The Lonely Sun- Chapter 1

[-GuardianWolf-]

The lift hesitated. The old gears were ill maintained and it took a while for the machinery to work. Unlike the 'manhole' covering, this relied on machinery instead of old magic. After a full minute of waiting, it jolted with a start and started creaking and creeping downwards. He was used to the slowness. Actually, this technology would be a revolution to most people up top. He held the torch in one hand and pulled out a pocket book with the other. Using a thumb, he turned pages and examined its contents. He muttered to himself as he read. "Let's see... Yes... Yes... Alright..." he paused and scanned several more pages. "Oh, I see! I'd better get on it then." He snapped the book closed and tapped his foot anxiously. The gentleman was nervous now, not that any guests could get in easily without his explicit permission. Still, best to be on time.

[-GuardianWolf-]

((Bump))

[RainDash]

Reaching for the pocket watch she kept on her night stand, Jane tried to casually flip it open. It didn't open. As usual. She grumbled curse into her pillow, and stood and quickly dressed. She had rent paid until the end of the month, and despite the small size of her apartment, she liked to secretly hope that she could someday make it bigger. From the outside it would be tiny, then inside it would be huge! It was huge, if she imagined hard enough. But in the end, she dressed and walked out her, all too small, apartment. She walked out to the street, looking up and wondering why she couldn't have been born in a different time....

[-GuardianWolf-]

The man waited, and the lift finally touched down. It must have been several hundered feet. He walked through a hallway which then opened up in to a cavernous room. As in, town sized. It was relatively well lit for something of its size. The walls were lined with stone bricks. A great clock tower stood in the middle. He checked a watch on him for the time and found that the tower was running perfectly. Buildings covered each side ov vacant streets. None of them had lights on. The ceiling was domed and dotted with fake stars. A mechanical cut out of the sun peeked out of a slot where it came out of the wall, supported by two slowly moving arches.

 

He didn't notice it. Instead, he ran quickly through the town. The great clock chimed the hour and he was damned if he was going to be late. His forest green tailcoat flapped wildly behind him. A large manor at the back of the town rose in to view. It was painted white and large pools of water came down either side of a path up to it. There were gardens on either side with grass struggling to survive. The trees were enchanted to stay in one stage of growth forever, as were the flowers. He rushed in to the house and down some several twisted complicated hallways until he reached a dead end with a statue of an angelic creature in made black marble. It had a sword clasped in its two hands, firmly pointed in to the ground. After touching one of it's carved feathers, the statue receded in to the ground. Before it went any further, he entered a room that had opened beyond. It was futuristic and had all sorts of blinking lights, displays, buttons, etc.

[Shadowdrake]

A black, engraved circle lay in the middle of a clearing. Jay looked at it, tilting her head curiously. What on Erro was this doing here? (She probably shouldn't be anywhere near it--strange things had a tendency to explode with magic or curses or just generally collapse--but she was so bored. She had no idea what she was doing, but beyond living like an animal and not meeting anything both interesting and nonhostile in the wilderness, there was nothing for her to do here. Perhaps she should have gone to the city instead.)

So it was a circle of... metal? It was very nice and cool when she lay a paw on it, despite the sunlight shining on it. And she liked the coolness. After a few moments in which nothing happened (that she could see), she flopped down onto the metal and cheerfully wriggled around, enjoying the temperature. She covered her eyes with a paw, to block the light, and wondered if the circle was some sort of magic portal. Those carvings did look like runes, after all. Either way, this was a nice place for a nap. She'd inspect more closely it later.

[-GuardianWolf-]

He checked his watch again. Damn! He was late now. He prepped the place to the best of his ability. The problem was that everything was so old. One man couldn't run it all by himself and keep it anywhere near perfect, but he loved it all the same. He couldn't afford to stay much longer in case his opportunity passed. He would have to kickstart this place later. His thoughts drifted to what this place would be like with crew. No... This place was meant to be lonely. He smiled "But only most of the time" came his whisper. He hurried back across the ghoat town, grinning like a madman. The minutes up the lift were pure torture. He was about to meet whoever happened to be number one. He had no clue exactly who or what it was, but it was someone good.

[azseanster]

Charles slowly rose his head, grunting and rubbing the back of his neck. He looked around the dim room, in his long white nightgown. He slowly arose, lighting his candle. The room slowly illuminated. It was a small room with green wall paper and a wooden floor. He was in a metal double bed, and the only thing in the room besides him and the bed was a small fire place and a wardrobe. He slowly arose, walking to his wardrobe and throwing on his Dickey shirt, tan vest, blue long coat, black dress pants, and black Scottish boots. He looked in the mirror, adjusting his handle bar mustache a bit, then approaching the door. Even though his bedroom was small and dull, the rest of his house was not... He stepped out into a large marble floored/pillared study, with a large glass dome above. There was a large telescope poking out of the glass dome, and many rooms leading through the columned room. Charles stepped out through one rather large door to his front porch. He sat down in a chair, grabbing a tin cup and filling it with coffee. He quietly sipped away, watching the sun start to rise over the rolling green hills...

[-GuardianWolf-]

((Bump))

[Shadowdrake]

((Sent you a PM about a character. Did you approve it?))

[-GuardianWolf-]

((Why yes. I just havn't been checking the thread as often. Go ahead and start whenever you like.))

[Shadowdrake]

Under the earth, a pair of slit-pupiled eyes opened. Then another pair, and another. Several serrated jaws stretched wide, the resultant yawn sucking in nearly enough air to collapse the cavern had the monster not quickly exhaled. His segmented back rippled as he shifted around his underground home. Chrral had awoken.

He glanced up at the cave's ceiling. It looked closer now than it did when he last went to sleep, meaning he had hibernated for a while. Most likely the last society that had attacked him, along with those cheating mages, were long dead and gone. Surely his existence was considered no more than a myth by now. Although some myths got absolutely ridiculous, such as that desert one where he was supposed to eat just the hearts of the wicked. Bah, he ate all of the "wicked," as well as the just and all others.

And he was hungry now. Long naps always made him ravenous. With a reverberating groan he climbed out of a gigantic hole and stood up in a copse of small trees. His body scraped along tree branches and broke several of the thinner trunks as he passed by. Chrral tilted his head, staring past the trees to see a town a short distance away. Good. He knew where his first meal was. Narrowing his many eyes, he let out a rumbling roar.

~~~

Jay jerked awake, instantly alert. She wasn't sure what had woken her, but she felt an unsettling sense of foreboding. But surely that roar was just an echo of her dream, right?

[-GuardianWolf-]

The man felt the ground rumble mightily and steadied himself against a wall. Dirt crumpled down from the ceiling. He stumbled forward and broke in to a run. The metal cover glowed and started to rise about an inch before moving aside, as it did before. He checked the pocketbook again. “Chaos beast? Chaos beast?!” he exclaimed. “Chrral, you weren’t supposed to wake up for thirty years.” He pointed at the book vigorously and jabbed a page, which showed a date thirty years in the future. The great bloody demon most likely did not hear him. “Thirty whole years!” he threw his hands up. Finally, he noticed Jay. “Oh, it’s you. I need you to come with me please.”

[RainDash]

[uh, what should I do? I've kinda been hovering, wondering what I should do with Jane, especially since I have no idea where they are...]

[-GuardianWolf-]

((Investigate the bohemoth?))

[RainDash]

The rumbling from out of town caused Jane to jerk to life, running towards where the behemoth was. "YES! Something exciting for a change! No more cars, no more boring crap!" She screamed, pumping her fists in the air. She ran up to the behemoth and kicked him, but nothing happened and it only made him angrier. "Well. That didn't work out." She said, running over to the other group, hoping they knew what they were supposed to do. "Hey, I may or may not have kicked that giant monster and I have this feeling that things aren't working..."

[Shadowdrake]

Chrral had never cared to keep time. He slept and ate, that was all. Now he wove his way through the forest, his massive bulk keeping him from moving quickly in the growth. As he moved his scales scraped against bark, shredding several weaker plants. He ignored the damage, and was nearing the town when a little person ran out. He stopped. That was fast. The places he'd destroyed before had never been so fast to send out any defense. Yet this one had no armor nor weapon, and it was all alone. Was it a mage?

He hated mages. Cheating, conniving things they were. Their magic refused to obey the law of "might makes right," instead turning a scrawny thing he could eat without fear into a mage that could do some damage to him, even if he ate it anyway. Magic spells easily pierced his hide, and he hadn't the ability to control it himself.

It was thus a surprise when the person ran up and kicked him, then fled before he could react. What kind of a spell was that? Then he realized he'd just been humiliated. By prey! Letting out an indignant roar, he turned towards where the person had gone and began to move again, spitting out curses in an ancient language.

~~~

With a startled chirp, Jay hurriedly jumped off the strange glowing circle that had moved underneath her. She tilted her head and watched the odd green-clad man that emerged and began to yell at Chrral. Wait, Chrral? Whipping around, she verified her suspicions with the sight of the gigantic beast. Oh, gods no, not again. Stupid, greedy giant it was, always destroying towns around here when he was awake. She'd been through enough iterations of that for Chrral to become a permanent memory.

Jay's thoughts paused when the man beside her seemed to talk to someone. There was no one else here but her, though, so he had to be talking to her. She glanced up and, yep, he was looking at her. Well. She clicked a greeting at him, despite not recognizing him in the least. Suddenly, there was another stranger. Surprised, she sat back, unsure how to continue, especially with that Chaos beast charging towards them. Oh dear.

[-GuardianWolf-]

"Don't just sit there gaping like a codfish." He showed her the book. It was like a calender book. It had pages with different dates in it. On todays date, at todays time, it showed that he was supposed to meet someone who would be waiting just outside his home. "That's you, or it better well be. Let's get a move on then, shall we?" The man got back up on his feet, snapped his book closed, and ran towards Chrral without hesitation. He muttered to himself. He could see the several disgusting mouths and eyes of the great chaos beast. "Chrral!" he shouted, loud enough for him to hear. "You wouldn't happen to remember an old friend, would you?"

[Shadowdrake]

Jay peered at the man's pocketbook curiously. Apparently it had future dates already planned out. She strained to read more, but he stood up and closed it before she saw anything else. Confused, she clicked her jaws uncertainly and glanced at the other lady who had decided to kick the monster, she said. Obviously that hadn't done anything, since Chrral was still standing up fine.

~~~

Chrral glared at the little green human. He said something of familiarity, which Chrral had no idea of as he could barely tell apart humans based on their clothing, and there had been several green dressed people in his lifetime. "Who are you?" he grated, needing a name. His gaze roamed over the two humans and the little lizard on the ground.

[-GuardianWolf-]

The man acted offended. As in, was clearly oveerstating his offense. "Me?" He held a hand over his right breast. "I thought someone as deviously clever as yourself would remember." He paced in front of Chrral and gently nudged Jane out of harm's way. He didn't know if she was one of the other ones he was supposed to find or not. She certainly was... eccentric compared to most people. That was usually a redeeming quality for this society. "Why, you might remember me as the Colonel. I don't usually give out names, you see." He continued pacing comfortably near Chrral and several of his many mouths. The Colonel patted the chaos beast's side as if they truly were very good friends. "You're usually a late riser. Why up so early?" He walked in front of him and turned to face a set of eyes.

 

[Colonel wants to see your pretty face]

Edited February 20, 2013 by -GuardianWolf-

[RainDash]

"Wait. Chrral?" Jane asked. "I just kicked that thing? Chrral is-" Her head hurt, and she hissed in pain for a moment before fishing out the now hot pocket watch. She tried to open it, nothing happened and placed it back in her pocket. "It's never done that before.." She pondered. Then she glimpsed the events written down in the Colonel's book. "What's that in there?" She asked, somewhat suspicious. "And what's your name, besides Colonel?"

[Shadowdrake]

Chrral eyed the Colonel warily, irritated at the seemingly friendly contact. "Be you a Timelord?" he asked. He knew something of that species, especially their long lifespan and their tendency to have strange items or magics of their own. And their many lives. The name sounded familiar, and not in a good way. Although he couldn't be certain of the name, he assumed the Colonel must have opposed him before today, as he'd had no allies that he knew of.

He snarled at that thought but deigned to answer, "I was not satisfied when last I slept. Hunger woke me, as it always does." With that, Chrral raised his head and opened one set of jaws wide, planning to devour the lot of them.

~~~

Jay started. She should have known, should have put together the clues, but she hadn't realized until the Chaos beast mentioned it. She was with a time-walker whose nature she had no idea of. Sure, he had been fairly charismatic, but that didn't mean he was sane. In fact, the pleasant way he was chatting with Chrral suggested the opposite. Taut with tension, she stepped back at Chrral's disturbing, but not surprising, answer.

Then Chrral opened his mouth and she hissed in fright. "Forget that!" she snapped at the humanoids and their questions. "Run!" She took a step back, unwilling to leave the others to the monster.

[-GuardianWolf-]

The Colonel scoffed and seemed displeased, especially when Chrral seemed intent on eating them. His approach didn't seem to be going over particularly well. The coat and his entire self seemed to melt back towards the girl behind him and he guided her closer to Jay. He let go of the timelord's hands, which he had taken, and stood in front of the two women (yup, Jay is a woman now). "I assure you, I am no TimeLord and mistaking me for one is something you should not do." He sized up Chrral. He was never remotely simmilar to an easy case. "It might jog your memory to tell you that I once imprisoned you and you were sealed away for several hundred years before the idiot mage 'Rahnal' unleashed you again. A terrible mistake which I dealt with quickly." he paused, adding to the tenseness in the air. The sudden dark undertones in his voice were clear. "Does that-bring back memories-perhaps?"

[RainDash]

"Time... lord?" Jane stumbled over the word. It felt familiar, yet alien. She was hiding behind the man, something she felt like she really shouldn't be doing. "What's a Time Lord?" Then she saw that she had left her pocket watch, it was on the ground near Chrral now, and she knew with every fiber of her being she had to get that back. "My watch!" It was broken, but she could fix it, she just needed time...

[-GuardianWolf-]

"A lovely species that is, by now, highly overrated." he answered dully. The Colonel watched Chrral closely for movement, ready to whisk both himself and the ladies behind him to safety. When Jane exclaimed about her watch, he was distracted in his wondering and looked about for a moment. He saw a glint in the grass. He hushed her. "We'll get it back."

[Shadowdrake]

((See this is why I hate assuming things ><))

Chrral chuckled darkly. "Ah, yes, the mage thought I could be tamed like a dog. He made for a very small meal." The monster towered over the others and said, "I've grown much since then. What makes you think you've more power than me now?" He bared his teeth in a twisted mockery of a grin, stepping closer. "And by the way, how is your home? And your family?" he asked almost cordially yet somehow dark, almost threateningly. He stepped closer, over the glitter in the grass.

~~~

Jay, having rather reluctantly shifted into a human form in order to have the use of hands and faster running legs, crouched warily behind the man. "So," she said nervously, "what are you then?" Timelords were the only time manipulators she knew. She was curious and a little wary, but glad all the same since the Colonel had defeated Chrral once before.

Her hands twitched at Jane's yell, but there wasn't much they could do with Chrral standing over it. Her eyes flicked towards the nearby circle of metal thoughtfully.