Leifstones: Belle got to 50k! *bursts into tears*

[Belle]

Belle's NaNo Novel '07: Leifstones

Current Progress:

I. The Princess
II. a. The Dark Lord
II. b. The First Witch
II. c. The Blind Seer
III. a. The lost
III. b. The Assassin
IV. a. The Kind
IV. b. The Ruby

[Ginz ❤]

BELLE! *glomp* It's so nice to see you around!

Good luck with NaNo =D This shall be your year!

[Dragon]

OMIGOSH BELLE!!! *glomp and chains*

I'm doing NaNo, too!

[Belle]

imogenweasley said:

BELLE! *glomp* It's so nice to see you around!

Good luck with NaNo =D This shall be your year!

Ginz! ^__^ Thank you.

Haha...I hope it is. If not, there's always next year. But i really want to finish this year. XXDD

shapeshifter said:

OMIGOSH BELLE!!! *glomp and chains*

I'm doing NaNo, too!

*is now chained* I missed you, too. XXDD Yay, you can cheer me on and I'll bug you on your thread when we start writing, too.

[Belle]

Yes! I've got part of my outline done. I spent the day doing it and I'm pretty pleased. Now I'm fleshing out my characters. Wah, I always get excited when NaNo's very near. :3

Anyways, last year, I did a venture into magic realism. This year, I'm attempting a fantasy novel in a brand new world. I'm hoping it will be easier for me this time around because the basics of my plot are pretty simple. I do tend to overcomplicate things, though, so we'll see how it goes.

Title Suggestions:
The Keeper
Leifstone
Legend of Leif
The Legend of Alina
Alina the Keeper

Setting:

LEIF – The World

Sol – The Kingdom of the Sun
Kamaria – The Moon Temple
Cyrus – The Kingdom in the Sky
Melia – The Ocean Realm
Terran – The Earth Fortress
Keir – The Kingdom of Eternal Darkness

I was thinking of copying my plot outline but it's long and I'm not even halfway done so...

The Premise:

After five hundred years of peace in Leif, the kingdom of Keir, destroyed in the world war, mysteriously reappears. The Dark Lord, defeated in the same war, is reborn in the persona of Hadrian, the last Keiran, who vows to destroy Leif as revenge against the Goddess who killed him. Although his power is still not fully reawakened, he creates the Witches, a dark clan of sorcerers who will poison the minds of the world's inhabitants while he is still weak.

But the Blind Seer of Terran tells him a prophecy given to him by the Goddess herself:

You shall be defeated by the Goddess Herself who will descend to Leif once again through the Keeper’s help. The Keeper will be born a year from now in the kingdom of Sol. Her blood is the color of her eyes; her eyes are the color of the ocean. The Goddess has blessed her family and so you are cursed with the inability to touch her. Seventeen years from now, when your power is at its peak, the Keeper shall rise and save the world from destruction.

[Belle]

As usual, I had a ball naming my characters. ^__^ Here are a few of them.

The Characters:

The Goddess

Five Guardians:

Alina the Keeper/the Princess (Sunstone)
- Kidnapped and assumed dead as a baby, Alina grows up in the care of Vevina the Kind for sixteen years.
- She is the Keeper and wielder of the Sunstone
- Appearance: Blue eyes, long wispy light brown hair, average height, fair skin


Edmund the Knight (Moonstone)
- Born on the same day as Alina, his destiny is to stay by her side and defend her from the Dark Lord.
- He knows of his destiny at birth. He knows of Alina through his dreams.
- He can feel Alina's presence (is it telepathy? Could they be twins from different mothers? ) and can feel her feelings.
- Appearance: Blue eyes, short curly blond hair, tall, fair skin


Destan the Seer (Skystone)
- He is the enigmatic seer who invades Alina's dreams with visions of the past and future.
- Appearance: Dark eyes, black hair, tall, olive skin

Thalice the Waterbearer (Oceanstone)


Luana the Peacemaker/Mover/Warrior Maiden (Earthstone)


The Dark Lord: Hadrian

The Elite Witches:
Melantha the Dark (F) – The Dark Lord’s Right Hand
Jinx the Bringer of Night (F) – The One Who Will Harm
Xi-Wang/Umed the Oracle (M)
Phirun the Bringer of Drought (M)
Kamilo the Bringer of War (M)

Other Characters:

The Seers:
Cato the Blind Seer of Terran
Selena the Moon Seer of Kamaria

The Witches:
Perdita the Lost
Vevina the Assassin/the Kind

The Royal Family of Sol
Elroy the King
Thema the Queen

The Royal Family of Kamaria
Kyne the Noble
Demi the Worrier
Lowell the Gentle

[Deleted]

Wow, you've put some thought into this! It sounds really interesting so far!

[Belle]

echo said:

Wow, you've put some thought into this! It sounds really interesting so far!

Thanks. I'm actually itching to share more but that would be giving away a lot of my plot (but I'll bet I'll share, anyway ^^.

[Strife]

And she returns! =D

Nice to see you around again, Belle. ^^ This sounds like it's going to be a tasty serving of high fantasy. I'd love to read it once it's finished!

[Belle]

strife said:

And she returns! =D

Nice to see you around again, Belle. ^^ This sounds like it's going to be a tasty serving of high fantasy. I'd love to read it once it's finished!

Aw, thanks, Strife. I'll let you guys see it...if I finish it. ^^; (And if it turns out well )

[Belle]

It's NaNo time (in my country's time, that is)!

*begins*

[Nature]

Ay, buti ka pa. I can't start NaNo until my school projects are finished. DX

[Belle]

Nature, I don't have classes yet so I'm getting as much as I can in before I start getting busy.

Anyways...

Current Word Count: 3151 words

I'm pretty happy. ^_^ The fact that I have an outline this time also makes it easier for me to write. I'm definitely more of a plan-first kind of person. Last year, I went all over the place because I didn't know what to write next (*sigh* I'm just not a I'll-sit-down-here-and-whoa-the-words-start-gushing type I wish.) but now, since I know where I'm going, I'm feeling good.

Okay, so it's still messy but I like it so far. And since it's early, I'm still okay with showing you guys what I came up with. XD

SPOILER: Click to show

Chapter 1: The Princess

Alina felt her temples throbbing as she heard the unmistakable sound of a brand new stone mug crashing to the floor. She resisted the urge to scream and focused on pouring amber beer into three stone mugs. "Diana!" she shouted over her shoulder. "Bring the beer to the fat stone miner oafs over there, will you?"

The inn was overflowing with customers that night. The sound of raucous laughter and good-natured talk filled the room. It was the end of another busy week for the Solian workers. Vevina's inn was the common place to celebrate on a sweltering night in Sol. One round of beer, they would often say. And then one round would turn to two and three until their newly earned jadestones all ended up in the inn's profits for the day. Inn patrons would often end up spending the night at Vevina's. Alina and the other inn workers had had to carry their share of unconscious men throughout the years.

Alina almost smiled at the thought of having to carry another man out to the street. She had been working at Vevina's inn most of her 16 years of existence and she was starting to feel the strain. Her back hurt and her light brown hair, once straight, had seemed to permanently fall into waves because of how humid it was in the inn. Vevina, her kind mother, hadn't wanted her to work here in the first place. But one particularly boring night, when she was seven, Alina decided she'd had enough of sitting on a hard brown stool in the kitchen, watching Vevina and her workers fall all over themselves cooking simple dishes and pouring beer for a hundred people. She stood up and announced imperiously that they looked like they needed her help.

She remembered how she tripped and broke the beer mug she was delivering her first time. The man she was giving it to laughed at her. She gave him a sharp, blue-eyed stare and he immediately shut his mouth. "I'm very sorry. I'll bring you another mug," she said, her voice loud and laced with ice, her eyes glaring at him all that time. The man gave her an awkward smile and said he would wait.

In truth, Alina's pride had been dealt a heavy blow. In the kitchen, she bowed her head. Her lower lip trembled and she started crying. Vevina ruffled her hair and told her, "It's your first day at work, Alina. First days are always hard." She smiled through her tears and after that night, she vowed she would never cry again. She wanted to be strong. The memory of that night made her laugh inside now. The older workers had teased her for days. But the man who laughed at her came back the following night and the night after that and looked at her with some semblance of respect.

The sound of another mug shattering made her bite her tongue and yelp. That's what she got for not paying attention. The three beer-filled mugs were still on the table. Oh, Goddess, where was that girl? "Diana! The fat miner oafs are looking for their beer!"

A lithe girl with wavy blond hair and a perky smile ran to her side. "Sorry, I was cleaning up the mess the stonesmiths left." She grimaced and put the mugs on a tray. "And, Alina, keep your voice down. The miners might hear you."

Alina rolled her eyes and poured herself a glass of sparkling apple cider. "Can you even hear the sound of your own voice in here? We'll be deaf by the time all this is over." She took a long gulp of cider and wiped her mouth with her hand. "I don't care if they hear me, anyway. They annoy me."

Diana shook her head and took the beer. Alina watched as the girl made her way to the stone miners, turning a few heads and earning grunts of approval along the way. She smiled at them. Diana was a year younger than Alina. Vevina had found her wandering alone two years ago and just like she did with stray cats, Vevina adopted her. She even gave her a job at the inn. Diana had taken to the work like a duck to water. She was light on her feet, cheerful, and efficient. She also had nice brown eyes, long blond hair, and a curvy figure.

Alina was too thin, her blue eyes too big, and her hair was light brown and curled up because of the heat. She also had a tendency to snap at customers and glare at them, whether or not they had offended her. She sighed, not exactly the right appearance and disposition for someone whose work had a lot to do with serving people. She gulped down the rest of her cider and felt herself starting to relax. Maybe tonight wouldn't be so bad, after all. The noise was becoming a bit bearable.

"You miners think you're so important!"

Alina started rubbing her forehead. She had spoken to soon. She turned to look in the direction of the outburst. The voice belonged to a man wearing long white dirty breeches that signified he was a farmer. A friend of his was holding his arms back as he screamed at one of the miners.

Alina sighed. They didn't usually get miners at Vevina's inn but when they did, things usually heated up. The stone miners were an arrogant bunch. They were wealthy, their pouches always heavy with jadestones from their work at the Sol mines. Although miners did the dirty work, so to speak, their employers richly rewarded them for their efforts. The miners never appeared outside the mines in their work clothes. Vevina had told her that she had never seen a miner wear the same set of clothes twice. They were always in handsome attire -- breeches in all colors reaching only until midcalf, thick stockings molded to their legs, richly embroidered doublets in striking red with matching belts, and sturdy brown boots -- the common attire of the upperclass men. Even in the hottest of weather, the miners wore their thick costumes with pride. Sometimes, they even carried a pouch or two of topaz powder, the rarest of all stones, pulverized for easy trading. Just one small pouch was worth a thousand jadestones.

Earlier that night, when this particular group of miners first entered the inn, one of them had called her in that snobbish tone of voice she hated. He winked at her and opened his rich red robe, revealing a heavily embroidered belt from which a single pouch was hung. In a grand gesture, he untied the string on the pouch, showing the golden glint of topaz powder inside. In a loud, mock whisper, he said, "Six pinches of topaz powder should cover all the beer we want for the night, eh?"
He filled a smaller pouch with powder.

Alina frowned at him but accepted the payment. "Yes, of course," she said in a bored tone, as if she received topaz everyday. "Right this way." Show off, she thought, knowing full well that the miners had now caught the attention of everyone else in the room.

It was the same miner that the farmer was screaming at now. Most of the other customers weren't paying attention (amber beer was highly intoxicating, after all) but there were some curious people who seemed to be watching the action from a safe distance.

The miner just looked at him with a smirk on his face. He didn't even stand up to confront the farmer. He took a swig of his amber beer and grinned. "Calm down, old man. I know how you must be feeling right now. You're envious of me and my fellows here because you got the short end of the stick." He winked. The other two miners with him roared with laughter. "We work for our stones, just like you do. Only, we've got real jobs. Not like you farmers, sitting around in mud all day."

"Why you-"

The farmer aimed a punch at his face.

Alina sighed. She wanted the punch to land as much as the farmer did, maybe more, but she worked at the inn and fighting wasn't allowed. She hurried to the table, hoping the edge of her gown wouldn't make her trip. She was still clumsy, these days.

But before the farmer's well-aimed punch could hit the miner's face, someone flung open the inn door. It banged against the wall, loud enough to distract them all for a second or two. The farmer, as if suddenly realizing what he was doing, blinked and lowered his balled fist. He gave the miner a reproachful look but didn't say or do anything else. His friend led him to a corner table, far from the miners, and handed him a mug of beer. The miner just shrugged and resumed talking to his companions.

Alina scratched her head. That was almost too easy. But she did feel somewhat relieved. Inn brawls. She had had enough of them. She felt someone tap her back.

"Princess!" she heard a masculine voice say.

She ignored it and started walking back to her place behind the worktop. It was probably just another man drunk on amber beer. She had been called queen, princess, little girl, even mother, for Goddess' sake. She had almost slapped that last man for calling her his mother. It happened almost every week.

"Princess," the voice persisted. "You're ignoring me?"

She reached the worktop and proceeded to wipe the beer spills on the table. It was only a few more hours until daybreak. Then the customers could shove off and the inn workers could have a good day's sleep. She couldn't wait. Vevina had been looking pale these days, sickly pale but surprisingly still a veracious eater. Alina thought maybe Vevina just needed more time to relax so she had persuaded her to take a day off. She wanted to bring her mother something nice when she woke her up in the morning. She had decided to get her a small vial of powdered malachite from the local alchemist. It would definitely bring the color back to her skin.

"Princess, it's been sixteen years. Why are you ignoring me?" The voice sounded a little hurt. She almost looked up but she found that the best way to deal with drunkards was to ignore them completely. Diana talked to them but Alina didn't see any sense in that because nothing a drunken man says ever makes sense.

She continued to daydream about pouring the malachite into the tasty chicken soup she was going to prepare for Vevina. It would add just the right amount of spice. Vevina would be pleased. The thought brought a small smile to her face.

"Hm...perhaps you'd rather I called you Alina?" the voice said curiously.

She raised her head automatically upon hearing her name. The voice belonged to a young man, probably around her age, with short curly blond hair and what seemed to be an honest smile on his face. She looked suspiciously at his blue eyes, which she realized were clear, bearing no sign of drunkenness. His clothes were somewhat similar to the ones worn by the miners, except his were blue and looked like they were made of silk. Silk! The miners would love to have clothing out of silk but it was very rare to find traders in Sol. Where did this man get his? He was wearing armor, too. His breastplate was a silvery blue and bore an unfamiliar but interesting crest: a crescent moon. She noticed a scabbard hanging on his belt and took a sharp intake of breath. A wealthy warrior with spare time in his hands?

She started pouring a mug of beer. The man did seem familiar to her but she couldn't place him. She had clearly not talked to him before. She gave him an icy glare. "I don't know you. How did you know my name?" Could he be Diana's friend, even a long-lost brother she never told her about? Maybe this was some trick of hers.

He continued to smile. "Well. That's a pretty hard question." He paused and looked at the ceiling, his forehead wrinkled in thought. "I'm trying to think of how I'm going to say this without sounding deranged."

She raised an eyebrow. "Well, stranger, if you're not going to buy anything, I'd really appreciate it if you moved along. Look behind you. There are plenty of paying customers there, waiting for their next round of beer. I don't have time for this." Well, Diana had pretty much delivered all the drinks but the man didn't have to know that. And if he and Diana were cohorts, she'd have to have a little talk with the girl after he left.

He took the mug she had just poured beer in. "I'll take this," he said cheerfully. "How much?"

He just refused to leave, didn't he? I'll tell you how much, she thought with sarcasm. She didn't trust people who smiled too much and this man was definitely crossing the line. Even if he was a wealthy warrior, she thought, warriors were classes below the miners with their topaz dust. "A pinch of topaz dust," she said, trying to hide the glee in her voice. Maybe she was being childish but she had a short temper and he was getting on her nerves, for some odd reason.

The man opened his right hand to reveal a pouch of topaz dust. "Here you go." He looked bewildered. "I'm not sure how to give you just a pinch of it, though. How do...where do I put it...exactly?" He looked flustered.

Alina didn't know if he was joking or not. Was this all a trick? She eyed him suspiciously. There was no teasing twinkle in his eye, at least. She sighed. "Let me." The inn sure was attracting rich folk these days. She took a careful pinch of dust between her thumb and forefinger and transferred it to the pouch from the miner a while ago. "Look, if you're going to say something, say it already. I don't mean to sound rude..." Actually she did. "But you can see it's busy around here, right?" She tried her best to look polite.

He looked amused. "Well, you see, Alina," he began slowly, as if still choosing what words to say, "my name is Edmund." He put his hands under his chin and smiled at her. "You're the princess." He offered her his hand to shake. "I'm your knight."

Alina rolled her eyes. He didn't look half-bad but even a good-looking man would get nowhere with women if he spoke like this. She opened her mouth to say so.

"But it's true!" he said.

Did he know what she was going to say by the look in her face? She tried to make her expression neutral.

"Actually, Alina, I wasn't reading your face. But I did kind of...read your mind." He smiled at her, as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

Now she felt cheated. "Are you trying to tell me you have the ability to read people's minds? I'm not falling for that trick. Are you sure you're not drunk?"

He laughed so hard Alina wanted to kick him. "It's not some magical ability. I told you. We've known each other for sixteen years. Speaking of which, happy birthday!"

"It's not my birthday," she lied. Technically, she was telling the truth. It was past midnight so her birthday was over. She was starting to feel a little unsure of herself. What if she really did know this Edmund person? She shook her head. She was stronger than this. He was definitely a crazy stalker person or else this was an elaborate trick her friends or Vevina planned for her birthday.

"Oh, right. It's already the next day. I turned sixteen yesterday, too."

She ignored him and poured herself a glass of cider. She felt a headache coming.

"I've been looking all over for you for a long time," he said, his voice suddenly calm and commanding. A big, warm hand abruptly took hers and before she knew it, Edmund was dragging her away with him.

"Idiot! Let go of me or I'm going to scream," she hissed. She tried to get out of his grip but he was very strong.

"Don't worry. I already told Diana about this. She'll take care of the inn for you." He smiled and waved at Diana, who was busy cleaning up a table. She smiled back and gave Alina the thumbs up sign.

She rolled her eyes and glared at Edmund's blue cape, the only thing she could see of him, as they left the inn. "So, who are you, really? Diana's friend? Did she plan a surprise birthday celebration for me?" she shouted. "Where are we going?"

Edmund turned to look at her. The smile was gone from his face and a gentle expression was in his eyes. "Calm down, Alina. I'm taking you home."

She had a sinking feeling about this. Was he planning to do something? She’d show him. "Home?" Her voice started to rise. "You don't know where I live! I don't even know you! So I'm not going anywhere with you." She stepped on his foot.

He yelped and immediately let go of her hand. She started to run away in the opposite direction. She could hear him calling her name but she refused to look back. She was so concentrated on escaping that she tripped on her gown and felt herself falling. It figures her clumsiness would hit her at precisely the wrong moment. She closed her eyes and waited for the inevitable.

"Alina!"

She opened her eyes and found herself looking into Vevina's pale, worried face. "Mother?" she said, feeling incredulous about the whole situation. "What are you doing here?"

But before Vevina could answer, Alina heard the sound of running feet behind them.

"Oh, no. Mother, we have to go." She struggled to stand up and pulled her mother along with her. "There's this weird man. I think he's stalking me. We'll talk about why you're wandering out here at this hour later," she said sternly. "Come on."

"No, Alina," Vevina said, a sad look in her brown eyes.

Edmund caught up to them, taking in deep breaths and limping awkwardly. "Alina, that really hurt."

"That's because I meant it to," Alina snapped. "Come on, mother, while he's still hurting." She tugged at Vevina's hand but she let it go. "Mother?" She turned to Vevina, surprised. "What's wrong?"

"I know who Edmund is, Alina," Vevina said, curling her fingers. She wasn't looking Alina in the eye. "Alina...it's time we had a talk."

[Nature]

Um, question, but . . . is that NaNo thing a real-life contest with real-life prizes? 0_o Sana hindi . . .

[Belle]

natureluver462 said:

Um, question, but . . . is that NaNo thing a real-life contest with real-life prizes? 0_o Sana hindi . . .

Nope. We just get banners and bragging rights if we get to 50000 words. ^_^