Showing posts with label The long version. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The long version. Show all posts

Monday, September 15, 2014

Caleum

When the world was still young, and humans still were the dominant race, life was easy. Now, the Elite ruled over what was left of the inhospitable land and life was almost not worth struggling through. Some of us had to though, if we wanted our homes and land back. There were tribes that had learned to live within the jungles and swamps, to live in harmony with the angered Mother Nature. Once the surge had wiped out all electricity on the planet, things started to change. The super-humans began appearing and claiming they were reincarnations of Gods and Goddesses sent to cleanse the earth of the spoiled humanity. As there usually is when a group of people try to take over, a war ensued. True to their super-human nature, The Elite won without even breaking a sweat. The Normals, or regular humans, were banished from the nicer cities, not yet taken back by nature. Well, as you can imagine, they didn't like that too much. Every time a tribe attempted to make a move on the Elite, their efforts were thwarted and they were wiped out. Eventually, Normals just stopped trying and fell into line. The Elites made the tribes worship them as their deities, not allowing any other sort of religious beliefs other than in them. One day something unexpected happened within the largest and most well known tribe in the wilds that would change the course of the relationship between Normals and Elites.

With the harsh environment that Normals lived in, having children was considered a miracle. Baring a child and then raising it all the way to adulthood was even more miraculous. So, when the chief's wive gave birth to three healthy girls, the tribe began to believe them to be their salvation. They praised the Elite for blessing them with such a gift. The three girls grew and learned of their world and their tribe's history. They grew into fine young women, all destined to be rulers of their own tribes for sure. The two eldest daughters were quickly married and sent off to begin their own tribes. The youngest daughter though was finding it difficult to find a suitor. She was as beautiful as an Elite and as strong as the vines and trees that reclaimed the earth. Most men only wished to view her from a distance but never engage in any sort of relationship due to their intimidation of the girl. This girl, young Anima, was not like the other Normals. She had a determination and strength about her that caused people from many tribes to flock to her and worship her as a new deity borne to them.

News of this peculiar child made its way to Caelum, the headquarters of the most powerful Elites. It made its way particularly fast to Veneris, who claimed to be the goddess Aphrodite reincarnated. Not many Normals disagreed with her, she was very beautiful, even for an Elite. Veneris did not like to hear about Normals gaining any sort of religious belief and was to find out the cause of this new threat. She made her way silently to the tribe and observed from her shadows. Veneris watched the girl for several days until she devised a punishment for Anima's insolence in allowing herself to be worshiped when she was nothing more than a worthless Normal.

Veneris quickly made her way back to Caelum and began to set her plan into action.
"Amor! I summon you to me here!" Veneris called for her son, the reincarnation of Cupid, God of Love.
"Yes mother, what is it this time?" he groaned as he stepped through the golden doors. The wings that sprouted from his muscular back were odd, even for Elites, but no ones questioned them as they were so magnificently stunning.
"Do not speak to me in that tone of voice. I am your mother and I demand respect from you. I have an assignment I need you to take care of. There is a girl in Urbem, Anima, who is currently being worshiped by her people and even other Normals from other tribes. I need you to take your bow and arrows and strike her down. Mutilate her beauty, show her people that they cannot worship those who do not deserve it.
Amor rubbed his hand through his cinnamon curls, "Yes mother. I shall take care of it immediately." with that, Amor flew to the tribe to find the girl.

She was not too hard to find, flocks of people following her around. When night time came and she was finally alone in her room he sat in a tree just outside of her window, drew back his bow loaded with one of his special deadly arrows, and took aim for her heart. He watched her as she paced the room and quickly realized he could not loose his arrow. With a heavy sigh he released the string slowly and placed his arrow back into the quiver. He continued to watch and grew very interested in her. She doused her candles and settled into bed. Only then did Amor dare to enter her room. He had just landed gently on the floor when Anima shot from her bed.

"Who is there?" She held a dagger out at arms length.
"No one to worry about. I am here to rescue you. The vicious Veneris has gotten word of your being worship and she has sent her beloved son to strike you down. Come with me, become my wife, and I shall keep you safe. I will return and inform your parents of the situation, they shall not worry." As he spoke, Amor moved silently closer to the bed.

Anima scoffed, "That is the most absurd thing I have heard! You are an intruder in my bedroom, I am not just going to leave with you!

Author's note: This is a story that I wrote from Cupid and Psyche but it was going to end up being WAY too long so I scrapped it. But I thought you all might enjoy it! I might add on to it, I may not, we shall see!

Thursday, September 4, 2014

Space Strikes 2

This story will be continued as I find the inspiration to do so.

In early space travel, there were just people flying through space. Old friends would be found, new friends made, fun was had by all. Those situations were rare now, but they weren't extinct. Yesterday, Sarah's brother, Gregor, tried to steal from her and managed to get thrown in jail. She decided to let him sit for a few days. Sarah meandered around the markets for the day, sampling exotic fruits, and eventually found herself in a story-circle. Her and Gregor had always loved to sit with their mother and listen to tales from the old scavengers and space-pirates.

"Good men and women of the skies! Might I join your circle? I have some stories that you may enjoy." Sarah silenced the laughter as she strolled up.

"You'z dat sistah, ain't ya!You's und ya brovah is dat bouny hunnah pair! Ol' Mama Snakeskin erd 'o ya two. She dun known ya mama too." Sarah smiled at the toothless woman. She remembered Old Mama Snakeskin fondly. The woman was covered from head to foot in tattoos of anything the mind could come up with. A chemical reaction when she went out in space hardened her skin like that of a snake. Sarah walked over and sat by the woman.

"Hello again Mama Snakeskin. May I sit and join your circle?" She nodded, taking Sarah's hands into her own. The men looked uncomfortable in Sarah's presence, seeing as most were pirates or outlaws.

"I assure you, there is no need to worry about me. I'm off duty while my moronic brother and I are on this planet." The men nodded and slowly went back to storytelling.

"'Ave y'all ever heard the story of the First Fliers?" men shook their heads, so the story continued "Well, it goes like this. Once, when we was all stuck on that rock we called Earth, there was this guy and his son. Now, the son was just a little tyke, but he was sure interested in what his papa was whippin' up for 'em. The daddy, he was tryin' to make them both pairs of wings! With feathers and everythin'! See, they was trying tah get away from their ruler and they didn't have cars or nothin' yet. The daddy finally finished and told his boy, 'Now son, you gotta follow me or else you might die and daddy wont be able to save ya. You don't got too high up or the sun'll fry up them wings, but you can't get too low or the water'll get yer feathers wet. You got that? You're a big boy now so you gotta do wha I tell ya.', but the daddy knew his little son might not make it. Sure enough, they started out and the boy was doin' fine, till he got distracted by a bug er somethin', then he fell into the water and drowned! The daddy knew he couldn't look back or he would fall too but he knew his boy wasn't there anymore. That's why it took humans so long to try and get back up in the sky!" The man folded his arms, clearly pleased with his story.

"Yeah? I got a better story for y'all! Make your hearts all warm and soft like after hearing a sad story. Used to be that Gods would walk amongst humans, just to see who would be nice and to make sure everyone was behaving real nice. Well, two Gods were walking through this huge village, asking for some food and a place to sit. Everyone in town turned them away! Except the little old couple at the very end. They took in the Gods, fed them as best they could and gave them wine and a place to rest even though the two had nothin for themselves! The Gods were very pleased by this and told the two to follow them when they left and that they would be rewarded. The couple did and when they looked back at their town, it was gone! Their shabby little hut had turned into a great temple! The Gods granted the two each a wish. One wished to be able to watch over the temple as a priest and the other wished to die along with his partner so they wouldn't ever have to be a part. The Gods agreed and the two lived happily ever after!"

Sarah brushed away a small tear trying to escape. More stories were told and Sarah did her best to remember them all so she could write them down in her journal when she got back to her ship.

"There once was an angry fellow who went and chopped down a fancy tree in a fancy forest," started one man.

"Grove.", called out another. This man was clearly a little more educated and knew the story about to be told.

"Bless you. Anyway, he chopped down that tree and it turned into a beautiful glowing woman! The Goddess lady she was friends with got angry and called on her sister's cousin's friend or whatever. Anyway, she called on this other Goddess to go and make the man always be hungry! It worked and eventually the man ate through all of his money and even tried to sell his own daughter! Well, somethin happened to her and she got to turn into different things to trick people into giving her dad money. Eventually, when he couldn't do that no more, he ate himself all up! Crazy!" everyone chuckled.

Old Mama Snakeskin stood as did the man beside her. He was supposed to be her translator, as she spoke her native tongue.

"There once was a man who could turn into many animals. He fell in love with another man's wife and went to fight for her love. The shifter man fought hard, using all of his animal forms to aid him, but in the end, he only ended up losing a horn. Another man, not a shifter, also went through a great tragedy for a woman. The same man who defeated the shifter, struck the new man with a poisoned arrow as he tried to steal his bride. The strong man, Hercules, had gone home, thinking of how to save his lady. His wife sent him the poisoned shirt to show him she was still alive. Hercules put on the shirt, not knowing it was poisoned. Eventually, the poison seemed into his body and though he cried to his Gods to save him, the poison ate his flesh like a ravenous fire." Mama Snakeskin and the boy sat down.

Finally, Sarah stood and the crowd fell silent.
"Last story friends, then I must depart. There once was a daughter who loved her father as more than a father. She wanted him to embrace her and love her as he did her mother. One night, when the mother was to be away for a week, the nurse caught the daughter trying to hang herself. When the nurse asked why she was doing this the daughter told her nurse about her incestuous love of her father. The nurse knew the mother would be gone and so talked the father into seeing the young beautiful girl. The father had no idea it was his daughter until he decided to see who this new love was. When he discovered he kicked her from the house. The daughter, wandering and ready to die, ended up turing into a tree. The baby that was growing inside of her still was born and became a favorite of the Gods and Goddesses. One day, however, when he was older and out hunting, he tried to take down a boar much too large for him. He ended up being killed but also being allowed to join his Gods and Goddesses."

The men clapped, Sarah said her good-byes, then went on her marry way.

Author's note:
So this story is based off of the first half of the Ovid's Metamorphosis III as well as one of my other stories. Basically, there are a bunch of Gods and Goddesses sitting around telling stories. The stories usually have patters between them and they are all mostly about something to do with humanity.

Bibliography:



Story source: Ovid's Metamorphosis III translated to English by Tony Kline (2000)

Space Strikes

This story will be continued as I find inspiration to continue it.

In a distance section of space, far from our Earth, brother and sister bounty hunters made their way to a distant planet supposedly littered with criminals and spies. Sarah and Gregor Strike always knew where the best places to pick up the best bounties were. They were one of the most well known bounty hunter pairs in the galaxy. As they traveled they ran across the wreckage of a smaller money transport ship.
"Woo! Sarah get up here and look at what your big brother just found!" Gregor shouted over the intercom system.
Sarah shot up the levels of the ship until she made it to the cockpit with her brother.
"This had better be good. I was just getting ready to clean my wea-... is that what I think it is?" Sarah's mouth dropped as she realized what she was staring at.
"Damn straight it is! And I found it!" Gregor boasted. He worked the ship slowly through the debris from the mangled ship. It looked like the ship had been blown up from the inside, which was odd.
"You may have found it, genius, but we are both part of this team and therefore we both get the spoils from this find." Sarah punched her brother in the shoulder. Gregor grumbled under his breath as he rubbed the new injury. Sarah was a lot stronger than she looked and had a habit of using that lovely talent to keep her brother in place. Gregor remembered the last time he had tried to keep a bounty to himself. He had gotten caught in a shootout with the target in a public place and ended up getting arrested. Sarah stood back and watched as he was dragged away by officials. She had bailed him out eventually, but he knew that if he wanted her to help him later on with something, he should be smart about sharing with her. Besides, he hated it when Sarah was cross with him. It made traveling with her almost unbearable.

The two remained silent as Gregor continued to work closer to the body of the ship, or what was left of it at least. A few prayers were said as they passes the captain and a few of the crew members floating through space.

"What do you think happened here?" Gregor asked.

"It looks like space-pirates got ahold of them. Then again, it looks like it was blown from the inside, which isn't really their style." Sarah scanned through the debris, looking for any clue that might decide to pass them by.

Author's note:
This story is based off of the Aesop's fable The Travelers and the Purse. Two travelers are walking down a road when one finds a purse filled with gold. The traveler who found the purse says that it is his since he is the one who found it. The other traveler tries to make the point that they are lucky to have found the purse because they are traveling together. When villagers see the travelers with the purse and start accusing them of thievery, the traveler who found the purse tries to say that they are in trouble and that they are lost. The other traveler tells the one with the purse that he wouldn't share the findings before so he shouldn't even now that he is in trouble. The moral is to not expect to share misfortunes if we don't share our good fortunes either.

Bibliography:

"The Travelers and the Purse." By Aesop and illustrated by Milo Winters from Aesop's Fables. 1947. Web Source The Project Gutenberg.