Conversations

[Dragyn]

And, just for the heck of it, one more!

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CONVERSATIONS:
A STORY IN CHATTER
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Does this look like the place?

YES.

Alright.  Are we ready?

no.

You're never ready.  Is everybody else?

YES.

no.

Of course.

Good, good.  Let's move out.

I don't wanna' die!

You're not gonna' die, it's just a war.

Heh.  Just a war indeed.

You scare me.

Good.

NO FIGHTING.

You scare me, too.

SO BE IT.  COME.  LET US GO.

Let's go, everyone.


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Ugh...is everyone all right?

I'm scared...

You're always scared, weakling.

NO BICKERING.

I guess we're all here, then. Anyone injured.

I'm short an arm, does that matter?

Well, you can regrow it.  Anyone else?

I'm bleeding...oh!  ...it hurts!

Just don't touch it, and you'll be fine.  Here, this'll make it hurt less.

It burns!

Only temporarily, wimp.

NO BICKERING,  I SAID.

Yeah, yeah...

Alright.  We have to go back.

Whyy...

Oh, stop it.

NO BICKERING.

It's a war, we have to win.

Can't we let someone else win for us?

NO.

Alright, guys, let's do this.

MOVE.


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That... could have gone better...did anyone else make it?

I...I'm here.

You ran away, didn't you!?

N...no.  No I didn't.  He said to-

Ya' coward.  Ya' ran away.

Stop.  We don't need this.  Where's the lich?

I haven't seen him...

Do ya' think he...

He's a lich.  He'll make it, I'm sure.  Let's go, we need to see if we can find him.

Alright.  I'm ready.

Hmph.  There's a first.


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Anyone else here?

I'm here.

Are you the only one?

So far.  I'm sure the runt'll make it.

I hope you're right.  We need more than this.  We'd best hold up here.

Ugh.  I suppose we'd best.

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Hey?  Did...did anyone else get here?

Runt!  Never thought I'd be glad to see you.

You're not dead!  I...I found the lich.  Here.

Gyah!  I don't want his skull!

Just hold onto it.  He'll need it to come back.

I'LL BE BACK, SOON ENOUGH.     

     OUCH.

Er...sorry.  Sorta' surprised me, is all.

Hehe.  I did that, once, too.

BAH.

Well, I'm glad to see we're all here.  Runt, take the first watch, it should be calm.  Berserker, you'll relieve him.  I'll take third shift.

AND I?

Uh...you just work on getting a body, for now.

SO BE IT.


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Well, I'm glad to say that was an uneventful night.

THE WAR IS NEAR ITS END.

I hope you're right.

Yeah.

All good things, right?

Whatever.  Our orders came in during my shift.

AND?

It looks we'll be making a tactical strike at the back of their formation...

I don't know how I feel about that.

There'll be bloodshed aplenty, have no fear.

That's not what I meant.  I worry for the runt.

I'll be fine.  I'm small but fast--hard to hit.

Heh.  be careful, anyway.

I will.

AND AM I TO COME, THIS TIME?

Can you move?

I CAN FLOAT, AND I HAVE HANDS.

A remarkable improvement.

INDEED.

Let's move out, before the sun gets too high.


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Alright, how do we look.

The runt's out.  I think he'll make it, though...

YOU CARRIED HIM BACK?

No man left behind.

Right.  Good job.  I'll look after him, shortly.  How are you two?

I LOST MY RIGHT ARM.

Again?  It looks fine to me...

I GREW IT BACK.

You weird me out, Lich.

NO BICKERING.

Some things never change.

Did...did we win?

Yes.  We won.  You get some sleep.

Alright troops, we rest here.  We move out tomorrow--homeward!

[Lopez]

Fascinating.

The story proceeds entirely in terms of conversation. In order to portray each character, you use different typing styles. I did feel a connect with each of the characters throughout the story, as their font made them seem like their own characters.

However, I challenge you with this: Can you remake this story with each character so distinct that they do not need the font changes to tell character from character?

[Dragyn]

It was originally written without the fonts.  I prefer it this way, as it's easier to read.

[Stormkit]

You COULD via tools such as accents and mannerisms. But it's much easier this way. The fonts denote the different tones and pitches in voice one can HEAR but not read.

[Dragyn]

To put credit where it's due, the differing fonts were actually my elder brother's suggestion.

[Virmir]

I actually copy and pasted it to my PDA (for my train ride reading) and all the formatting was lost.  Didn't have much trouble telling who was who, really.  Made me chuckle. Nice work.

[Dragyn]

Thanks.

...and it's good to know that the formatting was unnecessary.

[Feathertail]

Very well-written! It was hard to keep track of each character at first, but since the whole story is basically characterization they stood out more and more as it went on.

About halfway through, when they started referring to "the lich," I thought "That's it. This is a story with a twist. By reading just the dialogue, we're being made to sympathize with these characters. Then there's going to be a Big Reveal, and we're going to find out that they're actually the 'bad guys'!" Then it got to the end and I was like "Wait, that's it? I didn't even get to find out who they were! "

I mean, I did, through the dialogue, but you know what I mean. >.>

This story was a disappointment even though it was so good, just because it seems it was cut short. Write more and I will be a happy tree swallow.

[Dragyn]

Hmmm...

I rather consider the piece to be complete.  I'd be rather hard-pressed to add more without it feeling "forced."

I may eventually write another piece, in the same style, with the same characters, but I have no intention of lengthening this one.  (Short of simple revisions, should I find errors/improvements)