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Emilie and Jessica!
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Emilie and Jessica!
Emilie and Jessica! All right, if no one else will make us a thread I will. So... What do you want this to be about? I was thinking fantasy, as long as we don't have any "fractured fairy-tales." I mean, they're great, but for all the eliminating of cliches, they're becoming cliche.
submitted by Emilie L., age 14, WA
(January 24, 2010 - 8:24 pm)
(January 24, 2010 - 8:24 pm)
Sure the king's name can be Derrek. I was thinking that they could be after the solution to their problems from the Pheonix, the stag wants the king to stop chasing him so the forest can be peaceful again, and Laran wants to become more than a servant in the castle, but if you think that sounds too much like the Wizard of Oz, then we can decide on something else.
@Isabella, I don't know if you can join. What do you think, Emilie?
Andy says toxg.
~Wolfgirl67 signing off.
(February 24, 2010 - 2:48 pm)
Well, maybe the Phoenix can grant wishes... that would make sense. So shall we begin?
@Isabella: I think you might want to find another partner, this is after all the Author Pairs Movement...
(February 24, 2010 - 7:24 pm)
Sure! I'll start.
Laran sighed and leaned the broom against the wall. Sweeping the kitchen (seems like a good place for a servant to be, and also the easiest to work with) was exhausting, boring, and no fun at all. But at least the kitchen was clean, so she wouldn't get another beating.
She left the broom in the corner and walked out of the kitchen, heading to the servant's quarters. Cleaning the stove had been the worst. Her brown hair was full of soot.
She went straight to the washing room and let her hair down, giving it a good, cold rinse. While she was at it, she washed her face and arms, then, after scrubbing dry with a coarse towel, headed back to the kitchen.
The cook was waiting for her. "There you are!" she bustled. "Come on, we've got to begin making supper. His Majesty wants venison."
With another, inaudible sigh, Laran put her hair back up and set to work.
That's it! Let me know what you think.
Andy says prek.
~Wolfgirl67 signing off
(February 25, 2010 - 1:45 pm)
Venison! I can see a beginning there...
******************
The meat was cut into long, thin strips, she laid the venison out, dressed it, trimmed the fat, and put it in the oven. Then, glancing out the window, she saw another kind of work going on, even though she could tell it was quite related to her own. One of the huntsmen was preparing the deer head to hang on the wall for a trophy. She looked away, wincing at the sight. Then she looked in revulsion at the raw meat before her and scrubbed her hands free of grease vigorously.
The king loved to hunt. It was his pride to bring down larger stags or boars than others, but especially the former.And he always ate the venison. She didn't think she ever wanted to see it again, but there it was. And she didn't even get to go upstairs to deliver it, her rank was too low. When it came out of the oven, she handed it off to a page boy to set before the king.
(February 25, 2010 - 9:25 pm)
Nice! I like it. :)
Tired from the day's work, Laran sat down briefly on a chair in the kitchen, wiping her forehead. Not only was she tired, she was hot. A summer's day (summer work?) was not a good time to cook venison in the palace kitchen, as it got stuffy in addition to broiling. Then, getting to her feet, she began to clear up.
While she cleaned, she tried to keep her thoughts off of hunting, but couldn't. The only stag the king hadn't managed to claim as a hunting trophy was the white stag. Every time he had set out to hunt it, he had always come back empty-handed. One time, it was rumored, the stag had even managed to lead the king straight into a thicket of brambles. Serves him right for hunting it, she thought furiously, the vain, pompous, power-hungry-
She stopped herself suddenly, ashamed, guilty, and a little frightened at thinking those thoughts about King Derrek. You weren't supposed to do that-even if it was true. It was treason.
Well, she was sick of it. Well and truly tired. Six of her thirteen years (does thirteen sound good to you? It's right in-between our ages, but if you'd rather change it, I'm cool with it) had been spent in monotonous work in the kitchen, day in and day out. She wanted adventure, excitement, and most of all, she wanted Out.
That's all for now!
Andy says ahwa.
~Wolfgirl67 signing off.
(February 25, 2010 - 11:12 pm)
13 is perfect.
************************
The thought grew on her over the next few days, nagging her out into the garden and if she had time, to the edge of the orchard. One day, while she was sitting by the white fence lining the orchard and eating an apple, she looked across the cobble road into the King's Forest. The King's forest was King Derrek's private hunting ground. The trees on the edge looked green and beautiful, and directly across the road was a peach tree full of ripe peaches. She wasn't allowed to pick peaches off the trees in the orchard, but the trees in the King's Forest were never harvested. She climbed over the fence and crossed the road.
(February 26, 2010 - 7:55 pm)
Once there, she plucked a peach off its stem and began to eat it. It was the most delicious peach in the world! She plucked another couple, and then, seeing another peach tree deeper in the forest, cast a look around and slipped in.
She made her way like that, heading deeper and deeper into the King's Forest. At one point she realized that she must have been in here for several hours, and that when she went back, a beating was sure to follow.
Well, she wasn't going back, she decided. She was going to push on through the forest, and maybe come to another town, where she could find work.
She had just reached this conclusion when a white stag leaped in front of her, nearly knocking her into the brambles.
Andy says veco.
~Wolfgirl67 signing off.
(February 27, 2010 - 1:07 pm)
The stag's hooves were silver, and so were its antlers. Its eyes were dark and wide with fear. But when it saw her crouched against a tree where she had dived out of the way, it drew up short and nosed her gently as if to apologise. Laran took her hands from her face, and looked up into its eyes. Suddenly a hound barked somewhere in the distance. The deer jerked its head up, and a thought echoed in Laran's mind, as though she had thought it herself, but she knew she had not. Forgive me, young one. I must fly. Then the animal reared its hooves into the air, leaped the brambles, and was gone like a flash.
She could scarcely beleive it. There and gone, like a phantom of the forest. And how on earth had it spoken to her? More dogs barking could be heard, and a sound of horses' hooves.Laran drew herself behind the tree.
(February 28, 2010 - 7:14 pm)
The horses drew to a halt. Watching warily from behind the tree, Laran saw King Derrek, royal hunting outfit and all, sitting on a handsome white horse. "Where did it go?" he snarled, looking around for the stag.
"I know not, Sire," said a nobleman, drawing alongside-Lord Fenrin, on a gray horse. He was the king's hunting companion-though, of course, King Derrek had forbidden him to hunt the white stag.
"Bah!" said King Derrek. "We'll have to search for the beast another time. It's getting late." They turned and headed back to the castle.
Laran waited until they were gone, then slipped out from behind the tree and went off in search of the stag. She wanted to ask it a few questions. Like how it had spoken to her.
Andy says ubkg.
~Wolfgirl67 signing off.
(March 1, 2010 - 5:05 pm)
But it was indeed getting later, and the peaches she had eaten on the way there weighed her down. She sat by a tree to rest for a while.
Three minutes later, or so it seemed, Laran woke with a start. The moon hung high above the king's forest and the crickets chirped musically. Oh no! She had fallen asleep here, and now it was night! She still could not go back to the castle anymore than she could have before, and the town was several miles away. What if she was eaten by wolves out here! She shuddered.
(March 2, 2010 - 10:34 pm)
A strange white glow through the trees startled her. Shrinking back against her tree, she cowered, watching it draw nearer and nearer, until-
The stag.
Yes, young one, the thoughts that weren't her thoughts said. I glow.
She jumped. "How are you talking to me?" she asked.
The stag turned his head to one side. Don't talk that way, he said. I can't understand you. Think what you want me to hear.
She tried. How are you talking to me?
I thinkspeak.
Do you try it with all humans?
No. Only with those I think might listen.
Not with the king.
No. He chuckled inside her head. Never with the king.
What are you doing here?
I was about to ask you the same question. The forest is not safe at night. For humans, anyway.
Well...the peaches looked so good.
Ah. I see.
And I started going through the forest and eating them, and then it got late, and I couldn't go back, so I just kept going.
Aha. I thought so. In answer to your question, I am searching for the Golden Pheonix.
What's that?
Just what it sounds like. It can grant wishes. I am searching for it to see if it can restore peace to the forest.
Can I come?
If you wish. But if we are traveling together, I need to know your name
Laran. And yours?
Skyonso.
Andy says zbwn. Ummm....
~Wolfgirl67 signing off.
P.S. Skyonso is pronounced Sky-own-so. We can change it to something simpler if you want.
(March 3, 2010 - 2:11 pm)
"Skyonso." Laran said it out loud. The deer cocked its head to one side. Funny how it sounds. Now you must get on my back. Get on its- his back? It seemed almost like a sin to Laran, like she might dirty Skyoso's brilliant coat by touching it. But she walked to his side, and he kneeled as she gingerly climbed on. Where are we going? she asked.
We must keep to the woods to get there, he answered. We must go to Mount Tenjo in the north of this kingdom. My mother is there, and she knows where the phoenix is. Beyond the mountain King Derrek may not hunt, it is not his land.
Oh, Laran thought to him. You mean Chary, the northern kingdom.
Yes. The stag began to trot through the wood, and although it did not seem dreadfully fast, they made good progress and were soon heading toward the north end of the King's Forest.
(March 3, 2010 - 8:31 pm)
By the way, I've just established the setting for the story. It takes place in a yet unnamed southern kingdom, which lies south of Mount Tenjo, which is part of a kingdom named Chary that I invented with my siblings. It's open to stretching and bending but I'll probably incorporate some of the topography which I know quite well.
Andy says fawr. So is that "rawr" or "far" or "four"?
(March 3, 2010 - 8:35 pm)
Oh my gosh! I'm soo sorry! I checked for the first week or so and didn't see anything on the Inkwell and then I got sick and couldn't get on the computer...I didn't mean to blow you off or anything. You guys' story sounds pretty cool though. I'll find someone else to partner with. I hope you aren't mad at me...Sorry.
(March 3, 2010 - 8:42 pm)
AWESOME! I didn't know anybody made whole worlds like I did. That's so cool! :)
Laran adjusted herself on the stag's back for the umpteenth time. Every time she thought she had it, she would find a way that she could possibly be annoying Skyonso, and would adjust again.
Stop fidgeting, the stag commanded. It's very distracting.
Sorry, Laran thought back. I don't want to make you uncomfortable.
I am perfectly comfortable until you move around again, Skyonso replied.
Sorry, she thought again.
They moved on until the sun came up. It was brilliant, a beautiful orange and pink light moving up the horizon. Skyonso stopped. There, he said. Chary.
@Jessica: I'm kind of sorry I took over a story that you guys were supposed to be working on. I didn't mean to push you off, you just kind of hadn't shown up, and I was like, well, I need a partner, and Emilie doesn't have one...so yeah. Sorry.
Andy Percy says tekm. Take em? Take what? Andy! Are you being robbed?
~Wolfgirl67 signing off.
(March 4, 2010 - 6:14 pm)