The Creative Writing Thread (All writers come all!)

[Asuras]

Originally Posted by SaintessHeart

snip

Am I actually trying to comprehend this before bed?

Bah.

I suppose posting my own one cent isn't all too bad. If anyone even reads it that is.

Spoiler for Story. First Chapter.:

The neon lights buzzed monotonously, like immortal flies. Asphalt streets glimmered with the recent drops of rain. Occasional passerby's muttered conversations with each other. Horns, sirens, and engines filled the night's air. Cars passed by blazing lights into the eyes of three weary looking kids. They slouched in a way that only a teenager could. With blank faces and careless eyes they sat on the bus-stop bench waiting for their only means of vehicular transportation. One of the two boys sat hunched over his phone, his face illuminated by an electronic device. Continuously he typed onto the miniscule keyboard. The other boy merely sat there, leaned back with eyes closed. Frequently he would sit his head up lifting his arm to check the time on his watch. The girl also passed the time by napping. She laid back on the uncomfortable wooden benches, shifting here and there in an attempt to find a more peaceful position. Finally, she merely slumped on the bench, eyes half-open, and tucked her chin to her chest. Almost instinctively the boy that was sleeping –hearing the constant shuffling noises- mumbled to her,

"It's almost here. Bout' six more minutes." Clair stood up and fixed her winter coat, pinching off small specks of fluff that dotted the clothing. She leaned forward sticking her head out from under the shelter of the bus stop meaninglessly checking for the bus she knew was not there yet. The sleeping boy opened his eyes and lowered his arms from behind his head. "Is your dad going to be home tonight?" questioned Zach. Claire receded back under the roof and shook the water from her hair; it had started to rain again.

"I don't know. He wasn't here yesterday, and he didn't call so..." she trailed off. Claire went to Zach and Robbie's school sharing a few classes with them as well. She was about five foot seven and had long dirty-blonde hair. Robbie averted his gaze from the glowing device and began to speak.

"Is there any real consistency with his appearances at home?" he questioned jokingly. Robbie has been Zach's childhood friend since they were in elementary school. Since then they've never moved from their original home of Kingston. Robbie was the tallest of them all; maybe even the whole school. He reached the sky at six foot three and capped his head of with a mess of brown hair. You would never find him without his phone. Claire sat back down rather carelessly with a thud and a shaking of the bench.

"I've never really paid much attention to it. Of what I know, it doesn't have any real consistency at all. I barely even know what he really does anymore," she shrugged. Many a times she's showed up at Zach's doorstep to stay for the night.

"You're always welcome to come over. My mom loves you and we always seem to have just enough food. I never eat enough anyways." Zach chuckled. Zach however only lived with his mom, his dad worked around the world for the most of his life. Claire gave a big sigh.

"Ya I know, but it always feels to me like I'm troubling your mom."

"Don't be ridiculous, you've always been welcome. Heck, she'd adopt you for all I know." Claire looked at him and rolled her eyes. Robbie shook his head and smiled.

"I would understand occasional sleepovers but I don't think you've got the money. Not in this economy." he pointed out. Robbie had it easy; he was a straight A' student for the most part and had both his parents at home. Slowly, a large noise like a large steam engine roaring came upon the bus-stop. With a quick short squeak the bus halted, throwing its hulk forward with momentum and rolling back into place. Claire was the first to jump up. She threw her backpack over her shoulder and trotted to the opening bus door quickly avoiding the down pouring rain. Robbie stuffed his phone into his pocket and grabbed the backpack by the handle, lifting his ten ton luggage filled with papers and textbooks a few inches off the ground and limped away to the bus. Zach rose slowly and caught his eyes meeting with the xenon headlights of a passing car. For a moment he was blinded by the light.

The bus rolled on with constant crescendos of the engine. The three children sat near the back of the bus, on a three seated chair facing the center of the bus. Various lights slid across their faces as if something were scanning them. Zach sat sideways watching the streets whiz by. He rested his head on his palm and gazed at the man shops, restaurants, and people that went by. Claire was seated normally, with her bag upon her lap she peered forward wig an expressionless face. Robbie hung his head back, mouth agape and slept. Occasional rocking of the buses chassis threw his head off the support of the headrest and woke him up with a sort of twitch. For another half an hour the bus hummed on, till a strange occurrence struck the bus. The inside lights turned off for a few seconds along with the engine. Slowing to a stop the bus sat in the middle of the street. The bus driver made confused and looked around at his driving controls until he heard the engine restarted. Zach peered at the driver before returning his gaze to the now dark-city. He raised his head and swiveled it side to side, regarding the new change in lighting. Claire looked around as well silently before sitting back onto the seat. Zach turned to Claire,

"Was that a blackout?" Zach asked as the lights outside the bus flickered back on.

"I don't know. The bus shouldn't have been affected." She said with an unsure tone. They disregarded the happening after that, and waited silently for the rest of the bus ride. The suburbs were luckily devoid of nearby freeways and highways, so during the night an almost deathly silence overcame the homes and peoples. The bus halted at a stop beside a small children's park. The children -being the only ones on the bus- slowly grabbed their luggage and steppe off the bus without a word. The driver raised his cap and smiled to them as they stepped off, but Robbie was the only one to see as he was carrying his mammoth backpack backwards down the bus steps. Claire looked up at the sky, and noticing it had stopped raining, removed the hood from her head and stepped onto the black street waving goodbye to the two boys. Her house was directly across the street from the bus. A small condo with a few lights here and there shone through the windows of the building. Robbie wove back and Zach casually said

"See ya." Claire disappeared behind the gates of the common area gates. Robbie turned to Zach and gestured with his head to get going.
"Aren't you going to put that thing on your shoulders?" Zach pointed to the backpack hanging from his hand supported by the unmovable ground.
Robbie chuckled,

"I don't want scoliosis man. I can hold it the rest of the way."
"I think you can get scoliosis holding it like that too. I can take some of the books in my pack for now if you want." Zach slid his backpack of his shoulders and held it open waiting for Robbie to drop some of his books in. Robbie shook his head.
"I need some muscles anyways, don't worry about it." Robbie started hauling his backpack again, walking down the sidewalk further down into the suburbs. Zach zipped up his backpack blindly while shaking his head as he turned his attention to movement in one of the windows of the apartment. On the second floor a light shone through giving a clear view of a football game going on a television screen. A man rose from his chair and moved away from the window. Claire's dad must be home. Zach slung his pack over his shoulders in one graceful swing and ran past Robbie waving goodbye.

"Gotta go! I'm almost past my normal return time!" Zach shouted backwards. Robbie gave a single wave before reaching into his pocket for his phone again. Zach sped off at a brisk pace disregarding crosswalks and late night bikers. He ran for about two blocks before noticing a trademark red car whizzing past him. In the slightly tinted window he made out the figure of another one of his friends. Anna pressed her face to the window of the bright red car comically and waved silently. Zach was only jogging at this point due to fatigue. He came to a halt and waved back at the girl in the vehicle. He only just met her a day ago, but she still regarded him as a friend, if not just an acquaintance.

At the very beginning of class, before the announcements, the teacher had Anna standing in front of the class. After the bell and the class quieted down our teacher Mr. Manny introduced her.

"Anna here is a new student here at Kingston High. She's come from Russia but still knows English quite well." Mr. Manny spared no other words. He returned to his desk assuming that the new student knew that it was time to sit down. Anna stood there awkwardly before the class until she realized. Anna sat in the empty seat right next to Zach; in the far back, no doubt to be unnoticed by the unfamiliar audience. She laid her arms on the desk and buried her chin into the space between them. Zach looked her up and down once or twice through the corner of his eye before reaching down into his backpack for study materials and books. Laying the objects neatly on his desk he turned his head upwards to the teacher when he spoke,

"I need to get some things printed out; I'll be back in a second." He assured the class. That usually meant a couple minutes; it happened often. As the teacher left the room and his footsteps died out into the hall, the class immediately turned up their volume. Zach sat there, regarding his pencil in his hands. He twirled it once or twice before hearing some kids next to him.

"You're from Russia right? Are there like tons of missiles all around the country?" The group of boys giggled under their breath. They were the immediate neighbors around Anna's desk. They all faced her like a pack of wolves surrounds their kill. Zach turned his head completely to better hear the conversation.

"No." Anna glared. She kept her ground, unmoving.

"Do you salute your flag like this at school?" One of the boys raised his hands to give a Nazi salute and picked up his legs like he was marching. The boys fell into an epidemic of laughter. Anna bent her face forward, covering it up. Zach gave a huff of laughter as the boys rose to group up somewhere else in the classroom. Zach swiveled his head back to Anna, still burying her face. Zach leaned towards her, keeping in his chair.

"Don't worry." He whispered, "They're all dumbasses." Zach returned back into his seat. Anna turned her bowed head towards him, revealing half of her face.

"Da." Anne said before returning to the darkness. Zach played enough World War Two games to understand perfectly what she just said. Class dragged on, History was first period, and unfortunately for Anna, they were getting into the age of the Soviet Union. One of the disrespectful and unintelligent boys raised his hand to be called on.

"Shouldn't we not be talking about communism this way in front of the new student? She's from Russia you know." The boy lowered his hand back and kept silent, obviously laughing on the inside. Others were probably doing the same. The teacher answered the question as if the boy wasn't trying to insult anyone.

"Well Russia isn't a communist state anymore, so it isn't bad." The teacher answered. Mr. Manny continued on with his lecture. Anna returned to her arms.

During lunch, Zach walked along with Robbie to the cafeteria, were they would meet up with Claire. Along the way they came across Anna in the halls; alone. Zach knew all too well that it would be like that, but he thought to himself: Why not fix it? Zach told Robbie to sit down next to him. Zach walked up alongside Anna and plopped himself down. Anna looked up from her sandwich, turning to Zach. Without a word she examined him in confusion. Zach merely greeted her and asked her about the school.

"What do you think?" she said sarcastically, returning to her sandwich. Robbie crouched beside Zach,

"Who's this? You know her?" Robbie questioned.

"Anna; she's from Russia."

"Does she speak English?"

"Yes" Anna grumbled. Robbie was slightly taken aback by her voice, as if expecting a jumbled mess of English was going to emerge from her mouth.

"Ill text Claire to come by." Robbie stated. He pulled out his famous cell phone and began to type. Zach turned back to Anna.

"Unlike those other guys, we don't stereotype." Zach pointed out, pointing at himself and Robbie.

"Not me either." Anna smiled.

Zach picked up his slow walking pace, taking long strides down the cement sidewalk. Two blocks away he could see the distinguishable tree standing tall in his front yard. He was in no real hurry; he didn't really have a curfew to abide by. Walking up his front lawn he slipped his backpack off into his hand and reached into his pocket with the other. He picked out a spare key and opened up the locked door. He entered along with the crash of the door against the wall; he accidentally let it swing out of his hand. From around the corner of the room's right hand entry-way, his mom entered.

"Hi honey." She said softly. She carried a cloth and was drying her hands quickly. Zach gave a meager hello back before turning his attention to the television. A female news reporter stood in front of the camera; a large crowd of politicians stood behind her.

"Can you attribute this worldwide blackout to some sort of new military testing?" the lady stupidly asked. As if the man would tell her. Zach was surprised by the news for only a moment before losing interest. He continued down into the hall into his room. His mom followed him with her eyes silently before returning to the kitchen.

"Is Claire coming over tonight?" she yelled to Zach from the kitchen. Zach threw his backpack to the side of his bed, into a nook just big enough to fit a single-person sleeping bag. He sighed, relieved of the weight upon his arms. He rolled his shoulders twice before turning back to the hall and walking into the kitchen.

"I'm guessing so. I saw her dad in the window." Zach said.

"Well then if so I'm going to go out and get some more stuff for dinner. If you really think she is then go set up the guest bed while I'm out." She picked up her purse and walked to the door.

"Clean up the house please, bye!" She said as she shut the door. Zach looked around. A few misplaced objects and clothing sat around the immediate area. He proceeded to pick them up, stuffing his arms full of pants, jackets, and socks, then dumped them in the garage laundry basket. After about five minutes of perpetual routes to and fro from the inside of the house to the garage he went on his way to the bathroom. A flush later, he walked into the guest room, roughly the size of his room, but instead contained a convertible couch-bed and an office. He moved a couple piles of paper from the unfolding area of the couch and reached for the handle. Pulling with all his strength –the furniture was old- he pulled the concealed bed out of the couch. He carried the structure toward himself and dropped the steel frame upon the ground. A large boom and crash reverberated through the house as it shook.

"Woah, that's not the bed." Zach said to himself. He looked around the room, trying to see the object that could have made the large shaking. Nothing in the room had fallen. He walked into the halls to find dust and smoke creeping along the floors. Covering his mouth and nose with his hand, he followed the debris' path to the bathroom. He looked inside with awe. A huge hole allowed moonlight to drop into the dusty and smoky bathroom. A pile of rubble and wood filled the bathtub and the area around it.

"What in the hell?" Zach said to himself in a high pitched tone. The rubble began to move in the tub. Wood slid off the doggy-pile of debris and a figure rose out of the wreck. The moonlight shined off of the figures full-body armor. And an eyeless helmet turned to peer into Zach's very being. Zach stared at the warrior like a man who previewed his coming death. The figure stood there like an enormous statue of gleaming silver and steel. Particles of shining light began to appear behind the silent soldier, clumping together to form man-sized angelic wings.

***

Zach and the warrior locked eyes like two cowboys would in an old west movie. Is this a dream? Was that loud boom something falling on my head, and now I'm hallucinating? Zach thought. Ways of explaining the phenomena before him raced in his mind. The armored person shifted its legs in the pile of rubble, like a boy whose feet escaped from being buried in the sand. One by one, it lifted its shining silver legs out of the wood. Zach's heart raced and he began to sweat as he backed away, out of the demolished bathroom. The figure only continued its silent march. A sword gleamed upon the hip armor the warrior wore. Zach reached for the words to express his discomfort to the mute warrior. But not a single one, he thought, would faze such an intimidating person. The figure stopped, and in a calm, human voice, he spoke,

"Human, heed this. I have cometh from heaven to protect thou race from all manner of demons. My burden is a heavy one, and if thou can, please relinquish thou fear and assist me." Zach raised an eyebrow as his visible nervousness began to falter. This guy sounds like someone that just came from a Renaissance fair, Zach thought.

"What?" Zach questioned meagerly. The warrior didn't seem to show any form of anger in his posture.

"If thou doesn't want to becometh a meal for a common demon, then lend me your aid in repelling the filth from your world!" He began to show more expression in his voice; his volume was higher and more commanding. Zach began to become nervous again at the mans change in speech. He pressed his back against the wall yet again.

"How will I do that? And who the hell are you?" Zach tried being demanding as well, hoping the man wouldn't chop his head off with the sword resting in its hilt. The man crossed his arms and spoke in a haughty voice,

"I am Gabriel, of the Eden Kingdom of the everlasting Heaven, under the rule of the Almighty God himself. I, as a warrior angel, have been sent to protect your world from the infestation of demons now making their way into this universe." He stood before Zach and became silent after what Zach could guess was an esteemed title exited the angel's mouth. Zach was presented with an answer that only increased his curiosity, as well as confusion. Heaven? What demons? Questions spun around in Zach's head as he tried to grip the situation. The warrior angel stood there, as if expecting a noise of amazement to spout from the boy's mouth. Finding no reply, the angel spoke again,

"I find it that you are very confused human. All in time will you understand the gravity of this occurrence. Do not fear, so long as you aid me in my quest, your life will not perish. Follow my instructions and you can be long known as a hero's companion!" He exclaimed. Zach thought for a minute of what that could mean. Do I have to kill stuff? Is it dangerous? All this time Zach still continued to question this entire scene. It didn't seem real to him. Zach looked down at his feet, kicking at the dust encircling his feet.

"You must trust me human, otherwise your world is in great danger," He assured Zach. Zach's heart beat a mile a minute, and he tried to grasp the outcomes of the choices he might make. And yet still, it didn't seem real. He could feel his on body, and look at what he wanted. He could tell that his heart was beating, and that his thoughts were swirling. This couldn't be a dream, a dream isn't this real. Zach said to himself. The angel heard this, as the whole house was quiet.

"Alas, it is all too real to my chagrin. Take action, it is not a dream."

"What do I need to do?" Zach shouted. The angel was taken aback by the change in personality. Zach felt his inferiority take over his body. What could I possibly do? I don't even know what's going on! This is too sudden!

"I shall teach you. You will learn the ways of exorcism, the process of killing demons, and how to maintain a link between your soul and my own" the angel said. Zach stood his head up with a quick jolt. Link our souls? What is that? Zach questioned in his head.

"Our souls? What do you mean? How can I trust you? How do I know you're not one of those demons you speak of?" Zach said defensively. At that very moment a shattering of glass sped throughout the house. A burglar? Zach thought. The angel reacted instantly, rushing to the side of Zach and blocking his body from the corridor.

"Stand back for now human, and witness the proof I give to you that I am NOT, a low demon," the angel unsheathed his sword and wielded it in both hands. From down the halls Zach could hear growling and shrieking, like the ambience of a wild jungle. From over the immense warriors shoulder Zach viewed the horrors that occupied the end of the hall. Twisted, black figures, with burning red eyes hunched over like animals. They growled and snarled. There were two of them, and they waited for a few moments, waiting for the first action before creating it on their own. They scrambled through the narrow hallways screaming and yelling. The angel widened his stance and raised his sword. Without any words the new figures clashed. The angel kicked one away as he brought his sword crashing down upon the shoulder of the other beast. It lodged in its flesh as it howled and moaned. As Gabriel pulled the weapon out, a splash of pitch-black blood poured onto the hard-wood flooring. The wounded creature rose upon its legs and attempted to smash the angel upon the ground with brute force. The angel seized the opportunity to attack and stepped to the side as he plunged the sword into the side of the rabid animal. The creature made a noise like an angry bull before careening backwards with a thud. The other creature regarded its fallen comrade before baring its teeth at the angel. It charged towards Gabriel with vicious fury on all fours. Gabriel merely sheathed his sword and outstretched his arm like he was waiting for the monster to run into his fist. Gabriel pulled his arm backwards, readying his hand for a punch. But instead of punching the beast directly, he thrust his arm forward before the monster could reach him, and a gust of force flew through the hallway bending the floorboards and sending paint chips whizzing through the air. The beast only noticed as it was struck by the disembodied blow. The shock pounded into the creatures face and caved it inwards, sending the violent hulk backwards into the entrance room wall. The creature fell forward onto its belly and lay still. All this happened in less than a minute, and Zach looked upon it with childlike amazement. The angel turned back to Zach, and folded his arms with a proud posture.

"Do you see now, Human? I am the guardian, and these are the animals. If I cannot complete my quest, your world will be taken over by these savages." Zach shook his head, mouth agape. He felt a surge of some curious feeling seep into his body. He couldn't tell at first what it meant, or what it was, but he then realized that a sense of responsibility took hold of his mind.

Gabriel walked down the broken hall, past the corpses of the beasts, and out into the front yard.

"Woah where are you going?" Zach rushed after him, "My house can't stay like that! My mom will come back and flip out!" He yelled. Gabriel stopped and turned around. Zach screeched to a halt just inches away from the silver hulk.

"Yes, very well." Gabriel said as he snapped his fingers. Immediately the floorboards bent back into place and the bodies vanished.

"The floors are not put back together however, they are merely put back into place," he stated bluntly. Zach looked back upon the once broken halls in amazement. Magic? He thought. Gabriel returned to his trek out onto the front lawn. Zach returned his attention to him.

"You can't be out there! This isn't Halloween, someone will see you!" Zach continued his nervous statements, following behind the angel like an annoying advisor. Once outside, Zach turned his gaze to a changed sky. Stars dotted the sky, and occasional planes could be seen flying overhead. But floating above the city was a colossal hole, pitch black with a hazy purple ring surrounding it. Zach gazed upon the abnormal sky, entranced by the deep abyss hovering in the air.

"What is that? Is that Hell?" Zach started to become jumpy. Gabriel looked up at it and stated,

"No, that is the portal to Heaven, boy. Do not insult us." He said without a hint of interest to the dark hole; as if it where an everyday occurrence. "Hold on, I must call for my servant." Zach jolted his head to the angel. What is up with all this? Demons, portals, heaven, his servant? This is too confusing. Zach began to feel some objection was required before the angel could perform any more tasks, or surprise him with any more facts about angelic life. Gabriel unsheathed his sword and Zach twitched and began to look around with a frightened look on his face; he thought more demons had arrived. But Gabriel only twirled his sword upside down and plunged it into the ground. He grabbed the handle and clenched the steel for a second before releasing it and backing away. Zach looked at the sword, to Gabriel, and to the sword again, trying to figure out some sort of reason for the strange ritual. Then a single light appeared in the center of the abyssal hole in the sky. It wasn't large, but shone brightly in the surrounding blackness. Zach was entranced by the lights that descended from the hole. Then he slowly came to realize that the trajectory of the light was heading straight for them. A sonic boom pounded Zach's ears; he scrunched his eyes and lowered his head for a moment before realizing that the light had come upon them. With an enormous crash, the light had crashed into their front yard, throwing up dirt grass and rock. Moments passed as the cloud of lawn settled back upon the ground. A crater revealed itself, and in the center, rose another angel. Zach was immediately possessed by this angel, for this angel was by far the most beautiful thing he had ever gazed upon. Her skin shone under the light of the lampposts, and was clad in white armor unlike any societies warriors have ever worn. She straightened herself and turned towards the boy and the angel with melancholic eyes.

***

The football commentator blathered on the television screen. Claire's father slumped back upon his red recliner chair, grasping a Red Bull in his hands. Past the crowds shouting, and the commentator's voice, a single sink faucet could be heard running. Claire leaned over slightly above the kitchen counter, placing dishes into the open dishwasher. A shout from the living room startled Claire and caused her to jump.

"No damnit! He was wide open! Wide open!" her father exclaimed leaning forward in his chair and striking his hand at the television, as if trying to smacking an imaginary football player. Claire returned to the chores and sighed. She finished by wiping the counter with a washcloth and brushed her hands on her pants legs. Her father realized her completion of the task and gave her another,

"Yo, go get some din-din. Take the car." He pointed his thumb to the front window, without even glancing at his daughter. Without a single reply Claire walked to the front door and picked up the keys resting on a small table beside the door. She left the house and headed towards the car.

"Screw that," Claire said out loud to herself. She opened the car door and closed it with a jolt of the hand, making sure to allow her father to hear it slam. In the drivers seat she reached into her pocket and pulled out her cell phone and proceeded to make a call to Pizza Hut. She had them bring a single large pizza to her house and hung up the phone.
The car engine sputtered as she turned the key in the ignition, and removed the brake. She drove down the quiet neighborhood silently. It was a relief from the terrifying and dank atmosphere of her home. Being alone in the car felt like escaping jail to her. She passed the park where she was dropped off by the bus and preceded along the street in the direction of Zach's home. Along the park street she noticed erratic movement within the neighboring forest. Slowing the car down to better perceive the movement, she squinted at the seemingly living trees and bushes along the outer edge of the park. Claire parked the car along the sidewalk and exited the vehicle. Is there a fight here or something? Claire questioned.
She walked slowly across the playground and onto the grassy field, taking care not to be noticed by whoever was in the trees. As she inched closer, the sound of vicious animals and clanging metal reached her eardrums. She stopped in her tracks at the inhuman noises. For minutes she stood there, lifeless as a monolith, and regarded the fight with both fear and inquiry. A light shone from behind the trees and a couple trees suddenly burst into flames. Claire covered her eyes at the bright flash and a wave of heat hit her, as if a summer sun instantaneously rose into the sky. No grass lit aflame, and no other trees received the blazing fire. Claire was thoroughly confused. As soon as the trees were ablaze, they were incinerated into nothing, and Claire could then see the ensuing fight that was once concealed by the plants. A single figure bearing an enormous white cape and golden and silver armor swung around itself in mad fury. Four frenzied creatures leaped around the unknown warrior. One by one, the animals were dispatched by the warrior's enormous sword.
Claire looked on as the figure looked about itself, as if checking twice to make sure the beasts were truly dead. Claire began to back away from the scene, fearing she had been either poisoned with drugs, or was just in a bad nightmare. As she turned, her body came into full contact with a smooth metallic surface and she immediately toppled backwards. It had happened so suddenly, she did not think to view her surroundings, her only though was to brace herself for the falling impact upon he ground; but it was too late, and with a soft thud she fell onto the ground. Lifting herself up to get up immediately –she thought merely that she had hit a playground pole- she found that the culprit of her mishap was the figure from the forest.
The figure looked down upon her, and she cowered and scooted away on the grass and turned her body over to quickly scamper away from the terrifying piece of armor. She ran away looking back at the warrior, calculating if she could outrun it by judging its speed; but it did not run, it only stood there looking back at her through an eyeless helmet. She continued to run, and as she turned back to her designated path, she came face-to-face again with the enigmatic warrior. She halted her run and shouted,

"What do you want?" Claire glared at the silent armor. She waited for an answer, but had none. She turned away again to find the warrior two feet in front of her and shrieked. She began to show tears, fearing for the worst. The warrior reached for her with an outstretched hand, and Claire impulsively covered her head. She contemplated her life, her memories, her friends, and her mom, awaiting the finishing blow from the figure. A metal glove rested upon her shoulder and did nothing. It did not grip, and it did not shake her. She raised her arms just enough to peer at the silent helmet of the warrior. It spoke,

"Do not fear, miss. I am here to for you."

[Gamer_2k4]

Oh, heck. I guess I will post an except from my story, after all. This comes from several chapters in, after everything's sort of been established. Hopefully everything in the selection is self-explanatory enough.

Spoiler for 1800 word excerpt:

A few minutes later, the vehicle began moving, and they continued the trip to France. After several hours spent in tense silence, they pulled to a stop. "Unit B, this is Unit A," came the unit leader's voice over the radio. "We've arrived at your position and will deploy momentarily."

"Damn it!" a new voice cried unexpectedly. "Couldn't you have been a little more discreet? Now the metabots are going to be all over us again!"

"I said we'll be right there," the unit leader replied, a slight edge in his voice. "Try to compose yourself." Then, to Unit A, he said, "Squads 11 and 4, move out and join Unit B! Squads 18 and 20, move out after them and position yourself to provide covering fire. Squads 34 and 36, remain near the transports for now."

The setting sun greeted the Warriors as they left their vehicles. As Markus ran out with his squad, he couldn't help but notice a large fence that had been erected less than a mile behind them. Beyond it, the buildings seemed to have been abandoned, and half a year of uncontrolled plant growth had overtaken much of the area. However, what really captured his attention were the large, ornate graves and monuments that the troopers from Unit B had taken cover behind. They were in a cemetery, and quite an impressive one at that. Evert led the squad over to a cluster of blue-clad troopers, and they waited there for the time being.

The unit leader had joined them, and now he spoke to the few Warriors remaining from Unit B. "What's the situation?"

"I don't know!" answered one of the troopers in a strained voice. Markus started as he realized it was Elise, the girl who was in charge of Unit B the last time they had worked together. "I've never dealt with metabots like these before!" Elise continued. "This is the first time we've ever heard of them attacking anything but a military facility!"

"Civilians? They're attacking civilians?" Markus repeated, feeling his anger rise. Something had been nagging at him since he had exited his transport, and now he realized what it was. They were about to fight in a city, something he had never done before. Innocent people were probably going to get hurt, and many had probably died already. Even robots should have some standards of decency, shouldn't they? What were they going to accomplish by hurting unarmed civilians?

His thoughts were interrupted as realized Elise was answering his question. "They sure are, and there's more, too. If I didn't know any better, I'd swear they were using MP weapons, only for humans. One scratch from one of their blades and a person goes down, just like that. The injuries on some of our people aren't anywhere close to being fatal, yet they're clearly dead!"

"And that's why you're in such trouble now?" Markus asked, ignoring the looks from both Evert and his unit leader that said, "You're not in charge here."

"Exactly! Our unit excels because even though we may not have the finesse that your swordsmen do, we're trained to keep fighting in teams, taking minor injuries as necessary to remain in a cohesive group. But if these injuries inexplicably kill us, our skills are completely nullified!"

"Well, we're here with riflemen now, so just sit tight until they're done saving you." Despite the grim situation, Markus couldn't help but feel a bit of twisted satisfaction in the role reversal that occurred since the last time the two units worked together. However, upon realizing what he felt, he immediately condemned himself, shocked that something so petty could seem so important when there were much larger issues at hand.

"They'll get their chance to try very soon," Elise said tightly. "We had to scatter and take cover here after suffering so many losses, and the metabots lost track of us. However, there's no way they missed your transports rumbling in. We'll probably be attacked within ten minutes."

Before Markus could respond, the unit leader finally got a word in. "What are we up against?" he asked Elise.

"That's the second strange thing about this whole ordeal. These metabots aren't anything like the ones that have been attacking recently. They're old models, if six months could be considered old, and painted bright red. We didn't run into a single gunner, but it hardly matters; these metabots have those strange blades and very thick armor. I'd almost say that they're some sort of rebels or imitators, but that can't be possible, can it? Don't the metabots all come from the same place?"

"You think they tell us anything?" asked Markus. "I don't even know what that fence over there is," he added, gesturing towards the barrier he had seen earlier.

"Oh, that? Past that fence is the Dead Zone, an off-limits area that was completely wiped out by the Catalyst. Why do you think no one's heard from those areas since that explosion? They're all dead, that's why!"

Markus blinked, shocked at her bluntness. "And that doesn't bother you?" he asked in disbelief. He had become desensitized to small-scale death on the battlefield, sure, but the sudden extinction of millions of people was still staggering.

Elise paused a moment before responding. "It's something I've come to terms with," she finally said. "It happened, and there's no way around that. We just have to accept it and do our part in the world that's left."

A short silence reigned before it was broken by one of the mechanics running up to the group bearing an MP broadsword. "Schwartz, I've fixed your sword –" he began, stopping in confusion as he realized that Markus was already holding a sword. "No, you have one already," he muttered to himself. "Then who...?" The mechanic let the words hang in the air as he looked around for an unarmed Warrior.

Markus stood up and took the sword from the mechanic. "That's mine," he said shortly. "I'm using two swords this battle."

"You can do that?" the mechanic asked in amazement. Markus glared at him, and he quickly finished, "Right, well, I'd better be on my way." He hurried away, leaving Markus and the others to sit and wait for the impending attack.

"Are you sure they're going to attack us?" Markus finally asked Elise. "The metabots could be wreaking havoc in the city right now for all we know, and we'd just be sitting here doing nothing!" He peeked around the grave, squinting to see in the growing twilight.

"Even if they're not, I'm sure not going out searching for them, not this late!" Elise shot back. "We've already been cut down to about a third of our size, and that was fighting in the daylight. There's no way you can convince me to take my unit out now!" She glanced around the corner like Markus had, searching for any threats.

A yell of shock from behind them caused Markus and the others to spin around, looking for its source. What he saw made his heart jump. The metabots had sprung a surprise attack on the riflemen! One of them had already been stuck down, and the others were rushing around in confusion. "Fire, fire! Just shoot!" came the panicked voice of Squad 20's leader, who was scrambling about trying to get a decent position to fire from while avoiding enemy attacks.

Nicole was moving just as quickly, though her command was a calm but tense, "Fire at will." She must have been holding down the trigger of her beacon attachment, because each beacon immediately launched like a mortar shell as she dropped them into the tube one after another. One of her squadmates was clipped by a metabot's blade and dropped to the ground in a lifeless heap, cause her to gasp in shock as she tumbled out of the way.

"Come on, let's go!" shouted Markus to the others as he ran towards the fray, brandishing both swords. Ahead of him, another rifleman was knocked down as he blocked a metabot's attack with his rifle. The metabot began to swing its blade towards its fallen opponent, but the strike was knocked off-target when a trooper threw himself into the metabot's arm. The impact had almost no effect beyond shifting the arm a few inches out of the way, but the trooper followed it up with a deadly strike to the metabot's midsection, disabling it.

The other troopers were flowing around the tombs now, helping protect the riflemen. The trooper who had first dived in was looking around now, and for the first time Markus caught a glimpse of his face. Tore! Markus nearly stopped his charge in surprise. What the hell had happened to Tore, that he was willingly jumping into the heat of the battle? Tore leapt onto another metabot's back, stabbing it like an assassin. Markus's stupefied gaze was torn away as more metabots swarmed out from his group's flanks. He caught the first attacking metabot with a sweeping strike like an uppercut, then followed it up with a spinning attack on another metabot with his second sword. So this is what it's like to be a swordsman, Markus thought with a tight smile. His armor seemed to be pushing him, almost eliminating the effort that would normally be required to move. His injuries were little more than an afterthought, and it seemed like every single motion brought down another metabot. Finally, no more enemies rose to meet him, and an uneasy silence prevailed over the cemetery.

After a period of wary inaction, the unit leader called, "Unit A, regroup at the transports!" Elise echoed the order to the few troopers remaining from her unit. Once everyone had gathered into their squads, the unit leader said, "Is everyone here? How is everyone?" He looked around, grimly noting the groups of two and three where there should have been four-man squads. Suddenly his eyes fell on Nicole, who was standing by herself. "Nicole, what happened?" he asked in surprise. "Where's the rest of your squad?"

Nicole didn't look up. "These weren't the conditions I was supposed to fight in," she said quietly, her normally composed voice alarmingly shaky.

"You –" the unit leader began, then stopped. "I'm sorry," he finished regretfully. No one spoke; the cost of the battle felt heavy on all of them. "Alright, everyone, let's get back to the base," he concluded. "Everyone, return to your transports. Try to get some rest on the way back."

[psycho_luny]

alright now i got these 2 pieces...i just need to kill them in the first pieces and find a way to make the second piece fall into the story and finish it...hope you all enjoy the little preview ^^, and sorry if the story line sucks

Spoiler for bits and pieces1:

STORY:
this story starts on a nice and warm summer day the sun is shining brightly, a cool breese passes through the vast plains, causing the grass and the flowers to move along with it. Angeal (a 19 year old boy) and Mila (a 21 year old girl) are sitting next to a lake, watching amazed how the water falls down the waterfall into the lake.
"Angeal my love, how did you find this??"
Mila asks amazed by the beauty she sees around her
"i was searching for a specific flower, a flower to give to you. i heard it resides on the top of waterfalls so i went out to search for it, and upon my search i found this place. once my eyes caught a single glimps of it, i thought of you.it's beautiful, yet not as beautiful as you"
he gently places his hand on her cheek
"nothing compares to your beauty"
they look deep into eachothers eyes, their eyes locked into eachother. several moments pass by and nothing matters to them, only the two them of them being together and their love for eachother.
"Mila, i love you with all my hearts. your all that matters to me in this world"
"i love you too my love, with all my heart and soul. the love i feel for you, has no limit"
She gently presses her lips onto his and kisses him with all the love and passion she has. another moment passes until a sound reaches their ears, a yell.
"ANGEAL!!...ANGEAL!!..." A man comes running towards the 2 lovers
"Joseph...what's wrong??"
"it's the village...it's under attack..."
"what!?" he abrubtly yells, interupting the man, he immediately turns to Mila. "i'm sorry i..."
"go" she interupts him "go...but please be careful"
"i will" he quickly answers before rushing of towards the village"

once in the village Angeal stops to look upon it with shock, the entire village stood on fire. people where screeming as they where cut down by the hands of bandits, bodies of those murdered people everywhere.
"h...how can this be??"
he says with tears welling up in his eyes.
"come on...we've gotta help them" The man says as he pulls Angeal along.
"you're right" Angeal replies while drawing two swords, black as the night, each carrying a gold symbol of a lion on the blade.
the two rushes to aid those who where in need, slaughtering all bandits in their way and helping all villagers that where wounded.
"Angeal...go ahead, i'm going to help this girl out of town"
without turning around towards the man, he replies.
"alright my friend, hurry back"
"will do" the man replies as he lifts up the little girl. he runs out of town, carrying her in his arms.
Angeal continous his way through the village, his swords stained more and more by blood as he cuts down bandit after bandit. a loud scream, followed by a cry for help is heard from a burning building. Angeal rushes towards the building, entering it without hesitation.
"where are you?!" he yells
"over here...please heeelp!!"
angeal spots her and immediately rushes over to her
"don't worry everything will be alright"
he lifts her up and rushes out of the building. not long after they had escaped from it, the building collapses. the women frightened and sad wraps her arms around him crying out thank you's at angeal.
"your welcome...go, run to safety"
she nods and runs out of the village, crying out thank you's
angeal hears a sound from behind him and with great swiftness he spins around swinging his sword at it. he quickly halts his attack by the sight of Mary.
"mila...what are you doing here??"
"i want to help"
"no way...please go. i can't fight if you're around"
"why??...i can help"
"i can't protect you"
"you don't need to...i can take of myself"
"no...please go"
"NO!!...i'm not going to let you fight alone"
Angeal sighs softly and closes his eyes for a moment.
"alright my love...but please stay close to me"
"i will" she replies somewhat joyful
shakes his slowly and sighs loudly
"i'm going to regret this"
"aaww...don't be like that"
she kisses him on the cheek
he quickly puts his arms around her and pull her tightly against himself.
"please...pleeaase be carefull, i don't want to lose you"
"i will my love...come we don't got time for this"
a group of bandits mobilizes and rushes towards the couple, their weapons drawn and gribbed tightly in their hands.
"Mila...quickly take this"
Angeal hands her one of his swords.
"thank you"
she gribs it tightly into her hands
"Mila...use what i learned you. if you can't deafeat an enemy, let me handle him then."
"stop worrying, you need to be focused on the fight"

Angeal and Mila got surrounded by the bandits, not long after they had reached the couple.
a bandit smirks and begins to laugh as he looks at Mila.
"well well well...look at this you guys."
the other bandits join in, in all the laughing.
"don't you even think about it you bastards...you'll never lay a finger on her, not as long as i live"
a bandit walks up to them.
"well that was plan anyway...killing you and taking her as a price"
Angeal makes the bandit pay for his boldness and cockyness with just a swing of his sword and immediately the man's head and body hit the ground almost at the same time.
"anybody else??"
he asks as he gets into fighting stance.
"KIIILLL THEM BOOOTH!!"
one of the remaining bandits yells as he charges at the couple. his charge was a brief one, for it was swiftly with one swing of the sword by mila. just as the bandit's body hit the ground the others followed his example and all charged, screeming and cursing loudly at the couple.

Spoiler for bits and pieces2:

Angeal and mila are both students at the prestige college for teaching, they however hardly eachother. Each day they follow the same classes without saying an word to each other, sitting at each end of the classroom always just looking at the other.
Until one day… Mila visits a chat site and accidently comes in touch with angeal without knowing it. They spend night after night talking to eachother on the site, slowly falling in love. At last they decide to meet each other, and find out the shocking truth.

“aren’t you…”
“in each class your in??” angelo interupts her. “yes I am”
“but…but…”
“how can it be??” he replies with a gentle smile. I have no id…”
“will you stop interupting me and finishing my scentances” she says agitated by it all
“I’m sorry” he takes a deep breath. “how should we proceed??”
with a puzzled look on her face she replies; “I don’t know…I do like you and you do like me, do you??”
“of course I like you” he steps closer to her “I think I’m in love with you”
her face turns red by his words. “but how…how can you love me??”
“I felt i loved you the first time i saw you, and i grew more and more the more we talked”
“no….no…you must not love me” she says wildly shaking her head.
“it’s too late” he steps closer to her “I simply love you and I thought you loved me…but I guess I was mistaken”
he says with a sad and disapointed look on his face.

A minute passes without a word being said, then…
“why didn’t we meet in class…why is it so easy to talk to you on the internet and yet so hard in real life” a soft sigh comes from him “I understand if you want to end it…if you want to end any interaction with me”
“n…no, I don’t want that” a tear falls down her cheek “i…i…I love you too”

[whitepearl]

With the annual National Novel Writing Month set for November, is anyone thinking about participating?

http://en.blog.wordpress.com/2011/09...day-challenge/

[Gamer_2k4]

Originally Posted by whitepearl

With the annual National Novel Writing Month set for November, is anyone thinking about participating?

That's far too hectic a pace for me. My writing process is slow and methodical, and I think I'd just stress myself out doing this.

[Mr. Wang]

Damn, I write average of 2,000 words per day in everyday life, I could do this...

Sad thing is, I'd probably spend the whole month attempting to create original ideas, a plot, and trying to get a length for it that would constitute for an entire novel. I write fanfiction... Original ideas, I can come up with. But they require a hell of a lot more work on my part that can make things a bit difficult for me...

[Hooves]

Trying to create something original will be extremely tough with all the novels/books/animes/manga/LNs/etc released that cover almost every story setting I can think of..

[NoemiChan]

I'm planning of making a novel but I'm far from the middle. Plus I'm not really good in Literary kind of English

[MUAHAHAHAHAHA]

I had a sudden inspiration thanks to the cup of coffee in front of me.


Cold coffee,
the sign of passing time,
stirring a cupful of memories,
melancholy, nostalgy,
all brimming over.

Between friends of norm, and
friends that'll last,
a cup of coffee,
that still retains its taste,
regardless how far it is,
the footsteps of time,
we still have,
a cup of coffee,
to freeze the seconds,
and treasure the present.


Then I wrote this yesterday when I was forced to stay home due to the depressing weather.

peer into the window of the past,
stare into an aquarium where fishes died,
look into their jeers,
they mean nothing,
the window's closed,
why open again?
the heart's been hurt,
why wound it again?

peer into the locked window,
through the broken glass,
through the rotting panes,
they are gone,
walk pass by it,
just another window,
a window that opens to your past,
it is now closed.

[kitten320]

Ok... I have an idea block and need help. All I need is just some suggestions or idea that could get me on track.

I know what I want over all but I can't think of a proper reason as to why that's happening.

The idea I have is: The MC is able to travel through different Universes. The first universe he accidentally visits is a world where animals are of the same height as humans and can talk. Also MC travels there along with 2 pets. I know what I want to do in this Universe but...

I can't think of a proper reason as to why he can travel through Universes and what is the purpose of it? Like he could find keys and portals to travel but what is the purpose of all of it?
One of the ideas I have is that "God" can't keep up with taking care of all the worlds out there and needs help so he is searching for a helper and does something like a competition.

What I don't like is that this idea is reminding way too much of Mirai Nikki. Besides in order to control the worlds you can't be a total bastard but by having competitors kind there won't be much of a challenge =/

The more I think about it the more my brain starts to boil but I really want to have this world travel idea and have an over all villains, not separate ones for each world @_@

Does anyone have any possible suggestions on where I could take this? Feel free to write whatever comes to your mind even if it is something silly, it might be inspiring.

P.S. I do want to keep it children friendly so nothing too bloody like Mirai Nikki please.

[MUAHAHAHAHAHA]

Your hero is just an average high school kid who lives a non-existent life. All he does is read porn, watch porn, and sleep with porno figurines. One day, during a daily trip to Akihabara, he got stabbed by an unknown person in a secluded alley. Two cats suddenly appear before him and promise to grant him life only if he helps them with their mission-to travel around different universes and defeat the much hated tyrant who is currently attacking different universes, and Earth is next. Hero desperately agrees, because he can't bear the fact that the Earth will be gone and his porno life comes to a halt. The two cats are actually 2 sexy ladies sent by a rebellion group.

To move around the universe, they are guided by a map. The universe that the tyrant resides is the last universe in their map. Once they reach the universe, they will attempt to assassinate the tyrant. To do that, they need to search for pieces of an ancient relic that will defeat the tyrant, coz that dude is uber powerful and all. However, it might take time to reach the last universe because for the hero and his cohorts can't jump from one universe to another as and when they wish. To move on to another universe, they need to search for the portal/key, which means they will have to try to blend in with the society and search for the portal. Throughout the quest, hero meets many new friends and starts to have a goal.

You can twist the writing a bit by revealing that the hero is actually "created" by the tyrant. The tyrant also spread the false rumour that a guy(his creation) is the only person in the universe that has the ability to use an ancient relic to defeat him. Once the hero reaches the last universe, the tyrant will then destroy the ancient relic and continue to rule the universe. However, he does not take into account that his "creation" has developed his own identity, so when he reaches the last universe, he is killed by the hero.

Ending=The rebellion group that the two sexy ladies work for actually wants the universe for themselves. The two sexy ladies are the actual main villains. The so-called tyrant wants to continue ruling the universe only because he realizes he is the only one capable of protecting it. But too late, the tyrant is killed and the hero is left to believe that the tyrant is an evil guy. So he becomes a puppet ruler for the rebellion group. The end.

[kitten320]

Lol nice... but not exactly what I planned
But does have some themes and things for me to think about, thanks

[MUAHAHAHAHAHA]

Originally Posted by kitten320

Lol nice... but not exactly what I planned
But does have some themes and things for me to think about, thanks

sorry, I didn't know what genre you are aiming for so I just spouted some nonsense

[Alchemist007]

How about a buggy high tech mechanism that he has on him?

[kitten320]

^Yeh, I do have something like that

Actually I think I know where I'm heading with it now, just few more details left to think of^^

Thanks for the help

[MUAHAHAHAHAHA]

I found this while clearing up my disk space. It's something I wrote long ago.


My childhood memories consist mainly of fuzzy, erratic images. Those few memories consist mainly of watching my mother working in the tiny, cramped, dinky shop situated just outside the village. The income she earns is meagre, just enough to cover the household expenses and basic necessities such as clothing. I will sit down obediently at a corner, watching her every step while playing a game called “Silence”. The rule of the game is simple; I must not talk. My mother explains to me that her “lao-ban-niang” dislikes children making a fuss in her congee shop. My three other siblings attend school, and the school expenses alone almost create a dent in her tight budget. And so, as the eldest child in the family, I have to sacrifice and stay home instead. However, my mother is worried that I might cause chaos in the house during her absence, and thus, my hang out in the shop after persistent pleading from my mother to the “lao-ban-niang”.



That is not the only sacrifice I have to make. As the eldest child and the only man in the house since my father’s demise, I am also expected to set good examples to my younger siblings. I have to offer my miserable few toys to them. I cannot make them cry. I cannot demand for anything. I must settle their dispute in place of my mother. I am their object of scorn whenever they receive a lecture from my mother. And lastly, I cannot exhibit any behaviour that is considered as childish, and that includes vying for her affection. In short, sacrifice is my second name.



I am not a happy boy during those times. I am often frustrated, angry, resentful, and taciturn. I seldom feel love from my mother. The sweet smell of her body is slowly fading away as her hugs become more and more infrequent. I often observe the way she smiles and interacts with her customers. I long for the smile to be solely mine. I long to bury my face in her bosoms.Whenever I look at her in the eyes, there is a silent pleading that begs her to love me again as she used to before my father’s untimely death. I understand that she is stressed out and burdened by the responsibility of caring for a large brood of children and becoming the sole breadwinner. I understand. I really do. After all, she is my mother. Her joy is my joy, and her pain becomes my pain. All I am asking for is a little demonstration of love on her part. A daily hug and kiss and words of love are more than sufficient. Is it too much to ask for?


She never notices the message in my eyes. Perhaps she is too busy. Or perhaps she just doesn’t care. Eventually, when my silent pleading goes unnoticed, I begin to rebel. I thrash my siblings, I devilishly hide their toys, smear their clothes with mud, run around the congee shop, call the “lao-ban-niang” a “hideous old cow” and stealing from nearby shops. And each time I am rewarded with a spank from my mother. I do not think I feel much from the spanks. After all, my heart has become as hard as coal ever since I rebel. But somehow, a tiny piece of me always wishes that she will sit down and try to reach out to me instead of spanking. With each passing day, I begin to care less about my life.


One morning, during the weekend, my mother asks me to bring my brothers to the nearby river for a fishing trip. I want to refuse and rebel, like I always do. However, I couldn’t help but notice that there is a sad dim look in her eyes. I couldn’t bring myself to say no, so I meekly nod. She leaves immediately after that and I walk silently behind my siblings to the river. While my siblings are fishing, I lounge lazily on the river bank. I am about to drift off to a deep slumber when suddenly, a scream almost deafens me. I immediately get up to see what is happening. To my horror, one of my siblings is struggling in the water. He must have gone into the water without me realizing. Taking a deep breath, I quickly jump into the water without glancing around for help. Diving deep into the river water, I lift my brother’s body upwards so that he does not swallow any more water and passer-by could notice him. To my relief, I see our neighbour swimming towards us. I signal to him that I need no help and my brother should be his priority. He accepts that and begins to swim to the river bank while dragging my brother along. I start to follow them when suddenly, I feel a jolt of pain in my calf muscles. I begin to struggle like my brother minutes before, and before I know it, I have swallowed a lot of water. I am starting to run out of oxygen, but I couldn’t swim to the surface to take a gulp of air. I continue to make frantic movements, hoping I would be noticed. After what seems to be an eternity, I feel a muscular hand pulling me towards safety. By the time I am laid on the river bank, I have lost consciousness. My siblings would later tell me that my neighbour and also a few other villagers make a desperate attempt to resuscitate me. I awake suddenly and vomit out the river water. I am still in a daze when a familiar arm pulls me towards her. I am blessed again with the sweet smell of her body, her protective hugs and her torrents of kisses. My mother envelopes me in a tight embrace while cradling me in her arms. She keeps apologizing over and over and talking gibberish, and I merely stare at her as I try to make out the words. Her words are slurred by her tears and the thick lump in her throat. After a while, I give up. I realize that I do not need to comprehend her words; She is assuring me that I have and will always have a place in her heart.



In the days that follow, my mother and I have developed a deeper understanding for each other. For me, I realize that I will always be her son and her lack of physical affection signifies nothing. As for my mother, she now understands that she has more or less neglected me. Her daily routine of hugs, kisses and words of love returns to normal. The deep bond and silent understanding between us continue for decades until her death, and looking back now, I have much to thank for for her constant protection and love. She is a part of me, and nothing will ever change that.

[Kirito]

I never knew a thread like this existed. I'm a writer myself--well studying and practicing to become one. Here's a Sayaka Miki poem I've written while I was watching Puella Magi Madoka Magica for the first time. I know it's anime so I do apologies if it doesn't fit with the implications that this thread follows.

Sayaka Miki - Half Broken Sword

I took it upon myself to love and care for you
While your pain is unbearable, my love remains true
I sold my soul to become your shining light
I made my resolve to stand up and fight

As I heard the sounds of the music you play
I thought that my heart would never go astray
Just as I thought things were coming along
I'd never realize that fate would prove me wrong

As the blessings I gave turned out to be a curse
I would fear that things will only get much worse
All traces of what makes me human have been lost
My love for you would later be the cost

As things get worse for I'm about to see
A person whom I called a friend betrayed me
As she confessed to the boy who was my heart
It felt like my whole body got ripped apart

Everything I gave has been for naught
I started to question why I ever fought
As you lay in the arms of the one who's not me
The only thing I have left now is misery

As my mind and my heart descend into darkness
The negative and evil thoughts became hard to repress
I gave up everything and became his tool
Miracles and magic exist, I've been nothing but a fool

[GundamFan0083]

Not sure if this is allowed or not so I will not link to my book's listing page on Amazon or Smashwords.
If you like what you read here and would like a link to my book to read more, PM me or google the title since a URL link here may violate animesuki's Rule 1.5 which prohibits solicitations.
Here is a tiny excerpt (the first section, 2 pages of 732 pages total) from my novel The Stygian Conspiracy (Nexus Arcana):

CHAPTER ONE

PRELUDE TO BATTLE

“If you will not fight for right when you can easily win without bloodshed; if you will not fight when your victory will be sure and not too costly; you may come to the moment when you will have to fight with all the odds against you and only a precarious chance of survival.” —Winston Churchill


May 2071 AD

Gideon Krieg was short for a man of eighteen years. His stocky, muscular, five-foot ten-inch frame did not seem to fit into the black and gray space marine uniform he was wearing. His Caucasian features reflected in the large, Plexiglas viewport as he stood watching the activity in the immense, underwater hangar of Antarctica Base. His hazel brown eyes watched intently as mini-subs darted between the cylindrical shapes of space cruisers, destroyers, and escort ships.

The starship hangar was a huge, bowl-shaped structure built deep within the rock of Antarctica’s coastline near the Ross Sea. Dozens of viewports, similar to the one in front of Krieg, studded the bottom of the hangar like stars in the night sky. At the bottom of the bowl lay a massive double door, some thirty-five hundred feet in diameter, which led to the enormous, underground shipyard of Antarctica Base. Directly across from Gideon’s vantage point was a second set of huge, alloy doors that led out into the Ross Sea. Gideon brushed his hand through his short, brown hair in a brisk motion straight back, something he did when he was apprehensive or impatient. Right now, it was impatience.

Gideon breathed in the cold, metallic air of the lounge with a deep draught. The plastic smell of the bloodred carpet he stood on filled his nostrils as his eyes locked on to the base of the hangar while he waited in anticipation. He did not have to wait long, as bubbles boiled up from the large, shipyard doors at the bottom of the hangar, indicating the steam-powered doors were beginning to open. The two massive plates of the doors slid into their respective recesses slowly as an enormous, charcoal gray ship rose up into the hangar. The mass of the vessel caused the other spacecraft to adjust their antigravity fields as the displacement of the newcomer disturbed the water in the hangar. The mighty warship lumbered upward into the center of the bowl. The length of the vessel nearly matched that of the door it had just come through. The great, metallic beast was some fifty times larger than the biggest cruisers of the Earth Federal Forces. The gigantic ship was the alien space battleship that the EFR had renamed the Posse Comitatus.

“So, that’s the alien ship,” a familiar voice said behind Gideon.

“Oh, hey, Kabuto!” Private Krieg came to attention. “Uh…err…I mean, Sergeant.”

“No need for that, we’re technically off duty. Besides, I’d never pull rank on a friend.” He gave him a wink as he handed Gideon a cup of tea.

Kabuto Tokugawa was about Gideon’s height; had short, black hair; strange, amber-colored eyes; and looked like he was a mix of both Japanese and American lineage. Kabuto met Gideon in battlerobot training school, where the two of them had quickly become friends, though Tokugawa was in an advanced class and graduated a year before Krieg. Kabuto had already been in combat in 2067 during the Battle of Paris and just became reacquainted with Gideon after a little over three years.

Kabuto stood next to Gideon and looked out the viewport. “Did you get any sleep? You look beat.”

“Yeah, I got a little.” Krieg sipped the hot tea.

“Still have those dreams about that other world?”

“They’re more like nightmares than dreams.”

Kabuto gave Krieg a pat on the shoulder. “Sorry I mentioned it.”

“So, how was your trip to Europe? I heard you saw some action,” he asked, eager to change the subject.

“The Earth hasn’t recovered from the planetoid impact.” Kabuto spoke in a robotic voice, something was troubling him. “We did find some survivors, but mostly we encountered UN cloned soldiers and occupation forces.” Sgt. Tokugawa sipped his tea and spoke, more to himself than to Gideon, “The battles were fierce, and we lost a lot of good pilots.”

“It’s hard to believe we are still fighting this stupid war.”

“Oh?” Kabuto turned to Gideon. “You still think we can negotiate with the UN Solar Empire?”

“Yes. Why not?” Gideon smiled as he scolded his friend. “We are all humans after all. Just because they migrated into space and colonized the other planets does not mean they are some new species.”

“Really?” His eyes narrowed as he stared at Gideon. “They are human, but we are men. They chose that path before the war, back in the twentieth century.”

His friend’s viciousness towards the United Nations Solar Empire did not surprise Gideon. They had had this discussion before.

“Isn’t humankind the same as mankind?” He glared at Tokugawa while trying to hold back a smile.

“Biologically yes, but ideologically no.” Kabuto moved over to the table and chairs in front of the viewport. “Let’s sit down and discuss this, shall we?”

At that moment, a female voice came over the intercom. “The following space marine platoons are to report to the main briefing room: Black Tigers, Golden Dragons, Warhammers, Blue Falcons, Sledgehammers…”

“Sledgehammers, well, that’s me,” Gideon exclaimed, seizing the opportunity to escape one of Kabuto’s lectures.

“What a coincidence…,” Kabuto said with a sly smile while pushing his chair back in, “me too.”

* * *

[TinyRedLeaf]

Originally Posted by GundamFan0083

Not sure if this is allowed or not so I will not link to my book's listing page on Amazon or Smashwords.

In cases like these, only one word is needed.

Congratulations!

[NinjaRealist]

Originally Posted by whitepearl

With the annual National Novel Writing Month set for November, is anyone thinking about participating?

http://en.blog.wordpress.com/2011/09...day-challenge/

I don't write novels very much so my goal for Nanowrimo is a screenplay.