forums.rs

Forums

RS Story Contest #4 - Survivor

Quick find code: 49-50-216-62851328

of 57
WintryElf

WintryElf

Posts: 1,194 Mithril Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
Short entry this time! Took quite a bit of rephrasing, but here it is:

You always loved me the most.

When I was born, Mama was so happy, but she told me that your eyes lit up like the torches you made for a living, and you held me and cuddled me and said I’d be Papa’s little girl. I wasn’t old enough to understand then, but Mama said I giggled. I think maybe I understood.

You never laughed when I had problems. Even when Davey pulled my hair or took my dolls, you were always on my side. Your shoulders were the highest place on Gielinor, and you bought me a malt candy whenever the apothecary gave me the medicine.

It wasn’t my fault Davey got it too.

The apothecary, he said Davey couldn’t get it, that it was just something I was born with, that the medicine wouldn’t cure me after all. Nobody thought Davey would get it too. He’s so big and strong, after all. Almost bigger than you. You were teaching him how to make your torches when you saw the black spots on his neck.

It wasn’t my fault, Daddy. I couldn’t do anything. I can’t even get off the straw pallet you made for me. All I do is play with my dolls. The last time I saw Davey, he came in and read me a book, even though I told him I was scared that he might get sick too. But he wouldn’t leave without a hug and a kiss.

Why did you blame me? Why did you run up here? I can’t even hide from you. All I can do is sit here.

Because of you, Daddy, because of all the nice things you did, I wanted to stay alive. I wanted you to teach me more; I wanted to help you with your work like Davey.

When the water rose over my head, you pulled me up. When I was suffocating under the waves, you rubbed my back and I could take a breath. When I was sick, you made me feel better.

I love you, Daddy. You gave me life.

But please take your hands off my neck.

Please stop shouting.

Please stop squeezing.

Please let me take another breath.

-WintryElf

Good luck, all.

-Quick edit to fix a typo, that's all.

07-Jul-2011 03:01:30 - Last edited on 07-Jul-2011 03:04:58 by WintryElf

Borna Coric

Borna Coric

Posts: 3,785 Adamant Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
Thanks for getting the entries in, everyone. The quality is outstanding.

Wintry, I grade all of the entries at the same time anyway to be fair, so posting them at the last minute by no means increases my work load. ;)
Also, regarding your question with Dieidiot0, it will mean that you automatically forfeit that duel. However, he will have until the end of the voting round to post.

Anyway, there are about 3.5 hours left for this round. Get your entries in now!

EDIT: It comes to my attention that the only pair that have submitted both entries is Level and Wolf. This means that Plectrum will win by default if Calamus fails to post another entry or two.

07-Jul-2011 04:26:23 - Last edited on 07-Jul-2011 04:30:22 by Borna Coric

Supreme Pac
Dec Member 2008

Supreme Pac

Posts: 4,077 Adamant Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
Rain poured down on the battle worn Army of Saradomin as the men patted the last of the dirt upon the graves of their fallen leaders. Once finished they turned to the Priest, waiting for him to say a final prayer.

The Priest stepped forward, Holy book in hand, and gazed at the six mounds that laid before him. "Their death was not in vain for it brought a shimmer of light to an unholy place. Their faith never faltered, even to their dying breath. May they find peace in the arms of our lord Saradomin," he prayed, bowing his head.

A few of the soldiers murmured their own prayers of thanks and deliverance before as one the once mighty army turned from the graves and began the treacherous trek back home.

---

The air was thick with the smell of damp earth as Dharok's eyes snapped open. He tried sitting up but was stopped as his head hit a stone wall.

He tried to raise his hand to rub the now sore spot, but found that the space he was confined in was to cramped to allow such movement. He pushed on the confines of his stone prison, trying to free himself.

As his efforts proved futile he grew angrier and began to pound on the stonewall above him. He opened his mouth and bellowed, continuing to pound on the wall. He felt around, searching for his trusted axe, once his hand gripped its wooden handle he threw it up against the stone with all his might, puncturing it. Dirt flooded in through the whole, but Dharok continued to hack away at the stone, his head almost free.

Once the last stone that rested above his head had fallen, mounds of earth came crashing down on him, crushing him. He bellowed once more, allowing the dirt to fill his throat and lungs.

His hand clawed through the dirt in attempt to free himself as wave after wave of earth fell onto him. He heard his bones crack, felt them scream in agony as he continued his endless struggle for freedom.

07-Jul-2011 05:02:33

Supreme Pac
Dec Member 2008

Supreme Pac

Posts: 4,077 Adamant Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
And so it continued endlessly for days. His earthly fight seemed unceasing.

And then it ended.

His hand broke free of the dirt to be greeted by the stiff hot breeze of Mortanyian air. He clawed at the grounding dragging himself up, ignoring the pain of his jarring bones, until he laid flat on his back.

He exhaled feeling the cool wet earth beneath him, his struggle finally over.

07-Jul-2011 05:03:43

Ogdred

Ogdred

Posts: 2,414 Mithril Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
Bleh, not liking my entry at all. But, it is still an entry.

~~~

I will never forget the first time I saw you. You were by yourself, resting on a bench in the town square. Your sapphire eyes were fixed on the ground, their lids swollen. I could tell that something was wrong, that something or someone had put you into this state of grief. Unsure of what I should do, I continued walking. Although we never spoke, I could already feel faint flames inside of me.
Days went by. Although I walked through town every day, I never saw you on the bench again. One day, I went out to the pub on my own. The room was fairly empty, with only a few men at the bar and one woman. I sat down away from the other patrons and eventually glanced over to the woman. It was you. You were alone, though you did*’t look as stressed as you had been the last time I had seen you. I took the seat next to you, and you looked up. For a few brief moments, neither of us knew what to do or say. But I felt flames again at that moment. Eventually, I let one hesitant word escape my lips:
“…Hi.”
“Hello,” you replied, with more confidence than my greeting. “How are you today?”
“Erm, I’m doing well. I’m here before I start my second job shift.”
“You work at two jobs?” You asked, surprised. Conversation had begun. For a few hours, we talked about everything- family members, jobs, our pasts and our futures. I could feel the flames growing stronger and stronger every time you laughed. I knew inside that you felt them too. I could feel you opening up into a new person, a brighter person. The person who I knew was inside you the entire time was finally coming out.
We planned to meet back at the pub a week later, and then we planned to go the following week. Soon, we were going to the pub together every week. Eventually, the pub was getting to be boring, and I invited you to my house. Later, you invited me to yours. I could feel the flames growing stronger and hotter each day, and I knew you could feel them too.

07-Jul-2011 07:25:34

Ogdred

Ogdred

Posts: 2,414 Mithril Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
At some point, our relationship grew out of being a friendship and transformed into dating. Not much changed, since it all had happened so gradually. The flames were stronger than ever, and we were sharing them.

Sadly, no fire can stay lit forever.

Our excursions grew more and more mild, and life became slow and bland. I did*’t mind, of course, as long as I was with you. At this point, you were me of the person who I met in the town square: miserable and stressed. The flames were dying away. You were succumbing to depression.
I tried everything. I gave you every form of help I could give you, but it wasn’t enough. A week ago, I found a note near my door, where you told me you were leaving forever. My life was shattered. I had given you everything there was to give. There was no reason to continue living.
If you still care enough about me to have read this far, you may be interested in knowing these are the last words I will ever write. This is the last letter I will ever seal. And if you are, by some incredible chance reading this, I have already succumbed to the fire.

Goodbye.

PS: When you put out the flames, it was my turn to step into the inferno.

***Burnt Alive in a Housefire

07-Jul-2011 07:27:17

Tabris V
Oct Member 2010

Tabris V

Posts: 7,587 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
I write this as a warning to you, dear reader, in the hope that you shall not repeat the mistakes I have made. While there may yet be profit to be found in my field of study, I have not discovered it in my line of research, and indeed I have precious few minutes left to deliver what information I may. For this reason, I do regret not continuing my work at the Wizard’s Tower, however disapproving they may have been of the initial experiments.

This originally began as an endeavor into the possibility of holding spells. Magical craftsmen have already proven the ability of rune stones to hold small magical charges, of glass orbs to hold more inexhaustible supplies of energy, and even the capability of clay tablets to hold entire, full-fledged spells. What I inquired into, though, was the possibility of holding magical energies within the matrix of the human body itself.

The initial concept was simple. As the art of runecrafting had been rediscovered, mages had found that the human body itself could act as a conduit for the magic contained in the runecrafting altars themselves. Now, dear reader, I was far from being foolish enough to simply try and contain within myself the power that would surge from an altar within my own body. However, the studies of runecrafting seemed to show that there was not so much a difficulty to runecrafting as it was a matter of building up a tolerance in the body for such a task. No novice could even think of attempting to channel the power of chaos into runes. That strength would overwhelm his mind and body, and ruin him forever. Even experienced mages were unable to gain much advantage, as the paltry energies of simple rune stones couldn’t compare to that of an altar. No spell known to wizards was simply large enough in energy demand to manage that level of strength.

07-Jul-2011 07:38:27

Tabris V
Oct Member 2010

Tabris V

Posts: 7,587 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
Still, I recognized that I would need far more ability in dealing with magical energies given what I believed would be an extended period of time. I trained myself in runecrafting for months on end, sinking myself into the art of making runes. After extensive training and what I believe to be as much a mastery of such a skill as possible, I made my first attempt. I began with the simplest spell known: Air Rush. I thought this to be a good beginning, as only one type of energy is needed. I drew the magic out of only a few rune stones, pulling the essence of air and wind into my body as if to cast a spell. Within, I clenched down, wrestling with the tiny tempest I had admitted into me. It seemed to work. I could feel it there, indefinably swimming inside me like some beast of the soul that I could find no way to tame. Nothing felt was if it were changing in the few minutes I held it, so after a short time, I released the energy in the form of a strong gust of wind, dispersing Air into air.

The next day, I tried again, taking in double the amount of energy as I had before. It felt much the same. A tad stronger, perhaps, but it was more than manageable. I waited a few minutes longer than last time, and that was when the pain struck. Blood streamed profusely down my left leg, pooling on the floor next to me, as I had fallen in the initial wave of pain. I tried to clean it up, but succeeded in little more than ruining a towel and peeling away a good portion of my skin, which now seemed as insubstantial as paper and unable even to hold together on the portion of my skin. I suspect now that the intake of air energy caused it to interact with my flesh, sublimating my very body from within. I wish that I might be able to study this phenomenon, but it seems that the blood loss from the effective amputation of a leg and the ensuing shock will kill me first.

Dear reader,
Please, listen to me.

07-Jul-2011 07:38:43

Quick find code: 49-50-216-62851328 Back to Top