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Post by Red Charge on Oct 12, 2012 13:20:07 GMT -5
Baxter was obviously suffering from a case of dumb luck, as not only that no one seemed to pursue him, but it seemed that no one was even around as he snuck throughout the village. He could tell the Chess pieces were getting rather 'excited' and at the same time heavier. By the time he reached view of the shack he literally had to crawl. Unfortunately for him however, he soon felt the unpleasant, heavy, weight of a steel boot on his back, flattening him against the ground.
"I knew I should have kept an eye on you." The mastiff guard said, "What no good are you up to now?" With the chess pieces weighing him down, Baxter had no chance of throwing off the guard, but with their magic so powerful now, he literally could not let them go. All he could hope for was negotiations.
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Baxter
Diamond Dogs
High Templar Winter Wolf
"Wars are not won by the weak-willed."
Posts: 238
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Post by Baxter on Oct 12, 2012 23:14:02 GMT -5
Baxter was able to make it to the outskirts without incident, but the chess pieces continued to grow heavier with every step he took. They soon began to feel like sandbags, slowing him down and making each step more and more exhausting. Eventually their weight was so immense that Baxter found himself pushed to the ground, crawling forward towards his destination. The load he was carrying had sapped sapped such a large amount of his energy, but he couldn't stop now. He was within viewing distance of the shack, and soon he would be able to restore the chess pieces and settle this matter.
But even with the finish-line in sight, Baxter soon found himself ground to a halt. A heavy, steel boot pushed him straight to the ground, eliminating any hope of his advance. Baxter closed his eyes in frustration and exhaustion, almost in disbelief that he had come so close only to be kept from reaching the end.
"I knew I should have kept an eye on you."
That voice. It was the guard from earlier. Of course. It hadn't been enough that the dog had humiliated Baxter with his stupid perception of the winter wolves. No, of course it wasn't enough. He also had to stop Baxter from completing this endeavor he had spent his entire evening and a huge amount of effort on, right when he was so close to finishing it.
But Baxter restrained himself from saying the first thing that came to his mind. There was no way he was going to get out from the guard's foot on his own, not with the chess pieces also weighing him down. Baxter couldn't let the pieces go, though. He couldn't! Not now! Not this close! All he could do was hope that the guard would let him go, something he couldn't even picture happening. But yelling at the guard, as much as he wanted to, wasn't going to increase his chances.
"Look," Baxter said, still under the guard's foot, "I'm not any more happy to see you again as you are to see me, but I've got something I've got to finish. After I'm done with this, I leave for Fillydelphia and we'll probably never see each other again. I'm dirty, tired, and ready to be done with this place, and the only thing keeping me from being on my way is your foot. Just let me go and you'll never have to think about me again." Baxter wasn't expecting the guard to show any sign of compliance, but there wasn't much else he could do at this point.
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Post by Red Charge on Oct 13, 2012 0:08:24 GMT -5
"Look at the superior winter wolf, groveling at my feet, begging for mercy." The Diamond Dog proclaimed, "Do you really think I don't sense it? No, I'm not about to let you go. Having you helpless under my heel is far too good to pass up, especially considering your suspicious, possibly treasonous activity." The mastiff said, stomping harshly on Baxter's spine, very painfully. "I could probably stick my sword through your neck now, and get a medal." The dog thought, "Or I could do many other things, none too pleasant, not for you anyway." He pondered.
"Will the great and powerful Winter Wolf trade his life for his dignity?" He asked, stomping again, "Or will his treasonous aspirations end right here?"
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Baxter
Diamond Dogs
High Templar Winter Wolf
"Wars are not won by the weak-willed."
Posts: 238
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Post by Baxter on Oct 13, 2012 0:59:23 GMT -5
Baxter cringed as the guard smashed his foot into Baxter's spine. No, he certainly hadn't show any shown any sign of compliance, but things had still gone a lot worse than Baxter had expected. The wolf looked up at the shack, which now seemed further away than ever. This distraction left him unprepared for another blow to his back, bringing the wolf to tighten up again.
The wolf again bit his tongue, preventing himself from blurting out the first thing he wanted to say to the dog. The temper from before was starting to come back, but he knew arguing wasn't going to get him anything except another boot to his spine. For now Baxter just wanted the dog to leave him alone, just so that he could get to the chess board. Arguing, putting the dog in his place, that could all wait. For now what was most important was the chess pieces. He needed[/i[ to know what they did.
"What have I done?" Baxter asked, restraint now lacing every word he spoke. "I don't know what you see about me being on the outskirts that's so treasonous, so let me know. If you have honest reason to suspect me of treason, than give me your reasoning. I'd be happy to refute it." Baxter opened his eyes to look back up at the shack. "All I'm trying to do is find something in that shack over there. That's the honest truth. There's nothing treacherous about it."
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Post by Red Charge on Oct 13, 2012 1:12:05 GMT -5
"Going to an abandoned shack at the outskirts of the village, for no reason, after creeping along the entire village carrying powerful magic?" The guard asked, pressing his heel into Baxter's spine so that he could feel the almost electric pain spreading throughout his body. The mastiff's face was both angry and triumphant at the same time, as though he had been hoping to catch the Winter Wolf doing something wrong. Sadly it appears that Baxter failed to impress him, yet the dog seemed reluctant to kill him. The idea of dominating Baxter in such a manner seemed far more appealing to him, it seemed. "You want the shack? I'll get you in that shack." He finally said, sending a vicious, metal kick to Baxter's head, knocking him unconscious.
It was not obvious how long Baxter was out, only that it was still night when he woke up. The immense pain and wounds of prolonged abuse now spread throughout his whole body, and the first obvious thing his noticed was his position, on his stomach, claws tied with rope to a heavy metal shelf in the shack. He was mercifully unconscious for what the diamond dog had in store for him and it appeared that once it was done, he simply left him be.
More fortunately, however, it seemed that even the diamond dog was unable to remove the chess pieces from Baxter's person, as they still remained with him. Even with pain shooting up and down the Winter Wolf's body, the chess pieces still directed his mind to one place, the trap door hidden under the shaggy carpet in the corner. Now awake, Baxter could easily untie the rope and proceed to finally find the board he was looking for and finally rid himself of the chess pieces' incredible burden. He knew he would be rewarded for it, the chess pieces were certain of that, all he had left to do was get there. But he had to hurry, there was no telling whether or not the diamond dog went to alert his superiors to the magic Baxter was "smuggling".
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Baxter
Diamond Dogs
High Templar Winter Wolf
"Wars are not won by the weak-willed."
Posts: 238
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Post by Baxter on Oct 13, 2012 10:18:16 GMT -5
Once again, the dog dug his heel into Baxter's pain, sending a shock-wave of pain through the wolf's body. The last thing Baxter remembered was a split second of immense pain to his head, then darkness.
When Baxter woke up, he found himself, again, on his stomach, his claws tied together. The next most obvious thing was an extremely painful throbbing from his head, obviously a remnant of the guard's forceful method of subduing him. His entire body was now sore and aching. The guard had likely done a number on him while he was unconscious, then left him tied up here while he went to go get a superior.
But Baxter still had the chess pieces. The guard hadn't taken them from him, and they were still humming excitedly alongside him. Baxter took a quick look around him, verifying that the guard had indeed locked him in the shack. Sure enough, feet in front of him was the trap door, hidden under a shaggy piece of carpet. He could still finish this. That's all he could think of, getting to the trap door and restoring the chess pieces to the chess board.
The now-conscious wolf took no time in undoing his bonds, pulling himself up onto his knees. His wounds echoed pain throughout his body as he moved his muscles, and his head still continued throbbing like some infernal drum, constantly pounding over and over. But the chess board, the chess board was what he had to focus on now. Baxter crawled over to the corner of the room, pulling away the carpet to reveal the trap door underneath. Letting out a grunt of effort, the wolf opened the trapdoor, looking down at what was inside.
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Post by Red Charge on Oct 13, 2012 10:23:58 GMT -5
The trap door opened into pitch blackness, if there were stairs or a ladder anywhere inside, Baxter could not see them. The only thing he could do at this moment in time was take a blind leap inside, hoping that there would be something to catch his fall. How long and painful the road the chess pieces led him through was. Not to mention what he might be facing afterwards, not only from the Diamond Dogs, but Ice Fang as well. But it was the end now, there was no turning back.
Baxter was left with one final choice, stay and wait for the Diamond Dogs to come back with his superiors, and judging but what had already been done to him, possibly be lynched to death, or diving into the pitch black of the trap door, risking fatal injury, death, and possibly something far worse. The chess pieces were telling him the second option was the best, naturally, but Baxter's body was drained of energy, exhausted and hurt. Going back down into nothing could mean not having the energy to ascend back. But such powerful magic surely was meant to be found. Something had to be down there.
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Baxter
Diamond Dogs
High Templar Winter Wolf
"Wars are not won by the weak-willed."
Posts: 238
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Post by Baxter on Oct 13, 2012 10:35:55 GMT -5
Baxter found nothing but darkness inside the trapdoor. No stairs, no ladder (at least none that he could see), just blackness. The chess pieces eagerly urged him to jump down the hole. What else could Baxter do? Wait for the other dogs to come back and take him away? That guard had likely turned the entire encampment against him, and the only thing left for them to do would be to have Baxter killed.
Baxter had no idea what was down the trapdoor. He was injured and exhausted. The wolf could be facing his own death. He would be useless against anything down there that tried to kill him. But he had come so far. He wasn't going to die without knowing what the chess pieces did. All his effort was not going to be for nothing. The pieces had to be restored to the chess board. That was what mattered now.
Without more than a few seconds of hesitation, Baxter dropped down into the trapdoor, plunging into the darkness that awaited him.
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Post by Red Charge on Oct 13, 2012 10:43:21 GMT -5
After only a second Baxter found himself tripping against a set of, unfortunately, stone-made stairs. In his exhausted and hurt state he was not able to regain his balance, and found himself tumbling painfully down them. His many bruises and sores worsening with each step he crashed into, going down and down... at least the agile Winter Wolf was trained enough to not hurt himself seriously rolling down, but the amount of stress and pain his body was going through, much less the humiliation and indignity of it all, tripled as he crashed into a marble floor. And of course, it was all pitch black. Unable to stand, barely able to crawl, almost falling uncoscious again, Baxter had to face one final miserable trial. Darkness. Even though the chess pieces at this point were literally hissing in his ear that he was only a few feet away from what he desired, he could not see it. He could barely smell through the blood clotting in his nostrils, and one of his teeth was chipped, causing blood to flow freely into his mouth. But he was finally here.
Light or no light, he would find the board.
And as though it was magic, the room lit up, as though expecting him. A massive marble room, more akin to a temple than a cellar, with one large chess table right in the middle. He could easily notice that the black pieces were all set, a blotch of blood on their side of the table indicating that it was very possible someone had been through these trials before, on the black side. Six pieces were missing from the white side. Besides the ones he was already in possession of, the King and Queen pieces as well.
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Baxter
Diamond Dogs
High Templar Winter Wolf
"Wars are not won by the weak-willed."
Posts: 238
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Post by Baxter on Oct 13, 2012 10:57:52 GMT -5
Baxter found himself rolling down a set of hard, stone, stairs. His body smashing against the steps as he descended only increased the pain of the respective area with a sequence of resounding thuds. Soon the wolf had landed in the bottom, buried in darkness. Every part of him now pulsed with the pain of freshly battered wounds smashed into the stone staircase. The wolf's nose was now clotted with blood as his eyelids began to grow heavy again. The chess pieces were telling him he was literally feet from his final goal, but he couldn't see anything. That didn't matter. He couldn't stop.
The room suddenly lit up, revealing itself to be a massive marble room that appeared to be some sort of temple. Baxter propped himself up on his hands, spitting out blood and part of a chipped tooth. In front of him was the long-sought after chess board, missing six of the pieces on the white side. Baxter crawled over to the table, waiting until he had reached it to stand up onto his knees. His shoulders slouched from immense fatigue, but the wolf pulled out the chess pieces, preparing to set them in their places.
This was it. After all he had gone through, despite all the pain he was in, he was still eager to see what this was all about. It was time to end this. The wolf carefully put each of the four pieces into their places, anticipating, praying, that something significant would happen.
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Post by Red Charge on Oct 13, 2012 11:07:03 GMT -5
The four pieces were placed perfectly in their corresponding spots. The pieces on the white side were almost complete. All that was missing now was the king and the queen. Baxter waited patiently for something to happen, but nothing did. One moment after the other he waited, but there was no gong, no significant sound that something had indeed occured. The board was still missing two pieces, a king and a queen, all he did seemed to be meaningless without them. What was worse, that despite the fact that he had placed the pieces on the board, he did not feel any less burdened than he was before. In fact, he felt much more drained. Was this just a trap, to lure the curious? It couldn't be. Someone had already done so on the black side, right? The blood was there, but no body. That means they made it out, and that the pieces of the king and queen did exist somewhere. But where? Would he have to travel all the way to Canterlot for them?
But the pieces had appeared, almost magically on the board, not in their starting positions, but at the middle. The pieces began to warp and change. The black pieces turned to pawns, of the white pieces, only six were now on the board. The King, the Queen, the Rook, the Mage, the Knight and the Pawn. They were moving freely on the board now, taking down pawns left and right, with the King and Queen standing motionlessly as they did.
Instantly in front of Baxter appeared four chests, each bearing the figure of a chess piece. They all opened in sync, revealing their contents. The Mage chest held a gem-embedded robe, the Knight a suit of heavy plate, the pawn contained a broad sword and the Rook a bracer and a bow. All of the items seemed to be tailored to fit Baxter. But as he tried to approach one, the others clicked warningly. He was not allowed to test the items before picking one. He had to make the choice there and then.
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Baxter
Diamond Dogs
High Templar Winter Wolf
"Wars are not won by the weak-willed."
Posts: 238
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Post by Baxter on Oct 13, 2012 11:24:29 GMT -5
Baxter watched expectantly as the pieces stood in place, waiting for something to happen. As the seconds ticked by though, his expectation quickly turned into panic. He had mostly ignored the missing king and queen, hoping that the set would do something without them. Now he stared solemnly at the two spaces where the missing monarchs should have been standing. He looked over to the black side of the board, every piece standing perfectly in place without any gaps, then back at the white side, where the two empty spaces stood there like a gaping void.
The wolf frantically looked around the room, looking for any sign of the missing king and queen. No, no. He hadn't gone through all this for nothing. He wasn't ready to go on another treasure hunt to find two more chess pieces. Baxter felt his body beginning to fill with fear and anger, not sure whether he-
Suddenly the white king and queen appeared, standing in the middle of the board. Baxter let out a heavy sigh of relief, thanking the stars. All his work wouldn't be for naught. The chess pieces transformed in front of him, the black pieces changing into an army of pawns while all but six of the white pieces faded away: the four Baxter had found and the king and queen. The monarchs stood in place as their servants went about their business, massacring the feeble group of black pawns.
Four chests appeared in front of Baxter, all labeled with a different chess symbol and opening to reveal their contents. The mage chest contained a gem-embedded robe, un-enticing, the knight held some armor, and the pawn revealed a broad sword. The item that caught Baxter's eye the most, though, was the bracer and bow sitting in the rook chest. The chests clicked as Baxter neared them, warning that he could only take one and that his decision would be final. The decision was easy. He wasn't a warrior and he certainly wasn't a mage. He was an archer, and the bow and bracer was the only one that made sense. The wolf approached the rook chest, picking up the items that waited inside.
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Post by Red Charge on Oct 13, 2012 11:29:07 GMT -5
And instantly the other chests clicked shut and vanished. The bracer and bow did seem of remarkable craftsmanship, the string was very tight and powerful. But other than that, they did not seem to possess any magic whatsoever. The bracer itself was light, yet extremely sturdy, obviously extremely well crafted with quality materials, but otherwise not extremely special. The action on the board caught his eye, as pieces continued to move around it, more entering the board and more leaving. It seemed that this board was not playing itself according to the rules of chess. As the units moved freely around it, rather than in their designed patterns. There was no explanation of it, and trying to touch the board at this point was impossible as it seemed to have created a magical shield around itself. The battered, bleeding, exhausted Winter Wolf, though barely standing, much less walking, could only do one thing now, and that was to climb back up, and hope the Diamond Dog and his superiors were not yet back.
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Baxter
Diamond Dogs
High Templar Winter Wolf
"Wars are not won by the weak-willed."
Posts: 238
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Post by Baxter on Oct 13, 2012 11:39:32 GMT -5
Baxter carefully eyed the bow and brazer. They were extremely well-made, the bow being of much better quality than his previous one. Aside from their high quality, there wasn't anything particularly special about them, but they would make excellent replacements. And they would be of more use to him than the robe, armor, or sword. On top of that, finally being done with this chess piece expedition was a reward in itself.
Baxter glanced over at the chess board, seeing the chess pieces still moving around. Whatever they were mimicking, it certainly wasn't chess. Units were now entering and leaving the board, moving about however they pleased. Baxter stared at the board for a few seconds before turning away. He was ready to be done with chess for a while. The wolf spit out more blood that had accumulated in his mouth, looking at the stairs he had tumbled down just minutes ago. He was tired, bleeding, and battered. All he wanted now was a bed.
With what energy he had left, Baxter walked over to the stair case, beginning the tedious climb upwards. Eventually he made it back to the trapdoor, hoisting himself upwards and back into the shack. The wolf stopped to catch his breath, his body still rhythmically aching with every pulse. After half a minute, the wolf made his way towards the door, pushing it open and stepping outside.
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Post by Red Charge on Oct 13, 2012 11:45:27 GMT -5
And chaos awaited him. Diamond Dogs were running in panic, some towards the village some away from it. He could see bodies around, slashed, hacked and some with multiple arrows embedded in them. As though an army was attacking. He could see in the distance Ice Fang exiting the library, probably as confused as he was, with Maxime and Sammie by his sides. Almost instantly the Winter Wolf general deflected an arrow aimed at Maxime, and another aimed at himself. Quickly sending the females back inside, the general rushed to combat an unseen foe. From where he was Baxter could see where the arrows were coming from, the windmill.
He could either go to the windmill, try and join Ice Fang, or flee. In his state, even adrenaline would not do him much good in battle. But how would fleeing look like after being caught performing suspicious deeds around the village? He had little time to ponder that as what seemed like a featureless, pale white Feral Rider rammed through a wall near him, having no features made him look like a statue... what more, he seemed to be wearing the exact same armor that Baxter just saw in the Chess Temple.
What has he done...?
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