[Mkguild] To Snare a Rabbit, Part 2

[David Edwards]

I guess I've missed the discussion on the wiki, but I would imagine a
bird-taur would follow an angel-esque structural archetype. However, I
imagine there are stranger things in Metamor than a quadrupedal avian
taur...

--Trailsend

On Mon, Nov 9, 2009 at 8:30 PM, Logan Zoel <nagolinc at hotmail.com> wrote:

>  Kit,
> Sorry, guess I didn't realize there were special rules for bird-taurs.  I
> was imagining it as being like any other taur, with two wings and four pairs
> of legs (like this
> http://static.spore.com/static/image/500/297/905/500297905463_lrg.png ).
> Also, there are hands at the end of the wings so Griff can still hold things
> in his taur form.  If this violates precedent too badly, I can change it
> without messing up much my story that badly.
> It's a pleasure writing with you all,
> Nagolinc
>
> ------------------------------
> Date: Mon, 9 Nov 2009 12:51:54 -0500
> Subject: Re: [Mkguild] To Snare a Rabbit, Part 2
> From: stormkit10 at gmail.com
> To: nagolinc at hotmail.com
> CC: mkguild at lists.integral.org
>
> Quite an amusing story you have here, and despite how completely
> unbelievable it is, it remains physically feasible! The one thing I did
> notice was that your model of eagle morph seems very different from most
> other established bird morphs. In particular, wh ether or not a bird-taur
> can exist and if so what it would look like has been the topic of much
> discussion around here. Theoretically, the two extra limbs would be the
> wings, rendering the taur into a griffin like being without the cat parts if
> anything at all. There are variations thereof, but all of them include wings
> and then four other limbs. Could you describe your version in more detail
> maybe?
>
>
> Kit
>
> On Sun, Nov 8, 2009 at 11:31 PM, Logan Zoel <nagolinc at hotmail.com> wrote:
>
>  The second half of my second story; hope you all like it.
>
> *****
>
> Griff struggled against the crushing strength of the giant's grip. In the
> distance he could hear Oonsus--who had been transferred to the giant's other
> hand--screaming violently Griff fought for a moment to break free from the
> imprisoning walls of the giant's fist, but soon gave up, realizing it was
> almost certainly futile.
>
> Griff now lay placidly in the giant's enormous fist and attempted to resign
> himself to fate. In doing so, he reflected back on his life. It had been a
> prosperous one at the beginning. Becoming the head of Baron Fredrick the
> Pacific's royal guard at a young age, he and his family held high hopes for
> the future. Even before the Battle of Three Gates, however, it had been
> obvious that things were headed downhill. Baron Fredrick proved not to have
> the genius and initiative that his father had possessed, Wyrd forest was
> gradually becoming an unimportant backwater, and short of applying for
> transfer to Metamor Keep, Griff had few ways out. The Battle of Three Gates
> and subsequent confusion had only hastened the decline, soon reducing Wyrd
> Forest to the pathetic state in which it now languished. Griff's family,
> too, had been destroyed. His father had died in the battle--one in which he
> was too old to fight-- and his mother and sister had both gone insane and
> were never heard of after the curse took its hold over them. After all that,
> Griff thought to himself, death couldn't be much of a disappointment. After
> all, it wasn't as if he had much further to fall from where he now stood.
>
> As the giant momentarily tightened his grip, nearly crushing Griff's
> ribcage, Griff decided to reconsider the idea that he had nothing left to
> lose. He vaguely remembered someone once mentioning a proverb about a live
> dog and a dead lion that now came to mind. Suddenly, Oonsus's muffled voice
> emerged from the giant's other fist.
>
> "Prepare yourself, foul monster," Oonsus shouted just loud enough that
> Griff could hear him. "For I shall destroy you out of my unbreakable
> commitment to justice!"
>
> Although now was hardly the time, Griff suddenly felt an overwhelming urge
> to roll his eyes sarcastically. And then, to Griff's complete amazement, the
> giant responded to Oonsus's barely-audible threat.
>
> "But.. but...." the giant stammered, clearly unable to control its
> emotions. "But Gath don't want to be destroyed! Not Gath's fault he got lost
> in the mountain passages! All Gath want is to go home! Gath no want
> unbreakable juices! Gath want help!"
>
> And then the giant--whose name was apparently Gath--dropped both Griff and
> Oonsus and pressed his hands to his face to hold back a river of tears.
> Griff was so surprised that he barely had time to spread his wings in order
> to slow his fall before hitting the ground. Landing with a thud, Griff
> slowly backed away from the giant, who was now crying so loudly that Griff
> found it difficult to hear himself think.
>
> Griff now spotted Oonsus, who had landed near Gath's left foot and appeared
> substantially unharmed. Rather than running away as Griff had, however, the
> boy appeared to be pounding on the giant's toe and shouting something up at
> it. Griff raced over to Oonsus and attempted to drag him away from the
> giant.
>
> "Let it go," Griff said. "Even if you scared it, there's no way we could
> take on something this size... well, maybe if I flew you and we went for its
> eyes... but... it's not worth our time. Come on! Let's get out of here!"
>
> Griff was unsure how much of his speech Oonsus was able to hear over the
> giant's unbearably loud crying.
>
> "Didn't... hear!?" Oonsus screamed just loud enough that Griff could make
> out every other word. "We... have... hurt... we... to ...it!"
>
> "We what!?" Griff shouted back, unable to understand Oonsus.
>
> "Hell... it!" Oonsus explained.
>
> "WHAT!?" Griff demanded, not understanding the words that were coming out
> of Oonsus's lips.
>
> "HELP IT!" Oonsus shouted at the top of his lungs so that Griff could just
> barely understand.
>
> "You're crazy!" Griff shouted back and then turned to go.
>
> Griff walked a few paces before turning around and realizing that Oonsus
> was still pounding on the giant Gath's toe. Ignoring the recklessly foolish
> boy, Griff determined to continue on his way. Suddenly the giant reached
> down, and scooping up the young boy lifted Oonsus towards his mouth. Pushing
> aside his reservations about fighting a giant--and a large one at
> that--Griff took wing. It wasn't as though Griff's conscience would allow
> him to let Gath eat Oonsus (who had saved his life less than an hour ago)
> without a fight.
>
> *Guess I'll go for the eyes*, Griff thought as he streaked through the air
> towards the giant, who was now holding Oonsus within a hand's breadth of his
> mouth. A giant's hand-breadth albeit. As he dove towards Gath's left eye,
> claws extended, however, he noticed that Oonsus was not screaming in terror
> as Griff would have expected. Instead, the boy was talking with the giant..
>
> "Where are you from?" Oonsus asked in a perfectly calm tone of voice.
>
> "North... me think," Gath answered in a booming voice, the force of which
> pushed Griff several feet backwards as he attempted to hover in place. "I
> not really sure," the giant continued. "Me got lost..."
>
> "You must be from the Giantdowns," Oonsus reasoned. "I'm from the Outer
> Midlands.... My name's Oonsus Koguja, by the way.... what's yours?"
>
> Griff was surprised that even Oonsus could have forgotten the giant's name
> already.
>
> "Me Gath Djilla," the giant boomed in reply.
>
> This time Griff had braced himself and was not blown back quite as far.
>
> "It's a pleasure to meet you, mister Gath Djilla, sir," Oonsus said
> excitedly.
>
> Griff continued to hover a few yards away from Gath's head, not at all sure
> what to make of the ongoing conversation. Only a moment ago, he had felt
> quite sure that Gath was planning to eat Oonsus and now the two of them were
> conversing politely.
>
> "Me glad meet you, too," Gath replied. "You help me get home?"
>
> Griff was again caught off guard by the sudden excitement in Gath's voice
> and was blown back several yards. Hovering at a distance, he listened for a
> moment longer as the boy and giant continued to talk and then turned to go.
>
> "Of course I'll help you," Oonsus replied without hesitation.
>
> Oonsus--or so it appeared to Griff--had already picked up a new adventure..
> *I have to take care of Wyrd Forest*, Griff thought to himself. *Leave the
> boy and the giant to their adventures...* Neither Gath nor Oonsus seemed
> to notice as Griff gradually drifted farther and farther away from the two
> of them. Griff shouted a distant, unheard goodbye, and then turned towards
> the walls of the canyon they were in.
>
> As he gained a better feeling for their surroundings, Griff realized that
> he and Oonsus had emerged into a box-canyon. Walled on either side by
> towering cliffs, a narrow valley--one just big enough for Gath to have
> wandered through--lead out of the valley in the direction of the Great
> Barrier Range. Gath must have wandered through some unknown pass to arrive
> at this place from the Giantdowns, Griff reasoned to himself.
>
> Rising up over the canyon walls, it took Griff only a few minutes to orient
> himself. The canyon, he realized, lay just beyond the foothills of the great
> barrier range that marked the eastern boundary of Wyrd Forest. It would only
> be a short flight for Griff to return to the palace and warn the baron of
> the menace hiding in the cave that Oonsus had revealed to him. It would be a
> simple matter to seal off the cave. Or, if that didn't work, to have a
> contingent of soldiers from Metamor Keep flush it clean of whatever terrors
> lay within. Griff had already battled what he now realized must be a
> centipede-morph, and Oonsus had testified to seeing a dragon in the cave as
> well. Although it was likely that the dragon existed only in Oonsus's
> hyperactive imagination, Griff didn't think it was beyond the ability of
> Metamor Keep to deal with one if it did exist. It was hardly the sort of
> thing that could be handled by the Wyrd Forest palace guard, however.
>
> On his way back to Baron Fredrick's palace, Griff suddenly realized that he
> should probably stop back at the peasant's hut and relate to them the fate
> of their dear Ol' Sally. Griff spiraled downward towards the dismal shack in
> which the beaver-morph and his family lived. Practically landing on the
> peasants' doorstep, Griff morphed into his humanoid form and rapped on the
> door. Normally he would have worried about no one being home, but it was
> late enough that he reasoned the peasants should have returned home for
> their supper already.
>
> After a few moments, a particularly humble-looking beaver opened the door..
>
> "Why, mister... Sen," the beaver said, stumbling over his words. "What...
> what'a.... surprise to see....see you... again..."
>
> "I'm afraid I have some bad news," Griff said darkly.
>
> "W--won't you come... in... and have a bit... a bit to... eat?" the beaver
> offered, now trembling from head-to-toe.
>
> Griff was confused by the beaver's terror. Earlier he had been overly
> respectful, but hadn't seemed afraid of Griff.
>
> "Oh, no, I'm on my way back to the palace," Griff said. "I just wanted to
> stop and tell you what I found out... about... Ol'... your cow..."
>
> "You must come in," the beaver pleaded. "I... in--insis--t..."
>
> "Very well then," Griff conceded, not exactly sure how he wanted to break
> the news about the cow's death. "But only for a minute... I have some
> important news I must relay to Baron Fredrick."
>
> "Im--important news?" the beaver said, taking Griff by the hand and pulling
> him inside. "But... how important.... could it... be? It's.. only...a..
> cow."
>
> Something about the beaver's trembling and his sudden lack of care for his
> once beloved Ol' Sally just didn't add up. For a moment Griff resisted the
> beaver's urgings to come inside, but then the beaver--who was surprisingly
> strong--literally pulled him though the door. Once Griff was inside, the
> door was slammed shut by an unseen hand, leaving him surrounded by darkness.
> There was no fire in the fireplace, and the only light in the shack came
> from the dim evening light that filtered through holes in the home's
> poorly-built walls.
>
> "Who's there?" Griff demanded and sensing danger morphed into his taur
> form.
>
> "I think I should ask that question," an ominous voice whispered in the
> darkness. "But, I think that I already know.... After all, the investigator
> always returns to the scene of the crime; don't you, Griff Sen?"
>
> "I think you mean the criminal always returns to the scene of the crime,"
> Griff replied and then suddenly realized who he must be talking to.
> "Barhat!" he shouted. "You cannot escape the clutches of justice forever!"
>
> "I believe it is my clutches you will find difficult to escape," the
> whispering voice replied. "You did so once, but don't think I'll let you do
> it again... not when you know where my secret hiding-place is... speaking of
> which, were is the boy?"
>
> Griff knew better than to answer the question. Instead, he bared his claws
> and lunged towards the source of the whispering voice.
>
> Somehow the voice dodged and then retaliated. The Last thing Griff felt was
> the heavy wooden club crashing into the back of his head.
>
> * * * * *
>
> Griff Sen regained consciousness to a sharp throbbing pain in the back of
> his head. His ankles and wrists also burned as if they had been rubbed raw
> by constant abrasion. He also felt slightly disoriented. As he grew more
> alert, Griff realized that this was because he was hanging by his hands and
> feet.
>
> Griff flailed against the ropes binding his hands and feet in an effort to
> break free.
>
> "I wouldn't do that if I were you," an unseen voice commanded; it was the
> same one as from the peasant beaver's shack. "Look where you're hanging
> before you take the plunge..."
>
> Twisting his neck around, Griff could just see out of the corner of his eye
> a flicker of flame coming from under what smelled like a cauldron of boiling
> soup. A second ago, Griff had been wondering if he could cut the ropes with
> his claws if he morphed. Now he realized that wasn't such a good idea.
>
> "Yes, you see it now, don't you?" the unseen voice said with obvious
> delight in his voice. "We're making ourselves a bit of a soup... and
> you're.. the main... INGREDIENT!"
>
> Panic raced through Griff's head. He suddenly remembered the image of Ol'
> Sally, torn to pieces by the giant centipede he and Oonsus had battled
> earlier. Was he to share the fate of the cow he had failed to rescue
> earlier?
>
> "You're a monster!" Griff accused the unseen voice.
>
> "Me?" the voice replied defensively. "I'm just the chef... a mere master of
> the culinary arts... an artist, if I may say so myself. It's my friend here
> who has a taste for rare treats, such as... eagle soup..."
>
> "The centipede morph," Griff inferred.
>
> "GIANT centipede morph," the unseen voice corrected Griff. "Surely you
> noticed he was more than six inches long when you fought him, didn't you?"
>
> "More like six feet," Griff agreed.
>
> "Six feet of very hungry centipede that needs to be fed fairly frequently,"
> the voice said with a bit of an amused chuckle. "And you... will have.. to
> do."
>
> "I won't do it!" Griff exclaimed.
>
> Griff struggled against his bonds more violently than before. He guessed
> that the pot below him probably wouldn't burn him instantly. If he could get
> free, at least he had a fighting chance. Not much of a chance, Griff thought
> grimly, as both the unseen voice and the centipede had already bested him in
> a fight once already.
>
> "Oh, and good luck with those ropes," the unseen voice said. "I'm afraid
> you'll find them unlikely to break, even if you had a knife handy, which I
> was careful to make sure you don't... wouldn't want my friend's meal to get
> away, now would I?"
>
> Griff suddenly realized that the pack he normally kept strapped to his
> chest was now missing.
>
> "So long as I'm not going to be living much longer, I don't suppose I could
> have the privilege of seeing the face of the Vile Thief Barhat once before I
> die, could I?" Griff asked.
>
> "I suppose... I couldn't deny the dying wish of a condemned man, now could
> I?" the voice conceded after a moment's hesitation.
>
> A second later, a creature stepped into Griff's field of vision. Although
> it was difficult to see any details by firelight, the outline of Barhat's
> rounded body and floppy ears were undoubtedly those of a rabbit.
>
> "A rabbit, so I was right," Griff said upon seeing Barhat. "Didn't think
> your kind had much taste for meat, though..."
>
> "If I've told you once, I've told you a thousand times," Barhat replied,
> placing his hands on his hips impudently. "The soup... err... you... are for
> my centipede friend, Munus."
>
> "Munus?" Griff said, somewhat surprised. "He has a name? I wasn't even
> aware that he could talk.... he's hardly as talkative as you, to say the
> least..."
>
> "I'm afraid the curse has taken away his tongue," Barhat admitted. "He does
> still screech furiously from time-to-time when he feels particularly
> riled.... He hissed at me for almost an hour after you and that... *boy*...
> disturbed his meal. Guess it affected his digestion. Speaking of which, were
> is the boy? I rather hoped he might come for you sooner or later... only
> real reason I've been keeping you alive... although... I suppose he has no
> way of knowing... may as well cook you now...."
>
> With that unceremonious speculation, Barhat suddenly reached for a rope
> tied down to a large rock and loosened it, letting out a few inches of rope.
> Griff felt himself plunge a towards the bubbling vat beneath him. He could
> feel the steam wafting up towards his body and felt as if he was already
> being cooked alive. At the same time, Barhat reached into a jar on the floor
> and, retrieving a potato from the jar, tossed it into the pot of boiling
> water. Griff winced as super-hot water splashed onto his back and neck.
>
> "Wait!" Griff said, suddenly feeling a desire to save his own life. "Isn't
> there something you'd accept in exchange for freeing me? I'm sure that Baron
> Fredrick would pay you handsomely for returning the head of his palace
> guard...."
>
> "Bah!" Barhat scoffed. "If I set you free, you'd just come back after me...
> probably with reinforcements from Metamor Keep. Besides, you and I both know
> that our dear Baron Fred is completely broke.... At this point, I've stolen
> pretty much everything of value that remains in Wyrd Forest.... Been
> thinking of moving on to more fertile pasture for weeks now."
>
> "But... you'll never get away with this!" Griff shrieked, realizing at the
> same time how utterly pathetic he sounded.
>
> "But I already have,” Barhat pointed out. “At this point, it would be more
> trouble for me to free you than to cook you…. For one thing, I’d have to
> figure out how to get you down without dropping you in the pot beneath you.”
>
> Then, as if to reinforce his point, he let out another few inches of rope..
> Griff plunged precariously towards the pot of boiling soup and then came to
> a sudden stop, the rope tearing at his wrists and ankles as he did.
>
> There was nothing else left, then, Griff was going to have to fight his way
> out of this. If only he could figure out a way how. Again Griff struggled
> against the ropes holding him and grasped at them with his claws.
>
> "I've told you already," Barhat said, chuckling as he watched Griff
> struggle. "There's no way short of magic you're going to break free of those
> ropes..."
>
> *I still have one last chance*, Griff thought to himself. He must have
> morphed back into his humanoid form while unconscious. If he tried morphing
> into his taur-form, he would have a free pair of claws to untie the rope. If
> that failed, or if Barhat dropped him into the soup before he could break
> free, there was no chance for his salvation.
>
> Deciding that there was no time like the present, Griff at once morphed
> into his taur form and began slashing at the ropes with the pair of claws
> that appeared between his arms and legs. Unsurprisingly, the ropes did not
> give way and four of his six limbs remained as tightly bound as ever.
> Barhat's promise, then, remained valid. To Griff's surprise, Barhat made no
> motion to lower the rope and drop him into the soup. Instead, the rabbit
> remained as he was, staring at the struggling eagle-taur and laughing out
> loud.
>
> "You think I'm going to shorten your suffering just because you kick and
> scream a little?" Barhat asked; the firelight revealed a look of obvious
> delight on his face. “I’ll have you know that you—and this damned
> valley—have given me quite a bit of trouble. I wasn’t always like this you
> know. Had a home and a family. But once I wandered into this damn valley and
> morphed into… this… well, I could never go back.”
>
> Griff said nothing but continued to tear at the rope with his claws.
>
> "You and this valley have taken my entire life,” Barhat continued. “So, no,
> I’m not going to let you go easy. I'm going to cook you one inch at a time
> until you beg for mercy.”
>
> "From a thief and a coward who hides in caves and steals from peasants?"
> Griff said, having just enough mental capacity to form this insult. "I'd
> sooner die than give you the satisfaction..."
>
> "What about that bit earlier when you said the Baron would ransom you?"
> Barhat pointed out.
>
> "That wasn't begging; it was negotiating," Griff shot back.
>
> "I like to call negotiations where one party is hanging helplessly over a
> fire...*begging*," Barhat replied without missing a beat. "How about I
> lower the rope another inch and see if you scream?"
>
> Barhat let out another section of rope and Griff again plunged downward.
> This time, the back of his head--now the lowest part of his body--came into
> contact with the scalding hot water. He snatched it away instantly,
> suppressing a desire to scream. Barhat seemed unimpressed by Griff's
> resolve, instead reaching for another potato to throw into the pot.
>
> "Aww, did the poor little birdie get burned?" Barhat said patronizingly as
> the potato splashed boiling hot water onto Griff.
>
> Griff refused to give Barhat the pleasure of hearing his reply.
>
> Griff gave one last frantic tug against the ropes binding his arms and two
> of his legs. At the same time, Barhat reached out for the rope again,
> undoubtedly to let out more rope and begin the slow process of cooking Griff
> alive. Before he could let loose another section of rope, however, he was
> stopped by a voice in the background.
>
> "Hold it right there, you vile fiend!" came the all-to-familiar voice.
>
> "Oonsus!" Griff called out in surprise, unsure of whether to thank the boy
> for coming or scold him for putting himself in such danger.
>
> "Hold what?" Barhat asked, looking at Oonsus with an appearance of supreme
> innocence on his face.
>
> "That's my friend!" Oonsus shouted. "Let him go!"
>
> Griff visibly winced. Oonsus's choice of words had been unfortunate, and
> Griff had no doubts as to what Barhat would do next.
>
> "Okay," Barhat said generously.
>
> Pulling a previously unnoticed knife from is waist, he slashed through the
> rope supporting Griff in a single fluid moment. Griff experienced a single
> moment of panic and then searing pain as he was doused in a pot of boiling
> hot soup.
>
> "AAAAAGGGGHHHH!" Griff let out a scream of pain as he clamored to grasp the
> edge of the pot with his two free claws.
>
> "Griff!" Oonsus said, charging towards Barhat and the pot containing Griff
> with sword drawn. "Don't worry, I'll save you."
>
> Barhat took one look at the angry, sword-wielding boy and sprinted out of
> the room as fast as his rabbit-feet would take him. Ignoring Barhat's
> flight, Oonsus reached for the pot containing Griff and with his bare hands
> tipped it over with a single shove.
>
> Griff, along with the other contents of Barhat's quite possibly delicious
> soup, spilled out onto the cave floor. Still bound, Griff writhed on the
> cave floor until Oonsus cut through the rope binding his hands and lower
> feet with his sword. Morphing back into his humanoid form, Griff attempted
> to thank Oonsus.
>
> "thank... I mean... I appreciate... well... you shouldn't have... err...
> I'm glad you..." Griff struggled for words.
>
> Oonsus seemed too enfixed by staring at his badly-burned hands to notice
> anything the eagle-morph was saying. The pot being much hotter than the soup
> inside, Oonsus's hands had suffered far worse than Griff, who had been in
> the water for only seconds.
>
> "I have something that should help that," Griff said, noticing Oonsus's
> hands.
>
> Looking around, Griff was relieved to see his pouch lying on the
> cave-floor. Picking it up, he strapped it back onto his chest. Rummaging
> through it, he pulled out a bottle of salve that had been blessed by the
> Lightbringers of Metamor Keep. It was incredibly powerful, and therefore
> incredibly expensive as well; Griff guessed that it would cost about two
> months of his present salary to replace the bottle.
>
> "Here, try putting some of this on your hands," Griff offered, handing the
> bottle to Oonsus.
>
> "Thanks!" Oonsus replied.
>
> Holding the bottle by the cap he unscrewed it. Predictably, as soon as the
> cap came off, the bottle fell to the ground, shattering on the rocky cave
> floor.
>
> "Oops," Oonsus said, looking at the puddle of greenish-gray goo on the
> ground.
>
> Griff repressed an overwhelming desire to curse.
>
> "Here... I can fix it," Oonsus said, kneeling down and trying to collect
> most of the liquid in his hands before it seeped into the cave floor.
>
> "Just... never mind," Griff said, pulling Oonsus away from the puddle. "Rub
> your hands together to soak it in a little."
>
> Oonsus rubbed his hands together and smiled in apparent delight as the
> healing potion took affect. Griff had forgotten that the potion also had
> mild euphoric qualities. In less than a minute the burns on Oonsus's hands
> were completely healed. Griff's own claws still shivered with the pain of
> having recently been scalded.
>
> "Why did you come back in here?" Griff asked suddenly, deciding to put
> forth the question that had been on his mind for the last several minutes..
> "How did you know I was in danger?"
>
> "The Dragon told me," Oonsus replied matter-of-factly.
>
> "Dragon?" Griff asked, either not understanding or refusing to believe.
>
> "The same one that was chasing us before," Oonsus attempted to explain.
>
> "The dragon... that was chasing us... told you I was in danger...?" Griff
> asked skeptically.
>
> "Yeah," Oonsus agreed. "And it even gave me directions. You see, before I
> thought that it was an enemy, but it turns out that it was actually really
> friendly and it even said that it knew me from somewhere..."
>
> "You've meet this dragon before?" Griff said, perplexed. Oonsus’s
> explanation was growing less and less probable with every word.
>
> "No," Oonsus said. "But he'd met me... well... it's hard to explain, and I
> don't really understand all of it..."
>
> "I see..." Griff said, deciding to let the issue drop. He suspected that
> the ‘dragon’ was no more real than the demons Oonsus had been fighting that
> morning. "So, this... dragon... told you that I was in danger and how to
> find me?"
>
> "Uh-huh," Oonsus agreed. "It was a good thing, too, because I got really
> lost looking for you... that's how I found his lair in the first place."
>
> "You were looking for me?" Griff asked. "Why?"
>
> "I wanted to say goodbye," Oonsus said innocently. "You disappeared while I
> was talking to Gath, so I figured you must have gone back into the caves,
> didn't you?"
>
> "Well, not exactly," Griff confessed.
>
> "But then you got caught by that tricky guy, Barhat, right?" Oonsus
> continued, apparently ignoring Griff's statement.
>
> "Err... something like that," Griff conceded.
>
> "And then he tried to turn you into soup, but I came and rescued you just
> in time?" Oonsus asked.
>
> "Yup," Griff said.
>
> "Wow! Isn't it cool!?" Oonsus said.
>
> "Cool isn't exactly the word I would have used," Griff said.
>
> At the same time, Griff could feel the burns all over his body. He was
> moderately worried that most of his feathers might fall out.
>
> "Oh, and did I tell you about Gath?" Oonsus said, again ignoring Griff's
> reply.
>
> "No, you didn't," Griff said.
>
> "It turns out he's not a mean scary giant after all," Oonsus said. "He's a
> friendly giant. He's from the Giantdowns and he got lost and he needs
> somebody to guide him back home..."
>
> "I gathered that much myself," Griff agreed.
>
> "So I told him that I would help him," Oonsus continued. "But first I had
> to come back and say goodbye to you. And then the dragon told me you were in
> danger. And then I rescued you. And then... well, that's now, isn't it?"
>
> "Yes," Griff smiled--as much as it was possible to smile with a beak for a
> mouth. "Yes it is."
>
> "So?" Oonsus said.
>
> "So... what?" Griff asked, suddenly confused.
>
> Everything Oonsus had been saying had made at least moderate sense and yet
> he had somehow managed to confuse Griff again.
>
> "So do you want to help me take Gath back to the Giantdowns?" Oonsus asked.
>
> "You want... me?" Griff responded, his eyes widening in surprise.
>
> "Uh-huh," Oonsus said. "I think we make a really great team!"
>
> For a split second Griff seriously considered the possibility of going with
> Oonsus to help Gath. It would be nice, he thought to himself, to go on an
> adventure; to get away from it all. And then he remembered his duties as the
> head of Baron Fredrick the Pacific's palace guard. There were things that
> had to be done. For one, this cave had to be thoroughly cleansed of Barhat
> and his friend Munus (the giant centipede morph), as well as whatever other
> vermin lived in here. At the very least, the entrance should be sealed off.
> The more he thought about it, the more Griff realized that the barony would
> probably completely fall apart in his absence.
>
> "I'm sorry," Griff concluded. "But I have to stay here and protect Wyrd
> Forest."
>
> "That's okay," Oonsus said, not missing a beat. "But I'll be sure to come
> back and visit you if I'm ever headed this way again..."
>
> "Well, I'll look forward to it," Griff replied.
>
> And then, without saying another word, Griff and Oonsus started walking
> towards the exit to the cave chamber they were in. Both took a torch of
> burning wood from the fire that Barhat had been prepared to cook Griff with.
> After walking down the cave tunnel for some time, they came to a split.
> Griff--who had regained his bearings now that he was less
> panicked--recognized the split. One way led east to the valley with Gath in
> it. The other led south to Wyrd Forest. Surprisingly Oonsus too appeared to
> recognize the intersection.
>
> "Um... I guess this is where we part ways," Oonsus said softly.
>
> "I guess so..." Griff agreed, looking off to one side.
>
> "It was nice meeting you, Mr. Griff," Oonsus said, smiling warmly. His face
> looked strangely supernatural in the flickering torchlight.
>
> "It was nice meeting you too, Oonsus," Griff agreed.
>
> And then Oonsus reached over and gave Griff a tremendous hug, sending waves
> of pain across Griff's badly scalded skin. He winced and then weakly
> returned the embrace. A moment later, Oonsus set off down his branch of the
> tunnel and disappeared into the darkness. Griff stared out into that
> darkness for a long time, wondering if he had made the wrong choice.
> Eventually, he started off down the tunnel that led back to Wyrd Forest
>
> * * * * *
>
> The End of "To Snare a Rabbit".
> By: Nagolinc.
> CopyNot 2009.
>
> ------------------------------
> Hotmail: Trusted email with Microsoft's powerful SPAM protection. Sign up
> now.<http://clk.atdmt.com/GBL/go/177141664/direct/01/http://clk.atdmt.com/GBL/go/177141664/direct/01/>
>
> _______________________________________________
> MKGuild mailing list
> MKGuild at lists.integral.org
> http://lists.integral.org/listinfo/mkguild
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
> Windows 7: Unclutter your desktop. Learn more.<http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=9690331&ocid=PID24727::T:WLMTAGL:ON:WL:en-US:WWL_WIN_evergreen:112009>
>
> _______________________________________________
> MKGuild mailing list
> MKGuild at lists.integral.org
> http://lists.integral.org/listinfo/mkguild
>
>


!DSPAM:4af8ee5717871804284693!
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.integral.org/archives/mkguild/attachments/20091109/e2ccf39f/attachment-0001.html>