Get these screwy Rabbits out of my head!

This forum is for picking apart tricky issues facing any authors in the community. Word choice, action scenes, dialoguing, or plot development. If something isn't working for you, put it up here and see what your fellow community members can make of it. Try to keep examples short and to the point as much as possible.

Get these screwy Rabbits out of my head!

Unread postby gman391 » March 20th, 2010, 1:01 am

Alright because I've had about a dozen contributions to the plot bunny thread that are still in my head. None of which are related to my stories on FF.Net I've decided throw in the random scenes that come to my mind here. Hopefully this will allow me to focus on my stories after I'm done. Criticize away these will be fairly unpolished.

Harry sighed. The library had become a place of refuge this year. But that didn't mean he liked reading anymore.

"If you're not reading anything you'll have to leave Mr. Potter" Madam Pince said hovering nearby.

Shrugging Harry looked at the bookshelves. Nothing caught his eye. He stood up and tripped on his worn shoe laces. Falling down into a four legged stance Harry looked up. In front of him sat a book with gold lettering

'Enchantment and Sorcery by Sir Kay of the Round Table'

Harry blinked. That couldn't be right. A book from the time of Merlin that was absurd. But what if it wasn't? his mind asked. He decided that he would look at the book. Couldn't hurt right?

The book was rather heavy but Harry managed to get it on the table. Opening it he found it hollowed outside with a silvery substance filling the hole.

"Well that was a waste of time"

*WOOSH* Harry found himself drawn into the back.

"What the?" the green eyed wizard looked around. He was on a featureless plain.

"Where am I?" he asked out loud.

A fair haired figure stepped out of the mist. It began speaking but Harry couldn't understand it.

"I'm sorry?"

The figure frowned. A pillar appeared and the figure drew a series of runes on it.

"There now how is it an Anglo-Saxon got a hold of this Codex?" The figure demanded.

"Anglo what?" The messy haired boy asked, quite confused.

"I see so Merlin and Arthur did fail. A shame" the figure said frowing.

"Who are you?" Harry asked.

"I am a copy of a noble knight. In your tongue he would be Sir Kay." The apparent Copy said.

"A copy?" the scarred boy asked nonplussed.

"Sir Kay was instructed to leave a Codex behind to train future knights in the ways of enchantment and magic. With the help of Merlin he created this place and left a shadow of himself here. I have his memories and feelings but I am not truly alive." Kay explained.

"Oh" Harry said and fell silent.

"So what does a child of the invaders seek with me?" Kay said at last.

"I'm a student at a magic school. I saw your book on the shelves. Anything connected to Merlin would be worth reading." Harry answered.
Truth be told the copy scared him a little.

"I see. I was created to teach magic... Although you are the descendant of my enemies I would teach you." Kay said at last.

"Really?" Harry asked surprised.

"Yes it will be hard and you will learn much that I suspect has been forgotten. But should you succeed you shall become an Enchanter Knight like my creator." The copy said.

Harry thought for a long time. Taking on more classwork was not his idea of fun. But...could he really give this up? A chance to be trained by someone close to Merlin himself. Slowly he shook his head. No he couldn't.

"If you would have me Sir Kay I would like to learn."

"Very well. Let us begin with runes...."

So thoughts?
"My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we’ll change the world."
----Jack Layton
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Re: Get these screwy Rabbits out of my head!

Unread postby Tempest Kitsune » March 20th, 2010, 1:15 am

Interesting, though Harry's reaction to Kay is a bit... bland. Although I suppose part of that is him not knowing anything about Arthurian legends as they're presented today. But a bit more shock and surprise in his reaction might be advisable.

Also, can you picture Hermione's face if she found out? She'd think that Harry is being trained by an incompetent joke. And then, should she meet him, Kay's shade proceeds to turn her world upside down by spelling out how things really went on in Camelot, and where he actually sat in relation to Arthur on the Table, so to speak.
"Doesn't matter what the press says. Doesn't matter what the politicians or the mobs say. Doesn't matter if the whole country decides that something wrong is something right. This nation was founded on one principle above all else: the requirement that we stand up for what we believe, no matter the odds or the consequences. When the mob and the press and the whole world tell you to move, your job is to plant yourself like a tree beside the river of truth, and tell the whole world — "No, you move."
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Re: Get these screwy Rabbits out of my head!

Unread postby gman391 » March 20th, 2010, 1:52 am

The way I see it Harry knows virtually nothing of Arthurian Legend and is still operating in a state of shock. How often does a book take you into a pocket dimension afterall? Hermione would indeed be both amazed and annoyed. Sir Kay isn't exactly progressive after all.
Sir Kay was originally a bit of a hot tempered boisterous bruiser. So as Harry get's to know the shade their would be more reactions.
"My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we’ll change the world."
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Re: Get these screwy Rabbits out of my head!

Unread postby Phht » March 20th, 2010, 5:34 am

*coughriddle'sdiary'memory'cough* ;)

It's an interesting idea, but given his encounter with Riddle's diary, shouldn't he be warier? Unless this would be set in year 1 or early in year 2 before he meets the diary.
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Re: Get these screwy Rabbits out of my head!

Unread postby gman391 » March 20th, 2010, 12:47 pm

This is set mid second year. With that I got another scene.

Hermione was annoyed at Harry Potter. Not an altogether uncommon event. Although Harry rarely did it intentionally his tendency to wander off and not pay attention... well it would drive any worrier up the wall. Hermione was a champion worrier if she did say so herself.

Harry had been wandering off more and more lately. That wasn't the problem. The problem was he kept disappearing when he did so. Hermione bit her lip...she did hope that no one was stalking Harry for revenge. What with the whole Heir of Slytherin thing. Were magicals always such sheep?

The object of her ire stood up.

"I'm heading out"

"And where are you going Harry?" the bookworm demanded.

"To Camelot" Harry said glibly. For whatever reason Kay liked to train there.

"I did not know you were a Monty Python fan. But seriously Harry you've been disappearing all the time." The bushy haired girl said in exasperation.

"Monty Python?" the green eyed wizard blinked confused.

"Wait you were serious." Hermione said hey annoyance coming to the fore.

"I guess I should have told you sooner. I found this...book, pensivie some strange combination of the two anyway. It contains one of the Knights of the Round Table" Harry rubbed his neck sheepishly

"Absurd the knights did not use magic Merlin did." The witch said with authority.

"Kay says that most of them used a form of magic. I don't know one way or another" the young wizard shrugged.

"This Kay is obviously lying."

"I doubt it Hermione. He's taught me a lot about Celtic magic." Harry shook his head.

"Celtic magic?" the book worm said always eager for new magic.

"Kay says most of our magic is based off a combination of Anglo-Saxon and Roman magic."

"Well that is true but Kay must be lying" Hermione said frowning.

"Do you want to meet him?" the messy haired wizard asked.

"Yes"

Harry pulled out the large book. Opening it Hermione blinked at the hollowed out inside. What kind of book would be like that?

*WOOSH*

"Potter aren't you a bit young to be doing this sort of thing?" a fair haired being asked.

"What bringing my friends?" Harry said non plussed.

"No bringing a girl" Kay said.

"Huh what? Where? How?" Hermione's question babbled out in shock.

"Oh dear she's been overcome by her emotions. Best keep her inside the home from now on" the copy said sagely.

"WHAT!" The bushy haired witch screamed.

"I am not some weak little girl to be hidden away...." And thus another Granger Rant began.

"See Harry this is why I don't like to deal with women they're over emotional creatures." Kay ignored her.

"Kay...she's my friend" Harry said.

"Oh I admit she's a decent catch. But there's no reason for her to be here" the copy said.

Hermione nearly attacked the copy but Harry held her back.

"Kay just prove that you are what you say you are please?" the young wizard said exasperated.

"How am I suppose to do that? Tell you that I know what the Merlin looks like? That I fought a giant and have some metamorphmagus ability? That I fought in the battle of Badon Hill? That I was one of the first to swear loyalty to Arthur? That I went on the quest for the Cauldron of Diwrnach? That I know Arthur was the first amongst us to go bald?" Kay asked irate.

"Err...alright I see your point. I'll be back later" Harry nodded.

"Next time you want a place to romance a lady use somewhere else." the copy.

*WOOSH*

"Hermione?" The green eyed boy asked.

Hermione scowled at Harry.
"I have to do research"

"I have a bad feeling about this." the wizard said to himself.
"My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we’ll change the world."
----Jack Layton
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Re: Get these screwy Rabbits out of my head!

Unread postby Dechstreme » March 27th, 2010, 12:40 pm

One of the reasons I don't share my plot bunnies, is because they are like my babies, and I wouldn't feel comfortable just letting anyone have them. However, in doing so, I rob myself of the opportunity to receive feedback like this. I wonder what else you could do with this plot probability.

I mean, if someone actually good enough could get something like this off the ground... Reading a description of Voldie's face as he's being beaten by old school Arthurian magics would be so good to read. Especially if said expression was caused by having an Avada Kedavra being deflected with a sword. :want:
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Re: Get these screwy Rabbits out of my head!

Unread postby gman391 » March 27th, 2010, 3:23 pm

I tend to have enough of them that it doesn't really matter if I drag one or two out for the general public. Not to sound arrogant.
With that let me through up a scene.

Harry Potter was tired. He was tired of people dying for him. He hadn't asked for this he didn't want this. Sirius, Cedric, His parents. All of them had died because of him.

The Boy Who Lived refused to let anyone else die. He knew that it was war and war meant people died. He could really care less about the other side. But Harry wasn't going to allow anymore of his friends to sacrifice their lives.

With that in mind Harry went to the Black Family Library. Some of the darkest magics in the world resided in those tomes.
The green eyed wizard didn't care. Although he was no Hermione, Harry could still do some research.

It was in a book called "Magicks most Heinous and Foul" that Harry found the spell to end it.
The Spell read:
This spell be used only in the darkest of hours. For it's use is worse than even the unforgivable curses. Magic like life can be ended. Like life it is crime of the highest order to do so. Should thou caster wish it this spell will work on you and any linked to you by the minde. The caster in exchange for their own magic can destroy the magic of another. If thou uses this spell thou art dead to the wizarding world.

If thou is determined to go throw with this then thou must do the following: Take thou wand point it at your self. Proclaim that you trade your magic for your enemy's. Use both of your real names. Then say the incantation.
The incantation is : Letum ut veneficus


Harry looked for a long while at the passage. Was he really willing to give up all magic to stop Tom?
What was he saying of course he was. He had been ready to give up his life. Magic was less then that.

Harry cleared his thoughts and took out his wand. Pointing it at himself he began
"I Harry James Potter trade my magic for Tom Marvlo Riddle's Letum ut veneficus"

A white light exploded from the room. Around the country 6 objects shattered. Horocruxes are reliant on magic and tied the creators magic you see.

In Riddle Manor, Voldemort screamed.
Something was stealing his magic. This could not be borne. The insane dark wizard fought with all his might to maintain his magic. But still it left. He siphoned off his followers magic. It still left. Until even the magic holding him together left. As Voldemort died for the last time he cursed Harry Potter. He just knew that the brat was somehow responsible for this.

The marked death eaters around the country collapsed and people began to panic. As the wizarding world temporarily descended into chaos.

Harry woke up. He felt different not bad in fact pretty good. That constant head ache of his was gone. Still the former wizard figured it was time to leave. Using the unforgivables got you a stay in Azkaban. Harry didn't want to know what they would do to him.

As the Boy Who Lived left the wizarding world. Dumbledore was sitting in his office staring at a quite dead Snape.

".....This could prove problematic" Dumbledore said at last.
"My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we’ll change the world."
----Jack Layton
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Re: Get these screwy Rabbits out of my head!

Unread postby Dechstreme » March 28th, 2010, 12:10 pm

Ouch. Huge monkey wrench, but a quick solution... Ouch.
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Re: Get these screwy Rabbits out of my head!

Unread postby gman391 » June 4th, 2010, 3:46 am

This one is rather random the gist of it is that Harry takes Hermione and Ron not talking to him harder during the summers. And Harry has for no adequately explored reason been given an intelligence/knowledge boost.

Hermione had been looking everywhere.

For whatever reason Harry had been avoiding her since the train. And that hurt. Hermione held little romantic interest in Harry Potter. Despite this she still loved him as if they were brother and sister.

On hunch she checked the rooms of requirements. Sitting there in a meditative pose was Harry.

He opened his eyes. Brilliant green stared at her dispassionately. Hermione took a deep breath.

"Harry why have you been avoiding me?"

"I was under the impression we weren't friends anymore." he answered.

Hermione flinched as if slapped.
"What? How could you even think that?" she said in pained tone.

"You made your choice. You broke my trust. And given what I have to do I can't have people I don't trust with me." the 'chosen one' said.

"I never broke your trust! You prat" Hurt turned to anger.

"Perhaps not intentionally."

"When? When did I break your trust?" the bushy haired witch demanded.

"This summer. I need someone anyone to listen to me, to help me. But no one did. I had to deal with things myself. Just like before...it was easier this time though " Harry trailed off.

"Dumbledore said..." Hermione began

Harry held up a hand.
"Hermione that's the problem. I asked you...no begged you to listen. You didn't. That leaves me with two options. One: you are simply incapable of defying any authority that has yet to do you wrong. No matter how much you should. If that is so I can't trust you. If Dumbledore ordered you to leave Hogwarts when I needed you most you would.

I don't believe that but it's one option. The other option is this: That you find blind obedience to one flawed old man more important than any tie of friendship. Again it means I can't trust you. And friendships require trust."

"But Dumbledore said not to!" The brown eyed witch said in a huff.

Harry retorted.
"And what gives him the right. More importantly what makes him right?"

"He's Dumbledore" Hermione answered automatically.

"Yes he is indeed Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore. He is one man, with all that implies. He is imperfect. He makes mistakes. He is just as flawed as you or I. What he is not is God he is neither omnipotent or omniscient. And everyone seems to forget that." The scarred wizard rubbed his temples

The bookworm of the trio frowned. She had trouble refuting that logic. But Dumbledore being fallible was just wrong to her. She did not think to question why it should be so.
"But he's done so much" she argued.

"And? I don't deny that he has done many great things. Or even that Dumbledore is a good man. I don't agree with his actions. But Dumbledore always has the best intentions." Harry said with a pointed look.

If the both agreed that the Headmaster was good. Then what was the problem? Hermione wondered.
"So then why?"

"Because even with the best of intentions one can do great evil. And his Greater Good is to....abstract for me. The ends can never justify the means. He thinks they do."
The messy haired Wizard answered.

They both fell silent.

It was Hermione who broke it.
"So that's it because I made one mistake your going to throw aside our friendship."

"Two but yes. For better or worse I will end up fighting Voldemort. And if I am to win. I can't afford to wonder about peoples loyalties. " Harry answered evenly.

"Whatever happened to forgiveness?" she asked. Even as her heart began to hurt.

"I never said I didn't forgive you. I just said I don't think we're friends" The green eyed boy said.

In some ways that made it worse. the bushy haired witch thought. To be forgiven but not welcomed back....well it implied things she didn't like. She decided to try one more time to save her friendship.
"Harry I didn't write to protect you."

"Because the owls could be tracked. I'd buy that from someone like Ron or Neville. But you? your smart enough to use the muggle post." Harry said with obvious annoyance.

Hermione blinked....how had she missed that?
"Alright I admit that was an oversight but your being too hasty."

"Hermione if our positions had been reversed. Do you think anything on God's green earth would stop me?" The Boy-Who-Lived asked

The brown eyed girl looked down at the floor. Harry Potter not helping because some one said not to? That was simply preposterous.
"No" she admitted.

Harry sighed.
"True friendship is based on trust and reciprocity. Our had neither. If you'll excuse me I have an essay to work on."

With that he walked pass Hermione of the Room of Requirements.

Hermione was struck with the thought that she had just lost her best friend....and had no idea what to do about it.
Tears threatened to come. The bushy haired witch blinked to hold them back.
I should never have listened to the Headmaster she thought bitterly.
"My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we’ll change the world."
----Jack Layton
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Re: Get these screwy Rabbits out of my head!

Unread postby Zankaru Zelladonii » June 4th, 2010, 4:01 am

Mmmm, delicious drama.
"Machiavelli was wrong, it is better to be loved than feared. It is harder to get people to love you, but those bonds are that much harder to break."
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Re: Get these screwy Rabbits out of my head!

Unread postby Dechstreme » June 4th, 2010, 3:47 pm

You got anything else?
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Re: Get these screwy Rabbits out of my head!

Unread postby gman391 » June 4th, 2010, 3:52 pm

No it was just that one conversation.
"My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we’ll change the world."
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Re: Get these screwy Rabbits out of my head!

Unread postby Dechstreme » June 4th, 2010, 7:43 pm

Too bad. You do really good work.
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Re: Get these screwy Rabbits out of my head!

Unread postby gman391 » June 4th, 2010, 8:53 pm

Thanks. I think it needs work myself but thanks.
Well I do have one more but it's only tangentially related to the above. This one is Harry argues that it's okay to kill.

Harry set up in his bed. Okay maybe sticking a grenade in Voldemorts stomach didn't work. But it drive him off. So mundane weapons could hurt him. Just not kill the bastard.

The green eyed boy frowned. So then how was he to kill Voldemort? The prophecy said that he had a power Voldemort knew not. Harry had assumed it was the ability to use mundane weapons, in a word adaptability.

"I cannot begin to express my disappointment with you." an old familiar voice intoned.

Harry hung his head. He had failed. But didn't think Dumbledore would call him on it.
"Look I'm sorry. I'll get him next time."

The old headmaster blinked.
"What? No. Harry did you have to kill all those people?"

Harry's expression became equally confused.
"Wait what?"

Dumbledore said sadly.
"You've killed so many these past few months. They did not deserve death."

The green eyed boy replied sardonically.
"Well my policy is that if your trying to kill me I'm allowed to return the favour."

The old man shook his head.
"Harry I fear you are going dark. You kill to easily for a wizard."

The younger wizard asked cynically.
"So if I was a muggle it'd be okay?"

Albus was surprised. To his knowledge Harry had never been one to talk back to him.
"No...no man has the right to take another's life."

Harry looked into Dumbledores eye's.
"Well I had a choice. A bunch of murdering scum who frankly aren't even worth their magic. Or that nice little family down the street. You know the one that had the gall to have a magical child. All things considered it wasn't much of a choice."

The headmaster returned the stare.
"They can never be redeemed."


"....And?" the messy haired wizard said.

"That doesn't bother you?" Dumbledore asked in disbelief.

Now it was time for Harry to shake his head.
"No it does. I just don't know what you expect me to do about it."

"Isn't it obvious stop killing them." The Headmaster demanded.

"Headmaster they made a choice. The vast majority of them willing chose to follow a madman. Not out of fear but because of hate. They murder, rape and pillage any who oppose them. They chose to be soldiers for the enemy. If they didn't want people like me killing them then they shouldn't of joined." Harry said.


"But..." the old wizard began to insist.

The younger wizard held up a hand.
"No buts. This is a war. And by any reasonable definition a Just War. Which means it is not only required that we fight. It is our moral duty to do so to the best of our abilities."

Dumbledore broke the staring contest.
"I have lost you." he muttered in a pained tone.

"When this is all over I will probably spend my entire life doing penance. But I can't afford that now. Not when every time I take out one death eater a family of innocents is protected. " Harry admitted.

The old wizard drew himself up and said indignantly
"What about those you kill don't they deserve a chance?"

The 'Boy-Who-Lived' just shrugged
"Perhaps but that's not my place. Any chance for Redemption is between them and who ever it is that controls such things."

At that moment Madame Pomphery came in.
"Headmaster what are you doing? Harry needs his rest! Out!"

"Madame I just needed to..." Dumebldore tried to object.

"Out!" the school healer insisted.

The old Headmaster nodded and turned to leave.

Pomphery whirled on Harry.
"As for you Mr. Potter get some rest."

"Yes 'mam"
Harry settled back down on the bed.

Somehow he knew that Dumbledore wasn't done trying to convince him.

A damn shame I can't drink legally. He thought to himself.
"My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we’ll change the world."
----Jack Layton
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Re: Get these screwy Rabbits out of my head!

Unread postby Dechstreme » June 7th, 2010, 10:40 pm

Okay, what happened here?
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Re: Get these screwy Rabbits out of my head!

Unread postby gman391 » June 18th, 2010, 4:41 am

That came out of the standard "Harry realizes the violence and guns is the answer to life's problems" Plot
And Now for something different. From my Sandaime in Harry's head idea.

"Okay why did you want me to learn oblivation?" Harry asked exasperated.

The voice in his head was a far stricter taskmaster than anyone he knew.
Learn Reducto
Learn Explosives
Learn an arcane martial art.
Learn Ancient Runes.
Make an explosive using said runes.
Obtain a gun.
The Oblivation request was just the last in a long list of things Hiruzen had suggested that Harry do.

"So we can poison Umbridge" Hiruzen answered.

"What?" The young wizard blinked.

The old Ninja said with wry tone.
"Simple we'll convince a house elf that we're going to give her a prank that turns her tongue blue or something. When actually it's a poison. After getting the elf to report back to us when it's done. We oblivate the elf and go on our merry way. Umbridge dies and then we can focus on getting the intelligence network together"

"Wait what?" Harry found himself less informed than before.

Hiruzen continued.
"Relying on a single spy to do all the work is the height of stupidity you need at least 4 spies. One to do actual work. One to watch the working one and work. One just watching the first two and one watching the watcher and doing actual work. We also need cutouts and some codes. Hmm....I think the old Iwa codes will work."

"No not that but that's interesting too. I mean the part where we assassinate Umbridge." Harry cocked his head.

"Well you refuse to allow us to use political means. Because it means we have to let more people get hurt...so I came up with this instead. The best part is that we can do it over and over again as long as we use different elves each time." The old ninja said with a mental shrug.

Harry still wasn't used to the casual way the voice talked about murdering people.
"Hiruzen....you terrify me."

"What it's cleaner than my Snape plan." Hiruzen said defensively.

"Your Snape plan involved explosives and acid." the green eyed teen retorted

A very sardonic chuckle filled his mind.
"Tragic accidents do happen."

Harry considered things. He did hate Umbridge. But enough to kill her? He wasn't sure about that. But Oblivation would be useful anyways.

"Alright I'll consider it. Now tell me more about these Iwa codes?"

As the two discussed archaic battle codes Draco came up.

"Potter you're going to pay for what you did!"

Training had been good to Harry. Thus allowing him to almost casually break Draco's wand arm and disable Goyle and Crabbe.

Harry left his mental mindscape. Looking at the scene before him.

"What the hell did I do?"

"The opening to the fifth Kata" his passenger answered.

"Dammit Hiruzen" Harry swore.

"Mr. Potter"

Harry turned to see his Head of house looking very displeased.
"Oh hell" he muttered.

"Mr. Potter with me." McGonagal said coldly.

The young Seeker followed her out of the class room.
"My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we’ll change the world."
----Jack Layton
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Re: Get these screwy Rabbits out of my head!

Unread postby gman391 » June 4th, 2011, 2:02 am

Thread Necromancy away.
As you may have noticed I did a Power Review of Naruto for Chunin Exam Day. This is just a oneshot for how I feel it should have ended. Or more accurately how Sarutobi should have reacted after the loops ended. If you plan to read CED this might ruin your enjoyment.

Spoiler: show
My name is Sarutobi Hiruzen. In my time I’ve seen three wars, countless battles. I have killed those who considered themselves gods. I have fought in battles as a nameless foot soldier, I have won battles as a general. I have loved with passion and grieved terribly. I am known as the Kami no Shinobi, the Professor and the Sandaime Hokage.

Why am I telling you all this? To establish who I am. And exactly why a group of children like you doesn’t terrify me. This story begins with Anko acting like a crazy woman and violating several different laws, going on about some sort of time loop that made it okay. Said time loop could only be broken if Naruto was made a chuunin.

Being reasonably intelligent, I promoted Naruto right then and there. To this day I consider it my second greatest mistake. As the loops ended and I was able to see the truth, I came to realize something.

Uzumaki Naruto, a boy full of life and hope, was dead. In his place was this... well, for lack of a better term I have come to call it ‘abomination’.

At first I told myself it wasn’t true. The boy I loved like a grandson couldn’t be dead. He had just cracked a bit from looping. Given time, he would heal and the boy I knew would return. The good, kindhearted boy who was his parent’s son in every respect.

I was wrong. As time went on things became clear. What tipped the balance, I think, was your use of the so-called ‘Pure’ World Resurrection to bring people back. Leaving aside how you managed to convince the Shinigami to part with Minato-kun’s soul, these things that you call the Shodai and Nidaime - who you say are my sensei - are nothing more than mockeries of the good men who taught me how to be a ninja and a man.

So I began to examine things. I am old, not stupid. I noticed things. I noticed that this Abomination was changing people; changing who they were. What they believed. The people I knew were... if not mindless, then heartless. The things that would make them laugh and cry were no longer important. All that mattered was pleasing and serving this abomination.

It was horrifying. I had watched these people grow up. I can remember playing in the wildflowers with a young Ino-chan and Sakura-chan. All of it gone because of that... thing.

Reflecting on this, I began to examine my own actions. And I found... that I was slowly turning into one of them, into one of the Abomination’s thralls. The ugly truth was that so long as you were near the Abomination and not possessed of the Sharingan, you would become enthralled.

I suspect this is why the Abomination makes its first priority to destroy and humiliate Sharingan users. If its weakness were revealed, then some of its thralls might escape. That, however, is no longer an issue.

With this revelation, I was forced to make a choice: to end the Abomination, or to allow him to live in the faint hope that the Naruto I knew would return. In the end, that was no choice. In secret I began to plan and prepare. A straightforward assault would not work, because of the Abomination’s power and that of his thralls, so I would have to lure him into a trap. I would have to play the part of one enthralled. And I would have to come up with something strong enough to ensure that the Abomination and his thralls would be unable to escape.

So I studied, and in time, I came across a weapon of such power and energy that no force on earth could match it. However, collateral damage would be extreme. It would also require a huge amount of chakra to summon. It took some time, but I overcame both difficulties.

All those who are not tainted by the Abomination have been evacuated. The number is depressingly low. However, at least there is some hope. The device beside me is known as a Kaku Bakudan or, if I read the other language correctly, Nuclear Bomb.

I have called all of you here not to hand over my hat as I originally said, but to make one last statement and explanation. No, it’s no use running, the device will activate in about half a minute or so, and I sealed this room against any possible escape attempts when you came in.

In the final seconds before my last act, I want you to know something.
This is excellent tea.
"My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we’ll change the world."
----Jack Layton
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Re: Get these screwy Rabbits out of my head!

Unread postby Phht » June 4th, 2011, 2:13 am

That was a hilarious ending line.
"BTW, Phht your ability to think of a plot bunny about any situation impresses me, amuses me and horrifies me. All at the same time. Good for you!" - doc.exe
Play Billy vs Snakeman.
--
Naruto RP: Higure Yuuhi (Sp Jonin, age 20, Konoha)
RP Atlas - Naruto RP wiki
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Re: Get these screwy Rabbits out of my head!

Unread postby gman391 » August 18th, 2015, 6:20 pm

Whee more necromancy. And hi everyone. This series is set in the Legend of the Five rings Universe. And well I'll post one a day. Hope you people like them

The Letter from the Crab:

An anonymous letter from the Kaiu Wall

I am dying my son.
For twenty years now, I have served on this great wall of ours. For twenty years now I have taken up my war hammer and swung it at all comers. For twenty years I have spent day in and day out watching the south. For twenty years I have done my duty to the Crab, to the Hida and to all the Empire.

Yet as I feel my joints begin to seize and this disease of mine slowly sap me of my strength. I find myself thinking of you my son, thinking of what I wish I had done of what I missed.

I missed your birth, the Wall needed me. Your mother gave me an earful, but when I saw you, I couldn't help but agree, there was you, this tiny little thing, so soft, so precious and for a moment I wondered if this was what the Crane felt when they looked at their 'beauty'.

Then you bit my finger and the moment was gone. I always did take that to mean you were my son, a fighter, just like me.

I missed your first steps, the Wall needed me. Your mother again gave me an earful, of how you were so determined, so ready to stand and walk, so that you could walk to see me. You never did see me very much ,but I could never understand the look of wonder on your face when I did return home.

I missed your entrance into the dojo, the Wall needed me. Your mother though a strong woman of that Unicorn, had to be the one to take you to the dojo of our ancestors. It was she who had to tell you the story of our family. How your great grand father slew one of the great demons in single combat, how my great grandmother defended our family in a duel against the greatest duelist of the Crane. Yet, you took to your training with all the fierce strength and will that made you walk.

I missed your gempukku, the Wall needed me. Your mother never did forgive me for that, and I suspect that is when the fire of our marriage ended. I do not blame her, it was the proudest moment for either of us, for you to stand as a full blooded Hida warrior. I remember hearing word and how my heart felt like it would burst from the sheer joy and pride I felt in my boy. My boy who for his gempukku defeated an ogre rather than a mere goblin.

I missed your wedding, the Wall needed me. Your mother stood with you as our family joined with the Kuni again. My daughter in law is a good woman, strong, willful, and proud, everything a good Hida should be. I always wondered if I could have arranged as fine a match for you as your mother did. There were more than a few young samurai-ko of good breeding and character that I mused upon asking for permission to wed you too. Yet, you married and began your own family.

I missed your ascension from a Hohei to Guso, the Wall needed me. Those who had raised you, taught you, loved you, stood with you in triumph as you proved to not only have your old man's will but your mother's mind. To take a small platoon and drive off a full troop of Goblins? You were destined to go far, I knew then, and I prayed for your success.

I missed so many things in your life my son. Do not think it was because I did not love you. They teach that love is a dangerous thing in this land of ours and so it is. The danger comes from the power and depth of that feeling, that makes a man's heart grow too large for him, and his mind leave him.

So as I feel my strength leave me and my arms grow weary, I write you my son, to tell you this.
You are my son.
And I could never ask for any better.

Farewell.



They say that Hida Kozomi spent a day outside his home, looking at the field where he and his father used to play. Some say that he was furious at his father, others that he was paying his respects as he best knew. Yet, a few say quietly, when the sake is all drunk and the people's lips are loose, that Kozomi spent that day weeping as a child would for his father.

For myself? I do not know, but let it be said that the Crab are not heartless savages. They feel just as deeply as any of us and they sacrifice more than we can ever know for that Wall that needs them.
"My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we’ll change the world."
----Jack Layton
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Re: Get these screwy Rabbits out of my head!

Unread postby gman391 » August 20th, 2015, 2:29 am

Well I said that I would post one every day until they were done. So here's the next one, even if no one is reading them.

The Letter from the Crane

Anonymous letter from Toshi Ranbo

My dearest daughter as you read this I have died.

Do not despair of this, for I went to my death willingly as all Samurai should.
For we are the scions of Lady Doji the Fair, the kami of courtesy and soul of our Empire. We can do no less than live up to her. Yet, as it was when my own mother went out on to the field to die, I know how little these words will comfort you.

So indulge your mother one last time, and listen to these words of mine. For they are true, and they are pure.

I remember when I first laid eyes on you in truth. As you found yourself in a new world different from the one inside me that had carried you for nine months. You gave a loud wail, and then composed yourself, looking and searching for me. My heart searched for you and in that moment, I loved you as deep as the ocean.

I remember on your fifth birthday when we brought you to the small room where we had placed all the gifts that our friends and family had given you for your birth. Oh how your face lit up like the sun in joy even as you struggled to be proper and composed just like your mother and father taught you. It was, in a word, adorable.

I remember when we sent you to the academy. You looked up at me with those bright eyes of yours and promised you would make me proud. I wanted to tell you that you already had made me the proudest mother in Rokugan, for how could I ask for another daughter as gifted as you? I like to think you already knew, and that is why I didn't tell you, but in truth I let my fear of giving you too much arrogance hold me back.

I remember how you returned to our home during the winter break of your ninth year. You had met the man that would be your husband you declared. I was surprised even then. Such boldness from my Little Wind, where had she got that from. Your father gently recalled me saying the same thing about him when I was your age. Yet, it was not to be, that boy took you for granted, and you did what I would have done, and educated him on courtesy.

I remember your gempukku, of how you competed with the rest of your classmates for the right to be samurai. The pride I felt when you overcame your old beau to be the winner of the Iaijutsu competition, was only matched by the joy I felt at your dance in the gardens.

I remember you becoming a magistrate and purifying entire cities just by yourself, and of how you were appointed to the Emerald Magistrates, and how proud I was of you my daughter. To rise higher than I ever had, ever could. I'm still proud of that.

I remember how we began to fight, you had no need of the mother who had been like ice to you for your childhood, you had found in your yoriki a man that you could accept marriage to, and a woman you could love. I was unhappy that you denied my choice, and we both said words that even now still sting, like tiny needles in my skin.

I remember the long years where we did as courtesy and tradition demanded of us, but there was no warmth, no joy there. We were Crane and we would not break our careful masks of perfected face for each other. No matter our blood. I remember in the silent night under the moon, letting that mask slip and crying at what I lost in my arrogance. And wondering if you felt the same.

I remember much my daughter, and although we fought and we let our pride come between us. I love you, I always have, but we of the Crane know that love is a blessing and a curse, for it is not the way of the Samurai to show love as the bonge, with open smiles and hugs. For us it was always meant to be a subtle thing, a look there, a gift, a poem, just the gentle wind of truth between us. Yet, my looks were too guarded for you to read, my gifts too poor, and my poetry to foul for you to understand that. I do not blame you, and I do not regret trying to show it, do I wish I had done better? Yes, but that is not our kharma it seems.

We are Crane, we accept nothing less than perfection in ourselves and in our lives. Yet I find that I must share Lady Doji's final admonition to us, do not concern yourself with doing great things, but with right things.

So when your lover stands accused of betrayal and dishonour, as a means to attack you while you serve in the lands of the Isawa. I knew the right thing to do. I cannot, do not approve of you taking a lover besides your husband.

However, she is innocent, for I know that you would not love anyone who did not love Bushido as much as you did. So although I am old, and my skills not as sharp as they once were, I take up the blade for the woman. For I trust you and the tenets of our clan and ourselves hold to kill an innocent is to violate everything we have worked for.

Do not blame yourself my daughter for my death, yes I love you, and for once in my life, I will show it with my actions.

Farewell my Little Wind.


In the frozen woods of Isawa Mori, Kakita Kazeko looked down at the letter again. The last missive of her mother. The rain must be coming down, that was why there were wet spots on the paper. After all, like her mother said, the Crane would never allow their emotional control to fray so much.

Folding the paper away, Kakita Yoriko draws her sword in the same stance she practiced in secret after seeing her mother do it when she was a child.

"Watch me mother, I'll make you proud" she says in silent prayer as the wind blows and she moves.
"My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we’ll change the world."
----Jack Layton
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Re: Get these screwy Rabbits out of my head!

Unread postby gman391 » August 21st, 2015, 2:28 am

The Letter from the Dragon

Anonymous Letter from the borders of the Dragon Clan

My beloved.

I write this to you as my testament and to fulfill that promise of mine. To speak to you again, although these letters are not the same as my voice, let me assure you that I stand by them as strongly as I stand behind you and my blades.

As I prepare myself to stride fourth and die in combat I find myself thinking of you, the Dragon and my Kharma.

Ours was a strange marriage for my clan, not one of love, but of political machinations. It was one I was not prepared for, although I thank Benten-no-kami that it was done.

My clan found itself on a new path after a thousand years of preparation and watching. A thousand years for one single moment, now we struggle to find our new path. Yet that is what we have always done hasn't it my beloved? To be iconoclasts and follow the words of the Little Teacher who taught ten thousand ways to Enlightenment. Still, we found ourselves outmaneuvered and I wed to a woman who others considered cursed. As I write this I remember those precious days where I found us and my clan.

The day we met, I was so nervous, so scared, the stories of what a Scorpion woman could do to a man were many, and I had never left the mountains that were my home. You were introduced and the tales...were wrong. You were no seductive woman sent to ensnare my soul in desire and lust. You were...a woman, who was just as scared as I was. A beautiful one yes, but a woman a Samurai. The lesson I learned that day was to keep my eyes open, to seek truth even when afraid.

Also never to imply that your tea was sub-par, but I deserved that.

The day we married, I was so nervous, so scared, I was...a neophyte to the flesh. The higher things in life, the sword those had occupied my attention. Yet now, I was expected to be your husband, to have children with you. Could I really compare to you? Live up to your expectations? Then you came to me and I found the truth, that you wondered if you could reach me. The lesson I learned that day was that Heaven and Earth in accord are greater than either alone.

The day we confronted each other, I was in such despair and pain. You had betrayed me, lain with someone else, you could claim you did not mean to, but he did not force you. I had learned that much from my Kitsuki kinsmen. You had lied, like Scorpion do, and that had hurt me deeper than I could have imagined. Still, in my heart, in spite of the pain, I still loved you, and I did not know why. Then you came to me, in peasant clothing, preparing yourself to be cast out. You sought not forgiveness, you did not deserve it, you made no excuses, but only wished to look on me one last time. It could have been a lie, most would think it was, but you took off your mask and I looked into your eyes. The lesson I learned that day is that Loyalty can redeem as well as condemn.

The day we learned that we could not have children, I was in such despair and pain. The priests say it was punishment on you for betraying me, and urged me to abandon you. The duty of a Samurai was to have children afterall, and the Dragon are not so many as we could afford not to have any. You looked at me with those soft eyes again, and whispered that it was okay, that I should do what I needed to. The lesson I learned that day is that a mountain does not stop being a mountain and neither would I stop being your husband, trying to make yourself something you are not is foolish.

The day we took in your nephew as our own, I was in such a state of joy and confusion. In truth that your brother had sired a bastard did not worry me as much as it did some. Nor did it seem strange to me to call this child of the Scorpion my own. For I had a son, a son chosen by me, if not by blood, and that was more important. The lesson I learned that day is that fate holds what it holds but it is our choice to make it matter.


You've often asked me beloved, how I came to forgive and accept you, or even love you in the first place. I tell you this, that it is the nature of the Dragon to see the truth. The truth of your despair and pain upon meeting me, you believed your family had given up on you. It is the nature of the Dragon to balance the fearful caution and reckless courage into a seamless whole. It is the nature of the Dragon to have faith in the Truth no matter how our emotions colour it. Finally it is in the nature of the Dragon to see what could be not what is.

So I tell you this my beloved, I'm glad that you were chosen to be my wife. And though I go now to the next life whatever it maybe, I will search for you in it, that is the promise of this Dragon.

Live well Beloved


Mirumoto no Yogo Ayoko looks down at the letter for several moments. He was a fool, a damned fool who trusted a Scorpion, yet...that was why she loved him, wasn't it? The Dragon's nature was to see what could be and he saw her as something of worth to be cherished. Something that no one else had seen.

Tears try to form in her eyes and she forces them back. He never could stand to see her cry, and wouldn't be happy to have her cry now. Putting the letter away, Ayako leaves her room and climbs up the mountain that he so loved. As she reaches the tree that they first met under, and later married under. She sits down, and looks out at the unforgiving beauty of the Northern Wall.

"Good bye...beloved husband" she says simply.
"My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we’ll change the world."
----Jack Layton
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Re: Get these screwy Rabbits out of my head!

Unread postby gman391 » August 22nd, 2015, 7:45 pm

Letter from the Lion

From the hand of Matsu Keiko

My husband I greet you every day as if it were my last. Yet this letter likely means that indeed it has been my last.
Lion do not die old, and bushi such as I less so. I admit that I am...glad to be dead, to have died in glorious combat was all I wanted.

I pray that this is what happened, so I may go to my ancestors with honour, yet I know that may not be. The Lion fight everywhere and not all are so eager to face us on the field of battle. And I....I cannot do it anymore.

I began this letter intent on making it correctly and properly with not even a hint of transgression against the Bushido. Yet as I write this in between skirmishes where death walks beside me like an old friend, I find that hiding my self does no favours. I am Lion and I live Bushido, but I am human, no matter how much that irks me. They say the Akodo search for endless perfection in Bushido and war, but the Matsu do as well, we are a proud family honoured by battle and our matchless soldiers.

I began this letter to let you know that there was no need to mourn me. Now I find myself wishing to, damn you, apologize.
The truth is that ours was never meant to be a marriage of love. That is not our way, love is for the Crane, or the Unicorn or those other lesser clans. Not for the Lion, for us the path of honour, the path of battle. Yet, you never questioned me and indeed never tried to force me to be a woman...in spite of you being from outside the Matsu and thus unused to our ways. But, I didn't love you.

I began this letter to ask you to take care of our children, they are strong fierce and wonderful, for myself, I am not displeased to have borne them. That is still true, but I, but I, also find that I am not displeased to have borne them for you. You never understood me, not really, you never understood the Lion. The fierce battle joy that overwhelms us, letting us scream with euphoria as we crash into our foes. To you it was, barbaric I'm sure.

I began this letter to say many things, and now I'm shaming myself, by just letting my emotions my heart out like some, some, peasant. This is not the Lion way, this is not the Matsu way. All for Bushido all for Battle that is us. Yet I, damn you. I think of your soft touch and my heart races. I think of your gentle voice singing to the children and my mind is soothed. I think of your damned pretty face and my own turns pink before I fight it down, damn you!

I...began this letter with many intentions, many promises to myself, but I am Matsu, and I will hold to honesty now. I don't know how or why I loved you, but I did, and although my love for you is not enough to make me forsake my duty, it never could be. But know this my husband. I do have a wish, that I could tell you this in person, that I could make my feelings known to you without our duties our lives getting in the way. But, regret is a sin, and wishes are as useful as an Asahina in a bar fight. So I can't change that.

There are many things I can't change, and it is useless to try. So I will live as the Lion do, throwing my all into battle and moving ever forward.


So I end this letter with a command o Husband mine. Live like a Lion and when we meet in the next life, you had better be able to give me a fight you've got that?

---Your wife



Matsu no Shiba Okita looks down at the letter and shakes his head, even in death, she challenged him. In truth, that is why he loved her as he did. Stubborn, prideful and uncompromising, these were the things the Lion were known for, but underneath the armor of their heart that was Bushido, they were still human, this much Okita knew. Placing the letter away, Okita picked up his naginata.

He had an order to fulfill after-all.
"My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we’ll change the world."
----Jack Layton
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Re: Get these screwy Rabbits out of my head!

Unread postby gman391 » August 25th, 2015, 12:58 am

A Letter from the Mantis

Anonymous letter, from the Eastern Isles

Hey little brother!

Sorry I couldn't resist doing that to you one last time. Even if it's only pretend and it's going to have to be that from now on. 'Cause the only way you're reading this is if I'm dead, or they think I am. Which they damn well better be sure about to give you this letter. If not, kick their asses for me will ya? I'd do it my self but I'm probably sleeping off whatever it is they thought killed me this time.

Anyways, I've been kind of working on this off and on for the last few years you know, ever since I went out to the Fleet and you to the Court. Usually we fight and make up over sake and pretty women but we didn't have a chance this time. I shipped out and we both forgot the lesson Dad used to teach us, to never let the sun set on our anger. Life's too short for that bull crap.

Life's too short to hold you calling me a muscle-headed idiot who only cares about sailing ships against you. I shouldn't have called you a mincing little flower of an Isawa. I mean really who does that?

I ain't going to ask you forgiveness, because I wasn't wrong, the Mantis are born to sail, we are, and that's why we do it. There's ah look, you know why we fight so hard to be recognized, to be acknowledged? To show all those stuck up bastards that we are just as much Samurai as they are?

Look to the Ocean, the ocean is huge, terrifying and will kill you if you back down even an instant, you know that. The ocean always pushes always smashes, always forces you to scream defiance at it. The minute you stop doing that? That's the minute the waves drag you off to Emma-O-no-kami. We've been fighting the Ocean our entire life, sometimes it's just a play fight, and other times its for all the tea in Rokugan. But, giving it anything less than your best is going to see you drown.

That's what I was trying to get across to you little brother, that the Sailor isn't any different from you, we both fight against something bigger than ourselves, we might use different things but we still fight.

Okay now that I've done my 'duty' as your elder to give you some half assed bullshit about wisdom of the Mantis, let me talk to you for real.

You're my little brother, that will never change, not now, not in the next life, not ever.
You'll always be the shy little kid that I had to teach how to swim.
You'll always be the freshly gempukkued twerp I had to teach how to lighten up.
You'll always be the young idiot I had to bail out of more bar fights than I care to remember.
You'll always be the nervous guy who needed a muscle head like me to tell him to seize the day.
You'll always be the guy who made it in our family, the one whose more than just a sailor.
You'll always be the one the Father wishes was born first. I don't mind that, I don't. I know what I am, and I'm happy with it.
You'll always be the one that Mother loved more. After all you stay on land and won't break her heart like me and Father will.
You'll always be the one that I am proud of, for everything.

I know I gave you a lot of grief of not being a bushi like me, of always having to measure up to me and others. Yet you made your own path, like a Mantis should. You seized the chance to go to the Imperial Winter Court, you seized a marriage to the youngest daughter of the Emerald Champion, you seized a life for yourself.

Just like a Mantis should.

I might be dead, but don't let that stop you little brother, you? You go as high as you can and don't let anyone hold you back. I never told you this in life, but I think...no I know you can change the course of history. So don't let your big bro dying slow you down, I'm dead and probably feeding the fishes. What's important is to live.

....Fortunes did I just write all that stuff? Man that sake hits hard you know? None of it's a lie but come on, baring my soul like that? What am I? Some weak ass Asahina with 'feelings?'

Live fast, die hard, and never stop riding the waves Little Bro.

P.S.
You probably should know that I have a kid floating around somewhere look after him for me will you? His name is Tsukune
.

For the tenth time Yoritomo Sora folded the letter and set it against his chest.
Stupid big brother. Like he needed to be told any of that.

A soft smile forms on Sora's face, "Still...it was nice to know you still thought of me Big Bro. I won't let you down."

"Yoritomo-sama?" a soft voice calls.

Sora turns to the servant.
"Yes Kaede?"

"A Tsukune-san is here to see you" She says.

A slight twitch of the eyebrow.
"....Dammit big brother." Sora mutters to himself before going off to meet his...nephew.

In spite of that the smile at the memories of his big brother stay, and Sora can't help but admit,
he was proud of his brother too.
"My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we’ll change the world."
----Jack Layton
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Re: Get these screwy Rabbits out of my head!

Unread postby gman391 » August 25th, 2015, 12:59 am

A Letter from the Phoenix

Anonymous letter from the Dragon Heart Plain

Hello little sister

Are you well? It has been some time since I've seen you last. Some time since we parted ways forever, me to the path of the Shiba and you to the path of the priests. As I march on to the Dragon Heart Plain to stop a great injustice, I feel that it is time to speak honestly with you. This last time before ere my spirit departs to judgement.

No don't worry, I'm not going to tell you anything you don't already know. Just things we're both too stubborn to admit. We who walk the path of peace and harmony, can fight so well on what that path is, can't we?

Peace is elusive as the void but that is why we pursue it as we do, and why I reach out now to you my dear sister. It...was not easy, seeing you leave us, leave the family, you were born with the gift, the ability to speak to the kami, and such things are common enough for our Clan. Yet, I never wanted you to go. I was young, I was selfish, I didn't want to lose my baby sister. Still there was never any choice, you had to learn to control your gift, and I...I had to walk the path of a warrior who hates war.

Do you know that I watched you? Always from afar, always doing what I could to just see my little sister grow up. I couldn't be there as much as I wanted, you were Isawa now and your sensei adopted you as his own. I was...just a Shiba.

I watched you as you left to a place I couldn't follow, I couldn't protect you from.

I watched you as you grew into your powers and talents, to someone I couldn't understand.

I watched you as you became samurai through your gempukku, praying and completing rituals I didn't even understand.

I watched you as you travelled our lands fulfilling the duties of an Ishiken and made our family proud.

I watched you as you fell in love with a charming young Kakita trying to find the Kenku.

I watched you as your heart broke when he admitted that he been engaged to another.

I watched you as you came to me in fury and grief upon finding that another was me.

I watched you as you married another Isawa, a man you hated but did your duty towards.

I watched you lose your passion, your fire for life becoming a priest of the kami and Ishiken alone, while your heart slept.

Now I realize, I shouldn't have just watched, that whatever our Clan decreed, you were still my little sister. That whatever sacrifices we made for harmony and peace, we are still family. That I should have been there to protect you, to heal your heart, and denied my husband for your sake even if it cost me my duty. Yet I did not, instead as I reeled from your hate, I grew cold myself, and refused to reach for you to help you.

All I can say is I'm sorry I wasn't there. I'm sorry I forgot Shiba's Promise, I'm sorry that I can't make things right.

Regret won't change things, and I can't change the past. I am as you so eloquently expressed, 'A simpleton wielding a pointy stick trying to convince herself that she has worth'

But, as I march with my legion to stop the deaths of others with my own. I know that whatever happens, you are still my little sister, and I still love you dearly, and were I to do it all again, you would have me there every step of the way. I can't ask for forgiveness, not really, but I do ask, that when the sun shines through the cherry blossoms just right, and the cool air reminds you of our childhood, that you think of me now and then.

Farewell little sister, may the Fortunes and Tao guide your way.


Isawa Keiko reads the letter again, something inside her feels, strange, off. The heart that she had long since thought dead from a relentless pursuit of knowledge and ritual stirs. Softly at first, the beating of her heart reminds her of the past: Of the sound of them running together under the trees, of the little games that they played, of the soft smiles and gentle encouraging words whenever they met, of the painful silence when they parted for the last time.

Isawa Keiko is a proud woman, but as the fire of her grief burns, she finds herself sitting under the cherry blossom trees, looking up at the sun.

"I'll miss you my dearest Big Sister, I'm sorry too"
"My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we’ll change the world."
----Jack Layton
User avatar
gman391
 
Posts: 3288
Joined: January 20th, 2011, 5:14 pm

Re: Get these screwy Rabbits out of my head!

Unread postby gman391 » August 27th, 2015, 3:11 am

Well not much response I'll admit. But eh let's keep going

A Letter from the Phoenix

Anonymous letter from the Dragon Heart Plain

Hello little sister

Are you well? It has been some time since I've seen you last. Some time since we parted ways forever, me to the path of the Shiba and you to the path of the priests. As I march on to the Dragon Heart Plain to stop a great injustice, I feel that it is time to speak honestly with you. This last time before ere my spirit departs to judgement.

No don't worry, I'm not going to tell you anything you don't already know. Just things we're both too stubborn to admit. We who walk the path of peace and harmony, can fight so well on what that path is, can't we?

Peace is elusive as the void but that is why we pursue it as we do, and why I reach out now to you my dear sister. It...was not easy, seeing you leave us, leave the family, you were born with the gift, the ability to speak to the kami, and such things are common enough for our Clan. Yet, I never wanted you to go. I was young, I was selfish, I didn't want to lose my baby sister. Still there was never any choice, you had to learn to control your gift, and I...I had to walk the path of a warrior who hates war.

Do you know that I watched you? Always from afar, always doing what I could to just see my little sister grow up. I couldn't be there as much as I wanted, you were Isawa now and your sensei adopted you as his own. I was...just a Shiba.

I watched you as you left to a place I couldn't follow, I couldn't protect you from.

I watched you as you grew into your powers and talents, to someone I couldn't understand.

I watched you as you became samurai through your gempukku, praying and completing rituals I didn't even understand.

I watched you as you travelled our lands fulfilling the duties of an Ishiken and made our family proud.

I watched you as you fell in love with a charming young Kakita trying to find the Kenku.

I watched you as your heart broke when he admitted that he been engaged to another.

I watched you as you came to me in fury and grief upon finding that another was me.

I watched you as you married another Isawa, a man you hated but did your duty towards.

I watched you lose your passion, your fire for life becoming a priest of the kami and Ishiken alone, while your heart slept.

Now I realize, I shouldn't have just watched, that whatever our Clan decreed, you were still my little sister. That whatever sacrifices we made for harmony and peace, we are still family. That I should have been there to protect you, to heal your heart, and denied my husband for your sake even if it cost me my duty. Yet I did not, instead as I reeled from your hate, I grew cold myself, and refused to reach for you to help you.

All I can say is I'm sorry I wasn't there. I'm sorry I forgot Shiba's Promise, I'm sorry that I can't make things right.

Regret won't change things, and I can't change the past. I am as you so eloquently expressed, 'A simpleton wielding a pointy stick trying to convince herself that she has worth'

But, as I march with my legion to stop the deaths of others with my own. I know that whatever happens, you are still my little sister, and I still love you dearly, and were I to do it all again, you would have me there every step of the way. I can't ask for forgiveness, not really, but I do ask, that when the sun shines through the cherry blossoms just right, and the cool air reminds you of our childhood, that you think of me now and then.

Farewell little sister, may the Fortunes and Tao guide your way.

Isawa Keiko reads the letter again, something inside her feels, strange, off. The heart that she had long since thought dead from a relentless pursuit of knowledge and ritual stirs. Softly at first, the beating of her heart reminds her of the past: Of the sound of them running together under the trees, of the little games that they played, of the soft smiles and gentle encouraging words whenever they met, of the painful silence when they parted for the last time.

Isawa Keiko is a proud woman, but as the fire of her grief burns, she finds herself sitting under the cherry blossom trees, looking up at the sun.

"I'll miss you my dearest Big Sister, I'm sorry too"
"My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we’ll change the world."
----Jack Layton
User avatar
gman391
 
Posts: 3288
Joined: January 20th, 2011, 5:14 pm


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