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((aaaah, you guys all posted too fast! O-o I'm at work... so my lag is like... huge. Mostly cause of meetings. Not sure how this time continuity is going to work now...))
At the first call of his name, Phineas' eyes snapped open. Had he just heard... Shan? It couldn't be... His hope had just begun to falter (it seemed to falter quickly in recent days) when the cry came again, and this time his head snapped up and his eyes focused immediately on the eyes of his friends, as if he'd known they were there all along. His heart was pounding harder than it had since he'd learned of their apparent demise, but he had no idea how to react to their presence. His eyes were almost glowing in the spotlight. In mere seconds his reaction was decided for him. The hum of the wires had been steadily increasing, and now had reached their full charge. The built up magical energy was released into their captor, and as Shan approached the DreamCatcher and had her own transformation, Phineas was also forced to change. It wasn't dragon magic, but some other more simple form of magic, strong but not at all subtle. It slammed into his body and began to work, rearranging him in ways that he wasn't supposed to be rearranged. The boy's small dirty hands suddenly sprouted claws as his eyes became dragon's slits. Brown scales forced themselves out of his skin like a ripple in water, starting from his neck and running like a wave down his body. His face stretched obscenely, first his lower jaw and then the upper, longer teeth bristling from his gums as they shifted into a more predatory position. As he changed there was a strange ripping sound, and it mingled with the sound of Shan's unearthly scream to create a force wave of weirdness. Phineas couldn't scream, his vocal chords were rearranging themselves, feeling like a ball of tangled snakes writing in his throat. All the while, his bones were elongating, hurting as if 20 years of growth spurt were happening all at once. The wave of change had just finished pulling his neck into a more dragon-like length when the restraints snapped open, shooting nuts and bolts into the audience at such a speed that they struck people like bullets. The people around those stricken began to scream and run, causing chaos in the crowd. Phineas fell out of the contraption and scrambled to his arms. The transformation hadn't quite finished with his lower extremeties, where his bandages were bulging with unfinished growth. He had never been a very big dragon, so even now he was only twice as tall as the burly men who were trying to restrain him. But his teeth were just the right size, and his mind was a tumult of pain, hunger and rage. In the meantime, Shan split the earth and one of the men stumbled into the hole and disappeared from sight, which was either good for him, because he didn't see what happened to his comrade, or bad, because at least he could at least know what to expect from a dragon. Phineas chomped down on the other man's head and shook him viciously like a bulldog would shake a caught rat. Body and head separated easily despite the apparent muscle, and the skull crushed juicily in his jaws. The dragon searched frantically for more prey, unable to focus his eyes on any one moving object in the chaos of the tent. Turtle stared from the shadows of the curtains as the boy escaped and began to eat people. Although he wasn't much of a boy anymore. Turtle had known that he was a dragon, be hadn't believed it until now. All the previous shows had stopped at just covering him in scales, but the kid had been able to fight off any more of the transformation... The DreamCatcher and his men had thought Phineas weak, but it was obvious now that the strength he'd used to restrain his dragon self was much greater than the strength of all the men combined. The burly body of the guard landed heavily in front of the hellhound, and Turtle sprang into action. The other acts were safe from harm, having fled at the first sign of trouble. Turtle charged into the tent and ran towards the dragon, not entirely sure what he was going to do.((SFX: RAWRRRR!!!)) |
They're not moving fast enough, Ari thought with irritation as he plucked the string of his bow twice, testing it. This better not snap on me... He was tense, and he had to force himself to relax before he could shoot at the Dream Catcher. He took in a deep breathe and then gathered all of his magic about him, a thick column of air spinning about him as he breathed out, growling the words, "Move it." The released air spread to all corners of the tent within seconds, carrying Ari's words with it. Of course, Phineas's transformation and actions thereafter helped him very much, as most people had little desire to be devoured that day.
"Oh no you don't." He muttered under his breath as he saw a hellhound leap towards the berserking Phineas. He quickly released two arrows to let them sink into the ground inches from the paws of the creature. He didn't know how they were going to stop both Shan and Phineas from losing themselves, but he wasn't about to let any harm come to them. From the corners of his eyes he saw Ani talking hurriedly to Michael and the two taking action, and it was from there that he turned to the Dream Catcher and let two more arrows fly, letting the wind guide his aim as his piercing gaze went to the face of the man, his intent well written within it. |
Turtle skidded to a halt as the arrows plunged into the ground before him. Okay, yeah, now he's pissed. Instinctual rage took over him. With a roar, his jaws flew open, the metal stitches holding them shut pulling right out of his skin and leaving his dog lips in shreds. A stream of maggots dribbled from his mouth as he bared his rotting but still sharp teeth at Ari, who was now focusing his arrow elsewhere. Hellfire roared in his bloodshot eyes as he now charged towards his attacker.
Phineas thrashed around in the middle of the tent, trying to control himself while simultaneously not wanting to be controlled. He shot forwards towards a woman with a child, his teeth ready to plunge into the plump little girl. The woman screamed and flung a nearby bottle at him. The glass shattered, wine flew into his eyes, and the now blinded dragon bellowed angrily, writhing into the dirt of the ring to get the alcohol out of his eyes. The danger of his eating more people was, for the moment, averted. |
Frantically, the Catcher attempted to dodge the arrows, and the piercing gaze of the man who strung them, but one caught him right in the shoulder. The thought had just struck him. He was going to die! This was a disaster. A complete disaster. It was all Layla's fault because nothing was ever his fault, ever. Not even when it was. In his panic to avoid death, he dropped the whistle, but didn't have enough time to go back for it, as Phineas was getting much too close for comfort, and there was not much ground to run around in anyway. He darted for one of the exits.
Yuki had to move once or twice to avoid getting hurt, but aside from a few cuts he was fine. It was, however, getting more and more difficult to keep up the shield. Four times now he'd had to make it bigger because he could not contain the power inside. It would shame him to admit that he was also a little afraid of being eaten, but Phineas had shown no interest in that yet, and so he remained concentrated on his task for the most part, until he heard the whistle hit the floor. It was such a distinct sound, but it was still amazing he heard it. The shield faltered for a moment, and realizing his mistake, Yuki was forced to create an even larger one. He had to tell someone to get the whistle but his lips were occupied by a spell. Shan had lost herself almost completely. She felt caged in her own body, and the most she could recognize from her surroundings was a low rumble, and then a loud sound. Something had hit the ground. She knew there was trouble, and that was the extent of her knowledge. [[ "(SFX: RAWRRRR!!!)" << you made me LOL :XD ]] |
Phineas eventually found himself with his long face up against the curtains hiding the backstage area of the circus, where he quickly rubbed until the wine-mud came off his eyes. He blinked blearily a few times, emitting pained dragon grunts at the sting that remained there. His vision cleared and he found himself looking right at the DreamCatcher.
His dragon mind suddenly snapped into alignment with his human mind, and they both came to the same conclusion: KILL. Teeth bared, he let loose a roar of accusation, which, while horrifying and loud, has a thread of melody running through it. It was draconian. If anyone had been able to understand what he was saying, they would have heard this: "FIEND! You dare to perjure yourself to me and enslave my soul! Behold that my friends indeed live and you shall not see the day when they would betray me such as you have! I hope that the death that you have explained to me is nothing as merciful as what you will actually experience by my wrath!" (Of course some of the words he used have no equivalent in the human tongue, but one tries one's best to translate...) With this challenge aired, the strange amputated and half-humanoid dragon creature launched itself at the Dreamcatcher, the only thing on its mind: revenge. |
Yuki heard a roar, and then a rather disturbing gargling noise behind the curtain. He was glad he hadn't turned around. The sound was unnerving, the sight of what had happened must have been even worse. Phineas seemed to have one target in mind when he last took a look at him, and he found it from the sounds of things. As glad as he was that they had found a dear friend, Yuki was becoming more and more tired. The shield was getting more difficult to keep up. If only there was someone close by to pick it up and hand it to him. Or maybe if it broke. Yuki had become curious as to what would happen if it broke.
Shan wanted so desperately to move, but she could not even see anymore. Her vision was limited to a white, burning light. There was a voice she was trying to hear, but that was beyond her now. |
Turtle turned away from Ari at the last second, his ears perked up at the dragon's roar. His mouth was still open, but not to bite. In his impulsiveness he had forgotten that it had been sewn shut to keep his lower jaw firmly on, as most of the muscles controlling it had long since rotten away. Now it dangled weakly from his face as he rushed backstage to see the fate of his master.
He stopped at the edge of the curtain to behold the sight before him. Phineas was bent over the DreamCatcher's mangled body, his teeth stained red with the ringmaster's blood. He had stopped chewing on the evil man and was staring into his eyes, intent. The DreamCatcher was not yet dead. He flailed weakly with broken arms, trying to somehow beat away the monster eating him. Phineas's jaw was set in determination. He wanted to see the man die in agony. He wanted to pull out his beating heart and make him eat it. He didn't know where to begin with the torture he would inflict. Turtle stalked forward slowly, giving the dragon a wide berth. He approached his master, staying low to the ground. The dragon wasn't paying him any heed, seemingly lost in its own thoughts. Its eyes were once again distant and hollow, though its bloodstained face was still horrible to behold. Turtle finally reached his master's side and whined quietly. "You... you useless dog!" The DreamCatcher gurgled. "Some bodyguard you turned out to be, stupid pointless creature..." He spat contemptuously, though the saliva was mostly blood. Turtle's eyes narrowed, though there was still an edge of pity in them. He delicately placed his jaws around the DreamCatcher's throat, and with all the strength he could muster in his muscles, he ripped out the man's last lifeline. He expected some sort of reaction from the dragon, but heard nothing. Turning to look into the horrifying face, he saw that the slitted pupils were once again round and human. The scales were slowly pulling themselves into the skin, leaving behind a strange pattern of crescent moon scars which would be gone by morning. Turtle watched in fascination. ((going to go check out an apartment now... Yay I feel so grown up!)) |
[[ooh~ I hope it goes well for you! >w<]]
Yuki stepped back again, if this went for too much longer, his shield would break, and he would have to hope he was quick enough to run for cover because getting hit would be very bad news. He could not reach for the whistle. It was too far away. If he went after it it would be even harder to keep the shield up. But he could keep the shield up for only so long anyway. He had to keep it up for as long as possible, until someone he knew could get their hands on the diminutive object that had caused a giant mess. |
Micheal had his eyes on the whistle that had fallen from the grips of the DreamCatcher. He wanted the man for himself, he needed to send him back to the warlord for his own dealing.
The ring was a chaotic mess, he rolled and leaped from railing to railing. The whistle was close to the hole that Shan was making, he had to be fast, or else it would be lost down in there forever and there would be no way of regaining hope of releasing her from her state. Micheal darted a few of the DreamCatchers henchmen, he had pulled out his sword and slashed at their head as he jumped over then, his knee hitting and taking down the second bodyguard. He crushed his skull instantly, without a moment to spare, he ran across the dirt floor, and wrapped his hand around the angel whistle. It burned him and he immediately dropped it, his hand had turned black. Pulling his sword back out he held it high above his head and grunted as he brought it down upon the whistle, shattering the delicate thing. It made a dreadful sound, well he heard a dreadful sound as it broke, into a million pieces. He looked at his hand again cursing under his breath. He didnt stick around though to see what was going to happen. Instead he sheathed his sword and bounded behind the curtains were the dragon was returning to a boy and the hell dog was towering over the dead DreamCatcher. Micheal screamed, ragged and angry. With his good hand he lept behind the dog and gripped the skin on its neck, throwing it across the floor. He breathed deeply, huffing at the damage done, the DreamCatcher was dead and now his head was on the table. He stared down at the dead mutilated mangled body of the DreamCatcher. Ani was trying to get more and more of the people out of the room when she was attacked by several beefy looking men. She remembered what Micheal had said and she rammed her sword into them, they disappeared instantly, black smoke mixed with the green poisen that her sword was emitting. She sheathed her sword as she ran to the center of the ring, she had just caught site of Micheal breaking the Whistle and leaving the scene, she watched hoping that some thing would happen to bring Shan back to them. The wind whipped her hair around as she stood her ground. Shan was going to bring the whole tent down into the ground if she didnt regain control of herself. |
Shan felt the surge of power leave her altogether. It surged upward and disappeared as if it had never been, and she had just enough wits left in her to realize that she had to keep herself from falling. She brought herself to edge and collapsed there instead. Yuki's shield had disappeared the moment her own powers had. She remained there, spread out on the ground like some sort of sacrifice. Her whole body hurt and she felt sleepy. She closed her eyes, despite the obvious damage to her surroundings. Her throat her too. She heard the sound of her son's voice before she was out completely.
Yuki was ready to run to his mother when he remembered the abandoned pack on the ground. He picked it up and then went over to her, realizing that he would not have been able to run very well anyway. "Mama?" He knelt next to her. There was no visible damage, but she was out cold and at the edge of a large hole in the ground. He didn't dare to imagine what would have happened had she not been stopped. He did wonder though, how long she would have remained like this if Micheal had not intervened. By the looks of things, that man had taken a big risk in destroying the whistle. His hand had turned black. Everything was more quiet now. It was the calm after the storm, Yuki hoped. Now that the commotion was over for the most part, he wanted to look for Phineas, but did not want to leave his mother alone. He waited for the others to make a decision. |
After the release of the hold on Shan had disappeared, Ani ran around the circle, to the other end where Shan laid. She knelt to the ground and looked at Yuki, "She needs to rest. We should get her out of here...now." She said, she had no idea that the Dream Catcher was dead. "Wheres Phineas?" She asked, suddenly noticing that the boy was not attached anymore to the contraption that laid in a mess in the far side of the ring.
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Yuki wondered exactly how they were going to get his mother out with those wings of hers and her her trailing hair when Ani asked about Phineas. "He went back behind the curtain. I heard a disturbing sound but I don't think he was the victim," he said, thinking about how there had been no one who could successfully stop the young dragon. "It almost sounded like he ate someone..."
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Turtle sprang back onto his feet and shook himself until his vertebrae clicked back into position. He crouched and glared at the man who had thrown him, but was then distracted by the dragon, which was looking much smaller and pathetic now.
The dragon sat back onto its incomplete lower body as it continued to change. Its face registered no realization as to what was happening. Phineas's dragon claws slurped back into his fingertips, the last of his transformation complete. Fresh blood seeped from the loosened bandages on his legs, where the attempt to transform had merely reopened the old wounds. He wavered for a moment, looking drunk. Then his eyes rolled back in his head and he slumped forward into the dirt and blood, unconscious. Turtle was wracked with sudden shivers of recognition. He scrambled to the prone figure and stood over it like a sentinel, protective. He wasn't sure if the man with the burnt hand (which smelled delicious) had intentions for the boy. And as he growled at Micheal, his mind was spinning... this boy... was like his boy! When his young master had finally found his lost dog, Turtle had been lying dead on the side of the road for a full week. The little boy that had given him his name and his home had passed out in horror at the sight of his pet. And that night after burying Turtle under his favourite tree, the boy had had nightmares of the dog, rotten and rising from the dead like a monster. And so when the dream had come to life, he did not return as the cute fuzzy mutt that he'd been in life, but the horrible creature he was now. Despite the fact that it had been his own master who had made him into what he was, he still loved him. And though he could not find his master, this boy was close enough, and looked in need of a friend more than anything right now. ((It does go well... We signed a lease! Now all they have to do is background check us and then... omg we're moving. O_O I guess I AM a grown up. I should tell my dad.)) |
With Ani by his mother's side, Yuki felt better about going to find Phineas, hoping that the Catcher wouldn't go after him. Not that he was an angel. He let Ani know where he was going and went to the curtain, with his staff ready. What he saw first was blood, a lot of it. Then he noticed the undead hound and the fully dead man. The dog had terrified him at first, but what really disgusted him was the mutilated body of the Dream Catcher. He felt himself double over and vomit. Tears came to his eyes from the force in his stomach. Shaken, he wiped the tears away and made the ex-contents of his stomach disappear with a wave of his staff, fearing that the smell of it would only cause him to retch again. Close to the Catcher he spotted Micheal, who seemed to be interested in only one thing. Yuki decided it was best to just leave the man alone, unless he decided to go after Phineas. Phineas, he realized, was was lying on the ground close to the hound. He went over to them tentatively, unwilling to cause any more trouble than he had seen already. His stomach was empty and he had begun to run low on energy, magic or otherwise.
[[Awesome! *throws confetti* Party time! ....mature party time...pfft. whatever. PARTY!! XD]] |
Turtle didn't discriminate between one threat or the other. He growled at Yuki as the boy approached, but didn't attack. His jaw really was useless now, having ripped the last of the rotting muscles with his final service to the DreamCatcher. Now he was determined that no one would take his new little master away from him, even if he wasn't really a human child. Something about Phineas' face set off memories of his beloved master, and he would do anything to protect the source of the good memories.
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Yuki jumped, startled, but got closer anyway. The hound's jaw looked too damaged to not look disturbing, but at least it wasn't snapping to bite him. He realized quickly enough that the dog was protecting Phineas, but Yuki had no intention of leaving Phineas here. "Please," he said meekly. "Let us take him back. We haven't seen him in months. He needs help. And mama has been so quiet since he disappeared." Yuki hadn't noticed until now that he really wanted to cry, but he held back. Now was not the time to get distracted.
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After most of hell broke loose (it's not like the audience was screaming in terror), Kira ran up the rows of the bleachers to the doors, helping open doors and evacuate the people inside. She suddenly received a punch, looking up and seeing a man. She quickly dodged the next one, rubbing her nose. She took out her sword, sticking it through quickly. The man disappeared in a cloud of black smoke, making her wonder, but then decided that it wasn't important.
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Turtle cocked his head to one side, in such a way that would have been adorably comic had he still been alive, but which now was a fairly grotesque pantomime of inquiry. He stopped growling but did not move from where he was standing over Phineas. He had trusted people before, and look where it'd gotten him. And even though this was another little boy, he was strangely unsympathetic towards Yuki. Yuki was... not like his master. Somehow. And therefor not to be trusted... too much.
And Turtle wondered at how complicated and indecisive his life had become in the past few minutes. Before this day, things had been fairly easy. But having to make decisions without the input of some authority was much harder than he'd expected. |
For fear of risking a misunderstanding, Yuki did not reach out to the disturbingly exposed dog. "Please?" he inquired again, his hopes dwindling slowly. He really wished Phineas was awake so that he would come on his own, but obviously the boy was not going to move anytime soon without any help. Yuki thought of something, but he highly doubted it would work. "I-if... if I say you can come with us, will you let us bring him back?"
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The hellhound somehow looked surprised at this offer. He thought hard for a moment, then, without changing expression, wagged his tail. He didn't move, however.
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Yuki became slightly confused. There was no way he could get a completely strange answer from this hound, but he would give it a try either way. "Is that a yes or no?" It was hard to tell. The closest he had ever been to a dog was a six-foot-tall and apparently immortal black wolf. Said wolf belonged to the Dreamweaver and she wasn't very responsive if she didn't want to be. Plus she behaved more like a person than an animal. Above all, she could talk, with her mind at least. Yuki had never had to understand the body language of any animal, it seemed.
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Turtle wagged his tail harder, providing absolutely no helpful answer to the question. If it had been phrased differently, a sound logic could have figured it out... But logicians were a bit short at the moment. Turtle sealed the deal by stepping to one side and lowering his head briefly. He eyed Micheal, wondering if the man was one of the party he was joining. If so, he might have to change his plans. Dogs in general don't like being thrown like that.
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Yuki bowed in thanks and knelt next to Phineas, turning him around carefully so that his face wasn't in the dirt and blood anymore, for the most part. The boy had it smeared all over him now anyways. Still shaken, Yuki could not carry Phineas, and thought of how undignified the young dragon could be if he knew he'd been carried by a seven year old. Instead, he created a thin platform that lifted Phineas off the ground, but only a few inches. If Yuki ran out of energy, he did not want Phineas to drop and land on the ground with a loud thud. He'd been hurt enough as it was. He took Phineas out past the curtain, glad to escape the metallic smell and the sight of the blood and other things everywhere. He turned back a few times to make sure the hound was coming too, and carefully set Phineas close to where his mother was. Unwilling to move another step, he himself sat in between the two.
To anyone close enough to hear him he announced," the Dream Catcher is dead." |
Turtle followed close behind Phineas's floating body, whining and crouching once in a while to look underneath it at the emptiness there. What very useful magic. The DreamCatcher had pretty much always twisted magic for his own personal use.
When Yuki stopped, Turtle sat politely and awaited his orders, if there were any. |
Ani looked up, "What?" She asked suddenly, "Wheres Micheal?" She asked looking at the trio that came near to them. "And who killed the DreamWeaver?"
Micheal came through the curtain his angry still radiating from his body. He was feeling nothing in his left hand, and when he pushed his sleeve up, the blackness was spreading slowly upwards. "The hell hound and dragon boy." He said tight lipped. Micheal stood there for a moment until he heard a shuffle of feet behind him. He turned around to see two of the royal guards for the Warlord. Their faces were completely covered in silk purple cloth and their body was covered in black and gold armor. Micheal backed up as they advanced towards him, he nearly stumbled over Ani and the unconscious body of Shan when they stopped. "Our lord decreed that you were to bring the Dream Catcher to him." Said one of them, he wasnt sure which. Micheal ran his hand through his hair. "He never said whether he wanted the DreamCatcher alive. Take the body back to the Warlord. As well as take the phoenix. Its behind the other side of the curtain with more of the Dream Catchers pets." He said. "We will take them all to please our Lord for your blunder." They said as they made their move to head to behind the curtain again. "No. You will not. You are only to take the Phoenix. Those other creatures belong to other people, let them go free to find where they belong." Micheal said sternly. Ani stood up taking Micheals left hand into her own, she pushed up his sleeve, "I know this curse. Its the Alvadreak Mandria. It will not stop until its consumed your body." She said looking at him. Micheal wasnt looking at her, but at the backs of the royal guards as they disappeared through the curtain, but he did say, "Can you stop it...reverse it?" |
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