DOMINO
Chapter 0:
== Meet the onlooker
A lone troll sits above his underground hive, looking out at the glowing lights of a city nearby. The night could shroud him, but it couldn't hide the eyesore. He stayed away by choice, like his moirail. To his knowledge, they were the only two able to stay away.
This wasn't Alternia; it was something else entirely. What it was, however, was a big mystery. It was always like this… wasn't it? The question nagged his mind as he stared at the monstrosity – the deathtrap that was called "Vexet Quitus". No one went in to come out again, unless they were Finders, a position similar to a police force. Speaking of the Finders, it appeared as if they were carrying out some orders about a mile away. It looked as if they had started a fire – they probably found a human's hiding place.
Poor guy won't see the morning.
A breeze blew into his face, blowing his hair back in a light shuffle. This wasn't normal. He felt… something. With his blood, he knew he was sensitive to certain things. Even so, that was only restricted to a single category. Whatever it was, it was big. Really big.
A streak soared across the night sky, catching his eyes. It came closer to the surface, and then it impacted. The shockwave it produced knocked him over, but it was more than the wave that got him and dragged him under.
== Meet that guy's moirail
A very edgy young troll let out an exasperated sigh. Why wasn't his friend on Trollian? He was ALWAYS on Trollian! Partly because he had his machine hooked up to a security system around his hive, in case the Finders came for him. Other than that detail, he wasn't sure if they actually came for him. If they did, he must have done something.
The troll got out of his chair and left his room, grabbing his black cape on the way out. He took one look back at his recuperacoon, considering actually going to sleep for the first time in what felt like days. Sleep was for the weak, though, so he left the room, and his hive while he was at it.
Things were dreadful at night. Not in the terrifying way, but in the same way watching paint dry was dreadful. He was more used to coming out during the twilight hours, and very rarely when the sun was out. It didn't feel right when he did, though. Like his lusus – late lusus – he preferred the dark.
His moirail once told him there was something weird about the sun – something about it not burning their flesh. Almost as quickly as he said that though, he started to act like he didn't. It was weird, but that was just how he was usually.
He resigned himself to leaning against a boulder on a hill near his hive. When the sun was out, he would see a very crude map on it. "Map" was a friendly way of putting it though; it was really just a bunch of line scratched into the stone. The only thing he needed was the arrow, since it pointed to his moirail's hive. It was just a reference in case he had to go over in an emergency. On the other end, his closest neighbor was working on a way for them to meet up without the risk of being found by the Finders. It had been taking a while. He was just one troll, after all.
A loud boom from the direction in question made him alert. It was probably time to go check Trollian again… fast. He hurried back down to the front door of the hive, and that was as far he went. Something struck him on the back of the head.
== Meet a human
A young man, sixteen years of age, was having the worst night of his life.
He had inherited this home from his uncle and managed to protect it for three years, all by himself. Now, it was gone – up in flames. It was all because one of those troll Finders got the jump on him. He didn't know how they managed to – what they used, where they used it – but that didn't matter. They had smoked him out of his own home.
They always came eventually. No matter where a human hid, they would always find them eventually. Where did they take them? He didn't know, but he would probably find out soon. They had him surrounded with no chance of escape intact. Now that his shelter was destroyed, along with almost everything that sustained him, he had no chance on his own, let alone with the injuries he would get from strife.
As fate would have it, strife or not, the Finders weren't planning on leaving him intact. They all came forward and forced him to the ground, and then they began to beat him. First they would take turns kicking him in the torso, pounding his ribs and such. Then one of them took out his weapon.
All Finders had the same issue weapon. Something similar to a stun gun, mixed with a Billy club, mixed with a… fork, apparently. Every hit, every stab, every prod felt like someone was stabbing him with white-hot needles. Then the one with the weapon brought the prongs to his victim's eye-level.
After what they did next, the young man would never be able to see with them again.
The beating stopped after that. By the sound of it, they had seen something and were paying attention to that. Whatever it was, it seemed more important than torturing a human.
That was when the explosion happened.
== Meet a human… girl.
The night was beautiful, but that didn't matter. The tears wouldn't stop no matter how hard she held onto her pet, whose fur was now most likely soaking. She didn't care, nor did he. Good dog. Best friend.
But her brother was gone. About half and hour earlier, they came for the two of them. He told her to hide, but didn't go with her. She didn't see what happened, but she heard. They did things to him – terrible things. After they were done, they took him away, without even looking for her.
She heard a strange sound from the sky, and her dog began to growl. His growling soon became a scared whine as she looked up. There was a blazing blue light, and the brighter it got, the louder the sound became. She froze when she realized that it – whatever it was – was coming right at her! She tightened her arms around her companion and shut her eyes tight as it drew near.
The sound became deafening, and then it stopped as it impacted somewhere behind her.
== BEGIN