[Art, Short Stories] CK's Thread O' Amateur DMFA/Tapewolf-Based Fanart & Stories

[Merlin]

Sorry for not posting earlier! I really enjoyed this story, it was quite an enjoyable read! Also... Ben the Saloth Streaker... hahaha excellent

[ZacAttac21]

Sorry for not posting earlier! I really enjoyed this story, it was quite an enjoyable read! Also... Ben the Saloth Streaker... hahaha excellent

Yup, he likes to troll the "Cubi-haters."

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

Sorry for not posting earlier! I really enjoyed this story, it was quite an enjoyable read! Also... Ben the Saloth Streaker... hahaha excellent

Yup, he likes to troll the "Cubi-haters."

I'm sure humming - or singing - The Streak while he's doing it would amuse...

[ZacAttac21]

"Search and Rescue"

Gulg Mountains, 6:47 A.M.

The winds over the mountains were biting cold, but Ben barely noticed. In his gryphon form, he was particularly resistant to the cold. He was glad to be wearing tinted goggles, though; the sun was shining brightly, and there was plenty of snow reflecting that light back at him. His pants felt weird in this form too, even though they were enchanted to shape-shift with him. He could see why most gryphons didn't wear clothing. In fact, he had to forgo his Jedi-style adventuring outfit in order to accommodate this form—all he wore was the pants and the goggles.

Just over 48 hours ago, a passenger plane flying to Zinvth had crashed in a blizzard somewhere in these mountains. When no trace of the plane had been found on its designated course, additional Search and Rescue specialists had been called in—Ben being one of them. Thanks to their ability to sense thoughts and emotions, 'Cubi like him had an additional edge in missions like these, on top of the improved eyesight when shape-shifted into a gryphon. It made him proud to be an Incubus.

Ben was scanning the mountains so intensely, he fluttered a bit when a voice suddenly chirped through the comlink in his ear. "Ben, this is Daniel. Do you copy?"

Quickly regaining his balance, Ben reached up with his pressed on the device with a talon. "This is Ben, I read you loud and clear, over."

"I've completed my scan of Sector Eight and found nothing. Any luck over in Seven?"

"Negative," Ben replied, but before he had even stopped pushing the Talk button, he felt a familiar twinge.

Fear.

Every 'Cubi had a particular affinity for a certain emotion or two, and Ben's clan—Clan Daryil—had long been sensitive to Fear. There was no mistaking it.

"Wait, scratch that, I think I just found something," Ben continued, diving low into the peaks beneath him.

His heart raced. Partly because of the Fear he was absorbing, and partly because it was getting stronger. And passing through a narrow gap between two peaks, he saw it. One Gryphbus G200, minus its wings. Ben surmised that it must have flown too low and shorn off its wings in that narrow pass.

Ben spoke into his comlink once more. "Dan, this is Ben. I've found them. Repeat: I've found them." He pushed another button. "Sending coordinates..."

Ben dove into the small plateau, shifting from a quadrupedal form to a bipedal one. The scene was grisly. The tail of the plane had broken completely off, and there were plenty of bodies amongst the debris. Fortunately, there seemed to be plenty of survivors gathered up, most of them seated in a group in the bright sunlight.

Ben opened his beak to greet them, but quickly dove to the side in a blur of blue fur and feathers, his well-honed reflexes kicking in. Something was very wrong. The fear he was feeling was expected, considering he had pretty much just declared himself a 'Cubi with that little shape-shifting trick. But within that fear were four very distinct sources of malice. And said sources were now all pointing rifles directly at him. Before he jumped, he also noticed that all four of them had bat wings on their heads and backs.

His attackers were 'Cubi just like him.

But if it's one thing Ben prided himself on, it was his speed. He was several yards away and hiding behind a piece of the plane's tail before the first shot was even fired. For a moment, nothing happened. The biggest and burliest 'Cubi looked to the others and nodded his head in Ben's direction. Two of the other three, who were quite obviously triplets, fanned out from their own makeshift cover and slowly began to approach Ben's hiding spot from both sides.

The two were not a few steps into the open when a large shadow appeared over them and an ear-splitting screech filled the air. A Giant Gryphon looking much like the one who had just hidden behind some wreckage was diving straight at them. More gunfire rang out, and the giant gryphon seemed to hesitate, pulling back up and flying over them.

Oddly enough, there was no rush of wind as the behemoth passed over them. But before they even had time to suspect that it was merely an illusion, it was far too late. The crackle of electricity seared the air as Ben loosed a blast of lightning from his hands. The two would-be assailants collapsed in a sizzling heap. He ducked back down as the remaining two turned back toward him.

There was a tremendous "THUMP," and the gunfire stopped. Ben giggled a bit. It would seem one of the remaining two had just met his partner, Daniel Kamei'Sin. Then Ben heard an unfamiliar voice.

"That's enough!"

Ben used an x-ray vision spell to peer through the debris he was hiding behind. The remaining thug, a muscular German Shepherd who apparently didn't care to shape-shift away his scars, was standing behind the group of survivors, his rifle aimed at their backs.

"Both of you," he continued, "Hide your wings and put your hands on your heads. And get out in the open. Slowly."

Ben grunted and took off his goggles as he got up. He walked out from behind his cover. His purple-haired Doberman partner did the same.

The Shepherd grinned sickly, his confidence becoming palpable to the other two 'Cubi. Ben noticed the bright orange mark on the darkly-furred Incubus' chin. Being the 'Cubi lore junkie that he was, Ben immediately recognized it. He spoke up in a voice that betrayed no hint of fear.

"Edwyn of the Anto'Nuchi Brothers, a.k.a. the Anto'Nuchi Clan, I presume. The hell are you doing picking on the unfortunate in the middle of the freakin' Gulg Mountains?"

Clan Anto'Nuchi. One of many Clans to be decimated in the ancient 'Cubi-Dragon War. The Clan's notoriously unsavory lifestyles had changed little since the Clan had been founded. Edwyn himself and his brothers were wanted in six different provinces of Fairwater Kingdom alone, for everything from murder to kidnapping to slave trafficking. Of course, such dangerous jobs came with a price. The brothers were the only ones known to be left of their Clan.

Edwyn locked eyes with Ben. "Ooh, good eyes. Would I have the honor of killing adventurers or bounty hunters today?"

Ben spoke first: "Benjamin Daryil, under Jakobson."

Dan followed: "Daniel Kamei'Sin, under Jakobson."

Edwyn huffed. His enemies were not entirely of small repute themselves. Many people would recognize the names of two of the heroes of the Dyne Android War.

"Well, well, well. Small world, ain't it?" Edwyn jeered. "To answer your question, we happen to have a safehouse in these mountains. And these lot were just about to be shipped off to market. They'll fetch a pretty penny as Bakorrin slaves."

His eyes never left Ben's.

Ben's eyes were beginning to itch, but he suppressed the urge to blink. "They'll be slaves to those spiky-faced bastards over my dead body."

Edwyn almost laughed. "Interesting choice of words. But I'm not stupid enough to kill you. I know about your Leader. Besides, I'm sure you'll make an excellent slave, too." He moved to prepare a stun spell.

But he couldn't.

He hadn't noticed, but his breathing had become shallow, and his heartrate rapid. A feeling of dread crept over him and he began to tremble. Aside from that, he found he couldn't move. As he fell deeper into fear, even his jaw became fixed shut.

He was still staring at Ben. Neither one blinked.

It was Ben's turn to crack a confident grin, though his eyes were very bloodshot by now. "It's too late," he taunted. "It's a hypnosis trick I like to call "Tatar Foras." I got the idea from a manga. Like it?"

Try as he might, Edwyn couldn't reply that hypnosis should be impossible due to his mind shield.

"Impossible, you say?" Ben chuckled. "Not if I don't attack your mind directly. You see, you're looking at me. Since you locked eyes with mine, my spell has been working its way through your optic nerve to your brain. You are now literally paralyzed with fear."

Edwyn would be furious right now, but he was having a hard enough time just trying to control his breathing.

Ben continued, "Ah, Dan, a little help here? My eyes are really starting to burn."

The Doberman promptly fired off a stun spell and down the hulking Shepherd went.

Ben clenched his eyes shut and reeled. "Arrgh, that stings, dammit!!"

"Well that's what you get for monologue-ing during a vision spell again," Daniel replied, in a very non-plussed tone.

----------

Minutes later, Ben was tending to the wounded.

Both he and Daniel had elected to keep their wings hidden, since these people were probably a little leery of 'Cubi right now. Ben had reverted to his true form, however—a fox with blue fur and golden hair. After all, wingless gryphon would just look silly.

Ben was currently kneeling beside a two-headed Mythos with a taur body. One of the heads was lying in the snow with a nasty gash on her forehead. He reached for her with hands glowing white.

"Please..." she whimpered.

Ben held his hands up. "It's all right," he said, "I'm an adventurer. I'm not going to hurt you. I just want to heal that gash on your forehead."

The other head began to sob. "No! Not that. Her soul! He took her soul..."

The glow around Ben's hands sputtered violently. "What!? How?? She seems alive!"

Tears formed in the wounded head's eyes. "Mother. Anyone too old or dying. He took them all..."

Ben's jaw dropped and he froze for a moment. He spun around and shouted to Daniel, who was watching over the now-conscious triplets and their still-unconscious older brother. All four of them had power-suppressing cuffs.
"Dan!" Ben shouted, "The big one is carrying souls!!"

Dan's jaw dropped as well, for a moment, before he turned his gaze to the unconscious German Shepherd incubus. His bright red eyes glowed as he activated his ability to sense soul energy. Sure enough, there were several souls on the Shepherd's person, not just one. Not moving from his vigil over the Labrador triplets, he sprouted a tentacle from his back using his shape-shifting powers. The tentacle rifled through the Shepherd's coat and fished out no fewer than eleven glowing soul-prison crystals.

"It was all his idea!!" blurted out the stocking-capped Labrador triplet. "We told him it wasn't worth it, but he beat us!"

The long-haired Labrador triplet jostled his brother and hissed, "Shut it, Double-D!!"

The short-haired Labrador triplet just chuckled with a dopey face. Somehow he had worked his boots off and was building a snow castle with his feet.

Dan seethed as he addressed the triplets: "How many times has he done this? What was he going to do with them??"

"Brother sells souls on the back market," the short-haired triplet replied, still playing with the snow.

The long-haired triplet tried to jostle his other brother, but the short-haired Labrador didn't budge. "It's black market you dummy!! Now shut it! Brother will kill us if he finds out we squealed!"

Dan quivered with rage. There were still Creatures in the world that rejected Daryil Clan's artificial soul alternative. If these souls were to be sold on the black market, they would almost certainly be destroyed.

"No," Dan said, his voice unnervingly deep and guttural. "He won't get that chance." He held up his hands, and the air shimmered. A well-polished broadsword appeared in his grip. He grabbed the unconscious incubus by the scruff, but then he froze. Seeing Edwyn's headwings seemed to have an effect on him.

"Dude, are you sure about this?" Ben asked, now arriving at his partner's side.

Dan seemed startled by the fox's question and dropped Edwyn. He took a deep breath and a glaze lifted from his eyes.

"I figured. You never did like killing your fellow 'Cubi," Ben stated.

Dan growled and rubbed his temple with his free hand. "Yeah. Stupid emotions," he said, his voice normal again. "I would like to be sure that he truly deserves it first. And besides that, if he's going to be executed, it should be done where everyone he's wronged can see. We take him to Fairwater."

Ben clenched his jaw grimly. Many kingdoms in this day and age dealt the death penalty only for the most heinous of crimes—Fairwater Kingdom being one of them. King Fairwater himself was once a royal executioner, and still performed executions to this day. Fortunately, that was a rare event.

A thought occurred to Ben. He turned to the triplets and spoke. "Listen up, you three. You heard my partner, you're all going to Fairwater to be tried. And right now, you're all looking at a good chance of getting the chop. Especially your older brother. However..." he trailed off and squatted down, looking the two who were actually paying attention right in the eye. "If you all were to show us this safehouse of yours, maybe even sign written confessions, we can put in a good word and get you one or two hundred years in prison instead. What'll it be?"

Long-hair and stocking-cap glanced at each other with worried expressions. Short-hair crowned his snow castle with a piece of debris.

----------

Fairwater Kingdom, 12 o'clock noon sharp, one week later.

The triplets, even the dumb one, had been surprisingly helpful. A team of investigators from Fairwater Capital had raided the safehouse, which was actually more of a network of tunnels than a structure. It appeared that the brothers even conducted business there; there was one large chamber housing a teleport beacon for their guests and filled with cages for the soon-to-be-slaves. More importantly, they found the brothers' ledgers. It seemed that the stocking-cap-sporting triplet was the bookkeeper of the bunch, and kept meticulous records of all their transactions. Who was sold to whom, and for how much. But the damning evidence was the fact that several of these people were known to be dead long before the ledgers showed them to be sold.

In other words, it was not only people that were being sold, but peoples' souls as well.

Edwyn Anto'Nuchi was royally screwed. Or at least he was about to be. He was currently tied up, kneeling on a platform in Fairwater Capital's main square.

King Fairwater himself climbed the steps up to the platform. He wore no regalia; instead, he sported a sparse adventuring outfit. No sense in getting his robe and crown bloody, after all. He carried an ornate broadsword in his right hand.

The crowd cheered profusely for their king.

The royal Doberman thrust the tip of his sword straight down into the wooden platform with a loud thunk. His herald addressed the crowd: "Edwyn Anto'Nuchi... you have been tried and found guilty of the greatest crime in the realm: willfully and knowingly aiding in the destruction of our own citizens' very souls. Your sentence is Death by Beheading. Have you any final words?"

The burly hound said nothing, instead turning and spitting in the King's general direction.

"Blindfold him," Fairwater commanded his guards, and they did so. The guards stepped back as he took his place beside the Shepherd. He readied the blade for a powerful stroke...

----------

Ben could hear the cheering from inside the castle dungeon. It would seem the deed was done.

At his side was Lord Daryil himself... in a very Goth outfit. The triplets sat in a cell before them. Long-hair and stocking-cap stared solemnly at the floor, though Ben could feel they were actually somewhat relieved at the death of their older brother. Short-hair was scratching his ear with his foot.

Daryil was able to get a few decades shaved off their sentences by offering to rehabilitate them. And it helped that Clan Taun supported him, considering that meant that he would now be taking three members of an endangered Clan under his protection.

Daryil had just finished explaining the details of their rehabilitation to them. He smiled sweetly and said, "I'm glad you boys could see reason." And with a sensual tone, he added, "I'll be in touch..."

Long-hair and stocking-cap swallowed nervously. Short-hair smiled and waved goodbye as Ben and Daryil left, his tongue hanging out the side of his mouth.

When they were out of earshot of the triplets, Ben spoke up: "Dar, I really don't think they're gay. Heck, I don't think the short-haired one... I think his name was just plain 'Ed'? I don't think he even understands what's going on at all."

Daryil turned to him with a sensual smile. "Give it time, Ben." Then he leaned over and hugged Ben's neck as they walked, nuzzling his face. "You of all people should understand that, right?"

Ben said nothing, his face turning adorably bashful as he fidgeted with his hands.

"Speaking of which," Daryil continued, "are you free tonight? I know how stressed-out you get over beheadings."

Ben gently took Daryil's arm off of his neck. "Now now, milord. You know the rule; I'll have to call the wife and see if she wants me first."

Daryil folded his arms and pouted.

END

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

Awww, poor Daryil. Blocked again. ;-]

[Merlin]

Ooh, I hadn't thought about that stuff about sensing emotions being useful for search and recovery. Neat! Also now I really want to see pictures of gryphon-Ben and Dan

[ZacAttac21]

Awww, poor Daryil. Blocked again. ;-]

Hey, a man's gotta have his priorities.

Especially if he's married.

Ooh, I hadn't thought about that stuff about sensing emotions being useful for search and recovery. Neat! Also now I really want to see pictures of gryphon-Ben and Dan

I guess Ben would be a bald eagle-ish gryphon, only with blue feathers instead of brown. I don't know what Dan would look like, that's up to Tapewolf.

[Tapewolf]

I guess Ben would be a bald eagle-ish gryphon, only with blue feathers instead of brown. I don't know what Dan would look like, that's up to Tapewolf.

I can imagine Daniel being gryphon-buddies with Mike once he has the shapeshifting knack to do so.  Probably he'd go osprey since he's got Mike as a handy reference.

[Merlin]

Oh no he's naked avert your eyesssssss




(also ended up looking more budgie like because of the colours. oops)

[ZacAttac21]

Oh no he's naked avert your eyesssssss

(also ended up looking more budgie like because of the colours. oops)

Meh, I think he looks just fine!