Beasts of Beyond
folly of one — open, 100th post milestone - Printable Version

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folly of one — open, 100th post milestone - Verdigris - 07-14-2018

  [font=trebuchet ms]November 7th, 2015.

  Basic training gets more and more difficult by the day. The others don’t seem bothered by it, but then they’re all gunning to be squad leader, I think. Rundown especially wants the spot. Black-Backed Leader Undertaker doesn’t even realize he’s on her hit list...

  I don’t even know if I’ll get on the Side-Striped Squad. Rundown could probably get all five of us on the team, but if she decides to stick with the normal number... there’s no reason for her to pick the youngest one.

  I’m going for it anyway, though. No harm in trying.


  Miragelight had told Paper stories about her sister Rundown when he was a child. Tales of foolhardy dares, reckless attacks on rival packs, and frequent trips to their mother abounded; that she would be so intent on becoming their squad leader, and beating Undertaker when their Pack Leader died and the next challenge arrived, fit perfectly with what Paper had heard about her.

  Miragelight’s intention behind giving him the book wasn’t entirely clear to him as he lay on a dry patch of sand, staring at the pages. Still, this was only the first entry, of what were probably many- he would find the answer soon enough. Turning the page, he yawned, a strange sense of exhaustion covering him like a blanket.

  To be fair, he had been walking around a lot recently, and a lot of his nights had been spent with relatively little sleep. Maybe a brief nap would do him some good, if only so he could help out with reconstruction more effectively later. With a sigh, he closed the book, and rested his head on his paws.

  Sleep...



  [font=trebuchet ms]Good.

  Paper woke up in an expanse of nothingness.

  Hastily reaching out to find a foothold, he found to his dismay that there was none- he was floating, at the mercy of whatever substance he was floating in. ”Hey, what is this?!” he snarled, whipping his head around in search of anyone or anything he could demand answers from.

  I’m right here.

  Lifting his head, he could see a falcon floating directly above him, its wings spread wide. ”Who are you?” he growled, lashing his tail.

  The falcon flickered in a flash of crimson mist, then returned to normal- with a pink-and-purple-striped icosahedron gem embedded in its chest. In spite of himself, Paper gasped. ”The ruby... how did you-”

  My name is Rubydelusions. I am the spirit within this ruby, the falcon spoke, its deep baritone vibrating through the abyss. Papercutter. Why did you leave me to die?

  Paper gaped at the falcon. ”I had no idea that there was an actual person inside that thing,” he said defensively, narrowing his eyes. ”How could I have? You never saw a reason to do this before.”

  The falcon chuckled. Perhaps. Even so, you knew there was hidden power within the gem. Narrowing scarlet eyes honed in on him. You are, if nothing else, a fool for giving that up.

  What was with this world and its constant repetition of messages that it knew he wouldn’t listen to? ”Look, you’re not the only magical artifact out here,” Paper said, with a shake of his head. ”It’s a much bigger deal to almost lose a crewmate than it is to pass up one of many chances at power.”

  Raising its brows, the falcon nodded. Curious. Were this a test of loyalty, you would certainly have passed, it said, but for someone whose goal is to get stronger, you’re remarkably casual about it. Before he could retort, the falcon teleported to a few feet away, remaining in the spread-eagled position.

  Perhaps, though, I can offer you a head start.

  Paper raised a brow. He had a feeling this was going to involve some sort of deal, but what was he about to be asked to give up? ”Keep talking,” he said, flicking his good ear.

  In the blink of an eye, the falcon exploded in a shower of amethyst prisms. Paper recoiled at the sudden flash, only to feel a paw on his back. Turning his head, he came face to face with Daphne- Daphne? he thought- staring him right in the eyes. Out of the bengal’s mouth slithered Valentin, her eyes flickering violet as she reared up to strike.

  Paper swung a paw at the snake, the impact causing the other two to shatter in a fountain of glass. An interesting show, hmm? he heard the falcon echo behind him. Not real, of course- but it fooled you, if only just for a moment.

  Narrowing his eyes, he turned to face the falcon. ”Hallucinations?” he asked, tilting his head. ”You can do this to others at will?”

  Precisely. The falcon smirked, a wide split across its beak that elicited a shudder from Paper. I may still be willing to grant this same power to you... perhaps even more, if you prove yourself worthy.

  Paper’s eyes widened. The thought of entrapping a foe in their own fears and failures... it was tempting. Yet, there was one more thing he had to ensure.

  ”What’s the catch?” Fixing his gaze on the falcon, he frowned. ”And if you tell me ‘nothing,’ or something vague, the deal is off.”

  Another chuckle escaped the falcon’s beak. Clever boy. You’re correct- there is a catch. Fear not, you’ll have ample time to think about it before you accept. Its eyes lifted to the skies above- in so much as there were skies, or even an “above,” in the abyss. It’s a life for a life. Out of ignorance, you permitted me to be washed out to sea, to be drowned in darkness. If you desire my help, I wish for you to make things right.

  When the time comes for you to die, your body will survive- but I will be the one in control of it from then on. Your life will become mine.

  Before Paper could respond, the abyss began to crumble around him, the darkness giving way to blinding light on all sides. Shapes and colors flashed across his vision relentlessly, and through the static growing in his left ear, he could hear one last statement from the falcon- from Rubydelusions.

  Return to the Crystal Caves. You will know what you are looking for once you see it.



  [font=trebuchet ms]He woke up on solid ground again, sand clinging to his fur. Groaning, he got to his feet and shook himself, removing the last few grains. The sun was still up, so he must not have slept that long.

  He had been offered power again, this time at the price of having to eventually give up his body. Admittedly, that wasn’t a bad deal, so long as he lived for a reasonable amount of time after that- and so long as he could secure one other condition, one that he thought was reasonable enough. The thing he’d always heard about making deals with the proverbial devil was that it had to abide by the terms set out, but you had to be careful to read and adjust the fine print before you signed the bottom line.

  With a nod, he put the book in his bag, and headed over to the Crystal Caves. Upon arriving at the entrance, he could see the slickness of the stone floors, so he entered with caution. As he traversed the darkness, he kept an eye out for anything that seemed out of place.

  Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a minecart tipped over on its side, its metallic surfaces tarnished by rust and brine. Detritus spilled out of its interior, forming a chaotic whirlpool across the ground.

  In the center of that whirlpool lay the ruby, its violet glow flickering in apparent excitement as he approached. ”As I thought. You’re the devil, alright,” Paper muttered, bemused. Sure, it was theoretically possible that the ruby had been swept back in here by random chance, but practically? There was no way.

  Take it.

  ”Hold on.” Staring directly at the gem, he narrowed his eyes. ”I’ve got one more condition I want to add to the deal.”

  At its silence, he proceeded, ”You can take over my body when I die. But the moment you start trying to hurt the Typhoon or any of its members, the deal is off, and you leave my body and never return.”

  Rubydelusions did not speak at first, its silence deafening in Paper’s ear. If this was a deal-breaker for the ruby, then so be it. He may not have been the sharpest spine on the cactus, but he wasn’t fool enough to throw everyone’s lives away.

  ...Deal.

  With a smirk, Paper took the ruby. Finding the string attached to it, he hung it around his neck. The ruby’s flickering light dimmed down to a soft glow, just as it had when he found it the first time. With that, he returned to the entrance of the cave, passing by a large feline sitting in the shade.

  Show them something, why don’t you.

  After thinking for a moment, Paper reached out to the feline’s mind and attempted to cast an image of a butterfly, basking in the sun a few feet away. The feline stared at the spot where Paper had intended to make the butterfly appear, and cautiously approached it. Blinking, Paper dismissed the illusion, watching the feline stare incredulously at the now-empty patch of sand.

  ”It works,” he mouthed to himself, removing the now-brightly glowing ruby from around his neck and shoving it in his satchel. With that, he briskly left the cave, headed over towards the Tempest.

  Rubydelusions had kept up its end of the deal- he could indeed cast illusions now- but now his fate was sealed. He had to be careful from now on; even if his life seemed a relatively small loss now that he knew Rubydelusions would not betray the Typhoon, he still wasn’t especially eager to have his body taken.

  Even now, returning to the ship, he could still hear delighted laughter echoing in the back of his mind.

  /tl;dr: Paper makes a deal with someone he probably shouldn’t have made a deal with, so now he has telepathic illusion powers
  /he’s walking back to the Tempest now looking kind of nervous
  /don’t feel the need to match muse


Re: folly of one — open, 100th post milestone - jacob w.c. - 07-14-2018

the subtle grace of gravity
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code by spacexual
Power was a difficult subject for Jacob. Generally speaking, Jacob didn't want it. When he had it, he often refused to take it, like in the case of his particular skill set in the city, or in the case of Snowbound. Sometimes Jacob thought maybe he was afraid of it. He'd seen it abused so many times over his life, one wouldn't be able to fault him for that. His entire childhood was made of men and boys who fought each other ruthlessly for power that was never really their's to begin with. They got it by taking it from other people who had done the same exact thing before them or they made horrible deals that cost them their life or worse. No one could blame Jacob Wickliff Corleone for having a fear of power. But Jacob knew that wasn't it. He was terrified of a lot of things, like spiders and fire and being alone in the dark for too long, but he wasn't afraid of power. He was afraid of what people would do with it when they had too much for too long. Power in itself wasn't a bad thing, necessarily. In fact, with the right person, it could be a very good thing. But Jacob had seen it too many times that it often fell into the wrong hands. He didn't want to be in charge of that. He didn't trust himself with it, ont after what he'd seen his family do with it.

Not only that, but Jacob didn't like the idea of having an advantage over other people or being any better than they were, or thought of like he was better than them or had more power than they did. It just wasn't him. He was the sort of person that helped people as much as he could but mostly did it in the background. He didn't like getting in front of everyone and telling them what he'd do and why he'd do it, he liked to just do it. He liked to arrive when people were sick and hurting and leave with them better, or at the very least knowing he'd done everything possible to ease their suffering. His work was never about himself. It was about making his Ma proud, making sure the people he loved were safe, and helping his community in anyway he could. He'd didn't want the power that his Pa or his Babbo had. He didn't want the power that some people had through powers or influential connections. He just wanted to help people while being himself and being happy with whatever family he formed. His interests were simple. Jacob didn't have ulterior motives or anything other than his own happiness and the happiness of those around him. Unfortunately, he usually didn't even get that.

Today was different, though. He had some ideas about a date he wanted to try with Pinch. He had a whole menu prepared and he had a bunch of romantic comedies set out. He wasn't really sure if Deniz would like them, given they weren't exactly his taste, but that was all Jacob had and he wanted to watch a movie with him. He wasn't actually sure if Pincher had seen a movie, given his upbringing, so Jacob was pretty excited about it. He'd picked out all the best ones, even including Hallmark Christmas movies. He was pretty sure he'd try to save those until it was actually winter, though. It was always better that way. He wasn't sure exactly which ones he'd watch with him but he'd already decided that they'd watch 13 Going On 30 together. It was one of his favorites, after all.

Jacob was pulled from his thoughts of a romantic evening when he happened to notice Papercutter, though. He couldn't say he knew the man very well, although they had met now and again back when he'd lived in Snowbound. "Hi! Papercutter, right? We met before, when I visited from Snowbound. I don' think we've really seen each other since I joined, though. 'S nice ta' see ya'," he greeted happily, pausing a moment as he looked at the other man. He hesitated for a moment. Asking if someone was okay was usually a terrible way to get any sort of response from them but he felt like he should. What else was he supposed to do? He looked distressed, to some degree, and Jacob almost felt as though it were his responsibility to ask why. If he didn't tell him the truth, that wasn't his problem. It was the thought that counted, right? "Um, so, are you feelin' alright? Ya' jus' look a li'l shaken up, I guess," he asked, already regretting it. He barely knew Paper. If something was going on, he probably wouldn't seek comfort in Jacob. Still, he told himself, it was the thought that counted.
the heavy weight of stone



Re: folly of one — open, 100th post milestone - Verdigris - 07-16-2018

  [font=trebuchet ms]At the smell of an approaching creature, Paper quickly turned to face them, but relaxed upon seeing that it was Jacob. The allied leader-turned-crewmate wasn’t someone the jackal was overly familiar with, but he wasn’t naturally hostile, and was unlikely to try and steal the ruby (at least compared to, say, Caesar). Besides, Paper had done nothing to hurt anyone besides himself in this situation- he’d deliberately made sure no harm would come to the Typhoon- so he had nothing to be guilty about.

  ”Yeah, that’s me- good meeting you too,” he answered, with a nod. When asked if he was feeling okay, he pondered for a moment, then nodded. ”Yeah. I just discovered something interesting, though,” he added softly, cautiously taking the ruby out of his bag and showing it to Jacob. ”It can be used to cast illusions. Want me to show you?”


Re: folly of one — open, 100th post milestone - CAESAR CIPHER. - 07-16-2018

IT'S ALL IN YOUR HEAD !
CAESAR CIPHER. MALE. THE TYPHOON. OFFICER.
"If I had my powers back, I'd be able to do that without the aid of some stone." Caesar's lips were curled in disgust as he made his way over to where Papercutter and Jacob are. The demon looked almost offended that this stone held the same ability his kind was known for, and he definitely did not trust it. "Is that the only reason why you have it? Because once I get my powers back, I'll be able to do that for you." And probably without asking. He added mentally, trying to force back a smirk that was threatening to form on his face.
#psychosocial.