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NaNoWriMo Progress! 8D By Pyro. 01/11/09, 02:51 pm |
| So we can all see what we've each done, yay! <3
Here're the first three chapters of my yet-untitled story, to get the ball rolling:
CHAPTER 1:
- Spoiler:
We procession out of the church to the sounds of a deep, sullen organ, everyone moving at a hurried pace. Old, young, male, female… Birds, beasts, elementals. Some careless lion knocks into me and nearly gets her claw snagged on my skirt. “Hey, watch it!” She’s too busy talking to a wolf to care. Overhead, a falcon takes a shortcut out of the building, her tawny wings flared out wide. The lion’s playing with her tail now, winding it between her slender fingers, as the wolf slips his arms over her shoulders. It’s reminding me of what I have to do. The terrifying encounter that lies ahead of me… But I’ve got to ignore the nerves. A raven-earth hybrid trails behind me, chatting with another mixed breed. After a few moments, he notices me. “Hey, Naberius!” Flexing his great wings, he drags the girl forwards with him, smiling. “Malphas. Asta’,” I greet them quietly, with the slightest wave. My eyes move slowly over Astarte, and her slender figure, as I ponder how to pull her away from her brother. “What’ve you been doing lately, Nab’? It feels like ages since we’ve seen you!” “Well, it has been a week since school finished, Mal’,” “Yeah, I know that, Asta’,” He yawns, scratching absently at the green mark on his right cheek. “But it feels like a lot longer. I mean, we had that boring prize-giving ceremony, and then we went out for dinner, but nope, na-da, nothing between then and now.” Flicking his caramel hair out of the way, Malphas laughs. “I mean, usually it’s like you two are joined at the hip!” Asta’ grabs my hand and pulls me close, swinging her torso around to bump against the side of mine. “What can I say? We’ve both been busy, right, Nab’?” A sly wink causes me to blush. I shouldn’t be blushing, it’ll give my game away. Dressed in her Sunday best, Asta’ is wearing her hair out, the feathers mixed into it catching the light with tiny flecks of color casting off of them. It all goes well with the little pink number she’s got on- that short, tight skirt, and the perfectly fitted jacket... “Yeah,” I can’t manage more than a single word. She’s still beaming at me, a bit of chestnut hair slipping down over her eyes. “How’s packing going, by the way?” I haven’t been packing. Oh, Asta’, what I’ve been doing is far from packing… But you don’t need to know that. “Fine- just fine,” If I keep my responses short and snappy, they won’t figure out that I’m lying. “That’s good. Geez, I’ve still got to start on mine. What do you even take up north?” I’d nearly forgotten where she’s heading next week. The Northern frontlines, on the edge of human territory… I’ve got all the faith in the world that she’ll be fine there, but it’s still a strange thing to consider. Astarte, mowing down legions of those creatures… I hope she’s comfortable living in those desert conditions. “I don’t know… shorts, t-shirts, a canteen.” She flicks her hair slightly, dislodging a single tiny feather from it. The raven in her is a lot less obvious than it is in her brother. Malphas has great wings, several meters each in length, and there are tiny feathers growing from each pore where, on me, a human hair grows. The only part of him that takes after his earth-father is the mark on his cheek. Asta’ and I’re jealous of it, each for our own reasons. Mine… well, mine are hard to explain. She just wants the prestige of a male elemental. It doesn’t suit her, playing a girly role. I know she’ll be ripping off that pink ensemble the moment she gets home. I think that’s what I like about Asta’—she’s not exactly feminine, but she can play at it well. “Well, duh. I mean other than that… Do you think I’ll need to take a bikini? I hear there’re some nice pools there,” “Those’re on human territory, sis’,” Malphas grins, and ruffles his sister’s hair. His baby sister Asta’… He’s very protective of her. I remember when we were children, I nearly knocked her over on the pavement one day when we were fighting over some chalk. He came down on me out of nowhere, and started screaming abuse. He caught hold of my hair, and ripped a huge chunk out. For months after, I felt incomplete. Mum let me wear a hat, but it didn’t help. It’s one of the few things about my life I’ve truly chosen. Keeping my hair long, so I’ve got that fiery stream of fibers floating out behind me whenever I step into a breeze—I love it. “Well who knows, Mal’. Maybe with me there, we’ll be claiming them for our own soon.” Malphas’ wings flap slightly in annoyance at his sister’s statement. “Yeah, sure we will. Look, you and Nab’ have catching up to do, so I’m going to go and find dad. See you later, sis’,” Mounting the air, he climbs up towards the roof, but doesn’t move entirely away quite yet. “And hey, Nab’! Don’t forget to say goodbye before you head off on Thursday—Asta’ and I need to give you a proper farewell party!” With two slow beats of his mighty wings, he’s out of the church, leaving Asta’ and I alone in the crowd of people. “So, are you looking forward to leaving?” I ask her, determined not to let conversation fall to me and where I’m heading. They think I’m studying abroad… it needs to stay that way. “Yeah, I am,” Asta’ gazes out the too-close doorway with glazed-over eyes, and grins. “Finally, I get to show off my skills. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t excited.” We both fall quiet as we pass through the exit and into a car-park. By a nearby car, Astarte’s parents and Malphas chat, looking bored by the ceremony that has just been. “Do you need to go right away?” Yeah, that’s right Nab’, it’s now or never… “What, home?” Obviously. “Yeah.” “No, why?” I grip her hand in mine. “I want a word with you… without your brother there.” “Wha—“ Before she can protest, I wrench her off the footpath and begin to run towards a nearby public toilet building. My nose wrinkles at the smell when we enter. “Nab’, seriously, what’re we doing?” She stands casually by the entrance, not moving any further in but not running either. “I…” My throat closes up, and she looks at me expectantly. She’s getting impatient. I’m getting impatient with myself. Why can’t I just make a move to show her what I want to show? Why can’t I say anything? Asta’, you’re beautiful, but you’re impatient—why are you scowling at me like that? Seeing her so annoyed… It makes me… Well, I should really tell her, shouldn’t I? But it’s so hard. I’m never going to see her again after this, so it shouldn’t matter either way… “Hurry it up, Nab’. Do you even have a reason for dragging us all the way out here?” She eyes a stain on one wall with a disdainful expression. Crude drawings have been spray painted all over the interiors of the building. Amazing, isn’t it? How society can be at its heights merely fifty meters from its depths. Maybe I should run further in—I know she won’t follow. It’d mean I wouldn’t have to confess my feelings. Asta’, stop being so beautiful. It’s too alluring, the way you roll your eyes, lick the inside of your cheek, consider the design of this glorified shed. “Asta’, I…” “Get on with it, girlfriend,” Checking her nails, she slips ever so slightly towards the door. “Man, you can be so weird sometimes…” “I!” Once again, my voice won’t work. I can’t do this. I can’t do this. I turn away from her and go over the outcomes in my head. She doesn’t reciprocate, I leave, no-one loses. She does reciprocate, I leave, but at least we both know. Yeah, this should be fine either way. “I!” I… still can’t do it! Asta’, come on, say it for me. “Look, I’ve got to go, if there’s nothing you want…” I look back to see her beginning to exit. “No, Asta’, I—“ “You what, Nab’?” “I… I love you!” She freezes, twists around, and stares straight at me. “You… what, Nab’?” “I…” For some reason, it’s harder the second time. “I love you.” She doesn’t seem disgusted or delighted, just… perplexed. She steps towards me. “Are you serious, Nab’?” I can hardly nod, but somehow, I do. Her stunning lime-green eyes open and close, open and close. And then she shakes her head. “Oh man. I really don’t know how to… Are you…? Wow,” Congratulations, Naberius, you have succeeded in breaking your best friend. “How long have you liked me…?” I think for a little while. “About three years,” Now she nods. “I see. Well, I don’t. But… Hell, Nab’, I don’t get it,” Neither do I, Asta’, neither do I. “You… you’re definitely serious?” And it gets better, Asta’. “Have you always been, er, that way inclined? Because I didn’t notice,” Now here comes the real bombshell. I unzip my jacket, and begin to toy with the buttons on my shirt. “Asta’… Uh, how to put this…” I’ve got three buttons to go, and so many words to match to them. “I’m not ‘that way inclined’ at all. I’m just… Er…” I’ve never been good with words, so I let the slow opening of my shirt say it all. “You’re... a guy.” She says it so plainly, it feels like she’s known forever. “Yeah.” Outside, I hear the beating of wings, and a set of black feathers drift in through the doorway. It takes me less than a second to realize that I might’ve just made the biggest mistake of my life, and then only fractionally longer to notice that Asta’ has wound her arms around my waist, and that she’s moved her tongue into a comfortable position around mine.
CHAPTER 2:
- Spoiler:
How’d I get into this predicament in the first place? I still can’t figure out whether it’s mum’s fault or dad’s. The fact I’m the son of some ‘filthy lower-rank demon’ (to quote dad), or that my father’s got a few screws loose and one hell of a temper? Maybe it’s a bit of both. Still, there’s no way of arguing against the fact that they’re the ones responsible for this.
Mum told me the story once. She was about twenty two, and ‘Rai’ was one. Mum was getting into a lot of fights with dad around then, because ‘Rai’ kept waking dad all the time. Dad, on one occasion, got particularly furious, and mum stormed out of the house, telling him to see for himself how hard it is to look after a baby. She walked all the way downtown to visit some club she liked, just wanting to get drunk and have a good time. When she got there, she fell in with a guy from the dance-floor and… well, the rest, as they say, is history.
When I was born, dad screamed abuse at mum and threatened to have me killed. A son with no marks? How would that get past the media—they’d notice, they’d realize the affair, and bang, dad’s political career would be travelling quickly down the toilet, followed swiftly by mum’s singing. But then mum came up with some cunning plan to pretend I was a girl, and then claim I had died in a tragic accident whenever the day came to give up the ghost—luckily for me, that day still hasn’t come.
When I turned two, ‘Rai’ stopped them from getting out the gun by proving how upsetting it is to see a four-year-old cry. When I was five, ‘Rai’ saved me once again—and by that time, thank Amon, I had started to look effeminate enough for my father to realize that, with a bit of money, he could bluff me through everything and keep my real gender a secret. The death threats did pop up every now and again, but, as was tradition by then, ‘Rai’ would bail me out somehow.
Dad always did like ‘Rai’, I guess. Something in my brother’s blonde hair and sky-blue eyes kind of made dad feel nostalgic. I’ve seen pictures, and the resemblance is there between ‘Rai’ and teenaged dad. I should be glad, I guess. If it weren’t for how well-liked my brother was, I wouldn’t be here right now. Or maybe, it would’ve been better if I was killed.
When I was eleven or twelve, my father ordered some mage-doctors to visit us and seal off my awakening. With the useful cosmetic effect of stopping me from aging too much (I think I look like I’m about fourteen now, when I should really be eighteen), they also managed to prevent me from showing any of my real father’s traits… and who knows what those are. Mum swears he was elemental, but if that’s true, then where’s my mark? If there’s one thing my father and I agree on, it’s that you can never trust what mum says. Between her forgetfulness and her tendency to lie, she’s definitely not someone to rely on for information.
Maybe that’s another reason why dad hates me… Because I look like my lying, cheating mother. After my birth, she wanted a divorce, but doing that would’ve ruined dad’s career. He needed to look like a loving family man for the press, so that more people would vote for him in elections. Even after eighteen years, he’s still only leader of the opposition, so it’s up for debate whether his ‘family man’ tactic attracted more people to him, but maybe some day soon, it’ll pay off.
Some day soon… He’ll be the loving family man with a dead daughter. Finally, he and ‘Rai’ have met half way, and come up with a plan that’ll let me live freely. They found a clinic in some remote mountain village that specializes in mage-doctor treatments. It’s very small, very expensive, but has had good results thus far… So I’m being sent there to have my powers unbound. The theory is that, because I’m the son of some ‘dirty animal’, if and when I come back I won’t look so much like my mother any more—which is beneficial for everyone. My parents’ll hook me up with some money and send me packing, while the rest of the population lives under the assumption that I’m dead. I’m torn between excitement and dread for that day.
On one hand, I’ll finally be free from my self-centered dad and my cheating mum… But then there’s the fact I won’t see ‘Rai’ again… Or, for that matter, Asta’ and Malphas. Asta’s been my friend since primary school, and Malphas has always hovered around us over-protectively. It’ll be weird to live without seeing them regularly; but I guess that’ll be for the best now that Asta’ knows my secret.
Thinking about it now, why did I even tell her? I could have lived with myself if I hadn’t told her. Just gone on thinking about her as the girl that got away… But now I know that she has feelings for me too. Or maybe… She was so hesitant to respond, but the moment I showed her that I was male, she was all over me. Was that some kind of sudden lust coming from the fact I was a pretty-boy? I mean, I’ve always known that she’s not really one for manly-men, but still… Did she do that because of me, or because of my body? Geez, for all the years I’ve spent hanging around them, I still don’t get girls.
I’m worried about that noise, too, and the feathers. I wonder, was Malphas…? No, I’m just being paranoid. Besides, from out there, he wouldn’t have heard anything, or seen anything… I should be safe. Note, ‘should be’.
… I hope I’m safe. But with Malphas, you never know until he strikes.
CHAPTER 3:
- Spoiler:
Throwing the last of my clothes into a suitcase, I turn tiredly to face ‘Rai’. “You think I’ve got everything?” He stares in, and begins counting something on his fingers. “… Did you remember to pack a toothbrush?” I groan, and make my way towards the hallway. “And some toothpaste, too. You can steal my tube as a going away present, if you’d like.” “Oh, so generous,” My brother the cheapskate. He’s always spending all his money on comic books and DVDs, and other weird nerdy things. I can never really decide if I love him for it or not. On one hand, it’s kind of funny to get a toilet brush for your birthday. On the other, I really did want those shoes I saw… “Can I take your floss, too?” “Sure, if you want,” Pulling the lollipop he’s sucking on out of his mouth, he looks at it appreciatively. Raspberry flavor—our favorite. It’s like he’s trying to mock me or something. Yes, ‘Rai’, I get that I have to go and get toothpaste and mouth-wash and whatever the hell else, you don’t need to mock me for it. Stomping heavily out of the room, I try to remember whose bathroom the good toothbrush is in. It’s supposed to be mine, but ‘Rai’s always taking it. There’s one good thing about me moving out: I won’t have to put up with my toothbrush going missing every five minutes. Taking a left, I decide I’ll go to ‘Rai’s first so I can get the toothpaste.
A few doors down, I find the room I’m after, and step in. It’s a pig-sty, just like the rest of ‘Rai’s rooms. His bedroom is the worst, but this could almost compete—wet towels everywhere, a ‘stack’ of magazines falling over in the corner, and there’s some toothpaste crusted onto his sink. I do my best not to touch any of the dirty clothes he has lying around, and move quickly towards the cabinets against one wall. I pull one open, and gaze in. There’re a few empty cans of deodorant, and… the mouthwash! He won’t care if I take it; it’s brand new as of two months ago, and still unused. Orange flavored—nice. Pressing the cabinet door closed with the tip of one finger, I look at the sink nearby, and notice the toothpaste he’s offered me. Grabbing it, I glance about for my toothbrush, but for once it seems like he hasn’t stolen it. Looks like it’s time for a trip to my end of the hallway.
Stepping out of the bathroom is like teleporting into another world. Everything out here is clean, and the red carpet is plush and soft to the touch. Last time I was in ‘Rai’s room, his carpet seemed more like a sea of pizza grease and spilt juice. Sticky and slick, totally different from how it should be. Making my way down the corridor, I reach my bathroom. Swinging the door open, I immediately spot the toothbrush next to the sink. I don’t have to do any fancy stepping in here- my floor is clean and white, with no errant puddles coming from the shower or wet towels. Deciding I don’t need the floss, I go straight back to my bedroom, where ‘Rai’ is flipping through a book I had beside my bed. As I enter, he places it back down. “Took you a while, Nab’,” “I had to navigate your bathroom, of course it took a while,” Chucking my acquisitions into the suitcase, I hear a gasp of annoyance from my brother. “Is that my mouthwash?” He reaches out to grab it, but I stop him. “Yes, but you haven’t used it in the two months since we bought it, so it’s mine now,” He retreats, and shoots me a hurt look. “Fine, sentence me to bad breath, then,” He breathes a mixture of onions and raspberry at me. “Guess I’ll just have to steal dad’s.” I’d never get away with that. Sometimes, I wonder if ‘Rai’ realizes how lucky he is. Reasonably smart, attractive, and he gets along with nearly everyone. I guess his organizational skills make up for it. Flipping my suitcase closed, I run the zip around it, shutting it tight. This is it, I’m finally saying goodbye. “Hey, Nab’, you sure you’re ready to go?” ‘Rai’ looks almost upset, which is weird, considering how upbeat he normally is. “I mean, it’s still about an hour until your ride gets here… We could still try and talk dad out of sending you away.” Ha-ha, nice one, ‘Rai’- you’re the one who came up with this plan to begin with, and to be honest, I kind of like it. “I want to go. The faster I leave, the less time I have to panic,” It’s a fair worry for me to have. I’m not exactly a calm person when I’m given reason to freak out… I’d probably try to jump out of the car, or something. “… I’m going to miss you, Nab’. You know that, right?” He looks at me like I don’t. “Yeah, ‘Rai’, I do,” Drawing me into a hug, he grins, nearly crushing me with his strength. It’s moments like this that make me want to leave. I’m eighteen, I shouldn’t be able to be handled by my brother like this. For all I know, I might be taller than him when I come back, or stronger. I might be able to handle my powers better than he does… but I guess that’s a given. ‘Rai’ takes after dad to the point that he doesn’t show the slightest hint of mum’s fire. The only thing to show he’s got some of her genes is the red color of his mark, a funny lightning-bolt like shape on his left cheek. The sad thing about ‘Rai’ is that his air abilities are pretty weak too. He’s hard-pressed to make even a small breeze, and the last time he tried to wind-ride we had to go to hospital to get his leg fixed up. Dad’s always promised to teach ‘Rai’ how to get better at using his abilities, but ‘Rai’s pride stops him from ever taking dad up on that offer. “You’d better write lots. And text me. And maybe IM me if you can use a computer—“ “’Rai’, I don’t think they even have cell phone reception up there. Besides, if they do, who’s to say I’ll be able to use a phone after a while?” One of the many problems of awakening: a lot of demons find that they’re suddenly unable to use their phones because they’ve inherited their dad’s claws, or they’ve got to cut holes out the back of their favorite shirt because they’ve shown his wings. It’s kind of weird, I guess. Save for the odd mark, we all look like our mothers until we’re about fourteen or fifteen (they said it was some evolutionary thing and that millennia ago demons lived in a matriarchal society, so it was better to look like your mother… I really don’t get it) and then suddenly, kaboom- we’re suddenly blonde and blue eyed with claws and wings growing out of every spare bit of skin we have. Luckily, they’re beginning to invent phones that can be used easily even with claws, among other things. I’m actually really curious about how claw mp3 players work… “Can I visit you then, at least?” Would I want him to visit me? I’m going to be in pain for the next year or so, and then there’s all the training I have to go through so that, among other things, I don’t set people on fire by accident. Thanks a lot, mum, for being a fire elemental. “Do you want to see me in half-state?” I saw ‘Rai’ do his half time, and even though very little happened to him, it looked painful. Every day his crimson hair turned more and more blonde, and his eyes went from deep red to that chilling blue they are now. He kept screaming at random, and in general it was just kind of unnerving. Before awakening, he and I looked like brothers… Now we look like polar opposites. Sometimes, I think he’s upset by it too. “Good point. But, I also want to spend as much time as I can with you while you’re still Nab’. I mean, what if you come back and you’re a snail-donkey-lemur hybrid?” It takes a lot not to laugh at the image. “’Rai’, I don’t think I’ll be that different,” ‘Rai’ mimes horns and makes a strange mix between the sound of an owl and a cow. “You say that now, but soon you’ll be like something from down in the markets. Pretty little Nab’ won’t be so pretty any more,” Is he trying to scare me out of the awakening or something? “Knock it off, ‘Rai’!” I knock down his hands, and begin to laugh, maybe to dispel a few of my nerves. “You laugh now, but you won’t later!” Grinning at me mischievously, ‘Rai’ folds his arms triumphantly. “I mean, who’s to say you won’t come back half-plant?” “Don’t even joke about that, ‘Rai’,” Mum says we shouldn’t talk down to plants, and we know that it’s wrong to, but we really can’t help ourselves. “Okay, okay, I’ll shut up now,” Silence, for a few seconds, but we both start laughing again pretty quickly. “… I’m going to miss you, Nab’,” Unusually somber, ‘Rai’ mumbles those words, before getting up from the bed. “Well, I guess we’d better go downstairs. Mum and dad’re probably waiting for us.” “Naberius, Leraije, come down, I see the car pulling up!” Mum calls out loudly from below. Damn, it’s early. “Speak of the devil,” ‘Rai’ says with a grin. “Let’s get going, then. I’ll help you with your bags.” Passing my other suitcase to him, I lead the way down, feeling my heart sink with every step. When I next see this place… I won’t be me any more.
NOW GO FORTH, FELLOW NANOWRIMOERS! SHOW ME WHAT YOU GOT! <3 |
| Pyro Winner of the Infinitely Quotable Award
Number of posts : 3934 Age : 29 Location : Auckland Transforms into : Tik-Tok Tibenoch Gender : Female Registration date : 2007-12-03
| | |
| Re: NaNoWriMo Progress! 8D By seraphik. 01/11/09, 02:54 pm |
| FORTISSIMO
so far, 14,058/50,000. (also stickied the thread. 8D) CHAPTER ONE - Spoiler:
CHAPTER ONE
In our modern world, so many things get lost and swept under the carpet- old moral values, the ‘good ol’ way of doing things’- and now, it appears, music has succumbed to this fate as well. It seems strange that something so crucial and important to us all could be discarded and forgotten so easily, especially when music, among other things in the Arts, is what makes us human. Alive.
Unfortunately, the young prospective students in Kyoto’s opinions differed to this greatly. It wasn’t hard to see the slow decline of interest in the study of music, really. Attendance to local- even national conservatories declined, fewer technical exams were signed up for, and several musical colleges in Japan and across the world suffered. One in particular? What was formerly called the Kyoto Junior College of Music.
A generation ago, the establishment relished in high levels of attendance and musical ability from its students, being able to survive entirely on local and out-of-town attendance. It was one of the top in it’s field, one of the most acclaimed musical colleges in the world, let alone Japan itself- but as young people began to lose interest in studying music, so did the college fall into disarray.
With such a colourful and respectable history, the heads of the school were desperate to find some way to save their college and to continue to educate those in pursuit of their love of music- and during one final meeting of the Board, a suggestion came up out of the blue.
Why not make the Junior College of Music an international faculty?
Why not accept students from abroad, and not only from Japan?
Not only would it solve their current financial crisis, but with the added incentive of meeting people from abroad, perhaps it’d spark local student’s interest in attending again?
Not being left much other choice, the College’s board members decided that, yes, they’d integrate, become an international boarding school, and then rename the College…
The Kyoto International College of Music.
--
“Sabine—Sabby, wait!”
A short, cherub-faced blonde girl half-hopped, half-ran after a taller brunette, her face the very epitome of distress. It was quite comical the way she was bumbling along as well, considering her left hand was currently poking through a large hole in the bottom of her shoulder-bag- she looked almost like a modern-day Igor.
The girl in front of her stopped presently at the wail and turned around, fixing her gaze on the other and her bag-hole in wonder. Adjusting the circular-framed glasses on her nose to get a better look, she absently wondered just how her friend had managed to use that bag for so long without noticing a hole that was almost certainly larger than eighty percent of her books.
“What--?” Sabine asked, finding it difficult to keep the incredulous tone out of her voice. “I mean. Apart from that black hole there.”
Looking a little shamefaced, the fingers poking out of the bag wiggled slightly. “I… I lost my calculator. It’s not in here anymore.”
Really.
“Somehow, I’m not surprised.” The brunette replied, taking a step forward to inspect the area the fingers were wiggling out of, the tiniest hint of a smile curling up the corners of her lips at the irony. They had been on their way to Calculus- a subject which does indeed require the services of a calculator- but now Ana was appeared to be having a small crisis meeting that criterion.
Looking up from the bag to scan the courtyard hastily for the device (which wasn’t easy through throngs of people, mind you), she failed to spot it and with this, a small sigh escaped her.
Below her head, the fingers wiggled. Again.
“Look, stop that, you’re just going to make the hole bigger.” Sabine reprimanded, and quickly the fingers disappeared from the hole in the bag and Ana’s face took on a small guilty look.
“It’s not my fault-! Those two stole my bag yesterday and were using it to ride surf down the hills… or… something…” She replied sadly, a thick German accent lining her voice as she tried to explain just why she was now in this predicament. Sabine merely shook her head and absently smoothed her school skirt down out of habit.
If it was anything to do with ‘those two’, then she wasn’t really surprised- and almost immediately, the bag-hole had lost all of her interest.
“Alright, alright. Come on, we’ll go look for it- but we’re going to have to be quick, or else we’ll be late.”
With a brief nod of agreement from her friend, the two turned tail and began to dart through the crowd of students on their ways to their own various classes, eyes peeled for the calculator. Dodging through the flocks of teenagers decked out in their red and black uniforms was by no means an easy task, to say the least. At one point during their marathon, Ana accidentally bumped into a small boy with glasses and she looked down and apologized in horror as he picked them up off of the ground and inspected them as if he were about to cry.
No doubt that would haunt her for a while afterwards.
“Ana- hey! It’s not in the courtyard. We’re going to have to try the Science block-!” Sabine called out, the volume half necessary because her friend still looked a little shattered from the little-boy-glasses incident, and half because she was quite a way away.
Going ahead without her, she forced open the large oaken double-doors that granted entry to the block and fixated her eyes on something small and white that was lying on the staircase up to the Physics lab. It was easy to tell from the yelp of joy behind her that they had succeeded in their search for the elusive device, and Ana rushed past Sabine, triumphantly grabbing it up off of the floor and holding it above her head in some odd sort of victory pose.
Proudly, the short girl walked back over to Sabine, her face staunch and scarily fierce.
“Right. Now, when I find those two, I’m going to-“
“You’re going to what, now?” A deep voice rang out from behind them both, startling Sabine and wiping the previous ‘can-kill-at-twenty-paces’ look right off of Ana. Deciding to turn around slowly- very slowly- the brunette tilted her head upwards to stare at the owner of the voice.
A tall, amused-looking boy of about seventeen looked back down at them both, messy black hair pulled into a careless ponytail- most of which was escaping out of it and sitting ad hoc on his shoulders instead.
“You—you ruined my bag!” Ana cried at the newcomer, her hands balling into fists as she tried to put her frustration into words. Unfortunately, she also decided it would be a great idea if she waved them not-very-threateningly at the taller boy, and as she did so, several of her textbooks fell out of the hole in the bottom of her bag. Exasperated, she bent down to pick them up as the boy chuckled with mirth, his eyes fixing on Sabine just as a loud chime sounded- the clanging of cast iron ringing a reminder in their ears.
“Shouldn’t you two be in class?” He asked, obviously pleased with himself, judging by the complacent smirk plastered over his face. “Second bell, y’know.”
“Eli, you do realise that in the next life you’re going to be reincarnated as a cockroach?” Sabine replied just as sweetly, getting only a silly grin out of the boy, whose uniform looked like he’d been sleeping in it all night. Or… something like that, anyway. His red and black tie hung around his starched, undone collar, his shirt-tails poked out haphazardly from underneath his black vest and his shoelaces were sprawled out around his feet- a danger both to him and the rest of the general public.
Shoving his hands carelessly into his trouser pockets, he raised an eyebrow at the unimpressed visage of Sabine and Ana, whom had now managed to collect all of her books up off the floor.
“I’m disappointed, Sab. Usually you’re far more creative with your insults, aren’t you?” Eli replied, making a dismissive gesture and meandering past them both to venture further into the building- much to the wonder of the two girls, mostly at how he could avoid tripping over himself.
“What about you, then?” Ana replied haughtily, still cradling the plethora of books in her arms. “Shouldn’t you be in class as well?”
However, the boy didn’t stop walking. He merely dragged a pink slip of paper out of one of his trouser pockets and waved it lazily at them, obviously not bothered that they were both rather peeved.
“Study period, my lovelies! See you at lunch- or maybe not. After all… you do get detentions for being late… hmm…”
And with a creak, he disappeared behind one of the old doors in the corridor, and Sabine and Ana were left standing there with realisation dawning on their faces like the sun to the earth.
“Oh- crap! We’re not going to make it. Come on!”
Doing the first thing that came to mind, Sabine grabbed Ana by the arm and literally dragged her out of the Science block, pulling her out of the building and down the pathway at a speed that a track-and-field member would envy. The courtyard was now empty, apart from one or two stragglers, which only made Sabine worry even more- though the consolation that the Maths block was close at hand was a little relieving.
Rounding a corner and managing not to fall over, they burst through the large wooden doors of the building and zoomed up the stairs. The brunette had never liked this place- and not only because she wasn’t a big fan of maths. There was just something about the building that put her off.
Maybe it was because no matter how sunny it was, dark shadows were always cast around this place in particular, and it was constantly freezing cold. Even in summer. Then again, because no-one ever really went there apart from classes and extra-curricular activities, it was probably a good place to get some peace.
Especially from uncivilised barbarians like Eli.
Flying up the flight of stairs to their classroom, Sabine pushed open the door harder than she intended to and their arrival was announced with a dramatic slam, causing twenty-three engrossed students and an unhappy teacher all to fix their eyes on them. How embarrassing. Thoroughly out of breath as they were, there was little they could do but stare back.
Their teacher, a balding man in his late forties, gazed disdainfully down his elongated hawk-like nose at the two students whom were almost doubled over in their fight to breathe and then got up with a lethargy that a turtle would envy.
Whenever teachers slipped into slow-mo, it always spelt trouble.
“Miss. Boughland and Miss. Van der Hyde- would you both care to explain why you must come into class late and try to demolish the door as well?”
As the two girls tried to look as solemn as possible- which was actually quite difficult when you were puffing, windswept and out of breath- some sniggers echoed throughout the class. Glancing sideways to her friend, Sabine figured that she was going to be unable to speak for some time, so she guessed the duty was up to her.
“Ana lost her calculator, sir. We went to go find it.”
The fact that he scoffed immediately and stared at them with an incredulous expression probably wasn’t a good portent for them, a white-board marker twirling around in his hand. Pacing over to them both, he scowled and Sabine wilted a little underneath the force of it.
After this, she’d happily join in exacting some sort of revenge against Eli and his cohort.
“Your lack of organizational skills is of no concern to me. Be better prepared next time, or you’ll be punished with tedious, repetitive tasks- better known as detention. Now, sit down.”
Nodding sullenly, they both made their way past the rows of desks containing staring red-and-black students to their seats at the back of the class where a boy sitting in front of them was having trouble containing his mirth at their predicament. Most probably because he had been the ‘cohort’ and therefore partially responsible for the state of Ana’s bag.
Their teacher whipped around at his barely concealed chortles with reflexes that Sabine envied.
“Mr. Hall!” He shouted, now obviously at the end of his tether, his face the colour of a rotten aubergine. Ew. “ What you find so funny about my class?”
The short-haired boy attempted to swallow his laughter and shook his head, choosing instead to look down at his textbook with renewed interest. Sabine could still see his frame shaking a little from her seat, though.
“Good. Because Calculus isn’t funny.” The teacher eyed the boy once more before turning back to the board, using the pen he’d been fiddling with the whole time.
Pity. The way he played with the pen was certainly more entrancing than his teaching.
After the attention of the room had been diverted from her friend and herself to Pythagorean trigonometric identities, Ana fished out a mechanical pencil from her pencil case and threw it with surprising precision at the boy in front of them, hitting him squarely in the neck. He bit back a yelp of pain, a hand immediately venturing up to cradle the spot as he craned his head around to stare at them.
“Ines,” Ana hissed, looking decidedly unhappy. “You’re deader than his—“ She jerked her finger at the teacher, whom luckily still had his back to them. “love life. Got it?”
--
Calculus ended with yet another ring of that ancient bell, the students eagerly packing up their books and making their way out of the dark classroom as they chattered animatedly. As Ana and Sabine followed suit and wandered past Ines, he grinned at them toothily.
“Now what was the pen-throwing about earlier, Ana? Weren’t you going to kill me?” He asked, slinging his bag over one shoulder and turning towards them. Holding his arms out, he gestured towards the centre of his chest. “Here, c’mon. Free shot.”
Ana eyed him for a minute- a long minute- and then she flounced out of the classroom, overcoming her temptation at Ines’ offer. With a sigh, Sabine merely glowered at the boy and followed in her wake, making a bee-line for the door.
Once she had caught up with Ana- whom looked more than a little down- she tapped her friend on the shoulder. The girl stopped and turned around, gazing up at Sabine with sad eyes. Even her cheerful plaits, curled up and pinned securely to her head did little to counter her expression.
“Don’t worry about them,” Sabine reassured her, idly hoping that Ana wouldn’t lose anything else today. One could only have so many near misses with the law- or the faculty. “We’ll get them back, somehow.”
“Somehow…” The blonde repeated wistfully, turning and beginning to venture back out through the courtyard again with Sabine trailing along behind her. She was so caught up in her own thoughts, that she didn’t notice Ines push past her to catch up with someone else- Eli, whom was waiting conveniently a short way away.
Sabine eyed them as she neared them both. They were chatting, which was innocuous enough- but with them, she never trusted that they weren’t planning something. Coming to a stop before them, she put on her ‘unimpressed’ face as Ana hung back a little, obviously not wanting to get involved with them again. However, her very serious unimpressed expression was ruined as Eli’s hand ventured out from his trouser pocket and buried itself in Sabine’s brown hair, ruffling it from side to side.
“I hear you guys got into some hot water in Mr. Rime’s class?” He mused lazily, causing Ines to snigger again much like he had earlier.
Reaching up to her head and yanking Eli’s hand away, Sabine discarded it as she tried to put on that air of authority once more.
“It would probably pay to leave our personal belongings alone,” She replied dryly, looking to Ana whom had begun poking her fingers through the hole in the bag once more. “If we had gotten a detention, I would’ve definitely made sure that you’d never be able to produce offspring.”
Smoothing down her skirt again, Sabine absently glanced up to the other’s uniforms and was thoroughly unsurprised just how much tidier her and Ana appeared compared to them. Black vests and skirts were straight, shirts tucked in with their collars done up and their ties tied neatly- Eli’s just looked like he did a random knot and hoped to get lucky- red knee socks pulled up all the way and their black shoes nowhere near as much death-traps as some others were.
“Now, Sabine, darling- if you wanted to get down there, you could just ask.” Eli countered with an exaggerated wink, starting Ines’ laughing off again with the expression that resulted on Sabine’s face.
“Sick. I think Satan will come up here and make merry with the Physics teacher, first.” She muttered, ignoring the slight blush that had resulted on her face. She could never really get used to all of Eli’s sexual innuendo and always reacted in the same way- which was probably why he delighted in it.
“Oh- funny you should say that, because yesterday-“ Eli’s spiel was interrupted from a loud, gurgling growl that originated from his stomach. “No, wait. Story is for another time. I’m hungry. Food, please.”
“Well, come on then-!” Sabine replied, rolling her eyes and pushing the taller boy in the direction of the cafeteria. “You’d think that at seventeen you’d be able to feed yourself, at least.”
Eli feinted to the side and escaped her hands with a laugh, obviously enjoying her frustration like he always did. Why was she friends with this idiot?
“Okay, okay, I’m kidding. Now, where did Ines and Ana get to?” He mused, running a hand through his hair as they both mechanically looked behind them to search.
Ines appeared to be making some sort of smart alec comment about something to the shorter girl, whose expression was steadily turning more and more sour- probably about the bag. What else?
“Give them ten minutes.” Sabine said finally, resuming her trek to the cafeteria with the royal pain-in-the-ass.
--
A lunchtime later, Sabine found herself solemnly sitting next to Eli in her fourth class of the day- practical music. They were still waiting for the teacher to turn up, which wasn’t a surprise considering she was often late and disorganized- and as they waited, Eli was teetering on the back legs of his chair and Sabine was slumped over her desk, head in hand and staring boredly out at the front of the class.
Sadly, Eli was the only close friend of hers in this class, and was therefore obligated to sit next to him. Their classes were streamed, so that everyone was able to study what they wanted- and she had just happened to fall into the same stream as the cretin that she was sitting next to. Luckily, her second stream of music (all students were required to take both classes in practical and theoretical music as well as specialized lessons in an instrument of their choice) was devoid of him, so she decided that it wasn’t all that bad.
After all, Eli’s company when he was on his own was considerably more enjoyable when he wasn’t paired up with Ines.
Continuing to stare around the room as the other students talked amongst themselves, Sabine let out what could be considered a content sigh. She always enjoyed being in the Music block- the largest and most extensive department of the school, not to mention the best kept. Large French-styled windows framed the room, making it bright and pleasant to work in, and the walls were painted a sort-of off cream that gave the place a warm feeling.
One floor of the block were classrooms that were like the others in different department blocks, with one difference- soundproof practice booths sprouted off of them, available for students to rehearse during practical sessions. The next floor was dedicated completely to practice rooms, both for rehearsals and for instrumental lessons, and the building was so massive that they were large in number. The third floor was comprised of a set of large halls, mostly for after-school club practices- and it was where clubs like the orchestra and jazz band often met for rehearsals.
Still slumped over her desk, Sabine had been reduced to twirling her glasses around on her finger as she waited for the teacher to arrive and start the lesson. It was an old habit of hers that she found hard to break, despite the fact that if she broke them, she’d be blinder than… a very blind thing.
Putting them back on with a sigh and looking lazily to her right to where Eli was lounging, hands behind his head, she was about to voice a question when the door squeaked, signalling the entry of someone. Jerking her head up abruptly to see their teacher striding over to her desk with absolutely no remorse on her face from being late, Sabine looked a little quizzically at her. After the teacher had dumped the books she had been carrying as she came in on her desk, she then turned to the class and smiled widely.
“Alright, students- class is going to start a little differently for you all, today…”
“She’s right,” Eli whispered to Sabine, all four of his chair legs now safely back on the floor. “If it ever starts at all.”
“… for we are welcoming a transfer student to our school this afternoon whom has just flown in from Nice, France.”
Sabine’s ears perked up. Now she was interested. A transfer student? Usually they appeared in the middle of the year- it was strange to get one straight at the start. Perhaps he’d enrolled late…? The door creaked once more in complaint as someone opened it and entered, moving in no hurry to stand next to the music teacher.
A dark-featured boy with short, wild black curls and deep hazel eyes stood facing the class, a large cello case strapped firmly to his back. He had surprisingly sharp features for the softness of his eyes- and stood there, still as stone and avoiding all eye-contact with the other students. Really, he looked like he didn’t want to be up there at all.
All things considered… he was very handsome.
“Everyone, please welcome Jacques to the stream B music class.” The music teacher piped up once more, and as she did so, a small amount of cheering erupted within the room as Sabine let out a breath she didn’t know she’d been holding. Studying Jacques, he slowly glanced up and their eyes met for the briefest of seconds before he averted his gaze away again.
“Now, as this is his first class at the school, is there anyone in Dorm-A whom would like to show him around?”
Absently realizing that Dorm-A was the same dormitory as her own, Sabine’s hand twitched.
To raise, or not to raise?
|
| seraphik transient mod of fury
Number of posts : 4598 Age : 33 Location : germany Transforms into : a post-graduate Gender : Female Registration date : 2007-12-31
| | |
| Re: NaNoWriMo Progress! 8D By Axelinn. 01/11/09, 03:13 pm |
| @Pyro: I've read all but the last half of chapter three of yours so far, and it was good! 'Rai's rooms sound like mine ^^"
@seraphik: I haven't read much of yours at all (cough only the first paragraph cough) on account of my mother wanted me to go to bed, but that first paragraph really made me want to read more ;__; I think I'll keep this page up on my laptop and read it in bed ^w^
As for me; I've only written about 2,000 words so far (kind of fail compared to the rest of you, but... At least it's past the daily word count >.>"
Stage 00: Prologue
- Spoiler:
In my fifteen years of being alive, I've read my fair share of books. Quite a few of them started with a self-introduction much like this one. So, the first thing I should tell you is my name, right? Wrong! The first thing I'll tell you is much more important than that.
It goes something along the lines of: I'm a bloody coward. And I mean this in every definition of the word you can come up with; "a person who lacks the courage to do or endure dangerous or unpleasant things" and "excessively afraid of danger of pain" being two such examples. Hell, if I was an animal, my tail would be constantly between my legs. I'm not kidding.
And get this; in my village, I'm the "chosen one". One of "God's children". Sounds Mary-Sueish, right? I guess it would be, except for that because of it, at some point soon in my life, I'm going to die.
Dramatic much? Yeah, I though so, too.
You see, every generation someone is born marked as His child. The lucky bugger just so happens to have black ink-like patterns snaking themselves all over his body. Well, they start out small; maybe just a spot on the side of their cheek. Then they grow and extend themselves all over your body. And, when it reaches your eyes...
Well, no one knows what happens, since we sacrifice them just before that happens.
Huh. How nice of us.
So, you can't exactly hide being the marked one for your generation. Unless you grow a reputation for being an anti-social hermit, but then people start getting suspicious.
However, my mother managed it pretty well for the first ten years of her life. And then she died, and I had to do it myself. Pity that.
So far, I've done pretty well in covering my mark. It started just above my butt (hey, don't laugh), so it was really easily hidden at first. For years I never went swimming with the other kids my age, and when it reached my upper back and my arms, I always wore long sleeves. It got kind of hot sometimes, but no one questioned it, since I'd been doing it my whole life.
However, at some point in time, some one did question it. And came to my house at night. And I was all but naked.
That was when we were seven. Now, he's my best friend. His name is Bel and, truth be told, he's a happy-go-lucky idiot.
"Psst, Asher!"
That would be him now, leaning through my bedroom window. When he learned to open it from the outside, I'll never know. All I know is that he's been doing it for years, and I can't stop him.
I ran to the window and helped him inside. "Bel? What are you doing here?"
Once inside, he sat down, crossed his legs and demanded I bring him a glass of soda. He's always demanding me to do things for him. And I, ever the obedient servant, always end up doing it for him. One of these days, he's going to owe me big time...
"So, Asher," he said, taking the glass I gave him. "I heard something interesting the other day."
"Hmm?" I asked, sitting across from him, against the wall. It was a nudge for him to go on; something he needed, or else he would stop talking. And that was it. He wouldn't start again unless you begged him. Which, I reckon, is what he wants.
"I heard some of the elders talking about a man coming to visit our village. They said..." he leaned in, motioning me to come closer. "They said he's searching for God's child, and that he wouldn't rest until he found them."
I stiffened. I've been hiding my so called "destiny" for a good fifteen years now, but if someone comes along with a fierce intent to find what I'm meant to be, then I'm a goner. The mark was already up to my collarbone; it was getting harder and harder to hide it.
Then he laughed. "Of course, those old coots just waved it away, seeing as they think it skipped a generation, but you better be careful Asher."
My cup was shaking. Courage was not my strong side, if you remember correctly, so the news of some man coming to find me scared the hell out of me. "Bel, what do I do?"
"What, you're really worried about that?" He asked.
I nodded. "Of course I am. You know me; chicken-wuss, milksop, mama's boy, you've called me all of these things before. Now help me figure something out!"
He contemplated for a while, surprisingly getting up himself to go and put his cup away. Of course, he also went into the cupboard and helped himself to my stash of lollipops. "Well, you could always run away..." he said, sticking the candy into his mouth. "In fact, if you really want to avoid this guy, that's really the only way to go. Besides, your mark is going to show soon, and the village will be so angry when they find out what you've been hiding."
I sighed. As much of a coward as I am, I know reality when it slaps me in the face. This just so happened to be one reality that I had to face. "I suppose you have a point," I said. Then I swallowed and did something I'd never thought I'd do. I decided to run away.
I won't tell you how long it took me to decide this, or exactly what was running through my head at the time. It was all so confusing and, to be honest, quite embarrassing. Just know that I decided to do it, and that's all that matters.
"Bel, help me run away."
He turned, and I swear that if his jaw got any lower, it'd be going through the floor.
I frowned. "Pick up that jaw and help me think."
He shook his head and grabbed another candy to replace the one that fell out of his mouth. "Well, I suppose you should pack some clothes and food and money and stuff... Let's write a list! I like lists. Can I write it?"
I sighed, and nodded. So, for the next few hours Bel and I sat on the floor of my bedroom, figuring out what I should take. We came up with about three changes of clothes, pretty much all the food in my kitchen and, quite importantly, all the money the both of us had combined. Bel said that I needed it more than he did, despite all my objections.
Of course, most of that time was spent goofing around on Bel's behalf. He debated coming with me but, as much as I'd love him to, he still has some family still left alive; mainly his little sister, his older brother and his blind father, all of which would miss him.
So, much to my eternal regret, I had to give him up.
Then dinner rolled around, and Bel left, saying something about feeding his useless family. Of course, he said it with a smile and a laugh, and gave me a best-friend punch on the way out.
And his punches hurt, so it left me with a bruise on my shoulder.
Ouch.
Once he left, I made my dinner (noodles, with a side of more noodles), packed some clothes and went to sleep.
I had a dream about dancing unicorns and tooth fairies that gave me candy. It terrified the hell out of me.
-------
I was walking through the village the next day, half looking for Bel and half looking for something I could help out with on one of my last days of the village when Bel's older brother ran up to me and pretty much assaulted me.
Okay, I lied. He ran up to me and tapped me on the shoulder and I freaked out and fell over into a pile of (thankfully empty) crates.
"Asher, have you seen Bel?" he asked me.
Now, I quite like Bel's older brother. He's tall and slender and insanely nice and helps out around the village, yet despite this he manages to get away with hardly anyone knowing him. However, him asking me that kind of frightened me.
I shook my head. "Not since yesterday, no," I replied. "Why? What's up?"
He pulled something out of his pocket and shook it out. "Well, this morning, we found this on his bed..." He handed me a note that had been folded and unfolded so many times that it was almost falling apart.
I've got Bel. Don't worry, he's perfectly safe. -P
I instantly knew that it wasn't Bel's handwriting; his was hardly legible; almost like a five year old's. He always laughed, saying that it was because he had a hand disorder which stopped him from writing properly.
"Hey, can I keep this?" I asked, feeling that he'd almost definitely say no. To my surprise, he didn't say no immediately, but contemplated it for a long while. Even more surprisingly, he actually said yes. He also made me promise to tell him if I found out anything about him, then ran off, presumably to question the rest of the village.
After that, I made my own way home posthaste, threw everything into my bag and did the unimaginable.
I ran straight after Bel.
-
You must realize that running from the village and going after Bel was, for me, extremely out of character. So for me to suddenly disappear shocked the whole village.
Most of all, it shocked myself.
By the time I'd gotten a fair way from the village, my burst of courage had all but dissipated, I was completely lost, and I had no idea where I was going.
There's something else you must realize; Bel wasn't the only reason for me to leave the village. Soon, my mark would show, and I'd be tied down as God's child and sacrificed in maybe a year's time. I really didn't want to die, and if you think about it hard, I'm pretty sure you don't want to either.
So, needless to say, running from that village was a huge step in my teenage development. For better or for worse, I couldn't go back to the village.
And oh, by the way, hi. I'm Asher Beckett, 15, 5'3, red hair, and from now on, I can't talk to you directly. This is what happened to me.
It's a story of friendship, of betrayal, of courage and cowardice; of adventure, of successes and failures, but most of all, it's a story of a band of geeky teenagers taking fate into their own hands.
Also, what I've got so far of:
Stage 01: Jack and Jill
- Spoiler:
Asher was not impressed.
More accurately: Asher was lost. He was hungry and he was tired and he would seriously consider going back except - oh, that's right, he's lost.
He sighed and kept walking. He had absolutely no idea where he was going or what he was really doing, just that he couldn't go back no matter how much he wanted to.
Which, let's be honest here, wasn't all that much. He didn't really want to die any time soon. So, he just kept trudging on, putting one foot in front of another.
Soon he came along a path beaten down by millions of passers-by. He sighed a deep sigh of relief and sat down on the side of the path to rest. He was almost all but submerged by grass; not that it minded him, really. In fact, the less people that could see him the better, in his opinion, and he'd been going by that very policy his whole life.
He took some food out of his bag; crackers and cheese, to be exact. All the better food could wait until he desperately, extremely needed it.
He hadn't been there for very long before someone tripped over him and landed on the ground with a heavy thud, spilling his crackers everywhere. Needless to say, Asher was, once again, not impressed.
"Ow ow ow that hurt," came a voice from... Well, somewhere in the grass, he couldn't really see. It was, after all, over three feet high.
Sighing, Asher stood up to see exactly who had the balls to just up and trip over him. After all, it was very rude of them to just go and fall over his feet - not to mention to spill his precious food all over the ground (although chances were he'd eat it anyway - no wasting food, after all!).
"Hey," he said, poking through the grass with his feet. "Hey, you still alive?" (He was not, after all, known for his subtlety or way with words, even though he was a bloody coward).
There was a resulting grumble and a reply, "Are you going to help me up or just stand there like an idiot?"
Asher hmphed, tracing the voice back to find someone lying in the grass. "Well, with that attitude, I might not," he laughed, then offered a hand down to help him up.
"About time," the person grumbled as Asher heaved him up.
The first thing Asher noticed about him was not his clothes (which were styled in a way that looked chinese; and very well might have been), nor the fact that his face was smeared with dirt, or even that there was a very small, very black cat perched on his shoulders. No, it was his hair.
His hair was an intense snow-white colour, looked a bit like a fir tree, and it reached his hips.
His hips. Honestly, Asher thought, was this a guy or was he actually looking at a girl? "Uh, who are you?"
The other boy grinned and struck a pose. It was then that Asher decided this person was weird and probably not worth the amount of possible strife and face-palming he could bring. "I'm the Jack-of-all-Trades! But you can just call me Jack."
Asher deadpanned. "Oh, that's just great." He had a bad feeling his intuition was right.
|
| Axelinn EVEN MORE EPICLY EPIC
Number of posts : 724 Age : 30 Location : Palmerston of the North Transforms into : A Flying Purple People Eater Gender : Female Registration date : 2009-04-09
| | |
| Re: NaNoWriMo Progress! 8D By Stranger. 01/11/09, 03:42 pm |
| To be fair, I wrote this in 20 minutes since finding out about it, registering and writing madly, but here's the prologue/introduction: (287 words)
- Spoiler:
PROLOGUE
Hunger. Hunt. Prowl. Prey! Freeze. The muscles in his rear legs tightened in eager anticipation. Pounce! He leaped. Neck. Bite. Blood. Food. He finished the bear off, leaving nothing but pearly white bones. A soft metallic scent gently touched his nostrils. Danger. Run. Run. Run! Danger ahead. Run back. Run! He darted back and forth, but they were smart, they closed him off, leaving no gaps in their intricate net. He felt a soft click and dodged, but not fast enough. Something pricked his shoulder. Matthew. Up. He lunged for the nearest tree and ran straight up, ignoring gravity, tearing gashes in the soft, vulnerable flesh of the trunk. Another click. Matthew. He jumped from tree to tree, reveling in the astonishment of the figures below him. Unexpectedly, the trees in front of him ended and he tumbled full speed into the ground, twisting in mid-air to narrowly avoid the tree trunks reaching upwards to impale him. The smell shifted. The faint trace of fear from the other shapes disappeared, nothing but determination from these ones. Two clicks and he felt pinpricks in his arms. Matthew. Matthew. Furious now, he roared, but the shapes closed in. One separated and approached him, careful to stay just out of leaping distance. He growled, but the shape just laughed. There was a flash and a pinprick lodged itself firmly in his neck. MATTHEW!! He howled. White flared in his vision, growing and receding, as if breathing. Oh, how he howled. All the figures except the one in front of him fell, and writhed on the ground. In his final moment of clarity he focused on the last figure. Cold, merciless emerald eyes stared back. The white overtook him.
Let me know what you think, and I'll read the others' when I'm not being blackmailed into sleep. >_> |
| Stranger Banana
Number of posts : 126 Age : 32 Location : Auckland Transforms into : ÷ Gender : Male Registration date : 2009-07-27
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| Re: NaNoWriMo Progress! 8D By Admin. 01/11/09, 03:51 pm |
| phear mah phail writing:
Dominari Liber! so far 3236 / 50,000
Chapter One - an invitation
- Spoiler:
Clad in long, light brown trousers, that fell over a pair of muddy walking boots, and a shapeless yellowed camp shirt, the individual approached the door. The person’s camp shirt was emblazoned with the picture of a large gramophone and the words ‘Vintage Couriers’. On the courier’s head was a cheap tweed cheese-cutter with a mess of sepia hair poking out around the edges.
With a package and clipboard under one arm, the courier knocked loudly on the door. Before long the door was answered by a portly, red-faced woman with a scarf over her head. From behind the woman, the smell of roasting chicken wafted out into the cold winter air and tingled the courier’s nose. The woman snatched the package out of the couriers hands and muttered something about a signature. The courier suddenly remembered the reason for being there and handed the woman the clipboard and a fountain pen. The woman signed her name on the line and handed them back before slamming the door shut without a word. The courier sighed and turned around to begin the long trip back to the post office on foot.
***************
Nearly an hour later the courier arrived back at the post office. Swinging the door open and sounding the bell, the courier stepped inside, not bothering to wipe its shoes on the sodden doormat. The post office lobby was a spacious room with wooden plank walls decorated with framed newspaper reviews of Vintage Couriers. The floor was covered with thick red carpet, but was bare of almost any furniture save for the main desk and a brochure stand. The courier marched up to main desk, leaving muddy footprints in the carpet. “Oh! Bianca, you’re back,” greeted a bald man with bare, muscled arms, “I was beginning to worry about you.” The courier removed its tweed cheese-cutter to let down a mass of thick, brown hair that fell fluently down to the courier’s buttocks. “Hey, sorry I took so long,” replied Bianca, “I didn’t realise how far away Broodsfield was. I should’ve taken the bike.” “Wait, you WALKED all the way to Broodsfield?” the bald man exclaimed, a hint of amusement in his voice. “Shut up, Farrier. At least I’ll stay fit for a while.” “Biking would’ve helped you stay fit too. Only it wouldn’t have taken an hour each way!” “Ugh, don’t rub it in. Please.” At that moment a young man with thin black hair and pale cheeks, dressed much like Bianca walked into the room from the storage room out back with a large package in his hands. The only major difference in the clothes he and Bianca were wearing was that he wore a name tag over his left breast. The name tag read ‘Adel Fitzheim’. “Bullying the new girl again, Farrier?” Adel teased, carrying the package over to them and placing it on the counter. “H-hey! I ain’t no bully!” Farrier cried. Adel simply chuckled in reply before turning his back on the two. “Oh, hey. Bianca, you’re not done yet. There are three more packages for you to deliver, then you can go home for the night.” Adel stated. “Three more? Geez, you guys are really working me like a dog. Keep this up and I might just have to quit.” Bianca replied. “Well, that would be a shame. But at least we wouldn’t have to pay you severance.” At that Bianca's mouth dropped. "You are unbelievable, Adel." She sighed and dragged herself into the storage room to get the packages. The storage room was a rather small room that they used for holding packages that needed to be delivered, it didn't need to be big because things were always just coming and going. Bianca hastily approached the hamper full of packages and examined its contents. There were indeed three packages, all of varying shapes and sizes. It was the largest that interested Bianca the most. It was about a meter both wide and long, and only roughly ten centimeters thick. Rather than being wrapped in the usual thick, brown paper wrapping like the other two packages it was unwrapped and the pale blue box was tied closed with a large black ribbon. Bianca couldn't help but laugh at the tacky packaging and went to check the address it was meant to be sent to.
There was no address. All that was written on the small paper tag was a name. 'Bianca Hardings'. Bianca was shocked. She certainly wasn't expecting a package. She poked her head around the door frame and called out to Adel. "Hey! Adel! This one here's addressed to me..." "Hmm?" Adel replied, "Well if that's the case then you can open it when you get back. You're still on the clock, remember!" Bianca sighed. "Yeah, yeah. I know." Grabbing the other two packages, Bianca exited the storage room and made for the front door. "The bike's out back?" She asked, hastily pulling her hair up into the cheese-cutter. "It is," replied Adel, who was now manning the main desk for Farrier, "oh! Wait, Bianca?" "What is it?" "Well, uhh... I was wondering, maybe if you want to go get some drinks after you're done delivering those packages...?" Bianca smirked playfully. "Adel Fitzheim. Are you asking me out on a date?" Adel blushed and rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "Uhh... k-kinda." Bianca laughed. "Sure thing. There's a place called the Lusty Swordfish in the slums. The food tastes like sheep droppings but the atmosphere and drinks are fantastic!" "I'm not going to ask how you know what sheep droppings taste like, but sure. Let's walk there once you get back." With a quick nod, Bianca was out the door, parcels under arm, and walking around to the back of the shop to load up the small storage compartment on the penny-farthing and ride away to deliver the packages.
***************
The bell sounded once more and Bianca reentered the post shop. Adel looked up from the paper work he was doing at the front desk and smiled at her. "Oh good, you're back. I was beginning to think you rode the old bike into some bushes and got attacked by rabid raccoons or something," he said, playfully. "Oh I did," Bianca joked, "I just showed them a picture of you and they ran away screaming." "You keep pictures of me?" "Yes, Adel. I also have a shrine dedicated to you in my bathroom." "I didn't know you felt so strongly about me!" Adel laughed. Bianca rolled her eyes and sat down on the floor to pull off her boots. As she sat down, her hat fell off and her hair was let down once more. "Why does Farrier make you wear that hat all the time, Bianca?" Adel asked. "He and my landlord say they're worried that I might get attacked, a young defenseless girl, carrying packages around by herself throughout the lesser parts of London. They think the hat makes me look like a tough boy or something. That's also why I have to bind my chest." "Oh. I just assumed the old man had a fetish for butch girls," Adel joked, only to have his ear yanked downwards by a strong hand. He turned around as soon as his ear was free to see Farrier standing behind him, looking rather unimpressed. "Very funny," Farrier grumbled, "now get out of here! You two have a date to go to and I've got a family to get back to." "Oh, yeah. You ready to go now, Bianca?" Adel asked. Bianca shook her head. "Nah, I want to check out that package that was addressed to me, first. It could be from my parents." With that, Bianca stood and marched into the storage room where her package waited for her. She pulled the package out of the hamper and placed it on the small bench by the door. Bianca tidily untied the ribbon and opened the box. Inside the box, was a beautiful arrangement of clothing in varying shades of cream, amber and brown topped with a fox-like mask. A single piece of card sat on top of the outfit. Bianca, rather surprised to find the stunning clothes in a parcel addressed to her, picked up the card and instantly recognised the golden royal letterhead.
'Dear Miss Bianca Hardings,
You have been cordially invited by Her Majesty the Queen to join her and other guests for an evening of dancing and dining in celebration of the Queen's sixtieth birthday. The event will be a Masquerade Ball, held from 10pm tonight until 2am the following morning. The ball will be held at the Queen's private residence on the outskirts of London. Further details on the address can be found on the back of this card. The Royal Court would like to apologise for the late notice on this matter. We understand that you may have prior arrangements and will be unable to attend. The Queen asks that you still try your hardest to attend. We have provided a dress and mask suitable for the occasion for you.
There shall be two hour long periods during the event for light dining and announcements from the Queen. The first period shall begin at 11pm. During this time a meal consisting of tender beef fillets fried with an exotic Japanese dressing and potato croquettes will be served as an...'
Bianca was utterly shocked. Seeing the expensive new clothes meant for her had been one thing, but finding out that she had been invited to a Royal Masquerade by Her Majesty the Queen was just too good to be true. She stared at the card blankly for another five minutes, shaking her head in disbelief. How could this be possible? Bianca was just an average, working class girl whose parents were always out of town on business. She had no Royal connections. She hadn't saved the life of anyone. She hadn't done anything more impressive than get a full time job working as a courier, which was no reason for the Queen to want to see her. A multitude of emotions ran rampant in her mind before she finally brought herself together and shut them off. Forgetting all emotions, she was left to answer the question with her brain, not her heart.
Should she attend the Royal Masquerade Ball or not?
***************
Adel scratched the back of his neck nervously as he walked alongside Bianca on the way to the Lusty Swordfish. They passed through dark, foreboding streets and alleys in silence. Bianca just stared at her feet, holding her hands together in front of her. The slums of London were not exactly a charming place to be. There were tall, run down buildings that shaded the cracked cobblestone streets. The largely homeless population spent the cold days and nights huddled up under thin blankets in deserted warehouses, getting high on opium and adding to the thick smog that lingered in the air overhead. Almost no light could get into the slums but despite the lack of light, it was possibly the noisiest place in London. From any place in the slums you could hear glass smashing and things exploding, igniting fires. You could hear screams of helpless women, raped in the dark and the furious yells of abusive fathers and husbands. Young children would run around giggling, wielding knives and bludgeons, robbing people at a young age with total abandon. The smell of smoke and opium fumes wafted through the air, making the two visitors feel sick, and slightly intoxicated. Bianca put one hand over her mouth and used the other hand to shoo away a short crone that offered them a bed they could share. Adel's face had paled to white and he glanced uncertainly at Bianca. "Are you sure the place is-" Adel was choked by the heavy fumes in the air and was unable to finish his sentence. Bianca knew what he intended to ask, and simply nodded in reply. After another awkward five minutes of walking through the slums in silence, they arrived at their destination.
The Lusty Swordfish was a cosy tavern on the edge of an open sewage line. The front of the tavern was covered in a red brick and had two small windows that had wooden boards nailed over them. The doorway was filled not with a door but with a large, rugged cloth. A sign next to the door way showed a picture of a woman fleeing from a smiling swordfish and the words 'The Lusty Swordfish' were painted on and were the colour of blood. Despite being obviously unsure of the place, Adel was dragged in by Bianca and they were greeted by a comfortable warmth. The room was lit and heated by several candles in glass jars spread around the room and the blaze of the oven. The place was almost entirely full, there were a mixture of men and women all smiling and drinking with each other at the tables dotted around the place. The air felt surprisingly clean for a place in the slums. Adel noticed the 'No Smoking' sign and let out a sigh of relief. He and Bianca made their way to the almost empty bar and took their seats. Before long and tanned barmaid whose hair was tired up in a pony tail greeted them. She wore a short, brown skirt over many petticoats and a dirty white blouse under a corset the same colour as the skirt. She wore nothing on her feet. "Hello, there! What can I get you two today?" She asked, smiling sweetly, "Oh! Bianca, hi. You haven't been here in a while." "Hey Harmony," Bianca replied, "you're right I haven't. Did I miss anything?" "Not really, nothing exciting ever happens in this town. Um, aren't you going to introduce me to your charming escort?" Adel blushed and looked at Bianca. "Oh, yes! This is Adel. He's the one that keeps Farrier and I from burning the place down at the courier's," Bianca answered, chuckling. "Uh, hi. Nice to meet you, uh..." Adel trailed off, unsure of what to call Harmony. "Adel, this is Harmony. She's the barmaid here at the Lusty Swordfish, she's also one of my best friends." "Nice to meet you, Harmony," Adel said, extending a hand. Harmony shook his hand firmly, beaming. "It's nice to meet you too, Adel. Now, what can I get you two? Actually forget I said that, ale for the both of you. It's on the house!" Harmony exclaimed and began pouring their drinks for them. "So... uh, Bianca. Do you come here often then?" Adel asked, attempting to strike up a conversation. "Yeah, well not so much recently. I've only been here once since I started working with you and Farrier." Bianca replied. "Huh... so, you live by yourself?" "I guess so... I'm mean I'm not entirely by myself. Madeleine, my landlord, sort of looks after me. She treats me as her own daughter." "What about your parents?" "My parents work out of town, it's the only way they can afford to keep me healthy." "Oh... hey, what was in that package you got?" "Hm? You got a package, Bianca?" Harmony asked, interrupting their conversation to give them their drinks. "Yeah, I did," Bianca said, stopping to sip her drink, "the contents were kind of... weird actually." "Ooooh. Anything juicy?" Harmony giggled. "No, no. I... it was a dress! And a mask! And an invitation to the Queen's birthday celebration!" Adel choked on his drink suddenly and leaned off to the side, coughing. When he was done he sat up. "You're kidding." "No, no really! An invitation to a masquerade ball. I left it at the office, I can show you later." Harmony leaned on in the bar. "You know, I did hear that the Queen's birthday bash was going to be tonight. But why were you invited, Bianca?" "That's just the thing. I have no idea why I was invited!" Bianca held her head in her hands and rubbed her temples. "It's really confusing me, actually." "Well, are you going to go?" Adel and Harmony asked simultaneously. "Um... I guess so. They seemed like they really wanted me to attend, the Royal Court that is. They did, after all, provide clothes for me to wear." "I am so jealous! I've always wanted to go to one of those fancy pants balls," Harmony sighed. "Well, just be careful. You should probably also tell your Nanny that you're going," Adel said. "Who are you my dad? Yeah, I know I need to tell Madeleine."
***************
A few hours later and Adel and Bianca arrived back at the courier's office, that Farrier had left to other employees to manage for the night. Bianca quickly dashed into the storage room and grabbed her package. On her way back out she bumped into Adel, who had followed her into the storage without her knowledge. "Uh... hey..." he whispered. "Hey to you too," Bianca said, in a similar hushed tone. "I just wanted to say that I really enjoyed tonight..." Bianca smiled and stood on her toes to give Adel a quick kiss on the lips. "Me too." Adel just stood there, red-faced as Bianca walked around him, package in hand, and left the courier's office for the night.
***************
"Miss Bianca Hardings! I have been worried sick! Where in the world were you?!" The furious voice belonged to a stocky woman with wavy shoulder-length red hair. Her face was covered in wrinkles, not a sign of her age but a sign of her stress. Her name was Miss Madeleine. She did not have a last name. Not one that she herself knew at least. She was raised in an orphanage and known only by the name Madeleine. "I'm sorry Miss Madeleine!" Bianca cried, "I went to the Lusty Swordfish with Adel, from work." "The Lusty Swordfish! Jesus Christ woman! Do you know how dangerous the slums are? I've told you many times not to go there and what do you do? You go there! But not only do you go where I've told you not to, you stay out past your curfew! I am very disappointed in you, young lady." "I'm not a child anymore! I'm nineteen, it's not fair to treat me like a child when the law sees me as an adult - you're not even related to me!" Madeleine shook her head at Bianca. "You must go to your room and stay there for the rest of the night." Without another word, Miss Madeleine stormed off into her quarters and left Bianca to wallow in her guilt.
***************
Despite her feelings of guilt for going against her Nanny, Bianca was now determined to attend the ball. She crept, quietly so she wouldn't wake any other tenants, up the stairs and to her apartment. Once in her room, she dumped the package on her bed and reopened it to pull out the dress. She then put the elaborate outfit on with her mask, crammed the invitation and some money into a small coin pouch and stealthily climbed out her window down to the lawn via a rope of bed sheets. She made her way from the back alley, to the main road where she halted a carriage to take her to the private residence of Her Majesty the Queen on the outskirts of London.
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| Admin Winner of the Golden Gun Award
Number of posts : 2982 Age : 28 Location : Howick Transforms into : yo mama. Gender : Male Registration date : 2007-11-24
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| Re: NaNoWriMo Progress! 8D By seraphik. 01/11/09, 06:10 pm |
| @stranger; love the stream of consciousness stuff you have going on there. C: very descriptive, too. I'M ON TENTERHOOKS.
@alex; LMAO THE LUSTY SWORDFISH. I LOVE IT. sounds great so far! the delivery company thing is kinda awesome & i'm looking forward to seeing where you go with this.
@axelinn; very readable! *A* i love the dialogue between bel and asher... sounds like it'll turn out to be a great read. 8D
@pyro; intricate plot! me likey. 8DDD rai's attitude is awesome, haha. the background stuff was sweet too, it really puts you in the mood to find out what happens~
GRRR WHY DOES MY TEXT FORMAT SO CRAZILY >8(
FORTISSIMO - CHAPTER 2
- Spoiler:
CHAPTER TWO
Oh- nothing ventured, nothing gained- and anyway, were many other people in this class even in Dorm-A?
Slowly, Sabine raised her hand in response to the question and the music teacher beamed at her, giving Jacques a slight push in her direction. He glanced quickly between the two for a second, as if he were judging where he’d be better suited- and then, finally moved over to an empty seat next to Sabine and Eli. Before he sat down, he placed the giant case down on the ground with tender care and then seated himself down neatly without as much as a ‘hello’, let alone a single sound.
New school nerves. Yeah, that’s it. Sabine thought, considering this guy’s icy attitude as she glanced over to Eli, whom was now chewing fixatedly on a pen.
Nothing more was said on the matter of the transfer student, save for some of the other people in the class whispering excitedly between them and pointing towards Jacques, who seemed to be choosing to ignore the attention at the moment and instead concentrate on the lesson. After the teacher had gotten organized, she informed the class that she was to run them through a quick set of interval exercises and began with the tedious task once they had all quietened down somewhat.
However, Sabine found she could pay little attention to the tritones and augmented triads. No, she was far too fixed on stealing glances at the mysterious and seemingly mute French boy sitting next to her. What was his story? Why was he so quiet? Why—
Oh. She was staring. And he was staring back.
“What?” He asked in a thick French accent, looking decidedly uncomfortable.
“Uh… nothing! I, um. I…” Sabine stammered quietly as the music teacher turned around and shot her a look. “… nothing.” The last thing she wanted was to be told off by a teacher for the second time that day, and she chose to keep quiet rather than to justify herself.
Since the interval exercise was quick, it soon ended and there was a collective rustling as the students in the class packed up their books, reaching for cases and instruments instead of pens and paper. Over the noise, the short teacher managed to make herself heard, somehow.
“The rest of the lesson is now practical, as you all know- Eli, stop chewing on your pen, please- so get out your instruments and make sure you’re doing something useful. I’ll be checking on you.”
Dejectedly taking the pen out of his mouth, Eli dropped it on the desk and Sabine instinctively edged away from it in disgust as it rolled towards her.
“She never lets us have any fun,” He muttered, reaching behind him for a dark red case and picking it up with care. “Killjoy.”
“I don’t see how eating your pens can be classified as fun.” Sabine replied as she rolled her eyes, watching him get up from his seat. “It’s a dental risk.”
“Whatever you say, princess!” Was his only reply as he slung the small case over his shoulder and ambled off, giving them both a mock salute and disappearing shortly afterwards behind one of the practice room doors. Eyes darting over to rest on Jacques again, Sabine almost wished that Eli hadn’t gone.
Almost.
“So, um!” Sabine murmured, trying to think of how to strike up a conversation with a human iceberg. Her eyes landed on the black case that lay at Jacques’ feet, and an idea popped into her mind. “You play the cello, don’t you?”
For a second, Sabine thought that he might not answer her at all, but then he let out a resigned sigh and gave a short nod, dark curls falling into his face as he did so.
“Yes.” He replied curtly, moving to get out of his chair to follow suit with the rest of the class, whom were now already engrossed either in the practice rooms or tuning their instruments in the main classroom. He didn’t mince words, that’s for sure- though Sabine had no idea whether it was because he simply didn’t like to talk to other people, or if he was nervous. Either way…
Bending slightly to reach under the desk for her own small case, which she’d had to run back to her dormitory to pick up during lunch (she’d forgotten, of course, that she had practical fourth that day), she picked it up from the ground and placed it carefully on the table. Jacques had already moved over to his own, hair hanging messily over his face as his lithe fingers fiddled with the silver clasps that held it closed, his face frowning with the concentration it took to handle the instrument with care.
Sabine had only unzipped and left the case of her own instrument open on the desk- a violin- before she had gotten distracted and let her gaze drift elsewhere. She watched as her new charge fingered the neck of the cello, getting a safe grip before he lifted it out of the case in one go and rested the large instrument on his knee. It was then the task of pulling out the endpin- the spike that the cello laid on as it was played- and he did this with finesse, taking only a matter of seconds to loosen it and pull it out to the correct length.
All of this was very absorbing for some reason, and if he had noticed the brunette staring at his cello and himself, he didn’t say anything. Instead, he avoided the uncomfortable burden of her gaze by turning his back on her and reaching downwards for his bow, tightening the hairs in it so he could begin tuning.
Snapped out of her daze by this, Sabine frowned a little at herself and gave Jacques one last look before turning her attention down to her own instrument, freeing it from its case and retrieving her own bow.
Perhaps it would be better if she left him to his own devices, for now- after all, he was probably creeped out by all of that staring. But, still…
… to transfer to the Kyoto school from France at such an odd time, either he excelled in music, or there had been an odd set of circumstances that had forced him to come here. Whichever it was, Sabine guessed it was unlikely that she was going to find out from him.
“I’ll just be in this room to the left here if you need anything, okay?” She chirped, voice as cheerful as she could make it without letting all of her curiosity creep in. All she received in return was a quiet ‘mmn’ and a clunk as the endpin touched the ground with a quiet ‘thunk’.
Taking her violin carefully in her hands along with her bow and her music, Sabine waited until she had vacated the main classroom and shut herself into one of the small practice booths until she let out a long sigh.
It looked like her new friend was full of mysteries.
--
Nearing the end of the lesson, Sabine had freed herself from the confines of the practice booth only to be approached by the short music teacher, whom gestured towards Jacques with her hand as she whispered to her in a hushed voice.
“It’s been arranged for you and Jacques to take the fifth period off so that he’s settled in before the end of the day- sort out his dormitory, show him around the important facilities. Is that alright?”
We’ll, I’ve already signed myself up for the challenge, haven’t I? “Yes, that’s fine.” Sabine replied slowly, trying to think what she had next. It was either Biology or Chemistry, both of which she’d be happy to miss. “Should we go now?”
The teacher nodded in agreement and Sabine smiled weakly, moving back over to where Jacques was still hunched over his cello next to their desks. Putting the violin back into her own case before turning around, she cleared her throat quietly to get his attention.
He didn’t respond, but she assumed that he was listening.
“We’re going to get your dorms sorted out now, if that’s okay? It’s not very far, and… yes…” Thank god Eli and Ines weren’t here to see her stumble verbally like this- she’d never hear the end of it.
“A’right.” Was the quiet reply, and shortly afterwards they were both packed up and were travelling across the courtyard- a place where Sabine had experienced quite enough excitement for the day, but look where she was now? With an iceberg exchange student, wagging fifth period. With permission, nonetheless. The silence was all around them, as the school was still in session. There was little to hear but the wind and the faint sound of birdsong, something that Sabine enjoyed on all other occasions- Kyoto was such a picturesque and beautiful city- but this one. Now the silence just felt awkward instead of relaxing, and she found herself searching for some sort of conversation again. The cello hanging off of his back caught her attention once more, and before she stopped herself, the words formed and came out of her mouth.
“Isn’t that heavy?” She wondered aloud, indicating to the case on his back. He looked at her briefly, his brown eyes sending an involuntary shiver down her spine- but then he glanced away again, shaking his head a little and shrugging.
“No’ much.”
No… much? Not much? Like… not really? As she was attempting to decipher his answer, which was only made more difficult by his prominent accent, the idea occurred to Sabine that he didn’t talk much because English was an issue for him. Was that the case? After all, speaking a required amount of English was a prerequisite for the school…
“Oh, I see…!”
“Mmn.”
Great.
“Is that because you carry it around a lot? You get used to it?”
“… I thinking so.”
“R-Right!”
Okay, so English was a tiny issue. But, no matter! She’d persevere, despite how incredibly awkward this was. Clearing her throat again and readjusting the bag on her shoulder (which was a little difficult whilst carrying a violin case in one hand, as well), she tried to ignore tension in the air. It was just when she was trying to remember what little French she’d learnt in her primary school back in England when that infernal bell rang once more- and almost instantaneously, students poured out of every possible doorway in sight and covered the courtyard.
End of class.
With a glance to her companion, he looked a little startled by the sudden appearance of thousands of people, and she sidestepped to keep closer to him so that he wouldn’t get swept away by the crowd. It was just when they had begun back on their mutual way when she got hit by something heavy from behind- something heavy that went by the name of Ines.
Sabine mentally groaned- not the comedy duo again!
“’ello, Sabby! Oh, what do we have here? Never thought you’d be the one to skip class for a quick romantic rendezvous.”
With a frown, Sabine shoved Ines’ frame off of her and tried to look haughty. “Oh, give it up. I’m not skipping class- this is a new transfer student, Jacques.” She explained, trying to keep a lid on her frustration as she gestured to the shaggy-haired boy whom was now staring at the sky and trying to pretend they didn’t exist. “I’m showing him around.”
“Mmhmm,” Ines hummed, a silly grin on his face that reminded Sabine eerily of Eli. “Nice excuse, I’ll give you that. Next time, though, use something more believable.”
“W-Whatever! Ugh. Jacques, this is an unfortunate acquaintance of mine, Ines. Ines, Jacques.”
Ines looked delighted and immediately offered his hand to the French boy, whom looked at it as if it were an alien. For some reason, Sabine took a little satisfaction in the fact that Jacques decided not to shake it. Probably a good thing too- he didn’t know where it had been.
“Uh, anyway!” Ines continued, taking the hand that he had offered and using it to smooth down his hair instead to try and save face. “I—“
“Oh, what’s all this now?” A new voice contributed to the conversation, all three of them turning around to see Eli striding over with Ana straggling behind. Great. This had been exactly what Sabine hadn’t wanted- Eli and Ines within the same proximity of each other.
“I am not explaining again,” Sabine replied flatly, wishing that they would all just go to class and stop making her lose face in front of this guy who was already difficult to communicate with. After seeing how mentally unstable her friends were, he’d never talk to her.
“Fine, then. Be that way. Ines?” Eli questioned, hands in pockets and looking even more unkempt than he had in the morning, something that shouldn’t have even been possible. Sometimes, Sabine wondered just what the hell he did in school; and then reminded herself that she was better off not knowing. His best friend, a tall, dark South African girl that went by the name of Jia was usually the cause of most of his detentions and whenever those two were together, their destructive power was even greater than when Ines and him were together. Luckily, she was nowhere to be seen, nor had Sabine seen her the entire day.
Ines then proceeded to explain the situation by completely distorting what was going on, which of course involved a certain amount of hyperbole and resulted in an even more exasperated-looking Sabine.
“Oh! Righto, then,” Eli declared, grinning madly. Grabbing Ana by her arm, he dragged her over to Jacques whilst ignoring her feeble protests. “I’m the wonderful Eli; remember it, you’ll hear my name all the time-“ Sabine resisted the urge to snort. “-and, this here is the lovely Ana. She’s single, y’know.”
“Elias!” Ana cried, her only weapon at hand being to use Eli’s full name as she wrenched her arm out of his grip and looked horrified. “How dare you!”
Glancing between the amused expressions of Eli and Ines and the mortified blush on Ana’s face, Sabine decided that it’d be an excellent time to use this confusion as a distraction and get away while they still could. Turning Jacques quickly around, away from the madness, she looked ahead and tried to muster up a smile.
“R-Right! So, shall we go?”
“I thinking that is being a good idea.” Jacques muttered, his voice dark and almost inaudible amidst all the other noise.
Mentally kicking herself for letting that all happen (even though with his English he probably didn’t understand most of it), Sabine carefully manoeuvred him away from the throng of insanity.
I thinking that is being a good idea, too.
--
“And, this here is Dorm-A.” Sabine announced as they walked down the garden path towards one of the dormitories, the building appearing newer than the other school buildings. Since the College had been hastily re-done after the decision to make it into an international school, they had erected the dormitories rather recently- thirty or so years ago- and just renovated the existing College buildings, which had then become the Sciences department, Arts department and the extensive Music suites.
Wandering up the path in complete silence, Sabine glanced behind her to make sure that Jacques was still following, and once she was satisfied that he was, she let out the tension in her frame. It was a nice day, after all- why should she be put off by her inability to communicate with this guy? If she gave it time, surely he’d warm up- or at least, she hoped so.
Scanning the lush green courtyard that provided a nice area for the members of the dorm to come outside and have some peace and quiet (an area which each dormitory possessed), a small smile began to play upon her face as she watched it in all it’s serenity. Before she had come here, she’d had reservations about attending a school in Japan, much less Kyoto. She knew nothing about the culture, knew no-one else going there, and she was extremely frightened of not being able to communicate in the country’s native language.
However, when she’d received her admission forms to go along with her audition tape, she had been relieved to find that one of the stated requirements was an ability to speak basic English- and the rest was history. The motivations for attending the school, apart from improving her prowess on the violin, an instrument she had treasured since she were a little girl, were another story entirely.
Coming up to the glass doors that granted entry to the dorm, Sabine quickly shifted her violin case to the same arm as her bag and pulled it open, gesturing inside so that Jacques could go in first. The French boy paused and stared at her for a moment, then deciding to take her offer and walk in, giving her the smallest of nods in return.
Following in his wake, Sabine then paced a few steps further into the entrance hall and peered around. Their dorm-head should be around somewhere… after all, it was pretty crucial to find him if they were going to assign Jacques to a room. The entrance hall itself was something that always made Sabine feel at home whenever she returned from classes. It was big, spacious and simple- a combination that she liked. Instead of going with traditional Japanese architecture, the founders of the school had instead opted for a more modern and efficient feel when developing the dormitory buildings, and it showed.
The walls were painted a pale cream, much like those in the music departments, and there were dim lights embedded into the ceiling that gave the whole place a relaxed look. Oddly enough, the entire facility was carpeted as well, which was another of Sabine’s favourite points. Before she had flown to Japan, she had studied up on Japanese culture and expected to be told to take her shoes off every time she entered a room- and she had tried to when she’d been shown to her dormitory, but a certain dorm-head had laughed and informed her that it wasn’t necessary.
“Where is he…” Sabine mumbled to herself as she wandered over to the set of white suede couches that were situated just to the right of the front doors. Pausing in mid-step, she tip-toed to see over the top of one of them and managed to make out a familiar form. “Ah-! Dorm-head!”
Just like you to be sleeping on the job, huh?
The form on the couch shifted slightly from lying prone, though it wasn’t going anywhere fast. There was a newspaper spread out on their face which a hand lazily reached up to drag away and suddenly dark brown eyes were fixed on Sabine. “Boughland? Don’t tell me you’re joining in on this latest fad of skipping class. I’d be very disappointed in you.”
“I’m sure you would,” Sabine replied, resisting the urge to roll her eyes. Glancing back to her charge, whom was now setting his cello case down on the ground and looking around the hall, she sighed. “I thought this had been arranged though.”
“Oh, it has. I just enjoy playing games with you,” The student on the couch replied with a toothy grin. He looked older than Sabine and Jacques, though obviously still attending the school from the shirt, tie and trousers he was wearing. There was something about him, though; his dark black hair looked like it had been razor-cut and it stuck out at haphazard angles just below his ears, and his dark brown eyes were deep and searching. Even though he was obviously one of the Japanese students at the school, his English was extremely fluent and his skill on his instrument of choice- the bassoon- was incredible. Sabine had only gotten the chance to hear him perform once or twice, but she’d be lying if she said that she wouldn’t want to hear it again. “So, this is our new friend, is it?”
Jacques didn’t look up. “Er, yes, that’s him. Our practical teacher told me that he’d been assigned to this dorm, though I could’ve misheard-“ Sabine replied, half mumbling when she reached the end of her sentence. However, Shirou interrupted her self-doubt as he picked himself up from the couch and rolled up his newspaper, meandering over to the pair.
“No, he’s meant to be here. You two better come along then- I’m not sacrificing my self-study period for nothing!” He quipped with a short smile, hitting Sabine lightly on the head with the paper. A little peeved, she attempted to make a grab for it but he was too quick for her, already heading to the left and up a set of carpeted stairs. “Come on!”
“We’d better follow him.” Sabine murmured to her companion, though she was sure that he had only understood half of what she said. Eyes shooting briefly to his cello, she had half a mind to ask him whether he needed help carrying it or not, but deciding that’d probably cause more trouble than it was worth, she merely swallowed her words and followed their dorm leader up the stairs, slightly comforted when she heard Jacques’ heavier footsteps fall behind hers.
As the three walked up the stairs to the second level, Shirou craned his neck around to continue talking as they went along their way.
“They sent your bags here earlier, so I’ve already taken them up. I also have your key-“ He paused for a minute as his hand dipped into his left pocket and searched around for a couple of moments, proudly producing a small silver key on a ring. “- here.”
Not really paying attention to the spiel that Shirou was giving her French iceberg, Sabine absently began to wonder which dorm Jacques was getting put in. Since this was her dorm as well, she was curious as to how close he’d be- just out of interest, of course. It was a large coincidence that the new transfer student was the same dorm as her, and, well…
They cleared the stairs and instead travelled down the hallway, passing door after door. It had appeared odd to Sabine at first, but as a matter of administration, in the dorms, the girls were given even room numbers, and the boys were given odd room numbers just to keep note of things. As the bronze number-plates on the doors flashed past them, the curiosity within Sabine grew more and more with each number- until they came to a stop.
‘13’, the door proudly informed them, the revelation making the shorter girl’s eyebrows raise a little in surprise.
“This is where you’ll be staying with us, so make yourself at home,” Shirou informed the cellist, now talking entirely to him, which was probably a good thing because Sabine was off in her own world, anyway. Twirling the door key in his hand before slipping it into the lock and opening it, the dorm leader looked thoughtful for a second as if he were deciding just what he was going to say in his mind mind. “You should’ve already reviewed most of the rules on your application before you came, but I’ll just run a few important extras past you.
Inwardly, Sabine winced, brought back to the present. Please talk slower…
“Here’s your key.” The Japanese teen stated, handing it over to Jacques who took it and studied it, turning it over in his fingers. “Your bed has your bags on it- I think it’s the one up the top there in the loft.”
Peering inside the room between the shoulders of the two taller boys, Sabine eyed the bed in the loft with envy. All of the dorm rooms were split into two levels- the bottom level, and then there was a small staircase that led up to a level that was halfway up the room. It was an ingenious idea, or at least she had thought, because it was like having two separate rooms in one. Unfortunately, in her own dorm, she had the less exciting pleasure of being the tenant on the bottom floor, next to the ensuite.
“Curfew is at ten at night. If you’re not back here by then, then the hounds of hell themselves’ll be out searching for you unless you’ve arranged something with the teacher in charge that night, or myself.” Running a hand through his fringe, Shirou leaned past Jacques and flipped on the lightswitch for the room, immediately illuminating his living quarters for the next who-knows-how-long. “Dormitory cafeteria is on the bottom floor, through that door you could see from the entrance way. Dinner is at six and breakfast is at seven in the morning, though if you get up late the cooks will usually take pity on you. Each dorm has their own toilet and shower- yeah, you can see them just there, under the loft. Music practice; okay after curfew in the dorms, as long as you have permission from your dorm-mates, though most people prefer to get a slip to go to the music suites. And… that’s about it for now.”
Taking a deep breath after saying all of that, Shirou nodded to himself at the speech and then smiled warmly. “If you need anything, I’m in the first door down at the end of the hall- and Sabine here’ll be happy to help, won’t you? She’s actually just next door, in 14.”
Slowly, Jacques’ gaze turned back to Sabine, which was actually quite unnerving because he hadn’t said anything to her since the entire crazy incident in the courtyard. She hoped that the fiasco hadn’t put him off talking to her entirely- after all, the way her friends acted wasn’t completely her fault. Giving him a shaky smile to try and counteract his overwhelming ‘yes-I-want-to-be-alone-now-please’ aura, she took a step back from the dorm leader and her ‘acquaintance’.
“Um, yes! I’m just there so, er, knock if you need anything. I’ll probably just go there now, so… I’ll see you at dinner!” She stammered, finding it hard to string together a sentence when there was such an evil presence in the room. Taking her leave, she shifted away and fished her own dorm key out of her blazer pocket, turning it in the lock and disappearing from view.
Once she was safely behind the door, she dumped her bags down on her bed and slumped down on the floor.
What a day.
--
With a tray laden with as much food as he possibly could fit on there (“I'm a growing lad!” he assured the bemused serving lady), Eli scanned the dining hall full of chattering students for a likely victim to sit by. There were many scattered around chatting in various languages, studying, eating... someone was even alternating between practising their flute and eating mouthfuls of dinner. Cleaning the instrument out later would not be fun, Eli thought to himself.
His eyes rested on his favourite person at this school. Jia. She wasn't really his victim so much as he was hers, but that was irrelevant as Eli's new favourite French plaything was sitting a mere two seats away from his best friend.
Perfect!
Sabine was nowhere to be seen, but that was probably because she was oversleeping in her dorm right now- the lazybones. Oh well; he’d just have to take care of her little French charge whilst she was away!
Dodging past the students milling around between chairs and tables, Eli threw his tray down with a clatter and then hooked the seat out with his foot, managing to plop himself down onto it both sloppily and gracefully.
Jia had been pouring over a few sheafs of yellowing sheet music, deep in thought beneath her long black curls, wondering if it was suitable to be arranged for the choir. She jumped terribly when Eli threw down his tray, and looked up at the culprit angrily, ready to give them a tongue-lashing. But she seemed to soften a little when she saw who it was.
“Don't DO that!” she chided him, taking a break from her sheet music to eat some of her salad and take a sip of juice. His juice.
“Sup nigga,” Eli gave his usual greeting. “Hey! That's my juice!”
“Mine now.” Jia gave a unfeminine burp and grinned at him. “You know only black people can pull off the whole “nigga” thing. You're not black. Your ass is as white as white gets.”
“You've never even seen my ass- oh wait. Nevermind.” He took a huge mouthful of his macaroni cheese, and retorted thickly as she raised her eyebrow. “I'm just trying to blend in with the homies! Oops, sorry.”
With distaste, Jia picked the piece of macaroni that Eli had sprayed at her off her t-shirt. “That's disgusting. Now be quiet, I'm trying to read, think and eat.”
“You can't do all those things at once, you'll explode.”
Jia ignored him, pausing only for one second to extend her middle finger in his direction.
“Well fine! Didn't want to talk to you anyway...” Eli's brown eyes flicked over to the next source of entertainment, starting on his garlic bread now. “Oh, bonnjoor! Jacques old buddy old pal, how's it going?”
When Jacques had seen Eli sit down, he had tried his best to eat as fast as possible so he could excuse himself without simply running away- besides, he was starving. Though the dried up pizza and sticking macaroni cheese on offer wasn't really that appetising, it was food and tasted... okay. Fortunately, Eli seemed distracted by his choir friend, so Jacques relaxed, trying to pretend the food he was eating was food back in France and that he wasn’t actually stuck in Japan, eating with a bunch of people with screws loose.
But his luck apparently ran out. Reluctantly looking up to Eli, Jacques sighed. “It is... good?” He hoped the conversation would end there, but he had a very sure feeling that it wouldn't if earlier in the day was anything to go by.
“Good food isn't it? I love it when they cook macaroni cheese!” Eli took another overlarge mouthful, eating with gusto and making rather disgusting noises of enjoyment.
Jacques decided to take to Jia's tactic and simply raise an eyebrow, peering out from under his dark fringe.
“Though! It could do with some salt.” Eli pointed to the salt sellar next to Jacques, smiling in a mischievous way and saying, “Could you pass le salt?”
Jacques blinked a few times, wondering if he'd heard right. Was Eli making fun of him? Or had he just not understood the English Eli was using in his thick South African accent. “Pardon?”
“Le salt!” Eli repeated happily, pointing. “Y'know... right next to le pepper.”
Going quite red in the face by now, the poor confused French boy picked up the pepper and handed it to Eli.
Oh. It was almost too perfect. Eli's smile had turned almost predatory. “No no, not le pepper! Le salt!”
Jacques looked at him helplessly. Of course, if Eli had simply said “salt” he would probably have understood, but adding le was really not helping things.
Suddenly, Eli was whacked in the back of the head by Jia.
“Ow! What the hell was that for?!” Eli rubbed his head, making more strands of his long hair spill out of his ponytail and settle haphazardly about his face.
“It was for being a Richard to the new guy,” Jia replied coldly, her face and voice warmed up though as she looked down to Jacques. “Don't even bother giving him the salt, he's an warped bat-fowling horn-beast.”
Jia's also thick accent was not helping Jacques understand one bit, thinking for a second he slowly formed the question, trying to keep the annoyance out of his voice. “Why... “le”?”
Eli burst out laughing, stopped abruptly by Jia elbowing him. This French kid was kinda cute. “Oh ignore him, he makes fun of everyone.”
“Makes... fun?” Jacques was no closer to understanding than he was before.
“Jacques!” Eli put a hand to his chest, leaning forward, not appearing to care or notice that his tie was hanging in his ketchup. “I'm sorry, I'm just trying to speak your language! Build bridges! Form bonds! It's what this school is all about. Le school spirit!”
“So help me Elias, if you keep teasing that boy I will pour your entire liquor cabinet down the sink!”
“I'm just trying to build le bridges!”
“Final warning!” Jia puffed herself up, she could be quite scary when she wanted to be. And knowing her, she probably would follow up on such a heinous threat. Eli did not want to lose his “sanity juice” so early in the year.
“...I'll behave.”
“Damn straight you will.”
A bewildered Jacques had been listening to their conversation, becoming more and more bewildered with every word they spoke. He hated English. He didn't understand any of it. And the amount of accents around here really wasn't helping him at all. Finally, he finished his last mouthful of salad and could finally leave. “I... go play cello now,” he announced. And he zipped away, as fast as he could without actually sprinting from the room.
“I made a new fwend,” Eli gave a motherly wave to Jacques retreating form.
“More like you made another person who wants to punch you in the face.” The corners of Jia's mouth lifted slightly as she still studied the music, occasionally mouthing the Latin lyrics to herself. “Nah, he loves me really. Oh and don't call me Elias by the way, I'll cry.”
“Go away and cry then.”
“You'd cry too if your mother called you Elias.”
|
| seraphik transient mod of fury
Number of posts : 4598 Age : 33 Location : germany Transforms into : a post-graduate Gender : Female Registration date : 2007-12-31
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| Re: NaNoWriMo Progress! 8D By ixi9003. 01/11/09, 08:29 pm |
| I am totally not posting mine until a) I KNOW it makes sense and b) Until I have made sure I have spelt things like err pieces correct |
| ixi9003 Le grande
Number of posts : 188 Age : 30 Location : Not here Transforms into : a nutbar caffinated squirrel Gender : Undisclosed Registration date : 2008-07-14
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| Re: NaNoWriMo Progress! 8D By Guest. 02/11/09, 03:26 am |
| I'm Nano-ing the Boob Thesis!!!
Currently no words *sigh* |
| Guest Guest
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| Re: NaNoWriMo Progress! 8D By seraphik. 02/11/09, 05:14 am |
| YOU CAN DO IT. 8Db |
| seraphik transient mod of fury
Number of posts : 4598 Age : 33 Location : germany Transforms into : a post-graduate Gender : Female Registration date : 2007-12-31
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| Re: NaNoWriMo Progress! 8D By Mandie_Chan. 02/11/09, 06:08 am |
| T_T How is it all you guys are so good at writing? I want your mad skills!!! |
| Mandie_Chan Optimus Prime
Number of posts : 6753 Age : 33 Location : Middle Earth - Chch Transforms into : Epic Baker of DOOOOM Gender : Female Registration date : 2008-05-15
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| Re: NaNoWriMo Progress! 8D By Guest. 02/11/09, 06:12 am |
| - seraphik wrote:
- YOU CAN DO IT. 8Db
Not without disconnecting the internet I can't. I'm going to get Dr Wicked tonight. The $10US is worth it! |
| Guest Guest
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| Re: NaNoWriMo Progress! 8D By Selphiroth. 02/11/09, 01:28 pm |
| @Pyro Fantastic work! I already know a bit of the back stories, it is still wonderful to see it coming into its actual form. Certainly impressed that you managed this quality at SPEED WRITING. I can't even begin to imaging what it's like to be able to write this well in such a short time period.
I love love love the portrait of the brothers' characters. There are so much believable sibling love that is constantly being made aware, without turning right into the ultra sweet territory. Overall it felt like you have really thought out the characters, the world settings as well as paid extra attention on how each one of them would deal with the circumstances in their distinctive way, it came across as a really carefully crafted piece. If anything the only thing I'd be a bit "eh" about is how he tried to explain his situation to Asta by undressing. Maybe Asta don't mind, maybe they are close enough to get away with it, I think personally I would've just GOT OUT OF THERE and not even look to find out why. ^^;; Oh clawed MP3, that made me lol.
Overall a great piece, and I can't wait to see more!
@Seraphik Things that you probably already know - I'm not an international student. I'm less musical than most deaf people. I never had a "normal" high school experience. Because of that, I don't relate to your story or character at all.
Yet I am loving it to bits. I love the bits of witty comments slipped unexpectedly between the lines that made me laugh, I love how lively the characters are, I love the choices of words used that subtly give out characterisation, AND LETHARGIC TURTLE RACE. It's the sort of story that made me wondered what if. What if in a parallel universe, it's possible to have a school life like that? Isn't that just rosy? =)
Well done!
@ Axelinn This is one of those times that a somewhat fomulated story stayed charming and fun to read because of the amount of self awareness shown in it. You are obviously a keen reader, as well as being very genre savvy. It is super delightful to read precisely because of the amount of subtle references, and it's just so lively!
@Stranger I'll wait for more to come. =)
(Others, tomorrow. I need to get on my own NaNo ;ajdfkaj) |
| Selphiroth EPICLY EPIC
Number of posts : 552 Age : 124 Transforms into : Swiss army knife with a flash light Gender : Undisclosed Registration date : 2008-08-31
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| Re: NaNoWriMo Progress! 8D By Rikki-Leigh. 02/11/09, 01:34 pm |
| ... KASHFLDHGJASLD YOUR STORIES ARE SO AWESOME GUYS
I need to start writing my own story. ;; |
| Rikki-Leigh Souperman.
Number of posts : 3767 Age : 30 Location : CBD Transforms into : a muffin Gender : Male Registration date : 2008-02-09
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| Re: NaNoWriMo Progress! 8D By Ginger Ninja. 02/11/09, 01:34 pm |
| I feel so bad for not having started mine now. I have a base plots and everything in my head i just dont know how to write it xD TOMORROW! |
| Ginger Ninja fuzzeh duckling~
Number of posts : 1108 Age : 30 Location : Auckland Transforms into : probably a phoenix or something equally cliche Gender : Female Registration date : 2008-06-11
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| Re: NaNoWriMo Progress! 8D By Pyro. 02/11/09, 01:56 pm |
| @Selphiroth-- I don't know how heavily I've implied it in there, but he and Asta' have known each other since they were about five or six, so she wouldn't find it too weird-- on the contrary, she'd probably be feeling more like 'gawd Nab's been so prudish since like the beginning of time', if she was even thinking about that particular issue at that stage. Also, when she reappears later in a slightly less out-there-scenario, I'm hoping it'll become clear that she's reasonably relaxed about that sort of thing. =D |
| Pyro Winner of the Infinitely Quotable Award
Number of posts : 3934 Age : 29 Location : Auckland Transforms into : Tik-Tok Tibenoch Gender : Female Registration date : 2007-12-03
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| Re: NaNoWriMo Progress! 8D By seraphik. 02/11/09, 02:11 pm |
| @shelley; askdjflsdk thankyou! ;A; i think that's what i have the most fun with- characterization and development, rather than nitty gritty super detailed plot stuff... it's just a pleasure to write. and i'm glad you're enjoying it so far, even though it doesn't relate to you! >w< CAN'T WAIT TO READ YOURS, BTW. AM WAITING WITH BAITED BREATH.
it's really heartening to see all this feedback on each others work, guys! gives a lot of encouragement to keep going with nano and hit the 50k mark. <333 |
| seraphik transient mod of fury
Number of posts : 4598 Age : 33 Location : germany Transforms into : a post-graduate Gender : Female Registration date : 2007-12-31
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| Re: NaNoWriMo Progress! 8D By Selphiroth. 02/11/09, 02:34 pm |
| Okay I'm really self conscious, especially consider that usually people tolerate anything but poor grammar. Oh yeah I'm a non writer. >_> (Then there was the whole POSTING IN WRONG THREAD thing. SHAME.)
English Grammar and me... AHAHAHAHAH. Haha. ha. The hardest part is that I can't write without constant editing, as my thoughts comes out in bursts and without huge amount of hack 'N slashing the sentences makes no sense of what so ever.
But NaNoWriMo said it's NaNoDecEdMo right? So I will give it a go. Shall edit properly later.
1982/50000. I think the correct term is I'm a tad behind.
Knotweed
- Spoiler:
Prologue (327 years ago)
Angus popped a mint into his mouth, feeling the slight plasticky pinch of his nicotine patch brushing against his sleeve. Funny how such childish delights always filled him up with glee, but surely he was more than justified if anyone asked. Switching from chewing gum, smoking tobacco and pissing on walls was a major milestone for him. A small crunch for a man, a huge mark for what about to come.
Because every time when he did that, it was the indication that his building project had moved far along enough to deserve more tender care to the environment than the initial rougher infantile phase, where detailed housekeeping felt far too out of place without a house. Just like a writer would smug about finishing a notebook, even if his ass-flavoured mint did taste like the bot responsible for it was using the candy as a sullen protest against humanity. Or that the squeaky patch screamed the numeral failed attempts at quitting smoking, the embarrassing memory of him ended up un-quit when stood far too close to an Anti-Shower Campaign protester just for a second hand downwind whiff. Oh, never forgot the quickest way to be mocked all the way to the Security Orb and back was to pass over vertical greetings and use the Portaloo instead, which had a one in three chance that it would then be pushed over by his fellow construction workers who considered covering their colleague in weeks old, well fermented refuge was the best method of mate bonding. Gross thought, that was just slightly less disgusting than the mint.
Even then, Angus's spirit couldn't be any higher. This was it. Most people would thought that by now the routine had worn off the novelty. Oh, how they had no idea. It didn't matter how many places Angus had built, this Mint Patch Wall combo was the moment it hit him that his sparks of ideas were going to materialise into reality.
He was a fine artist, taking enormous pride in his work, and that was the sort of pedantic perfectionism that he knew that could only be seen with envy as the ultimate luxury. The sort earned by spending far too much of his younger years doing rushed substandard work to gather enough money to live, where the dangling carrot was the sole basis of his choice of work. The reminiscence made Angus's stomach tighten, he cringed in shame. If he was lucky, his name wasn't even connected to those jokes of some of his youthful "projects", he just didn't want to check. Years of enduring all that, it was always nice to be at the point of his career where he no longer had the need for the money. Now instead of being the soulless worker ant, he could instead design building in ways that he wanted to, with maximum say on almost everything over the project saved for the budgets. Oh, the liberating feeling that the project was an extension of himself! This time it was even better, he was chosen for the very project because of all the other experts had put this much faith in him.
Just counted himself extra lucky that he was getting compensated spectacularly for it, too. Angus knew that he was never the best architect, the best strategist, the best programmer or the best ruin mage, but when people needed to contract someone who knew enough in just about all unrelated fields and bring them together, while designing a building that needed all sort of considerations being taken to account, there was no one else but Angus.
Here he was, taking the full control of building the most technologically intense library in the dome. His contracted had a few requirement. One, a library to store and organize a portion of the classified government files. Two, set enough security features to keep all the items placed there confidential. Three, build and plan the library to be sturdy enough to withstand attempts of destruction as well as wear and tear. Four, in the unlikely event that all other precautions had failed, the secured items here should be prevented from falling into the wrong hands. How was he going to do any of those was up to him.
They called, Angus answered.
One. The library was going to be as small and compact as possible, enough room to store all the vital files but also with enough space deprivation to discourage people treating it as a place to stuff empty chip packets. The area was made even more organisable with carefully built in filing drawers rather than bookcases, in case of the increasingly frequent Levelshakes no one would had to re-pile alphabetically the entire record of the past thirty years. He intentionally kept automatic system to minimum, not because he didn't trust the machines but rather he didn't want the people using the system conveniently blaming their own short comings. Nip away the room for waffling was the best way to eliminate carelessness and irresponsibilities. After all, when was the last time a major crisis occurred because of anything but human errors?
Two and three were points to be considered in unison. Angus made an early decision that the location of the library should be on Level Three rather than the usual Level Two and above, just a step over right by the eye of where the scums, terrorists, outlaws and the flat out bored hang out. He also made sure that the location was as far away from the central Dartford Tower as possible, plunked only two hundred metres away from the border wall of the dome, set right along with a few state houses. As if anything important would ever be put there.
Not close enough to be a target as a civilian casualty of Level Four's daily War for Fun, yet so shamelessly unlikely to the ones who wanted to infiltrate things that mattered, Angu's library's location alone was screaming out "Raiding me? I'm not worth it". Learning from his teacher, he also planted a decoy of a vending machine ten metres away in the most visible location available, selling nothing but highest quality Special Brownies at a very reasonable price. So special, that many of the patrons of that vending machine would then forget whatever they wanted to do with that dingy grey building, temporarily put down their motivations and ambition for life, and would suddenly feel like their top priority was inhaling down twelve chocolate doughnuts from the little cafe at the other direction. The cafe owner was so grateful for the business, Angus hadn't need to paid for a doughnut ever since.
Having said that, there were also plenty of inbuilt security preventing any drunk who stumbled in for a quickie, or next gen of evil masterminds in training starting their Young Entreprenuer small business by breaking in and take whatever wires available to the recycling centre. It was alluring, consider that if they budgeted well and invested their loot smartly, in about seventy four years those youngster would had enough to buy a bomb to blow up a one story building. As much it was tempting to mock those children's lacking of any real valuing estimating abilities, Angus was fully aware that those were also surprisingly too professional to be getting high at work.
Because of that, a simply decoy was no way sufficient as the sole security measure. Oldie goodie power tricks were universally useful, hence they were indiscriminately applied. The lock, windows, doors, walls and roof was built with enough reinforcement to give a fully speeding car a concussion, and the mock-wood used were so fire resistant Angus had to give some of his constructors a stern telling off for using the door as teppanyaki board. Oh, the last killer security measure. A good, solid built in sign screams LIBRARY by the entrance. That deterred most (literate) petty baby Am-I-Hardcore-Yets just about as quickly as hanging out rows of heart shaped pastel pink balloons and baby blue plush puppies.
Four. That was when Angus had his most fun. If he had his way he'd keep two small plastic sheets of explosives between each piece of paper brought in here, and let all the exits give out short bursts of detonating waves. He was successful at working out a prototype, but the running cost would be so high it was simply not workable. Instead he had to pull out his rusty mage engineer hat and came up with one of the most powerful data-trap outside of the government departments. It was especially commissioned from him rather than taking an already existing system, as the safety measure screamed that in the tragic case that one barrier had been cracked, all barriers sharing the identical technology would be crippled. Angus never even checked how the Dartford tower's data-trap worked, fearing that would just influence his design too much. What he eventually came up with was intertwining web of active and supporting ruins splattered the place, function as words erasers. Notes, books or files would keep perfectly fine within the walls, but upon removal all things with words that ever was brought into would be erased clean, on paper or on electronic transfers. No exceptions, non retrievable, not charged but-a-gold-coin-is-welcome.
It worked so well that Angus had to learn to memorise his grocery list rather than try to write one down there. More embarrassingly was he forgot to remove his notebook laptop before turning on the device, not only all of the words based files inside of the computer were left blank, his keyboard was wiped so clean he could see his own reflection on each one of the keys. While re-scribbling each key with a permanent marker at home, Angus had to laugh at himself over the irony of this timely reminder - there had to be a reason why he put so much emphasise on human errors, he wasn't exactly immune after all.
This was a utility for the history. Nothing last forever, damned if Angus didn't try. He paced around the building once more, content with confidence that this was going to be his most monumental work. That if nothing drastic happened, this library, his library, would still be standing upright proudly a thousand years from now on, long after he was gone.
It was the sort of project that would stretch every single one of Angus's creative and technical cells to its maximum potential. This was the sort of work that made him felt like a finally waking up from a long slumber, Now the project itself had reached Mint Stage filling up career satisfaction into his every single pore. Note to self, Angus thought; this degree of devotion was probably not health. Ah, screw it. This was making him too happy, and if that was his disease he might as well enjoy it. Such a personal masterpiece, he couldn't care less that this was going to be the niftiest small project the mass population would never find out about it.
Nothing could cloud over the face splitting grin on Angus now. He shoved the mint box back into the pocket, briefly brushing against the packet of cigarettes. He didn't even registered it was there. The sort of raw, embarrassingly unadulterated joy that easily pushed his otherwise stubborn habit over the plank.
This library would be named as soon as the project was completed, but in Angus's mind, this would always be His Baby.
He knew that it would stand the test of time. That's what really mattered.
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| Selphiroth EPICLY EPIC
Number of posts : 552 Age : 124 Transforms into : Swiss army knife with a flash light Gender : Undisclosed Registration date : 2008-08-31
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| Re: NaNoWriMo Progress! 8D By seraphik. 02/11/09, 05:46 pm |
| ... shelley i think your writing is amazing. you have no reason to be self-conscious at all! |
| seraphik transient mod of fury
Number of posts : 4598 Age : 33 Location : germany Transforms into : a post-graduate Gender : Female Registration date : 2007-12-31
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| Re: NaNoWriMo Progress! 8D By Ginger Ninja. 03/11/09, 01:16 am |
| I have started Even if I did start from near the end of the book because that is the part I wanted to write most. Also my plot it completely unrealistic but I dont really care and my writing isnt very good xD But at least i finally started, 5000 words behind x.x |
| Ginger Ninja fuzzeh duckling~
Number of posts : 1108 Age : 30 Location : Auckland Transforms into : probably a phoenix or something equally cliche Gender : Female Registration date : 2008-06-11
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| Re: NaNoWriMo Progress! 8D By sakuramiyabi. 03/11/09, 01:48 am |
| i has an idea for a story ... something about coinhabiting with mutant ants ...
but it will have to wait till after my exams TwT |
| sakuramiyabi Souperman.
Number of posts : 3941 Age : 34 Location : Seigetsu Gakuen Transforms into : Melted pool of something Gender : Female Registration date : 2008-01-09
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| Re: NaNoWriMo Progress! 8D By Guest. 03/11/09, 01:58 am |
| 619!
I <3 Dr Wicked.
Warning: Boob Thesis ahead:
- Spoiler:
Mammals are, by definition, animals that use specialised mammary glands to nuture their young. The breasts of adult human females, however, are a particularly specialised kind of tissue. Human mammary glands are surrounded and encapsulated by a layer of fat, sometimes up to several kilograms to each breast. The fatty tissue itself apparently serves no function for the mammary gland itself. The fat distribution is sexually dimorphic - it is restricted to females (except in pathological cases). Insert a picture here.
The glandular tissue of the human breast is fairly unexceptional, and has homologues in every other primate and mammal. The milk ducts produce milk from fats, sugars and proteins circulating in the blood in response to hormonal triggers. Human breastmilk is relatively high in protein and low in
sugars. Muscular contractions, partially triggered by hormonal cues generated from the infant suckling, move the milk down branching ducts and into increasingly large ducts until they reach the nipple. Evolutionarily, the milk glands seem to stem from highly derived sebaceous glands. The nipple is surrounded by an area of darkened and slightly thickened skin called the areola.In this area is also found the Montgomery glands, which are further derived sebaceous glands but apparently have no function in the lactational process. The development of the human breast differs significantly from that of other mammals. In most mammals, including the primates, the lactational tissue develops a small amount in fetal development, but development then stops until pregnancy. At that stage the glands complete development and begin milk production. In humans, the first stage of development is also fetal, but the second is triggered at puberty. This is the same time as the fat development is triggered. The final stage of development occurs in pregnancy and is associated with an increase in breast volume that does not seem associated with fat levels.
The glandular tissue in the human breast is surrounded by fat. The fat itself is unexceptional, and seems to be irrelevant to the milk production process specifically. The breast tissue protrudes forward from the body as a consequence, compared to other primates. As with most primates, the breast fat and glandular tissue are situated near the top of the torso. While the "milk line" continues down the body, and supernumary nipples are not uncommon, breast development is limited to the upper torso, unlike quadrupedal mammals where the nipples and glandular tissue tend to be towards the pelvis.
The fat and glandular tissue together protrude from the body, such that the breast can move independent of the body and makes them a promient feature during face-to-face interaction. The overall shape varies from woman to woman. This structure is held up by a series of tendons, and overtime these stretch, causing the structure of the breast to "slump" down, frequently causing the breast to lie against the lower ribs or stomach.
The amount of fat in the breast, and the shape it assumes, varies from person to person, and it also varies within an individual. Anecdotally, many women report that overall weight fluctuations result in a change in breast size, as fat is deposited in and mobilised from the breast tissue as usual. However, within families, breast sizes tend to be similar when account for weight fluctation and so the amount of fat carried in the breast probably has a heritable element.
Breast fat seems to be a side effect of the overall increase in fat levels being carried by humans, compared to other primates. Arieli 2004 speculates that this increased level of fat may be a result of greater seasonaility in the environment in which early hominids found themselves. Carrying increased amounts of fat created a buffer for a lean dry season.
How to scientifically describe a breast? |
| Guest Guest
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| Re: NaNoWriMo Progress! 8D By Ryans-cupcake. 03/11/09, 07:41 am |
| 2,608 quite behind. I don't think I'm ready to post anything of it yet. But I'll do that soon... Took me a while to decide on a storrrrry |
| Ryans-cupcake paoupu fruit
Number of posts : 472 Age : 33 Transforms into : wereryanmon Gender : Male Registration date : 2008-03-22
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| Re: NaNoWriMo Progress! 8D By Duckeh. 03/11/09, 07:47 am |
| Ahgh. Will restart after cleaning. Have started, don't like it... May use it later in the story. Generally once I start though and it's running smoothly I can pump out a lot.
Blahr. SO BEHIND THOUGH~ ;-; & all your writing is so polished compared to mine. //Writes amazingly badly. |
| Duckeh GOD of all things EPIC
Number of posts : 6842 Age : 31 Location : Orklandz Transforms into : YO BUTT. Gender : Female Registration date : 2007-11-24
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| Re: NaNoWriMo Progress! 8D By Admin. 03/11/09, 07:59 am |
| I sort of want to write another story...
I'm not happy with how I've written Dominari Liber!
And I have so many ideas. ;A; It's awful - I have so many good ideas but I can't execute them properly. |
| Admin Winner of the Golden Gun Award
Number of posts : 2982 Age : 28 Location : Howick Transforms into : yo mama. Gender : Male Registration date : 2007-11-24
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| Re: NaNoWriMo Progress! 8D By JVCA. 03/11/09, 08:04 am |
| @Alex: D: What's wrong with it? Can I help? If it helps, *I* like what I've read of what you've written so far. |
| JVCA Pronounced "Jay-vee-ka"
Number of posts : 7122 Age : 33 Location : Howick, Auckland Transforms into : a crotchety old woman Gender : Female Registration date : 2007-11-25
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