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Beginnings -- an SK fanfic

5 replies [Last post]
Sun, 02/26/2012 - 17:11
Dragaroth's picture
Dragaroth

OK, I think I have a concrete direction, I'll try to get to this at least once a week for a nice sized update, right now I'm just starting it out. Any feedback you have is appreciated, every now and then the story will branch which means I'll need votes for how things'll go down which means viewer pole time. Till then, please read, feel free to post thoughts and (HELPFUL!) criticisms, and any thoughts about what will happen in the future.
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He coughed and picked himself up, observing the crisp, clean, white medical room, and the table he layed on. The pain in his chest was sudden, and he cried out as a wave of it hit him, like a sword going straight through him. Two guards, wearing a crimson gold armor Goile had never seen before, rushed in.

“The shouts, what’s wrong,” “Nothing, how did I ge-” “since your finally awake, the doctor will want to check on you, if you do not mind.” He paused, waiting with a steady tap of his hand on the side of his armor for Goile’s answer. “s-sure, but what am I in….here..” The knights had already left the room, leaving him alone again in the empty, white abyss. Not… Me…. The voice resounded across the room, and Goile jumped as it echoed deeply towards him. He drew his gun as a dark red mist seeped through the far wall, as the door was slammed open. “JESUS man what are you doing? Get that gun out of his hands would you?” Goile turned towards the door as one of the golden guards from before rended the pistol from his loose grip. His head swiveled quickly back towards the mist, only to see the white wall, with its dull glow. “Given the circumstances of your arrival, I’m surprised you made it soldier.” “Good, maybe you could tell me about it?” “You don’t remember?” he quickly typed something onto a small pad that was floating lazily behind him, “Good to know, good to know… your eyes were out, no heat, no mist, nothing. You should’ve been dead.” The words slowly sunk into Goile, his arms laying limp at his sides, the light in his eyes glazed as he tried to process what the doctor had said. A pat on the back awoke him from his thought, “C’mon, your alive, that’s what counts right? By the way, the name’s Harm, make the jokes while they’re fresh.” “right now, Doc, I just want to get some rest, if you don-” “Not at all, these two’ll stay outside, if you don’t mind and, er, given the whole blaster thing, mind if they keep your sword for now?” “It’s ok, I don’t really trust myself right now.” He unclasped the sword and it’s sheath from his back, tossing it to the guard on the right. “Have a nice rest now, there’s someone who wants to meet you once your well,” With that, the Doctor Harm and the two guards walked calmly from the room. While the red mist sat watching the imposter from the corners of the medical room.

Sleep came easily to Goile, but the dreams awoke him. Dark shapes screeched as he ran down darkened corridors, a great machine, tendrils and wires and a deep voice, words unspoken, resounding in his head. Trapped in a dark vessel, the smoke stinging his skin as he screamed in pain. NOT. ME. The words shocked him from his sleep, and he again watched the red mist in the corner of his room, as it formed in the corner, taking the crude shape of a knight, an arm outstretched towards him, a blade dragged along the ground with the other. You’re. Not. Me! The being was without a helmet, but the veins that should have been full of mist sat dull and black, the mouth was unmoving, the voice resounding within Goile’s own mind. A knock on the door dispelled the mist as the Doctor and the room’s guards marched back in, one of the guard’s tossing his pistol and sword back into his lap “It’s time, one of the higher ups wants to see you” “The Warden?” The doctor chuckled, “A little higher than that, he’s the puppet. Now you meet the puppeteer.”

She let out a deep sigh, as she surveyed the massive pile of papers that littered her desk, spilling onto the floor. Books stacked high around the room, papers and pencils sticking out, pages torn out or scribbled over with notes. She didn’t remember a time since the dang ship crashed here that she had ever gotten through the ever widening stack of documents and forms that always found their way to her office. She had given up wearing full combat armor a while ago, to blazes with looking official, it was hard enough shifting through the sea of official documents – let alone doing it while clunking around in god knows how much metal. A knock on the door took her mind off of the latest report on Wolver nesting sites – what a wonderful topic – and she quickly told whoever it was to leave. “It is Harm” the visitor replied in a flat, official voice, “He has brought the fallen Knight that you were told about,” “Fallen Knight, I have that somewhere – just send them in Xanatos” She shuffled papers franticly as she tried to find the pile where she kept all the medical records. The door opened, and Harm walked in with his newest patient. She watched as the knight quickly scanned the room, giving a deep sigh of relief as he shakily sat down in a chair. “Hello there-“she quickly shifted some papers aside as she peered at his medical reports “-Goile. The doc here says you were walking dead, care to shed some light on what happened?” “I... I don’t want to seem like insubordinate but… who are you?” he listened to her chuckle as a thin smile appeared on her unarmored face. “I am the head of all the operations on Cradle. The namesake of the Spiral order’s military arm’s flag vessel and only occupant of the paper tomb you are now sitting in. My name is Skylark.”

Sun, 02/26/2012 - 17:52
#1
Tevokkia's picture
Tevokkia
Nice Intro!

You look like you've got a good start going on, and you've cut the section at a nice place to leave some tension.

My main critique would be that your work would be easier to read if you spaced your paragraphs out a bit ... start a new one when you have a different speaker or change ideas. Big blocks of text are hard to follow and easy to get lost in.

Tue, 02/28/2012 - 18:41
#2
Dragaroth's picture
Dragaroth
thanks much

do you have any tips for spacing out dialogues? thats the one thing I really hate because I always end up reverting to *enter* after every quote.

Tue, 02/28/2012 - 19:16
#3
Tevokkia's picture
Tevokkia
Breaking Up Paragraphs

Honestly hon, that's pretty much the way to do it. You'll want to specify the speaker most of the time, and it's always good to add a little bit about how the line is delivered.

Here's an example, making the first half of your second paragraph into multiple paragraphs:

“The shouts!" one of the guards exclaimed breathlessly. "What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, how did I ge-” Goile started in confusion, but was interrupted before he could fully form his question.

“Since you're finally awake, the doctor will want to check on you, if you do not mind.” The guard paused, waiting with a steady tap of his hand on the side of his armor for Goile’s answer.

“S-sure, but what am I in...here...” he trailed off: the knights had already left the room, leaving him alone again in the empty, white abyss.

Not… Me... The voice resounded across the room, and Goile jumped as it echoed deeply towards him. He drew his gun as a dark red mist seeped through the far wall, as the door was slammed open.

“JESUS man! Wwhat are you doing? Get that gun out of his hands would you?” Goile turned towards the door as one of the golden guards from before rended the pistol from his loose grip. His head swiveled quickly back towards the mist, only to see the white wall, with its dull glow.

Tue, 03/06/2012 - 21:23
#4
Dragaroth's picture
Dragaroth
HOKAY

one of my grades dipped -- failing -- and I needed to scramble to recover it, now that its all sorted out, I was able to write a little more
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“Please, just hold onto your questions for now, because I have a few of my own. For starters – how did a little knight like you make your way out of the clockworks when, from Harm’s report, totally dead. No mist, no lights, totally dark.” He. Is not. ME. Goile screamed as the voice echoed within his head, feeling like someone was trying to tear him in half. “STOP IT! LEAVE ME ALONE!” Xanatos burst into the room, a sword already clasped in his hand, “Ma’am what’s happeni-” the words died in his mouth as everyone watched the red mist pour out of the walls of the room, assembling into a crude knight, a Faust in its shaking arm, staring at the doubled-over form of Goile still clutching his head as the words echoed throughout the room.

You are. An. Imposter. I. am. Goile. The figure on the floor shuddered and, still clutching his head, stood up to stare at the form still gathering mist from the corners of the room. “If you are me, then please go ahead and kill me. Prove it.” The figure in the air stood for a moment, the sword shaking more and more wildly in his outstretched arm before a single blood red tear fell from his eye. what has happened. “Ma’am. Shall I dispatch the phantom?” “of course, Xanatos. I want you to kill something that the corp as a whole as deemed unkillable, which has just infiltrated into my office, claims to be a man who just walked at LEAST ten levels of clockworks dead, and is now crying. Red misty tears.” “I sense you are being sarcastic ma’am, shall I leave you with your … guests?” She sighed deeply, Xanatos’ strictness in duty sometimes could get on your nerves. “Yes, Xanatos, just make sure nobody else comes in. You,” she turned towards Goile, “How did you know that that phantom wouldn’t harm you?” “If he truly was me, he wouldn’t kill if it wasn’t life or death. Look at hi-“

Do you remember. Where. You where? “I’m sorry?” in the clockworks. Where. You were. “Of course, I was… in… my god.” You remember. Nothing. For there is nothing. For you to remember. The figure had fully formed now, the soft red glow filling the room. He looked exactly like Goile. “w-what happened…” the knight found his hands shaking as he stared down at the now foreign feeling gloves. “This has become very interesting.” Mused Skylark as she sat down she waved her arm towards the empty seat. “Harm you’ve been standing in that corner stiff as a board, why not have a seat?” The shivering knight in the corner let out a gurgle before fainting into the nearest chair.

“Now, perhaps we could get back to what we were discussing before ‘yourself’ rudely interrupted, Goile?” The knight sat in a stupor, his armored hands shaking as his head hung limp, staring at the foreign objects. She knew nothing would be coming from him now. “Well phantom-“ I am still Goile. “..fine. but this is going to get very confusing with two of you here.” I do not know what that thing is, but it is not a knight, it is not me. “alright fine, Goile, since you just mentally BROKE the man I was hoping to learn from, you’re in the spotlight now. What happened before he came back, and I guess you died?”

A grimalkin attacked my squad. I lost all three of my friends. He would not know them… Check the names. Azule. Blaze. Jin. Their absence must be in missing personal files by now. “You said a Grimalkin? Why were there no bodies found.” they dissolved. Not into mist energy. I have seen knights die. They were simply gone. When the Grimalkin consumed them, there was no trace. “This is the first instance of something like this happening… did you noti-” Goile clutched his head as a hollow empty voice filled it. Skylark and the Phantom turned as the light in his eyes dimmed, and a voice, booming and metallic, resounded in the chamber. “Goile, deep within the clockworks I hold court. Your failed resurrection has robbed me of my champion, both you and your shell must delve into the clockworks. The Crimson Order awaits your return…”
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this does contain a reference to an old tiny thing I wrote, if you really want to see who the friends he's talking about are, here

Thu, 03/15/2012 - 19:39
#5
Dragaroth's picture
Dragaroth
another part out now.

“Bring only whatever broken pieces you gather of yourself, knights accompanying you shall be met by force.” All was silent for a moment, “You shall both report to the middle terminal in the midst of haven, our transport shall wait within the clockworks.” The echoes slowly died as the lights returned to Goile’s eyes. “oh dear. Xanatos, could you escort them back,” the guard appeared. He surveyed each of the slump figures for a moment, and picked up both the doctor and Goile, one around each of his shoulders.

“What do you want to do in the meantime, Goile? You’re free to stay here if you would like, but I would suggest staying away from Residential Haven – a ‘monster from the clockworks’ suddenly appearing at town square might not sit well with some of the knights…” I understand Ma’am
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The Phantom floated restlessly through the darkness. When he possessed whatever claimed to be him’s body, he expected this nightmare to be over – him to be HIM again. Instead he found himself in this endless darkness, never a sight or sound around. As he finally stopped moving, a single dim red light appeared, small and distant. Knights are such interesting creatures Who is there he watched as the red light grey in intensity and size until it gave off a light so intense the Phantom had to shield himself from it. I take your soul, he reclaims it. He forges a body, I sever your spirit. And you Live ON! You are much more interesting than my own creations The voice sounded delighted – like a spoiled child with a new toy. I am not something for your enjoyment. The eye widened, a blood red glow basking over him, he felt his skin begin to burn Do not tempt me little knight. I know much of you the voice was quickly fading -- …and your friends
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Steam filled the room, stinging his flesh. He screamed, but no sound came from his mouth. The pain grew in intensity for what seemed an eternity before he began to black out, a siren wailing in his ears as he fell to the floor… before snapping awake in the sterile med room he arrived in. ‘Could I have dreamed the whole thing?’ “HARM! SKYLARK! ANYONE!” he jumped down from the table and landed with a dull thud on the ground. As he touched the controls for the door, they slid open, emitting a dull groan as the rusted hallway came into view. Goile stuck his head into the hallway, surveying the walls rusted and breaking apart, plant life pushing through the floors and ceiling. “Dear god…”

He reached for the gun on his belt and found the holster empty, his hand moving towards his back, he found his scabbard missing too. He heard a laugh echo through the halls as the door slammed behind him. Hello little knight the voice was deep and cruel, echoing throughout the decaying halls of the complex. How far have you come? I wonder? How much fun will you give me? rubble began to fall around him as Goile watched a dark hand tear off the roof, a single red eye staring at him through a bubbling mass of darkness. The voice seemed to echo from everywhere, the black mass moving more and more erratically as the being continued to speak. Shall you join your friends now? more and more voices could be heard now, all speaking in unison as flecks of black mass started to fall off of the monstrous form

They all died so quickly, they were no fun at all the voices began to laugh deeply as Goile heard stomping footsteps come down the hallway on his left. He broke into a run before a shadowy hand slammed down on his right, and he got a clear look at what this thing was – swarm. Infinite amounts of the small things crawling over each other, writhing about in a demented mockery of a hand.You can’t get away that easily little one the laughing resounded as Goile watched the massive Trojan turn the corner, it’s sword dragging behind it, swarm freely flowing from the cracks along its torso. As the sword came down on Goile screamed, shooting straight up in the medical room bay, as the red mist funneled out of him.
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“What were you DOING?” Goile shouted at the Phantom as he assembled himself in front of the startled knight. I still do not know what you are – but that is my body, I may not kill you. But I will take back what is mine. “Don’t ever do that again. God… that eye…” I… experienced nothing while in that shell. What did you experience. “Today I’ve found out that I’m dead, I’m not even me, and now I’m trying to possess myself because I’m convinced I’m a traitor to me – I really am not in a sharing mood right now…” they both turned as the door opened with a puff of compressed air, “evening…. Goiles...ahem. Skylark mentioned I may have lost cerebral functions for a bri-“ You fell unconscious. “…yea. Well, apparently after I blacked out you went all crazy – voice, no lights, et-cetera.” He tossed a closed folder towards Goile. “I really don’t know what she’s thinking, but check the folder and head out – she wants you in the clockworks stat. I truly would love to run some more diagnostics on you but, orders are orders.”
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WARNING: TEMPORAL SPLIT DETECTED:
a split within the fabric of the world has been detected -- unless resolved through action a randomization process shall allow for the continued survival of the story...
a) head directly to the clockworks, following the dossier's instructions
b) head to the clockworks, don't bother with the dossier
c)stay behind and read the dossier, refuse to head back to the clockworks
d) allow Harm to run diagnostics
e) screw your options I'm going to suggest something random

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