A little over two week's left on this.

Bumping up~

Nightfall

I never realized how easy it was to die. Throughout our lives we all believe we will live forever, though we know it is not true. It not until you step next to your Death, and say goodbye before taking its hand do you realize we cannot stay on this world forever. I could sense my Death, a cold, dark, and somehow comforting figure beside me as I stepped forward in the swirling dark shadows. I knew the Soulless were following me. I wanted them too. But not until the gates closed. Was it a noble sacrifice? I didnt know. I couldnt return home, and I wasnt part of the Nightlands. I didnt want to stay on this Earth, so I figured I might as well help those who had been kind to me when I died. I could have lived the rest of my days on the clouds, but somehow, I knew I wouldnt be the same. As I stepped farther in the darkness I felt them, cold and harsh. I didnt see them yet, but I knew they could see me. So, I continued my walk through the shadows. Suddenly, white, soulless, dead eyes surrounded me. A raspy voice spoke. We have searched a long time for you. Then the pain came. It started small, like cuts and bruises. Then it got worse. I fell to my knees every muscle, every bone, every cell in my body crying out, wanting to run, wanting to hide, wanting my Death to take me into its merciful arms. But even as the world went dark, fading to nothing, I had one last thought. I had succeeded.

I felt pain. Though it was nothing, compared to what I had felt before, it was still pain. At once I felt both relieved and afraid. I had not died, because the dead cannot feel pain, but I didnt know how I had gotten away from the Soulless, for they had surely meant to kill. My next realization was much more painful than any physical pain. I had no memory. Apart from that one memory, my entire life was gone, as if I had been created at that moment. I knew my name, Silver McRoy, and I knew what the world was like, though I had no recollection of how I knew it. It is a strange thing, to remember ones thoughts, but think of them as though they were another persons. I remembered my thoughts, but I had no clue what they meant.
I opened my eyes, now fully conscious. There was no rush of memories, no sudden realizations. I was in a small circular room. I was lying on the floor, and as I looked around I saw a small bed, a dresser with a mirror, and an arched door. And from the arched door came a trail of blood. It led to my foot. My foot was bloody, and torn up. I couldnt move. Staring at my mutilated foot, my brain just didnt seem to be able to comprehend it. My brain finally caught up, and I started to slowly pull myself to the bed. When I got to the bed, my hand instinctively moved to my boot, and pulled out a knife. I stared at it. Why would I have a knife in my boot? But, I decided to make the best out of it, and I started to cut the sheets, to make a bandage. As I wrapped up my foot, I thought, hard about the one memory I had, trying to figure out how in the world I had escaped. I thought about the dark figure, the Soulless, I had called them. I had wanted them to follow me. I had wanted to die. But why? Why had I wanted death to take me? And then there was death. I had called it my Death as though it were actual thing, not just an idea. My foot now bandaged, I slowly pulled myself to a standing position, and limped to the mirror. It was as though I was seeing myself for the first time. I had long, tangled, black hair, pale blue eyes, and pale skin. I stared at my reflection, but it felt alien to me.
I walked to the door, and pulled on it. Too my surprise it was unlocked. Behind the door there was a long hallway, with many doors. I walked to the first one on my right, and pulled on the handle. The door opened to a large kitchen, with a wooden table, with warm bread in the middle. My stomach rumbled. I hadnt realized I had been hungry until now. I decided it couldnt hurt so I sat down at the table and took a slice of bread. As I ate it, I felt something change inside of me, as though a key had been turned. I gasped. I had a memory.

I sat on the cool grass. At the time I was just 4 or 5 years old. I was looking up in the sky, looking at all the shapes the clouds made. Look Mommy, an elf shoe! I turned to my mother. My mother had caramel colored hair, and bright blue eyes. She, like me, had pale skin. The elves mountain. She muttered. I didnt notice. And a tower, And, and a horse! My mother looked worried. The Tower, and the Horse. Suddenly the clouds started to move in our direction. NO! My mother cried No, you cant have her! I stared at my mother. Why was she yelling at the clouds? Silver! She turned to me, an urgency in her voice. Silver, run, run as fast as you can. Dont stop, no matter what you hear, no matter what you see. Whatever you do dont stop until you are far far away Silver!

And then, that was it. I didnt know what happened next. I was living a fairy tale. And I didnt know whether I was the one with a terrible fate, who was taught a lesson. I might be the one who profits from childhood and becomes a hero. Or I might be the one who becomes a villain. The one who betrays her friends. The one who dies, for everyone elses sake. Whatever else happened I knew, somehow, my mother was dead.

As I slowly stood up, I realized my foot was no longer hurting. I sat back down and unwrapped it, and saw that there was no longer any injury, but a thin scar. I gaped at it. How? How had my foot healed? I couldnt believe what I was seeing. I looked at the bread. Had it healed me? Had it unleashed the barrier of memories? I stood up and walked to the door. I went back into the hallway and opened another door. It was full of stuffed animals, but none that I had ever seen before. There was one, a creature the size of a large horse, that had two horse-like heads attached to a long skinny neck. Its body was long, and its lower half was a long fish tail. It had two front legs that appeared to be hooves, but they were more claw-like. Its eyes seemed to follow me as I moved through the room. There was a tiny creature on a podium, labeled Tarenat. The tarenats body was long and slender. It had a small shrew-like face, with an elephant like trunk. It had a long tail, but no legs. The tarenat also had beautiful wings, that looked as if they were made of mother pearl. Its body was covered in a fur that seemed to change color as I moved. There was a bear like creature, that was black, and had glowing red fungus on it. It's label read Ramenette, however someone had scrawled on it Butcher of the Nightfall. across from it was a wolf like creature that was black with black scales on it's underside, and blue spots covering it's body. The original words were not legible, but someone had scrawled Reaver of the Nightfall. I then saw a cage with a tiny almost rat like creature in it. It had a deep red color to it, and was covered it knife like spikes. To my surprise it opened it's eyes. It looked out at me "Killll mee! it wailed. Nightfall is comingggg! KILLLL MEEEEEE! and it launched it's body into the bars.

This is just the beginning of a larger story.

Story Contest 1 - Option 2: Ocean's Garden



"Aatos, are you ready yet?"

An ocean-dyed Sylvorpa sat outside a fancy door in the middle of a fancy hallway. "Royalty, I swear," she muttered under her breath. "I tell him to dress lightly because we're going out to the Atlantic Garden, but he's probably in there picking what set of bangles and bracelets to wear. Aatos!!"

She rapped on the door. "Hold on, hold on, Meri! Give me a moment!" preached the voice from inside.

A moment was given, and not a moment sooner did Meri barge in, fins flaring. "What is taking you so long!?"

A ruby-colored Kelpari's tail peeked out from the corner of the room, where the wardrobe was. "Oh, what to wear, what to wear," Aatos whispered out loud, jewelry and crowns flying out of one side of the wardrobe and gently floating down to a conveniently placed coffee table.

"Aatos!" Meri swam over to the wardrobe. "I've been waiting outside for twenty minutes! We're going for a WALK in the garden, why do you need to think about what you're wearing to a walk!?"

The ruby Kelpari turned around, his hooves holding on to two different sets of pearl necklaces, one emerald green and one jade green. "Well, the sunlight shining through the ocean today is just right! It's essential to wear the best set of jewelry that will accent my looks!" Aatos turned back to his three-mirror vanity, comparing each necklace to his neck. The jewels swished left and right, left and right, as his face was marred with indecision.

"You're worse than most princesses," Meri muttered. "Just pick one!"

Aatos stared at his reflection, steady and sure after a few moments. "Emerald it is." He floated to one of his open dressers to put back the other necklace, but with one hoof down to return the necklace in his jewelry boxes, a handful of bangles and emerald bracelets came back up.

Meri crossed her arms and tapped her foot impatiently as Aatos put on his matching accessories. "Are you quite finished yet?"

Aatos returned to his vanity mirrors, eyeing himself up and down, turning around to check out his fins. He admired his reflection with a smirk, turning his head left and right to see his mane and jewels swish side to side.

"Aatos!!"

"Okay, okay, I'm coming, I'm coming."

--
tbc!

Bumping up~ just a few days left for this~!

Last bump for this~

Story Contest 1 - Option 1: The Dancing Wind

((The concept for this story came easier to me than the last one...;w; But I didn't finish it, I wasn't sure how to weave in my second idea of how they initially met.))

Violent gusts swept through the edge of Umbra Forest, ripping the branches from trees above. The home of a small clan of Zolnixis all fled for cover where they could.

Huddled within a small stone cavern were most of the Zolnixis. Mates held close to each other, and families counted their young to make sure everyone was there.
"Help! Help! My child, please!" A mother nixi cried. "My cub is still out there!"

An adult Zolnixi came running to the cavern, his wings outstretched to shield several younger zolnixis running with him as fast as their tiny paws could run. "Make space for more cubs!" the adult called to the cavern.

As the Zolnixis in the small shelter tried to squeeze closer to allow the cubs to join in, the mother who was missing her child made her way to the entrance. "Coran, it's you!"

"Mrs. Warmheart, are you alright?" Coran used his wings to usher the nixis back into the cavern. "Everyone, please, stay calm, huddle close, and get as far to the back as you can!"

"My baby, Todd, he's still out there!" Mrs. Warmheart whimpered. "You have to go find him! He's probably still near our home, all alone..!"

"Don't worry, I'll find him, just keep calm and stay here, alright Mrs. Warmheart?"
Coran turned around, facing the winds that blew against him, and flew back into the forest.

--

"Todd!! Todd!! Where are you!?" Coran struggled to fly through the trees, having to stop from branch to branch.

The winds blew harder than before, and it was difficult for Coran to yell over them. The tornado took everyone in the forest by surprise, the first tornado that has hit for several decades.

"Help! Help!" a small voice cried out.

"Todd!" Coran flew down to the ground where the voice originated. "Where are you? I can't see you!"

"I'm here!"

Coran turned around to see a small nixi cub hiding inside a hallow tree trunk. "Oh, thank goodness," Coran sighed, coming to the nixi cub. "Are your friends still out here?"

"I don't know," Todd said quietly. "I'm scared..."

"It's alright, I'm here, just stay close." Coran closed his eyes, whispering a few words, and glowing runes of light spiraled around the younger cub. "There, I cast a spell on you, so that you won't get hurt by the wind, so stay brave and I'll get you to safety, okay?"

"Okay," the cub replied meekly.

Coran shielded Todd under his wing and carefully walked him out into the wind. "It'll be too dangerous to fly, but I got you, okay?"

Todd was too scared to look up at the older nixi, his eyes flitting in different directions as they inched back to the cavern.

"You got this, don't worry."

--

It took several minutes of trudging through rough winds to cover the same ground that took only instants of flying, but Coran could see the cavern as a dark mound in the distance. "Look, Todd! There's the cavern straight ahead!"

The smaller zolnixi dared to look forward, and his ears perked up with hope. He briefly looked up to Coran with a smile, but it instantly turned into shock. "LOOK OUT!"

Coran's head darted straight up above them where Todd was looking -- a giant tree branch came falling towards them. "Todd, run away!"

-THUD-

With a blast of light and air magic, Coran pushed Todd away from his wings and closer to the cavern, before the branch crashed on him.

"No!!" Todd ran back to Coran in panic. "What do I do, what do I do?"

"Agh..." Coran winced in pain, for his wings were caught under the giant branch. "No, Todd, run...run to the cavern," he tried to say, pointing his muzzle forward.

The little cub pushed against the log-sized branch with all his might, but to no avail. The branch must have fallen from a very old tree, which were common in Umbra, but it would take a lot of magic or power to remove it.

Coran spent too much mana in rescuing the rest of the clan, and used the last on the spell on the cub. "Todd, please, your mother, agh..." He tried to nudge Todd away with his muzzle. "Go to the cavern, get to shelter, come for me when winds die down..."

"Help!! Somebody, please, help us!" Todd cried out to the air. "Help!! Help!!"

"It's no use," Coran groaned. "Todd, leave me..."

"Help!! Help!!"

The tornado's currents grew stronger. Coran tried his best to free himself from the branch, but he became worried, more for Todd than himself. "Todd, go..."

"I'm coming to rescue you! Hold on!" a female voice called from the wind.

A zolnixi came flying out along the winds, her fox-like shape accompanied with wings of wispy light. "I got you guys, don't worry!!"

"Over here, over here!" Todd called to the flying zolnixi. "Help us!"

Coran tried to move his head, but he had limited range from what he could see. All he saw was a blur of brown, yellow, and seemingly orange, as if the cold and vicious winds were colored with the nature and earth.

"Oh, Coran, it's you!" The female voice landed on top of the tree branch, practically a crash landing that pressed the branch down onto the trapped nixi.

"Argh!" The voice apparently recognized him, but he couldn't recognize it. A flurry of emotions, worry and panic, rushed through his mind. "Get this cub to safety first!"

"I can get you out of this no problem, and we can all go together," the female assured the two others. "Let me just...work my magic!"

The surroundings started to glow orange and yellow, and suddenly turned to white, blinding Coran and Todd. "Aghh!" Coran yelped, squeezing his eyes shut.
But the weight on top of his body slowly lightened up, as if it rolled off of him.

As the bright light died down, fading to orange and yellows and disappearing, Coran saw that the giant branch was moved to the side, and his wings and body were freed. He tried to get up, but twinges of pain struck his wing and leg joints.

"Todd, how about you help me with Coran? He can't lift a paw right now."

"O-okay! I'll help!"

Todd looked to his sides under his wings, one cub to his left, and one adult lady to his right. They lifted his wings off the ground, and through the still-raging winds, inched ever closer to the cavern.

--

The clan of zolnixis waited for the tornado to pass in the cavern, watching as forest debris flew by.

As Todd reunited with Mrs. Warmheart, Coran had to be nursed by other fellow nixis, healed with a combination of light magic and earthen healing salves.

Coran sat idly, calmly trying to regain his senses and restore his mana. But near him sat the female nixi, apparently someone he knew. "Who are you?" he asked.

The nixi smiled. "We can save that for another day. I'll tell you all about it."

Finally had time today to go through and judge all of the stories~ thank you everyone for participating. :)
It's now time to announce the winners~!


For Story Contest One:

1st Place: Flute with "Ocean's Garden"
Flute wins the 2-Vis Foo Dog Luffox~!


2nd Place: Creativity with "The Warmth of a Fire"
Creativity gets a choice of one of any of the following pets:




For Story Contest Two:

1st Place: Swirlspot with "Jade and Whisper"
Swirlspot wins the 2-Vis Butterfly Fairy Kelpari~!


2nd Place: Flute with "The Dancing Wind"

3rd Place: Mccauley1 with "Nightfall"

Flute and Mccauley1 will get a choice of one of any of the following pets, with Flute choosing first:

Really!?! *squeals* Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
And some of my favorite traits! This is awesome!

*I'm calm now* :D

Hey imp can you please ping me next time you do one of these? (your prizes are better than the irl ones XD_