forum Writing dump

Started September 19, 2023 by @Lucky_Coin group

tune

Also, here's the next snippet!

After climbing the wall, Blackeye took a huge leap and sprinted towards Bricker as well. Nosedive was in a vivid argument with the three meds, trying to pull Bricker off the ground while screaming at them.
“I’m sorry, young lady, but if you want your friend to stay alive, he must stay with us.”
“I don’t care what you think, he needs to get out of here!” Nosedive shouted, clearly trying to contain her anger.
“Nothing doing, ma’am.” One of the meds said, stubbornly folding her arms.
“Oh, you wanna fight, huh? I’ll give you a fi-” Blackeye stopped Nosedive abruptly with a hand to her mouth.
“Excuse my friend, she acts rashly.” Blackeye apologized. He glanced at Nosedive, who looked like a smoke bomb about to explode, then whispered, “let's just grab him.” Nosedive nodded.
With a swift movement, Nosedive outstretched her leg and tripped all three of them in one fell swoop. Blackeye pulled Bricker up to his feet and balanced him over his back, his feet quivering from exertion.
“Stop toying with them and get over here!” Blackeye yelled to Nosedive behind him, who was laughing as the three meds tried to get back up. Suddenly she stopped.
“Uh, Blackeye? We’ve got some trouble. Five built-like-bulls guards coming straight at us.”
“Well, get a move on, then!” said Blackeye, panting from Bricker’s weight.
“Okay, okay.”
The weight of Bricker’s body became more bearable as Nosedive took the left of Bricker’s body.
“Oy, you. Come back here!” A voice from behind them yelled.
“Run!” Nosedive shouted. With as much speed as they could muster, the two of them sprinted to the wall.
“Okay, that’s a bit of a problem,” Nosedive muttered. “No way we’re scaling that with Bricker on our back.”
Now that Blackeye looked at it, the walls they had just jumped down from were almost completely smooth, nearly devoid of all imperfections. Added to that was the angle of the walls, the top jutting outwards to make the wall even harder to climb up.
Almost like they want the contestants to be trapped.
“Alright, you get up the wall first, and then I’ll haul Bricker up after you. Hopefully we’ll be able to clear the fence.”
Nosedive nodded in agreement. With skilful grace, Nosedive did a backflip and landed on the top of the wall. She grinned down at Blackeye.
“Show off.” Blackeye muttered. Blackeye started hearing yelling from behind him. Two of the Mireds, accompanied by ten or so guards, were making a beeline towards Blackeye at top speed.
“Grab his hands!’

Okay, I'm back from break and ready to write! I've been working on a new idea, and this is the first snippet for it. It's kinda long, but that's to cover up for my 4 weeks of absence. Anyway, enjoy!

Hadea was reading under the covers again. The little stump of a candle flickered as a gust of wind sneaked into the blankets. His little cabin in the outskirts of Belborn was not much protection from the cold. As he flipped the page of the book, a painted image was shown of a man holding a great crystal, hand outstretched like a giant glowing torch.
There weren’t many books he liked, but this was the exception. Hadea, like many people in the town, thought of books as dreams, wishes, and fantasies that told them a tale of impossible things, and reminded him all too well of what he could and couldn’t do. Which was exactly why he didn’t like them. Most of them were about mighty heroes who had fought countless foes, of scholars who discovered new things, of alchemists and their fuming potions. Being restricted by reality was never something Hadea and his body were quite agreeable with. Actually, being restricted by anything was never something Hadea agreed with. The problem was that Hadea could never be any of those things. He wanted the wishes and dreams the books talked about to come true. But many things prevented that, the most obvious one being the Townmaster, Thenioch. This nasty bit of vile, as Hadea called him, would never accept Hadea’s absence. He had only one reason for this neverending grudge which the Townmaster said he should listen to. However, since this reason was; ‘ You are not to get sidetracked by the world outside! It will rot your mind’, he also didn’t quite agree with it. The reason for the Townmaster's confinements, he knew, was because he was useful. It was always about how useful he was.
Useful.
Used.
So similar, yet so different.
He sighed. Today was Hadea’s seventeenth cycle. Most people celebrated this special day with gifts and cakes, with imported Pinatãs from Shantelen sea traders. Hosting parties with the neighbours in honour of their special day. But not him. Hadea’s dad was rarely in the quiet town where Hadea grew up, seemingly slipping away from his life like a daydream that fluttered to his mind every now and then, so Rute tried to make it up for Hadea as best as he could. Rute always came back at the end of each cycle. This was the only thing Hadea could count on from his father. And when he returned, Rute would ask Hadea for one thing he wanted to do with him before he left again. It was the only day in the year when he felt in control of his life. Hadea knew exactly what wanted this year. There was only one small problem.
The Townmaster.
Hadea sighed again, this time less resigned and more steely. Every day he had to come to the Townmaster’s hall, just to listen to endless streams of miserable people complaining about the stupidest of things. The conversations between the Townmaster and the villagers often went somewhat like this.
‘Sir, I need your help.’ they would say to the Townmaster in either a threatening or pleading tone, depending on whether they were clever or not.
‘My purse has been stolen!’
At this point, Hadea had heard this complaint a thousand times, and would try unsuccessfully to not roll his eyes. The Townmaster would scowl at him for being so obvious, and reply with:
‘What can I do for you, then?’
‘If you would be so kind as to give me a small amount of money-’
This complaint was the most common of them all. The visitor’s faces betrayed them. All they felt was greed. He sometimes wondered if Thenenioch even needed Hadea for this boring job, as they displayed their horrid feelings so well. Then, Hadea would slump into the musty old chair next to the Townmaster’s side, giving the visual cue for Thenenioch to say:
‘I’m sorry, but I can’t give you that. You may leave now, and close the door on your way out.’
Hadea didn’t mind what the Townmaster did to the liars. What Hadea didn’t like, was that the Townmaster felt the same way as they did. Mine. no one else’s. Hadea hadn’t seen many who had actual sincerity when they posed this question, but when they did, the Townmaster would react in the same way he did to the others. Hadea would never work for him if given the choice, but most, unfortunately, there wasn’t one. Hadean had no choice where he lived, where he worked, who he worked for, or even how he talked. He felt like a puppet in a puppet show.
Used by the Townmaster.
Used by the Shaman.
Used by Rhokharen.
Used by everyone.
The one person who treated him like he was more than just an ignorant, absentminded kid was his father Rute. However, even he couldn’t stop the Shaman’s frail, callused hands from using him in the most conniving of ways.

The book he was reading had a thick brown cover with words smeared on it saying: The Three Beacons. This book was about the great hero, Sonilal. Hadea liked this book because of Sonilal's background. Sonilal was a village boy. The heroes in the rest of the stories were practical royalty, gifted with magical weapons and in favour of the gods. But Sonilal made one of the biggest changes in history, with nothing but three glowing crystals. He still completed his journey. He still had hope. It was his favourite one out of all the old stories. This version told of how Sonilal brought light to the Wilderlands, undertaking Rhamisni’s prophecy. It was less about the battles and more about the journey, and he liked that. Sonilal had control over his life, unlike he did. But tomorrow, Hadea’s life was going to change, and he knew it. Slowly, the little stub of a candlestick burnt out, and Hadea fell asleep.

OKAY. SO. After a month, no, two months of procrastinating, not knowing what to do with my characters, dying of writer's block, and overall bad stuff, I have resurfaced, ready to write again!

Here's another snippet, for the enjoyment of those still looking at my writing. Its a long one, but that's because its finishing chapter 6. Here we go!

Nosedive took Bricker’s hand and heaved with all her might. Even with Blackeye pushing from behind, it was a monumental effort to get Bricker to the top. After Bricker was set on the small ledge, Nosedive reached her hand down to pull Blackeye up as well. Blackeye grabbed and was in the middle of pulling himself up when a gloved hand caught his dangling foot in mid-air.
“Ha! Got you now, you filthy rat!” A guard shouted from behind him. A smug look overtook all his feature as he yanked on Blackeye’s leg. And Nosedive didn’t move an inch.
“Don’t do that.” She said venomously. Dangling between the two of them, Blackeye felt a little smile tug on his face.
“You should listen to her, you know.” Blackeye said over his shoulder. The guard looked at them uncertainly, then yanked even harder than the first time. Nosedive’s hand twitched once, but stayed stuck in place. The guard looked shocked.
“You’re starting to get on her nerves. Now would be a good time to piss off.” The guard started fuming in anger. Just as he was about to pull again, Nosedive flicked her arm down like a whip and sent Blackeye’s foot and the guard’s head into the wall. He was knocked out cold.
“Okay, quick, we need to get out of here fast.”
“Uhh . . . sorry to burst your bubble, but how do you think we’re gonna get up there?” Nosedive asked, pointing up at the giant fence. The guards were now behind them, yelling for them to get down.
Blackeye sighed. “We have to try.”
Nosedive nodded, then started scrambling up the chicken wire until she reached the top. Carefully, she pushed her feet through the holes in the fencing and used her toes like hooks to keep her tethered as she held out her hands to pull Bricker up.
“Get down here, you scoundrels! You cannot kidnap a competitor!”
Blackeye wrapped his arm around Bricker’s waist, then clasped his arm firmly. He reached out on tiptoe for Nosedive to grab Bricker’s wrist, and then did the same for Bricker’s other hand.
At this point, the guards had figured out how to get on top of the wall, and were making a human ladder to get to them.
“Hurry up!”
Once Nosedive held both hands, she started to pull Bricker up. At the same time, Blackeye was pushing from behind, beads of sweat running down his chin. Slowly, they inched his body up across the wiring. With a mighty shove, they managed to get Bricker over the wall. His body fell with a heavy thump, spewing dust from the floor everywhere. Nosedive immediately unattached herself from the fence.
Blackeye started to claw his way up, but the guards were already up the wall. Just before they reached him, loud bells started ringing from all sides of the room.
DONG. DONG. DONG.
Blackeye winced at the sound. So did the guards, which gave him just enough time to hop over the fence.
“Pick him up.”
Blackeye and Nosedive were grabbing Bricker’s legs when the horrible clang of the bells sounded once more.
DONG. DONG. DONG.
“ALL WITNESSES IN THIS ARENA, PLEASE SIT DOWN.”
The voice that had just boomed came from a heavily armoured, well-dressed woman with dark skin and braided black hair. On her left plate of shoulder armour was painted the insignia of the Upper City’s Military, the white and red rose-entangled cross that was the symbol of the Shield-Bearers.
Half of the remaining crowd sat down. The rest started running for the exits.

Hello, I am back from the abyss that is the first year of high school. Please forgive me, I needed a break from writing and couldn't handle the writing dump for a while. But, I am back, and ready to start writing again.

Heres a few more pages from my doc.

Chapter 7
Screams of terror and yelling immediately filled the arena, people running for the exits left, right and centre. Like a stampede, they charged for the doorways, stomping over any who stood in their way Just as people started reaching the doors, guards appeared from behind and closed them shut. Everyone was trapped inside.
“Right. Anyone who tries that again, will be answering to me in the Belvacar. That ought to rot any ideas you had of running.”
Blackeye’s pupils widened an entire inch at the thought of that. The Belvacar was a nightmare of a prison, or at least from what he’d heard. It was situated far away from the city, with harsh restrictions and guards who would rather kill you than show an ounce of pity. The place was reserved for the worst of murderers, con artists, and arsonists. Of course, most of the time only people from the Upper City were locked up in the jail, to preserve the Mainer’s perfect way of life.
Otherwise, Cairnove would already be in there, Blackeye thought. But why are they even threatening us? What are they even doing here?
“Let’s get to the others quickly, before they start searching up the aisles.” Nosedive whispered. Blackeye nodded, turning away from them to look at her. She looked just as confused.
“Why are they here in the first place?” Blackeye asked no one in particular.
“No idea, we just have to get out of here. And fast.” Nosedive answered from behind her back, already hoisting up Bricker’s legs. “Grab an arm, will you?”
Blackeye pulled each of Bricker’s arms onto his own shoulders, and lifted. Slowly they started walking through the crowd to get to their seats. Most people were too shell-shocked or fearful to notice them. But those who did were shooed away by Nosedive. “Piss off! Mind your own business!”
Eventually, they got to the others. Bits was grabbing his hair and pulling it like a maniac, and Bun was curled into a ball in PJ’s lap. PJ was muttering to herself incoherently.
“Guys, this is crapped up.” Bits moaned. “We’re so screwed over now. I mean, the SB never go down to the Lower City, and the day we snag the most money ever, they decide it's time to come and say hello.”
“Oh, calm down, Bits. Don’t act like you’re the victim, here.” Nosedive snapped, patting PJ’s back while facing Bits. Her face softened as she saw him wince. “I’m sorry, it’s just . . . don’t worry. They probably aren't here for us anyway.” The audience was starting to talk again, frantically trying to figure out what was happening.
“Guys, be quiet. The loud one’s speaking.” Blackeye whispered to the others, putting the unconscious Bricker into the dusty grey seat next to him. PJ suddenly stopped rambling. So did the crowd.
The lady in armour opened her mouth and shouted, “WE HAVE REASON TO BELIEVE, THAT SOMEONE IN THIS AUDIENCE HAS BEEN SELLING A VARIANT OF THE DRUG CALLED HIDE TO THE UPPER CITY. ANYONE WHO TRIES TO RUN AWAY WILL AUTOMATICALLY BE DECLARED SUSPECT. IF PROVEN GUILTY, THEY WILL BE EXECUTED IN GREYWEN SQUARE.”
“Well, that’s nice,” Blackeye muttered. And of course they’ll probably imprison half of us in the Belvacar anyway.“Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, oh shit.” Bits was whimpering.
“But if we have nothing to hide, why should we worry?” Dustbunny asked through sobs of fear. Tears were streaking down her face. “Because Pit fights are illegal up there, and they aren’t gonna care whether this is in the Mains or not.” Nosedive answered, her eyes searching the surroundings for an exit.
“And of course there’s the fact that they just need a shady face to blame as the hide dealer, and my face isn’t the most bright.” Blackeye muttered.
“But who actually has the guts to sell the Hide to Mainers?” Bits asked nervously, his hair a mess as he increased the speed of his brushing. “Also, I thought there was only one type of the stuff. What do they mean by ‘variant’?”
From behind them, Bricker groaned as he put a hand to his head. Immediately, Blackeye and Nosedive swivelled their heads in his direction, scanning for anything problematic. Bits peered over from his seat at the opposite end, concerned. “Is he alright?” Bunny whispered. PJ started to stroke her head. “I’m sure he’s fine,” She whispered back.
Blackeye put his left ear to Bricker’s chest and checked for a heartbeat. Ba-bump. Ba-bump. Ba-bump. It was there. So the poison hadn’t killed him. Yet. “We need to get him to a healer, and quick.” Blackeye said urgently. “I don’t know how long he can last without medicine. Everyone, look for exits.” All of them started to search for a way out, desperately hoping for a trapdoor, or pipe big enough for the to fit through.
“AS THE GENERAL OF THE SHIELD-BEARERS, I, FELVERAN ARKAMENE, CONDEMNS ANYONE WHO LEAVES THIS ROOM A CITIZEN WHO ISN’T SHOULDERING THEIR DUTIES AND A COMMON ENEMY OF THE CITY.” The general shouted again. Of course, everyone decided to run and ask questions later. Complete pandemonium broke out in the stands, and all manner of screaming and shouting erupted from the crowd, as they ran in every direction that got them further from the Shield-Bearers.

On another note, I have now created a Glossary, for all the unknown words I use. If you find any more in my writing that need to be added, do tell!

Glossary

The Backwash: A particularly dingy part of the Outskirts known to be almost entirely uninhabited, save for the hundreds of hiders in comas that fill the place. Also known for being a market for selling other drugs and illegal goods. The name is a half-joke, meaning, “Where we dump the shit.”

The Beast: A variant of the Hide, though completely different in its effects. The two drugs have the same chemical and alchemical compounds, but where the Hide leaves you in a comatose state, The Beast increases muscle mass and size of the user for a period of time depending on how weak their immune system is to the drug. The drug also renders the user borderline insane, attacking anything living within sight.

The Belvacar: A prison based on a small islet next to Durwenport that’s reserved for the city’s worst criminals. Though the Belvacar is well protected and far away from the city, it is still guarded by the elite of the Shield Bearers. The origin of the name for the Belvacar is not known, but it is assumed that the name’s origin is based on the giant bell that rings out from its highest tower at midnight.

Chack: A popular board game played on a chequered five-by-five square. The game is played with four pieces, the archer, the swordsmen and the spearmen, and one silver knight. The aim of the game is to strategically place the soldiers so that the opposing knight can’t destroy any of the other pieces.

Commons: The part of the Upper City that lives close to the walls encircling it. The Commons generally are less wealthy than the Mains, and therefore more inclined to venture into the Lower City without worry. Though some families from the Lower City gain residence in the Commons, it is very seldom that they are able to move there permanently. Similarly, very few families from the Commons move to the Lower City, in worry of the crime rate there.

Crowlin: A small street bird native to Durwenport and its surrounding area. Crowlin are similar to crows in appearance, but smaller and with a coat of pale grey feathers instead. They often nest in red roof slats of buildings in the Lower City.

Decka: A form of currency used in Durwenport that is equal to ten jing. It’s the amount of money normally needed to buy a pair of shoes.

Hano/a/i: A term for a close friend in the language of the East Bassanian kingdom, also known as Kuavanta. The term is widely used by Durwenport’s inhabitants due to the large number of Kuavantal refugees that once fled to the city, and made a lasting impact.

The Hide: An infamous drug only found in Durwenport. The drug combines deadly alchemical substances into a combination that makes the user go into a coma for anywhere from an hour to the longest documented case of thirty years. The amount of time depends on how many times the user has taken it in the past, as the body grows weaker to the drug after every dose. While in a coma induced by the Hide, the user feels intense euphoria, unlike any experience in real life. The drug is administered by injecting it into the user’s bloodstream.

Jing: A form of currency used in Durwenport. A jing is the amount of money used to buy a sweet in Durwenport.

Mains: A slang word used by the Lower City to describe the wealthiest area of the Upper City. This part of the city is renowned for housing most of the officials and embassies of other cities. It also houses the four dukes of the Upper City, who govern the main laws of Durwenport. The name “Mains”, is another half-joke, as it’s “Where all the shit happens”.

Outskirts: The farthest part of the city, with both the most people and the least laws. Classified technically as past the river that separates the Lower City from the disease-ridden, lawless area of the Under City. The Outskirts surround the entire city however, and make it very hard for foreign merchants to trade with the Upper City.

Shield Bearers: The Shield Bearers are both the military and the police force for Durwenport, able to go anywhere to carry out their duties. Though they are forceful, the Shield Bearers are one of the few forces that keep the Lower City under control. They are sometimes called the SB by parts of the Lower City and Outskirts, a joke about how they’re “Bullshitters backwards”. Their coat of arms is a white rose curled around a cross.

Snatcheries: Slang for gambling houses set up across the Lower City. Named snatcheries due to their unfairness in their games, and the irresistible charm they have which make gamblers desperate to come back. As one of the most wealthy businesses in Durwenport, they are a powerful force in the city's politics.

The Pits: A series of fighting arenas scattered across the Lower City, hosting technically illegal fights every year. The Pits are classified into Minor Pits, which host small brawls every few weeks and are mainly used for less renowned pit fighters, and the Major Pits, where popular fighters duel semi-regularly. All weapons and armour are allowed, but any brutality after combat is finished is strictly prohibited. The Pits have a mortality rate of twenty percent, due to the number of unprepared fighters in their battles.

The Queens: A city ruled by two imposing sisters with strict laws on how their city is run. The two queens, Elera and Televan, fund the Lower City officials as long as they stay in partial control of Durwenport.

Quon: A form of currency used in Durwenport equal to ten decka or a hundred jing. A Quon is the amount of money normally needed to buy good housing for a month.

(Ok, here's another one:
“I found it!” Bits yelled over the noise, pointing to a loose floorboard under one of the higher stands. “We can hide under there in the stands until they leave!” Blackeye nodded. “Follow him! I’ll get Bricker.” Immediately, the group was heading for the top stands, shoving and pushing through the crowd.
Blackeye turned back to Bricker, mumbling in his sleep and groaning from pain. Taking both his hands, he heaved him onto his back. The sudden weight of Bricker was staggering, and he had to use all his strength to walk with him on his back. Slowly, he started to stumble through the crowd of people and make his way to the upper stands as well.
The noise and screaming throughout the stands was insufferable. The people rushed past in a desperate push for freedom from the arena. Under foot, Blackeye could see countless people underneath the crowd, crawling to hide from the Shield-Bearers. It was a human stampede.
With Bricker on his back, simply walking into the crowds wasn’t an option, and crawling would probably get him killed. I’ll have to wait until people calm down, Blackeye thought. Setting Bricker down once again, he sat down on his another worn-out seat and waited for the tide of people to ebb.
“EVERYONE BACK TO THEIR SEATS, OR THIS ENTIRE BUILDING GETS LIT AFLAME.” The general shouted from the pit, a slightly mad gleam in her eyes. The noise slowly fell silent as the onlookers slowly went back to their seat. Jail was better than death.
“Guards will be coming up the stands for your name, age, gender and other specifics. If you obey and answer their questions, you may walk freely out of the arena. If you do not, we will hold you here until you do. Valuable information you may or not posses will be rewarded. If we find you a suspect, well, you know what happens then.” General Akamene said with a smirk on her face. Murmurs and whispers went up from the crowd.
Crap, I need to get out of here fast.
Really fast.
Slowly, from below the stands, where Blackeye and the others had come in, soldiers of the Shield-Bearers were marching their way up through the seats in their heavy metal armour. Soldiers were calling people out, “Name. Age. Gender. Place of origin. Thank you.” with most people ending up leaving with handcuffs holding their wrists. “Head down the stairs for further questioning. Next!” Whenever they found someone with the telltale scars of a hide victim, they were instantly sent away with two guards at their heels.
The stands were quickly being emptied, more and more soldiers coming out of the pit to take away the crowd. Blackeye saw some wealthy commoners bribe the guards to let them go free, some having entire qoun pour out of their pockets, just to get out of the terrible fate of the Belvacar. Or worse.
Thankfully, Blackeye was in the centre of his stand, and there were still a good twenty people to get through before they got to him. But at the rate they were going, he had two minutes, maybe five if he was lucky, before they took him and Bricker away, locked up in heaven knows where. Blackeye glanced to the area under the seats that Nosedive, Bits, PJ and Dustbunny had all hidden under. Thankfully, they were completely concealed.
Wait, is that . . .
Oh no, that's Bun’s foot!
Sure enough, Bunny’s cloth shoe was peaking out from behind the boards, like a torch screaming I’M OVER HERE. The Shield-bearers seemed like they hadn’t seen it yet, but they would soon once the crowd drained out. He had to warn them somehow, and then escape this terrible arena. And that was no easy task.
Suddenly, a hand grabbed his shoulder, as a face leaned in next to his ear and whispered, “Need a way out?” The face was smiling. No, grinning.
Oh, thank goodness.
Daniel.
Blackeye breathed out a sigh of relief. He turned around to see Daniel in his red coat, the widest grin stretched across his face.
“Yes.”
“Right, come with me.” Daniel said. He nodded to Bricker, groaning in half-sleep. “I’ll get your friend over there.”
Blackeye moved out of the way for Daniel, who pulled Bricker into his arms with strength unnatural for his stature. Though, the strain of the weight was shown on his face as he confidently walked through the seated crowd, his red greatcoat trailing him like a tail. The crowds' attention was momentarily drawn to Daniel, and murmurs went up from the crowd again. Unfortunately, this attracted the attention of the soldiers.
“Hey you! Get back to your seat quickly!” yelled an angry soldier, already coming up the steps. “Now!”
Just before the soldier reached them, Daniel took one hand from under Bricker and steadied the weight with his now high raised knee. He then searched his coat pocket, pulling out a small wooden tube, which he stuffed a small black pebble into.
Foof!
The pebble shot out of the tube and onto the roof, exploding in a haze of thick smoke. The stand went black.)