Creative Corner

@Caelyn I wouldn't say harder per se. It probably takes longer. If I were reckless enough to take them into the Scorched Forest (haha no) I'd still get the win streak because it only depends on your highest level dragon, but I didn't want Octave to just immediately die so I took him to the Woodland Path instead.
Yeah, the crit was pretty scary. Literally the first opponent attack of the first battle. They were Janustraps, so I had a Guard up on Octave, but Guard doesn't have a 100% success rate and it failed. The hit took like 90% of Octave's health and I just sat there for a moment deciding whether to risk staying in to kill the Janustrap and get XP from it. I think I just ended up backing out.

[center][b][i]Day 25 - Nightmare[/i][/b] [size=1]@blaireau @Kyrinasha @KCSquib @Caelyn @Tadi @AnnaStar353[/size] [b]Pull:[/b] [img]http://flightrising.com/images/cms/equipment/942.png[/img] [b]Sentence: [/b]Breed Two Dragons/Scroll a Dragon -----[/center] Marla was dreaming again, no one there to wake her up. Octave had insisted he was grown up enough to sleep in a tree, and was hanging a few lengths away. Leftrin was on the other side of camp, watching the fire-scarred land. Shimmer and Flame were curled up next to each other in the next nest over. Marla's dream started out the same as always: everyone she had ever known, including the Lightweaver herself, berating her, saying she wasn't good enough, wasn't Light enough for Light. Then Marla realized something - it was all the same voice. The same voice, familiar to her only because of these recurring dreams, and maybe... a whisper here and there in the past? As soon as this revelation occurred, all the faces looking down on her disappeared, and the Light territory around her began to fade into blackness. The voice came again. "[b]F[size=2]OLLOW ME.[/size][/b]" It was not a nice voice, but it was the only thing around her in this void. "Who are you?" Marla called out. "[b]I [size=2]WILL HELP YOU.[/size] Y[size=2]OU WILL BE STRONG[/size][/b]." A piece of the void seemed to stretch out, reaching toward Marla. She backed away. "No, no, Lightweaver help me!" she cried. "[b]Y[size=2]OUR GODS CANNOT HURT ME[/size]. T[size=2]HEY HAVE TRIED AND THEY HAVE FAILED[/size]. T[size=2]HEY THINK THEY HAVE WON, BUT [/size]I[size=2] AM EVERYWHERE[/size][/b]," the voice boomed as more tendrils of darkness caressed Marla and she realized what the being speaking to her was. "[i]I'll never help you![/i]" Marla screeched. She fought against the darkness as it tried to surround her. "[b]Y[size=2]OU ALREADY HAVE[/size]...[/b]" [center]----[/center] Marla thrashed in her nest. As the darkness touched her in her dream, black marks appeared on her sleeping body. They started from her claws, her closed eyes, and began to spread across her scales. [center]----[/center] The darkness retreated from her. "[b]I [size=2]HAVE NOT THE STRENGTH TO CONTINUE[/size]. B[size=2]UT [/size]I[size=2] HAVE MARKED YOU AS MINE, AND YOU CAN NOT ESCAPE ME FOREVER[/size].[/b]" [center]----[/center] Marla awoke with a start, shaking and breathing heavily, as if she had been physically fighting all night. She sighed in relief and lowered her head as she realized it was just a dream. Then she saw the black marks curling across her claws. ----- SECRETS HAVE BEEN REVEALED! I'm so happy I got an apparel pull and the story can progress further now wooooooo! Also the Peacebringer's Cowl is the PERFECT apparel for the task. Thank you Pinkerton! ----- Dragon update [img]http://ultraimg.com/images/marlacowl.png[/img]

@Leopardmask

Alright, I HAVE to hear what happens next. Who is that creepy voice? o:

@Caelyn
http://flightrising.com/main.php?p=wiki&article=6
;)

@Leopardmask

~~~Conflict~~~ Can't wait to see how the other dragons react >:33

Really good use of the hidden tert, though! Very nice :D

@Kyrinasha I've had something like this planned ever since I realized Marla's tert is the opposite of her other colors :3 Hence the "not Light enough" theme.

Also I just realized the image for today's item isn't showing up and I have no idea why. I got a Peacebringer's Cowl.

[center][b][i]Day 26 - Revelation[/i][/b] [size=1]@blaireau @Kyrinasha @KCSquib @Caelyn @Tadi @AnnaStar353[/size] [b]Pull:[/b] [item=Discipline] [b]Sentence: [/b]Death Streak Roll Tails - No Death Streak -----[/center] [b][size=2]H[/size][size=1]AHAHAHAHA.....[/size][/b] As the voice faded into the depths of her mind Marla leaped back in shock. Hearing one of the others come to investigate her shriek, she ducked into a shadowed corner of her shelter. Shimmershale poked her head in. "Marla? You okay in there? Did you have another bad dream?" "I-I'm fine. D-Don't come in!" Marla yelped as Shimmer tried to step in further. "I. Um." "Something's weird about you this morning. Usually you're out at the crack of dawn enjoying the day time." Without asking any further questions, Shimmer wriggled into the shelter, gently grabbed the first part of Marla she could find, and dragged her out into the light. "Whoa, what happened? You look like you rolled around in the burned forest!" Shimmer exclaimed in surprise. She tried to groom the black marks off of Marla, but they didn't come off. Marla just sat there forlornly, fins down as far as they would go. "Not Light enough..." she whispered. "What did you say?" Leftrin asked, wandering over. "Huh? Nothing." Leftrin peered closely at Marla's scales. "Huh. It looks like your scales have actually been stained black. How did that happen?" [b]D[size=2]ON'T TELL THEM.[/size][/b] Marla squeezed her eyes shut. "Stop talking to me!" she yelled. Leftrin shut up and Shimmer stared in confusion. Marla looked up. "No, not you guys." "There's... someone - something... in my head." Marla struggled to get the words out, as if something was blocking her mind. "Found... in dreams. I think it's been there my whole life." The last sentence came out in a rush. Shimmer gave her a sidelong glance. "And your new swirly pattern is because of... a voice?" [b][size=4]S[/size]HUT UP.[/b] "NO!" Marla yelled. "I mean, yes," she amended to Shimmer, speaking quickly. "It was trying to grab me, and I fought it, and it said I belonged to it, and it told me it had marked - " She was abruptly cut off by a feeling of pressure on her mind, preventing her from saying anymore. She sunk to the ground, paws to her head. "Great," Shimmer muttered. "Our fearless leader has a split personality." "I don't think it's that," Octave suddenly interjected from the tree above them. "We learned this in the Wastelands. She's been possessed by the Dark One, I think. That's how It marks Its victims." [b]T[size=2]HAT ONE KNOWS TOO MUCH.[/size][/b] Marla's eyes widened. She jerked and held herself still, fighting the urge to leap at Octave and tear him from his tree. Shimmer, noticing her shaking, stepped close and draped a wing over her. The warmth seemed to help Marla, who shuddered once and exhaled. "Looks like she's a natural at keeping It back," Octave observed. He flew down and landed on Marla's back, causing her to involuntarily stiffen before forcing herself to relax. Octave leaned down and whispered in Marla's ear. "Keep bein' stubborn - don't give up." The Dark One screamed in rage at Octave, a scream that only Marla could hear. ----- Of COURSE I get the item type that's the absolute hardest to continue the story from. So I'm just ignoring even writing about a near-attack and just writing about what happens next.

[center][b][i]Day 27 - Grief[/i][/b] [size=1]@blaireau @Kyrinasha @KCSquib @Caelyn @Tadi @AnnaStar353[/size] [b]Pull:[/b] [item=Tropical Seaslug] [b]Sentence: [/b]30-40 battles in the Coliseum -----[/center] (Minor violent content alert) "Hey, guys? Can I train with you today?" Flame inquired. "Sure," Leftrin responded. "Hey Marla, you wanna come train today?" Marla trotted over. "Yeah, let's go." They went toward a green area of the forest like when they trained Octave, staying far away from the harsh burned wasteland. Flame looked around in wonder, then jumped in surprise as monsters dropped from trees. Marla immediately went after them, while Leftrin guarded Flame from attack. But after only a couple monsters, Flame panicked and ran out from behind Leftrin. Straight into the claws of a Phytocat. "Flame, no!" Leftrin yelled in vain, as the Phytocat snarled and ripped out Flame's throat. She dropped, bleeding out on the ground. A black slash came down on the Phytocat, sending it running, as Marla and Leftrin crouched near Flame. Leftrin put her head near Flame's chest. "At least it was quick," she said sorrowfully. "What are we going to tell Octave?" Marla wondered. [center]----[/center] Octave wailed in anguish when he heard the news. "I'm sorry Flame... I shoulda come with you. I could've protected you, kept you from running..." he whispered. Marla wrapped a wing around him. "Do you want to see her one last time, or would you prefer not to?" Octave sniffled. "L-Let me see her." Marla took him to where Leftrin was guarding Flame's body. Shimmer followed them. A strangled cry burst from Octave as he flew over and landed near her. He started humming to her again - speaking in Coatl, so whatever he said would be a secret - just between him and Flame. The others stood back respectfully. [b][size=2]N[/size][size=1]OW IS THE PERFECT TIME TO STRIKE. HE IS VULNERABLE.[/size][/b] [size=2][i]Oh shut up.[/i][/size] Marla stepped back even further. She was already pretty used to ignoring the Dark One's voice, but didn't want to risk It attacking Octave now. Finally Octave looked up. "We should give her a Nature dragon burial. She'd like that." Marla stared in confusion. Leftrin stepped in. "That would involve burning her body, Octave. Are you sure?" "Yeah, I'm sure. It fits, anyway, don't it? 'Cuz she looks like fire. Soft fire." They carried Flame to a large tree that Octave chose. Leftrin used her element to soak the trunk so it wouldn't catch fire as well. As strong as he was being, Octave was still very young, and he hid his face in Marla's wing as Shimmer gently breathed fire onto Flame's body. When it was all done, the four of them buried Flame's ashes among the roots of the tree, and Octave used one claw to carve her name into the bark. Shimmer flew home, while Marla and Leftrin stuck with Octave for a while. They started seeing monsters again and fought them off, Octave throwing himself at enemy after enemy. He was attacking hard, but taking a lot of hits as well, even with Leftrin trying to guard him at all times. He didn't seem to care about the scratches accumulating on his face and back; he just kept attacking. [center]----[/center] Soon, another Phytocat showed up. Leftrin dragged Octave back from throwing himself at its face, and Marla leaped up to use her Light slash on it. Instead of glowing, as before, a ghostly, dark claw appeared, extending from Marla's own paw. It was clearly still Light in nature, destroying the Phytocat as it hit, but it looked like something from Shadow. Or Shade. Marla shook her head after she used the attack, as if she were dizzy. [center]----[/center] As they were nearing home, a large bird walked toward them. They'd fought many of these, but this one didn't seem aggressive. Instead it stared at Leftrin for a moment, then fluttered up to land on her back. "...I think it wants to be friends," Leftrin said. ----- Welp. Not even a crit. Flame took a total of two hits. Also Octave is now level 5 and Leftrin found a friendly Coral Basilisk! I just realized there's a tiny bit of influence from Secrets of Droon in Day 25 and 26. Huh. Well, if I ever get an Ice dragon for this...

Also, this is what I was taking inspiration from for the new look of Marla's Bright Slash. [img]http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m323p6PuWS1qckwxco1_500.gif[/img]

@Leopardmask [quote]"Flame, no!" Leftrin yelled in vain, as the Phytocat snarled and ripped out Flame's throat. She dropped, bleeding out on the ground. A black slash came down on the Phytocat, sending it running, as Marla and Leftrin crouched near Flame. Leftrin put her head near Flame's chest.[/quote] Oh man. ;_____; Sad af. Looking forward to the Dark One's stuff, though. I love the gif for bright slash too, though.