“There’s Something in this Basket…”

Rainer and Caspian finally get a chance to have a nice meal, and what does Bit do? Perches himself in the bread bowl, of course! Where else is a drakeling to find a little warmth? Honestly. They just can’t take him anywhere.

Cas is hoping nobody looks over and screams about the ‘lizard’ chillin’ in their bread basket. Rainer is more concerned with the lack of tiny dragon crying, however. Those breadsticks are stale anyway.

(Original photo is not mine. xD I meant to snap one the last time were at Olive Garden but I forgot. <3)

(In case you missed it, this is the Martyr’s Glaive.)

…What? People slash Cloud with the Buster Sword all the time. >.>; Desperate times call for desperate measures? x’D *BRICKED*

The Phoenix WIP

Two months of nothing and I come out with this. .__. The background I painted for it is terrifying.

And I can’t look at it without apologizing.

(If you’re wondering WTF, you need to read this and this.)

xandra-sama:

Topic: Various bits and pieces from the Unnamed Story.
Goal: to complete and stay under 300 words for all prompts.

Instead of writing parts of the story itself, I’m going to try to show different perspectives and situations, both of and about its characters. Those that are NSFW or feature yaoi content will be posted to Panda After Dark and linked back. Updated prompt and drabble list below.

PROMPTS:

beginning. - The Flower - A lost journal page. 199 words.

accusation. - The Word - A single syllable. 300 words.

restless. - Haunted - Of power and fear. [Yaoi content.] 294 words.

snowflake. - Frigid - A witch attack documented. 290 words.

haze. - The Edge of Reason - A man speaks of death. 239 words.

flame. - The Phoenix - Without mercy. [Violent imagery.] 299 words.

formal. - A Scandal! - A solemn event infiltrated! 160 words.

companion. - On Belonging - Freedom can be hollow. 285 words.

Read More

Still on it! Completed drabble list so far!

There is something to be said for being alone. You haven’t to care for anyone but yourself, and all decisions can be made on a whim. You can travel as far as you like, and rest whenever you please, be hasty, and reckless, and no one of substance will suffer. You can be free.

But there is a certain emptiness to that sort of freedom. I never realized how much until I was no longer free—and no longer empty.

Until then, I could not find comfort with people. I could adapt to their quirks for a time and become, under pretense, the person they would best respond to. But I never truly connected with them. Never really belonged anywhere. Even traveling with the others, I felt out of place…but it wasn’t as out of place as I usually felt. Perhaps it’s because none of us belong anywhere.

A knight with no confidence, and no cruelty, and no pride.

A noblewoman with no wealth, and no selfish intentions.

A warrior with no master, no qualms, and no fear.

And a witch with no memory, no place, and no future.

I didn’t set out looking for friends; I’m not even certain I know what friends are. But as we travel down the road, and Milady regales us with her innocent fancies, Reece leading Evangeline guardedly by the reins, and Rainer casting his monstrous shadow over my back—I find myself not quite at home, but at peace all the same.

I am incomplete…a man with no fate. No name. But here, among those cast out, broken and lost, I find that I belong. And there is something to be said for that, too.

—A page from a leather-bound journal, etched with a Flame rune

[A part of the 30 Days of Writing drabble project]

The Binding of Lady Seniya Dalmaros and Lord Thamos Alraan was disrupted today by a band of vagrants, masquerading as relatives to gain entry to the proceedings. While nothing of value was lost, the families hold this intrusion as an affront, and have offered a reward for their capture.

The imposters are described as a red-haired girl wearing ribbons, a dark male witch with facial markings, a matronly Alderon wardame, and a tall knight with prominent scars along his jaw. Family patriarch, Grandmaster Nephrim Alraan, encourages any who have seen these bandits to report their movements to the Temple, so that they might be apprehended.

The Bound, however, spoke kindly on the interlopers’ behalves. Lady Seniya herself admitted to knowledge of the seeming deceit, but “played along” out of sympathy for the band. The Arcane Guard is investigating.

Merida and Raksil Dalmaros—whom the girl and witch impersonated—were not in attendance. No word on their feelings regarding the event.

—Ras’tal Major-Cryer Barmeritus, on the Dalmaros-Alraan Binding Ceremony

[A part of the 30 Days of Writing drabble project]

The Grand Lunastice: that night, every decade, when the Moon draws closest to the earth. The night when the barrier between worlds grows thin, and the gifts of Her children—the Touched—reach greatest focus. The night when those who’ve left us return from the Otherworld…and those who fear suffer their horrors in crystalline clarity.

Read More…

[A part of the 30 Days of Writing drabble project]

Damn it all.

Behind me, Caspian tensed, hand rising to the slot in his vest—to the scepter, reduced, concealed inside. Too often, we found ourselves in this situation; some prat would spot the staff, or witness his casting some spell, and the cry would ring out. Two courses stood to us then: deny it, or fight. But my tact was wearing thin, and in his weakened state, he lacked the charm to properly lie.

We drew tight together as the mob closed in. I might’ve enjoyed another battle, had my ladyship not stood unprotected. Without the knight, we had no mount, and my blades stood alone against the throng. The mage could not cast in close quarters. And I could only fight so many while guarding a frightened child.

Resentful though I was, I knew, we needed that fool.

“What’ve you done?” she whispered. I felt her trembling hands as I reached back to unhook my ax.

Caspian shook his head. Not even he was so arrogant—not in an open square. But someone had sounded the alarm, and now it echoed all around. That same word: witch. I wondered if his aid was worth this trouble. No more than Rainer’s. And yet…

Amidst the scrape of knives and the clatter of tools, murmurs arose of calling for guards. Rewards. Something about the girl. Yes, someone would die today.

But then a whinny cut through the din, and that monstrous armored horse charged into the square. The crowd scattered as her rider leapt down, sword bared, battered shield held out before the witch and my girl. “Take Milady and go,” he said to Caspian. “We’ll…catch up.”

The horse raced away as we faced the mob. She was safe.

Perhaps he wasn’t such a fool.

Perhaps it was worth it.

—Reece’s Ledger, Page 169

Topic: Various bits and pieces from the Unnamed Story.
Goal: to complete and stay under 300 words for all prompts.

Instead of writing parts of the story itself, I’m going to try to show different perspectives and situations, both of and about its characters. Those that are NSFW or feature yaoi content will be posted to Panda After Dark and linked back. Updated prompt and drabble list below.

PROMPTS:

beginning. - The Flower - A lost journal page. 199 words.

accusation. - The Word - A single syllable. 300 words.

restless. - Haunted - Of power and fear. [Yaoi content.] 294 words.

snowflake. - Frigid - A witch attack documented. 290 words.

haze. - The Edge of Reason - A man speaks of death. 239 words.

flame. - The Phoenix - Without mercy. [Violent imagery.] 299 words.

formal. - A Scandal! - A solemn event infiltrated! 160 words.

companion. - On Belonging - Freedom can be hollow. 285 words.

move. - in progress

silver.

prepared. - Practicing Foresight - Lesson learned! 299 words.

knowledge.

denial.

wind.

order.

thanks.

look.

summer.

transformation.

tremble.

sunset. - The Painting - A lasting impression. 293 words.

mad. - The Right Thing - A madman’s ramblings. 300 words.

thousand.

outside.

winter.

diamond.

letters.

promise.

simple.

future.

EXTRAS:

hollow. - Emptiness - “What happiness, when love is repaid with pain?”

Original Post (7/10/12):

So, I’ve decided I’m going to try to do the drabble prompt bit. I’m using the Unnamed Story, just because it’s so flexible, having no set plot. I’ll use it’s semi-medieval RPG-game style setting as a basis, and see what I can learn from it. So far as I’ve seen, I mean it to be a parody of most medieval games and stories. But who knows? Maybe it’ll be more.

Though the actual story (so far) follows the ‘traveling party’ of Rainer the knight, Caspian the mage, Reece the warrior and Milady the damsel, the drabbles will probably be about various other things. Whatever pops to mind with the prompts, I’m sure. I wrote the first one today without even meaning to, and realized it was exactly what I needed. If any of them are for some reason NSFW, I’ll put them on Panda After Dark with a warning, so those not into yaoi/slash or graphic content can avoid them. :3