To catch a Runaway horse (Private with Sapphire)

Last edited by Nightsteed~ on Thu Apr 26, 2012 9:06 am; edited 1 time in total

Amber sped in towards the fields on her horse, scanning the rows of plantation for a spot of white. There she is! Snowflake was sniffing some berries on the left side of the field, and was about to take a bite. However, something seemed to have spooked her the moment Amber entered the field, and she shot off to the far end, away from the left row, eyes wide and whinnying loudly.

Curious, she unmounted the chestnut horse and told it to stay. Then she warily approached the bush Snowflake was at just now.

Hisssss....

Amber froze immediately. Images from her narrow escape in the forest flashed through her mind.

For what slithered in front of her was an enormous python, body as thick as her thigh, scales reptilian green. Its jaws were open, fangs dripping with poison. Oh gods... So that was what scared Snowflake.

Amber made the mistake of looking into its blood-red eyes. And the moment she did, she could not look away. She couldn't even call for help. It was as if the snake had shut her mind down, dazing her into a trance, unable to even think properly or cast magic.

(( Continuation from This ))

To catch a Runaway horse (Private with Sapphire) Tumblr_lx20n6Lpar1qlrrjqo1_500_large

• Simon Montri •
Son of Hecate

"Whoa, horsie, we're here," Simon said as he pulled on the reigns, slowing his horse down into a slow trot. He looked around, finding Snowflake and Amber moments later. Breathing a sigh of relief, Simon enthusiastically made his way towards them, until he realized that something was wrong. Dead wrong.

He got off his horse, cautiously approaching the two with slow steps. Simon's eyes widened as his eyes caught the outline of a thick snake. And then he realized that Amber was transfixed on it. Was there some dark voodoo stuff going on? Simon hoped not. Snowflake whinnied from behind him, jolting him out of his thoughts and bringing his attention back to his half-sister. Amber, petrified at the sight of the snake. Nope, not good at all.

"Here goes." Simon made a throwing gesture in the air, making a rock the size of his fist fly towards the bush where the snake was. Another rock followed. Then another. Simon took the opportunity to tug on Amber's arm.

"Hey hey hey, wake up!" he called, keeping his slightly frantic eyes on her. He was being careful to avoid the snake's gaze, because he had the feeling that the experience won't be good. Simon gave Amber a somewhat harsh tug, trying to snap her out of her trance before the snake could do anything. Hopefully it was distracted by the rocks. But Simon could only hope.

Amber was still staring at the red, glow with glazed-over eyes when an abrupt tug broke her eye-contact. "Uh... What?" She mumbled groggily, trying to make sense of the situation.

The snake seemed to have been hit by something and was now recoiling and pausing back to assess the new threat. That's right! The snake! She snapped back to reality immediately, flicking her hand to cause a bush of berries above the creature to burst and the red juice to splatter down on it. It was all Amber could think of in that split second. "Go, go, go!" She gasped, pushing her half-brother lightly back along the path they came from, stumbling away hastily from the snake and almost falling over in the process, hopefully before the snake regained its senses.

Simon nearly tripped as he quickened his footsteps to put as much distance between the snake and himself as possible. Upon spotting a particularly thick bush, Simon stumbled towards it and pulled Amber with him. He attempted to even his breathing, fighting the urge to look behind the plant to see what the snake was up to. He had a bad feeling about that creature. A really bad feeling.

"Monster or just a regular snake?" Simon asked in a brisk whisper. He dreaded the answer though. Something told him that there was something... off about that snake. Amber did freeze in shock when she stumbled upon the creature. What Simon wasn't sure of was if she froze because of fear or because of some magical voodoo thing the snake was capable of doing.

An exasperated hiss filled the silence and Simon stilled. What exactly were they facing off against?

"The former, unfortunately," she replied in barely a whisper, keeping as still as possible. Snakes were deaf, but they could sense vibrations. The last thing she wanted was for the snake to notice them. What made her so sure, was the tail. In fact, it had no tail. At the other end of its body, there was another head, deadly as the first, mouth lined with two lethal fangs. She had encountered one in the forest with her friends from Cabin 6 and 10 before. Amber hoped it was not back for revenge.

"An Amphisbaena. Um, Mother of Ants. I encountered one before, when I accidentally stepped on an anthill filled with gold and silver ants. The was real creepy. And gross," Amber explained in a low voice, trying to recall her lessons yet again, "Erm, I think it is supposed to eat only ants."

She glanced back at the spot where she saw the snake. It was gone. Amber had a really bad feeling about that. "And corpses too," She added helpfully, remembering that little detail.

(( You can control the snake, uh Amphisbaena, too, Sapphire. (: ))

Simon's eyebrows started rising when Amber told him what the snake was. By the time Amber finished speaking, his eyebrows had already disappeared behind his bangs. Amphisbaena, the Mother of Ants? And it looked like a snake? And it ate ants? Simon's forehead crinkled in confusion. If it was the Mother of Ants, then why would it eat her... children? What a very weird monster.

Wait, did it eat only ants? Then they were safe, right? Simon was about to breathe a sigh of relief when Amber added the little detail about corpses. So to sum it all up, they were facing off a Mother of Ants that eats ants and dead bodies? Great. Just great.

Simon glanced at where the snake was previously, but it was no longer there. Figures, he thought, not like a monster to stay in one place for too long. But if it was no longer there... then where--

"Get out of there!"

Simon grabbed Amber's arm and roughly shoved her to the ground behind him. It was a move made just in time. If he waited a second longer, the two-headed snake might have already sunk its fangs in Amber's wrist.

The Amphisbaena rose, almost eerily, eyeing Simon with all four of its beady eyes. He averted his gaze quickly. Before the monster could strike, he made a pushing motion in the air and the monster was knocked off its feet. He staggered to his feet, shielding Amber with his body. His eyes never left the Amphisbaena, his gaze fixed on its scaled feet. The sooner his half-sister got out of here, the better. "Go, run!" he yelled, nudging her with his foot.

"Hey look, I saw the snake before. It tried to eat me, or probably kill me first befo- Whoa!" Amber was about to explain further, due to Simon's increasingly skeptical look, when he suddenly shoved her to the side. She heard a frustrated hissing behind her.

The snake rose and she saw her half-brother knock it away with magic and tell her to run.

"Yeah, kay, c'mon. I don't think it likes us very much." Amber muttered.

She was about to tug him away as well when the snake's top half reared up again, towering over them, recovering with amazing speed and eye them fiercely, as if daring them to escape. "No. Sudden. Moves," she warned, freezing in place. Snakes could move faster than the eye could see, and some can strike faster than a cheetah.

"The feeling is very much mutual," Simon muttered back when the snake appeared right in front of them. Its eyes shone with a mad gleam, as if it was issuing a challenge. Either that or it was the look it gave its victims before they become its lunch. Simon fought the urge to gulp as he restrained himself from moving. His heart was racing. He wondered if the snake could smell his fear.

If only Simon could force the snake back with his magic, but he doubted he could do it without suddenly moving. To push the snake away, he would need to make some sort of pushing motion in his hands. He'd do it now, but the monster seemed so alert that it could strike before he could finish doing his magic. It looked hopeless, Simon thought, as the two children of Hecate did nothing but stare at the Amphisbaena.

"You have celestial bronze?" Simon's lips barely moved in the whisper. It wasn't much, but Simon didn't really have any plan in mind.

Last edited by Andalite~♏ on Sat May 12, 2012 9:40 am; edited 3 times in total

Amber didn't reply, she was focusing too much on drawing her magic to. She imagined the scene in her mind, and released the power, but it was tricky, not having something to trigger. She also had to do it under such a circumstance, and within a few hurried seconds. So of course, there were side effects. And the side effect was that not only was the snake shoved yards away, as if a battering ram had plowed into it, but she and Simon was hit with a sudden staggering force that sent them sprawling backwards different directions into the prickly bushes.

"Owwww..." She stirred and pushed herself to her knees, bruised all over, her right wrist flared in a sharp pain, having absorbed most of her impact unintentionally. "You okay?" She called out to Simon.

((My gawd, I can't believe I forgot about this thread totally. It's been like, 22 days. Dx You could've reminded meh. xP ))

Simon didn't know what happened exactly. The next thing he knew he was lying face down in a clump of strawberry bushes. He spat out the leaves in his mouth, feeling a strange sense of deja vu. Was it just him, or did he always seem to plow face first into things? He heard Amber call out to him and he immediately pushed himself up to say, "Yeah. You?"

Dusting off the spikes and thorns that stuck to his clothes, Simon went to look around for the monster snake. It was nowhere to be seen, which brought more bad news than good. It could be creeping anywhere now. Not exactly a reassuring thought. He stumbled over to Amber, wanting to see for himself that she was alright.

((lol sorry, I'm not really into reminding people about posting.))

"Yep. I think." Amber replied, standing up and flicking her right hand to circulate the blood and reduce the pain, wincing a little. It's probably just a twist, she thought dismissively, after all, it supported my entire weight. She felt rather drained and fatigue washed over her, since she was on the verge of panicking previously, and her spell shot out of control, causing her to release and waste more energy than needed.

"Sorry about that," she apologised. "I must have lost control for a bit."

"What happened to your hand?" Simon asked anxiously, noticing how she seemed to cringe as she waved it around. "And don't worry about it. At least the snake thing's gone now."

The monster's still out there though, he thought grimly. "I think it's time for you to get to the infirmary, sis," he said, managing a small grin as he struggled not to think of the snake. He had enough things to worry about.

"Nah," Amber shrugged it off, "It's alright. Probably just a sprain. I can heal it tomorrow." Hopefully. Healing was not her forte, but she could manage a simple one. She looked around at the direction where the snake was tossed, then nodded in satisfaction. She ran back to where the horse was, and mounted it again. Snowflake seemed to have gone back herself already. What a horse.

She grinned, "Race you back? Bet I can beat you with just one hand."

Simon laughed as he mounted his own horse. It seemed like Amber was alright, judging by the way she sounded cheery and even a little cocky. He shifted his weight on the saddle, all the while saying, "Hey, I may be a newbie at this, but that doesn't mean tha--whoaaaaaa!"

The horse darted off at full speed again. Simon clung to the reins for dear life, trying his darnedest not to fall off. He could hear his horse neigh playfully as the winds whipped on his face. Huh, it seemed like horses liked to mess with him. Well, at least it seemed like at this rate, he would outrun Amber now.

Amber was surprised at the speed that Simon's horse took off at, and spurred her's on further. But just at the corner of her eye, she saw a green silhouette at the side of the entrance, eyes glowing in hatred. "Watch out!" She yelled to Simon in alarm, just as the snake reared to spring at the horse he was riding.

((I'll use your idea. xD This is really evil.))

With all the noise the wind hissed at his ear, Simon hadn't really heard Amber's warning. His horse hadn't probably heard either, but it did seem to spot the angry monster snake poised to strike right in front of it. The horse reared, throwing Simon off its back, before bolting back to the fields and leaving its rider lying on the ground. Groaning, he sat up as he rubbed his head, only to shrink back in shock at the fanged creature hissing in front of him.

"Thanks a lot, horsie. Love ya too," Simon mumbled under his breath as he froze, remembering Amber's earlier advice. The snake struck and it was only thanks to his ADHD that he rolled away just in time. With a downward wave of his hand, he threw the snake back some fair few feet away until it looked like a worm in the distance. "Amber, we need to kill this thing!" he called to his sister as he stood up, keeping his gaze trained on the snake.

Amber watched, shocked, as her half-brother was thrown onto the ground and fought off the snake. At his next words, she hesitated, then nodded, although he probably couldn't see her. She tugged at the horse's mane, hanging on precariously with one hand, then urged it around. "Erm, what are snakes afraid of? As in, what can we do to get rid of it?" She called out. Snakes like these never seemed to die.

Simon winced as he stayed on his feet. That fall had caused more damage than he thought. It didn't seem like his spine was broken though, a relief on his part. He shrugged, not really knowing the answer to Amber's question. "It's still a monster, so it should really hate celestial bronze," he hesitated, knowing that he didn't carry that kind of weapon around with him.

The little worm in the distance seemed to grow bigger. Simon drew in a deep breath. He didn't think snakes could move so fast. Oh wait, this was a monster, not a snake. Mother of Ants thingy, right? Sure enough, he could spot two clawed feet right under the creature's belly--a feature he hadn't really noticed before. "Or you know, we can repeatedly bash its head on a rock until it decides to die," he suggested as he lowered himself into a more offensive stance.

"I suppose I do. Or since you can do magic, how about some simple greek fire?" Amber said shrewdly, remembering, then grinning at Simon's last comment. "Considering we are greek children of Hecate after all."

"Oh, I don't think our dear mother gifted me with that sort of magic," Simon said, chuckling a bit. To prove his point, he threw a punch in the air and the ground beneath the monster shot up, throwing the creature high in the air. His eyes followed the snake's ascent then descent back to the ground. It hissed wildly, showing off its fangs. It looked like his stunt just managed to make it angrier. Oops.

"But you know, you're free to use your suggestion anytime now," he offered as he took a few steps back and away from the monster. The snake narrowed its eyes at him before lunging at them both.

She grinned, knowing what he meant. "I can't create it either, but I do have a source." Amber reached into her pocket and pulled out her weapon. If it was not used as a blade, it retired into a classic silver lighter. She clicked the cap open and a green flame flickered into life. Just as the snake was about to strike, she flicked her right hand and a steady stream of greek fire burst from the flare, heading directly for the snake. The intense flame was almost blinding, and Amber had to look away to avoid staring directly at the laser-like beam.

The snake however had no such worries. It reared to the side with deadly speed and evaded the column of fire, ducking low. Amber cursed in ancient greek and drew more, gathering it into a eerily flaming ball. She clicked the lighter closed and dropped it into her pocket, ready to fling the fire onto the snake if it decided to attack. That thing was fast. Certain that she had kept it at bay for at least a few more seconds, she called out to Simon, "Need some?"

Simon had to cover his eyes to avoid looking at the blinding flash of Greek fire. Even as he did, dark spots had already started to obscure his vision. He squinted, trying to get a clear picture of the scene in front of him. The snake didn't seem to be as burned as he had hoped. In fact, it looked unscathed.

"Awesome, thanks!" Simon called to her as he drew some green flames from the fire ball Amber controlled. The intense warmth of the fire made him almost drench his shirt in sweat. Ignoring the uncomfortable sensation caused by the flames, he trapped the snake in a ring of inferno. The monster hissed as it tried to look for a way out without touching the Greek fire. "Now's your chance!" he managed to tell Amber as he struggled to maintain the flames licking its way around the snake. A random thought popped into his mind.

Oh gods, Mr. D is going to turn us into dolphins if we burn some of the plants here...

Amber let the fire suspended above her hands to enlarge further, since fire was ever-growing, so long oxygen was plentiful. It was harder to control greek fire than normal fire, for it seemed to have a life of its own. "Right!" She called out to Simon. She released the fire, aware that her strength was diminishing, and it shot towards the snake, hitting it directly on the head. Green flames engulfed it, and it writhed in pain. But there was no escape from the deadly fire that spattered out of the ring, and set alight everything within its radius.

Including Amber's arm. Instinctively, she leapt back and summoned water from any source available, without thought of any consequences. The air thinned, humidity decreased, grass, plants and berries around shriveled up to provide her with pure water. It put out the fire all right, but not without draining the rest of her energy. Almost utterly spent, Amber sank to the ground, grasping her right arm.

A scarlet gash about a centimetre thick streaked across it. Now I know how Dani felt when I accidentally slashed her with a dagger ablaze with greek fire, Amber thought absentmindedly. The pain was intense, and added to her fatigue, was making her hazy. She could barely make out details in front of her.

All she wanted to do was lie down, sleep and ignore the pain.

Simon was not saved from the sudden explosion of Greek fire, but at least his instincts made him summon forth a wall of air to protect him before it was too late. Some parts of his body were still singed, but the wall had at least shielded him from the brunt of the deadly inferno. He collapsed on all fours, drained of his strength. Thank the gods the thing is dead now, he thought, relieved. Then he looked up at Amber and his jaw dropped open in surprise.

What's that scary-looking burn doing in her arm?

"Whoa there," Simon managed weakly as he managed to drag himself to where he was. Ignoring the stings of the minor burns he sustained, he reached into his pocket and dug out a small palm-sized piece of ambrosia wrapped up in a clear plastic. Thank the gods he was prepared for emergencies. He placed her head on his lap for support before gently placing the god food in her mouth.

"Never play with Greek fire," he gasped out with the slightest ghost of a chuckle. He could only hope she was alright.

Amber was still dimly awake when Simon gave her the ambrosia. She chewed it then swallowed. It made her feel warm all over, and brushed away some of her fatigue. She opened her eyes and sat up, feeling a dull yet acute pain throbbing. "Owwww..." Glancing at her arm was a mistake, the the burn was at least a second degree, and she could barely refrain from flinching. She was sure that she could heal it. But not after a night's sleep. Especially not when she was drained from magic. She ignored it for the time being.

"Thanks... It's dead... right?" She asked Simon, just anything to keep her mind off her wound.

» Catch That Fish!
» Not just another Runaway.
» I Hope the Harpies Won't Catch Me {open}
» Hmm.. Who's my next victim...? (Summer, Sapphire, Seth & Anneliese (Private~) )
» Puzzle the awesome horse! (private to libby)