• Open • 2021 Christmas Writing Challenge

[Trouble]

2021 Christmas Writing Challenge

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Countless centuries have passed, and Idalos is no longer the land it once was. The steady march of progress has sped up into a mad dash, heralding a brave new era of science and technology. Every year advances in computers, cars and mobile phones push back the boundaries of what once was thought impossible, allowing people to enjoy a level of comfort that those in the past could only have dreamed of. Idalos has entered the modern era, and though some seek to dig up and document the secrets of its history, most are content to leave the old ways in the past and turn their attention to the new trials of modern life.

Whatever Immortals are still alive have gone unseen for decades. Though a scant few still worship faithfully, the vast majority of the world has forsaken them. They are best known now as deities of myth and legend; appearing in media and culture as recognisable entities, but not truly believed in. With the closing of all but the hidden Grand Fractures, so too has magic become consigned to mere superstition. In the entire world only a dozen or weild each spark of magic, and those who do are bound by an unspoken agreement to hide their power from the public eye. It is science that rules the world now: using the internet and media to connect people together like never before. Where once they fought with swords and shields, the mortal races now fight with their wits and words. The great beasts and terrible monsters of the old world are no more, replaced with the trappings of politics, careers and social change. Yet thought its surface may look shiny and new at its core Idalos is still the same as it always has been: a land of adventure, where the only real limit a person has is their imagination.

During the great war a hundred years Ymiden gave the world a gift before fading into the shadows: one last great blessing, to allow the souls of the great heroes of old to return from the afterlife and be reborn anew, so that they might continue to guide humanity into the future forevermore. They do not possess the memories of their past lives, yet the impacts of those days have not faded from their souls, manifesting as feelings that lead them to live out their new lifetimes in ways reminiscent to their previous ones. Past legendary swordsmen might find the sense of comforting familiarly they felt when they first held a sword to lead them to becoming a fencing champion. A reborn queen might find themselves climbing the political ladder as they chase the desire to hold authority once again. The skip of a heartbeat that occurs when two past lovers bump into each other on the street might cause them to fall in love all over again.

What sort of stories will these reborn heroes tell in this brave new era? Will they return to their past glory, fall into the same darkness, or carve out an entirely new path for themselves? That story, as always, is yours to tell.




Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to the 2021 Standing Trials Christmas writing challenge! This is an open contest that anyone can enter to showcase their writing skills and imagination. Anyone who wishes to enter need only submit a short story about the life of their character in the themed world from the prompt above to this post. All who participate will receive a prize, and the three best stories as judged by myself will receive special prizes. If you are interested in joining this competition please read the rules below.

You Must

• Follow the same rules regarding posting as specified in the site's Rule Book. Remember that this is not in the mature section, so all posts should not contain adult content.
• Post once, and only once, in this thread. Your story should be contained to a single post.
• Reach a minimum word count of 2500 with your story. There is no maximum, but players are advised to keep their story short and sweet as it is the quality of these stories that matter, not the quantity.
• Include a title for your story at the beginning of your post.

You Can

• Set your story at any point just before, during or after the theme mentioned in the prompt. You can even write a series of scenes from different points in time.
• Choose whatever plot and genre you want. So long as it is within the context of the world provided your story can be about whatever allows you to best showcase your writing skills.
• Include your own reborn NPCs, other player's reborn PCs and NPCs (so long as they have given you clear permission via PM to do so) and reborn city NPCs in your story. If including another player's PC in your story you are advised to co-ordinate with them as to the details of your characters lives.
• Use the Immortals in your story. Be careful to portray their characters in the same was as in the lore book however, as doing otherwise will be considered poor writing.
• Make up lore about the prompted world to support your story.
• Have your character be reborn as a different race or with a different name (though do please try to keep the names vaguely similar.)
• Reference the events of threads from the main game or the 2019 writing challenge as myths and fairytales.

You Cannot

• Do anything with another player's PC in your story that they have not given you clear permission to do.
• Be rude or disrespectful to other players.
• Go into graphic detail about anything considered mature content. Players are encouraged to address heavy themes with subtlety and symbolism rather than depict them in gory detail.
• Use any story here as proven fact about the future of Idalos or any character in it. All stories in this contest are considered to be non-canon.

This contest is open from now until Christmas Eve, the 24th of December. Results will be posted by New Year's Day, the 1st of January 2022, if possible or as soon as I can afterwards if not. All entries will be judged only by myself. The prizes for this event are all rewards given to your character, and it is entirely optional whether you want to write a thread about receiving them or assume that they were given to them as presents. The prizes are as follows:

Participation
All players who participate in this event with stories that adhere to the rules will receive:

• Comet Charm: A golden medallion in the shape of a comet. When the bearer holds it in their hand and speak aloud a destination three times, they will be envoloped in a ball of bright light and blasted through the sky at high speed, allowing them to reach their destination no matter where in the world in less than an hour. In order to activate both the user and their stated destination must have immediate access to the sky. This charm will only activate once, and can only carry a single person. The user will not be harmed by the velocity of their journey.

Christmas Spirit
All players whose stories are set during Ziellmas (Idalos' modern version of Christmas) will receive:

• Blitzen Bracelet: A simple bronze bracelet. When worn, this bracelet enchants the wearers voice and allows them to shout up to five times as loudly as they normally could without damaging their throat.

Third Place
The player whose story takes third place will receive:

• Boots of the Vixen: A set of shoes (or other footwear) of the player's design. These shoes are enchanted so as to absord the sound energy made by the wearer's footsteps or anything that they stand upon. No creaky floorboards, dry leaves or other unwanted noises will make a sound as the wearer walks by.

Second Place
The player whose story takes second place will receive:

• Boots of the Prancer: A set of shoes (or other footwear) of the player's design. These shoes possess a powerful magical effect that boosts the force from the wearer's feet at the moment they jump, allowing them to jump up to fourty feet high. It will not however activate for kicking, running or anything other than the act of jumping. These shoes will also nullify the impact of falling so long as the wearer lands feet first, allowing them to easy leap over buildings and land without so much as a sprain.

First Place
The player whose story takes first place will receive:

• Boots of the Dasher: A set of shoes (or other footwear) of the player's design. These shoes possess a powerful magical effect similar to Shirvain's Pocket of Time (Major). As long as both shoes are worn, the wearer can go through time twice as quickly as everyone else, moving extremely swift and reacting to their surroundings exceedingly well. This can be used in short-bursts nearly infinitely per trial if one spaces out their uses.

Exact lore on the world in the prompt is deliberately kept vague so that players can write about almost anything they wish, however a few additional details are included below for inspiration. You do not need to be overly concerned about keeping your story within the bounds of the provided lore however if you feel that it may restrict your writing.

Magic

• Magic is considered the domain of fairy tales. There are less than a dozen sparks of each magic left in the world, quietly passed on from master to apprentice and kept hidden from the larger world. Major and minor fractures do not open anymore and the Grand Fractures remain hidden. What few wells remain are considered nothing more than strange, shiny gemstones, and the rare few to discover their true power keep their secret to themselves.

Immortals

• It is unknown which Immortals are dead and which are in hiding, but none have been seen in public for hundreds of years. These days they are known as mythological gods and are often used in popular culture, much like the ancient Greek gods are used in the real world, but those who genuinely believe in them are few and far between.

Mortalborn

• Mortalborn exist, but many go their whole lives without awakening their powers of discovering their true heritage. The souls of reborn mortalborn still keep their domains even after being reborn to mortal parents, but must rediscover how to activate and control their gifts all over again.

Technology

• Modern Idalos has all the technology of the modern day world.

Ziellmas

• Ziellmas is a holiday celebration that came about by blending many of the winter season traditions all across Idalos together. On this night it is said that Saoire appears across the world to gift presents to those who deserve them. She is a thin woman with pale skin. Her hair is always neatly tucked up beneath a crown that changes with each appearance. Sometimes, her head is adorned with glistening orbs of varying colours or small parcels that she will take down to give to a small child. Other times, the bristles of the fir tree branches are decorated with red holly berries, vibrant fruits, and pinecones. Her arrival to an area is always accompanied by the smell of warmth, spices, and juniper. She is quick to arrive and quick to disappear, providing gifts and wisdom to those that she visits. As a festival honouring Ziell, the mythological god of peace, it is customary that there be no violence on Ziellmas day.

If you have any questions about the competition please feel free to PM me.

Merry Christmas,
Trouble

[Kisaik]

The Tunawa Knight Suite

Theme

Zielmas was upon the season in Scalvoris. While many of the more dense areas of the islands were well developed and paved over in concrete, with fiber optic connections and lights that reflected the brilliance of the stars, and at the same time outshone them, there were still places less settled. Places where nature was still the dominant force in their world. Faldrass was one such place, where the timbers still grew long and high, the mountains and badlands were still untamed, and the turtles were plentiful.

This season was unseasonably cold in Faldrass, and snow had begun to fall for the first time in many decades. This precipitation of ice and snow blanketed its fertile soil beneath inches upon inches of white snow. Cadouri children played all around in the snow, making snow-avriels in the ground and erecting snow 'golems'. Carolers and singers spread seasonal cheer, going door to door and singing their carols, songs, and poems to whoever would like to listen.

Whereas the mainland had no shortage of city lights, the lights reflected against the ground of the island of Faldrass were a more festive style.

Rural Faldrass in the modern age is a pastoral paradise, a stark contrast to the congestion and development occurring elsewhere in the world. The scene in Shellnaught Lodge was a call back to an earlier time. A mixture of electrical lights and sweet wax candles lit the premises, where much celebration was ongoing. Cadouri mingled with human, biqaj, and sev'ryn, each individual enjoying the refreshments on offer and the dancing and the merriment of that night. The halls were decorated with wreaths and holly, ornaments and wired lighting, inside and out. Zielmas was in full swing, with a large tree in the central hall of the Lodge, propped up and decorated with many ornaments and lights.

The Lodge was in the shape of a large turtle, and had stood for many hundreds of arcs. Legend had it that a tiny wooden man, from the age of heroes had erected it once upon a time. These were mostly seen as tales for the entertaining of children, however, and no credence was given to them. However, the children often chattered excitedly about such fantasies and incredulous tales.

The Strussel family, who lived at the Lodge were hosting a party. Their two children, Burl, the boy, and Joy the girl, were eagerly anticipating the giving of gifts. They were also most eagerly anticipating the first taste of gift-giving, by choosing one gift to open to night, to allow them to rest easy without disturbing their nerves or getting them too excited.

The first up to receive his gift was the young, red-faced boy, Burl. Burl violently ripped open the wrappings of his gifts, and revealed a nice set of toy weapons and armor. There was a plastic gun, a plastic sword that lit up with LED, and a fancy shield. He yelped in happiness, swinging his sword with brutal strength that only a rambunctious boy could manage, with a plastic bludgeon. Burl went on to carry about his antics around the halls, to the laughter of the adults, doing a combative dance and battering at invisible enemies that existed only in his mind.

Joy stood by patiently at the tree, content to watch her brother Burl playing and jumping about with his play weapons and shield. Eventually, she was approached from the side by a visitor to the Hall, a tall thin and pale woman whose dress was very festive. She looked down on Joy and smiled, offering her a box. "Merry Zielmas, Joy." She said. And Joy accepted the gift. She took a few steps back from the woman, setting the box on the ground, and then unwrapping it swiftly. The wrapping paper parted before her fingers, and the ribbon unfurled to reveal a box.

Beneath the coverings, the wrappings and inside the box, she finds a finely painted figure of a wooden man, wearing wooden armor. A toy knight. Joy smiles in happiness on seeing the little toy, and looks up at her benefactor in thanks. Her benefactor says, simply, "His name is Kisaik. He's a knight of the forest, and will always keep you safe."

"Thank you, lady!" Joy exclaimed. And she hugged the toy knight to her arms. She nuzzled the small wooden man, feeling the intricate detail of his carving, and then pulling away to look and really admire the figurine. He appeared to be smiling and winking at her, his one open eye set with amber, and amber in his mouth.

Meanwhile, Burl, who was easily distracted and with more spunk than a boy ought to have, took notice of Joy's acquisition. He approached, stomping his feet all the way. In a flash of movement, he snatched the wooden knight, Kisaik from her grasp. He grimaced in a mix of anger and malice as he watched the fear on her face, her wooden knight gripped in his hands.

With a swift and cruel twist of his hands, he snapped the knight in two, breaking off his legs from his torso. The broken knight he cast to the ground, and smirked an ugly smirk at his sister, Joy. "He's not so tough! Hmph!"

Joy was utterly devastated, and crumpled to the floor, gathering up the remains of her fallen knight. She cried over the toy, her tears falling against the wooden man. Little did she know, some life yet remained within the petrified remains of what had been a tunawa. Her tears revitalized him, making for some of his sap to flow so that a repair could be made.

Joy's benefactor tried to console Joy, and took the knight from her grasp, smiling gently at the girl. "Don't worry, I think we can fix him!" So saying, she placed the legs back on the part they'd broken off from, and they stuck there. "Just leave him alone for the rest of the night, and he'll be there for you in the morning..."

The benefactor turned her gaze toward Burl, and frowned in disappointment, "As for you, young man, no egg nog for you. Go to your room!" So having banished Burl, the boy stomped off, trudging along with his weapons and shield and all, back to his room. He was followed reluctantly by his sister, Joy.

Thus the children departed, while the party with the adults proceeded into the night. The guests and family Strussel enjoyed their egg nog and gingerbread cookies and chocolates well into the evening. Finally, a few breaks shy of midnight, the celebrations wound down, and the guests were to leave back to their own homes.

The Strussels and their guests retired to sleep, and the guests out to their homes in Hopetoun and Haven. It was an orderly procession out of the celebration, their departure, goodbyes and well-wishes all given out in kind by the adults. Before long the Strussel elders had retired to their own chambers and slept soundly on their egg nogg and sugary treats they'd enjoyed. Unbeknown to the rest of the family, however, Joy had crept down to the hall of Shellnaught Lodge, to the place where her knight rested, to check on him and his repair.

There, she curls up under the tree with the knight, and falls asleep with him in her arms. He felt solid, and secure in his repairs. He was well again, and for that Joy silently thanked her benefactor, the gift-giver.



Sometime after, some breaks past the last dinner bell, the clock struck midnight. It rang with a clangor that was unusual. Joy felt it all around her, the chime of the clock shaking her to the bone. It was then, as she awoke from her slumber, that she noticed that the tree she'd fallen asleep under was much bigger. In fact, all of Shellnaught Lodge was larger, as were all of the toys, which became of a height with the young girl, and then even taller. Her knight, the wooden toy prince Kisaik stood before her, and swept his body into a deep bow before her. "Greetings my sweet lady! Joy is it? I am Mädärä Kisaik Ciuruọrun sọ Kufuata Karo Kashe Däuä, Tìfmi Härumtä sọ anou Faewun Samuwar, ọbavi sọ tẹlẹ, igbaradi sọ anou tabi ọludïbọ, Saoire's chieja kẹmïkälï kukïrï, Akoko Nọọsi, qy’akot o'Creede. But you may call me Chip!"

Joy stood up, wide-eyed at the knight in front of her, who towered over her by a few foot lengths. His armor was dazzling, and his cloak rich with red and oranges. But she had not much time to admire her protector before the scuttling of feet sounded against the floor.

From around the tree, a crowd of mice armed with small wooden cudgels, and various other implements of violence coalesced around the presents and toys and Joy. They chattered and chittered menacingly at her and her knight.

Kisaik brandished a blade of bright light, pointing it at the head mouse, which struck a resemblance to her brother Burl. "Have at thee, villain! To arms my wooden brethren!"

The battle began with the mice charging against the rest of the tunawa army, the wooden toys and animated trinkets. Kisaik engaged directly with the Mouse King. His brilliant blade rang against the shield of the Mouse King, but was scarcely able to land a blow upon the King himself. His blade swung around and about, sending rays of light scattering across the battlefield, but he was swiftly becoming overrun by several other mice, who rushed to defend their king.

Joy stood by, shocked by the sudden eruption of violence all around. Yet, when she saw that her knight Kisaik was on the verge of collapse, she bravely removed her slipper from her foot, and threw it squarely between the eyes of the Mouse King.

The shoe rebounded off of his head, and for a moment the Mouse King stood still. Then, he began toppling backward, and fell on his back. His mice subjects, startled by their leader's defeat and deprived of morale, gathered him up and took him away from the battlefield, retreating into the knight.

All around, the tunawa and toys and trinkets all cheered for their victory, and that of Joy. "Hip Hip!" They all called in adoration toward the young girl who'd saved their commander, the tunawa knight Kisaik. Kisaik stood stunne dfor a moment, as he watched the retreating shadows of the mice and the Mouse King. He looked on their route for a while longer, and then dispelled his sword of pure light, and turned to face the tree and Joy beneath it.

Kisaik turned his amber eyes to Joy and smiled, offering her his hand. "Let us away then Joy! To the land of snow!"

There, he gathered her hand in his, and escorted her past the veil, toward a snow-covered wonderland that wasn't cold even though there was snow. Inside, her heart gleamed with hearth fire, which warmed both her and her tunawa knight.

There, they danced amidst the pines and snowflakes, falling all around. They must've danced for at least a break, before Kisaik disengaged, and bowed before Joy. "Thank you for your help! Would you like to meet the Purple Plum Fairy?"

"Yes! Wait who is the Purple Plum fairy?" Joy asked, but then supposed it didn't matter. She trusted her knight not to lead her astray. So, she nodded her head eagerly, and Kisaik took her hand once more and brought her to the Realm of Sweet Treats. There, they danced a dance for every region and corner of Idalos. A different dance for every people and every race. There was the Cadouri romp, the Biqaj Waltz, the Sev'ryn rumba, and so on.

After what seemed like many breaks of dance and enjoyment of the sweet lights and treats on offer, Joy and her knight were swept along by a flock of fairies that descended upon them, dancing with them. At several times during this mass dance, Joy and Kisaik separate from each other, to dance individual steps with this or that fairy. There are a mix of orange and purple fairies among the throng, with the purple fairies favoring Kisaik, while those wearing orange danced with Joy.

Down among the fairies, a greater fairy stands in the middle, flying down toward the pair. It is the Purple Plum Fairy! Kisaik goes on to tell her the tale of how he'd vanquished the army of mice and the Mouse King, and how Joy herself had landed the decisive blow.

The Purple Plum Fairy smiles at Joy, and curtseys for her. "Will you join me then, sir Knight, in a dance?" Kisaik glanced back at the Purple Plum Fairy, and quirked a brow.

The knight, taken aback by this proposition, looked to Joy for permission, and she nodded smiling. Kisaik then took the hands of the Purple Plum Fairy, and began dancing a beautiful waltz around the Realm of Sweets. They dance in and around all the candy-cane posts and gingerbread houses. All along, Kisaik sprouts a pair of orange wings, and take their dance to the skies, as purple and orange dance in ribbons of light all around them. At the last moment, as they danced, Kisaik met the lips of the Purple Plum fairy, laying a chaste kiss on her as they danced in a myriad of colors and streamers of purples and oranges.

Sugar drops, rainbows, and cotton candy drifted down to the ground, raining from above as if they were snowflakes. Joy caught them with her hands, grabbing each sweet and sampling their delightful flavors.

Joy was overcome with... well joy, and begans to sink to her feet as she watches the Purple Plum Fairy dance with Kisaik. Sometime in the midst of their celebration, she loses her grasp of the dreamscape, and awakes the next morning underneath the Zielmas tree, with the tiny tunawa knight, still petrified tucked beneath the crook of her arm. His expression is one of absolute delight and joy, both amber eyes open, yet unmoving.

The rest of the Zielmas celebration goes off without much more excitement or misbehaving on the part of Burl, who comes down to apologize to Joy. Instead of pushing her into the mess of wrapping paper and presents, as was his custom in prior Zielmas celebrations, he hugged her tight, and patted the little tunawa knight on the head to boot.

So there was drinking, dancing, music, and feasting throughout the rest of the family's intimate ZIelmas celebration. The rest of the day passes as fleeting as a wonderful dream. That was the end of this tale.

[Balthazar Black]

The Private Eye

"Do you ever miss the way things used to be?" A young woman with blonde hair pulled back into a braid asked the man with dark hair that was cut short around his head. They were kneeling in an alleyway, examining what had been left behind by those who thought they left nothing behind. The man with dark hair, Blake, reached beneath a dumpster where the victim of the crime only they knew about had fallen. He rummaged around for a few moments before withdrawing his arm and in his hand he held an oddly wet handkerchief. He examined it for a moment before rising to his feet and stepped back to where he assumed the attacker had been standing.

"Are you asking if I miss having a badge or if I miss the bliss of ignorance?" The man with short dark hair asked as he held out the handkerchief to Robin. She took it and slipped it into a bag that looked much like an evidence bag, but was not. They did not operate within the bounds of any legal presence but they did offer assistance from time to time. Blake had been a detective with the E.O.S. and worked for a good while in the Special Operations branch before an unexpected truth caused him to quit and turn his attention to the more obscure.

"I suppose a bit of both?" Robin said. She joined up with Blake some time in the last arc after her father went missing. The E.O.S. didn't find him. They didn't even seem to put that much interest in finding him because Robin sounded like a lunatic when she explained what had happened. She claimed that she'd seen the ghost of his former business partner lurking around the house the night before he disappeared and the Elements of Scalvoris dismissed her. Ghosts, though they'd been proven to exist in the past, didn't tend to lurk around the world anymore. Like the Immortals and magic, ghosts fell into a category of superstition that most did not believe in- but Blake had believed her. When they finally found her father, it was too late. He'd been possessed and driven to his demise by the ghost who possessed him. It shredded the ghost's ectoplasm apart but the entity had it's revenge.

"Not really." Blake said as he gestured for her to leave the alley ahead of him. There was no evidence left to find here and if there had been, he'd have found it. The two walked in silence till they reached the end of the alley because Robin knew how Blake worked. He was in his head now trying to pull all the pieces together but his memory wasn't flawless. "Send that to Patrick and see if he can figure out what's on the cloth. In the meantime I'm going back to the office to look over the files from the older attacks to see if anything matches up." Blake said when the duo reached the end of the alley. Robin nodded and looked over the handkerchief once again.

"Do you really think we'll find something this time that we didn't last time?" There was doubt in Robin's voice that stemmed from her concern that they were already too late to save the most recently abducted girl. Blake was familiar with the tone. He recognized it from the last kidnapping that had lead them to a dead end.

"Whoever is taking these women is getting sloppy, Robin." Blake assured her, putting a hand on her shoulder to try and provide some comfort. "We are getting close. I'm sure of it." He knew that what they did was difficult. What they saw was often hard to believe, but he would not let anyone who worked with him fall into despair over something they could not control. "Get some rest after you get that to Patrick, we'll meet again tomorrow at the office and go over what we have. Sound good?"

"It does... thank you." Then the two divided to go and do as they'd agreed... but only one walked home alone.

~~~ ~~~ A Trial Later, Ziellmas Eve ~~~ ~~~

The night had been productive but not particularly eventful for Blake. He got back to his office in the city and spread out all the case files he had on the abductions. Looking through page after page, he recognized the same details that he recognized every other night. The targets were females who passed in and out of town infrequently. Never someone who lived there. Never a local or someone with links to people in other places. Drifters, transients, people who wouldn't be missed. Oddly the people who seemed to be the best victims for all killers- even the particular type that Blake was hired to investigate. Then again, the fact that someone had hired him to look into this meant the killer either picked the wrong target or someone was playing a strange game. The fact that Blake didn't know which it was, was what intrigued him so much about this particular case.

He was no ordinary detective and he had not been hired by ordinary means. The newest abduction was nothing remarkably special apart from how close the E.O.S. had come to catching the killer in the act. Friends who were still on the force had told Blake about the chase. Supposedly they were cut off when the killer dipped into an alleyway so they parked and left their vehicle to chase the killer on foot- only as soon as they got into the alley they killer was gone. They said it was like he vanished in thin air and Blake's further questions did not prompt the responses he would have expected. No sound. No loud noise. He just vanished.

Regardless he gained very little from his night of looking over the files. He knew he wouldn't have much more to work with until Patrick got back to them with the results from testing the cloth. By about noon, Blake was beginning to wonder where Robin was. Normally, when they had a case to work, she showed up early in the morning with coffee from her favorite shop down the street. Noon was... a very late start for her. Still, Blake didn't want to bother her so he called Patrick himself and asked if there had been any progress with the cloth. Only Patrick told him that he hadn't received a sample at all.

"What do you mean? Robin said she would bring it to you." Blake asked as he moved across the room and began putting on his shoes.

"I haven't seen her since... about seven trials ago when you needed me to test the blood on the skicap to see if it was human or animal- how did that help the case by the way?" Patrick asked on the other end of the line.

"It's a long story- Patrick, I'm going to have to call you back." And Blake hung up his phone abruptly to finish tying his shoes. He pulled on a jacket over his button up and tie- he always wore a suit of some sort because it was remarkable how many people thought you belonged when you had one on. He pulled on his black gloves and was out the door. He took a taxi to Robin's and tried get ahold of her on the phone the whole ride over but she never answered. When the taxi pulled up outside her house, Blake got out quickly, almost forgetting to pay before rushing up the stone steps to Robin's door.

He reached to knock and noticed the door was already slightly ajar so he took a step back, pulled out his phone again and called the emergency response service provided by the E.O.S. "I'm at the corner of Wytchwood and Vein and I think someone's broken into my house." He tossed his phone on the floor and proceeded into the house. Now he had maybe five minutes to find out what was happening before the Element's arrived but he would not risk Robin's safety on his skill alone. Not when they were a time tested organization.

Blake pushed into the room slowly, his gloves hiding the fingerprints he would have left that the E.O.S. would have been able to find. He didn't plan to be gone when they got there but he didn't need them knowing that he'd come in already when they saw him. The door hinges weren't broken meaning the killer hadn't used force, but skill to get into the house. Perhaps they'd persuaded Robin to open the door before forcing their way in? There weren't any immediate signs of struggle or out of place dirt on the floor immediately in the living room that the doorway let out into but when Blake got to Robin's kitchen he noticed that she was missing a knife in her cutting block. One of the larger knives too. He knew it was one she'd have grabbed for self defense but he didn't see any blood.

He took a quick sniff of the air and realized why he didn't see blood. He could smell the bleach. Shit. Blake moved into the bedroom where he found the cloth from the night before sitting on the bed beside a small, handwritten note. He knew he should have left it for the Elements. He knew he should have let them look into it... but he also knew it was not there for them. It was for him.

He opened the note carefully and read the message that had been left behind. An address and a time, with nothing else. It wasn't Robin's handwriting which lead Blake to believe it was the killers or the one who'd abducted her- if the two were not one in the same. Blake looked at the time on his phone and cursed again under his breath. He couldn't wait for the Elements and make it to the meeting place on time. He had a choice to make that wasn't really a choice at all.

By the time the Flame Siren's were on the street, Blake was long gone with the note and the cloth in tow. The address brought him under a bridge in the seedier side of the always seedy Almund. It was a good, stone bridge with a decent amount of traffic passing over it and none passing under it. The perfect place to ambush someone in the dark. The sound of cars passing by would cover up the sounds of struggle if there weren't too many. Blake had a feeling that was exactly why he was being lured there but he couldn't do very much about it if he wanted to see his partner.

He slipped his hands into his coat pockets and his right hand wrapped carefully around a little surprise he'd left inside for emergencies as he walked down from the bushes he'd been peering over to the bridge he was meant to wait under. It was poorly lit but it was lit enough for him to see that there was no one there yet. Blake stood under the tunnel for about half a break in the dark, listening to cars and trucks pass overhead- thinking that each one would signal an attack on him. No subtle attack came. When the hour passed, a figure in a hoodie slowly approached from the far end of the tunnel and stopped before Blake could make out the features of his face under the hood.

"Put your gun on the ground and turn around." The man said in a stern voice. It was most certainly the voice of a man. "Slowly." Blake thought to just pull the gun in his pocket, or maybe even shoot through the pocket at the man, but he didn't. Killing him now wouldn't get Robin back and it wouldn't prove that this was the killer he was looking for. He needed more information.

"I get the feeling that won't go well for me." Blake said without making any very sudden movements. The man didn't take any steps closer, but Blake could feel an intense gaze on him.

"If you don't, your partner's dead." The man replied quickly. Blake wasn't sure how that would work. If he pulled his gun and was faster on the draw than the man across from him, he could kneecap him then find out where Robin was through interrogation... but it was risky. Blake didn't like using guns even though he had a rough idea of how to do it. So he did as he was told. He slowly slipped his revolver out of his coat and set it on the ground. He turned and put both his hands up then listened to the slow sound of the man's footsteps as he came closer, took the gun, and then stopped.

The man was just out of reach when Blake thought he heard him stop moving. Blake began to turn again and something sharp prodded his neck. He felt his limbs go numb in an instant and the man caught him as he fell unconscious.

~~~ ~~~ A Few Breaks Later, Ziellmas ~~~ ~~~

The unique detective was awoken by the sounds of terrible Zielmas music playing out of a speaker. He might have been able to excuse it if it were the radio but the speaker meant someone there actually liked the sound of that music. Blake realized slowly that his hands were bound with handcuffs and there was a chain in the middle of the cuffs binding them to the floor. He didn't have a lot of mobility but he had enough to sit upright and look around. It seemed he was in some basement that had been decorated with lights to make it festive though there had been no effort to clean the room otherwise. His eyes moved along the floor and he discovered something more surprising, he was not alone.

Robin was laying on the floor with her hands bound but she was unconscious. He could see subtle movements to indicate she was still breathing but whatever the man gave them seemed to have worn off of Blake a little faster than it was wearing off her. "Merry Ziellmas, detective." The voice from the beneath the bridge said suddenly as the door on the far end of the room opened and a man dressed like a surgeon about to begin a procedure walked in, dragging a cart of different tools behind him. Blake craned his neck to try and see, catching a glimpse of a few different blades before the man stepped in the way. "It's good to finally meet you."

"Well I'd shake your hand but, you know." Blake rattled the chain keeping him to the floor. The man from beneath the bridge smiled beneath the surgical mask he was wearing and turned to rifle through his cart for a moment.

"It's always more fun when you have humor." He said.

"What's the plan here? Killing on Ziellmas? Isn't that bad luck?" Blake asked as he pulled his hands a little closer to his midsection and lowered them out of the killer's view. "It won't stop the investigation into you. The Elements are looking."

"That's superstition and the Elements have been looking for arcs, they aren't going to get lucky now." The killer said confidently. "You on the other hand found something that they missed. I was coming to get it back when I found the two of you there. I might have let it go but I recognized you. You used to be with the Elements. That's too close for me." Robin seemed to be waking a little and Blake tapped a familiar beat to see if she would recognize it. The killer was rifling through his cart and explaining his plan so he didn't notice. A few trills later Robin tapped her foot and Blake let out a small sign of relief.

"We don't fit your pattern. You won't be able to hide this."

"Is that your plan? Convince me that I'll get caught if I kill you?" The man dressed like a surgeon laughed. "No, I don't think it will be that much different than the others." The man turned and took a few steps towards Blake before kneeling to talk at a little more eye level. "You wouldn't be the first outside the pattern anyways. We do what we must to survive."

"Since when did serial killing become necessary to survive?" Blake asked before noticing something behind the surgeon. He was careful not to look at it too closely, instead opting to maintain eye contact with the man talking to him.

"We all have our flaws, detective." The man said with a shrug. "Don't worry, you won't feel it."

"I can't say the same." Robin said as she arrived behind the killer with the tray he'd stored his tools on in hand. His eyes widened and he turned quickly only for Robin to smack him across the face with the tray. The killer stumbled and then Blake kicked him in the back of the knee, knocking him down and causing him to drop the syringe of liquid. Robin seemed stunned by her success for a moment and Blake immediately went to work trying to free himself from his handcuffs using the uncomfortable trick he'd learned early into his time as a detective.

The killer tried to get onto his feet and Robin came at him again with the tray. She smashed it across his back but the man managed to get to his feet anyway and when Robin went for another swing the killer caught it and began trying to wrestle the tray away from her. Blake got his hands free and plucked the syringe off the ground. The surgeon pried the tray away from Robin and smacked her with it just before Blake drove the needle into the side of the surgeon's neck and pressed the plunger down. The surgeon groaned and turned wildly. He smacked Blake with the tray in his hands one trill, and collapsed slowly onto the floor in the next.

"Are you alright, Robin?" Blake asked as he rubbed his shoulder where the tray had hit him. He moved slowly over to his partner and offered her a hand up.

"I'm alive." She said with a small grin as he took his hand and got onto her feet. "I can't believe I really got to use the lock picking practice."

"I told you, rule one- always have a way out.." It wasn't really the first thing he taught her, but it was one of the important ones. "Do you want pancakes? I'm feeling pancakes."

"What about him?" Robin asked with a gesture towards the unconscious killer. Blake looked down at him with a few dark thoughts before giving a small shrug.

"Call the Elements, tell them what happened, fill out whatever they need, then pancakes?"

"Sounds good." Robin said.

"Merry Ziellmas, Robin."

"Merry Ziellmas, Blake."

[Trouble]

The Results

Good morning everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful christmas!

It was an absolute pleasure reading your stories, and you did exceedingly well at capturing the spirit of the contest in your writing. As such I am happy to award both entries the following prize:

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Comet Charm
A golden medallion in the shape of a comet. When the bearer holds it in their hand and speak aloud a destination three times, they will be envoloped in a ball of bright light and blasted through the sky at high speed, allowing them to reach their destination no matter where in the world in less than an hour. In order to activate both the user and their stated destination must have immediate access to the sky. This charm will only activate once, and can only carry a single person. The user will not be harmed by the velocity of their journey.

Both stories were also set during Ziellmas, and so I can also award the following:

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Blitzen Bracelet
A simple bronze bracelet. When worn, this bracelet enchants the wearers voice and allows them to shout up to five times as loudly as they normally could without damaging their throat.

Anyway without further ado here are the results.



Second Place
A story filled to the brim with Christmas cheer!. I am happy to award The Tunawa Knight Suite by Kisaik with second place, and the following reward.

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Boots of the Prancer:
A set of shoes (or other footwear) of the player's design. These shoes possess a powerful magical effect that boosts the force from the wearer's feet at the moment they jump, allowing them to jump up to fourty feet high. It will not however activate for kicking, running or anything other than the act of jumping. These shoes will also nullify the impact of falling so long as the wearer lands feet first, allowing them to easy leap over buildings and land without so much as a sprain.

First Place
Gotta love a good detective story, especially with a Christmas setting. I am pleased to award The Private Eye by Balthazar Black with first place, and the following reward.

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Boots of the Dasher
A set of shoes (or other footwear) of the player's design. These shoes possess a powerful magical effect similar to Shirvain's Pocket of Time (Major). As long as both shoes are worn, the wearer can go through time twice as quickly as everyone else, moving extremely swift and reacting to their surroundings exceedingly well. This can be used in short-bursts nearly infinitely per trial if one spaces out their uses.

Thank you again for your participation. Have a happy new year!

Regards,
Trouble