Hey, know what I just realized? Writing is hard. I mean, after I work up the will to write, I start writing, and I don't keep track of the time. When I'm done, it's been like two hours! And, if I proofread my stuff and did all that second, third, and final draft stuff my teachers get on my case about, it'd take me forever. Speaking of proofreading, I think my uploaded chapters have screwed up italics, so I think I should change my thinking… thing. Instead of italics, I might use 'apostrophes' for thoughts. It may not feel right to me, but starting from this chapter, I'll do it like that. As for previous chapters, I'll leave them until I finish the story, and then I'll switch the thoughts for those too. Unless people don't want me to.
As for people who don't read the segment up there…
IMPORTANT! FROM NOW ON, THOUGHTS WILL NOT BE ITALICIZED. INSTEAD, THE WILL BE PUT INTO 'APOSTROPHES.' SORRY FOR ANY INCONVENIENCE THIS MAY CAUSE YOU--- The Management
_______On Word, this is a single line passing from one end of the page to the other. How it appears on uploaded chapters is beyond me____________________
'Sheesh, Sal can be such an idiot sometimes.'
After having explained the situation completely to Sal and suffering his jabs and japes, Jetrin had retired to his room. By then, the sun had begun to set, and Jetrin was getting prepared to catch up for the sleep he had lost thanks to a certain person.
'I wonder how she's doing anyway. When I passed by her room, it was still closed.'
Jetrin wasn't too worried though… at least not for Meria. Instead, he was worried about what would happen the next time Meria met Sal. The homicidal rage she had suffered might resurface, and Jetrin really didn't want to deal with something like that. He shrugged it off, and looked around his room.
'Simple, yet comfortable. Not as good as the room at the idiot village… but much more desirable. The freedom to leave whenever I want to really helps to up the desirability of a room. The bed looks comfortable too.'
Having decided to turn in for the night, day, sunset, whatever, he unlaced his shirt. As he pulled it off over his head, he heard a knock at the door.
"Who is it?" he asked, slightly muffled because of the shirt. Probably more so for the person outside, what with there being a door and all.
"It's me." The door muffled and distorted the voice in such a way that the words could be heard, but the speaker couldn't be identified.
"Me who?"
"Me. Who else do you think I am, you?" The voice sounded slightly annoyed as it answered, and because the door muffled noises, the voice was most likely really annoyed.
'There's only one person I know who can sound that annoyed… at least one person in this inn.'
"What is it Meria?" Jetrin contemplated whether or not to put his shirt back on, but decided against it. He sat on his bed and began pulling off his boots.
There was a slight pause. Then Meria started talking again.
"I want to apologize.'
"For what?" Those boots were pretty jammed in there. He hadn't taken them off in a while, so that's a given, but they were really stuck!
'These boots are worn in! They should just slide right off, not get stuck like this.' He continued wrestling with his boot.
"For talking to your friend like that, and acting the way I did." She really did sound sorry, but that may have just been the wood warping her voice.
"My friend? How do you know Sal is my friend?" That boot was finally slipping off. Now that it was done, he started to work on the other one.
"I saw you two talking to each other when I came out of my room. I didn't want to disturb you, so I went back in."
'Hmm… she seems to have calmed down considerably…'
"I see. And you didn't try to kill him?" The second boot seemed to be jammed more tightly then the other.
"Ah… no." She sounded quite embarrassed. "I actually spoke with him after you came to this room. He seems to be a nice person actually. He apologized to me over his behavior."
"Yeah, Sal's great. He causes trouble, but he always apologizes soon after. I've learned to not take him seriously." The boot seemed to be latched onto his foot like a leech. It just wouldn't let go.
"I can see why. Um… what are you doing in there? It sounds like you're straining yourself."
"Just trying to get my boot off so I can sleep. Almost got it." Jetrin began tugging at his boot even harder, and it budged ever so slightly.
'Yes! Just a little bit more…'
"Sleep?" Meria said. After a pause, she added, "Already?"
"Yes. I'm making up for lost sleep, so let me say goodnight right now. And tell Sal goodnight for me too." The boot was almost off, and Jetrin began to pull it with an almost manic fervor.
"Alright then… goodnight…?" And then her voice was gone.
Jetrin yanked extra hard at his boot and pulled it off his foot, but then he lost his grip and it flew upwards. Also, he fell back on the bed and got a good view of the ceiling. Unfortunately, even thought there was no Isaac Newton in The Wheel of TimeÔ, gravity still exists, so down came the boot. It fell, sole first, and smashed right into Jetrin's chest.
"Oomph!" said Jetrin as air expelled from his lungs.
"What?" said Meria who was apparently still outside the door.
"…" said the boot that had caused all this.
"Are you all right?" Meria asked with a worried tone.
Tossing the boot on the floor, Jetrin rubbed the boot print on his chest. Wincing slightly at the pain, he felt nothing serious, except for an old scar…
"Jetrin?"
"Yeah, I'm all right," Jetrin answered her first question.
"What happened?"
'Hmm… how to state that…'
"I guess you could say I kicked myself in the chest."
"…What?" Meria sounded completely and utterly confused.
"How in the Pit of Doom is that possible?" Sal sounded confused too.
Jetrin blinked. He hadn't been aware that Sal was out there too.
"Sal, are you out there too?"
"No. You've just gone insane," Sal responded with good humor. "Now tell me, how did you kick yourself in the chest?"
"Well, technically, I guess you could say I threw my boot at my chest, but it's basically the same thing."
Silence was all that could be heard from the other sound of the door. Then, Sal spoke again.
"The question still stands, how in the Pit of Doom is that possible? And why would you do that in the first place?"
"Yes," Meria chimed in, "I want to know too."
'Argh… can't they just leave me alone.'
"I was trying to get my boot off, and I pulled to hard so I accidentally flung it up. Then it fell and hit me in the chest. Happy?" Pain is not very good at helping people keep a civil tounge.
Silence was all that could the heard from the other sound of the door again. And then, loud, fully liberated laughter could be heard.
'Nice people. Laughing at the pain of others.'
Through the laughter, Sal said, "Well, that's a good one. See you at lunch time Jetrin." The laughter grew distant as the two outside moved away from the door.
Grumbling to himself, Jetrin felt at the boot print again. He came across the old scar again as well. He looked at it.
'Been a while since I've really looked at it, seeing as it's been with me for so long…'
The scar was a burn scar, or actually a brand. It was on his left chest above his heart. The brand was three flames, pointing outwards in an upside-down Y formation, or as if they were at the point of a triangle.
'A symbol of Illuminators, branded into the successor of the Guildmaster… No matter how far I go, I'll always be an Illuminator. Father… why did you have to choose me?'
Laying on the bed, Jetrin stared at the ceiling as memories tried to take over. Rather then letting them take over his conscious thoughts, he began to slip into the sweet oblivion of sleep.
'The dreams may come, but at least those may be forgotten… memories…'
And Jetrin drifted into a cold, nightmarish sleep, wrapped in the fog of memories.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The placeTI: You think I should change the genre?
J: To what? You've still got a lot of humor in there, what with a boot falling on me.
TI: Hm… I guess, but there's something else there too now.
J: Yeah, and who's fault is that?
TI: Well, technically yours, seeing as how this is your story and all.
J: Yeah, but you're writing it.
TI: Pshaw. Think anyone knows where this is going?
J: Well considering that even you don't know where this is going, I'll have to give that a solid and emphatic no.
TI: Hey, I know where this is going… basically.
J: Mm-hmm. Just admit it. You're up the creek without a canoe.
TI: You mean a paddle, don't you?
J: Normally it's a paddle. For you, it's the whole canoe.
TI: …
J: Now answer your reviews for once or else they'll stop reviewing.
TI: *sigh* Well, time to open my e-mails.
Reviews:
Ckk: My address? For e-mail? I'm pretty sure it's on my profile… which I've never made… eh. Anyway, I only update here, so there's no homepage where I put up my story.
Luna Nightraven: I've got a feeling that everyone will be getting on my case over updates. As for Meria, of course she'll change. Not as much as the actual book characters, but she'll stop being as irritating, probably. And if not, maybe I'll kill her off! (No, I won't, unless it's a part of the story, and based on my plan so far, that shouldn't happen ever. Of course, nothing goes to plan, so…) No, don't worry, the only one who'll die is Jetrin. (Kidding again! …or not…) As for your penname, this one sounds a bit cooler then the other ones and sounds like a real name, sort of. I give it a solid 8. In other words, Cool.
Poop: Gah… I know I should update, but I can never get up the actual will to write and stuff. Put it down to regular laziness. Oh, and poop? Kind of a weird name, ain't it? Walk down the street and people say, "Hey Mr. Feces!"… now that's disturbing.
Taim al, Lorn: Yeah, I know all about that. I've got way too much dialogue and not enough action in my chapters, and I wish I could change it, but every time I try, it gets too cluttered. The story doesn't really flow for me. I'll try my best to change it, but don't get your hopes up. Sorry.
Threespot: What? Huh? I have no idea what you're talking about. No, wait, I get it! No, wait, I'm still lost.
Poop: Hey, it's poop again! …that sounded a bit off. Yea, Mat was always cool, so Jetrin is probably based a lot off off of Mat, or something. I'm writing this stuff and I don't know. As for Jetrin the Player, he's too mellow for stuff like that. And the female lead and the male lead having a thing for each other? Nah, probably not… at least not yet. Give it like the whole story and something might happen, but you could probably switch Meria for a male character and still have the same basic dynamic between them… of course it might just be disturbing.
