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duhragonball · 2 years ago

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Dragon Ball: The Magic Begins (Taiwan, 1991)

We continue our exploration of the Gaijin Live-Action Trilogy with the second live-action adaptation of Dragon Ball, a movie called “Dragon Ball: The Magic Begins.”

I’d like to think the Taiwan studio behind this movie saw South Korea’s “Fight, Son Goku! Win, Son Goku!” in 1990, and was inspired to make their own unlicensed film a year later. But despite a number of similarities, the two movies have different styles. “Fight/Win” was a very juvenile kind of film, using puppets and theme-park-style costumes to capture the cartoony aesthetic of the franchise. It adapted Akira Toriyama’s butt-fart-poop jokes and worried that the movie might be too highbrow for its audience, so they threw in a scene where Turtle bites Master Roshi’s scrotum, and several moments where characters grab each other by hooking their fingers in each other’s nostrils.

The Magic Begins is probably also aimed at children, but it has a little more dignity. It’s basically a standard kung-fu movie with Dragon Ball characters and situations. For the most part, it’s a direct remake of the first animated Dragon Ball movie from 1986, what we now call Curse of the Blood Rubies. So let’s be clear about the lineage here.

First there was the original story arc, covered in the first 23 chapters of the Dragon Ball manga from November 1984 to May 1985. You know the tale: Goku meets Bulma, they go searching for Dragon Balls, and eventually meet Yamcha, Oolong, and Puar, then end up having to thwart the evil scheme of Emperor Pilaf.

Then, there was the Dragon Ball anime, which retold that same story arc in the first thirteen episodes across the spring of 1986.

Then there was the December 1986 movie, originally just called Dragon Ball, then renamed “The Legend of Shenron”, and then “Curse of the Blood Rubies”. This tweaked the plot by replacing Pilaf with a different villain, King Gurumes, who was planning to wish for a cure from the curse that had afflicted him.

Then Korea adapts the anime into “Fight/Win” in 1990.

Finally you get “The Magic Begins” in 1991, which takes the plot of the ‘86 movie, swaps Pilaf back in, and makes a few other tweaks.

So yeah, if you’re looking for something original out of this film, forget about it.

I always have trouble telling this movie from the Korean one, so I’ve put up a helpful image at the top to remind me. On the left is the flag of Taiwan, and on the right is a white parrot, who played the role of “Snow White”, this movie’s version of Puar. You might be thinking of the Puar puppet that smoked a cigarette, but he’s in the Korean movie. In Taiwan, it’s all about white parrots. Or maybe that’s a parakeet. Who knows?

Everyone got new names in this movie. I don’t know if that was a feeble attempt to protect the studio from Toei’s legal team, or if someone genuinely thought this would make the characters wholly original. I have a hard time keeping them all straight, so I’m probably going to just refer to them by their true identities. But for the record, the aliases are as follows:

First up, we have the Pilaf Gang. Pilaf (center) is known as “King Horn” in this movie. On his left is Shu, aka “Zebrata”, and the blonde on the right is Mai, aka “Malilia.” Shu and Mai act a lot more like Bongo and Pasta from Blood Rubies, but their visuals are completely unique, so I’ll give them some credit here. As for “King Horn”, he looks like Pilaf if he were tall and competent. He also has some super-powers, and he leads his troops into battle, so he really has no connection to King Gurumes at all, except for his role in the plot.

Next we have Son Gohan (left), who is known as “Sparkle”. On the right is his adopted grandson, Son Goku, known here as “Monkey Boy”. During the movie, it’s said that “Monkey Boy” is the 91st Descendant of Sun Wukong, the Monkey King from the ancient story “Journey into the West”.

Then we have Pansy on the left, who is known as “Jade” in this movie. If you don’t remember Pansy, that’s okay, she was a movie-only character who appeared in Blood Rubies, most notable for her all-red costume. As “Jade”, she doesn’t stand out much here. On the far right is Bulma, aka “Seetou”, and standing between her and Goku is Oolong, who is known as “Piggy”.

Finally, we have Yamcha on the left, who is renamed “Westwood”, and on the right is Master Roshi, now called “Turtle Man”. So for the most part, everyone’s pretty recognizable. Roshi has a turtleshell, Oolong looks mostly human but his schtick is unmistakable, and the bad guys may be different but there’s no mistaking them for villains. I think the only point of confusion would be Bulma and Jade, but they’re the only girls in this thing, and Jade is smaller, so it’s not too hard to work out who’s who.

All right, let’s get started. So the movie opens in Jade’s village, where her father, the new chief, receives the village’s prize Dragon Pearl in a ceremony. Then Pilaf’s army invades, and basically mows down the entire population. The chief and the local monks all pray in the temple. Pilaf barges in and takes the Dragon Pearl by force, and kills everyone. Since Pilaf already had a Dragon Pearl, that brings his count up to two. And he already knows where to find the third.

Meanwhile, Gohan and Goku are meditating in their home, when Gohan has a Bad Feeling About This. He reminds Goku of their duty to protect their Four-Star Dragon Pearl, but doesn’t explain why they protect it or what would happen if it fell into the wrong hands. Goku is confident that he can defend the Pearl, as he is armed with his magic staff, which can extend in length when he twirls it around. Also it comes to him when he calls, sort of like the Silver Surfer’s board.

Then Gohan gives Goku a test of his abilities, by which I mean a pretty kick ass fight scene out in their back yard. This is easily the coolest part of the movie. I’m not familiar with the kung-fu genre at all, so maybe this movie is trash by comparison, but I’m pretty impressed with the action. It’s hardly a breakthrough in special effects, and it’s definitely hokey, but it’s still fun, which is something I’ve needed after slogging through all of Dragon Ball GT.

This also seems to be the film’s main contribution to the wider Dragon Ball mythos. We’ve never really gotten to see what life was like for Goku back when Grandpa Gohan was still alive. All we know is based on their reunion during the Fortuneteller Baba arc, and various throwaway lines of Goku’s when he would reminisce about living alone in the woods with his grandfather.

This is the first time I know of where I’ve gotten to see the kind of nonsense they might get up to during the day. We know Gohan trained Goku, and this feels like the sort of exercises they would have had. Just two guys bouncing off trees, shooting fireballs and trying to hit each other in the balls with the Nyoi’bo.

I’m not sure why Gohan looks like Robin Williams playing Harry Potter, but otherwise, it seems pretty authentic.

For instance, at one point, Gohan catches Goku’s staff and uses it to fling Goku into the well by their house. But he doesn’t come up right away, so when Gohan gets concerned and goes to check on the boy...

BAM, Goku suckers him into taking a punch to the face. Cool!

So Goku wins the test of strength, but then he loses a Rock-Paper-Scissors game and has to cook dinner, so he goes fishing. And by “fish”, he means “crocodile”, because Goku doesn’t have a tail in this movie, so instead of doing what he did in the manga, he just swims up to a crocodile and shoves his staff into its mouth to incapacitate it.

On the way back, Goku runs into Bulma, and I think we pretty much know how that goes. She nearly runs him down, but he stops her car with his super-strength, so she starts shooting, but the bullets don’t kill him. Goku thinks she’s a monster or a witch, until she explains that she’s a girl, and thankfully we don’t get into the part where she offers to let him touch her butt. However, once Bulma learns that Goku and his grandfather have the next Dragon Ball she’s looking for, she realizes that Gohan is in danger. A couple of tanks filled with Pilaf’s goons drove past her earlier, and she now realizes they were headed for Gohan’s place.

But by the time they get there, it’s already too late. Mai and Shu have wrecked the whole house and there’s no sign of Gohan. Goku and Bulma chase after the bad guys but Bulma’s jeep gets destroyed. This is playing out pretty much like Curse of the Blood Rubies, except the chase was aerial. Also, when Bulma’s vehicles got wrecked, she would just get out another one from her store of Hoi Poi Capsules. But none of that seems to exist in this movie, so instead Goku recruits an elephant to take them where they need to go.

This leads to the part where Oolong is chasing after Pansy, except... well, Oolong looks very problematic to say the least. In Blood Rubies, he looked like a giant red monster, but here, he’s normal-sized, and the actor is covered in black paint. I’m... pretty sure this is not as accidental as the studio would probably like you to believe.

Fortunately, his true form just looks like a regular dude with a dumb haircut, so we can move on.

Then Yamcha and Puar show up. At first, Yamcha looks like a gunslinger from a Western film, but when Goku deflects his machine gun fire, he removes his hat and poncho to reveal...

Revolutionary Girl Utena? They went to a lot of trouble to recreate the scene from Blood Rubies where Yamcha draws his sword all cool-like.

It’s a pretty cool fight, which ends with them grabbing each other by the nostrils, a la Polnareff and Hol Horse in Stardust Crusaders, but then Bulma shows up and Yamcha loses his nerve.

It’s basically the same as Blood Rubies, although Parrot Puar kind of changes things up. He’s not a shapeshifter like the real Puar, so he doesn’t have a backstory with Oolong, so instead they just argue over who will win the Goku/Yamcha fight. Then, after Yamcha flees in terror from Bulma, Puar mimics Bulma’s voice to terrorize him some more.

Later, Bulma asks Pansy about her backstory, and she reveals that her father was the village chief from the start of the movie. Her parents were killed during Pilaf’s invasion, and before she died, Pansy’s mother told her to flee and seek help from Master Roshi. Oolong has heard of Roshi and knows where he lives. Bulma quickly realizes that Pilaf must be the one behind the attack on Goku’s house, and he must be planning to gather all seven Dragon Pearls so he can summon the Dragon and have his wish granted. Pilaf said as much at the start of the film, and Bulma knows the same legend. What the gang doesn’t know is that both Yamcha and Mai are spying on them, and they each run off to act on what they’ve learned.

As in Blood Rubies, Yamcha plans to get the Dragon Pearls for himself and wish for courage around women, so he can finally marry. Unlike Blood Rubies, he already had a Dragon Pearl in his treasure horde. This doesn’t affect the plot much at all, but it’s treated like it’s important later.

So while he rides a jet ski (!) to get to Roshi’s island first, Mai reports back to Pilaf, who plans his own attack on Roshi and the others to shut them down before they can interfere.

So now we enter into the Roshi part of the movie. I don’t know why, but the people who made this movie really love Master Roshi. I say this because the scene on his island starts at about 42 minutes in and continues until the 65 minute mark. Plotwise, it’s virtually identical to the Roshi’s Island scene from Blood Rubies, but it gets heavily expanded. Here, we actually see Yamcha contact Roshi and warn him about Goku. That’s pretty superfluous, but what’s worse is that they show Roshi even before Yamcha arrives. He tries to use the Magic Cloud, but it won’t obey his instructions. In this continuity, he can stand on the cloud, but he falls off as soon as he tells it to do anything.

When Goku and the others arrive, Goku and Yamcha fight a little, then Roshi settles things with the cloud, and since Goku can ride it, that proves he’s telling the truth, so Roshi gives it to him for keeps. As for Yamcha, Roshi tells him he can’t leave the island unless he surrenders his own Dragon Ball to Bulma. Yamcha agrees, and when Bulma kisses him in gratitude...

His eyes turn into slot machine rollers and they land on hearts. He panics and flees on his jet ski.

But we’re still not done, because Roshi has his own Dragon Ball, and he offers it to Bulma in exchange for nudity. As in Blood Rubies, Bulma convinces Oolong to impersonate her. Oolong agrees, but demands nudity for himself as payment. Bulma’s like “Dude, you can look exactly like me whenever you want. You can see me nude any time you feel like it.” That doesn’t seem to bother her much at all. Anyway, Oolong-as-Bulma meets Roshi on his front steps and they do some weird dance together before she takes off her top.

But we’re still not done, because the gang decides to ask Roshi if he knows where the seventh Dragon Ball might be located, since they now have six accounted for. Roshi is too horny to think straight, so he can’t answer. It’s like they forgot that Bulma has a machine that detects Dragon Balls. Wait, Dragon Pearls. Sorry. Maybe her Dragon Radar got lost when her Jeep was wrecked? I don’t think so.

Then the bad guys attack and blow up Roshi’s house, just like in Blood Rubies, but not quite. This time, Roshi shoots some ki blasts at them, but he doesn’t blow them away like he did with his Kamehameha from that movie. None of his attacks make any difference, as the bad guys can just teleport back into their aircraft once they have the Dragon Pearls. Roshi tells the others to flee on the Magic Cloud while he holds them off, and it seems like he’s killed in the battle...

But no, we’re still not done with this guy, because he shows up to meet the heroes when they regroup on the mainland. And this is where things start to deviate from the plot of Blood Rubies, because in that movie, Roshi refused to help Pansy save her people, because she had already gathered all the help she needed from Goku, Bulma, and the rest. Here, Roshi’s pissed about his house, so he’s rarin’ to give the bad guys a whoopin’. Then Yamcha shows up and asks to join their team because his Dragon Pearl got stolen too.

So now we have five characters--Goku, Bulma, Pansy, Roshi, and Yamcha-- each personally connected to a Dragon Pearl stolen by Pilaf. So the whole team has a stake in this, except Oolong, who....

No, wait, it turns out Oolong had a Dragon Pearl this whole time. He said it was given to him by the Pig Fairy, his distant ancestor who had some connection to the Monkey King. Oolong says that he was told to keep it a secret, but somehow he knew these guys were part of his destiny, I guess? Anyway, he says that this was why he chased Pansy in the first place, because he knew it would bring him into contact with the other five Pearl-Bearers. I mean, I’m kind of paraphrasing it, but that’s the way I understood what he said.

So then the good guys just storm into Pansy’s village and start shooting everyone. Oolong takes out a bunch of Pilaf’s soldiers and even kills Mai while she’s fighting Goku and Yamcha. What the fuck? Why is Oolong suddenly so important? Anyway, Roshi fights with Shu, and then Bulma shoots Shu in the back while he’s distracted. This seems a bit underhanded to me. Mai and Shu are ridiculously OP in this movie, but still.

Then Pilaf comes out and reveals he has Gohan held captive, and threatens to kill him if Goku’s group doesn’t surrender the last Dragon Pearl. Goku wants to give in, but Roshi reminds him that they’ll all be killed if Pilaf gets his way. So Pilaf tosses aside his hostage and tries a different trick...

Zombies! I think? He uses some kind of power to put a blue filter over the camera, and then all of the townsfolk appear and start attacking the heroes. Maybe they’re still alive and they’re just being mind-controlled, but Pansy’s parents are included in the group, and Pansy said they were dead.

Things look hopeless until Goku summons the Magic Cloud and rides it over the villagers’ heads, knocking down Pilaf and cancelling his spell. Then all the villagers collapse, so I think they’re all dead.

Then Gohan and Roshi get together and Gohan tells him that the other six pearls must be in Pilaf’s stomach. I’m not sure how he knows that, but he must have seen Pilaf swallow them, or he watched Curse of the Blood Rubies and remembered that this was where King Gurumes hid his Dragon Balls. So Roshi decides that they’ll put the seventh Pearl in his mouth and that way Pilaf will explode when the Dragon emerges. This all made a lot more sense when Bulma figured all this out with the Dragon Radar in the Blood Rubies film.

Anyway, it works, and Goku usess his staff to drive the last Pearl down Pilaf’s throat, so at least he helped kill the bad guy. Then this yellow thing shows up and says it’s the Dragon. I’ll just take his word for it.

Pansy wishes for her village and its people to be restored, and then her parents turn out to be okay, so maybe they were resurrected, but I’m not sure. Anyway, the good guys win.

Then Yamcha turns to Goku and goes “I have one more wish. I wish to fight with you!” And Goku’s like “Well your wish is granted, buddy boy, let’s rock!” and the movie ends with them leaping at each other. Weird how they went with this instead of Bulma and Yamcha getting together, but that plotline didn’t seem to get as much attention as it did in other versions. Also, you’d think Goku would be more relieved to have his Grandfather back.

And that’s the end. Akira Toriyama is completely un-credited here, even though he created all the characters and like 70% of the plot. Maybe more than that, depending on how much input he had on Blood Rubies.

It’s a fun little movie to watch, but definitely not something I’d recommend to newer fans. On the other hand, you can find the English dub of the movie on YouTube, so the price is right.

For my part, I’ve heard about this thing for years, and I always wanted to check it out, and now I’m happy to say that I’ve scratched that itch.

#dragon ball #2023dbapocryphaliveblog #the gaijin live action trilogy #dragon ball: the magic begins #goku #grandpa gohan #master roshi #bulma #pansy #yamcha #oolong #puar #(but he's a bird in this one)#emperor pilaf #mai #shu

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misforgotten2 · 2 years ago

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“When it comes to fighting dragons, the knees are the first to go.”

Don Quixote Retold By Judge Perry illustrated by Walter Crane 1954

#Illustration #vintage illustration #children's illustration #don quixote #children's books #1954 #funny #humor #humour

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commanders-company · 11 months ago

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BIO - RUNA WYRMSDOTTIR

Norn | Warrior/Revenant | Disciple of Bear

Runa was orphaned in her early teens in a Svanir raid on one of the many settlements in the Shiverpeaks. Rather than remain amongst her people, she fled to the south, eventually finding her way into a small street gang in Lion’s Arch.

Years passed, and she thought she had made a decent home for herself - as much as one can amongst thieves and looters. However, fate came in an unlikely form: late one night, they attempted to mug an old charr visiting the port, only for the retired warrior to soundly wipe the floor with them. But rather than turn them into the Lionguard - or simply kill them - the charr instead made them an offer: meet him in the arena and ��learn to fight for something more than a handful of copper for tomorrow’s meal.”

Runa’s compatriots never seriously considered the offer, but something inside her stirred - perhaps the last bit of Norn pride she had left from her youth in the mountains. She joined the charr, a retired Blood legion soldier named Bretak Ironfist, and through months and years he taught her everything he knew, turning her into a formidable warrior who eventually caught the eye of the Vigil. Years later, Runa would rise to be the Commander of the newly formed Pact under Trahearne. When she asked Bretak to join as her second, he refused, saying it was her legend to unfold, and his time had come and gone long ago.

Runa successfully led the Pact against Zhaitan, helped coordinate the retaking of Lion’s Arch from Scarlet Briar, quickly mobilized their forces to prepare an assault on Mordremoth deep in the jungle…to disastrous results that none could have predicted. For weeks after the fleet fell, she found herself plagued by the same dream: the stranded forces surrounded by deadly vines, until a small, bright flower - shielded by the body of a fallen bear - grew into a mighty tree, breaking through the canopy to allow light to burn away the Mordrem growth. A norn shaman with the fleet said he was convinced this was a prophecy from the Spirits of the Wild - the first time she had ever felt any connection to them since childhood - and when she met Feyn for the first time in a makeshift camp deep in the jungle, she instantly knew this sylvari was the “flower” destined to save them all.

Runa took Feyn, Bato and Gheli aside privately and told them the secrets they had learned while investigating Scarlet’s motivations - specifically Glint’s egg they had lost to Caithe. She asked them to work with her new companions (Marjorie, Taimi and the gang) to track down the egg and ensure it stayed safe, leading to it being safely secreted away in Tarir. Later on, she and Feyn took on a scouting mission deep into the tangled depths of root and cave, where they were ambushed and Runa was severely injured. Feyn did her best to help, but Runa refused, knowing this was her prophesied fate. She entrusted Feyn with her Pact sigil, telling her of the vision and trusting the fate of the Pact - of all of Tyria - to her. Firing a flare to distract the approaching Mordrem, she commanded Feyn to run and took her final stand.

The rest, as they say, is history: Feyn took up the mantle of Pact Commander and slew Mordremoth, nurtured the dragon egg and raised the hatchling which would become Aurene, and even faced down the humans’ god of war himself. All the while the story of the First Commander was told and retold, a legend among legends to be passed down in memory of a hero.

And then, two years after she died, Runa awoke in the desert.

As Kralkatorrik tore through the Mists in the wake of Balthazar’s demise, Runa’s soul was wrenched from its rest, finding new life in the wastes of Elona. Though she had no memory of who she was beyond her name, she was quickly taken in by locals who nursed her to health - and gave her cause to fight with her new mist-fueled powers as a Revenant.

When word spread of the Pact’s fight to take down the crystal dragon, Runa’s memories began to resurface, prompting her to begin the long journey back to Tyria. When she returned to the Shiverpeaks, she met with the shamans who helped her understand who she once was - but that person felt foreign to her. Left without a clear path, she resorted to wandering the north, making a solitary living in the wild far away from other settlements.

Her path crossed with Feyn once again as the sylvari and her company ventured north in pursuit of Bangar, where she helped them slay the Boneskinner. Reuniting returned more of Runa’s old memories, and prompted her to aid in the fight against Jormag, Primordus, and the Frost Legion.

But as that crisis resolved, she once again felt lost. The old Runa was no longer needed; Feyn’s legend had long since surpassed her own, and she no longer felt any true connection to the Pact regardless. But her solitude would be cut short by an unexpected invitation: the secretive Astral Ward had need of her strength and what knowledge of the Mists she had left.

Here Runa at last found a permanent home, questing from one end of the world to the other, protecting the innocent as a simple, faceless warrior, here one day and gone the next. Though the threat of the Kryptis brings her a bit too close to the world-saving limelight than she’d like, she is glad to have a true purpose once again.

#guild wars 2 #gw2 #gw2 fan submission #gw2 norn #runa #my writing #me?? writing about my alts in 2023??? it's more likely than you think

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woollymitts · 2 years ago

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More on WARRIOR NUN and their inspiration in female saints. Battle mode engaged aka Margaret of Antioch demon slayer

The thirteenth century work, The Golden Legend, by Jacobus Voraigne was an accessible collection of saints’ lives. In terms of popularity it only takes second place to the bible in terms of medieval circulation.

Little potted biographies of the saints (its technical name and the study of which is hagiography) were handed down over the ages and retold. In his tome, he has girls who defy their fathers, ignore the husbands and generally are completely badass in the name of God.

Premier among them is Margaret of Antioch, the third century wrestler of dragons.

The martyrdom ascetic is pretty grim folks and Voraigne is nothing if not typically explicit as to how she is treated. When the local provost wants her for a wife she refuses him for his paganism. Despite his threats she said she was willing to undergo any form of violence against her body for her faith:

> “Christ gave Himself over to death for me, and I desire gladly to die for Christ.”

> Then the provost commanded her to be hanged in an instrument to torment the people, and to be cruelly first beaten with rods, and with iron combs to rend and draw her flesh to the bones, insomuch, that the blood ran about out of her body, like as a stream runneth out of a fresh springing well.

Sorry to anyone thinking the fight scenes in WN were much too gory, you clearly haven’t read the original source material. Carding is a particularly barmy form of torture where a rod with a number of sharp hooks or teeth that several inches long are used to flay skin and flesh off the bone. Nice.

Lilith’s search for Vincent where she slashes dozens of guards is pretty much carding on steroids.

As a teen, like Ava, Margaret got her hands dirty and it is told she subjugated a dragon by being swallowed and used the cross she was carrying to explode out of the dragon’s stomach.

I would argue that this is the precursor to the cruciform sword. A powerful relic in the hands of a young woman who can slay the devil in the form of a dragon. And she rises out of evil reborn.

Hilarious side bar. Margaret also happens to be the patron saint of pregnant women and childbirth. Considering she burst out fully formed in a reverse Alien out a dragon’s stomach you can see how skewed clerical ideas were of all things maternal and female.

In another episode Margaret was recorded as getting a demon to the ground in a choke hold,

> She caught him by the head and threw him to the ground and set her foot on his neck, saying: “Lie still, thou fiend, under the feet of a woman.”

So basically saying hah, defeated and by a girl too, how embarrassing for you. This image remind you of any SMOL half Scottish nettle tea drinking nun having a go at demon vanquishing?

In terms of demon slaying the activity is not unusual amongst saints. Sorry I do not have Vauchez’s number crunching book on saints to hand to give specific numbers [relevant aside trying to write this from a phone rather than a library as I broke my leg on a ski slope and this passes the the time until I get repatriated].

Remember what I said about inductive reasoning in the first essay? When you read enough saints lives all the tropes tend to stick out. This is the medieval version of verisimilitude since the monkish reader would (and often did) scribble in the margins of the text, wow this must be true as this happen to this and that saint etc etc. They saw precedent as an endless reassurance of God’s will in action. An army of female and male saints battling the devil and winning was meat and drink to the medieval world view. A means of seeing agency in some select individuals where for most of time people felt shat upon from a very great height.

Addendum request for technical help.

Later in the series I wouldn’t mind digging into a deeper reading of the warrior nun’s journals along with the demonology tome that Beatrice and Father Vincent were reading in series one.

However I am struggling to capture decent screenshot of both pages so if anyone can help, I can furnish you with the benefit of my non private education where I did still learn Latin (Just a lot later than all the annoying kids who were able to translate Virgil off the hoof at tutorials while I spent hours in the library struggling through the vulgate.)

#warrior nun #saints #mad hagiographical shit #just my random thoughts #i think i may be high from the drugs for my broken leg #also apparently did not waste eight years of my life on ninja nuns

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aquadestinyswriting · 2 years ago

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Dirk for that weaponry ask

Thank you very much for the ask.

Are there any famous stories in the story?

Oof, where to start with this one? There are quite a few, honestly because those stories within the story are based on the ttrpg campaign previous to the one I talk about in my wips. But I think I'll go with my favourite (tagging @druidx so she can add in anything that I missed in this retelling):

So Selene was part of an adventuring party that was tasked with taking care of a Dracolich that went by the name of Karylax. Karylax had killed a friend of Selene's mentor, Yastromo, and was generally causing mayhem. So off goes Selene, along with the rest of her party, to face and find a way to permanently kill him.

The party eventually manages to get to roughly where the beast's lair is located and try to figure out how to get to him since it's in the middle of a swamp, they don't have a boat and, understandably, don't want to risk wading through the water.

Karylax toys with the party for a bit, tiring them out by sending hordes of undead swamp creatures after them when the heroes came knocking. After the party had dealt with all the 'chaff' (I say chaff only because the stuff being thrown at us wasn't particularly powerful, but there was a lot of them), Karylax then finally shows up to finish them off.

Now, bear in mind, the fight had gone on long enough already that both wizards were basically out of spells (we played in 3rd edition d&d, so cantrips were limited), and Selene only had one spell left for the whole day by the time Karylax rocked up. Well, Karylax was being a dick and keeping to the air, which annoyed everyone because only one member of the group, the rogue, had any ranged attacks to throw at him. The rest were either tapped out wizards, or melee. So Alexis, the rogue in question, tells Selene to cast whatever spell she has left at the giant dracolich to see if she can bring it to ground level. Selene eyes up her opponent, makes some calculations and casts.

The spell she casts? Leomund's Secure Shelter, right in the middle of Karylax's exposed ribcage. Now Secure Shelter is not particularly large, all things considered, but it is still a small house, and plenty heavy enough to bring the undead dragon crashing to the ground. This last spell done, Selene leaves everyone else to deal with the now thrashing dracolich, climbs up the monster's ribs to the Shelters front door, glares at everyone else and tells them she's had enough and she's going to bed. Selene then proceeds to head inside, close the door behind her and be the only person to have had a Long Rest by the time the battle's over.

In the wip canon, this story has been told and retold so many times over drinks that it's basically become its own legend. For Selene, though, that fight gave her ptsd that she's never properly dealt with, and is a contributor to her extremely poor mental health.

#writeblr ask games #answered ask #story time #ttrpg stories #titan fighting fantasy #aquadestinyswriting #selene frigidwake #that one encounter is so memorable that everyone around the table still remembers it more than a decade later #we still get a giggle out of retelling it #because it really was that ridiculous

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a-pretty-damn-good-narrator · 21 days ago

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*The Hero gets a letter. Normally this wouldn't be weird, but the circumstances say otherwise: It's the middle of the night, the letter and envelope is black with gold lining and lettering, they were given it by the Dark Lord's Right Hand, and they seemed really friendly

Hero: How can I trust you?

RH: You can't, but try. I don't agree with the Dark Lord's decision, but he's wiser and older than me, so I don't question it too hard

*The help reads the letter, confused; this emotion only gets worse the more and more he reads it, until by the end he makes audible confusion and shock

"1,000 years Hero. Do you know what happens in 1,000 years? Civilizations die out, stories retold 10 times over, generations FORGOTTEN, left to the dust and dries out in the rain."

"I'm bored of this; Our fighting and our 1,000 year long rivalry, my anger has died out and now we're fighting because that's what we've done. I'm tired, I need rest, and I want to relax knowing I don't have to worry about dying in my sleep"

"Meet me at my castle, you'll find no resistance to find me on my throne. It's time the oroboros straightens out"

*The hero looks at the RH, confused, wondering. Why would the DARK LORD want to stop fighting? Is it a trap? No, no the Dark Lord is honorable; Evil, but honorable, he wouldn't trick him like this, it's south of his ideals

Hero: "So... I guess I'm going to meet him. Can you lead me?"

RH: "I can, just keep up and don't be slow"

Hero: "I specialize in dexterity, don't worry"

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Dark Lord: So you arrived, wondered if you'd trust me

*The large walls of dark people bricks reach high above and arc like a cathedral, like they're trying to reach out of the void despite being ontop of a tall mountain. It's cold here, but despite that the Hero isn't frozen solid somehow, just be magic

*Glass stained paintings colour the room with the afternoon glow of the sun as the Dark Lord looks from his throne, his skeletal body in his large wizard robes and black steel knights armor

Dark Lord: I assume you read my letter?

Hero: How could I not? This didn't seem like a trap, you're one for chivalry and fair fights, not tricks and deception

Dark Lord: I don't like being blunt either, but I had no other choice at this point but to letter you directly

*Kobolds, Skeletons, Witches, and that singular odd human stands and crowds around, other beings like beholders and gargoyles stand on the second floor, looking over the balcony into the throne room. They're watching, wondering

Hero: So, you want this to end, but how?

Dark Lord: Just peace and quiet. We play the same rules as the other kingdoms: Land, Economy, basic Army. We're just another country wanting prosperity

Hero: But you have dragons and... You

Dark Lord: We won't invade, just defend- actually, I'd like you to live with me in this castle for the tone being as well. I'm done with this fighting, and despite the thousand years I've known you I don't know much about you

Hero: I... Yeah, don't know much about you either, huh?

*The Hero thinks about this long and hard, wondering if it was the right move at all. After all, he could be lying, and this isn't entirely something he wouldn't do, but...

*If this means the end, then-

Hero: Sure, I'm in

You and the Dark Lord are destined to be reincarnated to fight fight one another throughout time. After 1000 years of fighting, the two of you decide to sit down and actually discuss an end to this conflict.

#give me an inch and I'll give you a mile #Don't regret anything #this was fun

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fluffyfaetales · 17 days ago

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The Tale of Two Chieftans

In the rugged mountains where the borders of two tribes met, Goliath chieftain Bloodfist and Orc chieftain Ironjaw were both known for their unbreakable strength and strategic cunning. They had each fought hard to take their places as chieftains, and some believed that with two such formidable leaders, the centuries-long strife between their tribes might finally ease. Though their rivalry persisted, it was a rivalry tempered with respect—and every week, they'd meet at the top of a windswept hill between their territories for a battle of skill and will.

Their clashes became legends, retold by bards across the land. For each move, each feint, and each strike, the other had an answer, always leading to a draw. Yet in these fights, there lay a hidden truth: Bloodfist and Ironjaw had fallen in love, and while they never admitted it in words, it was clear in every punch that pulled short, every chance to kill that neither took.

One autumn day, Bloodfist arrived at the hilltop to find no Ironjaw waiting. Instead, a young Orc warrior knelt before her with a scrap of parchment, the familiar rough handwriting penned in the Orc tongue:

“My brave warrior, I await our battles with such anticipation. Yet, I fear this may be the last. I am ill, and my strength fades. Take this as my farewell—and a sign of peace between our people.”

Bloodfist, a warrior who had slain dragons and commanded armies, felt a torrent of sorrow she'd never allowed herself to feel. She did not hesitate. Ignoring the Orc warrior’s warning to stay, she stormed through Ironjaw’s village, pushing past orcs who neither challenged nor barred her way. She crashed into Ironjaw’s hut and fell to her knees beside the bed, clinging to Ironjaw’s robes as tears finally fell.

“You’re not allowed to die, Ironjaw. You’re a warrior!” she choked. “I… I love you!”

Ironjaw, weak and gaunt, managed a soft smile. Her hand trembled as she brushed a tear from Bloodfist’s cheek. “I love you too, my fierce blue warrior… I’m trying. But if I don’t make it, promise me… you’ll look after my brother. He’ll lead them well.”

Bloodfist vowed to stay by Ironjaw’s side, tending to her in every quiet moment she could steal away from her own tribe. Unknown to Bloodfist, both tribes had sent scouts seeking aid, desperate for anyone who could save their chieftain.

When hope seemed all but gone, a High Elf healer arrived, speaking in broken giant tongue. “I was told someone here is unwell… may I help?”

Bloodfist barely dared hope, yet she clutched his arm. “Please. She’s been like this for weeks; she barely drinks water.”

The healer knelt, checked Ironjaw’s pulse, and whispered, “It’s weak, but I can heal her. She’ll need rest and care…”

Before he could finish, Bloodfist crushed him in a hug, nearly breaking his ribs. “Thank you. Please, just save her.”

As his magic took hold, strength seemed to flow back into Ironjaw. That night, Bloodfist remained by her side. When morning broke, rough fingers brushed her hair.

“Good morning, my warrior…” Ironjaw whispered.

Their love had endured where words had never been enough, proving that love defies all reason—because it never has to make sense.

#dnd #dnd5e #short story #lgbtq+#lgbt pride

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retoldflames · 1 year ago

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Retold Flames: The Dragonet Prophecy (part 2)

Spoiler Warning for mentions of blood, melting faces, bone breaking, burning dragons, and a bit of mild body horror.

Here with the third piece of Retold Flames. For a bit of AU world building: Sky Kingdom Towns use arenas to enact a criminal's sentence through combat as well as function as a court of law, being maintained by a town's leader to do so; organizing matches and court cases as well as hiring a Ringmaster and Judge respectively to assist in running things. Another position of the arena is that of an Arena Champion, assisting in enacting punishments of criminals, act as an executioner, as well as help make sure matches are entertaining to those watching matches; Having certain privileges over the Ringmaster and Judge such as being able to accept or deny matches happening as well as being able to act as a Champion Shield (denying a dragons sentence) or Champion Blade (denying a dragons innocence) for an individual on trial, having a match organized and agreed upon by the Town Leader, Ringmaster and Judge that the Champion must fight and cannot deny for them to get what they want for the individual they are acting as a blade/shield for. Dragons may also be hired to help maintain the arena, function as security, as well as provide entertainment such as perform mock battles and plays organized between matches to help lighten the mood; This also extends to whenever the arena is being used for festivals and other big events.

Should a dragon's crime be severe enough, they will be sent to the Sky Palace Arena to face the judgement of the Royal Family. Facing punishment until they finish their sentence or die, usually the latter. During the rule of Queen Scarlet, she would have only arena matches, bringing in more and more prisoners to from around the Kingdom to satiate her desire to see others suffer; Giving fighters the only options of killing and or painfully mauling their opponents to the satisfaction of Scarlet to win and live another day.

Scarlet as well as Tsunami: With Scarlet capturing four of the Dragonets of Destiny, she would use them to make her former arena champion Kestrel suffer for her own hatching day enjoyment; Making plans for them to kill of the dragonets one by one as they are unable to do anything to stop, finishing with them getting a slow and torturous execution as a final gift for her hatching day.

About a day or so after being knocked out and captured, Tsunami would be quickly thrown into battle by Scarlet in an attempt to kill her. Leading to Tsunami battling to survive, being spurned on by the crowd to brutally kill her opponent once she has the upper hand on them; Instead choosing to instead quickly killing them with a snap of the neck, earning Tsunami the win. She would be sent into another match the next day and lead to a similar result and end as the day before, getting the attention of Scarlet who would get Tsunami to personally meet her in private. Tsunami would show a great deal of anger at Scarlet for what she did to them as the Dragonets of Destiny, only to back down when Scarlet makes threats against the other dragonets should she try anything. Scarlet would give Tsunami a deal that she’ll let her, and the other dragonets go if she continues to fight every day and defeat her champion, even promising that she’ll not have the other dragonets fight if she provides very thrilling matches and persuading Tsunami into accepting the deal.

Over the next few days, Tsunami would be put into multiple matches, attempting to put about a show as she quickly ends her opponents with a snap of the neck; Making a bit of a name for herself among the crowds of the arena, but not thrilling Scarlet with how it isn’t that brutal. This would lead Starflight to be sent into a match by Scarlet against a dried-out Gill who would be sent to not kill Starflight but instead slowly and painfully tearing open his wings webbing to the point of being unable to fly and claiming victory for it. This would lead Tsunami to become more ferocious, so Starflight won’t be put in another match, leading to her to fight more in the arena while taking up using her flashing scales to temporarily blind her opponents and snapping more than just their neck, Pleasing Scarlet enough to not send Starflight into another match for now and even get a few fans for her brutality.

Glory: With the Queen Scarlet capturing the other dragonets and Kestrel, Glory (evading capture from being invisible) would follow the queen and her guards; Using the Skywing colors that she would regularly use to blend in, going under the Skywing name of Ptarmigan. Getting herself into a situation of being a new recruit under Princess Ruby so she can get into the Sky Palace itself to help figure out a way to free the other Dragonets.

During her time as a recruit under Ruby, Ptarmigan would find the training much better than what the Minders gave her under the mountain; Finding companionship and motivation in her fellow recruits as well as Ruby’s lieutenant in training Carnelian, making sure all of them are at their best and ready to fight. Ptarmigan and the rest of the recruits would be given time off from training for a few days by Ruby herself, making preparations in secret to overthrow her mother Scarlet with the help of Carnelian, Princess Burn arriving the day before Scarlet’s hatching day and High Queen Moorhen who would arrive a week before Scarlet’s hatching day. This would give Ptarmigan the time to be able to check up on Clay, Tsunami and Starflight from the crowds of the arena, watching with shock as Tsunami would break the bones of her opponents and ending them with a snap of their neck and being cheered on for it; Continuing to watch as she would witness Peril for the first time in action as well as Clay during his first fight.

Clay (our perspective) and Peril: After being knocked out, Clay would eventually find himself waking up under the sun with a warm back, a nasty headache with the feeling of a small indent, very hungry and bound atop one of the spires of the Sky Palace Arena while barely spotting Starflight and Tsunami on their own spires far away from him. Just in time to see Peril and her fight against Sandwing Horizon, turning into the Sandwing ending himself by holding onto Peril and not letting go as he burns himself to nothing but a chard corpse. This would leave Scarlet unsatiated, leaving Clay to unfortunately by selected for a final match for the day to satiate the Queen’s boredom (as well as to enjoy an appetizer to Kestrel suffering); Being sent up against Icewing Fjord who would be quick in trying to kill Clay in an attempt to get the fight over with, despite Clay’s pleas for them not to fight. It is only with Tsunami trying to get down to Clay to help him, causing a distraction that would allow Glory as Ptarmigan to attack Fjord with her venom without notice in the crowd (melting away the face and neck of Fjord who would scrape away at the venom, leaving them in a half blind and barely alive state that would please Scarlet enough to keep them around to suffer) and giving Clay the victory for this. Leaving him mortified as he is brought back to his spire, losing his appetite from what he saw.

Later that night, cold with a worry for the other dragonets and an empty stomach along with pain from his injuries making it difficult to sleep, would get a visit from Peril (having her own curiosities about the Mudwing). Peril would admire how he was able to cause destruction as easy as she could during his fight with Fjord, living her whole life believing that she is only good for destroying things and finding joy in meeting another that can seemingly destroy as easy as she can. Something that he wouldn't agree with and say how he wasn't the one to use venom, something Peril wouldn't be convinced of as the conversation would shift to Clay's wounds and how battered he looks (having scratches, bruises and some frost/venom burns with a sprained wing as well). Following this, Clay would ask Peril to put her scales against his, thinking that since fire can help mend his scales then fire scales should do the same. It would be a bit of a painful experience for Clay, especially whenever Peril passed her scales over his venom burns, but he would power through with both soot and a few indents in his scales where Peril pressed a little too hard on a wound with her own scales to show. Peril would leave not long after, having thoughts of how she helped heal another dragon with her scales instead of just destroying them (among other thoughts personally involving Clay), leaving Clay a bit sore from the process but in less pain than before to the point where he can get comfortable enough to get rest (helped by being warmed up by Peril’s Fire Scales).

In the morning, Clay would get visited again by Peril who would be carrying some coal with her to go, asking him to hide her under his wing. Clay would question why, getting an explanation of how she was told to not to go to the stadium that day and found that odd since she is never told to not go to the stadium, only ever to stay away from it whenever she isn't allowed there as well as having her own curiosities since a previously well know champion is apparently being put on trial (overhearing the conversations of others out of habit since she normally has no one to talk to). The conversation would shift to Clay asking why Peril is eating burnt looking rocks, giving an answer of how she gets them from Scarlet as she needs to eat them to survive and how she once got sick from not eating them for too long. Causing Clay to recall a bit of an embarrassing memory where he got the idea of eating rocks when he was younger, swallowing pebbles and biting into a rock a bit to big for him and getting his jaw stuck biting into it (recalling as well how he lost a tooth or two from the attempts made to get his jaw free). Peril would ask if she wanted to eat some of her coal since he’s giving them a pretty hungry look, being declined by Clay saying he’ll wait for when he’ll get a meal only for her to point out how it will be quite a while before the guards give out meals for the prisoners. After a bit of thinking, as well as some hunger pains from not eating for a few days now, Clay would decide to take up Peril’s offer of having some coal to at least fill his belly (having a dusty taste). There would a bit of coal ash left on both their tongues of which Peril would use her flame breath to burn away the ash on her tongue with Clay trying the same for his own, getting surprised by the sudden flame of the ash igniting and coughing a bit from the flame’s smoke (getting a bit of a chuckle out of Peril from it).

Inevitably, Queen Scarlet and her son Prince Vermilion acting for the prosecutor as well as Former Arena Champion and Guard Osprey acting for the defendant would make their way into the arena for the upcoming trial, leading to Clay wake up Peril napping under his wing due to staying up late (thinking) and getting up early to have enough time to get coals to eat and get to Clay before the trial (not knowing when it would take place). The trial would begin once the defendant Kestrel (still bearing her scarf) has been put in her spot for the trial, surprising Clay both that she is alive and that she was an arena champion of Scarlet's in the past (only really knowing that Kestrel knew his fierce aunt Sora). Vermilion would be the first to give his case, saying how nine years ago Kestrel had an egg as part of a breeding program to regrow the kingdom's population. This egg turned out to have twin Flame Scale and Featherwing dragonets and by tradition as well as orders from Scarlet, these dragonets were to be killed. Something Kestrel would commit treason against by running away with these dragonets, making it clear that she is guilty and deserving of punishment. This would stir questions in Peril who would find it an odd coincidence that it would fit the time frame for her but wouldn't believe it as her whole life she has been told by Scarlet that she saved her from her biological mother attempting to kill her; Something Clay would find odd for Scarlet to do with what he has seen her do.

With Vermilion finished giving his case against Kestrel, it would be Osprey's turn to give his defense of her; Beginning with while Kestrel did attempt to escape with her dragonets, she was caught fleeing by Scarlet and a group of guards with himself as one of the guards. Osprey would go on to tell of how Scarlet gave Kestrel the option of killing one of the dragonets to go free with the other, an option Kestrel would take and throw her newborn dragonet into a nearby river to drown. However, Scarlet would go back on her deal, forcing Kestrel to flee with her Fire Scale dragonet in her talons to survive; Unfortunately leading to her talons burned and dropping the dragonet to be left to the fate of Scarlet. Scarlet herself would mockingly question Osprey of what proof does he have that what he said even happened, only to get the response of her fire scale champion is proof enough. This would bring forth a revelation that would shock Clay and especially Peril, as well as leave Kestrel in wide eye confusion at this. Scarlet, however, would not be thrilled by this and in anger would end the trial there, sentencing Kestrel to death by fire scales for treason and have Osprey join her in this. This would lead Peril to spring into action, quickly soaring down into the arena and partially melting some of the metal wires binding Clay on the way down, calling on as a Champion Shield for Kestrel and Osprey. Scarlet would angerly question how she would know such a thing, quickly coming to a realization and accuse Osprey of teaching Peril more than just fighting; Leading to Scarlet lunging at the old Skywing and painfully tearing into his wings, lifting him high up into the air and ripping open one of his wings as she drops him to plummet to the ground. Peril would be quick to act, desperately griping reaching out for one of his talons to grab and slow his descent, only to end up just being able to reach his torn wing; Griping hard it in desperation, only to end up finishing Scarlets dirty work, causing his wing to be burnt in half. Ending with a nasty crack as Osprey crashes into the ground with the severed piece of his wing landing not that for from his broken body, leaving Peril to silently grieve for him. Only to be interrupted by Scarlet agreeing to allow Peril to take up the Champion’s Shield Challenge for Kestrel and tell her to get back to her cave, her majesty getting a glare from Peril who would begin dragging herself back to her cave to grieve in private; Passing by Kestrel who give a faintly sympathetic look to Peril passing her, only to get a response of wanting answers once she is free before leaving. With that, Scarlet would officially end the trial and have Kestrel be sent back to her cell as well as have Osprey’s body be dealt with. Leaving Clay to be stuck with his thought, waiting for his meal like the rest of the spire prisoners.

Later that day as night draws near, Clay would take notice many of his fellow prisoners looking towards the horizon. Turning his gaze towards where the others are looking to see an entourage of Sandwings flying towards the Sky Palace, being led by the battle hardened Sandwing, Princess Burn; Wearing an armored crown with metal plates worn over the front of her neck, bearing scars old and new across her scales. With her appearance, the prisoner watching guards would make preparations and inspections to make sure the prisoners won’t make any attempts at escape, doing a quick job so they can get to the soon to begin festivities now that Burn is here as soon as possible. Taking their leave once they find they’ve done a good enough job, allowing Clay to take the chance to check his bindings; Finding the ones damaged by Peril’s Flame Scales and attempt to break them, only managing to bend their shape with the exception of one he does manage to snap apart. Now wielding a piece of metal wiring, Clay would attempt use it to saw through his other bindings, only managing to create the sound of metal roughly sliding against metal. Taking a break to rest his arms, Clay would notice that those chained to the spires next to him gazing at him and his work, having a downtrodden look that he would notice that many if not all the prisoners have as if they’ve given up hope. This saddening sight would lead Clay to recall his fifth hatching day, one of the worst days everyone under the mountain had.

Things didn't start well that day; The weather being a down pour of rain, Tsunami waking up not feeling well and couldn't do much, Dune would not have much luck while hunting and everyone would have to have a light breakfast because of it, Kestrel was in more of a bad mood than she normally is, Glory and Starflight would get into a small argument about the latter's collection of scrolls getting everywhere, and Webs hasn't returned from his latest trip. Things would only get worse as the day went on with the rain having no end in sight, Starflight and Glory getting into more and more small argument, escalating into throwing some pretty awful insults about Rainwings and Nightwings at each other; Dune would get into an argument with Kestrel, something about the dragonets and going outside for the day; And Kestrel wouldn’t return on time with supper, leaving Dune to watch over an exhausted Tsunami pushing herself to not rest with Sunny and Clay comforting a regret filled Starflight with Glory hiding away herself. With everyone down, Sunny would ask Dune if he could help sing a song to cheer everyone up; Something that he would be reluctant to do at first but would cave in with Sunny giving him a please face. Giving a performance of a desert song that while not that good, would help get everyone's minds somewhat off of how bad the day was. Things would get quiet as the rain passes and the night draws near until the front cave entrance could be heard opening, leading to Clay being sent to check if it's Kestrel; Finding that it is her with a pretty big pile of dirty prey and Webs by her side with supplies and trinkets, both looking beat up and covered in mud as if they were in a fight. Clay would get a greeting and apology from Webs for being so late to his and the other dragonets hatching day, the two making their way to Dune and the others with Kestrel going elsewhere. Once reaching the others and getting a joyful greeting from Sunny, Webs would begin checking up on Tsunami while Clay would head back to Starflight to find him doing a bit better. Clay, Starflight and Sunny would be asked to go find Kestrel by Webs who would send Dune to get some of the medicine he got to help Tsunami. Eventually they would find Kestrel, washing off the pile of prey she caught and drying it with her flame breath (slightly cooking the prey in the process). Clay would go to grab some to eat some of the prey with Sunny and Starflight, quick to fill his belly with satisfaction after a whole day with little to eat; Being joined by Kestrel finished drying the prey and Dune as well, leading to Clay deciding to pick up and take some prey for Webs and Tsunami while leaving some behind for Glory. Making his way to where Webs and Tsunami are, Clay would find Glory with them; Having herself look like a Skywing while being comforted by Webs, giving some of his meal to Glory so she can eat. Once everyone had eaten, Webs would take Clay and Glory back to the others so they can let Tsunami rest; Coming to find an odd and slightly amusing sight of Sunny, Kestrel and Dune flicking the mud dragged in by Kestrel as each-other in a sort of play fighting way while Starflight would be using said mud as makeshift paint on a wall nearby. Webs would leave soon after, leaving behind a good chunk of the mud he dragged in with him. Clay would join Starflight in mud paint and bringing Glory along to hopefully help make amends with one another as well as not ruin Sunny’s happy moment. The three would spend quite some time mud painting, leaving once they find themselves tired and finding that the others have left; Making their way back to their sleeping cave, going to sleep the same as Tsunami.

Snapping back to the present, Clay would fondly note how things got better that night. Looking at his bent wire bindings and getting an idea, bending the wires into an orderly fashion and sharpening his snapped off one. With wires prepared, Clay would begin using them like a string instrument, playing a melody of ‘the dragonets are coming’ song; Slowly being joined by the other prisoners in a chorus, expanding until all who are able to sing are doing so together. The music would be abruptly cut short as an angry looking Scarlet wearing more elaborate jewelry would come in with a small group of guards to grab Tsunami and imprison her elsewhere, finding her an annoyance she doesn’t want to deal with right now; Clay would also be taken with Tsunami after it was found one of his bindings was snapped and the rest bent up, but not before he was able to hide his sharpened wire under one of his wings and held by its wing binding. The two would be dragged along for interrupting the festivities with their racket and thrown into Peril’s cave after she was kicked out of it and sent to burn any prisoners that make another ruckus by Scarlet who would give Peril an angry glare after looking towards a pile of ash and a destroyed frame of a picture, getting a glare in turn from Peril who would give a quick affectionate looking gaze at Clay before leaving towards the arena. Scarlet would have a pile of coals lined across the cave entrance and prepare to have them ignited, but not before being joined by Princess Burn telling Scarlet how this wouldn’t have happened if she had guards watching the prisoners. Scarlet would say how her hatching day is more important than some lowly prisoner, pointing out how she already dealt with the troublesome prisoners; Causing Burn to look at these troublemaking prisoners and note with a bit of surprise how they are a Seawing and Mudwing, ignoring Scarlet who would become annoyed at Burn for focusing on the dragonets instead of her. Burn would at first question the two on why they are in prisoners, especially Clay considering his tribe is her ally, and come to a conclusion of them being the reason there are rumors about the dragonets of Destiny being around then give a good riddance in that case; Getting a response from Tsunami how there should be rumors considering they are the Dragonets of Destiny. Giving a comeback to Tsunami, Burn would give a weak look of feigned surprise of how there are five dragonets, dropping the surprise look and saying how she must be blind then since there are only two dragonets in front of her. Continuing on to say how it doesn’t matter either way since there should only be fou-, getting interrupted by Scarlet igniting the coals along the cave entrance to trap the dragonets with flames and give a hissy fit how Burn is ignoring her; Leading Burn to leave back the way she came with all the present guards following behind her with a grumbling Scarlet trying to get her focused attention while right next to her.

With Burn as well as Scarlet and her guards gone, Clay and especially Tsunami would embrace in joy; Enjoying their reunion that would soon be joined in it by Glory appearing in front of flame blocked cave entrance and bring further joy, especially for Clay. Following this, Glory would bring up the idea of breaking the two of them out of there, finding disagreement in Tsunami who would deny herself a chance of escape as she would stick out like a sore claw and could easily get them caught, not giving her whole reason; Agreeing that they can get Clay out of there but noting how they still have a problem of getting him through the flame wall blocking the entrance. This problem would easily be solved by Clay jumping though the flames with Tsunami and Glory being a bit surprised by this action, taking no noticeable damage thanks to his scales with only a bit of a sting from touching the flame. Followed up by Clay being embraced by Glory, a gesture Clay would return wholeheartedly and warmly from being heated by the flame barrier. Clay would leave with a farewell to Tsunami and give a promise of getting her, Sunny and Starflight out of there, being told by Glory to call her Ptarmigan so as to not raise suspicions. The two would make their way through the Sky Palace, passing guards and other dragons, eventually finding their way through the Great Hall where many dragons are there with Scarlet, Burn and High Queen Moorhen there as well with many statues and portraits of Scarlet there in celebration of the Skywing Queen's hatching day. Making their way through the Hall, Clay and Ptarmigan would cross paths with one of Ptarmigan's fellow recruits who would be curious of who her Mudwing friend is, leading into Clay kindly introducing himself to them who would introduce themselves as Ptarmigan’s friend Cinabar. Said friend would pull away Ptarmigan for a quick conversation, leaving Clay to blend in; Finding a buffet table and take a chance to indulge himself for a bit and decide to give a look around the hall and spotting Burn talking to a Skywing general, an annoyed looking Scarlet talking to what looks like the Mudwing Queen, and Sunny in a cage hanging high above the hall. Making a promise to Sunny on rescuing her, only to be pulled away by a flustered Ptarmigan walking away from Cinnabar who would amusingly tell them to have fun. Leading Ptarmigan to move quicker, pulling along Clay who for a moment thought he saw a burning Skywing entering the Hall.

Clay would continue to be pulled along by Ptarmigan who take him into a cave with a water fall and telling how it is an outside hidden tunnel that is meant as an emergency back exit, being noted by Clay as having a faintly awful smell that would lead him to unfortunately learn from Glory that it is also used as a bathroom. Clay would be quick to try and leave through the waterfall, wanting to get away from the smell, but would stop short after noticing Glory is staying back. This would get Clay to ask if she is coming with him, getting a response of how she is going to stay undercover so they can figure out how to help Tsunami, Starflight and Sunny escape. Something that Clay would find not to be the full truth, showing a kind concern that would lead to him figure out how Glory finding her time as Ptarmigan nice. Clay would note how it has been a pretty eventful few days since they were captured, only to learn from Glory that it has been half a month. This would shock Clay with how long it has actually been, only to be interrupted by Guards coming in and capturing both of them. Clay would notice Peril close by and Scarlet who would have an eerily thrilled look as she leads the guards dragging away him and Glory. Eventually the dragging Clay would split off from the rest of the group, taking him to imprisoned next to Kestrel who would awoken by the ruckus. Clay would attempt to take a chance to talk to Kestrel, only to be told to wait till morning to talk, something he would be all too familiar with her saying. Leaving Clay to try and find a good position to rest, eventually falling asleep.

Clay would be awakened by the smell of cooked food, finding that it is his and Kestrel’s breakfast. He would be quick to dive into his while Kestrel would be slower with hers, leaving the two with the sound of them eating. Inevitably, Clay would finish his meal, leading him to start a conversation with Kestrel. Something Kestrel sees herself getting out of with how adamant he is about it, plus not wanting to be left in silence until the inevitable. After a bit of thinking, Clay would ask her why she was willing to give herself up to let the dragonets go free back under the mountain; catching Kestrel off guard for a moment with that being his first question before giving her answer of not letting the years being a minder to the dragonets go to waste, griping her scarf in remembrance. Knowing that Kestrel grips her scarf whenever he asked about Asha, leading Clay to ask what was Aunt Asha. Seeing no way out of the question, Kestrel would tell how she was a fierce fighter that would give even herself a run for her treasure as well as a kind and mother sly sister; Saying how she would have made a great minder to the dragonets, quickly stoping herself after realizing what she just said. Prompting Clay to ask what happened to Asha, leading Kestrel to tell that story of how Webs, Dune, Asha and her Icewing partner Hvitur (the story being momentarily stopped by Clay surprised that his Aunt was in a relationship with an Icewing) would be tasked with being minders to the dragonets with Webs bringing Tsunami’s egg, Dune bringing Sunny’s egg, Morrowseer bringing Starflight’s egg, leaving Asha to acquire his egg and Hvitur to acquire the Skywing egg. (The story being momentarily stopped again by Clay questioning why they have Glory if Hvitur went after a Skywing egg, Kestrel questioning if he wants her to finish the story before answering his question by saying that Hvitur was killed with the egg on the way back to Under the Mountain. Getting a Rainwing egg would be Webs idea, traveling to the Rainforest and stealing Glory’s egg.) Asha would come back with his egg but have severe wounds that would cause her to pass away not long after, the earring attached to her scarf being the only thing left of her. This would make Clay question why Kestrel didn’t mention herself as one of the minders, only to learn with surprise that Kestrel wasn’t supposed to be one of the the dragonets minders. Being tasked with keeping the dragonets and minders safe, only taking up the role of Minder after the deaths of Asha and Hvitur. This would get Clay to recall how Kestrel wouldn’t treat them well, especially during her training sessions, but would recall how she mellowed out a bit during latter years under the mountain (particularly after the dragonets fifth hatching day). Clay would follow this by telling Kestrel she was a bad minder that can do better, leading Kestrel to question why he would think that, only to be caught of guard with him answering how she did try to be less awful to the dragonets. Their conversation being ended by guards coming in to take them to the arena, chaining them and giving both a muzzle before pulling them along.

Eventually Clay, Kestrel and the guards pulling them along would be reach the arena where the two would be chained next to but just out of reach of Scarlet and Burn’s thrones with Kestrel being chained on Scarlet’s side and Clay being chained on Burn’s side with a crowd of onlooker consisting of Skywings, Sandwings and Mudwings. Clay would notice Burn giving Scarlet a dirty look and notice a few gems in her helmet that weren’t there before, keeping her distance with Peril between the two. Looking towards Scarlet, Clay would notice with horror that she is wearing the body of Glory like a cloak, having a painful white color with gems and ornamental metals digging into her scales with her mouth bound shut and head ornamented and worn like a crown atop Scarlet's own head. Scarlet would begin things for the arena by acting as an announcer for her hatching day greeting resident Skywings, visiting Mudwings and honored Sandwing guests. Continuing with how it is going to be a thrilling day as the arena favorite Tsunami has agree to do multiple matches for the day, even having a shot at becoming champion, bringing a cheer to the crowd as well as a curiosity to newcomers and Clay who would have a mix of worry as well about this.

The crowd would go silent for a moment as everyone’s attention would be drawn to a tunnel entrance in the arena leading to the palace, erupting back into cheers as Tsunami would walk in with conviction, wing bindings and a glare directed straight at Scarlet as she flashes her scales directly at the queen. The crowd cheering further at this display, dying down after a bit and allowing Scarlet to ask a question. Said question being what is the worst possible way a Seawing can die, getting answers such as tearing off their limbs, being boiled alive, being drowned (the last one getting a response of how that would be the most embarrassing). With the crowd giving all their answers, Scarlet would give her own; Saying how the worst way for a Seawing to die is to be dehydrated, slowly losing their mind without body drying up until they are nothing but a mindless beast. The crowd going silent as Tsunami’s first opponent would be brought in, being introduced by Scarlet as Gill the Seawing; Looking dried up and feral without a hint of conscious behind their eyes, bearing splotches of blood over their gills, mouth and scales. Only responding to the words of Scarlet as she would call for him and Tsunami to have claws up, ready… And fight! Gill being first to charge at Tsunami who would attempt to back up and use her flashing scales on him, only to be tackled onto her back as they would attempt to bite down on her knock and pin one of her talons. Only being stoped as Tsunami pushes back his face with he free talon, claws digging into their face with one ending up going into their right eye. Causing them to stagger back in an attempt to get away from the pain, only to pull Tsunami with them as she would use her now freed arm to punch him; furthering their stagger backwards until her talons detach from their face, allowing Tsunami to get back up as they would try to close up their bleeding eye with their right talon. With barely a moments rest, Tsunami would quickly strike at Gill, knocking their left talon from under them and holding a good grip onto it as they fall over; Using the momentum to painfully dislocate their talon, the crowd getting a cheer out of Tsunami taking the advantage. It wouldn’t last long as Gill would quickly remove their right talon coated in blood from their bleeding eye and smack it in Tsunami’s face and cause their blood to splatter over her face, temporarily blinding her as she wipes away the blood and allowing Gill to get up on his legs and blood covered right talon with his left talons hanging limply. With blood wiped from her eyes and smeared over her face and talons from doing so, Tsunami would quickly charge at Gill; Thrusting her wing into the bloody side of their face, splattering blood over her wing and staggering her opponent from the impact. Using this to gain an advantage, Tsunami would grab Gill’s right talon out from under them and continue to hold it as she puts her weight on his back to hold them down, dislocating their right talon from the momentum as her weight would hold them down with their legs kicking around and trying to push Tsunami off. Tsunami would attempt to reach Gill’s horns but would be blocked by their flailing wings, leading her to grip on to one of their wings as she puts her weight and footing on the center of their back. Using her strength to pull the held wing out of its socket as a snapping sound can be heard from Gill’s back from the force of her weight on them, their legs going limp and no longer moving with a painful roar. Tsunami would move him Gill’s body, putting her weight on his moving wing to keep it down as she grabs onto their horns. The crowd would grow into a chant to snap his neck, be it for the brutality or to put Gill out of his misery, a chant Tsunami would answer in turn as he answer and end Gill. The crowd buzzing into a cheer with Tsunami the victor and Scarlet being eerily pleased at the battle’s end with Clay being in horrified silence at what he witnessed Tsunami do with Kestrel sharing that silence in shock.

A short break would pass as the crowd would mingle, Gill’s corpse being cleaned up and moved away by arena guards, Tsunami wiping most of the blood off from her face and talons with only smudges remaining, and Clay processing Tsunami’s fight with Gill. The break ending with Scarlet starting things for the next fight, talking about the mysterious Nightwings and how they all get the chance to see one in action today. Getting Clay to look towards Starflight who would have guards taking him down to the arena, noticing a lifeless looking fjord on a spire and a cloaked scavenger with something gold sticking out of said cloak sitting on another. Being put in the arena and the guards leaving Starflight in the arena where Clay would get his first look at Starflight since they were captured, noticing with shock their wings torn up horribly to the point of being unusable for flight. Scarlet would introduce Starflight the Nightwing to the crowd before before starting the fight with claws up, ready… And fight! Only for neither to do such as Tsunami would walk towards and attempt to talk to Starflight scurrying away from her in fear with what she did during her other arena fights. The crowd and Scarlet becoming a bit bored at Tsunami’s attempt to talk to Starflight, this would change with everyone slowly noticing a black dragon flying towards the arena. The crowd would realize it to be a very big Nightwing and for Clay to recognize them as Morrowseer as the lands in the arena, claiming to be here for Starflight. This would confuse Clay on why he would only be here for Starflight, becoming even more confused when Morrowseer and an annoyed Scarlet talking like they personally know each other. Their conversation ending with Morrowseer promising Scarlet a ‘gift’ so that he can take Starflight without issue, having a couple Nightwings seemingly emerge from his shadow. Going over the to all the imprisoned Icewings with the exception of Fjord and quickly yet painfully kill them, returning into Morrowseer’s shadow as he would grab Starflight who would struggle in his grasp before flying off. Leaving the arena in a tense silence until Scarlet would call for the arena to be cleaned up and ready for the next match.

Something that wouldn’t take very long as a group of scavengers carried by guards would be dropped into the arena with Tsunami, having all exits blocked off for them. Scarlet would say how it is an appetizer to the final event, the guards using its time to clean up the Icewing corpses. Scarlet would begin to initiate the fight with claws up, ready, only to stop in silence and confusion as everyone else in noticing a wind is building up. Clay coming to realize it is blowing towards the cloaked scavenger on a spire, now standing up with a golden scepter, leaping off the spire with a running start, right into the arena below. Burn would quickly launch at the falling scavenger in anger after noticing the scepter, seeking to strike them in midair; Only to be knocked down to the ground from a powerful gust as the scavenger is swinging their scepter to slow down, forcing Burn to land with the ground cracking under the impact. The cloaked scavenger would land on Burn's head and use it as a springboard, jumping to the ground where they would throw their scepter at the ground where it would create a gust of wind on impact that would slow their fall and create a cloud of dust that would obscure them and Burn. The cloaked scavenger would be the first to be seen running out of the dust cloud with their scepter, squeaking at the other scavengers who would join them in running towards the tunnel leading to the palace. Some guards would try and stop the scavengers, only to be knocked away by a powerful gust of wind and allowing the scavengers to pass through. Burn, blowing away the dust cloud with the flap of her wings, would attempt to charge after the scavengers, only to be denied as the cloaked scavenger would cause a gust with enough force to cause the tunnel to collapse behind them. Leading into Burn many of the guards, including those cleaning up the Icewing corpses, to fly with her into the palace to hunt down the scavengers. A large portion of the crowd would leave as well with everything that has transpired with most feeling unsafe, leaving many of the dragons that chose to stay to feel agitated about what will happen. Scarlet herself being greatly annoyed as she would order her remaining guards to clean up the arena and prepare for the final match, having them bring Tsunami to talk with her in private. Leaving her throne to do so and leaving everyone in a tense silence only broken by the murmurs of the remaining crowd.

Among the silence of the arena, Peril would move closer to Clay, cutting a thin and barely noticeable line in his muzzle so he can open his mouth enough to talk to her. The two would still stay in a somewhat awkward silence until Clay would decide to ask Peril why she followed him and Glory last night, getting an answer of how he is the only other dragon besides Scarlet and Osprey who had treated her more than just a dragon that destroys, showing her that she can help. Promising that she will get him free once she frees Kestrel with her match, confusing Clay for a bit as Tsunami would return to the arena with Scarlet returning to her throne and tell Peril to head down into the arena. Making Clay realize to late that Peril and Tsunami are going to fight to the death as Scarlet would say claws up, ready… AND FIGHT! Tsunami would begin to charge at Peril with her flashing scales ready to blind her opponent while Peril would charge at her in turn with their eyes closed so as to not get blinded, only for Tsunami to pivot on her talons and bring her tail around to smack Peril right in their face, sending them skidding across the ground passed her with tail singed from the strike. Peril would be quick to get back up and lunge at Tsunami who would quickly move to the side where she would dig at the ground, picking up dirt into her left talon and throwing it into Peril’s eyes as they lunge at her again. Blinding Peril as they wipe away the dirt and allowing Tsunami to get into a position where she can bring her tail around to smack Peril again, knocking them to the ground with more of a singe in her tail and quickly reaching for a grip on their horns. Tsunami would attempt to get into a position where she can hold onto Peril’s horns without touching their fire scales, allowing Peril to wriggle out of Tsunami’s grip and bring their head up to smack into her jaw that would be burnt. Allowing Peril to reposition themselves and fire their flame breath at Tsunami, forcing her to back away with a singe. Shifting the match into a chase of Peril attacking Tsunami who would do her best to avoid their attacks but begin to quickly lose her ground. Worrying Clay not wanting to see Tsunami die, feeling something shift under his wing cuff that he would realize is his piece of metal wire. Griping onto it with his teeth through the cut of his muzzle, Clay would pull out the wire and toss it into the arena. Shouting at Tsunami her name, getting her attention where she would notice the wire falling into the arena. Quickly she would more to intercept the wire, maneuvering herself around Peril and rushing towards it. Picking it up and swinging around to strike Peril, landing a direct hit on their head and knocking them down disoriented. With Peril having trouble standing, the crowd would find a cheer at Tsunami knocking down the Fire Scale Champion and being on the verge of victory. Something Scarlet would be enraged about with Clay interfering with the match, lunging at him and forcing him to the ground with a grip on his horns. Clay would brace for what she was about to do before noticing she grip loosening, noticing a drip of something green land right next to him a getting him to look up, free of Scarlet’s grip, and see the right side of Scarlet’s face being melted from venom spilling from Glory’s bound mouth.

Raising her talons to her face, Scarlet would let out a screech of pain that would be deafening to Clay as she would begin thrashing about, the sound and sight of Scarlet sending the arena crowd to blow up into a fearful frenzy. The guards quickly evacuating the arena with some working to move Scarlet elsewhere, removing Glory from her back and onto the ground to more easily move the queen. Peril would quickly move over to where they are with Tsunami not far behind, flying up to where Clay is and begin putting pressure and heating up his bindings on the ground to the point that can be broken. Quickly making his way over the Glory with worry and ignoring his other bindings as he would quickly take to removing the bindings over her mouth, allowing her to cough up venom that had built up in her mouth and on to the ground; A few drops splashing onto Clay’s scales and add pain to his relief at seeing her alive, looking up at the sound of metal hitting the ground to see Peril breaking through one of Kestrel’s wing bindings with the those holding her to the ground broken as well. Clay would hear Tsunami shout from over the edge and get Kestrel and Peril’s attention, followed by Kestrel reaching down and pulling up his broken wire with Tsunami gripping the other end as she is brought up. Kestrel would move over Clay and Glory as Peril would move to Tsunami, removing her wing binding with a bit of hesitation from the latter with the fight they just had. With Kestrel now looking over Glory, Clay would do the same and get a closer look of his own at the awful state Glory is in, finding that the jewelry imbedded in her scales is too deep for them to remove. Clay would find Peril has moved next to him and begun removing his wing bindings with Tsunami moving to sit next to him, Clay himself being hesitant at this after her whole match with Gill. The group would be silent as Peril would finish removing Clay's wing bindings and asking what now, continuing the groups silence in thought until Clay would bring up Sunny, saying how he saw her in the Sky Palace. A Palace Kestrel would point out is filled with guards on high alert, being told by Tsunami in turn that this may be there only chance to rescue Sunny as Scarlet had planned to give her as a gift for Burn and her Infamous Weirdling Tower. Kestrel would further point out how they don't have that much power behind them being only five dragons with one of them unable to do anything, getting Clay thinking and getting an idea after looking up towards the prisoners. Thinking that they can get the prisoners to help, building into an idea of convincing the prisoners that they are the dragonets of destiny and get them to help free Sunny as the Sandwing Dragonet of Destiny. Managing to do so, however having the problem of their bindings getting in the way of helping, coming up with an idea for Peril to heat up and break off the prisoner wing bindings from everyone and fly together in tandem down to the ground. The bindings of the dead Icewings being cut off to not get dragged down, being moved down to the ground after.

The group would formulate a plan where Kestrel and Tsunami would lead the prisoners to cause a diversion and pull away the guards in the Grand all long enough so Peril can break out Sunny from her cage and sneak the Sky Palace with Clay carrying Glory and with Peril helping keep them safe. Kestrel would carry Glory until they make their way up to the Great Hall as she is the only one in the group that can get enough lift to fly with her on their back, transferring Glory to Clay once they are at the Great Hall. Making their way through the Sky Palace, Clay would lead Sunny and Peril on the path Glory pulled him along to the waterfall bathroom, finding that he may have made a wrong turn as they would come face to face with Moorhen, Burn, a tired looking Princess Ruby, and a group of guards with some moving the unconscious body of Scarlet having the right side of their face be partially melted with their eye exposed. Ruby and Burn would order the present guards to arrest the group, said guards stopping after Peril would get in the way and them not wanting to get brunt. This would leave them in a stalemate until Moorhen would bring Ruby and Burn into a quiet conversation that couldn't be overheard by Clay. The conversation between the three royals eventually ending, starting a small talk with the dragonets and Peril. Moorhen starting with how they will let the four of them go without issue under the two conditions of that they take an oath to never speak about what they have just witnessed, something they do so they can escape without much trouble, and that they are effectively banished from the Sky Kingdom once they have escaped. The group of four would make their way to the waterfall bathroom after asking which way it is and learning from one of the guards with the royals that they are actually close with them just needing to go the other way and take another turn. Clay would leave with Sunny and Peril, but not before asking a question that popped up in his head for Burn about why she is so willing to let them go with them being the Dragonets of Destiny, only to be told that the being the dragonets is meaningless as the Skywing dragonet has long been dead and they can’t fulfill the prophecy without them. Causing Clay to recall what Kestrel said about Hvitur being killed with the Skywing dragonet, realizing that Burn may of had a talon in the Skywing dragonet’s death.

Making his way into the waterfall bathroom with Glory on his back with Sunny and Peril not far behind, Clay would notice a scavenger facing towards the waterfall, looking like their hesitating to jump through the it. They would notice the four and seem to freak out when they got close, moving as far away as possible from them. Not paying the scavenger much mind, Clay would make his way through the waterfall. Finding himself entering a small glide while making sure Glory stays on his back safe, noticing a group a scavengers next a river flowing from the waterfall as he exits through the waterfall with one being the golden scepter wielder standing next to a small dragon made if lazulite. The scepter wielder would raise said scepter as if ready to attack, only to bring it down while looking behind Clay. Leading him to look back and see Peril coming through the waterfall with steam rolling off their scales with Sunny not far behind, carrying the scavenger from before and placing them down. Watching them run to the other scavengers and small dragon who would keep their distance from Clay’s group before leaving not long after. With Scavengers gone, Sunny would ask what they are going to do next, causing Clay to realize that they didn’t think this far ahead. Leading the group contemplating on what to do before deciding to follow the river they’re next to, Peril tagging along with Sunny and Clay carrying Glory until they exit the Sky Kingdom where she’ll leave. The four now traveling together downstream with the path ahead uncertain.

#wof #wof au #Retold Flames #glory wof #there's a rainwing among us #wof scarlet #may suffering come upon thee #tsunami wof #arena calling #clay wof #in the uknown #peril wof #contenplating life

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atozphantomsquadron · 2 years ago

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XXIV - Purity

It took a few days to explain everything to my mother. She seemed shocked, saddened, and infuriated in turns as I retold the stories of my time at sea aboard the Reagan, the project, Sonny, Gerard, and 37A. That negativity turned positive when I reached the part of the story about Ken, Cyrus, and Kitty. And especially when Cole came into the story, when he was able to start filling in some of the gaps, her worried face gave way to a smile.

“So all this time … with these people, you’ve been like this? A dragon?”

I nodded. “They have all been very good to me, all been very understanding of my situation and my state, and in turn I’ve been very helpful on the missions.”

“Absolutely,” Cole chimed in. “She’s like the heart of the team.”

She reached out and placed a hand on Cole’s shoulder. “Thank you so very much for taking care of my daughter.”

He blushed. I wrapped my arms around him in a playful embrace. I knew for certain now that my mother had accepted Cole and was willing to become family with him.

The next day was a Sunday, and I knew that my mother tended to get up early to go to church services, although I wasn’t sure if it was Pastor Abaster’s church. She gently awakened us both, and shortly afterward we were back in Cole’s car, heading out to see the one last person I’d known so long ago in this place.

The first thing that struck me as off about Pastor Abaster’s church was that he had renamed it. While most churches shared the name of a saint, or a significant figure in the Bible, he had gone one further and named his new church the “Church of Christian Purity.” It was another different building since the last time I had been home, now it was eight times the size of the little church in which I had been baptized and rose defiantly against the sky, built at the exact convergence of Four Corners. It took a while for Cole to find parking, and another long while for us to make our way to the building.

And what a building it was. The place seemed stadium-like. Television cameras were installed in every corner of the chapel area, pointed toward a gigantic sanctuary … more a stage, really … with a mural of Monument Valley serving as its backdrop. Though it was stadium size, the seats were still simple pews so we found our way to a central area and sat down.

(Transcriber’s note: The Church of Christian Purity was classified as a tax-exempt religious organization in 2000. Alastair Abaster’s sister Jennifer was listed as the organization’s chief financial officer: Alastair was its CEO. As of the dissolution of the Church, it was estimated that the total value of assets was upwards of $28 billion, and that Alastair Abaster’s personal net worth was in the $600 million range. Abaster was one of the new wave of so-called “prosperity preachers,” however his religious message was the most nihilistic of the group. It is not surprising, then, that he would have built an excessive building to house his excessive Church.—DAM)

“It’s been so exciting recently since they started filming Pastor Abaster’s services,” my mother whispered to me.

“I was going to ask about that, actually. When did this begin?”

“I think it was a few years ago. He got offered the chance to go nationwide with his message, and once he did the ministry took off in terms of donations and prominence. They’re even talking about him possibly running for president!”

Cole’s eyes had a very distant stare to them. His face looked worried. I noticed this and squeezed his hand gently. “What’s wrong?”

He looked down at me. “It might be nothing, Ariel, but I’m getting this really dark, foreboding feeling. Like we should be getting ready for a fight.” He ran his free hand down his leg and gripped gently on the Sword, which he always carried.

I squeezed his hand again. “There’s nothing to fight here. It’s just church.”

The chapel quickly filled in, as gentle organ music began to play. I also watched up at the sanctuary as a band filled into a choir box near the pulpit. When the church was filled to near capacity, the band started playing spiritual music, uplifting and peppy. To this ovation, Pastor Abaster rushed out on the sanctuary stage.

At once I was shocked by his appearance. He had been a very humble dresser when I had known him, back when he had taken over the local church. He had also been a very humble person in general. Now he stood out in front of his congregation, like a star athlete or a performer gaining the adulation of his fans, in an expensive looking pinstripe suit, wearing a gold watch and rings. This wasn’t the same man. Fame had changed him.

Then there was the matter of how he conducted the service. Initially, he had at least adhered to certain standards by which most church services are held, with singing, responses from the congregation, prayers, sermons, readings, and so on. Now he was conducting his services in the manner of a tent revival, allowing the congregation only to respond with praises and yelps and adulations, coming nearly non-stop.

Finally, there was his message. Worse than I had seen in my brief glimpse when Kitty had turned on his show by accident, this day he was certain that judgment was upon the world instantly, and so he was the only way for the congregation to ensure they would be saved. Such a hopeful man, suddenly turned to pessimistic about the world, about God’s creation and about God’s will. What had happened to him?

To my surprise, he made it a point, according to my mother, of standing at the church doors as the congregation exited, to greet everyone who had come to services. We hung back for a while, certain that he would want to spend some time catching up with me (although I was dreading it). When we were sure that we were the only ones left in the chapel, we made our way toward the door.

He was finishing his last greeting of a parishioner and turning back into the chapel when we caught up. He smiled warmly … at least it seemed like it: that was one thing that hadn’t changed. “Shanee, my old friend, how are you this morning?”

“Blessed, Pastor. I just thought you’d like to see who I brought with me this morning. You remember Ariel, don’t you?”

He turned and looked at me, and instantly sucked in a quick gasp. “I certainly do, and she looks wonderful this morning. How are you, my dear?”

He shook my hand. I smiled and responded, “I’m well, Pastor, thank you.” This was a lie. As soon as I took his hand, 37A’s voice screamed in my head.

=This man is dangerous. Do not trust him.=

My joints weakened slightly. My mother, oblivious, continued with her introductions.

“And this is her new fiancé, Cole Sharpe.”

Pastor Abaster’s eyes took on a new expression as he turned to Cole. It was cold, angry … almost evil. “Ah yes, of course. Reverend Alastair Abaster, it’s a pleasure to meet you sir. Shanee is one of my oldest friends and parishioners.”

“Pleasure, sir.” Cole shook Pastor Abaster’s hand. Every muscle tensed in his arm, every vein poked out of his forehead. Something was wrong.

Abaster sensed it too. “I see. So you are the one I am to destroy.” His face took on a grotesque grin. I looked behind him and saw a woman approaching.

“Brother, we need you in the editing room.”

It was Jennifer, his sister.

She was the beast rider from my dream!

My heart jumped and pounded frantically. I looked back over at Cole and Abaster, still locked with their handshake, Abaster still grinning. Cole looked over to me, his face strained. “Ariel, get your mother out of here. Things are about to get violent.”

I nodded and gently wrapped my arm around my mother’s shoulders, guiding her back outside. On our way out, I deactivated the HoSIP: if we were going to see action I would definitely not need a camouflage body for it. Behind us, I heard Cole and Abaster start struggling, moving back toward the sanctuary of the chapel.

When we crossed the threshold of the church’s door, I spotted a black SUV screeching to a halt at the end of the walk. Three people quickly poured out of it, two of which I recognized instantly on sight.

“Cyrus! Kitty!” I kept leading my mother back toward the SUV, to relative safety. From the driver’s side came Gabe Francis, gun drawn. “What’s going on?”

Cyrus took my mother’s hand. “Gabe let us know, all of the activity is centered around this church. Where’s Cole?”

“Inside with the pastor … things are getting dangerous in there.”

Gabe took control of my mother’s direction. “Ma’am, I’m going to ask you to stay in my truck until we come back out. Don’t touch anything, don’t run, and don’t panic.”

My mother looked back over at me, and to Cyrus and Kitty, then back up at Gabe. “Can I do one thing first?” He nodded. She left his presence and walked back over to me, hugging me tightly. “No matter what happens, little Ariel, I am very proud to have you as my daughter, and I thank God for bringing you into my life.”

I hugged her tightly, possibly for the last time. “I love you, mom.” When I released her, she walked willingly back over to Gabe, who led her into the SUV. We waited for him to put her into the truck before turning and entering the church.

Cole and Abaster had wrestled their way up to the altar, currently just in a fistfight. We could hear Abaster’s words through the boom mikes installed around the sanctuary stage.

“I am the chosen one, the right hand of God! I am to separate the wheat from the chaff!”

Cole punched Abaster. “Listen, pal, I don’t know what kind of power trip you’re on, but you should knock it off.”

“Oh it’s power all right. It’s power enough to destroy a false prophet like you!”

All around us, shambling undead corpses started approaching us, between the pews. I spread my wings, unwilling to try to do anything else: Dr. Klein-Rosser’s warning about the baby had made me very hesitant about letting the dragon out. The old familiar gurgling came to my gut, though, and since I felt I could safely do it in my human form I firecasted toward the oncoming bodies, which screamed and collapsed into ash. Kitty, Gabe, and Cyrus did the same behind me, circling and firing off bullets and spells, dropping many of the corpses even as more began to shamble forward.

Abaster kept grinning on the stage. “See my power. The dead rise to pass judgment on the living!”

Cole made a motion to grab the Sword. “Stop this right now or face judgment yourself, Abaster.”

Abaster’s attention was drawn away from our fight, which made all of the bodies drop. Without him to animate them, they were simply the innocent bodies of the dead. Instead, Abaster reached behind the pulpit and produced a long, leather-bound item.

Another Sword. This one, though, had a darker sheen to it, like it had tasted far more blood than the Guardsman’s Sword had. Abaster clutched the hilt of his Sword.

Beside me, Gabe shuddered. “No, you fool, don’t let him out!”

Abaster turned to face us all, holding his Sword high above his head. “And the seventh angel poured his bowl into the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple saying …” He unsheathed his Sword. “IT IS DONE!”

Alastair Abaster, the pastor I had known since my teenage years, succumbed to his own transformation, closing hellish armor around him and flashing death’s face toward us, covering his own. To one side, Cole pulled his own Sword out and confronted the interloper, fully encased in the armor of the Guardsman.

Gabe suddenly pulled us back behind a pew. I was the first to react: “What’s going on here? What did you mean, ‘don’t let him out?’”

Gabe shook his head and looked up at all three of us. “It’s as I feared, I’m afraid. Abaster has been taken by an ancient weapon as old as Cole’s Sword, commonly called the Sabre of the Invader. That beast that the Guardsman is fighting now is the Invader.”

I lifted my head slightly above the top of the pew. The Guardsman had lunged toward the Invader, only to have his thrust parried, creating loud clangs which sounded like thunderclaps. The two knights engaged in a fierce sword battle up on the sanctuary, resorting to using other weapons at their disposal such as kicks and punches when it became apparent simply swords would not win the day.

Gabe’s eyes widened. He turned back to Cyrus and Kitty. “You two, you need to find a way to stop this fight. Distract the Invader any way you can, just make damn sure he turns his attention to you and not toward Cole.”

Cyrus ducked as a stray piece of the altar came flying at his head. “How are we supposed to do that?”

“I don’t care how, just do it! Cole’s life is in the balance!”

Kitty picked up Cyrus under her arm and ran back out toward the sanctuary, pistol blazing. Cyrus shot spells toward the Invader, knocking him aside. The knight barely took a moment to knock them both aside before turning back toward the Guardsman. Sprawled on her back, Kitty pulled out a hand grenade, yanked the pin, and flung it at the Invader.

He caught it and turned toward the cat woman and the sorcerer. “Did you really think it was going to be that easy?”

He could speak in the armor.

The Invader pitched the grenade back toward Kitty and Cyrus, who scrambled away before it exploded, splintering the band box on the stage. I watched as the Guardsman set his eyes and charged, Sword forward, toward the distracted Invader.

Gabe leapt to his feet and screamed. “COLE, NO!”

The Guardsman’s sword plunged into the Invader’s chest, all the way through to the hilt. It came out the other side, however it was clean: no blood. The Invader appeared to laugh, then swung his Sabre around to point toward the Guardsman.

“Alas, Babylon, for your judgment has come.” The Invader ran his Sabre through the Guardsman, as deeply as he had been run through himself. Blood immediately stained the blade. He turned the weapon and jerked upward, forcing the Guardsman to collapse. I watched as Cyrus and Kitty scrambled to their feet and pulled the Guardsman away from the Invader, leaving a wide trail of blood behind him, streaking down the aisle until they found our makeshift bunker once more. At some point, the Guardsman lost his grip on the Sword.

When he arrived next to us, Cole bore the wounds the Guardsman had just suffered, a wide sword slice clean through his gut. Blood was pooling around him. I was nearly struck dumb with grief, shock, anger, and numerous other emotions I felt pouring out of me with my tears.

Cole looked up at all of us. “Guys … I’m sorry …”

I reached down and stroked his hair, gently caressing his head to make him comfortable. “Don’t talk, Cole … my love … please save your strength …”

It was Ken’s death, all over again.

Now Cole was weeping. He looked into my eyes. “You would have been … a beautiful bride, Ariel. I’ll … love you into … eternity …”

His eyes went vacant. Dead.

It was all I could do to clutch tightly to him. Sorrow and rage combined. It was nearly making me catatonic: I could only just collapse over the top of my fallen love, my comrade … my soul mate … and mourn.

#phantom squadron #dinetah dragon

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