The Sand Lives (QUEST)

[prythian]

Deep in the desert, where there was nothing but sand, something stirred.

It did not move in the physical sense, but a mental emanation went out into the barren land, deep underground.

The sand began to slide around and eddy, as if caught in a whirlwind, but the wind was still. The dunes began rippling, the sand in them jumping up and down as if in an earthquake. Then they began sliding together.

Soon, a giant dune had formed, towering high into the sky. It began to run together like liquid, solidifying and changing shape. There was a loud thump as a pillar-like leg of rock hit the ground, scattered what sand was left on it. More thumps, as more legs formed underneath the giant body of the beast.

If one could see all of it at once, which was impossible, they would say it looked like a turtle... although, a turtle with dozens of thick legs protruding from the bottom of the shell, and with large spires sticking out from the top of the shell. It had no tail, but around it's body were four heads, and the eyes glowed purple. Along the surface of 10 spires sticking up high into the sky were many spikes, almost randomly stuck there. Strange holes were on its legs, scattered randomly across it. And the heads had thick plating covering them.

The eyes, beady compared to the rest of the body, were at least twice as large as a fully grown man.

One head peered around, finding its target: Agrabah. It began stepping in that direction, loud thumps hitting the ground irregularly. Even with as far as it was from Agrabah, it was clearly visible. And there was no doubt in mind that the monster was coming to destroy the town.

Posting order:
1. Me
2.
3.
4.

[High's .Valentine.]

“KASS, you ridiculous feather brain!” The red head shook the brass cage, roaring at the carved block of wood in the cage. The wood was painted black and whittled into the shape of a bird, sitting upon a miniature perch. Opening the brass door to the tiny cage, he shook it again, as if trying to get the wooden raven to come out of the cage. “Stop hiding, you turkey!” No doubt, calling the proud, fearsome Kass a turkey was bound to get the bird out of the cage. Yet the wood did not stir. It was slightly bizarre, a lavishly dressed man in the middle of the desert, his face covered in a mask and on his shoulder, hiding in the shade of his long red hair, a tiny pink bird.

Niccolo Fortunato, better known as Crovo, shook the cage bitterly one last time before jamming the little wire door back in place. The pink bird on his shoulder twittered as if to comfort the Bird Man before hiding further into the depths of his hair. It was apparent that even Kass, who usually never succumbs to Crovo’s few insults, refuse to come out now. Something had happened while they were moving from one world to the next. Somehow, the giant raven had dumped the man in the middle of sand and heat, with no destination to make his goal, no water, no supply. Nothing.

So he was stuck here, his only mean of transportation refusing to come out due to its embarrassment, and his other tiny pink companion using his hair as shade. He was left to bare the brunt of the desert heat. And he had no shoes on. His feet burned in silent agony as he trudged along the dune, forced to climb the mountain of sand thanks to the sheer height of the monstrosity.

Approaching the top after a stressing ten minute of climbing, tripping, and burning, Crovo laid down on the dune, belly down and peered over to the other side. Oh what’s that? A city? Giant buildings stood within view, but to Crovo, it was still too far to hike on foot. Especially with no shoes on. And there was no shade if he attempted to walk over there. It must be half a day’s walk to at least get within the shadows of the walls. Crovo wasn’t going to attempt half a day without any shade. The heat was slowly killing his interest of exploring the city. As soon as Kass comes back out, he would get the stupid raven to carry him to the coldest world in the entire universe. His brow was slick with sweat, and the little puff ball on his shoulder had jumped down from her sweltering perch to hide in his shadow.

“Sorry Adelina, we’ll just have to wait until Kass gets over himself…” Crovo turned into a sitting position and pulled out a small handful of seeds and spread it out on the bed of sand, all the while burying his bare toes into the dune, which was surprisingly cool underneath the thick layer of sun scorched grains. Pulling his drenched hair back into a pony tail, he pulled up his sleeves and rolled up the thick pants he was wearing. Anything he can do to deal with the heat…

It might have been bearable, sitting there in the shade of the dune and waiting for his summon to cool down. Drawing patterns in the sand, Crovo suddenly noticed the sand shifting on its own. In a matter of seconds, the whole dune was shaking, shedding off years of sand that had built up to its majestic height. Crovo muttered a string of gibberish as he swiped up Addy and tried to stand up, only to trip and roll down what looks more like a hill than a mountain. The sand around him continued to pound, and a giant shadow fell over him.

“What in the name…?"

[Konaa]

What an exotic place. Full of smells, tastes, sights all different from the islands he knew. The people here were as varied as night as day, nobility walking through the streets with their heads held high, the poor who huddled in rags at the edge of the street, thieves and criminals who darted from alley to alley, always on the lookout for an unsuspecting victim. Even the apple he had bought tasted different as he bit into it. Not worse, just...different.

So strange that all this had been hidden from him this entire time. And yet, somehow the differences seemed just as he expected. Indeed, it's what he hoped for. Living surrounded by water, cut off from these wonders...How could he have ever put up with it? Though there was not much he could do about it until recently...

He was sitting on the rooftop of a granite-colored building, his feet dangling over the edge, observing with a casual eye the marketplace and the wild rush of energy from salesman and customer alike. Of course, the only people buying things in this streetside market were peasants, buying food for their families, or animals, or other supplies needed. He attracted quite a bit of attention here, his clothing was unusual, his skin differently colored. His cloak's hood was down, and his hair often blew with the light breeze blowing pleasantly through this desert city.

A strange series of noises caught his attention. Large thumps, coming from a great distance. He glanced over in the direction they came from. What he saw made him give out a silent gasp. A huge monster, apparently made of sand, was fast approaching from the desert. It had a grotesque appearance, several legs, and though it was hard to see from this distance, several heads. Interesting. He wondered if this happened often.

[aleX]

Maedra sat outside of the city, leaning against the wall and resting in the shade. It was too crowded and hot inside the city - so different from the cool forests that he grew up in. But the heat even in the shade was bearable enough. After all the time he'd spent with fire magik, he'd gotten used to it.

He closed his shimmering blue eyes; his closed lids gave his face an even more gaunt appearance. He thought about his home, about the heirs, whose lives he had potentially saved. About the city that would likely be a mere shadow of what it used to be. Once the monarchs died, the city would have destroyed itself with no one to take control. So there was no going back.

Boom.

Boom.

Boom Boom Boom.

The ground was shaking horribly and Maedra's eyes flicked open. He scanned the horizon and quickly saw what was making the ruckus. A large, city-like monstrosity was slowly walking towards Agrabah, so he had been told the city was called. He wasn't entirely sure what the heck it was, but it looked awfully dangerous.

He stood up and started running toward the monster, both excited and slightly frightened at what he would find when he got there.

[prythian]

The giant stone monster continued moving forwards towards the city, not noticing the tiny human underneath it. Around Crovo large pillars of rock hit the ground, miraculously not hitting him, but sending sand flying everywhere, accompanied by large creaking sounds from the 'joints' of the legs. The foremost head let out a loud roar as it walked towards the city. If people hurried, they could reach it before it reached the city.

Suddenly, it stopped, and holes in its pillar-legs began glowing purple. Large purple blasts of energy shot out towards the walls of Agrabah, speeding through the air. The first volley hit, and large chunks of rock were blasted out of the walls. The holes charged up again, this time for a more powerful blast.


Generic Reaction Commands:

Climb Legs (Jump up the legs quickly using the holes as stepping areas)

Customized Reactions Commands:

Maedra:
Embrace Interruption: (Devil's Embrace on charging legs)
Ring of Fire Defense: (Ring of Fire, draw attention to yourself somehow)

Myone:
Overcharge: (Send lightning at the legs)
Preemptive Strike: (Send lightning at head)
Close Distance (Wind's Feet)

Crovo:
Shadow Block: (requires Kass, attempt to block charging blasts)
Plug up: (requires Kass, plug up charging holes)

((Remember, you don't have to use the Reaction Commands if you don't want to; these will just trigger certain things if you do.))

[High's .Valentine.]

“Kass!” Crovo screamed, rolling in the sand in order to refrain from being smashed under those giant legs. Of course, he was a safe distance away from those legs, but hey, he has the right to be paranoid.

“Kass!!” Crovo screeched again, his sweating fingers grasping at the metal cage hanging from his hip. Adelina squeaked and peeped, almost frightened out of her feathers. She zipped into Crovo’s shirt and remained there, snuggled against his chest. Crovo, his long red hair coming loose from the hair band, grabbed at the latch that held the cage shut. The giant…thing continued to pound towards the city, completely oblivious to the tiny frail figure of skin and bones underneath its belly.

Finally, the Bird Man’s finger took hold of the warm brass latch and with a forceful jerk, the gate opened.

There was a burst of wind and Crovo raised his arms instinctively to shield his eyes from the flying sand as darkness erupted from the tiny doors like an exploding geyser. Soon, the sand died down, but the ground was still pounding and the man was still in the shadow of the turtle. Above him, a giant bird—merely a tiny black sesame seed compared to the colossus—hovered, its ruffled feathers dull and dead. It landed on the man’s stomach, crushing the air from his lungs. A small bulge on his shirt peeped and scurried out of the range of those face size claws.

There, Kass gave a throaty caw, brushing a wing tip against Crovo’s cheeks in apology. Crovo glared at the giant raven and pointed upward. Glancing up with glassy green eyes, Kass hopped off the man, giving him some air while surveying the monstrosity. Just then, the thing came to a stop. The silence was eerie and omnipotent. Suddenly, the gaping holes of the legs began to glow and charge up. Man and bird stared at the hole, unsure of what was going to happen. But in the back of their mind, they knew it could only be one thing.

The light cackled, and a ray shot out of the holes, creating a backlash of winds so strong that Crovo was blown back a few feet and would have been buried in the wave of sand if Kass had not taken the chance to dive into the shadows and create a barrier over the man.

Crovo’s mask had slipped off, and it hung lopsided in his face, blocking his view. Shoving the mask up and out of the way, the man looked like a human unicorn, a long beak jutting from his forehead. His face was pale under the mask, the blood had drained from his face, making him look clammy and stiff, and his green eyes looked frightened. Kass had merged back into the sands and Crovo patted the darkened stain on the ground in a grateful daze. Even at their distance, the sounds of crumbling walls could be heard. Light began to form again as the air around them crackled.

“We’ve got to stop it…right?” Crovo shouted through the cacophony. He would rather hide himself in the sands. He was no vigilante, but it just wasn’t right to act like an ostrich.

“Plug up the hole Kass, that should at least cause it some damage.” The stain began shifting at the comand, then moved to fast that it was a speeding blur along the sand bed. Soon, it was sneaking up the shadows of thick round pillars and when it reached the hole, which was protected by the shade of the protruding shell. Diving into the hole, Kass plugged up the hole, completely blocking out the purple glow and creating a flexible web that would rebound, or at least contain the energy inside the hole.

[aleX]

Maedra continued running towards the monster and began to have doubts about what he was doing. When the thing started attacking the city though, he felt like he had to stop it. Civic duty for a cynic? An interesting mix, perhaps, but it was his personality nonetheless.

His feet pounded against the dirt, small dust clouds appearing behind him after every step. He was a quick runner, at least, compared to many of the humans he had met, but the sand was slowing him down. He couldn't get enough traction. He had to stop the monster from getting any closer to the city.

Stopping for a brief moment, Maedra concentrated on both the monster and the earth below it. He drew the heat from the planet's core and sent it straight upwards, hoping to harm the beast by burning its "legs."

Having cast his spell, he started running again, pulling out his Fetters as he ran. This would be one hell of a fight.

[Konaa]

The giant mass was veering closer, and panic gripped Agrabah as the beast neared the city. In the streets below people screamed and ran for ever, the market day forgotten. Then the blasts came, slamming into buildings, a few even striking the streets, claiming lives among the helpless people. The damage to the city was slight, but the beast would fire again, and should it reach Agrabah the entire town would be lost.

Myone dropped to the streets silently, and began to stride towards the monster. His long hair and flowing cloak stood out, and several people began to shout at him, asking where he was going, why he wasn't running. He ignored them. Those without power could not comprehend his actions. He was apathetic to the plights of these people, but the monster would kill them all. Death on that scale disgusted him. Foul thing, destroying mindlessly. No purpose save that of carnage. He would end its miserable existence personally.

He noticed another figure as he strode through the open gate, one that was also battling the creature. It seemed to be drawing heat from the ground to burn up the legs. Interesting. He would assist, if in an indirect way.

Raising his hand to the sky, he willed the storm to come to him. The clouds themselves shifted and grew. The air became damp as they shaded out the gate. The small crowd that had followed him looked in amazement as stray bolts of lightning began to strike all around the boy. He kept his hand raised until a giant bolt struck it dead on, sending currents all through his body. Lowering his hand and pointing it at the creature's legs, he unleashed the wrath of the storm and fired several bolts of lightning to strike at the beast.

[prythian]

((Psst: Ability limitations, such as cooldowns and ranges, don't apply if part of a Reaction Command)

The charging energy in the hole that Kass plugged suddenly halted charging, unable to gather enough power to blast its laser. The energy inside it had no place to go, save that of the rock leg. A large muffled explosion resounded, and that particular leg cracked in half, the bottom portion falling off, leaving Kass attached to the top half. It thumped into the sand. One of the heads screeched in pain.

As well, Maedra's attack caused something similar. The leg he had targeted also exploded all over itself as the charging was interrupted and the beast lost concentration. The falling pillar hit another leg, and that one exploded as it was interrupted as well. Finally, Myone's attack was the final blow as it hit. The energy was quickly sucked into the holes, which overloaded with a massive explosion as the energy was too much for the beast to contain. More pillars fell to the ground. Crovo was miraculously unhurt by the falling pillars.

The beast stood on four legs, one between each pair of heads. These legs had no holes in them, meaning that its blasts had been destroyed. It roared again, this time in anger, and turned its heads to look at each of the people responsible for its pain. One head actually turned upside down, the one farthest from Agrabah, to stare at Kass and Crovo. The beast lifted up its heads and held them horizontally... and began to spin. The entire side part of the shell was spinning and creating a last blast of wind, starting a sandstorm. Whirlwinds formed, like miniature tornadoes.

Generic Reaction Commands:

Whirlwind Ride: (Shoot up with a whirlwind to the top of the shell)
Whirlwind Shot: (Requires Whirlwind Ride first! Can be done same post. Send whirlwind flying at one of the heads)
Duck and Cover: (Attempt to withstand sandstorm)

Customized Reaction Commands:

Crovo:
Surprise Attack: (Attack purple, glowing orb at the top of the remaining top half of the pillar with Kass)

Myone:
Storm Surge: (Requires Whirlwind Ride. Same post. Send whirlwind full of electricity towards one of the heads)

Maedra:
Fiery Wrath: (Requires Whirlwind Ride. Same post. Send whirlwind combined with Ring of Fire at one of the heads)

[High's .Valentine.]

Those pillars came crashing down, like giant meteors striking the desert. Crovo was merely a small speck under the turtle, in the midst of flying boulders and pebbles moving at such speed that if one hit him in the head, he might have gotten a concussion. To escape from under the shell would take too long; the thing was so enormous that the man had difficulty comprehending the monster’s size. Falling into the sand, Crovo jerked up and patted the bump on his chest where Addy was hiding. He didn’t know whether it was Addy that was trembling or him. Miraculously, he was safe, rattled and pelted with a thick film of chunky dust that was sure to leave bruises in the morning, but safe.

Soon the dust settled, and peering up with teary irritated eyes, Crovo looked for his summon. All he saw was a giant marble twice as tall as him. It glowed purple and then blinked.

Crovo screamed.

By then, Kass had detached itself from the crumbled limb and zipped back towards his summoner. He didn’t have a chance to poke the purple eyes before it retracted itself, revealing a giant turtle’s head with steel plate protecting its vulnerable brain. Then the winds began to pick up as sand whipped and churned like it was being agitated with an egg beater. Whirlwinds began to form. Bewildered, Crovo didn’t have a chance to respond as suddenly, he was grasped by the back of his shirt.

Kass had deemed the underbelly of the turtle as unsafe, the whirling sands could bury the man under several hundred feet of sand if he was not careful. Not to mention the moving turtle could crush him under those gigantic legs. Or the turtle could suddenly decide to just…sit down. All kinds of misfortune could befall Crovo, who was merely an ant compared to the turtle.

Kass picked up the man with his large talons and began flying towards the whirlwinds. Crovo clutched onto the raven’s leg, trying to steady himself as the bird’s heavy wing beats brought them closer and closer to the wild winds. When he realized what his summon was trying to do, Crovo slipped on his bird mask and hoped for the best.

The raven flew into the whirlwind, clumsy and battered off balance by the opposing winds at first before he shot up with ease thanks to the pushing force of the gale. As soon as they near the apex of the turtle’s shell, Kass, with a powerful kick, threw the man out of the whirlwind. Crovo grunted and landed near the spires, a safe distance from the turtle’s beak, but too close to the spikes for comfort. At the same time, the large raven sent the whirlwind flying at the head that had peered at them earlier.

[Konaa]

Even before the bolt struck the monster Myone had started to run, his feet pounding against the sand as he rushed towards it, preparing his next blow. He watched as the combined attacks destroyed the legs of the beast, and as it spun its heads around at high speeds, creating powerful whirlwinds that swept throughout the desert, threatening to become sandstorms.

The monster was full of surprises. Best to eliminate it before it could use one too many. He drew the power of wind to his feet, shooting across the desert at blinding speeds, and finishing by taking a huge leap into one of the whirlwinds, riding it up straight into the air.

He once again called the power of the storms, still lingering in the air, to his body, expelling a blast of lightning that joined with the tornado, causing an electrical whirlwind. It was hard to control such a raging power but he mastered it and directed it directly towards one of the heads, unleashing the elements onto it.

[aleX]

Maedra had reached the beast once the sandstorms had begun. He noticed that with the amount of sand being whipped around, there was no way that he would be able to survive where he stood.

He looked around, trying to find a way to escape the sand. The legs weren't a possibility, not with the lack of hand and footholds. He couldn't exactly jump onto the creature. So, he decided to run straight into one of the whirlwinds, seeing what would happen as he rode it all the way to the top.

To be safe, he cast a spell to surround himself with fire. Fortunately, although he didn't know this himself, he had narrowly avoided landing directly on one of the spikes. However, the shell of flame had protected him as he slammed down onto the back of the beast.

Safe from the sand, and yet in even more danger as he stood upon a creature vastly greater than he, Maedra waited, hoping that the fire could protect him for longer than he knew it could.

[prythian]

The heads stopped whirling as all three lept up into the air with the whirlwinds, knowing that this attack had failed also. The whirlwinds flew through the air, the two of them aimed towards opposite heads. The plain whirlwind, still carrying sand with it, temporarily blinded one of the heads. The head shook, trying to clear its eyes of blinding sand.

The other whirlwind was far more dramatic. It crackled as it flew through the air, landing directly on the head. Lightning zapped into the monster, and chips of rock and sand flew as the creature screamed. The rock cracked as the deadly bolts struck again and again, and a large purple core was revealed on top of the head.

The three, however, had a new threat to face. One each of the spires, spikes began quivering and flinging themselves at them.


Generic Reaction Commands:

Acrobat : (Roll, Twist, and Turn to dodge the spikes)

Customized Reaction Commands:

Myone:
Full Dodge: (Wind's Feet UP a spire to it's peak)

Crovo:
Knock Aside: (Kass knocks Crovo out of the way; Kass can either go with him or not)
Fly Upwards: (Kass picks Crovo up and flies upwards temporarily)

Maedra:
Fire Defense: (Stand still)

[High's .Valentine.]

The raven was silent as suddenly the shell stopped spinning, flapping his wings as he circled above the male, waiting for his next direction or whatever attack the colossal was going to fling at them next. For a few mere seconds, everything seemed to have come to a stand-still and the fates of the three who had landed on the turtle’s shell await their fate…

Then the spikes on the shell began to quiver and launch itself at the unsuspecting three, as if the whole shell had came to life. Homing in on Crovo, the man squawked and dodged the whittled bullet with surprising speed and agility for a man who had done practically nothing so far except to hide and shudder in fear. Kass flung himself at the male in order to protect him from oncoming spikes, but was deterred and forced to fly higher by a flurry of the stone pikes.

Crovo on the other hand, seems to be doing relatively well. Almost like a snake, he managed to dodge most of the massive spikes, which were slow and easy to maneuver past.

Kass, seeing his master handling the spikes perfectly well, began to zip toward the turtle head that had its metal plate torn away. It has seen enough battles to at least guess that the purple core on the turtle’s head must be a weakness, otherwise growing metal plates there would have just been a waste of energy. Flying into the air, Kass allowed himself to go into free fall, right above the monster’s head. Should the bird make contact, its ultra sharp beak and its weight would be able to pierce through the purple core, providing that it was some kind of soft or gelatinous material.

[aleX]

Maedra didn't have any muse. None. Not a drop. He sighed deeply and surrounded himself with a sphere of fire so that no harm could come to him while his muse returned.

[Sorry Prythy. Don't wanna halt up the quest.]