Erin's Serials

Stealing Memes

2009-12-28T05:51:54Z

I am too busy to come to the loft for long or write much :( but, let's breathe some life into this journal with a character meme stolen from Jen. I need your help!

First!

Comment to this post with the name of a character that I have written in on of my stories (any that you might know). I will comment telling you the following:

A. What initially prompted me to like the character enough to write about him/her.
B. One of his/her best traits.
C. One of his/her worst traits.
D. How easy/difficult I find it to write the character.
E. The story/chapter/paragraph/phrase where I feel that I truly captured the character (if I've written them).
F. My plans (if any) to write the character in the near future.

Second!

Give me one of my own stories or characters, and a timestamp sometime in the future after the end of the story, or sometime in the past before the story started, and I'll tell you want happened then, whether it's five minutes before the story started or ten years in the future.

Nano 2009

2009-11-17T10:47:06Z

This year's theme is: AU Regency Romance. First Installment! Enjoy. If the names seem strange, it is because all of the characters are borrowed from earlier works

If Quirnia had known, when found she was in the family way in the first months of her marriage to Nicolas, that there were children like her daughter Imogene in the world she would have spent every free moment in church, praying to any saint who would listen to be spared such a joy. As it was, Qurinia, a girl of seventeen, was spared the trouble as she did not know that such children existed in the upper classes and, certainly, had no concept that her and Nicolas could produce such a creature.

In fact, given the fashions of child rearing in the circles surrounding court (For Nicolas was royalty) Quirnia saw very little of Imogene after her first five years, during which time the child was a perfect angel, if a little sickly. The lady had no reason to suspect that her darling little child who never made noise and sat so well for portraits would be so spoiled by exposure to other children in the course of her education.

When Imogene came home from school at the age of thirteen, she was an utterly changed child. She spoke, even when not spoken to, she gave her opinions when asked, she read things which were neither recommendations of nor approved by her mother or teachers. She let her petticoats show, if there were something important at stake like a tree to climb or a horse to ride.

Her father, had he lived to see it, would have thought it was wonderful, but he had died when riding with Imogene and his brother when the child was six.

Quirnia thought that it was dreadful. She didn’t know where to begin setting the child back to right.

Imogene's sudden change in behavior was not Quirnia's only problem, but only one in a series. She had, some years before, retired from the social scene and from court. Unlike Nicolas, her second husband, the afore mentioned brother of her first husband, had not been a personable man. This man, one James, he had enjoyed neither saying in town, nor having many guests up for the various amusements most of their class enjoyed. This would have presented a problem even if he had remained alive for many years, but Quirnia did not have any such luck, for her second husband had died as well not long after their marriage.

Quirnia found herself widowed, with two children, one thirteen and one, her son by her second husband, a boy by the name of Jonathon, just under six. She herself was only thirty-two.

Quirnia found herself alienated from her friends and her allies, and with a daughter soon to be of age, and second in line for the throne she found the situation most disagreeable.

For this reason she had recalled her daughter from school, in the hopes of taking her to the capital during the spring and summer and making some suitable acquaintances. It was not a matter of the child being marriageable. A girl second in line for the throne would always be marriageable, but having played the game of royal marriages and lost two husbands, Qurnia sought security, both for herself and for her unruly daughter.

On the afternoon when they arrived at her second husband's country house, fresh from the school which Imogene had until late attended, Imogene was in her worst form. It hurt Quirnia's head. Imogene’s own head hung half out the carriage window.

"I haven't been here since I was ten" she said "All I remember is the library, do you suppose the library was the same?"

"Other than some select books your sainted father brought with him from his travels, I imagine it is." Quirnia said, archly.

"He wasn't my father." Imogene pointed out, acidly pulling her head back inside, which, at least, was a blessing.

“Don’t talk nonsense.” Quirnia said.

Imogene made a face. She was not a pretty girl by conventional wisdom but she had an energetic kind of health that made her fairly glow and made up for much of the lack of art in her features. Her hair, mostly straight, smooth and light brown was in every way the same as her mother’s, as was her fair complexion and hazel eyes, but the nose, mouth and the shape of those eyes harkened to Nicholas in their animation and rudeness.

Quirnia held out some hope, still, of Imogene becoming yet prettier. She had been a sallow, sick child with glassy eyes, so even now she represented a marked improvement as she scrunched her nose at her mother and shook her head.

“It’s not nonsense. Uncle James wasn’t the worst, but he wasn’t Father.”

Qurinia had to concede the point. She looked out the window as they pulled into the drive.

“Imogene, you must not talk back to your elders.” Quirnia said.

“Even when they say something wrong?”

“As a child it is not your place to tell them as much, Imogene.”

Imogene wrinkled her nose again but took the advice to heart and kept her mouth shut.

Qurnia was not without friends entirely, and as they pulled in began to detail the particulars of some the guests currently in residence.

“I expect you to be very polite to Mrs. Grant and each of the Miss Emms at all times, Imogene. The eldest is one of my oldest friends.”

Imogene’s lip quirked but she refrained from asking why she had not met a woman her mother claimed to be so close to.

“She went to school with me. She was just beginning when I was finishing, but we have written often in the years since.” Quirnia went on. “She married, and she did so well, to a naval officer, but her family has fallen on harder times.” It was dreadful, really. Both parents of family had died some ten years earlier. The father being a man of profession, there had been little money left and what there was had gone to the education of the sons. The daughters were dependent on their sister and other relatives’ charity, uneducated and destitute. With her husband away at sea, Lyani had closed up the house and was visiting friends to see if she could expose the girls to some better society.

“They probably are feeling awkward at being asked to so fine a house. As such, I expect you to be very understanding of her and her sisters, no matter what they say or do. The youngest girl is your age.” Quirnia added, marveling at her schoolfellow having a sister the age of her daughter. “The girl’s name is Caroline, but they call her Kerni.”

“That’s a strange sort of name.” Imogene commented, dissecting a leaf that had happened to fall through the window.

“I am sure you will become fast friends.” Quirnia said, without commenting on the nickname. She leaned forward to take the leaf and gestured for Imogene to fold her hands. She sighed and did so before her mother went on. “The middle daughter is eighteen, I believe. She’s named Amelia, but they call her Aeni.” Aeni was proof, in Quirnia’s eyes, that children could go wrong in the way that Imogene had without the benefit of education.

The carriage stopped and Imogene was saved the trouble of sitting still without fidgeting much longer. Mother and daughter made their way inside, where they soon found Jonathon, Quirnia’s younger child. When he had been greeted, embraced and adored by his older sister in appropriate portions, he was spirited off by the young governess, insistent that it was time for his next lesson, and the Emms sisters were proclaimed to have come down to have tea. There was no time to change out of traveling clothes. Qurinia and Imogene proceeded to the sitting room to join their guests.

Battle Part 3

2009-06-20T16:29:33Z

A blast shook the ship. Imogene, discomfort forgotten, clung to Arisa with both arms.

Arisa shushed her and stroked the little girl’s hair, rocking a little. When the shaking subsided, a still silence settled on the two of them. After a few minutes it was broken by distant gunfire. With every shot Imogene’s hands on Arisa’s arm and side tightened into the cloth of her dress ever so slightly, then relaxed only to do it again a few seconds later. A minute of the intermittent shots and the sounds subsided. Now they could hear nothing of the battle above.

After a few minutes of the calm Imogene’s grip relaxed entirely. Another minute passed. She took the hand away from Arisa’s side.

“Do you suppose….”

“Shhh.” Arisa interrupted. The little girl followed her direction and was quiet, leaving the remaining hand on the medic’s arm. Another minute passed, then another.

“How long do you think...”

Arisa clapped a hand over Imogene’s mouth as they both heard the door to the kitchen open. All of the little girl’s muscles went stiff, her fingers burrowing again into the fabric of Arisa’s sleeve. They heard the intruder push aside the pots and pans on the counter the man in the kitchen swore. He moved past the pantry door. The door to the kitchen opened and closed again.

The tension in the cabin girl’s arms and shoulders flowed back out and she loosened her death grip on Arisa’s sleeve, but she didn’t take her hand away and, even when Arisa let go of her mouth and put the hand on her shoulder instead, she didn’t try to speak.

Despite the long minutes of silence that passed, Imogene didn’t get bored again. Neither of them moved. They barely breathed.

The door opened again. There were shambling footsteps, moving fast.

“Potatoes!” a male voice said. He laughed and shuffled around the side of the room. “Holy God. They’ve got saffron and cloves and…” He whistled. Imogene’s fingers dug into Arisa’s arm, but Arisa’s posture didn’t change. She cocked back the hammer on the pistol. They both heard him coming towards them before the pantry door opened. He appeared in the doorway. No one moved.

He wasn’t very much more than a boy, the man before them. A scraggly dark beard covered his pale face and his dark hair fell into his pale blue eyes. Arisa and the man stared at each other, his hand on the door, her finger on the trigger and neither moved.

Imogene gave a little cry of fear and surprise. The man, coming to his senses, saw the weapon in Arisa’s hand and lunged for it, raising the club in his other hand. She pulled the trigger. The force of the shot sent her crashing against the shelf behind her.

The grapeshot blew a wide hole in the man’s chest, splattering Arisa, Imogene, the floor and the walls in blood. He coughed and slumped forward, limp, onto she who had shot him. Imogene screamed.

Arisa, trembling, dropped the weapon and shoved the man off her herself and back out of the pantry. She got to her feet, still shaking.

“What are you doing?” Imogene asked.

“Getting his weapon.” Arisa said. “I can’t reload this and if another comes we aren’t armed.”

“You shot him.”

“I had to.”

“Is he dead?”

Arisa swallowed the bile rising into her throat. “Yes.” She said. “He’s dead.”

Arisa wasn’t sure how long they sat there, clinging to each other in the pantry, waiting with the dead man’s cudgel, but she was sure it was an hour. It felt like days. Finally they heard footsteps and a voice they both knew.

“Little? Ari? Oh for God sake what…” Arisa could hear him rush into the room. He opened the pantry door and there he stood. Dimitri Resano. Their captain standing straight with his head high and his shoulders back, fearless and strong like a blood spattered angel.

His sash was ripped, his hair down and his face pale in contrast to the splash of blood across it. Imogene launched herself into his arms.

“Oh, Little.” He whispered. He kissed her on the top of the head, then set her firmly to one side. “Not now.” He said. He looked down at the body and then at Arisa. He helped the medic to her feet.

“I’m sorry, Arisa.” He said, taking the gun from her. “I wish you hadn’t had to do that.” He put an arm around her. “You’re shaking, love.”

She fought back tears and panic. Her Anjulian failed her. “I…he open door and….I…the gun…it…”

He put an arm around her and steered her away from the body. “I’m so sorry.” He squeezed her shoulder. “This is going to have to wait though. We need you on deck.”

“On deck?”

“Right.” He said. “Run get her things from the surgery, Little. Arisa, come on with me.”

Battle part 2

2009-06-20T09:14:47Z

The ship shook. Pewter plates rattled against one another in the cupboards, and the potatoes jumped against the sides of the pot. Arisa dropped her knife and braced herself against the wall, remaining frozen there for long seconds after the shaking had subsided. She gathered the knife, wiping it on her apron and looked up from it to the potatoes she’d been peeling. She set it down on the table and peeked out the door.

The level that the kitchen was on was quiet and empty, but above her footsteps thundered across the deck. Arisa’s throat and stomach tightened, and heaved upwards. She shut the door behind herself, but stood, before it, wringing the edges of her apron.

Yancy Caines dropped from the ladder to the floor and turned to see her standing there. He reached out his thin arm and his weathered hand to her.

“You alright?” he said.

Fear froze her knowledge of her recently adopted language. “Ship...shake.” Was all she managed to get out.

“She most certainly did.” Yancy agreed, ushering her towards the ladder.

“Why?”

“We’re under attack.” He said, tightening his grip on her hand as her eyes widened. “Oh no, none of that face. Don’t you worry, we’ll pull through. Captain wants to see you.” He let go of her hands but grabbed her under the arms and hoisted her onto the ladder, lest she dawdle. “You hurry.” He said, waiting until she started upwards before running down the passage to wherever he had been headed.

Arisa traversed the ship through a series of ladders and hallways and arrived on the deck to be told, first by Mick, then Copin that the captain wanted her. Finally she saw Captain Resano, standing with Tobin and lecturing the cabin girl, Imogene. His hair was coming out of the queue he kept it in, and uneven strands, sticky with sweat clung to his temples. Despite that, the determination on his flushed face, and the tension in his posture made him even more beautiful than usual.

Not that Arisa had time to think about that.

Tobin, beside him, looked every inch himself, relaxed posture, shaggy hair and pleasant expression, as if the sailing were fine. He noticed her first and winked at her, then tapped taped the captain and nodded in her direction. Resano took the cabin girl’s hand and focused his attention on Arisa.

“Arisa!” He shouted, motioning to her. “Front and center!”

She hurried across the deck, but was distracted by the other ship, looming closer every second to the starboard. He barked her name again to regain her attention and began to move to meet her halfway, dragging the cabin girl with him. When he reached the temporary medic he took each of the girls by one shoulder, but turned his face towards Arisa.

“Arisa. Not much time. Listen to me. You’re the medic now. Than means that when the battle is over, you are the most important person on this ship. You understand that?”

His words were rushed, but the tone made his meaning clear. Arisa nodded.

“Good.” Dimitri let go of Imogene, but took Arisa’s hand and put it on the little girl’s shoulder. “I’m not expecting either of you to fight. I want you to hide. You have two jobs, Arisa. You protect yourself, and you protect her.” He gave Imogene a little push into the medic’s arms. “So, go. I don’t want to see your face until I personally come to get the both of you. Do I make myself clear?”

“Yes, sir. “ They both said.

“Good.” He took the pistol out of his belt. “Tobin showed you how these work. Can you use one?”
Arisa bit her lip, then nodded.

He put it in Arisa’s other hand. “Good girl. Trigger’s here. If there’s trouble, I have a feeling you’ll learn fast. ” He let her go “Run. Hide. Next time I look here I want to see neither of you.”

As soon as he let her go, Arisa put her arm around Imogene and started to run, back to where she had come from. She reached down to tuck the gun in her apron, then thought better of it and held onto it. She let go of Imogene when they came to the door and grabbed the door instead.

“Where are we going?” Imogene asked.

“The pantry.”

“The pantry?” the little girl repeated, as she climbed. “That’s not very secret.”

“Two will fit in the pantry. The door is…” She paused to help Imogene off the ladder. “…wide so if we attacked I fight, you run.”

“Dimitri seemed to think you were the important one.”

“I am not ten years old.” Arisa replied, opening the door to the kitchen.

“You sure this is a good idea? This room is practically full of knives. “

Arisa frowned “I think men who come will have their own knives.” She said. She let Imogene get in first, then climbed in behind her. It wasn’t until the door was closed that she began to think of the thousand better places to hide.

She put her free arm around the child and held her close. Imogene fidgeted.

“Aw, let go. This is going to get awful boring.”

“Imogene. You need to be quiet.” Arisa whispered, loosening her grip. “If we talk or cry someone will….”

A blast shook the ship. Imogene, discomfort forgotten, clung to Arisa with both arms.

this is why I should not read my friends' page

2009-06-11T14:55:32Z

Your result for The Who Would You Be in 1400 AD Test...

The Prioress

You scored 8% Cardinal, 62% Monk, 62% Lady, and 35% Knight!

You are a moral person and are also highly intellectual. You like your solitude but are also kind and helpful to those around you. Guided by a belief in the goodness of mankind you will likely be christened a saint after your life is over.

You scored high as both the Lady and the Monk. You can try again to get a more precise description of either the Monk or the lady, or you can be happy that you're an individual.

Take The Who Would You Be in 1400 AD Test at HelloQuizzy

Time for battle!

2009-06-10T21:44:51Z

The Rebellion gets ready for battle. This takes place three years before the action of the nanos. This is just the begining

“They’re bearing down on us, Captain!” Yancy Caines shouted from the riggings, his handsome face strained with the stress of the situation.

“Not gonna outrun them. Not in a million years.” Handy said.

“Why haven’t they fired them guns yet, that’s what I want to know? They’ve been in range for…” Tobin stopped, mid statement, as the cannons on the boat across the way fired. Rebellion shook. Captain Resano swore.

“Did they hit us?” Fisher asked. He was a scrawny thing with gangly limbs and a perpetually dirty face of indeterminate age. They had picked him up three ports before when Captain Resano had caught him picking his pocket. No one bothered to answer his question.

“They’re still coming in!” Copin said.
“I can’t outrun them! They’ve got the drop on us.” Tobin added.

Captain Resano swore again, in a fashion very much in keeping with his current profession. “I want a damage report, Handy. Everyone else I want at battle stations. Phil and Mick too. Where the hell is Arisa?”

“Arisa?” Copin repeated. “What do you want with Arisa?”

“Don’t take that tone with me.” The captain replied. “It’s nothing dangerous. You get yourself ready for the fight. If anyone sees her, or Imogene, send them to me. Fisher, you go get me the Lady Mate.”

“Yes, sir.” The boy shouted, breaking into a run, then stopped and turned round. “Where is she, sir?”

“In her goddamned room, Fish!”

The boy nodded and started for the door again, but the Captain stopped him again with another shout.

“Fish!”

“Yeah?”

“Get yourself a weapon.”

When the rest of the crew had scattered Dimitri Reasano turned to his pilot. “Alright Tobin, give it to me straight. For the love of God, tell me how we’re going to get out of this goddamned nightmare.”

The ship shook. Lillit Yuzu’s body went rigid as she awoke from the movement . A glace to the window was all it took to see the ship bearing down on the starboard and a moment later she stood, feet on the floor, lacing up her jacket, then her boots. A few seconds after that she was dressed, shod, and out the door, barreling down the hall to the ladder she would have to climb to the deck.

She practically collided with Fisher as he dropped down said ladder in front of her.

“Lady Mate!” the boy said. “The captain asked for you.”

“I’m sure.” She bit back the next question, why the captain had not asked for her until now and asked instead. “How fast is she coming at us?”

“Not sure, Lady. Captain said battle stations.” He started off down the hall again, but Lillit grabbed his shoulder and held him where he stood.

“Where are you going?”

“He told me to get a weapon for myself, Lady.”

She frowned and let go, nodding. “Alright. Then make it quick.” As soon as he was a few steps away she climbed the ladder and made her way through another hall and set of doors to the deck.

She grabbed the first person she saw, Mick Covely and asked “What’s going on?”

“Hell if I know, Lady. I was asleep.”

“Who woke you?”

“Yan.”

Lillit let him go and moved on. “Mr. Caines! The status?”

“We’re under attack. Handy is checking out the damage but they only have fired the once. I think they are planning on taking the whole ship.”

She nodded. “Go on, then. Where’s the captain?”

“With my father, Lady.”

Lillit nodded and set off at a run for the helm. When she got there Dimitri was standing with a spy glass. He lowered it and frowned. Then he handed it over.

“Recognize the colors?”

She looked. “Of course. They’re Anjulian.”

“But it’s no navy vessel.” He said. “Nor any merchant. Look at the sailors.”
“Privateers, then.” Lillit asked.

“I think they know who we are.”

“I see.” She made a face. “Well…Candlesticks.”

Tobin burst out laughing. “Candlesticks? Hell, woman, Now is a good time to swear.”

Both the captain and the mate ignored him. “I want Arisa and the girl up here. I need to talk to them.” Dimitri said.

“Yes, Captain.” Lillit said.

“After I have the taken care of see to Fisher and make sure he isn’t going to kill himself.”

“Captain, I really don’t think it’s a good idea to let him…”

“Not now, Lillit.”

“Sir, I know he’s lived on the street but he’s only a…”

“Lillit!” Dimitri snapped. “You have work to do.”

“Yes sir.” She said. Then she turned and set off at a run to follow his orders.

Lillit and Dimitri sap

2009-05-01T22:57:31Z

She was asleep when he came in, curled on her left side with her back to the wall and her face to the room. One curled hand and one bare foot were edging out from the edge of the blanket, but otherwise it covered her from the shoulders down, exposing only her face and collarbone. Her breath was slow and even and not in the least labored, of which he was glad. He pulled over the one freestanding chair in the room and hand a seat beside her, content to watch for the moment. She’d asked for him, Katya said, and yet he was reluctant to wake her.

Finally he reached down and tucked the blanket back over the exposed foot, reached up, and gently slid his fingers into the exposed hand.

Her eyelids fluttered. He leaned in and kissed her forehead.

Her eyes opened. “Morning, Captain.”

“Nothing like it.” He said. “You should have seen the sunset I got a look at as I was coming in here. Anyway, lucky for you it is night, because it looks like in the morning you’ll be back to work.”

She closed her eyes. “Slave driver.”

He laughed. “I’m glad to see you’re going to be ok.”

“I’m fine. I’m only in here because you are all a bunch of ninnies.” She opened her eyes again. “But I won’t complain.”

“No?”

“No. I needed the rest.” She sat up, running her fingers back through her hair. “I have been worrying overtime.”

“I know it.”
“I have reason.”

He nodded. “I know it.”

“You could probably used a day of sleep too.” She continued.

“Later.” He said, getting up and sitting on the cot next to her, careful not to set it off balance as he wrapped an arm around her.

“Yeah.” She agreed. “Like when you’re dead. You know I can run this ship without you.”

“Normally yes, but just now with the threat to Imogene and chasing a madman I am loathe to…”

“There will always be something.” She said. “Even when we get back there will be the panic of all of those decisions they put off waiting for Isme’s return and we’ll be defending her from arranged marriage and all kinds of meddling and defending the kingdom from all manner of mess that it’s temporary rulers think is wisdom…”

“There’s always the honeymoon.” He said

“You know as well as I there will be no honeymoon.” She said.

He sighed and drew her close, her head on his chest. “Alright Lil. I promise you a honeymoon. Just as soon as Isme comes of age, you and I, we’ll set of for a whole month where no one can find us with nothing to do but eat good food, read, sleep, lay in the sun and….” He leaned down cupped her chin in his hand, and kissed her. She slid her hand around the back of his neck, and, as soon as he was finished, kissed him back, running her fingers down to the small of his back.

He smirked and opened his eyes. “Right. That.” He wrapped his arms around her again. “I just about died when you jumped in there you know.”

“I had to do it.”

Dimitri sighed. “I wish I had done it.”

“Nonsense. You’re the captain. You belong on the ship.”

“It might have helped the boy to trust me.” Dimitri said.

“Why should he trust you when you don’t trust him?”
“I did trust him until he started trying to play me!”

“As if you don’t play everyone.” She said, kissing him on the nose.

He rolled his eyes and left go of her. “Anyway, hopefully he will pull through without much trouble.”

“Your medic seems to have it in hand.”

“Imogene seems pretty taken with him.”

Lillit nodded. “And he with her. But they could be good for each other. I think they’ll keep their heads.”

“Fourteen year olds in love? Keep their heads? Unlikely.”

Lillit smiled. “I’m too tired to discuss this.” She said.

He tucked back a bit of her unruly black hair and kissed her forehead. “Go to sleep, Lil. Tomorrow you’ll have a full roster of worrying to get done.”

“I know it.” She agreed. She settled back against the pillow and smiled at him.

“I’m so relieved they are both in one piece.” She said. “And I’m glad I was the one who went in after him. If you had done it I would have worried myself sick.”

“Oh, but it’s okay to worry me like that?”

She nodded and grinned as she rolled onto her side again. “Serves you right.” She murmured. “For…yesterday.”

Stupid Vampire Hunter Fiction (Some of you have read this)

2009-01-24T23:16:10Z

Notes: Destiny is not mine, she is used with permission.

Steve Haroldson pushed his glasses back up to the bridge of his nose and continued to dig through his box of games and DVDs, looking for something two player. His best friend from elementary school, Mark Langer, had just come back into his life after a seven year hiatus, thanks to the wonder that was the Internet. Early on in their instant message reunion Mark had seemed distracted, but Steve must have said something that made him remember the good old days, because he had suggested they meet up.

The two had shared a meal in the dinning hall and come back to Steve's dorm room. Now Mark, who was bigger, more muscular and much cooler looking than Steve remembered him, was splayed across the arm chair that came standard in all of the Tower C rooms, fiddling with the green Play Station controller and waiting to play an ancient game on Steve's tiny television.

“So Steve...” Mark asked as his old friend stood up, holding an old fighting game in a broken case. “Tell me about vampires.”

Steve walked over and took a seat on the floor in front of him, placing the game into the console. “Vampires?” He repeated, picking up his own controller. “Like...what? I mean thats kind of a broad topic.”

“Really?” Mark asked as the game menu popped up. Dark Stalkers. Steve was nothing if not predictable. “Broad how?”

“Well there's different schools of literary vampires. Saying 'tell me about vampires' is like saying 'tell me about elves' or 'tell me about wizards'. You could be asking about Tolkien elves or Santa's elves for all I know.”

“Yeah well, let's forget elves.” Mark said. “How about vampires?”

“But that's what I was trying to tell you. There's tons of different kinds of vampires. You wanna know about the ones in the LARP?”

“Uh. Sure.”

Steve smiled. Mark has asked about his collection of plastic guns and his black cape hanging from the bedpost upon entering. When Steve confessed they were props for a game Mark had surprised him by asking if he could join. “I'm so surprised you agreed to join that thing.” Steve said. “You're like...a complete gaming virgin.” Steve calling him a virgin struck Mark as a little bit comic. His nerdy friend went on. “I mean, even for normal gamers Live Action Role Play is a little hard core.”

“Yeah.” Mark agreed as Steve's character in the game kicked his character in the head. “I guess that's why I need to hear everything you know about them. You know. Vamps.”

“Well that would take a long time.” Steve said, with a grin as he jammed buttons and delivered another combo. “But in the game it all comes down to that there are these dozen or so things called clans and all of the vampires fit into one. It's kinda cool 'cause they all have strength and weaknesses based on traditional vampire stories and stuff.”

“Weaknesses?” Mark made a face as K.O. appeared across the screen. He picked another character and pressed start to begin the next bout of fighting. “That sounds important. Tell me about the weaknesses.”

oOoOoOoOoOo

Two hours and three dozen K.O.'s later Mark entered the elevator with a stack of books. Vampire the Charade, a source book for an RPG, as well as version 2.0 and 2.5, the LARP version. He didn't peruse the rules as he stood in the elevator but, rather, flipped to the back to the “Works cited.” and “Other reading material.” lists.

As he was reading these over the door opened. He snapped the book shut as a gaggle of girls tumbled in.

The cut of the girls was far different than the girls he was most used to, the usual attendees of the frat parties he had gone to before the...incident. Those girls had been perfectly put together like a 18th century French work of art. These girls looked put together more like a Jackson Pollock number. One of them, a chubby blond with very long hair and a striped polo shirt offered him a shy smile. She looked down at the books in his hands and her smile grew wider.

Great. He thought. Female Steves.

The girl beside him, who was a hair shorter than the chubby girl, and wearing a shirt with some kind of animated character on it, started talking. It seemed she was elaborating on a subject she had begun discussing before the elevator had picked them up.

“I mean, even you have to admit, Erin, that scene in the last episode where he was crying...totally slashable.”

The blond girl covered her ears. “Guys! There are other people in this elevator!”

“Tara. Behave or we'll have to drag her to dinner..”

The door opened and Mark mumbled a few 'excuse me's as he pushed his way out. In his eagerness to get away from the elevator of female geeks, he stumbled directly into something even worse. A hundred and thirty something pounds of red headed trouble. His books went flying.

Destiny Parker stopped to pick them up.

“Evening, Destiny.” He said, holding his hand out for the books.

“Mark Langer.” she drew out the name, filling every syllable with as much contempt as possible as she handed two over to him, keeping the third to look it over.

“You've got to be kidding me.” she said, opening the book and paging through it.

“Yeah, whatever. Give it here.” he said.

She handed it over to him. “Really Mark, If you think that's going to help,” she gestured to the role play book. “You're sorrier than I thought.”

“Thanks, Parker.” He said, as he pushed his way past her. He didn't look back to see the concerned look on her face as she watched him step outside.

What a terror, he thought, as he left the dorm lobby behind. Nice figure though. She obviously knew she had to keep herself in top shape to stay ahead of them.

He walked to the bench and sat down, lighting up a cigarette. He glanced down at the books. The library would be open at this hour, but after what he had done last week it might be better not to be out after dark until he had a better grasp of the situation. It was time he went home if he wanted to avoid trouble for the night.

He let out his breath slowly, pushing the cigarette smoke out through his mouth, then he sighed. He was going to have to quit smoking, too. Standing outside to do it in the dark was a vulnerability he couldn't afford. Besides, he was going to need to be in even better shape than he had needed to be for judo if he was going to make it in this crazy game.

He was a vampire hunter now. He was going to have to start acting like one.

New Years Resolution Success Rate!

2009-01-20T14:23:40Z

I think I am going to give myself...a 70%

Let's see that go up...I guess.

In other news....Imogene has developed a sudden attraction towards talking to republicans. That is, people in favor of forming republics. Eric should be warned. She's hunting them.

a new part of the shipwreck story

2009-01-17T07:37:21Z

The first section from Kai's point of view. I am going with the Nano strategy on this one with writing and not looking back, so it's not ready for advanced stylistic critique. It IS ready for setting, character and plot opinions and suggestions.

be gentle!

**********

The heavy, wet air and gray sky of the morning after a storm is, in it’s way, much more beautiful than the clear sky and light air of a sunny afternoon. There is a depth to it, a history of a violent past. As I stood on the seawall in the dawn, looking at the warzone of broken shells and driftwood I felt the familiar stir of excitement I always felt on these mornings, before I set to explore the treasures that a storm had washed in, the thousand oddities that the sea had spit up in it’s fit the previous night.

I’d learned years before not to bring any of my treasures home, unless they had a value that I could explain to my father. Driftwood and broken shells, sea glass, coral and fossils held none of the fascination for him that they did for me.

There were less pleasant things washed up as well, of course. I picked my way through carpets of matted seaweed, and skirted the mortal remains of fish, jellyfish and crabs. Once, as a boy of nine, I had found a dead dolphin and given up beach combing for the rest of the summer. When the next summer my brother found a dead man he was not half so horrified, and he had persuaded me to come gawk as well I’d come, not wanting to be called names and I still regretted the ten minutes we had spent running forward, poking the thing and running back to the other before some adult spied us and put a stop to our disrespectful behavior.

The man was buried in the cemetery paupers behind the old temple. He was Sanri, a burly, dark man with wavy Sanri hair, but the priest had said Gashi didn’t care one way or the other, that he had made us in all of these colors and he’d take us back in them. I smiled when Cera said things like that, even back then. Backward thinking and forward thinking at the same time.

Even with that incident in mind, I was surprised when I looked up from a curving shell embedded in a smooth bit of rock to see an overturned boat, mostly whole further down the beach, between the rocks. I stood and walked towards it and when I got a few yards closer and saw that it was indeed whole from this side I broke into a run.

The vessel was as long as I was tall and half that again. The width was harder for me to judge from this angle, given its rounded edges, but it was a large boat for one or two men. The design was neither Kislan nor Sanri, meaning the little boat was far indeed from home. A boat this size would never have gone this far alone, it must have been one of a compliment of such little boats on a greater vessel, but it had been in the water for some time, and had a history of use. Parts of the wood were graying with age and exposure.

I circled and found, to my dismay, that one of the boards was cracked on the other side, leaving a split wide enough that I could fit my fingers through. I probably couldn’t bring this back to father anyway, she would be too hard to patch to be worth the trouble.

There were a few other interesting points to this angle of her. The first was the large, upside down, script the side of the boat, bearing in some form of barbarian writing , probably the name of whatever unfortunate ship this little boat had once belonged to. The second was that on this side, the back of her was propped slightly against one of the large stones, and I could get my fingers under the edges without being a danger to them and prop her up to get a look at the belly.

I did so, as any curious young man who didn’t stop to think how much a boat truly weighed would have, and found lifting the edge a harder task than I had imagined. I grunted and threw my legs and back into the effort. She came a few inches, until I caught a glimpse of flesh and cloth beneath. In my shock I lost my grip and she came crashing back down to sand and rock with a creek of protest.

I warred with myself for the next twenty seconds between curiosity and respect for the dead, (which I was not sure was better served by unearthing the sailor or leaving him buried under his lifeboat.) The desire not to double the number of corpses I had seen did, I admit, factor in, slightly.

At the end of the twenty seconds I decided I would be doing the man a disservice to leave him there and heaved the craft’s edge upwards. It rolled over and to hit the sand with a crash, and a shower of splinters that would have irritated me if I had still been trying to salvage her. My attention was elsewhere.

The barbarian sailor was a young woman. I had not been expecting such a turn and I stared openly at her evocative dress. Water logged pants clung to her thin legs. She was wearing two shirts, but these were soaked as well. The outer one was of a course fabric, with dark blue stripes, but it hung open but for the lowest button. On top it had fallen off her shoulders to gather near her elbows. The other, a white shirt beneath it, was torn off just under her chest. The graying bandage on her left leg was no doubt made from it. What was left did not serve to…

I averted my eyes and reached down to pull the over shirt closed, but most of the undone buttons were missing.

I was about to untie my sash to secure it in place and give her at least a little dignity, but I was distracted, yet again, but something still more amazing. A movement.

I could swear she was still breathing.

Meme! In Character post.

2009-01-08T21:54:27Z

I stole this from Fritz! I think Hans has it up too. Fill in the blanks about me!

I _____ Imogene.
- Imogene is _____.
- Imogene likes to ______.
- I want to _____ Imogene.
- Imogene can ______.
- Someday Imogene will ______.
- Imogene reminds me of ______.
- Without Imogene, it would be _____.
- Right now, I bet Imogene is thinking about _____.
- Imogene makes me want to _______.
- If I could spend the day with Imogene, I'd _____.
- Imogene is made of _______.
- If I could be Imogene for a day, I'd ______.
- Imogene's alter-ego is __________.
- I want to give Imogene ______.

If you would rather do Gabriel or Erin, thats ok too. Stupid sharing journals with the author.

Two in one day!

2009-01-07T02:27:38Z

Well at least I am keeping one resolution today...kind of. Here is the first scene of version 3.0 of the shipwreck story.

Infinite red stretched ahead of me, reflected from the sky above onto the sea bellow. It was just after dawn on the day I believed to be Thursday. The water stood four inches deep in the bottom of the lifeboat. At the crest of every little wave it lapped against the back of my legs and burned the wound just below my knee. It smelled vile. If it really was Thursday I had been sitting in it for three days.

Maybe it was Wednesday, though.

I know what you are thinking, because if I were reading this account I would be wondering the same thing. What kind of a fool looses count of the days after only three? You must remember I wasn’t feeling well. I could be specific about it all the sensations involved in dying slowly of four things at once, complete with disgusting similes and verbs like ‘festered’.

But I won’t. Let’s skip that part. My eyes were not on my wounds anyway, or my throat or stomach. I’d been practicing ignoring them for the last three days. I’d tried to go over words in Sanri in my head for a time in the vain hope that my calculations were wrong and I would wash up there. “The weather is lovely. Are you well? I will trade you three bags of rice for it.” When I was tired of that I had counted the nails in the side, attempted to bail the water out of the boat with my hands and laid back to look at the unfamiliar night sky of a new hemisphere, and make my own constellations by connecting the dots, like the children’s toy where you wrap the string around the nail pegs.

Today I needed no such diversions. All I could concentrate on was that sky.

“Red sky in the morning…” I whispered, leaving the rest of the weather truism unsaid. Sailor take warning. Another storm. I’d survived the first, the unexpected blast from the east that had blown us off course, weeks ago, and the second, which had taken the ship on Monday. If it really had been Monday.

I wondered, as I watched the horizon, if I would survive this one.

At least, if I didn’t, I would be saved the trouble of starving to death.

New Year, New You?

2009-01-06T20:36:59Z

My Resolutions, better late than never.

1. to get in shape. This entails
   A. not eating junk.
   B. exercising

2. To stop eating out so much and start cooking here.

3. To keep the place cleaner.

4. To study Japanese

5. To take my writing and art more seriously.

My current plan with this is to take baby steps. First off, I am going to cut the snacking drastically and try to keep instant breakfast foods in the house. It only takes a few minutes to make eggs, after all, and it's not perfect but it is better for me than a pastry from the convine on the way to work. It's hard when you live alone to justify the waste of energy and materials cooking can cause, but I need to do it both for goal number one and because it would save me a ton of money.   I think I am allowed to eat out one night a week, and on weekends if friends are involved or I am traveling. Otherwise, here.
Secondly, I am going to try to spend an hour every day exercising, cleaning, writing, or studying. Drawing does not count.
Thirdly, I am going to impose a minimum level of words produced at 2000 a week. If I can manage this for the rest of January maybe I will up it. But some writing time always will be, and kind of has to be, starting at the computer in frustration. We are writers. It is our way.

Think I can do it?

Writerly woes

2008-12-16T14:28:58Z

Sorry to spam you, guys. This is the writing journal. If made it for exactly this kind of thing. But if you are a writing buddy please stick around and keep reading. I need your support

So you all probably know, if you have been watching my journal, that I "won" Nanowrimo this November. What you might not know is that I have been having a hard time, writing wise, going on two years. I am really trying to take the bull by the horns here and get into the swing of things. So today at work I sat down and outlined all of the projects that I have going/ want to have going. Now I need to decide what to do with this information.

The works

1. The Bryn Story

a. The Premise - Bryn is the head of her family and the entire village hates her. She’s a normal young woman, with a lot on her plate. Little does she know she is going to go on to be a figure of legend

b. The Setting – Iron age fantasy world. Matriarchal. They don’t call themselves anything other than “The village” or “our village” but they will later be known as “the Women’s lands.” This setting will later become Enre’s Emming

c. The plot – This story has a lot of plot ELEMENTS and not quite an entire plot. Bryn is the oldest of the four Carver daughters. Her mother made everyone in the village mad by marrying an outside her, and then dies. The women are in charge of the family and learn the craft, but both men and women are needed for the family to survive. As the family has no men Bryn is somewhat concerned. Meanwhile, she is also in love with someone she considers to be an unsuitable match.
Later the village comes under attack by outsiders and Bryn must put aside her differences with others to defend her home.

d. Plusses!

i. A world based on actual history as well as my imagination,

ii. more plot than most of my stories,

iii. epicness

iv. Some well done characters

v. I feel good about myself when I write this story. It feels more important and more like art than any other story I ever have written. I know that if I finish this story it WILL make me feel good about myself

e. Not so plus-es

i. Of my Beta readers two have said that they didn’t really like it over the years. (Probably about 6 years now) I have had five or six beta readers

ii. It’s hard to write. REALLY hard

iii. Very little humor

iv. It’s emotionally draining

v. Too many characters

vi. Plot needs some serious work

vii. I have no idea what happens in the end!

2. Nice Girls Don’t Solve Mysteries

a. The Premise- Noir from “His girl Friday’s point of view.”

b. The Setting – the late 1930s, Not-Pittsburgh

c. The Plot: Evie works for Mason Pierce, P.I. and lives in May’s Boarding House, where the proprietor seems to constantly have advice on how to be “a nice girl”. She receives a call from her boss in the middle of the night informing her that her coworker is dead and goes in to work to inform his parents. That’s all I’ve got. Seriously. Presumably, she’ll be solving the mystery of his death.

d. Plusses!

i. It amuses me

ii. It’s easy to write

iii. I love the characters!

1. Yeah, even Evie.

iv. Good beta reader feedback

v. It’s the only thing I have started since college, so it might not need to be scrapped entirely and started from scratch like almost everything else

e. Not so plus-es

i. No plot

ii. Since it’s in the actual world in an actual time period there will need to be research (It is pulp. Which means that it won’t need to be ENTIRELY historically accurate, but...)

iii. It’s pretty silly?

3. Amari Et

a. The Premise- Amari is shipwrecked in a hostile country, at the mercy of a boy her age named Kai and his family.

b. The Setting – Same world as Enre, the other continent, around the same time period as the Enre Quartet but this is a stand alone work.

c. The Plot - See A. There is also a bit of magic involved, as Amari is a magic user and Kai’s people do not use magic

d. Other Notes- The point of view switches from section to section so we get to see both characters calling each other “barbarians”

e. Plusses!

i. It’s a very emotional piece. This makes it easy to write.

ii. It’s full of descriptive details

iii. The point of view switch makes it interesting and sometimes kind of funny.

f. Not so plus-es

i. It’s pretty angsty

ii. I like the characters, but they aren’t my favorite of all time. I shouldn’t even mention this, because I DO like them.

iii. It’s very hard to make Kai and his family sympathetic. I am, by no means, against them, but I seem like I am every time.

4. The Enre Quartet – I feel these works should remain on hiatus until I finish another, less central work, which takes place in the world. (The Bryn story or the Shipwreck story) I will still add them to this page

a. The Premise- It’s a quartet? Therefore it is four separate works. Book One and Two are stand alone, Book 3 leaves off in a cliffhanger and Book 4 resolves threads from all 4 books

b. The Setting – My college fantasy world, the continent of Enre. Enre is a continent with 5 kingdoms on it. The first book takes place in Quelin while the other three take place in Emming.

c. The Plots

i. Eighth Point of the Star - A sixteen year old farm girl saves the princess from an evil sorcerer, with the help of a dragon. Only better?

ii. Book 2 – Rychard Burawn killed a man when he was seventeen years old and did seven years of penance to make up for the act and his life before. Now, at twenty eight, he is a master mage with an apprentice, about to marry the love of his life. Then the sorcerer who he killed before comes back.

iii. The Hearts and Minds of Emming – We follow the Emms family through the winter before the coming revolution. Each of the five siblings has a different plot but the most important is Eldian’s involvement with the revolution.

iv. Heir of Sails - Revolution!

d. Plusses!

i. These stories fit together very well.

ii. The world has a very in depth history and complex geography and politics. I love that.

iii. I still love the Emms and Ryc and Aymira. They need to be written about someday.

e. Not so plus-es

i. The world was populated with the help of a friend. I still need to fill in the voids left when I take out her characters. This is very hard to do without filling in exactly the same character with a different name. This is a HUGE obstacle as one of her characters was the leader of the revolution.

ii. Book one sucks.

5. Steve: Vampire Hunter Extraordinaire - I plan to go on working on this on the side of whatever project I pick. As Chris pointed out, it is not serious writing.

a. The Premise- Steve is a computer geek with a heart of gold. His best friend Mark is a vampire hunter with some attitude problems.

b. The Setting – The University of City campus and environs

c. The Plot - NA

d. Plusses!

i. I love the characters like whoa

e. Not so plus-es

i. It’s really not going anywhere.

6. Sir Ind’s Squire

a. The Premise- Ind takes on Ryuni as his squire despite the fact that she is a clumsy, underage, female commoner.

b. The Setting – Fantasy world.

c. The Plot - As above. But it gets better (in the cheesy sense); Ryuni has this magic item and it’s kind of bonded with her and….ok so it’s a bit Mary Sue. I made this all up when I was 17 but I think I could rework it.

d. Plusses!

i. Once more, I love the characters

1. Particularly DUNRIN!

ii. I have taken a long break from it so I could approach it from new angles without getting upset about the way it was before

e. Not so plus-es

i. The cheese factor

ii. The problems of things made up when you were 17

iii. The world needs work

7. Nano 2007 – 2008 (Gabriel and the Pirates and The Pirate Princess)

a. The Premise- Pirates. Only. Not really

b. Other

i. This project has held on for over a year now. It was supposed to last the 2007 Nano season. 1 month. Given it’s tenacity I can’t say that I am done with it, but after one or two scenes are added to the 2008 novel I would like to take at least a few month hiatus and work on other things.

Now if you read all that I am due-ly impressed. Please, if it's not too much trouble leave me a comment and let me know what you think, what sounds interesting, what sounds dull, what you would like to know more about.

Now I think I'll go to bed and think this over in the morning.

Questions meme

2008-12-12T02:40:55Z

This is an IC post for Imogene.

THE RULES:
1. Leave me a comment saying anything random, like your favorite lyric to your current favorite song. Or your favorite kind of sandwich. Something random. Whatever you like.
2. I'll respond by asking you five personal questions about your character/muse so I can get to know you better.
3. Update your LJ with the completely honest answers to the questions.
4. Include this explanation and offer to ask someone else in the post.
5. When others comment asking to be asked, you will ask them five questions.

The questions are from Hans

....who I would like to mention I am a little mad at over them. particularly one. He knows which one. And since it is him I almost feel like I should be truthful about the answers. He inspires that kind of bad behavior. If I didn't know Hans was a nice gentleman I would accuse him of teasing me. Well here they are.

1) What do you like about your new station?

I don't hate everything about it. There is a lot to be said for creature comforts and being able to read and not having to lie about everything all the time. It's hard to feel sorry for yourself in a warm bed with a mug of cocoa and a good book.

2) What do you miss about being a pirate?

Freedom.

3) Who do you think was the most helpful to you on your journey?

This one is really really hard. Dimitri and Lillit obviously were big helps. and Zara. And Gabriel and Brier. And Arisa, even. I guess the whole crew helped a lot. Dimitri helped me get a hold of myself and filled in for my parents, and Lillit did too. She also kinda proved to me that noblewomen could be more than just dresses and pretty faces. I really look up to her. Arisa and Zara were the ones who actually took care of me though, made sure that I was fed and clothed and in one piece.

As for Gabriel and Brier, I wouldn't have made it to the end without them. And thats just all there is to it.

4) What do you hope for the future?

To run away and join the circus.

Or maybe to grow into an adult worthy of the trust my friends have placed in me. But that answer is a lot more boring.

Also I don't want to get married for a long time.

5) What do you think of Fritz?

Fritz is the first friend I have had in years who is even close to my age (Even if he's not, really.) I enjoy his company a lot.

Character battle #2

2008-12-02T13:20:58Z

Vote by posting a comment with:
1. WHO you think will win
2. and WHY

Round 1/ Fight 2

Aymira vs Lillit
Dark Haired Swordswomen Division

The Rules : Same as the first. First blood, but getting knocked out or surrendering also work...

What you need to know

- Aymira is 25, Lillit is 31
- They are about the same height, but Aymira has about 15 pounds on Lillit
- Aymira is slightly stronger but they are both very strong
- Lillit is slightly faster but they are both very fast as well
- Aymira has trained with swords since she could hold one.
- Lillit has trained since she was 16
- Lillit has been a knight and a pirate
-she's been in a lot of fights, both real and for practice
- Aymira only fights for fun...mostly
- Aymira is a mage.
- but she usually does not use magic in a fight
- Both like to fight by the rules
- Yeah, they have different swords. They are from different worlds. We are pretending that works.

ANGST

2008-11-29T21:02:21Z

major spoiler and bad writing

I am really bad at writing fights, so any advice on what I did wrong is appreciated. Just try to put it nicely and not "You know nothing about swords, huh?"

******

Xanti had run out of time, and he hadn’t found them. This vexed him. He started back towards his own quarters, grumbling.

Perhaps he should be happy about this. Obviously he wasn’t going to be able to tell his confessor about this business, and killing three people before receiving the sacrament during coronation couldn’t be good for his soul. He was trying to convince himself that he was glad of his inability to find them when he saw a flash of green go around a corner down the hall.

He changed directions and followed, trying to think who could be wearing green. Royal livery was lavender, and the guards wore a darker purple to mark them as the kings’. The other servants wore white or gray or lavender depending on their duties. But there were so many people about today it could be anyone.

But it wasn’t anyone. He turned the corner to see Brier Delmare walking down the hall with two unidentified persons. A man with a ponytail who fit Imeson’s description, and a child in a green coat with long, brown hair the color of Quirnia’s. He caught his breath. All three turned.

The blond guard tumbled in front of the man and the girl. “Run!” she snapped.

“Brier!” the girl yelled, as the man grabbed her by the hand.

“I said run!” she said, drawing her sword. The man pulled the child’s arm, and broke into a run with her in tow.

Xanti started after them, but Delmare pulled her sword and barred his way, shoving him back.

He looked at her, and pulled his sword. Without a word he thrust. She parried. Mostly. The rapier pieced her upper arm. He pulled it out and she backed up a step. He closed the space between them and closed with her again. This time she managed to get her sword up in time to actually parry.

He laughed. “Did they teach you that in the guard academy?” He asked.

She swallowed and stepped back again.

The next blow went through her shoulder. All the way. It was through her before she could move to stop it. She cried out and grabbed at the wound, doubling over.

He stabbed her in the back after she had fallen, for good measure, and followed her comrades down the hall.

It was probably too late though. Stupid bitch.

Imogene took the lead at some point. They had both been running for what seemed like forever, weaving in and out of halls, before she pulled Gabriel through a door to a room with more books than he had ever seen in his life. Unfortunately he did not have the free emotional capacity to be impressed. He took hold of Imogene by the shoulders, as she let go of him and sniffled.

“Oh God.” She whispered. “Oh God. Did you hear her scream?”

“Shh.” Gabriel said, pulling her into a hug.

“I don’t want to do this, Gabriel! I can’t. I can’t. I can’t do this!”

“Shh.” He repeated.

“Did you hear her? Oh God.”

“Shhh..” he held her tight. “Just breathe. Breathe. We’ll talk when you have caught your breath.”

She quieted and let him hold her as she willed herself to breathe again.

“There’s a girl.” He whispered. “Now what’s this you were saying about not wanting to do something?”

“I don’t want to face them. Not him. I don’t want to see him ever again.

“Shhh.” He said. She took another deep breath.

“Now listen, we can’t go back now. It’s near impossible. And besides, if we go back it won’t just be Brier. It’ll be everyone. And they’ll all die for nothing. So…I don’t want to either. But we have to. We have to, Imogene.”

She wiped her eyes. “I know.” She said. She closed her eyes and swallowed hard. “I know.”

He squeezed her shoulders. “Let’s go. We’ll do it. We will, for her. Just wait.”

Character battles?

2008-11-29T02:36:59Z

The idea and the text are both stolen from enseetaratro because I was not in the mood to retype it and she put it so well!

Her intro was: "I've decided I'm going to make my characters fight each other. Because I am a very sick person with too little to do. This is non canonical and completely silly.

Here are the rules: the winner will be determined by an audience vote (that means YOU). For all intents and purposes, think of this as a fight to the KO and not to the death, because it is too silly to be otherwise.

Vote by posting a comment with:
1. WHO you think will win
2. and WHY

You DO NOT have to know my characters to vote. I don't care. VOTE ANYWAY. This is why I provide evidence for you."

Her battles are awesome, with art done by an actual artist. Mine will be lame with art done by me. But here is the first one!

Round 1

Prospective Nano Title characters : Imogene VS Ind

They are both reluctant nobility at that! Ind didn't win his bid to have the Nano about him this year, but maybe he will win this!

Here are the rules. The first one to draw blood wins. If someone dies they get revived, no harm no foul.

Thinks you should know

- Imogene is 13 and scrawny.
- Ind is in his 20s, well fed and athletic
- Ind is stronger and bigger
- Imogene is faster
- Ind has a sword.
- Imogene has her teeth and plans on using them
- Ind is a knight and is trained to fight
   - but he hates fighting because he thinks its a waste of his time so he isn't very good
   - He also is chivalrous enough not to hit girls.
-Ind is helpless without his glasses
-Imogene lives with pirates and is ruthless.

FIGHT!

Cat fight part two

2008-11-26T22:19:17Z

This needs a LOT of work. A LOT of work. but I posted part one so I thought I should post the rest of the scene.

Three scones, with honey, fruit and cream and a piece of quiche later Lillit and Quirnia resumed their conversation in a somewhat more relaxed manner.

“I’d imagine you often skip tea when you are on that ship.”

Lillit could not remember having sat down for tea for the entire five years of her exile. “Often.” She replied.

“That’s a shame. Tea is my favorite part of the day, particularly when it’s private like this.

“There are other concerns to be attended to on a ship.” Lillit said.

Quirnia nodded and took a sip from her teacup. Another moment of silence passed between them. Then she put her teacup down but did not take her hands away, nor her eyes, as she said, “Where is my daughter?”

“I don’t know.” Lillit said.

“You don’t know?” Quirnia repeated, looking up.

“No. I don’t.” Lillit said.

“Nonsense. Of course you know.”

“No.” Lillit said, shaking her head. “I can’t remember the last time I saw any daughter of yours, Quirnia.”

“I’m not just sure what you mean by that.” Quirnia said. Lillit said nothing, despite the moment that she waited for a reply. When it was obvious one was not coming she went on. “They know Isme was with Zara Beck until just before she was arrested. There were children’s clothes and shoes in the house, and dolls and books.”

“And of course the only child in Zara’s life would have had to have been Isme.” Lillit said.

Quirnia paused and for a moment her brow crinkled as she thought this over. It was obvious that the thought had never occurred to her that it ever could have been any other child.

“Well of course it was Isme.” She said after a moment. “The two of them were devoted to one another.”

“Ah. Yes. They were, weren’t they?” Lillit said, sipping her own tea. Her eyes darted up to meet the future queen’s across the table. “Does that bother you?”

“Of course not.” Quirnia said. “One hopes to choose a nurse for one’s child who will be devoted to her in such a fashion.”

“Of course.” Lillit said. “One wouldn’t want to worry that the help was not aproriately devoted.”

“What are you getting at, Lillit?”

Lillit shook her head. “Nothing.” She stared into her tea for a moment.

“More quiche?”

Lillit looked up again. The conversation was making her sick, but now that she had she knew she should take advantage of this situation while she could and operate on survival rules rather than court ones. “Please.” She said. As Quirnia fished the triangular piece of the delicious egg concoction from the dish and handed her the plate she was vaguely aware of the insult that it was for a princess to serve a prisoner. She wondered what was going through Quin’s mind; Quin who she had thought as a girl was so dim. It was obvious to her now that, even if Quirnia did not think like she did, she was thinking. She had to be constantly to survive. Her actions were planned six in advance at all times. She’d come here, to the fort, to make it appear she was not cold to the memory of her first husband and their missing daughter. It made perfect sense that she would have Lillit brought here and make a show of questioning her, but there were parts that weren’t fitting. Like serving quiche with her own royal hands.

“Did you have one of these chats with her then?” She asked as she accepted the plate.

“A chat with whom?”

“With Zara Beck.” Lillit said, slicing her mini two pronged fork into the egg. “About Isme.”

“No.” She shook her head. “I’m afraid I didn’t”

“You were really very desperate to get her back, weren’t you?”

Quirnia’s posture stiffened. The emotion left her eyes. “You forget yourself, Lady Yuzu.”

“You had three years to talk to her, Quin.” Lillit said. “Three years.”

“She was a criminal.”

“So am I!”

“I have known you for years. I know your family. ”

“You know Zara’s father.”

“That’s different.”

“Are you telling me that you couldn’t extend to Zara the same courtesy that you are showing me? God, Quin. Once you trusted Zara with your
child.” She sighed and shook her head, looking at one of the tapestries to keep her eyes off of Quirnia as she said the next bit.

“Zara raised your child.”

A flash of emotion crossed Quin’s hazel eyes, but it was gone before Lillit could discern if it was anger or shame.
“You will keep a civil tongue with me.” She said.

“Of course.” Lillit said.

“Where is my daughter?” She said.

“I don’t know. I have already said that.”

“And I have already told you I do not appreciate your lies.”

Lillit leaned back in the chair. “Why do you want to know?” She asked.

“Because I am her mother.” Quirnia replied.

“And what have you done to earn that title?” Lillit asked.

Quirnia stared at her. Lillit took a bite of quiche before she went on. “The moment Isme was born you held her off to someone else. There was a wet nurse and other nursemaids and nannies and the doctor and the tutor.”

“She spent a great deal of time in my company when she was out of infancy.” Quirnia said.

“Yes. At state functions making hour long appearances and being seen and not heard. “ Lillit made a disgusted sound in the back of her throat. “She wasn’t a child she was a doll!” She took a deep breath. “You used her, Quin. She was a pawn in your game to keep your position. You sent her off to be trained like a dog, to sit and speak and do tricks, and what did it matter to you if you killed her spirit. If the courtiers whispered about how sickly she looked. So long as her manners were good and she was learning to read and play and draw and her clothes and hair were in place you couldn’t be blamed for her health!”

“What was I supposed to do then? You and I were brought up the same way.”

“And you think that’s a good thing, Quin? You think our lives are something to aspire to? ”

“In two weeks I will be queen. I can’t see aspiring any higher.”

“And will you be happy?”

Quirnia shook her head. “Don’t spout nonsense.” She said.

“Just answer me. “ Lillit said. “Will you be happy? Are you happy now?”

“Questioning one of my friends on the whereabouts of my only child? Of course I’m not happy.”

“Point taken. But can you remember the last time you were happy? The last time you did a thing because you wanted to and not because you needed to to tread water politically or with your husband.”

“This is all irrelevant.”

“No.” Lillit hit the the table with her fist, causing Quirnia to jump, but she went on. “No. It’s not irrelevant. How many minutes do you think you spent with the child alone in the eight years you were blessed with to spend with her?”

“That’s unfair.” Quirnia said. “I am never alone with anyone.”

“Children need their mothers!” Lillit said. “But you don’t have it in you to be a mother. Not you. Every ounce of energy you have goes into survival. It’s not that you didn’t like Isme, didn’t maybe even love her, but love, even for your daughter was not a luxury you could afford, and love for Nicoli doubly so.”

“Careful.”

“Or what? You’ll hang me . Someone needs to call you out, Quin, for who and what you are. And since I am already condemned it might as well be me. You turned your back on Isme the day she was born female. You knew that you wouldn’t really ever be secure until you bore a boy or two. It’s no wonder that when she was afraid for her life she ran to her nurse, not you, and it was her nurse who was willing to give up everything to hide with her. Nevermind the fact that you married her father’s killer.”

Quirnia flushed. “You will hold your tongue.”

“I won’t!” Lillit said. “You know Xanti killed Nicoli! You always have. You would have to be a fool not to.”

“You have no proof of that!” Quirnia snapped back. “It’s an outrageous claim. I should be giving you this lecture. After all you ran away with the man that is commonly held to be his murderer.”

Lillit laughed, once, though not out of amusement. “You don’t believe that. You never have. They were the closest of friends. You saw it yourself, you were married to Nicoli first.”

“I didn’t spend much time with my lord husband’s friends.” Quirnia said.

“But Nick had already taken him on when he married you. You know I’m right. Dimitri never would, never could have hurt Nicoli.”

“It doesn’t matter. This is irrelevant too.” Quirina said.

“Is this the part where you threaten to do terrible things to me if I don’t tell you where Isme is?” She asked.

Qurinia frowned. “I would never threaten you, Lillit.”

“Good.” Lillit smiled without humor “The I will tell you why it does matter.” She leaned in.

“I believe you.” She said “I believe you do want your daughter back. I believe that you have genuine concern for her well being, above and beyond the fact that if you are expected to show concern. But I don’t believe you have the strength to stand between your daughter and your new husband.”

Quirnia shook her head “I don’t understand. “ She said.

“Don’t you?” Lillit If I knew where she was, and I told you, would you turn around and tell the man you are married to? “
“He’s her uncle. And her stepfather. He only wants her home safe, as a favor to me.”

“He told you that, did he?”

She nodded.

“And do you believe it?”

“Of course I believe it.” She said. “I would never question my lord husband.”

“You’re a fool.”

Quirnia sat back. “I’m a fool am I?” She asked. Lillit could tell she was mad by the set of her shoulders, but her face and voice did not betray the emotion. “No, Lady Yuzu. I’m no fool. It’s foolish to go around suspecting where disbelief can only bring you trouble. Of the people in this room one is a respected lady, bearing the child who, with hope, will secure her position in court well enough that she can retire from these stupid games and live out her years in peace, but not exile. The other is a criminal, as good as dead who has to beg from her old friends just to eat.” Lillit flushed, but said nothing as Quirnia went on. “We were children together once, but I won’t stand for you to stand here and insult me. It has taken every bit of brains I had not to be swept under, married into a line that is a hairsbreadth from barren…”

“Getting pregnant is hardly a triumph of your brains.”

“…then the mother to a sickly daughter and an even more sickly boy. I became the wife of a murdered husband, the intended of his hated brother. He didn’t give me a choice. It was marry him or live in obscurity and near poverty in some backwater estate. And no man would have even thought to marry the object of the heir to the throne’s affection. So I married him and I survived and I plan to go on doing so.”

“Right.” Lillit said. “You’ve hit on it, Quin. If I knew the first thing about where Isme was or what she was doing, I wouldn’t dream of telling you. It would only be a matter of time before you had to give her over to your lord husband’s mercy in the interest of looking out for good old number one.”

Lillit had expected some reaction, but Quirnia picked up her saucer and sipped her tea.

“More quiche?”

“I’ve lost my appetite, thanks.”

Silence prevailed for a few more seconds, until Quirnia had put the tea back down.

“Criticize if you like,” She said. “but you and I started with the same cards in our hands, and we were both dealt a lot of trouble. But I played my hand to the best of my ability and I am not ashamed. What have you done with the years of your life other than getting sunburned and scarred and following around a criminal like a puppy?”

“At least I love him!” Lillit snapped. “Have you ever even loved anyone?” Quirnia’s lips pulsed. Lillit shook her head. “Have you ever been loved?”

Quirnia’s face relaxed. “Love doesn’t count for much outside of fairy stories.”

“I forgot. Nicoli loved you, didn’t he? But you never really did fall for him.”

“Nicoli’s dead.”

Lillit shook her head. “You have no idea, Quin. No idea. I am not just talking about Dimitri. For the first time of my life I was part of something with this crew. As a handmaiden I was other people’s tool and plaything, as a knight I was an oddity and an outcast. Yes, I gave my life and my title and my honor to follow Dimitri, but none of them would have been worth much to me with him gone. And I found something so much better than I had ever imagined I would. I found a crew of people I was willing to risk my life for, and with. I value every one of them more than I value my own survival, political or otherwise. They are my family.”

“I am sure that Lord and Lady Yuzu will be delighted to hear that.” Quirnia said.

“Tell them, if you like. I don’t owe Lord and Lady Yuzu much anymore.” Lillit replied.

“Was Isme on your crew?”

“No.” Lillit shook her head. “Can you imagine Isme as a pirate, Quin? She was never on our crew.”

Quirnia sighed and stood up. “Well I can see this conversation isn’t going to go anywhere. You are not the woman you once were.”

Lillit smiled. “And thank God for that!”

As Quirnia walked by she wondered to herself, if Lillit the condemned criminal really wasn’t the happier of the two of them.
.

More nano drama

2008-11-24T16:42:54Z

Starting December I will post it all in order! for now... another excerpt.

“Of course I have!” Gabriel yelled

“Really?” Imogene put her hands on her hips and gave him a look.

“Of course. I had three brothers. We had fights all the time. “

“That’s not the same!”

“Yes it is!” He insisted. “Besides, the night I met Dimitri I got in one in the bar because they thought I was trying to kidnap that girl!”

“That’s not a fight though.” She said. “That was them ganging up on you and giving you a thrashing.”

“How is them ganging up on me not a fight?”

“Because.” She said putting her hands on her hips. “It’s just not. It’s not a fight unless you hit back. Did you hit back?”

Gabriel sighed. “Fine. Fine. Then , if fights with my brothers don’t count, but whatever rules you are going by, and the fight in the tavern doesn’t count either then the answer is no. No, I’ve never been in a fight besides the one right before we got arrested.”

“That’s what I thought.” Imogene said, triumphantly.

Brier frowned at them but said nothing

Gabriel adjusted the straps on his shoulders and shook his head. “I am not sure we should play this game anymore. Our tempers seem to be flaring. Maybe something else, like end grab?”

“End grab?” Brier asked.

“Sure. It’s a word game, with the alphabet. See you name a word starting with the letter that starts with the letter that the word of the person before you ended with. Like if one person says…” He looked around them “…tree, the next person takes the e at the end of tree and says earnest, and then the next person takes the t from the end of earnest and says trek and so on and so on.”

“Brier can’t play that, Gabriel.” Imogene said. “I doubt she even knows what the alphabet is.”

The young guard blushed. “I know what it is. “ She insisted. Then she shook her head. “But I don’t think that I could play that game.”

“Oh.” Gabriel said, turning to look at her. He shook his head and held his hands up. “That’s ok! That’s fine. I didn’t mean…we’ll go on playing the game we were. It’ll be fine.”

Brier bit her lip and didn’t look up from the hands she was staring at.

“So, Imogene, truth or dare?”

“Am I allowed to lie?”

“The point of the game is kind of to not to, isn’t it?” Gabriel asked.

“I guess.”

“So, no, you can’t. ”

“Dare, then.” Imogene said.

“Am I allowed to use things that have been said before?” He asked,

“No.” Imogene said. “It’s lame.”

“Alright.” He held up his hands in surrender. “I wouldn’t want to be lame. “

“Damn right, you wouldn’t.”

“Recite a silly poem.” He said.

“What?! That’s almost exactly what you gave Brier!”

“Well I’m not creative like you.” He said.

“Alright. Fine. I’ll make it up myself too!”

“Go ahead.” He said.

“Alright.” She repeated. “A limerick.” She cleared her throat. “Gabriel was a man from the islands. “

Gabriel sighed.

“He didn’t like adventures or violence. So he crawled into bed and covered over his head, and now….”

“That’s enough.” Brier interrupted.

Both of the other travelers turned to look at her. She flinched, visibly, but she didn’t drop her gaze.

“There is no need to be rude to Mr. Imeson, Miss Isme.”

“Here we go again.” Imogene said. “Didn’t I order you to call me Imogene?”

“You ordered her!?”

Imogene looked over to Gabriel. “What business is it of yours if I did?”

“God, Imogene. You don’t order around your friends!”

“Since when is she my friend?” Imogene asked.

“Since she is laying her life on the line for you!” Gabriel snapped.

“I’m not Miss Isme’s friend.” Brier said.

They both looked at her again. She flinched. Again.

“I would never be so bold as to claim a royal family member as a friend.” She said.

“Well of course you’re friends!” He said. “You’re comrades, aren’t you? “

“I am my Lady Isme’s faithful servant.” Brier said, in a small voice.

“Again!” Imogene shouted. “Lady Isme, Lady Isme! I have one for you, Brier. Truth. When are you going to get the stick out from your ass!?”

For a moment there was silence. They had stopped walking.

Gabriel took a deep breath and broke it, first.

“You ought to be switched,” He said. “If I had said anything near that rude when I was your age I would have been.”

“But you wouldn’t do a thing like that.” She said. “Would you? After all, you’re a pansy and I’m a princess.”

“You want to be switched!?” he asked.

“Better than being on a pedestal.” She said. “You say she’s my friend, my companion. She says she’s my servant. How are we supposed to be friends when she’s putting a mile between us?”

“I never put a mile between us.” Gabriel said.

“Only because you didn’t know when you met me!” She snapped back. “And now that you do the distance is sure as hell growing. “

“That’s not true.”

“Isn’t it?”

“No!” He gestured to Brier. “Imogene, for God’s sake, we’re walking our feet raw for you! We’re ready to lay down our lives for you and you won’t even call Brier a friend!”

“She’s not a friend! She’s a bodyguard! She hasn’t said ten words to us that didn’t have to do with food or travel arrangements. I’ll be in the
back of your mind you still have her filed as Lt. Delmare. Do you even know how old she is!?”

Gabriel opened his mouth to argue. Then he looked over to Brier, and bit his lip.

“How old are you, Brier?”

“Nineteen, Mr. Imeson.” She replied, without looking up.

He hadn’t known. She hadn’t told him. He hadn’t thought to ask.

They stood in silence for another moment, until Brier cleared her throat.

“We need to be moving, don’t we, if we hope to reach a town by nightfall?”

Gabriel swallowed and nodded. “Right. Right. Let’s get moving.”

Catfight part one

2008-11-24T01:44:17Z

Behold the epic fail.

Lillit walked in to the room with two soldiers in front of her, and two behind, listening to Quirnia have discussion with a fifth.

“… a polite conversation with a friend.” Was the last thing she heard out of Qurinia’s mouth.

“I understand that, your ladyship,” The soldier replied. He was tall, with a shock of blond hair and a square face with a more elaborate uniform than those on every side of Lillit. An officer, perhaps. He went on. “but the friend in question is a dangerous criminal.”

The room was hung with tapestries to hide the simple stone lines of the architecture and to keep it warm, though the latter was not a problem, now in the early summer. The table was set for tea, and cushions had been put on the simple wooden chairs. It was obvious that the place had not been intended for such use and Lady Quirnia was making due with what there was.

“You can’t expect a person to act with dignity when you don’t allow her it.” She said. She was a full head shorter than any of the guards and dressed in a gown of rough green silk with a high neckline and slightly puffed sleeves. It pulled in around her breasts and flowed loosely from a hem beneath them there to her ankles. She was just barely showing, but she had a hand over the bump to emphasize it to all in the room. It was quite the image, the quiet, demure, pregnant lady standing up to the beefy soldier for the rights of a criminal.

It was staged that way, of course.

Lillit knew she was about to go into a battle as fierce as any with swords. Quirnia had laid everything to her advantage. If she had done as Xanti likely did with Dimitri and tied her up or thrown a set of bars between them Lillit would have still had the advantage. A dangerous criminal in restraints was a more powerful figure to the imagination than a court lady. In such a situation Lillit would be expected to swear and stonewall Quirnia’s questions.

She had turned the tables by making the questioning over tea. Now they were playing by an entirely different set of rules. Rules engrained in them both since they were old enough to talk. Rules by which Lillit, in a borrowed dress, hungry and unpracticed at court speech in the last five years could not possibly win. For every concession granted Lillit was in her debt. That was why she didn’t want the guards present, or Lillit tied down.

Quirnia looked from the guard to Lillit herself and curtsied to the woman who had once been her classmate and equal.

“Lady Yuzu!” She said.

Lillit nodded. “Quin.” She said. Behind her, the two handmaidens gasped at her familiar way of addressing a woman who was her better by such a wide margin.

Quirnia’s eyes flashed, but her expression, a kind of concerned frown, did not change. “It’s been a very long time since we last saw one another, hasn’t it? Please, have a seat. You’ve no doubt had such a harrowing two days.”

The officer interrupted the ritual. “Lady, I must insist…”

“Thank you for your help, Captain Hatan.” Quirnia interrupted. “If you and your men could be troubled to step outside until we’ve had our tea?”

Quirnia was no doubt depending on Lillit’s sense of chivalry; that she would not attack a lady. She would not harm an unarmed pregnant woman, one who she had known well since childhood and one who happened to be Isme’s mother. Qurinia was right, that Lillit would shy from such behavior, but if it could save Dimitri and the crew she would have done it anyway. Other factors stopped her.

For one, it appeared there were no weapons on it larger than a butter knife, which the officer was currently eying dubiously. Lillit would not have used the butter knife if it had come down to attacking Quirnia. The china would break easily and be far sharper around it’s edges, but this would not make much of a weapon either. It wouldn’t be good for a second attack and she might have to break all of the plates to get an appropriate shard. More importantly, the room only had one exit and there would be guards outside of it even if they were not inside. Even if she made it out of the room, she wouldn’t get far.

Attacking Quirnia was the last thing any sensible person would do in this situation.

Captain Hatan must have realized as much, for he nodded to the future queen and motioned for his men to exit. Lillit turned and watched them go. As the door closed behind them, she glanced to the handmaidens before looking back at Quirnia herself.

“Please.” Quirnia repeated. “Have a seat.”

Lillit sat down.

Quirnia smiled without humor or warmth, a mechanical gesture and sat as well, taking both her hands. “My old friend. Let me look at you. “ her voice held none of the false enthusiasm that Orwens and Olivia’s had as they had fussed over her. Her voice betrayed no expression at all. “It’s long ago since we were children together, isn’t it?”

“Quite.” Lillit replied

“You’re very tan. What’s on your breast there?”

“A scar, milady. “

“How dreadful.”

“Quite.” Lillit said again.

Quirnia motioned to the girls in the corner and one of them, (Olivia, Lillit believed) came across the room to prepare the tea.

“And Lord Resano? Is he well?”

“As well as can be expected, Milady.” She said. “He worries for his crew.”

“I understand that he took on a great number of peasants.”

Lillit looked away having nothing to reply to the insipid comment with. She watched as Olivia sat a scone on a plate.

Then, to her horror, her stomach growled.

Quirnia’s eyebrows raised as Lillit looked away and leaned forward to put a gentle hand on Lillit’s face to turn it back towards her.

“Are you hungry, dear? I had never imagined they might not feed you.”

Lillit swallowed again, and thoughts tumbled in her head on how to explain the situation, with giving her food away to Zara because she was sick. There was no real way to explain it while maintaining her dignity.

“I’m fine.” She said.

The handmaiden of undetermined name put down the tea and scones and retreated. Lillit’s stomach betrayed her and growled again.

“Don’t lie to me, Lillit.” Quirnia said, taking her hand away.

Lillit didn’t move. Quirnia stared at her for a minute then gestured to the two handmaidens.

“Leave us.” She said.

Orwen and Olivia looked more than happy to scurry, in as ladylike a manner as possible, to the door. Lillit moved her head, slightly to look back as the table as they left, while Quirnia watched them go and the door shut behind them. When they were gone her posture relaxed, almost imperceptibly, but the entire atmosphere of the room changed with the quarter inch shift of her shoulders.

“Lillit.” She said, the concern on her face reaching her eyes for the first time. “Please eat the scone.”

SAP

2008-11-19T22:01:05Z

I just wrote the scene where Lillit and Dimitri finally resolve all of their romantic tension.... it will officially be the first bit of Nano I post! Enjoy...or not. In fact let me know what you think, just be gentle. I am so bad at sap that I decided to post it to keep me from deleting it...

Lillit stumbled into the room of whitewashed stone, covering her face to guard against the sudden and unexpected influx of light very much as, unbeknownst to her, Dimitri had a few minutes earlier. Her heart was in her throat as the door closed behind her, and what little she had eaten today was threatening to spill back up.

She raised her head, eyes still shielded by her tied hands and saw Dimitri, standing by two chairs on the other side of the room.

“Captain.” She said.

He started across the room at a run. She met him in the middle, her tied hands reaching to take his, raw with rope burn but free for the moment of their bonds. He put them around hers.

“Lil. “ He pulled her into a hug. “Oh God, Lil.”

She took a deep breath of the dirt, sweat and blood on his shoulder. Then she gave his chest a gentle push.

“Dimitri, we don’t have time for this kind of nonsense. Prince Xanti’s coming, I’m sure of it. We need to discuss how we are going to…”

“Hush.” He shook his head as she stopped speaking to stare at him. “What can we possibly discuss that will be of any importance?”

“A few dozen things come to mind.” She said, dryly. Her voice fell to a whisper. “We might be lost, but the fight isn’t necessarily. They can’t all be loyal to Xanti. You still have allies in court somewhere I am sure. Perhaps when we are transferred we can get a note to…”

He reached up and put a finger to her lips. “Peace, Lil.”

She stopped talking and looked him in the eye. He took her hands in his again and began to untie them. “I’ve done what I can for our cause already. Now we will have to trust in Isme, and in God.” He dropped the rope and reached up to put a hand on her cheek. “There’s something more important we need to talk about.”

She said nothing.

“Lillit, I need to thank you.”

Her left eyebrow shifted in unspoken question. He took her hands again.

“For the last five years. For every single moment of it. I need to thank you with all of my soul, all of my being for everything you have done for me. I know that I have put you through hell. I know that I ruined your life, twice over, and that the last thing you would have ever done is to lose your honor by becoming a pirate. I know that you gave everything for me.” He swallowed.

“And I know that I never deserved you. Not as a captain and not as a man.” His fingers tightened around hers. “I should have told you this. I should have told you all this a year ago. Three. Five.”

He closed his eyes, took a deep breath and focused his green eyes on her once more.

“I love you, Lillit of Yuzu, Lady mate. Forgive me for not telling you until now.”

His hands loosened. Lillit hadn’t seen his eyes so large and his face so honest since that night when he had told her that he was leaving court behind the hedge outside the women’s quarters. His left cheek bore the hint of a purple bruise, and there was a scratch in his eyebrow. There were lines under his eyes, but she could see still the boy she had known so long ago staring back at her. Now it was she who reached up and touched his face.

“You’re beautiful. You know that?” She said, “The most so when you’re brave.” She let her fingers linger in a loose bit of hair. He bit his lip. It was one of the first times in years Lillit had seen him nervous.

“Do you love me, Lil?”

She half smiled, and put her other hand on the other side of his face, sliding it back to be parallel to the first. Her lazy fingers reached behind his head, and she guided his face downwards such that her lips could meet his.

“Oh.” He said, when they came up for air.

She smiled, “It was a stupid question, Captain. You know I love you. I’ve loved you since we were both too young to know better.” She shook her head and stroked his cheek with her thumb. “Thank god we each grew into something worthy of the other.”

He smiled, took her by the shoulders and pulled her closer, then he put his hands on her waist and bent to kiss her again.
.

LOOK

2008-11-17T14:12:27Z

It's me posting on my ACTUAL JOURNAL and NOT CHARLOFT

ahem.

Anyway. Nanowrimo is in full swing. I am noveling like nobody's business.

Actually that is not true. Actually I am blocked. BUT I have over 9000 words! 23 thousand in fact. So that counts for something...

So I have two questions for the people of my friends list:

1. Who wants to be in the special friend group of people who can see the Nanowrimo posts when I start posting it?

2. Those of you who want to see it, should I post Last years first or send it to you, since this years is a sequel or will you just try and catch on?

Let me know!

serialfiller @ 2008-10-22T00:28:00

2008-10-21T15:29:02Z

Hey there! Back on the internet and starting to plan for nano!

serialfiller @ 2008-01-21T20:25:00

2008-01-21T11:40:02Z

Another chapter. And now there are three characters! soon...a gazillion

Chapter six: The Rebellion

Gabriel had only seen a handful of ships in his life, his brother's being the major one.

This ship was considerably smaller than that one had been, and considerably prettier. Gabriel didn't know the first thing about how ships went together or what the things were called, looking over her from a land dweller's eyes he could be nothing but clueless as to how to describe her. Her belly was black, trimmed in red, around the edges and the windows and the part at the way bottom that bobbed in the water. The round part of her in back was all windows, and he could see the candles lit inside from here. She had two of the straight flag pole things that sails went on, and right now the sails were up on them, but tied tightly down to the poles. The flat part, above the boat part, had a rail going all the way around, and a few other outcroppings. He could tell there were intricate carvings on the railings, the flag poles, the back and the hang-y-out bits in front, but in the low light he couldn't make out what.

“That's Rebellion, Gabriel. Isn't she a beaut?” Dimitri said, patting the younger man on the back and ignoring his wince. “She'll be your new home. “

Gabriel didn't think now was the best time to explain he didn't really want to be a pirate. He wasn't even sure when or how it had been decided that he would be one in the first place. He had missed that conversation. (Possibly because it might have only taken place in Dimitri's head) For now it looked like he had to go with the older man, or face the legal consequences of agreeing to do favors for strangers. Dimitri had said they would talk about it later. It could wait. He remained silent.

“Come on then.” Dimitri said, slightly irritable after he didn't get the expected awe and admiration for his beautiful ship.

Because she was at dock it was a little work to get aboard, but not much. As soon as they were aboard Dimitri yanked in their makeshift gangplank and motioned to the doors on the other side of the ship.

“Over here. My mate will still be awake, those were her candles, I think. She'll be delighted to see us. Lillit's always so pleasant at this time of night.” the sarcasm in Dimitri's voice was thick. It made Gabriel worry about just how the mate might display her “Delight.” Dimitri opened one of a set of double doors and they stepped into a short corridor with stairs.

“Watch your step. We're kind of short crewed at the moment, to tell the truth. Other than the mate and I there are only four sailors. And Arisa. You'll probably meet Arisa first. Well after we talk to Lillit.”

Dimitri let go of Gabriel as he closed the door to the first room behind him and knocked on the door to the second room, The only light in the corridor was spilled from the crack between the door to that room and the floor beneath.

As soon as Dimitri knocked, Gabriel heard movement and grumbling on the other side. A tall woman, with black hair cut to the length of her chin emerged from the lighted cabin.

“What's going on?” she asked. Gabriel couldn't make out her features in the low light, but he could tell from her voice that she was not in the mood for nonsense. “Who's this?”

“This, my dear, is our new friend Gabriel. Be a sport and have the anchor pulled up, if you would. We need to get ourselves out of here as quickly as possible.”

“We can't leave.” She insisted. “It's the middle of the night. It would look suspicious.”

“I have a feeling that if people realize we came back to this particular ship we'll look suspicious either way. Best to be going before the thought occurs to anyone.”

The woman put her hands on her hips, unimpressed. To be fair, Gabriel would concede that the captain was not conveying much of his sense of urgency. On the other hand she seemed to have been determined to give him a lecture before he had even shown up at her door. “Captain you were supposed to be back with your all-important, top secret, cargo four hours ago.”

“Yes. Yes, I know.” He said.

“And here you are, late, with no cargo at all that I can see...”

“That's a rather sore point. I'd thank you for not rubbing in.”

“...and though if you had come four hours ago, just before sunset it would have been entirely appropriate to set sail, at this hour it's hardly....”

“Let's be on our way Lillit, I'll explain in route.”

“Sir. The crew is asleep and I don't know that we should wake them..”

Dimitri appeared to be tuning her out as he watched Gabriel for a few seconds. He put his hand up to stop the flow of words from the mate. “Where's Arisa?”

“Arisa?” She asked, disarmed from her momentarily purpose of lecturing Dimitri.

“Yes. This young man's hurt. Smell the blood?”

“Hurt?” Lillit looked at Gabriel again. “Wait. Who are you?” She didn't wait for an answer, however, before turning back to Dimitri. “You brought on another sailor have you? I suppose you know that he isn't an imperial spy? Captain, you need to stop expecting us to live with these hair brained antics of yours. We're your crew and we're loyal. You know it, but that's no reason to take advantage of our...”

“I'm tired of this conversation. It involves a little too much insubordination and a little too little of you doing what I tell you to. Hoist anchor, Mate.” Dimitri said, pushing past her. “That's an order. I'm going to wake up the others.”

Lillit, in turn, sighed and pushed past Gabriel. She ran off, presumably to ready the ship to sail. Gabriel wrapped his arms around his torso and leaned against the wooden walls. He slid down, slowly, bracing his feet against the other side of the narrow hall.

The floor was rocking slightly, and Gabriel didn't like it at all. Compounded with the dark, the pain and the smell he decided that he might actually be the most uncomfortable he had been in memory. But it felt good not to be running any more.

The door behind him burst open and hitting the wall on the other side of the doorway. A dark mass of limbs tumbled out and over Gabriel.

“What the hell!?” a young voice yelled as he stood up. “Who the hell is lying in the hall?”

Another form appeared behind the first. “Falling over your feet again, Fisher?”

“No! Someone else's.”

“Who goes there?”

“Leave him be.” This voice was Dimitri's “He's our new crew member but he's hurt. Haul yourself out of the way, farm boy, so the sailors can get through.” Gabriel shifted himself left and all three men who had just been speaking ran past on his right., followed by another two. Fisher, the one in front, threw the next door open as violently as he had the one before.

“Watch my hinges, kid, or your share will be going to buy new ones.”

“As if I have gotten a share in months!” Fisher yelled back, scrambling out of site.

“A new crew member?” The last man in formation said. His voice was a soft sort of a tenor that put Gabriel in mind of the voice his brothers used when telling ghost stories.

“Leave him be, I said! Arisa'll be up for him. Move.”

Dimitri ushered the rest of the dark forms out into the deck leaving Gabriel alone inside again for a few minutes. He laid there against the wall as the ship shifted to life, quaking with every preparation. After a few uncomfortable minutes Gabriel closed his eyes and dozed off.

The boy ran down the hall. He had to find the princess before Xanti saw her. They had to get out of here as fast as possible.

Where could she possibly be hiding?

Then he turned the corner and saw her. Quivering under an end table.

“Princess Isme.” He said. “Come quick.”

She shivered under the table, so he crawled down on all fours to retrieve her. A moment later, princess in his arms, he ran for a narrow back corridor that led to the library.