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Polar
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@sanjay,
Thank you. I've seen concepts like this in other forums (such as Carnivora), and a nice story does two things. One, it brings the posters, good and bad ones, all together. Into a similar frame of mind. Same applies to children who gather around a storyteller. Two, everyone likes to be slightly entertained after a long debate. This even helps me a lot personally in near-infinite ways.
Finally! Modem is fixed, and now I can start using my computer to update the entries every day.
I usually upload these entries at 11 P.M. Eastern Time: I am a night owl. I.Introduction (Part Two), "Strange Visions"
I woke up in a dark, endless room. Memory was blank, scenery was dreadful, and the window showed a pale red sky outside. With the faint illumination of the window's natural light, I could make out an outline of a door. I grunted in weakness as I stood up: I guess that bear's hit really seeped the energy out of me!
Quietly I mumbled to myself, "What the hell?" This place, from the looks of the featureless room, appeared long-gone and abandoned from history. Or does history exist here? Regardless, I streched whilst groaning, retained my bearings, and walked to open the door.
The floor under me, if one could call it that, was simply an endless black void--the walls and ceiling were similar in effect. Claustrophobia and dizzyness occupied my psyche, step-by-step. Each time I looked down, I was met with terror as I jolted my head back up, seemingly not to make myself believe that I was literally falling towards hell.
Once the door flew open, I flew out expecting...a hallway? Not just any hallway, yet a infinitely black void of bright lights, each arranged in a zig-zag fashion. The first light looked to be a mile away, and from my current position there were approximately eight lights in sight. Well, this will take quite some time!
I.Introduction (Part Two), "Strange Visions" cont.
As I got near the first lighted platform, a holographic image of a quite-familiar beast showed up: a tigress, more specifically a large, hulking tigress. Under the image, a plaque rested with some form of inscription on it. Closer I got, and the inscription became clear, not just in visual clarity, but in mental recognition. "Machli." Silence. I knew this tigress from back in the human world. She was a 21st century tiger and was famed for having slayed an adult mugger crocodile. She was also the most photographed individual of her species that time, and if she were human, a whole list of rewards and honors would be given to her. In front of the plaque, I stood there contemplating on what to make of my situation. This was nothing usual; this was a sort of "Hall of Fame" for some individual animals of varying species. Before this dream, I could imagine the monstrous polar bear wanting me to pay tribute for all of the wonders of the natual world, both exceptional and usual. He swiped at me not only because of anger or hunger, but because of forcing me to instill respect on him and his natural relatives. This is why my situation was probably there in the first place. Only the exceptional ones remain in this endless hall, and it didn't look like these exceptional individuals would be limited. Within each individual tiger, there are even near-infinite individual characteristics that can range from something as simple as a eye twitch to something as direct as a marked anger expression. These tigers are exceptional in one or more ways.With this logic, I would be stuck here forever within the confines, of if there are any, of this endless hall. Yet optimistically, it looked like these exceptional ones were quite limited if taking only the grand scheme of things. I wondered what the next platform would belong to as I walked towards it, two miles away. I.Introduction (Part Two), "Strange Visions" cont.
Breathing a little heavier due to the excessive walking, I walked until I reached the second lighted platform. The light displayed a large muscular male lion with a flowing, golden mane like that of a leader. His forelimbs were exceptionally sturdy and his pose suggested something akin to a universal emperor. The plaque below the bright, shiny light read: "Notch" Another very familar name. Notch was a lion that defied almost all human-made stereotypes of lions. Unlike many male lions, he took over an excessive number of prides, and those prides were no easy fight for him. He would come to his small lion coalition with fresh leg wounds and skin gashes on almost every inch of his feline body. But over time, as everyone says, things may shift towards one's favor; that is what exactly happened to Notch and his coalition. Plenty of lion prides were routed out of their territories and Notch had a vast amount of territory to start a pride with. In the end, he had five sons, one of which is known as "Notch Two". He was like almost no other lion. Not many male lions can consistently rule out larger prides and not perish. Similarly, not many male lions are good fathers as Notch once was to his offspring. Before vanishing from the human world, I received positive news for Notch's five sons and their accomplishments, and they were living their lives to the fullest extent. Just like exceptionally-talented actors, academicians, doctors, or exceptional people of high-status careers, there was a similar trend in the animal kingdom. There was always that one animal, at least in the human world, that made humans look at nature in surprise instead of an everyday occurance or a idea for exploitation. These exceptional characters of the animal kingdom even surprised me as well! I.Introduction (Part Two), "Strange Visions" cont.
Leading to the next platform, which took three miles of walking, a feline form took almost all of the illuminated light: another tiger. "Charger." Famous for intimidating forest jeep drivers and scaring any visiting tourists, Charger was an incredibly lovely tiger who delighted in forcing fright into any living creature around him. Not only that, but Charger was also a large tiger and this is what led him to dominate most of the male tigers in his range. Athough he isn't a 21st century tiger, Charger was a bit of a prankster in his spare time. He would predate on a sub-adult water buffalo only to leave it there, and all of a sudden, come rushing out the side opposite of the fallen prey to scare the video-happy tourists and photographers. This is where the name "Charger" originated from; he had always charged at almost every human and vehicle around. Other tigers matched him in terms of his character: ruthless aggression. Yet these tigers didn't even hold a light to Charger in terms of size or territory domination. He was the one who evenly distributed all of these traits together, and with time passing, created a tiger heir that continued on and on. An angry tiger he was, and his bright, orange, glowing coat showed this anger brilliantly without him making a single facial expression. On to the next one, shall I? I.Introduction (Part Two), "Strange Visions" cont.
Along the path towards the fourth lighted platform, there was a box upon the middle. I picked it up and looked up; two miles walked and two more miles to go. Carefully, I inspected the mysterious box.
The box was made of a tough, resiliant wood hard enough to cause brain hemorrhage if smacked correctly upon one's brain case. There was a code-lock on the front, and the code to the lock consisted of animal symbols. There were three lock sections, and each section had different animals: tiger first, then elephant, alligator, lion, bear, panther, seal, gorilla, and buffalo. Maybe I needed to reach the end to know the answer to this box, so the thought of carrying it with me persisted.
After a incredible two-mile walk, I stopped beside the fourth platform; nothing was in the light's display. "That's strange," I loudly minded to myself. I reached inside the light, but nothing came. With a quiet groan, I slowly started to stumble towards the fifth platform, located five miles away, when a slight noise disturbed the shuffle of my footsteps.
With fear apparent, I turned my face back towards the fourth platform. Still nothing, yet the sound persisted from that location. My feet, as if possessed by an unknown rigor, briskly shuffled back in front of the platform. This time around, the noise suddenly went through randomized loops, pitches, frequencies, and wavelengths as I covered my ears from the painful sound and dropped the box simultaneously.
Just as I covered them, the sound stopped. I let go.
It started again.
I had a few more things to worry about now than simply excessive walking...
I.Introduction (Part Two), "Strange Visions" cont.
Through all the excessive noise and walking, I finally managed to make it through to the fifth platform: "One-Tooth" The Homotherium that attacked me. I thought, "That was the correct One-Tooth it was referring to, right?" My assumptions proved correct as I gazed up towards a saber-tooth feline with only one canine intact and a shrouded coat. A familiar memory kept replaying itself, one of the same feline jumping on me from the front. Although, it was unknown of how he died, One-Tooth was a dominant male of the Homotherium group that so happened to stumble upon my path. There were males similar in size to him, from what I saw, yet they most likely didn't possess that same ferocity and energy that One-Tooth did. Similar to the staring bout I had with One-Tooth face-to-face, I maintained a direct stare upon his holographic image. Then, a multitude of questions plagued my interest upon the loss of his canines. Fight for mating rights or food? Perhaps a fight with another predator? Regardless, I knew that the answer wouldn't be revealed anytime soon. But I probably would see him sometime in the future, though. One thing I definitely picked up on was the slight pitch increase of the discombobulated sound; now it was near-deafening. My vocal chords decided to speak a mind of their own and let out a loud, albeit shrill, gasp; even they hated the sound with a passion equivalent to mine. Enough was enough; I briskly walked down the path to the sixth platform. Suddenly, the world warped. Warped in the literal definition. The hallway elongated and shortened itself, the ceiling rose and fell, and hollow floor seemed to expand and contract near the walls' bottoms. The platforms also warped in distance, size, and shape. As motion-sick as I was, the music took on a more horrifying effect. Instead of a random assortment of ear-screeching tunes, the music turned into a climatic, thunderous bolt of sound, each tone forcing my body to flinch against its own might. The ceiling, walls, and floor then started to conjoin into a swirl; the swirl continued on and on and on until... ...darkness. 
I finally got around to reading this, and I must say, wow! I haven't read fiction in years and I happily just did. This is the perfect mix of educational and captivating, awesome job!
@tigerluver,
Thanks! Haven't been able to update it lately, but I will update this thread with another entry today. I don't know about the next one after, though. |
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