Writing Talon (PG-13, I guess)

Cinesra

Aspiring Trainer
Member
Well, here's my first Fanfic: a short story. I hope you like it.

Chapter 1: The Raid (ers of the Lost Ark)
It is shortly before nightfall at the time when the Kricketune begin their nightly melodies and perform their orchestras. It is the time when the Hoot-Hoot awaken and many woodland Pokémon are return to their dens and burrows. It is the time that the shopkeepers start to close their stores and the workers begin their way home for the night.

I am watching Luna play with the other orphaned Zangoose children. She is the most distinguishable child at the orphanage. Her short stature, small claws, bright pink eyes, and long ears make her stand out from the others. She and the other children take turns hiding and chasing each other between the great trees, laughing, unknowing of the danger lurking right outside our village. Then the warning horns sound. A Seviper raid is here.

We were long overdue for the next raid. For the first time in months I am reminded of my parents death. They were among the dozen or so killed during a raid about nine years ago. I feel the pang of loneliness that accompanies such thoughts try to break me down. I ignore it for Luna's sake. I must stay strong for her.
” Come on”, I say as I begin to drag Luna with me toward the entrance to the Catacomb: an underground cavern where the townsfolk take refuge during an attack while the Guards fight off the raiders.

It isn’t a very long walk from the orphanage at the edge of the village to the center of town where the entrance is, but the sense of dread that the pandemonium to seek safety instills on me makes it seem like a lifetime. We dash through the village, trying to make it to the catacomb before the doors close. While we are scurrying between the trees I don’t spot one other soul. By the time we arrive at the doors the rest of the villagers are now underground and the hatch is closing.

I throw Luna through the closing doors just before the entrance becomes too tight even for her to fit through. She has just enough time to scream my name, Talon, as the doors shut with a thud, leaving me locked outside just as an ominous hissing slowly starts to fill the air.

I frantically scour for a place to hide as the panic sets in. The louder and louder the hissing grows the faster my heart beats and the more my stomach knots. I comb through the village and find nowhere to hide. My hunt for a hiding spot seems futile when I hear sobbing off to my left.

I scan carefully until I find a portly boy under the roots of an enormous tree. It was a great hiding place; I wouldn’t have located him if it weren’t for the noise. “Be quite or they’ll here you” I whisper, but it was too late.
I hear a loud sudden hiss coming from behind me. I spin around quickly and notice a pair of glowing red eyes staring at me menacingly from the darkness. It slithers slowly toward me and raises its bladed tail, preparing to attack. Without thinking I dash at the Seviper with a battle cry as it lunges at me. I slit its throat open with my claws as I duck below its tail.

I know that I’m not safe yet and soon enough over a dozen pairs of unblinking red eyes now glare at me from the darkness. The first one lunges at me with its jaws open, bearing its huge razor sharp fangs. I rush towards it with another roar and thrust my claw out in front of me before it can bite me causing it to impale its eyes into my claws, gouging its brain.

These first two kills have stirred something inside of me. Now as I snap the neck of my most recent victim I thirst for more. I enjoy the crunch of its bones in my claws. I attack the remaining Sevipers with a fury of slashes and jabs from my claws. I rip one’s head off and stab another with its own tail. I am no longer aware of anything else but the blood of my enemies. The desire to protect the few things that I have left gives me the strength to rip the serpents to shreds. Or perhaps it is revenge that drives my fury?

As a new batch charges at me I notice that I am no longer alone in my fight. A muscular Guard is beside me, ripping a Seviper in half. “Stay out of this, kid” he growls, “leave this to us.” He throws me back onto the ground and then takes on another serpent.

Just as the last wave appears I hear a screech coming from the trees. A tall, slender, female Zangoose drops down and lands on a Seviper, embedding her red claws in its torso. I instantly notice her most striking feature; her fur. Her paws, ears, and markings are blue instead of red. I lay motionless, watching her fluidly obliterating the last dozen Seviper with flowing motions. She gracefully anticipates and counters her opponents’ attacks, using their moves against them. She doesn’t waste a single movement while she tears the into pieces.

After the last Seviper is finished off the muscular Guard orders “Come with us”, and drags me along behind them.

Should I write more or just give up? Is the violence too much? Tell me what you think. I appreciate any and all constructive criticism.I wrote it on Microsoft word first so the spelling and grammar should be perfect. I indented each paragraph but its not showing up.
Edit: I found a few mistakes and corrected them.
 
RE: Talon

Great start, I must say. Sure, there are a few homophonic mistakes (here-hear, that stuff), but I want to read more. Seems like a cool story. I like that it's 1st person and how it's told throug the eyes of Pokemon themselves. Just seems a bit short.

Overall, I'd say it's pretty detailed and flows very easily in my head. Good job.

~AoH
 
RE: Talon

Thanks, I appreciate it.(maybe not the part about punching my lights out) I found a few mistakes and corrected them, if you find any more please let me know. I should have the second installment up next weekend.
 
RE: Talon

Double post all the way across the sky!
I'll have the second chapter up hopefully before next year, so I'm sure the grand total of 3 of you who actually read this are excited.
 
RE: Talon

This is a tad short according to the Writer's Corner Rules here. Add a couple more to your next couple chapters and this will be left open.

dmaster out.
 
RE: Talon

That was only the first chapter. I reread my first chapter and found a few more spelling mistakes. I also noticed that it seemed rushed. Here is chapter 2:
Chapter 2: The King
The two Guards took me to the Palace. We pass by other Guards dragging Seviper carcasses away on our way there. As we drew closer I began to wonder why they wanted me. Perhaps I was going to be punished for not obeying the warning and seeking shelter? Or maybe for stupidly fighting the Seviper instead of letting Guards take care of it. I then began to notice how foolish I’d been.
A couple minutes later we arrived at the Palace. The Palace was grown from the tallest tree in the forest. Its tall towers were formed from mighty branches/ its walls were made of the great trunk of this ancient tree and its walls were covered in vines and ivy. Windows speckled the grand walls like hundreds of tiny dots.
The main gates were still locked so we used the Guards’ entrance; a small door nestled between two huge roots. The muscular Guard unlocked it and led me down a corridor and up a tall spiral staircase with the female Guard bringing up the rear.
We were now in a large room which was empty except for a gigantic set of wooden doors. These doors were engraved with fantastic scenes of warriors in battle, magnificent scenery, and strange foreign Pokémon that I had never seen before. One of these caught my eye; it was a winged-lizard-like creature with three horn-like spikes extending from each side of its head.
“Wait here”, Muscles ordered me before unlocking the doors with another key and slipping through. He shut the doors in my face before I could see what was inside and re-locked it. After examining the doors’ carvings for a while I started to feel the female Guard’s eyes on me, sizing me up. Without noticing I stood up straighter and puffed out my chest a little. I thought I heard her chuckle slightly at me, making me feel embarrassed.
After half an hour of examining the carvings the door unlocked and out stepped the Guard. “Come in”, he commanded. I stepped in and marveled at the grand room before me. I had never seen a room as large as the Throne-room in my life. It had a dozen support columns that looked like the trunks of regular trees. Like the door, the walls were hand crafted with innumerable scenes of battle and nature. On the ground was a lush, decadent, scarlet rug with geometric patterns sewn into it in rich blues, and bright violets. At the far end of the room was a magnificent throne grown from the wood. The throne was as tall as the ceiling and wide enough to sit two people.
The space wasn’t wasted, for two people sat on the throne: the Warrior King Rison and his queen; Eela. The King, like those before him, was crowned for being the smartest, bravest, and best fighter in the village. He was tall and muscular, but not as much as I had expected, but he made up for it in claw length. I couldn’t tell if he had long arms and legs or if he had a small head and torso. He had a notch in his ear from a great battle years ago. Queen Eela was short and slender. She had large eyes and long ears. Her tail was pleated with golden beads. She wore golden earrings and necklaces.
I was led over to them by Muscles and the female Guard. We bowed down at the foot of the throne. “Rise”, ordered the King and I obeyed. “What is your name, young one?” he asked.
“Talon, your highness” I answered.
“Aman tells me that you fought off a good number of Seviper, is this true?” he asked.
“Yes, your highness, I apologize for acting foolishly, I wasn’t thinking. I should have taken shelter, but the gate to the Catacomb was closed”, I said.
“You have no need for apology, Talon. You saved my son, I wanted to thank you and make an offer”, King Rison replied.
“Son, that boy was your son?” I asked.
Queen Eela, who had been silent, now spoke,” Yes, he is in the infirmary now, being checked for injury. Thank you.”
“You’re very welcome, your highness, and what is this offer?” I asked.
“I want to recruit you to join the Guard. Aman has told me how bravely and well you fought and I think you would make a great Guard”, answered King Rison.
“Me, a Guard? I’m sorry your highness, but I can’t”, I said.
“And why not?” asked the King.
“My sister, Luna, she’s all I have left and I have to take care of her. If something were to happen to me…” I replied.
“I see”, he said,” I’m certain I could make arrangements that she gets taken care of if something were to happen,”
“Thank you so much, your highness, but I can’t risk it…unless you can provide her with food and shelter now, even if nothing happens to me”, I suggested.
“I do not make compromises”, he said, dropping his smile,” but, in your case I shall make an exception. If you join the Guard then I shall provide you and your sister with all the necessities. Now then, there is to be a feast all day tomorrow starting at noon. I expect you to attend”, he said.
“Of course, your highness, and thank you again”, I said.
“I shall make living arrangements and you will start your training the day after tomorrow. Stella here will show you around you and your sister’s quarters and the training facility”, he said, gesturing to the blue-furred Guard.” Your sister should be waiting at the orphanage for you, I expect. You may go there now if you wish.”
“Yes, sir”, I said and headed out the door. I closed the door behind me and stopped to make sure that this wasn’t a dream and actually had happened. I made my way to the staircase and stopped when I heard the doors open and close and footsteps behind me. I turned around to find Stella right behind me, close enough to feel her warmth.
“Don’t expect any special treatment, Killer. I’ll train you just as hard as any other newbie”, she said with a smirk.
“Train me, you?” I asked.
“Of course, that’s what the Captain of the Guards does, after all.”
 
RE: Talon

Double Post....
I forgot to thank Chiraami and Legend Seeker earlier...so...yeah.
I should have the third chapter up fairly soon. Don't worry, I appreciate constructive criticism more than "good job" so feel free to do so.
 
RE: Talon

Looks really good, I suggest you skip a line when a new person talks, that way it looks like people aren't reading text walls, can't wait for Chapter 3!
 
RE: Talon

Oh dear god- text walls blinding me

Nahh, just kidding, but it wouldn't hurt you to make a space between paragraphs though, eh?
Other than that, it's actually off to a pretty nice start. I'll be looking for more. When I have time, I'll give a more detailed critique, fufufufufu.

(Not saying there's anything else really wrong, I'll just say a bit more than "NICE JOB, 10/10" ;D)
 
RE: Talon

Hey, what a coincidence. In every story/rp I have ever been in, I am called talons. Best friends forever!
 
RE: Talon

There was/IS more spacing on Word, along with paragraph indentations, but it's not showing up. I also found some more mistakes so from now on I will proof-read chapters when I post them. Thanks people, I appreciate then comments and I hope to have chapter 3 up tomorrow. I'll let you all in on something: I've got the first three chapters and the ending figured out completely, but the filling is still vague. I'll give you a hint at what's to come: Vader is their father and Dumbeldore dies. Also, this story is mostly an experiment; I have a few other (IMO, better) fanfic ideas and this one is a learning experience. I will now edit all my mistakes. Thanks again, smiley face.
 
RE: Talon

Can't wait for the next chapter, but don't bother with trying to put indentations then copy it to here. It can sometimes screw the entire thing up and you have to re-edit everything. Just put a bar of emptiness instead of trying to get indentations figured out.

And if you're using Word, what happened to spell-check?
 
^It keeps missing some things. Apparently Word07 isn't all that intelligent...
I edited the first chapter, the "show, don't tell" things has been getting to me. I should have chapter 3 up before the Celebi Gamestop event is over. I wanted to have it up this weekend but I was out of town on a hiking/backpacking camping trip.
 
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