Heya folks, been a long while since I'd written anything, but as I said on the forums, my situation has improved and I have energy and motivation to write now. ^_^ As such, I sat down tonight and did some re-writing of my story, "A 'Taur's Tail", with the intent to revise a few things and put it more in line with future plans. Also, to fix a few issues with how I wrote it originally that make me facepalm a bit now. ;)
So, without further ado, the revised story is below. ============================================ Metamor Keep: A 'Taur's Tail by Stephen Tigner Part 1: It S'taurts The sun peeked over the horizon, slowly pushing the night away, lighting up the sky with its beams. Kishu slowly opened his eyes and stretched, yawning a bit, and got up to make breakfast for himself. His steed nickered softly at him as he woke up, ::About time you woke up:: he spoke to Kishu's mind. Kishu grinned softly and scritched the equine's poll, "Oh quiet you," he said laughingly. Now this may seem a bit unusual to most, but you see, Rakurai, as he called him, was no ordinary horse, and those that knew (which were a very select few) wondered how Kishu had managed to get the kirin to be his steed. He called him Rakurai because his real name was in the language of the kirin, and as such was incomprehensible and near impossible to pronounce for the human tongue. A kirin, in his natural form, looks much like a western unicorn, enough that those ignorant of the difference will often mistake one for the other. Rakurai whickered softly, nuzzling Kishu's hand, ::No fair!:: he said, with a smile in his mental voice. Kishu grinned broadly, then went about cooking his breakfast, a small bowl of porridge, with some berries he had gathered the previous night. Rakurai, meanwhile, had his breakfast, grazing quietly on the long grass nearby. The man ate quickly, careful not to burn himself by eating it when it was too hot, then started packing up for the day's travel. He doused the fire and made sure that it was good and out, dumping bucket after bucket of water on it from the nearby stream. When he was finished packing up, the only things he left behind were some flattened grass, and the fire circle, ringed by stones, that he had put his fire in. Rakurai tossed his head, in the equine equivalent of a nod. Kishu attached his one small bag to his steed, and vaulted up onto Rakurai's back. "Let's go, my friend," he said. Rakurai whinnied and took off, galloping in the direction of their destination. ---------- As they were approaching the next village, the wind howled at them through the trees from the village, almost seeming to be in pain, and carried with it an acrid stench. Rakurai snorted, ::What's that awful smell?:: Kishu didn't reply, in fact, he looked like he was about to loose the meager breakfast he had eaten, as the scent of burnt flesh permeated the air. "Faster, Rakurai, we must see what is going on, and help if we can," said Kishu. ::Right:: came the reply, as the kirin poured on a burst of speed, almost flying along the path. As they topped the hill outside of the village, where the forest ended, a sad sight met their eyes. The village was on fire, and the fire was quickly spreading to the as yet untouched buildings. Bright yellow and red tongues of flame lapped at the sky, drooling a thick grey smoke into the air, as they hungrily devoured the buildings. Even from atop the hill, the two could hear the painful screams of people as their flesh was seared of their bones, and their innards roasted. Rakurai slowed down to a walk as they reached the village, then Kishu pulled his katana out and jumped off, "Let's split up!" Rakurai nickered and ran into a building, as Kishu ran into the one across from it. ---------- The little girl screamed as the door imploded, then looked up to see a samurai in the doorway. He ran over to her and picked her up, "Anyone in here besides you?" The girl shook her head slowly, tears welling up in her eyes, "The bad man killed my mommy and poppy." Kishu sighed, "I'm sorry, little one." He then ran out the door with her, the house seeming to moan, mourning for the lost lives of those who used to fill it, as it collapsed. ---------- Rakurai kicked the door down to hear the sound of wailing babies coming from the next room. He quickly galloped into that room to find three little boys bundled up and being held by their injured mother, who didn't have the strength left to make it outside. The woman looked up at the kirin and a tear fell from her eye, "Please, please...take care of my babies," she pleaded with the equine. Rakurai nodded and took the bundle in his teeth, ::Your children will be well taken care of:: The woman smiled weakly, "Thank you...thank you..." her voice faded away, as her eyes closed for the last time. Rakurai whinnied and reared, quickly turning around and heading for the exit as the roof started to cave in, burying the mother in its smoldering embrace. Rakurai turned toward the house once he had cleared the burning building, ::Rest in peace, whoever you were:: He then galloped out of the village, and set the three baby boys down, nuzzling them softly. ---------- Kishu ran up to Rakurai, holding the little girl, "Rakurai, please take care of her while I go and try to help some more people." Kishu then whispered to his friend, "She's lost her parents...apparently whoever set this village on fire, also killed her parents." Rakurai nodded and whicker-sighed, ::Okay, be careful:: "I will, don't you worry about that." With that, Kishu ran back into the village, and Rakurai turned his attention back to the little girl, nuzzling her softly, ::Hello, little one:: he sent to the girl. The little girl blinked then giggled softly, "The horsie talks!" Rakurai smiled inwardly, ::Yes, I do, what's your name?:: "Hiryuu," replied the girl. ::My human friend calls me Rakurai:: Hiryuu noddled, "Nice to meet you" and smiled softly. ::Nice to meet you too:: Rakurai nuzzled the girl again, ::I..I'm sorry about your parents...:: Hiryuu hugged the kirin's head, "Th...thank you..." and started bawling. ::It's okay dear, just let it all out...you'll feel better after a good cry:: ---------- Kishu hacked the door to pieces, and had to drop to the ground because of the smoke billowing out of the once beautiful home, which looked like it would collapse very soon. He got back up, but in a crouched position and hurried inside, trying to locate any survivors, the smoke burning his eyes. He managed to find an adult couple, which he carried out one at a time. By that time, the smoke had gotten to him and he was wheezing a bit, but that didn't stop him from carrying the family out of the village to where the other survivors and Rakurai were waiting. ---------- Rakurai looked up as Kishu slowly carried the people out of the village, and then collapsed after he had carried the whole family out, breathing hard, and wheezing slightly, finally seeming to find his breath just as he lost consciousness. Hiryuu blinked and ran over to the man, "Mr. Samurai? Are you okay?" she said with a worried expression on her little face. ::He'll be okay....after some rest, Hiryuu:: The girl nodded, "Okay" and went back over to Rakurai, snugging his muzzle and scritching his poll. ~Cute little girl~ Rakurai thought ~I hope she won't be too traumatized by this. I'd hate to see such a happy spark, like hers, go out.~ Hiryuu yawned slightly and gradually fell asleep, still holding onto the kirin's muzzle. ---------- Kishu groaned as he slowly opened his eyes, "Man...I think I overdid it this time..." and held his head in pain as his eyes slowly adjusted to the light. He then slowly sat up and looked over at the folks they had managed to save. The husband bowed slowly to him, "Thank you kind sir...we owe our lives to you." Kishu smiled slightly and bowed lightly back, "You are quite welcome, it brings me great joy to be able to help people," he then grinned sheepishly and rubbed his head, "Though it can be painful at times, but the rewards are well worth the risks." The man nodded and smiled softly, "My family and I owe you a great debt, please, if there's anything you ever need, don't hesitate to ask." "I'll keep that in mind," replied Kishu. "So what are you going to do now that your village has been burned to the ground?" "Rebuild, of course, we're not going to let that nasty wizard think he's won..." Kishu nodded, "So this wizard is the one who burned down your village?" "Yes, a very evil man...every time he visited us, at least one person would come up missing. He set our village on fire when the village leader and his wife, Hiryuu's parents, confronted him about it..." "Why do you think he kidnapped those people?" "I don't really know..." the man shuddered, "and I don't think I want to find out, either." ~Hmm~ thought Kishu, ~this wizard needs to be eliminated, he has gone too far, burning a whole villiage... He's either insane, or very evil, or both...~ he then sighed. Kishu stood up and walked over to Rakurai, vaulting onto his back. "Which way to the wizard's place?" he asked. "Past the village," the man said, "then a half-day's ride to the west, through the next village, and up into the mountains to the south. In a deep canyon there, you'll find his keep." "Thank you," replied Kishu, "Please take care of Hiryuu and those three boys." The man nodded, "I will care for them as if they were my own flesh and blood. Farewell my friend, until we meet again." Kishu nodded and Rakurai took off through the crumbling remains of the village, galloping toward the setting sun, and disappearing over the horizon. ========== Metamor Keep: A 'Taur's Tail by Stephen Tigner Part 2: Our S'taury Continues As Kishu and Rakurai entered the next village, it was eerily quiet, the sounds of people bustling about were conspicuously absent. ::Where are all the people?:: "I don't know, my friend, but I don't like this silence, something is definitely wrong here." ::Yes...but what?:: "That is what we must find out." Kishu dismounted, "Stay here, Rakurai." The kirin nodded and looked around, his ears swiveling, to try and catch anything that might sneak up on him. Kishu knocked on the door of one of the houses, but received no response. He then slowly opened it and cautiously entered, looking around for someone who might be able to tell him what had happened to the village. He turned a corner and heard soft sobbing from the next room. ~Sounds like another little girl~ he thought. As Kishu opened the door, the crying suddenly stopped, and the little girl looked up at him, her eyes red from all her crying. "Hello," he said, "I'm Kishu, what's your name?" "Akane." "Where are your parents, Akane?" Kishu asked her. She sniffled, and replied, "I don't know, I saw the bad man zap them and I ran away, I don't know what happened to them after that," her quivered and she started crying again. ~Poor thing~ he thought, "Let's see if we can find them, okay?" Akane nodded slowly and stood up. Kishu gently took the little girl's hand in his own, and led her outside, "Can you show me where the bad man zapped your parents?" She nodded slowly and led him to the far end of town, with Rakurai walking behind the pair. She pointed to a barn, "In there," she said, and led Kishu to the door. He slowly opened it and cautiously crept inside. As his eyes adjusted to the light, he stared at the sight before him. This barn had apparently held quite a few animals, but they were no longer there. Instead, the deformed figures of once-human villagers met his eyes. Akane ran over to a couple, "Mommy, daddy!" she yelled as she ran. Kishu quickly followed her, and examined Akane's parents up close. The man had equine forelegs for arms, and hooves for hands, as well as horse ears, and a horse tail. In addition, his human legs had been replaced by the rear legs of a horse. His wife was in a similar shape. ~What kind of sick maniac would do this to people?~ Kishu thought, his anger rising in him. He was shaken out of his reverie by Akane crying and hugging her parents. He sighed and went to inspect the other victims. Many were in a similar state to the first couple. He came upon a couple that appeared to have been given attributes of pigs. The man had the forelegs of a pig replacing his arms and hands, as well as the rear legs replacing his legs. Also he had floppy pig ears, a curly little tail, and his nose was stretched out slightly. He tried to talk, but was greatly hampered by his large porcine tusks, making him completely unintelligible. The female, Kishu assumed she was probably his wife was in a similar shape. Next to her, it was apparent that this whole family had been changed into pig-creatures, as children with piglet parts huddled against their mom. Similar twisted forms had been given to the rest of the folks in the building. ~He will pay for this~ the samurai vowed, and returned to the first couple, "Come little one, it is not safe here," he said, and started walking toward the door. "No...I want to stay with my mommy and poppy," Akane whined. "No," replied her father, "he is right, you must go with him." "But poppy, I want to stay here with you," she cried, tears streaming down her face. "I know, but it is not safe for you here, please go," tears ran down the deformed equine man's face, "I love you." Akane hugged her father tightly, "I love you too, poppy." She sniffled and got up, walking over to Kishu, wiping the tears from her eyes. A cat appeared from the barn entrance and walked toward the girl, mewling softly. The girl stopped and looked at the feline, her face brightening, "Kitty!" She gently picked up the cat and started petting it gently, scritching its ears. Something was off about this cat though, but Kishu couldn't quite place it. The cat started purring softly, then Kishu saw what was off about the cat, it had a forked tail, that was a bakeneko. Kishu yelled, "Drop the cat!" and started running toward her, but it was too late as the cat started glowing. Akane blinked as Kishu ran toward her and tried to do so, but found herself unable to move. The feline's once solid form turned wispy, and swirled around the girl for a second before diving into her mouth as she screamed. Kishu stopped running and cursed, ~It's too late for her...why didn't I expect this?~ Akane continued to scream as she collapsed, able to move again, but now pain wracking her body as she started to change. A long black feline tail grew out of her rear, then split in two, and black fur started growing on her arms and legs. Her feet reshaped into foot-paws, and her hands into hand-paws, both with retractable claws. However, her hand-paws retained her opposable thumbs, so her hands were still somewhat usable. Her screaming morphed into a very feline yowl, as her teeth started to reshape, becoming sharper feline ones, and whiskers sprouted from her face, as her nose reshaped slightly. A burning pain in her eyes caused her to close them, and when she opened them again, she had slit-pupil feline-like eyes. She panicked for a moment, as her ears melted, and she was temporarily deaf until her new black-furred, pointed ears poked through her hair. Her metamorphosis was not complete, however, as she started to grow, rapidly aging from a child to a teenager, her clothes tearing in places as they were now very ill-fitting. The glow slowly died, and she found she was able to move again. She looked herself over and collapsed on the ground, burying her face in her paws, crying softly. Kishu approached her slowly and sat down next to her, hugging her gently, and she found herself starting to purr. Kishu blinked at that, then sighed, "I'll get that wizard for this," he promised her. She looked up at him with tear-filled eyes, "Rrreallly?" Kishu nodded gently, and hugged her softly. She purred again, and slowly drifted off to sleep, the stress of her transformation having tired her out. Kishu made a bed of straw for her, and gently set her down in it, "Sleep well...I'm going after that dishonorable dog of a wizard." ========== Metamor Keep: A 'Taur's Tail by Stephen Tigner Part 3: 'Taurget of the Wizard's Traps Kishu rode toward an imposing mountain range, the tops of them like daggers, piercing the sky, causing it to bleed clouds. As they approached the mountains, an opening into a canyon, like the one the man from the village had described, came into view. Kishu slowly rode into it, "Keep on your guard, Rakurai. We don't know everything that this wizard is capable of." ::Right:: Rakurai slowed down slightly as they entered the canyon, and Kishu pulled out his bow and nocked an arrow in it, looking around him warily. Before them the imposing shape of the wizard's keep rose up, jutting out of the mountain, and seeming to have been carved out of the living rock. "Can you hear it, Rakurai? The mountain is crying..." ::Yes, I hear it...:: "We must end the mountain's suffering as well now, yet another reason he must die..." Rakurai tossed his head in agreement and they continued onward toward the castle. ---------- "So...they think they're going to kill me, hmm?" said the wizard, "I doubt it...but that doesn't mean I can't have a little fun with them first, before I destroy them," he then cackled. The wizard turned his attention back to the little boy on the floor, unable to move, staring at the wizard with fear in his eyes. "Well...I think I'll wait to start on you until my new toy gets here..." he then laughed darkly, which just made the boy even more scared. The wizard smirked and turned back to his scrying glass, "Let's see how good he really is..." ---------- "Careful Rakurai, I have a feeling we're about to meet up with someone who wants to have us for dinner, as the main course." ::Yeah...I have the same f-:: Rakurai's response was cut short by a feral howling, as a pack of wolves appeared high up on the rocks in front of them. Kishu' eyes went wide, "eep..." and he fired the arrow he'd had nocked since they entered the canyon at the first wolf that leapt off the rocks at them, catching it in the throat. The wolf gurgled and fell to the ground in a heap, as the other wolves started attacking. Kishu leaped off of Rakurai's back, put away his bow, and pulled out his katana out, in one fluid motion, while Rakurai, now that Kishu was off of his back, reared up and brought his forehooves down hard on the skull of one wolf, then kicked another wolf quite a distance with his hind legs. Meanwhile, Kishu was holding a couple of the wolves at bay with his sword, but was losing ground as they were forcing him into the canyon wall. Suddenly, he leapt up and over the wolves, slashing at their backs, and landing behind them, earning a few slashes in his arm for that. Before the wolves could react, his leg shot out and swept them off of their paws, knocking them to the ground. Kishu then quickly and cleanly hacked off the head of each one. Kishu looked over at Rakurai, who had sustained a few claw marks to his flank, but nothing too serious. "Well...that was...um...interesting." ::Yes, take a closer look at them, Kishu:: Kishu peered at the wolf closest to him, "This is no ordinary wolf...it...it...looks like it could stand up and walk like a human." ::Exactly! Those wolves were not normal...they must have been more of that sick maniac's victims, under his control:: Kishu nodded and leaped back up onto Rakurai's back, careful not to touch where the kirin was scratched. ---------- "Bah...those wolves were a waste..." the wizard grumbled, then grinned, "we'll see how well he handles the next challenge though..." ---------- A voice echoed through the canyon as they approached the gates, "You must win my favorite game to gain entry to my domain..." the voice laughed as it faded away, and two pedestals rose out of the ground. One of them had four different colored crystals, the other was divided into four squares on the top, one each for each of the crystals, with corresponding colors. "What the heck is this?" ::I do not know...I have never seen anything like this before:: The voice came again, "You must repeat the pattern that the crystals flash, using the colors on the lower pedestal, it will start out easy, but get harder and harder, as the sequence gets longer, and the crystals will flash their pattern faster and faster the longer the sequence gets," the voice laughed again, "If you can make it through to the end, you will be allowed to enter...if not...." and again the voice laughed, fading away this time. Kishu sighed, "Well...I guess I'd better get started," and jumped off of Rakurai's back. ::Good luck...:: "Thanks, I'll need it..." He walked over to the lower pedestal, and stood behind it, looking at the crystals...and the game began. One crystal flashed, accompanied by an audible tone, Kishu pushed the corresponding square on his pedestal. Then two, then three, and so on....the pattern getting more complex and the crystals playing it faster as it got longer, just like the voice had said. Kishu was sweating, straining his brain to try and remember the whole sequence as it kept lengthening by one each time, but he hung on, and kept going, finally reaching the end of the sequence at 30. After Kishu successfully repeated back the 30-part sequence, the pedestals retracted, and the doors of the keep slowly opened outward, "You have beaten my game...and now you may enter...if you dare," the voice laughed again and faded away once more. Kishu walked back over to Rakurai, "Let's go..." ::Right:: The headed into the castle through the doors, which creaked eerily as they shut behind the samurai and his mount. ========== Metamor Keep: A 'Taur's Tail by Stephen Tigner Part 4: What in 'Taurnation? Kishu looked back as the doors closed behind them, "Well...there is no going back now..." Rakurai tossed his head, ::Yeah...let's go get that guy:: "Right" They continued forward, deeper into the wizard's domain, cautiously, but steadily. --------- The wizard cackled, "That's right, just keep coming, I'll be waiting for you," he smirked once again and laughed, the boy on the floor so scared now, that had he not been immobile already, would have been paralyzed with fear. ---------- The pair continued to walk forward, seeing a door in the distance, they headed for it, an eye out for traps or ambushes, but none came. When they reached the door, Kishu pulled his katana out, holding it ready, "Okay, Rakurai, kick the door open." Rakurai reared up and his forehooves came down hard on the door, which swung wide open, and the two slowly advanced into the new room. They had not even taken ten steps into the room, however, when the door slammed shut behind them, and a strange glow came from the floor at their feet. "What is this...I..I cannot move..." ::Neither can I...:: Along with the glow, an unknown mist rose into the air. Kishu began to cough as the mist burned his lungs and made him dizzy, "It's.... a.... trap...." he managed to get out between coughs, as his eyes grew heavy and he slumped over. He awoke with a groan, "Oh my head... what happened?" As he blinked a few times to try and get his eyes to focus, he tried to move his arm to his head to rub it, but found that his hands were tied behind his back. He looked around as the room slowly came into focus, and saw his faithful companion bound within some kind of magic circle, unable to move. "Rakurai!" He called out, struggling against his bonds, but finding that his feet were also bound. On the other side of the room, a lamp blazed into light, revealing the wizard, and his victim, the little boy, who was standing in oversized clothing to the side of the wizard. "I'm so glad you could stop by to watch me have my fun," the wizard grinned. Kishu blinked, "Manorishi! You again... I though I had taken care of you the last time we met. You are even more sick and twisted than before, I see..." he replied. This was not just any wizard. Kishu had faced off against this wizard previously, and had thought him soundly defeated. But it seems that was not the case, much to his chagrin. Manorishi laughed, "So we meet again. As before, flattery will get you nowhere, warrior. Now watch as I show you how I've been having fun recently." He grinned and pulled a couple of bottles off of his shelf. "You see, I've been experimenting with extracting the essence of both animals and magical beings, and then combining them with people." He brandishes the bottles, which are labeled, "Spider" and "Fox", and starts taking the stopper out of the "Spider" one. "Why did you burn down that village?" Kishu asked, seething anger in his voice. "My dear boy, that was because they refused to hand over certain villagers for my experiments." Manorishi answered matter-of-factly. "I needed them," he continued, "to extract their essence." He grinned, "You see, not all are as they appear... there are bakemono, shapeshifting monsters, living among, and breeding with, humans in the villages." "So you're still at that then, the same stuff you were up to last time we met?" Kishu narrowed his eyes as he spoke, the disgust palpable in his voice. Manorishi roared with laughter, "Indeed my boy, indeed... but I have refined my techniques and advanced quite a bit since our last encounter." He finished opening the spider jar and pours the contents of the jar out over the trembling boy on the floor. The green mist pouring out of it congeals into the form of a giant spider, before turning back into a mist again, and flowing quickly into the boy through his nose and mouth. "The big difference this time," he added as he worked on opening the stopper on the fox bottle, "is that I've learned how to effectively combine essences to create hybrids." He started chanting as he released the stopper on the second bottle, and out poured a mist which turned from green to red, taking the form of a fox, before also leaping into the boy through his facial cavities. The boy started screaming and convulsing, his bones snapping and popping as he grew from youth to adult in a few seconds. A fluffy fox tail grew out of his rear, as his hands and feet became fox paws, with fur spreading over his entire body. His face slowly pushed out into a vulpine muzzle, while his ears repositioned themselves to the top of his head. His muscles significantly bulked up over his entire body. More popping and grinding noises, as he grew a second pair of legs, and the lower body of a fox'taur grew in between the two pairs of legs. As the area between the two pairs of legs filled out, two more pairs of legs sprouted from it, giving him a total of eight legs. His changes complete, he stopped screaming and lay there, panting, still unable to move. After the little boy had finished changing into that 8-legged monstrosity, Kishu said, "You are a sick little man, and you must pay for what you have done to these people." Manorishi laughed, "And who is going to make me, you? You sad excuse for a samurai? You can't even move!" He then turned to look at Rakurai, and rubbed his hands gleefully, "Now it's time to extract your essence, my little Kirin friend. Oh, how I've waited for this moment since we first met." He started chanting, and the glow from the circle below the kirin intensified. Rakurai whinnied in terror, ::Help me, Kishu!:: as he started to glow white, and a wisp of white mist started to flow off of him toward a waiting jar on a nearby table. The wizard cackled, "All you can do is lay there watching while I extract the essence from your little friend.... Revenge is certainly a delicious dish." Unbeknownst to the wizard however, was that Kishu was double-jointed, and had managed to pop one of his wrists out in order to loosen the rope. While the wizard had been talking, Kishu had been slowly untying his arms and legs, out of sight, and was just waiting for the right moment to catch the wizard off-guard. He leaped up and tackled the wizard, knocking him over, and interrupting the casting of the extraction spell. The men grunted as they struggled back and forth, and though Kishu had the upper hand in a physical brawl, Manorishi wasn't about to lose and stabbed Kishu in the side with a knife he had hidden up his sleeve. Kishu screamed out in agony and his grip loosened enough to allow Manorishi to escape his grasp and stumble away. The wizard stood up, still brandishing the knife as drops of blood slowly dripped from it. He then started laughing, softly at first, then gradually increasing in volume until Manorishi was practically cackling. "Foolish samurai, you have failed yet again to defeat me... you should have been smarter about your attack, but your foolish attachment to that beast has cost you your life." He grinned from ear to ear, exchanging the knife for a long spear that stood on a rack against the wall. "Any final words before I finish you for good, boy?" "Even if I am to pass to the next life..." he paused to cough up a bit of blood, then continued, "my spirit will haunt you for eternity... you sick sick old goat." While the two of them talked, Kishu's blood slowly flowed across the floor of the room... until it reached the magic circle holding Rakurai in place.... Suddenly, the circle started to spark, and the glow flickered. Rakurai, suddenly freed of the bonds holding him in place, reared back, and kicked the the Manorishi squarely in the chest, sending him flying into the nearby table, knocking it over, and knocking the wizard out cold. The bottle that was on the table smashed into the floor with a crash, breaking open and releasing the captured mist, which flew back at Rakurai. However, the magic circle was still somewhat active, and starting to go out of control, sparks flying, arcs of magical current moving across the circle. Suddenly, two huge arcs zapped both Rakurai and Kishu, who both screamed out, but their screams were soon drowned in an explosion of white energy. It started as a white sphere surrounding the two of them, and then quickly spread outward as if a bomb had been detonated, levelling the entire castle. ---------- Kishu groaned and slowly opened his eyes, "I've gotta stop waking up like this..." He tried to turn over, so he could push himself up, but for some reason, his body felt *really* heavy. His eyes travelled down his chest, to his waist.... and then to where it smoothly blended into the body of a horse. An oath strong enough to singe eyebrows escaped his lips as he reached a hand down to feel the pelt that was now, apparently, his. It felt smooth, and he could feel his hand stroke over his flank. "What... what in the world has happened to me?" A sudden realization came to him, and he looked around frantically, "Rakurai? Rakurai!? Where are you!?" Piles of rubble surrounded him, the remains of the lab and the castle, but no matter where he looked, he couldn't see a soul. Rakurai, that boy Manorishi had changed, nor the crazy wizard himself, were anywhere to be found. Silent tears started streaming down his face, "RAKURAI!!" he screamed out one more time, then started sobbing for the loss of his friend. Suddenly, he felt, well, it was hard to describe, but it felt like something stirring in the back of his head. ::What happened?:: Rakurai's voice came to Kishu's mind. Relief flooded over Kishu, and the tears flowed even more freely, "Dammit, Rakurai, don't worry me like that!" He sniffled and wiped his eyes, "Where are you?" ::I'm not quite sure,:: came the puzzled response. ::I have no control of my body, and I just saw your hand wipe my eyes?:: Kishu blinked, "Your eyes? Ummm.... Rakurai..." He looked down at his lower half, and then a curse exploded from Rakurai, in the language of the kirin. He'd never heard such colorful language from his friend before. Wait... the language of the Kirin? Apparently he somehow understood it now. He sighed and rubbed his temples. "I'm going to wager that we were somehow fused together, my friend." ::That does indeed seem to be the case,:: came the reply, ::And it looks like I'm just a passenger along for the ride.:: There was a bit of silence after that line, and then Kishu sighed again, then smirked, "Which leaves us with one problem...." ::What's that?:: "How the heck am I supposed to stand up?" And the two friends had a good laugh together, Kishu's laughing voice echoing through the remains of Manorishi's castle. =========================================== That's the end of it. Feedback on the rewrite would be much appreciated. ^_^ -- Stephen !DSPAM:4f792fb9165651804284693! _______________________________________________ MKGuild mailing list [email protected] http://lists.integral.org/listinfo/mkguild
