Uninvited Pest

Prompt from @flashfictionfridayofficial

Well, I haven’t touched this story in years, but it was fun to get back to.

Summary: In the universe of a certain author who likes switching stories, there was born a character who was sickly. His entire purpose was to be one of the faceless beings that was saved by a hero’s benevolence. Not even his own family noticed him outside of the story, and he lived most of his early miserable life trying to figure out what was going on. One day he finds a crack in the universe left by conflicting story ideas, peering inside he learns that he is part of a fictional world and decides to take advantage of the illogical nature of things to propel his life forward.

Abandoned

Nihil stretched out a clawed hand and did his best interpretation of a yawn.

It was early morning and he had work to get to before the horrid sun rose and decided once more that he was to have an unlucky day. Damn author favoring the day time so much, if it weren’t for the implications of working at night, and the stories that went along with it, he would have been turned into a night owl.

No, the pre-dawn mornings were special in that none of the little pest’s were out and about causing mischief yet. They were all sleeping or training their fingers to the bone. Sure it might be impressive the diligence that they had, but even covered in sweat and bleeding they would become stronger than any being had the right to with three times their training, no matter how sloppy their technique.

Stepping down to the kitchen, Nihil began preparing something simple to eat when he heard the sound of a sword swinging powerfully outside the window. Raising his attention he mimicked a frown, the knight was no longer bond by the author’s methods yet still she trained like this, there were better ways, ways that both of them were quite familiar with at this point. Still it showed a dedication that he supposed was admirable. Changing his plans, Nihil began mixing up some hot cake batter and quickly flipped the dial igniting the stove top.

He continued to absently watch her training as he cooked until her expression suddenly shifted turning to him. He’d finally been caught. It sent a trill of excitement through him as he reveled in the feeling of being recognized in something so simple as the plain clothes he was wearing.

“Morning Nihil, did you sleep well?”

A smile bloomed on her face as the knight stepped through the open door to the kitchen. To even remember his name… He mimicked a smile back at her and raised a pile of hot cakes towards her direction.

“Seems there was another break in at Facility B, but other than that I slept fairly well. Tell me you at least let yourself get some sleep?”

She had the bad habit of using all the tricks for the wrong reasons, and while Nihil was familiar with the desire to improve his understanding of this messed up world no matter the cost to his health, there was just no true replacement for sleep long term.

The knight shrugged and accepted the hotcakes adding on some berries and syrup for good measure. She skipped the butter again, but he didn’t blame her, after the recent shortages he barely used any on his own breakfast.

Deactivating the stove, he prepared his own hot cakes and quickly followed her lead to the table where they both ate in happy silence.

Looking at his companion from time to time with a mimicked grin, Nihil didn’t feel as bad about the years of research that had been burnt to ash during the night. With all the knowledge and power he’d gained over the years, Nihil couldn’t have wished for such a simple thing as eating breakfast with someone he was comfortable around until he’d met the Knight. It brought him some comfort that at least not everything that that blasted author mucked up was completely rotten.

Out of Context Tag Game

@kuebiko-writing , thank you for the tag!

Groggily coming back to his senses, Owen was confronted once more with the shattering realization that his squad was still missing. At least he wasn't Impaled anymore, so small mercies. A good sleep had a hand in that he'd bet, ma always said it did. Looking out at the marred earth surrounding the crash site, Owen stared blankly at the neat piles of immaculately clean bones carefully arranged into rows in place of his fellow passengers. He'd eaten them, hadn't he?

Tagging- open tag

Tell yourself the story

Don’t worry too much about over-describing in your first draft. Your first draft is all about the discovery, and you never know what elements will be relevant later.

Tell yourself the story, and worry about trimming the fat later, when you start your first edit.

Thanks for the prompt @flashfictionfridayofficial

Short and not so sweet, but fun to write none the less.

Vocal Reflection

“It would be so easy Simon, just say it, and you can finally be free of them. Don’t you want to see the sun again?” The creature now only barely obscured by the murky waters spoke to him with honey coated words even as its hollowed eyes glared up at him hungrily. “Your lovely wife and precious child… Oh how lonely they will be when you don’t return. They would steal your life, but I wouldn’t take much Simon, not even a fraction of what you stand to lose here.”

“None of the others could hear me, do you know what that means Simon?” He was the only one who could know what name to call. “Yes, but you don’t have much time left without my help Simon. It’s a simple choice, we can both survive.”

“No” 

Writing share tag 

Thanks for the Tag @wyked-ao3 ! I haven't gotten to the stage of editing yet, but here's a little something that I was able to get written a couple of weeks ago.

Blood Mage: council meeting 

No one enjoyed these meetings, but unless the fairies or vampires picked a fight with Luis there was usually no cause for concern. At a subtle gesture towards Marie’s seat, Susian’s face went pale. The witches were fairly peaceful these days, why would they go and pick a fight with Luis of all people?

As Susan decided the best way to word such a question to the already dozing representative, she was interrupted by a loud boom accompanied by an explosion of plaster and metal crashing down from the ceiling above. 

“What is the meaning of this?”

A cry came from the indigent Fairy King now covered in a layer of dust and red crystal fragments, his ever-faithful guard having taken the brunt of the explosion’s force shielding him. 

“Shut up bug. I have no time to prattle with insects.”

Susan and the others froze at the vitriol in Luis’ tone, sure he never got along with the king, but that voice wasn’t one that he used on anyone unless he had a mind to end them. The eyes of everyone drifted to the enraged bloodmage now standing several feet from the table, carefully trying to gauge how to react. Red lines covered his skin, pulsing with an unnatural glow, threatening to split him at the seams if he let himself slip even minutely. Her mouth went dry as Susian realized he had entered a frenzied state, and even the Fairy King made no move to speak now.

“I came to inform the council of my formal intent to eradicate the Witches.”

His words felt like a hot iron being slammed into Susan’s gut. Her predecessors and colleagues had long wondered what to do if such an eventuality came to be, but to hear it now drove her mind to despair. What had they done to offend him to this degree? Why in their right minds would the witches have picked such a foolish fight? Now everyone would be dragged into this insanity, and more than anything that meant she wouldn’t be getting her time off again, no one in the Order would. 

No pressure Tags: @renasdoodles @kuebiko-writing @laisley-writes @leahnardo-da-veggie ,

@creatrackers @somethingclevermahogony +Open tag

@flashfictionfridayofficial

Sorry, I'm a bit late with this one, but I think I got it in just before the deadline. I had just finished the picture when the internet went out, and I had to transfer the story over to my phone manually. Unfortunately, I may or may not have fallen asleep while doing so, and I have just woken up in a panic to get this posted.

Summary: If the story calls for a villain, then what choice does a character have but to follow? Alexia, a proud and just knight, finds herself victim of this unfortunate reality.

Content warning: reference to suicide attempts, violence, self hatred, loss of control, blackouts, and violence.

Her Angel

Noble Alexia, good and loyal. She had come from the gutter and reached the peak of excellence. Becoming a knight had been her dream, but becoming the commander of the knight's had been her honor. The tales of her deeds and bravery spread through the world, memorializing her even before the first wrinkles of age had etched into her face. Truly a hero of legends; a figure that would be spoken of in whispers to starry-eyed young ones before bed.

Three years into her role as the knight commander, Alexia woke up to find her hands covered in blood. It hadn't been right, she had just been having a meal with a trusted friend, just been talking about her future with someone dear, then she blinked and found her hands covered in the blood of innocents.

It was at that moment that her life was irreversibly changed. The blackouts increased in frequency and duration, but when she sought help, no one could understand her ravings. The isolation brought her to the edge of her sanity when one night as she fearfully lay down in her bed, Alexia found that her eyes would jot close, and her fingers would no longer obey her commands.

Standing from her bed, she dawned unfamiliar clothes and met unfamiliar people. Her body moved against her will, and her lips spoke words that never should have been uttered. Whatever demon had possessed her seemed to find sick enjoyment in watching her suffer, for even in her few sane moments of control, it would jot let her end the torment. That didn't stop her from trying. The hesitation only lasted for the first dozen attempts before her disgust at the blood-soaked monster in her mirror drowned out any remaining pity for herself.

…

Coming to her senses once more Alexia tried to make sence of the stabbing pain pulsing through her with every breath, but with her body frozen in place, Alexia could only use her eyes to scan the surroundings. That was right, she'd been in a fight? She could see that her body was twisted at odd angles where she lay among a pile of rubble, memories flooding back to her in a disoriented array. She had been defeated by some upstart who shouldn't have the strength to lift her finger and been left to rot like the dog she had become.

The knight commander, formerly the golden sun of the empire, now lay dying in a suit of blackened armor befitting her new title of Scourge.

“Oh you're still alive?”

Alexia should have been taken by surprise at how close a stranger had gotten, but in her state a bull could be charging and she'd likely fail to notice.

"From the looks of it, your story ended in death, so why do you still haunt the living?”

The gaudy angelic figure stooped nearly mumbling ti itself while grasping the air from alexia. She felt her jaw tighten instinctively as a thin blue tether materialized leading back to her heart. Gathering the cord in its hand, the creature before her frowned in concentration before suddenly brightening.

“So they forgot you couldn't be killed by demonic energy? How fortunate that it seems to at least weaken you beyond their ability to sense.”

The creature seemed amused by whatever magic it had used to know such a dark secret of hers. Had it truely come to take her to the other side? No, after what she had done there was no way that such a beautiful creature would have any business with her. It took another cord and inspected it growing somber once more.

“Stay still for a moment longer, I will not let them have you anymore.”

With simple words, and they weren't even meant for her really as the creature still seemed to be taking more to itself than anything. Still her heart jumped at the forgotten convictions that she had been forced to swallow back. The creature grabbed a red strand in front of her and with a thin blade, cut the cord.

…

Sitting across from the gaudy man whom she has come to value as a friend. Alexia couldn't help but smile at his concentration on the food before him. She had come to learn over the years that he was mostly as human as anyone, even with his lack of factual features. To this world, he was expendable, to many of its inhabitants he was a monster, but to Alexia and Alexia alone, he was the same thing that he had always been to her.

“My Angel."

She spoke the words softly and reached out a hand to gently caress his face, while a soft smile spread over her lips.

Writing share tag

Thanks for the tag, @aalinaaaaaa !

(I haven't been getting much original writing done lately for reasons... this is a small snippet of a story I come back to every so often whenever inspiration strikes)

Warnings for: mild self harm and withdrawal.

Withdrawal

Scraping his nails against the cobblestones, 408 looked down at the pouch around his neck. The blood in his veins was like fire, burning his reason and making his will falter. He just needed to hold out for another couple of hours, just until the sun set. Looking up at the blinding light, 408 cursed the spirits, longing for time to start moving again. Illusions flickered past his vision, and spikes of pain stabbed his heart with every half breath that he took. The last thing he wanted was to go mad, but he would tow that line as closely as he needed to if it meant that he could feel something again.

The pouch around his neck weighed like lead against his skin, silently offering a cool release from the pain. He’d told himself that he would wait until this evening, but the temptation seemed to double with every second that passed. His fingers began to reach for the bag without his mind’s permission. One of the pills was pressed to his lips by the time he realized what he was doing. 408 slammed his hands to the ground more forcefully than the last time, digging his fingers further into the stone until he drew blood. He’d set out to change his fate, and he wouldn’t accomplish anything by backing down now.

No pressure tagging @renasdoodles @kuebiko-writing @wyked-ao3 @creatrackers @somethingclevermahogony , @laisley-writes +Open Tag

Character Profile Tag: Billy

Thanks for the tag @creatrackers I had a lot of fun with this one. Sorry I'm so late getting it finished.

Full name: Billy, Shepard of the Blue Moon

Age: 4045 yrs

Gender: male

Species: Forest Guardian

Appearance: Standing at around 5'10 when fully upright, Billy is a mass of foliage and wood in the shape of a man, he appears to have a large beard made of ferns and wears a bone mask over the top of his face showing a pair of deep purple eyes.

Occupation: (Formerly) Shepard of the Blue Moon Valley. (Current) An initially reluctant member of a certain rogue squad of misfits.

Family: Forest guardian's are formed when a prior guardian is about to die or reaches their 4th millennia. In the first and much rarer case, when a forest guardian is about to die through unnatural means, they can split their core and send it into the ground for a 100 years to preserve the natural power. After the time elapses another forest guardian is formed from the core which has by this point re-fused. In Billy's case his predecessors' core did not fuze back and formed two separate Forest Guardian's. So he has one sibling named Jade, but they had their own paths and did not meet often after reaching adulthood. As for found family he has been adopted into the main squad by MA who isn't one to take no for an answer when it comes to strays.

Best friend: He gets along with most of the main squad fairly well (baring Ember), but he has a stronger connection to Hati since the mechanic was instrumental in making his more effective means of re-vitalizing nature. In turn he helps to keep Hati's unstable inventions from falling apart.

Pets: He has no pets and he prefers the company of plants.

Describe their room: (Former) A thick forest with lush foliage and a balanced echo system, it was his pride and joy. (Current) The back of a 6 passenger roofless (Stollen) military vehicle that is one bump away from falling to pieces, the one perk being a flood light that he can use to help get some 'sun' on the smog covered battlefields.

Items in their bag/purse: Assorted seeds and a copy of a half burned political thriller that he picked up somewhere along the road.

Hobbies: horticulture, reading, and hunting down particularly noteworthy offenders to the natural order.

Favorite sport: shooting

Abilities/talents/powers: As a forest guardian he has the ability to accelerate the natural progression and evolution of plants and animals. He is also able to levi an amount of control over natural things even partially extending to the human body unlike most of his species that mainly have this power over plants or animals. He is a skilled marksmen, and amateur engineer thanks to his friendship with Hati.

Relationships: He isn't and has not been in a romantic relationship before. As a Forest Guardian he doesn't particularly have any dive for connection. He does enjoy his friendships with most of the squad more than he had expected he would, but never felt the need to pursue anything further.

Fears: burning alive, watching his forests burn, fire, not being a worthy predecessor, and his squad dying unnaturally.

Faults: He is Stubborn, and doesn't tell people about his problems usually leading to avoidable consequences.

Good points: He is loyal and considerate.

What they want more than anything else: To re-establish the forests that were devastated and to watch over his squad so that they can live full and happy lives (Even Ember).

No pressure tagging:

@renasdoodles @kuebiko-writing @davycoquette ,

@wyked-ao3 @somethingclevermahogony @boomiburst @lyutenw ,

+Open Tag

Questions to copy:

Full name: Age: Gender: Species: Appearance: Occupation: Family: Best friend: Pets: Describe their room: Items in their bag/purse: Hobbies: Favourite sport: Abilities/talents/powers: Relationships: Fears: Faults: Good points: What they want more than anything else:

Last Line Tag

Thanks for the tag @kuebiko-writing

Sorry for the late response.

This is just a bit of my little bloodmage WIP giving a bit of perspective on Billy's motivations

Forest Guardian’s were, above all else, the protectors of nature and were often referred to as its shepherds. Long had they used their power and gile to protect their flock. That had been fine when the humans still held reverence for the sacred, but as that reverence faded, humans had changed. They become far too dangerous to rely on traditional methods. Defeat after defeat forced the shepherds to evolve, and Billy had been no different.

Handing his staff over to the strange human he watched as the living wood of his shepherds crook was twisted into a more fitting tool, no not just a tool, this thing was a weapon that he would use to sow vengeance.

No pressure tags: @kuebiko-writing @renasdoodles @davycoquette @flurrysahin ,

@literally-just-zay @creatrackers @somethingclevermahogony + open tag

(Let me know if you want to be taken off the tag list)

Heads Up, Seven Up

Share 7 lines from one of your WIPs

Thanks for the tag, @renasdoodles

I haven't reached the editing faze of my WIP yet, so you just get the unedited insanity that it is at the core.

Taking a deep breath, Owen released his hold. Maren had finally calmed down once he got her out of the water and rested.

Well calmed down in the fact that she was currently unconscious. He still had to go off into the woods to look for anything that could help fight the withdrawal symptoms.

This was fun. Thanks for the tag!

No pressure tagging: @kuebiko-writing @davycoquette +open tag