Long time no Sharp, eh? Eh?

Ok, I'll be a little serious. Sharp woke up from her hibernation to dreams of apocalypse.

The lights flickering out. Shadowy beasts, far larger than her pitiful spiky self, charging at each other with roars that shake the caves and send stalactites crashing down. Children running for safety. She pleads for the carnage to stop, screams as a monster grabs her in its claws... and jolted awake in the broken cradle of her chrysalis. She's at home, her little empty home.

True or not, she was now convinced something bad comes. And she knew just what to do to prepare.

She gathered herself slowly, packing a twine bag full of her most precious gemstones and a bug for the journey. She travelled out of Pegasus, past the little burrows where her friends used to live (are they still there, she wondered, or have they abandoned this place?) and out the tunnel. The air was... moist. That wasn't how it was the last time she was here-- she must've been asleep a while, huh?

Turn left, turn right, travel through this and that tunnel, and Sharp was finally in Polaris. Home to a rumored little bird that could grant her power. Emuh.

She examined the doorway carefully with bright yellow eyes (this is the right door, right?) and prepared herself to speak. For the first time in a long time, the little lizard felt nervous. She could fail here, and she didn't know what that would entail. But she had to be brave. She was Sharp, and she was Spiky.

"EMUUUH!"

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The winged shadow that swept down was frosted over with plumes of ice, a bitter fog wafting from black feathers.

This changed, as talons scraped rock, to a crackling power--and then the horned owl paused. Head tipped to one side; toxic eyes narrowed.

"WHO is this?" he at first demanded, and then clicked his beak a few times. He spoke to himself, all the while peering at Sharp as though he could see straight through her, as though it wasn't her he was truly seeing at all. "No, Emuh thinks this one is not its POWER. It is RESOURCEFUL and it has learned to EFFECT but does it have the WORDS? SUCH POWERS REQUIRE WORDS," he proclaimed, eyes narrowing further. "Or do they...? Who knows-! LET US FIND OUT. YOU WISH TO TAKE EMUH'S TRIAL?"

He waited, then, studying the little lizard, inscrutable and indifferent.

@Sharp

Here came the shadowy beast, the famous and infamous Emuh. To Sharp, he looked big and possibly carnivorous, but she stood straight and still as she peered up at him, listening.

... Huh? The words the horned owl said were a bit confusing to her, who possessed no such ability of peering into souls. It wasn't until he finished talking that her confusion cleared up and she realized she had to say she wanted a trial.

"Yes!" Sharp said, eagerly and confident in her scratchy little voice. She set her gemstone bag to the side; it wasn't anything she needed, she just brought them for emotional support. Continuing: "I, SHARP and SPIKY, would like to take the Trial of Emuh!"

Hopefully this wouldn't be too bad.

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@Game Master Dark

The great black owl stared for a moment. His beak clicked once, sharply, in what might have been consternation. "EMUH will be VERY SURPRISED if THIS ONE succeeds!" he barked at last, in mocking laughter. Then he'd taken wing, turning and sweeping off in a rush of crackling electricity and dust into the darkness of his little room--as if to lead Sharp inside. His voice then came distant, echoing from far within. "YOUR TRIAL BEGINS NOW!"

When Sharp entered, however, there was no sign of Emuh.

It was interesting... coincidental? Or perhaps not... that Sharp's fears, imagery, visions--reasons for coming here--had been apocalyptic, filled with lurking, monstrous figures. 'Why' would be seen momentarily.

For now, as she stepped in, and found herself confronted with...

A party?

A number of tall, slender creatures in sheathes of shimmering cloth wandered about a large, pristine room. Everything was unnaturally flat: a flat, tiled floor; flat vertical white walls, with flat square pieces of canvas hung here and there (painted with splashes of abstract color); a flat, low ceiling. A number of large, frightening-looking weapons stood against one wall--spiked and bladed, but wholly abandoned, left standing alone. They looked odd, orphaned there like that.

The creatures themselves were like nothing Sharp would have seen, unless she'd perhaps seen Eleanor or Beatris: with skin tones ranging from pale peach to rich chocolate, and hair in a rainbow of colors, their clothing often matched to this hair. Most held delicate glasses in their hands with red, rank-smelling liquid (in fact, a very fine vintage of wine) and they were cheerfully talking with one another about the impending end of the world. Sharp could pick up snatches of this conversation at once, as the humanoid creatures conversed, not having yet noticed Sharp's teensy tiny presence here.

"...they come, do you think they will use magic, or their claws?"
"Well, Mathian said they used both, but you know how he is. Prone to fits of fancy."
"He was the only one to escape, though."
"Pfft, but what's the point-? Just so he could get to Merialin, and die there, instead? No, I think Thomim has the right idea. A party for the end of the world!"
"Let them come, yes. We still have time to drink."

Should Sharp look at the far wall, to her left, an additional oddly-flat thing stood in it: a glass pane. This was an enormous window wall, and on the distant horizon, she could easily make out churning purple smoke, shot through with flashes of green lightning.

A distant rumble of thunder shook the air with an ominous bass shudder, one which trembled through the ground beneath them.

The people looked outside. "Ahh-... they're almost here."

Silence, for a moment--pensive, afraid--and then someone sighed. "Well, get the fucking music on, then! ROCK IT! It's the END OF THE WORLD, baby!"

Someone flicked a switch, and loud, frenetic music--with a fast beat and a hard bassline--began thudding from the speakers.

The humans began to dance as their doom swelled across the horizon. And unless Sharp did something to change things, it seemed she'd be stuck in here with them.

---

Sharp's Transcendence Trial has begun.

@Sharp

This was... unexpected.

When Sharp entered the Trial, she found herself confronted with what appeared to be a large, flat, rectangular cave. Strange weapons hung on a wall, and even stranger gembounds talked all around the floor, tall and colorful like rare gemstones. The scent of unfamiliar liquid permeated the room.

The first thing she did once she adjusted to her surroundings was skitter towards the window, looking outside at the strange smoky horizon. Vaguely, part of her thought that if this went wrong, she could always break the window and jump outside, though something told her falling to an uncertain doom was not what she needed to succeed.

Sharp's gaze drifted to the weapons on the wall. Nope. Before she could decide what to do next, a shock of thunder passed through the floor, followed closely by all eyes swiveling past her to the clouds outside. One of them spoke about the end of the world. The next moment, a new beat thudded through her claws, and the strange creatures were dancing for fervently than ever before.

Observations done. Now was the time to act.

Sharp thumped her tail on the ground to the beat, thinking. She gathered that this was a gathering at the "end of the world" (something she just dreamed about...) and the gembounds here were doing nothing to stop it. She wanted to convince them otherwise, anything to tell them they needed to escape this danger! But right now they were ignoring her, and her gut told her she needed to get with the crowd before any change could happen.

Operation: dress-up.

Sharp looked around the room for anything she could use for a costume. Napkins, a clothing rack, tablecloth, anything. If she can find something useful, she'll use it to make a quick dress for herself.

Aha! A dropped napkin on the floor. Sharp scrambled for it, weaving around dancing feet, and quickly draped it around her own back like a toga. Unfortunately, she instantly felt something squicky, mushed and saliva-y on both sides of her makeshift outfit. The lizard gagged. Still, she tied it at the front (might as well-- after all, taking it off wouldn't undo the food now soaking into her scales) and inspected her reflection in the mirror.

She looked like the world's worst superhero. The Amazing NapkinLizard. And now time was ticking down, and she didn't know how well her plan was going to go...

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Content Warning
This post contains potentially sensitive material:

strong language

At first, nobody noticed Sharp. She was, in fact, very nearly trampled underfoot by one particularly vigorous dancer.

Then, someone did notice her, and a questioning voice rang out.

"Hey! Is that lizard wearing a napkin-?"

The voices died away.

Someone turned down the music.

Another voice spoke up, hushed: "What the fuck?"

The dancing stopped. A dozen or more human faces were now staring down at Sharp, many with their jaws dropped.

Well... she had their full attention, at least.

@Sharp

Ok, this was thoroughly embarrassing.

Sharp tried to out-stare the many faces staring at her, but it probably wasn't that impressive considering she was a tiny lizard wearing a soiled napkin. Literally covered in slipslop. If she were warm-blooded, her cheeks would be red by now.

No matter. She can save this situation. She just had to be brave.

"Alright, alright!" she shouted, her voice much larger than her diminutive form. "First off: don't call me 'that lizard,' okay?" She wasn't used to speaking to such large crowds. Before, the most she ever did conversation-wise was convince someone to buy her wares. This was unfamiliar territory, but she had the feeling she could do it if she just tried.

"Listen to me. LISTEN. My name is SHARP, and this isn't my scene but I can still read the room." She paced side to side, her gaze trained on the shocked human faces. "There is bad stuff on the horizon. The end of the world. You all know, and yet you choose to DANCE. That's fine, I won't judge... ACTUALLY NO WAIT I WILL."

She took a deep breath. "The 'end of the world' is COMPLETELY and UTTERLY PREVENTABLE. You don't have to give up and die 'cause you think it's too late. It's no too late! But if you don't do anything, it will be, and then you'll be trapped in endless nightmares. That's where you all are headed right now."

"Why not try to save yourselves? There's always a way. Worst case scenario, you end up exactly where you will be if you do nothing, but in the best case scenario you LIVE! You live to party another day! You live to see your family! Wouldn't that be great? So stop avoiding the situation and start LIVING! WHO'S WITH ME?!"

That was the best thing she'd ever said.

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Any hushed, amazed conversation fell into silence as Sharp began her speech. Someone dropped a wine glass in surprise, and it shattered.

The humans' expressions shifted slowly as Sharp went on. They began with shock. Gradually, they shifted to attentive, and even thoughtful.

By the time she'd finished, they seemed outright determined.

They exchanged glances.

"Well-... if the talking lizard says we should do something..?"

"It's right, though." This woman's gaze slid to the weapon rack. She set down her wine glass, and marched over, picking up an axe.

Another man, looking doubtful, hesitated before saying "Ahh, fuck it, what the hell, right?" and following suit.

The atmosphere in the room had changed. Now it was charged with energy. The humans looked, for one brief moment, like they would follow Sharp straight into battle against the incoming army (or away, to flee, or whatever their tiny reptilian overlord might suggest). Someone even turned the music up, apparently intending to keep the soundtrack going for their final battle.

Just then, however, a deep, snarling voice rolled through the room. "Preventable...? No. It would never be preventable," it hissed. A man--hooded and cloaked in black--stepped from a doorway to the side.

The humans all fell silent, and turned to look at him. Someone turned the music back down.

He looked them over, frowning--and then at the window, where, outside, the purple cloud was drawing closer. Creatures--immense, spiked, monstrous--were visible moving within, charging toward the building.

"They're coming to kill us. We've accepted that. You know that. We've all come to terms with His Gracious Power, and His Merciful End. We are to serve as Fodder for his Beasts. And then we will have Everlasting Life In His Chaotic Glory! If we resist-... Tormented, forever!" (Somehow, his enunciation made much of his sentence sound like Titles.)

The humans parted to either side of the room. This man--a cult leader, by the looks of things--stood at one end, right across from Sharp. He folded his arms across his chest, eyes narrowed as he stared down at her.

It was a cult leader face-off. A nemesis for the little lizard; a dominator domination test.

"Do not listen to the..." he curled a lip, glaring at Sharp. "...napkin-lizard."

1/3

@Sharp

The reaction from the crowd was... good? It was good! They were listening to her, some of them were grabbing weapons, and all in all they were getting pumped up! Sharp felt a smile slide up her scaly cheeks. She was doing good.

But of course, good situations rarely last long.

A new challenger approached, and Sharp could feel the cruel energy radiating off of him when she turned. Another strange humanoid, now dressed in black and radiating an aura that silenced the crowd. He spoke about how this is what they came to terms with and that The End will be good. As if! She immediately wanted to give him a piece of her mind, but an even better idea suddenly burst into her head. She would... well, she didn't know the word for it, but she would do it.

"Is that all you gotta say, mister Dark and Edgy?" She mimed wafting a scent away. "Ugh, did you lick a boot recently? I can smell it on your stinky breath!"

She slapped her tail on the ground and turned to face the nondescript partygoer closest to the speakers. "Turn the beat up!"

”I’m like you.
I have a family, too.
And when Chaos comes by
Should I leave them to die?
No matter how you spin it
You cannot ignore
That this Chaos you speak
Brings nothing but war!

War!
A fight that incites a removal of rights
To live, to laugh, everything that you like!
‘Everlasting Life in His Chaotic Glory?’
You mean everlasting strife in his despotic story!

You’ll never find peace in the path of the Beast
If you want true freedom, fight back at least!
There’s more to life than submission and denial
Torment can’t be worse than never fighting for survival.”

Sharp took a deep breath. That was a lot. ”Believe me, I’ve seen beyond this place. I’ve seen beautiful rolling fields and my children’s eyes… and I’ve seen those of the monsters you speak of. If you have nothing to fight for, fight for the chance to live happily and free, free from cruelty and hopelessness. Fight for liberty.”

Wow. She was getting really impressed at herself.

© ©

For a moment, silence greeted Sharp's musical monologue. The cult leader broke this silence, glancing over the other humans before eyeing the lizard with a sneer.

"Do you really think-"

He was immediately interrupted by applause, enthusiastic clapping that drowned him out--interspersed, even with a couple of shrill, approving whistles. "That lizard just fucking rapped!" someone yelled, and someone else added, "Hell of an end-of-the-world show!" A more questioning voice called out, "Davor, did you put... something... in the dip?"

"SHUT UP, YOU IDIOTS!" the robed man roared. He gestured wildly, but before he could speak, someone (probably someone very drunk) interrupted with a reproachful tone.

"You really have to answer a rap challenge with a rap. That's how rap battles work."

(Somewhere above Sharp, the sound of a single wing rustling could be heard, along with an irritated mutter.)

"I am... not doing that," the robed man snarled. He turned to Sharp, and pointed at her, one long and trembling finger rather stereotypically tipped with a crooked black nail. "This is obviously a TEST! He's sending this... this thing, to challenge your resolve! To test our loyalty! It's a TALKING LIZARD! This isn't natural--it has to be one of his." He was getting into the swing of his speech now, and... unfortunately... some of the people were listening. (Bar one woman, who was bouncing in a corner, repeating 'everlasting strife in his despotic story!' with a grin on her face.) "Our options are, we die here--we can't stand against THAT," and he swept the finger to point toward the window.

The Valkhounds were nearly here. Spines jutted into the air. Claws tore at the dirt. Slavering jaws hungered, too many eyes fixed on the window of the building and all the victims waiting within.

The man turned toward his people. "Or submit, yes; and survive! Be changed! Be UPLIFTED!" The man raised palms to the ceiling. "Are you not loyal to HIM?! Do you not admit the power of Chaos?! We can survive, and serve, yes--but with power beyond our wildest dreams..! Imagine what he can create with us; what we could create in his name..!"

The gathering had fallen silent. Eyes flicked between the man, the window, and Sharp.

Their decisions stood upon a precipice; Sharp just needed one more push to knock them down.

2/3

@Sharp