FoL Life Ring
darthcourt10
Well worn.
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- Jun 12, 2018
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Savato93
Apologies for the wait. On top of having to get ready for finals, I was bitten by the NSFW bug again…
Side note, been almost exactly a year since my first snippet post!
XXXXXXXXXX
Sunny stared at the alien creature in front of her—looking almost like a life preserver ring possessed by a little devil—with a furrowed eyebrow, at a loss for words.
The entities Abyssals could manifest were without a doubt outlandish—as the puppetmaster of a fifteen-foot-tall, two-headed musclebound behemoth, Sunny was all too aware of that fact. But this… this thing was practically mundane.
Not to mention small.
"I don't know where it came from," Fluffy said, holding the squirming critter at arms' length with both hands as it babbled incoherently. "I just woke up one morning, and it was there, making a mess of Renita's art room. Since then, it's been nothing but a nuisance—rummaging through our stuff, trying to paint on Renita's face while she's sleeping, and attempting to mess with her art. It's wearing me out trying to keep it under control…"
Sunny didn't know what to say. It was a rare case of "what you see is what you get"—the creature had no hull, no weapons, no crew. It was literally just a life ring… that happened to be mobile, sentient, and kinda annoying. "Just when I was getting used to how strange you are, Fluffy…" she began. She reached out and poked a finger through the center of the ring that was its body; the creature responded in a somewhat annoyed manner, swatting at the Demon's extended digit with its little limbs. "You're certain this thing came from you?" She asked the young Princess.
In response, Fluffy gestured to the inanimate life ring strapped to her hip. "Not concrete proof, but it's a fairly solid indicator."
"And you've tried dismissing it?"
Fluffy shook her head. "I can't. I don't feel this… thing the same way I can feel my rigging."
"Hmm…" Sunny brought a finger to her lips, thinking. "...perhaps we can forcibly dismiss it by separating the two of you. Abyssal manifestations usually can't hold themselves together if they get more than a hundred or so feet away from their host. If I may?" Fluffy looked a little uncertain, but nevertheless she didn't pull away as the Demon took hold of the thing in her hands.
And as soon as Fluffy let go, Sunny pivoted and flung the creature with all her might.
Fluffy's jaw dropped as she watched the life ring go careening into the distance, flailing its limbs and squeaking its protests quite loudly… all the way until it passed over the tree line of the forest and out of sight.
"Well, shit… this may be an issue." Scratching her scalp awkwardly, Sunny began to walk towards the trees. "We should probably go get it."
XXXXXXXXXX
"Is that a pig?"
It was the size of a small dog, with black spots dotting the white hair slowly growing out on its skin. Having sailed on this ferry for the past few days without much to do besides watch the seas and talk to their Abyssal escorts, the hybrid children's attentions were easily drawn to the random pig trotting around on the deck of the ferry without a care in the world. It paused to sniff at one girl's set of transplanted Ne-class legs, before backing away looking confused. "What's wrong, little guy?" The girl asked, kneeling down to try and pet the animal, only for it to shy away.
Overhearing the children on the ship beside her, Tanith rubbed her temple, slightly bemused. "Nero, your pet is roaming the deck. Perhaps you should give him a bell, make it easier to keep tabs on him..." she spoke into the radio.
A few seconds later, the Ne-class could be seen emerging from belowdecks with an alarmed expression on her face. "Oh, come on, Grunt! Where'd you run off to now!?" She groaned.
Tanith chuckled. "No need to get all worked up, Nero. I can see him mingling with the children."
Nero deflated with a relieved sigh. "Oh, thank goodness." She turned and made for the aft deck, now slightly more relaxed. "Be careful with that pig, kids. He's a feisty one, and he is not on the menu…"
Shaking her head in exasperation, the Princess turned her focus back to the sea before them. Even after making a good first impression with them, Tanith wanted to make certain that the children would be comfortable living with Abyssals—she wanted them to be able to trust the Fleet of Laughter to take care of them, and not try to mutilate them even further. To that end, she'd volunteered a handful of them to provide a guide and escort to their hidden island, while also bringing in Nero to help cook food for the kids during the trip; she wanted to introduce them to more friendly Abyssals, show them that they truly cared about their wellbeing.
She'd like to think it was working: the children were starting to generally approach them with less hesitation, becoming more willing to ask them questions about their new home. But they'd only know for certain if it was having a positive effect when they arrived at Avrora… and the children saw just how many Abyssals they'd be living with.
Tanith glanced behind her, to where Regalia was… or rather, where she should have been drifting. To Tanith's immediate distress, her daughter was nowhere in sight. "Regalia?" she spoke into her radio once more, a small hint of panic in her voice. "Regalia, where are you?"
Almost as if on cue, the water beside the ferry exploded upwards, revealing a young Re-class soaring high out of the water and whooping in glee. "This is awesome!" Regalia cheered before reaching the apex of her flight, and dropping back underneath the water with a great splash. Several of the children started to glance over the deck, watching her silhouette undulating beneath the waves with great interest. Every few seconds Regalia would bob out of the sea to take a breath before ducking back in, eliciting some ooh's and ahh's as her tail, over two-thirds of her full length, crested out of the water behind her.
Tanith let out a deep sigh of relief. "Hey, looks like Regalia finally remembered she's semi-submersible..." she heard Rivet chuckling as she pulled up next to her. "And she's already dipping and weaving like a natural."
{Don't worry, Mom!} Regalia piped up on the radio. {I've got an eye on my surroundings, and I'm not seeing anything that might be dangerous to our group. No need to worry about m-}
There was a loud *thump* audible over the channel.
{...ow.}
The pair couldn't help but share a light chuckle at that. "Guessing you hit a shallow reef?" Rivet asked.
Regalia breached the water's surface once more—this time, landing on her feet and resuming her normal course, rubbing her forehead. "Yeah…" she mumbled sheepishly.
The Ri-class hummed thoughtfully. "We must be close, then." Adjusting course to pull up beside the ferry, she rapped her knuckles against the hull. "Hey, everyone, we should be coming up on our destination soon. It may not seem like that's the case, given there's no land in sight, but… well, there's a reason we've been able to live out here without being found for so long. I just want to warn you ahead of time, because that reason may surprise you. Just keep an eye ahead of us."
The children briefly looked among each other, murmuring in confusion and curiosity.
And then murmurs turned to cries of surprise and shock when, as if a switch was flipped, the island of Avrora popped up into existence before them. No rising over the horizon—it just abruptly appeared a few miles away, where there had once been nothing but sea.
"If you've ever heard of the weird stuff that goes down in the Bermuda Triangle," Rivet continued, "this is kinda like that. Normal humans can't find this island on a map, and getting near it gives them the heebie-jeebies, so they veer away before they find it. We Abyssals can see it just fine, however, so it's made a great refuge for the past few years. How the island is hidden like this, you might be wondering…?" The Ri-class shrugged. "Actual magic. But that's beside the point. What matters most, is that you'll all be safe here."
The children stared at the island of Avrora with wonder as they approached the shore. A couple of them noticed the cruise vessel anchored a short distance away, and were awestruck by its size. The others, though, spotted the Abyssals awaiting them at the shore, and started to get a bit nervous.
Eventually, the ferry came to a stop… about a hundred feet from the shore. Before the kids had a chance to wonder why, one of the larger Abyssals—looking like a girl with a turtle for her lower half—waddled forward into the water and swam out to the side of the boat. "Hi, Mama!" She greeted Tanith brightly, rushing over to give her a hug. "We were wondering when you would get back!"
The Princess chuckled lightly, stroking her daughter's hair. "We tried to keep our best pace, Marble. But we're here, now." Pulling away, she pulled out a chocolate bar and offered it to the transport. "Would you be willing to let some of the kids ride on your back to land? We can't bring the boat any closer."
"Okay!"
Marble waded around to the rear of the ferry, where a ramp was descending. Together with Tanith and Regalia, the three met the children at the back. "Okay, children," Tanith began, "Between me and my daughters, we should be able to carry you all to shore in a few trips." She extended her rigging's arms. "We won't let any of you fall into the water, I promise."
Slowly, the boys and girls stepped up and were helped onto their prospective rides—a few piggybacking on Regalia's tail, two sitting on Tanith's rigging, and four hanging on to a rope tied to Mable's waist to help remain on her smooth shell. It took them maybe a minute to reach dry land, where they were carefully set down.
"Hello, children," Ruadri greeted the boys and girls as they took in their surroundings. "I'm Ruadri. You all probably met our mother Hoppou. Having heard from her, you boys and girls have certainly been through a lot up to now… and I just want you all to know, you are all welcome here. This island, our home, it's a place of second chances. Ours, and yours… that is, if you're willing to accept us."
The kids glanced around, at the Abyssals looking to them with hopeful expressions. In the distance, they could see others holding up a welcome sign, including all the flagships...
Except for Sunny, who suddenly came into view flailing her arms and screaming, something looking almost like an inner tube situated on her head.
"OH GOD SOMEONE GET THIS DAMN THING OFF MY HEAD IT'S YANKING OUT MY HAIR!!!"
Tanith could only sigh and pinch the bridge of her nose as the children giggled and Regalia rushed ahead to aid her aunt.
Apologies for the wait. On top of having to get ready for finals, I was bitten by the NSFW bug again…
Side note, been almost exactly a year since my first snippet post!
XXXXXXXXXX
Sunny stared at the alien creature in front of her—looking almost like a life preserver ring possessed by a little devil—with a furrowed eyebrow, at a loss for words.
The entities Abyssals could manifest were without a doubt outlandish—as the puppetmaster of a fifteen-foot-tall, two-headed musclebound behemoth, Sunny was all too aware of that fact. But this… this thing was practically mundane.
Not to mention small.
"I don't know where it came from," Fluffy said, holding the squirming critter at arms' length with both hands as it babbled incoherently. "I just woke up one morning, and it was there, making a mess of Renita's art room. Since then, it's been nothing but a nuisance—rummaging through our stuff, trying to paint on Renita's face while she's sleeping, and attempting to mess with her art. It's wearing me out trying to keep it under control…"
Sunny didn't know what to say. It was a rare case of "what you see is what you get"—the creature had no hull, no weapons, no crew. It was literally just a life ring… that happened to be mobile, sentient, and kinda annoying. "Just when I was getting used to how strange you are, Fluffy…" she began. She reached out and poked a finger through the center of the ring that was its body; the creature responded in a somewhat annoyed manner, swatting at the Demon's extended digit with its little limbs. "You're certain this thing came from you?" She asked the young Princess.
In response, Fluffy gestured to the inanimate life ring strapped to her hip. "Not concrete proof, but it's a fairly solid indicator."
"And you've tried dismissing it?"
Fluffy shook her head. "I can't. I don't feel this… thing the same way I can feel my rigging."
"Hmm…" Sunny brought a finger to her lips, thinking. "...perhaps we can forcibly dismiss it by separating the two of you. Abyssal manifestations usually can't hold themselves together if they get more than a hundred or so feet away from their host. If I may?" Fluffy looked a little uncertain, but nevertheless she didn't pull away as the Demon took hold of the thing in her hands.
And as soon as Fluffy let go, Sunny pivoted and flung the creature with all her might.
Fluffy's jaw dropped as she watched the life ring go careening into the distance, flailing its limbs and squeaking its protests quite loudly… all the way until it passed over the tree line of the forest and out of sight.
"Well, shit… this may be an issue." Scratching her scalp awkwardly, Sunny began to walk towards the trees. "We should probably go get it."
XXXXXXXXXX
"Is that a pig?"
It was the size of a small dog, with black spots dotting the white hair slowly growing out on its skin. Having sailed on this ferry for the past few days without much to do besides watch the seas and talk to their Abyssal escorts, the hybrid children's attentions were easily drawn to the random pig trotting around on the deck of the ferry without a care in the world. It paused to sniff at one girl's set of transplanted Ne-class legs, before backing away looking confused. "What's wrong, little guy?" The girl asked, kneeling down to try and pet the animal, only for it to shy away.
Overhearing the children on the ship beside her, Tanith rubbed her temple, slightly bemused. "Nero, your pet is roaming the deck. Perhaps you should give him a bell, make it easier to keep tabs on him..." she spoke into the radio.
A few seconds later, the Ne-class could be seen emerging from belowdecks with an alarmed expression on her face. "Oh, come on, Grunt! Where'd you run off to now!?" She groaned.
Tanith chuckled. "No need to get all worked up, Nero. I can see him mingling with the children."
Nero deflated with a relieved sigh. "Oh, thank goodness." She turned and made for the aft deck, now slightly more relaxed. "Be careful with that pig, kids. He's a feisty one, and he is not on the menu…"
Shaking her head in exasperation, the Princess turned her focus back to the sea before them. Even after making a good first impression with them, Tanith wanted to make certain that the children would be comfortable living with Abyssals—she wanted them to be able to trust the Fleet of Laughter to take care of them, and not try to mutilate them even further. To that end, she'd volunteered a handful of them to provide a guide and escort to their hidden island, while also bringing in Nero to help cook food for the kids during the trip; she wanted to introduce them to more friendly Abyssals, show them that they truly cared about their wellbeing.
She'd like to think it was working: the children were starting to generally approach them with less hesitation, becoming more willing to ask them questions about their new home. But they'd only know for certain if it was having a positive effect when they arrived at Avrora… and the children saw just how many Abyssals they'd be living with.
Tanith glanced behind her, to where Regalia was… or rather, where she should have been drifting. To Tanith's immediate distress, her daughter was nowhere in sight. "Regalia?" she spoke into her radio once more, a small hint of panic in her voice. "Regalia, where are you?"
Almost as if on cue, the water beside the ferry exploded upwards, revealing a young Re-class soaring high out of the water and whooping in glee. "This is awesome!" Regalia cheered before reaching the apex of her flight, and dropping back underneath the water with a great splash. Several of the children started to glance over the deck, watching her silhouette undulating beneath the waves with great interest. Every few seconds Regalia would bob out of the sea to take a breath before ducking back in, eliciting some ooh's and ahh's as her tail, over two-thirds of her full length, crested out of the water behind her.
Tanith let out a deep sigh of relief. "Hey, looks like Regalia finally remembered she's semi-submersible..." she heard Rivet chuckling as she pulled up next to her. "And she's already dipping and weaving like a natural."
{Don't worry, Mom!} Regalia piped up on the radio. {I've got an eye on my surroundings, and I'm not seeing anything that might be dangerous to our group. No need to worry about m-}
There was a loud *thump* audible over the channel.
{...ow.}
The pair couldn't help but share a light chuckle at that. "Guessing you hit a shallow reef?" Rivet asked.
Regalia breached the water's surface once more—this time, landing on her feet and resuming her normal course, rubbing her forehead. "Yeah…" she mumbled sheepishly.
The Ri-class hummed thoughtfully. "We must be close, then." Adjusting course to pull up beside the ferry, she rapped her knuckles against the hull. "Hey, everyone, we should be coming up on our destination soon. It may not seem like that's the case, given there's no land in sight, but… well, there's a reason we've been able to live out here without being found for so long. I just want to warn you ahead of time, because that reason may surprise you. Just keep an eye ahead of us."
The children briefly looked among each other, murmuring in confusion and curiosity.
And then murmurs turned to cries of surprise and shock when, as if a switch was flipped, the island of Avrora popped up into existence before them. No rising over the horizon—it just abruptly appeared a few miles away, where there had once been nothing but sea.
"If you've ever heard of the weird stuff that goes down in the Bermuda Triangle," Rivet continued, "this is kinda like that. Normal humans can't find this island on a map, and getting near it gives them the heebie-jeebies, so they veer away before they find it. We Abyssals can see it just fine, however, so it's made a great refuge for the past few years. How the island is hidden like this, you might be wondering…?" The Ri-class shrugged. "Actual magic. But that's beside the point. What matters most, is that you'll all be safe here."
The children stared at the island of Avrora with wonder as they approached the shore. A couple of them noticed the cruise vessel anchored a short distance away, and were awestruck by its size. The others, though, spotted the Abyssals awaiting them at the shore, and started to get a bit nervous.
Eventually, the ferry came to a stop… about a hundred feet from the shore. Before the kids had a chance to wonder why, one of the larger Abyssals—looking like a girl with a turtle for her lower half—waddled forward into the water and swam out to the side of the boat. "Hi, Mama!" She greeted Tanith brightly, rushing over to give her a hug. "We were wondering when you would get back!"
The Princess chuckled lightly, stroking her daughter's hair. "We tried to keep our best pace, Marble. But we're here, now." Pulling away, she pulled out a chocolate bar and offered it to the transport. "Would you be willing to let some of the kids ride on your back to land? We can't bring the boat any closer."
"Okay!"
Marble waded around to the rear of the ferry, where a ramp was descending. Together with Tanith and Regalia, the three met the children at the back. "Okay, children," Tanith began, "Between me and my daughters, we should be able to carry you all to shore in a few trips." She extended her rigging's arms. "We won't let any of you fall into the water, I promise."
Slowly, the boys and girls stepped up and were helped onto their prospective rides—a few piggybacking on Regalia's tail, two sitting on Tanith's rigging, and four hanging on to a rope tied to Mable's waist to help remain on her smooth shell. It took them maybe a minute to reach dry land, where they were carefully set down.
"Hello, children," Ruadri greeted the boys and girls as they took in their surroundings. "I'm Ruadri. You all probably met our mother Hoppou. Having heard from her, you boys and girls have certainly been through a lot up to now… and I just want you all to know, you are all welcome here. This island, our home, it's a place of second chances. Ours, and yours… that is, if you're willing to accept us."
The kids glanced around, at the Abyssals looking to them with hopeful expressions. In the distance, they could see others holding up a welcome sign, including all the flagships...
Except for Sunny, who suddenly came into view flailing her arms and screaming, something looking almost like an inner tube situated on her head.
"OH GOD SOMEONE GET THIS DAMN THING OFF MY HEAD IT'S YANKING OUT MY HAIR!!!"
Tanith could only sigh and pinch the bridge of her nose as the children giggled and Regalia rushed ahead to aid her aunt.
