One-Shot - Tangent 4 - Extra Credit

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Kaome Sky Deathand
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One-Shot - Tangent 4 - Extra Credit

Post by Kaome Sky Deathand » Wed Aug 05, 2009 12:46 am

This one is set in the world of J.K. Rowling.
So Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry is the place.
Let's skip all the drama of the books so this will be set sometime after all that.

Kinda had an off-the-wall idea that spiraled into something that could be cool.
As always, feel free to join in.
Cruor Vult

Hope, it is the quintessential human delusion,
simultaneously the source of our greatest strength, and our greatest weakness.

Soon we shall be One...joined in the Word.

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Kaome Sky Deathand
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Re: One-Shot - Tangent 4 - Extra Credit

Post by Kaome Sky Deathand » Wed Aug 05, 2009 1:21 am

"My name is Tiberius ad Nuoir Draconius and I will be your Defense against the Physical Arts instructor."
His voice was gruff, seasoned, weathered. He cast his gaze upon each and every one of them and knew that seventy-percent of those that had signed the waver and took his course would drop out or fail before they even made it to the Mid-terms. Most of the faces just gazed back like the puppets they were. A few turned white and he suppressed a shark grin. They had no idea what they were getting themselves into....
He stood next to a great oak desk that had been supplied by the school, along with most of the other furniture in the room. The trophies however...the racks of weapons and armor...the tapestries depicting epic scenes gifted to him by people all over the world...all of it his own. He wasn't much for those sorts of things, he preferred to wear his trophies on his armor...on his flesh. Each scar a badge, a mark of honor against a worthy foe.
His armor glinted, reflecting back the lights as they swung high above his head. Black burnished dragonhide mixed with a support structure of troll bones and other fetishes and runes to ward off powers. His helm sat on the great oak desk, a great scaled maw, horns and black horsehair....an empty scabbard slung at his side.

"Most of you will not know who I am, but a few of you might have heard of my exploits around the world."
Tiberius turned to a student on his right, pointing one of his scarred bony fingers at the young pup.
"You, what year are you?"

"Five sir." came a somewhat timid reply.
Tiberius grunted in response. "Is that so...then you are well practiced in the arts."
"Well...I know a bit abo-"
Tiberius cut the boy off with a hand. "I don't need to know how you came about it just a simple yes would suffice."
Two boys snickered in the back.
"Probably got hit in the head to many times to understand a long speech."
"Probably can't even write...look at the dumb brute."


"Ah!" Tiberius exclaimed.
"Volunteers..." In just a few great strides he crossed the distance and planted a solid fist straight into the jaw of the first 'pure' blood. The boy was sent sprawling out of his chair, slamming his head against the desk behind him before crumpling into a heap by the broken chair he once sat in. His accomplice turned white and tried to say something through trembling lips....his hand fell to his wand.

Tiberius merely glared.
"Well boy...do it...draw your little stick and speak your fancy words...you might have enough time to piss yourself before you join your friend on the floor."
A whimper...a fragile gurgle of a poor excuse for a male creature.
Tiberius turned, to face the rest of the class.
"That is a prime example of what NOT to do in my class...I do hope you all were paying attention."
Several students snapped back to reality, the shock of what happened sobering the little runts to the real world.
"The first lesson is simple..." Tiberius continued, walking back to the head of the classroom.
"...when an enemy swings a fist...DUCK."
Cruor Vult

Hope, it is the quintessential human delusion,
simultaneously the source of our greatest strength, and our greatest weakness.

Soon we shall be One...joined in the Word.

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TheDeathstalker
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Re: One-Shot - Tangent 4 - Extra Credit

Post by TheDeathstalker » Wed Aug 05, 2009 2:31 am

Zeke pulled up the hood of his trenchcoat, the gray sky pissing on the back streets of London, causing the chill of the morning to cling to the air with extreme prejudice. He was getting close, he just knew it. All the lies and secrecy would be torn away, and no longer would these monsters hide amongst us, taking what they will without an ounce of accountability.

He rounded the corner in a flash, placing the cold barrel of his .45 MEU pistol against the head of a young boy dressed in a rather archaic cloak.

"Drop the stick, come quietly, and nobody gets hurt."

The boy, shaking both of the fear and cold, his mind no longer clear, the words of the gunman seemed far away as fright overwhelmed him.

"Expel--"

*Bang*

Without a second thought, Zeke shot the twig of a wand out of the boy's hand, taking his index finger with it. As the boy turned to run, he brought the butt of the pistol down hard on the boys head, knocking him out cold.

"Poor kid. Would have preferred to do this the easy way."

Zeke lifts the limp body and places it in the passenger seat of his Aston Martin Vantage, tying the boy rather securely then getting in the driver's seat himself. He starts the engine, pulling out a map covered in notes and directions, following it out of the city, and to the truth he had been searching for for so long.
And though you come out of each gruelling bout,
All broken and beaten and scarred,
Just have one more try—it’s dead easy to die,
It’s the keeping-on-living that’s hard.

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Kaome Sky Deathand
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Re: One-Shot - Tangent 4 - Extra Credit

Post by Kaome Sky Deathand » Wed Aug 05, 2009 12:53 pm

"Now then..." Tiberius continued.
"The Ministry of Magic took the time and effort to gather and bind twenty-eight chapters of material they believe has everything to do with mastering the physical arts." Tiberius sighed, shooting his gaze skyward for a moment.
"After about five pages in I decided to scrub the book and teach you everything myself...so you will be happy...I'm sure...to hear that you will have absolutely NO written homework from me EVER."
A brief moment of silence before a series of hushed 'yes' and other murmurings of awe took over...the child on the ground all but forgotten by the others.
Tiberius waved them down.
"Yes...yes...I'm sure that's wonderful news." He pointed at the other boy still trying to revive his friend.
"You there...pick that glass jaw slack up and take him to medical...I never want to see either of you in my class again until you can learn to be respectful....so maybe next year."
The boy lifted his stumbling friend up and hobbled out the massive doors at the back of the class.

"Now then..." Tiberius took a few steps around the room as he spoke.
"...the first thing you are going to have to let sink in is that Magic is NOT your entire world. There is more to life than waving a wand and saying something in long dead languages. There is potions of course, skill with a broom if that strikes your fancy, a silver tongue, a sphere of influence...all these things are important of course...but nothing compares to your ability to take a blow and stand back up."
Tiberius paused, looking at each of the desks in turn.
"I see all of you have exceptional memories..."
They grew very sharp, pulling out notebooks, parchment, quills and inks.
Tiberius let them settle before continuing.
"Now then..." he cracked his left center knuckles by placing pressure with his opposite thumb.
"...you can dish out all the punishment you want, but if a single fireball puts you down for the count than you can forget about doing anything worthwhile in your life....you won't make it past your own door into the world if you can't grow thick skin."

A very petite girl raised her hand. Tiberius nodded in her direction.
"But isn't there a potion that will make your skin thicker?"
Tiberius blinked, counting to three in his mind.
"I'm sure there is...but that was simply a figure of speech."
She grew very red. He dropped the issue.

"For today..." Tiberius continued.
"...I want you to write me a page or so of reasons why you signed up for this class. Be sure that it will be heavily judged by myself...I'm not here to waste my time on people looking for what they think is an easy A."
Another girl, with hair of vivid red, raised her hand. Tiberius gestured for her to speak.
"Only a page or so?"
Tiberius nodded in reply.
"If it can't be spoken in less than a page than it's mostly lies. True answers are often given in the simplest of statements."
She seemed satisfied enough with that. Tiberius turned, walking back to his great oak desk and sliding into the only piece of furniture that belonged to him...a great Opal throne gifted by a small kingdom in middle Asia. He slid his hands into the well-worn grooves and exhaled.

Not so bad....right?
He thought to himself.
Cruor Vult

Hope, it is the quintessential human delusion,
simultaneously the source of our greatest strength, and our greatest weakness.

Soon we shall be One...joined in the Word.

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Re: One-Shot - Tangent 4 - Extra Credit

Post by Rising_Dusk » Fri Aug 07, 2009 3:07 am

He blinked three times.
His left eye closed slower than his right time for each motion of the face, causing his left eye to be a full blink behind the right by the time the third had passed. The large camera lens system grafted directly to his skull over his left eye twirled and whirred as it slid out into the shape of a telescope and then rescinded, reminded by the brain instinctively that in this bright light it could see fine without a scope. The ice blue eye behind it was constantly dilating to adjust to the light coming into it as the brown eye beside it peered steadily and unwavering at its target.

The black patch of scruff on the top of his head, unkempt and raggedy, wisped about at the motion below it. Below it, his ears were ripped and scarred, and what was missing of his right ear had been replaced by what appeared to be pieces from a small radar dish. His teeth were yellowed and snarled, and he had a very difficult time closing his mouth all of the way. The slurred speech from that gnarled grin came chattered and broken.

"But my headmassster would'st not wishhh that sssuch thhhings be kept from me, would heeee?"
He clamored about the room, his large metal boots clanging unscrupulously across the wooden floor of the office, being cursed at by any number of the paintings across the walls for each step. The bony and gnarled fingers of his left hand met tip to tip with the thin, spider-like and metal rods making up the anatomy of his right hand as his gaze glossed over the headmaster.

"That will be quite enough, dear Jarlequin. I'll hear no more of this topic."
Jarlequin's head twitched violently and instinctively at the response from the headmaster as though slapped. His hunched and crooked form hobbled back towards the door and the gargoyle beyond it that would lead back to the main floors of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

"Yess, yes, I seeee. This will doooo, I suppooose."
Jarlequin chattered down the hall away from the headmaster, who was now frowning. He moved down the stairs without ever looking back, cursing the unhelpful headmaster under his breath the entire way down.
"I'll come to Florida one day and make you look like a damn princess." ~Hep

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Kaome Sky Deathand
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Re: One-Shot - Tangent 4 - Extra Credit

Post by Kaome Sky Deathand » Fri Aug 07, 2009 3:36 am

The scratching of quills.
He had told them to take their time...still they insisted upon being finished as soon as they could. Tiberius sent some back to their seats with crumpled parchment in hand, giving them a second chance without ever saying so. His eyes closed for a few moments, listening to the scratching of quills. His facial muscles twitched of their own accord, his mind conjuring forth memories of battles long since past...deep under the earth...deep in the dark dank depths.

The scratching of quills.
The movement of insects. The rustle and bustle of many many legs. The brush of carapace upon carapace. leathery wings, click-clacking jaws and appendages. A veritable swarm of horrendous nightmares fire washed in the name of some unseen God that resided away from the light. The descended from every angle, hovered in the very air. Every step killed them underfoot, every breath stole the tiniest into your lungs, every swing of his sword ended generations of six-legged plague.
The movement of a legion.
The scratching of quills.

He had put up with it enough.
He dove a hand into one of his many pouches and withdrew a sleek, but grainy, looking stone. From it's resting place on his great desk he removed a dagger, a simple letter opener, and began to slid the two against each other. Several of the students stopped their writing, glancing up at the newest distraction.

Shink Shink
Tiberius turned the blade over once before eyeballing those that looked at him.
Shink Shink
Almost as one did they quickly go back to their work...all but one.
Shink Shink
The girl watched his hands carefully, taking in the movements as he continued to hone the edge of the slim dagger. After a minute or so, switching his gaze between blade and girl he set the dagger down and motioned for her to come up to his desk with a flick of his index finger. She gathered her parchment and slowly made her way from the mid-ranks of the desks to his great oak piece. She held her parchment out, half finished and ink blotted for him to take.
Tiberius simply shook his head.

"No..." he said.
"...you seem interested enough in this...would you like to learn how for yourself?"
She dropped her parchment and nodded, her eyes glinting with some form of delight.
Tiberius pointed to a weapons rack at the nearby wall.
"Take a dagger and gather a stool while you're at it." He turned to look at the other students.
"...you can continue."
The scratching of quills.

Tiberius stood, picking up the letter opener as he did, then crossed the room.
He stopped himself by a nearby shelf and gathered a hand carved whet stone dagger before motioning for the girl to sit at a nearby metal basin at the end of a row of benches. He sat at the end of the bench row while she sat on a stool opposite of him. He handed her the whet stone dagger before taking up his own sharpening stone once more.

"What is your name lass?" He asked.
Shink Shink
"Tonya Thatcher." she replied.
Shink Shink
"Well Tonya...what year is this for you?"
Shink Shink
"This is my sixth year here." she kept her replies short, mimicking his movements in the air.
Shink Shink
"Ah...well. I would suspect you know a few of the people in this room then..."
Shink Shink
She nodded. "A few of them."
Shink Shink
"Pick a handful and have them gather the same supplies you now hold...make sure the rest keep working."
"Very well." she replied.

Tiberius listened as the scratching started to fade.
In a few moments he sat before eager faces and open minds.
The scratching of quills.
The grinding of stone and metal.
Cruor Vult

Hope, it is the quintessential human delusion,
simultaneously the source of our greatest strength, and our greatest weakness.

Soon we shall be One...joined in the Word.

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Re: One-Shot - Tangent 4 - Extra Credit

Post by Rising_Dusk » Fri Aug 07, 2009 3:54 am

At this point, he was nearly upon the dungeon in the deep underbelly of the castle. The headmaster had asked him to teach a new elective class here this year in hopes of sparking some student interest in a career that very few had ever chosen to delve into. Many aurors had come to power by wielding great reflexes and even greater magickal prowess, but there is more than one way to defeat a dark sorceror. Many a time Jarlequin had hoped that he would come face to face with he-who-must-still-not-be-named, only to show him the depths of a power so great and ferocious, but yet entirely lost to the great wizard. A shame that he died to some silly boy at the end of some great path of prophecy. There were many magicks that Jarlequin had wanted to ask him about.

His jacket, pinned once at his left breast and again at the left of his stomach, swirled around his feet as he walked along. It was brown and its bottom was tattered and grimy, as though it had not been washed in a decade. The collar was popped and lined his wrinkly and slouched neck as he hobbled along down the hallway. Jarlequin was an extraordinarily thin man, many had remarked in the past that he might not have had anything but skin and metal in his body.

He reached what appeared to be a dead end. There was a small keyhole in the wall before him, and quite swiftly for a man of his arrangement, he lifted his right hand to his face. As his left eye focused in and then out on the small metallic rod he had for a finger, he whispered "Claviscula."

Almost instantly, the metal rod that was his finger began reshaping itself in impossible ways into what appeared to be a key. As soon as the transformation was complete, he inserted his finger into the keyhole and turned it to unlock the wall. As soon as it was unlocked and his finger removed, the wall began to pull away and a door pushed into existence before him. He swept inside quickly and the door to his pocket universe closed immediately behind him.
"I'll come to Florida one day and make you look like a damn princess." ~Hep

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Re: One-Shot - Tangent 4 - Extra Credit

Post by VZBushkiller20 » Sun Aug 09, 2009 12:08 pm

A group of fifth year students shuffle down the dark stairway, lit only by the occasional dark green candle. The entire hallway is lit with a low light, matching the color of the candles that give it off. Statues watch the students with unliving eyes. The air is surprisingly warm, despite any visible signs of heat. The stairs creak over the whispers of the students.

"I heard they hired a" *CREAK* "new potions master this year."
"Yeah, did you hear what happened to Professor Quinn?" *CREAK* "Real shame."
"Is he the one who went crazy and confused a potion of everlasting vigor with...well...he was so old anyway, what would he have even done with that" *CREAK* "potion..."
"I don't know, but I hope the new potions master won't be as demanding. Did you even finish your assignments last year?"

The girls and boys continued to chatter with little regard to their surroundings. No one noticed the small black cat that trailed them, silently climbing his way down the old stairs, his green eyes reflected in the light. The students filed into the classroom, taking their usual seats. Slytherin on one side, Gryffindor another, Hufflepuff in the back, and Ravenclaw in their little corner. Such petty rivalries, but one had to assume that it was part of growing up in a school like Hogwarts.

The books came out of the packs, some placed carefully upon the desks, others making a loud thump as they were dropped. A cauldron was bubbling on every desk, one for each group. As the pupils busily prepared themselves for class to begin, the cat silently leaped from the stair where he had settled down onto the floor below and walked down the aisle.

"Oh, what a cute kitten!" One of the girls dressed in the blue robes of Ravenclaw exclaimed.
"Is he someone's familiar?"
"Yeah, I think so...My sister has a cat that looks just like that! Here, Merlin! Come on!"
"Yeah, Dean, because an all black cat is so rare around here..."

The cat ignored all attempts at being wooed over and continued his march down the aisle, jumping up on the teacher's desk. A loud gasp arose from the room as, in place of the cat, sat a man. His hair and small, well trimmed, beard was jet black, like the cat's fur, and he his eyes were the same green.

"Good morning, class. Welcome to fifth year Advanced Potions. I am Professor Harlin, potions master." Harlin uncrossed his legs and slid down from the desk. "You were all chosen for this course by the late Professor Quinn, supposedly because you show potential in the wonderful art of potion making. Well..." Harlin began to walk down the aisle, observing the rows, meeting the eyes of every student in the class. "You may be chosen, but that means little to me. This class is not for those who think that to make a potion all they require is a cauldron, a few components, and a recipe. That is cooking, magic that even house elves can use. Potion making is an art, a series of experiments to seam one fluid result from many different threads. I will not tolerate cooking in this class." The Professor stopped, and scanned the room once more. A few of the weaker students seemed to be intimidated, others seemed indignant. Harlin would have little use for either.

His eyes lingered on those who seemed to welcome the challenge he offered. To rise above the simple formulas in the book and to achieve perfection. A small smile appeared on Harlin's face. Perhaps they weren't all lost after all.
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Kaome Sky Deathand
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Re: One-Shot - Tangent 4 - Extra Credit

Post by Kaome Sky Deathand » Sun Aug 09, 2009 1:44 pm

"Care for a weapon is important..."
Tiberius looked over his blade, sighting down the length. He resumed work and continued.
"...of course the obvious reasons are there in front of you, but more importantly it gives you time to reflect on what you have done, or what you are going to do." he grinned a sharkish grin. "...or keep you awake on long winter nights watch."
A few of the students chuckled nervously at the jest.

"So the first thing is to be sure not and..."
Tiberius cocked his head to one side.
The scratching of quills had ceased.
"Well then...I suppose I have some reading to do."
Tiberius stood and spoke up for the whole class.
"This room is filled with items and antiquities both rare and valuable in one form or another..." He glanced around, making sure he had everyone's attention. "...take this time to look around and find something that strikes your fancy. By the time I'm finished I would like some questions or at least a passing interest in general....You might say this is being graded..."
Utter lies but it would keep them busy.

Tiberius turned and with a burst of smoke, like the travel of a living writhing shadow, crossed from the work benches to his desk. A cape or cloak of sorts was apparent in the travel for a moment or so as he apparated. A few of the students gasped at the sudden display of higher magic, staring at him for a moment or so as he took to his chair and picked up the sheets of paper and parchment. He thumbed through the paper once, twice, then selected a random one to begin with.
The students began to circle around the room...beholding wonders long since forgotten by normal man.
Cruor Vult

Hope, it is the quintessential human delusion,
simultaneously the source of our greatest strength, and our greatest weakness.

Soon we shall be One...joined in the Word.

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Re: One-Shot - Tangent 4 - Extra Credit

Post by VZBushkiller20 » Tue Aug 11, 2009 5:50 pm

"No, no, no, no, NO!" Professor Harlin exclaimed, knocking the spoon out of his terrified pupil's hand. "The Liquid Air potion turns a deep purple and emits a fair fragrance when you add the Unicorn hair. That..." Harlin pointed to the cauldron. It was bubbling violently and was a sickly yellow color. It reeked of wet dog and year old milk. "That is an abomination. Ten points from Gryffindor, Mr. Daniels. Ms. Laurel, if you would please come and assist this utter buffoon, perhaps we can all leave this class with all of our limbs. If you please, Ms. Laurel."

The girl in question, a rather pretty girl wearing the blue robes of Ravenclaw, did not seem quite so eager to leave her cauldron, in which a dark blue liquid stewed. "But Professor, I've almost finished mine! Why do I have to..." The girl began to object, but Harlin did not seem to care. Or even listen. "Right this way, Ms. Laurel." The girl's face fell, as she dejectedly packed her supplies and left her station to help the idiot from Gryffindor. Her face broke in disgust as the smell of his potion hit her.

The other students were fairing better, but that was not saying much. Harlin stopped in front of a girl from Slytherin, whose cauldron contained a blood red liquid, a bubble escaping every now and then, but otherwise amazing heat distribution. He sniffed the air. Cinnamon.

"You, Ms. Brown, when did you add the diced manticore horn?"
"I put the horn in after it began to simmer. Isn't that what the book said, Professor?" The girl said nervously.
"It is Ms. Brown, but if you had been listening earlier, you may have heard me mention that the books I have provided for this potion are just a tad outdated." Harlin wafted the fumes from the potion towards him again. "Please do try to pay attention, Ms. Brown. I'd hate to have one of my students be sent to the infirmary because they concocted a cauldron of Everlasting Fire. I wouldn't add the dried Mandrake." He looked thoughtful for a second, propping his chin with his hand. "Perhaps this can be salvaged, Ms. Brown. I can think of five ways to turn this potion to what it is supposed to be. Lucky for you, you only need one."

The girl breathed once more as Harlin continued on. "Mr. Henderson, may I ask what you did here?" The boy gulped nervously and quickly began flipping through his book back to the correct page.

"Well, Professor, I diced the manticore horn early before combining it with the dried mandrake, allowing the two to react, see Professor? I put the two in this bowl and added the ten drops of merman blood. Then I stirred the faerie powder with the water before bringing it to a boil...and then I added the manticore mixture into the boiling water, before letting it simmer. Is...Is that okay, Professor?" Geoffrey Henderson shifted nervously. Harlin looked into his cauldron. The green liquid was simmering, and it released no smell.

"Tell me, Mr. Henderson, why did you think to add the merman blood before you put the mandrake and manticore into the mixture? Is that not what the book instructed you to do?"
"Well, Professor, I noticed a lot of similarities between this potion and the Essence of Wind. The key to that one was making sure the dry components were a bit, well, moist, sir. Did...Did I do something wrong, sir?"
"Well, why don't we find out. Finish the potion, Mr. Henderson."

Harlin stood behind the boy as he added the Unicorn hair. The mixture began to bubble, but only for a second, as the green liquid began to change colors, turning from an emerald into a deep violet. "Congratulations, Mr. Henderson. You receive an A+ for the day. You are dismissed." The lucky boy quickly mumbled thank you, packed his supplies, and left the dungeon. That one has potential. Behind Harlin, an explosion was heard.

"For the love of...George! I told you to dice the manticore horn, you idiot!" An irritated feminine voice said.
"Is everything okay, Ms.Brown?"
"No, Professor, George got some of the potion on his fingers and now I'm going to fail!"
"Well, Ms. Brown...perhaps you'd better take George to the infirmary. As for your potion, you added the blood a bit too late into the mixture, but at least it isn't fatal." He turned to the girl who was amazingly able to look simultaneously concerned about her partner and excited about her non-failing potion. "B...Now, off you two go. Oh, it looks like the potion is acidic as well, perhaps you'd better hurry." He finished, as the desk the two had been working at melted away.
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Re: One-Shot - Tangent 4 - Extra Credit

Post by TheDeathstalker » Sun Aug 16, 2009 2:27 am

With the city streets beginning to give way to damp green fields, Zeke pulls the Vantage up to a quiet petrol station. He had wrapped the boy's hands earlier, but the gauze had long since soaked through.

After quickly topping off the tank and picking up a few supplies, Zeke cracks open an Orange Fanta and slides in a straw. His heavy hand rouses the boy with surprising gentleness.

"Here, you've lost a lot of blood, drink up." Zeke places the straw in the boy's mouth, who groggily sips at it. "Let me see that bandage."

As he peels back the gauze, he notices the wound is relatively clean cut, but the blood refuses to stop. Zeke reaches into the back, pulling out and opening a small thermos. Lying gingerly amongst the reddened ice is an index finger, which Zeke plucks out before dumping the ice out the door of the car. Holding the finger and the bloodied wound together, he pulls out a slender twig and mutters "Episkey Tal".

Like magic, the skin, muscle and bone crawl over and into each other, until they become one once again, leaving only an unnatural line separating the almost frostbitten finger and the bloodied hand.

Tossing the bandage out the window, Zeke speeds off, and continues to follow the map without a word.
And though you come out of each gruelling bout,
All broken and beaten and scarred,
Just have one more try—it’s dead easy to die,
It’s the keeping-on-living that’s hard.

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Kaome Sky Deathand
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Re: One-Shot - Tangent 4 - Extra Credit

Post by Kaome Sky Deathand » Fri Aug 21, 2009 8:07 pm

Tiberius rubbed his aching forehead with fingers and thumb.
A single funeral bell note sounded in the deep, as if the Reaper himself had called for attention. Tiberius looked over at the bell and sighed. It had been enchanted for him by a very skilled craftsman to knoll exactly when it was told to at a previous time. In this case, Tiberius had told it to sound for the change of class. He gave a short unspoken prayer of thanks, placing the rest of his papers on his desk before standing. He clapped his hands once, a great 'boom' reverberating through the room as he did so. The students turned, all eyes on him, attention grasped.

"That would be your next class...I suggest you get a move on."
The students filed out in no particular order. Some lingered, glancing at things behind glass or fingering the tip of a hanging weapon. Others all but fled the room in haste. In but moments they had all departed for their next respective classes...leaving Tiberius alone in the prison of his own design.
He stood for a moment longer before slumping into the throne.

"Why did I accept this headache?" he muttered to the air.
There was no reply of course...no human one in any case.
There came a scratch scratching from under the desk, or rather inside the space under the desk. Tiberius cocked his head to one side before muttering a single word: "Ar" The sound of a latch undone before, screaming like a banshee, gnashing teeth and smelling of brimstone lunged a drakeling from the unseen prison. On ragged wings it flew several circles in the air before resting on the back of the throne, clicking and clacking it's small snout side to side.

"Well it's not my fault! One look at you and they would all have forsaken their souls and spat excrutiatus or something equally studious and spellworn in your direction." Tiberius grumbled. The dragon click-clacked again. Tiberius raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean I said it wrong? Of course I said it wrong! Do you want them to call down the Headmaster and have me explain why some child's head has exploded?" He gave a short gruff of laughter. "I'd tell them they were feeding them sugar-coated rubbish and nonsense about impractical things is what I'd say...." He sighed and drummed his right fingers against some papers.

"Well my friend..." he asked turning to glance at the drakeling.
"I could sit here and read these while we both starved or I could fix us something to eat before the next class starts..."
The drakeling squealed with something like delight, hopping up and done the length of the thrones back. Tiberius gripped the sides of the throne and slowly rose to his full height before stretching his arms into the air. He stifled a cough and crossed the threshold of the room with a booming stride, drakeling following in dips and dives at it swam across the air. Pushing a rolling bookcase to one side, Tiberius gestured to his familiar.

"Chicken or beef?"
Cruor Vult

Hope, it is the quintessential human delusion,
simultaneously the source of our greatest strength, and our greatest weakness.

Soon we shall be One...joined in the Word.

Locked

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