Latest Blogs/Stories

News on Stories

Jaxx — Fri, 24 May 2013 22:19:08 +0000

So, for a while now I've seen that the stories I write, are basically, short pieces of shit haphazardly thrown together in a way that gives you no idea what anything looks like. So, soon, I will begin re-writing near everything. I find that I write better if I find music to fit each chapter, so I will try to do so more. Cheers!

Web searches for money words anticipate market moves

albertinamadelaine — Fri, 10 May 2013 09:34:25 +0000

The jittery, sweaty-palmed fear of losing money in the stock market leaves a signature in Google search data. Upticks in web searches for finance-related words such as debt, stocks and portfolio are good indicators of an impending downturn in the market, a new study shows. People enter such search terms less frequently before market gains, researchers report April 25 in Scientific Reports.

The new analysis is in line with previous work demonstrating that the frequency of some Google searches, such as those related to the flu, can gauge what a large number of people are worrying about.

Some Internet searches are driven by fear, says economist Paul Gao of the University of Notre Dame in Indiana, who was not involved in the study. ?Think about it: When you feel good, you don?t search for words like flu or pharmacy.?

Gao?s own research has shown that it?s possible to predict whether the market will bounce back after a bad day by looking at a set of finance-related Google searches that appear to be motivated by fear. He says that the new work emphasizes the need for research dedicated to investigating how the words used in Internet searches reflect how people decide to take particular actions, including buying or selling stock.

To get a sense of whether the search volume of particular words might precede market movements, scientists looked at roughly seven years of Google Trends data showing how often a particular term is queried relative to the total number of searches. The researchers collected data for 98 search terms, including finance-related words such as gold, markets and unemployment and less topical words like kitchen, color and garden. Then the researchers compared the search data with the closing price of the Dow Jones Industrial Average on the first trading day of every week from January 2004 to February 2011. A downturn or uptick in the stock market, they found, was foreshadowed in the preceding days by the frequency of the finance-related terms.

?That was really intriguing to us,? says study coauthor Suzy Moat of University College London. The results are in line with some economists? belief that people prefer to avoid losing money over reaping profits. If the thought of losing money gives people particular angst, then they may soothe that angst by seeking information, she says.

Moat and colleagues Tobias Preis of the University of Warwick in England and H. Eugene Stanley of Boston University also simulated buying or selling stocks. Working with an imaginary portfolio, they found that buying or selling with the help of Google Trends data could bring in major profits, often far more than what one would reap by buying undervalued stocks and holding them.

That doesn?t mean one should play the market based on search terms alone, however. The researchers observed a trend, but not all words fit the pattern. And if a lot of people were to find out that search terms can be linked to market movements (say by reading Scientific Reports), that signal could become useless or even be manipulated, says Preis.

But the fact that evidence for human decision making can be distilled from an enormous, preexisting data set rather than by conducting surveys or questionnaires is fascinating, says Alessandro Vespignani of Northeastern University in Boston. He and his colleagues are eager to find techniques that use digital traces left by people to predict human behavior. ?It?s the meteorology of society,? he says.

78,000 people apply to live on Mars

albertinamadelaine — Fri, 10 May 2013 00:15:37 +0000

An ambitious project to establish a human colony on Mars has attracted applications from tens of thousands of would-be astronauts, just two weeks after applications opened.

The mission, a private venture by the Dutch non-profit organization Mars One, aims to send a crew to the Red Planet in 2022 ? and, due to the physiological change in the human body after a stay on Mars, there?d be no coming back. That hasn?t deterred people, though: so far, over 78,000 people have applied to become one of Mars? first immigrants (the company is expecting 500,000 applicants by the time applications close on August 31). ?This is turning out to be the most desired job in history,? says Bas Lansdorp, co-founder of Mars One.

(MORE: Asteroid in a Bag: NASA?s Long, Strange Trip)

Day-to-day life on Mars will be no picnic: The organization says that the daily routine on the planet would involve construction work on the colony (installing greenhouses, for example), maintenance of the settlement?s systems and research into Mars? climate and geological history?all in an inhospitable environment with unbreathable air and an average temperature in the planet?s mid-latitudes of around -58 degrees Farenheit.

But Mars One says it is not looking for applicants with specific skills, such as a science degree, that might be useful during an interplanetary posting. Instead, they are looking for people who ?have a deep sense of purpose, willingness to build and maintain healthy relationships, the capacity for self-reflection and ability to trust.? They also want volunteers who are ?resilient, adaptable, curious, creative and resourceful.? Candidates will receive a minimum of eight years training before leaving Earth, the company says.

(MORE: Dirt Found on Mars! Why the Red Planet Makes Us Crazy)

?Gone are the days when bravery and the number of hours flying a supersonic jet were the top criteria for selection. Now, we are more concerned with how well each astronaut works and lives with the others?and for a lifetime of challenges ahead,? said Norbert Kraft, a former Senior Research Associate at NASA and Chief Medical Director for Mars One in a statement published on Mars One?s website.

Candidates hailing from over 120 countries (although the vast majority are from the U.S.) uploaded a video to Mars One?s website explaining why they?re suitable for the mission. Kyle, a 21-year-old grocery store clerk from the U.S., says he wants to be ?an explorer and pioneer at the forefront of history.? Steven, a 43-year-old American who works in electronics, has even higher hopes for the mission: ?I would like to go to Mars? to discover new life,? he says.

In addition to people skills, successful applicants must be good fundraisers too: Mars One plans to raise much of the mission?s $6 billion estimated cost through a reality TV show following the applicants as they undergo preparations for the one-way trip to Mars. They?ve got a little way to go yet, though: as of April 29, the money raised through donations and merchandise stood at $84,121.

MORE: What the Curiosity Rover Can Teach Us About Mars ? And Earth

The Dragon's Gift. - Chapter 1

Calix — Thu, 09 May 2013 14:47:47 +0000

The Dragon's Gift - Chapter 1

It was early morning as the sun rose into the sky, shining into the window, pounding light and heat against the young humans face, gradually waking him up. The young human slowly opened his eyes and sat up in his bed, stretching his arms out and yawning. "What a wonderfull dream, and what a beautiful day." He exclaimed as he shuffled to the edge of his bed as his legs swung around and dangled out of the side of his bed. "Well, today is the first day of being alone. My parents leave today for their year holiday." He pulled the duvet from over him and he got up and headed into the shower, grabbing his favourite towel along the way. He turned the shower on, and left it for a minute to warm up, as he took his under clothing off and locked the door and stepped inside the shower. All he could focus on was his dream about a blue Dragon. "How I wish you were real... My friend." He whispers to himself as he starts to wash. After washing his hair and body, he rinses off and turns the water off and takes his towel and wraps it around himself, rubbing himself dry. He unlocks the door and heads back into his room to get dressed for the day, it takes him afew minutes to decide what to wear, as he puts on his ice blue jeans and black and white camo styled type of t-shirt. He makes his bed and heads downstairs to find his parents sitting around the table, with a nice breakfest setout on the table as they waited for him. "Morning Rex, so today is the big day. We both have agreed that we think your ready to stay home alone." They say to him as he sits down. "Thanks, I guess." Rex replied as he started to tuck into his food. "What time are you leaving?" He asked. They ate their food and looked at the time. "We have about half an hour before we best set off. Is there anything you want us to go over again, if theres anything your unsure of?" They question him incase he might have forgotten anything. Rex sat there and thought for afew moments. "I think I'm fine. Thanks." They Soon finished eating their breakfast and cleared everything away. Before Rex knew it, it was time for them to leave on their adventure. "We'll miss you honey." His mother told him "You'll be fine son, I have faith in you" His father said. "Thanks guys. I'll miss you to." Rex said as he hugged them both. Rex watched as they got into the car and drove down the road, as he headed back inside.

"And so I'm alone for a whole year. Yippee! No annoying parents!" He yelled out as he realised the new world of freedom had opened up to him. He sat down and powered up the TV flicking through channels to see what he could find to watch. "Hmm... Day time TV sucks... Maybe I'll nap abit and see if I can dream about that Dragon again. He was stunning." He thought to himself as he turned the TV off and headed up to his bed to nap for awhile. Rex had laid in bed for about 2 hours, constantly waking and falling back asleep, not able to revisit his dream during the night. "Hmm, I guess I can't recall that dream... I so want to see him again. I want to hold him..." He laid there with his eyes closed imagining the Dragon, untill the phone rang to snap him out of it. He got up and ran to answer it. "Hello?.... No... No." He hang up and yelled. "Bloody PPI crappy advertisers!" He vented alittle bit and went into the kitchen for a snack. "I fancy chocolate!" He raided through the cupboards untill he found a nice looking bar to eat. He ripped the packet open and slid the chocolate out and bite down into it and ate it happily. "That was good." He pats his stomache and heads into the garden to see how warm it was outside. "It's a sure nice day, temperature is great, gently wind to stop it feeling to hot. Just how I like it!" He smiled and locked up the house and began to walk towards the lake. "Think I'll go by the lake and go for a swim." 10 Minutes passed by as he made his way to the lake, as he got closer he could see many people there, enjoying the water and grassy area's near by, being shy as he has, he turned and headed back. "Too many people there for my liking. Especially seeing as I just moved here, and don't know anyone. I miss my friends..." He thought to himself as he got back home and headed inside.

Rex sat at his computer as it booted up, to see if anyone was online, clicking through his programs, none of his friends were online. He sighed alittle as he changed his status "Why do my dreams never come true..." He sat there blankly for afew minutes before returning to rest in his bed, hoping that someone would come online to cheer him up. As Rex laid there, he dozed off to sleep, entering his dreamy state. "Huh? Wha..Where am I?" Rex calls out as he looks around. "A...Am i having this dream again?" He turns to look around the area. He was indeed in the same place as the night before. He was standing near a lake, much like the one by his house, the air filled with birds whistling and singing. He walked a short way along the bank of the lake, as he heard a stick crack as if someone had stepped on it just beside him. Rex turned to investigate the sound as he saw a small yellow and red feral Dragon sitting there staring at him. "Uh, Hello there" Rex said to the small Dragon. The Dragon sat there smiling and stood up and walked upto him rubbing his soft scales against Rex's trouser leg. "Hello!" A small voice said back to him, coming from the Dragon.

"Do you know why you are here, young human?" The small Dragon asked curiously. Rex stood there speechless, struggling to find his words. "N.. No, I don't. Where am I?" He managed to speak. The Small Dragon smiled and gave him a soft, warm smile. "Here, follow me and I'll explain! Let's go!" The Dragon lead Rex away from the Lake and along the roads. "You see... A Dragon has chosen you, and you have been gifted with the ability to travel here, to the Dragon Realm. We Dragon's have all sorts of abilitys and gifts we can bestow upon people. Something about you has appealed to this Dragon. Now, its just down to you, to locate him." Rex walked behind the small Dragon listening to his every word. "H..How will I know if I have found him? How do I return here when I want to?" Rex explodes with lots of questions, amusing the small Dragon. "You'll know when you find him. I believe you've already seen him in your previous visit. As for returning to our Realm... That is a power we cannot teach you to use. You have the gift now, you need to figure the rest out on your own." They reach the house that Rex lives at in the Human Realm. "There is another human, which has made the very journey your making. He lives here. He maybe able to help you. He and his Dragon are very close, and he has been bestowed many gifts. He has mastered the ability to return to either realm as he pleases." The small Dragon turns to the human and bows gracefully. "I will take my leave now friend. Goodluck on your journey, as the second human selected by the Dragon's. Farewell." With his last words, the small Dragon Heads off into the small bushes nearly and vanishes.

Rex stood there excited, but also scared. How would he know if he found the Dragon that gave him the ability to travel the Realms, what happens if he cannot return to the Dragon Realm when he wakes up. "I want to find you Dragon. I want to meet this other human. I want some real friends for once!" Rex states, setting out his goals. Rex lets his courage build up, as he steps upto the door and knocks on it. Rex waited patiently at the door, peering inside through the glass, he managed to catch a glimpse of a anthro Dragon approch the door, as it then opened. "Hello?" Said the Dragon. Rex's eyes widened as he stood there unable to help his staring at the red and black Dragon. "H.. h.. Hello. I'm.. Rex. I was told that another Human stays here?" Rex managed to ask. The Dragon tilted his head to the side. "Your.. A human... A human!" He turned and headed inside. "Please, come in!" He chirped happily, as he lead Rex into the lounge. "Please, wait here. I'll go fetch him!" The Dragon stood there and closed his eyes, as he then disappeared in a flash of light, returning moments later with another human. "I told you, another human has entered the Dragon Realm! Look, he's right here!" The Dragon explains to the human. "Zain, I've told you before, There hasn't ever been another human able to travel to this Realm, The history tells us, that only one Dragon is able to bestow the Realm travel ability, and that was you. Giving it to me." He explains to the Dragon. "Just turn around you dumb human!" Zain yells at him. He turns around and jumps seeing Rex sitting there. "I.. Uhh. Hi there. Sorry you had to listen to us ramble... It's impossible... The Dragon Books said this isn't possible..." He rants to himself. Rex sat there quietly.

"Sorry! I'm Scott, and this is Zain. My Dragon. How did you manage to get here?" He asks Rex curisouly. "I'm Rex... And I'm not sure. I had this dream last night of a blue Dragon, by the lake over that way. Then, I woke up, and well, I fell asleep, and here I am. Some small Yellow Dragon lead me here. it told me, you might be able to help me find this Dragon.It told me, that the blue Dragon has chosen me, and it has gifted me with the ability to come here." Rex explained his story to Scott, who was listening very closely. "Then it must be true. The old Books speak of 2 Dragon's being able to gift the Realm travel. Untill now, Zain here has been the only one able to do it. So, I guess, that we should welcome you to the Dragon Realm. I'll try to teach you how to travel as you wish between both our worlds. Don't worry about it Rex. It is scary here, especially the first few weeks. I had to face it alone. Thankfully I found Zain here early on my adventure. I started out the same way, I dreamt about him, and it took me awhile before I found him. You can rely on us to help you!" Scott reassured Rex, going into further details about his story. They stopped for lunch, which Zain prepared for them. "I hope you like the food." Zain said respectfully to Rex. Rex smiled as he ate it. "Oh thats great. Thanks Zain!" Zain smiled and sat beside Scott.

"So Rex, how'd you like a tour of the area? I've been here for many months, theres some sure pretty sites to see in the Dragon Realm." Scott asks Rex, pouring them all some Dr. Pepper. "How about it Zain, up for showing him around?" He also asks Zain. Zain Nods happily smiling. "Sure, but your sitting up front!" He giggles and then looks to Rex to see if he wants to take them up on there offer. "Uh.. Sure. I guess it won't hurt." Rex said shyly. "Come on them you two." Scott leads them outback "Your shy huh Rex? Don't need to be shy buddy. No-one will cause you trouble, unless you force it upon yourself. Just stick close to us and you'll be fine!" He smiles and then Looks at Zain. "Ok Zain, you can change now." Scott then speaks a Draconic word, as Zain then changes into a Feral form. "Come Rex, lets hop on." He says as he climbs onto his back, helping Rex up. Rex looking slightly nervous, holds on tightly. "Is.. Is it safe?" He asks. Zain and Scott giggle. "Sure it is. Just hold onto me if you feel like your falling. Anyway, lets go Zain!" He issues the command, as Zain then begins to flap his wings and take flight into the air.

Map of all Google data center locations

albertinamadelaine — Wed, 08 May 2013 10:48:13 +0000

Data Center Knowledge recently published a ?Google Data Center FAQ?. As most other web geeks, we here at Pingdom tend to find this kind of information quite fascinating. We have extracted some interesting tidbits, and also used the information to construct a map with all current and under-construction Google data center locations that are known today.

So how many data centers do Google use, and where are they?

Google data center locations
If you include data centers that are under construction, Google has 19 locations in the US where they operate data centers, 12 in Europe, one in Russia, one in South America, and three in Asia. Not all of the locations are dedicated Google data centers, since they sometimes lease space in other companies? data centers.

Above: Google data centers world wide.

Above: Google data centers in the USA.

Above: Google data centers in Europe.

We have created a map you can explore over at Wayfaring.

How much does Google spend on data centers?
According to Google?s earnings reports, they spent $1.9 billion on data centers in 2006, and $2.4 billion in 2007.

Google unveiled four new data center projects in 2007. Each has a cost estimate of $600 million, which will include everything from construction to equipment and computers.

Google?s criteria when selecting locations for data centers
Large volumes of cheap electricity.
Green energy. Focuses on renewable power sources.
Proximity to rivers and lakes. They use a large amount of water for cooling purposes.
Large areas of land. Allows for more privacy and security.
The distance to other Google data centers (for fast connections between data centers).
Tax incentives.

Above left: Google?s first production server. Above middle: Google?s The Dalles data center in Oregon. Above right: Close-up of a Google server rack.

What?s up next?
Google has been looking at sites in Asia, such as Taiwan and Malaysia. There are also reports of a possible data center in Lithuania (Eastern Europe). Google is even more secretive about their US locations, but they have bought 466 acres of land in Blythewood, South Carolina.

Google secrecy
Google has made it difficult both to find out where they keep their data centers and how many they have. One big reason for this is that almost all IP addresses that Google uses (and there are a lot of them) are listed to their Mountain View, California address, so just looking at IP addresses (with IP WHOIS or IP-to-location databases) won?t help you figure out where their data centers are or how many they have.

In addition to this, Google usually seeks permits for their data center projects using companies (LLCs) that don?t mention Google at all, for example Lapis LLC in North Carolina and Tetra LLC in Iowa.

Since Google tends to be quite secretive about their data centers in general, the information we have presented here most likely isn?t 100% complete.

Find out more
Check out the excellent Google Data Center FAQ over at Data Center Knowledge for more details and information.

If you have additional information about Google data centers, please share it in the comments.

A Dragon's Friend

Calix — Thu, 02 May 2013 16:40:38 +0000

A Dragon's Friend - I Don't want to say Goodbye.

"There! Look Revan!" Zain shouted as he dashed over to a dark blue bookshelve, taking the Dragon Stone off of the dusty shelf. "We've found it!" He smiles at Revan.

"W...Will this save him Zain?" Revan looks down slightly, concerned as he walks towards Zain. "It will Revan, don't worry buddy!" He replied reassuringly.

Zain and Revan pack the stone away safely and begin the journey out of the old abandonded Mansion, upon the Cliffs. As they walked along the cliff side, Zain dragged behind keeping quiet, with his head down lost in thought.

"Zain? Is everything okay?" Revan stopped and looked behind him at Zain, sensing something wasn't right with him. Zain didn't respond and stopped and peered over the cliffs edge looking at the sunsetting in the distance. "What... What is it?" Revan asked again.

Zain slowly looked down to his feet. "I... I'll tell you once were closer Revan..." He kept looking away, as tears rolled down his face. ("I can't tell him yet... I knew this would be coming... It has happened to everyone like me... I must stay strong for him.") "Come on, lets keep going. He won't last much longer without the Dragon Stone." He mumbles as he to distract himself from his thoughts.

They both continue to walk afew more miles before they reach the point where they had scaled the cliff, where they both take a short break, sitting at the edge with there feet hanging off the side. "So, can you tell me whats troubling you now Zain?" Revan asks putting an arm around him to comfort him.

"Revan... I am the last of my Dragon species... You see, Dragon Stones... Don't hold any power. The power comes from my species. When we are born, a new stone is created, this is the last stone." He pauses as tears yet again run down his face. "When it is time... I will have to go... I knew that this would happen. It's the only way to save Rex. The Moment I touched the Stone, it activated. It's why from this point, you must carry it with you."

He cries as he reaches into his pack and takes it out and stares into it. It was glowing, with a universe slowly rotating inside it. "It's already started see... It's not just a plain old Egg shaped stone anyore." He hands it over to Revan. "You must carry it. My life will slowly vanish from existance. When I go, you must have it, so it isn't lost with me..." He turns away from Revan, closing his eyes.

Revan sat there speechless shaking. "B... Zain....." He began to cry holding the Dragon Stone as it gradually grew brighter, as the universe inside it grew larger. He puts it carefully inside his pack. "Zain... Why... Please don't do this. Don't let it happen..."

"I can't let you lose Rex, Revan... And It's how it has to be, all of my kind before me have done this. L...Lets carry on. The sooner we can reach Rex, the better." He wipes his eyes and tears away, and does the same from Revan, wiping his face and gives him a hug.

They slowly decend the cliff, treading carefully. Both keeping rather quiet. "Don't be mad at me Revan. I love you and Rex, I know how much you care about him. I don't want you to lose him." Zain says, trying to break the silence. "I...I'm not mad at you Zain. I love you, I don't want to say Goodbye... To you or to Rex."

They gradually make it to the bottom of the Cliff, and hold each other in a close cuddling embrace.

"Zain... Thankyou..." Revan says as he bursts into tears.
Zain squeezes him. "We still have time Revan. Lets be strong, and make the most of the time we have left together. I won't beable to tell Rex, or say goodbye to him... It's going to be hard for me."

Revan held his tears back and stood up. "Your right Zain... We have time. Should we continue?" He asks, as the sun dissapears bringing the darkness. Many howls and roars could be heard as night decended upon the world. "Sounds like, lots of creatures are out tonight... I'm just glad we're together." Zain replied.

A Dragon's Friend - The Farewell.

As they reach a huge dense forest, they both halt, and begin to setup camp for the night. Zain went to fetch some firewood while Revan setup the large sand coloured tent he took from his Dragon Battalion gear. Twenty minutes had passed before Zain returned empty handed. "I'm sorry Revan, I couldn't find any firewood, we'll be cold tonight." He tell Revan feeling abit down, as he is unable to provide the warmth his friend required.

Revan looked up at Zain and smiled. "It's okay Zain, we can move our sleeping bags next to each other, that'll provide us some warmth." Zain smiled at him and went inside the tent with Revan, zipping it closed. "You sure was able to put this tent up quickly, I guess they teach you how to do things like this with speed?" He asked curiously.

Revan blushed alittle bit. "M-hmm. I tend to be the one that gets the job of putting up the tents. Because I'm a marksman, I'm often out of the battle, I just provide support, so I have everything set for when my team returns." He explains his story to Zain, while making some hot chocolate for them both. "Here, drink this. It'll keep you warm." He hands one to Zain and takes the other one for himself. They both sit next to each other chatting and joking with eachother.

"Revan, I don't think I'll be able to sleep... Will you stay up with me? I feel very cold." Zain shivers as he climbs into his sleeping bag. "Ofcourse I will Zain." Revan replies, as he climbs into his own sleeping bag, and shuffling over closer to Zain, and holds him tightly. Zain smiles and holds Revan feeling his warmth. "Thanks buddy." He says as they lay there together providing warmth for each other.

Hours pass while the two rest next to each other providing heat and warmth. Slowly the darkness began to fade, as light began to return to the world. "Looks like it's getting light out now Revan, hopefully the sun will be up soon." Zain says softly snuggled up in Revan's arms. "Yeah... I'm comfy here for alittle longer." He squeezed Zain, not wanting to waste the time he had remaining with him. "We have an hour or so before the sun will be up high enough so we can continue the way back. untill then, I'm glad to ahve you to hold onto..." He hides his head cuddling Revan, alittle upset, knowing that he probably doesn't have him for much longer.

The sun rises as they continue to hold each other. Eventually reaching a good hieght above the horizon so they could continue the last of there journey through the forest. "It's time to pack things up Revan." Zain tells Revan as they get up. "Oh.. Okay...Sure I guess." Revan mumbles. They begin to pack there things away. About 15 minutes later, they have the tent down and all packed away.

"Well... Lets go Revan, lead the way. You know this forest better than I do." As he then tails Revan, following him. While they walk, Zain takes the opportunity to say afew things. "Revan... I just want to say this now, in case I don't get a chance further down the road. Thankyou for spending the night with me... I really apprechiate it."
Revan turns his head as he walks. "No, it was my pleasure Zain. We both needed the warmth... The cuddling was... Well... Your my best friend Zain." They walk deeper into the forest, becoming quiet again.

Neither of them wanted to face the truth, they both knew what was going to happen at somepoint. Knowing it would upset them both hugely. Zain knew, it was only a matter of time before he'd start feeling the effects upon him. They had walked a good 5 miles by midday, their speed was steadily decreasing.

"Revan, my body is getting heavy..." He stops and leans sidewards against a tree. Revan immediatly turns and runs over to his side. "It'll be okay bud, I'm here." He takes Zains arm and puts it over his shoulder to aid him. "I'm... I'm scared..." Zain says as tears fall from his eyes, onto the ground. "No Zain... You can't go not yet. We have longer than this! You must fight it. Please!" He holds him tightly being strong for his friend.

Revan supported Zain for another mile or two, Zain's body grew heavier, and harder for him to move. "Please Revan, put me down. I have to rest." Zain spoke weakily. Revan gently put him down, sitting him on the floor.

Zain sat there for afew minutes, before turning to Revan. "Revan... It's time... I'm sorry. You'll have to finish the rest by yourself..." He holds back his tears being strong for his friend... His best friend. "Please promise me something Revan." He asks. "Don't forget, the good times that we had, don't forget, the cheers, the fears, the fun. Don't forget... I'll always be here." He puts his paw over Revan's heart. "Don't forget... Please never forget!" He closes his eyes and cries.

"I promise Zain, I promise!" Revan yelled as he cried out. Looking at his friend laying down, as his body begin to light up. "You have to go now Revan... Make sure nothing ever happens to Rex. I was glad to have known you. Please... Go, don't look back." As Zain says his final words his body fades into a ball of light and begins to accend into the Sky. "Good bye Revan. I love you." Is heard within the wind. "No... Zain! I love you don't go... Please! I need you!" Revan shouts up at the light as it rises higher and higher.

The light fades into the sky, leaving Revan alone. "I'm sorry Zain... I'm so sorry... I'll tell of you to everyone, the story of us, everything you did." He runs to finish the journey by himself, to save Rex. Revan never stopped running the 10 miles, back to Rex, to save his life. Remembering everything that his best friend had done for him, and for Rex.

He reaches back to Rex's bedside. "Hang on Rex... You'll be back soon." Revan digged through his pack and pulled out the Dragon Stone, which was now a solid bright blue glow, with the fully formed universe within. It glowed brightly as Revan held it over Rex's body, as the light grew and raised up out of the stone, into the air, flowing over Rex's body, restoring his life.

Revan stood there holding the Dragon Stone close to him, as it realsed the power stored within, provided by Zain. Wishing it would bring Rex back to him. Moments passed, as the light settled over Rex, and absorbed into his body as it brought him back.
"R...Revan?" Rex spoke. Revan jumped up. "REXXXX! Your back!" He cuddled him tightly as his energy was restored.

"R..Revan, wheres...Zain?" Rex asked looking around to see if he was there. "H...He's gone..." Revan cried, as he told everything to Rex. Rex couldn't believe it, he couldn't think it would have been possible. He cried with Revan. "All we have left of him... Is the stone." Revan muttered through his tears.

Acouple of days had passed, as Rex had regained all his strength. He set out with Revan to tell people the story. Taking the Dragon Stone with them. Every day, the two would visit the Cove, where they met Zain. Placing the Dragon Stone down in the exact spot.

Months on, they continued to spread the word and story. They reached that spot again, it was a beautiful sunset in the sky. They both sat around the Stone. Suddenly, it light up alittle bit, forming what seemed to be afew stars inside, rebuilding the universe that once span inside it. "Rex... Look!" Revan shouted out loud as they both watched it.
The newly formed stars, began to move, and began to form a message.

"I am sorry I left you heartbroken... You two are my true friends, my friends for life. If you wish, and wish very strongly... Perhaps someday we shall meet again." They read the message leaving them both speechless. The few stars disappeared, and suddenly shot up into the sky, leaving a huge trail of light behind them, eventually forming with other stars up in the sky...

"Revan... He is watching over us." Rex tells Revan. With that, they both wished and wished hoping someday he would return. Everyday the visited the Cove. Crying, wishing so strongly.

Two years later, on the exact same day he disappeared, while they both where at the very Cove.
A bright light came falling down from the sky. Crashing into the ground next to them, next to the Dragon Stone. Something with a shadow like appearance at the center of the light. They both look up and ran towards it. "Z...ZAIN?!"

The End...

Scarlet Winter (Sequel to Snowblind and Frostburn)

Neon — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 23:14:46 +0000

Well, got it up on Furtag, finally. Don't know why I didn't post it before. Anyhow, here it is. Prepare for new creatures, new characters, more action, and one large-ass gun. Enjoy.

I was hurting pretty bad.
I had been through hell and high water so far, and somehow survived. But one of my ribs was broken, my ankle felt sprained, I was covered in gashes, and I sustained a blow to the head which kept on throbbing. Oh, what I could do for a nano-bot injection to repair the damage. Or even better, a well guarded bed. But no, no time to sleep when you’re the only one left alive. Except for maybe this Alpha squadron.
So, I had to detonate the black-hole bomb that was supposed to destroy the city. The drone carrying it was damaged... Hell, why couldn’t they drop it in via a jet?
I didn’t have much to protect me from the Trickster’s Beasts either. Just the Revenge and a torn Kevlar vest. The Revenge was battered; Her barrel was scratched up, part of her wooden stock was cracked, and the fire ax I had attached was chipped. It had killed a few hundred of these things; hopefully it can stand up to another thousand or more.
I stood up at the top of a hill overlooking New Venice. Why did they ever call the city that anyhow? I don’t see many canals, and didn’t when I was battling through the city.
‘You know you’ll probably die at the end of this, hero.’ A familiar voice said. The Raven. I last saw him right after the RAD base exploded.
‘Where were you while I was fighting through New Venice?’ I asked the Flickering Raven sitting on a branch next to me.
‘Finding a body for poor dear Natalie.’
‘It takes that long?’ I asked.
‘Sadly, yes.’
‘And?’
‘I did find her an empty body. Another female crow, but this body was slightly taller and much more Russian.’
‘Wait- so where is she now?’ I asked.
‘In Russia. Her memories were unchanged, I have a good feeling she will be bringing more troops with her.’
‘ADF, I persume.’ I responded.
‘Of course. There’s no other military out there, anyhow.’ The Raven responded.
‘Well, true...’ I said. I grimaced from pain in my broken rib.
‘You’re injured.’
‘Well, yeah! I’m not immortal like you, Raven.’ I responded, annoyed.
‘Sorry, Hero. I cannot help you in this war, but I can do something...’
'Go on.’
The Raven held his talon over my broken rib. I heard a loud crack and then doubled over from the pain it caused. I clenched it; it was healed!
‘Sorry that hurt. I can move through time or make something move through time as easily as you walk. So I have to reverse the injuries in time.’
‘And make them never even happen. Not even a scar. Thanks for that. Now that others?’ I asked. The Raven nodded and held his talon over one of my gashes.
‘So, anything you can say about what’s going to happen in the future with me?’
‘All that I can say is that your Earth will never be the same, nor will you.’
‘Well, yeah, doc. Thousands have already died, and I for sure won’t even flinch at the sight of a body spread out all over a room- guts and all, in the messiest way possible- anymore.’ I grimaced as the gash healed. He hopped over to my ankle.
‘I don’t mean like that, Hero. Ways you wouldn’t expect.’ The Raven responded. I thought on that. How could it be unexpected? Hell, I’d expect pigs to fly by now! Badly injured, mutated piggies.
'Hero, have you ever wondered what happens to one after they die?’
'Just the end, that’s all I would’ve expected. I’ve never been religious.’
'Religion got part of it right. There is a place; run by the Trickster and his friends, that you third-dimensioners called the Underworld. Hell. The Abyss. Abydon-’
'I get the picture. Wait, the bastard has friends? There’s others like him?!’ I exclaimed. I winced as the Raven healed a gash.
'Sort of. He can make himself look however he wants; he usually plays the part of the Christian Devil; sometimes Seth from your ancient Egyptians.’
'I knew he was bad, but this...?’ I said.
'Your BHB will not destroy him, you know. But, it will either disperse him to where we won’t be able to rebuild himself, or imprison him in his own reality.’
'And those bits do what?’
'Affect people. Some say that’s why people like Hitler and Caesar were born. They caught a rather large chunk of this “Hell Energy”.’
'So, we either create a bunch of dictators even worse than Hitler and Mussolini, or throw the Devil back into Hell. I don’t know which is worse.’ I responded. The Raven finished healing me.
'They’re both pretty bad. At least the dictators can be killed.’ The Raven said. 'You’re finished. I’d suggest you go back into town, find this Alpha Squadron, and lead them to the power plant. That’s most likely where the Trickster will be. Good luck.’
'Thanks-’ The Raven has vanished. 'Well, onward.’

The raging blizzard that was blowing for the past while had stopped at some point while I was on the train, leaving about half a foot of snow on the ground. I trudged through it and into the city streets. I was quickly attacked, like I expected. I let off both shells into the attacking Demon, turn around, and put the axe part of the Revenge into another Demon’s head. Blood spurted out and drenched me and the snow.
I reloaded and looked down the street. There were abandoned cars all down it, as well as dead bodies, abandoned backpacks and other goods. When the civilians in the city evacuated, the must of come through here. No wonder there was so much scattered about; the Beasts must of picked them off like Hyenas do to a group of Gazelles. I saw a path that lead out down and into the plains, cut by something large. Hopefully, the majority of the group made it. But there was a large amount of blood all down the path, along with some parts of bodies. There had to be panic. Death. One can sense Death when one knows it well enough.
Speaking of Death...
I heard the signature roar of a Goliath just before it tried to smack me in the back. I dodged and put two shells into its back, putting it down in the snow. The snow turn a sickly red. Two Demons, a Goliath a short distance behind. There’ll be more.
I loaded the next two shells in and spun around, kicking up some snow. A Hexed one was trying to use the Goliath’s attack as an distraction to nail me. That didn’t happen; I blew a hole right through its chest. The body fell into the snow like a brick.
I loaded two more shells in and searched the bodies; I needed to conserve ammo. One of the Demons was military once; he carried an old MaH-6 revolver. A good piece of equipment; had the accuracy of a sniper. He also had two dozen shots on him. Good. I slung the Revenge over my shoulder and loaded the MaH-6. I had about a dozen shells left for the Revenge, I had to conserve them.
I ducked into a building to do some thinking. By my estimations, the center of the city had to be a good 15 miles away. Where that squadron was, though... Who could say.
I attempted to tune my hand-held radio into Alpha squadron’s frequency. I had the frequency right, but I wasn’t getting anything. No static, either. They must be occupied.
I started walking down an alleyway, but I stopped. there was a car intact in the alleyway- and the windows were tinted red. I readied the Revenge when the car-a bright red hatchback van- creaked. I dashed forwards the put two shells into the space where the engine should be, but the Auto-Killer stood up before I had the chance. This one was different from the first. It had four legs; but these ended in large, flat, and round feet. The bottom front of it creaked, cracked, and broke right down the middle. The result was a mouth which quickly formed rows of razor sharp teeth in the red, stained metal. It clenched its mouth and opened again, like it was trying to roar. I dodged just as it tried to stomp on me. Shit; these guys just keep changing every time I meet one! I let off a couple of shots from the revolver, putting some dents in it. One pierced the fiberglass body, and the hole acted like a bullet hole on an organic creature. A bullet hole from an anti-tank gun, that is. Blood was spraying everywhere, and the Auto-killer was roaring even louder. I heard some creaks and groans from around me. It had backed me into a small store parking lot... And my god; the dozen or so cars were getting up!
They’re getting smarter- this was a fucking ambush!
I dashed and slid right under the hatchback Auto-killer before any of the new ones could attack me. As a result, one of the feet intended for me stomped on the first Auto-killer’s foot. The Hatchback- let’s call it Hatchet for now- Bit the offending one’s front clean off. Evidentially, you don’t piss off the leader. The offender collapsed, the missing front spewing copious amounts of blood.
I vaulted over a husk of a van and ducked behind it. I let off the three shots remaining in the chamber before reloading. I had loaded a single bullet when Hatchet flattened the van, causing me to drop the other five bullets!
I spun around, aimed, then fired right at where the driver would be. It didn’t kill the first one, but you never know...
The glass shattered, and the body slumped out of the hole. Hatchet didn’t even twitch from that shot.
I pulled out the Revenge, then jumped right at it. It dodged, but one of the other ones- a grey van- was near. I hooked my ax onto the remains of the axel and let off a blast. I saw the hood go flying off as I jumped away. The van Auto-killer slumped to the ground, dead. The other ones roared for their fallen comrade.
They were mourning?
No, not quite. A call for help; that’s what it was.
A nearby building had its door flung off by a pair of pissed off Demons. A Hexed one stood up from the roof, and a Hunter came out from an alleyway. A few more Demons appeared from somewhere. Shit... I had to get out of here!
I jumped then kicked a Demon in the face, scratching it with my claws. I threw off my trenchcoat- I had an idea. I was a chameleon, I should of done this more.
I camoflauged myself to the point where only my weapons were visible. Don’t ask me how it worked; must of been something new ADF added into the equipment. But it worked.
I leaped through a broken window into an old hardware store. The creatures outside had stopped roaring, stopped attacking or even trying to find me. I ran through the shop towards the back room and the roof access, grabbing a length of rope and a large sledgehammer first. I smashed a Demon with the sledgehammer before it even saw the thing. I ran up to the roof. The rope was my reins and the sledgehammer my whip. Time to wrangle an Auto-killer.

I ducked behind an old billboard advertising butter. I was waiting for an Auto-killer to get close enough for me to leap on its roof. Ol’ Hatchet was out of sight. Not as smart as they seemed.
A rusted brown pickup truck was coming near. This one had a mouth- good.
I took a few steps back for a running start. I leapt over the gap and landed right on its hood, looping the rope through its mouth in the process. I stood up, holding onto the ropes in one hand, the sledgehammer in the other. I banged the sledgehammer down onto the hood, causing the Auto-killer to roar and start running. Perfect.
I dug my claws into the decaying metal that served as its hood, making the thing roar again. We were coming towards a three-way intersection, fast. I acted quickly; swinging the sledgehammer into the left leg. The leg spasmed and the Auto-killer was forced to turn left because its leg gave out for a moment. Well, this was one eco-friendly car! Apart from the fact that it kills people.
I slammed down the hammer on its right leg, swerving the Auto-killer down a side street. I crushed two Demons as it ran. There weren’t many around here... Where were they all?
My ride collapsed out from under me when gunfire echoed through the street. I rolled to the ground and swung myself up, hammer in one hand, the Revenge in the other. I then realized that the group of six that shot down the Auto-killer were ADF! I placed my weapons down on the ground, slowly.
'You must be Alpha Squadron...’ I said. The squadron- made up of a battered fox, a grizzly bear, a gecko, and cardinal that was carrying a female sparrow over his shoulder. The sparrow looked badly hurt and his chest armor was missing. Each one of them still had their guns pointed at me (Except the sparrow, she seemed unconscious.); Hell- the bear had a flamethrower!
'Stand down, guys. It’s Captain Trevor!’ The Gecko said. He was the smallest, yet seemingly the leader of the squadron. How odd. The bear hefted his flame thrower. He was also puffing one a large cigar, the smoke from that mingling with the flamethrower’s. He was well armored; his armor was thick and he was the only one with a helmet.
'Name’s Nathaniel. Master Gunnery Sergeant Nathaniel. We were sent on a mission to deploy the BHB via drone, but the drone was destroyed. The BHB’s still there. Thank god.’ I nodded.
'Oh, sorry- sir. Forgot introductions. The fox is our comms officer, Corporal Hale.’ Nathaniel said. The fox- a slim looking creature carrying an automatic rifle I identified as a PK-90 nodded to me. 'The big guy’s Sergeant Jacobs. He’s responsible for most of the killing around here.’
'Afternoon, my friend.’ He said. He sounded African-American.
'Hardly a good one, though...’ I muttered.
'The cardinal’s Dr. McKenzie. Our local medic, doctor, and nurse; all in one!’ McKenzie had the sparrow on the ground and he was quickly pulling off the sparrow’s armor. He had his pack open and some medical supplies had spilled out.
'The sparrow’s Private First Class Elizabeth, but most call her Lizzy for some reason. She wasn’t so lucky with that last group that we fought...’
'Is she going to be alright?’ I asked the doctor.
'Only if you give me some room and grab some salve from my bag!’ McKenzie snapped at me. He yanked off her shirt and her bra, leaving her naked from the waist up. I grabbed the salve from his bag and handed it to the doctor. Jacobs whistled.
'Shut it, Jacobs- That’s an order. This is serious.’ Nathaniel said. I proceeded to be McKenzie’s surgery assistant, helping him patch up a massive gash in the lady’s lower chest. He used nanobots...
'New stuff, this. Good stuff too. Saved the life of a very mysterious bird with this same material before.’ McKenzie said while he was injecting some nanobots into the woman’s chest. 'That was during the Week-long-war. He appeared from mid-air, just like that!’ He snapped his talons. 'He was quickly followed by some gunfire and then an explosion; one of the bullets tore straight through his heart. Took out a valve too. I had to fix him in the middle of the field where he came out- all I needed was this.’ He held up a syringe of a greyish liquid that sparkled.
'Hhhmmm... not much left.’ He said, getting up and packing his supplies. He tossed the woman over his shoulder after putting her shirt back on.
'The diagnosis, doc?’ Hale said, standing straight from leaning on the wall. His large backpack of communication equipment rattled.
'A nasty gash that almost clean sliced her lungs and stomach in half. With the nanos, she’ll be fine. Give her time.’ He said.
'Get moving, men!’ Nathaniel said. He turned to me. ‘...If you think we should, sir.’
'Permission granted. Move out!’ I responded. We started moving.
'McKenzie tells that story t’a lot of people, Captain.’ Jacobs said to me as we were walking. He handed me a box of shotgun shells from his large bag of ammunition next to his fuel tank as we were walking; I nodded in thanks. 'I doubt the story’s true.’
'Well, you never know...’ I responded.

We had climbed onto a roof and ducked down on it. I peeked out, camoflauged. The square just beyond the roof was where they lost the BHB- and where a lot of enemies were converging. I pulled back.
'Bad news, men. There’s at least 200 of them out there.’ I whispered.
'No wonder there’s so much noise.’ Nathaniel whispered back. 'We need to split up; several of us should cause a large distraction, the others should grab the BHB and get into cover. Simple.’ I could see why this young gecko was such a high rank for his age. He was small and weak, but smart. He’d make a good commander. Not one for the midst of battle though; he could take the recoil from his battle shotgun.
'But who’s going to go down there?’ Lizzy asked. She had woken up not too long ago, and had displayed her worth by doing some sniping shots that my Snypr colleagues would be surprised by. At the end of this, I’ll have to try to get her in the Snypr ranks.
'First off, how much does the BHB weight?’ I asked.
'About 90 kilos, sir.’ Nathaniel said.
'Alright, I can carry it pretty easily as long as I get some straps for it.’ I responded.
'Don’t worry; it had two padded wires attached so the drone could move it. Those should work as straps.’
'Good. Alright, Private Lizzy, Corporal Hale, and myself will wait up here for you four to lead as many from the BHB as possible. We can deal with the rest. Jacobs, I hope your flamethrower can deal with them.’ I said.
'Hell sir, it’ll make Cajun out of 'em!’ He said.
'And that’s what I always like to hear in my soldiers. Hell, it’s been a long time since I’ve done field command. I was going to retire after a few months at the RAD base...’
'You’ll get used to it, sir. Old soldiers never loose the skills.’ Nathaniel said.
'Very true. Best of luck to you, meet back here in half an hour. Move it!’ I shouted, and the three; Mckenzie, Nathaniel, and Jacobs leapt off the side of the short roof and started firing. We had to wait.

It took a minute or so for all of the creatures to move out of the area; with help from Lizzy, of course. She blasted a few of the larger ones inconspicuously.
‘That’s a good rifle of yours.’ I said, watching a few Demons mill about the BHB.
‘She’s a good one, no? Named the Bloody Talon. Not much of a special sniper rifle like yours, sir. Just a .950 caliber rifle.’ She said as one of her bullets blasted through three demons, blowing off massive chunks. The recoil got her shoved back from her laying position by at least a foot. The shell went flying out over the edge of the roof. Lizzy then reloaded the single shot. the recoil would’ve been more if it wasn’t for the fact that the stock was made of a pair of large, air-cooled pistons.
‘Private, that’s almost twice as big as an anti-tank gun...’ I said. It was a bloody large rifle. I've never even seen a caliber of that size in a hand-rifle, much less shot one.
'That’s why I use her so much- she’s been a family heirloom. Takes care of any of those baddies any day- oh, and it does say her name on the side.’ She said, pointing to the white lettering on the side of the rifle’s barrel. The Bloody Talon was also painted a blood red, making it look more menacing than it had any right to be. I nodded and leaped down from the roof and ran to the BHB. The BHB was about the size of a kitchen sink, but completely different in shape. The main body looked like a grey propane tank, much like one of the ones you would put in a small porch grill. Instead of a nozzle, it had a digital timer. That was hanging from a few wires- it had two seconds left on it. The tank section of the BHB was held in a cage made of an odd metal, allowing only the timer to come out of it. There were two “straps” on the top of it. I slung it on and called the other two down. I then almost fell over from the weight of the BHB! Christ; it was really heavy!
Lizzy leaped down, the Bloody Talon staggering her. Hale landed almost perfectly.
‘Private, how much does that rifle weigh?’ I asked.
‘About 70 pounds, but it’s worth it. I’ve blown holes in tanks before with her.’ She said. She had a satchel on her side that was full of the massive bullets for it. 'The bullets usually cost 40 bucks a piece though, I don’t use her much.’ She tossed the massive rifle onto her back, then pulled out a small machine pistol of unknown design.
‘She’s proud of it, as you can tell...’ Hale muttered. For a comms officer, he was really quiet.The radio on his back crackled to life; he grabbed the receiver.
'Get the captain on the line!’ I heard Nathaniel shout. I took the receiver.
'We’re holed up in a coffee shop about 2 blocks down from your position, and the things just keep on coming! We need some backup, sir.’
'Backup granted. We’re on our way.’ I said. I gave the receiver back to Hale as we started running west.

We ducked into an alleyway. The shop that the others were stuck in was surrounded from all sides by at least a hundred Demons, Hexed ones, Goliaths, and other various creatures of that size. Over their din, I could hear the blast of a shotgun occasionally, along with the ratatatatat of an SMG and the roar of flames, obviously from Jacob’s flamethrower. He was torching whole mobs of the creatures with his large weapon. I heard a click from behind me; Lizzy had the Bloody Talon loaded.
'How many could you take out with one of those bullets, private?’ I asked.
'They’re not armored and most of them are... falling apart. A single bullet could kill at least a dozen, if not two. But it would alert them of our position.’ She replied. I told Hale to tell Nathaniel of our position. I made sure the Revenge was loaded.
'Fire at will.’
The shot echoed with a crack almost twice as loud as a normal gun, but a whole line of nearly twenty beasts fell at the bullet before a wall behind them partially crumbled. The whole group roared and started running at us, including the occasional burning demon lit on fire by Jacob. I saw our other three mean leap out of the broken windows and start chasing at the mob that was following us. The mob didn’t know what to do; their weak mentality couldn’t cope with an ambush tactic. It had almost always been me or one other, and never a chance to try an ambush on a large group.
A Goliath rushed me, not confused by the ambush. I dodged and took it down with one shell, expending the other on a Demon which tried to attack me. I reloaded.
Private Elizabeth was handling herself well, dispatching Demons with ease with her AB-10 pistol, partially reloading the Bloody Talon between shots. Jacobs was killing a lot of them; quick too. I was surprised he wasn’t a higher rank, he was a good soldier. Nathaniel, despite his size, was taking care of his share of Demons. He wasn’t the most accurate of a shot, but his rifle was pretty powerful. McKenzie, despite his job as a medic, was good with his small SMG. He stuck next to Jacobs for defense. Smart.
But Hale, though...
I dashed to him when I heard a blood-curling scream. My axe was quickly into the back of the Goliath that had smashed him straight into a brick wall, its blood mingling with Hale’s- they were both all over the wall. I shoved the massive creature off of him.
‘Medic!’ I cried. McKenzie ran over, protected by Jacob’s flames. He slid onto the ground, opened up his back, and examed him. Hale was hacking up blood, and his assault rifle lay broken by his side. McKenzie was yanking out the syringe full of Nano-bots, but Hale had stopped breathing before it was injected. McKenzie injected his body anyways. I pulled the medic back.
'No! The Nanos can save him!’ He screamed. 'I’ve brought people back from the dead with it!’ I shook my head. Even if he could be brought back, the nano-bots couldn’t fix it all. Most of his limbs had been broken, several of his ribs were crushed, and his neck looked broken. To make things worse, the Goliath had slammed him on top of a broken metal pole that stuck out of his chest at an odd angle.
I got up from the sobbing medic and pulled Hale’s dog tags from his neck and put them in my pocket. Nathaniel quickly ran over; there were but a few creatures left.
'No, Hale...’ He muttered, clenching his fist. The others were at the alley quickly. Jacobs took off his battered helmet for a moment. Nathaniel helped Dr.McKenzie up; they walked around the corner and into the nearest building.
'Well, damn...’ Jacobs said, putting his helmet back on. 'Any way we can stop the creatures from using the body?’
'Only if you’re willing to cremate him.’ I said, walking past the pair and towards where Nathaniel and the distraught McKenzie went. I heard a whoosh of flames behind me.

I entered the building just as Nathaniel was leaving. McKenzie was on a scratched wooden chair, face in his hands. He was mumbling something about losing another person.
'Will he be alright?’ I asked the Gunnery Sergeant.
'Give him time; he’s had breakdowns like this before. He’ll be alright.’ Nathaniel said. I nodded.
'Shall we camp here, then?’ I asked.
'If you think so, sir.’ Nathaniel said. He was saddened by Hale’s death, obviously. He wasn’t his normal self.
'I do. Why don’t you grab the others, find yourself a bed. I’ll take first watch, then wake you up.’
'Sounds fine, sir. Good night, sir.’
'Good night, Master Gunnery Sergeant.’

Night watch was a desolate time. The stars twinkled; the clouds from the blizzard had departed. Their light was added to by dozens of fires throughout the city. Do the Demons have parties? Do the Hexed ones have friends? Do the Goliaths have bonds with their fellows? Or was that all gone when they became those monsters...?
Perhaps those fires were signs of it.

When I woke up the next morning- early morning-still dark, I felt very rested. I hadn’t slept for at least three days, and those three days were very trying. A nap did a world of good.
Of course, I woke up to gunfire. Like usual.
I reached for the Pestilence; thinking I was still in my barracks on the RAD base. I felt the stock of the Revenge instead. I grabbed it, loaded it, tossed on my coat, put on the BHB, and ran outside. Nathaniel was ducked behind a car, pelting shots at several dozen creatures coming our way. Jacobs was up there, flaming them. He was injured. Elizabeth was near Nathaniel, ratting off a few shots from her pistol. McKenzie was alright, taking down a Demon here and there. I was about to run out there alongside Jacobs when a bloody Bone Spike thwacked into the doorway next to me. I ducked back in. the spike was barbed and nearly half a foot long! It was dripping blood.
‘What the hell shot that?!’ I shouted over the din of the herd of beasts.
‘Something new, captain!’ Nathaniel yelled back, letting off another burst of bullets before reloading. Thankfully, the chassis that the two were ducked behind was near the doorway, I ducked in before a bone spike could take me out. Lizzy handed me the Bloody Talon.
‘Sir, you best take a look at this.’ She said. I looked through the scope.
The first thing I saw was Jacobs backpedaling towards us, but then I got sights on the new creature.
It was as tall as a Goliath, with some of the similar mutations, but this one was... wrong. It had not one, but two shields; these being two oversized doors. They used to be the entrance gates to something big. When it split apart the shields (They came apart with a wet slurch), the head poked out on its bloated and extended, scaled neck (it used to be reptilian.). The head was badly damaged; it had no teeth and the lower jaw was hanging far below the upper one. The eyes were squashed, but still there. The tail also held a third shield merged onto it; a folding table. I ducked when I saw a bone spike appear in its mouth- but it staggered when it did that! Part of one of its legs went limp. Was it using its own bones to make the projectiles?
But it straightened itself out. It regrows them back, I’d guess.
Jacobs ducked behind the car with us. McKenzie had jumped through a window; the couple dozen had been joined into at least a hundred.
‘There’s too many, sir. We need to get out of here. I could have sworn I saw a jeep on the way here, yesterday. Still in good shape, sir.’ Jacobs said.
‘Alright then... RETREAT!’ I shouted. McKenzie leaped out of the building and flapped up to the roof of the next one, running along side. I started running alogn side, letting off a few shots. the herd behind us roared and a few shots were spat at us by that... thing. Let’s call it a Lurcher, huh?
We speed around a turn, and there it was. A large ADF Humvee, equipped with twin .5 caliber machine guns. It was a heavy piece of artillery; and not an Auto-Killer. Some of the glass was shattered and one of the original crew members remained in the left turret, dead. I swung into the driver’s seat and McKenzie landed in the right turret. Lizzy was about to jump in, but she saw Jacobs stop. He slowly turned around... A bone spike was embedded in his tank, and the tank was loosing pressure fast.
'Well, damn. I’m a goner. I’ll hold them off!’ He said. He ripped off his dog tags and tossed them expertly through the driver’s window and onto my lap.
'What? Throw the damn thing off, man!’ I shouted back.
'No time. Go, I’ll make a goodbye barbecue for ya guys! God bless ya.’ Jacobs said, dashing into the fray, screaming bloody fury. I revved the massive jeep and starting speeding down the road after Nathaniel had jumped into the passenger seat and Lizzy had taken the other turret. As we screeched around a corner, there was an almighty explosion behind us...

'Ugh, not Jacobs...’ I heard Lizzy say. I had pocketed Jacob’s dogtags. McKenzie was silent. Silently grieving. He’s taking this really hard.
‘We have to face it, Alpha. We’ve lost two people so far. It may be more...’ Nathaniel responded. Everyone was in terrible shape. Nathaniel had been battered all over, sustained several large gashes, and half of his tail was gone. Lizzy’s pistol was grabbed by a Demon in the fighting, and one of her fragile ribs was broken. McKenzie was mending several large gashes to his legs and arms that he sustained when jumping through the window and some smaller injuries. I was only a bit bruised and somewhat scratched, those could wait.
I struggled to keep the humvee straight when a Goliath slammed into its side, failing to flip it- but it did knock off Nathaniel’s door. The gecko blasted a couple of rounds into the Goliath’s face.
'We need to find somewhere to drop the BHB off before detonation!’ Nathaniel shouted over the roar of the engine.
'We need to find where the trickster’s guise in this dimension is; detonate it right beside the bastard!’ I replied.
'I thought he was immortal!’ Elizabeth shouted back.
'To conventional weapons, yes. But as far as I know, a black hole rips a hole in all the dimensions, sucking in anything close! If we detonate it a distance away from him, he can leave the area before it sucks him in! But if we get close...’
'...We can destroy Evil Incarnate. But where is he?’ Nathaniel said. We thought for a moment. The Trickster would want all the power he could get, and it had to be really damn powerful. Ah...
'The nuclear power plant!’

New Venice had one, large nuclear station on the western side of town. It regulated the whole city, gave it all of its power- hell, it even powered the RAD base. If anywhere, the Trickster was hiding there. Problem is, we had another 15 miles to go, and a shit ton of beasts in our way.
There was a high-pitched screech as a Basilisk stomped out from behind a building. It screeched again, making almost everyone cover their ears. I kept driving. We had a mission.
The survivors of the squad pulled themselves together and quickly started attacking it. Private Elizabeth was smart, she loaded a round into the Bloody Talon and shot the Basilisk; the shot blew straight through the head, leaving a massive hole. The Basilisk slumped to the ground, dead.
'God damn...’ I said, watching the blood pool around the Basilisk. ‘That weapon’s going to be fucking helpful!’
‘For once, I can make a difference.’ She said. At that moment, our Humvee flipped through the air...

My vision was blurry; must of whacked my head on something. The humvee was in bits, and those bits were burning all around. The heat was melting the snow- Shit, did the others survive?
A large foot thudded onto the ground next to me. An Auto-killer foot.
My vision was blurred, but I could see a rifle in front of me. I scrambled to grab it. I rolled over and opened the loading mechanism. Lizzy had loaded it before we crashed; I guess the Auto-killer crushed the hood, and the thing’s massive weight easily flipped the military vehicle.
I closed the loading mechanism and aimed. It was Hatchet. It was making a hacking noise. Laughing?
I pulled the trigger.
KER-BLAM!
The infamous Auto-killer reeled up in the air, a massive hole blown straight through its front end. I was showered in blood and grey matter from Hatchet when the Auto-killer fell backwards, onto the flaming carcass of the humvee, and its flesh ignited.
My arm screamed out in pain from taking that shot at such an angle; I hadn’t the time to sit up or put less weight into it. My shoulder had been dislocated from the shot; I pushed it back in. I screamed out in pain from it; damn, that hurt!
I hefted the large rifle and looked around for my friends and allies. I quickly found Lizzy still inside the back of the humvee. I hauled her out; she was coughing up blood, and for good reason. Her lower half was a bloody mess; I’m surprised she was still alive.
'End of the road, huh...?’ She hacked up some blood.
'I bet you McKenzie can save you.’ I said. I picked her up, and grunted in pain.
'...Nah, His precious Nanos couldn’t save Hale, they sure as hell ain’t going to-’ She coughed, and her body was racked with tremors. '...Save me.’
'He can try...’ I said.
'Hardly. Look... in the Talon’s... stock...’ She said, right before she died. She died in my arms. Such a promising young life... Gone. I laid her to rest against a nearby wall, before yanking her dog tags off and putting them in my pocket. I also took the satchel of massive bullets she carried, putting it on myself. I started walking away to find the last two survivors. They were behind me, McKenzie supporting Nathaniel. McKenzie had lost his medical supplies and his SMG, but not his life. Same with Nathaniel, but he carried a battle shotgun that must of been in the back of the humvee.
'You two should go. Escape this damned city, I can take it from here.’ I said. I picked up the BHB from the ground (It had been thrown away from the crash, still intact.) and strapped it on. I handed McKenzie the revolver that I was carrying, along with what ammo I had for it.
'No, Captain. We can still fight. We want revenge too, you know that.’ Nathaniel said.
'So says the one with the broken ankle.’ McKenzie responded to Nathaniel.
'That’s an order, you two. I am not going to loose any more friends.’ I said.
'Sorry, but we’re going to have to disobey that one.’ Nathaniel responded. I stared at him.
'Alright.’ I said after hesitating. 'You two better not die on me.’
‘Alright, sir.’ They said together.
‘McKenzie, what happened to your medical supplies?’ I asked.
‘I had found them, but they were crushed. No nanobots this time.’ He said, saddened.
‘We still have a chance, though. That’s all that counts.’
‘Aye. Let’s move.’ Nathaniel said, before trying to walk. He made the mistake of putting alot of weight on his injured ankle. He fell backwards into McKenzie’s arms.
‘I think you’re going to need me, sir.’ McKenzie said to Nathaniel.
‘Er... Yeah.’ Nathaniel admitted.

I slammed down the doors to an abandoned factory. A demon was waiting right behind the doors; I knocked it down with the door. I blasted it before it had the chance to get up.
'Right, this factory’s supposed to be a vehicles manufacturing facility. If we’re lucky, we can find a civilian vehicle to take- perhaps even one of those hovering ones that they didn’t have much time to produce. I’ve heard rumors that they were making more for civilian use.’ I said, looking around.
'I’ve seen them before.We may just... Sir, look down at the factory floor!’ Nathaniel said. The lobby that we had entered had one glass wall that looked over the factory floor. I walked over. Well, we weren’t going to find any vehicles here. We found the Beasts’ hospital instead.
The floor was turned into a lot of operating tables, each one manned by a pair of... things. Hell, I had seen these before, back in the ADF base, just before the Unholy Saint! No wonder it ran away, it couldn’t fight.
On each of the tables that were used to work on cars, lay a Goliath or similar large creature. This must be why I’ve seen some in odd conditions, usually badly sewn up.
'Sir, if this is what I think it is... We take this out, we can slow down the onslaught. Kill all of those repairers.’ McKenzie said.
'Good plan, but I’m not sure if it’ll work. I saw several Goliaths in the RAD base that were repaired by these things, before New Venice even fell. But it will do some damage, yeah.’ I responded. I ran over to the cubicle in the corner of the room; the security office. I could see a PK-17 in there, along with plenty of cartridges for the automatic rifle. I smashed the glass on the security office and grabbed the rifle, throwing it to McKenzie, along with a few cartridges. Alarm bells went off.
'Lets kill them all; that’s an order!’ I shouted. The pair started down the metal stair, I leaped out of the observatory window and rolled to the ground, 15 feet below. I blasted a Repairer, then another before turning to the Goliath they had been working on. It staggered up, the skin on its head hanging in flaps and its brain- what was left of it- was exposed. It was quickly despatched because of its lack of a weapon. Nathaniel and McKenzie gave covering fire from the stairs. They had to move slowly because of Nathaniel’s broken ankle.
A Repaired rushed me- this one had a bone saw instead of a sewing machine for a hand. I dodged, reloaded, and fired. Blood splattered all over the pair of Repairers behind that one.
A Hunter that was being repaired tried to kill me. One of its tentacles slashed my side, but did no serious damage. I blasted its chest- but it did nothing. Its chest was wide open, the ribs sticking outwards. The lungs and heart were in a bloody metal box which withstood the blast. I reloaded and then axed the Hunter’s distorted head right down the center. A Repaired fell on me, some buckshot in its back- courtesy of Nathaniel. He winked at me- he and McKenzie had made it down the stairs and were doing their fair share of killing.
I put the stock of the Revenge into a half-built Goliath’s face and then quickly blasted an Octo-gore that was more of a Quad-gore. I spun around, axed a Repairer, and then slammed my boot into a Hexed one’s face. Its mutated brain went flying out of the back- it must of not been repaired quite well if there was a hole in the skull big enough for that. I reloaded and then blasted the last creature- a Lurcher with no shielding. It launched out a bone spike as it died that pinned my coat to the wall. I tore myself out of the navy blue trench coat and reloaded the Revenge again. McKenzie rattled off a few shells into the last Repairer.
'Did any get away?’ I asked the pair.
'Not that we saw.’ Nathaniel said.
'Good.’ I responded. I searched around, looking for an exit or better yet, a ride. I found an exit, but no ride. this factory had been wiped out of vehicles ages ago. the exit was marked with big red letters, though. We walked outside to see that it was snowing again.
‘Ugh, all of this snow...’ McKenzie said as we strode into half a foot of it. There was slight red tinge to the snow... EVERYWHERE.
‘My god... Has there been so much death that even the weather is effected by it?’ Nathaniel added.
‘Or we could be standing on top of bodies without knowing it...’ I said. The pair behind me made two similar signs of disgust before leaping back into the doorway.
'...but we aren’t. Come on.’

The red snow had passed, thankfully. We never did figure out why it was that color.
We slammed down dozens of creatures for a good six miles... But all good things must end.
We stopped at a partially blown up house for cover, ducking in the garage. Three Lurchers had set themselves up about 20 yards out, right in our way. They weren’t shooting, so they were damn near invincible.
‘Sir, remember you mentioning hovercrafts?’ Nathaniel said while I was trying to line up a shot with the Bloody Talon.
‘Hardly the time, Nathaniel.’ I responded.
‘It may not be a slasher tank, but its fast... sir.’ Nathaniel said. I decided to look to where he was pointing. We had ducked into a hovercraft’s garage- best yet, it was a racing hovercraft!
‘Jackpot!’ I said. It was one of the dark-side of legal crafts- half way military, half way speed machine. They usually had some type of weapons and a top speed of 700 MPH or even higher.
But... The drivers usually trained for five years or more. And this is an extremely tight area for such high speeds, especially since those are supposed to accelerate VERY quickly. This one was large, orange, triangular, and equipped with a duo of gatling gun turrets.
'We could use it to escape!’ McKenzie said.
‘Sadly, not. We can’t drive it; unless one of you two isn’t telling me something.’ I said.
‘Wouldn’t it be just like driving a Slasher tank?’ Nathaniel said. ‘I used those quite a few times before, especially during the Week-long war.’
‘This thing has to saw blade, has a top speed nearly ten times one of those Slashers, and you need training. And they’re all custom built anyhow; we wouldn’t know how to drive the damn thing properly.’ I said. I stepped over a body- presumably the owner’s- and looked the craft over.
'We can try. Keep it in low gear?’
'Even then it’ll still reach 150. The guns may help, but piloting it is out of the question.’ I responded. I heard a roar from outside- a large group was amassing! I ducked behind the wall again.
'Shit... There’s a good 200 creatures out there or more! Got any ideas?’ I asked. I heard Nathaniel ask McKenzie to let go and lean him against the wall. He did.
'None, sir. How much ammo you got?’ McKenzie asked.
'About 70 shells, which means only about 45 blasts. When they’re that compacted, I could destroy two with one shot. But I don’t have enough ammo... how about you, Nathaniel?’
'Only about a cartridge.’ McKenzie responded. There was a clatter- Nathaniel’s shotgun! I looked up to see Nathaniel saluting me form the cockpit of the hovercraft. It slowly drifted out of the garage.
'No, damnit!’ I cried. Before I could do something, the rear thrusters on the craft ignited and the large racing craft was sent flying straight into the crowd at about 500 MPH! We ducked behind the wall of the garage just in time, for the flaming shrapnel from the explosion would of shredded us. I picked up Nathaniel’s battle shotgun, took his dogtags that were tied around it, and tossed the shotgun to McKenzie, along with a box of ammo. The Cardinal took it, but had the look of absolute shock, like he just lost a loved one. Where they really that good of friends...? He loaded the shotgun.
'This has to end. Now.’ He said, pissed. I agreed. We stepped out into the street, our shotguns ready. Nathaniel’s suicide tactic had wiped out just about everything on the road. We dashed through the flaming metal, killing what beasts remained. There wasn’t many; Nathaniel did what he could.
McKenzie had taken low flight, his speed kicking up the powdery snow. I couldn’t keep up!
I stopped, but McKenzie kept on going, eventually speeding around a corner and out of sight...
'McKenzie, wait! That’s an order!’ I shouted as he flew off. I proceeded to cuss a few times before walking on. Alone again. That’s always my fate.

I could see the power station not far from here- maybe half a mile. Smoke was pouring out of the top of it, it was in full activity. But why...?
I heard a growl from behind me. I swung around, blew a Demon’s head off. There was just one, though. They always travel in groups. So where are they all? Trying to get to a larger city, perhaps? Spread their plague, spread their fear...
I reloaded the Revenge and started dashing towards the power plant. Maybe if I stop the fear at its source, then all is not lost.

I ducked behind the entryway door frame at the power plant. I heard growling inside, obviously the plant was guarded. So the Trickster had to be in here...
I swung in, took out the two Demons, reloaded, and then blew a Hexed one’s face right off. I reloaded again, axed a third Demon, and then dodged an angry Goliath. I let off a large blast into the Goliath’s back, splattering blood all over the wall. More had to be coming.
I loaded in two more shells and axed one of the fire alarms, setting off the rest. The fire sprinklers activated; maybe that’d slow the creatures down.
I ran towards the first door, but it slammed shut before I could get there- fire precautions. Damn, why did I do that?
I looked around; the room was a simple lobby with posters advertising the cleanness of nuclear power and the amount of Gigawatts it generated and whatnot. There were chairs about, along with a single lonesome table that had some magazines. I noticed a rectangular hole in the wall, just above the floor and behind a chair. Wasn’t very large; maybe a foot long and 6 inches tall; takes an experienced eye to notice something like that. I shoved the chair out of the way and searched for a button. I found one on the left wall in the hole, which I pressed. A slot in the wall slid open, and it gave me access to what looked like maintenence tunnels. Who knows how radioactive they are...
I jumped down, landing in about a foot of ice-cold; but not frozen; water. This must be the water that’s used to cool down the core.
I shot a Demon as it tried to sneak up on me through the water. Good try, but this water does make a lot of noise. Another one approached me, this time along the walkways on the edge. It jumped on me, knocking me under. I forced it off, blew it to shreds, and yanked myself out of the freezing water. I quickly rolled over to the walkway.
The tunnels were dark, damp, and oddly warm. Makes sense, though. Hopefully it doesn’t cause the BHB to detonate on my back...
An Octo-Gore rose out of the water; it was deeper in that area. It launched tentacles at me; One scratched the side of my face but I dodged the others. I let off one close-range, well aimed buckshot. Should save ammo.
A Hexed one roared from around a corner and rushed me while I was reloading. Idiot forgot about my ax, which spilt its grey-matter into the water.
I took a left and then jumped behind the corner again- there was a Basilisk on the other side, wading through the water!
I took out the Bloody Talon and loaded on of its massive bullets into it. I kneeled down just at the edge of the corner and fired at the Basilisk’s head.
KER-BLAM!
The recoil knocked me back into the rusty railing, but the shot took out the Basilisk and left a hole through the wall. The Basilisk whimpered and then crashed into the ground. I unloaded the Bloody Talon’s shell and then replaced it for the Revenge.
'Lizzy, your rifle hasn’t let me down yet...’ I said, kissing the Bloody Talon’s Barrel. I continued straight, and towards the core.

I stopped at a hatch which yellow beams of light shown through. I kicked it open, and found myself a shock. A... creature had latched onto the pylons that held the reactor in the water- it seemed to be sapping the radiation. It looked much like a skin-covered blob with vague arms and legs...
I held the Revenge at ready. The ground was covered in gore and other body parts. The creature’s tendrils had reached down into the water and thus the reactor. Shit. The blob had to be a good 45 feet around!
‘So you’ve arrived, Hero.’ The Trickster said.
'Really, Trickster? I thought you were supposed to be the incarnation of evil! The Devil, for God’s sake! Not this... this... Blob!’ I said, my arms held out wide. I felt triumphant; maybe I could destroy him in this weak form.
'I am gathering my power, Hero. But... If you insist to fight...’
The Blob peeled itself away with a sickening wet noise and slapped onto the ground. It was forming itself, though... It stood up on a pair of muscled- but not skinned- double-jointed legs that ended in spread claws- four in a cross pattern.
The torso formed next. It was well muscled, but also missing skin. No tail formed.
The arms- the four of them- grew out next. They were normal and muscular; no skin, of course-, but they each ended in a single massive spike of bone almost ten feet long.
The head formed last. It had a snout and horns, but no muscles. Just the goat-like skull, a long tongue hanging out, and its blood-shot eyes, staring lidless from the sockets. The inside of the skull had flesh, though.
'You’ve got to be slow like that.’ I said, the revenge ready. I shrugged off the BHB, which landed with a clang.
'You cannot run forever.’ The Trickster said, his voice low and full of bass.
'Can you?’ I asked just before I jumped behind the BHB and activated the timer- it had two seconds left. If I understood this thing correctly, the black hole’s radius slowly expanded as the black hole gained electrons. Thus, one could run from it.
I started running for the door across the room when there was a tick, then a loud, suction-like noise. The viewing station was being sucked in, along with all the stuff nearby. I had already started dashing up the stairs on the other side of the door before the Trickster realized what happened. Hah- tricked the Trickster.
The Trickster’s scream was almighty and painful. It sounded like the reactor was exploding over and over again. Perhaps it was; it was getting sucked into a mini black hole.
I pelted down the battered hallway at full speed, not stopping to blow away any thing that wasn’t directly in my path. I took a quick glance behind- the hallway was stretching off at an angle, and getting darker. Damn, the black hole grows quick!
A Goliath tried to run me down; I ran up its shield and kept on running down the hall. The Goliath, presumably, got spahgetified.
The hall took a hard left down the stairs to the floor below which was the ground floor. I took the more direct route: Through the window. I vaulted through the window and landed hard in the snow, but I kept on going.
The smokestacks behind me collapsed in on themselves. I didn’t hear it though, because the blackhole sucks in sound as well.
I chose quickly- a pickup truck with a snowmobile hitched to the back on a trailer was in the parking lot exit. I jumped in and started it up; the previous owner must of ran without taking their keys.
I smashed through the crossing block as the power station fell in on itself. The lights in the city flickered and then went out.
I checked the gas gauge- nearly a full tank. Great.
I swerved onto the main street that was facing directly away from the black hole and then upped the gear into the fourth gear. We need speed.
The BHB was sucking in the snow, now. Snow shouldn’t fall sideways.
I slammed through two Demons and then a bicycle. Snow was kicked up as I swerved before regaining my course. I was traveling at about 90 in a relic of a pickup truck down a town road. Fun.
I turned sharply to the left as a much lighter car got lifted and sucked away. I adjusted the rear view mirror- even the ground was getting sucked away behind me!
The windshield wipers on the truck were at full speed due to the snow splattering all over it. Thankfully, the snow came off just as quick.
A Hexed one made a bloody- but unnoticeable- bump. I wouldn’t want to see the front of my pickup.
I was entering an area that must of been a market of some sort; there were tables, stalls, and chairs scattered about on the cobblestones, all under the snow. I knew it was cobbles because they were getting sucked up and flying through the air! I ducked just as one smashed through my windshield and out the back. 'Holy shit!’ I cried out.
I looked back; my snowmobile was hanging on. And a veritable tide of creatures was coming from all sides now, except the front. All of them had to be swarming on my position...
I dodged a Lurcher, slammed through a Demon, and winded a Goliath. The Goliath almost sent the pickup doing donuts, but I straightened it out. I smashed through a market stall, sending wood boards flying. My side view mirror got snapped off because that stall was near the wall.
A Demon that was trying to board my truck from the front got sucked up, its feet slamming into my windshield. This is total anarchy... I then realized I was heading straight towards the frozen section of the harbor. No time to fix it now...
There was an almighty groan as several buildings alongside my speeding truck were ripped right out of the ground, foundations and all. They crumbled and were sucked back in mid air.
I almost flipped the truck when I ran a Hunter over; it caused me to balance on my two left wheels for a short time. I heard a noise much akin to a shaken soda bottle being opened up- the gas was leaking! Crap! I looked back- the snowmobile. I hope that it’s fueled.
I grabbed the keys for it from off the dashboard and quickly looked around for something to depress the gas pedal. I threw an extra box of twenty shotgun shells on top, and it was pressed down. I swung open the door- which got quickly sucked away. I swerved the truck out of the way of a chunk of a building before swinging out into its back- the wind was blasting me, along with the snow. I blasted a few creatures with the Revenge before leaping onto the snowmobile. I stuck in the keys and started it up. It had gas!
I kicked away the supports that held the snowmobile on when I started it, and it was quickly going at full speed when it dropped off. I speed on, past the slowing truck and still getting chased. The truck got sucked up. Come on, if I can reach the harbor, the vast amount of water may stop it...
A building directly in my path was coming loose. Bricks were flying my way. One whacked me in the shoulder, and another one bounced off the front of my snowmobile. But I wasn’t really touched. then the concrete foundations came undone. I ducked as the massive slab of stone flew right over me, only where my head was a millisecond ago.
I could hear a helicopter above- I looked up. An ADF helicopter! Better yet, this one had mounted machine guns and was giving supporting fire. I could see a trooper on it with a loudspeaker.
'Captain Trevor, there is a large rock out in the ice in the harbor that works as a ramp- It leads to a helicopter. Get there now, it leaves if the black hole gets too close!’ He said.
'Took you long enough!’ I shouted back, but I could barely hear myself over their gunfire. Damnit.
I flew over the drop onto the ice in the harbor, sending cracks behind me. Snow was blowing all around, buildings were crumbling, and the ground was collapsing. A oil tanker ship that I was speeding alongside was starting to lift from the ice, and it was getting sucked in by the black hole.
More Demons assaulted me. I dodged, ducked, and swerved. These things will not take me down.
I dodged a ten foot long piece of ice that was just ripped from the rest that went flying at me. Of course, seconds later, the tanker got ripped out and was being dragged along the ground. It left a massive hole in the ice, which was starting to collapse. But I could see the lone helicopter waiting next to a triangular rock which I could easily use as a ramp. I changed course and started straight towards it. A Demon ended up under my skis, which almost crashed me. I hit the rock hard, the skis getting shredded. I jumped from the snowmobile and grabbed onto the landing rail on the helicopter as it was just taking off, my snowmobile in pieces on the ground. The helicopter was moving fast, the two gunners rapidly firing at the masses. A wolf’s hand reached down and helped me up.
'Welcome aboard, capitan.’ He said. Looked like a timber wolf. Attire of a Gunnery Sergeant. 'Best hang on to your lunch, this is going to be a hell of a bumpy ride.’
'Didn’t have it.’ I responded. We were flying above the city- or what wasn’t sucked up yet. Will I finally escape?
At that second, the tail of a helicopter that was being sucked in slammed into ours, sending us towards the black hole!
Will I ever escape?
'Brace yourselves!’ The wolf shouted to the 6-anthro crew.
'You can’t brace yourselves for a black hole.’ I replied to him. I could see the front end of our helicopter being stretched into the pure darkness of the hole and then... nothing.

I woke up with my face in red dirt. I shoved myself up and grabbed the Revenge, which had its axe blade embedded in the ground. I expected to see a wrecked helicopter around me- if I had woken up at all. Thankfully, I did wake up.
I was in a massive field of this red dirt with mountains in the distance- at least a mile or so away. the sky was a scarlet red. Behind me was a Gigantic pile of... Well, I’m not sure what to call it. They looked rather like extremely long noodles; same color even. The pile was at least a mile in radius and nearly 300 feet high!
'That’s the remains of New Venice, Hero.’ I heard the trickster stay behind me. I quickly spun around, the Revenge ready. He was there- in the shape of an anthropomorphic coyote wearing black and scarlet medieval battle armor. The armor was details with demonic symbols- pentagrams and such. ' Everything was stretched to this... stuff. Then dumped here. Dispersed me back here too.’
'And why’d I live?’ I asked,the Revenge still pointed at him.
'The Raven saved you; I’m not sure why.’ The Trickster was silent. '...Hah. He thinks you can escape. That is near impossible.’
'I can escape over mountains, easy.’ I said. The Trickster laughed hard.
'Oh, You don’t know where you are, do you? You’re in my domain now. Abydon. The Abyss. The Underworld. Welcome to Hell, Hero.’

Wun Ish...

Kitty Feles — Sat, 06 Apr 2013 01:21:35 +0000

I's Nuh Happies...

Skype paw plushies :3 knot so bad lol

YiffyKnots — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 00:36:20 +0000

:3 hello

Still Human: Renegade (Act I, Chapter I)

Jaxx — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 20:21:09 +0000

See, the thing about war, is that, it never really changes. Sure, the tools change, and whose fighting in it changes, but anything else? No, war stays the same. In part, it may be because humanity stays the same. We always found it easier to kill for something we need than to get it ourselves. Come to think of it, that might explain why we were sent down to the surface in the first place. Hi, my name is Gilda. I'm an avian scout for the Enclave. The Enclave live in massive sky fortresses. They just sent us on a suicide mission. Our job was to collect scrap metal.

Our target was a small settlement occupied by raiders and bandits. They had taken over a pre-war farming community it seems. They were pretty poorly armed. They might even have a small 9mm machine gun. Of course, we had power armor. Not heavy, because we were supposed to just watch as the actual team was sent in. Our job was just to record what we saw and spot for them.

My squad consisted of 5 people. I was the lowest ranking, being a Private. I am a Raven with odd gold highlights. Next came Mickey, who was also a Private, but he was more of a kiss ass, so the officers liked him more. Nobody else liked Mickey. He was a Robin I think. I don't know for sure, we don't talk much. After Mickey was Corporal Omerta, who was fiery red chicken. Don't joke about it with him, he gets annoyed easily. Also, he was a bit of a hothead. After Lunch came Lieutenant Wasp. His first name was Jasper, and no, he isn't a Wasp. He's a Grey Dragon. Okay, just kidding. But what else do you call a winged lizard? Oddly enough, Jasper was the one to calm everyone down when Omerta started something. Our squad leader was Captain James Friar. He was a by-the-book kind of guy. Very stiff and if you broke regulation he'd report it 3 seconds before you even knew you were doing something wrong. We were Sparrow Squad. We were reconnaissance for Griffon Squad, who were the people actually fighting. We had light armor, they had heavy armor. We had pistols, they had machine rifles. We had combat knives, they had shotguns. They have an arrogant attitude, we had old Binoculars.

"Griffon Leader, be advised, your team has not been given the greenlight to engage yet."
"Sparrow Leader, this is Griffon Leader. Go shove it. We're moving in."
"This is Sparrow 4, we have yet to survey the entire area yet, we don't know what they're packing." I said.
"Sparrow Leader, tell your squad to stop whining, grow a pair, and let us do our job. Take notes Sparrows, and we'll show you how it's done!" Like I said. Arrogant. Bastards.

They flew down fast and low to avoid detection by the sniper they had on the roof. It looks like he had an old Winchester. A Griffon flew in behind him and slammed into him, and they hit the roof. The Griffin turned around quickly, and preceded to beat him on the head with the butt of his rifle. I winced when I saw the poor man's skull cave in. That had to have hurt. I continued to scan around the first farmhouse. Yeah, not very well equipped at all. Not a single one had on armor of any sort. The Griffons regrouped on the roof where the sniper had been. I switched to look around some more. Looks like Griffon Squad had been busy. I saw plenty of corpses. I even saw a child looting a body. No, wait... I toggled my zoom and realized he was weeping over the corpse. That's when I realized something. I activated my mic, "Griffon Squad! Those aren't raiders! They're a farming community! Cease fire!" The other Sparrows scrambled up when they heard me say that, and we all began to fly towards Griffon Squad.

"Get back to your posts Sparrows."
"This violates protocol! We do NOT attack civilians unless under dire circumstances!" Of course. He only cared because it was against the rules. Fuck you Cap.
"They had something the Enclave wanted. So we took it. Besides, what are you crying about? They aren't even fit for anything besides slave labor! They don't even have wings!"
"Are you fucking kidding me? You just killed innocent people for scrap metal!" I glanced at Omerta. I hadn't expected him to take our side in this to be honest.
"Did I give you permission to speak, Dinner?" Oh shit. Oh shit oh shit oh shit. I looked at Omerta as I saw the familiar flame in his eye. Luckily Wasp stepped in front of him.
"Moving on. Why did you knowingly attack civilians?"
"Sorry, what? I never heard your squad say they were civvies until the Bitch over there mentioned it not too long ago."
"I'll let that go. But we made a mistake, let's just go!" I grumbled.
"No can do lady. We came here for scrap metal, we're getting scrap metal, even if we have to tear down this entire damned village!"
"What about the rest of you Griffons? You agree with him? Say something damn it!" Oh, even the kiss ass was getting his licks in.
"Our orders are to retrieve scrap metal, maggot. That's what we'll do." Griffon Squad moved towards the building, but we got in their way.
"Stand aside pansies. You won't stop us."
"I said it once, I'll say it again. This is against Protocol! We will leave here immediately."
"Fine, be that way. Griffons, waste them." Wait, what? I had just enough time to share a confused look with Omerta before his face was torn off my a shotgun slug. As I turned to fly away I saw that Mickey and the Captain had also been shot. Jasper was already in the air flying away. I flew after him. Luckily, we were faster flyers than them, and they didn't pursue us too far. Most likely returning to the scrap to be collected.

We landed after flying for about 20 minutes, both of us panting. When we landed I noticed I couldn't stand up straight with a bullet in my leg. I hadn't noticed in the heat of the moment. Jasper wasn't much better. He had a few holes in his wings. I'm surprised he even managed to get this far. We sat on a rock near the road, just catching our breath. I took the time to bandage my leg. When we got back they could patch it up for me. I tried my comms.
"Command? This is Sparrow 4, requesting immediate assistance. Griffon Squad went rogue and downed over half our squad. It's just me and the Lieutenant left. Over." I let go of the button and waited for a response. Static. I tried again.
"Command, this is Sparrow 4, do you read? Over."
"This is Command Sparrow 4. You are to report back to base immediately for trial. Failure to do so will result in severe punishment."
"Command, I don't understand, what are we being tried for?"
"Opening fire on a civilian community. Do you copy?"
I didn't understand that statement.
"Sparrow 4, do you copy?"
"Command, Sparrow Squad did not fire a single round during that engagement. Griffon Squad injured and killed several civvies."
"That's not what we heard. We heard that Sparrow Squad opened fire on the civilians with stolen military hardware and then when confronted by Griffon Squad, retreated. We already have a confession from one of your members."
"Command, that's bullshit. I saw Omerta get his face torn off, and the Captain and Mickey are full of more holes than a pincushion. The Lieutenant is here with me, so what member would be left?"
"Sparrows, return to base for Trial. Command Out."
"Command, you can go fuck yourself. Sparrow 4 out.

"So, that went well." Wasp commented.
"Shit, you heard that?"
"Kinda hard not to when you're shouting on the comms."
"So, what now? We have no backup, are now outlaws for our own government, and we're stranding in a Wasteland." Wasp stood up, and dusted himself off. "We fly North to the nearby town. We recover from our injuries, assess the situation, and then we get even. Well? You coming?"
"Right behind you sir."
"Forget calling me sir. We're outlaws now, remember? Might as well make the most of it." We both took off, and started to fly North. Says the town was called 'Rent' when I checked my map. I put it away and focused on flying.

"You know, if you had told me that today I'd be an outlaw to the society I've known my entire life, I'd call you crazy."
"Is that so, Gilda? That's funny, because I'm pretty sure I'd call myself crazy, and check myself into the nearest hospital too."

End of Chapter I.

Abouts Mes

Kitty Feles — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 11:57:55 +0000

I's Ish A Hobo Kitten Cub, I's Gweens Ands A Bits Pudgy, I's Ish A Amweicans Short Fur, Buh I's Has Poofy Tufts Ofs Fur Ons Mine Cheeks Ands Ons Mine Tail Tips Dats Kinna Makes Looks A Wittle Funnies.

I's Likes Cookies And Shweets, And I's Likes Tews Has Funz,

I's Cumz Heres Tews Looks Fur Local Furs Tews Bes Furends Wiff, Ifs Yews Livs Ins Da Sylmar O's LA Awea Shends Mes A PM. =^-^.=

Here Today, Gone Tomorrow by Jarak Panther

Jarak Panther — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 04:22:06 +0000

My Paternal Grandmother had often told me that she was fond of my music, my songs, my singing, my Guitar playing, and my poetry, so I know it would have meant a lot to her to have a poem that I wrote in her memory read by me during her funeral service. I eventually plan to put music to it.

We all knew it would only be a matter of time,
And to keep you here with us longer would have been a crime,
For yours was a soul that the Lord had let us borrow.
Here Today, Gone Tomorrow.

Here Today, Gone Tomorrow.
Our Lives are so bleak, and our world filled with sorrow.
You've gone back home to be with Jesus, so we shouldn't be sad.
We should treasure having known you, and all the times we'd had.
Our hearts should be glad you're at peace, not filled with Sorrow.
Here Today, Gone Tomorrow.

When the time finally came for God to take you home again,
We all knew we would see you soon, but would miss you until then.
Yes, yours was a soul that the Lord had let us borrow.
Here Today, Gone Tomorrow.

Here Today, Gone Tomorrow.
Our Lives are so bleak, and our world filled with sorrow.
You've gone back home to be with Jesus, so we shouldn't be sad.
We should treasure having known you, and all the times we'd had.
Our hearts should be glad you're at peace, not filled with Sorrow.
Here Today, Gone Tomorrow.

Written In Loving Memory of "Grandma" Doris Elaine Ruhnke (January 2, 1927 - April 29, 2011)

The Vixen Boi by Jarak Panther

Jarak Panther — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 04:19:19 +0000

(Author Note: This story was inspired by a Role Play that I had with a Fur Friend of mine on Facebook. It contains Furries, sexuality, the tongue bathing of one fur by two others, and forced Crossdressing. If these things offend you then you're either too young to be reading things of this nature, or have your head jammed so far up your butt that you can see what you had for breakfast 3 whole days ago. Either way, you need to get off of the site that you're reading this on. If you're not offended by these things, and are older than the age of 18 (With legal documentation as proof of such), then you need to get to my Bedroom ASAP!!!!)

The sun was shining brightly, and a soft gentle breeze blew as the brown eyed, red, and white furred Spanish male anthro Fox walked down the sidewalk of a large metropolitan city dressed a dark colored designer suit, with a gold watch. He'd been trying for a while to find the place he was looking for. He didn't have the name of the company, just an address. In the downtown area, he came across a building that looked like it was an aerobics studio, or dance school. Thinking someone inside could help him, he opened the door, and went in, finding a Female's aerobics class.

"Where's your outfit, you naughty girl?” the Wolfess instructor in blue tights, a shortsleeve light green Leotard, and light green legwarmers asked. The Fox just stood there, confused at what he'd just been asked.

"Are you talking to me?" he asked in a deep baritone voice with a thick Spanish accent. "Yes, I'm talking to you!”

"I'm not here for class, I just--" He started to say.

The instructor approached him swatted him on his butt and used her claws, and teeth to rip his clothes off, leaving him in just his fur.

"That's what you get for not wearing the proper attire!” He jumped at the spank, and blinked as his clothes were shredded.

"Let me see. Let me see.... Aha! I have an extra outfit in my duffle bag.”

The teacher went into the little office, and returned with a pair of white socks, a pair of purple trainers, and a sleeveless scoopneck fuscia cotton spandex leotard, and a pair of purple tights. Suddenly, she pounced the Fox, and began dressing him in the outfit. When she'd finished, she got off of him, and he stood up. The other female furs in the class, started giggling at him, and whispering to each other. Some even pointed at him as they giggled.

"Nice outfit, hun," A Bearess said reaching over, and patting him on his butt, and then groping him, causing him to blink, and jump again .

"Okay class, let's get started. This is our new student, and she's going to be joining our class, starting today.”

The Fox smiled at the Bearess, and turned to face the front of the room, where the teacher was standing. The teacher walked to the tape player, and switched it on. Instantly music began playing. For the next hour, and a half, the forcibly crossdressed Fox worked out, and danced along with the rest of the class, as if he'd always belonged there. At first he didn't like wearing the outfit he had on, but by the end of class, he'd grown accustomed to wearing it, liking the look, and the feel of it, especially the Leotard, which had been riding up his butt for most of the class. After class he walked over to where the instructor was.

"Wow. You're all sweaty. You must've gotten quite the workout,” the Wolfess said. He smiled, and nodded.

"Si. I did."

"Here let me lick you clean," said the Wolfess.

"Okay," he said. "I'll get undressed then.”

First he untied his shoes, and took them off. Then came his socks. After that, his Leotard. Lastly, he took off his tights.

Once he was totally in the fur again, he lay down on the floor of the dance studio, and smiled up at the instructor.

"Rrrrrrrrrrrrr” the Wolfess growled, playfully, causing the Fox to giggle rather girlishly at her silliness.

"Excuse me, Senorita, but I feel like I should be wearing a swimsuit for getting tongue bathed.” He said.

The Wolfess's eyes lit up. "Good idea!” she said.

She stood again, and rushed into the office. When she returned again, she had a purple 1 piece swimsuit, which she dressed the Fox in.

"How do I look in it?” He asked, standing up, and posing, and modeling a bit.

"Good! I like it!”

He blushed more.

"Gracias," he said laying back down on his back again.

The Wolfess Aerobics instructor started to lick him, and the Fox murred, fully enjoying this tongue bath.
It clearly showed that he enjoyed it because his cock was getting rock hard.

"I'm kind of glad I came in here. I know it's not where I was going to, but I feel like it's where I'm supposed to be.”

"I think so too, sweetie,” she said between licks.

The Fox moaned louder, his bulge really showing now.

(If she keeps this up, I'm going to cream this sexy swimsuit,) the Fox thought (Then again, perhaps that is what this sexy Wolfess wants. I can't say that I would be entirely opposed to it.)

The Fox shivered, shuddered, moaned, groaned, grunted, growled, panted, and murred loudly in pleasure as he was continually licked clean. Suddenly a large wet spot appeared on the crotch of the swimsuit. The Bearess who had groped him earlier sniffed the air, catching the scent of the Fox's arousal.

"Someone just climaxed in her bathing suit," she said. She slipped her short white skirt on over her sleeveless thong blue Leotard, and red tights, removed her blue legwarmers, her socks, and her shoes, and put on a pair of high heel white shoes, then she padded over to where the Wolfess and Fox were.

"She's cute isn't she, Suki?" the Bearess asked.

"Yes, she is, Bella." She smiled, got down on her paws, and knees, and started to lick the Fox's face, head, and ears.

"Mmm, and she tastes like sexy." she said with a giggle. As she continued to lick him, he reached back, and groped her.

Her eyes went wide at the grope, and he smiled up at her.

"One bad turn deserves another," he told her.

She giggled, and kept licking him. Soon she got too tired to help bathe him, and sat back to watch Suki finish.

"Mmmmm," the Fox moaned.

He smiled at the Wolfess, and then at the Bearess. Suki murred, and finished licking the Fox clean.

"So what now?" he asked the Wolfess. "Do you want the aerobics outfit back?"

"You can keep it, Vixen."

"Gracias." He said, giving Suki a kiss on the back of her left paw."What about the swimsuit?"

"Take that too" she told him.

"Really?" He asked, and hugged the Wolfess with one arm while pulling Bella in to the cuddle fest with the other.

Suki nodded. The Fox kissed Bella, and nuzzled Suki, murring loudly.

"As for what happens now, well that's entirely up to my Mate here.”

"Your Mate?” The Fox asked. Bella nodded.

"We met I came here from out of state to go to college here. I had heard about this Aerobics class, and started going, and that's when we met. It was love at first sight, and we took a vow to be committed to each other forever.” "Every so often, we try to get other girls from the class to join us in our depraved pansexual escapades, though, just for a change of pace," Suki added. "

You Senoritas do know that I'm Male, right?” he asked them.

Suki pawed playfully at him.

"Oh don't tease, silly Vixen!” she said.

"We know Vixen boi," said Bella. "We know.”

"Though I wouldn't mind having some fun with the both of you, since having two females at the same time is a huge turn on for me.” said the Fox.

"Well,” said Suki. "If you 'll dress up like in female's clothes, and pass yourself off in public as the Vixen that Bella, and I really know that you are deep down in that icky male body for a whole Month, then we'll see what we can do fulfilling your fantasy. Of course that means you'll have to go to Aerobics class with us three times a week, and wear your Leotard, and tights to class.”

"Okay. I'll do it,” the Fox said.

"And we'll do you, you fabulous Foxy Foxie.” Suki said.

The three of them giggled at this, and they stood up, taking each other's paws in their own, and walking out the door, down the steps, and down the street.

"You know,” Bella said. "I don't think we even got your name.”

"Ferran,” the fox said, putting his arms around the waists of his two new lovers, as they walked.

"Well, Vixie, Welcome to our sex fest.” Bella said, rubbing Ferran's butt through his new swimsuit, which he was still wearing.

"Mmmm,” Ferran said, and nibbled on her ears playfully, which started making Bella get wet.

"Vixie, stop teasing my mate, or I'll strip you naked, take you over my knee, and spank your cute little Vixen tush right here in front of everyone!”

Ferran grinned, and squeezed Suki's well-toned firm butt.

"EEEP!!” she said, and stared at him.

"You naughty Vixen! Just wait until we get home, young lady! You're really gonna get it then!”

"Oh I'm so scared!” Ferran said sarcastically.

Bella giggled a bit.

"You're gonna get it too you bad Bearess!” Suki said reaching over, and swatting Bella's butt.

The End?

More Than was Bargained For by Jarak Panther

Jarak Panther — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 04:09:21 +0000

The evil witch, Mahrak created a special book incorporating all her spells in the Year 434 AD. It was to have been the crowning achievement of her life. However, her Apprentice, Desanri, thinking, and believing herself to herself to be more powerful then her teacher, stole the book and disappeared into the night.

570 Years later, Michael Smythe, who had inherited the book, which had now been in his family since the dark ages, was hurting financially. He needed money to bail his family out of debt, and pay off his son James’ medical bills for the various different Cancer treatments. So Michael put the book up for an online auction. His haste and bad judgment shall pass the accursed book upon another.

And that other is.... College Professor

In an office on the campus of New York University, a middle aged man sat behind a desk staring at an item on an online auction website. $30 said the price tag next to the item, so Professor Of Ancient History, Thomas Jenson clicked the ‘Buy now’ button, and gave all the correct information, including his name, home address, city, state, zip code, E-Mail address, and credit card. It would be quite the item to have adorning his office at the University, or his apartment.

Two weeks passed since Professor Jenson placed the order. He had been grading his Student’s recently turned in assignments all night, and decided to take a break. He picked up the ‘Old Book Of Magic’ that he had received earlier that day via USPS and looked at it. It seemed to be sealed shut by a chain and lock, so he unlocked, and opened the old leather tome, and saw a table of contents. One thing caught his eye because he wasn't expecting it, a section on Transformation.

He flipped to the marked page, and saw spells for changing things and people into animals, growing and shrinking, and all sorts of other stuff.

"I bet these don't even work." He said aloud.

The spell he chose was...

"A transformation into an Anthropomorphic Cheetah, that sounds interesting."

The description read:

Lasts forever unless a counter spell is cast. The counter spell takes one month for the effects to wear off.

Casting time: 15 minutes
Change time: 10 minutes
Initialization time: 5 minutes
Overall time: 30 minutes

How to cast: Mix 1 liter of water with the following, and then pour over your head. Go somewhere a mess won't matter.
1/10th of a gram of grass,
1/2 of a gram of cut up cotton
10 ML of oil (any kind)

So, Thomas grabbed an Ice cream bucket from under the sink in his kitchen, then went, and gathered some grass from outside, and brought it back inside. He also gathered up, and cut up one of his old cotton t-shirts that he didn’t wear anymore, and got some extra virgin olive oil from the cupboard over the stove in his kitchen. After that, he turned on his faucet, and poured 1 liter of water into the bucket, put the grass, the cut up shirt and extra virgin olive oil in, and mixed, and stirred them for 15 minutes. Once it was properly mixed, he stripped off all of his clothes, went into his shower and poured it over his head.

"I knew these so-called magic spells were fake," he thought aloud after a while as he sat in the tub waiting for something to happen.

He was about to turn on the shower when he noticed spotted fur on the back of his hand. All he could do is stare in disbelief at his hand as fur slowly traveled up his arm, then he felt something on his hand.

"HOLY SHIT!!” he yelled, as he saw his paw pads, and passed out from shock.

In the morning he woke with a start, and looked at the clock. He knew that if he didn’t leave now, he was going to be late for school.

When he looked in the mirror to make sure his hair was combed neatly, he noticed the body in the mirror was clearly female with tawny colored headfur with black spots. She had hair covering her body, the white fur covering her chest, and the underside of her arms. There was even more of a shock when he looked at his own body, and saw he was the female Cheetah in the mirror! She now had white fur between her thighs, and the tail with black ringlets on the end of it, and a white tip. She saw the pink nose, the short muzzle, the spotted fur, and her eyes, that were now slits with brown pupils as opposed to the blue eyes that she had late last night when she was still a he named Thomas Jenson.

She sank to the floor, in fear of what she would be able to do in life like this. She remembered the spell book, the mixture, pouring it over her head, being freaked out by the fur. Shaking her head, she went into the bedroom, and went to bed.
Upon awakening the female Cheetah formally known as Thomas Jenson groaned a bit, got on all fours, and arched her back much like a cat would to try to work out the kinks from sleeping in such an uncomfortable, and awkward position for so long

"What a horrible nightmare that was." she moaned. Suddenly, a paw flew up to her maw at hearing the feminine voice coming from her.

“What the…?!” she exclaimed, and ran into the Bathroom

When she looked in the bathroom mirror, she let lose with a blood curdling scream.

"That wasn't just a dream!" she cried, and started to panic again.

"Wait a minute. There was something in the book about a counter spell."

Quickly she went back out to the living room, found the book laying open to the page with the spell that had caused this whole ordeal in the first place, and flipped through it.

"Where is it? Where is..."

She turned the pages trying to find the counter spell, but when she got to the place where it should be, all she found was that that particular page had been torn out.

"Now I'm going to be like this forever!" she said slumping to the floor.

Tears welled up in her eyes, and streamed down her face as she curled up into a ball and cried herself to sleep.

She awoke again several hours later, and saw that it was now well after dark. Slowly, she pulled herself into a sitting position.

“Purrrrr haps now I may venture out, since it is dark enough that no one would see what has happened to me.” She said. And as my…Thomas’ Sister, Lucy is out of town, and I have the spare key to her place, I could ‘borrow’ some clothes.”

She thought about that for a second, tapping her chin with a clawed finger.

“Then again, would I really even need to use the key? I could just do a little B & E. so that it wouldn’t seem so obvious that it was her brother, turned Cheetah sister who took her clothes.”

She quickly went to her room, and put on a pair of black pants, and a black hoodie, pulling the hood up into place. Then she left her…Thomas’ apartment (She really had to start remembering to refer to it as that), and made her way to the roof. She knew it was only a few short blocks to Lucy’s apartment, and that this was the safest way to go if she wanted to avoid detection.

After about 15 minutes of rooftop leaping, she finally arrived, and descended down the fire escape one flight of stairs, and arrived at Lucy’s apartment.
She opened the window, and slipped inside, making her way to the bedroom.

“Hmm. Now what should I take? Let me see.” She opened the closet door and there before her, was a mock turtleneck halter black velour mini dress.

”Wow!” the female Cheetah exclaimed, taking the dress out of the closet. “I didn’t know she had this.”

She laid the dress neatly, and carefully on the bed, then unzipped, and removed her hoodie, followed by her pants. She would have to remember to take them with her, so as not to arouse suspicion, and for the reason that she might need them later. Then she picked up the dress, and slipped into it, putting her arms into the armholes. Once the dress was on, she did up the zip in back, and turned to look at herself in the full-length mirror.

“Mmm Me-yow!” she purred, and pawed playfully at her reflection. “Purrrrr etty kitty.”

She giggled, and smiled, doing a turn so she could see the whole thing.

“Oh yeah. I am so taking this.”

The Female Cheetah rummaged through the closet, and found a pair of black stiletto heels that would match the dress, and tried them on.

“What else should I take?”

Looking over the different types of clothes she saw tops, pants, leggings more dresses, a 1 piece blue swimsuit, and a pair of pink pajama pants, and a matching top. Her eyes went wide at seeing that last item.

She took that out of the closet. “Hmmm. I bet that even if I were still male, all of these clothes would still fit me.”

Reaching back, she unzipped the dress, and let it fall to the floor. Then she put on the pajama pants, and top “Comfy.” She said.

She giggled again, and smiled, but her ears perked up, and her eyes went wide as she heard someone approach the front door, and insert a key into the lock.

“Oh no!” she whispered to herself. “I can’t be found here!”

Quickly she grabbed the dress she’d been wearing, before changing into her new pajamas She also grabbed a pair of red leggings, a shortsleeve green top, the blue swimsuit, the black stilettos and a pair black pumps from the closet, then rushed to the living room, managing to crawl out of the window, and onto the fire escape where she ran to the roof using her Cheetah speed just as the front door to the apartment opened, and her…Thomas’ Sister Lucy stepped inside carrying two bags of luggage.

“That was close,” the Cheetah said, once she’d made it to the roof without being seen. “If she would have seen me, I would have been in it deep.”

She let out a soft yawn, and decided to call it a night so she jumped across the same rooftops that she had in order to get to Lucy’s apartment, which wasn’t easy carrying an arm load of clothes, and two pairs of shoes.

Eventually, she made it home again, where she immediately put her new clothes away.

“Well if I’m going to be female forever, I might as well have a female name,” she said. “Hmm I’m thinking….Chtua….Chtua Cheetah. Yes. I really like that.”

She yawned again, and went to bed, still wearing the pink pajama pants, and matching top Tomorrow would be a big day for her, for tomorrow, she would eliminate any traces of her ever being male, and of a male ever living in her apartment, so that she could begin her new life as a female Anthropomorphic Cheetah. Thomas Jenson was now dead, and Chtua Cheetah had just been born.

The End?

For Lemonade Coyote

Jarak Panther — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 03:58:15 +0000

This playlist is a list of songs that are dedicated to the memory of Lemonade Coyote, a Furry who passed away on February 16, 2013. Goodbye, 'Yote. You will be missed.

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLD1RENb8jd2KWEwL8eVx6AWAeAN_SZ0Vc

1. Johnny Cash - We'll Meet again

2. Lebo M. Lala

3. Lebo M. - He Lives In You

4 The Beatles - In My Life

5. Simon & Garfunkel - Bridge Over troubled Water

6. Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here

7. Bob Dylan - Knockin' On Heaven's Door

8. ? - The Ashokan Farewell

9. Queen - Who Wants To Live Forever

10. Eric Clapton - Tears In Heaven

11. Boyz II Men - It's So Hard To Say Goodbye To Yesterday

12. Battleme - Hey Hey, My My

13.Lynyrd Skynyrd - Freebird

14.The Beatles - I'll follow The Sun

15. Paul McCartney & Wings - Live And Let Die

16. Various Artists/ The Lion King II Simba's Pride Soundtrack - We Are One

17. Sarah McLachlan - In The Arms Of The Angles

18. Sarah McLachlan - Will You Remember Me

19. Frank Sinatra - My Way

20. Monty Python - Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life