"So... what are we supposed to do with this thing?"
The voice ringed in the ears of the small group of griffins, causing one to flinch as it bounced and echoed throughout the dimly lit cavern. The feathery perpetrator of the query cocked its head towards the lifeless being currently strapped down, looking it over with a slight frown.
"Just wait for the boss," another male voice said, this one more stout and rough than the other. He took a step away from the four-limbed creature, keeping his head bowed down towards the ground. "Just gotta do as we're told, then we're outta' here."
The original griffin kept his gaze locked onto the creature still, only shrugging as the second griffon finished his statement. Maybe it was best to just wait for the boss, maybe not, but this creature really was something else-- it was something the young griffon had ever seen or heard of. Dark brown hair covered the top of what looked to be its head, and its whole body was covered in an assortment of fabrics and cloths, covering the pale tone of the being. The griffon leaned closer to the strapped and knocked out creature, hoping to get a better look, but would unfortunately be interrupted by a new voice.
"Alright, we're starting!"
The statement was accompanied by a new figure stepping forward out of the dark depths of the cavern. As it entered the light, the figure could clearly made out to be a diamond dog, holding a pale ruby in its hand. The diamond dog itself had blotches of its fur missing, one ear, and only half a tail, something the griffons had became used to as they worked for him.
All the griffons backed away as the boss approached, sending each other worried glances. The boss, giving a short chuckle, held the palm-sized ruby high in the air. "This, with the creature that you've captured for me, is the key to our goal. Thanks to Star's rule of magical balance, the chaos that this human will cause will surely distract those who wish to uphold the 'justice' in the area." He lowered the ruby, giving another short chuckle before kneeling down next to the human. "Now watch, as you'll be the first to witness this glory!"
In one swift movement, the ruby was brought downwards to the human, being shoved towards its facial area. As it made contact, the ruby seemed to latch on to the creature, which made one of the griffons gasp. Like quicksand, the ruby looked like it was being engulfed by the creature's head. The boss took a step back, smirking with his work.
"Ha-"
"FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK!"
A louder-than-life scream echoed through the cavern, causing the griffons and diamond dog to fall down due to the sound-cannon like sound. The human's eyes shot open as it began to flail around, still screaming. As the ruby began to glow,s mall red streaks of magic could be seen shooting from the human's body.
"HELP ME! OH SHIT, SOMEONE PLEASE!"
One of the griffons forced itself up, gritting its teeth in pain as the full shrill of the human's scream attacked his ears once again. It fared its wings, launching itself towards the human with the speed of a train.
"What are you doing!?"
The griffon ignored the barely hearable diamond dog, readying its talons and aiming them straight at the screaming human. With one swipe, there would no longer be any headache causing nuisance.
Though, to its surprise, it wasn't exactly moving anymore.
With little time to react, the griffon was only able to glance behind him before a hoof was sent straight up to its torso. The griffon released a grunt as it was sent into one of the cavern walls, the whip that was once wrapped around its leg now with the owner. A orange pegasus now stood between the other two griffons and the diamond dog, glaring at each with its raspberry red eyes. With her ears stuffed in her tan hat, and a whip by her side, this was an all-too-common sight for the three in front of her.
"D-Daring Do!? How!?" The diamond dog flared its teeth in rage as it stood, snarling towards the mare. With his paws covering his ears, the diamond dog used his two hind legs to charge at Daring, running headfirst in an attempt to headbutt her. A whip was quickly sent around his leg, making him fall face first onto the ground, before he was shortly after sent flying towards the two remaining griffons. They ducked, barely missing their cannonball-like boss, but wasted no time in following after him with nervous expressions.
The first griffon, now seeing that his comrades left him, sent a glare towards Daring Do before staggering up. With haste, he too fled with the other three, leaving only Daring Do and the still human.
"-ET IT OFF! GET IT OFF! GET IT THE FUCK OFF ME!"
To Daring's surprise, the creature was no longer confined, but rather staggering around with its hands clawing at its face. The rope that was used to bind the creature was now laying on the cavern floor, on fire. The human was noticeably larger now, and the once small streaks of magic were now surrounding his body, creating an aura of magic around it.
One glimpse at the ruby attached to the human's forehead made Daring's face go pale, although she already had an idea-- it just confirmed her suspicions. She knew she had to do something, get that ruby off, fast.
With not a moment to lose, Daring cocked her whip back, and sent it flying at the ruby. The whip, just as planned, hit the ruby-- but rather than fly off the human, the ruby cracked from the impact. The human was also shook to his knees as the whip hit, stopping his screaming for a moment to let out a grunt of pain. Even cracked, the ruby still continued to glow, and the human began to bring himself up. The aura had mostly faded, and the human had shrunk down back a bit.
"P-PLEASE! OH, GOD, PLEASE HELP ME!"
Seeing this as her only chance, Daring Do flew towards the human like a lightning bolt. She turned around at the last second, lifted her haunch high in the air, and kicked the ruby with all her strength. The ruby was instantly decimated, with bits and shards flying and bouncing off of the cavern walls. The human was sent flying back, and landed on the ground with a hefty thud. It quickly regained its normal size, and the aura was completely gone, although now it was probably knocked out since it ceased its yelling.
Still full of adrenaline, Daring quickly made her way to the creature, eyeing the spot where the ruby had latched on to. What she saw didn't surprise, but it scared her.
A mark that might might as well represent death itself, right on the human's head. Something, like the creature itself, had only been heard of in myths and stories.
A round circle, with small triangles being on the outline. A star in the middle, and a small "B" in the middle of it all. There was no mistaking it.
Shock set in as the adrenaline wore down, and Daring found her breath caught in her throat. Two things which clearly shouldn't exist were now right in front of her, practically mocking reality. She could only stare in shock, letting herself fall down on her haunches. She gave a breath, shaking her head, "I'm going... crazy."
She closed her eyes, trying to figure out... exactly what this all was. What could a bozo diamond dog like Rider doing with stuff like this? It was to no doubt cause harm, but you don't just... get this kind of stuff out of nowhere... Whatever, I'll catch him soon enough. I can just force the answers out of 'em then.
With a "tch," Daring reopened her eyes...
To find the human staring back at her.
Pain. Throb. Pain. Throb.
Each time my heart beats, a streak of pain tears through my body. It feels like I'm being ripped to shreds-- it hurts so much. I try to force my mind to process-- to find out what's going on-- but the pain's too much. I only know that I'm in danger, that I need to run, but I can't even lift a finger.
I hear something-- a quick 'whoosh' sound, and it stops just inches away from me. Something's definitely here. I need to move, I need to get up.
My natural instincts go into overdrive as adrenaline is forced through my system. Move, I just need to move my fingers, just--
I grit my teeth as I force my fingers upward, giving the instant feeling of my arm being on fire.
Pain. Throb. Pain. Throb.
New surges of agony attack my nervous system, but I need to move. I need to ignore the pain. Pretend like it's not there. One step at a time, Turner.
Tears run down my face as I mash my elbows in the ground, attempting to prop my torso up. My arm muscles explode, my abdominal area gets stabbed, all of my thought processes try to deal with the pain-- but it doesn't work. I want to just go limp, to just stop the pain, but something's right beside me.
I can't stop. I have to--
I force my arm muscles upward, practically sacrificing my own nerves. I want to destroy my body. I want to die. I want the pain to end.
I have to move.
The eyes, and then the neck. Just enough to see what's there, to see the threat.
My upper body starts to go numb, dulling some of the pain. I can feel my face go pale as the blood rushes down to my neck, creating a soft buzzing sound from within my head. I force my eyes open, first noticing the orange light flickering across a rocky roof. The transition for darkness to light makes dizzy for a moment, but I manage to focus my sight once more and continue with my objective.
I crane my neck a little to the left, where the sound came from; expecting a masked man pointing a gun at me, or maybe some sort of wild animal.
What-
What I see sends my body into a slight shock. Something definitely... orange. I think I can make out fur, a hat, and some kind of black hair-- but what is it exactly? I blink, seeing now that the thing decided to swing one of its body parts back and fourth. With my body mostly numb now, my eyes manage to flip the power to my brain back on, and it only respond with:
What the hell is this thing?
It makes a "tch" sound, craning its body upright and...
Looks right at me.
A gasp gets caught in my throat, and my eyes go wide in surprise. This thing's eyes are huge-- and red! This can't be real, but it's right there!
Instincts take over. Before I realize it, my right hand is in the air and my legs are curling up. The stabs of pain come back full force, beating on my now moving limbs.
This is going to suck.
Using all the strength I can muster, I swing my arm in a downward arc towards the creature's head. It looks up for a moment, dropping it's jaw, but it's too late.
My hand connects with the creature's head, sending new waves of hurt from my hand to my shoulder. It feels like my arm is now bordering on ripping in half, but with the intent of not being killed, I force myself forward. Propelling myself up with the still useful left arm, I launch onward into a sprint. I choose to run down a small, torch-lit hole directly behind the orange thing.
Keep running.
I'm already exhausted, and I've only been running for a few seconds. Each time my foot makes contact with the floor, a lightning bolt of agony shoots from my toes to my thighs. My heart feels like it's going to beat through my rib cage and claw itself out of my skin, but still, I can't stop yet. Not with that thing behind me.
Pffh!
I hear something akin to the sound of a bag of chips being smashed, and then a low whistle following after. It's surely coming from behind me, but...
Twisting my neck to get a good look behind me, I squint my eyes to make out what exactly the sound is coming from. It looks orange...
Large round eyes...
...Wings.
Oh shit--
"Hey, get back here!"
What the fuck!?
A female voice just called out to me, but it looked like it came from that mutated creature! No, someone must be here to rescue me-- I just can't see properly in the dark! Finally! Better respond-- just so they'll know I'm still alive!
"Someone shoot this thing! Get me out of this fucking hole!"
That should do it!
The flying predator stops mid-air, narrowing its eyes at me and sticking one of its limbs behind itself.
Hah!
It pulls out a whip, rearing its limb back and shooting towards me at a new-found speed.
Ho-
I barely have time to react before I strong force wraps around and tugs at my right leg, flinging it up into the air. I see every angle and side of the tunnel, feel my stomach try to come out of my mouth, and feel all the blood rush to my head all before I feel my spine hit the cold rock floor. When I try to scream in pain, what instead comes out is a long-winded cough sound, so soft that I doubt even my pursuer heard it.
The adrenaline quickly wares off, and all of the previous pains and aches come back full force. It leaves me in such a pathetic state that even breathing's too complicated, so I'm left here gasping at air like a fish.
Am I going to die?
A question I don't wan't answered. A wild animal, and human in too much pain to move; the facts are there, but I refuse to accept them. I can't just die like this, there's... just no way.
I see four of the creature's limbs float onto the ground in front of me as black dots begin to cover my vision. I try to force my eyes open, just to see for a little longer, but at this point my body absolutely refuses to listen to me.
There's so much unanswered here, It can't happen like this.
Not... Like this...
...Please.
~~~~~~
...Fuck, my head...
Am major headache, that's the first thing I notice when I come back to the world of the living. Well, that and the ache in general. I mean, why do I feel so beat up? I shouldn't feel this cold, either, not in a heated apartment room.
...Wait, am I laying on grass?
In shock, I spring upwards, expecting some sort of obvious answer to all these problems. Instead, I just get... resistance. I didn't move a bit. I open my eyes, seeing nothing but a few clouds in a purple sky, and the slightly visible moon. It must be early in the morning, but that doesn't tell me anything need to know. Why am I here? Why can't I move?
What's going on!?
I hear something move to the right of me, and I turn my head to see what it is. Somehow, this sends me into a huge sense of 'deja vu,' and I realize why once I see what's there.
Khaki hat, vest, orange, wings, big red eyes.
Oh, damn.
...I guess that explains why I'm sore.
"Oh, you're awake."
I'm not even shocked anymore. I'm sure I can bet the number of minutes on one hand I've been awake since this thing has entered my life, and it just doesn't shock me anymore. This most likely isn't even real. Probably got hit by a car on my way back home, got about twenty different kinds of medicine running through my system, and wound up dreaming about this weird shit.
"Listen, I'm a nice mare and all," the creature says with an older sounding feminine voice, "but if you try to hit me again, I'll make sure you don't get up for a week."
There's no mistaking it, it's definitely talking. Now, out here in the sunlight, I can tell it sort-of resembles a winged dog or horse, and it has some kind of compass on its rear.
"Now, I'm not sure what your relationship to Rider is-"
How... did that compass get there? It doesn't look branded or anything. A colored image, just... kinda there. I think it actually might be colored fur, but I don't have the right angle to make sure...
Uh-- Who the hell's Rider?
"-but, for some reason, he managed to get a human and the ruby of Stellarum. Two things which don't mix well together at all."
I'm really wanting to believe this is some sort of hallucination.
"We'll need to get you to a place to overpower the magic, but we also have to make sure you don't explode."
For some reason, what it said strikes some fear into me-- even though I should be waking up from whatever this is soon. It must be a dream. No other explanation.
"Any questions?"
The question catches me off guard, but I resist the urge to scream for help, and instead take a breath-- gathering my courage.
"Uh-- w-what?"
The horse lets out a sigh, plopping down on the grass beside me and giving a soft laugh. "Do you even know where you are?"
Not wanting to sound like a troubled kid again, I just shake my head. Thankfully the horse gets it, and nods.
"Basically, you have a lot of magic in you right now, something that's not... supposed to happen to humans. Since humans... according to books, have no natural magic within them, if any magic does end up within them, the magic would be kinda'... forced out of them so it could be balanced back out. This wouldn't be a problem if it was just a small amount of magic, bu-ut... thanks to a certain ruby, a very large amount of magic was forced into you at once. Now, we need to get that magic out safely... soon."
My brain was doing jumping jacks trying to keep up at this point. Magic? Rubies that force magic into people? How do these things exist? I never remember coming into contact with any sort of ruby, either, so--
Eugh.
After staring blankly at the horse, it shrugged and returned to its original standing position. "Oh well, we don't really have time to waste-- I'll explain it to you while we make our way to the camp near here. I know some ponies there that will fix everything up for you."
Ponies... I was close enough with horse.
"Now-- since you're too heavy for me to carry I'll untie you. You have to promise you won't try anything funny, alright?"
I nod my head, not wanting to displease the flying horse if it meant me being untied.
"Good. It should only take a few hours to get to the camp, so," it floats over to my wrists, untying them. "We should be there by lunchtime if we hurry."