Archive | August 26, 2011

Three-Way

To Rix_scadeau”s commissioned prompt in my Call for Prompts: “an Addergoole student being rescued or assisted in rescuing someone by a teacher or another student whom they fear with good reason.”

Year 9, after “It’s Going Down.”
“This is ridiculous.” Ahouva, pressed between Jovanna and Aeowyn on the lounge couch, shook her head again, staring at the upperclassmen. They had pushed all the furniture to the walls, clearing a wide space in the center of the room, and now Kendon and Jeremiah were talking, quietly and intently, in the middle of the space. To one side, Jeremiah’s creepy little girlfriend, Lolly, bounced up and down like a kid

“It seems kind of romantic to me,” Jovanna sighed.

“It has that façade, doesn’t it?” Aeowyn shook her head. “You’re right, Who, it’s creepy.”

“Kendon and I are fine,” Ahouva continued, too aggrieved to be sidetracked. “There’s nothing wrong with us, and this creep with his creepy girlfriend has to go and get medieval like I’m some sort of possession..”

“Well, technically..”

“Oh, stop that, Aeowyn,” Jovanna snapped. “It’s just as creepy as the upperclassmen when you get into that.”

“I’m just saying…”

“I know, I know,” Ahouva handwaved unhappily. “But do they have to get all medieval?”

“There was that one time…” Jovanna began hesitantly. “At the dance?”

“Just a misunderstanding,” she insisted firmly, rubbing her shoulders. “He had a bit too much to drink, and I was being a bit loud…”

“Well, maybe he’ll win, then,” Aeowyn interrupted pragmatically. “He seems very strong, and the other guy seems kind of like a beanpole.”

“But he wants her enough to challenge for her.”

“For some reason…” She’d seen the look in his eyes. She shook her head. “It’s not romance, Jo. It’s… I don’t know, but it scares me.”

“After Kendon, I wouldn’t think a skinny nerd would scare you.”

She glared at Jo. “He’s not scary. He’s just enthusiastic.”

“Mm…”

“Hush, you two, they’re starting.” Aeowyn leaned forward in her seat as the upperclassmen began formal-sounding proclamations.

“If I lose this challenge, I promise that I will immediately transfer to you my Ownership of the Ninth Cohort Ahouva sh’Ruth,” Kendon said, the words formal but his body posture suggesting he had no fear of losing.

“If I lose,” Jeremiah picked up, just as certain-seeming, “I promise that I will immediately transfer to you my Ownership of the Eight Cohort Liliandra cy’Linden, called Lolly.”

What? Only Kendon’s order kept her in her seat. She glared knives at his back, suddenly wishing his failure. That weird little doll… why would he want her? Why was he risking losing what he already had?

“The terms of the challenge,” Kendon began, to be interrupted by the arrival of another group: Thorburn, with his girlfriend Ceinwen and his cronies, Curry and Basalt.

“We’re just here to witness,” the big man said easily, when Kendon and Jeremiah looked askance at him.

“What are the terms of the challenge?” Basalt asked. As the two explained it – again – Ahouva studied him nervously. She didn’t trust him or his friends; she’d seen them on Hell Night, stomping around like monsters, and she’d seen Ceinwen crying in the girls’ room. They were thugs, straight-out. Why were they interfering.

“Interesting.” Basalt was grinning in a way she definitely didn’t like. “What if I win? Do I get both girls?”

Kendon and Jeremiah started talking at once, shouting, arguing, until little creepy Lolly murmured, “if he challenges you both…”

“Stop helping,” Jeremiah snapped.

The tiny blonde fell silent, as Basalt, pleased, declared, “then I add myself to this challenge, challenging you both for your Kept.”

“And what are you putting up, if you lose?” Kendon snapped, while Ahouva tried to become part of the couch. No, no, not him. Jeremiah would be better…

“Myself,” the big man grinned.

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/119485.html. You can comment here or there.

30 Days Second Semester: 20, The End of The Purple Bag, Misc-misc

For the 30 Days Meme Second Semester, for the prompt “20) Write the end of the story ‘The Purple Bag.'”

misc-misc, no setting

Almost there. Although the temptation was strong to just end her trip here, in the dusty, beautiful bazaar, she’d come too far to stop before the end. Sorrell reached into the bag, wiggling her fingers around. When she’d started this trip, there’d barely been room to get her fingertips through the opening. Now, she had to reach all the way past her elbow into the netherspace.

The trinket that came to her hand was tiny; no wonder it had gotten pushed to the bottom. She pulled it out carefully, studying it.

A puzzle ring, nine interlocking rings twisted carefully together, held by a single bronze pin. A ring. Sorrell stared at it, wondering what its story would be, wondering where it would take her. She had been so many places, on so many worlds, finishing so many lost quests. To have it all come down to a ring…

…no Elvish writing, thank God…. Still.

“Excuse me.” The man’s voice sounded familiar; she turned slowly, hoping he wasn’t an enemy left over from some quest.

Stunning golden eyes looked down at her. “You have my ring.”

“Your…” she looked at the ring in her hands. She knew those eyes. “I found your lamp.”

“You did, thank you. And allowed me to return to my home.” He gestured grandly at the bazaar and the city beyond. “And now you have found my ring, and given it a home.”

She glanced down at her finger, where she’d absently set the puzzle ring.

“…oh.”

The List:
1a) the story starts with the words “It’s going down.” (LJ Link)
1b) the story starts with the words “It’s going down.” (LJ Link)
2) write a scene that takes place in a train station.
3) the story must involve a goblet and a set of three [somethings]
4) prompt: one for the road
5) write a story using an imaginary color
6) write the pitch for a new Final Fantasy styled RPG (LJ Link)
7) prompt: frigid (LJ Link)
8) write a scene in the middle of a novel called “The Long, Dirty Afterwards” (LJ)
9) prompt: mourning dead gods (LJ)
10) write a story set in three different time periods. (LJ)
11) Write a movie trailer style trailer for a story, existing or not-yet-written. (LJ)
12) prompt: sweet iced tea (LJ)
13) re-write a story that everyone knows (LJ)
14) write a vanilla story dealing with kinky subject matter (LJ)
15) prompt: ascension (LJ)
16) write a scene that takes place at the end of a long road trip. (LJ)
17) write an uncomfortable story (LJ)
18) prompt: a step too far (LJ
19) write a story in which something goes BOOM. )LJ)
20) Write the end of the story ‘The Purple Bag.

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/118872.html. You can comment here or there.

Strong Female Characters

[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith has posted here (and on LJ) a discussion on this article on “What Do You Mean When You Say You Want ‘Strong Female Characters’?”

I had strong feelings about it reading Ysabet’s post, stronger ones having read the article, but… putting those aside for a moment, what do YOU think? What makes a strong character?

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/118694.html. You can comment here or there.