Re: Croatoan [66]
anonymous
April 21 2009, 20:22:08 UTC
“You could join us, you know,” Sycorax purrs, and Arthur feels Ariel whip and swirl around him, agitated. “Someone of your power and strength could become even more so with my aid. And you’d be with Caliban again - right by his side.” Her lips curl up, arrogant and self-assured. “Do you like the sound of that?”
Arthur thinks for about a second.
Then he lifts his sword and brandishes it at her. “I like the sound,” he says, “of you shutting the fuck up.”
She looks startled that someone would defy her; this quickly changes to a sultry grin, though. “You’re going to have some trouble with that, I think,” she says.
“We’ll see,” Arthur counters.
He takes Excalibur in both hands and charges, his blood singing with the courage of kings of old, of myths of knights and round tables.
Something dark swoops into his vision, and Arthur lifts Excalibur just in time. The two swords sing together as they clash, and Arthur finds himself staring into Alfred’s blood-red eyes.
“I will not let you touch her,” he says, baring his teeth in a soft snarl.
“Alfred, don’t do this,” Arthur pleads. He presses a hand to the flat of the blade and presses. He pulls the sword away and stumbles just out of Alfred’s range. Alfred charges again, relentless, bringing his sword up from below; Arthur parries and stumbles away. Maybe if he can catch Alfred off-balance, he’ll be able to get around and reach Sycorax -
Alfred makes a swing at Arthur’s legs; Arthur nearly stumbles and falls, but manages to stay on his feet. Behind him, he hears Sycorax laugh, light and amused.
“Excellent job!” she says, and he hears her clap once, slow. “You’re putting up a wonderful fight.”
Arthur grits his teeth, deflecting another one of Alfred’s attacks and stepping out of the way. He has to stay focused. He has to -
“Your precious colonists put up a brave fight as well.”
Something in Arthur jolts; he barely manages to avoid Alfred’s swinging blade.
“The children did, at least - the souls of the adults were the first I ate. It took a while to find the children, though, but I did. I found every last one of them. Including the little girl.”
Arthur sees bright eyes and a cherubic smile flash in front of his eyes.
“She put up the biggest fight - she was carving something into a tree when I found her, and she tried to fight me off with that same knife. She failed. It only made eating her all the sweeter.”
Virginia -!
Arthur’s vision flashes red, and he charges, not seeing Alfred, or even Sycorax. Their blades make sparks where they collide, and Arthur throws himself into the fight for real. ___
“Kiku, dammit, open your eyes!”
“…huh…?”
Kiku’s eyes flutter open to meet two sets of worried blue ones.
“Where…where am I?”
“Oh, Kiku, thank God,” Matthew breathes, relieved, falling back and cupping his forehead.
Kiku blinks and sits up. “Matthew? Francis?”
“Where have you been?” Francis asks, and Kiku senses that he’s barely keeping the worry out of his tone. “Mon Dieu, do you know how many foreign officials we had to placate while the FBI searched for you and -”
Kiku blinks. Something doesn’t sound right.
“…how long have I been gone?”
Matthew blinks at him. “What do you mean? Don’t you know -”
“Matthew, just tell me! Please!”
Something in Kiku’s tone must have touched Matthew, because he only hesitates a moment before sighing, defeated.
“A month, Kiku. You were gone for an entire month.”
Kiku sits back, feels his face going slack as he considers this. A whole month. I’ve missed an entire month in the real world.
In the middle of this, something occurs to him.
“Where’s Arthur?”
“We haven’t found him yet,” Francis says, and moves to stop Kiku as he tries to stand. “Kiku, non, you must rest -”
“Arthur!”
Francis and Matthew call after him. Kiku ignores them and runs into the forest. He looks through the trees with a wild, desperate energy; he looks for any hint of twilight and of soft-looking, sinister trees.
“Arthur!” ___
Well, Arthur thinks as he catches his breath, I’m pretty well fucked.
Arthur thinks for about a second.
Then he lifts his sword and brandishes it at her. “I like the sound,” he says, “of you shutting the fuck up.”
She looks startled that someone would defy her; this quickly changes to a sultry grin, though. “You’re going to have some trouble with that, I think,” she says.
“We’ll see,” Arthur counters.
He takes Excalibur in both hands and charges, his blood singing with the courage of kings of old, of myths of knights and round tables.
Something dark swoops into his vision, and Arthur lifts Excalibur just in time. The two swords sing together as they clash, and Arthur finds himself staring into Alfred’s blood-red eyes.
“I will not let you touch her,” he says, baring his teeth in a soft snarl.
“Alfred, don’t do this,” Arthur pleads. He presses a hand to the flat of the blade and presses. He pulls the sword away and stumbles just out of Alfred’s range. Alfred charges again, relentless, bringing his sword up from below; Arthur parries and stumbles away. Maybe if he can catch Alfred off-balance, he’ll be able to get around and reach Sycorax -
Alfred makes a swing at Arthur’s legs; Arthur nearly stumbles and falls, but manages to stay on his feet. Behind him, he hears Sycorax laugh, light and amused.
“Excellent job!” she says, and he hears her clap once, slow. “You’re putting up a wonderful fight.”
Arthur grits his teeth, deflecting another one of Alfred’s attacks and stepping out of the way. He has to stay focused. He has to -
“Your precious colonists put up a brave fight as well.”
Something in Arthur jolts; he barely manages to avoid Alfred’s swinging blade.
“The children did, at least - the souls of the adults were the first I ate. It took a while to find the children, though, but I did. I found every last one of them. Including the little girl.”
Arthur sees bright eyes and a cherubic smile flash in front of his eyes.
“She put up the biggest fight - she was carving something into a tree when I found her, and she tried to fight me off with that same knife. She failed. It only made eating her all the sweeter.”
Virginia -!
Arthur’s vision flashes red, and he charges, not seeing Alfred, or even Sycorax. Their blades make sparks where they collide, and Arthur throws himself into the fight for real.
___
“Kiku, dammit, open your eyes!”
“…huh…?”
Kiku’s eyes flutter open to meet two sets of worried blue ones.
“Where…where am I?”
“Oh, Kiku, thank God,” Matthew breathes, relieved, falling back and cupping his forehead.
Kiku blinks and sits up. “Matthew? Francis?”
“Where have you been?” Francis asks, and Kiku senses that he’s barely keeping the worry out of his tone. “Mon Dieu, do you know how many foreign officials we had to placate while the FBI searched for you and -”
Kiku blinks. Something doesn’t sound right.
“…how long have I been gone?”
Matthew blinks at him. “What do you mean? Don’t you know -”
“Matthew, just tell me! Please!”
Something in Kiku’s tone must have touched Matthew, because he only hesitates a moment before sighing, defeated.
“A month, Kiku. You were gone for an entire month.”
Kiku sits back, feels his face going slack as he considers this. A whole month. I’ve missed an entire month in the real world.
In the middle of this, something occurs to him.
“Where’s Arthur?”
“We haven’t found him yet,” Francis says, and moves to stop Kiku as he tries to stand. “Kiku, non, you must rest -”
“Arthur!”
Francis and Matthew call after him. Kiku ignores them and runs into the forest. He looks through the trees with a wild, desperate energy; he looks for any hint of twilight and of soft-looking, sinister trees.
“Arthur!”
___
Well, Arthur thinks as he catches his breath, I’m pretty well fucked.
Reply
Leave a comment