Vanilla 1.1.4 is a product of Lussumo. More Information: Documentation, Community Support.
Oooo Scary.. tiny .. purple creatures... I'm guessing that's significant..
Nice job!
Varenaldi Manu sat back in his large chair, and swivelled to look out the glass windows that spanned the length of the room, and traveled from floor to ceiling. The effect of looking out them, was that you felt, butterfly's and all, that you were about to fall the 7 stories to the ground below, even though your head was telling you that you were inside a spacious, luxuriant, office. To say it was luxuriant, is like saying there are a few flowers in a meadow, when in reality there were so many flowers, you could not walk a step, and not crush one. Varenaldi Manu's office dripped with luxuriance. From the red plush carpet that spanned the floor, to the pearl light switch that turned on the fine crystal chandelier that hung over the large black desk sitting in the center of the red carpet. Varenaldi - widely known by his opposition as the Betrayor, head of the Veil-Breakers, and THE Lord of Sevens, rubbed his face. Shoving aside the one shock of white hair that gleamed and set off the rest of his pure black hair, he heaved a sigh and spun his chair around once. Standing he walked over to a large mirror set in the eastern wall of his office, put there of course, because the Lord of Sevens liked what he saw when he looked into it every day. As he looked once more, his sickly evil grin appeared on his pallid face, and he curled his fingers into a fist, the inch long fingernails clicking together. Mostly his appearance resembled the humans from the world called earth. But setting him appart from them were several things. His ears, which at the top were that of a normal human, were very long - the lobes of which came to rest on his broad shoulders. His eyes, of which he had three, were completely black, but for one pinpoint of white in the very center. And his fangs, for he though he had the normal set of human teeth, two grew tall and razor sharp, with four regular teeth in between. These fangs grew up out of his bottom gums, and when he clenched his teeth, overlapped the upper set of normal teeth.
After examining his beautiful self once again, The Lord of Sevens turned and sauntered back to sit, straight-backed as always, in his chair. He slapped his hand in exasperation, on top of a letter, which he had finished reading earlier that morning. It seemed that the bug, Tamos Qa, was not giving up without a fight, as Varenaldi had supposed. In fact, he had gathered several supporters. And Commodore Suchei, supporter of the Historians, and his pathetic band of galaxy interlopers who always sticking their alien heads into the buisness of stopping His rise to power, were poking their noses where they didn't belong. He did not know what Tamos Qa had planned, and that was what worried him. He didn't like not knowing. And his spy had not been able to gather that tid-bit of information. Still Varenaldi congratulated himself on his recent expansion of power. He had gained the support of the Enomena. And he knew, that once they were in his clutches, they would be hard pressed to back out. Their leader, Borygiull, was just the kind of being that He wanted backing his progress.. though He would need to keep a sharp eye out for treachery in that area. Varenaldi's thought's slid back to the pressing problem of what to do with Commodore Suchei, Tamos Qa, and any others who where becoming bolder. He would need to exterminate them, once and for all. They had finished serving their purposes long ago, and He was tired of working around them. The hissing sound of doors opening and closing, brought Varenaldi out of his reverie. His head snapped up. Curling his lips into a snarl, he let his voice soften dangerously, "Why pray, do you think, Officer Domok, that you can waltz into my office unannounced, and uninvited?" His three eyes narrowed to slits as they trained on the now very nervous new arrival.
Officer Domok shuddered, and his peachy skin paled to an almost grayish color. He shifted, and fiddled with the blue uniform that he still wore, which identified him as working for the Historians. He had entered the office, so unnanounced, because he had taken his status as spy for granted. Obviously he had a little overly elevated himself, and now he was in a very precarious situation. He gulped and hoped with all his might, that the information he had, would calm the Lord of Sevens.
Hmm.. i hope i got all the pieces right, there are so many threads i may have missed one.
Oooh, bugs are sooo annoying!
Pestiferous Anemone
okay we know there is someone else out ther just dying to write.. come on..
Why won't someone else right? someone is dying!
actually.. on second thought.. I think I mean.. "why won't someone else Write!?!"
I'll try to write tonight ... I know I've been very bad.
Contritious Anemone
Sonya and her mother walked quietly back to the door as it neared dinner time. Lady Renaila Suchei was a traditionalist, and as such refused to admit any disturbance to her afternoon reule. As such, it was not terribly surprising that the message light on her screen was blinking as they entered the living area of the house. Lady Renaila and Sonya each went to their rooms and donned more appropriate clothing for the evening, and Sonya took care to place a few gold and crystal fin ornaments in strategic places. When she exited her room, Lady Renaila had finished checking her messages, and had just rung the small gong on the table to call their Tender in and discuss the meal plans.
“Oh, Sonya, you will want to hear this as well,” she said as she directed Sonya to join her and the servant. “The Commander and Navigator Pascle are still being held up in the dock. I've received a message that we will be notified when they can leave, but they really don't know when that will be, as yet. Therefore, I would like to have a short dinner with Sonya here, and then we will plan on a cold supper with small calenets, which we will roast ourselves over the open beachfire. I don't want to plan anything too extravagant, since we won't have much notice. Also, please prepare a guest chamber for Pascle, in case he decides to stay the night.”
After Sonya and her mother finished their meal, they decided to take her to see the specimen, and packed a light basket of food that Sonya thought he might appreciate. When they exited the elevator on the lower floor, however, they found a scene of confusion and dismay.
“The newest specimen has fallen into the pthphalmar tank!” The floor manager panted when Sonya and Lady Renaila were able to catch him. “He somehow escaped his room! We saw him running down the hall and tried to catch him, but he slipped through the door and fell in!”
Sonya dropped her basket into her mother's hands and charged down the hallway. The pthphalamars usually slept through the day, and awakened at night, ravenous. They were always fed live prey, and she was afraid that if her new acquisition stirred the waters too much, he would awaken them, and they might be slightly annoyed …
Private Philips wasn't quite sure what predicament he had gotten himself into, but it didn't look good. Below him were several – he thought he counted 8? – large, flat, toothy fish creatures. He had been able to smash and short-circuit his door's lock, and although that had taken several hours, he was pretty impressed with himself. Then, after walking along the corridor for less than three minutes, trying to make out the symbols on the doors and figure out which one he should go through next, one of the fish-lizard-people had suddenly turned a corner in front of him. He didn't wait to see the look of surprise, but he heard the yelp and call for assistance as he turned and hurtled back the way he had come. He'd passed his own door, slight smell of smoke still lingering in the air, and then saw another alien exiting a room ahead of him. Losing his head slightly, he had pushed past the other alien into the room beyond, lost his footing, and tumbled over a short railing which was apparently there to help keep anyone from falling into the tank which occupied most of the room and probably the room below it in the building.
I guess being a few inches taller than the rest of the people around here doesn't help much when it comes to safety issues, he thought as he flew through the air and landed with an emphatic splash.
Sonya flew around the corner, through the door (which was being held open by the press of attendants), and kicked off her boots. She used one hand to vault over the rail, and made a smooth dive into the water, rippling it as little as possible. Her specimen was scrabbling at the wall opposite her, trying to reach a ledge or one of the four poles various people were poking at him. He was churning the water in a most disgraceful way, and the pthphalamars were starting to slowly circle below him. She could hear panic in his voice as he shouted up at the attendants, who were also all shrieking and yelling instructions.
Sonya swam up close to him, and got his attention merely by virtue of being the only one in the tank with him. “Sonya?” he asked, still unsure of his ability to tell them apart, especially as her hair was now plastered to her head an three shades darker than usual.
“Stop moving!” Sonya ordered, and grasped him around the waist. He complied, although she could still feel him shaking uncomfortably, ready to begin struggling again at the slightest provocation. “They won't eat us if we hold still.”
“Oh, great.” Philips wasn't sure if that was supposed to be comforting, or merely factual. But he really didn't want to find out the hard way, so he tried to relax as much as possible, leaning back on her. Her chest is awfully … flat was the incongruous thought that went through his head, and then he began to count the squares on the ceiling to occupy his mind.
Sonya floated as still as possible on the surface of the water. Her dorsal fin moved very slightly to keep them from sinking, but it wasn't going to work for long. She hoped her mother had stepped into action, but she didn't dare look around to see what was happening – the pthphalamars were still circling, and her only chance of keeping both of them alive now was to be as completely still and quiet as possible. She heard the voices of the people along the sides of the tank dropping to a whisper, and was very grateful to whoever had realized that sound waves weren't going to help calm the pthphalamars.
“All right, Sonya,” she heard her mother say softly, “We've almost got you. The net is coming down now.”
Action scene, ahoy!
Activated Anemone
I just had a thought - I want to name this story!
My nomination is "Sonya's Specimen." But I won't kick if someone wants to incorporate more of the crazy political stuff into the story somehow. I realize it's more than just an abduction at this point. :-D
Nominatory Anemone
Wow great scenes! I am also in favor of the Name Nomination.
Aww, seriously? I thought you guys were all raring to go ... :-P
Rarified Anemone
I'm still trying to figure out how to pronounce 'pthphalamars'
~Tongue tied Bree
(hint - I think the 'ph' bit is silent. like 'pthalamars')
Hintalicious Anemone
Nice perspective.
Whats wrong with a few, hungry, pets?
Nooooo!!!! Not my main characters!!! /cries
Defensible Anemone
And they're not pets - they're zoological specimens. It's perfectly reasonable to keep them in a pool in a scientific collection. People shouldn't go running around falling over the safety railings, that's all.
Safely Anemone
Come on, somebody else needs to write so I can save my characters!! Hurry! They're drowning!!!
Apoplectic Anemone
Because you tried to kill my characters!
/cries ... :-P
As the hungry pthphalamar lunged up at Sonya and her specimine, two things happened very quickly. Sonya, seeing the danger, shoved Phillips down underwater and to the side, just out of reach of the razor sharp teeth - herself getting grazed in the process. The second thing was a small splash, unheard by Sonya and Phillips, but which immediatly caught the attention of the now angry pthphalamar.
Artichoke, forgotten in the shadow of the new specimen phillips, had content himself for the most part by hunting small dust bunnies and scrounging for food whilst keeping a close eye on Sonya. When the specimen had fallen into the tank Artichoke had felt no concern - after all - he was beginning to feel rather put out by all the attention the thing was getting. However as Sonya dove in after Phillips, Artichoke was instantly on alert. Having just eaten he was in no mood for a swim - but as the water began churning, signalling the pthphalamar's charge, he had dutifully splashed into the water. Thus the small splash that drew the hungry one's attention away from it's former prey. Artichoke wasn't about to become prey however, he zipped through the water, leading the pthphalamar on a merry chase, all the while grumbling to himself.
As he swam Artichoke kept on eye on Sonya and Philips who were now clinging to the rescue net and being hauled to safety. As soon as they exited the water, artichoke put on a burst of speed, chortled at the pthphalamar, and using his momentum broke through the surface of the water and soared towards the ledge that Sonya and Phillips were now dripping on. As soon as he did so however, he realized he would fall short. It must have been the added weight of his dinner, he grumbled, as he flew towards wall. He let out a squeak.
================================================
Phillips was trying to get the water out of his ears as he stood dripping on the ledge. His muddled brain was still mulling over the fact that the pthphalamar had seemingly given up on such easy prey. He was just about to ask Sonya if they usually did that, when he heard a squeak. Turning towards the sound he saw, to his surprise and amusement, Artichoke flying through the air towards them. Phillips immediatly surmised that Artichoke was going to hit the wall instead of landing on the platform. He reached out and snatching the small animal out of the air, and stood a step away from the ledge. He grinned down at animal "hey there little guy. didn't wanna miss out on the fun eh?"
================================================
Artichoke, now safe in the specimen's arms peered down over the edge at the large green eyes of the pthphalamar who'd just been gypped out of a meal. He decided that the specimen wasn't really so bad after all. He was still overfull, soggy, and now tired though, so he kept back the purr that was threatening to emit from his throat because of the specimen's attention. After all - he couldn't let the Specimen know he actually enjoyed his attention.
continuation has been accomplished.
Awesome! Terrific save, Bree. I am very glad to see everyone has survived this incident. :-D
Grateful Anemone
nah he was probably full from the food he stole from under some novice alien's nose.
Soooo Sonya and Philips aren't the important ones?! OOoh is this a story where only the bad guys are left in the end and they gradually just kill each other off until no one is left? Is it a tragedy? :)
Definitely some sort of ironic farce if, in the midst of all these galactic political issues my two favorite characters accidentally die in a fish tank. :-P
Farcical Anemone
!!
>.<
:-P
Okay. enough hanging around and commenting. Someone write please. :P !! =)