[open quest] A Beqanna Fairytale- Chapter Three(Finale)

[Neo]

@Knaught  The thorns that entangle him begin to slither, the vines coming to life as they encircle him, wrapping him in a deadly embrace.  They constrict tighter, and tighter, and tighter until... he passes out.  When he awakens, he is back in Beqanna, the light of day is near blinding.  Perhaps remanent magic of his cat-eyes, more accustomed to the dimness of the night.
*Knaught did not meet the 500-word count requirement, per Chapter Two rules, and receives the temporary defect of day blind for the next 2 RL weeks.  If this defect should be something he would like to keep as a permanent part of his character, please post it in the updates and link this thread!  He may remember as little or as much of his quest experience as he'd like

@ skywalker As she stares at the structure the warm sensation returns, but this time only at her ears, before there is a sudden give of the land beneath her hooves.  She is falling for some time in a tunnel of random memories, and then as quickly as it began, she lands with a thud back in Beqanna.  If she would look into the mirrored surface of the river next to her, she would find rabbit-like ears a top her head.  
*Skywalker did not meet the posting deadline, per Chapter Two rules, and receives the temporary defect of rabbit ears for the next 2 RL weeks.  If this defect should be something she would like to keep as a permanent part of her character, please post it in the updates and link this thread!  She may remember as little or as much of her quest experience as she'd like


( @Sapere )
“Hansel and Gretel”

Your stories task- rescue them and get the captor's treasure.

Obstacle 3) You free them and are about to flee when you learn of a great treasure that is in possession of the captor(s).  Will you take it by force or will the captors gift it to you… or something else.  It's your fairytale after all!  End your post with your character getting the treasure and being teleported back to Beqanna(no your rescuees will not follow you there).  You find the treasure not far from reach (what it is will be revealed to you in the quest results).

Trait Options (choose one to use):
•A) Golem Creation- Ability to create a creature out of inanimate materials. Ability weakens when creating multiple golems.
•B) Clairvoyance- Ability to gain information about an object, character, location, or physical event using sight outside of the normal range of detection. Users are able to detect ghosts/spiritual beings. Additionally, they can perceive sights and visual sensations from past events, future events, or locations that are currently outside the range of normal vision.

Note:
*Get the treasure and flee!  Upon successful completion of the quest, you will open the chest and discover just what the captor's great treasure is. (TBD)
*This is the end of your story!


( @Sophist )
“Billy Goats Gruff”

Your stories task- Interact with the creature that lives under the bridge and cross over the river with their treasure.

Obstacle 3) You attempt to cross the bridge, but the creature(s) blocks you.  Use your; abilities, strength, wit, charm, etc etc, to confront the creature and cross over the river.  But wait there's more!  The creature has a treasure… Will you take it by force or will the creature gift it to you… or something else.  It's your fairytale after all!  End your post with your character reaching the other side with the treasure and being teleported back to Beqanna.  You find the treasure not far from reach (what it is will be revealed to you in the quest results).

Trait Options (choose one to use):
•A) Empathy- Ability to read and replicate others’ emotions, moods and temperaments, but not specific thoughts or words. Includes the ability to share emotions with others, either by augmenting shared emotions or sending new emotions onto others.
•B) Dragon Fire- Immune to extreme heat and fire and can breathe small jets of fire from the mouth.

Note:
*Get the treasure and cross the bridge!  Upon successful completion of the quest, you will open the chest and discover just what the creature(s) great treasure is.(TBD)
*This is the end of your story!

RULES
1) Remember you must choose one of your assigned fairytales trait options and you MUST discover the trait in some way during your post.
2) End your post as instructed.
3) Word count: 1000 word minimum
4) Deadline: May 16th 11:59pm CDT

**Once all remaining participants have replied, the stories will be reviewed, and results posted shortly after!**

[Sophist]

For the moment, they are at a standstill. The wind rustles slightly through the leaves of the trees in the distance behind Sophist; the birdsong that previously trilled through the air has now gone silent, the birds having either taken wing at the sight of the serpent or huddling deeper within their shelter. The cloud-river below makes no noise, though its angry swirling, the current somewhat disrupted by the creature’s trailing body within, would have elicited quite a turbulent sound if it had been true water.

The beast’s growl seems to reverberate through Sophist’s chest, through his bones, and at first he is stilled by it, somewhat uncertain of how to interpret it. There had been no hissing alongside it, no baring of the terrible fangs that surely line the creature’s long, eel-like jaw, so he does not believe the sound had been one of aggression. Is this simply how its kind communicates?

Deciding to trust this notion, Sophist draws a slow, deep breath and returns the growl that the Cloud Serpent had emitted. It rolls gently, calmly, as he fixes his steady eyes on the guardian. It gazes back at him unblinkingly but the tendrils near the back of its skull which had previously been piqued now seem to settle into an amicable expression. It does not move yet, though, and remains poised in a cobra-like rear, swaying softly with the tender touches of the eventide breeze. Around them both, the flowers flutter too and their scent grows stronger, more potent and powerful.

It’s then that Sophist recognizes a shift in the emotion he can sense from the strange animal. Not only can he feel its desire for affection, for amity and fellowship and love, but he perceives its outright emotions. With each inhale of the overpowering fragrance, surprisingly strong from such small blossoms, he becomes more aware of an empathic link developing with the beast. He can feel its lingering confusion, its skepticism at his presence, its curiosity about him and its disbelief at what it is seeing.

Was that the purpose of the flowers all along, to offer these psychic bonds with unfortunate travelers who wound up mistakenly in this outlandish place?

Sophist laughs inwardly at himself – he should probably just accept these strange realities and use them as best he can. He is still so incredibly thirsty, after all, and this creature is the only barrier between himself and the lake beyond.

Taking another bolstering breath of the aromatic fumes, he focuses once again on the creature and squints his silvery eyes with determination. If the guardian is surprised to see another of its kind (and another quick glance downward at himself reaffirms the truth that Sophist does not look equine, still appears serpentine), he understands that he must convince it of the dream-come-true fantasy of this encounter. He must sell the belief, must prove that he is what the slender river dragon believes he is, lest he be swallowed up. After all, this creature is much more massive than the snakes which live in his forest home, and he’s seen those smaller counterparts consume quite sizeable prey with ready capability. It is not a fate he envies or desires in the least.

Taking a cautious step forward (and eliciting more flowers to bloom), he remains tapped into the Cloud Serpent’s emotions. Its tentative confusion still lingers, its hope still mounts, and its yearning grows steadily more expectant as the colt draws closer. He growls again, this time soft and nearly purring in a soothing reptilian way, and takes care to stagger his steps in the hopes of mimicking a slithering motion. The moonlight-colored creature remains poised and watching, observant with a tilted head and occasionally flickering tongue, but as he approaches, its wispy tendrils slowly release their hold upon the bridge and its coiled body shifts from its grasp around the base of the structure.

An odd sort of warble breaks from its now slightly-parted mouth when Sophist arrives to stand before it. They are eye-to-eye, the colt with a steady, if slightly hurried, heart staring confidently back with his illusioned pinkish eyes peering imploringly into the serpent’s. He mimics this noise, the curious chirping sound seeming almost coquettish and coy from his own lips as he tucks his chin toward his chest. After a moment’s further exchange of these soft greetings, the true creature unfurls itself from the bridge, sliding the rest of its body atop the structure to loop itself very loosely around his feet.

Sophist tucks his hooves close together – his glamoured form curls into a comfortable ball as if to accept this embrace from the pale guardian. It brushes its cheek against his, a more excitable song-like chatter filling its mouth now as it almost merrily moves – half-floating, half-slithering – toward the larger island, Sophist’s desired destination all along.

Overcome with relief at having passed this test, Sophist follows at a jaunty pace, leaving the bridge with its fragrant flowers and its glow behind them for the more secure footing of solid ground. Inside, he feels the spike of joy and elation from the serpent, the sheer jubilance at no longer being alone, the nearly audible rapid pounding of its giant heart that swells with love. Oddly enough, these emotions bleed into his own being and he finds himself smiling, nearly grinning, as he follows this unlikely comrade as it weaves its way toward the very lake he had sought.

Regardless of his own desires for the water, it is clear that the Cloud Serpent is intent to show him something, eager to share some secret thing that it has guarded alone for so long. It leads him right to the bank where it stops, but Sophist does not. The thirst drives him a few steps further until he splashes into the lake, circling to see what the creature had wanted to reveal but also dropping his mouth so that he may gulp heartily for just a second or two. To the true beast, its mate merely swirls and swims for a moment, dunking its head before, as Sophist draws near again, it peers with interest at whatever it might behold.

There in the taller grasses fringing the edge of the water is nestled a solitary egg. It is large, nearly twice the size of an ostrich’s egg, and is as pearly as the Cloud Serpent’s scales with the same moonstone sort of sheen. It does not rest entirely upon the ground, hovering ever so vaguely above it so as not to be sullied by the earth’s rough touch, but it is well-hidden all the same. The guardian offers that odd sort of chatter again, looking at the serpent-colt who is now awash with the waves of its pride and its joy. There is a sense of expectation within its gaze and within the empathic link they now share, both magical and base.

Sophist can only take a moment to wonder why the true serpent had felt so lonesome before when it could clearly expect company sometime soon, but then he recalls the way he has observed some animals share the burden of parenthood as if unable to raise young by themselves. Male avians would occasionally take the charge of warming the eggs, stags would protect their does – even stallions defended their young. That must be the case now, for when he reaches to touch the egg with his nose, its cool shell grows immediately warm beneath the soft skin of his lips. A slight pulsing glow of light now emanates from it and the Cloud Serpent purrs again with a low hiss of approval.

Understanding now that it had sought a mate so that this egg may grow, Sophist looks at his counterpart once more. Nodding, he moves as if to guard the egg, placing one leg over it to cover it slightly with his body (his illusioned form twists gently around it, holding it closely and carefully with its large, slender figure).

“I will protect it,” he assures the guardian in a strange jumble of quiet hisses and chirps, overcome by the sense of duty now imparted upon him. He bows his head to bump his nose with the guardian’s in a sign of partnership, closing his eyes with a soft exhale. The wind rises around them as the sun finally vanishes below the floating islands, its rays bursting upward around them in a near biblical display –

But when Sophist opens his eyes again, there is nothing but darkness.

It is familiar, its heavy shade of green-blue instantly eliciting comfort even as the warmth seems to fade rapidly from his face where the waning sun had just been.

He is back in the forest, back home, and he feels so abruptly empty.

All those emotions, that supreme connection to another the likes of which he has never felt before –

Had it just been a dream?

Yet, there nearby sits a large, glowing egg, its shell smooth and pearlescent in the murk of the woods.

Sophist
if you take my nights will you leave me my days?

[Sapere]

The gentle light of the cavern continues to pulse, steady and comforting as the three creatures recover from the sudden icy downfall. The frost which lingers upon the spiny cage and dusts the carpet of moss underfoot gleams and twinkles, giving the already fantastical setting an even more surreal appearance. The thorns now shine like polished blades; the moss now crunches faintly beneath the weight of them, the freed captives and their savior.

Sapere stands still beneath the profuse warmth of the giant hare’s gentle embrace, his shivers slowly easing as the racing of his heart evens out. The second hare lingers nearby, watching over its two companions with its vacant stare, ears alert to survey the otherwise quiet setting.

But it does not stay quiet for long.

Outside of their odd haven, a slow and steady wind begins to gather in the branches far above. The leaves rustle, the wood of the trees groans quietly. The gusts come in pulses as if from great, vast wings somewhere above, before an audible creaking catches the attention of the sheltered trio.

Sapere’s head raises, coppery eyes darting with alarm toward the end of the cave where he had entered and then toward the opposite opening, just as vast and tall as the other. The fireflies still linger, maintaining their sentinel hovers in a line toward the trail which would bring them to safety. But the doorway in the back of the cave remains dark and the forest beyond is difficult for him to see even with his new feline eyes. It is only visible in dim, gloomy silhouettes of leaf and limb.

This far doorway is where the sound of movement becomes most notable. Branches whine and crackle as some of their smaller fingers snap; twigs and leaves fall in languid paths, vaguely distinguishable in the latent glow of the insects and the hares’ gently glowing coats. The wind has stopped now, but the blatant rustling of something large and cumbersome climbing roughly downward is unmistakable now.

They are no longer alone.

Sapere’s first instinct is to flee, but the rabbits in his company seem almost frozen in place. They both stare toward the darkened opening of the gigantic tree’s trunk, into the darkness beyond, rigid but for their twitching noses and the shifting shine in the facets of their eyes. As the equine among them moves forward, adequately warmed by both the shared body heat and a new pulse of adrenaline, they remain statuesque for several moments more.

“We must flee!” Sapere whispers to them urgently, but they make no show of having heard him. Despair blooms in his heart – he does not want to leave them, not after freeing them from their awful plight. But how could he convince such large beings to follow him? He nudges at the cheek of the hare nearest to him, but it barely flinches one large whisker at him; hurrying to the other hare’s side, he buries his face in its shoulder and pushes his weight against it. It shifts just slightly, resettling its paw beneath its chest, but otherwise it does not react. “Please!”

His voice is desperate, but he soon discovers the reason for their immobilizing terror:

Beyond the frame of the towering cavern door, a massive form descends into view. It is nearly feline in shape but for its towering height and the large webbed wings upon its shoulders. As it steps nearer, its body glimmers and sparkles – it is covered with still more crystals of every color imaginable, each with a mild flicker inside as if lit by small internal flames reminiscent of the fireflies. But these crystals are mounted all along its body, stunning accents against the rocky formations of its flesh. Its head, a mixture of leonine and lupine in appearance, glares even brighter than the rest as it wears a crystal jewel-covered mask. Its eyes burn behind two massive onyx-rimmed rubies.

Snarling, with fangs even larger than the thorns nearby, it prowls toward the frozen hares and the horse between them, its tail lashing as it settles its wings with a heavy rustle of air. Only now do the hares retreat, as the beast crosses into the cavern and into full view. They squawk an odd sound of fear and scramble to huddle together in one corner, eyes gaping and jaws now slack in fear as they gaze at what is quite obviously their former captor.

But the beast does not focus on them, not yet.

Its growl is fierce as its gaze bears down upon Sapere, now standing alone before it and staring back up at it as if transfixed. He has never seen anything like this monster before, not even in his most outlandish imaginings, and he understands now why the hares seemed to have been too frightened to bother trying to escape on their own. The beast towers over him, each of its paws as large as his own body, and it prowls toward him with slow purpose. Saliva gleams on its rows of spiky teeth; its breath smells of raw earth and rotted leaves. Brownish lichen and moss fill the gaps between its otherwise stony body; similar thorny vines as those which had crafted the former cage intertwine and seem to act as the being’s tendons.

As terrible as the monster appears, Sapere knows he has size on his side. Although it has the power of flight, it is also encumbered by its own mass – that much had been evident in its clumsy descent through the forest canopy to greet them. If he can just get himself and the former prisoners back to the trail, they would have enough cover to make their escape.

Except, that’s when he sees it: as the crystalline titan’s tail swipes once again behind it, the gentle light from its gems illuminates the far, dark side of the cave. And there sits a pile of more jewels and contrasting rubble, of both marvelous and colorless stones, a scattering of bones and another large mass of thorny vines. This bundle is far more dense than the cage, its twines woven much tighter so that whatever might be held inside cannot be seen. But there is something inside – this much is made apparent by a subtle, shifting light which now glows brightly through the minimal cracks of the veritable chest.

He had not seen this meager treasure pile before as his focus had been fixed on the living prey within their trap. It had not begun glowing until the monster’s arrival as if whatever is held inside could only be roused by the presence of the beast. But, as Sapere looks again at the bejeweled face of the titan before him, he cannot help thinking: this demon does not deserve to keep even a piece of his bounty – it is nothing but a menace to these poor creatures.

A strange sense of vengeful justice swells into his chest, pressing tight at the edges of his throat, and as the monster takes another step toward him, Sapere rears up high again. He lashes out with his hooves to ward the beast back and a bellow of sheer aggression tears from his lungs. The beast hardly hesitates before taking another step forward to bring itself within striking distance, yet when the stallion’s hooves slam back to the earth, the situation shifts into his favor.

Instinctively, Sapere tries tapping into his innate magic of animation. He had not truly noticed its absence before, had only felt perhaps a subtle lack of the tingling sensation in his veins; he hadn’t found a cause to use it before now, having been too distracted by his other newfound abilities.

But this is reflexive and natural, an impulsive response to the threat now facing him. Not only does a violent gust of frigid wind flow from behind him to brew more clouds bearing freezing rain, whipping it into the monster’s eyes, but a giant, stony form erupts with some haste from the forest floor. Breaking through the frosted moss of the cavern floor, a formidable golem now stands as a barrier between Sapere and his foe.

With a wide set of arms and a sturdy pillar of a body, the earthen creation immediately reaches to seize the crystal weaver by the head. The monster roars and flaps its great wings, blasting Sapere and the hares with a countering tornadic gust and blowing some of the ice back at them which seems to stir the whole party into motion.

The stallion darts around his creation, giving a wide berth to the jeweled titan as he charges toward the ‘treasure’ pile. The braying of the beast resonates against the cavern walls at a deafening pitch as it struggles with the rock golem, but Sapere is as determined now as he had been during his struggle with the thorns. And this struggle, it seems, will be even greater, as when he arrives he realizes the chest-like bramble will not be easily portable. Rather than puzzling out some way to open it now, he half-rears again and strikes at the earth once more. Even in this specified format, the magic is familiar as it rushes from his limbs into the ground and, as quick as before, another golem rises.

This one is smaller yet it still stands a good ten feet tall, featureless but for its equally wide arms of stone. “We must escape – bring this with us,” he attempts to command it. He has never held true control over his creations before, yet they have always worked in tandem with him despite the absence of his instruction. This case seems to be similar; whether it understands him or not, it seems to grasp the reason for its being and stoops to sweep the gems and stones and bones and the spiked bundle into its embrace, the girth of its arms widening somewhat to encompass the entire load.

Behind them, the monster screams again, still struggling with the original golem whose strength and height have waned just slightly in favor of its sibling’s creation. Still, its bulk works to their advantage as it manages to slam the beast’s head to the ground, pinning it by the neck in a dominant stance. Jeweled limbs flail and thrash, the titan’s tail lashing again as it howls with fury.

Heart now racing quicker than ever before, Sapere turns for the cavernous doorway he had originally entered through. The fireflies have been jostled by the prior sweeps of fierce wind, but they continue to maintain their line on their escape route. The hares are still huddled together, though they do not seem as frozen as before now that their captor has been subdued.

“Hurry!” the stallion calls to them, mediating the mild panic in his voice with a sense of encouraging urgency. This time, they seem to hear him; their ears twitch and they sit up on their hinds before they turn to follow his lead. Charging out of the cave and across the opening surrounding the giant tree, Sapere only risks a singular glance over his shoulder to make sure the monster is still trapped behind them. Its cries and snarls boom through the stillness of the night, but he is glad to see that the hares and the lesser golem are close at heel.

They weave through the trail in single file and Sapere is eternally grateful that the glowing insects have remained all this time, illuminating their route to freedom alongside the aid of his viable night vision. Branches and leaves whip against his face and he must watch for impeding roots that may trip him, but in what feels like no time at all they have made it to the forest’s edge.

The starlight is brighter here, illuminating the vast openness around them, and straight ahead looms the swirl of the portal. Whether it had remained open this whole time or had reappeared for them in their time of need is unclear and irrelevant.

Sapere leaps through it and spins, breathless, to hurry his companions to safety.

Except he is left alone, back on the beach. Scattered on the ground are the stone remnants of his former creations, the ‘soldiers’ that had accompanied him along the shore before this encounter.

All that joins him through the portal before it snaps closed is the bundle of thorns with its odd internal glow.

Sapere

the good and the wise
lead quiet lives