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Writer's Guild / 'The Four Heroes' Reboot
« on: November 14, 2009, 09:35:14 PM »
I finally got this new Chapter One typed out. .docx and .rtf files are attached!
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Writer's Guild / The Four Heroes
« on: March 16, 2009, 12:25:24 AM »
Our Great Leader convinced me to post this here. It's a little story I'm slowly working on, so after I finish posting what I have, expect to see some small updates (hopefully) frequently. This is about 1/5th of what I have done. Any help or suggestions are greatly appreciated! This is a first rough draft, so there's lots of room for changes. Thanks! 
________________________________________
THE FOUR HEROES
Chapter 1: Tyus
The air hung still, heavy with humidity but sweetened with the smell of pines and wildflowers that bordered the dark beach sand. The night was calm like most nights on the bay, but even the regular summer breeze was missing this time. Gone was the rustle of leaves and limbs in the woods. Only the crashing of the salty waves on the shore filled the silence.
The sky was clear but there was no moon. The stars and the deep red of the Napron shone brilliantly upon the dark world.
Amidst the rolling waves, a form broke through the water, sliding onto the beach. Slick and long, fur glistening in the starlight, it pulled itself from the sea and dug feet and hands into the volcanic sand. Deep, rattling coughs broke the steady crashing of the ocean waves as the creature expelled water through its lips. Rolling in the sand, it settled onto its back, legs splayed and tail sweeping the sand. Ten toes wiggled in the warm night air and ten fingers, tipped with small claws, clasped together behind the creature’s round head.
Soon, with heaving chest, Tyus took his first breath of air since the snows had covered the bay. A smile spread across his short muzzle and his whiskers twitched happily. The expanse of the stars and the endless depth of the universe on display above him awoke his mind and lit fire in his imagination.
Slipping away from his clan had not been easy this time, but, like always, it had been worth it.
Tyus felt like he was escaping into another world. Indeed, what little he had seen on land truly was unlike anything in his clan’s city beneath the waves. In the summer months the bay floor was brightly-lit and lively, full of activity and the busy hundreds of his kin. It was the time of year when fishing was best, and regular excursions onto land were made for wood and rare treats like berries and greens.
But when winter fell and clouds blocked the sun and the snow suffocated the land, the wotterfolk kept to themselves, remaining in the water as ice from the north drifted into the bay. Land food was no longer gathered but pulled from stores, having lost its enticing color and flavor from weeks kept underwater. Young wotters kept mostly to their homes, deluged with the schooling they were spared during the busy warm months. Fishing was the only excuse to get out into open water and stretch one’s rudder, but by winter, the best varieties had already moved out into the deep ocean.
Alone in his clan and, he suspected, among all his people, Tyus longed…no, ached…for the sun of day and the stars of night. The silence of life under water was a deadness to him. Here, above it all, the murmur of the waves and the whispering of the forest made him feel alive.
The stars above made him dream.
Minutes passed as he became lost in his own rambling thoughts. Always, he wondered what they were. No one in his clan knew. But, even worse, no one seemed to care. His curiosity and endless questions had been met with shrugs, blank stares, and even disdain and ridicule. What sort of wotter wonders about the sky? A bird might as well contemplate the depths of the sea, or a fish imagine life on land.
So Tyus kept his secret to himself. Sure, his family knew about his outings on land, but no one knew the true reason for them. What little answers could be found in the city’s books were never enough. Tyus had to see for himself. He had to experience the air in his lungs, the wind on his pelt, and the vastness of space around him.
Here, his eyes taking in the numberless, inviting, mysterious stars, Tyus could forget the crowded bay and let his mind roam free. He imagined his body lifting off the sand and rising high into the night sky. The sound of the waves faded behind him until there was no sound—just stars and the red cloud surrounding him….
Tyus found himself standing on a grassy hilltop. Below him, endless trees stretched into the distance on all sides. Mountains, taller than anything he could imagine, rose through the clouds and seemed close enough that he could reach out and touch them. Snow glistened on the craggy peaks and the wind played through the grass like it were water.
Not a drop of actual water could be seen.
The young wotter’s eyes had never before beheld such an expanse as what lay before him now.
Suddenly, he was walking, following a path that seemed without end. The dry ground felt good on the pads of his feet. He let his rudder drag through the dust, savoring the weight of his body and the steady pace of his legs. For so long he had been held by the sea. Now, far from any ocean, Tyus felt at home.
The trees surrounding the path cleared and something new loomed ahead. Closer and closer he came, the thing growing larger and taller. It dwarfed him. Its sheer mass seemed to press into the mighty earth and pull the land down with it. Black like the volcanic rock of his childhood, it nevertheless appeared to Tyus to be a great mountain like he had seen from the hilltop. Could it be man-made? Nothing in his finite experiences of life in the bay had led him to believe such a structure was possible….
Tyus jerked awake, his first instinct to slap his rudder and pull at the water around him, but all he got was handfuls of sand. His breath was coming fast and his heart raced, but before long, he realized it had only been a dream.
But not a nightmare. Why was he panicking from such a beautiful vision?
Glancing up at the stars, he noticed their positions had shifted quite a bit from before. He must have been asleep for at least a couple of hours.
Tyus let out a long sigh, wriggling his backside deeper into the sand and relaxing once again. He turned his head to relieve the tension in his neck, first to the right, then to left...
…and, suddenly, every muscle in his body pulled in one rapid jerk, lifting him onto his feet into a squatting position. His keen eyes stared ahead far down the beach. A tiny orange light flickered in the darkness near the water’s edge.
Though he was a water-dweller, Tyus knew fire when he saw it. It was a small fire, probably used by someone to cook a meal or stay warm. Whatever its purpose, however, he realized he wasn’t alone on the beach.
Without so much as the tiniest sound, Tyus slipped beneath the waves.
***
The sounds of rock cracking on rock woke Tyus from a deep sleep. Peeking an eye open, he could see it was already late in the morning. Beams of sunlight shown through the cracks in the boards comprising the roof of his tiny stone room. Rolling over in his bed of fine sand, he saw his mother holding open the reed curtain covering the doorway, rock in hand.
Tyus groaned inside and closed his eyes. Again, his mother hit the stone wall of his room with the rock to get his attention.
“It is very late, you know,” she signed with her other hand. Scorn was evident on her face, but also a bit of concern.
Maybe she thinks I am unwell.
Tyus barely lifted a hand to speak. “I know.” He just wanted to sleep. What was there to get up for, anyway?
“I would have let you sleep, Tyus.” She had set the rock aside and was now signing with both hands. “But your father needs your help today.”
“More fishing? I thought we had plenty for the week.” His mother, Dea, shook her head. “What, then?”
She waved him out of bed with one hand while saying with the other, “I have no idea. He said you would enjoy it, though.”
Perking up a bit, he sat up in the sand, stretching all four limbs.
Dea smiled. “I knew you would be interested. Don’t forget breakfast first.” The golden-furred wotter then turned and swam off, letting the curtain fall back into place over the doorway.
Aside from his small room and the one where his parents slept, the house had only one other room. It was much larger, of course, with a higher ceiling that was more open to let the light in. Furnishings were sparse. There was little more than a table for eating, some stools, and a bookcase with a dozen vellum books. Tyus’ mother had a fairly large salmon sliced open on the table, and was using the obsidian knife to now chop some dry-land greens. She smiled to him as he settled on a stool, resting his elbows on the table and watching her work.
“A late breakfast for you, too, Mother?” he asked.
“I’ve already eaten. This is all yours.” With a wave of her hand, she pushed a water current at the fish and it rolled across the table to him. Tyus’ bright green eyes went wide.
“It looks like breakfast and supper to me!” he signed quickly, duplicating each word with both hands for emphasis.
“I had a feeling you would need it today. Now, eat up quickly. Your father is waiting at the Point.”
Tyus nearly choked on his first bite of the sweet pink flesh. After swallowing, he drew in a big breath of water. “The Point?! Really?”
Dea nodded.
Meeting his father at the Point meant only one thing: they were venturing into the woods today.
________________________________________
THE FOUR HEROES
Chapter 1: Tyus
The air hung still, heavy with humidity but sweetened with the smell of pines and wildflowers that bordered the dark beach sand. The night was calm like most nights on the bay, but even the regular summer breeze was missing this time. Gone was the rustle of leaves and limbs in the woods. Only the crashing of the salty waves on the shore filled the silence.
The sky was clear but there was no moon. The stars and the deep red of the Napron shone brilliantly upon the dark world.
Amidst the rolling waves, a form broke through the water, sliding onto the beach. Slick and long, fur glistening in the starlight, it pulled itself from the sea and dug feet and hands into the volcanic sand. Deep, rattling coughs broke the steady crashing of the ocean waves as the creature expelled water through its lips. Rolling in the sand, it settled onto its back, legs splayed and tail sweeping the sand. Ten toes wiggled in the warm night air and ten fingers, tipped with small claws, clasped together behind the creature’s round head.
Soon, with heaving chest, Tyus took his first breath of air since the snows had covered the bay. A smile spread across his short muzzle and his whiskers twitched happily. The expanse of the stars and the endless depth of the universe on display above him awoke his mind and lit fire in his imagination.
Slipping away from his clan had not been easy this time, but, like always, it had been worth it.
Tyus felt like he was escaping into another world. Indeed, what little he had seen on land truly was unlike anything in his clan’s city beneath the waves. In the summer months the bay floor was brightly-lit and lively, full of activity and the busy hundreds of his kin. It was the time of year when fishing was best, and regular excursions onto land were made for wood and rare treats like berries and greens.
But when winter fell and clouds blocked the sun and the snow suffocated the land, the wotterfolk kept to themselves, remaining in the water as ice from the north drifted into the bay. Land food was no longer gathered but pulled from stores, having lost its enticing color and flavor from weeks kept underwater. Young wotters kept mostly to their homes, deluged with the schooling they were spared during the busy warm months. Fishing was the only excuse to get out into open water and stretch one’s rudder, but by winter, the best varieties had already moved out into the deep ocean.
Alone in his clan and, he suspected, among all his people, Tyus longed…no, ached…for the sun of day and the stars of night. The silence of life under water was a deadness to him. Here, above it all, the murmur of the waves and the whispering of the forest made him feel alive.
The stars above made him dream.
Minutes passed as he became lost in his own rambling thoughts. Always, he wondered what they were. No one in his clan knew. But, even worse, no one seemed to care. His curiosity and endless questions had been met with shrugs, blank stares, and even disdain and ridicule. What sort of wotter wonders about the sky? A bird might as well contemplate the depths of the sea, or a fish imagine life on land.
So Tyus kept his secret to himself. Sure, his family knew about his outings on land, but no one knew the true reason for them. What little answers could be found in the city’s books were never enough. Tyus had to see for himself. He had to experience the air in his lungs, the wind on his pelt, and the vastness of space around him.
Here, his eyes taking in the numberless, inviting, mysterious stars, Tyus could forget the crowded bay and let his mind roam free. He imagined his body lifting off the sand and rising high into the night sky. The sound of the waves faded behind him until there was no sound—just stars and the red cloud surrounding him….
Tyus found himself standing on a grassy hilltop. Below him, endless trees stretched into the distance on all sides. Mountains, taller than anything he could imagine, rose through the clouds and seemed close enough that he could reach out and touch them. Snow glistened on the craggy peaks and the wind played through the grass like it were water.
Not a drop of actual water could be seen.
The young wotter’s eyes had never before beheld such an expanse as what lay before him now.
Suddenly, he was walking, following a path that seemed without end. The dry ground felt good on the pads of his feet. He let his rudder drag through the dust, savoring the weight of his body and the steady pace of his legs. For so long he had been held by the sea. Now, far from any ocean, Tyus felt at home.
The trees surrounding the path cleared and something new loomed ahead. Closer and closer he came, the thing growing larger and taller. It dwarfed him. Its sheer mass seemed to press into the mighty earth and pull the land down with it. Black like the volcanic rock of his childhood, it nevertheless appeared to Tyus to be a great mountain like he had seen from the hilltop. Could it be man-made? Nothing in his finite experiences of life in the bay had led him to believe such a structure was possible….
Tyus jerked awake, his first instinct to slap his rudder and pull at the water around him, but all he got was handfuls of sand. His breath was coming fast and his heart raced, but before long, he realized it had only been a dream.
But not a nightmare. Why was he panicking from such a beautiful vision?
Glancing up at the stars, he noticed their positions had shifted quite a bit from before. He must have been asleep for at least a couple of hours.
Tyus let out a long sigh, wriggling his backside deeper into the sand and relaxing once again. He turned his head to relieve the tension in his neck, first to the right, then to left...
…and, suddenly, every muscle in his body pulled in one rapid jerk, lifting him onto his feet into a squatting position. His keen eyes stared ahead far down the beach. A tiny orange light flickered in the darkness near the water’s edge.
Though he was a water-dweller, Tyus knew fire when he saw it. It was a small fire, probably used by someone to cook a meal or stay warm. Whatever its purpose, however, he realized he wasn’t alone on the beach.
Without so much as the tiniest sound, Tyus slipped beneath the waves.
***
The sounds of rock cracking on rock woke Tyus from a deep sleep. Peeking an eye open, he could see it was already late in the morning. Beams of sunlight shown through the cracks in the boards comprising the roof of his tiny stone room. Rolling over in his bed of fine sand, he saw his mother holding open the reed curtain covering the doorway, rock in hand.
Tyus groaned inside and closed his eyes. Again, his mother hit the stone wall of his room with the rock to get his attention.
“It is very late, you know,” she signed with her other hand. Scorn was evident on her face, but also a bit of concern.
Maybe she thinks I am unwell.
Tyus barely lifted a hand to speak. “I know.” He just wanted to sleep. What was there to get up for, anyway?
“I would have let you sleep, Tyus.” She had set the rock aside and was now signing with both hands. “But your father needs your help today.”
“More fishing? I thought we had plenty for the week.” His mother, Dea, shook her head. “What, then?”
She waved him out of bed with one hand while saying with the other, “I have no idea. He said you would enjoy it, though.”
Perking up a bit, he sat up in the sand, stretching all four limbs.
Dea smiled. “I knew you would be interested. Don’t forget breakfast first.” The golden-furred wotter then turned and swam off, letting the curtain fall back into place over the doorway.
Aside from his small room and the one where his parents slept, the house had only one other room. It was much larger, of course, with a higher ceiling that was more open to let the light in. Furnishings were sparse. There was little more than a table for eating, some stools, and a bookcase with a dozen vellum books. Tyus’ mother had a fairly large salmon sliced open on the table, and was using the obsidian knife to now chop some dry-land greens. She smiled to him as he settled on a stool, resting his elbows on the table and watching her work.
“A late breakfast for you, too, Mother?” he asked.
“I’ve already eaten. This is all yours.” With a wave of her hand, she pushed a water current at the fish and it rolled across the table to him. Tyus’ bright green eyes went wide.
“It looks like breakfast and supper to me!” he signed quickly, duplicating each word with both hands for emphasis.
“I had a feeling you would need it today. Now, eat up quickly. Your father is waiting at the Point.”
Tyus nearly choked on his first bite of the sweet pink flesh. After swallowing, he drew in a big breath of water. “The Point?! Really?”
Dea nodded.
Meeting his father at the Point meant only one thing: they were venturing into the woods today.
Pages: 1