Post by Shinigami on Oct 7, 2007 0:02:25 GMT -5
The doll spun before fascinated purple eyes as the gangly, half-grown feline watched it go through its pre-programmed paces. Maxwell knew that his jaw was gaping, but he was in the middle of a crowd of similarly-fascinated Torquehelmites, so he didn’t really mind all that much. It wasn’t like anyone could blame him, with what was going on.
On the little stage, the clockwork dolls continued their dances with each other, bowing and twirling in time to the chiming music, while a grinning Corvistowneian looked on from behind. The whole crowd of faces, a mass of purple and black, watched as the hero doll marched across the stage purposefully, to where the princess doll was trapped in her tower. He fought hordes of mechanical demons and monsters, until he reached the edge of the chasm that stood between himself and the trapped princess, all that separated them from true love.
Maxwell gasped in horror along with the rest of the children and adults as the evil witch rose from a hole in the ground that had popped open behind the hero, her hands coming forward with tiny clicks that were mostly muted by the music, and then...
Zap!
Lighting flashed from her hands to strike the back of the hero doll, sending up smoke and an explosion of sparks as the hero fell from the cliff, down into the chasm, and the feline’s own heart sank. No! That couldn’t be right! The hero was supposed to rescue the princess, not die before they could be united! Maxwell felt tears welling in his eyes, and quickly wiped them away with a paw. Boys don’t cry, he told himself, even if the hero dies.
Then, before the gaping audience, a miracle occurred! From the strange slots on the hero-doll’s back, the ones that he’d wondered about before the magic of the clockwork swept him away, emerged...feathers! Feathers that spread up, and outward, until a wide span of wings were spread out behind the hero as he fell, and then they stroked downward all at once...
And the doll flew. It flew as Maxwell had thought that only real people could fly, and in his youth he didn’t even care about the thin, nearly-invisible wires that held the hero up, carrying him upward. They didn’t matter to him, and he cheered, louder than everyone else, as the hero flew up out of the chasm to pass even the evil, horrible witch that had tried to kill him. With one stroke of his sword, he cut down the witch, and she fell to the ground, and then the hero turned to fly to the tower where his true love awaited him, where they would live happily ever after.
Long after the show was over and everyone else had left, Maxwell stared at the stage before him, devoid of the dolls that had created magic before him, without using any magic at all. His eyes were almost feverishly bright as he traced over every single memory from the show, recreating it in as much detail as he could manage. He didn’t even notice the Corvistowne dog that had run the whole thing, his fur marked with neon orange stripes.
"Hey you, there! Boy! What are you still doing here?" the dog called out, approaching the gangly cat, who practically jumped out of his fur before turning to look at the old Card.
"How...how did you do all of that?" he asked, his voice awed and hushed. The Corvistowneian smiled slowly as he took in the youth’s expression of absolute fascination.
"It’s all just clockworks and mechanics, boy," he replied gruffly, but not unkindly.
"Do you think...do you think that you could teach me that? Maybe just some of it, anything you have the time for? Please?" The Torquehelm cat’s words rushed over each other like a torrent of water, stumbling and tripping as he spoke, but no less earnest. The dog laughed at him, amused, but at the same time, charmed by his attitude.
"Tell you what. You tell me what your name is, and I’ll see what I can do fer ye." At that, a grin crossed the cat’s face, one that over the years would become refined and perfected to a full-on, recognizable roguish grin.
"The name’s Maxwell."
On the little stage, the clockwork dolls continued their dances with each other, bowing and twirling in time to the chiming music, while a grinning Corvistowneian looked on from behind. The whole crowd of faces, a mass of purple and black, watched as the hero doll marched across the stage purposefully, to where the princess doll was trapped in her tower. He fought hordes of mechanical demons and monsters, until he reached the edge of the chasm that stood between himself and the trapped princess, all that separated them from true love.
Maxwell gasped in horror along with the rest of the children and adults as the evil witch rose from a hole in the ground that had popped open behind the hero, her hands coming forward with tiny clicks that were mostly muted by the music, and then...
Zap!
Lighting flashed from her hands to strike the back of the hero doll, sending up smoke and an explosion of sparks as the hero fell from the cliff, down into the chasm, and the feline’s own heart sank. No! That couldn’t be right! The hero was supposed to rescue the princess, not die before they could be united! Maxwell felt tears welling in his eyes, and quickly wiped them away with a paw. Boys don’t cry, he told himself, even if the hero dies.
Then, before the gaping audience, a miracle occurred! From the strange slots on the hero-doll’s back, the ones that he’d wondered about before the magic of the clockwork swept him away, emerged...feathers! Feathers that spread up, and outward, until a wide span of wings were spread out behind the hero as he fell, and then they stroked downward all at once...
And the doll flew. It flew as Maxwell had thought that only real people could fly, and in his youth he didn’t even care about the thin, nearly-invisible wires that held the hero up, carrying him upward. They didn’t matter to him, and he cheered, louder than everyone else, as the hero flew up out of the chasm to pass even the evil, horrible witch that had tried to kill him. With one stroke of his sword, he cut down the witch, and she fell to the ground, and then the hero turned to fly to the tower where his true love awaited him, where they would live happily ever after.
Long after the show was over and everyone else had left, Maxwell stared at the stage before him, devoid of the dolls that had created magic before him, without using any magic at all. His eyes were almost feverishly bright as he traced over every single memory from the show, recreating it in as much detail as he could manage. He didn’t even notice the Corvistowne dog that had run the whole thing, his fur marked with neon orange stripes.
"Hey you, there! Boy! What are you still doing here?" the dog called out, approaching the gangly cat, who practically jumped out of his fur before turning to look at the old Card.
"How...how did you do all of that?" he asked, his voice awed and hushed. The Corvistowneian smiled slowly as he took in the youth’s expression of absolute fascination.
"It’s all just clockworks and mechanics, boy," he replied gruffly, but not unkindly.
"Do you think...do you think that you could teach me that? Maybe just some of it, anything you have the time for? Please?" The Torquehelm cat’s words rushed over each other like a torrent of water, stumbling and tripping as he spoke, but no less earnest. The dog laughed at him, amused, but at the same time, charmed by his attitude.
"Tell you what. You tell me what your name is, and I’ll see what I can do fer ye." At that, a grin crossed the cat’s face, one that over the years would become refined and perfected to a full-on, recognizable roguish grin.
"The name’s Maxwell."
