Chapter 1 - Chapter 1
Submitted July 14, 2003 Updated July 16, 2003 Status Incomplete | A collaborative fic by me and my friend. I hope you enjoy it!
Category:
Miscellaneous » Characters |
Chapter 1 - Chapter 1
Chapter 1 - Chapter 1
Pawn floated silently in black stone chamber lit by blue lanterns, listening to her master speak. She glanced over to the side entrance and saw a remarkably voluptuous young woman with slightly blue skin, entrancing emerald eyes and lavish silver hair. She was dressed in a violet silken robe. So the whore does wear clothes, thought Pawn. And better ones than I. Pawn only wore tattered rags, the only finery a richly adorned wooden mask, a simple round thing with enormous eyes, but painted with many bright colors. A cold voice called out to her from a large iron mirror in front of her.
“Pawn! Are you listening to me?”
“Y-yes, Master Thanatos. I was just…”
“Silence. Have you done as I asked?” In the blackness of the mirror was a tall figure, dressed in black with his face shaded in the shadows, aside from two glowing white lights, his eyes.
“Yes, Lord Thanatos,” answered Pawn. “The Nine Points are all headed to meet in Kinetica as we speak.”
“Not all of the Points.” The eyes turned to regard the beautiful Nereid in the doorway, who was playfully caressing one of her many thralls. It sickened Pawn. She has all those servants, she thought. And not a care in the world. But I have all the cares anyone could have, and I have not one person under my command, not even myself.
“And whose fault is that?” said Thanatos, reading his possession’s thoughts. “Mine, or that of a foolish little farm girl who sold her soul to save her friends?” He did not wait for an answer. “Cerulea!”
A soft and seductive voice replied, although the Nereid was still preoccupied with the thrall, “Yes?”
Pawn knew this behavior greatly angered Thanatos. He hated love or lust of any kind. He had told Pawn that it only brought acts that brought life, not took it, as was his duty as Death Incarnate. Without even a sound or slight flinch the thrall fell dead. Cerulea jumped back with a shout and let the body hit the ground. “Eww…”
“Fool. I told you not to do that here. Do my work first, then you shall have all the lovers you desire.”
Out of all his servants, only Pawn knew who Thanatos truly was, and what his true purpose was. If any of the others knew they would try to stop him, but Pawn knew because she could not. Many of his soldiers, the Hands of Death, knew as well, for they, like Pawn, had sold their souls to the Incarnation of Death. All the others had been brought in with false promises of power, wealth, the fulfillment of all their wildest dreams. One fool even believed that Thanatos was going to destroy the world only to cleanse it, and then inhabit it with new life, as a perfect world. Only Pawn saw the bleak future. The world was not ending. Only life was. At least that was a good thing. There was no Death after death, at least not of the kind Thanatos embodied. After that her soul would her own, free, even though it would probably only be free to burn in some pit of Hell.
Cerulea had left, but Pawn suspected she had gone of to seek her pleasures in another place.
“Follow her,” commanded Thanatos. “Make sure she goes to where she should. You will also be going to the meeting, to tell them exactly what my will is. Now be gone.”
Pawn flew out of the room and after Cerulea. She always did her work, but never happily. Thanatos could not touch her thoughts and feelings, her desires; he could not dictate them. And for Pawn, that was worse than if it had been otherwise.
Six months later. Konno sighed from behind her desk in the captain’s quarters of her ship, the Baldur’s Eye. It had been nearly a month and a half since her last battle with one of the warring countries, Kinetica and Cellstar. Konno was part of a vast organization called The Order. The Order’s sole purpose was to stop the seventy-year war between Kinetica and Cellstar at all costs. Konno was a captain in The Order’s elite navy. Her ship, the Baldur’s Eye, was one of the few nearly-indestructible “Invincible” class ships. It was outfitted with several cannons, two harpoon guns, and steel lining in the interior. Few ships matched up to it. Konno herself was wearing a simple white sleeveless tank top, capri denim pants, a red bandanna that covered a large quantity of sleek black hair that fell down her back in a tight braid, and at her side hung her katana. She closed her eyes, hiding the almost glowlike quality of her bright green eyes. The captain’s quarters was simple: it had a few tapestries hanging from the wall, a desk full of paperwork, one candle, and, of course, Konno was a usual occupant as well.
“Captain?” said a voice from the other side of the door. It was one of her crewmembers, an Elf named Allendar.
“Yes, Allendar, what is it?” Konno said. Allendar opened the door and stepped into the cramped quarters. He was tall and muscular, but not overly muscular. He was an Elf, after all. He had scraggly black hair that fell down beneath his eyes, and he preferred to go shirtless, except for the spiked shoulder plates he wore on one shoulder. His enormous broadsword, which he had christened the “Gaia Blade” hung from his back. The most interesting thing he wore, by far, was his magic gauntlet, which seemed to have melded itself to his arm, for he was never seen without it. On his cheek was a tattoo of some unknown symbol. Only Allendar knew what it was, and he’d never told a soul what it meant. It was right underneath his dark brown eyes.
“We just received a message from headquarters. We’re to report back immediately for our newest assignment.”
Konno straightened up. A new assignment? That was good. She was longing for battle. Life was just plain dull without the sounds of battle raging around her. “Very good,” she said. “Inform Mia to change direction towards headquarters.”
Allendar snapped a salute and strode out to the navigational quarters. The sky was clear and the sun was bright that day, perfect sailing conditions. He climbed a set of stairs that sat right next to the entrance to the captain’s quarters and walked to a small hut near the back of the ship. There he found Mia, the navigator on the Baldur’s Eye. Even though she was only thirteen, she had exceptional navigating skills. She was able to steer the ship through raging storms and battles.
“Change of heading, Mia,” Allendar said. “We’re to report to HQ.”
“Why?” Mia said without looking at Allendar. Her gaze was fixated on the instruments in front of her, giving her readings of every type; water temperature, water level, speed, distance, etc.
Allendar stole a moment to look Mia over. She was wearing her usual uniform of a short, long-sleeved red jacket, with a blue, short-cropped, skin-tight dress underneath. She wore a red beret on her head, from which protruded cascades of platinum blonde hair. She stared ahead with unusually colored eyes. One was blue, while the other was green.
“I asked you a question, Allendar,” Mia said sternly. Allendar shook his head.
“Oh, yes, why...oh, we’re getting a new assignment,” he said. Mia nodded, satisfied, and adjusted the measures of the instruments to fit the new bearing. Allendar stepped back into the sunlight, shaking his head.
“Just been to see Mia, have you?” said a gruff voice from the railing. Allendar looked to his right to see Darius, a rather large Dwarf, standing there with a smug look on his face.
“I tell you, Darius, that girl can sober you up even if you’ve downed seven Orc Rums,” Allendar replied, sighing.
Darius guffawed, striding to Allendar’s side. He was actually quite large for a Dwarf, as he came up to tall Allendar’s midsection. He wore the typical battle attire for his kind, a steel helm, chain mail, large leather gauntlets, and a large battle axe swung from his hip. His eyes were pitch black, giving him an almost hawklike quality. He clapped Allendar on the back.
“Not to worry, m’boy! She’ll get easier to handle as she grows. Now, let’s go see Silverfang about a drink.” As Allendar and Darius made their way down to the holds to see Silverfang, Konno emerged from the captain’s quarters. She almost immediately ran into the notoriously clumsy Kaya, another crewmember on the Baldur’s Eye.
“Oh, dear! I’m terribly sorry, Captain! Er...let me clean you up...” Kaya had been carrying a keg full of beer when she ran into Konno. Now Konno was soaked in it.
“No, really, Kaya, that’s all right. I’ll just go down to the kitchen and get a towel from Zion.” Konno said, looking up at Kaya. She was wearing a loose white t-shirt and khaki shorts, with a red bandanna tied around her head, which covered most of her brown hair, with the exception of a few chunks sticking out here and there, and two large braids protruding at either end. Kaya also had large, sapphire blue eyes.
“Oh, okay. Well, have fun...I guess...” Kaya said, as she hoisted her keg of beer. Almost instantaneously, she shrieked, toppled over, and spilled some of the beer on herself.
“By Baldur’s beard!!” she groaned.
Konno hurried away, wary of Kaya’s clumsiness. Konno made her way to the kitchen, buried deep in the holds. It was small, but Zion was able to work with it. Konno found him there, a Hawkman. He was shirtless, as always, because of two large black wings sticking out of his back. He wore a tall red band around his head, partially hiding his bright green eyes. His blonde hair stuck up and then glided down the back of his skull. His denim pants were also red.
“A towel? Sure thing, Captain,” Zion said, handing Konno a towel. “Was it Kaya?”
“Who else?” Konno replied.
Zion laughed. “Yeah, I saw her lave with that keg a couple minutes ago. Never told me what it was for...”
“Seemed like she already had some,” Konno said, sarcastically. She left the kitchen and headed for the artificery. There, she found the artificer Silverfang, a Wolfman, talking with Allendar and Darius. Silverfang did not wear much, but his fur was a deep shade of light blue in some areas, and dark sapphire in others. A large, intricately carved scimitar hung from his waist. His eyes were a piercing yellow. The artificery was a small room crowded with various whirring and whizzing silver instruments. On the table was lying Silverfang’s newest invention, the likes of which Konno had never seen before. It seemed to be a dark steel cattle prod, but it occasionally emitted a puff of smoke.
“Welcome, Captain,” Silverfang said without looking at Konno.
“How’d you know it was me?” Konno asked, placing her hands on her hips and cocking her head to one side.
“You should know by now, Captain, that my sense of smell exceeds that of any human,” Silverfang replied smugly, glancing sideways at Konno. She laughed and headed out the door. Once back on the deck, she spotted the ships two rope workers: Spark, a Stone Golem, and Grunt, a Half Orc. Also up on deck was the ships unofficial crewmember, Dominique. Dominique wore an ankle-length black cloak, with a longsword attached to the back. Her hair was medium-length, and black like Konno’s. Her eyes, however, were a burning red. Spark was a large creature. He wore no clothing except for the bags of various tools he wore around his waist. Grunt looked the most like a pirate of any of them. He had a scarred face, a ripped bandanna, and tattered clothes. He was truly a pirate at heart. His skin was a lighter shade of green than full-blooded Orcs, and although his face was strikingly Human, he had two large fangs that protruded from his bottom lip. In a very Orclike fashion, he had no hair, even on his eyebrows, and too many body piercings for his own good. Konno stole a glance at each of them before heading back to the captains quarters.
“Pawn! Are you listening to me?”
“Y-yes, Master Thanatos. I was just…”
“Silence. Have you done as I asked?” In the blackness of the mirror was a tall figure, dressed in black with his face shaded in the shadows, aside from two glowing white lights, his eyes.
“Yes, Lord Thanatos,” answered Pawn. “The Nine Points are all headed to meet in Kinetica as we speak.”
“Not all of the Points.” The eyes turned to regard the beautiful Nereid in the doorway, who was playfully caressing one of her many thralls. It sickened Pawn. She has all those servants, she thought. And not a care in the world. But I have all the cares anyone could have, and I have not one person under my command, not even myself.
“And whose fault is that?” said Thanatos, reading his possession’s thoughts. “Mine, or that of a foolish little farm girl who sold her soul to save her friends?” He did not wait for an answer. “Cerulea!”
A soft and seductive voice replied, although the Nereid was still preoccupied with the thrall, “Yes?”
Pawn knew this behavior greatly angered Thanatos. He hated love or lust of any kind. He had told Pawn that it only brought acts that brought life, not took it, as was his duty as Death Incarnate. Without even a sound or slight flinch the thrall fell dead. Cerulea jumped back with a shout and let the body hit the ground. “Eww…”
“Fool. I told you not to do that here. Do my work first, then you shall have all the lovers you desire.”
Out of all his servants, only Pawn knew who Thanatos truly was, and what his true purpose was. If any of the others knew they would try to stop him, but Pawn knew because she could not. Many of his soldiers, the Hands of Death, knew as well, for they, like Pawn, had sold their souls to the Incarnation of Death. All the others had been brought in with false promises of power, wealth, the fulfillment of all their wildest dreams. One fool even believed that Thanatos was going to destroy the world only to cleanse it, and then inhabit it with new life, as a perfect world. Only Pawn saw the bleak future. The world was not ending. Only life was. At least that was a good thing. There was no Death after death, at least not of the kind Thanatos embodied. After that her soul would her own, free, even though it would probably only be free to burn in some pit of Hell.
Cerulea had left, but Pawn suspected she had gone of to seek her pleasures in another place.
“Follow her,” commanded Thanatos. “Make sure she goes to where she should. You will also be going to the meeting, to tell them exactly what my will is. Now be gone.”
Pawn flew out of the room and after Cerulea. She always did her work, but never happily. Thanatos could not touch her thoughts and feelings, her desires; he could not dictate them. And for Pawn, that was worse than if it had been otherwise.
Six months later. Konno sighed from behind her desk in the captain’s quarters of her ship, the Baldur’s Eye. It had been nearly a month and a half since her last battle with one of the warring countries, Kinetica and Cellstar. Konno was part of a vast organization called The Order. The Order’s sole purpose was to stop the seventy-year war between Kinetica and Cellstar at all costs. Konno was a captain in The Order’s elite navy. Her ship, the Baldur’s Eye, was one of the few nearly-indestructible “Invincible” class ships. It was outfitted with several cannons, two harpoon guns, and steel lining in the interior. Few ships matched up to it. Konno herself was wearing a simple white sleeveless tank top, capri denim pants, a red bandanna that covered a large quantity of sleek black hair that fell down her back in a tight braid, and at her side hung her katana. She closed her eyes, hiding the almost glowlike quality of her bright green eyes. The captain’s quarters was simple: it had a few tapestries hanging from the wall, a desk full of paperwork, one candle, and, of course, Konno was a usual occupant as well.
“Captain?” said a voice from the other side of the door. It was one of her crewmembers, an Elf named Allendar.
“Yes, Allendar, what is it?” Konno said. Allendar opened the door and stepped into the cramped quarters. He was tall and muscular, but not overly muscular. He was an Elf, after all. He had scraggly black hair that fell down beneath his eyes, and he preferred to go shirtless, except for the spiked shoulder plates he wore on one shoulder. His enormous broadsword, which he had christened the “Gaia Blade” hung from his back. The most interesting thing he wore, by far, was his magic gauntlet, which seemed to have melded itself to his arm, for he was never seen without it. On his cheek was a tattoo of some unknown symbol. Only Allendar knew what it was, and he’d never told a soul what it meant. It was right underneath his dark brown eyes.
“We just received a message from headquarters. We’re to report back immediately for our newest assignment.”
Konno straightened up. A new assignment? That was good. She was longing for battle. Life was just plain dull without the sounds of battle raging around her. “Very good,” she said. “Inform Mia to change direction towards headquarters.”
Allendar snapped a salute and strode out to the navigational quarters. The sky was clear and the sun was bright that day, perfect sailing conditions. He climbed a set of stairs that sat right next to the entrance to the captain’s quarters and walked to a small hut near the back of the ship. There he found Mia, the navigator on the Baldur’s Eye. Even though she was only thirteen, she had exceptional navigating skills. She was able to steer the ship through raging storms and battles.
“Change of heading, Mia,” Allendar said. “We’re to report to HQ.”
“Why?” Mia said without looking at Allendar. Her gaze was fixated on the instruments in front of her, giving her readings of every type; water temperature, water level, speed, distance, etc.
Allendar stole a moment to look Mia over. She was wearing her usual uniform of a short, long-sleeved red jacket, with a blue, short-cropped, skin-tight dress underneath. She wore a red beret on her head, from which protruded cascades of platinum blonde hair. She stared ahead with unusually colored eyes. One was blue, while the other was green.
“I asked you a question, Allendar,” Mia said sternly. Allendar shook his head.
“Oh, yes, why...oh, we’re getting a new assignment,” he said. Mia nodded, satisfied, and adjusted the measures of the instruments to fit the new bearing. Allendar stepped back into the sunlight, shaking his head.
“Just been to see Mia, have you?” said a gruff voice from the railing. Allendar looked to his right to see Darius, a rather large Dwarf, standing there with a smug look on his face.
“I tell you, Darius, that girl can sober you up even if you’ve downed seven Orc Rums,” Allendar replied, sighing.
Darius guffawed, striding to Allendar’s side. He was actually quite large for a Dwarf, as he came up to tall Allendar’s midsection. He wore the typical battle attire for his kind, a steel helm, chain mail, large leather gauntlets, and a large battle axe swung from his hip. His eyes were pitch black, giving him an almost hawklike quality. He clapped Allendar on the back.
“Not to worry, m’boy! She’ll get easier to handle as she grows. Now, let’s go see Silverfang about a drink.” As Allendar and Darius made their way down to the holds to see Silverfang, Konno emerged from the captain’s quarters. She almost immediately ran into the notoriously clumsy Kaya, another crewmember on the Baldur’s Eye.
“Oh, dear! I’m terribly sorry, Captain! Er...let me clean you up...” Kaya had been carrying a keg full of beer when she ran into Konno. Now Konno was soaked in it.
“No, really, Kaya, that’s all right. I’ll just go down to the kitchen and get a towel from Zion.” Konno said, looking up at Kaya. She was wearing a loose white t-shirt and khaki shorts, with a red bandanna tied around her head, which covered most of her brown hair, with the exception of a few chunks sticking out here and there, and two large braids protruding at either end. Kaya also had large, sapphire blue eyes.
“Oh, okay. Well, have fun...I guess...” Kaya said, as she hoisted her keg of beer. Almost instantaneously, she shrieked, toppled over, and spilled some of the beer on herself.
“By Baldur’s beard!!” she groaned.
Konno hurried away, wary of Kaya’s clumsiness. Konno made her way to the kitchen, buried deep in the holds. It was small, but Zion was able to work with it. Konno found him there, a Hawkman. He was shirtless, as always, because of two large black wings sticking out of his back. He wore a tall red band around his head, partially hiding his bright green eyes. His blonde hair stuck up and then glided down the back of his skull. His denim pants were also red.
“A towel? Sure thing, Captain,” Zion said, handing Konno a towel. “Was it Kaya?”
“Who else?” Konno replied.
Zion laughed. “Yeah, I saw her lave with that keg a couple minutes ago. Never told me what it was for...”
“Seemed like she already had some,” Konno said, sarcastically. She left the kitchen and headed for the artificery. There, she found the artificer Silverfang, a Wolfman, talking with Allendar and Darius. Silverfang did not wear much, but his fur was a deep shade of light blue in some areas, and dark sapphire in others. A large, intricately carved scimitar hung from his waist. His eyes were a piercing yellow. The artificery was a small room crowded with various whirring and whizzing silver instruments. On the table was lying Silverfang’s newest invention, the likes of which Konno had never seen before. It seemed to be a dark steel cattle prod, but it occasionally emitted a puff of smoke.
“Welcome, Captain,” Silverfang said without looking at Konno.
“How’d you know it was me?” Konno asked, placing her hands on her hips and cocking her head to one side.
“You should know by now, Captain, that my sense of smell exceeds that of any human,” Silverfang replied smugly, glancing sideways at Konno. She laughed and headed out the door. Once back on the deck, she spotted the ships two rope workers: Spark, a Stone Golem, and Grunt, a Half Orc. Also up on deck was the ships unofficial crewmember, Dominique. Dominique wore an ankle-length black cloak, with a longsword attached to the back. Her hair was medium-length, and black like Konno’s. Her eyes, however, were a burning red. Spark was a large creature. He wore no clothing except for the bags of various tools he wore around his waist. Grunt looked the most like a pirate of any of them. He had a scarred face, a ripped bandanna, and tattered clothes. He was truly a pirate at heart. His skin was a lighter shade of green than full-blooded Orcs, and although his face was strikingly Human, he had two large fangs that protruded from his bottom lip. In a very Orclike fashion, he had no hair, even on his eyebrows, and too many body piercings for his own good. Konno stole a glance at each of them before heading back to the captains quarters.
Favs!