Sunday, April 23, 2006

School is over. Over AND Done!

I wrote my last final exam yesterday morning annnnd have had a great day of turning my brain into mush today. Haha iced tea and Kung Fu movies will do that to a guy ;) Still and all, I thought it high time to at least attempt to accomplish something today between bouts of napping, movie marathons and general slothing. Thus, I started to plan out some of my summer writing goals.

First and foremost is 'Creatures', as this is the story line that I plan on adapting to the 24-hour Play write. Let me shine some light on my particular brand of erratic writing style. I'll get an idea, or a picture in my head, of a scene that should happen, or a setting that would nbe neat. Thats how it starts. Whether inspired by something I've seen / heard or just a wandering thought captured out of the clear blue sky, its just that, an idea. This is the part I love. As the idea is this fresh and bright thing I'll write about all in a rush. Then comes the hard part. I come back in a day, find most of the grammar is gibberish and meanings incoherent, so its edit edit edit. Then, to add any more to the story, there needs to be a feasible plot, interesting characters etc and those generally don't appear in the first idea "rush".

Creatures is at the idea stage. Why are those two little fellows wandering through the jungle? Where is the jungle? What is a bolter? what.. when... how... why... haha these are very good questions for which I have less than interesting answers to. I have a few ideas for characters and minor plot points, but less than few for the main drive of the story. I am leaning towards doing something with a fable tinge to it, a short complete hero - villian story thats fairly simple wth all the traditional elements. I really want to give the stage the look of a three ring circus too and think I can pull off that effect.

Other than Creatures, I was looking back through a few things and anticipate spending time finishing the first installment of 'Black Nines', a story that leads agents Chris Conrad and Sandra White to an industrial station deep in an asteriod belt to find a missing InterStar Postal fleet. The Heavily armed courrier fleet was hyjacked mid flight in an elaberate heist. Fearing an outbreak of similar thefts, the Black Nines are put on the case along side a shifty crew of ISP security agents a long way from civilized space to clear the problem up as quick as possible. All they're up against is an extremely gifted hacker, an AI with revenge on the mind and the whispering beginnings of an unknown group that seems to be pulling the strings from behind a wall of mystery. Stay tuned for the full posting of "Mail Run".

I'd really, REALLY like to get either Condition Genesis or else One Thousand One edited and brought up to spec (the former has less that needs to be done on it) so in the coming months those will be posted for sure. Now for a treat, looking back in the old archives I've dug up this little gem for your reading pleasure. Remember what I said about the idea? This is all this is and has very little hope of growing any larger than that. Still and all, I hope you Enjoy the kidnapping of a princess.


Sornthii stood at a window, staring out at the moon. Full and shining over the city, sparkling in little ways over fountains and fresh snow. It was the only time that the snow shone white, in the morning it would be churned to brown mud by the feet of many. For now, for the moment, the whole of the city from window to Travelers gate in the far west sparkled from torches and snowflake. She shivered from the frost in the air.
"Love, come away from the window." Celius whispered. "I shall never hear the end of it if my bride dies of cold on her wedding night."
She smiled over her shoulder.
"I do not think that I shall freeze in your arms, my Only. The moon is so full tonight, over the city it looks unlike anything else I've seen."
"It looks like the crying moon, the forest shade." Celius came behind her and wrapped a heavy cover over her bare shoulders. "The beast men will look to that sky tonight."
"Beast men?" She laughed, "what stories are you telling now? I am no longer a little girl who believes such tales!"
"And what do you know of the wide world outside the travelers gate?"
Her eyes sparkled, "only what you whisper into my ear." She turned and wrapped the cover around Celius also, drawing him close. "Whisper the beastmen tale to my ear tonight." She kissed his cheek.
"There is a valley and a hidden place inside a mountain where wolves walk like men, tigers speak with an intelligent tongue and bears smith and hunt with metal."
"But the valley is not real."
"It is, and the beastmen sometimes come from it in force to steal away unbelievers in the night." Celius smiled. Sornthii punched his shoulder.
"Your tales are getting more and more ridicules every time father takes you away on his trade routes!"
"Are you sorry that you married a dreamer?"
"It is because you were a dreamer that I married you..."
The room fell into something of silence, and among the snowy roof tiles, silence moved.
Shadows within shadows, night deeper than night something stirred and jumped from roof to roof. Daring leaps ended in padded crouches, and the sleeping forms behind windows and under snowy ceilings knew nothing but the wind and dreams that come with slumber. Black shadows in the night were not of a sleeping man's concern.
From the huts to houses the shadows came, and over walls into the palace itself. In the blackness between torches they crept and came, unknown to the eyes of broad shouldered men. It was the dogs that first felt something amiss, crying foul into the night and straining against their tethers. The guards ran to the gates and flung shutters off lanterns, sending beams of light to pierce the shadows. Crouching in the dark, shining eyes glared out. Without warning, shadow became solid and steel was unsheathed.
"Demons from Nor'hanath!" A guard yelled, "warning, warning!"
The words died in this throat, an arrow's fletching suddenly showing where his heart dwelt. More light came and the hounds howled, but the shadows were gone, leaping up to the high roofs of the modest palace.
Captain of the guard rushed into Zelin's bedchamber with a lantern, closing the windows and disturbing the girl's sleep. She fearfully clutched the sheets to herself and blinked against the sudden light.
"Captain, explain yourself!" She cried. "I am a guest here!"
"No time Princess, the palace is under attack!"
"Attack?"
"They come for you!" The captain drew his sword and stood gazing out the window.
"What is the meaning of this? Who comes for me, tell me!"
"Demons, beast men! They come to take you away!"
"Beast men?" Zelin frantically took up several robes and tried to put them on all at once. "Fairy tales! There is nothing of the sort!"
"The minds of men are shallow, the things the Far Patrol sees are strange." The Captains eyes darted here and there. Fires were being lit to try and scare the beasts off and the dogs were loosed, but it would not stop them. The archers had taken three, and pike men surprised four more in the halls, but more remained silently. He had already lost a dozen men to the shadows. Who knew how many more there were? Then a sound came from the roof and in a moment lines were thrown past the window and dark forms crashed through the shutters in a fury of wintry air. The Captain stepped back from the glass shards and held his sword overhead.
The forms crouched, then stood, their heads nearly skimming the roof. Green eyes glinted behind metal grates.
"Demons, you shall not harm her!" The Captain stood his ground. Zelin cowered in her bed.
"Captain of Dunese, soldier of the North and monk. We salute you who are about to die, for your courage and your honor in combat."
"She is my charge and can not be harmed while protected by this house."
"We wish her no harm, but you will not stop us." The form drew a long blade from his back and a metal fan from his belt.
"Do you know the girl's father?" captain asked
"Yes."
"He will hunt you to the ends of the earth, to the edge of the world where the sea spills into the void, he will find you even there."
"It is not us that your master should hunt. We are but hands bound by oath to another."
"What other?"
"I am bound by oath not to say." A padded foot stepped forward. "Die well Captain of men."
"Mine shall not be the only death!"
Zelin huddled in her blankets and pile of robes, not daring to move lest the balance of the fight be swayed in the demon’s favor. The Captain locked blades and spun, cutting the air in parts around the black swaths of cloth. For the size of the other, his quickness and grace was beyond what the eye could follow. The fight was a blur of movement, a perfect balance until the captain stopped. Out of his back the tip of a saber protruded. In a quick movement the black figure unfurled the fan and took the captains head, granting a quick death. Zelin screamed at the show of violence and barely realized that she was being wrapped in a rug and tied across a pair of shoulders. By the time her eyes dried, the tears were frozen on her face and she was far, far from what she knew.

I hope you enjoyed this little tale of men and monsters. Like all good stories it contains ninjas. ;)

Until next time, God Bless
John, The Writer.

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