So this is my first actual story on here that is completely mine. This "fan-fic" was originally a story for my english semester final - the task was to rewrite a folk tale in two different styles that we'd studied during the semester. We were allowed to choose the styles we wanted to write in, unlike the first semester.
So anyway, there are various characters from Kingdom Hearts in here - not including the poor cow, Betty, or the little hen. They never recieve their names: or rather, I never state their names. So I wanna see if you guys know your characters. State the character's name and the role he/she played in the rewrite!
I'll let you read now.
Style 1 Neoclassical:
Ancient Greek legends, epic conventions.
Long ago, there was a boy. This boy was small of stature, a few years shy of manhood, with spikes of chocolate brown hair atop his head. Brilliant blue eyes shone with life and happiness of youth, naïve without years of experience. Over his scrawny, often times bony figure, the boy wore simple brown cotton pants and a white cotton shirt. The only item of worth the boy owned was a crown shaped pendant on a thick silver chain looped around his neck: the boy treasured this pendant, as it was the last gift his father had given him before the man had disappeared.
Now this boy lived in a cottage, several miles from the nearest village with his mother. Villagers often referred to her as 'Demon of the Road,' as her temper often rivaled that of a demon. The curvy woman wore simple black cloth over her skin, her waist length raven hair tied midway down her back. Dark brown eyes often glared out from her fierce face to whoever was unlucky enough to be around her. Together with the boy, she owned the decaying cottage, a few changes of clothing, and a single cow. There were some traces from the boy's father, such as the man's unique weapons and a few of his leather jackets hanging in the closet.
However, with the boy's father missing for so long, the two were growing hungry. The cow in the small shed outside provided milk, but they needed food: they'd run out of the provisions almost two days prior. The boy's mother was getting impatient and more ill-tempered by the moment.
"Sora!" The boy lifted his head alertly to stare at his taller mother.
"Yes, Mum?"
"Take the cow into the village and sell it. We need food, not worthless milk." The boy quickly rose from his seat and hurried to the door.
"Yes Mum. I'll be back soon." Sora rushed out of the cottage to retrieve Betty, their cow, and make the journey into town.
Somewhere along the road leading to the nearby village, Sora encountered a strange man. He was leading only a mule, dressed even poorer than Sora himself but was still humming a small traveling tune. His long, thin silver hair shone in the sunlight like Apollo's own golden hair would shine and hung almost limply to his shoulders. Long silver strands hung in his face, nearly obscuring the man's bright aquamarine eyes. They both paused about ten feet away from each other, their eyes meeting: silence reigned for several long minutes.
"Are you, by chance, looking to trade that cow, sir?" The man spoke in an almost musical voice. Sora startled at the sudden sound.
"Y-y-yes, sir. M-mum wants to trade it for f-food, sir." The stranger dug about in one of his mule's packs for a moment. It didn't take long before he extended his hand out, palm up and open. Curious, Sora peeked at it, frowning at the three round green objects in the pale hand.
"What are they? Peas? 'Cause if they are, I'm not sleeping on them for you." The stranger snorted at the comment.
"No, sir, these are three good luck beans. I'll trade you them for your cow."
"Beans for my cow? That seems awfully one-sided, sir..." Sora trailed off. The stranger gave a crooked smile.
"Normal beans for a cow, yes. But these are magical good luck beans. With the right kind of love, these beans can give you anything, take you anywhere. That makes them worth much more than one measly cow, don't you think?" Sora frowned with the thought: it was awfully tempting. The stranger gently motioned with his open hand, almost insisting Sora take the beans.
"Once in a lifetime oppurtunity, sir. It'll be gone here in a few seconds... going once..." Sora bit his lip, trying to think up cons to this man's offer. "Going twice..." He looked quickly at Betty's large mournful brown eyes and back at the beans. The man began to retract his hand. "Go-"
"Mine!" Sora snatched the beans from the man's still open hand. The man chuckled and moved to take the cow's rope from Sora. Sora watched the man carefully, holding the beans close to his chest, before edging away from him.
"Pleasure doing business, sir."
"Take care of Betty." With that, Sora ran back to his home. Upon entering the small structure, his mother confronted him.
"Sora! Where is our food? Did you forget what I sent you for?" His mother scolded angrily. Sora held the beans out to her.
"Mum, I got magic beans instead. They're supposed to give us anything, as long as we love them." His mother snatched the three little beans from Sora's outstretched hand.
"Magic? Magic! Who fed you this idiocy? Saying magic exists is like saying Hades rules the world!" His mother grumbled angrily and threw the beans out of the window before she stormed off to her tiny room. Sora sighed sadly and trudged off to his own room, hoping for a better tomorrow.
It was around the noon of the night, Artemis' chariot riding high in the dark cloudy sky, when Sora awoke suddenly. Something creaked outside his window, sounding almost like a tree swaying in the wind. Silently, Sora eased out of his pallet and slid out into the chilly night. He'd barely taken but two steps outside when he stopped and stared in wonder at the object before him. Somehow, his three little beans had sprouted and grown overnight into a towering beanstalk, the thick object disappearing into the thick clouds above. Curious, Sora approached the green tower and stared up at it – he could see that it would be easy to climb, at least. Sora looked back at his cottage, debating silently: his mind was made not a moment later. Reaching onto the beanstalk, he hoisted himself up and began to climb, hoping desperately for something good at the top.
After many hours of climbing, an exhausted Sora arrived at the top of his beanstalk, standing atop thick fluffy clouds. He took a moment to rest, breathing heavily in the thin air, before he studied his surroundings. Thick balls of fluff he'd call clouds surrounded him, oddly solid under his feet, as if it were the true ground. In the distance, Sora could see a large, white castle floating amongst the clouds as if it belonged there. Without much thought, Sora began his trudge – or rather, odd mix of swimming, floating, and running: gravity and the clouds, he mused, did not get along – towards the ominous feature. It took him a long while to reach the large structure: even longer to figure out how to enter the building when he was as large as an ant compared to it.
Silently, and now thankfully held to the bricks by gravity, Sora peered around the incredibly large room. The area appeared to be that of a normal kitchen, expanded many times over to fit perfectly with the rest of the overly large building., but for that of a small bit on the nearest counter. There sat an almost model like bit, designed to look like a perfectly managed cottage, complete with well managed flowers decorating the outside. Sora frowned, confused, before entering through the large crack in the window he'd found and approaching the normal sized house. Outside the quaint little place, two vaguely familiar items sat, one squawking indignantly – a golden harp, its strings a shining silver and ready to be played, and a single hen, its feathers as white as pure, untouched snow. Sora gasped with realization: these two things belonged to his father, passed onto him and his mother upon his disappearance. Sora rushed to pick up the two, being as cautious as he could handling the frightened bird before turning towards the window's crack again. The table shook suddenly, making Sora freeze. A rumbling voice echoed loudly around the entire castle: "Fee fie foe fum, Children in my tum, fee fie foe fum, Money in my paws." A great guffaw of laughter, high and maniacal, bounced off of the walls. The door to the dainty cottage opened and a spiky haired blonde in a similar stature to Sora stepped out into the open. Near identical blue eyes stared at each other before the blonde rushed towards Sora.
"You idiot! Are you asking to die? Release the harp and hen and get out of here before the giant comes in and eats you!" The blonde rushed his words, glaring icicles at the brunette.
"I can't, they belong to my family. We need them." Sora stared blankly, hoping this stranger would understand. "They belonged to my father."
"Aye, little human," a loud, new voice boomed around him, too loud to have a tone, "as did all of my gold." Something screeched loudly, nearly making Sora's ears bleed, before he looked up and found himself staring at a man well over thirty houses tall. His skin was an unusual mocha coloring, oddly offset by brilliant silver hair, much like the strange traveler Sora had sold Betty to. Amber eyes watched Sora mirthfully, although the mirth in them gave Sora chills. The man was much too big for Sora to tell what he was wearing but already, the brunette desperately wanted away from him. The blonde shook his head and nearly tripped over his feet in his attempt to run back into the cottage. Sora shrunk away from the enormous man, hiding the hen and harp behind his back.
"Play the harp, human, and run. Pray then that I cannot find you." That booming voice spoke again, matching the mocha-colored man's lips. Sora swallowed nervously before nodding, not really wanting to go against him. He felt like that one Greek dude when he was faced with the giant sheep and cyclops. Holding the hen under one arm, Sora shakily took the portable harp in the same arm, easily balancing the two from years of practice, and carefully plucked a few of the strings. Before long, his tenor voice was singing easily along with the beautiful strings of the harp, playing a complex lullaby for the audience of one. It was not long before the mocha giant was sound asleep in his chair, his head resting in his arms. Sora paused after the lullaby was completed before he skittered across the counter and slipped out of the window. He was very nearly to the beanstalk when he heard the bestial roar of the giant. Frightened, Sora rushed to it, barely keeping hold of his two precious items, and jumped onto the first leaf before the giant's castle door slammed open. Sora let out a rather girlish squeak before he hurried to jump from leaf to leaf, rushing to get off of his beanstalk.
"Human!" The giant's angry roar almost made Sora fall from his perch – the beanstalk began to sway dangerously. Sora risked a glance upwards only to find that the giant was beginning a descent with Sora, his weight of one foot alone making the green stalk sway threateningly. Sora screeched out a high pitched scream, made chipmunk-ish by the thin air, and began to hop quickly from leaf to leaf in an ever descending spiral around the thickening stalk. The giant, although Sora did not pause to look, made much slower progress which only angered the mocha man further. In half of the time it took Sora to climb the towering green, he was on the ground, running for an axe.
Even in his panicked haze, he took but a moment to glance up at the giant's progress – a little less than halfway down the stalk, thanks to the abundant leaves. Sora squeaked loudly and hurried to begin the process of cutting the thick base: panic made his blows more powerful, sure, but less directed. It was a race again time and exhaustion for the spiky brunette, and halfway through the base, it looked as if the boy was losing. He collapsed mid-swing, gasping for breath even as he heard the giant's muffled curses high above. The stalk was groaning and creaking dangerously, struggling to stay upright with the enormous amount of weight resting somewhere on its leaves. Inside the cottage, Sora's mother was stirring, and Sora could hear something crashing in her room as she stumbled to her feet groggily. Urged on by his mother's daily noise, Sora rose to his feet and began to hack anew at the green beanstalk. Several strikes later, the stalk groaned and began to fall towards the forest. He heard the giant curse humans loudly before a sickening crunch erupted just as the heavy stalk crushed trees and boulders alike upon hitting the solid ground before settling.
"Sora!" Sora spun around to see his mother storming over to him in her nightgown, looking rightly unhappy with him. She opened her mouth to scold him but before even a sound could come from her, Sora's new hen clucked unhappily and a loud thump followed. Two sets of eyes directed themselves at the white bird, one brown, one blue, and stared in awe at the golden egg the lay between the fat bird's legs. His mother carefully approached the bird and lifted the egg from the ground, cautiously tapping it.
"It's solid... solid gold, Sora. Gold." She turned to face the boy, a brilliant smile on her face. "By Zeus, Sora, it's gold! We can finally eat food! Real food!" Sora laughed happily with his mother – his life's problems were solved, with only a little help from a beautiful harp and a gold-pooping hen.
So, your thoughts? Review please! I need this stuff to be encouraged to actually post the fan-fic I'm writing!