Writer's Showcase Soiree - A Haunted Masquerade

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Hana

Hana

wandering thoughts
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Coding by Sir Basil. Banner by Sen.
​



WELCOME TO THE WRITER'S SHOWCASE SOIREE
AN INVITATION ?

What's this? The strange abandoned mansion that you see ahead of you as you clutch that slip of paper you found is suddenly flooded with lights. Shivering at the chill in the wind, you wrap your coat tighter around you and trudge through the misty front yard, determined to see what's inside. The grass underneath you crackles underneath your feet, or was it the dead brown leaves that you were stepping on?

Standing in front of the huge oak doors, you raise your hand to use the heavy brass doorknockers… Only for the doors to suddenly creak open on its own. Holding your breath, you expect to see a monster…

Only for a man in a mask to smile at you, a young lady coming up to his side and extending a welcoming smile.

"Welcome. We've been expecting you." You watch as the lady reaches out with a gloved hand, and you grip it to find that her touch is as cold as ice.

And you smile.

For you have found a place where you belong as a creature of the night...


WHAT IS THE WRITER'S SHOWCASE SOIREE ?

Good day, everyone! I hope everyone is pumped and excited for this month's Halloween, just as I am for this sweet new event we have prepared for you - the Writer's Showcase Soiree. The Soiree is a creative and hopefully helpful two-part event for this month that involves us as an entire community - from us staffers to our beloved members, we hope to help you and each other improve your writing, have fun, and make friends. It would help you flex your writing and creative muscles in the prompts and exercises we have prepared for you, should you like to participate. You may be aware of MISC - a competitive writing contest that other staff members run every other month. Same as them, WSS is slated to run every other month in alternation.

What will you do in the Soiree? Participants will follow the given prompts and exercises, and submit it in an allocated thread in the Refining Writing forum. Entries will be both reviewed by a panel of staff members and given constructive criticism, as well as peer reviews from non-staff members and even discussion! Let's have fun, everyone, creating and writing together.

Because at the heart of it all, the aim of this is to improve and learn together.

Without further ado, I welcome everyone to the opening night of the Writer's Showcase Soiree.

This month's theme is:
A HAUNTED MASQUERADE

PART ONE: THE MASK OF A MONSTER

Exercise: Create a monster that could be your own unique or personal take on traditional myths and folklore, or an entirely new creature from your imagination.

Make sure to explore this creature's appearance, name (it is possible for it to be in a foreign language if they are known in different cultures), its history (including myths), abilities, habitat, life span and gender ratio. We encourage picture references! You can write it out however you like, in paragraph form or as a CS.

These questions can help you develop the appearance of your monster.
  • How tall is your monster?
  • How heavy is your monster?
  • What does your monster's face look like? Include eyes, mouth, nose, teeth and ears.
  • Describe your monster's arm and leg appearances.
  • What does your monster's hand(s) and finger(s) look like?
  • Describe the aspects of your monster's feet and toes. eg. Are they smelly?
  • Does it have hair/fur?
  • What color is it skin/fur?
  • Is there a type of texture to your monster's skin? Is it rough like sandpaper, scaly, smooth?
  • Does your monster have horns, wings, tails, or extra limbs?
  • Why would someone be afraid of this monster's appearance?
Here's an example monster:
[spoili]
Standing at 40cm (1'04") and weighing 5.5kg (12.1lbs), the Iwakubunnit is a small bipedal rabbit that spends most of its time lazing about the Iwaku forums doing nothing. It looks quite ordinary, covered with a fluffy and sleek coat of fur that is incredibly soft to touch. The Iwakubunnit is so cute and adorable and fluffy that when it is sleeping and has its head tucked within the mass of rabbit fur, it looks like a cloud. Beady black eyes, a twitching grey-furred nose, pointed ears that flop to the side every time it tries to get a look at you and whiskers so long that they drag on the floor. The Iwakubunnit's hands and feet and uncannily similar to human beings, with the exception of them being padded and protected with a thick layer of fur. They are surprisingly clean, but mysteriously stink with the stench of metallic blood. If one were to look closely, the Iwakubunnit has a set of horn stubs, hidden away in between its ears.

The Iwakubunnit thrive on the website IwakuRoleplay, and spend their days roaming around the forums in search for something to amuse themselves with. Sometimes, they can be found poledancing in the FAQ area, or bouncing around the Donations page in hope of catching someone's attention. They prefer higher altitudes, so the majority of them are found in the upper area of the website. The Iwakubunnit like to feast on textboxes and the occasional shitposter, but that gives them severe diarrhoea. Their favourite food of all time are other people's plots.

The first Iwakubunnit was born when the Admins offered the feather of an owl, the heart of a demon and the eye of a honey badger to the writing gods, in an attempt to summon a worthy guardian for the fledgling site that was IwakuRoleplay. The first Iwakubunnit ate up all of the shitposters, all the spambots and gave the admins their coveted and treasured Banhammers. However, after the banmins became efficient with their new weapon, the Iwakubunnit became bored, since there was not much for it to do. As a result, it went into retirement and gave birth to small Iwakubunnits that started overtaking the site. After spending so many years in the presence of writers, it seems to have turned these gentle creatures into moody and unpredictable monster.

Iwakubunnits are capable of transforming into insatiable monsters that devour all plots and stories in sight. They increase a thousandfold in size and gain immense strength capable of smashing entire threads to bits. Each Iwakubunnit has their own preference of genres, but none go unscathed after the rampage of an Iwakubunnit. They say that everytime Diana messes something up during an update, the Iwakubunnits mutate to become more and more powerful…[/spoili]

PART TWO: THE ENCOUNTER

Exercise: Write an original short story featuring a monster that was submitted in Part One. You may feature another participant's monster with respect to the author, playing the monster as a part of that race. Recommended setting is fractured fairy tale.

Bonus: Write the story from the monster's point of view.

Bonus x2: Incorporate this month's masquerade theme into the story.

PRIZES: THE HONOR ROLL

What? Honor roll and freebies? After the first Soiree event has finished running, a list of members on the Honor Roll will be published! The Honor Roll is a list of participants who have fulfilled the judges' set criteria and standards for the events, and in the following soirees people who have participated often and regularly will get a spot on the list!

For the Soiree's grand opening, the Honor Roll participants will get a chance to win redeemable freebie coupons, which are randomized awards that one can redeem anytime. There are 5 coupons that can be won each distributed to one person. What are the possible freebies that Honor Roll members can get?

Free Art Request from [Insert Staff Artist Name Here]
Free Div Box or BB Code Character Sheet or Formatting from [Insert Staff BB Code Wizard Here]
Free Character or Roleplay Banner from [Insert Staff Photomanipulation Wiz Here]
Free Character Playlist put together by [????]

People also have a chance to get the COOL THANG user banner under their names for one month. In following soirees, the more you regularly participate, the higher your chances of one day getting that fun user banner.

These coupons can also be gifted to friends, so if you have friends you'd like to help out or cheer up and you have a coupon you don't really get to use, why not make someone else's day?

GENERAL SUBMISSION RULES

Each part of the event is allotted two weeks' time to finish and submit entries. The time period for Part One begins from October 1 and ends at October 15, and for Part Two it begins October 16 and ends October 30. Any entries for the respective parts that is submitted past the deadline dates will no longer be accepted, so be mindful of these dates. We will be using the site's native time (GMT -6) to decide when the date rolls over.

To submit your entry, just post your finished work in the thread we will set up for submissions. A Contest Runner will copy and move it to the opening post so that it will be visible to those who want to post reviews. To make sure that the Soiree team will see it, please remember to tag these names: @Hana @Sen

These are the main contest runners for the Soiree, and they will put up your submissions as soon as they can once they are alerted of them.
  • All entries must be submitted before the deadline dates set for each respective part of this event. Entries submitted past deadlines will no longer be reviewed; the staff reviewers all have limited time to read and review all entries. We can only help those who have submitted within those dates.
  • Only one entry per part is allowed per person.
  • Entries must fit within the given criteria for each challenge.
  • Participants must write original entries for the challenges; they may not take concepts from original published works and use them in their submissions. Inspiration from published works is of course allowed; however the point of this activity is a creative exercise to help members create their own works.
  • Plagiarism isn't allowed and if a participant is caught, they face the possibility of being banned from the Soiree.
  • Submissions have a word limit of 5,000 words, but the recommended length is 3,000 words so as to not overwhelm the reviewers and the staff who will be reading over the entries. Other participants are also encouraged to read each other's entries; constructive critiques and comments are part of these exercises.

THE STAFF BEHIND THE SOIREE

Judges/Reviewers
@Hana
@Minerva
@IceQueen
@Sir Basil
@Izurich

Prompt/Challenge Creators
@Izurich
@Minerva
@WhisperingWillows
@Sen
@Kitti
@Jorick
@Hana

Awards and Gifts
@WhisperingWillows
@Sen

Event Runners
@Hana and @Sen

Let me share with you a story behind how we all came together for the Soiree. In the two years I have been on Iwaku, I've grown to adore the community and the variety of people with all kinds of talents in not just writing or roleplaying, but art, music, and so much more. But what drew me most other than it being an inspiring creative outlet for me was the people that made it up, and eventually along the road this year, I wondered to myself - how do we bring both writing and community together? We can collaborate together in groups or in partnerships, but what about something else other than roleplaying that can both be fun and helpful?

There was an idea, building inside my head about what I can also do as a part of the content staff. In my search for what I can do to help produce content and exercises to help members, I asked the members themselves about what they thought would be a good, fresh exercise.

I'd like to thank @LimeyPanda for bringing this up in a Discord server, as well as @Jorick for letting me base this event off of his old writing competitions that eventually grew into what is now MISC. If it weren't for you two, I'm not sure if the idea would have even been sparked as well as it had now.

And I'd like to thank @Sen for being there for me in the month that it took to put this together, drawing me out of my creative slumps and discouraged feelings that sometimes seemed to almost overwhelm me. She's been the angel that's been pushing me forward as always even if her methods are more a sort of tough love.

The entire team of volunteers for this group have also been wonderful in molding the ideas and suggestions we bounced back and forth into what are now are prompts for this month. Thank you so much.

Lastly, I'd like to thank you, the members, who are reading this. The members that are considering on what to write. And the community as a whole.

We welcome you all to the Soiree, and may we all enjoy the fruits of our creativity and innovation this month to present monsters that enthrall, monsters that repulse, monsters that can even be very much in the realm of possibility in the strange world that is ours. And in creating them we wear their masks to spin tales and stories to share.

- Hana


Please take note that the reviews and critiques of submissions must be posted in the reviews thread. Only submissions and discussion are to be posted here. ​
 
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Nue said:
Le question real quick...

if one participates in a second part, do they have an equal of a chance as someone who participates in the first part?
Click to expand...

Depends on how many tickets you get. Presuming one person entered both Part One and Part Two but only met the minimum requirements, they get two tickets.

Someone who entered only Part Two and only met the minimum requirements will only have one ticket.

Of course, you can still match up with someone who entered in both and wrote enough to earn 3 tickets in total by getting the bonuses in Part Two and also get 3.
 
@Sen @Hana It's a tad bit short, please forgive me.

Edit: This story features the Punomti.
[spoili]
T'was a dark night, darker than most, in which the moonlit forest seemed to bustle with more shady forms of life and undeath. In the center of the dim wooden sea, stood like an island, a single hill, atop which was built a grand mansion. Its windows flowing over with hopeful light, and the voices from inside cheering and chatting to the beat of elegant but festive music, the mansion shone like a beacon in this remarkable night.


Indeed, inside the marvellous mansion, dapper gentlemen in pressed tailcoats and ladies wearing only the most glamorous gowns and frocks, mingled and rubbed shoulders in their ornate masks, with countless servants rushing to and fro, and the elegant, the particularly splendid Master of the mansion and his beautiful Lady overlooking it all.

On a party like such, where all and everyone invited were free to enjoy the great beauty assembled in the mansion, love was bound to occur. Every once in awhile, between the grand tocks of the grandfather's clock in the main staircase, a couple would find themselves dancing together, bound by the combined forces of infatuation and the moment, their eyes locked at each other, and their next intentions far more hedonistic.

So what would you then do, accompanied only by your dear in search of a place in the mansion to be alone in, hopefully a tad more romantic? Why, what better place than the mansion's glorious gardens. Here, row after row of colorful flowers and every other blooming cherry tree make up the only thing separating the grassy paths around the back part of the building. The occasional bench lit by a single lamp post underlined the subdued and serene aesthetic of the place.

Clearly, to those wanting to be alone with their date for the masquerade, the gardens seemed like the perfect choice. And it would be, had it not been for that in order to access this living artwork of romance, one would have to cross a conspicuously placed rectangular patch of grass, like a small outdoor hallway. Alone that may sound like nothing of any slight concern, although through means unknown to most visitors of the mansion, there stands a few trees in the way.

~*~

The old, wooden door creaked open. Click, click, said their shoes. They laughed and talked, innocently and ignorantly headed towards the garden. The garden. How I despised that place. It was nothing but enslavement and suffering and enforced conforming to their wretched aesthetic. Oh, how they all made me feel sick. If I of course had a stomach and a single body. Nonetheless, they were headed in my direction. Stepping on the dirt silenced their shoes. Finally.

Lighthearted chatting filled the passage, marking the arrival of a couple. Like many others, they sought the charm of the gardens, but did nonetheless continue flirting all the way there. Compliments, gossip, and a banter-ish form of jokes scuttered back and forth between the two lovers. The man was, like most other gentlemen attending the party, dressed in what could be any other tailcoat, but with an assortment of shiny medals adorning his chest, and his face bearing, in between the wrinkles, a dashing scar.

Their horrid conversation continued for what felt like an eternity, until the two intrusive fools at last approached me. The woman's sickly long dress rubbed onto my roots. How I wished to just end the two of them right then. But of course not, a curse always has it catches, and I had to live with mine. I just couldn't stand their flattering speech any longer. It was with utter relief I could finally approach them back.

Conversation halted, and shocked gasps were quick to take its place. Before them, consisting of the entangled branches of the six trees, stood a woman. Woman in a rather broad sense, anyhow. She was still simply a writhing mass of branches of almost serpentine litheness. A writhing mass of branches that lend out its hand, staring longingly at the man with its wooden eyes. A chilly breeze crept through the area.

The man took a protective stance over his accompanying lady, who stepped back instinctively. "What in the name of Asmodeus is this arboreal curse," muttered the man to himself, before using the arm which stopped the woman from proceeding to draw his rapier. "Fear not, my lady," he told her reassuringly, "whatever this infernal creature is capable of, I am certain I'll be able to protect you from it."

Empty promises, the man gave. Flattered, but still anxious sighs, the woman returned. Hideous. Of course, a fight was nothing I was to pick. When I made encounters with people, I ensured it'd be on my premises. And they did not include swords. His words didn't exactly calm me either. But what could he have done? He clearly didn't know I could hear them. I'm curious about whether they would have acted differently, had they known.

The "woman" put on a saddened face, only strengthening her longing expression. All of her facial details were, of course, hardly visible, due to her face being a writhing mass of branches. Still, something changed within the man. "...Perhaps it, whatever this thing is, wishes to tell us something?" He turned his face to the wooden creature, slowly lowering his rapier. "Ahem, we're terribly sorry to have frightened you. I was wondering," he paused, releasing his sword to be welcomed by the ground, "if we may pass?"

Fool. Heinous fool. It was without effort my roots chained his sword to the ground, never to be recovered as long as I'm alive and my body isn't all gone. It was with minimal effort my human avatar shot forward to morph into a hand and grab around the woman. It was with little effort the branches making up said hand shook off the man clinging to it. It was with a lot of noise I started devouring the woman. She attached to one tree easily enough, but her screaming. It was unbearable. I was as if paralyzed.

The man, mercilessly flung into the nearby wall for his brave attempt to save his beloved, would have passed out, had it not have been for the in a morbid way revitalizing screams of fear and agony of his accomplice. Struggling to get on his feet, he rolled up the sleeves of his now slightly ragged suit in a desperate and futile attempt at tearing at whatever twig or leaf he could manage. To his surprise, as he got closer, the trees didn't seem to move. Which he would have taken for granted any other day.

He stepped up, and he swung with his bare fists, and he tugged and snared and tore. The trees' bark and leaves were flung in all directions, as the man rummaged around in the labyrinth of wooden tentacles. By the end of his momentary rush of energy, he found himself standing atop the tree opposite of his lady. Said lady was also near the end of her screaming, unfortunately. With whatever left he had, he lept, threw himself over the disarmingly large distance. Her lungs were out of air, her voice out of power. But she could hold out her hand. And he could grab it.

And I could grab him. I could, of course, crush him, and stop the current human nuisance to my existence for now, but I decided over it. Making things a bit harder for him would possibly be more enjoyable. If I had a brain that could react to dopamine, that is. It was with little effort a few of my branches tore their held hands apart and flung the man far away, into the seemingly never-ending dark forest. I heard little more of him. And the woman? She died hopelessly ever after.
[/spoili]
 
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Black Widow Spider/Human Hybrid

Darren Arach had been following his target for a week, and he'd seen her enter this very party only a few short minutes ago. The fact that he had not been invited posed a bit of a dilemma for him, but not one he could not overcome. He had simply waited in the shadows until a single attendee appeared and using his charm and grace had lured the poor woman to her doom. He partook of the rejuvenating snack, and then helped himself to her invitation. Saluting her clean bones before making his way to the door, he bowed his head to the attendant at the door as he presented the invitation.

Once inside it was no difficult matter to find the target, he could feel the tingling along his arms and legs that signaled her proximity. That awareness was the greatest thrill of this stalking that he engaged in these past four years. The sweet anticipation of seeing the shock and horror on her face was his reward, and the revenge of every male of his kind. He had never been one to succumb to the normal, and he was definitely NOT going to be some woman's meal. NO, that was not going to be his end. The very idea that he would not accept his fate was his greatest weapon against the females. Their arrogance and belief that all the males were a slave to the mating dance, that they could not control those urges, were the females' greatest weakness and one he had learn to exploit to perfection. There was nothing quite like the taste of a female's flesh, he could already feel the warmth of it inside his mouth, sending that now familiar tingling to all eight of his extremities.

She was sitting in a dark corner, so predictable. she was stunning, as they all were but she had that smug look about her, and she was licking her fingers. She had just eaten, how very fitting. She would be more amenable to his charms if she was sated in that way. He sauntered over to her and smiled his practiced charming smile.

"I see you have been partaking of the festivities," he said as he bowed and lifted her hand to kis her knuckles, "Would you perhaps like to have a go at seconds?' he asked looking up at her over her hand as his lips caressed those alabaster knuckles.

"I would indeed," she replied as she stood and slipped her hand down to twine her fingers with his and lead him to her private little place.

He just smiled as he followed her, his free hand sliding into the pocket of his jacket to wrap around the shooter located there. Once inside the room, she turned on him and took the typical aggressive posture of the females when faced with a mating male. He dodged her though and rolled across the room in an agile and practiced movement that had proven to be enraging to the females in the past. He smiled and tipped his head, "Now, now, beautiful," he said with a sneer, "Not so fast."

Confusion masked her face, and he smiled even wider as he fired the weapon at her and he watched as the sticky goo grew and attached her to the wall. He tipped his head as he approached. "Quite the predicament," he said smoothly, "Whatever will you do?" He asked as he took his time to let her absorb the situation fully.

"What do you think you are doing?" she asked with venom in her voice as she struggled to free herself from the goo.

He leaned a bit closer and winked at her, "I would that is evident my dear," he said in that rich velvet baritone voice, "I am going to kill you...very slowly. Just like you have killed the mating members of our species for countless years."

Her eyes widened and then flashed fire and indigence. He was undaunted, "You will find dear," he said as he produced a long knife, "That the more you struggle, the tighter the grip of the goo will become. Fear not though, I will not leave you thus forever." Moving to her side her slipped the knife into the goo and cut off her right arms above the elbow. He pulled them from the goo and went to sit on the bed and eat them while she watched in horror. That was the best part for him, their reaction to his enjoyment of the meal. "You females really do taste fantastic," he said as he finished and moved to her left side to repeat the process. "You know dear," he said as he returned to his seat on the bed, "If you females would communicate with one another, you might have known one of our kind was killing your kind and been able to protect yourself. Pity really that you are all so sure of your prowess, is it not?"

She began tossing curses and insults of every color and kind at him but he just smiled, "Ah yes," he said as he approached her again and this time removed her legs, all four at once. "Still trying to intimidate me even though it is more than obvious you are going to meet your end soon enough. I rather enjoy watching it though, so do continue." Watching him slowly devour her was something of an oddity to her that had her suddenly interested in being mated. She turned her tactics to that end and actually begged him to mate with her. "Pity I am not even slightly interested, is it not?" He was used to this as well. Every single female had begged, and he had heeded none of them. "I do like the begging. Feel free to continue, though sadly we are almost done here." He slipped the knife into the middle of the good and sliced off her abdomen. He pulled the bulbous form from the goo and smiled at it. "Ahh the most luscious part," he smiled and knelt before her to partake of his feast.

When he stood her eyes were glazed and though she was not dead, she was very near to being so. "Ah my dear," he said as he leaned closer, "You die too easily," he said as he shoved the knife into her heart and watched as life left her. He cut the goo away and finished the meal leaving nothing behind except the gooey traces on the wall and strolled back out to the soiree, a satisfied smile on his handsome lips.
 
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IntrusivePenDesperateSword said:
@Sen @Hana It's a tad bit short, please forgive me.
[spoili]
T'was a dark night, darker than most, in which the moonlit forest seemed to bustle with more shady forms of life and undeath. In the center of the dim wooden sea, stood like an island, a single hill, atop which was built a grand mansion. Its windows flowing over with hopeful light, and the voices from inside cheering and chatting to the beat of elegant but festive music, the mansion shone like a beacon in this remarkable night.


Indeed, inside the marvellous mansion, dapper gentlemen in pressed tailcoats and ladies wearing only the most glamorous gowns and frocks, mingled and rubbed shoulders in their ornate masks, with countless servants rushing to and fro, and the elegant, the particularly splendid Master of the mansion and his beautiful Lady overlooking it all.

On a party like such, where all and everyone invited were free to enjoy the great beauty assembled in the mansion, love was bound to occur. Every once in awhile, between the grand tocks of the grandfather's clock in the main staircase, a couple would find themselves dancing together, bound by the combined forces of infatuation and the moment, their eyes locked at each other, and their next intentions far more hedonistic.

So what would you then do, accompanied only by your dear in search of a place in the mansion to be alone in, hopefully a tad more romantic? Why, what better place than the mansion's glorious gardens. Here, row after row of colorful flowers and every other blooming cherry tree make up the only thing separating the grassy paths around the back part of the building. The occasional bench lit by a single lamp post underlined the subdued and serene aesthetic of the place.

Clearly, to those wanting to be alone with their date for the masquerade, the gardens seemed like the perfect choice. And it would be, had it not been for that in order to access this living artwork of romance, one would have to cross a conspicuously placed rectangular patch of grass, like a small outdoor hallway. Alone that may sound like nothing of any slight concern, although through means unknown to most visitors of the mansion, there stands a few trees in the way.

~*~

The old, wooden door creaked open. Click, click, said their shoes. They laughed and talked, innocently and ignorantly headed towards the garden. The garden. How I despised that place. It was nothing but enslavement and suffering and enforced conforming to their wretched aesthetic. Oh, how they all made me feel sick. If I of course had a stomach and a single body. Nonetheless, they were headed in my direction. Stepping on the dirt silenced their shoes. Finally.

Lighthearted chatting filled the passage, marking the arrival of a couple. Like many others, they sought the charm of the gardens, but did nonetheless continue flirting all the way there. Compliments, gossip, and a banter-ish form of jokes scuttered back and forth between the two lovers. The man was, like most other gentlemen attending the party, dressed in what could be any other tailcoat, but with an assortment of shiny medals adorning his chest, and his face bearing, in between the wrinkles, a dashing scar.

Their horrid conversation continued for what felt like an eternity, until the two intrusive fools at last approached me. The woman's sickly long dress rubbed onto my roots. How I wished to just end the two of them right then. But of course not, a curse always has it catches, and I had to live with mine. I just couldn't stand their flattering speech any longer. It was with utter relief I could finally approach them back.

Conversation halted, and shocked gasps were quick to take its place. Before them, consisting of the entangled branches of the six trees, stood a woman. Woman in a rather broad sense, anyhow. She was still simply a writhing mass of branches of almost serpentine litheness. A writhing mass of branches that lend out its hand, staring longingly at the man with its wooden eyes. A chilly breeze crept through the area.

The man took a protective stance over his accompanying lady, who stepped back instinctively. "What in the name of Asmodeus is this arboreal curse," muttered the man to himself, before using the arm which stopped the woman from proceeding to draw his rapier. "Fear not, my lady," he told her reassuringly, "whatever this infernal creature is capable of, I am certain I'll be able to protect you from it."

Empty promises, the man gave. Flattered, but still anxious sighs, the woman returned. Hideous. Of course, a fight was nothing I was to pick. When I made encounters with people, I ensured it'd be on my premises. And they did not include swords. His words didn't exactly calm me either. But what could he have done? He clearly didn't know I could hear them. I'm curious about whether they would have acted differently, had they known.

The "woman" put on a saddened face, only strengthening her longing expression. All of her facial details were, of course, hardly visible, due to her face being a writhing mass of branches. Still, something changed within the man. "...Perhaps it, whatever this thing is, wishes to tell us something?" He turned his face to the wooden creature, slowly lowering his rapier. "Ahem, we're terribly sorry to have frightened you. I was wondering," he paused, releasing his sword to be welcomed by the ground, "if we may pass?"

Fool. Heinous fool. It was without effort my roots chained his sword to the ground, never to be recovered as long as I'm alive and my body isn't all gone. It was with minimal effort my human avatar shot forward to morph into a hand and grab around the woman. It was with little effort the branches making up said hand shook off the man clinging to it. It was with a lot of noise I started devouring the woman. She attached to one tree easily enough, but her screaming. It was unbearable. I was as if paralyzed.

The man, mercilessly flung into the nearby wall for his brave attempt to save his beloved, would have passed out, had it not have been for the in a morbid way revitalizing screams of fear and agony of his accomplice. Struggling to get on his feet, he rolled up the sleeves of his now slightly ragged suit in a desperate and futile attempt at tearing at whatever twig or leaf he could manage. To his surprise, as he got closer, the trees didn't seem to move. Which he would have taken for granted any other day.

He stepped up, and he swung with his bare fists, and he tugged and snared and tore. The trees' bark and leaves were flung in all directions, as the man rummaged around in the labyrinth of wooden tentacles. By the end of his momentary rush of energy, he found himself standing atop the tree opposite of his lady. Said lady was also near the end of her screaming, unfortunately. With whatever left he had, he lept, threw himself over the disarmingly large distance. Her lungs were out of air, her voice out of power. But she could hold out her hand. And he could grab it.

And I could grab him. I could, of course, crush him, and stop the current human nuisance to my existence for now, but I decided over it. Making things a bit harder for him would possibly be more enjoyable. If I had a brain that could react to dopamine, that is. It was with little effort a few of my branches tore their held hands apart and flung the man far away, into the seemingly never-ending dark forest. I heard little more of him. And the woman? She died hopelessly ever after.
[/spoili]
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PoetLore said:
Darren Arach had been following his target for a week, and he'd seen her enter this very party only a few short minutes ago. The fact that he had not been invited posed a bit of a dilemma for him, but not one he could not overcome. He had simply waited in the shadows until a single attendee appeared and using his charm and grace had lured the poor woman to her doom. He partook of the rejuvenating snack, and then helped himself to her invitation. Saluting her clean bones before making his way to the door, he bowed his head to the attendant at the door as he presented the invitation.

Once inside it was no difficult matter to find the target, he could feel the tingling along his arms and legs that signaled her proximity. That awareness was the greatest thrill of this stalking that he engaged in these past four years. The sweet anticipation of seeing the shock and horror on her face was his reward, and the revenge of every male of his kind. He had never been one to succumb to the normal, and he was definitely NOT going to be some woman's meal. NO, that was not going to be his end. The very idea that he would not accept his fate was his greatest weapon against the females. Their arrogance and belief that all the males were a slave to the mating dance, that they could not control those urges, were the females' greatest weakness and one he had learn to exploit to perfection. There was nothing quite like the taste of a female's flesh, he could already feel the warmth of it inside his mouth, sending that now familiar tingling to all eight of his extremities.

She was sitting in a dark corner, so predictable. she was stunning, as they all were but she had that smug look about her, and she was licking her fingers. She had just eaten, how very fitting. She would be more amenable to his charms if she was sated in that way. He sauntered over to her and smiled his practiced charming smile.

"I see you have been partaking of the festivities," he said as he bowed and lifted her hand to kis her knuckles, "Would you perhaps like to have a go at seconds?' he asked looking up at her over her hand as his lips caressed those alabaster knuckles.

"I would indeed," she replied as she stood and slipped her hand down to twine her fingers with his and lead him to her private little place.

He just smiled as he followed her, his free hand sliding into the pocket of his jacket to wrap around the shooter located there. Once inside the room, she turned on him and took the typical aggressive posture of the females when faced with a mating male. He dodged her though and rolled across the room in an agile and practiced movement that had proven to be enraging to the females in the past. He smiled and tipped his head, "Now, now, beautiful," he said with a sneer, "Not so fast."

Confusion masked her face, and he smiled even wider as he fired the weapon at her and he watched as the sticky goo grew and attached her to the wall. He tipped his head as he approached. "Quite the predicament," he said smoothly, "Whatever will you do?" He asked as he took his time to let her absorb the situation fully.

"What do you think you are doing?" she asked with venom in her voice as she struggled to free herself from the goo.

He leaned a bit closer and winked at her, "I would that is evident my dear," he said in that rich velvet baritone voice, "I am going to kill you...very slowly. Just like you have killed the mating members of our species for countless years."

Her eyes widened and then flashed fire and indigence. He was undaunted, "You will find dear," he said as he produced a long knife, "That the more you struggle, the tighter the grip of the goo will become. Fear not though, I will not leave you thus forever." Moving to her side her slipped the knife into the goo and cut off her right arms above the elbow. He pulled them from the goo and went to sit on the bed and eat them while she watched in horror. That was the best part for him, their reaction to his enjoyment of the meal. "You females really do taste fantastic," he said as he finished and moved to her left side to repeat the process. "You know dear," he said as he returned to his seat on the bed, "If you females would communicate with one another, you might have known one of our kind was killing your kind and been able to protect yourself. Pity really that you are all so sure of your prowess, is it not?"

She began tossing curses and insults of every color and kind at him but he just smiled, "Ah yes," he said as he approached her again and this time removed her legs, all four at once. "Still trying to intimidate me even though it is more than obvious you are going to meet your end soon enough. I rather enjoy watching it though, so do continue." Watching him slowly devour her was something of an oddity to her that had her suddenly interested in being mated. She turned her tactics to that end and actually begged him to mate with her. "Pity I am not even slightly interested, is it not?" He was used to this as well. Every single female had begged, and he had heeded none of them. "I do like the begging. Feel free to continue, though sadly we are almost done here." He slipped the knife into the middle of the good and sliced off her abdomen. He pulled the bulbous form from the goo and smiled at it. "Ahh the most luscious part," he smiled and knelt before her to partake of his feast.

When he stood her eyes were glazed and though she was not dead, she was very near to being so. "Ah my dear," he said as he leaned closer, "You die too easily," he said as he shoved the knife into her heart and watched as life left her. He cut the goo away and finished the meal leaving nothing behind except the gooey traces on the wall and strolled back out to the soiree, a satisfied smile on his handsome lips.
Click to expand...
Can I ask you two to put the name of the monsters you were featuring on top of your stories? :)
 
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Remember that the deadline for Part 2 submissions is on October 30, everyone!
 
[BCOLOR=transparent]One of Many Faces[/BCOLOR]
[BCOLOR=transparent]It was a dark night with a full moon shining down on the forest and those who reside there. The crickets sang their songs as the owls went on the hunt, waiting for mice to be foolish enough to scurry at this time of night. On the path I stood, a short creature with dark, velvet fur. My tail swayed side to side as I walked down the path. My paws felt the soft dirt and small rocks, leaving small pin pricks of pain. I follow the path with my eyes, which was started to light with small lanterns. The path led the way to a clearing, filled with many creatures of every shape and size mingling with one another with drinks. A human looking being walked up to me with a warm smile and a glass of wine. He wore a simple black mask on his face and a white feather I know too well in his lapel. His black suit was well pressed, showing its subtle lines of red well. It ended off in shoes so dark red, they seemed to be black.[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]"[/BCOLOR][BCOLOR=transparent]Siofra! I'm so glad you could make it and in your true form at that. Thank you, it makes this get together more open for everyone." True to his word, were wolves were chatting with fur and claws out, sirens laid in the pound, splashing at a couple of kitsune, who playfully growled back at them, and a few female widow spiders were trading tips about how to lure men with some red light ravagers. I pull my tail in front of my chest to hold it. This would be the first time being in my true form around so many creatures and all my instincts said to run or change quickly.[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]"Yes, it's just like your letter said it would be. Now can I take another form? I'm getting antsy here . . ." I start to bite my lip, trying not to look as scared as I was. The man laughed and clapped his hand onto my small shoulder. He looks into my eyes, taking a moment to enjoy the trance they gave off before shaking his head.[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]"Siofra, no one here will hurt you. This is a safe place for all creatures of the night to gather and mingle. How can they get to know the real you, if you wear another's face?" He gave the same understanding look he made when he found out about what I was, giving my shoulders a light rub. I wrinkle my muzzle at him as I shrugged off his hand, following with a light smack to his leg with my tail. Whatever this man was, he always went on about being open about what you are, funny seeing as he has yet revealed what he is to me. He simply chuckles at me, before bending down to my level.[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]"I can take a hint, but how about you get a quick snack before chatting with the others. You look like you could use some confidence, Siofra." I give off a squeek before smacking him again. My face burned slightly as I gave a pout.[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]"Hey! We talked about personal space in my true form, respect it. Besides, I'm a hunter, it doesn't feel right it being given to me with no fight." It was a crappy lie, but this beast of a man needed to be put in his place. I'm a changeling, not some female you can have your way with. My friend, as I find myself calling him, gave off a hearty laugh before tapping my muzzle. He then gave a wave to a human looking female. She was also wearing a complexed lace mask, with a stunning red dress that seemed to be pulled out of a gothic story of old. Her body spoke of someone who was known to be the center of attention and loved it. And such a woman hang off my friend like she owned him, and by the emotions they gave off toward each other, it seemed to be true.[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]"Darling, is this your little love eater you invited? She looks adorable." I narrowed my eyes instantly. It is these kind of labels that make it so much harder being what I am, creature assuming that I am here to eat their love and leave nothing else. Many of my kind have been killed to this ideology and creatures like this female help spread it. My tail flicked from side to side, showing my annoyance. It didn't help that she gave me a gender, however we are taught in school to accept this as a fact of gendered creatures trying to understand us non-gender ones. My friend gave a light hearted sigh as he put his arm around the female's waist.[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]"Dear, this is my friend Siofra. They are an Emote Changeling, one who doesn't take kindly to being called a love eater. Siofra, this is my lady friend, Gloria." My friend then took Gloria's hand and my claws to bring them together. He then forced our 'hands' into shaking, much to my disdain. However, due to my friendship with the man, so I shook Lady Gloria's hand.[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]"Hello Lady Gloria, I see that my friend has found a companion. Treat him well, if you will please." I then quickly took my claw back, curling my tail around my legs. Lady Gloria happily shook my claw and gave a soft, but cocky smile.[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]"Oh Siofra, of course I'll treat him well. Though, he does have a name dear. Its-"[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]"Hush! We don't talk about it." My friend and I said at once. We had agreed a long time ago that my friend would reveal his name once I felt comfortable in my true form in front of other creatures. My friend wanted me to integrate in open society and felt that having a reward at the end would help. Gloria just gave a short nod and went to drag my friend to go chat with some centaurs. My friend just shrugged his shoulders, giving me a wave and encouraging look as he was dragged away. With my tail wrapping around my leg, I gave a wave back and walked over to the punch bowl. It smelled rather floral with hints of sugar and rum. As I made myself a cup, I felt a cold presents near my side. A poltergeist seemed to have wonder over for it's own cup of punch. It was a silvery mist with a face, a wispy body and hands. It slowly turned its face toward me, showing a child like figure. The poltergeist gave a wave as it picked up it's glass.[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]"Hey there, you some kind of demon? What with the horns and all." I let out a frustrated sigh, but figured I should play nice, if only for my friend. So, I put on my most approachable smile and turned to the poltergeist.[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]"No, not a demon. I'm an Emote Changeling, my name is Siofra, yours?" The poltergeist gave me a weird look, almost not buying what I saying at all. It took a quick swig from its glass, the liquid seemed to disappear from glass into the wispy body. The child like face then rolled it's eyes at me.[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]"Charlie. And before you ask, I was twenty when I died, not eight. I hate it when creatures assume I'm a little kid, it makes it really hard to get the ladies. So, an 'emote changeling', what the hell is that? Is it like a love-"[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]"You know how you hate it when creatures assume you're a child? Well I hate it when creatures assume I'm a love eater. Yes, I do eat love, but it's not like I take it away. Just eat the energy it produce. See? Different." I gave Charlie an easy smile, as if what I said was as normal as saying I drink water. Charlie just gave me a look, calling me crazy, yet he said nothing and went on to drink. We stood in silence for a bit, just drinking. Unfortunately, my tail gave away my nervous feelings of standing with a stranger. As my tail flicked, it caused my feathers to shine even more in the lantern's light. With the new light coming off my tail, Charlie's eyes were instantly drawn to it. In a flash, he grabbed my tail to bring it closer to his face.[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]"What the hell is up with your tail? Its like you got a light show going on in here." I gave off a loud squeal, then hissed yanking my tail back, through careful of my feathers. I protectively curl my tail around myself, my eyes narrowing.[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]"Do. Not. Touch. My. Tail." Charlie gave me an odd look, then gave an understanding nod. The ghost then poured me another drink and handed it over.[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]"I can get how certain things are more important than they seem, sorry about grabbing your tail like that, you peacock." Even though his tone of voice and facial expression was playful, my tail feathers ruffled up in displeasure at the nickname. However, the rest of the night went smoothly between the two of us, each trading stories from our lives and enjoying the drinks. I knew I needed to find someone to feed off of soon, as my hunger pains kept growing, but at the same time, I was enjoying the company too much. Perhaps I'll chat with my friend later for a snack. Yeah, that'll will do and then I can show him that I am making friends. [/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]I'll have to say, as much as I didn't want to go to this party, I'm glad I came. Made a new friend and came away with some tips for when I'm on the hunt. Perhaps I'll come to the next party my friend throws. . . Maybe.[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]Widow Spiders belong to @PoetLore[/BCOLOR]
[BCOLOR=transparent]Red Light Ravager belings to @Krieg[/BCOLOR]
[BCOLOR=transparent]Emote Changeling belongs to me[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]@Hana @Sen[/BCOLOR]​
 
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Blood and Ink (story)

Sarah unlocked her front door, entering her apartment with a resigned sigh. It had been a long day at work and she was ready to just settle down and relax. Jingles, her cat, meowed up at her and wiggled, shaking his little silver bell. The fluffy black cat rubbed up against her leg before bolting out of the closing door. Sarah chuckled and shook her head before allowing the door to shut.

She set down her purse on the floor and kicked off her shoes. She tossed off her loosely held on work outfit, it was the weekend, time for peace and quiet. She walked to her fridge and opened it up, pulling out two hard ciders, cracking one open and drinking it as she walked to her bathroom to take a shower. Passing her room-mate's room, she noticed he wasn't at his usual spot at his computer, probably out with his boyfriend.

Shame, drinking alone just felt sadder than it should be. She finished the bottle she was on as she stepped in the bathroom and set the second one on the counter before turning on the hot water. After she was finished and her skin was pink from the scrubbing and the heat she toweled off and got into her blue bathrobe, picking the other cider up off the counter and heading to her room.

She turned on her own computer and started up playing some video games, doing so mindlessly for a few hours till it was dark. Soon she heard a meow and took off her headphones, reaching out to pet Jingles, "Did you lose your bell again?" She asked as she turned, the face of her mother behind her, dark red liquid dripping from the holes where her eyes should be.

Sarah screamed and fell out of her chair, scooting back quickly on the floor, "What the hell are you!" She screamed before it discarded the face. The long, thin, wormlike creature grew longer and soon it split in half. She stood and went for her door, but one of the now two creatures leapt from the floor and wrapped around her neck. A scream was cut off in her throat as the creature began to tighten. She gripped it and tried to pull it off, but to no avail. Her eyes grew bloodshot and soon, she was no longer able to struggle.
 
Okay, here we go. Be advised that this is a bloodbath.
@Sen @Hana

Prey.
She smelled it. Hungered for it. Needed it—not only to sate her ever-ravenous appetite but also to feed the eggs that she could feel developing in her bloodstream. If she did not first feed and then find prey for the spawn to devour outside her body, they would make do with the next best thing: herself. And so the alpha female zhavéléku brought herself up to her wingjoints, huffing with pain at the hole in her side. She had fought well, but still the male had been far too strong. Massive as she was, he had been more than twice her wingspan, and in the end she had been implanted with his seed packet.

They were a species born from hatred. They understood nothing else; the madman that had developed them had destroyed his own civilization in doing so, for the zhavélékú'i could not be controlled. Their very name meant 'those who massacre', though the language it came from was as dead as the culture from which it emerged. The zhavélékú'i had ruined it all. Where once there had been vibrant city-states and a rich civilization, Kháj Tmæon now contained only nomadic tribes immersed in internecine squabbles. Throughout the desert, humans were afraid to remain in one place for fear of a scourge ten thousand years old: the horror that dropped from the skies, thrashed up from beneath the sand or—as the female did now—towered on mighty wingjoints, walking across the land. Violence was born from violence in a cycle that never ended, even as humankind strove to eliminate these foul creatures from the seething heat of the Great Red Desert.

The female zhavélékú continued to walk over the ground. The wound left by the male's penis oozed a stinking yellow ichor. She was too wounded to become airborne, and her normal manner of hunting by lying beneath the sand was both too slow and too risky. If a human were to smell her blood or see its dampness, she risked being attacked when at her weakest. Though the males were more frequently subject to human aggression due to their valuable members, no human would pass up a chance to rid the desert of a gravid female zhavélékú.

With another huff of pain, she began to move toward a line of dust on the horizon. Some twenty kilometers from her current location, there was a small oasis, barely more than a wet spot in the sand. Despite this, it still attracted humans and other vermin. To approach it was dangerous, but to do nothing would mean certain death. Her twisted face wrung itself into an even more horrible expression as she began to trundle closer. The alpha female zhavélékú bent light around herself and hoped that this and slow, steady movement would be enough to bring her close enough to prey to strike with spiked wings, tongues or tail. She required at least one human to sate the needs of her young, but two or a camel would be better, so she would receive nourishment for herself.

The female preferred the taste of humans to camels.

Because it was during the heat of the day, no one was stirring from either tents or hovels. Creeping almost by inches with the light wrapped round her, the zhavélékú's disguise would surely be effective. In due time, a victim would approach the spined sweep of her wings, there to be enfolded. Her presence in this place would mean man and beast alike took to their heels once she attacked. The chances of anyone heavily armed were nearly nil. She froze in place, awaiting the bronze hammer of the cruel sun to lower below the horizon and bring forth her prey.

It happened sooner than the alpha female suspected it would. From a tent across the muddy pool of water, a woman and a girl of about seven emerged. They were barely out of range of the zhavélékú's left wing, so she remained utterly still. They might have escaped without harm. They might have drawn their water and departed to filter it and drink in peace.

The old, badly-maintained shaduf failed them.

The primitive machine, made to lift water from wells to either waiting receptacles or irrigation ditches, froze and then its sun-roasted wood fractured. There were two others, however, and the woman moved toward the next. In an instant, she and the child were captured by a lashing wing. Their screams, quickly silenced by the muffling leathern wings, rang out for only an instant, but it was an instant long enough. Emerging from tents and the small wattle-and-mud huts were about a dozen ragged men and women, all giving cries of horror as they saw the vile thing in their midst.

Ragged, save one.

The gold-hung man had eyes of burning cobalt yellow and a mane of black hair that hung nearly to his knees. At his left temple was a scar; the hair there grew out white, arcing through his black hair like lightning across a dark sky. This man had traveled long, aware of the dangers posed by these winged horrors. A nose keener than that of the locals told him two things: the two engulfed by the creature's wings yet lived, and the zhavélékú herself was badly injured. His venom yellow eyes narrowed for a split second as he weighed his options, and then—as much for sport as to mount a rescue—he took action.

On the instant, his flesh blurred and seemed to melt as would the wax of a candle in the noontime desert heat. He doubled in mass and height. His clothing shredded from his now immensely-tall form. His face elongated into a black-furred muzzle that flashed with diabolical fangs. His shoulders hunched and his arms became longer. The talons tipping his fingers, already lethal in human form, grew to six inches in length. And then the shapeshifter ran into harm's way with a roar that echoed for miles across the desert.

The zhavélékú was left with a choice. She could release her prey and attempt to capture the shapeshifter instead, or she could risk that the metallic-looking talons might stand a chance of puncturing the thick hide of her dorsal surface. The third possibility was a rich meal for herself and her spawn, and greed drove her to this last option. She reached out with her wing, swept him within it, and at once realized she had made a terrible mistake.

As her tongues reached inward towards his bodily orifices, his hand tore into the hole in her abdomen and began to slash and gouge at it. Muscle parted like soft clay beneath a potter's knife, and the alpha female screamed. She released all three man-things from her grasp. Gagging and gasping, neither the woman nor her daughter were able to move. The zhavékékú flailed out with a wing, spikes fully everted, but the shapeshifter was far too fast. He was hell-bent on destroying her by any means necessary. He tore open the tip of her wing as it narrowly passed his body.

The dance continued.

With a horrifying shriek of rage and pain, the female charged toward the shapeshifter, ichor oozing from the now-terrible wound in her abdomen. To her astonishment, he allowed her to enfold him within her wings. Injured as she was, she was faced with a choice: she could impale this defiant and truculent being with her wingspikes, but this would mean she would have nothing to feed her spawnlings—bleeding as she was, she would die before reaching the next oasis. Or she could attempt again to implant the shapeshifter and stand a chance at surviving the combined effects of her breeding and this battle.

As her tongues approached his mouth and his nethers, agony shot through her. Before he was enveloped, he had put a hand palm-up to guard his backside. The claws caught the tongues that attempted to reach there and severed them as his jaws snapped shut upon the one aimed toward his face. His other hand rendered another wound upon her abdomen as the razor-sharp claws did worse damage than the impalement of her hated mate. The zhavélékú screamed again.

Mauling and gouging, the shapeshifter began to rend his way into her body, destroying the muscles that held her wings closed. As her grip loosened, she at last attempted to impale him with her wingspikes, but the multiple wounds seemed not to slow him at all. Worse, there was now no chance of asphyxiating him. The female had no choice other than to let him go once more. But the shapeshifter had no intention of breaking off his attack.

He paced around her, forcing her to move always to face him, slashing outward with her wings. Both of them were bleeding, but his injuries were not critical and did not hamper his movement. Indeed, it seemed they were closing of themselves. His feline face was a mask of blood and he was grinning, revealing the terror of his fangs. Meanwhile, the zhavélékú was beginning to experience something of the horror that her victims knew. She was beginning to bleed out, faltering in the arc in which she moved.

She made another desperate attempt to save herself. She bent light once more, but doing so required energy. It slowed her down. This allowed the agile shapeshifter to bolt behind her and leap onto her back. She attempted to roll to dislodge him, but felt membranes and muscles begin to tear. If she went to her back, she would never be able to turn herself over again. She felt the pinpricks of agony as he climbed her body, and the female screamed again, hearing his laughter and smelling blood—her own, the shapeshifter's.

Finally, he reached the height of her body, strong legs wrapping around her neck. She attempted to pull him off with two of her remaining tongues, and lost those as well. And then the claws did worse. She felt him maul into the top of her head, the talons shearing through stringy hair, hide and bone alike. With a final plunge of his hand into the opening he created, he severed her brainstem and jumped clear as the zhavélékú collapsed forward. One wing lifted, shuddered and was still.

The locals crowded forward to laud him as hero, as savior and as friend.

"Nothing of the sort," he said, returning naked to his dour and human form. "I am a sorcerer. And the spleen of this zhavélékú is the component for one of my spells. You—give me your breechclout unless you want your blood to mingle with that of this creature."

Within the hour, the shapeshifter—a monster as vicious as any zhavélékú—was gone. The rotting body would render this oasis unusable for months to come as it poisoned the water.
 
Here's hoping I'm not too late! Black Widow Spider/Human Hybrid, belonging to @PoetLore and which I am only borrowing, with full permission.
[BCOLOR=transparent]This was her first hunt. Analise was scared, just a little, but knew better than to admit it out loud. Still, despite the fear... she was excited. Now, instead of just feeding on the leftovers of her mother's prey, she would finally be able to get her own. She could pick out exactly the one she wanted, feel the thrill of the chase... The erotic pleasures that followed.... And come morning, she would be full for once.[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]The dress she had chosen for the occasion had a tight waist but flared out to a hoop skirt, effectively hiding all of her extra appendages underneath the fabric. The dominant colors were black and gold of course, to compliment her hair and eyes (easily her most striking features) while there were some silver accents around the edges in order to give the whole ensemble a defined look. The way that her second set of arms were pressed against her sides was slightly uncomfortable, but the way that she looked was worth it. Simply put, she looked absolutely stunning.[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]Drop dead gorgeous, as it were.[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]All jokes aside, she did look quite good. And it was made even better by the dainty black and gold mask that she slid over her face, obscuring her delicate features, adding a mysterious edge to her already lethal beauty. Long black gloves covered her primary arms, and a heavy gold pendant dangled just above her cleavage.[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]"Analise, are you ready?" That was her mother, coming to escort her to the ball as her chaperone. "Yes, máma. I'm coming." She called out, and with one last look at herself in the mirror, glided out of her room and to the entrance hall, where her mother was waiting for her. "You look wonderful, chérie." Her mother complimented with a smile, and Analise swelled with pride. "Merci, máma. Shall we go?"[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]They made it to the ball with no issues, and were introduced by the footman at the door, causing heads to turn. Of course, the whispers that erupted once people caught sight of them made all the other heads turn, and soon the pair were the center of attention at the ball.[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]Still, the ball moved on and others were announced, but gossip abounded about the beautiful mother daughter duo that seemed to have no male influence in their lives. The women were scandalized, but the men were interested. The women were seen almost like tigers... In need of taming.[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]Analise looked around the ball, her eyes flitting over the male forms in attendance, disregarding the females completely. However, her mother noticed and gently flicked her side, where one of her secondary arms was bound to her side. "Stay away from bound men, chérie. They bring more trouble than we want." Rubbing her side softly, the younger woman sighed and gave a slight nod. "Oui, máma."[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]"English, petit." Her mother scolded lightly, just as an older man came and asked for her hand in a dance. With a stern look at her daughter, the older woman accepted with a charming smile. Analise sighed once more and resumed her glance over the ballroom, this time avoiding those men who seemed overly close with the women at their sides. Her mother was much more experienced than she, after all.[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]"Resplendently clad in black and gold, what pleasures can this creature hold? Hidden away so as to not be seen, all through my life where have you been?" A husky voice spoke from behind her, startling Analise from her observation of the other attendees. Whirling around to confront whoever had snuck upon her, she put a hand to her heart and let out a sigh of relief upon seeing just a human man behind her.[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]"Now now," the man chided, a grin quirking his lips beneath the half mask he wore, "I know my poetry was bad, but not bad enough to give you a heart attack." She couldn't help but let out a laugh, her eyes widening in surprise when she realized that she felt genuine amusement. When was the last time a human had actually amused her? Not since she had been just a little child, surely.[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]"Monsieur, it was not your poetry that startled me so badly, but your unannounced appearance." She informed him, a smile tugging at her lips. "But alas, even I must admit that skill at rhyming appears to be one you lack."[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]The man jokingly staggered and clutched at his heart. "Oh, I am wounded! I declare you have wounded me, woman, and now I must die for lack of touch from your fair skin." Biting her lip and feeling daring, Analise tugged off her gloves and extended one hand to him. "We mustn't let that happen, yes? Why, the world would be a darker place without you spouting your abysmal poetry at unsuspecting women."[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]The man grinned at her, dipped into an exaggeratedly formal bow, and accepted her hand. "It would be my pleasure to escort you onto the dance floor." He told her, and despite the smile that graced his face, Analise got the feeling that he was being absolutely serious as he led her into the crowd.[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]They danced and talked for the rest of the night, stopping only once so that she could bring him to her mother and get her approval, beaming when the older woman winked at her and blew a kiss from the arm of the man who had asked her to dance at the beginning of the event. With that taken care of, Analise proceeded to stage two of her plan: seduce her chosen man until he couldn't wait to take her.[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]Finally he cornered her against the wall and almost attacked her with his passion, causing her to laughingly twirl out of his embrace and lead him to a private room in the mansion the ball was taking place in.[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]"Gods, you drive me crazy." He groaned against her lips, the long forgotten masks bumping against each other as they pressed even closer. A muffled oath left his mouth and he pulled back enough to snatch the mask from his face, his breath coming in harsh pants. He threw away her mask as well, making her blood run hot.[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]The following minutes turned into hours as Analise was introduced... thoroughly... to the world of bodily pleasure. It was only after the first few rounds that she remembered what to do when she started the feeding dance.[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]Slowly the web began to weave... And by the time the man she had chosen noticed and began to struggle, it was already too late for him.[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]"I hope you survive, darling." She whispered to him softly as he moaned... first in fear, then in pleasure, and finally... in pain.[/BCOLOR]
@Sen @Hana
 
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Red : Featuring the Werewolf.



It was a beautiful and festive summer night. A night in which excitement filled the air. For tonight was the night that royals, aristocrats and their privileged guest. Would all gather together within a grand ballroom, all donned in their extravagant and luxurious attire. Each and everyone of them with their identities cloaked in mystery behind their masks. The reason being that they were all to attend a lavish masquerade ball, in celebration of a soon to be wed couple. On this most joyous night I too would attend the ball, for I had received the coveted invitation. Everyone had said that tonight would be a night to remember and they could not have been more right.



For the masquerade ball I had put on a white high collar dress shirt that had silver lace cuffs, with a black brocade waistcoat over it.On top of that was a frock coat in silver and black brocade woven fabric.I also had on a ruffled silver lace jabot worn around my neck, that had a black cameo brooch pin. As well as a matching silver handkerchief in the pocket of my frock coat.To complement my frock coat and waistcoat I wore black satin trousers with black leather dress shoes.Lastly I picked up my mask then carefully placed it upon my face, grabbed my cane and put my black top hat on which completed my masquerade attire.

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Now that I had gotten ready I exited the French doors of my mansion and laid eyes on the stagecoach that awaited me. The coachman and stagecoach driver both wore gold and black attire which was befitting for tonight's event. Then I noticed that the stagecoach was being drawn by four, magnificent and well cared for clydesdales. After briefly greeting the coachman I climbed into the stagecoach and took my seat before the door was shut behind me. Afterwards the coachman climbed up taking his seat beside the stagecoach driver and with that we were off. I couldn't help but feel excited about the celebration, so much so that I had forgotten that tonight was going to be a full moon. All I thought about was the good time I was going to have, as I could hear the clicking of the horse's hooves on the cobblestone street.Just by the sound I could tell that the four clydesdales pulling the stagecoach, were majestically trotting along at a medium speed.As we traveled to the ballroom I gazed at the night sky to see white,fluffy clouds dispersed across it. Each cloud slowly drifting by and hiding the moon as well as most of the stars from view. I silently enjoyed the cool summer air as it gently blew my curly, auburn tresses that rested beside my defined jawline.


Tonight I couldn't feel more exuberant while attempting to count the few stars that I could see. Before long I noticed that the horses were beginning to slow their pace, and I looked ahead to see that they were pulling up to my destination. After we came to a halt the coachman got down from his seat and opened the stagecoach door for me. I stepped down onto the courtyard outside of the ballroom and looked behind me,"Thank you both for your services and I do hope that you both enjoy your night."I said with a smile then gave a tip of my top hat. They each bowed their heads,"Thank you kind Sir."They both said kindly. I wave to both of them before turning away and walking toward the entrance of the building. Although I had just arrived I could already hear the sounds of music,talking and laughter coming from inside the ballroom. As I waited in line for my turn to show my invite at the door, I couldn't help but wonder what events would unfold tonight. At last my turn came and I step up to the doorman,"Invite please."He said in a monotonous tone and held out his hand with an expectant gaze.I nervously reached in my frock coat and pulled out my invite handing it to him.He gazed at it for a moment then returned it to me,"You may proceed."He says showing me to the door. I smile,"Thank you."I said and I placed my invitation back inside of my coat. Then I proceeded through the open doors, following the sound of music as I walked. Until I finally reached two large doors where the doormen opened them and unveiled the masquerade ball before me.


As I walked through the doors I was in awe of the grand decorations, the sheer size of the ballroom and the number of people attending. As I slowly descended the grand staircase I could feel that the room was filled with a contagious merriment. Upon reaching the bottom of the staircase I paused to survey the room, when I met the gaze of an enchanting woman. I took a deep breath to fight off my nervousness then casually strolled over to her,"Hello Madame."I say in a medium pitched voice. I politely bow then smile at her,"Hello Sir."I heard her say in a melodic voice while still smiling. I hold out my right hand to her,"May I please have the honor, of keeping such a beautiful woman company for the night?"I said as I admired her hazel eyes as well as her beautiful mask. I heard her softly laugh,"Yes you may and thank you for the compliment.Although you have no idea what I look like behind this mask."I heard her say between her light laughter before placing her hand in mine. I take her hand and lift it to close to my face,"I can tell by your grace that you are beautiful. I would kiss your hand if I didn't have to remove my mask."I say and softly chuckle.Then I release her hand to offer her my right arm which she happily wraps her left arm around,"I must say that I do admire your mask.Surely it must be concealing your handsome features.Is it by chance a Venetian mask? Like mine is"I heard her say. I couldn't help but smile at her deduction,"Thank you. I admire your mask as well and you are correct.It would seem that we have similar tastes in mask.I wonder what else we have in common."I say already beginning to relax.



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Before long I found the courage to ask her for a dance and we danced as if we were perfectly in synch. Melody after melody we danced as though we were gliding across the floor as light as air it's self. Although the room was filled with people, to me there was only she and I dancing while the symphony skillfully played their elegant songs. Right then in that moment I was the happiest that I had ever been, but I had no idea that things would take a turn for the worst. Suddenly I felt a familiar pain in my abdomen and I pulled away for her doubling over in pain while holding my stomach. She gazed at me with confusion and concern,"Are you alright? What's wrong?"I heard her ask with her concern clear in her voice. I knew what was wrong,'How? How can this be? Tonight isn't a…unless I was wrong.'I frantically thought.Then I quickly made my way over to the table where the refreshments were being served looked out of the window. To my disbelief I saw a cloud uncovering what was a full moon as I tried to fight the beastly transformation. Then I felt a hand that gently touched my shoulder, causing me to swiftly turn toward them and scratched them causing them to fall. Just the sight of my now golden yellow eyes surrounded by obsidian sclera, caused the woman to scream out in fear. The woman I had been mingling with had become terrified of me,"Your...your eyes! You aren't human!"I heard her yell.All of a sudden the symphony stopped playing,people stopped dancing and talking. Everyone's eyes had all come to rest on the wounded women and on the transforming beast that was none other than me. They all gasped in horror at the scene laid out before them,"That man is no man! He is a beast! A lycanthrope. What most call...a werewolf!"I heard a man yell from among the crowd. Suddenly the crowd is stirred into panic as people began running for the exits.

Only to find that the doors have been closed and locked,"Let us out! Please let us out! We don't want to die!"I hear different people yell. I looked and saw a single man and scarlet haired woman calmly standing in the middle of the ballroom floor. The man took an axe out of his coat looked around at the crowd,"No one is leaving until we kill this beast! That way anyone bitten or scratched by him will not turn into a werewolf!"He said then turned his gaze to me. I wanted to stop the transformation but my wolf was taking over, and I could hear the sound of my clothes being ripped apart. The whole ordeal was as painful as always causing me to scream out in pain as my bones rapidly grew in size. I could feel my muscles and skin tear only to rapidly heal as the beast consumed my mind more and more.Finally only the beast towered above the wounded woman and emitted a beastly howl.It was then that the man started to run toward me and I charged him as well on all fours before leaping through the air.The woodsman quickly slid under me on his knees and after I landed I slid before coming to a stop.When I turned around I saw that he had gotten up and quickly thrown his axe toward me.With no chance of avoiding it I felt it embed itself in my right shoulder just before I pulled it out. Unexpectedly I threw the axe across the room, to my right causing it to get stuck in a man's stomach. I watched as the man had blood to pour from his wound before he collapsed into the floor and died shortly after. Then I looked at the wound on my shoulder that was dripping blood on the floor seeing that it was healing slowly. I was even weakened by the wound which meant that the axe was silver tipped. I snarled at the man because my inner beast was enraged and I charged toward him yet again. This time he was unarmed and when he dodged me I ended up breaking one of the tables that held desserts on it into pieces. I stood and shook a bit before seeing the man running , toward the dead man's body attempting to retrieve his axe.This time I chased after him at full speed before I leaped on him, and knocking him to the floor only mere inches from the handle of his axe. Seeing that he was still trying to reach for his axe I deeply bit into his shoulder, causing him to scream out in agony as I tasted his blood on my tongue. My wolf was going to kill this man and everyone else in the room without so much as a second thought,'No...please stop! I don't wish to kill anyone else.Someone...please help me...'Was all that I could think as I helplessly watched with a heavy heart. If only I had noticed that tonight was a full moon and if only I had stayed at home shackled up for other people's protection. Just like all of the other times this poor man was about to slaughtered like a lamb and I would be haunted by his face too.

Just then a loud sound had unexpectedly rang out, that echoed throughout the entire room and nearly deafened me. It was in that moment I felt it tear it's way into my flesh, like a bolt of lightning as it embedded itself deep inside of my left lung. I had swiftly turned to face the scarlet haired woman, who held a pistol that gave off a hint of smoke from the end of the barrel. Unable to control my actions I lunged toward her only to be shot three more times. Then I collapsed onto the floor a wounded beast, in disbelief of what had just befallen me. I felt every ounce of the pain as aftershocks of it had surged their way throughout every part of me. Every fiber of my being screamed out in excruciating pain and desperately begged for me to make the pain stop. Unfortunately it was completely out of my hands and the deep burning sensation in my chest, only served to make matters worse.It was not long before I finally noticed that I could no longer heal and was rapidly weakening.It was then that realization struck me, four silver bullets had been lodged deep within my chest but there was nothing I could do about it. At last I felt my body change as it reverted back to my human form, but still the pain remained in my chest. There I lyed naked , wounded on the floor of the large ball room and as helpless as a newborn infant while the life slowly left my body. I could feel the metallic liquid fill my lungs, which made it difficult for me to breath. In between labored breaths I coughed uncontrollably and I could taste the metallic liquid upon my tongue. I even felt it's warmth as it left a wet path upon my lower cheek that trailed from my lips and fell to the floor painting it red.I weakly gazed at the terrified faces of the crowd, that silently watched me as they stood from a safe distance. As if I was some kind of spectacle.A dangerous, caged beast that was now being put out of it's misery. Surprisingly I found that I did not mind being watched by them, nor the fact that I had become so cold. I was lying here slowly dying and I was completely at peace. I managed to meet the gaze of the one called Red and uttered,"Thank…you." in a weak yet grateful tone of voice. I never would have guessed that it would be beauty that killed the beastly wolf. At last I was free from this curse that had pledged me for years.The thought caused a final smile to grace my face and thus my world, finally faded into darkness.


@Hana @Sen


(Well...I did my best and that's all I can do. I have to say that this is fun and the first time I've done something like this. I hope anyone who reads it likes it. ^^ )
 
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Entries for Part Two have now closed!
Thank you for participating in the Writer's Showcase Soiree.
We hope you will come back to the Mansion in the near future.

We will have the Honor Roll up soon, so stay tuned to see who the winners are!​
 
Just to let everyone know.I edited my post because I was having a problem with a spoiler that needed to be fixed.That's all and good luck everyone!
 
i really want to write a story T.T but i feel like anything i write now will just be rushed and sad.. It's due tonight right?
 
Lovelessesbutterfly said:
i really want to write a story T.T but i feel like anything i write now will just be rushed and sad.. It's due tonight right?
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Actually I think entries for Part Two are already closed... But you can definitely write something anyway! I'd love to read it. :)
 
Ananfal said:
Actually I think entries for Part Two are already closed... But you can definitely write something anyway! I'd love to read it. :)
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oh.. poopie.. *she frowns* oh well... i at least have one chance... i don't think i really want to write the story now though.. trying to save all my energy for nanowrimo T.T
 
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