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Tinkle 32 – Crimson Promise
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“Move it! Don’t dawdle, you piece of filth!”
Nita winced and whimpered at the loud crack, her sweaty palm gripping the piece of plank for comfort as the whip lashed repeatedly on the unfortunate Lemming a few feet away from her.
Her wide blue eye darted about, desperately seeking help for the poor Rodent. However, all she saw were the blank expressions from fellow slaves, and the cruel amusement from the slavers. She was hugging the wooden plank now, fearful of the hostile environment. Furthermore, the iron chimneys and d
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Tinkle 31 – North Calling
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Rui Brewfort watched as blue fire stretched out on the horizon, burning and consuming, raging and killing. It crawled in lustful tendrils, snapping at anything and everything in its path. It grasped at tree bark and feral grasses, turning them into cinder within a few moments. Even the inanimate rocks and other debris that should not be susceptible to flames, it consumed. It was indiscriminate, hateful.
Absolutely furious.
The fires continued to eat the remains of cabins and temples, rendering their once mighty foundations into ashes. She even caught a
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Ti30 - Parlous Start
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Nita Blackhawk was content.
She was enveloped by warmth, tucked under what felt like a thick blanket made of thermal insulator. Her head was resting on what was probably the softest pillow she had the fortune of knowing, making her sigh involuntarily in appreciation of such treatment.
She could sleep like this forever.
Something was nagging at the back of her mind, however, and prevented her from sinking deeper into her comfortable rest. Blinking drowsily, she tried to make sense of the surrounding while searching for Sakura’s presence.
“Nita?&rd
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Interlude 6 – Anarchic Tribulations2
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Stress was a fickle feeling that could grip hold of a person until he or she succumbed, or it could vanish momentarily when it is needed to keep a person’s head clear and focused. Heidi Lakshme breathed lightly, her expression relaxed as she relished the sensation of galloping across the field on the flaxen-maned equu. Her vision felt extended and her pedestal raised, like she was freed from any earthly burdens. However, in spite of the wind blowing through her hair, troublesome thoughts clung on and weighed down o
Authors' Note: This interlude takes as its foundation the following The Bell Keeper - Journals: Entries 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11. It has been written with the assumption that the reader has knowledge of the aforementioned chapters, and though it is possible to grasp the events of this interlude without reading those journals, we still recommend their perusal. If you have not read the TBK-Journals, we insist that you go back to our profile page and read the labeled entries.
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Interlude 6 - Anarchic Tribulations I
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Esmeralda Quintana watched the grey storm clouds outside. Her
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Ti29 - Melting Snow
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“Kyuubi.”
The Avian’s voice sounded as cold and piercing as the large raindrops that pelted Rui’s face. The winds around her were howling now, as if worshipping its mistress’ word, and it threatened to rip tree branches from their trunks. The golden Fox has never seen such a punishing display by nature, and what made it worse was that it did not seem natural at all. A heavy aura of dense magic infused the atmosphere until the air pressure could be felt pressing down on her limbs.
And she was sure that the winged woman was causing this terrifying c
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Ti28 – Nuanced Heart
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A frosty puff of air came into existence at her listless sigh and, as wide garnet orbs gazed at the small haze, the ephemeral subsistence faded like the delicate snowflakes outside the window. The white tip of her sleek obsidian tail then brushed against the condensation on the glass and brought the thin layer of frost under her curious scrutiny. The heat from her fur was more than enough to melt the ice into water, which seeped into her black coat and disappeared from her sight.
Sakura shivered at the cold moistness before returning her gaze back to
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Ti27 – Devout Proclivity
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“W-What?”
Grass rustled cacophonously after the flowers fell from Nita’s slack fingers, but she barely noticed even as some of the loose petals drifted away along the breeze. The world became silent yet deafening the moment Kalti told her about Sakura. The young Bear could only stand frozen while her mind tried to absorb the news.
The Coyote appeared really apologetic as he tried his best to explain the situation. Fleetingly, she hoped that he was making things up but she knew her childhood friend enough to trust that he would never
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Ti26 – Opprobrious Cognizance
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Glimmering emerald eyes saw nothing but the myriad of words on the wizened pages, absorbed by the colorful world that these simple combinations of letters painted. It was the only way she could go on adventures without feeling anxious or uncomfortable with her appearance. Through her repertoire of books, the ten-year-old girl had already traversed the Sagarmath Mountain range to find the legendary Unicorn, swam in each of the Great Lakes of Quercus to prove her worth, braved the storms of the Ooyamatsumi Sea to challenge the Yasumaran
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I5 – Arduous Flight
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Nita Blackhawk sat on a fallen log near the shores of Lake Jaci, breathing in the clean air as serenely as she could in order to melt into the same rhythm as the surrounding nature. Her half-mask was cradled in her lap, allowing her to fully appreciate the various hues that shrouded the ancient lake.
Red was born of undulated passion and hideous bloodbath, blue was splattered by agonizing sorrow and utter tranquility, and yellow was fashioned out of innocent joy and forgotten vows. Concoctions of these contradictory subjects created even more colors that tran