DO Quest pt 2: Gentle Touch of Steel
Nov 12, 2007 2:04:04 GMT
Post by Deleted on Nov 12, 2007 2:04:04 GMT
Mirakel pushed a large fern out of his way, clearing his line of sight. Up until now, the surrounding colors had consisted mainly of browns and bright greens, but the simple gesture of moving the fronds revealed a completely new expanse for the motley group to lay their eyes on. A soft sigh escaped the wastelander's mouth, his soft gaze falling on the cold, hard outskirts of the city-state of Metropazia.
Even though they were a clear half mile or so from the start of the metal, glass, and asphalt, the noise of the city was clearly audible, though not as loudly as one who had seen a bustling metropolis before might be lead to believe. There was not a ground-based vehicle to be seen, the streets were actually occupied by pedestrians on bicycles. All of the cars were in the airways of the city, flying smoothly, uniformly, within the spaces between sky scrapers. Each building seemed to be a behemoth of gleaming metal and bright, reflective glass siding. People could be seen from their vantage point.
The sky was a bright, sunny blue, and the slight breeze blowing at them from the city carried a faint scent of burning vegetable oil. The sounds from the city, carried on the breeze along with the smells of clean living, were those of quiet industry, no shouts of outrage, no horns from inflamed motorists, or any of the usual suspects of big-city living.
Mirakel stared intently forward, but not at the brightly-lit monstrosity of a nation, rather, at the half mile of ankle-high grass separating the forest and the city. The gentle wind ruffled the soft, invitingly-green grass, and it was then that Mirakel finally realized what was making him so uneasy. "Of course..."
Turning away, he rumaged through the foliage for a couple of things in particular. Layna, Josh, and Severause, the only two to remain with him, were almost totally ignored, as the young man was completely engrossed in what he was doing. After several moments, he finally returned with two large sticks, each at least as long, and half as wide around as his arm. He stood straight, and set his foot atop the fern's stalk, bending it out of the way and freeing both his hands.
"Gentlemen, Miss," he turned his head halfway back towards them, making sure he had their attention, "this is why Metropazia is so well-hidden from the outside world." Turning forward again, he hefted one of the sticks into the grass. Seconds passed, the wind dying in the meantime, before something finally happened: forty feet from the point the wood landed, something started moving through the grass, small, silent, and so well hidden that not even Mirakel expected what happened. The very instant the movement reached the semi-exposed branch, a loud screaming went up into the air, like some machine posessed by the Devil himself, and immediately the branch practically exploded into hundreds of small, splintered fragments.
Grabbing the second stave, Mirakel hurled this one into the air, a high, arching path in the city's general direction. Again, as soon as it went so far from the forest, several points out in the meadow fired off deep-red blasts of light, all of them impacting the wood at the height of its flight path with a concussive burst like thunder, and the wood instantly burst into bright, viciously hot flames.
Stepping off fern, Mirakel set down on one knee, now facing his trio of companions. His eyes remained fixed to the soft earth as he contemplated their chances. His right elbow rested on his right knee, his hand stroking his chin in thought. His gentle, white eyes were clouded for a moment, lost as he was in his own mind, but quickly cleared and were as sharp as ever when he addressed his commrades. "Personally, I think we have a better chance fending off whatever's in the grass than the lazer thingies."
Even though they were a clear half mile or so from the start of the metal, glass, and asphalt, the noise of the city was clearly audible, though not as loudly as one who had seen a bustling metropolis before might be lead to believe. There was not a ground-based vehicle to be seen, the streets were actually occupied by pedestrians on bicycles. All of the cars were in the airways of the city, flying smoothly, uniformly, within the spaces between sky scrapers. Each building seemed to be a behemoth of gleaming metal and bright, reflective glass siding. People could be seen from their vantage point.
The sky was a bright, sunny blue, and the slight breeze blowing at them from the city carried a faint scent of burning vegetable oil. The sounds from the city, carried on the breeze along with the smells of clean living, were those of quiet industry, no shouts of outrage, no horns from inflamed motorists, or any of the usual suspects of big-city living.
Mirakel stared intently forward, but not at the brightly-lit monstrosity of a nation, rather, at the half mile of ankle-high grass separating the forest and the city. The gentle wind ruffled the soft, invitingly-green grass, and it was then that Mirakel finally realized what was making him so uneasy. "Of course..."
Turning away, he rumaged through the foliage for a couple of things in particular. Layna, Josh, and Severause, the only two to remain with him, were almost totally ignored, as the young man was completely engrossed in what he was doing. After several moments, he finally returned with two large sticks, each at least as long, and half as wide around as his arm. He stood straight, and set his foot atop the fern's stalk, bending it out of the way and freeing both his hands.
"Gentlemen, Miss," he turned his head halfway back towards them, making sure he had their attention, "this is why Metropazia is so well-hidden from the outside world." Turning forward again, he hefted one of the sticks into the grass. Seconds passed, the wind dying in the meantime, before something finally happened: forty feet from the point the wood landed, something started moving through the grass, small, silent, and so well hidden that not even Mirakel expected what happened. The very instant the movement reached the semi-exposed branch, a loud screaming went up into the air, like some machine posessed by the Devil himself, and immediately the branch practically exploded into hundreds of small, splintered fragments.
Grabbing the second stave, Mirakel hurled this one into the air, a high, arching path in the city's general direction. Again, as soon as it went so far from the forest, several points out in the meadow fired off deep-red blasts of light, all of them impacting the wood at the height of its flight path with a concussive burst like thunder, and the wood instantly burst into bright, viciously hot flames.
Stepping off fern, Mirakel set down on one knee, now facing his trio of companions. His eyes remained fixed to the soft earth as he contemplated their chances. His right elbow rested on his right knee, his hand stroking his chin in thought. His gentle, white eyes were clouded for a moment, lost as he was in his own mind, but quickly cleared and were as sharp as ever when he addressed his commrades. "Personally, I think we have a better chance fending off whatever's in the grass than the lazer thingies."