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Ink Slinger
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Ireland
Gender: Male
Posts: 2,366
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On the road again.
Part of a conversation I've been working on. The dragon talks in block capitals for some reason I haven't thought of yet, so bear with me. All critiques welcome.
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“It was a dark and stormy night…”
“Oh, come on!”
“What?”
Vahn threw up his hands in frustration and glanced at his cousin over the small fire they had built. The air was thick with the smell of the woods, though the combined smells of smoke, soil, sweat and horse-dung were filtering through in the background.
Truth be told, he wasn’t all that bothered. After all, compared to some of the army camps he’d been to, this was actually quite comfortable, but Khad was perched irritably on the side of the carriage they’d bought. His bodyguard gig must have been fairly quiet and well-paying if it let him reach a good tavern every time he wanted to rest.
The cart itself was a small thing, just enough to hold their bags and whatnot until they reached Oryn, but sturdy enough to impress him. The horses had been more expensive. They were still a bit shaken from the airship, but were regaining their feet admirably. He could see their shadowy forms resting beyond his cousin’s irritable form. They’d grown used to Khad’s grumbling. So had he, but arguing with his cousin passed the time. An owl hooted somewhere in the distance and he blinked, trying to focus his thoughts. While he’d conceded that his cousin could sleep in the cart, Khad still grouched intermittently every few hours. Right now he had his jaw set in a way that spoke volumes. Vahn grinned inwardly.
“Well,” he said, sitting up slightly, “what’s wrong with you now, Khad?”
“If you’re going to tell a story,” he said, “you could at least be creative about it.”
“How do you know that my story isn’t creative if you won’t let me tell it?”
“I just know, ok?”
“It’s bound to be better than that stupid card game you keep whining about.”
“I wasn’t whining! I was explaining…”
“That’s fascinating. Shut up, and defend your claim.”
“What?”
“Why do you think my story isn’t creative when you haven’t even heard it?”
Khad adjusted his position and looked around for a bit as though trying to buy himself some time. Vahn wouldn’t have put it past him to be irritable for the sake of being irritable, but he nothing better to do. He could fall asleep whenever he wanted after all.
“If you want to tell a story,” Khad said, “then start with something a little less cliché.”
“What?! That’s your reasoning? Who’s telling this story, you or me?”
“Neither of us is, but that’s not the point…”
“No the point is that you burnt the map,” Vahn said, “and you forfeited your right to complain about anything.”
“It was an accid…”
“You burnt the map,” Vahn said, “and I have to resort to telling stories to shut you up until daylight when we can figure out where the hells we are!”
He let an edge of angry frustration creep into his voice towards the end of that sentence. While it did give his cousin pause for a minute, Khad wasn’t about to give up that easily. Vahn squared his shoulders and prepared for the next phase of the argument. His cousin had opened his mouth to speak when something heavy landed behind Vahn, kicking up wind and dirt, and causing the ground to shake violently for a moment.
The fire was almost extinguished , and Khad almost fell off of the cart but the horses stayed remarkably calm. There was a brief lull and then whatever it was took a breath, and a deep, rumbling voice shook inside his head. There was a brief pain, and he wiped the trickle of blood from his nose with his sleeve.
WHAT’S THIS I HEAR ABOUT SOMEONE BURNING A MAP?
“Vahn, there’s a dragon behind you.”
“Thank you Khad, for stating the brutally obvious,” Vahn said. “Can you hear him?”
“Hear him?”
CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW?
“Ok, I think I hear him…”
“Khad, Blackash, Blackash, Khad.”
IT’S A PLEASURE.
“Likewise,” said Khad, looking somewhat dazed.
SO WHO BRUNT WHAT MAP?
“It was an accident!”
“Gods, are you still talking?” Vahn threw up his hands again. “Here I am, trying to keep some semblance of civility and you keep bringing this up…”
I’VE NEVER UNDERSTOOD YOUR FASCINATION WITH HAND GESTURES…
“I’m just saying,” Khad said, right before Vahn cut him off.
“You burnt the map, because you forget to get more lantern oil and needed a light to find the map,” Vahn said flatly, “and rather than waiting to see if you held something valuable, you just lit the first thing you touched.”
The laughter in his head was deafening.
“Now that’s an exaggeration…”
“And you got us lost in the first place,” he continued, “ ‘shortcut’ my foot! And you’re supposed to know your way around.”
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For Sale: One soul. Mint condition, never been used.
"In another life i'd be drenched in sweat with you but it's this life darlin', and in this life we make do." ~The Guillemots
Last edited by slayerofangels : 04-03-2007 at 06:20 AM.
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Hope to see more!
