have ended up in its stomach.”

“… Sure.”

[Big Rick Cook]

ANOTHER NEW WRITER! I like how I pretend that this is a story being read by dozens of people who are not a part of it. :) Anyways, here is Magik, and for a very long time, this was Magik's only addition. It seemed he would be one of those rare few who only had one addition total. But that was not the case. Acacia is introduced here, and that's a major thing. You'll see why later.

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45th Post – Magik 01

*Magik1* - *forty-five*

Arc, still sulking, left Seek’s company and meandered around the town. He didn’t speak to anyone, and hardly took notice of the other people. He passed by a pub and overheard a raucous group of men talking about the ‘wyrm attack’ from earlier that evening. Some of them applauded the man — Aleksi — for his skill, while others called him a lunatic. Some of the men even embellished the attack and claimed that they helped Aleksi fight off the beast. Normally, Arc would have smiled at their antics, but now he was in deep meditation of the last few weeks.

Avery, he thought silently, What could we have shared between us? Where would we be right now? What would we be doing? If only… he clenched his fists, If only I was stronger.

He didn’t notice the figure in front of him until he bumped into it.

“Hey, watch it!” said a voice.

Arc looked up and gasped, “Avery?!”

There, in front of him, was Avery. She smiled at him softly, “Arc, I’ve missed you.”

“Hey?! Are you ignoring me?” exclaimed a voice in front of him—but it wasn’t Avery. Avery’s figure faded away. Her smile, her eyes, her hair, her soothing breath all faded away. In their place was a young woman. She was not smiling; she was fuming. “Hello?”

“Huh?” was Arc’s dumbfounded reply. The woman looked nothing like Avery. She had chocolate colored skin, light brown hair, and amazing green eyes. Her left eye was a light shade of green, like grass in the springtime, and her right eye was dark green, like a shining emerald. She was lean and very tall, with sharp facial features.

“Geez, now you’re making me feel bad. Are you ‘handicapped’ or something?” she muttered.

“No. I was just thinking about things, and I wasn’t paying attention. Sorry ‘bout that,” he replied. For some reason, this woman’s presence made him feel comfortable. He almost felt happy for a moment.

“Well… just be careful from now on,” she said.

“Yeah, I will. My name’s Arc.”

“… Okay.”

“Uh… what’s your name?”

“Acacia, but most people just call me Cay.” she paused. “So, you’re not from around here, are you?”

“Not really. I’m on my way to Anteron, I guess. We just stopped here to reload our cargo,” said Arc.

“Oh! You must be riding on The Inspiration!” Cay exclaimed cheerfully.

“Yeah, I am,” he half-smiled.

“I was going to travel on foot with a caravan to Anteron, but the monsters seem to be coming in such large quantities nowadays that most of the caravan left to bum rides on the airships.”

“So, how are you getting to Anteron, then?”

She smiled widely, “Can I go with you?”

Her innocent smile made Arc chuckle. “I don’t think there would be a problem, but I’d have to ask the captain, I think.”

“Oh! Would you?! Thank you so much. I’m heading into the pub, you wanna join me?”

He was reluctant, but he decided not to join her. He needed some rest; it was getting very late.

He walked briskly down the road thinking: the captain had to let her board the ship. For the first time in a while, he felt a bit contented. Although he still had nightmares after he went to sleep, he wasn’t as afraid when he woke up in the morning, and he looked forward to the day ahead.

[Big Rick Cook]

First, I'd like to say that I forgot about Aleksi in my introduction yesterday. He is a rather important character, and will be in many many additions to come. I also hate him, but in a good way.

New Mora post. This was where we start to see some ties that bind, as Mora desperately attempted linking some other story characters into Guillermo's past so that he wouldn't be such a vacant and displaced character, or something along those lines. It worked quite well, and created an interesting triangle later in the story. Get used to triangles; they plague the story for awhile after this first one gets started. Don't know what else to say, except... enjoy.

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46th Post – Mora 03

*Mora3* - *forty-six*

Guillermo woke up from another fitful night of “rest.” For a while, he didn’t move an inch from his bed. He laid there tracing the wood grain in the ceiling idly with his eyes and thinking upon the revelation of the day before. So Dobbel wanted him to become a soldier, a warrior of some kind? For what? There wasn’t any important military conflict occurring in the world. Not since “the” war. Now there were the monsters to direct people’s hatred away from each other. Then was that it? Dobbel had given him his arm back so that he could fight the monsters like he had in their escape? If this was true, then the old man he had met hadn’t known what he was talking about. This arm could be a gift, something that would set himself above other people. But he also was experiencing the same downsides that man had, as well. He could feel himself becoming more and more irrational. He found it difficult to fetter his rage and when he couldn’t contain it, he wanted nothing more than to tear at the first person that engaged him. He remembered his conversation with Cassidy earlier. The last he ever had with him. As he was pondering all this, he touched his left arm with his right again. There definitely was something slightly… inhuman about the way it felt, the way it made him feel. Yet there was still a familiarity about it. It wasn’t alien anymore to him and the thought of doing what he had done when it was so new and cutting into it, perhaps even trying to tear it off, sickened him. Whatever it was doing to him, he would do anything to keep it. Anything.

*****

Guillermo shuffled off to the galley while they were serving breakfast to the new crewmembers and passengers of The Inspiration. He wanted to talk to Arc and Seek about what he had discovered in his conversation with Shon, but there were so many up and about he couldn’t find them right away. However, there was one person he found that he wished he hadn’t. Sasha was standing against a support beam in the same black clothes that he had seen her in before. She had a serious look to her. When her eyes met with his, she immediately began walking towards him. Guillermo froze. Something about her made him… he couldn’t describe it. It was a feeling that began in his new arm and spread throughout his body. It felt similar to panic, but…

“Oh my goodness,” a female voice behind him gasped, “is that you, Gui?”

He found the strength to turn around and saw in front of him the one person that he never could have been prepared to see at that moment. “You’re kidding. Cay?”

The carefree and confident demeanor that usually defined Cay had all but left her at the sight of Guillermo. “You look… different than I remember, Gui,” she said in a voice that barely hinted at nostalgia.

Guillermo found himself strangely defensive. “Different?” he asked in a voice about two levels too high to be considered polite in a public situation.

Cay flinched at the question, but thoughtfully laid out her answer. “Well… I guess anyone will look different than you remember if the last time you saw him was as a gawky teenager. You look like you’ve matured, Gui.”

Guillermo blushed. She had always been the only one that could make him do that. It was a gift she had used to abuse in their younger days. “You…” he began, “look like you’ve matured, too.”

Cay looked down at the ground and her voice took on a bittersweet quality. “Just to make things perfectly clear, I don’t intend to start up what we had again. ‘We’ are over.”

“I wasn’t assuming anything. We’re just two old friends meeting each other for the first time in a long time.”

Cay looked up and nodded. “Exactly. So, what brings you here, headed towards Anteron? The Gui I used to know would be hard-pressed to leave his hometown, let alone his country.”

“Monsters,” he succinctly answered.

Cay grinned knowingly. “Yeah, that seems to be the answer all around, nowadays. Goddamned things.”

“What about you?”

“After I left, I joined a caravan and sold some of my weavings. Looking back on it, I’m surprised I made it. I was too young. I shouldn’t have done it. But, I guess I beat the odds.”

“And you happened to get on this ship, huh?”

“I met a guy yesterday who got me in.”

Guillermo began to feel his anger welling up inside of him, although he could hardly imagine why. “A guy, huh?”

Cay looked away. “It’s not like that. At least, not yet. I’m not expecting anything to happen, all right? It’s none of your business anyways. I thought I made it clear that we were done with each other. At least in that way.”

Guillermo rubbed his eyes. “You’re… right, of course. Old habits, you know?”

Cay nodded silently. For a few moments, they shared an exquisite silence amongst the white noise of the various other inhabitants of the ship before Guillermo had had enough. “Well, I need to go find my friends. I’ll… see you, I guess.”

“It was nice seeing you,” Cay said so quietly that it was almost lost in the crowd.

Guillermo kept his smile on the inside.

[Big Rick Cook]

Next up is another Ryu addition. This one has the odd tendency to cover a lot of ground without really furthering the story. The main thing here is that we get a glimpse of Malachai's nature as the captain of his vessel, and some hints at things that may or may not be what they seem. Some good characterization and detail is paid to Malachai and Guillermo, making this a satisfying read.

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47th Post – Ryu 04

*Ryu4* - *forty-seven*

Breakfast probably tasted better that day than that served on the troubled journey of The Swallow. Having made a great impression on the people of Danu by The Inspiration’s unscheduled landing, the sympathy and sensationalism in regard to its passengers’ plight spread like wine spilled over stone roads as the news about its narrow escape from Jaegar hopped from one mouth to the other. An appreciable amount of hospitality burst from the locals, and while its own poverty ensured they could only spare so much of their supplies and most decided only to speak of the passengers’ peril with a worried hush, their concern seemed to be manifest at least in the slightly more bountiful breakfast.

Acacia’s request of Arc to get her on the ship proved not completely necessary, as a combination of the circumstances of The Inspiration’s unscheduled landing and destination, and the wild interest in the ship effectively bombarded the airship with potential stowaways. His meddling simply greatly increased her chances.

“Most of its current passengers did not register to get on in the first place,” “The captain has a duty to help in a state of emergency,” “The normal rates are too expensive for me to pay,” were the various sentiments that seemed to be stamped on the faces of those prospective travelers. Some had hatched plans to graciously bestow gifts of food and supplies to those who had been on board, and upon delivering them to those in the ship, decided to—inconspicuously—hang around long enough for the ship to take off.

It took Malachai only a quarter of an hour to realize what exactly was going on as the reduction of crew members ensured that the ship was not properly safeguarded while the majority helped pick up and load supplies. In a hurry he had rushed about his ship, blocking free entrance to its halls, waiting for his new crewmembers to find him struggling within the chaos and his old ones to finish loading.

Presently, he eyed those eating breakfast in the galley with a grave, grumpy look of suspicion, attempting to remember as he focused on each and every one of them whether he had seen them on board or not before they landed. While some fleeing the destruction had notified him of their intent of staying in Danu, more got on than had left (luckily Malachai’s swift reaction prevented many more from hopping on board.) Yet the ship had not been excessively crowded, as most of its new passengers were young persons without families—much of the sense of congestion stemmed from the commotion of excited conversation of the adventurers who were ‘finally getting out of this town.’ The take off was scheduled for just after breakfast, and Malachai worried if a few would inadvertently be left behind in the confusion. He resented this breach in his air of efficiency, and, with a stern look of silent disapproval that stated in spite of itself, ‘What am I—a taxi service?’ to all who looked his way, also detested how absurdly comical his condition might have appeared. Conflicted with the facts of the safe arrival, the generous donation of extra supplies, and congenial attitude of the locals, he concluded nonetheless that their benevolence had too many strings attached, that their kindness should not have given them the license to run amok in his ship. Yet something also imposed upon him the responsibility of assisting all who wished to leave their homes: with Jaegar smashed like a sand castle under ocean waves, and Danu sure to follow, Antaross was the last epicenter of militarized civilization for hundreds of miles. Malachai’s ponderous stew was suddenly interrupted—Guillermo had run into him.

*****

After the unanticipated meeting with Cay that had summoned up an ecstasy of odd emotions, Guillermo stumbled through the obstacle course of moving human hurdles, straight into a meeting he expected, only not so soon. Guillermo stared at him with a slight tinge of a new reverence on account of Malachai’s accurate information and willingness to share it with him. He wondered what other useful knowledge could be swimming about in that statesmanlike head. Still, as both were subconsciously concerned about appearances, neither made an effort to drop the thin, yet sturdy wall of mutual mistrust that still stood suspended between them. That tension caused Guillermo to wonder if Malachai knew more about that soldier than he let on. Guillermo almost sensed that Malachai now distrusted him for other reasons than his history as an ex-Jaegar militant.

“Well…thanks for the tip about that soldier,” Guillermo muttered, trying to guess how Malachai knew that he might be interested in that information, thus implicitly admitting that he knew the return of his arm had not been the result of advanced surgery. Perhaps it was only his high stature and learning that allowed him to realize his arm for what it was not, but perhaps that was not the whole story….

“No problem. Anything to keep a Jaegarian out of my hair,” Malachai replied. At first the choice of words seemed almost indicative of a grandfatherly joke, but the rigid tone of voice and anxious silence afterwards caused the sincere reality to settle in. Guillermo waited for him to ask if he actually had met him or for what he had learned, but Malachai said nothing more, apparently deeming such questions unnecessary. Malachai had a strange way of not turning his head towards those he shared a conversation with.

“We are going to initialize our departure soon after breakfast,” Malachai finally said, almost as an afterthought, “You might want to get some substance in your stomach during this interval.”

Guillermo utilized this excuse to leave without a word, grimacing at the curt conversation, and absent-mindedly picked up a couple rolls with a light tinge of honey as he continued on his feet in a continuing struggle to find Arc and Seek (while hopefully avoiding the glance of both Sasha and Cay.)

[Big Rick Cook]

Me again. This addition is strange in that I wanted to get everyone off the ground as soon as possible, but I also had this idea that there should be some interesting storytelling perspectives during the narrative. So while it starts off with Guillermo, that's actually one of the last things to happen in this addition. I covered all the main characters, and sort of worked my way backwards and then forward again until the ship was almost taking off. I don't know why, but I like to do this sort of thing, and ideas like this show up on rare occasions throughout the story, and you can bet your bottom that I'll point them out along the way. On to the story!

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48th Post – BRC 06

*BRC6* - *forty-eight*

Breakfast ended with no more consequential happenings. Guillermo never did find Seek or Arc; he just assumed they had been in town the whole time, and damned them for wasting his time. Malachai still had not given him a decent room, so he headed back to his ‘broom closet’ to await departure. He wondered how much longer the captain would make everyone wait before setting off. This sure is taking a hell of a long time... Guillermo's thoughts wandered off to Dobbel once again. Where had he gone, and why hadn't they been in contact? Furthermore, what business did Cay have on this ship, and what asshole did she shack up with to get a ride? And why was he scared to meet with Sasha again? He was so wrapped up in his thoughts, that he didn't even notice Seek and Arc walk by his room, followed closely by Acacia.

*****

Outside of the ship, Seek was introduced to Arc's new friend. "So, wait a minute. You two just met outside of a bar yesterday, and already you're staying in the same room?" Seek was flustered at Arc's change of character so quickly. He also wondered why Acacia even considered joining him. Maybe she just desperately needed on The Inspiration. Whatever the reason, Arc had already gotten her signed on the ship. He turned his head to greet Acacia warmly, despite the rude remark. "Sorry. I'm glad you'll be joining us." He forced a smile and shook hands with her. "Well, it's about time to go, I think. Should we head on in?"

"Sure, why not? It's probably gonna get attacked by monsters anyway, resulting in our inescapable deaths..." Arc trailed off when he realized Acacia was giving him a disturbed look. "That is to say... um... let's hurry on, Cay. I want you to meet our friend inside." Arc wasn't exactly smooth-talking her, but he did cover his words quick.

*****

"What's your friend's name?" Acacia never thought it would be Guillermo they knew, but she was soon to be mistaken.

Seek butted in on their way up the platform: "Guillermo Avory. He's an odd sort, and I wouldn't mention his arm; he just recently lost it and um... regained it."

Acacia's eyes grew wide. That’s two surprise coincidences in the same week. she mused. She didn't want them to know he was the one she knew, so she said nonchalantly, "Hmm... guess he's not the one I know." She fumed about why he didn't mention the arm in the first place, and went on her way with her new companions.

*****

Once inside the ship, they made their way through the upper decks and across the mess hall, passing the beautiful woman clad in black that Seek had seen before, as well as the lanky man known as Aleksi that had so surprisingly killed a kronal with simple knives. As they passed, Aleksi stabbed the table and left rather quickly, followed soon by the woman. They then saw Malachai giving orders to a couple of crewmen, and nodded to him when he said, "We're ready to go, I want you three to hurry up and get to your areas. Medose, take care of your friend before you report to Rens in Weapons on the quarter deck. Pembran, you report to Wayne on the top deck to receive your orders."

The three of them nodded with a joined "Sir!" and went down to the crew decks, and upon nearing Guillermo's room, Arc motioned towards his door. "That's Guillermo's room, Cay. I figure he's probably in there, you wanna meet him now, or wait until we set off?"

"No, I'd like to get to our room, if that's okay with you." They walked right past the room, talking about previous events, and Seek filled her in on the whole Jaegar devastation, as Arc couldn't handle telling the story just yet.

*****

Aleksi frowned as he turned towards Sasha in the dining hall. They had already eaten, and Sasha had been patiently awaiting Guillermo’s arrival. In the confusion of breakfast, the only thing she managed to see was the captain running around like a chicken with his head cut off throwing off stows and preventing new ones from coming on. She chuckled at the thought of a highly distinguished man such as Malachai rushing around frantically like that. "Sasha, it's all too boring here, why are we still waiting?" Aleksi was not one to sit idly around while there was anything to do.

"Be patient, Al. Soon we'll be off the ground, and since Guillermo is obviously avoiding me, and is not even aware of you, we can approach him on the deck. Later."

"How many times do I have to tell you I hate that name?" He stabbed the table clean through with a butter knife, a testament to hidden strengths, and stalked away. Sasha only smiled, and walked back to her room.

*****

Malachai and his crew had finally finished preparations, and they were ready for take-off, despite the over-crowded ship he would now be taking on as a result of stowaways. He had plans to make all of them do the grunt work as their stow payment, so justice would be his. He gave orders to First Mates Blake and Henley, and then exchanged words with Seek, Arc, and Acacia. As they went downstairs, he went up to the top deck to ensure departure was ready. After his customary pre-flight check was all done, he gave final orders for departure, and everyone who was not on the ship yet made their way on, making sure not to miss the flight.

[Big Rick Cook]

That's a Mora! We have another connection to Guillermo's past in this addition, but not a new character. This got us moving in the airship again, and answered in part some questions about Guillermo's arm and what was happening to him. This is also where the brainstorming came into play in a very large way. Some of my greatest memories are of brainstorming sessions with Ryu and Mora, throwing out ideas and tossing aside the dumb ones. We did this more and more for the next two or so hundred pages until we had the basics of the entire story worked out, but it wasn't until just recently (like the last month) that we've really pinned down the specifics of the finale and the ending. Let's go forth with the story!

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49th Post – Mora 04

*Mora4* - *forty-nine*

Guillermo was feeling restless. What with Acacia suddenly coming back into his life and the mystery of his arm still hanging over his head, he couldn’t relax like he wanted to. He felt like he needed to get some fresh air, so he tried to go on the ship's deck and wind down. As he meandered towards the deck, he glanced around and saw the crew working tirelessly to make sure the ship stayed upright and in the air. They have purpose, Guillermo thought to himself. What do I have?

He squinted as he entered the deck. The sun was shining brightly through a scattering of clouds above. Guillermo listlessly wandered over to the railing and overlooked the edge to see the terrain below. He remembered the promise life used to have for him before the war. He might not have gone on to do great deeds, but he would have had a comfortable existence minding his family’s business after his father passed away. But plans rarely work out. Instead he found himself a vagrant. No future, no friends. A part of him piped up that indeed he did have friends, but his inner cynic scoffed at the idea. How could he call the people he had met friends? Cassidy, Arc, Seek, Avery? They were just acquaintances, really, and two of them were dead. He’d never asked to be their friend. He didn’t know why he had been expected to play nice with them. Ever since his arm had been granted to him, he hadn’t felt much like being around people, actually. But… he knew the only times he’d been happy lately were around others.

He didn’t show it much, but he really had enjoyed the company of the others. It had been painful leaving his town, under the circumstances, and the last thing he thought he’d find on the outside was an ally. Yet here he was, with people that he could call comrades. He sighed. He didn’t know what he wanted anymore. The thought that his arm might be influencing him disturbed him, but the memory he had of having lost it broke his heart. Did he want a replacement, no matter the cost? So far, he’d answered “yes,” but he wondered if it could possibly stay that way. He dangled his left arm over the railing and felt the waves of air caressing it. With his heightened sense, he could barely close his mouth from the awe of the experience. It was like he could feel each molecule bouncing and playing off of his hand. Would he trade this for the way he was before?

“Well, well,” a male voice from beside him declared, “if it isn’t Mr. Avory. We meet again.”

Guillermo was wrested from his reverie and turned to his right to see a very slim, slightly effeminate young man with long black hair tied back in a ponytail and in simple, casual dress. Guillermo squinted. “Am I supposed to know you?”

The stranger’s face feigned offense. “Why, after all we’ve been through, you can’t recognize me? Well, I suppose I do look a bit different-“

Guillermo cut him off. “Look, either tell me who you are or bug off. I’m not in the mood for pleasantries.”

The other man smiled slightly. “I’m Aleksi, remember?”

Guillermo’s face lit up with recognition. “Aleksi? You mean from training? You look…”

“Unhealthy, right?” Aleksi said with a laugh.

“Well, you definitely look smaller.”

“It costs money to eat right, eh? Times are rough all around,” Aleksi said, resting on the railing and looking off into the horizon. “You seem to be doing all right, though. You’ve got your health.”

“I’m lucky, that’s all.”

“I hear you got stationed in Jaegar. Not much to be done there, eh? Pretty soft job, how’d you land it?” Aleksi asked, in an almost leading tone.

“Well,” Guillermo began, obviously embarrassed to explain, “my father was kind of a big shot in my hometown. He pulled some strings, but I never asked him to.”

“A lot of people died, most of the people we knew. I’m lucky I survived out there, but I guess you didn’t need luck,” Aleksi said, with a hint of resentment.

“What’s done is done,” Guillermo said sharply.

“Too true, too true.”

“It seems so weird that you’re here, too.”

“Hm?”

“Nevermind. I was saying that mostly to myself. So, what are you doing here?”

Aleksi stood upright and looked straight into Guillermo’s eyes. “I know about your arm.”

Guillermo was so surprised he couldn’t speak. He sputtered a few sounds and involuntarily stepped backwards a few steps. Aleksi kept his cool and smiled in his own casual way. “I know how, why and when to be precise. You see, you’re a very special person.”

Guillermo tried to communicate the trillion outbursts exploding in his head. “W-w-w-why me?”

“Because you’re one of the few that are ready for what you’re going through. You can survive it, you see. If it had happened to any old person, they’d die, simple as that. You are a survivor, Guillermo, whether you know it or not. Built to last.”

“What’s happening to me?!”

“Ah, the question. The question I knew you’d ask. I’d ask it if I were in your place. This is going to be hard to explain. Ever heard of evolution?”

Guillermo shook his head. Aleksi closed his eyes. “I see. Well, it’s not a very popular theory. In fact, it’s considered to be complete idiocy. But it’s true, as you’re going to find out. You see, people didn’t start as people.”

Guillermo was getting impatient. “You’re talking nonsense. Get to the point!”

Aleksi opened his eyes and frowned. “This is important. I wouldn’t advise you to neglect it. Now, back to the topic at hand. Life on this planet started off much simpler. They were tiny things that merely ate and reproduced. Fairly dull existence, wouldn’t you say? But, fortunately for us, evolution took place. These life forms adapted over eons of time to become more and more complex. People are one of the results of this process of evolution.”

“Fascinating,” Guillermo grunted through gritted teeth, “but what does this have to do with me?”

Aleksi grinned in a not entirely wholesome way. “You’re evolving, Guillermo.”

“What?!”

“Your arm. Obviously you feel it’s something not entirely human. That’s correct. While it may still look human for the time being, it’s not. In fact, by this time your entire body should have shifted from its original genetic basis. It’s changing itself, you see, little by little. What normally takes millions of years is happening in a much shorter timeframe.”

“What on earth does this have to do with my arm coming back to me?!”

Aleksi soundlessly produced a knife and cut Guillermo across his right arm before he could react. “Damn!” Guillermo exclaimed, clutching his arm in pain while blood trickled from the wound. But as he was doing so, he could feel the pain getting more and more numb. He took his other hand off the wound and saw it closing up until not even a scar was left. He was dumbfounded.

“You see,” Aleksi explained, “regeneration seems to be part of your change. Pretty useful, huh? I bet even if you lost a limb, it’d come back.”

“Why?” Guillermo asked with a rage purer than any he had felt before that moment. “Why do this to someone?”

Aleksi became grim. “You do realize the world we live in, don’t you? Monsters, Guillermo. They’re not natural, you know. They’re not meant to be here.”

“You’re saying this… ‘evolution’ has something to do with the monsters?”

“Yes.”

Guillermo remembered how he had been able to survive against the monster during his escape from Jaegar. “Even so, why is this… changing my behavior?”

“Who says it is? With power comes responsibility, Guillermo,” Aleksi said with relish. “Whatever the changes to come, they’re physical. What happens to your mind is your own doing. If you’re changing, I’d suggest looking in the mirror for the real reason. I don’t blame you, though. We all have our dark sides… What interests me, though, is that any other person would have asked for a way out by now.”

Guillermo stared at Aleksi in a silent fury. Aleksi looked so confident, so smug. It wouldn’t take much to show him who’s the boss, Guillermo thought. Just a few seconds and I could overpower him, easily. Throw him over the side. No one’s looking… no one would have to know. As he felt himself tensing up he realized it was really him thinking these horrible thoughts. He nearly began crying.

“You see, I can tell you want power,” Aleksi said. “I could tell so from the day we first met. That’s why you aren’t refusing us, you see. You know you want it. The power to revolutionize the world, right?”

“…What… What am I going to turn into?”

Aleksi smiled broadly. “Ah, that’s the interesting thing. We can’t predict. You’re actually farther along than most, you see. Most of the time they can’t handle the news and either ask us to take it back, or… Well, needless to say, they take matters into their own hands. I must say I’m extremely intrigued as to how you’ll develop, Guillermo.”

Guillermo felt disgusted. “So, I’m some kind of experiment, then.”

“The most important in all of human history,” Aleksi said slapping Guillermo on his shoulder in an inappropriately friendly fashion. “You should be proud.”

Guillermo slapped his arm away. “Don’t you ever touch me! You… you’re not my friend anymore.”

“So, I’m your enemy, is that it? You’re still going along with our plans, of course. It’s not necessary for Sasha and I to be your friends, but we’re hardly your enemies. In fact, we’re the only people who understand what you’re going through. I think in time you’ll come to appreciate that, isn’t that right?” Aleksi said, moving slightly to Guillermo’s right and calling out to someone apparently behind him.

Guillermo turned around swiftly and came face-to-face with Sasha, as oddly entrancing as ever, simultaneously feminine and authoritative. She acknowledged Aleksi with a motion of her arm. “You see,” she told Guillermo, “I told you I knew what you were going through.”

“Well, looks like the weirdoes are popping out of the woodwork now,” Guillermo replied. “Do you always sneak up on people?”

“I said I could be a friend, Guillermo,” Sasha said, ignoring his question. “We still can be. It’s up to you.”

“Let’s give him some breathing room for now, Sasha,” Aleksi interjected. “What do you say?”

Sasha sighed. “All right. Let’s go.”

Before Guillermo could say anything coherent, Aleksi had gone to Sasha, put his arm around her waist and walked towards the inside of the ship with her.

*****

“I see my little speech on patience was wasted on you, Al,” Sasha said walking down the halls with Aleksi.

“I don’t think I queered the deal. I think he’ll actually be quite the obedient servant given half a chance,” he replied.

“What makes you say that? He obviously resents what’s happening to him.”

“Ah, but he can’t give it up. As much as he tells himself what we’re doing to him is wrong, he can’t give up what’s been given. He wants it too much.”

“Let’s hope you’re right. Otherwise we’ll have to find another candidate.”

“I told you when I picked him out, we won’t NEED another candidate. He’s going to make it work.”

*****

Guillermo spent the rest of the day on the deck. He watched the terrain beneath roll silently along as they neared their destination. His mind seemed to buzz with thoughts, but he felt thoughtless at the same time. What had been laid before him made everything he had found out previously seem like child’s play in comparison. His life would never be the same now. He knew the reason he felt alone now: he was no longer a part of the human race. Day turned into dusk as Guillermo brooded. He hadn’t felt hungry enough for lunch. As the sun was making its journey over the horizon, he knew he had to get ready for his job as the night lookout, and that he had better eat dinner, unless he wanted his stomach bothering him throughout the night. He felt the need for some comfort, though. He needed to confide what was happening to him. His brain raced to try to find someone he could talk to, and the first one that popped into his head was Arc.

When he found the door to Arc’s quarters, he hesitated before knocking. Arc was probably at dinner, he thought to himself. He’s probably not even in there. But as long as he was here, he thought he might as well try. He knocked three times in quick succession and waited. He froze as the door opened to reveal the room’s occupant.

Cay rubbed her eyes. “Hello?”

[Big Rick Cook]

Omni's first addition, and surprise, surprise! The story made it to addition 50. It was a decent first addition, but Omni had a couple of problems for his part in particular. Where Staffmaster had trouble mostly with grammar and spelling and terrible ideas, Omni had trouble with grammar, spelling, remembering people's names exactly, punctuation, and a vanity fair for his two created characters. He especially fudged a lot of facts, and was staunchly against changing anything in his later additions, no matter how contradictory the facts were to the story. All of this and more has been rectified in the edits, thank God. There's a sweet moment shared between Guillermo and Acacia where Gui finally gets his doubts out in the open about everything. The other scene we see here is the introduction of Elise and Adam, sibling monster hunters who are for some reason out for Dobbel. They start off interesting enough, but Omni later turns the story into 'Adam and Elise are the greatest ever.' More on that tidbit later.

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50th Post – Omni 01

*Omni1* - *fifty*

Guillermo stared vacantly at Acacia’s form inside the door. Beads of water dripped from her moist brown hair, indicating she had just finished taking a shower. Her expression turned to one of sheer shock when she noticed that a very taken aback Guillermo was standing less then a foot away from her.

Guillermo wasn't sure... maybe Arc had gotten a little thinner… grew his hair a bit and had gotten a massive tan, sunbathing on the deck. Maybe, he had decided he didn't want to live his life as a man and had asked Dobbel if he could perform a sex change. Or... maybe he wasn't hallucinating and this really was Acacia standing inside Arc's bunk, fresh from Arc's shower.

"Wha... what are you...?" Guillermo stuttered as he stepped back. Then his eyebrows lowered and his mouth turned downward. “Sorry... I thought… Arc.." he mumbled.

*****

Cay tried to form words on her lips, but none came out. She looked back into the room, suddenly wondering why she felt such a pang of guilt.

"I wanted to talk to Arc. But... I guess he's not here…" Guillermo gazed past her.
Cay looked down at her bare feet, knowing that there was nothing she could really say, but then her face turned to curiosity when she looked up and noticed how downtrodden he appeared. It was as if he was carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders and had nobody to help support him.

"Gui… what… what’s wrong?" she immediately asked.

"No…I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have bothered you. I wanted to speak to Arc," he whispered.

"No Gui. I know something is wrong. I'm sorry, I guess I should have told you about Arc," she said.

But it looked as if he hadn't even heard her. She could tell that the moment of shock had passed and whatever had been on his mind earlier had once again seeped back into his brain. He began to tremble, and Cay, seeing how his thoughts affected him, found herself reach for him.

*****

“Please Gui, please… come in," she coerced. He looked about the hall, stalling for time. He felt her hand take a hold of his new one, and he looked up at her. He could feel every inch of her palm, the damp water that still resided on it, the blood vessels that lie just below her creamy soft skin and the small excretions of sweat as her hand seemingly grew hotter just by touching him. He walked in her doorway as she moved aside, slowly clicking the door behind him.

"Gui… what is it?" she asked again.

I came to talk to Arc, he thought, he could probably understand. But Acacia... He knew somehow that she would understand. Surprise shook her as he whirled on her, grabbing her across the arms and squeezing her. She did not press him away, but slowly placed her arms around his waist, letting him hold her close. Guillermo knew that she understood his need for a friend. He gripped her tighter as he placed his neck onto her shoulder.

"Everything’s wrong, Cay. Everything," he said.

*****

Sasha grinned. She felt that Aleksi was correct. Finally, after all this time searching, they had at last found someone suitable. She had left Aleksi to his thoughts on the balcony and decided to find the mess hall. Even she had to eat sometime. The thought of Guillermo might have made her stomach a bit jumpy with anticipation, but food always worked best when she had things on her mind. That and maybe Aleksi in bed… or maybe a quick workout with her scythe.

It wasn’t until she walked into a hallway that led to the mess hall, that her senses made her keenly aware that she was being followed. She tilted her head sideways to focus on the passage behind her. Her eyes focused on a small, shapely woman with flowing red hair. The woman’s green eyes met Sasha’s stare, and Sasha paused to half face her. The silence was long and deafening. The sound of people laughing and eating could be heard from the entrance of the mess hall. The air was thick and the woman’s brow was beaded with small drops of sweat. The muscles under her white shirt and green pants were tense.

"You. I’ve seen you before. Following people. It’s a very bad habit." Sasha’s words were smooth and low.

"You know him, don’t you? Dobbel," the woman’s confident and serious voice answered back.

Sasha faced the woman fully after hearing Dobbel’s name. "I am not at liberty to say," Sasha retorted.

"That’s the kind of answer that screams ‘yes,’ you know," the woman gleamed, "but… what’s one of his little cohorts doing on a post-military vessel?"

"You presume much, Red…" Sasha answered back. "Perhaps I am just merely a victim of Jaegar’s dismemberment. Perhaps I am just a poor soul, without a home… with only this black cloak as a reminder of my past life? Perhaps I know nothing of what you speak."

"Nope, don’t buy it," Red spoke, "with that getup, you might as well just announce your fully beneficial recruitment plan."

Sasha smiled.

The woman had slowly walked up to Sasha and now the two were both nose to nose.

"Where is Dobbel?" she asked again.

Sasha faked bewilderment, and then sighed, her eyes on the ceiling. “Somewhere."

"So then you want to play games?" the girl asked.

"Most definitely," was Sasha’s answer.

She went for a knife within the confines of her cloak, but the girl was just as fast. She grabbed Sasha’s left hand and pulled her towards her, pushing her elbow into Sasha’s chest, while pulling her right arm up before bringing a closed fist backhand into Sasha’s mouth. The impact just caused Sasha to roll her face with the punch as she quickly grabbed the girl’s fist with her free hand. She pushed the girl into the wall, slamming her back with great force. But the woman was just as strong, using Sasha’s momentum to swing her back and slam her against the very same wall. Then they both pulled at each other, causing themselves to run full force into the mess hall entrance.

*****

People were shocked and stunned as the mess hall doors nearly broke off their hinges as two women crashed into the room, entangled in each other’s grips, before they both let go and fell to the floor. Arc and Seek had been at the nearest table, when Arc nearly choked in surprise on the pork chop he nearly inhaled. They both jumped to their feet as people were backing up away from the scene.

*****

The women were just as quick as Sasha seemed to levitate herself up from her feet. The other woman had rolled with the fall, swinging herself onto her boots and forming a defensive pose.

"Not bad, I suppose," Sasha complimented.

"What would you expect from an expert monster hunter?" the lass shrugged.

"Ah, yes. Do brag. It makes the victory all the sweeter.”

*****

Guillermo sat on the bed, while Cay walked out of the small bathroom. She handed him a glass of water and then sat down next to him. The room was silent as they both sat there, waiting for the other to say something. The ceiling fan hummed, blowing around the dust particles that accompanied them in the small room.

"Gui. What is it? Why are you so…unhappy?" she finally asked.

"I did something. Some things… I think I shouldn’t have," Guillermo answered.

"Like?" Cay tried.

"This," Guillermo said, raising his left arm. Cay glanced at his brownish tan arm and then back at his eyes with a questioning look. "I shouldn’t," he raised his voice, starting to move from the bed.

"No, Gui. Tell me," she encouraged.

He looked at her. He had to tell her. He couldn’t bear keeping a secret like this from her. He wanted someone he knew… he liked… he trusted… to understand.

"I lost my arm in an airship crash a couple weeks back," he told her.

"What?!" she gasped, looking at his left arm. "But…"

"It’s a new arm, Cay. A man approached me in Jaegar saying he could fix it. His offer was something I just couldn’t fathom passing up."

"Wow… not even a scar," Cay had placed her hand onto his arm. He felt her soft hand as it ran along his skin.

“I know. And sometimes, it feels strange."

"Strange?" she questioned.

"I don't know, it just feels... different," he trailed.

"Now that you mention it, your scrawny friend… you know.. Saki... Suki..." she fumbled.

"Seek," he corrected.

"Yeah, Seek. He said you lost your arm. I didn’t know what to think before, because you still had both arms when we met yesterday. I mean..." she mused.

"Yeah.”

They paused to listen to the humming of the engine. Guillermo sipped a bit of his water, while Cay pulled her legs up onto the bed to sit in her knees.

“But," he explained, "I think… it’s cursed me."

"Why?"

"The man apparently wants a lot from me. And if I don’t repay the debt… I lose my arm," he admitted.

"That… that’s inhumane!" Cay shot out, moving back in disbelief.

"I think it’s making me inhuman…" Guillermo sank.

Cay was silent as he continued. "There was a guy. A boy, really. He helped me back in the crash. Made me feel like I could live without an arm. But then, soon after I got it, I told him he was nothing to me." Guillermo placed his palms up to his head. "I think dreadful things about people. I shove them away from me. I watch them die…"

"Guillermo…" Cay whispered.

"I told him I hated him right before he died, Acacia." Guillermo let it all go, "It’s my fault. All of it. I’m just… a monster now."

"I don’t think so," Cay disagreed, taking his hands into hers, "Maybe, you made a few bad choices, but you aren’t… a monster."

"I don’t know."

"Gui… I’ve always known you as the type to confront your problems, to make life simpler… and to make things fun. When I saw you again, I knew you hadn’t changed," Cay said, "I still believe you haven’t."

"Cay," he turned.

He noticed then how close her face was to his. His eyes moved downwards, spying her soft lips. He felt his arm start to move across her back until it had reached completely around to her other side. She still felt damp from her shower, and her shirt was clinging to her back from where his arm moved. She breathed heavily as he brought his other hand up to her neck, sliding it down to her collarbone and resting it there. The moment had them, before they even realized it.

"We… we… shouldn’t…" she breathed more to herself than to him.

The door to the cabin flew open with a loud crash. The two of them literally flew across the sides of the bed and whirled about to see Arc leaping through the threshold.

"Cay! Have you se- Oh, Gui! There you are!" he shouted.

The two of them gaped at the very excited but blissfully unaware Arc.

"We need help. Two hot looking chicks decided to use the ship’s mess hall as a gladiatorial arena! The captain’s probably going to need some help in getting those two broads separated."

Guillermo sighed as Arc bolted from the door. Cay was hot on his heels.

"Cay… please… don’t tell anybody what I just said," Guillermo asked.

"What went on in this room never happened, Gui," Cay answered as they both took off for the hall.

*****

"Well, you wanted this fight, did you not, Miss? Then I suggest you learn to deal with the consequences," Sasha announced as she swung her scythe toward the woman. The girl was fast enough to keep out of the blade’s way.

"Oh, I know the consequences. But I suppose for you they include the other unfortunate bystanders you happen to hit while you’re swinging that toy," she answered.

"It is on your shoulders, Red. I would not have drawn this weapon had you just minded your own business," Sasha toyed.

"It is my business," the green eyed girl shot back, dodging another swing from Sasha, "but since you prefer weapons…"

The girl reached back and grabbed what looked like a strong metallic rod. She pointed the ends of the small baton horizontal to either side of her and then pushed in her thumb. The rod shot out at the ends, transforming into a metal staff-like weapon.

"Oh, you are definitely making today fun. I have not enjoyed myself like this in quite a while." Sasha licked her lips.

She charged toward the girl, again bringing her scythe toward the girl’s neck. But the unknown woman was just as fast, blocking the blade with her own rod. She pushed the scythe back and brought the other end of the rod up, knocking Sasha directly in the side. Sasha flinched but again raised her scythe over her head. The girl saw the blow coming and sidestepped just in time. Sasha accidentally embedded the blade directly into a hard oak table and found that the blade had become temporarily stuck. The girl hopped onto the table and then kicked Sasha directly in the teeth. This caused Sasha to actually trip to her knees. The woman had quickly stepped off and gripped her rod, raising it over her head to give Sasha a blow to the back.

Pulling her right arm up towards the girl’s weapon, she felt an unseen force stop her blow in mid swing. "Away!!" Sasha yelled as her arm moved in front of the girl. She felt herself leave her feet as she flew across the floor crashing through yet another table.

"Uhhh," she groaned.

Sasha seemed to levitate herself upright as her eyes squinted with undeniable rage and anger. She reached into her cloak again and pulled out two small sickles.

"You cut my face," Sasha said through gritted teeth, "now I’ll chop yours off." She walked purposefully toward the girl, murderous intent in her eyes. By then part of the ship’s crew had managed to make it into the mess hall. They ordered her to stop but she paid no attention to them. She took both sickles up into the air, and then quickly slashed toward the woman’s petite face. Sasha was shocked when the girl had managed to bring her rod up to block both of the curved blades. The woman’s face was now one of unbridled determination. As Sasha blinked at the fact that her attack was blocked, she heard a loud unsheathing of metal. The ends of the woman’s rod sprouted curved blades on either side.

"I’m through playing," the fiery-headed girl stated. The woman pushed against Sasha’s left blade causing her to angle her own weapon enough to stab Sasha in the thigh. Sasha winced as the girl kicked at her injury. This caused Sasha to back away enough for the girl to roll backwards over her head, land on her feet and again stand.

"I bet that doesn’t even hurt," the girl fumed.

"Not really, no. But finding ways to make you feel pain in places you don’t even know you have will more then make up for it," Sasha threatened.

But just then a tall, muscular man, with short blonde hair, a tan shirt and green pants broke through the crowd and grabbed the short girl by the waist.

"ELISE," he gasped," What in the living HELL are you doing?!"

"LET ME GO, ADAM," she shouted, squirming to break free of his hold.

Sasha’s eyes glinted as she started to step forward. Gripping her blade, she was about to place it into the distracted girl’s ribs when the captain himself appeared in-between both of them.

"What is the meaning of this?!" he bellowed. His face was beet red as his blood vessels threatened to pulsate directly out of his forehead. Guillermo, Arc, Seek and Cay had all come in behind him and were now standing in front of the huge crowd.

"Elise… I TOLD you. I’m not seeing that woman," Adam said.

Sasha side-glanced Guillermo; her face turned from a scowl to a smile and she then lowered her sickles.

"What the hell are yo.." Elise turned to stare in disbelief at the man named Adam, but then relaxed and replied, "oh… I mean… you’re not?"

"No!" Adam glared.

The captain looked as if he was about to lose what little patience he had. "I’m sorry, Captain," Adam said, extending his hand, "my girlfriend here thought I was seeing this girl. She really gets a bit jealous when she sees me even talking with another girl. Please excuse her rather inconsiderate behavior."

"I don’t have any issue with relationship problems this girl might have, except when it involves the whole mess hall of my ship and the lives of my passengers," the captain roared.

"I know. It is my fault also," Adam explained.

"Whose fault is it I don’t care; whose paying for my tables… that I care about," the captain retorted.

"What about my face?" Sasha whispered as she sauntered backwards, massaging her bloodied mouth.

Adam dug into his pockets and pulled out a fat wad of cash. He handed some of the money over to the captain and then gave some to Sasha.

"That should cover damages, I hope," he said.

The captain looked at the money, then at the women. He shook his head in a disgusted display and then walked to the crowd.

"Hand your weapons over to my crew members. Both of you," he nodded towards Sasha, "and DON’T even think about starting any sort of commotion on my ship again. Because if you do, I’ll have you thrown off the ship… and I won’t stop to land."

*****

The captain walked away and the crowd started to dissipate. Guillermo stared at both of the women, wondering why Sasha had looked so evil at the end of that skirmish… and what that Elise girl knew about Sasha. He raised his arm and stared at it, before unintentionally eavesdropping on Adam and Elise’s secret conversation. His hearing had become acutely better, picking up lower ranges of sound than he thought would have been possible.

"My boyfriend, Adam?" Elise whispered to him.

"Sorry, Sis… it was either that or the brig," he replied as they both walked away from Guillermo’s sight.

[Big Rick Cook]

Next up by Ryu. ... Starting with this addition, the next two story arcs are similar in design, but ultimately and wholly different in execution and storytelling. Obviously Malachai's got some further agenda to Guillermo's end, but this really tacks the tail on the jackass. Nothing with Adam or Elise in this addition, which probably ****ed Omni off, but oh well. The story juts out in a different direction because of this addition, which is another thing that we needed to do. Airships were a good half of the story at this point, and we don't stick with them for awhile for the main group. That's all to come later, though.

Around this time, we were putting out additions at 1-2 every week, and everything was swell, because we had a nice rhythm going and there was a writing plan that we kind of followed so that we knew when it would be our turn to write again. I was initially posting after either Ryu or Mora, and then IRC, Omni, or Karim would go, and then Ryu or Mora again, and then me, and so on. The list changed a lot throughout the months, but we're currently set up in a fashion that goes like this: Mora, Magik, myself, and then Ryu, before it starts over again. We have yet to complete a full cycle as we're waiting for Ryu to get through his current addition. School work and real life get in the way a lot here, and we try to be as patient as possible, but patience is a virtue I find myself without many times with this particular story.

I've done a lot of subject hopping, so onto the story!

_____

51st Post – Ryu 05

*Ryu5* - *fifty-one*

After his talk with Cay, Guillermo sauntered about the deck, pleased that something had occurred that might get Sasha and Malachai’s mind off of him. But now that he had confided something of himself to Cay, he felt that he had added yet another person to a growing list of those concerned in his affairs. In a way, he had been glad that he got the chance to speak to Cay instead of Arc—he knew her far longer than he—but it had been a sudden impulse that he said anything to her. Upon seeing her just finished showering in Arc’s room, a murky loneliness came over him; had she not pleaded for him to stay, he would have left in a meditative haze. She had said nothing about Arc, as if it were some surreptitious game she and Arc were playing with him, and Guillermo’s umbrage towards the fact festered as the distance between their talk and the present grew longer and he got over his sadness.

By now it was nightfall, and the wispy shadows of clouds crawled swiftly over the deck. The air was cooler at night, and things were quieter; Guillermo found this appealing, for as his conversation with Cay had been sweeter than he expected, he leapt at this chance to spend his waking hours alone and undisturbed, safe from his social anxiety—to let her be before he inevitably ran into her and Arc together and became disappointed again. Maybe adjusting his shift entirely to nightfall while having everyone expect him to be sleeping the whole daytime would give him the chance to get the relaxation he so desired. He suddenly decided to see if Malachai was still awake to see if he could arrange this.

Meeting no one on the way, Guillermo soon reached Malachai’s office, which he discovered only recently in one of his aimless strolls. Oddly enough, no crewmembers were around and Guillermo noticed that the door had not been entirely closed. He stole in, finding a small office full of maps and books. A black door with light stretching from beneath it sat on the other side of the room. Guillermo thought it must be Malachai and cautiously headed over to knock, but a dusty-looking brown book sitting in dim lighting over Malachai’s desk caught his eye instead. He paused to listen—whoever was in that room was busy rummaging through something and apparently did not hear him sneak in. Guillermo could feel nobody else coming, and turned to look at the book. On opened pages lay a simple floor layout of the passenger halls with small boxes signifying each of the rooms. Names of the passengers and the date they had joined the ship had been scribbled inside each of the boxes; Guillermo remembered Malachai’s comment about surveying the passengers, but it now became obvious that this was a meticulous habit of the efficient captain. Guillermo started to brush it aside when he spotted a thick, chalky circle scrawled around one of the passenger’s names. He pushed forward for a closer inspection only to find that his name had been the one circled. Unsure of whether the mark had been a whimsical, meaningless scribbling (but the heavy breadth and apparent deliberation of the mark made him uneasily doubtful of this conclusion) or not, Guillermo stared at his name and the ominous indication enclosing it with apprehension—apprehension towards how closely Malachai might have been watching him.

His eyes wandered, searching for something else to fix himself on when he quickly came across Arc and Acacia’s names, surely enough within the same box, Arc’s beside the date of the destruction of Jaegar and Cay’s on the day of the landing at Danu. Guillermo flinched with disgust at both a perceived insincerity of Arc’s emotions for shacking up with a woman—and that woman in particular—so soon after showing passionate grief for the loss of Avery, and Cay’s behavior in giving Arc such license and keeping their acquaintance a secret before him. He squinted through the hazy darkness at her name written so simply on the page: “Acacia Valhas,” as he wondered at what upset him so much about the two of them sharing a room; he felt disappointed—even betrayed—and just wanted to avoid the whole ordeal if it was at all possible.

The log book was proving itself useful as he capriciously shook the thing about, looking for Sasha’s and Aleksi’s names. Somehow failing to stumble upon them he scanned the pages for their room instead. He triple-checked his accuracy when the room’s notation, with the date of Jaegar’s destruction beside the entry, disconcertedly yielded only the names “Miridea Salbanus” and “Alexandre Devenmark.” Guillermo considered the possibility that the discrepancy in the names was just meaningless blunders, but again found it more likely that some mischief was afoot. Sliding the book into the most casual of spots on the desk so that it did not appear to be disheveled or tampered with, Guillermo slipped out of the office and into the network of shadowy tunnels that worked their way through the ship. He had business to attend to.

*****

Guillermo knocked resolutely on Sasha’s door with a look of determination. The inescapable hum of the ship’s massive engines had made his wait seem aggravatingly lingering, although the door opened fairly quickly, as if those inside were expecting him. What the person within did not expect was Guillermo bounding straight in, and a lone Sasha stared with wild eyes at him as he stationed himself in the center of the room.

“Hello, Miridea,” he said with a face that indicated what he was obviously thinking: “So who are you lying to?”

Sasha paused for a minute as if remembering. “Oh, that,” she said nonchalantly, “Don’t worry, my real name is Sasha.”

‘Alexandre Devenmark’ was not in the room. Sasha’s scythe reclined against a corner (Guillermo was impressed by Sasha's defiance and was more than surprised that the captain hadn't come after her by now), and with her heavy, winding cloak sprawled over one of the beds; underneath the cloak she looked rather lithe and limber as she wore black form-fitting clothes and her arms were bare, possibly to allow freedom of movement. Apparently she hadn’t warmed up enough to remove her cloak during that bizarre fight. The blood had been cleaned from her mouth and she didn’t even look scathed. Guillermo was curious but did hear that the fight was all due to a misunderstanding and so decided it wasn’t his business to ask about it. Sasha looked so calm now that he thought he must have imagined that sinister glint her face had acquired while fighting.

“Where in the hell did you and Aleksi come up with those names?” Guillermo said with a wry smile.

Sasha ignored the question and answered another in anticipation: “You don’t really expect us to trust that old captain with our real names, do you? That would be stupid.”

“… It depends how secretive your business is,” Guillermo stated in a voice with a dull luster.

“Or how meddling the captain is,” Sasha countered.

“What do you mean?” Guillermo thought instantly of his name portentously encircled in the captain’s log book.

“I mean the old fool knows about you—we saw where you went when we stopped in Danu, and none of us tipped you off. My bet is that he had a suspicion about you and your interest in his information confirmed it.”

Guillermo said nothing. Without noticing, he sat down onto her bed. Sasha sat next to him.

“Have you heard of the Zephyr Gate?” Sasha asked him after a time. The question at first seemed off the subject.

“No,” Guillermo said, unsure of the point of the question.

“Nature abhors a vacuum. It’s a 40 league long stretch of unending wind that rushes straight into Antaross. We’ve changed course and are heading straight for it. In fact, we’ll be in it by tomorrow night, traveling four times our normal speed through its chamber.”

“So?”

“So… why do you think that is?”

“Maybe the captain just wants to get to Antaross and away from monsters as quickly as possible.”

“Please. The Gate is of extreme turbulence and monsters powerful enough to weather its storm make their home inside. A seasoned captain like him is more than aware of such risk; if safety was his concern we’d all stay quite far from the Zephyr Gate.”

Guillermo again said nothing. Sasha continued as if the silence had not occurred.

“No, I think it more likely that the wily creature has some… precious cargo… that he desperately needs to get to his friends in Antaross.” She eyed Guillermo up and down. “A person like you would be more than useful for his purposes in protecting Anteron against the relentless monster strikes and returning it to its former glory, and he is well aware of this… you’re not safe here, you know.”

Guillermo flinched at the suggestion. He thought of Aleksi’s words in despair—if he was now the person Aleksi said he was, all he could foresee was endless persecution by groups desiring him to be a slave to their designs, the number of parties growing as the word got out about his existence. And in all of the fleeing he would have to cease caring for anything, as the next flight would only force him to leave it behind.

“Listen…” a change came over Sasha’s face as if she suddenly felt a deep sympathy towards him, “Aleksi is right. You are special. A gnat has very little freedom to choose anything for itself. A fish has more freedom, a dog still more, and a human even more so… but a superhuman has the greatest. Yet as that level of freedom escalates, the more the true masterminds yearn to crush that freedom and reform that will to their interests.”

Guillermo thought suddenly of Dobbel at the words “true masterminds” and shuddered. It was then when Guillermo could fully recall some of the things Dobbel had said to him, all of which seemed to have a cruel design behind them that enjoyed seeing him suffer. Strange thoughts still careened through his mind. He felt wonderfully bonded to his arm, yet could not escape the recollection of Dobbel’s otherworldly void of a stare whenever he tried to embrace it.

He was till shaking when he asked in a heartrending voice:

“What should I do?”

He felt like crying; in fact, his eyes were already moist.

“Well, if you would like, Aleksi and I can show you how to embrace your new nature before others can get to you and shape your evolution to their selfish purpose. You need to condition your mind to resist these forces and then you’ll have the ability to do whatever you wish with your newfound strength. Aleksi and I have looked for many months now for a person such as yourself from whom we can learn much. All you have to do is meet us on the deck tomorrow night while the ship is in the Zephyr Gate and come with us—our small aircraft is scheduled for a landing.”

Guillermo looked up at her with intense suffering in his eyes, at which point she whispered, “We know what you are going through,” and bent over to put her arm around his neck and her head against his shoulder. Amazed, Guillermo hugged her back, finding the exchange to be nowhere near as awkward as he thought it would be if expecting it. The embrace felt wholesome, like hugging a little sister, and Guillermo felt appreciative—even flattered—by her coming off from her cold apathy toward him, especially after he had sensed a hidden rejection in Acacia’s effort to hide her relationship with Arc, despite her apparent concern in their last encounter.

Feeling a little more comforted, Guillermo slowly got up to leave—sleep seemed rather appealing to him at his point. As he lumbered out he turned towards Sasha, still sitting on the bed.

“… Just one question. Why all the secrecy—why weren’t you and Aleksi more… up front with me?”

“We had to wait until certain… conditions… were met. Had to confirm the preparations for our ship and the like,” she said with a wave of her hand. Guillermo nodded and hesitated at the door.

“Good bye, Guillermo,” Sasha said after a time.

“Good bye, Sasha…” Guillermo said dreamily as he closed the door after him.

*****

The following day had been difficult for Guillermo as he mulled over what he was about to do. Leaving The Inspiration meant leaving Arc, Seek and Cay behind, perhaps forever. But it also meant finding some answers as to the nature of his arm, and Aleksi and Sasha, as clandestine as they were, provided him more answers than anybody else. Lastly, it was an escape from the interested watch of the captain and the rejection or fear he might find in his meager set of friends as they learned more of his identity.

His greatest conclusion was that he had had a good run with his friends, and that he had taken it as far as it could last. He thought of the two sailors he hardly remembered befriending and had already almost broken ties with, and a specter of a not-too-distant past, who had once rejected him already and was now already sleeping in the same room with one of those sailors—they really had nothing more to offer him except discomfort, he thought, and all he would end up doing is hurting them in the future. They could never understand what was happening to him and what he felt he must do. Therefore, throughout the day, he rested quietly in his room, not wanting to cause his friends any more pain or confusion with one last good bye. They all would be perfectly happy together without him.

*****

Later that evening, Arc and Cay returned to their room after eating and attending to duties on the ship. The path of the airship gradually became increasingly rocky, and the winds louder as the ship came further towards the Gate, but few thought much of the tremors at first—the passengers were still largely abuzz about the fight that occurred the preceding night. Cay, however, thought only of Guillermo after his visit and her confrontation with the look of estrangement that rolled over his face. She could only dream of what had happened to him and hoped Arc could provide her with some more information about Guillermo’s recent behavior. But first she thought there was something she must do…

“Arc, I think Guillermo knows that we’ve been staying together…”

“Hmmm… yeah, so?” Arc replied inquisitively. He was completely in the dark.

“… Well, I thought you should know this…” She took a deep breath and looked intently at Arc. He had said that he felt better as of late after fleeing from Jaegar, now that he was with her, and he could start taking pleasure again in his daily observations; but he still had a tint of a pale, raw red surrounding his eyes, and his smile was weak. Perhaps that was why she felt such an affinity for him when she first saw him in Danu—his face always seemed to cry out for affection, and she felt a sympathetic duty to help relieve the tinges of pain that checkered his face.

She continued, “Guillermo and I go way back. We knew each other quite well in Renfir, our hometown. In fact… we… we were seeing each other, and even considered engagement.” Arc did not respond, as if he were slowly determining what she meant. Cay was quick to add, “But we’re through now,” in hopes of softening his response.

Arc blinked, and then laughed. “Oh, that’s it? Pretty interesting… I thought old Gui was the more reclusive type. He always acts like he has no time for girls.”

Surprised by his casual reaction, Cay somehow thought that this was not the point of what she had to say.

“Yes, but… maybe, we should… stop sharing a room together? For Guillermo’s sake?”

Arc seemed stunned, as if after this conversation his pain at Avery’s death, and a deeper pain he did not understand, would suddenly resurface with strength tenfold.

“Why… what do you mean?”

“Umm…have you noticed how Guillermo has been acting strangely—maybe you don’t know him like I do? He used to be so joyous and outgoing. Now he seems to be suffering, even acting like he’s insane: talking about some man who gave him back his arm that I didn’t even know he lost and wants him to do something for him. I think he’s telling the truth, I want to believe him, but it all seems so hard to believe—he doesn’t seem like the same person, though I told him otherwise. He seems so lonely… it hurts to see him like this. I, I think it would be best if he didn’t see us together… it’s only causing him more pain.”

*****

Cay was almost crying and speaking quickly. The sight of Guillermo and Cay sitting close together in his room that he sad seen during his excitement over the fight had vaguely etched itself upon the back of his mind yet he never sowed any meaning from it. Now he did a startled double take similar to if he suddenly noticed glass after staring outside for hours through a window. He thought he could see it all clearly now.

“You, you still have feelings for him!” he cried, more surprised than angry. All this time he had been thinking that she was enthralled with him, not still recovering from a relationship for the last untold years. He did not feel incensed at her as much as he did at the seething ache of seeing this illusion shatter. For a few days he had relief from having nothing to think about but Avery and his worthlessness against monster strikes—when he was with someone it seemed like these things no longer mattered—but this reassurance ended in that instant. “… maybe you shouldn’t have sent me the wrong messages, agreeing to stay in here and all, if all it would take for you to have feelings for him again is to see him suffering. He wouldn’t find us in the same room if you hadn’t obliged. All this is your fault—I had no idea about any of this.”

His tone seemed more than accusatory. Cay flushed crimson.

“And you know, I’m suffering too,” Arc added remorsefully, “… The world doesn’t revolve around Guillermo.”

“It doesn’t revolve around you, either,” she said softly. They had been speaking from across the gulf between two beds, and Cay turned over in hers with her back towards Arc. Arc stared at her motionless body for five minutes, gradually feeling more and more despicable for his outburst towards her. He made up his mind to apologize the next time they talked. Then he fell asleep after looking listlessly towards the ceiling.

*****

Cay pretended to fall asleep while Arc had watched her, and lay awake far after he had fallen asleep, afraid he still had his eyes on her. She almost ignored Arc’s explosive reaction and was more than ready to forgive him, but she was still plagued with confusion, unsure of what she truly felt for both Arc and Guillermo. Moreover, she was worried of what strife Guillermo was facing, and if he would have to face whatever it was alone. She eventually decided to visit Guillermo but couldn’t muster the energy to get up from her bed—no time seemed any better to move than the other. Suddenly she received a little help—the ship made a terrible leap at the sound of a loud crash as the low sounds of wind intensified and a strange glow exuded from outside the fogged up windows. In no time, she found herself sitting on the bed with her feet planted on the floor, staring at Arc in a sleep so deep he only stirred briefly in his slumber. She watched him silently for a long twenty minutes to make sure he was asleep before heading out the door to find out what had occurred, and more importantly, to find Guillermo.

*****

Guillermo, fully equipped with his tricorn, flintlock and saber, plus the only amenity granted him by Arguile that he had left, the money pouch, ambled onto the deck and into a world unlike any other. He had fallen asleep during the day, and suddenly roused at the loud crash of the ship to find a dark room all about him. Promptly remembering the fateful plans he had for that night, he hastily gathered the few belongings he had and scrambled out the door, wondering if he was too late. He expected to find the halls crammed with people wondering what the ruckus was all about, but ostensibly all were either convinced it was a dream or were afraid of leaving the proceeding calmness of their rooms. After leaving his room to the sounds of violent winds, he stood poised to knock on the door across the hall, where on the other side he was sure to find Arc and Cay. He lingered there for five minutes, and, hearing nothing, decided to walk away.

Now, as he stood silently at the deck he simply marveled at what he saw. The ship had apparently entered Zephyr Gate—the reason for the loud collision—just as Sasha had said. A massive tunnel of clouds that one could see out of only through certain holes in its miasma swirled and rocketed past the ship at exhilarating speeds, and a long, low ‘Ooooooohhhhh’ of the winds resonated like a chorus of thousands that never lost their breath—an experience comparable to being caught in a gargantuan flute, if such a thing was possible. The blanket of clouds that coiled around the ship were not merged into one tunnel, but all the separate clouds traveled so fast and swirled about past the ship in such a manner that it appeared as if they were in the process of forming a wormhole of some sort. They glowed a pale white as if charged and illuminated by the moon’s light. Vicious stitches of crackling lightning could be seen and heard flashing behind the tube of vapor. Outside the periodic, high-pitched cries of wind were almost deafening. His arm surged with the unbelievable sensations the winds caused as they brushed past.

Guillermo looked ahead to find Sasha standing silently by her lonesome at the foot of the deck. He ventured out into the tempest, fearing the sight of monsters waiting to swoop by and nab him. As the night look-out who was supposed to be on duty, Guillermo was glad that it was he that was sneaking off the ship, for it would have been near impossible to spot anything near the ship unless it entered the exact spot you were staring at. As he slowly journeyed further, shards of ice and other particles raced out from behind him with thin white strips following them, like the tails of a comet, and streamed forth, all looking rather celestial. The further he traveled towards the black figure of Sasha, the more surreal the physics the Gate seemed to display. Although the channel walls of the misty clouds emanated an insipid white radiance, ahead of him and on the sides of the ship a thick, pitch-blackness sat unbreached. The deck itself appeared to glow in harmony with the clouds. The ship, quaking and buckling as it was, seemed to not even move forward as the clouds flashed past faster than Guillermo had ever seen anything move, yet he felt little wind resistance on the deck while one would expect him, considering the pace at which the ship traveled, to be in danger of being blown off like chaff in a heartbeat. Yet Guillermo’s body sustained the presence of great pressure as he very deliberately stared forward, looking through the vortex into a black hole that lied in the center of it, many leagues ahead. But at the rate the whole ship traveled, they all would be in that distance, and close to Antaross, in very little time at all. Guillermo couldn’t help but wonder how “natural” the Gate could possibly be; it seemed more than a natural occurrence. He shuddered at the idea that whatever source from which his arm had been created might also be used to control other forces of nature; with the existence of his arm and this talk of human evolution, the idea certainly seemed more than possible.

Finally, Guillermo reached the place where Sasha stood. His knees were quaking. She slowly turned to him and stated with little surprise, “So you’ve come.” She had said this quite loudly and with great force, yet to Guillermo it seemed like she said it in a normal conversational voice.

“Where’s Aleksi?” Guillermo said once and then quickly repeated himself in a much stronger voice.

Sasha only stared low into the darkness, her eyes moving rapidly.

“There,” she said, pointing down low over the side of the ship into the sea of blackness to a stream of light protruding from a smooth rectangular figure accelerating at a steady rate faster than the ship itself, its features currently undistinguishable in the darkness. Guillermo narrowed his eyes and strained to see that the structure was an aircraft of some sort, able to sit about 5 or 6 people in two rows of open hatches. Though Guillermo could not see it, the aircraft had a custom made, retractable three-pronged battering ram that bent out from under the ship, able to destroy ships much larger than itself with careful piloting. The object began to slow to match the speed of the ship and slowly pulled up to about fifteen feet below the edge of the deck.

Aleksi, piloting in the front of the vehicle, shouted through the torrent, “You’ll have to jump; pulling up to the side of the ship is much too dangerous!”

And jumping off isn’t?! Guillermo thought with astonishment. Sasha, however, wasted no time, and effortlessly leapt onto the smaller vehicle as smoothly as a shadow transferring itself to a lower plane as its domain grew.

Guillermo walked to the edge of the ship and balanced over the side of it, taking a large gulp and hesitating—he could hardly see the aircraft below him.

“What’s the matter, Guillermo? Don’t you trust me?” Aleksi shot out at him, “Or don’t you trust yourself?” Guillermo felt that if he wasn’t meant to die, a little misgauged hop surely wouldn’t be his end. He took a deep breath and began to fall forward.

*****

Just at that moment, Acacia had reached the deck, bracing the wind, eyes widened at her surroundings. Although they all had strict orders not to venture outside that night (a fact that Guillermo had missed while sleeping—Arc was supposed to tell him and absent-mindedly neglected his duty) Cay was convinced that Guillermo was on the deck since he did not answer his door. The first thing she saw upon fully reaching the outer deck was Guillermo, standing at the edge of the ship, poised to jump over the side. Her heart almost stopped.

“What? Oh my god! Guillermo!” she screamed as she raced towards him. But it was no use—even without the wind and the rolls of lightning he might not have even paid any attention. He tipped forth and off the ship. Cay reached the edge after him, convinced for a few awful seconds that the unthinkable had just happened, until she saw an object, about the size of a long patio, methodically veer of to her right, shoot out of the clouds of the Gate, and take off. The craft had been able to travel just the right distance off to persuade her that Guillermo was on that ship. The effect was bittersweet—obviously glad Guillermo wasn’t desperate enough to kill himself, the fact that he would leave unannounced was still rather disturbing. The only thing she could think of was to tell Arc and Seek and the captain that Guillermo had left the ship with some unknown party.

*****

Soon she had gathered Arc and Seek, and after five minutes they were all disturbing the captain from a contemplative rest in his quarters to tell him what Acacia had seen. Acacia and Arc had dropped their hostility and were only concerned with the task at hand. Their common concern for Guillermo helped bring them into fair terms once again.

“What? Impossible!” Malachai said breathlessly. He looked devastated; Arc didn’t think he was that attached to him. He hadn't really seen much of the captain as of late, and he looked busy with something even while he hurriedly intervened during the fight the night before.

“Which direction did they flee? We’re currently due Northwest,” he added, calmly trying to realize the whole situation.

“Northwest? They went off to my right—so Northeast?” Cay said worryingly.

“Northeast? There’s nothing up there but snow and a few inconsequential towns which had minor dealings with both sides during the war.” His voice broke for a second. “… Ah… we’ll never be able to find them now…” He slammed his fist onto his desk and stared at some space just past the side of Seek’s head.

Just then a crewmember arrived, carrying a piece of paper.

“Some guy earlier this morning paid me to deliver this to you guys tonight…” he said as he handed the sheet forth.

Arc snatched it greedily and scanned through it until he recognized what it was. He looked up shakily.

“Guys, you’d better have a look at this…” he said. It was a letter addressed to Arc and Seek, signed by Aleksi. Everyone gathered round, but couldn’t all see to read the letter at once, so Arc took a deep breath and began to read it aloud…

[Big Rick Cook]

Here's another one by me, much longer and much more serious than my previous stuff. I don't particularly like this addition, though, because I felt as though I was rushing the story along to fit it within a certain page limit, and because I was uncomfortable with making the decisions on what everyone would be doing now that Guillermo had fled The Inspiration. In the previous addition, for some as of yet unknown reason, I changed the character who reads the letter from Seek to Arc. I'm not sure why, really. At all. In this addition, I attempted to drop some dead weight, but it eventually spins around and negates the parting absolutely. I didn't know what exactly to do with Adam and Elise, and so their destinies become part of the secondary story arc. So like... here you go.

_____

52nd Post – BRC 07

*BRC7* - *fifty-two*

‘"Friends of Guillermo, by now you have no doubt realized that he has cast you aside to come with us. His journey is now one of self-discovery and self-realization. I cannot tell you to where our paths lead us, for we must not have interference in Guillermo's thoughts.

Sasha and I are aware of your interest in what has happened to him and how he regained his arm, and for that we are sorry. We are sorry that we can not give you a better explanation; all I can do is ask that you do not follow us. Consider Guillermo dead, if you wish, but do not seek us out.”

Sincerely, Aleksi’

Arc dropped the letter onto the desk in front of him, wondering how this Aleksi had known so much about Guillermo when he and Seek had known nothing.

"Well, I guess that's that," Seek said, feigning carelessness. "Guillermo wasn't exactly a good friend, but at least it was... interesting while he was around." With that, Seek took leave to his quarters.

"Hey, hold on a minute, Seek." Arc tried to stop him, but Seek disappeared out the door and down the hallway. "Seek, wait..." His voice trailed off as he came to a halt at the doorway. It occurred to him that Seek was acting strangely, almost as if he had given up hope or something. Maybe he’s given up everything...

Arc's thoughts turned next to Acacia. She had sat down in a chair, crying uncontrollably. He couldn't think of anything to say; he just wanted to comfort her, so he said the first thing that came to mind: "Hey, don't think we're going to let him go that easily. I'll talk to Seek, and when we get to Antaross, the three of us can set out to find him." What am I saying? "I know he means a lot to you, and I for one want to know what's going on." Do I really? Is this my interest or hers? He gave Acacia a reassuring hug, and out of nothing more than blind thankfulness, she sobbingly hugged him back. What am I getting myself into? And why?

"Thank you, Arc. I knew I could trust you from the moment I met you." Acacia kissed him lightly on the cheek, and Arc's face flushed red for an instant. He didn't know what was driving him to say these things. He could see Malachai behind Acacia, who had begun brooding over this news.

He whispered to Acacia while still in the hug. "Besides, I'm not so sure the captain is done with Guillermo yet. It's best his friends find him first, right, Cay?" They separated, and nodded to each other in agreement. "We'll discuss this when we get to Antaross, okay? Go get some rest, I'll be there soon." Cay dried her eyes and bid the captain farewell. Why am I putting myself out for her? This isn't me. I'm not like this.

"Captain." Arc now turned to Malachai, who had been reading over the letter profusely in disbelief. "Captain, if I may ask, why are you so upset about his leaving? I mean, I know you weren't too keen on having him on the ship in the first place, him being former Jaegar military and all." He chose his words carefully, knowing he could no longer trust this man.

Malachai interrupted his brooding to cover up his actions. "Well, he was a hired night lookout, Medose. I have to replace a replacement now. You know how annoying it is, always having to hire on new people? No, because you are one of those new people."

"Well, Captain, what about all the squatters that joined the ship since Danu? You can easily assign them a job, so Guillermo was not really that big a loss."

"Look, Medose, I don't know where you're going with this, but I suggest if you want to remain on my crew that you stop meddling in the affairs of busy captains. Now, if you'll excuse yourself, it's late and I don't feel like being bothered anymore." He practically pushed Arc out of his room and slammed the door behind him.

"Well, that was strange. He's definitely up to something," Arc said to no one in particular and under his breath. He chose to give up and headed back to his room. I know I want vengeance on the monsters. That's all I've thought about since Avery's death. Since meeting Cay, that longing for revenge has been curbed slightly. But with Guillermo leaving, I know he's going to die, and that will be devastating for Cay. It's all those damn monsters. They are the cause of everything. And I can't do anything about them! Arc punched a nearby door in frustration, waking up the residents in the process.

"Who the hell is waking us up at this hour?!" The door swung open before Arc realized what was going on. The red-headed woman from the mess hall fight stepped out with a mixed look of sleepiness and rage.

"Oh, it's just you, Red. I'm sorry, I… tripped."

"The name's Elise, jerkoff. Get out of here and let us sleep." She turned around, slammed the door, and Arc heard nothing more from her.

"Gotta stop doing that..." Arc cleared his head and went back to his quarters, where he found Acacia already asleep, tears still in her eyes. With an exasperated sigh, he lay down on his bed and he too soon fell asleep.

*****

Guillermo sat and looked at his arm. He thought about Sasha and Aleksi and how he was 'evolving' into something superhuman or a monster or whatever. Sasha walked in from the door to the bridge, and sat next to him. She noticed his concerned look, and interjected his thoughts.

"I know you're confused, and I know you're scared. You will understand in due time. Trust me." She said it so nonchalantly that it made Guillermo flinch.

"Where are you taking me? That's all I need to know right now."

"There's a village just a few leagues northeast of us. It's small, secluded, and silent. You will begin understanding there." Sasha stood up, and placed her hand on Guillermo's shoulder, and instantly he realized that his arm’s gift was spreading across his body. He was evolving. His left shoulder was not lost and replaced, but it felt just the same as the rest of his left arm. He could feel every pulse of blood, every spot on her hand, the bumps and wrinkles on her palm with extreme detail. He shuddered at the unexpected closeness with which he felt her hand.

"You've already begun changing. It's only a matter of time." A smile was all he saw as she disappeared back into the bridge.

"Wait, what's the name of the town?" Guillermo was still curious where they were going.

'Baines' was his only answer.

*****

Seek and Arc did not talk much about Guillermo in the following days. Seek seemed to avoid the subject entirely. On shift-change the day before arrival, Seek blurted out his feelings. "Arc, I just want to go back to the way things were before. You know, sailing and having a good time. Killing the occasional monster. I don't want to find Guillermo. I hope I never see him again. Everywhere he goes death and destruction follows, and we've let it slide. You know as well as I do that he's trouble, and we'll only die if we pursue him. Do not go after him, please," Seek desperately pleaded.

"I don't know what to tell you, Seek. I would like to go back to the old days, but it’s just not possible. My gut instinct is warring with my desire to believe that the world is all puppy dogs and rose petals. I want to find Guillermo, and figure out what's going on. I want to help Cay. I need to help Cay. When we land in Antaross, Cay and I are going after him. With or without you."

Arc watched as his longtime buddy resigned their friendship in a blink. "Without. I can't do it, Arc. I'm staying on The Inspiration and I'm going to live." He walked away without even saying ‘goodbye.’

I can't believe Seek would just drop me like that. After all we've been through, how could he just turn his back and let me do this alone? Fine. I don't need him. Arc scoffed and went to find Acacia.

*****

"Captain, I'm sorry to tell you that we will have to relinquish our positions on your ship after the landing today." We have business to attend to and we cannot accomplish it on The Inspiration." Arc and Acacia had resigned and when the ship landed, they did not see Seek or Malachai again.

After landing, they had to decide how they were going to travel Northeast. With the small amount of money given to them by Malachai as payment, Arc used it to buy some supplies and they bought their way into a troupe heading to the small village of Quines for trade. "It's not first-rate, but it'll have to do, and it's a good place to start, Cay." Arc was still comforting Acacia about this whole thing. She wished Seek would have come with them, knowing that a second person as protection is always a plus.

"When do we leave, Arc?"

"The group leaves in the morning, bright and early. We'd best get a room tonight and get to sleep." They started to walk towards the business district to find a hotel, when Adam and Elise stopped them dead in their tracks.

"Excuse me, sir." Adam walked up with Elise following shortly after. "I'm sorry for interrupting you, but we have a favor to ask of you. My name is Adam, and this is-"

"Elise, she was the one I rudely awakened a few nights ago. Sorry about that, Miss. My name is Arc, and this is my companion, Acacia," said Arc, flushing beet red at meeting Elise again.

"Good to meet you, Adam. Elise." Exchanging handshakes, Adam got right down to business.

"Elise and I overheard your conversation about heading towards Quines. We would like to accompany you with the troupe as far as Baines. We have business there, but no airships travel that way. The same as you, we require protection from beasts on our trip, and a troupe is the best route for us to take. We already talked to the troupe leader, but we don't have the sufficient funds to join and have protection. If you foot us the part of the bill we need, we will repay you in double upon reaching Baines."

"I don't see why not, you two don't look troublesome. It'll be nice to have a couple on the trip, I think." Acacia didn't even consult Arc before agreeing to it.

"Oh, we're n-" Adam interrupted Elise before she could speak.

"We're grateful to you for your kindness. We will meet you by the troupe in the morning, then?" Arc nodded, and they shook hands once again to complete their 'deal'. "Come on, Honey, we better get a room as well."

*****

After leaving the company of Arc and Acacia, Elise jabbed Adam in the side. "Why did you tell that lie again? They're going to think we're perverts or something if they find out we're siblings."

"Arc was there the night of your confrontation with Sasha. We can't change our story or he'll become suspicious. We know Sasha took their friend, and we know where she is headed. The less Arc and his little girlfriend know, the less they can get involved, right?" Elise decided he was right, and they went on their way without saying another word.

End Chapter 4

[Big Rick Cook]

Forgot to mention that yesterday's addition was the end of Chapter 4, and I have so edited the addition to reflect that. Today is the start of Chapter 5 with a longer IRC addition than usual. Oddly enough, he focuses only on Malachai, introducing the political aspect of the story. This side to the story will sit on hold until the 2nd Book is over, when things get more politically and governmentally involved. There are five new characters introduced here, all of which are secondary or minor characters. They form the Anteronian High Council, and IRC created a good mix of political figures for this early political endeavor. I didn't change much besides punctuation and placement, so this is relatively an original.

_____

Chapter 5

53rd Post – IRC 09

*IRC9* - *fifty-three* *chapter5*

Malachai knew that he was in trouble. Sitting outside the main council room in the Anteronian council building, he waited for the Chancellor to summon him. He found his thoughts drifting back to his meeting with Arguile. He had been traveling from Anteron to Kolika when Arguile’s message arrived, asking him to meet him in Jaegar. The only reason he would ever land his ship in Jugere [short of an emergency landing] was at the request of Arguile. And so he had found himself, an Anteron general, walking around the city of the enemy looking for some small hotel in which to meet another old Anteron commander for a cup of tea. The humor of the situation was ignored, but not forgotten, by Malachai. Arguile had explained in his letter the extent of his injuries, a rather large skewer in his torso, and their peculiar nature. The hole in his stomach had stopped bleeding and for all extensive purposes was fine, but it refused to heal over. The doctors he had seen had stitched him up but the wound had refused to scab over and they had no choice but to keep the sutures in and bandage him up. He was furious at the indignity of the entire situation. He had seen the bedridden man before him survive the countless horrors of the war only to be brought down by some damned monster at the bottom of some hole in the desert. Arguile, however, seemed strangely serene about the whole thing. It was as if his wound was completely normal and there was nothing unnatural about its behavior. Arguile was far more interested in some Jugere soldier who had lost an arm in the same desert. Malachai hadn’t understood why Arguile was acting so irrational until he brought up the man called Dobbel.

Just then, Malachai’s thoughts were interrupted by a page boy summoning him inside. Following the boy, Malachai passed through the large double doors. The room had become very familiar to him in the last few years of the war. As he rose in the ranks of the military he began to attend many of the military meetings that were held here; at first as a silent aide for his commanding officer and then on his own behalf. It was a large crescent-shaped room with white marble floors and Greco-style pillars along the walls for effect. The councilmen were seated at the curved end of the room, and in the center sat the five high-council members. In front of them were three podiums set up for those who were addressing the council. To his immediate right and left were a series of four long pews intended for the upper-class citizens of Anteron. He knew they would be empty for this particular meeting of the High Council.

This room held many mixed feelings for him. It was where he learned first hand of the sacrifices made by great leaders. Here, that one of his proudest moments occurred, his promotional ceremony to General of the Arms. It was where he had planned his own stratagems for war, many successful, a few not. This room was where Malachai had also learned of the attack on his hometown. It was in this room too that he suffered his greatest defeat, the loss of his wife and child. He supposed the latter was why he never chose to run for congressman after the war ended, despite the protests of encouragement he had received from his peers. He could hardly imagine spending any great length of time in this room. But for now, he was forced to face all of his memories and then bury them for the moment. There is a more important matter than some old fool and his ghosts, he thought to himself. He walked to the center podium and waited for the Chancellor to speak.

The Chancellor was a man in his early fifties named Benedict Copeland. Malachai knew him as the General of Wars during the Jugere Conflict and he had just recently been appointed to the Chancellor position. Malachai also knew him to have the interests of Anteron in his head, but the interests of himself in his heart. It had been Copeland who had first expressed an interest in the rumors of Dobbel during the war, and it was Copeland who was largely responsible for Malachai’s presence today. To Copeland’s right was a large fat man with freckles and red hair. Armando Carper was another ex-military man who was on the council. He made a better general than councilman and usually lost sight of the bigger picture when it came to things. He was always looking at the battle and not the war. But he also saw things in a very practical manner that was sometimes useful. To Copeland’s left was an older, white-haired man who had been on the council since long before the war. Jarlen had forgotten more obscure laws than the rest of the High Council could recall. Malachai doubted there was a man more by the book than Jarlen Farrell. However, just as quick as he could recall some by-law to save your neck, he could recall one that could hang it. To Armando’s right was a tall balding man named Trenton Darius. Trenton was the most honest of the High Council and worked only for the people of Anteron. However, Trenton was as naïve as he was honest and believed that every other council member was as honest as he was. He was not blind to the actions of others, but merely overlooked things at times. And finally on the far left side, sat Damian Magpie. Damian despised Malachai and Malachai felt no love for Damian either. When Aneas Paxton stepped down as Chancellor and Copeland took his place, it was Malachai that was favored for the seat that Damian now held. Malachai felt that Damian feared the day when Malachai would try and take the seat from him. It was this reason that Malachai regarded Damian as the most dangerous of the five. The fact that Damian was not above bribery and blackmail to get what he wanted did not help matters. And Malachai knew very well that caution was warranted for this meeting.

He had failed to bring back his objective.

After the war and the destruction of most of Anteron by monsters, Copeland had issued a decree stating that all upper members of the Anteron military were to hold one objective higher than all others. Any sign of objects, artifacts, weapons or people which showed an elevated effectiveness at combating the monster threat were to be reported immediately to the high council and measures taken to retrieve the object or person and transport them back to Anteron. It seemed like a trivial matter to most of the captains, but Malachai agreed with it fully. So immediately after meeting with Arguile, Malachai sent word back to the Council saying he may have found something of interest. Upon seeing Guillermo fight the Kronal, he knew he had found something that showed elevated effectiveness. He had even been willing to risk using the Zephyr Gate to get Guillermo to the council as soon as possible. And he had failed.

Malachai continued to stare at Copeland, waiting for him to start, but it was Damian Magpie’s voice that broke the silence.

“I’m sure we all know why we are here today, so if no one objects I would like to skip the formalities and get down to the bare bones of the matter.” When no one objected, he continued on, “So tell us, Captain Malachai, how exactly did your prisoner escape you? I’m sure a man of your credentials would have realized the value of his cargo and taken the necessary precautions in its safekeeping. Am I not correct?”

Malachai’s nostril’s flared but his expression remained calm and collected. “I felt that the best way to keep the target from running was to give him no impression that there was anything to run from. He had companions aboard my vessel that would have started asking questions that I did not want asked, if he disappeared.”

“A rather smart tactic, I must admit,” remarked Darius.

“True,” added Damian, glaring across to Trenton, “but it clearly did not do the job. I see no target before us.”

It was then that Copeland opened his mouth, “Perhaps then we should let him finish his explanation.”

“Thank you, Chancellor,” said Malachai as he continued, “I had arrived at the Zephyr Gate with the target in tow and I thought that once inside there would be no means of escape for him. But I was wrong. There were two passengers who had managed to stow a small private airship in the cargo hold of my ship. They used it inside the Zephyr Gate to escape with the target.”

At this Jarlen Ferrell piped in, “And just exactly how did they manage to secure their ship in your hold?” He stared at Malachai almost accusingly.

“They bribed the Cargo Director into stowing it; they also brought a small wyrm aboard. The wyrm is dead now, of course, and the matter of the director has been taken care of already.”

Now Armando cleared his throat and stated very simply, “I believe the important matter is why did the target leave with the other two if you gave him no reason to run?”

“It is my belief that the two worked for Dobbel.”

At the mention of Dobbel’s name, the entire council began muttering and whispering to each other. Copeland pounded his gavel in an attempt to restore order.

“There has been no sign of him for months now. What makes you think that he has surfaced again?” Copeland asked the captain.

“The word of Devon Arguile. Before he disappeared during the attack on Jaegar, he told me of his journey through the Taber Canyon. During that trek not only did Dobbel accompany him and his crew, but Arguile was saved from a fatal injury he sustained from a Canyon Runner. He also told me of Dobbel’s interest in Guillermo Avory. And although neither Arguile nor Avory stated it specifically, I believe that Dobbel was responsible for Guillermo regrowing his arm.”

“And the connection with the two Mr. Avory left with…?” interjected Damian.

“Merely my belief,” countered the captain, “During the flight one of the two, a female using a pseudonym, got into an altercation with another passenger. The way she fought reminded me of Dobbel and his reported abilities. It’s possible that they are not part of the same group but something tells me they are.”

The muttering began again as Malachai finished speaking. Copeland appeared in deep thought and didn’t bother to try his gavel. Damian was the one who spoke for him.

“Well, thank you very much for this report, Captain Malachai. If no one on the council has anything else for the captain, I think he can leave us to confer amongst ourselves.” He paused to let anyone speak. When none did he continued. “Well then, thank you very much again Captain…”

“Let me go after him,” interrupted Malachai bluntly.

“E… excuse me?” stammered Damian, clearly indignant at being interrupted.

“Give me a small contingent of men and the means to go after him. Their small craft was headed northeast. I suspect somewhere in Joyt. I’ve seen enough of Avory and I believe that he is something special. I lost him. I’ll find him.”

“Thank you for your further, unasked for, input…” began Damian, only to be interrupted again by Copeland.

“Captain, I’ll have to confer with the High Council on this new matter, of course. But I would advise you not to make any further plans for The Inspiration until further notice.”

Malachai turned and left the council room. A small smile played across his face as he went.

[Big Rick Cook]

Your regularly scheduled program has been interrupted for this important news update:

I posted the wrong addition for this day. I skipped the 54th addition in place of Ryu's 55th. So what I'm doing is replacing this addition with Karim's 54th, and copy/pasting Ryu's 55th into the next addition with an explanation similar to this one. You'll get instructions to read this addition instead of the last in the topic, and I apologize gravely for this. I've also opted to place the geography blurb in this addition, since this is the original time for Baines to actually show up. So there you go.

Now that I've gotten that out of the way, onto the story. Couple things to note here: we have a new locale opened up, the snowy village of Baines to the Northeast of Antaross, and somewhere North of Jaegar. Geographically speaking, this is a mountain range that starts somewhere north of Anteronian country in the northeast of the main continent, heads East along a relative coastline from the north, and eventually, the coastline grows out into a larger land-mass in and above the mountains that contains the country of Joyt. This mountain-range also begins to get much larger as it turns South on the edge of Jugerian territory, and it forms the natural barrier of the country of Matra between the isolated Lerandelia country to the far East and Jugere. Jugere is more or less situated directly in the center of the continent. I think that covers us for geography for now.

In this addition, Guillermo becomes flustered by Sasha and Aleksi's hidden motives and actions, and the Anteronian High Council discusses Malachai's request to search for Guillermo, where we get a hint at a new character. I changed the dialogue around a bit for this scene, because Karim apparently got some of the names confused while writing, because several people in a row who were speaking ended up being the same person, that of Damian and Magpie, who is really one person, Damian Magpie. I think everything is smoothed over for this part now.

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54th Post – Karim 02

*Karim2* - *fifty-four*

A light snow blew through the cold air. Guillermo had decided to go for a walk, and didn’t think it would begin to snow so shortly. However, the snow did not faze him. He continued to explore his new surroundings, mainly the woods just outside the border of the town.

It had been several hours since they had landed in Baines, and he was beginning to adjust to the small town's serene atmosphere. It was far different than the cities he was used to. He didn’t think much of the town itself; it felt small and boring to him – like home. It was the type of place that never changed, regardless of the time of year. Yet at the same time, however, he felt at home in the surroundings. He felt free, in this open forest, away from the everyday troubles of man, he felt more alive, perhaps more …complete. What was it he was feeling? He knew he may not have been the most sociable person, but he certainly wasn’t a complete recluse. He couldn’t help but wonder, and the more he thought about it, the more he yearned to flee from the village. He knew that if he could keep moving in the woods, by night neither Sasha nor Aleksi would be able to find him; he would be free to do as he wished, free from their games. Free from everything, free from everyone. As he thought this over, he became disgusted with himself. They were going to help him learn what he was; yet here he was on the verge of running off into the woods, on an almost animalistic instinct. He knew just then, he was changing. This overwhelming feeling must have also been part of the evolution.

He had so many questions, for what these things happening to him were, and he knew running from the only people who could answer them would never help. He turned and headed back into the village. He stopped in front of the airship they had ridden in. Sasha was hunched over fiddling at an open panel on the side of the ship.

“…Sasha,” said Guillermo.

She stopped her tinkering and turned to acknowledge him.

“I was beginning to worry you had run away,” she said, smiling at him.

“W-why would you think that?"

Sasha merely smiled back at him. He knew she wasn’t telling him something; or everything. She said she was surprised he didn’t run away… It seemed too similar to what had really been going through his mind just minutes ago. If it had been anyone else, he would have taken it as pure coincidence, but something about Sasha made it believable that she did know what was going through his mind. And with his own ‘evolution’ the thought of her having such powers was not such a radical idea.

“I wanted to ask you… more about my ‘evolution,’” Guillermo said.

Aleksi stepped out of the airship, twirling a dagger in his hand. His eyes focused on Guillermo.

“…And that is just it. We cannot answer your questions without knowing what is going through your mind, Guillermo,” Aleksi said.

Guillermo looked puzzled.

“You …still don’t get it, do you?” Sasha asked.

“Then… why did you bring me here!?” Guillermo retorted.

“So you can find the answers on your own, without others interfering. You have all the answers already; Sasha and I just are providing the keys to the locks in your brain,” Aleksi said.

“And you expect me to believe that load of ****?” Guillermo snapped.

“Yes,” Sasha said, still smiling at him.

Guillermo frowned, and turned, heading off into the inn.

“He wants to know what he is becoming, but he is too afraid to find out for himself,” said Aleksi as Guillermo disappeared inside the inn.

"Do you think his fears will have an affect on his evolution?" asked Sasha. She may not have shown it completely, but she was genuinely concerned about Guillermo’s actions and his future.

"Sasha, that is exactly what we are trying find out, is it not?" Aleksi said in a dismissive tone, and walked back inside the airship.

*****

In the council room, the discussion over whether to allow Malachai to follow Guillermo was taking place. Copeland scratched at his chin, as he looked out at the others for their reaction on this matter.

“I don’t see why we should even be discussing this. We need to go after the man and it is that simple,” Armando Carper shouted.

“The issue is not that we must track him down, it is whether we should trust Malachai with such important matters,” said Damian Magpie, known to be staunchly against Malachai in the first place.

“Even though he has failed us, I do not see him making the same mistake again,” Copeland interjected.

“Hmph. Just because you believe in him does not mean he should be trusted with these matters,” Magpie retorted.

“That is true. But he does deserve another chance. And we do not have any officer that is better qualified than him,” Trenton Darius said, inflecting his truth in the conversation.

“Even if that is the case, is he really our only option for this situation?” Jarlen Farrel asked.

“No, but he has the highest probability of success. While there is risk involved, it is less than that of any other officers we currently have,” Copeland said.

“Perhaps if we simply sent someone else along with him to prevent him from making such a mistake again, it would prevent any possible failure?” Mapgie added.

“That would be a wise idea,” Darius concluded.

“He did ask for men, anyhow. We shall simply have a backup among them,” Magpie said.

“If he fails, our ‘agent’ will have permission to take over his post,” said Farrell.

“We shall hide the ‘agent’ among the men we are drafting to his ship. With any luck, we will not have to fall back on him,” Magpie concluded. Though Copeland didn’t quite trust his motives, he himself had no better ideas, and so agreed.

“Do you have anyone particular in mind?” Carper asked.

“A mercenary, by the name of Cale Ulger,” Magpie said.

[Big Rick Cook]

EDITED FOR STUPID REASONS: This is the same addition that I posted yesterday. I skipped Karim's 54th addition and posted this instead, so I changed yesterday's addition to reflect Karim's addition, and the post here is actually the one from yesterday. So you need to read the addition before this one to get the story straight the way it should be. I think that covers it, hope this doesn't confuse anyone.

Time to go back to the program. Everything else was originally here in the post yesterday, so have fun.

I think a certain timeline should be placed here. There was a relatively long gap prior to my last addition where I didn't post any additions. This was due to the fact that I was moving... somewhere. Shortly after, I believe, Mora takes a hiatus for a similar reason. During this time, we had IRC and Karim pulling what I like to call a switcharound, where neither were solidly committed to the story, and so one or the other would occasionally pop in. At this time, Ryu, Mora, Omni, Karim, myself, and IRC are all so-called active writers in the story. With IRC's latest addition, though, we won't see him for awhile. Mora's hiatus will take place directly after his next addition, or so I think.

Last is the actual storyline. Guillermo is the main focus here, for most of the addition, and he begins to glean information from his furtive trainers. We begin to see the relationship that Sasha and Aleksi share with Dobbel, and a glimpse at what Dobbel actually is. Sasha and Aleksi also share a dialogue that shows a small but noticeable dissension among their rank. Good God, this is the longest blurb ever. On with the goods!

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55th Post – Ryu 06

*Ryu6* - *fifty-five*

By now Guillermo had formed a habit of taking strolls through the thin coating of snow over the pebble streets and dirt pathways of Baines, as Sasha and Aleksi did not seem willing to talk to him yet, as if they were still settling in and resting upon their arrival. Like a family vacation, Guillermo thought with a smirk. Baines had been built on a wedge of evergreen-covered mountains, and the discrepancies in altitude between the various lodgings and houses that had been built into the ridges were unlike any other town he had been in. Stairs lined the outsides of almost all of the man-made structures. He could not get over how peaceful the town seemed, for he barely saw a soul on the streets and the houses were few and far between. Guillermo felt he could lean against a tree in a patch of snow and fall asleep, but some idea haunted him, causing him to anxiously plod forth up and down the hills. At last he decided to see if Sasha or Aleksi could be coaxed into dropping their riddles and speak to him directly.

*****

Meanwhile, Aleksi reclined silently in the darkness of the inn’s upstairs room in an oxy wooden chair. Shaped rather like a tower, the inn featured two rooms, connected by stairs and hallways, with the top room stacked halfway on top of the other as it receded further into a mountain wall. Aleksi’s bony, gangly arms shot far past the arms of the chair, looking thin and brittle enough to snap over the fronts of them as he slouched, watching nothing in particular through the dusk and listening carelessly to Sasha tend to something downstairs. He seemed lost in thought, yet his mind conjured up only one idea: We cannot lose him....everything depends on it. Just then his ears perked up at the sound of Guillermo entering with relish...

*****

“I have something I need answered,” said Guillermo, addressing Sasha in the bottom room. She had been systematically sharpening her scythe over the kitchen table; Guillermo wondered if she and Aleksi ever ate.

“Yeah?” Sasha looked up from her task, looking as if she were interested in what he had planned to ask her while still having no arrangement to answer him.

“I’ve been thinking about Dobbel...how you two seem so congruous with his plans...finding me shortly after my meeting with him with all of your plans.” He paused. “I suppose I want to know if you are allies with him...and who he is.”

Sasha laid her scythe aside, put her elbows on the table and leaned slightly forward. “We have told you—it will all come in due time. These answers will come to you only when you are ready,” she said with resolution.

Guillermo grimaced—he had been sick of these mind games long ago; they only accomplished one objective: avoiding his questions and leaving him in the dark. Guillermo’s head had been tilted downward, and suddenly he did something he could not remember having done before—his eyes looked straight into Sasha’s. Yet his head was still tilted so that Sasha could only see the bottom of his pupils as they gazed past his brow.

“You will tell me.” He looked ready to take her by the neck if he had to. It sounded more like a command than the apologetic pleas for help he had been compelled to use as Sasha and Aleksi held their knowledge above his head. Sasha, startled, actually moved backwards before his fearsome glare before she checked herself and decided that this was a good sign—his sudden surge of strength seemed indicative of some evolutional development by his unexplained loss of fear.

“Hm. It seems like you’ve made some progress. Well, if you put it that way...what exactly do you want to know?”

“Just as I told you. I want to know if you’re allied with Dobbel, as well as some information about him.” He was speaking calmly, yet firmly now.

“That’s a difficult question to answer, but it seems like you’re almost ready for it. But you’ll have to figure it all out for yourself if you do not understand it. I can only tell you what I know as I understand it.” Guillermo took a seat at the table with his arms crossed and a grim look on his face.

“Dobbel is a strange anomaly that even we do not know much about. By all accounts, he shouldn’t even exist. There are records of an old military general by the name of Sir Robert Dobbel. But....” she paused for emphasis, “...these same records show that he died in action almost fifty years ago.” The blood fled from Guillermo’s face.

“....Then who...what...is the Dobbel who did this to me?”

“That’s a point of much conjecture to the few who have seen him, but Aleksi and I have some clues.” She produced an archaic-looking book from a fat chest that they must have hauled in from their airship. She flipped through the age-worn pages for a few moments, then turned the book towards Guillermo so he could see. A crude drawing of an outline of a glowing human form with a shining eye hovering above a fallen warrior graced the crusty pages. Guillermo glanced up at her as she leaned forth over a folded arm.

“This is an ancient tome written by philosophers and authorities who have seen this same phenomena 1200 years ago—a man dies only to appear in another form with some sort of message to spread. In their reckoning, this was due to some variety of ghost choosing a body in which to possess.”

“And you agree with them?” cried Guillermo in bewilderment.

“Not exactly. They only got it half right. In our conception, something greater and more elusive than a ghost—a spirit of untold origin—has returned to meander about earth once again. It needs a body to obtain a form to accomplish its goals, and choosing flesh from those amongst the recently fallen, descends into it. ‘It’ acquires all of the memories still fresh from the brain of the body it attaches itself to, and ingrains itself so much that it begins to think of itself as that person. Yet it still remembers its purpose, and wanders the globe, erratically fading in and out of existence and thoughts and dreams until it achieves its objective. Each time it appears it brings a message concerning the next stage of mankind. It has done this in other bodies centuries and eons ago and now it is back.”

“And how do you know this?” Guillermo didn’t know if he believed her or not.

“Through a long line of those to whom or remember to whom it has revealed itself and know who it is when we see it by the works it does.”

“So you’re...a cult?”

Sasha looked offended. “A ‘cult’ is just a name the authorities give a following they do not understand. ...No, we’re a legitimate organization.”

Guillermo put up a dissatisfied, suspicious front. “So... you’re his followers...”

Sasha suddenly smiled knowingly at him. “Not exactly. We think of this ‘Dobbel’ simply as a force of nature that can be predicted, read, and utilized. With his recent proliferation of appearances, we simply watched what it was doing, and it led us to you. If someone could predict the weather and knew a storm was coming, and then proceeded to instigate an attack at the right time so that the storm drowned their foes, they would have used the storm to benefit their principles, but the storm couldn’t be considered an ally. He creates the seeds--we simply plant and tend to them to their benefit. The only difference is that Dobbel knows we exist, but he also knows you exist—and you’re not his ally.”

Guillermo said nothing. Sasha added something more: “...And in many ways, Dobbel, like gravity, is a blind, if powerful, force. He does not know who he truly is and all he can think about is performing his agenda, yet he hardly notices who is involved with them. However, he still retains knowledge from earlier epochs—quite possibly from millennia before the dawn of man. And nobody can kill him—that is, unless he wants to be killed, but even then his spirit lives on, free once again.”

Sasha ceased talking. In fact, she hoped Guillermo would not ask for any more than that. Luckily for her, he did not, choosing instead to barrel into the cold once again with a spontaneous “Good bye,” to chew on the information he had been given.

*****

Five minutes later, Aleksi plunged in from upstairs and shuffled straight past Sasha to peer outside the door. He verified that Guillermo was nowhere to be found—he couldn’t be sure that his hearing had not heightened by now. At last he shoved the door closed and turned to Sasha.

“Nice work, blabbermouth. And earlier you were giving me a lecture on patience,” Aleksi said dryly.

“He seemed ready. Plus, we need to appear to be his friends and thus be willing to be frank and receptive—a major complaint of his—or else he will not believe anything we say if he cannot feel he can trust us.”

“That’s beside the point. You have distanced ourselves from Dobbel with all of your rhetoric, which only enforces his apprehensive notion that Dobbel is bad news—since you gave him the impression that we wish that we do not want to be considered aligned with him. We need to convince him, as we believe, that his own fearful reactions are causing him the dread and hostility towards what is happening to him. He needs this more than he needs your comfort. Moreover, the way you acceded so quickly before an act of his vigor makes it look like we’re artificially holding out on him. We don’t want him thinking he can go about demanding responses by force whenever he likes.”

“Do you question my judgment?”

“No, but my input is just as good as yours. What if he finds out where the source of all of our weapons and plans come from? Then all of your talk about getting him to trust us will be all for naught.”

“...Seems like you’re not quite sure he’ll be the obedient servant.”

*****

At this, he started twirling a dagger that had not been in his hand an instant ago. While others may scratch their heads, stroke their chins or tap their foot as a habit of deep thinking, Aleksi always spun his Kunai in finely cyclic revolutions. Sasha’s eyes were much quicker than the average person’s, but even she did not notice him reach for a dagger. This was a habit of his, and since it demonstrated that he could, when he wanted to, move even faster than Sasha could see, it served as a trump card that reminded her of how deeply steeped he was in the source that had given them their powers. And he was well aware that Sasha respected this. She suddenly felt ashamed for losing her calm by engaging in the fight aboard The Inspiration; a point which she knew Aleksi believed, considering the need to ward off suspicion, she should have talked her way out of, even if he had said nothing to her.

Aleksi was the most interesting person Sasha knew, if almost the only person she knew for years. He had never hurt her, and in fact saved her long ago; yet he asked nothing in return and they treated each other as equals. Before they had met and he had shared with her a way of life he had recently discovered that transformed her into the stolid, placid and individual force she was today, she had been a weepy, emotional girl. But this was in a past so remote, it seemed like a past life.

Despite his absurdly lanky appearance and feminine face, his voice was rather deep and magnificently masculine. Sasha was the only person who watched him practice throwing daggers at huge tree targets, seeing the skillful array of techniques he displayed when concentrating. He could fling daggers perfectly straight and parallel to the ground, send them spinning like a throwing star or tomahawk, and could even toss a dagger in a wide arc so that it jutted inward as it struck its target, as if he had used a long invisible arm to swipe and then cut at the last moment. And his accuracy was impeccable. Sasha had developed abnormal powers as well, but she could not get over Aleksi’s occasional exhibition of his speed like the feat he just performed. However, he was typically rather easy-going and lax, as his “slow” was always fast enough, and rarely displayed his true skills. The more you use your powers, the stronger they become. she had once heard him say; she was sure that in a few years she would be more than a match for his swift and precise rate of movement.

The twirl of his dagger stopped abruptly.

“I just wish you would be a little more cautious, and not make a move until we have both talked about each step,” he said after an interval of silence. “A lot is at stake here...” With that, he returned to brooding noiselessly upstairs.

[Big Rick Cook]

I was wrong. This is Mora's second to last addition before his tiny hiatus. More on that once we come to it. Guillermo gets wasted in this addition, and the story develops a flashback syndrome with our first true flashback involving Acacia and Guillermo. This is another staple that will find its way into the story a lot for awhile as we flesh out characters and finish up their backstories. There's some slight triangle action going on here, too, but is later corrupted and spirals out of control until we curb the insanity. Guillermo has like... strength, man.

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56th Post – Mora 05

*Mora5* - *fifty-six*

Acacia, bathed in the light of the moons, waited by the side of the dirt path. The dirt had been swirled into patterns by her foot for the past half hour. She sighed. She didn’t know why she had come this early, but it had just felt… wrong to wait. She looked up into the crystal clear night sky that was studded with the beautiful gems that were stars. It was one of her favorite things to do: slip out of her house and go to the outskirts of town where there weren’t any streetlamps to dim the sky. She looked at her favorite constellations and wondered if he would be coming at all.

As if that were the very thought to summon him, she looked over towards Renfir and saw the blonde-headed young man bounding down the path with a smile on his face. She smiled wanly back at him. It was as if that was how Guillermo lived his life, with nothing but confidence and optimism guiding him. She tried to live similarly, but in moments like these she always felt… heavy on the inside.

Guillermo came up to Acacia sweating and panting from his journey to meet with her. “Hey, Cay! Sneaking out to look at the stars again? I thought this was the sort of thing you liked to do alone…”

“Well, usually, yeah. But the reason I asked you to see me out here is… well… personal.”

Guillermo perked up and got a dirty grin on his face. “Ahhhhhh, I see. Y’know, doing this by the side of the road isn’t very private… or is that the whole point?”

Cay laughed. Boys his age, that’s all they thought about. “It’s not that, Gui. You see… we’re getting pretty close to being adults, right?”

“Uh-huh…” Guillermo said with a tone in his voice that seemed to communicate that he had no idea where she was going with this.

“So, have you ever thought about what you wanted to do once you’re a man?”

“I… guess so.”

Cay took Gui’s hands into hers. “And?”

“Well, I’d take over my dad’s business, of course! I mean, I’d be crazy not to. He’s made a lot of money and powerful friends, you know. You don’t just throw that kind of stuff away.”

Cay looked down. “I see.”

Guillermo could tell something was upsetting her. “Cay, something’s up. Why are you asking these sorts of things?”

“I’ve been thinking a lot about where I want to go, what I want to do, in my life. Gui, I don’t think I’m going to live here for very much longer.”

Guillermo’s mouth dropped. “What?! You mean you’re going to leave? But… but what about us? I mean will your parents even LET you go?”

“What they want doesn’t matter. Gui, I can’t stand this place. I can’t be one of those girls that lives and dies here and doesn’t know anything else. I’ve lived with one of those women my entire life. My mom, everyone says she was so pretty when she was my age. And bright, too. Then she met my father. I guess they made sense to each other at the time. My dad liked my mom because she was pretty and my mom liked him because he was a hard-worker and would provide for her. I know the town talks about them. I know they see the bruises on her. My mother… she’s so sad… she’s been sad for as long as I can remember. She had to hide me from my father, so he wouldn’t-“

It was here that Cay began to sob. Guillermo hugged her and tried to comfort her. “Shhh, it’s okay. That’s not going to happen to you.”

“Gui, this place is killing her, and I know the same will happen to me. That’s why I want to go… and I was hoping you’d want to come with me.”

Gui finally understood. “But…”

“I found out about a caravan that’s coming near here in a few days,” she mentioned desperately. “I have some things packed, and you’ll have enough time to gather your things, too. I can work as a weaver; I have some experience with that sort of stuff. You can find something to do, I’m sure of it. We can live together, Gui. Just like you told me you wanted to.”

“When I said I wanted to live with you, I thought it would be here… with our families and friends. This… this is all a little extreme.”

“But don’t you love me? Don’t you want to be together and happy forever? What do you want more: your father’s legacy or me?”

Guillermo was silent. She knew that he couldn’t believe she was asking this of him. “Cay, even if I left, they’d come looking for me. You might be able to get away with it, but-“

It was then he knew he shouldn’t have said that. Cay had gently pushed herself out of their embrace and Guillermo could see the tears in her eyes and trickling down her face sparkling in the moonlight. Even though she was crying, her face was emotionless. “Oh. I think I get it,” she said quietly in monotone. Suddenly she began chuckling in a way that didn’t seem very jolly at all to Gui. “I guess I was stupid for thinking it would work. I mean, I knew your parents thought you could do better, but I never knew… I guess I learned something important from this. We were completely different people all along.”

Guillermo began panicking. “No, Cay! It’s not like that! Just stay here with me, okay? I’ll marry you and everything! Just… just don’t go like this! Don’t go away angry.”

“I’m glad we had this talk, Guillermo. If I ever see you again, I hope we can be friends.” Cay began walking slowly back towards Renfir.

Guillermo was desperate. “I’ll… I’ll tell your parents! Then you can’t go!”

Cay looked back over her shoulder to him, standing alone in the moonlight with a breeze playing with his blonde hair, the hair she’d loved to play with after their intimate moments. “If you really love me, you won’t.” And she continued on her way.

*****

Cay snapped back to the present when Arc tapped her on the shoulder. “Hey there,” he said cheerfully, “I guess staring into the fire’s the cool thing to do, huh?” She looked confused, so Arc pointed at Adam who was also sitting by their little campfire they had made, staring into the flames with intensity that came close to being frightening. “Anyway,” Arc continued, “I brought some dinner for you, Cay.”

He tossed her some dried, salted meat. Cay smiled wearily and said with mock enthusiasm, “Gee, if I’d known we were going to have a feast I wouldn’t have filled up earlier on the appetizers!”

“Hey, Adam,” Arc called, “Are you gonna eat, too? Or is Elise getting you something?”

Adam’s muscular frame didn’t move an inch and he responded simply by grunting. Arc didn’t understand these silent types. At least when Guillermo had been wounded he could understand his brusqueness in speech. But Adam seemed to be in great health, and he never seemed to talk unless he had to say something. The only person he seemed to communicate with on a regular, unprompted basis was that girlfriend of his, Elise. And Elise… he had found out the hard way that if you did something she didn’t like, she damn well made sure you knew it. He didn’t know which one was worse. It was then that his eyes wandered over to some of the things that Adam had been carrying with them on their trip with the rest of the troupe and the way some were laying, he could see some of the contents. He saw weapons… lots of weapons.

*****

He silently sat down next to Cay and got her attention by tapping her thigh. She turned around to object to that certain invasion of privacy, but she noted him motioning urgently with his head and eyes in a certain direction. She quietly followed his cue and saw what had gotten him riled up. Adam had made no signal that he had paid attention to any of this. “So, Adam,” Cay began casually, “what do you do to get by in the world?”

“Huh?” Adam asked, being rudely awakened to reality.

“What is it you do?” Cay asked again.

“Oh,” Adam said with a slightly sheepish look to him, “Well, I guess you could call me a Hunter.”

“I see,” Cay said, not really seeing. “So, how did you meet Elise?”

Adam turned bright red at that question. “Well, um, you see, ah… Elise is really better at telling these sorts of things than I am. So, when she gets back, she can tell you, okay?”

Arc and Cay looked at each other in confusion. “Sure,” Arc said, in perplexity. The more they tried to find out about these two, the more evasive and mysterious they seemed to be…

*****

It was cold out, but Guillermo didn’t mind it so much. Coming from a more moderate climate than this, he had thought he’d have trouble adjusting to the weather, but he really didn’t seem to mind it. His boots made a light crunching sound as he walked through what passed for the main street of Baines. He really didn’t have any particular place in mind, as long as it would get him away from Sasha and Aleksi. His mind was reeling from all the discoveries he was making. He had said he wanted answers, but the answers he was getting only served to make him more disturbed than before. So, Dobbel wasn’t really the man he had said he was. He wasn’t even really a person, just a spirit using a corpse as a marionette. The thought that he could be intimately connected to such a thing sickened him. As he was thinking this, he looked up to see the sign for the local tavern. He smiled wearily. He could stand to get hammered.

As he entered the tavern he could see that it wasn’t very busy. Aside from the bartender, all he could see was a table of guys idly drinking and rambling on about provincial goings-on and someone at the bar that was keeping to himself. He just shrugged and went over to the bar. The bartender saw that he had a customer and eagerly went to his assistance. “Hey there! What can I get for you?”

Guillermo listlessly said, “Gimme a glass of your hardest stuff.”

The bartender stood there blinking for a moment or two, then said, “Very well, sir,” and went on his way. Guillermo saw that the back of the bar had a mirror running along it. It had been a while since he’d looked in a mirror and was surprised to see himself in it. He looked pretty unkempt. It had been a while since he’d gotten a haircut and he hadn’t shaved, either. And from the smell of things, he needed a good, long bath. He sighed. Feeling crappy was one thing, looking crappy was another story. The bartender returned with his drink and he took a cautious sip. As it went down he began to cough. Maybe he should’ve asked for their second-hardest drink. He looked in the mirror again and saw that the table of locals behind him seemed to be very interested in him. He didn’t want any trouble, so he looked back down at his drink and took another sip. It wasn’t long until he heard them get up walk over to where he was sitting on his stool.

“S’cuse me, buddy,” a deep (and very drunk) voice growled behind him, “Me and my friends were jus’ noticin’ that you ain’t from ‘round here.”

“No, I guess I ain’t,” Guillermo said, trying to shrug him off.

He heard some mumbling from the group behind him. “We thought s’much,” the drunken man continued. “Yer one o’ those Jugere bastards, ain’t ya?”

“I don’t want to bother you. All I want is a drink.”

“Ya shoulda thought of that before ya came ‘ere ‘n’ brought yer stinkin’ war with ya. Lotsa great buds o’ mine never came back, ya hear?”

Guillermo turned around and tried to reason with him. “Look, you’re drunk and-“

He never got to finish his sentence. Before he could react, the man had punched him square in the face and Guillermo was sprawled out on the floor with a bleeding nose and mouth. However, it didn’t take long for this to correct itself and Guillermo wiped the remaining blood away from his face and looked up at his opponent. He was a burly man that was equal parts fat and muscle. Just the kind of guy that would make a dangerous drunk, Guillermo thought to himself.

He heard gasps of surprise when his tormentors saw that he had recovered more or less from the initial blow. “What are ya?” the big bully asked. “Some kinda freak?”

“Wanna find out?” Guillermo retorted, seething. In a blink of an eye, the big man kicked Guillermo so hard he rolled for several feet. What normally would have seriously injured a man only discomforted Guillermo for a few moments before his new ability went to work. He stood back up and looked defiantly back at his abuser. This only enraged the man even more and he charged at him yelling. Guillermo was punched in the chest and face again, with similar results. After he picked himself up off the floor he noticed the man was laboring with each breath. He obviously wasn’t used to so much exertion with so little to show for it. He was embarrassed and his friends were beginning to laugh at him as much as they were haranguing Guillermo. “Is it my turn now?” Guillermo asked. The man stood silently fuming. Guillermo walked up and punched him in the gut. He couldn’t have been prepared for the reaction he got.

The man doubled over and began vomiting, not just a little, either, but violently. After there was no more for him to heave out, he passed out. Guillermo and the others were shocked. The bartender had long since hidden underneath his counter. They all stood there looking at the sight with their mouths open. Guillermo hadn’t thought he’d punched that hard at all, especially for a guy as big as the one here. Suddenly he had the presence of mind to get the hell out of the bar and ran out without another word.

*****

Guillermo entered his room in the inn quietly. He had looked in Sasha and Aleksi’s room and it had looked like they were already asleep and he didn’t want to wake them up by making so much noise that they could hear from their connection to his room. Guillermo didn’t blame them; it was probably quite late at night. He lit his lamp dimly and as he was undressing for bed he noticed that there was a full-length mirror hanging on the wall. He stood in front of it without his shirt on and thought about what had happened in the bar earlier. There was some blood still splattered on his face. The reflection in the mirror was fit, but hardly muscle-bound. His body couldn’t possibly be that strong. Or could it? He experimentally made a bicep. He was going through an evolution, after all. Could his body be evolving to make him stronger? How long had it been since he’d looked himself over in the mirror? He remembered his surprise about the reflection staring back at him in the bar and shivered at the thought that his body had probably been changing all this time and he hadn’t taken the time to notice. Had he always looked like this?

“You’ll catch a cold if you stand there like that,” Aleksi suddenly said from the connection between the two rooms.

Guillermo swirled around in a surge of adrenaline. Aleksi hadn’t been there a moment before! “What the hell are you doing here?”

“Same as you, I guess,” Aleksi said in a casual tone. “Checking your progress. My, my, our little boy is growing up! Soon he’ll be interested in girls and everything!” he said with a laugh.

“Shut up,” Guillermo warned with a rage in his voice. It was cruel to tease him about this, to be seen exposed like this, vulnerable.

Aleksi wagged his index finger. “Now, now. That stuff may get Sasha to fall in line but let’s not forget you’re the subordinate here. You can’t push me around.”

Guillermo walked up to him and scowled. “And why is that, Aleksi? You’re certainly giving me more than enough reason to.”

Aleksi simply smiled. “Because in a battle of wills, it would take a very weak one to lose to you, Guillermo. You’re trying to put on the daddy pants but they’re still a little too big, understand? No matter what you may look like, you’re still the same whimpering coward you always were on the inside.” Aleksi stared into Guillermo’s eyes and Guillermo could actually feel Aleksi’s presence overpowering him. He acquiesced and took a few steps back, but still kept his gaze on Aleksi.

“If I didn’t know better,” Guillermo said, “I’d say you get off on saying crap like that to me.”

Aleksi sauntered up to Guillermo and patted him on the cheek a few times. “Looks like Junior’s been getting into fights. Is that where you got the idea to check your progress?”

“It really sickens me to think that we used to be friends, Aleksi.”

Aleksi paused for a moment and looked deep into Guillermo again. “You have no idea how much I agree.”

[Big Rick Cook]

Another Omni post. I had to rearrange the fight scene in this addition, and train the perspective down to just one person, because it was jumping to every character constantly, and that just doesn't work. I changed small tidbits of dialogue in the scenes involving Guillermo, Sasha and Aleksi, but nothing major or of serious import. Sasha and Aleksi have a small feud, and Guillermo has an inner monologue. Cay, Arc, and Elise discuss the whys for seeking out Guillermo. And Adam begins his descent into gaydom. See if you can figure out where.

_____

57th Post – Omni 02

*Omni2* - *fifty-seven*

"Are you two done with the testosterone display?" Sasha had appeared through the door.

Both Guillermo and Aleksi hadn’t noticed that she had stirred from her sleep and had made it to the entrance of the room. She didn’t look at all groggy or sleepy, for someone who had supposedly been napping. But it was the first time Guillermo had ever seen Sasha without her midnight black robes. She was definitely a pale woman; her skin was white, with a hint of color, her hair black as her robes. Her figure itself looked very delicate but Guillermo knew that within her existed a hidden fortitude. He also noticed a small tattoo on her shoulder. He wasn’t close enough to actually see what it looked like, but to him it looked like some sort of flower.

"Sasha…" Aleksi tilted his head toward her.

"Yes, Aleksi, that is my name," she said rather grumpily.

"I was inquiring about the blood on Guillermo's face," he explained.

"Got into a fight, did you?" Sasha asked.

Guillermo nodded with a frustrated tone. "Yeah. But look. I’m fine."

Sasha smiled and then beckoned Aleksi toward the door. He scowled at Guillermo, and then decided to follow her. Guillermo watched as they both exited his room, and then let out a sigh of relief.

A subordinate… that is what Aleksi had called him. He was starting to wonder… was he actually here of his own will? Or was he an unsuspecting prisoner, free to roam about but not free to leave? And if he was… why did he still want to be a part of this?

He took his left fist and pounded the mirror with his frustrations. The glass shattered, sending pieces of clattering mirror all along the floor. He looked to see if anyone had heard the loud tinkling sounds of the crash, but found that either no one had heard or no one had cared. He looked down at his bloodied hand, watching as the scratches and cuts dripped blood onto the shards of the broken mirror. He stared at part of a reflection that gazed back at him from the floor.

Where is my life going?

He glanced back at his hand once more and saw that the cuts were gone.

*****

Sasha was vehement. There was no excuse for Aleksi’s behavior. She had stalked out of the room all the way to the outside door before Aleksi followed her. They had only just left the inn when Sasha whirled around and confronted Aleksi.

"You need to listen, and listen well. This is neither the time nor the place for some personal vendetta. This is business. Important business. Don’t let your personal interests interfere with the task at hand," she lectured.

"What about you?" Aleksi countered, "What about YOUR feelings? I think you’re letting your attachment to him get the better of you."

"How dare you dare accuse me?!” Sasha glared.

"Because," Aleksi bit back, "you, who doesn’t seem to mind sharing bits of information that he should learn on his own; who constantly watches his every move; is always quick to jump to his defense, are weakening his development."

"I am protecting our investment," Sasha argued. "To totally close ourselves off to him would push him away. And that is not what we want."

"It doesn’t matter," Aleksi ordered, "I’m in charge, regardless, and what I say goes. And I say you need to back off."

Sasha stared back at her counterpart. She saw that he had once again drawn his dagger before she had been aware of it. Her scythe was still resting in their room, but she still had a sickle that she had tucked into her waist belt as she had gone to Guillermo’s room.

"As you wish," Sasha mumbled, backhanding the air towards his face.

She trotted back into the inn, clearly looking defeated. She couldn’t really do anything. Aleksi was more than she could handle, at least physically. But Sasha thought, He is careless, if anything.

"Be careful, Aleksi," she whispered silently, carrying herself down the hallway and emitting a soft smile.

*****

Aleksi’s thoughts dwelt back to Guillermo. He leaned against the outside walls of the inn, and felt his insides start to burn with anger. He gritted his teeth for a minute, but then paused.

"Perhaps, our dear Guillermo, you are ready… ready for this little test," he smiled.

He pushed himself off the wall with his back muscles, straightened his stance and then stepped, disappearing underneath the cold night sky.

*****

"I’m sorry, Arc," Cay said with a soft, saddened voice.

"For what?" Arc tilted his head forward to look at her soft figure.

The night was still young, and the fire burned brightly, illuminating their figures and casting flickering shadows. Elise had still not shown up and Adam had seemingly dozed off, leaving nothing but the empty sounds of the crackling fire and the occasional hooting of the forest owls.

"Well… I guess for leading you on," Cay sank back, crossing her arms and holding them close to her stomach.

There was uncomfortable silence. She could feel Arc’s eyes on her, and wished she had said nothing. Still, she felt she owed him at least some sort of explanation.

"I didn’t know Guillermo was on The Inspiration. Had I known, I… I wouldn’t have charmed my way aboard," she spoke weakly.

"It’s okay," Arc said.

Cay looked up to see him smiling at her. Her heart seemed to warm up a little and she suddenly felt a bit relived at Arc’s reaction. If she had been him, she would have never let the person hear the end of it.

"Well, I guess I sorta used you too," Arc looked away and up to the night sky, "Ever since Jaegar…"

He trailed. Whatever pain he had suffered in Jaegar was still too fresh, too new, and he looked ready to curl up and die.

"Well… I wasn’t really expecting anything to happen anyways. I didn’t really much want to do anything but brood. And then I saw your happy face and I started to realize that maybe I could move on," Arc talked, maybe more to himself then to Cay.

Cay blushed a little at the fact that Arc felt so highly about her.

"I guess I’m even sorrier now… since I let you down," Cay apologized again.

"For being in love with Guillermo?" Arc asked.

Cay’s face flushed to an even deeper red. She tried to speak, to deny Arc’s question, but found none of her voice. Her mouth hung agape for a second, but then she tried even harder to avoid Arc’s eyes.

"I don’t really think that it’s a crime. At least, you were honest about things," he said.

"Gui and I… we’re just friends, Arc," Cay said, finally finding her voice. She shuffled a bit, stretching her legs out and backing away, half hoping it would be enough of a pause to end the conversation.

"So, then why are we following him?" he asked.

He was right, of course. As much as she wanted to tell herself that Arc was wrong, that he had no idea what he was saying, she knew it wasn’t true. She had hated herself for leaving Guillermo so long ago, even though she felt as if she had no choice. Time away from him, she had thought, would make her feelings dwindle and perhaps go away completely. But seeing him again changed those delusions. The way he still touched her, that day on The Inspiration and the way she felt so close and so secure with him had shocked her. She had yearned for it for a very long time.

"Yeah, I guess it is silly of me to chase after him," Cay answered. "I mean, he is his own person. If he wants to go his own way, he should. He’s not obligated to me or to any one of us."

"Maybe…. But the thing is that Guillermo, from the short time that I’ve known him, has been through a lot. He isn’t always exactly the most cheerful person to be around, but I respect him a great deal," Arc lay back onto the hard earthen dirt and looked at the stars. "I consider him a friend, I guess."

"I …I know what you mean," Cay answered.

"But well… losing his arm, regaining another… watching someone die in front of you… it just does things to people," Arc guessed aloud.

"I still… wish he would have told us," Cay whispered.

"He might not have been thinking clearly. Maybe he had his reasons for leaving," Arc replied, "But even so, I do feel the same way."

"I don’t know Arc. Maybe…" Cay said, "Maybe… we should just leave him be. He might want it that way."

"Maybe he does," a strong feminine voice broke into their conversation.

Cay whipped her head towards the direction of the voice and slid back as Arc jolted straight up in surprise. They had turned to find Elise appearing from the outskirts of their camp, carrying what looked like a small bag in her left hand and a whole armful of firewood on the right. They hadn’t even heard her approach.

"Supporting a friend is one thing, but smothering him is another," Elise continued as she tossed the bag into the space between Acacia and Arc. "Here… eat some."

"What do you know about it?" Arc became defensive while Acacia reached out and opened the sack.

It was full of small yellowish orange fruit that carried with them an aroma of sweetness. Acacia took one of the pieces out and examined it.

"I don’t know anything about it," Elise shrugged, "but it seems to me that it’s a waste of time chasing after someone who was too inconsiderate to even let you know he was leaving."

"Well, it’s not your business what we’re doing," Arc argued back, "and besides, it’s not like you’d know about the circumstances."

"And since it’s none of my business, I don’t need to know," Elise said flatly.

Elise’s gaze turned to Acacia while was still looking at the weird piece of fruit in her hand. Elise smirked at them both and then peered over at Adam to realize that he had fallen asleep. Her face suddenly turned deep red and a scowl formed on her lips.

"Adam!! Wake up!" she shouted.

They all looked over to see that Adam had not awakened to her threatening command. He was still blissfully dozing in his sitting position, the fire gently reflecting off of his blond hair. Cay thought it was a shame that Elise was trying to rouse him from what looked like a peaceful sleep.

"Hey! I told you to wake up! You’re supposed to be watching the camp!" she hollered at him again.

His reply came in the form of a half snore. It was then that Elise had had enough. She calmly walked over to Adam and then stood directly in back of him. She gave a mischievous look to Acacia and Arc, sighed briefly and then unceremoniously let go the firewood, dropping all the pieces onto Adam’s head.

Adam’s eyes blinked open as he was sent sprawling all over the ground, covered with pieces of oak and bark. Cay and Arc’s mouths gaped open as Elise calmly placed her hands onto her hips.

"OW!!" Adam yelled," Wha… What the HELL?!"

He rubbed his scalp as he slowly rolled over onto his back, his figure still covered with the chopped branches. A look of immediate surprise was replaced by understanding when he saw Elise towering over him.

"ELISE! What in the hell did you do THAT for?!" he fumed.

"Nevermind that! What are YOU doing? You’re supposed to be making sure the camp is safe!" Elise bit back.

Adam shook his head, though Cay wondered whether he was trying to shake off the grogginess from sleep, or the pain given to him from Elise, or both.

"I dozed off…?" he half-admitted, half-questioned.

"Yeah. So you deserved that.”

"What do you expect? We’ve been traveling for about a week straight, on foot I might add. I think we’re all a bit exhausted," he explained. "Plus it doesn’t help when you’re snoring keeps up half the forest."

"What?!" Elise doubled back.

Acacia and Arc chuckled at that.

"I don’t snore." Elise’s face flushed a little, and her voice grew meek. "… Loud."

"Actually…" Arc intervened.

"Stay out of this," Elise interrupted as she turned back to Adam," and that is NOT the point. While you’re busy dreaming about Go Go girls or winning the Keltings Tourney, the camp could be attacked by a monster. And then you’d be dead, they’d be dead and I… would be wondering why you were stupid enough to let that happen."

"Okay… I’m sorry," Adam apologized, "And I do not dream of Go-Go Girls."

"I kinda do," Arc mumbled.

"Ick." Elise scowled at Arc..

"Hey, you brought it up," he reminded her.

"In any case, Elise, we’re not really alone on this pathway, what with this whole caravan," Adam commented on the other camps scattered about the area.

"You can’t rely on that," Elise argued, "there may be a lot of civilians going this route, but look around… Anteron really doesn’t have much in the way of security nowadays."

"What do you mean?" Arc became interested.

"Well, I counted and there are only about five or six different soldiers here. And I would use the term ‘soldiers’ loosely,” Adam explained.

"What do you mean?" Cay asked, echoing Arc.

"He means that the guards here are more then likely just fresh recruits or those who have never seen real combat," Elise said, taking a seat next to Adam.

"You’re saying that these guards probably have no idea what they are doing?" asked Arc. "But… why would Anteron place inexperienced escorts with travel troupes?"

"Probably because Anteron is more concerned with protecting their cities… not what is outside of them. It’s sad… but it’s really a true case. If you aren’t within a city or an airship, you’re pretty much fair game to whatever is lurking about the wilds," Adam stated.

"Well that’s creepy. Still, I don’t think there are any monsters around here anyway," Acacia said, trying to comfort herself more then anyone else.

It was as if the great power above had heard Acacia and decided to prove her wrong. Because at that instant a sudden crushing of grass and crunching of wood made them shoot onto their legs. The nearby trees seemingly opened up and a huge white dog, with three tails and six legs suddenly emerged. It sniffed the air and then turned its attention towards the four. It growled.

"Um… Cay, I hate to say you’re wrong, but…" Arc stammered.

"We… need… need to run," Cay said between exasperated breaths.

"We’d die," Elise informed her. "That is a Killermutt. It could outrun us easily."

"Oh… well… if that’s the case…" Arc whimpered.

"But… who said running was even an option?" Elise smiled, reaching back into her belt buckle and withdrawing her rod.

The weapon shot out from both sides and the blades on each end opened with a loud clank. Elise grabbed the weapon with both hands and stood in between the beast and the frightened pair.

"You’re gonna fight it?" Arc said incredulously.

Adam had leapt to his feet and ran into the tent. He emerged dragging out the very heavy bag that he always seemed to carry.

Elise slowly stepped forward as the dog rushed towards them. Cay had never really seen a really dangerous monster before and now… she was about to die. She wished Guillermo was there.

"A… gun," Arc said, "I gotta get my rifle."

The Killermutt rushed towards Elise, and surprisingly she bolted towards the monster. Cay thought she had gone nuts and reached out to stop her. But Elise was too far away and she closed her eyes, not wanting to watch her new companion die.

As the dog lunged for her, Elise suddenly dove to the side, front rolling as she landed, standing and then again bringing her staff in front of her in defense. The Killermutt turned to Elise, trying to swipe a paw at her, but she hopped back and landed gracefully away. The mutt growled at Elise and then turned its attention to the camp. Elise charged forward at that split second and swung her staff, slicing the mutt’s right back paw.
It yelped and then whirled it fangs back toward Elise. She was too fast and easily managed to avoid the dog’s bite. She backed away as the dog plodded forward after her.

"C’mon you mutt," she shouted, "Mmm… don’t I look yummy?" she teased.

The dog growled back and again lunged for her. An arrow flew through the night sky and embedded itself into the back of the dog’s neck. Adam had withdrawn a rather large weapon from the bag. It was a huge crossbow capable of holding up to six arrows at a time. Despite its size, Adam seemed to handle it with a deft ease.

"Hey, we should find some place to hide," Cay said.

"I know…but we can’t leave them here," Arc said.

He rushed inside his own tent to look for his weapon.

Elise found herself in a small predicament. She had managed to avoid the dog’s attacks but found that she had backed herself up against a small overhang. She tried to dart to the left but the dog kept up with her. She knew she had nowhere to go but forward and the mutt was not about to let her get that chance. The fangs came down on her but she brought her staff up to catch its mouth just in time. It was her strength versus the dog’s powerful jaws and she tensed, knowing she was no match. She gritted her teeth.

Then, a large whip shot out and lashed the dog directly across the ear. It screeched and yelped drawing back a bit. Elise used the moment of slack to take her right hand off the staff, pulled out a small knife and stabbed the dog directly in the neck. The mutt reared back, however, making her cut only superficial. She dove forward, trying to avoid the dog’s landing and sure-to-follow bite.

"Elise!" Adam shouted, unfolding the whip onto the dog’s back.

The mutt turned upon Adam and growled. Arc came out of the tent, rifle ready.

"Arc… I can’t see but I think it… ate Elise," she sobbed.

"Damnit!" he roared, loading his gun.

Adam continued to throw his whip out at the beast and also paused to fire an arrow. He had succeeded each time in hitting it, but the dog showed no sign of relenting. The blood trickling from its wounds only seemed to make the beast angrier. Arc aimed his rifle at the dog’s head.

Just as suddenly, Elise appeared on top of the overhang. She stunned Arc and Cay both as she jumped from the small cliff onto the dog’s back, swinging her staff across its neck in a choke hold.

"That ***** is nuts!!" Arc yelled in disbelief.

The dog reared up, trying to buck off Elise, swinging every which way it could possibly go. Elise suddenly smiled, as if the whole thing was just pure enjoyment.

"Yahoooo!" she screamed above the commotion.

"Elise!” Adam shouted to her, "could you hurry it up?"

"Okay, spoilsport. Just when my adrenaline is pumping," she shouted back.

She took the momentum of the dog’s next buck to flip herself over its head and land directly in front of it. As soon as the dog had landed onto its front paws it found her staff deeply inside its front throat. It had no time to even yelp or lash out and slumped into a dead heap on top of Elise.

Cay and Arc were still in shock when Adam ran over to pull Elise out from underneath the corpse. She emerged, covered in the dog’s blood but looking as if it was nothing more then a slight annoyance.

"Ugh," she complained to Adam as he grabbed her arms and helped her stand onto her feet. "Damn… now I need a bath."

"Yeah. Not that it would help much." Adam smiled.

"Oh… okay, whatever." Elise smirked and said, "by the way... that's two hundred forty three. You’re falling behind."

"Bragging will... well... make you look smug," Adam said.

"Like you wouldn't do it, either," she smiled.

They both chuckled. It was then that the four were approached by the sentries that had been escorting the caravan. They looked just as shocked as Arc and Cay when they spied the bloodied Elise.

"Are… are you people okay?!" one of them asked, "That… thing… it just came out of nowhere."

"Yeah, we’re okay," Elise turned her gaze toward herself in a sarcastic gesture, rubbing off some of the dripping mess, "No problem."

Arc just stared. They had both taken on a fierce monster and won, completely unscathed

[Big Rick Cook]

Ryu again, and it's a long one, too. Lots of ground covered here, and a new character is introduced! Guillermo feels shame, and Aleksi acts like a goofy moron, while Sasha asserts herself. They will leave Baines and head North to Guillermo's supposed training grounds, a temple that is very important to this Book. The name of the temple is revealed later, but inside this temple, Bastraglon, an ancient member of the cultlike organization, resides. Bastraglon is important now, but overall he falls short after this Book is over. Guillermo's training begins as Sasha and Aleksi argue with Bastraglon and themselves.

_____

58th Post – Ryu 07.

*Ryu7* - *fifty-eight*

The next day, Guillermo woke with a start. Nightmares he could not remember had beleaguered his sleep. The amount of daylight silently passing through his window revealed it to be the middle of the morning; a delicate snow drifted sluggishly downward. Guillermo got fully clothed (he had not put on his shirt after the preceding night’s scene and did not even bother to pick up the shards of broken glass) and walked outside. He noticed the absence of Sasha and Aleksi’s airship, as it had been parked alongside the inn, but thought little of it. He plodded into town, unsure of his destination. Effectively dissuaded from ever returning to that bar again, he tried to think up a desirable site where he might have more wholesome company—a bakery perhaps. He almost had a mind to visit a church or monastery or something for some solicitude, but had no idea what sort of freakish gods or odd doctrines the locals believed in—considering his dark-clad companions, they’d probably be convinced he was some sort of devil man, anyway.

He continued forth as slowly as the floating snow fell before spying something he usually did not see outside—somebody else outside with him. It was a little girl, dressed for the cold in a little woolen scarf, playing outside her house in the snow not far from where Guillermo stood when he noticed her. He looked on with weary eyes before smiling softly—the girl hadn’t noticed him—and very tenderly approached her.

“You’ll catch a cold if you stay out here,” he said in the kindest, gentlest voice he could think of. The girl looked up at him and stared a bit, as if trying to guess who he was, before her eyes opened wide and she started back towards her door.

“You’re... that diseased man...!” she said in a small voice, recognizing him at last with trembling eyes and a gasping mouth. She promptly escaped to the safety of her house. Guillermo heard, with labored pain, the deadbolt distinctly clamp shut from behind the door. That ringing of iron echoed through the snow-flecked air. As if some unseen jester had kicked him in the stomach and was now pulling him by the sides of his lips, Guillermo stood teary-eyed, taking the teasing to heart. Apparently a host of rumors had spread quickly after his fight at the bar. The little girl looked at him as if he were a monster.

He promptly lost the will to do anything, and mechanically drifted off like timber down a river, mindlessly plodding like a zombie through the snow; he found he had walked himself back to the inn with no idea how long he was gone when he fully came to. Before long he found himself sitting at their room’s table, with Aleksi and Sasha both sitting a long way across from him, only occasionally looking in his direction

Aleksi appeared as if he had been up all night, hunched over in a chair, with red in his eyes and arms resting on his knees; yet he looked confident, and grinned whenever he happened to look in Guillermo’s direction. No one had said anything. Guillermo would normally be eating at this time, and Sasha periodically glimpsed at him as if perturbed that he wasn’t. At last Guillermo barely broke the silence.

“I...I want to leave this place,” he said in despair.

Aleski suddenly came to life and clasped his hands with mock-joyfulness.

“G-oo-oo-oo-oo-oo-d!” he cried in an incredibly forced reaction, “Because I think it’s time for your trials. Can’t have Guillermo’s trials without Guillermo, hmm?!” Sasha shot a baffled look in Aleksi’s direction, more at the content of his words than his preposterous tone of voice.

Guillermo looked up in disorientation; Aleksi had produced three great coats from a drawer and threw them onto the table.

“We’ll need these; it’s a little nippy out.” Sasha looked as if she didn’t know what was going on any more than Guillermo did, but there was no stopping Aleksi’s spontaneity, and Guillermo was not impressed with her apparent lack of knowledge on this sudden venture.

Before long, the three of them stood outside the inn with coats on and traveling bags packed as Aleksi closed the inn door and pocketed their room key. With that, Aleksi led them up into the frigid mountainous paths and into the distance.

*****

The eyes of a burly man watched them as they left. It was the same man that Guillermo had fought in the bar. After learning where Guillermo was staying, he had a mind to get some payback after being humiliated the night before. But he stopped short behind a tree as he saw Guillermo and his two companions leaving, wondering what sort of odd queue this was. There was no way he would approach Guillermo now—those other two looked dangerous—but he made a mental note of which direction they were headed as he left.

*****

Guillermo, Aleksi and Sasha had been traveling for hours. The tops of the mountains were covered in snow, creating a soft, wide path on which they could pace themselves. It had stopped snowing by now, but the chilled atmosphere still made Guillermo pull his coat tightly about himself.

“Where are we going?” Guillermo finally asked after hours of travel.

“You’ll see,” replied Aleksi after a short pause. Sasha knew where they all were headed by now, but hadn’t expected to be going to that destination for weeks. She secretly resented Aleksi’s recently developed habit of acting without her permission, but then remembered he had chastised her with the same accusation. She scowled; it seemed outrageous that decisions concerning only one man had so grievously fractured their organized polish.

*****

Their path winded up and down the mountains, and overhead the sun only shined an indistinct yellowish haze over the pasture of grey clouds. Guillermo had lost all sense of which direction they were facing, and was astonished that Aleksi and Sasha seemed to know the way.

“Couldn’t we just have taken the airship?” Guillermo remarked with vindictiveness.

“Getting there is part of the trials itself,” Sasha spoke hastily. It seemed to Guillermo that she was reaffirming her place in the current expedition.

After a few hours more—by now it was late in the afternoon and they had stopped for several breaks—they finally reached an edge in the mountains from which they could look down into a wide frozen pool in the distance below. At the mouth of the waters, a lonely structure of stone pillars rested, carved into the mountains. An endless sheet of substantial mist hovered only a hundred feet over their heads; it seemed that the pool and its edifice would not be safely seen from any higher in the sky than from the mountain on which they stood. The ridges wrapped around the solid pond, slowly declining in altitude as one loop of a corkscrew lead one to the ground-level. Guillermo followed Aleksi and Sasha around the enfolding, preoccupied with the thought that soon enough in time they would probably be inside that temple. Gradually they spiraled inward until reaching a trail of snow-covered dirt that led past the stationary waters and towards the tall shrine, in which a wide, low mouth of an entranceway withdrew into the jagged walls. Eventually the darkness within consumed their small frames.

The innards were practically unlit except for a couple pairs of torches that resided alongside the doors to other chambers. The compartment in which they stood looked bare except for some statues on top of pedestals that projected out of the stone flooring at seemingly random intervals.

“Well, we’re here,” said Aleksi as he dropped the pack he had carried all that way. The words seemed to speak a different, individual meaning to all present—to himself, to Sasha, to Guillermo, and whoever normally dwelled inside.

“Now what?” replied Guillermo in an irritated voice as he too dropped his bundle and threw his great coat on top of it.

As if summoned to life by those words, a shadow of a person slowly lifted from a throne-like seat at the end of a shadowy hall that plunged further back into the cavernous dark to their side. With a cackling laugh, the tall creature shuffled forth and into some of the torchlight, yet even then large portions of its features remained in deep shadows.

“Welcome...” the figure, cloaked in a massive, hooded black robe, said in a bubbly croak.

The being was an old man, as one could tell by the bony, aged face that sat atop the horribly stretched neck that protruded far out from the confines of his cloak and bent forward; the whole combination gave his white, bald head and sinewy neck the appearance in shape of a bent soup spoon. His hood rested over his back and shoulders, so one could see that he had at least some hair: a gnarled mess of dirty, silken white hair that hung off the back of his skull and stuck to his neck and clothes, more like cobwebs than anything else. Most notably, the man was grotesquely emaciated, almost to a degree that made Aleksi look stocky, and black, audacious eyes peered out of the huge, black crevices between his sharp cheekbones and brow. He looked as if he somehow only survived on whatever minerals and moisture happened to be in the dank air that floated into his mouth. A wide, twisted, tight-lipped grin that showed none of his teeth spread across his face, and this combined with the contrasted dark shadows spanning about his white face gave him a ludicrously clownish appearance. His robe was tied at the waste with a piece of rope, and he wore a thin and ornate conglomeration between a chest plate and a piece of jewelry over his torso. In his right hand he carried some sort of magician’s staff that featured two small figures of white, feminine angels reaching up to hold a black orb above their heads. His left fist rested far out from his side in an open, clenched position, as if tightly holding an invisible apple. Guillermo could tell that even if Aleksi and Sasha had never seen the man before, they knew who he was.


“So you’re the new members,” he said apparently to Aleksi and Sasha. Guillermo could only wonder how long this old man had been sitting here waiting, so for all he knew, “new” may have meant over a decade. “But you’re just children-heheh!” The statement was said as if he found this idea hilariously entertaining, not as if it were a real concern of his. Something about Aleksi caught his eye, and he walked over to him. Guillermo could see that the old man wore clog-like sandals over baggy stockings beneath the thick robes as he walked.

The man grabbed a fistful of Aleksi’s long, black hair, and let it rest in his palm and sift through his bony fingers.

“I had hair as black as this....once.” He still had the long smile on his face; apparently he found even this idea amusing. Aleksi stared at him solemnly, looking neither disgusted nor pleased. With that he dumped the hair out like dropping shrimp into a broiler, gave Sasha a suggestive glance, then turned to Guillermo.

Guillermo noticed the man wiggle the fingers of his free hand greedily before he heard a loud whoosh. Unsure of whether the noise had been made by the motion of the sleeve of the man’s robe or merely the speed at which the old man had jutted his arm forth, Guillermo found that the man had seized him by the bottom of his face, and was now looking down slightly into it with a scrutinizing glare. Guillermo would have expected this grip to be as light reeds of grass; instead, he felt as if his head were caught in the jaws of an alligator. Long fingernails, or rather thick and yellow claws, had grown from each of the man’s finger tips; Guillermo tried to avoid touching them as his head tilted back and forth at the old man’s instigation.

“Interesting....” the man merely said before he eyed Guillermo up and down and noticed his weapons, “You’re quite decked out there, sir. Heheh...with a saber as long as that, maybe you’re compensating for something?” Guillermo gave the foul old man a sneer and tried to break free, but the grip around his face only intensified in its stiffness.

“Can it. Let’s just get down to business,” Sasha said in agitation.

“Ha....is she always this feisty?” he commented to Aleksi, and turned back to the specimen who still waited in his hand.

“I hope you have brought more than weapons into this place,” he added to Guillermo and released him from his clutch. His nails made clacking sounds when they collided as his arm returned smoothly to his side, before turning to the nearest stone door around which two torches were lit. He pulled a lever and the door shot up, revealing an opening to a vastly larger chamber.

“This is your big day, Guillermo—the first of the real trials you’ve been waiting for,” Aleksi said with a self-assured grin. The old man made note of Guillermo’s name, as Aleksi put his hand on Guillermo’s shoulder and started to ease him through the door.

“Wha...? I don’t even know what the hell I’m doing here. First you take forever just to tell me anything, and now you’re shoving me through a door in a hurry,” Guillermo cried as he shoved Aleksi’s arm off.

“It’s simple,” chimed in the old man, “Any pupil of ours worth his salt will know what to do. But I’ll give you a hint! Be ready to attack the first thing that moves.” With that he gave Guillermo an eager shove with his open hand that launched Guillermo through the door. Guillermo turned backwards from ten feet inside the room only to find the stone door fall heavily to the ground.

Guillermo then stood up straight and surveyed his surroundings. He was in a huge, dome-like hall held up by large stone pillars, circular in shape, and with a ceiling about 175 feet above his head. The other side of the arena was about 150 feet from where he stood. And small holes at the highest rim of the structure let in a dim, blue light. Spears, shields and other weapons hung on the walls in periodic patterns. Guillermo hesitated: the room was cold with mist that had leaked inside, and nothing seemed to move...until a few moments later.

Something like an animated gargoyle suddenly stirred from the elevated upper ledge. The mist made the room vague, so that it took Guillermo about ten seconds to see that the creature had launched itself from its perch and was now flying—flying in circular patterns and gradually lowering in altitude. After a time, Guillermo could determine that it was a monster of some sort, and remembering the old man’s words, brought out his flintlock.

With two loud blasts that vibrated off the walls, Guillermo attempted to fire on the creature, but the cacophony of the room’s blues, grays and browns mixed with the potent mist made it impossible to hit anything from that distance, and the bullets ricocheted uselessly off the walls a few seconds after being fired. This aroused the creature’s attention and it soon took a straighter course for Guillermo as he slung his flintlock back onto his belt and withdrew his saber. Closer now, Guillermo could see something that he couldn’t make out at first—the beast held a huge trident, about 15 feet long, its end floating in the air, in one of it’s arms. The creature had huge, feathery wings which came out of its back and kept the thing afloat with the occasional flap. Long, bent legs, like that of a wolf or large cat, hung downward into the open air, not unlike the trident. Guillermo was shocked to see that the monster was roughly humanoid in body structure.

At last the creature landed on the floor on the other side of the room from Guillermo, on all fours, with its trident held parallel to the ground. It rose to its hind legs and took a few steps with a staggered lurch before returning to its more bestial crouch, before it suddenly began crawling forth as swiftly as a spider. Guillermo took a step backwards as the beast’s face became more distinct; it had glowing eyes, also like a wolf, but its snout was broad and short, with long slits of nostril carved into it.

The creature came nearer and nearer at an alarming rate. Guillermo’s heart raced. His saber shook in his hand. The creature was closer now. Guillermo brought up his saber to defend, but it was too late. The beast’s trident rocketed forth from its hand as it caught it further down the weapon’s shaft, plunging straight into Guillermo’s stomach with a sickening, soupy noise and a path of blood. Feeling a pain unlike any other he had before, Guillermo screamed in agony. One of the trident’s spikes had driven itself deep into his gut while the wide cross-blade made the other two pointed devices shoot harmlessly past Guillermo’s sides; the trident was much better suited for larger targets. Alarmed that he hadn’t collapsed in death by now, Guillermo maneuvered his saber between middle and right trident spikes and pushed forth with all of his strength. The trident jerked out, releasing more blood from Guillermo’s innards, but he had no time, (or desire) to inspect the wound now—the creature, now determined to thrust its weapon into Guillermo’s chest, dashed forth up its trident and hopped from the ground and flapped its wings in a furious attempt to gain leverage.

Through sweat-coated eyes, Guillermo stared at the monstrosity before him as he engaged the beast in this tug of war: its features were unlike any other monster he had seen: indeed humanoid in figure, it had a spark of intelligence in its eyes, more like another sentient species than just a freakishly-large mutated animal like the monsters that had taken so much from him. The creature had a thick and long tail, like a mixture between a sloth and lizard, and pointed quills ran all the way from its neck, across its back, and down this tail.

With a sudden burst of energy, Guillermo finally deflected this attempt to impale him with a parry to his right, and his opponent stumbled forth. Guillermo swiped his saber at the creature’s head, but only struck the side of its cheek with the saber’s broad side. The creature hissed and swept Guillermo away with the un-pointed shaft of the trident. Having gained some distance, Guillermo shakily reached for his firearm, but a jagged thrust from the beast’s weapon shot it up and over his head as soon as it reached his hand. His days of military training hadn’t prepared him for this. With a frustrated yelp, Guillermo again lashed out with a furious slash, which only clanged solidly against his attacker’s own weapon, almost bending back his wrist. The creature prodded again with a sudden slice that ran up Guillermo’s right arm, cutting away pieces of his coat. Groaning, Guillermo stumbled over in his attempt to dodge the next blow, which shot through the bottom of his coat, pinning him to the ground. His tricorn finally few from his head as he violently tried to unhitch his raincoat. A terrible rip signaled that he had broken free, and he desperately tried to escape, only to get pierced again in the back of the leg. Turning onto his back, Guillermo caught the next strike with his saber, and, struggling against the throbbing aches, got to his feet so that the creature would not drive him into the ground. His legs quivered beneath him as he frantically pushed forth, the nail of the trident inches from his chest. He shoved forth so hard he thought his guts would leak out of the hole that must have been in his stomach. He felt the heat of the creature’s breath as it closed in on him; a heat which made him nauseous. In a last gamble, he released the strength of his push, and used the instant during which the trident’s pin raced dangerously close to his flesh to reposition hit feet and then reapplied the pressure. Luckily the beast was just landing from one of its hops, and caught by surprise as it tried to leap forth again, instead flew backwards after Guillermo’s drive had pushed it backwards and up. The creature did not land, instead retreating through the sky to where rows of javelins dangled from latches high on the walls. One by one, the beast tossed them down at Guillermo like thunderbolts and retrieved another in the time Guillermo spent rolling out of the way. Already exhausted, the agility of his dodges became more sluggish before gazing up in despair to spot that the walls held about four dozen more of these projectiles. In the time it took to see this, another spear zipped downward and stuck into his hip. He collapsed and now could only roll back and forth on his back to dodge the javelins that, like hellfire, continued to pour down on him,

*****

Meanwhile, Aleksi and Sasha rested silently near the door to the arena. Only the loudest screams and most vicious sounds of battle passed through the stone walls.

At last Sasha said what was presently on her mind:

“...Are you sure he’ll survive?”

“If he’s the one we think he is, he has no choice,” came Aleksi’s stolid reply.

“But why are we subjecting him to this so soon?”

“Why are you acting so concerned, as if you care how he feels? Be careful, Sasha, if you keep thinking like this, the illusion will become real.”

Sasha crossed her arms in frustration. “We, or rather, you, had him skip the concentration exercises; such an action is unprecedented, maybe even dangerous. He has no idea how to use his powers.”

“Silence. If he survives this battle, which I count on, he’ll know all he needs to know. I expect him to move on, for this trial is absolutely nothing compared to what is in store for him next.”

“...You’re enjoying this, aren’t you, Al?” Sasha said with a powerful, yet subtle glance.

“Ha...I just think it was time Guillermo learned his place. He thinks he’s going to defy us in the end. But after he sees the carnage and violence in store for him, the humiliation of being so close to death, yet never lying down, he’ll have no one to fall back on but us. His cowardice needs to be exposed early.” Aleksi was practically beaming.

“This is unlike you; I’ve never seen you like this. You’re not supposed to hate those who we claim to help,” Sasha replied.

At this, the old man, who had been sitting in a stool he brought over while listening to this conversation silently in amusement, slapped his knees as his face brightened.

“Ha! This is why I chose to work alone when I was in your position—there’s no one to argue with. No one to get in the way,” he cried with glee, raving by now, “Heh; it’s like marriage, you’ve only got two votes and a democracy doesn’t work. It’s her vote versus his, and you’re bound to disagree; in fact, it’s what you live for. It all becomes a massive quarrel—a struggle for power! You’ll argue even when you actually agree, because all you really want is to undermine the other; to become the dominant being and make the other the lesser. There’s no such thing as harmony—only the illusion you create when you want to whitewash your quest to outdo someone and achieve psychological mastery. It’s all a game, you see! And we’ve all been doomed to it from the start! But it created powerful people, whom the world needs. So by all means, sleep together, it keeps the illusion alive!”

Aleksi, genuinely disgusted now, chose to remain silent. Sasha leaned against the wall and started flinching at the loudest sounds of the battle.

*****

Guillermo dodged the last three javelins with disheartened shifts before looking straight up at nothing as if to accept his fate. He didn’t even make a sound as the beast deftly nailed him in the arm from afar. But as he tilted his head back and noticed large shield that rested silently on a nearby wall, shining there like a glimmer of hope; apparently his attempts to dodge the pointed shafts had led him here. Guillermo slowly rose to his feet, pulling out the projectiles that had stuck him and ignoring the pain, while another javelin struck the pavement harmlessly at his feet. He grabbed the shield and hid within its protection. The next toss of the beast’s struck the shield violently, causing Guillermo’s whole body to vibrate painfully, but he now remained relatively unharmed.

I have to… do... something about his wings, Guillermo thought in labored phrases. The creature could stay up there all day if it wanted. Between the hail of javelins, Guillermo picked up one of the javelins that the beast had tossed and threw it as best as he could up at it. The weapon spun about wildly, and the creature had to suddenly drop in altitude to avoid getting its neck chopped. Guillermo hurled another projectile while the beast recuperated, and this one grazed the top of its head. At last it returned to the ground below, looking almost tired of throwing and turned its back towards Guillermo, then awkwardly stood on its head and shoulders with it legs down. Its rows of quills unexpectedly stood on end with a clicking sound, and suddenly a whole patch of the razor-sharp darts flew forth like shotgun fire in Guillermo’s direction. They drove deep into Guillermo’s shield, and whizzed past his shoulders. They continued to fire until Guillermo lost his grip of his shield and had to roll out of the way. Several quills dipped into his calf as he fell, and the creature raced forth with its trident ready.

Guillermo again got to his feet, and his eyes flashed; the creature was about to take to the sky once again and probably attempt to spear him from above. But first it looked posed to stun him with a strike.

I have to get...to those wings, one way or another, sparked through Guillermo’s mind, but the creature’s trident and arms were always in front, blocking the path. With no other ideas left, Guillermo merely gripped his saber with both hands and swung as dramatically as he could at the approaching animal. To his astonishment, his saber cut straight through the metal shaft of the trident and rifled right through the left arm that held it. Not even noticing his attack had also chafed the wing on that side, Guillermo, baffled, cringed with disgust as the beast roared in anguish; the creature had lost its arm at the same spot he had, so long, it seemed, ago. He squirmed in horror at what he had just done, before the outraged beast delivered an outstanding kick to Guillermo’s chest, sending him reeling and landing heavily on his back. The handicapped beast grabbed the broken piece of its trident and shot it forth, pinning Guillermo down by the neck as it stomped on the right hand that now held his saber.

Unable to move, and fearing he was choking, Guillermo’s eyes darted for something to help him survive as he struggled for breathes of air, but the beast had now gripped him tensely by the neck with the sharp claws on its feet and while trying to adjust his positioning to slam the trident into Guillermo’s skull. Guillermo’s eyes rested on his flintlock on the floor to his left—for he now lay near where the gun had fallen previously—for what seemed like ages, as if he didn’t recognize what it was. At last he suddenly reached out to it with a free arm and a wide-open palm; the gun lay only inches from his fingertips. The nails around his neck plunged deep into his throat. The head of a trident and few feet of shaft evened itself out, aligned with his forehead. It all seemed over now....

In Guillermo’s sight, the beast’s face drifted into darkness and looked distant; its warm breath became as cold as the mist. Guillermo stared at his hand like it wasn’t even his own now, still outstretched and desperate, until he could see it no longer. As he drifted into silence, some strange, wordless sensation, as if his body had created it of itself, came over him that told him that it would not let him die; that he would have to keep going. He looked past the beasts horrible claws, down his own chest and, his vision returning, saw that where he had been impaled in the stomach, though it still roared with pain, only small marks and dried blood remained. His head turned to look down his arm, where his hand still looked as determined as ever.

Suddenly, silent blue wisps of unknown origin crept out of his hand; Guillermo almost smiled in wonder as they danced about like pieces of silk in water; perhaps this was just a last hallucination before he died. But a tongue of the strange energy seemed to grab at the flintlock and it dragged into his hand—and the touch of it felt real. Gun in hand, Guillermo pointed it at the creature’s face...and fired. A thin strand of strange energy trailed the bullet, as if the bullet pulled it out of Guillermo’s arm; indeed, he felt as if something was stripping out the muscles of his arm as the energy continued to flow out of it while the bullet cut its way out the back of the creature’s head. The creature bent back, stunned, as the blue trail left by the bullet seemed to pull Guillermo up to his feet like a tethered rope. At this point, Guillermo had no idea if his bullet had killed its target, and instinctively dashed forth, unsure of what exactly was going to happen next.

*****

The three sitting out in the hall suddenly rose from their quiet listening after the sounds of a gunshot, a thirty second salvo of howls, a loud rumbling sound, and then a period of eventless silence. As if this silence were his cue, the old man pulled the lever to the door again, and the dim light of the arena shone into the hall. The three of them walked inside to see Guillermo lying in torn clothes, alive, yet terrified. Only dismembered limbs and clumps of hair remained of his assailant.

“It wouldn’t die...it kept screaming,” Guillermo said from the floor in horror, with glazed over eyes.

“Heheh, very good,” the old man exclaimed, “Not much left to your opponent—always a promising sign!”

The old man eyed Guillermo, then rolled up his pant-leg to his knee and pulled out a quill. He investigated the area from which the quill had been removed.

“Hardly a mark, and these were poisonous quills,” he said as he carelessly tossed the quill to one side and dropped Guillermo’s leg. Guillermo looked over to the open door and wanted more than anything to get out of the arena, but his physical and emotional exhaustion prevented him from doing so. Aleksi stared intently into Guillermo’s weary face.

“Well then, let’s get on to the next trial,” the old man exclaimed as he motioned Aleksi and Sasha to leave while he still stood before Guillermo, who did not want to know what this meant. Soon they were outside again, and the stone wall shut, leaving Guillermo and the old man alone in the arena. The old man peered down into his face with the same warped grin.

“I don’t think we’ve been properly introduced—Guillermie, was it? My name is Bastraglon, and I know everything you want to know. I’ve run this operation for decades, training those who have received great gifts to reach their full potential. Hopefully, you do not find our methods cruel, but it’s the only way...”

Bastraglon strolled around Guillermo as he said these words, and then suddenly turned in his direction. Guillermo, still lying on the cold pavement, stared back with notable estrangement in his eyes.

“...I hope you’re wearing clean underwear, boy, because the next trial is quite the journey. You must merely survive in a battle...” Bastraglon’s staff started to burn with a dark red flame as he spoke, “...with me for the next three days.”

Chapter 5 End

[Big Rick Cook]

The start of Chapter 6! By Mora! Almost three revolutions of the writer cycle pass before Mora writes again. There was a part of this addition that really threw me the first time I read it, and it effected the story later on because of this. Adam and Elise have a conversation where, in short succession, they mention both their father and Dobbel. I fell under the assumption that somehow Dobbel WAS their father, despite his body supposedly being dead some 50 years, and he was an old man when he died, anyways. I had to edit a later addition of mine to remove this facet because I blindly fudged it.

Karim and IRC have both been absent from the story for a little while, but they will be back later. They fall under the category of writers who popped in occasionally to write, but didn't stick around for too long. At this very moment, after this addition, three people were controlling the story and the current arc's end. This is also where tensions began to rise over Omni and his lack of proofreading and bad punctuation.

Cale Ulger makes his debut in this addition, as a mercenary hired on to be Malachai's second-in-command for the Guillermo Search. He proves to be a bit more important to the story than other secondary characters later on, and his steadfast defiance of military rules makes him act a little goofy, sometimes, but he's all-around a decent character.

_____

Chapter 6

59th Post - Mora 06

*mora6* - *chapter6* - *fifty-nine*

Malachai sat in his quarters on The Inspiration looking over scores of maps, perfecting his hypothesis for where Guillermo could have headed. He had only just received all of his new crew that had been appointed by the Council (barebones, he wouldn’t waste time or resources on civilians or cargo). In fact, all he had left to do before all was ready for takeoff was discuss his plans with the new second-in-command. Malachai normally didn’t like to be kept waiting but he appreciated the downtime. The time it had taken to assemble all this had severely broadened the possibilities of where Guillermo could have gone with the other two. He looked at one of his maps where he had marked where he had been when he learned of Guillermo’s disappearance. To the northeast were mountains and a scattering of cities. Guillermo could be hiding anywhere by now, he thought. His initial hunch that he had gone to Joyt wasn’t as solid as he had once believed it to be…

Just then he heard a sharp rapping on his door. Finally, he thought. Maybe a little extra brainpower is just was the doctor ordered. He got up and opened it and was a little surprised at the first officer he had been assigned. The man looked to be in his mid-thirties. Medium length, unkempt blonde hair topped his face which held a serious, almost cutthroat expression. He had a reasonable amount of stubble on his face, along with a few minor scars from god-knows-what. His brown eyes seemed to contain a ferocity that wasn’t often found in civilization anymore and his build was rather solid. He was in plainclothes, which rather irked the captain, who had decked himself out in full regalia to meet his new subordinate. “Captain,” the man acknowledged, holding out his hand in what Malachai was sure was an empty gesture. However, he hated to breach etiquette, and firmly shook the calloused hand. “I’m Cale Ulger, your second-in-command for this assignment.”

“You’re no military man, are you, Ulger?” Malachai mentioned with a hint of disapproval.

“You’ll find,” Cale said, half-smiling in a way that showed his slight deficiency in dental hygiene, “that I’m qualified to do anything involving an airship and more. Now, shall we go over the basics? This is a manhunt as I’m told, correct? Where and when was he last seen and which direction was he heading towards?”

Malachai pointed to the clutter of maps on his desk. “A few days ago. Our position is noted on that map in the center there. An eyewitness said she saw him get into a small aircraft and head northeasterly.”

Cale sauntered over to the desk and began lowering himself into Malachai’s chair. “You don’t mind, do you? I want to take a closer look.” Malachai minded, of course, but he wasn’t about to let an upstart like this dent his temper. Cale settled himself into Malachai’s seat and began looking at the map in question in earnest. After a few moments of rubbing his stubbly chin, Cale seemed to make up his mind. “Come here, Captain. You said he left in a small aircraft, right? One that I assume had been smuggled on to the ship. Judging by the size of our cargo hold I can imagine how small it would have to be to go unnoticed by you, so that also means I can tell how far it would be able to go before having to restock and refuel. If your information is accurate, I think he’d only be able to get as far as these towns right here. Do we have a description of the man?”

Malachai, momentarily dumbfounded by the man’s professionalism and resolve, simply nodded.

“Then what I propose we do is go to every one of these towns and give the law enforcement there a description of him. It’ll increase our odds if we can get others searching as well. We can make up a new plan after that. Well? Sound good?”

Malachai was furious. “You can’t just walk in here and begin dictating orders! Do you have any concept of chain of command?! Only I, as the captain, can make decisions like those!’

Cale looked as calm and focused as ever. “Then think up a plan yourself and I’ll follow it. But I don’t think the people that gave you a second chance will give you a third.”

The captain frowned at him. For all of the newcomer’s self-importance, he had to admit; he knew what he was doing. He looked at what would be the last stop on the map: Baines.

*****

Guillermo scurried from one end of the arena to the other. He panted like an exhausted animal. It felt like fire was running through his veins. He had been “battling” this Bastraglon for several hours now, but Guillermo didn’t think of this as a two-way fight. Bastraglon had been using whatever power he commanded with his staff to hurl the elements at him. It was all Guillermo could do to keep them from hitting him. They actually had, once or twice. A fireball had seared his skin, but of course no evidence remained aside from the psychological scars. His shirt had been in poor shape at the end of his last trial and after the punishment he’d received in this one, he had simply torn off what had remained. If this kept up, Guillermo was afraid he wouldn’t have much of anything left at all. He’d tried firing his flintlock at him once or twice, but they always seemed to deflect. Guillermo supposed that he might just have missed (in fact, he would have expected it knowing how frazzled he was right now) but he thought he had aimed directly at the old man himself.

His body was at the breaking point, it felt like. He was tired, so very tired, yet he had to keep pushing himself just one little bit more in order to keep the pain of the attacks away. Sweat dripped from his brow as he dodged a lightning blast this time. Bastraglon cackled. “Nearly got you, that one did! I wouldn’t drop my guard if I were you!”

What Guillermo felt in response was beyond words. His arms, legs, chest and back felt like they were about to tear in two. From the depths of his consciousness he tried to find the strength to stand up to this ghoul and… and what? a part of him asked. And obliterate it, Guillermo’s instinct responded, just like we obliterated the last thing that stood in our way. Nothing is going to make us die, nothing. He reached deep within and found a growl. It grew in intensity as he decided to rush the old man in an attempt to quiet the pain that coursed through his being. For a few moments it looked like he had caught the mystic off guard as he got closer and closer with no punishment in sight. However, within a few feet a detail passed that Guillermo overlooked in his fury. The old man began to smirk. Suddenly Guillermo hit something that caused more pain than anything he had ever experienced. He screamed bloody murder. Little blue sparks flew off his body as he was flung backwards several yards and landed in a miserable, smoking heap. It took a few seconds before Bastraglon noticed Guillermo was breathing again. Guillermo saw the shield from earlier and clambered over the stone floor to hide behind it. He shook with fear as he waited for what was sure to be a salvo of destruction to rain down upon his pitiful shelter, but after a few minutes, nothing had happened. Everything was quiet.

Guillermo tentatively peeked out over the rim of the shield and saw Bastraglon sitting down with his staff across his lap with his eyes shut murmuring something. He felt bolder than he had during the past few moments and asked in a hoarse voice, “What are you doing?”

“I’m gathering my energies to me,” the old man muttered. “You’ve tuckered me out for one day, so I’m getting ready for the next.”

It seemed like a godsend to have this reverie during the most excruciating ordeal in his entire life. But… if the old man was sitting there helpless now, couldn’t he end it all? Guillermo began to sneak closer to Bastraglon, hoping the man was so focused he could simply overpower him before he knew what was happening. Again, at a few feet before Bastraglon, Guillermo encountered an incredibly painful force field deterring him. As he reeled from this latest injury, Bastraglon laughed again. “I wasn’t going to make it THAT easy for you, my boy! Mustn’t have you throttling me in my sleep or whatnot.”

Guillermo waited until the pain dropped back down to a dull throbbing and asked in as controlled a voice as possible under the circumstances, “I’m thirsty. Is there anything I can drink?”

Bastraglon opened the lid to his right eye just a little in annoyance and mumbled some incantation. Suddenly from the orb in his staff water began to pour in a modest amount. Guillermo couldn’t believe his good fortune and scrambled over to the small rivulet that had formed, cupped his hands and began drinking to his heart’s content. Once he stopped, the source of the water seemed to know and it dried back up again. Guillermo shambled back to the shield lying on the floor. He looked up at the ceiling and saw little illuminations on the sides that lit the arena in a dull, ambient glow. He curled into the fetal position and tried to sleep away some of the horrors he had been through.

*****

Aleksi tapped his fingers idly on the stone floor, creating a noise not entirely soothing to Sasha. She was pacing back and forth in what little light was afforded to her by the torches inside the cave. Night had descended, but the last thing she felt like doing was sleeping. Aleksi sat with his back to the outside wall of the arena, head resting back upon it with closed lids. “Would you PLEASE stop pacing like that, Sasha?” he asked in annoyance.

“I can do as I please,” was the equally irritated response.

Aleksi just sighed and brought himself to his feet to go snooping around their packs for some food. “You should eat something. That’ll calm you down; nothing worse than worrying over an empty stomach.”

“I’ll eat when I feel like it, all right?”

Aleksi gave her a quick sneer. “Aren’t we being a bit sullen? You knew how long the trials would take, Sasha. It’s no use worrying excessively about it. He’s doing fine, you know, otherwise it would be over by now.”

“It was too early, Al, too early. He wasn’t nearly ready for the kind of strain this would put on him. You saw him in there, he was terrified. If we… if you had only followed the proper order of events, it wouldn’t be half as risky as it is now. As it stands, I just don’t know how this is going to turn out. Guillermo might not survive. If so, we’ll have lost the best candidate we’ve had in decades. They won’t like that and you know it. And if he survives the trial… that scares me even more. To survive the trial without having at least some rudimentary training would mean he has more raw power than we thought possible. That would also mean that he’s a weapon more powerful than we have any right controlling. Throwing him to the beasts, so to speak, may have eradicated his trust in us. If he comes out and decides he wants nothing to do with us… We’ll have created a weapon capable of unprecedented amounts of destruction, something infinitely more dangerous than those monsters.”

Aleksi had been listening to this speech while lazily nibbling on some salted meat he’d gotten from their packs. “I think we shouldn’t worry.”

Sasha stopped pacing and simply glared at Aleksi with an intensity he’d never seen her use before. “In the morning,” she said, “I think I’ll make a trip back to Baines. I should make it there before noon. I’ll get our ship prepped for travel again and pilot it back here. I think we might need a quick escape, whatever the outcome.”

“Do as you please,” Aleksi said in a dismissive manner. “Just be sure to keep a low profile. After the little tiff Guillermo caused, we may not be the only ones interested in him.”

*****

Adam sat down next to Elise on a bench on the side of the snow-covered main street of Baines with one of his bags slung over his shoulder. He sniffled as the cold made his nose run. He was lucky he had packed clothes for all sorts of climates at the start of their journey. He was sure Elise wouldn’t have given it a second thought. He smiled to himself. Elise might think him a bit thick-headed at times, but he knew he was sharper than he was sometimes given credit for. While he minded the details, Elise focused on the big picture: Dobbel. It seemed like they had been searching for him forever, and only now had they found a real lead. Arc and Cay led to Guillermo. Guillermo led to Sasha. Sasha might lead to...

“The cold bothering you?” Elise suddenly asked.

“Nah, I’m tougher than that,” he responded. Elise nodded and looked down at the snow that blanketed the ground. “Hey, you all right?”

“We’ve never been this close, have we?”

“To Dobbel? You’re right.”

“I was beginning to think that… maybe… I’d drug you into something hopeless. I know that you used to look up to me a lot when we were younger. When I decided to go do this, at first I thought I’d try to keep you out of it, send you to a relative or something.”

Adam smiled. “But I kept insisting.”

Elise gave a strange, nostalgic laugh. “Yeah, you did. You wanted to be with your older sister, no matter what foolish thing she plunged headfirst into.”

“Hey, he was my father too. I can never forgive Dobbel for what he did. If you were gonna kill him, I was gonna be there right beside you. Besides, even if we never found him, we’ve made a decent living, huh? We got pretty good at monster hunting.”

“Adam,” Elise said with a sigh. She looked wearier than he’d ever seen her. She lovingly placed her hand on his shoulder. “I just want to say ‘thank you.’ I don’t think I ever did before. I don’t think I could’ve gotten this far without my baby brother,” she said getting slightly emotional. Adam was a little taken aback. Elise had never been one to show much feeling towards anyone, even her own brother.

“Elise, seriously, what’s bothering you?”

“If we find what we’re looking for, that means we find Sasha, right?”

“Yeah…”

“I know you saw me fight her. She’s tough. I know it looked like I was handling myself in our fight, but just barely. Mindless monsters aren’t a piece of cake, but tackling cunning like that? I think she was just toying with me, really.”

Adam became very concerned. “So what are you saying?”

Elise gave Adam’s shoulder a gentle squeeze. “I’m saying ‘thank you.’”

Adam suddenly turned to face forward and saw Arc and Cay standing in front of them with grins on their faces. “We aren’t… interrupting anything, are we?” Cay said suggestively.

Adam’s face turned red. “Uh… no!”

“Your face tells a different story…” she continued to tease.

This only caused Adam to blush even more. “But seriously,” Arc said, stifling a laugh. “We just came to tell you something. We actually got a lead on Guillermo. Seems he showed up here a few days ago and caused a scene. One of the locals saw him leave towards the mountains with some other people. We won’t be traveling with the troupe anymore, so I’m afraid our little deal has come to an end. Now, I do recall something about payment…”

Desperate not to lose her only connection to Dobbel, Elise hastily patched together a plan. “We can pay you with our service. Let us accompany you further into the mountains. We’ll be your… bodyguards,” she embellished, “against the dangers of the mountains. You saw our skill; we’re the best monster hunters we know. Usually we charge for this kind of service, but like you said, we owe.”

Cay’s jaw dropped. She couldn’t believe these two. “Don’t you have, um, better things to do than to follow us on what’s probably a wild goose chase?”

Adam puffed himself up in defense. “A promise is a promise. To do anything less would insult my pride.”

I’ll tell you where you can shove that pride, Arc thought to himself. But upon second thought, a little extra muscle would be a good thing. He remembered how easily Aleksi took down that wyrm and shuddered at what he might be able to do to Cay and himself if he insisted Guillermo stay with them. “Fine. We accept. But you pay for your own supplies.”

[Big Rick Cook]

60th addition, by Omni. We have a new character introduced here, but only a minor one. The only thing significant about him is that Tumuro and his family are darker-skinned like Acacia. Here's where the beginning of a new triangle forms, but I'm not going to tell you who it's between, because that's the fun part. We had an initial complaint about this addition, because Omni seemed to be playing matchmaker with every character in the story. The good thing is that it doesn't turn out that way, for the most part. I changed a lot of the dialogue between Bastraglong and Guillermo in this addition, removing certain elements that proved that Aleksi and Sasha were once training to be the 'Soldier' like Guillermo is now. It didn't work with the way Bastraglon established that he didn't know Sasha and Aleksi in a previous addition, so I removed it. I also beefed up the descriptions about Guillermo's pain in the Bastraglon fight, because in Omni's original, it was all "Guillermo was in immense pain. The pain he felt was too painful, and the pain threatened to take his consciousness." Other than that, the addition remains true to form, for the most part.

_____

60th Post – Omni 03
*Omni3* - *sixty*

Searing pain jutted through Guillermo’s left hip. He awoke to find the old and seemingly emancipated sage towering over his trembling body, the man’s fingers embedded into his waist. The old man’s toothy grin widened as Guillermo screamed in agony. Guillermo felt the old man’s fingers moving inside his muscles, clutching at sinew and bone and raising Guillermo’s limp body over top of his stringy, gnarled hair.

"In all my years, I have never seen such a stupid boy," Bastraglon coughed, shaking Guillermo as if he were a rag doll.

Guillermo reached down and grabbed hold of the man’s wrist with both hands in an attempt to free himself of the horrible grip. But the bony old hand felt as if it were made of solid steel, incapable of being broken. Guillermo couldn’t help but screech in pain as Bastraglon waved him around in the air.

"Falling asleep during a battle. What are you? So overly confident that you think you can even defeat you opponent in your sleep? Well," Bastraglon shook, "Think again."

"But… you said… we were taking… a break," Guillermo argued through the pain.

"I was taking a break, boy… I never said you were!" Bastraglon laughed with glee.

He spun Guillermo in the air again, sprinkling himself and the floor around him with Guillermo’s blood. He raised his hand and with one backward motion, released Guillermo, sending him flying into the walls of the chamber.

Guillermo took the full brunt of the impact, bouncing off the wall and landing in a small shivering heap onto the floor. The pain in his side was almost too much to bear. He felt as if he would pass out. But the thought of that old man doing the same thing to him again if he did fall into unconsciousness made him struggle to keep his eyes open.

He tried to shut out the pain, clutching his left hip with his right hand and pulling himself up onto his knees with his left hand. He turned his head to find Bastraglon standing directly over him, still wearing that devilish smile. Guillermo balled his fists onto the ground, trying to find the strength to stand onto his feet. This was quickly interrupted by a blow to the back of the neck from Bastraglon’s staff. Guillermo’s hands flew forward and he felt his face smack against the cold hard ground. He lay there for a few seconds, trying to comprehend the amount of pain that he was in. His head was swimming and his vision blurred. He could feel the blood trickling from his nose and his mouth.

Again he gripped the floor with his left hand and pushed upwards. He moved his leg inwards, scraping it against the cold hard stone. He was again on his knees, hunched over with his hands palming the ground.

The staff of Bastraglon whipped through the air and connected with the back of Guillermo’s thigh. The pain jolted his knee out from under him and he again fell on his face. He rolled onto his back, cupping his right leg into his hands. He had no respite however, for the toe of Bastraglon caught him dead center in his injured hip.

"AAAAAAuuuugggg," Guillermo screamed, rolling again onto his stomach.

He gripped the floor out in front of him and started to pull himself forward. Bastraglon looked on with sordid amusement while Guillermo tried desperately to claw away from him. He slowly stepped along as Guillermo crawled, in a vain attempt to find a way out of this torture.

"You are like a bug down there, scurrying about as if to prevent yourself from being stepped on. Well…" Bastraglon stomped on the back of Guillermo’s right heel, "I’m afraid you have no choice but to be squished."

Guillermo squirmed to reach out for his ankle, but found the sage had not taken his foot off of Guillermo’s heel. He just stood there, smile on his face, taking pleasure in the fact that Guillermo had no choice but to lie there and take whatever punishment he was going to deal out next. Guillermo turned to stare out towards the dirt in front of him again. He didn’t want to look at the ugly old man’s toothy grin. He just wanted to find some way to get the hell out of there.

That’s when he noticed that his flintlock lay only an arm’s length from where he now was pinned. He didn’t give it much of a second thought. As quickly as he could, he reached out over his head, snatched the weapon up into his hands, turned onto his bad side instinctively to aim it up at Bastraglon and fired.

He missed.

But the shot had caused Bastraglon to slightly dodge and so his ankle was free of him at the nuance. Guillermo rolled into a sitting position and then aimed the weapon at Bastraglon again. Bastraglon stood completely still as Guillermo finally found the strength to again stand on his own two feet.

"I must say, I am rather impressed," Bastraglon spoke.

"What?!" Guillermo couldn’t believe he heard what he thought he heard.

"Any normal person would have been begging to die about now. But you… you don’t quit," Bastraglon stated. "That’s good".

He had ended that sentence with another one of his sinister smiles. It told Guillermo the old man was once again ready to play serious. Guillermo readied his flintlock, aiming it at the shadowy figure. But the old man just stood upright and solid as if daring anything from human to nature to make him move. Guillermo’s head was still swimming and his stomach began to feel queasy. His injured side had begun to heal, but it ached terribly. His nose throbbed and his teeth rattled. His knees complained as if wanting to buckle and his arms felt like jelly. It even hurt to blink. He again felt the nauseous need to succumb to the pain, that it would be an incredible feeling just to become unconscious. But he had to keep going. Something inside him just wanted to keep fighting.

It was then that Bastraglon raised his staff and threw out a bolt of lighting towards him. He jumped as the lightning slammed onto the concrete making a rather sizable hole. Guillermo fired his weapon again, missing his agile opponent. When he landed, his stomach lurched even more. He paused to hear Bastraglon laughing at him.

"What are… you… laughing… about…" he growled.

"You… you are so very foolish," Bastraglon laughed.

"Why?" Guillermo fumed.

"I’ve not only attacked your body on the outside… but on the inside as well. You are feeling rather groggy… lightheaded… nauseated… am I right?" Bastraglon gleamed.

"So?! Isn’t that natural after being beaten to a pulp?" Guillermo said through grinding teeth.

"And you tell me my theory is correct… another bright move, m’boy," Bastraglon sighed. "You are certainly not a very smart one. Let me ask… what are we doing as of this moment?"

"Well… it looks like you’re beating the living hell out of me," Guillermo answered.

"This is true. That is because you have been allowing me every opportunity," Bastraglon explained. "You have even allowed me to poison your mind and your body. If I had been serious, you would have been dead a long time ago."

"What?! What are…" Guillermo stuttered.

"This is a battle, boy. I am your opponent. I will try to kill you by any means necessary. In a battle, your opponent is not your friend. In a battle, you do not exchange gifts. In a battle, you do not drink the enemy’s water…" Bastraglon hinted, "and in a battle, you certainly don’t tell your opponent anything they might take advantage of. In other words… In battle, you only rely on yourself."

"That….that’s not how…" Guillermo thought back to his days in the army.

"Quit daydreaming, boy!! We haven’t finished yet!!" Bastraglon yelled.

Guillermo looked up to see that Bastraglon had already cast a fireball towards his direction. He had no time to move. In that instant Guillermo felt the skin on his body sizzle in the extreme blast. He found himself being knocked off his feet, his flintlock again flying from his grasp and through the air. He landed with a sickening thud and then felt his skin roar in pain. His breath became thick.

"My…. Char-broiled soldier. Such… such a mess…" Bastraglon sighed.

*****

The group had found that the area was growing colder and the ground rockier by the day, yet they still pressed on. There was still quite a bit of foliage about their path, but every day the mountains grew closer and closer on the horizon. Arc and Cay had grown used to the wilderness and were now able to keep stride with the two monster hunters. But they were still a bit wary about them and so each did their best to keep an eye out. Arc had a funny feeling that these two could easily turn on them and rob them blind as much as protect them on the roads. To him, he felt as though he had left himself and Cay to their mercy.

"These mountains are going to be difficult to cross," Elise spoke out loud.

"Then why’d you come?" Arc glared.

He wasn’t all that happy about their company. He had pressing issues… namely finding Guillermo. He didn’t want any more people involved in this business, even if they were experienced fighters.

"Arc... don’t be so mean," Cay apologized.

Elise gave Arc a cold stare and then turned her back to him.

Adam spoke next. "She’s right, you know… mountain paths are quite steep and perilous. Are you sure this is the way you two want to go?"

"Yes!! I am sure!!" Arc yelled, repeating himself for the hundredth time, or so he would have claimed.

Elise stopped her pace and then whirled about to face the ignorant soldier. She looked ready to say something but then apparently changed her mind. Arc, however, glared her straight in the eye, pushing Elise one step too far.

"What?! Don’t look at me that way," he said.

"That’s it… that is it. I am tired of your whining. I am tired of your complaining. To put it simply, I’m tired of you." Elise’s face turned red.

"Elise…" Adam quietly warned.

"Well, if you’re so tired of me, why the hell don’t you just leave?! I’m sure there are other roads to choose from," Arc argued.

"And all of them are laced with monsters and thieves. I’m sure your girlfriend here would think very highly of your stupidity when she’s being mauled by a monster," Elise shot back.

"Hey! I am not his girlfriend," Cay exclaimed.

"And besides which… what do you know?! We’ve been traveling all these days and I have yet to see any real monsters!" Arc said.

Elise was quick on the return, "Yeah… well… that’s because you’re too stupid to notice. Adam here killed one just yesterday, and earlier this morning I had a bit of exercise as well. If you two had been traveling this road without us you would have been dead by now."

Arc opened his mouth to argue something back but paused when he caught the full meaning of what Elise had just said. Cay tilted her head to gaze at both Elise and Arc, and then asked the question Arc meant to ask.

"Hum…when did that happen? I don’t remember," Cay said.

Adam explained that it had happened when he had decided to let them go a ways ahead of him yesterday. He had thought it would have been in everybody’s best interest if they had been none the wiser about any monster that had been hunting them down. Elise had just happened on another by accident.

"Yeah… so you still want us to go our separate ways?" Elise crossed her arms.

"Somehow, I still think we’re being screwed. This isn’t going to be some deal where we owe you a certain amount of money per monster head you chop off, is it?" Arc mumbled.

Elise again pouted, "Look here, lug nut. We’re monster hunters, not con artists. The deal is you get to your destination and we help you out. Right?"

Arc felt the crimson flush of defeat cross over his face.

"Right," he said.

Just then a rustle of the bushes and a jostling of sticks and rocks on the ground made Arc instinctively reach for the rifle he had been carrying across his belt. He had had no room on his back as he had been carrying the group’s things in a sack on his back. He spun around and pointed his rifle at the noise.

He was shocked when a huge black lizard with four hind legs, and two small arms leaped out onto the path. Its neck extended outwards and then curved vertically up and was about half the length of its body. Instead of a mouth it had a bill but inside its bill, they could see it had very sharp teeth. Its tail was straight, bony and was just as long as its neck. But it wasn’t the lizard that made both Arc and Cay gasp. It was the man riding the lizard.

He wore brown baggy clothes and he smelled like freshly dug ground. His skin was blackened and his hair was a wave of midnight strands. On his head rested a small bandana and his cheeks each sported two white lines across them. He spied the party and then with a quick fluid movement, slid off the lizard. The mount stood perfectly still as the man approached the four.

Arc still had his gun aimed at the man, unsure of his intentions.

"Jun? Puntz… kela bab o la," the man spoke in a deep rich voice in a language unknown to Arc..

"Arc… put your weapon away," Elise commanded.

"What?!" Arc turned his head back towards Elise.

But she had already walked past him and to Arc’s astonishment spoke in the man’s language, giving him a hug. Adam too had walked past and was now shaking hands with the man. They were all speaking in a language neither Cay nor Arc could understand.

"Oh… nupa de je. They don’t speak your tongue," Elise gestured towards Arc and Cay.

The man spied the two and then stepped over, his lizard following him a bit. Cay eyed the massive lizard while the man reached out to shake Arc’s hand.

"Foh give me. I dunt speeek dees langweeg veery weel. I suhrry I guve yuu such a scare," the man apologized.

Cay stared at the large lizard as the animal turned and lowered his head towards her. She gasped, making the man step towards her with a laugh.

"Dunt wuhrry. He dunt bite. He us a Bockorax. They us… very fuhrendlee," the man smiled as he spoke a very broken version of their own language.

Cay shrugged at him and the reached out her fingers while saying, "Oh… alright."

She patted the Bockorax on the head as Elise and Adam walked up behind the man.

"This is Tumuro. He is one of the farmers that live around here," Elise explained, "and fortunately for us, a good friend of ours. We’re going to go to his farm."

"Huh?! Why?" Arc asked at the sudden change of plans.

Adam informed them that Tumuro had offered them a place to stay for the night and also, because they were friends, had offered them the use of some of the Bockorax he had kept in his stables.

"I mean… don’t you want to sleep in a warm soft bed for once?" Elise asked, "because I sure as hell do."

"Well… I could definitely agree to that," Cay answered.

"Uhhh…" Arc nodded, shifting the backpack that was on his back, "Yeah… for once I agree with you, Elise."

Tumuro commanded his lizard to bow down so that he could place his foot over the mount, and then with another command was lifted up into the air. They all followed the mysterious man and his even more curious steed.

*****

Cay walked outside of the house to find Adam sitting on the ground. He had taken out a book and was scrawling onto the pages. The farm they had traveled to was not very far off the main path and had not taken them very long to reach. It was a very wide open place. The house they were staying at was a three story stone house, with a long wooden roof and multiple windows. The house inside was humongous… great for accommodating multiple guests. The foyer led to a small kitchen and dining hall from the right, and the left door led to a den, where many could lounge and talk. Stairs also led up from the center of the foyer, and the upstairs led to many bedrooms and a bathroom for each floor. The house was occupied by a woman whom Cay led herself to believe was Tumuro’s wife. She was a plump woman, with the same darkened skin as Tumuro, and she carried the smell of freshly-made pancakes about her. She wore an apron, often dirty from cooking and cleaning and was often seen about the house doing various chores. The other people there were Tumuro’s sons. One was quite young, about the age of ten and he was seen often milling about the house with his mother or hanging out in the pastures with his older brother. His brother was a very tall teenager, and he seemed to be the busiest of them all. He was seen about the farm doing various things such as feeding the Bockorax that wandered around in the huge pen that covered most of the farm. A field that Cay imagined grew many strange things lay in front of the house and on the other side was another building, a huge red stable in which the Bockorax were penned up for the night.

"Adam, have you seen Arc?"

"No," Adam simply answered.

Cay noticed that Adam was a very silent fellow. He never really talked much so they didn’t know much about him. Elise on the other hand talked too much, but she was no help either when they asked about them personally.

Cay looked over Adam’s shoulder and saw that he was actually drawing a very detailed sketch of the dog they had seen so many days ago. The ink on the sketch looked very fresh and she was amazed at how well he had drawn the Killermutt.

"Wow… that’s very good," Cay commented.

"Oh… this? Yeah…" Adam stopped what he was doing to look into Cay’s bright, insightful eyes.

She sat down next to his right side to get a better view of his drawing. She also noticed several more drawings on the next page. One sketch was of a giant four winged bird and another was a snake with three spiked tails. They were all very graphical and realistic.

"Did you draw all of these?" Cay quizzed.

"Yes I did," Adam smiled at her, "I like to draw when I have the time."

"Well, it’s very good. I for one am impressed," she complimented him.

"Thank you," Adam said in a rather weak voice.

Cay looked at the book again. Underneath the drawings were some writings. It seemed to be the creature’s name along with detailed explanations about the monster. Cay asked if she could look through the rest of the book, and Adam, pleased with the fact that someone had actually taken an interest in his drawings, gratefully handed her the book.

"These are really good," Cay commented, flipping through the pages.

There were wolf-like creatures, winged lizards, shelled crustaceans, things with multiple horns and many with huge, sharp teeth.

"It’s hard to believe… did you actually fight all these monsters?" Cay asked.

"Yeah… it’s a pretty dangerous job. Monsters are unpredictable, but they are not intelligent. I don’t know why people never fight them instead of running away. Sure, they‘re scary, but if we had decided to stand up to these creatures, our cities might still be here," Adam speculated.

Cay pondered aloud, "But they’re said to be everywhere. And unending. How can people fight them when they just keep coming back for more?"

"They just do. It’s better then running and waiting for them to attack," Adam said, "I mean… look what happened to Jaegar. Had the government there been more responsible towards the people and the city and less focused on their own agendas, that city would never have fallen. They would have known about the Kronals long before they had dug enough to get toward the city. If they had known…they could have fought."

"I hear Jaegar was bad. But weren’t they attacked by monsters who could burrow underground?" Cay was full of questions.

"Here… turn over to here…" Adam said as he flipped the pages in the book.

The page rested on an illustration of a Kronal and a description about it. The description read that Kronals were burrowers and were very deadly because they could sense their prey even while several feet below the surface. But Kronals were noisy diggers and also caused vibrations whenever they moved underneath. They also usually charged straight upwards… so attacking them was relatively painless if you waited for them to jump out enough to stab them in their soft throats.

"If the army had done that, those monsters wouldn’t have even had the chance to do anything," Adam shrugged, "Instead…"

Adam looked away as if he had suddenly remembered a painful memory. He shook his head of it while Cay looked out upon the farm.

"What about these people? Surely they are wide open to monster attacks," Cay wondered.

Adam pointed out that Tumuro was also a very skilled person when it came to his encounters with monsters.

"He’s teaching his sons, and they are becoming quite skilled. Perhaps one day they might even reach our caliber," he softly joked.

Cay gave him a weak smile. She wondered about why monsters were so abundant in the world today. Were Adam and Elise right about fighting monsters? Was this a better way? She again skimmed the book until she caught sight of one entry that made her gasp. Adam peered at her, so she flipped to another page. But as soon as he looked away she flipped back.

The sketch wasn’t all that pretty… In fact, it looked sloppy and forced. It was a drawing of a man, with evil eyes, a long nose and spiked up hair. It was a child’s drawing of some imaginary monster or ghoul, but underneath the picture was a description.

"Dobbel”

’The worst monster ever. He took our happiness. He kills what you love. So now….I’ll kill him.’

A sudden sadness rushed over Cay as she slammed the book closed.

*****

Arc had been walking by the stables when he heard a faint stringing of sound. He had wanted to check out the lizards a bit more closely, and so had come to the stables to see if he could find Tumuro or his sons and ask about them. But the faint music had instantly made him want to forget about his intentions. He stood among the cold, whispering air to listen to the soft sounds. The melody he heard was soft and slow… an old tune that he thought he had heard very long ago. He looked around, determined to find the source of the music. He plodded around the outside of the stables first, thinking the sound was coming from them. He knew he was right, but nobody was outside. So he went inside the stables.

The place was dark and musty. Many of the Bockorax were silently eating grass and whatever oats were left inside their huge feeding pails. Arc looked around for the musician, spying at last a place where he could climb up. The ladder on the wall was sturdy and Arc had no problem climbing it. He grabbed onto the rungs and hoisted himself up until he found himself in a loft. There was nobody inside, but a window to the place lead out to a rooftop. Arc trudged through the hay, getting some of the sticky grass into his shoes. He shook it out and finally paused to look out of the window. The music was definitely closer and so he discerned someone had gone out through it. He placed his leg over the threshold and climbed out. He stood on the roof and then turned around to find the musician.

Sitting on the very top of the angled roof was Elise. Her eyes were closed and her expression was soft as she rested her chin on a violin. She held it with her left hand, strumming out the notes with the stick in her right. The sunset behind her illuminated her outlines and trailed around her softly and smoothly. Her hair seemed even redder and Arc choked a bit when he realized how beautiful she looked there.

Elise reminded him very much of Avery… the woman he had thought he loved and had lost not so long ago. He couldn’t help thinking about her now as he watched Elise’s movements and wondered how long it would be before he fully got over the pain of losing her.

"Avery…" he mumbled.

It was enough, however to make Elise notice his presence. She stopped playing and gazed down at Arc, who immediately wore an apologetic look on his face.

"I’m sorry," he said, placing his hands up, "please keep going. It’s beautiful."

Elise gave him a look and then placed the violin on her lap. She looked down on it and seemed to Arc as if she was about to cry. It wasn’t quite the reaction he had expected from her.

"You… you really think it’s beautiful?" she whispered.

"Yeah," Arc answered, carefully stepping up towards her to prevent himself from falling off the roof, "I wish you hadn’t stopped. Where did you learn to play like that?"

"My… mother…" Elise exhaled softly, "she taught me… so long ago. But… I’ll never be as good as her."

"I’m sure you are," Arc smiled, taking a seat next to Elise, "Your parents, they must be proud of you for doing the things you do."

"My parents are dead," Elise said, and closed her eyes.

"Oh… Oh." Arc placed his hand over his mouth, "I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to… you know."

"I know. It’s OK. You didn’t know, right?" Elise smiled at him.

"So, you have no family? That must be tough," Arc inquired.

Elise shook her head. "I have a younger brother. But that’s all."

"Oh? Where is he now?" Arc asked.

"I… I don’t know." Elise avoided his gaze.

Arc sat there in uncomfortable silence. But he was not one to let things get depressive. He had come up here for a reason: to hear someone play.

"Y’know… back in my days as a sailor on the airships, I used to play the bugle a bit. I’m sure I could learn to play that tune if you taught me. Then we could play a duet sometime," Arc offered.

Elise looked up at him and then gave him a soft smile. He got the impression that she didn’t share her music with many people, if at all. But, as Arc always said, ‘A kind word makes a fine bird sing,’ and it held even for this girl.

"Do you… want to hear more?" Elise said.

"I do," Arc nodded.

He sat back and listened to her music and pondered the path ahead. His life was changing, but he didn’t know where it was going, or the whys. But at least he could enjoy this brief respite.

"Arc… thank you," Elise whispered after several minutes of playing a more uplifting tune. Arc didn’t know what specifically he had done to garner thanks, but it didn’t matter. She had opened up and let down the walls for a few brief moments, and that was enough.

They both sat there until the stars rose up into the sky.

*****

Guillermo awoke to the immeasurable pain of his skin. It burned with the slightest movement. He groaned as he sat up to spy his surroundings. Bastraglon had once again taken a seat across the arena. He was glaring at Guillermo, a wide toothy smile on his face.

"My my… finally awake are you?" Bastraglon spoke.

Guillermo’s body fiercely complained as he stretched his neck to spy on the old man. He couldn’t believe how much pain he was in. He felt as if he was going to die. He wondered why he hadn't already.

"This is pathetic," Bastraglon stated, "You don’t know how much I’ve had to hold back, what with you falling asleep in the middle of this brouhaha and all. I’ve half a mind to toss you out and never look upon your face again."

"Then why don’t you?!" Guillermo growled through a pain-filled mouth.

Bastraglon only laughed. But then he stood up, clutching the spear in his hand.

"Well you have only been out for two hours. I must say, this second day has gone by pretty slow. I hope you are ready for more." He cackled.

"What?!" Guillermo couldn’t believe it.

"Oh yes… and just so you know, I won’t be going easy on you tomorrow. If you pass out… you don’t wake up," Bastraglon warned.

The old man leapt towards the battered Guillermo, bringing his staff onto every part of Guillermo’s body. Guillermo’s agonizing screams rang out and echoed along the temple walls as he lacked the strength to defend himself.

[Big Rick Cook]

The final addition of Chapter 6, by me. The story perspective splits at the end of this addition, and we focus on not just Guillermo, Malachai, and the searchers, but upon 1) Guillermo, 2) Malachai, 3) Adam and Cay, and 4) Arc and Elise.

Arc resolves to be a better fighter, Adam and Elise drop the barrier of lies, Malachai begins his search, and Guillermo finally finishes the battle with Bastraglon. I believe this was the addition that I had in place a comment about Adam and Elise finding their father, which I changed to finding their father's murderer or something.

At this point, the additions were becoming longer. Pretty soon, there will not be additions that don't fit at least seven pages, up to... twenty-five pages so far

_____

61st Post – BRC 08

*BRC8* - *sixty-one*

Arc looked impatient the next morning. "I think we need to get going soon. The more we waste time like this, the further off Guillermo will be. All we know is that they went this way; we don't know where this way they were going."

Tumuro looked up in annoyance from his chores in the stables. It was just past dawn, and everyone but Acacia had stirred and eaten breakfast already. Adam and Elise were nowhere to be found - Arc guessed they were probably scouting the paths on the day’s journey, looking for monster tracks or whatever. Tumuro's sons could be heard outside the stables doing random grunt work. His wife had already packed them some extra supplies and loaded them onto the five Bockorax…

Wait, did I see five? Arc counted again, and sure enough there were five lizards all packed up and ready for travel. "Hold up, why did your wife prepare a fifth Bockorax?"

"Ees eezy, I ahm to be yuur... how yuu say... uhmm..." Tumuro was right when he said he didn't know the language very well.

Arc interjected, "Guide. You're going to lead us somewhere? Where could you possibly lead us?"

"Only one place yuur fuhrend culd go dis fah ouut. Solis du Teplo."

*****

"Let's get back to Tumuro's; there are no monsters out here at all. They've all gone back to sleep." Elise and Adam stood in a rather large clearing not one mile from Tumuro's home. Towering evergreens nearly blocked out what little sun was shining, and all that could be seen was the freshly-lain snow on the forest floor.

Adam noticed a slight misty fog hovering above the line of trees. "Curious, why would fog be that high up with no rivers around to feed it?"

"Who cares, can we go? We need to check on the others anyway." Elise didn't wait for an answer before starting back. Adam sighed, and trudged behind her.

They walked in silence for a few moments before Adam began speaking. "I showed my drawings to Cay last night."

Elise was disinterested. "Good for her..."

"She saw the picture of Dobbel." Elise stopped dead in her tracks, so much so that Adam bumped into her and nearly knocked her down. "She didn't recognize him or his name, though, so I don't think it will jeopardize our position."

Elise erupted in a tirade. "OH, it won't, WILL it? YOU LISTEN HERE, we have to be shrouded in secrecy and lies if we're to keep this charade going. As far as they know, you and I are a couple, and there's no reason for them to believe otherwise. Stop sharing with them and we'll be alright!" Adam felt about the size of a small child; he didn't really think about how it could have effected them if Arc and Cay knew too much.

Elise started walking again, ashamed of what she had just done. You hypocrite, she scolded herself. [/i]You gave away more than Adam, and you're just reflecting your own faults on him.[/i] She turned to Adam and whispered, "I'm sorry for yelling. Let's just keep going."

Adam walked up to her side and put his arm around her back, and they walked in silence the rest of the way.

*****

"Captain Malachai, it is time to depart. We should get back to The Inspiration, don't you think?" Cale was ready to start, and Malachai could see him just itching to go do something. Anteron was already in a huge hustle and bustle, even for this early in the day. The morning sky greeted them with no clouds and a slight purple and pink haze from where the sun had not fully risen yet. People were going this way and that, all having their own agendas no matter how pertinent or useless they may have been. Malachai scoffed at this busy city life, stood up from his seat, and sauntered towards the docks.

"Listen here, Ulger. I may have been a little edgy when we met, and I didn't really mean to go all erratic on you, but you've gotta learn your place, boy. Now then, y--"

"Don't call me boy." Cale interrupted him without a second thought. Malachai glared at him as if he signed his own death sentence, then continued walking.

"I'll call you whatever the hell I want. Until you learn your place, and earn my respect, you're just a liability to me on this mission. I don't know why they even assigned you, or why they made you my number one. The sooner we accomplish this, the better."

In all of Malachai's arrogance, Cale found it humorous that he could overlook his position as a spy. He thought to himself, This man doesn't deserve a second chance, let alone to be a Captain. "So, my gracious Captain, what do you propose we do about this Guillermo?"

Malachai couldn't think of anything better to do than Cale's plan, and damned him for outsmarting him. "We're going with your idea, but don't be getting ****y, you understand me?"

"Sir, yes, Sir!" Cale was mocking him at every turn, performing the military stance in a goofy manner. I could get into this military thing…

*****

Awakened by a loud gunshot, Acacia jumped out of bed and for a split-second, forgot where she was. She looked around at the rather plain room she and Elise had shared the night before, and immediately feared the worst. Monsters are attacking! I have to check on everyone. She grabbed her coat, quickly ran down the stairs and out the door to see Arc firing at a small but evasive creature near the wood line. "Ah, geez, Arc! WARN PEOPLE BEFORE YOU START FIRING AT HARMLESS ANIMALS!"

"Harmless? I don't know if you realized this, but that's a damned tunitac, one of the most poisonous wood-creatures in existence, and it's also faster than us." He reloaded his rifle, repositioned it, took a step forward, and fired one more time, hitting it dead center in the forehead. In the air, the tunitac dropped to the ground and rolled a few feet before slumping down, dark red blood trickling out onto the snow. "It's also good target practice. I'm tired of Adam and Elise showing me up, so I'm going to show them I'm capable of monster-hunting as well."

"Oh, whatever. Just don't get yourself killed if you think you can take something you can't, ok?" Acacia went back upstairs and gathered her things, cleaned up a bit and tied her hair back. After making her way outside again, Adam and Elise had come back and were talking to Arc.

Acacia interrupted the conversation. "Hey guys, are we about ready to go?"

Elise looked over to her and said, "Arc was just telling us Tumuro's plan, and then we were going to set off, I think."

"That's right,” Arc continued. “Now, as I was saying, Tumuro is going to be our guide to this place about forty-five miles away. He called it Solis du Teplo, but he didn't know the translation for it. All he could tell me about it was that it seems abandoned whenever he rides close by, but it's the only possible location for Guillermo this far up in the mountains."

"Solis du Teplo?" Adam seemed to recognize the name. "It roughly means 'The Road of Life,' and was rumored to be the site of many things over the centuries, from ritualistic suicides to abductions to anything you could name. There's no telling what actually went on there. I've only heard the stories, but I never imagined such a place existed." Elise sort of shuddered, apparently at the thought of the rumors. "Tumuro seems to know where it is, so he's probably seen it. We’d better hurry; it’s gonna take us all day to get there as it is."

"Then it's settled? We ride to Solis du Teplo. Creepy," said Acacia. She showed no outward signs of apprehension or fear, trying to look strong to the group, but she wanted to scream at the description Adam had just told.

"Well then, let's be off,” said Arc.

The five riders said their goodbyes to Tumuro's family, and went about their way, to Solis du Teplo. Everyone rode in sullen silence as each person seemed to focus on an inner monologue, benign to the presences of their fellow riders and of everything around them. Acacia wondered what could be fleeting through the minds of Adam and Elise, who she knew next to nothing about, and figured that Arc was considering many of her own thoughts. She set her sights on finding Guillermo; what happened to him, why did he leave without saying anything, and would he rejoin them upon actually finding him?

*****

"My dear boy, you've still got half a day left. How do you expect to win in a fight when you can't even dodge my attacks?" Bastraglon by now was just toying with his plaything. Guillermo knew it was getting too dangerous for him to survive as is. His whole body ached, despite the lack of injury, scars and bruises alike. His clothes were tattered and torn, blood-soaked and dried on every aspect of his body; no one would realize he was actually alive if they were to see him.

"I'm tired of your games, old man. Nothing you do has stuck, nothing you've done affected me for more than a couple minutes, and nothing you can do will kill me." He wasn't sure what he was doing, but Guillermo needed a new angle if he was to live through the battle. "You may have torn my clothes, crushed my spirit and my mind. But you cannot destroy my body, and you cannot disintegrate my will to live. As long as I have those, you cannot win!"

"How dare you mock me! If not for my mercy these past two days, you'd be dead and all this pain would be over! HOW CAN YOU NOW FIGHT DEATH WHEN YOU KNOW YOU HAVE NO CHANCE TO LIVE?!" Bastraglon's fury grew to a depth Guillermo had not yet seen. His staff started glowing a fiery dark red, and his eyes grew a blood red glow. Guillermo, knowing he was about to get pummeled with fireballs or something worse, instinctively got to his feet, and off of nothing more than pure adrenaline, he bolted for his flintlock, fiery spheres of molten rock hot on his heels.

Bastraglon saw he was going for the flintlock once again, and bellowed out in an omnipresent voice: "When will you learn your firearm is no use against our kind?!"

Nevertheless, Guillermo jumped into a rolling dive and grabbed his flintlock while on the ground, and immediately got up and started running again, firing aimlessly at the seemingly invincible force in front of him. Bastraglon's fury only grew more as he dodged or deflected time and time again this useless weapon's projectiles.

An idea formed in Guillermo's mind: Surely his force field is weakened after this show of power, I must find a way to stop him! He eyed his saber lying on the ground on the other side of the room, and as quickly as he could ran towards it, reloading his flintlock on the way.

Upon reaching his saber, he did nothing more than stop above it. To dodge the fireball, he waited for the instant before it reached him, slid out of the way, and dropped to the ground. On the way down, he fired his flintlock again, of course missing. Dropping his gun, he reached for his saber, throwing it as hard as he could towards the menacing creature in front of him. Grabbing his flintlock for the last time, he got to his feet, and aimed up towards Bastraglon, who was evading his saber.

Guillermo raced towards the figure, and leapt towards him to take one final shot. He could hear the sound of glass shattering as one last fireball erupted from the staff, making contact with Guillermo inches away from Bastraglon. The fireball exploded in a rain of rock and fire, knocking both of them back against opposite walls. The last thing Guillermo remembered was the sound of blood trickling down his head, dripping onto the concrete floor, and Bastraglon saying, "Good boy." Darkness surrounded him and the battle was over.

*****

The snow had picked up since leaving the protection of the temple, and Sasha could feel it even under her clothes. She wondered why she didn't just fly the airship up to begin with, and let those boys walk the trip. This is miserable, I should never have left. Her thoughts wandered to the fallen snow.

"Hmph, how fitting I should be alone in this place. I've not thought of my husband for so long, what could bring him up now?" Her mind raced with the memories of her life before Aleksi. Visions of her husband, Stefan, plagued her every thought. Walks in the park, sweet words shared between them, sleeping with him. "I should have killed him long ago."

She didn't have long to embellish in these thoughts when to her right she heard some familiar voices.

*****

"Elise, I forgot to ask you, but why exactly were you fighting that girl in the mess hall of The Inspiration?" It had occurred to Arc that the girl she was fighting was the same girl that stole away with Guillermo so many nights ago.

Elise covered up her shocked expression by hashing out the same old story. "You remember, don't you? I thought she was hitting on my Adam. I guess I'm just a little over-protective."

"But, this girl is the one that took Guillermo. Surely you're not still after her for trying to sleep with your boyfriend. What's really going on?

Adam sighed. "I think it's time we tell them, Elise. It's too suspicious otherwise.

"You're right, Adam, as usual." Elise slowed down her Bockorax to get off. "Let's set up camp here for a little while and we'll fill you in... Wait!" She stopped moving and peered around for a second. "There's... something else out here." She walked forward while Adam jumped down off his Bockorax to follow.

Out from behind a bush stepped Sasha, scythe drawn. "Well, well, well. I suppose I underestimated you guys. Whatever are you doing way out here?"

"I'd like to ask you the same question!" Arc drew his rifle and aimed it at her. "Where's your friend and what have you done with Guillermo?!"

"And where is Dobbel?" Adam didn't bother to hide anything anymore.

"Dobbel?" Arc was confused. "How do you know Dobbel?"

Tumuro just stood there, unsure of what to do or what was even happening.

"They want to kill this Dobbel. I saw it in his drawings," Acacia said, joining the conversation.

Elise stopped Acacia from talking before she could speak again. "Don't say anything else, you have no idea what's going on."

Sasha interjected. "None of you have any idea what's going on, and as much as I'd like to stay and chat - and I do - I must be going, so I bid you farewell." She turned and disappeared into the forest.

"Hurry, we must follow her!" Elise jumped on her lizard and started off in her direction. "Come on! We can catch her!"

"Ok, Elise, you and Arc follow her and try to capture her. Cay, Tumuro and I will continue on to this Solis du Teplo and try to find answers there. Meet back at Tumuro's tomorrow morning!" They rode off North to the ‘Road of Life’ where Acacia hoped to find Guillermo, and Elise and Arc rode off South towards Baines to catch up with Sasha, in hopes of gaining a lead on Dobbel.

End Chapter 6

[Big Rick Cook]

Ryu's 8th addition, and by this time, Ryu was the leader in total words written by a long shot. Over 10,000 words was his lead over the likes of myself, Mora, and Omni, though Omni will catch up for a brief moment in the coming additions.

Several groups converge on Solis du Teplo and the reappearance of two characters shakes this addition up. There was a spot in one of Omni's other additions that I completely edited out to remove two characters' 'I'm still here' scenes. One of them was Seek, who makes a small re-debut in this addition. Originally, Ryu had a small snippet about Seek written prior to where he first shows up in this addition, but I removed it for scene coh