Ok, this is just sad. Two chapters and only one review? Now I am sad.
Disclaimer: Neopets, the setting, and Snowbeasts belong to Neopets. The characters in question belong to me. Steal and you will be hunted down and shot on spot.
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Yeulwrick was, without a doubt, the alpha dog of all the Snowbeasts of Terror Mountain. He towered over his own kind at a height of fifteen feet and had a pair of tusks that could gore through a tank. His thick ram horns could shatter thick boulders, and his muscles could literally rip a man limb from limb. His face had wizened with age, yet even time had failed to extinguish the authority and intelligence in his gaze.
Tearing his teeth into the roasted Pteri, he scanned the faces of the men whom he had led into combat only a short day ago. All were talking, smiling, and laughing heartily. "Did you see the look on that brute's face when the captain stabbed him?" said one soldier admiringly.
"Yeah," agreed his companion. "Though it was nothing to what this one guy I fought did."
"What he do?"
"He dove to his knees and begged me for mercy."
"Did ya?"
"What do you think?"
They laughed and shared meat and water between them. Others soldiers told jokes to relieve the stress of battle, and one even played a stringed instrument. These were the faces of men who had seen Death and spat in his face. These were the faces of victorious men.
Smiling, Yeulwrick thoughtfully chewed his meal. Bones and all.
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Thoth tapped his knee for a few seconds, mulling over this new predicament. He chose his words carefully and looked up at the wall standing around him. "You know, I think we all agree that this is a very grim scenario. Am I right?"
No response.
"Course I suppose it depends on your definition of grim. I mean, you can hardly call three people taking a nap-albeit on a snowcapped mountain- as grim, you know."
No response.
Thoth sighed and drew a leg to his chest and then rested his chin on the knee. "But I'm supposing that we both know that these two were clearly put under a spell by someone."
Still no response.
"However," he slowly got up and stood up on his four legs as easily as any Gelert. "I can tell by the look on everyone's faces that you're thinking that someone is me."
What part of 'No response' do you people not get?
"It makes perfect sense. After all, I'm a stranger to you all and I'm here with two Sleeping Non-Beauties. However, this is were your logic fails, 'cause you found me in the middle of a nap. Now what kind of assassin would fall asleep near the victims' bodies inste-…Nothing I say is going to stop you from reducing me into pulp. Is it?"
"Darn right," coldly spoke the Snowbeast who was standing directly behind Thoth. Even though he wasn't standing on his feet, Thoth could clearly tell that this Snowbeast would be taller than him by at least five feet (and Thoth was nearly eight feet tall)! His hands alone were four feet long and the leathery palms alone were five feet wide. Rippling muscles threatened to tear through the Viking-like clothing he wore and they bulged at all the right places.
The rest of his companions, a younger looking Snowbeast, a Tyrannian Uni, and a Tyrannian Elephante, slowly closed in on Thoth. The Elephante paused for a moment to push Holly and the Lupe out of the way before helping his friends close the gap around Thoth. The Kyrii nodded admirably at the pachyderm's work. "Very noble and professional. You people must've done this before!"
"Yes we have," taunted the Uni with a note of pride. "And you're about to see first hand at how well we do our job."
"It's a display then, but if you don't mind…" Thoth suddenly straightened his arms while two fire balls suddenly ignited from around his hands. The pets and Snowbeasts drew back in surprise at the sudden light and heat. Smirking, Thoth flung the flames at the Uni and struck him in the face at close range. "I prefer to not be on the receiving end."
Screeching, the Uni reared up to smash Thoth's skull, but as he rose up, Thoth flung a fireball at the Uni's chest; toppling it over.
Angrily, the Elephante swung his heavy tusks at Thoth while the young Snowager tried to smash him with his fists. Smiling, Thoth leaped over the Elephante just as the Snowager smacked the pachyderm in the head.
As his companion fell senseless, the young Snowager advanced on Thoth.
And then he stopped dead in his tracks.
"What's the matter?" Thoth taunted. "Scared of a half starved weasel?"
But Thoth had ceased to look like a 'half starved weasel.' His eyes were glowing a crimson red and his lips were twisted into an eerie smile. Within that smile were two rows of pure fangs. The flames around his hands continued to burn and crackle and ate up the sleeves of his coat greedily. This whole effect had given the Kyrii an unearthly, demonic appearance.
The Snowager felt a lump form in his throat. On the one hand this Kyrii- no. Scratch that, demon- was a threat who had easily taken down two of his companions. On the other hand, he had his whole life and a girlfriend to think about.
So now which was it: Revenge or girl? He didn't get much of a chance to consider it though.
"Far too slow," said Thoth suddenly. His mouth shot open wide and a white fireball shot out and landed squarely in the Snowager's chest. The flames burned through the screeching creature's fur when it suddenly exploded, making flames.
The Snowager's fevered screams grew into one last high pitch as he rolled frantically in the snow. He only began to grow silent as the flames died down, then he became completely still. The first Snowager then walked up to him, checked his pulse, and then faced Thoth.
"And are you next?" Thoth asked.
The Snowager's answer was to unsheathe a huge, double bladed axe that had been strapped to his back.
"You're right. That was a silly question." Thoth crouched low to the ground and stretched out his arms. The odd battle pose made him look like a giant white scorpion. "Big, ugly hairballs first."
The Snowbeast lunged for Thoth and swiftly covered the space between them. Thoth dodged the swing of its axe and threw a fireball from his hand onto the Snowbeast's shoulder. Ignoring the pain, the Snowager swung his axe downward at Thoth who dodged it and got behind it.
Thoth opened his mouth again and shot another white fireball. The flames slammed into the Snowager's back and burned through his shirt before exploding. Spinning around and letting the flames die out on their own, the Snowager aimed a kick at Thoth's ribs. Jumping over the leg, Thoth's Attack Fork appeared in his non-flaming hand and he parried the Snowbeast's axe swings.
The Snowbeast growled as each swing was countered again and again by the Kyrii. Thoth noticed this and gave him his trademark smart aleck grin. "What's the matter? Having trouble keeping up?"
For a moment the Snowbeast looked confused as the two broke away from their fight. He smiled grimly. "It has been a while since someone was able to avoid my first swing."
"Only a while?" Thoth scoffed. "Please. With those skills of yours I must be the first one since your last battle."
The Snowager smiled then charged with a loud cry. With a leap, Thoth grabbed onto the Snowbeast'shorns and hauled himself onto the ape's back. Growling, the Snowbeast bucked and spun angrily. Thoth dug his claws into the beast's horns as his light body was tossed around. With a load of effort, he opened his jaws as wide as he could and bit down on the Snowager's thick neck.
For the Snowager, it was probably the most unexpected attempt on his life ever made. His neck was entirely made up of a thick, coarse of fur and muscle, and the Kyrii's teeth hurt but they were no where near his jugular. Calming down a little, he stopped his thrashings and reached to pry the Kyrii off.
And that was when Thoth stabbed his hand with his Attack Fork.
As the Snowbeast screamed, Thoth released his hold on him and hauled himself up on his opponent's shoulder. With an appropriate hiss, he bit above Snowbeast's eye.
Snarling the Snowbeast quickly reached to snatch Thoth, but the weasel let go and let himself fall to the ground, missing the Snowbeast's fingers by inches in the process. Even before he his snow, Thoth twisted in the air and stabbed the Snowbeast in the thigh.
With a howl, the creature instinctively gripped his injured leg as Thoth caught himself and gave himself about three feet of personal space. Opportunity was knocking with a sledge hammer, so Thoth lunged and pushed the Snowbeast onto the ground. He stood on top of his felled opponent and pointed his trident at his neck for affect.
"So, if you had to be killed, which would you chose? Would you want your skull crushed or your heart stabbed? Personally, I'm partial to simply cutting throats, but that's just me." The Snowbeast glared at Thoth coolly, and the Kyrii shrugged. His Fork disappeared and he hopped off.
The Snowbeast forced himself, looking a little mystified. "Why don't you finish me?"
As a precaution, Thoth kicked the Snowbeast's axe away. "It's not worth. Sure you tried to kill me, but so what? You thought I had enchanted one of your friend's and was looking for revenge. That's cool. I have nothing really against that. For all we may know I may even had done it."
The Snowbeast cocked an eye. "Did you just say that you could've done this crime?"
"Yeah, I think so."
"Even though you were saying you didn't do it."
Thoth looked at him long enough to nod. "There's no evidence saying that I didn't."
"So you're accusing yourself?"
"No. No, I'm just saying that you didn't take the time to gather and process evidence before you all attacked me. Now while that get you sued in most societies, it's no reason at all to kill you." As he talked, Thoth's eyes lost more of their glow and reverted back to being, loosely speaking, normal.
The Snowager lowered his head to consider Thoth's words before getting up. "I already know you're not the one who did this," he said. "The real culprits wouldn't have hesitated to kill me."
"Glad to know I'm not one of them then," said Thoth as he went over to Holly and picked her and the Lupe up. "You got a place?"
The Snowbeast nodded as he struggled to wake the Elephante- the least damaged one in the group- to help him gather his comrades. "Yes. But can you keep the place a secret?"
Thoth walked toward him just as the Elephante was getting up and shaking the ringing sensation out of his ears. "Pal, I'm a liar by habit. No one is going to believe me even if I do tell them."
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As I have stated before, reviews would be highly appreciated.