A/N: Bah, I'm glad I'm posting way behind where I actually am. I've gotten a bit sidetracked and school starts next week. Mind I think I'm going to have three! study halls anyway. One in first period (and they did away with letting students skip first period if they have a study hall), a three quarter study hall in second (oh, yay, two study halls back-to-back), and a study hall seventh because I didn't get the Independent Study I'd applied for.
Tek- This could go on for a while.
There are ultimately two types of stories: character driven and plot driven. In character driven stories you basically create characters (or in the case of fan fiction use pre-existing characters), start writing, and see where the personalities of those characters leads you. A good real-world example of this is The Sun Also Rises, which I had to read for English (AP 11) last year. In T.S.A.R., a group of characters, basically, go to Spain, plus a lot of dodgy relationships, cheating, and possibly backstabbing. It's not particularly interesting to read, but as my English teacher described it, "It's the kind of thing you'd talk about if it happened to you. 'Yeah, I went to Spain and I saw this guy get gored at the Running of the Bulls, and my friend Cone went and had an affair with this girl I like, who ran off with this bullfighter (and, oh yeah, she's engaged to someone else)."
(Ahem.) The second type is where you outline the beginning, end, and major points of your story and guide the characters from major point to major point while letting their personalities either A) correspond to the events or B) set up a back-story/have a major event in the story that changes that character.
I myself do a mix of both. I make the characters first and hold onto them a bit to see if they 'stick' with me. Do I get tired of them? Can I not stand the name? Is the personality to perfect/boring/used?
Once I decide the character is good I re-evaluate their personality, give them a family (if applicable) if they don't already have one (some of my characters are placed in a family after being created and some are born and evolve from there). Than I think about it, look at the characters they would have grown up with and see where conflict would have formed. In this story, conflict is (so far) between two packs, between Taipa and her pack, and between Kintore, Roydon, and Arktos. So I look at that to see how this could have effected their development.
So than I have plot that doesn't force anyone out of character. Personally, I've found that if the character is good the plot just falls into place. That's how I came to write this and jot down notes for five sequels and two possible prequels.
But I've taken a break from this to write a short story just to practice with some other characters. That one's character-driven. It's short, doesn't have much (if any) plot, and exists because the characters are (in my opinion) interesting.
Erm, I think that covers how I'd write a story…
Disclaimer: Jhonen Vasquez owns the Irkens. I guess I somewhat sorta kinda own these early Irkens, but they wouldn't exist without his version. Since this is set in the (very distant) past, I own all the characters and all other species mentioned.
P.S.: More of Dakkurru here. I can't wait to get his next chapter up, it seriously took me only about half an hour to hand write the whole thing and I don't think I've ever had so much fun writing. And I typed it out close to verbatim; I just didn't want to change it because I knew it just wouldn't be as good if I went over it to carefully (read: slowly) fine-tune it.
P.P.S.: I was writing and sudden I'd been like "Oo, Lord of the Flies!" Can you find the little part where I'd been thinking about it?
P.P.P.S.: (I couldn't have stuck this in somewhere else?) In this chapter a whole slew of new species are mentioned. It's about time we got with the times in this story. And if I wasn't so lazy I'd get some art up on DA. But I'm lazy. And a tad addicted to Dragon Fable. I'm tryin' to come up with a custom Linus of sorts, because I drew all my pets from Adventure Quest (AQ and DF are linked together by certain events in both games) and didn't feel like drawing a fat jellybean. Or possibly more like a slightly dented oval.
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Chapter Four: The Exploration
Mala would be thoroughly annoyed. And when Mala was unhappy, the pack was unhappy. Today's gripe would consist of the apparent slacking of one illustrious leader: Dakkurru. He had told her, quite some time ago, that he was going to check on the smeets. That in itself would not make Mala angry, although she had noted, with a twinge of annoyance, that they weren't really smeets anymore. What would make Mala angry was the fact that this was a lie.
Dakkurru carefully chose the path he followed. He was far from the center of pack life and almost at the outskirts of the pack's territory. Technically mine, he thought, the idea drifting through his mind before he discarded it, figuring it best to not dwell on or even think about that. Some things, he reminded himself grimly, are best left alone.
He had heard from Ent that the Ferhunnu pack was gone, killed off by Litos. He was intrigued by the possibility of their land. At the same time, he was ashamed of how he was willing to share the land with Litos. It was a descent to cruelty, to sentence the pack to such suffering. But he found, to his agony, that he no longer cared.
He pushed these thoughts to the back of his mind, hoping to not deal with them later. He had reached the border of Lanork territory. Before him stretched neutral territory. On the other side, Ferhunnu claim.
He had to be careful. Litos didn't care about land claims and neutral territory. They would strike down any creature they came upon. He wondered, idly, how long it would be before the Litos spread to the other territories. He assumed that he wouldn't be around to see it. Yet, he thought, Litos could spread quickly.
With a sigh, he took a steadying breath and stepped over the invisible line that separated Lanork from neutral territory. The scent of other Archai was nonexistent and he wondered just how long ago the Ferhunnu had perished. The sounds of prey were everywhere, their numbers checked only by their food.
A Pi'miisim skittered by, pale yellow body close to the ground. Its thick ears were perked, alert, while its whiskers quivered. Its deep brown eyes were fixed on a lone Carrruku smeet tottering along a low-hanging branch.
An Immikai reared up, peering at him. It clacked defensively, questioning his existence. Its ruby eyes followed him, long, elegant neck swiveling to follow his movements.
A small pond rippled as Aqipallu drifted through it. One round, shiny black eye watched him, its partner out of view. Another two eyes regarded the sky while just as many busied themselves with finding food beneath the water's clear surface.
He paused to drink from the pond. As he lapped at the later, Fybetos darted away. The Aqipallu drifted through the water still, not specifically away from him, but at a safe, hovering distance. The Immikai clacked again, disturbed from its eating. It waded out of the water to bound to the other edge. It re-entered the water, waiting for the Fybetos to settle as it padded over the soft, sandy bottom the Aqipallu had made.
He pulled back, swirling his tongue around the outside of his mouth. He dipped the thin appendage lower to lick away the bead of water trailing down his chin. He smacked his lips once before allowing his tongue another lap around his mouth.
Taking a deep breath, he gathered himself before standing. With a long last look over the untouched area, he let out a heavy sigh. Turning away from the scene, he continued on his way, disappearing into the bushes between the trees.
He came upon nothing else of interest as he crossed the peaceful area. The pond had been an unusual find; safe water was very rarely left unclaimed. Likely the work of-
He shook his head sharply, dislodging the thought as he came to the edge of the old Ferhunnu territory. He slowed his pace, sniffing the air cautiously. He couldn't be sure if the Litos were still in the area. They could have left the area or they could just be too far away to smell.
He picked his way through the territory, keeping a clear map of his route at the front of his mind. Running might be a necessity, he grimly reminded himself.
There was little odd in the territory. Had it not been for the excess of game and the lack of an Archai's scent, he would have thought Ent was mistaken. However, food was in abundance and the air was void of his relations.
He wiggled his way uncomfortably through a thorny patch he had stumbled into. Careful as he was, the thorns still scratched his skin. Dropping to all fours, he kept his belly to the ground as he inched forward.
The vines opened up into a cave of sorts. The tangled webbing formed a low ceiling for the roughly ovular area. He couldn't quite stand up all the way, but believed that he could stretch out comfortably if he wanted to. Well hidden, well protected… Perhaps a place to birth smeets?
He took a moment to memorize the green cave's location before he continued on. Getting out of the cave is just as hard as getting in… He flinched, drawing backwards as he hissed. A single stray thought's distraction and he almost impaled his eye on a thorn.
Forcing away his thoughts, he maneuvered through the vines, this time paying much more attention. He unexpectedly emerged from the bramble, surprised by bright sunlight. It trickled down through the leaves, tinted pale green by them. It dappled the ground in soft yellow and rich green, making the small, secluded area all the more inviting.
What his eyes were drawn to, however, was the Detretal in the middle of the area. It lay on its side, unmoving and clearly dead. It appeared recently deceased, body intact and scent weak enough that he hadn't noticed it while he had been navigating the bramble. Yet at the same time, there were no Detretal tracks.
He approached slowly, warily. He circled the carcass, rounding the creature until he found its tail. Odd, this one was young, judging by the four leaf-like growths on its tail. He continued circling the fallen Detretal. No apparent injuries it died from. Disease? Which? Litos?
He carefully walked closer to its front, antennae alert. As he was getting quite close to it, a nearby rustle caught his attention. Peering around the large creature, he watched as a bush shivered.
A Pirkku emerged from the undergrowth, a swagger in its step as it held its tail high. Dakkurru faltered at the sight of it. The smell of Litos filled his scenes as he stumbled forward. He let out a cry as he turning, bolting back the way he came.