December/January Vignette

Vignette rules can be found here.

Prompt: The Apocalypse is raging upon the horizon. Chaos, destruction and death are prevalent, but winter has come and peoples all over the world of Althanas are celebrating winter/holiday-type festivals/celebrations despite the destruction. Your character is somehow involved in or around one of these celebrations midst the Apocalypse, be it pleasant or horrid in any way.

Vignette open from December 1 until January 31.

Snow…

She reached up. A hand covered in a fur glove reached for the sky. It was her mangled arm, with only four fingers instead of five. As the grey, clouded sky showered light snow upon the earth, her eyes fell upon the flat, limp finger to the glove left unfilled.

She sighed.

“Felicity.”

She had to pull the fur hat up a little to look above her. There, she saw a white haired, pale young man looking down at her.

“Ready?” She breathed.

He dusted a little snow off of his coat shoulder, “Yes.”

Felicity sat up. Green eyes watched the silent hillside. As powdery snow lightly dusted the rolling hills, the bare bark trees, she was overcome with emptiness.

“It’s so peaceful now.”

The boy crossed his arm, groaning, “Yeah, the peace is about to end.”

She stood up, holding two bows and quivers of many arrows in her hands. Her sword hung on her belt as she turned to the boy, “Let’s go.”

Through the forest, they strode. The quiet hills were somber, bitter. How could the world of taken this route? The outbreak had spread so far, beyond Raiaera…

Felicity was used to the cold. She grew up in it. The memories were as cold and hostile as the December frost, however. It left her with feelings of sorrow and rage.

Her amber eyed companion stopped in his tracks.

“What? Gweneal?” Felicity’s heartbeat hastened.

Gweneal bent down, looking upon the sloppy tracks left in the snow. They left a trial. He started to follow them, “This way.”

The walked upon the tracks in the path. They knew where they were going, what was ahead. They were immune to the virus, but it still could mean death. Felicity readied her war bow, placing an arrow in it as they stalked their prey.

“Remember,” Gweneal warned, “Stay at range.”

Felicity was too nervous to retort in her usual sarcasm.

They strode up a hill, leaving the forest. As they approached the top, the air grew unnaturally chilled. Even more than it was frigid already. Her magic sense was raging, screaming of a deep darkness at the other side of the hill. Felicity reached the top, however. Side by side with Gweneal, she looked down.

The clearing below was crawling with the undead. Skeletons, empowered by their new master, roamed Corone’s countryside in search of bringing their death upon all the living. Felicity immediately pulled back her bow. A newer victim of the corpses, with flesh still attached, had a coat made of moose fur on. Just the thing she needed. She aimed.

“Happy holidays.” She muttered flatly. She unleashed the arrow, letting the militia in on their presence.

~~~

It was nightfall now.

She was exhausted, hot under the weight of coats she held on her back. Gweneal bore his own load upon his back as he held the torch needed to see in the darkness.

Shaking in fear, Felicity shuddered, “The sooner we get inside, the better.”

They stepped into a stone building, leaving the blinding snowfall behind them.

“They brought coats!”

A little girl raced up to greet them. The villagers of forgotten town, all huddled in the thane's keep, watched in awe as Gweneal and Felicity dropped blankets and coats on the nearby rug. As the fires roared, Felicity beamed as the girl pulled a massive coat from the pile. Gweneal put a hand on her shoulder as he smirked, “Hey, there’s dinner too.”

There were several roared birds, deer, and more on the table. A cook was brushing her hands off, “Thayne's Day Dinner! Served fresh even during the apocalypse!”

Felicity placed her hand on Gwenael's, “The hunters came back…”

Another man started sorting through the clothes, “Thaynes bless you for going out on this day! “

I am a Thayne though. Gweneal thought bitterly to Felicity.

“Hey,” Felicity ignored Gweneal, speaking to the man, “Consider it our Thanye's Day present to you all.”

An elderly woman croaked from next to the fire, “But you’ve already done so much for us… Radansanth forsook us when the corpses came to Corone, but you did not.”

“Meredrith…”

Everyone turned to see the man pull a brooch from a pocket in the piles of clothes. His eyes were shadowed in knowing grief, “I guessed as much…” He hung his head in agony.

“She did turn!” An elderly gentleman wailed from the crowd, “My daughter!”

Felicity felt Gwenael wrap his arms around her from behind, “I know what you’re thinking.”

Tears flooded the girl's eyes, “We couldn’t come early enough…”

Gweneal softly shook her, “It was not your fault…”

Felicity leaned on him, tears falling, “But I still…”

“You know grief.”

“Yes.”

Gweneal sighed, “Can we forget it for one holiday?”

Felicity watched the grieving family from the corner if her eyes, “I guess not…”

Kirin laughs as he fights.

It's exhilarating, a whirling dance of blades, and he weaves between his unwitting partners with the ease of long familiarity. His knives flash against the cold winter sun, reflecting off the snow and ice. It's easy to be caught up in the glittering spectacle, but Kirin has something more important to focus on--namely, the hordes of undead he's cutting through like a chill wind. There's a necromancer out there somewhere, but for now, Kirin contents himself with shredding his opponents. Each of them needs a fatal blow to put them down, and there's absolutely no margin for error. A single slip, and he'll find his enemy rising up behind him again.

Kirin hasn't had this much fun in years, not since the first time he and his group first raided a nobleman's home and made off with a Thanesday feast fit for a king. He remembers it now, with a pang of nostalgia--the stolen candles and the dim streetlamp, and the jostling of hungry teenagers each pushing for first in line to the food. It's a very different Thanesday to the one he's celebrating now, alone and hungry and fighting what might as well be an army, but the merriment carries over nonetheless. As noon strikes, Kirin pauses for a moment to raise a glittering blade to the sun, a silent salute to the others of his little band, wherever they might be. Of course, then the next wave of inexhaustible, unfeeling enemies are upon him, and he dances back into the fray.

Later, when his energy runs out enough that he can no longer fight safely, he will flee, and no doubt spend most of the night running from the necromancer and his bands of scouts--searching for the one who decimated part of their forces.

It's no real sacrifice. Kirin lives for the fight, and indulging himself now means that another family sleeps safely tonight.

No one should be alone, and cold, and afraid, not on Thanesday.

And as for Kirin? He's not alone, not really. He never is.

This vignette has been extended until the end of January to keep the festive season going!

New closing date - 31st January!

Thank you.

“Turns out,” midnight lips smoothly declared, “humans do know how to celebrate.”

Delicate fingers encased in a colossal glove of gears and widgets laid a now empty glass upon the oaken counter. The porcelain haired dark elf nodded at the youthful bar tender as he poured yet another glass of vodka. Once the ornate glass was half-filled he re-corked the bottle and stood it back on the surface of the table. His chestnut eyes shot the darling elf a look of longing before a smirk formed on his face.

“The Solstice Feast is our village’s most eventful day,” he said gleefully. “I’m sure glad you stumbled upon this hamlet during such dangerous times.” His face went serious and his body tensed as he continued, “you should stay awhile. I can keep you safe.” That last awkward exchange was accompanied by an equally awkward hand placed atop Lilly’s.

Humans were simple. Elves, especially Alerians, were significantly more complex.

Still, this festival was a nice change of pace. Children were galavanting back and forth between a stall handing out candies to a portly gentleman shooting fireworks into the starless night sky. There was free booze. A gigantic pig was spinning above a roaring flame and filling the air with the marvelous scent of well-seasoned pork. Pointed dark elven ears were tuned into the laughter of patrons and the mumbled sound of dozens of conversations all happening at once.

All of this joy was perfectly framed against the backdrop of smoldering ruin in the distance. Towards the east, at the base of the horizon, you could see the bright red mark of devastation. And if you stared long enough you’d notice smoke billowing up from the cardinal glow of flames. Perhaps only a few hundred had died. Maybe just a few thousand. Surely everyone here was safe. Surely the rumors of famine, pestilence, and carnage were just that… rumors.

Best to just focus on the Solstice Feast. Lilthis wasn’t exactly sure what the feast was for but who needs an excuse to drink away your troubles. The black skinned maiden could worry about world ending horrors in the morning. When she was sober. For tonight she could just enjoy the sights and sounds of the hospitable village she had stumbled upon.

Lilly feigned a giggle. Her sky blues locked onto his ambers, “you’re very bad at this.”

She took another sip from her drink while trying to ignore the looming terror of apocalyptic destruction. That plight would certainly come here. But not for a few weeks. After the holiday, after the joy. For now they could all rest easy and replace their end of world stress with alcoholic bliss.

Tilting her head back she polished off her drink before gesturing for another.

“Lucky for you I’m not much better,” she wryly stated.

Vignette closed for judgment.

Thank you all lots for your participation!

Judging this now.

Flamebird
Decent intro; the mangled arm missing a finger definitely grabbed my attention, but it lacked the true power it could have delivered with a more vivid description. You also missed an opportunity to really draw the reader in by not immediately elaborating on the absent digit. There was a surprising number of spelling/grammar issues for a vignette (even a rather lengthy one). Another thing I should address is the use of multiple scenes. Keep in mind that a vignette should be like a "snapshot"... google defines it as "a brief, evocative description, account, or episode." Personally I believe this would have worked better if you'd used just one half of the story or the other, or found a way to condense and tell both.

Other than that, I did enjoy the read and your use of imagery and dialogue to convey a variety of emotions about the holidays. Sorry about the delay on judgment! I'll double up the rewards to make up for it. I hope you'll keep participating in these and growing into them!

Altair
I liked the way you used present tense to immediately jump into the action, and you had some nice descriptive moments as you carried the reader through the fight. There's definitely room for improvement, such as in the choice of the details you share. Your use of brevity was good, but just as an example, the first time you refer to the undead you call them his "unwitting enemies", which is not very descriptive and kind of confusing. It made me think he was surprise attacking a group of unsuspecting people, so I had to backtrack a bit when you explained what was happening further in.

Your interpretation of how your character enjoys a holiday was very interesting, but I'd encourage you to play more into the reality of your character's abilities. This vignette really made it seem like Kirin was practically invincible with nearly endless endurance, but there was no explanation of how or why he would be capable of fighting for such a long time and then spending the rest of the night running.

Other than that, I don't think I can fault you for spelling "Thaynesday" as "Thanesday", because who's to say both don't exist? While your next entry does not necessarily need to be longer, I would encourage you to delve a bit further into the scene and your character with the next vignette you create.

Lilthis
Your entry was elegant, and from there you carried your momentum at a very consistent pace. Your use of thoughtful details to describe your character and her surroundings really kept me informed, and her opinions about some things became clear as you revealed details about her such as her subtle racism and her love for liquor. You also have a knack for making your vignettes pretty much the perfect length, and all that combined earned you the victory here. You pretty much had me from "midnight lips".

Results

1st Place: Lilthis
2nd Place: Altair
3rd Place: Flamebird

Lilthis receives 600 EXP and 400 GP
Altair receives 320 EXP and 300 GP
Flamebird receives 700 EXP and 100 GP

Well done all of you! I doubled rewards and threw in some extra GP for Flamebird's excellent entry. Really no losers in this one, and I hope to see you all in the next!

All rewards added!