(no subject)

[breezeshadow]

From smw:

The first five people to comment in this post get to request that I write a drabble/ficlet of any genre/trope/prompt/character of their choosing. In return, they have to post this in their journal, regardless of their ability level.

Have fun.

Comments

[smw]

Tell me about that time Tegre became an honorary member of a demon clan, because I'm in a "add weird thing to Breeze's canon" mood. ;)

[raze]

The Lake Monster of Gallop Free and an AG character of your choosing walk into a bar...

[breezeshadow]

He looked out at the plains, featureless except for the tall grasses and the occasional tree sticking out of the ground, out-of-place and perhaps a little confused. He never did quite get over how odd it was compared to the mountains of Pooselridge, which tended more towards a tree epidemic than scarcity. He didn't consider himself to miss home exactly -- the memories that flicked toward his consciousness were rapidly subdued, pushed back beyond the black -- but he couldn't help but compare it to everything he encountered.

Tegre sighed as he adjusted his rifle, hands shaking so that he knew better than to put his fingers near the trigger. He had never fired the damn thing, not once -- even when others may have for the sake of overkill, he could barely imagine lifting the muzzle to aim without bursting into frantic fretting. It was better for him to just hold it like a real soldier, but he knew if things became bad, he would likely go for his knife, or perhaps just flail uselessly.

The black crept through his mind and he tried to push through it, peering into the distance. And he couldn't help but stare at what appeared to be rustling ground in the dusk. Either a drunk Earth mage was making an effort to threaten him, or... Well he wasn't sure what, actually.

The soldier crept into his mind, and he stood straighter, glancing around for any signs of the Enemy. In the rapid dark he could so little, particularly no people; but of course that didn't mean they weren't out there. Tightening his grip on his rifle, Tegre stepped out into the grasses, toward the rumbling earth.

And then it burst, rocks scattered toward his feet, and he found himself leveling the muzzle toward the hole, as if the Enemy clearly was going to burst out of the ground and shoot him right away. Instead, he saw two large paws with long, fat claws peek out of the ground and then... A groundhog.

No wait. That was far too large to be a groundhog. Tegre stared at the creature as it climbed out of the hole, growling softly, shaking the dirty off of its dark coat. It was... Squat, he thought stupidly. He towered at least three feet over its head, but he had a feeling if it stood on those short hind legs, it'd be taller than him. With a grunt, it lifted its head toward him, tiny eyes reflecting the light of the moon.

"Human."

It was a talking groundhog, even better. Tegre shook his head and swallowed, wondered if there was something weird in dinner. Did he even eat dinner?

"I have a question for you, human." When Tegre continued to stare, the beast sat down, looking awkward with its small limbs and long body. "I have heard you have things that help cure illness and injury. My... My Queen is very injured. She defended us from a rabid Queen that had savaged her own clan, but now she is horribly injured too, and I am... I am a coward. I do not want to lose her, nor deal with the brutality of a new Queen." Tegre finally identified the voice as male, and watched as he bowed his head. "Would you provide assistance?"

Tegre stared for a few minutes, shuffled his feet, tried to find anything that may be a reasonable response. "Um." That wasn't it.

"Please." The demon rose to his feet and bowed then, an awkward gesture that brought the demon's fleshy nose to the ground. "I beg you. I will give you whatever you ask."

I must be going crazy. Dammit I was already there years ago; this must be an illusion. But the demon didn't appear to be going anywhere, so Tegre nodded meekly. "I... I have medical supplies at my station. If you would like to... Follow me...?"

"Thank you. I am in your debt."

With that they set off, the demon walking in an awkward shuffling gate, but able to keep up with Tegre's stride easily. They came upon Tegre's station within a few minutes; he tended not to go very far from it, fearing images from the past creeping in when he was alone in the unknown wilderness. The demon looked up at the building with what Tegre thought may be confusion, and he politely refused to enter; so Tegre just grabbed the first aid kit without thinking about what was most necessary, and walked back out with the bulky box.

The demon stared at the box. "Is... That it?"

"It... Contains medicine and bandages." At the demon's blank expression, Tegre floundered. "They... They treat things. Wounds."

"Oh. I fear then that this will not be so simple. You may have to come underground with me."

He stared at the demon as they walked back toward the hole, twirling his words around in his head. He supposed he wasn't any taller than the demon when on his stomach, and surely if the demon was longer than he was tall, he would fit; but he had no idea how he was going to apply any sort of treatment when on his stomach crawling like a worm. He barely ever treated any wounds, knowing only the most basic of training from the academy, which boiled down to "Don't get injured, then you won't have to use the kit."

Still, he had nothing better to do, he thought bitterly. He could either stand around and jump at shadows and fall into the abyss of his own mind, or he could crawl into an actual abyss and just forget this whole patrol deal. Frankly, the latter option sounded much more distracting, and therefore, far more favourable. He resisted the urge to kick himself for that decision alone.

The demon helped enlarge the whole, then took the first aid kid in his heavy jaws and headed back down head-first. Tegre stared at the hole, wondering if smacking himself multiple times would wake him up from what had to be the strangest dream ever; then he crawled after the creature.

The tunnel, he thought, was impressive, at least from what he could see. Then, as they delved deeper, he saw little lights, dimly illuminating the ground. He realized that he should have brought a light if he planned to treat any creature's wounds, and would have kicked himself if he didn't think that would cave in the passage.

Soon he heard a series of growls, and then saw bodies moving about -- more demons, he realized after trying to get into a crouching defense and hitting his head on the roof of the cavern. Finally, after what he thought may be an epic argument amongst the beasts, they parted; and then he saw the Queen.

She looked more like she should already be dead, and Tegre's throat tightened, the darkness spreading through his brain like a foul disease. The demon who had got him in the first place looked at him with what was blatantly desperation, even in the shadows of the cavern; and Tegre sighed, and took the first aid kit, and crawled over to the demon Queen.

She glanced up at him then, barely breathing, eye half-open. "This is unusual, human."

"I ah, am supposed to help you. Your... He..." Tegre pointed futilely.

The Queen glanced toward his guide; he had no idea what she did, but the male demon seemed flustered suddenly, bowing his head low, averting his eyes. With what Tegre could swear was a smile -- now he knew he was going nuts -- the Queen looked back at him. "Well. Do your best, human."

So he did. He found her wounds, and almost got his hand bitten off the first time he applied the disinfectant. At his rapid explanation -- something about treating the wound, killing bad things, please don't hurt me -- the Queen winced the next times he applied it instead of going for him. Considering the glint of her fangs, Tegre found himself oddly, unusually grateful for that.

He considered not applying bandages, knowing he couldn't change them unless he came back; but then her companions could rip them off for her, and it would be better in the long-run. The demons all look a little confused at that, but soon he found he had the worst of her wounds wrapped up and treated, as best as a soldier could try.

"I'm sorry. That's all I have." He doubted the demons would let him cut off a limb, so that saw was useless. He wasn't sure he could manage it anyway.

"I have had enough torture as it is." The demon yawned, and Tegre backed up from the fangs. "But I trust you creatures know what you are doing. These... Strips you put on me. Will they go away?"

"They, ah, have to removed. I figured..."

"You can come back and do that." The demon seemed to smile at Tegre's stare. "I do not want to ruin your work."

He found himself on the surface shortly after that, blinking into the darkness and wondering why he hadn't woken up yet.

(I could totally continue this, but these are supposed to be short. xD )

[breezeshadow]

Asdis smiled broadly as she looked up at the brightly-lit building in the darkness of Antelon. She usually would be working at the coffee shop, but Lyall had ended up sick, the poor bastard -- and that meant time for her to amuse herself. Faeries were not usually nocturnal creatures, but Asdis had long adjusted to the long hours of the human world -- if the time existed on the planet, a human was awake for it.

She liked that concept.

The beast behind her snorted, ears flicking back and she reached down and scratched at the half-ear, the top chunk ripped off long ago. The creature's bright green eyes turned to her then, its panther mouth set into a stern, impatient frown. She smiled sweetly at the beast, kneeling slightly to bring herself to eye-level with it so that she may kiss its nose.

"Soon, my little monster."

He huffed at her, twitching his tail and whiskers, but she knew that meant he'd wait. Most excellent; she needed to plan her entrance.

Finally she chose the best one, and chilled the air around her, letting snow form and settle into the pitch-black pelt of the puma beside her and into her blond hair. She then chilled the air, watched as the beast behind her stiffened, knowing what was coming.

"Ready, my dear?"

The cat bared his fangs, delightfully large and sharp.

"Awesome."

And then she kicked open the door, letting the icy cold seep straight down the path she planned to take. Then they both walked in, Aisdis practically dancing, while the puma walked with great strides, muscles rolling under a pelt riddled with scars.

Of course everyone stared. Aisdis grinned at them all and most of them found something else to look at pretty fast. Waving her iridescent wings, letting the light catch them and spread colour around her, she stepped airily to the bar, the puma silently following her and sitting down next to her stool of choice.

The bartender stared at her. "We don't allow pets in here."

Aisdis' eyes widened. "He is not my pet, dear human. He is a good friend."

The puma yawned massively, and the bartender backed up. A guy near them, downing what appeared to be the last of a tankard of beer, stood up and started petting the puma, who bared a warning fang.

"He's so cool. What's his name?" The guy grinned lopsidedly. Asdis smiled, revealing all of her teeth in return, but he didn't seem to notice the main problem with this.

"Lake Monster."

"Really? That's a weird name." He continued to pet the cat, whose eyes had narrowed to slits, whiskers pulled back to his face, muscles tense.

"Oh there's a good reason for it."

And with that she turned the couple of square feet containing and surrounding Lake Monster and the drunk guy into water. Immediately the puma moved gracefully, launching itself from the ground and clamping his jaws around the confused man's leg. The man tried to flail, but could not find the coordination in the sudden pool, which reached, flawlessly, half-way to the ceiling. With a great push and a thrash the cat swam toward the top, moving like an oversized otter, and with a final great twist he threw the man out of the water, sending him slamming into the ground where he coughed and moaned, clutching at the bloody remains of his leg.

The water vanished and Lake Monster fell gracefully, landing on his massive paws and licking at the blood staining his black maw. He shook himself off, sending water across the bar and into the crowds and then sat next to the faerie, grinning up at her, while she smiled in return and kissed his nose.

"My apologies; I got distracted." The faerie looked up at the bartender, seeming oblivious to the people showing for a doctor behind her. "A shot of whiskey please. And if you have it, some meat. For us both."

And she patted the puma on the head.

(I, uh, don't know. But hey, it involved Lake Monster, it had to have violence somehow!)

[smw]

I love your world; it brightens my day whenever you send me any part of it. And this... ♥ Exactly what I wanted. Tegre doctoring a demon? Hilariously funny to me for inarticulate reasons.

[raze]

Hahaha, excellent. I am thoroughly amused by this, as she seems like precisely the kind of buddy Lake Monster would like to have around.