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Re: The Lost Guest Civilization - A Story by keeltoll3456
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| 04 Aug 2012 03:11 AM |
PRO TIP: READ THIS BEFORE CONTINUING: http://www.roblox.com/Forum/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=20764903
DISCLAIMER: If you have a short attention span, you will not reach the end of this thread alive.
AUTHOR'S FOREWORD: This was way too big of a project as I thought it would be. At first I was trying to make it one post long, but then it just kept being able to be built upon more and more until it almost reached five. However, I got around to finishing it within a week, working on it by myself until I considered it to be one of my better pieces of literature. I feel as though I rushed with the ending. It is 3 AM when I finished this, after all...
A couple people helped in the production of this story, including offsite friends and grammar policemen, Senro and Mcallistus. I'd also like to thank everyone at Newrobloxchat2 for allowing me to talk you guys up while I worked myself to death trying to finish this. I'd escpecially like to give a very high five to Str0wns0614 for encouraging me to keep writing even though he may not be around anymore to see this, and an old friend named TRSkit for her buckets of support. Read on, my fellow Roblox Talk forumers, and be sure to leave your feedback, constructive and unconstructive!
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"This is the place."
Dust kicked up as the car's wheels ground to a halt. The jungle was silent as the two front doors swung open, and a pair of Robloxians clad in beige exploring gear surveyed the ominous cave before them. Two pillars of rock around forty studs high reached up like raised hands to the sky, towering above the deserted ruins of a long-forgotten tribe.
The female went to the back of the car and unloaded a case from the trunk. After undoing some of the locks, she lifted its lid and took out the shotgun laying inside. "Just in case," she said.
They advanced towards the front of the cave's mouth, tall and curved like an archway. The male decided to light a lantern as it soon became dark. The walls were stretched out like a tunnel, and at the end there was a raised platform where the leader of a tribe would sit in a stone chair carved out of rock.
"Remarkable," The male said, and he put the lantern down to sketch in his notebook of the scribbles on the wall that were painted years ago. He had even had the date written at the top of the page to help record everything correctly: May 21, 2016.
The female explorer had decided to investigate the piles of grass and leaves along the side of the adjacent wall, which were arranged to serve as beds. She estimated at least twenty of them. There was a discarded shirt laying on the stone floor. Faintly she could see the white letters stenciled in on the black garment, reading "Make a free account to change how you look!"
Eventually they came across a collapsed pile of wooden sticks and rotting grass. At some point when it was in better repair, they supposed it would have been a tiny room for someone to have crawled inside and serve as a living space. Considering its nearness to the throne, its owner must have been a higher superiority of the tribe.
The male kicked away some of the vegetation and discovered a book buried inside. He brushed off the damp strands of grass and read the cover out loud. "The Guest Civilization, by Dr. Gerald Mundy," he said, passing the book over to his companion. She realized who it was, and flipped the leather cover to read the first pages of the old journal...
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March 5, 2010
My name is Gerald Mundy, Assisstant to the Head Director of the Guest Studies Bureau of Robloxia. I am now in charge of the final test to determine the true intellectual ability of the Guests that have inhabited our world from the beginning of time. Most are unaware of their potential. We believed that they can prove something to all of us.
Today, I have set out with two dozen Guests that were kept by our facility, transferred from captivity to the wild, in hopes that we can all survive the primarily uncharted regions of our environment, living off of the land. Already the clouds have rolled in as we travelled looking for shelter, and while my partners are unaware, it looks like rain will arrive soon. Although I am only supposed to keep the Guests together from seperating, it is up to them to decide who they will pick as their leader.
One of them in particular, which I have labelled to myself as 19, has already assumed control of the situation. He knows the most about communication, constantly saying "Follow me" from the SafeChat menu, leading us farther into the unknown jungle...
March 6, 2010
19 has found a cave for all of us to situate ourselves in. We were all exhausted, and slept on the floor of the cave. I am still not sure if he found this place by luck or not. He seemed to know exactly where he was going, and earned the trust of most of the group because of it.
The rain has been pouring all day and there is little chance that we will scavenge for food. I decided to distribute rations to the group, allowing them to have two slices of bread and fruit of their choice. Such an action has awarded me some popularity along my peers. They know simple phrases such as "Thank you" and few even went as far as to say "Friend".
There was one named 8 who appreciated my help the most, being kind enough to offer a handshake. I had a feeling that the remaining year of this experiment would focus on my ability to learn to communicate with these creatures.
March 21, 2010
Over two weeks have passed since I last wrote, since our group has been busy from work. The rations have been depleted, but food is still abundant from the frequent search parties that 19 have sent out. Everyone trusts him now...
The only current issue now is finding water, since we aren't located anywhere close to a river or a lake, but the rain comes often and allows us to collect some in the pots and pans that I had brought along. It isn't the safest means, but it will keep us alive for the entire year we are out here until we can return to the facility.
April 2, 2010
An interesting thing happened today. 19 had ordered a group of other Guests to break off stones and begin to chisel different commodities into the rock walls of this cave. He had borrowed a piece of paper from my own notebook and surprisingly knew how to draw a crude blueprint for a chair where he would use as his place to reign. It is an interesting project, and those hired to do the job have happily obliged.
May 27, 2010
It is really the middle of the night as I am writing this, as I have witnessed something interesting with our elected leader. While my colleagues were asleep, 19 had silently got out of his now-completed chair and left the cave, standing in between the two monoliths of stone in the dirt, staring up at the moon for almost nineteen minutes. Then he quietly went back to his chair and drifted off to sleep.
Strange... Test Subject 19 was the name he was assigned in the facility. What was the connection between his name and the nineteen minutes he stayed outside?
--
It is within the same day that 19 had now ordered the chiselers to begin fixing the stone pillars outside of the cave to a more column-like shape. I don't know the purpose of this, but they will obey without question. I will not object to the decision, but only keep observing...
June 11, 2010
The stone pillars have been completed. They are impressive monuments that are completely similar to each other, about twenty-five feet high. One of our members was unfortunately injured while working, using a rope strewn together by vines to scale to the top. I fear we will soon have our first casualty soon, as the Guest named 14 is critically wounded, and we have very few medical supplies.
Aside from that, however, the tribe uses the stone flats around the pillars as a place to gather at night. We started our own fires and built a pit for cooking meals and keeping the generated smoke out of the caves. Events have been going well for the three months we have been here, but mystery still surrounds the motives of the tribe's leader...
June 26, 2010
I stay up later at night now just in case 19 decides to step outside again. Tonight was one of those nights. There was a full moon tonight... I can't remember if there was one on the evening that 19 first did this... What could it all mean?
June 27, 2010
There was another order from 19 given towards a team of Guests again. The floor of the cave has a section in it made of loose stones. They are tasked to remove these and make some sort of tunnel...
What is 19 trying to accomplish?
July 7, 2010
The tribe is progressing well. The rains have become more frequent, and I have managed to teach most of the Guests how to write. They are only limited to the common phrases they normally say, but they have learned manners and can ask and answer questions. Recently they discovered that they can make paint from berries. The cave wall is currently being decorated with a crude portrait of the entire tribe with 19 in the center.
July 16, 2010
Disaster.
The tunnel progress had been going brilliantly. It was a diagonal slope in the middle of the cave that went underneath the surface. Today they were no longer digging out stone, but excavating dirt, and while the six Guests who were underground this afternoon had suddenly rang out cheers to 19 as if they had found something extraordinary buried under the dirt… I heard the earth crumble from down below.
A total of seven had now been lost throughout the course of four months. It is a heavy toll on all of us, and even more so on 19. He has been jumping around the cave hysterically, obviously upset that something had gone wrong. "No," he would cry out. "No. No. No. I don't like it. I give it a 1 out of 10!"
There was something down there. A treasure. 19 somehow knew where it was. He's aware of something that we aren't.
I don't believe in the supernatural, the paranormal, or the superstitious, but I fear that the discovery of something incredible had only just been missed...
-continued on post 2- |
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| 04 Aug 2012 03:12 AM |
July 21, 2010
I had only recently showed a sketch to 19 that I had made in order to encourage him to start excavating again. Instead it would now be just a circular hole that is dug straight down into the earth, with a ladder being constructed out of materials we could find in the jungle to serve as transport in and out of the excavation.
"No." 19 said after looking at it. "Why?" I asked him, staying in SafeChat language.
He borrowed the paper and added a large oval at the bottom of the sketch. I watched him carefully as he silently drew waves of water filling most of the room in the empty space, and at the bottom of the water was a box. He added lines shooting out of the square to indicate that it was shining, like a prized possession some fifty feet below where we stood.
I now understood the true purpose of why we were here.
July 26, 2010
It is a full moon tonight. 19 went outside.
August 1, 2010
19 had decided to go with my plan after taking a long time to think. I assumed that he had realized that digging straight down into an underground pool would eventually get us nowhere, but that was an obstacle we would have to cross.
He displayed my blueprint to the seventeen of us remaining in the tribe. 19 sorted out another group of six to begin excavating, and for the first time of the expedition, I heard a reply that I would never expect to be said.
"No." It came from Subject 5. The tribe was silent for a few tense moments as 19 advanced to the one who refused to follow him. "What?" 19 shouted. "No," came the same reply. "Stop being mean."
It was unthinkable to have been said when we were all supposed to be working together. But the circumstances were all understandable. 19 had driven seven of our members to untimely deaths, and we had barely gotten anywhere. I had only hoped that this wouldn't be a permanent seperation between us.
But my fears were only confirmed as 19 had decided to shove 5 to the ground. It was the first violent action that any of us had performed, and it would have the strongest reprecussions.
5 scrambled up, spun around, and began to leave, beckoning us to follow. "Follow me," he said. "Goodbye." Members began to hesitantly head towards the exit, some not looking at 19, but others casting stern expressions. Even the Guest that gave me a handshake, 8, broke off from the party despite knowing that I was staying. I counted eight Guests shuffling after 5 as they started to disappear into the morning sunlight. "No!" cried 19. "Stop!" Before 5 left for good, however, he turned to face 19 once more, and pointed at him. "I challenge you to a fight!" he announced.
This would only be the start of our tribe's hardships, as we were now split in two, locked in a struggle to the death.
August 11, 2010
It had been at least 10 days since we had last seen the rebel group that stemmed from our expedition, but we wasted little time. We had to make spears out of sharpened wood for protection, and trees were felled to block the cave entrance. A member of our side had to be on sentry duty at all times.
And I... I don't how I manage the strength to write this after all the digging I have done today. Although I'm just a scientist, I did my part to help start the excavation of the new tunnel. The progress is slow, but judging that a total of seven of us are digging, we should reach the bottom in a matter of days.
Or at least I can hope. A drought has begun to strike on this part of the jungle, and with no viable water source, I cannot tell how long we will safely be able to survive.
August 27, 2010
Full moon. 19 was outside. Earlier today one of our members, 22, is clinging to life from dehydration. We need to reach the end of this ordeal soon, or we will all perish one by one...
August 29, 2010
A mighty cheer rose around the cave this early evening, as our work has been completed. The hole has to be at least fifty feet deep, but there is, sure enough, a pool of water at it all, with a dark shadow submerged in at least ten feet of the groundwater.
Few of us worry about this, however, as we lower ourselves down our makeshift ladder one at a time to collect water. Doing this won't empty the basin, however, and we need to plan who will dive down to fetch the object at the bottom.
One thing still worries me the most: How is 19 figuring out all of this before it happens? Have we really been ignoring the true power of Guests this whole time?
August 30, 2010
Subject 11 volunteered to swim down into the murky pool and retrieve the object. It was a brief procedure. He came up with a rectangular box half as tall as a Robloxian, and we congratulated his effort with a string of "Woo hoo!"s, "Yay!"s, and "Juice!"s.
The events took an interesting turn, however, as we found the box riddled with sliding knobs that act as some sort of locking system. Even 19 doesn't seem to know how to open it. None of the handles even seem to budge...
September 13, 2010
No progress has been made with the box, but I eagerly await the next full moon, as that seems as when 19 learns something new. I don't understand why he and the moon have some sort of spiritual connection. Or, at least, that's what it seems.
Most of the danger of the rebel Guests attacking has subsided. Perhaps they have no intention on attacking, or they have all seperated from each other and did not survive.
19 now keeps his puzzle box beside him on his throne at all times. I need to find out when the next full moon arrives...
September 18, 2010
I have spent some time calculating the next full moon of this month. It appears to be the 23rd.
September 21, 2010
I heard someone getting up and leaving in the middle of the night. I looked out of my makeshift room I made out of grass and branches and saw a shadow exiting the cave. It isn't a full moon tonight, is it? It can't be the sentry at the exit; we hadn't had one stay up all night in days...
September 22, 2010
Someone left again in the middle of the night. I was going to make an effort to see who it was, but I had fallen asleep.
September 23, 2010
"You! Stop!"
That was the scream I first heard. Then there was the trampling of feet as I spotted two figures run out of the cave. The whole tribe had given chase after them, crashing and tripping through the jungle. We had no idea who they were. We had no idea where we going. All that mattered was to run down the Robloxian who was going to preform mutiny.
Some of the Guests got tired and fell behind, and even near exhaustion I kept running. I passed Subject 3... then 11... then 9... until everyone in front of me slid to a halt.
It was Subject 12, holding the puzzle box over a cliff edge. I hardly knew that he would be the one to turn against us. But it all made sense. He was the one who had snuck out to devise the perfect plan to get rid of everyone's troubles. Several deaths occured all because of the box that 12 now held in his arms... and he was planning to get rid of it.
19 wouldn't dare come any closer. But as we circled around 12, I remembered that tonight was a full moon. Instead of watching the Guest with the box teetering off the edge, I was watching the sky. And eventually, so did the others who were with us. Everyone turned their heads up to watch a comet streak its way across the sky.
Funny. Even with my small training as an astronomer, I forgot that tonight would be the night that Comet BE-19 would pass near our atmosphere on the same day it does every year. Wait... 19...
Suddenly, Subject 19 sprang forward towards the edge of the cliff, ready to tackle 12, who was paying attention to the comet. 12 let go of the box, but was soon levelled off of secure ground. They both fell off of the cliff, with 19 fittingly shouting "THIS IS SPARTAAAA!" as they disappeared over the rocky hill.
The others raced to the cliff edge with me, witnessing them crash to the ground about thirty feet below. It wasn't solid ground; they had landed on a slope made of loosely packed gravel, and their bodies tumbled down the hill. 19 grabbed a hold of the senseless 12 and began throwing punch after punch, disregarding the metal box that had stopped rolling and rested on a patch of grass.
We eventually found a safer way down the hill and seperated 19 and 12. 12 had died at some point in the assault, and 19 could no longer stand; his legs had been broken, and his body was covered in gruesome scratches. We bore the weight of our leader between us as we hobbled back to the cave.
The sight we saw while returning was not welcoming. Smoke was pouring out of the cave from a distance. The rebels had made use of our absence to completely destroy our home, and they escaped without us noticing. The wooden defenses were burned and the food we foraged and weapons we made were stolen. Before we could get 19 back inside, he commanded, "Stop."
9 and 13 halted in between the stone pillars and lowered 19 down the ground. He settled down on the flat surface of rock beneath him and silently waved the two off. "Please go away. I am... Ok."
For the rest of the evening, 19 was gazing up at the full moon. Several Guests did not sleep as they cleared the mess and watched over their leader simply laying there in the moonlight, coming to realize that they were putting their trust in no ordinary Robloxian.
As for me, however, I had carried the puzzle box back to the cave and set it beside 19's throne and I rested on one of the stone platform's steps. The air was still as the whole jungle lamented the devastation that occured in the course of a single night...
-continued on post 3- |
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Berkerser
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| Joined: 04 May 2010 |
| Total Posts: 39393 |
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| 04 Aug 2012 03:12 AM |
| this is like limbo for illiterate people, such as myself. |
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| 04 Aug 2012 03:13 AM |
Septermber 30, 2010
Cleanup from the ransack has come along slowly. 19 was able to get up and walk around the morning after his ordeal, but he hasn't made any move to solve the puzzle box. I don't have time to have a go at it myself, or figure out the next full moon's date, because I was assigned to forage for food. It's not one of my most refined abilities: the bugs are everywhere in the hot afternoon, and I find it uneasy to be sent out alone when there's always the danger of an enemy ambush. As far as I know, they have the upper hand.
October 8, 2010
Today is my birthday. It is an event that will quietly pass by, since my mind is focused on enduring the pain from all of the bugs that have fed on me. Now that I've begun to start doing Guest duties, I find communication easier to accomplish with them. I trust them more than anyone now... It's good to know that I have peers that can also serve as family when I am not at home.
October 19, 2010
I took a day of liberty to find that the next full moon is the 23rd. 19 has taken consideration of how much I suffered with the jungle wildlife and gave me time to rest. Today he took interest in the journal I was writing in. He didn't understand any of the words.
Now that I think about it, I'm beginning to feel conflicted with myself. I'm befriending something that I previously didn't understand. I considered Guests to be animals. And now I'm depending on a Guest's leadership to survive almost five more months out here in solitary, learning and communicating...
It may not have been what I signed up for, but however this experience will remain the most surreal.
October 23rd, 2010
19 went alone to the stone pillars without his box. I could see his sihloutte staring up at the full moon again. There must be something he's always taking away from all of this.
November 2, 2010
One of our members is close to death. 13 has always been the unlucky one, coming back from foraging with either numerous bug bites, a bruise from a stumble, or both. He must have encountered something terrible this afternoon, crawling back to our headquarters covered in a gash from the back of his neck to his right leg, with no idea what happened. The other Guests interpret this as a signal to start a hunt and kill a powerful creature hiding in the jungle, but in my mind I disagreed. A cut that brutal is not caused by an animal claw, but a weapon.
The danger of a rebel attack is still looming.
November 4, 2010
13 died today. There is no way we could have helped him recover. I had no more medical supplies. He was always the storyteller of our group when we gathered around the fire at night. I thought he was the most imaginative, relating heroic tales of honest politicians and drawing landscapes on the cave walls. When the light finally faded in his eyes this evening, I knew he had left to readventure in the fantastic lands he had dreamed up in his head...
November 16, 2010
Nothing of interest has been happening recently. The weather has turned for the worse, turning a lot colder even in this tropical atmosphere, with rain pouring endlessly outside. Eight of us, counting me, remain in this group now, and I earnestly hope we will all finish our expedition alive.
November 23, 2010
Tonight is a full moon. Somehow I dared to leave my makeshift room and spy on 19 as he went outside in the rain with the puzzle box. He hasn't done anything recently after viewing the full moon. I don't know how he even sees the moon tonight with the rainclouds in the way. Perhaps he is just not learning anything with all of the events occuring on nights like these.
December 1, 2010
The cold and the rain makes it nigh on impossible to forage. I should have suggested to start farming a long time ago before the weather worsened so we wouldn't have to resort to extreme measures when gathering food. I have some knowledge of certain plants that can be consumed safely, but doing so in the wintertime complicates the growth of vegetation by a significant amount.
December 8, 2010
3 came back from his foraging dragging the corpse of a rebel Guest behind him. He left the body of the deceased 20 at the foot of 19's throne, wondering what to do with it or how the rebel had died. Since there were no visible injuries, and 3 pantomimed a scene where the body was left in a clearing that supposedly used as a base at one point. I suspect it was hunger. Tommorow we plan to investigate the spot.
December 9, 2010
We returned from the guided tour by 3 without any information. Only half of the group went to prevent any surprises occuring on our way from the clearing to the cave. The rebel camp was left completely abandoned, and we decided to discard 20's body far away from our home.
December 18, 2010
Our group has grown restless from the recent inactivity we've been experiencing. For the first time in almost in a year I took a nap in the middle of the afternoon with not much else to do. I'm considering devising a way for us to gamble with pebbles to pass the time...
December 20, 2010
Today we decided to develop our own entertainment. Replicating the game of lawn darts, we made a bullseye on the ground outlined with pebbles and had to throw our own stones into one of the areas. 11 has the best throwing arm out of all of us, winning all of the games we played, even when tossing from almost the full length of the cave.
I feel out of shape for my inaccuracy, however. I was the target over much of the "LOL"s and "ROFL"s that were passed around when misses happened. My stone even fell down the pit we dug to the cave's floor, where I was challenged to go and retrieve it. It was a good thing they take replies such as "No!" lightly, for my penalty was to do a dance instead.
They are becoming so much like friends to me.
December 21, 2010
Full moon. Nothing out of the ordinary. 19 disregarded his puzzle box for the night and opted out to start carrying piles of stones in and out of the cave for a reason I didn't understand at first. He began to rearrange them into a pattern. I couldn't see it from where I was watching, but it almost looked like a compass...
December 22, 2010
I decided to investigate the stones 19 had laid out in front of the cave the night before. He made a compass of cardinal directions out of darker pebbles, and laid out lines of brighter stones in different non-cardinal alignments, spreading out like a cone into the forest. We were not allowed to move them at all, so our games at the end of the day will have to wait until we find the meaning to the stones becomes clearer.
January 7, 2011
It has become a lot more hostile in this jungle in the past week. The rain pours in torrents and we haven't gone out of the cave in at least a day. We still have saved a few extra roots and fruit for consumption, but we might have to start to ration if the weather continues to destroy the jungle...
-continued on post 4- |
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| 04 Aug 2012 03:13 AM |
This gave me an idea for a place. <3
:The trick to life is not to get too attatched to it: |
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| 04 Aug 2012 03:13 AM |
January 10, 2011
Something is going to happen soon. I can just tell by the way 19 has become a bit restless lately. Today we followed him into the jungle and we began to prepare new weapons; long javelins with a rock spike on either end. We made maintenance to our barrier of trees blocking the cave opening, and tried to teach us how to use our weapons. He knows something, and I fear to find out what it is.
January 15, 2011
Finally the weather has cleared up for a reasonable amount of days, and preperations for the coming events are beginning to pick up. We don't have any idea how to make ranged weapons, but we practice on the trunks of trees as training dummies. I've done my best to find materials for bandages we might need in case of injuries.
Due to all of the things that happened, I don't even know if we'll be fighting rebel Guests or not. I'm not even sure how 19 can predict the actions of things ahead of time by just staring up at the moon. This research is so eye-opening to Robloxians like me. It is almost like years of studies are being proved otherwise by one individual.
The next full moon is January 19th. There can be no doubt that this may be the date of the attack. Whatever attacks us, that is...
January 17, 2011
I had figured that I only had another day of sleep before I stay up uncountable hours defending our base, but I was wrong. Without warning, while we were all resting, war cries rang outside of the cave. The wooden barriers suddenly glowed with fire on the other side.
We picked up our weapons from inside and rushed to the barrier, but the rebels were a lot more prepared than us. The smoke jumping out of the burning barriers was actually being fanned away by a Guest using a fan made of leaves. The smoke was reflected back into our cave, and the air became unfit to inhale.
The Guests with 19 followed my lead when I crouched to avoid the smoke, and we could just see through the spaces between the logs that no other rebels were outside, just the one wielding the fan, shouting out cries of "THIS IS SPARTAAAA!"
11 used his throwing arm to rise over the shrinking barrier and launch his javelin at the rebel, striking him through the chest at least thirty studs away. Now with some more space to work with, 19 kicked out some of the weaker portions of the wall and we went out of the cave's cover into the open between the two pillars. Without warning, other javelins began to fly out of the jungle's fringe, instantly striking one of our allies in the torso and ending his life.
The stone pillars were too thin to be used as adequate cover. Subject 9 took command for a brief moment, commanding us, "Follow me!". He charged towards the fringe of the trees, only to be slaughtered by two javelins hitting him one after the other.
For a brief moment I stepped out from behind to launch my weapon, but no cry was heard indicating that it hit a rebel. And then as I stepped back to dodge an incoming projectile, my foot kicked a rock.
It was one of the cardinal directions. It dawned on me at that moment what the purpose of those lines were there for. 19 had predicted the direction on where the rebels were hiding. Quickly I beckoned 11 to toss me his other javelin, which he did so, and I launched the spear just a touch to the left. A successful hit was marked with the scream of a wounded rebel.
I then pointed to the lines on the floor, scattering away the line that I already used to aim. We didn't need it anymore. 19 took my advice and signaled our team to pick a line and throw in that direction. I picked up another javelin and flung it far to the right, scoring another kill. 11 felled another one, and so did another one of our group, 22. The seven of us who were remaining gained a successful hit with their remaining throws, but that didn't mean our targets were truly dead.
11 and 3 went down after stepping out of cover, leaving four of us against an enemy we couldn't count. 19, 22, 6, and I... We were not prepared for what happened next.
A rebel had sprung out of the trees from the right undected and ran through 22 hiding behind the right pillar. He had a sword made out of stone and his own wooden shield. 6 ran away out from the pillar, but was caught in the leg by an enemy javelin. 19 was with me, and scooped up discarded pebbles to hurl at the advancing warrior, but was blocked by the shield.
A stray javelin was thrown nearby to our left, and I tugged it from the ground to pass it to 19. 22 fell from the rebel's sword swings, and just barely blocked a surprise attack from 19, wielding his weapon at close range. The rebel swung down as 19 blocked and snapped the javelin in two, causing 19 to stumble. He grabbed the other half and passed it to me, giving me a one-sided spear, but unable to do nothing against the rebel's next attack.
The swing cut 19 across the face, and he toppled to the ground. The remaining combatant advanced on me, but I couldn't stop shivering as I had witnessed 19 fall before me in defeat. Was that really it? Those nine months we had all spent out here, now worthless? There would be no solutions to the puzzle, no purpose of all of that work, no proof that 19 was the most mysterious Guest known to Robloxia? And now, facing the very soul who defeated 19, I couldn't find the strength to continue anymore. I could only stare into the face of that victorious rebel; the face of Subject 5. He pushed me down.
And as he stood within finishing range, raising his sword above his head, and shouting "Goodbye," only one other sound rent the air.
"THIS IS SPARTAAAA!"
A spear end grew out of 5's chest and then disappeared. He spun around to the figure of 19, doubled over from the pain, but strong enough to say: "No. You are... Goodbye." With the rest of his strength, 19 reared up and kicked 5 between the legs, finishing off the dying rebel leader who had plagued this jungle for nearly four months. 5's body collapsed backwards at my feet, blood pooling at the hole through his torso.
I scrambled to help 19 stay on his feet. His face was completely red, dripping with crimson onto his shirt. I embraced him and wept over his shoulder, knowing that with the futile supplies we had, I wouldn't be able to save him. I didn't care if my shirt was becoming stained from the bleeding, or if 19 had probably died while I was holding him up just now, or if the corpses of all of my allies were strewn about around the cave, or if I was going to lose a huge breakthrough in Guest sciences, or even if now it began to rain again!
I wept because I was losing a friend. For the first time in my life I learned heartbreak. I was not only learning how to communicate with someone unfamiliar, but I had learned how to appreciate them. For once I believed in their ability to teach us something. To have a purpose. There were no words to describe it anymore. As rain began to drizzle down I felt strength ebb away from me and I could no longer stand anymore.
Until a blade raked across my back.
The searing pain caused me to swing around and face the attacker, who I recognized instantly. It was the horrified expression of Subject 8, and a javelin injury in his shoulder. The very individual who I shook hands with when meeting him so many months ago. And in the middle of the attack he must have forgotten who I was, but the memory came back to him.
"I'm sorry, please forgive me!" he cried. His sword dropped his hands and he stood there shivering. But I decided to justify the offense of bringing harm to my friends.
5's blade was very close, and my arm swung to pick it up and I stood all in one motion. The cut was clean and deadly. For a moment I stood and gazed 8's head tumble across the damp ground before the pain of his accidental swipe across my back began to burn and I fell unconcious.
Jaunary 18, 2011
It is the morning of the attack. I had crawled back into the cave and retrieved my journal, stiff from the wound that I knew would eventually kill me. I had to write everything down from yesterday's raid, and to document all of the destruction that had occured.
Everyone else was dead. That was apparent. So much blood spilled, and corpses littered around the pillars. I slowly dragged the puzzle box out from beside the throne to the space between the pillars, resting at the body of 19.
Perhaps... Perhaps he had all seen this coming from the very beginning. Maybe he set this course of events in motion just to leave me the only Robloxian alive to witness it all. It all seems like a long shot, but who could ever tell? I'm mortally wounded, and so many things are left unsolved, and my back hurts, and for the first time I feel...
Alone.
I had contemplated why I decided to kill 8. He struck out in anger without realizing who he was harming. Perhaps not even fearing for himself. Somehow... I only feel guilt. For striking back with rage for receiving rage. Now I understood what made me feel so connected to Guests all along.
For some reason, I could feel las if they were like us, with the same emotions and reactions and ability to feel pain just like we do. To seperate and work in numbers. To survive. As I just lay here in the dirt gazing up into the now-clear sky, with the chill of January air adding to my discomfort, I feel safe...
January 19, 2011
I'm feeling weaker and weaker. It is just past midnight on the evening of the last full moon I will ever see, and I am too tired to move. All I feel is helplessness. I worry about my family, the supervisors at the research facility, and the lives that have been wasted trying to fulfill one poorly planned experiment. I realize it wasn't nessecary anymore. Maybe instead of carting off two dozen Guests with a professor was foolhardy, and all we really needed to do was take the time to understand.
The full moon is visible out of the corner of my eye. It's a pale, brilliant white, the type of color that would make you reflect on the course of recent events. I already know what I've experienced. But I can't help but feel motivated somehow, as if I should have done something long ago. Like everything is suddenly coming back to memory, and how I instantly feel like I know what I am supposed to do.
With my body disagreeing with me in strikes of pain, I turned myself over and reached for the puzzle box. I feel like I must have blacked out for a moment, but I could feel myself moving, half-consciously turning something, pulling back and shoving forward. It almost feels like instinct. Something I was trained to do. A procedure that someone had put inside my head and left there for me to eventually use. I don't know how it has happened, but as I snap back to reality...
The puzzle box is open. The multiple knobs all around the box have been freed, allowing the lid to lift. Drawing from strength reserves I slowly pull myself up to look inside.
It is a beautifully crafted wooden staff. The patterns around it are painted with blue streaks and in shapes of diamonds and triangles. I am at ease just taking it out of its prison, rewarded with the chance to grasp something I feel like I have been looking for. But I don't know what it does, or why someone was meant to find it. Why it was underground in a pool of water all this time, waiting for someone special to arrive and unlock its secrets.
Now I feel as though my journey is over. I'm actually beginning to panic now that my vision has begun to fade. It's all going to be over soon.
I've got to get to my room. I need to bring 19's body with me. It's like something needs to be put into place. With the staff in my hands, the energy comes seeping back to me. Maybe just a little. I've been dragging 19's body in my left hand and the staff with my right for at least an hour, just inching my way to the back of the cave. Every movement hurts the wound between my shoulderblades. Thinking about it only makes my vision turn white briefly. It has to be done. I don't know why, but it feels like my duty.
I set the staff beside his chair on his right, and seated 19's body into his throne, the very place he should be. I don't know here 19 had come from, and I suppose I never will, but perhaps that is a mystery that feels best unsolved.
I stood up for a moment to to admire my work before I fell backwards off the platform and hit my skull off the stone floor. There goes my vision again. Maybe if I can just get to my room and settle in it would be a reasonable place to pass away.
I'm now in a comfortable place, in a home away from home, barely able to see what I write as I lie prone beside the throne of a king, getting weaker without the staff in my hands again. That would be interesting if 19 really was a king, and we were rebuilding his civilization.
Funny... maybe 13 the storyteller can think of a good tale of that...
--
Hazel Ampersand had her back towards the cave wall when she finally closed the journal. Tears had welled up in her eyes. She knew just what this journal was about. "Gerald Mundy," she repeated to herself. "He really was a wonderful man." There was a long silence as her male assistant was looking down the pit in the middle of the cave floor, thinking to himself. "That was your maiden name, wasn't it, Hazel?" he asked. She wiped away a tear. "Yes... Mundy was my last name before my husband was wed to me. I suppose we found what happened to my father." The male remembered the part about the staff, and turned to look beside the throne. He ascended the platform and there was indeed the treasure of the forgotten Guest civilization, propped up against the side of the throne. "It's been sitting here so long that it's practically welded to the chair arm," he said. "It should only take a minute to scrape away at all of the minerals and moss keeping it in place." Professor Ampersand got up and strode over to the pit. "Leave the staff there. There's something else that should go." She handed her assistant her hat and the journal and began to lower herself down the ladder. "Hazel?" he asked. "Are you sure that's safe?" He watched as she went down some fifty feet down the pit, dropping into the unclear water and diving underneath. It took a few seconds for her to emerge from the depths, but when she did, she came up holding a pebble in her hand. "What were you looking for?" he asked as he helper her get back up to level ground. Professor Ampersand accepted her hat back and carefully showed him the stone. "A momento, I suppose." She paused while she looked back at the throne. "Just something to remember my father by." The pair exited the oppressive atmosphere of the cave and into the still night air of the jungle. It was a full moon.
For a brief moment in that silence, gazing up at the two stone columns between them, they felt very alone in the world.
-End- |
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| 04 Aug 2012 03:16 AM |
oh god, the whole page lags from how much text is in this. but this does look really really interesting, so i'll track it for later when it isnt 4 in the morning.
I mean, but then my house was nuked. |
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Stravents
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| Joined: 01 Aug 2012 |
| Total Posts: 5455 |
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| 04 Aug 2012 03:18 AM |
| A VERY LONG STORY, TO LONG TO READ. |
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| 04 Aug 2012 03:21 AM |
No one said you had to read it all in one take. Track it and read through it when you have the chance. It just looks intimidating because it's spaced out a lot. |
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Stravents
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| Joined: 01 Aug 2012 |
| Total Posts: 5455 |
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| 04 Aug 2012 07:34 AM |
| now that I actually got the time to read this, the story is actually super good. Did you write anything stories before? Btw I tracked. |
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| 04 Aug 2012 07:42 AM |
| Thanks. You can find my other fanfiction stuff in my profile blurb. |
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NeverSaved
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| Joined: 30 May 2009 |
| Total Posts: 100259 |
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pajke
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| Joined: 24 Jun 2009 |
| Total Posts: 8655 |
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| 04 Aug 2012 08:09 AM |
| have I ever told you how much I love your stories |
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| 04 Aug 2012 08:27 AM |
| So this is what you complained about at midnight? |
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| 04 Aug 2012 08:35 AM |
| Final revival before I leave... |
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| 04 Aug 2012 08:50 AM |
Very Interesting. Im gonna make a movie out of this! |
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| 04 Aug 2012 09:06 AM |
| Read it in one sitting. This is good stuff. |
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| 04 Aug 2012 09:07 AM |
| i also read it all, and this is epic stuff. |
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