Storytelling Competition - (click for the map) | (printer friendly version)
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 Week 698 |
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 Week 700 |
Every week we will be starting a new Story Telling competition - with great prizes! The current prize is 2000 NP, plus a rare item!!! This is how it works...
We start a story and you have to write the next few paragraphs. We will select the best submissions every day and put it on the site, and then you have to write the next one, all the way until the story finishes. Got it? Well, submit your paragraphs below!
Story Six Hundred Ninety Nine Ends Friday, August 21

For the fourth time that day, Katie Lambert found herself gathering up the debris that had been Tiny. The cloaked figure who had smashed up her robot absconded not entirely unharmed. Katie found that as a child, only the most pragmatic of her enemies would dare to hurt her directly. Even so, without her beloved robot, the young Seeker was vulnerable to powerful forces that vied for the obelisk- the same forces that had demolished Tiny. She knew his blueprints like her own name from all the times she had to rebuild him. It was quite enjoyable at first to deal some damage, but it made her sad to see him bursting into pieces at the end of every sixth battle. She began to drag his parts back to the airship for reconstruction, wobbling back as swiftly as possible under the scorching Tyrannian sun.
The war wasn’t ending, and the novelty of it had fled. Back at Brightvale, she would have better supplies to tinker with and new books to read. Fighting was fun at first, but it was becoming monotonous.
Only allegiances were changing. Two weeks ago she had befriended a young Lupe who joined the Seekers. Katie’s old friends were always so busy with the fighting, and coming back beaten up. She had really liked having a friend who she had time for, but three days later, Relia had vanished. Katie now spotted her across the battlefield, a Sway insignia pinned to the lapel of her jacket.
“Relia! Come back! Weren’t we friends?” She exclaimed, clutching the robot parts tightly in her arms as she ran over to her.
Relia merely swished her dagger around towards Katie in an absentminded slash and laughed.
“I’d think if you actually were a genius, you could figure out I was with the Sway all along!”
Katie resisted the urge to hurl Tiny’s heavy gears at the Lupe, and scurried off, sinking inside. She trekked onwards to the airship. As she walked,she saw images in her head of a never-ending war. She saw herself as a big girl and still fighting the same enemies. When she looked up, she found she had deviated from her intended path.
She found herself at the base of the Obelisk. It was surprising that the battlefield had thinned out around there. The young Kacheek set down Tiny and knelt into the desert sand. She hollered to the sky.
“Ms. Oracle! Could you please bestow the Seekers with something to change the tide of this war?” |
Author: darkpixie28
Date: Aug 17th
|
Only, she knew even as she said it that the plea was futile. The Oracle only spoke to the victors of the skirmishes. And even then, the words she spoke gave rise to more questions than they answered.
The Seekers were meant to be the most intelligent collection of Neopets on the planet, yet here they were, fighting endlessly for a temporary favor from the world's oldest fortune teller.
She kicked the wall of the obelisk in frustration and turned back towards the airship. Maybe she could convince her uncle to abandon this struggle completely - he'd always listened to her, after all.
As she began to drag Tiny's parts back across the battlefield, her foot caught on a shiny object half buried in the dirt. She bent down to pick it up, and glanced back to the obelisk.
Maybe the Oracle did listen, after all...
| Author: herdygerdy Date: Aug 18th |
...Katie examined the small, round object. It was smooth, yet covered in runes oddly similar to those on the Obelisk. The other factions had been trying to keep the Seekers away from the Obelisk for their own greedy purposes, preventing the Seekers from unraveling its secrets for the good of Neopia. But if the Seekers had a small piece of the Obelisk they could study independently, they could abandon this silly venture of fighting for fighting's sake and get back to real, academic work.
"Thank you," she murmured breathlessly to the sky in the direction of the Obelisk.
She had to get back to her uncle and the others, quickly.
The Kacheek dodged and weaved through the warring combatants strewn across the battlefield. A few paused to look at her as though they wanted to say something, but wound up getting clouted by their opponents when their concentration lapsed.
When the airship was in sight, Katie sped up her pace, eager to get the Obelisk fragment to her uncle - and to reassemble Tiny. An unexpected hand on her shoulder pushed her to the earth. With both of her hands full, Katie hit the ground hard enough to be sent reeling.
Through her confusion, Katie heard a voice above her ask mockingly, "Hmm... Now what are you in such a hurry for...?"
| Author: catchinglights Date: Aug 18th |
She looked up and met the eyes of none other than Relia, the Lupe. Her armor was embellished with the sign of the Sway, and she held her dagger at Katie's throat.
"Relia?" Katie whispered, afraid of what would happen if she shouted.
The Lupe's smile was riddled with malevolence. "Oh, well, a Seeker without a wish to fight? That is something new." She examined Katie more closely. "What happend to the peace loving scholars of Tyrannia? Hmph, what a pity I joined you at all. But perhaps we have something in common. Our bloods strengthen at the mention of battle, except you cannot resist it."
Katie struggled, anger flooding her face, and the Lupe laughed. "But you were always only concerned with your robot, that lump you call a machine that always explodes eventually. Tell me, what have you in your pocket?" She asked, after seeing the shine of a small object coming out of Katie's pants.
The Lupe reached for it, but was caught off guard when she was thrown by a masculine hand. Katie looked up, breathless, and she was face to face with none other than...
| Author: moving2sd Date: Aug 18th |
Her uncle, Professor Lambert! Katie felt a sigh of relief escape her mouth, but the relief lasted for only a quick second. Relia was quickly getting up, her eyes dark with anger, her mouth a ferocious scowl.
Professor Lambert grabbed Katie and pulled her to her feet. “Quickly, Katie, quickly! Back to the airship!” Professor Lambert was off, racing as fast as he could towards the airship. Katie followed, clutching what remained of Tiny to her chest. From behind her, she could hear Relia howling in anger, her footsteps following closely behind them
They were so close. The airship was looming up in front of them. The door was open, and a few Seekers were lingering at the entrance, waiting for her and her uncle to be safely aboard.
By the time Katie had reached the airship, her legs felt like jelly and she was covered in sweat. She was panting, desperately searching for air. She got down on the floor, happily savouring the moment of victory. From the corner of her eye, she saw the door of the airship close, and saw Relia’s scowling face disappear.
Katie didn’t even get a chance to begin explaining before her Professor Lambert was on her, riddling her with questions. His concern was visible on his face.
“Katie, what were you thinking, going out there all by yourself?” he almost shouted. “That was dangerous!”
“I know,” Katie breathed, her breath not fully back. She put Tiny on the floor and stood up. “But I found something, uncle, something that might help turn the tide on this war! I prayed to the Oracle, and she listened!”
The Gnorbu sighed with impatience. He obviously didn’t believe her. “What is it?” he asked, his voice heavy with annoyance.
Katie dug into her pocked, pulling out the little shiny object carved with the runes. She held it up to Professor Lamberts face. “This.”
His eyes widened with surprise. He took the object from Katie, turning it around in his fingers and inspecting the runes closely. “Katie… where did you find this?” he asked, incredulous.
“In the dirt in the Battleground, just before Relia attacked me,” she said. “Why? What is it?”
The Gnorbu looked at Katie, his eyes shining with a certain happiness Katie had never seen. “Katie, what you found here is…”
| Author: papersnakes Date: Aug 19th |
"...a piece of the obelisk! What this piece can tell us just might help us finally gain the information we seek, especially as it was bestowed upon us by the Oracle herself!"
"Really?" Katie gasped. Her guess had been right! "Maybe with this, you won't need to keep on fighting! You can just study this instead!"
She looked at him excitedly, but he just shook his head. "A single piece can't make up for the information the obelisk contains. But this will still be tremendously helpful. We can test its age, and..." He looked lost in possibilities for a second, but then he shook his finger at Katie. "You shouldn't have gone out alone, though."
Katie sighed. "I know. But-"
"Open the door, or else!" The call rang through the air.
Her eyes widened. "Reila!"
Professor Lambert looked around, but nobody else was there. The few other Seekers had already gone to other parts of the ship.
He frowned. "The door is specially designed. We shouldn't be able to hear her..."
"Open up!" came Reila's voice. There was an odd quality to it, as if it wasn't just coming from the door...
"Hmmm." Professor Lambert murmured. "This is strange..."
"For the third time, open up!"
And then Katie realized what was so odd about the voice. It was coming from the direction of the obelisk piece...
| Author: opalbridge Date: Aug 19th |
Holding her breath, Katie stared at the obelisk piece and listened intently. After more pounding and shouting, she heard the click of a door, and another, lower voice emanated from the piece in her hands:
"Okay, okay, enough already! You know, you don't have to be so blasted impatient all the time, Reila." It grew softer, fading into the distance. "Blasted Lupe, always thinking she's better than everyone else. My job's important too, you know, but I never get any credit, do I..."
The mumbling became incoherent, until there was nothing but silence. When Katie lifted the obelisk piece to her ear, she thought she could hear the sound of quick, hurried footsteps, but that could have just been the sound of her heart beating too fast in her chest. She looked up at her uncle.
"What should we do?" she whispered.
Professor Lambert eyed the door. "I'm afraid I must be off. They need me to supervise the engine repairs. I believe the most prudent action, however, is for you to wait here and listen. Perhaps with some more data, we can better determine what strange force is behind this peculiar phenomenon." He glanced at the obelisk piece, then around the room. "I would suggest, as well, that you stay quiet, in the off chance that whomever you are hearing through that thing can hear you, as well."
As the professor disappeared deeper into the airship, Katie sat herself down and closed her eyes, channeling all her concentration through her pointy Kacheek ears.
-------------------------------------------------------------
Reila pounded furiously on the door to the Sway hideout. "Open up!" she shouted. Where was that bumbling imbecile of a door guard?
When the guard finally managed to unlock the door, she brushed past him without a word. She could hear him grumbling to himself as she set off down the hallway, but tuned him out with the ease of long practice. The obelisk chunk she carried in her pack and news she carried on her tongue were a great deal more important than the discontented ramblings of an idiot guard. Commander Pelar would want to know that the Seekers, too, had found a piece of the Obelisk. Perhaps with that knowledge, she would finally authorise a frontal attack on that ridiculous airship of theirs.
Reaching the high command center, Reila strode through the door and put her burden down on the desk. The elderly Gelert behind it stared down her long nose at the new arrival, regarding her with cool, detached interest.
"Someone is certainly in a hurry. What is so urgent, Field Agent Reila, that it cannot wait until your scheduled report tonight?
| Author: nightingjay Date: Aug 20th |
"I am sorry that was so impatient, Commander Pelar. But I have some urgent news that I think will be of interest." His voice went into low murmurs.
Katie was straining her ears. What urgent news? If she found out something else of importance, she might get a reward from her uncle. She wasn't worried about Neopoints. She wanted that shiny Obsidian Dagger she had spied. Maybe, once Tina blew up in her battles, SHE could take her robot's place and fight? She snapped out of her daydream. She had to tune into this conversation.
"What is this 'news of interest?'" Asked Commander Pelar.
"Well." the Lupe sounded smug. "I happen to have a piece... Of the Obelisk." He whispered.
"WHAT?!" The the Commander composed herself. "Would you be so kind as to show me this... this Obelisk piece?"
"Certainly. But there is more news. The Seekers, too, have a piece. And I am guessing, that with that piece, they are listening to our every word."
Katie's eyes widened to size of saucers. They were onto them...
| Author: __ayahrox__ Date: Aug 21st |
Professor Lambert needed to know, immediately. Katie sprang to her feet, the piece of the obelisk pressed closely to her ear. She scooped up the pieces of Tiny and went off to search for her uncle. No more sounds were coming from the other side of the obelisk. She could hear some faint whispers, but nothing clear. They must be whispering, she figured, or just not talking at all.
She eventually found her uncle down in the engine room, standing beside a group of Seekers. He had a few schematics in his hands, his glasses down at the end of his Gnorbu nose. Trying to be as silent as possible, as she knew they must be listening to her too, she waved down her uncle. He saw her, frowned, and handed the papers to another Seeker.
He opened his mouth to speak but Katie shushed him, pointing at the obelisk. Professor Lambert understood. He took the piece from her, gave it to another Seeker, and gestured at them to listen closely. The Seeker understood. Then he grabbed Katie, and dragged her to a small room in the corner.
“What did you hear?” he asked her, once they were out of ear shot of the obelisk.
“They know we can hear them,” Katie said, readjusting Tiny in her arms. “I hear Relia speaking to the Commander. Relia has a piece, but they know we have a piece too. That’s all I heard. They started whispering, or stopped talking all together. I couldn’t hear anything after that.”
Her uncle was about to say something else, but another Seeker came in. She was panting, a look of fear on her face. “Professor Lambert,” she breathed.
“What is it, Morra,” he asked.
“We heard something come through the obelisk,” she sputtered. “Not a clear sentence, but we heard a couple words.”
“What did you hear?” Professor Lambert’s expression was beginning to mimic the expression on the other Seekers face. Katie hugged Tiny closer, her stomach filling with butterflies.
“Attack,” she whispered. “And soon.”
Professor Lambert turned to Katie. “Katie, you might want to start getting Tiny fixed. We’re probably going to need him…”
| Author: papersnakes Date: Aug 21st |
Katie nodded with a new determination, but a large earth shattering boom caused them all to pause.
“We may have no time uncle,” Katie said, grabbing the Obelisk piece and rushing towards the front of the airship, the rest of the Seekers hot on her tail.
One side of the airship looked to have been entirely disintegrated by some sort of explosive device. A group of hooded figures stood just outside, and Katie could make a good guess as to who stood in the center.
“Hand over the Obelisk piece and we there shall be no need for war,” Relia’s voice shouted. The other Sway members moved eagerly behind her at the mention of fighting.
“What should we do Uncle?” Katie whispered, unsure of how to proceed.
“We came here for a reason,” Professor Lambert said. “We knew the costs, and we are prepared to defend our discoveries!” The group of Seekers cheered and hollered their assent.
“Is that your final decision?” Relia cooed, lowering her hood with a wicked smile. “Then so be it.” With a quick motion of her paw, Relia threw something at Katie’s feet, which burst with a cackle of sparks and began spewing out thick tendrils of smoke.
Katie coughed, listening to the sounds of the commencing battle around her. “Uncle!” she called, but the smoke entered her mouth, making it hard to breath. She ran towards a light, hoping to find a way out.
She sidestepped a member of the Seekers who used a complicated roping technique on a Sway, who fell to the sand with a whoosh.
She’d almost made visibility when she tripped over an unknown object and went head first into the sand.
“Are you going to make this easy for me?” Relia asked.
The Lupe reached down and plunged her hand into Katie’s pocket, but Katie grasped her wrist firmly, and the two began to wrestle. They tipped over the edge of a dune and went sprawling down towards the Obelisk itself.
Katie hadn’t realized she’d gotten so far away from the airship. Around they spun on the sand until Katie felt her Obelisk piece slide from her pocket. Relia shouted in outrage as her piece too tumbled away from them.
The two rivals glared at each for half a second before diving for both pieces. Katie’s paw grasped one, and Relia’s clasped the other. In their haste, the two pieces slammed together and Katie felt her whole body go numb as a loud ringing filled her ears. Bright light surrounded them.
What’s happening? she wanted to yell, but found she couldn’t move her lips. Relia sat beside her, apparently in the same sort of daze.
Then, there she was. The oracle. Hovering before them. Katie knew it was her. No one else could look so radiant. Her voice, like satin in the wind.
“Listen closely to me young Neopets. This is not the path to victory. A bestowed gift is naught an invitation for greed. You have gone too far in your aggressions. You have sought what is not yours. I offered you the opportunity for study, and you turned to strife. Be warned. My powers are not for the weak of heart, but I do not honor the wicked.”
Then she was gone. The ringing abated and Katie could begin to move her limbs again.
“Where is it?” Relia shrieked, swiveling around on the spot.
Katie’s paw was slack and she realized the Obelisk pieces were gone.
“This is far from over,” Relia spat, cloaking herself once more and disappearing into the dissipating smoke.
When her legs were stable enough, Katie sprinted back towards the airship, relieved to find the Seekers mostly intact except for a few bruises.
“Uncle, did you see her?” Katie asked excitedly.
“By Fyora, I did not,” Professor Lambert said. “The oddest thing happened. There was a loud ringing and then everything went to jello. The Sway retreated-.”
“It was the Oracle, uncle. But...she took the pieces back,” Katie said sadly.
“Don’t fret,” Professor Lambert ordered genially. “Great discoveries do not come easy!”
Katie nodded, not altogether appeased. She left the crowds of Seekers, who were eagerly discussing how to fix the wreckage, and returned to the workroom.
There, on the table, was-
“Tiny!” Katie shrieked.
Her robot was reassembled, more immaculate than before. “But who...?”
Katie smiled knowingly. I guess this was one battle she did win.
The End.
| Author: treeword Date: Aug 21st |
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