Story Thread: The Battle of Unruliness

OCisbestungulate

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If you have been in the dark sector that is the RP threads, you may have seen that in one of them RP shenanigans unfolded and a story happened. Then, a sucker was picked (okay, a sucker volunteered) to put the story into words. And so I did.

So. Many. Words.

Seriously, why was a single battle this long? This was completely unness-*ahem*

Anyway. In this thread I will put the whole story from start to finish for those who want to read it, but don't quite have the desire to dig through an RP thread to find the parts.

IMPORTANT TO NOTE: While this story was inspired by RP events, this is not an RP thread. Thus, if you wish to do any RP, kindly direct your creative contributions to one of the 7 RP threads that stand eagerly awaiting your brand of shenanigan.
 

OCisbestungulate

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The Battle Of Unruliness
Part One
Under The Moon
The low glow of the crescent moon shone upon their backs as they made their way through what little brush the prairie had. It was dark, and quiet. Perfect conditions for those on a hunt. They made their way swiftly, as their time was most limited. They had a single objective: to undo the enemy from within. They had spent weeks, if not months, waiting for a moment such as this; an opportunity to hunt prey. In the shadows they had waited, in the dark they had watched. They had planned on striking someday, but with things having turned out the way they did that 'someday' had, much to their excitement, become today.

As they neared the edge of the encampment where the army of the Giraffe-folk had fortified themselves, they paused for a moment. The Giraffe knew well how to dig in. Their camp was surrounded by a high and sturdy wall. Just behind it they had guards perfectly spaced apart. The wall was short enough to enable the giraffe to see over it, but tall enough to make the inside of the camp impossible to see from the outside. Any hill or outcropping of rocks that could have provided the ability to look in was either well-guarded, or had been intentionally flattened. All brush around the outside of the wall had been cleared, allowing the guards behind the wall a clear view of any possible approach. It was an impressive defense, given that it had been made only two days prior. Indeed, any ungulate might have been tempted to consider any kind of covert mission akin to suicide, and they most likely would have been right. But these were no ungulates that approached the camp.

They were hunters.

The giraffe were clever, but there was no way they could have prepared for something like this. The guards stood alert, and very much aware as their eyes scanned the relatively flat plain that surrounded their camp. Though, look as they might, they did not, nor could not, see their foe approach. Nor did they hear a thing, save a very slight breeze that blew through the air from time to time. They did not see them cross the cleared ground around their camp, nor did they hear them scale their impressive walls. But then again, how can one see and hear shadows? Let alone stop them.

To their credit, a few guards did see some movement. However, they dismissed it as their fellow guards moving about the camp. Thus it was with little alarm that their foe entered in, and began their work. The hunters moved as swiftly as they could, for their 'allies' would attack shortly after dawn. Though their task was not easy.

The camp itself was laid out in a way only a giraffe could make sense of it. The tents were too tall for the hunters to easily see over, and they dared not scale to the top of them lest they collapse one, or be spotted. Crossing a wall was easy enough, standing alone on top of a brightly colored tent and remaining unseen was another matter. The layout was, to them, chaotic and confusing. Thus, to cover more ground, they split their forces.

From tent to tent they traveled. Most were filled with rank-and-file troops; not their targets (though they wished they were, for they were most hungry). Those few that had commanders, they marked and went on their way to the next tent. While it would have been most easy to simply eat them while they slept, they had other plans for them. Tent by tent they traveled, tent by tent they ignored or marked, until finally, they reached the center. There, completely surrounded by guards, stood the tent of the Grand General of the Giraffe army.

“What are we to do?” asked a shadowy wolf. “We cannot get in, there are too many eyes, even for us. Look! While the walls were cast in shadows and darkness, this tent is surrounded by light and guards on every side. We are too few to take them on directly, and they would surely gather at once to save their commander.”

“Then let us return to the tents of their leaders,” spoke a young elk, “the Masters speak to me and the others who bear their mark. The time for our plan is upon us!” she grinned.

“Yeah, about that. Mind telling us what's up with that? I mean, I'm kinda hungry. You can't expect us to be all 'shadow and mystery' and you know, not tell us what's up with the whole 'not eating' thing. I mean, sneaking around like this ain't easy, m'kay?” Francis, the tabby cat, interjected (again).

“Really, Francis? You're going to do this right now? Right in the middle of a mission?” the elk looked at him, her eye twitching slightly.

The cat rolled his eyes. “Well you sure didn't tell US anything back at base.”

“Francis,” a young lemur placed a paw upon him, “Don't worry. If this all goes according to plan, this is going to be amazing. So stick with the program for once, okay?

Francis let out a sigh. “Fine. But if I'm not getting anything to eat soon, I'm splitting, okay?”

“Fine! Just don't wander off until we're done, alright?” the elk snapped, though rather quietly. The cat waved a paw in a 'yeah, yeah' fashion. “Alright. Now then, come, we have work to do!” she smiled.

The hunters left the center, and headed for the closest commander’s tent they could find. There, upon a cot, lay a commander of high rank. “Keep watch, lest we be ambushed!” the lemur spoke to the wolf, who went to the entrance of the tent.

“Very good.” the elk said. “Now, watch. I shall show you how to apply, and activate, the mark. When you do, one of two things will happen: It will either put them into a comatose sleep, or it will make them one of us.” The other hunters in the room watched closely as the elk stalked to the giraffe's bedside. Slowly, and as quietly as she could, she made her way to the head of her prey. When she reached it, she stood upon her hind legs, and raised her hooves high…


You are prey, and we are hunters.
Upon you we place their mark of hatred and power,
and command you to join the others.
If before our master you dare cower,
Then your mind, they will devour!”



Her near silent chant complete, she slammed a hoof upon the sleeping giraffe's forehead. Its eyes shot open, and its mouth opened to emit a silent scream as a dark mark etched itself upon its head. Its eyes flashed red, and it convulsed as though a powerful shock ran through it. Then, it was still. For several moments the air was quiet. When its eyes finally opened, they did so suddenly and to everyone's surprise, save the elk.

“See?” she said. “Now, go! We have little time!” she pointed a hoof to the exit. The others nodded, and left swiftly.

The giraffe sat up and looked at her. “What is your command?” it said, its voice vacant and distant.

She smiled. “Gather your troops, commander. You have a coup d'état to preform...”



If you didn't know, a coup d'état is a sudden and (often) violent take over of power. In this case, using military might to take control.

Also: I wanted to give credit where credit is due: Thank you 0Zero100 for proof-reading, offering corrections, and minor suggestions and edits for everything.
 
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OCisbestungulate

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The Battle Of Unruliness
Part Two
In A Baaaaad Spot
“The army is in position Prime Minister!” the cow saluted the rather nervous ram.

“O-oh!” he said, shifting a bit in the armor the longma had given him to wear. “That happened a lot sooner then I had expected. G-Good! How about the longma?”

“They are awaiting the signal to charge.” the cow reported, its hoof not leaving its forehead.

“Ah. And what about the Cattlekind?” he asked, fidgeting all the more under his armor. Aside from the fact that this was clearly made for something that didn't have hair (it kept snagging his wool), the armor was heavy and uncomfortable (and really, really hot).

The cow blinked at him a few times. “I just reported that they were in position.”

“O-oh. I thought you were talking about my kin!” he said, feeling a little sheepish. Yep. That armor was coming off. While it was a nice gesture, he figured that he wouldn't actually need it. After all, what were the odds he would actually be in the battle? Not that he was afraid mind you, but he wasn't really a combatant.

“No sir, although they too are ready to march.” the cow nodded.

“Wonderful! I knew I could count on them! As long as one of them doesn't wander off...” his mind was suddenly filled with the mental image of a single sheep wandering off after some far patch of grass and the entire flock of sheeple following after it.

“That's been taken care of Sir.” The cow said, though her voice lacked a certain confidence he would have liked to hear.

“Is there a problem?” he asked, suddenly feeling a little uneasy.

“Well, no. It's just that...” she looked from side to side. “Permission to speak freely commander?”

“What? I'm not your comman-” he stopped as he suddenly remembered that he was, indeed, her temporary commander, “Er, granted. Go ahead.”

“It's just that, well, I'm not so sure about hiring all of those goats. I mean, why? And why stick them in with the Cattlekind? I'm pretty sure we're strong enough without all of those mercenaries.” the cow cast a glance at the army in question.

“Well, I hired them because I felt it wouldn't hurt to give us a little more strength. From what we've been told, the Giraffe-folk army is quite experienced and well organized. So, I figured that having even more allies could only help.” Fleece nodded to himself.

“Well, okay. I guess that makes sense. But why stick them with us? Why not the sheep?” the cow asked.

“Oh, that? Well, we sheep get along pretty okay with the goats. I figured that it would be a good opportunity to improve inter-ungulate relations between Cattlekind and the goats.” Fleece shrugged.

“You're using a battle to improve relations between two ungulates?” the cow gave him a flat look.

“Yes. Yes I am. I feel that fighting alongside one another should do a world of good in building stronger bonds.” Fleece nodded once more.

“If you say so...” the cow sounded rather unconvinced.

“It never hurts to make new allies.” Fleece smiled.

“In speaking of allies, I, uh, wanted to ask about that … thing … that you were planning on bringing with you. Are you sure it can be trusted? I mean, I've never seen anything like it before! And it talks and acts kinda funny. And parts of it are made of metal. Not to be rude sir, but what IS that thing?” The cow lowered her hoof for a moment, then jerked as she caught herself and sharply put her hoof back to her forehead.

“First off,” he said, none-too-pleased with her tone, “HE is an ally. Second, well, uh...” he paused. He wasn't fully sure WHAT he was exactly, but, “Well, he's a bear … kinda. And he's pretty scary … sorta. W-What I mean is, yes! He's an old friend of ours and I assure you that he is perfectly trustworthy. He's never hurt any of us, that I know of, on purpose … I think.” he put a hoof to his chin as he tried to remember any time the bear had done anything worth reporting.

“Well, if you say so, sir. I just get the willies around him, that's all.” the cow looked back almost as if expecting said bear to pop in behind her.

“And what about the, uh, 'Dark Side'?” he asked. The fact that they existed gave him the willies, but at least they were fighting for the right side, even if their means of so doing gave him the creeps.

The cow whipped her head back into position and saluted once more, “They are in formation and ready to go sir! And, uh, may I speak freely once again, sir?”

“Wait, they're in position already?! Is everyone in position?!” he took a step back in surprise, and tripped over a strap he had undone in his armor.

“Sir!” the cow ran over to him and helped him to his hooves.

“I'm fine! I'm fine! Help me get this thing off! I can't wear it!” he tugged ineffectually at a few straps. The cow nodded and with a practiced motion yanked on two straps, causing the whole thing to easily fall off. “How did you…?”

“This isn't the first time I've fought alongside the longma, Sir. And to answer your question, all ranks are ready and reporting in, Sir!” she said, saluting again but with great excitement this time.

“Really? And it's not even dawn yet! Why, we could start early and catch the entire giraffe army by surprise!” he rubbed his hooves together excitedly.

“Exactly sir! That's what Colonel An Hongse and that, uh, thing that's got that floating book, said!” she nodded, although a little nervously.

“That 'thing',” he gave her a hard look, “is named Weylen and deserves as much respect as any of our other allies.”

“I apologize, sir.”

“I take it that's what you wanted to speak freely about? Another ally that has you feeling nervous?” he raised an eyebrow. She nodded. “Well, you'll need to get used to strange allies. He may indeed be a predator, but he's changed his ways, and is fighting with us. Better then those...” he shook his head and spat. “Any word from them by chance?”

She shook her head, “Not yet sir. I-” she stopped as a young longma ('young' being relative) ran up next to her.

“Sir! The Giraffe army has begun fighting itself, sir! We're not sure why, but it looks like small factions appear to be attempting to lay siege to what looks like the General's tent! Sir, shall we charge?!” the young longma said excitedly.

“Uh, what was your Colonel’s plan again?” he asked, suddenly feeling very nervous. The realization that the battle was coming a lot sooner then he had anticipated shot his nerves just a little.

The longma's eyes lit up with glee as a large smile cracked its face. “Sir!” it saluted, “The battle begins with us Longma leading the charge from the air! We dive-bomb the foe's ranks head-on! Then, just after we've begun our charge, the Cattlekind come in from the front! Given the large wall that surrounds their camp, the Colonel felt that it would prove no obstacle for the cattle's charge!”

“You bet your fiery wings it won't!” the cow proclaimed with pride.

“The Sheeple will flank the encampment to prevent any escape, but given the terrain and the walls, the Colonel felt it would be good to have them right behind the Cattlekind and to be the first to enter the camp once the wall has fallen. Once both armies have begun their charge, the dark ones will open fire upon the ranks of the Giraffe. Though Weylen felt it would be wise to let them unleash a salvo after the wall has fallen, but before the sheeple charge in.” the longma said far too quickly.

The Prime Minister's eyes glazed over ever so slightly. The longma was talking so fast, it was hard to keep up. “So, you guys dive, the cows charge, the sheeple charge, cows take down the wall, everyone get out of the way of all the dark magic, then the sheeple charge into the hole in the wall?” the longma nodded. “Why are my people the ones bearing the brunt of the breech?”

“You're right sir!” the cow shouted. “We would totally want to be the ones to do it! After all, it was us who the Giraffe declared war on!”

He looked over at her, his head spinning slightly, “Uh, sur-”

“And then the Sheeple could cover the dark ones as they headed into position, while also providing back-up to the Cattlekind!” the longma said excitedly, looking at the cow.

“Well, hol-”

“That would be perfect! Then some of us could focus on bringing the wall down to allow the dark ones more targets to hit, and they wouldn't have to worry about getting attacked from behind!” the cow said, looking at the longma.

“Just a mom-”

“And that would give us the perfect chance to pick off any major threats we wanted to because they would be too busy trying to stop the cows from breaking the wall down! This is perfect!” both the cow and longma dropped their heads and headbutted each other with a shout of 'Howrah!', then left to join their respective armies, leaving behind a rather bewildered Prime Minister.

“Uh, okay then. I guess that's what we're doing.” he said as he turned around to join his sheeple. “I guess I'll just give the signal an-” he stopped as a sudden flare of light filled the sky. The sun was not yet up, so it was easy to see, even with his back to it. He turned around and saw to his surprise the sky explode with fire as what seemed like hundreds, if not thousands, of longma suddenly erupt in flames. The ground suddenly shook and heaved, and he turned to the army of the Cattlekind and saw that they had all raised up onto their rear hooves, and slammed the earth beneath them. Next, the air around him suddenly flooded with the cries of innumerable howls from the sheepdogs of his sheeple. Lastly, a terrible chill froze his blood as he felt the whole area around them suddenly fill with dark magics.

He turned once more to the sky, and saw the longma armada, which looked to him like a giant bird of fire take flight directly at the fortress before them. The ground began shaking violently as the Cattlekind began their charge, shouts of excitement and war cries erupting from their ranks. He turned around just in time to get caught up in the charge of the Sheeple who, with the simple push of one, had begun charging as one giant swarm of white. He let out a cry as they carried him to the front of the battle, and he cried all the more as he saw a giant blast of fell energy crash into the wall, blowing off large chunks, and creating massive cracks in it.

The battle had begun…
 
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OCisbestungulate

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The Battle of Unruliness
Part Three
Lesson Zero: Sheep
Bullets?

Check.

Grenades?

Check.

His weapons (all of which were built-in, and non-lethal of course!) were locked, loaded, and ready to go. His mainframe was in prime condition, and his Audio/Visual input was good. All systems were green. There was just one little problem…

There was an army in his way; an army of sheeple, to which he belonged.

Well, okay, technically speaking he was a bear (a robot bear to be exact) so he wasn't technically one of the 'sheeple'. That, however, was beside the point! They had taken him in, and he had sworn to defend them until the last of his bolts rusted into dust! Never mind the fact that being a giant robot teddy bear made it hard for other ungulates to take him seriously (when they weren’t running in fear from him). Seriously, why can't an oversized walking robot teddy bear catch a break?

But, once again, that was all beside the point. What was the point was the fact that his plan had been foiled. He had planned on meeting with the Giraffe just before the battle to give them fair warning of the coming fight, and to give them one final chance to surrender (which, unbeknownst to him, they would have flat-out rejected). However, the entire United Foenum Forces (as some had started calling it) had already arrived at the giraffe's camp. He had even left bright and early to be sure to arrive before anyone else.

He let out a sigh, as best as a robot can sigh. Oh well, there went that plan.

Hanging his head, he made his way over to the flock that eagerly awaited the command to charge. While the Cattlekind, the Dark Side, and the Longma had nice and orderly ranks, the sheep were more or less like a giant field of fluffy cotton that more or less kinda moved around in place. It was a miracle they hadn't either already charged, or wandered off. In speaking of wandering off, where was Prime Minister Fleece? And why hadn't the flock followed him?

Glancing about as he made his way through the fluffy sea, he spotted their fearless leader a distance from the front of the sheep army. He was conversing with a cow and longma. He thought it was the strangest thing, until he remembered that it had been he that had been selected to coordinate this whole offensive. It was a decision that had surprised many, and displeased a few. However, the army needed someone to say 'charge', and he said he was the one willing to do it (the delegates from both the Empire of Huoshan and the Dark Side had said they would have been willing to do it, but had lost the vote due to various reasons (The Empire had lost it because many feared what Colonel An Hongse would be capable of doing in that position, and The Dark Side lost because no one was too keen on letting a predator lead their forces)).

Both the cow and the longma left Prime Minister Fleece's side as he finally reached the front of the ranks. “Hey, Zero,” a sheep near him said, catching his attention, “do you think that's the order to charge?”

Zero did a slight double take. Granted, he knew he was going off to war, but the reality of it didn't hit him until he heard that word. The word charge.

“Did somesheep say chaaaarge?!” another sheep bleated.

Charge. That word stirred something deep inside. Something, angry.

“IT'S TIME FOR THE CHARGE?!” another cried. This time, that something awoke, and growled.

“NO!” roared Zero, more in reaction to what had happened to himself rather then what happened around him. Though he did so just in time, as the whole flock had suddenly turned towards the camp, ready to run full-boar at it. Now they looked at him with fear in their eyes. Why? What had happened? And why … why did he like it? He shook his head, and cast his glance across the flock. “Wait for the sig-”

It was right about then that the whole sky erupted in flame, and the ground suddenly shook.

“IT'S THE SIGN! CHAAAAAAAAARGE!” cried the sheep next to him. The air suddenly filled with the howls of innumerable sheep dogs, and the flock began surging forward as one, like an avalanche of unstoppable wool. Fortunately, Zero was ready for it and began running in front of them, to lead the way. Goodness knows it would only take one sheep tripping or running off in the wrong direction to get the whole flock off course. Plus there was the added bonus of him being much larger then the sheep, making him easy to see.

Unfortunately, the poor Prime Minister did not expect their sudden charge, and was scooped up by the rampaging flock. Zero wanted to scoop him up himself, but to do so would have forced him to alter his course, as the Prime Minister had not been perfectly positioned between the army and the giraffe, but a little to the left.

So it was that Zero had front-row seats when the Cattlekind hit the wall, and hit the wall they did. As they approached, the front formed three large lines, lowered their heads, and picked up speed. Just before they hit, the first line leapt into the air, and smashed their rear hooves into the wall with a single, mighty kick. It cracked from the massive impact. They rebounded over the heads of the second line, who pivoted on their front hooves and kicked the wall with all the might they could muster into their rear legs. They then sprung out of the way as the third line charged headfirst into it, and shattered the mighty barrier as they bulldozed right through it. A mighty cry of victory rang out from their ranks.

Just beyond the wall, Zero saw that the Giraffe's camp was in utter chaos. He saw tents all over the place that were scattered, torn, and in many cases, on fire. He saw groups of giraffe battling one another and he saw, caught up in their civil war, several hunters attempting to escape the madness. It was utter chaos and madness, and it filled him with unbridled joy, and hunger!

The cow army suddenly separated down the middle, and Fleece himself began screaming “split down the middle! SPLIT DOWN THE MIDDLE!” Not one to question the madness of combat, he dove to the side just as several salvos of dark energy blew past the ranks, and smashed directly into the camp. He looked up in time to see a massive sphere of dark energy fly through the wall, large enough to hold a house, and explode in the ranks of their foes. When the dust cleared, there was nothing where the blast had hit. “CHAAAAARGE!” Fleece cried, and the combined army surged into the trap that was once the giraffe’s fortress.

And that was the last thing Zero remembered before everything went dark...
 
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OCisbestungulate

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The Battle of Unruliness
Part Four
The Coldest of Calculations
5,742 (+/- 3) giraffe. 2,396 cows and bulls. Roughly 970 sheep with an average of 2 or 3 sheepdogs apiece, making for about 2,500 sheepdogs, with about 1/3rd of them being full adults, plus one large unidentified ally. 523 Longma, and the Dark Ones numbered 23.

By numbers, they had the advantage. By experience, the giraffe had the advantage. The most effective tactic would be: Set the wall ablaze and to keep it guarded with a rotating shift of troops until it collapsed. Vacate the collapsed portion of the wall to allow the Dark Ones to fire preliminary shots. Clear debris to allow Cattlekind to enter. Create second hole to give giraffe 'escape' route. Station sheep at escape route to intercept fleeing giraffe. Also: try to destroy or capture as many hunters as possible.

An Hongse nodded to himself as he glided silently through the air. This plan should work. It was a fair bit different then the plan he had drafted for the council, but that was because he had not counted on the giraffe having fortified themselves. Rather, he had expected to encounter an enemy that would be mobile. He had expected a more open and spread-out battlefield, rather than the enemy marching into The Prairie and setting up a fortress. No matter. So long as victory came, the details mattered little.

He looked down at his troops. 522 Longma, all ready to take flight at a moment's notice. He felt a bit of pride at that fact, but only a small amount, for letting himself feel too much would only interfere with his ability to think clearly. Right now he had to keep an eye on both forces and think about how to best utilize the troops available.

A brief glimmer of annoyance shot through him as he thought upon the meeting only one week prior. They had finally decided to come to the aid of the Cattlekind, and to combine their forces to push back the invaders. However, the council had chosen Prime Minister Fleece to head the offensive. A fact that had bothered him greatly, for The Prime Minister of the Sheep had (as far as he was aware) no combat experience or training. His own pride aside, it simply didn't make any tactical sense. Why had they chosen Fleece over him? He had the training and the experience that the Prime Minister of the Sheep lacked.

He shook his head. No matter. The charge would come soon enough. He had only to wait and watch until everyone was in position. Naturally, his forces were the first to arrive, though it was to his surprise that the Cattlekind and then the sheep showed up not a moment later. It was the Dark Ones who showed up at least somewhat close to on time, though still rather early.

His thoughts were interrupted by sudden movement out of the corner of his eye. He turned his head once more to the enemy camp that lay far below. He saw several giraffe begin running about, following what he presumed were their commanders. He saw one group collapse the tent of another giraffe, and set it ablaze. A moment later, the occupant escaped and was ambushed by its own kind. Soon after, another troop of giraffes attacked the fortified tent of what he presumed was a high-ranking commander (judging by the number of guards in front of it).

Finally, he saw a whole squad of what must have been nearly 300 giraffe surround, and begin to lay siege to, the giant tent in the center. It was right about then that most of the camp began to collapse into chaos. He saw several platoons running about, doing what they could to reestablish order. The normal solders of these rebellious factions were easy enough to stop, but their leaders fought with a savagery and ferocity that only a…

THOSE MONSTERS! He nearly roared as a torrent of rage filled him. Why hadn't he seen this coming? Of course those traitorous beasts would try to gain more followers! He paused a moment, and shoved the anger out of his mind. The time for vengeance would come later. While the giraffe were his foe, they were still fellow ungulates, and the idea of the hunters turning even one of them to their side was unforgivable.

Pushing that thought aside, he realized that this changed a few things. This would allow for his troops to focus more on offense than defense. Now that he thought on it, they would have to. There was no way they could allow them to increase their numbers. Thus, he would have to use his troops to not only attack the giraffe, but to hunt down and reduce the number of the hunters.

He flew to the ground and signaled a private over to his side. “Tell Prime Minister Fleece that the army of the Giraffe-folk have begun fighting itself, and to ask what his orders are.” The young private saluted, and ran off at full speed.

It didn't take long for the news to return. “He says that we're to focus on any specific targets we deem necessary and to leave the defense of the ranks to the Sheep, and to leave the wall to the Cattlekind!”

An Hongse nodded. This made everything easier. He turned to his troops and shouted a simple command: “Begin Operation: Firestorm!” He ignited his fire, and shot into the sky. Not a second later, his entire division ascended and moved into formation behind him. Then, as one, they turned to the camp and unleashed an inferno into the sky. The fire filled the air, and wrapped itself around the entire armada, encasing them in one giant fireball. Now surrounded by flames, he pointed a hoof at the camp, and led the charge…

I figure that each faction provided the numbers they could for the conflict in question, and the numbers listed are not the full rank of the listed factions. That said, I figure that since Huoshan is a small empire, they would fall under the 'few in number, but each is powerful' idea. The Cattlekind would have higher numbers as well as the sheep since, as far as we know, they don't necessarily have a dedicated fighting force. As for the Dark Side and only having 23? Again, that's only the number that could come. However, given the nature of their demonic pacts, I figured that they would be even fewer then the longma, but pack more punch pound for pound. That's not to say that each pact maker is more powerful then 7-10 or however many longma combined. Rather, it's to say that pact-maker X most likely has more raw power then stand-alone Private Y of the longma. Though, I suppose that would depend on the pact-making ungulate and their deamon, and the longma who's being compared to them! :p
 
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OCisbestungulate

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The Battle of Unruliness
Part Five
The Soldiers of Shadow
“Remember Weylen, this is the perfect chance to finally show everyone else that we can be trusted, and that darkness is not a thing to be feared, but embraced!” Zeel nodded his massive horned head. Being a ram, his horns and wool (black, save with streaks of what little white remained after his pact) made him look larger then he was, though he never attempted to use that fact to boast or intimidate anyone. It was a fact that Weylen, escapee from the hold, respected. For as long as he had known Zeel, he had always treated everyone who had joined him as equals, and with respect. In fact, Zeel was one of the first ungulates that he had ever met who didn't run from him or harbor hatred in his eyes, or insanity. Not only that, when the United Foenum Council had formed and called for representatives, Zeel had chosen him to represent all who had embraced the Dark.

Weylen understood well the responsibilities that lay on his shoulders, as well as the difficulty of them. Not only was it up to him to show the other races of Foenum the truth of his leader's words, but to show them the error in locking away the predators in the first place. Hunger was not evil, nor was their desire to hunt. What was evil, was the monster that turned their hunger into bloodlust. He would know, for he himself was a predator, and knew firstpaw the evil that monster wrought upon the minds of his kin. Yes, he hungered for the flesh of others, but he knew that was only natural. And he need not hunt and eat the flesh of ungulates. No, there were other things that he could eat, and other ways that prey and predator could coexist. Just as light and dark could, no, should coexist. His leader preached an existence of peace and understanding. Thus was the reason he followed him.

Thus was the reason he went to battle for them.

He looked about the two dozen or so kindred spirits who had come with him. Compared to the numbers of the other armies, they were tiny. Almost not even worth notice. Though notice the others did. No one dared approach the group. They could see clearly in the eyes of the others everything from distrust, to hatred, to fear. But it mattered little to them now, for Zeel was right. This was indeed the perfect opportunity to show them all that the dark was not to be feared, or hated. For one thing, they had answered the call to arms (much to the surprise of some), and came willing to help their kin. Of the armies present, they were the only ones who's ranks included members of nearly every race present, and even a few that were absent. Indeed, it was here, amongst them, that he finally felt acceptance.

“So, we gonna kill something already or what?” a voice suddenly rang in his head.

“No, Blue. No we are not. There will be no killing today, not if I can help it.” Weylen said, turning his head towards the camp.

“Really? You guys have enough power to smash this whole battlefield flat, and you don't want to kill a single thing?” Blue's tone was not happy. Then again, if it was up to her, she would just as soon go on a mindless rampage and destroy just about everything in sight. “Honestly, you really think you can do this whole happy 'coexistence' nonsense?” a blue flame materialized in the air in front of him, that then shifted to the flaming skull of a fox. “You EAT them! They BANISHED my kin because they were scared! Granted, I gotta give that prophet of theirs props. I mean, it ain’t your everyday ungulate that can do something that powerful. But honestly, do you really think that you can magically convince everyone that you're not gonna sink your teeth into them? I mean, think about it, what's gonna happen the moment that door is open? What's gonna happen the moment all of those trapped predators get free? I can tell ya what's NOT gonna happen: Peace and love!”

Weylen shook his head. “You're wrong. Yes, they will be hungry, yes they will be mad, but that's not because of their instincts! It's because of that monster that's twisted their minds! Yes, once the door opens there will be chaos, but if we destroy the very thing that drives their madness, then they will be free from its control! Then we can establish the peace that we've-”

“-you, I want nothing to do with this.” Blue rolled her eyes.

“-been working for.” he finished, unphased by her interruption.

“What? They'll think that every-single-predator can be nice just because a single lynx, who's made a pact with a demon, didn't eat a kid or two? Do you really think that you can change things?” her flames became slightly red as her irritation grew.

“No one thought a single ungulate could banish the predators, but it happened.” he replied calmly.

She sighed. “Fine. Whatever. If you can pull it off, I'll be impressed. Though I know it's impossible. Not only that, I'm kinda looking forward to what's gonna happen when that door's blown off its hinges. Maybe once you see the truth, you'll begin acting like a proper predator.” she turned around and looked towards the camp of the Giraffe-folk. “So, what's the plan again?”

Weylen bit his tongue. While he wanted to snap back at her, this was neither the time nor place. He could feel a build-up of energy in the air, and he could sense that the start of the battle was near. He was not alone, as the others who came with him began turning from their conversations, and towards the camp. “It's simple. They all charge in while we provide covering fire.”

“Sounds like you're being used. I mean, come on, you should be in there, getting your claws dirty!” Blue whipped around and glared at him.

He shook his head. “With the Deerfolk absent, there's no one else who can fill the role-”

“That's a lie and you know it! Those longma over there have fire, FIRE! Do you really think the-”

“They have entrusted us to help in whatever way we can, and this is how we can do it, and this is how we're going to do it! So be silent!” Weylen commanded.

Blue glared at him angrily, then vanished. “Fine. Have it your way. We'll see who gets the last laugh.” her voice echoed in his head as the last wisps of her fire vanished.

He then turned to the others. “Our task is simple. We shall combine much of our magic and barrage the enemy with our power, while the armies that stand before us take the brunt of the battle. We shall show them today that there is nothing to fear from the darkness, and that today that we can be trusted!” he raised a paw high in the air. Several shouts of agreement came in return, and a sudden blinding flash of light filled the sky. “Blue!” he cried, turning once more to face their foe. Blue appeared just above him, ready for his next command. “Everyone!” he bent his head low, then raised it high into the air as dark magic suddenly began coursing through him. It shot from his mouth, open in a silent scream, and from his eyes, now darker then night, into the air directly above him and into Blue. Not far behind him, several others did the same, sending their own energies into the air just above them. Then Weylen gave the order:

“FIRE!”

Nearly two dozen blasts of dark energy shot forth, many flying into the awaiting skull above his head. It grew into a massive orb that grew until it was too much for him to control. Then, he simply aimed Blue at the fortress, and let her go. Unfortunately for him, Blue had decided to take the both of them along with it...
 
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OCisbestungulate

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The Battle of Unruliness
Part Six
To See Though A General's Eyes​
5 seconds to impact.

There was a benefit to being high above the action. One could clearly see what was happening below. Sadly, being wrapped in a blazing inferno more or less negated that benefit. Nevertheless, he saw what he needed to, and that was all that mattered. He saw the wall crumble. He saw the blasts of darkness tear through the giraffe. He saw what he needed to see.

He saw numbers.

He estimated that roughly 335 Giraffe had already been neutralized. About 247 of that had been from the civil war that had broken out. The rest had simply vanished when the dark magic had hit them. 62 from various bolts, and 26 from the giant blast. He estimated his numbers to be off by about 3 giraffe. In the large blast he estimated about one or two of the hunters had vanished as well.

3 seconds to impact.

His mind buzzed with equations and tactics. They would crash directly into the section of the camp that was furthest from where the Cattlekind had broken the wall. Then he would set the wall ablaze to trap the enemy within. He would order the sheep to stay outside to keep the giraffe trapped. He estimated that of the current numbers of both the UFC Forces and the Giraffe, roughly 76% of both sides would be lost.

This was acceptable, so long as they achieved victory over their foe.

Impact.

With a terrible crash, An Hongse slammed into the ground, and rebounded into a giraffe. He knocked it clean into a tent, that he quickly set ablaze. He kicked off into the sky once more and watched to see what had become of their charge.

A full fourth of the Giraffe's camp was now ablaze, and his troops had now begun to battle the various giraffe who were scrambling to engage them.

“Target their commanders!” he shouted, pointing a hoof at a contingent that was beginning to form. “Don't let them get organized!” He turned his head as 23 Longma engaged his target. “Bravo and Tango squadrons, on me! We will set the wall on fire!” he shouted, and peeled away from the fiery chaos below. He flew to the wall, took a deep breath, then coated a section of it in blue fire. Not a moment later, half of Tango, 12 Longma, joined their fire with his. They held the blaze for a moment, then stopped.

It worked. The wall was on fire.

“Commander! Bravo commander and I will divide our troops into 2 groups each, and begin setting the whole of the wall on fire!” Tango commander saluted to him.

He nodded. “Good. Do it as quickly as you can. And when you reach the entrance,” he paused a moment to consider an idea, “When you reach it, seal it off with a firewall.”

“But sir, that'll trap our allies in with the enemy!” Tango Leader objected.

“Exactly. The giraffe will have no escape.” The Colonel in Red said.

“But sir, what about the Cattlekind?” Tango Leader asked, somewhat worried.

“I don't understand. What about them?” he asked, slightly irritated that his orders had not yet been carried out.

“They're our allies! If we trap them in here with the Giraffe-”

“You have your orders! Now go!” he snapped. There was no time for a chat! He peeled away and flew towards the entrance. He had orders to give, and he had to give them fast. His troops would waste no time in following his commands, so he had little time to reach the entrance before his troops did.

He spun as a spear flew past him, followed by another. Glancing down, he saw that the giraffe had begun to form some ranks, and were now throwing spears at him, and his troops. He paused a moment, took a deep breath, and unleashed a blinding flare of light around him. The giraffe below let out cries of alarm and pain. He glanced once more down at them, and saw they had become temporarily blinded by his attack. Satisfied, he continued to the entrance, until a blinding blue light suddenly filled the air.
 
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OCisbestungulate

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The Battle of Unruliness
Part Seven
*logicError
_

error
_

_error_attempting reboot_

*reboot begun.
_

_

*loading bootCore
*loading operatingSystem
*loading weapons

Oooh, did it just say, weapons?


*loading nonLethalAmmunition

Non-lethal? Well, that won't do…

*loading huntSuppression program

Hunt suppression? Hum. How about…

*error!
*error! huntSuppression program has encountered a fatal error!
*activating failSafe program

This thing has a fail-safe? What kind of predator is this thing?

*activating friend/foeDetection program

Friend/foe detection? How about we just turn that off, eh?

*warning!
*warning!
*friend/foeDetection program has encountered a fatal error!
*activating failSafe pro-

How about not? In fact, while we're here...

*error! nonLethalAmmunition aborted!

That's better. Now then, how about we do this…


_error__attempting reboot___
*reboot successful!

_

_

*loading bootCore
*loading operatingSystem
*loading weapons
*loading ammunition
*loading hunterActivation program
*loading logic
*loading motorFunctions
***
*all systems go
*turning on


Zero's world came back to him suddenly. What was once silence and a void, was now suddenly noise and destruction all around him. And he reveled in it. That is, his body did. It let out a mighty roar that caused many sheep around him to suddenly jump back in fear. His body turned and grabbed one before it could get away, and hurled it into another one. He roared again as he kicked another. Its dog leapt at him, but he smashed it away. A third time he roared, and charged directly into the camp, shoving, throwing, and bashing all that stood in his path.

And he couldn't have been more horrified, for Zero could only watch as his body acted on its own accord.

He watched in horror as he grabbed a bull by the horns and slammed his head into the ground. He shouted at his body to stop as it sideswiped a sheep in the face. He tried to make his legs freeze as his body jumped over a cow, and rammed into a giraffe, knocking it over, and out. He watched as his body stood on the body of the giraffe, and aimed an arm at its head. He heard his arm click, and switch to reveal the gun that lay hidden behind it.

No…

NOO!!!

It fired, but missed the target for something had slammed into him. His body turned, and saw standing before him, Weylen, the commander of the Soldiers of Shadow.

It's to emphasize that the speaker of those parts is an external voice, rather then an internal dialogue of Zero's.
 
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OCisbestungulate

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The Battle of Unruliness
Part Eight
Throwing the Gauntlet Down​
When his senses came back to him, Weylen was suddenly aware that he was very much not with his fellow soldiers. Rather, he was in a clearing of dirt with an army of Cattlekind behind him, and an army of giraffe in front of him. Not a good spot to be in.

He also noticed that Blue was missing.

“Blue! BLUE!” he shouted, frantically looking around him, “WHERE ARE YOU?!” Not far behind him, he saw in a way that only a pact-maker like him could see, his demon floating in the air over Zero, the Rambassador of the Sheeple. “BLUE!” he shouted and bolted to her, but stopped when Zero suddenly roared, lifted a sheep over his head, and tossed it. He knew that roar. It was the roar of a predator.

It was the roar of bloodlust.

Before he could even move to do anything else, the two lines charged at each other. Not wanting to be in the center when the two fronts clashed, he dove to the side as the Cattlekind and Giraffe armies collided. Scrambling to his paws, he saw Zero charge straight through his own allies, and run to the front.

And the whole time, he heard Blue laughing.

He dove at Zero, but missed as Zero jumped over a cow, and into a giraffe. Weylen turned, and pounced again, this time hitting his mark.

BANG.

The sudden noise that filled his ears was deafening, and it triggered his instinct to flee. However, he fought it back. Zero stood up and faced him. Weylen may not fully know what that thing Zero's paw had become, but he knew that look in his eyes. Whatever that thing was, he was going to use it, to kill.

And that was something he couldn't allow.

“Zero!” he shouted. “Stop this! No killing!”

“It won't work.” he heard Blue say. “He's nothing more than a killing machine now.” he heard her chuckle.

“What did you-” he jumped back as Zero pointed his paw at the spot where he had stood. A bright flash filled his eyes, and the ground where he had been suddenly exploded. He flew back from the blast, and felt himself hit something too soft to be a wall. Rebounding and landing on his feet, he leapt to the side as Zero dove at where he had landed.

“Nothing much. I just,” he could feel her grin, “turned on his instincts. Perhaps now you can finally fight like a proper predator.” she laughed once more, “In a fight, to the death!” she cried hysterically, and then vanished in an explosion of blue light.

“BLUE!” he cried. He looked around, trying to find her, but was unable to spot her. Several streaks of dark energy flew overhead, basking both him and Zero in a strange darkness. A darkness in which Zero's eyes glowed red. “Blue! Get back here!”

There was no reply.

Zero's eyes burned with an unnatural hunger that Weylen had seen too many times. The very hunger that drove his fellow predators to madness. Zero lunged once again at him, which Weylen dodged easily. The bear was fearsome, but it was slow and lumbersome. He pounced once more at him, landing on his back. Though he could not see Blue, he could feel that their connection still gave him power. Smiling, he raised a paw, and felt the flow of dark magic fill it as he charged his blow. Zero, however, shook violently and knocked him off. Zero aimed his paw at Weylen the moment he hit the ground. Weylen, with lighting reflexes, dove to the side and filled himself with the power of darkness. Zero's paw flashed with light once more, and again the ground where Weylen had stood exploded.

“Alright, let's try this.” he said, allowing his magics to flow over him, and cloak him in darkness. He wanted nothing more then to fight the giraffe, but it was clear that Zero was not going to leave him be. “Zero, I know this isn't you, but I can't let you kill anyone. I'm going to have to take you down!” he shouted, paused for just a moment, then pounced…

Yes. Yes I am. While war isn't exactly a family-friendly concept, I aim to keep this whole thing as kiddy-friendly as possible.
Not necessarily. After all, this game will undoubtedly attract young ones, and I figure that the odds are that at least one will join this forum, and look back in the history of this, and read it. I know that saying this deflates the tension balloon a bit (okay, a lot), but I want to let that fact be known now rather then it come as a surprise or disappointment later.
Huh... Well then...this is awkward...
 
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OCisbestungulate

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The Battle of Unruliness
Part Nine
The Bravest of Sheep
(But No Braver Than Pom!)​

Right after the first line of the Cattlekind had begun surging into the camp, the sheep had begun charging in after them. As a result, the breech quickly became clogged from the abundance of said sheep and cattle. Try as they might, neither army could make their way through. Prime Minister Fleece, from his perfect vantage point of being sandwiched between the front side of a ram and the backside of a cow, struggled to get an appraisal of the situation. Wiggling his way to the top of the growing heap, he looked to both sides of the growing clog.

In the fort, the Giraffe had finally begun to restore some sense of order, and had begun forming ranks to meet them. On the far side of the fort, he saw the longma engaged with the giraffe in their own private skirmish. For a moment, he envied them. For all their height, it was clear that these giraffe had not prepared themselves for battling aerial opponents. Judging from what he saw, the giraffe were a well trained military force, perhaps even on par with the longma, but that training did them little good against a foe that could fly. After all, their long necks had made their heads all the more easy for the longma to target.

On the other side, the sheep had begun trying to either shove their way into the fray, or began trying to climb over the sheep and cattle in front of them. That wasn't good. Not only had they clogged the only entrance, but they had also shoved the majority of the Cattlekind army out of the way, and blocked the line of sight for the 'Dark Side'. Think, think! He said to himself. Ah ha! The goats!

“Everysheep, repeat what I say!” he shouted.

“Repeeeeeat what I saaay!” hundreds of sheep bleated back.

“Goats! Start carrying sheeple over the walls! Sheeple! Back off and wait to be carried over!” he bellowed. A near-perfect rebleat of what he had just said came back to him, and suddenly the lump he had begun standing on shifted and melted away as sheep ran to the outside of the fort. He lost his balance, and fell onto the back of a stampeding bull, who (rather unintentionally) carried him into the fort. It was here he saw firsthoof just how the battle was fairing.

It was faring poorly.

The Cattlekind, for all of their energy and spunk, were under-trained and unprepared for this. Each giraffe was easily worth two or three cattle. Most of the first wave was down already, and it wouldn't be long until the giraffe pushed them back to the breach. They needed reinforcements, and they needed them badly. Thus, there was really only one solution that he could see.

“Y-you!” he shouted at the bull carrying him.

“Huh? What is it? Kinda busy here!” he shouted back as he stopped a moment to look around.

“I need to head back to tell your kin to knock more of the wall down!” he shouted.

“Knock the wall down? Okay!” he shouted back. He reared up on his hind legs, and bolted. Sadly for Fleece, he wasn't able to stay on, and got knocked off in the process.

Landing hard on the ground, he thanked his lucky stars that he had a nice coat of wool to cushion his fall. His four puppies, who had stuck to him like glue, all gathered around him and helped him to his hooves. He let out a groan of pain as he rubbed his head.

“Hey! Did that sheep just give that bull an order?” he suddenly heard a voice say. Looking over, he saw two giraffe looking over at him.

“I think she did!” said the other one.

“I'm a RAM you idiots!” he impulsively shouted at them.

Oops.

“And he's a sheep with some backbone? I'd bet he's a leader!” the fist declared.

“Bet we'd get promoted if we took him out!” the second shouted.

It was right about them that he decided that it was fine time to book it. If two cattle had trouble with one giraffe, what chance did he have on his own vs two? He bolted to the wall, then started running along side it. Sadly for him, two well-trained Giraffe were much faster then a pencil-pushing sheep.

One bolted past him and the other ran to flank him. He skidded to a stop as the first one stopped in his path. He glanced behind himself as he slowly backed up into the wall. Why am I here? He suddenly asked himself. I'm not a fighter! I'm a politician! I mean, sure, when the idea of fighting alongside the other factions popped up at the UFC, he had jumped at the chance to have his Sheeple join! Though, it was for purely selfish reasons. A unification? Heck yeah he'd take part! Joining together with other factions in a time of war is a surefire way of gaining allies for the future! Brothers and sisters, bonds forged by combat! No way he was letting his sheeple miss out on that! And when they made it through the wall, they would see their wonderful leader fighting right alongside them!

….

Yeah, about that. He was kinda out-numbered.

"I can't go down," he thought. "My sheeple have already lost one leader, they can't afford to lose another one. It would crush their spirits! I can't do that to them!"

One of the Giraffes lowered their head, stopping it inches from Fleece's face. "What are you waiting for, buddy?" he said with a grin. "Send out your little pups. They can't touch us!"

Fleece's four puppies growled and barked at the two giraffe, wanting, but unwilling to attack without a command. But who should he attack? There was no way one of these well trained giraffes would go down without all four of his puppies on the job. That's when the Prime Minister had an idea. The puppies couldn't take BOTH of the giraffes on, but maybe he could distract one of the Giraffes long enough to allow the puppies to take out the Giraffes one at a time! But how? It was right about then the image of his hero came to his mind. The hero that inspired his sheeple into action. The hero that caused them to band together, and to form a faction in her name.

"What would she do?" he asked himself. After all, it was after her, that the faction he now led had been named:

The Pom Patrol.

The thought of her suddenly filled him with courage, causing Fleece to jump up and wrapped his legs around the face of the giraffe that was taunting him. The giraffe let out a muffled cry and reared back, lifting Fleece high into the air. "NOW PUPPIES! ATTAAAAACK!"

Admittedly, his command lacked much confidence, but the puppies attacked all the same. They ran in and, like a pack of furry piranhas, swarmed all over the ankles of the other giraffe. Now all Fleece had to do was hold on tight and avoid getting flung off long enough for his puppies to come back and save him. Easier said than done. The giraffe swung its head wildly, causing Fleece's grip to loosen (and make him feel a little queasy).

"I'm pretty sure this is, in fact, NOT what Pom would have done!" he shouted. Nor, he suspected, would have she failed to keep her grip. He was flung off of the giraffe, and sent flying towards the wall. He smashed into it with a lovely, yet unpleasant, thud. Thankfully, he hit it head first, and was promptly knocked right out. Good thing too, for when he landed, he broke a rib or two (among other bones)

His puppies, however, were still wide awake. They abandoned the fight and ran over to their downed master, dodging through the stomping legs of the angry Giraffe duo. The puppies took up a defensive stance in front of Fleece, baring their teeth and growling, warning the Giraffes to back down. It made no difference to the Giraffes, though. With their target incapacitated, his puppies were no longer a threat to them. It was the perfect opportunity to take him prisoner.

“I can already taste that promotion.” said the first, batting a puppy out of the way.

“Looks like today's our lucky da-hey, what's that on your head?” the second asked, pointing at the first.

He looked up, “Huh? Wha-”

“Oh don't mind me. I'm just your everyday tabby cat!” Francis waved a dismissive paw from his rather tall perch. “Oh, and don't mind the mind control ritual.” he grinned.

“The wha-” the second began, but stopped as the small animal let out a terrible screech and slammed its tiny paws on the other giraffe's head. The moment it happened, a sinister mark appeared on his head, and his eyes drained of all color. The second raised his spear, but was too slow for the tabby, who simply jumped onto his head, and did the same thing it did to the first. His mind suddenly blank, he dropped his spear, and stared into space.

“That's better.” Francis smiled. “Now then, if you two could grab this little ram here. Perfect. Oh, and do feel free to give those little yappers a good kick or two, would you? Thanks. Now then, that way please...” he purred softly as he pointed a paw. The two giraffe complied, and lumbered off into the night with Fleece's unconscious body in tow…

Much of what is written here was written previously by Stunthead. Since the good leader of the Pom Patrol had put so much effort into writing that bit, I felt it was only right to incorporate what was written. Therefore, thank you Stunthead for your part. Not gonna lie, it made writing this whole thing a fair bit easier. :)
...
So now that I've given credit, it's totally not plagiarism anymore, right? Right?
<.<
>.>
 
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OCisbestungulate

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The Battle of Unruliness
Part Ten
A Daemon's Pact​

Weylyn bounded off another giraffes face as he plunged at Zero once more. He hit his mark, but the creature was remarkably tough. Three times he had smashed into him, and yet, he was unphased. He jumped off the bear, and landed on the ground as a massive paw swept at where he was. Zero roared again, and lifted his other paw into the air. To Weylyn's surprise, he saw it flip around, and become another metallic weapon, similar to the one the other paw had become. Though, this weapon was larger, and it begun to spin rapidly. He pointed it at Weylyn, and suddenly the air was filled with the sounds of hundreds of tearing noises that ripped through the air. Weylyn, filled with the unholy power of Blue, evaded the attack, but as he dodged the ground was torn to shreds. He ran around, hoping to get behind him, but the creature turned faster then he had expected, and the trail of destruction followed his pawsteps. Whatever terrible weapon Zero was using, it triggered every instinct in his body to flee. And, try and suppress it as he might, it threatened to fully overwhelm him.

“Poor, poor Weylyn. Feeling a little scared, are we?” a taunting voice filled his mind.

“NOT NOW BLUE!” he shouted, panic seeping into his voice.

“Oh, but now is the PERFECT time. You know you can't beat him unless you go all out. Simply dodging and gently pawing him ain't gonna... cut it.” her voice purred into his ears.

“HE'S AN ALLY-” Weylyn's objection was cut off as the weapon suddenly stopped. It was no longer the dark metal colour it once was; it was glowing bright yellow. “GOTCHA!” he cried as he jumped at him again.

And he got smashed in the face with hot metal for his attempt.

He let out a painful cry as he was knocked back. “Come on, act like a REAL predator! You know you can't beat him like this. And if you don't, well, I just shudder to think what would happen...” he could almost hear her smile at those last words.

“No! I can't! I won't give into you!” he poised his body as Zero raised his other paw at him.

And blinked in surprise as a longma suddenly barreled into Zero.

“Huh? Wha-”

“Fight the enemy!” the longma cried, “There is no time for this!” It glanced quickly about, “Where is the Prime Minister?”

“I-I don't know. I swear I saw him a moment ago.” Weylyn said, still a little surprised from the sudden appearance of the interloper.

“I see, I need to tal-” the longma, who he finally recognized as An Hongse, the leader of the longma, was suddenly thrown to the side by a very angry Zero. He quickly got to his hooves and gave the bear an appraising glare. “I see. I had not expected his strength nor the look in his eyes.” Zero stood, and looked at him, then at Weylyn. “Very well,” An Hongse continued, “Let us dispatch of him quickly, and find the Prime Minister! We have a battle to fight!” he shouted as he charged at Zero.

Zero, for his part, was not so easily taken down. Much to their surprise, he seemed unphased by An Hongse's fire, and easily withstood Weylyn's attacks. His weaponry and body was strange to them, and combined they proved to be more they could handle. Blow after blow he took. Fire, dark energy, it made little difference. And to make things all the more worse, they couldn't call for allies as the front line was far too close, and getting closer.

“Come on Weylyn. You could take this chump easy! Not only that, if you did, the good general would be free to lead the troops. I mean, look at them: They're losing!”she nearly cackled. “And wouldn't it be a shame if you guys lost?”

“I can't!” he cried as another explosion erupted just beside him. “I must not betray our friends!

Zero turned to him, and opened his mouth. Weylyn saw a small object appear in it, that then fell out and hit the ground.

Then the world was nothing but white, and silent.

His head was ripped with pain as his ears filled with such a terrible noise that it deafened him for a moment, and his eyes screamed as a bright flash had temporarily blinded him. He was disoriented, and had no idea where he was. The first thing that he could feel was something grabbing his tail, lifting him up, then slamming him into the ground. He was lifted again, and he felt himself swing through the air, and into something soft, and hot. His vision began to come back and a loud ringing filled his ears as his tail was grabbed once more, and he was thrown, hard, into a solid object. He fell in a heap onto his side. He raised his head, and saw through his blurred eyes, Zero. The monster had just smashed a red blur with an arm, and turned to him. He saw it raise both of its arms, and point them at him.

Weylyn, I'm ready...”

Every fiber of his being wanted to resist her. Everything he stood for and everything he dreamed of wanted nothing to do with what she wanted. And yet, “Very well. Just get us out of here alive...” he said softly.

With pleasure...”
 

OCisbestungulate

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The Battle Of Unruliness
Part Eleven
The Turning Storm
An Hongse was not built for the front-lines. He was a commander. He was better suited for leading and giving orders. That's not to say that he couldn't hold his own in a fight. After all, one doesn't rise through the ranks of the Longma army without skill. But he was not a close-quarters combat specialist. So it was no shocking surprise to him that he had not been able to take the Rambassador down. What had surprised him was that both he and the Lynx had failed together. Then again, he had underestimated the raw power and ferocity of the Rambassador, as well as his strange weaponry.

What was also strange was his apparent fixation on the Lynx. The Rambassador ignored An Hongse whenever it was possible, and focused almost exclusively on the Solider of Shadow; part of why until the Rambassador had unleashed his own flare-like weapon, that he had thought that he wouldn't need to summon reinforcements. Sadly, he had fallen victim to the weapon, and was unable to escape to make the call.

His vision came back quickly, just in time to see the bear hit him in the face with the lynx. He was sent tumbling, though he recovered quickly. As much as he hated it, he needed to pause for just a moment to gather his thoughts.

He raised his head to look at the two UFC representatives locked in combat, and saw one get thrown into the wall. The other brought its arms to bear upon the other, and unleashed a terrible salvo.

The lynx exploded with dark energy, and surged forward with speed that An Honsge would not have thought possible for an ungulate to have. Though, this representative was no ungulate. He rammed directly into the bear, and unleashed a blast of powerful energy into his face, sending him flying into a nearby giraffe. Before he could stand, the lynx was already on him and unleashed another blast, sending him into a far section of the wall. Wasting no time, the lynx charged after his quarry with terrible speed, directly through the front-line.

An Hongse lost sight of the two of them. While he was mildly curious to see what would become of their duel, there were bigger concerns on hoof. He flew up into the sky, giving himself a better vantage point over the battle.

Things were going poorly indeed.

The internal civil war was all but finished. The main body of the giraffe had finally begun marching to the breach. Many were armor-clad and he saw several crews ready to make repairs. Not far behind them, he saw several catapult crews and even crews for building a few trebuchets being moved into position. Many of the fires that had erupted in their camp were now out, and the traitors had been rounded up and imprisoned in the center of the camp. He estimated roughly 430 giraffe were there. 430 more giraffe then he should have allowed the hunters to get their filthl-he shook his head. Focus. Beyond them were his own forces.

It appeared that the giraffe knew well the art of war. Not only had they proven to be most efficient in dealing with their traitors, they adapted quickly to their flying foe. From the ground he saw tents with many holes poked into them being thrown into the air like nets. While his Longma's flames were more then enough to stop these tents, they did little against the boulders that followed them. If a Longma torched a net, it was hit with a boulder. If it didn't torch it, it was caught and dragged to the ground. On top of this, they even managed to put a halt to Bravo and Tango advance. Impressive.

He cast his gaze directly beneath him, and saw that the front was almost pushed back to the breach. If they were pushed all the way out, there would be no getting back in. He saw that several cows and bulls were attempting to bash more parts of the wall down, but their efforts were unorganized, and most were more interested in trying to get into the camp, as roughly 90% of their forces were still on the outside. He saw the goat mercenaries that The Prime Minister had hired scaling the walls, carrying sheep over with them, but this too was disorganized and of little effect. And in the distance, The Dark Ones simply stood there, unable to get a clean shot into the camp. If An had control of them, he would have had them fire anyway. Better to risk friendly fire and reduce the numbers of their foe, then to do nothing at all. Then a thought came to him.

Their commander was not with them. He glanced around. Indeed, neither was The Prime Minister anywhere to be seen, nor his Rambassador. In fact, he was the only High-Level commander that he could see.

Very well. In the absence of the others, then the command fell to him. And since the three of them were basically in charge of this operation, and two of them were now unaccounted for, he had sole command of the UFC Forces.

Perfect.

His first order of business should be to locate the Prime Minister. However, that would have to wait as the more pressing matter of impending defeat was at hoof. His mind buzzed with tactics and numbers.

First and foremost, that wall needed to come down. Next, the cattle would have to spear their way deep into the camp and into the siege teams. Yes, the Cattlekind would have to be the main hammer of this battle. His own troops would be able to hold their own until then, then he would have to pull them back to the front. But first, the wall.

He flew down to the bulge of cattle pressing their way ineffectually through it. “Form into lines! Advance as your cowrades go down!”

“Who're you?” a cow shouted up at him.

“I am An Hongse, acting commander of the UFC forces, now line up!”

“What did he say?” he heard a bull shout.

“I'm not sure!” a cow responded.

“Something about going down?” he heard a sheep say.

“What's that? Look down?” another sheep cried. Then, almost as one, the whole herd of sheep yelled 'LOOK DOWN!' and then proceeded to do just that. Needless to say, this is not what he wanted to have happen.

“How did the Prime Minister command them?” he asked the cow who first responded.

“Huh? Oh! He-ow! Watch where you're going!” she said as a bull's horn bonked her on the side of her head. “Anyway, he just had them say whatever he said!”

“I see.” An Hongse responded. Had he been in another situation, he likely would have felt some exasperation. But now was not the time for such things. He flew over to the sheep, and in the loudest shout he could manage, said: “I AM COMMANDER AN HONGSE, ACTING COMMANDER OF THE UFC FORCES.” several sheep looked up at him with wide eyes. “Repeat what I just said!” he shouted, and, a little to his surprise, they complied. “Good. Now, repeat after me: Cattlekind, form rows and move forward as your cowrads go down!” he paused, allowing the sheep a moment to echo his words, but with greater volume then he could muster. The cows looked up at him in surprise, but followed his orders as they made 20 rows, for the breach was only big enough for that many at a time. “Now, if you are among the biggest of the Cattlekind, leave formation and file to the left of the breach!” he turned and looked back at the Dark Ones who regarded him curiously. “Can you hear me from back there?” he shouted. Again, if he had been in any other situation, hearing his words so perfectly echoed and at such volume by sheep would have simply struck him as very strange. But this was a battle.

Several heads nodded from their ranks, and a faint 'Yes!' came from somewhere among them.

“Concentrate your fire upon the section of the wall to the right of the breach!” he got several confused looks. “It'll weaken it, allowing the sheep and the goats to break it while the Cattlekind break the other side!” he shouted. He didn't much care for having to waste time with explanations, but better that then them not following his orders at all. Several nods and even a few looks of 'ah ha!' came in reply. He turned to look at the left side of the wall, and saw to his satisfaction, nearly 300 cattle standing ready at his command. He was surprised that they had responded to his commands so quickly, but immensely pleased. Perhaps this battle was winnable after all…

“What's next?” he heard a bull shout.

“First, you are now the Wall Breaker Company. Next: Break that wall!” he cried.

The cattle and the dark energies from the Dark Ones hit their sections at the same time. Resulting in massive cracks appearing on both sides. Again both hit the walls, causing the massive cracks to grow even larger. One more hit.

“Dark Ones!” he shouted, but paused. That was the name that some of his fellow commanders called them, not what they called themselves. No, they called themselves, “Soldiers of Shadow!” he turned to look at them. “Hold your fire! Cattlekind, hold your charge! Sheeple, order your dogs behind you!” a moment later, all was done as he commanded. “Sheeple, when the walls come down, step to the side and order your dogs to charge into the camp! Wall Breakers! Continue moving to your left and bring more of the wall down! Sheeple! Fall back and guard the Soldiers! Goats! Stay with the Cattlekind! Now,” he paused for just a moment to double check that he hadn't forgotten something. “CHARGE!”

It was with immense satisfaction that all unfolded as he had foreseen. Both sections of the wall came crumbling down, and the troops followed his commands to a fault. “Cattlekind!” he shouted at the cattle surging into the camp, “form more rows! Continue in! Wall Breakers! Break down two more sections!” He had to admit, having nearly a thousand voices echoing him made this part of his job surprisingly easy.

As the walls crumbled, the dogs surged forward, and swarmed the unsuspecting giraffe. The Cattlekind army surged forward to fill the enlarged hole with their ranks, expanding from 20, to nearly 150. And soon, once the walls came down, the Cattlekind would be able to surge in 450 at a time. Once they were in the walls, it would come down to controlling such a large force in such a small space. Nevertheless, An Hongse allowed himself a small smile. The battle was finally turning in the direction it needed to go.
 
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OCisbestungulate

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The Battle Of Unruliness
Part Twelve
Enough Is Enough​
The Grand General stepped out from his tent, clad in his brilliant armor, and cast his gaze to the left. There, in a circle, were the traitorous scum that had dared to turn their back on him. His troops had tied them together, and erected a hastily made fence around them. This pleased him greatly. His army was a perfect machine. Fast, loyal, and efficient. Perfect in every way. The perfect army, for conquest.

Except for these filthy traitors.

He marched his way over to the circle, and made his way around it. He gazed at the faces of the giraffe trapped inside, and nearly spat upon them. He then paused when he saw something he hadn't expected.

He saw a young elk.

He paused for only a moment, then continued marching around the circle. She wasn't the only non-giraffe in their circle it would seem. The question he had, was how did they get in? And what did they do to his commanders? He saw that upon the foreheads of his various captains rested a strange mark he had never seen before. The mark itself looked like two narrow black spikes that ran the length of the snout, with a black crescent that crossed over them just under the eyes. Around the edges of some of the marks seeped a dark red mist, and others it was a dark red glow. He noticed that the eyes of the ones that glowed were blank, and empty. As for the ones that seeped the mist, their eyes were now filled with what he guessed was insanity.

He paused as he finished walking around them. Then he turned face one of the traitorous captains. “Tell me, why did you betray us?” he said, his voice cold.

The giraffe looked at him, and began thrashing violently. “Because I want to EAT you!” she shrieked.

The General raised an eyebrow as he saw the mark begin to glow bright and seep more red mist as she trashed more and more about. With a swift motion, he slammed her on the side of her head, and knocked her unconscious. He made his way to the young elk. “You.” he looked at her. “Tell me how you got in and what you did to my troops.” he commanded her. His voice was steady, and his eyes were level. It was a look that served him well. To him, he was calm and collected, and to others, he was staring directly into their minds. Most reported that his gaze made them feel uneasy. His enemies said that it terrified them.

She, however, had no reaction whatsoever; Unless you want to count boredom as a reaction.

“No.” she said, looking off to the side. Unusual. Normally there was fear in the eyes of his foes by this point, but he saw nothing of the sort.

“The only reason I have not ordered my troops to get rid of you is because you have information that I need. Now, tell me, how did you get in, and what did you do to my troops?” he asked calmly.

“Don't you have a war to run?” she asked, mildly annoyed. “'Cause I'm pretty sure that there's a big ol' fire going on over on that side of your little camp, and I'm guessing that there's a whole bunch of cows and junk on the opposite side.”

“My troops can handle a sorry army of untrained cattle and sheep. Now, answer my questions.” he said, his voice still calm.

“I'm not gonna disagree with you about the sorry part, but you'd better be paying attention. Because, Mr-I'm-The-Most-Amazing-Leader-Ever, you've got more then just some prey to worry about.” she grinned.

The General was a seasoned warrior. He had led his army on many a conquest and had seen many a battle. Thus, he had seen and heard many things that had hardened him into the rock that he was today. However, there was something in her eyes, and the way that she said that word, that made a chill run down his spine. “What do you mean, prey?” he raised an eyebrow.

“What? You don't know?” she laughed a little. “You are ALL prey! Every. Single. One of you! Our Masters sent us here to make preparations for their return! Because when they do, they're gonna be hungry. And you know what that means? That means they're gonna wanna eat; eat prey!” she laughed, her voice twisting into an unnerving screech.

“Are you not the ally of the so-called United Foenum Council?” he asked, casting a glance left and right. Her fanaticism had begun to excite the others in the circle, and the group had begun shifting like one giant mass.

Her face twisted in a way that he did not know was possible. Her face darkened and her eyes went pitch black, save for burning red orbs that glowed in the center. It was as though he was looking at the face of insanity itself, if insanity wanted to eat him alive. “Allies? With prey? Oh no! They just gave us a convenient excuse to come and find more of our kin, more who feel the hunger!”

He had to admit, of his many years of service, this was the first time he'd come across something like this. Sure he'd dealt with religious zealots, patriotic fanatics, and even the odd psycho. But never had he seen something that was all three combined. He paused. What in Foenum could have done this to her? What could have twisted the mind of this young elk so? He wasn't sure if he wanted to know. But then again, if the same thing had happened to his troops, he had to know what they had done. “I see. And what of my troops then?” he cast a glance at a giraffe that was next to her. Its eyes were vacant, and stared into blank space.

“We just gave them a choice. Serve the Masters,” she grinned and looked directly at him, “or become prey. Some chose wisely and now serve our Masters. Others refused, and now serve us as mindless pawns. I wonder, what will you choose?” she asked, tilting her head slightly, and aiming her eyes just above his head.

“What are you talking abo-” he begun to say when quite suddenly he felt something land on his head. It wasn't very heavy, but it was enough to make him react. He jerked his head violently to the side, and shook it hard. He stood up on hind hind legs, then came crashing down on his front ones, and whipped his neck hard at the ground.

And still he felt the weight.

“Whoa! Easy!” Francis shouted, “I'm trying to perform a dark ritual here!” The tabby held on with all of his might, though claws did little to help him hold onto a metal helmet.

“GET IT OFF!” the general cried, and whipped his head towards a near guard. The guard, not missing a beat, smacked the cat in the face with the blunt end of his spear.

And still, it clung to him.

“THAT HURT YOU PUNK!” Francis cried, and jumped from the general's head to the guard who hit him.

“Francis, what are you DOING?!” The elk cried. “GO AFTER THE GENERAL!”

The cat, not willing to listen to anyone but himself, simply ignored the elk. He let out a terrible screech as his paws exploded with evil magic, and then he slammed them into the eyes of the guard. Not wasting a moment, he jumped to another guard, but was swept out of the air by a swift hoof.

The general had had enough of this. He slammed the creature onto the ground and pinned it under his hoof. It screeched and protested, and began attacking his hoof, but it was useless. “Tell me what I want to know or I will crush this thing into dust!” he shouted, twisting his hoof into Francis.

“FRANCIS!” the elk cried.

“It's cool! I got this!” he replied weakly.

It was right about then a huge explosion rocked the earth, causing the General to lose his footing. Fortunately for Francis, the General rocked away from him, freeing him from the pressure on his ribs. Also fortunate for Francis was the fact that he was an eternal opportunist, thus allowing him the reflexes needed to escape the General's hoof, and to slip back into the night.

As for the General, he looked up just in time to see a massive ball of darkness flying directly at him. He dove, narrowly dodging it. It flew past him and directly into the fence, smashing it into a thousand pieces. He turned his head to look, but only saw a blur of movement as another figure flew over his head, and crashed directly into the same spot. Dust filled the area, filling the lungs and stinging the eyes of everyone there. The General closed his eyes, and concentrated on his other senses. He could sense that two figures had just left the area. One of them felt as though it was made of what must have been dark magic, and the other was filled with…. He failed to find the word. Had he known it, he would have used it, for it was bloodlust.

Besides them, he could feel movement all around him, and sudden a spike in the energy of the air. He could feel excitement, eagerness, and he could hear the sounds of many hooves suddenly moving. Then it clicked: The prisoners were free. He could feel something approach him, and his eyes shot open as he poised himself for combat. Something was near, and it was coming closer.

Then he saw one red eye burning through the dust, and beside it, the same mark as those they had captured.

All is in readiness, the servants are in position, and so: The door opens...” he heard a voice say. It was distant, cold, and sickly. The one eye shook, as though unable to contain its excitement. “And our Masters hunger!” the voice cried as the eye and mark suddenly vanished.

“What in Foen-”

“GENERAL!” he heard a shout from near him. He turned just in time to see the guard who the small creature attacked swing at him with a spear. With a quick headbutt, the guard was down and out, and he looked about him.

“On me!” he shouted. “Fall back!” he pulled away from the dust, and towards the front. Not far behind him followed several guards. “You!” he turned and looked at a nearby guard, “Take care of this situation! Get those traitors back under control! As for the rest of you, come with me. We're going to put an end to this silly battle once and for all!” He turned his head back towards the front of the battle. It was clear that he had underestimated his foe. But that was over. While they may have surprised him, the shock was over, and now it was time to put an end to this.
 

OCisbestungulate

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The Battle Of Unruliness
Part Thirteen:
The Face of The Enemy
If there was one thing that happened more often then it should, it was underestimating the Cattlekind. That's not to say anything less about the sheeple, or even their for-hire goat allies, but for one reason or another the cattlekind never quite got the respect they were due. At least one was inclined to feel that way if one's profession was war. However, the Cattlekind possessed a tenacity and durability that An Hongse had not foreseen and, admittedly, admired. Indeed, while the giraffe knew how to fight, they clearly did not know how to effectively take down a cow. At times, he was almost tempted to think that they might be as durable as Longma. But that was impossible. Though, with proper training…

He cleared his mind as he surveyed the battle from his vantage point high above the Soldiers of Shadow. Now that the cattlekind were able to flow much easier into the camp, their numbers and tenacity were doing a great deal to overwhelm the giraffe. Though, if they had been by themselves, he doubted that they would be fairing as well as they currently were. Between the barrages of dark magic, the unrelenting push of the cattle, sheepdog strike squads, and his new sheep-to-sheep communication network, they were making fine progress indeed. Each tactic the giraffe tried to counter them with failed as the army pressed forward. The siege weapons that they had brought out had been taken out by sheepdogs. The giraffe had tried to erect barricades to funnel the cattle into chokepoints, but failed when goats had easily scaled them and destroyed them from within. They had even tried a smokescreen to blind and disrupt communications, but the sheep proved to be surprisingly resilient to such distractions.

On the far end, he saw that his troops had fought the giraffe to a stalemate. While that was far from ideal, it did force the giraffe to split their attention. After all, a distracted enemy, is a defeated enemy.

Yes. Everything was going according to pla-

He blinked as several dozen cows were suddenly flung high into the air. A moment later, the same thing happened again. The reports of unbridled panic came flooding in not a moment later.

“A monster!” one sheep messenger cried.

“It's MASSIVE!” another shouted.

“What should we do?!”

“Should we panic?”

“Did somesheep just say picnic?”

“EVERBODY PICNIC!”

“CALM DOWN!” An shouted, his fire suddenly flaring brightly, as another dozen or so cows were sent flying. The sheep froze and stared at him with large eyes. “Give me a situation report! What's going on?” the sheep stared at him dumbly for a moment. “NOW!” he shouted, causing the sheep to jump slightly. They carried the message to the front with no hesitation. A moment later, the answer came back.

“Sir!” the sheep who reported to him saluted (her name was Grisilda, she's such a trooper), “It would appear that a giraffe of importance has appeared on the field. He is rallying his troops and leading them forward. In addition to this, he is accompanied by several personal guards. Combined, they are plowing through our ranks like butter! He himself is able to take down two or three of the Cattlekind at a time! What are your orders, Sir?”

He paused for just a moment, allowing the gears in his head to turn. “Where are the Rambassador and the Lynx?” he asked.

“Unknown, sir.” Grisilda answered.

“I see. Tell the line to hold, but be ready to split down the center. Tell the Cattlekind to try and direct him to the center of their ranks.” An ordered, and turned to face the source of the dark artillery that barraged the battle. “Solders of Shadow!” he shouted, gaining their attention. “Gather your power into one shot, and alert me the moment you can't hold it anymore!” The 22 of them looked up at him, then at each other. They nodded to one another, then turned to face the battle once more, and began channeling their power into a massive ball above their heads. An turned once more to look at the UFC forces. It was clear that who ever it was that had arrived, was turning the tide of the battle singlehooved.

“It's ready!” a longma shouted.

“Good. Fire on my command!” he looked down at the sheep, then nodded.

Grisilda nodded back, and turned to the sheep next to her, “SPLIT!”

The message flew down the line of sheep with breakneck speed as An raised a hoof into the air. The Cattlekind stirred a bit, then began separating.

“FIRE!” he cried.

The blast flew past him and down the clearing path of Cattlekind. He smiled ever so slightly. When the blast hit this new problem, the battle would be theirs. He presumed that whoever this Giraffe was, removing them would crush enemy morale, and thus win the day.

The ball traveled faster and faster, missing the Cattlekind as they scrambled away from it, until it finally reached the front itself.

Sadly, there was no important Giraffe waiting at the end of the line. Rather, the blast plowed through several unsuspecting Giraffe, and vanished into the dark of the night. An cursed himself, for he had forgotten to give the Cattlekind time to move his target into the center. The very target that now appeared in the very empty line that was supposed to trap it.

It was a huge giraffe. It stood no taller then any other, but its body was clearly built for war. Even with its impressive armor on, he could tell that this giraffe was mighty indeed. Heavy legs, bulked body, overwhelmingly commanding presence, plus smooth and fluid movement told An everything he needed to know about this foe. This foe was the one in charge. And it was this foe that now charged, full speed, down the cleared path towards An.

“CLOSE THE GAP! DARK ONES, FIRE! FIRE!” An shouted. His troops however, didn't obey.

“H-hey! Wait a moment! If we do that, we'll hit our allies!” a Soldier objected.

“Yeah!” Grisilda agreed.

An looked furiously between them. “FINE! CLOSE THE GAP!” he cried. Grisilda saluted, and turned to shout the command, but was knocked to the side before the words could come out.

“You are too late, longma leader of a pathetic army.” a deep voice said to An. Looking away from the sheep who had been sent flying, he looked directly into the face of his foe. It was easy to do, for An was hovering in the air making his face level with his foe's.

The giraffe's face was deeply scarred and carried a steely gaze that shot straight to the heart. If An had not been trained to withstand something like this, he might have broken under it. As it was, he held his postion. “And you are a fool.” he said back. “FIRE AT WIL-”

“I am here to discuss your surrender.” he said with a level voice.

“Excuse me?” For a moment, An was unsure if he had heard him correctly.

“I am here to discuss your surrender.” he repeated, apparently unbothered by the fact that he had to repeat himself.

“You are in the middle of enemy lines, alone, and faced with 275 sheep, and 22 users of dark magic, many of whom are skilled in close combat. Upon what grounds do you have the right to make me surrender?” An crossed his hooves, and stared at the large giraffe. Foolish or no, the fact that the giraffe was completely unphased and completely certain of himself did impress him.

“I lead the most powerful and effective military force in all of Foenum. I have been taken prisoner numerous times, and my army can operate without me just as well as with me. Even if you take me hostage, they will continue to move forward and will eventually break through. However, if you surrender now, and withdraw everyone but the Cattlekind, then we will not pursue you.” he replied, almost matter-of-fact.

“I will not yield. We will push you and your invading army out of here, and you will know that you are wrong about your army being the most powerful.” An said calmly.

“Then so be it. We will crush each and every one of you.” he said, his eyes flashing briefly with both excitement and anger. He took a step back, and flung his head forward at An. His strike, however, never hit the mark, for it stopped just shy of him.

You see, it was right at that moment when the entire camp suddenly glowed blood-red. An saw several hundred symbols of the hunrters fly into the air and gather into the air above it. They danced around each other, moving and molding and shifting, until they all formed a giant outline in the air just above the camp.

It was an outline of a massive door.

The whole battlefield was suddenly flooded with powerful, evil magic. An, as well as the general, looked up as the giant door began to open, and from within, poured out hundreds and hundreds of shadowy predators.

~

“So, this is how you wage a war, is it?” he asked, turning to face the longma before him. What was once anticipation, and even excitement, was now nothing more than disgust and hatred. “This is the face of Longma pride and honor? You draw me out, only to force me to watch as my own army is devoured by the very darkness our ancestors fought to seal? You are despicable. Even if you claim this day, your honor will forever be marred and tainted by the very evil you have sought to bring upon our heads! You filth!” he lost his composure as rage began to fill him. He spat, hitting the longma's mane, causing it to fizzle for a moment.

“We have been betrayed...” the longma said, his voice distant. The Grand General paused, and looked at his eyes. Not once had the longma looked at him while he was talking. Rather, his eyes had grown more and more distant, void, and empty. The Grand General turned around and looked back at his fort.

The figures that fell from the sky were the creatures of nightmares. Shadowy, wispy, and with eyes as red as burning coals. Many of them were four-legged, with terrible claws and teeth. Terrible birds, half the size of the longma themselves, also poured forth from the gaping maw that filled the air above his people.

“This … this was not you, was it?” he asked, recalling the elk's words as he turned his head to face the longma.

“I will destroy them. I will destroy every last one of them!” The longma cried, his mane and tail flaring with fire.

“An! What's going on?!” a voice cried from nearby. The General looked down from his foe, and saw not far behind him the strangest gathering of creatures he had ever seen.

The longma, apparently named An, turned to face them: “The Hunters have betrayed us! They must be stopped! You have new orders: You are to charge into the camp and destroy as many of the shadow monsters as you can find. And if you should find any of those Hunters...” he trailed off.

“Destroy them?” The General finished.

An turned to look at him with an appraising look. “Nothing would make me happier to say that, but we are all under strict orders to only incapacitate.”

The General took a step back. “You mean to tell me that your entire army has been doing nothing but knocking my troops out?”

“As inefficient as it is, yes.” he said, nodding.

“Why?”

“Because that was the order of the Council. They felt that as fellow ungulates, you were worthy of the highest respect and thus should only be subdued.” He said, giving a small nod of respect.

“But, what about the dark magic?” he asked, looking past An. While he may not know exactly what that motley group of creatures were, he knew dark magic when he saw it.

“Teleportation spells! We found a nice deep ravine to dump your troops into.” one of the creatures smiled.

“We don't have time for this!” An shouted. “While we may not have been interested in causing real wounds, those monsters are!” He pointed a hoof at the general, turned to the ones behind him, and opened his mouth.

“Join with us, and let us cast these evil ones out!” The General said, catching An by surprise.

“What did you say?” he asked.

“We have a common foe! Let us put our might together to banish it! Like our ancestors of old!” he said, lifting his head high and proud. He lifted a hoof high into the air, offering it to seal the impromptu alliance.

An paused for just a moment, before presenting his own hoof. “Very well. I and my troops will take care of the birds.”

“Can your magic users seal the portal?” The General asked.

“Hey! We have a name, thank you! We're the Soldiers of Shadow, and we belong to: The Dark Side!” one shouted, with the rest joining in at the last. “And yeah, we should be able to. We just need to get close enough.”

The two leaders looked at each other and nodded. They both knew what that meant.

“I'll cover them on the ground.” The General said.

“And I'll cover them in the air.” An said. He then turned to the Soldiers of Shadow. “Follow his commands until further notice!” the longma commanded, then flew off into the fray.

The General looked down at the motley crew, who looked back at him with raised eyebrows. “Follow me! I'll take you directly to the center. That will be good enough, yes?” they looked at him for a moment, then nodded. “Good, now CHARGE!”
 

OCisbestungulate

Always watching you
Backers' Beta Tester
Feb 3, 2016
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behind your curtains
The Battle of Unruliness
Part Fourteen:
Sundered Sky
“Yes! YES!!” her screams of ecstasy filled the air as Weylyn sank his claws into the ripped and torn fabric of Zero once more. He found a solid grip, and with unholy strength jumped into the air, and slammed the bear into the ground. Before he could even stand, a roar of fury left Weylyn's mouth as a blast of dark energy smashed into Zero. He blocked the blast with his only arm, for his other had been ripped off not long ago. “Tear it apart! Rip it to shreds!” Blue's hysterical voice cried. It was clear to Zero that she was completely gone.

Perfect!

He pulled within himself and found the darkfire-wall that blocked his core functions. Just as he had hoped, she had forgotten about it, and it was all but gone. He let out a victorious cry as he charged forward, and hit a big red button.

REBOOT.

“DESTROY EVERYTHIN-” she screeched, but suddenly stopped as Zero ceased moving. “Wait, what's going on-NO! STOP!” she cried, making Weylyn's body launch forward at the bear. She, however, was too late.

Zero's remaining arm flipped around to reveal his paw, and he held it out to stop Weylyn in his tracks. “Whoa, whoa, whoa! Weylyn, it's me, Zero, I'm back!” Zero shouted. Weylyn's eyes, dark and filled with power, looked at him curiously.

“It lies!” he heard Blue scream. “Finish it! It is weak!”

“Dude, get it together! We're in the middle of a-HOLY PROPHET, LOOK UP!” Zero suddenly shouted. Weylyn's burning eyes stared at him for a moment, then followed his gaze up.

Both of their jaws dropped, for the night sky above them had become a yawning abyss of darkness. From it poured out numberless predators, and other horrors, made of shadow. Weylyn's body shook violently, and Zero heard an awful howl from Blue.

“NO! NOO!” she cried, “Not now! Not when you were so close!”

“No Blue, I'm done playing your game!” he shouted as the horrid darkness drained from his eyes, and a glowing foxskull appeared beside him.

“Oooh, that looked like it hurt.” A grinning voice said.

Both Zero and Weylyn looked over, and saw a bit to their surprise, a small orange and white cat sitting on the ground, looking at them and grinning.

“Who-” Weylyn began to ask.

“Francis. The name's Francis. Though I don't want to talk to a spineless turncoat like you.” He waved a dismissive paw.

Weylyn's eyes narrowed dangerously as Zero spoke up, “Hey! You keep your mouth shut!” he growled.

“Stuff it, stuffy. I'm not here to talk to you either.” he said, casting a glance at Weylyn's direction. “No, I'm here to talk to you, hot stuff.” He glanced towards Blue, who hovered close to Weylyn, “How's about you take a spin with a REAL predator?” he said, winking and making a clicking noise with his mouth.

“Buzz off, poser.” She said, and Zero was pretty sure he saw her roll her eyes.

“Poser? Me? I'm sorry, but I'm pretty sure I'm more of a proper predator then that flip-flopping fish of a feline.” Francis rolled his eyes, then all but vanished as Weylyn struck the spot where he stood.

“You know nothing of honor!” he shouted, turning his head to follow Francis, as his eyes ablaze with fury.

“You got me there!” Francis said as he evaded another attack from Weylyn, “But then again, you're the perfect role mod-” he let out a gasp as Weylyn caught him with a paw swipe. Unfortunately for Weylyn, Francis rolled with the blow, and ended up under a fallen tent and out of Weylyn's reach.

“Get out here!” Weylyn cried.

Now, one had to ask: What was Zero doing during all of this? After all, it wasn't like he was one to simply sit around. No, Zero was a robo-bear of action! But, you see, the moment Weylyn had lunged at Francis several shadowy predators had jumped at Zero, ready to remove his only arm, as well as what metal and fluff remained inside of him. And just about anything else they could tear apart. Thankfully, even in this damaged state, Zero was quick on the draw and was firing away with reckless abandon. Though, even with the rapid-fire weapon he had, he was quickly becoming overwhelmed.

“Weylyn!” he cried, “Help!”

The lynx turned around to look back, and felt a sharp pain on the side of his head. Turning, he saw one very surprised looking Francis standing there with darkness in his eyes and wrapped around his small paws.

“Huh. Well, I guess I'm boned...” he said, looking at Weylyn wide-eyed.

If she could have, Blue would have spit. “Did you really think that your weak mind control magic could take him away from me?” Blue said, manifesting herself above Weylyn's head. “Like I said, you are nothing but a pos-”

“WEYLYN! COULD USE SOME HELP OVER HE-” Zero cried. Weylyn turned around just in time to see Zero vanish under a pile of wolf shadows.

“Hold on!” he shouted, and dove at them.

~

Francis, fully expecting to be swatted away, simply stood there in confusion. It was strange. Why hadn't the Lynx finished him off? Why had he gone to help the creature he had been fighting? It didn't make sense. What were these things? And, why were they fighting so well together? Francis watched as the two of them plowed through the shadows like smoke. Granted, the shadows were not very tough, but there was no way they should be so easy to take down, and in such large numbers!

It was right about then that he became aware that others had arrived as well. Above him several hundred Longma flew through the air, battling the birds of prey that had come through the door. Not far from where they stood, he saw the big in-charge giraffe arrive with the most motley crew of ungulates he'd ever seen. Not only that, he saw that the UFC forces AND the giraffe no longer fought each other, but fought side by side to destroy the shadows from above.

None of this made any sense! Why were they helping each other?! This was not how it was supposed to go! They were supposed to tear each other apart!

His left eye twitched as he saw the strange group of ungulates gather around and look up at the door. They closed their eyes, and began channeling power into one another. Around them formed a tight rank of giraffe, Cattlekind, goats, and even sheep. Francis angrily shook his head. This was madness!

He stepped back as a sudden blast of powerful energy shot from the group, and directly into the giant door above. It filled the whole thing, and what looked like a giant spectral hoof appeared on it, and began pushing it closed. It pushed harder, but as the door got closer and closer to being closed, the harder the door fought to stay open. Though, as hard as the door fought, it was only a matter of time until they shut it. Something had to be done!

He jumped down from the collapsed tent he had been standing on and ducked, tucked, and wove his way past the circle that surrounded the motley spell casters. He channeled the ritual into his paws once more, and slammed them onto the head of a young, rather disturbed looking, reindeer.

Big mistake.

You see, the magic he was using was quite effective against your everyday ungulate. And, perhaps, even against a lesser daemon or some such. But against 20+ daemons? Good luck with that. When it comes to mind control, there are a few ways to go about it. This method uses the force of one's will to overwhelm and dominate the will of their victim. In this case: it was Francis' will vs the will of said 20+ daemons. Though, in his defense, he had no idea that they were all linked at this point. Still, that did little to stop what happened next.

Rather than fill the Reindeer's mind with Francis' will, Francis felt time freeze as his mind was suddenly plunged into a dark abyss. He felt himself tumble head-over-tail over and over until he slammed onto some sort of ground. Getting to his paws quickly (as he failed to land on them), he glanced about in the darkness as a feeling of panic began to rise. No, he must not panic. Hunters do not know fear.

Though that meant little when the darkness around him was suddenly torn apart by dozens of eyes. They glared at him and he heard the distant rise of insane laughter. It built until it reached a fever pitch, deafening him and shaking him to his core.

“You DARE to think that YOU could control even ONE of us?” a voice, more vicious and vile than any, spoke.

“You are the very soul of arrogance.” another voice, elegant, cunning, and undeniably evil taunted him.

“Are you afraid, little one? Because you should be!” cackled a third voice, this one clearly insane and reveling in the moment.

“Come, let us devour it! I'm so hungry!” a fourth cried, its voice the sound of a small new-born.

Francis's eyes shot open as dozens of claws, paws, hooves, and things he had no words for, lunged at him from the darkness. “Don't you touch me!” he shouted as he ducked, weaved, and dodged countless appendages. “You have no idea who you're dealing wit-”

His voice ended with a grunt as he suddenly froze in the air. Around him, the mass of appendages slowly swirled and climbed into the air around him. Above him, the face of a monster the likes of which he'd never seen before, manifested. It was wreathed in unholy fire, and burned with pure madness and evil. “You are in our realm now. We are only playing with you. After all, why shouldn't we play with our food a little?” the monster's face vanished amid the sudden cries of excitement from all around him. Then, all at once, the appendages wrapped around him and cloud of darkness encased him.

And then, Francis, the foolish and arrogant feline, was no more.

~

It was to everyone's surprise when a burst of dark magic suddenly filled the air above the Soldiers of Shadow. And it was to everyone's even greater surprise when nearly two dozen daemons suddenly manifested and devoured it. They shouted as one as a boon of power filled them, causing the great hoof that pressed against the door to double in size. It reared back, and slammed the door with incredible force.

It was then that a giant claw emerged from the door, and slammed against the opposite side of the door.

IT COMES! THE UNSPEAKABLE ONE COMES!” a shrill voice suddenly screamed, piercing the night and the great noise of the battle. “COME, ASPECT, COME AVATAR! COME, SHADOW OF THE DREAD ONE, AND FEAST!”

Zero looked down from the door. He knew that voice. A great slam came from the sky once more as he cast his gaze about. Where had it come from? Not far from the great battle that now unfolded, Zero spotted an odd clump of dust in the air. Granted, the whole battleground was coated in dust, but this clump was a bit too thick; it was too steady. He narrowed his eyes, and leaned a bit. There, glowing darkly, was a single eye and the burning mark of the Hunters right next to it, both fixated on the sky.

Ziege…

Zero knew the leader of the so-called Hunters well. He stalked he halls of the UFC, always taunting, or threatening, everyone else. His voice was ever present, as was his hunger. Thinking back on it, wasn't it his idea to go to battle with the giraffe in the first place? Sure, the giraffe had been the ones to declare war, but wasn't he the one who first proposed that they skip the peace talks and go straight to the fight? Wait, if that was the case, then...

Now that Zero was looking directly at Ziege, he saw that the creature was glowing with power, and that he was not alone.

Not far behind him, stood an elk who's gaze was also fixed upon the sky. He saw that she too bore the mark, and that it glowed with power. Not far from those two, stood two or three giraffe, who also stared into the sky, marks glowing brightly upon their faces. From these marks, he saw tendrils of energy flowing into the great claw. Casting his gaze about, he saw what must have been hundreds of these trails of power coming from all over the battlefield. The Predators, it seemed, had been busy.

Ziege's gaze was clearly transfixed on the giant claw that was pushing the hoof back. And it was clear to Zero what he needed to do. He had to stop him, but how? He had joined the circle protecting the Soldiers of Shadow, and couldn't afford to leave it, lest he leave a gap for the shadows to get in. And yet, he was out of bullets, and everyone else was either too busy either holding off the army of monsters that attacked them, or trying to shut the giant door of evil above them.

A smile cracked across his face. Yes. He had one last option. He had been planning on using this to celebrate their victory, but now seemed like an even better time.

He reached around to his back, and pulled down a zipper. Thrusting his paw inside of his back, he fumbled around the various parts and other things he stored back there. There it is! He yanked out a large attachment that strapped around his chest. Lacking a second arm would make it difficult to put it on, but he had no choice but to try. Luckily for him, his attachments were easy to put on by design (though it was still a little awkward).

*attachment detected!

*native software detected!

*execute software?

Yes!

*executing chestLauncher

*executing partyProtocol

*ready to fire

*fire?

DO IT!

*firing confettiRockets

The attachment spread across his chest and four stabilizer legs shot into the ground around him. A cannon extended from his torso, as well as two handles to grasp. A small targeting reticle popped up, and he took aim.

“LET'S GET IT ON!”

The cannon exploded as the rocket flew out of the barrel. It streaked straight through the air, through several shadows, and hit his target square in the face.

If his target had been several meters to the left…

Nevertheless! The rocket exploded in a blinding flash and a deafening cacophony of sound. He heard Ziege cry out in surprise, and he heard a loud 'huzzah!' from behind him. Casting a quick glance up, he saw that the claw was faltering, as the giant hoof was pushing it back.

Okay, one more! He aimed carefully once more at Ziege, this time compensating for his lost limb, and fired.

He would have missed yet again, and this time Ziege would have been ready for him. The rocket would have exploded far above his target's head, and Ziege would have used the distraction to close the distance and put a stop to Zero's nonsense. But, he did not. No, just as he fired, he felt the barrel suddenly pull up, but he saw a blue skull suddenly slam it down, causing the rocket to aim true.

Ziege's one eye widened in great surprise as the rocket hit dead on, and exploded in a brilliant flash of bright colors as he vanished. Where he once stood, colorful confetti now filled the air.

A piercing cry from above split the air. Zero gazed up and saw the giant claw suddenly shrink, and the hoof slammed the door, smashing into the giant claw. The hoof slammed the door again, and the claw vanished into the darkness beyond. Then, with one final shove, the hoof slammed the great door shut.

Which promptly exploded.
 

OCisbestungulate

Always watching you
Backers' Beta Tester
Feb 3, 2016
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behind your curtains
The Battle Of Unruliness
Part Fifteen:
The Sun Rises
There was a strange sucking noise as one of the Soldiers of Shadow placed a hoof upon the mark of one of the giraffe. The giraffe's body shook slightly. Then the mark vanished, and its eyes filled with color once more.

“Ah, that was tasty.” said the daemon, smacking its lips. “Good thing that whole thing made me so hungry, there's a lot to eat here!” it said, casting a glace along the long row of restrained giraffe, and even a few other ungulates, that lined the outside of the camp.

“I know! It's like an all you can eat buffet!” shouted another daemon from down the line. “Though it's kinda annoying how we can't really suck the mind control out of the crazy ones.”

“Well, ya can't do much about fools who willingly give into the madness, right dear?” the first responded, stroking the snout of the camel that it was bound to, causing it to roll its eyes as it walked over to the next in line.

Not far from this scene, four figures stood in the light of the rising sun. “It was an honor to fight beside such honorable warriors.” The General said, bowing his head in respect to the three leaders that stood before him. “I had thought that this land would be easy to conquer. I thought the Cattlekind to be mindless brutes, the sheep to be cowards, the Longma to be insignificant, and users of dark magics to be treacherous. But I see now that I was wrong. You all stand as one. And, true to your word, not one of my troops was lost to your assault.” His helmet caught the gleam of the sun, causing a bit of glare to hit An's eyes.

“You sided with us so quickly. Why?” An asked, turning his head slightly to get the sun out of his eyes.

“Because I was moved by your honesty and honor.” The General nodded. “I had thought you a monster, but when I saw the hatred on your face for when those monsters appeared, I knew that it had been no trick. I saw the great danger, and I knew that we had to stand together, or all fall.”

“I'm not sure about that, but whatever you say buddy.” Blue said, rolling her eyes.

“Hush.” Weylyn chided her.

“I think it is time we put an end to this silly war of ours. What say you?” The General smiled, looking between the three of them. They all looked between each other, and nodded. “Good. Then let me offer the flag of peace. And, if you will, my spear as your shield.”

“Wait, hold on a sec, are you saying what I think you're saying?” Zero raised an eyebrow (as best as a robot bear can raise an eyebrow anyway).

“I wish to become your protector. Allow me to guard your borders, and stand beside you once more in combat!” he thumped a hoof to his chest, and bowed his head.

“Wait, do you truly mean this?” Weylyn asked.

“I do.”

The three of them looked between each other once more. “I don't know if we can say yes or no to that. I think that's more DungeonMiner's call, wouldn't you say?” Zero asked.

An nodded. “I agree. We'll have to discuss this with him first.”

The giraffe looked up. “DungeonMiner? That's… that's his name?” An nodded. “I … see. Is this 'DungeonMiner' your leader?”

An rolled his eyes. “For the most part.”

“I mean no offense, but that strikes me as a truly odd name. Is that perhaps his title?” he shook his head slightly.

“No, that's his name. And he insists that we call him as such.” Weylyn shrugged.

“Oh, and for the record, he's not 'our leader' per say, but more like the guy who's more or less in charge of the UFC. So, major decisions like this have to be passed by him then voted on by the representatives of the UFC.” Zero said, looking around.

“Oh. I see. Sounds slow and convoluted.” The giraffe clearly didn't much care for the idea.

“It is.” An sighed.

“Very well. We shall return to our homeland and I shall await your answer. Until then, you said something about a ravine you sent my troops to?” he tilted his head slightly.

“Oh, yeah. It's off that way. You'll see it after about 10 or 15 minutes of walking. Sooner for you I would guess, given your long legs.” Weylyn pointed to the east.

“I thank you. And I hope that one day we shall stand together again!” he saluted the three of them as he and his army turned about, and marched off into the rising run.

“Well, I'd say that went pretty well, all things considered.” Weylyn nodded.

“Indeed. Victory at last. Come, we have much to tell the council.” An said as he took flight.

“Hey, uh, guys?” Zero asked, looking around, “Where's The Prime Minister?”



The End​
 

CasualMatt

Royal Squid Jester
Crowdfund Backer
To anyone who is in the story: I am looking to do a reading of this similar to the reading of the Book of Lore that I did. If you created a character that appears in the story with a speaking role, I would appriciate if you could either point me towards a description of you character or if you could give me a description of the character's voice. I want to do every character justice, so your help is appreciated.
 

Stunthead

Springbok when
Backers' Beta Tester
Feb 3, 2016
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New Zealand
To anyone who is in the story: I am looking to do a reading of this similar to the reading of the Book of Lore that I did. If you created a character that appears in the story with a speaking role, I would appriciate if you could either point me towards a description of you character or if you could give me a description of the character's voice. I want to do every character justice, so your help is appreciated.
Prime Minister Fleece is soft-spoken, has a slightly nebbish voice and a New Zealand accent (if you can pull the accent off, great, if not, you don't have to). I guess I think of him as sounding a little bit like Bret from Flight of the Conchords.
"I dance all the time. I dance at parties. I dance... when I'm angry..."
 

0Zero100

Alpaka Representative/Robot Family Bear
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Feb 3, 2016
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Bryan, Texas
The Battle of Unruliness
Part Nine
The Bravest of Sheep
(But No Braver Than Pom!)​

Right after the first line of the Cattlekind had begun surging into the camp, the sheep had begun charging in after them. As a result, the breech quickly became clogged from the abundance of said sheep and cattle. Try as they might, neither army could make their way through. Prime Minister Fleece, from his perfect vantage point of being sandwiched between the front side of a ram and the backside of a cow, struggled to get an appraisal of the situation. Wiggling his way to the top of the growing heap, he looked to both sides of the growing clog.

In the fort, the Giraffe had finally begun to restore some sense of order, and had begun forming ranks to meet them. On the far side of the fort, he saw the longma engaged with the giraffe in their own private skirmish. For a moment, he envied them. For all their height, it was clear that these giraffe had not prepared themselves for battling aerial opponents. Judging from what he saw, the giraffe were a well trained military force, perhaps even on par with the longma, but that training did them little good against a foe that could fly. After all, their long necks had made their heads all the more easy for the longma to target.

On the other side, the sheep had begun trying to either shove their way into the fray, or began trying to climb over the sheep and cattle in front of them. That wasn't good. Not only had they clogged the only entrance, but they had also shoved the majority of the Cattlekind army out of the way, and blocked the line of sight for the 'Dark Side'. Think, think! He said to himself. Ah ha! The goats!

“Everysheep, repeat what I say!” he shouted.

“Repeeeeeat what I saaay!” hundreds of sheep bleated back.

“Goats! Start carrying sheeple over the walls! Sheeple! Back off and wait to be carried over!” he bellowed. A near-perfect rebleat of what he had just said came back to him, and suddenly the lump he had begun standing on shifted and melted away as sheep ran to the outside of the fort. He lost his balance, and fell onto the back of a stampeding bull, who (rather unintentionally) carried him into the fort. It was here he saw firsthoof just how the battle was fairing.

It was faring poorly.

The Cattlekind, for all of their energy and spunk, were under-trained and unprepared for this. Each giraffe was easily worth two or three cattle. Most of the first wave was down already, and it wouldn't be long until the giraffe pushed them back to the breach. They needed reinforcements, and they needed them badly. Thus, there was really only one solution that he could see.

“Y-you!” he shouted at the bull carrying him.

“Huh? What is it? Kinda busy here!” he shouted back as he stopped a moment to look around.

“I need to head back to tell your kin to knock more of the wall down!” he shouted.

“Knock the wall down? Okay!” he shouted back. He reared up on his hind legs, and bolted. Sadly for Fleece, he wasn't able to stay on, and got knocked off in the process.

Landing hard on the ground, he thanked his lucky stars that he had a nice coat of wool to cushion his fall. His four puppies, who had stuck to him like glue, all gathered around him and helped him to his hooves. He let out a groan of pain as he rubbed his head.

“Hey! Did that sheep just give that bull an order?” he suddenly heard a voice say. Looking over, he saw two giraffe looking over at him.

“I think she did!” said the other one.

“I'm a RAM you idiots!” he impulsively shouted at them.

Oops.

“And he's sheep with some backbone? I'd bet he's a leader!” the fist declared.

“Bet we'd get promoted if we took him out!” the second shouted.

It was right about them that he decided that it was fine time to book it. If two cattle had trouble with one giraffe, what chance did he have on his own vs two? He bolted to the wall, then started running along side it. Sadly for him, two well-trained Giraffe were much faster then a pencil-pushing sheep.

One bolted past him and the other ran to flank him. He skidded to a stop as the first one stopped in his path. He glanced behind himself as he slowly backed up into the wall. Why am I here? He suddenly asked himself. I'm not a fighter! I'm a politician! I mean, sure, when the idea of fighting alongside the other factions popped up at the UFC, he had jumped at the chance to have his Sheeple join! Though, it was for purely selfish reasons. A unification? Heck yeah he'd take part! Joining together with other factions in a time of war is a surefire way of gaining allies for the future! Brothers and sisters, bonds forged by combat! No way he was letting his sheeple miss out on that! And when they made it through the wall, they would see their wonderful leader fighting right alongside them!

….

Yeah, about that. He was kinda out-numbered.

"I can't go down," he thought. "My sheeple have already lost one leader, they can't afford to lose another one. It would crush their spirits! I can't do that to them!"

One of the Giraffes lowered their head, stopping it inches from Fleece's face. "What are you waiting for, buddy?" he said with a grin. "Send out your little pups. They can't touch us!"

Fleece's four puppies growled and barked at the two giraffe, wanting, but unwilling to attack without a command. But who should he attack? There was no way one of these well trained giraffes would go down without all four of his puppies on the job. That's when the Prime Minister had an idea. The puppies couldn't take BOTH of the giraffes on, but maybe he could distract one of the Giraffes long enough to allow the puppies to take out the Giraffes one at a time! But how? It was right about then the image of his hero came to his mind. The hero that inspired his sheeple into action. The hero that caused them to band together, and to form a faction in her name.

"What would she do?" he asked himself. After all, it was after her, that the faction he now led had been named:

The Pom Patrol.

The thought of her suddenly filled him with courage, causing Fleece to jump up and wrapped his legs around the face of the giraffe that was taunting him. The giraffe let out a muffled cry and reared back, lifting Fleece high into the air. "NOW PUPPIES! ATTAAAAACK!"

Admittedly, his command lacked much confidence, but the puppies attacked all the same. They ran in and, like a pack of furry piranhas, swarmed all over the ankles of the other giraffe. Now all Fleece had to do was hold on tight and avoid getting flung off long enough for his puppies to come back and save him. Easier said than done. The giraffe swung its head wildly, causing Fleece's grip to loosen (and make him feel a little queasy).

"I'm pretty sure this is, in fact, NOT what Pom would have done!" he shouted. Nor, he suspected, would have she failed to keep her grip. He was flung off of the giraffe, and sent flying towards the wall. He smashed into it with a lovely, yet unpleasant, thud. Thankfully, he hit it head first, and was promptly knocked right out. Good thing too, for when he landed, he broke a rib or two (among other bones)

His puppies, however, were still wide awake. They abandoned the fight and ran over to their downed master, dodging through the stomping legs of the angry Giraffe duo. The puppies took up a defensive stance in front of Fleece, baring their teeth and growling, warning the Giraffes to back down. It made no difference to the Giraffes, though. With their target incapacitated, his puppies were no longer a threat to them. It was the perfect opportunity to take him prisoner.

“I can already taste that promotion.” said the first, batting a puppy out of the way.

“Looks like today's our lucky da-hey, what's that on your head?” the second asked, pointing at the first.

He looked up, “Huh? Wha-”

“Oh don't mind me. I'm just your everyday tabby cat!” Francis waved a dismissive paw from his rather tall perch. “Oh, and don't mind the mind control ritual.” he grinned.

“The wha-” the second began, but stopped as the small animal let out a terrible screech and slammed its tiny paws on the other giraffe's head. The moment it happened, a sinister mark appeared on his head, and his eyes drained of all color. The second raised his spear, but was too slow for the tabby, who simply jumped onto his head, and did the same thing it did to the first. His mind suddenly blank, he dropped his spear, and stared into space.

“That's better.” Francis smiled. “Now then, if you two could grab this little ram here. Perfect. Oh, and do feel free to give those little yappers a good kick or two, would you? Thanks. Now then, that way please...” he purred softly as he pointed a paw. The two giraffe complied, and lumbered off into the night with Fleece's unconscious body in tow…

Much of what is written here was written previously by Stunthead. Since the good leader of the Pom Patrol had put so much effort into writing that bit, I felt it was only right to incorporate what was written. Therefore, thank you Stunthead for your part. Not gonna lie, it made writing this whole thing a fair bit easier. :)
...
So now that I've given credit, it's totally not plagiarism anymore, right? Right?
<.<
>.>
"And he's //A\\ sheep with some backbone?"
Might want to fix that.
 

TheOneZeelOne

Don't be afraid of the dark
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Feb 3, 2016
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Gadsden, AL
To anyone who is in the story: I am looking to do a reading of this similar to the reading of the Book of Lore that I did. If you created a character that appears in the story with a speaking role, I would appriciate if you could either point me towards a description of you character or if you could give me a description of the character's voice. I want to do every character justice, so your help is appreciated.
Well, Zeel only has the one line, so it's probably not that big a thing. But I imagine the voice to be somewhat deep and, I guess wise is the feeling to go for. Calm yet revolutionary peace-seeker. He's kinda old, like the Ram equivalent of around 50, atleast that's what I'm thinking as of now. That's the gist of what I can think would go into his voice.
 
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CrpCrwls

This dim light which falls from the stars...
Feb 6, 2016
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I don't think my OC has any speaking role, though I have a little doubt about his demon? I couldn't tell if he was one of those who talked when the Francis tried to battle wills with twenty demons at once. Hey OCisbestungulate, who was who?
If my demon is present he might be a bit hard to voice act, he's got a voice "roaring and crackling like a fire".
 

OCisbestungulate

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I don't think my OC has any speaking role, though I have a little doubt about his demon? I couldn't tell if he was one of those who talked when the Francis tried to battle wills with twenty demons at once. Hey OCisbestungulate, who was who?
If my demon is present he might be a bit hard to voice act, he's got a voice "roaring and crackling like a fire".
TBH, I didn't have anyone's demon in mind when I wrote their parts. Thus, if you want to claim one of them as yours, consider it done :D
 

Avering

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Your soup
lot sooner then I had
Than.
but it looks like small factions appear to be attempting to lay siege
"Looks like" and "appear to be" are synonyms, you could erase the latter, so it don't look that weird. Something like: "Looks like small factions are attempting..."
bearing the brunt of the breech
Never heard this before, so if it's an idiom, please tell me. Otherwise, it's breach, not breech. That's on guns.
He turned around and saw to his surprise the sky explode with fire as what seemed like hundreds, if not thousands, of longma suddenly erupt in flames.
*Ahem*
He turned around and(, to his suprise,) saw the sky exploding (or lighting up) (in fire/flames) with what seemed like... longma suddenly erupting in flames.

I really hate trying to point out errors in long sentences, as if I derp it, it will be visible for all eternity.

they had all raised up onto their rear hoove
Raised up what? They Rose up to their rear hooves.
flooded with the cries of innumerable howls f
Cries of howls? Wut?
at the last,
Finally, Lastly, To top it all off...

There are other bits I can criticise, but since because either I'm on a phone, and have no ability to quickly check if they have foundations, or they would be needless nitpicking of minor things, I will leave them alone. Also I don't want to look like I'm antagonizing you. (Cus your Oc was the antagonist. Get it?)
 

CrpCrwls

This dim light which falls from the stars...
Feb 6, 2016
213
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TBH, I didn't have anyone's demon in mind when I wrote their parts. Thus, if you want to claim one of them as yours, consider it done :D
Eh. Tzng could be the last demon to speak, the whole unholy fire thing fits pretty well.
 

0Zero100

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Than.

"Looks like" and "appear to be" are synonyms, you could erase the latter, so it don't look that weird. Something like: "Looks like small factions are attempting..."

Never heard this before, so if it's an idiom, please tell me. Otherwise, it's breach, not breech. That's on guns.

*Ahem*
He turned around and(, to his suprise,) saw the sky exploding (or lighting up) (in fire/flames) with what seemed like... longma suddenly erupting in flames.

I really hate trying to point out errors in long sentences, as if I derp it, it will be visible for all eternity.


Raised up what? They Rose up to their rear hooves.

Cries of howls? Wut?
Finally, Lastly, To top it all off...

There are other bits I can criticise, but since because either I'm on a phone, and have no ability to quickly check if they have foundations, or they would be needless nitpicking of minor things, I will leave them alone. Also I don't want to look like I'm antagonizing you. (Cus your Oc was the antagonist. Get it?)
Aaagg don't worry about it, this is exactly what I did when OC sent me the first drafts. Only, I did them in private conversation, we should have given them a quick check before uploading them, I should've suggested that. Plus, I'm on mobile, just think about me and a novel of a chapter and having to look at every sentence for any mistakes. Granted, the early parts may have gotten a few by me..
 

OCisbestungulate

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Feb 3, 2016
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Than.

"Looks like" and "appear to be" are synonyms, you could erase the latter, so it don't look that weird. Something like: "Looks like small factions are attempting..."

Never heard this before, so if it's an idiom, please tell me. Otherwise, it's breach, not breech. That's on guns.

*Ahem*
He turned around and(, to his suprise,) saw the sky exploding (or lighting up) (in fire/flames) with what seemed like... longma suddenly erupting in flames.

I really hate trying to point out errors in long sentences, as if I derp it, it will be visible for all eternity.


Raised up what? They Rose up to their rear hooves.

Cries of howls? Wut?
Finally, Lastly, To top it all off...

There are other bits I can criticise, but since because either I'm on a phone, and have no ability to quickly check if they have foundations, or they would be needless nitpicking of minor things, I will leave them alone. Also I don't want to look like I'm antagonizing you. (Cus your Oc was the antagonist. Get it?)
Aaagg don't worry about it, this is exactly what I did when OC sent me the first drafts. Only, I did them in private conversation, we should have given them a quick check before uploading them, I should've suggested that. Plus, I'm on mobile, just think about me and a novel of a chapter and having to look at every sentence for any mistakes. Granted, the early parts may have gotten a few by me..
/shrug

No worries. Some of the mistakes highlighted were authentic mistakes, and some others were intentional. Though, doing proof-reading is more effective in private convos then in public. Though I suppose I could see a counter-argument to that...
 
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Avering

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Your soup
/shrug

No worries. Some of the mistakes high-lighted were authentic mistakes, and some others were intentional. Though, doing proof-reading is more effective in private convos then in public. Though I suppose I could see a counter-argument to that...
I'm simply more used to it as a public thing, as I do it like this on fimfiction. Also if I make a mistake, some smart person can just correct me.
Well if you need some proofreading or somesuch, you can always write to me. Hell, anyone can. Albeit I might not be always available.
--edit--
I'll arrive at home in about an hour or so and if I'm lucky I might even get a hold on a computer. Where should I be annoying, here or in private?
 
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0Zero100

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I can't wait until we post the chapter with [REDACTED] and [REDACTED] in it! It's going to be so COOL! Especially when they [REDACTED] [REDACTED] in the face and then proceed to [REDACTED] the super-awesome-spectacular something or other with the power of [REDACTED] that [REDACTED] gave them at the beginning. I can't wait!:)
 

OCisbestungulate

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I can't wait until we post the chapter with [REDACTED] and [REDACTED] in it! It's going to be so COOL! Especially when they [REDACTED] [REDACTED] in the face and then proceed to [REDACTED] the super-awesome-spectacular something or other with the power of [REDACTED] that [REDACTED] gave them at the beginning. I can't wait!:)
And yet, there was nothing at the end of the rabbit hole

I'm simply more used to it as a public thing, as I do it like this on fimfiction. Also if I make a mistake, some smart person can just correct me.
Well if you need some proofreading or somesuch, you can always write to me. Hell, anyone can. Albeit I might not be always available.
--edit--
I'll arrive at home in about an hour or so and if I'm lucky I might even get a hold on a computer. Where should I be annoying, here or in private?
If you wish to offer corrections and other such lovely bits, do feel free to offer them in a private conversation. The help is appreciated, and methinks it would be good to avoid filling the thread with posts about corrections.
 

Mighty Alicorn Hunter

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Feb 4, 2016
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The Council
To anyone who is in the story: I am looking to do a reading of this similar to the reading of the Book of Lore that I did. If you created a character that appears in the story with a speaking role, I would appriciate if you could either point me towards a description of you character or if you could give me a description of the character's voice. I want to do every character justice, so your help is appreciated.
I believe there's the original character thread which basically has descriptions and back-stories for a ton of characters, probably not everyone but it's a good start. As for me, I think Weylyn has a serious tone, while 'Blue' is slightly ruthless and unhinged, but not enough that she can't control herself.i hope this helps? I didn't think about their voices that hard, so it should be fine whatever you do :)
 

OCisbestungulate

Always watching you
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Feb 3, 2016
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behind your curtains
To anyone who is in the story: I am looking to do a reading of this similar to the reading of the Book of Lore that I did. If you created a character that appears in the story with a speaking role, I would appriciate if you could either point me towards a description of you character or if you could give me a description of the character's voice. I want to do every character justice, so your help is appreciated.
Oh, and Francis is totally what you'd expect him to sound like. Sassy, bored, and a bit arrogant :D

So, Audiobook when?
 
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