Midget Wars (Solo)

[Ariel]

Spring 2, 511 AV The sun was high in the sky, and a cool breeze swept through the sea of grass that surrounded Ariel. The occasional grey Drykas tent could be seen off in the distance as she rode along on Rafael's back. Her feet were resting in the stirrups, her hands were gripping the leather reins tightly, her back was straight. Ariel seemed strangely regal atop Rafael, as he pushed past long, green blades of grass. Ariel flicked the reins so that he would go a little faster. The darn kitten always seemed so lazy to her. Rafael padded along, content with how the wind ruffled his fur, and the sun tickled his nose. "Such a lovely day," Ariel commented, as the kitten stepped over a large stone. Meow, was all Rafael replied. It was all he ever said, and unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, Ariel didn't speak cat, and thus, had no idea what he was saying to her. The two walked along in silence for a few minutes, until Ariel happened upon something shiny in the grass. She pulled up on the reins, bringing Rafael to a halt. "Whoa there, what's that?" she asked the kitten, as though he knew any better than she. As though he held all the answers to her many questions. The shiny object was circular, and nearly flat, almost like a coin of some sort. Deciding that she was in the mood to investigate, Ariel leaned forward, and swung her right leg over the saddle. When her right leg had come all the way around, she hopped off the saddle and onto the ground. She walked up to Rafael's face, and patted him on the cheek. "Just stay there while I go inspect that, ok kitty?" Ariel said. Meow "Now that's a good kitten," Ariel said as she walked away from Rafael, and stepped closer to the mysterious shiny object. It took but a moment for her to reach it, and when she had, she bent down at the waist and stared at it with her unblinking eyes. It definitely wasn't a coin, as she had originally thought. Or at least, she was pretty certain it wasn't. It sure didn't look like a miza anyway.

[Ariel]

Upon closer inspection, Ariel realized that there was a single hole running all the way through the center of the shiny object. If she stood atop the object, she could just make out the crushed green grass beneath it through the hole. If she jumped up and down on it, the object made no sound, as though the grass beneath it were more than enough to muffle any sound it could make. "Interesting," Ariel whispered as she bent down and attempted to lift the object, it felt lighter than it looked, and the pycon managed to lift it easily. It was as though the object were hollow. Ariel dropped it. "Must be useless, whatever it is. Maybe a bead or something," Ariel commented as she looked up and around her, but found nothing but grass in sight. "Rafael?" she called. "Rafael?" Oh were did that silly kitten get to anyway? And right after we told him to stay put while we went to inspect that alluringly shiny object. As though mocking her, or perhaps, simply verifying her thoughts, the object continued to sparkle in the sunlight. It was calling to her, begging her to pick it up and bring it along on her travels, despite the fact that she had no idea as to what it was. But Ariel did have to go find out where Rafael had wandered off to. He did have all of her things, and she was starting to grow rather fond of him besides. Ariel sighed. "See what you did you stupid shiny... THING?" Ariel scolded as she put her hands on her hips and then looked around her little patch of grass. Surely Rafael had to leave some sort of hint as to where he had gone. Ariel walked around the shiny object, in circles. Looking for anything, and then she finally noticed it, a set of tiny footprints that led off in the direction in which she originally came with Rafael. Probably should follow them, Ariel thought with a shrug, as she headed along the path of tiny footprints yelling, "Rafael! Rafael? If you can hear me you get back here right this instant, and we can pretend this never happened. Rafael! Oh!" Ariel scowled, "no mice for you tonight mister!" Ariel shouted as she stomped along, doing her best not to lose sight of the tiny footprints, and the occasional larger kitty prints beside them. OOCAnything in bold is Ariel's thoughts.

[Ariel]

Ariel followed the footprints in silence for a few moments until they all disappeared from sight. When they did, Ariel looked up from her tiny feet, and scratched her chin. Hmm, it seems like they covered their tracks from here on in. Soooo... if Ariel were an evil kitten thief, where would she go from here? Left or right, or perhaps straight? Hmmmmmm. This one was a toughie. Ariel stood for a few moments, simply scratching her chin and thinking. She was breathing in through the nose, and out through the mouth. Concentrating deeply. When she truly bothered to look around again, she noticed several swirling misty blobs off in the distance, perhaps ten feet ahead of her in the grass. Some of the blobs were green, and shaped like grass. Grass has an aura? "Apparently," Ariel answered her brain, as she studied the other two auras. One of the auras was simply a swirly black mist. It was rather small, and close the ground, surely no more than five inches in height. The other was only slightly larger, and bright red. It seemed to be swishing back and forth. Perhaps that is Rafael, but who is that with him? Ariel waved the auras away, and instantly they disappeared. She was hit with a wave of exhaustion, and began to blink rapidly a few times. The auras hadn't told her much. Of course they signaled the location of other forms of life, but they displayed little more than that. Simply that the owner of the red aura was both lively and affectionate, and the owner of the black one was dark, mysterious, and generally guarded. Ariel sighed. Now she was tired, and not truly any closer to finding her cat. "How inconvenient," she muttered unhappily, as she headed in the direction of the red and black auras. Ariel walked for a few minutes before a distinctly male voice reached her ears. "Well kitty, you shall make a fine pet indeed. A very fine pet, especially when you're already saddled up for me and everything." What in the world? Ariel took a few steps forward, until she reached a small clearing in the sea of grass. The clearing was maybe 5x6 feet, and the grass in the clearing had been flattened out, more than likely trampled on repeatedly. Dirt was interspersed with dying green grass, and the occasional grey pebble could be seen throughout. Rafael was tied to a fallen tree stump, whose bark was beginning to split. Well that's not right. Ariel took a cautious step backwards, and back into the sea of grass. From her hiding place, Ariel surveyed the area, the owner of the voice she had heard was no longer in sight. Now where could he have gone, or is Ariel hearing things? Surely she didn't imagine it, after all, she DID see a second black aura that has to belong to somebody. Yet, no matter how much Ariel looked up and down the clearing, all she saw was her cat. A grey pebble rested at her feet, and Ariel picked it up. Perhaps she could get Rafael's attention with it. Ariel stepped out of the grass, and threw the rock at Rafael. "Pst... Rafael," she called to him. The kitten's ears seemed to twitch, just as the pebble landed a few inches behind his left foot. Ariel gave herself a facepalm. Well that didn't go quite as she had hoped. Just then there was a rustling in the grass, and then a figure shot out, and screamed "boo!" Ariel jumped, "gotcha!" the guy said, as he pointed and laughed at Ariel.

[Ariel]

The figure was distinctly male, no more than four and a half inches tall; another pycon. He was sculpted out of dark grey clay, with occasional deep orange undertones. His body was thin, he more than likely weighed no more than Ariel did. His eyes were small, round, and not at all human. They seemed to be nothing more than circles with a dot in the center. Eyes with no lids; eyes that never blinked. His nose was rather large, and crooked at the top, his lips were nothing more than a straight line. Three dots lingered on each of his cheeks, as though signaling that he were meant to be a boy with freckles. His ears were curly-Qs, his hair, simple straight lines that had been drawn into his tiny, ovular clay head. His chin was sharp, his neck thin, the same with his arms, his legs, his torso. The clothes that had been sculpted onto his body were a simple pair of shorts and a shirt. He looked like an impish child, a poorly crafted clay one. "And who might you be?" Ariel asked, once she had calmed down. "Wouldn't you like to know?" the clay boy replied as he closed his eyes, and stuck his tongue out at her. Ariel's face scrunched up angrily, as she took a step closer, extended her arms, and pushed him into the grass. "I asked you a question," she said angrily. The clay boy, taken aback, brushed himself off. "Hey there girly, why don't you watch what you're doing? This is a brand new shirt, and all you're doing to it is getting it all dirty." "Oh quit your complaining," Ariel said as she rolled her eyes and pushed him again, "and tell me your name, or Harameus save your sorry clay behind." The boy took a few steps backwards, more than likely from the force of Ariel's push. "What did I just say about my shirt?" the boy shouted as he rounded on Ariel and gave her a shove. Ariel stumbled backwards, and growled unhappily. Her eyes had turned to daggers, and then back again. The red pigmentation in her cheeks was growing more and more prominent. "TELL. ME. YOUR. NAME," Ariel said through grit clay teeth as she gave him another shove. "What's it to you?" the boy asked. "I should like to know what to call the pycon foolish enough to try and steal from the illustrious Ariel. The pycon whose face shall be smashed by the end of this," Ariel replied. "What makes you think you can beat me?" the male pycon asked. "You're too ugly not to get your face smashed in," Ariel replied, not being too good when it came to trash talking, considering how few physical fights she had been in. The other pycon laughed, "ohhhh I am shivering in my little clay socks," he said. Ariel growled and ran at him. She leapt at his clay body, and knocked him onto his back. The two landed with a muffled thud, Ariel's legs were wrapped around his chest. Her legs managed to reach all the way around and her knees were pressed into the fallen grass at their side. Her tiny clay hands were balled into fists, and she was pummeling the other pycon repeatedly in the face, doing very little when it came to reshaping it. Ariel tried to whack him harder as she squeezed her legs into his sides, and shouted, "speak your name or so help you Harameus!" The other pycon covered his face in his hands after a few punches, and was slowly rocking his body back and forth, trying to get Ariel away from him. When he realized that wasn't working, he suddenly jerked his head upwards, and into Ariel's own. "What is your problem?" Ariel yelled as she stumbled backwards from the blow, and the two temporarily shifted positions. The other pycon had his tiny clay hands around Ariel's neck, and his beady eyes were fixated on Ariel's face. "Try speaking now!" he hollered as Ariel squirmed beneath him. Her arms were holding onto his wrists, trying to pull him off. "You... will... cough cough cough, gurgle gurgle, cough... die..." Ariel managed to muster as her body rocked back and forth, her wings were crushed beneath their combined weight, as she struggled to free herself. Thank goodness she doesn't truly need air, or she'd be a dead little pycon. Way to state the obvious, the other half of her brain replied, as Ariel's eyes grew even wider. Why couldn't she get this psycho thieving pycon away from her? It wasn't as though he were all that much bigger than she was. Ariel's eyes were glancing around the clearing as she continued to squirm. There was a small grey pebble a few inches away from where the two pycon were locked in a heated battle. If only she could reach it. Ariel unlatched her right hand from the other pycon's and stretched her tiny clay fingers towards the pebble. The other pycon didn't seem to notice what she was doing, being so intent on his task. Ariel inched her fingers closer and closer, stretching as far as they would go. She could feel the rough contours of the pebble beneath the tips of her fingers. She was so close. Just a little more. Ariel couldn't reach it from where she was, she'd have to get closer. Ariel bent her tiny clay legs at the knees, and then counted to three silently in her head. On three, she pushed up on them as forcefully as she could, over and over again. The movement seemed to unnerve the pycon, loosen his hold on her. It was enough for her to move a fraction of an inch closer to the pebble she had spotted earlier. Ariel smiled, as she reached for the pebble again, this time, she was close enough to bring it closer, to push it onto her hand. To grab it, and then pick it up. Why don't we just hit him in the head with it? Perhaps that will knock some manners into his system, Ariel mused as she lifted the pebble over her head, and reached her left hand up to it. Now that both hands held the pebble, Ariel brought her hands down, and pushed it directly into the top of the other pycon's head. The pycon howled in pain before rolling off her. He was patting his head unhappily. "You'll pay for that," he said as he continued to rub his aching head, and Ariel got to her feet. She was still holding the trusty pebble. "Lets see you try," Ariel replied, a playful smile spreading from tiny clay ear to tiny clay ear.

[Ariel]

The boy smiled wickedly before he turned abruptly on his heels and started running away from Ariel. Pft, what a wimp. He's running away from a girl who is a full inch and a half shorter than him, and she's only wielding a pebble. There are plenty of them around, even he could pick one up if he wanted. Ariel smirked, "well that takes care of that," she muttered as the boy returned. He was standing right in front of her, holding something in his right hand. "What, you haven't had enough yet after all?" Ariel asked. The boy merely smirked. "If you thought I've had enough, then you're in for a very rude awakening." "That so?" Ariel asked, as she tightened her grip on the pebble. "It is," the boy said simply, as he raised his weapon. "A toothpick?" Ariel said incredulously. "What the heck is that going to do?" "This!" the pycon boy shouted as he stepped forward, extended his right arm, and lunged at Ariel. Ariel quickly side-stepped to the right and dodged his attack. "You missed, how could you miss? I'm not even an inch away from you!" Ariel laughed. The boy growled and turned on his heels. He brought his right arm upwards, and the toothpick with it, Ariel ducked, and the toothpick swished over her head. "Again, really?" she taunted, as he lunged for her again, and caught her off guard. The toothpick pierced her left hand, and Ariel immediately dropped the pebble. She winced with the pain, before she wrapped her hand around the toothpick, and stood back up. The male pycon was attempting to dislodge the toothpick from Ariel's tiny clay fingers, but Ariel would not let go. She was tugging on it, just as he was pulling back. It was as though the two pycon were locked in heated game of tug-of-war, but neither of the players was gaining any ground. "Let go!" he shouted, as he shut his eyes, and his body seemed to tense. Mentally preparing himself for the battle. "If you weren't a no-good, rotten, lying, cheating dirty-black auraed pycon thief than you wouldn't have this problem!" Ariel shot back. "Well you shouldn't have left your pet out in the open like that for anyone to claim!" he shouted as he tugged and the toothpick inched closer to him. "I never left him, I was inspecting something and he was watching!" Ariel shouted as she placed her right hand on the toothpick as well, and gave another tug. "Girls and their stupid shiny objects! So predictable!" the boy shouted as she tugged even harder, pulling Ariel's body along with the toothpick. "You take that back!" Ariel shouted as she tugged again, and regained her footing. Her hand was aching, but she was determined to beat the boy. "Or what?" he sneered as he tugged, and the two leaned in his direction. "Or you shall face the wrath of Ariel!" Ariel shouted as she tugged again and the two leaned in her direction. The boy simply sneered before he pulled on the toothpick again, and then fell flat on his behind. Ariel laughed as the toothpick snapped, and the two were each left with little more than half a toothpick in their grasp. Startled, the boy stood up steadily, and Ariel pulled the half of the toothpick out of her hand. She held her half in her right hand. Well, now this is just getting ridiculous.

[Ariel]

Ariel tossed the broken toothpick piece onto the ground and stomped on it. The boy stared at her. "That was unnecessary," he said, as he swiped the severed toothpick at her, and Ariel ducked. She picked up the pebble she had dropped before, and stood up straight, just as the other pycon lunged for her, and hit the pebble instead. The toothpick crunched, and a quarter of what had remained broke off and fell into the trampled grass. Bahahahahaha, his weapon has been eliminated! The other pycon lunged at Ariel again anyway, and the rest of his toothpick sword was destroyed by the pebble Ariel held delicately in her hands. When the rest of the toothpick had crumbled, the male pycon simply stared at his hands, as if in horror at what had just happened. Ariel simply watched him stare, before the red pigmentation in his cheeks grew more and more prominent, and his hands turned into fists. He stomped over to Ariel, and smacked her across the face. Ariel retaliated by smashing the pebble she held into his face. As if he were sick of fighting, or perhaps rather frightened of Ariel, the boy ran to the area where Rafael was tethered. He began to untie Rafael while Ariel followed close behind, still holding the trusty pebble. The pycon soon untied Rafael, who simply stood in place, tensing and un-tensing his muscles, as though he were stretching them. The kitten then yawned, as the two pycon continued to fight. Ariel smashing the pebble into the male pycon, the male pycon pounding her sides with his fists. Eventually, the kitten's tail began to twitch, and Rafael stopped yawning. He eyed the fight with a bored expression on his face, until he seemed to realize who was fighting, at which point he emitted an unpleasant mewling noise, and lurched forward. He instantly swatted the male pycon away from Ariel, and then proceeded to chase him around the clearing, and pounce on him repeatedly. The male pycon screamed the entire time, before Rafael accidently, ripped his new "friend" apart. Ariel smiled, "thanks Rafael," she said as the kitten meowed and swished his tail triumphantly. The End

[Ganmedo]

Blessings from the Cupbearer Ariel XP: Riding + 2 Investigation + 3 Tracking + 2 Auristics + 3 Brawling + 5 Lore: Lookin' good on a kitten The bliss of not understanding kitty-speech Shinies in the grass Runaway kittehs Irritating, evil, kitten thieves Hurling insults COMMENTS: Oh my gosh, Ariel. This was too funny. I loved the thread. Very well done.