Fed up with the news, more FY draft
Politics has gotten so disgusting that on my iGoogle homepage I put the GoogleNews gadget on the Sci/Tech tab. I don't know what any of it is about, and that's a huge relief. I also think I dislike Lawrence O'Donnell as a TV personality/host. Keith or Rachel he ain't; the other night I ended up skipping darjeeling tea just to get away from the TV while Dad was watching him... (I might need a box of Twinings Irish Breakfast, tho, I love that stuff.)
Anyway, more FY Mirrorverse draft!
[Note for future reference: the story to date can be found at FF.net and under the NaNo2010 tag.]
My post-NaNo goal is not yet firm, but it's something like one thousand words per day (with more leeway for days off) and/or one chapter per week, so roughly halving the NaNo pace. Hopefully I can stick with it...
It was only mid-day when the Sei of Suzaku reached the foot of the mountains where the route into Sairou had produced a thriving merchant town. At Chichiri’s insistence, they stopped there rather than setting off into the pass right away, and they sold their last set of horses and bought a map of the pass before taking a room at an inn.
As Hotohori rolled out the map on the table, Chichiri finally untied the blindfold and unwound it.
“I take it you found them?” Nuriko asked.
“Hai no da.” As she took the cloth off, her eyes scrunched up oddly, so that even her laughing eyes gave the impression of squinting against the light, but she still examined the map. Finally, she put her finger down on a spot not far below the tree-line, where the single path was passing between wooded slopes “They’re right about here in the trees, and they haven’t moved all day no da.”
“So it’s an ambush after all,” Tasuki surmised. “Hell, all that rush for nothing...”
“Not necessarily,” Hotohori said. “Considering that they knew where to lay in wait, and as quick as Kutou’s spies are, they were probably tracking our movements. If we had given them too much time, they might have acted differently.”
“And they still might if we change course to try to avoid them,” Nuriko poined out. “---Or any other crossing would be so slow they could end-run us.”
“Can you tell how many of them are there and which ones?” Yui asked.
She nodded. “One of the Seishi I don’t quite recognize, but Nakago, Miboshi, Amiboshi, and Ashitare-chan are there with Miaka-chan no da.”
“Geez, woman, you’re still calling those people ‘-chan’??” Tasuki snapped.
“Ashitare-chan hasn’t done anything no da,” she protested dully.
Yet, Yui couldn’t help thinking. The others she had seen already, but, “What does he do?”
“He’s a giant wolfman no da. He has keen senses like a wolf, and he’s fast and strong, but not as strong as Nuriko-chan no da.”
“Werewolf-chan,” Tasuki muttered under his breath. “I don’t %@$in’ believe it...”
“If Miboshi’s up there, maybe I should stay out of it...” Tamahome said.
Chiriko had been leaning over the map, and he pointed to another winding trail up the mountain. “What about this?”
“Um, that’s a stream,” Nuriko told him.
“I know, I just... um... I thought some of us could climb it, and it would take longer, but...” He blushed and trailed off.
“It’s all right. Start again,” Hotohori prompted him.
“Well, we can’t let them get the Shinzahou, and we can’t let them get Tamahome, so what if the two of them could go up the stream there? The water would cover their scent so the wolfman couldn’t find them as easily, and it looks like when it ends you can just follow the ridge here back to the road,” he said, pointing as his voice gained strength. “Then the rest of us could go the normal way and keep the Seiryuu people busy to cover how much longer it would take. It’s a risk, but...”
“But it couldn’t just be me and Yui,” Tamahome protested. “I mean, in case it doesn’t work...”
“I’ll go,” Hotohori said, then turned to Nuriko. “You would prefer that I avoid the battle if possible, isn’t that right? If they didn’t know who I was all along, Amiboshi surely told them. And if the worst should happen...” he looked at Tamahome, “I defeated you in that state once before.”
Tamahome nodded slowly.
“The only problem is, that leaves the main group outnumbered,” Nuriko said.
“I think with Chichiri and Tasuki it would be okay,” Chiriko said.
“Da?”
“Hey, don’t mention us together like that,” Tasuki objected.
Chiriko clapped his hands to his mouth. “I didn’t mean--- And I didn’t mean to leave Nuriko out, I--- I was just thinking Chichiri has a strong defense and Tasuki has an attack like that... Oh, we should also remember to stuff our ears, since Amiboshi will be there, and we should take a cart or something. It would slow us down, but if we’re trying to buy time, that’s good, and then it wouldn’t be so obvious that some of us aren’t there. ---If we do it like this, I mean,” he hastened to add.
“No, no, it’s a good plan,” Nuriko said.
Yui could see its virtues, but she still didn’t like it, not sending the others up against a greater number of Sei of Seiryuu, and not the risk of another duel between Hotohori and Tamahome, the first one having been almost more than she could stand. “Chichiri, couldn’t you just teleport with some of us...?”
She frowned and shook her head. “Over the mountains to a place I don’t know, it wouldn’t be safe no da. The nearest place I could take us is across the desert, and my travelling spell isn’t good either, for terrain like that no da...”***
Yui sighed. “If it’s the best we can do...”
“Well, if they’re waiting for us, at least we can rest up today and hit ‘em at dawn,” Tasuki said, stretching as he wandered off to lounge on one of the beds.
Maybe as a bandit, he was used to this kind of thing, but Yui still wasn’t. For her, ‘resting up’ through the dreadful anticipation wouldn’t be so easy.
The battle in the mountain pass is about to be joined, but best-laid plans and powers revealed in desperation will only add to the chaos. Before the battle ends, two Seishi will be driven to the breaking point.
***This right here, BTW, this is the danger of making your characters too powerful; you must then apply bulls**t to get them into trouble you need them to be in. This is exactly why, in all the Castlevania fanfic stuff, I never let Alucard turn into a mist like he does in the game.
‡ original post at Dreamwidth ‡
Anyway, more FY Mirrorverse draft!
[Note for future reference: the story to date can be found at FF.net and under the NaNo2010 tag.]
My post-NaNo goal is not yet firm, but it's something like one thousand words per day (with more leeway for days off) and/or one chapter per week, so roughly halving the NaNo pace. Hopefully I can stick with it...
It was only mid-day when the Sei of Suzaku reached the foot of the mountains where the route into Sairou had produced a thriving merchant town. At Chichiri’s insistence, they stopped there rather than setting off into the pass right away, and they sold their last set of horses and bought a map of the pass before taking a room at an inn.
As Hotohori rolled out the map on the table, Chichiri finally untied the blindfold and unwound it.
“I take it you found them?” Nuriko asked.
“Hai no da.” As she took the cloth off, her eyes scrunched up oddly, so that even her laughing eyes gave the impression of squinting against the light, but she still examined the map. Finally, she put her finger down on a spot not far below the tree-line, where the single path was passing between wooded slopes “They’re right about here in the trees, and they haven’t moved all day no da.”
“So it’s an ambush after all,” Tasuki surmised. “Hell, all that rush for nothing...”
“Not necessarily,” Hotohori said. “Considering that they knew where to lay in wait, and as quick as Kutou’s spies are, they were probably tracking our movements. If we had given them too much time, they might have acted differently.”
“And they still might if we change course to try to avoid them,” Nuriko poined out. “---Or any other crossing would be so slow they could end-run us.”
“Can you tell how many of them are there and which ones?” Yui asked.
She nodded. “One of the Seishi I don’t quite recognize, but Nakago, Miboshi, Amiboshi, and Ashitare-chan are there with Miaka-chan no da.”
“Geez, woman, you’re still calling those people ‘-chan’??” Tasuki snapped.
“Ashitare-chan hasn’t done anything no da,” she protested dully.
Yet, Yui couldn’t help thinking. The others she had seen already, but, “What does he do?”
“He’s a giant wolfman no da. He has keen senses like a wolf, and he’s fast and strong, but not as strong as Nuriko-chan no da.”
“Werewolf-chan,” Tasuki muttered under his breath. “I don’t %@$in’ believe it...”
“If Miboshi’s up there, maybe I should stay out of it...” Tamahome said.
Chiriko had been leaning over the map, and he pointed to another winding trail up the mountain. “What about this?”
“Um, that’s a stream,” Nuriko told him.
“I know, I just... um... I thought some of us could climb it, and it would take longer, but...” He blushed and trailed off.
“It’s all right. Start again,” Hotohori prompted him.
“Well, we can’t let them get the Shinzahou, and we can’t let them get Tamahome, so what if the two of them could go up the stream there? The water would cover their scent so the wolfman couldn’t find them as easily, and it looks like when it ends you can just follow the ridge here back to the road,” he said, pointing as his voice gained strength. “Then the rest of us could go the normal way and keep the Seiryuu people busy to cover how much longer it would take. It’s a risk, but...”
“But it couldn’t just be me and Yui,” Tamahome protested. “I mean, in case it doesn’t work...”
“I’ll go,” Hotohori said, then turned to Nuriko. “You would prefer that I avoid the battle if possible, isn’t that right? If they didn’t know who I was all along, Amiboshi surely told them. And if the worst should happen...” he looked at Tamahome, “I defeated you in that state once before.”
Tamahome nodded slowly.
“The only problem is, that leaves the main group outnumbered,” Nuriko said.
“I think with Chichiri and Tasuki it would be okay,” Chiriko said.
“Da?”
“Hey, don’t mention us together like that,” Tasuki objected.
Chiriko clapped his hands to his mouth. “I didn’t mean--- And I didn’t mean to leave Nuriko out, I--- I was just thinking Chichiri has a strong defense and Tasuki has an attack like that... Oh, we should also remember to stuff our ears, since Amiboshi will be there, and we should take a cart or something. It would slow us down, but if we’re trying to buy time, that’s good, and then it wouldn’t be so obvious that some of us aren’t there. ---If we do it like this, I mean,” he hastened to add.
“No, no, it’s a good plan,” Nuriko said.
Yui could see its virtues, but she still didn’t like it, not sending the others up against a greater number of Sei of Seiryuu, and not the risk of another duel between Hotohori and Tamahome, the first one having been almost more than she could stand. “Chichiri, couldn’t you just teleport with some of us...?”
She frowned and shook her head. “Over the mountains to a place I don’t know, it wouldn’t be safe no da. The nearest place I could take us is across the desert, and my travelling spell isn’t good either, for terrain like that no da...”***
Yui sighed. “If it’s the best we can do...”
“Well, if they’re waiting for us, at least we can rest up today and hit ‘em at dawn,” Tasuki said, stretching as he wandered off to lounge on one of the beds.
Maybe as a bandit, he was used to this kind of thing, but Yui still wasn’t. For her, ‘resting up’ through the dreadful anticipation wouldn’t be so easy.
The battle in the mountain pass is about to be joined, but best-laid plans and powers revealed in desperation will only add to the chaos. Before the battle ends, two Seishi will be driven to the breaking point.
***This right here, BTW, this is the danger of making your characters too powerful; you must then apply bulls**t to get them into trouble you need them to be in. This is exactly why, in all the Castlevania fanfic stuff, I never let Alucard turn into a mist like he does in the game.
‡ original post at Dreamwidth ‡