HOME | DD

Description

1447 words (also, please zoom in to see any detail at all)

    There are things that occur during our lives that we will always regret. That one day we look back on and wonder how we could have been so terrible. Today was one of those days for Mandarin. He knew the moment it happened that something must truly be wrong with him, something irrevocable.
    The darkness that had descended over the town came in the blink of an eye. He had been sitting on the front porch of his house, enjoying one of the few movements he wasn’t working. The light had suddenly changed, turning from white to red, the moon bleeding down its judgement on the world below. Distant sounds came from the center of town, an electricity filled the air, and a strange ringing sparked in his ears. He slowly got to his feet, glancing back into the empty house and then again towards the center of town. Levi was in town visiting a friend, whatever was happening, he was there.
    It wasn’t a long trip to the town square, especially when one was running. Upon realizing what was happening, his first thought was that his childhood daydreams had become real. When he was young he would wander the forest, fighting invisible monsters and saving invisible people, his very favorite enemy being a massive serpent. A flood of excitement washed over the orange gro as he realized that the things in his mind were becoming real, it was no longer all in his head. This brief euphoria was shattered by the screams of those around him. The realization that this was not a good thing pried its way into his mind, followed by a sense of shame. People suffered all around him and here he was, almost smiling at the event. Stuffing away the horror he felt at himself, Mandarin rushed towards the town blacksmith, Gulch, who appeared to be distributing weapons and armor. The two exchanged a nod as the biped snatched up a sword and turned to face the beast destroying his home. This was not something he could fight with his mind, this was not something that would go away if ignored, if he told himself this enough, perhaps he would realize it was true.
    Mandarin hurtled through the masses of fleeing wyngro, sword at the ready and eyes blazing. However, as he neared, his pace slowed. He gazed at the swarm of armed warriors assaulting the black serpent, some landing deep gashes only to be flung away moments later. Many lay still or writhing upon the ground, few medics able to near them with the blazing blue fire swirling from the beast’s mouth. Those standing were doing well, all doing their job to protect the town, but most only remained upright for a short amount of time. He could do the same, fling himself into battle and land a few good swings before being batted away, or he could create an opening for others. Temporarily sheathing his sword, Mandarin dodged closer to the nova tree. Many small gashes had been gouged into the tree during the battle, and with the help of his small wings, Mandarin managed to heave himself up the tree. Sliding along the slick branches, he set his sights on the beast’s head. It quickly became obvious that others had shared his idea, as those who could fly danced around it’s maw, merely trying to distract rather than damage. It was difficult to navigate his way around the thrashing form, but he was trained in finesse, this was his element.
    As he climbed, the young gro felt a familiar wash of blankness sweep over him. The excitement, shame, and fear that had been struggling for control over his mind faded, leaving him with a gaping cavity in his heart. Whatever drove the others to fight, it was not in him, he could see no reason to be here, nor any reason to leave. This task was what lay before him and he could not afford to distract himself in any way. The edges of his vision seemed to blur, the shouts and cries from all around faded into a dull murmur. Mandarin drew ever closer to the blue eyes ahead, a cold rage within the beast that manifested as flame. The orange gro drew himself up onto the final branch just as someone in the air was slashed to the ground. Red droplets rained down onto the tree, glinting like gemstones in the unnatural light. Mandarin once again drew his sword, never taking his eyes from what loomed before him.
    Time slowed as the creature turned its head. This close, Mandarin found it difficult to tell where the serpent ended and the sky began, so jet was its hide. Three blue lights stood out as stars, burning down from the heavens, great eyes which gazed, but did not see. Brilliant energy began to boil around the serpent’s mouth as it lowered itself towards the orange gro who stood, swiping at its limbs. As the creature’s face neared him, Mandarin took a small step back. He had achieved his goal of capturing the thing’s attention, but realized he had failed to figure out what he would do next, other than be horribly murdered of course. That was when he saw her.
    It was Bean, of course it was Bean, it was always her in such situations. The sight of the brown gro preparing a strike towards their adversary steeled his resolve. Mandarin’s hand whitened around the the sword as his grip tightened and he drew into a combat stance. He would not run or cower from this, this was a time to prove his strength, not to others, but to himself. As he brought the blade around, it met not with tooth, flame, or flesh, but with claw. His sword caught on the serpent’s hand as it swiped at him, knocking him to his back. He saw the result of his strike, a gash across the beast’s palm which began to drip a strange, dark substance. However, as he moved to get to his feet, the hand he had wounded slammed down on both his blade and his arm. Pain seared through his shoulder as he twisted, the sword wrenched from his grip as he slid sideways. Unable to move his right arm, Mandarin threw out his left seeking some kind of handhold to keep him from going right over the edge, but he was moving much to quickly. He swung around, claws dragging along the limb of the nova tree before he found himself falling. It was not a terribly long way to drop, but with an open wound on his arm and no way to brace himself, the pain shot through every inch of him as flesh met stone.
    He wondered, briefly mind you, if his entire arm had been severed. A glance at the wounded limb doused the suspicions, but did nothing to dim the pain. There was a terribly large amount of blood and Mandarin was suddenly finding it rather hard to tell which direction was up, and which was down. This was a disturbing sensation considering he was laying flat on his back, staring up, or so he supposed, at the sky.
    “Flick.” He muttered, surprising himself as much he would anyone who knew him. Up till this moment he hadn’t even known he knew curse words, or would willingly speak them. Funny, the things that come up when you wonder if you’re about to die. Mandarin could feel the rather stupid grin that had plastered itself across his face and it seemed rather odd that everything was suddenly so damn funny. Perhaps it had something to do with the pool of his own blood that he was laying in, but it was hard to be sure.
    A few jagged breaths later, the gro realized he should most likely move away from a zone of such immediate danger and slowly heaved himself up. There didn’t seem to be anyone around at the moment to help him, which was a real shame as the moment he was up, he came crashing back down. Gripping his wounded arm with his opposite hand, he got to his feet again, much slower this time and began the deliberate walk away from the massive creature behind him. After falling down perhaps three more times, Mandarin found himself in a small alleyway, just beyond the immediate battlefield. Not quite knowing what he was laughing at, the gro slumped against the wall of the alley, feet buckling under him. Perhaps just a short rest, then he could do what he had meant to here, though he couldn’t exactly remember what that was.

Certainly not Mandarin's finest moment, but hey, we all start somewhere. I thought it would be interesting to portray this event in a slightly lighter mood considering how dire it truly is. Though Mandarin is concerned and frightened, he has trouble wrapping his mind around the situation, as well as dealing with his usual emotional issues, thus coping with things in odd ways.

Also, Mandarin fighting an imaginary serpent when he was a kid wasn't made up for this story, it was part of an old rp and mentioned in these deviations:

Downgrades: Age , Story above
+Scar
+Lost Limb(fingers)

Mandarin is mine
Bean belongs to SketchyDemon
Levi(mentioned) belongs to Alfalfa-RP

7/621

Description

1447 words (also, please zoom in to see any detail at all)

    There are things that occur during our lives that we will always regret. That one day we look back on and wonder how we could have been so terrible. Today was one of those days for Mandarin. He knew the moment it happened that something must truly be wrong with him, something irrevocable.
    The darkness that had descended over the town came in the blink of an eye. He had been sitting on the front porch of his house, enjoying one of the few movements he wasn’t working. The light had suddenly changed, turning from white to red, the moon bleeding down its judgement on the world below. Distant sounds came from the center of town, an electricity filled the air, and a strange ringing sparked in his ears. He slowly got to his feet, glancing back into the empty house and then again towards the center of town. Levi was in town visiting a friend, whatever was happening, he was there.
    It wasn’t a long trip to the town square, especially when one was running. Upon realizing what was happening, his first thought was that his childhood daydreams had become real. When he was young he would wander the forest, fighting invisible monsters and saving invisible people, his very favorite enemy being a massive serpent. A flood of excitement washed over the orange gro as he realized that the things in his mind were becoming real, it was no longer all in his head. This brief euphoria was shattered by the screams of those around him. The realization that this was not a good thing pried its way into his mind, followed by a sense of shame. People suffered all around him and here he was, almost smiling at the event. Stuffing away the horror he felt at himself, Mandarin rushed towards the town blacksmith, Gulch, who appeared to be distributing weapons and armor. The two exchanged a nod as the biped snatched up a sword and turned to face the beast destroying his home. This was not something he could fight with his mind, this was not something that would go away if ignored, if he told himself this enough, perhaps he would realize it was true.
    Mandarin hurtled through the masses of fleeing wyngro, sword at the ready and eyes blazing. However, as he neared, his pace slowed. He gazed at the swarm of armed warriors assaulting the black serpent, some landing deep gashes only to be flung away moments later. Many lay still or writhing upon the ground, few medics able to near them with the blazing blue fire swirling from the beast’s mouth. Those standing were doing well, all doing their job to protect the town, but most only remained upright for a short amount of time. He could do the same, fling himself into battle and land a few good swings before being batted away, or he could create an opening for others. Temporarily sheathing his sword, Mandarin dodged closer to the nova tree. Many small gashes had been gouged into the tree during the battle, and with the help of his small wings, Mandarin managed to heave himself up the tree. Sliding along the slick branches, he set his sights on the beast’s head. It quickly became obvious that others had shared his idea, as those who could fly danced around it’s maw, merely trying to distract rather than damage. It was difficult to navigate his way around the thrashing form, but he was trained in finesse, this was his element.
    As he climbed, the young gro felt a familiar wash of blankness sweep over him. The excitement, shame, and fear that had been struggling for control over his mind faded, leaving him with a gaping cavity in his heart. Whatever drove the others to fight, it was not in him, he could see no reason to be here, nor any reason to leave. This task was what lay before him and he could not afford to distract himself in any way. The edges of his vision seemed to blur, the shouts and cries from all around faded into a dull murmur. Mandarin drew ever closer to the blue eyes ahead, a cold rage within the beast that manifested as flame. The orange gro drew himself up onto the final branch just as someone in the air was slashed to the ground. Red droplets rained down onto the tree, glinting like gemstones in the unnatural light. Mandarin once again drew his sword, never taking his eyes from what loomed before him.
    Time slowed as the creature turned its head. This close, Mandarin found it difficult to tell where the serpent ended and the sky began, so jet was its hide. Three blue lights stood out as stars, burning down from the heavens, great eyes which gazed, but did not see. Brilliant energy began to boil around the serpent’s mouth as it lowered itself towards the orange gro who stood, swiping at its limbs. As the creature’s face neared him, Mandarin took a small step back. He had achieved his goal of capturing the thing’s attention, but realized he had failed to figure out what he would do next, other than be horribly murdered of course. That was when he saw her.
    It was Bean, of course it was Bean, it was always her in such situations. The sight of the brown gro preparing a strike towards their adversary steeled his resolve. Mandarin’s hand whitened around the the sword as his grip tightened and he drew into a combat stance. He would not run or cower from this, this was a time to prove his strength, not to others, but to himself. As he brought the blade around, it met not with tooth, flame, or flesh, but with claw. His sword caught on the serpent’s hand as it swiped at him, knocking him to his back. He saw the result of his strike, a gash across the beast’s palm which began to drip a strange, dark substance. However, as he moved to get to his feet, the hand he had wounded slammed down on both his blade and his arm. Pain seared through his shoulder as he twisted, the sword wrenched from his grip as he slid sideways. Unable to move his right arm, Mandarin threw out his left seeking some kind of handhold to keep him from going right over the edge, but he was moving much to quickly. He swung around, claws dragging along the limb of the nova tree before he found himself falling. It was not a terribly long way to drop, but with an open wound on his arm and no way to brace himself, the pain shot through every inch of him as flesh met stone.
    He wondered, briefly mind you, if his entire arm had been severed. A glance at the wounded limb doused the suspicions, but did nothing to dim the pain. There was a terribly large amount of blood and Mandarin was suddenly finding it rather hard to tell which direction was up, and which was down. This was a disturbing sensation considering he was laying flat on his back, staring up, or so he supposed, at the sky.
    “Flick.” He muttered, surprising himself as much he would anyone who knew him. Up till this moment he hadn’t even known he knew curse words, or would willingly speak them. Funny, the things that come up when you wonder if you’re about to die. Mandarin could feel the rather stupid grin that had plastered itself across his face and it seemed rather odd that everything was suddenly so damn funny. Perhaps it had something to do with the pool of his own blood that he was laying in, but it was hard to be sure.
    A few jagged breaths later, the gro realized he should most likely move away from a zone of such immediate danger and slowly heaved himself up. There didn’t seem to be anyone around at the moment to help him, which was a real shame as the moment he was up, he came crashing back down. Gripping his wounded arm with his opposite hand, he got to his feet again, much slower this time and began the deliberate walk away from the massive creature behind him. After falling down perhaps three more times, Mandarin found himself in a small alleyway, just beyond the immediate battlefield. Not quite knowing what he was laughing at, the gro slumped against the wall of the alley, feet buckling under him. Perhaps just a short rest, then he could do what he had meant to here, though he couldn’t exactly remember what that was.

Certainly not Mandarin's finest moment, but hey, we all start somewhere. I thought it would be interesting to portray this event in a slightly lighter mood considering how dire it truly is. Though Mandarin is concerned and frightened, he has trouble wrapping his mind around the situation, as well as dealing with his usual emotional issues, thus coping with things in odd ways.

Also, Mandarin fighting an imaginary serpent when he was a kid wasn't made up for this story, it was part of an old rp and mentioned in these deviations:

Downgrades: Age , Story above
+Scar
+Lost Limb(fingers)

Mandarin is mine
Bean belongs to SketchyDemon
Levi(mentioned) belongs to Alfalfa-RP

7/621