Writing Prompts

A spot for collections of Outsider-related original fan fiction and related works.

Moderator: Outsider Moderators

User avatar
Hālian
Posts: 766
Joined: Fri Sep 30, 2011 4:28 am
Location: Central Florida
Contact:

Re: Writing Prompts

Post by Hālian »

entity2636 wrote:LOL Alex is such a pussy :lol: But then again, women with their tiny hands can indeed squeeze quite painfully :?

By the way, Loroi PDLs are pinkish red rather than green.
What's a PDL?
Image
Don't delay, join today!

User avatar
Onaiom
Posts: 124
Joined: Sun Oct 13, 2013 4:06 am

Re: Writing Prompts

Post by Onaiom »

Hālian wrote:What's a PDL?
Point Defense Laser(cannon).

Krulle
Posts: 1413
Joined: Wed May 20, 2015 9:14 am

Re: Writing Prompts

Post by Krulle »

Alex hesitated a bit, but then asked "Did she ask to talk alone with me? Now?"

"Yes." Beryl answered. She then started moving fully back to her own chair and put the safety belt back on again.

"Well, the station is now between us and the attackers, so we're as well protected as is possible under these circumstances. I'd suggest you move now, while the missiles would have a hard time reaching us." Talon said while looking at Alex.

"Thanks." Alex answered, unlocked his belt and left the cockpit. While passing the front rows of the passenger compartment, he caugt Tempo looking at him, but besides an encouraging smile, she gave no hint at what he was about to expect. So he continued down the aisle towards the redhaired Loroi.

So he continued down the aisle and tried to think of a strategy that might take edges of her aggressivity. At least tactics that might help.

"You asked me to come and talk to you?" Alexander asked her when he stood next to her row.

The next few noises he heard were among the worst spoken language Alexander had ever heard, it was obvious the Teidar did not use her voice for anything other than possibly a war cry or utterances of pain. "Yes."

Alex looked at her, and asked "Since we are still under attack, may I sit down so I can buckle myself in?"

The Teidar looked at him, slightly surprised, but made a hand motion to the seat right next to her.
So Alex sat down, and buckled in. When he looked up, the redhead Loroi was looking at him intently. It seemed like her eyes were glowing. Not a pleasant feeling being scrutinized by her.

"So, what did you want to talk about, Teidar Fireblade?"

"You have.... made friends with Beryl?"

"Yes. I like her inquisitive nature. I am also very curious, and while I know it is her job to get to know me, it seems to me that there's more interest in me than just professional interest."

"You have made a friend in her."

"I gather that. Since Loroi have an aversion against touching each other, her touching me seemed to me like a very intimate gesture among Loroi. That's what convinced me she's not just professionaly curious about me."

"She is my friend too."

Alex did not really know what to say about that.

"Do not harm her." came the untrained voice of Fireblade, with an unmistakeable warning sound to it.

Alex looked in Fireblade's eyes. "I will not."

He felt a pinch against his chest. Apparently a telepathic push, sicne Fireblade did not move, and no other Loroi was seated around her, but he refused to look at his chest. "Good. Otherwise I would find you."

This was not an unexpected warning. But it was far more personal than he expected. He knew Fireblade was watching him. And that she would harm him if he ever tried to hurt any Loroi. But now he got a specific warning about harming Beryl.
But since there was no reply necessary to her statement, he waited, while the push at his chest subsided.

After a while, Fireblade said: "And I also mean no psychological games with her."

"I would never play with her." his answer came. Finally he stopped looking at the shining eyes of the Teidar, and his eyes flicked to the cockpit door. Of course Fireblade did not miss this.

"Are you thinking about her? Right now?"

"Yes." he replied. And after a small hesitation, he decided the full truth might gain him some trust fromt he redhead. "Since the kisses I do think about her." He could not suppress a slight smile on his face.

The Teidar watched his face for a moment.

"Why did you see me when you... 'mediated'?" her raspy voice asked.

"'Meditate'... I do not know." he looked back at the Teidar. "I wish I knew. I also thought of her at that moment. And wondered why I saw you, and not her. She was sitting on my lap, and touching me. Why did I see you and not her?"
He suddenly became aware that now the others in the crew compartment were looking interested towards them, where previously they had seemed so disinterested in the talk between Fireblade and him.

"We all want to know. Because something else happened at the same time. She became as invisible to me as you are and the enemy currently is." her voice became stern.

This surprised Alex a bit. "What do you mean?"

"You know I have been tasked in guarding you specifically. For your protection, but equally for ours. So of course I keep watch on the telepathic signature of those direclty around you. And if I would see alarm or perceived danger there, I would start moving to stop you. But when you both 'medi..ta..ted', she got invisible for me. I could not 'see' her. I am only sitting here again, because Tempo ordered me back, when Talon and Spiral both independently relayed what you two were doing, and that she at least seemed to be unharmed and in no pain."

"Oh. Yes, she said she experienced a 'quietness' like never before. I didn't know about that. I mean, the whole concept of telepathy is still foreign and difficult to understand for me." Alexander replied, obviously more nervous than he would've liked to be near this red-haired harpy.

When Fireblade did not answer, Alexander continued: "I mean, I have the feeling that now I am not just talking to you, but to all Loroi here, especially Tempo and you. But before, I did not have the feeling when you asked me about Beryl and me."

Fireblade gave a kind of smile. "You are talking to us now, and Beryl as our Listel witnesses these kind of conversations for the record, and before we two were talking privately."

Alex looked at her, and finally dared to say: "What has changed your mind that you did not talk through the others, as before? I feel slightly honoured that you do talk to me directly, but you must've known that I am aware of what you'll do to me if I harm any Loroi."

Fireblade looked at him, and said: "Beryl is the youngest aboard our ship. This war forces us to recruit ever younger Loroi. She is merely a child. A child so carefree, that I feel obliged to protect her. And besides the missiles outside, you are currently her greatest danger. But you have treated her well. And have not shown other signs of treason, but only honesty. So I thought you deserve this warning from me personally."

Alex looked around the cabin, and again the others seemd to be 'disconnected' from the talk. "Then I thank you, and tell you I have received the warning, and will heed it. Anything else you wanted to talk about with me?" He became aware that the expressions of the others changed again.

"They were not listening in, right, but now they are again?" he asked.

Fireblade looked at him, and said "Yes. How do you know?"

"I guessed from their reaction and facial expressions."

"There is no other reason?"

"No. Like I said, we Humans believe we do not have any telepathic capabilities. It is only for stories. Until the Orgus told us about you Loroi."

"May I test something?" the redhaired asked.

"What?"

"To touch you." and she extended a hand.

Alex looked at her left hand, and gripped it somewhat awkwardly, because sitting next to each other strapped in chairs limits arm movements somewhat.
But when touching, he only felt the physical touch.
"We Humans usually use our right hands for our greeting ritual." he said in a try to lighten the atmosphere.

She pulled her left hand from him, and tried to move her right hand to get hold of his right hand. Noting it does not work without awkwardly contorting her wrist and elbow, she dropped her hands and said with a slight frustration in her voice "Why do you have so cumbersome rituals?" Also a slight hoarse crept into her voice, reminding Alexander that this voice has likely not spoken since her childhood.

Alex looked at her, then unbuckled and stood up. He then offered her his right hand and said "well, this is difficult while sitting, so usually we greet each other before we sit down. Or at least before the one who comes later sits down."

She looked at him, but then gripped his offered hand with her right hand.

He shook her hand, and then let it go and sat down again.
"Was there anything else you wanted to speak to me for?"

With that question in the room, the readhead looked over Alexander's shoulder, who only then noticed that Tempo must've used the distraction to walk down the aisle towards them both.

"Yes and no. You had your private talk with her, that's what she wanted to talk to you about." Tempo said. "But now we all, including her and me, are interested in your thoughts about Beryl's Lotai. When she meditated in your arms. This has a considerable influence on how we think about you. It may not be a coincidence that out enemy is advancing with large fleets which are invisible to us, just when we discover you."

Alexander looked back at Fireblade and then back at Tempo again. And finally it dawned on him. They were starting to consider him an enemy. Someone who is lieing to them about his capabilities, and knowledge of the enemy's abilities.

"I have told you all I know." Alexander protested. "I cannot imagine how the Umiak would be able to use this knowledge without extensive research and practical experiments when not having telepathy themselves. My mission was trying to contact either side, so at the very best, the Umiak could've made contact with Humanity only two weeks before we arrived in Naam. I cannot imagine how the Umiak would've been able to achieve this attack within that time."

"Us neither." Tempo replied. "That is why you are still sitting here. But now we desire to conduct some experiments."

Alex looked at her, slightly shocked: "Experiments?"

"Yes." Tempo replied. Nodding towards Fireblade, she said "Teidar Pallan Teinnol is our strongest telepath aboard. We would like her to 'meditate' with you, and see what happens."
Please do not open the spoiler if you think about writing the next part yourself. Thanks.
SpoilerShow
Please do not read this if you think you might want to continue this story. It contains some of my thougths, and you would not want to get tainted by them, do you?

If you think you might want to continue this writing prompt, please close the spoiler again. You may revisit when the story has been continued.

Thank you.


Two alternative ending I wrote and dismissed:
"Us neither." Tempo replied. "That is why you are still sitting here. But we've received information that either the enemy is bound to destroy us, or capture us. They seem to know you are here, and that you are very valuable."

"What do you mean?" Alex asked.

"That the enemy battailons have started to not only secure the entry points to this system, but that a considerable force has started to move towards us. Large enough to overwhelm the station's defences." Tempo replied.
This ending is actually more a continuation, but I decided to simply cut it down:
"Uh..." Alex replied while his brain stalled.

"We are aware this is an unusual request, and we would appreciate your cooperation in this." the Mizol continued.

Alex saw no way to get out of this, without flatly refusing his hosts. And on the other hand he also wanted to know why he saw the red-haired harpy instead of the science elf.

"I intend no harm, and I will try to avoid harming you." the raspy voice of Fireblade said.

Alex looked at her.

"I promised my friend Beryl." the hoarse voice added.

Tempo added: "And I promise you, that I have ordered them all to not harm you or try to reach your thoughts while we are conducting this experiment."

Alex sighed, and said: "Okay. It's not like I have much of a choice, do I?"

"No, you haven't." came the matter-of-fact reply from Tempo.

Fireblade stood up and sat on Alex lap. She was remarkably much heavier than Beryl. This would be much less comfortable than before...

Fire blade looked him in the eyes, and then wrapped her arms around him to touch him, breathed deeply and seemed to try to relax.

Alex took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and started focusing on breathing regularly.

And then he saw her. Sitting on his lap. Extremely bright in the black nothing.
After his tenth or twelfth breath, he noticed this was not the only light shining. He saw also the black-haired Temp next to him. He immidiately focused on the cockpit. And yes, there she was. His Beryl. The black void started to shimmer slighly pinkish with these thoughts.
Next to her, Talon and Spiral.

Astonished, he tried to encompas the whole shuttle. Yes the guards were there too.
He focused "backwards" of the shuttle, and after a while, he saw a small cluster of lights nehind him. 'Must be Gora Relay" he tought.

Exhilariated by this ability, he tried to focus his attention on the remainders of the system. Nearly immidiately, he noticed the other Loroi in the system. But between them were very dark specks. If the 'void' wasn't slightly pink-tinged, he would not have seen the black specs drifting in clusters there. Correlating this with the image he saw of the system before, he assumed those are the enemy ships. He tried focussing on one of the black specs, to get more details, just as beforehand he was able to see more of the shuttle. And indeed, the focus 'zoomed in'. And then he 'saw' it. A cluster of insectile shapes touching something else, a Human? a Loroi?
And it did not look like a light touch, more like a forced connection.

Shocked he came out of the meditation.
A third possibility I had in mind was Alex "seeing" telepathic connections between the Loroi, and being able to intercept images of the Sanzai chatter.
Vote for Outsider on TWC: Image
charred steppes, borders of territories: page 59,
jump-map of local stars: page 121, larger map in Loroi: page 118,
System view Leido Crossroads: page 123, after the battle page 195

novius
Posts: 654
Joined: Tue May 26, 2015 10:33 am

Re: Writing Prompts

Post by novius »

No way for Alex to get out of that one, not without serious repercussions down the road... :) I have some ideas how it would go with his least favourite Loroi, and Beryl is definitely not completely out of the picture, in any case.

Just takes some refinement....

EDIT: The Barsam showing up on the scene in pg. 135 doesn't change much about Highland-7's predicament, but it could actually provide an extra twist to what I had in mind.

novius
Posts: 654
Joined: Tue May 26, 2015 10:33 am

Re: Writing Prompts

Post by novius »

Took a bit, but here comes:
Alex swallowed and tried to force down the trepidation he felt. He still vividly remembered the first time the Loroi - she! - tried to crack open his mind like a walnut. Him passing out, and waking up with a headache that makes a migraine look tame in comparison... and no Aspirin in sight.

"Well...", Alex tried to stall a bit, "... as I said once, telepathy... or any sort of psychic powers are stuff of legends, old wive's tales. Myths. It still boggles me that it really exists. Telepathy, telekinesis... Any meditation we do is just to focus our minds and clear them from distractions - we never did it with any supernatural powers in mind."

Of course Tempo picked up on Alex's hestitation, but his words had merit. "And still humans have words to describe these 'supernatural powers' and seem to have a rich lore around them. I admit, now I'm more than curious, and I think there are forces at work here we both might not fully understand, and maybe the recent discovery of The Enemy to hide itself from our farseers is just but one aspect of this mystery."

"What do you mean?" Alex prompted.

"Understand that while I ... do have had my suspicions about you, I have seen that you had been forthcoming with information and your take on things. I am not suspecting trickery by you and your people here, but I've come to think that your Lotai and The Enemy's newfound ability might be part of a bigger picture we don't see in its entirety... and that it is of utmost importance to get a clearer view. To the Loroi Union as well as to Humanity."

Alex mulled her words over, then nods. "Good point. So how shall we go from here?"

Fireblade watched the exchange, and mainly Alex, her expression slowly changing from her usual standoffish one to one tinged with ... concern? Yes, Alex was quite sure that she looked a bit concerned now.

"Try not to resist. The last ... attempt we made while you were ... unconscious", Fireblade haltingly noted, "A willing mind is more open."

'Makes sense', Alex thought, 'Hope I'll wake up without my head feeling like I've been hit with a hovertruck.'

Alex was a bit relieved to see that Fireblade made no move to unlock her seatbelt - the idea of her ending up in his lap was ... no. And the other way round would be much worse, he thought. Instead, she unlocked and removed the vambrace from her left arm and used her bare arm to reach out in what Alex idly recognized as a 'warrior's handshake'.

Pulling up his own overall's sleeve, reaching for her lower arm and feeling her fingers on his was ... again, strange. While it was barely discernible with Beryl, and non-existent with Talon, that touching-a-live-wire feeling was much more pronounced with Fireblade, much closer to the range of 'unpleasant'. Alex steeled himself, tried to calm down his thoughts running around in circles and closed his eyes.

Darkness.

There.... there it was. That fiery mote in the darkness he came to know to be her. And it was closing in.

The single mote got more defined, shaping itself into Fireblade's outline, brightly against his eyes... mind.... whatever. Yet, something was different - on board the Tempest he felt her pressing on, violating his self, but now... she was waiting. Like a hunter waiting for a particularly shy animal to show itself.

Then it hit him.

The fear.

The panic. The need to get away, get away, Get Away, GET AWAY THIS INSTANT....

And suddenly, it was gone. Perhaps it was Alex's subconscious arranging itself with the inevitable.

Images flooded his mind. One, two, then more and more in a faster and faster pace. Unfamiliar landscapes. Pitched battles with what seemed to be Umiak cyborgs. Trench warfare at its worst, fighting to hold the position. Broken bodies with holes through the chests, the stomachs, the heads...

...Then it stopped. And it was again only Fireblade's presence, in the darkness. He felt... chagrin coming from her, a wordless "I ask for apology."

Alex tried to concentrate on a thought conveying forgiveness, then he felt her presence ... shifting, sort of. As if she moved her attention elsewhere.

She did.

Because, in the distance - whatever that word meant - Alex felt another presence. Faint, but definitely there. No one needed to tell him, he just knew ... this had to be Beryl.

Then he was back in the physical world, meeting the faces of Fireblade, Tempo, Reed and Flint, all portraying a mix of confusion and shock. And on turning back facing forward, there was Beryl, too, at the bulkhead leading to the cockpit, with an equally shocked expression on her face.

"What happened? For a moment I thought I could ... sense you", she gasped.

Fireblade sent a pointed look at Beryl and Tempo, setting off what looked to be a heated silent debate amongst the Loroi. 'Of course', Alex thought, 'this might be too important to leave it to her sub-par language skills.'

"Uh... care to fill me in...?", he piped up.

"Peace, Captain Jardin", Tempo placated him, "I must say, this is surprising. Beneath your Lotai, you actually seem to be telepathic - and not only just so, but on a level that would allow you to easily exchange thoughts with us. This is almost unheard of, since almost every other species we encountered we just could assense... but not communicate with using sanzai."

Beryl beamed brightly as if christmas has come early, if she were human. Were he not strapped in and in a semi-public setting, he got the impression that she would be all over him in an instant... again.

"I think I have an idea how your Lotai came to be. Or, two in fact. Either your species faced some powerful telepathic foe in your evolutional past so that you had to develop such a rigid protection and an instinctive fear of mental contact, or ... someone did this to you", Beryl offered.

'Valid point', Alex thought, turning to Tempo.

"Look, Tempo. I'll be frank. I said onboard the Tempest that you seem to know more than you let on, especially when it comes to how similar our species are.. Perhaps now it is the time to come clean with it, because now I think what we don't know will turn around and bite us in the ass."

Tempo rose an eyebrow. "Do humans have more of these graphic metaphors? But, you are right, Captain Jardin. You were very forthcoming and patient with us, allow me to repay it. Please be advised, what I am about to tell you has the potential to destabilize the entirety of the Loroi Union..."

Talon's voice cut in over the speakers.

"I'll have to inform you that docking with the Relay is not possible at the moment, since the Relay is under heavy fire. In addition, Captain Mozin's Prophet's Reason arrived from the Azimol Relay. If we manage to change course, we could rendezvous with him in about 16000 solons."

"He must have followed us all the way from Naam, on a more counter-spinwards route", Alex mused. "My existence seems to stir up waves already, and perhaps it's best to prepare ourselves before Captain Mozin or whoever else drops the bomb on us. Hell, I get the feeling that I stepped into something far larger than a genocidal war between two superpowers...."

Tempo furrowed her eyebrows, then nods. "You may be right. And, coming to think of it, your lore about something you believed to be fantasy might contain some answers - perhaps relating these 'old stories' to Beryl might help discern the truth", she added, and Alex was sure he heard some amusement in Tempo's voice, "and, perhaps it might be beneficial to continue your experiments with Fireblade ... they seem to be promising."

Alex looked back at Beryl - bubbly, chipper Beryl - and a fleeting image of the horrors he got from Fireblade crossed his mind. No way he would allow that happen to her...

Already he started to dig up what he knew about the 'old stories' he referred to. Accounts of self-styled 'magicians', tidbits like old couples understanding each other without words, folk tales...

And, as a semi-unrelated thought, he asked himself if he should include the folklore about elves, too... 'No', he chased that thought away. No way!

Krulle
Posts: 1413
Joined: Wed May 20, 2015 9:14 am

Re: Writing Prompts

Post by Krulle »

Beryl came over, keeping her eyes on him all the time. All the time.
Not that he minded, since he kept looking at her too.

Then the redhead brushed his arm with her fingers. He felt he kind of sharp synaptic burst this time, and the impression of needing to talk about what happened.

He turned to look at the redhead, and was surprised to see some pain in her eyes.

"Were you close with her?" came the question from Fireblade.

"Whom?" he asked, slightly disoriented who she might be talking about.

She looked at Beryl, who was now standing next to Tempo.
Tempo stepped aside, and Beryl moved closer and sat in the chair next to him, on the other side of Fireblade. It was obvious though, that there still was an ongoing discussion between the three Loroi, Tempo, Beryl, and Fireblade.

Then Beryl touched his arm gently, and asked "Can I try sending to you, please?"

When he said failed to reply, Beryl concentrated, and an image flared in his mind, briefly, but clearly coming from Beryl. 'Fireblade showed me how she formed her thoughts and what may have triggered you reading her', then, an image that was ... unwanted. A face with a tear tatooed next to the right eye.
The image faded, and the three looked at him.

"Ellen..." slipped from his mouth. Taking a breath, he looked at Beryl, and repeated "Ellen. Ellen Kirkland was her name."

"Was she...", but Beryl left the question hanging in the room, unfinished.

"Yes, and no. Yes, she was my partner. At work, and sometimes in bed too. Human relations are complex, and while we are usually monogamous, having one partner, we are, what some psychologists call, 'serially monogamous', meaning we have one partner at a time, but after a few years, when the attraction dies, we often switch partner. " Alex tried to explain. "But no, Ellen was never officially 'my partner'. We both are ... were singles, meaning we both had no partner waiting at home. We had fun together, and she was my best friend. We've been through difficult situations together, and the Bellarmine was a packed ship, not much room, on a dangerous mission. This all lead to a build up of stress. And being 'friends with benefits' is a good way to relieve stress, in such situations."

Beryl nodded her head. Her curiousity was there, but also something else? Sorrow?... no. Maybe. But something else was there. Finally, a thought hit him 'Jealous'.

"Now is not the time to go about personal feelings." Tempo interrupted "We have more pressing concerns, and I fear Captain Jardin might need more practice how to overcome his own Lotai before he might be able to show us the 'stories of old' without telling them."

Alex consciously touched Beryl's hand, while trying to form an image of pressing on her hand reassuringly.

'Yes' came her sending. But then quietness. Beryl's face showed a smile, but Tempo showed concern.

"You are able to send aimed messages to Beryl then. But when Fireblade tried to telepathically ask you something, the connection broke." Tempo said. Seeing his face, she added "Yes, we are all party to at least some of the Sanzai you are sending to her. Partly because we three have an 'open connection' among each other right now, to share our findings and thoughts about your Sanzai and Lotai, but also because your sending is not that precise. We are able to 'listen in'."

"Again, now is not the time for personal feelings, although it seems to help you discovering your Sanzai." Tempo added. "For the immediate now, I want to know about some of your stories from the old times. The ones having telepathy as a part of it."

"Well..." Alex said. "Our stories are not that defined. We have plenty of stories, where Humans seem to communicate to each other without words. But modern scientists have made plenty of tests, and in some cases, mostly experienced card-players having played a long while with each other, were apparently able to seemingly communicate to each other without words. Modern software though used to assess body language of those involved, actually discerned that the card players were communicating through unconscious body signals. Like a slightly dropped left shoulder, and that the card-playing partner actually only picked up on that. In most other cases, the scientists actually showed, that there was nothing going on, and at best the assumed telepaths were just better at reading other Human gestures, and thus able to make educated guesses, making their 'reading of thoughts' simply slightly better at predicting what the other person was thinking."

"In some very old stories, and also in our literature, which we use for entertainment, we have stories of other sentient beings living or having lived on Earth too. We group those stories as 'fantasy', as there is no proof of them being true, or having a true core. Those other sentient beings being 'giants', Human looking people with very large bodies, 'Dwarves', also bipedal, but smaller and often living underneath the surface of our world, mostly in the mountains, 'Orcs', bipedal, but rather stupid beings loving violence and war, and then the 'dragons', mystical beings walking on four legs, having a long tail, and said to having been able to fly, although most stories depict them with wings far too small to fly."

"And all of them were said to have telepathic abilities?" came Beryl's question.

"No. No. Only the Dragons, and only in some of the stories."

"Only in some?" came a perplexed question from Beryl.

"Well, our stories are often independent from each other. And therefore properties something has in one story means nothing for other stories. For example the Dragons. In all stories those are depicted as very large lizards. In Chinese stories they were often a bright red, while in European stories they were often green or brown to better hide in the backrground of our nature."

"Lizards?" interrupted Beryl.

"Lizards are creatures walking on four legs, and having scales. Being coldblooded, they often need warm ambient surroundings to make their muscles work sufficiently." He added when he saw Beryls face. "Dragons were also in some stories only large animals, no sentience in them. And in other stories they were smart, very intelligent beings being able to talk, and in some being able to suggest you to do something, by making an image appear in your mind, which you had to follow."

"Okay, lets talk later about the Dragons. Who else had telepathic abilities in your stories?" Beryls voice came.

"Well, there were the Elves, and them some Humans, mostly in Science Fiction stories using the help of technology , so no actual telepathy."
'Oops, now the Elves slipped my mouth' Alex thought.

"No telepathy, but technology?"

"Yes. Basically, in these stories, written in a time before some of our current technolgies existed, and writing about how the author sees a possible future for Humanity, they imagined some kind of microtechnology being implanted in the brain, and being able to read your intentions. And if you intended to send a message to someone, the technology in your brain would do that for you, as the technology in the receivers brain would alert the receiver to a message being received, and actually play it by stimulating optical and/or auditory nerves directly."

"Ah, I see." said Beryl. "And how about Giants, Dwarves, and Orcs?"

"I know of no story where either of them had telepathic abilities." Alexander answered.

"Can you try to describe the mentioned races? Or try to send an image of them?" Beryl asked.

Alex thought hard of an image of Orcs, Dwarves, and Dragons. Without an Elf.
Orcs, Dwarves, and Dragons. Orcs, Dwarves, and Dragons.
He touched Beryl, and immediately felt a shock. A hard shock, and then the mental shout of 'NISSEK!' sent back to him, attached to the image of the Dragons. this time he could cleary identify Tempo's, Beryl's, and Fireblade's sending separately coming to him. He tensed at that, and immediately felt any connection close again.

'Ah, relaxation is a must for sending right now.' Alex recognised.

"What are 'Nissek'?" Alexander asked.

"Another sentient race we are formally allied with." Tempo added.

"I felt some... distrust... when you three thought that word." Alex probed.

"Indeed." Tempo added. "While they are formally allies, they have not really contributed to any war effort, yet still maintain a large fleet. We are somewhat distrustful of their motives, but since they are at the other side of our Union, we keep an eye on them, and repeatedly ask for some support, which they usually decline with a lot of positive sounding formulations, but ultimately end up being nothing more than hollow phrases. But since they are apparently fighting something in their region of space, and keep our common frontier clear from other incidents, we are hesitant to force the issue."

"Oh, and they are also known to eat other sentient species." Beryl added.

When Alexed looked in slight confusion at her, she added "We felt in your sending, that the Dragons are also known to eat Humans, and other beings, this is just an additional observation from me.
Although the Nissek do not have the ability to fly, nor do they have wings. And they walk on two legs." she commented further.

Then Beryl looked at Tempo. Alex followed her lead, and saw into that face.

"You were deliberately hiding something with that picture." Tempo said. "The picture was not complete. My guess is you've been thinking about a specific story, one with images, so that you could have a detailed image to send. But you tried to remove something from that image."

"Yes. I picked up on that." she added. "We Mizol are trained in telepathic trickery. There is something in that specific story you wanted us not to know."

Alex tensed up. Beryl tried to touch him, but there was no reaction to her touch.

"You've tensed up, and there will be no telepathy involved now." Tempo commented. "But be aware that this obviously cannot dissolve our reservations about you."

Alex looked at her. "Sorry. Yes. Yes. I was hiding something."

He took a few deep breaths, and tried to relax. He took Beryls hands into his, and looked deep into her eyes.
"Sorry" he said, and with that he thought of an image of the Elves. He was thinking of Arwen, as depicted by Liv Tyler, an actress one of the films with Elves, showing the story of one of his favourite books. The face was now against his wishes very much Beryl's face.

He heard all three of them take a deep breath at the image of the black haired, whitish-skinned female Elf with long, pointy ears.
Vote for Outsider on TWC: Image
charred steppes, borders of territories: page 59,
jump-map of local stars: page 121, larger map in Loroi: page 118,
System view Leido Crossroads: page 123, after the battle page 195

User avatar
Werra
Posts: 840
Joined: Wed Jun 06, 2018 8:27 pm

Re: Writing Prompts

Post by Werra »

I don't want to poop on your party, but shouldn't Alex know that tolkienesque elfes were made up by some dude?

User avatar
orion1836
Posts: 399
Joined: Mon Feb 06, 2017 11:38 pm

Re: Writing Prompts

Post by orion1836 »

To someone in Alex's time period, Tolkein's elves are probably the dominant image in the mind of the general populace when one thinks of 'elves,' the same way that Disney's versions of various fairy tales override the originals. Does Fair Folk mythology go much, much farther back than Tolkein? Of course it does, but a spacer in 2160 is probably going to be most familiar with the big cultural landmarks, not the minutia of ancient folklore.

EDIT: Though now that I think about it, Vulcans would have been a much more appropriate analogy. At least they were telepathic.

novius
Posts: 654
Joined: Tue May 26, 2015 10:33 am

Re: Writing Prompts

Post by novius »

Tolkien might have made that specific image of elves popular, true, but it's not completely originating from him. What we nowadays commonly picture as elves is closely resembling the irish/gaelic 'Sidhe' (spoken: 'Shee') - tall, ethereally beautuiful, long-lived, all the works - and they were reputed to have an ability to mesmerize humans (hmmm...). Given that Alex is about 160 years removed from today, folklore may be more at the forefront on his mind than today's pop culture, although, yes, some 'classics' might survive the test of time.

Not sure if Alex would think of "Jedi" if Tempo ever showcases her less powerful, but much more precise telekinetic skills :)

And if we think of Star Trek, one would think more of Romulans than Vulcans when comparing to Loroi, I guess :) - and, after all, even today's viewers of this comic (and Alex himself, as the narrator) did and do instantly label them as (blue space-) elves rather than Vulcans.

Krulle
Posts: 1413
Joined: Wed May 20, 2015 9:14 am

Re: Writing Prompts

Post by Krulle »

You may poop the party as much as you want.... this is the 'nets anyway.

Also, if you want to write a part, you are free to disregard my part and take the previous prompt, just please clearly state so at the beginning of the post from which one you are continueing.

Seeing that I still like to watch some black&white classics, I'm somewhat sure that todays classics might survive.
But basically it was the first specific image that came to me. So I went with it.

Also, when thinking about elves, I don't have a fixed opinion of how they should look like. Greenish coloured, elegantly dressed, or very nature bound (like druids), or whatever. They are imaginary beings anyway, and as such, the different authors have different looks in mind for them. With every story they are featured in, I read the authors description and try to picture them based on that. They simply aren't "elephants", which have a very distinct image compared to "giants", "Siren" (with their mesmerizing song in Homer's epic), or "mermaids".

Hmm, mermaids.... Would an image of mermaids make the Loroi think of the "Pol"?
Vote for Outsider on TWC: Image
charred steppes, borders of territories: page 59,
jump-map of local stars: page 121, larger map in Loroi: page 118,
System view Leido Crossroads: page 123, after the battle page 195

User avatar
Onaiom
Posts: 124
Joined: Sun Oct 13, 2013 4:06 am

Re: Writing Prompts

Post by Onaiom »

Alex could try to explain the Blue People Trope that is present in many works of fiction:

http://well-of-souls.com/outsider/blue_peoples.html

Beryl would love to read that list.

novius
Posts: 654
Joined: Tue May 26, 2015 10:33 am

Re: Writing Prompts

Post by novius »

"The answers to future's questions might lie in the past."
Bedlam.

That's one way to describe what ensued in the 'mindscape', as Alex started to call their shared consciousness.

Of course Alex tried to play down the issue, adding that there are many and wildly varying accounts about elves but on Tempo's insistence he admitted, that, yes, this one seems to be the predominant picture, one of tall, somewhat alien-looking but hauntingly beautiful and long lived people.

That was all ge got out before he was starting to get drowned out by three telephatic voices calling out at once.

Beryl, being completely mortified - though slightly gleeful, too - that his first picture would feature her. Trying to downplay a bit, Alex widened his 'view' to include more depictions of elves - male and female alike.

Fireblade as well, to the lesser extent - Alex got the impression that very rarely people would attribute 'beauty' as the predominant description on her - but only because her prowess as a warrior outshines her physical attraction, he was hasty to assure her, as he felt her picking up on his stray thought.

Note to self, Alex thought, Loroi can be a bit vain. Oops, he added, as he felt Fireblade taking a deep breath in mock-outrage.

Tempo... he could feel her examining the pictures and the stray thoughts attached to them closely.

Stray thoughts followed, a 'discussion' which was too fast-paced for Alex's untrained mind to follow. He could feel the beginnings of a headache forming.

It was Tempo's highly organized mind that brought back some calm to the turmoiled mindscape, by ... he felt her focusing on one of his pictures of a male elf.

That's eerie..., he heard her clear thought directed at him, this one looks even more similar to our males than you would do. More graceful, slimmer build... it is hard to believe that humans just thought this up out of nothing.

It's..., Alex started, ...look, can we continue this verbally? You've seen what you came here for, and it's beginning to strain me.

Beryl was eager to agree, with Tempo and Fireblade following suit, although much more reluctantly.

On opening his eyes, he found himself framed by the three Loroi - Tempo sitting sideways on a seat in his front, turned towards him - all of them looking at him in various state of shock and wonder, and, in Tempo's case, maybe a tinge of regret.

"I see now why you had reservations of showing this particular picture and I offer my sincerest apologies for intruding on what you consider sacrosanct." On Beryl's questioning glance, Tempo elaborated. "Given that humans have no direct experiences with sanzai, they consider their own thoughts to be a highly private matter. So much that even the thought of intruding upon then triggers an instinctive fear, I surmise. Count yourself to be honored that he agreed to your experiment from the start."

"No lasting harm done", Alex placated Tempo, "But you see why I didn't want to open that particular can of worms."

"It's still hard to believe that humans would think up a species as works of fiction that looks that closely related to us.... what would be the probability in that?", Beryl mused.

"Well..", Tempo reached for a lock of her hair, "...as same as us finding a species that looks as if they are closely related to us. Perhaps it is time to shed light on the other half of the mystery. Beryl, if you would?"

Unnoticed by the four, even Reed and Flint leaned forward to listen in, curious on how that alien managed to send three warriors into a profound state of shock.

And with that, history and xenobiology class was in session. Beryl proved herself to be as diligent as a teacher when it came to him learning to read and write Loroi trade, but for the next half of a hour she spun an amazing tale about an ancient spacefaring civilization, spreading life in the rimward section of the galaxy (relative to Earth), patterned after a specific peculiar biology ('Soia-Liron', Alex thought, '"Liron" means "blue", figures'), but, not designing new species from scratch, but fashioning new lifeforms after existing examples.

Tempo dug in her bag and pulled out a tablet, where she quickly displayed a picture of a Barsam and a Nibiren, side by side.

It didn't take long for Alex to connect the dots. Neither Beryl nor Tempo needed to point out the obvious conclusion.

"...that explains much", Alex concluded. Of course, were some alien to land on Earth and humans have to come to the conclusion that they were sort of rip-offs from that alien, there'd be an uproar from all sorts of religious and non-religious nutcases. "How far-spread is ... this knowledge and how would your people react to the suspicion that humans could be their 'template species'?"

"Disbelief." Tempo offered. "Rejection. For millennia, the Loroi took a preeminent place in the Union because we thought ourselves to be the holders of the Soia legacy. Your people appearing on the scene could cause the status quo to be questioned."

"Like Captain Mozin did, back on board the Tempest? Why make my existence public when it would be such a bombshell to be dropped?" Alex couldn't resist to butt in.

"It was a calculated move. We were all suspicious of you, thinking to be trickery of The Enemy, Stillstorm chiefly amongst it. She was only minutes away from having you seized and dragged off to the nearest airlock - to be blasted into pieces along with the wreck of your ship. I needed to put her into a position where she simply cannot do so without facing repercussions. Trickery or not, we were not to squander any opportunity your presence might offer."

"Gutsy", Alex admitted, "that's how you made number one on Stillstorm's hate list."

"Hate... list", Tempo tried that phrase - Alex was glad he censored his speech a bit, since he got the feeling that Tempo would much more insist on proper poise and diction than, say, Fireblade, "interesting way to put it. Given the remote chance that you are the genuine article, Stillstorm couldn't be allowed to throw away such a chance. Whatever repercussions we might face on realizing that there is a template species related to us... it would be much, much worse if there is a template species, one that achieved spaceflight all on its own and we managed to get off on the wrong foot with them. In addition, while it is easy to face a species as alien to us as the shells are as The Enemy, it would be, I have to admit, a much harder sell if it ever would have come to that with a species that looks that similar to actually be physically attractive to us."

He was grateful for the momentary privacy of his thoughts when Tempo's last words registered in his brain. It took a moment to bring his mind back from the track of teenage fantasies - and tried to bury the thought that in his eyes the Loroi he met so far were in the range from 'attractive' to 'stunningly beautiful'.

On a sidelong glance towards Beryl he saw the tips of her ears having turned a deeper shade of blue.

"Well... erm...", Alex hemmed and hawed - that conversation turned in a direction he was definitely a bit uncomfortable with - and Beryl, too, by the looks - and cleared his throat.

"I think the question whether you Loroi are bioengineered based on humans or based on human imagination might be moot at that point." he mused.

"Or your ancestors saw ours", Fireblade cut in, to everyone's surprise.

User avatar
Werra
Posts: 840
Joined: Wed Jun 06, 2018 8:27 pm

Re: Writing Prompts

Post by Werra »

"What do you mean, Fireblade?" replied Alex.

Fireblade seemed a bit uneasy with having to speak while every Loroi was focused on her and the creeping hoarseness in her voice reminded Alex why. "The Soia Liron was spacefaring. If some came to your planet and created Loroi then, your ancestors saw our ancestors. Yours stayed behind and became humaniti."

While Alex considered that, Beryl happily injected another of her lessons. "A pre fall contact would have been at least 500.000 earth years ago. I can see how a naturally evolved species can change over that timespan. Perhabs modern humaniti is not the template species, but the cousin of the template."

'I should have paid more attention in biology', thought Alex, but he tried answering his best with what little he remembered. "That theory could be true. 500.000 years ago there were still different humanoids on earth. From genetic analysis we know they even interbred."
Later Alex would have sworn that Tempos ears actually jerked up with that last word. But right now his attention was taken by Beryl which immediately and enthusiastically pressed him for more info on mankinds past.

Luckily for Alex Tempo interjected, before Beryl could drain him fully. „That is all truly fascinating and we will certainly want to study humanitis history in great detail, but right now we don't seem to be getting anywhere. Since we will be on this shuttle for a while still, I would like to use this time to teach you some Sanzai discipline. Your natural Lotai is formidable, but once telepathic contact was established, you were remarkably open.“

Alex regretted the sidelook he gave Beryl at this, since he could feel his face getting warmer immediately. 'How much did these Loroi read from him' he wondered. He also worried how much more Parat Tempo would learn during this training. As if she had read his apprehension, Tempo added with an emphasizing hand to her chest: „I assure you that we will handle this matter with discretion. Loroi also need to learn these lessons. We all know how being easily read feels. I advise you to practice before you meet many more Loroi and I am sure any Loroi on this ship will gladly help you. But I am the most qualified to teach you.“

Alexshrugged and looked around the room. Fireblade seemed sympathetic and Alex was reminded of the vivid and unpleasant images he had received from her. Flint, Reed and the Loroi that brought him the shoes seemed relaxed or busy with themselfes. Only Beryl looked apprehensive but she didn't say anything.

„Well, best if I learn your customs sooner than later. How do we start?“
I'm not a native english speaker. Ideal for writing Loroi verbal communication.

novius
Posts: 654
Joined: Tue May 26, 2015 10:33 am

Re: Writing Prompts

Post by novius »

Excellent continuation. Could not resist to tack on to it even if I'm out of turn :)



Tempo's gaze sort of turned inward, and slight nods by the other Loroi told Alex that they had come to an agreement... or a conclusion they all agreed on.

"There are two aspects of sanzai: Power and finesse. While Fireblade is unarguably the most powerful of the Loroi present, her mental exercises mostly focused on mental combat..."

'You don't say', Alex thought.

"...and while a Listel's highly organized mind might be a boon when it comes to data collection and retention..."

Beryl beamed at that indirect praise of her abilities.

"... when it comes to the intricacies of sanzai - or telepathy, as you named it, would fall unto a Mizol. It would be no false praise when I say that of all the Loroi present here I would be the best suited for giving basic and some advanced lessons in sanzai."

"Uh... if I am to carry around even Loroi state secrets, do these lessons include editing the memories to show?"

Tempo smiled. In a way Alex likened it to the smile of a cat having eaten the canary.

"They would. But I trust you to not to use these particular lessons on any of us. After all, with me teaching you these tricks, I am sure I could tell my own handiwork in your thoughts."

"...Message understood", Alex acquiesced.

"Furthermore, your Lotai tends to make things ... interesting. At the moment, you're completely blank to us... again."

Alex looked down. True to form, his hands - and other parts of his exposed skin - were free.

"I think I have an idea. Perhaps now that I have a feeling how it works, skin-to-skin contact with one of you might open the connection... and extend my 'Lotai' to the other person, unless it's Fireblade - she's the strongest around, right? Perhaps she sort of acts like a booster to my signal so that others would pick me up when I'm in contact with her."

Fireblade blinked, completely taken off-guard, and looked askance at Beryl and Tempo, who nodded, then she reached out with her hand.

Just before closing his eyes and touching Fireblade's cool skin, Alex could make out Beryl's slightly disgruntled expression - much like a child would look when she had been told that she would have to share the piece of cake with her sister.

Again, darkness. A single mote of light, forming into Fireblade's outline.

A stab of feeling uncomfortable, but not the episode of overwhelming fear.

Slowly but surely he started to 'feel' the other Loroi around him.

Beryl, a softer glow. Alex felt her being positively giddy at the prospect of learning all she could from him, and more.

And then, Tempo. Where Fireblade was an outline, bright enough to wash out any details, Tempo's ... mind-image? Avatar? ... was richly detailed.

Further away, he felt some stirrings in the distance. Reed? Flint? Talon? Spiral? Alex couldn't be sure.

'We're not touching you', he received a thought, unmistakably Tempo's.

'Seems you're right. Perhaps it takes considerable power to transmit Sanzai through your Lotai, power Fireblade provides', Beryl added.

'Interesting.'

Figures, even using Sanzai Fireblade seems to be very much the strong, silent type.

Bouts of sputtering, one indignant, two rather mirthful, told him that that thought was not as private as he guessed as he was jolted back into the material world, meeting a glare that promised painful retribution, and two other Loroi who tried best to not to burst out laughing.

Tempo took a deep breath, slowly regaining her composure, and then offered her hand in the same manner as Fireblade did, making her intent clear.

More hestitantly, Alex reached out for Tempo's hand and closed his eyes and plunged into the darkness again.

Tempo was already waiting for him, and Alex idly wished that would happen with Beryl, too, in the future.

'You are attracted to her, are you not?'

There's no evading that direct question. Especially not with Alex's skills, or lack thereof, compared to Tempo's.

'Yes.... yes, I am', he admitted.

'Fear not. In fact, that could actually turn out to be a boon. I have the theory that your Lotai is a subconscious defense that you can choose to lower if you are familiar with the other person and implicitly trust her. If you don't, your Lotai would be the first defense, and if it is in danger to be breached, the panic episode you felt is the second line of defense. To get away from the offending telepath. It remains to be seen how far your consciousness can lower your Lotai, especially if you get intimately familiar with someone.'

Even in sanzai her diction is nothing less than flawless, Alex thought.

'Why, thank you', he felt a wave of amusement coming from her.

'Uh... my pleasure. And... makes sense, in a strange way. Wait, are you telling me that I ... and Beryl...', Alex tried to chase away the mental images Tempo's words conjured up, images that featured Beryl and him, in various situations and equally various states of undress. Of course, whoever tried not to think of the proverbial pink elephant...

'Now that's an original way to divert your thoughts. I gather this is a large land mammal native on Earth, and its coloring is decidedly off?'

'Uh, yes...' Pink elephants, think pink elephants, think.... Beryl, in pink lingerie.... damnit!

'Anyway, let's start with the lesson - this one seems a bit redundant, giving your Lotai, but it is something every Loroi child starts out with: Trying to shield your own mind, deciding which thoughts to send and which are kept private, as well as not getting flooded by another mind....'

Beryl noticed Alex's face turning red. Puzzled for a moment, she remembered that humans bleed red, not blue, so him going red would mean....

'What did Tempo made him think to make him being that embarrassed?', she asked herself.

User avatar
Werra
Posts: 840
Joined: Wed Jun 06, 2018 8:27 pm

Re: Writing Prompts

Post by Werra »

Glad you picked up on the inspiration.

But...there isn't really a turn order in this thread, is there?

novius
Posts: 654
Joined: Tue May 26, 2015 10:33 am

Re: Writing Prompts

Post by novius »

Werra wrote:Glad you picked up on the inspiration.

But...there isn't really a turn order in this thread, is there?
Nope, not really :) Just a self-imposed guideline for me to not to post twice in a row :)

User avatar
Werra
Posts: 840
Joined: Wed Jun 06, 2018 8:27 pm

Re: Writing Prompts

Post by Werra »

Works for me. It's Friday evening and time to party.
To her relief the moment passed quickly and Alex face returned to its normal colour. In fact his face proved to be a most promising object of observation in the following few hundred solon. After a while Beryl was able to guess from his mimic when Tempo made him try something out or when he let something embarassing slip again. Apart from a few stray thoughts escaping from Alex here and there, the Mizol kept word and the conversation between the two private. So Beryls curiousity couldn't be sated until they were off this crowded shuttle. Though he had a most curious look in his eye when he opened them again.

„As you have already found out with that lightly dressed elephant of yours, it is of no use trying to not think of something.“ At this Alex was certain that Tempo was mocking him, but almost as soon as he thought it, he became aware of the playful undertones that seeped through.

She continued: „That just pushes whatever you're trying to hide into the forefront of your mind. Instead, try to emphasize other impressions and memories. Allow me to demonstrate.“

After that Tempo seemed to concentrate for a moment before Alex received an image of a large bonfire with several dozen young looking Loroi surrounding it. The mood was festive yet also strangely sorrowful.

„This is the day my diral passed the trials to adulthood. What you received is my general mood of that evening.“ Now that she mentioned it, Alex realised he saw the scene from behind the eyes of one of the Loroi, apparently Tempo.

„If I don't want others to hear of my grief that night, I can focus on other aspects of that memory, like the happiness.“ And Alex could not pick up any negative feelings in the images he received anymore.

„Here is what it looks like to us when you concentrate on not thinking of something.“, this time Alex picked up playfulness as soon as Tempo said that. She reacts quickly, thought Alex in a hopefully hidden part of his mind.

This time Alex saw a young, blonde Loroi with short hair running a few meters from Tempo over a ..giant, slimy mushroom. He heard Tempos voice saying:“Don't think of her fall.“ In the humid air Tempos clothes stuck uncomfortably to her sweaty body.“Don't think of it.“ They had been chasing a prey animal for a while now and then the young Loroi, lost her footing and went right over the edge of the mushroomhead. Panic, fear, then sharp pain and finally nothing anymore. She was gone.

Tempos voice shook him out of his morbid fascination:“ As you can see, Captain Jardin, the thoughts do get through and once they do, they often carry inappropriate details with them.“

Like your chest heaving against wet clothes was Alex first association to that, which he could not stop in time. Tempos next words made him sharply feel that.

„Indeed, our communication is thus very direct, truthful and open. Every Loroi learns a certain amount of tact and discretion. So I do hope that you keep this particular memory intimate between us.“

Krulle
Posts: 1413
Joined: Wed May 20, 2015 9:14 am

Re: Writing Promp

Post by Krulle »

SpoilerShow
'Does your humaniti meditation techniques also have some stories for quieting down your minds? Tempo's sending came.

'Yes, although not many come to mind.' Alex replied.

'Try them, one after the other. I'll be listening in, and tell you what makes your sending clearer, quieter, louder, or other effects.'

Alex took a deep breath. 'One.' He slowly exhaled. He inhaled again. Two.' And then he heard it. Tempo was giggling. He opened his eyes, and she really sat there giggling.

"Sorry," Tempo said, "but this came unexpected. Your sending became less cluttered, clearer. Less stray thoughts, but you also caused something I last experienced when I was a lot younger."

Beryl looked astonished at her superior, who was still not able to suppress the giggling. Tempo looked back. Alex felt them communicating, although he was not able to understand anything. And then Beryl started laughing. Loudly. Very loudly.

She gasped while gulping down air, and between her laughter she said "Stop, Enzin. Ha ha ha! Stop kietza us!"

Alex looked dumbfounded at the two Loroi, giggling and laughing, and apparenly slowly losing control.

Fireblade concentrated obviously, and then said to Alex: "Kietla is a childrens game. They poke fingers at each other until one starts laughing. Kietza basically is the same, just using Sanzai, without physical contact. If succesful, the loser usually automatically starts reflexively to kietza the others too. Often resulting in whole playing groups laughing until they are exerted. I'm currently concentrating hard to embolster my Lotai."

Alex looked dumbfounded at Fireblade. "You mean I accidentally tickled them?"

"Yes."

"How do you stop that?"

"How do you stop, when you're being 'tickled'?" she asked back.

'Forcibly stopping the other', he thought. But that would maybe work, except that he did not do anything. Knowingly at least. And he was not physically tickling them.

And if someone was in a laughing fit, you need to calm them down.
But how?

Counting to ten actually caused this. So what else? Sitting down and holding still. Letting your eyes wander across the visible landscape, while taking deep breaths....

He closed his eyes, and thought of a small glade he once visited with his parents. Long ago. But the small, quiet lake, the tall trees, and the general calmof the place.

He grabbed Beryl's and Tempo's hands, and tried to keep that quiet image in mind. And it seemed to work.

Then he remember why else he loved that place so much.

It was where he and his first girlfriend first discovered each other's body.

And how much he'd love to see Beryl there.

Well, that image made them all stop giggling.

"Mission achieved" a bright red Alexander said, and looking at a deep blue Beryl.
Edit. Dang, got ninja'ed. Put my text in a spoiler, but won't delete it for now.
Vote for Outsider on TWC: Image
charred steppes, borders of territories: page 59,
jump-map of local stars: page 121, larger map in Loroi: page 118,
System view Leido Crossroads: page 123, after the battle page 195

User avatar
Werra
Posts: 840
Joined: Wed Jun 06, 2018 8:27 pm

Re: Writing Prompts

Post by Werra »

I like it. Short and a good piece of worldbuilding. I do wonder however how long this thread will refrain from rising in age rating.

Krulle
Posts: 1413
Joined: Wed May 20, 2015 9:14 am

Re: Writing Prompts

Post by Krulle »

Hence we moved from themain forum to a sub forum... ;)
Well, I'm a tad too tired to keep away from those images....

I liked your story too... Going to bed, so not continueing yours either... For now.
Vote for Outsider on TWC: Image
charred steppes, borders of territories: page 59,
jump-map of local stars: page 121, larger map in Loroi: page 118,
System view Leido Crossroads: page 123, after the battle page 195

Post Reply