Short Stories

This article features brief story updates that do not require an own article.

#### March 27, 2019

Hard breaths of air hammered through the chest of the priest as he woke up from a slumber he had not realized to have fallen into. Repeating nightmares had been haunting him since the day he had discovered another of whom he had considered a friend frozen in eternal ice. He could still see the glittering ice that had engraved their shapes, every seam, every individual strand of hair, in front of his inner eye. Telling the children... How had he been expected to? They had wailed as the Tabacopies had carried them off. And despite his inner turmoils, his resentment, his sadness, he had remained silent as he had went on to speak his prayers. For he had been taught long ago that God worked in mysterious ways.

Just why did it always have to be him?

It had struck William like lightning. Engaging in battle with a soldier he had never seen before, he had been in his element. Clank to clank, swords had kissed - until he had leapt upwards, and his katana sunk onto solid ice. The impact threw him back, causing him to catch himself with a number of strategic roles over the ground. "**What the-**" As he looked back at the soldier, there was nothing left but an ice statue that wielded its weapon.

Dread filled the young therian as he stumbled back in the hallway of the quiet house. Suspicion had been reasonable on Arthur when he had seen the door stand open. He had only wanted to inquire about a long overdue library book. Then he had seen the person, the shape that had seemingly just frozen in place as the man had read that book. He knew he had to tell Tabaqui. Promptly he stormed back out, gathering the attention of Sbe, who had happened to slither by. "**What's the ruckus?**" he asked, catching Arthur as he tripped and fell forward just a few steps in front of him. "**Get a Tabacopy! Someone has-**"

Sun shone through the Player Memorial. With the news having reached them, Tabaqui had ensured that their duplicates would bring the victims into an honorful position. Soon the clones had left, leaving their mother cell by themselves. They had inspected the newer figures, examined them, imprinted their image on a digital canvas. Eventually, they had turned toward a female statue, one who had been there longer than the others. The fingers of the mayor grazed over the chill layer at the statue's shoulder. A sober sigh exited their lungs as their gaze dropped onto a data file case that was opened on their hologram screen. A photo of a young girl was next to gathered data; the same girl whose statue they were standing next to. Tabaqui used their finger to slide through other pages, notes of known faces, now fated to remain unmoving, then closed the screen. The Digit beeped, seemingly transferring data into the Cockpit.

**[File Name: Spontaneous Freezing Syndrome.mtd... Updating data.**]

#### February 12, 2019

A party of nine had prepared itself to go scouting together on this humid morning. The members of it had no real connection, and Tabaqui was hoping that putting them into a group together might break the ice between them. After all, the teamwork of the community would be vital during Trials, and new friendships could not hurt.

The drawing of sticks assigned the shapeshifter Fin as the party leader - a lucky choice. They were a mediator, and thus could act as such should they run into hostile individuals along their path. Among them were skilled fighters, such as Fariha, William, Juniper and Zenon, as well as Players who appeared to have a good sense of working together, such as Seraphina and Eleanora. Saul and Tartarus had only recently joined their community, so their take on these matters was yet to be tested.

Some hours went into the day with the group taking note of anything they could spot. They mapped the locations of some unknown communities and beastkin tribe camps they discovered along their way, gathered a few edibles and herbs for use in the city, and made sketches of strange flora and fauna they saw.

While Eleanora was parting some bushes to take a look behind them, her eyes locked with a strange stone formation that was poking out from below the ground. Curiously, she blinked. "**You might want to see this. It looks odd.**" she called over to the others, who had all been doing their own scouting measurements and halted in their tracks when they heard the request.

"**Does seem fishy.**" William scoffed, receiving agreement through mutters from the others. It stopped when they saw the formation move its angle slightly to its right. "**Does it live?**" Fariha chimed in next, her hand wandering to her weapon, just in case.

"**Let's find out.**" Promptly, Saul had dropped onto the ground and picked up a long stick, kneeling down beside Eleanora to poke the stones with it. And so it moved again. This time, however, it glitched. The faces of some Players went pale as they realized too late what they were tampering with.

"**Watch o-**" The warning from Seraphina came too late, as suddenly the ground rumbled. Acting quickly, Zenon took a hold of the kneeling seal lady to get her away from the scene, while Tartarus pulled on the foolish bird to do the same.

The ground broke, making way for more stone formations as something emerged from below the surface. The trees and bushes on top of it were mercilessly pushed out along their roots. Although the Players readied themselves for a fight against a Primal, they soon realized what was building up in front of them was a round stone structure, decorated with stone statues that held weapons, shields and wielded magic. As it concluded, it floated above the ground, a long set of marble stairs leading up to a an entry gate.

Zenon's ears perked up at the sight. "**...an arena?**" The Players shot the cerberus a questioning look. "**...They held battles in those where I came from. Competitions. To test who is the best fighter of all. Entertainment. What would you say... sports**?" he explained to clear confusion. How odd to be the one explaining things for once.

"**A Trial?**" Fariha questioned next. "**Doesn't seem like it. We haven't been thrown into an instance with the others.**" a denying reply from Juniper came. "**What do you think, Fin? Should we investigate?**"

Fin pondered for a moment, thinking of possible consequences. The people who were part of the group were skilled... Even in a worst case scenario, they could surely manage to make it back out. "**I say we should. This could be relevant to our community.**"

Upon climbing the stairs, Tartarus pushed the gate open, waiting until the rest had stepped inside. Much to the surprise of the Players, the inside was filled with life - creatures of different kinds were chatting with each other, doing workouts, practicing their stances inside a grandiose entry hall. General confusion took hold of the party. Had those people lived under the ground all this time?

Their silent question would be answered as a male minotaur of giant stature approached them from a second gate that opened behind the entry hall, at his side a horned lady with a morning star tail and various spiky bones sticking out from her clothes. Her legs were inhuman, resembling that of a reptile. It was the minotaur who spoke first, flexing his muscles. "**Ah, we have reached another destination! Flourishing with potential at first sight.**" A compliment seemingly directed at the party.

"**We greet you, mortals of this realm,**" He took on another pose, mirroring an artistic battle stance that the woman took with a shimmering lance next to him. "**This is the Interdimensional Magic Tournament Coliseum - and it is you who we welcome to test your abilities in our competitions.**"

#### January 15, 2019

After the events of District 11, revealing the twisted experiments that went on behind their backs the whole time, Yuzai had found his way to the cockpit. Tabaqui was not reacting to his presence as he walked in, drilling into the mayor with a questioning stare. It was not the mutations confined inside of their city that he was there about though. It had been about something he had recently noticed when he had regained his abilities, when he had dared to gaze at Tabaqui with his holy eyes. For a while he had just kept quiet, refusing to jump to conclusions, using the recent events as some sort of push to let the mayor know what he knew. As things turned out, Tabaqui had already expected him.

"**I was wondering when you'd come, Shepherd.**" the shapeshifter spoke casually, back turned to the hybrid as they set on their chair. They turned around with a quick twirl of it, crossing their legs.

"**I wasn't actually sure at first. Since you are a shapeshifter. I thought that was all to it. But that thing in the cage... Seeing inside the Glitch. It brought me some clarity.**" the Shepherd spoke calmly.

"**You don't even know what you're asking me to confess.**" Tabaqui dismissively gestured with their hand, seeming unfazed by the indirect accusations.

"**You are mistaken. I'm not asking you to confess anything. Though, aren't you worried that your dear Players will find out what you're truly hiding from all of them?**"

There was tension in the room, despite their mutually quizzical atmosphere.

Tabaqui remained silent for a moment. Then the corners of their lips rose, fangs exposed in an amused grin. "**And what are you going to do about it, Shepherd? You have nothing against me. Not after pledging neutrality between us and Yggdrasil.**"

What they knew, it would stay in the room; For the Shepherd had become a true neutral.

"**I am going to continue watching that little game you are playing.**"

Oh, neither trusted the other.

#### December 31, 2018

Cosmos surrounded the norn as he stood upon a replica of Yggdrasil's branches. Isolation resided around the man as he surveyed the stage of the tree, daring to devour more Players into the Cluster. In the silence it almost looked serene. The omniscient eye could see the near future, each individual at the mercy of the Mother Tree, no virus to interfere this time. If he saw the parasite, he would cut the string of fate and sabotage their foul play. The future the norn saw was in the favour of his lord Yggdrasil, and no other.

The oracle returned to the state of an eyeball, and the spirit jerked his head as a shadow flew over his head, settling in one of the branches with wings outstretched.

"**Daughter of Summer. What is that you foretell? Are the bore-tooth to intermingle with the selection?**" Voices of two echoed as the avian spoke.

The man turned away from the vision he saw, facing the birds they called Wind-Witherer, the all-seeing, yet blind to the string of fate. "**I have seen no interference.**" he replied submissively.

Little did he sense that in that exact moment, an 8-bit pixel of a familiar shapeshifter waddled through the scene of the vision, pushing forward a broad screen that would show the exact stage in its casual resting phase, before it walked backwards in the same manner.

"**The selection will go as planned.**" The norn added before turning to look at his vision. All was the same as before.

"**Then I shall whisper to the Mother that the selection may begin.**"

The stage lay dark on that day as usual; had it not been for the oddity of a round, glowing circle in the middle of it, a sign next to it quoting "**Please jump inside if you want to live. I will explain everything when you've arrived.**", along with a doodle of a winking Tabaqui.

#### December 03, 2018

The snow had gotten furious in the pine forest of Glacier's Bay. With a click of their tongue, Roya had come to the awareness that they had gotten lost on their way to explore the stage on their own, a foolish action which had not been foolish in their eyes when they had gone out in the glistening sunshine. Now it was storming, and Roya was disgruntled. "**Stupid snow, why did this place have to be made of snow...**" they mumbled to themself, until they heard a rustle in the trees, alarming them. Was someone there? It distracted their steps enough to slip when a slope came, and Roya tumbled down, twigs and roots causing scratches on their body. Eventually they came to a halt, groaning. Dizzy, the hybrid rose their head, discovering a strange building a mere meters from their body.

"**The heck is that...**" Muttering, Roya scrambled over, peeking into the windows. Tiny elves were inside, one trying to build objects faster than the other, arguing about quality of items. They seemed stressed... Was that the factory they heard of? Jackpot. They just had to destroy it somehow, and then they could get out of this Trial, out of the snow, and-

They turned to stare at a figure in a torn, red coat, white fur covering the brim of the hood that had been pulled too far into their face to make off any features. Their posture was crooked, wind whistling through broken bells. The sound mixed with the chains that were attached to their ankles as they stepped forward, a long, almost bone thin, finger reaching out to touch Roya's forehead. "Naughty..." a raspy voice uttered. Before long, Roya felt their limbs stiffen.

Exhaling a foggy breath, Otohime was clumping through the layers of snow, trying to hold up the fabric of his kimono so it would not stain with cold water. Exhaustion was plastered over the Dragonborn’s face. Endlessly he had been wandering after arriving in this forsaken land of frost, looking for a sign of civilization. He still had to wonder how he had ended up here. The sun was shining on this morning, around him nothing but vast lands of snow, pine trees and a few penguins in the near distance.

Suddenly a clank came, and the man found he had stepped onto something. Crouching down, he began to dig whatever it was out, eyes widening in surprise and confusion at the find.

It was a perfectly frozen statue of a firefly fairy.

## See also

* Story
* Group History