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Description
MAIN CHAPTER PROMPT: After encountering both Meelanik and Sikrinerk outside of Aippaq’s shrine, your tokota made the choice to refuse to surrender the spirit to either of them. Neither spirit was happy with this choice, and your tokota finds themselves caught in a vicious battle between them, trapped and unable to enter Aippaq’s shrine. Depict your encounter with Meelanik and Sikrinerk, your tokota’s refusal to surrender the lantern, and/or the aftermath of your choice.

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Sebastian leisurely wandered down the rune-lined tunnel. In the lantern, Button was watching the runes go by, eyes wide with wonder. The tokota couldn't help wondering if it had any idea what the runes said; he certainly didn't and he'd seen a lot of gibberish on this journey. The end of the tunnel was coming into view now. At least that stupid rabbit thing couldn't follow me through the portals, Sebastian thought. Hopefully it's still sitting there in that chamber.

The tokota emerged into the open air in the center of the labyrinth. The sky above was still streaked with the colors of flames and the sunset. The mountain housing Aippaq's Shrine loomed in front of him. A passageway was carved into its base, the entrance guarded by two towering tokota statues etched with more blue-green runes.

"Looks like this is it," Sebastian said, peering down at Button. As he began to walk up the path he came to a sudden stop, recoiling as a black mass oozed up through the ground before taking the form... of that stupid rabbit thing. "Are you serious?!" he screamed, startling both Button and the dark spirit. "Get outta my way, Paul - or whatever your name was." The tokota sidestepped Carl to continue on his way to the shrine only for it to bound ahead and sit back down in front of him.

Sebastian was about to snap at the amalgamation again when he heard something behind him. Whirling around, he found himself staring into Meelanik's flaming eyes. The spirit seemed larger than the first time he encountered him. Meelanik's double set of jaws idly clacked their blackened teeth together as he regarded Sebastian. His attention snapped to the frozen lantern. "You finally arrive with my spirit," he said, his voice now comprised of multiple voices. Did he speak with both jaws before? Sebastian couldn't remember. Meelanik continued, "Hand it over, tokota, and you will receive your reward."

Another spirit jumped between them, taking an aggressive stance. Though this spirit clearly had toki proportions, it was surprisingly the same size as Sebastian. "Shut your mouths!" Sikrinerk shouted, fixing the Devourer with an unwavering stare. "That spirit is mine. It needs to rest with Aippaq, not float around in your bloated belly!"

Meelanik's jaws briefly pull back in a grimace before addressing her in a bored tone, "Foolish anklebiter."

"Oversized toaster!" Sikrinerk shot back.

"Endless thorn in my side..." Meelanik growled with a roll of his eyes. "You foolishly believe in the goodness of tokotas? Then let this one choose for itself who it wants to serve - you or me."

Sikrinerk narrowed her pupilless eyes as she considered the proposal. Finally relaxing, she turned to Sebastian, her expression hopeful. "Very well. What say you, tokota?" she asked. "Do you wish to condemn this little one to be the fat one's meal or will you allow me to guide it to eternal rest?"

Sebastian looked down at the lantern. Button was silent, but it was trembling in fear. It pressed its paws against the glass to look up at him with a pleading expression. Turning back to the spirits who were watching him in anticipation, Sebastian looked both of them dead in the eyes for a moment... then spun on his heel and strode into the mountain, feeling their gawking stares on his back as he began to disappear into the passageway.

"Insolent tokota!" he heard Meelanik bellow behind him. "If you won't give me what's mine then I'll take it!"

With no time to process what was happening, Sebastian was yanked back out of the tunnel by the Devourer and sent sprawling down the path. Fortunately, Sikrinerk sprang into action, latching on to Meelanik's hindleg as he turned to the tokota, but it did little to distract the brute as she was promptly kicked off and into one of the giant tokota statues, shattering it into large boulders that blocked the majority of the shrine's entrance. She did, however, give Sebastian enough time to scramble to his feet. As the sunset spirit made contact with the statue, the tokota was busy dodging the Devourer's jaws, unknowingly putting himself right in the shrapnel zone of the exploding rock. A smaller, jagged piece of stone was launched his direction, landing a direct hit on the lantern hanging from Sebastian's neck. The glass shattered, freeing Button, who howled in fear and dove into the tokota's mane for safety. Sikrinerk sprang up from the rubble, seemingly unfazed as her body burned with a brilliant light. She lunged again, hip checking the larger dark spirit who swatted her away once more in annoyance. Sebastian backed into the base of the destroyed statue as Meelanik approached, looming over him. The Devourer prepared a lunge of his own, double jaws gaping open. Squeezing his eyes shut, Sebastian waited for the inevitable... but it never came. Daring to open an eye to check, he found himself almost nose to nose with Meelanik, the spirit's jaws snapping at him in frustration. Leaning over, he could see Sikrinerk had done what she does best: bitten his ankle. Meelanik jerked his head up, swinging around to glare at the smaller spirit. He attempted to kick her off again, but this time she was ready, moving with his kicks to keep her teeth firmly sunk in his ankle. With a furious roar, the dark spirit turned to begin snapping at her instead.

Sebastian looked around for a means of escape while the spirits fought. The tunnel he came through was blocked by the brawl and of course the entrance to the shrine was blocked by the boulders. He heard something odd from the entrance amidst the commotion - some sort of scraping sound. Looking up, he spotted Carl as it finished pulling itself through a gap at the top of the blockade. It must have been knocked into the tunnel when Sikrinerk was sent flying. Sebastian inspected the statue pieces in hopes of climbing them to the gap, but they were, unfortunately, too smooth to get a grip on as well as too jagged in places for him to have any hope of standing on them properly. And despite being broken, the statue still hummed with an energy that resonated through him and made him feel uncomfortable when he touched it. Disheartened, Sebastian sat down in the grass next to the path to wait for one of the spirits to decide his ultimate fate.

Description
MAIN CHAPTER PROMPT: After encountering both Meelanik and Sikrinerk outside of Aippaq’s shrine, your tokota made the choice to refuse to surrender the spirit to either of them. Neither spirit was happy with this choice, and your tokota finds themselves caught in a vicious battle between them, trapped and unable to enter Aippaq’s shrine. Depict your encounter with Meelanik and Sikrinerk, your tokota’s refusal to surrender the lantern, and/or the aftermath of your choice.

---

Previous | Next

Sebastian leisurely wandered down the rune-lined tunnel. In the lantern, Button was watching the runes go by, eyes wide with wonder. The tokota couldn't help wondering if it had any idea what the runes said; he certainly didn't and he'd seen a lot of gibberish on this journey. The end of the tunnel was coming into view now. At least that stupid rabbit thing couldn't follow me through the portals, Sebastian thought. Hopefully it's still sitting there in that chamber.

The tokota emerged into the open air in the center of the labyrinth. The sky above was still streaked with the colors of flames and the sunset. The mountain housing Aippaq's Shrine loomed in front of him. A passageway was carved into its base, the entrance guarded by two towering tokota statues etched with more blue-green runes.

"Looks like this is it," Sebastian said, peering down at Button. As he began to walk up the path he came to a sudden stop, recoiling as a black mass oozed up through the ground before taking the form... of that stupid rabbit thing. "Are you serious?!" he screamed, startling both Button and the dark spirit. "Get outta my way, Paul - or whatever your name was." The tokota sidestepped Carl to continue on his way to the shrine only for it to bound ahead and sit back down in front of him.

Sebastian was about to snap at the amalgamation again when he heard something behind him. Whirling around, he found himself staring into Meelanik's flaming eyes. The spirit seemed larger than the first time he encountered him. Meelanik's double set of jaws idly clacked their blackened teeth together as he regarded Sebastian. His attention snapped to the frozen lantern. "You finally arrive with my spirit," he said, his voice now comprised of multiple voices. Did he speak with both jaws before? Sebastian couldn't remember. Meelanik continued, "Hand it over, tokota, and you will receive your reward."

Another spirit jumped between them, taking an aggressive stance. Though this spirit clearly had toki proportions, it was surprisingly the same size as Sebastian. "Shut your mouths!" Sikrinerk shouted, fixing the Devourer with an unwavering stare. "That spirit is mine. It needs to rest with Aippaq, not float around in your bloated belly!"

Meelanik's jaws briefly pull back in a grimace before addressing her in a bored tone, "Foolish anklebiter."

"Oversized toaster!" Sikrinerk shot back.

"Endless thorn in my side..." Meelanik growled with a roll of his eyes. "You foolishly believe in the goodness of tokotas? Then let this one choose for itself who it wants to serve - you or me."

Sikrinerk narrowed her pupilless eyes as she considered the proposal. Finally relaxing, she turned to Sebastian, her expression hopeful. "Very well. What say you, tokota?" she asked. "Do you wish to condemn this little one to be the fat one's meal or will you allow me to guide it to eternal rest?"

Sebastian looked down at the lantern. Button was silent, but it was trembling in fear. It pressed its paws against the glass to look up at him with a pleading expression. Turning back to the spirits who were watching him in anticipation, Sebastian looked both of them dead in the eyes for a moment... then spun on his heel and strode into the mountain, feeling their gawking stares on his back as he began to disappear into the passageway.

"Insolent tokota!" he heard Meelanik bellow behind him. "If you won't give me what's mine then I'll take it!"

With no time to process what was happening, Sebastian was yanked back out of the tunnel by the Devourer and sent sprawling down the path. Fortunately, Sikrinerk sprang into action, latching on to Meelanik's hindleg as he turned to the tokota, but it did little to distract the brute as she was promptly kicked off and into one of the giant tokota statues, shattering it into large boulders that blocked the majority of the shrine's entrance. She did, however, give Sebastian enough time to scramble to his feet. As the sunset spirit made contact with the statue, the tokota was busy dodging the Devourer's jaws, unknowingly putting himself right in the shrapnel zone of the exploding rock. A smaller, jagged piece of stone was launched his direction, landing a direct hit on the lantern hanging from Sebastian's neck. The glass shattered, freeing Button, who howled in fear and dove into the tokota's mane for safety. Sikrinerk sprang up from the rubble, seemingly unfazed as her body burned with a brilliant light. She lunged again, hip checking the larger dark spirit who swatted her away once more in annoyance. Sebastian backed into the base of the destroyed statue as Meelanik approached, looming over him. The Devourer prepared a lunge of his own, double jaws gaping open. Squeezing his eyes shut, Sebastian waited for the inevitable... but it never came. Daring to open an eye to check, he found himself almost nose to nose with Meelanik, the spirit's jaws snapping at him in frustration. Leaning over, he could see Sikrinerk had done what she does best: bitten his ankle. Meelanik jerked his head up, swinging around to glare at the smaller spirit. He attempted to kick her off again, but this time she was ready, moving with his kicks to keep her teeth firmly sunk in his ankle. With a furious roar, the dark spirit turned to begin snapping at her instead.

Sebastian looked around for a means of escape while the spirits fought. The tunnel he came through was blocked by the brawl and of course the entrance to the shrine was blocked by the boulders. He heard something odd from the entrance amidst the commotion - some sort of scraping sound. Looking up, he spotted Carl as it finished pulling itself through a gap at the top of the blockade. It must have been knocked into the tunnel when Sikrinerk was sent flying. Sebastian inspected the statue pieces in hopes of climbing them to the gap, but they were, unfortunately, too smooth to get a grip on as well as too jagged in places for him to have any hope of standing on them properly. And despite being broken, the statue still hummed with an energy that resonated through him and made him feel uncomfortable when he touched it. Disheartened, Sebastian sat down in the grass next to the path to wait for one of the spirits to decide his ultimate fate.