Wednesday, April 26, 2017

Word Count Wednesday

What Have I been Working On: Mostly been focused on rhymes and not my Narrative. (Need to do some more plotting first)

What Have I been reading?: Liar's Poker. Just started this afternoon and so far it is engaging. A friend recommended it to me because, according to him: "It will make you want to throw the book." I find that intriguing and the challenge has been accepted.

How does this make me feel?: Wish I had more time in the day to work  on projects but time seems to slip away. Hopefully, I will get a lot of work done this weekend.

Thursday, April 6, 2017

Word Count Thursday, for a second time....

What Have I Been Reading?
Nothing.... Kind of sad, I know.

What Have I Been Writing?
Keep on writing my narrative Just Another World  as well as rhymes when they come to my head.

How does this make me Feel?
I feel like I need to be reading more of An Ocean At The End Of The Lane, by Neil Gaiman. I just haven't put in the time or effort to sit down somewhere and read...

Sorry for the boring Word Count this week, next week should be more promising.

Monday, April 3, 2017

CHAPTER 4

Previously...

"Oh no." muttered Kato. "What?" Ayak returned. He suddenly shot up to a standing position and pointed towards the rolling hills between the plains and the snow capped mountains. "Fray." Kato said in awe.

Ayak slowly rose to her feet, holding the roof post. She glanced up from where Kaya and the warriors were and saw hundreds of black shades. some were holding torches, some holding spears. They were getting closer and they were getting closer fast.

.....

Stakaya was stumbling up the final incline of the hill, when he was charged by Stak. In a split second he was in his father's arms being rushed back inside the community. There was yelling. Everyone was running and doing so with great fervor. Stakaya could barely focus on the hysteria because Stak was running at full speed. As Stak continued through the community he yelled orders to many different warriors in order to get ready for the incoming onslaught. "Seal the entrance doors once Kaya is in!" he yelled to Dentyro. Dentyro nodded and made for the south entrance, which now had at least a dozen warriors waiting ready to defend the community with their lives.

Stak flew up the hide flaps to the family hut. He turned around and within a split second had vanished back outside. Before he got too far he doubled back, opened the flap, and told Stakaya to stay in here and wait for him to come back. He once again exited and ran into his Kato and his daughter Ayak. Within one moment, Stak changed his facial expressions from surprised to angry to relieved. "Get in here and defend it with your life." His eyes were focused on Kato. "With all of my honor, Stak." Kato replied. Ayak and Kato went inside.

Stak only had a few blinks of his eyes to locate his son, Kara. In the whirlwind of his people there was no hope. He then noticed at the other end of the community, at the south gate, Kaya and her search party had just made it inside. Immediately, the group of warriors shut the gate and went into a defensive stance. Stak heard intense screams of horror. He looked up to the direction his people were pointing. The sky was barely lit from the ending of the sunset, but he could make out the storm of arrows arching their way down onto the community. He felt his soul drop to his stomach. "Everyone inside!" He screamed. "Everybody get in a hut!" Within a few seconds, the arrows met the community.

Stak froze in a moment of horror. All the pandemonium muted for him, but the movement and results of his community being bombarded by a siege of arrows did not. He wanted this to be a vision. He wanted to wake up in a sweating screaming storm of confusion next to Kaya. But this was happening. Not one warning. No hints. He scanned from left to right with shell shock as his family was torn apart by arrows. Not all of them of course. But one arrow piercing one of his community was the same pain as all of them. About two to three dozen bodies hit the ground. The volume came slamming back at Stak as he came back to reality. "Stak they are advancing!" A warrior yelled down to Stak, from the top of the community perimeter. He was instantly struck in the heart by an arrow from outside of the community. He leaned back and fell down to the ground. Stak whipped his head around to the south gate. Kaya and her party of warriors opened the entrance, and with a great war cry, they advanced out into the open. Stak gathered a handful of warriors and began to scale the perimeter next to him until he was at the top.

The mass of shapes were now within striking distance, and they had began combat with Stak's warriors. Stak and the warriors jumped down and struck the enemy from above, he took a few finishing blows with his club and instantly moved onward. He wanted to be with Kaya in this fight. During a battle, Stak never took the time to observe the little things, like that this enemy was in fact Fray's clan. He did not care to acknowledge it yet. His mind was focused on bloodshed. It did not matter who the enemy was, except that they were the enemy. Stak charge through the crowd, striking several enemies in the back of the head and neck.

Kaya was defending the south gate from the outside, they were being overrun, but She was handling herself nicely. She had her club in her right hand and her saber tooth in her left. She would club an enemy in the head, or spar their attack successfully, then go in with the saber tooth for a killing blow. In the corner of Stak's eye he noticed that warriors had began shooting arrows down at the enemy, which was evening the ratio of kills to death between to two clans. He gave a gory roar of honor and began flailing his club, breaking skull after skull. No enemy was a challenge for Stak. He was in his zone.

Kaya had an enemy in front of her as well as behind her. A stare off between the three resulted for a few moments, and then Kaya made her move. She sparred with the enemy in front of her and swung around to connect a deep slice to the stomach of the enemy behind her. The enemy fell to her knees. Kaya screamed out in pain, she looked back to see the other warrior had stabbed her above the right hip. She snarled and growled as she took out the blade. The enemy resisted letting her obtain his blade, but was knocked down by Kaya's head slam. She finished taking the blade out and kicked the enemy in the chest. Stak watched as Kaya then put the blade into the warriors heart, making eye contact with her now dead enemy the whole time.

"Stak!" a familiar voice called out. It was Dentyro. He gave one last blast to an enemy's face before continuing, "We need to make sure the north is not being overrun!" Stak nodded with a furious look. "Kaya, go with Dentyro, I will take this position over."

Dentyro had Kaya's arm around his shoulder's. She was bleeding pretty badly. She could not run on her right leg because there was some tendon damage due to the stab wound. Even then, they still hustled through the community, which was a ghost town other than the archers on the community perimeter. There was only young children and elders in the huts, but the hide entrances were all closed. Dentyro looked at Kaya, "I can drop you off at your hut so you can defend your children." Kaya painfully laughed and replied with, "I have not obtained my desired amount of bloodshed."
Dentyro sighed and with a grin said, "I was afraid you were going to say that."

They passed through the north of the community and instantly were stopped in their tracks by 5 enemy warriors standing, like they were waiting. The middle enemy, was taller and more grotesque than the other four. His pale skin matched with war paint made him looks almost sickly, other than his muscles. "Fray." Kaya mustered between breaths.

"I was waiting for one of you two to come back inside to make sure everything was okay." Fray said with a joking yet menacing manor. "Just surrender to us Kaya, Dentyro." Fray gave little acknowledgement to Dentyro, due to his lack of importance at this moment.  "You have something I want." Fray continued.

Dentyro and Kaya looked angrily confused. "What? Other than the death of my whole family and everyone who is apart of this community? Or is it the lack of women left alive for your men to have their way with? I have heard how comforting you and your men are towards women."

Fray's sinister smile turned to a sunken hatred. "I will get to that. Right now though I just want to retrieve your son, Stakaya is it? Out of respect, I didn't look for him, my men are bloodthirsty and I wouldn't want any unnecessary bloodshed." His smile returned.

TO BE CONTINUED....

Friday, March 31, 2017

CHAPTER 3: JUST ANOTHER WORLD

Chapter 3: Just Another World

PREVIOUSLY

Nothing could effect Stakaya during a beautiful sunset. It matched his vibrant eyes as if they were one of the same in another life. To Stakaya, the sun setting on the horizon was healing. He closed his eyes and felt it's last bit of warmth before it grew dark. "This is what our people should always feel..."

.....

Two warriors stood at the top of the south entrance to the community. They were on guard shift. Before the sky began to brighten the next day they would summon two new warriors to take over watch. It wasn't an easy task, standing for what felt like lifetimes, but they both knew it was for their whole communities safety. The one on the left was Stak's oldest friend, and warrior. He was one of the few who survived from Stak's childhood community. His name was Dentyro. The right-hand guard was Dentyro's nephew, who he had raised ever since his brother's passing. They both watched as Kaya and young Stakaya left for their adventure. They knew why she was taking him.

Stak's face was lit fiercely by the bonfire's flames. "Nobody has ever had visions so vivid of Stakaya. I urge you to tell me if you are reliving your vision of last night truthfully. Well?" The woman now knew that she was in a position of great detainment. "What I say is true, Stak. Their is another child out there with your son's image, and aura." She paused. "I think Fray's clan has her. She looked so much like your boy I couldn't deny it... but her eyes..."

"Her eyes were the purest ocean I have ever seen. Just as piercing as Stakaya's." Stak reiterated what the woman said earlier. Stak looked troubled. The whole community was in an awe, some in silence. Everyone in the front row was either whispering with others around them, or looking over at the snow capped mountains to the north. Stak joined his community in a glare at those mountains. He got a chill down his spine as if he were half way up one of those peaks.

"Okay everyone, our community meeting is over." Stak said orderly. "Go back to your doings." Stak lifted his hand to the sun. The sun was about seven fingers away from the horizon. He ordered a few warriors to go and follow Kaya's trail, just in case something would happen. As the last groups of the community dispersed, Kara was wandering up to him with Ayak next to him. "Father what does all of this mean?" Kara asked. "Is this why Stakaya looks so special?"

Stak met his son's eye level by kneeling his hands on his knees and got close to his face. "Stakaya is no more special than you and Ayak are to Kaya and myself. All of these people are too." He pointed his finger and scanned the whole community. "These are your family just as much as I am, as well as Stakaya. We are one." He turned his eyes to meet Ayak's, but her head was down and she was in her head like usual. "Ayak, my flower, look up." Stak said gently. Ayak lifted her face slowly to her father's, who had somehow had a flower reached out to her. She broke a smile and a little laugh. "I care for you so much, both of you. Everything is going to work itself out." They all smiled. "When your mother and Stakaya get back, we will eat together, just our blood, nobody else, sound good?"
Kara and Ayak nodded in agreement and went running off towards the gardens.

Kara and Ayak were not the same age, but a lot of people forgot about that due how close they were, emotionally and physically. They were inseparable siblings. Ayak remembers when her little brother was small enough to be carried by Stak and Kaya, though those memories are blurry. She was not strong enough to hold him when she was a little girl, and it always made her depressed. Everything about the community was about strength. whether it's intellectually, or physically, Ayak felt pressures throughout her childhood. Being the oldest offspring of Stak and Kaya was a heavy weight on her small shoulders.

"When do you want to scare Fejwa while she is planting today?" asked Kara excitedly. "I think we get the best reaction behind the corn, although she might see it coming this time." Ayak was looking down as they walked. "I don't want to scare Fejwa anymore, Kara. She is getting older each and every sun, scaring her is only going to speed that up and gardening is not easy." Kara whipped his head around in shock, but then quickly thought about it and shrugged with agreement. "Well we already went out gathering for the day, It's not like Dentyro will let us pass him." He laughed at the wishful thinking.

Ayak never liked when there was still a sun in the air and there was nothing to do. Kara always had the impending training to become a warrior to keep his afternoon's busy, but Ayak was not built for the warrior's life. She accepted it. It did not bother her, because her mother was the greatest female warrior anyone in the community had ever seen.  She always looked up to her mother.

Ayak decided today she would go back to their family hut. Despite her brother's upbeat attitude, Ayak felt troubled about the visions of her younger brother. She gave Kara a hand on the shoulder and told him to go train. With two smiles and nods of agreement, Kara and Ayak split ways. As Ayak turned to head back to the hut, she heard a familiar voice. "Warm sun to you, Ayak." The voice was strong, yet had a spiritual comfort as well. It was Dentyro's nephew, Kato. Ayak turned around to be embraced by Kato's arms as well as his lips. She melted in. After a brief moment of love, she repulsed herself and realized he was suppose to be on watch. "Why aren't you at the gate?" Ayak asked surprisingly. "I was relieved by your father. He wanted to talk with my uncle about something." Kato responded with a smile. "We should go to the top of the leather hut, for the unset. I have been embraced by it's warmth all day and I know its going to be a beautiful one."

The two of them walked the circumference of the community behind family huts with hands held. Ayak and Kato were the same age, and the relationship between their families made them naturally connect. They used to play as little kids, running through the community like a playground. Unfortunately, Stak did not approve of Kato's affection towards his daughter, after all, he knows what young men are after. Ayak knew that Kato was respectful, and with her intelligence, she trusted him with her heart.

They finally made it to the front of the leather working hut where Mologri was at work, scraping away at a hid like usual. "Greetings, Mologri." Kato said as respectively as possible. Mologri mustered up the encouragement to turn around and wave back at Kato. He knew exactly what the two were planning. "Go ahead." He grunted. Kato and Ayak wittily smiled at each other.

They went to the side of the construction, where there was wooden storage containers along with different sized boulders for chipping away fragmented skinning blades. They both climbed up giving helping hands along the way, until they eventually were perched at the top of the roof's arch. It was a perfect view of the landscape. With the mountains to the far left and the sunset in the plains towards the right, it was something that these two enjoyed observing. Many of the community's members took this time to go outside the bordering wall to watch the sunset as well. Other than the community meetings, it was the other experience they all spiritually enjoyed sharing. Mologri gave a moments notice to Kato before throwing up a freshly made animal hide for their warmth. He put it around both himself and Ayak and they watched as the sun met the horizon.

"Is that Stakaya?" Kato broke the moment. Ayak went from falling asleep smiling to alert like a hawk looking for prey. Kato pointed over the left where the south gate entrance was. Stakaya was running up the hill. he was smaller then a bug, but she could tell that Kaya was not with her. She then scanned from his position down the hill and towards the right, where she finally spotted her mother. She was with the warrior search party making their way on the rest of the path.

"Oh no." muttered Kato. "What?" Ayak returned. He suddenly shot up to a standing position and pointed towards the rolling hills between the plains and the snow capped mountains. "Fray." Kato said in awe.

Ayak slowly rose to her feet, holding the roof post. She glanced up from where Kaya and the warriors were and saw hundreds of black shades. some were holding torches, some holding spears. They were getting closer and they were getting closer fast.

Thursday, March 30, 2017

Word Count Thursday lol

What have I been reading:
I have been slacking on the reading aspect of this blog... But maybe later (famous last words)

What I have been writing:
I have been devoted to furthering my narrative story "Just Another World" Chapter 3. I have a few brainstormed concepts that I want to take with the story, but I do not know if it will effect the over all story arch positively or negatively. (Read chapter 2 before reading this next part, SPOILERS)

Stakaya had to run home because his mother, Kaya, had just saved them both from an animal attack while on their little adventure. The idea I had for this was to flash forward about four or five years into Stakaya's life. He would be running on that same path, but for his own pleasure and athleticism (He is training to be a warrior, like his older brother and father). Unfortunately, my main topic of this story is the family as a whole. Stak, Kaya, Ayak, Kara, and Stakaya (in that order). If I flash forward, I will need to eventually flashback, for the rest of Stak and Kaya's kids development. As of right now I am developing Kara and Ayak's characters in Chapter 3.

How does this make me feel:
Like a writer who is passionate about his project. I can see myself completing this as a book, and that has been an aspiration of  I was a child.

Tuesday, March 28, 2017

CHAPTER 2: JUST ANOTHER WORLD

Chapter 2: Just Another World

PREVIOUSLY:

Kaya giggled softly and admired her son slashing at the invisible foes in front of him, grunting and diving into the bushes for cover. "Oh my son, what could you possibly be threatened by out in this peaceful landscape?" Stakaya flinched and came back to reality to answer, "The snow cats of the mountains." His little hand turned to a pointing finger, which was to the direction of the mountains, which were in fact snow capped. Kaya was astounded how her son instinctively knew the climate in such a far away landscape.
....
Kaya and her son continued along the perimeter of the plains, where the tall grass converted into bush and treeline. The day was warm, but fortunately there was the cool wind that would come and go. Stakaya had started this adventure with great enthusiasm, but that had slowly diminished into the slow dragging of his feet, struggling to keep up with his mother's conditioned pace. Kaya was holding her son's hand not to be comforting or sympathetic to Stakaya's depleted energy, but realistically it was for his protection. She had lived in these parts for a long time. She knew when too much peace was a sign of a predator on the hunt, and her son was the prey. Kaya had her club gripped in her right hand just in case they were not alone on this trail.

The last bend of the trail was now in their sights. The sun had begun its descend in the skyline, yet the warmth of it's power was shrouded over Kaya and Stakaya. Some of the tree branches hung a perfect ark over them as they continued along the path. Stakaya looked up to his mother to finally break down in fatigue, but he was startled to notice in the canopy of the tree a wild bobcat glaring down at his mother's turned back. Before he could make a peep, Kaya noticed the beastly figure in her son's burning eyes. She quickly pivoted around and freed her club from its resting position by her waist. Within a stunned nudge and blink of his eye, Stakaya's mother had pushed him to the bush line and had struck the animal in mid air. The bobcat went fumbling towards the left of Kaya, presumably dead.

It went silent. more silent then the very second before this encounter. Kaya was inhaling and exhaling heavily, like she had just hiked for miles. Finally, turned to make sure her son was okay. Her eyes had an emotion that burned as bright as Stakaya's. Stakaya had a scared frown on his face. His mother just turned from teacher to warrior within a blink of an eye. He simultaneously watched his life flash before his eyes as well as his mother break the ribs of an beast bigger then himself. It was convoluted to the young boy.

"What just happened?" Stakaya muttered, knowing exactly what just happened but needing Kaya's explanation. It wouldn't make his fried nerves feel better, nor would it allow that horrible sight to ever leave his mind. As a young boy he had never experienced something like this before. This was real. Imaginary games are fun because Stakaya is never in any real danger. When he built a scenario where a wild snow cat came out of the brush and challenged him, he was going to win. There wasn't any questioning it.

Kaya went and stood over the beast. It was groaning and whimpering. Without hesitation she raised her club to the sky. Stakaya watched the end of that club drop to the head of the bob cat. A snap of it's skull was so loud it made Stakaya flinch once again. His face went pale, and he turned over to release the vomit that suddenly filled his mouth. The growing and shrinking of the animal's stomach was no longer. Kaya sighed once more, then snapped back to being the mother of her child. She ran over to her son as he began to cry.

"Everything is okay now, Stakaya, there is no need to be scared now." Kaya was using the softest voice she could conjure, but to no avail. Stakaya was curled in the fetal position, with his face in his lap. Kaya saw his tears dripping onto the dirt under him. "I am so sorry Stakaya..." Kaya whispered.
"I need you to be strong again. you must continue home, you know where the fork is on the path." Kaya was speaking in a normal octave and with a sternness to snap Stakaya back into survival mode.
It worked. Stakaya stumbled to his feet and began jogging down the path.

As Stakaya journeyed on, Kaya waited until he was out of her sight from the path. That's when she took out her saber tooth, and turned back to the beast for it's hide and meats.

Stakaya continued along the path that he had traveled so many times before, but now seemed foreign, like nothing was the same. He was exhausted from the adventure before that beastly encounter, but afterwards, he was ready to drop dead. He stopped and dropped to his knees hyperventilating. Within that vivid moment, Stakaya changed forever. He took a minute, then got back up and continued. "That was terrifying." He said to himself, looking up at all the trees he was passing and going under. "I almost died. Mother almost died." His eyes widened at the thought. He had never seen his mother swing her club, let alone kill a wild animal. "Why was that bobcat in that tree?" Stakaya had thoughts flooding his mind. There was never any predators on that trail, that is why Stakaya was aloud to adventure on it in the first place. He made his way down the trail.

By this time, he was at the fork in the trail, his legs were in so much pain that for a second he thought they were going to give out on him. Normally, Kaya and Stakaya would take turns throwing rocks at the stoner tree which grew in between the path towards home, and the path that he had never gone down. Stakaya didn't hesitate to grab a rock mid jog and give it a toss at the tree. He didn't stop to wind up his throw, or see if he hit the inner circle that was carved into the trunk, he just turned his head back to the path and continued jogging. Stakaya was halfway up the hill towards home when he turned around and started jogging backwards. The sunset was spectacular. A group of warriors had met up with Kaya and they had started their journey towards home. They looked so small to Stakaya, but he could still make out the furs lumped over Kaya's shoulders. It didn't effect him.

Nothing could effect him during a beautiful sunset. It matched his vibrant eyes as if they were one of the same in another life. To Stakaya, the sun setting on the horizon was a  He closed his eyes and felt it's last bit of warmth before it grew dark. "This is what our people should always feel..."

TO BE CONTINUED....

Tuesday, March 21, 2017

Word Count Tuesday-Before-Wednesday SO I DON'T FORGET

What I have been working on:
I continue to write poems and rhymes, it seems to be a great way for me to vent, as well as express myself. Even if nobody ever reads a majority of what I have been writing, it feels as if I get some sort of therapy from it. My latest "project" is Experiment #7. My chapter is "wretched excess" and when I began reading the chapter, I instantly was informed on the main focus of excesses, and how they specifically can be wretched. It takes a "catalyst," someone or something that overtime makes the character go from "normal" arching into be excessive, and eventually, making a "wretched" decision that they cannot come back from. In was interesting to me because before reading the chapter I thought I had a overall understanding of excess. I have done research on this topic in a prior English course, but it never delved into the catalyst aspect. The chapter used a lot of Shakespearean plays as examples, because Shakespeare was the master of tragedy, which is usually the end result in "wretched excess". Anyways, I digress. My "wretched excess" plot is now under development... My head is leaning towards a "breaking bad-esque" story but about a normal guy who gets tossed into this underworld of drug trafficking and kingpinship. I think the way I will put my own spin on it is by putting the story in a different time period, whether it will be the past or the future is undecided.

What I have been reading:
Obviously the 20 plots book. The Ocean at The End of The Lane by Neil Gaiman has taken the biggest turn I could have ever expected. If anybody has read this book then you know exactly what twist I am referring to. (No, I am not going to spoil it) I have been binge-reading it and, honestly, it feels really great being engaged in a book again. It has been forever for me...

How this makes me feel:
It is rally refreshing being drawn into a story, like I said before, It has been along time for me. I think the most interesting part is how boring I believed this book was prior to this twist! My poems and rhymes make me feel at ease once they are finished, and who knows, maybe I will start to post more of them on my blog! I hope Everyone had a good spring break, and is reading and writing!