Post by RielCZ on Jun 27, 2024 18:05:05 GMT -5
Thanks Chocolate !
Usually I write more comedic stuff so it's been an interesting week getting to stretch my serious/dramatic side.
Yep, first time I entered basically consistently in an STC in a long long time. I entered for every slot except the one won by Kat . (Congrats Kat BTW!
)
A few of my better / more interesting failed entries, since seeing those are always fun:
Also, I tried to setup a very specific ending idea. I'll be curious to see whether the winner caught on or goes in a different direction.![:P](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/tongue.png)
EDIT: Yep I'm glad someone connected it to the current plot events with the gathering of Neopian leaders.
![:D](http://storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/grin.png)
Yep, first time I entered basically consistently in an STC in a long long time. I entered for every slot except the one won by Kat . (Congrats Kat BTW!
![:)](http://storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/smiley.png)
A few of my better / more interesting failed entries, since seeing those are always fun:
...At once, an entrance opened in the side of the Shrine. "Huh? What is this? Where does this lead?" Amira asked, more to herself than to the Nightsteed.
Wordlessly, the fiery figure trotted into the Shrine, looking back, waiting for Amira to follow him. With a single solemn nod, the Aisha strode up to him and they walked alongside each other through the dimly lit corridor.
Finally, they arrived at the entrance to a large chamber.
Amira took a deep breath, readying herself. She had not seen where her father's sarcophagus was ultimately laid to rest, but she knew it had to be here. This had to be the burial chamber of King Coltzan III.
Summoning her courage, she walked into the room, but it was not what she expected.
Inside, held in place by the hieroglyphics on the walls, was a swirling purple vortex.
"It is a portal to an alternative universe," the Nightsteed finally spoke. "I do not know who opened it. All I can say is that I have ventured through it and back... and inside, your father never drank of and succumbed to the poison."
Amira was dumbfounded. Speechless. Broken.
She had had her time of grieving, literally laid this topic to rest, and became the queen her nation needed.
And yet...
The Nightsteed grunted sympathetically. "Will you want to see him again and bring him back...?"
Wordlessly, the fiery figure trotted into the Shrine, looking back, waiting for Amira to follow him. With a single solemn nod, the Aisha strode up to him and they walked alongside each other through the dimly lit corridor.
Finally, they arrived at the entrance to a large chamber.
Amira took a deep breath, readying herself. She had not seen where her father's sarcophagus was ultimately laid to rest, but she knew it had to be here. This had to be the burial chamber of King Coltzan III.
Summoning her courage, she walked into the room, but it was not what she expected.
Inside, held in place by the hieroglyphics on the walls, was a swirling purple vortex.
"It is a portal to an alternative universe," the Nightsteed finally spoke. "I do not know who opened it. All I can say is that I have ventured through it and back... and inside, your father never drank of and succumbed to the poison."
Amira was dumbfounded. Speechless. Broken.
She had had her time of grieving, literally laid this topic to rest, and became the queen her nation needed.
And yet...
The Nightsteed grunted sympathetically. "Will you want to see him again and bring him back...?"
...Amira entered the catacombs. Lighting a torch from the provisions the Nightsteed provided her, she ventured into the dimly lit corridor.
A short distance inside, she saw something stirring and started. She breathed a sigh of relief that it was only a Wadjet.
But she narrowed her eyes. Something about that Wadjet was peculiar... Amira gasped. It was grey. A grey Wadjet. Those didn't exist!
Without hesitation, she followed the Petpet, and found herself in an antechamber filled with with grey Lost Desert Petpets.
It was good that her father taught her that desert Petpets were friends, and nothing to be scared of. She wondered if her sister Vyssa might have fainted at the sight.
She trudged around the Petpets and kneeled beside a grey Abubis. "Hey there, friend," she cooed, reaching out her paw to pet its soft fur. "What is this place? What lies ahead?" Amira glanced up at the door in front of her, leading to parts unknown -- parts she knew she had to face if she wanted to save her father, stop him from being permanently exiled from this place, his Shrine.
"You there," came a melancholy and monotone voice behind Amira. the Aisha felt her hair raise as she remembered the undead creatures the Nightsteed had mentioned. "You aren't grey. How can you possibly be this close to the Shrine's inner sanctum without being cursed?"
Steeling her nerves, the queen turned around to see...
A short distance inside, she saw something stirring and started. She breathed a sigh of relief that it was only a Wadjet.
But she narrowed her eyes. Something about that Wadjet was peculiar... Amira gasped. It was grey. A grey Wadjet. Those didn't exist!
Without hesitation, she followed the Petpet, and found herself in an antechamber filled with with grey Lost Desert Petpets.
It was good that her father taught her that desert Petpets were friends, and nothing to be scared of. She wondered if her sister Vyssa might have fainted at the sight.
She trudged around the Petpets and kneeled beside a grey Abubis. "Hey there, friend," she cooed, reaching out her paw to pet its soft fur. "What is this place? What lies ahead?" Amira glanced up at the door in front of her, leading to parts unknown -- parts she knew she had to face if she wanted to save her father, stop him from being permanently exiled from this place, his Shrine.
"You there," came a melancholy and monotone voice behind Amira. the Aisha felt her hair raise as she remembered the undead creatures the Nightsteed had mentioned. "You aren't grey. How can you possibly be this close to the Shrine's inner sanctum without being cursed?"
Steeling her nerves, the queen turned around to see...
...nothing but the chamber she was in.
Except... she could sense, nae, see, that the room had a misty, ethereal, supernatural quality about it.
And everything was unsaturated. Muted. Grey.
Amira realized she was seeing the room as though through the eyes of her father's ghost. A shiver ran down her spine. "Coltzan? Father?" she asked the empty air. "Where are you? Are... are you here?"
As though in response, she felt a surge of accursed depression course through her, and tears came to her eyes. She had always been the more carefree and rebellious daughter of King Coltzan III, but she had strong feelings of empathy... though she often kept that side of her hidden away like a precious gemstone.
"My spirit has been pried from my Shrine," the Aisha heard herself speak -- except the words weren't hers. They felt foreign on her lips. "Lost. Wandering. Ebbing away. For years, I have felt it my duty to stay in this realm, and guide the lost souls of the Lost Desert, until such a time as I have done all I could do. But my willpower is fading... fading... I am fading... Reverse the curse on my crown, on my shrine, Daughter, or there will be nothing left of me... Save my soul..."
Amira gasped for air and with a swift motion grabbed the crown and tore it from her head. Breathing heavily, she glared around the room, waiting for her vision to clear.
The ethereal quality dissipated. But the grey remained.
In horror, she looked down at herself with a start. For she, too, had become grey. Intrinsically, undeniably grey.
And then she heard a cackling from behind her...
Except... she could sense, nae, see, that the room had a misty, ethereal, supernatural quality about it.
And everything was unsaturated. Muted. Grey.
Amira realized she was seeing the room as though through the eyes of her father's ghost. A shiver ran down her spine. "Coltzan? Father?" she asked the empty air. "Where are you? Are... are you here?"
As though in response, she felt a surge of accursed depression course through her, and tears came to her eyes. She had always been the more carefree and rebellious daughter of King Coltzan III, but she had strong feelings of empathy... though she often kept that side of her hidden away like a precious gemstone.
"My spirit has been pried from my Shrine," the Aisha heard herself speak -- except the words weren't hers. They felt foreign on her lips. "Lost. Wandering. Ebbing away. For years, I have felt it my duty to stay in this realm, and guide the lost souls of the Lost Desert, until such a time as I have done all I could do. But my willpower is fading... fading... I am fading... Reverse the curse on my crown, on my shrine, Daughter, or there will be nothing left of me... Save my soul..."
Amira gasped for air and with a swift motion grabbed the crown and tore it from her head. Breathing heavily, she glared around the room, waiting for her vision to clear.
The ethereal quality dissipated. But the grey remained.
In horror, she looked down at herself with a start. For she, too, had become grey. Intrinsically, undeniably grey.
And then she heard a cackling from behind her...
Also, I tried to setup a very specific ending idea. I'll be curious to see whether the winner caught on or goes in a different direction.
![:P](http://storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/tongue.png)
EDIT: Yep I'm glad someone connected it to the current plot events with the gathering of Neopian leaders.
![:)](http://storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/smiley.png)