forum I'm lacking the creative ingenuity to provide a clever and witty name (Character Chat 5)

Started March 16, 2019 by Deleted user

tune

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Tess scanned the competition. "Likely." Something snagged her attention, and she pointed up at the more fancy section of the stands. "There she is. With the Creator and Oracle."

His eyes squinted ever more, blinking a few times. "She can't be here for me, I just joined yesterday."

She shrugged. "She can look into the future with that Between shit." She went back to scanning the gathered participants.

He shrugged in response. "When does it start?"

"In a few minutes." Cinthia came up behind them with someone else beside her. It was a brown-skinned girl from the waist up and a winged lion from the waist down. The girl eyed Runner like a hawk sizing up its next meal.

"Is there a problem?" he asked, putting on his I don't care face.

The lion girl smiled faintly and turned to Cinthia. "I'll see you later in the Games."
Cin nodded at the girl. "No hard feelings, right?"
"Never." The two clasped hands and parted ways, the girl heading to one group while Cinthia remained with Runner and Tessa.
Cin smiled at Runner. "Runner, nice to see you here."

Tessa stepped in before any more conversation ensued. "It's starting."

"Is it?" He asked, looking around once again.

"WELCOME MALES AND FEMALES!" A voice over a hidden speaker boomed across the arena. "TO THIS YEARS WAR GAMES!" the crowd roared with cheers, and the people in the arena shifted with anticipation. "I'm sure you all are itching for some entertainment, so let's get started!" The voice paused as the crowd cheered again. "First up is Kiriti of the Myriad Vanguard."
Kiriti, a small girl with white fox ears and tail, stepped up to the concrete wall and climbed over. She looked nervous as three large cages appeared on the opposite side of the arena, each covered with cloth. They shook and rattled, angry snarling coming from beneath the cloth.

He leaned over to Tess, talking quietly. "I'm guessing those are the tests?"

She nodded. "That's her test. They should tell her what she's supposed to do right about…"
"Kiriti," the voice spoke again. "Your task is to quickly and effectively subdue these three bloodthirsty Hellhounds." The cloth covering the cages was magically pulled back, revealing three flaming, snarling, salivating, six foot tall wolves. They all honed in on the kitsune. She stiffened, but didn't back down. "You have five minutes to complete your task."

"She shouldn't have problems with these…right?" He rubbed the right side of his face, feeling worry beginning creep up on his mind.

Tess shrugged. "We can't help her even if she was having trouble. We'd both be disqualified."

He chewed on the inside of his lip. If this is Kiriti's, what's mine gonna be?

The cages swung open, and the three Hellhounds shot forward. She waited for them to be almost on top of her, then shifted into a somewhat larger than normal white fox, darting beneath the middle hound as it snapped its jaws at the air where she used to be. She turned back into a girl as soon as she was out of range and flicked three fingers in the air. Vines sprouted from the ground, wrapping around the hounds' torsos and snouts. They trashed and snarled, but the vines squeezed tighter and tighter until they could no longer move an inch.
Kiriti's ears flattened as she let out a relieved sigh, her tail curling around her legs.

Runner nodded, relieved as well. She didn't even have to raise a fist. Smart.

"Wonderful! Excellent strategy!" The announcer praised Kiriti before dismissing her. "Next in line is our resident Hellhound, Fenris of the Myriad Vanguard."
A tall, silver-haired male emerged from the crowd, his one eye silver while the other was a blind milky white. He easily climbed over the fence and awaited his trial.
"Fenris, your task is to pin down a wraith!" The crowd murmured, speculating on how that was even possible. A haunting screech echoed across the arena, its source unseen. Fenris tilted his head up in the air, searching.

"What's a wraith?" Runner asked, feeling stupid.

Tessa's eyes darted around the air excitedly. "Basically a ghost. It's mostly transparent and not solid. And it likes to scream."
Another scream echoed, and a gray figure flew around Fenris, taunting him. He narrowed his eyes at it and tugged at the dog tags around his neck. He shifted into a seven-foot-tall version of the Hellhounds Kiriti fought, though less malicious. He snapped at the wraith as it darted by, but it screamed and flew away. It was toying with him.

"He's not gonna be able to touch it physically, and he's just getting mad."

She shook her head. "His mother is the goddess of space and the cosmos, but he does jack shit with that. The only magical ability he uses is being a Hellhound–and being covered in hellfire."

Fenris trotted around the arena, following the screaming wraith as it dived and dipped and twirled. He seemed to have an idea, but it wasn't the time just yet.

He tilted his head, watching the wraith as it dove and dipped. Maybe a gust of air would work. But how the hell would he do that?

The wraith finally dove down towards Fenris, and he exploded in hellfire and snarled. It screached–out of fear–and tried darting away. But its sudden weight slowed it down, and he slammed a large paw on its back, pinning it to the ground. It writhed and screamed, but could not be released. Fenris was successful.
Tessa whistled, impressed. "I guess it takes one dead thing to know the weaknesses of another dead thing."

He nodded. "Seems like everyone here came prepared." Except for me.

"No one's prepared. We have no idea what we're getting into. I guess it was just plain luck that he knew the weakness of a wraith." Fenris was dismissed, and Tessa's name was called. She flashed a grin at Runner, "Wish me luck," and marched into the arena.
25 cages appeared around the perimeter of the arena, promptly surrounding Tessa from where she stood in the middle. "Theresa, your task is to destroy fifty Nightmares." She immediately stiffened, eyes going wide with a hint of fear.

He knew nothing of a Nightmare, but the look in her eyes and the fact that she had to kill 50 of them made him cringe just as bad as she did.

Cinthia came up beside him. "A Nightmare is just that–a nightmare. Once you look into their eyes, you'll be paralyzed with fear as you see your most horrendous memories and terrors."

"Then she needs to keep her eyes closed. Use her other senses." He rubbed his nose, glancing over at her. This was the first time they had been able to speak since he found out they were related. "So. Cousins, huh?"

Cinthia cut a glance over at him. "I guess so. Wolf knew."
The Nightmares were released, and Tessa darted towards one of the falling cloths, keeping her eyes closed and dancing around the stampeding, foggy, horse-like creatures. They chased after her, furious that she wasn't looking at them. She slid under a heavy cloth, and the Nightmares skidded to a halt, snorting and pacing around it in anticipation–and impatience.