Username + ID#: -Everette- #928070
Kalon Link:
AsterChosen Prompt: Your Kal just got sent to prison, what are they in for?
Prompt Response:
A pounding on the door jolted Aster awake. A hazy light barely shone through the window above him. He had fallen asleep at his desk, a half-baked letter stuck to his cheek as he lifted his head, pen still in hand. The pounding at the door echoed through the empty hotel once again, harsher this time. Aster groaned and lifted himself to his paws, Aster arched his spine and reached his arms up in a stretch to alleviate the stiffness in his back from his less than adequate sleeping position. He padded lazily across his room, grabbing a hair tie from his nightstand before making his way to the door.
It had been a little over six years since the exchange of power. Aster was the only one left in his family as far as he was concerned. His mother was killed in the raid, parent was killed in a work accident, and his oldest brother and sister were shipped off in the war where, Aster maliciously hoped, they had lost their lives. It was only about eight months ago Aster had lost his last brother to a drug bust he had tried to warn him about, but his stubborn brother said that it was his only way to make money. Now the hotel was as empty as his home that connected to it. Aster had only been living thanks to the generosity of some of his better off friends and underground contacts. He had to get a new CID (citizen identification) after his brother was killed to escape a 'housing a criminal' charge. Since then, he had been dipping his toes into the rebellious underground that festered in the broken city. They often stockpiled from donors and shared coin and provisions among everyone who needed it. He only needed to send a letter to a trusted contact to ask, the contents of which was now smudged across his right cheek.
A third, more aggressive, pounding sent Aster out of his daydreaming and once again into the current annoyance. Aster poked his head out of his front door and called over to the soldier that impatiently shifted at the façade of the hotel, "Front door's over here, what do you want?" Aster grumbled at the sight of the guard as they strictly marched over to him,
must be new, damn sprouts. The sprout stood at attention in front of Aster and loudly stated, "Aster Montac!" Aster suppressed a surprised look, part of changing his CID was getting a new surname. However, the one just belted out to him by the guard was his original family name. Aster crossed his arms as the sprout continued, "You are under arrest as a suspected connection to the underground smugglers!" Aster stiffened, unable to hide his look of shock. "You must come with me," the guard reached out to grab Aster's arm, but he lifted his hands into the air before the guard could connect. "What proof do you have," Aster looked defiant but calmly at his captor, "I am allowed to request the reason for my arrest, that includes the evidence against me." It did not include that condition but the sprout was hooked and stumbled for a second as they had to go off script. "Uhh... well a messenger was captured and interrogated for the information on their network!" "Damn rat," Aster hissed under his breath before continuing, "and who might this messenger be?" "I can not disclose that information," the sprout stood their ground. Aster shrugged nonchalantly and sighed, "How do I know you aren't lying to me, I have the right to refuse as long as the reason isn't fully stated." "You must come with me," the guard repeated more forcefully and pushed forward. "Woah woah," Aster lifted his hands again to present in a less threatening way, "Listen it's not my fault, I have the right to refuse, so unless you want to report back to leadership empty handed..." The guard was not buying it.
Before Aster could finish the thought, the guard lunged for his arms. Aster was easily able to duck out of the way of the hunk of armor that crashed towards him, he was far faster than this sprout covered in heavy armor. Aster bolted through his front door, slamming it behind him as he raced down the hall. The door burst open moments later and the sprout huffed, "Halt! You are resisting arrest!" Aster easily wound around the kitchen, into the adjacent hall, and into the very back storeroom as the guard crashed through two meters behind him. Aster slammed and locked the storeroom door behind him then darted to the window that lead to the backyard, the very one they escaped through on the night of the raid. Aster shook his head from the flashback and jammed the window open just as the sprout broke down the door behind him. Without a second thought, Aster leaped through the open window and into the dim light of the morning. It took three paces to span the back yard before reaching the back fence. Aster scrambled to the top of the wooden divider and glanced back to see the guard glaring out of the window they clearly couldn't scramble through in their armor.
Aster felt a pain in his chest. Nightfall and blood clouded his vision again, desperate screams echoed in his head. He blinked away the sight, soaking in the familiar view of his home, knowing this time he would not return. He forced himself to fall to the other side of the fence and continued running and hopping his way through various backyards before reaching the street corner. He would have plenty of distance between him and the guards by the time the others were alerted to a runner, so he nabbed a hooded coat from a laundry line and threw it over his shoulders, fumbling to get his ears through the slots of the hood with shaky hands. He more calmly and cautiously made his way through the outskirts of the city, avoiding patrols where he could and prayed to the gods for the ones he couldn't.
The sun was barely peeking over the top of buildings when a hand grasped his shoulder from behind. Aster gasped and swung around, ready to take off sprinting before catching a familiar scent. "Aster! What's going on," Aster relaxed his shoulders as his friend, Syph, hurriedly whispered, "I just heard some guard asking about you!" She had helped him in the past after his parent passed, convincing her family to send him and his brother leftover bread from their market stand at the end of the week. Aster placed a hand on her shoulder to return the comforting gesture, "They know I get support from the underground, some
rat spilled their hole chain. Aster advised her family in the past to donate to the underground supply chain to help, since then, they had become more connected that he was, "they might come after you next, we have to get out of here!" Aster turned around to keep walking, a guiding hand in Syph's shoulder. "Wait," Syph stood her ground, if that's the case then I need to get my mother and father. We're on a different chain than you so we should be fine, but I should still go to make sure." Aster grumbled, "We need to move now. They were after me at first light, if your place was a part of the bust then they would have gotten them by now!" Syph still looked worried, "I
need to make sure. Look, you know where the old temple is outside of town?" Aster nodded. "Go there, I'll meet you at nightfall, I know a place you can stay." Aster was about respond but Syph had already whipped around and was hurriedly walking back into the city. Aster grumbled, then turned to make his way out of town.
Token Worth: 1323 words 10pts
Chosen Prompt: What would their secret hideout look like?
Prompt Response:
As the last wisps of red faded over the horizon, to be replaced by a cool blue night, Aster paced in the courtyard of a long-abandoned temple just outside of the glow of street lanterns in the city. He glanced waywardly at the rotted wooden doors that hung off the entrance to a dark abyss beyond. Aster never liked the darkness, any number of things could be lurking just beyond his vision. Wild animals, thieves, a lost patrol. The worst was the lack of sound, he hated the pounding of his own heartbeat in his ears. He almost jumped out of his skin when Syph called out to him in the dark. "Hey! You made it," Syph said in a hushed voice as she quickly walked up the cracked stone steps to meet Aster. "So did you. How's the family?" " They're fine, though some of our links are not. It doesn't seem like any of them talked at least." "Good...," Aster nodded, still not convinced they were completely safe. "Anyway, why are you out here, it's a bit dangerous, you could have waited for me inside," Syph motioned towards the gaping chasm. "I was afraid you wouldn't be able to find me if I waited in there," Aster flicked his tail as the thought of traversing the dark alone once again entered his mind. Syph crossed her arms, "Right..." She could always tell when he was lying. "Anyway, common, I'll get you settled in," Syph began walking to the entrance of the temple. "In there," Aster followed her nervously. "Yup," she brightly replied.
Inside the dilapidated hall, the floor was cold under Aster's paw pads. Echoes rang into the vaulted ceiling high above their heads with each step. Syph swerved to the right, past the columns that decorated the main hall and into a parallel hall with a much lower height. At the very end of the hall, a door sat tucked behind a statue of the city's patron goddess who had long since left this place. Syph stopped at the door and pulled a very ancient looking skeleton key from her bag. It slid into the lock with a clunk, and, with a bit of jostling, the door slid open. A cramped, dark spiral staircase drilled into the ground before them. "The practitioners of the church thought this lead down to the catacombs, but it was actually the goddess Carnell's private sanctuary," Syph explained in a whisper, "My dad's ancestors were her sanctuary's keepers before the gods left." "Ahh," Aster replied in awe. He wasn't super happy to live in a dark dingy basement but it was better than nothing. "Here, my dad gave me this," Syph pulled out a fist-sized glass orb and gave it a curt shake. Instantly a fire filled the inside of the orb, dousing the stairwell in a soft orange glow. Aster was then reminded that Syph's father was a fire caster, a blessing sent down the family line.
They must have been a gift to the goddess Carnell from the patron of fire.They began to descend the staircase, constrained to a single file line by the pressing walls on either side. Aster felt like he was going to suffocate. The steady light of the orb had calmed him but was quickly snuffed out by the claustrophobic conditions. The stairs seemed to endlessly spiral down for what seemed like far longer than it should have, until it abruptly stopped at a small platform with a door at the end. A blue-green light shone under the door from the other side and a fresh, almost sweet, scent meet their senses. Syph once again plunged the key into the lock and pushed open the door.
Both stood in the doorway, astonished and bathed in cool light. The door had opened to a cavern sprawling high above them, lit up partially by flickering blue insects and what must have been some sort of magic. Crystals shone in-between the ivy hanging from the ceiling and soft moss that coated the base of the walls and the ground. Aster could make out the sound of trickling water from somewhere deeper within. A wooden structure that was made to fit the style of the homes in the city stood half-sunken into the wall on the left. "This is incredible," Syph remarked, sounding out of breath. Aster could only nod in silent agreement. " Well, will
this do for a place to stay," Syph raised her arms to motion around her as she padded out of the door and into the cavern. Aster snorted and followed her in, she didn't need an answer. "When I asked Dad about this place he said it would be more than enough," Syph laughed, "I wasn't expecting
this!"
Aster paused for a moment in thought, "Syph, you mentioned that there were other links that got caught." "Well, yeah of course there was, a whole chain went down." "Right, do you know if any others escaped?" Syph thought for a moment, "I think my parents might have insinuated it... do you want to help them too?" Aster thought for a moment then nodded, "We have this much room, it would be selfish not to help, besides, I might get lonely here on my own," Aster smiled. Syph looked incredulously at him, he could tell that she knew she wasn't getting the full reason. Syph snorted, "Right, come on. Let me help with whatever scheme you've got going." Aster glanced around the cavern, "Well, I was thinking if the underground is falling apart, this would be the perfect place to take in some wayward souls who have a thing against the governor..." "
You want to build an army," Syph crossed her arms. "Maybe not an army... more like a rebellion," Aster shrugged before Syph could comment, "anyway, that's not important right now, I just want to get people off of the streets and away from the hands of the military." Syph sighed and relaxed," That's mighty talk coming from someone who barely left his house since the raid. But you're right, we need to help the people coming from the underground. I'll talk to my folks and see what we can do. For now just stay put, I'll bring by some food tomorrow." Aster smirked innocently and replied, "Will do!"
Token Worth: 1053 words 10pts
Previous Responses:
Childhood10/45pts
Totally didn't write 2300+ words on accident and had to break it up or anything ><
