Amuse-gueule or very short stories

PrinnyDood wrote:

But in my defense, as someone who's actually read all of Globfish's stories, the descriptions in said stories are usually quite outstanding. So it was not, in this case, a habit of using a 'stock compliment' (oh the horror!) in general, but using one that almost always applies to the author in question.

There's nothing wrong with complimenting someone's descriptions. It's just that it IS a stock, near meaningless compliment. It doesn't specify anything. It doesn't point out any descriptions in particular that were good or exemplar, it doesn't give any indication that the commenter actually read the story (this is independent of whether they did or not). It doesn't tell them much at all, let alone how they can improve. Now, you might say that my own comment isn't any different and that would be true. However, I haven't read any of Globfish's other stories and I don't know him that well. I'd expect more than just 'nice descriptions' from someone who was familiar with his work, knew his literary strengths and weaknesses and who's also a writer.

Anime-Junkie wrote:

There's nothing wrong with complimenting someone's descriptions. It's just that it IS a stock, near meaningless compliment. It doesn't specify anything. It doesn't point out any descriptions in particular that were good or exemplar, it doesn't give any indication that the commenter actually read the story (this is independent of whether they did or not). It doesn't tell them much at all, let alone how they can improve. Now, you might say that my own comment isn't any different and that would be true. However, I haven't read any of Globfish's other stories and I don't know him that well. I'd expect more than just 'nice descriptions' from someone who was familiar with his work, knew his literary strengths and weaknesses and who's also a writer.

I dunno what to say, man. I guess I just didn't spent enough time honing my comment until it was just right, distracted as I was by all my various other priorities and obligations. I can only hope Globfish will forgive me.

And now, in case people are tired of Anime-Junkie and I being snarky at each other, here's a short story for Singles Awareness Day, featuring that dude who Naora threatened to cut the ear off of in a previous short. <3

I wrote this in two sittings, one where all the actual writing took place, and the other for editing, so it was good practice for keeping a pace, but it also may be (a lot!) more error prone and unpolished. It's also kinda pointless silly humor, but that goes without saying for half the stuff I write.

As always, I welcome any and all criticisms. (Except apparently when you criticize my comments on other stories, at which point I may become unreasonably sarcastic. Fair warning. )


Love Is In The Air

The harpy swooped in for a second pass, a look of determination glued to her pretty face. She was naked save a small belt at her waist, her skin fair but lightly tanned, feathers an off-white that transitioned to black at her wing-tips, hair a mop of snowy white. Ellion was somewhat alarmed, though the fact she looked around five-foot-five demanded somewhat less alarm than a full-sized giant. He was still well within range of the Isolon Eye, thankfully.

Having survived numerous dangerous expeditions in his life, Ellion was not without his talents. He concentrated, and the world slowed to a crawl as his perception of time accelerated. The harpy seemed to hang in the air mid-swoop, still slowly coming at him, that determined look still clear on her face. He couldn't actually move any faster, but it gave him ample time to assess the situation before deciding a course of action. He waited as she swam through the air at that sluggish pace, until she was close enough he was sure she wouldn't be able to adjust, and then dodged.

"Hold still ya' hideous brute!!" she called, as he slipped to the side, feathers grazing his face as she passed, the world returning to its normal pace. Her sharp talons did leave significant scores on the ground however, and he decided a touch more alarm might be warranted.

He cleared his throat. "Look, you're a disgusting mass of filthy feathers, but there's this crazy humorless bitch with a very large sword I have to meet soon, and I wouldn't lower myself to doing anything with a beast like you regardless." He held up his hands in a gesture of piece, but his harpy-speak was more than a little rusty, so he could only hope she got the general idea.

Instead of taking another swing at him, she landed a few paces away, which he took as a good sign. She stalked over, slowly and almost hesitatingly, but he stood his ground now, feeling less intimidated now that she was out of the air, and clearly a bit shorter than him. "Are you gonna behave yourself now? You, uhhh, grotesque freak of nature?" Again she didn't reply, instead making a strange, pleased little noise in the back of her throat, and hopping forward such that she was just within arms reach. He noticed she seemed to be . . . blushing, and the proximity to her bare chest was also somewhat distracting. She took another step closer, careful, as though afraid of spooking him.

"Hey, stay there, I don't-" Ironically, it was he who squawked when she made another quick hop to close the gap, buffeting him with her wings as she slammed the full weight of her body into him. He teetered, all his skills and training forgotten, before going down on his back gracelessly, her on top. He saw stars, and the next thing he knew her lips were on his. She was quite aggressive, pushing her weight down on him as she kissed, and it was rather difficult to focus on anything but the feel and taste and smell of her.

She pulled away finally, leaving him dazed and frazzled . . . and wondering vaguely if perhaps he'd been single a bit to long, to be affected so easily by her wiles. "Ya' so skinny an' weak I need ta' be gentle with ya'?" she cooed at him, voice low and sultry, face inches from his. He could probably have forced her off, but not without hurting her. And with those wicked talons so near . . . making her mad seemed a poor course.

She bit his neck lightly, and then lower, only to pause with an annoyed little huff, as though noticing his clothes for the first time. She straightened, towering over his prone form like some feathered goddess. "Urgh, clothes!" She said it like a curse, one taloned foot seizing his shirt and pulling violently in a swift motion. The fabric was no match for her urgency, reduced at once to ruined shreds, which dangled sadly from her talons, though she had managed not to graze him. She flicked the remains of the garment away, and seemed about to repeat the process with his trousers, to his sudden dismay.

"Whoa, hold on! No need to-"

"Ellion . . . seriously?" a very familiar (and very annoyed) voice broke in from outside his line of sight. "You knew I'd be here any minute, and I find you like this? What were you thinking, that I'd just join in?"

He propped himself up on one elbow, eyes falling upon the familiar black-clad female. "Actually, now that you-" he began, but trailed off at the withering look she directed at him.

"Okay," Naora said after a few deep breaths, "party's over. Go back to sexually assaulting sailors or whatever you do in your free time. This idiot has obligations elsewhere."

The harpy bristled. "This impotent piece o' trash ain't worth fightin' over, but I'll tear yer' ugly face off jist on principle!" the harpy returned, standing over Ellion's prone, half-naked body protectively. Naora just raised an eyebrow, looking less than impressed.

"Oh shoo!" the black-clad woman said, waving her arms dismissively at the harpy, striding forward with that air of supreme confidence and nonchalance Ellion could never quite fake. "Go! Shoo!"

The harpy looked at Naora, then back to Ellion below her, face unsure and conflicted. "You'd better do what she says. She's got way more bite than bark, believe it or not."

Her mouth twisted, and she looked so crestfallen he felt bad for her. "Fuck ya' all!" She shouted, and took off in a flurry of wind and white feathers.

Naora walked over, looking down at him with that oh-so-familiar frown. She offered him a hand though, and he took it. "You know, if you're going to chase away every woman I meet like some jealous lover, the least you could do is-oof!!" She dropped him before he could finish, leaving him to land once again on his back.

"Quite loafing around and come on." She turned her back and started walking. "We've got a job to do."


Credit: Melancholy-Melody13 for the Seagull harpy idea. And I think that's actually all.

Awww, the poor harpy just wanted someone to love make babies with... semi-consensually.

Well, that's his fault for sweet-talking her! Her shy, flattered assertiveness was amusing.

Aww that was a cute story I'm not sure trying to speak to the harpy in her language was a good idea though, who know what he actually said to her XD

Yet Another Spoiled Hunt


The south belonged to a flooded rain forest. The north led to a mystical, surrealistic pond. The west was home to ravenous, man-eating flora. The east was the foot of a mountainous peak. Still, life thrived in the middle of the intersection. This forest was massive after all and one could spend its entire life in only one section without every reaching the edge. This was especially true for humans, where trees are leafy, high-rise buildings.

A bear-like creature roamed through this part of the woods. For a human being, this thing would be a terrible sight to behold. Unlike a typical bear, this towering behemoth had yellow, slit reptilian eyes, a pair of disproportionate anterior legs, and spike metal gray fur. As a matter of fact, the front claws of this monstrosity were just about as wide as a man is tall in this world. Regardless of its vicious exterior, the ursine beast made its way to a shrub bearing deep red berries.

"Just a little closer..." The animal stood a hair away from the bush. "Almost there..."

"GRROAR!"

The beast turned around just as a figure leaped from the canopy, merely moments before landing on top of it. This creature appeared as a human, but he was so much larger, nearly matching the size of the bear. He sported a dark tanned body with a heavy musculature, a black, unkempt mullet, and a pair of maroon eyes. However, under his waist was the body of a preying mantis. In fact, a pair of gigantic, scythe-shaped claws grew out of his shoulders, and he sported a pair of antennae and bladed spines on top of his head and forearms respectively.

The beast trashed left and right trying to throw off its rider, then charged toward a tree. The mantoid jumped off its mount, letting it crash into the trunk. He stared at his adversary, arms raised to his shoulders and grinning to his ears. The bear regained its senses and turned around. It then stood on its hind legs, now towering above the mantis man and let out a resonant roar.

Meanwhile, someone out of their view stood there, jaw lying on the floor. "That... that... that OVERMUSCLED IDIOT!"

The bear creature charged at the mantoid, who charged straight ahead as well. The two grabbed each other by the shoulders and pushed against each other. The animal's claws dug into his back, drawing out blood. The giant then struck his foe in the face with his scythe-like claws. The animal growled and loosened his grip a little. The mantoid immediately let go and rammed the beast with his skull. The bear lost its footing and fell on its back, but immediately picked itself up again. Still, it gave the mantoid ample time to distance himself from his adversary.

The unseen spectator, meanwhile, set its eyes on the mantoid, fists and teeth firmly clenched. If a glare could kill, this one certainly would. The two fighters charged at each other again. This time, the mantoid jumped and grabbed the bear with its legs. His weight threw the animal off balance, causing it to fall with the mantoid on top of it. The giant lost no time pinning his adversary's front legs with his claws and wrap his hands around its throat.

The hidden observer perked up as the mantoid pinned the animal down. A green blur suddenly jumped out of the foliage. The bear then fell limp and the mantoid lifted both arms over his head.

"GRROAR! NO ONE CAN BEAT ME!" He looked back at his dead opponent, but then his lopsided grin vanished. A fresh, bleeding gash had appeared across its face.

"KERREEEEEETH!"

The mantoid looked to his left. There stood another mantoid, a female one. This one was about a head and a half shorter, had fair skin and didn't have much meat around her bones. She had shorter, orange-colored hair than his, golden amber eyes, sported freckles across the bridge of her nose and her claws were at the junction of her insect and human half. She also a giant leaf as a bandana. She glared at the male mantoid, fist and teeth clenched. He then noticed blood dripping from her forearm spines.

"Saede, what's the big idea stealing me ki-"

Saede dashed toward Kerreth and began strangling him, even shaking him like a turkey. "What the HELL where you thinking, you overmuscled idiot!? This is the TENTH hunt you spoiled this week! I was doing fine until you came in! Who in its right mind wrestles with a karut anyway!?"

Kerreth grabbed Saede's wrists and pushed them away from his throat. He then smiled and folded his arms. "You? Kill a karut? Hardly! If you missed your shot, you'd be dead, Saede. You should be thankful I provided you a chance to finish it." Saede's blood was boiling and steam was about to come out of her ears. Kerreth turned back to the karut's carcass. "Anyway, meal time!"

Saede raised her hand and delivered a chop right where Kerreth's shoulder meet his neck. The male mantoid then fell completely limp on the ground. The scrawny woman walked to the corpse, then sliced a piece with her forearm blades and bit into it. If that musclebound ruined her next big hunt, she would make sure there would be nothing left of him.

Little Aurora



By Kiki jonson (this is a rather old story)





I woke up from my long sleep…I looked to the side at my sundial to see the time…it said 7:00 AM…I got up from y bed and began to dress it…when I finished I headed over to the bathtub and started to take a nice relaxing hot shower…the first hot shower I had in weeks…ever sense that battle with that tribe of Dridders…as I washed myself…I heard a faint yawn from the other room…little Aurora must have just now woken up…hehehe…that lazy one…always sleeping…well…I guess that is the only thing she can do…she’s stuck inside this small cottage for the rest of her life…I’m still wondering after 5 years if it was even a good idea to have spared this little naga…ugh…but just seeing her face…makes me all soft inside…

After I finished my wash…I put on my cloths and headed out of the bathroom…I saw little Aurora laying in the middle of the room holding the stuff doll I made her above her head…she always loved that little plushie… I remember when I first gave it to her…she was so happy…hugging it…playing with it…she even gave it a name…she calls it Tabie…hehehe…she always have Tabie with her…I never have seen her without it…I walked over to Aurora and smiled at her…
“Hey squirt…” I said to her…she turned to me and smiled…
“Auntie Thanh!…you look so pretty today…” she said to me happily as she gave me a hug…
“Hehehe…that’s enough little one…Auntie has a lot of work to do today…” I told her…Aurora folded her arms and gave me this funny look…
“Auntie Thanh…you promised me you will take me outside to play…I even put it on that calendar thing you gave me…” she said out…I rubbed my hand against her brown hair…
“I know I know…don’t get your tail all bunched up…I’ll take you out when I get back…” I said back to her…she smiled and gave me another hug…
“hehehe…ok Auntie Thanh…make sure you do what ever you doing quick so you can come back…” she said out…I picked her up and held her in front of me…I pocked her nose and she started giggling…
“Don’t you worry that pretty little head of yours…” I said back to her…I placed her down and headed to the door…
“You remember what I told you…right…” I added…Aurora gave me her funny stare again…
“I know…don’t leave the house and don’t answer the door…” she said with this annoyed tone…
“Good…see you soon…” I told her as I headed out the door…before I closed the door on my way out I heard Aurora call out…
“I love you Auntie Thanh!...” I smiled and shut the door…

7 hours passed sense I left home…I had to escort the body of the Elder who just recently died of illness to the elvin burial ground…it pains to me to think such a great man could just fall like this…but…I wasn’t really all that close to the old man…sure I have to respect my elders…even the ones who are 700 years older than I am…but I wasn’t all that found of him…but now…I sort of…miss the old man…I stayed for the burial and then escorted the priests who buried his body back to the village…luckily for us…nothing attacked us both ways…so no one was hurt…we finally reached the village…where I gained my profit and left for home…as I walked…I looked at the tree homes I passed by…seeing my fellow people doing their daily lives…farming…forging…all in such…I then passed by the elders home…I saw the Elders wife grieving through the window and…I began to feel sorry for the old women…I should send her a gift later…maybe it’ll help her old heart feel better over her loss…I continued to walk till I reached my home…I opened the door and stepped inside calling…
“Aurora…Aurora I’m home!...”…strange…by now Aurora would have tackled me to the ground with joy…though…there was no sign of her…I placed my stuff on the table and entered Aurora’s room…she wasn’t in here either…
“Damn that child…I told her not to leave the house…” I yelled in my mind…I stepped back into the main room and paced back and forth the room…if she is out there some where…she might be spotted by a fellow villager…and most likely be killed…damn it…this child doesn’t know what trouble she is in…I head to the door...passing my indoor plant when suddenly…something jumped on me from behind…I jumped up in shock…only to realize that Aurora was clinged to my back…covered in dirt…
“Auntie Thanh!!!...You’re finally home…I missed you so much!!!” she cried out…
“What…where were you!?!...” I cried out…Aurora let go of me and smiled…
“Hehehe…I scared you didn’t I…” she laughed…she turned and pointed at the indoor plant…I noticed that there was a small hole in the soil about Aurora’s sized…Aurora slithered back into the hole and came back with Tabie in her arms…
“Hehehe…see Tabie…I told you it’ll work…” she said out…I gave a sigh of relief…
“Don’t scare my like that Aurora…I thought you left the house…” I sighed…
“Come on Auntie Thanh…I’m not a bad girl…I do what you tell me to..” she laughed as she slithered into her room…I turned over to the small hole she dug…I have never seen her do this before…and…I didn’t hear her when I walked by…was she…stalking me…like I was…some sort of pray…yeah sure…she was only playing…but…it was like her instincts were showing her how to hunt…I pulled out my note pad and wrote this down…I continued to examine the hole…the dirt seemed smooth…like a mole has made it or something…this little naga seems to have an unique skill for digging…I wrote this down too and put my note pad away…
“Alright Aurora…ready to leave…” I called out…Aurora came rushing out of her room to the door…
“You bet…this is the very first time I actually get to go outside Auntie Thanh…” she said happily…
“Hehehe…yeah I know…that is why we have to sort of…well…hide you so that the neighbors won’t see you…” I told her…
“Why Auntie Thanh…why can’t other people see me…” she asked…I patted her back with my hand and smiled…
“Because they can’t handle to see such a pretty face…” I told her…she smiled and gave me a hug…

PrinnyDood wrote:

I can only hope Globfish will forgive me.

Never!

More seriously, I'm personally not much interested in "improving," in writing. Whilst I would of course take heed any critique I'm given, I do it mostly for fun, and I would like to think people read my stories because they want to, not because it's some kind of chore. Same goes for comment-giving. I frequently find myself writing a small essay on someone's work, which happens simply because I just have that much stuff to say about it. At other times I don't, or don't have the time, and the comment is less detailed. We're all real people with stuff to do, could be late for college, juggling, or half-asleep, and on occasion you get something which doesn't make sense. It's not really worth even pointing out. (I did, but obviously not meaning it seriously...)

In any case, nobody should feel compelled to write... well, anything, really. If you're like writing detailed critiques or whatever then great, but doing it out of a sense of duty would be a bit counter-productive. This is supposed to be enjoyable.

Quote :

Love Is In The Air

Haha! I liked her reaction to his clothes. I hope he has a spare shirt. xD I do wonder what on earth he actually said to her... Translating harpy is hard work.

Quote :

Yet Another Spoiled Hunt

Hm... the way I imagined it, male mantoids ought to be physically smaller and weaker than females, just like their real life counterparts. It would make a lot more sense, enabling the female to more easily kill the male - if all the males were big and fully muscled they would just throw the females off and run away. Bigger people are more capable of physically taking advantage of smaller people. Still, this one could just be an exception.




Here's my next one. It's well over the 1000 word mark, but I couldn't get the whole story in and write it to a decent technical level otherwise. It's set before Naora's (Prinny's character) most recent story, and by that logic (?) my characters are also younger, which is more appropriate to the way they talk and behave here. Kids are horrible. :/


Play Dead

The bird, upon being presented with the sight of a giant pair of round yellow eyes, had a strong instinct to take flight, but it was nesting. So it remained very still, folded both pairs of blue-grey wings close to its body, and watched through compound eyes.

The eyes considered it, for a moment. The face, dark, tilted to one side, causing the little ropes of dark hair to fall from one side to the other.

“Hehe, don’t worry,” Rory told the bird, as it stared up at him with the most appealing a look a bird in danger could possibly give. “I know you got a poisonous bite and all that, but you can’t talk and stuff. You’re not intelligent.”

Hidden in the leaves a short distance away, Naora was focusing on making as little sound as possible. The bird– she was able to identify it as an Eliocanthe – now looked as if it was wondering whether or not it should go ahead and bite the boy anyway.

“’Cos,” he was cheerfully informing it, “We want something intelligent. That can talk and go “rar,” and stuff.”

Naora tensed, just slightly. She didn’t like the way the not-very-intelligent bird’s head had suddenly turned to face her.

Time to get out of here, quick. Holding her breath, she straightened, taking utmost care not to step on any branches, and turned around.

She found herself facing the male Eliocanthe, distinguishable by the crest on its head. It stood at slightly above her waist height and looked very hard at her. She paused, hesitant, and then took one step sideways. It barged forwards in return, flapping its wings unnecessarily as it did so, and knocked into her. She didn’t let out any sound other than a faint gasp, and regained her balance almost instantly, but that was enough. For about a second, there was a conspicuously enormous silence. Then everything went black.

Then it was light again, all of a sudden, and the giant eyes were grinning down at her instead, and a voice said; “Gotcha!”

Her arms were pinned to her sides! Naora twisted, sharply and suddenly, in an attempt to free up just one of her hands, to access the bombs stored in compartments at her wrists, but the young pantaur’s grip was like a vice. She stopped struggling, and instead stared at her captor, her mind racing. If her arms were freed, at any moment, she would be able to utilise her explosives. Or, if it came to it, the Vishmintali. She’d heard of explorers using the weapons successfully against giant predators halfway through the process of being swallowed. She hoped she wouldn’t have to attempt the same technique.

The pantaur was still looking at her like he’d won her in an arcade game.

“Say ‘rar,’” he commanded.

Naora was taken aback, but not for long.

“Rar,” she said, quickly.

The pantaur’s claws shifted in and out, his black tail swished.

“Not like that,” he complained. “Say it like you mean it – “

“RARGH!!”

Rory jumped several feet in the air, a movement which made Naora’s stomach squish rather unpleasantly against the rest of her innards. He landed again and pushed his forepaws out, delighted, his fur ruffled with surprise. Naora winced, very slightly, as the pantaur wheeled around, carrying her off to some unknown destination.

It was like she’d passed some sort of test. She wasn’t intended for lunch, or at least, not yet. But what was the giant child planning on doing with her?

***

The answer turned out to be, to carry her off to what appeared to be two more cubs, presumably his sisters, and to dump her unceremoniously in what appeared to be some sort of crudely constructed ring, made out of what appeared to be ten-foot trees, ripped up at the roots and laid horizontally atop one another in a circle, glued together with what appeared to be some sort of sap.

Naora was free. Or at least, she was to a certain extent – full mobility, all weapons accessible. The makeshift wooden walls of her enclosure had some considerable height, but there were plenty footholds, and climbing it would not be too difficult. She could use a light bomb, blind the cubs, and get out of here… if only it weren’t for what was bound to be exceptional hearing in those feline ears, and the still-wet sap clinging to the bodies of the sadly assassinated trees. If she tried to climb now, she would probably do nothing except get herself sticky, sugar-coated, and stuck.

She had to bide her time.

“Hello, little humany. This is the Human Fighting Competition game,” said the blue-eyed female, importantly. The three cubs surrounded the ring, eyes shining. “These are the rules! In this extremely important competition, you have to fight another human. Humans aren’t good fighters, which is why you have to go against another human, to make it fair.”

The aforementioned other human was placed in the ring, opposite Naora. He was bespectacled and bewildered. His eyes met hers, flicked upwards towards their tormentors, and back to hers. She saw was the word “HELP,” emblazoned across his eyeballs.

She gave him the ghost of a reassuring smile. If the kids thought that a showdown between the two of them would be fair, they had very poor judgement.

“Rules,” continued the blue-eyed girl, swishing her tail. “The humans are not allowed to try to run away or not fight each other. You have to do it, otherwise you get eaten.”

“That means you die,” put in Rory.

“So what you have to do is, because you don’t want to die, you have to fight to the death.”

“That means you kill each other,” put in Rory.

“But not at the same time.”

“WAIT!” interjected one of the cubs, the girl with the afro. She stamped a paw. “Stop! They can’t actually kill each other!”

Rani frowned.

“Why not?”

“Because that’s our job. And who wants to eat dead stuff anyway? We don’t eat dead stuff.”

“We’ve already had lunch,” Rory pointed out.

“Yes, but Dad says we shouldn’t waste food. We should keep them for later or give them to someone who is hungry.”

Naora swallowed, dryly. Her reassuring smile was becoming very strained. Opposite her, the man was steadily paling.

“Right.” Rani nodded, her ponytail bobbing, and fixed her stern gaze on the humans again. “New rules! You’re not allowed to kill each other. You have to beat each other up, and the person who gets the most scratches gets eaten. Ok, go.”

The cubs looked expectantly at them.

Then man moistened his dry lips.

“I – what do we – “

Naora stepped up to him.

“Just pretend,” she said, in a low, urgent voice. “Listen. Punch me. Just do it.”

Some sort of foreign, no-longer-remotely-applicable etiquette seemed to stir in his mind.

“I don’t hit – “

Naora could have laughed, but she didn’t.

The intensity in her eyes seemed to grow.

“Pretend!” she hissed. “It doesn’t need to be full-force! Trust me!”

“Talking is against the rules,” growled an ominous voice from overhead, causing them both to snap their heads around, then back again. They were running out of time.

“Do it now!”

Wincing, he raised his fist and sent a very light, unimpressive whack into her upper arm area.

Naora crumpled.

It was an impressive crumple. She was so flexible she gave the air of a collapsible chair. She lay there, eyes shut, a black-suited sprawl against the branch. The cubs gasped, in unison.

“Look what he did!” Amber exclaimed.

“He killed her!” Rory cried.

“He broke the rules,” Rani hissed.

Naora, with her eyes shut, heard the man step back.

“What?” His voice was hoarse with horror. “No! No, she’s not dead!”

“Liar!”

“She isn’t! Look! Look, closer, she’s breathing!”

“He broke the rules!”

“Grab him! It’s time for Punishment Death!”

Naora, to her dismay, was grabbed too. She remained limp and floppy, her head lolling and mouth open.

“What do we do with her?”

“Leave her, she’s dead. Yuk.”

“Yeah, but she’s not really dead – “

“Rory! You’re spoiling the game, dumbo!”

She heard a giggle, and then – no, surely not. She hadn’t just been put back down on the branch, had she? She had! – and then she heard the scuffle and the yelps and then – yes! Footsteps, as the three cubs raced upwards. More distantly, she heard their voices once again, childishly pestering.

“Dad! Stick your head back and open your mouth!”

“Hm? What? Why?”

“Just do it!”

“I feel very silly doing this. Why can’t I just eat him like a normal person?”

“No! That’s no fun. You have to be a big monster cos’ he’s been a bad human and he needs to meet his justice’s end and stuff.”

Naora’s eyes opened, and she sat up. Then in one smooth movement, she rose to her feet. She looked around. She was outside the ring. At once, she turned around and set off.

Amazing. But then, they were children. In a way, it made sense. They were following the rules of their own game. Suspending disbelief. Burning ants under magnifying glasses.

“No! NO! OH PLEASE, GOD, NO!”

Naora increased her pace. The guilt was not quite like the feeling of full-on vomiting, but the feeling of a little bit of vomit creeping up the throat before being unintentionally swallowed and pushed back down again. She told herself, firmly, that he would have died anyway, which was surely true, and that death in this forest was more or less the expected state of existence after some time.

Her heart was racing, and the guilt faded to be replaced by sheer exhilaration. She was alive. She’d evaded that death, once again.

Well. Sort of.

Heh, thanks for the kind words all. And yes, trying to speak harpy without a very good grasp of the nuances can make the difference between 'polite refusal' and 'take me now' tough to differentiate. xD

Sean Okotami wrote:

Yet Another Spoiled Hunt

Heh, amusing, and I felt the action was pretty well portrayed too.

kikijonson wrote:

Little Aurora

That was sweet, and pretty good too, although you seem to have replaced all your periods with ellipses here for some reason, which makes it a little hard to read.

Globfish wrote:

Play Dead

You really have a knack for writing a vivid scene! This was somehow simultaneously tense, amusing and a little horrifying. 'Human Fighting Competition game', wow. Kids are like that though. xD I thought you managed to capture Naora's attitude and mindset very well here, which it quite a feat considering how little 'screen' time I've managed to give her so far. Not an experience she'll be all that eager to recount later though . . . at least while sober. xD

Finally caught up; a nice few stories.

GlobFish wrote:

Play Dead

What happens when you combine the natural / unthinking cruelty of felines with that of children? You get something pretty damn scary!

This is an excerpt from one of the chapters in my ongoing series: "The Adventures of Hal and Dav"

Some basic info: Hal is the sentient main computer of the HAL9KZ, a transformable robotic exploration/battlesuit. Dav is his partner/pilot. For this incident, Hal remains in his vehicular mode, an advanced aerospace fighter...

I hope you have as much fun reading this as I did writing it!

Dogfight at 20,000 feet


...“Dav, I have detected unknown aircraft, coming in to intercept from 11 o’clock high, at 70 knots, count 4.” “Configuration?” “Unknown, they are not in visual range, however, I detected them at 90 miles out, and their current flight path will intercept ours in approximately 75 minutes.” “Altitude?” “They are at 4,000 meters, descending rapidly. Attention, the bogies have accelerated to 200 knots, intercept in approximately 15 minutes.” “Must be some more of the natives, come to say hello. Hal, let’s have some fun with this.” “Are you sure that is wise, Dav?” “Relax Hal, we can always outrun them.” Under ideal circumstances, the HAL9KZ could go from a sedate 100 knots, to a screaming Mach 2.5 in less than 20 seconds. With that thought in mind, stowing his lunch, Dav took over the controls, and accelerated to 150 knots, climbing to 6,000 meters. “Dav, bogies have accelerated to 250 knots, and are climbing to intercept.” “Range?” “4 miles at 11 o’clock low.” “Activate telescopic cameras, let’s have a look at our dance partners.” The telescopic screen appeared in the lower right corner of the main display, and it revealed the “aircraft” to be in fact, four airborne humanoids. “Well, have a look at that, Hal.” “Indeed, I am detecting aero-kinesis use by the two on the sides of the diamond formation they are using.” “Well, that explains the speed, anyway.” Dav responded

The four humanoids were of a single overall type, a humanoid torso, with an avian's wings, in place of their arms, and possessing legs, claws and tail feathers resembling those of birds of prey. Two types were represented, the largest one, at 11 meters from nose to talons, in the lead, had feathers the color of molten gold, while the two flanking it, at 8 meters from nose to talons, had feathers of a sandy, rocklike coloration. The smallest one, at only 2 meters, was colored like the two medium-sized ones. One other difference was at the “wrist” of the three similar colored ones four claw-fingers were visible, while the largest one did not have them. One other thing to note was the largest one had a series of glittering objects in its hair.

As the two groups approached the 2-mile mark, Hal signaled Dav. “Alert, I am detecting a wind shear at three o’clock high!” “Roger!” Dav rolled to the left, and the rogue air current moved past. “Power spike detected from the medium-sized one on the left, that’s our culprit, Dav.” “Understood, can we EMP that one, Hal?” “Negative, without diverting significant thruster power, we cannot charge the EMP in time for it to make a difference. I predict this encounter will end quickly.” “Understood.” Banking right, Dav prepared to sprint to safety, but a he began to widen the gap, another wind shear cut across their flight path!

Only by pulling a quick hammerhead turn, was Dav able to avoid it. It quickly became clear that the humanoids wanted to prevent them from leaving, and to finish them off up close. From that point forward the aerial encounter became a classic dogfight, with Hal and Dav flying a complex series of maneuvers, while the three largest creatures tried to swat them from the sky, the two medium-sized ones with aero-kinetic attacks, and swipes with their claws, the largest one with claw swipes, and attempts to strike the HAL9KZ’s wings with its massive pinions. Dav barrel-rolled, and juked left and right, narrowly escaping, sometimes by inches. The real danger wasn’t damage, but jamming of control surfaces by a violent blow, which would cause the craft to plummet out of control.

At 5 minutes in, Hal came up with a tactic. “Dav, the smallest one is flying ovals at the edge of the battle, I have a theory, accelerate towards it.” “Roger.” As Dav did so, the HAL9KZ was rocked by a fierce downdraft. “That confirms my theory Dav, at least one, or both of the power users hold some connection to the smallest one, it may be a family member.” “How do we turn this to our advantage Hal?” “Reverse course, then do a Cobra, and as the pursuing creature moves below, drop it with the infinite repeaters.” “Hal, I have a less permanent solution, try dropping the output on the repeaters to 10 percent, that should singe the pursuer, and perhaps cause the entire group to break off.” “Agreed.”

Dav reversed course, and accelerated straight on towards one of the medium-sized attackers, this one had a series of darker spots on its back, and he mentally referred to this one as “Spot”, the other had a diagonal bar of slightly darker feathers across its tail, and he referred to that one as “Stripe”. As he accelerated, he let “Stripe” fall in behind him, and as “Spot” dived out of the way, he let “Stripe” settle in for the kill, then, at the last second, Dav kicked the canards up 45 degrees, and pulsed the thrusters at full power, while simultaneously lifting the thrust vectoring nozzles up. The HAL9KZ’s nose came up sharply, and airspeed bled off dangerously fast, as the aircraft nearly stalled in midair, in the attacking move known as the “Cobra”. As “Stripe” flashed by below them, Dav cranked the canards still further, applied power, and the HAL9KZ executed a perfect end-for-end flip, and accelerated to attack speed, as Dav leveled off behind his former pursuer, lined up for the perfect kill shot.

As “Stripe” began to jink right, then left, desperately trying to escape the killbox, Dav followed mercilessly, and opened up with the infinite repeaters, firing in right/left linked mode, at 120 rounds per minute. The low-power shots stitched a smoking line across “Stripes” back from its left shoulder, out across its right wing, leaving dark spots of scorched feathers. Trailing smoke, and singed feathers, “Stripe” began to circle wide to the right, beginning to lose altitude. Leaving his target behind, Dav broke left, and prepared to line up on “Spot”. As he did so, Dav saw a sight that made him instantly re-prioritize.

“Hal, are you seeing this?” “I am, Dav.” What they saw was that “Spot” had descended with astonishing rapidity toward the side of the stricken “Stripe”. As the creature did so, the largest one swooped in front if it, and gestured with one clawed foot angrily towards the duo. When the smaller humanoid tried to go around it, to the side of it’s fellow, the largest one shoved it roughly in the chest, and gestured towards the HAL9KZ again. The creature then gestured towards the smallest one, then back toward the injured, but still flightworthy “Stripe”, and then back towards the HAL9KZ. That coupled with another gesture towards the smallest one, and the drawing of one wing across its neck made it crystal clear.

The massive, golden, feathered humanoid had ensured the cooperation of “Spot” and “Stripe” by holding what was clearly their sibling, as a hostage. That coupled with the gesturing, also made it clear that the two were to destroy the HAL9KZ, or suffer the loss of their sibling. “Hal, arm missile launchers 1 and 2 with HEAT rounds, set for Air-to-Air mode.” Dav said quietly. “Understood, Dav.” As the now chastened “Spot” turned and headed for the HAL9KZ, with grim determination on its features, Dav stood the HAL9KZ on it’s tail, and blasted off, like he was headed for orbit. “Dav, I am detecting a low pressure pocket forming overhead, at this rate the engines will flame out when we enter it.” “Just what I was hoping for.” As they reached the pocket, Dav throttled back the engines, and let the pressure drop cause the left one to stall. As lights flashed, alarms blared, and an engine schematic in red appeared in the information display, the HAL9KZ fell into a flat spin, arcing to the left, as it fell towards the ground far below.

As the craft dropped, on each revolution, Dav checked the position of the golden-feathered bully, as it descended towards the falling aircraft. “Wait for it, Hal.” “Standing by to initiate spin recovery on your mark, Dav.” When the craft was below 5,000 meters, and the firing zone was clear, Dav gave the signal. “NOW Hal!” “Roger.” With flaring thrusters, and rapidly flicking control surfaces, the HAL9KZ abruptly arrested its spin, and lined up on its target. The two forward missile launchers along the rear flanks of the craft snapped open their launch doors, and spat forth their deadly cargo.

The golden pursuer’s eyes flared open in surprise, as the twin missiles closed in with inexorable precision. Once they reached the proper proximity, the missiles flared into twin pulses of fire, as their self-forging anti-armor projectiles lanced into and through the target. The creature’s eyes glazed, and it’s wingbeats stilled, as it plummeted towards the ground far below. It rolled over almost lazily, and, incredibly, its wings snapped open to full spread, most likely due to a dying reflex, and the creature settled into a death glide.

Dav brought the HAL9KZ up and around their now mostly dead opponent in a lazy immelmann turn, lining up behind it. “Let’s make sure this thing stays dead, Hal. Unmask the main gun.” The forward shutter covering the HAL9KZ’s main gun clamshelled open, and retracted, exposing the six barrels of the main gun, nestled between the now twin prongs of the craft’s nose. “Firing main gun.” Hal stated, and the heavy gun ripped loose a string of rounds, as a stuttering bar of light. The flashing line of shells scythed through the creature’s left wing at the shoulder like a laser. The wing cartwheeled away to the right, and the massive carcass now began to corkscrew to the left, trailing smoke, feathers, and circulatory fluid, gaining speed until it augured into the ground in an explosion of dirt, feathers, and shining shrapnel.

Dav brought the HAL9KZ’s nose up and around to the left, and, retracting the main gun, set course back towards the combat area. “Hal, location of our former opponents?” “Currently at 10 o’clock low, descending steadily towards the rock formations located in the northeastern region of the desert.” “Roger that.” As the HAL9KZ approached the trio, Dav could see that “Spot” was supporting the injured “Stripe’s” singed right wing by placing its own uninjured left wing beneath it, and locking their wing claw-fingers together. The two were flying in a shallow glide towards the rock formations, with their smaller sibling hovering anxiously over first one than the other’s head.

Dav pulled alongside, and matched speed with the trio. “Spot” turned its head to the HAL9KZ, with a neutral expression in its face. Dav rocked his wings a couple of times, and the creature responded with a sharp nod. “Dav, I am detecting... curious, it is an updraft, small, and not of any great power.” “I think I understand the gesture, Hal. Shall we return to base?” “… Understood, Dav, Mission Complete, RTB.” The HAL9KZ dipped, and began to climb, arcing out to the east, as Hal fed power to the turbines. Sweeping the wings all the way back, Hal took them transonic, then supersonic, a shock cone of condensing moisture forming briefly around the craft’s midbody, and then they were gone, the sonic booms rolling across the landscape below like distant thunder...

If you want more, check the link in my sig, or use the <Warp Pad>

Meeting Seliky

It was a dark and cold morning as I slowly lifted myself up from my bed…I cold feel some of my joints pop as I stretched my arms to

release some of the tension in my body…I had a very long day and exhausting day yesterday and I really didn't look forward to going to work…

but…I had to if I wanted to get paid…I sighed to myself as I got up from bed and stepped into the bathroom…stripping off my clothing in the

process to take my hot shower…This was all a process for me…wake up…shower…work…shower…sleep…repeat process the next day…rather

tiring really…I stood as the hot water droplets hit my skin…helping to release all the stress my body has…I closed my eyes to enjoy this

moment…this is one of the only times in my day that I can actually relax…so I have to enjoy every part of it…as I showered…I heard a faint

yawn from the distance…My assistant must have just woken up…I peeked my head through the curtains and saw her slowly making her way to

the seek…walking in an in normal fashion…staggering around a bit and having a dazed look on her face as if she was still half asleep…


"…Good morning Lilith…I see you slept well…" I said out to her…she just turned her head at me and glared at me…showing me her nasty

bed head and slightly pink bloodshot eyes…

"…do I look like I had a good nights rest?..." she grumbled…I smiled…

"…Oh yes you do…much prettier…that's a very good look for you too…" I laughed…she took her slipper off and tossed it at me…but her

weak little frame…it barely even made it halfway to me…I laughed…


"…I'll just pretend that hit me ok…" I said to my assistant…she grumbled as she slowly made her way to the sink to wash herself…as she

did that I went back to my shower and began to clean myself…afterward I turned off the water…put on a towel and made my way to the sink

and bumped Lilith over…she grumbled and looked up at me…


"…Hey hey hey…just because I'm your assistant doesn't mean you can pick on me…" she grumbled…I just smiled and messed with her

blond hair a little…


"…But you are just fun to mess with…but I'm sorry…here…" I helped her up…she smiled at me and started to head to the shower…I wiped

the fog off of the fogged up mirror and began to brush my hair so I can look presentable…as I did this…I stared at my reflection…seeing how

blank my life is…how…dull and boring it is…I much rather be out there I the Forest studying to creatures…that is what I want to do for a

career…but sadly I have to wait a long time till the Negav government can actually look at my application…sometimes I really hate how the

system works…


…I finished cleaning up and put on my work clothing…which was a simple White shirt and knee long black skirt and a nice little bluish black

sweater over it…the library can get chilly at times…after finish getting ready I made my way out of my room and picked up a bagel before

leaving my apartment…


My apartment is built on top of the library so I only have to walk down a few flight of stairs to get to my desk…I reached the bottom floor

and went over to the front door…flipping the sign from "closed" to "open"…thus…begging another LONG and boring day…





..Or what I think would have been…





…a few hour passed as I sat back in my chair…reading yet…another book…being a librarian well…you know…gives you many books to

keep yourself occupied…it was somewhat a slow day…so far maybe a handful of people came in…pretty dull and boring…I had a few human

guys hit on me…but they only stared at my chest and I smelt alcohol so yeah…they were drunk…and I happily kicked them out…


…It wasn't till around 11:30 AM when a young child wandered into my library…she was a cute little girl with snowy white hair that were

tinted brown around the end of her hair strands…she had pale skin with some random blotches of a nice peachish color…similar to mine…with

this abnormal look...she had a pare of large pink eyes…I knew this child was an albino…a rare condition of the pigments of the skin…though

what got me slightly confused about this child was her clothing…typically Albino's wear clothing that covered as much skin as possible so that the

sun's UV rays wont cause skin damage…but this child's clothing was all torn and beat up slightly…nothing that I expected…


….I watched this child wander about aimlessly through my library a bit…she was looking around as if she was looking for something…but

clearly she didn't know what she was looking for at all…I decided to help the child out…she obviously had no idea about how a library works…I

got up and made my way over to her and tapped on the shoulder…I must have startled her because she jumped up in shock and looked at me…


"…Hey young lady…are you looking for something specific?..." I asked her…she stared at me for a second before giving me her response…


"…I…am…looking for…b…book…" she replied faintly…as she spoke…she stuttered a little…as if she had to think about the words she were

using…I smiled at the child and lifted my arms up…

"…Well you are in the right place…this place is full of books…" I said out…she stared at me…she seemed to be shaking a little…which made

me confused a bit…but I didn't really put much thought into it…"is there any book you are interested in?...the children's book are on the second

floor…" I added…


"…I'll…managed…" she replied…she then just stared up at me…which kinda freaked me out a little…felt a little awkward having a small

chilled stare up at you with her blood pink eyes…


"…well…um…if you need anything…feel free to ask me ok…" .I told her…she just nodded slowly and walked off…I sighed to myself and

started heading over to my desk…I started to type in all the information for all the books that have been checked out recently…occasionally I

would look up to check up on the little girl who continued to wander around…I knowtised she was in the section where most of the higher level

books were…well…books that a child her age wouldn't be able to read…she stopped for a second…seeming as if something caught her

attention…she walked over to the rows of books took one…it was a fairly large book…it seemed like she had difficulties to hold it up…I

recognized the book from here…it was a book about the Ruins of Segol…it is a very difficult book to read since it goes very in depth and uses

very high vocabulary…surely a child of her age wouldn't want to read a book like that…


…The girl then looked around for a bit…she seemed very nervous…suddenly she started running towards the door…she was stealing the

book!...I stood up…no one steals from me and gets away with it…


"…Lilith watch the library...a little trouble maker made off with one of our books!..." I called out…Lilith stood up and just nodded at me…I

then got up and headed outside to go after the child…


I ran outside and looked around…trying to find the girl…I spotted her fleeing a little ways ahead…


"…Get back here with my book!..." I cried out as I went after her…she ran quite fast for her size…but I'm much older than her and more

stamina…and I know these parts like the palm of my hand so I can easily catch her…I then saw her turn a corner…I recognized the path and I

knew a shortcut that I could use to cut her off…I ran though an alley way as fast as I could…as soon as I got out of they ally way…the girl

turned the corner and saw me…she gasped and turned around and ran forward as fast as she could into another ally way…I knew for a fact

that this ally was a dead end so I went after her…catching her now shouldn't be too hard…I ran after her until she saw the dead end…she

gasped and turned around…only to run right into me and stumbled onto the for…


"…You've got some nerve stealing from me you know that…" I said to her…she crawled back until her back was against the wall…I leaned

forward and picked up the book she stole and then walked over to her…


"…Now what am I going to do for you?..." I said out to her…she tightly closed her eyes and began to quiver…letting out little whimpers like

an injured dog would…


"…Please…j…just get it over with…" she whimpered…I didn't quite understand what she meant…she seemed to expecting me to do

something to her…I stared at her for a sec…me and Lilith have been over worked lately…


"I've got it…" I said out as I leaned over to the child and grabbed her by her shirt collar…"you are going to work at the library and pay off

what you've done!..."


…The child squirmed as I dragged her back to my library…I eventually managed to my library…people watched as I brought the child to

the front desk…Lilith looked at me and the girl…


"…I'm guessing this is the girl who took the book?..." she said to me…


"…Yeah…she's going to work for us for the rest of the day as punishment…" I said back…I then looked at the girl...she seemed to have

given up on trying to get away and just stood their staring down at the floor…


"…So pretty much you have yourself a little slave to do all the hard work…" Lilith laughed…


"…Yeah pretty much…" I replied…I then looked over to the girl…


"…What is your name you little trouble maker?..." I said out…


"…S…Seliky…" …she said very faintly as she leaned to one side…


"…Well…Seliky…for what you've done…you are going to work to the bone till closing time…be happy I don't call your parents!..." I told

her…she sighed and looked down at the floor…


"…alright…" she replied slowly…


"…good…now since we have an agreement…lets get started…" I said out as I turned around…picking up a big stack of books and dropping

them in front of Seliky…


"…These books need to be put back in their places…you have to put them all back!..." I told her…she sighed as she attempted to lift the

heavy stack of books…but obviously her small arms aren't enough to carry them and they all came tumbling onto her…burying her under the

huge stack…me and Lilith laughed a little as the girl slowly crawled her way out of the pile of books…she then stood up and began to stack the

books again…once she got them stacked the began to try to push the stack of books to the area's where they had to be…


…A few hours passed as me and Li;ith watched Seliky running back and forth doing painstaking tasks that me and Lilith assign her while me

and Little just sit back…during this…Lilith looked over to me…


"…Hey Ti-Yen…do you think we are being a little hard on the girl…I mean…all she did was take a book…"She asked…


"…Hey I'm only treating her how I was raised by my mother alright…" I replied…


"….yeah yeah yeah…but you got to remember…your mother was one of the greatest Elven Warriors of all time…and well…treating her

how you were treated is a bit you know…extreme…" Lilith told me…


"…nah…kids these days need more discipline…" I replied as I continued to watch Seliky to her labor…I then looked over at the clock…it was

nearly closing time…


"…woah look at the time…time sure passes by when you are making a thief's life miserable…" I said out…Lilith smiled and looked over to

me…


"…Well that's good…I'm going to head back to the apartment and find myself something to eat…care to join?..." she asked…I shook my

head no…


"…Nah…I'm going to eat out today…" I replied….Lilith just smiled and looked over at the girl…


"…you're not going to eat her right?..." she laughed…


"…no no no…hey I'm not that type of elf you know…I don't eat people hehehe…" I laughed…other elves may do but we Phantom elves

don't eat people hehehe…we just prefer to communicate with spirits and such…" I replied…


"…Yeah yeah I know…I'm just messing with you…" Lilith replied as she walked away… "I'll see you later alright…"


"…Albright bye…" I said back as I stood up from my desk…I headed over to Seliky who was sweeping the Library floor…she looked up at

me as she stopped sweeping…


"…I...I'm almost done…" she whimpered…I smiled and placed my hand on the broom…


"…oh its closing time…you don't have to work anymore…" I told her…she blinked in confusion…staring at me with her pink eyes…


"…come on I'm closing now…" I told her…I took the broom from her and placed it in the corner of the room…I then took her hand and led

her out of the library…I flip the sign to closed and locked the door…Seliky just stood by me and watched as I did this…I then turned to her and

smiled…


"…You hungry?..." I asked…


"…wh…wha?...she asked as if she never head the word before…


"…are you hungry…" I asked again…she stared at me for a second and then looked down and placed her hand on her stomach…


"…I take that as a yes…come on…lets get something to eat…" I said out as I took her hand…


"…n…no…I…I cant…" she cried out…


"…On nonsense…you've worked hard today and I haven't gave you a lunch break so come on…" I told her as I took her with me…she

struggled a little but gave up after a few seconds and just fallowed behind…


…I took her to a nice little restaurant I usually go to when I go on my dates…I order her a little salad while I had my usual of Chicken

Alfredo…she at her salad quite quickly and remained silent most of the time…she only gave short answers to my questions I asked her and

stuff…she just seems to have so much on her mind…eventually I finished my food and I paid for the meal…I walked her out of the restraunt and

walked a little…


…"well you better get home now…don't want to get your parent worried now do you…" I told the young child…she sighed to herself and

began to walk away…I watched her walk off till she was no longer in my sight…I hope this day taught this Seliky girl a lesson…hate to see

children misbehave…just something I am all not that used to now and days…I sighed to myself as I headed back to the library to prepare myself

for my next day…I headed into my room where I saw Lilith reading a magazine in her bed wearing her PJ's…


"…There you are…I was starting to get a little worried…" she said out to me…


"…we ate at a restaurant so it took a little longer than normal…" I replied…Lilith folded her arms and grumbled…


"…you went to that restaurant without me again didn't you…you know how much I like their cherry brewed tea…why didn't you take me

along!?!..." she called out…


"…you kinda left before you can tag along…" I replied…she just glared at me as I got changed into my PJ's…I just smiled back as I got

finished and headed to my bed…I got in and looked over at my little assistant…


"…well I'm going to bed now…good night…" said to her…


"…Goodnight Ti-Yen…" she said back before I turned off the light…





…The next day…I woke up and did my usual routine…Lilith was still fast asleep in her bed…today was her day off and she usually spent

them sleeping…occasionally I'll see her stop by my desk asking for money to eat out or just to say hi…usually on her days off she goes out at

night to parties and such…which I keep on telling her for a young girl her age it is dangerous to g out at nigh…but she does I anyways…one of

these days she going to come to be after something happened and I would say would be "…I told you so!..."


…I finished getting ready and went my way down stairs to open up the library and start a new boring day…


..a few hours passed and it was a somewhat busy day at the library…one of the nearby schools seems to be having some sort of exam

and many people came in here to study or do research…Lilith offered to help out if she would get overtime for it…I could used the extra help so

I took the deal…working alone is hard work on busy days…


…as I typed on the computer all the books that were check out so far…I looked up and knowtised the same little girl from yesterday come

in…though she did look slightly different…I think she had a bandage on her cheek…she must have fell or something at home…I got up and

walked over to her and placed my hand on her little snow white head…


"…Oh you are back…what brings you back here…" I asked…


"…do…you…need any help?..." she mumbled faintly...I stared at her for a second in confusion…


"…Help…oh no no no…you don't need to help me anymore you've done your time…" I replied…


"…but…I…" she then paused…she looked up at me and sighed…"…n…never mind…" she seemed to be very hesitant about something…


"…well…just try to enjoy yourself alright…just come to me if you ever need help…" I told the child as I walked back to my desk…I donno…

something about that girl is interesting…I am just not sure what…I sighed to myself as I sat down and began to type on the computer again…as

I did this…Lilith walked up to me and tapped me on my shoulder…


"…hey…isn't that the same girl from yesterday…" she asked me…I nodded…


"…yeah…I don't know why she is here though…maybe just wants to try to read that book she tried to take yesterday…" I replied…


"….well don't look now but she's kinda staring right at you…" she said to me…I looked up…seeing the little girl staring right at me outside

the glass door holding one of my books…


"…She stole another book!..." I called out…


…just go after her…I'll just tend to things here…try not to blow her up ok…" Lilith told me…I stood u…the girl must have saw me and she

began to run…I'm really tired of this and I don't want to have another chase…I walked over to the wall and used a skill I barely ever used that I

inherit from my people…the ability to phase through walls…I got outside right in front of Seliky who gasped and ran right into me…before she

could turn around I grabbed her by her shirt…


"…you've got some nerve to steal another book from MY library…and you've definitely got some nerve to do it right in front of me!..." I

called out…she whimpered as she dropped the book onto the floor!..."…why did you do it again!..."


"…I…I…I was…hungry!..." she cried out…suddenly I was confused…


"…wha?.. " said back…she tightly closed her eyes as tears went down her cheek…

"…m…my father…he…he never feeds me…I…I figured th…that if…if you caught me stealing a book…you…you would feed me…l…like you

did yesterday…" she said with tearful eyes…I let go of her collar…I couldn't believe what I was hearing…she wanted to get caught…


"…he doesn't feed you?..." I asked…she fell to her knees…


"…he hates me…I'm nothing to him other than a punching bag…I…I only get fed…maybe...twice a week…I…I was just hungry…I'm sorry…

just please don't hurt me!..." she cried out…I stood there in shock…the only reason why she stole the book again was because I gave her a

meal after I worked her to the core…


"…and…what about the first time…" I asked…


"…I…I just wanted something to do…I snuck out of the house and…I…I just took one because…I…I just want something to do…" she

whimpered…I sighed to myself…this child was willing to steal a book…and work to the core just to get something to eat…I sighed to myself as I

looked down at the crying child…I leaned over to her and placed my hand onto her chin and raised her head so she can look at me…


"….shhhhh…stop crying…" I said softly to her…she stared at me in confusion…


" ...wh…wha?..." she murmured…I smiled and helped her up…


"…here come with me…" I told her as I took her hand…"…lets get you cleaned up and something to eat alright…I'm sure I have something

in the fridge…"



…After that I took Seliky over to my apartment to get her something eat…she refused to eat meat for some reason…so I just gave her

some non veggie products…she ate them willingly as if she have never eaten before…I also gave her a big glass of milk which didn't last very

long…when she was don't I took her over to the shower to get her cleaned up and told her to take a shower…I knowtised as she sheded her

clothing off that her body was covered in bruises…she mentioned how her father sees her as a punching bag…is this child suffering from

parental abuse?...if she is…why hasn't she went to the police?...


…she eventually finished and I got her dried and dressed up…I then placed her on my bed and sat next to her…during this time…she

explained the horrible situation she was in…how she is abused by her father…never fed…how her mother left her when she was just an infant…

it was horrible…I could understand now why she was so desperate to do anything just for a little company of a book or just a decent meal…


"…you know…you could have just checked out a book instead of stealing one you know…" I told her…


"…I don't have a library card…" she mumbled…


"…well you could have just asked me…Library Cards are free for anyone 12 and under you know…" I told her…


"…I'm not familiar with anything outside my home…I just recently figured out a way to sneak out…" she replied… "…I'm sorry…"


"…oh don't worry about it…I understand why now…" I replied…she just sighed and looked down at the floor…


"…well…thanks for being so kind to me…but…but I have to go…m…my father will find out I'm gone eventually…and…I don't want that to

happen…" she mumbled…


"…why…it's not like he can do anything about you being gone…right?..." I said back…she sighed…


"…he's the leader of Negav's armed forces…he'll hunt me down if I ever ran away…" she mumbled…then I realized this girl must be the

daughter of Mr. Serela…the one who leaders the Negav Military and police system…I was called in by that horrid man many times…I never knew

he had a daughter…


"…well…if you ever need a place to get away from him…you can always come here…" I told her…


"…oh…no I cant…I'm not worth your kindness…" she murmured…


"…Oh don't be so silly…" I told her…"…I don't mind at all…and I could always use a little help around the library…and you can read all the

books you want…"


She stood there for a few seconds…she seemed to be in deep thought…


"…would…would you teach me how to read?..." she asked…I laughed a little…


"…hehehe…of course…though I do wonder why you would steal a book if you don't know how to read…" I said back…


"…I would have figured it out…eventually…" she mumbled…I placed my hand on her shoulder…


"…hehehe…well...come on lets go so we can get started alright…" I said wit a smile…she looked at me for a second with her adorable large

pink eyes…and then closed her eyes with a very tiny smile…


"…Thank you…"

Well. I need to practice character interaction. I'll do a scene for a story I intend to write later.

Oh, the Humanity (Lunch Break)

"Hey, Terry," said the short-haired blond, "Sense anything?"

"Of course," the pink-haired one replied. "Fear. Relief. Satisfaction... well, no. I think she's still hungry. And then, uh... panic. Yeah, two, three accounts of panic." He said it like he was reading off a grocery list.

Jack moved in his "seat" a little. The five were sitting on a large tree root, having a bite of rations and a rest after about 5 hours straight of walking. The place they had stopped was, like the rest of the Jungle, overflowing with beauty. The tree was green with moss and lichen, the ground lush with bright, happy plants, and the sky emerald with gorgeous branches. The sound of calling birds and buzzing insects filled the air with a gentle ambiance.

It had been a pleasant day; Jack had correctly predicted that traveling in the company of dangerous predators would be, paradoxically, much less nerve-wracking than traveling alone as a group of humans. Thus, freeing that group of fairies turned out far better than the pessimists in the group thought it would. Plus, it was nice to prove to themselves that they could handle a caravan of fairy-hunters alone. Of course, there were the unfortunate side effects...

"How can you guys talk like that?" Gen spoke up. He was clearly agitated, with good reason.

Jack, the intelligent, shrewd blond with short hair, Robin, the big man with dyed blue hair, a calm expression, and a muscled shape, Gen, the angry looking, feminine blond boy, Ben, the dark-haired, quiet one, and Terry, the pink-haired, serene empath sat on the root, quietly. The fairies, 7 in number, were out... hunting. After the whole incident 2 days ago, they had made the human group "honorary pack-members", but that made little difference in their predatory habits. They were friendly, pleasant even, and fortunately carried no grudge against humanity in general for their captivity. They actually had agreed to guide the group to the Fairy Kingdom, even to introduce them to their friends back home! And the little sprites added such vitality to the journey. Again, that made little difference.

"Well," Jack replied, "would you like to try to stop them?"

"No. Wait, is that possible?"

"Absolutely not." Ben spoke, that time. He was even more agitated than Gen was, he just bothered to hide it. "It's not pleasant, but we need to give them their space."

"Space? Seriously? Shit, this was your fu-"

"Let's not get too heated, here." Terry was calm, even more so than Jack. He was still feeling the emotions out there in the Jungle. The hunt was going well. The little third-of-a-pack had found a caravan not far from where they sat. It wasn't even that well armed!

"I'm not getting heated. But, come on, if-"

"You're lying."

Gen sat back against the prodigious trunk of the tree. "Shut up." He waited a little bit. "Have they finished, yet?"

Terry thought for another minute. "No. They're, uh, they're taking their time."

"Thought so," the man-ish person grunted. "I'm serious though. How can you be so casual? I mean, if you think about it, this is technically our fault..."

Jack broke in again. This wasn't helping Ben's piece of mind any; he was a nice guy, and it had been his idea to free the little buggers in the first place. "Gen, this has nothing to do with us. This kind of thing happens 24/7 out here. This is how they live."

"Then maybe we should have let them-"

At this Ben stood up. "That's enough." It was firm, but still calm. That's how he intended it. It came out terse. He was feeling just as much guilt as Gen was anger.

Terry decided to ease their minds a little. "If it helps, they're all treasure-hunters. They knew the risks."

It didn't ease any minds, not that Jack or himself needed comforting, and Robin least of all. He, at least, had had to survive a jungle like this one before. He knew how the food chain went, and decided to keep quiet. He was wishing that they had all just decided to ignore their new companions' feeding habits; everyone would be happier that way. Jack had little empathy for strangers to begin with. Terry had been listening to the last thoughts of the dying since the day they stepped into the Jungle; he was used to it, too. Gen was sensitive, though, and Ben was always the heroic type.

Ben had decided that keeping and selling sentient beings was almost as bad as eating them, so when they passed the group of fairy hunters, he simply couldn't turn a blind eye. Jack went along with it fine, as did Robin and Terry... but Gen was hesitant. Save 7 fairies, kill a hundred humans. The others had ignored that, and happily accepted the friendship of their tiny (usually) rescuees. Ben was beginning to regret it, but that feeling would usually pass when they saw their smiling faces rather than hearing their rumbling bellies.

"It doesn't help." Gen was flat.

Robin's turn. "Terry, what are their names?"

Terry looked up from his mind-scrying for a moment, startled. He thought harder, putting his head down again. "Borigard. Tennis. Lagso. Johnny. Trixy, Benjemina, Parton," He listed them off. "Liza, Maroon, Far-Light. Uh... Jackson, Oklahoma, Bikke. And another Parton."

Jack laughed at the last line, while Robin got up and flipped out his pocketknife. "I'd like to hear the story behind that one," he laughed. Gen looked at Jack, appalled at his uncle's apathy. 14 people just died! "And how is our group doing?"

"Well, there's 2 each, so that works out well," he replied. "And now there's only one Parton." He winced as the mind dissipated.

"You people are horrible."

Ben answered to soothe himself. "This world is horrible."

"Robin, what are you doing?" He needed to get his mind off it, somehow. Robin now stood right above Jack, at the trunk of the tree, scratching on it with the knife.

"I'm writing a tombstone." They were silent for a moment, leaving the air for the sound of scratching and the calling of birds.

---

The party came back a little bit later, full and happy. They were mostly small, but Shina decided to be human-sized for the time being. The five were waiting patiently, and Robin had fallen asleep next to the tree.

"Hey! We're back." Tiana spoke happily, and the others nodded happily. Jerona alighted in her spot on Robin's head, while Lakki began babbling at Terry about how everything went.

"We hadn't guessed," Jack stood up, answering playfully. "Good hunting?" Gen sighed and put his head down again; this did not go unnoticed.

"Yeah! We were really lucky!" She looked closer at her friends. "What's the matter, huh? You all seem so down."

Lii noticed that Tiana was right. The answer was obvious, though. "Oh, how thoughtless! We forgot to bring any back!"

Kiya was shocked at Lii's words. She was always the generous one, too! Oh, how could they have forgotten?

As Tiana, Kiya and Lii began to apologize, and Gen and Ben started looking nauseous, Ahya pulled them off to the side, leaving Peera to continue asking what the matter was. She wouldn't get it, anyways. "That's not it!" She whispered harshly to the two. "They were lonely! They get like this every time we leave for a bit. Sheesh, you're all so clueless sometimes!"

Terry got up from his seat as Jack looked on, entertained. He enjoyed their simplicity. As long as they were in eyeshot, most of the five did. Jack gently told Peera, "Philosophy is a dangerous, depressing subject. Never get into it."

Robin was woken up, Lakki grabbed Gen's chin to get him looking up, and Lii, Kiya, and Tiana were set straight by Ahya. Fully regrouped, the group of twelve stretched and headed back to their journey.

---

A little unimpressive, I'll admit. But it was just practice. Anyone want to give me some critique?

I'm not a storyteller like any of the awesome wordsmiths I adore, nor am i a great reviewer (I tend to the fanboying or gushing form of praise when actually confronted with my favorite authors). But I have to say that i originally found this thread by prinnydood, and even if i only now rediscovered it i can say i wasn't disappointed. Almost all my favorite authors have posted one or multiple stories here, and many others I'd never heard of have as well, and all of the were funny, heartwarming, thought provoking, and almost always struck a chord. I'm not going to tread old ground with praise of the previous stories, but this most recent one by Falconjudge has struck me as being excellent in itself. welp my gushing is does, my lurkerhood is drawing me back, and I'm not sure i could get myself to post like this again so see ya'll later.

FalconJudge, that was... creepysweet. The fairies being so adorable and nice, following their own logic and (by necessity) utterly failing to "get" the human perspective. The grim horror of what they were actually doing is well conveyed - all the more so with the contrast between the "normal" empathetic humans that we can relate to, versus the cold and detached ones.

just posting because that many months without a single post made me sad

These stories are all realy nice and made me want to write one... This is going to be my first story ever (not just my first felarya story).

But I'm gonna need time to work on it. It'll actually introduce some characters i thought of but i won't use any names as i didn't give them any yet. Help finding them name is realy appreciated as i suck at naming characters... and stuff in general. I will, instead, use nicknames.

Wow, ideas came to me pretty quickly. I was expecting to take one or two days to write something but it took me only half an hour...

There is no vore in this story, its only practice.

As stated in my last post, my character doesn't have a name he is only called "[Hailstorm]" He will be featured in my main story which i intend to start within the next week

Note that he is NOT the main character of my upcomming story

Its 192 words long, enjoy!


A sour aftertaste

He began to wipe his knife on a nearby leaf, leaving it dripping with blood. It had been a short but grim mission for [HailStorm], he didn’t like having to spill blood for no reason but in his profession it often came down to it.

[HailStorm] was a mercenary, that’s the only thing he was able to do for a living since entering this strange world he came to know as Felarya. Today’s mission was one of assassination, his “client” wanted a few “annoying” treasure hunters dead, the “why” was none of his business. What made this operation suspicious was the fact that many died in this world’s deadly jungles and the fact that the targets weren’t even armed to begin with…

He brushed those thoughts aside telling himself:

“It’s my job, and I have no choice but to do it if I want to have food in my plate…”

After convincing himself, he finish cleaning his knife, put it away and headed for Negav. He hadn’t fired a single bullet that day, he didn’t need to as they were helpless to defend themselves.

Tonight’s food would leave a sour aftertaste…

(So I made a legend, comes with moral, hope you enjoy it!)

The Original Sin of Felarya

In the beginning of Felarya, life, was prosperous and abundant. Pure in its form, the natural cycle was created between prey and predator. An dangerous environment indeed, but one worth exploring its beauties and mysteries. But such a place was not to be left unsupervised. The Guardians, self-appointed, strong-willed, and young, had sworn themselves to become the watchful eye over all of Felarya, to which they had claimed as their land. And to this day, they watch over Felarya, with utmost vilgilance, but with restraints in their meddling.

However, the Guardians were not always experienced and reserved. From within the early chapters of Felarya, the Guardians were arrogant in their early design, for they looked upon the world and saw it not as sacred, but as luxurious. The abuse of their power was then to be expected, for they set a poor example for all of Felarya when they consumed others to their heart's content. At that moment, it had seemed to be a paradise, but such good things never lasted as they so ignored the consequences of their actions, exhausting the gifts that Felarya had endowed unto them, and setting an example for other predators... to eat without restraint. Their lust for food was tyrannical, and everywhere they had gone, a wasteland was left.

And from those wastelands that they left and drained, came a unheard cry from the soil of Felarya, a cry that demanded justice, retribution.... vengeance. Unknown to the Guardians, a dark evil had been spawned from their gluttony, from deep within the dusty grounds of the dead soil came an entitiy that was heinous in its design. It rose from the cracks of the ground from the deepest pit of Felarya, and blacked the skies, killing all silence with its buzzing noise. This was not an entity given birth from life... but an abomination spawn of sin and corruption. And unlike all others, this entitiy did not feel love, nor pain, nor any other emotion. It had only one impulse... Hunger.

It was a power that all of Felaryan creation feared, Beelzebub, the devourer of all things, the swarms of death, the harbinger of famine and chaos, the Lord of the Flies. No magic could purge it, no sword could pierce it, for it held no true and single form, as it was manifested by the multitudes of black insects.

No mere aggression could ever withstand what was known as the original sin of Felarya, and because all the Guardians knew at the time was aggression, all things seemed to be lost, as a shroud of darkness enveloped over Felarya, Beelzebub consumed everything in its wake, infecting all life with feelings of fear and chaos into their hearts, which ultimately gave power to Beelzebub.

But... there was one power, that the Guardians soon learned would be the salvation of Felarya... hope. That was the one thing that they needed most, and so in the shadows, they set out to inspire others, to rally them under their banner. They would preach teachings of reason, unity, self-control, and charity in those dark times. And when all fear was lost, so was Beelzebub. His swarms could no longer feed off of feelings that were no longer there. And so his swarms died by the thousands of starvation, and it slunk back into the deepest pit of darkness, a realm colder than hell where it slept in oblivion.

The Guardians gave rise to their calling, humbled by their mistake, they knew their purpose. To watch over Felarya and to ensure its preservation from all threats. But this story has not yet ended, Beelzebub had already done its work, for in each any everyone of us, he lives in our hearts, whispering to us, tempting us to give into our savagery... For one day, when the Guardians would falter, and the children of Felarya would turn their backs on their better judgment, it would rise again and become a blight on all creation.

This is great Beef, I really liked this. This gave the Guardians a reason to be protecting Felarya like they do. :3 Impressive job.

So I was watching Breaking Bad, when they used a very long word. They used it wrong. And I thought... of a story. Wasn't ALL that inspired, did not come off as that long, so I figured I might as well post it here.
Credits to Jorge Lanata for a bit more inspiration.

And this one is under 1000 words. Go me.



Kafka-esque


"...but then the stumphead still couldn't get it through her brain that the lizard sausage couldn't find its face in broad daylight and had instead hatched that harebrained, kafkaesque scheme. 'And what's the last one for, then?' she asked, like an idiot. 'That's in case I...' "

Feni couldn't continue, though. Her sister, usually as quiet a listener as one could ask for (barring stumpheads), had taken offense to her choice of words.

"Kafkaesque is not a word, you failure!"

"Yes it is, Kafka, you straw brain!"

"It means nothing, you numbskull!"

"It means a grotesque and unwholesome situation, just like suffering an ignorant rube of your girth, Kafka!"

"You just...!" Kafka was at a loss for words. "You just made it up!"

"So what if I did?"

"It's- it's stu- you are stupid, you gibbering noisemaker!"

"What was that, did you try to bite your tongue off?"

"Mom will turn you inside out for this, you droll crook!"

"YOU are inside out, you spillage!"

While in the middle of that polite conversation, strong winds heralded the arrival of strong, beating wings, belonging to the woman who had built their nest. She dropped a green, mossy log into the weave, giving it a firm squeeze with her claws at the end to tear it open. Its own stickiness prevented it from bursting into splinters, leaving instead blackened, wet pieces of tree strewn over a short area.

"Your family isn't worth enough for that trash you insist in parading yourself in- it wasn't even when you begged!" she added, without missing a beat. A few small snakes started crawling out of the wood, now that they were exposed to the sun. Kafka didn't seem to be in the mood for that, given the insult she'd received from her sister- who didn't miss a beat either in clawing at the snake, overjoyed at the prospect of a meal.

"Drag yourself there, Wernee, or I'll carry your tongue myself so you lick my scraps!" her companion added, in her usual arrogant voice. Her golden hair, her golden tan, her nearly golden feathers, and her taste for jewelry betrayed her lineage. Other than the claws under her waist, only her words detracted from her beauty.

"There's nothing to your claws but filth and dirt, Esmerelda!" 'Wernee' laughed. "I'll spit them out and that'll be it!"

"I'll tear your head off and feed your body to the vermin if that's what it takes! Know your place!"

"Shove it, you mismatched skank! I have had enough of watching you pig out for a lifetime!"

"You're as dense and dull as dirt!" Esmerelda sighed. "Rot and wither in this garbage pile you so favor!"

Wernee turned to look down at her two daughters. One of them had quieted down, and she picked intently at the rotting log she'd just squashed, looking for something to put the hunger down with. The other one, however, intently quipped at her leg. Oh, boy, what had they gotten themselves into now?

"Get your mouth in the ground and start eating, you wimp! I don't want to feed you forever!"

"Mom, this rotter you left me with has been bumbling nonsense! Throw her away!"

"Why would I throw the little scumsucker away, when she's cleaning this nest better than you do?"

"Because she called the tale of Sunny kafkaesque!"

"Kafkaesque?!" Esmerelda cackled. "We ought to squash her brains for this, Wern-!"

"Quit slobbering, you chunk of piss! Feni, is this true!?"

Just as engrossed as Kafka was in getting herself vindicated, Feni was in eating. And Wernee wouldn't have it.

Lowering herself over the nest gently but suddenly, she pinned her children to the mesh of wood and fiber that housed them.

"Feni!"

"You loose heap of bones, what's the matter!?" she asked, innocently, raising her gaze to the colossal shadow that loomed over her.

"Have you said Kafkaesque?"

"Yes, because it is! So what about it?"

"Do not make up new words." Wernee said, removing herself from atop her kids. "I pick the wax out of your ears so you can puke what I say."

"What is it to you, you washed out mongrel?" her child quipped. "I shall do as I please, and you will not stop me!"

"Feh..." Wernee stopped for a minute. Then she smiled. "Do not make up new words, you starved tramp! Do not make up new words!"

"Then my tongue shall I still- to keep your fetid stench off my mouth, you bloated wax picker!"

"Choke on the grub as you do, you pitiful thing, and you'll be too swollen to call me fat!"

"Your spawn has pegged you right, you shallow wench! You're good for nothing other than giving yourself away to whatever deviant will take you, and fill up to pass eggs!" Esmerelda grinned, running the edge of her wing over the children's heads. "Could you truly be so ignorant as to not know the tale of Sunny?"

"Bah!" she shrugged. "Sit down. Word goes that there was this tree chump who one day got up because of an ungodly screech rattling her ears, which turned out to be a freaky green bird nesting too close to the mess she called hair. She shambled and fumbled around like some fish throwing a hissy fit about being on land, but the ornery thing was too lazy to bump off anywhere farther than arm's reach. She finally got the hint that if she oafed at it again like some clumsy rock, it would only bump away enough to keep annoying her, so she instead nagged the other treefaces into finding some sucker..."