WenRant3

Title: WenInterview

Author: Minerva Wu

Writing: Interview

Word Count: 2156

Notice: This interview does not actually exist because Wen is never interviewed at any point and even if he did he would probably make up a bunch of fluff and that would be the most cooperative he would be. Unless it was Maple-Ann. But assuming that he would cooperate with a random interviewer and be very honest, then this would be somewhat it would sound like.

For this I have chosen Peony Landernorm as the interviewer because she made it to the character list but I feel she's not been developed quite enough. So...she's now a journalism major, interviewing Wen for whatever reason. At the time of this nonexistent but envisioned interview, Wen would be 19 years old, some time after his third visit to the Heart of All Realms and his reunion with his family.

(Don't get it? It'll be explained hopefully)

Peony Landernorm (INTERVIEWER): Hello! First, could I have you spell your name?

Wisconsin (Wen) Tynan (INTERVIEWEE): That would be Wisconsin, W-E-X-K-W-A-N-X-Y-M, Tynan, D-I-N-A-M.

Peony: ...Haha, really funny.

Wen: mhm. [laughs] It's W-I-S-C-O-N-S-I-N and T-Y-N-A-N. But really, just call me Wen.

Peony: Thank you. And you are a pilot by trade?

Wen: Sure.

Peony: ...I suppose it can be a bit complicated. Why don't you tell us about your experience with the assassins on Earth?

Wen: Why don't you tell me about what you know about me first?

Peony: Well...I obtained a file on you from the agency in question and updated it later by various sources.

Wen: Well, obviously that file didn't tell you that mind-reading abilities aren't my forte. What's in that file?

Peony: Hrm. Let's just start general then. I understand most of your life was pretty solitary. Could you describe your acquaintances?

Wen: [pause]. You're right on that part; most of my life I spent on my own. [pause]. I don't remember anyone from before I was abducted, except this vague lady that I was getting milk for or something. Mrs. Samson I think. There was the short german girl I helped with her revolution, but I didn't really consider her a friend.

I flew the assassin Liam Osborne Wreke the most in my missions, but I didn't really like him. How do I describe him...stupid, arrogant...low tolerance for spinning...that's about it.

And that covers about the first 14 years of my life.

Peony: What about Violet?

Wen: Violet--oh. I met her later.

Peony: Oh! I was under the impression you met her briefly during one of your missions near Aldenzeve.

Wen: [thinks] no, no, damn, you're right! Yea, I met her and her brother Wyoming or something.

Peony: Utah.

Wen: I said Wyoming or something. Key word something. Anyways. The Kysons. And his girlfriend. Gillian Summers. I remember her. Every time I felt like someone was being a bitch or life was shitty I'd think of her and say, "Hey, at least you're not like her." She puts up with all this shit every day and doesn't have a clue what to do about it and ends up deluding herself. Sad really.

Peony: So, you feel pity for her?

Wen: Meh. Something between pity and scorn.

Peony: Ok then. What about after you found the first portal?

Wen: Well, I met Erin and Dennis of course. Erin Jenevive. Dennis Runth. They were my mentors. It wasn't too hard getting used to life with them either. They were assassins too and Erin's life is pretty similar to mine. We were both kidnapped as kids and trained to be deadly. And we're both Leth's. 'Course I didn't know until she recognized it and started training me. I still think it's destiny that we all met.

Peony: You have plans to meet up with them again now that you have directions to find them?

Wen: Yea. I also have a few things Erin wanted. From the Heart of All Realms. Yea.

Peony: Speaking of the Heart of All Realms, you found it quite a few times, didn't you?

Wen: More like accidentally stumbled upon, but yeah

Peony: When exactly were these times and what did you request from the Master each time?

Wen: The first time from earth, when I was about 14 and a half. I didn't exactly have anything I really wanted, so I just told her to close the damn portal and get me out of there. I ended up in Idyllen and ran into it again at 16, after I was separated from Erin and Dennis in a battle. I thought I would be able to find them again so I asked for Erin's name before she was kidnapped and mine as well. When I got back though, I couldn't find them and I ended up with that crazy group of cursed, asinine dolts. We finally succeeded last year. That was the only time I really "found" it. And I asked for my directions of course.

Peony: If they were "crazy, cursed and asinine dolts", why did you join their quest?

Wen: To be honest I didn't want to at first. But as we talked about it I figured I didn't have anywhere else to go and I was actually pretty curious where all those fools would end up. Something like that. And it promised me a chance to do what I knew best: flying and fighting.

Peony: So do you think these "dolts" count as your friends now?

Wen: Unfortunately, yes.

Peony: Unfortunately?

Wen: Five is five too many.

Peony:... Well, you admitted they were your friends already. Could you give me your impressions of them, then and now?

Wen: Yea. How do I start? Well, my first impression of Jing Long was a crazed Shadow chasing him. He seemed a bit clueless, but kinda "cute," as Dennis would say. He's really not that bad. He's really compassionate, and though I think that's more of a weakness, he kind of held the group together. Which I don't exactly approve of, but I guess it was good anyways.

Kenneth Rizea was the reason we started the damn quest in the first place. His mom had gone missing or something. Um...I didn't really think too much about him at first. He's a great artist, and no good with aircrafts and he sucks at dodging enemy fire. Really sucks. That's all I'm going to say.

Violet next. I didn't remember her at first, but it didn't matter because she didn't either. She was going through a bit of a memory crisis so I thought--rightfully too--that she was insane. But she was pretty helpful at the end. Pretty nice.

Um...

Peony: Maple-Ann Lewis?

Wen: Ah. Well. My first impression of her was amused irritation because she seemed so nice and gentle and stuff. But she's cool. Really.

Lastly, Archangel--I believe she's called Aeria now or something? Anyways, she introduced herself as The Lady Archangel. Again, amused irritation. She had all these airs about who everyone was and who she was and what not, but she was pretty easily outwitted. It's kinda funny too. She's not too bad. Too damn proud for her own good though.

Peony: And who among them would you think is your closest friend, if you had one?

Wen: Um..[pause, thinks, then laughs.] I'd say Kenneth. He's great to talk to or not talk to.

Peony: And how would you describe your relationship with Maple-Ann?

Wen: Friends. Good friends. I still visit her at Cieonna Halls every so often and she calls me up some evenings.

Peony: Nothing...more serious?

Wen: Your subtlety is worse than my healing ability, Miss Landernorm. No, there's nothing "more serious" going on between us.

Peony: I see... I am correct that you admire her though?

Wen: Yea. What's wrong with that? She can spit fire and heal someone at the same time, raze an army in 16 seconds flat and take care of herself. That’s almost better than me.

Peony:...

Wen: If you're trying to illicit a confession from me, you're not going to get it. Next question.

Peony: Very well. On the subject of your birth family, what do you think of them?

Wen: [laughs] My twin nothing like me. Really.

Peony:...in what regard?

Wen: She's fat.

Peony: [flinches]

Wen: But I know what you mean. She's a bit cowardly, but she's got some traits I think makes sense for her. Not for me, of course, but I can sympathize. [shrug] Somewhat.

Peony: What kind of traits?

Wen: Loyalty, I guess.

Peony: What about your parents and cousin?

Wen: My mom's so fucking cool! [laughs] But really. Evenette's misunderstood, but she's awesome. Really chill. Nem's a bit weird, but I like him enough. He's a bit of a treehugger though I think. Something along those lines. I'm glad they don't live together.

Peony: Your cousin Veraline Suis takes after your father though; what do you think of her?

Wen: I seriously think Vera was born in the wrong family or something. She's not a witch I guess, but her soul-sending abilities are pretty sweet. Scary too. And her mean streak takes after Evenette's.

Peony: You call your parents my name?

Wen: Well, Nem insists on it. Evvy and Vera call him Nem too. And Evenette just sounds better than "mom" or something. She doesn't seem the mom type.

Peony: Have you ever considered it might just be because you're unaccustomed to it?

Wen: ...Do you know what would happen to me if I called Evenette "mom"?

Peony: Do I want to?

Wen: Her dualcasting's stronger than Evvy's... and that's saying something.

Peony:...I think I'll pass.

Wem: Thought so.

Peony: [chuckles] Now, to pull away from the people in your life--

Wen: Finally.

Peony: --[laughs]. What do you think your favorite ship model would be?

Wen: Uh...I've been with my current one so long I think I'd have to say that one. A J16. With major upgrades. Back in the assassin days though, I liked the J24 as well. Sexy and fast. Not too shabby either; it's machines guns are decent but it needs more rockets. Something like the K60. But that's a bit fat for my style. The best part about the K60 is the swivel seat though. That thing's so fun to play with.

Peony:...A swivel seat?

Wen: [nods, grins]

Peony: I'll take your word for it, I suppose. And your favorite weapon?

Wen: Besides anything on my ship?

Peony: Yes.

Wen: My leth blade. It's this short knife thing that doesn't look too impressive, but I can shoot the blade out of the hilt as well. Really useful. I'm pretty proud of it. Of course, cleaning it out’s a fucking pain, but usually I can take care of my opponent within five blades.

Peony: What weapon did you use for melee combat before you built it?

Wen: Mostly handguns, any kind I can get my hands on. I’m a pretty accurate shot, if I do say so myself, so I had a few knives on me too.

Peony: Did you learn any other weapons during training?

Wen: Oh sure. I had a bit of a height advantage over most of the other kids my age, but I usually preferred longer-ranger weapons like staff, chain, mace. Didn’t like it too much out of training though. Too bulky to carry around and the chains were too clunky. I made a fair sniper as well, but again, too big.

Peony: Small and effective, I see.

Wen: Something like that.

Peony: I think that sums up what I wanted to ask. Do you have any sources I could go to for additional information?

Wen: Wait, what was your job again?

Peony:..I’m a journalist.

Wen: Professional lawful stalker, right, thought so. I’ll leave you to your own devices then. Hopefully your snooping tricks are up to the task.

Peony: [laughs] I understand. Anything else you’d like to add then?

Wen: Yea. This interview took so damned long I was able to think of about 98 variations of ways to kill you, even with all my talking.

Peony: [raises an eyebrow] Only 98?

Wen: That’s not including the 40-some ways involving my ship outside.

Peony: Well, you don’t exactly have access to your ship so they don’t count. 98 is pretty sad.

Wen: Actually, [pulls out a gadget from his pocket]

Peony: Never mind. Even so though. 138 isn’t too many ways. I was expecting at least 200.

Wen: [shrug] Sorry to disappoint.

Peony: You should be.

Wen: Any one of them would be more than sufficient though. And if I combined a few of them that’d be easily over 200.

Peony: On second thought, good job.

Wen: But yea, 138 is pretty lame for me.

Artist's Note: Hello there and welcome to the third and final edition of the little WenArch. Hope you enjoyed it!

Well..there goes my buffer of stories. That's quite ok though because the rules of this site only say 500+ words per week of whatever and I have a few other 500 word things that I could post that aren't exactly stories.

On life: College sucks. It's week one and I'm already neck-high in work. I have so much to do and even more that I want to do.

Comments? Questions? Please Read and Review! Thank you very much! :)

~Minerva Wu

WenRant2

Title: Trading Places

Author: SilverInk

Writing: excerpt/ short?

Word count: 1303

To say Wen was pissed off was an understatement. Yet to say that he was extremely infuriated was hyperbole. It simply wasn't the boy pilot's nature to get worked up about anything.

—-

“Mr. Tynan, didn’t you ever have to submit reports for missions in your old job? Reports that include essays and diagrams? Now get to work.”

The black-haired boy rolled his eyes. “No, sir,” he said, leaning back and sticking his hands in his pockets. “I’m a pilot. I take the assassin to the damn place and then I take the bitches back when they’re done. No paperwork involved.”

“Watch your language, young man. What would your mother think?”

“She’d be very damn proud of me, sir. Actually, I think I’m disappointing her a bit—”

“There you go.”

“—By not blowing this shithole up.”

The teacher—not to mention most of the students, turned around to stare at him. The transfer student smirked.

“Is this the way your father taught you to behave, Wen?”

“You assume I grew up with him. You assume wrong.”

“In any case,” the substitute said stuffily, “You signed up for this program so you should do your best to do well in it. The rest of you, back to work.”

—-

It started as a request from one of those crazy people that I went on that one crazy mission to find some girl that had wandered off in search of the Heart of All Realms. Kenneth, yea. I always knew it’d be a bad thing to have a lot of friends.

Five is five too many.

Anyways, so when the five of us got back from our search with Kenneth’s mom—that’s who we were searching for—we all split ways again, thank goodness. I had directions to find Erin and Dennis again and the others had whatever the heck they wanted. That was my third time in the Heart of All Realms—the first two times I found it was by accident—and hopefully my last. Maple-Ann Lewis gave me her contact information and Jing Long invited me to stay with him. That wacky whatever-the-heck-her-species-is went off without a word. Violet the phantom girl had stayed behind—for a while at least-- as a part of a deal with Eria Briallen, the strange Keeper of the Heart of All Realms.

And then Kenneth came up to me and asked if I would mind switching places with him for a few days.

Told you it’d be a stupid idea.

—-

“Here’s an assignment our guest might enjoy,” the substitute said pointedly. “Depict a battlefield, if you would.”

The entire class grumbled and one student raised his hand. “Sir, we’re supposed to be working with watercolors—”

“Then draw a battlefield with watercolors.”

“—On our self-portraits.”

“Well, think of this as a break then,” the substitute insisted petulantly. “Use anything you like. Just take a break.”

A few students grumbled and others cleaned up reluctantly. The girl next to Wen cleaned the water in her glass with a spell.

Wen pulled out a palm-sized gadget and within a few clicks he’d found a famous picture of a battlefield. Two sparks jumped from his fingers and he took the picture off the hologram screen and transferred it to the canvas. When the substitute came around, he was leaning back in his chair, boots flamboyantly on the table, playing a game on his minicomputer.

“Mr. Tynan.”

“Wisconsin’s fine” He didn’t look up from blowing a digital ship into splinters.

“There will be no game-playing in class.”

“Game-playing?” he looked up innocently and set his feet down. “But sir, I’m not playing. I’m making. Are you to say that this class doesn’t embrace the digital arts and game design?”

The teacher frowned. Wen smirked. “And I’m finished with the assignment anyways.”

“A fair replica of another artist’s painting I grant.”—Wen raised an eyebrow— “But there is to be none of this nonsense. Save your fascination for video games for after class.”

To everyone’s relief, the bell chose that moment to ring and the class filed out, some tossing glares at their temporary classmate, other muttering about the poor substitute teacher. After clearing the canvas, Wen simply swung his jacket over his shoulder and followed the others.

—

Let’s see: If a university asks you —pays you—to paint a mural for their school when you’re freaking 10, it’s probably a good idea for you to stick to painting and drawing and all that artsy-craftsy stuff. And if you can fly any odd warship by the time you’re 18, it’s probably a good idea to stick to flying warships.

---

“I heard you were a cocky little brat today” a voice said behind him. “Again.”

Wen whirled, a hand reaching for his pocket when he recognized the figure. His expression faded into a pleasant smile and he approached the girl leaning against the wall. “What’re you doing here? Kenneth’s done?”

“Just say it. You’re thrilled to see me.”

He only raised an eyebrow at her. “Sure. About as thrilled as I was to take that dumb art class for Kenneth.”

“You must have been pretty excited to learn to draw then.”

“Yup.”

“How was it?”

“Teacher didn’t like me. Took a vacation. Substitute liked me even less.” I think I boosted Kenneth’s grade though.”

It was Maple-Ann’s turn to quirk an eye.

“By a few negative points I mean,” Wen clarified with a shrug.

Maple-Ann laughed as they picked their way over to where a badly-beaten aircraft stood in the center of the field before stopping. She leaned against the ship’s flank, catching her breath. A few of the straggling art students shot her queer looks and she just laughed at them. “Scat!” she commanded, her expression still maniacal. When they didn’t heed her, her lips turned devilishly up again and she raised a hand. If they had been paying close attention, they would have seen a red spark dance over her fingers before setting the hand aglow. A half-second later, the section of the field they were on exploded, sending the offending students flying into the air.

“Careful now, Maple. If one of those bodies land on my ship you’ll be the one cleaning it up.”

She laughed and sent another spark into the air, catching her victims in little white bubbles. By the time they landed on the school roof, they were without a scratch or drop of blood and very much alive. The gruesome little mage turned to her fighter friend with an evil smirk. “Their nerves’ll be a little racked up but they’re fine, dear. I’m surprised you care though.”

He eyed her for a second. “I’m usually a little cleaner with my kills.”

“It’s not as fun, dearest. Don’t you like explosions?”

They both laughed at this one, and another voice approached them.

“Wen likes explosions all right. Really likes explosions.”

“Hiya Kenneth. Wen here was just complaining about polishing his little baby. Looks like he’ll have to be cleaning up anyways,” Maple noted with a smirk. “Where’d you go? A volcano?”

Kenneth scoffed as Wen inspected the belly of the ship. “I wish. I just ran through his “training module” on the mountains.”

“Well,” the bad artist said, sitting on the floor and letting his legs hang off the edge, “You did pretty well for a first time flyer. The hard range, one, right? The one with the giant birds and the gunners and bombs?”

“I tried out the one labeled ‘easy’ on your map.”

Wen’s expression froze and Maple backed away, giggling. “Good work little Kenneth. Don’t worry, I’ll attend your funeral.”

—

On second thought, just don’t let strange people fly your ship. Even if they’re supervised by a destructive little witch.

Artist's Note: :) Part two of three of the little Wen-arch.

Anyways....I think I've gotten over the whole putting my name on the internet. But SilverInk stands as my alias for now. Anwyays..I also got over the put-the-character's-surname-in-every piece thing :)

Please Read and Review!

~Silverpaw

WenRant 1

Title: The Start of the Journey to the Heart of All Realms

Author: SilverInk

Writing: short scene/ excerpt of an unwritten story

Word Count: 2139

Note: If this were an actual full-blown story then this note wouldn't be here. Chronologically though, this scene would take place after three characters did battle with dark demonic figure known as a Shadow. The six characters are now at a mansion where they are given a mission.

First things first. Don't volunteer for missions with random strangers. Especially if one of them has a crazy Shadow stalking them. Not to mention the other dweebs are either idiots or pompous psychos. I'm serious. We were six kids attempting to embark on the most complicated mission I’d ever heard of.

—-

“I have no choice now, confined as I am to my home, but to ask you six to help me,” the rich man on the floating “wheel”chair said gravely. “My wife is missing, gone off to find a place few have ever returned from…the Heart of All Realms.”

“Do we have any clues, Mr. Jackson?” asked a boy with jagged ears and tanned brown skin.

“My son should be able to help you,” replied the man. A skinny boy with fair hair and a shy expression stepped up next to him. “I also have given Miss Violet Kyson here”—he pointed to the purple haired girl that looked like she had no idea what they were saying— “a bag of portals. They are all I have to help you, unfortunately.” Mr. Jackson then fell into a bout of coughing and quit the room, leaving the six alone.

Quiet fell over the hall. One boy put his feet on the table and his hands in his pocket. His expression was bitter but not hostile. Cody Jackson’s son stood nervously next to the boy who had spoken and who now spoke again: “Well…”

The pretty girl with red curls and a white skirt looking up, taking a cookie and breaking it into crumbles over her plate. Next to her, the purple-haired girl lifted an invisible teacup and drank. A winged girl with a black halo and black dress sat two seats away from purple-hair, staring stonily at the others.

“Erm.” Everyone whirled and turned to Mr. Jackson’s son except for the stony-faced girl, who simply turned her head slowly, like a statue. The boy faltered.

A few minutes of awkward silence later, jagged-ears said, probably over-enthusiastically, “Well, I’m Jing Long, last of the Tideborn, as far as I know. Sorry about the Shadow earlier.”

“That was your fault?” red curls asked, picking up another cookie.

“Erm, yea. I’m not quite sure what I did to anger him.” It was jagged-ear’s turn to look nervous. Curls nodded before pulverizing the cookie. Poor cookie. Another pause later, Ears fidgeted and turned to Jack’s son’s son. “So, what’s your name?”

“Kenneth,” the boy said quietly, as if he was afraid of answering wrong. The boy with his feet on the table rolled his eyes.

“Kenneth Jackson. Not a bad name.” Jing chuckled, which sounded strange for an 11 year old. “Beats Gold Dragon.”

“Rizea actually.”

“Huh?”

“Kenneth Rizea. It’s my mother’s surname.”

Boots-on-the-table suppressed a laugh and Curls asked the question on everyone’s mind: “Why did you take your mother’s surname?”

“It’s actually my grandmother’s,” he explained. “My mother adopted it because she didn’t have a surname. Both my sister and I took the Rizea name…at my father’s insistence.” He shrugged. “I know it’s confusing. I don’t get it myself all the time. But yea. I’m Kenneth Rizea.”

There was a pause as everyone took this in before purple-hair said, “Confusing, family of yours is.” She proceeded to introduce herself. “Me is Violet, of Kyson.” She turned to feet-on-the-table.

He made a face before replying. “Wisconsin.”

“Of Wisconsin?” Curls asked innocently. He gave her a funny look. “You mentioned you came from Earth.”

He shrugged. “Surname Tynan. You?”

“Lewis. Maple-Ann Lewis. I hail from Cieonna Halls though,” she said the last part with a smirk.

A silence again.

“You are all fools,” the last person suddenly said. Everyone faced her, but unlike little Kenneth, she did not falter under their gaze. “You toss such names around as if they were common.” She turned her hard gaze on the amicable Jing: “Gold Dragon is a name of promise if not yet known. It was a well-chosen name, yet you waste your life in foolishness, anger a Shadow and endanger your kind. You know you are the last of your species yet you have not more capacity for seriousness?”

She turned to Violet without stopping a beat: “Kyson! She may be some distant relative of yours, but the blood of Kerra Dusk, Lady of Darkness runs strong in your blood. You embody one of the few phantasmic people that walk this world with neither curse nor confine and yet you cannot even begin to understand the legends that surround your family.”

She bore down on the youngest of the group: “You are young, but are a cretin nonetheless for not knowing your own name. Your father chose Rizea for your sister and you because it holds power, more so than the name Jackson. Aurora Rizea is one of the Nine Houses, Master of the Carpet Eveline, and the legendary Traveler of the genesis times.

“And you—“ She whirled on Maple, who sat calmly, a half-crumpled cookie in her hands. “Reon Cieonna is another of the Nine Houses, Master of the Scarf Eveline, Storm-Keeper, Ghost-Ruler—do these titles mean nothing to you? You forsake your name and by extension your birth and power. You have no idea of the power kept by the Halls of Cieonna yet you would cast it aside for some unknown “Lewis”?” She sat in an indignant huff.

“Fools all. I should call myself one for associating myself with you.”

She stopped there, and sat with her eyes piercing into the “cretins”. Her harangue had left Kenneth in tears, Jing in guilty silence, and Violet in stunned confusion. Only Maple seemed unaffected, the half cookie still in her delicate fingers.

Maple set the cookie down untouched and re-pinned a curl smoothly before saying, “And whom might you be, so wise in the ways of our families and our names?”

“I am known only as The Lady Archangel,” came the stern reply. “I am the Servant on the Nine Houses themselves, and a force not to be reckoned with.”

Maple-Ann Lewis of Cieonna Halls evidently ignored that last part. She took a bite of the cookie thoughtfully and set it down again with a pleasant smile. “Good cookies,” she said briefly to Kenneth. “Better than the kind my sister bakes.”

To the force that had named herself The Lady Archangel: “Yes, my sister. Esthien Cieonna, who carries the burden of the Curse of Cieonna. The Curse, and the powers that come with it.” She took another bite of cookie and continued evenly, “Reon herself named me Lewis. I do not aspire for more than I am entitled to. I do not aspire my sister’s position as I am certain she should not aspire to mine. My name is very much appropriate to my person.” She paused again to finish the cookie, perhaps mostly for effect, and finished, “And whatever sources you relied are clearly incomplete.”

The Lady Archangel didn’t miss a beat: “Notwithstanding you have left the Halls though, Miss Lewis. Is the calling of one of the Lost of Cieonna Halls too difficult for you? Why else would you linger so far away from the Halls and dawdle time snacking on—on trinkets!” she waved her hands expressly at the pile of cookie crumbs and crumbles that had gathered on Maple’s plate. “You are—a halfwit!”

Evidently Maple had no answer for this, as she simply took another cookie and nibbled away nonchalantly. The forgotten boy with his boots on his empty plate abruptly moved, shrugging his hands from his pockets and crossing them over his chest.

“What about me? You don’t seem to have a problem with me.”

“Tynan is an obscure name,” the Lady dismissed. “You are an inconsequential speck in comparison to the history that your companions keep.”

“Am I?” He suppressed a sneer.

“Your name is unknown. I suggest you disengage yourself from this motley group before your name is tainted as well."

“Right. I don’t know my name.” He paused, and this time the sneer was unhidden. “But I know my relations.”

The Lady stared down at him with narrowed eyes. “As you should, you—“

“I was abducted when I was 4,” he said flatly. “And before then I lived in the streets. I never met my family.”

“Then how—“

“You may know them too.” He let that hang there for a moment before continuing. “Erin Jenevive. Know her name?”

He was met with silence.

“Didn’t think so. What about Nem Suis?”

“Suis,” Maple-Ann muttered.

“Veraline?” A pause. “Does Evangeline ring a bell?”

Maple snapped her head up, staring. Wen smiled. “Evangeline is my twin sister. I’m told we don’t look alike.”

“You don’t,” Maple said curtly, selecting another cookie from the few left.

“She has witch blood and I…another.” He withheld the information but Jing, the only other person besides Maple that had seen Wen fight earlier, supplied the information:

“A…warrior of the energy blade. What’s the word—“

Wen twisted his mouth and blinked. For a kid, the boy had caught on extraordinarily fast.

“A Leth,” the Lady breathed, half in scorn, half in disbelief.

The Leth shrugged. “Of course, no one besides this, what did you call her—this halfwit, has caught on yet what I mean. This must mean you, my good lady, are less than half-wit. Shall we say,” he paused, pretending to think, “A dimwit?”

Maple laughed aloud and Violet’s expression was caught halfway between a smile of amusement, a frown of disapproval and a twist of confusion. The younger two didn’t understand the battle of wits until the last word, when even they caught on that the older boy had called the Lady a dimwit.

“You withhold another name,” the Lady said, eyes narrowed but otherwise unfazed by the insult. “Say it.”

Wen shook his head with a superior smile. “You should know this, all-wise one.”

“Say it.”

Maple finished another cookie, leaving only three more on the plate for the others, none of who had touched one yet. She wiped her fingers on a napkin delicately. “Evenette Suis,” she said evenly. “That is the name you are missing.”

“Surely that one you recognize?” Wen asked innocently.

Everyone recognized the name. Evenette Suis, the witch-that-had-gone-insane. Evenette, who had been gifted with the rare ability of dualcasting elements. Evenette, who held more power than entire armies in a single pointy fingernail. Evenette, who was rumored to be the Destroyer—who else could wreak havoc so easily without conscience?

“Your name is a tainted one,” The Lady Archangel said finally. “Yet you flaunt it. Evenette’s curse may yet be your own.”

“Evenette’s curse is her gift which is my twin’s.”

For a while no one said anything. Wen Tynan put his feet down and snagged a cookie from the plate. He bit, found it to his liking and consumed the remainder of it quickly. He tossed another to Jing, stood and patted his hands off on his pants and pulled a gadget out of a pocket as if checking the time. “Well, glad that’s settled. Now, if we have a clue where we’re going, I have a ship outside that might be handy. ”

Maple stood and waved a hand over her plate of crumbs, clearing it immediately. Jing, who was already standing turned to Kenneth, who picked the bag on the ground next to him and nodded. Violet looked up. “Me may…join you on quest?”

Maple smiled magnanimously and put a comforting arm on the purple-haired phantom’s shoulder. “Of course,” she murmured. “You are welcome.”

The five nodded and headed outside, leaving the girl in the long dress and black halo with the final cookie.

The Lady Archangel sat with her hands folded before her, eyes staring through the innocent cookie. “Their mission may yet be successful,” she murmured barely audible. She stood and looked after the five-some and back at her scythe leaning against the wall. She swept the scythe into one hand and flicked the cookie onto the blade in a single, practiced move. With precise movement she brought the blade towards her and snatched the cookie up with her free hand. She ate a little chunk, cocked her head in tasting and tucked the remainder away to one of the many cross-deminsional vaults created with a swipe of her scythe. Then she smoothed out her dress and walked through the wall to join the other fools.

—

Okay, fine, they turned out different than I’d guessed. But they were difficult too, and sometimes they reminded me of my old assassin crew. I just thought of it as another mission. It didn’t matter who assigned it.

Artist's note: Hi :) This is Silver Ink, hopefully reporting back after a summer hiatus. Yep!

So...I already know this is going to be a really really long note so I'll try to divide it up:

About the post/ story: So...yea...:D Wen's life took an unexpected turn, hehe. There are two other Wen-stories I already have written and will be posting... so... yea. As with any other story that vaguely mentions Wen Tynan, this is dedicated to TATAbox. Hopefully she's not disappointed that I posted something other than what I said I would....but it fit better to post this first, I think. :)

About the hiatus and life: Hehehe...Sorry about the unexplained unmentioned hiatus. I was away from my computer (omigosh -.-) for most of the summer and I had summer school so....that's my excuse? hehe! College is starting as well, so I don't know exactly how much I'll be writing yet, but I'll try to keep with the good old 500 words/ week :)

About...another blog. You might not have noticed, but this post is being posted from a different gmail account; aurasinewindrose@gmail.com (cookies if you remember where Aurasine Windrose comes from). Don't worry; it's just a new alias. In conjunction, The River Windrose is now up, though not yet running. It's going to be only my stuff :P but it's not completely the same. I'll still be posting random stories and scenes here on DiW <3. TRW will be a little different. I'll keep an update on how that goes (expect slowly :P ) :)

Also, I realized that the subscribe button only works with gmail only and only to the blogger feed and that thus, no one was getting any notifications about posts! That's been altered to a subscribe by e-mail gadget now, so hopefully it'll be a little more useful. It's at the bottom of the right hand bar, right under the horridly outdated Links section. Tell me how it works! :)

Please comment! Thanks in advance!

Anyways...that's all for this week! Glad to be back!

~SilverInk

Before the Banquet

Title: Before the Banquet: Couer/Issiri Short
Author: SilverInk
Writing: Short short story/ beginning of a longer story.
Word Count: 1804

Couer Harper:

The curtains were purple today. I took a moment while Mom was talking to Aunt Ever to scrutinize the fabric. It was thicker than the usual curtains and a bit fuzzy too. Not at all like the usual light and smooth ones. These were also lacking in design, while the blue ones had been intricately embroidered in silver silk at the edges. 

“Young man, I advise you against inspecting the drapery. They are for decoration, not amusement.”

I dropped the cloth. Maybe Jane would let me have a bit later. “Sorry sir. I’m pretty careful though.”

“Regardless. Thank you sir.”

My smile dropped the moment I turned around again. Huh. That was odd. There weren’t any guards last time we came. I stood patiently next to mom after that. She said it would be a nice night and that I would meet a bunch of famous, powerful people, but so far I’d only seen Aunt Ever, Uncle Auris, and Mr. Emile. I admit Uncle Auris is a pretty well-respected researcher and it’s always a treat to see Aunt Ever—she made me a knapsack this time—but Mr. Emile isn’t too spectacular. At all. He’s a good analyst, but not the top and he can’t even beat Ever at Destiny’s Edge: Battle Blitz. (Just to give you a point of reference, I can beat Ever with half her starting HP.)

I guess that has nothing to do with anything. But you get my point—I was bored. 

“Bree Harper, is that you?” 

I turned at mom’s name. 

“Ellasyn!” They hugged, then, 

“It’s been too long, Bree.”

“Elisa!” Aunt Ever and “Elisa” embraced and the pretty—weird—lady bowed to Auris. 

“Is this your son, Ever?”

“Mine actually,” mom said. I pressed my fist against my left palm and bowed respectfully. 

“Couer Harper, pleased to meet you, Ms. Gilfax.”

She stood frowning at me for a moment. I smiled and waited; I was used to this. Next she would be asking who my father was and when she found out she would either gasp in shock and begin chastising mom (“I told you he was a good-for-nothing!”) or pitying  her (“Are you holding up ok? I can always spare some cash or food or clothes, you know.”). And after that she’d ask me if I were going to be a puppeteer like my parents. It was the same routine, over and over again.

But Ms. Elisa only nodded and murmured quietly, “I see…” before the adults began talking about Lady Ellasyn’s latest trop to Edihn. I forced myself to tune in; not many people besides the objects were allowed—must less could survive—on the smallest moon of the ESRAI system.

“Did you see Alina’s child? Is it—she—alive?”

“Alive, well, and powerful,” Ms. Elisa answered uncle Auris. 

“I still don’t get how an Object of Holena was able to conceive,” he said. “But I suppose the child’s father was an aos si—that alone might have accounted for it.”

“Lady Holena was fair, I think,” Aunt Ever nodded. “Would the child be here possibly?”

“Is Holena herself coming tonight?” Mr. Emile asked.

“Lady Holena hardly leaves the Haven and the Senate did declare the child an abomination,” Mom said with a quick glance between him and Uncle Auris. 

“Damn the Senate!” I stared at Aunt Ever’s soft exclamation. “More and more fools each year. I respect the Council’s decision on the girl.”

There was a quiet pause in our group and a few agreements. Finally, mom broke the silence with a casual “So Elisa, who is representing Edihn tonight?”

“I know the Alina and the General of the Guard are coming,” Ms. Elisa said after a moment of hesitation or awkwardness. “And Fallarbor is too, though Alina said it wasn’t for the banquet.”

Fallarbor Warni! If one of the Nine Houses were coming, I might have a chance of talking to him—and maybe the old guy would let me see the Bracelet Eveline.

“Yea, something about all the Nine Houses being here for a reunion or something,” Auris confirmed. “Not part of the banquet in any case.”

All the Nine Houses! I wanted to talk to Silence Winds. Maybe she’d divine my future or read my life-dagger for me.

“If all the Nine Houses are coming, they must think something’s a big deal,” Aunt Ever said, considerably mollified after he outburst. “Is today a special day or something?”

The others indicated they weren’t aware it was. 

At that moment the doors opened and the greeting hall hushed almost instantly. William Oakler, former Ruler of Idyllen South and current Head of the Council of ESRAI announced the guests in no particular order to the various leaders of the moons, who were already seated at the long table.

“Lady Julian Winchester and Juniper Winski, channel of earth.”

“Lady Maple-Ann Lewis of the Halls of Cieonna and Mr. Wisconsin Tynan.”

The list continued. I had recognized no one in the greeting hall but suddenly I recognized all the guests by name. Soon I lost track of who was who or even who had been introduced. I found myself wondering how William Oakler knew all these people and their titles—even if he was the Head of the Council. 

“Elijiah Gilfax, Keeper of the Rift Hearts, and Miss Aurasine Windrose with Lady Ellasyn Gilfax, Servant of the Chasm of Secrets.”

“Dr. Auris Wyn, researcher, and Miss Ever Blaize,”

“Dr. Emile Errolheart, puppeteer analyst.”

Mr. Emile was scowling when Uncle Auris and Aunt Ever were introduced and I nearly burst into laughter when I saw his expression suddenly freeze and change when he was announced after them.

“Puppeteer Bree Harper, Guardian of Zaloren, and Mr. Couer Harper.”

I swear his power is the ability to tell what people’s names are. 

We made our way down the ramp and bowed to the people at the head table; Queen Geneva of Idyllen North, High Chancellor Edaline Evera and Ruling Chancellor Agyris Peck of Remnants East, and Chief Idon Aleda Korbin of Remnants West. Jane and the representatives from Edihn were missing when we arrived but I saw the General of the Guard of Edihn and Captain Alina Zephyr slip through the curtain and seat themselves presently, their Marks of Holena very conspicuous in the sea of faces.

When everyone was introduced I looked around me to see who I was sitting with and found myself between mom and Aunt Ever. A gold identification tag popped up on the table in front of me and as I watched, mom’s name appeared on her tag. I glanced across the table to see a a pretty lady with a crystal tiara and her friend, a lady with scar on her shoulder and a garnet necklace. The scar-girl had a black marker in her hand and was messing with their name tags. 

I watched as she put them down and winked at me before turning it around. The gold tag had been embellished with a few funny faces and a little scribble that I soon realized was supposed to be a tornado. “Uzina Serenity” had been crossed out and replaced with a scrawled “Storm”—

“Storm Blaize?” I gapped, glancing quickly at Aunt Ever and then at her mother—the crazy savior of the planet back when legend was reality. “You’re my favorite character in Battle Blitz!” I blurted stupidly. Mom and a few of the people around me laughed amicably Storm grinned. 

“I’m my favorite character too! You want to have a showdown sometime?”

Issiri Aeria Zephyr:

General Caesaera Adeline Emer was upset. 

“No. Issiri is not a zoo-creature. I refuse to have her examiled or otherwise gawked at by the guests, Council, Senate, or whatever.”

I turned silver eyes to the Ruler of Idyllen South. She was a regal figure, with none of the fancy airs that wafted around the Senate members from earlier. She didn’t need fancy airs or anything to be commanding. 

Behind her stood the Council of ESRAI, missing their Head. I could hear him announcing the first guests though, and understood that dinner was starting. Caesaera and mother should be going. 

“I have spoken to the Senate multiple times but they refuse to seat her, General Caesaera,” the Queen was saying. She paused carefully, as if reading the Object’s intentions. “I am loathe to go against them so early in my rule, but yes, I could override their decision.”

Caesaera turned to mother for advice. “She doesn’t need to be here,” my mother said, seemingly ambivalently. “She doesn’t mind…” she continued, glancing at me. I nodded my agreement. “…So long as she gets dinner.”

“I will ask the chef to cook to her desires,” Jane Exina followed flawlessly. Caesaera didn’t look too convinced but at the moment the side door opened up and two people stepped into the room. We all bowed graciously. 

“No need to bother the chef,” Aurora Rizea said once everyone had risen.

Marion Iekelazi said with a little dip of his pink-striped head, “If she would have our company, Miss Zephyr could sit with us.”

I bowed again to both Houses before glancing at Caesaera and mother. Caesaera left the choice to me; mother just blinked. “I would be most honoured it the Nine Houses themselves deem me eligible to sit at their table.”

“The honour is ours,” Marion said, ever humble. 

There was a flurry of shock and excitement before the matter was formally settled and Caesaera and mother slipped through the curtain to join the banquet. Queen Exina finished speaking with the Council before they too left. 

I followed Aurora and Marion to the hall where the Houses had chosen to dine during their reunion. It was a much smaller room than the banquet hall and not very lavishly decorated, but it was a nice space, enough to seat the Nine Houses of ESRAI and their “reunion”. Before we entered I listened in on the snippets of conversations I could hear from outside and identified Reon Cieonna telling Fallarbor Warni a joke. Eliam Winchester, Silence Winds, Laurel Slyph and Iyn Tamari Winski in her draconic form were cleaning up a ma-jong game.

“See, it’s not fair whenever Silence plays because she can tell who’s going to win twenty years before we start.” Iyn was saying—by the sound of her voice she was in her draconic form.

“Knowing who wins isn’t the same as actually winning,” Eliam said.

But when I stepped in, the room was suddenly quiet and  all the Houses aside from Aurora and Marion were seated. They too sat, and offered me a seat on the end of the table, across from the accepted head of conferences. 

“Welcome,” Kaelin Alder said when I too had sat, “Lady Archangel.”

Artist's Note: Hi! Long post this week, but I actually wrote all of it this week. A lot was added/ changed as I typed it up.

Anyways, this probably doesn't make a lot of sense to anyone. I tried to at least add in a few characters that would be recognizable though. xP

OH! I've got a personal blog now  again! :D The Silver Leaf  Check it out? 

~SilverInk

The Whisperer

Title: The Whisperer

Author: Lewis Spiel

Writing: short, short story

Word count: 211

“Let me repeat what you just said,” she says. “You want me to send you to hell.”

A cloying sweet smell suffuses his senses as the wax tapers extinguish with a suffocating press of finger and thumb. The pads of her fingers must burn but she hardly seems to notice. There is really only the Ritual and the dark, the enormous stone emptiness of the cathedral and the wind whistling through it, and the presence of a spirit, hanging heavy in the air.

“Close your eyes,” she says.

He obliges, but only because there is nothing else he can do. He starts at the cool press of her fingertips against his eyelids.

“We had a deal,” he says, struggling to stay calm. “And weren’t you going to tear my eyes out?”

“There are other ways to take away sight.” The touch on his eyes eases and lifts away. “I’m not a barbarian. Don’t worry, I’ll hold up my end of the agreement.”

“That’s hardly reassuring."

“Be patient.”

More orders? “B-,” he pauses. “Witch.”

“That’s me,” she responds dryly. “All right. Here we go.” 

Something in the air seems to give way. As his world fades to nothing he hears her say, faintly: “You never said when you had to get there.”

---------------------

Artist's note: Still unfinished. I have several snippets of unfinished stuff right now, but none of them are quite long enough or done, as you can see. We're still alive. :) 

This came from reading Stadust by Neil Gaiman and watching Umineko no Naku Koro Ni (Where the Seagulls Cry). They reminded me that witches are cool. ^-^ Uh, not to say that I wrote this just so that I could mention a witch.

~Lewis S.

Lewis’s belated end-of-year (2010) note

Consider this an extended Author’s Note- although we’re not always calling it that here. 

When we started I think we hadn’t a lot of opportunities to share our writing with each other besides, and a writing blog sounded like a novel idea at the time. Looking back I still think it was.  

Frankly, I never thought I’d be capable of turning out the stories I did for Drawn in Words. When I started out with it, and while I was writing for it, there was mostly the thought of writing to meet the quota and trying to emanate the dream writer in my head who just put words on paper that fell perfectly into place. I’m so glad that we decided to make this blog, and proud of what we have on it. 

Have I improved? Or do I think I’ve improved? Well… the only big project I’d had- Dog Eat World for NaNoWriMo- was never finished. If I wanted to fish around for reasons this ended positively, I could say that I ended up with more writing than I’d ever done in a year.  But I think the thousands of words that were written for this story never held the kind of appeal to me that I’d imagined this story should have. So I think I’ll be coming back to it someday. Maybe not in the near future, but hopefully when I feel ready to write these characters better. They’ve really grown on me, and I still want to share them with the world.

This year I want to cover some new ground. I’ve made a few small forays into fanfiction, most of which are just barely over the 500 word limit. I’ll try writing romance. I’ve read so much of it (to top it off, so many titles of shojo manga with such bad plots and cliché setups you couldn’t imagine) that I think I should be able to pull something off. Maybe something else. Right now the projects that are just laying around to be done are 100 themes, Jacks (which is probably going to be entirely revamped), DEW, and this one where I’m trying to base all of the characters off tarot cards. That last thing is supposed to be similar to the way they design their characters in the Persona series, which I really love.  

(but I digress.) 

Thank you, Silver, for starting this blog with me and supporting me all throughout the year. Let’s keep writing. 

Word Count: 412

Post-script: also, thank you to any others who might be reading this. You’re a big part of the reason we’re still here. Keep checking up on us! ;) 

~Lewis Spiel