Does anyone else feel the same way as Dummy?

I know I'm late, but I just caught this post earlier this morning and I wanted to put in my contribution. I really tried to keep it short, but I sort of think I failed, although it's a LOT shorter than it looks, because of the style of dialog. I'm sorry, but I hope you like it anyway.

Edit: Oh crud, I just read the specs again, and this is probably more than 1 page. I'm so bad at cutting stuff out of my own work. Well, if nobody reads it because of that than... whatever. I enjoyed writing it anyway.


Chapter 1, introductions

Nyara the cat girl woke to a bird, frantically pecking her head.
"Wha?! HAAH! Geettoffamee!"
She flailed at the maddened thing as feathers flew into her mouth and eyes, and sharp jabs poked at her cheeks.
"Pfaah! Pfaah! Viagh BIR!!!"
Finally her tail connected. The creature flew away with a squeak, hit a tree, and skittered up it's bark, disappearing into the leaves.
Nyara made her best scowl into the green above. The effect dampened somewhat by the mess covering her head and face. As she picked feathers, fur and... it must be dirt, from her mouth eyes ears and hair she wondered (out loud as she often did).
"That wasn't really a bird at all. Why was it trying to eat me... or whatever?" She looked at a feather. It was yellow, long and laced with brown fur. She was really hungry.
"Why, you look like you've been sat on by a chicken." Nyara turned to see a tall, handsome man chuckling at her as he stepped over roots into the garden. "Whatever are you doing in my garden dear?" His smile grew warmer. He reminded her of her uncle back home, the way his eyes sparkled... or something else she couldn't place. She stood on her feet, still shaky from the attack. She'd been having such a nice dream too...
"I'm not THAT young!" Oops, that's not how she should talk.
The man laughed.
"Of course not, yet you are all alone, and obviously far from home. Come, let me make you a sandwich. You'll have to tell me what your doing all the way out here." How'd he know where she lived?
"I can't stay long, I'm searching for the black wizard who lives in the dark wood so I can avenge my father and free my family from the curse of the midnight crow." She nodded her head proudly. She'd finally got it all right on the first try.
The man stopped, blinked, and blinked again. His smile wavered somewhat.
"What an odd thing for such a grown up girl to say. One who plans revenge shouldn't go around telling everyone, I dare say." He paused. The woods seemed to darken and the breeze whispered strangely in her ear. Nyara felt a bit of fear for the first time since leaving home. "What would be to happen if you told the wrong person."
The sun returned and the breeze sounded like a breeze again. The man's smile was back warmer than ever. "Come, at least eat a sandwich before you go. You'll have to tell me all about it once your sitting at my kitchen table."
"Ok!" She was really very hungry after all, her revenge could wait for bit. She looked around one last time before leaving and noticed a strange thing. Where she had been laying, two fairystools had grown and a tiny gnome perched on a mouse's back was placing a tiny wooden sign by them both. Nyara meowed in confusion. The gnome looked up. His bald head grew red, he stammered something in gnomish and he and the mouse dissappeared into the thicket. Nyara turned to ask the tall man if he had seen the gnome, when suddenly a blur came from above and landed on his head with a flurry of yellow feathers.
"YU! FAHi WAH" *eep eep eep* "Zackaaagah" *eep eep eep* "ZOOFAAAAH!" With an echoing ZAAAP the creature flew from the man, and landed on Nyara's shoulder. She stared in astonishment, as it growled and spat and bared its teeth angrily at the man, it's fur smoking slightly. When her gaze returned to him she saw that his face was covered in feathers, fur and... well it definitely wasn't dirt. As he wiped it away she saw that his smile had grown, and yet... his eyes were ANGRY! He quickly pulled out a stick and waved it at the bushes. There was a rustling and a chirping and a eerie green glow. Suddenly she was facing a giant, evil rat with a gnome on its head screaming "Beesie! Beesie!" in his tiny voice. The rat gazed at her with its beady, crimson eyes and it's wrinkly, patchy snout broke into a grimace of sharp teeth and flailing tongue. Nyara yelped in fear.
"Good luck with your revenge little girl! I'm sure your keen mind will be able to spot that black wizard of yours a league away! That is if you and your stupid canary don't get... too distracted." The man cackled and Nyara's skin crawled at the horrid sound. She ghasped when she saw that his teeth were yellow, broken and jagged. He'd probably never brushed his teeth in his life! He probably didn't eat sandwiches at all! Nyara ghasped again. What if he ate little girls? Nyara ghasped again! he probably would have eaten her! Nyara ghasped a fourth time! He was probably the black wizard!! As Nyara's headstrong perceptions ground to a halt and began to reverse, the wizards villianous smile (for that IS who he was) had slowly turned into a deep scowl.
"Of all the... WHY AM I SURROUNDED BY COMPLETELY BRAINDEAD NINNIES!! Get her you overgrown vermin! GET GET!!" Nyara looked away from the jumping, furious wizard, and back to the giant rat. It was staring at her with its mouth dropped, breathing fouly, drooling all over the grass and coping with the conflict in its magic addled mind between the monster's instinct to attack defenseless bystandards and the rodent's instinct to run from a cat.
While Nyara and the creature's natures were putting two and two together, the gnome was squeaking alarmingly and holding on for dear life, and the black wizard was yelling obscenities and turning purple in the face, the flying creature flew in front of Nyara with the two fairystools in its paws. She looked down in shock.
"Your a weasel! A weasel with wings! How cute!!" The weasel was losing height as it struggled against the weight of the giant mushrooms. She took them helpfully. They looked very tasty. The weasel was making funny little motions with its hands and its mouth. Nyara smiled. "Your so adorable!" The weasel made an odd "urk" sound. She looked back at the monster, trying to think of a way to save herself from this predicament. The giant rat seemed to be coming to a decision itself and was laying down to sleep (much to the gnomes relief who hopped down and ran back into the brush). The wizard ran up and down the garden, his face a contortion of malignancy, his wand outstretched as if searching for other creatures to corrupt.
With a final squeal of utter frustration and abondon, the weasel took a huge bite of one of the mushrooms.

All stood still. The wizard watched expectingly, Nyara gazed breathless, the gnome's tiny head gaped from the bushes. Even the rat's sleepy eyes were riveted on the winged weasel.
*Burp*
And the weasel turned into a Tortoise
*Burp*
And the Tortoise turned into a duck.
*quack* *burp*
"AAAAAAAAAH!!!" The evil black wizard, scourge of the velvet coast, defiler of the University of the Royal Hand and oppressor of the dark forest promptly screamed like a girl and ran back into the wood.

Nyara's tummy growled in the silence.

I actually closed the contest early, but I haven't decided a winner yet, so you are in.

I updated some of the details of my story a bit. It's more coherant because I am now awake enough to think while I write.

Wow, I can see you like writing.

I have some business in Osaka tomorrow. I'll see if I can make a decision after that. It is very hard.

Hi. Just saw this and decided to use my lunch hour to put something together quickly. Some of the descriptive text is lacking as I write plain sentences and then fill it in -just took longer than I thought and it is time to go to work. Hopefully enough to give you an idea.

Scene:
[Beautiful day in the beautiful forest. (describe idyllic surroundings)]

Dawn rose bright and beautiful as it always had in the Namura Woods. Golden light gilded the edges of verdant leaves and wide sienna trunks casting a silken blanket of light upon the dreaming forest. Gentle zephyrs played music in the trees and signaled the changing of the guard, with daytime creatures waking and those of enchanted evenings going to their slumber.


[Nyara awakens from her pleasant dream.
CUI has awakened her with his chittering.
He senses something wrong.]

Upon the branches of the Nu'na tree a feline form stretches gracefully in her sleep and begins to wake. A steady chittering chh-chh-chh sound has intruded upon her cat dreams and she springs to alertness as her waking mind realizes that the persistent sound is one she has not heard in recent memory - the sound of a weasel's warning call. That this particular weasel was CUI, a magical and highly intelligent creature, made the cry all the more alarming. CUI could speak most of the languages of the land and only grave danger could cause him to revert to the primitive language of his ancestors.

Confused Nyara whirled wildly seeking the source of the danger. Gathering her magic about her she called, “CUI. What is it? What do you see?” With lips pulled back in as fierce an expression as Nyara had ever seen on his face he pointed with one small furry claw to the sky where a swirling maelstrom of inky blackness was brewing. Growing swiftly it appeared almost like a stain or a bloody wound in the air.

A foul and fetid breeze began to blow and chilled Nyara to the bone. “What is happening CUI?” At last, halting his wild cry, CUI looked at Nyara and raising his voice to be heard over the now howling wind he cried “A great evil has returned little one! Long have my kind dreaded this day, foretold in prophecy. A wizard who serves the old gods of chaos comes! Prepare yourself!”

Wham! Like a volcanic eruption boiling clouds spewed from the abomination in the sky, blocking the golden light. Angry lightning arced across the heavens like arrows of warring demons as the evil wizard Enjida Inashini appeared riding upon the nightmare Akumu. The woodland animals raced to hide in their holes and trees; some took shelter behind Nyara and CUI hoping their magic would offer some protection.

Inashini arrogantly looked around, his face a mask of evil and contempt. “This place annoys me. Too long have the gods allowed it to exist unspoiled. The natural order of all things is chaos and destruction." Reaching to his monstrous steed he slowly slid a darkly stained and rotting spear from the saddle of Akumu. Evil rolled from the spear in waves anduttering foreboding words he raised the spear high above his head and rammed it through the earth and deep into the heart of the grove. Instantly the ground trembled and rolled like a wounded animal. Deep in her bones Nyara felt the keening of the forest and knew that something very wicked had been done.

Struggling to maintain her balance while the earth still bucked Nyara gasped as the spear began to put forth unnatural branches and roots that pierced deeply into the soil. In a short while a hideous transformation began as the spear evolved into a dark and malignant sapling festooned with crawling bugs and scaly vermin of terrible aspect. Just as swiftly the grass around the punctured earth began to wither and die.

Lashing out without thought, Nyara’s magic arched at the wizard, burn bright as the noon day sun to match the fierce anger she now felt. The magician and his evil steed started in obvious surprise and pain. “You are strong but no match for me girl! I will be back to destroy you when this forest, which I see feeds your magic, is a scabrous and rotting hulk.”

Leaping upon Akuma the wizard swirled into the sky, as Nyara’s magic flames began to singe the edges of the dark clouds with which he was wrapped and tatters of his sooty blackness fell like snow upon the ground. From his perch high in the air, the wizard Enjida reached into his robes and pulled forth an orb of darkness which he hurled to the ground. The resulting explosion sent black lightning and wild sparks through the air and each thing they touched became corrupted. Gentle forest creatures sprouted fangs, claws, powerful tails or bat wings and most flew, slithered or swam away. A few, only partially corrupted with one clawed foot, a bat wing or a single saber tooth, remained with Nyara and CUI, pleading for help with frightened eyes.

Casting a final blast of golden fire at the fleeing magician Nyara stopped, drained from the unexpected effort. “That was quite impressive” CUI said. “In time, and with more training, you will become a formidable weapon against the likes of those evil creatures.” Nyara responded “Look what he has done!” she said waving her arm to show the dark tree, corruption and altered plants and animals. “Teach me the magic I need to restore my friends and our home!”

“Alas!” cried CUI “I cannot. The spear which he thrust into the heart of the garden is an eldritch thing formed from the chaos that was before the world was created.”

“Is there nothing we can do?!” Nyara cried, as she pushed and pulled the evil tree to no avail. “Even now this evil grows. See? It is already larger than it was a moment ago.”

CUI scratched his head pensively. “There is one thing which might heal this sacred place and perhaps help defeat the wizard. There is a legend from a land of myth, of a Temple dedicated to the father of the Baku, the protector spirits. In it is said to reside a powerful omamori, an amulet shaped like a whistle. It is known as “Voice of the Father” the ancient texts say that one who is pure of heart and purpose can use it to call upon the baku to do battle when the need is great."

[CUI calls upon his magic to retrieve a book which tells what is known about the location of the temple.]

[Nyara prepares herself and asks if there is anything that can be done for her friends and the forest.]

CUI points to the gold circled mushrooms that always grew where the sunlight was brightest in the forest. "These mushrooms absorb the goodness of the forest and the sunlight. In this special place, that gives them great potency. Those animals who are only partially corrupted may be restored by eating these mushrooms. But take care as some of the mushrooms are infected by the darkness that the wizard cast down as he fled. Eating one of those could have unintended consequences."


That's it for now. Tell me what you think.

I'm too late coming in, but what the hell. I haven't written anything useful for a while...

Glimmers of light penetrate the thick canopy of leaves, shining sparks and swirls of color on Nyara's closed eyes and warming her skin where the cool night had caressed her. Her sleep filled mind slowly awakened, and she brushed her dreams aside as she stretched her lithe, feline body.

Opening her eyes, slowly she took in her surroundings, searching for any danger that might be hidden nearby. All seemed normal, the thick carpet of green grass waving in the light morning breeze, the dappled sunlight filtered by the shimmering leaves overhead. But something wasn't right. Where were the birds? No sound but the rustling leaves and creaking branches of the old trees that stood their guard in the forest.

Stretching felt good after a long cold night balled up for warmth. Muscles relaxed and released their tension. Nyara, sensing no nearby threats, licked her hands and rubbed her eyes clear. "Good morning" called Cui the flying weasel, her friend and travelling companion. "It's time to get moving", he said, slinking around the trunk of the tree closest to her and popping his head into her field of vision. "We must make our way over to the sign and see what is written. We couldn't read it last night as the night fell so fast and so dark in the forest."

"That's right", said Nyara, looking to her left. "I remember." She could see the singpost in the middle of a small clearing up the dirt path. When they couldn't make out the letters, they had decided to make camp and await dawn. "This signpost may point the way to the Dark Castle," explained CUI. "If we find the castle, we can find the Wizard."

Nyara's yellow eyes narrowed at the thought of exacting her revenge. "And I can remove his evil curse", she hissed. The horrible, utterly despicable, completely evil wizard had cast a spell upon Nyara's village, turning all within its radius into evil creatures to do his bidding. Nyara was lucky, if you can call it that. She had snuck out of bed early that morning to catch fish by the edge of the river before the wizard had arrived. She was far enough away to escape the full force of the magic blast from the wizard's staff, but still managed to feel the effects.

Her new half cat form was not too displeasing, and gave her abilities and skills that she had never experienced before, but she worried about her mother and father, and her little baby brother. When she returned to her empty village, they were gone. Cui had found her, alone, scared, confused and crying.

"Come on, Nyara, let's go!" called Cui, bounding from the tree trunk and scampering through the grass to the road. She followed, and they made their way to the signpost. "What does it say," asked Nyara. The signpost held two signs, hanging on the left and right sides, moving slowly in the breeze.
"Do not eat these mushrooms", said Cui. "Oh," said Nyara, "and this sign says to eat these ones." Below each sign were a variety of mushrooms, large and small.

"Should we try some", asked Nyara. "I'd recommend we only try the ones on the right," answered Cui.

I would imaging that at this point, game play would allow the player to experiment with the 'shrooms...

Good luck with the game, and the story.
Mark

That's fine, I'm still in Osaka. I'll announce the winner on Tuesday.

Alrighty then, let us begin at the beginning then. LOL

As the sun rose, it's rays crept into Nyara's room through her open window, painting her room a brilliant, warm red. It wasn't the light however that woke her from her deep, restful sleep. It was the calling of the many birds in the forest that surrounded her small village. The calls were as bright and colorful as the light of the sun, bouncing and playing among the trees. Nyara opened her eyes wide and stretched. The stupor of sleep left her body quickly, as it often does in the very young. She sprang from her bed to greet the sun with a smile. It was going to be another perfect day! "Good day for fishing", she said to no one in particular as she quickly dressed and gathered her rod.

Quietly, she let herself out of her bedroom, scooping up her backpack and school books. No sense in giving up the game. Let mama and papa think that she is in school. Just one more day. One more day of fishing and day-dreaming. Then she will go to school and do the boring, useless things that everyone makes such a fuss about. "Reading is over rated, writing cramps the wrist, and math is just so dumb", she thought, "what's the point? I can count on my fingers, and other people can read to me. I never have anything to write about. If it's worth reading, it's worth talking about!" With that she was out the door and down the road, moving quickly towards the river bank. Here was what really mattered. The birds, the bugs, catching your dinner, and imagining the greatest of great adventures.

As she arrived at the river bank, she called out to the birds, immitating their shrill voices, encouraging them to chatter louder. She set about spreading her thin blanket, setting a worm to her hook, casting her line to the slow moving river, and settling in to watch the sun paint the sky with all of its beautiful shades.

Some time later, suddenly, and with no warning, the sky grew dark, the wind shifted direction, and the leaves protested the wind's interruption with a loud SHHHHHHHHHHHHHHh. There was a thuderous boom that shook the very ground upon which Nyara lay, causing her to bolt upright and clutch to a sturdy tree. The tree felf strong and able, like papa. It reassured her to think of the tree as papa. A bright flash erupted in the direction of the village. Nyara ran up the slight embankment in time to see a wizard slowly revolving a few feet above the ground, arms stretched out towards the sky, his voice lost in the sounds of the swirling wind and dust around him. People were running. Things were happening. Strange things. Where mister Thompson stood moments before, now stood a bent and twisted creature, screeching and clasping at the others running around him. Miss Jones was struck down, and when she recovered, she wasn't Miss Jones anymore. She was a hulking, evil looking grey wolf-creature! "Oh no", called Nyara, as the wizard turned in the wind, aiming his staff at the fleeing villagers, her friends, her neighbors. As the staff aimed, it released a bright green glowing beam. As the beam touched her friends and neighbors, they were one by one, turned into the foulest of things, bent on doing the deeds of the horrible, utterly despicable, completely evil wizard. As the wizard turned, his staff pointed in Nyara's direction. She was frozen with fear, her legs shaking and elecrtic with panic. Her mind said run, Run, RUN, but she couldn't control her muscles. The glow. The beam. Coming, fast towards her. She was falling, her legs giving way, she slipped on the dewy grass of the embankment as the beam struck the ground at the top of the embankment where she had just been standing moments before. Falling, falling, falling. Nyara heard and felt the crunch of bone on rock, and watched a cloud spiralling in the sky before the blackness crept from the corners of her vision to cover eyes in its silvery black cloak.

Later, as Nyara opened her eyes, she thanked the heavens it was only a dream. She tried to sit up, but the pain in her head shot stars to her eyes. She winced, and gritted her teeth. She heard herself hiss, and reached a furry hand to her head. There was a bump there, and the stars returned again to her eyes as she gently touched it. "Mrr-ow", she said in a low voice that didn't sound like her own. She slowly pulled her hand away from her sore head and looked at the blood on her palm. Her eyes widened in surprise, not understanding what she saw before her. Not the blood, she expected a little blood from such a nasty bump. The fur. Her delicate, young hand had somehow grown a thin, shiny, reddish brown coating of fur on the back of it. The fur extended lightly, delicately, up her arm. Both arms, she realized as she examined the other. She was uncomfortable sitting in this position. She moved her legs out to their fully stretched length, and moved her tail out from under herself. HER WHAT? TAIL? She grabbed at it with her hairy hands, but it twitched and twisted in the air at every grab. Finally, she reached around and slid her hands down the small of her back, over her buttocks, to the base of her new tail. She definitely had a tail! After tugging and pulling on her tail for some time, Nyara placed one hand onto a large rock, and lifted herself to her feet. The sun had recently begun to set, and she took stock of her form in the still bright light. 2 arms, 2 legs, a little hairier than she was before she hit the rock, and of course, that tail, but all in all, she was still Nyara.

Nyara decided quickly that she was only slightly hurt, and there were others who may need her help. Mama and papa were in that village when the wizard had arrived. She must find them. Quickly, she gathered herself and leapt to the top of the embankment in one bound. There was the village, but all was dark. No lights burned in the small houses, no smoke rose from the cooking fires. She called out, "Hello! Is anyone here!" No voices returned her calls. Only silence. Her house was empty. No sign of mama, papa, or her baby brother. No neighbor boy, no shop clerk, all gone. She did the only thing she could think of. She sat with her tail in the dust of the dirt road, placed her hands in her lap, her head in her furry hands, and she cried.

Some hours passed, and Nyara sat sobbing, her salty tears cutting trails down her soft cheeks, dripping onto the dusty road and pooling at her feet. Where had the evil wizard taken everyone? Why had he done such evil to these good people? What was happening to them, and to her? Why? Oh, why hadn't she stayed in bed and been a good girl? She could have gone to school and... no, if she had stayed, she would have been taken too. But at least she would have been with her family.

Just then, Nyara felt a warmth on her shoulder. A hand, genlty touching her. She looked up with a start. Her yellow eyes wide with fear, her pupils as large as saucers. "It's okay, little kitten. Don't cry," the furry shape spoke softly. "Tell me what makes such a pretty kitty so unhappy that she allows her fur to become so matted with dust." He looked like a large brown rat with long whiskers and sharp teeth, but his demeanor was soothing and calm. "Don't be afraid, I am Cui. I am a wanderer, and adventurer. I am an enchanted flying weasel. Very rare and clever, and I on a quest for knowledge," he said proudly, seeing the fear in her eyes begin to melt away. "Tell me, what has happened that brings you to this deserted place?" He remvoved his hand from her shoulder and pulled two large apples from the fruit stand nearby, and joined her in the dust.

It was comforting to have someone to talk to, and she hadn't eaten all day. She took one of the apples, thanked Cui for being so kind, and between crunchy bites, began to explain what had happened. They talked for a long time before Cui suggested that they had better seek shelter in the forest. "That wizard may come back, looking for stragglers. We need to find your family, and then undo what evil this wizard has done," Cui said. A PLAN! That was what they needed, thought Nyara, but Cui was right. It was best that for the time being, they leave this place and find out what was happening.

They talked and walked through the forest in the fading daylight, until they came upon a signpost. "What does it say," asked Cui. "I thought that you were so clever, and searching for knowledge", laughed Nyara. "Can't you read the sign?" With some indignation, Cui responded, "I can't SEE the LETTERS in the DARKNESS. Hrumpf." Nyara could see the letters, but she couldn't read all of the words. She was embarassed to tell her new friend that she couldn't read, so she left it at that. "Well, I guess we should sleep here until dawn. We can read it better in the light of day," she said, moving towards a soft tuft of grass beneath an old and sturdy tree. She set herself down, pulled at the grass until it was bunched up like a big green pillow, and then settled into a tight ball to keep herself warm. Cui preferred the branches to the grass, and scampered up the tree to find a comfortable spot. Sleep came fast, and no dreams disturbed Nyara's slumber.