Riptide's History

Have you got a game, book or movie you'd like to make a story out of? Want to expand on a story or plot that stopped? Have an original idea for a story that you want to post somewhere? Here's where to do it. Basically an RPG where one player controls ALL characters in the story.

Riptide's History

Postby Hopeflower » Sun Nov 25, 2007 9:40 pm

The story of the first serious villian I introduced, Riptide. His heartbreak, rage, sorrow, and unleashed fury are all explained here...I hope.

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It was an ordinary day when a hatchling was born. He was blacker than the darkest of nights, with a bright blue underbelly and stripes. His eyes were electric blue, and his claws were sharp and ivory in color. His parents, Bloodtide and Rippedclaw, were delighted that their first born was a male, so glad in fact that they decided to train him in the ways of a fighter like their parents had taught them.

The first weeks of the hatchling’s life were full of adventure as he got to know his family. He was named Riptide, and declared heir to his parent’s pack. His first friends were a female named Leafwind and a male named Red Death, both of his parent’s pack. The three hatchlings were off playing in the undergrowth under the watch of Riptide’s father when they ran into a young female and a tiger-striped male.

“My name’s Jade,” the female squeaked. “Who’re you guys?”

“I’m Riptide,” Riptide answered, his voice strong for a hatchling of his age. Red Death and Leafwind introduced themselves eagerly, while Bloodtide and Grayclaw merely gave each other cold looks.

“Bloodtide,” Grayclaw hissed angrily.

“Grayclaw,” Bloodtide snarled. “What’re you doing so deep in my pack’s territory?”

“I’m afraid you are mistaken,” Grayclaw growled. “You see, this is my territory. And you are nothing more than a mere pest.”

Riptide, Leafwind, Jade and Red Death watched fearfully as the adults quarreled. “What do you make of this?” Riptide hissed in a low tone to Red Death.

“I’m not sure,” Red Death whispered back. Leafwind stared as Grayclaw picked Jade up by her back and carried her off. Bloodtide picked Riptide up as well and motioned for the other two to follow him.

A short distance from the camp, Bloodtide set his son down on a rock and growled, “Leafwind, Red Death, go back to your parents and stay there. I want to speak with my son alone.”

The two hatchlings nodded unhappily and sulked off. Bloodtide turned to look at where Grayclaw had been a few moments before. “I don’t want you speaking to them again, Riptide,” the smoky gray male growled after a short silence, the gold stripes on his jaws and spine seeming to shine in the sunlight. “They are our enemies.”

“Why? Did they do something to us?”

“Yes, they did son. They betrayed us long ago, and are outcasts now.”

“Well, what did they do?”

Bloodtide turned to look at his son, and wanted to claw the innocence off of that young face. “A few months ago, Grayclaw attacked us when we were at our weakest. It was only your mother and I, alone in Grayclaw’s territory. Sapphire, who was showing Jade the territory, raised the alarm when she spotted us. Grayclaw came running and gave me this scar.” Bloodtide turned his head to show a long, thick scar that stretched from his right eye to his left shoulder.

Riptide’s eyes widened. Something as insignificant as trespassing on enemy territory led to a fight? It seemed so trivial.

“And what’s worse,” Bloodtide went on, his voice bitter, “was that your mother was getting ready to lay her eggs when she was mauled by Sapphire, Grayclaw’s mate. We were forced to the territory borders where we met up with some former allies of Grayclaw’s family. He had betrayed them too, in some way, so we agreed to form a pack. Since then, we’ve always sought to get rid of Grayclaw’s bloodline, no matter the cost. And you, Riptide,” Bloodtide added, a gleam of pride in his blue eyes, “will one day kill them all. It is your destiny.”

The young male hatchling struggled to comprehend this. He, an inexperienced hatchling, would kill Grayclaw, Sapphire and Jade? It seemed so…so…wrong! Riptide knew he could never kill anyone, even if he wanted to.

He fell asleep that night, confused and unhappy. The next morning, he was awoken by the screams of a helpless hatchling. He sprang up and bolted towards the source, which turned out to be a young female raptor surrounded by older males.

“Just shut up and we won’t hurt you!” one snarled. The white female, her claws golden brown, screeched, “I’d rather die!”

“Hey!” Riptide shouted. “Leave her alone! What has she done to you?”

One hatchling, a gray male with a scar down his face, hissed, “She’s found our secret lake, and we want her to swear she’ll never tell any of the adults about it!”

“It’s poisoned!” the female yelled. “You’ll die if you go on drinking it!”

“Shut up!” a dark brown male hissed.

“What’re your names?” Riptide asked, suddenly curious.

“I’m Nightmare,” the brown male growled. He gestured to the gray male and the black male in turn and hissed, “This is Whiplash and that’s Night.”

“I’m Amberclaw,” the white female hissed shyly. “What’d your name be?”

“Riptide,” Riptide growled, padding forward. “Let me see this lake. Maybe I can help you with it.”

Night snarled, “We won’t be needing help, Riptide. My parents drink it every day, and my brother says it’s perfectly safe, so why should I be worried?”

Amberclaw had no answer to that, and Riptide growled suddenly, “Wait, I’ll go get Leafwind and Red Death! They’ll want to know about this too.”

“Hurry up,” Whiplash snapped.

Riptide darted back to his pack’s camp and roused his friends. “Come on, I’ve met some new friends,” he growled excitedly. The two raptors followed him without question, and before long the seven young raptors were at a pale green lake.

“This is the spot?” Riptide breathed. He stepped forward and lapped up a few drops of the strange liquid. It was strange, unusually sweet in taste. He looked around the edges of the lake and saw mud, deciding that was what made the water so weird tasting. “Come on! It’s amazing!”

Amberclaw stepped forward rather hesitantly, though Nightmare, Night and Whiplash showed no fear, and Leafwind and Red Death followed.

As the months passed, Riptide grew stronger and stronger, as did his friends. Night became his most trusted companion, the two never far from the other’s side. They were constantly talking about the best places to hunt and what their fathers were teaching them.

“You’re weak!” Bloodtide snarled as he hurled his son to the ground. “A mutant is no son of mine!”

“Father, please…” Riptide growled, staring up at his father in fear. “I—“

“Rippedclaw!” Bloodtide snarled. “How did this abomination come from us?”

Rippedclaw blinked slowly, her beautiful dark amber eyes shadowed with loss and pain. “I don’t know,” she whispered. “I don’t know, but he is not my son.”

Leafwind and Red Death huddled beside Riptide, having been disowned by their own families as well. Red Death had grown black quills on top of his head, trailing down to the base of his skull where they stopped. Leafwind’s quills were dark green, starting at the base of her skull and stopping at the base of her neck. Riptide had similar quills to Red Death’s, only his were tipped with blue.

Exiled, the three young raptors wandered until they stumbled across a clearing where a young male raptor, whose skin was gray and his quills sky blue, was nuzzling a pale green female in happiness. Between them was a nest with a single egg in it.

“Is that Jade?” Leafwind rasped in Riptide’s ear.

“Yes,” Red Death murmured. “But who’s that with her?”

“No matter how many, our parents told us they have to be killed,” Riptide growled. “We’re to leave no one alive.”

“We need a bigger group,” Leafwind hissed. Together, the three of them vanished into the undergrowth. A short while later, they arrived at the green lake and took a long drink, waiting for Night, Whiplash, Nightmare and Amberclaw to show up.

To their surprise, there was another new raptor with them. She was dark brown with orange eyes, and her name was Deadmoon. Her quills were dark orange tipped with yellow, and she was reluctant to trust Riptide. Finally, after much coaxing, she relented.

“Let me show you some of the other mutants around here,” Deadmoon offered. Before long, Riptide had met Jaggedclaw, Shadowsoul, Darkheart, Brokentail and Clawface. All of them were mutants who had been evicted by their packs.

“I have an idea,” Riptide hissed once all thirteen raptors were gathered by the strange green lake. “Why don’t we make a pack of our own? Then we could overthrow our former packs and kill anyone who opposes us.”

“That’s a good idea,” Night hissed with a grin. He exchanged a glance with Whiplash, who nodded.

Nightmare growled, “The problem is, who to attack first?”

“I know,” Leafwind snarled. “We attack Bloodtide’s pack. He evicted Red Death, Riptide and I not long ago.”

“How many are there?” Deadmoon rasped.

“Not a lot, seven or so if you count the hatchlings,” Riptide growled. “When we attack, leave Bloodtide and Rippedclaw to me. My parents deserve to suffer for what they’ve done.”

Night nodded slowly. “Of course. Perhaps we should spend the night here and attack in the morning.”

Riptide agreed. All of the group were of unnatural size, Riptide being the biggest at ten feet long and six feet high. Night followed him at nine feet long and five and a half feet high. The black raptor had gained a long white scar down one side of his face since their last meeting, claiming it was from a failed attempt to take a young spino’s life.

During the night, Riptide found himself unable to sleep, so he took to spying on Bloodtide and Rippedclaw alone. They were sleeping side by side beside a large nest. Riptide felt anger well up inside his chest and vanished into the forest’s shadows. He suddenly wished his favorite white female was beside him. Amberclaw had left to see her sister, having heard that she had had hatchlings.

When the white female returned a few days later, she announced that the hatchlings were named Clawfist and Softfoot. She was a happy aunt, but she couldn’t bask in this revelation for too long, for Riptide had told them that it was time to attack. The group of thirteen made their way to Bloodtide’s territory and let Riptide approach first.

“Hello, father,” the young male snarled. “Remember me?”

Bloodtide scrambled to his feet, startled. How did his son get so big and muscular? “How’d you get like this?” the smoky gray raptor growled.

“I had some help from a few friends of mine,” Riptide growled. The rest of his pack filed into the clearing, and Bloodtide’s eyes widened in shock. “You made a big mistake when you kicked me out, father,” Riptide growled. “I’ve become too strong for you to intimidate anymore.”

With that, Riptide sprang onto his father with deadly intent. Rippedclaw cried out as the two fighting males rolled close to the nest. She crouched beside her precious eggs, her eyes wide as Bloodtide fought with his son. It was clear that Riptide had the upper hand as he dealt blow after crushing blow. The older male’s blood splattered the earth while Riptide only had a few cuts. Looking around, Rippedclaw saw the hatchlings all dead and the rest of the pack being slaughtered by the abominations.

Finally, Bloodtide fell to Riptide’s claws. The black female watched in horror as Riptide brought his killer claws down on his father’s throat and split it wide open. Then the azure striped mutant rounded on the nest and the helpless hatchlings that wailed inside. “I’ll crush your future just like you crushed mine!” he snarled lifting one hatchling in his jaws and hurling it with all of his might into a tree. The impact killed the little thing.

“No! Riptide, don’t do this!” Rippedclaw screamed. But it was too late. Riptide had the second hatchling in his claws and was swallowing the third one whole. He dropped the young raptor in his claws and crushed its skull with a heavy blow from his foot. He then turned on his mother, rage in his blue eyes.

“You would have abandoned me even if father hadn’t kicked me out,” he snarled. “You don’t deserve to live.”

Rippedclaw shook her head frantically. “No, Riptide, it isn’t like that! I’m your mother. I would never abandon my own son!”

“But you did,” Riptide snarled. “You didn’t try to stop father when he kicked me out. You started another family after me. And you never searched for me after I left the territory with Leafwind and Red Death!” He slashed his mother across the face, making her head snap to one side. He wanted her to suffer for her mistake. “But that’s all about to change, now isn’t it. I’ll get my revenge for the wrongs done to me. Even if I am destined to kill Grayclaw, Sapphire and Jade, that is no excuse to send me out on my own for becoming strong!”

Rippedclaw let out a wail. Her mate and hatchlings were dead, and her oldest son had turned into a blood-thirsty killer. “I never wanted this to happen!” Rippedclaw shrieked at Riptide. He only laughed and picked her up by the back of her neck, forcing her to stand.

“You should’ve made that clear when father exiled me, mother!” he snarled, ramming her chest hard with her shoulder. The force of his attack sent her to the ground with a loud screech. Then Riptide was on her, slashing and biting at her flank and face, slowly killing her. He didn’t care that she was his mother, he didn’t care that his new friends had just wiped out Bloodtide’s pack completely. He lifted his head, his jaws drenched in blood, and barked, “Leafwind! Go find out who that young male we saw with Jade is.” Then he returned to torturing his mother, ignoring her screams of pure agony as Leafwind dashed off to carry out Riptide’s orders.

“Now die!” Riptide screeched as he bit down on his mother’s throat. After much effort, he tore it out completely, leaving her to twitch feebly until she finally stopped moving.

“Riptide,” Leafwind called as she skidded into the bloodstained clearing. “Grayclaw and Sapphire’s daughter Jade has found a mate by the name of Mightytalon. And they now have a son named Tigerstripe.”

“What?!” Riptide snarled, enraged. He forced himself to calm down and growled, “We will give them two years of peace. Maybe by then we will have enough followers to kill them all.”

“You believe we are not strong enough?” Red Death growled from his place beside one of the bodies. “We are mutants and they are normal raptors. We should be able to handle ourselves.”

“I think not,” Riptide growled. “That new male, Mightytalon, looked like a mutant when we last saw him if you remember. That means all of their offspring will be at least half mutant.”

“And why should we fear them?” growled Night. “We are many and they are few.”

Some of the pack nodded agreement to the black male’s words. Riptide’s expression, however, remained blank. “We must lull them into a false sense of security,” he growled. “Then, when the two years are up, we attack. Leave no one alive.”

The two years passed gradually, and Riptide’s pack grew bigger. More than once they had spied on Grayclaw’s family and seen a little black and white female playing with Tigerstripe. They decided she must be Jade and Mightytalon’s daughter. The day after, they heard her name was Steeltalon.

After a week of waiting, Riptide finally gathered his original group of thirteen and quietly barked orders. “Amberclaw, Deadmoon, Shadowsoul, Darkheart and Leafwind, you’ll take Sapphire and Grayclaw. Night, Whiplash, Red Death and I will attack Jade and Mightytalon. Jaggedclaw, Nightmare, Brokentail and Clawface, you take care of any and all of their allies.”

The day afterwards, Riptide launched the attack. The pack split up, each group attacking their assigned parties. The screams of the dying raptors filled the air, along with a reek of freshly spilled blood.

Riptide fought one on one with Mightytalon, their attacks powerful and well-aimed. As the azure striped male downed Mightytalon, he let out a shriek of defiance and slashed Riptide over the eye. Badly wounded and now blind in one eye, the black mutant backed off, snarling, and watched as Night moved in to finish off the gray raptor. Jade was already dead, along with Tigerstripe, Grayclaw and Sapphire.

“This was too easy!” Night snarled. He crushed Mightytalon’s neck in one bite and lifted his head. He could see Steeltalon lying motionless, a two foot long wound down her three foot long body. He smirked, but didn’t miss the flicker of movement that was Steeltalon dragging herself into a bramble bush. His ice blue eyes narrowed angrily, but he turned away, knowing the young raptor would be dead before sundown.

“Well done,” Riptide growled. “Now let’s go back to the clearing.”

“Uh, we can’t!” Amberclaw growled suddenly. “I, um, there’s a…I’ll be back soon!”

She dashed off, leaving Riptide completely bewildered. He shrugged it off as nothing and padded back to the clearing. When he got there, however, there was a pack of raptors that had a little off-white female raptor with them there. “Leave, now!” Riptide snarled angrily. The raptors nodded quickly and picked up their hatchling, quickly racing off to settle somewhere else.

When Amberclaw returned several days later, she had a young smoky gray raptor with gold stripes on both sides of his lower jaw and trailing down his neck. “Riptide,” she growled cautiously. “This is our son. His name is Raven.”

“Oh, Amberclaw,” Riptide breathed, approaching the white female and giving the hatchling a tender look. The young male yawned and blinked leaf-green eyes. “He’s…perfect.”

Amberclaw smiled tiredly. She had been afraid that Riptide would be angry because the young hatchling looked just like Bloodtide. “You see, the thing is…I can’t take care of him. I…I am not a mother and I never will be.”

Riptide nuzzled his favorite female and growled, “Take care of him for two weeks. Then we will hunt down the pack with that little off-white hatchling and tell them to raise our son. One day we will tell him he is ours.”

Amberclaw nodded. “Two weeks, but no longer,” she agreed quietly.

During those two weeks, Riptide’s pack kept a careful watch on the pack with the little hatchling. After the weeks were up, Riptide gave a loud bark to announce his presence. “Listen up,” he snarled to the dominant male and female. “I’m only going to say this once. This is my son, Raven. You are to raise him as if you would your own, and he is not to know of his parentage.”

The two raptors nodded fearfully, the female a pretty golden brown in color while her mate was gray with white patches shaped like clouds. “We will take care of your son,” the female murmured.

“Good,” Riptide snarled. He turned and bolted into the undergrowth, intending to make sure these two insignificant raptors treated his son as Raven was meant to be treated: with respect.

As the third week of the month dragged by, it was clear that Raven was being mistreated. He was covered in bloody wounds and he was thin, while the off-white female was well-fed and unscarred.

Riptide decided to take revenge for his son’s treatment. He organized a small patrol and attacked the brown female’s pack, killing both leading raptors and everyone else who stood in the way.

"Mother?" Raven barked, clearly listening for a reply. "Father?!" Riptide winced, knowing that Raven would believe his parents to be dead.

The forest was suddenly eerily still, and out of the bushes came Riptide and the seven other raptors he had chosen to take with him. "You see what happens to those who invade our territory," Riptide hissed, a mocking tone to his voice.

Amberclaw hissed, "The same fate awaits those at your home."

The black leader growled, "We own that clearing you've settled in. So, leave and never come back or you suffer the same fate as them." He barked a command and the seven raptors slid into the undergrowth, each returning with a body in their mouths.

Raven started shaking in fear and rage. "You monsters," he hissed.

"Yes we are," a white female flecked with black hissed. "We're not like you." The others let out mocking laughs that rang around the still forest.

"We are much better than you," Riptide snarled. He kicked the body of the dead dominant male. "That's why they stood no chance against us. We are stronger than you, and we are smarter than you." He looked up at Raven through narrowed blue eyes. "My name is Riptide. Remember that, puny raptor."

Riptide and Amberclaw watched, pained, as their only son turned and ran from them. “Let’s go back,” Riptide murmured. He hissed a low signal and the others started laughing as if in triumph.

A week later, Riptide returned from a hunt to find the hatchlings all dead and the raptors who had been set to guard them seriously injured. “Night!” Riptide snarled angrily. “What has happened, who has done this?”

“It…it was Steeltalon,” Night rasped, bleeding heavily from a large gash in his chest. “The little brat caught us off-guard and killed all of our hatchlings.”

“Sh*t….SH*T!” Riptide screeched, infuriated. “That damned half breed has been allowed to live for too long!” He called his best fighters to him and plunged into the vegetation, tracking Steeltalon’s scent.

When they caught up with her, she was standing over a dead Rex, a crazed look on her face. She leapt onto Red Death’s back with a guttural screech, slashing viciously.

“What the hell?” Riptide snarled, turning to face his enemy. By the time he’d gotten ready for an attack, the little female had vanished. The azure striped male snarled angrily and turned to look at his group. To his shock, two of the twelve he’d brought along were dead. Nightmare and Whiplash. Riptide screeched angrily, but knew this was no time for revenge.

Several weeks later, the pack split up. It was months after Steeltalon’s first attack that Riptide heard that Steeltalon had killed Night along with a few others. It was time for the azure striped male to put an end to this nuisance…once and for all.

He met up with one of Leafwind’s hatchlings, a blue-gray male named Riverscar, and attacked a meeting of raptors that usually traveled alone. He was surprised to see Steeltalon among them. She fought with the fury of four years’ hatred, and soon Riverscar was dead.

With the death of Riptide came the avenging of Steeltalon’s family. She was free…at last.
"Gotta have a little sadness once in a while so you know when the good times come."
"Talent is a pursued interest. In other words, anything that you're willing to practice, you can do." ~ Bob Ross

"The future is always uncertain and painful but it must be lived." ~ Unknown
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Postby dinoman666 » Sun Nov 25, 2007 10:15 pm

Nice story. Guess you can't really blame Riptide in the long run.
"Heroes have morals. Villains have work ethic."
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Postby Doc 42 » Sun Nov 25, 2007 10:33 pm

well actually you can... Seeing as he massacred Steelys familiy and honoured his fathers wishes even though he hated his father....
cool Story, seemed kinda rushed to me though...
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Postby Hopeflower » Mon Nov 26, 2007 9:29 pm

Riptide actually wasn't following his father's orders. He was following what he believed to be his destiny. But you're right, he did hate Bloodtide more than anything else.
"Gotta have a little sadness once in a while so you know when the good times come."
"Talent is a pursued interest. In other words, anything that you're willing to practice, you can do." ~ Bob Ross

"The future is always uncertain and painful but it must be lived." ~ Unknown
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