Goosh's First NaNo

[Goosh]

This chapter is dedicated to Shade, for her advice on monkeys. ((Note, there is a prize if you can guess who the monkey is based on. He's not totally described, but maybe his mannerisms will clue you in.))

SPOILER: Click to show

Edward awoke to the painful throbs of his foot. He opened his eyes just as a gust of wind shook some leftover raindrops into his face. He sat up, being careful not to put pressure on the red lump of bruised flesh that passes for a foot. He drew his cloak arouund him, for summer was nearing its end and the mornings were starting to be a bit brisk. He sat up against the tree annd considered how he was going to put distance between his sister and himself with an injured foot. He slowly rose to hobble on one foot, still leaning against the tree for support. He spied a branch of about the right thickness above him, so he reached up and broke it with a loud crack. Since Edward may have lacked the finer points of common sense, he didn't realize that all the leaves on that branch were holding back pooled rainwater, which collapsed on him and deluges his cloak and clothes.

Now he was cold, wet, hungry, injured, and without supplies. The perfect way to start a journey. Edward grumbled to himself as he stripped the leaves of his makeshift crutch and tested it. It would hold, but he sorely wished he had something better. Taking a bracing breath, he began to walk in no particular direction, simply away from the mountain. The landscape ahead consisted of patches of trees that faded out and swarmed randomly. He was glad for the trees, as it was difficult for him to trek through the tall grass.

There was a larger, thicker path up ahead, almost like a miniature forest. It was shadier in there, and he found a cold stream to drink from. He was just getting up, which was now more of a process than a movement, and edged his way over to a big tree. He discreetly looked over the side, and it took every fibre of hiis effort not to gasp.

Ten metres away stood Terri. His sister eagerly clutched the Staff of Darkness, and Nombostratus hovered behind her.

“He's here,” he heard his sister mutter over the quiet forest. She stood still as a statue until a small crunch indicated that something had stepped on a nearby twig. Without moving, Terri sent a sharp blast of dark magic that felled the innocent deer. She cursed in frustration, then edged forward, closer to where Ed was hiding. She slowly cast her gaze across the forest until she reached the tree that Edward was pressed flat behind.

The boy gently hobbled away from his sister, still using the tree to shield him fron her line of sight. He gasped slightly when he crossed through the stream, which was colder than he thought. He had just made it through when he heard her.

“There!” Terri shreiked, charging throuogh the undergrowth. Edward dropped the crutch, said some words he had heard his father say when his coffee burned his tongue, and began to run, each pressure on the injured foot throbbing throughout him. He was aware of Terri distantly, but he didn't have the effort to dodge her attacks, though fortunately they just hit trees. Edward couldn't go faster than a light jog, not with his foot, but Terri was slowed down by her ridiculous dress, which aggresively swelled off of the sides of her waste. The trees were getting a bit thicker here, and Edward hoped he could lose her.

Then, of course, he burst into a meadow of tall grass. Edward took eight steps in and blindly threw himiself down among the yellowing plants, ducking his head and throwing grass at his glaringly black coat. He heard Terri emerge, panting for breath. Though he could not see her, he could imagine her well enough, and that was all the terror he needed. He held his breath.

Terri tried to wade into the grass, but it was too thick: she could hear waves of rustling as she tried to force her way through. Then he heard hedr give up, and then the sound of magic. He quietly rolled over. Terri had set a shower of sparks to rain down on the field. Most didn't catch; it had rained the night before. But the occassional purple flame burst among the weeds, slowly consuming what it could of the field.

Knowinig Terri might still be watching, Edward slowly brought himself to his hands and knees and began to crawl.He moved slowly, giving Terri more time to leave and himself more time to detect the fires. One came close and siniged the edge of hs cloak, which he then drew closer to his back. He crawled around a sputtering vilet flame and found himself on the other side of the field. He fled behind a tree to nap.

By the time he awoke it was late afternoon, and his foot swelled no less. He saw no sign of Terri, and he wasn't dead, so he assumed she hadn't bothered to pursue him. He made another makeshift crutch and wished for a doctor. When none came, he pushed onwards.

It was more or less the same forest. There were trees and animals and even another stream, from which he drank. Suddenly he feared he might be going in a circle, but a look at the sun told him he was still heading southeast.

As he made his slow, unpleasant way into the forest, Edward became aware of a strange sound. It wasn't exactly describable, a strange mesh of moises that blurred into each other. It seemed to be coming from deeper through the trees. Edward hobbled, quickly finding the source of the noise and enntering a clearing, mst of which was taken up by a monkey.

The large ape was of gigantic porportion. Sitting down it was easily as tall as the smaller trees, and culd probably reach the tips of the larger ones without effort. Edward saw that some leaves had grown to the size of tables, and the monkey was uding thick branches to randomly hit them. It occurred to Ed that this monkey might be drumming...but then all thoughts coherent fled from hs brain as the mass of russet fur shifted to look at him.

“Yes?” inquired the monkey, pushing back its fringe of hair to observe the teen with a beady eye. “Can I help you?”

Edward choked on something that sounded a lot like monkey, then regained his wits. 'I...I'm just passing through.”

“Well,” said the drum-monkey in a slow, deep voice, “the traditional thinig to do is challenge me.” He scratched himself with a drumstick branch the size of Edward's legs.

“What do mean?”

“A lot of people go with the riddle contest. There are idiots who think that they can golden-fiddle past me, but I can tell you're not an idiot.” He gave Edward a horrifying wink. “You can make up something yourself though.”

Edward mentally scrambled through his life at the castle, searchinng for something he was good at. “Math?”

“Oooh,” said the monkey. “I'm not so good at math.” He squinted, as if trying to scrutinize Edward with his slow, solemn gaze. “What are the stakes?”

“If I win, you heal my foot and let me pass, but if I lose, I have to try again tomorrow.” There. Sounded prmsing and he wouldn't get killed. He sounded cocky, but inside he was trembling.

“Alright, alright, sounds fair. We'll each write down a number on a piece of paper.” They did so, and the simian continued. “Now we'll switch papers, and whoever crosses--'

“Multiplies.”

“--manypies them first wins.” There was a tense moment in the air, and then Edward cried out.

“What number is this?”

“It's a four, isn't it?” the monkey said.

“It doesn't look anything like a four!” edward showed the monkey how to write a four, as well as the other digits just in case, andn they tried it again.

“Forty-two!”

“Forty—ooh, I told you I'm not good at math.” He brought his open plam down on Edward's foot, hard. The boy screamed from pure instinct, but when he looked, his foot had completely healed. It even had a shoe that somewhat matched the other one. He thanked the monkey, and resumed his trek through the country.

With a healed foot and no sister, Edward was in total bliss. He could enjoy the countryside. He meandered southward until night fell.

An inn stood randomly in the middle of the field, as if someonne had just randomly dropped it there. The blue moon on its side shone as brightly as its skybound counterpart, and made Edward feel a bit better as he slipped inside.

[Belle]

Hey, Goosh. I've only read your first chapter so far but I really enjoyed it. I'm looking forward to reading the rest (as they come -- I'm just trying to find my balance with writing and all).

[Goosh]

Thanks, Belle. I'm glad you're enjoying it. ^^

[Goosh]

So, as a current update, I'm fairly behind, though not as behind as you're led to believe because I'm too lazy to update my name (see avatar). As of THIS POST, pre-edit and all that, I'm at ten thousand tthree hundred something. So I mjorly plan to catch up this weekend. So, for all you lurkers that have been secretly following this thig with a passion, here you go: We see what happened to Tess.

SPOILER: Click to show

It took a while for the sun to bust through the layers of gloom of the Great Wood, but eventually it managed, and woke Tess. Pleased with its work, the sun decided to hide behide a cloud. Tess moaned groggily and sat up to review her situation. Her clothes were ragged and a mess, but she had traveling clothes in her pack. She was covered in dirt and there were leaves in her hair, which could be dealt with later, and there was a spider on her knee, which she could deal with immediately. She flicked it off.

Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, Tess regarded the strange sphere that her mother had given her. Apart from its ethereal glow, it seemed to have no purpose, and did not respond when Tess poked it. Maybe it was a flashlight? That theory only made a bit of sense, and she disregarded it when she cupped it in her hands and bent her head, revealing that its internal light glowed no better in the dark.

So why had her mother given it to her?

She was confused and tired, and the Great Wood with all its dangers was not the place to sit and figure it out. She stood up and adjusted her pack, tucking the orb in her pocket. The girl examined the clearing. She had run far southeast through the wood. She could make it through today, though it was already noon and Tess was sore. She would have to dig into her supplies quite a bit to keep her strength up. There was no reason to dillly-dally, so she oriented herself east and plunged into the forest.

As she walked, gently pushing her way through thick underbrush, Tess's mind was unceasingly occupied with thoughts of her mother. She could be anywhere, anywhere at all in the whole world and she had no clue as to where that might be, though there were a few strong possibilites. Tess distracted herself from walking by dreaming up several scenarios as to her mother's whereabouts and condition.

Suppose she had managed to convince the mayor of his foolishness. The town of Mstwood was extraordinarily stubborn, but they also preferred taking the reasonable couose of action. Surely by now they had realized they were making a mistake. Perhaps her mother had returned home, was scrying her right now.

What if she hadn't been able to change the minds of the townspeople. What if she was on the run, also in the Great Wood, fleeing from pursuing villagers. What if they caught her? What if they had burned down the cottage and then done the same to Ferre?

But Tess refused to entertain that notion. She was sure her mother was alive, if not altogether well, and Ferre must be looking for her. The thought, repeated infinite times, carried her through the day.

By evening she had reached the edge of the Great Wood. The thick belts of trees had thinned to tree dotted meadows and eventually she would exit the Wood altogether. While extensive examination had revealed magical power inside the orb, Tess could not find a way to activate it.

While she walked, Tess had the unnerving idea that she was being followed. However, when she looked back all she could see were the violet wisps of dusk's shadows. No movement stirred beyond the trees, and yet she could feel eyes on her when she turned. She nervously consulted her crystal ball, to no avail. This was like something out of a story, and soon the mysterious stalker would creep up on her. She hurried on.

But for some reason, the trees began to grow denser, and the weeds and brambles seem to entangle themselves for the very purpose of tripping Tess. She pushed on farther, unaware of the trap she was sinking into. She found herself in a clearining with a thick ring of trees around her. The gaps were thin, and a quagmire of undergrowth hid beyond each gap. Tess knew she was stuck, and heard the sound of her follower approaching.

A squirrel entered the clearing. Of course, that sentence has more impact when specified that the squirrel was larger than Tess. It also looked fairly rabid, and Tess assumed correctly that it had somewhat of an unfriendly disposition. The squirrel angrily advanced on her, and before she could do anything, it leaped.

But in the seconds it was flying in midair, Tess felt a ripple of change flash through her body, that seemed to emanate from the orb itself. Suddenly the squirrel was drifting slowly through the air, and Tess could feel the wind slide along her skin, delicately pick out various forest sounds. It was surreal, like she was the only person who could move, like the rest were just being pushed along.

She had read of this somewhere. Heightened awareness. The world wasn't slowing down, she was speeding up superhumanly. Some creatures had better senses than others, but this was a whole new plane of existence. Strangely, though, she had thought that this level of hyper sensitivity couold only be brought on by magic. Then it hit her.

The squirrel, that is.

Tess had been too enthralled by the phenomena to notice that the squirrel was still heading towards her. It crashed into her torso, and she could see a furry claw swiping towards her. Even through the impact, Tess was able to pull the claw away from her face. She dug her hannd underneath the mutant squirrel and heaved. The girl went one way and the squirrel another. Tess alighted safely on the ground, while the squirrel headed for a tree. She didn't wait around for the crash.

As Tess sprinted out of the Great Wood she could feel her senses wearinng down. Far away abjects blurred, her nose could only direct a faint woodsy smell, and her ears could no longer track the progress of animals scurrying through the trees.

She made it past the last line of trees and continued down a road that trailed perpendicular to the greenery. She slowed eventually, and settled for a quick walk past farmhouoses and wide, fenced pastures full of grazing livestock. The evening was slowly tuurning into night, and she ducked into the nearest inn, which just happened to be the Blue Moon.

[Goosh]

Just an excerpt I really like:

Edward took a bite of the apple, swallowed, and spoke with biting cynicism. “She’s sitting in the rain. She’s being stupid. Her clothes are going to get soaked, and she’s going to catch cold. So why is she doing it? Because rain is so deep. Rain is pain, and that rhymes so it has to be true. You’re not a tortured soul unless you can see the beauty in falling water. Sunlight’s just not good enough if you’re miserable.” He snorted with contempt and took another bite of his apple.

“Her mother’s gone, Edward,” Aya said angrily. “She doesn’t know if her mother is lost, hiding, or dead.”

“Same with me,” Edward said quietly. “But you don’t see me out there, do you?” He walked out of the room.

EDIT: And the rest of the chapter.

Edward stopped as he entered the Blue Moon. The smoke of various pipes, a cook fire, and general haze in the atmosphere irritated his eyes. He took a step backward and bumped into someone coming in. He spun around, hoping not to find anyone who fit the description ‘large and burly’ but instead found a girl about his age, picking herself up after stumbling. He flashed her a smile which he hoped to be jaunty but instead looked like the grin of the perpetually confused.

“Hi.”

“Hi.”

With this brilliant exchange they both walked up to the counter. Not together, per se—just walking in the same direction for mutual protection. The bartender eyed them amusedly as he leaned over the counter. “What do you need?”

“I need a place to stay for the night,” said Edward.

“I as well,” added Tess. She blushed.

“Where are your parents?” The barkeep asked, and both teens hastened to explain.

“Well, we’re not together, technically—“

“—we met two seconds ago—“

“Alright, alright,” the barman grinned, giving them a conspicuous wink, “but out of decency I’m renting you two rooms, aye? What you do in them is none of my business.” Tess and Edward both groaned internally, and hurried to find a table. Most were occupied with seasoned travellers—grumpy folk who definitely would mind if children came to sit with them—but one was occupied by a kind-looking woman in white robes, with dazzling scarlet hair in a bun. It is a well-known truth that children are drawn to more matronly people if in such a situation, and so the three met for the first time.

“Hi.”

“Hi.”

“Hi.”

The eloquent linguists were quiet for a moment, until Tess added, “I’m Tess.”

“Aya.”

“Prince Edward Von Darkkenschpukky.” At least this got the conversation started. None of them could bear anymore polite small talk.

“Ooh, a prince!” Aya exclaimed, studying Edward as if she had missed some telltake mark before, like a crown. “Of course, you have the strong, noble jaw of a royal. Where do you rule?”

“My father rules land north of here,” he replied proudly.

“Wow.” Tess was curious. “What is a prince doing away from his kingdom, travel worn and begging for food?”

Edward considered the young witch. If Terri knew where he was, she would probably kill him on the spot, and do it herself. It made no sense for her to send a spy, and wouldn’t he have seen Tess following him into the bar? Throwing caution to the wind, he told his story.

Aya listened with a rapt expression as Edward told his tale, and Tess’s expression of disbelief quickly changed to one of sympathy and interest. As he finished his story, recounting how the monkey had healed his foot and how he had returned, Aya spoke.

“You need our help,” she declared firmly. “Well, mine at least. I’m not sure about Tess,” she said, talking about the girl as if she wasn’t there. Tess rolled her eyes.

“What do you mean?” Edward asked. “You guys are probably busy, and I’ve got to contact my father. I’m going to be gone in the morning.”

Aya explained to the boy why she was here, then continued. “I can help you contact your father. It’s your goal, I’ll be able to travel, and as a bonus the country won’t be taken over!” Aya smiled and sipped from her mug. “What do you think?”

“I don’t know, really…” Edward responded uncertainly. Aya’s lack of general fear disturbed him. Didn’t she realize that Terri was dead set on killing him? Or maybe muses were made of sterner stuff. “I guess you can come, if you want. But I won’t hold you to anything. This could be dangerous.” He had hoped to discourage her, but the word danger lit her up like a Christmas tree. Go figure.

Aya asked what Tess’s story was and, like the other two, told her story with such pinpoint accuracy that there was no need to write it down. She sighed when she was done. “Maybe, if you don’t mind, I could come with you guys?” She forlornly traced the cool edge of the orb. “I don’t really have anywhere to go.”

Edward was too much of a gentleman to drag a young person into the mess, but Aya spoke before he could. “Of course you can, dear. It’ll be fun.” Edward fumed as Tess and Aya chatted, eagerly anticipating some glorified adventure that wasn’t going to happen. But the girls wouldn’t listen to his protest, and he knew they were coming with them. He just hoped they wouldn’t get hurt.

Together, they weren’t that bad in the supplies department. Tess had her large pack of supplies, which at four-fifths full could last all three of them for a little over a week. Aya had money, enough to replenish food when necessary, and they both were willing to share. Edward had nothing to share, and he pointed out that it didn’t seem fair, and they pointed out he had given them a purpose. Edward asked where exactly they were going.

Aya was silent in thought, but Tess piped up. “The City of Fortune.”

“What’s that?” Edward asked rather redundantly, as Tess would have explained anyway.

“It’s a huge town about four or five days north of here, if we are where I think we are. It’s a place of seers, fortune-tellers, clairvoyants, and general magic users. We could find out where the Baron is, and then we could get the help of one of the winged men.” Edward didn’t ask this time, and Tess explained further. “They’re men…with wings. They can get messages to anyone in the world, they’re very powerful. Even if we don’t find the Baron, a winged man will eventually.”

Edward grudgingly agreed to the plan. It made sense, and it would be harder for Terri to assassinate him with two mages as companions. Especially one who could be up all night, he thought, remembering that Aya did not need to sleep.

And so they returned to their beds, Aya to a couch and a nice book, and slept.

*~*~*

The sun dawned bright and cheery, and for once did not seem to want to pick on them. The three slept in, for the first time in a while, excluding Aya who never slept much. They had brunch at the inn, and went over their supplies and plans. Confident in their abilities, the three set out north, towards the City of Fortune.

It was a horrible trip. The land to the north was empty and blank. Fields upon fields upon fields upon meadows stretched out endlessly, seemed to dominate the horizon. It was noteworthy if the companions found a tree, for that meant they weren’t moving in circles. Once, there was a hill, and on it, a sheep. It was, quite possibly, the highlight of the trip.

Their supplies were being steadily consumed, and after one week they veered east to a small village that didn’t seem to mind the empty scenery, though the term empty scenery may have been an oxymoron.

The village was just as nondescript as the land around it, and Aya was going a little stir-crazy. Edward and Tess were focused on their goals, and continually turning daily walks into grim marches, but Aya insisted that they stay the night at the village’s inn, which was on the whole larger and cleaner than the Blue Moon.

It rained in the evening, and the muse decided that inspiration could be coaxed, if not wrung, from the weather. She set up an easel and canvas in front of the sitting room window, and diluted her paints in water for a washed out effect. Unfortunately, the only thing visible from the window was a wall and a small segment of garden. Undeterred, Aya mixed some blue-grey-paint-water and began to fill in the thick horizontal stripes of the siding. She was just about to start on the garden when Tess appeared in the window’s view, sitting down against the wall and examining her crystal ball. Aya rubbed out some paint and started again. Washed out brown for the hair, grey for the clothes, and undiluted white for the crystal.

”Ooh, look at me, I’m so soulful,” Edward moaned, entering the sitting room with an apple. Aya started, sent the pink smudge of a blossom rocketing into the grey sky. She frowned and painted over it.

“What do you mean?” she asked after a while.

Edward took a bite of the apple, swallowed, and spoke with biting cynicism. “She’s sitting in the rain. She’s being stupid. Her clothes are going to get soaked, and she’s going to catch cold. So why is she doing it? Because rain is so deep. Rain is pain, and that rhymes so it has to be true. You’re not a tortured soul unless you can see the beauty in falling water. Sunlight’s just not good enough if you’re miserable.” He snorted with contempt and took another bite of his apple.

“Her mother’s gone, Edward,” Aya said angrily. “She doesn’t know if her mother is lost, hiding, or dead.”

“Same with me,” Edward said quietly. “But you don’t see me out there, do you?” He walked out of the room.

Aya briefly considered painting a sun, but decided against it.

*~*~*

The next day’s travels were generally damp. The ground was damp from the rain, the sky was damp from receding clouds, and the travellers were in damp moods: cold, wet, and generally unpleasant. The fact that all was damp did nothing to enhance the scenery, but by the end of the day they had reached a lake.

It was big and round, like most lakes. It had a smooth glossy black surface. It swirled lithely and concentric circles merged and twirled as a few raindrops sent ripples spinning across the surface. And best of all, they could see the hazy outline of the City of Fortune not far away. That certainly brightened spirits, and the damp attitudes became content, or at the very least dry.

Aya, Edward and Tess circled the lake. There was a small bridge on the river that led west across the country. As they approached it, though, a huge orange-brown tentacle swept out of the water and smashed the bridge to pieces. Chunks of wood flew everywhere as the three ducked down for cover. The water surged and roiled as out of the depths rose a huge, orange-brown kraken. One house sized eye stared angrily at the three. Tess and Edward spoke at the same time.

“I really hate giant animals.”

[Goosh]

The three sprang up and fled as another tentacle flew towards them. They fell to the ground as the limb sliced the air above them in a wide arc, and retreated back into the water. Edward was wondering whether he could appeal top any of the various gods, Aya was thinking of various ways to escape, and Tess could only focus on the magic energy tingling from the orb to her fingers. Edward spoke.

“We did just see a big orange squid, didn’t we?”

“I’m pretty sure it was brown,” Tess retorted.

“It was definitely orange, Tess. I saw it.”

“It was brown! Do you not know what colour brown is?”

“Stop it!” Aya hissed. “It was orange-hyphen-brown. It was hovering on that great line between orange and brown and no one cares! Perhaps we should discuss getting by it.”

Tess nodded. The tingling sparks of magic in her hands were impatiently crawling about. “I could cast a shield and we could run past the brown squid.” Edward opened his mouth to speak, then closed it and nodded. Tess’s hands glowed and she cast a shield over them. It was more or less an aura of green light, kind of like wearing cheap sunglasses. The three companions stood up.

The kraken had ducked down under the lake. Only the tip of the squid’s bulgy head showed above the water, like an orange-brown beacon distorted by the shield. The companions sprinted to the river and began to wade through.


^ posted simply because I'm too lazy to e-mail myself when switching computers.