The Last Night Part 1 (Tigerlily's House)

I suppose everyone knows that they aren't mine... I've decided that Peachleaf, Gorse, Henna, and Moonstream are all older than Niva, Isas, and Vayni. Vayni is going to be Lark's novice name. I don't think she'll be in this chapter, but just FYI.

The Last Night


Niva laid on her bed, staring at the ceiling. Moonlight streamed through the open widow of the Earth dormitories. It was nearly midnight and Niva was counting the last minutes of her old life.

She was going to dedicate herself to the Earth temple in the morning. She would be stuck in Winding Circle forever, bound by her vows.

Niva threw back her sheet and padded over to the window. She pried the latch up and swung the window open. She glanced over her shoulder, back into the dormitory.

Dedicate Silverleaf, the dorm supervisor, was flat on her back, snoring quietly. The poor woman didn't know that sleeping powder had been slipped into her evening tea.

Niva clambered out the window and pulled it shut behind herself. She walked through the grass and turned onto the main temple road.

The night was warm and nearly pitch-black, thanks to a thin, crescent moon. No one else was walking along the road. A few Fire dedicates patrolled the temple wall, but everyone else was abed.

A thin hand reached out of the shadows and snagged Niva's sleeve. She jumped backwards and tripped over the hem of her white robe, landing in the dirt.

"Isas! What are you doing?" she whispered hotly. "You're not supposed to be out here!"

The other novice raised his eyebrows and draped his long arms artistically. "Neither are you. No one except for them," he nodded towards the dedicates on the wall. "Is supposed to be out right now. Especially us, since we're getting- " he paused. "Since we're getting dedicated tomorrow."

Niva snorted. "You still can't get over the idea that you're going to be stuck here for the rest of your life. I'd have thought you'd have accepted it by now."

"Not everyone is as quick to adapt as you are, my dear." He grabbed Niva's arm and hauled her back up. "Is your family here for the dedication?"

"Mmm-hm. My father hired some people to help with the farm and he and my brothers came down to Summersea. That's what he said in his letter, at least. He said they would come to Summersea, then travel here, to the temple, in the morning. Your family?"

Isas smiled cynically. "My father is too busy at the estate in Olart. My mother and sister are here though. I expect I'll see them tomorrow. I can introduce you."

An image of two ladies in ruffled dresses and pearl necklaces with carefully coiffed hair drifted across Niva's thoughts. She shivered. There are more people like him, she thought. "Wonderful. I'd be... charmed." She switched subjects abruptly. "Have you chosen your new name yet?"

Isas sighed. "No, I haven't."

Niva laughed softly. "Neither have I. Come and walk with me. Maybe we can get some ideas." She grasped his arm and pulled him off the path, into the gardens around the cottages and dormitories of the temple.

They slipped between the dark greenery, which was warm and damp in the humid air. Niva pulled Isas though a shadowy grove of gnarly trees and onto a lawn that sprawled around the Water dormitories.
The lawn was smooth, with a few shrubs and bushes.

Isas ducked his head and breathed deeply. He looked up at the back of Niva's head. Her long, auburn hair swung across her shoulders. It looked almost black in the night.

Suddenly, Isas stumbled. His foot hadn't landed on the grass. The young man fell, arms out before him, into a large pool of water. It had appeared smooth, like the grass, in the darkness. Isas pushed himself out of the water. Niva had skipped ahead and she was giggling madly.

Isas frowned at her. "You knew that was there."

"If I did?" Niva grinned.

Isas rolled his eyes, trying to look serious. "May I have a hand up?" He extended his dripping arm towards her. She grasped his hand and pulled, but Isas pulled harder and Niva splashed into the water.
She surfaced a moment later and spat water. "That wasn't fair!"

"Neither was your trick."

Niva sighed and floated on her back. "I suppose. We're even now."
 
Isas looked at her. Her white novitiate robe swirled around her, drifting in the water. "Your name," he said shortly. "Have you any ideas?"

She turned her head to look at him. "No. I guess I've been hoping that it will just come to me, that Mila and the Green Man will just say 'This is your name.' I suppose I want a plant name. It seems to be traditional to pick a name that associates you with your temple. I mean, look at Moonstream. Streams are part of water. And Silverleaf, well, that's obvious."

Isas shrugged. "There are non-traditional names as well. Gorse and Henna. You can't really guess where they're from. Most people would just think they're from the Earth temple. What about Peachleaf? She's Water temple."

Niva sat up. "I need more inspiration. Let's go somewhere else." She leaned over and kissed Isas' nose gently. "Come along." She pulled him out of the water and she danced across the lawn, with Isas right behind her. She leaped over the stone border of the Water dormitory grounds and paused on the temple road.

"Where do we go now?"

Isas smiled. "I know the most amazing place."

Niva held him back. "Is it very far? We probably shouldn't stay out all night."

"It's by the Air dormitories. So we have a bit of a run ahead of us if we actually want to sleep tonight."

Niva grinned. She grasped her white robe under her arms and whipped it off, over her head.

Isas gasped and looked away. He could hear Niva laughing. "What?" he said, eyes on the ground.

"I've got my underskirts on."

"Oh." Isas blushed and looked up. Niva was rolling her wet robe up, and true to her word, she was wearing a white, sleeveless shirt and several lacy petticoats that clung to her legs.

"It's hard to run in wet skirts, so I figured I might as well take the heaviest skirt off." She tucked her robe under her arm. "Lead on."

Isas turned and started jogging down the path. He had only gone a short ways when Niva loped ahead. Isas ran faster, and soon they were both sprinting down the path.

The gravel crunched under their feet. They raced path cottages and workshops, until Isas stopped before a dark, disused cottage.

Niva skidded to a halt, gasping. "What's this, Isas?"

The cottage was large, with whitewashed walls and a thatched roof. Trees and flowerbeds lined the inside of the white picket fence.

"It's just pretty and. . . it's special and I wanted to show it to you." He eased the latch on the gate up, and slid into the yard.

Niva could feel the plants clamoring for her attention as soon as she stepped over the threshold. She held out her hands and sent a wave of magic through the plants to calm them.

A rosebush tendril kept moving towards her. Niva was about to move it away, when Isas stepped forward. The plant squirmed into his cupped hands. A small rosebud burst into bloom and it gleamed palely in the night.

Isas knows how to grow plants, Niva admitted to herself.

The rose dropped into Isas' hands and the tendril returned to its bush. Isas turned to Niva and slid the rose's stem into her hair.

"It's called a tequila sunrise rose. They grow in Yanjing and Chammur, typically. My father received one from the Empress of Namorn. He gave it to me and I planted it here."

"Why did you plant it at this cottage?" Niva asked.

"My teacher lived here."

Niva nodded. She had known Tigerlily a little, and knew the Dedicate Initiate had been Isas' teacher for most of the novice's training. Tigerlily had died the year after Isas and Niva returned from Lightsbridge. There had been a smallpox epidemic in Summersea and Tigerlily had used too much of her magic trying to heal others.

"No one lives here now," Isas said as he walked up to the cottage's front door. He grasped the door-handle lightly.

Niva ran her fingers along the name over the door. "Discipline. What a wonderful place for a mage to live. Mila, if only everyone could live in discipline."

Isas snorted. "That would be quite the cottage." He looked up the wall. "I wonder who's been taking care of this place. It's been empty for- "

"Nearly three years now," Niva finished. She laid her hand over Isas' hand and opened the door. Musty, herb-scented air washed over them. Niva peered into the darkness. "Isas? Do you know where the altar is? I'd like to light a candle for Tigerlily before we leave. It seems fitting, as if we are visiting her."
Isas stepped into the cottage and walked down the hall. He didn't go very far; instead he turned right into a small room. Niva moved past him and nearly bumped into the altar. She reached down the side of the table for the customary drawer that would hold incense and candles for the altar. Her fingers closed around a matchbox and a long taper. She struck the match up, and gold light flared aroung her fingers.

Isas daintily took the match from Niva and held it under his chin, so his face flickered with shadows.

"It was a dark night," he whispered. "Lightning and rain poured from the skies. In an alleyway in Khapik- ow!" The match burnt his fingers and he dropped it.

Niva giggled and crushed the match under her shoe. She struck another match and lit her taper. She held it over the altar.

The wooden surface was bare and dusty. Isas swept his sleeve across the wood and reached into the drawer for god-figurines and incense.

Niva set her candle in a silver holder on the altar and helped Isas to pull out the supplies. She set the figures of Mila and the Green Man in the left corner with Yanna Healtouch, Lakik, and Shurri Firesword on the right. Isas set Asaia Birdwinged in the center and set a small blue-green bowl at her feet. Mila set another dish before Mila and the Green Man.

"I suppose we ought to honor the others, too," she whispered into the silence.

Isas drew out another bowl and set it before the remaining gods. He pulled a large packet out of the drawer and held the candle over it.

"Rosehip and lilac incense." He poured a small amount into each dish, then put the packet away. Niva set votive candles around the figurines and Isas set a slightly larger candle in the center of the altar.

Niva took the taper from Isas and lit the candles and incense. Rosy smoke and golden light filled the room.

"Mila and Green Man watch over Tigerlily," Niva whispered. "May she be able to grow tomatoes and be happy, wherever she is."

Isas laughed softly. "May she have tomatoes and happiness," he echoed. "So mote it be."

"So mote it be."

I suppose Nano's over, but...

I think I'll keep working on my Circle fanfics and Holly Silver stories. I'll keep you updated. :)

It's December and life moves on

I've finally crashed back into my normal life-after-nano. I didn't realize how much I had neglected my school projects and now I'm pulling a lot of late nights. It's crazy, but I'm getting back down to Earth. I only have two more weeks before finals and I'm glad. It's almost over. Hopefully, I'll be able to get out another chapter of BoLC in the next week or so. :)

AHH!!

I did it! Just now! 50,004 words. I'm sitting in my room next to my bed, whimpering and hugging myself. I can't believe it!!! *whimper whimper* *self-hug*

Nearly there

I'm only 9069 words short of 50K now. I'm almost there. It's a good feeling, but I'll TGIO. It'll need a load of revision, but that's okay. I think it'll fall back under 50K after I edit, but if I write some more in, it should be fine. :) Wish me luck! Only three more days!

Queen of Unremarkable Words

40,000th word- right
30,000th word- she
first word- Mareke (my MC's name)

Not very exciting are they?

30,000

So I've gotten over 30K, I'm taking a little break. I skipped a small part, where I couldn't get my characters from point A to point B, but it's going pretty good. Here's the first chapter. It's not great, te later chapters are better, but it's okay. :)

Chapter One- Later

Mareke rolled out of her sleeping bag, and looked at the brown-haired girl hovering over her face.
“What do you want, Jezza? It’s too early to get up now,” she looked out the window. “Jezza! It’s barely even morning. I have to get the last of the vegetables out of the Northern Garden. It’s nearly two miles away and it’s snowing.”
Jezza rolled her eyes. “Well, duh it’s snowing. That’s why we live in the Snow Plains. It snows most of the year,” the girl shook her head. “But that’s now what I wanted to tell you. There’s a person coming into town! It isn’t even a droid or an official! It’s a real person!”
Mareke goggled at her, annoyance lost. “A person? No way. It must be an official.”
“No, it’s a real person. Bear looked through his binoculars and said he couldn’t see a number on the person’s coat. All the officials have numbers. Jena said we should go out and meet whoever it is. I’m bringing my big stick. He might be armed or something,” Jezza sounded excited and Mareke couldn’t blame her. Still, Mareke tried to appear disinterested in front of the younger girl. Appearances were everything, and Mareke couldn’t afford any apparent weaknesses. That was how people got hurt. You showed a flaw and someone would attack it.
“I’ll get my stuff and meet you in the food hall. I’m hungry, even if you aren’t.” Jezza bounced on her toes and hurried away to the food hall.
Mareke shut the door to her room and opened the closet behind her desk. Her possessions were thrown in with a mixture of yellowed paper and dried glue bottles. The building she lived in was an old school, miraculously untouched by the Planetary Wars from centuries ago.
She pulled out her clothes; leggings, boots, and a sweater, mismatched and patched in various colors. Her jacket was fleece-lined with good, old-fashioned fleece. Not the government’s cheap, thin stuff. She got dressed and grabbed her pack from where it sat by a large Old World atlas. Mareke paged through the atlas most days, absorbing the photos and maps of the land beyond Silverhurst, her small town.
‘I’m bringing my big stick. He might be armed or something.’ Jezza’s voice echoed though Mareke’s head. Mareke frowned, then walked back to her bad and reached under her pillow. She had a large frying pan and a small steak knife concealed there, both of which were technically illegal. Nobody really cared though. People without weapons were goners. There were too many hungry animals wandering around. Only a few months before, someone had been mauled by a starving grizzly bear.
Mareke stuffed the pan and the knife into her pack and headed down the halls to the food hall, as she pulled her blond hair back in a braid. She got closer to the cafeteria and heard raised voices. She slid into the hall and entered the food line. Apparently, breakfast was being served early.
“Call the government! That’s the rule. We’re supposed to tell them so they can figure out who’s outside.”
“Talk to him! Maybe he’s lost or something. Maybe he’s a government official. Maybe- “
“I don’t want to be in trouble. You know what happened to the last kid who didn’t call. I want to stay alive.” That was Jena. She was a perfect model of what the government wanted. A follower, not a leader. “Let’s talk to him and keep an eye on him while someone calls the government.”
Mareke sat at a table, next to Jezza, and bit into her toast. “So, what’s happening? It sounds like Jena’s trying to take charge again.”
Jezza snorted. “That’s the understatement of the year.” She sat up and impersonated Jena’s snotty voice. “I think we should call the government. I know we’ll get in trouble if we don’t. I’ll take all the credit and be the model citizen.”
Mareke laughed. “Yeah. So we’re all just sitting here trying to decide whether to let the stranger in or not. That’s where this whole place fails. They raise us to do just what they want, then when something actually happens we run around like dead chickens.”
The two girls sat at the table and finished their breakfast. Jena was still shouting at the crowd when Mareke and Jezza slipped outside. The snow crunched loudly under their boots and their breath froze in the air.
Mareke paused and looked across the town. It looked almost pretty when all the ruins and dirt were hidden. She couldn’t even see the white government droids glimmering in the sun. Maybe this was what the world used to look like. All white and sparkly and clean.
Suddenly a movement caught the girl’s eye. There was a small bright shape a mile or two away.
“That’s the boy, isn’t it?”
Jezza nodded. “Or whatever he is. What is he wearing? I’ve never seen colors like that. I suppose it would be sky-colored if the photos of the Old World are right.” Most days the sky over the Snow Plains was a muddy blue-gray, one result of the Wars.
Mareke dropped her pack and pulled out her frying pan. “I suppose we might as well wait here for him. It’s not like Jena and the others are getting anywhere. The least we can do is figure out who he is.”
They stood there, letting the snowflakes fall around them like pixie-dust. The cold burned away the grimy smell in the air and it was almost nice to stand there as the boy walked closer.
Jezza twitched as the school door crashed open and Jena’s voice cut through the air.
“Leo, go to the government office on Hammond Street and let Officer McMinn know that someone’s gotten past the droids. Take Eliot with you. He’s bothering me.”
Mareke sighed. “I can’t wait ‘till next year when Jena’s too old for the school and she gets to live in one of the houses downtown. I’d be glad never to hear her voice again.”
Jena and the other kids from the school gathered around Mareke and Jezza. Jena glared at them. “What are you doing? You should have waited for me to leave, not come out here alone. Are you stupid? He could kill you.”
“Not that you care or anything,” Jezza muttered quietly.
Jena frowned. “Leave off, freak. Mareke, go out there and bring him back here. Tell him I’ll talk to him, and that we’ve already called the government.”
Mareke turned towards the boy as Jezza’s voice rang through the air. “Scared, Jena?” Mareke moaned inwardly. Jezza had a smart mouth at the dumbest times.
There was a loud clap and a thump. Some of the boys howled appreciatively. Mareke wheeled around. Jezza and Jena were rolling in the snow, hitting and kicking each other.
“Come on Jezza! Don’t let Jena smack you down!” someone hollered.
“Jena! Jena! Beat her up! She’s half your size!”
Jezza wrapped herself around Jena and smacked the bigger girl’s ears. Jena howled and clouted Jezza, knocking her away.
Mareke trembled. She didn’t want to fight. She hated fighting. Jezza is my friend. She needs me right now. Mareke bit her lip. Just do it. It won’t matter later, at least not much. She looked down at the two girls in the snow, and then jumped in.
She landed on Jena and heard the winds come rushing out of the girl’s lungs. Jena gasped then hit Mareke’s face. Mareke fell backwards and held her stinging cheek.
Jezza dove forwards again, her brown hair fluttering behind her, and fell hard across Jena, before a strong had lifted her off. Jena lunged up, but the strange boy put his foot on her.
“I don’t normally have girls fighting over me this early in the day,” he said. His voice was cheerful but he held Jena and Jezza firmly. “Will you two stop if I let you up? I’d like to introduce myself, but I can’t do that very well right now.” He was tall with black hair and wind-chapped skin.
Jezza grinned. “I’m Jezza, and I won’t beat Jena up anymore. I got her good already.”
Jena snarled at her.
The boy let Jezza down and looked at Jena. “Well, what is it? Can I let you go?”
“Leggo me!” Jena struggled to get free. “I’ll set the government on you!”
“You’re a bit late for that. They’ve been after me for ages.” The boy lifted foot and Jena leapt to her feet. “I’m Troy Matthis. I guess you’re Jena,” he turned to Mareke and Jezza, “and you’re Jezza the Firecracker.”
Jezza grinned at him. “This is my best friend, Mareke. She doesn’t like fighting, just like you.”
Jena shoved the two girls away and glared at the boy. “I’m the leader around here, so listen up! Don’t bother arguing or anything, because Leo and Eliot already told our government official that you’re here.”
“Why are you here?” someone from the crowd piped up. “Who are you? No one’s ever gotten past the droids before.” There was wonder and a trace of envy in the voice. Everyone in the city had to work hard for his or her daily food, whether it was harvesting the Northern Garden or mining deep underground.
Several years before, a boy has tried to run away. He had left in the middle of the night and tried to sneak past the droids that patrolled the city limits. He had been found in the morning as a black scorch mark on the hard, clay-like ground.
The new boy shrugged. “I’m not from anywhere in particular, just everywhere in general.” No one laughed. “My name is Troy and I used to live in the East, by the capital and the ocean.”
“There isn’t an ocean. It was evaporated in the Wars by all the rockets and nuclear submarines,” Jena said.
“Well, I guess it’s not all wet, but it’s like an ocean, with all the salt. You can almost imagine what it looked like. It would be beautiful, I think.”
Mareke frowned. The water that came out of the well by the school was a rusty brown and it tasted metallic. Why would anyone want a sea of that?
There was another loud crash as the school door banged open again. Officer McMinn puffed towards them. He looked a bit like a gorilla, Mareke thought, if her encyclopedia was anything to go by. He pushed his way through the crowd of kids and stood in front of Troy.
“Who the devil are you, boy?” he roared. Spittle flew out of his mouth. “How did you get in here?”
“My name is Troy and I walked in.” Mareke blinked. The boy had lost all the politeness and warmth from his voice. “I just walked.”
McMinn swore. “That’s a lie, boy! Tell me the truth now, and I might save you some pain later.”
“I don’t think there will be very much later, now.”

Ok, fine. I'll post this.

Prologue
The Planetary Wars began in 2875. Whole continents formed alliances. There was no more Britain, Japan, America. No Brazil or Egypt. There was Afraisa and Canamerica and the European Union.
If there were ever records of who fired the first nuclear rocket, they were lost long ago. After the rocket was fired, all of the remaining rules dissolved and the world slipped into nearly 150 years of chaos.
Then, there was nothing but the victors and the gone. Only the strong alliances remained; smaller, poor countries had dissipated. Many of the alliances reformed into separate nations again, but they had new priorities. Freedom and happiness of the people wasn’t as important as survival.
Out of the ruins of Canamerica, rose Sarenaia. Sarenaia was the biggest, cleverest nation. It was thousands of miles of land, of resources. The government organized the people into city-states sitting in the richest places, sitting on gold-mines and forests; clean, untainted water and fields in which to grow crops.
The people who lived in Sarenaia worked the resources and turned the results into the government officials. The government paid the people in cheap grain, vegetables, and animals. The gold, clear water, wood, and crops were sold at high profit to smaller, less advantaged nations or taken by Saernaia’s leaders, for themselves.
None of the working people left his or her city-state. The government set droids and lasers and officials armed with electric guns around the perimeters, so the people could not join together, rebel, or fight back. Children were separated from their parents and taken cross-country. All of this for one purpose: greed. The leaders of Sarenaia wanted life the way it used to be. Cheap food, good life, money. Not apples four or five dollars apiece, not working all day and planning the next day all night.
Then, somehow, a woman escaped. A rather average woman, so it was thought. She escaped and ran away to Britanada, an ancient nation, now a mixture of Canada and Britain. Britanada was smaller now, but it was fair and the people were happy, if a bit poor.
The woman escaped, and somehow she met up with powerful people and formed a league, a group that aimed to take down Serenaia. That in itself wasn’t surprising, people had tried before. What shocked Serenaia was the fact that the woman had the backing of the Zeusite Alliance, the oldest and most powerful of the original Planetary Alliances.
The Zeusites had wanted to free the Sernenaians for decades, but they were too far away, based in Greeco-Italia. But now they had a foothold in North America, by way of the newly-formed Athenian League, led by an average woman named Abby Harrington.

Goodbye until December.

The title says it all. If you want to keep up go to http://www.nanowrimo.org/

UPDATE: actually, NaNo is down (I'm surprised it took this long.) so if you can get on, look up Mistmantle. See you in December

The Latest Plot-Line

Mareke lives in a classroom in a school. The school is called Colette High, and it survived the the Planetary Wars of 3130. Mereke and her friends are getting up for the day when a boy comes up to the school. They are immediately on guard, since people have never entered or left the town, unless they were a government worker. The remaining cities in North America are now similar to city-states or colonies. They are too far apart for people to really travel. The government sends people around for a census every year, but that's about all. The boy says he is from the Athenian League. Everyone gets worried. The only thing the government says about the rest of the world is that the Athenian League is a group of rebels attempting to overthrow the government. Anyone who meets someone from the League is supposed to alert their local government agent, or sent a homing pigeon to the nearest agent. The boy is called Troy and he is traveling to the Athenian League headquarters. He is from the East Coast. The league dropped him in the region for a mission and he is on his way back. Mareke feels curious, but their leader, Jena pushes Troy away. She says he can have some wood for the night, but he will have to get his own food.

(Okay, update. I remembered this, and I'll post it for you, but it's not done. However, that is most of it. )

Nanowrimo ate my life

I think I have a totally new idea for Nano this year. I think the setting will be a post-apocalyptic Montana/Wyoming area, most likely called the Snow Plains. The people will have a steampunk era technology, though I've yet to decide on clothes. Comment me any ideas. The government will be a rather secretive, oppressive group. Their goal is to mine the last of the precious metals and fuels out of the land, the exact opposite of most everywhere else. Africa, I think will probably be well off. Europe is going to be the most advanced, I think they are going to be working on overthrowing the North American government. Europe is aiming at technology that is eco-friendly and they want to grow plants all over the Earth again. I think each continent is going to be a 'country'. The 'real' countries (ie: Britain, France, ect) are going to be more like districts, each has a say, but they have a continental 'congress' (?) maybe. 

At any rate, the main character is going to be a girl named Mareke (?) and she lives in the Snow Plains. ( I think one of the governments' things is to separate kids from parents and scatter everyone, so no one can bond together and rebel.) At any rate, one night in Mareke's 'town' a boy comes in. No one has ever seen him and they wonder how he got past the droids stationed around the town. The kids' leader, a girl named Livia says the boy, Troy, can stay one night. They'll give him blankets and some wood, but he has to get his own food. Mareke is chosen to take the stuff out to him. She's armed with her kitchen knife and frying pan and she sits and talks with him for a while. He tells her about himself, how he's part of the Athenian League, and she's terrified. She leaves and goes back to to her school-room. In the middle of the night she's awakened by Troy. He tells her to pack all her belongings. He has a Basilisk 1400, a type of nuclear-powered gun (rather like a Neutrino in Artemis Fowl), so Mareke packs. She puts her knife in her boot when he's not looking and grabs her frying pan. He tells her she can keep it if she doesn't try anything funny then they run out of the school. As they're leaving town, Mareke hears sirens and sees a charred droid in the snow. She realizes Troy is serious about the Athenian League. Troy says the sirens are a new type of droid, designed to capture people.

I'll put more later, that's all I have now. I think Mareke is going to be the daughter of Abby Harrington, the League's leader. hmm....