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Author Topic: Short Stories for the Studious Soul  (Read 4654 times)

Offline Haruki

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Short Stories for the Studious Soul
« on: June 17, 2014, 01:57:07 AM »
Hello all! As much as I love writing novel-length stories, I can't finish them just as much as anyone wants to take the time to read them. So, I give you a set of short stories meant to entertain, to comment, to sadden, and not necessarily in that order.

  • Word counts will range anywhere from 500 to 2,000 words.
  • Constructive Criticism is appreciated.
  • If you want your character written about, ask me. Maybe I'll get an idea.

Featured Characters













___________________________________
Champagne© Haruki
Torrid © Haruki
Akari © Banana1003
Kozuka © Haruki
Natyerii © Husky275
May © FaintSilhouette
Demon © Raivenwings
Victory © Haruki
Valor © Shiro
Passion © Raivenwings
Fang © Raivenwings


Story Name: "Tusk You"
Featured Character: Champagne, Kozuka, Akari, Natyerii, May
Genre: Comedy
Word Count: 1,360
Status: Polishing
Rating: T, for Champ's naughty mouth
Summary: Kozuka's being an ass. How will the other Pyrrhic Passion
 members react to him antagonizing Champagne?
More importantly, will Champ decide to kill him kindly?[/font]

Spoiler for Hiden:
She had to admit, Crater sure was beautiful. So this was how her newly budding acquaintance lived? “And you said you live with a pride?” Natyerii asked curiously.

 May, who had not yet developed into her monstrous genes, nodded as she balanced of paws she hadn’t grown in to while she showed her around. “Yeah. It’s called Pyrrhic Passion. Nice bunch of people. Eccentric, but nice,” May said fondly.  Having already toured the small pond rimmed in cherryblossom trees, and the stone-like shelters near it, she led the much smaller demoness through the main thicket in the heart of the territory.

 May knew that, not only were the pride members not the “YOU ON MAH TERRITORY, YOU DIE!” type, but with herself as an escort, there was little conflict to be had. She could take confidence in their leader, Champagne, to welcome newcomers with open arms. Well, with her recommendation, that is.


 Not too far a distance away, under a natural stone awning in the base of a shallow crater, said leader was absolutely livid. She’d recently found the love of her life, and he’d reciprocated her infatuation, and they had announced their intent to be mate-bound before the pride with many congratulations. So why was she so upset?

In a word: Kozuka.

“I’m just saying,” The brutish lion continued haughtily, “He’s such a pussyfooter! I’ve had bowel movements with more leadership skills than that guy!”

Champ’s eye twitched with fury, rubbing her pulsating temple with the blunt end of her claw. “Kozuka… I swear, if you don’t shut up…” she growled under her breath.

Oh, but then that wouldn’t be Kozuka. “This pride needs a leader with a backbone!  And you picked the  invertebrate. What do you see in the guy?”

“Kozuka,” Champagne interrupted.

He didn’t seem to notice. “I mean, sure, if you’ve got a hankering for the effeminate shy-guy. But as a leader?” His paw gestured about animatedly to make his point. Somehow, his tone of voice still came across as passive-aggressive.

“Kozuka!”

“Don’t get me wrong, he’s pretty nice for a twat…”

“UGH, You are such an ass, do you know that?” Champ let out a guttural sound of frustration deep in her throat. She shot to her paws, her white fur  half-lit in her rage.

“Hey, whoa, there’s no need for name calling…” Kozuka managed to stare back dryly, even as her fiery eyes flared under the shadow of her mane. Her irate scoff brought him back on his line of thinking. “What I mean, is, Champ, you can do better.” His dark violet eyes flashed with a glimmer of mischief under the hood of his lids. “A lot better.”

Champ leveled him with an incredulous glower. Her tail had its own furious swordplay behind her, flicking like the flames she wished would shoot from the earth and boil his eyeballs from the inside. “Kozuka,” she barked. Bring on the rage. “I'd sooner pleasure myself with an elephant tusk than even consider you a suitor!”

Kozuka’s mane was blown back by the force of her holler, and his ears were wafer-thin against his neck as he watched Champ storm off. Her movements were tight, mechanical, and her lips were drawn in a grim line.

Akari, a close friend of Kozuka’s, could only stop and watch as her leader rolled right by like a hurricane across the coast. Best not to intervene, the decidedly intelligent lioness thought. She glanced towards the awning that Champ had left, and found a grumpy-looking Kozuka beneath it.

“Hey. So… what was that about?” she asked conversationally. She always knew how to approach him, how to not set off his oh-so-sensitive belligerent button.

Oh, hell. Of course, Akari decides to show up now of all times. He had only a few options. He could ignore her until she went away, which likely wouldn’t happen because she’d just extract it —whether orally or rectally—from him. So that was out. Leaving only the option of the truth or… maybe an idealized view of it.

Meh, fuck it. He’s still stewing, and feeling temerarious as usual. “I have no idea,” Kozuka lamented, looking all the victim. “I wouldn’t mess with her today. She must be in heat, or something.” He visibly shuddered.

Somehow, Akari wasn’t completely buying it. Champagne had been nothing but nice to her, if not maybe a little intense at moments. “Uh-huh… so what happened?” she prompted.

“I don’t know,” he repeated, “I was just laying here, minding my own business, and then here comes Champ telling me about some crazy kinky shit that she’s into. Needless to say, I was perturbed.”

Akari’s eye twitched. “Crazy… kinky shit…?” she echoed.

“Yeah, like, masochistic. You want to know what she told me?” He didn’t notice as her baby-blue gaze shifted from him to directly through him. “She told me about how she pleasures herself with an elephant tusk.”

Akari’s lack of response made a silence hang heavy in the air. Suddenly, and seemingly without provocation,  she burst into laughter. “What?” he asked. She only shook her head, bracing her ribs against the force of her mirth. It proved too much, and her airy giggling won the knock-down as she collapsed to the ground, rolling from side to side. Oh, Kovu! It was just too funny! It hurts! It hurts!

Kozuka quirked a brow down at her. Sure, it was funny, chuckle-worthy even. And then he felt it. A twinge, a sense, a pinch, a twitch, call it what you will; He felt it. Champagne stood behind him, her eyes boring an inferno into the back of his head. Her glare was so strong, it could shift the Earth’s axis a few degrees. Metaphorical flames shot out of her spikey fur, ominous clouds gathering over her head and shooting lightning bolts down about her.
He swallowed. “She’s right behind me, isn’t she?” he asked. Akari nodded, her laughter reaching a crescendo.

Kozuka’s eyes turned, followed timidly by his head, to catch only a meager glimpse of her ire. In the same moment that his gut was turned to magma mush, he felt her paw immediately on top of his head, ramming his face down into the dirt. His muzzle smooshed like a pug, Kozuka let out a low moan of pain. He probably couldn’t get up if he tried, which was a testament to just how utterly pissed off Champ was given his size. She’s strong when she’s angry!

“Hello, Akari,” she said pleasantly, sweetly, even. “My, you look lovely today. More so than usual. How are you?” Champagne was nothing short of saccharine, her fangs glimmering in the bits of sunlight let through the shade structure.
 
“I’m good, thanks…” Akari had just sat back up, having finally gotten her laughter under control. In light of Champagne’s sweetness, even with her taut muscles forcing the lion’s face deeper and deeper into the dirt, Akari didn’t know whether to be afraid or, well, afraid. “How’re you…?” She ventured, with no small amount of trepidation.

“Oh, me? I’m doing just fine,” Champ answered conversationally. Her eyes turned down towards her subdued quarry, and Akari watched as they flared to life with her wrath. “Except for the vexing presence of a certain asshat.”

He could only let out a muffled “mmmph.” It only served to get dirt in his nostrils.

Akari gave in to her mild amusement of Kozuka’s very submissive—and painful looking—position, and let the grin twitching at her lips crack. She opened her mouth to say something, but was interrupted by the sound of laughter. Kozuka’s exposed eye slid up to the top of the hill, finding what it was Champ and Akari’s attentions had snapped to: May, up at the crest, with a non-hostile looking feline at her side, chuckling to themselves.

“I’m so in!” She heard Natyerii say enthusiastically, marred by giggles.

Ah, good, Champ thought smugly, more people to see his embarrassment. Her look of superiority didn't last long, as she heard May reply.
“Welcome to Pyrrhic Passion,” she sniggered. “Where the leader tusks herself regularly.”

Champagne’s face flushed so hard, that her red cheek stripes faded away.


Story Name: "The 9th"
Featured Character: Torrid
Genre: Comedy/Romance
Word Count: 527
Status: Polishing
Rating: M, to be safe.
Summary: Torrid doubts he could survive this night in one piece...



Spoiler for Hiden:
He'd fallen from a cliff, that was one.

He could still remember the shell-shocking sensation of nothing beneath his paws. Gravity wasn't known for its niceties, but consistency. He cried and flailed and felt distinctly like a pup birthing from a standing mother, then had succumbed to deceleration trauma. Cute euphemism, that was, he'd say to brush off his injuries after he'd awoken.

Oh, he certainly lost another when he'd been on the receiving end of moose antlers. That had certainly been a bad day. As though it wasn't enough that he'd lost his kill, he was maimed by it before his future ex-girlfriend. Needless to say, he'd gone to bed hungry that night, and in more ways than one.

Fire ants sucked dick, he knew full well. He had thought those to be the worst. Had, prior. Number three in chronology, but not agony! The dark-pelted wolf felt a shiver run down his spine at the very thought despite the warm temperate air of the forest. Those fire ants probably should have taken two rather than one.

A near-drowning, four. Elephant stampede, five. An earthquake, a good brawl, sleeping in the snow; six, seven, eight.

Of all the ways that he'd lost one of his nine lives, this certainly had to be the most fatalistic.

He felt his blood boil, evaporating the fluids from his body and sapping him of any semblance of strength. He wanted to sink to his knees, sob and howl in anger and rage as he was set ablaze. The cool night air laved against him, yet doing nothing to cool the burn. He was aflame, a living inferno threatening to start a continent of wildfire.

She lay before him, touchable, yet so far beyond him. He swallowed hard, feeling his gullet sink to his paws then back. If he didn't shut his gaping trap, his tongue might go the same route. Long, think tendrils of her hair flowed across her shoulders and onto the ground, half-veiling her eyes as she tossed a look back at him. "Well?" she asked, her voice inviting, yet impatient. He gave a low whimper as he stared at the back of her head, willing himself to come closer, yet afraid that he will reach his boiling point and float away on the cool night breeze. He knew that as soon as he touched her, broke that barrier, it would be all over.

She sighed, swishing her tail from one side to the other and unknowingly goading him into further realms of lasciviousness and forcing him to acknowledge pent base desires. His lust, interminable. Her draw, incomprehensible.

His crimson eyes darkened as his pupils expanded with audacity, staring at the object of both of their desires. She'd entreated him, him! Of all, he'd been asked to scratch the itch she couldn't satisfy herself. Wide, flaring hips framed the entire purpose of this encounter. His nostrils flared, and he felt his entire body tremble with internal siege.

"Are you going to pull this tick off of me? It hurts..."

He stared a little longer, then nodded.

Come to think of it, wolves don't get nine lives, do they?


Story Name: "Champagne's Garden"
Featured Character: Champagne
Genre: Tragedy
Word Count: 349
Status: Polishing
Rating: PG
Summary: How many little flowers must Champagne plant beneath the wide elm tree?



Spoiler for Hiden:
Champagne smiled fondly, dressing the sweet little creature in a ring of paw-strung wildflowers. She’d worked meticulously on the collar. Her claws were designed for the shredding of flesh, not for the tedious task of weaving chlorophyll strands together. Still, the young mother had worked tirelessly, undeterred by the gentle nudges of concern from  her loved ones.



Beneath the wide elm tree, that same elm tree where she’d been conceived, the little pup lay quietly in her upturned paws, as though she was sleeping. Champagne smiled at the peaceful expression on her daughter’s face, the dappling of light filtering through the wide canopy in pockets of shadow. Mother and daughter’s pelts nearly matched, the beams highlighting the red manes and shadows darkening their white pelts in the most aesthetically pleasing contrasts.


Beneath the elm tree, the same elm tree, he’d said it. “Stay with me.” He’d said it. “Champagne… be the mother of my cubs.” He’d said it! “I’ll never leave you.”


Beneath the wide elm tree, he’d wrapped his arms around her. She’d felt safe, she felt wanted. She'd wanted to give him everything, and she did.



“Your new sister,” she cooed, smoothing the little tuft of crimson hair from the cub’s face. She turned to the little patch of growing wildflowers, of weeds, dandelions. She’d always thought the more resilient were most beautiful. “Isn’t she beautiful? Welcome her.”


Beneath the wide elm tree, he’d told her he needed an heir. If not from her, then from someone else. It was her fault; It was her muddied heritage.


And there, beneath the wide elm tree, the same elm tree, where she’d done so many times before,  Champagne hunched over and clutched the silent, tiny body to her chest. The birdsong ceased, as though they knew that she needed a moment of silence.  She’d done this so many times, grew accustomed to the silence, and she grew accustomed to the void within her chest. Her little friend, her constant companion. It wasn't going away anytime soon, so she might as well befriend it.


Champagne placed the quiet cub in the shallow indentation and began to fill it.
« Last Edit: January 08, 2015, 05:00:40 AM by Haruki »


Offline Haruki

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Re: Short Stories for the Studious Soul
« Reply #1 on: November 01, 2014, 07:40:12 PM »
Okay this one's longer than the others but there was just so much emotion packed in I couldn't bring myself to omit anything.

Story Name: "The Necessity of Sacrifice"
Featured Character: Champagne, Demon, Victory, Valor, Passion, Fang
Genre: Drama/Tragedy
Word Count: 6,316
Status: Polishing
Rating: M, violence, gore, language, overall terrible themes
Summary:How far will two parents go to protect their children from the throes of evil? What does it mean to be willing to give yourself for another person?


Spoiler for Hiden:
"Mommy, you weren't lying when you said it'd be cold," shivers Victory, still snuggled up in her father's back tufts. Actually, that's a rather poor description; She's /wrapped/ around in them, anchored like a little otter against the biting cold.

 Passion was snuggled up to her brother, gray and black against red, and utterly silent for once. "It's okay, Valor." She mewed quietly, rubbing a paw over her cold nose before draping it over his shoulders.The 'big' brother couldn't help but smile as his normally bullying sister extended him a kind paw around his shoulders.

 "The portal's only a little ways away, baby," soothes Champagne, not only at Victory but to all of her kin. Valor was wrapped up in Champ's thick trail of her dress, being sledded along on the cool ice. At least he had his other sister to keep him warm. Champagne walked alongside her mate, but the giddiness of their fun bantering and the booty-bumping and sense of adventure had worn off. Now, her ears swiveled and sheared this way and that, filtering out the screaming winds. White... everything's white. Everything's too pristine. It's hard not to feel vulnerable when you are literally glowing against the absolute bleak backdrop. "Demon... something's not right," she whispered to him. Her heart would sink into her stomach now and then, fur raising under that dress in momentary alarm. Her instincts said that they weren't alone.

"What do you think it is?" Demon murmured, pausing to sniff the air. Everything was just cold, cold, cold. He could barely scent them just beside him.

"I don't know," she answered, careful only to speak just loud enough to be heard over the howling winds. Their manes whipped wildly in the tempest, and Champ's dress billowed now and then when the blows shifted. There's seriously nothing around. Penguins a little ways off, the occasional non-sentient arctic fox, but otherwise nothing. She might have said 'Oh, I'm just overreacting' but, truth is, these things rarely misguide her and it's been proven in practice. Fuck... it could be any number of their enemies.

Demon's chocolate eyes shifted back and forth, blinking rapidly in the wind. The blizzard was picking up and his first tinges of regret for bringing the cubs along in this little adventure. He stopped in his tracks, turning his head against the wind and listening. Something in his gut said they were being hunted, and his skin was crawling, and not just from the cold. "...Let's get a move on." Demon's paws picked up to a trot, crunching over the snow and ice that numbed his pads. 

Indeed something was watching the little family. The parents that had struggled so hard to bring those three little urchins into this world, and for what? To drag them along on some insidious adventure to freeze to death? 'How morbid of them...' Fang thought with a quiet chuckle, just a shadow slithering along the icy landscape, following the wind towards his prey.
 
Demon suddenly stopped, feeling his heart thump painfully in his chest. Not just his gut was calling to him, or his instincts, but his very soul was crying out. "...Fang."

An ancient enemy, stowed away in the body of the newborn Demon, now freed by horrible magic of a slaughtered innocent. He stands seven feet at the shoulder, with solid black fur, giant wings, long saber fangs, and a horrible sneer. The beast materialized on the hill overlooking the frozen lake where Demon's family had paused, staring up at him in horror. Fang was utterly quiet in that moment, deducing their escape routes, fighting patterns and everything else that might hinder his plan. Sure, he had been watching them, waiting for the time to strike, but this? This was too perfect, like that had /wanted/ to get caught out in the open like this, exposed and isolated.

Passion's eyes had turned into perfect round russet circles rimmed with terrified white. "M-Mama...?" Something in /her/ gut clenched as she stared at the nightmare. It was like she had /seen/ him before, in a dream, or... but where?

Champ's glowing markings flared like the arcs on the sun as she felt the newfound panic radiating from her mate. She followed his gaze, and she was immediately in the same state of mind. Fang. "D... daddy?" Even the fearless Victory, who'd greeted T-Rex and dragon alike knew instinctively that this wasn't a friend. It's like she already knew who that was. "A... Azaleon," she whispered, heard only by Demon who's ear was by her mouth.

Demon's body felt frozen in fear, but not for himself. Rarely ever was he worried for himself, and this was no exception. His children and his mate were in mortal danger, and as Victory whispered the name in fear Demon felt his heart /stop/.  He didn't have time to question why she'd know that name; he had never said it aloud, and few mortals alive knew it. So how did she?

The compartmentalization that had saved Champagne so many times before was failing. The calm she'd been able to achieve in protecting herself and her friends was /very/ different than the mothering need she had ferociously harbored. It consumed her, and she did what she almost knew that Fang believed she would. "Valor... Passion... Victory... get in the cave. Now." Those last remnants of stoicism were laced with panic, and Victory and Valor did exactly as they were told. If Passion didn't, it wouldn't matter because Champ's first move was to pull that protective fabric over her head and throw it to the cubs. They'd need it more than her. Champagne's eyes immediately ignited against her will, illuminating the valley in harsh fractals of light every which way. A strange contrast of hot and cold.

 Fang was walking casually over toward them, the icy wind flowing right around him, as if he had his own shield from it. "I thought it about time to introduce myself to the little ones." He said quietly, eyes shifting toward the little cave, then to Demon has he stepped to Champ's side protectively. Teeth bared, yadda yadda. He was such a bore, always the same routine. But the vibe he was getting from Champagne really had his interest, and he swiped his long, snake-like tongue over his fangs as he eyed her. He was regretting his choice to 'save' her for Arinzel, but it was probably for the better. Besides, even if he couldn't /kill/ her, there were certainly much... /much/ worse things he could do to the new mother.

 "No. No, no, /NO/." Demon muttered, swinging his hips back toward the cave, keeping himself between his children and the nightmare.

"They seem strong. Spritely. So they made it after all." A low, drawn-out chuckle vibrated from his parted maw. "I hope you didn't get attached already." That smirk widened into a sickening grin.
Everything. /Everything/ about him made Champagne sick. The tongue. The smirk. The casual walk. Her /babies/ were in that cave. The one's that she had sobbed for, fought for, would have DIED for and will gladly do it again.

The calm Champagne isn't here. The one who believed that she needed to live for her pride wasn't here. In her place stands only a mother, who will willingly sacrifice herself to keep her children alive. Anything, /anything/ for them. "You knew all along," she growled, recalling Fang acting as though he believed her when she told him that her unborn children had died already.

  He'd /planned/ for them to live so he could kill them after she'd grown to love them. Truly, openly, wholeheartedly love them. Or, maybe, even for them to kill her in childbirth. Did he know /everything/ about her?  Her lip flared, something she rarely does in battle until she'd launched an offensive. She was terrified, but was failing to transform it like she had in Gehenna, or against the bloodwolf in the Flame Grotto. No. The last bit of the real Champagne showed through when she suddenly turned, covering one eye with a paw until it was super-heated and then slamming it as hard as she could against the side of the snow-face. It caused a small avalanche, sealing the exit to the ice cave. And that was it. That's all she had.

Fang was only a short distance away, where he paused, eyes locked on Champagne. After years of tormenting Demon, this was, by far, going to be the most fun. Trying to kill May, his closest friend? Not even a close second to what he was going to do in front of the young parents.  Dagger drawn, eyes alight, and with a ferocious roar Champ leaped directly at Fang's face, ready to sink it between his eyes and incinerate whatever she could. This wasn't cold and calculated. It was fiery, and impassioned, frenzied, and furious. The beast turned his head from Champ's enraged attack, allowing her to sink her blade into his shoulder, the smell of burning fur and flesh rising up through the frigid air. A rippling laugh echoed through his bones and Champ's knife as Demon clamped down on his other shoulder, sinking teeth and claws and dripping acidic black tar-like blood onto the ice. "Of course I did," was his response as he unfurled one massive, clawed paw to slice down at her, aiming for her eyes. Maybe he could blind the bitch; that'd make this just that much more fun
 
It was a strange, silent fight. Even with the roars, with the shrieks and whimpers and grunts of exertion and growls and a few words spoken, it all seemed to drown out in the wind. When Fang made a swipe at her eyes, the skin above and below them was well and sliced open, but the suns remained unharmed and would incinerate up his attacking arm. Hopefully, it'd get him off balance enough to knock him over before it regenerated because she launched again at the nightmare. He'd known all along. He planned this all along. He knew this would happen. She was going to do /everything/ she knew to stop him. "Filthy vermin!" she snarled around her dagger, reaching out with both paws at his face to try and incinerate him into oblivion like in Cave of Sacrifice. Careful, Champ... all of that heating up is dangerous, when you're on ice.

Fang's laughter only grew into a loud cackling at Champagne's words. Oh this /was/ fun. More fun than he'd had in /ages/. So what if he was getting all roasted and toasty? It was worth it just execute his ideas. Demon was ripping and tearing chunks of flesh from his side, which was quite annoying, and frankly, not as fun as Champ's bitter words.

Demon knew going for Fang's side was a risk; those fucking /wings/ always got in the way, and they were /strong/. But he was used to getting knocked away, but this time Fang did something different. Fang's wing unfurled and wrapped itself around Demon's whole frame, squeezing and smothering him into his side. Demon couldn't breathe, but it was only for a moment before that wing unleashed and beat hard at him, smashing him into the ice. A shuddering crack rippled out from the frozen lake, slicing little tendrils of smaller cracks under Demon's body.

At the same time, Fang had prepared for Champ's attack, and lifted into his back paws, wings spread wide and massive, before he brought his paws and snarling muzzle down at Champ. Her paws hit his chest, but it wasn't enough to move him much, and in a swift move he bit down on her upper foreleg and twisted and slammed down, trying to force her leg back in an unnatural position, hopefully break it. Another CRACK shook the thinning ice below them. "They should have never had a chance, anyway." Fang said calmly.

And he knew her next move too! Was he the one that circulated the rumor that there was a Guardian in WolfSoul? It's hard not to think that, when this omnipotent asshole is not only planning her life for her, but anticipating her every move. In Champ's mind, it was unthinkable, because she'd always kept him guessing before. This? This was predictable, and she didn't even realize it. She stood there, seeing nothing but an expanse of sheer blackness, literally and figuratively, trying to incinerate his chest. Even with that working, she hadn't even a portion of the strength to hold him back and she was slammed down onto the ice with a terrible cracking of her ribs. Her leg was pulled back unnaturally behind her, and would have snapped clean off if she wasn't as flexible as she was.

 His words chilled her to the core. Was she a terrible parent? It sure as hell looked like it. Perhaps the nine before them were a signal from someone up above, mocking her, telling her she never deserved that kind of happiness. She's not cut out. "Kill me... not them." While her heart and body panged, the splits in the ice jarred her back to reality. Demon's cry. She tried to call out to him, but her eyes had melted the ice and she was suddenly aware that she couldn't breathe. Not with Fang holding her down and the ice quickly growing thin. She couldn't boil it all, not in this frozen wasteland. It'd take the sun itself to do that, and it seems that even she had abandoned this family to die too. She dared not unclench her jaw from the dagger, but took a deep breath and beluga'd free of Fang's grasp into the ice-water below. The cold was enough to stop her heart, and it made her lungs jar so hard she nearly breathed it in and drowned herself.

Up above, she could see in the spiderweb of the ice Demon's figure, and knew that Fang's next move was for the cubs. She couldn't let that happen. She'd sooner drown down here than let that happen. So she swam under his feet, melting the ice to keep it slushy enough for him not to walk. Come in after me, or I'm going to at least annoy the hell out of you.

Fang watched her splash into the ice, and he stepped back, watching her with amusement. Perhaps watching just a bit too much, as Demon had time to get up and launch himself at Fang's back, ripping at his left wing 'shoulder'. It was enough to catch Fang somewhat off guard, and as Champ melted the ice, the gray and black wolves fell through the ice with a loud CRACK! Champ's hole had at least been decently small, but the mass of Demon and Fang combined sent the chunks of shattered ice turning up and sideways, jagged and spreading the cracks further and further.

 Demon felt the cold like a punch, crushing in on his ribs as he released his grip on Fang, trying to get to the surface and scrabbling at the ice. This wasn't going to work. One of them needed to get the cubs away and the other distract Fang. And while Demon would normally never abandon Champ to such a fate as to fight Fang alone, instincts and fear tugged at his heart. But he was dragged down again as another massive shard of ice broke from the 'surface' and pushed him back under.

Holy fuck its cold. Some small, distant part of Champagne was screaming that it's too cold. In fact, the only thing keeping her mind working in such frigid ice-water was her eyes keeping the fluid around her head mostly temperate. Bubbles of boiling water rose out of that little sphere, only to be frozen in some surreal time-lock that bumped against her enemy. At that point, her rage against Fang was tempered only by a concern for Demon, father of her children, as he'd likely die of hypothermia in here. So would she, but that's not a concern to her.

It's okay, Champagne, to die here. It's okay. Just make sure your cubs are safe. May will be an excellent leader. Pyrrhic will go on; Demon will go on; The cubs will go on without you, just make this your final mission. With this thought burning hard into her mind, Champagne saw Fang shark his way over to her, knowing exactly what he was about to do. And she embraced it. She's okay with it. Running low on breath and her muscles beginning to rigor, she ducked her head into Fang's jaws as they splayed to bite her, her front claws digging into the sides of his neck to anchor herself. She'd willingly look into the belly of the beast, her eyes alight and dagger drawn along with her. She couldn't breathe. Her chest convulsed, but her anger alone fueled the suns in her head to try and incinerate him from the inside out. Force him into mist form so Demon and the cubs could escape.

Fang's jaws parted like a snake's, looking almost unhinged as they clamped over Champagne's face. It was glowing, literally, from the inside out, the silhouettes of his teeth against his cheeks illuminated by Champagne's burning eyes. It was like Hell all over again, suddenly, and Fang felt both pain, fear, and a strange pleasure from it all. She was searing into the back of his throat as his fangs dug into the back of her neck. /Ohh/ how he wanted to rip her head off and have her blood taint the water, right here, right now. But that wasn't the plan; never had been. His deal with Arinzel was more important, and besides... he wasn't finished playing games yet. His eyes turned directly towards Demon as he held Champagne's life in this moment.

 Demon's heart stopped. His motive to save their children had suddenly been put on the backburner, and he stood there, dripping and freezing, frozen by this moment. 'Oh god no... please...' While he knew Fang couldn't hear him, Demon wanted to plead and beg for her life, to drop to his paws and give his life for her.

This is it. She could feel his jaws around her throat, and the sickeningly comforting feel of his warm throat encompassing her in the cortege to take her to Hell. At least there, she'd be warm. It's okay. Fang will sever her head from her body, but the suns will burn down into his throat, and he will be forced into his mist form long enough for Demon to grab the cubs and leave. It's okay. So she fought, and she fought, but only to keep him from releasing her under the water. She'd give her life for the man she loves with all her heart. Her cubs mean more to her than taking this next breath. It's okay.

Ohhh the look on Demon's face right now was priceless. While it was barely a few seconds, it would forever be engraved in his wicked mind. But, alas, he didn't want to let her cause -any more internal injuries than necessary. With a flap of those massive wings underwater, he'd propel them both out of the water, dangling Champ midair before dropping her on the precarious and cracked but unbroken piece of ice where Demon was. "Are we having fun yet?" Fang laughed as he flew above them.

 It's okay. Something tells her, you know, perhaps Hell isn't fire and heat at all. Maybe it’s a place of cold, of loneliness, of desolation, and of sorrow. A mother's sorrow, and undying love, cut short. She'd been expelled from his throat, but the twilight of life and death kept her still unawares. Oddly, it was much like with Gehenna, where she saw no bright light, but only bits and flashes of happiness, her life told as a visual anecdote. Her body was ragged, blood pouring forth from the gaping wound ringing her neck, along with shattered ribs and various scrapes. The odd part was that her eyes were still suns, and therefore unable to close. Whether she is dead or alive could be anyone's call, because she wasn't breathing.
 
Demon was trapped in this moment, unable to think of anything but Champ. Champ, Champ... "CHAMP!" He screamed, a hoarse, choked sound. He ran to her side, seeing the blood and water mingle on the translucent ice. What could he do?! Panic shuddered through him like the wind freezing his wet fur to his body as he went to her side. Her chest wasn't moving, and Fang's eerie laughter and the howling wind were the ambiance of this moment. Was she dead? He wouldn't get to find out yet.
« Last Edit: January 08, 2015, 02:45:17 AM by Haruki »


Offline Haruki

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Re: Short Stories for the Studious Soul
« Reply #2 on: November 01, 2014, 07:40:21 PM »
"Necessity of Sacrifice: Part two"

Spoiler for Hiden:
Fang swooped down on the shocked Demon, toppling him over and pinning him easily to the ice, one huge paw crushing down on his throat as Fang stared down at him. "Are you suffering yet, Demon?" Fang sneered, drawing close to his face. Demon hardly seemed to mind; his expression was shockingly blank save for the panic and hurt in his eyes. "Killing you just isn't enough these days. Remember the good ol' days were I killed everyone you loved to crush your will? Good times." He laughed, drawing out this moment and savoring his victory. He'd been humiliated and stepped on for far too long, and this justice was sweet, and hell if he wasn't going to enjoy every damn moment of it. Ah, but time for the punchline. Demon's eyes were strained back to stare at Champ. 'Please... breathe, Champ... please...'

 Fang grabbed Demon's leg in his jaws and twisted. The cracking sound and the primal howl of pain that erupted from Demon sent a shiver of joy through Fang before he lifted his paw and slammed it down on his throat again, cutting off his cry abruptly, before turning away from him and walking calmly towards the cave.



It's dark. Passion was crying, sobbing into her sister's fur as quietly as she could. The sounds from outside were muffled but something was /horribly/ wrong, and she knew it.  Tears streamed down Victory's eyes, but she was so terrified that she wouldn't so much as sniffle. She clamped so tightly to her siblings in that dark cave, wrapped in their mother's quickly-cooling dress. Valor was a wreck. "Mommy and daddy are outside. They'll take care of him. It's gonna be okay," she encouraged, but not nearly as assuredly as she wanted to sound.

 "V-Victory... Passion..." Valor whimpers quietly. The three monochromatic cubs were bundled and shivering, trying to be as silent as possible as a giant black paw swept the snow aside easily. The sudden blast of cold air, the unfamiliar scent of blood and the terrifying smirk on this beast was enough to do it. Passion screamed. Fang busted through the tiny barricade, the light flooding them in the harshest of contrasts. Still, he whispered. "I love you... both of you." He was absolutely terrified, but he knew... somehow, he knew. He knew what he needed to do. "Tell mommy and daddy I love them too, okay?" His tiny tail tucked under his body, Valor pulled away from his sisters. Why did they name him Valor? He'd always been so wimpy, so scared all the time. Maybe, for once, while he still could, he should live up to his name.

 "V-Valor, what are you saying? Get back here!" ordered Victory, astounded that he even had the strength to walk. But he refused her. All the little pup did was stand in front of his sisters, glowering up with all of the bravery he had at their nightmare. Azaelon. Without speaking a word, the pup's steady, hard gaze said 'me first.' "Please... please, no..." pleaded Victory as the nightmare strolled up casually. Click-click-click went his claws on the ice. Click-click-click. He said nothing, and Valor said nothing. "Please... Valor, get back down..." Like it'd do anything. He was going to kill all three of them. Mommy and Daddy wouldn't just /let/ this happen to them, right? Were they hurt? Were they... gone?

 Oh, and what a brave little soldier this boy was. He stared down at Valor coldly, reading the expression in his red-brown eyes. 'Very well, then' was Fang's mental response, and in a flash of teeth, he grabbed the boy and dragged him out of the cave by his neck. "VALOR!" Passion screamed again, claws scratching at the ice as she tried to follow, to help, /something/! Her brother /can't/ be doing this! Her fur was absolutely /glowing/ magenta, flashing in distress and horror as she tripped over the dress on her way out.  Passion's flashing magenta only gave the entire scene this horrible strobe-light effect that lit Fang's face in a setting more morbid than pure silhouettes from above. The little boy screamed and kicked and bit in every fashion he could, but he was absolutely powerless here. He gave one hapless peer over his shoulder at his sisters, tears mucking up his fur in absolute, sheer terror.

 Demon was indeed conscious, if only barely. Enough to see Fang vanish into the cave. Enough to try and drag himself toward it with his one good front leg. "Ch-Champ... Champ!" His voice cracking. He couldn't do anything. He couldn't move, couldn't fight. Fang was winning, his children were being murdered, and there was nothing, /nothing/ he could do.

Demon. That's the first thing she saw. Demon. Her eyes weren't lit, in fact they were rather bleary. Glittering in tears and the thick film of death like what cataracts the dying antelope. They were laying side-by-side, in this strange, surreal world of theirs. Two lovers, alone in a universe of pain. She heard his scream in the panging of blood in her ears, staining the ice, sullying her white fur coat. She coughed, water and bodily fluids streaming thickly from her red lips and pooling at her chin. "Demon..." she says hoarsely. Her paw lifted, and gently, numbly, she set it down on his side, pulling her body closer to his. Her breaths were shallow, and she could sparsely speak, but this is how she told him: I love you. I love you in death, I love you in life, and I love you in sorrow. She tucked her face into his chest, cuddling two cold bodies together. Tears streamed down her face, frozen on impact and slicing into her skin. Her soft, angel's-breath voice spoke, the sound enclosed in their sordid bubble.
 "It's cold..." she whispered, pulling him closer. Cold outside, cold inside. Their cubs were dead. They had failed. All they had now was their love, and that too would end as they separated.  "In life, and in death..." He knew the rest.

Demon had died before, but this is far worse. It's about power and control, and the fact that they /couldn't/ save themselves or their children. What could they do, but embrace it? Demon didn't want to give up, but for the first time in years... many, many years... he felt utterly tired. Tired of fighting, of pain, of... trying. Maybe it was better this way.  It sounded pleasant. Peaceful, maybe. Demon felt Champ's paws around him, and he pulled her closer with his one good paw.

 "Let him go!"  snarled Victory more intently, chewing on Fang's ankle with all of her might. Every scratch just healed as soon as she took a break to rest her exhausted jaw. She saw her parents lying on the ground, huddled together. "Mommy! Daddy! Help!" she shrieked, sobbed, begged.

Was that...? He hadn't killed them? Champagne mustered her strength to look over her shoulder, watching with sad, blank eyes as Valor squirmed in his jaws. Her face contorted in pain. "Valor... mommy loves you!" she sobbed, reaching out pitifully to her son... her only son. Her beloved baby boy. Kindhearted... loving, forgiving... just like his father. Valor screamed, wailing pitifully and wriggling in Fang's jaws. Why weren't they getting up to help him? Why was there so much blood?

Demon felt pain well up in his heart as he saw Fang emerge with Valor. Still alive, but likely not for long. That fighting spirit of Demon's... it wanted to push through and save his son more than anything. To save them all. "No... Fang, FANG, /FANG/! STOP IT!" Demon howled, trying to force himself to his paws, tripping over himself and sliding back to the wet, bloody ice again and again. "STOP! Please, /please/..." Demon's voice cracked and shuddered as he thrashed, trying to get up.
Passion was frozen in the entrance-way. Her eyes were wide as she took in the scene, and then she looked... strangely empty. Blank.

Fang was enjoying this way too much as he slowly walked to the hole in the ice, dropping Valor and letting his head dangle over the icy water. One paw on his chest, the other poised above him. Just one push and the ice would crack, or he'd hold him down himself. But why like this? "You remember the old stories, right Demon? About the water." Demon knew /exactly/ what he was talking about, and he could only watch in horror. "A death by water traps the soul. Traps them, dooming the soul to wander forever in its depths. Your dear mother told you that one, right?" Fang said calmly, just as he shoved his paw down on the boy, making the ice crack and the boy cry out again.

Because of her failures, because of her soft will and incompetence, Champagne's son would be doomed to the drift of an unending cold, begging for his mother as he did in the moment beneath Fang's paw. The tempest stormed harder, winds whipping wildly, and Champ felt like she was on fire, as though Gehenna's flames opened the ice and swallowed her whole. Frost bite had set in, and the rigor mortis of death claimed her muscles. Yet still, she scrabbled and sobbed and clawed towards him, giving absolutely everything within her body to try and save him.

 Again and again and again she repeated, "I love you," over and over. If Fang wanted to see a broken woman, he had it. The Champagne, leader of Pyrrhic Passion, was dead. Frozen, and about to be cast into a watery, frigid grave with Valor and her other children. And she'd die with them. So would Demon. Perhaps their little family could remain together, their souls adrift but not alone. And so... she did the only thing she knew how to do to try and comfort her beloved son in his time of death.

 She sang. Softly, gently at first, barely above a whisper with her numbed lips. But she grew a little louder, and he heard her. "I'll love you long after you've gone, gone, gone..."

   His mother's sweet voice. It wasn't enough to calm him down, and it didn't stop his tears, but it was something he knew. Something he loved. That annoying song that everyone seemed to memorize had so much more meaning now, and he listened with every fiber of his being. And then the ice broke, and it was wrested from him, and he heard nothing but his own gurgling and the sound of freezing water rushing in his ears. Panic, sorrow, terror, hatred flashed through him at once, and then... nothing. Fang felt the child's weak squirming cease. Fang let go of Valor's body, letting it just... float away.


 Tears spilled over Demon's bloodied cheeks, and after finally making it to his paws, he collapsed again. He didn't /want/ to give up, no... "Please stop it... just stop it..."

 "What was that?" He sneered, turning towards the two cowering, huddling girls. "You want me to stop?"

 "Yes!" Demon croaked, shaking his head in disbelief and pain. "Stop, just... kill me, I don't care anymore. I'm tired. Just... stop... please..."

 Ahh, the sound of Demon begging and pleading. What a wonderful tone of voice he hadn't heard in over a decade. It gave him enough pause to just drag it out longer.

"NOOO-oooo!!" Screamed Champagne in the most guttural, hoarse, blood-curdling scream that only tempered off into desperate sobs. Fang didn't want to see them broken. He wanted them to be /shattered/. And he was doing it, one cub at a time. Demon's pleading, his tears, his plight... she finally understood. All this time, she thought he was an idiot for saying 'I should really stay away' or 'You don't want to get involved with me.' The drive to sacrifice one's self for others had never before been so present in her entire life, and she understood why he did it. Fang was after him and everything he loves. "Kill all of us," says Champagne sternly, resolutely. "Without my cubs and without Demon, I'm already dead."

Victory watched as Valor just... stopped struggling. He was still. It's like all the climax of taking his life was gone, and it was just this gentle thing, his soul escaping. A coldness not brought on by the winds seeped into her; One she'd never known. It's like her innocence withered and died with her brother. She sat where she was, tears streaming down her face as she watched Fang. Pure, unadulterated, unfettered /hatred/. Not the kind tempered by childish whims or petty disputes, but absolute unbridled rage. It was so strong, it completely overpowered her fear, swallowed it, making itself all the stronger.
"Passion... go get Valor out," she says calmly. Strangely calm, as though her mother had spoken, and not herself.

Passion was startled by the tone her sister had used, but she was strangely numb to what was happening. She ducked away to fetch her brother, like he had just did something silly and it was her job to bring him back home. She'd pause by the water's edge and paw at his dark pelt, trying to drag him out.

"YOU!" she shrieked, pointing her tiny paw up at him. "You have /no/ reason to do this! You /monster/! Why have you hurt them? Why? /WHY/?!" She shrieked, her tiny lungs pumping out far more volume than should be possible.

Fang let the gray one pass -him by, suddenly intrigued by this small, brave cub. Not brave like the boy, who was sacrificing like his father, no, brave like Champagne. "What will /you/ do, little girl?" He asked ominously, towering over her.

Her father's tears... her mother's sobs. Blood. So much blood. Valor's husk floating. It was too much.  A burst of infernous flames roared up around the little girl, melting ice and snow alike. Pink and orange flashes of fire bit around her, fading out to reveal a /huge/ firecat, a head shorter than Fang himself, but with an elongated spine like her mother. Fire dripped like acid from her glimmering sabre fangs. "LEAVE THEM ALONE!!" she roared, twin tails poised over her body like scorpion stingers ready to strike. And she was. The young girl didn't just leap, she /flew/ at Fang in a stream of crackling flames, her two-toned claws going in for whatever she could. She'd wrestled with Passion and Valor before, and the size difference at this point wasn't off by much. It's the same thing, but scaled up, and she's intent on flaming him into /oblivion/. Victory fought and tore with reckless abandon, pulling a Champagne by standing over top of him, trying to literally pull his spine free from his body while she torched him with everything she had.


 Fang reacted quickly to the abrupt attack, snarling and turning quickly, rolling over on his back to try and crush her beneath him. /Fuck/, what the /hell/ was this?! They weren't even that /old/!

"I'll fucking /show/ you what I'll do!" snarled the 'little' girl as the two of them struggled. Unlike her mother, Victory was big enough to have a little bit of maneuverability with the heathen of a creature. As he slammed down on her, she let out a cry mixed with a snarl, and rolled him quickly off. She'd never let go of his spine, however, and was injecting a thick, magma-hot substance into his bloodstream like a giant, kitty-like spider. NO ONE hurts her brother. NO ONE hurts her mommy and daddy. It's a vicious fight between someone who'd lived for millenia versus a child not even past the age of one.

Champagne blinked in utter surprise, distracted from the intense sorrow for almost a split-second. Who was that? Is that... Victory? Kinda tough to tell, when Champ's looking /up/ at her kitten.

Fang had beaten them, and yet, here he was, picking fights with a /child/. What a mood killer. The strange, toxin-like pain shuddering through his body was enough for him to utter an exasperated sigh. He glanced at the despaired, broken parents, the limp body and his twin huddled next to him, and he felt satisfied. Any more and they might kill /themselves/. Oooh, while that was insanely intriguing, he had another job to do. And all in good time. Another day of fun would come later. He'd pick off their children one by one. But he remembered the other news he had heard recently, and the idea of stalking a certain Guardian's spawn sounded /almost/ as fun as this had been.

Demon was staring at his daughter and Fang, looking into his eye, before Fang dissolved into mist, and literally blew away in the wind. Another outcry, this one of pain, sorrow and a bit of relief escaped Demon's blooded maw before he dragged himself to Champagne, trying to help them both get to their children.
« Last Edit: January 08, 2015, 02:47:36 AM by Haruki »


Offline Haruki

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Re: Short Stories for the Studious Soul
« Reply #3 on: November 01, 2014, 07:40:34 PM »
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« Last Edit: January 08, 2015, 02:47:58 AM by Haruki »


Offline Haruki

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Re: Short Stories for the Studious Soul
« Reply #4 on: November 01, 2014, 08:37:02 PM »
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Offline Haruki

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Re: Short Stories for the Studious Soul
« Reply #5 on: November 01, 2014, 08:37:16 PM »
Mine. Y'all can post now ^-^


Offline Haruki

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Re: Short Stories for the Studious Soul
« Reply #6 on: January 08, 2015, 04:24:43 AM »
So I did a really big overhaul on "Necessity of Sacrifice" and was able to shave off a thousand words and make it less RP-style and more novel-type read. Should be nice and in order chronologically, so no more confusion.

If you see a discrepancy in it, please don't hesitate to go, "HEY HARU, YOU SUCK AND HERE'S WHY"
Please and thank you