Gateways to Haven (Shade's NaNo)

[Shadaras]

The Gates are magical portals that were formed in the ages before humans, in places where nothing except plants lived or touched, or places where nothing ever was. They connect Earth to a parallel plane, called Haven by those who live there.

Who lives there? Anything other than humans and humanoids, who the Gates won't let through, for some reason. Until now, that is. A human boy, a thief, runs through a Gate while running way from the police, who are trying to catch him for stealing a silver necklace. When he exits the Gate, he finds himself in a dry canyon. He starts to look around, and then a cougar jumps out in front of him and demands to know how he got to Haven.

.. And that's about as far as I have it planned.

[Shadaras]

Prologue for this project. Or excerpt. Both work.

SPOILER: Click to show

He ran.

The misshapen beasts followed him, wielding their clubs of bone and wood. He was faster than them. He could leap higher than them. But that would ruin the challenge he set for himself every time they found and chased him. But this time, he was seriously reconsidering his decision.

Last time, the hunters had driven him in to a blackberry bush, and he had gotten a thorn in his paw. One of his hind paws, too, the ones that let him leap so far, so high. And now they were gaining on him. No more time for thinking. Only for running.

He never needed to look for them. They were loud and clumsy beasts, with no apparent knowledge of the forests, and yet they could catch the wild ones who ruled the forest. They knew to hunt in teams, like the wolf, and yet they acted like the deer: Herd beasts, fit for prey.

They weren’t. He’d caught one of them once. They tasted bitter from the mix of meat and grains. It wasn’t a sweet bitter, like the raccoons, but a sour taste, like the scent of foul water. He still hunted them, trying to end their irritating influence on the forest.

They were nearing him. He leaped up, clinging onto a tree for the few seconds necessary to find a safe spot to land. White rocks to his left caught his eye, and he threw himself off the tree, knowing that he would land safely, even with the darn thorn in his paw. He wouldn’t have the right to call himself a cat if he couldn’t.

So he landed there, and rested, panting, until he heard the hunters approach. Then he leapt again, up the rocks, and kept bounding until he was on the other side of the pile from the beasts. The rocks were cold and smooth beneath his feet, a welcome change from the damp, slightly slippery mulch of the forest floor.

The hunters were persistent, he had to give them that. They had been following him for a long time now, as the sun was a few degrees above the horizon, and they had found him at dawn. He hesitated at the edge of the rocks. There was an aura in front of him, something that didn’t feel quite right. It wasn’t anything that he had felt before, and it didn’t feel bad, precisely. Just.. off.

Behind him, the beasts were visible again. No turning back now. It was either leap ahead or get killed. The unknown, in this case, was better than the known. He leapt.

The ground beneath him wavered, reflecting him and the tree branches like water, but under that was an arroyo, gray and brown and filled with puddles of water. Flashes of green, not tree branches now, but small plants growing on the sides, appeared, and then he landed. He sniffed the air. It smelled good, better than any he had smelt since the beasts came.

In front of him stood a lioness. His ears flattened, and he crouched, hissing. “Calm down,” the lioness said. “You’re safe here.”

“Here?” he said, startled that he could understand the lioness. “Where is ‘here’?”

“Haven. Sanctuary. A place where we can be free.” The lioness paced back and forth as she talked, words spilling from her mouth. “I don’t know how it was created, but it has been. The places that we can enter it from – Gates, I call them – are one way. We can’t get out.”

“What?”

“Why would we want to, though? Everything we need is here.”

He pounced on her, knowing the futility, but wanting her attention. “Listen to me,” he growled. “I don’t want to be stuck in here forever. I want to go back. I want to hunt them. To kill them. To get rid of them forever!”

The lioness stayed calm. “Then try to find a way. The only thing I know about the Gates is that they connect this place to the world. Nothing else.”

He stared at her. “You live here, yes?”

“Yes.”

“And you haven’t ever tried to figure anything out?”

“No. Why would I?”

He shook his head. “Because.. why wouldn’t you?”

“I have no reason to.” The lioness shook her head. “My name is Liara.”

He hesitated. “I am called Kayne.”

“Welcome to Haven, Kayne. I hope you find what you’re looking for.” With that, the lioness walked off, leaving Kayne standing in the river canyon. He turned, and began looking for the Gate. “Time to get to work,” he said, walking back to where he had emerged.

What do you think of it so far? Would you want to keep reading?

[Shadaras]

'nother excerpt, because I feel like it.

SPOILER: Click to show

The landscape around them was all very similar; dun colored rocks covered with dust, scraggly plants growing near the cliff sides and by the trickle of water, and a clear blue sky above. Hyote was silent, which didn’t help. Even the steps he took only brought up dust, not sound. Jason’s footsteps were like thunder in comparison, echoing off the canyon walls.

They came to an area where the wall had fallen in, creating a ramp up to the top of the canyon walls. Hyote bounded up it easily, but Jason had to scramble, slipping two or three times on the way. The coyote waited at the top for him, but as soon as he stood on stable land, he took of running.

Jason followed, somehow managing to keep Hyote in sight, though he suspected that the coyote wasn’t moving as fast as he could. He was glad for that. Even now, he was breathing heavily. His life on the streets had in no way prepared him for this. He couldn’t hear anything up ahead, and he could only see flashes of Hyote’s gray-brown tail to tell him that he was still going the right way.

Up ahead, he thought he saw a clearing in the forest. Hyote was out of sight now, but he’d been heading for the clearing last time Jason had seen him. He slowed, but kept going to the clearing, trying not to fall over and lie on the ground panting. His side hurt, as did his lungs, but the promise of a clearing without sticks and roots covering the ground egged him on.

His plan of collapsing as soon as he got to the clearing died as soon as he saw the lioness standing in the center of it, sunlight shining on her tawny fur. “Welcome, Jason,” she said, inclining her head. “Hyote told me that you appeared.” She paused, sniffing the air. “You aren’t like the humans back then. Could Kayne not sense that?”

“Quite possible, m’lady,” Hyote said. “You know how irrational he is about humans. He called this one ‘monkey-boy’.”

“Hmm.” She looked at Jason, golden eyes as gentle as he remembered his mom’s being. “Well, Jason, since we know of no way to take you back to your home, you will stay here, with us. My name is Liara, and I lead this clan. You may join us, no matter what Kayne says.”

“Th- thank you, Liara,” Jason said, bowing. “I sort of assumed that..”

“That Kayne was normal?” Liara sighed. “He’s not. He never was. Of this clan, I am the first who came here. He was second. He was never normal, not in the sense that you mean, at least. For him, he is normal, but his mindset has never changed over all the years.”

“And at this rate, never will,” Hyote said. “Where’s Chase?”

“When I heard you coming back without Kayne, I sent her off to find him. She should be back soon.”

“If she finds him before he finds Shara, Chase is in trouble,” Hyote said, tail halting its waving pattern.

“That’s a risk she’ll need to take, then. It’s not like she hasn’t been attacked before.”

“True. Cara is worse, I suppose.”

“Most definitely.”

Jason stared at them. “Um.. what are you talking about?”

“Oh. Sorry,” Liara said, turning back to him. “I suppose that I’m a bit too used to knowing everyone here. It’s been a long time since a newcomer has arrived. Chase is a kestrel and my assistant in keeping track of the Wardens.”

“Wardens,” Hyote added, “are those of us who examine the Gates and greet newcomers. We’re usually paired up, though there are some larger groups.” His ears flattened, and he said, “I just happened to get stuck with Kayne.”

“That’s because you’re the only one who he didn’t manage to drive off,” Liara said. “You seem to enjoy arguing with him. Why else would you not ask someone else to join their team?”

“Because Kayne’s the only one who’s serious about his work,” Hyote said, beginning to pace. “If I’m going to research the Gates, I’m going to make sure to work at it, not just stare at it and give up.”

“Hyo, most people don’t like how the Gates feel.”

Hyote stared at Liara. “Why not? They feel like liquid sunlight.”

“Everyone has a different idea of the Gates.” Liara seemed to smile. “I, for instance, get the feeling of sticky mud covering my fur. Not the most pleasant of feelings, as you should know. Chase, the one time she mentioned it, said that it felt like the air during a thunderstorm, prickly and wet.”

“Fine, fine.” Hyote shook his head. “But Kayne says that it blurs everything, and feels like he’s moving through water. He still touches them.”

“Hyo, this is Kayne.”

“True.”

“Excuse me,” Jason said, “but would you please tell me what I should do and discuss stuff like this later?”

Hyote laughed. “He’s right. We should. Lia?”

“Take Jason to the caves and let him figure it out himself,” Liara said, starting to walk off. “I’ll be waiting for you at the Moon’s Peak.”

“As you wish,” Hyote said, bowing. “Come, Jason.” He began walking off in the opposite direction from Liara, deeper in to the forest. Jason followed, trying to figure out what had just happened. The forest was still quiet, still cool, but something had changed. It had an odd feeling to it, similar, but not the same, as how what he supposed was the Gate had felt before he had been sucked in to it.

He couldn’t name the feeling, but it was like static electricity had decided to cover his body, but not to anything. It just sat there, almost tingling him, but not quite. He rubbed his arm, trying to get rid of the sensation, but it didn’t work. The feeling stayed, as did the sense that something about this forest was different from anything he had ever seen before.

[Shadaras]

You know, I think I enjoy posting excerpts. Because here's another one.

SPOILER: Click to show

“Kit, let me in, would you?” Kayne paced outside the entrance to Kit’s home, staring at the gray-green wall of plants, irritated. “Or should I just rip my way through?”

“That would not be the best of ideas.” Kit’s calm voice came from behind Kayne. He turned to face Kit, only to find that the panther was walking past him, sleek black fur brushing against his gold. Kayne shivered at the sensation. “You would get killed doing that.” Kit stopped just in front of the plants, whispering something to them. They parted, and Kit walked in.

Kayne looked at the plants suspiciously, but followed Kit in to the darkness. “Gaia, light the way,” he heard Kit say, and blue-white flames sprung up around the edges of the cave they were in. “What did you come here to say, warmonger?”

“Have you looked at the Gaia recently?” Kayne asked, staring at the flames. Last time he had come here there had been normal fire, not ghostly fire. “I did, and found odd black spots where there had never been any before.”

“Hm. Most intriguing.” Kit closed his eyes, humming. “Yes, I see them. Odd. Those have never appeared before.” He opened his eyes, staring straight at Kayne, his normally brown eyes blue. His gaze met Kayne’s, locking his eyes in place. “And yet you have a brighter aura than ever before. Might these things be connected?”

Kayne backed up, unsettled by the blue stare. “I don’t know.” Blue flames touched his tail, and Kayne stopped, twisting his tail around next to him. “Can you think of any reason for this?”

“Well, the blackness is taint. I cannot doubt that.” Kit’s eyes were returning to normal. Kayne relaxed slightly, seeing that. “Has anything unusual happened recently?”

“Yes,” Kayne said. “A human boy came through a Gate.”

Green light flooded the cave, quickly followed by purple. The light settled on an unsettling shade of gray-green that flickered purple and red. Kit didn’t say anything loud enough for Kayne to hear, but he could see the panther’s mouth moving. At last, the mage said, “That would do it. Where is he right now? I would like to meet him.”

“He’s with Rudy. They’re probably at her cave.”

“Good. I’m going to go meet him.” Kit began walking back to the entrance, ignoring the ghostly flames that flickered behind him. Kayne followed, trying to ignore those same flames. “And you are coming with me,” Kit said as he parted the entrance again.

“What?” Kayne didn’t like this. At all. The mage creeped him out at best, and outright scared him at worst. “Why am I coming with you?”

“Because you have a nose and a brain,” Kit calmly replied, walking out in to the dying light of the sun. “And I believe I will need both.” He paused, turning to look at Kayne. “Are you afraid of something?”

“No,” Kayne muttered, looking at Kit’s silhouette. Yes, his mind said. I am afraid of something: You.

“Good,” Kit said, and continued. Kayne followed, even though all his instincts screamed at him not to. Great, he thought. Just great. I’m stuck with a crazy panther until he decides that he doesn’t need my help anymore. He stared at the forest, which now shone gold, the light of the sun streaming through the trees.

“Kayne!” Kit’s voice came from ahead, taunting him. “Stop daydreaming.”

“I don’t daydream!” Kayne yelled, running and leaping to catch up. “I was thinking.”

Kit merely looked at him, continuing on the path to the forest. Kayne shut up, thinking of ways to get revenge on Kit. Cutting off his tail, he mused. That would be a good one, wouldn’t it? Or perhaps getting rid of those darn creepy eyes. Brown to blue and back again, with those even scarier flashes of true green.

“Kayne,” the panther said, “I have nothing to do with the color of my eyes. That’s all from the Gaia.”

“Thanks a lot,” Kayne muttered. That was even creepier than the flames or the changing colors of his eyes. Could he read minds, too? Or was that just him getting even more paranoid than he already was?

I like weirdo-mage Kit. And Kayne. They're fun to write.

[Shadaras]

.. My characters are all insane. The most normal one, thankfully, is the one that's supposed to be normal (Jason). Kayne is half-insane, and Hyote's sort of helping. Nemo is completely insane. At least Kit hasn't morphed too far from what I wanted. Yes. Kit. I have a character that's sorta based off of Kit. He's weird, but cool. Though I think that he'll eventually change to be even weirder, looking at the trend. Oh well.

And a short excerpt, so that you have some idea who Nemo is.

SPOILER: Click to show

“‘In our every deliberation we must consider the impact of our decisions on the next seven generations.’ Your own people said that once,” the wolf said, “even now, some remember the ways of the wild. The knowledge of nature has been passed down through the generations, but many of you have not learned the lessons your own heart knows are true.”

“Only when the last tree has withered, the last fish has been caught, and the last river has been poisoned, will you realize you cannot eat money,” Kit said. “Another saying of those people, when they met your anscestors. It is truth, don’t you think?”

“‘Wisdom comes only when you stop looking for it and start living the life the Creator intended for you,’” Liara said. “The peoples who lived with the land were wise in many ways, and this is one of this. If more humans listened to them, then your kind might learn the lessons of the Peacemaker.”

“The Peacemaker?” Jason asked, bewildered.

“A good story, that is,” Kit said. “But you are not ready for it yet.”

“I said I would tell you my name,” the wolf said. “You are ready for that, at least.”

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Liara asked, sounding worried.

“I am sure.” The wolf stared right at Jason, blue eyes peering out of black fur. “I am Nemo. I am Lucifer. I am Satan. I am God. I am Jesus. I am Nemo.” Darkness spread around the wolf, slowly enveloping everything. “I am Nemo,” he repeated, form outlined in a deep blue against the pure black that he created.

Yeah. I research stuff. The Peacemaker story is a real one, too. I've heard parts of it. And by the way, right after that part is when Nemo goes insane.

[Belle]

Wow. I love that prologue! It's very nice, fast-paced prose. I'll have to read the rest. ^_^

[Shadaras]

Thanks, Belle. *considers the prologue not that good*

And next excerpt thing. Nemo/Nihil is weird.

SPOILER: Click to show

“Nihil,” he heard Kit whisper. “Not Nemo anymore. Nihil.” The cat stepped off of Nihil, moving off in to the trees. Liara stepped after him, be he glanced back; a warning, Jason thought. Liara lowered her head and stepped back.

“What just happened?” Jason asked her, slowly standing back up.

Liara closed her eyes and turned away. “Nothing was made of nobody, and the clairvoyant has been given a Geas. No more. No less.”

Jason just looked at her, even more confused. “What do you mean? What’s a geas?”

“That is for the Gaia to decide,” Liara said cryptically, beginning to walk away. “And when Nihil wakes up, he will tell you the rest. It is his story to tell, after all.”

Jason watched her tawny form fade in to the deep shadows of the tree, and then sat on the ground next to Ne- Nihil’s still form. “This is pointless,” he complained to the air. “I’m not suppoed to be here. I’m not supposed to know anything, apparently, and I can’t even be told what was happening when it involved me!”

Nihil stirred. Jason quieted, watching the fur of the wolf slide and shift as he stood. The wolf turned to face Jason, and his eyes widened, seeing the black star on the wolf’s face. “Gaia decided to remind me of my failures, I suppose. Would you mind telling me how?”

“You have white fur, for one,” Jason said. “And there’s a black star in the middle of your forehead.”

“She likes that one,” Nihil muttered. “And I’m nothing now.” His voice held no bitterness, to Jason’s surprise, only regret and resignation. “I do not exist in Her eyes anymore.” Nihil looked up in to the rising sun. “I had wondered when that would happen,” he admitted. “I’ve walked the line ever since I came here. Nihal to Nemo to Nihil, chaning each time. As Nihal, I was black with gold eyes and russet highlights. As Nemo, I was given blue eyes and highlights. And now you see me as Nihil.”

“Nihal?” Jason asked, confused. “Why would you take a name so clsoe to Nihil?”

“My sense of irony, I suppose.” Nihil began walking down an almost invisible trail. Jason followed, listening. “The same sense of irony that prompted me to introduce myself to you like that. The shadows have grown stronger since the last time I tried that, however. I did not expect that. I thought I was the only one who honored Erebus over Gaia.” He lowered his head, pausing his motion. “I’m not, it seems.”

“What do you mean?” Jason asked, stopping behind the wolf. “Who’s Erebus?”

“Erebus.” Nihil looked at the sky in longing, it seemed. “Darkness. Shadow. Not the night, however. That is Nyx’s domain. Erebus is cool and clean, water and wind, ethareal things that cannot truly be seen without a background of Gaia, earth. And that is what I am now, I suppose. I am truly a creature of Erebus now, with no ties to Gaia.” He laughed, continuing down the path. “You could say that I welcome the change, but that is not quite the truth. I did not wish to be thrown out by Gaia, but I did not wish to follow her rules. This is for the best. I don’t look the part anymore, unfortunately.”

[Shadaras]

I love my sense of humor. I was thinking about the title (currently Therian Gates, which is lame), and the idea of calling it 'Gateways to Haven' came to mind. Which amuses me entierly too much, but does make sense.

Oh, and Nihil is now Nihilus. Which makes me think of Darth Nihilus, but that can't be helped.

[Shadaras]

The two best lines yet:

“And before you wrongfully call me nobody, I am now nothing.” ~ Nihilus, talking to Hyote

“You know, anyone else would be all ‘Aah! The great forces are playing with me! I’m gonna die!’ But no, you just shrug and ignore it like nothing happened.” ~ Hyote, talking to Nihilus

SPOILER: Click to show

Kayne stared at the lake below him. The colors of the lava, fiery reds and golds peeking through cracks in the black crust. He didn’t move, even though the heat coming up from the lava was almost unbearable.

“So this is what is comes too,” he breathed, ignoring the fumes. “Fire and wind. No more, but so much less than what it should be.” The winds, almost constant here, blew away much of the gas that come from the lava, but the scent remained, an acrid, burning feeling in his nose and mouth.

A hawk called, a piercing counterpoint of joy. Kayne winced, closing his ears to the sound. With so much sorrow, so much despair in the world, how could anybody still feel joy? The volcano represented that in so many ways. Its starkness, its dark color, its harsh scent, the smoky clouds that built up. What, in that, was joyous?

The flames that were the centerpiece, he mentally said. The fires of the earth, one of the most precious gifts Gaia has ever given to those who walk the land she made. The sky above Kayne was dark, not with night or clouds or ash, but with hatred and despair. He made it this way. He liked it this way. And nobody could change his mind anymore.

I wrote 3k today. ^_^ Whoot. And I sorta have a sense of where the plot's going, though that's likely to change at any time. Oh, and Kit is now a viewpoint character. Why? Because I felt like it and using him upped my workcount quite a bit. xD

SPOILER: Click to show

He watched as Jason left, the plants closing behind him. The room was now lit only by the flickering blue light of the flames, which he soon disspelled. The room was dark, now. No light, no sound, nothing moving at all.

Kit relaxed utterly in the darkness, which would have driven most people he knew insane. It was a soft darkness, blanketing noise, nullifying any difference in temperature that happened to be there, making an enviorment where nothing could be sensed, even the usual scent of cat.

“Crystal,” he called, breaking the silence of the cave. “You can come out now.”

A sigh, a breath of air, and a soft light. A pure white cat, a panther in reverse, stepped out of the darkness, cool air spreading from her paws. “Kitten,” she said affectionatly. “I wondered when you would call.”

“I was hoping you’d be able to respond,” Kit said, smiling. He walked forward, not minding the cold air around his love, seeking her warmth through the cold. She was purring, as impatient as he was to touch and be touched.

“My love,” she whispered. “My sweet little Kitten.”

Kit smiled, and for a time after that, all was joy.

I don't care how out of character that'd be, it was fun to write.
EDIT:: Yay. ^_^ 'tis is character, according to Kit. I am far to happy about that, I think.

[Shadaras]

A longer excerpt than usual, but I think it's worth it. One of the longer sections, but a really fun one to write. And I still can't really get my characters to fight, which somewhere between funny and annoying.

SPOILER: Click to show

“Kit!”

Kayne. Again. “What now?” Kit asked, commanding the plants to part.

Kayne stood in front of him, his face stained with soot and ash, his eyes closer to red than they’d ever been before. “Why,” he asked, tail flicking as he walked in, “can I not remember anything since I left your cave last?”

“I don’t know,” Kit said. “This isn’t normal.”

“Nothing since monkey-boy came is,” Kayne growled. “But blank spots are appearing in my memory, mostly over times when I was the happiest.”

“Odd. There isn’t any reason for you to block those memories. If there were, you wouldn’t be here right now.”

“I know that. But can you think of any reasons why this would happen?”

“Anything else odd happen recently? With your mind,” he added, “not because of the boy.”

“How am I supposed to know? Fine. Yesterday, I took that necklace, remember?”

Kit nodded, watching Kayne’s eyes and face. The shadows – not ash or soot, apparently – were fading off of his face, and his eyes were closer to their normal golden shade now.

“Well, when I put it on, I went a bit crazy, apparently.” Kayne winced, crinkling his face. “You’d need to ask Hyote for the details. I don’t really rememeber what happened, but I know that something took over my body. It felt like a ghost. Looked sort of like one, too, now that I think about it.”

“So you were possessed by a ghost. That’s.. odd, to say the least.”

“I know that.”

“I never said you didn’t,” Kit said. “I was just thinking out loud.”

“Stop doing that.”

“I can’t.”

“Try.”

There was a pause, as both of them just looked at each other. Finally, Kayne said, “Sorry. I’m on a shorter fuse than usual today.”

“I’ve noticed.”

“Of course you have. Anyway, I went up to the Lake today.”

“Really. Flame Lake.”

“Yes. I did. I don’t know why. Hyote found me there, and broke me out of whatever spell had been put on me by ripping my ear.”

Kit looked at the ear Kayne indicated. It was shredded at the top, though not too badly. “He has very good aim.”

“He got my tail, too. I think that was his first attempt. Once he broke me out of it, he told me some of what I’d said, which is why I know that the ghosts were involved, but not much else.”

“Fascinating,” Kit said. His tail twitched as his mind raced. “Would you mind if I tried a spell on you?”

“To try and figure out what’s going on, I assume? Go ahead.”

“Good. Lie down in the center of the circle, please,” Kit said, allowing the red lines of his spell-circle to appear. Kayne hesitated, but did as Kit asked. “Now, do you think that this is caused by a physical being, or a mental problem?”

“A physical being, though not anything I know of.” Kayne lay down in the circle, head towards the exit.

“Ghosts and demons count,” Kit said, circling around behind Kayne. “And they’re the most likely cause of this.” He stood directly behind Kayne, closing his eyes. The pentagle within the circle, along with Kayne’s flaming outline, stayed in his vision, his Sight.

“Demons of the earth, steady the room,” he called. “Demons of wind, guard the breaths that we take. Demons of fire, keep our spirits burning. Demons of water, hold our minds and bodies tight.”

The room shook, and he could see that Kayne was beginning to get scared, though it hadn’t even begun. The invoking of the demons was a ritual to satisfy them, even if they weren’t called on for the casting.

“Wind and water,” he called, “hold a lens before me, one that sees in to this ones heart. Fire, clear a path in his spirit. Earth, keep my mind balanced and strong.” Kayne might be able to feel the fire spirits damping his aura, but Kit doubted it. A sudden rush of Earth energy filled him, and he focused on the lens.

Inside the fires of Kayne’s mind, there was a coiled up ball of silver, something that looked like a cross between a lost soul and a demon’s spirit form. As he focused his attention on it, it moved, a shiver of motion that reminded him of a snake. It hissed at him, seeming like it was trying to say something, but in a language he couldn’t understand.

Kit drew back, worried of what might happen if the ghost touched him. He called out to the spirits again. “Wind and earth, bind that ghostling tight. Fire keep it contained. Water, hold the lens for my Sight.”

Taking a breath, he brought the lens’s focus closer to the ghost, watching it struggle against the spirits holding him. “Who are you?” he asked it.

It made a hissing noise, one that sounding something like ‘harito’, but nothing like any name he had heard before, and with the odd collection of people in Haven, that was a surprise. Kit brought the lens as close as he dared, keeping it out of the ghosts reach. “What are you?”

No response at all. The ghost seemed to be ignoring him, though it seemed able to understand what he said. “Very well,” Kit said. “Spirits of all the elements, draw the ghost out of Kayne’s mind.” He held the lens himself, watching what happened from a distance.

Fire and wind flew in fast, taking hold of the ghosts appendages. Earth and water moved more slowly, but they bound it more securely. All four of them, working together, moved it, or tried to. It resisted, taking hold of Kayne’s mind. Kayne cried out, and Kit called the spirits off. “Enough,” he said. “This will not go anywhere. Guard the ghost, try to keep it under control, but don’t do anything Kayne.” The spirits assented, and Kit broke the spell.

The pentagle faded, and Kit began to feel the drain that keeping the spirits here would take. “Kayne,” he said, “it’s over for now. I finished. There’s a ghostling in your mind. It won’t come out. I think I’ve stopped it from causing any trouble for now, but I don’t know how long it’ll last.”

Kayne stood and turned around. As soon as Kit saw his eyes, their bright gold turned the color of dusty rock in the sun, a shining color that tried, and failed, to match the sparkle of gold. “You are the one doing this to me.” Kayne’s voice was flat and dead, lifeless without the emotion that was always there when he talked. “You are the one who should pay.”

“What did I do to you?” Kit asked, focusing on the pentagle. He’d placed wards on it ages ago, just in case something like this happened. Slowly, hopefully slowly enough so that the ghost wouldn’t feel it, he drew the wards up.

“Stop that,” the ghost snapped. “It won’t work, anyway.”

“Stop what?” Kit asked, but he did drop the wards. If this creature was as powerful as it seemed, it wouldn’t be a good idea to antagonize it.

“Good,” the ghost said, voice still flat, though he could tell it was sastified from body language. Kit suspected that the ghost didn’t even know that he could tell that, and wasn’t doing it intentionally.

“What do you want?” he asked it. “Why are you controlling Kayne’s body?”

“Why not?” The ghost stretched. “As for what I want – I want something that you cannot give me, not willingly, at least.”

“Why not?” Kit hissed. “Kayne is a good person, if a little on the tempermental side, and he does not deserve to be used as a puppet by ghosts.”

“So you know of us? Good. That will make this process easier.”

“What process?”

“Simply put, the process of turning to to our purposes.” The ghost walked forward, eyes fixed on Kit’s. “Stay still and do not resist. That will make this as painless as it is possible for it to be.”

“No,” Kit said. “I will not.” He sprang over the ghost, flicking his tail up above its reach, and landed in the exact middle of the pentagle. “Demons of the earth and stone, heed my call.”

“What are you doing?” The ghost had turned around, but was not advancing. Yet.

“Demons of fire and motion, heed my words.”

“Stop. Now.”

“Demons of wind and air, heed my summons.”

The ghost leapt for him.

“Demons of water and rain, heed my call. Rise!”

Fire flashed in to existance right in front of the ghost. Wind swirled around him, creating a wall through which the ghost could not effectively go. Water mixed with earth, forming a muddy hole where the ghost stood.

“Hold him,” Kit commanded, emotionless. “Do not let him go until I tell you to. Now, ghost, tell me what you want.”

The ghost, struggling to keep his head above the mud, growled. “Why should I do that?”

“Would you prefer that I change the mud to water and put a crust of stone above your head?”

“Yes.”

“That would be mercy, ghost. It is something that I will not give you. Now answer!” His voice thundered out, and he could see the ghosts ears go back, his eyes widen.

“Very well. I want you to give the silver necklace the boy brought to someone. Someone important, preferably.”

“Why?” Kit asked, curious now. “What it the necklace to you?”

“The Father and the Son are in there. They hold us in their grasp.”

“Who are the father and the son?”

“Two of our three leaders. I do not know where the Spirit is.”

“Why are you here?”

“Because that boy brought us here.”

“Did you make him take you here?”

“No. That was a bonus. We thought that we would just get a few policemen and that would be it. Then we’d move up and up, taking control of more and more important people until we controlled the world.”

“Earth is not that great a prize, you know. Kayne could lecture you on that.”

“I’ve heard those lectures.”

“Ah, yes. I forgot that you had access to all of his momories. Now, if I let you in to my mind, would you let Kayne go?”

“In a heartbeat.”

Kit let the spirits sink back in to the Gaia, and stepped forward. “Transfer yourself, then.”

The ghost, his feet back on solid ground, paced forward and touched Kayne’s forhead to his. Kit felt/heard a spark, and then he could see/feel the ghosts presence in his mind. Ignoring Kayne’s questions, he closed his eyes, sinking in to the mind-realm where the ghost lay.

[Shadaras]

I hit 25k. This is mostly written down so that I can look back and find out when I hit that.

Yay for darkish scenes. Which is what most of what I wrote today is.

Timewise, this follows directly after the last part I posted. There's a part between them, though, to explain the part after this stuff finishes.

SPOILER: Click to show

“So you decide to chase me. How much like the cougar you are.”

“Only to your mind,” Kit replied, studying the ghost. It was a deep grey, shot through with lines of true silver. “And since we’re in my mind, that isn’t what counts.”

“Are you so sure?”

“Very. I know the look of my own mind.”

“But I know how to use it against you.”

The dark trees of Kit’s mind, a setting that he had always used in meditation, began to change. He watched, both horrified and fascinated, as wood turned to bone, fallen debris to ashes, and bloody rain to fall. “Why are you doing this?” he demanded, changing the rain to pure water as it fell.

“Why not?” The ghost grinned, an odd expression to see on such a thing. “You invited me here, after all. I have as much right to change your mind as you do.”

“You most certainly do not,” Kit growled, feeling flames flicker around him, the pale blue fire that everyone associated with him. “This is my mind, and mine alone.”

“Oh? Then why did you bring me here?”

“To bring all the pain and suffering that will happen on to my head,” Kit said softly, the fire flickering around his form, making him seem as ethereal as the ghost. “To keep my friends from getting hurt.”

The ghost laughed. “Fool.” It gestured, and the bones that made up the trees fell apart, clattering against each other as they fell. The first few bones to land on the ground only made a soft thud, muffled by the ash as they were, but the subsequent ones, bone hitting bone, cracked and shattered, sending sharp shards in to the ash, stark white against grey ash.

Blood began to flow, coming first in a small trickle, and then faster and faster, until the shards on bone floated on a shallow lake of it. Kit watched, his flames burning hotter, vaporizing any blood that came near him. He began to stalk closer to the ghost, eyes burning with true fire, not the balefire that he conjured.

“Name yourself,” Kit hissed, “so that I know who I am fighting, and who I must kill.”

“Nacrido,” the ghost said, his form solidifying in to the skeleton of a ram. “The Boneyard.”

Kit now stood directly below the pile of bones that Nacrido was standing on. “How poetic,” he said sarcasitically. “Are you named after those bones, or do you use them because of your name?”

“Both,” Nacrido said, and charged down the bones.

[Shadaras]

.. I like writing Kit's point of view too much. I make him possessed by a demon and then go back to his POV. xD Well, it's fun, so I won't complain.

SPOILER: Click to show

“Why did you show yourself to him?”

Necrido was angry. Kit watched, rather amused, as the ghost paced back and froth in front of him. The boneyard that Necrido had created was dark, yes, but it wasn’t actually frightening. Kit yawned. “Why not?” he said, just to enrage Necrido more. It was the most entertainment he could get here, after all.

“Why not? Why not!” The ghost threw up its arms like a human would, stopping its motion and facing Kit. “Oh, perhaps because you weren’t supposed to able to do that?”

Kit smiled. “Really? All the better.”

“Not, not all the better! All the worse!”

“For me, I meant. Anything that irritates you is almost certainly a good thing for me.”

Necrido glared at him, and the boneyard began to change. It was returning to a burned forest, Kit saw. He sighed. “At least be imaginitive about how you change this place.”

“Why? This suits your punishment nicely.”

“Punishment? I wasn’t aware that you were going to punish me for doing something that I didn’t even know I wasn’t supposed to be doing.”

“I told you that I’d lock you up!”

“And then you didn’t. So I assumed you didn’t mind me getting in your way.” Kit bared his teeth. “Did I assume wrongly?”

“You were locked up!”

“Really? I didn’t notice.”

“You- you- you-”

“Yes? Is there something you’d like to say?”

“You scoundrel!” Necrido finally managed, the ground around him bursting in to bright red flames. “How did you manage that?”

“Manage what?” Kit asked, balefire forming around him. “I told you, you didn’t even try to lock me up. It was pathetically easy to get free. Actually,” he added, “I didn’t need to get free. I already was.”

“I put every binding I knew on you, and you say that they weren’t there?”

“Yes, I do, since they weren’t.”

Necrido just glared at him. Kit smiled, ignoring the fire that crept closer and closer, until..

“Die, why don’t you!”

He leapt, letting the fire pass under him, using his balefire as a shield against the heat. “Really. I’d think that you would understand why that doesn’t work by now, and not bother using it.” Kit landed exactly where he had leapt from, sitting back down. “And don’t bother trying to be tricky. If I die, my body dies with me.”

“Liar. Nobody can make that happen.”

“He can, in fact.” Kit laughed. “He’s called Nothing now, however.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Hm? Oh, sorry. Someone I know is effectively named Nothing. He used to be named Nobody, though. He likes his current name better, I think.”

“That is an idiotic name.”

“Not really, compared to yours.”

Necrido lunged for him, and Kit didn’t bother trying to dodge. The balefire would hurt the ghost, after all, and he didn’t think that dodging would help matters. Necrido grabbed Kit, and Kit calmly bit him. Hard.

Necrido didn’t cry out, but he radiated pain in an almost physical way. He didn’t move his hand, didn’t try to make Kit let go, but he glared at the panther. “I will get you,” it hissed, fading in to nothingness. “I will.”

“Good luck,” Kit muttered.

Also, I've noticed that Necrido acts like Akito (from Fruits Basket), and the so far unnamed ghost that I haven't shown to you yet (well, he/it's called Father and referred to as 'the sharp one' (in contrast to 'the soft one'), but that sorta doesn't count) is starting to act like General Agamennon (from the Legends trilogy of Dune books). Am I the only one amused by this? Or who knows who both of those are, for that matter.

.. And I'm resisting the urge to follow these lines with 'Because cymeks are the pinnacle of humanity, presenting a unification of machine and man.' (Which is similar to what Agamennon would say, I suspect.)

“You actually intend to fight?” the ghost seemed surprised. “You are odd creatures, with wonderfully strong minds. Amazing fighters, too. We could use more beings like you in our ranks.”

Kayne hissed. “How would you make us join you?”

“Make you? By the time we are done, you will beg us to let you join us.”

“Really?” Hyote asked, tilting his head. “Why?”

[Shadaras]

SPOILER: Click to show

Aganon paced in front of the soft one. “They are stronger than I thought they would be.”

“Father, stay still. Let me tend to your wounds.

“They can heal perfectly well on their own, Ranaki.”

“But.. Father..”

“Let them heal on their own. Now, do you have any ideas as to why the wolf sacrificed himself in hopes of killing me?”

“Father,” Ranaki said, sounding rather exasperated, “did you take any time at all to look at his mind?”

“No. He was a pawn, after all. It was not neccesary to know how he thought.”

“Fine. When I was in the cougar’s mind, I watched his thought patterns before I took control. These creatures have things called ‘honor’ and ‘loyalty’, which makes them think that it’s more important to have their friends survive and their enemy to die than for everyone to live.”

Aganon stared at Ranaki. “That is so stupid.”

“It’s how they think, and if you want to recruit them, you’ll need to understand how they think.”

“Why? It doesn’t seem like a neccesary thing.”

“That is true, but it will make it easier.”

“How so?”

“I heard you telling them about how great being a linvail is, but in some ways, your demonstration of still being alive is a greater argument for our kind. And before you ask why, it’s because now they’ve seen how hard we are to kill. Their fragile forms would have failed at the first attack, and you withstood three.”

“Two and a half,” Aganon corrected. “The wolf called the cougar off before that could really count.”

“Two and a half attacks, then. The point is, I don’t think that any of them could have survived the cougars fire and the wolf’s attack. Their names, by the way, are Kayne and Nihilus.”

“You’re using the unbelievers names?” Aganon said disbelievingly. “You realize that that that would send you to the lowest ranks if you were almost anyone else.”

“Of course I do. But nobody can do that to me,” Ranaki said smugly. “I’m far too important.”

“Yes, we all know. But I equal your rank.”

“I know that, Father. Why do you think I call you by your title?”

“Because it’s true both ways.”

“Well, yes, that too.”

Anagon laughed. “Enough talk. It is time to plan.”

“Yes, Father,” Ranaki murmured. “As you wish.”

My villains have names. Haniow (who needs to wake up and do something), Necrido (who is insanely fun to write), Aganon (who is.. interesting), and Ranaki. I like Ranaki. He seems like the most human of them.

SPOILER: Click to show

“Pay attention, irritant.”

“Pay attention yourself,” Kit snapped. “You’re the one asking the questions, after all. You should know this already. I’ve explained it two or three times now.”

“You have not.” Necrido slashed an arm through the air in front of Kit; a warning not to resist too much, or he would be zapped again. “Now, go through it one more time.”

Kit glared at the creature. It was using what seemed to be its natural form, a gray humanoid with a long tail and blades everywhere. It’s eyes were faceted like an insects, but they didn’t seem to do anything.

“Start talking. Now.”

“Very well. I will not say this again, as this is the fourth time I’ve explained this, and you should have gotten it by now.” Kit took a deep breath. “See, the soul is connected to the body in numorous ways. The most obvious, of course, is that the soul gives life to the body. When this first, primal, connection is weak, it leads to an unformed, underdevoloped child.

“The next way is thoughts. This connection, when weak, leads to people who cannot think as well or as quickly as most. But when the ties are strong, then they allow you to process much faster than most.

“After that, control. This is a joining of the other two, I suppose, but it is in many ways its own category. Control of the body can be further split in to fine control and mass control. Fine control is scratching a picture in the ground. Mass is jumping, walking, and other such things. Talking is a subset of fine control, by the way.

“That’s most of it. There are other connections between the soul and the body, but those are the three strongest. Now will you tell me why you wanted to know this?”

“No. How did you make it so that if I kill you here, your body dies too?”

“That’s normal. What’s not normal is what you describe.” Kit paused. “I suppose that if you found a way to subsitute one soul for another, you might be able to keep a body alive after kiling the soul. You, by the way, don’t have a soul, or at least, not one like ours, so that wouldn’t work for replacement.”

“So what you’re saying is that I can’t do anything about this, and if I want to keep using your body, I need to keep you alive?”

“Yes.”

“How do I know you aren’t lying to keep me from killing you?”

“Because I don’t do that. There’s no point in lying. The truth annoys you more than a lie would, anyway.”

“Stop acting so calm about this!”

“How should I be acting? Like a maniac who wants to kill everything? That’s you, by the way,” he added, jumping back as he did so to avoid the lightning that Necrido fired. “Why do you want to kill me, anyway? It’s not like I’m interfering with anything.”

“You are! Idiot that you are, you don’t notice anything! Nothing works on you! You’re a magic sink!”

“I am not. I use magic. How can I be a magic sink?”

“You are! You just don’t notice, since you use all the magic you steal!” Nacrido pointed a shaking finger at Kit, who looked at it warily. “You kill us! You kill us with your magic sink!”

“Really? That’s nice.”

“In no way is it nice, or good, or anything like that! If we die, so will you!”

“Explain that logic, please.”

“No,” Necrido said, calming down and lowering his hand. “No, I don’t think so. When it is done, you will know. Oh, yes. You will know, and I will be able to laugh and laugh and laugh, knowing that we have done what you have never been able to do.”

“What’s that?”

“Open the Gate to another world.”

.. Necrido and Kit are my favorite characters to write, I think. Especially when they sort of have no choice but to interact.

I have an idea of the plot. I am happy, even if it changes, because I have an idea of where it should go.

[Deleted]

Heya, Shade. I've been reading your thoughts (that is, I've not gotten to reading an excerpt yet), and your enthusiasm is contagious. And those quotes really are great. I like the idea, so I can't wait to be able to read an excerpt.

[Shadaras]

Heh. Thanks, Wolf. I can't wait to hear your thoughts on my NaNo.


This follows directly after the last part.

SPOILER: Click to show

“Ours,” Necrido said, smug. “And once it is open, we will come, and you will wish that you were dead, or that you had submitted to my will.”

“What will?”

“You dare insult me, the High Lord of Deordwald?”

“Yes, especially since I have no idea what Derowald or whatever is.”

“Deordwald is the capital of Kadaeoni.”

“And what’s Kadioni?”

“Our world.”

“How do you rememeber those idiodic names?”

“They are no more idiodic than a cat called Kit!”

“They are. My name has a point at least. Yours have none. Why are you called Necrido, anyway?”

“Because I was named that.”

“See? I chose to call myself Kit, at least. Kayne chose his name, Hyote his. Nihilus..” Kit smiled. “Nihilus is a special case. Nihilan, as he was called when he first came, was what he chose for himself. Gaia renamed him Nemo, and then Erebus decided to call him Nihilus.”

“Your pathetic gods have the power to name you?”

“Only because we let them, but yes, they do.”

“And you call us idiots. How do you survive, with such powerful and whimsical gods?”

“Because, though powerful, they are not whimsical. They only act when they choose. Nihilus is a special case. Erebus likes him, and he can’t help but irritate Gaia. Thus he gets things to happen to him. I think he enjoys it, really.”

“And you call that not whimsical? They pay more attention to some of you than others!”

“What about your own gods?”

“The Father, Son, and Spirit hold us all equal in their sight,” Necrido said, full of dignity.

“Really? Then why are you the High Lord of whatever it is? Shouldn’t you all be equal in rank, so as to please your gods?”

“The best of us see us all as equal, despite the ranks that we say we hold. Our ranks mean nothing, other than tha tsome of us can govern better than others.”

“But if you are all equal, then shouldn’t you be equals in everything?”

“In everything that matters, we are.”

“What matters to you?” Kit asked quietly, stepping closer to Necrido. “And why does it matter?”

“The gods,” Necrido said instantly. “They rule us all. The people whom I control.”

“You are not all equal, then, if you can control people.”

“Did I ever say we were equal? I said that the best of us, the most holy, see us as equals, just like the gods.”

“How many of those are there?”

“Three. The Father, the Son, and the Spirit.”

Kit started laughing uncontrollably. “You sure those aren’t your gods?”

“Of course! They are as mortal as the rest of us!”

“Avatars, then. Effectively the same thing.”

“They are most certainly not the same thing! Avatars are mortal representations of gods!”

“As I said, effectively the same thing.” Kit leaned closer. “I could set the full power of Gaia against you. Nihilus could do the same thing with Erebus’s. And either of the gods are more powerful than one of you.”

“Even our own avatars?”

“In principle, yes, Gaia would be, if not Erebus. I suspect that more of us follow Gaia than you follow any one of your gods.”

“Lies! All you speak is lies!” Necrido lunged forward, slapping Kit. Sharp, bladed fingers cut in to Kit’s face, creating four parrallel lines of blood. Kit just looked calmly at Necrido, and fire travelled up the demon’s arm to its torso, and started burning.

“I do not lie,” he said, turning away from the demon and starting walk away.

I'm sorry to any Christians who might've taken offense at parts that. I couldn't help but mutilate some stuff from your religion. It fit the story, somehow. So.. sorry? ^_^;