Post by Vyn on Jun 4, 2009 11:41:45 GMT -5
Note: To save room I'll be posting all of these in one thread, just in batches. So, as I get them done, I'll add new posts with the new sets. Woo.
This is entirely Bee's fault. XDD
After reading through her 100 Situations Vyn has decided to do her own (but with a different table)~
These won't be entirely as organized as Bee's, but here goes XD Also, a small note, most of these are being used to explain little back stories in the character's history.<3 Enjoy. XD
001. Hide
Char: Anatolius
Word Count: 350
"What are you hiding from?"
The bartender's voice echoed in his ears. Toli peered at him over the edge of his drink and simply laughed. Hiding? He wasn't hiding! He was in the middle of a party!
"I've seen a lot in my time as a bartender, lad, and I assure you: there are a lot of different ways to hide, even in plain sight." Drunk and cocky, Anatolius rolled his eyes and returned to the crowd.
It wasn't until the evening set in and the crowd had dispersed and, at last, he was alone again at home. "I hate being alone" was immediately followed by the bartender's voice, low and knowing from his memory, "What are you hiding from?".
It brought to mind a memory he'd long forgotten, of a ball of red fur scrunched desperately in the dusty world beneath their bed.
Stubbornly hidden away, waiting... waiting for someone to find him, or to notice he was missing at all. But he was only one of eight, and his parents were only two people torn between them all. They'd never notice that their little low-ranking boy had went missing.
But he was certain that, if he hid long enough, they'd realize. They'd discover he was missing and they'd be terrified... They'd realize just how important he was at last, and then he could come out and, finally, all the attention would be on him, but it never happened. His keen ears remained cocked forward, listening to the jumbled voices, but they never changed. It was always the same talking, arguing, laughing... They never noticed.
He dragged himself out after a couple of hours, coat dusty, and wandered among his siblings until he could find his parents. "Momma!" He yipped quietly, hoping that maybe now that he'd revealed himself she'd realize what she'd been missing. The woman simply glanced back, arched a brow, and went back to dinner.
"Go wash up, Anatolius, your fur's a mess and it's almost dinner time."
His ears and tail drooped. Of course, no one had even noticed.
002. Amnesia
Char: Seki
Word Count: 236
Selective Amnesia found in the bottom of every bottle, in the arms of strange men and the nameless pills they trade for 'company'. Found in the long nights of sex and drug hazes that make him forget he's real.
And yet, when the drugs wear off and the men leave... when he's alone again, real again, the memories come back and bring the pain with them. Reality hurts. More than the men when they hit him, the bruises they leave or the cuts and bites that sting for hours. Those all go away, but something else, something stays in their absence that drives him to do it all over again if it meant he could escape the pain of being left alone with himself.
He'd give anything to forget those feelings, those memories -- anything. Even it meant continuing to drown his memories in drugs, in liquor, in the beds of random men. To fuck away everything except for the present and maybe, maybe if he does it long enough, it'll become permanent.
A safety net from those memories, blissful amnesia, to wake up every morning and not remember the awful things of the day before, of the weeks and months and even years, prior to that moment. To live in the present alone, where things had a chance of being good and to forget all over again when morning rose again.
003. Funeral
Char: Javaid
Word Count: 519
A small procession moved through The Necropolis, making it's way to the giant tombs in the heart of the graveyard where only the priests -- the guardians of the Necropolis -- were ever allowed to venture. This was where they buried their own, it was the history of their ancestors, of their bloodlines.
From a young age future priests were taught to participate in the funerals, to love the beauty of the ritual, and to respect death as the continuance of the cycle of life. Javaid understood this, accepted it, loved it. There was beauty in rituals, there was peace in their Necropolis. He loved his life even if others lifted their brows when his family walked by.
They were guardians of the dead, no matter what others thought.
And then, when he was nine, everything changed.
He didn't stop appreciating the importance of the funeral ritual, of the continuation of the cycle, but he found it harder to see the beauty when it was his parents that they prepared the funeral rights for.
His parents had foolishly taken on a Missionary to another region, to share the beauty of their rituals and their religion, and a band of thugs had not taken to their ideals. Javaid had been, thankfully, safe at home with his Grandfather, watching over the Necropolis. Even then Javaid hadn't like the idea of leaving the temple to go out into the villages, and he'd never enjoyed their outtings into other regions -- no matter how fascinating the people could be. It was safest and most comfortable at home, where he knew everything and everything was safe.
And it was true. His parent's deaths had proven that! The Outside was full of dangerous people who disrespected life, who murdered priests for simply being different. The tears came more heavily, mourning coupled with the sudden realization that the world was just as dangerous as he'd always thought. That the outside wasn't safe, that home was the only place he could really be sure everything was right.
Grandfather mistook the fear in his tears and he laid a firm hand on his shoulder, strong and comforting even in his old age. "This isn't the last death you'll bear rights to," his Grandfather's voice carried a sad sort of s smile; understanding and heartbroken. "Our relatives will pass, even our parents or our children, our friends, and we have to honor them all. Do not despair boy, their memories will live on here and in your ornaments."
Javaid could only bow and pretend to understand. The tears kept pouring, but with less anguish than before. Mourning was understood, encouraged, it was catharsis, but to let despair devour you at their funeral was wrong. You were never to place your own anguish over those of the dead for it was they that were being honored in these rituals.
One day he would fully understand the rituals. He'd be a great priest, a Guardian of the Necropolis and his Ancestors, and he'd do it without ever leaving the safety of his temple.
004. The End
Char: Parvana
Word Count: 390
Silence.
That's all she's aware of as she drifts through the darkness. The only sound is of the night and of the faint swish of her wings, everything is muffled. The rest of the world is far away and all Parvana can see is the Spade's Cemetery coming into view.
It's been such a long time since she's visited. At first she simply couldn't bear to leave little Eddy's side and then, as he grew ever more like his late father, Parvana could not have dreamt of ever taking him to the Court where Lysaras had been murdered. Toli had agreed to watch Eddy and Vana went at last to that lovely headstone, covered with night, to sit in the silence of the lonely grave. She would talk for hours, detailing to her lost love all of the things that had become of her since her passing and slowly Vana found the topic sliding from Eddy... to Sadie.
Wonderful, beautiful, fascinating, Sadie...
All at once the muffle of silence seemed to break, like the dawning of a realization, and Vana sat for a long moment without saying a word as if awaiting a response. Time passed, and passed, and all that rose to her ears was her own heavy breathing and the long, resounding quiet. Echoing the chirp of crickets and the ring of loneliness back at her tenfold until tears began to trickle down her cheeks.
"I'm so sorry..." The butterfly collapsed very gently against the headstone, clinging to it as if she might have clung to Lysaras. She had no clue how it had happened, how the mantis seemed to have become more and more a part of her life, but now that she was there... Vana didn't want to push it away either. "I'll always love you." Her words pleaded the silence to end, pleaded for the familiar voice to answer... To comfort her, to remind her who she really loved, and it refused to come.
No matter how hard she fought, the silence won and it told her everything she never wanted to hear: it was over. After so many years, she would have to admit that she could move on... That Lysaras would never return. It was the end of a moment but that wasn't the end of everything. There was still Eddy, ...and Sadie.
This is entirely Bee's fault. XDD
After reading through her 100 Situations Vyn has decided to do her own (but with a different table)~
These won't be entirely as organized as Bee's, but here goes XD Also, a small note, most of these are being used to explain little back stories in the character's history.<3 Enjoy. XD
001. Hide
Char: Anatolius
Word Count: 350
"What are you hiding from?"
The bartender's voice echoed in his ears. Toli peered at him over the edge of his drink and simply laughed. Hiding? He wasn't hiding! He was in the middle of a party!
"I've seen a lot in my time as a bartender, lad, and I assure you: there are a lot of different ways to hide, even in plain sight." Drunk and cocky, Anatolius rolled his eyes and returned to the crowd.
It wasn't until the evening set in and the crowd had dispersed and, at last, he was alone again at home. "I hate being alone" was immediately followed by the bartender's voice, low and knowing from his memory, "What are you hiding from?".
It brought to mind a memory he'd long forgotten, of a ball of red fur scrunched desperately in the dusty world beneath their bed.
Stubbornly hidden away, waiting... waiting for someone to find him, or to notice he was missing at all. But he was only one of eight, and his parents were only two people torn between them all. They'd never notice that their little low-ranking boy had went missing.
But he was certain that, if he hid long enough, they'd realize. They'd discover he was missing and they'd be terrified... They'd realize just how important he was at last, and then he could come out and, finally, all the attention would be on him, but it never happened. His keen ears remained cocked forward, listening to the jumbled voices, but they never changed. It was always the same talking, arguing, laughing... They never noticed.
He dragged himself out after a couple of hours, coat dusty, and wandered among his siblings until he could find his parents. "Momma!" He yipped quietly, hoping that maybe now that he'd revealed himself she'd realize what she'd been missing. The woman simply glanced back, arched a brow, and went back to dinner.
"Go wash up, Anatolius, your fur's a mess and it's almost dinner time."
His ears and tail drooped. Of course, no one had even noticed.
002. Amnesia
Char: Seki
Word Count: 236
Selective Amnesia found in the bottom of every bottle, in the arms of strange men and the nameless pills they trade for 'company'. Found in the long nights of sex and drug hazes that make him forget he's real.
And yet, when the drugs wear off and the men leave... when he's alone again, real again, the memories come back and bring the pain with them. Reality hurts. More than the men when they hit him, the bruises they leave or the cuts and bites that sting for hours. Those all go away, but something else, something stays in their absence that drives him to do it all over again if it meant he could escape the pain of being left alone with himself.
He'd give anything to forget those feelings, those memories -- anything. Even it meant continuing to drown his memories in drugs, in liquor, in the beds of random men. To fuck away everything except for the present and maybe, maybe if he does it long enough, it'll become permanent.
A safety net from those memories, blissful amnesia, to wake up every morning and not remember the awful things of the day before, of the weeks and months and even years, prior to that moment. To live in the present alone, where things had a chance of being good and to forget all over again when morning rose again.
003. Funeral
Char: Javaid
Word Count: 519
A small procession moved through The Necropolis, making it's way to the giant tombs in the heart of the graveyard where only the priests -- the guardians of the Necropolis -- were ever allowed to venture. This was where they buried their own, it was the history of their ancestors, of their bloodlines.
From a young age future priests were taught to participate in the funerals, to love the beauty of the ritual, and to respect death as the continuance of the cycle of life. Javaid understood this, accepted it, loved it. There was beauty in rituals, there was peace in their Necropolis. He loved his life even if others lifted their brows when his family walked by.
They were guardians of the dead, no matter what others thought.
And then, when he was nine, everything changed.
He didn't stop appreciating the importance of the funeral ritual, of the continuation of the cycle, but he found it harder to see the beauty when it was his parents that they prepared the funeral rights for.
His parents had foolishly taken on a Missionary to another region, to share the beauty of their rituals and their religion, and a band of thugs had not taken to their ideals. Javaid had been, thankfully, safe at home with his Grandfather, watching over the Necropolis. Even then Javaid hadn't like the idea of leaving the temple to go out into the villages, and he'd never enjoyed their outtings into other regions -- no matter how fascinating the people could be. It was safest and most comfortable at home, where he knew everything and everything was safe.
And it was true. His parent's deaths had proven that! The Outside was full of dangerous people who disrespected life, who murdered priests for simply being different. The tears came more heavily, mourning coupled with the sudden realization that the world was just as dangerous as he'd always thought. That the outside wasn't safe, that home was the only place he could really be sure everything was right.
Grandfather mistook the fear in his tears and he laid a firm hand on his shoulder, strong and comforting even in his old age. "This isn't the last death you'll bear rights to," his Grandfather's voice carried a sad sort of s smile; understanding and heartbroken. "Our relatives will pass, even our parents or our children, our friends, and we have to honor them all. Do not despair boy, their memories will live on here and in your ornaments."
Javaid could only bow and pretend to understand. The tears kept pouring, but with less anguish than before. Mourning was understood, encouraged, it was catharsis, but to let despair devour you at their funeral was wrong. You were never to place your own anguish over those of the dead for it was they that were being honored in these rituals.
One day he would fully understand the rituals. He'd be a great priest, a Guardian of the Necropolis and his Ancestors, and he'd do it without ever leaving the safety of his temple.
004. The End
Char: Parvana
Word Count: 390
Silence.
That's all she's aware of as she drifts through the darkness. The only sound is of the night and of the faint swish of her wings, everything is muffled. The rest of the world is far away and all Parvana can see is the Spade's Cemetery coming into view.
It's been such a long time since she's visited. At first she simply couldn't bear to leave little Eddy's side and then, as he grew ever more like his late father, Parvana could not have dreamt of ever taking him to the Court where Lysaras had been murdered. Toli had agreed to watch Eddy and Vana went at last to that lovely headstone, covered with night, to sit in the silence of the lonely grave. She would talk for hours, detailing to her lost love all of the things that had become of her since her passing and slowly Vana found the topic sliding from Eddy... to Sadie.
Wonderful, beautiful, fascinating, Sadie...
All at once the muffle of silence seemed to break, like the dawning of a realization, and Vana sat for a long moment without saying a word as if awaiting a response. Time passed, and passed, and all that rose to her ears was her own heavy breathing and the long, resounding quiet. Echoing the chirp of crickets and the ring of loneliness back at her tenfold until tears began to trickle down her cheeks.
"I'm so sorry..." The butterfly collapsed very gently against the headstone, clinging to it as if she might have clung to Lysaras. She had no clue how it had happened, how the mantis seemed to have become more and more a part of her life, but now that she was there... Vana didn't want to push it away either. "I'll always love you." Her words pleaded the silence to end, pleaded for the familiar voice to answer... To comfort her, to remind her who she really loved, and it refused to come.
No matter how hard she fought, the silence won and it told her everything she never wanted to hear: it was over. After so many years, she would have to admit that she could move on... That Lysaras would never return. It was the end of a moment but that wasn't the end of everything. There was still Eddy, ...and Sadie.
