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<Clu> no nsfcd is basically a ghost town, it should be killed behind fences

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100 Questions

Started by Dog Food, December 13, 2010, 09:19:40 PM

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Dog Food

Here you are... the prize. Honestly, I had no idea where the intercourse  I was going with this. But I think I managed to pull a somewhat coherent story together... Although I'm not completely sure, as I don't really have time to proofread it.

And the other part of the prize is hidden somewhere within those 12031 words. And by hidden, I mean it will stay hidden. So if you manage to find it, don't go shouting its whereabouts around, no one likes cheaters in hide n seek. Anyway, enjoy.

[spoiler]"Listen closely laddies, for a most chilling tale.
One of epic proportions where the good guy's prevail.
Laughter and tears await with baited breath
For this story will not chivy away from death.

"Perhaps my gloomy eyes do deceive,
But this story does begin late on Christmas Eve.
With the chilly air biting at our heroes' feet,
Alas, that is one weary element that can not be beat.

"But I digress, for the story has yet to start.
Yet let me remind you this is not for the faint of heart.
An epic is an epic as epically as can be.
And here it is, the greatest story you ever will see."

The old man fell into a coughing fit, then closed the book he was reading. Dust filled the air, only increasing his sputtering. When he had collected himself, he gave the children sitting around him a toothy grin and leaned forward in his small wooden chair. He had a round, eager face with water eyes and a crooked nose. His hair was long and white, balding on the top, and his clothes were ragged and torn.

"Eh?" he said, staring at each child's face. They looked unperturbed back, obviously waiting for the rest of the story. "How'd you like it?"

One of the children, a particularly chubby boy with dark brown hair and beady gray eyes, looked back at the old man with a look of utter bewilderment.

"What are you talking about?" he said rather bossily. "You haven't even started the story yet!"

There were murmurs of agreement, and the old man looked taken aback, obviously not expecting this ungrateful response.

"Weren't you listening, boy?" he said sharply, red flushing his pale complexion. "I was jus' reading-"

But whatever the old man had to say, the children never found out. Because at that moment, the merry music playing in the background stopped, the voices of men heartily drinking faded, and the doors to the small pub burst open. And in marched... a very strange group of people, indeed.

It was led by a short and skinny girl. She was grinning from ear to ear, a look that was strangely similar to that of the Cheshire Cat. Her dark brown hair was tied back into a ponytail and she was surveying the crowd with golden brown eyes lit with interest. Although she didn't look a day over eighteen, the dense silence remained long after her raucous entrance.

Following her was a tall and strapping young man, wearing a cocky grin. He brushed the messy blonde hair (freckled with black and brown roots) out of his gray eyes and locked onto his captain. He followed her smoothly to a table she had settled herself into towards the back of the bar, in a secluded, shady corner. As they settled down, murmurs began to break out and the music started again.

By the time a pair of bickering twins had walked in, people were surveying the group with only mild interest. And when the final crewmate entered, not a single person seemed to notice.

The captain was leaning back in her chair, her feet, covered in muddy black boots, resting crisscrossed on the table. When the rest of her crew had found seats, she surveyed them each individually. Her first mate, then the twins (who had quieted down and were now blatantly ignoring each other), and finally her eyes rested on the small, tanned girl who couldn't have been over ten years old.

"Nice place, isn't it?" the captain said airily, with a lazy wave of her hand around the dank bar. "Quaint," she added as an afterthought.

"Loud enough," said the first mate, nodding along. "Kind of smells funny, though."

"Yeah," said the twin sitting next to the captain. She had short, light blue hair with eyes, eyebrows, fingernails and glittering lipstick to match it. Her eyebrows were lined with studs, along with her ears, and her small, flat nose had a studded nose ring in it. She looked to be in a foul mood. "Yeah, it stinks here."

"I like it," the other twin said immediately after his sister. It was hard to tell they were twins, since their bodies had both been tampered with so much. The boy had spiky green hair (with green eyebrows to match, like his sister's blue color) and was covered in tattoos - save his face, which was remarkably clean. "Smells better than what I have to sit next to," he added in an undertone so his sister wouldn't hear.

Everyone's eyes fell on the small girl, who widened her almond-shaped brown eyes, quickly looked down, and brushed straggly strands of bleached blonde hair out of her face. "I think..." But her soft voice couldn't carry across the table, and the twins (despite their differences) began yelling over to her. "What was that?" shouted the blue haired girl. "Speak up, Brownie!" shouted the green haired boy.

"Shuddup," said the captain, which was followed by silence. She turned toward the little girl. "Whaddaya think, Brownie?"

Unable to respond with all the eyes digging into her, she only squeaked and nodded shyly. The captain smiled and nodded as well.

"Well then," the captain said, as if Brownie's opinion settled the matter. She took her feet off the table and brushed her hands against one another. "I'm thirsty. What's on the menu, Dahre?"

Within an hour the group had drinks and a large plate of seafood at their table and were eating and drinking ravenously. Even Brownie was smiling and helping herself to extra servings of shrimp.

"Aw, Vance, look at the shrimp eating shrimp!" the blue haired girl cooed, tugging on her brother's elbow and pointing. He turned and looked and grinned at the little girl. The twins' feud forgotten amidst the holiday cheer.

"A carnivorous little beast!" he added affectionately. Brownie turned red at all the attention and buried her face into her hands. This led to more taunting and cooing from the twins.

The captain and her first mate, Dahre, weren't paying any attention to them. They had turned their chairs rather close to each other and were muttering in low voices.

"Next plan of attack?" Dahre asked.

"Tomorrow," the captain said, not missing a beat. She tore a mussel out of it's shell and slurped it up. "A direct attack. They won't be expecting it."

"On Christmas?" Dahre said, maybe a little louder than he meant it. The twins turned and looked at the pair, eyebrows raised.

"What's happening on Christmas?" Vance asked curiously.

"Christmas is happening on Christmas," the captain replied, as if this was obvious. "All that ink better not be affecting the blood to your brain, Vance."

His sister couldn't help but snort at this comment, and he flashed her an aggravated look.

"Now, now children," the captain said as if intervening between two first graders who were arguing about something tedious, like who's hair was more outrageous, "settle down."

The twins both turned on her, forgetting she was their captain for a moment, but they quickly stopped. Their captain wasn't looking at them anymore, she was staring about eight inches above their heads and much farther down the bar. She was grinning broadly, with a mischievous twinkle in her eye, and the twins exchanged excited looks.

"What do you see, Captain?" the blue haired twin asked quickly, in a hushed voice.

"Yeah, yeah, something good?"

The captain stood up on her chair and jumped onto the table, knocking over their mugs and plates in the process. A plate dropped and crashed, the noise resounding throughout the small pub.

"Emma-" Dahre began, but his voice echoed along the walls and lingered uncomfortably in the air, so he clamped his mouth shut. The music had stopped yet again, and everyone was staring at the girl named Emma standing high and mighty on the tabletop.

She was still grinning broadly.

And it was in this moment, as the dim chandelier over their table swung vicariously, casting Emma in and out of the shadows, that one could truly appreciate just how scary she was.

Although young and skinny, she looked strong. Her back was arched, her gloved hands in fists, and the light cast a menacing look about her otherwise pretty face. The Cheshire Grin crept back onto her mouth, making her appear inhuman in the dark room.

On the back of her gloves was a three inch wide hole, where the skin of her wrist could easily be seen. But in moments, those holes were gone. She crossed her hands in front of her, then threw them back in one swift motion. There was a disgusting noise that followed, something that sounded like a sword digging into skin... And when Emma raised her arms again, the watching crowd gasped.

Where the hole in her gloves used to be, long (about a foot long each), thick knife-like horns protruded out of her skin. Some blood speckled the dirty ground, but Emma did not show any signs of pain. She merely glanced at the crowd, the eerie smile seemingly plastered onto her face.

"A shame, isn't it?"

She jumped into the air, doing a graceful flip and landing on the balls of her feet. One hand flung out, scraping the nearest man across the chest with her horn coming out of her wrist. He fell back, knocking chairs and tables as he stumbled. People screamed and began running away from the reaches of Emma, but she took no notice. Her eyes bore into the man she had just attacked.

She advanced on him, eyes narrowed. The once dazzling golden brown color seemed more yellow and cat-like than ever before. He scrambled back, trying to get away. Emma slammed her arm down, catching the man's leg in her horn. There was a terrible crunching sound as it went through his bone, followed by his squeals of agony.

"P-Please," he stammered, tears rolling down his cheek. "Please..."

Dahre appeared next to Emma. He also wore a wide, inhuman grin. Although he didn't have razor sharp horns coming out from anywhere on his body. Instead, his gray eyes had turned a milky white and were glowing brightly.

At this second person, people began trampling past to get out of the pub. When the first few weren't stopped, the rest frantically followed suit.

"No, please!" screamed the man. "Don't leave me! Don't forget about me!" He trembled. He was all alone. He began to screech and wallow in agony at this realization. All alone...

"Pathetic," spat Emma, still smiling. She raised her other hand, her eyes darting along her target's body, searching for a clean area of attack. At this, the man became even more irritating.

"Allow me," Dahre said in a deeper voice than usual. He put a soothing hand on Emma's shoulder and she nodded, putting down her free hand. The man let out a deep sigh of relief, but his breath rattled unpleasantly.

Dahre stepped closer to the man, staring him down with his milky white eyes. At first, nothing happened. The man and Dahre just looked at each other. For anyone else, it would have been a very strange sight indeed. But in the next moment, the man gasped and shook, then became as rigid as a board, his eyes still following Dahre's. And then Dahre lifted a hand, inching closer and closer to the man. As he got closer, the man's eyes began to roll into the back of his head, leaving only the whites of his eyes to be seen.

With his eyes rolled back, his mouth gaping in horror and his body as stiff as a board... he looked dead. But as soon as Dahre's finger brushed lightly against the man's head, his entire body relaxed and he fell to the floor.

"What did you see?" Emma prompted, ignoring the limp body next to them.

"You were right," he said simply, his eyes returning to their normal gray and his Cheshire Grin was no longer stretched out to his ears, but was lessening to a normal smile, and soon became a small, regular smirk.

Emma's abnormally large grin began to fade as well and the horns protruding out of her wrist sank back into her skin. Soon, they both looked completely normal.

"What else is new?" Emma said with a shrug. "What'd you three find?" she added to her other crewmates, looking over her shoulder at them.

"We looted the place, nice and right!" Vance said happily. He was carrying three large, bulging brown bags, slung over one shoulder. "Aqua scored us some new jewels-"

"Shut up!" Aqua, the blue haired girl, said shrilly. But then she turned a shade of pink - which was a large contrast from her normally pale features.

"Oh sorry, did you want to keep all of that to yourself?" Vance asked in mock surprise. Aqua stared daggers at him.

"Brownie?" Emma turned to the little girl. Once again, Brownie withdrew at being addressed, but she gave a few curt nods that seemed to satisfy Emma. "Good! Then I think it's time we left this town." She turned to Vance and pointed at the lump on the ground.

"What's that?" Aqua asked curiously, leaning around Emma to have a look at the lifeless man shriveled on the ground.

"Dinner," Emma replied. "Vance, could you...?"

Vance seemed to understand. He grabbed the man and flung him over his bony shoulder - the free one.

"Is it... alive?" Aqua asked tentatively, shooting furtive glances at him.

Emma shrugged.

"I hope not."

The crew left the empty bar and walked along a small cobblestone road, leading them to the docks. It was dark, with the moon nearly full, casting a glow upon the ground. Aqua watched the moon with interest for a moment.

"Pretty, isn't it?" she said dreamily. They all shifted their eyes onto her. "Not quite full yet," she added hastily. "But it's quite beautiful even now..."

The crew seemed relieved by Aqua's response, and turned their attention back to the sea. A large wooden boat, rocking back to forth, was perched by the docks. It had a large mast, with a black flag flapping in the breeze. Stretching from corner to corner of the flag was a pearly white grin - the crew's symbol. Along the side of the boat, in gold, cursive letters, it read, "Cheshire".

"Ready?" Emma said, turning to each of them in turn. First Dahre, then Aqua, Vance, and finally her eyes rested on Brownie. Each on nodded on cue. And then quickly, one by one, in ascending order, they boarded the boat.

Emma was last. She took a moment to look at the small town she was leaving. They had only been there a few hours, but the food and drink had been delicious. And the place had been filled to the brim with gold. Of course, Brownie's sense of smell had never steered them wrong before. Emma grinned. She could hear the strumming of a banjo in the distance. A faint, familiar tune was rising in the cool air. Emma decided it was time to leave, and at last climbed aboard ship before it departed into the mist.

The tune only grew louder, and soon the old man with the white hair from the pub was strolling across the docks. He gave a toothy grin at the spot where the Cheshire had stood only moments before.

"And so the tale of the Cheshire Crew has begun.
The time for questions and answers is finally done.
Each one of the crew unique in his or her own way.
Each one of the crew waiting for his or her own day.
Because life as a Cheshire is terribly ill fated,
With all of their lives so shortly dated.

Who will fall and who will shine?
And who will God mark as divine?
The choice, you see, is utterly mine.
Alas, the decision is hard with them all being fine.

"So, who to pick and who to spare?
It all comes down to the final dare.
The ending, of course, I will not share.
But keep in mind that I'm not always fair."

The old man strummed the last chord, finished the song on a lingering, low note.

However, the music did not die. The wind seemed to carry it away and blew solemnly in the direction of the forgotten ship.

The old man smiled again. A twinkle in his ominous eye.

"Are we there yet?"

"No."

"Are we almost there?"

"We just got on the boat."

"So we're sort of close?"

"No."

"How about-"

"We aren't there yet and we won't be there for a long, long time!" Emma snapped, glaring at the latest twin who had dared to ask Emma a question about the trip. She had perched herself on a pair of wobbling boxes and had been wistfully watching the flowing sea below her before the onset of questions from Aqua and Vance had ruined her peace. Now, as she stared into the darkness, she noticed Vance was standing there, his eyebrows raised high on his face.

"I was just going to ask, how about a game of chess, since we have time to kill?" he said, giving her a small, innocent smile. When she still glared suspiciously at him, he pulled the chessboard out from behind him and waved it at her. "See?"

"Where'd you get that?" Emma asked, still a little harshly as her anger hadn't fully ebbed away. It was a glass, transparent case and she could see the white and blue glass chess pieces rolling around inside of it. The entire chessboard seemed to twinkle delightfully in the moonlight.

"Nicked it," Vance replied, shrugging. "It was in one of the bags. Figured I'd go through our findings, yeh know? Some pretty nice stuff. You're going to have trouble parting with a lot of it." He patted the chessboard knowingly as he said that, a small smile still playing on his lips.

Emma sighed.

"Okay, let's play some chess."

"Excellent!"

Just as the pair of them had finished setting up their pieces - Vance was white, Emma was blue - Dahre strolled past. He gave a double take at the pair of them and raised an eyebrow at Emma, who shrugged.

"Wanna watch?" she asked. Dahre made a motion to move toward them, but Emma suddenly tensed up, looking stern. "Wait a second. Dahre?" She looked as if this was the first time she was really seeing him. "Who's running the ship right now?"

Dahre shrugged, flashing his usual cocky grin.

"Honestly!" Emma started, jumping up from the barrel she was sitting precariously on. "Am I the only one here who knows how to run a ship?"

She marched off before anyone could answer, although Vance's mouth had opened as if he wished to respond. As soon as she was out of earshot, Vance turned to Dahre.

"Seriously mate, what's her problem?" he asked, shaking his head. "Is it that time of the month?"

Dahre grinned, but shook his head.

"Well then, what is it? She's not usually all 'rawr' at us. Last time you left the helm, when we were on the way to that island, she was fine. Did something happen at the bar?" Vance paused, a curious grin on his face, as if there was something he had been meaning to ask about that last trip to that bar. He licked his lips in anticipation to ask his next question. "Is it something to do with that man - that man you guys...?" But he trailed off. Vance wasn't exactly sure what they had done to that man he had carried back to the boat. Instead he watched Dahre, waiting for him to intercut Vance's grasping for words and give an answer.

Dahre just sat where Emma had been only moments ago, ruffling his blonde hair with a distant grin.

"Anything, mate?" Vance asked. "You got anything at all?"

Dahre turned to look at him, still wearing that grin. "Not so much that man," he said slowly, as if wondering how intelligent Vance was, how much he could give away without really giving anything away, "as the implications it brings with it..."

"Eh?" Vance said, looking nonplussed.

Dahre's grin stretched farther now, obviously realizing he didn't have to worry about Vance  knowing more than he needed to. "It's up to the captain to explain," he said, loving to watch the facial expression of Vance change with each word he uttered. "She's the only one who knows the full plan." Dahre got up. He had said enough and was ready to leave. Vance looked disappointed.

"You skipped around the question," Vance mumbled. "I bet you don't even know."

Vance knew his words had hit Dahre somewhere, for he had frozen, halfway from getting out of the seat, and maintained that position for a while before settling down again.

"I don't know?" Dahre repeated, a trace of disbelief mingled with contempt in his voice.

"You don't know," Vance echoed firmly.

"I do too know," Dahre whispered childishly, crossing his arms.

"Nuh-uh," Vance jeered.

Dahre slammed his fist against the table, sending the chessmen to their demise as they shattered into infinitesimal pieces on the boat floor. "I-"

But Vance didn't get to find out what Dahre had to say next. The ship suddenly veered to the left, then veered to the right and there was a crash from the cabins below. Dahre and Vance locked eyes for a moment, then they shared the smallest of nods before rushing to their places.

Dahre went up to take hold of the wheel, and Vance went down into the cabins to investigate the noise. It didn't take long for him to discover the cause, though. Books, barrels, money and bags filled with more treasures were spilled out all over the hall. Vance dodged around everything and knocked on one of the doors. His twin, Aqua opened up.

"What?" she asked sleepily.

"Did you hear-?"

"VANCE! AQUA! GET BROWNIE AND GO!" Dahre roared from somewhere on the upper deck. Aqua was suddenly wide awake, although still clueless. Vance grabbed her and jumped over a barrel to reach Brownie's cabin. He burst the door open with a kick and found Brownie fast asleep in her little cot. He didn't have time to wake her and explain, although he didn't know what was going on either. He just grabbed the small, sleeping heap and threw her over her shoulder like he had done to that man.

That man...

"I put that man down here," Vance said suddenly, turning to Aqua.

"I know," Aqua said sharply. "I watched you do it. So?"

"Do you think...?"

"What?" Aqua asked irritably, as Vance had trailed off and didn't seem like he was about to pick up his sentence anytime soon.

But Vance wasn't looking at Aqua anymore. His eyes were on the end of the corridor. He pushed Brownie into Aqua's arms ("Hey! What am I going to do with this nugget?") and ran towards the end of the hall. He took a sharp left and then stopped abruptly.

It was a small space. There were chains hanging from the walls, but only a couple links. The rest had been broken off. And the man...

"Gone," Vance whispered, disbelievingly. "He's gone!"

"Who's gone?" Aqua asked, walking over to peer over Vance's shoulder... She gasped when she saw the broken links. "He can't be," she whispered when she realized what Vance was talking about. "He can't have... How could he have gotten out?"

Vance just shook his head. Then he remembered Dahre's yell and jumped into action again. "We have to... We have to go!"

Vance grabbed Aqua's shoulder and made to turn around the corridor again - just a sharp right - but...

"ARGH!"

Vance stumbled, clutching his stomach, staring into the eyes of some sort of creature with chains around its wrists... They jangled softly as the links scraped the ground.

The creature was huge, its massive head touching the ceiling. It had beady yellow eyes and jagged teeth that came out of its mouth in every direction. A massive gorilla-shaped being covered in brown fur and thick, menacing claws.

Vance coughed up blood and let go of his stomach. Something long and red spilled out of the large hole in his stomach. The creature's claw was covered in blood as well - Vance's blood.

"H-Hey, A...Aqua," Vance said weakly. Aqua just stared at Vance in utter shock, unable to say a word. "D'yeh think... th-think I n-needed... one of... of those?" He pointed at his entrails that were lying splattered on the floor, gave a laugh that turned into a cough, and then collapsed.

"VANCE!" Aqua screamed, running to his side. The strange monster grunted and turned away, apparently bored by this emotional scene. Tears were swimming in Aqua's eyes. She cradled him in her arms. He was pale white, his tattoos seemed to be fading away, and he was cold... so cold... "V-Vance," Aqua sobbed, "y-you c-c-can't... P-Please, not n-now... You aren't... P-P-Please don't..."

A small hand rested on Aqua's shoulder. She barely registered it. Slowly, she turned around. Brownie, straw blonde hair covering her face, barely taller than the kneeling Aqua, stood there.

"He won't," Brownie said softly. "He doesn't need those." Brownie's eyes strayed to the intestines on the ground.

Aqua stared blankly at Brownie. "What are you talking about?"

"Look." Brownie nodded her head back towards Vance's cold body. Aqua turned back around, very slowly, and gasped.

Where Vance had just been laying, there was only a heap of bones. But they didn't look like normal bones... they looked like they were covered in...

"Steel," breathed Brownie. And Vance's head, his hair once spiky red, was actually on fire. Cackling, moving, breathing...

"What...?" Aqua whispered, jumping away from the heap of bones that was Vance. And before she could register another thought, the heap of steel bones quivered and began to move. Vance stood up, a steel skeletal shape with blazing, wild fire for hair. He turned to look at his twin - who no longer looked anything like him (at least, Aqua hoped so).

"Vance?" Aqua whispered, taking a step forward and reaching out a quivering finger toward her brother. Her brother gave her a wide, steely grin. His grin grew wider and wider and wider until it looked as if his bones were about to crack from the pressure. And then, without warning, he pulled his bony arms back and thrust them forward, revealing cannons where his arms should have been.

Vance looked down at the cannons, pulled back again, heard a click, and then pushed forward again, sending a blast of yellow at the wall. It exploded open and a fire broke out.

"Hm," Vance said, examining his cannon arms, "that's an improvement from my old ones, eh?" He looked at Aqua with his wide, Cheshire grin. She seemed stunned. Then raised an eyebrow and snorted.

"You trade in your skin for a slightly better cannon!?" she yelled incredulously.

"Slightly better?" Vance replied and the holes where his eyes should have been appeared dented (as if he was pulling his eyebrows together - if he had any). "My cannons cause fires now, Aqua! Plus, look at this..." He rapped on his arm with his knuckles, the result was a loud, clanking noise that reverberated around the hall. "See? Steel! And all that pesky breathing? Don't need it!"

Aqua seemed about to respond, but saw what appeared to be a bright light dancing in the corner of her eyes. She turned and gasped at what she saw. "Oh... poop!" The fire from Vance's cannon had grown and was licking the wood around the hole he had made, slowly spreading around the cabin. Water began sloshing up through the hole, spreading throughout the hall. Aqua threw an angry look at Vance and then began desperately kicking at the water. Vance looked nervously at the water, lightly patting his fiery hair.

Meanwhile, the gorilla-like monster had charged back up to the ground floor, snorting in the fresh, salty air. Emma, sitting across from the entrance into the lower deck, was leaning against the railing, her left leg sticking out at an odd angle and blood trickling out of it. Yet she was smiling, an unnatural creepy grin, and knife-like horns were protruding out of her arms.

"Guess who's back!" Emma said in a loud, singsong voice. The creature grunted, his chains jingling menacingly, and he ambled towards Emma. But Dahre jumped down from the upper deck, landing firmly behind the creature. He was also wearing a Cheshire grin and his eyes had rolled back into his own head.

"So," Dahre said in a deep, echoing voice. "You were able to conceal from me that you could transform into this creature... Or did you not know?"

The creature whipped around and sent a clawed arm at Dahre, who ducked and rolled out of the way. He stopped in front of Emma who, although smiling, was taking in sharp, painful breaths and clutching her hurt leg.

"I'm sorry," Dahre whispered. "If I hadn't made you go and take over steering the ship, this thing never would have-"

"Don't," Emma said firmly. "I should have been more alert."

"You're mind is on the coming battle," Dahre said knowingly.

"Don't go looking into my thoughts," Emma growled, glancing away.

The creature was closing in, and so Dahre was forced to move away. He sidestepped another swing and jabbed the monster in its side. The creature snarled and turned on Dahre. He aimed a swipe, but Dahre jumped over it and extended his hand... so close to the creature's own forehead... There was another swipe, this one more well placed, and Dahre retreated his hand, long slices going down his arm.

At this, Emma stood up. She winced and wobbled, grabbing the railing for support. "Go," she said to Dahre. "Get the others. I'll finish this..."

"You?" Dahre replied in his deep voice, although there was a hint of disbelief within it.

"Yes, me," Emma said slowly, puncturing each syllable.

They stared at each other for a long time, but unlike the man back at the bar, Emma did not show any signs of weakness.

"That's an order," Emma finally said. Dahre hesitated for a fraction of a second, ducked under another swipe from the monkey-like creature, then stepped aside and made a dash for the cabins.

"Just you and me, monkey boy," Emma said with her insane grin, a gleam of fight in her golden eyes.

The creature turned on her, grunting, and raised a long, clawed arm...  Emma put all her weight onto her good leg and jumped, flipped and landed gingerly on her good foot, but stumbled at the awkward distribution of weight. And she was lucky that she did, the creature had aimed another jab at her that narrowly missed the back of her head.

Emma spun around, low on the ground, using her arms to support her, and sent a kick at the creatures large feet - hoping to unbalance him. It worked, and the creature swayed to the side. But unfortunately, with one bad leg, Emma was not quick enough to finish the job and the man-turned-beast was stomping its feet in rage once again.

Emma hopped a few steps back and leaned against the cabin door, clutching her leg. The beast was busy rampaging, he seemed to have forgotten her... She could hear voices downstairs. She turned her head, keeping one eye on the beast, and let her ear rest against the door.

"Leave it! Leave it! There's nothing we can do about it now." It was Dahre's voice, deep and rhythmic in his Cheshire state... Emma's own grin twitched slightly despite herself.

"Sorry, I was only testing-"

"Firing a cannon was stupid, new state or no new state," Dahre snapped. "Even your old one would have done considerable damage to the boat."

"I put out the fire," Aqua added helpfully.

"Emma?" came Brownie's soft voice.

Emma turned away from the door, breathing heavily. She closed her eyes in pain. When she opened them, the beast had turned on her once more. But if she had heard right... Maybe there was a way...

"Oy, you big ugly brute! Ya ready for some more of this?" Emma hopped up and down throwing her fist into her arm as an insult and sticking up her middle finger for added affect. She chuckled, still grinning wildly. The creature roared and raged forward. Emma opened the cabin door and hopped as fast as she could down.

"OUTTA THE WAY!" she roared. "UGLIEST THING ALIVE RIGHT BEHIND ME! LOOK AWAY, LOOK AWAY, OR YOUR EYEBALLS MIGHT FALL OUT FROM SHOCK!"

"Too late," she heard Vance mutter up ahead.

She could see Dahre peering out from behind the corridor to the left, Aqua glancing over his shoulder to see, too.

"OUT-OF-THE-WAY!" she roared again, this time more angrily because they weren't listening. "OUT-OF-THE-MOTHER-FUCKING-WAY!"

They realized what was happening, with the gorilla-like monster racing toward her. Aqua grabbed Vance who, to Emma's horror, looked like a silver skeleton, and Dahre picked up Brownie. They rushed out of the left side of the corridor, hiding farther down the other side.

Emma made a sharp left, stumbling and falling. She rolled the rest of the way and hit the wall. But sure enough, there was a large hole and water was leaping up through it. She pulled herself up and made to stand in front of the hole. The monster took a sharp left as well, sliding in the water and letting out a roar of displeasure.

"OVER HERE, MONKEY BRAINS!" Emma shouted, jumping up and down. "CARE TO TAKE A SWIM?" - she pinched her nose with her fingers - "WASH THAT FOUL SMELL OUT IN THE SALTY SEA?"

They were close and cramped. The monster swung, Emma ducked. She swung, punctured him with one of her thorns. Swung again, digging the second one across the monster's chest, locking them in with a viselike grip. Then she let herself fall backwards, into the sea, bringing the great, ugly brute with her.

"NO!" she heard the deep, thundering yell from somewhere above her. But next second she was underwater and the only sound she could make out was the jet-like bubbling of air escaping her lungs and retreating to the surface.

Her smile was gone, her knives were gone, the beast was bleeding and sinking somewhere below her... She tried to kick up, to swim, but the pain in her leg stopped her. She reached out her hands, propelling herself to the glassy surface. Almost there, almost there...

Almost... But darkness crept in and soon she lost to it.

***

"Is she going to be all right?"

"She'll be fine. Thank god..."

"Are you going to tell us what happened?"

"Yeah, what was that all about?"

"Yeah, come on, Dahre! We really need to know. If something like that happens again..."

"We need to be prepared!"

"Oh? And what, you think you can handle it if you know the name of what that thing was or something?"

"Well..."

"You saw it for yourself! Vance, you know what it's capable of! Look... Look what it did to you."

"No one's saying it isn't intercourse ing strong. But what the hell was it? The man was there... And then, well, was that him?"

Emma blinked her eyes open. The voices were getting louder and clearer. Vance, Aqua, Dahre... They were discussing something in harsh whispers. She turned her head slowly. Her head growled in protest and she groaned... She felt as if her head had been sliced open. And her chest was heaving. Emma was all too aware how hard it was becoming for her to breathe.

"Guys! She's awake."

There was a clatter which echoed loudly inside Emma's head, and a rush of footsteps. A hand immediately clutched her own and she felt warmth spreading through her entire arm.

"Emma," came a whisper in her ear. It was Dahre. "Emma, can you hear me?"

Emma nodded, then grimaced. Her eyes were still closed tightly shut, afraid of the pain she might be forced to endure if she let the light touch them.

"Are you... Are you okay?"

Emma jerked her head slightly, indicating another nod. She heard a few sighs of relief and her eyes fluttered open. The light was blinding. Fuzzy outlines of Dahre in front of her, with Aqua and Vance watching awkwardly and worriedly behind him. She clamped her eyes shut again.

"The... lights," she croaked, surprised by the hoarseness of her voice and the pain taking in a gulp of air had caused her throat.

"You heard the captain!" Dahre said, maybe a little too harshly, in the direction of Vance and Aqua. There were a pair of loud, clanking feet - Vance's - and a small click. The lights were off. "Try not to speak," Dahre continued to Emma, "you swallowed a lot sea water and that beast managed to get you pretty badly on your way down..."

Emma's eyebrows furrowed together, thinking. She didn't remember the monster clobbering her at all on her way down. In fact, she was pretty sure he didn't land a single blow...

"I don't remember-" she began, intent on sharing her version of the sacrifice she had made, only for Dahre to cut her off, knowing what she was going to say before she said it.

"Adrenaline, the cold water... You probably didn't feel a thing. Good thing, too," Dahre explained. Then added, rather quickly, "It's not that bad, though! No, no, you're fine. Fine..."

Emma didn't have time to worry about the extent of damage the monster had dealt to her in their final tussle, although she had a vague picture in her head of herself with a large crack down the middle and brains spilling out... She muttered, in a low croak, "Don't read my mind..."

"I didn't," Dahre replied, and she could imagine the small smile on his face. "I just know you too well."

"Too well?" Emma asked quietly, allowing a small smile to break over her pained features, too.

There was a moment's pause and Emma felt that same rush of warmth as when Dahre had held her hand, only this time a light brush against her cheek. Finally, Dahre broke the silence with a whisper, "No, I guess not. You love to leave me craving for more, don't you?"

Emma smirked and let her eyes open one more time. It wasn't so bad; the darkness made the pain easier to bare. She attempted to sit up, but Dahre put a firm hand on her shoulder and gently pushed her back down.

"Rest, Emma," he said softly. She groaned in annoyance.

"Who's captain here?" she growled, already feeling her throat unclenching and her voice returning to normal.

"Who's captain while the captain's indisposed?" Dahre countered, an eyebrow raised and his smug grin back on his face.

Emma rolled her eyes and sighed, laying back down. But she noticed that Aqua and Vance had left the room. "Bring everyone in here," Emma said suddenly, thinking back to the conversation she had heard when she had first woken up. "Brownie, too."

Dahre watched her suspiciously for a moment, but he couldn't disobey a direct order, and he could tell from the gleam in Emma's eyes that it was indeed one. He returned half a minute later, issuing all three of them into the room.

"Heya, Cap'n!" Vance said loudly, a wide grin on his face. He was back to normal, skin grown back and everything. Even his tattoos had survived, although they looked slightly lighter than before.

"How're you feeling, Cap'n?" Aqua added, quieter than her brother.

Brownie said nothing. She stared at Emma with wide, scared eyes and her hands were drawn up to her cheeks.

"I'm good," Emma said curtly. She waited for a moment, staring at each and everyone one of them in turn. Vance with his wild red hair and body covered in tattoos. Aqua with her short blue hair and piercings in ever hole imaginable. Brownie with her waspy blonde hair and scared, tan face. And Dahre, his blonde hair ruffled with the brown and black roots showing, and a grin on his handsome features. Emma took a few deep breaths and exhaled, enduring the pain and attempting to get used to it.

Finally, when the silence had stretched on for long enough, she spoke again, "I think you guys wanted to know about that - thing - we were dealing with earlier."

Vance and Aqua exchanged similar, eager looks, then nodded their heads vigorously at Emma. Dahre said nothing, but his grin faded slightly. Brownie seemed frozen in her frightened appearance.

"I think it's time I explained the plan to all of you," Emma went on. "Dahre knows most of it already, as you probably already guessed. This crew did start with just the two of us, after all."

"That didn't last long," Dahre said, a slight note of bitterness in his voice.

"Because then you got us!" Vance said happily, pulling his twin into a one-armed hug.

"A great addition," Emma murmured. "We never would have been able to afford this boat without you... And you did repair the damage - that hole in the wall - didn't you?"

Vance nodded, pointing to his blistered fingers as proof.

"Good," Emma said with a note of satisfaction. "And finally, we got Brownie." Emma grinned broadly at her, but the only improvement Brownie managed to make was to slip her hands behind her back.

"Yeah, the lil runt!" Vance said, poking Brownie in the face. She didn't even appear to register the finger going into her cheek.

"The tasty pumpkin!" Aqua added, and the two howled in laughter.

"Ain't she just the yummiest?" Vance said.

"The sweetest dessert I ever did taste!" Aqua said in agreement.

"Maybe a little too sweet," Vance said seriously. So seriously that Aqua stopped laughing and glanced reproachfully at her brother. And then Vance broke out into a grin and said, "That little plum gave me the worst toothache you ever did saw! But darn, have I got a sweet tooth for that one!" And the twins were rolling around the cabin floor, howling with laughter.

Brownie didn't acknowledge any of these comments towards her, remaining in her position, still staring straight at Emma unblinkingly.

"Okay, that's enough of that," Emma finally said, suppressing a sigh. "You did want to hear the whole truth, didn't you?"

"Hold it!" Dahre shouted. Emma turned to look at him, an eyebrow raised. "Do you really want to do this... so soon?"

"It's time," Emma said. "After everything that's happened... Yes, it's time they all knew what they were in for."

Dahre shrugged. "Okay, fine. If you really think they're ready to know." But then he added quickly, "Brownie, too?"

"Especially Brownie."

Everyone had gathered closer to Emma's bed without even realizing it themselves. Dahre was quick to procure a position right by her side, while the twins flanked either end. Even Brownie, despite herself, had inched closer and sunk to the floor by Emma's waist. Emma took a deep breath, it was now or never. And she had chose now. It was time to delve into the entire story and let them all know exactly what was going on...

"I guess... I guess it all began with just me. Back in our home country." She turned to Brownie, the only one not born in their country. "Cheshire," she added gently, for Brownie's sake.

"We know what-"

"We all lived-"

Emma glared at the twins, who had chorused into objections when Emma gave that extra bit of information. They stopped abruptly, remembering Brownie, then turned their indignant shouts into coughing fits.

"Anyway," Emma continued briskly, "I was living in Cheshire, a happy kid. Normal, all that. I was rather fond of my personal ability. Maybe a little too fond..." Emma stopped shortly, embarrassed as memories of her days as the school bully flashed through her mind. But, she thought, it helped her improve her fighting skills, to rough it with the boys...

There was a small cough from Aqua, and Emma quickly ended her reminiscing and went on with the story. "But I turned sixteen and became of age. I had always fancied myself a boat. Thought I'd travel, see other places. Make some money... the fun way." She turned to Vance and Aqua, and the three of them shared a grin. Of course, Emma meant looting and stealing, rather than working hard for the cash she received.

Emma turned more towards Brownie now, a silent warning to the others that this part of the story was mainly for the little tanned girl's ears. "But our country was having problems. A war broke out. It started as a civil war. There were certain people that had different powers from the rest of us. They wanted more control, to rule. We thought it was all going to be fine at first, it all started out as a political battle between one of their own and one of ours. But when ours won the election, it turns out they weren't planning on taking it lying down. They attacked. It wasn't a problem, because we were easily stronger and had larger numbers. But, another country was brought in to reek havoc..."

There was a series of boos from Aqua and Vance, even Dahre looked grave.

"The Frowners - that's what we called the opposing side - didn't play fair. They knew that... other country... wanted more land for itself. And they knew that they could easily control the people and slowly emerge as the rulers of Cheshire."

"Bleedin' tramps!" muttered Vance.

"Stinkin' ladies," said Dahre.

"As fat as elephants and as smelly as jackasses!" added Aqua fiercely.

"Did you, uh, happen to know the other country, Brownie?" Emma asked tentatively, shooting glances at the others to be quiet. Brownie nodded slowly, her eyes round and wide. "Can you... name it, Brownie?"

Brownie slowly got up and leaned in close to Emma's ear. She whispered softly in a voice with a strong accent, "Discadia."

"That's right," Emma murmured. "And you were born there, weren't you, Brownie?"

Brownie nodded, looking deeply embarrassed at the realization that she had just spoken out loud. She clapped her hands to her mouth and sunk back down again, not making another sound.

"Our little snack was born in Discadia?" Vance said disbelievingly. "Have you got your facts right, Emma?"

"Yeah, really," added Aqua, just as shocked. "There's no way that she could be in any way related to... well, those bloodthirsty mongrels. She isn't salty, she's sweet!"

"You can tell in her accent," Emma explained. "I realized the first time I heard her talk. Of course, she hadn't realized she was being overheard at the time, or perhaps she wouldn't have said anything at all."

"Even I don't know about that," Dahre suddenly said, looking at Emma expectantly. "Why don't you talk more about that, then?"

"Meeting Brownie? I'll get to that... Anyway, let me continue. And don't you two dare start treating Brownie differently because of what you know" - Emma was suddenly glaring at the twins with such ferocious intensity it seemed painfully clear why she was captain; her glare could chill anyone to the bone - "or you'll face something much worse than anything Discadia or the Frowners can bring down upon you. I'll personally make sure of that."

The venom in her voice was enough to poison anyone without direct contact. The twins quivered, unable to even shake their heads in agreement. But Emma seemed to understand their silence and immediately softened. It was a drastic change from enraged banshee to beautiful fairy.

"Okay... So as the war started up, the Cheshire loyalists, us, were winning. But when Discadia came into the picture... Well, we began suffering worse losses. Some days would go by without a single capture of anything at all. When I came of age, I wanted to leave and explore. But with the war getting worse, that became increasingly difficult to do. And then..." Emma's throat dried up. She was starting to get into personal matters, something which she rarely discussed with the others. She glanced down at her bedding, buying for time.

She was sitting in a small cot with plain white sheets. It began to hurt her eyes to stare at the bright colors, so she turned away and looked around the dark brown cabin. But it was empty except for intently watching eyes, and so Emma sighed and continued. "When some Discadia members got my family and took 'em away... Well, that's when I realized it was time to fight back."

She stared defiantly at them all, daring them to pity her, and she could see the sadness in every one of their eyes. She glowered at them for only a moment before taking a deep breath and talking faster now, not allowing for interruption. "So I decided to get some good old fashioned revenge. Well, I tried. I was an idiot kid. I stole a boat - that small thing that could barely fit one person, you three must remember it - and traveled across the sea. I wanted to get to Discadia and... well, I don't even know what I would have done. Gotten myself killed the instant I stepped foot on there, most likely. Luckily enough, the weather was not on my side. The wind swept me away and I ended up going backwards... Went from one side of Cheshire to the very bottom of it, rather than going upwards towards Discadia.

"Stupidly, I got off and went into my Cheshire state. Thought I was in Discadia. Must have been maddened with rage. Tore up that pub, remember?" Emma smiled fondly at the memory, Dahre appeared to be doing so as well. Another cough from Aqua brought Emma back to reality, this time with a slightly harder and more reluctant thud. Meeting Dahre... Emma allowed herself a final, secret grin before continuing.

"Well, I think someone was impressed with my performance, even though I was destroying property from my own country. Owned by Frowners, though, so I doubt anybody minded..."

"Cept those bloody Frowners, I bet!" Vance said, smiling. Aqua agreed quite enthusiastically. "I hope you offed a few while you were there!"

"I probably did," Emma said, thinking back.

"I don't think anyone in there managed to survive," added Dahre, a hint of pride in his voice. "Me being the only exception, of course."

"Why didn't you kill Dahre, too?" Aqua asked, and Dahre raised his eyebrows at her. "Not that we wanted you to!" she added quickly.

"Well, he was smiling. No Frowner could smile like that." Emma shrugged. "I recognized him as one of us, and I wasn't that enraged that I'd kill someone helping my cause. Anyway, you guys know most of this already. Dahre and I worked out plans together for a bit - relax, you'll hear those plans soon enough - and then we decided we needed a larger crew. You guys were more than eager, and we were rather fond of your states."

"And with my new and improved skeletal phase, I'm nearly invincible!" boasted Vance. Aqua rolled her eyes, but he didn't see her.

"Yeah, just don't go blowing up another part of the boat," Emma said coolly, and Vance opened his mouth, then closed it again. Dahre smirked.

"Always undermining my victories with pesky details," he muttered under his breath.

"Continue," Dahre prompted Emma.

"Uh, right, where was I?"

"You had just met us," Aqua said helpfully.

"Oh, right, right! Yeah, so, with the four of us, we were able to do some damage. Find places with Frowners in it, enjoy the place, then loot it. And when more Discadians popped up all over the place, it became apparent we needed to start disrupting them, too."

"We know all this," Aqua pointed out. "You told us at least that much of your plan."

"Right, but this is where Brownie comes in," Emma said. "Remember that day you all were looting that dingy pub owned by that blubbery and beardy Discadian guy? Yeah, well I had sneaked out for some fresh air. That's where I met Brownie. She was alone and lost, searching for her mother. I could tell at once she wasn't one of us. Yet, unlike the past, I didn't feel any hatred for her. All these Discadians, all I felt was pure rage for every single one of them. But Brownie was different. She was too young to even realize a war was going on.

"I watched her for a while, followed her. Even helped bring her back to her family. They were rich, nice mansion and everything. All right in our own country..." Emma took a moment to relieve her voice of disgust, and continued, "Brownie was a nice girl, I could tell. But she was frightened to even be touched. You guys remember how bad she used to be. It was a handful helping her find her home, it was like she thought I would attempt to pull my knives on her in a second if she gave me the chance.

"But finally I managed to get her home. I didn't reveal myself to the family, of course. And when Brownie turned up at their doorsteps, instead of being relieved, they seemed mad off that she had came home at all! They kicked her and threw her inside, yelling about how she had forgotten to pick something up for them at the store... That's when I realized how these Discadians became evil to the core... They weren't born that way, it wasn't a gene every person in that country comes with... They're made that way. Through years of abuse, they turn into these... these unremorseful, unrecognizable things that aren't even remotely human!

"I wasn't going to let Brownie end up like that. She was still pure. I could still see that there was some good they hadn't managed to beat out of her yet. So the next chance I got, I went back there. It was the next day at midnight, while you all were asleep in the boat. I broke in and stole Brownie while she was still asleep. It wasn't hard at all, the old man's snoring was enough cover for an entire marching band to waltz through there without anyone knowing the better. As soon as I had gotten us both far enough from that house, I woke Brownie up.

"There was some screaming and crying at first, which I'll be honest, I did not expect. I don't think I'll ever understand why someone who suffers so much abuse could ever still call a place like that home... I guess that's all she ever knew, so she didn't know there was something better for her. Well, I tried to make her understand I wouldn't hurt her and she was safe, but her English wasn't nearly as good as it is now. I'm not quite sure she understood me at all. But eventually I got her to sleep and put her in my bed with me. Next morning, I integrated her into the crew and you all know that part of the story."

"It was miserable!" Vance announced, with a small nod of agreement from Aqua.

"'Fraid to say, you weren't so sweet back then," Aqua said to Brownie.

"A nightmare!"

"A nightmare within a nightmare!

"A nightmare within a nightmare inside a nightmare!"

"A nightmare-"

"Okay!" said Dahre. "We get it."

"But she got better," added Emma with a grin.

"Yeah, she did. She does about everything but talks now," said Dahre.

"She talks sometimes," said Aqua quietly, remembering the last time she had heard Brownie talk, back when Vance had his stomach cut open and his intestines spilling out.

"The abuse is gone for the most part," Emma said with a victorious nod. "And you like it here, don't you, Brownie?"

Brownie stood up, her wide eyes staring at Emma. She took a step towards her, arm raised. For a fleeting second, Emma was afraid Brownie was about to hit her. But then, Brownie jumped onto the bed and buried her head into Emma's shoulder, hugging her tightly.

"Y-Yes," Brownie said very softly. "I do."

Emma seemed surprised by this outburst and not completely sure what to make of it. She patted her back lightly, looking thoroughly embarrassed. "Th-Thanks, Brownie. Really, it was nothing..."

When Brownie finally released Emma, her bed and shoulder was covered in tearstains. Brownie's eyes were wider than ever and she retreated completely under the small bed, refusing to come back out.

"Leave her," Emma said as Aqua attempted to coax Brownie back out. "She'll be fine."

"So, you've explained all that pointless back story," Vance said, obviously hungrily awaiting the info that this was all building up to. "That just leaves the stuff you couldn't tell us before. About that monster and stuff."

"Yeah," Aqua said, getting up from the floor again and looking at Emma with interest.

"Emma's probably tired," Dahre said. "After everything that happened..."

"Oh come on!" Vance said with frustration. "You can't tell us everything we already knew and then leave it at that! Finish the story, dangit!"

"Yeah," agreed Aqua irritably. "I hate it when people leave things unfinished."

"Okay," Emma said. "Okay. You want to know about the stuff Dahre and I have been hiding from you for these past years as we've been building up our crew and repetoire, looting and goofing around... You want to finally learn what all this hard work has meant... The truth?"

The twins nodded, Dahre leaned against the wall, already knowing the story.

"Alright, then here's the rest of the story..." And quickly, Emma plunged on. "Well, I had never given up on my revenge. And Dahre was eager to show the Frowners and Discadians that we meant business, that we weren't going to lose to the foulness of their lot. We've been busy formulating a plan. And Brownie, well she's a big part of it. It turns out, we found this out a few weeks after saving Brownie, that she was the daughter of not only a wealthy family, but a powerful one. A big politician and a general in the army against us. He was furious that his daughter had been captured right under his nose and demanded she be returned.

"Well, as I hate to admit it, we soon realized how useful our little friend had become. And not just that we could use her against the Discadians, but she also has her own powers that she revealed to me. A powerful ally, indeed..." Vance seemed like he wanted to know more about Brownie's power, but Dahre shook his head and Vance closed his mouth. Emma continued, "We've been planning this attack for such a long time... We weren't sure about telling you. I didn't want anyone backing out, causing everything we had worked for to crumble on top of us."

"Back out from what?" Vance asked before anyone could stop him.

"The plan," said Dahre, as if it was obvious.

"What's the plan?" Vance and Aqua asked in unison.

"To destroy them. Burn them all to the ground."

There was a dramatic silence that met Dahre's exclamation. Finally, Vance said, "Isn't that what we've been doing?"

"Not just pubs," Dahre said. "Go straight into Discadia and beat every single one of them. Kick out the Frowners and take back our land."

Vance raised his eyebrows, Aqua just looked confused.

"I don't get it," she said after another silence. "Isn't that what we've been doing...?"

"The country's army, sure," Emma said, "but they aren't winning."

"We're easily the most powerful lot!" Dahre proclaimed. "We've got the best powers-"

"We were crushed by that ape thing!" Aqua said suddenly, starting to catch on and not liking where the conversation was going.

"That's because I didn't know he was one of those," Dahre said, trying with difficulty to control his exasperation. "I don't think he even knew. They've been experimenting with breeding, I think. I had seen some strange lab in his mind, but I figured it was just a particularly hated hospital visit that was causing such strong vibes in him... I had no idea they were doing things like that to their citizens!"

"Breeding?" Aqua repeated, dumbstruck.

"That's what that thing was," Dahre said. "That man back at the bar. Emma sensed he wasn't one of us, that he was Discadian, but that he was more powerful than just a regular citizen. Someone with a political background."

"With some help from Brownie, of course," Emma added. "And we were right. Dahre told me about the strange memory he saw, the one of the hospital, but neither of us would have ever thought..."

"So what, that man from the pub... he turned into a man-ape... thing?" Vance asked desperately.

"I think he was half-man, half-ape, half-bear," Emma said thoughtfully, suppressing a grin. "Manapebear."

"No, no," Dahre said softly. "He was definitely Bearmanape."

"What was it?" Vance asked. "A Bearmanape? Manapebear? Apebearman?"

"Where was the man in him?" Aqua inquired.

They all pondered that for a moment and shrugged.

"Anyway," Emma said, the grin leaving her face, "it's obvious what that memory was of now. They've been experimenting with better fighters. Inject some animal DNA into a person, see what happens, set them loose on everyone... Which does put a hamper on our plan."

"Before the Bearapeman came into the picture, what exactly was the plan?" Vance asked.

"Attack on Christmas, when the country was drunk and jolly. They wouldn't expect it. The two armies had sworn to no fighting on holidays. But since we're a rogue team, we would have no problems going in there and finishing each and everyone one of them off," said Emma.

"Christmas?" Aqua asked.

"It's a full moon, too," Emma added. "Dahre checked. It would have all been perfect."

"But that's only, what, five days away?" Aqua blurted out. "When were you planning on telling us the plan?"

"Uh, in about... five days?" Emma said, a guilty grin on her face now.

"Gee, thanks for the notice," Aqua said sarcastically.

"Well we didn't want you guys backing out. I know it's wrong to force you into something... But... This is much more important than anything else we've ever done or even thought about doing!" Emma said, suddenly sitting up straight and proud, that gleam in her eye. "If it meant burning the boat to prevent any retreat... Well, we had to be prepared to do that. You're my crew, and if I say we're going to fight, because I believe in the lot of you, even as rowdy as you are, then dangit, you guys are going to fight for your everlasting freedom!"

"You know what's sad, Aqua?" Vance said, turning to his twin, a frown on his face.

"Yes, indeed I do, Vance," Aqua replied, a similar frown spreading across her face.

"Well then, I guess it's safe to say that these two over here are complete and total idiots."

"I wouldn't disagree with you at all. Almost a shame. After becoming so close... And now to have to leave their numbers."

Dahre and Emma exchanged horrified looks.

"Yes, yes," Vance said, sounding solemn. "Who would want to be living under a captain who can't trust her own mates to cover her back and go down fighting with her!"

"Wh-What?" Emma blurted out, not understanding where the conversation was going.

"That's right! Why would you ever hide that information from us?" Aqua asked, anger blazing in her eyes. "How could you think you would need to burn the boats in order to get us to help you?"

"Yeah, that's right!" Vance roared. "We're a family! If you guys are going to go down kicking, I'm always with you! Even if the idea is rubbish!"

"Which this one actually isn't," Aqua said. "Well, a little, yeah. But it's not so bad. Or it wasn't, until this human-animal hybrid breeding thing came into the picture..."

"Yeah, we need to fine-tune the plan a little bit," Vance replied, nodding along and thinking. "Maybe we all need upgrades?"

"Wait, so you guys, you guys are all okay with this?" Emma asked, still surprised.

"We're your crew, mate," Vance said, moving closer to Emma. "And you're our Cap'n. Doesn't that mean anything to you?"

"Because it means a great deal to us. We're family."

"The only family us twins have ever known."

"Besides each other," they chorused, then chuckled at each other.

Emma grinned and nodding.

Dahre rolled his eyes. "Touching, really... But there was no point in explaining the plan until we had all the details figured out, which we still don't-"

"Oh stop interfering wi
I get obsessively manic over things. It's a problem.

Silverhawk79

#1
It cut off.
also
Quote“I think he was half-man, half-ape, half-bear,” Emma said thoughtfully, suppressing a grin. “Manapebear.”
NO IT'S MANBEARPIG
Also you know that "snuck" is not a real word, and you deserve a medal.

SkyMyl

That was a intercourse ing long read, but also a fantastic one...until it cut off.

Quote from: Silverhawk79 on December 13, 2010, 09:38:28 PM
It cut off.
Either KJ knows how to leave readers hanging, or we've discovered the text limit on SMF.

Kayo

#3
Quote from: SkyMyl on December 13, 2010, 11:07:35 PM
That was a intercourse ing long read, but also a fantastic one...until it cut off.
Either KJ knows how to leave readers hanging, or we've discovered the text limit on SMF.
The latter I'm hoping. Also that was amazing. Just one question.

QuoteThe boy had spiky green hair (with green eyebrows to match, like his sister’s blue color
QuoteAnd Vance’s head, his hair once spiky red, was actually on fire.
When did his hair turn from green to red? Or did I miss something
I really hate how I've made more than 12,000 posts here. Thankfully this swaying, moving Chandelure makes it all worth it.
[move][/move]

Dog Food

Quote from: Silverhawk79 on December 13, 2010, 09:38:28 PM
It cut off.
alsoNO IT'S MANBEARPIG
Also you know that "snuck" is not a real word, and you deserve a medal.
Glad you caught the reference. And did I use "snuck" anywhere? Oh well, I've always thought it sounded better than "sneaked" anyway. But yeah, I know it isn't a word, that's due to me not proofreading this.

Quote from: SkyMyl on December 13, 2010, 11:07:35 PM
That was a intercourse ing long read, but also a fantastic one...until it cut off.
Either KJ knows how to leave readers hanging, or we've discovered the text limit on SMF.
Ha, I guess we've discovered the text limit. It goes over 10K words, though, so that's good to know.

Quote from: Kayo on December 14, 2010, 05:03:48 AM
The latter I'm hoping. Also that was amazing. Just one question.
When did his hair turn from green to red? Or did I miss something
Ah, that's due to me not proofreading. When I was writing up his character I couldn't decide between green and red. At first I was going with red, but apparently last second I changed it to green. Then I did the scene with Vance and the fire-hair another day, so I forgotten I had changed it.

There are probably plenty more mistakes in this thing. Writing 12K words is a lot harder and more tiring than I thought it would be when I started this.

Whoops. Thought it would have warned me if the text was too long. Here's the rest, it was almost done with anyway:

[spoiler]Dahre rolled his eyes. "Touching, really... But there was no point in explaining the plan until we had all the details figured out, which we still don't-"

"Oh stop interfering with the family bonding!" Vance shouted, waving a hand at him. "But that's it then, we know everything now?"

Emma and Dahre exchanged looks, then nodded at the twins. "That's everything."

"Excellent!" the twins chorused once again.

"Although I did have one question," Vance added as an afterthought. "When the Apebearman slashed me... Why didn't I die?" He pulled his shirt up to reveal a clean belly, no scar or anything. "I'm fine. My skin melted away and I got those steel skeletal bones... But then when I disengaged from my Cheshire state I was completely normal. That shouldn't have happened... I should be dead, shouldn't I?"

A silence had encompassed the room once more.

"I don't know," Emma finally said softly. "It must have something to do with the strange hybrid DNA..."

"I'm working on researching that further," Dahre added. "I plucked a few hairs from the beast off Emma, and I'll start analyzing it tonight. Right now, actually."

"Now?" Vance said, startled. "C'mon, we've all tired. This emotional rollercoaster and whatnot. I say Aqua cooks us breakfast and we eat!"

"I cook?" Aqua replied, her eyebrows raised.

"I'll help!"

"No thanks, that'll just make it take longer!"

"Well if you don't want me to help, then why get all mad when I appoint you to do it?"

"Why doesn't Dahre do it!"

"Because he's a guy!"

"WHAT?"

"Well, I mean, he's not a sissy... er, and by 'sissy' I mean, uh, 'sister'! So I can't, you know, appoint him as cook... He outranks me, you know?"

"OH AND I DON'T OUTRANK YOU?"

"Well... I don't know... Aren't we about the same? Besides, you always cook!"

"Oh, so I cook a couple times, and now I cook every time!?"

"Er, uh, yes?"

The twins had exited the cabin, their argument carrying down the hall. Brownie scrambled out from under the bed, glanced at Emma, turned a tomato red color, and scampered out of the room.

It was only Dahre and Emma left.

"Well, now everyone knows everything," Dahre said with a sigh.

"Not feeling special?" Emma asked, an eyebrow raised and a small smile playing on her lips.

"You could help with that," Dahre said, grinning.

"Nope. You'll have to deal with your inferiority complex yourself."

Dahre groaned, sitting on the side of her bed, staring intently at Emma.

"Yourself," she repeated.

"You suck," he said.

"You wish."

They shared a moment in silence, watching each other contently.

"But, you know, we have a lot ahead of us," Emma finally said, staring somewhere past Dahre.

"We always knew the war would be coming. We've been preparing."

"I know. But this is different. Not everything is cleared up... That beast... If there are more of those, it's going to make a victory a lot harder for us."

"We have a beast of our own," Dahre pointed out.

"Aqua is different. Being a werewolf is different."

"She isn't a werewolf."

"Well, basically. I mean, she can only transform at night and she's strongest on the full moon. Sure, she's got those extra spikes and she's a lot bigger than a werewolf. But if you're going to call it anything, it's that."

Dahre shrugged. "I'd like to pluck some of her hairs, when she's in her Cheshire state. See if I can match up the DNA between her and their beast. See how similar they are. They might be... Hm."

"What?" And when he didn't answer, Emma tried again, louder this time, "WHAT?"

"Oh, well, I was just thinking... Maybe they aren't trying to create animal-human hybrids. Maybe they're trying to induce their own transformations so they can combat us better and fight alongside the Frowners."

"Or even overthrow the Frowners and take over the entire country for their own."

The two of them stared at each other, that could be it.

"I'll have to run the tests, of course," Dahre added quickly.

"But if you're right, and if we could convince the others... maybe we can end the civil war and..."

Dahre laughed, it was cold and sharp. "Good luck with that. We might as well forget the Frowners as a lost cause."

"Maybe. But we need to try. I'm okay with forgiving them, they weren't treated completely fairly."

"Yeah, but they didn't treat us completely fair, either!"

"Don't get mad. I'm not saying I agree with how they acted. I'm just saying at least they were fighting for rights. These Discadians... they're just plain scum. If I had to choose between the two, I'd rather go for the Discadians and make amends with the Frowners."

"I guess. But it's a long shot."

"First things first: Prove our theory right. Then we'll go back home and try to persuade the Frowners..."

"And how exactly are we supposed to prove our theory right to begin with? I might be able to prove the Cheshire state idea with the hairs... but maybe not even that much."

"Get everyone back in here," Emma said with a grin, "there's been a slight change in plans."

"What?" Dahre asked.

"We won't be able to fight them on Christmas, but we can go undercover. And I know just the beast who would fit right in with their crowd..."

Dahre raised his eyebrows, grasping her meaning. Emma looked straight into his eyes, seeing herself in his reflection for the first time. She had nasty gashes cut across her left cheek and a scar going across her right temple. A little further in and who knows what damage that might have caused... It was a nasty sight, and Emma realized why Dahre had traced his fingers against her cheek... That seemed like hours ago now.

Back then, they had a simple plan of destroying a country on Christmas.

Now, Emma thought with a slight lurching of her stomach, their plan had changed completely. Now they wanted to infiltrate and communicate with the enemy... learn what they were doing experimenting on people and hopefully turn the Frowners back on their side.

It grew a lot more complex, Emma couldn't deny that fact. But despite all that, there was a ray of hope shining somewhere in her chest. This was it. In less than five day's time they'd be within reach of Discadia. And by then Dahre would hopefully be finished with his analysis and they could have an idea of what they were up against.

It was a simple as that.

While she was deep in thought, she hadn't even noticed Dahre had left. But now he returned with Vance, Aqua and Brownie by his side.

"What's up, Cap'n?" Vance asked. Aqua had some pancake batter on her cheek and was still wearing her apron.

Emma sighed, realizing there was a lot more she was going to need to explain. And to think, she had thought she would be able to get some rest and let her wounds heal up.

"Well crew," she said, looking at each and every one of them, "we've had a little change of plans."[/spoiler]

I get obsessively manic over things. It's a problem.

SkyMyl

This should be a series spanning 12 episodes.

Also, found that secret you mentioned. Stay classy, KJ.

Dog Food

I just read the whole thing, and there are so many mistakes in it that I regret every posting this before at least proofreading it once. The most annoying and easily prevented ones being Vance's hair color and the sudden change from Christmas Eve to five days away from Christmas. And the ending is horrible. I should have planned something instead of just writing words and getting inspiration as I go. Sentence-by-sentence never works. There are so many frustrating plot holes because of it.

But then again, this was long overdue and it's just a simple 100 question thank you prize. So I shouldn't care. But as you can probably tell, I'm particularly bad at writing when it gets about 2/3rds down, especially.

Quote from: SkyMyl on December 14, 2010, 04:11:26 PM
This should be a series spanning 12 episodes.

Also, found that secret you mentioned.
A TV series is tempting. Maybe I'll come back to it in a decade or two and attempt something of the sort.

Also, congratulations. Like I said, I just read the story and (even though I know where it is) I didn't even notice it. But I wasn't looking for it, so that could be why.
I get obsessively manic over things. It's a problem.

Kayo

I found it earlier but didn't want to mention it. I was afraid i'd accidentally give too much away. Like how it's found in-
I really hate how I've made more than 12,000 posts here. Thankfully this swaying, moving Chandelure makes it all worth it.
[move][/move]

Silverhawk79


Silverhawk79

Quote from: SkyMyl on December 14, 2010, 04:11:26 PM
Also, found that secret you mentioned. Stay classy, KJ.
What.
Quote from: Kayo on December 14, 2010, 04:30:57 PM
I found it earlier but didn't want to mention it. I was afraid i'd accidentally give too much away. Like how it's found in-
WHAT.
I read it from start to finish and found nothing. :|

Magnum

We get this instead of a new chapter of Silver's House of Pancakes?

:(

Oh Vesperia, never change... never change

Dog Food

Quote from: Kayo on December 14, 2010, 04:30:57 PM
I found it earlier but didn't want to mention it. I was afraid i'd accidentally give too much away. Like how it's found in-
BANNED.

Quote from: Silverhawk79 on December 14, 2010, 11:55:33 PM
This story is fantastic.
You think so? Thanks. It was the first idea that popped into my head, so I just rolled with it...

Quote from: Silverhawk79 on December 15, 2010, 12:01:53 AM
What.WHAT.
I read it from start to finish and found nothing. :|
That's why it's hidden. Although the title of this thread is a good enough hint as to where to find it.

Quote from: Magnum on December 15, 2010, 12:55:30 PM
We get this instead of a new chapter of Silver's House of Pancakes?

:(
Yeah, sorry. But I owed this, so I decided to get it out of the way first since it was a one shot. But think of it this way: Now that I've no longer got this, that's one less thing to keep me from SHOP.
I get obsessively manic over things. It's a problem.

Jhen Mohran

What an intriguing read, ze.