From: Date: Mon, 3 Aug 1998 22:18:10 EDT Subject: Monster Mash (waht a horrid title, ian) Posters: Stana, ian Title: Monster Mash * * * All day it had waited. All day it slept, it's breathing hard and coarse. It's breath came out in misty clouds in the cool night air. Night. Night was it's time. Night was it's world. It watched the beautiful blanket of darkness chase the hated glowing sphere from the sky. It had sensed an unusual occurence during it's sleep, and as it took it's first breaths of the cool air it smelt the wet dampness of the leaves under it's feet. The night was deep and dark, and completely confusing to all but it, for in the shadows it saw like in perfect day. It saw the small scurrying animals as they scuttered from it's pressence. It's ruby eyes glistned in the starlight, glowing slightly and casting a hellish glow upon it's tooth-filled maw. Those teeth were terrible indeed, and it remembered tearing many prey to tatters using those needle-sharp bony daggers. It remembered and was gladened. They gave their lives to him, to their king, and they hadn't even known it! And in it's primitive yet cunning mind, it knew a dark humor there. Here, it was the undisputed king. And the king is hungry. * * * Sleep had come relatively quickly for the four travelers. Teri had grumbled about sleeping with people she barely knew, but eventually she had to give in to the steadily growing weight of her eyes. Stana had fallen into a restless sleep, her leg sending painful reminders of it's pressence. Clip had separated himself slightly from the group, his pride not letting him bed down with mere mortals. Alas, if he didn't find his Alicorn, he would be mortal as well, and this pride of his wouldn't matter, would it? Shinji reluctantly went to bed, not overly comfortable leaving them without a look-out, but the two girls were pretty much exhausted, and he really didn't want to have to wake them for their shifts. Oh well, as long as the fire keeps up they should be relatively safe. He hadn't given it another thought and went himself to sleep, which was immediately plagued by nightmares of creatures that he wouldn't admit fear to. Although at times, he was very very tempted to, believe you me. And so it was, the three making a small circle around the slowly weakening flame, with Clip sleeping a few feet farther from it. That's how they slept, and that's how it found them. * * * That light! That accursed, blasphemous light! It burned into it's corneas and seared his brain, forcing him to look away until the glare subsidded. These alien creatures had brought a part of the glowing sphere into It's night! They had dared to tarnish the immaculate blanket of dark with their malign power. This was unacceptable! Yes, he would enjoy ripping them apart. With cat-like silence and fluid grace it crept without a sound upon it's prey. The demonic brightness forced it to keep it's eyes close to the ground, but it didn't need it's sight to find it's victims. It's nose smelt their flesh, soft and warm. It heard their breathing. Soon, it would feast. But first, it would chose it's first. With the same silence in slinked over to the nearest one. A girl, no doubt, although it wasn't smart enough to tell that from smell alone. It knew from her breathing. It could smell the difference too. It didn't know what a human was, so to it this was simply another meal. But as a first? No, this one would be too easy to kill. It moved to the next. Hmm...another girl, but this one smelt of pain. It felt the pulse of pain that issued irregularly in the human. This one was wounded, not suitable prey. It looked away from the fire and saw another. This one smelt. . .different. It didn't smell like the other two, but their scent was on him, and growing ever so slightly. This one might be worthy of first sacrifice. We'll see. There is yet one more. And now, with it's bloodlust waxing very quickly, it went to the last one. This one was younger than the others. It could smell the difference upon their breath. This one was yet young. And the young have soft, weak flesh. This one was unworthy. So, that only left the Unique One, didn't it? It smiled a hideous smile, letting it's blood red tounge slurp across it's jagged teeth. The tight muscles on it's back flexed in preparation. It whipped it's long, black, scaly tail back and forth like some huge tiger. The talons on it's feet extended. It smelt blood. It's hunger dawned and boiled over. It could wait no more! It leapt and attacked. * * * Clip had fallen into sleep almost immediately, and he knew now it was almost horrifying how close sleep was to dying. The loss of consciousness was almost more than he could bear, and yet he had to. As a Unicorn he had not experienced this tyoe of repose. He had not needed sleep in this sense, and when he did rest there were only images of dark wood and peaceful glades. Here in this mortal trap he felt the hand of fear as twisted images of death and mortality plagued him. He tossed restlessly, and then smelt it. The brown eyes snapped wide open as he let loose a scream of pure animal rage as a huge weight crashed down on his chest. Clip grabbed around the beasts' gaping maw to hold off those wicked white fangs. His legs slammed up in a purely panicked move, and slid off the scaly black skin. There was a sickening wrenching sensation as he turned, feeling a set of claws digging into his side. Then he twisted with muscles that had not quite forgotten immortality and was free. The beast had hesitated, sensing more than it knew how to understand. Clip raised his head arrogantly. He felt the power in the winds and the silences. They whispered to him in a familiar language, a language he had thought he had forgotten. How could he have EVER thought such a thing? A wildness leapt in his spirit, a raging willfullness not to be denied. Humanity could cover what he was, but never completely destroy it. This was power, this was his pure state. The beast slunk back a step, unsure about the change in the man-creature. The other prey were awake, sleepy startlement written in their scents. But the creature before him had thrown off whatever deceptive scent it had and was glowing brightly, painfully bright. It cowered, not knowing any longer what this was. It wanted to cower before this creature, to pull its tail in and slink away. The reluctant human glared down at the pathetic monster. He sensed all around him the strengths of nature, and the weak mortality about him. It did not touch him, at this moment it couldn't. He was fully Unicorn, his deathly mortal body merely a case for his true nature. A rotting husk containing an immortal soul. "CLIP!!!" the shout penetrated his impervious nature. A strident cry with naked fear and grief in it. A familiar voice-one that would perhaps have been a friend to his mortal self. "CLIP NO!" came the shout again, almost commanding in its terror. The unicorn wavered, for the first time uncertain. There was something- Then a wave of pure emotion slammed into him, fear and uncertainty and an overwhelming feeling of -- what? The mortal girl Teri was projecting again. Stana shielded her eyes against teh blinding glare and hitched the breath in her lungs again to shout out once more. She was grasping at futility and she knew it. Clip had reverted to an immortal state that a mortal body had no hope in containing.