Madge Takes the Nuzlocke Challenge!

I'm taking the Nuzlocke Challenge on Pokemon Leaf Green, just because I can.

This is going to be a list of my pokemans and when I catch them/how awesome they are. Completely unrelated to the rest of the blog, but like anyone except Bublefoot reads this anyhow.

Rules:

• Any Pokémon that faints is considered dead, and must be released.
• The player may only catch the first Pokémon encountered in each area, and none else. If the first Pokémon encountered faints or flees, there are no second chances.
• All pokemon must be nicknamed
  

YES: THIS IS HARD CORE POKEMANS.

Pallet Town - Barry, SASSY CHARMANDER, Level 5
Route 1 - Matt, CAREFUL PIDGEY, Level 3
Route 22 - Cindy, HASTY RATTATA, Level 3
Route 2 - Jess, SASSY RATTATA, Level 3
Viridian Forest - Kate, GENTLE CATERPIE, Level 3-Level 21

~Defeated BROCK: All pokemon level 15 (they have some killer rock weaknesses, I wanted to be sure I'd stomp him.)~

Route 3 - Sharon, DOCILE SPEAROW, Level 7-Level 24
Mt Moon - Lisa, GEODUDE, Level 7-9

~Remove Jess from team; add Lisa: Lisa gets fainted in Mt Moon by a zubat! Blast! Guess Jess is back...~

Route 4 - Anne, SPEAROW, Level 10
Route 24 - John, CATERPIE, Level 7 (-_____-);; Could've got a bellsprout or an abra but NOOOO.
Route 25 - Wendy, WEEDLE, Level 8
Route 5 - GLORIA, BOLD Meowth, Level 14-Level 22

~ Go Gloria! I love Persian, so she may be a permie; remove Jess, add Gloria, fingers crossed Gloria does better than Lisa ~

Route 6 - , MEOWTH, Level 16
VERMILION CITY - Max. MAGIKARP, Level 5 (when I get EXP SHARE he's going to be OFF.THE.HOOK)
Route 11 - Faye, SPEAROW, Level 17
DIGLETT'S CAVE - Fainted a DIGLETT :(

~ Kate was fainted by a Magnemite in Lt Surge's gym at level 21 :(~
~ Beat Lt Surge- Gloria L21, barry L23, Cindy L22, Sharon L22, Matt L22, Jess L18 (HM Slave)~

ROCK TUNNEL - Amanda, BOLD MANKEY, Level 16-Level 22 (killed by a clefairy T___T)

~ Gloria OHKO by Rival's Kadabra, Lavender Tower ;-; - and I'd used my Water Pulse TM on her, too x_x ~

Route 8 - Vulpix roared at me :(

~ Sharon fainted by a Koffing's poison ~

Route 7 - Stacy, RELAXED BELLSPROUT, Level 19-22

CELADON CITY: Sabrina, IMPISH Eevee, Level 25 - turns out Eevee can't evolve into esp/umb in FR/LG so straight to the PC she goes.

LAVENDER TOWER: Greg, CALM Gastly, Level 16

~ Stacy OHKO by Koffing selfdestruct @ L22~

Route 16 - Chris, Doduo

Rewrite of Judith backstory.

This is the incremental rewriting of the Judith backstory in the previous comment. Keeping it uploaded (though half-finished) so Jason can have another look at it and see how much less it sucks now =P.

Ryan was sitting at the table of a small cafe in Fremantle, enjoying a cup of hot chocolate - one of his vices that he still enjoyed partaking in on occasion, despite the effort it took to drink it. He had an arrangement with the owners, and so was sitting in his own, private room along with James, one of his closest allies in the Carthians and Judith's current Seneschal.

James' position meant he was almost always in the Invictus headquarters, organising things for Judith so that they would all go the way she planned it. He was there with Ryan, ready to help report to a group of ragtag misfits - two vampires, a werewolf and even a rather cunning human. James was not so keen on holding onto his humanity, despite his much more recent death, and so had a glass of blood. At his foot was a medium sized dog.

After most of the business was taken care of - reporting the facts about the underground headquarters, its security, and all the rest of it - Ryan decided to give a history lesson. He cleared his throat, ready to tell the tale. He was speaking into a new iPhone.

"I think you would all agree it is important to know your enemies. Well, I think I can help you with that; I've had the, shall we say, fortune to have been there when Judith took control of Perth. I'm not messing around with you here; all of this is true, and it's not a story I have told in full for a very long time. But you could be some valuable new allies for us, considering all the damage you have done. Especially because our goals are the same, after all: we want to see a President, not a Prince."

He paused to take a sip of his hot chocolate.

"Now, you must first understand that life was very different in the 1950's - yes, that's when Judith got into power. She has been Prince for 60 years - no mean feat, and I will admit she deserves it.

You have probably observed that modern vampires seem to all live in a big commune together. That wasn't the way it was back then.

In the 50s, I was still living in a mansion in the hills; the one I had 'died' in ten years before, the one that my enigmatic will had declared must remain unoccupied until fifty years after my death. They thought I was an eccentric famous person, you see; but the money I had set aside to pay all the government fees was more then enough, and so it was.

My home has been torn down since then, of course, but it was very nice, let me assure you. Large, with all the windows boarded up tight and, for extra security, a bed with a lid, like a coffin. I kept an entourage of men to feed on, and the local people all kept away, convinced the place was haunted.

This was the way most vampires lived - we each had a Haven, over which we were lord. Town meetings were held in the Cathedral at midnight on the first Wednesday of each month, and mass was held three times a night every Sunday. Attendance to the town meetings was optional; attendance to at least one mass per week was not.

The Carthians numbered very few back then - there were only two of us, and we would meet in secret, dreaming of the revolution that we knew would not come for a long time. Outwardly, we were Invictus; there was no point in creating a division between us and the other marginalised covenant.

Perth was ruled by the Sanctum. Kaamil was the Archbishop - that's what they call their Princes; I would blame them for it, but we Carthians prefer President, so who are we to judge."

Ryan chuckles to himself, but continues.

"There were about thirty Sanctum members, and about ten Invictus, including me and my comerade. Additionally, there were maybe thirty unaligned Nosferatu.

The nature of Nosferatu is much like that of rats - and I mean no disrespect to either creature; they swarm, creating more of themselves, and enjoy living in labyrinthine sewer tunnels. The Nosferatu spent much of their time digging new tunnels, creating a sewer of sorts below the museum. They lacked ambition, too; they were content to live in their catacombs, hiding from the world, though I do not doubt that they could have seized power if only they were smart enough.

The Sanctum was always having members flocked to them; many neonates would go there, enjoying the familiarity of the church services and the promise of salvation for even we damned. Empty promises, I'm sure - the kind the Sanctum is always offering. The Sanctum did not need to resort to fear and blackmail to keep members back then. Even a few of the Nosferatu joined them - something that is almost unheard of for those sewer-dwellers."

Ryan thought about the next place his tale would turn to, trying to formulate the narrative in his mind, not wanting to miss any detail that this band of a few misfits might benefit from.

So, you can see that we had a nice, stable existence back in those days. The Nosferatu and Sanctum mostly ignored each other, save for the precious few Nosferatu who joined them; I speak specifically of Michela, who is now Cardinal. Yes; she, too, that foolish beast who tries so hard to live as a human, she once delighted in digging her own sewer tunnels.

Then, one day, I was taking a bath at home when I heard a knock on the door. I ignored it, but they continued, making a great deal of noise and ruining the relaxing atmosphere.

I had one of my ghouls go to send the person away, or, if they would not leave, to take them so that I may have a snack."

He smiled a wicked smile at the thought, and continued speaking into the phone.

"Yes, so no sooner had I sent the ghoul to the door when I heard the footsteps of a running person going up my stairs.

I immediately had my ghouls extinguish the candles that I had put at a safe distance - what is a relaxing bath without candle light, after all? But you can never be too careful, and even the humble candle can be a deadly weapon to a vampire.

Standing in the doorway was a lively little waif of a girl with blonde hair and ice blue eyes. Dawn is her name; I don't know if you have met her, but she is still around. She was, and still is, a member of the Invictus. She is also Gabe's sister, and it is easy to see the resemblance - though I had not met Gabe yet.

Dawn was a friend; we were both of the Daeva clan, which gave us something in common.

But, remember, I just just been surprised by Dawn's intrusion on my private time. I sat up in the bath. She looked at me mildly, excitement written all over her face.

'Ryan! You won't believe the news - Gabe is here.'
'Gabe? Your brother? I thought he was living in Melbourne?'
'He was, but one of his allies decided that she could push into Perth with no trouble - he has come with a group that want to wage war on the Sanctum so that they can put forward their Prince!'

This got my attention - a new Prince? Dawn's brother? Perhaps they could be convinced to come to the Carthian side one day - Dawn was always more progressive than I thought was appropriate for a member of the Invictus.

'Do you really think they have the resources for it?'

Dawn's expression betrayed her uncertainty.

'I don't know. I'm not sure how strong the others are. Gabe is powerful, though, and I am sure their leader could hold her own against Kaamil in a fight.'

I hesitated.

'How many are there?'

'Well, they are all very powerful - maybe a little less so than Michela or Maria, but still powerful.' She started, but I had to interrupt. I have never been one for bullshit and hyperbole, and this response reeked of both.

'How many?'

She frowned. 'Six or seven.'

'That's not so bad. We could work with that. Maria is an Invictus, after all, so she will almost certainly side with Gabe's crew.' I paused. 'Gabe's crew are Invictus, are they not?'

Dawn nodded. 'Of course.'

'Well, then; I suppose we are going to go to war.' I said, itching at the chance to push the Sanctum out of our lives.

~~~~

Ryan paused for a few minutes, looking at James and taking another sip of his hot chocolate.

"I shan't go into any detail about what followed from that day.

Judith and her entourage had arrived in Perth, and they had designs on bringing Invictus to prominence. She brought with her some rather powerful vampires, such as Fiona, Gabe and Walter, and with the Nosferatu remaining neutral the two sides were almost evenly matched.

The battle continued for five years, and during that time Judith called herself the Prince concurrently with Kaamil calling himself the Archbishop. They both declared that they were in charge of Perth, when in reality they just lead their covenants.

Eventually, it became clear that the Invictus were victorious; the Sanctum were reduced now to less than half a dozen members. Worse, still, Faruq had left them for the Invictus - I didn't know why at the time, but now, of course, it's clear that he did it for love.

Kaamil realised that his position was hopeless. I remember that a weekly meeting was called so both sides of the conflict could formalise their agreement. They selected the museum's function room as the site of the official announcement.

All the vampires in Perth - save, of course, for the Nosferatu - attended. I sat at a table with Dawn, Faruq and Gabe and my fellow Carthian. We had tall glasses of blood and were almost cheering in glee as we watched Kaamil, sitting on a long table with Judith, Fiona, and Walter. It was easy to tell that he did not want to be there at all.

'What a stubborn old bastard.' Dawn muttered, following my gaze. 'Sorry Faruq.' She added quickly, looking at Kaamil's brother. Faruq, for his part, just shrugged, still staring at Gabe.
I laughed, and said, 'I know what you mean. Any Prince with half a heart would not act the way Kaamil did. How many Sanctified are left?'
'Four or five.' My fellow Carthian spoke up. 'It is foolish, even for the Sanctum. He should have rescinded years ago, when it became obvious that he had no hope of winning.'
Dawn looked about to say something, but a hush fell over the room as Judith got up to the podium to speak, Fiona standing right beside her.

When you see Judith - if you see Judith, that is - you will notice, first of all, that she is tall. It is undeniable from looking at her that she is one of the Kindred; she looks eerie, with her skin almost white and her hair, eyes, and even lips a haunting black. You can see ruthlessness in those eyes, in those strong features of hers.

She was wearing a long, dark green dress with black gloves that ran up to her elbows. Her companion, Fiona - who you've seen, was wearing a revealing dark shirt and a short skirt that went to just above her knee. Fiona was holding a gun, protecting her Prince.

Judith spoke, her voice projecting to fill the entire room.
'Vampires, I am pleased to be before you here today. I wish only to say that I am committed to ensuring that the Masquerade continues. I have no rules on who you may feed, beyond the obvious: no feeding on supernatural creatures, and that no trace must be left of you. Enjoy the blood.'

We all clapped respectfully, as Judith and Fiona sat back down. Kaamil got up, carrying several sheets of paper. Dawn groaned.

Kaamil cleared his throat noisily, and spoke like a scared schoolboy who had been asked to be first to present his assignment to the class.
'My fellow Kindred. I have had the - the fortune of getting to meet each and every one of you during my time as Archbishop, and I am pleased to have had that opportunity. Today I step down from my position, and I do so with a smile on my face and with joy in my heart, for I know the Lord has a plan for me that involves Judith, our lovely new prince.

'Rest assured that I will remain the Bishop - the spiritual leader of the Lancea Sanctum. We are a strong covenant with blessed ideals, and so, too is the Invictus. Working together we can bring Kindred society together, and become stronger as a people.

'I ask that everyone reflect on those who had to die so that this evening could come to pass; those of you who have lost a friend, a childe, a sire, remember that they did not die in vain but in glory, as those who were Sanctified were doing the Lord's work. Those who were not... well, I'm sure the Lord will forgive them.

'I now ask that we all take a moment to pray, to be grateful for what God has given us, the opportunities, the rewards, and even the hardships, that we may all be here today to share in his blessing.'

Kaamil paused for a few minutes, muttering a prayer; most of us talked quietly amongst ourselves as he did so. I looked over at Judith's table and saw her and hers talking amongst themselves, as well. Nobody but Kaamil and Michela seemed to care about his bullshit speech and prayer.

Kaamil was in a desperate situation, and it's clear why he and Michela were reduced to siring new childer, and, worse still, using blackmail to get new members.

But I have spoken enough about Kaamil; you know him well enough by now. He is somewhat pathetic; I hope he will do everybody a favour and go into torpor for a century or two, and wake up when nobody remembers what an insufferable fool he was.

I want to talk about what happened to the Nosferatu.

~~~

If they had had their way, the Nosferatu would have ignored the change in Princehood just as they ignored every other major event that had ever occurred amongst the Kindred in Perth.

However, Judith needed them. She needed a haven, and she had a very clear idea about what it would be. She wanted security and obscurity - she did not want to live in an abandoned house, or to pose as a human, like many of us did. She wanted something permanent, and she had her eyes on those Nosferatu tunnels.

She sent one of her people down into the labyrinth to broker the deal. To this day, nobody is sure what the terms were. Of course, we all knew that blood had to be involved, and probably some sort of freedom to continue to live as they did. Or maybe Judith just threatened to kill them if they did not comply. Perhaps she had all the Nosferatu blood-bonded to her vampires, to do their bidding.

In any case, the Nosferatu began digging around the clock, with the help of dayjuice. Dayjuice is, of course, a special blood-based drink that allows a vampire to stay awake whilst the sun is up. The Nosferatu tunnels being underground meant that they had no reason not to take advantage of this commodity and dig 24 hours a day.

And dig they did. If you walked near the museum, you could hear the ground beneath you being moved around. Under the cover of darkness truckloads of earth were carted out.

We all knew that the Nosferatu were digging an underground area that all the vampires in Perth - every last one of us - could live in, together. We could keep a group herd, and all have the protection of the Sheriff and Hounds. We were all looking forward to it - we liked the idea. As a Carthian, I was impressed by the foresight of this plan, and the unity that a common living area would give to us.

But I was going to be disappointed.

After about a year of non-stop digging, the base was finally finished.

The Nosferatu finally had a day that they could sleep through, a day that they didn't partake in any of that cursed dayjuice.

Judith sent a few dozen human ghouls down that day - she said it was to inspect the work and to paint, and put in furniture and carpets. This was a lie. She sent them down not with paint, but with flamethrowers. In less than an hour, those hard-working Nosferatu who had spent so many long days and nights digging for her, all of them were burned to ash.

There were very few survivors, save for the ones who had left their Nosferatu colleagues behind long before - such as Michela, the Sheriff, who had become more loyal to the Sanctum than the unaligned Nosferatu. Misguided woman still passes herself off as human - and as the Police Commissioner, no less!

But I digress.

I received word that we were all welcome to move our Havens into the new quarters; we would each be given a room or rooms appropriate to our status.

I remember walking down those stairs for the first time. The first thing that struck me was the smell, a smell I haven't experienced before or since. The half-drying paint fumes mixed in with the pungent ash, the unmistakable smell of a vampire that had burned.

I felt my shoes on the soft, fire-retardant carpet; it must have been expensive. I dialled the combination of the padlock on the door - in those days, you see, we didn't have keypads yet, but the padlock was sturdy. I opened the door, and with the rush of those smells - those awful smells, all the more potent now - I thought I could hear them groaning in half-felt pain. I shivered involuntarily for the first and only time since my death, the images of burning vampire bodies choking my mind.

All that paint and plush, fire-retardant carpet reminds my body what it feels like to need to vomit. Sure, those digusting creatures didn't have much - anything - in the way of a respectable culture, but it was a culture nonetheless, and now there is no trace of it.

That's why we Carthians don't like to make our Havens down there - we mourn the nosferatu who were lost.

None of us ever expected to be mourning nosferatu.

Story of how Judith came to power

This is a story I imagine Ryan telling. I'll probably clean it up/fix it up a bit and then give it to my players.

I think I had better tell you the story of what has happened to the vampires over the last one hundred years or so; more specifically, how Judith managed to get into power. It might help you with whatever it is your plan is going to be. After all, our end goal is the same; getting us Carthians into the position Judith now is in.

In the 50s, Perth's vampire community was a bit different to the way it is now. We lived primarily in our own individual Havens, with a few sires keeping their childer with them for a dozen years or so until they found their place in the vampire heirachy. We Carthians were even fewer in number then - in fact, there were only two or three of us, and we called ourselves Invictus because it was easier to pretend to be a part of a larger covenant, and hold our rare meetings in secret.

The Prince was not a Prince but an Archbishop, and his name was Kaamil, and I'm sure you can gather that it means the Lancea Sanctum was in power. And they had a lot of it. There were about thirty of them. It was a different world back then; new childer now rarely get swayed by the Sanctum, but many people in that time saw it as a way to continue to experience their fragile humanity in some form. It helped them make sense of their curse, with all the promises that their god made of salvation and redemption.

Back then, there were more Nosferatu. Dozens. Now there are only two or three left, as I'm sure the more astute of you may have realized.

Nosferatu are a strange species, they prefer the company of their own kind and make their lives underground, either using old sewer systems or making their own winding, filthy tunnels. The Nosferatu actually created the area under the museum that the majority of the vampire population now lives in. They are patient and have nothing to do with their time but sire childer and dig tunnels.

Then Judith came in - I think it was from Melbourne though it may have been Sydney. One of the big cities, at any rate. She brought with her an entourage of about a dozen of her most loyal and strong vampires. Being an Invictus, us precious few Carthians saw her as being preferable to the Sanctum, and happily sided with her in the battle against the Sanctum. Her loyal vampires included Fiona, Gabe and Walter amongst their most powerful.

The Archbishop and his Inquisitors tried to hold us back, but ultimately we reigned victorious. He affably stepped down from power when he saw there was no way he would win, but the stubborn old man did so after a great many of his people were dead. They were so low in numbers that they had to resort to siring new childer so they would not go extinct or be doomed to obscurity like the Ordo Dracul.

Judith needed a Haven, suiting her status of course, and so she and hers approached the Nosferatu. You can't live in a hotel forever, after all!

In exchange for a steady supply of human blood, amongst other things, Judith convinced them to carve out the hallways and rooms the Invictus now live in. You must understand the Nosferatu enjoy living in irregular tunnels, but most everyone else likes the order and cleanness of a square room. So Judith made them dig those more or less perfectly shaped rooms and halls. I'm not sure what she promised them, but, as you'll see, they never got a chance to find out.

After a year of drinking dayjuice and the resulting continuous digging, the Nosferatu had completed their task. So they all took a day of well-earned rest, going into the daily sleep that they had missed out on for a solid year.

During that day, while they were helpless, Judith sent a contingent of her loyal ghouls in with flamethrowers.

There were very few survivors, save for the ones who had left their Nosferatu colleagues behind long before - such as Michela, the Sheriff, who had become more loyal to the Sanctum than the unaligned Nosferatu. Misguided woman still passes herself off as human - and as the Police Commissioner, no less!

But I digress.

I received word that we were all welcome to move our Havens into the new quarters; we would each be given a room or rooms appropriate to our status.

I remember walking down those stairs for the first time. The first thing that struck me was the smell, a smell I haven't experienced before or since. The half-drying paint fumes mixed in with the pungent ash, the unmistakable smell of a vampire that had burned.

I felt my shoes on the soft, fire-retardant carpet; it must have been expensive. I dialled the combination of the padlock on the door - in those days, you see, we didn't have keypads yet, but the padlock was sturdy. I opened the door, and with the rush of those smells - those awful smells, all the more potent now - I thought I could hear them groaning in half-felt pain. I shivered involuntarily for the first and only time since my death, the images of burning vampire bodies choking my mind.

All that paint and plush, fire-retardant carpet reminds my body what it feels like to need to vomit. Sure, those digusting creatures didn't have much - anything - in the way of a respectable culture, but it was a culture nonetheless, and now there is no trace of it.

That's why we Carthians don't like to make our Havens down there - we mourn the nosferatu who were lost.

None of us ever expected to be mourning nosferatu.

Stats page http://750words.com/entries/share/365500

Gabe backstory - Gabe's discovery

And so, with Gabe's current situation - questing endlessly to find his lover's murderer - in mind, we can go back to his human life, over a hundred years ago, when he found his sister's new, and altogether mysterious, aversion to the daytime.

For several months their lives continued as normal - as normal as the unwitting brother of a vampire could be, anyway. Gabe had not seen Dawn at all during the day ever since she arrived late all those weeks ago, but she would come in shortly after sunrise and he would go home shortly afterwards.

Dawn was still a wonderful serving maid, talking to her clients and making them laugh at all the right times. She seemed to have gotten even better at it, lately, when Gabe thought about all the extra gifts that the men she worked with were giving her. And, still, that mysterious stranger - Nigel, that was his name - that mysterious Nigel would often come and see Dawn.

And now Gabe noticed that Dawn wasn't eating or drinking anything, either. This was a girl who used to delight in stealing teacakes and sandwiches from the kitchen at every opportunity; a girl who would sit down and share a beer with Gabe - despite how unbecoming of a lady alcohol was, Dawn still used to sneak beers whenever she could. And now she seemed to have sworn off of all the things she used to enjoy. It had to be Nigel!

And so, one evening when Nigel left before Dawn, Gabe was lying in wait outside and followed him. He wanted to see where he went afterwards, and Dawn must have been staying there, because she had stopped sleeping in her bed at home.

Gabe followed for a long time until Nigel reached a small cottage on the other side of town. Odd that Nigel would have walked this far to go to a tavern, when en route there were several others. Nigel entered the house and Gabe stayed outside, waiting in the shadows.

The house itself was old, yet charming. It had a well-kept garden and the door and walls were in very good condition - no holes or cracks anywhere. He also saw the house had window shutters, but he didn't really notice this or think it had any significance. He would know later what it meant.

Nigel remained in the house for a long time - Gabe was now annoyed by the window shutters, since they were all locked it meant he couldn't peek inside. And he was curious as to what Nigel was doing, alone in his house, with no lamp or even candle lit. There was also no smoke coming out of the chimney, he realised, despite the bitterly cold nights of the British winter.

Eventually Nigel left again, closing the door carefully behind him. Gabe sat there, hiding in the shadows, and followed him to his next destination; the more, well, decrepit part of town where the town's lowlifes lived. The beggars, the thieves, even some of the servants. Nigel walked through there with the confidence of a man who has nothing with him worth stealing. Gabe grabbed his pocket knife, keeping it ready.

As Gabe watched, Nigel stood in the middle of the street, clearly waiting for something. A short, skinny woman appeared, dressed in rags with skin so pockmarked she looked as though she had gone through a windmill along with the grain.

With an apparent disregard for the possibility of anyone watching them, Nigel brought the woman close to him, and buried his face in her neck. Gabe squirmed a little, made uncomfortable by a gentleman such as Nigel going so far as to embrace this urchin. The woman, for her part, moaned in ecstasy, sounding for all the world like a harlot except in that her moan, in all its exuberance, seemed to be genuine. Gabe looked on, baffled, and sneaked closer, trying to get a better look.

Then the realization came upon him like a shock - this man was drinking the degenerate woman's blood, wasn't he?

"Vampire."

Gabe murmured to himself, barely audible, for he had heard in the folklore that vampires had a supernatural sense of hearing. They could turn into bats and wolves, too, and he didn't know much about bats but he knew wolves were dangerous and had wicked senses. This knowledge carried with it a terrible weight, despite everything it explained about Nigel - why there was no fire or even candle flame in his house; why they had not once, not ever, seen him during the day, and why, most of all, Dawn's behavior had become so odd of late.

He shuddered, the fateful thought that his sister had to be a supernatural creature of some sort beginning to consume him. She was his best friend, and yet she hadn't told him. He wondered if that had been by choice, or if she wasn't allowed to.

Then he realised something that made his blood run cold - his sister was dead, and there was no way that the Almighty would allow such an awful creature into Heaven.

What a terrible thought - that she would die one day, and her death would be final, with no hereafter!

Story stats etc: http://750words.com/entries/share/357401

Continuing Sail's story

This is part of my Neopet, Sail's, life story, or something. I felt it needed to be added to for the first time in over a year, so why not do it on 750words?

TAG: Neopets

And so Sail headed out to sea under the guidance of the little blue weewoo that had sung to her each morning.

It was not easy going, with only a ramshackle raft and a poorly constructed paddle. But really, what did you expect from a creature with four legs?

She paddled along, the weewoo sitting on her shoulder for most of the journey, occasionally flying out a little way to ensure that Sail was staying on course. It soon became dark, and Sail had not managed to make much progress at all.

She put the paddle down for a few minutes, to rest; she looked up at the sky, and noticed it was beginning to fill with clouds. The fur on her back stood up as she worried about what she was going to do if there was a storm. Her raft wasn't equipped for it, that's for sure.

She managed to get some sleep that night, despite her rumbling stomach conspiring to keep her awake. It got cold, but she and the little Weewoo huddled together trying to stay warm.

Then, all of a sudden, Sail was woken up by a noise that is familiar to any sailor, and a noise that any sailor knows to dread. Thunder.

She got up immediately, grabbing her paddle in her mouth, and began furiously attempting to move the raft away from the storm. She wished now more than ever that she'd decided to rip her shirt up and make a sail out of it to attach to the raft; but she was too happy at finishing the raft to think of that. Stupid!

The weewoo chirped, clearly worried; it stayed sitting on Sail's shoulder, not wanting to fly out in the cold, in the wind. At least it wasn't raining, yet.

Sail paddled for what seemed like hours; the water became choppy, with huge waves coming up and drenching her, soaking her fur and shirt right through. The smell of salt water filled her world, and she wondered for a moment whether she should just lay down, give up, let the ocean take her.

But she wasn't about to let that happen. She redoubled her efforts and paddled even harder, hoping to get out of this awful mess. Fortunately, her weewoo companion had taken to the sky and stayed there, watching Sail, avoiding the oceans and managing to remain dry.

Sail looked up at her friend, smiling for a moment, thinking that perhaps everything would be okay. And then a wave came; a wave far larger than the others. This wave was final. This wave capsized the raft, and sent Sail into the cold, dark water.

~~~

Sail awoke some time later - maybe hours, maybe days; there was no way to be sure. She woke to the caress of cool water on her wet, ragged face.

She got up, looking at the land around her; she'd washed up on the beach, on a land far larger than the small island she was marooned on. She breathed a sigh of relief; surely this place would have other neopets on it, or, at the very least, food!

She staggered onto her tired paws, and began to walk along the beach. She could smell in the distance a familiar scent; that of a fish that had been washed up on the shore. She broke out into a run, and found her prize. It was a small fish, but a welcome meal to a lupe that hadn't eaten in who knows how long.

As she ate, she heard a familiar trilling. She looked up and saw the weewoo from before, flying around in circles above her, chirping merrily. Sail grinned, relieved her friend had survived the journey as well.

So, where do we go next? Is there a city nearby?

Sail asked the petpet. Again, it chirped happily and zipped off. Sail, energised from the meal, laughed and ran after it.

~~~

The journey to the town was a long one, but a plesant one. There was lots of countryside for Sail to run through, lots of snowbunnies and the like for her to snack on (no more half-rotted fish! hurray!). She knew that if she got to a city with a port, she'd be able to get herself onto a ship, and, maybe, somehow join another pirate crew.

They arrived in brightvale together, Sail and the weewoo. Sail had decided to name the weewoo Amy - after a pteri who had been on her old ship - and Amy seemed to approve of the name, happily sitting on Sail's shoulder and surveying the hustle and bustle of neopets at the market.

Sail was looked around, wanting to find a safe corner to spend the night in. Then, all of a sudden, she heard a voice that sounded familiar somehow, but a voice she did not recall ever hearing before.

Hey! You, with the bandanna!

The voice cried. A kindly-looking blumaroo walked up to her, a big grin on his face.

You wouldn't happen to have been abandoned on a pirate ship when you were a pup, were you?

Sail was confused.

Why do you ask?

She asked, guardedly. The blumaroo laughed again, and held out his paw for Sail to shake.

Well, kid, my name's Will. And if you were abandoned on a pirate ship as a pup, well, I know where your parents live!

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Faruq, Gabe Descriptions; Gabe musing about Faruq's murder

Well, I suppose before I get more into the past of Gabe and of Faruq I'd better explain who they are and why you should care.

Gabe and Faruq are two vampires who lived in Perth for an undisclosed period of time until the present. Well, Faruq didn't quite manage to get to the present; he was ambushed and killed by vampire hunters in early 2010. Gabe and Faruq were lovers, and so they were very close and rather devoted to one another.

Gabe is a tall slender man, with pale skin, blue eyes and long, white hair. He does not look wiry, despite being thin; it's all lithe muscle. He moves with an astonishing strength and dexterity that is only appropriate for a supernatural being. In his long life, Gabe has seen a great many things and done a great many things, not all of them good. He has an easy-going nature and revels in sarcasm. He's wily and intelligent, preferring to use his brains over his brawn, but he's as good a shot as anybody. He just knows the right time to shoot and the right time to ask questions.

Following the death of Faruq, he became a lot more cynical, particularly because Judith - the leader of the vampires and his 'boss' - blamed Faruq not only for his own death, but for the death of Fiona who he was charged with protecting. Knowing Judith would not authorize the vendetta Gabe so sorely wanted to pursue in an attempt to kill the vampire hunters responsible for Faruq's death, Gabe went off on his own and started seeking out any vampire hunters he could find. There were no surviving witnesses to Faruq and Fiona's massacre, so Gabe was going to do it the old fashioned way - by killing everyone who it could have possibly been and calling it a day.

The death of his loved one of course caused his psychopathic streak to reassert itself. This was an asset of his when used in interrogation - though he tended to play good cop to Faruq's bad cop, but it was not being well-supervised here. It was untamed and wild as he was cruel to his victims, but in his mind, at least, they deserved it.

~~~~

It goes without saying that Faruq was one of Gabe's great allies. Faruq, himself, was rather short - five foot seven or so, dwarfed a little by Gabe's six foot frame. But you would never know he was that short by looking at him - he was stocky and well-built, rippling with muscle and power. When he punched someone down, they stayed down.

Physically, Faruq had dark skin (though not black), dark eyes, and dark hair that was styled in dreadlocks. He wore simple clothes - dark t-shirts with tribal designs on them, jeans with chains coming off of them, sometimes spiked collars and wrist cuffs. He looked like a thug, and he owned it, even playing it up a little.

He was dumb, but had street smarts. He knew from watching his brother - who held a high position in Vampire society - as well as from watching other Princes and Archbishops, that being the leader was more work than it was worth. It made you a target for assassination. It put you in danger from being usurped by your own people. What was the point, when you could live a perfectly serviceable life by being the hired muscle of the leader? It kept you relatively safe, after all, and gave you control of the guns.

~~~

Unfortunately, Faruq didn't benefit from this; he was killed by four young, wiley vampire hunters and had no way of knowing about it. At least, that's what Gabe kept telling himself. Gabe knew, of course, that there are security measures a vampire can take against having their car set alight - dousing it in water periodically, for example - but they had no way of anticipating that an attack would come.

Now Gabe was on guard, of course. He wouldn't make the mistake - yes, he had to admit, Faruq had made a mistake, even if he couldn't anticipate it. He wouldn't allow himself to be killed. He needed to find Faruq's murderer and avenge the death, regardless of the risk he'd be taking.

Gabe knew a few things: firstly, the murderer was probably not a vampire, as it takes a very strong vampire to keep his cool in the presence of a bonfire like the one that killed Faruq. No vampire would willingly go near such a thing; the risk would be too great. However, it had to be someone with connections to the vampires; who else would know where Faruq was going to be enough to lie in wait?

He also knew that it probably was not someone sympathetic to the Sanctum or the Invictus because of how they were aligned. This left the Carthians. And the Carthians, hiding away in their stupid little graveyard, they had their fingers everywhere in the human world.

That's what the Carthians were - stupid, misguided vampires that thought they were still human. Idiots!

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Gabe/Faruq backstories, part 1 - Gabe and Dawn

Gabe and Faruq had met a long time ago, and were together for a very long time. They needed to be, I guess - they needed each other. But let me first go back in time, and tell you how they came to be:

Gabe was a simple man from the 1850s. He worked at a family-owned tavern with his parents and sister. They both worked in the front of the bar, so they had a lot in common; greeting the patrons, getting them their usual orders, and the more dull duties such as cleaning. His sister was named Dawn - maybe not originally, over the past 150 years these sorts of things became harder to keep track of - but Dawn was what he'd called her for quite some time, and so it is what we call her today.

Dawn was a friendly young girl - blonde hair, blue eyes, friendly smile. Gabe had always had white hair - who knows how it came about, but before his death he was never really clean enough for all that hair to be white, anyway. Gabe and Dawn always got along well; they had to when they worked together so closely.

Then, one day, they had an unusual regular begin showing up. He arrived a few hours after sunset, and sat there, looking at the other patrons, until he saw one he apparently liked and struck up a conversation. Then they went away together, apparently for a walk, though nobody could really be sure. The man never ate or drank anything, though he was always buying drinks for others.

After a week of this, Gabe and Dawn had come to know him as a regular, though not on a personal level. When he came into the tavern, he was quickly handed a newspaper and gave them a shilling for their trouble.

Dawn seemed drawn to this man - he was good looking, and Gabe knew it, too. Gabe and Dawn spent much of their time together, discussing the men they saw, which ones were cute and all the rest of it. Dawn always thought it was just her brother being entertaining, being a friend, chatting with her; but he was really interested in the men as much as he was the women. After all, couldn't one appreciate beauty in a man's features as well as a woman's?

And so, Dawn kept talking to this man every time she got an opportunity, and reporting back to Gabe what they discussed. The man kept on coming to the tavern and leaving with different people each night. When Gabe asked these companions of his, they said the man was just lonely, wanted someone to go for a walk with, have a chat with. None of them said he did anything untoward or indeed anything sexual. This last part was a bit disappointing for Gabe, who had been known to have the odd fling with patrons - male and female alike.

As the weeks wore on, Dawn got more and more tight-lipped about what the man was saying to her. Gabe knew better than to ask; if she wanted to keep something a secret, she would have a good reason. These siblings kept very few secrets from one another. And so, on the night that Dawn left work early, left with the mysterious man whose name they didn't even know, Gabe let her do it. He knew she wasn't stupid. He knew she wouldn't do anything rash or dangerous; it wasn't the sort of person she was.

The next morning, she didn't show up for work. Gabe was worried, and asked around town if anyone had seen her. Nobody had; it was Gabe, and the now still mysterious - but a bit less strange - stranger that had seen her last. He didn't know what the man could have done to her, didn't want to think about it; but the stranger had seemed harmless enough. Hadn't he?

Then that evening, just after sunset, Dawn arrived at the tavern for work as if nothing had happened. She smiled at Gabe:
"Hi, brother. Sorry I'm late."
"You're not just late, Dawn! It's been hours. You were meant to be here for lunch..."
"I know." She shrugged and smiled a carefree smile. "But I couldn't make it. In fact, I'm not sure I will ever be able to come in for a lunch shift again. You'll be able to take care of it, won't you?"
He gave her a suspicious look.
"Dawn - what's happened? Are you okay? Is everything alright?"
Dawn nodded.
"Yes. Everything's fine. I just... I just would prefer to work nights now."

Gabe gave her another suspicious look. He knew she still had a secret, but he would find out what it was soon enough.

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