LO Round 1 Pg.1

An air of anticipation hung in the overgrown ruins. The creatures that dashed to and fro among the vegetation were unusually quiet. A choice few birds loosed their warbling song from their perches atop the twisted vines.

Down below, a dark form lay asleep. It rose and fell slowly, drifting awake in the morning's light. The creature- Vulcan, naturally, was exhausted and most unwilling to wake itself, but there were obligations to be met. He blinked his mismatched eyes open and sniffed the damp air, gazing up at the thunderheads that billowed overhead with mild concern. It was still early morning, leaving him all the time in the world.

He gradually roused himself and wandered down towards the streets of the ruined city, moving slowly and without great concern. A faint sensation of hunger clawed at his belly, but he decided that it could wait for the time being. The previous night had been quite boring, with only a mild thunderstorm bursting in to liven up the dark streets around midnight.

His thoughts wandered to the two cat-creatures that had convinced him to invest his time in the mildly amusing ruins. The little patience he had was wearing thin, though, and he eagerly awaiting some sort of distraction in the form of a grand old bloodbath.

These two are severely trying my temper. Do they have no intelligence? I do not wish to be kept waiting here. There is plenty of sport to be found all across the land.

Vulcan scratched at a recent gash on his leg, which had been inflicted by a keen spike of steel rebar. His condition had been rather fair for the past few days- ever since his arrival, effectively- but a touch of ill feeling had washed over him sometime during the night. It left him with a faint trembling that caused him to twitch from time to time.

Someplace off in the distance, a faint call rang out. Vulcan's ears perked up at the sound as he turned to face the noise. He eventually recognized it as the shadow-cat's bay, which he could only assume meant some manner of interesting news was at hand. The streets were still unfamiliar to him, making the short jaunt quite time consuming. By the time he came across the gathering crowd, it seemed that the festivities were on the verge of commencing. The shadow-cat was standing in the middle of a small empty space, highlighted by the rising sun and surrounded by a dozen or so creatures.

"Well, it is with great pride that I face you all," it began. "I won't mince words for you, so let us cut to the point. It would be excellent to start things off with a little bit of drama, no? As such, our first little skirmish will be for a prominent landmark of this place- the clock tower. It is quite the summit, and I do suspect that you all will have a grand time trying to scale it, never mind do so with a foe at your heels."

It shifted and continued to speak.

"All you really have to do is make it to the top. If you both make it up there, do something. Throw your opponent off the edge, I don't care. You might want to give me a shout first, though, since it would be ridiculous if I missed such a sight. I'll be watching you all, you know?"

There was a dull chatter, but the assembly of lopsided creatures remained largely attentive. Quite a few of the lot were just as single-minded as the shadowy cat that they took their instructions from.

"Once you do succeed, please ensure that you do not throw other creatures off the top. I don't want to find all of you dead before the fun can truly begin. And when things go against my will, things get hurt. Understand that?"

There was a general muttering of acknowledgement. Vulcan feigned interest, but he was far more concerned with breaking all of his toys all at once than with the danger of the little cat.

"That is all you truly need to know. Get there by midnight, or I'll be highly annoyed. Tardiness is not a trait for one living here. Questions?"

None spoke.

"Excellent! Let us begin, then."

Doom released a pair of the ethereal shapes, allowing them to swirl up into the air and mingle for a moment.

"You may disperse now. My friends will inform you of your foe momentarily. I trust that they will deliver their messages with haste. Until then, you have some time to prepare yourselves. Feel free to poke around the clock tower, but don't wander up there just yet. I've been keeping a few...well, tools up there, and they're a bit aggressive."

The shadow-cat stepped backwards into a patch of darkness and faded out of sight, leaving the thirteen to disperse into the ruins. Their anxiety was mildly palpable in the cold yet stiflingly humid air, and few were anything less than eager to get on with it. Vulcan watched several of the departing members before sighing and meandering off, clicking his tongue idly as he walked. He seemed no less eager than the others to begin on the surface, but there was a certain sluggishness to his gait that suggested the contrary.

Something around here isn't right. Must be the history of this blasted place.

A skirmish between some minute wildlife up ahead captured his attention for a moment, but they sensed his presence and bolted before long. He lurched up a stairwell and slumped against the banister, causing it to nearly snap loose. There he lay for some time as the sun drifted across the sky. It was a quiet day indeed, although a bank of clouds were building on the horizon.

An unfathomable presence entered his mind at long last, which he permitted to communicate him for but a brief moment.

Your foe cometh, it silently proclaimed. That of your own size and of scarlet hues. Seek him out, or perhaps he will seek you first.
Does he know yet? demanded Vulcan impatiently.
Maybe yes, maybe no. You've met him, you should know just as well as I. Needless to say, the festivities have commenced.

Vulcan let out a short laugh at the last line as he rose up and clambered to the rooftop. From his vantage point, he could quite clearly see the clock tower in the distance. It would take a quarter-hour to reach at the most, leaving him without the inclination to act. Still, anything to break the tedium was a fine move in his mind, and before long he was creeping through the streets.

He moved with uncanny smoothness, drifting from one shadow to the next without making a single sharp movement. His footfalls were muffled by the brisk yet restrained pace of his walk, making him quite difficult to discover indeed.