Stories of UZ and Clora.

This is my fiction thread, there'll be stories of all of my characters in here, both UZ and Clora. Each post will be about 1000 words. The first story of will be starring UZ.

By the way, if you actually decide to read any of this you automatically become my best friend. *cough*

CONTROLLERS: CHAPTER I

UZ was a bit confused as he exited the bar, a flyer sticking slightly out of his hole. All he had wanted to do was get a drink but he wound up on some sort of “epic quest,” as the man inside had called it.

That man had charisma to spare. Holy crap.

UZ had just accepted an invite to a party of warriors fighting some sort of dark wizard. The leader of the group seemed excited beyond belief that a treeworm had entered his party. Really, the fact that the leader – UZ couldn’t remember his name – knew what species he was in the first place was almost enough to convince UZ to go.

This part of the country was unfamiliar to the poor worm - he had no idea where he was going and was being forced to ask directions to the simplest places in the town. Fortunately the people of Deadlog were kind to the newcomer in the city, more interested than confused at his appearance. More than once he had to explain to the various townsfolk who and what he was. He didn’t mind, though – he’d been through worse predicaments than explaining his species to people.

Eventually he found a kind looking old man who actually knew the answer to his most oft asked question, “Where can I find the 'Friars Club?'”

“What’s your business there?”

“I was invited to some sort of battle group named the Controllers.”

“Ah, another new recruit?" The man sighed and shook his head as he looked at UZ with what almost looked like pity. "Down the stairs behind me, worm.”

UZ rushed down the small narrow staircase with some difficulty and dizziness. “My hole isn’t built for stairs,” UZ mumbled out loud. Eventually with a huff he opened the small door at the bottom revealing a small dusty room. Only 6 or 7 feet high at most, the tiny quarters were requiring one of the three people in it to duck if he wanted to stand. The group inside looked to UZ like any normal party of warriors would, with two men decked out in armor and one woman in a long flowing grey cloak with small silver stars embedded into it every few inches. UZ recognized the shorter man as the leader who he had spoken to in the bar only an hour before.

“Welcome, UZ,” said the leader. Although short, the man was obviously buff underneath his shiny silver armor. His short cut black hair and pale skin somewhat clashed, but overall he had the look of a serious man. A softness in his eyes betrayed his kind personality. His voice was rather cheery, obviously causing annoyance to the taller man in armor. As the tall man rolled his eyes, the other glared at him and continued. “My name is Matthew, this less than friendly fellow is James, and the beautiful one among us is Cassandra.”

“Charmed,” said Cassandra in a low alto voice that perfectly fit her beautiful figure. She was built like a model with her tall and skinny figure and flowing dark brown hair. The hair was tied into a long ponytail behind her, and it shimmered even in the dim room’s light. UZ couldn’t take his eyes off of her cloak. It stretched from right below her neckline to her calves, shining as brightly as her hair. She was quite obviously a magic user, as slight gusts of wind surrounded her at all times and an aura of power came from her deep green eyes.

The final member of the group did not speak to or even look at UZ for a minute, obviously deep in thought. He was tall, almost 7 feet tall, but still fairly well muscled. 2 cutlasses were attached to his back, almost looking like a ‘back off’ gesture of sorts. He had fairly long black hair going down to his neckline that was badly cut and matted in places. His armor was spotted grey and dented in places, giving him an appearance that appeared battle worn as much as it did lazy.

“Hello, all, I supp-” UZ was cut off from speaking by James, who raised his hand in annoyance while snapping a gaze to the confused worm.

“Don’t speak yet.” James looked down, contemplating what to do with the new member. He hadn’t been expecting another worm to join the group, and he had hated the guts and style of the previous one. “I don’t trust you or your bloody species so don’t do anything I might find… let’s say ‘annoying.’” He flicked a small rock off the table in UZ’s direction, aiming left as not to hit him directly.

“Shut up, J.” Matthew was obviously annoyed at the snappy attitude of his compatriot, but remained composed and he turned to face UZ, who had slowly approached the table and climbed on with help from Cassandra’s robe. “Welcome to the Controllers. We’re a small rebel group in this county attempting to stop a horrible…” he paused for a second, deciding how to word the next statement, “beast of a man.”

UZ couldn’t help but feel overwhelmed at what he had seen so far. Not only had he joined a group he knew nothing about, but all of them seemed to know all about his species. James even seemed to have all sorts of problems with them. Could they know about the battles going on in his home continent between man and worm? That, UZ thought, is a fine reason for me to keep on my toes, metaphorical as those toes may be.

(lol quick updat)

CONTROLLERS: CHAPTER II

It had been three days since UZ had joined up with the odd group of three that called themselves the Controllers. Since joining he had gotten various bits of back-story from the group, but nothing especially worthy of note.

The Controllers had formed four months beforehand with seven members bent on destroying a dark wizard lovingly nicknamed “Stoneface” by the group. Stoneface was a horrible man, guilty of several kidnappings and murders in the span of only a few weeks. Forming a small group of mercenaries to fight him was the government’s idea, as they refused to send an army after him for fear they would lose every man available. Stoneface himself had coined the name of the group, during one of the first battles against him as he commented on their well executed plans and control over the battle. Even with all of their advantages and well thought out plans, however, every one of the six battles that had been fought between the two so far had ended in Stoneface’s escape.

Whenever UZ brought up the fact that four of the original seven were gone, the subject tended to get quickly changed.

Decent friendships had so far been forged with Matthew and Cassandra from UZ, Cassandra in particular seeming to adore his sense of humor. James continued to stonewall the poor worm in almost every instance they spoke as a group or otherwise. Knowing there would be no progress on that front, the three more sociable members began to plot the next and hopefully final battle against “Ol’ Stoney” as UZ had taken to calling him.

UZ took a particular note to how interested James seemed when it came to eavesdropping on any conversation the worm was a part of. Even worse, when UZ confronted him about it he was met with silence and the occasional standoffish mumble.

The days flew by quickly as the group began their plan for attack. It was their most simplistic plan yet, made entirely to confuse the wizard, who had grown used to defending against intricate battle strategies. This time, they had decided to go on a simple all out attack. A charge forward would stun the wizard for just a second, hopefully giving enough time for the warriors to finish him off. The local government wanted him alive to pay for his crimes, but the Controllers were instructed to use whatever force may be necessary.

Eventually the day for battle arrived, 24 days after the previous battle had occurred. UZ felt somewhat detached from the others at the start of the day as they hurriedly prepared themselves for the seventh fight against Stoneface. UZ almost felt sheepishly out of place considering he really had nothing to equip or set for his journey. He quietly slipped a few biscuits and jugs of water into his hole below Beatrice, just in case. After almost an hour of nervous preparation, the group was prepared.

The lair of the wizard was a day’s length hike from Deadlog across a large field and up a long mountain path. The group kept themselves busy during the long journey with musical interludes and joking, with even James becoming less detached from his grumpy attitude at times. The overall attitude, however, remained serious. UZ had never found out what fate had befallen the previous members of the group, and his interest was piqued to a point of almost desperation. But every time he would ask, Matthew would reply with a simple, “You’ll see.” And when saying that, Matthew’s face would lose his usual grin and go somber for several seconds before the inevitable subject change.

A flock of blackbirds sailed off into the distance as the group approached the base of the mountain. Cassandra, who had been fairly quiet throughout the entire hike, suddenly perked up with life as she raised her hands and a faint wind surrounded the warriors, giving invigoration and life back to their tired bodies. UZ in particular had already finished off all but one of the jugs of water he had snagged before, and was in serious trouble of fainting from the heat.

“We’ll camp here for a time,” said Matthew, “in the morning we’ll finish the hike, it should only take three or four hours to reach the lair.” Night soon fell and all of the warriors quickly fell asleep.