Thursday, October 7, 2004

   A story I'm writing
Here's the first couple of pages from a story I've been writing for the past couple of years. Tell me what you think!

The sun was shining, and it was a beautiful day. A young woman was walking down a woodland path; she was lovely, with shining blue eyes and glossy blue-black hair that hung just past her waist. Shinji narrowed his amber eyes and ducked behind a sycamore. Who is she? What is she doing alone in the woods? Someone might rob her. He thought wickedly. I can’t see any valuables, but they might be hidden. I think I’ll go investigate.
He flexed the muscles in his sword hand, which had gone slightly numb from lack of movement, before placing it on the hilt of his Katana. He flinched when a hawk cried, then immediately gazed upward and spotted it. He wondered what breed it might be, but discovered that it wasn’t a hawk at all, but a small, blue-scaled dragon. The mini-dragon called again, its fangs flashing white against its sapphire scales. The woman held out her bare arm. What the heck is she doing?! Her arm’s gonna get shredded! He thought, panicked.
Before Shinji could do anything, the lizard slammed into her arm, its talons ripping into her flesh until they had a firm hold. An angry clicking noise issued from the creature’s throat. The woman grimaced and mumbled something to it. It hissed and dug its claws in deeper. Blood welled out from beneath the talons and ran down the woman’s arm. Within moments, the sleeve of her white kimono dripped crimson. She bit her lip in pain, but didn’t cry out.
The dragon let out a series of irritated clucks and whistles, and the woman murmured to it softly, all the while stroking the thing’s wings. She then ran a finger down its snout, smiling as its tongue flicked out and touched her finger. She then pressed her lips lightly to its head. The dragon launched violently from her. She stared after it for a moment then looked at her ravaged arm, tears brimming over from her eyes.
Suddenly, her face went blank and her arm dropped to her side, and she collapsed. As soon as she hit the ground, the dragon dived down and began shredding into her back with both teeth and claws. It made greedy gurgling noises as it dug deeper.
Shinji, unable to take anymore, ran onto the path, yelling and waving his arms like a madman. The dragon let out an enraged shriek then flew away, raining drops of blood everywhere. Shinji bristled at it, then turned to help the woman.
She moaned in pain when he touched her shoulder and cried out when he lifted her arm. He winced. He could see her bone; it had deep scratches in it. He scooped her up carefully, causing her to faint, and slung her over his shoulder. He then started toward his village.


“Who is she?” Sango asked as she re-bandaged the woman’s wounds.
“I have no clue, I just found her like this.” He said, rubbing an apple against his hakuma to clean it.
Shinji hated lying to his sister, but who, Sango included, would believe a story like that? Especially not after his “I can control wind” story.
“I’m surprised she survived, most people couldn’t loose as much blood as she did and still live.”
Shinji shrugged. As long as she’s ok. . . He thought, taking a bite of his apple languidly. The woman’s eyes fluttered open. Emerald eyes met his own as he leaned over her. “T. . oy. .o. . ?” She asked softly. The eyes widened and the woman sat up with a cry of distress.
“Lay down!” Sango cried, “Your wounds will reopen!”
The woman lay back down obediently, but demanded fiercely “Where am I? Who are you? What am I doing here?”
“You’re in our house. I’m Shinji, and this is my sister, Sango. As for why you’re here, I don’t know. We were hoping you could tell us.” Shinji said, looking at her expectantly.
“I. . . I don’t know. I can’t remember anything.” She mumbled, moonlight shining on her flushed face.
“What about that damned lizard?” Shinji blurted.
“Wait, you never said anything about a lizard!” Sango exclaimed.
“Well, what about the dragon?! Why did it attack you?”
”I don’t remember any dragon. . . In fact, I can’t remember anything at all.” She said, concentrating.
“Do you remember your name?” Shinji asked calmly.
She shook her head, still obviously searching for event the smallest fragment of memory. “Nope, I’m drawing a blank.”
“Well, we can’t keep calling you ‘you’.” Sango said.
“We could give you a temporary name.” Shinji commented.
The woman cocked her head to the side and thought for a moment, “Okay.” She said.
“Great!” said Sango.
“How about Keiko?” Shinji suggested.
“No way, that’s a stupid name! What about Iami?” Sango interjected.
“I like Iami.” The woman said.
“Iami it is then!” Shinji smiled.
Iami grinned, “I don’t mean to be rude, but do you have any food? I’m starving!”
“Certainly! I’ll go make some!” Sango answered.
As soon as Sango was gone, Iami asked “Is Sango a good cook?”
“Most of the time.”
Iami smiled, “Good.”
“So, is your memory really a blank?” Shinji asked after a moment.
“Completely. I can’t remember anything at all-well, not besides basic functions like speaking.”
“Naturally.” Shinji sniffed the air curiously, “I wonder what Sango’s cooking? It smells good.”
She shrugged.
An awkward silence ensued, broken only when either of them would shift or clear their throat. Suddenly, Sango burst in, laden with trays piled with Meso soup, rice, and Oolong tea. “It’s ready!” She crowed.
“It looks delicious.” Iami said tentatively.
“It will be!” Shinji put in.
Sango blushed, “Its nothing, really, I enjoy cooking for others!”
Shinji munched through his food as though he hadn’t eaten in weeks, while Iami and Sango ate more daintily.
“Geez, Shinji, you eat like a horse.” Sango chided.
He looked up with a noodle hanging out of his mouth. He slurped it up before saying “Well, I haven’t really eaten much lately.”
Sango scowled, “Yes you have! I’ve been cooking enough for five people since you got back! Did you not eat while you were gone?!”
“Nobody cooks as well as you.” He teased.
Iami smiled; she’d been smiling a lot since she woke up. For some reason that seemed odd to her.
When they were all finished, Iami leaned back into her futon and sighed contentedly. “That was wonderful!”
“I couldn’t agree more.” Shinji added with an exaggerated yawn.
“Thank you, good night, I’ll see you tomorrow.” Sango said as she bowed out the door.
Shinji yawned and stretched languidly. “I’d better go too. See you tomorrow.”
“Good night.” Iami smiled as he left then looked around. She was in a small room with a wide window on the wall above her futon, several ink paintings on the walls, and a mirror on the left-hand wall. Nice. She thought, and slowly drifted off to sleep.

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