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The Festival


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#1 Beks

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Posted 14 January 2010 - 07:32 PM

Hello there, fellow Neutron Knights. Some of you might remember back in the old RP that I, Writer Woman, had come in contact with a secret order in the rain-forest of Neutronia, The Sisters of Libbia. They worship the long forgotten Goddess Libbia and are advocates of dance and music.

Well, I sort of had this story idea for a while now, and during winter break I wrote about half of it. Eventually, I will write the second half, but I REALLY wanted to show this to you guys. :wub: (especially to my little Rat Lady ;)) So, without further ado, I give you "The Festival"



I’m not sure what it was that woke me from my sleep. Perhaps it was the cold wind outside, whistling past the window, or a squeak in the floorboard as a late-night sentry passed by my chamber door. Or perhaps it was the strange sensation that was crawling over my body, an anxious kind of feeling, like there was something very important I needed to do at that very moment. For a few minutes, I listened to the dark, somewhat unwilling to bring my limbs from the warm comfort of my bed. I was now wide awake at that point, so at last I sat up and brought my bare feet to the chilly wooden floor. I put my thick, woolen blanket around my slender shoulders and walked slowly to the solitary window in my small bed chamber. The moon was sculpted into the perfect crescent, hanging majestically in the clear winter sky. Judging from its height, it seemed only a little past midnight.

Wrapping my blanket closer to my body with one hand, I unlatched the window the other. The blustery wind that had previously blown past it rushed in, as if it needed to come in from the cold. It whipped my untidy hair away from my neck, making my skin prickle. With the wind brought a heightened awareness of the sensation from before. Even more, I felt a tingling longing, drawing me towards something.

I had felt this feeling before. “It’s today,” I whispered to myself as a smile began to curl itself on my lips.

I performed my usual duties around the castle that morning, trying to ignore the growing agitation in my body, calling me skyward. Finally, after clumsily knocking over a table in the library, I couldn’t take it any longer. I had thought I could last until evening at least, but it had become more and more dangerous for me to be in this state around the castle. I wasn’t at my top fighting ability. I had to leave, and soon. There was just one thing to take care of.

“You called for me, Writer Woman?” Rat Lady asked, peeking her head through the door of my chamber. A second later, little Ratty poked her face through the collar of her master’s shirt to look at me as well. The resemblance between the two was comical, to say the least.

“Yes,” I answered calmly, sitting on the side of my bed. I patted a spot on the blanket next to me, inviting my friend to sit beside me. “There is something I would like to ask you,” I continued when she had lowered herself onto the mattress. She looked at me expectantly, curious. I hesitated, unsure how to begin, and looked out the window instead. It was becoming harder to think clearly.

“Is there something wrong?” she asked, a tint of worry in her voice.

I brought my attention back to her face, shaking my head, half to clear it, half to answer her question. “N-no, there’s nothing wrong.” My eyes lowered to gaze at my leg, which was starting to jiggle violently, my heel bouncing up and down. I quickly put my hand on my knee to calm it, but Rat Lady had already seen.

“You sure?” she asked, smirking. “Come on, you can tell me. What’s going on?”

“Ok,” I sighed. “Um…today is December 11th, right?”

“Yeah…”

“Ok, just checking. So, do you remember when I told you about the Sisters of Libbia?”

“Of course,” Rat Lady answered, smiling. “They took you in when you became lost in the rainforest about two years ago. They made you an honorary sister before you left.”

“Exactly. Well, December 11th is the feast day of our Goddess Libbia and there is a big festival and many important ceremonies and rituals. The reason I’m a little jittery is because every member of the order, even an honorary sister like me, feels an unbearable longing whenever we are away from the temple on this day. I absolutely need to go to the temple for the feast.”

“So go,” Rat Lady replied, chuckling a little. “Why do you need to tell me this?”

“Well, it’s tradition for a traveling sister to bring a guest with her to the festival,” I said. I smiled sheepishly, knowing she would guess the rest.

“So, you want me to go with you?” she asked. I nodded silently, suddenly feeling shy. “Well, I’d love to go!” she finished, putting a friendly arm around my shoulders.

“Really? Oh, thank you!” I pulled my friend into a crushing hug. My happiness quickly gave way to hyper-ness as I jumped off the bed, dragging Rat Lady out of the room by the hand. “Come on, let’s go!” I called back to her excitedly. “The festival’s already started!”

“Wait, right now?” Rat Lady answered, stumbling behind me. “But, wait! First I—oh, hold on!”


Thirty minutes later, I stood waiting in the open courtyard, my warm trench coat wrapped around me tightly in the chilly air. I tapped one of my boots on the flagstones, not impatiently, per say, but more spastically, jittery. My head turned quickly when I saw Rat Lady come out into the yard, a newly fueled jetpack strapped to her back. She adjusted the goggles on her forehead, a grin spreading on her face.

“Impatient, are we?” she asked sarcastically, indicating my jiggling leg. I smiled sheepishly.

“I’m sorry I’m like this,” I apologized. “I promise once we get underway I’ll get much better. So, ready to go?”

“Yep! Got the jetpack and I left Ratty with Lady Athena for the night. She’s not one for big parties. Have you told the Queen that we’re leaving?”

“Yes. She’s already aware of what today is. It happened last year too. I just informed her of who I was taking.”

“Who did you take last year?” Rat Lady asked curiously as she placed her goggles on her face.

“Red Storm.” My jittering stopped for a moment as memories of recent events floated around in my head. Rat Lady came to stand beside me and put a comforting hand on my now shaking shoulders.

“I’m sorry.”

“Oh, it’s fine. Not your fault,” I said, trying to put the issue out of my mind. I gave her a reassuring smile as my leg started to act up again. “So, ready?” I asked. She gave me a thumbs up and in an instant, we were flying.

At first the air was extremely cold, so cold that we had to stop to warm ourselves at a tavern twice. As we progressed southward, however, it got warmer and warmer. I also noticed that the closer we got, the less jittery I became, which was a blessing because in the first stretch of the journey it had been somewhat harder to control my flying. The littlest spasm could cause me to veer extremely off course. At last, we saw the edge of the mysterious rainforest on the horizon. The sun was heading towards the mountains in the distance.

“How are we supposed to find this hidden temple?” Rat Lady yelled above the whistling wind in our ears. I closed my eyes for a moment, feeling the air around me. Faintly, I felt something tugging at my mind, pulling me towards the rainforest.

“This way!” I exclaimed, veering off to the right.

As soon as we landed on the forest floor, I could tell we were in the right place. The air itself seemed to be vibrating with emotion, humming an incoherent tune. There was a path leading through the trees and bushes and we followed it. My heart pounded in my chest, louder and louder the closer we got. Or maybe it was the sound of the music in the distance. The bass resounded in my chest, beating in time with my heart. The feeling exhilarated me and I looked back to grin excitedly at my friend. She smiled back. Her eyes showed me her emotions, awe and excitement, mixed with a little apprehension.

“Come on!” I encouraged, picking up the pace. “The Sisters will love you! They adore women visitors.” Rat Lady laughed, probably because of my juvenile behavior, and broke into a job to catch up with me.

We almost bumped into the temple before we could see it properly. Almost the entire surface was covered in jungle vines and plants, except for ornate temple door. Thousands of precious stones decorated the arch above it, creating a beautiful mosaic pattern. The door itself was actually a stone slab, although its surface was carved with many intricate symbols and pictures. In the center, a beautiful woman sat cross-legged, a shining heart held between her hands. Her eyes, though made of stone, seemed to shimmer in the twilight.

“Is that the Goddess?” Rat Lady asked. She reached out her hand hesitantly and gently touched the carving, gliding over her braided hair. “She’s beautiful.”

“Yes, she is,” I answered. “The thing she’s holding is the Heart of Music. It is how she channels most of her power. Now, if you could stand back.” Rat Lady immediately obeyed, as if she worried that the stone would bite her. I pulled a small chain from around my neck. Around it was a small heart-shaped jewel, deep purple in color. Giving my friend a reassuring wink, I placed the jewel in the indention where the Heart of Music was. It fit perfectly.

Suddenly, the stone door vanished in a flash of white light, leaving an empty archway. My necklace was replaced around my neck as if by magic. As soon as the door disappeared, the distant music we heard rose in volume tenfold and reverberated throughout my entire body. We heard voices too, and with a gleeful smile on my face, I took Rat Lady’s hand and crossed the threshold into the temple.

It was a multitude of dancing feet and swaying arms, clapping hands and swinging hips. The music, which seemed to come from the air itself, was tribal in tune and rhythm and yet modern as well. Suddenly, one of the dancers broke from the group and rushed over to where we stood.

“Well, isn’t it Sister W!” she exclaimed, her wrinkling face splitting into a toothy smile. “You’re the last one to arrive, I think. And who’s this young thing?”

“Sister Izabelle, this is Rat Lady. She’s a friend of mine from the Neutron Knights,” I introduced. Rat Lady smiled at the woman, bowing her head slightly.

“Ah, a different one this year, eh?” Sister Izabelle replied, looking Rat Lady up and down. “Well sweetie, welcome to the festival! You can put your things in the little shrine there. And while you’re there, don’t hesitate to try on some traditional clothes. We won’t force you, but I think you’d look mighty pretty in it.” The elderly sister gave Rat Lady a friendly wink and walked back to the dancing throng in the middle of the temple floor.

“Come on, you heard the woman,” I laughed, leading the way into a small room to the left. Inside, dozens of candles surrounded a tapestry of Goddess Libbia on the wall. In this portrait, she seemed to be singing, her arms spread wide with joy. Rat Lady unstrapped her jetpack and laid in carefully on the stone floor. Casually, I took off my trench coat and put it beside her winter parka. She looked up when she heard the sound of tinkling jewelry. The look of surprise on her face was priceless.

I was wearing a long, flowing skirt depicting a multitude of colors and above, a simple white tunic. The jingling came from the gold and silver bracelets on my wrists. The purple heart-stone was still around my neck. I took my boots off and felt the cool roughness of the stone floor on my bare feet. I twirled around once to give Rat Lady the full effect and giggled at the expression still etched on her face.

“Don’t get used to this,” I said, pointing a finger at her. “It’s only once a year you get to see me in a skirt.” I walked over to a stone table in the corner, on which was piles of the same kind of clothing I had on. “So, wanna join in? You don’t have to, like Sister Izabelle said. I know you’re not one for skirts either.”

“Well, when in Rome,” she replied with a shrug. “It might be easier to breath in this humidity actually.”

“Good,” said, smiling. I picked through the pile until I pulled out a dark green skirt and a short sleeve tunic. “Here.” I threw them to her. “This should fit you.” She went over to where a small changing curtain had been raised to put them on. While she did that, I took several random locks of my hair and braided them. It was a tradition after all.

“Are you ready?” I asked after a few minutes. “You’re gonna miss the whole thing if you don’t hurry.”

“I don’t know. I’m having second thoughts about this skirt thing,” I heard her say from behind the curtain. I poked my head through to look at her. She was adjusting the bottom of her tunic. She curled her bare toes nervously.

“Oh, you look great!” I exclaimed. I grabbed her wrist and pulled her out of the changing corner. “Here, you can borrow some of my bracelets.” I slipped some from my wrists and gave them to her. After she had put them on, I gave her a quick once-over, having her twirl around a bit.

“There, you go! Now no one could tell you’re not a Sister,” I encouraged. Grabbing her hand, I lead the way back onto the main temple floor.

[End of part 1]

Tada! *.* Did anyone figure out the connection to JN with December 11th yet? B)
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#2 J/C AVA

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Posted 14 January 2010 - 09:17 PM

Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooh! :kawaii:

AWESOME, BEKS!!! I LOVE IT!!! :thumbsup:

I can totally see you and Katie on such an adventure!

I love it, Beks! Great job!
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#3 Beks

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Posted 14 January 2010 - 09:40 PM

Aw, thanks Pedro! ^_^
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#4 Beks

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Posted 15 January 2010 - 07:10 PM

[Bump] :w00t:
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#5 RocksmySocks

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Posted 15 January 2010 - 11:42 PM

This is SOOOOOOOOOOOO COOL, Writer Woman!!!

I'm so excited to be along for the ride! I can't wait to see how everything goes!

Also, I really loved all your descriptions and imagery in this story. You have a knack for making the reader feel like they're really right there. (And in my case, I am really right there.)

I can't believe I ended up in a skirt. :rolleyes: Lol, you definitely got my reluctance down well. And Lady Athena better take good care of Ratty, or she'll have to answer to ME!
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#6 Beks

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Posted 18 January 2010 - 01:39 AM

Tee hee, thanks, Katie! ^_^ I'm SO glad you love it!
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#7 underwater

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Posted 16 February 2010 - 06:40 AM

what is this whole forum about? I don't get it.

Corinne
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#8 Beks

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Posted 17 February 2010 - 10:49 PM

Let's see if I can explain this properly...

About a year, maybe two years ago, one of our members created a cute little topic about a fictional land where all the members of IDOJ were Neutron Knights, with Mara being our Queen. Everyone thought it was a cool idea, and it evolved into a sort of RP corner that we all go to every once and a while and create stories for. It's main feature is that it's an alternate universe and we're centuries in the future from the time that Jimmy (or the Great Inventor) was alive and we as Neutron Knights protect the people of Neutronia from the decedents of villains from the past.

I tried doing an actual RP Dungeons and Drangons type campaign once, put most of my players couldn't get online frequently enough for it to work. Maybe this summer, we could try it.

You're welcome to create your own character. We'd love an extra hand in the war against Overlord Eustace. ;)
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