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Post by Mel ♪ on Jan 13, 2012 18:41:07 GMT -5
oh lol, we're ignoring the potato... xD It's kinda sad how it just disappeared after being in the story for one line ;__; I liked the potato. At first, it was like, "What is a potato doing in this story?", but after I wrote my entry, I grew to love it :3
Oh well. I don't have time to enter for the ending, so I'll just wish whoever's writing for this good luck 8D
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Post by Dea on Jan 13, 2012 19:28:06 GMT -5
Me too! I liked the spontaneity of the one liner and the twist. Now, it's just a lonely little potato...
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Post by Schefflera on Jan 13, 2012 23:38:32 GMT -5
The ending seems a mite delayed, so I finally got around to sending something.... ...as if we had actually had a chance to coordinate. Or perhaps it was just all those practices together. Maybe we just knew one another that well.
Lini raced for the closet. Zander pounced on Nil, who went down with a terrified yet melodious yelp. I lunged at Gil, Nex alongside me with all the rage of bereavement.
Nex grinned down at Gil's suddenly terrified face. "I know," he said, "that even if this band doesn't have a lot of musical talent--"
"Hey!" I yelped.
Nex ignored me. "--They're really pretty brilliant."
And Gil and Nil had been fine in a two-on-one fight when they were the ones with the advantage. Caught off guard with the odds the other way, they didn't do so well. We tied them up, and Lini rattled out a cheerful rhythm as she worked out how to hook up the talent-stealing machine.
"You all right?" I asked Nex, quietly, as Lini and Zander put together the connections. "Nervous?" Same machine, untested hands....
He shut his eyes. "A little... more than a little ashamed of myself."
"Because you left us?" I shouldn't have rubbed it in, but hey... nobody's perfect.
"Because you didn't leave me."
I smiled a little. "Hey. We need somebody with talent in this band." And I offered him a bite of my potato.
"Hey," Lini said. "You ready?"
Nex took a deep breath. "Yeah."
Lini flipped the switch.
It was surprisingly quiet. Just as well, considering we had to work fast and as quietly as possible in case Gilroy Fitzgerald the Fourth's servants heard us.
The machine made no sound.
Nil whimpered.
Nex gasped.
And then he unhooked himself and got up, moving like himself again, dancing and laughing aloud. "I'm back!" He picked up Lini and swung her around into a hug. "I'm back."
"So now what do we do?" Zander asked. "How many Neopets have they done this to? Well?" he added to Gil.
Gil shrugged. "Lost count."
"All these stolen talents," Zander said.
There was a collective, longing pause.
All these stolen talents. Nil and Gil certainly didn't deserve them. No easy way of returning them to their original owners. And us her, waiting for a chance.
Waiting for a break.
I wanted them so badly it hurt. Looking around at my friends, I could see they did too. Hunger, thirst, aching, aching.
I swallowed, opened my mouth. Choked a little. It hurt to say, but I had to. "All those," I repeated, "stolen talents."
That broke the spell. We all sighed, shifted, looked away from each other.
Nex, to my surprise, pulled away the gag from our host's mouth. And Gil laughed, shrill and angry. "You wanted it. You wanted it. See, you're no better than I am."
"We didn't take it," Nex said, kneeling before the bound Poogle. "Now. I want a list of your past... proteges."
"And why should I tell you anything?"
"Because my sister runs a rumor column in the Neopian Times," Nex said. "She's been looking for material."
Gil swallowed. "...Okay then."
*****
So we got the list. And we eventually got back to the coffee shop and apologized to Zander's friend, although we didn't get another gig there until the band they booked to replace us had moved on.
Well, we were busy anyway. It took a while to get the talents distributed back to their proper owners. Time to find them, time to convince them to get near the machine again.
Way too much time in the worst rooms in the Neolodge.
Still...
Talent matters.
But loving music enough for devoted practice, enough to figure out where you could do better and work at it, will get you a long way. And it doesn't hurt to have better taste than to dress in fancy magic soap bubbles a few sizes too tight, either.
We're probably never going to play at the Tyrannian Concert Arena... but we did make it to the Campfire in the Catacombs.
And you know what?
We've got an awesome guitarist.
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Post by Mel ♪ on Jan 14, 2012 3:18:51 GMT -5
Congrats, Schefflera Great ending~
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Post by Dea on Jan 14, 2012 11:20:11 GMT -5
Congrats Schefflera!!
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Post by Schefflera on Jan 14, 2012 22:22:29 GMT -5
Thank you! (Also, I wrote the potato back in just for you two. *grin* Well... and because I thought it would be funny.)
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Post by Mel ♪ on Jan 16, 2012 7:08:25 GMT -5
Thank you! (Also, I wrote the potato back in just for you two. *grin* Well... and because I thought it would be funny.) I saw! 8D I really liked this week's (well, last week, technically) story xD The characters and stuff, I liked that, and potato was a nice touch ;D
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Post by Dea on Jan 16, 2012 23:08:46 GMT -5
Hehe, I saw! -prods the half-eaten potato-
I can't wait for this upcoming week, I think I'll enter this time around! (: *excited to have a light workload week*
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Post by Mel ♪ on Jan 17, 2012 18:03:54 GMT -5
Congrats, TJ :3 Ooh, that image was used in STC 487. It's quite pretty ^__^
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Post by Dea on Jan 17, 2012 20:32:54 GMT -5
Oooo that was a fast update for today! Congrats to the winners so far! ^_^
Mel, it's also the Terror Mountain Snowy Hillside Background haha.
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Post by Mel ♪ on Jan 18, 2012 8:29:10 GMT -5
...Okay. I've figured it out.
This story reminds me of Atlantis: The Lost Empire
8D
/excited
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Post by linsay|ahdodadodaday on Jan 18, 2012 10:49:03 GMT -5
oooh, finally i story i think i can get my teeth into it's been so long tho, i think my writing's actually gone downhill x) not wanting to start a debate again, just genuinely interested to know, is it still the new judge or not? O:
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Post by Mel ♪ on Jan 18, 2012 18:53:25 GMT -5
I'm pretty sure it is ^_^ Congrats, Tiffy and Jellybean
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Post by Dea on Jan 18, 2012 19:14:43 GMT -5
-headdesk-
I wrote my entry halfway and refreshed the page but another entry was already updated. LOL.
Congrats to tic2tac! Nice progression! (:
Are the second update times reverting to their previous 4 pm NST slots?
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Post by |Krista| on Jan 20, 2012 9:56:46 GMT -5
I've entered, so I might as well share. Congratses and good luckses all around. Drawn like a Lightmite to a flame, I rushed to the source of the glow and was gratified, but somehow unsurprised, to find what I had been seeking all along: atop a slender stalagmite perched a golden wand of incomparable beauty, the Tasu head staring at me with ruby eyes, its mouth grasping a glittering sapphire, everything about it conforming to the details of the ancient myth.
As I reached out to touch the Golden Wand of Ithilia with fingers trembling from equal measures of excitement and exhaustion, something caught my attention from the corner of my eye: in another alcove of the cave shone a faint golden aura. I moved toward it and was astonished to see yet another stalagmite with yet another Tasu glaring at me with its jewelled eyes. Wary and confused by the meaning of this second wand, I decided to leave them both untouched for now.
I began to explore the cavern, keeping to its perimeter, and in all I discovered seven wands on spindly rock pedestals. As there had only been one true Ithilia, I knew that there must only be one true wand, and sat in the middle of the dim and dank cave to ponder the facts.
My brain, weary from the day's exertion, protested as I tried to focus my thoughts on the puzzle of the wands. As I sat and thought, exhaustion overtook me, and I fell into the grasp of sleep.
The black void of my deep slumber was pierced with a golden light a thousand times brighter than the Neopian sun, and whether I was still sleeping or not I could not tell, but I had to shield my eyes with both my arms as a voice, clear yet spectral, began to speak.
"Lucas," the voice chimed, "you come here with pure and scholarly intention, yet one follows whose motives are not as clear. I cannot stop you from taking my wand from its ancient hiding place, but I must warn you before you try: the true Golden Wand of Ithilia is protected by powerful magic. You have one attempt to choose between the wands you have discovered, but if at first you choose incorrectly, you will be banished from the Cavern of Confusion. Although you will remember what happens here, a lifetime of searching will never return you to this spot. It is up to you to choose…or not choose."
The light was extinguished as quickly as it had appeared and I lowered my arms, still not certain if it had been a dream or not. I didn't have much time to worry about it: a new voice reached my ears.
"That's it, Perfessor. I knew yer could find the spot. Start diggin'."
I moved closer to the source of the voice and could hear it on the outside of the cave wall. I put my ear against the cool stone and was startled when the sound of a rock hammer rang against the outside. I jumped back just as the hammer's sharp point broke through the thin wall between us and scrambled to hide myself behind a large boulder on the far side of the cave. From my position, I could see clearly as my good friend Neil, Professor Peyton, was forced to enter the cave, through the entranceway he had just created, on the point of a sword held by that scoundrel Roop.
"All right Perfessor," the Lupe said, "as I said to ye afore, the last time I was here I tried to take a fancy golden wand off of a ledge and the next thing I knew, I was outside the Snowager's cavern, dazed about everythin' but the image of that wand. That image has haunted me fer years. Now that ye got me back, I want ye to bring me that wand." To further compel my friend, he jabbed lightly with the sword tip, adding, "And what with all yer learnin', ye better knew which one it be."
From my hiding place I looked around and could see each of the seven wands on their pedestals and knew that Neil could see them too. From this vantage, however, I could see inscriptions in the rock face above each stalagmite, and though they were written in ancient faeriescript, years of study had granted me the knowledge necessary to transcribe them.
Yes. I knew at that moment which was the true Golden Wand of Ithilia. I knew what danger awaited my friend if he chose incorrectly. I knew what disaster awaited us all if Roop was allowed to leave with the true and powerful wand. I knew what I must do…
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