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Welcome to the Voting and Feedback round for Writing/RP contest #2!
Voting and Feedback guidelines
- Please take your time to read through all the entries before voting for your favourite work. The reasons you base your vote on are up to you, as long the vote isn’t based on whether or not you like the author.
It would be nice if you could share why you voted for a specific work. - Giving feedback is optional but highly encouraged. When giving feedback you should be respectful and constructive. It’s good to point out any flaws or the things you feel could be improved or why you didn't like something, but don’t be mean.
Make sure to point out what you liked or appreciated in the entry too. - Contestants may and are encouraged to vote for and give feedback for the other entries, but don’t vote for your own entry. If contestants wish to withhold a vote and only give feedback, that is good too.
- The entries are anonymous unless the writer asked for having their name added. That being said, writers may claim their work at any time during the voting period.
- The entry with the most votes will win, but in case of a tie a Contest Mod will cast the tie-breaker vote.
- You can vote for entries and post your feedback in this thread, but if you rather have your vote and/or feedback be anonymous you can PM it to @Loksfjoer.
- The voting period deadline is 16 July, before the server goes to the 17th.
The Entries
The quiet was deep, peace came. The sun dipped below the horizon of trees older than generations and a bright orange began to dip, reflected across a large lake from the house. Tall and raised above the brick work began to lose the days heat, the life giving light changed to the cooler and quiet night.
The night air was cut with a sharp tinkle as bone China cup and saucer returned together, an evening cup of tea on the old stone flagged rear. The family had done everything from celebration, weddings to quiet late night peace for some 100 years, the family before even longer had shared the same views and watched as a small forest had matured, grown and taken on a life and soul of its own.
The long summer days were moving into autumn as the old oaks grew gold glittering in the sunsets' final light. Victoria was alone, alone with her thoughts, alone as she recalled the day, Elizabeth was off to college, she had been a small child who ran I'm a bright pink coat what felt a short time ago, her first bike, horse riding, something she she still did to the first serious relationship she had not noticed her best friend left her bedroom… some things Victoria did not need to know and she did just let them believe they had tricked them all, no one was that stupid.
Now her daughter had to head out on her own path, not quietly protected but to chart her own course away from family in a new city, start her own story.
One hand braced on a slightly worn blue cane with snowflake designs, the fingers clicked as the woman adjusted her grip and turned to hear the distant sound of a motorbike passing over a mile away, it was so peaceful even the sound carried far.
That attention and the sudden silence as the biker passed beyond the sound muffling woods that ringed the whole estate…a small…noise… That was not right?
Straining, seeking, pausing even the gentle whir and click of the prostatic arms movements, nothing all quiet…yet ..again. it came from the path down below nearer the lake? Slow, tentative footsteps down the rough flagstone steps worn by time Victoria took each one with great care, slowly, the careful balance of wight and her movements. Her wife would tell her off but who was to know? Not if Victoria did not say.
Down she went, the air grew cooler nearer the water, the house hidden and the sound of gentle lapping of water on the shore, a tree that moved in a gentle breeze. None of this she would have experienced in the busy, joyful, family, friends and memories. Now Victoria was alone, now nature made itself hered.
Pausing, the snow white haired small woman enjoyed her surroundings. The old walls here were not so clean, not so perfect and aged. Everything showed the home's history down the centuries from worn old stones to a broken bench that was likely once some old lover's spot to hide from the world.
A cat…a faint purr and … of course! Victoria gave a sigh and a laugh. Mo mo, her wifes now rather elderly cat had wandered off and got out of the house again. “Oh, vou… what will vi do with you” she said and leaned lower, slowly with great care to lift the cat, its once black midnight coat almost like a starry sky with white furs against the still deep black.
Momo purred and let herself be lifted, snuggling into the crook of Victoria's slim arm. “Lazy princess.” Victoria said kindly as she looked to head back.
…
2090
…
The wall was older, the home remained in the same hands but now new generations lived there. Evelyn Dayra Olmypus was playing with a holo tablet with her cousins hidden by a corner, they had snuck it from the entertainment room. The tune was a child's game based on the Mars mission of 2034.
“Evie! I know you're hiding down there, you're not so quiet. The drone saw you anyway.” a man's voice called out and smiled, he had his first kiss down in that corner, a friend who he invited here many summers ago.
He was pretty sure that little corner had been found by many, Evelyn was just the next one to do so. They had found an old collar tag for a cat when they tried to set up a picnic. Mo…no? Yeah, that was it.
The night air was cut with a sharp tinkle as bone China cup and saucer returned together, an evening cup of tea on the old stone flagged rear. The family had done everything from celebration, weddings to quiet late night peace for some 100 years, the family before even longer had shared the same views and watched as a small forest had matured, grown and taken on a life and soul of its own.
The long summer days were moving into autumn as the old oaks grew gold glittering in the sunsets' final light. Victoria was alone, alone with her thoughts, alone as she recalled the day, Elizabeth was off to college, she had been a small child who ran I'm a bright pink coat what felt a short time ago, her first bike, horse riding, something she she still did to the first serious relationship she had not noticed her best friend left her bedroom… some things Victoria did not need to know and she did just let them believe they had tricked them all, no one was that stupid.
Now her daughter had to head out on her own path, not quietly protected but to chart her own course away from family in a new city, start her own story.
One hand braced on a slightly worn blue cane with snowflake designs, the fingers clicked as the woman adjusted her grip and turned to hear the distant sound of a motorbike passing over a mile away, it was so peaceful even the sound carried far.
That attention and the sudden silence as the biker passed beyond the sound muffling woods that ringed the whole estate…a small…noise… That was not right?
Straining, seeking, pausing even the gentle whir and click of the prostatic arms movements, nothing all quiet…yet ..again. it came from the path down below nearer the lake? Slow, tentative footsteps down the rough flagstone steps worn by time Victoria took each one with great care, slowly, the careful balance of wight and her movements. Her wife would tell her off but who was to know? Not if Victoria did not say.
Down she went, the air grew cooler nearer the water, the house hidden and the sound of gentle lapping of water on the shore, a tree that moved in a gentle breeze. None of this she would have experienced in the busy, joyful, family, friends and memories. Now Victoria was alone, now nature made itself hered.
Pausing, the snow white haired small woman enjoyed her surroundings. The old walls here were not so clean, not so perfect and aged. Everything showed the home's history down the centuries from worn old stones to a broken bench that was likely once some old lover's spot to hide from the world.
A cat…a faint purr and … of course! Victoria gave a sigh and a laugh. Mo mo, her wifes now rather elderly cat had wandered off and got out of the house again. “Oh, vou… what will vi do with you” she said and leaned lower, slowly with great care to lift the cat, its once black midnight coat almost like a starry sky with white furs against the still deep black.
Momo purred and let herself be lifted, snuggling into the crook of Victoria's slim arm. “Lazy princess.” Victoria said kindly as she looked to head back.
…
2090
…
The wall was older, the home remained in the same hands but now new generations lived there. Evelyn Dayra Olmypus was playing with a holo tablet with her cousins hidden by a corner, they had snuck it from the entertainment room. The tune was a child's game based on the Mars mission of 2034.
“Evie! I know you're hiding down there, you're not so quiet. The drone saw you anyway.” a man's voice called out and smiled, he had his first kiss down in that corner, a friend who he invited here many summers ago.
He was pretty sure that little corner had been found by many, Evelyn was just the next one to do so. They had found an old collar tag for a cat when they tried to set up a picnic. Mo…no? Yeah, that was it.
“Y’know, I’m starting to get the feeling this might be just a bit more difficult than I first thought…” Kate Carson muttered as she moved along the winding path though the dense, twisting foliage around her.
She was an incongruous sight amidst the various ethereal plants and mystical creatures that moved amongst them, a short girl with short, dark hair, wearing casual clothes and possessing no weapons or physical prowess to speak of. Yet, while she might not have looked like a typical explorer of these treacherous wilds, Kate was far more than her appearance suggested. For one thing, she was several centuries older than the fourteen years she appeared to be. For another, she had faced more than her fair share of danger in that time, and was more than capable of dealing with it. That said, she’d always preferred to avoid trouble whenever possible, which was why she was using the holographic map projected from her pendant to guide her along the safest paths through the prismatic overgrowth. The importance of this couldn’t be understated, for while she had traveled through hundreds of forests, jungles, and swamps in her time, the wilderness in which she now found herself was by far one of the strangest, and most dangerous…
Marking the the western-most edge of the Imperial Federation, the so-called Fae Frontier was a region of powerful, exceptionally chaotic magic. As such, not only was it filled with horrifically warped flora and fauna of all shapes and sizes, from Glowgulpers and Vortex Vines to voracious Varblerglorks and nightmarish Netherwisps, the raw mystical energy suffusing the region also destabilized the very fabric of reality itself, creating pockets of time dilation, inverted gravity, spontaneous portals, and even stranger phenomena. Of course, it was precisely because of these oddities that it was also known as a virtual treasure trove of spell components, as well as zoological and botanical specimens with metaphysical properties found nowhere else in the known world. Thus, it was only natural that expeditions of all kinds had been launched to plumb its depths, from reckless treasure hunters to government-funded scientific teams, and despite the eclectic variety of both their compositions and ultimate fates, all of them had departed on their respective excursions beyond the frontier from the same ill-famed starting point. For it was on the fringe of this seductively foreboding swampy forest, on the oft-romanticized border between civilization and savagery that one could find the last outpost for what passed for said civilization, the sleepy settlement known as Fae Creek City.
Once a place brimming with the promise of explorations into new lands, which would inevitably push back the dark veil of the unknown with the light of knowledge, a lack of funding for more credible endeavors had seen its rapid decay into a seedy den for criminals of all sorts, a rundown shanty town, whose most notable aspect was serving as the home of the Federation’s most infamous magical academy. Kate herself had recently enrolled at that most maligned of institutions, but she hadn’t exactly done so to gain any sort of knowledge. No, she had come to the Federation’s most backwater of backwaters for a much-needed vacation. As a highly successful freelance photographer, Kate had made more than a few powerful enemies over the course of her less-than-consensual photoshoots. Indeed, sometimes they were so powerful, and so enraged, that her usual tactic of blackmail wouldn’t suffice in defusing their ire, and so she would be forced to lay low for a time. This was just such an occasion, and while most people avoided Fae Creek like the blight on the world it was, that very fact, coupled with its remoteness, made it a perfect hideout for someone on the run. Not only that, but enrolling at Fae Creek Academy had the added benefit of providing her with a nearly endless source of entertainment, the myriad madcap hijinks of the students and staff never failing to be hilarious in the extreme. However, even if her stay wasn’t exactly a business venture, Kate had never been one to pass up a lucrative job offer, which was precisely the reason for the less-than-ideal situation she now found herself in.
Torvald Brellomee, one of Fae Creek’s many eccentric shop keepers, and the self-proclaimed “sage of sages”, had made it known to all enterprising individuals that he was seeking information on the legendary Yarakagrog Beetle, and thanks to the special properties of her camera, Kate was the perfect person for such a job. Even if she was just a single, technically unarmed, girl, most of the Fae Frontier’s myriad threats could be avoided if one knew and kept to the right paths, something her magitech holomap allowed her to do with ease. The real challenge was simply finding her illusive quarry. Reclusive in the extreme, the Yarakagrog Beetle was said to reside in only the deepest depths of the Fae Frontier’s primeval wilds, far deeper than Kate been on any of the little “field trips” professor Su (who was most assuredly not the famously dashing thief, Smiling Phantom, honest!) had arranged, or during that prank her roommate, Alura, had pulled on her a few weeks back. In fact, she was pretty sure she was now deeper than any previous expedition had ever ventured. At least, none who had ever returned to tell the tale…
And that, of course, was the other, not-so-slight problem. No reputable individual had ever actually seen a Yarakagrog Beetle, the scant information concerning the creature coming from rumors, fables, and folklore. In fact, the identifying image she’d been provided upon accepting the job had been drawn by Torvald himself, and was in all likelihood completely inaccurate. Even if it wasn’t, the accompanying notes indicated that the enigmatic insect was composed of translucent, crystalline chitin, making it virtually undetectable amidst its psychedelic surroundings. As such, upon finally reaching the most suitable location for finding the beetle, a secluded glen hidden away beneath a veil of glowing, purple moss, Kate prepared to take several wide angle shots in the hopes that at least one of them would capture her prize. Yet, no sooner had she raised her camera, then the photographer’s ears were assaulted by one of the most cacophonous sounds she’d ever had the misfortune of hearing.
“What the hell?!” Kate wondered in startled shock, even as she pressed her hands against her aching ears. If she had to describe it, the sound was like some horrific mixture of ten thousand cats choking on kazoos, ten thousand sets of fingernails being scraped across chalkboards, and ten thousand people becoming violently ill.
Cautiously making her way towards the source of the deafening noise, the photographer was soon greeted with the sight of a pink-haired young woman shrieking her lungs out. She didn’t appear to be in any danger, but Kate was pretty sure that would change quite quickly if she kept screaming away, and so…
“HEY, PINKY!!!” the photographer shouted. “PUT A CORK IN IT!!! YA WANNA PISS OFF EVERY MONSTER IN A HUNDRED MILES?!!”
“Huh?!” the young woman yelped. “Oh, hi!” she greeted a moment later, grinning happily. “Wow, that disguise of yours is crazy awesome!” she added, her voice filed with excitement. “You look just like an actual person!”
“Uh… What are you even talking about?” Kate asked, giving the young woman a blank stare.
Upon closer inspection, the pinkette’s body was a messy patchwork incongruous pieces and parts that had been stitched together in a particularly haphazard fashion. A pair of metallic bolts protruded from the sides of her head, and her fingers ended in jagged claws. Her clothing consisted of a tattered purple greatcoat and along with equally ragged jean shorts and a striped tank top. Kate couldn’t recall ever seeing her around the campus of Fae Creek Academy, but if it turned out she was indeed a fellow student there, the photographer wouldn’t have been very surprised.
“Aren’t you a Krokus Plant who shape shifted into a little boy so that you’d be able to communicate with me, while also looking completely unthreatening?” the patchwork young lady asked, tilting her head in puzzlement.
“No,” Kate replied flatly. “I’m a normal human girl.”
“Really?!” the pinkette exclaimed. “That totally sucks! I was so sure you were a Krokus Plant! I mean, I’ve been practicing their mating call for weeks!”
“Is… that what all the screeching was supposed to be?” Kate asked hesitantly.
“Yeah!” the strange girl confirmed with a nod. “It’s super tough to get right, but since I don’t need air to breath anymore, I can really go all out on it! Oh, crap!” she gasped as a thought entered her hyperactive brain. “I totally forgot to introduce myself! I’m Stacy!” she announced, holding out a hand. “What’s your name?!”
“Uh, I-I’m Kate,” the photographer replied, while cautiously taking the offered hand. “Kate Carson.”
“Nice to meet ya, Kate!” Stacy told her with a cheerful grin. “So, what’re ya doin’ out here anyway?! It’s super crazy dangerous out here for normies!”
“I’m a freelance photographer,” Kate explained. “I was hired to photograph a particularly rare beetle that’s supposedly found around this part of the frontier. And I’m not exactly as helpless as I look,” she added with a grin. “So, you’re tryin’ to find a Krokus Plant?” she asked.
“Yep! Yep!” Stacy confirmed. “My boss, Doc Zinestine, said it was super important that I get one for him, ‘cause he’s gonna do, like, science and stuff to it!”
Zinestine, huh? Kate wondered. Where have I heard that name before? Then she remembered. That’s right, he’s my old pal Nykannis’s self proclaimed arch-nemesis, although she’s never thought of him as anything more than a pathetic joke, and if Stacy here is a typical example of one of his minions, then I can see why…
“Uh, I hate to break it to ya, but Krokus Plants don’t have auditory organs,” Kate told the pinkette. “Y’know, ears?” she added, pointing to her own. “All their senses are psionic in nature, so they broadcast their mating call telepathically.”
“Wow, really?!” Stacy exclaimed. “Holy freaking crap! I never would have guessed!”
Somehow, that doesn’t surprise me, Kate noted wryly.
A moment later, and the patchwork girl was pressing her fingers against her head, squeezing her eyes shut and grinding her teeth together in what was clearly a futile attempt to telepathically call out to any nearby Krokus Plants. Kate was just about to explain why this wasn’t going to work either, when the ground beneath them began to shudder with such intensity that she and Stacy had to struggle to remain standing. An instant later, and the source of the shaking revealed itself. All of the massive, mossy branched trees surrounding the glen had begun uprooting themselves. Pastel pink roots burst from the ground like rapacious tendrils, dragging each titanic tree ever-closer to the two intruders, while their girthy trunks split open to reveal gaping maws, filled with thousands of thorny teeth.
“Aaaaand that’s why I wanted ya to stop screeching…” Kate noted in not-so-mild annoyance as she eyed the rapidly-shrinking perimeter of the clearing.
“W-What the heck’s going on?!” Stacy cried in alarm, her head whipping back and forth as she took in each frightening new development.
“Those are Whispering Willowshrouds,” Kate explained, gripping her camera tight. “They hate loud noises, and they’ll eat anything that makes one!”
“Holy freaking crap! That’s, like, totally super crazy!” Stacy declared her sole eye going wide. “I mean, if they wanted people to keep quiet, then they totally shoulda put up a buncha signs sayin’ so! Y’know, like in one of those book places!”
“You mean a library?” Kate muttered, by now back to back with Stacy in the center of what remained of the clearing.
“Yeah!” the patchwork girl confirmed. “That’s the place! But, like, don’t ya worry, Kate!” she added with a reassuring grin the photographer couldn’t even see. “I’m a crazy awesome fighter! I can totally kick the crap outta these guys super fast! So just sit back, and I’ll show ya all my crazy cool moves!”
While a part of Kate was relived that she wouldn’t need to activate her exceptionally embarrassing transformation in order to deal with the enraged Willowshrouds herself, she couldn’t help but question precisely how effective someone as scatterbrained as Stacy would actually be in a combat situation. However, before either of them could make a move, one of the Willowshrouds suddenly burst apart in colorfully violent explosion. From out of the sparkling cloud came a stream of blurry, fluctuating air. It almost resembled what one might see during a gas leak, or while observing rising thermals above an exceptionally hot surface. Or, just maybe, several hundred small, flying objects made out of a translucent material…
“No way…” Kate breathed as she raised her camera and began taking dozens of snapshots of the strange phenomenon as it moved from ambulatory tree to ambulatory tree, bursting apart each in turn.
“What?!” Stacy asked eagerly as she watched the unfolding carnage. “What is it?! What the heckin’ heck’s happenin’?!”
“They’re Yarakagrog Beetles!” Kate replied, with equal excitement. “Hundreds of ‘em!”
“Uh, is that a good thing?” Stacy asked.
“It’s great!” Kate told her with a grin. “Not only are they what I was hired to photograph, but according to this,” she added, pointing to her camera’s display. “They’re the natural enemies of Weeping Willowshrouds! Normally, they can’t harm ‘em, ‘cause they’re usually rooted in the ground, but when they uproot themselves and open their mouths, they make themselves vulnerable to attack,” the photographer explained, pointing to where the swarm of barely visible beetles was entering a Willowshroud through both its wide maw and the open bottom of its trunk from which its writhing roots protruded. In short order, none of the technicolor trees remained, and the beetles dispersed into the surrounding forest.
“That… That was TOTALLY FREAKING SUPER CRAZY AMAZING!!!” Stacy cheered, the force of her exclamation sending Kate stumbling backwards. “Now if only I could find a Krokus Plant, this could be, like, one of the best days ever!”
“Well, they’re not exactly hard to come by…” Kate noted as she slowly removed her hands from her ears. “I mean, they sell ‘em in flower shops back in Fae Creek. In fact,” she added, pulling up a picture of one on her camera’s display. “Professor Potira’s got one as a pet, and I think it just birthed a brood of seedlings. I’m sure she’d let ya have one if ya asked her.” At least, if the Dryad technomancer hadn’t blown them up in one of her explosive experiments…
“Really?!” Stacy asked. “That’d be awesome! Thanks!”
“Heh, no problem,” Kate replied with a chuckle. “Like I said, Krokus Plants are pretty common. ‘Course, that’s not to say Fae Creek Academy doesn’t have its share of oddities,” she added.
“Oooh, like what?!” Stacy inquired with an eager grin.
“Well, we’ve got a Lunarian, a Candelabra, a guy who’s supposedly the next demon king, an apple that can turn into a girl, and a girl who says she’s this world’s first lich.”
“Wow! Those all sound super crazy cool, even if I don’t know what most of ‘em even are!” Stacy exclaimed. “But none of that’s as crazy cool as some of the stuff I’ve run into!” she added. “Like, this one time, I met this talking dog in a super adorably dapper outfit with a monocle and everything, who even had his own time machine! I bet ya don’t have one of those at your crazy school, do ya?!”
“Well…” Kate began with a smirk. “About that…”
She was an incongruous sight amidst the various ethereal plants and mystical creatures that moved amongst them, a short girl with short, dark hair, wearing casual clothes and possessing no weapons or physical prowess to speak of. Yet, while she might not have looked like a typical explorer of these treacherous wilds, Kate was far more than her appearance suggested. For one thing, she was several centuries older than the fourteen years she appeared to be. For another, she had faced more than her fair share of danger in that time, and was more than capable of dealing with it. That said, she’d always preferred to avoid trouble whenever possible, which was why she was using the holographic map projected from her pendant to guide her along the safest paths through the prismatic overgrowth. The importance of this couldn’t be understated, for while she had traveled through hundreds of forests, jungles, and swamps in her time, the wilderness in which she now found herself was by far one of the strangest, and most dangerous…
Marking the the western-most edge of the Imperial Federation, the so-called Fae Frontier was a region of powerful, exceptionally chaotic magic. As such, not only was it filled with horrifically warped flora and fauna of all shapes and sizes, from Glowgulpers and Vortex Vines to voracious Varblerglorks and nightmarish Netherwisps, the raw mystical energy suffusing the region also destabilized the very fabric of reality itself, creating pockets of time dilation, inverted gravity, spontaneous portals, and even stranger phenomena. Of course, it was precisely because of these oddities that it was also known as a virtual treasure trove of spell components, as well as zoological and botanical specimens with metaphysical properties found nowhere else in the known world. Thus, it was only natural that expeditions of all kinds had been launched to plumb its depths, from reckless treasure hunters to government-funded scientific teams, and despite the eclectic variety of both their compositions and ultimate fates, all of them had departed on their respective excursions beyond the frontier from the same ill-famed starting point. For it was on the fringe of this seductively foreboding swampy forest, on the oft-romanticized border between civilization and savagery that one could find the last outpost for what passed for said civilization, the sleepy settlement known as Fae Creek City.
Once a place brimming with the promise of explorations into new lands, which would inevitably push back the dark veil of the unknown with the light of knowledge, a lack of funding for more credible endeavors had seen its rapid decay into a seedy den for criminals of all sorts, a rundown shanty town, whose most notable aspect was serving as the home of the Federation’s most infamous magical academy. Kate herself had recently enrolled at that most maligned of institutions, but she hadn’t exactly done so to gain any sort of knowledge. No, she had come to the Federation’s most backwater of backwaters for a much-needed vacation. As a highly successful freelance photographer, Kate had made more than a few powerful enemies over the course of her less-than-consensual photoshoots. Indeed, sometimes they were so powerful, and so enraged, that her usual tactic of blackmail wouldn’t suffice in defusing their ire, and so she would be forced to lay low for a time. This was just such an occasion, and while most people avoided Fae Creek like the blight on the world it was, that very fact, coupled with its remoteness, made it a perfect hideout for someone on the run. Not only that, but enrolling at Fae Creek Academy had the added benefit of providing her with a nearly endless source of entertainment, the myriad madcap hijinks of the students and staff never failing to be hilarious in the extreme. However, even if her stay wasn’t exactly a business venture, Kate had never been one to pass up a lucrative job offer, which was precisely the reason for the less-than-ideal situation she now found herself in.
Torvald Brellomee, one of Fae Creek’s many eccentric shop keepers, and the self-proclaimed “sage of sages”, had made it known to all enterprising individuals that he was seeking information on the legendary Yarakagrog Beetle, and thanks to the special properties of her camera, Kate was the perfect person for such a job. Even if she was just a single, technically unarmed, girl, most of the Fae Frontier’s myriad threats could be avoided if one knew and kept to the right paths, something her magitech holomap allowed her to do with ease. The real challenge was simply finding her illusive quarry. Reclusive in the extreme, the Yarakagrog Beetle was said to reside in only the deepest depths of the Fae Frontier’s primeval wilds, far deeper than Kate been on any of the little “field trips” professor Su (who was most assuredly not the famously dashing thief, Smiling Phantom, honest!) had arranged, or during that prank her roommate, Alura, had pulled on her a few weeks back. In fact, she was pretty sure she was now deeper than any previous expedition had ever ventured. At least, none who had ever returned to tell the tale…
And that, of course, was the other, not-so-slight problem. No reputable individual had ever actually seen a Yarakagrog Beetle, the scant information concerning the creature coming from rumors, fables, and folklore. In fact, the identifying image she’d been provided upon accepting the job had been drawn by Torvald himself, and was in all likelihood completely inaccurate. Even if it wasn’t, the accompanying notes indicated that the enigmatic insect was composed of translucent, crystalline chitin, making it virtually undetectable amidst its psychedelic surroundings. As such, upon finally reaching the most suitable location for finding the beetle, a secluded glen hidden away beneath a veil of glowing, purple moss, Kate prepared to take several wide angle shots in the hopes that at least one of them would capture her prize. Yet, no sooner had she raised her camera, then the photographer’s ears were assaulted by one of the most cacophonous sounds she’d ever had the misfortune of hearing.
“What the hell?!” Kate wondered in startled shock, even as she pressed her hands against her aching ears. If she had to describe it, the sound was like some horrific mixture of ten thousand cats choking on kazoos, ten thousand sets of fingernails being scraped across chalkboards, and ten thousand people becoming violently ill.
Cautiously making her way towards the source of the deafening noise, the photographer was soon greeted with the sight of a pink-haired young woman shrieking her lungs out. She didn’t appear to be in any danger, but Kate was pretty sure that would change quite quickly if she kept screaming away, and so…
“HEY, PINKY!!!” the photographer shouted. “PUT A CORK IN IT!!! YA WANNA PISS OFF EVERY MONSTER IN A HUNDRED MILES?!!”
“Huh?!” the young woman yelped. “Oh, hi!” she greeted a moment later, grinning happily. “Wow, that disguise of yours is crazy awesome!” she added, her voice filed with excitement. “You look just like an actual person!”
“Uh… What are you even talking about?” Kate asked, giving the young woman a blank stare.
Upon closer inspection, the pinkette’s body was a messy patchwork incongruous pieces and parts that had been stitched together in a particularly haphazard fashion. A pair of metallic bolts protruded from the sides of her head, and her fingers ended in jagged claws. Her clothing consisted of a tattered purple greatcoat and along with equally ragged jean shorts and a striped tank top. Kate couldn’t recall ever seeing her around the campus of Fae Creek Academy, but if it turned out she was indeed a fellow student there, the photographer wouldn’t have been very surprised.
“Aren’t you a Krokus Plant who shape shifted into a little boy so that you’d be able to communicate with me, while also looking completely unthreatening?” the patchwork young lady asked, tilting her head in puzzlement.
“No,” Kate replied flatly. “I’m a normal human girl.”
“Really?!” the pinkette exclaimed. “That totally sucks! I was so sure you were a Krokus Plant! I mean, I’ve been practicing their mating call for weeks!”
“Is… that what all the screeching was supposed to be?” Kate asked hesitantly.
“Yeah!” the strange girl confirmed with a nod. “It’s super tough to get right, but since I don’t need air to breath anymore, I can really go all out on it! Oh, crap!” she gasped as a thought entered her hyperactive brain. “I totally forgot to introduce myself! I’m Stacy!” she announced, holding out a hand. “What’s your name?!”
“Uh, I-I’m Kate,” the photographer replied, while cautiously taking the offered hand. “Kate Carson.”
“Nice to meet ya, Kate!” Stacy told her with a cheerful grin. “So, what’re ya doin’ out here anyway?! It’s super crazy dangerous out here for normies!”
“I’m a freelance photographer,” Kate explained. “I was hired to photograph a particularly rare beetle that’s supposedly found around this part of the frontier. And I’m not exactly as helpless as I look,” she added with a grin. “So, you’re tryin’ to find a Krokus Plant?” she asked.
“Yep! Yep!” Stacy confirmed. “My boss, Doc Zinestine, said it was super important that I get one for him, ‘cause he’s gonna do, like, science and stuff to it!”
Zinestine, huh? Kate wondered. Where have I heard that name before? Then she remembered. That’s right, he’s my old pal Nykannis’s self proclaimed arch-nemesis, although she’s never thought of him as anything more than a pathetic joke, and if Stacy here is a typical example of one of his minions, then I can see why…
“Uh, I hate to break it to ya, but Krokus Plants don’t have auditory organs,” Kate told the pinkette. “Y’know, ears?” she added, pointing to her own. “All their senses are psionic in nature, so they broadcast their mating call telepathically.”
“Wow, really?!” Stacy exclaimed. “Holy freaking crap! I never would have guessed!”
Somehow, that doesn’t surprise me, Kate noted wryly.
A moment later, and the patchwork girl was pressing her fingers against her head, squeezing her eyes shut and grinding her teeth together in what was clearly a futile attempt to telepathically call out to any nearby Krokus Plants. Kate was just about to explain why this wasn’t going to work either, when the ground beneath them began to shudder with such intensity that she and Stacy had to struggle to remain standing. An instant later, and the source of the shaking revealed itself. All of the massive, mossy branched trees surrounding the glen had begun uprooting themselves. Pastel pink roots burst from the ground like rapacious tendrils, dragging each titanic tree ever-closer to the two intruders, while their girthy trunks split open to reveal gaping maws, filled with thousands of thorny teeth.
“Aaaaand that’s why I wanted ya to stop screeching…” Kate noted in not-so-mild annoyance as she eyed the rapidly-shrinking perimeter of the clearing.
“W-What the heck’s going on?!” Stacy cried in alarm, her head whipping back and forth as she took in each frightening new development.
“Those are Whispering Willowshrouds,” Kate explained, gripping her camera tight. “They hate loud noises, and they’ll eat anything that makes one!”
“Holy freaking crap! That’s, like, totally super crazy!” Stacy declared her sole eye going wide. “I mean, if they wanted people to keep quiet, then they totally shoulda put up a buncha signs sayin’ so! Y’know, like in one of those book places!”
“You mean a library?” Kate muttered, by now back to back with Stacy in the center of what remained of the clearing.
“Yeah!” the patchwork girl confirmed. “That’s the place! But, like, don’t ya worry, Kate!” she added with a reassuring grin the photographer couldn’t even see. “I’m a crazy awesome fighter! I can totally kick the crap outta these guys super fast! So just sit back, and I’ll show ya all my crazy cool moves!”
While a part of Kate was relived that she wouldn’t need to activate her exceptionally embarrassing transformation in order to deal with the enraged Willowshrouds herself, she couldn’t help but question precisely how effective someone as scatterbrained as Stacy would actually be in a combat situation. However, before either of them could make a move, one of the Willowshrouds suddenly burst apart in colorfully violent explosion. From out of the sparkling cloud came a stream of blurry, fluctuating air. It almost resembled what one might see during a gas leak, or while observing rising thermals above an exceptionally hot surface. Or, just maybe, several hundred small, flying objects made out of a translucent material…
“No way…” Kate breathed as she raised her camera and began taking dozens of snapshots of the strange phenomenon as it moved from ambulatory tree to ambulatory tree, bursting apart each in turn.
“What?!” Stacy asked eagerly as she watched the unfolding carnage. “What is it?! What the heckin’ heck’s happenin’?!”
“They’re Yarakagrog Beetles!” Kate replied, with equal excitement. “Hundreds of ‘em!”
“Uh, is that a good thing?” Stacy asked.
“It’s great!” Kate told her with a grin. “Not only are they what I was hired to photograph, but according to this,” she added, pointing to her camera’s display. “They’re the natural enemies of Weeping Willowshrouds! Normally, they can’t harm ‘em, ‘cause they’re usually rooted in the ground, but when they uproot themselves and open their mouths, they make themselves vulnerable to attack,” the photographer explained, pointing to where the swarm of barely visible beetles was entering a Willowshroud through both its wide maw and the open bottom of its trunk from which its writhing roots protruded. In short order, none of the technicolor trees remained, and the beetles dispersed into the surrounding forest.
“That… That was TOTALLY FREAKING SUPER CRAZY AMAZING!!!” Stacy cheered, the force of her exclamation sending Kate stumbling backwards. “Now if only I could find a Krokus Plant, this could be, like, one of the best days ever!”
“Well, they’re not exactly hard to come by…” Kate noted as she slowly removed her hands from her ears. “I mean, they sell ‘em in flower shops back in Fae Creek. In fact,” she added, pulling up a picture of one on her camera’s display. “Professor Potira’s got one as a pet, and I think it just birthed a brood of seedlings. I’m sure she’d let ya have one if ya asked her.” At least, if the Dryad technomancer hadn’t blown them up in one of her explosive experiments…
“Really?!” Stacy asked. “That’d be awesome! Thanks!”
“Heh, no problem,” Kate replied with a chuckle. “Like I said, Krokus Plants are pretty common. ‘Course, that’s not to say Fae Creek Academy doesn’t have its share of oddities,” she added.
“Oooh, like what?!” Stacy inquired with an eager grin.
“Well, we’ve got a Lunarian, a Candelabra, a guy who’s supposedly the next demon king, an apple that can turn into a girl, and a girl who says she’s this world’s first lich.”
“Wow! Those all sound super crazy cool, even if I don’t know what most of ‘em even are!” Stacy exclaimed. “But none of that’s as crazy cool as some of the stuff I’ve run into!” she added. “Like, this one time, I met this talking dog in a super adorably dapper outfit with a monocle and everything, who even had his own time machine! I bet ya don’t have one of those at your crazy school, do ya?!”
“Well…” Kate began with a smirk. “About that…”
