[liightning]

username: snickerdoodle.
name: Firefly
gender: female
prompt: how would the kalon would get into and win (or lose) a fight?
word count - 598


↠↠↠ ✮ ✮↞↞↞
ᴡʜᴇɴ ɪᴛ's ᎠᎪᏒᏦ

It had been a quiet day, ending with a vibrant sunset. She always took walks at night; night was when it was calm, peaceful, dark, silent. All the perfect setting for her. She often stuck to the shadows and kept to herself. She loved the night, for it fought away the startling bright of day and covered it with a soft, velvety cloth of sable purples and blues that was woven with glittering stars.
Firefly had gotten distracted from her regular path that night when a firefly flitted before her. She was mesmerized by it. Sure, she saw these creatures quite often, but they'd never been as warm and welcoming that this one seemed. Entranced, the kalon followed the blinks of light, picking up her pace as it flitted away. She didn't know why she was doing this, but there was this urge to follow this insect that she was named after. Then, she tripped over something. She blinked in surprise at a stone, glowing the same orange as the firefly. There was a thin chain threaded through the stone. It looked like a necklace of some sort. Not exactly knowing what she was doing, Firefly hooked it up with one paw and dropped it over her head. It bumped against her chest, matching the bright fiery markings on her dark fur.
"Exactly!" a voice suddenly barked. "Guilty!"
Firefly had scrambled to a stop, dragging her eyes from the glow of the necklace. With a jolt of shock she'd realized that she didn't recognize where she was. There were voices nearby, loud and angry.
"I didn't," a second voice snarled, "you did!" Murmurs broke out until a voice rose above the others.
"Quiet! If neither of you stole the Stone, then who did?" In the light of the moon, Firefly picked out a long, scarred snout and thick, shaggy fur. Were these wolves?
"It wasn't me! Howl did!" the second voice snapped. There was a growl as a dark shape leapt forward, jaws wide. Two wolves began wrestling, teeth snapping.
One of the wolves let out a whine as his opponent sank his fangs into his shoulder. Firefly felt her fur rise as the vicious fight continued. Firefly couldn't bear to continue watching. Before she could stop herself, she sprinted into the fight.
"Stop!" she cried, trying to separate them. A paw caught her cheek and she yelped, stinging pain striking her face. Amid the fighting, the second wolf blinked at Firefly's necklace and suddenly yelped, "Look! The Stone!"
"Liar," the first wolf hissed, sinking his claws into the second wolf's shoulders.
"Howl! Stop!" a bystander screeched. Howl loosened his grip on his opponent and swung his head around. His eyes widened as he saw the glowing stone.
Firefly stepped back, cowering under the wolves' glares. She ducked her head and let the necklace slide off. She kicked it towards Howl. "Is this- is this what you want?" Her voice was barely a whisper. "I- I found it along the path."
Howl stepped forward and studied her with narrowed eyes. Finally he bared his teeth, his nostrils flaring. Firefly flinched.
Instead of attacking her, Howl lifted his head. "I know who stole this," he announced. The wolf turned and raced across the field. The other wolves followed until the only one left was Howl's opponent.
"Thank you," the wolf rasped, staggering to his paws, blood staining his silver fur a dark red.
Firefly watched, speechless, as he followed his pack at a quick limp.
From that point on, Firefly always made sure to stay on the path.

↠↠↠ ✮ ✮↞↞↞
ғᴏʟʟᴏᴡ ᴛʜᴇ 𝕝𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥

thank you for your time and good luck to everyone

[hellb0und]

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ＯＮＬＹ ＮＥＥＤ ＴＨＥ
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WARNING: if you are sensitive to topics which include gangs, please do not read the following.
username ─ inferno,
name ─ theo
gender ─ male
words ─ 599/600
song ─ passenger - let her go

I grew up on the wrong side of town, with my parents belonging to a gang. They’d wreck havoc on the streets and not think twice about it. Though neither did the two consider what sort of an impact their actions were having on me. As a result, I grew up with little to no morals or sense of compassion at all. That was until one day I rebelled. I’d been out, within the city, roaming the streets silently. Observing passersby and their hollow, empty gazes. Though I was caught off guard when I saw a very elderly woman. She was struggling to get up, having just recently slipped on the ice. Of course, I scoffed and inwardly chuckled at her clumsiness. That was until a much younger girl ran over and offered her a hand. The way the woman’s eyes lit up was simply amazing. I’d never seen anyone within the city that held such light, and some semblance of purpose to their life. She looked as if she truly believed in the goodness of humanity. That it wasn’t entirely wasted and driven by greed, violence, or hatred. Without another thought or word, I headed home. It wasn’t much of a home, more like a cage. A cage of emptiness and chaos. I now understood that my parents knew not of the light but only of the darkness. I was absolutely determined to escape this inscribed fate I no longer wished to follow. “Mom? Dad?” Soon enough, I could hear their echoing footsteps as they maneuvered down the stairs. Listening to them grumble and cursing under their breath as they did so. “Yes, Theo?” My mother inquired, her lips turning into an angered scowl. “I can’t carry on what you two have done, I’m sorry.” My tone never wavered, and I was as straightforward with my carefully chosen words as possible. Though the two still gave me quizzical stares, “I mean, the gang. I can’t join it.” I watched as their faces registered fury. The two both came at me with violent swipes of sharpened claws. With my father restraining me, I was left no choice but to retaliate. There was little to no loyalty shown within my family of three. It hadn’t mattered whether or not you were kin. “I can’t live like this!” I screamed out, staring at the two. They both stared at me in disbelief, saying nothing as I ran out the door and slammed it closed behind me. There was no chance of my return. The fight was never settled, not until six years later. I was well off, having continued my education, and now have a stable job. Picking up my phone, I took a deep breath. Dialing the number as my heart pounded violently in my chest. A raspy voice broke out as the call was answered, “Hello? Who is this?” I could place it as my mother, “Theo.. Your son. Mom, I just hope you’ll eventually be capable of understanding why I did what I did. I’ll love you both regardless of your actions and decisions.” The other line went dead for a few moments before I heard her voice once more, “Theo, we understand. Or we’re doing our best. It was you that made us realize what we were doing wasn’t right, and now the two of us are trying to fix our mistakes.” I could tell she wasn’t lying, and my jaw dropped. I now knew it wasn’t only I which wanted to find the light, but them as well.

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ＩＴ＇Ｓ ＢＵＲＮＩＮ＇ ＬＯＷ
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[~Finchly]

mark<3
username:
name:
gender:
prompt:

[prrsnickety]

𝕁𝕦𝕤𝕥 𝕓𝕖𝕔𝕒𝕦𝕤𝕖 𝕞𝕪 𝕡𝕒𝕥𝕙 𝕚𝕤 𝕕𝕚𝕗𝕗𝕖𝕣𝕖𝕟𝕥

username: TheDerpySquidHat
name: equinox
gender: female
prompt:

equinox stumbled to her feet. she knew stamina wasn't her thing,
and neither was physical. what she did know, however, was that her opponent was at their wit's end. she gathered all her strength and yelled across the courtyard “is that the best you got?!” she began to prowl around the edges, warily, shouting similar insults “you can't catch someone that's already caught you!” and she leapt over her opponent's head. she knew she was running out of stamina, and she'd need to step it up if she wanted to win. equinox had a realisation. “ if I just sit here.” she yelled “will you be able to catch me then?” she laughed, tauntingly. and so she did. she just sat there, and she waited, but the next attack never came. her enemy simply looked her in the eye, surprised. equinox had won. she'd done it. She'd won her first battle.


and so, with her mentors wanting to test her, the next day of the next battle rolled around. this one wasn't to be as easy, however. they scrapped for a while, and as equinox felt the hot breath of her opponent on her neck, she began to grin. she heaved her back legs upward, pressing her claws into her opponent's kidneys. “c'mon then, show me a real fight, hm?” she scampered away, feeling more fear than her strong eyes and pose suggested. she was good at masking fear. fear, the thing that gives your opponent enough confidence to strike. show no fear, lose no battles. that could be her motto, she decided. and so it came to be. in every battle, after blackmailing her victim into submission, no matter how big or athletic they were, she would whisper through gritted teeth, after they were pinned to the hard, stone floor, “show no fear, lose no battles.” and she would prowl off victoriously, head held high, to the awe of onlooking challengers.

day after day, another foolish challenger would be felled simply with wit, not brute force. equinox remained undefeated until, one fateful day, she met someone who could match her. she met her equal. this battle was to be that of the century, everyone said, and equinox overheard. she perched in the corner, overhearing her enemy's tactics. “he's a good shot, but he's a little cocky once he's got 'em down” she heard, along with some intermingling “he'll never do it. He gets too full of self confidence halfway through and puts his guard down. My bet's on eq” eq, huh? she guessed she had a fighter name, now. sounded nice, eq.


and so the fight begins. backed by sunset, the fight not only looked promising, both kalons looked good fighting. there was little tooth and claw in the start, only basic mockery from eq's newest opponent. However, while eq began to hear her opponent tirelessly spouting pointless insults, she could see through his mask to his quivering jaw. “show no fear, lose no battles” she mumbled “maybe it's time I change my motto.” and she did exactly the opposite. Letting him land attacks until they were backed up in a corner, to mixed results from the audience, and springing out, grinning, to loud cheers and cries of approval. she pinned him, and, as was tradition for her, gritted her teeth and whispered harshly, “show no fear, lose no battles. that's something you need to work on..” and she leapt off of his back, landing halfway across the arena, after skidding on the cobbles. “she's done it.” she heard. “she's really done it!” the audience unified in their shouting.

600/600

𝔻𝕠𝕖𝕤𝕟'𝕥 𝕞𝕖𝕒𝕟 𝕀'𝕞 𝕝𝕠𝕤𝕥

[Cyrano]

username:Smith(ers)
name:Kira
gender:Male
prompt:,:Wip

[yinsum]

┐
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│
┘
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username; sekiuchi
name; 蛇 shé ; "snake"
gender; male
wc; 594
┌
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don’t bring a knife to a gunfight, they said.

it’s really too bad that he’ll only ever use knives; and that, in the slummy legs of town, people just carry the typical silver storybook handguns with the kick that hits harder than the bullet itself because they’re cheaper than the dirt off the soles of his boots, and because they don’t know how to use a knife like it’s used, how it’s supposed to be used.

it’s a quiet night. the moon is a memory in the sky, a disk of orangey-red blurred out by cigarette smoke. you couldn’t dream of seeing the stars in the slums; the moon shines bright on only the worst of nights. just like how life in the city is wealth, whiteness, and cleaning supplies, life in the outskirts is rags, blood, and blurry (skies, air, morals). every man for himself. in the beginning, alliances existed— 蛇 remembers when he’d joined one, young and inexperienced, but with the sharpest tongue on the block, and in the mere span of three months the four-dozen dwindled to a-dozen and then to just two, just he and one named fox.

fox had been his first kill. his first taste of blood.

the blade is tinted red in the faint moonlight— dripping blood, viscous and thick. he brought the knife to his face, smudging fox’s blood over his cheeks, his lips, over his eyelids. fox’s blood was sweet. and later, when the blade gleamed silver again, when the blood of his kill clung to his skin, he crept out of the alley.

he’s sitting on a stool, legs crossed at the knee, holding his drink with a lazy wrist. it’s another quiet night— the sun has sunk down and the moon is up and yet he hasn’t heard a single gunshot. thirteen quiet nights, all in a row. he’s antsy; his knife, 毒牙, too. the ice rattles in his glass.

then,

bang!

he’s out of the bar in a second, flipping his bangs out of his face, knifetip braced against the cigar burn on his thigh. it’s close. he hears yelling in the alley between the parlor and an old school. bang, bang! eight people— not counting the big bulk of a man who snuck up behind and aimed a hit to the back of 蛇’s neck. amateurish. it takes not even a slice to the trachea and he falls to the ground, gurgling. 蛇 flips his knife and it finds home in the gut of another person who was stupid enough to approach from behind.

“hey. can i join the fight?” he smiles, boot digging into someone’s cranium, giggles bubbling up and erupting when they turn horrified eyes on him, and he laughs, laughs and laughs because it’s been so long. his veins are alight.

the moon is blood orange, tonight. he raises his knife to the moon, and for once, the sky is clear. the knife matches the moon, the blood moon— how appropriate. it’s his a-hundredth win. bathed in the blood of everyone he’s finished off. the bodies around his ankles are like blankets in a crib to a baby; familiar, warm, still warm. blood flows, thick, down the cobbles. “good boy, 小牙,” he whispers, bringing the blade down, to tongue down the sharp edge. yet another alley painted crimson— he wonders, when would all of them be, shadows soaked with the water of hell?

don’t bring a gun to a gunfight, —he walks out of the alley, blood tart on his tongue— especially when there’s someone with a knife.

[Lucida]

username:
Jasper_
name:
Sigma
gender:
Male
prompt:
W I P

[sobble]

username: Junkratss
name: Theodore
gender: Male
prompt: short story?

Theodore, was in short, a quiet stray. He had never really been bothered to seek fights... only to like day to day- make the most of what he had. It’s not like city life was EASY by any means, he had been driven out of a place or two. All he really wanted was a meal. Hungry, bedraggled, tired, and unrecognizable he surveyed the streets. The familiar click-clack of his claws against the hard concrete set him over the edge. Was this really where he was going again? settling down in some run down nasty city only to be chased out in bad blood. He snorted, no, not this again.

With a turn-tail and another quiet huff, Theodore headed towards the skyline’s edge, setting about finding somewhere... decidedly more green to live. After traveling for a... well, Theodore couldn’t rightly tell how long it had been.. the streets all looked he same and their canopy blocked the sun.. the shadows matching the light-dark of the night. Though he can say for certain that he emerged from the dense concrete wilderness around sunset... it was liberating. The chattering of birds and the swaying of the grass in the wind had a hypnotic, calming effect Theodore fell in love with before he could set all four paws upon the soft earthen haven.

Letting himself out, however, was not quite the smartest course of action. However beautiful the fields of daisies and dandelions had been- this innocence was quickly relinquished. Theodore had lost track of time.. the sun was gone, the coyotes were out; and Theodore their target. He hadn’t noticed them until their harsh deep throated snarls tore through the chilled air- the scrappy kalon knew there wasn’t any way he could take the beasts. Flight was his first choice, he got to his paws and whipped through the fields- the thickets- hoping he could throw them off through the underbrush and the wild snaggles of trees and bushes. But Theodore was outnumbered. He only fled further into their territory- he was quickly outrun and out of breath, he was cold and tired and hungry... he couldn’t escape them. Fine. It was a fight then. With a brusque shake of his tail and a snap of his jaws, Theodore prepared for the inevitable. At the first sign of movement in the bushes he pounced, kareening into the flanking coyote. He wailed upon the hulking beast, slashing and scoring its sides and clumping through its belly.
“LEAVE ME ALONE.. I DIDNT WANT THIS. I DONT WANT THIS. LET ME BE” Theodore pleaded; the coyote’s allies pulled him away- dragged him. Snapping and yiping in a language he didn’t understand- animalistic gargle which terrified him. They tore his tail, help him down, beat his sides.. his ribs, he was dizzy and winded. Theodore grunted, making one last effort to throw his trail, he smacked the biggest- which he hoped was the alpha- with a force only mustered from adrenaline. Winding the alpha, Theodore snapped at the rest, growling and caterwauling as he fled deeper into the forest, scrambling to hide in the thickets... He watched as the coyotes whined, seeming to forget him as their alpha whimpered, the subordinates tending to him. Theodore was safe, for now.

(This is 552 words in all! sorry it’s a little rushed aha)

[wulvesfanqqnaf]

username: Wulvesfanqqnaf
name:
gender: Female
prompt:

Mark// WIP

[kanadensis]

username: kanadensis
name: Dimitri
gender: male
prompt:

Aloof, cold, brooding - the other Kalons often used these words and others to describe Dimitri, but one thing was for certain - they feared him.

At the Academy, he was one of the top dogs. Young Kalons came to the Academy from all over the world to specialize in combat-related skills, after which they would carry on to serve as personal or royal guards, professional fighters, security, and the like. Just by looking at him, one might not imagine that the small, lithe student could take down an instructor twice his size in a matter of seconds, yet Dimitri had done so on multiple occasions. He had been top of his class since he arrived at the Academy three years ago, but was not alone in his popularity. His companions, a small but distinguished group of the most skilled students in the Academy, were given the distinction of being Cadets, and held in high regard by the instructors under whom they served. Revered by the other students, the Cadets would often be challenged, but rarely defeated as defeat meant they would lose their rank. Although Dimitri took challenges with stride and had never lost, he did not thirst for more power; he had great respect for his superiors and would never force a challenge. His ultimate goal was to graduate and serve as a royal guard, though his motives had never been disclosed to anyone.

Dimitri had gained acceptance to the Academy as any of the other Kalons had. Through a rigorous week-long examination, prospective students were challenged in the many disciplines of combat, and their potential assessed by the instructors. How he gained the top Cadet spot however was a legend in itself.

It had been the winter of his first year at the Academy when to everyone’s surprise the top Cadet openly challenged Dimitri to a fight. She was a proud Kalon, nearly twice his size and with five years of training under her belt. Having caught wind of the prodigal trainee who kept to himself and never challenged anyone, the Cadet had become infuriated. If he was truly so strong, why not show it off? She had confronted him in the courtyard, demanding he fight her. Dimitri, while having no real desire to become a Cadet, accepted the challenge. In front of nearly the whole student body, the two dueled: her attacks were calculated, her hits heavy, but Dimitri managed to dodge most of them. It was as though he could tell where she would strike next. In the flurry of claws and fur, she managed to leave him with a thin gash across his face. Barely phased, Dimitri quickly rebounded, chasing her down and breaking through her defenses with an opportunistic tackle. The Cadet was pinned down with with young trainee’s fangs at her neck when one of the instructors broke them apart. He had remained expressionless through the whole ordeal, and at the end politely thanked the ex-Cadet for the duel before making his way back to the study quarters.

Since that day Dimitri had only been challenged a handful of times, swiftly defeating and thanking his opponents with the same placidity and aloofness. To the other students, he remained a mystery that no one wanted to get close enough to crack.

[547/600]