-Redemption- --Part 1-- ---Rise--- "Hello?" An echoing voice among pitch darkness pierced the silence. "Is anybody there?" -"Oh, you're awake. It's been a long time... Since that little... Incident." "You... Why are you still alive!? Where am I!?" -"All in due time, Cheesemuffin. All in due time." September 24, 2013 -Clan "Party Mansion" Camp- "Hey, Kat, git o'er here! Yer late for practice!" The Leader's call was answered with a dagger narrowly missing his heart, instead lodging itself into the plate he wore for just such an attack. "Leave me alone, I'm tired." "I said get up." "Fiiiine." A whining voice came from one of the war cabins, and -KittyKat- emerged. Betraying her attempt at stealth with near-perfect leafy camouflage on her suit, her unnaturally yellow hair, tipped with bright green, unfurled as she rubbed her eyes. "What is it today? Hunting practice?" As he spoke, she expertly balanced her shortsword on her finger, keeping a close, but tired eye on it. "Heh, you are ignorant; We're goin'a war." Both her swords were suddenly drawn, tipped with poison, and readied in combat stance. -Elsewhere- Far from most civilized life, far below the cliff by the sea least traveled, a simple and humble cave lay, concealed by the chaotic waters. Inside, a figure scuttled around, flipping through books hurriedly, and occasionally stopping to hastily draw part of a huge symbol in the center of the cave. The staff in the corner of the cave glowed faintly, breaking its pulsing pattern every so often to shine brightly, before spraying little sparks in all directions. ~~Unknown~~ A sword was drawn, and the sound of flames permeated the dark silence. Even the blade's fiery light couldn't illuminate anything. "I thought I killed you!" -"Sadly, you didn't. However-" "I hate you." -"Be grateful that I spared your memory, you insolent WHELP." The sword was sheathed. "What do you mean, spared my memory?" A chuckle. "See for yourself." ~~~~~~~~ The staff suddenly lit up and began spraying a shower of sparks. Storallelite, retreating away from it and the now glowing symbol, drew her dagger. The symbol wasn't even half complete, and yet something was happening in the center. Before she had time to react, the cave exploded. A storm of flames and embers suddenly engulfed everything, destroying most books on contact, and causing the ceiling to bend and crack dangerously. Through the waves of blistering heat, Stora thought she saw a cloaked shape, oddly familiar... As quickly as it had come, the firestorm dissipated. Standing in the center of what used to be the symbol, a man stood, cloaked in crimson, and covered head to toe in heavy chain armor. Clasped in two massive metal gauntlets, a huge stone broadsword served as the intruder's weapon. The many skulls engraved into it seemed to spew out flames, faintly lighting his large figure and spraying heavy shadows across the walls. Stora recognized him immediately. "Get away!" The figure looked her way. "Stora?" "How do you know my name!?" Cheesemuffin's gaze turned quizzical, despite the fact that only his glowing eyes showed from under his hood. "What do you mean? Don't you know me?" "Know you!? You're the destroyer!" Taken aback by this seemingly childish outburst, Cheese stood up, sheathed his sword, and brushed off the rubble that had collected on his shoulders. Perhaps the Admin had done something, he thought. "Stora... Do you have any... Books? About the destroyer... Me." Shaking, she retrieved a small pocket-sized piece. Cheese accepted it, and began to read. After several seconds of silence, aside from the cracking of fire, Cheese's sword began to glow furiously, and the pages of the book began to wilt and burst into flame. Confused and terrified, Stora only watched. "Oh, Admin. How you'll wish you'd died that day." He reduced the book to fine ash and stepped on the remains.
-Redemption- --Part 2-- ---Forums--- "Come with me," Cheese said. Stora had no intention of going with this demon from her childhood stories, but she knew he wouldn't leave until she led him where he wanted to go. So, shaking a bit from the freezing wife's outside the cave, she asked, "To where?" What seemed to be a smile came across the Destroyer's face, and he said, almost cheerfully, "To the forums." So she led him to the forums, answering all the questions he asked. For the Destroyer of KaW, he had strangely simple requests. Who the current top players were, for instance, what 'that newfangled Mithril stuff' was, and who were the most known Trolls. She halted a bit at the mention of Trolls - she never liked the creatures: sickly, deformed things with voices like rocks and weapons of the same make. They tended to raid the Threads, tearing them down completely just as they'd come up. Finally, they reached the beginning of the first Forum. Like huge paradoxical cities, they were a shoddy mix of Threads - buildings, constantly popping up from the ground and changing, adding or dropping windows, altering their light colors, and growing steadily larger as their post count grew. Looking over Off Topic from the mountain top she had led him to, Cheese spoke: "Say, Stora, did you ever hear of the Destroyer being called by another name?" He clenched one gauntleted hand, waiting for an answer. ----------~---------- -New Year's Resolutions- -Post Count: 61 -Population: 46 -Age: 1 hour "My New Years resolution is to-" the Newb paused to take a swig from his flagon, which was clearly too big for his hands. He didn't get a chance to finish his confession, as he quickly found that his drink was pouring out from several holes in his neck, and he died. "Jeez, Kat, you didn't have to be that violent about it." "It wasn't violent!" The leader patted her shoulder. -Kat- frowned, but quickly got over it as she saw her next targets. They were playing darts, lobbing weighted sticks with pointed ends at a round board, and laughing heartily. Every time they threw a dart, the building would shift, adjusting to changes, and they would miss. "Sucks to suck," she giggled when she brought them down; she'd be the main player in this clan war - few people ever took them seriously. Suddenly, the door to the Thread opened up and -Kat- raised her daggers. Through the brief flash of sunlight that got in, she could see a huge fellow, hand at the grip of a broadsword attached to his back, and a small cloaked girl by his side. Enemy or not, he'd make a nice trophy, she thought. Cheese had seen it coming a mile a way. As the little thing sprinted at him, daggers raised, he swung sideways, interim to swipe her out of the way with a heavy bash. Instead, she ran up the blade - most would have died from the sheer heat, but she seemed not to notice it - only to be caught by his hand and flung to the ground. When she came to a few moments after, the colossus was bending down next to her, smiling. "It's good to have such a warm welcome to a place I haven't seen in so long! Tell me, do you know who I am?" It then dawned on her that the only warrior with reflexes fast enough to top her was a myth. Her eyes widened in terror and she skittered backwards, grabbing her daggers as she went. "So I'm the Destroyer." The fiery eyes under the hood dimmed a little. "Perhaps you'd know me better by my real name?" "You have no real name!" The bartender, just having noticed the demon in the doorway, wanted to have a Mod come in; this was a nightmare. "Yes I do. They used to call me Cheesemuffin." A moment's pause, in which even the outside world seemed to stop. Then, Stora looked at him. "Who?" Cheese looked hurt; at least, as much as the heavy hood over his face allowed him to look. The Admin had done this, he thought. He'd done this to punish me for whatever "crimes" I'd done, and he's doing a damn good job. Without another word, he left the Thread, tossing a handful of coins in the bartender's direction. He gave Stora a look, that seemed to say, I have no further need of you. So he proceeded to wander the Forums, becoming increasingly aware of the attention he was getting, but remaining oblivious to the fact that -Kat- was following him. The alleys were narrower, he noticed, and the buildings were much more lame than they had been before - lots of them had flimsy wooden rods pushing them up to keep from falling. Before all this, I could make a Thread as grand as any mansion, he thought. And before all this, I had two more Mods. Oh, is that you? I was beginning to think you'd left me, he smiled inwardly. You seem... Happy, almost. Yes, it's a kind of coping mechanism. I'm sure you never had to deal with such human things. Cheese suddenly felt a pain shoot through him, like a frozen knife had been pushed down his spine. You were spared because I felt you had potential. In his mind, his mental image collapsed in laughter, mimicking the Admin's words. Potential!? Potential for what!? You fell to us! Maybe it is a good thing I don't feel your petty human emotions. Then how do you feel fear? What is fear?
-Redemption- --Part 3-- ---Memories--- -an excerpt from The Destroyer- 'And there he stood, sword in hand, fire wrapping around him. Staring across the battlefield, he waited as the calm before the storm lingered. Then, he raised his sword, and the last battle of the war began. It was he, the Destroyer, who had brought together all of KaW. But he had brought them together to end, not to bond, and the battle was short and brutal. Not even the Mods in all their glory could withstand the onslaught, and before long, he was at the Admin's door.' He chuckled, reading to himself as he walked. He had purchased a heavy blue cloak and suppressed his Rage (The Destroyer had made good effort to avoid the word "magic"), and seeming less threatening, he'd bought a few supplies and went on his way. -Kat- leaped nimbly across the rooftops above him, strangely intrigued by the... lack of destructive will in him. When he swatted me down, she thought, he didn't have a wrathful glare. He'd smiled and laughed, as a friend would. How very strange. She kept her daggers ready, and continues following him as he took a turn. Cheese rounded the corner of a neglected thread, slightly different from the rest with its state of decay, and headed towards his target. Down the road he was on was a massive iron gate, with a huge face etched into it. He smiled nostalgically when he realized the face was of FeatherHunter, an old acquaintance of his before his "epic duel" with the Admin. So I take it you like the book? You glorify yourself too much. And you? Too little. Egotistical whelp. The feeling is mutual, friend. After this mental chat, Cheese heard a rustling behind him. In a hay bale by the last house on this side of the gate, he saw a familiar yellow and green color, and some fierce eyes staring at him. "You've been following me, all this way?" He was standing right by the gate, and -Kat- was curled up in the hay, becoming increasingly uncomfortable. "You're not really the Destroyer, are you?" At this, he started, and his cloak began to burn at random points. Then he laughed. "Oh I am. But my old friend gave me too much credit writing that book of his." "But nobody knows who wrote the book!" He laughed again. For someone so bold as to follow him here, she was naive. "If I had the power to singlehandedly destroy the Admin again, don't you think I would have?" So he wasn't the Destroyer, she thought. Or maybe he is, but isn't telling the truth. "It took you a week to bring together everyone, and take everything down." "We had a tight schedule. His announcement had only given us a week's time - we only had a second left in the end... And on the seventh day I rested, and for many more." He suddenly burst into a short fit of laughter, and then regarded her quietly. -Kat- had heard such announcements, declaring major changes within short timespans. But the book said nothing about the Destroyer acting on a schedule. Of course, it was a children's book, and details had to be omitted or exaggerated. "You killed the Admin, took everything down, and you won't do it again?" The sudden coldness in his glare took her aback. He walked over to the gate, and finding it locked, began to draw lines in the metal with the fiery tip of his blade. "Tell me," he began. "If the Admin had died during my 'wrathful assault,' would he have been able to bring you your world as you see it now?" She said nothing, but listened. "Would he still be here?" "Where are you going with this?" The gate swung open violently, almost flying off its hinges, and Cheese's cloak burned up completely and instantly. "That thing can't die." With that, he walked through the gates of Fan Fiction.