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This story follows the youth, known as the scarf kid. A weird, poncho-wearing, scarf-having nobody with fluffy hair.
Our story takes place in the country of Kingsmund, in a world where inexplicable powers inhabit men and women of all ages. There, the scarf kid begins his journey north to claim the legendary wishing crown. However, the rumors of this crown is widespread, and many wish to get their hands on the treasure and make their wildest dreams come true.
This project will take place over the course of all next year until we wrap around back here on December 9th. One drawing per day, no matter how crap or how detailed. Each post comes with a bit of text to go along with the illustration.
Last edited by Atmos on Mon Dec 10, 2018 9:57 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Another cold day at the crosswalk, I thought to myself. Me? They call me the scarf kid. Not that they bother asking my name. Who are they? Doesn't matter, they don't care to ask. Why do they call me that? You can see me, can't you? ... I'm the only guy on the screen.
I live in downtown whereverville, in the state of who cares. It's the big city, and it's a scarily quiet day. If you're wondering why I look like that, mom used to tell me that I had my dad's eyebrows, so I guess he just looked like a grumpy guy.
"Seriously though, where is everybody?" I said aloud to nobody.
I crossed the crosswalk before the signal turned green because there was absolutely no one on the streets. I heard a reverberating voice over a loudspeaker down the street so I went that way to see the origin.
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It was the city square jumbo screen, and the heavily distorted, yet still somewhat intelligible voice came from the silhouetted man on the screen.
"So you must be wondering what could possibly grant your heart's desire so easily? It is this: the wishing crown. Centuries ago, this crown was used to grant the wish of any man. It is the origin of all empowered men and women. You all know your history, I hope. Well, the crown has been rediscovered by yours truly, but I want nothing to do with it.
In one year's time, the crown will vanish forever. It can grant one final wish to whomever places it on their head. I have placed it far to north, across the badlands, mountains, and the volcanic rift. The first to find it may claim their prize, and their wish. Good luck to you all, and may the fastest, the strongest, and the most determined... win."
Just like that, the message ended and the ad for bongo-kola resumed. Guess I missed the first half, but I got the gist of what he said. The legendary wishing crown really existed. Go figure. Crazier still, it exists. I knew at that moment everyone was thinking the same thing...
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"Get the f!@# out," and much to my dismay, I was not prepared for a stampede of a thousand idiots. One had to have been running at mach 3 and blindsided me, sweeping me right off my feet. Thankfully, my scarf turned on and managed to break my fall by thrusting each end out to meet the ground before I did. In a world of superpowers, it pays to have a magic scarf.
The scarf works like my hands. It can grab, reach out, smack people, carry stuff, and open jars of pickles with relative ease.
I was just about to scrape myself off the pavement when I was trampled and forcibly pushed to first base with the road. I'd have to apologize later.
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When I came to, the city was quiet again- or at least this street was- and I got the feeling I was left far behind in the migration north. I got up quickly. Too quickly, in fact. My head got dizzy, but I pressed on. The wishing crown was on the minds of at least a thousand people, including myself.
I looked for north, but the sky was overcast, and using the sun was futile. So I looked for North Street, and followed it out of the city.
Last edited by Atmos on Thu Dec 13, 2018 5:49 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Across the street I saw a woman pushing a stroller. Why wasn't she after the crown? Maybe it had to do with her obvious lack of powers? She even dresses like a normie- she wouldn't stand a chance. Or maybe it was because she had more important things on her plate. Being a good mother does seem more important than magic powers or free wishes...
The thought didn't stick, I had bigger fish to fry. Still, I couldn't help but think of a time when my mother was there for me.
"Eyes on the prize, clear your head, man," I told myself.
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It would be a hot minute before I left the city, so started plotting my course. Not drawn to scale of course, the trip would take well over a few months on foot. The mountains will especially give me trouble. If I hadn't fallen behind, I might've had a better chance at keeping up.
Who am I kidding? Without any powers, I'm practically a normie trying to run with Olympic sprinters... with superpowers. Forget keeping up with the ones who can run fast. The ones who can fly will just overpass the mountains and the volcanic rift.
If I'm to stand any chance, I have to make a beeline for the mountains, but the rift is going to give me too much trouble. I'll just have to go around. The journey began as I left the city limit. Before me, the vast expanse that is The Badlands. A wide flat wasteland dotted with trees. A geyser field to the east, and rolling grassy hills to the west. For me, the journey takes me straight through the free-for-all, super-powered turf war.
Fantastic.
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So I did what any guy with no powers would do: F!@#ing gun it like hell.
"These people must have serious beef to be fighting so soon," I thought. If I wasn't too busy running through a battlefield, I might've realized what luck this was for me. At least I wouldn't come in last.
"If this is how things are now," I wondered, "how will the road ahead be?" It didn't concern me. Fireballs whizzing by, some flying dude was shooting energy balls, and a guy who can make shields with his hands. I'd hate to be a part of this fight. Glad I'm not.
I was reminded of how fierce this race was going to be when I tripped and fell over a pothole. Two seconds later, the road ahead of me exploded from someone's stray projectile. Gravel shot and rebounded off my last-second attempt to shield my face, and I got to my feet, sprinting away to somewhere marginally safer.
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I made it past the fighting, and ducked behind the closest rock. Even as quiet as it was out here, I could still hear thunder from a mile away.
I took a breather. A sprint for your life demands you should. When my stomach growled, I was reminded of a fatal error in my- and quite possibly most others'- plan: food. I didn't even pack a bop-tart. I had to make a decision: Go hungry for a few days and hope to scavenge food beyond the wastes, or turn tail and go back through that mess to pack?
Reluctantly, I decided to wait until the fighting stopped before I'd even try to go back. It was gonna be long wait considering shield guy's chances.
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Just as I was settling down, I heard a different noise getting closer and quickly. Before I knew it, an obnoxious, diesel-injected dune buggy filled with the rowdiest guys in the city: Dude Bros Gang. They're a group of super-powered chads. Only one of them has an actual job working on cars... and I guess they have a dune buggy. I didn't know that.
There's "Good-looking Brad," the driver, controls ice. His brother Nick controls earth and always rides shotgun. Their friends Frank and "Flint" control lightning and fire respectively.
Their buggy roared off into the badlands. If anyone is going to get that crown, it may as well be them. Not because they deserve it or anything, but because of the amount of testosterone they have between the four of them.
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And just like that, they were off towards the geyser fields. Hooting, hollering, and shooting fire and lightning the whole way.
"There must be some kind of shortcut they knew about, maybe if I followed them," I said quietly to myself, "I could still have a chance... tch- at coming in 5th place."
"Meow," said the cat who appeared out of nowhere.
- Author's Note:
- Wow! Panel 10 already? That's like 2.7% done, and it only came with three double-feature days! That's horses#&t! From now on, on days off I'm gonna try to make 2 or 3 panels to stockpile so the story can come out one panel per day as intended. Thanks for reading. See you tomorrow. For real.
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I was caught off guard. Where did this cat come from? I got up on my feet and eyed the cat. They eyed me back. I waved. They meowed at me.
Weird. With the Dude Bros Gang on their way into the badlands, I couldn't really waste time with food or cats, so I followed them while they were still in sight. My plan was now to watch them, and see where they go out of view. When I get to where they disappear I'll - "MEOW"
Geez, what'd this cat want? Back rub? Scratches behind the ear? "Scram," I said, and started walking in the direction of the buggy's dust cloud, but this crazy cat was following me. Was it stalking me? Am I this thing's prey or something? Is it gonna bite my legs off when I go to sleep? Finally, I turned to it and stared it down.
"What do you want from me? I don't have any food, so you're out of luck!" I said bluntly. That's when it jumped onto my leg and sank it's claws in me.
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The cat wouldn't let go no matter how much I shook. In fact, as I flailed about, it felt as if it sank deeper into my skin. For whatever reason, it scrambled up my shirt, and tucked itself away in my scarf. Part of me wanted nothing more than to rip it out and hurl it over the moon... The other part of me was too appealed by the purring under my chin. I let it stay put, and in return, it shared a little body heat. I just hoped it didn't share any fleas.
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"What's your name anyway, you crazy cat?" I asked. It meowed. "I'll name you..." Wait. Was this a boy or a girl cat? "Uh... Alex." It meowed. "Guess you're Alex now."
"Okay, Alex. Together you and me are gonna get the wishing crown. I'm the young protagonist and you're the animal spirit guide. Between the two of us, we'll definitely come in at least 3rd place!"
It meowed.
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"Then let's get going."
The Badlands, a barren stretch of land at least three times longer than the city. No food grows here, just grass and moss. For some animals, that's enough. But two meat eaters like myself and Alex will be hard-pressed to find anything living here. Heck, the wishing crown may as well be a meal ticket. That's a good enough reason as any to go get it. "Uh, I'll take an endless supply of food, thanks," but in all seriousness, the two of us would have to work together to find anything to eat.
We followed the trail of the dune buggy far into the badlands. We were by no means gaining any ground on them, but the trail was a direct pathway to wishing crown. Knowing Brad and his friends, they probably frequented the badlands, and this was most likely the fastest route on foot.
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As we followed the trail for minutes- maybe even hours, I spotted a backpack. Just a regular grey backpack. No color at all except for the green grass stains on the underside. It must've fallen out of the dune buggy. There was no telling how, but no matter. I looked inside and found a substantial amount of chocolate granola bars.
Nice.
I tried to sling the bag over my shoulders, but it only slid off my scarf. I picked it back up, and Alex took a sniff of it. "So it's going to be like that is it?"
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I had to unleash my secret weapon in order to actually use the backpack: real arms. I undid my poncho and whipped out my amazing guns. Then I slung the backpack over my shoulders. Unfortunately, I couldn't stylishly wear my poncho and the bag at the same time, so I'd be exposed to the elements for a good long time, or at least until I ate some of the granola.
I know what you must be thinking, "I knew it! He had arms all along!" ...Yyyeah. Everyone's got arms last I checked. Unimportant cause Scarf Kid got the backpack! Hoo-ray. Now I'm not gonna starve in the wilderness, and now that that's taken care of, we can actually get on with the journey. Not bad for day one, huh?
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One week into the badlands. Where do I begin?
Day 1 (aftermath):
After I got the backpack, I downed three granola bars, and realized the cat can't eat granola. It quickly solved that problem by killing a bird and gobbling it up. I nearly saw my granola bars again. Weird how cats have no problem killing things, but I've got an issue with it.
Day 2:
We got little sleep, it was just too cold. I heard some echoing coming off the mountains. Flashes of light, thunder, the sort. Guess there was a fight or something.
Day 3:
Too tired. Don't wanna.
Day 3 (aftermath):
I had a nap. Feeling better.
Day 4:
See day 3 aftermath
Day 5: The dune buggy trail went stale, but I found where they had parked once or twice. At their campsite, I found burnt wood, and just my luck, a lighter.
Day 5 (night):
I changed the formatting of my journal partway through. That evening, I made a decent campfire to sleep to. Between my cold weather apparel, Alex's body heat + fur, and my fire-making capabilities, I had a nice warm sleep that cold night.
Day 6:
Walking.
Day 6 (night):
More walking, no sleep.
Day 7:
A whole lot of whistling to pass the time.
Day 7 (night):
"Well, Alex, the sun's setting again. The clouds have finally cleared up, and the geyser fields are getting pretty close. It's gotten pretty quiet and lonely now that I'm out here." I paused. "To be frank, when you attacked my leg, I thought I was gonna kick you off and step on your tail, but you managed to get into my scarf... yeah fun times were had. My point was, Alex, even though there aren't any other humans around, I think I'm okay with that because you're right here, all the time... I think you deserve a better name."
"Meooow."
"Oh yeah, are you a boy or a girl?" I reached into the scarf and pulled them out. "And lo- no balls."
"MrrroOOow."
"Okay, okay." I stretched my arm out and they skittered back under my chin. "How about Alexa? Ow!" They poked me with their claws, "Okay! How about Cat-therine- YEOW! Alright! I get it! One meow yes, two meows no, please!"
"Meow."
"Does that mean you understand me?"
"Meow."
... "Okay, hmm," I gave it a lot of thought. I didn't want to get stabbed again, "Kiri?" ... I was given one approving "meow." "Kiri it is, then. So, Kiri, think we'll make it to the far north? Get the wishing crown?... Get mom back?"
"Mrow?"
"I hope so too. We should get to the geyser fields tomorrow morning."
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