Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 20

Thread: A Campfire Story: The Sword of Sorrow

  1. #1
    Always the Bridesmaid... bulmabriefs144's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2007
    Location
    Here
    Posts
    888

    Default A Campfire Story: The Sword of Sorrow

    (I wanna do something different. I'm personally only an average writer due to my tendency to wander in what I write, so I'd rather do it this way. You ever played this game in camping trips? Someone starts a story, someone else finishes the next sentence. Only we're doing chapters. So if you comment, I expect a chapter)

    (Just a note, this isn't really a specific fanfic of any anime or anything, just a sort of fanfic of the general magical girl story)


    Prologue

    There is a legend from ancient times, about a sword that cuts, which is often called Muramasa, the Demon Blade. Likewise, there is a similar legend, of Masamune. It is said that the Masamune blade and a Muramasa blade being put into a river strewn with lotus leaves. The leaves swirled around the Masamune blade untouched, but the Muramasa blade would cut them. Legends, however, tend to only be half right... Some say the true legend is that both were the same sword, that it was the wielder who made it a divine or demonic sword. Some speak of a sword they like to call "The Sword of Sorrow." They call it this because it is both bringer of sorrow and death, and because sorrow is usually concerned with pain of those lost, it is a sword of mercy which can heal and recall life. But which is its true form, a sword that does not cut, or a sword which does not cut? And where might be found a truly worthy wielder?

    Chapter 1

    My name is Anideshi. I'm a normal college student, living at home instead of campus. Okay, maybe I'm not that normal. After all, my parents are always talking about some dream they had about me. I couldn't make much sense of it, but apparently in the dream I had powers to heal and over the elements, I was some kind of druid. Well, that was their term, not mine, we didn't really ever study what a druid is in my school. They mentioned in this dream I was fighting some great battle, and I needed a sword to do it. Somehow, whenever they mentioned a sword, it struck a small chord of familiarity. But I'd never seen the sword they were describing in any museum. They said it was a simple katana with no sheath, and a silver chain attached to the end of the hilt with a broken heart piece of steel looped inside the chain. If I was meant to wield such a sword, I'd probably bang my eye with the chain every time I swung the sword. I dismissed the whole thing as nonsense.

    My name is Anideshi. It's Japanese, and I think it means "brother" and "older student." Well, I am a senior in classes, but I'm nobody's brother. I have no siblings. And I'm a girl. Well, I suppose it's somewhat appropriate, I do act like a tomboy. And I don't think I own a single scrap of frilly underwear. But then I get another earful, about how when I was to be born a fortuneteller came and read reincarnation cycles. My last was apparently a male. But they said it had less to do with this, and more to do with some strange destiny that name had. I'm starting to think my parents are insane.

    My parents don't exactly look like the normal type, either. My father is fairly down-to-earth personality wise, but he's Japanese. Worse, rather than the conventional short cropped hairstyle the modern Japanese tend towards, he looks like he was from the set of Condor Hero, with long flowing black wires of hair. I get my black eyes from my dad, as my mom's are an intense color of emerald. My mom's hair is light blue, and you'd say she dyed it, but my black hair has very strong bluish tone itself. If my dad could be considered the more normal one, well... my mom isn't. She has a serious green thumb, and tends to talk quite a bit to cats. And chickens. And just about anything. And they appear to listen. You'd expect such a name coming from my mom, but it was actually my dad who agreed to give me it.

    I take a quick shower, shaving my legs and moisturizing my face. I don't bother with makeup or perfume, I've always been a fan of having natural beauty, even if it doesn't measure up to the other girls in the class. Still, I'm very far from being ugly, even with no makeup at all. I change into our school uniform- a red starchy blouse with a green plaid skirt and long white stockings - and walk out the door. The school started the policy of uniforms not because they were religious, or particularly into student unity, but because it was the most effective way to get the students to wear something. Our area has the best of all worlds, kinda like Seattle or Tokyo. Our city is a few miles from the eastern coast, and I sometimes go to the beach there, but I can just as easily go hiking or camping for there is a national forest to the west, a long-dormant volcano to the south, and a giant waterfall to the north, flowing from a pretty great mountain range. Needless to say, although our town being a coastal town is well connected to the rest of the world, there are many remote areas nearby where people practice nudism. So our college supplied uniforms for the students to make sure everyone, particularly the locals would stay dressed.

    I ease into the driver's seat of my car, smoothing my skirt in the process, and flip the ignition. It fails twice before finally turning over, and moves off to a slow start. I'm sure today will be like any other.
    Last edited by bulmabriefs144; 4th June 2011 at 08:32 PM.

  2. #2

    Default

    why is this in first person and is a female. not to mention a very very typical "i'm not a slut" female. and is set in japan.


    o wait, do i really need to ask?

    (and yes fast reply)

    too much weeaboo, at least set it in america plox

    bolt202/veil225/feint200

  3. #3
    Always the Bridesmaid... bulmabriefs144's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2007
    Location
    Here
    Posts
    888

    Default

    (Because I'm fond of the Dresden files narrative, where the main protagonist introduces themselves (also it's a convention in magical girl stories). I'm going with it. She's not really a "slut" or a "virgin" she's more an outdoor type. Like someone who goes on epic biking marathons over rugged mountains, and protests from Greenpeace.

    It is set in America.
    It's just her family is Japanese (probably to the point of cliche).

    Since nobody posted while I was gone I'll make a new chapter. )

    Last edited by bulmabriefs144; 5th June 2011 at 01:11 AM.

  4. #4
    Always the Bridesmaid... bulmabriefs144's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2007
    Location
    Here
    Posts
    888

    Default

    Chapter 2

    Although my house seems straight out of Japan, complete with a shrine and a tree bound with rope in the yard, believe it or not, I actually live in the United States, on the eastern edge of Maryland. The city I live in is called Death Elder, which sounds pretty cheery, but it was named after some historical event years ago when all the Box Elder trees died of a strange blight. It has all the signs of a typical city, the center is dead because people wanted to move away from the midst of the crime and slums, so urban sprawl, followed by suburban sprawl covers the area. Every now and then as I drive through, I see smaller houses like our family's, but many of the residents are cramped in high-rises.

    I come to my school in the northern edge of the city, right about where the suburbs fade out into complete forests and mountains. My car has pretty much reach the end of the road anyway, unless I wanna go hiking today, so I turn off.

    My friends Azrael, Megami, and Christina
    greet me as I head in the door. From left to right, they are a tan-skinned girl with hair darker than mine, a red-haired beauty, and a blond haired girl who reminds me of a typical cheerleader. Like I said, I'm just a normal college schoolgirl. It's just of the rest of the world that's abnormal, I'm sure of it. Case in point, my friends.

    Although they seem like three typical girls, the first, Azrael has actually studied Eastern and Kabbalistic exorcism. Which might explain her tan, she's from somewhere in the Middle East. I'm surprised they let her in, given the harsh climate towards anyone around that area right around now. But the fact that she probably can expel ghosts is likely the least odd thing about her. A year ago, she confessed she loved me and tried to ask me out. I just sat there, stunned. I think she's a pretty good friend, so I told her I'm not sure what my feelings are. I know it sounds like a brush off, but I don't really know what to say when another girl asks me out.

    The second is as beautiful as any woman could be, but despite a name meaning "goddess," Megami is very much a boy. Not that you can really tell. Our school is an all-girls school, but the only people who know this secret besides the three of us are some of the faculty, who were paid enough to turn a blind eye to the rather obvious breach of the security of the female students. Megami is even allowed a separate changing room to change for sports. The first to find out, Christina, only managed to do so by being a roommate, and even then it was half the year before she figured it out.

    Christina is now Megami's girlfriend. After being terrified about rooming with a boy during the first year she discovered it, she gradually warmed to the idea, and signed up the next three years to be roommates. In public, of course they have to act like they're girl friends, rather than girlfriend and boyfriend. They seem to have fun, but it must be stressful keeping up the charade.

    As I stand pondering how I was stuck with such weirdoes, Azrael speaks to me. Off in the distance I hear crows, and I think I see the figure of a person in the trees. "What did you say?" I ask her.

    (C'mon ppl, it's a group project. Go with a person you like, and start a chapter from their POV)
    Last edited by bulmabriefs144; 5th June 2011 at 07:36 AM.

  5. #5
    Phantom Watch Omar Ranger's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2008
    Location
    Ukraine
    Posts
    3,712

    Default

    Writing mine is hard enough.
    Spoiler!

    Spoiler!

    Quote Originally Posted by kaglover1 View Post
    But now I'm like screw that, I'm skipping to the part where Bella finally combines with Edward

  6. #6
    Always the Bridesmaid... bulmabriefs144's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2007
    Location
    Here
    Posts
    888

    Default

    (True that. I read yours, but it was too far in the middle of something to help out with it. M'kay, I'm changing perspective to Azrael for the next chapter...)


    Chapter 3

    I could see her looking at me with her deep, expressive eyes. Although she was afraid of a serious relationship, I could tell by the way she looked at me that she genuinely cared about me. At least I thought I could. I wear glasses most of the time, so my vision is terrible.

    "As I was saying, it might fun to go on a double date some time with Megami and Tina..." I trailed off, seeing her expression fade from one of interest to sadness. Something about my request deeply troubled her. Was I wrong after all in thinking she was interested in me? Or was it simply the thought of a relationship with another woman that troubled her? After one year, I was more than a bit worried.

    I had no time to worry about this however, as the bell rang right around this time, forcing us off in separate directions. I had just about set out towards my first class, History of Religious History, when I sensed something deeply wrong. Although I am nearsighted, through study of exorcism, I began to develop a sort of "second sight" which is reality wasn't sight at all so much as an uneasy feeling. I saw the visible sign of trouble, crows, the harbingers of death were fleeing the area, but I felt a dark energy. The source was hard to trace, so I muttered a general chant to expel evil spirits and energies, "Rin pyou tou sha kai jin retsu sai zen." The darkness I felt nearby faded into the background, but it obvious came from some source rather than simple stray spirits, as I could tell it was still there. Anideshi asked me, "Did you say something just now?"

    Speaking about the supernatural world to people unfamiliar with it has a certain level of taboo to it. Not only were those who heard about the souls and spirits liable to suspect you were touched in the head, but they often met with extreme resistance, calling you a witch or similar. Instead, I said, "I was just mumbling to myself..."

    I hoped once classes were over, I had have more of an opportunity to talk about our date. Whatever caused those evil auras could wait.

    Chapter 4

    Believe it or not, I actually wanted to say yes to Azrael's request. My fear had gotten the better of me in the course of the last year, and it was past time I actually owned up to my feelings. But before I could say anything, the bells herded us to our classes, and I lost sight of her.

    My classes for the day were World Religion, Art, Plant Propagation, and Geology. The first two were electives, and I promised my mother I'd major in Horticulture, by the last was something I actually liked. I was minoring in Archaeology, and the same teacher taught Geology. She believed that the rock formations were just as important to a dig as bones and clay shards, so we spent a great deal of time learning the study of rock as it related to the past. Today, apparently, we were learning about the difference between various types of quartz. I liked this class more due to the teacher than the class itself, though I was definitely interested in the field. The teacher's name was Mrs. Lapis Lazuli, and she was a friend of my mother's. She had short brown hair and rather thick glasses, and was roughly medium height. She was beautiful, but I was more into women my own age. Currently, she was gesturing at some lovely samples of rose quartz.

    The bell rang, ending the series of classes, and starting our lunch break. I walked outside to a grove of trees where we tended to bring our lunches. Megami and Christina weren't meeting here today, I saw them spending some time doing "girl things" as Tina put it. It looked like Megami was getting his hair permed. As it looked like they might be awhile, I continued toward the place where Azrael was sitting alone. I decided I was going to say I was sorry for being so hesitant, and that I was ready to take her up on her offer. But I only got as far as "Azrael, I'm sorry..."

    I looked up and dark shadows were closing in on the grove.
    Last edited by bulmabriefs144; 7th June 2011 at 07:04 AM.

  7. #7
    Always the Bridesmaid... bulmabriefs144's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2007
    Location
    Here
    Posts
    888

    Default

    Chapter 5

    "Heresies!" I shout.

    I see Anideshi look blankly up at me. "What's that?"

    "Oh, ummm, I guess I never told you about the true state of things. Everything in nature is created by the Word of the Tao. That is, everything is born from nature. These things are called Heresies, because their existence is an affront to what should be the natural order. Be careful, only things created of magic or born from nature can harm them. You'd be better off with a stick, stones, or even your bare hands than using a gun. And forget most armor, anything that had to be crafted more than just stitching together and tanning furs is worthless," I explain to her.

    "I'll keep that in mind," she says, "...wait, what?!? Magic? Magic doesn't exist!"

    I stare at her funny. Although I've heard that the vast majority of people today don't believe in miracles or magic, being an Exorcist for as long as I have, it has actually become much harder for me not to believe in such things now that it is to believe in them. "Trust me."

    I clap my hands together, forming in improvised circle, and touch them to the ground. Although crafted weapons can't hurt these creatures, what I'm doing is much different. It actually falls under both categories, as I draw the minerals to form the steel from the earth, then using magic to reconstitute the metal into a sword. The best part about this, is it's easy to repair.

    I'm more of a strategist than a fighter. My actual skill with a sword isn't terribly developed, so immediately after summoning the sword I try to even the odds a bit, drawing a exorcism circle. This was basically a snake eating its head in a circle, with a Hebrew phrase written inside.








    The circle was a bit dangerous for me to use, because of the way it was constructed. The verse was carved with my sword, and then the Hebrew said "Do not make a graven image..." Although it easily got rid of most of the nearby creatures since they were more or less a type of graven image or golem, by carving it, I broke the commandment mentioned by the circle itself, so it was safe to say I couldn't use this more than maybe once during this battle. As it was, I felt dizzy and faint, like something had beat me up for quite a bit of time. I began to bleed from my nose.

    Not wanting others to use this circle, to their own risk, I scuffed it out with some dirt, and swung my sword. I slashed through about two of these before missing and getting slashed hard by one of these monsters. I touched some of the blood and threw it at the Heresy. Blood is not only a very ritually powerful substance, because it symbolizes great sacrifice, but it is definitely something that occurs naturally, so the blood began to tear away at the creature, as it it was being affected instead by acid.

    There were three Heresies left alive, if you could ever call them that. I still had my sword, but my fatigue and blood loss were taking over, and I could barely stand, much less swing it. They were closing in...

    (This is btw, a fanfic loosely tied to a game I've made, called Oracle of Tao. Two of the characters are the same, but the world has changed a bit. Heresies don't exist much anymore in the game.

    So, here we have a sample of Azrael's magic. She can do alot of different things, from healing, to exorcism, to various effects like setting fires, but her limit is a dependence on making ritual circles for anything more than just a simple exorcism (shown in Chapter 3). She can't, for instance, create a fireball or even a ray of light)
    Last edited by bulmabriefs144; 1st July 2011 at 07:55 AM.

  8. #8
    Always the Bridesmaid... bulmabriefs144's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2007
    Location
    Here
    Posts
    888

    Default

    (Another note about Azrael's magic. Except for the exorcism circle, most of it is not traditional ritual spells with a complex design, but more of a blank circle which can be used for any improvised effect. This is because of the "graven image" thing, and has more of the hit or miss qualities of a prayer than a spell. Having part of her exorcism come from the Kabbalah, alot of Hebrew rules are in place, as well as heavy Shinto influence. She can use one of those sticks with paper shavings to cleanse the air of evil too, and some Japanese words of binding (using this requires a circle in play though, and to trick the creature into entering it). But in terms of affecting things other than summoned stuff, pretty much only her sword is good.)

    Chapter 6

    Azrael was definitely hurting. I wasn't gonna let these monsters, whatever they were called, kill her. I took a branch and broke the tips off, and spinning the resulting improvised staff, gave one of them a decent whack in the knee. I half-expected the stick to break as it wasn't very thick, but instead it toppled the creature over, slicing its leg like I'd attacked it with a samurai sword. The next two strikes were for its head and heart. "You leave her alone!" I shouted.

    In many fantasy movies, magic is a result only of serious study, and can be performed only by either reciting obscure phrases or by drawing very elaborate circles. I suspect this is more of less the way of it for Azrael, but the power I was to discover in the next two seconds, had little other than raw emotion involved. My feelings for Azrael, and my rage toward these disgusting creatures, burned wildly within my heart. And then something else burned.

    The stick I'd been holding got so hot that I needed to drop it. No sooner had I done that when it turned into ash. Azrael whispered to me, "focus everything toward those..."

    Suddenly, the two remaining ones caught fire, and burned to ash nearly as quickly as the branch. I was afraid this might start a fire near these trees, but it quickly burned out. My emotions, the creatures, and the fire was gone. All that was left was exhaustion. Before I collapsed to the ground, I worried that Azrael might not last.

    The next I knew we were both in the hospital bed. What had happened while I was asleep?






  9. #9
    Always the Bridesmaid... bulmabriefs144's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2007
    Location
    Here
    Posts
    888

    Default

    (Although originally I intended other people to post their own chapters, like a campfire story, this switching perspective works too. Now to introduce the third character, Megami.)

    Chapter 7

    My friends call me Meg. I'm kinda happy with it, although my original name wasn't in fact Megami. It was Takeo. Like Anideshi, my family was part-Japanese, and so named me according to Japanese naming conventions, despite living in America. Takeo nicely sums up my parents expectation's of me, since it means "violent warrior" or something like that. They ran a martial arts studio, and expected me to care about it. I loved my parents, but frankly despite extensive training in martial arts, I was kindhearted and didn't really connect well with the whole macho attitude. So I told them flatly that my sister Masahiro would do a better job running it when they wanted it inherited, and that I wanted to live my life as a normal girl, far from such expectations. They resisted this quite a bit, mainly because if you strip away all my clothes, you'll find some very definite proof that I'm not a girl, not to mention because I was the legitimate heir. But for once in my life, I had been firm and resolute about something. So they set up a weird challenge. If I could prove my worth in a battle while looking like the "goddess" I wanted to be called, they'd agree to let me live life as I wished. I of course, succeeded, so here I am in the fourth year of college dressed from head to toe in the female uniform, with my hair grown out, and as of five minutes ago, Christina has started perming my red hair. I dunno how long it will take because, of course, I've never had someone do this to me.

    About an hour later, most of the process is done, though Chrissie tells me I have to wait 24 hours before washing my hair for the perm to curl properly. Since we picked our class schedule based on what we wanted to do in our off-hours, I and Christina have a morning schedule, but no afternoon schedule. Of course, this means to graduate on time, we also had to take Saturday classes. We might be a bit late to lunch break itself, but we can probably meet them after lunch. I make my way slowly through the campus with Christina. Our college campus is not several separate buildings like many college campuses, but rather one huge monstrosity of a a building surrounded by campus fields, which are surrounded by a forested mountainous area off in the distance. Well, scratch that, there are two other buildings, the administrative building and some strange tower of near the edge of the campus (the campus has no dorms, but they do have off campus residence areas less than 5 minutes walk off campus). The main building has several adjoined sections to it in addition to regular classrooms, including a greenhouse, a laboratory, and a small teaching hospital. I'm careful never to get sick, as it might mean I'd be examined, and my secret would be outed.

    Finally, we make it outside the main building and head toward the grove where we usually meet together. It's a bit distant from where other students normally take their lunch, mainly because most of them eat in the cafeteria, while we get ours packed up, so I'd expect nobody to be aware of it if something went wrong. When we make it there, something obviously did go wrong, as I see Azrael with several cuts and bleeding profusely, and Anideshi passed out, apparently from exhaustion. Azrael, amazingly is still conscious, and appears to be drawing a crude circle when we arrive.

    "Help her..." she says weakly, before even drawing a circle is too much for her, and she too loses consciousness. Since I don't know whether Anideshi is internally bleeding, and definitely haven't long for Azrael if she's obvious bleeding and just passed out, I make a quick decision.

    Although a few years of diet change have turned what was originally a toned muscular body into a lean androgynous one, I still have some developed muscles, although lean ones. I sling Anideshi over my back, holding her tightly with my right hand. Then, I slowly squat down, carefully avoiding lurching forward suddenly so as to keep hold of Anideshi, wrap my left hand over Azrael's leg and slowly stand up again. I'll probably feel this tomorrow. Chrissie grabs Azrael's torso, and we drag both bodies to the hospital. I know this probably isn't the safest way to do this, but otherwise we might lose one of them heading back and forth from the teaching hospital. They thank us and tell us to wait outside.
    Last edited by bulmabriefs144; 22nd July 2011 at 08:06 PM.

  10. #10
    Always the Bridesmaid... bulmabriefs144's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2007
    Location
    Here
    Posts
    888

    Default

    Chapter 8

    My name is Jessica Christina Messiah. Yeah, it's a weird name, don't bother remembering it, my friends just call me by my middle. My family line is from ancient times, and got their name from an obscure (and probably heretical belief) that Jesus had children before his crucifixion, or perhaps even possibly after his rebirth. I don't bother much with religion, though neither am I an atheist. I can't find a good reason not to believe in religion, but neither can I find a decent reason to care.

    It doesn't stop the others from caring, though. Anideshi I believe is a Shinto, Azrael has some weird composite religion I can't sort out, and Megami is a Taoist. I think he became one as a result of all the duality between what he was and is conflicting on itself. But I couldn't begin to tell you about the others. I do however, on occasion, believe in reincarnation. Sometimes I seem to be able to do things, which someone else learned to do.

    There are times when I've healed people, just by touching them. And other things too, but mostly that. Some people compared me to Jesus, but Azrael just laughed it off as reiki. Apparently she says I have alot of vitality or something. I don't really want to believe in miracles though, so I'm learning to heal through my own power, by studying medicine. I could probably go in there and expose these abilities, but it would just bring up a bunch of awkward questions. As a medical student, I'm only taking college courses, and since most of those there are graduate students, unless I perform a healing, I'm still an outsider to the emergency room. So I'm staying with Megami.

    Megami is painting his fingernails. If he's a "goddess", my personality would be closer to that of an Asura. Before college, I hung out with thugs, the likes of which have likely joined the mafia by now. Megami is hanging out with me, because he's a decent person, but my motive for being with them was closer to one of emulation. Not just that, but I've only gotten to be a better person because my background improved, when my parents stepped in and moved me to a better area; on the other hand, Megami has become a better person despite his background.I help Megami with his makeup, and we double-check his appearance. If there is one flaw with Megami, it would probably be vanity. He's not really satisfied unless he's every bit as beautiful as any woman. Not that I can complain. Megami flattens his skirt with his hands, and sits down again. After waiting for roughly an hour we finally receive word of their status. A nurse walks out with Anideshi.

    "It's gonna be alright," she says, "I'm fine, just a bit weak. And Azrael's condition has stabilized. It'll take her some time for the wounds to close, but she's stopped bleeding." Off in the distance I thought I saw crows. What a bad omen for such good tidings...

    (All the main characters have been introduced. But I'm gonna do one other, from the point of view of the antagonist, the guy with the crows)
    Last edited by bulmabriefs144; 10th July 2011 at 10:38 AM.

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •