[SP-F5] A Lonely World <<Feeding the Enemy>> .:COMPLETE:.

[Creius 0]

Jason had tried to make his escape, climbing down from his throne of scrapes and scuttling across the sand. Nathan got onto his knees and quickly crawled over to the fleeing scorpion, determined to not let it escape. Nathan grabbed the tail of the scorpion and took it back to the pile of scraps. The scorpion fought for dear life, trying to reach up and pinch at the hand which was restraining it since it could not use the stinger on its tail to deal with this annoyance. Nathan dropped the seething little scorpion onto the pile and stared at it, daring it to charge him and attack. "I could crush you here and now if I wanted to. No, instead I have decided to take you home with me. You just have to start behaving, Jason... God, how I dislike that name now. Maybe we can call you Hector, that is a good name as well in my opinion."

[Creius 0]

The newly renamed Hector did not seem to really care about what this human called it. All it seemed to care about was escape, maybe because in not too long this land would become horribly dangerous. Nathan seemed to care little about this, he was rather hell-bent on getting his familiar before the day was out. The scorpion kept crawling down and attacking the hand which inevitably approached to stop the scorpion. Nathan was careful with his hand, not quite wanting to feel the pinch or sting of the scorpion. He would much rather just tame it already. Each time though he ended up grabbing the scorpion by the tail and placing it back upon the pile of scraps and the cycle would repeat itself for quite a bit.

[Creius 0]

"You know, what if you were my shop's mascot? Every place needs a cool looking mascot to become popular, right? Wouldn't that be fun, Hector?" With each word Nathan kept poking at the scorpion as it sat upon its throne of scraps, enjoying watching it try to catch him its pincers. "You should really eat some of that, I did go out of my way to get that for you. It would be the polite thing to do." Nathan realized now just how insane he sounded, this was getting out of hand. He sighed and sat his head into his hands, watching Hector silently. "Was it really too much to ask for that the scorpion just be mine already? There is bound to be some way to hurry this process up. I wonder if everyone else has issues like this when they try to get their familiars. Of course, most other people probably have friends to talk to...: Thoughts such as these just kept going through his mind, not quite any rhyme or reason to them. He was just talking to himself as he waited for the scorpion to accept its new master.

[Creius 0]

Nathan continued watching Hector in silence, not really sure what else he could do to speed this up. At least it appeared now that Hector was a bit more resigned to his fate and was nibbling on his scraps throne. Nathan watched the scorpion slowly eat up some of the scraps, grimacing every time those powerful pincers easily ripped up the meat into pieces which would fit into the scorpion's mouth. He was a bit glad that he had been safe when grabbing the scorpion's tail earlier. He was not sure he really wanted to feel that pincer pinched on his finger if it could so easily rip meat apart.

[Creius 0]

Things remained this way for a few minutes, with Hector the Scorpion eating away at the scraps that Nathan had brought him and Nathan watching Hector eat quietly. Nathan just quietly thought to himself what he could do with Hector once they were bonded together. Hector very well could provide another boost to power, attacking his enemies whenever possible. Maybe that idea about Hector being a mascot was not too bad, maybe it would actually bring in business. This was all speculation of course, Nathan had no way of knowing what the system had in store for familiars. Maybe all a familiar could be was a little pet that you could talk to, the initial reason that Nathan had taken this quest. Whatever it was though Nathan planned on making full use of Hector, whether as a venting piece or an instrument of some sort.

[Creius 0]

With each minute the pile of scraps grew smaller and Nathan's hopes of actually being able to tame this scorpion grew. The attempted escapes had all but ceased and the scorpion no longer absolutely flipped out when Nathan tried to touch it. All of it was pointing towards significant progress from when he had begun the quest. He just continued to sit there, staring at the scorpion as it ate the cheap scraps. There was not too much else to do he felt, he was going to leave the scorpion in peace until it was done eating all of the food. There was plenty left to eat so he figured the scorpion would stop eating first, filled with nutrients, but once it did that was when Nathan planned on making his second, and hopefully final attempt at taming a familiar.

Edited May 31, 2016 by Creius

[Creius 0]

The air in the desert was quickly growing cold, the sun all but nonexistent at this point. Almost all the light had vanished from the environment, making everything seem colder than it actually was. Nathan realized this was probably going to be his final attempt before he would have to head back because if he spent too much longer out here there was a really good, and dangerous, chance that he would be attacked. He sat still for now though, not betraying any of the anxiousness that he felt at the moment. He was not going to disturb Hector's eating, no matter what. That could end up ruining all of his efforts and turn this into a huge waste of time. Nathan sighed softly and kept his eyes glued on the scorpion, watching the large pile slowly disappear beneath it.

[Creius 0]

Hector's eating was finally beginning to slow and Nathan realized that the end would be approaching soon. For better or worse he was about to try and tame the familiar again. He scooted a little closer to the pile, watching every single movement of the scorpion. Sure enough, with the pile only about halfway consumed the large scorpion was slowing down its eating pace. Nathan could not help but smile at this as he began to imagine what he could do with his new pet. Now that the prospect was potentially near it made it seem all the more desirable. All of a sudden he wondered why he had never had a pet before in his life. It would have solved all of his companionship issues that he had obtained over all the years. Butterflies began to fly in Nathan's stomach as he waited for Hector to stop eating entirely and be done with his meal.

[Creius 0]

As the next few minutes went by Hector's eating pace slowed ever further, nearing stopping. As the pace slowed Nathan scooted ever closer, just waiting for that moment when the scorpion would stop eating. Then and only then would he bother trying to tame it again. He hoped his chances of success would be better when Hector had consumed a whole lot of food by his hand. One would think anyone could be an animal friend if that was all it took. Nathan ended up holding his breath those final few moments, not wanting to miss the moment. Finally it came and Nathan noticed that Hector had stopped eating entirely. The scorpion sort of seemed to stretch and move lazily about the pile of scraps. Nathan smiled and reached forward, believing it was time for another attempt at taming.

[Creius 0]

Nathan reached his hand forward, towards the top of the pile, ever so slowly. It would be a really big shame to get this far and then just have him spook the small thing. Nathan's hand slowly inched towards Hector and the scorpion turned towards the hand. At first, Hector backed off and seemed to get aggressive. Nathan almost pulled his hand back but kept moving it forward. Slowly and gently the hand moved closer until eventually the hand touched the top of the scorpion. Nathan smiled then felt a sharp pain. He pulled his hand back and looked at it. The scorpion had taken a small bite of Nathan's thumb, marking him as the owner. Nathan nodded slightly and got on his knees, holding his arm out so the scorpion could climb up. Hector slowly crawled up Nathan's arm and onto his shoulder and sat there. Nathan smiled and began walking back from where he had come, ready to get out of this desert.

ID#60079   LD:13   Basic Familiar Gained

Edited May 31, 2016 by Creius

[Creius 0]

With his new familiar on his shoulder Nathan started walking through the night covered desert, doing his best to avoid any monsters that might be on the prowl. Using the shadows he moved from spot to spot and slowly made progress out of El Perdido. The cold was harsh and bitter, wearing away at his essence as he walked past the dunes. He would make it though, he always had. His persistence caused him issues and solved his problems, both a virtue and a vice. It saw him through that day, making him sit and stay by that pile of scraps until he got the companion that he wanted.

Nathan crossed El Perdido and walked down the sand covered roads back towards Armadillo. He kept a lookout for any potential dangers on the roads, players and mobs alike. The darkness helped cover his tracks though and Nathan was able to avoid all the perils and safely make it back to the main settlement of the fifth floor. Once there he immediately headed to the teleportation plaza, ready to show little Hector his new home in the Gilded Hide on the first floor. Without hesitation Nathan teleported to the first floor and headed to the small shop that was as much of a home as he could have in this world, minus the inn across the street that he actually stayed in of course.

 

.:SUMMARY:.

Quest <<Earning a Living>> Completed

<<Scorpion Tamer>> Title

Scorpion Familiar

+1 SP

Full Thread Completed

+400 Col

+1 SP

Edited May 31, 2016 by Creius