Into the woods

Dill would always be August's loyal servant. August had shown him and his family compassion when things were most dire, and fealty was his only payment. But as time went on his loyalty gave way to understanding and friendship. No one could or would understand the stress and responsibility that had been placed on his shoulders as the heir to be. Even after the kingdom's fall, August felt the burden responsibility for his former citizen's well being was his duty.

The fox and the hound.

Old robes and a hood covering his head, he sat in a meditative pose, in the middle of a dark, damp dungeon. Creaking of doors in the distance signified someone entering. The boots echoed down the long passage, as they made their way down this wing. Lavender turned to look into his cell, and back at her clipboard(they're very official looking you know).
"Mungus, you have hereby been imprisoned for loitering, being in possession of a illegal artifact, and for being in connection to both the forsaken prince, and the pirate captain Jasmine. What does the Fox plead?"
With a slight shift the head looked up, a slight glint coming out from beneath the hood.
RINGRINGDINGADING! came forth from the artifact in Lavender's pocket. She reached in and the strange artifact was now all a lit with lights.
"Excuse me, but I believe that's for me." The fox said, standing up, and casually walking out of the cell, as if it weren't locked.
The guards shifted to a defensive stance, spears raised in case of attack. Lavender stayed them, curious what the fox had in mind, handing over the artifact.
"Yes? What is it? I'm busy at the moment. Ugh, I told you, right at the knotted tree, left at the dancing squirrel. It couldn't have been that hard to remember could it?." Ending the conversation he turned his attention back towards Lavender, "Now, where were we?"
Steeling herself, "A magical artifact? That'll also add to your sentence. You should know magic has been outlawed."
"Ah, but this isn't any ordinary magic! It's an abacus, an infinite torchlight, it can even play card games! So how about it, 20 gold, and it'll be yours."
"You forget fox, you handed it back to me."
"Yes, yes, now that you mention it, I suppose I could give it up for 10 gold and a copper."
"Come with me," she said, clamping on a pair of irons. "We're headed down town to see the sorcerer."
He was seated in the middle of a caged wagon, surrounded by guards and his personal escort Lavender.
"Lavender, Lavender, where have I heard that name before...?" He mumbled to himself, "You wouldn't be the daughter of the esteemed leathersmith [name  here] would you?"
A little red in the face she blasted, "That's none of your business!"
Upon entering the center of the village, a commotion broke out, various animals up for sale started making a racket, people started coming out to investigate, and fights started breaking.
"Carry on," She commanded the driver.
"I can't sir, the road has been blocked."
"You know, I could get out and see what the problem is." Offered the fox.
"No, you're likely to have caused it." She ordered a handful of guards to get out and investigate.
They quickly returned with word that Jasmine was causing the ruckus.
She couldn't leave the fox unattended, but the chance to capture Jasmine was hard to ignore. Issuing an order to a soldier to watch the fox, she and the rest waded through the crowds towards the market. Spreading out searching for the pirate. It wasn't long before she found her nemesis, but at that instant, she found her too. Jasmine split, and Lavender followed. Down side alleys, and through barns, but by the edge of the village, Jasmine was gone, and Lavender had nothing to show for it, but a strange coin. Heading back to the wagon, and things went from bad to worse. The fox was gone, and the guard was unconscious in the irons of the fox.

A vampire queen.

Not all was well in the kingdom. His father was busier than usual with his counsel, and his only words to his son were, not to lose Veri. Veri was the princess from the neighboring kingdom, and a deal had been worked out years earlier for Elatus to marry Veri. Since they were five, they would visit each others kingdom for the summer to become acquainted with each other and the cultures of their kingdom. This year it was scheduled for Veri to visit their kingdom, and Elatus was getting anxious. Over the past few years he had started developing very real feelings for her. She had started to develop into a very beautiful young lady from her average looks as a child; This most certainly didn't help his predicament. She too had become attached to him, and they always spent time together.

A pirates day off.

[Jasmine's view] It was a nice day in this seaside village, snow topped mountains and a nice breeze blowing through the canyon. It would be a great day for sailing, but after a few weeks on the high seas, her sailors and her needed the break; If only to keep moral up. They had ran out of fresh food, and the rolls Agatha had cooked, had unfortunately been left out during a particularly heavy rain. They had been stocking up on supplies(this particular town seemed ill-equipped to handle such a large group of sailors coming through), but came into a bar for a nice lunch to rest up. Jasmine herself was enjoying a nice cup of tea, as were many of her sailors; a few broke out a nice bottle of Chardonnay. During their first rousing song a loud crash sounds across the street. Stopping to investigate the clamor out the window, a bear[a bull?] had crashed into the butcher shop.

Meet the wizard.

He had a great need of the wizard. This was simply unacceptable. Who did she think she was? He, August, was once destined to be king of this land. And yet she dismissed him as a simple peasant! The wizards hut was unkempt, and haphazardly built. For one of such strong magic, it seemed disgraceful. Even more so that *he* must enter this abomination.
"Infidel, see if the wizard is available." August commanded.
Dill bowing, heads towards the front entrance. After a quick knock, he motioned for August to come. August dodging mudpuddles and old contraptions that littered the path made his approach. He almost regretted his decision of seeking out the wizard. The hut was rank with a cacophony of smells impossible to identify.
"Ah, Ah! The magnanimous prince has arrived!" The wizard exclaimed; The prince puffed his chest out, and head up, before he realized the wizard was deeply bowing to a shoe on a chair in the corner. Turning toward the two companions, he absentmindedly questions: "Who is this strange man with you Dill? Is he your autonomous robot? Is he in need of repair again? How's that flu of yours, all better?"
"No sir, this is the great prince August. The man I was telling you about the last time I was here. And thank you for your help with my flu, here take this for my appreciation." Graciously leaving a sock filled with prunes on the cluttered table.
"Great, great, are you sure he's not a jackal disguising himself as human? Anthropomorphic creatures do love to play human. It's really cute." As he impetuously placing his hands all over August's face.
"Quit it!" Pushing the wizards hands away. "I am in need of your services. You will help me." he stated placidly.
"Oh of course," The wizards replied taken aback, "I suppose I'll take your word he's not the evil minstrel sent through time to destroy humanity. Now, what were you here for again boy?"
August bristled at 'boy'. "Wizard I need your strongest love potion."
"Yes, yes, of course you do." The wizard mumbled to himself, picking this here, and that there and wandered out back. "Come you two."
Walking out back was perhaps the largest eyesore yet, sheep, pigs, and chickens all together in a ship-shod pen, that was teaming with flies and animal dung. Walking around the pen for a minute, he finds a particular pile, and grabbing some, mixes it with the other ingredients. "There we are! Sheep dung, potpurry, and mustard seeds! The most potent love potion this side of the Rubicon. Whoo, that Helen can sure craft a mean one. Now I recommend frying this up with some nice fava beans..."
"Do you expect me to eat *this*? You really are a washed up old crock." Burst August, as he turned around and headed back inside.
This bristled the wizened wizard. he flatly and abruptly states "If you will not accept this, there is another way. But it is hard. Is she worth all the you will lose to find it?"

A Conversation.

"To be fair Nietzsche is one big bag of misunderstood philosophy. From his ideas on the will to power, to the Ubermensch, and his quoting of 'God is dead', no one seems interested, or too quick to judge him rather than listen. And yet nothing seems quite so accurate of western culture then his observations, criticisms and predictions." Jane says turning to Sally.
Jane was frustrated by the professor's lack of knowledge and oversimplifications on the subject.
"What's to misunderstand? His ideas gave to the rise of Hitler, gave religion the cold shoulder, and in many ways encouraged Marxism too. He is what caused the problems of the late 19th and 20th centuries!" Sally replies, a little confused what there is to misunderstand.
"Yeah his sister was anti-semitic and twisted many of his books which certainly gave us Hitler, but he himself had nothing against Jews, and despised war. His commentary on God's death is based upon the fallacy of the metaphysical world giving credence to God, and that science is somehow debunking His existence. Other's argue it's purpose is that of governments having becoming a religion such as Marxism, and of course some simply argue it as cry at the move from a sacred world to a world of secularism." Jane defended.
"I still don't see how any of this disproves of Hitler becoming an Ubermensch." Sally retorts.
"His ideas on the Ubermensch isn't advocating that of a spiteful and dreadful leader, along with his ideas of the will to power, are more in the arguing for a new race of man that will rise up, not on traditional power or hierarchy but through their own merits, and with passion become a powerful force. Think more in terms of Einstein or Steve Jobs rather than Hitler or Stalin."

NaNoWriMo current submission

It was fall, the leaves had shifted colors, the days were short and the night had creeped back on the long days of summer. The imposing mountains also consuming the little light the sun deigned upon the land. She was from Florida, comfortable with the idea of seeing the curvature of the world as it stretched out on the vast and distant ocean. Of summer year round, warmth and light always there to welcome. Laura had moved west, on the invitation of good school and the hospitality of family.

The hunt and the visions Part 2

It wasn't terribly difficult to ascertain the murderer. One Albert Finlay, a junior data analyst that had disappeared from work several weeks earlier. Some form of mental collapse had taken place, his poor work habits pushed the company to suspend him prior to medical treatment. He hadn't shown up as requested, and until the murder scene no one seem to have seen or heard from him. Now his victim on the other hand, little information was available on him. No information seemed available on this apparent alias prior to it's first appearance five years ago.

The hunt and the visions[SS]

The last few months something had changed. In this day and age it was rare for people to go missing. Yet already there had been three missing persons. Murders, abductions and odd sightings were also on the rise. They had just come from such a scene, of an abduction gone wrong. The murder was brutal; the wounds were many, heavy gashes and even a torn limb were strewn about. He was surprised how well his new partner was taking it. It was her first day in the field, she had been timid, quiet, with a silent excitement of finally being out of the academy, not all together uncommon for most graduates that he'd ran across. Most wouldn't have seen an actual death for months after they were out on the beat, and she managed one on her first day. Even some seasoned veterans had an air of uneasiness around death. The autopsies at the academy did little to prepare anyone for the range of grotesque expressions and scenarios of the lifeless they would face. He himself had thrown up his first time.

Repurposed [SS]

It had awakened in this new world and not a moment had gone by that it found itself witnessing violence. Perhaps it was this violence that brought it into this new world? Magic was capable of a great many things. By the time it regained consciousness, the perpetrator had already disappeared into the dark forest. All that remained was the victim.

In pursuit of perfection. [SS]

Part 1--5/20/2013
He had walked down the street, and up towards the building. A polished brass sign, 'Founded 1893' on the corner column. Well cared for brick, the painted wooden doors stood out in this place. The surrounding structures reaching beyond the eye can see, made from more common materials of glass, metal, and stucco in varying amounts. Walking into the back room his colleague was there waiting for him. As he sat down, his colleague passed him a manila folder.

Found more than he bargained for. [SS]

He wasn't sure what he was doing here. He rather regretted his choice, it seemed so much worse now that he was here. It was a rough part of town, he knew of it, mostly from the news; Always bad news.
She had been the one that showed up when he agreed to the rendezvous. She was a very stoic character, he had tried to break the ice with her on the car ride over, he never could handle the quiet, but she wouldn't crack. The only times she had talked with him was to assure that if he did this job for them(whoever 'they' were), they'd make his problem go away.

The girl reborn. [SS]

She awoke slowly, a dull thumping in her head. Was this a hangover? She thought to herself. No, that couldn't be it. Sure the headache might be, but what of the intense piercing pain coursing through her nerves, the slow purposeful heartbeat intensely pulsing pain outwards as each beat pounded. What had happened last night? Was it last night? Who knew? She felt like she had been out for weeks. She was slowly regaining her sight, it was dim, but clear enough to see. She was strapped into some sort of machine, a gurney-like thing. It looked to be some sort of makeshift lab, computers and lab equipment laying around. There had been some orange glow even as she opened her eyes. Now just dim blue monitors, and green flashing lights.

Magic for a price. [Short Story]

There have always been many books, pamphlets, and other methods of spreading dark, grotesque rituals and spells. A few of the more comprehensive books passed through the ages, such as the old tome by the Mad Arab, but these have been confiscated by many, and hard to decipher given most are still in Arabic, and fewer in Latin. Many remain so hard to find as they are only shown by family, tribes and cults. By this nature, the nightmarish magic has remained obscure, invisible to the common people. Until recently. The proliferation of this world web has created channels that has made a much smaller world. It has made it a smaller world for everyone, including those horrific and fearful groups that had stayed hidden for so long.

What is Love?[Essay]

This is a post on love. This is a post on happiness.

The age old question on "What is love?" as popularized by Haddaway still appears by many an unanswered question. Or perhaps simply an answer that deeply varies from one person to another.

Maybe we were all wrong. Maybe Haddaway is love.

In a relationship, it seems to me, that love is a choice. You choose to love another, and for them to return the love. Love is also a commitment, it's work. It's a private oath between companions on that choice, that commitment. On the good days and the bad. It's a trust that builds over time after the initial leap of faith. 

As a wise man once taught me: "Marriage isn't the end; Marriage is the beginning of the first game of the season. Every date, every relationship is a tryout, or a practice for that big game." I'd go farther to say the courtship before the marriage is the final practices with your teammate for the coming season. More practice gives you greater perspective of who you're working with, what they're strengths and weaknesses are for you to uplift the other in the rough times.

"Marriage isn't the end; Marriage is the beginning of the first game of the season. Every date, every relationship is a tryout, or a practice for that big game."

For me this is the perspective I use in a world that more quickly celebrates the marriage reception than the ones that celebrate the tenth, the twentieth anniversary(though I imagine many of them would vehemently deny this). Those that publicly proclaim a love that hasn't been tried right after the honeymoon, nothing more than the initial infatuation that hasn't worn off. And of those that so quickly get engaged, be it two weeks or two months.