F A B L E (kalon 1200 tryout) (DNP)

[sapphire77]

moodboard (none of the images are mine)

Username: sapphire77
Name: Fable
Gender: female
Theme: alien
Design: (finished kalon concept)

Edits:
Hair edits that go beyond the jawline when wet, custom tail shine, teeth edits, Short Fur/No Fur, Custom Ears, Custom Pupil, Custom Tongue, One Halo, Glow, Colorful Blood, Ability of Flight/Levitation, Gene Splicing (angler fish), Elemental Aspects, skinny weight edit, sclera Color, heterochromia

[sapphire77]

Lifting the quill, struck by a sudden inspiration, you begin to write. Dark ink spills onto the blank pages, forming words and sentences of a story you have no memory of ever knowing.
Fable.

Fable. They called me Fable. I’m clearly the child of a family of aliens, not only distinguishable by my appearance, but my love for the natural world. That’s one thing all of the aliens have in common, a deep and strong appreciation for their planet. The cyborgs, however, focus only on speeding things up with technology and destroying what was meant to be left alone. That’s what I was taught anyways, or, really, what I thought.


I was born during the war, the only child of two gardeners. We lived a simple life, tending to the planet, when it needed our assistance. The war raged on, but it seemed so distant from us we never had much thought of what it could really do. That is, until they came. The cyborgs. It was late at night, when I was shaken awake by my mother. “Fable!” The word echoed through my dream, and my eyelids fluttered open. “Mommy?” I muttered, sleepily. Then, as I began to come to my senses, the screams reached my ears. “Fable,” my mother said, lifting me from my bed. My father stood by Mother, his eyes fearful and he turned to my mother, “Wren, we have to go now.”
Mother’s ears flattened against her head. “I’m not going to leave Fable,” she hissed, but turned and pounded out of their small house, Father trailing behind her. Shines of other kalons glinted in the moonlight, but it was an eerie sort of glint. Other aliens were rushing out of their houses, others howling out their last, final, scream. I did my best to gather in all of my surroundings, but you must understand that it’s rather difficult to think in situations like this. A shadow moved across me, a large, horrid thing. The cyborg loomed over my mother and I, its claws looming wickedly above us. I screamed as the claws slashed my front leg, and my mother scrambled to her feet, sprinting ahead of the cyborg. “It’s okay Fable, shh. We’re almost there,” my mother panted as I continued to scream. Then another scream, but it wasn’t my own. Another cyborg stood over a figure. The claws slashed through the night air. My father fell, surrounded by the flowers and ferns he and so many others had devoted their lives to growing. My mother shook as she skidded to a halt, turning to see my father’s lifeless body. Tears poured from her face onto my pale purple fur. More thuds as aliens fell to the ground, and my mother seemed to come back to her senses as she turned and ran. Even as we left the town, and even when it had become just a small speck in the distance, the screams echoed through my ears, and it seemed like that sound might never end. I was slowly set to the ground as we came to a stop at the edge of a dark forest. “Shh, shh. Fable it’s okay, shh,” my mother cried as I tried to get back up again, “Shh, no, you’re hurt.” It wasn’t a deep cut, but it was still painful. My mother bent down, and set herself to work, cleaning up my wound. I felt the pain slowly leaving me, as my eyelids fluttered closed, and I drifted off to sleep.

[sapphire77]

That was my first encounter with the cyborgs, and for most of my life I never met another one. Me and my mother flitted from town to town, for fear of another attack. We never stayed in one place for more than a week. But as time passed, my mother and I separated. Well, I suppose I shouldn’t say that, as it makes it sound as though we chose to to take different paths. But no. We were literally separated. Years had passed since I lost my father, and as I mentioned before, we went for much time without much danger. You could say we should’ve expected it to happen, something tragic. There was rain, and lots of it. I’d experienced rain before, of course. It was considered a gift from the sky among us aliens. Rainstorms were considered a source of peace and healing. But this was rain like nothing that I’d experienced before. It didn’t fall like calming tears, but rather a angry whirlwind of sobs. I was pushed over from the wild winds, and I could hear my mother stumble too. Rain drops soaked my fur, and I tried to push myself up. But objects hit me, and I was knocked to the ground again. My mother’s voice. There it was. She was screaming over the wind, but it was a calming feeling, knowing that she was there. I couldn’t tell what she was saying, but I managed to stumble towards the sound of her voice. I placed my head on her shoulder, drinking in her warm scent that hadn’t yet been clouded by the rain. “Mother,” I tried to whisper, but the winds drowned out my voice. Then, I lost the feel of her fur as we were both shoved aside by the winds. I was thrown against a building, and I cried out. But that sound too was lost to the rain. “MOTHER?” I screamed, my tears mixing with the horrid rain. I tried to get to my feet, but something threw me down like it had before. A tree branch, it seemed, had collapsed, pinning me down. The rain was so thick now that I couldn’t even see my paws in front of my face. The ground was soaked like my fur, and for a while I was sure I would drown. I let myself lay there, sobbing, ready to let the water take me. Ready to give in. But then, suddenly, the rain stopped. Everything stopped. The wind, the tears, the screams. It was as if everything was frozen. I could see again. I wriggled free from the branch’s clutches, and braced myself, expecting to be blown over again. But the winds didn’t come. I could see, I could breath, I could think. But with the thoughts came worry. “Mother?” I called again, and was surprised to hear my voice. “Mother?” I screamed. Other kalons nervously glanced at me, confused. Buildings had collapsed, trees had fallen over, the neat little gardens that had once stood in front of each alien’s house were now scattered and lost to the storm. I closed my eyes, trying to block the tears. But they came anyway. She was gone. And there was nothing I could do about it.

[sapphire77]

I survived the storm, even after the winds and rain returned. But life after it, not so much. It was hard, going on without my mother. I was low on sleep, as I whenever I allowed myself to drift off, I was haunted by nightmares of my mother’s screams. And I didn’t eat much either, spending most of my time doing absolutely nothing. The thing that really woke me up was my second encounter with a cyborg. It was a couple months after I lost my mother, and I was very frail. So tired and thin that it was clear I was weak. I had just curled up among the brown roots of a tree, preparing myself for the nightmares. A twig snapped. My head shot up. “Hello?” I whispered. “Hello?” I said again, this time louder. A rustle of the leaves. “Who’s there?” I called, my voice cracking. One glowing red eye. I screamed. Flashing white teeth. An additional scream mixed with mine. The cyborg sprung out of the bushes, then stumbled back once it had caught sight of me. It looked exactly how I’d remembered the cyborgs looking. Half mechanical, half organic, but all jumbled up, as though someone had thrown the parts into a blender, then molded them into a kalon. I hissed, and the cyborg snarled right back. Claws flashed, and a gash appeared on my left cheek. I cried out, and attacked right back. We rolled around for a few minutes each of us trying to slash and snap at each other. Not much more damage occurred, aside from a few cuts across my snout and I gave the cyborg a torn ear. More screaming, and each of us yelling at each other. “What do you want?” The cyborg finally managed to get out. It was panting, blood trickling down its face. Wait, no, not it. She. She was covered in dirt, and had dents in the side of her face that was mechanical, along with a few scars across her organic parts. Her fur was matted, and it looked as though she hadn’t eaten in awhile. “W-what?” I stuttered.
She looked astounded. I could see her real eye was a lovely green, and was darting around wildly. “What do you mean? You attacked me!” The cyborg looked terrified.
I cried out, “You killed my father!”
“What? That wasn’t me!”
“It was definitely a cyborg!”
“That doesn’t mean it was me!” The cyborg cried, “Why does everyone assume that just because I’m a cyborg, I’m like all the others! I’m not!” She broke down crying, paws covering her mechanical snout. I just stared. I shook myself out, hesitating, then placed a paw on her furry shoulder. She shuddered. “What’s your name?” I found myself asking.
She lifted her head, tears still streaming down her face. “Grace,” she muttered, softly. I mustered a smile. “I’m Fable.” And just like that, Grace was telling me everything that had ever happened to her. How she and her family had all been banished from the cyborg society for being against the war, how she, like me, had lost her family in the hurricane, how the aliens had destroyed her home, and how she was all alone now and that every town she went to chased her out, because she was a cyborg. I didn’t know what to say after that. I looked into her deep green eye, and then quickly looked away. The tears were still there. “I-I’m sorry,” I whispered, glancing up at her again.
“It’s fine,” she said, a soft smile spreading across her face. Her ears pricked up, and her eyes were suddenly wild. “Do you hear that?” Grace said, urgently.
“What? No, I…” A strange scent filled my nose. Strange, but not unfamiliar. Half metal, half natural. Cyborgs.
“We have to go!” Grace was panicking even more than I was. I tried to tell her to stay calm, but my words were lost in her screams. 3 cyborgs-all large and horrible-leaped out of the dark forest surrounding us and attacked immediately. “Run!” I heard Grace call out, and bounded forward. Quickening my pace, I was soon streaming through the forest. The trees were all a blur, and though the wind whistled in my ears, I could still hear the screams. That didn’t make sense. If Grace and I escaped, then who was screaming? As I neared the edge of the forest, I didn’t slow my pace. I continued to run, until I was a safe distance from the woods. “We… made… it…” I panted, turning around. But Grace wasn’t there. She gave up her own life, to save me. But she was gone, gone like my mother, gone like my father. Gone.

[sapphire77]

From then on, all I did was walk. Walking blindly through the darkness, with little light to guide me. I don’t remember much from after I lost Grace. I was hungry, couldn’t sleep, and hadn’t interacted with another kalon in months. So, like I should’ve expected something horrible to happen before I lost my mother, I should’ve expected to walk into trouble, in that deprived state. But, alas, I did not. I remember wandering, that was all I remembered before it happened. Wandering through a dull town that I hadn’t been to. Unfamiliar faces stared at me from windows and cracked doors. The sky was that rainy grey color, casting sad light upon everything it touched. Whispers surrounded me. A soft cackle. Claws clicking on cobblestone. And then darkness.
“What should we do with it?”
“We can’t just carry it around with us. That’ll look suspicious.”
“I guess we could bring it to the queen.”
My eyes fluttered open, but I might’ve just kept them closed. Though my vision was clouded, it was definitely darker than it should’ve been. Voices, three of them. Discussing my fate?
“We can’t take it to the queen! That’s crazy. Her majesty doesn’t want to see us, after what happened last time.”
“Well, I don’t know. Think about it, Rust. She might reward us for delivering her an alien.”
The third voice remained silent as the other two argued over whether or not to take me to the queen. The queen? I’d never thought that the cyborgs might have a leader. I didn’t think either the aliens or cyborgs had a leader. Based on what I’d learned, it seemed as though all cyborgs had a shared hate of aliens, and that aliens all had a shared hate of cyborgs.
“I’m not so sure…” The first voice muttered.
“Fine. Then leave, and we’ll keep the reward for ourselves.” A pause, then the three kalons lifted whatever was holding me
After much traveling and being dragged around, I was dropped onto a cold, polished, metal floor. I pulled myself to a standing position, but someone pushed me down again. I glared up at them, and saw one glowing red eye attached to a rusty metal face. I lowered my gaze, and stared down at the glittering floor. A loud, commanding, voice echoed throughout the room, “Yes?” I risked a glance at the kalon sitting upon the glittering throne. She had very short fur, which made her look very thin. A scar crossed over her organic eye, which was a sparkling green. It reminded me horribly of Grace, so I directed my attention away from her face. Large, feathered wings casted a dark shadow over the room. She had a long, hairless tail, with a glittering crown for her shine.
“Your majesty,” one of my captures said, his voice shaking, “W-we caught an alien, in cyborg territory.”
“Did you?” The queen said, her eyes widening in excitement. I snarled under my breath, and the queen turned her head down to me.
“Well, well, well. What was a little alien doing in my kingdom?” The queen turned to face my captors. “Let her speak,” she commanded. The cyborgs pushed me to my feet. Their metal paws were horrible and rough against my fur.
“I-I didn’t know this was your territory.” I blurted out.
“How could you not?” The queen said calmly.
“You see, I had just met up with a cyborg, Grace was her name, you might’ve heard of her, and you see, she was killed-”
“Ah, my niece is dead? Lovely news. No more traitors in my kingdom.”
I stared at her. “Your niece?” And their resemblance suddenly made sense. I closed my eyes, then continued. “And it seems like I must’ve wandered into cyborg territory after that.”
The queen smiled down at me. An evil sort of smile. “Of course. You wandered. That makes sense. Well, guards, lock her up!”
“What? Wait!” I screamed. The queen turned to me, flicking her ear, and the guards paused. “Why lock me up? I did nothing!”
The queen continued to stare at me. “Hmm, well, it isn’t exactly what you did, but who you are. The fact that you’re an alien is enough reason for me.”
I hissed, “What’d aliens ever do to you?”
She blinked several times, as if surprised that anyone would dare ask such a question. But she replied, “Very well. You’ll be dead by morning, so it’s no use keeping it a secret anymore. Guards, clear out, I want to talk to this one alone.”
I wrinkled my snout as the guards left. Dead by morning? I sighed, and sat down.
“You see, my dear,” the queen began, “I would say it all starts with your lovely alien queen-”
“We have a queen?” I interrupted.
“But of course! Honestly, where have you been all these years? Anyways, your queen. We met one day...her eyes sparkled with curiosity. The thought of interacting with a cyborg excited her. The very idea would make those at the palace shiver...she would be viewed as such a rebel! But instead of meeting some lonely peasant from my kingdom, she met me.” The queen smiled softly to herself, losing her commanding demeanor.
“And?” I said softly.
“And we fell in love. She’d never done anything against the rules, while I’d couldn’t imagine listening to what one kalon said. I taught her the thrill of life, and she showed me how to appreciate our world. We loved each other greatly, and the idea of bringing the two kingdoms together excited our subjects.” Her eyes suddenly grew fearful, and she lowered her ears. “But love stories never do turn out happy, now do they? It was a horrible fight. Lots of screaming. She said she’d been forbidden to see me ever again. I asked her why, she said she didn’t know why. So I told her she should visit me anyway, but she refused to. I told her that love shouldn’t have boundaries, shouldn’t have rules. But she still wouldn’t listen, and then the I sort of...well, attacked her. I did have a good reason though!” She sighed, “But we never spoke again, and then the war broke out, and it was just another reason for me to hate her, which is fine with me.” Closing her eyes, the queen turned away. “So now you know.”

[sapphire77]

The queen’s prisons were horrible. They smelled like rats, and shadows flickered ominously. The queen obviously put little to no effort into making her prisons as impressive as the rest of her castle. Hard stone that hurt your paws and dust that covered your fur, until you couldn’t remember what your fur used to look like. The prison was nearly full. Aliens occupied each cell, war prisoners it looked like, as they were covered in injuries. I was locked in a small cell with no one else, and two guards patrolled back and forth in front of my prison door. I kept going over what the queen had said in my mind. Alien queen? Why had no one ever mentioned her? Maybe she was just as scary as the cyborg queen. I shook my fur out, sighing. I needed to get out of here. Struck by a sudden idea, I got to my feet. Surely the cyborgs felt the pains of the war too. Nervously, I walked towards the door of my cell. “Um...hi?” I called out to the guards. They turned towards me, one snarling, the other curious.
“Yes?” The curious one said, placing a paw upon his companion's shoulder.
“So… you see…I really shouldn’t be here,” I shuffled my paws, and the guards could surely tell how unsure I was. The angry guard raised his eyebrows.
I lowered my ears. “No, seriously. I just wandered into cyborg territory and got caught. I’m not even involved in this war. I don’t know anything about battle plans or any military stuff, really. I grew up in a village with my parents.” The cyborgs continued to stare at me. “Do you know what happened then? My father was killed by cyborgs. When I was just a kit.”
The angry cyborg snarled again. “Are all aliens this ignorant? Please, my brother was forced to fight in the war, then killed in his first battle. Then my mother was captured by aliens. Everyone has lost something in the war. You're not the only one.”
I smiled, “See? Like you said, we’ve all lost to the war. Surely you can understand where I’m coming from. You shouldn’t have lost your family, and, I shouldn’t have lost mine. It’s the war. And I think I know how to stop it. If you let me out-”
The guard snorted, and turned away. The other guard turned to talk to me. “Listen,” he said. His voice was much kinder than the first guard’s, but at the same time it had the sound of someone explaining why something couldn’t happen. “I would love to let you out, I really would, but the queen would never let us get away with something like that. I don’t hate aliens, really, I don’t. Like you were never involved with the war, neither was I. I’ve always been a guard, and I guard whatever prisoners are brought in.”
I looked at him, remembering something the queen had said. “What if I told you I could bring aliens and cyborgs together? Do you remember when that was going to happen?” He stared back at me, then looked away, and nodded. Grabbing the keys, he fumbled with them and unlocked the door. The other guard hissed, looking around fearfully.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
“Letting her out,” the kinder guard said simply. “Listen, if you tell the queen, she’ll just think you were involved too. She doesn’t trust. So if you value your life, hold your tongue.” The other guard looked as though he was going to respond, but thought better of it. The door clanked open. Other prisoners raised their heads. Then, as I stepped out, the whole prison erupted with shouts of protest. My guard muttered to the other guard, “We’ll say we’re taking her out to be given her sentence from queen, then let her escape.” The whole time we were walking, I was sure we’d get caught. But we didn’t. Apparently, prisoners were frequently sent to their sentences rather quickly after their time of capture. Once we’d neared the entrance hall, my guard screamed, “Quick, she’s escaping!” Shoving me forward, he turned to warn the whole castle, drawing attention away from the direction I was headed. I sprinted forward, leaping through the entrance hall, until I was outside the palace doors. I’m not really sure how I escaped after that, it seemed that my guard’s ruckus had attracted enough guards away from the palace entrance. Or maybe the queen thought that no one would ever be able to get through her territory without getting caught and never placed guards outside her castle. Either way, once I got out of the castle, the escape was flawless. Now all I had to do was find the alien queen.

[sapphire77]

I traveled for days, but I remained relentless. I had to talk to the alien queen. I don’t know exactly when I entered alien territory, but the disappearance of odd metal parts and high tech filled towns was promising. The world turned from grey to green and other earthy colors. Familiar scents flooded my nose. Rain, flowers, grass, dirt. The scents only an alien can truly appreciate. The absence of cyborg’s metallic smell was calming. The way it’d fill your nose until you could taste it was replaced by the soothing fragrance of forests. I blended in, so I could go to towns and eat for once. I’d been living off of whatever I could catch, and it was pleasant to be able to rest without fear of being caught. I managed to gain some more information on the location of the alien palace, and soon learned it was North East of the cyborg territory. I could tell that I was heading in the right direction because the land would go from ruins to fancy mansions. The kalons would go from injured and poor to healthy, well fed, aristocrats. I began to look more and more out of place, until it was clear that I didn’t belong. But that didn’t matter, because one cold morning, I caught sight of the castle. It was dark green in color, or so it seemed from a distance. Really, it was stone, but covered in ivy so it looked as though it had been taken over by the Earth. Unlike the cyborg’s palace, my queen placed guards in front of her domain. One of them called out, “Halt, who goes there?” I looked up. She was brown in color, with a lion-like tail and watchful blue eyes.
“I am Fable, and I request a meeting with the queen.”
“Alien or cyborg?” She hissed.
The guard next to her rolled her eyes. “Do you see any mechanical parts?”
“Oh…right, um, please come in…”
The alien palace was not nearly as sparkly as the cyborg’s, but I liked it. Everything was covered in plants, and though everything was stone, tufts of grass sprouted through the floor. Windows let natural light cover each kalon in a earthy embrace, making everything seem welcoming. My tense muscles relaxed, and I blinked slowly, trying to savor this moment. But the guards hurried me along, until I was standing, once again, in a throne room, in front of a new and possibly unfriendly queen. The alien queen was very catlike, with pointed ears and a long, thin, tail. It seemed to be covered in glittering pearls, until I realized that was her shine. Her hair was styled so that it covered her eyes, and was tied back in a loose bun. She had shaggy, silvery, fur and large paws. She turned her head towards the approaching guards. “Yes?” she said, “What is it?”
“Your majesty, this alien wanted to see you,” the guards explained. I walked forward, and told her my story. I paused after explaining what the cyborg queen had told me. The alien queen sighed, “Yes, she loved me, we loved each other. And yes, she attacked me. You see - my eyes.” The queen lifted a paw, and pushed her hair back. Her eyes were clear, glassy, sightless orbs. And scars covered her face. She was blind. The queen shuddered, and let her hair fall over her eyes once again. I ended my story, and the queen nodded sadly. “Yes, I’ll join you.”
Startled at her quickness to agree, I just stared for a moment, then said, “Oh - right, um, thank you.” Accompanied by the queen and a troop from her army, the trip to visit the cyborg queen took a lot longer than when I had traveled solitary. But either way, we arrived in cyborg territory eventually. But when we arrived at the cyborg palace, the cyborg queen was prepared. I guess my disappearance from her prison didn’t go unnoticed, I thought. A smirk across her face, the queen of the cyborgs sat surrounded by her army. “Cressida…” A voice echoed through the crowd. I looked around, and caught sight of the alien queen making her way through the crowd. Cressida? I thought, before realizing that must be the cyborg queen’s name.
Cressida rolled her eyes, “Yes, Alouette?” I watched as the two queens made their way towards each other.
Alouette collapsed at Cressida’s paws. “I’m so, so, sorry,” she sobbed. It was a bit pathetic. Cressida certainly thought so. She stared down at Alouette, her eyes wide.
“I...Oh Alouette, please, you have nothing to be sorry about!”
Alouette looked up, tears streaming down her silvery face. “N-nothing to be sorry about? I’m the reason we don’t talk anymore. Me and my silly need for the rules.” She laughed sadly.
Cressida wrinkled her snout, “At least you didn’t attack the one who loves you.” Cressida lowered her ears, then lifted Alouette to her feet. “Listen, I miss you.” The cyborg queen talked with such calmness and her gaze was soft, it was hard to believe that this was the kalon who’d locked me in prison and acted as though she hated all aliens. Alouette nestled her head under Cressida’s jaw, tears still leaking from her pale eyes. The two opposing armies just stared at their queens, unsure how to react to these affectionate actions. A young guard, clearly one who hadn’t experienced the wrath of his queen yet, approached Cressida. “Um, your majesty?” he said nervously, “The war?”
Cressida glared at him, then turned over to Alouette. “The cyborgs surrender,” she said simply, “Our kingdoms shall be united. That is, only if Her Majesty of the aliens complies?” Alouette laughed, then nodded, placing a paw on top of Cressida’s mechanical one. And that’s what happened. It may sound a bit cheesy, maybe to the point that you don’t believe me, but it’s true. Cressida and Alouette’s love brought the once contradicting kingdoms together, and ended the war. Now that brings me to the answer of the question ‘what is a hero?’. I, Fable, lost my father, then my mother, followed by an acquaintance, Grace. Despite these setbacks, I emerged. I ended a war. I am not trying to brag, but it’s true. A true hero surfaces from hardships, bringing good to the world. A true hero is the light in the dark. No matter how small it is, it illuminates the positive aspects of light, and shows others that, even if things seem hard, there is still hope.